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- Bit by Bit 21st || World-First Trial Transfusing Lab-Grown Red Blood Cells Begins || AI takes centre stage as Google plans expansion of voice, video and image search & more
Bit by Bit 21st || World-First Trial Transfusing Lab-Grown Red Blood Cells Begins || AI takes centre stage as Google plans expansion of voice, video and image search & more
Good Morning Readers!
Here are:
"5 amazing stories in 5 minutes to make you future ready"
Happy reading!
MARKET UPDATE
NIFTY 50 : ₹18,385.30 (-0.19%)
BSE SENSEX : ₹61,702.29 (-0.75%)
NIFTY BANK : ₹43,219.50 (-0.64%)
USD/INR : ₹81.61 (-0.05%)
BRENTOIL : $78.85 (-1.19%)
MCXGOLD : ₹54,970 (+1.31%)
FII Net Cashflow : + ₹456 crores
DII Net Cashflow : + ₹495 crores
(Market Data as of 11:00 PM on 20/12/2022)
Economy
The Story
A post-pandemic retail boom and recent bank balance-sheet renovations have attracted new investment, driving a scorching demand for everything from automobiles to televisions, coal, and airplanes. India is expected to have the fastest significant economic growth in the world in the coming year. According to a study conducted by the Indian central bank this month, the fifth-largest economy in the world is predicted to grow by 6% in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024.
While slower than the projected 6.8% growth for the current fiscal year, the outlook contrasts with more pessimistic projections for 2023 in the US, Europe, and most notably, China, a significant Asian economic rival where a recent spike in COVID infections is anticipated to hamper activity in the coming year. Not only are things better than the crushing collapse during India's disastrous COVID rise last year, but they are also better than the meager growth of the debt-ridden previous ten years.
Although the recovery in India is anticipated to be uneven, with the urban and domestic sectors benefiting more than the struggling rural and export-oriented sectors of the economy, the more optimistic mood is spurring up consumption and investment. According to Sridhar Sivaram, investment director at privately managed investment firm Enam Holdings, "If India gets everything correctly, we might see major foreign inflows in the next one to two years." He is particularly optimistic about Indian banks, which, in the words of billionaire banker Uday Kotak, are experiencing a "Cinderella moment" due to robust lending demand and a decline in default rates. In the MSCI developing market index, India's weight has already increased from 8% in 2019 to 16% as of October 2022, according to Sivaram.
FMCG
The Story:
Reliance Consumer Products — the fast-moving consumer goods arm and a fully owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures — launched its consumer goods brand, Independence, in Gujarat, on Thursday. The launch puts the company in direct competition with Adani Wilmar, Tata Consumer and ITC, who also have a portfolio of staples and processed food. It is among the latest business verticals that had the Ambanis enter Adani’s turf and vice versa. Is FMCG then the new battlefield between the Ambanis and the Adanis?
Two of the richest Indians - Mukesh Ambani and his fellow multibillionaire Gautam Adani - are set for an epic fight in the country’s vast consumer goods market. While the two have been in the race for the top spot on the rich list for long, this is the first time that their paths are going to cross in the field of business development.
With the launch of its fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand Independence, Ambani’s Reliance has ventured into the space where Adani’s consumer facing entity Adani Wilmar (AWL) is aggressively betting on. From wheat flour, crystalline sugar, besan and toor dal to branded rice, biscuits and packaged drinking water - Reliance’s move encompasses nearly all key F&B categories. But given the composition of its recently introduced portfolio, analysts believe its fight will be more intense with AWL, apart from another business giant - the Tata Group.
AUTOMOTIVE
Key Facts :
Bajaj Platina 110 is officially here. The motorcycle is the country’s first 110cc bike to come with an anti-lock braking system (ABS). It comes with a single-ABS unit.
Bajaj Platina 110 is offered in Ebony Black, Gloss Pewter Grey, Cocktail Wine Red, and Saffire Blue color variants.
The Story :
Sarang Kanade, President, Motorcycles, Bajaj Auto, announced the Platina 110 and stated that "India accounts for the highest road fatalities throughout the globe, with 2-wheelers accounting for 45% of these accidents. According to what we know about Indian consumers, commuter riders commonly experience panicky braking situations. We want to provide riders total control in unforeseen braking situations with the new Platina 110 ABS''
The brand-new Bajaj Platina 110 is powered by a 115.45 cc air-cooled engine that generates 9.81 Nm of peak torque and 8.6 PS of maximum power at 7000 rpm. It has a drum rear brake and a disc front brake. An automatic transmission with four speeds is paired with the engine.
The Bajaj Platina 110 has a 200 mm ground clearance and an 11-liter fuel tank. The motorcycle has 17-inch alloy wheels up front and back and has a top speed of 90kmph. Halogen headlamps and LED DRLs are also included.
TECH
The Story:
On Monday, the world's largest search engine company Google unveiled a slew of new initiatives, including a pilot to expand voice search to include Indian languages and dialects, the digitization of farmland, the ability to predict crop failure and pest attacks, as well as the digitization of medical records.
The business has partnered with the Indian Institute of Science for Project Vaani, one of its most ambitious initiatives in India, under which it would initially gather and analyze speech samples from 80 districts in order to train the voice search. All 773 districts in India will eventually be included in the project's scope.
"Our goal is to democratize information access by providing everyone with access to it in their own language. Manish Gupta, the director of Google Research in India, stated that voice has a crucial role to play in the country.
Anything Interesting
The world-first trial, underway in the UK, is studying whether red blood cells made in the laboratory last longer than blood cells made in the body.
Although the trial is only small, it represents a "huge stepping stone for manufacturing blood from stem cells," says University of Bristol cell biologist Ashley Toye, one of the researchers working on the study.
To generate the transfusions, the team of researchers isolated stem cells from donated blood and coaxed them into making more red blood cells, a process that takes around three weeks.
In the past, researchers showed they could transfuse lab-grown blood cells back into the same donor they were derived from. This time, they have infused the manufactured cells into another compatible person – a process known as allogeneic transfusion.
