Digital payments platform PhonePe on Monday claimed it has crossed the 250 million registered users in India.
The company also reported over 100 million monthly active users (MAU) and 2.3 billion app sessions in October.
“Our next target is to cross 500 million registered users by December 2022,” said Sameer Nigam, CEO and Founder of PhonePe.
PhonePe said it processed a record 925 million transactions in the month on October, with an annual TPV (total payment value) run rate of $277 billion.
The company also processed 835 Million UPI transactions in October, for a market leading share of over 40 per cent.
“We are on a mission to make digital payments a way of life for every Indian citizen,” Nigam added.
In August, the digital payments platform said that it will enable digital payments for over 2.5 crore small merchants across India in the next one year.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has said he has seen cast-iron determination in the organisers to stage the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.
Originally scheduled to be held from July 24 to August 9 this year, the Tokyo Olympics was in March postponed to 2021 following the outbreak of coronavirus. It is now set to be held from July 23 to August 8 next year.
“There probably will be greater adaptation, they probably will demand more from your teams than we have seen at an Olympic Games before, but please reassure your athletes as they enter preparation stages that there is a determination to stage the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” Coe, who led a delegation of World Athletics to Tokyo recently, said on Sunday while addressing the valedictory session of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) via video conferencing from London.
During his address, Coe said that despite huge uncertainties, World Athletics had done well in the traumatic months in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. “World Athletics has made some brave decisions in facing many challenges,” he said, adding that such bravery would not count if member federations did not back them. “AFI has played an essential role in these times.”
He also appreciated AFI for its tough stand against doping, for improving its athletes performances in a number of events and for being in the forefront of keeping the sport active in these uncertain times.
Coe said he was delighted to see the progress that India is making internationally in its performances in not just one or two events but across the broad spectrum.
“Also, the tough stand that you are taking in doing everything you can to eradicate the scourge of doping,” the World Athletics President said. “These are challenging issues in challenging times. I am delighted that you, like many member federations of World Athletics, are not hiding from these challenges.”
He also congratulated dille J. Sumariwalla and Anju Bobby George for being elected unopposed as AFI President for the third successive term and Senior Vice President respectively. “It is my pleasure to welcome you back in your position, Adille,” he said.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to file status report on extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya within six weeks.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted before a bench headed by Justice U.U. Lalit that some legal proceedings are still pending in the UK, which is delaying Mallya’s extradition.
The top court after a brief hearing in the matter adjourned the case to the third week of January.
Justice Lalit noted that the order dated August 31, cites MEA report that certain legal proceedings by contemnor (Mallya) is pending in the UK. The top court had asked the counsel for Mallya to respond on the nature of these proceedings. The bench noted that an intervention application has been filed by E.C. Agrawala, counsel for Mallya seeks discharge from the case.
Justice Lalit said this application seeking discharge is rejected and Agrawala shall continue to be the counsel for the contemnor.
Justice Lalit queried Mehta, “When will the Mallya’s extradition process will be completed? Any time time frame?”
Mehta replied that no information from Indian High Commission in London yet.
On October 6, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has told the Supreme Court that the UK Home Office has intimated, there is a further legal issue which needs to be resolved before Vijay Mallya’s extradition takes place and this issue is outside and apart from the extradition process having effect under the UK law.
The affidavit had said that Vijay Mallya’s surrender to India should, in principle, have been completed within 28 days after he lost the appeal against extradition. However, the UK Home Office intimated that there is further legal issue which needs to be resolved before Mallya’s extradition takes place.
“The UK side further said that this issue is outside and apart from the extradition process, but it has the effect that under the UK law, extradition cannot take place until it is resolved,” said the affidavit.
The MHA said the UK has informed it that this separate legal issue is judicial and confidential in nature.
On May 14, in a major setback Mallya lost his application seeking leave to appeal in the UK Supreme Court, after the London High Court declined to entertain his appeal challenging the extradition order to India on charges of fraud and money laundering in connection with unrecovered loans to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
“The UK side emphasized that neither they can provide any more details nor intervene in the process. They have also indicated that through the designated channel, the UK Home Office has received a request to serve summons on Vijay Mallya for his hearing before the Supreme Court (India),” said the MHA.
The UK side said it has informed the Indian High Commission that the issue is confidential and cannot be disclosed.
The British Home Office also forwarded the Supreme Court order through Hertfordshire Police on September 17, for serving it to Mallya.
“It is also submitted that during the course of processing of request of service of notice upon Vijay Mallya, an interim report from the UK authorities has been received through the High Commission of India, London,” the affidavit said.
Argentina football legend Diego Maradona turned 60 on Friday. Widely rated as one of the greatest football players of all time, Maradona played in four FIFA World Cups and was captain of the Argentine team that won the 1986 tournament.
In an interview with French weekly French Football, Maradona joked that that he dreams of scoring another ‘Hand of God’, but this time with his right hand. “I dream of scoring another goal against England but with my right hand,” he said.
Maradona’s performance in Argentina’s quarter-final match against heated rivals England immortalised him in his country’s culture. He scored twice in Argentina’s 2-1 win in that match. The first goal was scored with his hand and his explanation in the immediate aftermath that he had made contact with the ball “a little with his head, and a little with the hand of God”, led to the goal being known as “The Hand of God”.
Four minutes later, Maradona went on a 60-yard run with the ball from midfield, dribbling past six English players, and ended the move with a feint that left goalkeeper Peter Shilton on the ground, and scored what has since been called “The Goal of the Century”.
Diego Maradona with the 1986 FIFA world cup
Maradona’s excesses and struggles with drug addiction was just as famous as his ability with the ball. This was testified by the fact that he was sent home from the 1994 World Cup after a failed drug test. He played only two matches in the tournament, the second of which was also the last of his illustrious international career.
Born in a slum area in the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires on October 30, 1960, Maradona made his senior debut for Buenos Aires-based Argentinos Juniors in 1976. He went on to a play for Argentine giants Boca Juniors in the 1981-82 season. He then shifted to Europe where he spent two tumultous seasons with Spanish giants Barcelona. His tenure with the Catalan club ended with a nasty brawl that triggered crowd trouble in the 1984 Copa del Rey final.
Maradona then went to Italian club Napoli, where he had arguably the most productive period of his career. He won two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and one UEFA Cup in his seven seasons with the club, leaving as their all-time highest goalscorer, a record that stood until Marek Hamsik overtook his tally in 2017. He went on to spend a season each at Spanish club Sevilla and Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys before ending his career at Boca Juniors.
As a coach, Maradona notably managed Argentina between 2008 and 2010. He currently manages Argentine club Gimnasia.
Chris Gayle on Friday became the first batsman to get to 1,000 sixes in T20 cricket history when he smashed the seventh of his eight sixes during his belligerent 99 against Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match here.
“Oh 1,000 sixes! I do not know the record [of 1,000 sixes]. Still have to be hitting it well at the age of 41. Got to give thanks for that,” said Gayle when told about his milestone.
Gayle, 41, is way ahead of his nearest competitor, fellow West Indian and a Mumbai Indians’ player Kieron Pollard, who has hit 690 sixes in T20 format and is 311 adrift of Gayle’s 1,001.
The left-handed batsman, who was benched in the initial part of the tournament, has got starts in all the innings since his comeback to the XI. He had a highest score of 53 this season before Friday’s knock. This was his third 50-plus score in six matches in this IPL.
Gayle hit eight sixes and six fours, scoring 72 of his 99 in boundaries. In the remaining 27 runs he ran between the wickets, he also took a very cheeky couple once.
The Jamaican was disappointed when he was bowled for 99 by Jofra Archer in the last over and threw his bat away in disappointment. However, he regained his composure soon after and went on to shake hands with Archer, who too was born in the West Indies but now plays for England.
“Getting out on 99 is unfortunate. These things will happen but it was a good ball; still feeling good. To be honest, it is all about the mental aspect of my game and that is what keeps me going. I am enjoying the cricket the same way. I would love to have the IPL trophy under my belt,” Gayle said after his innings.
“The hard work and the dedication over the years have paid off. To the guys, who I promised to get a century, I missed out today but in my mind, it is a century.”
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries.
Telecom major Reliance Jio Infocomm on Friday reported a near three-fold rise in its standalone net profit for the July-September quarter at Rs 2,844 crore.
During the same period of last year, the company had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 990 crore.
Jio’s revenue from operations during the period under review rose 33 per cent to Rs 17,481 crore.
Its total income for the second quarter of FY21 stood at Rs 17,678 crore, against Rs 13,157 crore earned during the corresponding period of the last financial year.
The company’s total customer base as on September 30, 2020 was 40.56 crore, with a growth of 1.8 per cent.
Its average revenue per user (ARPU) during the quarter was Rs 145 per subscriber per month.
Total wireless data traffic during the quarter was 1,442 crore GB with a growth of 1.5 per cent. Jio’s total voice traffic during the quarter wa 93,223 crore minutes.
The company said that it has become the only operator (outside China) to have reached the milestone of 40 crore subscribers in a single country market.
Wireless gross addition showed a strong sequential increase to 2.72 crore as lockdown restrictions began to ease during the quarter.
The 15th Finance Commission, headed by N.K. Singh, will submit its report for the financial year 2021-22 to 2025-26 to the President on November 9.
In a statement on Friday, the commission said that it has concluded the deliberations on the report.
The report was signed by the Chairman and members of the commission, Ajay Narayan Jha, Anoop Singh, Ashok Lahiri and Ramesh Chand.
“The Commission had sought time to present its Report to the President of India. It has now been communicated by the Office of the President that the report submission will be on 9th November 2020,” it said.
The Commission will also present a copy of the report to the Prime Minister later next month. The report will be tabled in the Parliament by the Union Finance Minister along with an Action Taken Report of the government.
The report contains recommendations pertaining to five financial years, 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The Commission has finalised their Report after wide-ranging consultations with the Union and state governments, local governments at different tiers, Chairmen and Members of previous Finance Commissions, the Advisory Council to the Commission and other domain experts, academic institutions of eminence and multilateral institutions.
His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain
Members of the Arab Parliament lauded Bahrain’s wide-ranging development process led by its monarch Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa which bolstered Bahrain’s role on the Arab, regional and international arenas, reports Bahrain News Agency.
This came during the session which was held at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, chaired by Speaker, MP Adel bin Abdulrahman Al-Asoomi.
Its members Alaa Abed, Dr Abu Salah Shalabi, Dr Dhafer Al-Ani, Shada Al-Naqabi all hailed the efforts undertaken by the Kingdom of Bahrain, led by HM the King to support Arab issues and pan-Arab action.
In statements on the sidelines of the Arab Parliament session, they hailed HM the King’s support to the Arab Parliament which, they said, reflects its active role in supporting cooperation between Arab Parliaments.
Sharjah will be the cynosure of all eyes in the global publishing industry this Sunday, as the 10th Publishers Conference is inaugurated at the Expo Centre Sharjah.
The three-day event organised by the Sharjah Book Authority, SBA, opens ahead of the official opening of the 39th Sharjah International Book Fair, SIBF, on 4th November, 2020.
More than 317 publishing professionals and 33 speakers including traditional and ePublishers from around the globe, rights professionals, publishing consultants, lawyers and other industry experts will participate in the event, which will host eight panel discussions on the key issues and challenges facing the publishing sector in the region and around the world.
The conference will be live-streamed on the Zoom platform and can be accessed through the following link: https://bit.ly/37NWOSH
England’s Eileen Whelan, the oldest living Test cricketer across genders, turned 109th on Friday.
Eileen, who played seven Tests for England between 1937 and 1949, either side of the World War II, was born in 1911 in London and played as a specialist bowler. In 2011, she became the first female cricketer to reach 100 years of age. She took 10 wickets from seven matches and aggregated 38 in 10 Test innings.
The International Cricket Council on Friday wished her on twitter, “Eileen Ash (nee Whelan) world’s oldest, who played seven Tests for England from 1937 to 1949, is the oldest living Test cricketer. She celebrates her 109th birthday today. When current England captain @Heatherknight55 met the legend in 2018, she was left enriched in yoga lessons and old cricket tales.”
The oldest living male cricketer at the moment is John Watkins of South Africa, who is 97 while the oldest living Indian Test cricketer is Dattajirao Gakekwad who turned 92 this week.
