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Hindustan Times  August 25, 2020 China must “vigorously enhance the capability to conduct innovation independently,” President Xi Jinping told a meeting of experts in Beijing, in the latest emphasis on using technological self-reliance to counter a more hostile external environment. “The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, which are being accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Xi said at a symposium on economic and social work on Monday, calling for “breakthroughs in key and core technologies as soon as possible.” The president reiterated the need to develop the so-called “dual-circulation” economic model, which positions the domestic market as the mainstay of the economy. However, Xi stressed that this is not about “isolated domestic circulation,” but rather an open structure that will involve greater connection with the global system. China should actively cooperate with “all nations, regions and enterprises who are willing to work with us, inc...

Hindustan Times August 25, 2020 India on Monday (local time) hit out at Pakistan over lies peddled by its mission at UN. In a strong statement, the Indian Mission said that Pakistan has put out a false statement claiming that their envoy Munir Akram spoke at the United Nations Security Council while the session was not open to non-members. “We have seen a statement put out by the Pakistan Mission to the UN, claiming that these remarks were made by the Permanent Representative of Pakistan at the UN Security Council. We fail to comprehend where exactly did the Permanent Representative of Pakistan make his statement since the Security Council Session today was not open to non-members of the Security Council”, Indian mission at UN said in a statement. The statement further says that the detailed statement exposed the ‘five big lies’ being peddled and pushed by Pakistan. Dismissing assertions that Pakistan has been a target of cross-border terrorism for decades, the Indian...

Hindustan Times August 25, 2020 India has found large-scale dumping of optical fibre from China, days after Beijing extended an anti-dumping duty on the import of Indian-made fibre for five years, which could trigger a similar tariff measure by New Delhi against the Chinese product in the local market, two officials aware of development said. The government is considering imposing remedial duty on the import of “single mode optical fibre” after an investigation by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) confirmed its dumping mainly from China, the officials said, requesting anonymity. The DGTR is a single-window agency tasked with providing a level-playing field to domestic industry against unfair trade practices by countries like China. After a detailed investigation, DGTR on Friday concluded that import of single mode optical fibre at below cost is threatening to cause “serious injury” to Indian manufacturers and recommended imposition of a 10% safeguard duty on ...

Live Mint August 24, 2020 Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal on Monday hinted at an increase in mobile services prices in the next six months, saying that data at low rates is not sustainable for the telecom industry. He said that 16 GB data consumption a month for  ₹ 160 is a tragedy. "You either consume 1.6 GB of capacity per month either at this price point or you may prepare to pay a lot more. We are not wanting USD 50-60 like the US or Europe but certainly USD 2 for 16 GB a month is not sustainable," Mittal said at an event. Mittal also said that the average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to cross  ₹ 200 in six months on digital content consumption. ARPU is the measure of revenue generated per user for a telco. "We need a  ₹ 300 ARPU in which you will still have lower end at  ₹ 100 a month with decent amount of data. But if your consumption is largely around watching TV, movies, entertainment and depriving other vital special services...

The Indian Express August 23, 2020 Assam Rifles (AR) seized drugs worth over 1.73 crores near the Indo-Myanmar border in Tengnoupal district of Manipur in separate incidents on Saturday. Authority from the Assam Rifles said that the first two consignments of the drugs were seized from the check post situated near the district headquarter. The first consignment, estimated to be around Rs. 48 lakhs were found hidden in the bonnet of a Imphal bound vehicle at around 9 am. The force also reportedly recovered 152 packets of Burmese medicines from the vehicle, said the authority. Assam Rifles (AR) seized drugs worth over 1.73 crores near the Indo-Myanmar border in Tengnoupal district of Manipur in separate incidents on Saturday. Authority from the Assam Rifles said that the first two consignments of the drugs were seized from the check post situated near the district headquarter. The first consignment, estimated to be around Rs. 48 lakhs were found hidden in the bonnet of a...

The Indian Express August 25, 2020 While it is clear that India’s broader economy will contract this year, it is also true that well-distributed rainfall has meant that the agriculture sector per se may be quite productive this year. A new report by Crisil throws light on the prospects of the farm sector. Here’s a closer look at the farm sectors and its prospects. What is the status of Southwest monsoon? As of August 21, monsoon is 7 per cent above normal, according to the Crisil report. “Rains in India, normal and most well spread in three years – across time and regions so far,” it states. Overall, better rains would allow the crop acreage — sown area — to increase across most crop groups such as cereals, oilseeds and pulses. Acreage for fruits and spices will also likely go up. But acreage for cotton and vegetables is likely to decline marginally. Apart from the sown area going up, productivity too is expected to go up by around 3 per cent. Would these imply a re...

The Indian Express Augut 25, 2020 With diplomatic and military talks on resolving the military standoff between Indian and Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh  not making much headway , Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat Monday said India has “military options” available, but these will be used only if talks fail. This is the first time that a senior military officer has spoken publicly on the “transgressions by the Chinese” and the option of military force to deal with the border crisis in Ladakh. General Rawat told the ANI news agency that “the military options to deal with transgressions by the Chinese army in Ladakh are on, but it will be exercised only if the talks at the military and diplomatic levels fail”. His statement comes even as the government prepares for another round of military talks with China to try and break the stalemate over disengagement of troops in Pangong Tso and the Gogra ...

The Telegraph Online August 25, 2020 The finance ministry on Monday said the GST regime has reduced the rate at which people have to pay tax, helped increase compliance and doubled the taxpayer base to 1.24 crore. In a series of tweets on Monday, also the first death anniversary of former finance minister Arun Jaitley, the ministry said before the goods and services tax (GST) was introduced, the combination of value-added tax, excise, sales tax and their cascading effect resulted in a high standard tax rate of up to 31 per cent.  “It is now widely acknowledged that GST is both consumer and taxpayer-friendly. While the high tax rates of the pre-GST era acted as a disincentive to paying tax, the lower rates under GST helped to increase tax compliance,” the ministry said. The number of assessees covered by the GST at the time of its inception was about 65 lakh. Now the assessee base exceeds 1.24 crore. GST, which subsumed 17 local levies and 13 cesses, was rolled out...

Hindustan Times August 24, 2020 Investors are piling into stocks, shrugging off worries about rising Covid-19 infections and betting on a speedy economic recovery, even as a steady stream of data points otherwise. If India’s fear-gauge, the India volatility index (VIX), is any indication, the panic over the pandemic and its fallout on the economy is officially over. The index has cooled off sharply from the March highs during the market rout and is hovering around a six-month low. It has plunged 76% from the highs of 86.64 touched on March 24 when stock indexes crashed more than 10% in a single day. A fall in the VIX index indicates investors’ fear about a sell-off in equities is ebbing. The index’s movement is in sharp contrast to India’s economic fundamentals and earnings growth. Economists are predicting GDP to shrink between 5% and 9.5% this year, the biggest contraction since Independence. Yet against this bleak backdrop, Indian stocks have gained 50% from the lows in ...

Financial  Express August 24, 2020 The proposed mission that will focus on end-to-end vaccine development from clinical trial stage to regulatory facilitation to manufacturing, will be piloted by the Department of Biotechnology, the PTI report stated. There is no official word on it as yet, but senior officials told PTI that it is in “a proposal stage”. As per the draft proposal, the Mission COVID Suraksha is proposed to have a timeline of 12-18 months and a budget of approximately Rs 3,000 crore. It will also look at ensuring that sufficient volumes of the vaccine are manufactured to meet India’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Also, as per the approval of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), the mission will focus on efficient ways to introduce the vaccine in public health systems of the Ministry of Health post to combat further spread of COVID-19 infection. The draft proposal says that it is imperative that the vaccine development an...

NDTV Profit August 22, 2020 Middle Eastern oil accounted for 71.5 per cent of India's oil imports in July, its highest share in 26 months, while imports from Africa fell to 5 per cent, the lowest in at least 14 years, data from trade sources showed on Friday. Analysts said lower fuel demand and paltry refining margins had driven a preference for Middle Eastern sour grades over sweet African barrels. India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, meets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs through imports. "Since April Indian refiners are trying to save every single penny on crude purchases as refining margins are paltry and fuel demand has crashed. They are forced to cut refiners runs," said Ehsan Ul Haq, an analyst with Refinitiv. Indian refiners mostly tap spot markets for low sulphur or sweet grades and buy sour grades under term deals with Middle Eastern producers. "Imports from Middle East help in saving freight cost. Refiners opted to li...

Deccan Chronicle August 25, 2020 Railways has said that it had to cancel the tender to manufacture 44 Vande Bharat Express trains since some bidders had revealed the prices offered by them during the technical qualifications stage. The Railways has said that a fresh tender for manufacturing of 44 semi high speed train sets of Vande Bharat will be floated within a week as per Revised Public Procurement order while giving preference to Make in India. The tender for manufacturing 44 rakes of the semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express trains was floated by Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai in July. The tender had invited two packet bids — First Packet Technical Bids and Second Packet Financial Bids. First the technical bids are opened and evaluated, after which the financial bids of only those bidders are opened who qualify in the technical bids, the Railways said. "For transparency in evaluation, while evaluating the technical bids, the financial bids are not...

The New Indian Express August 22, 2020 The Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), which is the state’s apex church organisation, is wary of a Chinese cult called 'Church of Almighty God' that is suspected to have spread its tentacles into the Christian-majority state. In a statement addressed to fellow church workers, NBCC general secretary reverend Dr Zelhou Keyho cautioned: “I am writing this with a grave concern concerning a cult, called the Church of Almighty God from China, reportedly making inroads into our land. The Church of Almighty God or Eastern Lightning cult is a well-organized group, aggressively moving forward with publication and creating many Facebook pages and colourful artwork that appears biblical and enticing”. Keyho said the cult teaches that Jesus has returned to earth as a woman, named Yang Xiangbin, also called Lightning Deng, and the New Testament has been replaced by their new bible called "The Word Appears in the Flesh". ...