April 2023 - Page 19 of 51 - Lokmarg

Apple Keen On Expanding Manufacturing Base In India

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

By Payal Mehta

In a series of meetings with the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has expressed confidence about a long-term working relationship with India.

After the meeting with Prime Minister Modi, Tim Cook on Wednesday tweeted, “Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi for the warm welcome. We share your vision of the positive impact technology can make on India’s future — from education and developers to manufacturing and the environment, we’re committed to growing and investing across the country.”

Prime Minister Modi also tweeted after the meeting saying, “An absolute delight to meet you, @tim_cook! Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India.”

Government sources said Apple has been praising the stability of India’s policy calling it “clearly impressive”.

Viewing India as its long-term market, the iPhone manufacturer has expressed interest in expansion plans, including manufacturing the latest products.

Currently, the employment strength of Apple in India stands at 1 lakh. Sources said this is expected to go up to 2 lakh in the coming years.

In terms of the required skilled labour, the Union government stands committed to supplying the required manpower including providing customised requirements. It is in the public knowledge that Gati Shakti Vidyalaya is designing courses for manufacturers. The sources say that such a similar arrangement can also be made for Apple.

Tim Cook is currently in India for the launch of two Apple stores. The first was launched in Mumbai on Tuesday while the second retail store will be launched in Delhi on Thursday.

In another development, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also tweeted about his meeting with CEO Tim Cook.

Late Wednesday, the minister posted, “Met with @tim_cook, CEO, Apple. Discussed deepening Apple’s engagement in India across manufacturing, electronics exports, app economy, skilling, sustainability and job creation especially for women. Jointly charting a long-term and strong relationship.”

Minister of State for IT and Electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar also met the tech giant’s CEO on Wednesday.

The MoS tweeted, “It was a delight to meet @tim_cook CEO, @Apple and his team to engage on Apple’s strategic and long-term partnership with and in India’s digital journey. We discussed deepening and broadening manufacturing, exports, skilling of youth, expanding app n innovation economy and job creation. #NewIndia #IndiaTechade @_DigitalIndia”. (ANI)

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Assam Youth Cong Chief Accuses Srinivas BV Of Harassment

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Director General of Police, Assam to personally look into the harassment allegation levelled by Angkita Dutta, the Assam Youth Congress chief, against Srinivas BV the Indian Youth Congress national president.

She urged the DGP to conduct a fair and time-bound enquiry into the matter, said a press release by NCW on Wednesday.

The NCW took cognizance of a Twitter post by the Assam Youth Congress chief against the National chief alleging harassment and discrimination, said the statement.

In the release, NCW stated, “The National Commission for Women has come across a Twitter post enclosing screenshots of posts made by President, Indian Youth Congress, Assam alleging harassment, use of derogatory language and discrimination against the President of Indian Youth Congress. In furtherance, the Assam chief has posted on her Twitter handle that she even raised her grievance with Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu, however, there was no action taken on her complaint.”

NCW further stated that the Commission is appalled and disappointed and has taken cognizance of the allegations levelled by the Assam Youth Congress chief against the National Chief.

“Considering the gravity of the matter, chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Director General of Police, Assam to look into it and inquire about the allegations levelled against the Youth Congress chief in a fair and time-bound manner”, reads the statement.

According to the official release, the Commission has sought a detailed report on the matter. Meanwhile, the Commission will also inquire into the matter, said the statement. (ANI)

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India Surpasses China As World’s Most Populous Country: UN

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

India has now crossed China to become the most populous country in the world, according to the United Nations Data.

The UN world population dashboard stated that India now has 1428.6 million people while China’s population stands at 1425.7 million.

This is for the first time that India has topped the United Nations’ list of most populated countries, ever since the UN began collecting population data in 1950.

The year before, China’s population shrank for the first time since 1960. In 2016, Beijing ended its strict “one-child policy,” imposed in the 1980s amid overpopulation fears, and began letting couples have three children in 2021. China faces an impending demographic decline, as its workforce ages and fertility rates decrease.

Meanwhile, the United States is in the third position with an estimated population of 340 million.

India has not performed a census since 2011, hence there are no fresh official statistics available on its population size.

The once-in-a-decade census in India was scheduled to take place in 2021 but was postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The global population is expected to hit 8.045 billion by mid-2023, according to the UN data. (ANI)

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Pakistan Inflation Peaks: Daily Essentials Out Of Reach For Masses

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

As Pakistan continues to grapple with economic challenges due to a shortage of foreign exchange reserves, citizens find it tough to buy everyday essentials like flour, oil and gas.

Despite daily necessities such as gas, electricity, petrol and flour getting more and more out of reach or prohibitively expensive for the average person to acquire, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government is hardly paying heed to the plight of the people, Pakistan’s vernacular media reported.

The inflation in the country is going through the roof, quite literally, with price rise is coming in the way of Eid celebrations as well.

According to Pakistan’s vernacular media, the purchasing power of people has reached “rock-bottom” not allowing them to do any Eid shopping and that is the reason that markets are wearing deserted looks these days. Not only this, the government has recently hiked petrol prices.

Amid escalating economic hardships, people are literally at pains to bear the brunt of frequent hikes in petrol and power tariffs and inflation on the whole, Pakistan vernacular media reported. With Eid-ul-Fitr approaching, concerns have been expressed over increasing inflation in the country.

The Express Tribune recently reported that burgeoning inflation and a deepening cost-of-living crisis have left millions of people across Pakistan struggling to put food on their tables. In a bid to lift some burden off low-income families during Ramzan, provincial governments announced plans to distribute flour bags.

However, unorganised distributions in parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa resulted in stampedes.

A man was killed in Charsadda, and several others were injured in Swabi and Kohat. Another man in Bannu died after the boundary wall of a flour mill collapsed ahead of flour distribution. In the Hasilpur Tehsil of southern Punjab, at least five women were injured in a stampede at a free flour distribution point. (ANI)

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Atiq’s Killers Remanded To Four-Day Police Custody

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

A CJM court in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Wednesday remanded gangster Atiq Ahmed’s killers to four-day police custody.

This comes after the Special Investigation Team filed an application in the court seeking remand for questioning for all three accused.

They were earlier sent to 14-day judicial custody by the district court on April 16.

During the police remand, the police will question the accused, who were identified as Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari, about the weapon they used to kill Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf on April 15 night, where did they get the weapon from and who gave it to them.

The police will also seek to know the reason for the murder of the gangsters.

All three accused will again be presented in court on April 23.

Earlier today, they were brought to the court amid tight security.

Earlier, the three assailants were shifted from Prayagraj’s Naini Central Jail to the Pratapgarh district jail on Monday.

“All three shooters, Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari, are under threat of attack behind bars, owing to which they have been shifted to a high-security cell and are kept under CCTV surveillance,” official sources said.

Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad were shot dead by men posing as press persons on Saturday night while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj. Both the gangsters collapsed on the spot after they were shot at nearly point-blank range.

On April 16, the last rites of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf took place at a family graveyard in the Kasari Masari area of Prayagraj. (ANI)

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Majority Of Blinkit Stores Have Resumed Operations: Zomato

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

Zomato on Wednesday said the company had shut some of its stores of Blinkit for a few days and added, “Most of these stores have now resumed operations.”

In addition to this, the food aggregator said over the past few days, it made changes in the delivery partners’ payout structure with respect to the Blinkit business to address the needs of delivery partners, improve customer experience and reduce cancellation or order rejection frauds by a few delivery partners in the system.

According to a statement shared with stock exchanges by Zomato, it said, “such changes are done from time to time, as needed.”

The company said these disruptions and changes have no material impact on the operations or financial performance of the company, which Zomato said was less than 1 per cent revenue impact, and hence the company believed that this event does not warrant any disclosure under regulation 30 of the SEBI.

According to a report published on a news website, “Hundreds of delivery partners working with Zomato-owned Blinkit have been on strike for the past three days, in protest against the change in the company’s payout structure.”

It again mentioned, “The reason behind the strike is the recent changes in the payment structure of Blinkit, where delivery partners are now receiving a minimum fee of Rs 15 per delivery instead of the earlier payment of Rs 25 per delivery.”

The report said, “Blinkit app service has been ‘temporarily unavailable’ in most parts of Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region). This is affecting the regular customers of the app as they are not able to place orders on the Blinkit app for the last few days as a message greeted them saying “Due to excess demand, temporarily unavailable”.

Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers, was acquired in a Rs 4,447-crore deal by food delivery company Zomato in June last year. (ANI)

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Baloch Liberation Army Sets Fire To 6 Chinese Mobile Towers on CPEC

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

Balochistan Liberation Front (BLA) claimed to have set fire to six mobile phone towers of Pakistani and Chinese companies in Tehsil Dasht of District Kech of Balochistan province.

BLA also attacked the mobile phone towers of the Pakistani mobile phone company ‘Ufone’ and the Chinese company ‘Zong’ in Dasht Kambel, Jan Muhammad Bazar, Print Bazar, and Zarin Bug areas of Kech, Balochistan.

BLA claimed to have burnt and destroyed all the machinery in those towers.

Similarly, another tower of Ufone on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route in Dasht, of Kech and the towers of Zong Company in Sungai Bazaar of Kech were attacked and all the machinery was set on fire.

Pakistan and China are laying a network of mobile phone towers in different areas of Balochistan to facilitate their spies and soldiers. The towers are also used for surveillance of the Baloch people.

Mobile Phone Towers were installed to protect the CPEC route. By propagating these projects as part of the development of Baloch people and Balochistan, the administration is misleading the locals to prolong their occupation in the area and loot the region and the people of their resources.

Two years ago also, in June 2021, The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed that its fighters set on fire the installations of telecommunication companies at Margat’s Chokhobi Wadh area of Quetta Balochistan and captured six of its staff members.

The spokesperson of the pro-freedom resistance organisation, Azad Baloch, also named the captured workers as Gul Shah Khan, Abdul Aadi and Mehraj residents of Quetta, Zhob and Qila Saifullah respectively, and Muhammad Yusuf, resident of Quetta, Amanat Ali, resident of Gujrat, Punjab, Rehmatullah, resident of Qila Saifullah.

Back in 2021, the BLA said that various telecommunication companies in occupied Balochistan have been repeatedly warned not to act as facilitators in the expansionist ambitions of the imperialist powers (Pakistan and China).

China, in collaboration with Pakistan, set up a telecommunications network and has been using other telecom companies, including Hawaii, and Subcon companies, (Netcom, Exeleron, ZTE) to spy on and trace the movement of people in Balochistan.

All of these projects are being funded through a well-organized project under the “Universal Service Fund”.

China has already to some extent implemented its economic and military ambitions against the will of the Baloch nation in the coastal city of Gwadar in occupied Balochistan, where the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project has been threatened by Baloch freedom fighters, due to which China and Pakistan are constantly trying new methods for Baloch genocide.

Telecom companies are installing mobile towers in uninhabited hilly areas of Balochistan at the behest of the Pakistani military. Under the guise of these telecom companies, China and Pakistan exchange secret information about Baloch freedom fighters and help the Pakistan army to intensify the ongoing military aggression and the abductions of Baloch youths in occupied Balochistan. (ANI)

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Shriya Pilgaonkar Back As Radha In ‘Broken News Season 2’

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

Actor Shriya Pilgaonkar is all set to return with one of the fans appreciated characters, Radha Bhargava with the sequel of the much-acclaimed series, ‘The Broken News’ that also stars Jaideep Ahlawat and Sonali Bendre.

Talking about the show, Shriya said ” I’m so happy and grateful with the love we got for the season 1 of ‘The Broken News’ which is a layered, humane exploration of how different News channels capture the daily discourse in the country. In Season 2, the story gets more exciting and gripping where you can expect a whole lot of twists. Our writing team has done an incredible job with the different themes and stories that the series explores in season 2.”

Shriya garnered several nominations and accolades for her portrayal of the feisty journalist Radha.

About her character’s journey, Shriya shared, “My character Radha is back with a bang and is on a mission to fight the system that wrongly accused her. She is very unpredictable this season with what she is going to do next which makes it all the more interesting for me to play as an actor. Jaideep and Sonali are dear friends and I’m also looking forward to being back on set with them. There are some surprises in store and I can’t speak about it just yet, but I’m really kicked about season 2.”

Directed by Vinay Waikul, ‘Broken News’ is based on the world of news reporting. (ANI)

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Meta To Announce Fresh Round Of Job Cuts In Facebook, Instagram

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

Facebook parent company Meta is all set to commence the companywide new job cuts on Wednesday as part of reorganising teams and management hierarchies, The Washington Post reported.

According to the internal memo that a US-based newspaper read, Meta’s head of human resources, Lori Goler, wrote Tuesday evening that the company will begin notifying employees regarding the downsizing of technical teams.

Meta is also poised to announce newly reorganized teams and management hierarchies as the social media giant seeks to become leaner and more efficient.

This new layoff will affect the teams working on Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and the virtual-reality division Reality Labs among others, according to Goler.

According to the memo, Goler advised some employees not to go into the office if it wasn’t critical for their role. Senior leaders made layoff decisions as part of the wider restructuring effort, Goler added.

“This will be a difficult time as we say goodbye to friends and colleagues who have contributed so much to Meta,” she wrote. “It will take time for everyone — both those leaving and those staying — to process tomorrow’s news, and I know teams will show up for each other with compassion, support and care,” she added.

The company is expected to lay off what probably will be thousands of highly skilled employees — such as engineers and other technical staffers — who help build the company’s products, according to people familiar with the matter.

Earlier, in March, Meta said that they will remove 10,000 employees from their team.

“we expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement published on Meta.

He further stated, “This will be tough and there’s no way around that. It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success. They’ve dedicated themselves to our mission and I’m personally grateful for all their efforts.”

“We will support people in the same ways we have before and treat everyone with the gratitude they deserve,” he added. (ANI)

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India Coordinating With Four Countries To Help Indians Stuck In Sudan

By LokMarg 19th April 2023

To ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals in Sudan, amid the ongoing clashes between Sudan’s army and paramilitary forces, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has begun coordinating closely with The Quartet countries, sources familiar with the matter said.

The Quartet countries of the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have a key role and the Ministry of External Affairs is engaging with them accordingly, according to sources.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his counterparts in Saudi Arabia and in UAE.

Jaishankar tweeted, “Thank HH @ABZayed, Foreign Minister of UAE, for the exchange of views on the situation in Sudan. Our continuing contacts are helpful.”

In another tweet, the MEA wrote, “Spoke to Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, HH @FaisalbinFarhan just now. Appreciated his assessment of the Sudan situation. Will remain in close touch.”

They have assured Jaishankar with practical support on the ground.

According to sources, Indian ambassador in Washington DC and High Commissioner in London are in touch with their respective host Governments. The MEA is also working closely with the UN, which has a substantial presence in Sudan.

Earlier on Monday, the MEA also set up a dedicated Control Room to assist Indians stranded in Sudan. The officials of the Ministry are also in continuous touch with Indian Embassy in Khartoum and are getting regular reports of the status of the Indian community.

The Embassy in turn is in touch with the community and individuals through multiple methods including WhatsApp groups, sources said, adding that situation on the street is very tense and movement is very risky at this stage. The priority of MEA is the safety of movement and well-being of individuals where ever they are located.

While both the Ministry of External Affairs and the Embassy are continuously monitoring the situation, safety and security concerns constrained it from putting out specific details, as per sources. (ANI)

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