Low probability China tries to seize Taiwan militarily in near term: Top US general

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The top US general said on Thursday there was a low probability that China would try to militarily take over Taiwan in the near-term and had some way to go to develop the capabilities needed.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley told lawmakers that while Taiwan was still a core national interest of China, “there’s little intent right now, or motivation, to do it militarily.”

“There’s no reason to do it militarily, and they know that. So, I think the probability is probably low, in the immediate, near-term future,” Milley said during a Congressional hearing.

“My assessment in terms of capability, I think China has a ways to go to develop the actual, no-kidding capability to conduct military operations to seize through military means the entire island of Taiwan, if they wanted to do that,” he added.

HCL Tech appoints leadership team in South Korea, Vietnam & Taiwan

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(Image: HCL)

IT services major HCL Technologies on Monday said it has appointed Joonho Moon, Terry Tai and Nguyen Ha Tuan as country sales heads of South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, respectively to drive and accelerate its presence in Asia.

HCL Technologies CEO C Vijayakumar said the company has actively expanded its global footprint with its next-generation services and products.

“HCL will lean in with its industry leading Engineering and R&D services into these markets. These regions will be led by Sanjay Gupta who is a corporate officer at HCL Technologies,” he said in a statement.

Vijayakumar said South Korea is the highest rated country for innovation and leads in new digital technologies such as 5G and IOT, while Taiwan is the nerve center of the global semiconductor industry, which is expected to exponentially grow in the coming decade.

Vietnam is one of the fastest growing digital economies and is transforming its society to leapfrog into a knowledge economy, he added.

“South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are growth markets for HCL as we see immense potential for our products and services in these countries. We believe HCL’s deep domain expertise and next-gen technologies will rightly cater to the needs of enterprises and make it the partner of choice in these countries,” Sanjay Gupta, Corporate Vice President at HCL Technologies, said.

Prior to HCL, Joonho Moon spent more than two decades at Samsung SDS in various leadership positions in sales, business development, corporate marketing, and product strategy.

Terry Tai has a rich experience in cloud technology, artificial intelligence solutions, data storage technology and go-to-market strategy. Nguyen Ha Tuan has 20 years of experience in the IT Industry. Tuan joins HCL from IBM.

Hero MotoCorp explores new revenue streams with electric vehicle shift; looks beyond two-wheelers

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File image: Pawan Munjal, CMD of Hero MotoCorp

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With the shift to electric vehicles imminent, Hero MotoCorp, the country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, is exploring business models in the areas of EV batteries and charging networks to generate new revenue streams.

The maker of Splendor motorcycles and Maestro scooters will launch its first-ever electric two-wheeler in FY22 in an attempt to grab a slice of the expanding market for battery-powered vehicles.

Looking for opportunities as demand gradually moves to battery-powered electric vehicles, Hero MotoCorp said in its latest annual report that it will explore new business models such as battery as a service and vehicle as a service.

Since starting operations in 1983 with the rollout of its first two-wheeler, Hero MotoCorp has not diversified into new business models till date. Venturing into a service-oriented business model with electric vehicle batteries as well as vehicles as service will be a first for the company.

“(Will) identify new revenue streams for charging infrastructure and accelerate digitisation efforts to target new-age customers and expectations,” the company said in the report.

Hero MotoCorp will not stop at electric two-wheelers. The company has ambitions to venture into other types of vehicles, although it is yet to make its ideas public on this.

“Our vision is to look beyond the traditional mobility space and we are already making investments in electric mobility products, both personal and mass transit,” chairman and managing director Pawan Munjal told shareholders. “We have already declared our next ambitious goal – we will achieve the target of the next 100 million within this decade. In keeping with our vision - ‘Be The Future of Mobility,’ our 200 millionth vehicle may not be a two-wheeler.”

In April, Hero MotoCorp tied up with Taiwan’s Gogoro to develop Hero-branded EVs for the Indian market. Gogoro is known for its battery-swapping and smart mobility innovation.

Hero MotoCorp, which has a 37 percent market share in India’s petrol-powered two-wheeler market, is pressing the pedal on EVs, which coincides with aggressive initiatives by the Central and state governments for pushing electric mobility.

Recently, the union government raised incentives for electric two-wheelers, which was followed by Gujarat rolling out its own subsidy plan to promote the sale of electric two-wheelers in the state. Delhi, Bihar and Maharashtra already have such demand-incentive offers.

Hero’s entry into the EV space will come a little over two years after peers Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Company made their debut. Bajaj Auto launched the all-electric Chetak, while TVS rolled out the iQube, both in January 2020.

Hyundai-backed Ola Electric will debut its yet unnamed, electric scooter in a few months, while market leader Hero Electric has lined up multiple city and high-speed electric scooter models for the Indian market. Hero MotoCorp-backed Ather Energy is adding new markets as part of its expansion plans.