Week 36

Technology! 📺

March 13, 2021

Good Morning,

Welcome! I hope you have your “Subah Kee Chai” ready and you're excited to read your weekly 10-minute digest. 

This week, I dived into some interesting tech stories from the week, and also covered news surrounding the recent Freedom of Religion Bill. Team India continues to lock horns with rivals England, and the prices of new TVs are a shocker! Also, check out my podcast, I have some talented and interesting guests coming on over the next few weeks! 

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I hope you enjoy today's newsletter,

Now let’s get into the news.

Markets

Markets

A dip! That's what a majority of

experienced on Friday with the BSE Sensex index falling nearly 500 points. Markets were open only 4 days this week, as Thursday celebrated MahaShivrarti. Bajaj Auto, Maruti, Reliance, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, and Induslnd Bank were among the top losers with their shares falling as much as 2.98%. As a positive, however, PowerGrid, ONGC, Titan, and Infosys were among the top gainers with their shares rising as much as 2.28%. According to market experts, the dip in market performance was due to a major selloff in the financials and automobile sector. The sell-off was triggered due to positive global cues in the US and European markets, signalling a faster than expected economic recovery. US President Joe Biden recently signed a USD 1.9 trillion stimulus package, which is expected to provide a major boost to the country's economy, which in turn, will boost the global economy as well. The price of gold and crude oil dipped minimally throughout the week as well. 

E-commerce, digital markets, cryptocurrency, NFT's! Learn these terms, because they are going to get a lot more popular in the future! According to a report by a fintech firm called FIS,

is set to grow 84% to a valuation of USD 111 billion by 2024. This magnitude of growth is stimulated by the recent adoption of digital technologies to continue business during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the key sectors within India's digital space is mobile shopping, which is projected to grow 21% annually over the next 4 years. It is also important to note that e-commerce is not only associated with traditional website shopping, as physical retail shops have also blended with the digital world. The report also projected that digital wallets will overtake cash as the most popular payment method in India by 2024. Cash is a huge part of the Indian economy as a number of local businesses function purely on a cash basis. Can you see India giving up cash payments in the near future?  

COVID-19

After showing positive declines,

tally shot up again. On Wednesday, 22,854 patients tested positive for COVID-19 in India, the highest daily tally since the 7th of January, and also the third time the daily case tally has crossed the 20,000 mark. The State of Maharashtra is driving the surge with the state reporting 13,659 cases on Wednesday, followed by Kerala (2475 cases) and Punjab (1393 cases). However, while the case tally is rising, the death rate is not nearly as high as it was a few months ago. 

On the vaccination front, India has administered 2.5 crore vaccine doses in a period of 54 days. On Thursday, the Union Health Ministry clarified that there is

of COVID-19 vaccine doses either, in any state across the nation. The manufacturer of Covishield (Serum Institute of India Ltd.) has agreed to supply 10 crore doses at a price of INR 150 plus GST per dose for the priority population and health care workers. 

Lastly, along with three other vaccines, India will also manufacture the US-developed

single-dose COVID-19 vaccine as part of the "Quad Vaccine Initiative". This project will be financed by Japan, the USA, Australia, and India. An important step towards greater ties between India and the USA, and other South-east Asian countries. 

Tech News 

YouTube

Do you use YouTube? Well, as a consumer you may see a drop in content, but as a creator, this isn't good news! On Wednesday, Google made an announcement that

from payments to creators outside of the USA. American YouTubers will not have to take on this additional tax burden, and it is solely for foreign creators. This additional tax for YouTubers may start getting deducted as early as June 2021. It is important to note, however, that the tax will be deducted from the earnings from viewers/consumers in the USA through ad views, YouTube Premium, Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Channel Memberships. Individuals will not be subject to the tax for money made from viewers outside the USA. A failure to comply with this new policy can lead to a massive 24% tax on the channel's entire monthly earnings. If you are a YouTuber that is making money, then go submit your tax info on your AdSense account! If you're just a regular consumer, don't be stressed, instead, go and watch me on YouTube! The link is above!

Samsung

Under the Samsung Innovation Campus initiative,

has inaugurated a Samsung Innovation Lab at Delhi Technological University (DTU). With this new initiative, Samsung India claims to highlight its commitment towards the Indian Government's "Skill India" initiative. The Skill India initiative was launched by the Government in 2015 to train over 40 crore Indians in different industry-related jobs. At the newly inaugurated lab, students and faculty of DTU will work on advanced technology training alongside joint research collaborations on different domains focused on different sectors. With this new addition, Samsung hosts eight technical labs across the country.

Apple  

How can it be tech news without a feature from Apple? Recently,

announced that it has started the production of the latest iPhone 12 in India which will be the first 5G-enabled iPhone to be made in India. The new iPhones will be produced at Apple's Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn's Chennai factory. Apple also stated that the Indian manufactured iPhones 12's will only be sold in India, and not shipped anywhere worldwide.

In other news, Apple also decided to discontinue its original HomePod in India. The

was launched in 2017 and was the first version of an Apple smart speaker. The HomePod is a direct competitor with Amazon's Alexa and Google's Google Home, however failure to gain any significant market share has forced the company to discontinue the original HomePod. If you currently own a HomePod, do not worry, as Apple will continue to provide customer support and software updates through Apple care. If you do not own a HomePod, then you don't have to worry either! You can buy a HomePod Mini, which is still available and is not being discontinued like the original HomePod. Or just buy an Amazon Alexa or a Google Home...😬. 

Freedom of Religion Bill

Madhya Pradesh

On Monday, the

was passed in Assembly. Under this bill, forced conversions are forbidden in Madhya Pradesh, and any individual who forcefully converts someone else will face a jail term of up to 10 years along with a minimum fine of INR 50,000. This step came after the state government became aware of the many incidents where minor girls were converted, married, and made to contest in Panchayat polls. A Panchayat poll is a democratic structure at the grass-root levels of the nation. Elections for a village/community etc. As mentioned, under the new bill, these minor girls will be protected and cannot be forcefully converted. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh passed a law called the Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Bill, on the 24th of February 2021. This is a positive step towards greater legal enforcement at the grass-root level of India, where education is not of the finest quality, and where social issues such as gender quality, women empowerment among others are not of concern. 

Kolkata 

In other news, seven people were killed in a

that broke out in a multi-storeyed building in Kolkata. Out of the seven deceased, four were firefighters, one was an assistant sub-inspector, one was an RFI personnel and one was a senior official of the Railways. Individuals are still missing, and the death toll may be higher, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. 

Sports

T20 Baby!

If you are not a fan of Test cricket, I have you covered! T20I Cricket is back, and on Friday,

on the first match of the 5-day T20I series between the two nations. An impressive bowling display saw England comprehensively win by 8 wickets. England bowler Jofra Archer picked up an impressive 3 wickets, while leg-spinner Adil Rashid opened the bowling and dismissed Indian captain Virat Kohli for a duck! A tough pill to swallow :(. Despite the loss, Shreyas Iyer was able to break down the dominant England side scoring 67 runs in 48 balls. However, England sauntered in the chase with Jason Roy registering 49 runs in 32 balls, helping England reach the target with 27 runs to spare. Heads up! The second game of the 5-day T20 series takes place on Sunday. You know the drill! Sip some chai, read your Subah Kee Chai and enjoy some entertaining T20 cricket! 

Chahal

On Friday,

became India's leading wicket-taker after surpassing Jasprit Bumrah. The 30-year old spinner picked up his 60th wicket against England, a day which also marked his 100th international appearance for India. With an economy rate of 6.66 runs per over in T20I cricket, Yuvzendra Chahal is establishing his name as one of India's finest spin bowlers. Tune in on Sunday to see him in action once again!

Other News

1. The

are set to rise significantly in April as the cost of open-cell panels has gone up globally, rising approximately 35% in the past month. 

2.

in India increased 18% to 2,81,380 units in February as compared with February 2020. 

3. India is likely to block mobile carriers from using China-based

telecom equipment. The decision comes following a rise in security fears and to incentivize domestic manufacturers. 

4.

fell 37% year-on-year to 78 lakh passengers in February due to travel restrictions and a cap on passenger capacity due to the pandemic. 

5. A recent study showed that 60% of

have seen their financial condition deteriorate due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Quiz

Quiz Quiz Quiz! 

Can you figure out the logic I used to decide the order of the following words: 

"gun, shoe, spree, door, hive, kicks, heaven, gate, line, den"

Get thinking! Sounds easy right? 

See you next week!

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Quiz Answer: Each word rhymes with its numeric position in the list. (e.g. "gun" rhymes with "one", etc.)

 

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Written by: Adnan Bahrainwala (Founder of Subah Kee Chai)