Edition 13

Week in Review
September 23, 2019

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 NATIONAL
First Indian to be sent to space by our own rocket in 2021: ISRO
chief

ISRO chief K Sivan has said the organisation is working on

sending the first Indian to space by "our own" rocket in 2021.
"By December 2020, we would've the first unmanned mission of
human space flight”, said the ISRO chief.
https://bit.ly/2kpHu8q

BJP, Sena to fight Maharashtra polls together

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said that BJP and Shiv Sena

will contest state Assembly polls together next month and
expressed confidence that he'll return as the CM. This comes
after reports claimed that BJP will contest 162 and Shiv Sena
126 seats.
https://bit.ly/2kyqnBA

3 political leaders released from detention in J&K

Three J&K political leaders, including PDP leader Khursheed

Alam and NC leader Syed Akhoon, were released on Friday,
officials stated. They had been detained following the
abrogation of Article 370 on August 5.
https://bit.ly/2muIQjb

Value of govt's 28% stake in ITC surged by ₹1,800 cr on vaping

ban

The value of the government's stake in ITC surged as much as

₹1,800 crore on Wednesday following the announcement of the
nationwide e-cigarette ban. The government and state-owned
companies including LIC together held a 28.64% stake in ITC.
https://bit.ly/2m7zYPX

'Gully Boy' chosen as India's official entry for Oscars 2020

Zoya Akhtar directorial 'Gully Boy', starring Ranveer Singh and

Alia Bhatt in the lead roles, has been declared as India's official
entry for the 92nd Academy Awards in the Best International
Feature Film category.
https://bit.ly/2ktMvgi
 INTERNATIONAL
David Cameron reveals Manmohan Singh confided in him on Pak
military action

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron released his

memoirs, For The Record, on Thursday, in which he speaks on
his relationship with former Indian PM Manmohan Singh, who
confided in him about the plan of military action against Pakistan
in case of another terrorist attack.
http://bit.ly/2m8nVlt

Climate activists hold event to mark vanishing Swiss glacier

Hundreds of activists paid their respects to Pizol, a Swiss

glacier that is about to disappear in the next decade, due to
global warming. The Pizol glacier, at present is less than a tenth
of a square km in the Glarus Alps in eastern Switzerland.
Situated about 2,600 meters above sea level, the glacier is
predicted to vanish completely by 2030.
https://reut.rs/2mtcPI7

Trudeau resumes campaign as polls show damage from

blackface photo

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau returned to his campaign trail in

his bid for re-election as polls indicated Liberals were starting
to suffer with voters after photos emerged of him in blackface.
Trudeau has repeatedly apologized for the photos.
https://reut.rs/2m7VlRb

Tens of thousands march for ban on abortions in Slovakia

Tens of thousands marched in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava,

protesting for a total ban on abortions in the primarily Catholic
European country. In Slovakia, on-demand abortions are legal
up until 12 weeks of a pregnancy while abortions for health
reasons are allowed until 24 weeks.
https://reut.rs/2kyN5cO

Tanzania failing to provide details on Ebola virus

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reprimanded

Tanzania for not providing information about possible Ebola
virus infections. The WHO said it had news of one suspected
fatal case in Dar es Salaam and two others but despite repeated
requests no information was given by the country. Tanzania has
said it has no suspected or confirmed cases.
https://bbc.in/2kMsHoN
 BUSINESS
Nirmala Sitharaman announces corporate tax cut

In a surprise move, the government on Friday slashed the

income tax rate for companies by almost 10 percentage points
to 25.17%. It also offered a lower rate to 17.01% for new
manufacturing firms to boost economic growth rate from a six-
year low by incentivising investments to help create jobs.
https://bit.ly/2m6RSlW

India bans e-cigarettes as global backlash at vaping increases

India banned the sale of electronic cigarettes on Wednesday and

warned of an "epidemic" among young people, in the latest and
potentially biggest move globally against vaping over growing
health concerns. The ban cuts off a huge future market from e-
cigarette makers at a time when the number of people smoking
worldwide is declining.
https://bit.ly/2kMyCu1

Blackstone Group to acquire Global Tech Park in Bengaluru

Blackstone Group is all set to acquire Coffee Day Enterprises

arm Global Village Tech Park in Bengaluru in a bid to reduce
the parent company's debt by over 50%, said a media report.
Blackstone Group reportedly inked a definitive pact to buy
Coffee Day Enterprises (CDEL) subsidiary Global Village Tech
Park for about Rs 2,770 crore.
https://bit.ly/2m8161e

U.S. lifts tariffs on 400 Chinese products

U.S. President Donald Trump said his administration was

"making a lot of progress" with China on Friday, as Washington
lifted tariffs on over 400 Chinese products. Trump said the
United States was taking in billions of dollars from tariffs
imposed on Chinese products
https://bit.ly/2m3P0X5

Burger King scraps plastic toys in children’s meals

As a response to a petition by two sisters in the UK, Burger

King announced it was stopping free plastic toys with children’s
meals amid growing environmental and waste concerns.
https://bit.ly/2m1KRD4
 TECHNOLOGY
Facebook’s Suspension of ‘Tens of Thousands’ of Apps Reveals
Wider Privacy Issues

Facebook started an investigation into apps on its platform in

March 2018 after the Cambridge Analytica controversy.
Facebook has suspended 69,000 apps. Majority of these apps
were terminated because the developers did not cooperate with
the investigation and 10,000 were flagged for potentially
misappropriating personal data from Facebook users.
https://nyti.ms/2msvJil

Google expands flood prediction program in India by 12 times

Google’s AI-driven flood prediction program in India has been

expanded 12 times. It covers areas around Patna, Bhagalpur,
Goalpara, and Guwahati. This monsoon season, the program
sent out 800,000 alerts in India and it was 90% accurate. The
government wants the program to predict rain.
https://bit.ly/2kZkcGT

Tata Motors announces all-new powertrain tech for future

electric vehicles

The Ziptron technology comprises an efficient permanent

magnet AC motor along with a dust and water proof lithium-ion
battery system, which meets the IP67 standards. Cars with
Ziptron will have a minimum range of 250km. Tata Motors will
offer eight-year warranty on the battery pack and motor.
https://bit.ly/2m2ZPZs

Eros Now ties up with Microsoft to develop OTT technology

Eros Now will use Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure to build new
features including in app video search in 10 Indian languages
and a personalised recommendation engine for viewers.
Microsoft has previously tied up with Zee5 and Reliance Jio to
use Azure for their backend infrastructure.
https://bit.ly/2muBz2L

Jio has widest 4G network, Airtel's grows over 3-fold: Trai

Jio has the widest 4G network in India with 7.46 lakh plus 4G
base stations. Bharti Airtel's 4G coverage is less than half of
Reliance Jio's but it has expanded its network more than three-
folds since Sept 2017. Vodafone Idea holds the highest amount
of spectrum for 4G services, around 1.5 times of Reliance Jio,
but its 4G network grew only 62 per cent.
https://bit.ly/2moekHn
E-COMMERCE & START-UPS
Paytm invests Rs 250 crore to boost its travel business

Digital payments firm Paytm on Thursday announced to invest

Rs 250 crore in its travel business over the next six months
to scale up product and technology team and set up new
business verticals. According to the company, owned
by One97 Communications, it has sold over 100 million tickets
within just three years of operations.
http://bit.ly/2muZmzH

Amazon vows to be carbon neutral by 2040, to buy 1 lakh EVs

Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos on

Thursday pledged to make the largest U.S. e-commerce
company net carbon neutral by 2040 and to buy 100,000
electric delivery vans from a start-up, as employees and
consumers around the world plan protests to address climate
change.
http://bit.ly/2mpz4i0

Snapdeal partners with Jharkhand government to promote

bamboo products

Snapdeal has launched handmade bamboo products from

Jharkhand on its platform. The products were launched in
partnership with Mukhyam Mantri Laghu Kutir Udyog Vikas
Board (MMLKUB), an initiative of the Department of
Industries, Government of Jharkhand.
http://bit.ly/2kpCssy

Start-ups seek change in listing requirement

A clutch of Indian consumer internet companies including ANI

Technologies (OLA), Lenskart, Policybazaar, will soon
petition the country’s market regulator for a revision in rules
that govern the listing of start-ups on Indian stock exchanges,
according to industry executives aware of the plans.
http://bit.ly/2m71OMe

Microsoft to extend mentoring, tech support to start-ups in

Tier 2 cities

Microsoft announced the launch of its ‘Highway to a Hundred

Unicorns’ initiative to engage with start-ups and
entrepreneurs through a series of outreach programme across
Tier-2 cities in India. More than 250 start-ups attended the
first event at Gandhinagar.
http://bit.ly/2kZ4tHH
 SPORTS
World Wrestling C'ships: Bajrang Punia wins bronze medal

Bajrang Punia became the first Indian wrestler to win three

World Championships medal after he won bronze in
Kazakhstan, beating Tulga Tomor-Ochiryn of Mongolia.
Bajrang was already India’s only multiple medallist at the
Worlds and he consolidated his record with his 8-7 win over
Ochir, the under-23 Asian champion.
http://bit.ly/2m0IGzC

India coast to seven-wicket win in 2nd T20I vs South Africa

After a washout in Dharamsala, India got their home season

underway with a comfortable win in Mohali, against a new-
look South Africa side that didn't quite show the depth of
resources to genuinely challenge them. Having restricted the
visitors to a below-par 149, India romped home with an over
to spare.
https://es.pn/2m05VtK

Kyrgios keeps Team World in contention at Laver Cup

Beaten by Roger Federer but too strong for Rafael Nadal in

the doubles, Nick Kyrgios was at the centre of Saturday's
Laver Cup action. Europe, which has won the prior two
editions of the competition, leads 7-5 heading into the final
day, but it might have had one hand on the trophy already if
not for Kyrgios.
http://bit.ly/2kpkkiu

China Open badminton: Praneeth loses in quarterfinals, India’s

campaign over

B Sai Praneeth suffered a three-game loss to world no. 9

Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the quarterfinals to draw curtains
on India’s campaign at the China Open World Tour Super
1000 badminton tournament in Changzhou on Friday.
http://bit.ly/2mopBaI

UEFA Champions League Matchday 1 Roundup

The 28th season of the UEFA Champions League got

underway this week, with matchday-1 fixtures featuring all 32
teams. Bayern and City cruised, Barcelona and Tottenham
struggled, Liverpool and Real flop in the first matchday of
Champions League.
http://bit.ly/2kxWd1m