How Was Wall Street Named?

How Was Wall Street Named?

Did you know that NYSE was founded on this day 229 years ago? Located on the Wall Street, NYSE is the biggest stock exchange in the world. Well, the Wall Street needs to introduction but have you ever wondered how the street which went on to become the equivalent to the financial markets of the world was named? Read the story to find out!

Crux of the Matter

NYSE Formation Day
NYSE was founded on May 17, 1792. Also known as the ‘Big Board’, it is the world’s largest stock exchange. It is located on Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, NYC, US. But do you know how was Wall Street named?

Why Wall Street?
Wall Street was originally named “de Waalstraat” as it was a Dutch territory and a part of the then New Amsterdam. Dutch settlers had build a literal defensive wall to protect themselves from British, Native Americans and pirates. However, the 12 foot wall was demolished by the British Colonial Government in 1699.

Wall Street was New York City’s official slave trading marketplace. In late 17th century, it was also a trading spot for merchants to buy and sell stocks and bonds. Major trading happened under the Buttonwood tree situated at the foot of Wall Street. This led to the formation of the Buttonwood agreement.

The Buttonwood Agreement
In 1792, 24 foremost brokers of US signed the agreement which prescribed the commission based form of trading. Initial trades were conducted in War bonds, Bank of New York, Bank of North America, etc.

NYSE And Wall Street
In 1817, the Buttonwoods organization was revised. They named it the New York Stock and Exchange Board. In 1863, it was renamed New York Stock Exchange. Since then Wall Street is synonymous to the US markets.

Curiopedia
  •  In the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, the villain Bane destroys the Gotham City Stock Exchange. The J.P. Morgan Building on Wall Street and Broad Street were used to film scenes in and near the New York Stock Exchange.
  • The opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange is rung at 9:30 am ET and the closing bell at 4 pm ET. Several fictional characters like Mickey Mouse, the Pink Panther, Mr. Potato Head, and Darth Vader have rung the bell.
  • Established in 1903, the main New York Stock Exchange Building is located at 18 Broad Street, between Wall Street and Exchange Place, and was designed by George B. Post in the Beaux-Arts style. In 1978, the structure was listed as a National Historic Landmark.

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Chinese Scientists Explored Weaponising Coronavirus, Claims New Report

Early theories of Coronavirus being a man-made biological weapon have resurfaced again in the light of recent reports, which claim that China had first discussed the idea in 2015. However, US, which is alleged to have found that report, is also being linked to it. Let’s look at what’s going on.

Crux of the Matter

Recently
Reports in Australia have claimed that a 2015 document was obtained by US State Department while investigating origin of Coronavirus.

What DidThe Paper Say
The paper, titled “The Unnatural Origin of SARS and New Species of Man-Made Viruses as Genetic Bioweapons”, was reportedly written by scientist of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China.

As per the alleged paper, Chinese scientists labelled SARS coronavirus as new era of genetic weapons. The scientists also claimed that those viruses could be “artificially manipulated into an emerging human-disease virus, then weaponised and unleashed in a way never seen before”.

The News
The news has come after WHO investigation claimed that it was ‘unlikely’ the virus was man-made. However, the investigation was widely called ‘incomplete’ as China gave ‘limited access‘ to investigators. It has also brought the Wuhan Institute of Virology to forefront again, as the institute is associated with controversial gain of function research.

Gain Of Function Research
The research is also done in other countries, most notably in US. Several reports claim that it was banned under Obama, only to be allowed again under Trump. Some reports also claim that US has backed China’s ‘gain of function’ studies.

For example, as per Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, New York’s EcoHealth Alliance had “funded coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology”.

Take a look at what is Gain of Function research here: Why Is Gain Of Function Research Making News Amidst The Pandemic?

Curiopedia
  • Opened for signature on 10 April, 1972, Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is a disarmament treaty banning biological and toxin weapons. 183 States have ratified or acceded to the treaty as of May, 2021.

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Timeline Of Events As They Happened Between Israel-Palestine

Timeline Of Events As They Happened Between Israel-Palestine

In its worst escalation in years, the conflict between Israel and Palestine has caused severe damage, with most casualties coming through air strikes. In that light, let’s quickly go through the events of the recent conflict, which, as per UN warning, could escalate into a “full-scale war”.

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Timeline

  • April 2021: Protests began at the Al-Aqsa Mosque over Israeli plan to evict Palestinians from East Jerusalem.
  • 7th May: The protests became violent as Palestinians reportedly attacked Israeli police with stones, fireworks, etc. Israeli police retaliated with force, injuring 200+ Palestinians.
  • 8th and 9th May: The violent clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police continued.
  • 10th May: After threat by Hamas, a fundamentalist group demanding Islamist Palestinian state, 200 rockets were fired on Israel by them.
  • 12th May: Israel has claimed that over 1,050 rockets have been fired on it from Gaza strip.
    In the strikes on Israel, an Indian woman named Soumya Santosh was among the people killed.
  • 12th May: Israel retaliated with air strikes. The death count from those air strikes stands at 43 as of 12th May, with the fight between the two groups continuing so far.

Read brief history of Israel-Palestine conflict by Summachar: Palestine Removed From Google Maps?
Read Summachar coverage of India-Israel relations: Israel Envoy Praises India’s Farm Bills

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The Growth Story Of Groww

The Growth Story Of Groww

In a deal worth ₹175 crores, the 4-year old Groww will acquire Indiabulls’ 14 year old Mutual Fund business. With this, Groww will become one of the few fintech companies in India to have its own asset management business. In such short span, Groww’s growth story has been phenomenal. Read the story to know how 4 flipkart employees found the gap in Indian financial services and went on to build a unicorn.
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Crux of the Matter

Founding Fathers
4 Flipkart employees, with an aim of making investing in India simple, left their jobs in 2016 to start their very own venture, Groww!

Founding Members:

  • Lalit Keshre– CEO
  • Neeraj Singh– CTO
  • Ishan Bansal– CFO
  • Harsh Jain– COO

The Common Ground

  • The founders believed that the process of investing in financial products was too complex in India.
  • In 2016, while India dwelled 200 million of people with investable income, only 20 million of the bunch invested actively.
  • The idea was to bring the rest 90% of the group on Groww’s platform by simplifying the investment.
  • Groww focused on availing the best customer experience. Multiple experiments were carried out to get the user experience right.
  • Reason? To make investing possible even for someone who’s just starting out.
  • Money is one of the important risk factors in investing. Thus, safety and security embedded in simplicity was what Groww wanted to provide.

Timeline

Major Investors

  • Tiger Global Management
  • Sequoia Capital India
  • Ribbit Capital
  • Y Combinator
  • Propel Venture Partners
  • Insignia Ventures partners

    Seed Funding was raised from CureFit founders Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori along with Y Combinator.

Road Ahead
Groww plans to expand its financial services via launching:

  • Deposits
  • US Stocks
  • Sovereign Gold Bonds
  • Derivative Products

    By 2023, Groww plans to venture in financial education programs for millennials.

Curiopedia
  • Zerodha is a combination of ‘zero’ and ‘rodha’ (barrier) meaning zero barriers. India’s largest stockbroker, Zerodha was founded by Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath in 2010.
  • Groww over time has received investments from investors around the world like Ribbit Capital, Sequoia, Y combinator, and Kauffman Fellows. It has raised nearly $21.4M from these Investors.
  • The 29-storey Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers houses the Bombay Stock Exchange. The building is named after the former Chairman of BSE, Phiroze Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy.

Curated Coverage

Role of Economics In Capitalism And Socialism

Role of Economics In Capitalism And Socialism

An economic system decides how resources are used to produce goods and services and how they’ll further be allocated to the individuals in the society. The two most prevalent economic systems are capitalism and socialism. But what exactly is different between these? And what type of economy is India? Read the story to find out.
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Crux of the Matter

Capitalist Economy
Capitalist economy is widely known as market economy and is driven by the ‘free market’ approach. It functions on the basis of supply and demand laws.

Socialist Economy
Much closer to the communist school of thought, in a socialist economy the government has significant control over economic activity.

Know the Difference
Let us know the difference between capitalism and socialism:

Resource Ownership:

  • Capitalism – Private individuals or businesses can own the resources and factors of production.
  • Socialism – Government or state owns the resources and factors of production.

Price Determination:

  • Capitalism: It is based on supply and demand and little to no coercion for setting fixed prices.
  • Socialism: Government controls pricing of goods and services.

Pros:

  • Capitalism: There are incentives for innovation and efficient development.
  • Socialism: It aims at an equitable distribution of scarce resources by ‘redistributing income from rich to poor.

Cons:

  • Capitalism: Market failure may lead to societal inequality with rise of monopolistic practices.
  • Socialism: Might not result in optimum utilization of available resources in case of inefficient functioning of the government.

Communist V/S Socialist Economy

  • In Communist economy, individuals own no personal assets. While in Socialist economy, individuals can own private assets to a certain extent.
  • In Communist economy, government distributes wealth as per the needs of a person. While in Socialist economy, government distributes wealth as per the contribution of an individual.

Interesting Arguments
Pro Capitalists argue that effective usage of a worker’s productivity is not exploitation but rather maximum utilization of resources. However, Pro Socialists argue that in face of resource utilization, the humanitarian ground is often compromised.

Which Economic System Is Followed By India
Mixed Economic System is followed by India. It captures the traits of both capitalist and socialist economy. Here, both private and government firms co-exist and while the purpose of the former is to maximize profits, government firms aim at welfare of people.

India has a free trade and commerce system which comes under capitalist economy. On the other hand, government implements and regulates the pricing and resource distribution to some extent making it a socialist economy.

Curiopedia
  • Nirmala Sitharaman is India’s first full-time female finance minister. She presented the budget in the Indian parliament for the first time on 5 July, 2019.
  • John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White in July, 1944, founded the World Bank. Currently, 189 countries are a part of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
  • The USA has the largest share in the world economy with a nominal GDP of $20.81 trillion. India stands at the 6th position with a GDP of $2.59 trillion.

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