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Weekly Update: November 02, 2020 - November 06, 2020

I found that every single successful person i have ever spoken to had a turning point
and the turning point was where they made a clear, specific, unequivocal decision
that they were not going to live like this anymore.
Some people make that decision at 15
and some people make it at 50
and most never make it at all.
-Brian Tracy
(January 05, 1944; American-Canadian motivational speaker)


Let's start!

Did you know, that a kangaroo cannot hop if you lift its tail off the ground?

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

If one elevates the tail of a kangaroo, then it loses its balance and falls as a kangaroo uses its tail for balance whilst hopping.

November 02, 2020 (Monday)
:::The number Corona Cases were as follows:
Confirmed - 82,29,313
Recovered - 75,44,798
Deceased - 1,22,607

:::Nissan India announced that it has started the production of Magnite SUV at its plant in Oragadam, Chennai. The SUV is expected to be priced at around ₹6 lakh and ₹10 lakh (ex-showroom). It will be offered in four variations: XE (Base), XL (Mid), XV (High) and XV (Premium). XE (Base) will be loaded with 16-inch wheel, skid plates, function roof rails, 3.5-inch LCD cluster, all-power window and dual tone interiors. XL (Mid) will have features like six speakers for integrated audio, steering wheel audio control, automatic AC and electric outside mirror. XV (High) will be offered with 16-inch diamond cut alloys, 7-inch TFT meter, voice recognition, rear-view camera and push-button start. XV (Premium) will have LED bi-projector headlamps, cruise control, 360-degree around view monitor, tire pressure monitor and full sporty interiors. Magnite SUV will be offered with an optional "Tech Pack" that will include wireless charger, air purifier, ambient mood lighting, puddle lamps and high-end speakers from JBL. The customers will have two engine options: 1.0 litre B4D naturally aspirated petrol engine with 5-speed manual transmission; and, 1.0 litre HRA0 turbo petrol engine with 5-speed manual & CVT transmission.

Image Credit: https://gomechanic.in/
Image Credit: https://gomechanic.in/

Rakesh Srivastava, Managing Director at Nissan Motor India, has called the start of the production of Nissan Magnite SUV a proud moment for the entire company.

:::Around 2.58 million citizens took the test during a 2-day nationwide testing drive that was organized by the Government of Slovakia. Jaroslav Nad, the Defence Minister, said that out of 2.58 million citizens, 25,850 citizens tested positive for Covid-19 and they must go into quarantine.

Image Credit: Reuters
Image Credit: Reuters

The test was absolutely free & voluntary, and the government plans to organize a second round of the testing in the coming weekend.

November 03, 2020 (Tuesday)
:::The figures for Corona Cases as reported on Aarogya Setu App were as follows:
Confirmed - 82,67,623
Recovered - 76,03,121
Deceased - 1,23,097

:::Future Group filed two caveat petitions in the Delhi High Court, against Amazon, after Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC) put the proposal to sell its retail business to Reliance on hold until it gives a final judgement on a plea filed by Amazon. Future Group has filed two caveat petitions to make sure that it gets a chance to be heard before the court passes any order if, in case, Amazon files a case.

Image Credit: PTI and Picxy.com
Image Credit: PTI and Picxy.com

Future Group is currently under the deal to sell its retail assets to Reliance Industries.

:::Duarte Pacheco, a Portugal candidate, received 222 out of 394 votes and got elected as the 30th President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). He will take the place of Mexican MP Gabriela Cuevas Barron, who has completed her term in October 2020. The tenure of Duarte Pacheco will last from 2020 to 2023. The elections took place through a remote electronic secret ballot.

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

Akmal Saidov (a candidate from Uzbekistan) received sixty-seven votes, Salma Ataullahjan (a candidate from Canada) received fifty-three votes and Muhammad Sanjrani (a candidate from Pakistan) received fifty-two votes.

November 04, 2020 (Wednesday)
:::The number of Corona Cases were:
Confirmed - 83,13,876
Recovered - 76,56,478
Deceased - 1,23,611

:::Jaguar Land Rover India announced the opening of bookings for Jaguar I-PACE, its electronic SUV, delivery of which will tentatively begin from March 2021. It will be offered with 90 kWh lithium-ion battery that delivers a maximum power of 400 PS and comes with an 8-years or 1,60,000 km warranty. The SUV will be offered in three variants: S, SE & HSE, and all of them will have 7.4 kW AC wall mounted charger. The electric SUV will be offered to customers with a complimentary five-years service package and five-years Jaguar Roadside Assistance. Jaguar I-PACE accelerates from 0-100 km/hr in just 4.8 seconds.

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

Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director at Jaguar Land Rover India, said that the company is extremely thrilled to commence its electric journey in the Indian market with the introduction of Jaguar I-PACE.

:::The Government of India allowed 100% tax exemption to Abu Dhabi's MIC Redwood 1 RSC Ltd for its investment in thirty-four key infrastructure sectors like hotels, educational institutions and hospitals. As per the exemption policy, any income in the nature of dividend, interest or Long-Term Capital Gain (LTCG) arising from an investment made by it on or after November 02, 2020, but on or before March 31, 2024, shall be entitled for income-tax exemption.

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

The 100% income-tax exemption facility has been well received by the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) & Pension Funds across the globe and a large number of SWFs & Pension Funds have shown interest in making an investment in India's infrastructure sector.

November 05, 2020 (Thursday)
:::The number of Corona Cases as reported on Aarogya Setu App were as follows:
Confirmed - 83,64,086
Recovered - 77,11,809
Deceased - 1,24,315

:::The State Bank of India (SBI) reported a 55.41% rise in the consolidated net profit for the second quarter that ended on September 30, 2020. According to a statement by SBI, the net profit rose to ₹5,245.88 crore on account of decline in bad loans. SBI also reported a growth in its net interest income, that grew to ₹28,181 crore by 14.56%, as compared to ₹24,600 crore last year.

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

The gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at 5.28% in comparison to 7.19% last year. Stock of SBI rose by 6.71% to ₹220.95 on BSE and by 6.76% to ₹221 on NSE.

:::WhatsApp launched a new feature called, "Disappearing Messages", that makes a new sent message disappear after seven days. In case of a one-to-one chat, either person can turn on/off the feature while in case of a group chat, only the admins will have control over the feature. The media sent, too, will disappear; however, it will remain in a user's device if the user has downloaded it. If a user does not open WhatsApp for seven days, then the preview might still be displayed until opened but the message will be deleted.

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

WhatsApp wrote in its blog that while it is great to hold onto memories from family & friends, most of what we send does not need to be everlasting, and the feature also offers a peace of mind by reminding everyone that conversations are not permanent.

November 06, 2020 (Friday)
:::The figures for Corona Cases were as follows:
Confirmed - 84,11,724
Recovered - 77,65,966
Deceased - 1,24,985

:::Royal Enfield launched Meteor 350, that starts from ₹1.75 lakh (ex-showroom) and goes up to ₹1.90 lakh (ex-showroom). It will be offered in three trims: Fireball, Stellar & Supernova, with a seven color options to choose from, namely: Fireball Yellow, Fireball Red, Stellar Black, Stellar Red, Stellar Blue, Supernova Brown and Supernova Blue. The bike is powered by G-series 349cc, single-cylinder, 4-stroke, air-oil cooled engine, that produces a maximum power of 20.4 PS & 27 Nm of peak torque. Meteor 350 promises to offer a decent navigation experience with is Tripper pod that is powered by Google. A customer will get three-years warranty with one-year roadside assistance.

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

Meteor 350 can be customized and bought online on the Make-it-Yours platform of Royal Enfield.

:::National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) imposed a cap of 30% transaction volumes on third-party apps that provide payment services via UPI. NPCI said in a statement that the decision will help to address the risks and protect the UPI ecosystem as it further scales up. Sajith Sivanandan, Business Head at Google Pay & Next Billion User initiatives India, warned the NPCI by saying that the announcement has implications for hundreds of millions of users who use UPI for their daily payments and the decision could impact the further adoption of UPI & the end goal of financial inclusion.

Image Credit: https://currentaffairs.adda247.com/
Image Credit: https://currentaffairs.adda247.com/

The cap of 30% goes into effect on January 01, 2021.

In this week's Special Section, i will talk about a petition that i recently came across:
"Petition for Amendment and Implementation of Prevention of Cruelty on Animals Act, 1960".

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

The petition seeks; to amend the current Prevention of Cruelty on Animals Act, 1960, by increasing the punishment for crimes against animals to penalties that are commensurate to the acts committed under the Prevention of Cruelty on Animals Act, 1960; to deliver the guidelines to every Police Station of the country to fully investigate the cases of animal cruelty & provide a proper assistance to the complainant; and, amendment for the reconceptualization of crimes against animals under sections 428 & 429 of the Indian Penal Code without the requirement of any monetary value.

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

The Animal Welfare Board of India prepared Draft Animals Welfare Act, 2011 but it has not been passed yet even after making numerous attempts in the parliament. The Draft Animals Welfare Act, 2011, offers to increase the amount of fine and prison time of the culprit.

You may click here to sign the petition.

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.

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