The First Forum is an initiative that focuses on covering the latest happenings in a brief format. This is in lieu of the importance of knowledge about current happenings in this fast-changing world.
In the Sixty First Edition of The First Forum we would be covering the following topics:
1. Politics
2. Science and Technology
3. Business
4. Economics
5. Finance
(By Mehak Gupta, Nikunj Gulati, and Kanika Meena)
Politics
Biden will destroy America’s greatness says, Trump
Seeking another four years in the White House, US President Donald Trump has slammed Democratic rival Joe Biden’s record as a “shameful roll call of the most catastrophic betrayals” and said his victory will endanger the nation and destroy the American greatness. Read More
Chidambaram calls Finance Minister ‘Messenger of God’
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram took a dig at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after she called the coronavirus pandemic an ‘Act of God’ and said that it had hit GST collection. Chidambaram asked, “How do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. Will the FM as the Messenger of God, please answer?” Chidambaram also slammed the Centre for asking states to borrow more to make up for revenue losses due to pending GST dues.Read More
China warns Norway against giving Nobel Prize
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Li, who is on the rare visit to Norway has warned the country against “politicising” the Nobel Peace Prize by awarding it to Hong Kong protestors. “In the past, present and future, China will firmly reject any attempt by anyone to use the Nobel Peace Prize to interfere in China’s internal affairs, ” Yi said. Hong Kong has been the epicentre of pro-democracy protests and China enforced a controversial security law which has allegedly undermined the autonomy of the region. Read More
SC dismisses plea seeking postponement of Bihar elections
The apex court was hearing a petition, who sought a direction to the Chief Election Commissioner to postpone the election till the state was free of Covid-19. The petitioner had argued that the Representation of the People Act allowed deferment in extraordinary situations. Read More
World leaders praise Japan PM Shinzo Abe
World leaders wished Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a rapid recovery and praised his contributions to bilateral relations during his years as Japan’s longest-serving leader. He announced that he is stepping down because of a health problem. Read More
Science and Technology
Spider silk inspires new class of functional synthetic polymers for bioelectronics, sensors, and batteries
The first goal was to prove that we could precisely tune the proton conductivity of the protein-based polymers by tuning the number of ionizable groups per polymer chain. To do this, the researchers prepared several unstructured biopolymers that had different numbers of ionizable groups, in this case, carboxylic acid groups. Their proton conductivity scaled linearly with the number of charged carboxylic acid groups per chain. Since the first batch of biopolymers was completely amorphous, the researchers had to switch to a different material.Read More
Defects deliver the best of both worlds: highly efficient ultrahigh energy density capacitor
By introducing isolated defects to a type of commercially available thin film in a straightforward post-processing step, a team led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has demonstrated that a common material can be processed into a top-performing energy storage material. The material is based on a so-called “relaxor ferroelectric,” which is a ceramic material that undergoes a rapid mechanical or electronic response to an external electric field and is commonly used as a capacitor in applications like ultrasonics, pressure sensors, and voltage generators. Read More
‘Cold tube’ invented to beat the summer heat more efficiently than air conditioning
Many people beat the summer heat by cranking the air conditioning. However, air conditioners guzzle power and spew out millions of tons of carbon dioxide daily. They are also not always good for your health—constant exposure to central A/C can increase risks of recirculating germs and causing breathing problems. The Cold Tube works by absorbing the heat directly emitted by radiation from a person without having to cool the air passing over their skin. This achieves a significant amount of energy savings. Read More
Futurebus: Contactless bus designed for the covid-19 pandemic age
A new public transportation design concept aims to give passengers the confidence to take a bus ride by minimizing contact, using anti-microbial fabric, and installing self-sanitizing handles. The team also alternated seating direction to provide more privacy and made use of affordable, copper-infused fabric known to reduce pathogens. Read More
New nanomaterials inspired by insect wings destroy super-bacteria – by stretching, slicing or tearing them apart
Scientists reveal how nanomaterials inspired by insect wings are able to destroy bacteria on contact by stretching, slicing, or tearing them apart. The wings of cicadas and dragonflies are natural bacteria killers, a phenomenon that has spurred researchers searching for ways to defeat drug-resistant superbugs. Read More


Business
Siemens sells mechanical drives business to Siemens AG subsidiary
Siemens’ board of directors has approved to sell the company’s mechanical drives (MD) business to Flender Drives Private Limited, a subsidiary of Flender GmbH, which in turn is a subsidiary of Siemens AG for a consideration of Rs 440 crore. Sunil Mathur, managing director and chief executive officer for Siemens said, “Potential growth in this business will require substantial Capex and moreover, there are no synergies with the existing businesses of Siemens Limited.” Read More
Byju’s raises $122 mn from Israeli-Russian billionaire Milner’s DST Global
Education technology company Byju’s has raised $122 million from Israeli-Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s investment fund DST Global. The financing is part of its ongoing funding round. Byju’s is allotting 42,666 Series F preference shares at an issue price of Rs 213,042.13 per share, show regulatory filings, according to Entrackr, a new age media platform, which reported about Byju’s latest fundraising on 26th August. Read More
Over 2,000 online sellers file an antitrust case against Amazon in India
A group of more than 2,000 online sellers has filed an antitrust case against Amazon in India, alleging the U.S. company favours some retailers whose online discounts drive independent vendors out of business, a legal filing seen by Reuters showed. The case presents a new regulatory challenge for Amazon in India, where it has committed $6.5 billion in investment but is battling a complex regulatory environment.Read More
Gold’s record rally to boost Kalyan Jewellers’ $235 mn IPO, say experts
Gold’s record-setting rally is set to give wings to the largest initial share sale by an Indian jeweller, helping it overcome tumbling demand in the second-biggest consuming nation. Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd. said Monday it plans to raise as much as Rs 17.5 billion ($235 million) through a public listing as it banks on the long-term appeal of gold, a staple of Indian weddings and a popular investment option in the country. Read More
Tata Motors shares gain 8.5% on the company’s goal to bring debt to near zero
A day after N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Motors made public the plans of reducing debt to near-zero levels over the next three years, the company’s investors lapped up the stock. Rising to a 10-week high, shares of Tata Motors closed at Rs 137.85 apiece, up 8.5% on Wednesday over the previous day. Read More
Economics
World Bank suspends publication of “Ease of Business Report” due to irregularities
The World Bank has paused publication of its “Doing Business” report to probe data collection irregularities in the closely watched annual ranking of countries’ business and investment climates. “A number of irregularities have been reported regarding changes to the data in the Doing Business 2018 and Doing Business 2020 reports, published in October 2017 and 2019,” the financial institution said in a statement. The Doing Business report has long been controversial because it ranks countries based on indicators of how their government bureaucracies and regulations affect – and often limit – their attractiveness as destinations for business investment. Read More
India’s summer crop plantings at record high amid plentiful monsoon rains
Ample monsoon rains spurred Indian farmers to plant Kharif crop across a record swathe of farmland 7% more than last year. It is promising a bumper harvest in Asia’s third-biggest economy, despite the rapid spread of coronavirus. Farm ministry data shows growers sowed 108.2 million hectares (267.4 million acres) with crops such as rice, corn, soybeans, cotton, and sugarcane. Between Friday and June 1, farmers planted a higher acreage of each single summer season crop than final 12 months, the information confirmed.Read More
Ultra-rich US investors hoard cash as economy fears over Covid-19 grow
Wealthy investors are continuing to hoard cash amid uncertainty in the pandemic. Although markets continue to surge, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting new all-time highs this week, the ultra-wealthy Tiger 21 club with more than 800 investors are upping their cash holdings at a record pace.Read More
Indian Economy more resilient now vs global financial crisis: RBI governor
The Indian economy remains much stronger amid the coronavirus pandemic than it was during the global financial crisis over a decade ago even if growth has slowed, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said. Data due later this month, however, is expected to show the world’s fifth-largest economy contracted 20% in the April-June quarter as strict nationwide lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 stalled economic activities.Read More
Without help, lidcs risk a lost decade due to covid 19
The shock waves from Covid-19 will lead to a lost decade for the world’s poorest countries, urgent and concerted action from the international community is required to save lives and livelihoods in LIDCs, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. Low-income developing countries (LIDCs) entered the pandemic in a vulnerable position and faced the prospect of their progress in poverty reduction over the past seven to ten years being wiped out. Since March, LIDCs have been hit by an exceptional confluence of external shocks – sharp contraction in real exports, lower export prices, less capital and remittances inflows, and reduced tourism receipts to already high public debt rates. Read More
Finance
Shortage of Credit Card Numbers in Japan
Japan is facing a shortage of 16-digit credit card numbers amid a surge in online shopping during COVID-19 and a government campaign to promote cashless payments. The first six digits indicate the company, brand and other details, while the last 10 are determined by the issuer credit card companies to have warned of a shortage of combinations from the seventh – digit onwards. Read More
Rupee roses high against US dollar
The rupee rose to its highest level in nearly six months, gaining for a third straight session, with traders saying the central bank refrained from currency intervention as foreign investors piled into equity markets. The rupee rose nearly 2% for the week, its biggest weekly gain since the week ending December 21, 2018. Read More
World most valued housing company got listed on NYSE
China’s KE Holdings, also known as Beike Zhaofang, which owns property brokerage brand Lianjia, got listed on the New York stock exchange raising US$2.12 billion. This also made Beike (Lianjia) the most valued property-related company in the world and also China’s 7th largest internet company after eCommerce and social media companies like Alibaba, Meituan, Tencent etc. Lianjia, founded in 2001 in Beijing, provides both online and offline real estate brokerage transactions and services. Read More
Yes Bank shares rise nearly 5% after a Rating upgrade
Yes Bank shares rose to 5% after two rating agencies – India Rating and Crisil upgraded the private lender’s bonds. Crisil upgraded its rating on Rs 20,000 crore certificates of deposit of Yes Bank to ‘A2-plus’ from ‘A2’ besides reaffirmed its ‘BBB/Stable’ rating on the bank’s tier two bonds under Basel III and infrastructure bonds. Meanwhile, India Ratings upgraded Yes Bank’s long-term issuer rating to ‘BBB’ from ‘BB’.Read More
U.S. technology stocks are now worth more than the entire European stock market
U.S. tech stocks have been pushing the stock market to record highs, and now the sector has now become more valuable than the entire European stock market for the first time in history, according to the latest research from Bank of America. This is the first time the market cap of the U.S. tech sector, at $9.1 trillion, exceeds Europe, which including the U.K. and Switzerland is now at $8.9 trillion. Read More
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