Weekly Update: April 05, 2021 - April 09, 2021

Tough times never last,
but tough people do.
-Robert H. Schuller
(September 16, 1926 - April 02, 2015; Motivational Speaker, and Author)

[Show that you care,
Read, Subscribe and Share]

Let's Start!

Here is a Fun Fact that you may not, or may, know: Baby sea otters cannot swim and hence, their mother carries them while they hunt.

Image Credit: https://home.adelphi.edu/

A raft of otters hold each others' hands while asleep so that no one drifts apart.

April 05, 2021 (Monday)
:::The number of Corona Cases were as follows:
Confirmed - 1,25,89,067
Received - 1,16,82,136
Deceased - 1,65,101

:::LG Electronics Inc, a South Korea-based company, became the first major smartphone brand to withdraw from the market as it failed to find a buyer for its loss-making mobile division. The 10% share of the company in North America will reportedly be bought by Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. A spokesperson from the company said that it would be able to focus better on other areas like electric vehicle components, connected devices, and smart homes once it has completely withdrawn itself from the mobile market. LG will, however, continue to provide service support and software updates to its existing customers for a period that will vary based on the region.

Image Credit: Reuters

Ko Eui-young, an analyst at Hi Investment & Securities, said that LG has always targeted the mid-priced category in the United States of America and Samsung would be able to attract LG users better than Apple.

:::Google won a copyright case against Oracle by a majority of six-to-two. Oracle had sued Google in 2010 in San Francisco Federal Court alleging Google of plagiarizing more than eleven thousand lines of its Java software to build the Android Operating Systems. Google, in response to the allegations made by Oracle, said that the company had not copied a code, it had rather used the elements of Java's software code that were needed to operate a computer program or platform.

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

Oracle had sued Google seeking compensation of $8 billion in 2010. The renewed estimates in future hearings went as high as $20 billion to $30 billion.

April 06, 2021 (Tuesday)
:::The number of Corona Cases as reported on Aarogya Setu App were as follows:
Confirmed - 1,26,86,049
Recovered - 1,17,32,279
Deceased - 1,65,547

:::GameStop announced to sell its 3.5 million shares through an at-the-market offering. The announcement made by the company increased its share prices by 850%. It decided to sell its shares as it felt that its existence was threatened by people choosing to directly download the games instead of buying them in physical form.

Image Credit: Getty Images

A spokesperson from the company said that it had disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission that it had been considering selling its share since January 2021.

:::The researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, developed algorithms that can predict the functioning of internal combustion engines in vehicles. The algorithm will help to optimize the operation of an engine for maximum fuel efficiency and minimum emission. The researchers have claimed that the algorithm can also be applied to determine other variables in vehicles like the state-of-charge (SoC) in battery-operated vehicles in real-time.

Image Credit: IIT Mandi

The algorithms have been developed in collaboration with Robert Bosch Engineering & Business Solutions, a Bengaluru-based company.

April 07, 2021 (Wednesday)
:::The number of Corona Cases were as follows:
Confirmed - 1,28,01,785
Recovered - 1,17,92,135
Deceased - 1,66,177

:::According to a report published by The Wall Street Journal, the Chinese Government has created its own digital currency called Cyber Yuan. Cyber Yuan will reportedly not use distributed ledger technology which allows validation of transactions without the need for banks. The digital currency is expected to help the Chinese Government in tracking the illegal flow of funds and achieving the aim of making its currency international. Cyber Yuan works similar to any other cryptocurrency.

1. A user would need to download the digital wallet and generate a QR code.
2. Store their funds in it.
3. Scan the QR code to make payments.

Image Credit: Foreign Policy Research Institute

Cyber Yuan will be fully controlled by the People's Bank of China (PBoC).

:::According to a study conducted by the researchers at Oxford University, one in three COVID-19 patients was diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric condition within six months of infection. Some of the most common diagnoses were anxiety, mood disorders, and insomnia. These were found to be more severe in patients who were hospitalized. Max Taquet, a psychiatrist at Oxford University, said that even though the study has not been able to examine the biological or psychological mechanisms involved, there is an urgent need to identify these to prevent or treat them.

Image Credit: University of Oxford

The study covered 2,36,000 COVID-19 patients, mostly in the United States of America.

April 08, 2021 (Thursday)
:::The number of Corona Cases as reported on Aarogya Setu App were as follows:
Confirmed - 1,29,28,574
Recovered - 1,18,51,393
Deceased - 1,66,862

:::Hyundai Motor India unveiled Alcazar. Alcazar is its upcoming six-seven-seater SUV which is expected to be priced in the range of ₹13-₹20 lakhs (ex-showroom). It will offer three driving modes namely Eco, City, and Sport. The premium SUV is powered by a 3rd Generation Nu 2.0-liter petrol engine and a U2 1.5-liter diesel engine. The petrol engine generates a maximum power of 159 PS and the diesel engine generates a maximum power of 115 PS. Both versions will offer an option of 6AT and 6MT transmission. Alcazar will be manufactured by using 89% Green Energy at the HMIL plant in Irungattukottai, Tamil Nadu.

Image Credit: Hyundai

Hyundai is expected to launch Alcazar in May 2021, and the SUV will compete with Tata Safari & MG Hector Plus.

:::Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of Australia, announced that its politicians and judges would no longer be exempt from rules against sexual harassment at work as it denied an Australian, especially a woman, not just his/her personal security but their economic security too by not feeling safe at work. The PM also agreed to adopt all fifty-five recommendations that were made by the Commissioner. Some of the recommendations are:

1. A blanket ban on workplace gender discrimination.
2. Mandatory training of company directors.
3. Improved coordination among complaint-handling agencies.

In Pic: Scott Morrison; Image Credit: https://womensagenda.com.au/

Zali Steggall, an independent member of the Parliament, called this a win for every person who was a part of the protest.

April 09, 2021 (Friday)
:::The number of Corona Cases were as follows:
Confirmed - 1,30,60,542
Recovered - 1,19,13,292
Deceased - 1,67,642

:::Beijing authorities forced Hupan Academy to halt its enrollment process. Hupan Academy was founded in 2015 by Jack Ma. The academy is backed by Alibaba Group Co Ltd and it trains the next generation entrepreneurs of China. The authorities halted its enrollment process amid the crackdown on Jack Ma's business. Jack Ma had earlier criticized the financial regulators of China.

In Pic: Jack Ma; Image Credit: Reuters

The Hangzhou-based academy suspended classes of the first-year batch that were scheduled to begin at the end of March 2021.

:::After the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), UK's competition watchdog intervened for the third time, Facebook removed sixteen thousand groups from its platforms. The groups that have been removed are accused of selling & buying fake reviews of products and services. Dr. Andrea Coscelli, the Chief Executive of CMA, said that the fame reviews were damaging as many people were buying on the internet due to the pandemic and millions of them read reviews to make an informed choice.

Image Credit: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Facebook also made changes to detect, remove and prevent paid content that could mislead users on its platform.

In this week's Special Section, let's find out what inspired R. Madhavan to make his directorial debut with Rocketry: The Nambi Effect.

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

S. Nambi Narayanan, an Indian scientist and an aerospace engineer by profession, was born on December 12, 1941, in Tamil Nadu. His education includes a reputed fellowship earned from NASA. He holds a record of completing his master's in chemical rocket propulsion in a record time of ten months under the mentorship of  Professor Luigi Crocco.

In Pic: S. Nambi Narayanan; Image Credit: Study IQ education | YouTube

When he was at the peak of his career in 1994, he was arrested along with D. Sasikumaran, a scientist in the India Space Research Organization (ISRO). Both of them were accused of leaking vital documents to foreign countries including Pakistan. They were grilled by the officers of the Intelligence Bureau.

In 1998, the Supreme Court of India dismissed the case after no evidence was found against him. The accusation turned out to be false but his career was adversely affected during that period. The Court ordered the Kerala Government to pay him compensation for the mental cruelty that he suffered during the investigation. Even though the Kerala Government claimed that it had paid him the compensation, it was only in 2018 when he received his much deserved due of ₹1.3 crores.

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, R. Madhavan's directorial debut, is dedicated to the great life of one of the best Indian scientists that ISRO ever had: S. Nambi Narayanan. You may watch the trailer here:

The film is tentatively scheduled to be released in 2021.

That is all for this week.

Do subscribe to my blog to get updates. You can connect with me on Instagram @sachdev_ankur. You can extend your financial support on Buy Me a Coffee @ankursachdev.

I hope that the blog was useful and it helped you in catching up with what happened this week. 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.