The retrenchments at the company promoted by Mumbai BJP chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha come at a time when the economic growth has dipped to a six-year low of 5 per cent, which has led many to fear if the spectre of job losses across sectors awaits next.
'Is the tech wonder of our times headed for trouble?' asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
While India does not figure in the top 10 export destinations for Pakistani goods, it serves as a crucial channel for select goods such as leather hides and cheaper variants of fertilisers that are generally procured by importers at short notice.
Officials say a fall in global oil prices will reduce the government's subsidy burden, giving it a greater chance of hitting its ambitious fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year to March.
President Trump, forcefully pursuing his 'America first" policy, has previously described India as a "tariff king" for imposing "tremendously high" tariffs on American products, also expressed dissatisfaction over the US-India trade ties. "Well, we can have a trade deal with India, but I'm really saving the big deal for later on," Trump, who is scheduled to visit India on February 24 and 25, told reporters at the Joint Base Andrews outside Washington on Tuesday when asked whether he expects a trade deal with India before the visit.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla terms India's relationship with China as "complex".
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that he held a "good discussion" with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on many important issues, including on the two nations' commitment to democratic principles, recent protests, and the importance of resolving issues through dialogue.
The India-Japan joint naval exercises are a strategic signal for China, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
At a time when China is trying to make its foray into South Asia, India should use its shared history to strengthen its ties in the region, says Dr Rup Narayan Das.
It will not be to India's advantage to create misperceptions that it is bandwagoning with some Anglo-American project for regime change in Myanmar, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for deeper ties in key areas of counter-terrorism, climate change and UN reforms.
'What matters is that India's perspective on global issues -- climate change, intellectual property, free trade, trade routes being kept free, digital technology -- are listened to with respect,' says Ambassador B S Prakash.
'The one aspect which no Indian military thinker would wish to see emerge is a LoC type of posture at the LAC.' 'The LoC is manned for 750 km and terrorist infiltration has led to the creation of a virtual fortress along its entire length.' 'Something mirroring this at the LAC is going to be expensive although deployment everywhere is not warranted there.' 'However, given the complete trust deficit, there appear few alternatives,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Telecom service operator Airtel on Thursday urged the government not to charge high fees for allotting 5G spectrum, saying a faster roll out of the next-generation telecommunication network can have more benefits than collecting revenue in upfront cost. Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises which runs the country's second largest telco, said that there are a variety of applications across sectors ranging from healthcare to video interactions, which will make 5G a technology to be introduced as soon as possible. "5G is important and that's why we keep on requesting the government to make the 5G as an enabler for hundreds of things that we develop in the country, to keep the spectrum at affordable pricing, to not load the industry too much," Mittal said at the Times Network India Economic Conclave.
Since 2016, when India was officially recognised in US law as a 'major defence partner', Washington has purposefully upgraded the defence relationship.
The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from its usual policy of going along with the crowd.
With Modi's international image seriously damaged -- perhaps, irrecoverably -- and Indian foreign policy finding itself in drift, we move on to the New Year in a depressing scenario, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'India cannot allow Beijing's policy of stabilising and destabilising the border at will to perpetuate its own ends.' A riveting excerpt from Manish Tiwari's 10 Flashpoints; 20 Years National Security Situations That Impacted India.
India will look to play a key role in the APEC, EU and Africa regions to increase its competitiveness.
Mr Modi and Mr Shah will need him if they want to win UP again in 2022 and India in 2024. This signals a Yogi Adityanath-sized change in BJP politics, even under Mr Modi, Shekhar Gupta.
In the digital handheld domain, content is not just a uni-dimensional exercise like it is in legacy media.
General Pande said the northern border region has been peaceful and steps have been taken to maintain peace through established protocol and existing mechanism.
'What has gained prominence are 'human' skills like creativity, originality and initiative, critical thinking, persuasion, and negotiation, as well as attention to detail, resilience, flexibility and complex problem-solving.'
Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Johnson also reiterated his plan to visit India ahead of the G7 summit, after a scheduled visit for Republic Day this month was called off due to the coronavirus crisis.
Gaurav Mehta, one of 100 'Young Global Leaders', is tapping entrepreneurs inside rural Indians.
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has a tough time in Davos pacifying African leaders, who are extremely upset over Delhi law minister's midnight raid. Anita Katyal reports
The Chinese Communist Party's all important 19th Party Congress is just months away, and President Xi Jinping finds himself confronting unlikely challenges to his pre-eminent position, says former RA&W officer and China watcher Jayadeva Ranade.
To believe that the key job of his senior ministers is to ensure that his image be kept intact whatever be the outcome of his policies is to expect too much even of someone as ambitious as Narendra Modi, asserts Rashme Sehgal.
'The reason why we don't have an escalation of war like in 1962 is because in 1962, we didn't have this connectivity.' 'Whereas today, we have lots of incentives to stay stable and connected to China even though we still have that political rivalry.'
Two US lawmakers have introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that aims at granting an automatic right to H-4 visa holders to work in the country, a move which will benefit the spouses of thousands of foreigners, including Indians, and also address the labour shortage affecting American businesses. H-4 visas are issued to dependent spouses and children who accompany H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3 visa holders to the United States. Many H-4 visa holders are highly skilled people in their own right and previously had careers of their own or worked to support their families.
The US provides large investment opportunities for Indian companies in software, IT services, gas exploration
Tharoor was asked by a Pakistani journalist as to how the political fortune of the Indian government was impacted by the rising COVID numbers. He said it was paradoxical as the government was "not doing well" in dealing with the pandemic and people realise that, but polls suggest that it has not hurt the BJP politically as it should.
'The logical step is to challenge the very legitimacy of the Chinese claim over Tibet,' recommends Inspector General Gurdip Singh Uban (retd).
The country opened its airspace for all flights except for New Delhi, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on March 27.
The FM has been making efforts to make the taxation laws simpler.
'Does the country risk being enclosed in a geographical cocoon if it spurns a multi-continent project for which everyone else has signed up,' asks T N Ninan.
India's growth, he said, remains resilient with low inflation, fiscal prudence and low current account deficit, talking about robust structural reform measures.
The BRI, a pet initiative of President Xi, is aimed at promoting network of roads, ports and rail networks all over the world to spread China's influence.
The retailer has registered a new company called 'Wal-Mart India Private Ltd' in the country.
