Innovative Indians: Emulate, Innovate, Scale up and Grow

Posted on April 20, 2010 by indra

Many countries-Japan, South Korea, and then China have followed the route to get into the league of developed nation. They started with emulation of the practices and systems of the developed countries, be it one from Europe or US, copied rather pirated their products. Very soon they started improving on their own with locally innovated ideas, scaled up the production cutting the cost and started competing.

India failed to do that. Some did try but perhaps halfheartedly and without improving and scaling up the capability to manufacture. Industrialists from Punjab, for example, made many machineries copying from the foreign products. Even today many of the agricultural machineries such as harvesters have reached all over the countries and making a good business, but it couldn’t innovate and upgrade to compete with the products from the industrially developed countries even the Chinese ones. However, things are changing.

As revealed by BSG ‘Innovation 2010: A Return to Prominence – and the Emergence of a New World Order’ report, the companies are increasing their innovation spending and that their satisfaction with the return on innovation spending has climbed. But companies remain somewhat cautious, keeping a close eye on the cost of their innovation activities.

Among the Asian countries, there are five companies from Japan, another five from China and Taiwan, three from South Korea and just two from India.

About 89% of executives in India said innovation was key to economic growth, while in the US only 72% said innovation was important.

In the list of world’s 50 most innovative companies, the Tata Group is placed as the world’s 17th most innovative compared to Mukesh Ambani-led RIL’s 33rd position globally.

However, the recent issue of ‘India Today’ with a special coverage on innovations in India may provide an interesting reading and gives hope of a brighter India. It carries reports in brief about the work of the 20 innovators who are changing our lives. Innovations relate to varied technologies: Ankit Mehta’s Netra, an unmanned aerial vehicle, Nalinaksh Vyas’s nano satellite, Jugnu, Kusumba Sridhar’s online digital signage service, Vishal Mehta’s Infibeam Pi, Puli Ravi Kumar’s car that can run on air, Ashok Jhunjhunwala’s Indradhanu, an automatic weather monitoring system, Kranthi Kiran Vistakula’s temperature controlled apparel, and Amin Ismail Almel’s fake currency detector. It also includes Bhargavan Mohanlal’s very innovative gearbox to go with marine diesel engine, Peesapati Narayana’s edible cutlery, Gandhi Gopalakrishnan’s eco-friendly bricks out of rice husk ash, Virendra Kumar Sinha’s generator’s accessory for cleaning exhaust, Remya Jose’s mechanical washing machine, Dr. Dilip Shrinivas Vilaskar’s rapid thrmbocheck test kit, Ajit Narayanan’s Avaz, a communication device for those with cerebral palsy, Dharamveer Kamboj’s multi-purpose food processing machine that extracts juice as well as serves as pressure cooker, Madhav Sawant’s light emitting energy-saving tiles, Prajapati Mansukhlal Raghavji’s refrigerators and filters out of clay, Dr. Aarti Kinikar’s indigenous nasal bubble and Madhabananda ray’s new tasar yarn reeling machine.

It has another interesting listing of ‘Top 10 innovations of the last decade‘ picked by IIM-Bangalore professor and author of From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation, Rishikesha T. Krishnan. I don’t know if I should agree with that.

BAJAJ PULSAR, 2001: gave India’s youth a blend of style, power and fuel economy.
REVA, 2001: leads the market in “clean” automobiles
ADVANCED LIGHT HELICOPTER, 2002: from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
FUNGISOME, 2002: A liposomal anti-fungal drug developed by Lifecare Innovations.
EDGE, 2002: The world’s slimmest consumer watch by Titan.
PLASTIC BODY INVERTER, 2002 by Su-kam.
AVADIS, 2005: this data analysis software for biologists by Strand Life Sciences
ETHERNET TRANSMISSION ON OPTICAL NETWORKING, 2005 by Tejas Networks
MAHINDRA SHAAN, 2006 with in-built trolley and new design features
TATA NANO, 2009: the world’s best “value for money” car

But I quote India Today’s article that must understood by every Indian.

“The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2007 ranking placed India 57th and China 58th on the innovation scale but predicted, that at the present rate, by 2012, China would be 50th while India would move up only one rank. China, in particular, has overtaken India in technology intensive manufacturing that includes high-tech semiconductors and microchips to become the largest producer of electronics in the world.”

But it can’t be just the enhancement of expenditure on R&D that can bring result. If one looks into the stories of the innovations in India, one can easily find that Indian innovators have not been able to cash on their innovations. Neither Nano nor any of the products have seen mass production anywhere to compete with similar innovations of other countries. Good innovations require excellent manufacturing facilities of world class and scale as well as marketing too. I was shocked to know that Remya Jose’s washing machine couldn’t find market and she is looking for job in UAE. What a shame!

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CK Prahlad and His Dream of India

Posted on April 19, 2010 by indra

C.K. Prahalad died on last Friday. To me, who knew him only through his writings, his books and articles in magazines, through the writings of others about him in media, and through his speeches on small screens, the news was shocking. The media in India particularly covered the sad news pretty well. Arun Maira and many in industry have mourned the loss of CK and what it means for India. All these years, I have kept on saying why some of the professors of IIMs or other institutions didn’t become as popular as CK in the industry.

Very few thinkers are so much obsessive about the potentials of India as CK was and those with a clear and realistic roadmap for India’s growth as of CK are even scarcer.

CK had a dream to see India at top among the nations. He wanted that India must become the manufacturing hub for the world, creating innovative products with innovative processes in innovative forms of enterprise. As reported, in recent years CK had devoted himself to developing a manufacturing strategy for India built on its core competences.

His visions for India@75 were remarkable and can be read at http://www.indiaat75.in/. I had written India @75 too, as CK Prahlad dreamt and shared with the who’s who of India.
CK also had clear ideas about the weakness of India. CK was one who fixed up the cost of corruption to India and declared that it could exceed Rs 250,000 crore. It stunned those in power.

Prahalad had an immense confidence in the capability of individual Indians and Indian companies:

For example, “your friendly neighbourhood kirana store owner knows exactly what your needs are; your database is in his head. He knows whether you are creditworthy, whether you have upgraded your soap brand; how many family members you have and their eating habits. He is the ultimate CEO. I want this incredible personalized service to be combined with the efficiencies of mass production. That’s co-creation.”


CK could talk profusely about the success stories of Indian business models. Aravind Eye Hospital, Bank of MaduraAmul and ITC’s E-Choupal were few of his all-time favourite brands. CK helped in building many Indian brands through his speeches at different national and international fore and his writings and books- “The Core Competence of the Corporation” (Harvard Business Review, May-June, 1990), “Competing for the Future” (with Gary Hamel), 1994, “The Future of Competition,” (with Venkat Ramaswamy), 2004 and “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid”.

Amul distributes seven million litres of milk sourced from 2.2 million suppliers every day. In a unique way, farmers are being linked to global markets. It is a classic example of personalized globalization, something you won’t find anywhere in the world.

I shall agree with those who say that making his vision of India, particularly India @75 a reality will be our greatest tribute to CK, the patriot.

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Album and Autobiography-6

Posted on April 18, 2010 by indra

My father had many names, as it used to be in the rural landlord family of those days- Bachha, Sanmukh, and ShivPujan Rai. ‘Bachha’ was a very popular word used for kids by elders. I remember my grandmother telling me an incident of my birth. I was born around 10PM in the night. In villages, it is pretty late hour in remote rural area and was more so in good old days with no electricity. There was a meeting going on the ‘garh’ of our village. My grandfather was also attending the meeting. And the messenger came and announced, ‘bachha ho, bachha ka bachha bhaeel ba’. First bachha was for my grandfather, the second for my father and third one for me.

My father hardly talked to me ever in my early childhood. In those days in a joint family, the fathers never showed their love with their sons. It was the task and responsibility expected from the grandfathers, uncles and all the lady-folks of the family. I don’t remember any instance of my interaction with my father of those childhood days. I remember one such instance of a later date. For the marriage of Raj Kishore chacha, we were going to Taraon, another village about 20 kms from Pipra. I was in a bullock cart with late Dukhi as driver. Dukhi was one of our farm workers who used to work in our fields on annual contract basis. While crossing a river bed, the cart overturned. It was not a serious thing. My father was in another cart. I remember his enquiring Dukhi “Is my only son safe?” I would not have talked to my father even for few minutes in total before he came to live with my mother in Bodarhi.

I remember some of his some unique habits. He used to bath with at least 20 tumblers of water drawn from well, spend about an hour or more to put on dhoti, also used a lot of water in washing his hands after taking food. He loved to put on a number of black strings around his neck. I remember conniving once with my advocate maternal uncle and his brother-in-law to put a garland of bells and beads meant in those days for bullocks around his neck. He took it laughingly. But then we heard of a fire in one of the almirahs where we had our books. He said that it was only because we made fun of him.

My great grandfather died early. My grandfather had already started working in Calcutta. Jamuna baba, the younger brother of my grandfather took over the affairs of cultivation. My father started assisting him and living at the nearby village Rampur, when he was pretty young. Most of our land was nearer to Rampur and going up to the next village Pipri in north. We had a house also at Rampur. My father had expertise in riding too. When we got a horse, its overall care was his responsibility. He looked after all the cattle in the family, bullocks, buffaloes, and the horse. He also arranged manpower required for paddy transplantation or harvesting the ready crops.

My mother left for her village to take care of her father and uncle after the death of my grandmother, when I was perhaps a kid of two-three years. And later on my maternal grandfather got a cerebral attack and paralyzed. And my mother had to stay back as a unique thing in those days, perhaps to inherit and get the property of the family that didn’t have any male heir. Her father died but her uncle lived a long life. She stayed back perhaps to get the total landed property of the family for me, her only son. It was her supreme sacrifice for me. My father never liked her village. His father or uncle also didn’t insist for his going to my mother’s village. My father came to Bodarhi only after her uncle expired and my grandfather insisted that my father must go to Bodarhi and live with my mother who was left alone.

I started going to Bodarhi thereafter for my holidaying. But as soon as I would reach Bodarhi, my father would leave for our paternal village that was not possible otherwise. I have a photograph of my father with my father-in-law, Late Sitaram Misra who could visit and eat at our place after the birth of his grandsons with his daughter. There was one thing common with both- my father as well as my father0in-law. Both used to smoke that was one thing that I hated. During my father’s absence, I took care of the cow that my mother kept, hoping that her grandson would visit her. My father had a unique skill of getting his all types of work done by his acquaintances without annoying any. His charitable nature was also exemplary. He would give even his own belongings to any one in need. He had a strong will-power. He left smoking for ever when he started living with us.

It was in early part of 1980s that I had to bring my father to live with us in Hind Motor. He was terminally ill, as he had damaged his lungs and my mother couldn’t have taken care of him in village. My mother would visit and live with us in between for some time. It was so as she was not ready to leave her farmlands.

Living with us was socially difficult for him but he managed well. I managed to arrange some persons who were employees of HM and from similar rural background to keep him entertained. His grand sons, particularly Anand was very close to him. He was very humorous and even with not much formal schooling; he was very much knowledgeable and kept on asking questions to know more. I don’t know about his schooling. But Yamuna asked him jokingly a number of times. ‘Babuji, as I heard, you were brought to Birlapur for schooling. When babaji (my grandfather) insisted you to go to school, you said instead you would jump in River Hooghly. You went back to the village.’ Babuji would laugh heartily and said, ‘nahin beti, yah jhuthi baat hai’ (no daughter, that was wrong).

In 1989, my mother died of cerebral attack. It was difficult for him but he was very bold. He lived a normal life though with a lot of medication. Every time I used to go out of station on company’s assignments that were quite frequent in those days, my anxiety for him will trouble me all the time. I remember once when I was in Hannover for a week for attending the machine tools fair, I couldn’t sleep well any night. Any telephone for Rath, my colleague who was in the attached room would make me wake up and keep suspecting that it must be about some bad news about my father but Rath was concealing it to avoid my worries.

He lived for almost 12-13 years with us in Hind Motors. He never went outside the residence. But he remained content and happy. Every day on return from the work I would peep in his room and ask about him. He will smile and raise both the hands in blessing posture. Whenever, I went out of station, as Yamuna informed, he kept on enquiring about me.



His presence was fulfilling till he lived. He left the world on September 24, 1989.

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IIT Entrance Examination Getting Messy

Posted on April 16, 2010 by indra

I never knew that IITs set the question papers of the entrance examinations in Hindi too. Why should it be in Hindi when the subjects of tests are physics, chemistry and mathematics? Is the decision a political one or one necessary for selecting the best students for admitting in IITs giving due considerations for rural and underprivileged students, as some claim?

About 472,000 students across the country appeared for the IIT-JEE 2010 for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology for 10,000 seats in 15 IITs, IT-BHU, Varanasi and ISM, Dhanbad. How may opted for the question papers in Hindi and do they answer it too in Hindi?

As reported and agreed by IIT’s authority in charge of the entrance examinations, the instructions of the Hindi version of the question papers were having errors that may cost students 48 marks. “The Hindi version of the papers also carried wrong instructions. As per the English version of the paper, there were certain questions carrying 48 marks. However, the Hindi versions presented the same questions with wrong instruction that they carried 18 marks. Besides, certain questions were not printed in the Hindi version.”

I don’t if IITs set the question papers in any other language also. Naturally the problems would have multiplied.

The prestigious Super 30 has appealed for re-examination. I am shocked to know the views of the Super 30 of Patna. It has got a global recognition for its unique performance and as it is free and meant for the deprived class. I wonder why it can’t train and prepare its students to take the examinations of science subjects in English. After all, for understanding the questions of the science subjects, the knowledge of English required is just minimal. An intelligent student with future career in mind in contemporary situation can be expected to learn the language that will be the medium for the years in IIT and the career thereafter. Mr. Anand Kumar must train his students to take the examinations in English.

The chairperson of IIT-JEE organizing committee assured the candidates that these mistakes would not affect their performance and would be taken care of during evaluation of papers.

I wonder if the candidate can believe it. Very lately, the IIT entrance system is in question and under legal scan many a times.

It’s unfortunate that the performance of a student in the IIT entrance examination in recent years depend more on the coaching centre/s the student uses. It’s a great business for the thousands of coaching centres spread all over the country and many of them are unscrupulously pick pocketing the students even without providing any significant assistance for the success. No doubt, the coaching centres never fail to take all credit of the success of each and every student. Interestingly, many a times, more than one institute takes credit for the wonderful performance of an individual student. I wonder why can’t IITs’ great academic innovate and find a way so that the intervention of the coaching centres is eliminated, unless IITs itself is involved in the profitable business.

Kota has become a household name for preparing for IITs. Many startups have come up with online facilities too.

But today my question is different. Will the foreign universities expected to open their establishments in India as expected by Kapil Sibal have to have use Hindi in its entrance examinations?

Why the language of the entrance examinations for the higher education can’t is only English? Perhaps the best way out may be the basing of the selection for IITs on the scores in science subjects in the board examinations that will have common curricula.

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Free and Compulsory Education for All: Mr. Sibal can do it

Posted on April 15, 2010 by indra

Kapil Sibal has given the nation an unprecedented opportunity to see the whole lot of children between 6-14 years of age properly educated and made the government responsible for it. I have a request for Mr. Kapil Sibal.

I know if I talk of the successful implementation of the Right of Education Act in the whole country including 6 lakh villages, some remote ones, perhaps many may consider it as a Utopian task. However, Mr. Sibal can set an example by attempting to implement the Act in few metros of the country where the stakeholders are better enlightened and empowered too and to see his dreams getting realized.

The country can give him a smaller geographical zone, say, New Delhi, and or if he likes, he can include NCRs to prove his plans. Why can’t Mr. Sibal persuade and use the army of junior ministers, secretaries, officers and staff members in his Human Resources ministry to supervise the implementation of the Act? With his own political party ruling the capital state and he himself being one of the MPs from one of the major areas, Mr. Sibal can make it happen easily.

Once Mr. Sibal get the Act implemented in a smaller state, the state can become the benchmark or the model to be followed by other states with only scaling up the effort.

So will Mr. Sibal start with filling the vacancies of teachers, training them, providing the basic infrastructure facilities, such as healthy class rooms with sitting facilities for each child, and separate well maintained good toilets for boys, girls and teachers, using technologies to supplement for good teaching and seeing that the top private schools admit 25% of its students from deprived classes of local communities?

Mr. Sibal can also appeal and use the private resources of rich families, industrial houses and assistance from many educationists and institutions settled in New Delhi to see his plans implemented.

Can the people of the capital expect to see its educational institutes as showpieces of the country in next few years?

I wish Mr. Sibal does that for a change and established that what can be preached can be implemented too.

If it is not done and proven on smaller geographical area, the Act will have similar fate as many other wonderfully good Acts that have not brought about any visible change in the country.

Many great politicians such as Nitish Kumar, Budhdha or Mayawati will make it fail by passing on the responsibility of failures of implementation to the centre for every bit the Act envisages.

I wish Sibal proves everyone, who is skeptical because of the overall requirement of Rs 2, 04,000 crore in fund in next five years and shortage of 12.9 lak teachers and their training as the tough hurdles to overcome, wrong with focused implementation plans.

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Nitish Kumar Must Walk the Talk

Posted on April 13, 2010 by indra

I heard recently Nitish Kumar and his spokesman Tiwari talking in two programmes on small screens- Nitish Kumar on CNBC-Awaz (Uttar Uday) and Tiwari on NDTV India (Mukabla).

Nitish talked about the necessity of education- elementary, higher education and skill building to cash on the state’s strength of human resources that in number grows at much higher rate than what the rest of India does. I can’t say Nitish and his government has not done anything for education. However, Bihar’s progress in education is only a little better than dismal.

Bihar must be sending its majority of students for higher education outside the state. One can find the students of Bihar in every university, engineering and medical college, as well management school in all states of the country. It means higher cost for the parents who bear the expenditure. Bihar’s political leadership before and even with Nitish could hardly do anything to improve the condition.

Bihar stands nowhere in number of seats for professional colleges and higher education if one compares it with any state, be it UttarPradesh or even West Bengal and Orissa. Even after the five years of the Nitish rule in Bihar, the situation has hardly improved. And whatever institutes got proposed or set up, they all are in and around Patna. Many expected Nitish with engineering degree would have focused on higher education and would have taken lessons from the growth of higher professional education institutes in Andhra Pradesh that has today 460 of them. But basically Nitish has failed to do much.

Bihar even in last five years could not stop the deterioration of the condition of government primary schools, and the high schools. Most of the high schools in rural Bihar are hardly left with any good teachers. Infrastructure is nonexistent. If anyone doesn’t agree with me, I request him to let me know about those institutes that are exceptional.

Nitish Kumar did also referred to the need of skill development. But his government did hardly anything to scale up the capacity of the existing ITIs and polytechnics or took any step to improve the quality of teaching and training at these institutes. Bihar neither set up new skill development centre nor used any innovative means to improve the skills of the apprentices using local talents. I sincerely doubt if those running these ministries have any missionary zeal to bring the changes.

I feel shore as I never heard anything in media or from my friends in Bihar if Nitish has ever talked to improve the capacity and quality of professional education in Bihar or sought help of educationist from Bihar to improve its condition.

I wish Nitish would not have stopped blaming the centre for fund for everything and would appealed to the people for investing in education sector, facilitated easy entry, and incentivize better performance.

His job is to find ways and means to arrange his part of the finance to implement effectively the Right of Education Act rather than just blaming the centre. Can’t he find or try to find some Malviya (BHU) for Bihar? Can’t he create an education fund and ask NRBs (Non Resident Biharis) and all those who can to contribute to this fund? Can’t he impress on the parents of Bihar to dissuade their children from cheating at examinations? In today’s world, no certificate has any value if one has no knowledge and is not capable to communicate. ‘Job through recommendations’ era has become history.

I hardly agree with Nitish’s way of handling Naxalites and his advices to Chidambaram. He has not been able to do much on Naxalite menaces. I couldn’t travel to Rohtas Garh during my last visit to my home district. Let Nitish prove his methodology to handle the Maoism problems in Bihar where the trouble is still of pretty low intensity, and then talk big. It was just shocking to hear Tiwari’s views on Naxalite problems as it stands today.

I don’t mean that Nitish has not done anything and he is to be replaced in coming election rather I wish he gets one more time elected and works effectively with a development focus, particularly for education and healthcare. The disgruntled people particularly, of so-called forward communities of the state must not make the mistake of getting Nitish defeated. He is the only chance for the state at this moment.

After dethronement from the central cabinet, Lalu and Ram Vilash have settled in Patna to make a comeback. With Lalu and Ram Vilash after Nitish’s blood, Nitish will have to exhibit his political shrewdness for a win.

Media has very lately covered Nitish very well. Be it Times group, New York Times or Economist. I consider that media management by Nitish has been excellent.

And I join Saibal Gupta and wish that voters choose Nitish again: “We hope that voters will choose development over caste. But in Bihar one never knows.”

I am sure the voters in Bihar will go for the right choice.

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Living at 70: Some Tips for Gen Next

Posted on April 10, 2010 by indra

I happen to watch a serial these days on NDTV Imagine, as Harendra, the personal aid of Yamuna likes to see its heroine, Suman’s story and insists for it. Interestingly, the head of the family is the old grandfather and it is he who takes all decisions. I wonder why he has been doing that. He would have handed over the reign to next generation to get rid of all the worries and agony that go with running of a household.

I remember Jamuna baba (about whom I wrote earlier) got the family divided just to keep his control on his part of the property even when his way of running it became obsolete. It resulted in bigger agony for him and total loss.

The joint family system in which I grew is getting scarce. My youngest uncle lives with his youngest son and his wife. Alok, his son has successfully taken over the total responsibility of the farming and household affairs. My uncle had been running the bigger show when the property of the three brothers was jointly held. Today he does only as much as he likes or is asked for by Alok. Perhaps, that is the best option for a person at around 76 years of age.

I am now 70 plus and live with Yamuna, as the three sons are in US. I am to take all the worries about self and Yamuna as well as whatever little property I have to sustain us well. Sometimes I feel morose and melancholy. I fail to find out what actually I want. What would have made me happier?

We have been living on the rental income. Naturally, I shall have to enjoy the worries that go with the property management. I had undergone heart surgery some 10 years ago. The doctor suggested an angiography again. My eyesight has gone poor because of cataracts. I never like going to doctor and avoid it till it is unbearable such as toothaches. Perhaps I want someone to take care about me, and to carry me to doctor or to call doctor. I hardly listen to Yamuna so far my personal matters are concerned and she keeps on cursing me. I enjoy marketing and bringing routine vegetables, fruits and groceries on day to day basis while returning from my morning walk. But many a times I feel, I would have loved someone else doing that for me.

My expectations have upped only because of my sons: Rakesh did everything when I underwent heart surgery. Rajesh took care of the truant tenant where I would have failed. Anand took some burden during the construction of Ajira, Salt Lake and rather pushed me to Delhi.

Actually I get morose and envy my father who never had to worry about the household worries. When he lived in my paternal village, his uncle and then his younger brothers did everything. And then he came to live with my mother in the village of my maternal grandfather after his death, but my mother took care of all the affairs. Ultimately, he was sick and almost bedridden. He lived with us with no worries of household and nothing to do. Some one or the other took care of all his needs.

With the growth of nucleus family, more couples will have to live the way we are living. Many a times, the couples after retirement find it difficult to pass the time as they don’t prepare for it. The planning must get started well in advance.

1. One must have sufficient money to support without expecting any assistance from any relative or acquaintance. So, save, save, and save after 45.

2. One must also develop interests and hobbies that can keep them busy usefully in the old age. What would have happened if Internet and books would not been my interest?

3. One may plan of remaining self-engaged with some knowledge based services such as consultancy to remain busy. Use your network while at the peak of work to arrange engagement after retirement.

4. One must try to keep oneself fit and lean. None can help you here but yourself.

And it is you who must do all these things. I do suggest my younger friends to prepare for the days and years to keep you engaged when it comes. Don’t grumble if you have failed to do that.

As I was finishing this write-up, I happen to talk with my HM friend AJ Bhattacharya, a graduate from Jadavpur University, and a real smart and handsome person at that time. Bhattacharya was working till a year or two ago when I met him. I was shocked to hear his trembling voice. He lives with his wife and my ‘baudi’ in his Salt Lake house in CF block. He is suffering Parkinson’s decease. Both the sons are away, one in Bangalore and the other in US. I really felt sorry, but couldn’t talk long. He was finding it default to converse.

And on Monday morning I got another shock when Mrs. Lakshman Singh, 70 who lives near Hind Motors informed me about the nightmare that she might have undergone when Lakshman Singh. 80 got a heart attack on Saturday night. They live alone with Rajat and his wife Sushmita in New York. Now Lakshman Singh is out of danger and pretty well, but the inconveniences of Mrs. Lakshman Singh would not have ended. Managing a hospitalized husband with no one from the family is pretty difficult. But the acquaintances and the people in Eastern India are still more helpful and sensitive and provide great moral support in such emergency.

And now I hear that Rajat is coming for 10 days to see his father.

This is the way one is to learn to live the life at the end. So prepare in advance mentally and try to face the life boldly and perhaps by yourself.

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India Moves ahead: Hope and Hope Allover

Posted on April 9, 2010 by indra

Sensex: If one can believe media, many things are happening that brings hope and delight for a better bright future. Sensex is slowly but steadily surging ahead. Some even predict it to reach 50,000 by 2015.

Order book:There are smiles on the faces of the CEOs of India Inc. Its order book at Rs 92,290 crore doubled in the fourth quarter (January-March) of the last financial year compared, to the year-ago period.

IPO: The Indian industry is likely to raise $30-35 billion (Rs1.34-1.56 trillion) through public sector divestment, initial public offerings (IPOs) of more than 50 companies.

Global India Inc: It’s not only Sunil Mittal’s Airtel getting into to the top five telecoms companies of the world. Vijay Mallya’s United Spirits Ltd (USL) has overtaken France’s Pernod Ricard SA to become the world’s second largest spirits firm by sales volume, and has its sights set on occupying the top spot within a year.

Manufacturing: Almost all the automakers of the world are now in India and are making it either the global manufacturing hub for its small cars or its R&D activities. Renault-Nissan was one of the last ones but has already put up a comprehensive strategy to make India its production hub for small cars. Ghosn has made public his desire to make India a key country in its global strategy.

Global Scale: Maruti has sold over a million units in a financial year and join the elite band of Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen, Ford, Honda, Renault, Hyundai, Suzuki and Nissan, which are among those producing a million units or more every year. Maruti sold 10,18,365 vehicles during 2009-10, of which 1,47,575 were exported.

India has now two of the world’s 10 largest car factories: Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s factory in Gurgaon, which is at No. 3, and Hyundai Motor India Ltd’s in Chennai at No. 7, an indication not so much of the country’s growing market for cars or its emergence as an export hub, but, analysts say, of the unique nature of and the challenges involved in manufacturing in the country.

ISRO’s Achievements: ISRO’s first fully Indian-made GSLV satellite launcher with the critical indigenous cryogenic upper stage stands ready at its launch pad and will be flown on April 15 from the Sriharikota space centre. India’s space agency will launch in May five satellites, including a 120-kg remote sensing satellite from Algeria on a single rocket.

India is the first country to orbit 10 satellites in one single mission and the facilitator for a major discovery of water molecules and water ice on the lunar surface. Also, it is one of the six in the world with capability to make satellites and launch them from its own soil.

IPL’s Success: India’s hottest sporting property, Indian Premier League (IPL), is scoring heavily abroad as well. It exhibits the prowess of a unique innovation of business with sports.

Private Power: And as a welcome change for the first time, a spirited performance by the private sector has contributed to a record power capacity addition in 2009-10. A total of 9,585 MW of capacity was added during the last fiscal, of which 4,287 MW or 45 per cent was by private developers. If I go by media reports, increasing numbers of private entrepreneurs are getting into to power sector giving hope for solution of the problem in near future. The private companies are setting up plant to produce power equipment, wherever required importing it even from China, acquiring coal mines, and are participating in transmission and distribution too.

Booming Health care Sector: And India is writing these days a new chapter of growth in healthcare with massive boom in private hospitals with bleeding- edge technology, wonder drugs and star facilities. The health care market at Rs 2, 00,000 crore is growing at 16% year on year basis.

Indian Job Market: Further, unlike the western countries, Indian job market is hot making dreams of youngsters realized and even inviting even foreigners to limited extent. According to a report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry, the Indian economy will create 87.37 million new jobs by 2015. Interestingly, the most significant growth will come from the manufacturing sector, which will add 32% (27.88 million) of the new jobs.

It’s hope, hope all around.

Posted in economy | Leave a comment

Bihar Leads Today, Rest of India Follows

Posted on April 8, 2010 by indra

From the mails that I receive from the persons of Bihar’s origin living in different states of India and abroad, everyone is concerned about the developments in Bihar. They celebrate all the good news coming in media, but get morose with disturbing news too.

Something unique is happening in last few months. Bihar has suddenly become the subject matter of the writings of many columnists and all for good aspects of the transformation brought about after the downfall of Lalu’s regime about five years ago. Bihar is no more a state known with flourishing kidnapping industry.

Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar was the first to project Bihar’s image with findings of Bihar’s unprecedented GDP growth. His latest ‘Backward Bihar goes for the smartest cards‘ in Sunday Times of India provides some inspiring evidence. In many areas Bihar has been taking steps that even the developed states have failed to do.

Bihar has taken the technological lead with the hightech smart cards. “This state has just completed a pilot project for smart cards in Patna district, called e-shakti (meaning power from electronic governance). These cards use not just fingerprints but biometric matching of the human iris, which is state-of-the-art technology. E-shakti has covered 13.5 lakh people in Patna district. It is now being expanded to cover the whole state. This bids fair to be the biggest biometric card scheme in the world. And the cost aspect is surprisingly low for the benefits that it may provide. The Bihar government estimates that the cost of smart cards for the whole state will be Rs 400 crore, just a peanut for such a large population.

Saibal Gupta, member secretary, Asian Development Research Institute, Patna also wrote a column recently in Times of India that realistically analyzed the Nitish’s era in Bihar and how the land reform issue is causing trouble for Nitish at wrong time when he is going to face the assembly election very soon.

In the last four years, no chief minister in post-independence India has got as much adulation as Bihar’s incumbent….. Bihar’s state-building exercise would be incomplete without addressing the problem of land management, especially with relation to updating of records, consolidation of holdings etc. In anticipation of Nitish taking some steps related to land management, members of a section of the elite, mainly upper caste, turned belligerent.


And as reported, leaders of the landed upper castes, cutting across the party lines are having separate meetings to discuss the issues related to Bataidari (Sharecropping) Bill. I wonder how the bill will not be a problem for the landowners of other castes, if it causes heartburn for the so-called upper class. There are huge numbers of landholders of OBC in many regions of Bihar. So why are the organizers not calling representatives of landholders of all castes? Why can’t there be a discussion on the subject without a caste bias? I wish the leaders of socalled upper caste find better ways to improve the lot of farmers’ community.

Ashok K Mishra of Economic Times did also publish a good analysis on the economic growth of Bihar.
In December 2009, Bihar topped the chart for cement consumption in the country with an annual growth of 36%. The state economic survey shows that the construction sector grew by 83.58% in 2006-07 and 43.85% in 2008-09. The new infrastructure being built, including roads, bridges and other public works, contributed 13.4% of the state GDP against 4.2% in 2003-04. Truck sales grew by 150% in the seven months till October 2009 on a Y-o-Y basis. “When businessmen complain to police about traffic jams, not law and order in general, I think it is a tribute to the system.” It can be heartening to all the people of Bihar.

There are many more articles in media recently on Bihar. I don’t think that these are paid insertions.

It is unfortunate that some raising the anti-Nitish issues are from JD (U), his own party, but from so-called upper castes. I am one against it and so must be many, as it will help those who damaged the fabrics of governance in Bihar. As on today, Nitish is the only hope for Bihar. There is hardly any other political leader in JD (U), Congress, or even BJP who has chief ministerial material. Nitish might have failed on many fronts. But the other two stalwarts, who have not shown any change of heart, are trying their best to make comeback. Those, who are against Nitish for vested reasons will help the reentry of the two oldies even with their history of vested interest for governing the state instead of any development vision for the state. Interestingly, both, over years have nurtured only their family members becoming strong and rich.

I wish Nitish to return but with a changed manifesto and dynamism to bring in some changes that can push Bihar in the league of developed state with education and skill training as the focus for sustaining any growth.

Posted in bihar | Leave a comment

Why Shall I not Like to Live Long?

Posted on April 6, 2010 by indra

I was surprised and amused to see Anand Sharma’s comment on My Reasons to Seek a Long Life that was as follows:

Well, I can give you many many more reasons to be around till 2039. For starters, I will be 67 years old! I am sure you would like to see how I will be at your age..:-)


Precisely that is the reason that I don’t wish live up to 2039. When I see my own transformation in photos below, I can imagine for my kids:


Emma and Zach will be 31 and 33, while Keshav will be 41 and his father 73. I love how they look today. Here is a photograph and see their divine facial expressions. Will it remain the same with their age in 2039?

Can Shannon get a photograph of this quality in 2039? Both will be busy in their own affairs, as their parents are today.

I have some beautiful photographs of Anand, Rajesh and Rakesh in my collection but more so in my heart and mind that I enjoy at all moments.


I shall certainly not like to see them at the age with all the possible changes that will come in physical appearances and attitudes.

I love them as they are today. For parents, the children remain kids all the time. I can’t just imagine seeing them that old.

I wish the readers of this blog take some time and at least glance through the link to get an idea of India 2039 and understand the assumptions taken in building up the dream India.

I shall feel bad, if even in 2039, ‘the absolute poverty persists in limited areas in India’, as the report predicts.

A February 2010 Carnegie Endowment paper titled The World Order in 2050, by Uri Dadush and Bennett Stancil. (Available as a working draft at http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications) Even in 2050 about 4 per cent of India’s population that will be in many crores in number, would be living on less than $2 a day. No amount of per capita increase in income will be of any solace. What will be that growth that will not make 100% Indians literate rather educated? That will be certainly not that I wish to keep on seeing even in 2039.

Finally, the horror of not finding some Harendra or Syamal to look after us is equally dissuading to dream for living thr’2039?

I wish the researches by 2020 could make us find easy ways and means to win over the human disability to live well, and eliminate the dependence of aging persons on others.

Posted in personal | Leave a comment