What Donald Trump as America's 45th President means for India

Bucking media opposition, popular perception and Hillary Clinton’s vicious campaign, Donald Trump has emerged as the 45th president of the United States of America. Trump elucidated on his 15-point agenda in the run-up to the elections. If he decides to implement them, it could impact the Indian government, people and businesses in several ways.

Here is a lowdown on the implications Trump’s policies as the US President could have for India.

1) The Tax Plan: One of the highlights of Trump’s economic campaign is his plan to reduce corporate tax rates in the U.S to 15%. At present the rate stands at 35%. This would make the U.S one of the most attractive destinations in the world for businesses, especially for American businesses that have set shop in other countries to improve their profitability by paying less taxes. If Trump were to implement this plan, U.S businesses in India could be lured back to American soil. Take the case of Ford Motors. Trump has repeatedly flayed Ford during his campaign for moving manufacturing outside U.S especially to Mexico in a bid to circumvent high taxes. Now Ford India has been making good progress in India. Its manufacturing unit in Chennai recorded its highest ever exports this August. Ford India exported 67% of all its vehicles manufactured in India. In addition, it made a substantial investment in the growing business of car rentals in India by investing in Zoomcar. For all the money Ford India earns, it pays the same corporate tax rate inIndia as it does in the U.S. If Trump were to come true on his promise to slash corporate tax to 15%, Ford India could well be tempted to move a part of its revenue earning processes back to Chicago from Chennai. That would be bad news for over 2000 employees working at the Ford factory in India. Trump’s massive tax cut would more than offset the advantages of cheap labour that India provides to Ford. Other American businesses in India could be tempted to do the same.(more)

Taliban supremo Mansour killed in US drone attack in Pakistan

Afghan Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a rare US drone strike deep inside Pakistan, Afghanistan announced today, inflicting a body blow to the insurgents and a removing a major "threat" to the fragile peace process in war-torn Afghanistan.

Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces yesterday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said.

The drone strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed America was ready to target the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which Afghanistan has repeatedly accused of sheltering the militants.

Afghanistan's main spy agency said Mansour, said to be in his early 50s, was killed in a US drone attack inside Pakistan.

"Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... Until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle... in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a brief statement today.Read more.

Captain America: Civil War is MCU's best yet

With Captain America and Iron Man locking horns, the world of superheroes comes alive on screen

In March this year, critics had a field day pointing out how and why DC Comics and Warner Bros went wrong with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Less than two months later, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War has hit theatres and this time there is little to complain about.

The Russo brothers (Joseph and Anthony) have taken the challenge of a superhero face-off head-on and succeeded in making an entertaining movie that completes the trilogy neatly. Take a leaf out of Marvel’s book, DC — this is how you make a clash-of-the-superheroes movie.

For the fans, the movie is a treat, with superheroes walking in and out of the frame. The very presence of so many Marvel characters meant that the movie ran the risk of being rushed and cluttered. The director duo, however, manage to keep things simple, the story and screenplay tight and the pace brisk.

In terms of screen-time, Civil War identifies Steve Rogers aka Captain America(Chris Evans) and Tony Stark aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) as the leads, each gaining depth in their character as the movie progresses. The rest of the cast — Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton aka Hawkeye), Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes aka Winter Soldier), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson aka Falcon), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang aka Ant Man), Paul Bettany (Vision) and the others — come in, do their job and leave the screen.Read More