Notes:
Microsoft has become the first global Big Tech Company to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
ONDC is an Indian government initiative for developing a first-of-its-kind open network for digital commerce. Microsoft has planned to introduce social e-commerce through its app in the Indian market shortly.

Notes:
Manisha Kalyan and Sunil Chhetri were named the AIFF Women’s and Men’s Footballer of the year respectively.
National captain Sunil Chhetri is the third highest goal scorer among active international players, was first named for the seventh time. Manisha had won the Women’s Emerging Footballer of the Year for last season.

Notes:
‘World Bio-fuel Day’ is celebrated annually on August 10 to highlight the importance of bio-fuels. On this date in 1893 that German inventor Sir Rudolf Diesel successfully operated his diesel engine on peanut oil.
Bio-fuels are produced from animal waste, algae, industrial and agricultural waste. Unlike fossil fuels, they are produced in a short amount of time and are liquid or gaseous. They are environment friendly, renewable and biodegradable. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) started celebrating World Biofuel Day after 2015.

Notes:
The Uzbekistan team won the gold medal while Armenia and India-2 team won the silver and bronze respectively in the Open section of the 44th Chess Olympiad held in Chennai, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) said.
In the women’s section, Ukraine won the gold, Georgia the silver, while the top seed India-1 won the bronze.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the 2nd generation (2G) Ethanol Plant, in Panipat, Haryana. The 2G bio-fuel plant has been set up to boost the production and usage of bio-fuels in the country.
The ethanol plant has been developed by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), at an estimated cost of over Rs 900 crore. The plant utilises about 2 lakh tonnes of rice straw annually to generate around 3 crore litres of Ethanol annually.