Weekly Update: May 24, 2021 - May 28, 2021

Believe in yourself
and the universe will bow to your wishes and make your dreams come true.
-Dr. Mabel Joshua-Amadi
(Author of Shatter Your Self-Doubt)

Let's start!

Did you know that a resident of Brooklyn, New York, holds a world record for the most world record titles?

Image Credit: Guinness World Records

His name is Ashrita Furman and he holds the world record for more than six-hundred world record titles in his lifetime.

May 24, 2021 (Monday)

:::The number of Corona Cases across India were as follows:
Confirmed - 2,67,52,447
Recovered - 2,37,28,011
Deceased - 3,03,720

:::Aung San Suu Kyi, the Founder and the President of the National League for Democracy, appeared at a court hearing for the first time since the army took over the country. She was deposed as the country's leader in February 2021 after the army claimed of the fraudulent activities conducted by her party in the November 2020 election. These claims were, however, dismissed by the former electoral commission. She is currently facing charges related to illegally possessing a walkie-talkie and violating a state secret law.

In Pic: Aung San Suu Kyi; Image Credit: CNN

Thae Maung Maung, her lawyer, issued an official statement saying that she looked healthy and held a face-to-face meeting with her legal team for thirty minutes before the hearing.

:::Cindy Kiro became the first Maori woman to be appointed as the Governor-General. She was appointed by Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. She will succeed Patsy Reddy and her five-year term will start from October 2021. Cindy Kiro has experience working as Children's Commissioner. She has also held leadership roles at several universities. She is currently working as the Chief Executive of the Royal Society.

In Pic: Cindy Kiro (left) and Jacinda Ardern (right); Image Credit: Yahoo News

Cindy Kiro is sixty-three years young and the fourth woman to be appointed as the Governor-General of New Zealand.

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May 25, 2021 (Tuesday)
:::The number of Corona Cases across India as reported on Aarogya Setu App were as follows:
Confirmed - 2,69,48,874
Recovered - 2,40,54,861
Deceased - 3,07,231

:::A fine of four million roubles (₹39 lakhs approx) was imposed on Google by Russia for failing to delete the content that the country deems illegal. The company allegedly also failed to remove illegal sites from its search engine. These sites are linked to terrorist & extremist organizations and online stores that sell drugs. Some of the websites containing pornographic images of minors are deemed illegal by the country. The other two platforms fined by Russia were Facebook and Twitter.

Image Credit: iStock

A fine of twenty-six million roubles (₹2 crores approx) and 8.9 million roubles (₹87 lakhs approx) was imposed on Facebook and Twitter, respectively. The social media platforms are facing the charge of failing to remove posts that encouraged minors to join unsanctioned protests in January 2021 when people across the country took to the streets to support Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny after he was detained.

:::Texas lawmakers approved a bill that allows residents to carry a handgun with no requirement for a license, background check, or training. The criteria, as stated by the lawmakers, are as follows:

1. The person should be 21 years of age or above; and,
   
2. The person should not have felony criminal convictions or other legal prohibitions.

Image Credit: Texas Legislature Online

A spokesperson of the National Rifle Association called this the most significant bill in the history of Texas and said that the bill would allow the people of Texas to defend themselves against any threat in public. Some people, however, have opposed this bill by saying that it would put the life of the public and police in danger.

 

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May 26, 2021 (Wednesday)
:::The number of Corona Cases across India were as follows:
Confirmed - 2,71,57,795
Recovered - 2,43,50,816
Deceased - 3,11,388

:::The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), the United Kingdom's watchdog, banned an ad campaign by Luno. The ad campaign by the cryptocurrency exchange service allegedly did not highlight a risk warning and hence, misled many users who lack knowledge about such services.

Image Credit: TeleTrader

The agency said that the ad campaign also did not clarify that the retail investors who deal in such services were not protected as neither Luno nor the bitcoin market was regulated in the UK.

:::Punjab Kings, an IPL franchise, collaborated with Round Table India (RTI) for "Project Saah! Let's help India breathe again." In the collaboration, Punjab Kings will finance oxygen concentrators for the patients of COVID-19 and RTI will handle the distribution of these oxygen concentrators. Ness Wadia, the co-owner of Punjab Kings, said that collaboration, stepping up to the challenge, and reaching out to people who were distressed, distraught, & helpless was the only way to overcome the pandemic.

Image Credit: Punjab Kings | Twitter

These oxygen concentrators will be sanitized and reused for more patients.

 

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May 27, 2021 (Thursday)
:::The number of Corona Cases across India as reported on Aarogya Setu App were as follows:
Confirmed - 2,73,69,093
Recovered - 2,46,33,951
Deceased - 3,15,235

:::The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has demanded the incorporation of its demands by submitting a presentation to Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister of India. The three major demands raised by FHRAI are as follows:

1. Increase the threshold limit of hotel room tariff from ₹7,500/- to ₹9,500/- to charge 18% GST;
2. Increase the rates from ₹1,000/- to ₹2,000/- room per day for zero GST; and,
3. Treat F&B revenue across hotels & standalone restaurants as bundled services charged at 5% for units not availing Input Tax Credit (ITC) and 12% for units availing ITC.

Image Credit: HospiBuz

These demands have been requested by the association to help the hospitality industry in its survival efforts.

:::Get My Parking (GMP), a Bengaluru-based start-up, raised over ₹43 crores. The funding round, where Masterkey Holdings served as the investment banker, was led by IvyCap Ventures and witnessed the participation of IAN Fund. The fund raised in this round will be used to; extend the operations of the company to the US, Latin America, & Australian markets; and, hire & expand its engineering & product departments.

Image Credit: Get My Parking | Blog

GMP was founded in 2015 by Chirag Jain and Rasik Pansare. It is a mobility and smart parking start-up that uses its technology to upgrade physical parking lots into digital mobility hubs. The start-up offers contactless access and cashless payment. It has so far digitized over three thousand parking lots across India, Europe, and the United States of America.

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May 28, 2021 (Friday)
:::The number of Corona Cases across India were as follows:
Confirmed - 2,75,55,457
Recovered - 2,48,93,410
Deceased - 3,18,895

:::According to a report published in The Lancet, a medical journal, the number of smokers increased to 1.1 billion globally in 2019. This is the highest number that has been recorded. The list is topped by China where - globally - one in every three smokers resides. China is followed by India, Indonesia, Russia, the United States of America (USA), Bangladesh, Japan, Turkey, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The year 2019 witnessed the death of eight million people around the world due to their smoking habits. The report also stated that around 89% of smokers became addicted to smoking by the age of twenty-five.

Image Credit: India TV

The habit of smoking increased in men in twenty countries and women in twelve countries.

:::The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) released 'Guidelines for Influencer Advertising in Digital Media'. The guidelines make it mandatory for an influencer to label their paid posts to ensure transparency. To identify the violation of these guidelines, ASCI has partnered with Reech Influence Cloud, a French technology provider that uses Artificial Intelligence to identify the lack of disclosure on social media posts that are commercial. The platform maximizes its accuracy with the help of the Machine Learning Algorithm and Pattern Searching Regex (Regular Expression).

Image Credit: limeart

The guidelines will come into effect from June 14, 2021.

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In this week's Special Section, let us read about Yellow Fungus: Symptoms and Precautions.

Image Credit: News18 Creative

The Yellow Fungus, just like Black Fungus and White Fungus, is a fungal infection. It can be more fatal as it begins internally and this delays its diagnosis. However, one can take precautionary measures once a symptom is noticed. Here are the symptoms of Yellow Fungus:

1. Loss of appetite
2. Lethargy
3. Weight loss
4. Sunken eyes
5. Slow healing of wounds
6. Oozing of pus from the wounds
7. Necrosis (an injury of cells that leads to their death)

Here are the precautions that you may take:

1. Throw away stale and fecal food
2. Take care of personal hygiene and keep surroundings clean
3. Maintain a clear air passage in a room
4. Check the humidity of a room regularly & keep it balanced
5. Once diagnosed with Corona, start your treatment immediately.

The information stated above was published in Financial Express. Kindly consult your doctor for more details.

That is all for this week.

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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.