Booming and Bubbling India- XIV

Posted on August 20, 2007 by indra

Delhi is bubbling. Leftists are trying to get their pound of flesh. Political maneuvers may save the situation. The government may stay in power. One feels bad, but this is the price of democracy. However, when we went for the movie: ‘Chak De India’ or ‘Gandhi-the father’, the two multiplexes and malls were having house full indicating the economy booming. Forbes in the report ‘India at 60’ lists more billionaires in India than in any other Asian nation.

Indian IT troika fit for Buffett’s portfolio: Standard and Poor’s has included three of the biggest names in the Indian IT space in its latest biannual compilation of the stocks that meet the legendary investor’s portfolio. The American Depositary Receipts of these three IT behemoths have been named alongside global giants Microsoft, Oracle, Ericsson, Cisco Systems, Diageo, China Mobile and SAP.

For 8 of 10 people in Valley, ‘conditions have improved’: The first-ever Indo-Pak poll sponsored by The Indian Express, Dawn News and CNN-IBN and designed by CSDS, public opinion offers greater room for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute than is usually believed.

Rural twist to BPO story: Sai Seva in Andhra village offers solution to cost and attrition worries of firms such as Royal Sundaram, HDFC. The venture was built around the notion that “around 80 lakh educated rural youths are still unemployed and Gartner (a research outfit) said that India could lose 70% of the BPO opportunities to more cost-effective countries by 2010.”

Indians predated Newton ‘discovery’ by 250 years: A little-known school of scholars in South India discovered one of the founding principles of modern mathematics hundreds of years before Sir Isaac Newton, to whom the finding is currently attributed.

Infosys, TCS top corporate reputation index: IT majors Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have emerged as the most reputed corporate houses in India while Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever were tied at the second place, according to the latest Corporate Reputation Index released by global consultancy firm TNS. Maruti Udyog, the largest carmaker in the country, got the third highest number of votes on the index.

IT giants increase overseas hiring: The non-Indian workforce comprised 9.6 per cent of the IT majors’ total workforce in 2006-07, and the number is set to rise. Wipro Technologies hired over 200 college/ business school graduates from the US and Europe in 2006-07. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as its long-term strategy is looking at having 15-20 per cent of their workforce from foreign countries. Infosys already has 3 per cent of its workforce made up of foreign nationals, and has seen their numbers grow 28 per cent from fiscal ’05-’06 to ’06-’07.

N-deal opens up investment possibilities worth $40 bn: The Indo-US civil nuclear deal has opened up the possibility of investments worth $40 billion over the next 15 years to step up nuclear power generation, with leading firms like White Westinghouse, General Electric, Rosatom and Siemens unveiling plans to do business with the country.

L&T for megapower: L&T has entered into a joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd to set up an Rs750 crore manufacturing facility for super-critical boilers, which will have an annual production capacity of 3,000-4,000MW. L&T is also close to inking a deal with Japan’s leading power-generation equipment manufacturer, Toshiba Corp., to set up a facility for manufacturing super-critical technology turbines in India. The deal may entail an investment of $80 million by the engineering major.

Tata Motors at Pantnagar: Tata Motors Ltd, India’s largest truck maker had received the go-ahead from the Uttarakhand government to start commercial production at its Pantnagar factory. The Pantnagar factory has the capacity to produce 225,000 units a year, and will make both the Ace cargo carrier and its passenger vehicle version, Magic.

Allocation for higher, tech education to treble: The Budget allocation for higher and technical education in the country is set to treble in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-2012) with the Planning Commission expected to allocate over Rs 26,000 crore, compared to Rs 8,876 crore in the 10th Five-Year Plan. The commission is targeting a gross enrolment ratio (GER) of 15 per cent by 2015 as against that of 10% in the 10th Five-Year Plan, thus enrolling an additional 8-9 million students in higher education by 2015. The GER in most developed economies is between 40 per cent and 50 per cent. Look at the potential.

Volvo for Engine manufacturing in India: India is one of the locations that Volvo is considering for setting up an engine and transmission plant for the Asian market.

Indian outsourcing heads abroad: Indian information technology and outsourcing firms, which have a reputation for cheap operations, are diverting new orders to places like the Philippines, East Europe and Latin America that offer better pricing and skill sets.

Govt plans four national pharma institutes: The government has decided to set up four national institutes of pharmaceutical education and research (NIPER) to offer masters and doctoral degrees in specialized areas connected with cutting-edge technologies to serve a booming healthcare industry that is facing a severe shortage of human resources at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Hajipur (Bihar) and Kolkata that would produce about 1000 post-graduate and doctoral graduates every year.

100% jump in domestic investments: A Reserve Bank of India report has estimated that banks and financial institutions sanctioned 1,054 projects worth Rs 2.83 lakh crore ($70 billion) in 2006-07, more than double the Rs 1.31 lakh crore or $34 billion sanctioned for 812 projects in the previous year. Add the $15 billion that India received as foreign direct investment (FDI) last year; and another $6.6 billion that came in as net foreign institutional investment (FII) during 2006-07. The Rs 2.83 lakh crore would be invested in creating or expanding production facilities till 2011-12. Two-thirds of the investment will go for setting up new capacity, while 27.5% will go into expansion and modernisation of existing facilities.

Auto industry zooms to become small-car hub: In the last five years, annual growth in the passenger vehicle segment has been by 15 per cent, commercial vehicles 26 per cent, two wheelers 13 per cent and three wheelers 15 per cent. The industry expected to attract investment worth $35-40 billion by 2016.

Reliance Retail to create half a million jobs: Reliance Retail Ltd (RRL) would create half-a-million jobs and provide indirect employment to another one million over the next three years.

IBM launches Hindi speech recognition technology: A speech recognition technology for Hindi has been developed by software major IBM which would help less literate and physically challenged persons among the speakers of the language, access information through a variety of applications.

HAL-Canada’s CAE to set up pilot school in B’lore: Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has forged a joint venture with Canada’s CAE to set up a $55 million pilot training school in Bangalore and drawn up plans to establish a facility to manufacture multi-role combat jets.

Wi-Fi system at 50 railway stations: RailTel, a subsidiary of the railways is planning to instal Wi-Fi systems at 50 stations as a pilot scheme; and passengers at these stations can access broadband internet facility using laptops and other Wi-Fi enabled devices.

30,000 MW to be added using imported N-fuel: The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) plans to add 30,000 MW of power based on imported nuclear fuel in the near future.

Reva gears up for global electric-car market: Some 2,000 of these zero-polluting city commuters have been put on the roads in India and Europe, including 600 in London, in the six years since Reva Electric Car Co. turned commercial.

Global hotels to mushroom in India: A dozen global chains – including the Hilton, Accor, Marriott International, Berggruen Hotels, Cabana Hotels, Premier Travel Inn (PTI) and InterContinental Hotels group – has announced plans to set up over 350 five-star, four-star and budget hotels and 50 villas that would roughly translate into 65,000 additional hotel rooms. Foreign tourist arrivals rose to 4.43 million last year from 3.92 million in 2005.

VIP to make hard luggage for Delsey: VIP Industries has signed an agreement with the world’s second largest luggage company Delsey making the Indian company the sole manufacturer for the French major’s global hard luggage range.

Delhi-Mumbai corridor involving $90 bn: The government today approved the first phase of the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, which envisages a total investment of over $90 billion during the next decade, with assistance from Japan.

Transport sector is shifting to the fast lane: At over 33 lakh km, India has the second largest road network in the world. Its 63,000 km long railway network is the most extensive in Asia, the second largest under a single management in the world. Aircraft manufacturers say it has a potential to add 1,100 more jets worth over $105 billion over the next 20 years.

Move for 8 more IITs, 7 IIMs: Planning Commission has proposed a seven-year special plan (2007-14) which includes setting up eight new IITs, seven new IIMs, 20 NITs, 20 IIITs and 50 centres for training and research in frontier areas. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised on August 15 that 1,600 new industrial training institutes, 10,000 vocational schools and 50,000 skill development centres would be set up under the mission to supply trained workforce.

99 TV channels, 175 FM stations more in 2007: Ninty-nine new television channels and 175 FM radio stations are expected to be launched this year. Ninety-three private satellite television channels have been permitted to uplink from India so far.

TCS close to bagging $1.5b outsourcing contract: India’s leading IT services provider, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is closer to getting an approximately $1.5 billion (around Rs 6,000 crore) outsourcing contract with the UK-based Prudential Insurance.

Undersea restaurant: The Hyderabad-based Oceanpark Group, which is into real estate and entertainment business, plans to set up an undersea restaurant near Visakhapatnam.

Timken to expand: Timken India plans to expand its operations in the country by increasing its capacities at its plant in Jamshedpur, creating new capacity at a greenfield facility in the Chennai special economic zone (SEZ). The company’s $27 million investment in the Chennai plant will mainly support the demand for high-end bearings from Timken’s global clients.

Dabbawalas eye consultancy biz: The Mumbai-based dabbawalas (literally “box-men”), best known for a high six sigma performance rating by management guru C K Prahalad, now are all set to offer consultancy services on logistics management as a separate revenue stream.

FDI inflows to treble to $11.4 bn: Foreign Direct Investment inflows into India more than trebled to $11.4 billion in the first six months of 2007 as companies such as UK’s Vodafone poured funds to tap the world’s second-fastest growing economy.

Indian toys to breathe fire at Chinese dragon: At the peak of the dragon onslaught – 1999-2003 – India was importing almost 1.2 million (12 lakh) of these from China every week. Today, it’s down to zero; they are all made in India now. Whre there is a will,there is a way. It is happening when the Chineses toys are in news for bad reasons.

And the boom story goes on.

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Enchantment Of Riches

Posted on August 19, 2007 by indra

William Dalrymple the author of ‘The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi 1857’ has just been awarded the Duff Cooper Prize for History. Dalrymple has contributed an enthralling article in India Today’s Independence Day Special with the main theme “What Unites India”. Dalryple talks of the perception of India’s wealth in the good old days. Why do our so-called leftist historians hesitate to write about it? Why can’t we as Indians take pride in that prosperous past of the country?

The idea of India as a place of fabulous wealth was already a cliché by the time of Megasthenes. In Roman times, there was a dramatic drain of Western gold to India. This is something that Strabo comments on with great anxiety in his writings-and an image graphically confirmed by the recent finding of several huge Roman coin hoards around Madurai in Tamil Nadu, and the discovery of a large Roman coastal trading post near Pondicherry. At the peak of the trade, during the reign of Nero, the south Indian Pandyan kings even sent an Embassy to Rome to discuss the latter’s balance of payments problems.

The great Pallava kings who made Kanchipuram their capital, and whose fabulous and witty sculptures still delight so many at their great port of Mamallapuram, were one of a number of South Indian dynasties which became rich and powerful from their control of the spice and silk trade and the wider maritime world this opened up. From their great port, the Pallavas sent naval expeditions to Sri Lanka, Thailand and to South-East Asia, where inscriptions survive as witness to the scale of this first great Indian diaspora. An eighth century Tamil poem speaks of the port where “ships rode at anchor, bent to the point of breaking, laden as they were with wealth, with big-trunked elephants, and with mountains of gems of nine varieties.”

The Cholas who succeeded the Pallavas continued this tradition: Rajarajan I conquered Sri Lanka, and on making Tanjore his capital, erected what was then the most magnificent temple in the peninsula to commemorate his glory. On its completion in 1010, he donated to the new structure no less than 500 tonne of gold, jewels and silver looted from Sri Lanka.

It was rumours of India’s extraordinary wealth that drew the merchant adventurers of the East India Company to India 600 years later. They came to India not as part of some Tudor aid project, or on behalf of some charitable Elizabethan NGO, but instead as part of a desperate effort to cash in on the vast riches of the fabled Mughal Empire, then one of the two wealthiest polities in the world.
The Mughal Empire was far larger, more powerful and infinitely richer than its two would-be competitors to the West-the Ottomans and the Saffavids of Isfahan. Only the Ming Emperors in Peking could begin to compete with them. At their peak, the Mughals ruled over some 100 million subjects-five times the number ruled by the Ottomans. What the Poles and East Europeans are to modern Britain-economic migrants in search of better lives-the Jacobeans were to Mughal India.

By the 17th century, Agra was a vast megalopolis, while Lahore had grown larger even than Constantinople, and with its two million inhabitants, dwarfed both London and Paris. From the ramparts of the Fort, the Great Mughal ruled over most of India, all of Pakistan and great chunks of Afghanistan. His army was all but invincible; his palaces unparalleled; the domes of his many mosques quite literally glittered with gold. “The city is second to none either in Asia or in Europe,” thought the Portuguese Jesuit, Fr Antonio Monserrate, “with regards either to size, population, or wealth. It is crowded with merchants, who foregather there from all over Asia.”

History inspires a nation. And if it happens to be one of the best in the world inspires the younger generation to get to the top in contemporary global competition. Those with expertise in this subject must write and inspire this generation to get rid of the inferiority complex that goes deep in our day-to-day behaviour. Let our historians not remain shy to tell the younger generation about the inspiring past. It is their national responsibly. The country looks to them for getting the stories told in correct perspective instead of quarreling over petty things. If Dalrymple can do that, why not so many of them in reputed institutes of India?

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A Condolence for an Ordinarily Great Person

Posted on August 18, 2007 by indra

I wrote about Dasarath Manjhi of Bihar who became an icon in Bihar. A group of young men from Bihar published a book ‘Bihar ka Gaurav’ that has a large number of the great sons of Bihar. The book started with an essay on Dasarath Manjhi.

Dashrath Manjhi suffering septicemia or blood poisoning died at 4.30pm on Friday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. As reported in TOI, Dasarth had said, “When I became chief minister of Bihar for one day on July 24, 2006, Nitish Kumar asked me what my wishes were. I asked for my road to be made pukka. I also wished a hospital to be built beside this road, along the Gehlor Ghat, for my people. Both are almost ready. I will inaugurate it as soon as I am out of hospital.” Unfortunately Manjhi couldn’t inaugurate that himself.

Manjhi single-handedly carved out a 360-feet-long, 25-feet high and 30-feet-wide road by cutting a mountain for 22 years. But Majhi was these days battling his incurable cancer. Manjhi, the more popularly known as ‘sadhu baba’ was by no means a super hero. As the story goes “In 1967, his wife Phaguni Devi was crossing the mountain carrying his lunch, when she slipped and hurt herself. Agonised, Majhi decided overnight to create a metal road through the hill. Armed with a hammer and chisel, he didn’t stop for 22 years. Today the road is used by 1,000 people everyday, as it has reduced the distance between Atri and Vazirganj from 50 km to 8 km.”

I wish Nitish Kumar got built a model school in his name in his village, and the pass created by him is named Dasarath Manjhi.

Let me express my sincerest condolence for this ordinary person. I wish the young men of the state emulated his single-mindedness for a cause.

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Indian scholars predated Newton find by 250 yrs

Posted on August 17, 2007 by indra

Here is a story that appeared in many newspapers. I thought it would have created some stir in media busy with the story of ghosts and miracles.

The research carried out by Dr George Gheverghese Joseph, Honourary Reader, School of Education at The University of Manchester and Dennis Almeida, Teaching Fellow at the School of Education, The University of Exeter has revealed that the ‘Kerala School’ identified the ‘infinite series’ – one of the basic components of calculus – in about 1350. Scholars in south India discovered one of the founding principles of modern mathematics hundreds of years before Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibnitz (the end of the 17th centuries), to whom the finding is currently attributed. The researchers further reveal that the Kerala School also discovered what amounted to the Pi series and used it to calculate Pi correct to 9, 10 and later 17 decimal places. And there is strong circumstantial evidence that the Indians passed on their discoveries to mathematically knowledgeable Jesuit missionaries who visited India during the 15th century. That knowledge, the researchers argue, may have eventually been passed on to Newton himself. “The beginnings of modern maths is usually seen as a European achievement but the discoveries in medieval India between the 14th and 16th centuries have been ignored or forgotten,” Joseph said. Joseph made the revelations while trawling through obscure Indian papers for a yet to be published third edition of his best selling book The Crest of the Peacock: the Non-European Roots of Mathematics.’

I only wonder why this sort of researches doesn’t come from a university in UK and not from India. Even after the news appeared in media, why have some of the reputed historians of the country not reacted about it? Is it because of the inferiority complex, complacency or lack of dedicated application among our researchers?
PS:
‘Times of India’ has reported this development:
The recent claim by two UK-based researchers that south Indian scholars predated Sir Isaac Newton by hundreds of years in discovering the ‘infinite series’ has run into controversy with another mathematician alleging that the study findings were not new and originally done by him.

C K Raju, Editorial Fellow at the Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture, claims he first started the research on transmission of calculus from India to Europe under the National Science Academy in 1998. Almeida later collaborated with Raju. Almeida and Joseph gained access to Raju’s unpublished work in course of the proposed collaboration.

Raju recently published book ‘Cultural Foundations of Mathematics: The Nature of Mathematical Proof and the Transmission of Calculus from India to Europe in the 16th Century’ deals exclusively with the development of calculus in India and its transmission to Europe.

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China vs. India- an independent assessment

Posted on August 17, 2007 by indra

Unfortunately most of the writings on the China present one-sided picture of China growth story while comparing it with India. Some writers appear to be totally mesmerized by the infrastructure growth of China. Some again keep on talking about the darker aspects of human rights, environmental damages, and excesses of the lone ruling party and it cadres.

Paul Danahar has contributed an article in Outlook’s Independence day Issue,‘Snake In Monkey’s Shadow’ that has some very logical analysis of the differences between the working of China and India.

China hates being spoken of in the same breath as India. It sees itself not as an emerging Great Power but as a re-emerging Great Power.

There is much more of a sense of entitlement to Great Power status from Chinese officials when you meet them privately than there is from their Indian counterparts, who still can’t quite believe the world is finally taking them seriously.

In reality, the Chinese don’t consider India an equal now and can’t comprehend the idea of it being one in the future. At best, they see New Delhi as an emerging political power that needs to be contained in South Asia rather than a potential global partner in a new Asian century.

India built its economic boom top down with technology-based industries that did not require a decent road or ports system.Indian entrepreneurs find a way out for succeeding inspite of the government. China worked from the bottom up, building on cheap labour and low margins to bulk-sell to the world.

China will probably soon overtake the US as India’s primary trading nation. That’s going to mean more cheap goods flooding Indian markets, undermining already inefficient industries. China has already begun investing heavily to create a hi-tech industrial base in a bid to offset losses in its own manufacturing sector, which is being nibbled at by Southeast Asian neighbours like Vietnam. Many expects India may start losing jobs to China even in IT and ITeS sectors. Left to politicians they will start making protectionist noises just like those coming from American Congressmen now. That will make diplomacy with China even harder.

Beijing’s gleaming skyscrapers, busy roads and can-do attitude are in stark contrast to the embarrassment that is the Indian capital. Beijing works in a way that Delhi simply doesn’t. There are no power cuts or water shortages. The roads are not broken, Beijing doesn’t grind to a halt when it rains! It does reflect the incompetence and corruption that rots away at the heart of India’s political establishment. China has, in many ways, got where it is today because of its government. India, with a few notable exceptions, is on the threshold of greatness despite its politicians.

China is going to win the sprint. India may win the marathon but it’ll probably require China to stumble. Economic bubbles burst, and when they do, things get messy. India would cope with that better. It has safety valves-like the ballot box, a free media and the right to get together with a bunch of like-minded people and march down the street hurling abuse at the government-which are enormously stabilising. China simply doesn’t. India also supports its entrepreneurs with things like the protection of property rights, something China is still only edging towards. China’s desperation to keep its economy going at breakneck speed is based on the need to create millions of new jobs every year.

The country’s physical infrastructure is breathtaking, but the foundations for a new social infrastructure have hardly been touched. Communism has been replaced by unbridled capitalism-making money at any cost, even if that means producing deadly baby food, poisonous toothpaste or toxic toys. ‘Made in China’ on the side of the box has recently begun to give people around the world pause for thought. China’s answer to too many problems is to quickly execute a few people and hope that’s enough. It isn’t.

So what makes India chaotic, unpredictable and frustrating may also be its saving grace.

Should Indians be content or compete? One thing is but sure. Indians must be more innovative to find the right solutions of their basic problems- power, water, education, inefficiency, indiscipline, and corruption. And sooner they come out with it, the better it will be for the nation.

Two recent news reports from China will be eye-opener: First, the CEO of the toy making company of China killed himself, as in the US toys manufactured by the company were considered health-hazards and were called back in millions. Second, Chinese are learning cricket in thousands and hope to be cricketing nation in a year or two. Perhaps these are the Chinese way of facing the challenge.

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Educational Explosions

Posted on August 16, 2007 by indra

As I remember, I never missed the Independence Day speech of India’s Prime Minister, whenever I was in India. Nowadays, there is one more advantage. One can store the total speech available from the Prime Minister’s website. So I decided to drop my morning walk yesterday. As it appears after seeing the crowd at Red Fort on TV, the whole India perhaps gets up very early on this day. And that is a unique feature that can integrate the nation.

While listening to the Prime Minster, sometimes my attention got on to the prounciation of the Hindi words from Manmohan Singh that was very typical to the region he comes from. And I kept on thinking if technology might solve the problem one day. However for a person who could bear with Devgowda’s Hindi, Manmohan Singh was really good. I don’t think Pandit Jawaharlal or even Indira Gandhi reading the speech. For some years, I find that being read by the Prime Minister. Perhaps, the Prime Minister must try to make it extempore as the president of US does. The speech overall was a traditional one with lot of promises, but when it came to the projects on expanding the education, it appeared there is going to be explosive growth. The salient features were as follows:

Our Government has decided to invest in setting up good quality schools across the country. We will support 6,000 new high quality schools — one in every block of the country. Each such school will set standards of excellence for other schools in the area.

We will also ensure that adequate numbers of colleges are set up across the country, especially in districts where enrolment levels are low. We will help States set up colleges in 370 such districts.

We will set up thirty new Central Universities. Every state that does not have a central university will now have one.

In order to promote science and professional education, we are setting up five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, seven new Indian Institutes of Management, and twenty new Indian Institutes of Information Technology. At least a fifth of our children go to college as compared to one-tenth now.

We will soon launch a Mission on Vocational Education and Skill Development, through which we will open 1600 new industrial training institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics, 10,000 new vocational schools and 50,000 new Skill Development Centres.

We will ensure that annually, over 100 lakh students get vocational training – which is a four-fold increase from today’s level.

Can there be anything better for the country? It is only the education and good education with built in feature to transform young men into employable persons that can make the country prosperous and competitive.

However, I wish the PM had given the time frame too for each. I remember our Finance minister talking of upgradations of existing Industrial Training Institutes since 2004 budget and CII agreeing to collaborate in doing that. I am sure with a will to do that, it would have happened by now. I don’t think that has happened. Our government remains very slow in implementing the plans.

I wish, it didn’t repeat its performance record for the educational projects.

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India at 60

Posted on August 15, 2007 by indra

Media both print as well as small screen have been presenting some real good materials on occasion of India getting 60 (old or young?) on August 15, 2007. With so many channels vying with each other, it is impossible for anyone to track down all good programmes.

So far print media is concerned, I have come across at least four magazines with special issues on the occasion that has kept me engaged for last few days. I shall like to share some in a little detail.

Outlook’s I-day special- ‘India at 60’ is majestic. It has many features, but the former president, APJ Abdul Kalam’s article ‘Three homilies and a lesson’ and Munir Kadri’s eyewitness feature, ‘There were a million revelers that night’ just thrilled me. Other important contributors are Edward Luce, Pankaj Mishra, Ian Jack, and the oldman Khuswant Singh

‘India Today’ theme, What Unites India, for the special Independence Day issue is worth pondering and exciting for every citizen of this most populous democracy of the world. What is that makes India a model to be emulated? Patrick French, the author of Liberty or Death; India’s journey to Independence and Division; Mark Tully, former BBC bureau chief; Manil Suri, a mathematics professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimre County; Dipankar Gupta, professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, JNU; Fali S. Nariman, Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India; and a galaxy of prominent personalities have tried to come to some inferences based on history, tolerance, democracy, constitution, nationalism, culture, and even cricket and cinema. And ultimately, I conclude that it is just divine will that India has remained united.

Outlook Business’s special issue has carried out a stocktaking of the last 60 years with business leaders, and their vision for the next 10 years in India Inc (1947-2017).

Business World’s ‘State Of The Nation’ has covered different sectors of booming economy. I loved a portion from A Place In The Sun that is as follows:
“Today, this country stands a stronger, richer, fairer, healthier, more accomplished nation. For the first time in centuries, if not ever, Indians believe they can really change their lives for the better. Domestic companies that were minnows are now global giants. Executives who once struggled with whether they would be able to afford an apartment after retirement now make enough money every year to house a village. Domestic helpers who once struggled to wear hand-me-downs with dignity now prefer to buy clothes off the shelf. And illiterate farmers who toiled in barren fields by moonlight now live off remittances their children send them from Stockholm, San Francisco and Sharjah.”

Hindustan Times has number of informative compilations for the younger readers:

  Sixty successful men and women of India
  Sixty Indians who keep us culturally sound, grounded and proud.

Some good reading materials that appeared on I-day
  India at 60 is a country of the young people
  Just the write stuff: a list of India’s 60 best since Independence
  Cruising to the future on Highway 60
  Get Set For The Big League
  India at 60: A swot analysis by Mint

I keep on waiting for this day to get the opportunity to get a hand on these reading materials and collect it for my library. I don’t know how long that goes on.Many a times,I ponder if Independence Day could be celebrated with Bharat Mata as the main deity as Indians do with Ganesh Puja and Durga Puja. But Bharat Mata can’t be immersed after the festivity. I discard the dream.

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Can someone give me some good news from Bihar?

Posted on August 14, 2007 by indra

As an old man I spend most of my time with newspapers and news magazines- some subscribed and some on-line e-papers courtesy Internet on my laptop that Anand has provided me. I keep on looking for good news about Bihar as a very thirsty and hungry person looking for some water and food to survive. I do hardly get anything worth after wasting my energy for hours in the early morning or in the late night.

Then I go to the news that could have possibly come from Bihar too or at least could have carried mention of Bihar in some way. For instance, Tech Mahindra Ltd, part of $ 4.5 billion Mahindra Group, plans to open 5 engineering schools in different parts of the country with an aim of producing skilled manpower as per the needs of IT industry. And I start pondering and grumbling: ‘Why couldn’t one of these engineering schools be located in Bihar?’

I move to next news: ‘The government of India is planning to build 6-7 new IT townships, called knowledge townships, close to major urban centres and international airports. The residential townships will be based on the walk-to-work concept. The professionals working there will be encouraged to live close to the workplace. Each township would have a minimum 10-hectare built-up area to make it compliant with FDI rules relating to investment in real estate. Each township is likely to entail an investment of Rs 500-650 crore, depending on the area. The companies setting up units in the townships may be extended tax sops under either the software technology park (STP) or special economic zone (SEZ) scheme.’ Can Patna or Muzaffarpur have one such township? Bihar will have to urbanise if it wishes to get developed. We hardly have any other alternative.

And I move to the third news from Bhubaneswar: ‘Information and technology giant Wipro will soon set up the state’s biggest software development centre, where 15,000 IT engineers would be employed.’ When will one of the biggies of IT sector announce such news for Patna or Muzaffarpur? Why is the government of Bihar not coming out with some innovative as well as attractive plans that can allure these IT biggies? Is there any other sector that can provide employment to so many educated young men who are getting into workforce from the state every year?

And as the devastating flood in Bihar has been a hot subject, another news attracted me: “Uttar Pradesh has once again proposed two mega hydro-power projects on the Mahakali and Ghaghra rivers in Nepal near the Indo-Nepal border to prevent annual menace of floods in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar during monsoons. Both the hydro projects have the potential of generating 16,000 Mw.” I had been written about it. And many had very positive comments. Why can’t the proposals come from Bihar government? If Mayawati can think on this long-term manner, why can’t our engineer chief minister? Is there no solution for this annual menace of floods for Bihar? If there is no way out that hardly any one can believe, why can’t we have a detail disaster plan so that every person in administration knows what he is do when the flood strikes the state or the region? And then even if the chief minister is out of the country on the state duty, the officers region must carry out their responsibility or face suspension or harsher punishment.

However, I keep my patience for days and night. I get some successes too. Here is one: ‘The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is constructing an ‘Art Village’ in Nalanda on 64 acres of land. Conceived on the pattern of art centres of ancient period, the ‘Art Village’ will offer tourists an opportunity to see live creation of handicrafts by the artisans of the region. Besides, the tourists would also be able to see performing arts at the open-air theatre and visual arts at the exhibition hall.’ However, I wonder who all will use the facilities. Unless the state and the central government make a real attractive hub that can make the visitors stay at and near Nalanda for sometime, at least a day, the facility might not be flourishing commercially.

Sometimes, I dig the good news from the big story: (Please go to the link to appreciate my mining effort) ‘The Railway board has firmed up eligibility conditions for deciding on the companies that will be allowed to set up a wheel factory at Chapra, a diesel locomotive factory at Marora, an electric locomotive factory at Madhepura, all in Bihar.’ I wish these the manufacturing faculties of railway ministry of the news get commissioned before the golden seat of railway ministry goes away from its occupant from Bihar.

Further I got thrilled when I find an economist such as Kausik Basu writing so nicely about the chief minister of Bihar which has not happened for many years: Kaushik Basu, professor of economics, Cornell University writes a lead article- ‘The East also Rises’ in Times of India.

“Recently, in Patna, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar gave one of the finest speeches one could have heard by an Indian politician. It was given in elegant, rhetoric-free Hindi, and with virtually no notes. He spoke about the poverty line, the numbers living below it in Bihar and what should be done about this. He then sat through several sessions listening to professional economists, and later, in an informal group, talked intelligently about reviving higher education in Bihar.”

I am sure Bihar chief minister must be having sleepless night in handling the unprecedented flood situation in North Bihar and spending his days in flood affected areas along with his officers providing the leadership from the front. I wish him a success. Very soon the state must put all the development projects on track again. I am keeping my ears and eyes open to hear that news.

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Life at 68

Posted on August 14, 2007 by indra

I normally wake up anytime between 3~4AM, but try once at least to sleep for some more time. However, generally I can’t sleep and so get up. This has been the routine for years. Following the advice of some well wisher, I take four glasses of water, and sit on my laptop. While the laptop opens my settings, I go through some slokas from Upanishads and Gita.

The screen starts with CNET news. I surf through newspapers (as some chief minister does) and some magazines on some days. My newspapers are: Mint, Business Standard, Financial Express, Business line, Hindustan Times, Telegraph, Times of India and then naturally patnadaily.com and bihartimes.com. It is really painful that none of the newspapers from Patna has any e-paper edition. On Friday and Saturday, there are weekly magazines such as Business World, India Today, Business Today, Outlook, Business Week and Economist to go through. Some odd ones get in and out off my list. In between I go for toilet and teeth brushing too. This continues till 6~6.30AM when I leave the laptop and prepare my favourite ‘masala’ tea. Yamuna joins me for tea near the lobby. I love to sit most of the time in the lobby as I find myself nearer to the outside world by sitting there. Thereafter, Yamuna gets busy in her exercise and yoga. I leave for my 5 km- walk as advised by my cardiologist. It has kept me going. Normally, I go up to sector 40, or some times for a change to sector 50. The walking track of both the parks is sufficient to complete my routine walking task in five rounds. I buy milk and curd from Mother Dairy, and vegetables and fruits from Safal. Sometimes, I buy some other essential items of grocery too, as the shops in Sector 40 open pretty early to cater to walker.

As a religious and now old man too, I have been doing every day ‘masaparayan’ of Tulsidas Ramcharitmanas, however, without any rituals, for many years now. It gives me a lot of peace. I really enjoy doing that. For the rest of the day, the companions are newspapers, magazines that I have subscribed, and books. Last week, I bought two books- ‘The Indian Mutiny’ by Saul David and ‘The Rise of India’ by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha.

Sometimes I sit on lap top again either to talk with my sons and the family in USA. Anand expects us to be in regular touch. With video camera, we get a feel of proximity. We could enjoy Emma’s yawn on screen the other day. She appeared so near that I felt like touching her on the screen of the laptop.

While I enjoy taking a nap after the meal at around 1PM, I rest a while whenever I feel like. I come to know of it when the body and mind send notice demanding it. And I confess I hate taking medicines and going to doctors.

I hardly socialize. However, there are five families that are close to us. They come and we do also visit them sometimes. They all good persons and I cherish their company.

Yamuna, my wife remains the only companion in thick and thin, when we are alone now. I don’t know if I wished for this life, but there is a lot of excitement left even in this simple life. I am waiting for someone this week who has a big project of manufacturing in mind. He has sought my help. I still feel like trying once more to get a kick of it.


I don’t know if it is destiny that makes us live this wonderful life the way it is today. But He has been kind all along and hope He shall remain so for the rest. ‘Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah…’ ‘Tamaso maa jyotirgamaya..’

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Booming and Bubbling India- XIII

Posted on August 13, 2007 by indra

Another good quarter ended June 2007. The performance of India Inc. seems fantastic. 2,308 companies register a massive 39% growth in net profit (over the previous corresponding period that ended June 2006). Top line grew 19% during this period. The performance by India Inc. at the operating income level recorded an impressive 38% compared to 28% in the earlier quarter. Stock market movement may be worrying to some, but robust basics suggest it as correction. Industrial production for the quarter is on rise, particularly the manufacturing is doing fine. Employment is growing. Prediction of growth rate is not affected. India is sure of a steady growth. Some took the shortage of skilled manpower as a gospel truth. See how Indian companies are overcoming that by putting its own facilities such as one at Mysore by Infosys. Some may doubt, but even for Indian outsourcers, the party is not over. The rising rupee may be a concern, but for some sector requiring imported raw material it helps bringing down the cost. The boom is on and it is bubbling.

Jobs grow faster than population in India: For the first time since Independence, employment has grown at a faster rate than population during a five-year period between 2000 and 2005. Is jobless growth a thing of past?

Bajaj’s with Renault: India’s second largest two-wheeler maker, Bajaj Auto Ltd, which has plans to develop a small car with French carmaker Renault SA, said its main contribution to the proposed vehicle would be the engine. It is an indicator of strong manufacturing India.

Top buyout cos make a beeline for India: Global private equity’s (PE) platinum leveraged buyout (LBO) firms have started arriving in India with plans to grab a slice of the country’s booming PE market. By March 2008, at least five of the world’s Top 10 LBO shops are expected to have teams on the ground here, according to executives in Mumbai’s PE circles. Does it not show the basics of the companies strong?

Wipro to buy Infocrossing of US: India’s third largest IT firm Wipro acquired US-based Infocrossing Inc, a leader in data centre space and IT outsourcing, for $600 million (nearly Rs 2,400 crore) in cash. For Wipro, the deal would create one of the world leaders in end-to-end IT infrastructure management solutions.

Wal-Mart, Bharti announce 50-50 JV: Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart, world’s largest retailer announced a 50-50 venture that will be called Bharti-Wal-Mart Private Ltd, for their cash-and-carry and wholesale business and will cater to small retailers and will source products directly from farmers and small manufacturers. The deal was important enough to be covered by ‘Business Week’ as well as ‘Economist’.

HAL 34th among top 100 global defence firms: Hindustan Aeronautics has climbed 11 notches up to reach the 34th position in the list of top 100 defence companies in the world, released by the US-based magazine Defence News saw HAL improving its position from 45 based on the company’s sales and turnover.

Four Indian institutions in world university rankings: Four leading Indian educational institutions- the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs at 57), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs at 68), the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU at 183) and the Delhi University (DU), have found their place in a list of world’s top 200 universities, with Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford dominating the rankings, according to the Times Higher Education Supplement, an authoritative journal in academia. In the list of top technology universities, IIT jumps to the third place after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of California, Berkeley. Among the world’s top 100 science universities, IITs rank 33rd. I wonder the listing considered all IITs and all IIMs as one single institution.

Hyundai exports four lakhs Atos from Chennai: Hyundai Motor India has shipped 4,00,000 units of its small car Atos prime from its Chennai facility to overseas market. As announced earlier, the company uses India’s facility as manufacturing hub for small cars even for export.

Indian American donates $20 million to native village: Kumar Bahuleyan, 81, who was born to a Dalit familly in India, decided to donate his personal fortune as a gratitude to his village, to establish a neurosurgery hospital, a health clinic and a spa resort in Chemmanakary, in Kottayam district of Kerala. Is it not something exemplary, and encouraging for many to do something for their villages, lakhs in waiting?

M&M to develop engineering skills among students: As part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is planning to take steps to develop engineering skills among students in the age group of 7-12 years in association with the Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) India through an innovative programme – AWIM (A World in Motion) in Nashik that makes the challenges of maths and science exciting by bringing authentic engineering design experiences into the classroom.

TCS eyes 150 deals: TCS Financial Solutions, a strategic business unit of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has decided to pursue clients and opportunities in regions like Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa to reduce dependence on US clients. As reported, “Between 100-150 deals are likely to be in the pipeline in the next 12-18 months from these markets alone. Of this, 20% is likely to be in the large category ranging between $30-200 million, while 80% would be in the $5-10 million range.”

India is the 2nd largest market: India is now the second largest market for foreign major Standard Chartered Bank, which has posted a 50% rise in operating profits here in the first half of 2007 with the operating profits for H1 2007 at $320 million as against $213 million in the corresponding period last year. Is not India getting attractive on its own?

India is now 5th largest global steel producer: India has moved up two places in global ranking and is now the fifth largest producer of crude steel in the world with the revised figures for production in 2006 ahead of South Korea and Germany with the revised figures for crude steel production in 2006-07 pegged at 50.71 million tonne and that of finished steel at 51.90 million tonne.

Government to facilitate setting up of Rs65 crore R&D fund for steel: The Union government plans to facilitate the creation of an Rs65 crore fund that will finance research and development (R&D) in the steel industry, to improve the quality of steel produced in the country.

Industrial output seen up 10.6% YoY: India’s industrial output in June is expected to have grown a robust 10.6 percent from a year earlier.

India Inc raises record $22 bn: In the current year till July, Indian capital markets have seen their largest-ever initial public offerings (IPOs) and a mega follow-on public offer (FPO).

Isro to build nano-satellite platform: India’s space agency is set to launch a special platform to put into space miniature satellites catering to the needs of developing countries and the domestic scientific community.

India as outsourcing market becomes lucrative: In the first-half of the year 2007, India outpaced Australia and Japan as the largest market for outsourcing contracts in the Asia Pacific region by awarding a total of $1.68 billion worth of contracts.

Balco set to become world power in aluminium: Chhattisgarh-based Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) is all set to become the world’s largest producer of aluminium from a single location with a major expansion programme with a target to produce one million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in the next three years.

SBI scouts for $1 billion acquisition: Having tasted minor success with small buyouts, State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank is ready with a $1 billion war chest to take over a niche bank which not just gives it access to foreign markets but also helps it blunt the advantage of international players who are poised to enter India in 2009.

Cox& King leases mountaine to push tourism: Tour operator Cox & Kings has acquired a mountain in the heart of the Swiss Alps in a bid to boost outbound tourism from India and boost revenues in the bargain.

Mitsubishi constructs new plant: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries India on Thursday said it has invested Rs 50 crore to set up a new plant in Tamil Nadu’s (TN) Vellore district to double production capacity in gear cutting tools.

BSNL aims at half million customers for Wimax: State-owned phone firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd or BSNL is in talks with system integrators and hardware vendors to plan a countrywide, mobile high-speed data network.

IIT launches centre for computing resources: The Indian Institute of Technology- Madras, launched the P G Senapathy Centre for Computing Resources in its campus with the state-of-the-art facility set up at a cost of Rs20 crore at an investment of Rs2.5 crore.

Indian cos teaming up for greener vehicles: Indian vehicle makers are joining the global race to make less-polluting, greener vehicles, teaming up with international firms and pouring money into research that could result in commercially viable technologies quickly.

India gets its first integrated animation studio: Compact Disc India (CDI), India’s leading integrated media and entertainment company will invest $12.40 million (Rs49.60 crore) to set up India’s first modern integrated state-of-the-art animation studio at the Kerala Industrial Development Corporation (Kinfra).

GM to source $1 bn spares from India: General Motors Corp, the largest US automaker, plans to quadruple autoparts purchases from India to $1 billion in three years, buying more from low-cost sources to combat competition from global rivals. Purchases would be about $250 million in value this year and increase fourfold by 2010.GM India has as many as 100 suppliers, of which about 40 were being lined up for global sourcing.

Corporate farming is taking some concrete shape in India. FieldFresh’s ‘Agricultural Centre of Excellence’ (ACE) is one such initiative. Even Mayawati’s government has come out with a policy that encourages contract farming and will usher prosperity for the farmers with elimination of the middlemen and assistance regarding other inputs for farming. Agriculture sector is bound to take a quantum leap in years to come.

Doesn’t one get excited to know that very soon the HRD Ministry will make available to students the expensive textbooks in a free digital form with integrated multimedia functions, such as video clips, animation, virtual reality, and hyperlinks in addition to the documented materials, for undergraduate and post graduate courses?

And India celebrates its 60.

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