February 2020

India may take license from Huawei to locally build telecom gear: Cybersecurity chief NEW DELHI: India should consider localised manufacturing of telecom gear by providing a license fee to the Chinese Huawei Technologies for the fifth-generation or 5G technology patents, the country’s top Cybersecurity official said. “We should give a license fee to them (Huawei), and ensure that hardware and software would remain ours, and that’s the best option,” the National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) chief Lt. Gen Rajesh Pant told ETT, and added that a multi-vendor approach is also one of the alternatives to thwart backdoor apprehensions. Source: Economic Times

Afghanistan’s presidential election: Ashraf Ghani declared winner Incumbent President Ashraf Ghani has been declared the winner of Afghanistan‘s presidential election, almost five months after the voting took place amid a low turnout due to the threat of violence and concerns over electoral fraud. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced on Tuesday that Ghani garnered 50.64 percent of the vote on September 28 of last year, beating Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who secured 39.52 percent of votes. Source: Aljazeera

JLR’s UK output threatened by coronavirus-linked parts shortage: CEO Ralf Speth WARWICK, ENGLAND : Jaguar Land Rover has enough parts from China to maintain its British production for the next two weeks but not beyond that at the moment due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, the firm’s boss said on Tuesday. Britain’s biggest carmaker, which operates three car factories in its home market, joined major global companies such as Apple in warning of the impact of the virus on supply chains. Source: Livemint

Hrithik Roshan bowled over by Tanhaji, says ‘Ajay Devgn and Kajol, take a bow’ Hrithik Roshan showered praise on Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, featuring Ajay Devgn in the titular role. In a tweet, Hrithik said that he just watched the historical drama and was blown away by the performances and action. “Just watched #Tanhaji what an incredible movie . Best action ever. @ajaydevgn and Kajol take a bow ! Saif is just brilliant . Entire cast/crew needs an applause for this massive effort! @Officialneha u were superb. What a film,” he wrote on Twitter. Source: Hindustan Times

“I’m Disappointed” – Belinda Bencic on Her Shocking Loss in Dubai Thee defending champion in Dubai Belinda Bencic just came within 5 points of a Golden Set. In Dubai’s opener, she won the first 19 points of the match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. After losing the first set, it was a massive turn around from the Russian. Despite being a set and a break down, the reigning Australian Open quarterfinalist Pavlyuchenkova bounced back toppled World Number four Bencic 1-6, 6-1, 6-1. Bencic was pretty much dominating at the beginning of the match and later lost all her control. The top-ranked Swiss was saddened with her first-round defeat....

‘Disclosure’ on Manmohan Singh triggers fresh BJP-Congress spat A day after Montek Ahluwalia’s ‘disclosure’ that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sought his advice if he should quit when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tore the ordinance, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Singh should apologise to the country for not stepping down then. However, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala maintained that neither the party nor Gandhi would ever think of disrespecting the former prime minister. “Rahulji had always described him as his guru. But it was Rahul Gandhi who displayed the will to show the way for cleansing politics....

‘When your govt twiddled its thumbs’: Smriti Irani jabs Rahul Gandhi for attack on women’s permanent commission ruling Union minister Smriti Irani took on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who attacked the government for its reply in the Supreme Court in case on permanent commission for women. Irani said it was Narendra Modi government ensured gender justice when “your government twiddled its thumbs”. “The Govt disrespected every Indian woman, by arguing in the SC that women Army officers didn’t deserve command posts or permanent service because they were inferior to men. I congratulate India’s women for standing up & proving the...

‘This will seal my fate’: Devendra Fadnavis to SC on plea to review verdict on affidavit Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to review its judgement of October last year in which the court asked the BJP leader to face trial for allegedly failing to furnish details of pending criminal cases against him in his 2014 poll affidavit. Fadnavis, through his lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, said that he did not give any false information and was wrongly prosecuted. “This will seal my fate. It is an important question as it affects Article 21 (of the...

No headway in India-U.S. trade talks With no significant movement on the India-U.S. trade negotiations yet, officials are considering taking even a modest trade deal off the table when U.S. President Donald Trump visits India on February 24-25, sources privy to the talks said. As The Hindu had reported on Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lightizer was due to visit New Delhi last week, but put off the visit when it appeared there was not enough progress in the talks, that appear to have run into trouble over market access for agricultural products including dairy, liberalising e-commerce, and investment norms for retail, as well...

Brexit negotiator says UK must be able to set its own laws David Frost has set out the UK’s stance ahead of post-Brexit trade negotiations, due to start next month. He dismissed the idea an EU court would have a role in future trade disputes, saying: “We only want what other independent countries have.” It comes as France warns Britain to expect a bruising battle during talks. Acting Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “Boris Johnson should listen to the views of British businesses who want to maintain the closest possible alignment with the European Union.” Source: BBC