Retail Chronicles February 2021

Retail

Chronicles Monthly Newsletter | Volume 6 | Issue 2 | February 2021

CONTENTS 03

IMPACT OF INDIA-CHINA RELATIONS ON TRADE AND COMMERCE

After the faceoff in the Galwan Valley and alleged occupation of Indian territory, there are feelings of hostility and bitterness between the two nations

06

10

14

18

FIREWALL-A PATH TO CYBER SECURITY A hardware device that analyzes incoming and outgoing network traffic and, based on predetermined rules, creates a barrier to block viruses and attackers.

INDIA USA RELATION India bilateral trade in goods and services reached $149 billion. U.S. energy exports are an important area of growth in the trade relationship.

INDIA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ENGLAND AND ITS IMPACT ON INDIAN BUSINESSES From being a former colony to one of the major trading partners, India-UK relations have come a long way, and this relationship is only strengthening further.

INDIAN ELEPHANT TO THE LAND OF SAKURA Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru donated an Indian elephant to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo

WRITERS Shikha | Prince Gada | Shubham Bhandari | Prasoon Gupta | Riya Shah |

SENIOR DESIGN TEAM Ayush Goyal | Jeet Doshi | Pushpak Holani | Shikhar Gupta |

JUNIOR DESIGN TEAM Nilesh Agarwal | Prachi Sharma | Prashant Sihag | Shivani Kunkolienkar | Sneha Patel |

EDITING TEAM Abhishek Wakode

SHIKHA MBA C

NITHIN B MBA

Retail Chronicles | Page 3

october, 2020

China and India have been going through a rather rough phase for almost a year now.

After the faceoff in the Galwan Valley and alleged occupation of Indian territory, there are feelings of hostility and bitterness between the two nations and their citizens.

An expansionistic move by China at the Actual Line of Control (LAC) amid the Covid19 pandemic encouraged the Indian Government to caution the country’s businesses to become self-dependent in terms of input raw materials and export in countries other than China to build pressure on the neighboring country.

They are being encouraged to source locally and promote local businesses rather than importing from outside the country. The Indian government's move to promote “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” movement is to caution the Chinese government knows the “consequences” of meddling with India. The future of India’s MSME sector depends on the tensions between the two countries, which accounts for over 40 per cent of the country’s exports, and contributes 30 per cent to India’s GDP growth. This situation can be leveraged by the MSMEs Retail Chronicles | Page 4

because they can now cover the gap being created by the trade-off by discouraging Chinese imports in different ways. An import duty hike or non-tariff barriers can make input cost for raw materials expensive by 10 per cent to 40 per cent.

The Indian MSMEs make better quality products as compared to the sub-standard quality products from Chinese imports and this will be a way to establish dominance in the unorganized retail sector. Sustainable credit flow and technological development will help the new companies enter the manufacturing sector in India as they leave China over criticism from countries for Covid-19 pandemic.

The tension between India and China can result in India developing capabilities to produce raw materials and end-product within the country which can be done by taking benefits of the incentives by the government to the MSMEs. India can also attract enough foreign capital to be able to turn into a literal export hub a lot like China. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop at par with China .

February, 2021

China and cannot be missed by the Indian businesses.

There are other Asian countries like Vietnam, South Korea and Taiwan that the big companies are looking to relocate to after leaving China. India can compete with these nations by quickly advancing in technology and understanding the global requirements and the Indian MSMEs are very agile in terms of adapting because of the challenges brought forth by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indian government needs to understand that the Indian businesses are too dependent on Chinese imports for their raw material to be completely abandoned all at once. There needs to be a transition in a phased manner from China to other countries and also selfreliant capacity needs to be built along side.

Indian MSMEs are trying very hard to sustain in this hostile and uncertain environment after the pandemic swept everything away,but the ones that adopt technology as a front runner will win the race.Financing, logistics,

Retail Chronicles | Page 5

invoicing etc. has to be tech-driven in order to compete with their Chinese counterparts and adoption should be very quick as china is already leaps and bounds ahead of us.

The MSMEs should comply with the regulations set forth by the government and also go with trusted financing companies that have experience dealing with partners worldwide for credit.

India’s total trade with China declined $16.55 billion in April-June 2020-21 from $21.42 billion in April-June 2019-20. This trade deficit could further reduce with lesser dependence on imports in sectors such as pharmaceutical, textiles, electronics, chemicals, automotive components, agriculture-based products, etc. However, snapping all trade ties with China is easier said than done. To use the twin opportunity of national protectionism and the worldwide unrest with China on handling the coronavirus situation, Indian MSMEs need to get to action now.

February, 2021

FIREWALL: A PATH TO CYBER SECURITY Retail Chronicles | Page 6

PRINCE GADA - MBA RM

February, 2021

‘Internet’ has proven to be a boon for the people of the 21st century. Since its time of inception, the Internet has continuously evolved the way of exchange of information used to take place in this world. It has fastened the process of globalisation by facilitating better exchange of information and integration of systems. It has enlightened societies, lifted many people out of poverty and improved the social-economic status of the world in general. As the internet went onto spread across the world so did the rise of big tech companies having the technology of the internet at the core of its product. This mass acceptance of the general public led to the fast, exponential and unplanned growth of these tech companies and internet services.

The word ‘unplanned’ was mentioned in the sentence because the governments all around the world couldn’t bring them under the jurisdiction of the current legislation and till date they are figuring it out as to how they can regulate these services in the interest of the consumer and the society in general. Along with the benefits offered by the Internet, there are also significant risks that have drawn the world’s attention. These threats include cyber attacks, data theft, privacy breach and Retail Chronicles | Page 7

systematic brainwashing of people on social media through targeting. With cloud storage services being increasingly adopted, it is an important question who owns the data, whether it’s secured and whether any other party has access over it.If a person who has subscribed to these services has read the agreement while signing up then he or she should definitely be concerned about these issues .The need for regulation is necessary and has arisen because of the vices of the internet along with its virtues. We will explain to you about these threats and repercussions along with examples in detail in the following section of the article.

Spread of Internet, its associated risks and need for legislation -: Today in the modern economy the internet has enabled businesses, people and governments to overcome the inherent difficulties of geographical reach, time availability, information sharing, access to information and accountability. There are universal applications like Facebook, twitter, Amazon, Google, Yahoo and so many others along with websites of various organisations including government organisations.

February, 2021

On one hand it has made the lives of people easier and convenient, but on other hand it has kept people and organisations exposed to data theft, privacy breach and cyber attacks. With the technology of the internet being evolved through the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, the internet has become much more susceptible to the above mentioned risks. Again it is to be clarified that the intention of the article is not to denigrate the benefits of the internet just as medical books while speaking about the diseases do not do the same about the benefits of good health. The intention of this article is to make readers aware and provide them the ability to envisage the ways through which they can protect their systems as it has been predicted that the technology of the internet will penetrate and have its use in almost all the spheres of life as shown in the following visual

The need to identify and immediately take steps to fill the present gaps in the systems has not felt more than the current times.

There are various reasons to this assertion as explained below -: Cambridge Analytica Scandal -: This is a scandal where Facebook allegedly exchanged its user data with the UK based analytical firm named as ‘Cambridge Analytica’ which then used that data to Retail Chronicles | Page 8

understand the minds of the U.S voters and manipulate their opinion through targeting of posts and theories. This was done in order to turn the outcome of the U.S presidential election of 2016 allegedly in favour of Donald Trump. Such scandals had shaken the confidence of people around the world in free, fair elections and in turn had threatened the freedom guaranteed by the system of democracy.

Phishing attacks -: Today, e-commerce and digital transactions in India comprises 14-15% of the total Indian economy. With so much of user information being passed on to a third party on a regular basis, there needs to be some sort of legislation which can compensate the consumer in case of loss due to data theft from the third party.

Data Centres -: The government of India has banned around 200 apps of Chinese origins citing privacy issues and threat to national security due to misuse of the available data to these app providers. The United States of America did the same with few of the Chinese apps and also barred the tech hardware and software vendor Huawei to do business in their country. Although the moves may seem political but the concerns are genuine in nature i.e data collection and its storage.

The consumers are widely using the cloud storage services whose data centers are located in different countries than that of the user in most cases. In these cases, the consumer has technically no legal redressal system available at his/her disposal and no one has the accountability to protect the user data. Countries are slowly recognising the loophole and mandating the use of domestic data centers so as to enable better user data protection.

February, 2021

Loss to the economy -: A study conducted by the National Cyber Security coordinator has concluded that loss due to stoppage of operations due to cyber attacks is estimated at ₹1.25 lakh crore in 2019. This loss could have been mitigated if we had laws that provided for compensation and strict penalties for non adherence.

The above were only some of the reasons for the need of data protection laws. This need has been felt the most in 2020 due to widespread shift of businesses and organisations to digital means of functioning as a response to the challenges posed by the pandemic. Let's now study the steps taken by India in this direction viz a viz some of the major governments in the world .Data Protection Laws around the world -: It is to be noticed that as far as data security and privacy are concerned, the European Union has been the most proactive on this front with a full fledged regulation governing the flow of data in its region through the legislation called “General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)”.

In India, there is no direct law governing data privacy but there are related legislation that have applications in the areas of data security and privacy like the Indian Contract Act ,1872 , The Information and Technology Act, 2000 and several other rules and guidelines.The United States of America due to its federal system of government has struggled to implement a nationwide common data protection laws which will be same across all the states. The issue of laws on data protection, cyber security and privacy are universal issues due presence of common platforms across the nations.

Retail Chronicles | Page 9

Therefore it will be productive that nations come together and frame an internationally common law through the forums like the UN and The WTO. Data security and privacy laws are required to boost the confidence of people in the technology of the internet and allow them to use it to make their lives better. Although the laws once implemented does not guarantee the stoppage of cyber attacks but it will hinder them to some extent. Maximum Cyber security can be ensured through technologies of artificial intelligence and machine learning over the time.

Both the governments and the consumer need to be proactive and cautious while dealing online and understand the limitations of technology to avoid problems.

We can’t stop the increasing reliance on technology as people are lazy and once they find an easy way it’s difficult for all of us to leave that habit. So this leaves with the only choice for the government and people to be vigilant and proactive in order to ensure that the technology is used for the betterment of the global community and not for its destruction.

February, 2021

INDIA USA Relation Shubham Bhandari MBA RM

Retail Chronicles | Page 10

February, 2021

Introduction India-US relations got strategic content in the early 1960s. After the end of the cold war, Indian and American interests converged in a number of areas, including counterterrorism, promotion of democracy, counter-proliferation, freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean, and the balance of power in Asia.

India offers tremendous business opportunities to the US in various sectors such as manufacturing, and the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a "unique" opportunity to the country to work with America in building resilient and reliable supply chains that will have the ability to bear future shocks, eminent speakers told a virtual forum ahead of the India Subcontracting Expo.

The U.S.-India partnership is founded on a shared commitment to freedom, Retail Chronicles | Page 11

democratic principles, equal treatment of all citizens, human rights, and the rule of law. The United States and India have shared interests in promoting global security, stability, and economic prosperity through trade, investment, and connectivity. In December 2019, the United States hosted the second 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Washington led by the US Secretaries of State and Defence and their Indian counterparts. Both sides reaffirmed India's status as a Major Defence Partner and deepened cooperation on maritime security, interoperability, and information sharing.

President Biden's Administration: With Joe Biden elected as the president of the US, optimism reigns in India. India and the US are concerned about the growing maritime February, 2021

presence and influence of China. Indians are optimistic that the visa requirements for Indian immigration will ease under Biden's administration. India would also hope for an entry into the nuclear suppliers' group. Vice president Kamala Harris expressed concerns about the situation in Kashmir in 2019 when she was a senator. Biden is likely to be less obtrusive than the Trump administration.

From June 2019, President Trump removed India from countries eligible for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), thus reinstating tariffs on certain Indian imports. India's key asks from the incoming Biden administration would be the restoration of GSP benefits.

Biden has sharply criticized Trump's policies of off-shoring and overseas investment.

Trump's "America First" has also come under a lot of fire as this has resulted in America exiting the global stage and strained partnerships with other major economies of the world like Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Biden, on the other hand, initiated the "Buy America" campaign, and he in his campaign mentioned "Made in all of America by all of the American workers", where he envisions that with a smart investment in manufacturing and technology coupled with American innovation, many of the products that are being imported specially from China can be made in America.

Economy:

Trade:

Due to Covid-19, many countries including America, have decided to move their production facilities and cut ties with China.

India, with its size and capacity, is the only country in Asia that can counter China.

Because of that, India becomes a great option for companies to shift their facilities here. With the US-China conflict and China unveiling their ambition to equal if not overtake the US as a global superpower in 2049, India's value has increased. India will be a partner and not a rival.

Regardless of who has been in power in Washington or Delhi, India's relations with the US have largely remained politically smooth over the past two decades – with the only wrinkle being in trade and immigration issues.

Biden published a 'Made in America' plan that proposes restricting buying of steel, cement, concrete, building materials, and equipment from abroad. A Wall Street Journal report notes that the Biden and Trump administrations' biggest difference

Retail Chronicles | Page 12

February, 2021

The United States seeks an expanded trade relationship with India that is reciprocal and fair. In 2019, overall U.S.-India bilateral trade in goods and services reached $149 billion. US energy exports are an important area of growth in the trade relationship.

What Could Happen? would be on trade relations with allies. With his self-declared focus on rebuilding the COVID-19 hit economy, Biden's focus will certainly be on shoring up American firms.

India has been in a Trade surplus with the US over the past 20 years. The trade surplus was $5.2 Billion in 2001-2002 but has increased tremendously to $17 Billion in the year 2019-20.

Retail Chronicles | Page 13

India's hope from the incoming Biden Administration would be to restore GSP benefits and the removal of tariffs from aluminum and steel. Even though there is a limited scope of that happening in the near future. A new United States Trade Representative (USTR) set to take charge will review all foreign governments' talks first.

February, 2021

India’s Relationship with England and its impact on Indian Businesses

PRASOON GUPTA MBA RM Retail Chronicles | Page 14

February, 2021

“In global Politics, there are no permanent friends, or permanent enemies; only permanent interests.”

The same can be said for India England Relationship, India a country that was once a part of England’s Colonial Rule and fought for its Independence is now an important trading partner of the UK. History of INDIA-UK Relationship India and the UK have been trading goods and commodities between them since the 1600s, With the entry of The East India Company in the 1600s, India became a key exporter of Silk and spices to the UK till the end of Mughal rule in India which resulted in the start of British Raj in India. With the start of the British raj, Trade dynamics changed between both countries with Britain being in a dominant position pushed its finished products into India making India the key importer of British Goods,

Retail Chronicles | Page 15

while India only exported raw materials to the British at a substantially low rate which proved to be the exponential factor in the growth of Industries in the UK, fueling the growth of the UK economy during the Industrial Revolution.

Post-Independence After India’s Independence from Britain in 1947, the India-UK relationship has changed a lot, but still, England remained a key partner for investment in India despite being a negative review of England in the eyes of Indians. England was one of the top investors in India.

India after its Independence tried to maintain its relationship with other countries rather than depending on the UK alone. Indian Diaspora is a major factor driving India UK relationship, after Independence, many Indians settled in the UK since the entry of people from Commonwealth countries was

February, 2021

us to the EU, that is the UK.” Despite Britain being India’s 12th largest trade partner well below many countries like Germany and Switzerland, there are more than 800 Indian Companies operating in the UK employing over more than 1,10,000 people more than any other European Country.

Brexit and its impact on India

unrestricted till 1962 and there was an immediate need for labor in the UK due to World War, leading to the increased Indian Diaspora in the UK. Till 1962, there were more than 1,66,000 Indian people who migrated to the UK and UK has the third-largest Indian Diaspora around the world holding key positions in both British politics as well as Businesses. This diaspora has played a key role in developing relationships between India and UK.

In June 2016, after a long discussion Britain has gone into a referendum on Britain’s exit from European Union.

Around 52% of Britain’s citizens voted in favor of exiting from the European Union as a member, and the term “Brexit” came into existence which means the exit of Britain from the

European Union a key player between India Britain Relationship India’s UK relationship has been governed by many factors, but Britain being an EU member gave a different approach to India’s relationship with the UK. Being a member of the EU, Britain enjoyed free trade in EU member countries, making Britain to be the permanent player and a perfect gateway for many Indian companies to operate in the European market. As PM Modi also said in 2015 that “As far as India is concerned, if there is an entry point for

Retail Chronicles | Page 16

February, 2021

European Union. Being a European Union member offers Britain many benefits including free trade across European Union Members which is also a key reason for India-UK Relationship as Britain proved to be the entry point for Indian Companies into European Markets. India now needs to assess the benefits before going into a deal with the UK.

and Britain around half of which is going to be free of tariffs and quotas but still, it needs to pass through customs and extra paperwork, which in turn is a benefit for India as India is in talks with both EU and the European Union regarding Free Trade Agreements, and if this turns out to be fruitful, India can benefit from it. Also, according to some Experts, Brexit will weaken the bargaining power of the UK and it will give India an upper hand while signing What’s in it for India? deals with the UK. India is starting to be a manufacturing hub that can export It is too soon to expect what can be the goods to Britain giving a boost to the benefits for the Indian market due to Indian Economy.

Brexit as Britain is the first country to exit from European Union. European Union accounts for 47% (Around $900 Billion) of Britain’s total trade and in the new deal signed between the EU

Retail Chronicles | Page 17

February, 2021

Indian elephant to the land of Sakura

Riya Shah MBA B Retail Chronicles | Page 18

February, 2021

A brief history In 467 AD, five Buddhist monks armed with scriptures and illustrations left Gandhara, a region in India, with the aim of introducing Buddhism in Japan. Their historic meeting with the Emperor set off the first of the many impacts Indian culture was to have on Japan in the coming centuries. India and Japan formally signed a peace treaty in 28th April 1952, and established diplomatic relations which can be traced back to the year 1949 when the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru donated an Indian elephant to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo in the hopes of lifting the spirits of the Japanese people who were still coming to terms with their World War II defeat. Later on, India’s iron ore acted as a catalyst to Japan’s post-world war recovery.

Investment Japan returned the favor by becoming a key participant in India’s economic transformation. In 2014, this friendship between the two countries was elevated to a Special Strategic and Global Partnership during the Japan – India Summit. Prime Retail Chronicles | Page 19

Minister Shinzo Abe also pledged to realize public and private investments worth JPY 3.5 trillion and doubling of the number of Japanese companies in India over the next five years. During 2000–2019, Japan was the 3rd largest investor in the Indian economy with cumulative FDI inflows amounting to $30.27 bn, contributing about 7.2% to India's total FDI inflows.

These investments underwent a great change in recent years, shifting from automobiles and telecommunications to retail, textile, consumer durables, food & beverages, and banking. As of 2019, the imports to India stood at $12.77 bn, making Japan India's 14th largest import partner. Currently, Japanese private-sector's interest in India is rising.

Additionally, Japanese companies have successfully established 1,454 branches in India.

Infrastructure Japan is also helping India out in the matters related to infrastructure as seen by the technical assistance and the know-how provided by it for Phase I of the Delhi Metro February, 2021

Project. Japan also greatly facilitated The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet-train project, which was launched during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India in September 2017. Japan is funding about 80% of the project through a soft loan. The bullet train will be built on the basis of theJapanese model Shinkansen, which can run up to a speed of 320 kilometres per hour.

Disaster Risk Reduction India and Japan are two of Asia’s most ancient civilizations and both of them have had their fair share of disasters, both small and large-scale. Accordingly, in September 2017, at the time of the 12th Japan-India Summit, a Memorandum of Cooperation on Disaster Risk Reduction was signed between India and Japan. Under the memorandum, a workshop was to be organized with the aim to discuss DRR, with special emphasis on earthquake safety. India hosted the first two-day workshop where the Japanese shared their experience with such policies, including the legal frameworks, preparations for mega-scale disasters working together with the government, citizens and academia for the country.

Retail Chronicles | Page 20

Towards the future In 2020, with the change in leadership from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, it is possible that there might be some shifts in the dynamic. It cannot be denied that the former Prime Minister Abe had “a special affinity” towards India, with India being at the center of several projects under the former PM. Now, with the delay in the bilateral summit, it is to be seen whether the expected military developments will be fulfilled along with continuation in this time-honored relationship.

February, 2021

/retaillabsimsr @Retail_Lab @Retail_Lab