Centre plans to relax satcom security norms amid growing Musk-India ties: Report
New Delhi: The government is reportedly considering to relax security conditions for giving satellite communication licenses which number between 30 and 40, making it more likely for Elon Musk's Starlink and Jeff Bezos' Amazon Kuiper to offer satcom services in India.
This comes amid signs of increasing cooperation between Musk and the Indian government with Musk's SpaceX recently launching the GSAT-20, the Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) communications satellite, from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US, as reported by the Economic Times on Monday.
"The idea is to make the conditions more relevant with changing technology, as global constellations offer services across the world," an official told the publication. However, it was not immediately clear which specific conditions could be relaxed.
The government is soon expected to call a meeting with satcom players who have either applied or got a GMPCS licence, the report added.
Currently, Bharti Enterprises-backed Eutelsat Oneweb and Reliance Jio's joint venture with Luxembourg-based satellite provider SES have got approval to offer satcom services in India.
Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia last month mentioned that Starlink was in the process of applying for security clearances. "They have to comply with all the rules to get the licence. You have to look at it from a security perspective too. We are more than happy to grant a license as long as they comply with all the conditions," the minister said.
A few months ago, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had asked both Starlink and Amazon Kuiper to meet security-related conditions so their applications could be processed further. However, they are yet to respond to DoT on the matter.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
