India is carving out a new space for Foxconn and other high-end manufacturers, just as President Trump demands American companies do at home.

A new iPhone factory in an out-of-the-way corner of India looks like a spaceship from another planet. Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that assembles most of the world’s iPhones for Apple, has landed amid the boulders and millet fields of Devanahalli.

The sleek buildings rising on the 300-acre site, operational but still growing, are emerging evidence of an estimated $2.5 billion investment.

This is what President Donald Trump wants Apple to do in the United States. What is happening in this part of India shows both why that sounds attractive and why it will probably not happen.

In India, Apple is doubling down on a bet it placed after the COVID-19 pandemic began and before Trump’s reelection. Many countries, starting with the United States, were eager to reduce their reliance on factories in China. Apple, profoundly dependent on Chinese production, was quick to act.

Analysts at Counterpoint Research calculated that India had succeeded in satisfying 18% of the global demand for iPhones by early this year, two years after Foxconn started making iPhones in India. By the end of 2025, with the Devanahalli plant fully online, Foxconn is expected to be assembling between 25% and 30% of iPhones in India.

This newest factory is the largest of several making Apple products in India. Its full frame is still rising from red dust. Cranes are at work above the skeletons of high-rise dormitories for female workers. But about 8,000 people are already at work on two factory floors. Soon there should be 40,000.

The effects on the region are transformative. It’s a field day for job seekers and landowners. And the kind of crazy-quilt supply chain of smaller industries that feeds Apple’s factory towns in China is coalescing in India’s heartland. Businesses are selling Foxconn the goods and services it needs to make iPhones, including tiny parts, assembly-line equipment and worker recruitment.

Some of the firms are Indian; others are Taiwanese, South Korean or American. Some were already in the area, while others are setting up in India for the first time.

The changes spurred by Foxconn are rippling broadly through Bengaluru, a city of 8 million people that had a start in the 20th century as home to India’s first aerospace centers. But its manufacturing base was pushed aside, first by call centers and then by flashier work in microchip design and outsourced professional services. Going back to the factory floor, as they’re doing in Devanahalli, is what Trump wants American workers to do.

To see the changes afoot here is to understand the allure of bringing back manufacturing. Wages are rising 10% to 15% around the Foxconn plant. Businesses are quietly making deals to supply Foxconn and Apple’s other contractors.

A factory that makes plastic parts for bank cash machines hosted a team from Foxconn for a tour. A foundry that makes yarn-spinning machinery was hoping it might start making the metal bits Foxconn might need in its new factory.

Neither Foxconn nor Apple replied to requests for comment about their operations in India.

India has been working toward a breakthrough like this for a long time. Its first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, called hydroelectric dams, steel plants and research institutes the “temples of modern India.” In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a “Make in India” policy. Since 2020, his government has committed $26 billion to subsidizing strategic manufacturing goals.

India’s most urgent reason for developing industry is to create jobs. Unlike the United States, it does not have enough: not in services, manufacturing or anything else. Nearly half its workers are involved in farming. With India’s population peaking, it needs about 10 million new jobs a year just to keep up.

It also wants to achieve the kind of financial power and technological autonomy that China found as it became the factory to the world.

One problem is that India’s electronics factories still import the most valuable of the 1,000 components that go into a finished iPhone, like chips and camera modules. Skeptics disparage India’s success with the final assembly of iPhones as “screwdriver work,” complaining that too little of the devices’ value is made in India.

But the government, dangling subsidies, is persuading companies like Apple to source more of those parts locally. It is already getting casings, specialized glass and paints from Indian firms. Apple, which opened its first Indian stores two years ago, is required by the Indian government to source 30% of its products’ value from India by 2028.

Indo-MIM, an Indian company with an American-born boss, is the kind that contributes to the neighborhood forming around Apple’s production and also benefits from it. At a plant near Devanahalli, in southern Karnataka state, Indo-MIM’s engineers perform metal-injection molding for hundreds of companies around the world. It makes parts for airplanes, luxury goods, medical devices and more.

The company is already making jigs or brackets for use in the Foxconn plant. In addition, a “critical mass” of specialty firms means that Indo-MIM no longer needs to make many of the tools it uses to make its products, said Krishna Chivukula, its CEO.

“You don’t want to have to make everything yourself,” he said, adding it means Indo-MIM can concentrate on what it does best.

Chivukula said the workforce made Devanahalli fertile ground for factories. “The people here are very hungry,” he said. “They’re looking for opportunity, and then on top of that millions of them are engineers.”

Still, despite the surplus of engineers, companies are bringing in talent from East Asia. Prachir Singh, an analyst for Counterpoint, said it had taken 15 years to figure out what would work in China and five years to import this much of it to India.

Centum is an Indian-origin contract manufacturer, like Foxconn is to Apple. Centum makes circuit boards that go into products like air-to-air missiles, forklifts and fertility scanners. Nikhil Mallavarapu, its executive director, said the company was in talks to customize testing equipment for the Foxconn factory.

Newly hired engineers and other professionals are pouring into the area. Many moved hundreds of miles while others must commute hours a day to get to work. Some rise at 3:30 a.m. to make the 8 a.m. shift.

But India is thick with people. A five-minute walk away, a village called Doddagollahalli looks the same as it did before Foxconn landed. Nearly all the houses clustered around a sacred grove belong to farming families growing millet, grapes and vegetables.

Some villagers are renting rooms to Foxconn workers. Many more are trying to sell their land. But Sneha, who goes by a single name, has found a job on the Foxconn factory’s day shift. She holds a master’s degree in mathematics. She can walk home for lunch every day, a corporate lanyard swinging from her neck.

It is people like Sneha, and the thousands of her new colleagues piling into her ancestral place, who make Foxconn’s ambitions for India possible. Trump wants to revive the fortunes of left-behind American factory towns, but the pipeline of qualified young graduates is not there.

Josh Foulger has recruited lots of motivated Indian workers like Sneha. He heads the electronics division of Zetwerk, an Indian contract manufacturer with factories in Devanahalli that sees itself as a smaller competitor to Foxconn. He said he routinely got 700 job applications a year from local tech schools. It is a matter of scale: Karnataka state alone, he pointed out, has a population half the size of Vietnam’s.

All of India’s “states are very keen on getting manufacturing,” said Foulger, who grew up in southern India and made his home in Texas before moving back to India, where he set up shop for Foxconn. India has jobs for engineers and managers and all the way down the ladder. “Manufacturing does a very democratic job” of meeting the demand for good jobs, he said.

The New York Times News Service

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

Teghbir began his trek to Mount Elbrus on June 20 and walked all the way to reach the summit, the highest point of the mountain, on June 28.

Six-year-and-nine-month-old Teghbir Singh, hailing from Ropar in Punjab, has become the youngest ever in the world to scale Mount Elbrus, the highest peak of the European continent, located in Russia at a staggering height of over 18,510 feet (5,642 metres).

Teghbir began his trek to Mount Elbrus on June 20 and walked all the way to reach the summit, the highest point of the mountain, on June 28.

It is worth mentioning that this is a low-oxygen trek, and one needs preparation to tackle problems associated with altitude sickness. However, conquering all these challenges, he finally reached the summit, where the normal temperature is -10°C, and fulfilled his dream.

After reaching the peak, he received the Mountain Climbing Certificate issued by the Mountaineering, Rock Climbing and Sports Tourism Federation of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (Russia). “It is to certify that Teghbir Singh from India, the world’s youngest summiter on Mount Elbrus at the age of 6 years, 9 months and 4 days,” states the certificate.

Elated over the achievement, Teghbir said, “I knew where I was to reach and finally I reached and had a picture with my father there. I was walking first time on snow, my shoes were heavy but I had practised it back,” added the second standard student of Shiwalik Public School, Ropar.

With this feat, he sets a new world record of summiting Mt Elbrus at the age of 6 years and 9 months, surpassing the previous world record held by Wagah Kushagra of Maharashtra, who set the record last year at the age of 7 years and 3 months.

In August last year, he became the youngest Asian to scale Mt Kilimanjaro (the highest peak of the African continent), and his name features in the Asia Book of Records and the India Book of Records. He also reached the Mt Everest Base Camp in Nepal in April last year.

Delighted over the new achievement of scaling Europe’s highest peak, his father Sukhinderdeep Singh said, “Teghbir started preparing for this feat almost a year back. He was trained by Bikramjit Singh Ghuman, a retired coach, who used to help him with the exercises related to increasing cardiovascular health and lung capacity to deal with altitude sickness. He used to go on weekly treks with me and the coach to different hilly locations.”

“Our stays were in mountain huts and it took eight days to scale the summit. Due to bad weather and a fierce snowstorm, the summit push was cancelled twice,” he said, adding that Teghbir shall return to India on July 1.

“The climb was different as compared to Mt Kilimanjaro and other treks he did before. It was the first time he was walking in snow with high boots, crampons, harness and oxygen support on. It increased the weight on his feet by almost three to four kilograms. He walked and stayed in a low-oxygen altitude in minus-grade temperature for almost a week,” said his father, who accompanied him during the journey.

In a brief safe window, when the wind speed lowered, they set off for the summit on June 27 night at 1 am in freezing temperatures around -20°C. It was a challenging moment for the entire crew, which consisted of his father, two guides and one support staff. They reached the summit at 7:56 am on June 28 after walking for around six hours in the freezing temperature.

A gynaecologist, Teghbir’s mother Dr Manpreet Kaur said, “Diet played a very major role in his journey and he followed a strict diet schedule as laid by his coach.”

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

The anti-lock braking system is designed to prevent wheel lock-up during sudden braking, reducing the likelihood of skidding and crashing.

The Transport Ministry has made the anti-lock braking system mandatory for all new two-wheelers manufactured after January next year, irrespective of engine capacity, to enhance riders’ safety.

The Ministry, in a notification, said that at the time of purchase of a two-wheeler, the manufacturer will supply two protective headgear, conforming to specifications prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

“Provided further that vehicles of category L2 manufactured on and after 1st January 2026, in case of all models, shall be fitted with Anti-lock Braking System conforming to the IS14664:2010,” a notification said.

What is the anti-lock braking system?

The anti-lock braking system is designed to prevent wheel lock-up during sudden braking, reducing the likelihood of skidding and crashing.

According to the government’s latest data, two-wheelers were involved in nearly 20% of India’s 1,51,997 road accidents in 2022.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Group Captain and Axiom-4 mission pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, who scripted history by becoming the first Indian on the International Space Station.

The slogan ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ echoed aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, calling his journey the first step towards India’s ambitious Gaganyaan mission.

Speaking from space, Shukla, the first Indian to board the ISS, told the Prime Minister on Saturday that India looks “grander and bigger from space than it does on a map.” Shukla is currently serving as the mission pilot of Axiom Space’s fourth commercial mission, Ax-4.

Describing his perspective from orbit, Shukla said, “You can truly feel a sense of oneness. There are no borders, no lines. It feels as if this entire Earth is our home and we are all its citizens.”

In a video interaction, Prime Minister Modi hailed Shukla’s achievement, saying, “Though you are far away from the motherland, you are the closest to the hearts of all Indians.” The Prime Minister also drew a personal connection, noting, “Aapke naam mein bhi shubh hai aur aapki yatra naye yug ka shubharambh bhi hai (your name itself means auspicious, and your journey marks the beginning of a new era).”

Shukla made history on Wednesday by becoming the first Indian in 41 years to travel to space, following in the footsteps of Rakesh Sharma, who flew aboard a Russian spacecraft in 1984. His journey marks India’s return to human spaceflight after nearly four decades.

The Ax-4 mission, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, successfully docked at the ISS’s Harmony module after a 28-hour journey aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Shukla is joined on the mission by commander Peggy Whitson from the United States, mission specialist Sawosz Uznanski from Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.

Shukla, now officially astronaut number 634 after receiving his Space Station pin, described his initial moments aboard the ISS as both thrilling and slightly challenging. “It may look easy on camera, but my head feels a little heavy,” he admitted, adding, “The next 14 days are going to be exciting and great.”

In a heartfelt message before docking, Shukla had greeted the nation with a simple but powerful “Namaskar from space,” saying he was proud to carry the dreams of 1.4 billion Indians into orbit.

The Ax-4 crew is set to spend approximately two weeks aboard the ISS, collaborating with the Expedition 73 crew. Their mission includes more than 60 scientific experiments and outreach activities, covering fields such as cancer research, DNA repair, and advanced manufacturing — the most ambitious scientific programme yet for an Axiom mission.

The Ax-4 flight also highlights the growing importance of international cooperation and commercial partnerships in the future of space exploration.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

These 3300 HP diesel locomotives feature many special facilities for the loco pilot or the driver such as refrigerator, hot plate, mobile holder, aesthetic cab design, toilet etc., in accordance with international standards.

Amid the Indian Railways’ push for export of rail equipment, the Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) has exported two locomotives to Mozambique. Officials said that the export was done as per the major contract awarded by Mozambique Railways (CFM) for manufacturing and supply of 10 diesel locomotives.

BLW, a flagship production unit of Indian Railways, will dispatch the remaining eight locomotives by December 2025, said the officials. “The global contract for 10 locomotives was awarded to RITES, a public sector undertaking (PSU) of Ministry of Railways, who further got the locomotives manufactured at BLW. These are advanced diesel locomotives of 3300 horse power. It is capable of running at a maximum speed of 100 kmph on Cape Gauge (1067 mm). BLW has exported locomotives to Mozambique earlier as well,” said a senior official of the Ministry of Railways.

These 3300 HP diesel locomotives feature many special facilities for the loco pilot or the driver such as refrigerator, hot plate, mobile holder, aesthetic cab design, toilet etc., in accordance with international standards.

The data available with the BLW shows that it has supplied a total of 10 Cape Gauge diesel locomotives (3000 HP, AC-AC) to Mozambique’s state-owned rail company CFM so far, with the oldest locomotive being sent in 2008-09. During 2021-22 and 2022-23, it supplied a total of five locomotives, which are currently in successful operation in Mozambique.

Apart from BLW, other production units such Marhowra Plant in Bihar has also started exporting locomotives. On June 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off a state-of-the-art locomotive built at the Marhowra Plant, for export to the Republic of Guinea. This is the first export locomotive manufactured in this factory.

Officials said that since the establishment of Banaras Locomotive Works (formerly Diesel Locomotive Works) on 23 April 1956, it has manufactured more than 10,000 locomotives for Indian Railways, steel plants, mines, ports and export.

In January 1976, the first exported locomotive went to Tanzania. After this, the locomotive manufactured here were sent to countries like Vietnam, Mali, Senegal, Angola, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mozambique, Sudan etc. In all, a total of 174 locomotives have been exported by the BLW so far.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)

Aboard the Dragon spacecraft, Shukla said: ‘Namaskar, my dear countrymen! What a ride! We are back in space once again after 41 years’.

“We are orbiting the Earth. This is the start of India’s human space program. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.”

With these words, 39-year-old Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the voice of a new era in Indian spaceflight.

The Indian Air Force pilot, now the second Indian to travel to space after Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma’s Soviet-backed mission in 1984, delivered this message shortly after the Axiom-4 mission entered Earth orbit.

His voice, relayed from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after separation from the Falcon 9 upper stage at 12:01 pm IST (2:31 am EDT), marked a historic milestone , not just for India’s space ambitions, but for every household watching back home, most of all one in Lucknow.

Tears roll down mother’s cheeks

Back in Uttar Pradesh, his mother Asha Shukla sat frozen in front of a large screen, hands folded, eyes full. Her son was now in orbit.

Minutes after liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, she said to ANI, “We are delighted, we are very proud… We cannot describe this in words…We are not scared for Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla at all.”

The launch was carried live across national broadcasters and projected in schools and public venues.

“Namaskar, My dear countrymen!”

Aboard the Dragon spacecraft, Shukla said…. “Namaskar, my dear countrymen! What a ride! We are back in space once again after 41 years,” he said. “We are revolving around the Earth at a speed of 7.5 kilometres per second. The Tiranga embossed on my shoulders tells me that I am with all of you.”

“This journey,” he added, “is not just to the International Space Station (ISS), but the beginning of India’s Human Space Programme.”

As he spoke, his message beamed not only to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) but to his family, his friends, and his hometown, where students at City Montessori School (CMS) in Lucknow erupted in spontaneous chants of “Hip Hip Hurray!”

Posters congratulating Shukla lined the streets of Lucknow.

CMS, where he studied from Montessori through Class 12, organised an event dubbed Vyomotsav, a watch-party that transformed its Kanpur Road campus into a replica of a mission control centre. From telescope viewings to a mock ISS Cupola module, the entire school community rallied behind its alumnus.

As the rocket soared through the Florida sky, CMS students broke into bhangra while some teachers cried quietly. “It’s a great moment not just for us but for our country,” said Shambhu Dayal Shukla, Shubhanshu’s father. “What can we say at this moment, I am struggling for words now. My blessings are always there with my son,” he told PTI.

“I know he will be successful,” Asha Shukla added. “Though I am eagerly looking forward to his return after a successful mission, I also know that even after returning back on Earth, it will take a while before he actually gets to be back amongst us.”

On launch morning, his mother performed a traditional ritual via video call, offering him dahi-cheeni...a customary mix of curd and sugar believed to bring good luck.

Prime Minister Modi also took to X to extend his wishes to Shukla. “We welcome the successful launch of the Space Mission carrying astronauts from India, Hungary, Poland and the US. He carries with him the wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians.”, he wrote.

Right now, the nation and one family in particular holds its breath, its pride swelling with the weight of 41 years.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

India ranks 99th on the 2025 SDG Index with a score of 67, while China ranks 49th with 74.4 and the US 44th with 75.2 points.

India has for the first time secured a place among the top 100 out of 193 countries ranked for their progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a report published on Tuesday (June 24, 2025).

According to the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s 10th and latest Sustainable Development Report (SDR), India ranks 99th on the 2025 SDG Index with a score of 67, while China ranks 49th with 74.4 and the US 44th with 75.2 points.

Among India’s neighbours, Bhutan takes 74th place with 70.5 points, Nepal ranks 85th with 68.6, Bangladesh 114th with 63.9 and Pakistan 140th with 57 points.

India’s maritime neighbours, Maldives and Sri Lanka, stood at 53rd and 93rd places, respectively.

The report’s authors said that SDG progress has stalled at the global level, with only 17 per cent of the 17 targets adopted by the U.N. member countries in 2015 projected to be achieved by 2030.

“Conflicts, structural vulnerabilities and limited fiscal space impede SDG progress in many parts of the world,” the report, with world-renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs as its lead author, said.

European countries, especially the Nordic nations, continue to top the SDG Index, with Finland ranking first, Sweden second and Denmark third.

A total of 19 out of the top 20 countries are in Europe.

Yet even these countries face significant challenges in achieving at least two goals, including those related to climate and biodiversity, largely due to unsustainable consumption, the authors said.

East and South Asia have outperformed all other global regions in terms of SDG progress since 2015 largely due to rapid socioeconomic development.

The countries in East and South Asia that have demonstrated the fastest progress since 2015 (in points) include Nepal (+11.1), Cambodia (+10), the Philippines (+8.6), Bangladesh (+8.3) and Mongolia (+7.7).

The other countries showing rapid progress among their peers include Benin (+14.5), Peru (+8.7), the United Arab Emirates (+9.9), Uzbekistan (+12.1), Costa Rica (+7) and Saudi Arabia (+8.1).

Though only 17% of the targets are on track to be achieved worldwide, most UN member states have made strong progress on targets related to access to basic services and infrastructure, including mobile broadband use (SDG 9), access to electricity (SDG 7), internet use (SDG 9), under-five mortality rate (SDG 3) and neonatal mortality (SDG 3).

Five targets show significant reversals in progress since 2015. These are obesity rate (SDG 2), press freedom (SDG 16), sustainable nitrogen management (SDG 2), the Red List Index (SDG 15) and the Corruption Perceptions Index (SDG 16).

The report said the top three countries most committed to the UN multilateralism are Barbados (1), Jamaica (2) and Trinidad and Tobago (3).

Among G20 nations, Brazil (25) ranks highest, while Chile (7) leads among OECD countries.

The United States, which recently withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO) and formally declared its opposition to the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda, ranks last (193rd) for the second year in a row.

The report, which comes ahead of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, Spain, (June 30-July 3) noted the global financial architecture (GFA) is broken.

“Money flows readily to rich countries and not to the emerging and developing economies (EMDEs) that offer higher growth potential and rates of return. At the top of the agenda at FfD4 is the need to reform the GFA so that capital flows in far larger sums to the EMDEs,” it said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

The ship has 26% indigenous components, including the BrahMos long-range cruise missile for targeting both at sea and land, say officials.

Indian Navy’s Russian-manufactured guided missile frigate INS Tamal will be commissioned into the force at Russia’s coastal city of Kaliningrad on July 1.

The ship has 26 per cent indigenous components, including the BrahMos long-range cruise missile for targeting both at sea and land, officials said.

INS Tamal would be the eighth Krivak class frigates to be inducted from Russia over the past two decades.

The warship has been built at Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad, and is the last such platform to be inducted from a foreign source, the officials said.

The commissioning ceremony will be presided over by Vice Admiral Sanjay J Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command. Several high-ranking Indian and Russian defence officials will attend the event.

INS Tamal is the second ship of the Tushil Class, which are the upgraded versions of their predecessors, Talwar and Teg classes.

India, as part of the broader contract for Tushil class, is also building two similar frigates called the INS Triput class at Goa Shipyard Ltd with transfer of technology and design assistance from the Russian side.

By the conclusion of this series of ships, Indian Navy will be operating 10 ships with similar capabilities and commonality in equipment, weapon and sensor fit over four different classes, the officials said.

Tamal’s construction was closely overseen by an Indian team of specialists from the Warship Overseeing Team stationed at Kaliningrad.

At the Naval headquarters, the project was steered by the Directorate of Ship Production under the Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition.

The ship has significant upgrades in its arsenal in comparison to its predecessors, such as vertical launched surface-to-air missiles, improved 100 MM gun, heavyweight torpedoes, urgent-attack anti-submarine rockets, and a host of surveillance and fire control radars and systems.

The combat capability of the ship is augmented by a host of network-centric warfare capabilities and advanced electronic warfare suite, Navy Spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.

“Tamal punches well above its weight with a very high tonnage to firepower ratio, extended endurance, and a top speed in excess of 30 knots,” he said.

The crew, comprising over 250 personnel, has undergone rigorous ashore as well as afloat training in extremely challenging winter conditions of St.Petersburg and Kaliningrad, he said.

Tamal has successively completed extensive sea trials undertaken over three months.

The ship’s name, Tamal, symbolises the mythical sword used for combat by Indra, the king of the gods.

The ship’s mascot is inspired by the congruence of the ‘Jambavant’ — the immortal bear king of Indian mythology and the Russian national animal, the Eurasian brown bear.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)