KHABAR
STAY JAGRUK!
2nd week November
NATIONAL NEWS
Railways to discontinue special
trains, revert to certain pre-Covid-19
fares
According to a circular released by
the Railway Board late on Friday
evening, regular fares will be charged
for concerned classes of travel and
type of train, as per the guidelines
issued.
The circular read, “Second class of
such trains shall continue to run as
reserved except any relaxation
permitted in special case.”
Checks on paper, Delhi chokes on
toxic haze
Air pollution reached the season’s
worst levels on Friday as the toxic
smog that has persisted for over a
week thickened and emissions
breached “emergency” level
thresholds that would have normally
led to a host of curbs like a ban on
construction work, the entry of heavy
vehicles, and odd-even car use limits.
Chennai picks up pieces, IMD warns water. Besides, the region witnesses
of more rain heightened military watch because of
a simmering border dispute with
The city has been battered by two China.
heavy spells of rain since last
Saturday. Chennai recorded 210 mm
of rain overnight between November
6 and 7, and on November 12, the
average rainfall in the city was
60.6mm over a 24-hour period.
Almost all districts in Tamil Nadu
have received heavy rainfall and four
districts got extreme rainfall from
Won’t have airlines to board if fare
November 7 to 12, Balachandran,
limits not increased: Aviation
head of the Regional Meteorological
Minister
Centre, Chennai, told reporters on
Friday.
There won't be any airline in India to
board if limits on domestic airfares
are not increased as oil prices have
jumped from $22 each barrel to $85 in
the last eight months, Union Aviation
Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on
Thursday.
At the 'Times Now Summit 2021', he
Jal Jeevan Mission: 12 Leh villages
said aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is
get tap water connection
about 40% of an airline's cost
The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scheme structure in the country. Domestic air
aims to connect every rural household travel became costlier on August 12
in the country with a functional this year when the Aviation Ministry
tapped water connection by 2024. raised the lower and upper caps on
Over 120 million households in India domestic fares by 9.83 to 12.82%.
lacked access to clean water near their
homes, the highest in the world in
absolute numbers, according to a UN
Water report in 2014.
Some regions such as Leh in the
Union territory of Ladakh, stood out
for their harsh terrain and
geographical hurdles in the national
programme to provide piped
1
DOMESTIC BUSINESS
Bihar receives India Today Tourism
award
The India Today Group hosts an
annual event to announce the winners
of the Tourism Survey—an exercise
that focuses on the efforts of India’s
many energetic state tourism bodies.
G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for
Culture, Tourism and Development of
the North-Eastern Region gave the
awards at a function held in New
Delhi on Friday.
Aryan Khan appears before NCB
as per bail conditions in Mumbai
cruise drugs case
Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood
superstar Shah Rukh Khan, appeared
before the Narcotics Control Bureau
at the agency’s office in Mumbai on
Friday, as per his bail conditions.
When he was released on bail by the
Bombay High Court last month in the
Mumbai cruise drugs case, a list of
conditions was imposed on him. One
of the conditions is that he must report
at the NCB’s office every Friday.
Auto Sales October 2021: Passenger
Vehicle Sales Drops 27% YoY Due
To Chip Shortage
SIAM says that while manufacturers
were banking on the festive season to
recover, the shortage of
semiconductor chips and steep hike in
raw material cost have been a major
spoilsport for the auto industry.The
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Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers (SIAM) has released
the monthly sales numbers for
October 2021. Last month the total
passenger vehicle sales in the domestic
market stood at 2,26,353 units, a
year-on-year decline of 27 per cent
compared to the 3,10,694 vehicles
sold in October 2020. SIAM says that
while manufacturers were banking on
the festive season to recover, the
shortage of semiconductor chips and
steep hike in raw material cost have
been a major spoilsport for the auto
industry.
Smog tightens grip on Delhi-NCR;
AQI season’s worst at 471
New Delhi: The layer of eye-stinging
smog lingering over Delhi- NCR
thickened on friday, giving the sun an
orange tint and reducing visibility of
200 metres in several areas of the
region that have been plagued by
hazardous pollution levels since early
november.
Over 4000 farms fires, which
accounted for 35 per cent of delhi’s
pollution on friday, played a major
role in pushing the 24- hour average
air Quality Index(AQI) by 471.
Go First adds 32 new domestic
flights
Go First has introduced 32 new flights
to its domestic network.
The Wadia group airline had added
Amritsar, Surat, Dehradun and Aizawl
to its network and these airports will
be connected by direct flights to and
from Delhi, Mumbai, Srinagar,
Bengaluru, Kolkata and Guwahati
Go First CEO Kaushik Khona said:
“At Go First, it has been a constant
endeavor to build a strong network
that will offer our customers ease of
travel and viable options to choose
from.
Telangana: Unknown sources gave
TRS Rs 89 crore, top for a regional
party
HYDERABAD: Three big regional
parties: TRS, TDP and YSR Congress
— in Telangana and neighbouring
Andhra Pradesh have received the
major part of their funds from
unknown sources in 2019-20,
association for democratic reforms
(ADR) said in a report.
ADR, an NGO which works in the
area of electoral and political reforms,
said the total income of the regional
parties from unknown sources stood
at Rs 446 crore, which is 55 per cent
of their total income in 2019-20. The
overall income of 25 regional political
parties in the financial year was Rs
803 crore.
2
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
At least three killed, 15 injured in blast
at Afghan mosque
At least three people were killed and
15 wounded on Friday by a blast at a
mosque in Afghanistan's restive
Nangarhar province, a hospital
official told AFP .
The blast happened in Spin Ghar
district of the eastern province, a
hotbed of Islamic State group activity
since the Taliban seized power in the
country in August.
"I can confirm a blast during Friday
prayers inside a mosque in Spin Ghar
district. There are casualties and
fatalities," a Taliban official told AFP.
How power and ideology define Xi
Jinping's rise in China.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping emerged
from a party conclave this week not
only more firmly ensconced in power
than ever, but also with a stronger
ideological and theoretical grasp on
the ruling Communist Party's past,
present and future. That lays the
groundwork for him to take a third
five-year term as party leader at next
year's national congress, elevating to
the likes of Mao Zedong, who
founded the People's Republic in
1949, and Deng Xiaoping, who
opened up the economy three decades
later.
Alibaba takes in $84.54 billion in
orders in toned-down Singles Day
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba
Group Holding Ltd recorded 540.3
billion yuan ($84.54) billion in orders,
or "gross merchandise value" (GMV),
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over its 11-day Singles' Day sales
event, marking a roughly 14%
increase from the year prior.
The results come as overall
consumption in China slows, and cap
a relatively muted version of a sales
festival that Alibaba once
aggressively promoted.
Before the sales period began,
analysts had said they expected
Alibaba to report only a minor
increase in GMV this year, citing
slowing retail sales, supply shortages,
power disruptions and COVID-19
lockdown.
Johnson & Johnson plans to split
into two companies
Johnson & Johnson is splitting into
two companies, separating the
division that sells Band-Aids and
Listerine, from its medical device and
prescription drug business.
The company selling prescription
drugs and medical devices will keep
Johnson & Johnson as its name, the
company said Friday.
That company will include treatments
such as Darzalex, Erleada, Imbruvica,
Stelara and Tremfya as well as
medical device solutions across
interventional solutions, orthopedics,
surgery and vision.
Saudi Aramco to supply full-term
oil volumes to at least two Asian
customers
Saudi Aramco has notified at east two
Asian customers that it will supply
full-term volumes of crude oil in
December, two sources with
knowledge of the matter said on
Thursday.
Dubai ruler says UAE to host
COP28 climate conference in 2023
The ruler of Dubai said in a tweet on
Thursday the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) has been selected to host the
COP28 international climate
conference in 2023.
"We will put all our capabilities to
make the conference a success. The
UAE will remain committed to global
climate action to protect the planet,"
said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
al-Maktoum, who also serves as
prime minister of the UAE.
Qatar agrees to represent US
interests in Afghanistan
Secretary of State Antony Blinken
said Friday that the Gulf nation of
Qatar has agreed to represent
American interests in Afghanistan
following the closure of the U.S.
embassy in Kabul in late August.
Blinken said Qatar will serve as the
“protecting power” for the United
States in Taliban-run Afghanistan, a
move that suggests the Biden
administration has little confidence
that it will re-open the embassy in the
near future.
3
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Space tech startup, Agnikul unveils
locally manufactured rocket engine
in Dubai
Agnikul Cosmos, an IIT
Madras-based space tech start-up,
unveiled its full-scale second-stage
rocket engine, Agnilet, at the
International Astronautical Congress
(IAC) and at the World Expo in
Dubai.
Agnilet is the world's first
single-piece 3D printed engine fully
designed and manufactured in India,
and was test-fired in early 2021 by
Agnikul
Agnikul has inked multiple pacts with
various stakeholders that will directly
catalyse efforts in launching the
single-piece 3D printed engine in
2022.
The Moon's top layer alone has
enough oxygen to sustain 8 billion
people for 100,000 years
Alongside advances in space
exploration, we've recently seen much
time and money invested into
technologies that could allow
effective space resource utilisation.
And at the forefront of these efforts
has been a laser-sharp focus on
finding the best way to produce
oxygen on the Moon.
In October, the Australian Space
Agency and NASA signed a deal to
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send an Australian-made rover to the
Moon under the Artemis program,
with a goal to collect lunar rocks that
could ultimately provide breathable
oxygen on the Moon.
NASA's solar probe faces space
dust, debris on way to Sun
NASA's ambitious Parker Solar Probe
spacecraft, studying the Sun at close
proximity, is being bombarded with
space dust and debris on its way to the
Sun, according to a study.
Scientists at the Laboratory for
Atmospheric and Space Physics
(LASP) at the University of Colorado,
Boulder and the Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics
Laboratory (APL) have examined
collisions between the Parker Solar
Probe spacecraft and dust.
Pfizer, AstraZeneca Covid vaccines
generate more antibodies than
natural infection
People who receive the Pfizer NSE
-0.21 % or AstraZeneca NSE 0.08 %
COVID-19 vaccine have antibody
levels significantly higher than those
infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus,
according to a study published in
Scientific Reports journal on Monday.
A team led by researchers at the
University of Montreal in Canada
found that these antibodies were also
effective against the Delta variant.
People inhale up to 7,000
microplastic particles daily
People breathe in up to 7,000
microplastic particles every day from
clothes, toys and furnishings, revealed
a research.
The total is 100 times higher than
expected -- posing a potential health
threat that could rank alongside
asbestos or tobacco, the Daily Mail
reported.
The study led by Portsmouth
Hospitals Trust in the UK, used highly
sensitive equipment to count tiny
particles less than 10 microns in size
-- just a tenth of the width of a human
hair.
Virgin Galactic has sold 700 more
space tickets
Virgin Galactic has sold around 700
tickets since flying its founder
Richard Branson to space over
summer, with commercial service
expected to begin by the end of 2022,
the company said in its financial
results Monday.
The current price of the fare is
$450,000 per seat, well above the
$200,000-$250,000 paid by some 600
customers from 2005 to 2014. There
are around 300 reservations left at the
new rate.
"We are entering our fleet
enhancement period with a clear
roadmap for increasing the durability,
reliability and predictability of our
vehicles in preparation for
commercial service next year," said
CEO Michael Colglazier in a
statement.
4
SPORTS
Matthew Wade: The finisher who
broke Pakistani hearts
Matthew Wade was 16 when he
discovered by chance that he had
testicular cancer. He was in for
treatment for a groin injury in a
football game when he heard the bad
news. “It was just a surreal sort of
thing. It didn’t hit home until I sat
there and they told me basically that I
was going to go through
chemotherapy and lose my hair and
all that sort of stuff. As a young bloke
at 16, I think that’s when it hit home
that this was pretty serious,” he once
told Sydney Morning Herald. “I still
tried to train between cycles (of
chemotherapy), but it was too hard to
do it at the intensity.”
Sergio Aguero considers retirement
due to heart problem
Sergio Aguero could have to retire
from football due to his heart problem
which was detected in Barcelona’s
draw with Alaves at Camp Nou. He
was forced off 42 minutes into his
first home start for Barca and was
taken to hospital for cardiological
evaluation last Saturday.
Barcelona issued a statement
following the incident that read: “The
player Kun Agüero has undergone a
diagnostic and therapeutic procedure
by Dr. Josep Brugada..
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Bembem Devi paves the way with
Padma Shri
After 20 years of service for the
national team, Devi too has joined
that elite club, as she became the first
women’s footballer from the country
to have been given the honour.
“I feel this Award will inspire the
younger girls. This is the fourth
highest civilian award in India, and a
woman footballer being awarded with
it will motivate younger girls to do
better and dream big,” said the
41-year-old.
Hanuma Vihari dropped from
South Africa Tests, added to India
‘A’ squad
Middle-order batsman Hanuma
Vihari, who was omitted from the Test
squad for the home series against
New Zealand, will travel with the
India ‘A’ team to South Africa to gain
game time. Vihari was not named in
the India ‘A’ squad announced earlier
this week, but will now use the three
four-day games in South Africa to
acclimatise to the conditions. India
will play a three-match Test series in
South Africa beginning in
mid-December.
Vihari, who famously battled injury to
save the Sydney Test, was part of the
Test squad in England earlier this year
but did not get a game.
Travel Trouble: US Olympians Face
Uncertain Road to Beijing
As things stand this month, most of
the 250 or so athletes who make the
U.S. team will need to take a charter
that connects them to Beijing-bound
flights scheduled out of four cities,
none of which are in North America.
The uncertainty has turned what is
already a logistical challenge getting
all these Olympians and their
thousands of pounds of equipment to
China into something even more
complex. And it has turned what is
already an event, a vaccine mandate
and the prospect of competing in a
country that is poised to restrict
negative coverage, including over
widely documented human-rights
abuses into something even more
difficult.
Gareth Southgate: England
manager to sign two-year contract
extension until Euro 2024
The England manager is expected to
sign a new two-year contract which
will take him through to Euro 2024 in
Germany; his current deal is set to
expire after next year's World Cup in
Qatar.
His current deal is due to end after the
Qatar World Cup in December next
year. The new deal will take him
through to Euro 2024 in Germany.
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INDUSTRY FACTS
● The civil aviation industry in
India has emerged as one of the
fastest growing industries in the
country during the last 3 years.
India has become the third
largest domestic aviation
market in the world and is
expected to overtake UK to
become the 3rd largest air
passenger* market by 2024.
● India is expected to overtake
China and the United States as
the world's 3rd largest air
passenger market in the next
ten years, by 2030, according to
the International Air Transport
Association (IATA).
● According to the data released
by the Department for
Promotion of Industry and
Internal Trade (DPIIT), FDI
inflow in India’s air transport
sector (including air freight)
reached US$ 2.95 billion
between April 2000 and March
2021. The government has
allowed 100% FDI under the
automatic route in scheduled air
transport service, regional air
transport service and domestic
scheduled passenger airline.
However, FDI over 49% would
require government approval.
● India’s aviation industry is
largely untapped with huge
growth opportunities,
considering that air transport is
still expensive for the majority
of the country’s population, of
which nearly 40% is the
upwardly mobile middle class.
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ENTREPRENEUR
Name: Farrhad Acidwalla
Occupation: Founder (Rockstah
Media)
● Farrhad Acidwalla is a 25 year old
Indian entrepreneur, investor and
TEDx speaker. He started off as one
of the world’s youngest entrepreneurs
and is best known as the founder of
Rockstah Media and CYBERNETIV
DIGITAL.
● Farrhad has taught digital marketing
and entrepreneurship to undergraduate
students as well as post-graduate
students (IITs, NITs, BITS, Amity... to
name a few).
● Had the opportunity to judge MBA
students in various marketing
competitions. He has also been
featured in text books and a few
books on entrepreneurship including
one on the world’s top 25 young
entrepreneurs under the age of 20.
● He was 13 years old, a usual Indian
teenager infested by the continuous
study pressure, trying to outlive his
parent’s expectations. But apart from
all the pressure, passion found its way
when aero-modelling classes managed
to come to Farrhad’s immediate
interest.
● One of the most crucial pieces of
advice by the young achiever is “If
you’re failing and not learning from
it, you’re wasting your time. You will
learn far more from your smallest
failure than you will from your
greatest success.”
STARTUP
Urban Company is Asia's largest
home services company. An all-in-one
platform that helps users hire
premium service professionals, from
beauticians and masseurs to sofa
cleaners, carpenters and technicians.
Since inception, Urban Company has
built a network of 40,000+ trained
service professionals, and served over
5 million customers across major
metropolitan cities of India, Dubai,
Abu Dhabi, Sydney and Singapore.
The Mission is to empower millions
of service professionals by delivering
services at-home in a way that has
never been experienced before.
We have offices in 18 cities in India --
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru,
Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Chandigarh,
Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Indore,
Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ludhiana,
Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Surat,
Vadodara and Visakhapatnam
And, 4 cities internationally -- Dubai,
Abu Dhabi, Sydney and Singapore
Urban Company today is home to
more than 25,000 trained
professionals who earn a better
livelihood through the platform. We
provide these micro-entrepreneurs
with financing, insurance and product
or consumables support.
Website https://www.urban
company.com/
Founders Abhiraj Bhal
Varun Khaitan
Raghav Chandra
Launched 2014