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'President
Played Big Role in BrahMos Missile'
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Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday mentioned
the role played by President A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam earlier in the development of the
BrahMos missile. The Prime Minister made
the observations during a visit to the BrahMos
aerospace complex at Delhi cantonment in
the capital. Dr Kalam had been actively
involved in India's missile programme before
he became President in 2002. Pointing out
that the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile
has already been inducted by the Indian
Navy, Dr Singh said that it would be soon
inducted by the other wings of the armed
forces as well. He also highlighted the
"considerable export potential" of the missile
in the global arms market. The BrahMos joint
venture between India and Russia was conceptualised
in 1995, with participation by the Defence
Research Development Organisation (DRDO)
of India and the NPO Mashinostroyenia of
Russia. Dr. Singh also referred to Russia
as a traditional and trusted supplier of
defence systems to India. The BrahMos missile
can fly at 2.8 times the speed of sound
and can carry warheads of upto 200 kg. It
has a maximum range of 290 km.
Courtesy:
The Asian Age, June 29, 2006
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'A
One-Billion Middle-Class Deluge From India,
China by 2020'
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The
collective might of the middle-class - annual
income above $5,000 - in India and China
is estimated to explode to the one-billion
mark by 2020,with China having 650 million
and India 350 million individuals in this
income group, estimates an independent research
report complied by theMasterintelligence
Knowledge Panel of MasterCArd, the global
payments solution company. In 2004, this
number was 79 million in China and 12 million
in India, said Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wang, Economic
Advisor (Asia Pacific) of MasterCard International,
who heads a panel of economists conducting
research on the business environment in
the Asia Pacific region. Presenting the
salient features of its latest study at
a Roundtable of economic editors in Singapore
on Tuesday, Dr Yuwa said: "The demand and
supply shock" of the burgeoning millions
in China and India has already been felt
by the global, particularly the US, economy.
The $5,000 figure is an important benchmark
in any community. When annual income is
below this threshold, "household consumption
tends to be dominated by expenditure on
basic necessities, which have relatively
less business and economic impact. As soon
as income exceeds the $5,000-threshold,
marginal expenditures shift quickly to discretionary
appending such as dining out, personal travel,
auto purchases etc and these have a huge
business and economic impact," says the
report. India is of specific significance
to the users of such surveys because by
2015, it is estimated that beyond the "middle
classes", the rich - those earning $2,20,000
and above per year - will rise from an estimated
53,000 in 2005 to 1.5 lakh in 2015, with
half of them being located in the cities
of Delhi and Mumbai.
Courtesy:
www.thehindubusinessline.com, June 29, 2006
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2,000
Join Infosys on a Single Day
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Surely,
it can't get bigger than this! Infosys Technologies
saw 2,000 new recruits reporting for duty
for the first time on a single day - June
26. That's bigger than what most companies
in India have employed in their entire lifetime.
And that's a record for Infy too, breaking
the earlier high of 906 people who joined
in July 2005. Most of these new recruits
will be trained at the company's global
training centre in Mysore, while a few hundreds
will be trained in Hyderabad. The Mysore
centre that has a seating capacity of 4,500
has already trained over 10,000 people in
the last one year. And guess what, even
the starting salaries in Infy have gone
up sharply. With talent becoming scarce,
Infy has increased the base salaries for
freshers to Rs 2.7 lakh per annum this year,
from Rs 2 to Rs 2.1 lakh last year. That's
an over 30% increase. ''The hikes are mainly
to attract talent and also to fall in line
with the industry average,'' said Bikramjit
Maitra, V-P and head (HR), Infosys. Infosys
had said at the beginning of the year that
it was expecting to hire 25,000 people this
year, scaling up from its existing strength
of 53,000. In fact, all lead players, be
it IBM, Accenture, TCS or Wipro, are on
a major hiring spree. June to December is
IT hiring season in India. "Companies that
have comprehensive training facilities,
like Infosys and TCS, will hire thousands
of freshers from campuses, while others
including IBM and Accenture will focus on
lateral hiring," said HR consultant B S
Murthy. In the next few months, around 20,000
freshers are expected to be hired and trained
for ERP, CRM, telecom, datacom, testing
and product engineering by tier I players
in the country.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, June 29, 2006
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'India
is The Most Interesting Place in World'
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U.S.
real estate developer and investor Tishman
Speyer is moving aggressively to invest
in India and has similar plans to be a player
in China, a top executive with the company
said on Monday. "India is probably the most
interesting place in the world right now,"
Robert Speyer, senior managing director,
said at the Reuters Real Estate Summit in
New York. Tishman Speyer, which owns the
New York Times Building and Rockefeller
Center, and the private venture arm of India's
ICICI Banking Corp. announced a joint venture
in January to invest more than $1 billion
in India over the next three to five years.
Meanwhile, in China, Tishman Speyer is launching
a business in Shanghai that will develop
commercial and residential property there,
in Beijing and other large secondary cities.
The investments in India will focus on both
office and residential properties, Speyer
said. "So many of the companies we do business
with (in the United States) and in Europe
are opening businesses in India, and there
is an incredible shortage of quality real
estate there," he said. The venture is based
in Bangalore and is also looking at Bombay,
but deals in half a dozen other major Indian
cities are being scouted as well, Speyer
said. In China, Tishman Speyer is taking
a different approach, setting up a partnership
with another U.S. firm rather than a local
partner, he said. "We want to be able to
service our clients wherever they are in
major cities around the world, so for us
being in China is a very necessary ingredient
of our business," said Speyer, citing similar
motivation for entering China as India.
He declined to discuss whether the company
is raising a fund for China as it has with
India. "Unfortunately, because of securities
law, we can't talk about private funds that
are in formation," Speyer said. He said
Tishman Speyer is aggressively hiring workers
in both India and China. Indian employees
also will work in the company's U.S. and
European operations, he said.
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, June 28, 2006
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Want
a Salary Hike? India's Your Place
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India
reported the highest average salary increase
at 13.9 per cent, and employees in the Indian
IT-enabled industry received the highest
increase at 17.9 per cent, according to
the India Salary Guide 2006 released by
Kelly Services, a global provider of staffing
services and solutions, on Monday. "This
increase is of no surprise and is the highest
in India compared to rest of the Asia region
since there has been heavy investment in
India from global companies," said Achal
Khanna, Country General Manager, Kelly Services
for India. She said India still maintains
the competitive advantage for providing
the combination of the most cost-effective
and high quality manpower. According to
the guide, which gives an insight of current
trend in the salaries structure in various
industries and organizations, brisk recruitment
by organizations will continue for IT, ITeS,
telecom and pharma are leading the pack
when it comes to high salaries and instant
job offers going through. It said with a
major boost in construction and manufacturing,
high automobile sales, and higher consumer
spending, the overall recruitment outlook
has been very encouraging, and this has
been reflected in the salaries and demand
for talent. The guide said there is a strong
demand in the banking industry for entry
level positions. "The call centre industry
is showing a greater employee churn and
organisations in this business sector are
using attractive means to retain talent."
With the splurge of malls, residential areas
and corporate offices across the country,
there has been a major rise in the demand
of managers, officers, engineers and technicians.
Khanna said given the current economic climate,
companies need to pay added attention to
their existing salary packages and compensation
benefits because it will make a key difference
in retaining good talent.
Courtesy:
Economic Times, June 27, 2006
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Indian
Americans do Their Bit for N-deal
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While
the Bush administration is busy trying to
get the Congress to clear the nuclear deal
with India, Indian American interest groups
are doing their bit by lobbying lawmakers
across the US. Stressing the importance
of lobbying groups in the present context,
Sanjay Puri, chairman of USINPAC, a group
representing the Indian American community
on Capitol Hill, says several lawmakers
have confided in him that the nuclear deal
looked dead a few months ago until active
lobbying by groups like his bought it back
on track. "Since both Congress and the House
of Representatives have to come together
to pass a Bill, we lobby both sides to try
and convince them," he said in a video conference
from Washington DC with journalists on Monday.
"We are the largest contributer (among)
ethnic groups in the US. So our voice in
Capitol Hill is very huge," said Supriya
Christopher, executive director of USINPAC.
"We don't work with the Indian government,
the issues we pursue come from our member
bases. Our interests are strategic and economic.
And we have been very successful in our
lobbying," Puri said. The growing economic
and political clout of Indian Americans
coupled with the American corporate sector's
growing interest in India creates a powerful
lobby, said Puri. Also, American companies
are increasingly favouring cooperation with
India as they have increasing stakes in
the country. Puri cited companies like GE,
who he said help a lot when they say a particular
deal with India is good for the US. "We
(Indian Americans) are the bridge between
the two countries, corporates are the catalysts,"
added Supriya. "For us, our work is advocacy,
to create awareness. For instance, a lawmaker
in far-away Michigan does not have the nuclear
deal on top of his priorities. So we inform
him and his staff ... we make calls, make
white papers ... it is about getting your
point on the table," Puri said.
Courtesy:
Times of India, June 27, 2006
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NRI
Student Bags Newsweek Award
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Indian-American
Benita Singh, a Yale University student,
is among 15 U.S. citizens and organisations
chosen by Newsweek magazine for its annual
`Giving Back Awards' - honouring those who
use fame, fortune and heart to devote themselves
to helping others. Ms. Benita and her partner
Ruth DeGolia have been chosen for their
work among women, especially widows, in
Guatemala. The 15 awardees were chosen from
among hundreds of nominations. The citation
says Ms. Benita and Ms. Ruth were still
undergraduates in the summer of 2003 when
they found their destiny in the village
of San Alfonso in Guatemala. The two, international
studies majors at Yale, were working on
their senior theses when they visited the
village, filled with women who had fled
Guatemala during a brutal civil war in the
1980s. After two years in refugee camps
in Mexico, the women, many of them widowed
by the fighting, had been repatriated to
their country where there was no work and
no market for the exquisite woven and beaded
handicraft they produced. But the women
weren't beggars. It was, says Benita, ``the
first time I'd ever walked into an impoverished
community where people weren't asking me
for money.''
Courtesy:
The Hindu, June 27, 2006
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Indian
CAs to Soon Get Recognition in Singapore,
UK
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Indian
Chartered Accountants can look forward to
practice in Singapore and the UK as the
Institute of Chartered Accountant of India
(ICAI) is in the process of signing a mutual
recognition of professional agreement with
the two countries. ICAI president T N Manoharan
told PTI that the association, the apex
body for CAs in India, was in very advanced
stage of discussion with its counterpart
in Singapore for signing the agreement.
"I am hopeful that in next two months, everything
would be finalised between both the institutes,"
he said, pointing out that this was a part
of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation
Agreement (CECA) with the city-state. ICAI
has also intitiated talks with its counterpart
in the UK. "This is at a preliminary stage
now," he said, adding that besides mutual
recognition of degrees, many other areas
are being looked into for cooperation. "For
this, an Indo-UK study group has been formed
at the instance of the Commerce Ministry
and I expect that the agreement with the
UK would be through by the end of this year,"
Manoharan said. Apart from the two countries,
SAARC nations like Nepal and Sri Lanka had
also envinced interest in having similar
kind of agreeement with ICAI. "Dialogue
would start soon," the ICAI president said.
Courtesy:
Economic Times, June 26, 2006
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IIT,
IIM Alumni Associations do Their Bit And
More For Alma Mater, Society
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IIT
and IIM alumni associations are increasingly
becoming more than just a convenient way
of keeping in touch with batchmates. These
associations are now serving as platforms,
that enable ex-students to contribute to
their alma mater and the society as well.
The class of '06 at IIM-Ahmedabad has decided
to raise Rs 1 crore by '10-11, while the
IIT Bombay Heritage Fund, a non-profit organisation
set up by the US-based alumni of IIT-B,
has helped raise over $20m over the past
10 years. The funds have been used to finance
infrastructure, scholarships, awards, funding
for research, funding for inviting distinguished
academics from foreign universities. Besides,
alumni associations facilitate interaction
between the alumni faculty and students,
awarding distinguished alumnus, fund raising
and tracking of alumni-sponsored projects.
They also help bring industry stalwarts
to the campus through their networks. Fund
raising is perhaps the most important activity
of these associations. Many of the associations
are incorporated under the Companies Act
and donations are exempt from income tax.
With many of these institutes seeking to
expand within the country as well as increase
their global presence, fund raising has
had to go global. For instance, the alumni
of IIM-A has set up three trusts - in Mumbai,
London and the US. IIT Delhi received $350,000
from alumni based in the US in '05 and the
money was used to set up an information
technology school at the institution. Interestingly,
after taking the step of being more than
an old boys club, these associations have
also made contributions outside of their
alma mater. The IIT alumni Canada association
raised funds for the Prime Minister's relief
fund for the Tsunami in 2004. It also raises
funds for local charities and organises
blood donation drives. The IIT Bombay Alumni
Association paid for the infrastructure
costs of setting up the Village Knowledge
Centre near Bangalore which helps empower
children and villagers by equipping them
with a library, computers. Going national,
IIM Lucknow alumni raised funds during the
Kargil War, and sponsored a desalination
plant after the tsunami. The alumni associations
have also intervened on policy issues that
have a direct bearing on their institutes.
Recently, IIM Alumni joined the anti-quota
campaign, and in 2003-04, it was the alumni
that helped in the agitation against the
proposed fee reduction at the IIMs. Sponsorships
for these associations are more than forthcoming,
due to the IIT/IIMs global brand value.
For instance, Citibank offers a zero annual
charge IITBAA affinity gold card.
Courtesy:
Economic Times, June 26, 2006
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US
Award For Indian Fraud Examiner
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Forensic
accounting is still nascent in India, but
city-based chartered accountant and certified
fraud examiner, Mayur Joshi, has outclassed
thousands across the world to win the outstanding
achievement award in outreach/community
service, presented by the Association of
certified fraud examiners (ACFE), headquartered
in the US. Forensic accounting is a combination
of accounting, auditing and investigation
skills. Mayur is the first Indian to bag
this international award from the ACFE,
which will be presented during the association's
annual conference in Las Vegas, scheduled
for July 3 and 4. The founder promoter of
India forensic Research Foundation - a non-profit
community to tackle increasing cases of
white-collared fraud - Mayur was selected
for the award "for creating awareness and
sensitising the community about forensic
accounting." "At India forensic, we have
been working in four core areas, namely
cyber frauds, bank frauds, money laundering
and occupational frauds," Mayur said, expressing
happiness at being selected for the award.
Jeff Kubiszyn, the ACFE awards committee
liaison, in a communiqué to Joshi, said,
"The award recognises those members and
chapters who have displayed exceptional
achievement in preventing, detecting and
investigating fraud." Mayur has been invited
to give an expert presentation at the 3rd
annual fraud management conference in Mumbai
in the first week of July. He has so far
handled 10 critical cases, which had direct
links with fraud detection and money laundering.
"The economic offences wing of the Pune
police was amongst the first to seek my
help in investigating a fraud case. The
findings of the case were submitted by the
police to the Bombay high court as crucial
evidence." Mayur, who is also the first
fraud examiner in the city and 33rd in India
to be certified by the ACFE in 2001, brings
out a bi-monthly magazine.
Courtesy:
Times of India, June 25, 2006
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India
Inc is Helping Script Mid-Day Meal Success
Story in Rajasthan
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This
week's front-page stories about India Inc
getting into big-ticket infrastructure,
real estate, agro-processing and information
technology pushed into the sidelines another
significant foray by corporate India. This
time, into the mid-day meal scheme in Rajasthan.
Responding to an aggressive campaign by
the state government to attract the private
sector to ramp up its mid-day meal scheme,
the biggest corporate names in India and
abroad and industry-backed NGOs are adopting
district after district in the state to
ensure that children coming to schools get
high-quality meals during their lunch breaks.
The Birla group, Mahindra and Mahindra,
Infosys, DCM Sriram and Sterlite groups
are already part of the scheme in Rajasthan.
The Tatas, Oberois, Nevatias (Gujarat Ambuja),
and even steel king L N Mittal have also
expressed their interest to join. Confirming
this, the state's mid-day meal scheme director
Sudhansh Pant said: "More than 4.5 lakh
children in Rajasthan are getting extremely
nutritious food prepared by some of the
big industrial houses in the country." Rajasthan
is arguably the only state in India which
has been able to attract so much support
from the private sector for this scheme.
The involvement of the private sector in
the scheme, launched in July under the directives
of the Supreme Court, is a result of a well-devised
public-private partnership. There are more
than 73 lakh students in various primary
schools of Rajasthan. And though the state
and the Centre set aside a provisional budget
of nearly Rs 580 crore, the average amount
that the state could spend on a student,
including the transportation cost, was just
Rs 3.20 per meal. Besides this finance crunch,
the quality of meals was constrained by
the lack of organized infrastructure and
cooking facilities. Aware of these constraints,
a few months ago the state Government, led
by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, launched
a campaign to enlist the support of the
private sector, sending individual letters
to industrial houses. The state government
is also constructing more than 25,000 mid-day
meal kitchens and stores as part of the
ongoing drought relief works. The Bangalore-based
Akshay Patra Foundation (supported by Infosys)
was the first to take up the cause, triggering
a trend. Today, nine corporate houses and
NGOs like the Naandi Foundation-backed by
several Hyderabad corporates-run the scheme
in 11 towns of Rajasthan. Eleven others
have signed up MoUs for supporting the scheme
in several districts. The Rajasthan Government
provides the food grain and conversion cost
of Rs 2 per child (the highest in the country)
to these organizations. With inputs from
the organizations that enhance the quality
and nutrition value, the meals are then
cooked in centralized kitchens set up by
these organizations and served in hot cases
to the children. Apart from preparing meals,
the private sector is also contributing
generously to create the mid-day meal infrastructure
in the state. "We have received donations
(and proposals) in excess of Rs 4.5 crore
for setting up the infrastructure from industrial
houses," Pant told The Sunday Express.
Courtesy:
Indian Express, June 25, 2006
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NID
Alumnus to 'Brand' Ahmedabad
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Think
local, act global. Cliched it may sound,
but this is precisely what NID alumnus and
director of a leading design company, Sudhir
Sharma has envisaged for Ahmedabad and implemented
for Pune. Next week onwards, Sharma will
begin working on building a 'city identity'
for Ahmedabad, to make it an industry and
cultural hub. "Today, Ahmedabad is the seat
of power, yet it does not make it to the
top of the priority lists of people planning
to visit cities. A specific identity can
be the rallying point to make Ahmedabad
a destination city for industry, art and
culture, "says Sharma, founder of Elephant
Design+Strategy, a design consultancy that
he began in Pune in 1989, along with four
fellow NIDians. Recently, his firm designed
an identity for Commonwealth Youth Games
to be held in Pune in 2008, unveiled on
June 5 by Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao
Deshmukh. "Creating a Games' identity also
involved creating a city identity of Pune,"says
Sharma,whose "nostalgia" for Ahmedabad has
now motivated him to do the same here. "I
lived in Ahmedabad for six years, first
as a Kendriya Vidyalaya student and then
as an NIDian." Sharma will return to his
alma mater next week to conduct a class
on branding, using the example of Ahmedabad.
"It was Shivaji's coronation seal and joie
de vivre of the city that inspired the Pune
identity. The one designed for Ahmedabad
will be similar, needing a deep understanding
of the history, aspirations, political and
economic scenario etc," he says. "Ahmedabad
has beautiful architecture and a CG road
which is considered to be a shopping experience.
But both need better development," he added.
While Sharma would work on his project with
NID as of now, he is open to roping in help
from civic authorities in future. "As a
person who doesn't hail from Gujarat, I
don't know what you're trying to say by
talking about the Vibrant Gujarat campaign.
To create a 'brand' for a state, one needs
to articulate the identity of various cities
within the state."
Courtesy:
Times of India, June 25, 2006
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Foreign
Tourist Arrivals up 14.5 Per Cent
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In
the first five months of this calendar year,
foreign tourist arrivals increased by 14.5
per cent to 18.7 lakh, as compared to 16.32
lakh in the corresponding period last year.
Against 2005, foreign exchange earning has
also shown a similar jump of 14.5 per cent
in these five months. From $2.28 billion
in 2005, foreign exchange earnings went
up to $2.61 billion. Of the 18.7 lakh tourist
arrivals this year, 12.8 lakh had visited
in January, February and March. In fact,
67.82 per cent of the entire foreign exchange
was earned in these three months alone.
April too registered a healthy growth this
year. Tourist arrivals increased by 24.7
per cent, compared to 16.5 per cent in the
last year. However, the percentage increase
of forex earning was not that sharp. It
increased by 25.1 per cent in 2006 and 24.2
per cent in 2005. While the number of arrivals
and foreign exchange earnings have increased
in 2006, the growth in these months has
not been as high as in 2005 over 2004. In
contrast to the 14.5 per cent increase of
foreign tourist arrivals this year, there
was a growth of 19 per cent in 2005. While
forex earning had increased by 22.1 per
cent last year, it only increased by 14.5
per cent in 2005. However, the amount spent
by a traveller has remained constant at
$1,400.
Courtesy:
Business Standard, June 23, 2006
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Millionaires
in India Grew by 19.3 Per Cent in 2005:
Survey
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India
seems to be minting millionaires. Its millionaire
population in 2005 shot up by 19.3 per cent
over the past year, second only to South
Korea's 21.3 per cent on world charts. The
World Wealth Report, released by Merrill
Lynch and Capgemini, says India had 83,000
millionaires (people with more than $1 million
or Rs 4.5 crore in net financial assets,
excluding their residence and consumables).
The rate at which India is producing rich
people is hardly surprising, says the report.
It goes on: "Also, according to the most
recent Goldman Sachs projections, India
has the potential to become the fourth largest
economy by 2025 and the third largest by
2050, behind only the US and China." Worldwide,
the number of millionaires swelled by half
a million in 2005 and there were 8.7 million
of them, more than New York's population.
When it comes to the number of millionaires,
the US tops with 2.67 million, nearly a
third of the global millionaire population.
Germany, the UK, China, Canada, Australia,
Brazil, and Russia each have more than 100,000
millionaires. The wealth of the millionaires
totalled $33.3 trillion in 2005, up 8.5
per cent. The upper crust of this league
is made of 85,400 "ultra high-net-worth-individuals"
with financial assets of more than $30 million
each. The Asia-Pacific region, the report
says, has surpassed Europe to become the
second most popular region after North America
for international investment. And if the
report is to be believed the India story
will get better. China and India are set
to drive the Asia-Pacific region, helping
it capture an increased share of global
output.
Courtesy:
Hindustan Times, June 22, 2006
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83,500
Indians Feel Like a Million Bucks
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It's
becoming easier to join India's millionaire
club with the number of high networth individuals
(HNWIs) soaring by 13,500 to touch 83,500
in 2005. The number of Indians in this global
gathering shot up by a whopping 19.3 per
cent in 2005, says a survey. One factor
in India's growth in millionaires was the
stock and real estate markets that spiked
by around 50-100% in 2005. Thus far 2006,
many markets, including India, have plunged
by more than 20%, which may have since knocked
a few millionaires off the list. ''The HNWI
population grew most dramatically in South
Korea, rising 21.3%; India rising by 19.3%;
Russia where it rose 17.4% and South Africa
where it grew by 15.93%,'' the report said.
Millionaires also invested more aggressively,
pouring cash into emerging markets and pulling
it out of fixed income holdings, as their
wealth reached $33.3 trillion, more than
double US economic output. Number of millionaires
in the world has nearly doubled in the last
decade, from 4.5 million in 1996 to 8.7
million in 2006, and their total wealth
doubled from $16.6 trillion to $33.3 trillion,
the company said.
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, June 22, 2006
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'Everyone
Has Eye on India...'
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While
licensed products ranging from Superman
coffee mugs to Jeep-branded strollers pervade
US store shelves, the makers of such merchandise
are studying how best to gain a foothold
in the Chinese and Indian marketplaces.
"Everyone has an eye on China and India,"
said Charles Riotto, president of the International
Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association,
or LIMA, at the Reuters Consumer and Retail
Summit in New York on Tuesday. Riotto said
the two countries are still in the very
early stages of licensing, given the countries'
lack of a broad-based understanding of the
concept and the prevalence of counterfeiting.
One turning point for licensing in China
could be the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games,
he said. The Chinese government owns the
licensing rights to those games, and Riotto
said the licensing industry is hoping those
rights will lead to more widespread understanding
in China of how licensing works and the
necessity to crack down on counterfeit products.
Riotto said LIMA has an office in Shanghai,
which gives it a chance to explain licensing
to various Chinese government agencies.
"We entered that market with the understanding
that this is going to be a long-term process,"
he said. LIMA does not yet have an office
in India, he said, because it would not
support itself.
Courtesy:
www.financialexpress.com, June 21, 2006
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Bringing
Back to Life Nalanda University, The IIT
Kanpur Way
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Their
technical know-how makes IITans an asset
for the country's future, but a group of
students from IIT-Kanpur are now trying
to look back and ''re-create'' the Nalanda
University through animation and computer-generated
3-D models to tell the world more about
the ancient seat of learning. Abhishek Upadhyaya,
a Final-Year Master of Design student at
IIT-Kanpur, has designed Nalanda University
the way it was before the Mughal rulers
decided to raze it. Titled ''Information
Visualization and Digital Re-creation of
Ancient Nalanda University'', the project
collates and restructures data about the
ancient university from vast and varied
resources. The idea, Upadhyaya said, is
to bring to the fore the life and times
of Nalanda of yore-a time when it was the
cynosure of knowledge and attracted over
10,000 students and 1,500 teachers-to help
present-day researchers, students, tourists
and archeologists. Making a brief tour of
the date- and time-lines, Bishakha Bhattacharya,
professor at IIT-Kanpur's Mechanical Engineering
department, said the university existed
between 4th century BC and 12th century
AD near what is now Patna. Even the ruins
of the university, which can be seen at
Bargaon village near Rajgir in Patna district,
offer enough indication of its splendor,
Bhattacharya said. The numerous monasteries/
viharas, temples and stupas ''confirm that
it was a seat of learning not just for the
region but the entire world''. Though Nalanda
has been part of history since 4th century
BC, when Lord Buddha went there, Bhattacharya
said it captured the world's attention as
a university around 4th century AD, under
the Gupta dynasty. Gaurav Shukla, an animation
and visual art student who assisted Upadhyaya
in the ancient varsity's 3-D modelling,
said technology could open a new vista with
its near-perfect visualization of historical
artifacts. ''Computer-generated 3-D models
makes possible virtual reconstruction of
architectural and structural detail of any
historical monument,'' Shukla said, ''though
it is an extremely challenging task to do
it practically.'' Shukla said the IIT-Kanpur
group is trying to get a government authority
or some agency involved in history to promote
the fact that Nalanda University could be
revived. ''If the cause is taken up by some
responsible agency, Nalanda can be reconstructed
with the help of animation and 3-D imaging
developed by us.'' According to them, the
faculty and students are in contact with
senior archaeologist Vidula Jaiswal of IT-BHU,
R Pant of Nav Nalanda Maha Vihar and other
prominent personalities to take the project
further.
Courtesy:
Indian Express, June 21, 2006
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Delhi
University Plays up Global Appeal
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The
end of the Taliban regime and the subsequent
reforms have given Afghan students a chance
to study abroad, with many opting for the
prestigious Delhi University. The number
of Iranian, Nepalese, Korean, Chinese, Cambodian
and Vietnamese students applying to DU have
also shown an upward trend. At the other
end of the spectrum, civil wars and political
instability in war-torn Africa explain the
fall in the number of African students coming
to DU, unlike earlier times, when African
students made up the majority of foreign
students in the university. Almost 5% of
seats at the under-graduate level are reserved
for foreign nationals. Interestingly, 80%
of foreign students go in for arts and social
science courses, with only 20% opting for
science courses. According to professor
A S Narag, foreign students advisor of DU,
choice of course depends upon the region
students come from. Political science, economics
and commerce appear to be the most popular
choices for students coming from Afghanistan.
Chinese students opt for courses like computers
and commerce, while, interestingly, Hindi
and Urdu are popular among students coming
from Mauritius due to the teaching job options
available to them back home. The decline
in the number of African nationals has been
due to the political unrest and civil wars,
especially in Somalia and Sudan. While there
were six Sudanese students in 2003-2004,
in 2005-06 the number fell to three, the
number of Afghan students have increased
from 14 in 2003-04 to 90 this year. Students
coming in from developed countries like
the US do not usually enroll for full-time
programmes, but come as part of the study
abroad component of their course. Ilyas,
an Afghan national, here on a scholarship
and a second-year commerce student at Ramjas
College, talks about his experience so far.
"I had applied to both the Czech Republic
as well as India, and getting a scholarship
to study at DU was a dream come true.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times, June 19, 2006
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Fashion
Brands Target India
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Flanked
by a Swarovski store and a Ruby Tuesday
restaurant, India's first Versace boutique
has opened in an upmarket Mumbai mall, its
bright displays and steel-and-white interiors,
drawing several shoppers. The Italian luxury
brand, which plans to expand quickly in
China and India, is the latest to enter
India after Hugo Boss, Burberry, Cartier,
Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Tommy Hilfiger.
Others waiting to launch include Gucci and
Giorgio Armani, which will open four stores
in Mumbai and New Delhi.
Courtesy:
The Statesman, June 18, 2006
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Guyana
Recalls Indian Workers' Martyrdom
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Guyana
President Bharrat Jagdeo has recalled the
martyrdom of five Indian origin workers,
saying their sacrifice was connected to
the development of political forces that
led to the Caribbean country's independence.
Reports here quoted Jagdeo as saying at
the annual Enmore Martyrs' Day rally at
Enmore, East Coast Demerara, on Thursday
night that the five's martyrdom should serve
as the catalyst for the continued struggle
to improve the lives and livelihood of the
Guyanese people. On June 16, 1948, colonial
police shot at and killed five Indian origin
sugar workers - Lallabajee, Pooran, Harry,
Surujballi and Rambarran - at the Enmore
estate. They were among a group of workers
who were demanding better working conditions
from their employers, the sugar barons and
colonial masters of that time. Their protest
was part of a mass struggle to end the cut-and-load
system of sugarcane, secure better living
and working conditions and recognition of
the Guyana Industrial Workers Union (GIWU),
the forerunner of the current Guyana Agricultural
and General Workers Union (GAWU). The five
dead labourers later came to be known as
the Enmore Martyrs. Their supreme sacrifice
is observed every year through a rally and
wreath-laying ceremony at the Enmore Martyrs
Monument site.
Courtesy:
The Times of India, June 16, 2006
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Indian
Aviation is Global Flavour
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Despite
forecasts about growing losses fuelling
an imminent shakeout, Indian aviation industry
continues to be the flavour of the season
in the global arena. The disappointing listing
of Air Deccan and the continuous slide of
the Jet Airways scrip has not affected the
sentiment of global investors. According
to estimates by a top analyst at the International
Air Transport Association (IATA), the investment
needed by the Indian aviation industry is
around $90bn in the next 24 years and this
provides big opportunities for investors
world-wide. The Centre for Asia Pacific
Aviation (CAPA) is of the view that the
pie could get even bigger with $40bn investment
potential in the next five to seven years.
Though estimates are diverse, there is consensus
on the boom in India which could be turn
out to be biggest the global aviation industry
hasseen so far. During the recent IATA conference
in Paris, civil aviation minister Praful
Patel and Air-India chairman-cum-managing
director V Thulasidas were the most sought
after despite the industry's worries about
high fuel prices. In fact, Mr Patel was
the only civil aviation minister invited
to address the global airline industry association.
While the civil aviation minister was urged
to carry on with reforms, the Air-India
chief was elected to IATA's board of governors.
Mr Thulasidas was also part of the high-profile
meeting of the airline CEO forum, according
to information reaching here from Paris.
IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani's
speech also contained several references
to India's aviation boom and the need for
more reforms to speed up growth. Apart from
the $30bn that airlines of India are planning
to spend on purchase of aircraft, the global
industry's focus is on the huge investments
that Indian airports would require to meet
growing demand. Mr Patel's mention about
upgradation of 35 non-metro airports was
watched keenly, industry sources said.
Courtesy:
The Economic Times: June 14, 2006
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Expats
Come on a Discovery of India
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Ten
years ago it wasn't big business. But it
brought in enough high-end clients for Rohit
Kumar to plunge into the business of relocating
expats with his firm, Ikan Relocation. Business
has been growing ever since - from a small
base of 100 families five years ago, last
year he relocated close to 500 expat families.
"We have been growing at 35-40% annually,"
he says. But the rising numbers are only
a part of the expat story in India. On the
back of a globalisation wave, outsourcing
surge and sizzling Indian economy, the changing
profile of expats, its shifting demographics
and growing gender diversity is perhaps
a bigger story here. With India shedding
its "hardship posting" tag, the expat community
here is becoming more diverse. Caucasians,
mostly middle-aged men, top-notch executives
earning fat salaries - that's what a typical
expat was like. Well-educated and well-heeled,
most of them came to take up very senior
positions in MNCs here and earned fat salaries.
The number of women and Asian expats has
clearly been rising-in India as well as
globally-as diversity in the work force
becomes an issue for global corporations.
Geographical diversity is rising as India
integrates with the world economy-Chinese,
Koreans, Finnish, Russians, Australians-new
nationals are joining the traditional British,
American and Japanese expats here. Even
corporate background is more varied today:
from the usual MNCs like Coca-Cola, HLL
to Indian firms like Air Deccan and Oberoi
to even smaller international firms like
ebookers expats in India today come from
very diverse corporate background. Also,
its not just the creamy-layered top executives
who are being brought in. Tunneling experts
for metro projects, shop floor managers
for garment factories, architects and town
planners for the township projects, retailing
professionals for the new businesses-suddenly
the demand-supply mismatch in some of the
fast-growing sectors has pushed Indian companies
to bring in professionals from overseas.
And they need not be top-level managers.
Ebookers is a perfect example-a BPO operation
in Delhi serving the company's global customers
it has more than 80 foreigners working at
its call center mostly answering calls and
booking enquiries from overseas customers.
Add to this a growing number of brown expats-or
returning Indians-who are filling positions
in virtually every sector, from IT services
to auto, R&D and aviation. True to its reputation,
Bangalore generated the most business for
his company. Despite growing numbers and
modernising India, integration challenges
still remain for the expat community. But
the biggest of them all-compensation-seems
to be becoming less of an issue now. With
growing salary levels in India, the salary
difference between an expat and an Indian
doing the same job has also substantially
reduced. "In the IT industry, most expats
come almost at the same level at which they
were overseas, whereas in a manufacturing
firm they can still bargain for a position
a notch higher, while relocating to India,"
says Chakraverti. While better infrastructure
and a globalised economy has made India
a better place for expats to work, it has
created a weird problem for a few. Many
expats, especially Indians who left over
a decade ago "are still stuck in the past
and are not able to connect to the new changed
India," says K Sudarshan, managing partner,
EMA Partners. Many of them come back with | |
