Jack Dorsey vs the Indian govt; And, Apple has now made smartphones one of India’s top five exports

Market Watch

• Indian benchmark indices ended the day in the green, with the Sensex up 418 points at 63,143, and Nifty up 115 points at 18,716.
• Sectorally, Nifty Auto (-0.11%) was the only loser, while Realty (3.01%) and Media (1.78%) gained the most.

“Outright lies”: India slams Twitter ex-CEO Dorsey’s claims of govt “threats” and “pressure” during farmers’ protests

The Indian government has strongly denied?allegations made by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey?that the social media platform was pressured during the farmers’ protests in India.

The context:?Dorsey stated that Twitter faced threats of being expelled from India for refusing to block specific accounts during the farmers' protests, including threats of government action such as raids and office closures.???

What they’re saying:?Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar?denied Dorsey’s claims, stating that Twitter, under Dorsey, was in repeated and continuous violations of Indian law from 2020 to 2022.

• Chandrasekhar added that the government was attempting to?remove misinformation from the platform?during the protests, as there were reports of fake news that had the potential to inflame the situation.
• “Dorsey’s Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law. It behaved as if the laws of India did not apply to it. India as a sovereign nation has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating in India,” the IT minister said.
• Several opposition leaders, like Shiv Sena’s?Priyanka Chaturvedi, have used Dorsey’s statements to criticise the Centre for allegedly?muzzling voices and cracking down on dissent.

Flashback:?The farmers’ protests started after the Modi government?introduced three farm laws, leading to thousands of farmers camping in and around Delhi for nearly a year, eventually forcing the government to repeal the laws in November 2021.

• In early 2021, Twitter was ordered to?suspend hundreds of accounts?and curtail the visibility of certain hashtags in India, after the Indian government issued threats of legal action against the social media.
• Delhi Police had even conducted unexpected visits to two of Twitter's offices in India due to the company's failure to comply.
• Notably, Twitter even?sued the Indian government?in 2022 to contest several of the imposed block orders on tweets and accounts.
• With all this under consideration, Dorsey’s accusations may not be entirely unfounded as there is evidently historical animosity between the Indian government and Twitter.

Apple has made smartphones one of India’s top five exports

Apple’s iPhone production in India has boosted smartphones into?India’s top five most exported commodities.

The details:?Smartphones were the?fifth most exported commodities from India?in FY23, behind automotive fuels, aviation fuel, motor gasoline, and diamonds for non-industrial use.

Image credits:?Quartz.

• India’s smartphone exports?nearly doubled to $10.9 billion?during the year from $5.4 billion the year before.
• iPhone handsets account for half the value of these exported smartphones, even though Apple has only shifted 7% of its iPhone production to India so far.
• The tech giant is targeting 25% of its iPhones to be made in India by 2025, which means that India’s smartphone exports are likely to keep growing.

Why this matters:?India is seeking to become the second-biggest exporter of smartphones behind China and has rolled out the?$6.6-billion production-linked incentive scheme?to boost local smartphone manufacturing and attract global companies.

The other side:?India will take a long time to catch up to China and Vietnam, the two biggest smartphone exporters which exported $33.3 billion and $128 billion worth of smartphones in CY22.

• Furthermore, India’s value addition for smartphones remains at 12-18% (as against China’s 40% value addition), indicating?how import-intensive it is to export smartphones.

ICYMI

• Nearly 50% of Americans surveyed think that the?indictment of former US President Donald Trump was politically motivated.
• The government’s response to the alleged CoWIN database leak seems to have?raised more questions than answers.
• With a recession in the Eurozone and domestic pressure, it appears?Ukraine’s allies are growing weary of the war.
• MRF, the Indian tyre manufacturer, has made history by?becoming the first to reach the Rs 1 lakh per share?mark on Dalal Street.
• Big tech giants like Google and OpenAI seem to be limiting access to their products in Hong Kong,?slowly toeing Beijing’s line.
• A magnitude 5.4?earthquake struck eastern Kashmir around 1:30 pm?on Tuesday afternoon, with tremors being felt across north India.