The import tariff on touch panels has been of particular concern to manufacturers including Samsung.The industry is now set for a further boost under a broader National Policy on Electronics currently in the works..“Despite some improvement in exports since 2015, India still has a long way to become an export hub,” it said.A person familiar with the matter told Reuters Samsung had written to the government, and that the firm was investing in a touch panel assembly plant in India which would ready by the end of March 2020.Next month, Carbon Fiber Mold it will begin taxing imports of touch panels two months earlier than initially planned, sending mixed messages to handset manufacturers as setting up the means to assemble panels locally is a significant expense.”The ICEA, formerly the Indian Cellular Association, also called on the government to re-consider levying duties on new components, and allow for the local manufacture of parts already under the import tax regime to develop in a timely manner.“The next phase (of manufacturing) can now probably be driven by export incentives,” said Vikas Agarwal, India head of Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus, which is not an ICEA member..The South Korean firm has written to the federal government saying it cannot make two of its high-end models in India because of the tariff, the Economic Times reported this week.The ICEA confirmed it submitted the document.Other proposals from the body - which also counts Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Oppo and Foxconn among its members - include lower import taxes on capital goods such as machinery and ensuring manufacturers have access to low-cost capital.”In its document, ICEA proposed the government raise the export credit received on the value of mobile phone shipments to 8 percent from 4 percent. It also called for the introduction of a 5 percent export credit on services such as mobile apps.The government aims to export USD 9 billion worth of mobile phones in the year ending March 2020 from just USD 100 million in 2017, the ICEA said in a previous report.. “Back-and-forth in policy hurts investor sentiment and the country’s positioning as a destination to manufacture.“Consistency in policy is important for any industry to mature,” said Navkendar Singh, associate research director at consultancy International Data Corp.“
The eventual goal is to establish India as the preferred destination - and not just driven by duties, but by the opportunities in the Indian market.The government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign beginning 2014 and gradual tax increases on imports of mobile phone components have spurred the creation of more than 260 manufacturing units in the country and over 600,000 jobs, ICEA said.“As the country is nearing to achieve saturation point. Yet at the same time, the government also appears to be raising obstacles.That has helped India become the second-biggest producer of mobile phones after China, and prompted foreign smartphone makers such as Oppo and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd as well as contract manufacturers like Wistron Corp and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn) to ramp up production for phones primarily sold domestically.Samsung declined to comment.Smartphone makers in India are calling for export credits on devices and tariff cuts on machinery imports as part of measures they say will make Asia’s third-biggest economy a global smartphone manufacturing hub. The finance and technology ministries did not respond to requests for comment.The India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), whose members include some of the industry’s biggest names including Apple Inc, made the proposals in a 174-page document reviewed by Reuters and submitted to the government ahead of its annual budget announcement next week. without an export take off manufacturing growth cannot be sustained and accelerated,” the ICEA said in the document

This was only a week after he threatened on Twitter to unleash severe consequences on the country.Tokyo: Oil prices fell on Tuesday, with Brent futures set for their biggest monthly loss in two years, on oversupply concerns after a report showed OPEC’s output in July rose to its highest for 2018. “Inventory data is of uber-import right now.“Inventories are getting really tight at Cushing,” Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader said.Energy information company Genscape said that inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the WTI futures contract, rose almost 200,000 barrels, or nearly 1 per cent, from Tuesday to Friday last week, according to traders.For the month, Brent futures are set to drop 6.9 per cent to, the biggest monthly drop since March 2017.64 million bpd, the most this year.

The United States has indicated that it wants Iranian exports cut to zero under the sanctions it pledged to reintroduce in May and that would go fully into effect in November.OPEC hiked production by 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 32.6 per cent, to $74.6 per cent, at $69.While the market was softer on Tuesday, some support for prices might be found in inventory data to be released this week.September Brent crude futures fell 46 cents, or 0.US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) were down 43 cents, or 0.51 a barrel by 0356 GMT after rising nearly 1 per cent on Monday.Six analysts polled ahead of reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, and the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated, on average, that crude stocks fell about 3.5 per cent to $75.2 million barrels in the week ended July 27.  

The group has pledged to reduce the amount of oil output they are curtailing to offset the loss of Iranian supply as looming sanctions have already started to cut exports from OPEC’s third-largest producer.”The API is scheduled to release its data for last week at 4:30 pm EDT (2030 GMT) on Tuesday, and the EIA report is due at 10:30 am EDT on Wednesday.A Reuters survey showed the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) increased production China Compression Mould Manufacturers in July. The September contract expires today and the more-active October contract was down 0.20.US President Donald Trump appeared to soften his approach to Iran, saying on Monday he would meet with President Hassan Rouhani without any preconditions.

At the time the alliance with the far-right -- then led by the late, SS-admiring Joerg Haider -- ostracised Austria.Some 6.Pushing far-right themes, the ambitious politician wants to cut benefits for all foreigners and shut Islamic kindergartens.But its return may not trigger the same backlash now that nationalists have gained ground across Europe.Vienna: Austrians were voting Sunday in a snap election tipped to see conservative Sebastian Kurz, 31, become the EU China Thermoset mold Suppliers youngest leader and form # an alliance with the far-right, in the bloc's latest populist test.'Captures people.

Polls opened at 0400 GMT and close at 1500 GMT, with first estimates expected shortly afterwards."But the question is whether there is any getting around Strache after this election.Open hostility between the ex-railway chief and Kurz also makes any new attempt at ruling together seem unlikely.Experts say their union could turn Austria into a tricky partner for the bloc.Read: Austria polls: Right-wing wave approaching on Sunday?Founded by ex-Nazis, the FPOe almost won the presidency last year and topped opinion polls before Kurz stole votes with his radical OeVP makeover in spring.

Emperor Kurz’ on path to lead Austria"I am feeling optimistic," OeVP party volunteer Michael Brandstetter said in Vienna.Strache thinks Britain "will probably be better off after Brexit" and pushes for closer ties with eastern and central European countries.For his turquoise movement, he drew young candidates from outside politics and vowed to put "Austrians first" again."As foreign minister, Kurz claims credit for closing the so-called western Balkan migrant route in 2016, earning him praise at home.Kern, in office since last May, issued a final warning Saturday against a right-wing alliance, saying "Austria was at the most important crossroads in decades".The People's Party (OeVP) -- rebranded by Kurz as his personal "movement" -- is projected to reap more than 30 percent of the vote with pledges to go tough on migrants and easy on taxes.FPOe chief Heinz-Christian Strache, 48, railed against asylum-seekers and vowed to stop Austrians from "becoming a minority in our own homeland", at a rally late Friday.

The early parliamentary election was triggered after Kurz took over the OeVP in May and ended the bickering "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats."The Freedom Party as a government partner will not make a good impression in Europe (and) Kurz is aware of that," commented Der Standard newspaper Saturday.The OeVP and FPOe already shared power between 2000 and 2007.But all signs indicate that Austrians, fed up with a record influx of asylum-seekers, want to swap the gridlocked centrist rule for a more hardline government for the first time in a decade.The fresh-faced "whizz-kid" is likely to form a coalition with the eurosceptic Freedom Party (FPOe), forecast to place second or third with at least 25 percent.Vienna will hold the EU's presidency in the second half of 2018, just when Brussels wants to conclude Brexit talks in March 2019.Kurz and Strache also see eye-to-eye on lowering taxes, slashing Austria's red tape and keeping the EU more out of national affairs."  

"The way Kurz goes about things is what has captured people's minds.Meanwhile embattled Chancellor Christian Kern, 51, and his once-mighty Social Democrats (SPOe) could be flushed into opposition after their promising campaign suffered blunders and scandals.A rightward shift in the wealthy European Union member of 8.75 million people would be a fresh headache for Brussels, as it already struggles with Britain's decision to leave and the rise of nationalists in Germany, Hungary, Poland and elsewhere.

The agency explained it is seeking to cut costs on supply missions prior to the installation of a new module to expand the Russian section of the orbital lab at the end of 2017 or in early 2018.The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft carrying veteran Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA rookie Jack Fischer shot into the sky in bright conditions at 0713 GMT.Whitson also became the first woman to take charge of the ISS China Thermoforming Mould Suppliers twice, having inherited command of the lab for the first time from Yurchikhin in 2007.

France's Thomas Pesquet and Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos will be the next members of the ISS crew to return to Earth, with a landing scheduled for early June. Russia is currently the only country executing manned space flights to the ISS, despite its space industry having suffered a string of setbacks and launch failures in recent years.US President Donald Trump and daughter Ivanka Trump are expected to congratulate Whitson on her achievement in an Earth-to space call on Monday, according to NASA.

Fischer and Yurchikhin will be on board the ISS to witness Whitson break the 534-day American record for cumulative days in space previously held by Jeff Williams.Breaking recordsIn an emotional interview with NASA TV, Fischer, a 43-year-old former US air force pilot, said he would be "thinking about Dad" as he enters orbit.Yurchikhin and Fischer are set to complete a five-month mission at the station and should join three astronauts, including NASA's Peggy Whitson, on the orbital laboratory.

Yurchikhin, 58, has racked up 537 days in space over the course of four missions to the ISS, more than any US astronaut but some way short of the 879 days logged by record-holding compatriot Gennady Padalka.The ISS laboratory, a rare example of American and Russian international cooperation, has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometres per hour (17,000 miles per hour) since 1998. Another Russian-American duo, Yuri Malenchenko and Edward Lu, undertook the last two-man mission to the ISS, in April 2003. Manned launches to the ISS usually involve three crew members.

A Russian and an American blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, the first two-person launch to the International Space Station in over a decade.But Russian space agency Roscosmos announced last year that in the near future only two cosmonauts would be on board the ISS rather than three as has been the case in recent times. She will return to earth in early September with both Fischer and Yurchikhin after NASA decided to extend her stay in space by three months. When dying from cancer, Fischer said, his father encouraged him to pursue his dream of becoming an astronaut. Russian space agency Roscosmos said the launch had been successful and that the crew was expected to arrive at the ISS at 1323 GMT.

But a seemingly hostile environment has not detracted from the allure of Mars, with US President Barack Obama recently highlighting his pledge to send people to the planet by the 2030s. The prime contractor is Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales and Finmeccanica.The disc-shaped 577-kilogramme (1,272 lb) Schiaparelli lander separated from the spacecraft Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) at 1442 GMT as expected, starting a three-day descent to the surface.The disc-shaped 577-kilogramme (1,272 lb) Schiaparelli lander separated from the spacecraft Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) at 1442 GMT.A Mars lander left its mothership on October 16 after a seven-month journey from Earth and headed towards the red planet's surface to test technologies for Europe's planned first Mars rover, which will search for signs of past and present life.

"On the side of (Schiaparelli) I would say that the separation was a success," Paolo Ferri, head of mission operations at ESA, told Reuters TV at ESA's Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, after it had been confirmed that the lander had split from the TGO.The second part of the ExoMars mission, delayed to 2020 from 2018, will deliver a European rover to the surface of Mars.

The ExoMars 2016 mission is led by the European Space Agency (ESA), with Russia's Roscosmos supplying the launcher and two of the four scientific instruments on the trace gas orbiter.  

It will be the first with the ability to both move across the planet's surface and drill into the ground to collect and analyse samples.Scientists believe that methane, a chemical that on Earth is strongly tied to life, could stem from micro-organisms that either became extinct millions of years ago and left gas frozen below the planet's surface, or that some methane-producing organisms still survive.4 billion).The cost of the ExoMars mission to ESA, including the second part due in 2020, is expected to be about 1. Russia's contribution comes on top of that.

The primary goal of ExoMars is to find out whether life has ever existed on Mars.Landing on Mars, Earth's neighbour some 35 million miles (56 million km) away, is a notoriously difficult task that has bedevilled most Russian efforts and given NASA trouble as well.Schiaparelli, part of the European-Russian ExoMars programme, represents only the second European attempt to land a craft on Mars, after a failed mission by Britain's Beagle 2 in 2003.Elon Musk's SpaceX is developing a massive rocket and capsule to transport large numbers of people and cargo to Mars with the ultimate goal of colonizing the planet, with Musk saying he would like to launch the first crew as early as 2024.  

Entry, descent and landing will take less than six minutes. The current spacecraft, TGO, carries an atmospheric probe to study trace gases such as methane around the planet.Signals received from TGO, which is to orbit Mars and sniff out gases around the planet, did not China Thermoset mold Manufacturers at first contain data on the lander's onboard status, but the European Space Agency (ESA) later said the link with the craft had been restored.3 billion euros ($1.Schiaparelli will reach the atmosphere of Mars on October 19, and will use a parachute and thrusters to slow its descent from a speed of nearly 21,000 kilometres per hour before touching down on the planet's surface