Edition 1

Week in Review
June 24, 2019

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 NATIONAL
Indian doctors call off strike after safety assurances

Doctors in India’s eastern state of West Bengal called off a strike

late on Monday after authorities promised improved hospital
security, ending a week-long dispute that had spread to other
parts of the country and crippled medical services.
https://reut.rs/2RuYlTi

CJI writes to PM, seeks increase in number of Supreme Court

judges

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has written to Prime Minister

Narendra Modi seeking to increase the strength of judges and
raise the retirement age of high court judges to 65 years. He has
also urged the PM to make tenure appointments of retired judges
to clear backlog of cases pending for years.
https://bit.ly/31Mm8TC

Niti Aayog asks scooter, bike makers to draw up plan for EVs

Niti Aayog officials met with executives from companies

including Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and TVS late on Friday.
The think-tank had recommended that only electric models of
scooters and motorbikes with engine capacity of more than
150cc must be sold from 2025.
https://bit.ly/2N7Z1zL

Indian airlines to avoid 'affected part of' Iranian airspace, will re-
route flights: DGCA

Post Balakot strike, Air India had to re-route, merge or suspend

many of its international flights that connect India with European
and American cities. Major airlines around the world have already
rerouted their aircraft.
https://bit.ly/2FrldyC

India rejects U.S. report on attacks on minority Muslims

India on Sunday rejected a U.S. State Department’s annual report

on religious freedom that raised questions about the government
’s inability to curb violent attacks on the country’s minority
Muslims.
https://reut.rs/2Lie47x
 INTERNATIONAL
Afghan leaders begin peace summit in Pakistan

Dozens of Afghan political leaders attended a peace conference

in neighbouring Pakistan on Saturday to pave the way for further
Afghan-to-Afghan dialogue. The event was backed by the
Pakistan government and organised by the Lahore Centre for
Peace Research and the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute.
https://bit.ly/2ICHUll

Amid tough talk, Trump says he could be Iran’s “best friend”

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that military action

against Iran was still an option for its downing of an unmanned
U.S. military aircraft, but amid heightened tensions he dangled
the prospect of eventually becoming an unlikely “best friend”
of America’s long time Middle Eastern adversary.
https://bit.ly/2Iy2cwi

UN food body elects first Chinese head as climate crisis worsens

China's vice minister for agriculture was elected on Sunday to

lead the United Nations' Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), the first Chinese national to run the 74-
year-old agency at a time when climate change is leaving more
people hungry.
https://bit.ly/2IAY0f0

Thousands join Gay-Pride Parade in Romanian Capital

Thousands joined a gay-pride parade in Bucharest, on June 22,

months after a referendum seeking to ban same-sex marriage
failed. Smaller pride marches were also held in other cities.
Organisers said the march was bigger than that of 2018.
https://reut.rs/2Xp0d5J

Saudi launches residency scheme to boost revenue

Saudi Arabia has launched a new special residency scheme aimed

at luring wealthy expats as the petro-state seeks to boost non-
oil revenue. The move appears to be aimed at boosting non-oil
revenue as kingdom seeks to diversify its economy.
https://bit.ly/2HJA2fY
 BUSINESS
Wipro Lighting to introduce LiFi-enabled products in 2 months

Wipro Lighting has, over the past two decades, sought to

transform itself into a company that doesn’t just make lighting
products, but tries to make them human-centric. The aim is to
offer lighting solutions that are ambient and comfortable, using
the latest technologies.
https://bit.ly/2ZK2MfV

Revolt unveils its first electric bike

Electric two-wheeler start-up Revolt Intellicorp on Tuesday unveiled

its first electric motorcycle — the RV400. The company, founded by
co-founder of Micromax Rahul Sharma, will roll out the bike in Delhi
initially. The bike, which comes enabled with artificial intelligence
features, promises to give a mileage of 156 km on a single charge..
https://bit.ly/2Y8rEO2

Rupee sees high volatility against USD Fed policy decision

The Rupee witnessed high volatility against the U.S. dollar in

opening trade on June 20, after the U.S. central bank left key
interest rates unchanged. The U.S. Federal Open Market
Committee kept the key rate in the 2.25-2.5% range. The
Rupee opened strong at 69.47 at the interbank Forex market,
but lost ground and touched 69.67 per dollar.
https://bit.ly/2WYNtmN

Adani Ports to raise up to $1 billion via bonds

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) began road

shows in Ahmedabad and Mumbai on 21st June to raise up to $1
billion by issuance of foreign currency denominated bonds. “The
company is planning to raise up to $1 billion in dollar bonds for
capex and refinancing existing loans. It can raise anywhere
between $500 million and $1 billion.” said a source.
https://bit.ly/2LbyPl4

L&T power business bags Rs 7,000-cr order in Bihar

Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on onday said its

power business has won a mega order from SJVN Thermal Pvt
Ltd to set up an ultra-supercritical power plant in Buxar district,
Bihar. As per its classification, the mega project is over Rs 7,000
crore.
http://bit.ly/2J1lXv6
 TECHNOLOGY
Slack stock surges at debut, valuation more than $23 billion

Shares of Slack Technologies Inc, the fast-growing workplace

messaging and communication platform, soared nearly 50% in
their public trading debut, valuing the company at more than $23
billion. The strong performance helped validate the unusual
direct listing model the company used to go public as well as
underscoring investor demand for business software makers.
http://bit.ly/31QxWnX

Google Maps flooded with over 11 million fake listings

With thousands of new fake accounts being added every month,

Google Maps is flooded by about 11 million false listings and
phone numbers that re-route to competing businesses. The ones
most prone to these scams include contractors, repairman and
car towing services. They’re internally referred to as ‘duress
verticals’ at Google.
http://bit.ly/2ZCKpcM

Amazon may bring surveillance services with delivery drones

Amazon is now planning to offer “surveillance as a service”

coupled with its futuristic unmanned aerial product delivery
idea. The e-commerce giant recently won a patent to construct
a drone that would be capable of performing surveillance and
property imagery as a “secondary task” after executing
package deliveries
http://bit.ly/2YaOWCY

South Korea to open 1st 5G autonomous car driving test bed

South Korea on Thursday said it will set up the world’s first 5G-
based autonomous car driving test bed in Seoul. The Sangam test
bed in western Seoul, will have all the necessary infrastructure,
such as a recharging station for electric vehicles, 3-D detailed
maps of the road and a “future mobility center”.
http://bit.ly/31RprJi

IBM to secure EU approval for $34 billion Red Hat deal

US tech giant International Business Machines Corp is set to

secure unconditional EU approval for its $34 billion bid for
software company Red Hat. IBM is seeking to expand its
subscription-based software offerings via the deal, its biggest to
date, to counter slowing software sales and waning demand for
mainframe servers.
https://reut.rs/2LbdZSJ
E-COMMERCE & START-UPS
Facebook unveils Libra cryptocurrency

Facebook has linked with 28 partners in an entity called the Libra

Association, which will govern its new digital coin set to launch
next year. Facebook has also created a subsidiary called Calibra,
which will offer digital wallets to save, send and spend Libras.
Calibra will be connected to Facebook's messaging platforms
Messenger and WhatsApp.
https://bit.ly/2OHvsVZ

Indian startups raise $220M this week

With a total of 13 deals, Indian start-ups raised close to $220

million in equity funding. Druva Inc. ,a cloud data protection and
management startup, raised $130 million in a round led by Viking
Global Investors. Online payments solution provider Razorpay
raised $75 million as a part of its Series C round, Krishnamurthy
Subramanian to the post for three years.
https://bit.ly/2KvJbN7

India's space start-ups ignite investor interest

Fugitive Bellatrix Aerospace, which wants to propel satellites

into orbit, has raised $3 million from a group of investors.
Mumbai-based Kawa Space, which designs and operates earth
observation satellites, has also closed a seed round. Seven
other Space Tech companies in India are funded.
https://reut.rs/2KwQofR

Walmart Ups the Ante in Grocery Delivery Competition

Walmart online shoppers can subscribe to a"Delivery Unlimited"

plan that aims to siphon customers from Amazon's Whole Foods
and Target's home delivery programs. The move will be
particularly attractive for customers who shop at Walmart more
than four or five times per month, like time-pressed families.
https://bit.ly/2IBF5AY

Miniso goes online in India as it goes easy on opening stores

Miniso has announced a tie-up with Achhacart, a B-to-B online

distributor that will supply the retailer's goods to other e-
commerce websites. The company now plans to grow online,
ramp up procurement of local goods from India, and grow its
owned and franchised stores.
https://bit.ly/2ZKEXVE
 SPORTS
Shami's hat-trick helps India beat Afghanistan; Kohli top scores

Mohammed Shami's hat-trick denied Afghanistan a historic and

shock World Cup victory over India in Southampton on Saturday,
June 22, 2019. India had earlier posted 224-8, with Virat Kohli
top-scoring with 67 on a slow pitch. Defeat eliminates
Afghanistan, while India leapfrogs England into third.
https://bbc.in/2X2z6Oh

Roger Federer wins 10th Halle title with win over David Goffin

Roger Federer got his Wimbledon preparations off to the perfect

start by claiming a record-extending 10th title at the Halle
grass-court event. The Swiss 20-time Grand Slam champion
beat Belgium's David Goffin 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 to win a 102nd career
title.
https://bbc.in/2ZNUW5f

Copa America: Aguero helps Argentina reach quarter finals

Sergio Aguero sealed an unconvincing Argentina side's passage

into the quarter-finals of the Copa America as they saw off
Qatar 2-0 in Porto Alegre. A 2-0 defeat by Colombia and a 1-1
draw with Paraguay had meant that Argentina had to beat Qatar
to avoid a humiliating group-stage exit from the competition.
https://bbc.in/31RjNqA

Lewis Hamilton cruises to French Grand Prix victory

Lewis Hamilton took a stranglehold on the world title with a

dominant victory in the French Grand Prix. Hamilton was in a
league of his own, as the 34-year-old Briton took his sixth win
in eight races. Valtteri Bottas finished a distant second, holding
off an attack from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on the final lap.
https://bbc.in/2KGjv0z

Indian women's hockey team defeats Japan in final

An impressive Indian Women’s Hockey team on Sunday, June 23,

2019 won the FIH Women's Series Finals Hiroshima 2019 after
defeating hosts Japan 3-1 in the Final held here at the Hiroshima
Hockey Stadium.
https://bit.ly/31Prg9B