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 Seventy Sixth – 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 Divyansh Gupta, Ayush Harlalka and Creamy Garg)
Politics
More people arrested for vandalization of a Hindu Temple in Pakistan
Concerning the vandalization of a Hindu temple by a group led by members of a radical Islamist party in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistani police have arrested additional 45 people for their alleged collusion in the same. With this, now the total number of accused arrested in this case has risen to 100. On Wednesday, the temple in Terri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district was destroyed, and set on fire by a mob that was protesting against its expansion work, and over 350 people were named in the FIR. Read More
Farmer Unions to hold tractor parade towards Delhi on January 26 if demands not met
Hardening their position ahead of the next round of talks with the government, protesting farmer unions on Saturday said they will take out a tractor parade towards Delhi on January 26, when the country will celebrate Republic Day, if their demands are not met. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be in the national capital on January 26. He will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade which will be held at Rajpath. Addressing a press conference, farmer leader Darshan Pal Singh said their proposed parade will be called “Kisan Parade” and it will be be held after the Republic Day parade. Read More
China to convene for annual parliamentary session from Mar
China will begin the annual meeting of its top legislative body on March 5 in the capital Beijing, official state media Xinhua News Agency reported. The decision was made by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the proposed agenda includes reviewing a government work report and a draft of the 14th Five-Year Plan, China’s blueprint for economic and social development, according to Xinhua. Read More
Govt. accepts farmer’s demands on stubble burning and power subsidy.
In the recent meeting between Centre and farmer trade unions pertaining to the demands of farmers for the repeal of three farm bills, the centre has agreed to the two of the four demands of unions through mutual consensus. The Centre agreed to “decriminalise” stubble burning by excluding farmers from the ambit of the ‘Commission for the Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance 2020’, and drop those provisions of the draft Electricity Amendment Bill, 2020, which are intended to change the existing mode of subsidy payment to consumers. Read More
Trump extends immigration bans until March 31 despite opposition
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday extended a pair of immigration bans that block many green card applicants and temporary foreign workers from entering the country as protective measures in order to save the domestic workers from pandemic induced job losses. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20, has criticized the restrictions, but has not yet said whether he would immediately reverse them. Trump issued the bans in the form of presidential proclamations that could be swiftly undone. Read More
Science and Technology
India approves first Covid-19 vaccine
India on Saturday approved its first and long-awaited Covid-19 vaccine, Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford University and manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) for emergency use. Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar, added that atleast three other vaccine candidates are in line for approval in the country. Read More
Google’s Wing warns new drone laws ‘may have unintended consequences’ for privacy
The US government made the single biggest, most impactful set of changes to drone law ruling that almost every drone in US airspace will need to broadcast their locations, as well as the location of their pilots, in order to “address safety, national security, and law enforcement concerns regarding the further integration of these aircraft into the airspace of the United States”. Google (Alphabet) isn’t too happy about those new rules. Read More
UK Scientists to Produce Low-Cost, High-Performance Ventilators
UK scientists have been awarded funding to develop a robust, low-cost ventilator to help patients in low and middle-income countries suffering from severe respiratory problems due to Covid-19. Mechanical ventilation is a small but important part of the management of pandemic virus infections that affect the lungs, including SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), and influenza. Ventilators are typically expensive to purchase and maintain, and need considerable training to use. Read More
Spacex try to catch the boosters from space
Taking a step further in the advanced space technology, Spacex founder Elon Musk has announced of his new initiative to catch the boosters from space instead of controlled landing. Till now, the return of Falcon 9 boosters involved touching down on a boat or a launchpad using legs that were built into the rocket. Read More
China launches remote sensing satellite ‘Yaogan-33’
China has successfully launched a new remote sensing satellite into space called ‘Yaogan-33’ from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. The satellite, Yaogan-33, was launched aboard a Long March-4C rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully making it a 357th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series. Read More


Business
Ford, M&M announce cancellation of Joint Venture
In a recent announcement, Ford Motor Company (FMC) and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), have mutually decided to call off an automotive joint venture. In October 2019, the two companies had entered into a joint venture for developing, marketing and distributing Ford vehicles and selling both Mahindra and Ford cars at the same time in India’s emerging market. Mahindra was to hold a 51% stake, while Ford would have the rest. The new entity formed was to absorb Ford’s assets near Chennai and Sanand and run by Mahindra. Read More
China warns strict action against NYSE’s delisting of Telecoms
China on Saturday asserted on strict and necessary action against the New York Stock Exchange’s move to delist three Chinese telecom firms to safeguard their interests. The NYSE on Thursday announced delisting of China Telecom Corp., China Mobile Ltd., and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd., with their trading suspension due to their military ties back home. The move comes from President Donald Trump’s Nov. 12 move barring investment in companies owned or controlled by the Chinese military. Read More
CBI books Shakti Bhog Foods, directors for Rs 3,269 crore bank fraud
Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a case against Shakti Bhog Foods and its officials for defrauding a consortium of 10 banks of Rs Rs 3,269 crore. The FIR was filed on the basis of a complaint from the State Bank of India (SBI). In the FIR, the central probe agency has also named Shakti Bhog Foods’ Managing Director Kewal Krishna Kumar and directors Siddharth Kumar and Sunanda Kumar as accused. The company had received over Rs 2,000 crore from a consortium of 10 lenders, led by the SBI, reported India Today. Read More
Centre issues notices against Flipkart and Amazon
Due to the violations of foreign direct investment (FDI) and other relevant rules, the commerce and industry ministry has asked the RBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take “necessary action” on allegations made by Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) against Amazon, Flipkart and Walmart. The Centre has directed RBI to issue relevant notices to the companies in response to the concerns received from CAIT such as the recent Rs 1,500-crore deal between Flipkart Group and Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail (ABFRL). Read More
Equity investors gain a total of Rs 32.49 lakh crore in 2020.
Overcoming the major highs and lows in the pandemic ridden 2020, the equity investments have gained a total of Rs 32.49 lakh crore in the year. The BSE saw ruthless buying and selling and the Sensex gained by 15.7 per cent in 2020. For the entire year, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms zoomed by Rs 32,49,689.56 crore to reach Rs 1,88,03,518.60 crore. Read More
Economics
Report says Indian economy me add only 1% in real terms in 2021-22
According to a report by the India Ratings, the Indian economy may add just 1% in real terms to reach Rs. 147.17 Lakh Crore as against Rs. 145.66 Lakh Crore in 2019-20 in real terms measured at 2011-12 prices. This comes in contrast to the 9.6% expected growth rate in a year-on-year basis in the next fiscal. Read More
Fiscal deficit passes 135% of full-year target
India’s fiscal deficit stood at Rs. 10.75 Lakh Crore in the 8 months ending November 2020 to cross 135% of the Budget target of around Rs. 8 Lakh Crore for this fiscal according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts. The deficit is largely due to a decline in revenue and capital receipts with non-tax revenue at only 32% of the budgeted amount. Read More
States, UTs set to borrow Rs 3.16 trillion through SDLs in March quarter
State governments and Union Territories (UTs) plan to raise Rs 3.16 trillion through state development loans (SDLs) in January-March 2021, the last quarter of the current fiscal year (Q4FY21). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in consultation states and UTs firmed up, has the indicative borrowing plan for raising funds from the market. Read More
Exports slip 0.8% in December 2020; trade deficit widens to $15.71 billion
The country’s exports declined marginally by 0.8 per cent to USD 26.89 billion in December 2020, due to contraction in sectors like petroleum, leather and marine products, according to preliminary data released by the commerce ministry. The trade deficit in December widened to USD 15.71 billion, as imports grew by 7.6 per cent to USD 42.6 billion. Read More
More than Rs 70,000 crore economic loss in Q3 due to farmers’ agitation
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has said that the farmers’ agitation against new agri laws will lead to economic loss of over ₹70,000 crore in the December quarter owing to supply chain disruptions, particularly in Punjab, Haryana and border areas of Delhi. The chamber’s President Sanjay Aggarwal mentioned that there are around 25 lakh MSMEs in Punjab and Haryana which employ more than 45 lakh workers contributing more than ₹4 lakh crore in the total ₹14 lakh crore worth Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Punjab and Haryana. Read More
Finance
Bitcoin at all-time high
The world’s largest virtual currency, Bitcoin, has now surpassed US$ 33000 and is valued at an all-time high. The virtual currency has nearly doubled in December, tripled since September and has risen from 52 week low of around US$ 4000 to high of around US$ 33000. Bitcoin had a similar run in 2017 where it reached the then record-high of US$ 20000. Read More
RBI constructs index to capture digital payments penetration in country
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said it has constructed a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI) with March 2018 as the base period to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country. Going forward, RBI-DPI will be published on the central bank’s website on a semi-annual basis from March 2021 onwards with a lag of four months. The RBI-DPI comprises of five broad parameters that enable measurement of deepening and penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods. Read More
IFSCA becomes member of International Organization of Securities Commissions
International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) on Friday said it has become an associate member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) works closely with the G20 and the Financial Stability Board in setting up the standards for strengthening the securities markets. The IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation have been endorsed by Financial Stability Board as one of the key standards for sound financial systems. Read More
India receives record Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in September quarter
India received net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of record US$ 25 Billion in the September Quarter as investors around the world believed and focused on economy revival through restoration in private capital expenditure and government spending. Along with the equity investment of US$ 25 Billion, portfolio investment of US$ 7 Billion was also recorded in the same quarter. Read More
GST collection touches all-time high in December
The gross revenues from the Goods and Services Tax in December 2020 hit an all-time high since the introduction of the tax in 2017, with collections of ₹1,15,174 crore. December’s collections of the indirect tax are 12% higher than December 2019. According to department of revenue, revenues from import of goods was 27% higher and the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 8% higher in December than those from these sources during the same month last year. Read More
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