- Current Affairs August 2020
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Current Affairs August 2020 - Persons in NEWS
1 - US imposed sanctions on Syrian President’s eldest son
The US State Department has imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad's eldest son, Hafez, keeping up pressure on the leader and his inner circle. The US Treasury Department also announced, it imposed sanctions on prominent Syrian businessman Wassim al-Qattan and nine entities for enriching the Syrian regime through construction of luxury real estate.
The Treasury sanctions are the result of legislation known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, named after the pseudonym of a Syrian policeman, who turned over photographs of thousands of victims of torture by the Assad Government.
2 - Harmanpreet Kaur and Suresh Raina appointed as global brand ambassadors of WTF Sports
Indian Women's Cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Suresh Raina have been appointed as global brand ambassadors of fantasy sports gaming platform WTF Sports-India and Global. The company has appointed Raina as a strategic partner too.
The WTF Sports was founded in July 2020. The app features three major sports (fantasy cricket, fantasy football and fantasy basketball). A fantasy sport is a type of game, often played using the Internet, where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams of real players of a professional sport.
3 - Dwayne Johnson tops Forbes Highest Paid Actors list
Wrestler-turned-actor, Dwayne Johnson, has topped the Forbes list of the highest-paid actors of 2020 with $87.5million of earnings. Ryan Reynolds was second in the list with $71.5 million. Mark Wahlberg, Ben Affleck and Vin Diesel completed the top five list.
Bollywoood actor Akshay Kumar was sixth in the list with earnings of $48.5 million. For the first time ever, the outcome has been greatly affected by Netflix. Netflix checks make up 25% of the $545.5 million made by the group as a whole.
4 - Harbhajan Singh roped in as new Brand Ambassador of eBikeGO
Amritsar based e-mobility start-up, eBikeGO appointed Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh as its brand ambassador. With this, eBikeGo not only aims to have an active presence across India but also to build a mass appeal for the adoption of electric mobility, as per Indian government’s new Electric Vehicle (EV) policy.
Electric Vehicle (EV) policy will help in decreasing pollution and encourage usage of e-vehicles. Founded by Irfan Khan, eBikeGo is an electric bike rental startup that provides an economical and environment-friendly travelling option at the cost of Rs 80 per day.
5 - Abhijit Paul's 'Am I' won first prize in Online Patriotic Short Film Contest
A Short film titled 'Am I?' directed by Abhijit Paul won the first prize and a cash award of Rs. 1 lakh in the Online Patriotic Short Film Contest organised by the Ministry Of Information and Broadcasting along with National Film Develoment Corporation, NFDC.
'Ab India Banega Bharat' directed by Debojo Sanjiv got the second prize and a cash award of Rs. 50 thousand and '10 Rupees' directed by Yuvraj Gokul got the third prize and a cash award of Rs. 25 thousand. Eight short films have got Special Mention Certificates.
6 - Oakley appointed Rohit Sharma as its brand ambassador in India
Performance sports eyewear brand Oakley appointed cricketer Rohit Sharma as its new brand ambassador in India for a period of two years. As a part of the partnership, Sharma will be sporting Oakley eyewear equipped with patented Prizm technology created specifically for sports lenses.
Oakley has been operating in India since 2009 and has over 2,000 retail stores across multi-brand outlets. Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Milind Soman have endorsed the brand before.
7 - Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash bagged Gold Medal in MCWC
Hyderabad's, Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash Jonnalagadda bagged the first-ever Gold Medal for India in Mental Calculations World Cup. He scored 167 points and won gold medal whereas, his Lebanese contender Mohammed El Mir scored 102 points and won the silver medal followed by UAE’s Asmita Pal scored 100 points and won bronze medal. Mental Calculations World Cup (MCWC) was organised by Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO).
Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash created a new all-time record by beating the records of math maestros like Shakuntala Devi and Scott Flansburg.