We are here for you to provide the important current affairs august 4 2017 which have unique updates of all daily events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, India Today, Indian Express, Business Standard, all Government official websites. Our complete current affairs helps you to get more marks in Banking, insurance, UPSC, SSC, CLAT, Railway and all other competitive Exams.
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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Second AGRI UDAAN program launched in Delhi
In an attempt to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture, Government launched “AGRI UDAAN”- Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0 programme in New Delhi on August 4, 2017. The program will be run by ICAR-NAARM Technology Business Incubator (TBI), a-IDEA and Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad’s Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE).
i. This is a 6 month program in which shortlisted agri startups with promising innovative business models will be mentored & guided to scale up their operations.
ii. AGRI UDAAN will be reaching out to agri-startups across the country with a series of road shows in Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata & Hyderabad.
Aadhaar made mandatory for registration of death from October 1
According to the home ministry the Aadhaar number has been made mandatory for the registration of death from 1st of October.
Key Points:
i.The rule will come into force across the country except Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Meghalaya.
ii.It will provide an effective method to prevent identity fraud.
iii.Under the new rule,applications for a death certificate would have to provide the Aadhaar number, or enrollment number of the dead person.
iv.As per the Home Ministry, in case the person did not have an Aadhaar number, the applicant will have to give a certificate that the dead person did not have an Aadhaar number “to the best of his/her knowledge”.
v.If a false declaration given by the applicant relating to the Aadhaar card would be treated as an offence.
vi.The applicant’s Aadhaar number, as well that of the dead person’s spouse and parents would, however, have to be provided.
vii.The use of Aadhaar card will result in ensuring accuracy of the details provided by the relatives or dependents or acquaintances of those who have died.
Compulsory retirement for non-performing teachers and education officials above 50: Bihar Govt
The Bihar Government has informed that it has decided to compulsory retirement to the non-performing teachers, head masters and education department officials above the age of 50 years announced on 3rd of August 2017.
Key Points:
i.The committee is headed by RK Mahajan. The main aim is to improve results in matriculation and intermediate.
ii.The action was taken after the poor show of students in matric and intermediate exams of the state in 2017.
iii.The state government is in process of identifying non-performing institutions and all those responsible for the poor show will be given compulsory retirement.
iv.The decision was taken after the review of the education department by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
v.As per government norms those teachers having failed thrice in assessment test would be removed or will be given compulsory retirement.
vi.The committee is working to identify such non-performing headmasters, teachers, block education officers or district education officers.
vii.The government has also asked the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) to work out changes with greater emphasis on multiple choice questions.
viii.The government will also go in for the merger of two or more schools in the same building in urban areas.
About Bihar
♦ Bihar is an Indian State considered to be part of Eastern as well as northern india .it is the 13th largest state in India .
♦ Governor :KeshariNathTripathi
♦ Chief Minister : Nitish Kumar.
India’s First Heli-taxi service launched by MoS for Civil Aviation Jayanth Sinha in Bengaluru
Thumby Aviation, a private helicopter service provider, and Bangalore International Airport Ltd., (BIAL) have partnered to launch Heli-Taxi service from Bengaluru Airport announced on 4th August 2017.
Key Points:
i.Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is the first airport and Bengaluru is the first city in the country with such a service.
ii.KIA is launched by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha .
iii.The helicopter service will initially be launched from Bengaluru Airport to Electronic City and gradually expanded to other parts of the city.
iv.The travel time will be cut down to 15 minutes instead of the two hours taken by road.
v.The HeliTaxi service will initially fly two helicopters, a Bell 412 with 13 passengers and two pilots; and a Bell 407 with five passengers and two pilots.
vi.Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation has also said that the government is working towards making the convenience of air travel accessible to as many Indians as possible.
First meeting of JICF for Development of North-Eastern Region held in New Delhi
The first meeting of the Japan-India Coordination Forum (JICF) for Development of North-Eastern Region was held in New Delhi on 4th of August 2017.
Key Points:
i.The Japanese delegation was led by the Japanese Ambassador to India, Mr. Kenji 
Hiramatsu while Secretary, Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Shri Naveen Verma led the Indian side.
ii.The regular meetings of the Forum would enhance Assistance by JICA and also promote B2B and people to people contacts.
iii.The priority areas of cooperation identified by Indian side including Connectivity and Road Network Development, Disaster Management, Food Processing, Organic Farming and Tourism were the main agenda of meeting.
About New Delhi
♦ AkshardhamTemple :Akshardham or Swaminarayan Akshardham complex is a Hindu mandir, and a spiritual-cultural campus in New Delhi, India.It rises 141-foot (43 m) high, spans 316-foot (96 m) wide, and extends 356-foot (109 m) long.
♦ Lotus Temple : The Lotus Temple is located in Delhi ,is a Bahai House of worship completed in 1986,The Building Is composed of 27 free-standing marble-clad “petals” arranged in clusters of Three to form Nine sides .
♦ Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir :The Lakshminarayan Temple ,also known as Birla Mandir is a Hindu Temple upto large extent dedicated to laxminarayan in Delhi .
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Qatar becomes first Arab country to offer permanent residency to non-citizens
Qatar’s Cabinet approved a draft law making permanent residency available to some non-citizens of the country announced on 3rd of August 2017.
Key Points:
i.Under the new law, Residency permits will be granted to children of Qatari women married to foreigners.
ii.The residency permit gives holders similar rights as Qataris in terms of property ownership and access to generous education and health care services.
iii.According to the provisions of the bill, the minister of interior may grant a permanent residency ID to a non-Qatari if they meet the conditions specified in the law.
iv.Holders of the new permanent residency can for the first time access free- state 
education and healthcare and have the right to own property and run some businesses without needing a Qatari partner.
About Qatar
♦ Capital :Doha
♦ Prime Minister :Abdullah Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani
♦ Currency :Riyal (QAR)
BANKING & FINANCE
India signs loan agreement with AIIB for Financing of US$ 329 million for Gujarat Rural Roads Project
On August 4, 2017, Government of India/ Government of Gujarat signed US$ 329 million Loan and Project Agreements with Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for or Gujarat Rural Roads Project. The loan agreement was signed in New Delhi.
i. The objective of Gujarat Rural Roads Project is to improve the rural road connectivity and accessibility by providing all weather road connectivity to 1,060 villages in all the 33 districts in Gujarat.
ii. This project will benefit nearly 8 million people in Gujarat.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announces new ETF-Bharat-22, Sectoral cap set at 20%
On August 4, 2017, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched a new Exchange Traded 
Fund (ETF) under the name Bharat 22, comprising shares of 22 companies from 6 sectors of the economy. This decision comes on the basis of past experiments with CPSE-ETF which proved to be successful.
i. The ETF will feature four banking stocks — SBI, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda and Indian Bank — other than CPSEs such as Nalco, ONGC, IOC, BPCL and Coal India.
ii. Besides, there will be nine other PSUs as well as REC and PFC.
BUSINESS
India’s first private missile sub systems production facility inaugurated at Hyderabad
On August 3, 2017, India’s first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility, a joint venture between the $2.5 billion Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., was inaugurated near Hyderabad, Telangana.
i. KRAS is a 24,000-sq ft facility, located about 40 km from Hyderabad and is close to the new international airport.
ii. The project has been set up in a record time, and is considered first such facility which makes missile systems by a private player in India.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
JK Rowling: World’s highest paid author by Forbes
JK Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter tops the ranking of the highest paid author by Forbes with earnings of £72m ($95) this year announced on 4th of May 2017
Key Points:
i.It is the first time that Rowling has topped Forbes’ list of the 10 highest earners in the global industry for the first time in almost 10 years.
ii.JK Rowling has beaten the links of Dan Brown, Stephen King and John Grisham to be named the world’s highest paid author.
iii.Other authors included in the list were Paula Hawkins and EL James.
iv.Her books have been turned into eight blockbuster feature films, and last year she made her screenwriting debut with a prequel movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.
v.It was also announced that the stage play Harry Potter and The Cursed Child will move to Broadway next year.
vi.The US business magazine’s list also includes British authors Paula Hawkins and EL James – whose respective novels The Girl on the Train and 50 Shades of Grey have both been turned into major movies in recent years – while the others are all American.
vii.List organizers added that Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin, The Fault In Our Stars writer John Green and Divergent trilogy author Veronica Roth, just failed to make the top 10.
Veteran Actress Sharada Selected For ‘Prem Nazir’ Award
Veteran actress and national award winner Sharada has been selected for this year’s Prem Nazir Award:
i. The award will be presented to Sharada by Kerala state Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran at a function at Chirayankeezhu on August 15, 2017.
ii. Sharada had won three national awards with the first being for her performance in 1968 tragedy film “Thulabharam“, which was remade in Tamil also.
iii. She has acted in several Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films.
iv. Actor T P Madhavan will also be presented Rs 50,000 cash award announced by Chirayankeezhu Panchayat.
About Prem Nazir Award:
♦ It was instituted by people of Chirayankeezhu, in memory of Kerala’s evergreen actor Prem Nazir.
♦ The award carries a purse of Rs 75,000, a statuette and a citation.
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS
AIFF names Banerjee as chairman of Transfers Dispute Committee
The AIFF has appointed senior advocate Ushanath Banerjee as the chairman of a special committee. It will deal with the players’ transfer disputes’.
Key Points:
i.The Committee assigned the Chairman to make a detailed and reasoned paper based on the review of the rules and regulations for consideration of the members for a decision thereafter.
ii.The AIFF Special Committee met at the AIFF Football House on 3rd August 2017 to deliberate on the jurisdiction issues relating to the player transfer.
About AIFF
♦ The All India Football Federation,also ( AIFF), is the governing body of Association Football in India .
♦ Founded : 23 june 1937.
♦ President :Praful Patel.
Air Marshal Hemant Narayan Bhagwat appointed as Air Officer-in-charge Administration of IAF
Air Marshal Hemant Narayan Bhagwat has taken over as Air Officer-in-Charge Administration of Indian Air Force at Air Headquarters , New Delhi on August 1, 2017.
About Air Marshal Hemant Narayan Bhagwat:
i. Air Marshal HN Bhagwat AVSM VM was commissioned in Administrative branch of 
the IAF in June 1981.
ii. After serving for seven years as an Air Traffic control Officer in three different operational bases of the IAF, he qualified as Parachute Jump Instructor and served in instructional capacity for fifteen years.
iii. During his paratrooping career, he has undertaken over 2400 live parachute jumps in combat as well as sport profile from twenty different types of aircraft.
iv. He has also served as Chief Instructor of Paratroopers’ Training School, Agra for five years and was leader of prestigious IAF Skydiving Team, Akashganga for several years.
Prabhat Kumar as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Kazakhstan
Shri Prabhat Kumar, (IFS 1991), presently Ambassador of India to Colombia has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Kazakhstan announced on 3rd of August 2017.
Key Points:
i.Prabhat Kumar, prior to his appointment as Ambassador of India to Columbia was Director General, in-charge of the Energy Security and Investment and Technology Promotion Division in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi (2010-2014).
ii.Kumar was earlier posted to the Permanent Mission of India to the conference of disarmament in Geneva.
strong>iii.He also served in the Indian Embassies of Nepal, Croatia and Spain.
iv.He holds a Master degree in History from Delhi University and hails from Patna.
About Kazakhstan:
♦ Capital : Astana
♦ Currency :Tenge (KZT)
♦ President :Nursultan Nazarbayev
♦ Prime Minister :Bakhytzhan Sagintayev
Mohammad Mustafa Appointed CMD Of SIDBI
Senior bureaucrat Mohammad Mustafa was appointed as Chairman and Managing Director in Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) announced on 4th of August 2017.
Key Points:
i.Mustafa is a 1995 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was working as a Joint Secretary in Department of Financial Services.
ii.The Appointments Committee of the cabinet has approved his appointment to the post for 3 years.
iii.An order has been issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
iv.He served as the Chairman of the Board of National Housing Bank in 2014-2015.
v.He has been a Non-Executive Nominee Director of Bank of Baroda since November 2014.
vi.He has also been Government Nominee Director of The New India Assurance Co Ltd since 2015.
About SIDBI
♦ SIDBI is an independent financial institution aimed to aid the growth and development of micro,small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (MSME ) in India .
♦ Headquaters :Lucknow.
♦ Founded: 2 April 1990.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
IRCTC launches ePayLater: Enables book now and pay later option
Railways have launched to provide the ‘buy tickets now and pay later’ service for any Express trains announced on 3rd of August 2017.
Key Points:
i.IRCTC has collaborated with a Mumbai-based firm ePayLater for adding the new service option.
ii.According to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd soon passengers would be able to buy tickets from the IRCTC website and pay later.
iii.Through this service a passenger can book a ticket five days prior to the journey with a service charge of 3.5% and pay it in the next 14 days.
iv.Those who want to opt for this service have to give their name, email ID, mobile number, their PAN card or Aadhaar details.
v.The officer also said that once the customer gets approval to use the feature, they would be sent an OTP (one time password) to enable them to use the service.
vi.A credit card is issued after evaluating the CIBIL score of a customer, same procedure will be followed.
About IRCTC:
♦ Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering ,tourism and Online Ticketing operations of the Indian Railways.
♦ Headquarter : New Delhi, NCT ,India .
MahaDBT, MahaVASTU: Two online portals launched by Maharashtra Government
Maharashtra Government has launched two online portals MahaDBT and MahaVASTU to ease the process of direct benefit transfer (DBT).
Key Points:
i.Through this portal, benefits of all government schemes will be transferred directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries in the state.
ii.It is the first state in the country to launch such a system that will provide direct benefits with Aadhaar authentication.
iii.MahaVASTU portal: It is an online building permission management system, through which construction approvals will be sanctioned with full transparency.
iv.MahaDBT portal: It is an Aadhaar-authenticated electronic mechanism that will enable direct transfer of benefits for over 40 schemes currently implemented.
About Maharashtra
♦ Capital : Mumbai .
♦ Governor :C.Vidya Sagar Rao
♦ Chief Minister :Devendra Fadnavis .
Venus:Satellite launched by Israel to monitor climate change and vegetation
Two satellites have been launched by Israel that is one dedicated to monitoring the effects of climate change on vegetation were successfully launched into orbit.
Key Points:
i.The satellites were launched from Korou, in French Guiana, at 10:56 PM (local time) on 3th of August 2017.
ii.The Vegetation and Environment monitoring on a New Micro Satellite or Venus is a joint effort between Israel’s space agency and France’s National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).
iii.Venus will photograph 110 specific sites across the world every two days for two-and-a-half years, describing the impact of climate change on ecosystems and agriculture as well as studying carbon stocks and plant evolution.
iv.The VENUS satellite’s goal is to obtain high-resolution photographs of specific sites to track environmental issues such as desertification, erosion, pollution, natural disasters, and other phenomena linked to climate change
About Israel :
♦ Capital : Jerusalem .
♦ President : Reuven Rivlin .
♦ Prime Minister : Benjamin Netanyahu.
♦ Currency : New Shekel .
ENVIRONMENT
ASI protected monuments to be declared as Polythene Free Zones
The Archaeological Survey of India has declared all ASI protected Monuments and Archaeological Sites as ‘Polythene Free Zone’ announced on 4th of August 2017.
Key Points:
i.The national body has directed all of its field offices to take necessary steps to comply with the same order.
ii.The move follows a recommendation by the Ministry of Culture that suggested prohibition on the use of polythene.
iii.The Secretary (Culture) has also issued a Demi-official (D.O) letter to all the Chief Secretaries of States to bring their active cooperation in making all the centrally protected monument sites as polythene free zones.
iv.All the states and Union territories have been directed to issue necessary direction to the local municipal bodies and concerned departments to keep the area approximately 300 metres from the boundary of a protected monument completely polythene free.
SPORTS
Neymer signs world record deal with PSG
Neymar has become the most expensive player in football history after completing his blockbuster transfer to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($262 million)
Key Points:
i.Neymar had signed a five-year contract to PSG until June 2022.
ii.This is the first time in history that a French club has broken the record, with Spanish, Italian and English clubs.
iii.He has already been selected for the Brazilian national team 77 times, scoring 52 goals. He has already achieved 15 titles at club level.
iv.As captain of the national team, Neymar da Silva Santos Junior has emerged as the leader of a team aiming to win its sixth World Cup in 2018.
v.He wears the Brazilian jersey; Neymar Jr has already carried his country to its first 
Olympic title at the Rio Games in 2016.
About PSG
♦ PSG is Paris Saint Germain Football Club
♦ Founded: 1970
♦President :Naseer Al-Khelaifi.
♦ Manager:Unai Emery
OBITUARY
Indian Woman hockey player Jyoti Gupta died at the age of 20
An India international hockey player, Jyoti Gupta a 20-year-old has committed suicide on 2nd of August 2017.
Key Points:
i.Jyoti hails from Sonepat and had represented India in the South Asian Games in 2016.
ii.She had also represented India in the Five-Nation international Junior hockey tournament played in Valencia last year.
iii.She had played in the All India Universities team in the Senior National Hockey Championships (A Division) at Rohtak in May.
iv.She had left her home in ward No: 25, Sonepat to go to Maharishi Dayanand University and told her parents that she needs to correct her name in the university documents.
v.Later her body was found on the railway tracks at 10 p.m, a GRP police team consisting of ASI Umed Singh and ASI Urmila Devi reached the spot and informed Gupta’s parents.
Robert Hardy, Harry Potter actor, dies at 91
English actor, Robert Hardy, famous for his role as Cornelius Fudge in Harry Potter, passed away on August 3, 2017. He was 91.
Robert Hardy’s Acting Career:
i. Robert Hardy started his acting career at the age of 24 with the Shakespeare Memorial Company, starring in a stage adaptation of Coriolanus.
ii. Robert Hardy enjoyed a distinguished acting career which spanned seven decades.
iii. By the time he endeared himself to television audiences in the BBC’s All Creatures Great and Small, he had already carved out a reputation as one of Britain’s most versatile actors.
iv. While his earlier career gave him a firm grounding in the theatre, his best known roles were in front of the camera – particularly in television.
v. He was also known for numerous portrayals of Winston Churchill.
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