Much ado about nothing

Instead of mandating e-commerce firms to declare the country of origin of products they hawk, the effort should be to help them bounce back

In a few days, a Shenzhen-headquartered smartphone major is expected to fire up the Indian e-commerce scene, going by history. Online marketplace giants have an­nounced plans to make the launch of the latest device a success that may indicate recovery in demand during the extraordinary Covid slowdown.

It could be a mere coincidence that the latest smartphone by a Chinese company, founded less than seven years ago, will hit the Indian market at a time when anti-China movement has peaked in the country. If despite the prevailing nationalistic spirit, buyers go all out to snap up the latest phone, the lack