Express News Service
INDIA HuddleMamata, Stalin, Soren, Vijayan vie to play host
The opposition alliance, INDIA, has decided to have its next meeting in Mumbai. The decision for the Mumbai meeting followed a request from Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar. The Maharashtra duo argued that after the first meeting in the east – at Patna – and the second in the south – at Bengaluru — the third meeting should occur in the west – at Mumbai. It is likely to take place next month. A tussle is now on in the opposition camp for the next venue. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin is keen on hosting INDIA in his state. But he has encountered serious competition from other opposition chief ministers, namely Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and Hemant Soren.
The DMK chief has asked the opposition bigwigs to meet in Chennai or any other location in Tamil Nadu for the next strategy-planning session. Stalin kept up the opposition unity momentum by hosting a social justice conference in Delhi and opening a DMK office in New Delhi. Stalin’s lieutenants are reportedly in touch with other opposition leaders for a meeting in Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, another fellow competitor from the south, the Kerala chief minister, is also looking for an opportunity to galvanise the Left by hosting a meeting in the state. Sources in the Congress, however, said that the meeting should ideally be held in a northern state after Maharashtra. The Congress has already offered Shimla as a venue. The Aam Aadmi Party is keen on playing host in Delhi or Chandigarh. The opposition bandwagon is clearly on a roll.
Tale of Two NotificationsCommerce Ministry tied in knots in a laptop war
The Union Ministry of Commerce issued a notification on August 3, 2023, imposing ‘with immediate effect’ a licensing requirement to import laptops, tablets and personal computers. However, a day later, on August 4, 2023, the ministry issued another notification saying, “Notification No. 23/2023 dated 03.08.2023 shall be effective from November 1, 2023…”
The ministry explained the second notification saying through it, “liberal transitional arrangements are provided for import of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra-small form factor computers and servers falling under HSN 8471 till 31.10.2023.” Sources in Vanijya Bhawan, however, gave another reason for the ministry beating a hasty retreat. They said the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance group last week launched the much-anticipated feature-packed JioBook laptop at a highly competitive price of Rs 16,499. Two days before the sale of JioBook was to start, the commerce ministry issued the notification imposing the licensing requirement for all importers of laptops.
This would have helped Reliance. But its competition includes global giants, namely Apple, Dell, HP, Samsung, etc. The commerce ministry notification would hit these companies hard as a large number of their laptops sold in India are imported from China. Sources said these companies expressed unhappiness with the notification, which led to the second notification postponing the implementation of the licensing condition. According to sources, at the forefront of opposing the licensing requirement is Apple, a company that has a market valuation equal to the total GDP of India.
INDIA Huddle
Mamata, Stalin, Soren, Vijayan vie to play host
The opposition alliance, INDIA, has decided to have its next meeting in Mumbai. The decision for the Mumbai meeting followed a request from Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar. The Maharashtra duo argued that after the first meeting in the east – at Patna – and the second in the south – at Bengaluru — the third meeting should occur in the west – at Mumbai. It is likely to take place next month. A tussle is now on in the opposition camp for the next venue. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin is keen on hosting INDIA in his state. But he has encountered serious competition from other opposition chief ministers, namely Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and Hemant Soren.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
The DMK chief has asked the opposition bigwigs to meet in Chennai or any other location in Tamil Nadu for the next strategy-planning session. Stalin kept up the opposition unity momentum by hosting a social justice conference in Delhi and opening a DMK office in New Delhi. Stalin’s lieutenants are reportedly in touch with other opposition leaders for a meeting in Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, another fellow competitor from the south, the Kerala chief minister, is also looking for an opportunity to galvanise the Left by hosting a meeting in the state. Sources in the Congress, however, said that the meeting should ideally be held in a northern state after Maharashtra. The Congress has already offered Shimla as a venue. The Aam Aadmi Party is keen on playing host in Delhi or Chandigarh. The opposition bandwagon is clearly on a roll.
Tale of Two Notifications
Commerce Ministry tied in knots in a laptop war
The Union Ministry of Commerce issued a notification on August 3, 2023, imposing ‘with immediate effect’ a licensing requirement to import laptops, tablets and personal computers. However, a day later, on August 4, 2023, the ministry issued another notification saying, “Notification No. 23/2023 dated 03.08.2023 shall be effective from November 1, 2023…”
The ministry explained the second notification saying through it, “liberal transitional arrangements are provided for import of laptops, tablets, all-in-one personal computers, ultra-small form factor computers and servers falling under HSN 8471 till 31.10.2023.” Sources in Vanijya Bhawan, however, gave another reason for the ministry beating a hasty retreat. They said the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance group last week launched the much-anticipated feature-packed JioBook laptop at a highly competitive price of Rs 16,499. Two days before the sale of JioBook was to start, the commerce ministry issued the notification imposing the licensing requirement for all importers of laptops.
This would have helped Reliance. But its competition includes global giants, namely Apple, Dell, HP, Samsung, etc. The commerce ministry notification would hit these companies hard as a large number of their laptops sold in India are imported from China. Sources said these companies expressed unhappiness with the notification, which led to the second notification postponing the implementation of the licensing condition. According to sources, at the forefront of opposing the licensing requirement is Apple, a company that has a market valuation equal to the total GDP of India.
