 "Top headlines: Chandrayaan-3 launch, Foxconn's change of heart, and more")
Xiaomi in talks with Dixon Technologies, others for India-made phones
In a major shift in its strategy, Chinese mobile device manufacturer Xiaomi is set to begin exporting ‘made in India’ phones to West Asian countries for the first time by the end of the September quarter, sources close to the company said. Xiaomi, the third-largest smartphone brand in India in terms of shipment volumes, after Samsung and Vivo, is in advanced talks with Dixon Technologies and other homegrown electronic manufacturing services (EMS) players for local production of its phones. The firm is also aiming to double its localisation levels, excluding semiconductors, to 70 per cent in two years, the sources said. Currently, Xiaomi’s mobile devices are assembled in India by Taiwan’s Foxconn and Chinese firms DBG and BYD. Read more...
Foxconn's change of heart on semiconductor factory a warning to India
India has grand plans to become an electronics manufacturing hub. Given that level of ambition, we need to be prepared for setbacks — such as the news this week that Taiwan-based Foxconn would not, in the end, build a semiconductor factory in the western Indian state of Gujarat. This was a huge disappointment. Getting some semiconductor fabrication to happen onshore was a crucial part of India’s plans to create a homegrown, end-to-end electronics manufacturing supply chain. Those plans, it turns out, may have been both too ambitious and not ambitious enough. Read more...
India to make second Moon landing attempt today as space race heats up
India will make a second attempt to send an uncrewed mission to the lunar surface Friday, joining the US, China and others in a new moon race. The Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled to blast off at 2:35 p.m. local time Friday from India’s main spaceport on Sriharikota, an island off the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. It will spend about six weeks in space before attempting to touch down close to the lunar south pole, near where the nation’s previous moon mission ended in a crash in 2019. Read more...
Tighter norms in works for offshore e-gaming platforms: Revenue dept
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The Department of Revenue is planning to have a separate mechanism to track offshore e-gaming platforms and bring them within the ambit of the goods and services tax (GST). The mechanism in the works will ensure tighter declaration by Indian residents while making payments to these offshore applications (apps) and platforms via banking channels. The department may also make it mandatory for foreign offshore entities to get GST registration within a specific period for tax purposes. Failing to comply would result in blocking their access to India and legal discourse for tax recovery, a senior bureaucrat told Business Standard. Read more...
Rally in defence equipment makers' stocks not in sync with earnings growth
There has been a sharp rise in the share price of listed defence equipment makers since the start of the current calendar year. However, the rally has yet to reflect in the financial performance of these companies. The combined market capitalisation (m-cap) of six public-sector defence companies is up 45 per cent year-to-date (YTD) and has more than doubled in the past year. In contrast, the combined earnings was up only 15.8 per cent in 2022-23 (FY23). Read more...
Aspartame 'possibly' carcinogenic, yet safe at common use levels, says WHO
Aspartame, the artificial sweetener found in everything from diet drinks, yogurt, ice cream and breakfast cereals to medicines, toothpastes and instant coffee, has been determined by the World Health Organization to be “possibly carcinogenic.”
Citing the results of two new assessments of the health impact of the popular artificial sweetener, the WHO said that it has “limited evidence” that aspartame can cause cancer in humans. The International Agency for Research on Cancer’s report designated the sweetener as possibly carcinogenic. Another assessment, from the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, or JECFA, found that at the current amounts commonly used by consumers, the safety of aspartame isn’t a major concern. Read more...