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Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal on Saturday asked the pharmaceutical industry to reduce its dependence on critical imported raw materials and diversify export supply chains to better navigate global uncertainties. Addressing an event in Hyderabad on the sector, he said while India exports to around 200 countries, there remains significant scope for expansion and resilience-building through a stronger market presence. Emphasising the need to navigate an increasingly uncertain and geopolitically volatile global environment, he stressed: "the importance of ensuring greater self-reliance by meeting 80-90 per cent (or higher) of domestic pharmaceutical requirements through indigenous production, while reducing critical import dependencies in APIs, bulk drugs, and intermediates". The Commerce Secretary also underscored the need for a strategic repositioning of India as a global hub for both quality and cost-effective pharmaceuticals, stating that quality will remain the decisive factor
Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi on Saturday said that the country's fuel supply chains are "robust and operational" despite the situation in West Asia. Gopi, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, said, in a Facebook post that the recent panic buying seen in some regions were fueled by "false narratives" and "unnecessary alarm". "Chaired a high-level review meeting with representatives from IOCL, BPCL, and HPCL at Thrissur to address the recent narratives regarding fuel shortages. Despite global challenges and the situation in West Asia, our supply chains are robust and operational." "The panic buying we've seen in some regions are being fueled by false narratives and unnecessary alarm," he said in his post. He urged everyone not to fall prey to social media misinformation. "Stay Calm. Stay Informed. Trust only verified sources," he said.
The Trump administration has banned imports of new, foreign-made routers, citing supply chain vulnerability and cybersecurity risks. The newest addition to the US "covered list" targets consumer-grade routers, the boxes that connect home computers, phones and smart devices to the internet. The list is a catalogue of communications equipment and services considered "to pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the US or the safety and security of Americans," the Federal Communications Commission said. "Malicious actors have exploited security gaps in foreign-made routers to attack American households, disrupt networks, enable espionage, and facilitate intellectual property theft," the FCC said this week, citing several examples of foreign-made routers that were involved in cyberattacks targeting US infrastructure. Although some routers are sold by US hardware companies such as Netgear and eero, their production is almost exclusively handled overseas. It is unclear if any
The Trump administration is following through with its threat to designate artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a supply chain risk in an unprecedented move that could force other government contractors to stop using the AI chatbot, Claude. The Pentagon said in a statement Thursday that it has "officially informed Anthropic leadership that the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately." The decision appeared to shut down the opportunity for further negotiation with Anthropic, nearly a week after President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth accused the company of endangering national security. Trump and Hegseth announced a series of threatened punishments last Friday, on the eve of the Iran war, after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to back down over concerns the company's products could be used for mass surveillance of Americans or autonomous weapons. The San Francisco-based company didn't immediately respond to a request