Endeavor Careers Choicest Blogs: Weekly Current Affairs: August 2022, Week 01

Welcome to the Endeavor Editors’ Weekly Current Affairs Choicest Blog series. Get a weekly roundup – of 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

Ayman al-Zawahiri: Al-Qaeda leader killed in US drone strike

The US has killed the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden has confirmed. He was killed in a counter-terrorism operation carried out by the CIA in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday. He and Osama Bin Laden plotted the 9/11 attacks together, and he was one of America’s most wanted terrorists. Mr. Biden said al-Zawahiri had “carved a trail of murder and violence against American citizens”. The 71-year-old Egyptian doctor took over al-Qaeda after the death of Bin Laden in 2011. Mr. Biden said that Zawahiri had also masterminded other acts of violence, including the suicide bombing of the USS Cole naval destroyer in Aden in October 2000 which killed 17 US sailors, and the 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in which 223 people died.

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US kills Ayman al-Zawahiri with a ‘quiet’ new Hellfire & mystery of Gen Bajwa-Sherman call

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Russia undercuts Saudi oil in India as competition heats up

A fierce battle is brewing in India where Russia has undercut the price of oil from its OPEC+ ally Saudi Arabia, paving the way for Moscow to expand its market share in one of the biggest crude importers. Russian barrels were cheaper than Saudi crude from April through June, with the discount widening to almost $19 a barrel in May, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Indian government data. Russia surpassed the kingdom as the second-biggest supplier to India in June, ranked just behind Iraq. Iraq was the biggest crude supplier to India and has maintained that spot this year through June. Oil from the OPEC producer was around $9 a barrel higher than Russian barrels in May but was at a discount in all other months. India’s imports from Russia have surged tenfold since March.

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Cheap Russian oil pushing India to ditch Saudi? How Putin is ‘beating’ OPEC+ ally’s market

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Sri Lanka’s economic woes to last another year; need to look at new sectors for recovery: Prez Wickremesinghe

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that Sri Lanka’s economic woes would last for another year and it will have to think outside the box and look at new sectors like logistics and nuclear energy to revive the bankrupt economy. Speaking at a two-day conference titled “Let’s reset Sri Lanka” held on Friday, Wickremesinghe said that reforms in the country also would need higher taxation. Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. The export industry is badly hit by the fuel scarcity caused by the forex crisis. Wickremesinghe, who was elected the president last month by Parliament, will serve the remaining term of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country and resigned amidst the massive anti-government protests.

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3 more ships with grain depart Ukraine ports under the UN deal

Three more ships carrying thousands of tons of corn left Ukrainian ports Friday, in the latest sign that a negotiated deal to export grain trapped since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly six months ago is slowly moving forward. But major hurdles lie ahead to get food to the countries that need it most. The ships bound for Ireland, the United Kingdom and Turkey follow the first grain shipment to pass through the Black Sea since the start of the war. The passage of that vessel heading for Lebanon earlier this week was the first under the breakthrough deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations with Russia and Ukraine. The Black Sea region is dubbed the world’s breadbasket, with Ukraine and Russia key global suppliers of wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower oil that millions of impoverished people in Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia rely on for survival.

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3 more grain ships depart from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports

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Zaporizhzhia: Real risk of a nuclear disaster in Ukraine – watchdog

The UN’s nuclear watchdog has called for an immediate end to any military action near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, warning of a “very real risk of a nuclear disaster”. IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said he was “extremely concerned” by reports of shelling at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. It comes as Ukraine said parts of the facility were “seriously damaged” by Russian military strikes. Russia seized the plant in March. It has kept its Ukrainian employees, but Kyiv accuses Russian forces of firing rockets at civilian areas from the site, employing “terror tactics”. Friday’s strikes underline “the very real risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond”, Mr. Grossi said in a statement.

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Russia rockets damaged part of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant says Ukraine – BBC News

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Amid tensions, warships from China and Taiwan eye each other as drills near the end

Nancy Pelosi’s visit last week to the self-ruled island infuriated China, which responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over the island’s capital for the first time and the cutting of communication links with the United States. Some 10 warships each from China and Taiwan sailed at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line, an unofficial buffer separating the two sides, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. China’s military said on Saturday the sea and air joint exercises, north, southwest, and east of Taiwan, had a focus on land-strike and sea-assault capabilities. The United States called the exercises an escalation. China says its relations with Taiwan are an internal matter and it reserves the right to bring the island under its control, by force if necessary. Taiwan rejects China’s claims saying only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

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Israel strikes Gaza amid soaring tensions with militants

Israel unleashed a wave of airstrikes in Gaza on Friday, killing at least four people, including a senior militant, according to Palestinian officials. Israel said it was targeting the Islamic Jihad militant group amid days of heightened tensions following the arrest of a senior militant in the occupied West Bank earlier this week. The strikes risk igniting yet another war in the territory, which is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas and is home to about 2 million Palestinians. The assassination of a senior militant would likely be met by rocket fire from Gaza, pushing the region closer to all-out war. Israel had closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border as it braced for a revenge attack after the arrest of the Islamic Jihad leader in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

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Israel-Gaza violence: The conflict explained

Britain took control of the area known as Palestine after the ruler of that part of the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire, was defeated in World War One. The land was inhabited by a Jewish minority and Arab majority. Tensions between the two peoples grew when the international community gave Britain the task of establishing a “national home” in Palestine for Jewish people. For Jews, it was their ancestral home, but Palestinian Arabs also claimed the land and opposed the move. In 1948, unable to solve the problem, British rulers left and Jewish leaders declared the creation of the state of Israel. Many Palestinians objected and a war followed. Troops from neighboring Arab countries invaded. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced out of their homes in what they call Al Nakba, or the “Catastrophe”.By the time the fighting ended in a ceasefire the following year, Israel controlled most of the territory. Jordan occupied land which became known as the West Bank, and Egypt occupied Gaza. Jerusalem was divided between Israeli forces in the West and Jordanian forces in the East. Because there was never a peace agreement – with each side blaming the other – there were more wars and fighting in the following decades.

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2) India

Electricity Bill moots radical changes in retail distribution

The government is proposing radical changes in the electricity distribution regime, the weakest link in the power sector, by enabling competition, strengthening payment security for producers, and ensuring more muscles for regulatory commissions. The Union cabinet on Wednesday cleared a bill that is expected to be introduced in Parliament next week. The Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 once cleared would enable competition in the retail distribution of power by allowing other suppliers to use the distribution network of the existing supplier. If a regulatory commission fails to decide on an application for a distribution license in a specified time, the application will be deemed to have been accepted, they said.

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Forex reserves rise after falling for four weeks

The country’s foreign exchange reserves rose $2.4 billion during the week ended July 29 after declining for four consecutive weeks as foreign portfolio investors returned back to the Indian markets as net investors. “India’s foreign exchange reserves were placed at $ 573.9 billion as of July 29, 2022,” said RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, in his monetary policy statement assessment. “The Reserve Bank has used its foreign exchange reserves accumulated over the years to curb volatility in the exchange rate,” Das said. The latest reserve levels reversed the trend of depletion for four consecutive weeks in a row. It fell from $593 billion as of June 24 to $ 571.5 billion as of July 22.

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Government proposes changes to competition law; moots settlement framework

The government proposed a slew of amendments to the competition law on Friday, including the introduction of a settlement framework, a reduction in the time limit for combination approvals, and a provision for incentives for parties to disclose information in cartel probes. The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022, introduced in the Lok Sabha, also proposed provisions for having “value of transaction” as a criterion for notifying combinations to the Competition Commission of India (CCI). These amendments are aimed at catching up with the business models of the new age companies along with broadening the scope of anti-competitive agreements and providing time-bound approvals for combinations. These changes are based on recommendations given by Competition Law Review Committee.

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3) Economy

What do Q1 numbers tell us about the Indian economy?

The central government’s fiscal deficit for the first quarter of the April-June period came in at 21.2% of the full-year target of Rs 16.6 trillion. That’s lower than expected due to higher tax collection and lower spending on subsidies. The deficit in the corresponding period last year was 18.2% of the FY22 budget estimate of Rs 15.07 trillion. The government said it is sticking to the current fiscal deficit target of 6.4% of GDP for FY23. Led by the ongoing economic recovery and improvement in GST compliance, the net tax revenue in Q1 was Rs 5.06 trillion, which is 26.1% of budget estimates, compared to 26.7% last year. The lowest RBI surplus transfer in a decade has led to the halving of non-tax revenue in the first quarter, which meant a weak 5% rise in revenue receipts in the first quarter. But going forward, robust tax collections will help the government absorb higher-than-budgeted subsidy outgo and revenue loss due to excise duty cuts. Experts, therefore, say the government will comfortably meet its FY23 fiscal deficit target.

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CPI Inflation expected to reach 6.8% in FY23 on high food prices: Crisil

The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation, which stood at 7.01 percent in June, is expected to be at 6.8 percent during the current financial year, and the food inflation might come in at 7 percent for 2022-23, according to a report by analytics firm Crisil. The RBI has a target to keep it under 2-6 percent. This is a notch higher than the RBI’s projection of 6.7 percent CPI inflation during the current financial year. Crisil in its report said, “Our forecast of CPI inflation at 6.8 percent is premised on food inflation at 7 percent, which is double last fiscal’s. While we assume a normal monsoon for this forecast (based on the India Meteorological Department’s predictions) which can cap the upside to inflation this fiscal, the intensity and distribution will need monitoring.”

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4) Markets, Banking, and Finance

MPC meet: RBI hikes rates by 50 bps, here are the key takeaways

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the rate-setting panel of the Reserve Bank of India, has unanimously decided to hike lending rates by 50 bps to 5.40%, above the pre-pandemic level of 5.15%, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced on Friday. This is the third consecutive rate hike after a 40 basis point in May and a 50 basis point increase in June. In all, the RBI has raised the benchmark rate by 1.40 percent since May this year. Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate has been adjusted to 5.15%. Marginal Standing Facility and bank rate revised to 5.65% The MPC has retained its stance of ‘withdrawal of accommodation’ as it seeks to roll back pandemic-era measures against rising inflationary pressures.

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5) Business

Zomato clarifies after SEBI pulls company up; says restructuring news was internal communication

Zomato, in a clarification to BSE, has stated that the news of its restructuring to a larger organization was meant for internal communication. Following reports of its ‘Eternal’ restructuring scheme, capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had asked Zomato to clarify the same. The company stated that the news report quoted an internal communique that was not shared by Zomato with the media house. It was merely to communicate the vision for leadership structure. It added that as and when required, Zomato will make all the necessary disclosures. The clarification comes after reports stated that Zomato, helmed by Deepinder Goyal, will have multiple CEOs, under a larger organization called ‘Eternal’. He said that from a company headed by him, Zomato will transition into a company with multiple CEOs for each of their businesses – all acting as peers.

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GAIL faces profit hit over gas supply cut, says finance chief

Profit at state-run GAIL (India) Ltd will be hit as it rations gas sales after supplies are cut under its long-term deal with a former unit of Russian energy giant Gazprom amid high spot prices, its head of finance Rakesh Kumar Jain said on Thursday. GAIL, India’s largest gas distributor and operator of pipelines, imports 14 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) under various long-term deals. Of this about 2.5 mtpa, or up to 39 LNG cargoes, were to be supplied this year by Gazprom Marketing and Trading Singapore (GMTS), now a unit of Gazprom Germania. Since the end of May, GMTS has missed delivery of 8 LNG cargoes to GAIL and is not certain about future supplies as it is securing the fuel for Europe, Jain said in an analyst call.

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Adani Group to buy Macquarie Asia’s four toll stretches for Rs 3,110 crore

Adani Road Transport, the arm of Adani Enterprises Ltd, has entered into a pact to purchase Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund’s two stretches in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, respectively, at a valuation of Rs 3,110 crore. The deal, subject to regulatory and lenders’ approval, is expected to close in September 2022, Adani said in a notification. Adani’s wholly-owned subsidiary would acquire Gujarat Road and Infrastructure Company Ltd (GRICL), currently owned 56.8 percent by Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund, and Swarna Tollway Private Ltd (STPL). IL&FS owns a 26.8 percent stake in GRICL and the Gujarat government owns the rest. At present, STPL is completely owned by Macquarie Asia. Once the deal gets through, Adani would acquire 56.8 percent in GRICL and a 100 percent stake in STPL. The Gautam Adani-led Group has announced a slew of deals this year along with bidding in the 5G spectrum auction for creating “a private network to support its businesses and data centers.”

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What Gautam Adani plans to do with Rs 212-cr 5G spectrum buy

Gautam Adani’s group on Tuesday said the Rs 212 crore worth of spectrum it has bought in a millimeter wave band will be used to create a private network to support its businesses and data centers. Adani Data Networks Ltd (ADNL), a unit of Adani Enterprises Ltd, acquired the right to use 400MHz of spectrum in the 26GHz millimeter wave band for 20 years in the auction that concluded on Monday. Adani Group plans to use the airwaves for its data centers as well as the super app it is building to support businesses from electricity distribution to airports, and gas retailing to ports. ”The newly acquired 5G spectrum is expected to help create a unified digital platform that will accelerate the pace and scale of the Adani group’s digitization of its core infrastructure, primary industry, and B2C business portfolio,” the group said in a statement. Adani group bought less than one percent of all spectrum sold in the auction and its purchase price was a fraction of Rs 1.5 lakh crore bids that the government received.

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6) Technology

India: Mega 5G spectrum auction ends, service rollout expected by Oct

India is ready for the launch of the next generation of mobile broadband as the government completed the spectrum auction on Monday. A total of 51.2 GHz of the spectrum was sold, and close to 71% of the total spectrum was put up for sale.

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Meta expands NFT support on Instagram in 100 countries

Meta says it has begun rolling out support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) across 100 countries after integrating with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s wallet and Dapper. In a Facebook post, the company’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, confirmed the news of its international expansion of NFT support on Instagram. Countries in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa can access their Instagram with NFT integration. Users need to connect the digital wallet with their Instagram account to post an NFT minted on Ethereum, Polygon, or Flow. Previously, NFT support was only available to select creators in the United States.

For details visit here.

ED freezes bank accounts of WazirX worth Rs 64.67 crore

In a first, a cryptocurrency exchange here is being probed by a revenue enforcement agency in a money laundering case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday said that it recently conducted searches on one of the directors of M/s Zanmai Lab Pvt Ltd which owns the popular cryptocurrency exchange WazirX and has issued a freezing order to freeze their bank balances to the tune of Rs. 64.67 crores. According to the agency, the exchange has ‘actively’ assisted around 16 fintech companies under investigation on charges of money laundering to divert their alleged proceeds of crime using the crypto route. The agency probe has found that the exchange has a complicated ownership structure making it ‘obscure’. The exchange was in alleged violation of KYC norms and has failed to conduct any enhanced due diligence (EDD) nor has raised any suspicious transaction reports (STRs).

For details visit here.

7) Politics

Jagdeep Dhankhar elected India’s next vice-president, defeats Margaret Alva

Jagdeep Dhankhar, National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) nominee and former West Bengal governor who was pitted against joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva, became the 14th Vice-President of India on Saturday after winning the 16th election by an overwhelming majority. Dhankhar, who is a lawyer by profession, joined politics in 1989. He became the governor of West Bengal in July 2019 and has made headlines since then over his tumultuous relations with the Mamata Banerjee government. He tendered his resignation as the governor of West Bengal. The vice president of India, which is the second-highest constitutional post in the country, is elected through an electoral college consisting of members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

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What is the DESH Bill?

The government is likely to introduce the Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) Bill in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. Through this, the government is seeking to go beyond export-oriented manufacturing and focus on broad-based parameters such as boosting additional economic activity, generating employment, and integrating various industrial hubs. Unlike in the SEZ ecosystem, the government has proposed to create developmental hubs, whose focus is not limited to exports, but also to cater to the domestic markets. The customs duty would only be paid on the inputs used and not on the expensive final goods. The Bill also seeks to integrate existing industrial estates such as textiles and food parks by converting them into developmental hubs.

For details visit here.

As Govt withdraws Personal Data Protection Bill, a look at what it envisaged, Why it faced opposition

After nearly four years of being in the works, the Personal Data Protection Bill was withdrawn from Parliament by the government on Wednesday. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, who moved for Bill’s withdrawal, said the government will come out with a “set of fresh legislations” that will fit into the comprehensive legal framework for the digital economy. Quoting sources, news agency PTI said the government would hold a wide public consultation before putting the new legislation to Parliament. They added that the Bill could be replaced by more than one Bill, dealing with privacy and cyber security and the government may bring the new set of Bills in the Winter Session of Parliament. The withdrawn Bill had proposed restrictions on the use of personal data without the explicit consent of citizens. It had also sought to provide the government with powers to give exemptions to its probe agencies from the provisions of the Act, a move that was strongly opposed by the opposition MPs who had filed their dissent notes.

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8) Sports

India at CWG 2022 Day 9 wrap: Wrestlers complete Perfect 12, Bhavinben wins historic gold

It was a historic day for India at the Commonwealth Games on day 9 as 14 medals were added to the tally. The Indian wrestling contingent made it a perfect 12 with the likes of Naveen, Vinesh Phogat, and Ravi Kumar Dahiya winning gold for the nation. Avinash Sable secured a historic silver in the men’s steeple chase and Bhavinaben Patel won gold in para table tennis. India completed a Perfect 12 in wrestling as the popular sport continued to be a big contributor to the country’s medal tally at the Commonwealth Games. All 12 Indian wrestlers won medals in the Commonwealth Games 2018 at Gold Coast and the wrestling team has been able to repeat the feat.

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CWG 2022: Vinesh Phogat wins gold in freestyle wrestling

India’s Vinesh Phogat wins gold in women’s 53kg freestyle wrestling at Commonwealth Games 2022. This is the third consecutive time Phogat has won gold in Commonwealth Games. India won a second gold medal in boxing on Saturday. Boxer Ravi Dahiya secured his 10th gold medal today. Dahiya became the fourth Indian wrestler to win gold at the ongoing Commonwealth Games after beating Nigeria’s Ebikewenimo Welson in the men’s 57kg final. Phogat scripted history yet again, by being the first Indian woman to win Gold at both Commonwealth and Asian Games.

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Nikhat Zareen adds Third Boxing Gold after Nitu Ghanghas and Amit Panghal triumph at CWG 2022

World champion boxer Nikhat Zareen added a Commonwealth Games gold medal to her ever-growing kitty as she completely out-boxed veteran Northern Ireland pugilist Carly McNaul in the women’s light-flyweight final. Nikhat’s gold is the third of the day for India after Nitu Ghanghas and Amit Panghal also triumphed earlier in the day. Earlier, Nitu Ghanghas produced a masterful display on Sunday to beat England’s Demie-Jade Resztan in the final of the women’s minimumweight category to give India its first gold medal in the sport in Birmingham.

For details visit here.

9) Opinion

Bangladesh goes to IMF. How deep is its crisis, in comparison with Sri Lanka, Pakistan & India

Amid the Sri Lankan economic crisis, the Finance Minister of Bangladesh has written to the IMF seeking $4.5 billion. In this episode, Shekhar Gupta explains what is happening in Bangladesh, how different the crisis in Bangladesh as compared to Sri Lanka & Pakistan, can India go the Sri Lanka way, and why nations go to the IMF.

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Where does the Taiwan crisis leave Biden’s China policy?

Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan has left Joe Biden with a serious headache as he tries to manage ties with America’s biggest global rival. Analysts warn that many risks lie ahead. The relationship between China and the United States was founded on deliberate ambiguity over Taiwan. Maintaining the status quo – in which Beijing says Taiwan is part of China, Taiwan says it’s independent, the US says it’s not but treats it like an ally, and no one makes aggressive moves on their claims – has been the least-worst option of keeping a tenuous peace. As China encircles Taiwan with live-fire military drills, the view in Washington is still that President Xi aims to “calibrate” his moves so as not to ignite open warfare, which neither side wants. But it’s an explosive development in a brittle relationship. “The US and China don’t have either the political space or really the relationships and the mechanisms to prevent an incident like that from becoming a full-blown crisis,” says Danny Russel, a former diplomat who specialized in the Asia Pacific, now with the Asia Society Policy Institute. “I think (the Pelosi visit) will lock in the hardest-line thinking in China, and really remove any place for advocacy of patience and caution,” he told the BBC.

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India@75 is a patchy story. But it has 25 years to fix things and make it an Indian century

Despite the passage of 75 years and the resources of a growing economy, India has failed on three primary fronts: Universal school education up to the matriculation stage, universal healthcare with a good public health system, and jobs for all those looking for them. To adapt to Thoreau, “Most Indians lead lives of quiet desperation”. To these primary failures, one could add two more: Failure to provide universal access to the basics (including clean water and clean air), and the absence of proper law and order-cum-justice system that does not have two-thirds of the prison population classified as “under-trials”. These failures are compounded by damage to the environment, and growing water scarcity because of unsustainable agricultural practices. The victims of these failures are almost entirely the underclass: Dalits and tribals, migrants, and other workers in the informal sector — in a word, the powerless. India, therefore, has become a deeply unequal and unjust society. These failures are widely recognized but (for reasons not fully analyzed or understood) have not become the focus of urgent and effective action.

For details visit here.

5G spectrum auctions: Why Reliance Jio’s bid for the 700 Mhz band is a masterstroke

The just-concluded 5G spectrum auctions are being touted as an all-around success. The provisional sale of airwaves not only fetched over Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the government, but it also allowed telecom operators to gain a 5G spectrum without bidding much higher than the reserve prices. The auction now sets the stage for the nationwide rollout of 5G services in the world’s second-largest mobile market. While Reliance Jio’s Rs 88,078 crore (nearly $11 billion) bid to acquire 24,740 MHz of 5G spectrum might seem like a costly affair on the surface, telecom analysts reckon it is a bet meant for the future. And the Mukesh Ambani-owned firm’s strategy to bid for the most sought-after (and expensive) 700 Mhz band was a smart and carefully executed one. The 700 Mhz bands had gone unsold in the telecom auctions of 2016 and 2021. However, this year, it became a hot property for telcos. What could be the reason behind that? Sub-GHz bands (usually in the range of 700-Mhz and 900 Mhz) are said to be ideal for wireless applications. Additionally, these cover long distances (up to 7-10 km) and consume low power. The 700 Mhz band also offers better indoor penetration in dense urban geographies like the Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Pune circles. It can achieve more than 300 Mbps of download speed in trial conditions, according to Qualcomm. The band is already deployed by telcos for 4G services across most of India’s 22 telecom circles.

For details visit here.

10) Weekly special

How STAN is building an NFT universe around esports in BGMI (PUBG), Free Fire, and more

For the startup STAN, the growing esports market presents an opportunity to build a platform for fans, gaming creators, and esports players to collect, play, and engage with their favorite esports influencers, acquire gaming-related collectibles, and earn rewards, and more. Started by Parth Chadha, Akshat Rathee, Rahul Singh, Shubham Gupta, and Nauman Mulla, STAN also allows users to get signed merchandise from esport celebrities, get a chance to visit creators’ or streamers’ boot camps, meet them on Instagram lives, join them one-on-one on clubs, and more. STAN’s platform is built on top of the Polygon blockchain and enables engagement for its users through fun gamified loopable layers on the platform.

For details visit here.

With that, we come to the end of our Weekly Current Affairs August 2022 -Week 1. We 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.

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