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☆ Analysis: India's opposition Congress gains key foothold with state election win
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

At the same time, they cautioned that Congress' victory on Saturday in Karnataka state, home to the booming tech hub of Bengaluru, was largely due to local factors. The party has won just one state election since December 2018, crumbling under the onslaught of the BJP's Hindu nationalism, the government's generous social spending, Modi's popularity, and its own leadership vacuum. "This is an amazing beginning," said Rajeev Gowda, the head of research at Congress and a former federal lawmaker. "We need to adapt these learnings to every election-going state in 2023 and more importantly to parliamentary elections next year," he said. Asked by the India Today-Axis poll how they would vote if the Karnataka election had been a national election instead, 10% of the respondents shifted to Modi, enough to overturn the result.

☆ India's opposition Congress scores big win in Karnataka state election, defeats BJP
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Yp Rajesh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Supporters of India's main opposition Congress party celebrate after the initial poll results in Karnataka elections at the party headquarters, in New Delhi, India, May 13, 2023. REUTERS/Adnan AbidiNEW DELHI, May 13 (Reuters) - India’s main opposition Congress party registered an emphatic win in elections in the southern state of Karnataka on Saturday, defeating the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a big boost to its prospects ahead of national elections due next year. Congress won 135 seats against 66 for the BJP in the 224-member legislature, the Election Commission website showed at the end of counting. In contrast, the BJP won 15 states or federal territories either on its own or in alliance with regional parties. "(The) Congress party stood with the poor in Karnataka, we fought on the issues of the poor," Gandhi told reporters.

☆ At Least 22 Dead After Tourist Boat Capsizes in Southern India
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Sameer Yasir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At least 22 people, many of them children, were killed after a double-decker tourist boat capsized in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Sunday evening. Rescuers had found eight people with injuries by the next morning, with four of them in critical condition. The boat was carrying more than 40 sightseers, according to survivors, when it capsized at around 7 p.m.“The boat was overcrowded,” said Abdul Nazar, a local police officer. Local media reported that the vessel also lacked a required safety certificate, and was not permitted to operate that late in the day. Five passengers swam ashore and were being treated at a nearby hospital, according to V. Abdurahiman, a local legislator, who is overseeing the rescue operation.

☆ Why has India's Manipur state exploded in ethnic violence?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

People are evacuated by the Indian army to a temporary shelter as they flee ethnic violence that has hit the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, near Imphal on May 7, 2023. Manipur, a lush, hilly state which borders Myanmar, has long history of civil conflict since modern India’s creation. The divide between the Meiteis and the other ethnic groups is cut sharply across political and geographic lines. People wait at a temporary shelter in a military camp, after being evacuated by the Indian army, as they flee ethnic violence that has hit the northeastern Indian state of Manipur on May 7, 2023. Modi, who is in the southern Indian state of Karnataka to campaign for state elections, is yet to speak publicly about the unrest, sparking widespread anger among Manipur’s residents.

So how did India’s population get so big, and how long will it last? The rise in population despite a drop in the fertility rate can be explained by “demographic momentum.”“When the fertility rate drops, the population continues to grow for several decades. So, even with a replacement or sub-replacement fertility rate, India’s population will continue to grow slowly because of the considerable number of women entering their reproductive years. India’s population growth is slowing downIndia may have overtaken China in total population, but UN data also shows that its growth rate has slowed. Uttar Pradesh, for instance, is home to 17% of India’s population but has only 9% of its industrial jobs.

☆ Kirsten Neuschäfer becomes first woman to win historic Golden Globe Race
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Thomas Schlachter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Kirsten Neuschäfer has become the first woman to win the Golden Globe Race. Entrants race solo, non-stop, and in boats that are reminiscent of the ‘Golden Age’ of solo sailing – the yachts have to be designed before 1988 and are without electronic instruments or autopilots. The race is based on the 1968-69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race which saw Sir Robin Knox-Johnston become the first person to circumnavigate the globe, sailing solo on his boat Suhaili without stopping. By the time the South African Neuschäfer crossed the line Thursday, only two other sailors were on course to complete the race without stopping. Neuschäfer became the first women to ever win the race.

☆ Kochi, Kerala: Indian city reveals fleet of 'water metro' ferries
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The “water metro” will connect Kochi, in Kerala state, with 10 nearby islands in the Arabian Sea. Upgrading roads, railways, and metro systems has been a big initiative for the prime minister ahead of the G20, which India will host in September. As it becomes the most populous country in the world, India has made no secret of its tourism ambitions. Kochi’s water metro system is just the latest in a string of big infrastructure and travel announcements in India. Then, Kolkata’s metro system – the oldest in the country – revealed its first ever underwater line, which travels under the Hooghly River.

☆ Inside India's 15,000 extravagant, abandoned mansions, built by spice and gem tycoons and left to decay
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( James Pasley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

There are more than 15,000 elaborate mansions that are mostly decaying in a small region called Chettinad in southern India. The average mansion in the region spans 40,000 to 50,000 square feet and has more than 50 rooms. Now the quiet streets are lined with dilapidated mansions that many owners can barely afford to maintain. For about a century, rich bankers and traders poured their money into erecting the biggest, most beautiful mansions they could create. The average mansion spans up to 50,000 square feet and has over 50 rooms.

☆ Louisville shooter legally purchased rifle -police
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Community members attend a vigil at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church following a mass shooting at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. April, 10, 2023. REUTERS/Jeffrey DeanApril 11 (Reuters) - The 23-year-old bank employee who shot dead five colleagues and wounded nine other people at his workplace in Louisville on Monday legally purchased the rifle, Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday. Louisville police responded within minutes to reports of an attacker on Monday morning at the bank office near Slugger Field baseball stadium. Sturgeon grew up in southern Indiana, just north of Louisville, according to his mother's Facebook page. Those statistics use the definition of four or more shot or killed, not including the shooter - according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.

☆ Gardener begins epic London-India bike ride to fight soil degradation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Rens Goede, gardener from Amsterdam, begins his 30,000 km (18,640 mile) bicycle trek from London to India in support of the "Save Soil" movement, in London, Britain March 22, 2023. Save Soil/Handout via REUTERSLONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - A gardener from Amsterdam begins a 30,000-km (18,640-mile) bicycle trek from London to India on Wednesday as part of a campaign to raise awareness about soil degradation. Rens Goede's roundabout journey to the city of Coimbatore in southern India, in support of the "Save Soil" movement, will see him travel across 30 countries and will last an estimated two years. Goede's mission mirrors that of Indian yogi Sadhguru, who last year carried out the same journey by motorbike, launching "Save Soil". The movement, backed by the likes of the World Food Programme, says it aims "to address the global soil degradation crisis and support governments in implementing concrete policy changes for soil health".

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn wins AirPod order, plans $200 million factory in India, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn has won an order to make AirPods for Apple and plans to build a factory in India to produce the wireless earphones, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The deal will see Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and assembler of around 70% of all iPhones, become an AirPod supplier for the first time and underlines efforts by the key Apple supplier to further diversify production away from China. One source said Foxconn will invest more than $200 million in the new India AirPod plant in the southern Indian state of Telangana. It wasn't immediately clear how much the AirPod order would be worth. The decision to set up production in India was requested by Apple, according to the source.

☆ Exclusive: Apple supplier Foxconn wins AirPod order, plans $200 mln factory in India - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Yimou Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

One source said Foxconn will invest more than $200 million in the new India AirPod plant in the southern Indian state of Telangana. The decision to set up production in India was requested by Apple, according to the source. Apple and its key suppliers have been shifting production away from China, where strict COVID-19 curbs disrupted Foxconn's biggest iPhone factory last year. Foxconn said on Wednesday it would ramp up investment outside China to meet customer demand and lower its reliance on China for production. It was not immediately clear whether Foxconn's production plan would have impact on current AirPod suppliers, including Luxshare Precision Industry (002475.SZ).

☆ The mystery of MH370 remains 9 years later — here are all the theories, dead ends, and unanswered questions from the most bizarre airline disaster of the century
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The theories so farA new Netflix documentary about the plane, "MH370: The Plane That Disappeared," was released in March 2023. The show's director called the plane's disappearance "the greatest aviation mystery of all time." But the July 2018 report had offered evidence against the idea that it was a deliberate act by the crew. But Australia's former prime minister, Tony Abbott, said in 2020 that the plane's disappearance was "almost certainly murder-suicide by the pilot." But the 2018 report said there was no technology on the plane that would allow control to be taken from the pilots remotely.

☆ Factbox: Why is Cyclone Freddy a record-breaking storm?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Nellie Peyton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HIGHEST CYCLONE ENERGYFreddy holds the record for most accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), a measure based on a storm's wind strength over its lifetime, of any storm in the southern hemisphere and possibly worldwide. Freddy has generated about as much accumulated cyclone energy as an average full North Atlantic hurricane season, according to the World Meteorological Organization. By last week it was in second place for the most accumulated cyclone energy of any storm since 1980, with the record held by Hurricane and Typhoon Ioke in 2006. RECORD LENGTHFreddy may have broken the record for longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Freddy had seven separate cycles of rapid intensification, according to satellite estimates, said the World Meteorological Organization.

☆ Apple and Foxconn efforts win labour reforms to advance Indian production plans - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The Apple Inc logo is shown outside the company's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S. June 13, 2016. The legislation led to introduction of laws that now allows 12-hour shifts, as well as night-time work for women, similar to company practices in China, the report said. The report comes a week after the Karnataka government said that Apple Inc's iPhones would soon be assembled in the state and that a total of 300 acres have been set aside for a factory. Apple, Foxconn and the Karnataka government did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reporting by Akriti Sharma and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nine years on, families urge new search for missing Malaysia plane MH370
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Family members of the victims pose for a group picture with a debris of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 during its sixth annual remembrance event in Putrajaya, Malaysia, March 7, 2020. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng/File PhotoKUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Reuters) - Families of those on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared mysteriously nine years ago, called on the Malaysian government on Sunday to allow U.S. seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity to mount a new search for the missing plane. The fate of flight MH370 became one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries when it disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. In 2018, Malaysia engaged Ocean Infinity to search for the aircraft in the southern Indian Ocean, offering to pay up to $70 million if it found the plane. Ocean Infinity and Malaysia's transport ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ Taiwan's Foxconn seeks chip, EV cooperation with India
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said Liu had visited India from Feb. 27 to Saturday. "My trip this week supported Foxconn's efforts to deepen partnerships, meet old friends and make new ones, and seek cooperation in new areas such as semiconductor development and electric vehicles," Liu said in a statement. Foxconn has ambitious plans to make EVs, and is also looking to make chips. He did not mention any new concrete investment plans in the country, and Foxconn has not announced any since his trip. Currently, iPhones are assembled in India by at least three of Apple's global suppliers - Foxconn and Pegatron (4938.TW) in Tamil Nadu, and Wistron in Karnataka.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn is on the hunt for semiconductor and EV deals in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Taiwan’s Foxconn has been looking to expand its operations in the South Asian giant after suffering severe supply disruptions in China last year. “India is a country with a large population,” Young Liu, the company’s chairman and CEO, said in a Saturday statement. The company, best known for making Apple (AAPL)’s iPhones, is one of the world’s biggest contract makers of electronics. India has emerged as an attractive potential alternative to China for the likes of Apple. Apple devices are currently manufactured in India by Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron, which are all Taiwanese companies.

☆ Apple iPhones to be assembled at new plant in India's Karnataka state
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, March 3 (Reuters) - Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhones will soon be assembled at another site in the southern Indian state of Karnataka and 300 acres have been aside to set up a factory, the state government said on Friday. Bloomberg News had earlier reported that Apple partner Foxconn Technology Group planned to invest about $700 million in the Karnataka site to ramp up local production. The state's investment promotion division said in a tweet that the move would generate 100,000 employment in the next 10 years. Currently, iPhones are assembled in India by at least three of Apple's global suppliers - Foxconn and Pegatron (4938.TW) in Tamil Nadu, and Wistron (3231.TW) in Karnataka. read moreReporting by Ashish Chandra in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

NEW DELHI— Apple Inc.’s main manufacturer, Foxconn Technology Group , is considering a major expansion in India, including possibly assembling millions more iPhones and setting up new production sites as it seeks to further diversify beyond China. Foxconn is set to expand production of iPhones at its existing plant near Chennai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, people familiar with the matter said. It aims to boost iPhone production to around 20 million units annually by 2024, and roughly triple the number of workers to as many as 100,000, said the people, including a senior Indian government official.

☆ Apple supplier Foxlink says working to resume production after India fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TAIPEI, March 1 (Reuters) - Taiwanese Apple Inc (AAPL.O) supplier Foxlink (2392.TW) said on Wednesday it is working hard to resume production following a fire at a plant in southern India that halted operations at the maker of iPhone charging cables. Foxlink was engulfed in a massive fire on Monday that led part of the building to collapse, but there were no casualties. Foxlink, in a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange, said it is investigating the cause of the fire and "working hard to resume production". The company will coordinate with customers and suppliers to "discuss solutions for the production capacity affected before resuming work". The company's stock was down more than 2% in early morning trade Wednesday, compared to a 0.5% fall for the broader market (.TWII).

[1/2] A view of damaged Apple supplier Foxlink is seen after a fire at its assembly facility in Tirupati district in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India, February 28, 2023. A second source familiar with the developments said that Foxlink was a key supplier for Apple in India, and "there could be potential supply chain disruptions for iPhones made in India or shipped from India". Apple and Foxlink did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The incident is the latest problem to hit Apple suppliers in India, from where it is increasingly ramping up manufacturing and exports. Employees said the Foxlink factory makes charging cables used in iPhones, but it was not immediately clear if Apple has other suppliers for the cables in India.

☆ Apple supplier unlikely to resume full India operations for two months after massive fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters —Most of the fire safety equipment at Apple supplier Foxlink’s facility in southern India was not functional, a government official told Reuters on Tuesday, a day after a massive blaze forced production to be halted. Foxlink was engulfed in a massive fire on Monday that led part of the building to collapse. A second source familiar with the developments said that Foxlink was a key supplier for Apple in India, and “there could be potential supply chain disruptions for iPhones made in India, or shipped from India”. Last year, the data indicates Foxlink exported around 7 million USB-C to lightening cables from India, and in January shipped 1.6 million units. The incident is the latest problem to hit Apple suppliers in India, from where it is increasingly ramping up manufacturing and exports.

[1/2] A view of damaged Apple supplier Foxlink is seen after a fire at its assembly facility in Tirupati district in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, India, February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Praveen ParamasivamCHITTOOR, India, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Apple (AAPL.O) supplier Foxlink's factory in southern India is unlikely to resume full operations for two months after a fire incident, raising concerns of supply chain disruptions for the iPhone maker, a source with direct knowledge told Reuters on Tuesday. The facility in India's Andhra Pradesh state, where Foxlink makes charging cables for iPhones, was engulfed in a massive fire on Monday that led part of the building to collapse to the ground. A source with direct knowledge said that Foxlink operates a total of 10 assembly lines in two separate facilities at the plant in Andhra, of which 4 were completely damaged and unlikely to resume operations for two months. Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi, and Praveen Paramasivam in Tirupati, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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