Left switched on the ‘red’ signage. India is bubbling politically with prospect of a midterm election or of continuing with an inactive minority government. It affects even the overall confidence of industry. It has made the stock market bubbling too. Terrorists have struck Hyderabad testing the depth of India’s Gandhidom.

However, Japanese PM made it up, and said, “By Japan and India coming together in this way, this ‘broader Asia’ will evolve into an immense network spanning the entirety of the Pacific Ocean, incorporating the United States of America and Australia.”

Anand had visited the famous bookshop of Stanford University with Shannon and Emma. Emma thus starts from Stanford. Anand had bought ‘Think India’ and had a long dialogue on India after going through its first chapter. India is now 60. Many opine India arriving at 60. Business Week, Economist, Forbes, and perhaps many cover the arrival. Approximately one million people each year have been pulled up from under the poverty line, in the past decade. Some call it ‘the largest piece of social engineering ever to have happened in the world’.

India is making a big push into small cars. IBM has become the star of India. India is leapfrogging Brazil in sugar production. Tata Motors are bidding for Jaguar. Toyota is launching small cars in India.

India’s economic reform process may be as good as stalled due to differences between the government and its communist allies, but the economy has gained its own momentum and will keep booming and growing robustly.

Industry all set to sustain high growth momentum this fiscal: the current robust industrial sector trend will continue in the coming financial year as well, with growth expected to remain at a high of 9.5 per cent during 2007-08. The IIP grew by 11.7 per cent during April-May 2007, over and above the 10.8 per cent rise in the same period of the previous year.

India Inc in fast lane: A study undertaken to observe the performance of 20 large business houses in India shows that their net earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2007-08 have increased an impressive 33.40% (over the same period last year) to touch Rs 14,712 crore.

Insurance outsourcing can hit $10 b: According to global offshoring advisory firm Everest Group, IT OUTSOURCING by insurance companies in India could be an $8-10 billion opportunity over the next five years,. The outsourceable functions include systems integration, reengineering, IT infrastructure management, business intelligence solutions and business process outsourcing (BPO). The domestic insurance sector is expected to grow to $60.5 billion by 2010 from the current $10.2 billion. Over 70 million insurance policies would be sold over the next five years and insurance companies would require over 0.5 million agents, besides several thousand operations staff for tasks like claims processing and customer service.

NRI scientist demonstrates new technology to improve computer chip cooling: Suresh Garimella, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University has demonstrated a new technology to dramatically improve computer chip cooling using tiny “ionic wind engines” to increase the “heat-transfer coefficient,” or the cooling rate, in chips by as much as 250 per cent.

Indian-Americans develop paper-thin battery: The team, led by noted nanotechnologist Pulickel Ajayan of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), has developed a battery, which could easily be mistaken for a simple sheet of black paper.

India’s Mighty Movers: The emergence of India’s globally ambitious business outsourcing companies such as Infosys (INFY) and Wipro (WIT) and high-profile cross-border mergers such as Tata Steel’s $11.3 billion deal to buy British steelmaker Corus continue to make the country a fascinating business story.

Posco to begin work in Orissa by Oct: Setting at rest speculation on the fate of its Rs 52,000-crore steel project, South Korean giant Posco has decided to begin work on constructing a 12-million-tonne plant in Orissa by October and is expected to become operational by end of 2011 – however, nearly a year behind the original schedule. (As cost of democracy)

Indian BPO exports touch $4.6bn in FY07: India’s (third-party) business process outsourcing (BPO) exports reached $4.6 billion (Rs 20,890 crore) during 2006-07, registering a growth of 47% says Dataquest’s 20th annual survey of the Indian IT Industry.

Cycle makers see window of opportunity: Indian cycle makers are ramping up their export plans to sell more to Europe, taking advantage of EU’s anti-dumping duties on import of cycles from China and Vietnam, the two major competitors of Indian companies.

JSW Steel set to buy 3 US firms: JSW Steel acquires three US companies for nearly Rs 4,000 crore. Sources close to the development said the target companies would be Jindal Enterprises LLC, Jindal United Steel Corp (JUSC) and SAW Pipes USA.

Blackstone buys Gokaldas Exports: Global private equity giant Blackstone Group is acquiring majority control in Gokaldas Exports for nearly Rs 660 crore, in the country’s largest management buyout in the textiles industry. Gokaldas Exports operates through 46 factories predominantly in Karnataka and supplies to global apparel companies like Nike, Adidas, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger and Abercrombie & Fitch.

India second in global M&A deals ranking: India has been ranked second in the global M&A deals this year so far in the Asia-Pacific region, with a total outbound deal value of $13.5 billion (Rs52, 377 crore). According to data complied by global consultancy firm Dealogic, Australia tops the Asia-Pacific cross-border outflow with over 125 deals worth $30 billion, followed by India with a total of 74 foreign acquisitions in the current year so far.

ArcelorMittal plans to vault into top slot in India: ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, is looking to double its planned investment in India and build two large plants: a plant each in Orissa and Jharkhand to produce about 10 million tonnes (mt) of steel annually.

Essar to invest Rs20, 000 cr to raise power capacity: Essar Group plans to invest more than Rs20,000 crore over the next five years to scale up power generation capacity to 6,500 MW from about 1,200 MW at present.

BHEL embarks on expansion: The power plant equipment major is investing around Rs 3,200 crore to enable the corporation to supply power generation equipment for over 75,000 Mw every five years to meet the nation’s capacity addition requirements.

Direct tax collections zoom 44.39%: The government announced a 44.39 per cent jump in collection of direct taxes, including corporate and income tax, to Rs 59,210 crore till August 15 over Rs 41,006 crore a year ago.

World Inc sees India attractive for new operations: More corporates from across the world are keen on setting up operations in India, ranked the top destination for investments and acknowledged as being strategically important to them by global businesses, according to a New York Stock Exchange survey of top business leaders representing companies from 24 countries.

Nissin Brakes spends $58 mn in India plant: Nissin Brakes India Pvt Ltd , the Indian joint venture of Japan’s Nissin Kogyo Co Ltd is investing about 2.4 billion rupees ($58 million) in a manufacturing facility in the western state of Rajasthan to tap the fast-growing auto market with an annual capacity to make 200,000 disc brakes for four-wheelers and 800,000 units for two-wheelers.

Siemens likely to double India business by 2010: German engineering giant Siemens plans to double the size of Indian operations in the next three years, riding on strong demand for infrastructure, medical and communication services in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

Germany’s precision tool firm Walter plans India unit: The Germany-based tooling major Walter AG, one of the leading corporations worldwide in the field of metal processing that develops, manufactures and markets tools with exchangeable carbide tips for metal-cutting, drilling, milling and turning, is planning to set up a manufacturing facility in India.

Japan to make India its manufacturing hub: The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project firmed up between New Delhi and Tokyo during the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pass through Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. It will entail an investment of around $100 billion on infrastructure. “Whatever doubts Japan had for so long, now India is smelling like roses,” said Jagdish N. Bhagwati, an economist and a professor at Columbia University and a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “They want to get in before it is too late.”

India still way ahead of China: Alhough China’s software and services revenue is projected to reach nearly $28 billion by 2010 ($20.6 billion from domestic market and $7.1 billion from exports) growing at 22 per cent annually, India would still be way ahead at an estimated $74 billion.

Rivalry spurs Ambani brothers to new heights: Mukesh and Anil have been jointly named among the world’s 50 most influential people in business by Fortune group’s 2.O magazine.

Indians most mobile banking savvy: One out of every three people in India is ready to switch to another bank if its offers them free mobile banking, states an Asia Pacific survey on mobile banking opportunities

Indian pharma market to triple in 10 yrs: The projected growth would see India become the 10th biggest pharmaceutical market – from number 14 two years ago – by replacing Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey. Significant expansion of medical infrastructure will account for 20% of the expected growth, followed by greater penetration of health insurance (15%) and a gradual shift in disease profile and adoption of patented products (10%).

HCL to set up 100 training centers: IT major HCL Infosystems plans to set up around 100 Career Development Centres (CDCs) across the country, to train graduates in IT software, hardware, and networking, and will offer short and long-term courses to around 600 graduates (per centre), annually.

Export forum under Telecom Equipment Manufacturing Association: The Union government has set a target of $10 billion (Rs41, 000 crore) for equipment exports by 2012.

A new growth driver: The study, by Robert Jensen, a Harvard University economist, found that as mobile coverage increased in Kerala, fishermen’s incomes increased by 8%, fish prices fell by 4% on average and less wastage was created.

Nokia plans to make India its global export hub: Nokia Corp. plans to make its manufacturing plant in India, now the second-largest market for its handsets, a global hub for exports.

One in 5 now owns a phone: One in every five persons in India now owns a telephone as the total number of subscribers reached 232.87 million by July, led by an addition of whopping eight million mobile subscribers. The tele-density has increased to 20.52% in July 2007 as compared to 19.86 in June 2007, according to regulator TRAI.

Mitsubishi plant in Haldia to triple production by 2009: Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation’s subsidiary will triple production of a key component used in making polyester and PET bottles at its Haldia plant by 2009.

Strong push for nano technology: The Centre would give a strong push for the growth of nano technology, which has potential to lift the quality of life of the poor and has made a budgetary provision of Rs1,000-crore to promote the sector.

NTPC in coal production: NTPC, which has already been allocated eight domestic coal mining blocks, is looking to invest in either Indonesian or Australian coal mines by as early as next year. NTPC, which produces 27 per cent of the country’s total electricity generation, plans to almost double its generating capacity to 50,000 MW by 2012, from the current 27,904 MW.

Reverse brain drain: According to the study, “Intellectual Property, the Immigration Backlog and a Reverse Brain Drain,” many NRIs are increasingly open to returning to their home country creating “the potential for a sizeable reverse brain-drain from the US.”

Auto companies in R&D drive: R&D expenses of six auto companies of Indian origin increased 70% to Rs1, 384 crore in fiscal 2007 compared with Rs443 crore in fiscal 2004. The average R&D expenditure as a percentage of net sales has increased to 2.34% from 1.47% during this period.

SAP to hold first board meet in India: For the first time in its 35 years of existence, SAP — the technology leader in business software solutions — will hold its board meeting in India (New Delhi) from August 27.

L&T plans SEZs to aid engineering, shipyard: Larsen & Toubro (L&T) plans to develop two special economic zones (SEZs) close to its manufacturing facilities in order to take care of future expansion plans.

India out of ‘truly corrupt’ group: According to Forbes, “A few, most notably India, managed to bootstrap themselves (just barely) out of the truly corrupt group, while others, particularly Iran, dug themselves more firmly into that camp.”

And tthe story goes on.