BackNews in numbers | 64 men, 54 women to compete in 2016 Olympics
In other news, Verizon Communications buys Yahoo web assets for $4.8 billion
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$4.83 billion
What is it? The price at which Yahoo has agreed to sell its core internet operations to telecom firm Verizon Communications.
Why is it important? This brings an end to the iconic brand and company, which was a much talked about start-up before Google leaped ahead of it in overall sales in 2005. Yahoo, which was estimated to be valued at $125 billion during the peak of the dot-com boom period (January 2000), has been struggling to compete with rivals Google and Facebook. It would be merged with AOL, the firm which was acquired by Verizon last year, which is likely to help boost its media and advertising businesses. It remains to be seen how Verizon leverages this deal.
Tell me more: Once the deal is through, Yahoo would change its name and would be left with cash, patents, its stakes in Alibaba Group Holdings and Yahoo Japan—with a total market value of $40 billion.
18
What is it? The number of years between Salman Khan’s alleged shooting of endangered black bucks in Rajasthan and Monday’s high court judgment on the case. He was acquitted.
Why is it important? This would come as a relief to the actor, who is caught in another high-profile case of drunk driving and hit-and-run in which five men sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai were run over and one of them was killed. He was acquitted in this case last year, though the Maharashtra government has challenged the acquittal in the apex court. Khan’s acquittal has drawn criticism from various quarters with animal rights organisation PETA saying the judgment comes as a “massive shock and disappointment".
Tell me more: The court said the investigating authorities failed to identify the spot where the animals were allegedly killed by Khan, the carcasses of the animals are yet to be discovered and mainly there was no evidence that the bullets recovered from the animals were fired from Khan’s licensed gun. The movie star and seven others (some of them Hindi actors) were accused of killing a gazelle and two antelopes over two days during a film shooting.
₹ 20,000 crore
What is it? The amount telecom firms have reportedly committed to invest to install 100,000 towers over the next one year to curb call drops.
Why is it important? This is in addition to investing ₹ 12,000 crore to erect 60,000 towers over a 100-day period, of which 48,000 have been installed in the last 45 days. This comes at a time when the department of telecom is examining a proposal by the telecom regulator to impose penalty and jail term if telecom firms fail to adhere to prescribed standards. In May, the regulator had published a study that said most firms, other than Reliance Communications (for 2G) and Vodafone India (for 3G), have failed to meet the benchmark for call drops.
Tell me more: The telecom minister who met the chief executive officers of telecom firms on Monday said the government would address the main issues faced by them over the next 2-3 months.
53.8%
What is it? The chances of Republican nominee Donald Trump winning the Presidential race this year, according to electoral forecasts by Nate Silver, an American statistician and writer.
Why is it important? When Trump entered the race, not many believed he would even win the Republican nomination but now there is a good chance he might even become the US President. His chances of winning have nearly tripled from 18.8% on 8 June to over 50% now. In contrast, the chances of Hillary Clinton, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for President, winning has almost halved from 81.8% on 8 June to 46.2% now. Silver’s forecasts have been among the most accurate—he correctly predicted results for 49 of 50 states in the 2008 Presidential elections and 50 of 50 in the 2012 polls.
Tell me more: In terms of popular vote, it’s a tight race between the two—45.4% for Clinton and 45.2% for Trump. In terms of electoral votes, Clinton would get 261.1 votes compared to 276.6 for Trump.
2
What is it? The number of Rio-bound Indian athletes who have tested positive for banned substances so far.
Why is it important? Just after wrestler Narsingh Yadav failed the dope test, shot putter Inderjeet Singh was caught using a banned steroid and the news comes 10 days ahead of the commencement of Rio Olympics. This casts a cloud over the initial euphoria which surrounded the reports of India sending its strongest-ever contingent of 120 athletes with the hope that it would bring back home more medals than the six it won at the 2012 London Olympics.
Tell me more: With this, the total count of Indian men to compete in the 2016 Olympics comes down to 64, while the number of Indian women competing is 54.
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