Bosnia crisis at worst since 1992-1995 war, says peace accord official

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The top global authority in Bosnia considered the heightening political emergency in the country the most genuine since the 1992-1995 conflict that saw 100,000 individuals bite the dust and cautioned in a report flowed Tuesday that its capability to turn into a security emergency is genuine.

Christian Schmidt, the high delegate regulating execution of the 1995 nonaggression treaty that finished the overwhelming conflict, expressed heads of the country's Bosnian Serb-ruled element have methodicallly tested its arrangements and heightened their exercises pointed toward usurping powers conceded to the national government.

The US-handled Dayton nonaggression treaty laid out two separate substances in Bosnia one run by Bosnia's Serbs and one more overwhelmed by the nation's Bosniaks, who are generally Muslims, and Croats. The two substances are bound together by joint focal establishments, and immensely significant choices should be supported by both.

Schmidt said in the report to the UN Security Council that the activities by the Bosnian Serb substance, known as Republika Srpska, dissolve the essentials of the understanding, however straightforwardly take steps to fix over 25 years of progress in developing Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state solidly on the way towards European Union joining....KNOW MORE

Europe buys 500,000 courses of Gilead's remdesivir amid supply worries

 

Gilead Sciences said on Thursday it had consented to sell Europe up to 500,0000 courses of its antiviral medication remdesivir, as the mainland scrambles to support supplies of one of just two medications endorsed to treat Covid-19 patients.

The arrangement will cover acquisition of the medication for the following a half year for the 27-country European Union, Britain, six Balkan nations and the other European Economic Area nations - Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

A few European nations have said they are encountering deficiencies of the medication, whose worldwide stock has been made sure about primarily by the United States.

Spain, one of the nations with the most noteworthy number of diseases in Europe, had almost 10,700 individuals hospitalized for Covid-19 as of Tuesday.

Installments will be made by the nations that need the medication. The arrangement incorporates a choice to expand the time span.

The European Commission, which has managed joint acquisition of immunizations in the EU, concurred distinctly on Friday to top up its underlying 30,000 courses of treatment with extra dosages to cover 3,400 patients.

Gilead said the new arrangement supplanted the underlying arrangement financed by the Commission's Emergency Support Instrument and planned to cover from August to October. It said it would start satisfying requests from next Monday.

The Commission said it was planning further joint obtainment methodology for hardware required during the pandemic - immunization transporters, squander holders, infusing gadgets, individual defensive gear and sedative consumables.

It said it was likewise in the last phases of obtaining basic emergency unit.

Crunch time for Apple in fight against $15 billion European Union tax order

By Foo Yun Chee and Padraic Halpin

BRUSSELS/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Apple's conflict with EU rivalry controllers reaches a critical stage on Wednesday as Europe's second-most elevated court rules on whether it needs to pay 13 billion euros ($15 billion) in Irish back charges, a key piece of the EU's crackdown against darling assessment bargains.

In its request four years prior, the European Commission said Apple profited by illicit state help by means of two Irish duty decisions that falsely decreased its taxation rate for more than two decades - to as low as 0.005% in 2014.

Destruction for European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager could debilitate or defer pending bodies of evidence against Ikea's and Nike's arrangements with the Netherlands, just as Huhtamaki's concurrence with Luxembourg.

Vestager, who has made the assessment crackdown a highlight of her time in office, saw a similar court a year ago upset her interest for Starbucks to pay as much as 30 million euros in Dutch back charges. For another situation, the court likewise tossed out her decision against a Belgian duty plot for 39 multinationals.

The Apple question is seen by certain experts as a predicament for Ireland, which has advanced against the Commission's structure close by the iPhone creator.

While 14 billion euros - including interest - would go far to stopping the coronavirus-formed opening in the state's accounts, Dublin is trying to ensure a low expense system that has pulled in 250,000 worldwide businesses.

In the event that Ireland's intrigue succeeds, the administration will be scorned by resistance groups for not taking the money, which could cover at any rate half of a spending shortfall estimate to inflatable to as much as 10% of GDP this year.

Should Ireland lose, the administration will be chastised by similar legislators for propelling the intrigue. A decision for the Commission could likewise bring up issues about the utilization of Ireland's expense code at a touchy time, when new worldwide guidelines for burdening advanced monsters are being discussed.

Destruction could likewise hurt Ireland's capacity to draw in venture, despite the fact that the special rush embraced after the Commission's 2016 choice seems to have worked. The numbers utilized by multinationals like Apple, Facebook and Google have developed by 25%, representing one out of ten Irish laborers.

For Apple, destruction would be a blow, yet reasonable given its money possessions beat $190 billion toward the finish of its financial second quarter.

Global refurbished phone market declines 1% in 2019, India sees 9% growth

The worldwide market for renovated cell phones declined 1 percent (year-on-year) in 2019, arriving at a little more than 137 million units, as indicated by another report. A similar market in India, be that as it may, grew a solid 9 percent a year ago.
The worldwide market developed to some degree in the final quarter as Apple redesigns stayed solid however a 1 percent expansion during the second 50% of the year couldn't balance the decrease in the main half, said most recent exploration from Counterpoint's 'Restored Smartphone Tracker'.
"This is the first run through over the most recent four years that the repaired advertise has declined for the entire year. The pattern is for the most part connected with the downturn in new cell phone deals in key locales like the US, China and Europe," said Jeff Fieldhack, Research Director at Counterpoint Research.
Regardless of a decrease in the general market, there were a few development markets like India, Latin America and Africa.
Varun Mishra, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research said that the refurb environment in these economies is still at an incipient stage.
"As far as cell phones, these business sectors remain underpenetrated. Numerous clients are searching for moderate gadgets to come on the web. The change from include telephones to cell phones and the desire of premium gadgets at a moderate value guide proceed toward fuel development in these business sectors," Mishra said in an announcement.
There is additionally the progressing change of the refurb portion from the chaotic segment to composed in nations like India which is opening chances.

Apple and Samsung kept on commanding the optional market in 2019.

If China, US continue their tit-for-tat policy, everybody will lose

International News

Things are getting worse. That’s a conclusion one might have reasonably reached after reading this week’s US-China headlines.
First, there was Hong Kong, a matter Beijing has warned Washington to stay clear of. Protesters last weekend battled police, vandalized shops and paralyzed swaths of the Asia financial center. Then President Donald Trump tied outcomes in Hong Kong to trade.
Next, as China’s top trade negotiator prepared to travel to Washington for a new round of talks, the US blacklisted eight prominent Chinese tech firms. In explaining the action, the US cited the companies’ involvement in China’s westernmost Xinjiang province, where up to a million predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities have been allegedly detained.
A day later, the US imposed travel bans on Chinese officials linked to Xinjiang. And it emerged that the Trump administration was moving ahead with discussing possible limits on portfolio flows into China.
These are not events that instill confidence in the state of what is increasingly the world’s most-important bilateral relationship. But there’s also another way to see it.
The Global Times, a state-run Chinese newspaper known for its more hawkish tone, brushed off the blacklisting as a gambit for leverage ahead of this week’s trade negotiations. These American attempts to add "bargaining chips" won't sway China's approach to the talks, it added.

 Could the week's events have been more about positioning than a reflection of growing conflict? The latest round of talks may give us a better idea. Or they won’t. But if what the past week has illustrated is a deterioration in U.S.-China ties, that’ll be bad for everyone....READ MORE

China's ban on 737 MAX spooks Boeing's hopes of $10 bn trade deal windfall

International News

China's move to ground Boeing Co's 737 MAX jetliners following the deadly Ethiopian Airlines crash has cast a shadow over the American planemaker's immediate hopes for a major jet order linked to a US-China trade deal, industry sources said.

Evidence of a major potential order for more than 100 jets worth well over $10 billion at list prices had risen in recent weeks as Washington and Beijing reported some progress in trade talks to resolve a months-long trade war.

Those expectations were fanned by signs of pent-up demand stemming not only from a drop in China's public purchases as the two sides descended into a tariff war, but also because China placed no private orders for Boeing aircraft in 2018, according to trade and industry sources familiar with the matter.

Now, those sources say it is uncertain how quickly China will be willing to give the 737 MAX the expected new endorsement after ordering its own airlines to stop flying the jet - though much could change as Ethiopian investigators assemble clues to the second deadly crash of the brand-new model in five months.

On Wednesday, the United States joined a wave of nations grounding the 737 MAX in the wake of Sunday's crash in Ethiopia, which killed all 157 people onboard. The planes will be grounded for weeks, U.S. lawmakers said on Thursday.


 Analysts said the crash has added uncertainty for America's largest exporter over sales to China."It is definitely on their list of concerns because China is Boeing's biggest single export market," Teal Group aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia said...Read More

BS Best B-school Project Awards: Solving problems using cutting-edge tools

Current Affairs

Projects on efficient distribution of citywide electric vehicle charging stations, a budgetary tool for C-level executives, and a method for bringing about efficiency in network equipment logistics in telecom industry that resulted in crores of savings were among the winners of the Business Standard Best B-School Project Award 2018.

The top prize went to Nimesh Shah from the School of Petroleum Management, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), Gandhinagar, for his project on mapping out charging availability for electric vehicles in Bengaluru for Sun Mobility.

The project came about after the Karnataka government announced a policy for 5,000 new e-autos within the city. His project looked at population density, and existing fuel outlets, among the factors for the analysis. The model which evolved can be used as a template across major cities for planning future e-auto transport ecosystems.

The first runner-up was Harshil Shah of the KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research. His internship project with consulting firm GEP Worldwide resulted in increased efficiency through a strategy dossier as well as the creation of a budgeting tool for CXOs. This was adopted by a key client of the firm, and resulted in similar tools being requested for regions including South America, Europe, West Asia, and Africa.

Shailesh Mahajan from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) was the second runner-up. He worked on improving reverse logistics involved in the movement of network equipment for Bharti Airtel. Packaging changes and standardisation resulted in a Rs 17-crore savings during the course of the project itself.


 The eleventh edition of the awards saw a power-packed jury select the winners based on presentations made by five shortlisted candidates.

Honda to shut down its only UK car plant in 2022 putting 3,500 jobs at risk

International News:
Japanese carmaker Honda is set to announce the closure of its only British car plant in 2022 with the loss of 3,500 jobs, a lawmaker told Reuters, in the latest blow to the UK car industry as Brexit approaches.

Honda built just over 160,000 vehicles at its Swindon factory in southern England last year, where it makes the Civic and CV-R models, accounting for a little more than 10 percent of Britain's total output of 1.52 million cars.

But it has struggled in Europe in recent years, and the industry faces a number of challenges including declining diesel demand and tougher regulations alongside the uncertainty over Britain's departure from the European Union, due next month.
Justin Tomlinson, a Conservative lawmaker for Swindon who voted for Brexit in 2016, said he had met with the business minister and representatives from Honda who had confirmed the plans.
"They were due to make a statement tomorrow morning, it's obviously broken early," Tomlinson, lawmaker for North Swindon, told Reuters.

"This is not Brexit-related. It is a reflection of the global market. They are seeking to consolidate production in Japan."

Honda said it would not be providing any comment at this stage.
Japan has repeatedly warned it could pull investments in Britain, which it had seen as a gateway into Europe, if London does not secure a Brexit deal favourable for trade.

 The recently agreed EU-Japan trade agreement means tariffs on cars from Japan to the continent will be eliminated, while Britain is struggling to make progress on talks over post-Brexit trade relations with Tokyo...Read More

Why China's 5G riches are outside the reach of international investors

International News:

How can investors profit from China’s race with the U.S. for 5G supremacy? Finding the answer is as tricky as figuring out the geopolitics.

The nation’s sleepy telecom stocks came back to life after Huawei Technologies Co. CFO Meng Wanzhou was detained in Canada in early December. While the official charge was that the company had violated U.S. sanctions on Iran, many in China interpreted the action as another attempt by the American government to thwart the country’s advance in 5G. Huawei leads the world in the number of declared essential patents for next-generation wireless technology, according to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.

The Chinese equipment maker’s woes have only served to spark investor enthusiasm for anything 5G. On Dec. 7, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology awarded 5G spectrum licenses to its three telecom operators, allowing them to conduct final trials before widespread commercial rollout in 2020. A month later, the government said it will issue temporary licenses in some cities as early as this year. Unlike Europe and the U.S., China is wasting no time in moving ahead on 5G.


 Shares of wireless antenna makers and state-owned China Tower Corp. have been on fire. The monopoly operator of mobile-phone masts has gained more than 40 percent in Hong Kong since early December, bringing its market capitalization to $37 billion. On Monday, when Chinese traders returned after the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, the dozen or so mainland-listed companies that manufacture wireless antennas jumped 4.3 percent. Hong Kong-listed Comba Telecom Systems Holdings Ltd. has soared more than 70 percent.