Important Current Affairs 5th August 2017

Important Current Affairs 5th August 2017

Current Affairs 5th August 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

Flipkart completes merger with eBay India

E-commerce major Flipkart on Tuesday said it has completed the merger with eBay India’s operations.
●    With this, eBay.in will now be a Flipkart Group company.
●    The deal was announced in April when the Flipkart group raised $1.4 billion from global technology majors eBay, Tencent and Microsoft. 
●    In exchange of an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay had made a cash investment of $500 million and sold its eBay.in business to Flipkart.
●    The announcement comes a day after smaller rival Snapdeal said it was terminating all discussions of a potential merger. 
●    While Snapdeal did not name Flipkart, it had been widely reported that both were negotiating a merger for the last five months.
●    “Effective immediately, Flipkart will own and operate eBay.in, which will remain an independent entity as part of Flipkart,” Flipkart said in a statement.
●    Besides, the companies will also partner to leverage opportunities in cross-border trade, it added.

Union Cabinet clears proposal to extend proxy voting for NRIs

Cabinet clears proxy voting for NRIs=The Union Cabinet has cleared a proposal to extend proxy voting to overseas Indians by amending electoral laws. 
●    This was informed by a senior government functionary.
●    For overseas Indians, the Representation of the People Act needs to be amended to include proxy voting as other means to cast their votes. 
●    While NRIs and overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in constituencies where they are registered, according to the proposal, they will also be allowed to use the option of proxy, which as of now is only available to service personnel.
●    An expert committee in the Election Commission working on the issue had, in 2015, forwarded the legal framework to the law ministry to amend electoral laws to allow overseas Indians use proxy voting.

Bihar government decides compulsory retirement for non-performing teachers & officials above 50

The Bihar Government on 3 August 2017 informed that it has decided to compulsory retirement to the non-performing head masters, teachers and education department officials above the age of 50 years.
●    The decision was taken after the review of the education department by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. 
●    The review meeting was attended by Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, education minister Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma, chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, development commissioner Shishir Kumar Sinha and principal secretary, department of education, RK Mahajan among others.
●    The Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said the state government is in process of identifying non-performing institutions and all those responsible for the poor show will be given compulsory retirement. 
●    He informed that those teachers having failed thrice in assessment test would be removed or will be given compulsory retirement, as per government norms.
●    In addition, a committee headed by RK Mahajan is working to identify such non-performing headmasters, teachers, block education officers or district education officers.

Current Affairs 5th August 2017: GLOBAL NEWS

Qatar passes landmark law to grant permanent residency to expats

Qatar, facing a Saudi-led boycott, approved a landmark law with the potential to ultimately transform Gulf societies by granting permanent residency cards -- and new rights -- to some of the foreigners who dominate its population. 
●    The move would be the first in the Gulf region, where the privileges of nationals have been zealously guarded and expatriates’ access to public services and property rights are sharply curtailed. 
●    Under the new law, cardholders will be treated like Qatari nationals and will benefit from elements of the state’s generous welfare system, including education and health-care services, the official Qatar News Agency reported late Wednesday. 
●    They will also be given priority, after locals, for military and civilian public jobs and would be allowed to own property and run certain commercial activities without a local partner, QNA reported. 
●    Those eligible for the card include children of Qatari women married to foreigners, people with special talents “needed by the state,” and others who have extended notable services to the country, it said. Citizenship, however, will remain off-limits to foreigners.

Paris to host 2024 Olympics

Los Angeles announced its intent to host the 2028 Olympics, paving the way for Paris to host in 2024 in a deal hailed as a win-win-win for both cities and the Olympic movement.
●    "I am proud to announce the Olympic Games are coming back to the United States of America," Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said at ceremony at the StubHub Center stadium. 
●    "In 2028, we are bringing the Games back to LA, one of the great capitals of the Olympic movement. A city that has always been a Games changer and will be again in 2028." 
●    Garcetti downplayed any risk involved in taking on the Olympics so far in advance, saying political or economic setbacks in the interim, or even a natural disaster such as an earthquake, wouldn't prove fatal to the preparations.
●    "Los Angeles is resilient," Garcetti said. "I'm not worried about those things. We aren't going to see sports go away. We're not going to see stadiums disappear. 
●    When you look at those risks, sure in some scenario if the entire Earth falls apart probably the Olympics aren't happening in Los Angeles."
●    "But short of that," Garcetti said, "We're going to have a great Games here in LA."

US Senate confirms appointment of three Indian Americans

Three Indian-Americans picked by President Donald Trump have been confirmed by the US Senate to key governmental posts.
●    While Neil Chatterjee was confirmed on 3 August as the member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a body that oversees electricity, natural gas and oil at the national level, Vishal Amin got confirmed as the Intellectual Property (IP) Enforcement Coordinator in the Trump administration.
●    The third Indian-American to get confirmed to a key governmental position was Krishna R Urs, who was confirmed as the US Ambassador to Peru.
●    Urs, who is a career foreign service officer since 1986, is the second Indian-American to have been selected for an ambassadorial position by the Trump administration, only after Nikky Haley (US ambassador to the United Nations)

Current Affairs 4th August 2017: OBITUARY

Renowned scientist Pushpa Mitra Bhargava passes away

Pushpa Mitra (PM) Bhargava, a veteran molecular biologist and a ardent critic of Genetically Modified crops, passed away on 1 August 2017 following a prolonged illness. He was 89.
●    Bhargava was the Founder-Director of Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB).
●    Bhargava was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan.
●    He studied at Theosophical College, Lucknow and Queen's College, Varanasi and completed his BSc in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in 1944.
●    He obtained his MSc in organic chemistry in 1946 and received his PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from the Lucknow University.
●    He went to the USA in 1953 and worked as a project associate at a laboratory for cancer research.
●    He was one of the leading scientists who led to the discovery of 5-fluorouracil, an anticancer drug.
●    He founded the CCMB in 1977 as an institution for research in basic biology and for seeking its application for the benefit of society.