A bouquet of thoughts related to India's ban on 59 Chinese apps, Huawei, Indian relations with Russia and the US, etc. [RAWDUMP]

• HELPING MUKESH AMBANI / RELIANCE: Modi government has used the border clash with China as a clever pretext to quickly execute those steps which appear to the public as necessary/valid anti-China measures, but are in reality designed to help Mukesh Ambani's current or upcoming business needs.
• Retail efforts help.
• Ban on Club Factory + Shein. [link 1]
• LOSS TO INDIA OF HEDGE / DIVERSITY / OVERDEPENDENCE: Before Chinese digital apps/services provided a healthy hedge against overdependence on Western commerce and social media services, India had been overly dependent on Western - particularly American - services. Chinese giants such as TikTok, WeChat, Xiaomi [apps], Alibaba, etc., provided not just healthy market competition to US apps, but also reduced India's dependence on a single country/bloc. That hedge evaporated with Modi's ban-after-ban on hundreds of Chinese apps.
• Indian apps market is now almost monopolized by giant American corporations.

Following photos show not just the crushing and worrying dominance of American apps, how also how non-US/non-Western apps - in this case TikTok, Snack Video, Telegram, and to an extent Zoom - provide not just healthy market competition to the dominant giants, but also diversify a country's digital cyberspace, reduce overdependence.

SCRATCHPAD

• WHEN INDIA BANNED APPS, IT CROSSED AN UNWRITTEN RED LINE THAT HAD HITHERTO EXISTED IN THE WORLD. NO ONE WOULD BAN APPS. BUT WHEN INDIA DID THIS, IT SORT OF REMOVED THE RED LINE AND OTHERS TOO STARTED DOING THE SAME [SNOWBALL EFFECT].
  
• STARVING CHINESE FUNDING FOR COMPETITORS / WOULD-BE COMPETITORS OF RELIANCE SO THAT RELIANCE OFFERINGS GREATLY INCREASE THEIR CHANCES OF SUCCESS
• https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Startups/Google-Reliance-partnership-heats-up-Indian-e-commerce-race
• Taiwan to block streaming services of Tencent and Baidu's iQiyi
• https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Taiwan-to-block-streaming-services-of-Tencent-and-Baidu-s-iQiyi
• India banning Huawei will hurt Airtel, Vodafone Idea, help Jio
• https://qz.com/india/1895866/india-banning-huawei-will-hurt-airtel-vodafone-idea-help-jio/
• Reliance tech arm expands monopoly muscle in India
• https://asiatimes.com/2020/08/reliance-tech-arm-expands-monopoly-muscle-in-india/
• India Slaps New Curbs on Visas, Schools to Stem China Influence
• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-21/india-slaps-new-curbs-on-visas-schools-to-stem-china-influence
• Paytm, other Indian startups vow to fight 'big daddy' Google's clout: sources
• https://in.reuters.com/article/india-google-startups/paytm-other-indian-startups-vow-to-fight-big-daddy-googles-clout-sources-idINKBN26O0GJ
  
• U.S., India Expected to Sign Military Pact as China Prompts Closer Ties
• https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-india-expected-to-sign-military-pact-as-china-prompts-closer-ties-11603623601
• Cracks beginning to appear in the Russia-India relationship
• https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/cracks-beginning-appear-russia-india-relationship
• TikTok gives up on India, months after government ban
• https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/TikTok-gives-up-on-India-months-after-government-ban
• Q