Mangaluru: CET topper Ananth says, he avoided mobile phone for 2 years

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.

Amaravati, May 7: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said that Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has assured him to offer immediate help to stranded Andhra fishermen.

Around 300 Andhra Pradesh fishermen are stranded on the coast of Malpe village in Udupi district.

"Karnataka CM has responded very positively and assured to offer the stranded fishermen immediate help. The fishermen hail from Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh.

Yediyurappa has also said that their team was also contacting Andhra Pradesh authorities to safely bring them back to their home state," Naidu said in a statement on Twitter.

In a separate letter to Yediyurappa, Naidu lauded the tremendous efforts that the government of Karnataka has been putting to fight COVID-19 and expressed his solidarity with the people there in this critical time.

Naidu said that many Telugu people that have migrated to other states for work were facing various problems due to the COVID-induced lockdown.

"In this backdrop, I would like to bring to your notice that around 300 fishing folk from Srikakulam District are stranded in Malpe Village, Udupi District, Karnataka. Their families, relatives and well-wishers are deeply worried for their safety and well being," Naidu said.

The TDP chief said that on behalf of those families and on his own behalf, he would appeal for sending the stranded fishermen back to their respective homes.

"In case that is not possible, I request you to provide them with shelter, food, water, medical aid and other essential commodities until the end of COVID lockdown," TDP chief said in a letter.

Bengaluru, Mar 28: The Karnataka government on Saturday said that the state run Indira Canteens would provide food packets free of cost to the poor and needy in the wake of the lockdown, the government said here on Saturday.

The canteens would operate in three schedules -from 7:30 AM to 10 AM, 12:30 PM to 3 PM and 7:30 PM to 9 PM, the government said in a public announcement

During the scheduled hours, street side vendors, labourers and poor would be provided food free of cost.

After the cabinet meeting on Friday, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had said food packets would be provided to the poor and needy with the help of some organisations through the Canteens and had sought the help of everyone in this regard.

The State-sponsored, subsidised 'Indira Canteens' as of now serves breakfast at Rs five and lunch and dinner at Rs 10.

The government asked people availing the facility to maintain cleanliness at the canteen and staff who serve food to compulsorily use masks and hand gloves.

It also said soaps and sanitizers should be made available at the canteens.

The government also asked people to maintain a minimum distance of one metre while standing in queue and take all precautionary measures.

Earlier, a day after announcing that food would be provided free of cost through the canteens for daily wagers, Yediyurappa on March 24 had said it has been decided that the canteens will not be opened, after realizing that it was leading to crowding, which drew criticism.