Endeavor Careers Choicest Blogs: Weekly Current Affairs: December 2021, Week 02

Welcome to the Endeavor Editors’ Weekly Current Affairs Choicest Blog series. Get a weekly roundup – on news from business, economy, markets, policy, and more. A quick capsule format news summary and update to keep you abreast with all the latest current affairs.

1) International News and Global Economy

G7 puts up a united front against Russia

The world’s wealthiest democracies have sought to present a united front against Russian aggression toward Ukraine as Britain hosted a meeting of Foreign Ministers in the northern English city of Liverpool. The G7 meeting, attended in person by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts from France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Canada, comes amid international concern that Russia could invade Ukraine. Russia denies planning any attack. Ahead of the formal discussions, British Foreign Minister Liz Truss met Mr. Blinken where they expressed deep concern about the build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border, Britain’s foreign office said in a statement. Any incursion by Russia “would be a strategic mistake for which there would be serious consequences,” the foreign office added.

For details visit.

What can the West do if Russia attacks Ukraine? | DW News

Watch video:

Dozens feared dead as tornadoes, storms strike US states

Tornadoes and severe weather caused catastrophic damage across multiple states killing at least seven people overnight as a storm system tore through a candle factory in Kentucky, an Amazon facility in Illinois and a nursing home in Arkansas. The Kentucky governor said he feared dozens more could be dead. Gov. Andy Beshear said about 110 people were in the factory in Mayfield, Kentucky when the tornado hit. President Joe Biden tweeted that he was briefed on the situation and pledged the affected states would “have what they need as the search for survivors and damage assessments continue.”

For details visit.

Deadly Tornado Hits Multiple States

Watch video:

US using democracy as ‘weapon of mass destruction’ to stoke confrontation: China on Biden’s Summit for Democracy

China accused the US of using democracy as a “weapon of mass destruction” to “stoke divisions and confrontation” as it slammed the Summit for Democracy organised by the Biden administration, which Beijing portrays as a new front being formed by America to isolate it to halt its rise. The two-day summit attended by over 100 world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, concluded with a call to evaluate progress in safeguarding fair elections, protecting human rights and fighting corruption. While the US omitted China and Russia from the list of invitees, Beijing was furious over the invitation to the self-governing island Taiwan, which China said is a blatant violation of the ‘One China’ policy that considers Taipei as the integral part of the Chinese mainland. The Chinese foreign ministry, which has been attacking the summit in the past few weeks, issued a lengthy statement accusing the US of stocking divisions in the name of democracy.

For details visit.

Snubbed China dubs U.S as ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’; Says ‘True Democracy under CCP’

Watch video:

India sends medical supplies to Afghanistan

In the first tranche of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan after its takeover by the Taliban, India sent medical supplies to that country in sync with its commitment of extending help to the Afghan people in their times of difficulty. The medical supplies were sent on a return flight that had brought 10 Indians and 94 Afghans to Delhi from Kabul. “In view of the challenging humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, the Government of India has dispatched humanitarian assistance consisting of medical supplies on the return flight today,” the MEA said. “These medicines will be handed over to the representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Kabul and will be administered at the Indira Gandhi Children Hospital, Kabul,” it said in a statement. India has been pitching for providing unimpeded humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country.

For details visit.

Pakistan Taliban calls off the ceasefire

The Pakistani Taliban has called off a ceasefire mediated with the help of the Afghan Taliban, accusing the government of violating the terms of the agreed truce. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — a separate movement that shares a common history with Afghanistan’s new leaders — plunged the country into a period of horrific violence since 2007. Seven years after the military cracked down on the movement, Islamabad is trying to quell a TTP comeback after the victory of the hard-line Islamists across the border. In a statement, the TTP accused security forces of killing some of its fighters and violating a one-month truce that was due to end in early December. “It is not possible to extend the ceasefire in such circumstances,” a spokesman for the TTP said. “Now the Pakistani public should decide who is not abiding by the agreement.”

For details visit.

Pakistan Taliban ceasefire ends.  Can Imran Khan handle fallout of failed truce with TTP?

Watch video:

Chinese project at Balochistan port: local protests, global concerns

Since the second week of November, there have been continuous protests in Gwadar, Balochistan against mega-development plans of the port city as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The protesters, rallying under the Gwadar Ko Huqooq Do Tehreek (Give Rights to Gwadar Movement), have sought to draw attention to the marginalisation of the local people in the development of the port. They are angry that not only are they being excluded, their present livelihood too has been endangered. They are from Gwadar and nearby areas of coastal Balochistan including Turbat, Pishkan, Zamran, Buleda, Ormara and Pasni. This is not the first time Gwadar is seeing protests, but this one has now run for 26 days. Despite the severe conservatism of Balochistan, women protesters have come out in large numbers. Another significant aspect of the protest is that it is led by a Jamat-e-Islami leader of the area, Malauana Hidayat ur Rehman. The JI has traditionally been an ally of Pakistan’s military establishment. The national leader of the JI, Siraj Ul Haq also visited Gwadar in a show of solidarity with the protesters.

For details visit.

Why Pakistan’s Gwadar city is up in arms against China’s belt, road project; Watch what locals want

Watch video:

Sri Lanka will not default on debt repayments despite forex crisis: Finance Minister

Sri Lanka will not default on its debt repayments in 2022 despite being faced with a severe foreign reserve crisis, finance minister Basil Rajapaksa has assured Parliament. Winding up the 2022 budget debate, Basil Rajapaksa, the youngest of the top three Rajapaksas running the country, also ruled out that Sri Lanka will seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Analysts say the island nation’s foreign reserves had fallen to $1,587 million or one month of imports. Rajapaksa said the government has to make a $500 billion debt payment in January 2022 and another billion dollars by June. We have a plan to pay, Rajapaksa said responding to the Opposition lawmakers who had demanded the finance minister to reveal to the House how the government would face the unprecedented balance of payments crisis.

For details visit.

2) Climate

Explained: Was US tornado outbreak related to climate change?

Tornadoes in December are unusual, but not unheard of. But the ferocity and path length of Friday night’s tornadoes likely put them in a category of their own, meteorologists say. One of the twisters — if it is confirmed to have been just one — likely broke a nearly 100-year-old record for how long a tornado stayed on the ground in a path of destruction, experts said. Scientists say figuring out how climate change is affecting the frequency of tornadoes is complicated and their understanding is still evolving. But they do say the atmospheric conditions that give rise to such outbreaks are intensifying in the winter as the planet warms. And tornado alley is shifting farther east away from the Kansas-Oklahoma area and into states where Friday’s killers hit.

For details visit.

Climate change fuels violence and mass displacement in Cameroon

A flare-up in intercommunal fighting in northern Cameroon has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and brought a halt to aid operations there, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said. The development is just the latest episode in the difficult relationship between the region’s herders, fishermen and farmers, who have seen the waters and tributaries of Lake Chad shrink dramatically, because of climate change-induced drought. In Geneva, UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov explained that clashes had broken out in recent days in the village of Ouloumsa, following a dispute over dwindling water resources. The violence then spread to neighbouring villages, leaving 10 villages burned to the ground. “UNHCR is deeply concerned by renewed intercommunal clashes that erupted this week in Cameroon’s Far North region, displacing thousands inside the country and forcing more than 30,000 people to flee to neighbouring Chad,” Mr. Cheshirkov said. “Since Sunday 5 December, at least 22 people have been killed and 30 others seriously injured during several days of ongoing fighting.”

For details visit.

3) India  

Covid update

Amid Omicron scare, high ‘seropositivity’ rate should help India, says, expert

Observing that data on the new SARS-CoV2 variant, Omicron, is still emerging, an expert has said the very high rate of ‘seropositivity’ should keep the country in good stead even as he emphasised increased vaccination coverage and adhering to COVID-appropriate behaviour. “Because, India has the advantage of the very high rate of ‘seropositivity’ of 70, 80 per cent, and in big cities more than 90 per cent people already have antibodies,” Rakesh Mishra, former Director of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) here, told PTI. In view of the protection available to people, even if they get infected, it will be very mild and most of the time asymptomatic, Mishra, currently Director, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), Bangalore, said. It would help the cause in a big way if vaccination coverage is further expanded and if vaccines for children are rolled out, he noted.

For details visit.

Amid the Omicron scare, here is what scientists have to say about booster dose

Amid concerns over the highly mutated omicron variant spreading rapidly, people want to know if immunity from vaccination or a prior infection will be enough to protect them against getting infected or developing severe disease. Addressing this issue, scientists have said that a booster dose against Covid-19 raises the number of circulating antibodies and is shown to increase protection from symptomatic infection with Omicron. Responding to what India should do where the majority of the population is vaccinated with Covishield, the former head of the advisory group to the Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortia (INASACOG) Dr Shahid Jameel said it must be ensured that those who got only one dose of Covishield get the second dose in 8-12 weeks instead of 12-16 weeks. Dr T Jacob John, noted virologist, said booster doses of any vaccine (except live attenuated like OPV, measles) exponentially raises antibody level. “If we are interested in being cautious about the unknown risks of Omicron, boosters for as many as possible is the simplest step forward, especially for the immunosuppressed, seniors and those with co-morbidities. This is in the best interests of their welfare,” he said.

For details visit.

 Other updates

Gen. Bipin Rawat helicopter crash updates | PM pays homage to victims in Delhi

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat, an Army Brigadier, and ten others perished when an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter carrying them crashed into a heavily wooded area of the Coonoor ghat in the Nilgiris in western Tamil Nadu on Wednesday afternoon. The cause of the chopper crash, in which there is only one survivor, is being investigated. Late in the evening, the Indian Army confirmed that Brigadier L.S. Lidder, Lieutenant Colonel H. Singh, Wing Commander P.S. Chauhan, Squadron Leader K. Singh, Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) Das, JWO Pradeep A., Havildar Satpal, Naik Gursewak Singh, Naik Jitender, Lance Naik Vivek and Lance Naik S. Teja were the other defence personnel killed in the crash. Group Captain Varun Singh, the lone survivor in the IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter crash, was airlifted to Bengaluru on Thursday for intensive treatment. Mr. Singh, who suffered burn injuries, had been admitted to the Military Hospital, Wellington on Wednesday.

For details visit.

As we salute Gen Bipin Rawat, his unfinished agenda, prospects for CDS institution & military reform

Watch video:

Explained: The rich-poor gap in India

India stands out as a “poor and very unequal country, with an affluent elite”, where the top 10% holds 57% of the total national income, including 22% held by the top 1%, while the bottom 50% holds just 13% in 2021, according to the World Inequality Report 2022. Released this week, the report also flags a drop in global income during 2020, with about half the dip in rich countries, and half in low-income and emerging countries. It attributes this primarily to the impact of “South and Southeast Asia, and more precisely” India. The report has been authored by economist and co-director of the World Inequality Lab, Lucas Chancel, along with economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.

For details visit.

World Inequality Report flags India’s very high inequality score. Meaning, diagnosis & prescription

Watch video:

 Anti-CAA protests held across northeast

The northeast saw the return of the protests against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act after almost two years. The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), an umbrella body of the State-based students’ groups, observed the second anniversary of the Act as a “black day” on Saturday while the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), formed after anti-CAA protests in September 2020, burnt copies of the Act. The passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill by Rajya Sabha on December 11, 2019, had triggered widespread protests across the northeast, the most violent of which were in Assam and claimed at least five lives. On Saturday, members of NESO hoisted black flags and banners at all important places across the region as a mark of protest.

The organisation appealed to people to keep fighting against the CAA.

For details visit.

Farmers call off year-long protest after Centre agrees to demands

The farmers’ protest on Delhi borders that started last November against the now-repealed Agri laws ended on December 9. The move comes after the farmers’ union received a formal communication from the Centre agreeing to their demands. The formal announcement of ending the protest was made after the SKM meeting held on December 9 after the Centre sent an official communication accepting demands, including the unconditional withdrawal of all police cases lodged against protesters during the agitation. On December 8, a panel of five senior SKM leaders met in Delhi to discuss a fresh proposal offered by the government. The farmers’ demands also include compensation to those farmers who lost their lives during the year-long agitation against the three contentious farm laws.

For details visit.

Delhi’s air quality deteriorates, slips to the ‘very poor’ category

The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital on Saturday morning slipped to 301 in the ‘very poor ‘ category, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). The PM 10 was recorded at 217 in the ‘moderate’ category and PM 2.5 was recorded at 121 in the ‘very poor ‘ category at 9:17 am. The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining areas (CAQM) had on Tuesday ordered the immediate closure of industries not running on PNG or cleaner fuels in industrial areas despite the availability of gas infrastructure and supply. The Commission had directed States to prepare an implementable Action plan by clearly specifying definite timelines for switching over of all identified industries units to PNG, where infrastructure and supply of gas are already available.

For details visit.

 DGCA suspends international flights till January 31, 2022

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday in a tweet said the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger flights to/from India has been extended till January 31, 2022. This restriction, however, shall not apply to international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the DGCA. International scheduled flights may still be allowed on select routes by the authorities on a case-to-case basis. Scheduled international flights have remained suspended since the first outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, back in March 2020. But in November this year, the Indian government had decided to resume scheduled international flights from December 15 which it subsequently revoked due to rising concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

For details visit.

India plans a ?76,000-cr red carpet for semiconductor companies

The government is planning to provide incentives worth Rs 76,000 crore towards setting up over 20 semiconductor design, components manufacturing and display fabrication (fab) units over the next six years, in a bid to make India a hub for electronics. “Through various PLI (production linked incentive) schemes, the Centre has tried to broaden the scope of manufacturing and export from India while the semiconductor policy will help deepen India’s manufacturing base,” a senior government official told.

For details visit.

4) Economy

RBI’s accommodative stance to pave way for 9.5 pc economic growth, say experts

The Reserve Bank’s decision to continue with its accommodative monetary policy stance would pave the way for double-digit economic growth, said the industry and experts as the central bank kept the key interest rate unchanged. After deliberating for three days, the RBI Governor-headed Monetary Policy Committee announced the bi-monthly monetary policy. The RBI also announced it will continue rebalancing liquidity conditions and use VRRR (Variable Rate Reverse Repo) auction as the primary tool for liquidity management, shifting away from the fixed reserve repo rate. “The accommodative policy stance at this juncture would not only pave the way for a double-digit GDP growth in the current year 2021-22, but will also help in creating a strong, sustainable and vibrant economy going forward,” said Pradeep Multani, President of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in his comments on the MPC decision. He also said that it is inspiring to note that the RBI has retained the projection for GDP growth at 9.5 per cent for 2021-22 despite the prevailing uncertainty caused by a new variant of Coronavirus.

For details visit.

India’s recovery is projected to be higher than other BRICS nations

India’s recovery is projected to be higher than other BRICS nations, as per the second edition of the BRICS Economic Bulletin 2021 released by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday. The bulletin notes that the Covid-19 health crisis has led to a global economic crisis that threatens to exacerbate the vulnerabilities in the form of income inequality and poverty. It notes that India, Brazil and Russia are in the top five countries in the world in terms of infections. “Charting the expected growth recovery for 2021, India’s recovery is projected to be higher than other BRICS nations,” it said. The BRICS Economic Bulletin 2021 is prepared by the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) Research Group with members from BRICS central banks. This edition addresses the theme of ‘Navigating the Ongoing Pandemic: The BRICS Experience of Resilience and Recovery’.

For details visit.

Forex reserves fall $4.5 billion in two weeks

India’s foreign exchange reserves dipped $1.783 billion in the week to December 3, making it the second straight weekly fall as foreign portfolio investors remained net sellers in the equity market. The reserves stood at $636.905 billion, Reserve Bank of India’s weekly data showed. Reserves fell $4.5 billion in the last two weeks. The deprecation of the local currency against other major global currencies also weighed on the reserves. The rupee also depreciated against the US greenback on Friday and closed at 75.77 vis-s-vis dollar compared with 75.52 on Thursday. This is the third straight weekly fall of the rupee on bets that high US inflation could prompt a quicker unwinding of bond purchases and earlier rate hike by the Federal Reserve, said Sriram Iyer, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

For details visit.

 5) Markets, Banking and Finance

RBI monetary policy | Repo rate remains unchanged at 4%

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), based on an assessment of the macroeconomic situation and outlook, voted unanimously to maintain the status quo with regard to the policy repo rate, and by a majority of 5 to 1 decided to retain the accommodative policy stance. “Consequently, the policy repo rate remains unchanged at 4%, and the stance remains accommodative as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and continue to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, while ensuring that inflation remains within the target going forward,” RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said in his statement after the meeting. Considering all factors, the projection for real GDP growth is retained at 9.5% FY22 consisting of 6.6% in Q3 and 6.0% in Q4 of FY22. Real GDP growth is projected at 17.2% for Q1:FY23 and at 7.8% for Q2:FY23. Emphasising that cost-push pressures continue to impinge on core inflation, though their pass-through may remain muted due to the slack in the economy, Mr Das said over the rest of the year, inflation prints are likely to be somewhat higher as base effects turn adverse; however, it is expected that headline inflation will peak in Q4:2021-22 and soften thereafter.

For details visit.

RBI grants scheduled bank status to Paytm Payments Bank

Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), a group company of listed entity Paytm, said that it has been approved as a scheduled payments bank by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This will help PPBL expand its business opportunities. As a scheduled payments bank, PPBL can now participate in Request for Proposals (RFP) advertised by the government and other large corporations, primary auction, fixed-rate and variable rate repos and reverse repos, apart from participation in Marginal Standing Facility. It will also be eligible to partner in government-run financial inclusion schemes, said PPBL in a statement. Officially launched in 2017, PPBL earlier couldn’t provide advance loans or issue credit cards, as per RBI’s mandate for payments banks. PPBL is among the six functioning payment banks in India. RBI had granted in-principal approval to 11 such entities but many of them shut down, citing restrictions on revenue due to regulatory mandates.

For details visit.

6) Business

Ola in talks to raise over $1billion through equity, debt: Report

Ola is in talks to raise over $1 billion in funding through a mix of equity and debt over the next few months as the ride-hailing platform prepares for hitting the IPO route next year, according to sources. The company has recently raised over Rs 1,049 crore (about $139 million) from Edelweiss and others at a valuation of over $7 billion. According to sources, Ola is in discussions to raise a pre-IPO round of over $1 billion at a valuation of $7.5 billion. The fundraise, which is expected to be done in multiple tranches, would be a combination of equity and debt, they added. According to a regulatory document filed by Ola (ANI Technologies) to the Registrar of Companies, Edelweiss and others have pumped in Rs 1,049.06 crore, valuing it at over $7 billion.

For details visit.

Hyundai lines up Rs 4,000 crore investment to drive in 6 EVs in India by 2028

South Korean auto major Hyundai plans to invest around Rs 4,000 crore to drive in around six electric vehicles in India by 2028. The company is planning to roll out a mix of models based on its existing range as well as completely new vehicles based on its global platform ‘E-GMP’ over the next few years. In an interaction with PTI, Hyundai Motor India MD & CEO S S Kim said that the company is gearing up to expand its presence in the EV space in the country in a big way with the first of the six new products being expected to debut next year. The company would invest around Rs 4,000 crore in the R&D towards the six-model line up till 2028. Kim noted that Hyundai is looking at developing a complete ecosystem for electric vehicles in the country and is currently focusing on ways to localise production processes. Besides, efforts are on to locate the right set of partners for charging infrastructure as well as other related activities, he added.

For details visit.

Passenger vehicles sales dip 19% in November as chip shortage woes continue: SIAM

Passenger vehicle wholesales in the country declined by 19 pc in November as the semiconductor shortage continued to impact vehicle production and subsequent deliveries to dealer partners, auto industry body SIAM said on Friday. “Industry continues to face headwinds due to global semi-conductor shortage. In the festive season, industry was hoping to make up for the lost ground, but the sales in the month of November 2021, were the lowest in seven years for passenger vehicles, the lowest in 11 years for two-wheelers and the lowest in 19 years for three-wheelers,” Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Director General Rajesh Menon said in a statement.

For details visit.

NCLT admits RBI plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against Reliance Capital

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on December 6 admitted a plea moved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking to initiate insolvency proceedings against Reliance Capital, the financial services holding company promoted by the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group. The central bank had approached the Mumbai bench of NCLT on December 2 seeking the admission of its plea. The move was preceded by the supersession of the board of Reliance Capital by the RBI, on November 29, due to the defaults of the company in meeting various payment obligations. Responding to the development, Reliance Capital had welcomed the RBI move to resolve debt “in accordance with IBC” and said it will cooperate fully with the central bank-appointed administrator for an expeditious resolution. “The complexity of litigation initiated by unsecured, some secured lenders have effectively stalled resolution of debt over past 2 years. The company has no outstanding loans from banks; 95% of debt is in the form of debentures,” it said in a statement.

For details visit.

 7) Technology

Modi bats for joint efforts to shape global norms for social media and cryptocurrencies

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for united efforts to shape global norms for emerging technologies like social media and cryptocurrencies so that they are used to “empower” democracy and not to “undermine” it. In a virtual address at the Summit for Democracy hosted by US President Joe Biden, Modi said India would be happy to share its expertise in holding free and fair elections and in enhancing transparency in all areas of governance. “The structural features like multi-party elections, an independent judiciary, and free media are important instruments of democracy. However, the basic strength of democracy is the spirit and ethos that lie within our citizens and our societies,” he said. The prime minister also called for joint efforts to shape global norms for emerging technologies like social media and cryptocurrencies. “We must also jointly shape global norms for emerging technologies like social media and cryptocurrencies, so that they are used to empower democracy, not to undermine it,” he said. This is for the second time in the last three weeks that Modi called for working together on the need to regulate cryptocurrencies.

For details visit.

Zerodha raises concerns over Sebi’s proposed checks on Algo trading

Zerodha, India’s biggest stockbroker, raised concerns over some of the capital markets regulator’s proposals to tighten rules on algorithmic trading by retail investors. The firm’s founder Nithin Kamath wrote in a blog that the Securities and Exchange Board of India in the discussion paper published on Thursday has categorised every order placed by an Application Programming Interface (API) as an algo order, which will not stop mis-selling of algos to retail traders. Securing exchange approvals for any algo is an “extremely tedious and complex process” and all brokers will have to stop offering APIs if these proposals are implemented, wrote Kamath. “While customers using APIs today is a very small percentage of the business (0.05% of our business), disallowing it will mean our capital markets taking two-step backwards in a technology-first world,” he said in the blog.

For details visit.

Nithin Kamath on SEBI floating consultation paper for Algo Trading

Watch video:

Fintech industry to be valued at over $150 billion by 2025: Niti Aayog’s Amitabh Kant

The fintech industry has seen tremendous growth in the country in the last couple of years and Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, said the country has established itself on the global stage as a vibrant fintech hub. He attributed the fintech growth story to the Digital India initiative. “The first requirement that had to be addressed was that of a digital identity system with a built-in authentication mechanism and with the development of the Aadhaar, we had the first building block of the FinTech ecosystem ready,” he said. This was followed by shifting the emphasis in the digital infrastructure layer to peer-to-peer transfer of money, he said, lauding the initiative United Payments Interface (UPI), which recorded over 3.5 billion transactions by October 2021. Kant explained that the fintech ecosystem can now focus on lending for both consumers and MSME-based. At the same time, more traditional financial services such as insurance, personal finance, and gold lending have also come under the fintech radar.

For details visit.

Razorpay set to achieve $90 billion TPV by 2022, launches products to help SMEs

Razorpay has announced that it registered over 300% growth for the second consecutive year and achieved a $60 billion TPV as of early December 2021; this is 20% more than the $50 billion TPV goal that was announced in December last year. The company plans to achieve $90 billion TPV by the end of 2022. The company launched a string of products, aimed at empowering the next phase of digital growth for small businesses in India. It believes these milestones are a testament to the fintech adoption the country has witnessed in the last two years. India is the fastest-growing fintech market in the world, with the highest adoption rate of 87% in the world against the global average of 64%. And through the last few months of this adoption, India’s small businesses have evolved from understanding the importance of going digital in the post-pandemic world, to now learning how to build an online presence for their business.

For details visit.

Razorpay Tops $60bn Worth of Payment Transactions in 2022

Watch video:

BYJU’S announces its 10th acquisition in 2021 with Austria-based GeoGebra

BYJU’S, the most valuable EdTech start-up in India with 115 million students on its learning platform, has announced the acquisition of Austria-headquartered math learning platform GeoGebra. This is the EdTech unicorn’s tenth acquisition this year. This acquisition complements BYJU’S overall product strategy and furthers its aim to make math more engaging, BYJU’S said in a statement. The financial details are still undisclosed by the company. GeoGebra will continue to operate as an independent unit within the BYJU’S group under the leadership of its Founder and Developer, Markus Hohenwarter. GeoGebra, with a rapidly expanding community of over 100 million learners across 195+ countries, brings together geometry, algebra, spreadsheets, graphing, statistics and calculus in one easy-to-use format. The curriculum is available in multiple languages for students around the world.

For details visit.

Koo sees an uptick in downloads driven by vernacular content

Homegrown microblogging app Koo has seen over 15 million downloads and is inching towards 20 million. This growth in India is primarily due to the localisation of the content on the platform and ease of use. “Our community is getting stronger,” chimes in Aprameya Radhakrishna, CEO and Co-founder, Koo App. A diverse range of topics such as cricket, spirituality, entertainment, journalism, politics, among others, have helped the platform grow. Acknowledging that Koo is a social media platform and is exposed to the risks of cyber fraud, the brand recently partnered with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to create awareness on cyber security in the month of October, which is the National Cyber Security Awareness Month.  At present, over 50 per cent of the users on the app type in Hindi. Aprameya shares that the content on the application is driven largely by the categories of poetry and literature.

For details visit.

8) Politics

Goa Congress hit by resignations on day of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s visit

The Goa Congress faced a spate of resignations and confusion prevailed over its alliance with like-minded parties for the upcoming polls in the coastal state as the opposition party was getting ready for a series of meetings by general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today. A group of Congress leaders from the Goa’s Porvorim assembly constituency resigned this morning. The group, supported by Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte, claimed that Congress was not serious about contesting the assembly polls likely to be held in early 2022. In yet another setback for the Congress, its senior leader from South Goa Moreno Rebelo too resigned. The resignation letter by Mr Rebelo claims he was upset after the party announced the “candidature” to sitting MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco from the Curtorim constituency “despite him working against the party”. Mr Rebelo is from Curtorim.

For details visit.

9) Sports

ICC segregates cricket-crazy subcontinent’s media rights; Mukesh Ambani to enter sports broadcasting

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to auction the media rights of its events separately for the Indian subcontinent, a senior official at the global governing body said, hoping it will help generate a higher value than clubbing the biggest cricketing market with the rest. The cricket crazy Indian subcontinent – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – generates most of the revenue for the sport’s broadcasters globally with India accounting for the biggest share. The ICC also expects bidding to become more intense with Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, entering sports broadcasting in a market that in the past has seen bidding wars between Star & Disney India and Sony Pictures Networks India.

For details visit.

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly opens up on Rohit Sharma being named India’s ODI skipper

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said the board and selectors together took the call to appoint Rohit Sharma as the full-time white-ball captain of the side. Opening batter Rohit Sharma was on Wednesday named India’s new ODI skipper and the star player will take over from Virat Kohli starting with the South Africa series in January next year. Ganguly also informed that he and the chairman of selectors had also spoken to Kohli. The former Indian skipper also thanked Kohli for his contributions in the limited-overs format.

For details visit.

10) Opinion

Challenges that confront the new Chief of Defence Staff

The next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) has some pretty big shoes to fill. Leave aside the big personality that General Bipin Rawat was, there was much he started that remains on the anvil. They remain on the anvil for one simple reason — the problems in question were thorny and required the walking of a tightrope. The first is the continental land-centric mindset. The sheer size of the Army as opposed to the Navy and the Air Force have meant that we’ve always seen things from a force-on-force point of view unique to ground forces. However, during Rawat’s tenure as army chief, we saw this thinking change towards exercising air options as opposed to ground options. However, if you’re an Air Force or naval planner where the terrain is irrelevant, you can swing your equipment from the eastern to the western front within minutes at supersonic speed, and within weeks if not days of steaming. In this scenario theatre, commands make absolutely no sense hindering the platform neutrality, flexibility, and centralised streamlined logistics that aircraft and ships offer. This was a particularly contentious issue during Rawat’s tenure as CDS, and the new CDS will have to decide how to sort out this mess.

For details visit.

Mobile internet enabling inclusive growth: Nobel laureate economist Michael Spence

Nobel prize-winning economist Michael Spence said that mobile internet is enabling inclusive growth and opening up employment opportunities. Speaking at a webinar organised by National Stock Exchange (NSE) and New York University (NYU) Stern Business School on Friday night, Spence said that in recent times there had been an unusually rapid expansion in digital transactions due to access to mobile internet in India. Describing mobile internet as a “quasi-public good”, Spence said, “opening up of the digital space has thrown up employment opportunities in IT areas”. According to him, the key parameters for expansion of mobile internet have been due to decline in cost of equipment, cost of data and increase in speed. Spence said mobile payments systems generate huge data while artificial intelligence and machine learning have the potential to close information gaps in the markets.

For details visit.

Raghuram Rajan dismisses V-shaped recovery, says India needs to grow at 8-9% to create jobs

In an interview, Rajan delved into the challenges that confront India even as he acknowledges that the picture is mixed and certain sectors have done well while others have struggled to recover. Dismissing talk of a V-shaped recovery, he said growth after a bad enough downturn will always be V-shaped and the real challenge before the country is to achieve a sustained 8-9% growth. “India has to do a lot of things to try and get the growth it truly deserves. Where we should be growing is at 8-9%. That’s what is necessary to create jobs for the young people coming out,” Rajan observed. India achieved a growth of 8.4% in the second quarter of the current fiscal. It was in line with estimates but came on the back of contraction in the same quarter last year. The former RBI governor thinks addressing the challenges on the job creation front should be a priority. He said that the population dividend only becomes a dividend when jobs are created.

For details visit.

Will the threat of Inflation for financial markets last long?

Two major economic fallouts of this crisis, which eventually contributed to inflation, can be identified as massive amounts of money printing by central bankers and supply chain disruptions which eventually led to a shortage of goods and services. Apart from too much liquidity in the system, the supply shortage of goods and services was also responsible for pushing up the prices when COVID related restrictions were relaxed. As economies slipped into shut down mode to curtail the spread of the virus, supply chains got badly impacted as there was neither fresh production nor mobility of goods and services for existing inventory. This situation should improve over a period of time as normalcy reaches in the world economy which perhaps should ideally lead to cooling down of prices but till then upward pressure on prices can continue to remain.

For details visit.

Why the textile industry is in a bind

Textile manufacturers say that increased input costs have put them under extreme price pressures. These include the volatility in crude oil prices, which have resulted in higher freight costs, as well as the rising cost of chemicals and dyeing, and so on. Factors like these have made it difficult for firms to remain price competitive, creating difficulties both with securing new orders and servicing existing ones. Certain sections of the industry are also up in arms against the government’s move to hike GST (Goods and Services Tax) on some textile fabrics from 5 per cent to 12 per cent. Trade associations from the Gujarat belt have voiced concerns on this move, pointing out that the industry is already reeling under stiff competition from imports from Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. So far, the government has not yielded to the growing clamour to ban yarn exports or against its notification of levying 12 per cent GST rate on manmade fibre yarn, fabrics and apparel from the current tax rate on MMF, MMF yarn and MMF fabrics of 18 per cent, 12 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. The government approved a production-linked incentive scheme worth Rs 10,683 crore for the textile industry in September this year to boost manufacturing and exports.

For details visit.

11) Weekly special

How India shops online? The Flipkart story.

Watch Shradha Sharma in conversation with Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO, Flipkart on the state of the e-commerce sector in India, growth areas and the role of access & affordability in enabling this.

Watch video:

With that, we come to an end for our Weekly Current Affairs December 2021 -Week 2. Hope you have liked it. Write your feedback in the comments below and let us know if there is anything else you would like us to cover.

Here’s a faster and easier way to stay updated –

Follow us on Telegram
Subscribe to our Youtube
Follow us on Instagram
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter