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United States President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US will quit the   TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP   ( TPP ) trade deal on his first day in the   WHITE HOUSE . The mega trade deal involves 12 Pacific rim nations including major economies like Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. With a collective population of about 800 million, almost double that of the European Union’s single   MARKET , the bloc currently accounts for 40 per cent of world trade. While the free trade deal will see tariffs slashed between member nations to boost falling trade, sections within the US has argued it will further accelerate the slide in American jobs and production. Guessing that Trump does not go back on his decision, something he is known to do, India stands to benefit in a plethora of ways if TPP does not materialise. HERE ARE A FEW OF THEM:- 1) Access to lucrative US market to be cut for India’s export competitors: 2) The Regional Comprehensive Economic Part...

Electric car charging station companies issue warning over VW settlement Electric vehicle charging companies are calling for independent oversight of the $2 billion Volkswagen AG is required to invest in clean car infrastructure, saying   VW   should not have the power to shape the nascent   electric car   charging space. The German automaker agreed to invest the money, which includes $1.2 billion nationally and $800 million in California, as part of its penalties for equipping hundreds of thousands of its diesel vehicles sold in the   United States   with software designed to cheat tailpipe emissions tests. While charging station companies called the money a potential "game changer," they worry that if it is misspent, it could hurt competition. "The agreement shouldn't pick winners and losers, especially given that this emerging market transition will in no small part define 21st century transportation," twenty eight companies, including Char...

'No to Trump, yes to Hillary': Indian diaspora in the US tells New Delhi The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), given its recent anti-immigrants election campaign in Assam and the perception that the Republican administrations have been friendlier towards India, should have found an alter ego in Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. But the   Indian diaspora   in the United States, even its more prosperous sections, have conveyed to the BJP’s overseas arm that they were unlikely to support Trump in the   US presidential elections   due in November. Overseas friends of BJP chief Vijay Chauthaiwale was in the US in the latter half of June. He travelled across the US to meet representatives of Indian diaspora associations. There are literally dozens of associations of each linguistic group. The Rockefeller Foundation — Aspen Institute Diaspora Programme (RAD) survey in July 2014 — had identified 224 important diaspora associations of Indian linguistic, regi...

VW emissions scandal: South Korea issues arrest warrant against company executive A South Korean court on Friday issued the first warrant for the arrest of a   Volkswagen   AG executive in connection with its cheating of vehicle emissions tests, in another blow to the German automaker's efforts to move on from the scandal. The warrant is the first to be levelled against a Volkswagen executive anywhere in the world after the firm in September admitted to using software to falsify pollution tests on some diesel cars, spurring legal action in the United States, Germany,   South Korea   and elsewhere. "This is just the beginning of the investigation," an official at the prosecution office said, declining to be named because the investigation was ongoing. The Volkswagen Korea executive, identified by his last name Yun, faced five accusations including fabrication of documents and violation of the Air Quality Preservation Law, Seoul Central District Court spoke...

Fires rage across western United States Firefighters have struggled to contain infernos across the western   United States as experts warned that drought-striken   California   should prepare for an unusually intense wildfire season. Forest fires   are a fact of life in much of California but have become far worse because of bone-dry conditions, with the Golden State gripped in its fifth year of drought. A fire in the   Los Padres National Forest   had expanded to two square miles (five square kilometers) yesterday, making it the "largest since 2009" in the area, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Information Center told   AFP. Strong winds were hampering efforts to contain the blaze, and the operation was expected to be hindered further by near-record temperatures over the weekend in the southern half of California. Los Padres, which begins about two hours drive northwest of downtown Los Angeles, is popular with hikers and campers,...

Infosys, India’s second largest IT services company on Thursday beat the street’s estimates with better than expected financial numbers for the quarter ended December 31, 2015. The Bengaluru-based company reported 6.6 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 3465 crore while its revenues grew 15.3 per cent at Rs 15,902 crore when compared with the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal. The company’s growth was supported by a strong volume growth (growth in billed manpower in a quarter) of 3.1 per cent on QoQ basis.   Read Articles  

US-based streaming video service  Netflix  has now launched services in India. The service will allow access to TV shows and movies, along with award-winning Netflix original series and documentaries. The service has launched with three tiers of pricing available per month – basic at Rs 500, standard at Rs 650 and premium at Rs 800.  For those already excited about the services, here is a complete beginner’s guide to Netflix:  Read Articles  

Video streaming company  Netflix  Inc (NFLX.O) on Wednesday launched its services in 130 countries, covering almost the entire globe except China, as part of efforts to counter slowing growth in the United States. Shares of the company, whose popular shows include “House of Cards”, “Orange Is The New Black” and “Narcos”, rose 5.5 percent to $113.60 in afternoon trading. India, Nigeria, Russia and Saudi Arabia were among the major countries where the service was launched, Chief Executive Reed Hastings said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Read More