Weekly Update: October 12, 2020 - October 16, 2020

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -
to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
-Marcus Aurelius
(Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher)

Let's start!

Here is a Fun Fact that you may not, or may, know. Movie trailers were earlier called only "Trailers" as they were shown after the movie.

Image Credit: http://screentalk.com.au/

The problem with the movie trailers was that people would not stay to watch them, hence, making them ineffective.

October 12, 2020 (Monday)
:::The number of Corona Cases were:
Confirmed - 71,20,538
Recovered - 61,49,535
Deceased - 1,09,150

:::Rajnath Singh, the Defence Minister of India, inaugurated forty-four bridges in an online event. These bridges have been built by Border Roads Organization (BRO) in the border areas of Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. These bridges are strategically important as they would help the armed forces to ensure the quick movement of their troops and weapons. Rajnath Singh, while inaugurating the bridges, said that these roads are not only for strategic needs, but they also reflect an equal participation of all the stakeholders in the development of the nation.

Image Credit: https://ifenewsnetwork.com/

Rajnath Singh also laid the foundation stone of the Nechiphu tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh in the online event.

:::Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of India, announced Leave Travel Concession (LTC) cash voucher scheme for all the government employees. According to the scheme, every government employee will get an advance of ₹10,000/-. The amount will be interest-free and it will be in the form of a prepaid RuPay Card. The advance would need to be spent by March 31, 2021, and it will be recoverable in maximum ten installments. A total of ₹4,000 crore is expected to be disbursed, and if all states agree to offer the scheme then another ₹8,000 crore would be disbursed by the Central Government assuming that half of the amount is offered by the State Government.

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

LTC is the first part of the Government's plan to boost consumer spending.

:::"Blue Flag" certification was awarded to eight Indian beaches. The certificate was awarded by an eminent international jury that consisted of: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The beaches that received the certification are: Kappad (Kerala), Shivrajpur (Gujarat), Ghoghla (Diu), Kasarkod & Padubidri (Karnataka), Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh), Golden (Odisha) and Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands). Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, responded to the news by saying that this was an outstanding feat & a global recognition of India's conservation and sustainable development efforts.

Image Credit: https://affairscloud.com/

Blue Flag Programme, started in France in 1985, is awarded annually to beaches and marinas in FEE member countries by Denmark-based non-profit FEE. FEE sets stringent environmental, educational, safety-related and access-related criteria that the applicants must meet & maintain.

October 13, 2020 (Tuesday)
:::The number of Corona Cases as reported on Aarogya Setu App were as follows:
Confirmed - 71,75,880
Recovered - 62,27,295
Deceased - 1,09,856

:::Johnson & Johnson temporarily paused its Covid-19 vaccine trial in the United States of America after its candidates suffered from an unexplained illness. The company, while reporting its quarterly financial results, said that such pauses are normal in big trials and that they are different from a 'regulatory hold' that is required by health authorities. The unexplained illness of the candidates is currently being reviewed and evaluated by an independent data & safety monitoring board, as well as the company's clinical & safety physicians.

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

Trials, meanwhile, have resumed in other countries like the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa and India.

:::In order to mark the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child, M. Shravani, a sixteen years young girl, was made the collector of the Anantapur District for one day as a part of "Balike Bhavishyat" - an initiative by Gandham Chandrudu, Anantapur District Collector, to instil confidence among young girls. Shravani signed a file and granted ₹25,000/- as compensation to a minor victim in an SC/ST atrocity case.

Image Credit: https://ebiopic.com/

A total of 527 girls were made Government Officers for a day in Andhra Pradesh for various posts ranging from Municipal Commissioner to District Collector. Some of the departments that they handled were: Mandal Revenue Officers, Mandal Education Officers, Revenue Divisional Officers, Sericulture Department and District Sports Authority.

:::IIFL Wealth Hurun released its '40 & Under Self-Made Rich' list. The list has been topped by Nithin Kamath (40-years) and Nikhil Kamath (34 years) from Zerodha, with a total wealth of ₹24,000 crore. They are followed by:

Divyank Turakhia (38-years) from Media.net, with a wealth of ₹14,000 crore; and,
Amod Malviya (39-years), Sujeet Kumar (40 years) & Vaibhav Gupta (40-years) from Udaan, with a wealth of ₹13,100 crore each.

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

Ritesh Agarwal (26-years) from OYO Rooms, ranks 9th in the list with the wealth of ₹4,500 crore, and is the youngest self-made entrepreneur in the list. All entrepreneurs in the list added a wealth of ₹44,900 crore, an increase of 59% as compared to the previous year. The average age on the list is thirty-seven, twenty-six being the youngest age on the list.

October 14, 2020 (Wednesday)
:::The number of Corona Cases were:
Confirmed - 72,39,389
Recovered - 63,01,927
Deceased - 1,10,586

:::Shares of Wipro, a Bengaluru based I.T major, fell by 6.5% after it announced a share buy-back plan worth ₹9,500 crore. The buy-back proposal is subjected to the approval of its shareholders and it involves the purchase of 23.75 crore equity shares at ₹400 per share. These shares represent 4.26% of the company's total paid-up equity capital.

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

Wipro, in its latest September quarter, posted a year-on-year (yoy) decline of 3.4% to ₹2,465.7 crore in its consolidated net profit, and registered a flat yoy revenue growth at ₹15,114.5 crore.

:::Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a research led global integrated drug company, launched Nindanib in India. Nindanib is a cheaper drug for the treatment of Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF). The medicine is priced at ₹4,500/- for 100mg and ₹5,400/- for 150mg. Glenmark said that this would enable the doctors to treat a wider patient population in the country. PF is a respiratory health condition that leads to the thickening and scarring of lungs. It causes acute difficulty in breathing and a patient's longevity up to five years after the diagnosis.

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

As per some doctors, it is estimated that people who have recovered from Covid-19 are likely to suffer from PF.

:::Russia and Cuba, along with China, won seats on the UN's premier Human Rights Body. Four countries that won four African seats are Ivory Coast, Malawi, Gabon and Senegal. Two countries that won two East European seats are Russia and Ukraine. Three countries that won Latin America & Caribbean seats are Mexico, Cuba and Bolivia. Two countries that won seats for Western European & other groups are Britain and France. Saudi Arabia, however, failed to secure a seat. Louis Charbonneau, Human Rights Watch's UN Director, said that Saudi Arabia's failure to win a seat on the Human Rights Council was a welcome reminder of the need for more competition in the UN elections.

Image Credit: Reuters/D. Balibouse

Last week, a coalition of human rights groups from Europe, the United States of America and Canada opposed the election of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, saying that their human rights records made them unqualified for the seat.

:::Twitter suspended several fake accounts as they breached its ban on manipulating the site and spreading spam by claiming to be Black people who said that they were supporting Donal Trump. Twitter, in an official statement, said that its teams are working diligently to investigate the activity and if tweets found to be in violation, then it would take action in line with the Twitter Rules. These accounts were identified by researchers, not Twitter, despite its own policy against spam and platform manipulation.

Image Credit: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The accounts were identified by the use of a uniform language, example: YES I'M BLACK AND I'M VOTING FOR TRUMP.

October 15, 2020 (Thursday)
:::The number of Corona Cases as reported on Aarogya Setu App were as follows:
Confirmed - 73,07,097
Recovered - 63,83,441
Deceased - 1,11,266

:::BMW India launched 2-Series Gran Coupe (GC). The sedan will be offered in two variants: Sport (starts from ₹39.30 lakh, ex-showroom); and, MSport (starts from ₹41.40 lakh, ex-showroom). It has a 2-litre twin turbo diesel engine that puts 190 PS and 400Nm. GC is loaded with features like 4-frameless doors, slightly angled full-LED headlights, full LED tail-lights in the centre of the rear end, 3D navigation, 12.3 inch digital instrument display behind the steering wheel and 10.25 inch Control Display. Additionally, it also offers features like wireless charging for mobile and parking assistant with rear view camera.

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

BMW India will produce GC locally in its Chennai plant. It will currently be available only in the diesel version and the petrol version will be made available soon.

:::Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) received ₹5,550 crore from KKR, a global investment firm. With this investment, KKR has picked-up a stake of 1.28% in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL). RIL allotted 8,13,48,479 equity shares to Alyssum Asia Holdings II Pte. Ltd, a unit of KKR.

Image Credit: Reuters

KKR had previously picked-up 2.32% stake in Jio Platforms for ₹11,367 crore. Some other investors in Jio Platforms are: Silver Lake, Facebook, Google, Vista, General Atlantic and Mubadala.

October 16, 2020 (Friday)
:::The number of Corona Cases were as follows:
Confirmed - 73,70,468
Recovered - 64,53,779
Deceased - 1,12,161

:::Audi India launched its premium SUV, Audi Q2, that starts from ₹34.99 lakh (ex-showroom) and goes up to ₹48.89 lakh (ex-showroom). It will be offered in five trims, namely: Standard, Premium, Premium Plus 1, Premium Plus 2 and Technology. The SUV will have 2.0 litre TFSI engine that produces a maximum power of 190 PS and a peak torque of 320 Nm. It is 1548mm tall, 1805mm wide & 4318mm long and has a wheelbase of 2593mm. Some other highlighted features are Audi Phone Box for wireless charging and 2-zone air conditioner that will ensure customized temperature settings for the driver & the passenger. It will be offered with a five-year service package that includes 2+3 years Extended Warranty and 2+3 years Roadside Assistance.

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

Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi India, said that he has extensively driven the car himself and he has vouched that the Audi Q2 would be a thrilling drive.

:::According to a study published in the Lancent Journal, the Life Expectancy in India rose from 59.6 years (1990) to 70.8 years (2019), and gained a decade. However, Srinivas Goli from Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, said that the increase in 'healthy life expectancy' in India has not been as dramatic as the growth of life expectancy since 'people are living more years with illness & disability'. The study found that the largest contributors to increasing health loss in India over the last thirty years were Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) like ischaemic heart disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), diabetes, stroke and a group of musculoskeletal disorders.

Image Credit: https://theprint.in/

The research also noted the top five risk factors for death in India. They are: air pollution (1.67 million deaths), high blood pressure (1.47 million deaths), tobacco use (1.23 million deaths), poor diet (1.18 deaths) and high blood sugar (1.12 million deaths).

:::Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification and banned the imports of 'air conditioners with refrigerants'. The ban has been imposed to promote domestic manufacturing and to cut imports of non-essential items. The ban was earlier imposed on imports of tyres, TV sets and agarbattis. China and Thailand are top exporters of 'air conditioners with refrigerants' and they contribute over 90% of India's imports of the goods.

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

A group of Chief Executive Officers, led by Pawan Goenka from Mahindra Group, has prepared a plan for the commerce & industry ministry and has proposed a duty hike & re-working of the trade agreement with Thailand.

In this week's Special Section, i will talk about "Duro Green", a solid waste management start-up that gives an End-to-End solution to its customers.

The start-up is committed to make the world a greener place and aims to transform the Indian landscape through its target groups into a sustainably waste free space. The target groups of Duro Green are: Industries, Corporations, Builders, Villages/Wards, Societies, Builders, Educational Institutions and Events.

It also offers two types of composting machines. The first type of the machine is Automatic Composting Machine. It is smaller in size and requires more power. The second type of the machine is Batch Composting Machine. It is comparatively larger in size, requires less power and economical.

The services that are provided by Duro Green are: Mobile Waste Management System, Daily Waste Processing Services, Organic Waste Converter Machines and Mobilization through consultation.

You may watch the interviews of its Founder, Nishank Shah to know more about the start-up.

To visit the website of Duro Green, click here.

That is all for this week.

Do follow my blog to get the updates. You can connect with me on Instagram @sachdev_ankur.

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. The blogger is not responsible for any transaction that happens between the reader and the brand.