Technology Amazon.com Inc's India unit saw a 56 percent rise in the number of local merchants selling to international markets, hitting export sales of over US$1 billion, the company said on Tuesday. 30 Apr 2019 06:15PM Bookmark BENGALURU: Amazon.com Inc's India unit saw a 56 percent rise in the number of local merchants selling to international markets, hitting export sales of over US$1 billion, the company said on Tuesday.Indian merchants were exporting more than 140 million products on Amazon's app and website, with cumulative sales expected to top US$5 billion in the next four years, country head Amit Agarwal told reporters in Bengaluru.Amazon launched its Global Selling Program in 2015, as part of its efforts to get more small-and-medium sized vendors on board. Vendor consolidation is key in India, which is among the Seattle-based company's top growth markets.More than 80 percent of the company's current export vendors were from small towns and cities, vice president of … [Read more...] about Amazon’s India unit sees 56 percent rise in export merchants
India
Follower of Sri Lanka bomber sought India attack: Police
NEW DELHI: An alleged follower of Sri Lankan bombing leader Zahran Hashim is to appear in a southern Indian court Tuesday (Apr 30) after admitting he wanted to carry out an attack in India's Kerala, investigators said.The accused, identified as Riyas A, alias Riyas Aboobacker, 29, was arrested Monday by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), which handles counter-terrorism cases.During interrogation, he allegedly "disclosed that he has been following speeches/videos of Zahran Hashim of Sri Lanka for more than a year", an NIA statement said."He admitted that he wanted to carry out a suicide attack in Kerala," a southern Indian state, it added.Hashim was a Sri Lankan Muslim preacher who led the coordinated Easter Sunday suicide attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, killing 253 people in one of the world's deadliest terrorist attacks.Military sources have said Hashim was not known to have visited Syria or Iraq, but travelled to Tamil Nadu state - which borders Kerala - … [Read more...] about Follower of Sri Lanka bomber sought India attack: Police
Are you British? India government asks Modi’s main election rival, Gandhi, to respond
NEW DELHI: India's government has asked Rahul Gandhi, the president of the main opposition Congress party, to respond to a complaint by a lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party accusing him of holding dual British citizenship against Indian law.Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has dominated Indian politics for much of its history since independence from Britain in 1947, is the main challenger to Modi in the 39-day general election that began on Apr 11. Results will be known on May 23.Congress dismissed a notice sent to 48-year-old Gandhi, who has studied and worked in England, by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday as a "pathetic stunt that is not just frivolous but downright stupid".The notice was based on a letter from Subramanian Swamy, an outspoken member of parliament from Modi's nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Swamy has for long cited what he calls annual reports and other documents from 2005, 2006 and 2009 of a UK-registered … [Read more...] about Are you British? India government asks Modi’s main election rival, Gandhi, to respond
India’s rich and famous vote in general elections
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI : Some of India's richest families and Bollywood stars voted early yesterday in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country as the fourth phase of a massive, staggered general election got underway. More than 127 million people are eligible to vote in this round of the seven-phase election held across 71 seats in nine states. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's coalition won more than 75 per cent of the seats in the previous election in 2014. Many of the constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh state in the north and western India's Maharashtra, where the financial capital Mumbai is located. Uttar Pradesh elects the most MPs, with Maharashtra next, and both states are ruled by Mr Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, political analysts say the BJP may struggle to repeat its strong showing this time due mainly to a jobs shortage and weak farm prices, issues upon which the main opposition Congress Party has seized. Mumbai, which has six seats, is India's … [Read more...] about India’s rich and famous vote in general elections
Slum dogs line up with billionaires as India votes
India’s film and finance capital took centre stage in the fourth of seven rounds of voting with 72 constituencies across the nation taking part. Final results are to be released on May 23. At least 40,000 police and security personnel were deployed across the city of 20 million people while workers were given a holiday so they could vote for Mumbai’s six lawmakers. Long queues were waiting when the 10,000 polling stations opened at 7am (9.30am Thai time). Media scrums were set up at the stations where India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, Bollywood superstars including Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan, as well as Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar were due to vote. Former MP Priya Dutt, a member of one of India’s most famous acting families, is trying to make a comeback for the opposition Congress party in Mumbai after sitting in the Lok Sabha assembly – the country’s lower house of parliament – from 2005 to 2009. Award-winning actress … [Read more...] about Slum dogs line up with billionaires as India votes