Jarkiholi will quit Congress, he has sympathy towards Opposition: Poojary

New Delhi, June 27: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led union government of India is not ready to stop all imports from aggressive China in spite of mount calls to boycott Chinese products in India.

The Centre is reportedly considering to stop only non-essential imports from the neighbouring country.

However, the Inward shipment in sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, certain electronics and others will continue until a domestic alternative is found.

“India will gradually move towards import substitution. It will not happen overnight. In the meantime, attention has to be paid on production and job creation. We cannot throttle our industry. There are certain absolutely essential imports. Needless to say, those will keep going,” official sources said.

Sources said that both the government and the industry are in the process of identifying products that can be domestically manufactured in the medium term. There are certain chemicals, automotive components, handicrafts, cosmetics, agriculture items and certain consumer electronics, which can be manufactured domestically in the short to medium term. The government is doing all it can to raise the capacity of domestic industries.

However, there are certain other imports in the automobile and the pharmaceutical sectors which cannot be done away within the short to medium term. Their domestic production at the moment may not be that cost-effective.

The six-crore strong traders’ body CAIT has been at the forefront of such a demand and has launched a campaign to celebrate Indian Diwali this year with a total absence of Chinese goods.

“Ease of doing business, capital availability at lower rates and globally competitive logistics and energy costs are some of the prerequisites that the government should look into to ensure the growth of the domestic auto component industry,” according to Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) Director General Vinnie Mehta.

Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava said, “People who are boycotting Chinese goods have to remember that in some cases it may lead to their being asked to pay more for the same product."

Meanwhile, domestic rating agency Acuite Ratings & Research has analysed the current import portfolio from China and found 40 sub-sectors have the potential to lower their import dependency on China. These sectors contribute to $33.6 billion worth of imports from China and about 25% of these imports can be substituted by local manufacturing without any significant additional investments.

Krishnagiri, Feb 24: Vidya Rani, daughter of dead sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, joined the BJP on Saturday at an event organised in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri.

Party general secretary Muralidhar Rao and former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan were present at the event.

"I want to work for the poor and underprivileged irrespective of their caste and religion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's schemes are for the people and I want to take them to the people," said Vidya Rani.

Besides Vidya Rani, the event saw as many as 1,000 members from other political parties join the BJP.

Bengaluru, Mar 4: Seeking to allay fear among the citizens in the wake of Coronavirus scare, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Wednesday made an appeal to the people not to pay heed to rumours spreading on social media.

In a series of tweets, Mr Sriramulu assured people that the government has taken adequate measures to ensure that the disease does not spread further. "Don't lend your ears to rumours about the Coronavirus in the social media. Rely only on the authentic information," he tweeted.

The minister's tweet came as Bengaluru reported the first case, after a techie from the city with a travel history to Dubai and interaction with Hong Kong-based people there, was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad.

As panic gripped the city, Mr Sriramulu said the apartment where the software engineer was staying has been sanitised. Besides, his 25 colleagues have been identified. One of them has been admitted to the hospital as a precautionary measure and his blood sample has been sent for lab test.

"So far 40,207 people have been screened at the International airport. 251 blood tests have been done, of which 238 were found negative, while the rest of the reports are yet to come," Mr Sriramulu tweeted.

The health department said three people have been admitted to the isolation ward at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD).

Meanwhile, a parent appealed to people not to panic about the Coronavirus in the techie's apartment, where his son too resides. "My son is from the same apartment. To update everyone, there is absolutely nothing wrong here. It was more of panic on social media that created this," he said in a message.

He said that the man who is in Telengana and testedpositive stayed in this building on February 21. "His roommate was taken to hospital and has tested negative," he said. It is been two weeks since the incident. The virus cansurvive only for 48 hours under optimal conditions, he noted. "Everyone in this building is safe. Please educate yourself. Refrain from spreading panic and misinformation." he added.