Trump slaps 25% tariff on India: How should India be responding? Experts debate
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
21 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Russian subs 'near US coast' video surfaces after Trump deploys nuclear subs; sparking war fears
US President Donald Trump has shown Russia that he is not one to take threats lying down, after the Republican swiftly reacted to Russian president Vladimir Putin's aide, Dmitry Medvedev's 'dead hand' threat, following the POTUS's remarks on the Indian and Russian economies. Russia has done its fair share of nuclear saber-rattling in the past, including sending a nuclear-powered submarine and warships to Cuba. Image for representation(Pixabay) Trump ordered two nuclear submarines to be deployed near Russia. The move has not gone down too well, with Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists noting that the US President was forming a 'commitment trap', fueling expectations nuclear weapons are on the cards if tensions escalate more with Russia. Amid these tensions, a video has surfaced claiming that Russian 'Borei Class submarines equipped with thermonuclear Bulava missiles are now close to the US coast.' Fears of war and fact-checking the Russian submarine claim First off, there is no news of any fresh Russian submarine activity off the US coast. The video that has been shared on X is from 2018 and was of a test Russia conducted in the White Sea. However, Trump's actions have sparked fears in many. One person said on X, ''I'll end the war before I even take office.' 6 months later 'Send in the nuclear subs.'' Another commented 'The odds of WW3 just went up dramatically'. 'Wake up dude, it's just more posturing. Do you really believe that those submarines weren't already being planned for months in advance for that deployment? Learn a little bit about how ballistic missile submarines are operated,' another opined on a thread related to the US deployment of nuclear subs. However, online trepiditon aside, experts don't believe this could actually lead to World War 3 or a nuclear war between Russia and US. Also Read | Trump says to fire US official over 'faked' employment data Evelyn Farkas, executive director of the McCain Institute, said 'It's really signaling. It's not the beginning of some nuclear confrontation and nobody reads it as such. And I would imagine the Russians don't either.' The Telegraph also noted that Trump's Truth Social post is more of a gesture, given that US nuclear submarines are in position to destroy Russia all the time. Russia-US tensions rise Trump's actions come after Medvedev on X wrote 'each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war.' On Telegram, the former Russian President also referred to 'dead hand', which some military analysts understood to be Russia's codename for the retaliatory nuclear strikes control system. Trump, then, on Truth Social responded saying "Based on the highly provocative statements of the former president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions". He also said he acted 'just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that. Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.' Notably, Russia has done its fair share of nuclear saber-rattling in the past, including sending a nuclear-powered submarine and warships to Cuba, which is very close to the US coast. Kimball, the security expert, noted that the US has historically refrained from making threats regarding the use of its nuclear weapons. Trump's statements also come at a time when he is increasingly frustrated with Putin for not agreeing on a ceasefire with Ukraine, but McCain's Farkas noted that the nuclear sub deployment was unlikely to have any impact on Russia's course of action in the bordering country. (With Reuters inputs)
Mint
22 minutes ago
- Mint
Trump fires ‘Biden-appointee' top labour statistics official Erika McEntarfer after weak jobs report: 'Must be fair…'
President Donald Trump has dismissed the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics just hours after a disappointing jobs report was released, sparking concern among economists and policymakers over the future credibility of the agency's data. In a statement posted on social media on Friday, Trump announced he had instructed his team to sack Erika McEntarfer — a Biden appointee — 'IMMEDIATELY.' He added, 'Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes.' Not long after Trump posted about firing the BLS chief on Truth Social, Chavez-DeRemer chimed in on X, naming deputy commissioner William Wiatrowski as acting head of the agency. 'I agree wholeheartedly with @POTUS that our jobs numbers must be fair, accurate, and never manipulated for political purposes,' she wrote, echoing Trump's unfounded claims. Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer sought to put a positive spin on weak jobs numbers hours before their boss, President Donald Trump, fired the person who oversees the data, claiming without evidence that the dour report was politically motivated. Vance reposted a graphic on X that showed the number of native-born workers increased while employment of foreign-born workers declined, suggesting that was a result of Trump administration immigration policy. Friday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed payrolls increased 73,000 in July and that the prior two months were revised down by nearly 260,000. In the past three months, employment growth has averaged 35,000 — the worst since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mint
22 minutes ago
- Mint
Telecom testing just got cheaper as govt slashes certification fees by up to 95%
India has slashed the security certification fee for telecom equipment makers, the latest in a series of regulatory moves to ease business compliance requirements for companies importing or making telecom and tech equipment or products indigenously. Companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, Cisco Systems Inc., HFCL Ltd, and Dixon Technologies (India) Ltd will benefit from the government's decision to cut the fee by up to 95% for more than 50 categories of telecom and tech products. These include routers, connected devices, satellite equipment, smart meters, optical fiber cables, and 5G and WiFi gear, according to a government official and an internal document reviewed by Mint. 'Testing of telecom equipment is a key requirement," the official said, declining to be identified. 'The current downward revision in pricing pertains to the fee paid by the companies to the government to get certification, which is also known as security test report evaluation fee." A telecom or tech equipment maker or importer needs to engage a lab designated by the government to test its products and ensure the devices are safe for users and secure for communication networks. The government will later issue a security certificate if satisfied with the lab's report. Effective 1 August, the cost for this certification has been slashed to ₹10,000-50,000 per equipment model from ₹2-3.5 lakh. The National Centre for Communication Security (NCCS) on 30 June circulated a note to Department of Telecommunications officials informing about the reduction in the security test report evaluation fee. 'On an average, the overall cost for testing comes to ₹60-65 lakh per unit, which largely includes the third-party lab-testing costs," said Paritosh Prajapati, chief executive and founder of Sweden-based broadband equipment maker GX Group, which is a beneficiary of India's productivity-linked incentive scheme for the telecom sector. 'While this reduction in certification fee now is a breather, there is also a need for the government to increase testing labs and increase their capacity," he added. A time-consuming process The relaxation in testing and certification costs for telecom companies comes at a time when India is engaged in key trade negotiations with the United States, even as the US announced a 25% tariff plus a penalty on Indian goods from 1 August. In March, the US Trade Representative (USTR) had raised concerns about India's testing and certification system. The concerns included limited testing capacity, a slow and complex registration process, cancellations over non-safety issues, and high compliance costs. 'The US government has recommended that the Indian Government recognize internationally accredited labs, harmonize labeling requirements withglobal practices, harmonize the validity period of test reports and certification, and eliminate retesting requirements," USTR said in its report. India has seven designated telecom security testing labs, and has issued 92 security certificates so far, NCCS data show. HFCL, Cisco, Dixon Electro Appliances, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, among others, have applied and received security certifications for different products. While India launched the Communication Security Certification Scheme in 2020 to streamline the process, there have been delays in implementing rules related to certification. Also, as telecom equipment makers raised complaints about inadequate testing capacity and a cumbersome registration process, the scheme has not been universally applied across the telecom ecosystem. While the government's decision to reduce the security certification fee will help the industry, 'the more challenging part is the time consumed in this process of testing, which also needs to be brought down", said Konark Trivedi, founder and managing director of telecom equipment maker Frog Cellsat Ltd. The industry also needs a system to ensure that every equipment entering the country meets the government's security criteria, he added. Ease of doing business, but at what cost? Apart from a security certificate, telecom companies are also required to obtain a trusted source certification from the National Security Council Secretariat, and mandatory testing and certification of telecom equipment, which is issued by the Telecommunication Engineering Centre. On 7 April, the National Centre for Communication Security excluded products related to optical network terminals and optical line terminals from mandatory testing and security certification, and including them under the voluntary security certification regime till 31 August. NCCS also waived administrative and security test evaluation fees for the period. An optical line terminal is the main device at a telecom provider's end that manages data flow over fiber networks. An optical network terminal is the device at the customer's home that converts fiber signals into internet and other services. The fee reductions were part of the government's efforts towards improving ease of doing business in India for global telecom equipment makers. On 15 July, Mint reported that India had dropped its demand that telecom equipment suppliers hand over proprietary source code, a key piece of software that controls the working of an equipment. Instead, manufacturers are required to provide just a summary of internal security test results. However, local gear makers expressed concerns sustained pressure from multinational companies may have influenced the government's decision to relax its source code sharing and certification requirements.
