THE MERCURIAN TIMES

The ''Group of Seven'', world's most industrialized and economically developed countries held their 45th summit in Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France this year. The summit began on 24th August and ended on 26th August,2019. Attendees included leaders of the G7 member states plus representatives of the European Union. Topics discussed included global trade, global warming, and taxing tech based companies. The President of France, Emmanuel Macron invited The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi to attend the outreach session of the summit as one of the special invitees. One of the major topics of discussion were Iran's want for  nuclear weapons. However, In the final press conference, UK Prime Minister Johnson said "Iran should never be allowed to get a nuclear weapon".

The month of August bought immense pride to the country. The star shutter, India's golden girl- PV Sindhu scripted history and entered the record books. After settling for silver in the last two years, the 24 year old finally exorcised the ghost of her  heart wrenching loss with a completely dominating win over the same opponent Japan's Nozomi Okuhara by 21-7. She became the first Indian to win a gold in BWF World Championship in Basel, Switzerland. Her powerful game kept each and every Indian engrossed while she played for 38 minutes . Today , every Indian is proud of their daughter and wishes her all the luck for future.  -Stefiya Thomas

Two asteroids 2019 QS and 2019 OU1 are going to pass the Earth on the same day creating a rare occurance. These asteroids will become the closest asteroids to pass Earth at 2 million kilometres and 1 million kilometres away from the Earth’s core. In case of any change in any internal or external factors, the Asteroids can even collide with the Earth. Any NEO within 7.5 million kilometres of Earth is potentially hazardous according to NASA’s Asteroid Watch. This spasmodic occurrence is enthralling, yet precarious. Source - Business Insider, India

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram was taken into custody by the CBI on Wednesday. He was taken to the agency's headquarters, as he was alleged of money laundering and corruption. He will remain in CBI custody for four days till 26th August, 2019. The case revolves around INX Media Company, which allegedly received foreign funding of Rs. 305 crores even though they had the permission to source only Rs. 4.62 crores in the form of shares. P. Chidambaram is accused of helping the INX Media founders escape justice after they violated foreign investment laws. The CBI lodged an FIR on 15th May 2017 reporting irregularities in the FIPB clearance given to INX Media. According to CBI, FIPB favored INX Media Group and told them to apply for a fresh FIPB approval despite violating FEMA guidelines. They suspect that the ex-finance minister P. Chidambaram has been instrumental in giving such clearances to four more international deals, receiving multi-crore payoffs through multiple shell...

If someone was asked to explain the term 'volatile', how the stock market behaves all the time, could be the perfect illustration. A moment, and a news floating, whether from the US or within the Indian Economy, completely alters the market sentiment, though, in recent times, what the market has witnessed is a significant downslide only. The fact that notable stocks such as Aditya Birla Money, L&T Finance Holdings and GAIL(India) recorded their 52 week lows the past week, clearly elucidates the stock market woes. One of the major factors that conspired towards the decline has been 2019's Union Budget. Increase in minimum public shareholding to 35%, higher tax incidence on Foreign Portfolio Investors(FPIs) and high net worth individuals, and a 20% tax on share buybacks spooked investor confidence leading to a steep fall in the market indices with most of the stocks ending up in the negative red. Scam revelation by Punjab National Bank(PNB) of 3800 crores INR adde...

“Of Lights I Am The Radiant Sun"       - Bhagwat Gita  10:21 (Lord Krishna)  The illuminator of the world was ironically born in a dingy locked up cell to Devaki and Vasudeva with danger surrounding him at every point of life. Worshipped as the 8th avatar of Vishnu, the protector and the Supreme Being, Krishna is one of the most popular deities in Hinduism. His birth is celebrated by his followers all over as Krishna Janmashtami, observed according to Hindu on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha in Shraavana. Festivities include fasting, singing, praying, preparing night vigils and visiting temples. Significance of festivals and their celebration goes far beyond the traditional boundaries of religion, caste and creed in all complexities and are a major reason behind people coming together to rejoice the good. A happy and fulfilling Janmashtmi to all. By – Anoushka Bhardwaj

“Nayi duniya hai, Naya daur hai, Nayi hai umang. Kuchh the pehle ke tareeke Toh kuchh hai aaj ke rang dhang” -Arun Jaitley The afternoon of Saturday, 24th August, brought with it the immensely saddening news of the demise of astute parliamentarian Arun Jaitley which left the nation deeply grieved. Early reports suggest that the former Finance Minister was kept on life support at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, and his health had been deteriorating since. A brilliant parliamentarian, an intelligent statesman and a legal luminary, Arun Jaitley was one of those rare politicians whose advice was trusted by all in public life across the political divide. He was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and had previously held the cabinet portfolios of Finance, Defence, Corporate Affairs, Commerce and Industry and Law and Justice in the Vajpayee government and Narendra Modi government. From 2009 to 2014 he served as the Leader of the Opposition in the...