Negligence in Amiri Aircraft Deal: Jail Time Suspended for 3 Diwan advisors
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Kuwait Times
7 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
In India, Trump tariffs spark calls to boycott American products
India key market for US firms • Tariffs on Indian goods stoking anti-American sentiment NEW DELHI: From McDonald's and Coca-Cola to Amazon and Apple, US-based multinationals are facing calls for a boycott in India as business executives and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supporters stoke anti-American sentiment to protest against US tariffs. India, the world's most populous nation, is a key market for American brands that have rapidly expanded to target a growing base of affluent consumers, many of whom remain infatuated with international labels seen as symbols of moving up in life. India, for example, is the biggest market by users for Meta's WhatsApp and Domino's has more restaurants than any other brand in the country. Beverages like Pepsi and Coca-Cola often dominate store shelves, and people still queue up when a new Apple store opens or a Starbucks cafe doles out discounts. Although there was no immediate indication of sales being hit, there's a growing chorus both on social media and offline to buy local and ditch American products after Donald Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on goods from India, rattling exporters and damaging ties between New Delhi and Washington. McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Amazon and Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters queries. Manish Chowdhary, co-founder of India's Wow Skin Science, took to LinkedIn with a video message urging support for farmers and startups to make 'Made in India' a 'global obsession,' and to learn from South Korea whose food and beauty products are famous worldwide. 'We have lined up for products from thousands of miles away. We have proudly spent on brands that we don't own, while our own makers fight for attention in their own country,' he said. Rahm Shastry, CEO of India's DriveU, which provides a car driver on call service, wrote on LinkedIn: 'India should have its own home-grown Twitter/Google/YouTube/WhatsApp/FB—like China has.' To be fair, Indian retail companies give foreign brands like Starbucks stiff competition in the domestic market, but going global has been a challenge. Indian IT services firms, however, have become deeply entrenched in the global economy, with the likes of TCS and Infosys providing software solutions to clients world over. On Sunday, Modi made a 'special appeal' for becoming self-reliant, telling a gathering in Bengaluru that Indian technology companies made products for the world but 'now is the time for us to give more priority to India's needs.' He did not name any company. Even as anti-American protests simmer, Tesla launched its second showroom in India in New Delhi, with Monday's opening attended by Indian commerce ministry officials and US embassy officials. The Swadeshi Jagran Manch group, which is linked to Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, took out small public rallies across India on Sunday, urging people to boycott American brands. 'People are now looking at Indian products. It will take some time to fructify,' Ashwani Mahajan, the group's co-convenor, told Reuters. 'This is a call for nationalism, patriotism.' He also shared with Reuters a table his group is circulating on WhatsApp, listing Indian brands of bath soaps, toothpaste and cold drinks that people could choose over foreign ones. On social media, one of the group's campaigns is a graphic titled 'Boycott foreign food chains', with logos of McDonald's and many other restaurant brands. In Uttar Pradesh, Rajat Gupta, 37, who was dining at a McDonald's in Lucknow on Monday, said he wasn't concerned about the tariff protests and simply enjoyed the 49-rupee ($0.55) coffee he considered good value for money. 'Tariffs are a matter of diplomacy and my McPuff, coffee should not be dragged into it,' he said. —' Reuters
Kuwait Times
a day ago
- Kuwait Times
Chinese media says Nvidia H20 chips not safe for China
BEIJING: Nvidia's H20 chips pose security concerns for China, a social media account affiliated with China's state media said on Sunday, after Beijing raised concerns over backdoor access in those chips. The H20 chips are also not technologically advanced or environmentally friendly, the account, Yuyuan Tantian, which is affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, said in an article published on WeChat. 'When a type of chip is neither environmentally friendly, nor advanced, nor safe, as consumers, we certainly have the option not to buy it,' the article concluded. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. H20 artificial intelligence chips were developed by Nvidia for the Chinese market after the US imposed export restrictions on advanced AI chips in late 2023. The administration of US President Donald Trump banned their sales in April amid escalating trade tensions with China, but reversed the ban in July. China's cyberspace watchdog said on July 31 that it had summoned Nvidia to a meeting, asking the US chipmaker to explain whether its H20 chips had any backdoor security risks - a hidden method of bypassing normal authentication or security controls. Nvidia later said its products had no 'backdoors' that would allow remote access or control. In its article, Yuyuan Tantian said Nvidia chips could achieve functions including 'remote shutdown' through a hardware 'backdoor.' Yuyuan Tantian's comment followed criticism against Nvidia by People's Daily, another Chinese state media outlet. In a commentary earlier this month, People's Daily said Nvidia must produce 'convincing security proofs' to eliminate Chinese users' worries over security risks in its chips and regain market trust. China wants the United States to ease export controls on chips critical for artificial intelligence as part of a trade deal before a possible summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Chinese officials have told experts in Washington that Beijing wants the Trump administration to relax export restrictions on high-bandwidth memory chips, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The White House, State Department and China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report. HBM chips, which help perform data-intensive AI tasks quickly, are closely watched by investors due to their use alongside AI graphic processors, particularly Nvidia's. The FT said China is concerned because the US HBM controls hamper the ability of Chinese companies such as Huawei to develop their own AI chips. Successive US administrations have curbed exports of advanced chips to China, looking to stymie Beijing's AI and defense development. While this has impacted US firms' ability to fully address booming demand from China, one of the world's largest semiconductor markets, it still remains an important revenue driver for American chipmakers. - Reuters
Arab Times
a day ago
- Arab Times
Kuwaiti Women Convicted for Assault on Kuwait Airways Security
KUWAIT, CITY, Aug 10: The Court of Cassation upheld a lower court ruling that refrained from punishing two Kuwaiti women convicted of assaulting and insulting security personnel on board a Kuwait Airways flight. The incident prompted the pilot to return to Bangkok Airport to ensure passenger and crew safety. Case details revealed that a verbal altercation between the two women and the flight crew escalated into physical and verbal abuse against the onboard security team. Although the court found their actions a disturbance of order and safety aboard the aircraft, it considered the surrounding circumstances sufficient to issue a conviction without enforcing a custodial sentence. The court also upheld the acquittal of a third woman who was implicated in the same case. Testimonies and investigation results confirmed she neither took part in the altercation nor exhibited misconduct toward the crew or security personnel.
