Weekly Update: September 21, 2020 - September 25, 2020

There were two reasons i started this blog. One of them was to motivate people to explore their favorite highlight. I try my best to cover highlights from various categories and i hope that i have succeeded in my endeavor till now. Do share your feedback so that i can improve and deliver better content.

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Did you know that crows can distinguish humans apart from each other? Well, they can, but for humans it is nearly impossible to distinguish between two different crows. This is called The Crow Paradox.

Image Credit: https://www.npr.org/

Distinguishing humans apart from each other is also a reason that they can hold grudges against a specific individual.

September 21, 2020 (Monday)
:::The number of Corona Cases were as follows:
Confirmed - 54,87,580
Recovered - 43,96,399
Deceased - 87,882

:::Magicbricks emerged as India's largest growing real estate app, where almost 80% property gets listed. It offers access to more than 1.65 million properties in India to its 10 million users. Sudhir Pai, Chief Executive Officer of Magicbricks, said while responding to the news that their goal has always been to empower property seekers and property sellers with cutting-edge analytics that help shape crucial decisions related to property at their end.

Image Credit: https://play.google.com/

The platform was launched in September 2011, and it has developed various features since then, like: propworth, smart search, home loans, EMI calculator, real time chat, buy-rent comparison, instant property evaluation, advocate on call and property astrology, to name a few.

:::Shares of HSBC and Standard Chartered fell by 4.4% and 3.8% respectively, after banks and other financial firms filed a report with the United States Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). It is alleged that HSBC and Standard Chartered moved a large sum of illicit funds for nearly two decades.

Image Credit: https://www.businessinsider.com/

The share price of HSBC fell to HK$29.60 per share and the share price of Standard Chartered fell to HK$35.80 per share after the banks and other financial institutions filed the report.

:::Mahua Saha, a researcher of Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography, said that the production of plastic has globally increased from three hundred million metric tonnes to three hundred-sixty million metric tonnes in last five years, out which 50% is single-use plastic and only 9% is reusable plastic. She also said that in order to understand marine pollution, it is important to study the terrestrial aquatic systems like rivers and other water bodies.

Image Credit: https://mainichi.jp/

She issued these statements while addressing a webinar that was organized by a Mumbai based NGO in collaboration with the National Centre for Coastal Research.

:::Trevor Milton, founder of Nikola Corp - a U.S electric truck maker, stepped down as the Executive Chairman amid allegations that he misled the investors and automakers. It is also alleged that Milton appointed his brother, Travis, to lead a unit of the company for which he did not have any substantial experience. As per the reports, Milton & Travis made false claims about the company's proprietary technology to form partnerships with large automakers. After the allegations came to light, the share price of the company fell by approximately 30%.

Image Credit: https://www.azcentral.com/

Stephen Girsky, a member of Nikola's board & former Vice Chairman of General Motors Co., will take over as the Chairman of Nikola Corp.

September 22, 2020 (Tuesday)
:::The number of Corona Cases as reported on Aarogya Setu App were as follows:
Confirmed - 55,62,663
Recovered - 44,97,867
Deceased - 88,935

:::State Bank of India (SBI) offered up to two years repayment relief for home and retail loans to the borrowers who had availed a loan before March 01, 2020 and were regular in repayments until the Covid-19 lockdown. The relief has been made available in two forms: a moratorium of up to twenty-four months; or, re-schedule installments & extend the tenure by a period equivalent to the moratorium granted. The borrowers, however, will have to demonstrate that their income has been hit due to the lockdown. SBI has launched an online portal on its website to enable the borrowers to check their eligibility. The only downside to the relief is that the bank will charge thirty-five basis points extra and hence, the borrower would end-up paying more.

Image Credit: The Economic Times

Other banks like HDFC and ICICI may follow suit and offer a relief to their borrowers.

:::Tiger Global, a U.S based venture capital investor, moved to Delhi High Court against the June order of the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR), after AAR stated that the funds that were registered out of Mauritius with the decision making teams in the United States of America could not avail the benefits of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Mauritius. As per reports, the outcome of this case could have a broader ramification on several other investors who had invested in Flipkart through their Mauritius arms.

Image Credit: https://mindmaps.dka.global/

The case is noteworthy as the landmark exit of Tiger Global from Flipkart through its sale to the U.S retail giant Walmart for $16 billion is being tracked closely.

:::Facebook introduced 'Rights Manager for Images' to help the creators & the publishers to protect & manage their image content at a huge scale. The feature uses image matching technology, and admins can select if it should be applied worldwide or only in certain locations. The page admins can submit an application for the content that they have created and they want to protect.

Image Credit: Business Standard

Additionally, Facebook also has a fast & effective Intellectual Property reporting system and repeat infringer policy, to name a few.

:::Shapoorji Pallonji Group agreed to exit Tata Group and end their relationship of seventy years after Tata Sons & its board members blocked the Mistry family's bid to raise funds by pledging the shares of Tata Group's key holding company, Tata Sons. Shapoorji Pallonji Group is the largest minority stakeholder with 18.37% stake that is worth around 1.75-2 lakh crore. The group is the second largest shareholder in Tata Sons after Tata Trusts.

Image Credit: https://www.theweek.in/

Both were also in a legal battle since 2016, when Cyrus Mistry was ousted as the Chairman of Tata Sons and Mistry had sought to prove oppression & mismanagement by the group. Though Cyrus Mistry failed to prove the said allegations in the National Company Law Tribunal, he did succeed at the appellate tribunal.

September 23, 2020 (Wednesday)
:::The number of Corona Cases reported were:
Confirmed - 56,46,010
Recovered - 45,87,613
Deceased - 90,020

:::Toyota Kirloskar Motor launched Urban Cruiser SUV. It is the second byproduct of the joint venture of Toyota Motor and Suzuki Motor Corporation. The price starts from Rs.8.40 lakh (ex-showroom), and it is available in three trims, namely:

1) Mid - Manual at Rs.8.40 lakh and Automatic at Rs.9.80 lakh;
2) High - Manual at Rs.9.15 lakh and Automatic at Rs.10.65 lakh; and,
3) Premium - Manual at Rs.9.80 lakh and Automatic at Rs.11.30 lakh.

The SUV sports LED dual chamber projector headlamps, fog lamps & tail lamps, and it rides on 16-inch alloy wheels. It is loaded with features like climate control with auto-ac, rain sensing wipers, cruise control, push start-stop, rear parking camera, electro-chromatic rear view mirror, 7-inch Smart Playcast supported by Apple CarPlay & Android Auto, dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, advanced body structure, hill hold control and ISOFIX. Urban Cruiser SUV features k-series, 1.5 litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine with both, 5-speed manual & 4-speed torque converter as transmission options. Its engine delivers 103 PS and 138 Nm. The SUV offers a mileage of 17.03 kmpl and 18.76 kmpl for its manual and automatic version respectively.

:::Qualcomm Technologies unveiled Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G 5G mobile platform, that enables global 5G with HDR gaming and on-device AI. It is compatible with Snapdragon 690 5G Mobile Platform. Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G 5G Mobile Platform features Qualcomm Snapdragon X52 5G Modem-RF system and allows devices powered by Snapdragon 750G to support multi-gigabit connections with lighting-fast upload & download speeds. It enables up to 10% better graphics rendering for stunning, life-like imagery as it is equipped with Qualcomm Adreno 619 GPU.

Image Credit: https://www.firstpost.com/

The fifth generation Qualcomm AI Engine enables smart camera & video, voice translation, advanced AI based imaging and AI enhanced gaming experiences.

:::Rajya Sabha passed three labour codes:

1) Industrial Relations Code Bill - It allows the companies with up to three hundred workers to lay-off its staff without seeking any prior approval from the government.
2) Social Security Code Bill - It proposes to extend the social security benefits to unorganized workers.
3) Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code Bill - It relates to occupational safety.

Image Credit: https://www.dtnext.in/

Industrial Relations Code Bill (IRC) proposes to introduce more conditions to restrict the rights of the workers to organize a strike. As per the experts, IRC would enable companies to introduce arbitrary service conditions for workers.

September 24, 2020 (Thursday)
:::The number of Corona Cases as reported on Aarogya Setu App were:
Confirmed - 57,32,518
Recovered - 46,74,987
Deceased - 91,149

:::Apple Online Store went live. The online store offers a free one-on-one online session with a specialist during the purchase and direct access to an on-call support with an Apple expert. A buyer can customize the hardware - RAM & storage - of Mac & Macbook, and he/she can also get signature gift-wrap & personalized engraving of emoji or text for iPad & Apple Pencil. Customers can exchange their old iPhone to get a discount on a new purchase through Apple Trade In feature of the online store.

Image Credit: India Today

Apple Online Store offers exclusive benefits to students like discounts on purchase, accessories and AppleCare+.

:::National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) opened bids for the first tender that involves an investment of around Rs.20,000 crore. The first tender is for construction of 237 kilometers long bullet train alignment between Vapi and Vadodara in Gujarat that will cross twenty-four rivers and thirty road crossings. The tender also includes the construction of four stations on this corridor. This constitutes 47% of the total Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project.

Image Credit: The Economic Times

NHSRCL has received bids from a total of seven Indian companies, out of which six have presented their bids in an association, which is as follows:

1) Afcons Infrastructure-IRCON International-JMC Projects India;
2) NCC-Tata Project-J Kumar Infra Projects; and,
3) Larsen and Tourbo (individual bidder).

:::Reliance Jio partnered with twenty-two foreign airlines and announced its inflight data plans. It will offer three different onboard data plans with a validity of one day and price ranging from Rs.499/- to Rs.999/-. The first plan would be of Rs.499/-. It will offer internet data of 250 MB, 100 minutes outgoing voice calls and 100 sms. The second plan would be of Rs.699/-. It will offer internet data of 500 MB, 100 minutes outgoing voice calls and 100 sms. The third plan would be of Rs.999/-. It will offer 1 GB internet data, 100 minutes outgoing voice calls and 100 sms. Incoming calls are not allowed, and hence they will not be included in any of the plans.

Image Credit: The Indian Express

Reliance Jio has partnered with Lufthansa, Swiss, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Virgin Atlantics, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Cathay Pacific, to name a few.

:::Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ''Fit India Age Appropriate Fitness Protocols'' on the first anniversary of ''Fit India Movement". He interacted with several fitness experts and influencers from across the country. Some of the participants were Virat Kohli (a cricketer), Milind Soman (model-actor & runner), Rujuta Diwekar (a nutritionist), Devendra Jhajharia (a paralympic javelin gold medalist) and Afshan Ashiq (a footballer from Jammu & Kashmir).

Image Credit: https://in.mashable.com/

Fit India Movement was started with an effort to involve citizens of the country to draw out a plan to make India a fit nation. Events that have been organized till now under Fit India Movement are Fit India Freedom Run, Plog Run, Cyclothon, Fit India Week and Fit India School Certificate, to name a few.

September 25, 2020 (Friday)
:::The number of Corona Cases were as follows:
Confirmed - 58,18,570
Recovered - 47,56,164
Deceased - 92,290

:::Skyroot Aerospace, an India space start-up, unveiled their indigenously developed cryogenic engine - Dhawan I on the birth anniversary of Prof. Satish Dhawan, second Chairman of ISRO. Dhawan-I is meant to fuel the upper stage of their rocket Vikram-II, and it is powered by Liquid Natural Gas as fuel (LNG) and Liquid Oxygen as oxidizer (LoX). The team was led by V.Gnanagandhi, Vice President at Skyroot and an ex-ISRO scientist & a Padma Shri awardee. Pawan Kumar Chandana, Chief Executive Officer of Skyroot Aerospace, said that the team has successfully completed many tests to check the fuel flow & structural integrity, and the team is now building a dedicated test facility for hot fire testing of the engine.

Image Credit: https://tdesigns.in/

The start-up is looking forward to a maiden launch of Vikram-I by December 2021, with the support & guidance of ISRO.

:::Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved restructuring of the board of Steel Authority of India (SAIL), and made four chief executives as functional directors. One of them would be in-charge of the plants in Bokaro, one of Rourkela, one of Bhilai and one would be jointly responsible for the facilities located in Burnpur & Durgapur. The board will now have non-official directors and two government nominees as well.

Image Credit: https://m.economictimes.com/

The restructuring also involves merging the functions of the director of raw materials & logistics and project & business planning with the post of director (technical).

:::National Medical Commission (NMC) came into existence and replaced the Medical Council of India (MCI) as India's apex regulator of medical education and profession. Dr. Suresh Chandra Sharma, former head of All India Institute of Medical Sciences ENT Department, has been appointed as the Chairman of NMC for three years. Rakesh Kumar Vats, former Secretary General in the Board of Governors of the MCI, has been appointed as the Secretary of the commission. Nipun Vinayak, Joint Secretary in the ministry of Health, issued a notification saying that four autonomous boards under the NMC Act have been set-up, namely: Under-Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB), Post-Graduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), Medical Assessment & Rating Board and Ethics & Medical Registration Board.

Image Credit: https://www.manifestias.com/

The NMC Act received the assent of the President on August 08, 2019, and it was published on the same day.

:::U.K's Vodafone won an international arbitration case in a Rs.20,000 crore retrospective tax dispute against the Indian Government. The dispute relates to Vodafone's 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa's Indian mobile business, Hutch Essar Ltd.

Image Credit: https://www.indiatvnews.com/

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague ruled that India's imposition of tax liability on Vodafone was in breach of India-Netherlands bilateral investment treaty, and it directed the Indian Government to reimburse 60% of Vodafone's legal costs & 50% of the fees paid by the company to the appointing authority.

In this week's Special Section, i will talk about a petition that seeks for an adequate political representation of the Transgender Community.

Image Credit: https://blog.forumias.com/

It has been seventy-three years, and yet we do not have any member of the transgender community  elected in the State Assembly or the Parliament. The honorable Supreme Court recognized various civil & political rights for the community; however, the genuine acceptance of the order would only be achieved by including the community in every possible way.

You can sign the petition and extend your support.

That is all for this week. I hope that the blog was useful and it helped you in catching up with what happened. If you have anything to contribute, then please feel free to comment. Do share this blog with everyone you know and help them too.

*Disclaimer: The information has been presented in this blog after reviewing various news articles. In case you find any article, or if you have any article, that states some facts differently, then share them in the comment section. Please keep the publishing date of the article in mind as it may be an update on the article which was published previously, or it may contain outdated information if it was published before the date mentioned in this blog.