CAIT launches national campaign today to boycott Chinese goods by releasing face masks and tea glasses for trains

 

In view of China's persistent anti-India attitude, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) today launched a national campaign for boycott of Chinese goods across the country, The campaign titled "Indian Goods- Our Pride" aims to achieve reduction in imports of Chinese manufactured goods by 1 lakh crore ( 13bn USD) by December 2021. *Today the entire world has been deeply affected due to this unprecedented Global Pandemic Corona which has adversely impacted the life and livelihood of every human in terms of health and economy. China is responsible for this catastrophe and it was their inability to contain the virus that has led to this situation. In the wake of this, there is a strong resentment and anti- China mood among the citizens of India and the world, which is one of the driving force behind this campaign.* This campaign of CAIT is an important step towards making the call for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Vocal for Local" and "AatmanirbharBharat " successful. In the first phase of this campaign, CAIT has made a list of 3000 items which are currently imported from China and which are easily replaceable by Indian manufactured goods. CAIT will make traders and people across the country aware that instead of Chinese goods, Indian products should be sold and bought.

 

National President of CAIT Mr. BC Bhartia and National Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal in a video press conference held in New Delhi today that also included prominent business leaders from all the states of the country, said that there are four types of imports from China to India. The goods which are imported include finished goods, raw materials, spare parts and technology products. CAIT has decided to boycott finished goods imported from China in the first phase.

 

At the conference, Mr. Bhartia and Mr. Khandelwal released a face mask and a glass for drinking tea and water during catering in the rail, on which the message of CAIT's campaign "Indian goods - our Pride" is engraved and said that traders will promote this campaign wearing this mask, on the other hand, by December,2020 about 5 crore glasses will be distributed in all the Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains for catering purpose, through which the message of the campaign of CAIT will be sent to every corner of the country. In the beginning of this campaign, the railway catering company RK Group and Sankalp Foundation have collaborated with CAIT becoming its first partners. Similarly CAIT will connect with a large number of organizations and other institutions across the country.

 

Mr. Bhartia and Mr. Khandelwal said that in the year 2001, the import of Chinese goods into India was only $ 2 billion, which has now increased to $ 70 billion at present which means that imports from China increased by 3500 percent in only 20 years.  This clearly shows that under a well thought out strategy, China is trying to gain control over India's retail market, which Indian businessmen and citizens will not allow to succeed in any case. He said that for the last four years, CAIT has been carrying out a campaign for boycott of Chinese commodities from time to time, the positive result of which is that China's imports in India have decreased by $ 6 billion in the last two years. In the year 2018, this import was 76 billion dollars which is currently 70 billion dollars.

 

 Mr. Bhartia and Mr. Khandelwal acknowledged that India's trade and industry in the last ten years ignored the increasing penetration of Chinese goods in India and did not try to create any alternative to these goods, while the governments also failed in this matter. They did not understand the intentions of China to occupy India's trade, due to which no policy was made about the options in the country.  Now we have understood this issue and will start talking to the government on the issue of making sufficient quantities of Indian goods as a strong substitute for Chinese products and as a strategy, India's small scale industries will be necessarily enriched in this matter.

 

Both business leaders said that in view of the current circumstances of the corona epidemic in the country, this campaign will be currently run on video conferences and social media, especially on Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp!  More than 40 thousand merchant organizations and 7 crore traders associated with them will participate in this campaign. Under this, a massive public awareness campaign will be launched among the traders and customers. He said that the traders are the first contact point for the 130 crore citizens of India and with this view, traders will also give a message of boycott of Chinese goods to the customers visiting their shops.

मनोज तिवारी की जगह आदेश गुप्ता बने दिल्ली बीजेपी अध्यक्ष - Adesh Gupta replaced Delhi BJP President in place of Manoj Tiwari

Delhi BJJP News: मनोज तिवारी को हटाए गया , अब आदेश गुप्ता नई  दिल्ली बीजेपी अध्यक्ष के रूप में  नियुक्त
मनोज तिवारी को दिल्ली बीजेपी ने बड़ा झटका दिया । बीजेपी अध्यक्ष जेपी नड्डा ने मनोज तिवारी को हटाकर आदेश गुप्ता को दिल्ली का प्रदेश अध्यक्ष बना दिया है।

दिल्ली चुनाव में भारी हार की वजह हो सकती है मनोज तिवारी को हटाना 

CAIT URGE HOME MINISTER AMIT SHAH TO REVISE SHOP WORKING HOURS ACROSS COUNTRY

After the corona lock down, now that markets are open all over the Country and a very low amount of business  has begun in the markets, the change in working hours of shops has emerged as one important issue among the trading community which has prompted the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) to sent a communication to the Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah today urging him to revise the working hours of the shops from current 10am to 7pm to 9am to 4pm and also revise the Banking hours to 11am to 5pm. This change will bring an end to "peak hours" concept in traffic whereas it will also be beneficial for the environment and on the other side, the risk of untoward incidents by anti-social elements could also be curtailed to a great extent. The CAIT is holding daily video conferences with trade leaders of different States from 25th March on a regular basis and this suggestion of revising the working hours has erupted on the basis of conversations with trade leaders of the Country. The CAIT has also said that some traders may have different opinions on this subject, but now this change is very important to fulfill the obligations towards family and also to meet social, religious and family obligations by the traders.

National President of CAIT, Mr. B.C. Bhartia and Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal in communication sent to Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah said that traders from all over the country without having any support from the Government particularly post Independence, the 7 crore traders with their hard work have been able to generate an annual turnover of India's retail trade upto Rs. 50 lakh crore but due to the circumstances arising out of the lock-down caused by Corona, there is a need to change the current business model of the Country's retail market, which will be now based on business discipline, complying laws, linking business with digital technology, customer satisfaction and priority to family shall be the guiding principles. Therefore, the revision in working hours is the first fundamental change which is highly required. Not only the traders but even their employees will also be greatly benefitted with change in timings of the shops.

Shri Bhartia and Shri Khandelwal also said that if the time of shops is changed, it is much necessary that the time of shopping malls should also be changed accordingly to maintain uniformity in the entire retail trade of the Country. They also said that with the change of behaviour pattern in consumers, e-commerce shopping will increase manifold  and traders will also have to bring their business on digital platforms besides having physical models as well. Taking a serious note of this change, the CAIT  under a national campaign is all set to launch its e commerce portal "bharatemarket" very soon and the process of onboarding the traders on e commerce platform has already begun. It will be a fully indigenous e-commerce portal where offline traders will have their own "e-dukaan" through which they can serve their customers round the clock.

Mr. Bhartia and Mr. Khandelwal said that the traders living in the houses during the lockdown have realized that the family for which they were working overnight continuously but were not able to give proper time but with the revision in timings, the traders will be more accessible to family now and will also be able to discharge their family and social obligations in a more easy manner.

CAIT STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH SONAM WANGCHUK’S BOYCOTT CHINESE GOODS CAMPAIGN

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) today said that the seven crore traders of India stand in solidarity with the Ladakh based educational reformer and visionary Sonam Wangchuk who has urged countrymen to boycott Chinese goods and hurt China with “Wallet Power” apart from “bullet power”. The CAIT while extending its unflinching support to the campaign has said that it has identified about 3000 products which were being imported from China so far and the CAIT will now run a national campaign to boycott imports of these products from China rather more emphasis will be laid on usage of indiginous products by the people of India. The CAIT said that upcoming Diwali this year will be a " Hindustani Diwali" this year in its true letter and spirit. The CAIT campaign for boycott chinese goods will strengthen the clarion call of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for " Local Pe Vocal".

CAIT President BC Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that the CAIT has been running a nationwide campaign among Indian traders for the last five years to boycott Chinese goods as much as possible and start selling Indian goods. Even last year after the Pulwama Attack when China was supporting Pakistan, the CAIT launched a nationwide successful agitation to burn Chinese goods on the festival of Holi across 200 cities of India. Now when Mr Sonam Wangchuk has made a fresh appeal due to the frequent aggression by the Chinese on the borders of Ladakh, "the whole country understands the importance of hurting China economically and therefore we wholeheartedly welcome this great initiative and will stand shoulder to shoulder with Sonam Wangchuk"-said the two leaders.

Both Mr. Bhartia & Mr. Khandelwal said that India has mainly three types of imports from China i.e. finished goods, raw material & spare parts for assembly of finished goods in India. In the first phase, the CAIT has identified about 3000 categories of heavily imported finished Chinese products which must  immediately be replaced by Indian products as good quality Indian replacements are available for such products. They said that CAIT will educate all traders and the people across the country to stop importing and selling these products. Soon after more products will be verified and added to the list.

However, the CAIT has also appealed to Indian manufacturers to get their acts together and gear up to shoulder the responsibility. The role of Indian manufacturers is very significant to successfully run this campaign because at no point of time should there be any shortage of products in the market and the consumers of India should not suffer due to such scarcity. The CAIT has assured full support to Indian manufacturers to work closely to promote Indian products and urge sellers to work more with Indian manufacturers.

Both leaders have also urged the Govt to further promote “ Make In India” and ensure Ease of Doing Business through the “AatmanirbharBharat Mission”. The CAIT firmly stands with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will wholeheartedly promote the “ Vocal for Local” initiative of the PM which will not only add a lot of impetus to the Boycott Chinese Goods campaign but also pave way for a 5 Trillion Economy.

Holi Roundup: Celebrities who gave major fashion goals this Holi

In the film industry, Holi is not just a festival but a fashion affair where celebrities go out of the way with their outfits and make a statement. Though the fear of coronavirus subdued the exuberant and jubilant celebrations, actors didn’t hesitate in giving major fashion goals on the day.

Monish Chandan, Fashion blogger & influencer, takes note of the best-dressed stars this Holi. He says, “Celebrities including Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Nick Jonas, Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal rocked in white at Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal’s grand Holi bash. Isha Ambani in a beautiful ensemble by Picchika stole all the limelight. She looked stunning in the floral suit. Mr and Mrs Jonas’ co-ordinated shoes and outfits by designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla also caught a lot of attention at the party. Besides, Katrina Kaif went a little quirky with Anamika Khanna’s white lehenga. The topography on it made her stand out of the crowd.”

Kareena Kapoor also took to her Instagram to share a photo and video of herself and son Taimur from their Holi celebration. “Kareena’s personality and sense of styling can make even a basic white kurta looks designer,” says Monish. “With black sunglasses on and her trademark pout, Kareena looked stunning as always. Taimur, on the other hand, gave out major Nawabi vibes. With a chikankari kurta and colour all over his face, he looked adorable.”

Apart from the aforementioned, Actor Karishma Kapoor also posted a picture with her children. Aamir Khan shared an image of his wife and son all geared up to play Holi.

“Neha Kakkar was another celebrity who looked fabulous in white. She completed the traditional look with a yellow phulkari dupatta. Deepika went low-key with a basic tee and boyfriend jeans. She posted a video while dancing to the beats of her song ‘Balam Pichkari’.

In a nutshell, the actors gave their fans a whole lot of ideas to revamp the wardrobe.

AHEAD OF COVID-19,  CAIT URGE PM TO ADOPT POLYMER NOTES AS CURRENCY & INTENSIFY DIGITAL PAYMENTS

In the context of current Corona Virus and various epidemics that may occur from time to time, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) today sent a communication to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi urging him to introduce polymer notes in India and to launch an aggressive national campaign for adoption and acceptance of digital payments in the Country. The suggestion came in the backdrop of a view of the CAIT that  usage of paper currency which is most dreaded carrier for different viruses and infections due to rapid change of hands between unknown people and thus becomes a health hazard.

In its communication to Prime Minister, the CAIT said that in line with large number of Countries of the World who have adopted polymer notes as the official currency, it is also the right time for the Government to adopt polymer notes in place of paper currency which are much safer from the point of view of health and risk of carrying viruses or infection through polymer notes is highly minimal as also its counterfeiting is almost negligible and it has more security features than paper currency.Polymer notes are also able to withstand extreme temperatures.Further, if it is worn out, the polymer bank note can be recycled, so there is a decreased chance of depletion of resources while also resulting in less harm to the environment.Polymer banknotes last significantly longer than paper notes, causing a decrease in environmental impact and a reduced cost of production and replacement

CAIT National President Mr. B.C.Bhartia & Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal while appreciating the steps taken by the Government to protect Country and citizens from COVID-19 which has resulted into very less numbers of people infected with Corona Virus in comparison to its global impact said that " we are of the considered opinion that in pursuance of the call given by the Prime Minister earlier for adoption of digital payments and making India a less cash society, it is the time when such initiative should be supported by a massive national drive for adoption and acceptance of digital payments throughout the Country. The CAIT has reiterated its support to the Government for any such drive.

Polymer banknotes are made from a synthetic polymer such as biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) and such notes incorporate many security features not available in paper banknotes, including the use of metameric inks.  Polymer banknotes last significantly longer than paper notes, causing a decrease in environmental impact and a reduced cost of production and replacement. Modern polymer banknotes were first developed by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)  and The University of Melbourne .They were first issued as currency in Australia during 1988. In 1996 Australia switched completely to polymer banknotes. Other countries that have switched completely to polymer banknotes include: Brunei, Canada, Maldives, Mauritiana,  Nicaragua, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Trinidad, Tobago and Vietnam.Other countries to introduce polymer banknotes include the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Cape,Verde, Chilli, Gambia, Nicaragua, Mexico, Botswana, North Macedonia, The Russian Federation, Armenia, Solomon Island, Egypt, the Organisation of Eastern Carribean States (OECS), Morocco, Albania and Cambodia.

Both Mr. Bhartia & Mr. Khandelwal said that if such small Countries can adopt polymer notes as currency, the India is in a more comfortable position to adopt polymer notes in place of paper currency. They have believed that the Government will certainly consider both suggestions of the CAIT.

India bans entry of cruise ships, total cases rise to 43

1. Italy's death toll from the new coronavirus shot up by 133 to 366 on Sunday while the number of infections rose by a single-day record of 1,492 to hit 7,375. A 63-year-old woman tests positive, making her the first confirmed case in J&K. The number of infected people in India rises to 43. 

Coronavirus outbreak live updates: 

Total number of confirmed cases of virus in India rises to 42

Italy's death toll from the new coronavirus shot up by 133 to 366 on Sunday while the number of infections rose by a single-day record of 1,492 to hit 7,375. A 63-year-old woman tests positive, making her the first confirmed case in J&K. The number of infected people in India rises to 42. Stay with TOI for all the latest updates: