News in Short

• Paytm First Games (PFG), a subsidiary of digital financial service platform Paytm, has roped in cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador.
• Tendulkar will promote PFG and generate excitement around all sports including kabaddi, football and basketball. The partnership would also help the company extend its reach to smaller cities and towns.
• By roping in Tendulkar as brand ambassador, PFG hopes to inspire gaming enthusiasts to experience the ‘fantasy sports’ phenomenon. The company has also set aside ?300 crore for investing in fantasy sports and other online gaming events during this financial year.

• CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) has been one of the first indigenous labs which got geared up to combat coronavirus (COVID-19) by scouring among existing antivirals to treat the infection.
• It has been successful in providing the vital Active Pharma Ingredient (API) to Indian companies for making affordable drugs. The institute is working on a few more APIs to tackle the coronavirus and other diseases.
• Precise drug discovery for any disease including cancer, metabolic and infectious diseases and others, always need 8-12 years with at least US$1-2 billion investment. For bacterial and viral infections, the challenges are mutations and resistance.

• The Indian Railways has operated its first-ever special parcel train to Bangladesh transporting dry chillies from Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur.
• It also helped in reducing the cost of transportation. Sending the chillies to the neighbouring country by road cost around ?7,000 per tonne while the expense for carrying the same by goods trains has come out to be ?4,608 per tonne.
• Guntur and its surrounding areas in Andhra Pradesh are well known for the cultivation of chillies. The quality of this farm produce is internationally renowned for its uniqueness in taste and brand.

• Congress lawmaker Govardhan Dangi died of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) at a private hospital in Gurugram.
• MP Congress Committee (MPCC) tweeted that the legislator from Biaora constituency of the state’s Rajgarh district passed away because of the viral infection.
• Leaders from the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) in MP paid their tributes to Dangi.

• Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has pledged to re-join the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, if elected to power in the November elections.
• Mr. Biden said, if elected, he will not only bring the standards back, but will also set new ambitious ones that American workers are ready to meet.
• He also said he will put the U.S. on a path to achieve a carbon pollution free electricity sector  Mr. Biden said that like the pandemic, dealing with climate change is a global crisis, and that requires American leadership.