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  • Bit by Bit 18th Sept || India's current account deficit worsens || Chinese Mobile Companies to exit India & More

Bit by Bit 18th Sept || India's current account deficit worsens || Chinese Mobile Companies to exit India & More

Author

BGS Committee
September 18, 2022

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Good Morning! There is a two-year delay in Gaganyaan, ISRO’s first human space mission, due to covid, but there will never be that long a delay in bit by Bit.

So, here are:

"5 amazing stories in 5 minutes to make you future ready"

Happy reading!

MARKET UPDATE

(Market was closed on 17th September 2022, Saturday)

ECONOMY

Key Facts:

  • The range of forecasts for the Current Account deficit was $28.5–34.0 billion, or 2.4%–5.0% of GDP.

  • 2. For the Jan-March quarter, the deficit was less than half that magnitude at $13.4 billion, approximately 1.5% of GDP.

The Story:

According to a Reuters survey, the April-June current account deficit is projected to rise to its largest level in almost ten years. India's trade deficit was negatively impacted by worsening global conditions that caused costly imports. The trade deficit widened and the CAD grew as a result of higher commodity prices and the rupee's 80 per dollar value. India's current account deficit for the third quarter was projected to be $30.5 billion, or 3.6% of GDP, by 18 economists in a Reuters poll conducted from September 9 to 15. This was the largest deficit in nine years.

"Pressures for covering the current account deficit are already felt in the currency, and given that the majority of the world's central banks are tightening and the RBI's currency reserves are dwindling, those pressures are certain to worsen."

The rupee has lost about 7% of its value versus the dollar since January 2022, but during the 2013 "taper tantrum" crisis, when the U.S. Federal Reserve abruptly stopped buying government bonds, it had lost over 20% of its value. The current account shortfall is predicted to linger close to a decade high till the end of this fiscal year as the Indian rupee is predicted to trade around its lifetime lows versus the dollar into next year and crude oil prices are predicted to stay high.

Note: A current account deficit occurs when the total value of goods and services a country imports exceeds the total value of goods and services it exports.

TELECOM

Key Facts:

  • Indian government focus on three Chinese mobile companies, Oppo,Vivo and Xiaomi for tax evasion.

  • Directorate of revenue intelligence(DRI) has served a notice to these companies for tax evasion.

  • Oppo is in talk with Egyptian government for set up of 20 million dollars manufacturing plant.

  • India has banned more than 300 chinese apps.

  • Tata group may collaborate with Taiwan based wistron to ramp up iPhone production by 500%.

The Story:

Chinese mobile companies set to leave India and look for other manufacturing opportunities as the Indian government breathes down their necks for tax evasion. The new manufacturing location includes Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

Recently the Gujarat government has partnered Vedanta and Foxconn with the goal of getting an investment of Rs1.54 lakh crores for self-reliant semiconductors industry. The super nova decision is aimed to aid the domestic smartphones and chip manufacturing sector of India to fill the gap of Chinese company exodus.

AUTOMOTIVE

Key Facts:

The Story:

Recently, Bridgestone's Managing Director spoke about the differences between the conventional drivetrain and Battery driven vehicles; how will the tyre industry adjust according to the powertrain changes?

In his reply, he was very particular about the requirement of Electric Vehicles (EVs)- specific tyres, "Significantly higher torque output in EVs is driving the need for better wear resistance in tyres, especially in the passenger vehicles."

So basically, with Battery powered vehicles will generate higher instant torque compared to IC engine vehicles. This higher torque will increase the rolling resistance of tyres and ultimately increase the wear and tear. So, these conditions demand more durable and low-rolling resistant tyres. Earlier, passengers sitting inside the vehicles could not differentiate between the engine noise and the scratching noise of tyres rubbing against the roads. But now, with the elimination of engine noise in EVs, the humming noise of the motor would not help the tyre makers to dampen the noise. Tyre industry will need to accommodate some technology to support the automakers with comfort for the passengers.

TECH

The Story :

The US Department of Justice reportedly wants to have a say in Apple's antitrust issue with Epic Games. The lawsuit is due to go on trial on October 21. The appeals court has said to have granted the justice department the right to send a representative to the hearing that is scheduled to take place next month. In 2021, a California judge had ruled against Epic Games, which had argued that Apple is acting like a monopoly in its App Store for digital goods or services. Epic Games had sued Apple in 2020 claiming that the American tech giant had violated antitrust laws with its App Store rules. The rules required developers to pay commissions to Apple in up to 30 percent of in-app purchases.

According to a recent report by Reuters, officials from the US Department of Justice have asked to take part in oral arguments next month in Fortnite creator Epic Games' appeal of a court loss against Apple.

Want More Bits?

Seven decades after the last cheetah was hunted to extinction in India, its cousins from Africa have arrived to take their spots in the Indian Heartland.

At 11:30 AM on Saturday, eight Cheetahs were released into a special enclosure. Jet-lagged after a 9,000 km long journey from Namibia to Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, they initially looked at their new surroundings a bit tentatively, but soon started sprinting about in their new house.

The Cheetahs, 3 males and 5 females, were flown in from Namibia to Gwalior(Madhya Pradesh), in a Boeing-747 Jumbo Jet which was painted with a tiger face for the special occasion.