U.S warning 'bad for the whole world'

Global Time

{   13 July 2020 ~ 19 July 2020  }

Political News   

                             ~by RISHABH

1. US civil rights icon john Lewis passes way at 80.

-13 JULY 2020

US civil right icon and Democratic Congressman John Lewis has passed away, House speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed in a statement. He was 80.

In the statement posted on her website and social media on late Friday confirming Lewis’s death, Pelosi said he “was a titan of the civil rights movement whose goodness, faith and bravery transformed our nation”, and that as a Congressman he was “revered and beloved on both sides  the aisle and both sides o the capitol’, the BBC reported.

“Every day o John Lewis’s life was dedicated to bringing freedom and justice to all,” she said.

2. Israel to vote on weekend lockdown amid COVID-19 resurgence.

-14 JULY 2020

Israel’s cabinet on Thursday prepared to vote on a nationwide lockdown to curb a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

An urgent meeting of ministers and health officials convened on Thursday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to impose a series of measures including a Xinhua news agency.

The Israeli cabinet is expected to convene later to approve the new measures.

3. World waking up to ‘threats from China’, will be confronted, says Pompeo, lauds India’s app ban.

-15 JULY 2020

US Secretary o state Mike Pompeo, who has been constantly criticizing the Chinese Communist Party’s actions against Asian countries, on Wednesday asserted that the world is waking up to the “threats from China” and it will be “confronted like never before”’ by democracies.

‘So long as the Chinese Communist Party continues to engage in the activities that it’s been undertaking now for an awfully long time, you’ll see them confronted in ways that they have not been confronted before, not only by the US but by freedom loving democracies all across the world,’ Pompeo was quoted as saying by IANS.

4. Signing new merit-based US immigration act soon’: Donald Trump.

-16 JULY 2020

US President Donald Trump has reiterated his pledge to son sign a ‘very strong’ merit-based immigration act that will also take care of the immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, many o whom are o Indian or South Asian descent.

Earlier, on July 11, Trump had said, “It’s going to be a very big bill, a very good bill, and a merit-based bi and it will include DACA (Deferred Action for childhood Arrivals), and I think people are going to be very happy,” while talking to reporters at a Rose Garden press conference at the White House.

Trump, who is seeking re-election in November, has long sought to overhaul the US immigration system to be based on merit rather than family ties.

5. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdogan discuss Hagia Sophia over phone.

-17 JULY 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday discussed in a phone conversation development in Syria and Libya, as well as the fate of Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia, according to the Kremlin.

The two leaders emphasized the importance of stepping up efforts to promote a Syrian settlement, including in the Astana format based on agreements reached at the Russian-Turkish-Iranian online summit held on July 1, according to the statement.

6. 11 US soldiers in S. Korea test COVID-19 Positive.

-18 JULY 2020

Eleven more American service members newly assigned to South Korea have tested positive or the noel corona virus, the US military said on Monday, amid in imported cases.

The announcement came after US Forces Korea (USFK) reported nine new virus cases on July 10, many of them in newly assigned service members, reports Yonhap News Agency.

On Monday, South Korea reported new infections and of them came from overseas, the highest imported cases in 110 days.

7. US election: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Bidden wins Louisiana primary.

-19 JULY 2020

US presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has won the primary in the state of Louisiana, according to the media report.

The former Vice President won with 82.2 per cent of the vote, leading Senator Bernie Sanders, who received 5.3 per cent, with 1 per cent of precincts reporting, The Hill news website quoted the New York Times as saying n Saturday.

The win on Saturday comes as he continues to march toward his formal nomination at the Democratic convention in August.

Business News 

                              ~by JATIN

1.British government set to take a U-turn on Huawei's role in 5G technology

-13 JULY 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set ban Huawei from Britain's 5G network in a landmark decision that will anger Beijing but win plaudits from President Donald Trump as the United States grapples with China's rising economic and technological clout.

The United States has pushed Johnson to reverse his January decision to grant Huawei a limited role in 5G, while London has been dismayed by a crackdown in Hong Kong and by the perception that China did not tell the whole truth over coronavirus.

Britain's National Security Council (NSC), chaired by Johnson, will meet on Tuesday to discuss Huawei. Media Secretary Oliver Dowden will announce a decision to the House of Commons later in the day.

The immediate excuse for the about turn in British policy is the impact of new U.S. sanctions on chip technology, which London says affects Huawei's ability to remain a reliable supplier in the future.

2.US budget deficit hits all-time high of USD 864 billion in June
-14 JULY 2020

The federal government in the US incurred the biggest monthly budget deficit in history in June as spending on programmers to combat the coronavirus recession exploded while millions of job losses cut into tax revenues. The Treasury Department reported on Monday that the deficit hit USD 864 billion last month, an amount of red ink that surpasses most annual deficits in the nation's history and is above the previous monthly deficit record of USD 738 billion in April. That amount was also tied to the trillions of dollars Congress has provided to cushion the impact of the widespread shutdowns that occurred in an effort to limit the spread of the viral pandemic.

For the first nine months of this budget year, which began on October 1, the deficit totals USD 2.74 trillion, also a record for that period. That puts the country well on the way to hitting the USD 3.7 trillion deficit for the whole year that has been forecast by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

That total would surpass the previous annual record of USD 1.4 trillion set in 2009, when the government was spending heavily to lift the country out of the recession caused by the 2008 financial crisis.

The June deficit was driven higher by spending on various government relief programmers such as an extra USD 600 per week in expanded unemployment benefits and a Paycheck Protection Program that provided support to businesses to keep workers on their payrolls.

 

3.United States Xinjiang warning 'bad for the whole world', warns China
-15 JULY 2020

China's government has warned it will protect Chinese companies after Washington said enterprises may face legal trouble if they help carry out abuses in the Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang.

The U.S. warning came amid mounting tension with Beijing over human rights, trade and Hong Kong. It cited complaints of abuses by the ruling Communist Party against ethnic Muslims including mass detention and forced labor. The Commerce Ministry accused the U.S. government of meddling in China's affairs. It said Washington was misusing complaints about human rights to "suppress Chinese companies."

"This is bad for China, bad for the United States and bad for the whole world," said a ministry statement. "China strongly urges the U.S. to stop its bad acts," the ministry said. "China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises."

The U.S. warning issued July 1 said companies that handle goods made by forced labor or supply technology that might be used in labor camps or for surveillance might face unspecified "reputational, economic and legal risks."

China has detained an estimated 1 million or more members of its Muslim ethnic minority groups in internment camps. The government describes them as vocational training facilities aimed at countering Muslim radicalism and separatist tendencies. It says those facilities have since been closed, a claim impossible to deny given the restrictions on visits and reporting about the region.

 

4.China's economy recovers from Covid impact but there's a lot behind the numbers
-16 JULY 2020

For all the talk about the pandemic producing a new normal, China’s economic picture sure looks a lot like the past. Exports and industrial production are moving ahead, and the government has big plans for infrastructure spending. Shoppers have taken a back seat, constrained by social distancing and job losses. Not so long ago, consumers were seen as the vanguard of a rebalanced economy, which grew to become the world’s second largest. Relying on shipments abroad, factories and massive public works was considered passe.

This tilt backward is borne out in the data. On Thursday, China reported gross domestic product increased 3.2% from a year earlier. That’s better than forecast and a big improvement from the 6.8% decline during the first three months of the year.

Yet the bright spots carry their own complications. Industrial production climbed 4.8% in June and has recovered to pre-virus levels. Retail sales, the weakest link in the rebound, disappointed again, sliding 1.8% instead of the anticipated increase. Meanwhile, a separate report Tuesday showed both exports and imports gaining; the trade surplus shrank.

This mix is understandable, but it’s not where Beijing wants to be. Through the past decade, no communique from the International Monetary Fund, G-20 or any multilateral organization was complete without references to the need to reposition China’s economy. Investment in the mainland by Western manufacturers, relatively cheap exports, factory job losses in the U.S. and a managed currency created political headaches.

 

5.Nissan plans 30% cut in output to December as virus hits demand: Report
-17 JULY 2020

Nissan Motor Co is planning a 30% year-on-year cut in global vehicle production through December as falling demand due to the coronavirus complicates its efforts to recover profitability, two sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.

Japan's No. 2 automaker plans to produce around 2.6 million vehicles between April and December, down from 3.7 million during the same period last year, the sources said.

Global automakers are struggling after factories were shuttered earlier this year to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Car dealerships were also closed in many countries, pummelling vehicle sales in March through May, although the fall in sales slowed in June.

 

 

6.Russia, despite theft allegations, says deal to make UK-developed COVID vaccine is on
-18 JULY 2020

Russia will unveil a deal with AstraZeneca NSE 0.78 % to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the pharmaceuticals giant and Oxford University, its wealth fund head said on Friday, adding this showed Moscow had no need to steal vaccine data.

Britain, Canada and the United States said on Thursday that hackers backed by the Russian state were trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine and treatment research from academic and pharmaceutical institutions around the world, allegations the Kremlin denied.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said in an interview on Friday that Moscow did not need to steal secrets as it already had a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture the potential British vaccine in Russia.

"AstraZeneca already has an agreement.... with R-Pharm (a Russian portfolio company) on the complete localisation and production of the Oxford vaccine in Russia," said Dmitriev.

The deal could be formally announced later on Friday, he said.

"There's nothing that needs to be stolen," Dmitriev, who is involved in coordinating Russia's own vaccine push, told Reuters. "It's all going to be given to Russia."

 

 

7.European Union tells US: Stop threatening our companies with sanctions
-19 JULY 2020

The European Union is warning the Trump administration to hold off threatening trade sanctions against EU companies involved in the completion of new German-Russian and Turkish-Russian natural gas pipelines and instead discuss differences as allies. This week, the Trump administration warned companies involved in the projects they will be subject to US penalties unless they halt their work.

The move has further increased tension in already fraught US-European ties.

"I am deeply concerned at the growing use of sanctions, or the threat of sanctions, by the United States against European companies and interests," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement, adding similar attempts had already been made in cases involving Iran, Cuba and the International Criminal Court.

"Where policy differences exist, the European Union is always open to dialogue. But this cannot take place against the threat of sanctions," Borrell said. "European policies should be determined here in Europe, not by third countries."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced this week the administration is ending grandfather clauses that had spared firms previously involved in the pipelines' construction from sanctions authorized by the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, a 2017 law aimed at punishing Russia, in particular, for interference in U.S. elections and other matters.

Technology News

                                                ~by GAURAV

1.Google to invest $10bn in India

-13 JULY 2020

Google CEO sunder Pichai has announced during the annual Google for India event that the company will invest approximately $10bn in India over the next five to seven years.

The announcement was preceded by a meeting between Pichai and India prime minister Narendra Modi to discuss “leveraging the power of technology to transform the lives of India farmer youngsters and entrepreneurs”.

Modi is interested in digital transformation transformation throughout the country his digital India campaign for instance aims to improve telecommunications infrastructure and digital literacy such that all citizen can access public service electronically.

Pichai paid tribute to the country’s digital transformation commenting that while he had to wait for technology to reach him while today “a whole new generation of technologies are happening in India first.”

2.5G bans point to bigger changes in design

-15 JULY 2020

The UK, s about – face on Huawei on 5G supply is likely to contribute to a growing trend in infrastructure design.

A political decision has finally put paid to Huawei’s ambition to sell its gear to UK cellular operators, although it might take some time for the ban to close down the supply pipeline completely.

A number of hardline conservative MPs are unhappy with the seven – year transition period for UK operators to remove Huawei gear form their 5G  network .but with no compulsion to rip out gear for older generation it is easy to conclude from the UK government’s action that there is no clear and present danger that requires an immediate fix . us president Donald trump’s willingness to take credit for the decision points just as strongly to the move being more one of using security as a convenient rationale for what ultimately is being drive by trade strategy.

3.Ba retires 747 fleet years early due to 

Covid – 19 downturns

-16 JULY 2020

British airways (BA) has said it is retiring its fleet of Boeing 747 with immediately following the coronavirus outbreak

With the number of passengers coming through Heathrow down by 95 per cent last month compared with 2019 BA said it would retire its 747-400 model earlier than the original 2024 date it had set.

The company had 31 of the Boeing jumbo jets in operation at the beginning of this year but now plan to operate flights on more modem fuel efficient aircraft such as its new A350s and 787s.

 4.View from India: RPA, next frontier for businesses

-17 JULY 2020

The pandemic has compelled the business process management (BPM) industry to rethink the outcome will be nothing short of a journey of disruption as robotic process automation unfolds over the coming decade.

The Covid environment has thrown open challenges and uncharted avenues for the technology industry. business house has gone back to the drawing board to sketch new solution to stay afloat in these trying times.

Speaker at an online NASSCOM event last week predicted that three key trends will shape the future of business processes over the next decade. to begin with the shift to digital will be accelerated in business

Enterprises. the consumption of mobile data and broadband will be doubled or even trebled.

5.Why impartiality has to be a key part of your AI 

Game plane

-18 JULY 2020

A few simple principles can help businesses avoid the potentially disastrous implication of unleashing artificial intelligence – based agent that develop their OWN unconscious bias.

With 60 per cent of UK companies already using or planning to implement artificial intelligence the debate around its ethical challenges is gaining momentum. earlier this for example. the European commission drafted a white paper on AL outlining a new approach to ‘excellence and trust, - a clear indication that Europe is seriously considering stricter measure its use.