For kids in the United States, the tariff imposed by the Donald Trump administration on countries like China may no longer be a child's play, as toy prices are predicted to touch record highs this Christmas season. However, for India's toy export industry, which was ready to take giant strides in the sector by bagging heavy orders from the US retail giants like Walmart, Amazon, and Target Corporation, gaining from the China-Plus-One policy, the US tariffs came as a heavy jolt.
According to industry sources, domestic toy manufacturers are seeing a sharp rise in sales during the current financial year. On January 1, 2021, India had banned the sale of toys that are not certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). This meant that all factories churning out toys to be sold in India had to be certified by the bureau along with mandatory product testing, including for units abroad.
The game uses Google Maps as a board, allowing players to choose from millions of streets worldwide in their bid to become virtual property tycoons.
The suit filed in federal court in New York City, which also names RJ Softwares, the Kolkata-based company owned by Rajat Agarwalla, 27, and Jayant Agarwalla, 22, seeks unspecified damages and a court order barring them from using the name 'Scrabulous' to refer to their game.
The breakthrough for Scrabulous came when it appeared on the social networking site. Now it claims more than 600,000 daily users, making it one of Facebook's most popular applications.
Launched in July 2006 by Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, brothers in their 20s from Calcutta, Scrabulous has become one of the most popular games played by Facebook members and boasts nearly 600,000 daily active users.
Businesses have donated nearly $14 billion to cure society's many ills.
The earliest ones included whistles shaped like birds, toy monkeys that could slide down a string and small carts made from materials found in nature such as sticks, clay and rocks. While there might be no disputing India's rich toy-making tradition, the industry is languishing for lack of investment and technology, and also owing to competition from cheap imports. And though it has been listed among 24 key sectors under the government's Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, the question remains: will this push help place it in the global game? Currently, 80-odd per cent of the toys sold in India are imported - nearly 60 per cent of them from China.
Peter Broegger, senior vice-president (Asia-Pacific), Mattel East Asia, will visit India this month in an attempt to restore confidence among stakeholders, rattled by a spate of departures by senior executives.
Given a choice between Ouija and the rest of the Halloween-targeted horror releases this year, I would pick Ouija any day, says Paloma Sharma.
Transformers: Age of Extinction is a relentless clang-clang of metallic scrap and flying bullets, where there are more explosions than an entire day's production of popcorn at a multiplex.
News that will shock and make you laugh at the same time.
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