Current Affairs - August 2, 2017 Current Affairs

The Union Parliament passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 with Rajya Sabha approving it Lok Sabha. It amends the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009 by extending the deadline for teachers to acquire the prescribed minimum qualifications for appointment.

The Government has approved establishment of Post Graduate Institutes for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy at Nagmangla in Karnataka and Jhajjar in Haryana.

The new Jeep Compass SUV has been launched in India with prices starting at a very competitive Rs. 14.95 lakh for the entry-level Sports petrol and goes up to Rs. 20.65 lakh (ex-showroom) for the range-topping diesel. The Jeep Compass will be retailed out of 50 sales outlets including FCA and Jeep Destination store across 47 cities.

The government launched a portal, e-RaKAM, to provide a platform to sell agricultural produce. E-RaKAM is a first-of-its-kind initiative that leverages technology to connect farmers of the smallest villages to the biggest markets of the world through internet and e-RaKAM centres.

Star spinner Ravindra Jadeja maintained pole position in the bowlers' list while India skipper Virat Kohli remained static at fifth place in the batting charts in the latest ICC Test Rankings. Jadeja and Ashwin also maintained second and third ranks respectively in the all-rounders' list.

For the total eradication of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella a signature campaign was started from the district hospital of Himachal Pradesh.

Airtel Payments Bank, India's first payments bank has announced a strategic partnership with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL). There are around 14,000 HPCL fuel stations will act as banking points for Airtel Payments Bank. It also offers facilities such as the opening of the account, cash deposit and cash withdrawal to the payment bank's customers.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has overtaken Hong Kong business magnate Li Ka-shing to become Asia's second-richest man. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ambani's wealth has seen a rise of $12.1 billion with the oil-to telecom conglomerate's shares seeing a surge with investors rallying behind his decision to launch the cheapest 4G phone, according to a Bloomberg report.

General Abhay Krishna appointed as the Chief of the Indian Army's Eastern Command. He succeeds Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi who has retired from service. He is a gallantry award winner in counter insurgency operations in Manipur and commanded Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in the Kashmir Valley.

World breastfeeding week is being celebrated from 1st to 7th August every year. It was first celebrated in 1992 by World Alliance for Breastfeeding World Breastfeeding WeekAction (WABA) and is now observed in over 120 countries by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO) and their partners including individuals, organizations, and governments. The theme for the year 2017 is "Sustaining Breastfeeding Together".

Neighbouring countries India and China are home to 39 per cent of the 830 million youngsters worldwide who use the Internet, according to the data released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

India and Somalia signed a bilateral agreement for the transfer of sentenced persons, thus deepening humanitarian cooperation between the two countries. The agreement will help Indian inmates imprisoned in Somalia or vice versa be near their families while serving the remainder of their sentence and also facilitate their social rehabilitation.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju informed the Lok Sabha that additional fund of 110 crore rupees has been allocated this fiscal for the development of border areas, taking the total amount to 1,100 crore rupees.

China has formally opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti with a flag raising ceremony and military parade. China began constructing a base in Djibouti last year. It will be used to resupply navy ships taking part in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions off the coasts of Yemen and Somalia, in particular. Djibouti is a tiny barren nation sandwiched between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.

E-commerce major Flipkart has completed the merger with eBay India's operations. 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.