Snehal khanna Blog

While China manufactures everything from a chip to a converter for its electric vehicles, Indian automakers use imported electronic equipment LATEST NEWS : India’s dependence on imported components for electric vehicles could make the country vulnerable to cyber-security breaches, according to the government’s chief policy think-tank. India should manufacture the majority of the parts needed for its electric vehicle fleet as equipment shipped from overseas could be compromised, V K Saraswat, a member of the think tank, Niti Aayog , said in an interview. All of the software and at least 55 percent of the components need to be made domestically to keep electric vehicles and the grid secure. “There has to be a push toward local manufacturing,” Saraswat said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration said last year it aims to have mostly electric vehicles by 2030, in a country where about 3 million fossil fuel powered passenger vehicles sell annually. In an attempt to...

DGS acknowledges serious injury to domestic industry; no duty proposed on imports from the EU and US LATEST NEWS :  The Directorate General of Safeguards Duty (DGS), in its preliminary report investigating the dumping of solar cells, (whether or not assembled in modules or panels), has suggested a 70 per cent safeguards duty on imports from China. The DGS has identified ‘serious injury’ to the domestic industry caused due to increasing imports and declining prices of Chinese solar panels. “I recommend that pending a final determination, considering the average cost of sales by the Domestic Industry arrived at on the basis of import quantity ratio of solar cells and solar modules (confidential), a reasonable return on the cost of sales excluding interest, the present level of import duties, and the present average import prices, a provisional Safeguard Duty be imposed at the rate of 70 per cent (Seventy percent) ad valorem on the imports of the PUC (solar cells),” said th...

The senior officials from Pakistan and China on Monday decided to formally move ahead despite hurdles and finance at least three special economic/industrial zones Latest news :  Pakistan has refused to allow free use of the Chinese yuan on the lines of the US dollar in the country as officials from the two nations met to decide on a long-term developmental plan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The meeting of senior officials from Pakistan and China on Monday decided to formally move ahead despite hurdles and finance at least three special economic/industrial zones (SEZs) and some important rail, electricity and road projects. The Dawn reported quoting a senior government official that Pakistan was not ready to allow the Chinese yuan (renminbi) for free use in Gwadar or its treatment on a par with the US dollar in the country and this was disappointing for the visiting Chinese officials. He said the use of yuan for common use in any part of Pakis...

From Myntra and Jabong to PhonePe, and now talks with BookMyShow, Swiggy, UrbanClap - Flipkart could be eyeing stakes in or buyouts of smaller peers to grow its own top line LATEST NEWS     :India’s largest home-grown internet company Flipkart is looking at acquiring stakes or buying out smaller peers to grow its own top line, a model perfected by Chinese counterparts Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu. Flipkart is said to be in talks with multiple firms like online food-ordering and delivery service Swiggy, home services firm Urban Clap, online furniture retailer Urban Ladder, ticket-booking platform BookMyShow and even some financial technology firms, according to a Livemint report on Monday. These deals seem to be at an exploratory stage, but Flipkart’s intent is increasingly becoming clearer. While investments in some of these firms might have obvious benefits – for example, Urban Ladder could list its furniture exclusively on Flipkart, or Swiggy’s delivery fl...

LATEST NEWS       :   China has vehemently rejected all reports of it ever offering a compromise to India by relocating its troops in the disputed Doklam border area. The Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted to a report where China had allegedly offered to move its troops back 100 meters, after India sought the pullback of Chinese troops by 250 metres. The Spokesperson's Office told China Daily that the report is not true, adding that "China will not trade its territorial sovereignty under any circumstances." "China's position on solving this incident is clear and firm. India must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its trespassing troops and equipment back to the Indian side of the border," the office said in a statement. China could never accept India's "totally unreasonable" demand, said Zhao Xiaozhuo, a researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science told China Daily, adding that India had honored the convention u...

Dalai Lama's appeal for peace came amid the standoff between the Indian and Chinese force in Doklam LATEST NEWS    :   Tibetan spiritual leader the 14th Dalai Lama on Wednesday urged India and China to maintain peace, saying that both nations are like brothers and have to live side by side. "Eventually, 'Hindi-Chini- Bhai Bhai' is the only way; the two big nations, you have to live side by side," Dalai Lama said while attending a programme here. He said he likes India as there is freedom in this country and he has more opportunity to share. "There is freedom in this country, I can do more and have more opportunity to share. Where there is no freedom, I don't like," he said. He also added that as per the wish of Chinese people, the Communist Party of China may follow his practice of democracy. "Our small Tibetan community fully practices democracy and I am an admirer of democracy. People are real rulers of a countr...

Modi's policies have given a strategic blow to India, creating space for terrorists LATEST NEWS :    Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has refuted former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah's assertion that a third party, such as the US or China, can be approached for the settlement of the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. "I have been asserting for long that it's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his policies at the Centre that have destroyed Jammu and Kashmir. And the point that is being mentioned that a third party's intervention should be invited for the settlement of the issue, it's wrong. India is Kashmir and Kashmir is India," Rahul said on Friday. "It's our internal matter and no other country should have any say in it," he added. Earlier in the day, Abdullah said that India should approach third parties, such as the United States and China, to mediate in the Kashmir issue. Abdullah sa...

China asked India to correct mistakes and pull back troops from Chicken's Neck Latest news : Upping the ante on the Sikkim standoff , China on Wednesday accused India of "trampling" on the Panchsheel principles and asked New Delhi to "correct its mistakes" as soon as possible by pulling back troops. China also claimed that India was "misleading the public" by saying that Chinese troops are building a road close to the Chicken's Neck in the Sikkim sector which could endanger India's access to its north-eastern states. "I want to point that the relevant actions by the Indian side violated the purposes and principles of the UN Charter in defiance of the international law and international norms. As we all know in 1950s China, India and Myanmar proposed the five principles (Panchsheel) of co-existence," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Gen Shuang told reporters here. "However to the surprise of everyone, the...

Xiaomi is witnessing rapid growth in the Indian market and clocked over $1 bn in revenue in 2016 Latest news : In a strategic move, Chinese tech major Xiaomi and Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia on Wednesday signed an agreement for business collaboration and patent licencing where Xiaomi will acquire key patent assets from Nokia. The multi-year patent agreement includes a cross-license to each company's cellular standard-essential patents. The financials of the deal were not disclosed. "As a company seeking to deliver more exciting technological innovations to the world, we are excited at the opportunity to work more closely with Nokia in future," said Lei Jun, Chairman and CEO of Xiaomi, in a statement. Although not faring well globally including in China, Xiaomi is witnessing rapid growth in the Indian market and clocked over $1 billion in revenue in 2016. Under the agreement, Nokia, which had recently revamped the feature phone market w...

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction Latest news : The Chinese official media on Wednesday stepped up its attack on India with editorials asking Indian troops to move out of Dokalam area in Sikkim sector "with dignity or be kicked out" and describing the situation as "worryingly tense". While China's nationalistic tabloid Global Times said India should be taught a "bitter lesson", another official newspaper, China Daily, said India should look in the mirror. The Global Times said in its editorial that India will suffer "greater losses" than in 1962 if it "incites" border clashes with China. As the standoff in the Dokalam area continued for the third week, it said India should be taught a "bitter lesson". It also claimed that the Chinese public was infuriated by India's "provocation". "We believe the Chinese People'...

Globally Oppo ranks fourth behind Samsung, Apple and Huawei Latest news : With its army of salespeople and vast network of outlets, a relatively new smartphone maker has exploded in popularity to overtake global giants Apple and Samsung in China's market - and now it has its eye on the West. Oppo began life selling DVD players in the in the southern manufacturing hub of Dongguan a little more than a decade ago and only broke into the handset market in 2011. But with an aggressive marketing strategy and concentration on bricks-and-mortar stores in small and medium- sized cities -- rather than relying on online customers -- sales have soared. Last year it had a market share of 16.8 per cent making it the China market leader and while a slip in the first three months of 2017 put it just behind local rival Huawei, according to market analyst IDC, it remains well ahead of Apple and Samsung. Globally it ranks fourth behind Samsung, Apple and Huawei. Whil...

China asked India to exercise "restraint" over building infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh China asked India on Monday to be “cautious” and exercise “restraint” over building infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh, days after Prime Narendra Modi launched the country’s longest bridge linking Assam with the state claimed by Beijing. “We hope India adopts a cautious and restrained attitude on the issue before the final settlement of the border issue with China to jointly control disputes, safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” the Chinese foreign ministry said. “China’s position on the eastern section of the Sino-Indian border areas is consistent and clear,” a statement in Chinese said. Modi last week opened the country’s longest bridge over Brahmaputra river that connects Assam’s easternmost region with Arunachal Pradesh, claimed and dubbed by China as South Tibet. “China and India should resolve territorial disputes through negotiations and cons...

India is being quite strategic in certain sectors, said Dean of School of Public Policy, Robert Orr India is "thinking big and moving big" to catch up fast in development as it lags behind its giant neighbour China, offering tremendous opportunities to a country like the US, American lawmakers have been told. "India is moving quite quickly in a number of areas as well, again, on renewable energy, which is kind of a golden thread running through this hearing. India is thinking big and moving big," Robert Orr, professor and dean, University of Maryland, School of Public Policy, told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing. "They have big goals on solar and wind. They are meeting them. They are surpassing them. And they will keep attracting investment, both domestic and international. Their smart cities initiative of the Prime Minister has many components. But I think it's a strategic vision that is both at once developmental and economic,...

At the end of March, the cumulative share of local smartphone makers was 13.5% XIAOMI   -  Indian smartphone makers have lost their significant share in the market in the past year, according to the data released by research firm IDC.Home-grown companies have been losing market share to their Chinese rivals since 2013. At the end of March, the cumulative share of local smartphone makers was 13.5 per cent, 27 percentage points lower from 40.5 per cent a year ago. Shipments of smartphones by Indian vendors dipped 62 per cent, year-on-year, to 3.65 million from 9.52 million in March last year. Micromax, the largest Indian smartphone vendor, has ended at seventh spot, with a 3.3 per cent market share. During January-March 2016, it held second spot with a 12.6 per cent market share. Lyf, eighth with a 2.7 per cent share, was fifth in the market a year ago. Lava managed to feature on the top 10 list, but Intex, the third largest brand last year, failed to make the list. ...

Australia  today abolished a visa programme used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country. The programme known as 457 visa allows business to employ foreign workers for a period up to four years in skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australian workers. "We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains: Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs, so we are abolishing the 457 visa, the visa that brings temporary foreign workers into our country," said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The majority of the visa holders were from India followed by the UK and China. "We will no longer allow 457 visa to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians," he said. He said Australia will adopt a new 'Australians first' approach to skilled migration. As at September 30, there were 95,757 workers in Australia on primary 457 visa programme, ABC ...