With the new Aadhar app, the users will no longer need to carry around a physical Aadhaar card or hand over photocopies of it during travel, hotel check-ins, or even shopping.
China and the United States moved towards an all-out trade war on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump imposed an astounding 104 per cent in tariffs across all Chinese imports. Locked in a high-stakes game of brinkmanship, both nations refused to back down, with Beijing vowing to fight against America’s aggression “to the end.”
Trump had originally unveiled a 34 per cent additional tariff on Chinese goods. However, after Beijing imposed its own tit-for-tat 34 per cent tariff on American products, Washington vowed to pile on another 50 percent duty. Counting existing levies imposed in February and March, in addition to new taxes, the cumulative tariff increase for Chinese goods during Trump’s second presidency is 104 percent.
Beijing blasted what it called US blackmail and vowed to “fight it to the end.”
During a call with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said his country is equipped to “fully offset” any negative external shocks, and reiterated his optimism about “maintaining sustained and healthy economic development” of the world’s second-largest economy in 2025, despite the latest tariff threat from US President.
President Xi Jinping’s “Number 2” said China’s macroeconomic policies this year have fully taken account of various uncertainties and labelled the punitive action on all American trading partners as a typical example of America’s unilateralism, protectionism and economic coercion.
He added that China’s firm response is not only to safeguard its own interests but also to defend international trade rules.
“Protectionism leads nowhere – openness and cooperation are the right path for all,” Li told Von der Leyen, according to a Bloomberg report. The new tariffs come after Beijing’s pushback against Trump, who remained defiant despite major US indexes tumbling again Tuesday.
The China-EU call came hours before both economies were set to be hit by Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, with Europe facing an added 20 per cent levy.
The global economy has been rocked since sweeping Trump’s baseline 10 percent tariffs took effect over the weekend, triggering a dramatic market sell-off worldwide and sparking recession fears. Rates on imports to the United States from dozens of economies are rising further from Wednesday.
The US president believes his policy will revive America’s lost manufacturing base by forcing companies to relocate to the United States. But many business experts and economists question how quickly — if ever — this can take place, warning of higher inflation as the tariffs raise prices.
Trump said Tuesday the United States was “taking in almost $2 billion a day” from tariffs.
After Trump refused to back done on his plans, Canada said that its tariffs on certain US auto imports will come into force on Wednesday.
The EU — which Trump has criticized bitterly over its tariff regime — may also unveil its response next week to new 20 percent levies it faces. French President Emmanuel Macron called on Trump to reconsider, adding if the EU was forced to respond, “so be it.”
In retaliation against US steel and aluminum levies that took effect last month, the EU plans tariffs of up to 25 percent on American goods ranging from soybeans to motorcycles, according to a document seen by AFP.
Trump said Tuesday his government was working on “tailored deals” with trading partners, with the White House saying it would prioritize allies like Japan and South Korea.
His top trade official, Jamieson Greer, told the Senate that Argentina, Vietnam and Israel were among those who had offered to reduce their tariffs.
Trump has ruled out any pause in his aggressive stance, despite China’s retaliation and growing domestic criticism.
India tried its first real-time use of satellite-based Internet during New Delhi’s Operation Brahma – providing aid to the quake-hit residents of Myanmar.
Marking a huge leap, the Indian team set up a OneWeb Eutelsat terminal in Myanmar’s Mandalay to communicate with the base in New Delhi.
Till date, India has not officially permitted any operator to provide satellite-based Internet services in the country. Many like Reliance-owned Jio, the Elon Musk-owned Starlink network and OneWeb are all vying to get a toehold in the massive market that India offers.
After the massive 7.7 magnitude quake hit Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, New Delhi dispatched first responders the very next day. Planeloads of relief material were sent, and an army field hospital was set up.
OneWeb was given a provisional license to test the technology on November 21, 2023, well before the earthquake. It set up the first connectivity in Myanmar.
The Indian army got connected within 24 hours. They also connected to the field hospital that was using OneWeb LEO (Low Earth Orbit) services, said Nishtha Kapoor, Regional Director, India, OneWeb Eutelsat.
Speaking at the India Defspace Symposium in New Delhi on April 7, she called it a “humbling experience”.
OneWeb India had also received the necessary authorisation from IN-SPACe earlier to launch Eutelsat commercial satellite broadband services in India.It was the first organization to be granted this authorisation.
Eutelsat OneWeb, the low-earth-orbit operator, is part of Eutelsat Group.
IN-SPACe is the agency of the Indian government, responsible for regulating space activities and granting authorisation for conducting it. This authorization means Eutelsat OneWeb can launch commercial connectivity services as soon as spectrum allocation has been granted by the government.
Last year, when the authorisation came through, Bharti Group chief Sunil Bharti Mittal, who is also part of the Eutelsat Group board, had said: “We are pleased to note the Indian space regulator’s green light to launch Eutelsat OneWeb’s commercial satellite broadband services in India”.
This, he had said, would be a critical step forward to meet India’s ambition of providing internet connectivity for all and enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Digital India.
“Eutelsat OneWeb is ready to deploy as soon as it receives the final spectrum authorization to launch commercial services,” he had added.
Today, the OneWeb team eagerly awaits the coveted spectrum allocation from the Telecom department before they can begin operations.
OneWeb is essentially a business-to-business communication network rather than a business-to-consumer network, since its terminals — ground based antennas which can send and receive signals from the satellites — are relatively large.
Last year on May 16, OneWeb held a demonstration of its hardware and software before senior officers of the Indian armed forces at Delhi’s Manekshaw Center.
Sometime earlier, the team had also held a demonstration before the Indian Army units at Joshimath, where a mobile army vehicle was able to transfer a live video.
To provide the necessary connectivity, OneWeb has teamed up with Airtel, Hughes and Kymeta Corporation.
Ms Kapoor asserted that they provide secure services to the remotest parts of the country through suitably geo-fenced terminals that would offer encrypted services.
OneWeb has a motto of offering “connectivity anywhere, everywhere, every-time through a constellation of eight geostationary satellites and 544 low earth orbit satellites”.
Incidentally, Indian space agency ISRO, using the Bahubali rockets, had launched 72 satellites for OneWeb, which was the first commercial deal for the Launch Vehicle Mark-3.
The satellite-based Internet market took an interesting turn in early March when Reliance-owned Jio Platforms and Airtel announced a tie-up with Starlink, the Elon Musk led company, which already has 7,000 small satellites in orbit. Another 5,000 will be added soon.
Jio and Airtel had opposed the introduction of Starlink on technical grounds. But both may finally join hands with Starlink since the Elon Musk-owned company offers business to consumer connectivity.
So on the surface, it seems the tie-up of Starlink with Airtel and Jio may offer seamless connectivity.
In a statement, Eutelsat OneWeb’s asserted its existing strong position in the Indian market, where OneWeb India already holds the necessary licenses from the telecom department to provide broadband services using satellite connectivity.
The business has also obtained in-principle approval to establish and operate two gateways in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which would secure the provision of vital high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity to customers across India once services are rolled out.
“OneWeb can connect every corner of India. The only wait is for spectrum allocation and Oneweb Eutelsat. After that it will be live all over India,” Ms Kapoor said.