Indra's Drishtikona (Viewpoint) http://drishtikona.com My online journal with thoughts, opinions, comments and more.. Thu, 17 May 2012 09:03:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.2 Indra's Drishtikona (Viewpoint) http://drishtikona.com/images/favicon.gif http://drishtikona.com en India’s Slowing Economy and Ruchir Sharma’s Viewpoints http://drishtikona.com/archives/government_policyadministration/003066.php http://drishtikona.com/archives/government_policyadministration/003066.php#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 20:56:01 +0000 Indra http://drishtikona.com/archives/government_policyadministration/003066.php Kaushik Basu. Basu expressed his doubt about any reform coming before 2014 election. Soon after came the bomb blast from Standard & Poor. It was followed by Moody’s dismal remark about Manmohan’s government: “(Manmohan) Singh is an ageing technocrat who now appears tired of the rough and tumble of Indian politics. This leaves the national reform process in limbo.” Moody's Analytics termed the national government as the "single biggest drag" on business activity and named Congress' first family behind the failure. Soon thereafter, IMF also cited governance concerns and the tardy pace of project approvals for a moderation in economic growth. But more shocking but interestingly refreshing were the views of Ruchir Sharma, Global Head, Emerging Markets, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and author of ‘Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles’, for which Fareed Zakaria, Editor-at-Large, Time magazine has said, “This is the best book on global economic trends I’ve read in a while.” In last week, Ruchir and his book got the maximum media coverage in India. India’s middle class and intellectuals listened to his views about India’s economy and its prospect to be an economic power with immense interest and concern. I watched a NDTV programme on ‘Breakout Nations’ anchored by Pranay Roy with Ruchir Sharma in the presence of YV Reddy, the former governor of RBI, Montek Singh and Sunil Mittal of Bharati Airtel. Ruchir Sharma went on with his revelations made in ‘Breakout Nations’ and the others agreeing quietly with his inferences. After the idea of BRICKs propounded few years ago, Ruchir has come out with a list of prospective ‘Breakout Nations’. The book has a chapter on India too, but it also has many other nations among the probables such as Turkey, Indonesia? But here I present some of his views on India’s economy: ‘It was the rising tide of global liquidity and not anything unique to India that accelerated its growth rate from a level of around 5.5 per cent to 8-9 per cent between 2003 and 2007.’ Will it make any difference in the attitude of the present government? “The history of economic development says that unless you systematically reform, you cannot grow in a sustained manner, which is what China has done,” Anything less than 7-8 percent growth will not make India a `breakout nation’. On the per capita front, while for a country like Korea with a per capita income of over $20,000, it would feel like a boom if it grows at 4-5 per cent, for a country like India with a per capita income of $1,500 it would feel like a recession.” Will the government work hard and try to find ways and means to go for the growth shaking off its complacency? Amongst the BRIC nations, India is most likely to break out since it has the advantage of low per capita income of $1,500, more unproductive resources in the economy, more unemployed and under-employed people who can be brought up in the urban areas. Despite such advantages, India is not the fastest growing economy in the world today. His worries centre around the government’s rising expenditure and the slow pace of economic and social reforms. According to Sharma, businessmen were finding it more and more difficult to do business in India and would rather take their money out. “My confidence in India will increase a lot when I see domestic businessmen willing to invest lot more at home rather than diversifying,” According to Sharma, “Growth is coming out of states increasingly and the quality of governance is improving there, but at the Centre it still remains very poor. And the reason for India being a ‘breakout nation’ is its states.” India’s growth fell from 8-9 per cent to 6-7 per cent and its market fell 35 per cent in dollar terms — so, ‘expectations’ are key. ‘China has more billionaires than India, which is to be expected, but the net worth of China’s billionaires is 4 per cent of its GDP — it is 17.2 per cent for India.’ Basically, a lot of churn among wealth generators is desirable. Preferably, these billionaires are come up in non-government-related sectors (tech, for instance) and there’ll be no backlash. India had a lot of churn and that seems to have stopped now. 9 of the top 10 Indian billionaires in the 2010 Forbes list were holdovers from the 2006 list. The top 10 Sensex stocks account for two-thirds of its total value; in the case of the Dow this is half. According to Ruchir, India has a 50:50 chance to get in as breakout nation. However, many states of India are breaking out, while the Centre isn’t. India will have to take risks. In the 1990s, India did things that paid off. Keep doing them, not doing anything is wrong. Don’t do MGNREGA that keeps people on the farm. ‘The country has a high chance of becoming a “breakout nation” only if it does not grow complacent, avoids becoming a welfare state, brings reforms systematically and globally, and commodity prices fall.’ Even a lay man can suggest something that this government is not doing. Why is Prime Minister not taking the country men in confidence? Why is he not talking with a core group of young economists instead of consulting only the old guys with set ideas? Why is the government trying for a wider consensus on the second generation of reforms to keep the economy on a 9% growth path? ]]> Kaushik Basu. Basu expressed his doubt about any reform coming before 2014 election. Soon after came the bomb blast from Standard & Poor. It was followed by Moody’s dismal remark about Manmohan’s government: “(Manmohan) Singh is an ageing technocrat who now appears tired of the rough and tumble of Indian politics. This leaves the national reform process in limbo.” Moody's Analytics termed the national government as the "single biggest drag" on business activity and named Congress' first family behind the failure. Soon thereafter, IMF also cited governance concerns and the tardy pace of project approvals for a moderation in economic growth. But more shocking but interestingly refreshing were the views of Ruchir Sharma, Global Head, Emerging Markets, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and author of ‘Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles’, for which Fareed Zakaria, Editor-at-Large, Time magazine has said, “This is the best book on global economic trends I’ve read in a while.” In last week, Ruchir and his book got the maximum media coverage in India. India’s middle class and intellectuals listened to his views about India’s economy and its prospect to be an economic power with immense interest and concern. I watched a NDTV programme on ‘Breakout Nations’ anchored by Pranay Roy with Ruchir Sharma in the presence of YV Reddy, the former governor of RBI, Montek Singh and Sunil Mittal of Bharati Airtel. Ruchir Sharma went on with his revelations made in ‘Breakout Nations’ and the others agreeing quietly with his inferences. After the idea of BRICKs propounded few years ago, Ruchir has come out with a list of prospective ‘Breakout Nations’. The book has a chapter on India too, but it also has many other nations among the probables such as Turkey, Indonesia? But here I present some of his views on India’s economy: ‘It was the rising tide of global liquidity and not anything unique to India that accelerated its growth rate from a level of around 5.5 per cent to 8-9 per cent between 2003 and 2007.’ Will it make any difference in the attitude of the present government? “The history of economic development says that unless you systematically reform, you cannot grow in a sustained manner, which is what China has done,” Anything less than 7-8 percent growth will not make India a `breakout nation’. On the per capita front, while for a country like Korea with a per capita income of over $20,000, it would feel like a boom if it grows at 4-5 per cent, for a country like India with a per capita income of $1,500 it would feel like a recession.” Will the government work hard and try to find ways and means to go for the growth shaking off its complacency? Amongst the BRIC nations, India is most likely to break out since it has the advantage of low per capita income of $1,500, more unproductive resources in the economy, more unemployed and under-employed people who can be brought up in the urban areas. Despite such advantages, India is not the fastest growing economy in the world today. His worries centre around the government’s rising expenditure and the slow pace of economic and social reforms. According to Sharma, businessmen were finding it more and more difficult to do business in India and would rather take their money out. “My confidence in India will increase a lot when I see domestic businessmen willing to invest lot more at home rather than diversifying,” According to Sharma, “Growth is coming out of states increasingly and the quality of governance is improving there, but at the Centre it still remains very poor. And the reason for India being a ‘breakout nation’ is its states.” India’s growth fell from 8-9 per cent to 6-7 per cent and its market fell 35 per cent in dollar terms — so, ‘expectations’ are key. ‘China has more billionaires than India, which is to be expected, but the net worth of China’s billionaires is 4 per cent of its GDP — it is 17.2 per cent for India.’ Basically, a lot of churn among wealth generators is desirable. Preferably, these billionaires are come up in non-government-related sectors (tech, for instance) and there’ll be no backlash. India had a lot of churn and that seems to have stopped now. 9 of the top 10 Indian billionaires in the 2010 Forbes list were holdovers from the 2006 list. The top 10 Sensex stocks account for two-thirds of its total value; in the case of the Dow this is half. According to Ruchir, India has a 50:50 chance to get in as breakout nation. However, many states of India are breaking out, while the Centre isn’t. India will have to take risks. In the 1990s, India did things that paid off. Keep doing them, not doing anything is wrong. Don’t do MGNREGA that keeps people on the farm. ‘The country has a high chance of becoming a “breakout nation” only if it does not grow complacent, avoids becoming a welfare state, brings reforms systematically and globally, and commodity prices fall.’ Even a lay man can suggest something that this government is not doing. Why is Prime Minister not taking the country men in confidence? Why is he not talking with a core group of young economists instead of consulting only the old guys with set ideas? Why is the government trying for a wider consensus on the second generation of reforms to keep the economy on a 9% growth path? ]]> http://drishtikona.com/archives/government_policyadministration/003066.php/feed/ India’s Mastery in Missing Buses http://drishtikona.com/archives/industrymanagement/003060.php http://drishtikona.com/archives/industrymanagement/003060.php#comments Wed, 11 Apr 2012 05:09:20 +0000 Indra http://drishtikona.com/archives/industrymanagement/003060.php reports, Bangladesh is the next hot spot and the country’s ready-made-garment industry identified solid apparel-sourcing opportunities. Why has India with the great past of textiles and with maximum producer of cotton failed to remain high? It could have provided millions the necessary engagements and means to remain out of poverty? Indian small businessmen keep on talking about the long hours of power cuts, the high cost of every infrastructure input, the slow turnaround time at ports, labour law, and of course red tape and inspection raj as excuses. But most of them wish to make big money in easy way rather than having a mission to create jobs for the needy country men with some investment and hard work in manufacturing. The hero of 90’s revolution is in mute and ‘statue’ mode. The political class is too busy in everything else but helping to raise the development speed of the country. India’s young entrepreneurs, business leaders, and society have overlooked the potential of rural India in multiplying the manufacturing potential of India by taking it to the unemployed cheap rural labour. Organizing the rural potential with selecting and training interested groups for some outsourced work would have kept the cost down in many of the manufacturing jobs for the producing the things required for mass use. The government has failed effectively in providing electricity without which nothing gets produced these days in competitive manner. Not that there are no rural ventures, but it has not penetrated and scaled up to the desired extent. In a similar manner, India is missing the bus in BPO sector too. As reported, in a 2008 report NASSCOM and Everest, the Indian BPO industry would have earned $30 billion from exports by 2012. However, in the last six years, voice contracts coming to India, as estimated, have fallen by half. The industry may clock less than $16 billion this year, and it is all because Indian entrepreneurs and education system failed to provide the right spoken skill for that type of work. Is it not surprising that India has lost to Philippines? And the loosers are the young boys and girls with education up to class X or XII standard with good communicating ability in English from lower middle class, and not the established entrepreneurs who switched over the location or upgraded the work and the services of much higher value additions. But every one can’t pick up the high end BPO that requires higher education and better domain knowledge. Philippines became the biggest provider of voice-supported services as its BPO industry jumped 21 per cent to $10.9 billion. As reported in ‘Business Today’, ‘at pure voice operations, the Philippines, with $5.2 billion in revenues, has already become No. 1 in the world, pushing India, at $4.8 billion, into the second spot’. India must go for few policy decisions for creating industries that will provide jobs for the new generation that is getting into the market. Indian PSUs such as BHEL and BMEL, must grow much bigger outsourcing whatever can be done with the vendors. Defense production must encourage the private sector to enter and establish factories. Indian policy makers must realize the extent of national loss by opting for import rather for local manufacturing of the huge defence requirement. ISRO and other high tech establishments as well as the national research establishment such as CSIR and DRDO must help establishing manufacturing facilities in the country as a national mission and take the country forward in manufacturing of electronics. Let India not miss the bus this time. ]]> reports, Bangladesh is the next hot spot and the country’s ready-made-garment industry identified solid apparel-sourcing opportunities. Why has India with the great past of textiles and with maximum producer of cotton failed to remain high? It could have provided millions the necessary engagements and means to remain out of poverty? Indian small businessmen keep on talking about the long hours of power cuts, the high cost of every infrastructure input, the slow turnaround time at ports, labour law, and of course red tape and inspection raj as excuses. But most of them wish to make big money in easy way rather than having a mission to create jobs for the needy country men with some investment and hard work in manufacturing. The hero of 90’s revolution is in mute and ‘statue’ mode. The political class is too busy in everything else but helping to raise the development speed of the country. India’s young entrepreneurs, business leaders, and society have overlooked the potential of rural India in multiplying the manufacturing potential of India by taking it to the unemployed cheap rural labour. Organizing the rural potential with selecting and training interested groups for some outsourced work would have kept the cost down in many of the manufacturing jobs for the producing the things required for mass use. The government has failed effectively in providing electricity without which nothing gets produced these days in competitive manner. Not that there are no rural ventures, but it has not penetrated and scaled up to the desired extent. In a similar manner, India is missing the bus in BPO sector too. As reported, in a 2008 report NASSCOM and Everest, the Indian BPO industry would have earned $30 billion from exports by 2012. However, in the last six years, voice contracts coming to India, as estimated, have fallen by half. The industry may clock less than $16 billion this year, and it is all because Indian entrepreneurs and education system failed to provide the right spoken skill for that type of work. Is it not surprising that India has lost to Philippines? And the loosers are the young boys and girls with education up to class X or XII standard with good communicating ability in English from lower middle class, and not the established entrepreneurs who switched over the location or upgraded the work and the services of much higher value additions. But every one can’t pick up the high end BPO that requires higher education and better domain knowledge. Philippines became the biggest provider of voice-supported services as its BPO industry jumped 21 per cent to $10.9 billion. As reported in ‘Business Today’, ‘at pure voice operations, the Philippines, with $5.2 billion in revenues, has already become No. 1 in the world, pushing India, at $4.8 billion, into the second spot’. India must go for few policy decisions for creating industries that will provide jobs for the new generation that is getting into the market. Indian PSUs such as BHEL and BMEL, must grow much bigger outsourcing whatever can be done with the vendors. Defense production must encourage the private sector to enter and establish factories. Indian policy makers must realize the extent of national loss by opting for import rather for local manufacturing of the huge defence requirement. ISRO and other high tech establishments as well as the national research establishment such as CSIR and DRDO must help establishing manufacturing facilities in the country as a national mission and take the country forward in manufacturing of electronics. Let India not miss the bus this time. ]]> http://drishtikona.com/archives/industrymanagement/003060.php/feed/ India as Economic Power http://drishtikona.com/archives/industrymanagement/003059.php http://drishtikona.com/archives/industrymanagement/003059.php#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:02:42 +0000 Indra http://drishtikona.com/archives/industrymanagement/003059.php McKinsey Quarterly stated, ‘India is moving quickly to capture its place on the world stage’. India has arrived and it is getting visible at all the international platforms of some consequences, India is still cost effective and labor intensive economy. It has its educated talented mass too. IT sector has established and upgraded itself to carry out all sorts value added outsourcing of work from developed countries. Even with competition and various other challenges, India continues to drive leadership in the global sourcing market with a 58 per cent share. Indian companies are building a hub of centres across 70 countries that create a seamless solution for the clients. Indian companies are also investing and providing employment in the developed countries. IT exports from India totalled about $69.7 billion during financial year 2011-12. India has also created a strong manufacturing and export oriented industrial framework. All global automobile makers worth name are having manufacturing facilities as well as product development centres. Some such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Ford and even Toyota along with trying to take the maximum advantage of the large domestic market are also making the country an export hub for at least some platforms of their cars. Indian manufacturers such Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra are busy in fulfilling their dreams of becoming a global company with acquisitions abroad and have developed world class products through their Indian and overseas R&D centres. In motor cycles, Hero and Bajaj are already among the top few in the world, while for tractors, Indians are the largest manufacturers. In heavy engineering industry too, L&T, Crompton Greaves, BHEL have earned their place. http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/india-and-global-economy. The Tata Group is the largest manufacturing employer in the UK. Ireland’s richest person — Pallonji Mistry — is an Indian. Coal India is the single largest coal producer in the world. India is the largest whisky manufacturer in the world. Indian management has established itself globally by turning around the acquired companies such as Corus and JLR. While Ford failed, Tata Motors could make it profitable as jewel in its crown. Globally known brand names such as Citigroup, Pepsi and Motorola are associated with an Indian CEO. And in US, as per one estimate, over 50% of total patents filed for industrial innovations in the US have Indian brains behind them. Similar may be the number for new startup entrepreneurs in US. (I got reminded of the stories of persons such as Dr. Suhash Patil that I came across in ‘The Game Changers’.) Indian academicians have achieved distinctive place with many Business Schools of American universities having deans of Indian origin. Soumitra Dutta, the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University; Nitin Nohria, dean of the Harvard Business School; Sunil Kumar, dean of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business; Dipak C. Jain, the current dean of INSEAD ( French business school), was the dean of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management until 2010; Jaishankar Ganesh at the Rutgers School of Business-Camden and G. (Anand) Anandalingam at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Through frugal innovations that includes, Nano, the cheapest car in the world from Tata Motors; Aakash, the cheapest tablet PC in the world, priced at $46; and other cheap tablets; Chhotukool from Godrej Appliances provided a cooling solution, at nearly half the cost of an entry-level refrigerator. India today has earned respect for its designing talent. And that is the reason that companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, Intel, etc especially in IT that generates maximum value from innovation, rely on resources from India. It might have started with Texas Instruments and GE but today almost every globally established company has or is in the process of setting up its R&D centres on India. According to an estimate, the number of foreign R&Ds operating in India till December 2011 was about 900. With 100 companies of over a billion dollar market cap, India has established its position globally. Indian bankers have established themselves all around the world for efficient financial management. Indian banks have significantly less bad loans versus pretty high in China. Bangalore has more Grade-A offices than Singapore India is the largest diamond cutting and polishing centre in the world. India is the largest sugar consumer in the world. Parle-G is the world’s largest selling biscuit brand KEC is global leader in tower production capacity There is no dearth of IT entrepreneurs in India today. Infosys N R Narayana Murthy has become the icon of Indian IT industry and was recently selected as one of the 12 “greatest entrepreneurs of our time” according to a Fortune magazine list that was topped by Apple’s late chief Steve Jobs. But Indians are exploring many fields other than IT, ITeS or pharma sector. For example, Ram Karuturi, CEO of Karuturi Global, had already made his company the world's largest cut flower exporter. And Ram is not the only Indian looking to African countries for setting up farming enterprises with a huge potential to meet the India's shortage of edible oil and pulses. India is the largest exporter of rice this year and can do the same with sugar too. It will have 90 million tons of wheat this season. India feeds 17 per cent of the world population with barely 2.4 per cent of the arable area, 4.2 per cent water and 11 per cent livestock. A young farmer of Darveshpura village in Nalanda district has set a world record in potato production through organic farming. Few months ago, a group of farmers in the same village had created a "world record" producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare. I get reminded of the time when India was dependent on foreign grains. And when it comes to compare India with China, I get reminded of the size of media. India has the largest number of newspapers/publications any country in the world has. There are over 72,000 publications currently registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India. And over 700 TV channels have been permitted to uplink or downlink from the country; over half these claim to be 'news and current affairs' channels. The number of FM radio stations has zoomed and will go up further - from over 250 now to around 1,200 in the next five years. India is pushing ahead in its own unique way, perhaps, in spite of the mediocre political leadership. ]]> McKinsey Quarterly stated, ‘India is moving quickly to capture its place on the world stage’. India has arrived and it is getting visible at all the international platforms of some consequences, India is still cost effective and labor intensive economy. It has its educated talented mass too. IT sector has established and upgraded itself to carry out all sorts value added outsourcing of work from developed countries. Even with competition and various other challenges, India continues to drive leadership in the global sourcing market with a 58 per cent share. Indian companies are building a hub of centres across 70 countries that create a seamless solution for the clients. Indian companies are also investing and providing employment in the developed countries. IT exports from India totalled about $69.7 billion during financial year 2011-12. India has also created a strong manufacturing and export oriented industrial framework. All global automobile makers worth name are having manufacturing facilities as well as product development centres. Some such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Ford and even Toyota along with trying to take the maximum advantage of the large domestic market are also making the country an export hub for at least some platforms of their cars. Indian manufacturers such Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra are busy in fulfilling their dreams of becoming a global company with acquisitions abroad and have developed world class products through their Indian and overseas R&D centres. In motor cycles, Hero and Bajaj are already among the top few in the world, while for tractors, Indians are the largest manufacturers. In heavy engineering industry too, L&T, Crompton Greaves, BHEL have earned their place. http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/india-and-global-economy. The Tata Group is the largest manufacturing employer in the UK. Ireland’s richest person — Pallonji Mistry — is an Indian. Coal India is the single largest coal producer in the world. India is the largest whisky manufacturer in the world. Indian management has established itself globally by turning around the acquired companies such as Corus and JLR. While Ford failed, Tata Motors could make it profitable as jewel in its crown. Globally known brand names such as Citigroup, Pepsi and Motorola are associated with an Indian CEO. And in US, as per one estimate, over 50% of total patents filed for industrial innovations in the US have Indian brains behind them. Similar may be the number for new startup entrepreneurs in US. (I got reminded of the stories of persons such as Dr. Suhash Patil that I came across in ‘The Game Changers’.) Indian academicians have achieved distinctive place with many Business Schools of American universities having deans of Indian origin. Soumitra Dutta, the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University; Nitin Nohria, dean of the Harvard Business School; Sunil Kumar, dean of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business; Dipak C. Jain, the current dean of INSEAD ( French business school), was the dean of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management until 2010; Jaishankar Ganesh at the Rutgers School of Business-Camden and G. (Anand) Anandalingam at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Through frugal innovations that includes, Nano, the cheapest car in the world from Tata Motors; Aakash, the cheapest tablet PC in the world, priced at $46; and other cheap tablets; Chhotukool from Godrej Appliances provided a cooling solution, at nearly half the cost of an entry-level refrigerator. India today has earned respect for its designing talent. And that is the reason that companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, Intel, etc especially in IT that generates maximum value from innovation, rely on resources from India. It might have started with Texas Instruments and GE but today almost every globally established company has or is in the process of setting up its R&D centres on India. According to an estimate, the number of foreign R&Ds operating in India till December 2011 was about 900. With 100 companies of over a billion dollar market cap, India has established its position globally. Indian bankers have established themselves all around the world for efficient financial management. Indian banks have significantly less bad loans versus pretty high in China. Bangalore has more Grade-A offices than Singapore India is the largest diamond cutting and polishing centre in the world. India is the largest sugar consumer in the world. Parle-G is the world’s largest selling biscuit brand KEC is global leader in tower production capacity There is no dearth of IT entrepreneurs in India today. Infosys N R Narayana Murthy has become the icon of Indian IT industry and was recently selected as one of the 12 “greatest entrepreneurs of our time” according to a Fortune magazine list that was topped by Apple’s late chief Steve Jobs. But Indians are exploring many fields other than IT, ITeS or pharma sector. For example, Ram Karuturi, CEO of Karuturi Global, had already made his company the world's largest cut flower exporter. And Ram is not the only Indian looking to African countries for setting up farming enterprises with a huge potential to meet the India's shortage of edible oil and pulses. India is the largest exporter of rice this year and can do the same with sugar too. It will have 90 million tons of wheat this season. India feeds 17 per cent of the world population with barely 2.4 per cent of the arable area, 4.2 per cent water and 11 per cent livestock. A young farmer of Darveshpura village in Nalanda district has set a world record in potato production through organic farming. Few months ago, a group of farmers in the same village had created a "world record" producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare. I get reminded of the time when India was dependent on foreign grains. And when it comes to compare India with China, I get reminded of the size of media. India has the largest number of newspapers/publications any country in the world has. There are over 72,000 publications currently registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India. And over 700 TV channels have been permitted to uplink or downlink from the country; over half these claim to be 'news and current affairs' channels. The number of FM radio stations has zoomed and will go up further - from over 250 now to around 1,200 in the next five years. India is pushing ahead in its own unique way, perhaps, in spite of the mediocre political leadership. ]]> http://drishtikona.com/archives/industrymanagement/003059.php/feed/ Between Efficiency and Honesty http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003057.php http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003057.php#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2012 05:31:39 +0000 Indra http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003057.php Business Standard by a reputed columnist.
Defence Minister A K Antony was on a visit to the north east in February last year. At the 3 Corps headquarters in Rangapahar in Nagaland, Antony asked jawans if they needed anything. They said hesitantly if they could get a new pair of shoes every year instead of every 26 months that is the current practice...and if the shoes could be better quality.. . . Everyone in headquarters agreed that this was imperative; the Indian jawan deserved better and put up a proposal that canvas shoes be replaced with smart Reebok, Adidas or Fila shoes that were at once smart and light but rugged. In addition, a proposal was made that combat boots be replaced as well, with all-weather durable and lighter boots. The proposal reached Antonys desk. The outgo was an additional Rs 140 crore that the defence minister had the authority to clear without referring it to anyone else. Barely had it landed there that hegot another missive. A member of the BJP who is also an animal rights activist wrote to the minister that she had heard there was a proposal to replace these shoes with leather ones. She claimed to have information that the outer and back flap of the newtype of shoes would be made with cows leather (favoured because it is soft and malleable). She said 4,000 cows would be slaughtered to make these shoes that would require 200,000 meters of leather. This was unacceptable and the proposal must be re-examined. The next day the minister returned the file with the noting that he was not yet ready to take this decision. The army is now looking for a firm that will make the same shoes with buffalo leather, a process that will take at least three years.Defence Minister A K Antony was on a visit to the north east in February last year. At the 3 Corps headquarters in Rangapahar in Nagaland, Antony asked jawans if they needed anything. They said hesitantly if they could get a new pair of shoes every year instead of every 26 months that is the current practice...and if the shoes could be better quality... . Everyone in headquarters agreed that this was imperative; the Indian jawan deserved better and put up a proposal that canvas shoes be replaced with smart Reebok, Adidas or Fila shoes that were at once smart and light but rugged. In addition, a proposal was made that combat boots be replaced as well, with all-weather durable and lighter boots. The proposal reached Antonys desk. The outgo was an additional Rs 140 crore that the defence minister had the authority to clear without referring it to anyone else. Barely had it landed there that hegot another missive. A member of the BJP who is also an animal rights activist wrote to the minister that she had heard there was a proposal to replace these shoes with leather ones. She claimed to have information that the outer and back flap of the newtype of shoes would be made with cows leather (favoured because it is soft and malleable). She said 4,000 cows would be slaughtered to make these shoes that would require 200,000 meters of leather. This was unacceptable and the proposal must be re-examined. The next day the minister returned the file with the noting that he was not yet ready to take this decision. The army is now looking for a firm that will make the same shoes with buffalo leather, a process that will take at least three years.
Can the country’s defence be safe with such person as cabinet minister? The Chief of Army is no different. Can the country’s well being be expected by just allowing a still more honest prime minister? Why could not a prime minister get procured the essential defence equipment and essentials when two of the neighbours are so hostile? Why can’t the defence minister make the babus work giving a time limit for each step in decision making? Why could not the economist prime minister used private sector in the manufacturing of defence items that is around Rs 50,000 crore a year? Why could the country manufacture many of the essential items locally when all other countries have done it? When a country like Brazil can produce indigenous aeroplane, why can’t India do that? Why can’t the domestically India can’t produce even a reliable helicopter? Why HAL with so huge an investment can be even Embraer (the Brazilian aviation giant), of not anything else? Why can’t the government protected PSUs, research institutions, and defence production units be made more efficient and productive? With inefficient leadership the country can’t think of becoming a superpower. Even if it happens it will be in spite of it. ]]> Business Standard by a reputed columnist.
Defence Minister A K Antony was on a visit to the north east in February last year. At the 3 Corps headquarters in Rangapahar in Nagaland, Antony asked jawans if they needed anything. They said hesitantly if they could get a new pair of shoes every year instead of every 26 months that is the current practice...and if the shoes could be better quality.. . . Everyone in headquarters agreed that this was imperative; the Indian jawan deserved better and put up a proposal that canvas shoes be replaced with smart Reebok, Adidas or Fila shoes that were at once smart and light but rugged. In addition, a proposal was made that combat boots be replaced as well, with all-weather durable and lighter boots. The proposal reached Antonys desk. The outgo was an additional Rs 140 crore that the defence minister had the authority to clear without referring it to anyone else. Barely had it landed there that hegot another missive. A member of the BJP who is also an animal rights activist wrote to the minister that she had heard there was a proposal to replace these shoes with leather ones. She claimed to have information that the outer and back flap of the newtype of shoes would be made with cows leather (favoured because it is soft and malleable). She said 4,000 cows would be slaughtered to make these shoes that would require 200,000 meters of leather. This was unacceptable and the proposal must be re-examined. The next day the minister returned the file with the noting that he was not yet ready to take this decision. The army is now looking for a firm that will make the same shoes with buffalo leather, a process that will take at least three years.Defence Minister A K Antony was on a visit to the north east in February last year. At the 3 Corps headquarters in Rangapahar in Nagaland, Antony asked jawans if they needed anything. They said hesitantly if they could get a new pair of shoes every year instead of every 26 months that is the current practice...and if the shoes could be better quality... . Everyone in headquarters agreed that this was imperative; the Indian jawan deserved better and put up a proposal that canvas shoes be replaced with smart Reebok, Adidas or Fila shoes that were at once smart and light but rugged. In addition, a proposal was made that combat boots be replaced as well, with all-weather durable and lighter boots. The proposal reached Antonys desk. The outgo was an additional Rs 140 crore that the defence minister had the authority to clear without referring it to anyone else. Barely had it landed there that hegot another missive. A member of the BJP who is also an animal rights activist wrote to the minister that she had heard there was a proposal to replace these shoes with leather ones. She claimed to have information that the outer and back flap of the newtype of shoes would be made with cows leather (favoured because it is soft and malleable). She said 4,000 cows would be slaughtered to make these shoes that would require 200,000 meters of leather. This was unacceptable and the proposal must be re-examined. The next day the minister returned the file with the noting that he was not yet ready to take this decision. The army is now looking for a firm that will make the same shoes with buffalo leather, a process that will take at least three years.
Can the country’s defence be safe with such person as cabinet minister? The Chief of Army is no different. Can the country’s well being be expected by just allowing a still more honest prime minister? Why could not a prime minister get procured the essential defence equipment and essentials when two of the neighbours are so hostile? Why can’t the defence minister make the babus work giving a time limit for each step in decision making? Why could not the economist prime minister used private sector in the manufacturing of defence items that is around Rs 50,000 crore a year? Why could the country manufacture many of the essential items locally when all other countries have done it? When a country like Brazil can produce indigenous aeroplane, why can’t India do that? Why can’t the domestically India can’t produce even a reliable helicopter? Why HAL with so huge an investment can be even Embraer (the Brazilian aviation giant), of not anything else? Why can’t the government protected PSUs, research institutions, and defence production units be made more efficient and productive? With inefficient leadership the country can’t think of becoming a superpower. Even if it happens it will be in spite of it. ]]> http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003057.php/feed/ Indian American Scientists: 2012 Sloan Research Fellows http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003050.php http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003050.php#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2012 08:53:16 +0000 Indra http://drishtikona.com/archives/employmenteducation/003050.php Indian American scientists. "Today's Sloan Research Fellows are tomorrow's Nobel Prize winners," said Sloan Foundation president Paul L. Joskow. Awarded annually since 1955, the fellowships, which include a $50,000 grant to be used to further a recipient's research, have traditionally recognized those working in chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, evolutionary and computational molecular biology, neuroscience, and physics. The award of 2012 Sloan Research Fellows was one such news with a number of Indian American young scientists.: Tulika Bose, assistant professor at Boston University, received her Ph.D. in experimental high energy physics from Columbia University in 2006. Her post-doctoral research at Brown University focused on direct searches for new phenomena at the DO experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron and at the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Neal K Dalal, assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Illinois, received his doctorate in astronomy from the University of California, San Diego, in 2002. He received a Hubble Fellowship from the Space Telescope Science Institute and was a senior research associate at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics before he joined the faculty at the U of I in 2011. Neil K. Garg, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA, received his Ph.D. in 2005 from the California Institute of Technology. He completed his training as an NIH postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Irvine, and later joined UCLA in 2007. His research program at UCLA focuses on the development of synthetic strategies and methods as well as the synthesis of bioactive molecules. Shwetak N Patel, an assistant professor in the department of computer science and engineering and electrical engineering at the University of Washington, received his Ph.D. in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2008. His most recent research focuses on building low-cost sensing systems for the home. Parag Pathak, associate professor of economics at MIT and research associate in the NBER’s pro¬grams on Education, Public Economics and Industrial Organization, received his A.B., S.M. and Ph.D. in 2007 from Harvard University. His research focuses on evaluating student assignment systems and has helped with New York City and Boston school assignment mechanisms. Prasad Raghavendra, assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, received his Ph.D. from the computer science and engineering department at University of Washington, Seattle. He received his dual degree in computer science from IIT Madras. His research interests include approximation algorithms, hardness of approximation, complexity, and coding theory. Srinivas Raghu, assistant professor of the department of physics at Stanford University, received his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University in 2006. His research interests include theoretical condensed matter physics, unconventional superconductivity, correlated electron systems, and topological phases of matter. Sohini Ramachandran, assistant professor of biology, ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown University, received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in biological sciences in 2007. There, she worked on human population genetics. Ramachandran was elected to the Harvard Society of Fellows in 2007 and did postdoctoral work while studying coalescent theory. Sylvia Ratnasamy, assistant professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, received her Ph.D. in computer science from UC Berkeley in 2002. As a second-year Ph.D. student, she was appointed to the ICSI Center for Internet Research, in Berkeley. With a population of Indian Americans constantly increasing, more and more of its next generation will get into the domain of expanding the Human Knowledge for the interest of human race, Let us congratulate the winners of 2012 Sloan Research Fellowship.. ]]> Indian American scientists. "Today's Sloan Research Fellows are tomorrow's Nobel Prize winners," said Sloan Foundation president Paul L. Joskow. Awarded annually since 1955, the fellowships, which include a $50,000 grant to be used to further a recipient's research, have traditionally recognized those working in chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, evolutionary and computational molecular biology, neuroscience, and physics. The award of 2012 Sloan Research Fellows was one such news with a number of Indian American young scientists.: Tulika Bose, assistant professor at Boston University, received her Ph.D. in experimental high energy physics from Columbia University in 2006. Her post-doctoral research at Brown University focused on direct searches for new phenomena at the DO experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron and at the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Neal K Dalal, assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Illinois, received his doctorate in astronomy from the University of California, San Diego, in 2002. He received a Hubble Fellowship from the Space Telescope Science Institute and was a senior research associate at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics before he joined the faculty at the U of I in 2011. Neil K. Garg, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA, received his Ph.D. in 2005 from the California Institute of Technology. He completed his training as an NIH postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Irvine, and later joined UCLA in 2007. His research program at UCLA focuses on the development of synthetic strategies and methods as well as the synthesis of bioactive molecules. Shwetak N Patel, an assistant professor in the department of computer science and engineering and electrical engineering at the University of Washington, received his Ph.D. in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2008. His most recent research focuses on building low-cost sensing systems for the home. Parag Pathak, associate professor of economics at MIT and research associate in the NBER’s pro¬grams on Education, Public Economics and Industrial Organization, received his A.B., S.M. and Ph.D. in 2007 from Harvard University. His research focuses on evaluating student assignment systems and has helped with New York City and Boston school assignment mechanisms. Prasad Raghavendra, assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, received his Ph.D. from the computer science and engineering department at University of Washington, Seattle. He received his dual degree in computer science from IIT Madras. His research interests include approximation algorithms, hardness of approximation, complexity, and coding theory. Srinivas Raghu, assistant professor of the department of physics at Stanford University, received his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University in 2006. His research interests include theoretical condensed matter physics, unconventional superconductivity, correlated electron systems, and topological phases of matter. Sohini Ramachandran, assistant professor of biology, ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown University, received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in biological sciences in 2007. There, she worked on human population genetics. Ramachandran was elected to the Harvard Society of Fellows in 2007 and did postdoctoral work while studying coalescent theory. Sylvia Ratnasamy, assistant professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, received her Ph.D. in computer science from UC Berkeley in 2002. As a second-year Ph.D. student, she was appointed to the ICSI Center for Internet Research, in Berkeley. With a population of Indian Americans constantly increasing, more and more of its next generation will get into the domain of expanding the Human Knowledge for the interest of human race, Let us congratulate the winners of 2012 Sloan Research Fellowship.. ]]> http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003050.php/feed/ The Way India Promises and Performs http://drishtikona.com/archives/government_policyadministration/003048.php http://drishtikona.com/archives/government_policyadministration/003048.php#comments Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:04:02 +0000 Indra http://drishtikona.com/archives/government_policyadministration/003048.php budget speech every year promise to nation many things. If the government would have kept the promises, India would have by now become a better place to live with poverty gone and prosperity all around. As reported, ‘in fact, an analysis of the assurances given by the President in her speeches in the last three years reveals that nearly 65% of the promises remain pending’. However, it is interesting and exhilarating to go through the data on performances taken from this year's speech, if we can take it as sanguine and not concocted. Here are some from the speech of the president this year: 1. Under the National e-Governance programme, more than 97,000 Common Service Centres have been established across the country for making public services conveniently available to citizens. Departments responsible for Income Tax, Passports, Central Excise, and Corporate Affairs have started delivering online services. 2. During the past one year, over 1.5 crore students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities have been awarded scholarships and fellowships. 3. The Infant Mortality Rate has declined from 58 per thousand live births in 2005 to 47 in 2010 and Maternal Mortality Ratio has declined from 254 per one lakh deliveries in 2004-2006 to 212 in 2007-2009. The Janani Suraksha Yojana registered impressive gains with 1.13 crore women benefitting during 2010-11. 4. Over the last three years there has been a 26 per cent increase in MBBS seats and 62 per cent increase in post graduate seats. 5. More than 12.46 lakh titles have been distributed under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act. 6. The agricultural sector has grown at 6.6 per cent during 2010-11, the highest growth rate recorded in recent times. The country witnessed a record production of 241.56 million tonnes of food grains during 2010-11, and achieved record production of fruits and vegetables at 231 million tonnes, pulses at 18 million tonnes, oilseeds at 31.1 million tonnes, and cotton at 33.42 million bales. 7. During the year 2011-12 the minimum support prices of selected agricultural commodities were raised by 10 to 40 per cent over the previous year. 8. Credit to agriculture reached about 4,60,000 crore in 2010-11 which is 22 per cent above the target. An interest subvention scheme was implemented to ensure the availability of crop loans to small farmers for loans up to 3 lakh at the rate of 7 per cent per annum. An additional subvention of 3 per cent is being provided to such farmers who repay their short-term crop loan in time, reducing their effective interest rate to 4 per cent. 9. In the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, since its inception, about 1100 crore man-days of employment has been generated and nearly 1,48,000 crore has been spent . The scheme has benefitted 25 crore people so far. 10. Under the ambitious Bharat Nirman programme started in 2004, the cumulative targets of creating additional irrigation potential of 1 crore hectares, providing electricity to 1 lakh villages and 1.75 crore poor households, upgrading 1.94 lakh kilometres of existing rural roads and providing safe drinking water to identified habitations, have been achieved well before 31st March, 2012, the targeted date. 11. The number of foreign tourist arrivals in 2011-12 is around 63 lakh, an increase of 9 per cent over the previous year. 12. The e-filing of income tax returns, e-payment of taxes, ECS facility for electronic refunds directly in taxpayers' bank accounts and electronic filing of TDS returns are now available throughout the country. A Single Window System, called Aayakar Seva Kendra, for computerized registration of all taxpayers' applications including paper income tax returns, has been introduced. 13. India's merchandise exports touched US$ 298 billion during 2011 registering a growth of more than 34 per cent over 2010. 14. By November, 2011, over 49000 villages had been covered for extending banking services through banks or technology based banking solutions. 15. Bharat Oman Refinery Limited, a joint venture of BPCL and Oman Oil Company with refining capacity of 6 million metric tonnes per annum, was commissioned in June 2011. 16. Today there are 76 telephone connections for every 100 persons. 17. Capacity addition for the power generation in the 11th plan period is likely to be around 52,000 MW as against 21,000 MW in the 10th plan period. In 2011-12 alone we are likely to add a record 15,000 MW. 18. Public investment in Research & Development has grown at 20 to 25 per cent each year during the 11th Plan period. Government has successfully introduced the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research or INSPIRE scheme and more than 5 lakh science students have been given awards till now. 19. To focus on socio-economic issues of national importance that have linkage with science & technology, an Academy for Science Policy Implementation and Research or ASPIRE has been set up. The Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research has also been set up. 20. Eight satellites were launched successfully. The communication satellite GSAT-8 was put into orbit. 21. Our ambitious Pan African e-Network project has been commissioned in 47 out of 54 countries in the African continent. The government would have provided only the yearly figures against target and not the cumulative ones to make its performance impressive. It is unethical. However, I shall like the readers to go through the president’s speech and themselves find out the galore of promises in forms of pending bills, sanctioned amount, and plans. ]]> budget speech every year promise to nation many things. If the government would have kept the promises, India would have by now become a better place to live with poverty gone and prosperity all around. As reported, ‘in fact, an analysis of the assurances given by the President in her speeches in the last three years reveals that nearly 65% of the promises remain pending’. However, it is interesting and exhilarating to go through the data on performances taken from this year's speech, if we can take it as sanguine and not concocted. Here are some from the speech of the president this year: 1. Under the National e-Governance programme, more than 97,000 Common Service Centres have been established across the country for making public services conveniently available to citizens. Departments responsible for Income Tax, Passports, Central Excise, and Corporate Affairs have started delivering online services. 2. During the past one year, over 1.5 crore students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities have been awarded scholarships and fellowships. 3. The Infant Mortality Rate has declined from 58 per thousand live births in 2005 to 47 in 2010 and Maternal Mortality Ratio has declined from 254 per one lakh deliveries in 2004-2006 to 212 in 2007-2009. The Janani Suraksha Yojana registered impressive gains with 1.13 crore women benefitting during 2010-11. 4. Over the last three years there has been a 26 per cent increase in MBBS seats and 62 per cent increase in post graduate seats. 5. More than 12.46 lakh titles have been distributed under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act. 6. The agricultural sector has grown at 6.6 per cent during 2010-11, the highest growth rate recorded in recent times. The country witnessed a record production of 241.56 million tonnes of food grains during 2010-11, and achieved record production of fruits and vegetables at 231 million tonnes, pulses at 18 million tonnes, oilseeds at 31.1 million tonnes, and cotton at 33.42 million bales. 7. During the year 2011-12 the minimum support prices of selected agricultural commodities were raised by 10 to 40 per cent over the previous year. 8. Credit to agriculture reached about 4,60,000 crore in 2010-11 which is 22 per cent above the target. An interest subvention scheme was implemented to ensure the availability of crop loans to small farmers for loans up to 3 lakh at the rate of 7 per cent per annum. An additional subvention of 3 per cent is being provided to such farmers who repay their short-term crop loan in time, reducing their effective interest rate to 4 per cent. 9. In the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, since its inception, about 1100 crore man-days of employment has been generated and nearly 1,48,000 crore has been spent . The scheme has benefitted 25 crore people so far. 10. Under the ambitious Bharat Nirman programme started in 2004, the cumulative targets of creating additional irrigation potential of 1 crore hectares, providing electricity to 1 lakh villages and 1.75 crore poor households, upgrading 1.94 lakh kilometres of existing rural roads and providing safe drinking water to identified habitations, have been achieved well before 31st March, 2012, the targeted date. 11. The number of foreign tourist arrivals in 2011-12 is around 63 lakh, an increase of 9 per cent over the previous year. 12. The e-filing of income tax returns, e-payment of taxes, ECS facility for electronic refunds directly in taxpayers' bank accounts and electronic filing of TDS returns are now available throughout the country. A Single Window System, called Aayakar Seva Kendra, for computerized registration of all taxpayers' applications including paper income tax returns, has been introduced. 13. India's merchandise exports touched US$ 298 billion during 2011 registering a growth of more than 34 per cent over 2010. 14. By November, 2011, over 49000 villages had been covered for extending banking services through banks or technology based banking solutions. 15. Bharat Oman Refinery Limited, a joint venture of BPCL and Oman Oil Company with refining capacity of 6 million metric tonnes per annum, was commissioned in June 2011. 16. Today there are 76 telephone connections for every 100 persons. 17. Capacity addition for the power generation in the 11th plan period is likely to be around 52,000 MW as against 21,000 MW in the 10th plan period. In 2011-12 alone we are likely to add a record 15,000 MW. 18. Public investment in Research & Development has grown at 20 to 25 per cent each year during the 11th Plan period. Government has successfully introduced the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research or INSPIRE scheme and more than 5 lakh science students have been given awards till now. 19. To focus on socio-economic issues of national importance that have linkage with science & technology, an Academy for Science Policy Implementation and Research or ASPIRE has been set up. The Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research has also been set up. 20. Eight satellites were launched successfully. The communication satellite GSAT-8 was put into orbit. 21. Our ambitious Pan African e-Network project has been commissioned in 47 out of 54 countries in the African continent. The government would have provided only the yearly figures against target and not the cumulative ones to make its performance impressive. It is unethical. However, I shall like the readers to go through the president’s speech and themselves find out the galore of promises in forms of pending bills, sanctioned amount, and plans. ]]> http://drishtikona.com/archives/government_policyadministration/003048.php/feed/ Indian Culture: Strength and Weakness http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003045.php http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003045.php#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:53:29 +0000 Indra http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003045.php 'India: The Next Superpower?' by the London School of Economics (LSE) lists several challenges that are likely to prevent India from realizing the ambitions of becoming the superpower. Ramachandra Guha, currently the Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at the LSE, is the foremost among the LSE group. He argues and gives seven reasons why India will not become a superpower: "The challenge of the Naxalites; the insidious presence of the Hindutvawadis; the degradation of the once liberal and upright Centre; the increasing gap between the rich and the poor; the trivialisation of the media; the unsustainability, in an environmental sense, of present patterns of resource consumption; the instability and policy incoherence caused by multi-party coalition governments" I don’t know why Ramachandra can’t realize that the people of India do realize the dangerous consequences of the present situation on all his listed factors and are evolving ways and means to overcome the drawbacks en route its growth. I shall like to give just one example of this evolution. If we remember, the election just few years ago used to be a dreadful exercise many considering that as fares with obstructing voting, looting of booths, managing counting and violence. Indian electorate today is exercising its right without any fear and trouble at polling stations and election has become perhaps fairer than that in many developed countries too. Let Ramachandra not be pessimistic rather let him suggest the ways and means to overcome the challenges. However, it is not necessary to believe in the logic of LSE intellectuals and some differs. Second derogatory remarks came from the former captain of Australian Cricket team who also was India coach, Greg Chappell in a report: Taking at dig at overall Indian culture Chappell said: "The culture is very different, it`s not a team culture." "They lack leaders in the team because they are not trained to be leaders. From an early age, their parents make all the decisions, their schoolteachers make their decisions, their cricket coaches make the decisions.” "The culture of India is such that, if you put your head above the parapet someone will shoot it. Knock your head off. So they learn to keep their head down and not take responsibility. The Poms taught them really well to keep their head down. For if someone was deemed to be responsible, they`d get punished. So the Indians have learned to avoid responsibility. So before taking responsibility for any decisions, they prefer not to." I wish the former captain would not have made such remarks, and Indian cricketers must reply that in words as well as from their deeds. Let the celebrities maintain certain amount of positivity and constraint in their inferences about India and its people. ]]> 'India: The Next Superpower?' by the London School of Economics (LSE) lists several challenges that are likely to prevent India from realizing the ambitions of becoming the superpower. Ramachandra Guha, currently the Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at the LSE, is the foremost among the LSE group. He argues and gives seven reasons why India will not become a superpower: "The challenge of the Naxalites; the insidious presence of the Hindutvawadis; the degradation of the once liberal and upright Centre; the increasing gap between the rich and the poor; the trivialisation of the media; the unsustainability, in an environmental sense, of present patterns of resource consumption; the instability and policy incoherence caused by multi-party coalition governments" I don’t know why Ramachandra can’t realize that the people of India do realize the dangerous consequences of the present situation on all his listed factors and are evolving ways and means to overcome the drawbacks en route its growth. I shall like to give just one example of this evolution. If we remember, the election just few years ago used to be a dreadful exercise many considering that as fares with obstructing voting, looting of booths, managing counting and violence. Indian electorate today is exercising its right without any fear and trouble at polling stations and election has become perhaps fairer than that in many developed countries too. Let Ramachandra not be pessimistic rather let him suggest the ways and means to overcome the challenges. However, it is not necessary to believe in the logic of LSE intellectuals and some differs. Second derogatory remarks came from the former captain of Australian Cricket team who also was India coach, Greg Chappell in a report: Taking at dig at overall Indian culture Chappell said: "The culture is very different, it`s not a team culture." "They lack leaders in the team because they are not trained to be leaders. From an early age, their parents make all the decisions, their schoolteachers make their decisions, their cricket coaches make the decisions.” "The culture of India is such that, if you put your head above the parapet someone will shoot it. Knock your head off. So they learn to keep their head down and not take responsibility. The Poms taught them really well to keep their head down. For if someone was deemed to be responsible, they`d get punished. So the Indians have learned to avoid responsibility. So before taking responsibility for any decisions, they prefer not to." I wish the former captain would not have made such remarks, and Indian cricketers must reply that in words as well as from their deeds. Let the celebrities maintain certain amount of positivity and constraint in their inferences about India and its people. ]]> http://drishtikona.com/archives/indian_politics/003045.php/feed/