India among its top 3 markets: Nokia phone maker HMD Global

HMD Global, which designs and sells Nokia brand of smartphones and feature phones, on Tuesday said India has become one of its top three global markets within 11 months of launch.

HMD Global is also pumping in significant investment into the Indian market as it looks to become one of the leading players in the country in the next 3-5 years.

"We started our journey very short 11 months ago... India is already among our top 3 markets... There is a potential in India to become our biggest country...because of the country size and also combination of our position as Nokia in the past," HMD Global CEO Florian Seiche told PTI.

He added that the company has introduced a line-up of 11 devices -- both feature and smartphones -- across various price points to cater to various consumer segments in the country.

The other two top markets for HMD are Russia and Indonesia.

HMD Global today launched Nokia 2, its most affordable smartphone that will be available from mid-November. While the exact price was not disclosed, Seiche said it is expected to retail at about 99 euros (nearly Rs 7,500).

The handset features a 5-inch display and 4,100 mAh battery that HMD claims will last for two days.

"USD 100-150 price point is one of the most popular segments and is 17 per cent of the global market volume. In India, this segment is even bigger at 30 per cent of the volume," he said.

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Donald Trump won't go to DMZ during South Korea visit: White House

US President Donald Trump will not be going to the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the Korean peninsula when he visits South Korea next week, a senior administration official said today.

The decision to skip the DMZ at a time of high tensions with nuclear-armed North Korea was attributed to time constraints.

"The president is not going to visit the DMZ, there is not enough time in the schedule," the official said.

Trump, who departs Friday on a five-nation Asian tour with world attention on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, will instead visit Camp Humphreys, which is south of Seoul and away from the DMZ, the official said.

The DMZ, a razor's edge separating North and South Korean forces, is a common stop for visiting presidents and other high-level US officials wanting to see one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints.

But the senior administration official downplayed the decision not to go.

"We just had Secretary Mattis there last week, we had Vice-President Pence there earlier this year," the official said, referring to Pentagon chief Jim Mattis and Trump's number two, Mike Pence.

"It's becoming a little bit of a cliche, frankly.
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Indian, Chinese troops hold border meet in Arunachal Pradesh

Democracy without dignity: A Confucian critique of Donald Trump

The events of recent weeks have marked the point of absolute contrast between the world’s two most important countries and their leaders.

In China, President Xi Jinping has consolidated his power throughout the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), beginning with the bravura performance of a three-and-a-half hour opening speech, during which he sipped on not a drop of water.

By the end of the Congress, he was confirmed in his position for another five years, his supporters were elected to key government positions and his thinking was established as part of the CPC’s ruling doctrine for decades to come.

On the other side of the Pacific, witness the continuing omni-shambles of the Trump administration, now officially embroiled in a criminal investigation as it seemingly stumbles from scandal to scandal, one tweet at a time:
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Patidar-Congress meet ends without agreement on quota for Patels

Members of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti met Gujarat Congress leaders today but no agreement could be reached on the assurance about quotas for the Patels, a precondition set by PAAS leader Hardik Patel for extending support to the party in the Assembly polls.

After the meeting at the Congress's state headquarters which lasted three hours, PAAS leaders said they will hold another round of discussion by November 7 to resolve the issue.

Hardik Patel, who skipped the meeting, said the next round of negotiations will be the final.

"If we have been fighting for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for two-and-a-half years, then waiting for a few days is no a big deal. But the next meeting on the issue will be the last and final," he told reporters.

Hardik Patel had last Saturday threatened to disrupt Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's proposed rally in Surat if the main opposition party in Gujarat did not make clear how it will provide quotas to the Patidar community. However, today he said he will not oppose Rahul Gandhi's rally.

Gandhi is scheduled to campaign in poll-bound Gujarat from November 1 to 3. Patel said he will take the final call on meeting Gandhi after consulting the core committee of the PAAS.
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Russia-backed US election posts reached 126 million US users: Facebook

Internet giants were expected to tell Congress this week that Russian-backed content aimed at manipulating US politics during last year's election was more extensive than first thought.

Facebook, Google and Twitter were slated to share what they have learned so far from digging into possible connections between Russian entities and posts, ads, and even videos shared on YouTube.

Facebook will tell Congress that some 126 million US users, a potentially large portion of the voting public here, may have seen stories, posts or other content from Russian sources, according to tech news site Recode, the Wall Street Journal and other US media.

The reach is far broader than had originally been estimated by the world's leading social network.

Facebook did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

Google found that two accounts linked to the Internet Research Agency spent $4,700 on search and display ads during last year's US election cycle, Google general counsel Kent Walker and director of information security Richard Salgado said in a blog post.

The ads were not targeted based on which states people lived in or their apparent political leanings, the men said.
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Russian collusion probe: What charges against Manafort, Gates and Papadopoulos could mean for Trump

Five months into Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of cooperation between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, Americans are seeing the first legal maneuvers in the case.

Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates surrendered to U.S. District Court on Oct. 30, after being indicted by a grand jury. Both pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including conspiracy.

Hours later, we learned a foreign policy advisor to the campaign, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI earlier in the month.

What does all of this mean?

For those of us who study presidential elections and administrations, the indictments offer a first look at the tangled web of financial relationships among the Trump campaign staff, and a newly revealed effort by the Russians to share “dirt” – including thousands of emails – on Hillary Clinton.

What about George Papadopoulos?

The news that George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about meetings with individuals closely associated with the Russian government during the campaign is an important development in the ongoing investigation. It establishes an additional effort by Russia to contact the Trump campaign in an effort to help Trump win the presidency.

That we only learned about that plea today, when Special Counsel Robert Mueller is indicting Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, suggests Papadopoulos’s cooperation with the investigation is problematic for the president. Mueller filed a motion calling Papadopoulos a “proactive cooperator” and urged the court to maintain secrecy because Papadopoulos had agreed to provide information relevant to an ongoing investigation of Russian interference with the election.
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