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LiveMint June 30, 2020 MG Motor India Pvt. Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd are among automakers in the country dealing with the fallout of a deadly border clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers earlier this month. With physical inspection of Chinese components threatening to upset the just-in-time model of production, the auto industry has also begun to approach the government for help. The customs department has started manual inspections of components imported from China at Indian ports, leading to critical delays for an industry that is heavily dependent on timely deliveries, said three people aware of the developments. Car makers usually have up to two months of inventory of imported parts. However, the stringent lockdown in April and May meant most of them could not import adequately. Authorities have imposed strict checking of Chinese consignments following the Ladakh border clash that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. Automakers import engine and electronic part...

The Quint June 29, 2020 The Delhi Police Special Cell, on 27 June 2020, busted a module of the Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF), by arresting three ‘hardcore supporters of the Khalistan movement’ who were planning to execute targeted killings in several states of Northern India. On the KLF radar were several activists, politicians and religious leaders, particularly from Punjab. During the interrogation of the three accused and further investigation, it was revealed that they were in contact with Pakistan ISI-sponsored Khalistan leader Gopal Singh Chawla, and leaders of the banned Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), based in Pakistan and the US respectively. Gopal Singh Chawla is the Former General Secretary of Pakistan Sikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee and President of Punjabi Sikh Sangat. Chawla is a well-known Khalistan element, who often spews venom against India in his speeches, and supports terrorism in Punjab. SFJ has been involved in several recent a...

Livemint June 29, 2020 The official brief behind the ongoing nationwide manual examination of all incoming cargo from China is to look at instances of under-invoicing of goods, especially low-value goods, senior customs department officials said requesting anonymity. The unprecedented move by India has come against the backdrop of border tensions and is being widely perceived as retaliatory action. However, customs officials said most customs clearances are automated. With only 20-30% of consignment being picked up for manual checks, the current exercise is particularly targeted at low-value, non-branded goods that are frequently under-invoiced. In May, the government decided to gradually impose “country of origin" information on imported goods. This became mandatory last week in the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) procurement portal. India lost $13 billion, or close to ₹90,000 crore, in 2016 to trade misinvoicing, with Chinese origin imports making up the bigge...

Deccan Chronicle June 29, 2020 Feeling hurt at being sidelined in certain decision-making and underhand disparagement of his role within the amalgam, Kashmir’s separatist patriarch Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Monday announced his decision to quit the Hurriyat Conference. Sources privy to the development said the nonagenarian politician’s move may have come as a surprise to many outside the Hurriyat Conference but within the amalgam it was being anticipated for quite some time. However, it was the endorsement by the Hurriyat Conference (G)’s Valley-based “advisory council” of an earlier decision taken by its Pakistan and PoK chapter to remove his close confidante, Syed Abdullah Geelani, as its emissary in Islamabad that pulled the trigger, sources said. Geelani, while announcing his decision to sever his association with the Hurriyat Conference, said that Abdullah will continue to work as his representative in PoK and overseas. He accused his colleagues in Jammu & Kashmir of ...

FirstPost June 25, 2020 Asian markets were set to follow a tumble in Wall Street stocks and oil prices on Thursday after surging U.S. coronavirus cases and the International Monetary Fund's downgrade to global economic projections shook confidence in a recovery. "At the moment futures are looking at some pretty steep losses," said James Tao, a market analyst at Australian broker CommSec. "It's no real surprise considering the heavy declines on Wall Street." Tao said spiking coronavirus cases and new restrictions aimed at tamping down the spread of the pandemic were the straw that broke the camel's back, after markets gained earlier in the week. Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures  lost 1.55% in early trading. Japan's Nikkei 225 futures  fell 1.1%. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China are closed for public holidays on Thursday. On Wednesday, three U.S. states reported record increases in new cases -- Florida, Oklahoma and South Car...

FirstPost June 24, 2020 While talks are on between military commanders of India and China to defuse tensions along the Line of Actual Control, Bejing's propaganda machine continues to operate in full swing. Mouthpieces of the Chinese government have linked the clashes in the Galwan Valley with India's efforts to 'divert attention from the government's incompetence in handling the COVID-19,' and alleged that they are part of the country's 'territorial revisionist policy.' For instance, take this article in Global Times. It alleged that India had earlier promised to not cross the estuary of the Galwan River to patrol and build facilities. The article quoted Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, as saying, "...India, which tried to divert domestic attention from the government's incompetence in handling the COVID-19 and its economic slide, broke its prom...