Indians in top ranks of A-level jobs: Indian executives are now in the top ranks of an international multi-racial meritocracy composed of a highly sought-after group of mobile, trans-national, ‘C’-level business leaders ie, CEOs, CFOs and COOs. AGM Transitions had proof of a definite rise in demand for and acceptability of Indians of all sorts, whether schooled and trained in India or abroad.

India creating more jobs than China: According to a study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), India has been generating more jobs than any other BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India, China – country. OECD’s Economic Outlook 2007, has revealed that India generated 11.3 million net new jobs annually between 2000 and 2005, which is over 60% more than the 7 million new jobs created in China every year.

India more stable than China: India has improved it ranking from 93 to 110 in the 2007 Index of Failed States (higher ranking is better) issued by Foreign Policy magazine. The failed state index uses 12 social, economic, political, and military indicators to rank 177 states in order of their vulnerability to violent internal conflict and societal deterioration. The index scores are based on data from more than 12,000 publicly available sources collected from May to December 2006. India is now considered more stable than China and Russia. In 2005, India was ranked below China, at 76. In 2007, both China and Russia are ranked at 62, while India’s social, economic and military metrics have propelled it to 110.

India to be pharma research hub by 2010: Several domestic players have begun developing their own internal research and development programmes and many of them have branched out into offering these discovery services on a contract basis. Within the next 10 to 15 years, 30% of the world’s clinical research will be conducted in India. Frost and Sullivan has pegged the figure on outsourced contract research in India (part of which will be pre-clinical) at $2 billion by 2010.

Pharma exports to surpass retail sales: According to the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), the gap between exports and domestic retail sales will only grow in the future. By 2012 the size of exports will almost double at Rs 112,275 crore growing at 35% against domestic retail market of Rs 58,607 crore with a stable growth of 16%. India has the highest number of USFDA approved manufacturing facility outside the US.

Sony Ericsson to set up R&D unit in India: Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson is setting up a research and development unit in India to strengthen its position in the world’s fastest-growing mobile market. Sony Ericsson has a production target of 10 million units by 2009.

India’s IT/BPO market to grow at 30%: After registering a CAGR growth rate of 35% in he last two years, India’s IT/BPO industry is expected to continue growing at a healthy 30% plus on a year-to-year basis for at least another four years, according to Assocham.

Kingfisher inks deal to acquire 50 Airbus aircraft: In the single largest order by a private Indian carrier, Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines has signed a deal with Airbus Industrie to purchase 50 aircraft at an estimated $7.3 billion.

Mumbai enters world’s top-ten financial flow league: Driven by high trading volumes for equities and good presence of global banking and financial services firms, Mumbai has grabbed a place in the world’s top ten financial flow hubs list, beating Hong Kong and Beijing in China.

India’s Got a Job for US: According to an executive search company, there are now around 1,000 foreigners holding senior positions in India, compared to 143 in 2005. By 2009, the number is expected to double.

Indian animation takes giant leap forward: According to an independent trade survey conducted recently, the Indian animation industry, which is now pegged at $550 million (Rs2200 crore) is expected to grow at 30% annually in the next couple of years and reach a level of $15 billion (Rs60, 000 crore) by 2010.

Manufacturing to create 1.6 mn jobs a year: With the country’s manufacturing sector likely to see an annual growth rate of 12% till 2010, an additional 1.6 million jobs will be created in the segment every year. The manufacturing sector in India is likely to grow by 12% per annum by 2010, which could generate additional 1.6 million jobs every year.

11% growth in service sector pushes employability: The growth in economy is being led by the services sector as also the manufacturing sector, which grew by 11% and 12.3% respectively. IT-ITES sector is the biggest employment generator and has hired a work force of about 1.63 million as of March 2007.

India’s outbound FDI may touch $35 bn: Almost a record of sorts! The country’s total outbound foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2007 may exceed the target of $30 billion for inbound FDI in fiscal 2007-08.

Essar buys Canada’s Algoma: Essar Global has completed the acquisition of Canadian steel maker Algoma Steel Inc for 1.85 billion Canadian dollar (over Rs 7071.33 crore), that will bring new dimension to its marketing operations in North America.

Hyundai to build construction gear unit in Pune: Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), a subsidiary company of the Hyundai Group, Korea, will build a construction equipment plant at Pune’s Chakan belt at a cost of Rs 260 crore and will produce hydraulic excavators.

Manufacturing gets an e-boost: The country’s first national manufacturing portal – http://www.nmcc-vikas.in – aiming to link manufacturing clusters, will provide information on them and increase the sector’s productivity, will also provide a common platform for manufacturing units, customers, financial institutes and the government to interact with one another.

E-sales likely to touch Rs 5,500cr: With e-shopping gaining more popularity among netizens, the total value of products and services being sold online is likely to grow by 150% to touch Rs 5,500 crore this fiscal, according to industry body Assocham.

India tops index of retail markets: According to the sixth annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), a study of retail investment attractiveness among 30 emerging markets, that ranks emerging countries on a set of 25 variables, including economic and political risk, retail market attractiveness, retail saturation levels, and the difference between gross domestic product growth and retail growth, for the third consecutive year India continued to occupy the top spot in 2007, followed by Russia.

Insurance market to touch $60bn by 2010: Driven by increasing demand of people for larger insurance coverage and growing rural and semi-urban market, the size of Indian insurance market is projected to grow by 500% to reach $60 billion in the next three years, according to Assocham.

Home furnishing products from rural India are set to capture a sizeable portion of the growing 3.92-trillion-yen market in Japan. Under the ongoing scheme of one-village-one-product (OVOP), Japan has begun outsourcing artisan’s products from villages in the Chindwara district in Madhya Pradesh and Periyar PURA in Tamilnadu. The products are being marketed in Japan under the brand name-OVOP from India.

Textile industry to witness 16% growth: The Indian textile industry, which has accelerated to an annual growth of 9-10 per cent, is expected to grow at a rate of 16 per cent in value terms and reach a level of USD 115 billion by 2012.

India Ramps Up Semiconductor Production: According to Gartner, Semiconductor manufacturing in India is currently limited, and although there are no operational wafer fab plants in the country right now, five fab plants have been proposed, with approved ones targeted to go live between 2009 and 2010.

Surprisingly, India’s over 9% GDP growth is widely inclusive too.

Rig Veda among UNESCO heritage list: Thirty Manuscripts of the Rig Veda, in the archives of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI), Pune, have been added to a UNESCO listing of the most important documents from around the world. Although the Rig Veda was composed over 3,000 years ago, these manuscripts were written much later, in the 15th century.

It is boom all around.