Wish you the happiest New Year
Move ahead without fear
Keep open eye and ear
Look all aroud for queer
Enthralling mantras to hear
Use the best of gear
Avoid being at rear
You will find many your near
Enjoy all thr’ the year
A year of hope, loss and triumph</A very very happy new year
58% Indians work in the agricultural sector.
21% is agriculture’s contribution to GDP.
60% farmers own less than 2.5 acres of land.
1.8% is the growth rate of food grain production.
45% marginal farmers are indebted.
40% agri-subsidies go to fertilizer sector.
A Planning Commission approach paper for the 11th Five Year Plan concedes deceleration in agricultural growth from 3.2% between 1980 and 1996-97 to 1.5% subsequently.
The National Sample Survey Organisation estimates that 40% farmers would like to quit farming if they have the option to do so.
Government investment in agriculture has fallen from 14.9% in the earlier Five Year Plans to 5.2% in the current plan.
A Reserve Bank of India report says that bank lending for agriculture has declined from 15.9% in 1990 to 9.8% in 2003.
A Food and Agriculture Organisation study states that if 10 hectares of land are irrigated, employment increases from 8 to 24 persons.
From 1970 to 1999, the average size of holdings declined from 2.28 to 1.55 hectares and the proportion of landless farmers increased from 20% to 35%.
According to a 1999 report of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), an additional Rs100 billion invested in agricultural R&D would increase productivity growth by 6.98%. And every extra million spent on R&D would raise 91 poor people above the poverty line,
A 2005-06 Department of agricultural Research and Education report found a shortfall of 1819 scientists, and 1966 administrative, technical and supportive personnels.
India spends 0.31 % of its GDP on R&D, which is far below industrialized countries spending which ranges from 2.45 to 4.02%. Overall public research funding grew at 3.16% in the 1970s and 7.03% in 1980s, slowing to 4.61% in the 1990s, and further declining with the shift in public expenditure priorities in the post-liberalisation period.
A 2006 IFPRI publication ‘Agricultural R&D in the developing World: Too Little, Too Late’ finds that private research funding has grown at 7.5%, compared with 5.1% in the public sector over the same period accounting for 11% of total spent on agricultural research in 2000.
The FICCI Food and Beverage Study of 2006 estimates that 30% of the farm produce is being wasted every year due to the lack of infrastructure such as cold storages and refrigerated vans for procurement to reduce wastages and ensure freshness.
The yield per hectare for wheat and pulses is 2,600 kg and 600 kg respectively and has fallen from a high of 2,780 kg and 635 kg in FY2000.
India’s population has been rising at 1.6% per annum, which means that the growth in wheat and pulses production must also increase at this minimum rate to ensure that there are no supply bottlenecks.
Production of wheat in FY2005 and FY2006 was 68.4 million tonnes and 69.6 million tonnes, with a peak being attained in FY2000 at 76.4 million tonnes.
At a conservative level, if the post peak production base of FY01 is used as a benchmark when production was 69.7 million tonnes and a growth rate of 1.6% per annum is extrapolated forward, the total production should have been in the vicinity of 75 million tonnes.
At the current level of 68-69 million there is a deficit of around 5.5 million tones ( based on desired growth rate of 1.6%). Stocks had depleted from a high of over 26 million tonnes in March 2002 to 2 million tonnes in March 2006. (So import)
In case of pulses, the production has come down from a peak of 14.9 million tonnes in FY99 and FY04 to just 13.1 million tonnes in FY05 and FY06. Production based on an annual growth rate of 1.6% should be in the region of at least 14.8 million tones, based on a base of 13.4 million tonnes in FY00. (Is not the reason of higher prices?).
Solutions are obvious. India must invest in the agriculture sector, in R&D, in irrigation, intermediary-less sales of produce and effective information centers to provide answers to farmers’ queries. At least, the pending irrigation projects must get priority and get completed. We shall come back on some.
The Right Act Arvind Kejriwal
IIT engineer turned-bureaucrat-turned-information activist Arvind Kejriwal is one of the heroes among the activists across the country that are engaged in propagating Right to Information law against all resistance from a hierarchy of custodians of information. And the pioneering efforts gained international recognition when Arvind got honoured with Ramon Magsaysay award. But within a year of its enactment, the government attempted to amend the RTI law to deny access to sensitive file notings. Kejriwal played a vital role in mobilising public pressure to drop the proposed amendment. Kejriwal’s latest initiative is to help the Bihar government set up a call centre to enable illiterate villagers to access information. I keep on following media report on Arvind, as he is known to my eldest son from his IIT days.
Pistachio King Lajpat Rai Munger
Lajpat Rai Munger got caught while taking a bribe of Rs 500, when he was head constable in Punjab Police in 50s. And then happened the transformation. He left Punjab Police in 1954 and managed to reach America, the land of opportunities, in 1966. And the metamorphosis and resounding success as a businessman followed. From an ordinary menial worker, he switched to a small business. Today, Munger owns 8,000 acres of land in California and is the largest grower of pistachios in the world. He is also the biggest blueberries baron in California too. The 90-year-old Lajpatji came back from the US early this year to donate a whopping Rs 20 crore to set up an engineering college in Hoshiarpur, that to him is his “penance”. Here is one example that many can emulate.
Abhayanand- A Police Officer, A Teacher Too
Abhayanand, a 1977 batch IPS officer currently posted as ADG (HQ), is back in active life of a policeman making a difference in Bihar. He is one of the key persons behind the 5,000-odd convictions in 2006 in Bihar. Even high and mighty MLAs and MPs in Bihar are scared, as the cases against them have been suddenly reopened. Besides being an officer, Abhayanand ji is a teacher too and the founder of Super30 Institute. Along with Anand Kumar the maths wizard, Abhayanandji provides coaching to 30 IIT-aspirants of whom 28 cracked the IIT-JEE this time. And the students are the poor ones, including Dalits who cannot afford tuitions of the professional coaching institutes. Abhayanand is an example of double role, and one doing both with excellent success rates.</POS
We could decorate our Christmas tree in a fairly decent manner. And surprisingly, I found many of the shops in all the small and big markets sell items relating to Christmas. Is it the universalisation of all major festivities without any link to any religious faiths in India? Naturally the media have been playing the biggest role. And from Prayag to Puri, you see this happening everywhere.
India has nearly 200 national research laboratories, an equal number of research establishments in the central sectors, another 1300-odd recognized R&D units in the industrial sector, besides the R&D facilities with India’s university system that constitutes of 237 universities, 39 ‘deemed’ universities and 10 institutes of national importance. DRDO and CSIR have established its reputations.
India’s institutions add around 200,000 people to the science and technology pool every year that is already the world’s largest. What are all these institutes and its manpower engaged in? Are the facilities available being utilizing to the optimum? Can it be made more efficient and productive to add more revenue or to create more employment?
NASSCOM estimated the global KPO market to reach $17 billion by 2010, and is confidant that India will bag about 70% of this business.
However, the NASSCOM scope of KPO considers only the traditional areas such as financial processes, legal work, human resources, in which India is already doing pretty good business. Why can’t India leverage its scientific establishments to pitch in the task and join KPO providers group that can multiply the Nasscom revenue estimates many a times?
As reported, India can’t compete with China that invest $136 billion on R&D. But how do the majority of the Indian scientists compare with their Chinese counterparts in output of researches and its quality? And how can they be made more motivated in their work? Why can’t the scientists community improve their performance to match that of Chinese?
A recent research on the world’s top 1,000 R&D spenders, consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton identified smart spenders, who spent a smaller percentage of revenues on R&D than industry peers (over a five-year period), but still performed better. There was one Indian company in that list of 94 – Tata Motors. “Indian engineers, with an unbeatable combination of skill and frugality, may show the way ahead. Indian companies are spending less, but are getting more research done per dollar spent.” But is it true for the scientists and research workers in government institutions?
Over 500 of India’s largest listed companies put together spent less than a seventh of what Ford Motor. Though a loss-making automaker, Ford spent last year on its R&D $8 billion that happens to be the world’s largest. These 500-plus companies put together would rank 75 in the list of the world’s largest R&D spenders (put out by the Financial Times in its annual R&D Scoreboard). It’s a poor show. Ranbaxy Laboratories, the India’s largest spender, would not make in the global top 300. India must spend more, and it is happening too. While only three companies spent more than Rs 100 crore on research four years ago, today there are 14. Research investments have grown from Rs 2,405 crore to Rs 5,333 crore in that period. And now, 16 companies have the guts to pour over 10 per cent of revenues into research.
And interestingly, the centre of gravity in research is shifting to India and China. According to Booz Allen Hamilton, growth of corporate R&D in the two countries (17 per cent) outpaced North America (5.2 per cent) and Europe (2.3 per cent) with more and more of MNCs establishing its R&D centres in India and China.
In the past four years, the automotive industry’s (excluding component makers) spending on R&D has increased from Rs 243 crore to Rs 954 crore. The industry also invests 1.5 per cent of revenues in R&D that was just 0.68 per cent four years ago.And one can see that in new platforms on Indian roads like Tata Motors’ Indica and Ace, and the forthcoming Rs 1-lakh car, and Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M) Scorpio.
However, it is unfortunate that the huge facilities of R&D is neither used for BPO nor for developing some real useful products that can revolutionise the quality of life of the majority of Indians.
But more surprising is the indifference of our media that hardly covers even the excellent success stories of our scientists.
The Economist published ‘Carmaking in India-A different route’ on Dec 13th 2006. While China’s carmakers copy, India’s are inventing.
China, R&D Superpower?
Designing for India’s Consumers
Spare the good professor such agony
Crisis in science
On this holy day, I came across two stories that try to change the prevailing notions about the two great persons that the world produced.
The Times of India published a story by David Leafe, ‘Did Jesus have a secret family?’, from Daily Mail on December 24,2006.
Deep in the Judean desert, in a remote part of the Holy Land that has changed little since Biblical times, stands an ancient Greek Orthodox monastery with a highly unusual portrait of the Holy Family in its chapel. Showing young Jesus being carried on the shoulder of Joseph, while his mother Mary rides behind them. Next to Jesus, Mary and Joseph is a mysterious fourth figure – a young man with a golden halo who is wearing a simple dark robe and carrying his belongings on a stick. is name is James and, a controversial Channel 4 documentary to be screened on Christmas Day has made a story out of that. According to the programme, Jesus did have a hidden family. Not a wife and daughter, but brothers and sisters: James, Joses, Simon, Jude (sometimes referred to as Judas), Salome and young Mary. These siblings apparently played a key role in founding Christianity, but their teachings proved too dangerous for the church. The documentary claims the church tried to eradicate them from history by rewriting Christ’s story, fabricating his birthplace, falsely crediting him with the Lord’s Prayer and inventing the idea that his mother Mary remained a virgin lifelong.
Dr Robert Beckford, a committed Christian and reader in theology at Oxford Brookes University is the author of the programme. According to Dr Beckford, the Bible supports his arguments.The St Gerasimos monastery houses that intriguing painting of the Holy Family that dates back many hundreds of years and clearly shows the relationship of James to Jesus. Dr Beckford believes that the early clerics suppressed such portraits because they knew these were Jesus’s full-blood brothers and sisters. The same censorship is apparent in the Gospels. Both Matthew and Mark mention Jesus’s family briefly, but although the Gospel of Luke drew heavily on these earlier works, it does not mention any other children of Mary and Joseph. Dr Beckford maintains that the reasons for this censorship can be found in a vicious power struggle among the early Christians in the years after Christ’s death in approximately 33AD. The Gospel of John suggests that Jesus asked his disciple Peter to take care of his flock and, indeed, it is Peter who is traditionally regarded as the first leader of the Christian church.
And then Mr. Singh passed on to me last evening the latest ‘Outlook’ that has a story by Rajmohan Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Bapu’s Human Tryst’. It deals with the passionate love relationship the Mahatma had with a fiery beauty from Bengal called Sarladevi.
It was the one relationship in his life that even a compulsive confessor like Gandhi barely spoke about, keeping her deliberately out of his otherwise candid autobiography. His grandson reconstructs the story in his forthcoming biography, ‘Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, His People and an Empire.’
Why are these stories written? Does it serve any purpose? The views may be inferences from some circumstantial evidences in letters and painting, but may not be the truth. Even what the eyes see many times and try to infer or conclude are not truths. Are these stories created to get a fame to become a thinker who went out of the traditionally accepted notions? Why should we hurt the feelings of millions and millions of human beings who worship them as lords?
1550
2006-12-24 06:29:44
IIT Alumni 2006 Global Conference- My Views
The President inaugurated the Pan IIT 2006 convention in Mumbai on Dec 23, 2006 that will discuss for 3 days the initiatives and projects to transform India with focus on governance, knowledge economy, entrepreneurship, poverty eradication and advanced technologies. An ad says, ‘Participants include over 40 IITians who have contributed towards nation-building.’ A question flashed in my mind and morosed me. Have the rest of the thousands of IITians passed out from IITs not contributed? Many IITians could have become more distinguished ones, if the circumstances in which they worked would have been more conducive. If I just start thinking about some of my own friends, each performed differently. Some who were more distinguished in the performance in IIT couldn’t do that great in real life. Dhingra, Budhani, Shikhar, and Agrawal couldn’t become distinguished. Why can’t the conference such as this one look into the factors that make a person with all the potentials just an average one? How can the system produce the ‘distinguished’ ones more and in abundance?
Another observation is about the focus of this and other conferences. Why should not IITians just focus on making their own IITs more distinguished and comparable to Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon with regards to scale, the quality of teachers, contributions to industries and society, innovations and researches?
And if the IITians have some real spareable resources, why should they not help the schools and colleges, and their own village and small towns that they came from before joining IITs?
Next year I shall be celebrating the golden jubilee of my admission in IIT, Kharagpur in 1957. It gives me an immense happiness that I am still continuing to contribute in my own ways with small little ideas in my writings.
IITs must add more value to social grid: Kalam
Tharoor at the Pan IIT 2006 meet in Mumbai
George Soros participated in Pan IIT 2006
1549
2006-12-22 21:26:23
End of Poverty-Some Questions
As per the figure coming from different sources, 28% of the Indians are below the poverty line. Let us look at the definitions.
Official estimates are based on a norm of 2,400 calories per capita per day for rural areas and 2,100 calories per capita per day for urban areas. These calories level, if translated into money for food, means, anyone earning more than Rs 600, as of 2005, is considered above poverty line.
The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than US$1 (PPP) per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 a day. And what it means in simple word is the dismal living condition. According to the World Food programme, nearly 50% of the world’s hungry live in India. Another report says 35% of world’s poor live in India. Is it not an abysmal situation, extremely worrying, and sufficient to make you as Indian look a pygmy?
What is this number? Is it the number of individuals or households? If it is the number of individuals, does it include all children as well as old men who can’t work? If it is households, does it consider the income of all the earning members correctly? Are the people hesitant to give the correct figure just as some do to escape the income tax?
I see all around and find in households below BPL, more than one member of the family contributes to the overall earning of the household. For example, I have an assistant to help my wife in household works. We pay him good money plus all the food and clothing and other expenses plus some more tips at times. His mother also works, while his father plies a riksha. I don’t know if these facts are recorded in data collected. If all the earnings coming in family are concerned the household must fall in ‘moderate poverty’ or may be a little better.
My only apprehension is that the system must not encourage people to keep themselves in BPL category. All the schemes must empower them to be proud citizen and encourage them to explore all means to improve their earnings.
Let us look at the aspect about going to sleep without food. Almost 70% of so-called BPL households live in rural India and most of them have dwelling of their own. This is a boon, but one will have to work hard to exploit every bit of it. The household can grow some vegetables such as different kinds of pumpkins that grow as bumper crop. It can grow on the roof of the house. They can also easily plant some fruit bearing trees such as jackfruit that can serve them as some nutritious dishes in their daily intake and may earn some extra earnings too. Additionally, the households can also have some animals such as buffalos, cows, goats and poultry that can produce the nutritious content of the food requirements. Why should the household depend so much on the doles from the government? Why should they not look into possibility of growing all that they can?
I know many will not agree to this. However, I am of strong opinion that unless the people are empowered to find their own way to earn their living they shall go on getting more and more lazy and dependent that can serve only the politicians.
Read T N Ninan: How to be `inclusive`
1548
2006-12-22 05:07:54
India’s Manmade Power Crisis
India dreams to be the major global manufacturing hub with labour intensive industries-small and big, spread all throughout the country. And almost every one, be it the Prime Minister, or the Finance Minister, or the head of Planning Commission, agrees that manufacturing can only play the role of saviour for the teeming millions youths in India.
Is it is possible without having sufficient capacity in power generation and efficient transmission and distribution? The answer is simply a ‘no’.
The country must have abundance of power to reach right up to all the villages so that manufacturing can go everywhere to engage the people productively. Is it possible to have the power in abundance and soon? Perhaps here also the answer is a plain ‘yes’.
Recently concluded Nuclear deal with US for civil use, mainly for generating the clean power had maximum media coverage. But it is not going to happen tomorrow or on short term. Instead India must follow the power projects based on traditional fossil fuels that have already been conceived.
Why has India not overcome the pwer shortage till date? The answer is simple. It is plain failure of the execution of the projects in time. The majority of power generation is in public sector. And the public sector starts big projects, but never completes it in scheduled time. The projects of private sector also suffer due to many controls. For example, Reliance Dadri Project is one such.
And how will India achieve the sufficiency in power in future? India must have to do away the red tapes causing the delays. It must complete a power project that it takes up, at the most in 3-4 years following the best world standard. And that is doable.
NTPC remains the main power plant builder for India. It must become a 1,00,000 MW company. Many private players are also now in the field with Reliance Energy and Tata Power as main. Many other domestic as well foreign players are ready to jump or are already in the race, as it was evident in the recent bids for the mega power projects.
BHEL remains the sole major provider of power plant equipment. Many are sceptical about its ability to maintain the supply to all the projects in process. Naturally, either BHEL adds on its capacity by expansion or acquisition, or the entrepreneurs will go for alternative import route. And the government must not put any restriction. This is not the time to encourage the growth of an enterprise, as it is domestic and hold the growth of the country. The task is decidedly onerous for the suppliers of power plants manufacturers if India is to achieve the target of adding 66,463 mw to its generation capacity in the 11th Plan Period and another 86,500 mw in the 12th Plan Period.
And if the two warring ministers wish so, NTPC can go additionally for the manufacture of plant and equipment, and BHEL can go for setting up power plants on its own in natural process of expansion and diversification. But let it be decided by the CEOs and their technical teams of the two companies rather than the ministers.
Can India then add 1,50,000 MW of generation capacity in next 5-8 years? It must. The capacity must have a good lead over the requirement. Let all the private power companies be encouraged to go full blast. As reported, REL has lined up close to a dozen projects to take the company’s installed capacity to around 18,000 mw by 2012. Tata Power has similar ambitions. Many in the country are having similar ambitions to be a major player in power sector. The government and its bureaucrats must facilitate in all manner in cutting down the time for the initiation and the completion of the projects.
Two ultra mega projects of 4,000 MW each are already approved. Hyderabad-based Lanco Infratech, in association with the Singapore-based Globleq, has won the bid for the pithead project, Sasan in Madhya Pradesh by offering a price of Rs 1.19 per unit. Tata power emerged the winner for Mundra in Gujarat. Tata Power’s tariff bid for the imported coal-based Mundra power project was the lowest at Rs 2.26 a unit. Tata Power has joined hands with Siemens and Doosan for equipment procurement and construction. Number of companies participating with a total of 16 bids for the two projects brings hope. There is a 14-month limit for financial closure and commencement of construction too. And many more of the mega power projects are in pipeline.
The significant decisions for locating the power plants near a port or at pitheads are already in place. It will eliminate the delays in coal movement between the coalmines and the power plants.
The efforts are on for all avenues to kill this bug. Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are leading a revolution in renewable energy installations and generation, especially from wind. Major wind turbine manufacturing companies are making investments to manufacture renewable energy equipment. Investments are taking place in solar energy, co-generation, biomass and biogas-based power projects.
Naturally, parallel actions are also directed for de-bottlenecking of the transmission and distribution by cutting down the huge losses too. Power conservation is another area that must get a lot of attention.
One can think of an India with surplus power in next five years. And it must happen.
Read “Will ultra-mega power projects deliver?”
It’s boom time for equipment makers with the…Power sector on high voltage
1547
2006-12-21 16:40:10
Next Bill Gates From China or India
Chidanand Rajghatta provides this information in one of his report in ‘The Times of India’, Deceember21, 2006. A cartoon on a blog run by 463 Communications had a headline that read: ‘American Say Next Bill Gates is currently Studying Math in Beijing.’
A new survey of Internet Attitudes in the US released by Zogby International and 463 Communications showed how Asia’s tech ability is getting into American minds.
Nearly half of all Americans (49%) believe that the next great technology leader will come from either China (26.7%) or Japan (22.4%). Only 21% believe he or she could come from the US, while a surprising 13% backed India as the next home of a prospective Billji. The other two of BRIC- Russia (2.1%) and Brazil (0.4%) were also among the choices.
However, higher-income group of Americans ($1,00,000 salary and above) were more bullish about American prospects, listing US first (27.6%), followed by India (25.9%) and then China (23.1%).
Naturally for those higher up the economic ladder, who are more in contact with Indians as colleagues in offices or in business dealings, saw almost as much promise in India as in the US and China.
As I mentioned somewhere, it is this brand image of India because of the Indians in US, say some IITians that made the representatives of the nation to agree for US-India Nuclear Deal almost unanimously.
But I feel India has already its Bill Gates who needs to be emulated by more and more Indians and may be American entrepreneurs of tomorrow in US. Dhirubhai Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal were no way less than Bill Gates in their arena.
The major media players as well as financial institutions world over are watching India moving in faster gear in the global competition. While Tata and CSN war over Corus is on, other Indian biggies are fully busy with their own acquisition projects. Even PSUs such BHEL are preparing to go for some big kills. Some of the reports and studies confirming the zooming booming Indian economy are here:
According to the reported assertion from global research firm Credit Suisse, India is set to surpass China as the fastest-growing economy in Asia next year on the back of increasing consumer demand and public investment in infrastructure. In its December forecast, the firm upgraded India’s economic growth rate to 9.5 per cent in 2006 from 8.5 per cent projected in September this year. The economy is predicted to grow by 10 per cent in 2007 and 10.5 per cent rate in 2008.
A report by McKinsey and Indian trade association Nasscom says India’s BPO export revenues will surge 37% by 2010, to touch $25 billion, from the current $7.5 billion. According to Sourabh Kaushal, who leads the ICT Practice at research firm Frost & Sullivan, of the 600 BPO companies in India, 65% are captive and 35% are third-party vendors.
India has progressively improved its ability to compete as measured by the Switzerland-based International Institute of Management’s (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY), jumping from 50th position in 2003 to 29th place in 2006. The ranking analyses the competitiveness of 61 economies on the basis of over 300 criteria dealing with economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.
India boasts the world’s largest population of qualified engineers, an impressive availability of IT skills, and one of the youngest demographic profiles. But competitiveness is enhanced with resourceful management of change, anticipating and adapting better and faster than competition. Here, India has a major asset, ranking fifth for its “resilience of the economy to economic cycles”.
In the global ranking, India ranks 29th this year. The WCY also gauges India’s performance within regional and peer group rankings based on population size and GDP per capita. India ranks ninth out of 15 economies in the Asia-Pacific region, 10th out of 30 economies with populations greater than 20 million, and its best ranking: fifth out of 25 economies with GDP per capita less than $10,000.
India gained on three of the four major factors that IMD uses to measure competitiveness. In Economic Performance, India rose an impressive five ranks from 12th to seventh, primarily due to a stronger domestic economy than last year. India’s real GDP growth in 2005 was a booming 8.1% and business confidence was more optimistic than in previous years. We are now starting to see the positive impact of economic reforms undertaken in the past.
The ranking for Government Efficiency progressed from 39th to 35th, with the best performance in Fiscal Policy (12th). India is in above average position for Business Efficiency, increasing from 23rd place last year to 19th; but there has been no change in the Factor ranking for Infrastructure (54th). This last measurement analyses the efficiency of basic, technological and scientific infrastructure, as well as health, environmental concerns and education. That the ranking has remained flat reflects lack of investment in basic infrastructure.
India is moving fast for development from a “working power” based on a supply of low-cost labour to a “brain power” comprising skilled and educated workers.
According to IDC, China will maintain its position as the largest IT market in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan–making up 32 percent of the region’s IT spending. The Chinese market will be trailed closely by India at 23 percent, IDC said. Both countries are expected to account for the lion’s share of the region’s IT spending at more than 43 percent.
With the encouraging figure of the GDP for the first half of this fiscal year available, the confidence level is pretty high. The finance minister must be pretty happy, but for the higher inflation. Impending pressure of the pay commission and the political pressure for popular projects may be some unpredictable speed breakers worrying the FM that are to be smoothened to sustain the growth and boom.
1545
2006-12-20 07:16:02
Steel And Textiles- Where Indian Business Houses Failed
India would have developed textiles as well as steel as ‘national’ industry just as we had national bird and national flag. Besides some failures of the government, the big Industrial houses too failed the country that could have become the largest producers of textiles as well as steel.
Most of the big industrial houses such Tata, Birla, DCM, and Wadia were in textile sector. Some of the entrepreneurs also started manufacturing textile machines too. India was the largest cotton producer of the world with a glorious history of textiles since the Harappan days. But the business houses didn’t keep the sector changing with the time, and couldn’t grow to the global scale and quality standard as the Chinese did. There was nothing to stop the industrial houses from doing that. But none demonstrated that acumen and zeal to become the big enough and global player. Gradually, the big houses kept textile only as marginal part of the business and many of them exited. Even, the tie-ups for manufacturing of textile machinery didn’t get upgraded and finally made exit.
After the US dropped the quota, the floodgate of opportunity for export of textiles and clothing opened. But the Indian manufacturers in the sector were neither big enough nor had up scaled to take the advantages. However, some of the new ones and some who have come to the manufacturing via trading route are trying to make up the losses with rapid expansion and even global acquisitions. For example, Welspun and Spentex are two among the new ones. I am opinion that India has some special advantages in the textile and apparel sectors. India can easily become the world leader because of its skill and low-cost manpower, its raw material and glorious history of developing unique texture and attractive design. And the future seems to be bright. As reported, the domestic textile sector is poised to attract Rs 2-lakh crore investment, to provide15 million jobs and to reach a $110 billion business volume by 2012. India would join the top five textiles markets (after the US, Germany, China and the UK) with a size of $55 billion by 2015. According to a World trade Organisation study, India’s share in clothing is projected to increase from 6% to 9% in EU and from 4% to 15%in the US.
In steel sector, Tate made a wonderful contribution to the nation by establishing the first steel plant at Jamshedpur. India had huge iron ore stock. The steel plants could always come with captive power plants too. But after independence, the sector didn’t grow much. Tata Steel couldn’t provide the lead. Nehruji had to come with the steel plants in public sectors that grew in size with number of additions, but that couldn’t match the best of the global steel companies in scale and product lines.
Tata Steel had its mines. Later on it came in power sector too. It had an excellent engineering and growth division to develop plant and machinery for the steel industry. Tata Steel claims the lowest cost steel producer of the world, but it didn’t expand fast to the world-class capacity or with product lines to meet the requirements of various sectors. Tata took all the advantages that the government came out with in interest of its own public sector steel plants and maintained very good profitability, but it miserably failed to add new plants and product lines to come in the list of the five biggest plants of the world. It was basically a lack of management strategy and ambition. It could have certainly come to the fifth position on its own what it is trying to do by buying Corus so frantically. Even today I ma not sure how serious Tata Steel and other entrepreneurs in the sector are to complete the green field projects of huge capacity in Jharakhand, and Orissa for which it has signed MOU. Many feel it is all for acquiring mines from the government. An expert in the sector commented, “The whole idea of announcing green-field projects is for mines. Now, with Corus acquisition, Tata Steel will not get additional mines, because Corus is not integrated backward. So they will require additional mines to feed Corus as well.” With so many years in steel sector, why should Tata Steel and others be apprehensive of the entry of Mittal, Korean Posco or Chinese steel manufacturers? Even Paswan today suggests that Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) should emulate Tata Steel in expanding globally.
Why India can’t think of building a steel manufacturing capacity anywhere near to the Chinese one? Does India lack anything else but the support from the politicians and NGOs? Should Indians be happy that a total 116 MoUs have been signed with an intended capacity of 150 mt and an investment of Rs 3,57,000 crore? And the minister proclaims that production of steel will touch 80 million tonnes (mt) in India by 2011-12. What a low level of ambition for a country leader?
I am still of the opinion that the textile with apparel and the steel must become the national manufacturing sectors of India. And India must be its largest producer in the world.
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I am sure all those who are closely following the story that started with the media report of Tata Steel’s historic take over of Corus and the resulting celebration of a sort in media must be getting disheartened with every media report about the possibility of Tata Steel loosing the race. Brazil’s Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) raised its offer to 515-pence-a-share and announced that in case Tata Steel outbids it, CSN can go further high.
Some expert opined that Tata Steel could stretch its balance sheet to the extent of $10 billion, which would amount to nearly 550 pence a share, without hurting its shareholders’ interest. But many don’t advise this adventure.
Should Tata Steel go for that high a price? Should Tata Steel walk away from the race with its break-up fee of $91 million, if CSN bids anything beyond 550 pence a share?
I have a different view. Why can’t Tata Steel with its strategists think of taking over CSN too? It is certainly stretching a little too far. With CSN already holding 3.8% share of Corus, CSN has certain advantage in the race. But perhaps in war of this sort, one is to be real offensive to win even at some extra cost of it.
Further, can’t some consortium of Indian steel manufacturers group together and buy CSN?
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1542
2006-12-18 05:42:57
Nalanda Becomes Brand Bihar
I was skectical about the Nalanda International University project when I made my entry ‘Can International Nalanda University Get Materialized? that also appeared on the website of Bihar Times.’
But got excited when I went through NKSingh and Jessica S Wallack article, ‘Nalanda as an innovation hub’ in The Financial Express, Saturday, December 16, 2006 issue. As it seems, NK Singh happens to be the chief coordinator of the project.
Plans for the university have been discussed at high-level meetings between China and India, India and Japan, and most recently at a multi-country interaction in Singapore, which had President Abdul Kalam participating via teleconference, sharing his views and vision for the Nalanda of tomorrow. The university would have been on the agenda of the postponed Pan Asia Summit at Cebu.
And then I could reach the article, ‘Really Old School’ by the former Dean of the Yale School of Management Jeffrey Garten in ‘New York Times’ as well as ‘International Herald Tribune’ on December 9, 2006.
At a summit meeting of leaders next week in the Philippines, senior officials from India, Singapore, Japan and perhaps other countries are scheduled to discuss the revival of an ancient university in India called Nalanda. It is a topic unlikely to receive much mention in the Western press. But no one should underestimate the potential benefits of this project to Asia, or the influence it could have on Asia’s role in the world, or the revolutionary impact it could make on global higher education.
Founded in 427 in northeastern India, not far from what is today the southern border of Nepal, and surviving until 1197, Nalanda was one of the first great universities in recorded history. It was devoted to Buddhist studies, but it also trained students in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics and the art of war.
The university was an architectural and environmental masterpiece. It had eight separate compounds, 10 temples, meditation halls, classrooms, lakes and parks. It had a nine-story library where monks meticulously copied books and documents so that individual scholars could have their own collections. It had dormitories for students, perhaps a first for an educational institution, housing 10,000 students in the university’s heyday and providing accommodations for 2,000 professors. Nalanda was also the most global university of its time, attracting pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey.
A consortium led by Singapore and including India, Japan and others will discuss raising the $500 million needed to build a new university in the vicinity of the old site and perhaps another $500 million to develop the roads and other infrastructure to make the institution work. The problem is that the key Asian officials are not thinking big enough. There is more talk about making Nalanda a cultural site or a center for philosophy than a first-rate modern university.
The rebuilt university should strive to be a great intellectual center, as the original Nalanda once was…..
The original Nalanda might have been the first to conduct rigorous entrance exams. The old university had world-class professors who did groundbreaking work in mathematical theorems and astronomy. It produced pre-eminent interpreters and translators of religious scriptures in many languages.
The new Nalanda should try to recapture the global connectedness of the old one… A new Nalanda, starting as it will from scratch, could set a benchmark for mixing nationalities and cultures, for injecting energy and direction into global subjects and for developing true international leaders.
It appears the dream coming true and with one this project Bihar can rebuild its lost image and glory lost in the pages of the history. Bihar can be prosperous too because of the limitless possibility of investment that can, in proper hand, can go to any amount, even $100 billion.
I dream of a 8- or 10- lane Super Expressway corridor from Lumbini to Boddh Gaya via Vaisalli, Nalanda and Rajgrih with Nalanda as the center of the major attraction with the 21st Century University City of 10,000 teachers and 1,00,000 students from almost all countries of the world studying, teaching, and reasearching the latest knowledge about all the contemporary and futuristic subjects covering arts, sciences, commerce, medicines, law, and technologies.
Can Nalanda get a visionary and missionary to see the project realized?
1541
2006-12-18 03:37:54
Singur Story- Where Buddha Went Wrong?
In February this year when I was in Kolkata, I got the chance of hearing some of the lectures that the Bidhannagar Mela sponsors arranged. I was amazed. I heard some of the leftist intellectual and political leaders selling the ideas of the state government about the agricultural land acquisitions for industrial development of Bengal. It was a proactive action from the party. It was very much in line with the demand of the day and place. As such, the political parties and its cadre play a major role in everything in West Bengal.
Buddha Babu tried to sell his ideas of building a changed image of Bengal by investor friendly-steps to his cabinet members and party men. Many were sold, but some old and shrewd hardliners didn’t digest his ideas. Buddha Babu knows it but can’t confess publicly. They (CITU, CPM, and cabinet) pretended to agree with the fast track transformation activities of the chief minister, but the differences were there. Moreover, Buddha Babu didn’t show his statesmanship to bring Mamta on his side in his effort to change the industrial development of Bengal. He would have tried to take care of her ego by going to her once or twice for the sake of the future of the state. He would have lost anything in process. He would have convinced that whatever he is doing is for the interest of Bengal and its people and not for his party and cadre. Moreover, when he agreed for the handing over the land at Singur to Tata Motors, he would have realized that Singur was in a Mamta’s party own constituency.
Secondly, Buddha Babu would not have agreed to the demand of Tata Motors for so huge a land area in hurry and that too from a three-crop fertile region and would have consulted experts. If Hindustan Motors could build its huge plant in early 50s in marshy land at Hind Motors (Uttarpara), why can’t Tata Motors build its plant on similar land that was available in Singur itself as suggested by Mamta Banerji to break the stalemate today? Why should it appear that he is going all the way out even neglecting the interest off the local people to help the industrial house? Buddha Babu has his strong cadre force of the party and the whole of the government machinery to help him but its strength should not be used for everything and so blatantly.
Unfortunately, Tata Motors didn’t play a very positive role in the conflict. Even though it selected the plots from the choices offered by the West Bengal government, it would have applied its own commonsense and shown its social responsibility for which it has a name. Tata Motors would have agreed to technical solutions and on its own, preferred waste and marshy land for the plant instead of preferring for the fertile land under cultivation.
Again, Tata Motors would have used its resources to sell the project among the local people along with Buddha Babu’s men. Tata group being the master in developing programme for the local community could have sold the project very easily to the people.
According to Mamta Banerji, about 450 acres of low-lying land is available at Singur itself, unutilised, on the opposite side of the road. She wants the government to restore to the owners plots, claimed as acquired ‘forcibly’ and to utilise the unused low-lying land beside the highway at Singur.
I am sure no one wants Tata Motors to abandon the project in Singur or to shift out. But there is nothing wrong in agreeing to Mamta Banerji suggestion if it is technically feasible.
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Price Of Power by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
Today is Sunday and normally I don’t like to take in some serious topics in my thought process. And these days, I am alone at home, as Yamuna is visiting her village home after many years. When I am alone, many ideas crop in mind. Here are two stories that somehow are troubling me for quit sometime.
One is from Ramayana that is mythological, though many in India believe Rama is a historical figure.
Dasrath was the father of Rama. Dasrath couldn’t bear the separation of Rama, the eldest son when he left for forest. He died after hearing from the charioteer that Rama or even Sita have not returned. Is there any story in other such epics or history where the father or the mother dies because of the separation of the son?
Second story is historical and that is from the Mogul period. Babur started the Mugal Empire in India. Once his son, Humayun was extremely sick and was not recovering even after all the medication by his doctors. Babur prayed to Allah that He takes his life and in return cures his son. It is said thereafter Babur fell ill and died. But Humayun had recovered.
Have you heard of any other story where the father or the mother has gone for such wishes?
1539
2006-12-16 18:31:18
PM Pleads to Japanese
Our economist PM Man Mohan Singh is presently on a visit of Japan with his party and trying to market India to Japanese. Japanese are as such very difficult people to get maneuvered.
Japanese philosophy of product and process design is based on quality engineering (Taguchi) where conceptualization and planning takes the maximum time, unlike the Western method of working where engineering goes on changing till last moment of putting the product to the customers.
Japanese learnt almost all its modern technologies and management techniques from US, but assimilated and adopted so well that it got branded as Japanese manufacturing system. Prime Minister and his colleagues as well as the distinguished members of CII in his team must do everything to get the Japanese to assist India in making it a significant player in manufacturing. He must facilitate, and remove all the irritating speed breakers in FDI from Japanese manufacturers. Here is some of what our PM said while in Japan.
Today India has emerged as an important player in knowledge-based sectors like information technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. The expansion and modernization of physical and social infrastructure consisting of roads, railways, telecommunications, sea and airports will greatly add to the competitiveness and efficiency of India’s manufacturing sector.
India’s trade and investment ties with Japan are well below potential. Japanese has already been introduced as an optional foreign language in our secondary schools. We hope to see thousands of our youth learning Japanese in the next few years.In the first half of the current fiscal year our growth rate recorded a new high of 9.1%. The manufacturing sector is fast catching up with the services sector. These two sectors account for almost 80 per cent of our national income. This remarkable growth is being led by an investment rate of 31 per cent of GDP, financed almost entirely by a matching savings rate of over 29 per cent. India’s stable macro – economic indicators lead me to believe that we have the potential to achieve double digit growth in the coming years. Growth has already helped millions of our citizens to emerge from abject poverty, which is reflected in the decline of the poverty ratio from above 50% in the seventies to below 20% today. South Korean consumer brands have moved aggressively into India and their brands have very high recognition value among our consumers. On the trade front, India’s trade with both China and South Korea is booming and grew last year at around 40% with both countries. China’s trade with India is nearly three times India’s trade with Japan and Korea’s trade with India is almost equal to Japan’s trade with India.
Since the end of 2004, over $ 5 billion have been invested from Japan in India’s capital markets. The number of Japanese companies in India has grown by 50% in the last three years. A JETRO survey conducted in 2005, which concluded that the profit prospects of Japanese manufacturing companies was the best in India as compared to all ASEAN countries. As a consequence, more than 90% of such companies in India were planning to expand their operations in the next couple of years.
An economically resurgent India today offers a variety of investment opportunities, both in traditional and new sectors, in labour-intensive and knowledge-based industries. In bio-technology, nano-technology, information technology, automobiles and aerospace, textiles and leather, marine products and in many other areas Japan and India can come together. The focus of our government has been to create world class infrastructure in India. I am personally monitoring all the major infrastructure projects every quarter as head of the Committee on Infrastructure. We have estimated that India’s investment needs in area of infrastructure will be at least $320 billion in the next five years in infrastructure alone. We have estimated that our total investment requirement would be closer to US$ 500 billion.
There are already more than 70 Indian software companies and 5,000 Indian engineers operating in Japan and Indian companies are making significant efforts to train software professionals for the Japanese market. Japanese has already been introduced as an optional foreign language in our secondary schools and the government is committed to increasing Japanese language learning opportunities in India. There are many opportunities for collaboration between Indian and Japanese companies in the area of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. We must exploit this vast latent potential.
Every Indian wishes that India gets closer to Japan through technical tie-ups in manufacturing sector, and Japanese manufacturers make India their low-cost base for manufacturing to supply their produce to nearer markets of West Asia, Europe and Africa.
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Yesterday strike and its Bengal style have showcased Bengal with its real face that goes unbearable and inhumane when it comes to general protest by CITU. The protesters use all innovations to create inconvenience to the people both domestic and also poor foreigners who have been very lately changing their mindset about India and Indians because of their colleagues in offices back home.
Let us see what happened yesterday.
Kolkata airport: Jurgen Vanduffel is having his longest transit ever at any airport across the globe. A professional diving instructor from Belgium, Vanduffel was among the 130 passengers stranded at Kolkata airport due to the strike. ”I knew it is a Left-run state, but had no idea that life would come to a halt because of a strike. Now I can’t even venture out of this place. Imagine getting stuck here without food,” said Vanduffel.
‘This is my first trip to India and may be my last one. How can the government allow the protesters to shut down everything? And if bandhs are like this, we should have been informed by the airline so that we could have decided whether to travel here at all,” added Greg Raymond from Australia.
Writers Building: Buddha Babu spent a full day in office (all alone), but the rest of Writers’ wore a deserted look, as almost all rooms remained under lock-and-key.
Howrah Railway Station: Some local and long-distance trains did reach Howrah station early on Thursday, but it was full stop from 6 am. A few taxi drivers were willing to defy the bandh, but for a fat fee – Rs 900 for Salt Lake, Rs 500 for Shakespeare Sarani…
Sector V- IT City: Despite police bandobast in Sector V, the shutters were downed in a hurry and the autorickshaw drivers switched off their engines as the clock struck 6. “Bandh shuru hoye gechhe (The bandh has begun),” shouted someone. The early hours of hectic activity over, the man in charge of logistics outside Wipro – the biggest BPO outfit in the city with over 2,500 employees – could afford a smile. “Our last pick-up car arrived before 5.15 am. Everybody is in,” he announced.
Durgapur: S.P. Badyakar was stopped around 10 last night when he was on his way to work on his scooter. He had planned to stay at the plant overnight. Citu activists ordered him to go back. When Badyakar said he was a senior executive and wanted to work, the men beat him up. One of his teeth fell out and he slumped to the ground, bleeding. Badyakar was taken to hospital by collegues and had to undergo a minor surgery on his gums. The general secretary of the Citu-affiliated union, P.K. Das, said: “We are ashamed.”
Kalyani: At Kalyani town in Nadia, residents were warned on loudspeakers against letting part-time maids work and all approach roads were blocked. If this was not enough, women activists searched houses for maids and dragged them out. Again, the Citu was apologetic. Sumit Dey, the Nadia secretariat member, said: “What they did was wrong.”
Has Bengal changed? Do you think then that the farmers of Singur have willingly given their lands to the government for Tata Motors? But even with all this Tata Motors is adamant to set up its ‘crown jewel’ plant at Singur.
“NO”
Nemesis of Bengal?
1537
2006-12-15 17:59:20
Indian leader Must Learn from Blair
British Prime Minister recently announced a list of 500 concrete steps, large and small, to cut red tape in the nation bureaucracy. The measures, which range from simplifying forms to providing fire safety certificates more easily is estimated to save individuals, corporates and charities over 14 billion pounds (Rs 119,000 crore). And Blair promised to come out with another 500 administrative ‘burdens’, which would save them another 2 billion pounds.
Are India’s highly qualified and experienced Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, or for that matter the vice-chairman of Planning Commission not aware of the timeworn, and useless administrative procedures that must be costing billions in cost of red tapes? How can India attract the FDI that it is seeking so aggressively, if as per an Assocham, nearly 62,000 proposals, involving a cumulative investment flow of around Rs 1,550,000 crore, are pending approvals from various states and central government for the past 18years or so. ” It is observed that even at 40% fructification of these investment proposals, investment of Rs 644,000 crore can come through, generating employment for about 7.4 million people.” The sectors involved include food processing, textile and clothing, leather goods, automobiles, auto components, minerals, steel, cement, electronic products and components, paper and paper products, chemical and allied products and polymers and plastics. How can one have confidence in the intention of the leaders in the driving seats after going through these reports? Why can’t a proposal that is unacceptable, be dropped?
Why should they waste so much of energy and resources of their own and the country, if they can’t improve the basic requirements for getting the foreign investment? Can the investment climate be called congenial if it takes 89 days to start a business, 67 days to register a property, 425 days to enforce a contract and seven days to a month to clear goods from customs, and almost 155 of management time is wasted to deal with officials? Is it something that the Prime Minister can’t get corrected? Why can’t he confess this?
Though the British Empire where the sun never used to set is dead, but the nation and its leaders are conscious of the competition from the emerging economies specially ‘Chindia’ to give a sharp competitive edge to British business in global trade. Chancellor Gordon Brown, the next prospective tenant of 10 Downing Street has been talking of the threat, ” Once responsible for just one-eighth of the world’s growth, China and India will soon capture almost half. They are competing not just on low cost, but on high skill.” And that is reason for the steps to cut the prevailing red tapes. The nation is preparing to face the challenge. For information, in the same process of restructuring the administration, UK is having an ambitious target to cut unnecessary bureaucracy by 25% by 2010. At least it appears the national leaders of UK are following the strategies necessary to correct the situation, if it is bad and correctible.
Why can’t similar steps be taken in India? Why can’t India take a cue from the story from Britain that has given India the present bureaucracy as legacy and act?
1536
2006-12-14 21:18:44
The battle on Singur is hot. Left government of West Bengal has gone all out to show the strength of its cadre and police force. Against all odds, it has acquired the huge area of land about 1000 acres from farmers and has also got it fenced. It never asked even why should Tata Motors need so much of land. Ratan Tata is busy with Corus. MD, Tata Motors is enjoying the battle royal between Mamata and Buddha. But perhaps all the preparations are as per schedule and going on simultaneously in Tata Motors Pune plant. As I wrote earlier, the Tata’s dream car project can be revolutionary and change the confidence level of the manufacturing sector of the country. I wish Tatas would maintain its quality and would provide the customer service to the worldclass level. However, I am still very much skeptical about the work culture of West Bengal even today and the way its trade unions maintain control over every activity of the management on shop floor level. It damages the basic discipline among the workforce that is necessary to get the best contributions from the people directly on the job. I think Tata Motors must have developed expertise in handling the irritating labour conflicts. Some one in Tata Motors must be totally sold on West Bengal; otherwise it would have not selected Singur. Even today, the state goes for very frequent strikes or bandhs for reasons best known to the leaders of the political parties. And in the state the strike is always total as it’s state sponsored in most of the cases. No one can dare to go for any work outside the house, if there is strike. Even train, airport and all transport are dead.
I am also eager to see the ultimate result just for technical reasons. I am really sorry that a company like Tata Motors has no consideration for the farmers who shall be loosing their land and its agricultural produce. Why can’t such a mechanical plant be located in the desert of Rajasthan on the Delhi- Mumbai wing of of GQ? Will it any way affect the efficiency of the operation or the supply chain? Unfortunately, the wrongly directed competition between the states of the country is causing the problems. The smarter states rather smarter political leaders are trying to bring in all the industrialists to invest in their states by offering all sorts of allurements. The other day I saw Tata Motors’ another plant coming up on the very fertile land of Uttaranchal for manufacturing the mini-truck that has become very popular. The country can’t get the replacement of the fertile land producing different grains, though the plants can come up in many locations in the country without much difference in operational efficiency.
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