KNOWLEDGE TREK

India has ordered a ban on a total of 59 Chinese apps including viral short-form video platform, TikTok, and social network, WeChat. The country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology claims these apps were “engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state and public order.” The ministry, in a press release, further adds that these apps pose a threat to Indians’ data security and privacy. While it didn’t share the basis of these accusations, it said the action was taken based on several reports that suggested these platforms were “surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.” Online multiplayer strategy game, Clash of Kings, and document scanning app, CamScanner are also part of the ban. The complete list can be found here. The Indian government didn’t say how it plans to enforce this ban. However, hours after it was announced,

Advertising and creating visibility to your brand in a highly cluttered market is important to create top-of-mind recall in the mind of consumers. The pandemic has ushered in a new normal, in every sphere. If there is one thing the pandemic and the lockdown has brought to fore is self-reliance, putting the spotlight on local produce. As the decibel around ‘vocal for local’ gains momentum and with the government giving the necessary impetus, support, and resources to fuel local production of goods, it will only be a matter of time before we become completely self-reliant. Many home-grown brands are occupying spaces in our homes while also gaining global acceptance. Around 70 percent of India's economy constitutes family-run businesses, be it small Kirana stores or large conglomerates. Marketing and advertising have a significant role to play in giving impetus to the ‘vocal for local’ movement. There is a famous saying, “Doing business without advertising is like winking in the dark.

As the news grows steadily more grim along the Indian and Chinese border in Eastern Ladakh near the Line of Actual Control, where 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a skirmish with Chinese forces, triggering nationwide grieving, netizens from Taiwan and Hong Kong have come out in India’s support. An illustration went viral on Hong Kong social media platform lihkg, which showed Rama aiming an arrow at a Chinese dragon beside the words, “We conquer, we kill”. The image was picked up by Taiwan News, which made it their ‘Photo of the day’. Following this, it went viral on Indian Twitter, making #Taiwan one of the top-trending hashtags briefly. “Thank you, Taiwan” read a tweet by one Twitter user, which was then retweeted thousands of times. A post with the image was one of the top threads , with many users sharing pro-India images, and several posts on the platform in support of India. Some pointed out India’s historic role as part of the military police in Hong Kong during the British-rule

The ongoing military standoffs with China at multiple points along the India-China border has turned the spotlight to the single most important element that has helped keep the peace across the Himalayas: the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Yet, what exactly the LAC is remains a source of much confusion. One possible reason for the confusion is that in the public imagination, it is sometimes spoken of in the same breath with that other contested three-letter abbreviation that is often in the news: the Line of Control (LoC) that separates India and Pakistan. They are different in one crucial way. With Pakistan, India has an international boundary, which has been agreed upon, and the LoC, which has been delineated on a map by both sides. In contrast, the alignment of the LAC has never been agreed upon, and it is has neither been delineated nor demarcated. There is no official map in the public domain that depicts the LAC. It can best be thought of as an idea, reflecting the territories tha