Manufacturing India-I

Posted on October 10, 2007 by indra

India can compete with China only with a booming and competitive manufacturing sector. India has the talent and skill. A change of mindset among the techies will be necessary to appreciate its need. India can switch over to hardware sector with the ease it went into software. And it is happening.

India to challenge China as the manufacturing hub: A survey of 340 companies worldwide by consulting and outsourcing major Capgemini and ProLogis suggested that India could challenge China as the manufacturing hub of the world in the next three to five years. “India is on the threshold of an exciting opportunity in the manufacturing outsourcing space…respondents indicated that they see manufacturing activities as the primary activity to be offshored to India in the next 3 to 5 years, surpassing even IT and BPO activities.” India is all set to challenge China in manufacturing.

Firing Up India’s Factories: In the past two years manufacturing has emerged as the country’s new rising star. Industrial production jumped by 12.5% in the year ended in March, the highest rate in years. With its huge market, productive workers, and-finally-a government that is starting to help rather than hinder investment, India is becoming an attractive alternative to China for making everything from sneakers to SUVs. India generates fewer than 1 million new manufacturing jobs annually, but needs to create at least five times that. And to really lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, India, like China, must build up labor-intensive export industries such as textiles, toys, and electronics. Many of the new plants are intended to serve India’s growing market, but they’re also targeting sales overseas.

While technology giants build vast outsourcing operations in India, manufacturing investment far outweighs theirs. In the verdant hills near Mumbai, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor, General Motors, and a joint venture of Fiat and local automaker Tata Motors are all building new factories, for a total investment of $4 billion. Korean steelmaker Posco is planning a $12 billion plant in the eastern state of Orissa, while Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal plans to invest $20 billion in two steel mills in Orissa and neighboring Jharkhand. In March, Hewlett-Packard Co. opened a factory near Delhi, its second Indian operation. And bathtub, sink, and toilet maker Kohler Co. is planning a $200 million plant in Gujarat. 40% of 340 multinationals surveyed by consultant Capgemini plan to establish manufacturing operations in India by

Tata small car is not just about price: According to sources in the auto industry, the car will sport the world’s first 800 cc, turbo-charged, CRDi diesel engine. The company is working on two engine options for the Rs 1-lakh car. The petrol version with a 600 cc engine will debut first in 2008. The diesel version will follow later, probably in 2009. For Tata Motors, coming out with the Rs 1 lakh car is both a social and business responsibility. “The Rs 1 lakh small car would bring down the carbon dioxide emission.”

Cranking up a new growth engine: Bharat Forge will shortly become the world’s largest forging company. In five years, a burst of growth and globalisation will see it whiz past its German competitor as the No 1 maker of tough-to-make metal components like axles and crankshafts used in automobiles.

Auto majors race to India for component sourcing: The domestic auto component industry is expected to witness a boom with global car majors drawing up plans to source from Indian suppliers. The big players include DaimlerChrysler AG, Chrysler (owned by Cerberus), Volkswagen, General Motors, Renault-Nissan, Volvo, JCB, and Caterpillar amongst others. According to the Auto Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), the apex body of component makers in India, global sourcing of components from the country will double from $2.95 billion to $5.9 billion in 2008-09, and is slated to hit $20 billion in seven years.Volvo may outsource components worth $99 m Volvo Car Corporation, Sweden, has forecasted outsourcing of components worth $99 million from India this year. According to ACMA, more than a third (36 per cent) of Indian auto component exports head for Europe, with North America a close second at 26 per cent.Auto component cos turn to product engg, design: With India increasingly becoming a hub for global car makers, companies are looking to enhance their component engineering and designing capabilities to increase their share in the automotive knowledge-based business.

India may become Sandvik’s global mfg base: Sandvik Asia, the Indian subsidiary of Swedish precision tools and mining equipment major Sandvik AB, confronted with significant opportunities thrown up by the Indian infrastructure sector – notably mining and petroleum – in addition to the boom in manufacturing sector, is poised to benefit from the latest technology of its $10 billion Swedish parent as the latter is preparing to introduce newer products in India and also considering the option of making India its global sourcing base.

Schneider plans big: Schneider Electric, a French global major in medium to low voltage electric equipment manufacturing, has planned a big part of industrial investments to come to India.

India base for Hyundai small car Pa: India will be the exclusive manufacturing hub for Hyundai’s small car code-named Pa. HMIL has also set an ambitious target of exporting 2.5 lakh cars from the country in the next two years, up from 1,13,339 units which were exported last year. Hyundai’s new manufacturing facility to be operationalised by October this year would have a production capacity of 3,00,000 units per annum, thereby scaling up HMIL’s overall capacity to 6,00,000 units per annum.

ABG Shipyard completes Rs1, 439 cr German order; ABG Shipyard has completed the construction order for 12 Handysize bulk carriers from a German company for $360 million (Rs1, 439 crore). With this order from Germany’s Bereederungsgesellschaft H Vogemann GmbH & Co KG, the company’s aggregate order book now stands at Rs7,121 crore, ABG Shipyard said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Bharati Shipyard, Apeejay in shipbuilding JV: Bharati Shipyard and the Apeejay Surendra group have proposed to set up a ship-manufacturing unit in Orissa ar an estimated investment of Rs 2,200 crore in the project.

Godrej targets Rs1, 000 cr turnover by 2012 from security biz: Gordrej Security Equipment, a division of Godrej and Boyce Mfg Co, is the largest manufacturer of security gadgets in the country and has over 75% share in the domestic market and dominates the banking segment for physical security products.

Videocon plans semiconductor, LCD complex near Mumbai: Videocon Industries Ltd is planning to set up a semiconductor and LCD complex near Mumbai that is estimated to entail an investment of Rs 8,000 crore.

BHEL strategises to take on Chinese competition: BHEL is already in the process of expanding its manufacturing capacity by spending Rs 1,000 crore and has asked its sub-contractors too to go for capacity addition to match its capability.BHEL will up headcount by 20,000: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd will raise its headcount by a massive 20,000 in the next five years as part of its expansion programme to increase manufacturing capacity. “We shall be inducting 18,000-20,000 people in the next five years in almost all product lines at our various plants QCs Spread: At present, the QCs cover 14 areas like manufacturing and production, quality improvement productivity, cycle time and cost reduction, and safety. QCs would also be set up in non-manufacturing areas such as outsourcing, human resources activities, vendor development, engineering and design and also for canteens and medical services.

Honda plans powertrain facility in Rajasthan: Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) is planning to set up a powertrain facility in the country. The Japanese company has got allotted 600 acres for this unit. According to market estimates, the cost for building a powertrain facility will be over Rs 600 crore.

Suzuki to make India export hub: Suzuki Motorcycles India (SMI), a 100% subsidiary of Japanese auto major Suzuki Motor Corporation, will make India an export hub for two-wheelers, both motorcycles and scooters to emerging two-wheeler markets where the annual demand is over a million units.

Car that will drive you crazy: First things first… German Tier One component major Bosch is developing “a brand new” common rail direct injection (CRDi) solution that will be compatible with the Tata Rs 1 lakh car. “For the first time, Bosch is developing CRDi systems at that cost to suit the configuration of an extremely low cost vehicle.” The company, he said, is supplying “alternators, brakes and gasoline and diesel en-gine management systems for the one-lakh car from Tata” and in four months, Bosch’s local engineers have “developed viable technical concepts and solutions” for the project.

Japan and India: The two countries have complementary skills and needs. With 1.13 billion people, India will always have a large manufacturing sector and an abundance of low-cost labour. Japan, on the other hand, has superb skills concentrated in manufacturing sectors, ample surplus capital and an aging population that is beginning to decline.

Foundry Industry: The foundry industry, considered the mother of all industries such as engineering, automobile, oil and cement, is expected to post around 9 per cent annual growth. Over 5,000 foundry units are currently operational in the country, with installed capacity of around 7.5 million tonnes a year

Moser plans Rs 2,000cr PV plant near Chennai: New Delhi-based leading optical storage media manufacturer Moser Baer (India) has chosen Chennai to set up a Rs 2,000 crore solar photovoltaic fabrication facility.

Caparo to set up manufacturing base in TN for Rs 750 cr.: Caparo group, which has acquired several companies in the UK and India, is all set to establish a manufacturing base in the upcoming 125-acre Caparo industrial complex at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu at a cost of Rs 750 crore.

Skoda to set up turbine facility: Czech power company Skoda Power AS is setting up a turbine manufacturing facility at Hyderabad at an investment of around Rs2, 000 crore that will be set up in four phases, and will be completed by 2011 to help the fast growing power generation sector on the equipment supply front, as India has been coping with shortfalls in power generation equipment.

Benetton to make India major hub: Apparel major the Benetton Group, which has a presence in 120 countries around the world and produces 130 million garments every year, will make India its major sourcing hub for fabrics to cater to markets like South America, Russia, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan.

Louis Vuitton to build shoe plant in India: French luxury goods label Louis Vuitton is considering building a shoe plant in India and will have the manufacturing facility located near Pondicherry.

India new launchpad for auto giants: India is turning out to be the new launch pad for global car models as major carmakers prefer India to Europe and the American markets.

Electronics hardware exports up 30% in FY07: The country exported electronics hardware worth Rs12,500 crore in 2006-07, up 30% from 2005-06, with North America accounting for more than a quarter of it at Rs3,410.95 crore.As per estimates of Department of Information Technology, 125 countries imported software while 191 countries imported hardware from India in 2006-07. In 2005-06, the electronics hardware export was worth Rs9,625 crore.

India must build its manufacturing right from grassroots level using the innovative talents of the people.

Posted in industry, management, manufacturing | Leave a comment

Will Caste Keep on Dividing?

Posted on October 9, 2007 by indra

Last week has been terrible because of the news of the social evils. In Kolkata, a young woman had to lose her husband, as he was poorer and of different faith. Her industrialist father got her husband eliminated with help of the police chief. Even if the husband committed suicide, it was due to the mental agony he had to undergo because of police pressure and threat.

The news of conviction of Bihar’s politicians attached with the killing of Gopalganj DM, G. Krishnaih provided some hope. However, the politicians of Bihar live on the caste fodder. How long it will go on? The news of George Fernandes visiting the convicted politician in jail to lend his support was just disgusting: ‘Thakurs bosses from parties ranging from JD (U), to BJP and LJP accompanied Fernanades including one independent MLC.’ Why can’t the politicians and caste biggies fight the legal battle with evidences and appeals in higher courts rather than showing their affinity and affection for the caste of the convict by massive support in courtroom or visiting jail showing their might? And then why can’t Fernandes retire and leave Bihar to its people? Did he ever visited Mrs. G. Krishnaih and her daughters or did he provide any assistance to see that the family could have a respectful living once her husband and the father of the kids was murdered? Why should Fernandes keep on taking the people of Bihar for granted to support him for all silly things that he had been famous for since the days he banished IBM and Coco Cola? Like all other politicians of the state, Fernandes also have hardly done anything for the benefits of the people of Bihar who kept on electing him though he was an alien. I wish he had shown some magnanimity and kept Nitish out of his criticism. Are Lalu and Ram Vilash not good enough to do that?

I do also have some sympathy for the convicted couple. After all they are from respectable family background. I feel really hurt when such persons leave behind some real bad examples for the other young men and women of the state. The convicted leader alone could have certainly persuaded and stopped the mob because of his leadership quality from lynching Krishnaih for no fault of his own except that he was a government officer.

People of Bihar are feeling proud that Bihar is becoming the first state that has come out heavily on the politicians who are criminals too in real life. The court verdict if anything has provided a landmark. Fast Track court is doing fine job. It must go on like that till the law and order is restored and people of Bihar as well the investors feel confident of a peaceful living in Bihar. No rally or political gimmickry of Ram Vilash, Lalu, or George should slow the process. Bihar needs ruthless handling aiming for having no place for criminals in public life, be it Sunil Pandey, Chandrabhan, Shukla or Pappu or Sahabuddin. They must be behind bar or in the other world.

Let the lords of the land be humble and forget for ever the feudal habits and practices. Let the law and order prevail at all cost. Let the caste system die forever and a new order be born and get established fast for a lasting peace and prosperity in Bihar.

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Booming and Bubbling India- XXI

Posted on October 8, 2007 by indra

Sensitive Index (Sensex) is flirting with a new record high of 18000. If it had closed at that level, it would have been the fastest 2000-point rise in the recent history of any stockmarket. In the past few weeks, the story has dominated the headlines of newspapers here and overseas. But does the sensex tell the whole story? Many are skeptical and asking, ‘Is India headed for a slowdown?’ Is India making a transition from from a demand-led growth of the past three years to strong investment-led growth? However, the activities at the level of enterprises are exciting and keep the booming story alive.

Surge in India’s Markets Creates Some Overnight Global Giants: Skyrocketing stock markets and a surging rupee are creating publicly traded behemoths in India. These new giants have swiftly overtaken some long-established Western competitors, in terms of market value. Their lightning-fast growth may usher in a new round of foreign partnerships, overseas takeovers and competition for resources and talent.

Rural India moving towards a better future: “Most of the states in India are peaking at the right time. The government initiative and role of rural Indians in the field of sanitation and poverty alleviation is showing its results,” said Lizette Burgers, chief of water and sanitation, Unicef India.

Kolkata brothers ‘scrabble’ Facebook’s hottest game: Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla have built a free online scrabble game that has 800,000 registered users on Facebook – which had 33.7 million unique visitors last August and was ranked the 14th most popular website on the Net by market researcher comScore.

Indian brain to guide GE’s innovation drive: Vijay Govindarajan, the Earl C Daum 1924 Professor of International Business at Dartmouth Colleges Tuck School of Business, will soon join General Electric (GE) as professor in Residence and chief innovation consultant to help the company advance its innovation agenda.

Sanofi-Aventis plans vaccine hub in India: India’s status as a global pharmaceutical manufacturing hub is all set for another booster shot with the Euro 28 billion French pharmaceutical major Sanofi-Aventis exploring the possibility of setting up a vaccine manufacturing hub in the country either through an acquisition or a joint venture.

IIM grads become crorepatis: Five students at Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, still to complete their study, have got pre-placement job offers with an average salary of Rs one crore, all coming from global investment banks.

Queen Nooyi rocks American business world: Indra Nooyi, the Indian-origin Queen of the American business world, kept her crown intact for the second year in a row as Fortune magazine named her the most powerful businesswoman in the US.

Ruia Group acquires Malaysian firm: The Ruia Group announced the buyout of controlling stake in Industronics Berhad, a Malaysian player in electronics and engineering, for an undisclosed sum.

Real estate market to touch $90 bn by 2015: The growth of the realty sector would touch $90 billion from the current level of $14 billion and would help the economy continue to grow between 9-10 per cent, according to a recent report by industry body, Assocham.

Realty to attract $10-20 bn investment: Leading Private Equity (PE) players feel $10-20 billion would pour into the country’s real estate sector in the next three years.

Airtel joins global top 10 in telecom: Bharti Airtel’s customer base has crossed the 50-million mark to make it the 10th largest player in the global telecom industry.

Tatas biggest Indian employer in UK: Tatas’ British connection is set to get even stronger with the group expecting a significant surge in its employee strength in the UK as it expands operations and buys more firms. Presently at 30,000, it is a little less than 10% of Tata group’s entire headcount of about 3,30,000 people across the world.

Consultancy business to cross Rs 17,000 cr by 2010: Rising opportunities and growing consultancy spectrum as a result of high demand, consulting industry in India is poised to grow at CAGR of 28%-30% to carry forward its size to over Rs 17,000 crores as against current size of nearly Rs13, 000 crores, according to a paper on ‘Opportunities for Consultancy’, brought out by Assocham.

Mobile phones raise incomes for rural poor: The mobile phone is enabling people at the bottom of the pyramid such as balloon sellers and water melon vendors to do business in a wider geography. While the former reaches out to a potential market much faster because of the timely information he gets about crowd gatherings on his cell phone, the latter isn’t worried any more about the nine-month-long off-season as he can easily find alternative work as a repairman.

DLF to create new Bangalore @60k cr: DLF, the country’s biggest realty firm, plans to develop a huge integrated township spread over 9,178 acre on the outskirts of Bangalore at an estimated investment of up to Rs 60,000 crore over the next seven years.

GAIL plans $2.3 billion petrochem plant in Iran: Government-owned GAIL India, the country’s largest transporter and marketer of gas, plans to set up a mega $2.3 billion petrochemical plant in Iran.

Thermax Ltd inks deal with Georgia-Pacific Chemicals: Thermax Ltd, a global solution provider in energy and environment engineering has entered into a technology and manufacturing license agreement with US-based Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC for performance enhancing chemicals which find extensive applications in the paper industry.

Reliance launches cheapest colour phone: Reliance Communication launched ‘Classic 732’ at a price of Rs999, the lowest in Indian market. Earlier in May, the company had launched the Classic monochrome phones at a price of Rs777.

India top talent destination for World Inc: Global corporates are looking at India to get the right talent. “India is topmost on the list of preferred destinations for countries facing an internal talent crunch situation,” global management consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) partner and director James V Abraham said.

Indians compete with Russians, Chinese for prime London homes: Many Indian buyers are “keen to uncover bargains,” looking for properties or neighbourhoods where there is “improvement potential,” said the Knight Frank report. Many Indians are seeking properties priced between £750,000 and £1 million, with St John’s Wood a preferred part of the city.

Bengal to privatise 10 public sector units: Reviving its privatisation initiative, the West Bengal government has decided to go in for restructuring of five Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) and to hand over the operation of five other PSEs to joint venture partners, setting a six-month timeframe for the process.

Indian IT firms are teaching US, UK students: Certain Indian software companies like Educomp Solutions, Core Projects and Technologies and Everonn Systems are now making forays into developing software for the education sector to aid students in areas like online tutoring, classroom management, web-based learning and aiding students with learning disabilities.

India beat China in overseas M&A deal growth: Indian companies have surpassed their Chinese counterparts in making cross border merger and acquisitions with a 126% annual growth, while the Asia Pacific region registers a 36% rise in overseas M&As. So far this year, India has recorded a 126% jump in the amount spent on M&A deals outside the Asia Pacific region, compared to the previous year’s figure. China posed a 82% growth during the period.

India to set up Diaspora Knowledge Network: The “Diaspora Knowledge Network” will enable the 30- million-strong diaspora, spread across 130 countries, to work on projects in India without having to relocate themselves. The Ministry will also establish a “Global Indian Foundation” to channelize the philanthropic activities of the overseas Indian community to causes like education, health and rural development.

India Attracts 30 Firms Vying for Mobile American-Style Licences: The Indian government has received about 300 applications from about 30 companies vying to tap growth potential in the world’s hottest wireless market. India, now adding about 8 million mobile users every month, is forecast to top 500 million subscribers in five years, from 200 million now, making it an attractive market for investment.

India Electronics Poised for Takeoff: From 2006 to 2011, India’s revenue from electronic equipment production will rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.3%, according to iSuppli. Though the base is quite small, this is nearly double the rate of China, and four times the rate of the Americas. India is set to undergo much faster growth in semiconductor revenue than the other regions, with a CAGR

Private Equity Parties Hearty in India: Private equity deals are hitting record levels: $10.8 billion in the eight months of 2007, way above the $7.8 billion invested in all of 2006, according to Grant Thornton International, one of India’s oldest accounting firms.

Essar Global to spend $2b on oil fields: Essar Global Ltd, which has interests in energy, steel and telecommunications, plans to spend a record $2 billion (about Rs 8,000 crore) on developing oil and gas fields in India, Myanmar and Nigeria to benefit from high fuel prices.

Gems and jewellery shine for exporters: The gems and jewellery exports in the first half of the financial year increased by 27 per cent to touch $9.4 billion from $7.4 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) data.

Nano Centre: Renowned scientist CNR Rao, who is the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, will head the ‘Nano Centre’, a nano technology park being set up in Bangalore. The state government will invest Rs 100 crore in the first phase of the project.

Rs 31,000cr investments lined up in a day: The government of West Bengal today lined up projects worth Rs 31000 crore in the form of two integrated steel and power plants to be built by the Videocon and the Jai Balaji groups.

Small cities outsmart metros: Direct tax collections maintained a growth of over 40% for the first six months period of this fiscal and stood at Rs 1,11,055 crore, up from Rs 79,208 crore during the same period last fiscal. According to official data released by the government, small towns have registered higher growth in tax collections compared to the big cities.

‘India will need 1,000 planes over 20 years’: The market outlook released by Boeing this July projected India would require 911 new planes over the next 20 years. On Thursday, Airbus gave its outlook for the country and said India will need over 1,000 new planes in the same period.

India to get $13.5 bn PE funding in ’07: Study India will receive $13.5 billion in private equity funding during 2007, ranking it among the top seven in the world, concluded a study undertaken by Evalueserve, a global research and analytical firm. This funding is projected to rise to $20 billion in 2010, representing a thousand fold increases in just 14 years.

Forex reserves up by $11.8 bn at $247.7 bn: The country’s foreign exchange reserves shot up by a whopping $11.871 billion to $247.762 billion for the week ended September 28, according to the Reserve Bank.

Core sector gets a bagful Despite the finance minister’s worry over a slowdown in key infrastructure sectors, the six core industries have registered a growth of 9% in August 2007 as against 6.6% in August 2006 riding on a buoyant performance by cement, coal and electricity sectors.

Orissa tribal boys are rugby world champions: At first glance it’s hard to believe that the group of 12 shy boys huddled together in a corner of a central Kolkata hotel lobby are world champions. The odd bunch, including some who first wore shoes a few years ago, are led by a gawky 14-year-old-Bikash Chandra Murmu-captain of the India under-14 team that lifted the International School Rugby Tournament in London on Saturday. The team, Jungle Crows, won the tournament, the de facto World Cup at that level, beating a more experienced South African team, Langa Lions, 19-5.

Chak De! India

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Incredible India@60: A Shadow PM

Posted on October 8, 2007 by indra

After the rift with leftists on Indo-US Nuclear deal, it appears that Manmohan Singh has lost his prime ministerial role. All the photographs where Manmohan appears with Sonia Gandhi clearly show who is the boss. Since Rahul got into Congress’ general secretary chair, in some photographs with Rahul, Manmohan doesn’t appear again as the effective head of the country. Is it his humility or does the facial expression show the obligation to all the members of the royal family? In many a full-page advertisement, one can see only Sonia Gandhi’s photograph with the cabinet minister. One such appeared today where Sonia and Lalu were in two top corners. The way leftists talk about Manmohan Singh is to a great degree derogatory for the prime minister of India, and it seems the leftists know where the power lies.

As the head of most of the ‘groups of ministers’, Pranab was more like a de facto prime minister. Very lately, Pranab seems to be in main role so far Indo US relation is concerned that earlier was with Manmohan exclusively. Sonia and Rahul attended UN general assembly that declared Gandhi’s birthday, October 2, as the International Antiviolence Day. Actually, the honour would have gone to Manmohan, the Prime minister. Perhaps Manmohan Singh has been the nearest to the definition of prime minister provided by Parkinson among all our prime ministers till date.

At one time when Manmohan got his throne, may be due to the mercy of Sonia Gandhi, I was still excited in a hope that it might work as a good new model of governance in the democracy of India and would become effective. After all a professional and globally respected economist with a record of super performance as finance minister of India in a critical period had become the prime minister of India for the first time. Every one and me too expected him to bring in some wonders with his knowledge and experiences. But nothing remarkable happened. He tried with some projects such as Bharat Nirmaan, but on execution side, nothing significant got executed. Even the projects such as GQ and NSEW corridors expressways linger on till date.

I doubt if the Manmohan picked some key priorities for him to work on and focused sufficiently to get that executed or to get even some essential reforms completed. What could have held him from getting the ranking of doing business in India improved to a respectable standard? Doing Business 2008 report issued by the World Bank and IFC ranks India at 120 out of 178 countries. India requires entrepreneurs to go through 13 procedures- double the average fro developed nations and 59% higher than its regional peers. It needs 33 days to start a business. Why can’t it be done in 5 days? Why can’t with all the might of IT and ITeS, the tax payment systems and property registrations be completed fast enough? Why can’t the Prime Minister appoint a group of ministers to improve the country’s ranking on some of the globally accepted indexes that are perceived as the indicators of good governance and growth?

Manmohan Singh could have also contributed in education sector but unfortunately he had an arrogant rival there in Arjun Singh. From the Red Fort on the Independence Day, he has announced the government plans for setting up of a large number of educational institutes. If all get established, that will be certainly something great for the country.

Once Chidambaram said, “I do know what India can learn from China. India can learn from China how to be extremely focused on goals. India can learn from China in the area of project implementation; the Chinese implement projects ahead of time. India can learn from China about dreaming big. China is now planning the world’s tallest building, the world’s largest deep-sea port, and the world’s largest airport. I think we, too, should learn to dream big, like China.” Manmohan Singh too has talked highly about the China’s performance. I wonder if Indians can ask the two major drivers of the nation what have they done actually to make India learn what that they expected?

Why should the PM look at China to get the lessons of execution? If Patel can get aviation sector on track and some other minister can do the same wonderful work in telecom, why can’t it be repeated in other ministries? It only says that the PM is not able to make his ministers and bureaucrats perform. And that is the responsibility of the PM.

To many, and me Manmohan Singh would have understood the risk of sitting in the Prime Minister chair without the public mandate in a democracy. Alas! He can be only a shadow prime minister in history.

Posted in governance, indian politics | Leave a comment

India Story: Economists vs. BusinessWeek

Posted on October 6, 2007 by indra

I am going through the two most respected business magazines of this week October 4, 2007, one from US and the other from UK.

Economist has a lead article on India, ‘Business and caste in India- With Reservations. It has all that normally pleases journalists from UK, as most of them just can’t forget that their forefathers ruled Indians. However, it contains the way Infosys is helping dalits to improve employability. The exercise is meant to avoid any imposition of reservations of jobs in private sector by the government.

Infosys launched last year a charitable training scheme for dalit university-leavers. In collaboration with the elite Bangalore-based International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Infosys is providing special training to low-caste engineering graduates who have failed to get a job in its industry. The training, which lasts seven months, does not promise employment. But of the 89 who completed the first course in May, all but four have found jobs. Infosys hired 17.

Infosys’s training scheme is a Pygmalion undertaking. Meeting the parents of his dalit students, he saw “almost an anger in their eyes”. For the first month the students were unresponsive. Their English was dismal. Mr Sadagopan felt compelled to introduce lessons in self-presentation, including table manners.

Matters improved. The course was based on Infosys’s 16-week basic training, which 31,000 Indian graduates underwent last year. The low-caste lot scored similar marks and gained confidence. At a bonding session, filled with meditation and dancing, they wrote themselves a slogan: “As good as any, better than many”.

The modernisation of India’s economy has brought more dynamic change. Among educated, urban Indians caste identity is fading. Inter-caste marriages are increasing. According to Jeevansathi.com, a matchmaking (or, as Indians say, “matrimonial”) website, 58% of its online matches involved inter-caste couples.

Business Week has another story ‘Firing Up India’s Factories’ that details how the manufacturing sectors are attracting the multinationals to India.

In the past two years manufacturing has emerged as the country’s new rising star. Industrial production jumped by 12.5% in the year ended in March, the highest rate in years. With its huge market, productive workers, and-finally-a government that is starting to help rather than hinder investment, India is becoming an attractive alternative to China for making everything from sneakers to SUVs. India generates fewer than 1 million new manufacturing jobs annually, but needs to create at least five times that. And to really lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, India, like China, must build up labor-intensive export industries such as textiles, toys, and electronics. Many of the new plants are intended to serve India’s growing market, but they’re also targeting sales overseas. While technology giants build vast outsourcing operations in India, manufacturing investment far outweighs theirs. In the verdant hills near Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor, General Motors, and a joint venture of Fiat and local automaker Tata are all building new factories, for a total investment of $4 billion. Korean steelmaker Posco is planning a $12 billion plant in the eastern state of Orissa, while Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal plans to invest $20 billion in two steel mills in Orissa and neighboring Jharkhand. In March, Hewlett-Packard Co. opened a factory near Delhi, its second Indian operation. And bathtub, sink, and toilet maker Kohler Co. is planning a $200 million plant in Gujarat. All told, 40% of 340 multinationals surveyed by consultant Capgemini plan to establish manufacturing operations in India by 2012.

The content shows the difference of American and British mindsets.

Incredible India cannot only seen in the government sponsored roads shows as one recently organized by India in NewYork. Media is covering India well.

I wish the Indian leftists could also become proactive and allow some process of reforms to continue rather putting brakes everywhere in name of policy or philosophy. That only lengthens the process of brining in prosperity for all.

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Bihar Leads- From Hopeless to Hopeful

Posted on October 4, 2007 by indra

Bihar might be at the bottom in the State of States survey of India Today. But many things are happening in Bihar with very little publicity in media that are unique and exemplary.

A New Holy Order

Acharya Kishore Kunal has been busy doing some excellent social engineering projects in Bihar. The Bihar State Board of Religious Trusts (BSBRT) that Kunal heads, are trying to make Dalits participate in social infrastructure in big way. As reported in media, Acharya Kishore Kunal recently made a Dalit, Janardan Manjhi, the chief priest of Ram Janaki temple at Paliganj, near Patna. Manjhi is, in fact, fourth such Dalit to head a temple.

The famous 300-year-old Khaki Baba Ram Janaki Thakurbari at Hilsa in Nalanda district came under the direct control of the Dalits. On August 10, the upper caste Hindus of the locality, with the support of Valmiki Das, a mahant, set up an all-Dalit Trust to break the Brahminical hold over society and religion. A Paswan was elected as the head of the trust while its members belonged to Ravidas, Chamar, Rajak and other Dalit sub-castes.

Is the castiest Bihar changing or revolutionizing? There hasn’t been any resistance from the local people, who not only enthusiastically participated in selecting and accepting Dalit priests, but also overwhelmingly attended the sangat-pangat, marking an end to untouchablility (at least at the local level).

Dalitisation is also being seen as a unique way of democratising trusts and temples as well as a cleansing drive to rid these religious bodies of goondas and land-grabbers. Last year, Kunal on getting appointed as the administrator of BSBRT last year discovered that about 90 per cent of the temples were directly or indirectly under the control of criminals. He succeeded to bring them out of the clutches of musclemen. He has taken up now the task of the Dalitization of the temple management.

Kunal’s success story started with the Mahavir temple near Patna railway station that is today one of the most important attraction for all those who visit Patna. Kunal got the temple renovated. And then on June 30, 1993, as its secretary, he took a revolutionary step by installing a Dalit priest, Phalhari Suryavanshi Das from Ayodhya, as its head. And he also made it accepted by all with the three highly respected priests-Ramchandra Paramahans, Mahant Avidhyanath of Baba Gorakhnath Dham and Mahant Avadh Kishore Das supervising the ceremony. And from the annual earning of about Rs 80 lakh from the Mahavir temple, Kunal is establishing super specialty hospitals and medical college in Begusarai, Hazipur, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur and Gaya.

I wish Kunak could make a point to attach a school and a healthcare unit with all the temples he looks after. Source: Based on a Story in India Today and personal communications from Patna.

Bihar comes out with an exemplary RTI model
In January this year, the Bihar government started a unique model wherein a person can file an RTI application by simply making a call to the help line. “As soon as the call is made to the RTI line, Rs 10 gets added to the person’s telephone bill. His voice is recorded and treated as an RTI application. Even if the person has to file an appeal under the RTI Act, a call is more than enough.” It has simplified the procedure of filing the applications. Instead of writing an application for seeking information, all one has to do is to dial a help line number. Arvind Kejriwal’s Parivartan has helped the state government set up the call centre. Magassay award winner Arvind Kajriwal recently urged the Delhi government to replicate the Bihar RTI model.

Law catches up with Bihar musclemen
People were skeptical of the “the speedy trial campaign” when the new state government of Nitish Kumar launched it. But the results are showing up now. Anand Mohan‘s sentence to death, Mohammad Shahabuddin’s life sentence and Pappu Yadav’s wait for his turn in Tihar Jail are certainly sending some strong messages already to the feared musclemen-politicians of Bihar and their followers. The fast-track courts must get its due credit. The deceased IAS Krishnaiah’s wife comments from Hyderabad on Anand Mohan’s sentence is good enough a reason for the people to be happy today: “I cannot get my husband, the son of a labourer and a dalit, back, but this judgment should deter powerful politicians or ruffians from killing simple people.”

I wish Nitish government could put some fast track administrative machinery for the development projects related to infrastructures such as power, road, and irrigation as well as education and healthcare too all around in Bihar. It must get visible to even the blinds in media. Without those, Bihar can’t build its image and can’t bring prosperity for its people.

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Social Engineering at Beauty Parlour and in Kitchen

Posted on October 3, 2007 by indra

While returning from my morning walk, I thought I must get my haircut and entered a saloon. It is good that in Noida, some shops are open even at that early hour. But still I had to wait. I grumbled but I did wait. And the experience was not bad as I could learn some lessons in social engineering.

I started the dialogue with the young entrepreneur who owns the shop and came in after cleaning his plastic chairs. “How are normally the boys get trained in this skill of hairdressing?” “Are there any vocational school?” “Are they from the caste that traditionally was in haircutting?”

I was amazed when he said there is one place in New Delhi where the boys are trained in the skill. As I remember, the center is named after one Habib. There is lot of reputation of that training center. I strongly feel hairdressing must be a part of vocational skills, as it provides a lot of well paying and respectable employment. I always keep on remembering Sotelal who really served me in my HM days and Lakshman who used to provide comfort in our village.

The owner further confirmed that the boys from other castes are not coming to this profession. But surprisingly, the young women of even higher castes, rather all castes, are working as lady hairdresser in parlours. I myself know many. Are not our young ladies bringing a social engineering based revolution to get themselves liberated and independent? I remember, Mansa, Yamuna’s niece at one time wanted to learn hairdressing and wanted to open a ladies parlour. But the elderly lady of the family threatened that she would not come to her place if she went for that profession. Bad luck Mansa! Things have changed now.

However, I was shocked when the owner said, “Sir, but you will not find our ladies, even the educated ones starting a parlour. Our community does not like it.” I got reminded of the good old days, the ladies from the families of the daily or contract labourers of the village were the only doing the transplantation during the paddy cultivation. Nowadays, it is a male domain and is done by outsiders on contract. Employment has gone outside the village. How do you crate the job opportunities in the village itself?

I recently came across a story and that too from Bihar. Some of the religious places are now having Dalit priests. And is it not great that the people are accepting it?

I do also remember how my grandfather wished to bring my uncles in business. He started with milk business, followed by a hotel in Sasaram. Lastly, he started a mill- rice and flourmill in the village for my youngest uncle. My uncle started enthusiastically, but it again failed. Surprisingly they kept on blaming their failure for the caste they were born in. I wonder I could have told them that the best of the businessmen in South are Brahmins and not Vaishyas. However, things are changing fast. The need to survive is making one go in all the nontraditional professions.

I wish Sankracharyas, Viswa Hindu Parishad and the orthodox Hindu organizations could d have come out with a fatwa against the practicing of caste discriminations of all sorts. If anyone wishes to call himself a real Hindu, he must help in getting this malaise of the community burnt forever.

And then I look at Yamuna for some additional material on the topic. She points her finger towards the kitchen. Do we know what are the castes of the maids that Yamuna is to employ so often for cooking? Why should we know that? She must just be cool help.

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Rural Employment Guarantee- Utopia or Real

Posted on October 2, 2007 by indra

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) ensures job for at least 100 days a year for one member of all the rural households, if demanded.

To celebrate the entry of the crown prince as the general secretary of Congress Party en route to reach at the prime ministerial chair in the next election, Sonia Gandhi’s party staged a political and media savvy drama to build an aam aadami -oriented image of the crown prince. After the enthronement, the prince went with a group of his sycophants in the party to the prime minister and suggested the extension of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to all 583 districts of the country. It covered 330 districts in the country with Rs 12,000 crore till now. 253 more districts will mean allocation of additional Rs 6,000-8,000 crore. Within less than 48 hours the government announced the extension.

I have been writing in favour of the project since its inception and wished if more and more agencies could get involved with the scheme to make it transparent and useful for the rural India. It can create huge lot of necessary assets such as social forestry, roads and water bodies for better availability of water all over the year.

If the government could execute the act with professional efficiency and effectiveness, no one in India would go empty stomach for sleep in the whole of the country. However, it has not happened and there is a little hope that it will happen now unless the administration does some bold restructuring. It is unfortunate that the government and the ruling political party assume that with framing of the policy its work is over and its announcements can befool the teeming ignorant millions that serve as vote bank.

The NREGA went operational with 200 districts covered in the first phase in February 2006 and got extended to 130 more districts from April this year.

As claimed, it provided employment to 2.1 crore households in the first phase districts (2006-07) and created 90.5 crore mandays of which more than 60 per cent were SCs and STs and 40 per cent were women.

Initially there was a lot of hue and cry about the resources. No one makes that complains now. The actual expenditure is much less than what it was being estimated. As reported, the allocation for the NREGA for 2006-07 was Rs 11,300 crore (200 districts) and the administration could spend only Rs 8,800 crore. And out of the allocation of Rs 12,000 crore for 2007-08 (330 districts) for this year, the expenditure is likely to touch Rs 10,000 crore.

The NREGA would require around Rs 20,000 crore annually to cover all 595 districts. It is just half of what many experts in economy thought of when the scheme was getting conceived. Rs 20,000 crore is not something that India can’t afford the scheme if it serves the purpose.

The main issues concern its low utilisation, woefully inadequate generation of employment, non-payment of minimum wages, absence of facilities at worksites, lack of sufficient number of useful projects and doubtful asset creations.

The Delhi-based Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) has come out with its second survey on the project implementation under NREGA. The PRIA survey covered 5,300 registered families in 21 districts across 14 states. Conclusions are shocking. A mere six per cent of the households managed the minimum employment of 100 days a year. The rest had either been employed for lesser number of days, or not at all. Many have also complained about non-payment and under-payment.

According to another study, the average days of work provided to rural households eligible under the NREGA was far lower than even 45 a year in most of the 330 districts it now operates in.”

In states like Bihar, the number of person days of work actually done per rural household that demanded work was as low as 18.46.

Many have even poorer views to express. “At least 30 per cent of the funds are wasted or misused. In some cases, the diversion is up to 60 per cent.”

Others contend that in any project, a minimum of 5 per cent of the funds goes to line the pockets of the CEO who oversees the project, 10 per cent goes to the engineering officials, 5 to the zilla panchayat, and another 10 to panchayat officials. The percentages can be much higher in some districts and states. Add to these percentages the fact that in many cases funds are allocated for the same project several times, or shortcuts by the officials lead to shoddy implementation and other irregularities. Overall performance appears to be dismal.

The government with two years experience has hardly reached at some solutions for the overall on-the-ground realities. What are the answers if “workers continue to face payment delays, or are not paid the minimum wages or if in many districts, there are no projects to allocate work”? Can it be believed that with so much of talent in the country, it is not possible to solve these issues?

Unfortunately, there is no dearth of the schemes and programmes to provide employment. The Prime Minister’s Rozgaar Yojana (PMRY) was another one that has been merged with NREGA. The proposed scheme, named Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), will set up 17 lakh entrepreneurial projects generating 1 crore job opportunities during the eleventh plan against the combined PMRY and NREGA target of 43.57 lakh jobs under the ongoing tenth plan. Out of these, 70 lakh jobs are proposed for SC, ST, OBC, minorities and the North-East, according to the concept paper formulated by the Ministry. Will this not mean the end of the poverty from Indian soil very soon?

However, there is at least one positive side of the scheme too. According to estimates, local employment has resulted in cutting down migration of labour by as much as 60% in certain areas.

Will an effective delivery system for this great scheme that could have changed the lives of millions remain a utopian objective? Will the thousands of B-schools in India come out to make this one programme of national importance that is unique in the whole world, succeed?

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Booming and Bubbling India- XX

Posted on October 1, 2007 by indra

While political marathon for 123 Indo-US agreement is on with left bent on spoiling the party and Sethusamudram Project is waiting in SC to restart, India has been winning on all the fronts from T20 cricket world cup to chess. Stock market is having its Bull Run creating trillionaire for the first time. India is trying to sell its smaller nuclear reactors to developed nations. Artists are fetching good money for their creations. Incredible India is creating a wave in New York. The boom is on going.

India wins: Everything that could go wrong for India did, but somehow, despite scoring what should not have been enough (157); despite the trailblazing Yuvraj Singh failing after getting them so far in the tournament; despite Imran Nazir hammering quick runs in quick time, India beat Pakistan by five runs to win the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup. The similarities between Dhoni and Kapil Dev are uncanny. Both are cricketers from small-town cricketing outposts, one the Haryana Hurricane, the other the Ranchi Rockstar.

India eyeing export market for Indian nuclear reactors: India is actively exploring the possibility of exporting indigenous 220 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) to developing nations that are eyeing nuclear power generation but have small-sized electricity grids. Currently, India is perhaps the only country to have an actively working technology, design and infrastructure for manufacture of small reactors with a unit capacity of 220 MWe.

‘Indian artists among the best in world’: India’s contemporary artists no longer seek accolades from just Indians, they compete with the world’s best, says Kent Charugundia of TamarindArt gallery. ‘

17K & beyond: India growth story intact… The Indian market has joined the global party, even celebrating its quickest 1,000-point rally in just six trading sessions, driven mainly by excessive inflows of funds from foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Now, the million-dollar question: How long will spring last?

Nine cos enter trillion club: Nine companies, led by Reliance Industries (RIL), have already entered the hall of fame after their market caps soared beyond Rs 1,00,000 crore (trillion) amid unprecedented rally in their shares in the past few months.

Nine Indian banks among top 50 in Asia: Nine Indian banks, led by HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, have made it to the list of top 50 Asian Banks. “This (achievement) is no surprise given the Indian economy is in overdrive, with buoyant consumption and investment demand driving the banking sector’s strong balance sheet growth.”

Tatas aim for 60% revenue from overseas operations: The Tata Group expects to earn nearly 60 per cent of its revenue this year (38 per cent last year) from its overseas operations following the acquisition of Corus Steel in UK. According to Mr Alan Rosling, Executive Director, Tata Sons Ltd, the Group’s turnover is expected to increase to $50 billion from $29 billion last year.

Infosys is among leading global adopters of Microsoft Vista: Indian software services vendor Infosys Technologies Ltd has emerged as one of the largest users worldwide of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista operating system, even as deployment of the latest offering from the Redmond, Seattle-headed software giant has had a slower pickupcompared to previous software versions among business customers

India among top 10 nations using high-end smart phones: Nokia Contrary to general belief that India is a market only for low-end cellular phones, world leader Nokia today said the country is among top 10 nations using smart phones offering mobile internet ideal for corporate and business professionals.

Wipro buys Japanese wireless design unit: Wipro Technologies, the global IT services arm of Wipro Ltd was acquiring the wireless design subsidiary of Tokyo-based Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd to help it expand in Japan and east Asia.

Infosys pays $1m to six employees: Six employees of Infosys Technologies posted overseas earn $1 million annually, perhaps making the company the highest paymaster in the Indian IT industry. The list does not end here.

Delhi University’s GM mustard gets process patent rights: The University of Delhi has been accorded process patent rights by the US Patent Office relating to the development of the transgenic mustard hybrid, DMH-1. “We have applied for two other process patent rights for developing the transgenic mustard seed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.”

Aircel to invest $2.5 bn for pan-India roll out: Maxis Telecom-managed Aircel will be investing $2.5 billion to have its presence in all the 23 telecom circles by 2009 against the current Aircel presence in 9 circles and has already received the licence to operate in another 14 circles.

Domestic automakers speed up patent filings: The number of patents filed by the six top local auto makers in the country jumped 85 per cent in just 18 months since January 2005 against the 10-year period between Januray 1995 and December 2004, according to data from Evalueserve, a firm that tracks patent filings.

IIT Kharagpur energy park: The project is a part of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharapur’s initiative to set up R&D parks for IT, biotechnology and energy sectors at Kharagpur.

60 space missions over next 5 years: India has planned about 60 space missions over the next five years that would include programmes in the field of navigation, positioning, advanced communications, space transportation, earth observation and space science which would increase opportunities for commercial and scientific cooperation.

Mukesh Ambani becomes first person with Rs 2 trn net worth: Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani today (25 September) became the first person in the country with a net worth of more than Rs two trillion as a booming stock market pushed the value of his shareholding in various group firms.

IIM-B students bag highest number of PPOs this year: It is boom time for students of Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore this year, with a record 70 Pre-Placement Offers (PPOs) having been made for a batch of 250 students.

Indian PC market grows by 22% in Q2 of 2007: The overall client PC market in India grew 22.1%, recording 1.53 million shipments in the second quarter of 2007 calendar year as against 1.25 million in the corresponding period last calendar year, market research firm IDC said. Desktop PC shipments showed a growth of 11.3% while notebook PC spurted by 73.1% during the same period (April-June) this year.

Tech companies Accedit independently: Tech companies that need to hire in large numbers have been accrediting more institutions on their own, devising complex formulae that gauge everything from students’ competence to the college infrastructure. Tech giant Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) has accredited 400 technical colleges so far, a precursor to its on-campus placements. For more than four years, Wipro Ltd also has had an accreditation system in place, with a list of 1,500 engineering campuses.

Mittal to invest $20 bn in Indian plants: Steel tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal has pledged an investment of about 20 billion dollars for building two 12-million-tonne steel plants in India, where the demand for the commodity is growing rapidly.

PC with Internet for Rs 5000! Chennai-based IT company, Novatium Solutions, has announced a strategic tie-up with Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for the launch of its sub-Rs 5,000 Nova netPC.

Gremach acquires: Gremach Infrastructure Equipments & Projects Ltd has acquired 75 per cent controlling stake in 11 coal mine licences in Mozambique over an aggregate area of 13,520 hectares in the prime region of Moatize.

Indian M&A deal value overtakes $50 bn mark: The net value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving Indian companies announced till date in 2007 has crossed the $50 billion (Rs1.99 trillion), for the first time in a year, according to deal-data tracker Grant Thornton India.

Steel companies make a beeline for West Bengal: With more than Rs 100,000 crore worth investments in the pipeline, West Bengal has emerged as a hot destination for the steel industry, leaving behind the mineral-rich state of Chhattisgarh with the investments announced for greenfield and brownfield projects in the state standing at Rs 108,500 crore.

FY09 may see last of revenue deficit: “By 2030, India, with a population of 1.3-1.4 billion, will emerge as the world’s fourth-largest economy. “The average Indian may not be as rich as the average American. But India will be as rich as the US.”

France invites investment from India: Government-run Invest In France Agency (IFA), tasked with attracting overseas business, has identified 300 Indian companies, mainly in IT and pharma sectors, as prospective investors in this country and plans to launch vigorous campaigns to tap these.

GDP growth may breach 9%: A resurgent agriculture and higher foreign capital inflows could accelerate the country’s growth momentum to beyond 9% this fiscal, economic think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has said, while upwardly revising gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for 2007-08.

India Is Exporting Jobs: To fight on the shifting terrain, and to beat back emerging rivals, Indian companies are hiring workers and opening offices in developing countries themselves, before their clients do.

RBI eases forex outflow norms: Now Indians can transfer $2 lakh to acquire and hold immovable property, make investments in financial instruments or purchase any other asset abroad without any prior approval.

Doing business gets easier in India: India has been ranked at 120th position, up 12 positions from last year, in the ‘Doing Business 2008’ report released by the World Bank and its private sector lending arm IFC today. India has been ranked as the top reformer worldwide for trading across the borders. India’s integrity index has marginally improved to 3.5 in 2007 from 3.3 a year ago on a scale of 10 points, TI said in a report.

Core Projects buys two companies: Core Projects & Technologies Ltd has has finalised multiple acquisitions in the UK and the US in the field of education at a cost of a total of $45 million and will be funded from the FCCB proceeds raised in May 2007.

Mallya picks up 50 pc stake in US firm: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Wednesday acquired 50 per cent stake in US private jet maker Epic for 120 million dollars (about Rs 480 crore).

Bangalore scientists may hold key to taming diabetes enzyme: Apetulant, wild enzyme blamed for triggering a host of killer diseases from type 2 diabetes, arthritis, hypertension and to an extent, even cancer, and whose working has foxed international researchers may have been finally tamed at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.

IOC to focus on rural areas: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) – the country’s largest oil marketer – is planning to set up the bulk of its 1,600 new retail outlets planned during 2007-08 in rural areas.

Power Sixes: Six Indian cos up global IT share 4-fold: The top six Indian information technology firms have increased their share in the global IT services market from 0.5% in 2001 to 1.9% in 2006, a study by research firm Gartner said.

FDI in retail not very distant: India will open up its $330 billion retail market to foreign investors after convincing mom and pop storeowners that their jobs are not at threat from big players, according to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

Rural retail to cross Rs 1.8 lakh cr by ’10: The Rs 140,000 crore rural retail market is expected to cross Rs 180,000 crore mark by 2010, according to a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – YES BANK study, and is likely to go up to Rs 240, 000 crore by 2015.

Rs 100,000-cr power projects in 11th Plan: “The Cabinet is expected to shortly clear the APDRP and RGVVY projects for the 12th plan period to improve the transmission infrastructure as part of our target to meet 78,000 Mw during the Plan period. A circular power grid connecting the northern region to the western grid with 765 KVA lines would be a major component.”

Govt extends rural job guarantee to entire country: The Centre announced the extention of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to all districts of the country on 28 September.

India among top 10 in nurturing talent: China and India rank among the top 10 talent hotspots worldwide. India will retain 10th position as the world’s leading country for nurturing and developing talent over the next five years, says the first ever Global Talent Index (GTI). China moves from eighth to sixth.

Del Monte Invests in India: India’s plans to streamline its huge but disorganized farming sector received a lift today as Del Monte Pacific signed a deal to pay $20.9 million for a stake in FieldFresh Foods, an ambitious venture backed by Bharti Enterprises, the telecommunications giant, and a branch of the Rothschild banking family.

India pips US to become 2nd largest cotton producer: India has overtaken the US as the second-largest cotton producer in the world for the 2006-07 season.

India’s first moon mission to take off next April: India will launch a locally built rocket on the country’s first unmanned mission to the moon next April. ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) launched four satellites on a single rocket for the first time in January, including one that was brought back to earth to set the stage for the country to send an astronaut into space by 2014 and a manned mission to the moon by 2020.

The $17-billion US major GE Healthcare growing at the rate of 18-20% year-on-year, plans to nearly double its Indian business to $800 million by 2010 from the existing $475 million with a mission that mainly targets two disease areas – cardiao-vascular and cancer, through four segments – diagnostics, lifesciences equipment, clinical systems and healthcare IT platform. Bisleri to go global with ‘Himalayan’ water: India’s leading bottled water brand Bisleri has chalked out plans to go global and is in talks with distributors in Japan, UK and other parts of Europe to export the water brand which will be bottled at its facility in Uttarakhand. The company is in the midst of creating a new design, may be, a hexagonal bottle, that Bisleri will sport in the global markets. In India, the brand has a market share of around 60%, with the rest of the pie distributed among a host of local and multinational brands such as Aquafina, Kinley, Himalayan, among others.India will be a developed country: India’s growth – which was 9.4 per cent in 2006-07 – was driven initially by consumption but later by investment. “Unlike China, we did not prevent our people from consuming goods and services.” the productivity of capital and labour was also driving growth. “The working population will exceed dependent population by 2040,” “The Taj Mahal, the Himalayas and the Ganga stand as sentinels for India’s incredibility. But what can make it credible is when it become strong and prosperous.”

Five cities among the top outsourcing hubs: Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata are rated among the top five emerging destinations worldwide in the latest ranking of top 50 promising outsourcing cities around the globe. Bangalore, Delhi NCR and Mumbai, along with Manila and Dublin, are the five established hubs that are unlikely to fade from the outsourcing map, according to a study by services globalisation & investment advisory firm Tholons and media group Global Services.

Let me end the boom news with a win again. India’s ranking world number one chess player Vishwanathan Anand became the game’s world champion on Saturday, winning the global tournament in Mexico.

And one can hear the echos of ‘Chak De! India’all around.

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Gandhi Remains Relevant But For..

Posted on October 1, 2007 by indra

Last Sunday, we made an experiment with Gandhian approach. Residents of the sector, both men and women, I live in, could make the adamant, to certain extent rogue contractor stop the construction of the boundary wall right in the front of our houses that would have suffocated us and taken away the greenery that we have created in years. Finally, the project engineer came on a Sunday and himself suggested a way out, as we expressed our determination to not allow the work even if the CEO, Noida wishes.

As I understand, a recent poll on university campuses across the US put Mahatma Gandhi ahead of all political personalities anywhere in the world. Surprisingly, the only man more popular than him among the student community understandably was Bill Gates. It clearly shows the aspiration of the younger generation and who are inspiring them. I don’t mind Gandhi competing with Bill Gates or even Narayana Murthy in the student community if that were so.

Gandhi is very much relevant but for our politicians. It pains me and must be doing so for a large number of Indians. Sudheendra Kulkarani has expressed his pain in an article in Indian Express, ‘Some Gandhian lessons for the Gandhis.’

Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by her son Rahul, will be representing India at the UN General Assembly on October 2, when the world body will declare Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday as World Non-Violence Day. In what capacity she can represent India at the UN, one doesn’t know. It would have been in the fitness of things if our prime minister represented India. Kulkarni refers to the film ‘Gandhi My Father’ by Feroz Abbas Khan, which is one of the finest cinematic narrations of the greatest hero of modern Indian history. It tells how the Mahatma detested nepotism and would do nothing whatsoever to promote his son’s career using his personal influence.

Sonia pretended to became a Goddess after she refused the chair of the prime minister in favour of Manmohan Singh. Does she think that India is destined to be ruled by her family only?

Another headline in today’s ‘Times of India’ shows the moral standard of Indian politicians. HD DeveGowda is one former prime minister of India, and presently supreme of JD (S) in Karnataka, the state so famous as the Silicon Valley of India. HD Kumaraswamy has been the Chief Minister of the state because of an understanding with BJP. As agreed at the time of alliance, he is to give up his chair in favour of BJP’s CM-in-waiting B S Yediyurappa. But the former prime minister tells BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, ‘Let my son continue as CM’, and trying to adopt all the political meanness to have his wishes fulfilled. Can Gandhi be of any relevance to persons such DevGowda?

Another shocking news is from no other than Mayawati. I am sure Dr. Ambedkar must be getting restless in his grave with the news of her wealth. The latest is amazing. Let us go through the press report in Times of India.

Mayawati now not only figures among the country’s richest politicians, but also has officially become the highest tax-paying people’s representative. The UP chief minister and BSP supremo has, between July and September 15 this year, paid a whopping Rs 14 crore as advance income tax for the assessment year 2008-09.

It shall help Ms Mayawati legitimise her huge wealth acquired over less than a period of three years, when her declared income grew from barely Rs 1.67 crore – as recorded in the affidavit filed along with the nomination papers for 2004 Lok Sabha poll – to Rs 52 crore this year.

Is Gandhi, or if she doesn’t like Gandhi, Dr. Ambedkar laughing somewhere?

On this day, I think Gandhi must be in extreme pain with the way the politicians in power would have started behaving. According to his personal secretary, V Kalyanam, Gandhi on the night of August 14, 1947 wrote,

“I have repeatedly said that I have neither any part nor say in many things that are going on in the country today. The plain matter-of-fact is that I am no longer the current coin I fancied I once was. My voice is in the wilderness. Time was, when whatever I said the masses followed. Today, mine is a lone voice. I now say things which do not go home. I know that I am a back number. Yet, I go on saying what I believe to be true.

“Democracy is not a state in which people act like sheep. My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest should have the same opportunity as the strongest.”


Gandhi is thus relavant for all but the present politicians, otherwise Karunanidhi would not have gone for hunger strike for Sethusamudram Project and Dasmunsi wouldn’t have called it Gandhian. .

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