BQuick On Sept. 2: Top 10 Stories In Under 10 Minutes

This is a roundup of the day’s top stories in brief.

1. India’s Stealth Military Move Against China

India triggered the latest clash with China on their Himalayan border by executing a stealth night-time operation to claim strategic outposts offering a clear view of troop movements in disputed territory, Indian officials with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News.

• In what they called India’s first offensive move since the conflict began in May, thousands of soldiers climbed up mountain peaks for about six hours to claim the vantage points along the south bank of Pangong Tso -- a glacial lake roughly the size of Singapore.

• The action was taken to counter what India saw an intrusion by Chinese forces, the officials said, asking not to be identified due to rules on speaking to the media.

• The decision to capture high ground that was previously unoccupied along Line of Actual Control revived a conflict that had been largely dormant since June.

China accused India of breaching agreements between the two sides and unilaterally changing the status quo.

2. PUBG, Alipay Among 118 Chinese Apps Banned

Meanwhile India banned another set of 118 apps from China’s technology giants, including Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s wildly popular game PUBG Mobile Lite, the country’s search engine leader Baidu Inc., and online payments giant Ant Group Co.’s platform Alipay, as tensions escalated on the nations’ disputed border.

The apps are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India” as well as “security and public order,” the country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said in a statement Wednesday. “This move will safeguard the interests” of Indian mobile and internet users, it said.

Find out the full list of apps that have been banned.

3. Winds Of Caution For Consumer Demand

The Indian consumer drove the economy’s growth in the last few years. But even before the Covid-19 crisis hit, the private consumption story had started to tire out.

• Now, an uncertain economic environment, along with a fall in jobs and incomes has led to the steepest fall in private consumption the economy has seen.

• In the April-June quarter, when gross domestic product contracted by 23.9%, private consumption fell 26.7%.

• This was a quarter when the nation was under lockdown. As such, the drop in spending by the average consumer came as no surprise.

• The question economists are left asking is how quickly private consumption will rebound and to what levels?

The early indications suggest that consumers will be slow to return to the store fronts.

4. Vodafone Idea May Avoid Bankruptcy

Vodafone Group Plc’s India unit is no longer considering bankruptcy, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News, after winning some legal relief in a near two-decade payment dispute with the government.

• The fine print of a Supreme Court judgment published late Tuesday showed Vodafone Idea Ltd. doesn’t need to make any immediate payments as a three-judge panel allowed phone operators 10 years to pay a combined $19 billion in back fees.

• In what’s being interpreted as a show of strength, Vodafone Idea’s board soon after said it would meet to discuss a fundraising.

This week’s events are bolstering expectation that the teetering wireless carrier is looking for another shot at success.

5. Nifty Recovers; U.S. Stocks Extend Rally

India’s benchmark equity index closed higher, led by Reliance Industries Ltd., after fluctuating between gains and losses for most of the session.

• The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.5% to 39,086.03, after falling as much as 0.4% earlier in the day.

• The NSE Nifty 50 Index added 0.6%.

• Both indexes capped their third consecutive month of gains in August, rising more than 50% from the pandemic-led sell off in March..

Follow the day’s trading action here.