New Delhi, Nov 25 () Apple is now making its iPhone XR in India for domestic market and exports, while one of its suppliers, Salcomp, will invest Rs 2,000 crore over the next five years to make components at a plant in southern India from March 2020, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Monday.
 Prasad said Salcomp, the world's largest manufacturer and a major supplier of chargers to Apple for iPhone, has reached agreement to take over the closed facility of Nokia in a SEZ near Chennai.
 The facility, which has been closed for nearly 10 years, will be revived and made operational from March 2020.
 The unit will produce charger and other equipment, and will boast of a diversified portfolio of products. This will entail an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in five years, he said.
 "It is a very proud moment for India. Earlier, it (iPhone boxes) used to say designed in California and assembled in China. Now it says assembled in India and also manufactured and marketed in India. We welcome Apple, expand your operations in India. That is our expectation," Prasad said showcasing a 'Made in India' Apple XR device.
 He added that all Apple products, including mobile phones being manufactured in India will be used for domestic market as well as export.
 Apple, which also works with Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron in India, already makes iPhone 6S and 7 here.
 In September, Prasad, after a CEOs roundtable with over 50 electronics and phone companies, had exhorted Apple to expand manufacturing base in India and to use the country as export hub, promising to line up fresh incentives and sops to galvanise electronics as well as phone industry.
 Key players from the electronics and manufacturing industry including Apple, vivo, Oppo, Qualcomm, Xiaomi, Dell, HP, Bosch, Cisco, Flextronics, Foxconn, Nokia, LG, Panasonic, Intel, Wistron, and Sterlite Technologies had attended the meeting.
 Apple continues to place big bets on India. The US-based company had said its revenues in India 'established new records' in the September 2019 quarter, including achieving its highest revenue from Mac sales in the country.
 After the Indian government relaxed FDI norms offering more flexibility on local sourcing norms in August this year, Apple had said it is keen on offering online and in-store experience to Indian users that are at par with its global standards and aims to open its maiden retail store in India.
 Apple, which competes with the likes of Samsung and OnePlus in the premium smartphone market, made an entry into the top 10 smartphone brands tally in July-September 2019 quarter due to price cuts on XR model along with good channel demand for its newly launched iPhone 11, a report by Counterpoint had said.
 Apple India recorded a net profit of Rs 262.27 crore in the year ended March 2019, while its revenue from operations were at Rs 10,538.25 crore for 2018-19, as per regulatory documents.
 Talking about Salcomp, Prasad said, "I am happy to share, Salcomp, the world's largest manufacturer and major supplier of charger to Apple for iPhones, has reached agreement to take over entire facility of Nokia handset that was lying closed for 10 year. It will start from March 2020," he said.
 Prasad added that the unit will manufacture chargers and other equipment.
 "Apart from charger and other equipment it will lead to diversified product portfolio of CMC, moulding, painting etc...(About) 10,000 people will get jobs in this and indirect job creation will be 50,000. About 70 per cent of products from this SEZ facility will be exported, mostly to China. It will lead to value addition also," he said.
 In the ongoing financial year, mobile phone exports from India will be at USD 1.6 billion while that of components will also be at USD 1.6 billion, he said. 
 "It is welcome development...earlier we had almost zero exports but our consistent efforts for last three years is bearing good results," Prasad said.
 "We have an ambition to make India a preferred destination for manufacturing. I have also instructed officers to accelerate this," he said. MBI SR RVK

Apple making iPhone XR in India, Salcomp to invest Rs 2,000 cr in 5 yrs: Prasad

Local <keyword id="6354776" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Telecom">telecom</keyword> gear-makers want the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Narendra+Modi">Modi</a> government to offer ‘infrastructure’ status to them. They also want <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Finance+Minister+Arun+Jaitley">Finance Minister Arun Jaitley</a> to extend tax sops under Section 35AD for domestic manufacturers. 
 
The Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India (TEMA) that represents local <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=telecom">telecom</a> product makers wants the government to levy a 5% cess on telcos to build a corpus for funding local telecom R&amp;D and IPR creation. 
 
Key TEMA members include Bharti Teletech, C-DoT, Bharat Electronics, Sterlite Technologies, HFCL, Lava Mobiles, ITI, Birla Ericsson Optical and United Telecom among others. 
 
"Infrastructure status to domestic <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=telecom+equipment+manufacturing">telecom equipment manufacturing</a> companies complying with PMA provisions will help the industry to benefit from the incentives," the TEMA chairman Emeritus N K Goyal has said. 
 
TEMA has also asked for an extension of tax sops under Section 35AD to local telecom gear makers complying with PMA norms. This is expected to boost local manufacturing of electronics and telecom gear. It has also sought imposition of 25% duty on telecom/ICT products under the `Others' category that are now being imported at zero duty. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Budget 2016 – Here’s what Telecom
Gear-makers Want

<ul><li>German vaccine maker CureVac said that interim results from early trials showed CvnCoV triggered immune response among volunteers. </li><li>Israel began <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/israel-begins-human-trials-on-covid-19-vaccine/articleshow/78991044.cms?upcache=2">human trials</a> of a COVID-19 vaccine on November 1. </li><li>South African pharmaceutical giant Aspen Pharmacare signed a pact with Johnson &amp; Johnson to manufacture its Covid-19 vaccine.</li></ul>After registering over 42 million COVID-19 infections, the World Health Organisation is <a href="https://www.livemint.com/science/health/who-expects-to-see-covid-19-vaccine-by-end-of-2020-at-earliest-11602548070399.html">finally expecting</a> a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020 or early 2021. It takes a decade or two to design, test, and launch an effective vaccine that can protect billions of people from diseases. However, COVID-19 has forced researchers to fast-track the vaccine making process. Here's a look at COVID-19 vaccine updates from around the world — Bharat Biotech to launch Covaxin by mid-2021 Bharat Biotech is planning to launch India's indigenous COVID vaccine, Covaxin, in the second quarter of next year, after it gets the necessary approvals from regulatory authorities, reported <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-india-vaccine/bharat-biotech-plans-to-launch-vaccine-candidate-in-second-quarter-of-2021-idINKBN27H1JG">Reuters</a>. The company is planning to begin recruitment for the third phase of its vaccine trials this month. The trial will be conducted in 25 sites in 10-12 states and will provide two doses with each for the vaccine and placebo recipients, the company's Executive Director Sai Prasad said. Germany CureVac's vaccine triggers an immune response On Monday, German vaccine maker CureVac said that interim results from early trials showed that its investigational Covid-19 vaccine candidate, CvnCoV, appeared safe and triggered immune response among volunteers. "We are very encouraged by the interim Phase 1 data. It represents a critical milestone in our Covid-19 vaccine programme and strongly supports the advancement of our vaccine candidate," Franz-Werner Haas, Chief Executive Officer of CureVac, said in a statement. Aspen Pharmacare, Johnson &amp; Johnson announce a deal to make Covid-19 vaccine South African pharmaceutical giant Aspen Pharmacare signed a pact with Johnson &amp; Johnson to manufacture its Covid-19 vaccine if approved in South Africa and internationally. In a statement, Aspen said that if ongoing trials bring international health authorities to endorse the J&amp;J vaccine as effective and safe, it would be produced at Aspen's manufacturing facility in Port Elizabeth in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. Moderna prepares for the global launch of COVID-19 vaccine American biotechnology company Moderna announced that it was preparing for the global launch of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate. "We are actively preparing for the launch of mRNA-1273 and we have signed a number of supply agreements with governments around the world," Xinhua news agency quoted Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel as saying in a statement on Thursday. In addition to the Phase 3 study of the Covid-19 vaccine mRNA-1273, which is fully enrolled, Moderna now has four programs in Phase 2 studies, according to Bancel. Israel begins human trials of COVID vaccine Israel has begun <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/israel-begins-human-trials-on-covid-19-vaccine/articleshow/78991044.cms?upcache=2">human trials</a> of a COVID-19 vaccine on November 1, authorities have said. Two volunteers have received the vaccine. Israel will first test the vaccine on 80 people, before extending it to 980 in the second phase, and then 25,000 in the final stage, slated for April or May. "We can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. Japan’s Shionogi is planning to conduct clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine in December Japan’s Shionogi is planning to conduct phase I clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in December and phase II trials in January. Moreover, Shionogi S phase III trials are likely to be done overseas “due to the relative lack of COVID-19 cases in Japan”, reported Reuters. Brazil says it might get a COVID-19 vaccine by June 2021 Brazil is expected to have a COVID-19 vaccine <a href="https://zeenews.india.com/world/brazil-will-have-a-covid-19-vaccine-by-june-2021-says-regulator-2321092.html">ready </a>by June next year, according to the head of Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa, Antonio Barra Torres. According to Reuters, Anvisa is yet to decide on the minimum efficacy required to give vaccine approval. However, the agency has approved the vaccine with less than 50% effectiveness previously. Brazil has played a significant role in conducting late-stage clinical trials of many global vaccine candidates including Oxford-AstraZeneca. Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine triggers an immune response in both young and old adults. Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate has <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-vaccine-i/oxford-covid-19-vaccine-prompts-immune-response-among-adults-old-and-young-astrazeneca-says-idUSKBN27B0L7">prompted </a>an immune response in both young and old adults. According to AstraZeneca, the vaccine also produces ‘lower adverse responses among elderly,” reported Reuters. “It is encouraging to see immunogenicity responses were similar between older and younger adults and that reactogenicity was lower in older adults, where the COVID-19 disease severity is higher,” an AstraZeneca spokesman said. Pfizer recruits 42,000 volunteers for phase II and III clinical trials. US drugmaker Pfizer — which is working on a COVID-19 vaccine with German pharma company BioNTech — has <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/story/coronavirus-vaccine-update-oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine-immune-response-pfizer-covaxin-news-1735407-2020-10-27">recruited </a>42,111 volunteers to test its experimental COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Earlier this week, Pfizer said it is likely to submit its COVID-19 vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in November if the trials are successful. Joe Biden pledges free COVID-19 vaccines for all Americans if elected. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, on October 24, has said that if he is elected to power in the November 3 election, he will make COVID-19 vaccines free for all Americans. "Once we have a safe and effective vaccine, it has to be free to everyone -- whether or not you're insured," Xinhua news agency quoted Biden as saying during a speech in Wilmington, Delaware. Johnson &amp; Johnson pauses late-stage COVID-19 trials following a participant’s illness A late-stage study of Johnson &amp; Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been paused while the company investigates whether a study participant's unexplained illness is related to the shot. In a statement, the company said that illnesses, accidents and other so-called adverse events are an expected part of any clinical study, especially large studies, but that its physicians and a safety monitoring panel would try to determine what might have caused the illness. The pause is at least the second such hold to occur among several vaccines that have reached large-scale final tests in the US. The company declined to reveal any more details about the illness, citing the participant's privacy. Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine to be widely domestically available by early November Russia is all set to launch its COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, domestically by late October or early November, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). Earlier in August, Russia claimed to be the first country to develop a <keyword id="8624004" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus-vaccine">coronavirus vaccine</keyword>. "We believe that the vaccine can start being widely used in Russia by late October or early November," Kirill Dmitriev, head, RDIF said. It is further expecting to roll out the vaccine in the Middle-East after human trials by the end of November, <a href="https://tass.com/society/1211423">Russian news agency TASS reported. </a> Pakistan hopes to acquire a COVID-19 vaccine within the next 6 months A Pakistani official from the Ministry of National Health Services has expressed hope that the country would acquire a vaccine against the novel coronavirus in the next six months. The official said on October 12 that Pakistan has also prepared antibodies against spike proteins, <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1584505/covid-positivity-rate-crosses-2pc-first-time-in-six-weeks">Dawn reported.</a> "At present, 15 vaccines were in phase-III trials globally out of which 11 target the spike protein," he said. UK to begin trials to test if anti-TB BCG vaccine works against COVID-19 Scientists in the United Kingdom will begin recruiting frontline healthcare workers to test if an old vaccine used to combat tuberculosis (TB), the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, or BCG jab can be repurposed to help boost immunity against the novel coronavirus as well. The University of Exeter in south-west England said on October 11 that it is leading the UK arm of the worldwide research called the BCG vaccination to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in healthcare workers (BRACE) trials. Participants will be given either the BCG vaccine, currently provided to more than 100 million babies worldwide each year, including in India, to protect against TB or a placebo injection. In India, Bharat Biotech asked to submit complete phase 2 trial data of its COVID-19 vaccine before phase 3 trials On October 10, Bharat Biotech — which earlier got permission to conduct phase-3 clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate — has been asked to submit complete safety and immunogenicity data of the ongoing phase-2 trial, besides providing some clarifications, before proceeding for the next stage. The vaccine candidate, 'Covaxin,' is being indigenously developed by the Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). According to officials, the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on October 2, seeking its permission to conduct phase III randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled multicentre trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/prajakta-koli-aka-mostlysane-advice-for-content-creators-on-the-fine-line-between-brand-collaborations-and-staying-honest-on-social-media/articleshow/79013162.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"> Prajakta Koli aka MostlySane’s advice for content creators on the fine line between brand collaborations and staying honest on social media</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stock-movers-tata-motors-zee-entertainment-icici-bank-cadila-healthcare-sterlite-technologies-and-others/articleshow/79012842.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Top stock movers — Tata Motors, Zee Entertainment, ICICI Bank, Cadila Healthcare, Sterlite Technologies and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/india-hits-out-at-pakistan-for-taking-advantage-of-coronavirus-pandemic-to-enhance-cross-border-terrorism/articleshow/79013307.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">India hits out at Pakistan for taking advantage of coronavirus pandemic to enhance cross-border terrorism</a>

COVID-19 vaccine tracker: German CureVac shows an immune response, Aspen Pharmacare and J&J sign pact to make vaccine in South Africa

In traditional Indian method, sons and daughters of a company’s owner take up top posts and the succession goes on. However, <keyword id="894518" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vendanta-Group">Vendanta Group</keyword>’s owner Anil Agarwal wants to do away with the system and has planned something else. 
 
The founder of the $12.9 billion Vedanta group wants to appoint professional managers rather than kin to top posts. 
 
"As far as succession goes, I am still in command and I am getting all professional chief executives as I do not want a family member to be chief executive of the company," Agarwal, 61, said in an exclusive interview to Economic Times. 
 
"I believe this company should be run by the people. At the same time, family members also bring in some value,” he said. 
 
The financial daily reported that Agarwal, who rose from being a metal scrap dealer to build India's largest natural resources company in the past five decades, has two children-Agnivesh and Priya. His brothers Navin and Pravin, closely associated with Vedanta, also have two children each. 
 
Agnivesh is chairman of Hindustan Zinc, while Priya has been on the Cairn India board as non-executive director since 2012. 
 
Based in Dubai, Agnivesh runs his own business recovering metal from scrap and also manages group unit Fujairah Gold. The United Arab Emirates is also home to the group's precious metals refinery that can process 50 million tonne of gold and 110 million tonne of silver annually. 
 
Agnivesh also acquired a 60% stake in Chennai-based medical diagnostic chain Primex Healthcare in 2012 in his personal capacity. 
 
Priya has been a public relations professional with Ogilvy &amp; Mather and spearheaded the media campaign that sought to give a more friendly aspect to the controversial resources and mining major. 
 Navin is non-executive director of Vedanta Ltd, a subsidiary of the London-listed <keyword id="99389" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vedanta-Resources">Vedanta Resources</keyword>, of which Anil Agarwal is chairman emeritus. Navin has two sons--Naivedya and Ananya. Pravin Agarwal is a whole-time director of Sterlite Technologies, one of India's largest optic fibre cable makers and based in Pune. His sons Ankit and Pratik run the group's ports and power transmission businesses. 
 
"I don't see world over natural resources companies run by families. Our oil and gas business can be run by shareholders as it has become so big that it need not be run by family members,” said Agarwal. 
 
His mandate is to run the company as chief executive and hire the best managers besides formalising and executing a growth strategy. Such professionals know technology and can look at the bigger picture from the perspective of having run large projects for global natural resources companies. 
 
"They are focused on sustainability, an environment policy and our team learns to run companies professionally," he told ET. "I would like to see Vedanta as a transparent and professionally run company... by the people and for the people." 
 
Agarwal sees this as a natural progression. "I think I am going to work for another five years to make sure it is run professionally. I have lots of other opportunities. A Vedanta veteran said the brothers have worked in harmony to build the business,” he added. 
"Once companies reach a large size, it needs professional leaders. Children are not always competent or interested in taking forward the father's business," Mita Dixit, co-founder and head, family business advisory, Equations Management Consulting told ET. "Shareholders are active and want the company to be run in a transparent manner to deliver results... It is prudent to have someone with relevant experience and expertise to run the show." 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

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Budget 2016 – Here’s what Telecom Gear-makers Want

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COVID-19 vaccine tracker: German CureVac shows an immune response, Aspen Pharmacare and J&J sign pact to make vaccine in South Africa

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Anil Agarwal, Vedanta Group's owner, chooses professional managers over kin for top posts

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