Desicritics Author: Sanjay Garg

Bobby Jindal and the Whiteness Syndrome

Sanjay Garg — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 00:43:54 EDT

In this article, blogger Amardeep Singh cites a Washington Post article that apparently represents a "really well done piece on the Indian community's reaction to Bobby Jindal". In scanning through said article, I noted that while the writer does touch fleetingly on issues of identity (i.e. that Jindal won as "Bobby", not as Piyush, his real name, about his religious conversion etc), she fails to tie everything together in the context of American history of Whiteness. Perhaps doing so would have been too inconvenient for the editors at the Post.

Deeper analysis indicates that Jindal's victory is a textbook example of America's "whiteness syndrome" in action, an illustration of how the construction of whiteness has perhaps expanded to include some South Asians, just as a half century ago it was expanded to include Jews, Italians and Slavs.

Notice that the expansion of who gets counted as white goes hand in hand with a minority group's entering the professions (rather than blue collar work). The link between occupation and race is precisely why historian David Roediger called his book on European immigrants "Working Toward Whiteness: The Strange Journey from Ellis Island to the Suburbs."

The term whiteness denotes not necessarily a racial construct but a social one, indicating that race has morphed into a socio-cultural, rather than a biological construction under the challenge of diversity, American style. In this scheme, Whiteness denotes the pecking order in American power structure today & echoes how Japanese businessmen were given “honorary white” status by South Africa’s apartheid regime.

The pioneering Indian American public intellectual, Mr. Rajiv Malhotra, neatly summarizes this into a three-dimension model of whiteness in contemporary America:

(1) as a secular blend of race, ethnicity and culture: This is the liberal path to becoming white
(2) as a civic religion based on Judeo-Christianity/Bible: Christianizing was Bobby Jindal’s Biblical path to Whiteness
(3) as a socioeconomic status

According to Mr. Malhotra, one may think of these as left-wing and right-wing whiteness. How white you are is measured in this 3-dimensional model. All other identities are based on difference from whiteness and accordingly placed well below in the pecking order of corporate & institutional power in America.

The message to Indian Americans, however unpalatable it may be?

(a) You must first be whitened (whiteness as culture, not as race) before you can even think of running for any power position in America
(b) Whether your whiteness is of the left-wing or of the right-wing variety, only survival-level, Katrina type issues will trump your ethnicity in American power structures today.

The American system of allocating power based on degree of Whiteness has to be contrasted, sharply & unfavorably, with that of another major democracy. The Indian system does not dole out power based on how closely one fits a single notion of identity but allows people to win power without forcing anyone to change their identity.

India Economic News Weekly Report, August 17-23, 2007

Sanjay Garg — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 11:09:38 EDT

Some daughters have been in the news recently for having taken over the family business in India. Perhaps the highest profile is Ms. Schauna Chauhan Saluja who takes over Parle Agro Pvt Ltd which currently has sales exceeding $100 million. Parle, of course, is at a bit of a cross-roads and perhaps one of the first challenges Ms. Saluja faces is how to deal with the global MNC giants who are prowling around, looking to take over her company. Other names to watch out for are Ms. Saloni Khanderia of Indiana Carpet Industries and Ms. Diana Fernandes of Precision Industrial Fasteners (I) Pvt. Ltd. Here are the news items for this week:

India's Reliance Fresh launches 10 stores in Lucknow
Each store directly employs 25 people, is open 11 hrs daily and offers between 1700-2000 items. The Uttar Pradesh government, however, has ordered the stores closed until a governmental panel completes its review, following protests from small grocers and farmers.

Japanese company to set up Rs.2.4 billion project in Rajasthan
This is a manufacturing facility to produce and develop disc brakes for two and four wheeled vehicles at Neemrana. Ouput will go to a nearby Honda plant.

Tropicana to assist Punjab in planting citrus orchards on 5,577 acres
Tropicana is the world's largest juice company and has already planted citrus on. 1,137 acres. For Punjab, the objective is to diversify their agriculture.

Dai-ichi of Japan to invest $100 mn in Indias insurance sector
Dai-ichi is the second largest insurer in Japan and the sixth largest in the world. Last year, they formed a new life insurance company with Bank of India and Union Bank of India

India's Quintegra buying US co for $50 mn
In March, Quintegra acquired two software companies - one in the US and another in Singapore - for a total consideration of $10.5 million. This one is a much larger acquisition.

India's Landmark, SPAR of Holland sign $50 mn retail deal
The first hypermarket, measuring 85,000 sq ft, and the first supermarket, at 28,000 sq ft, would open in Bangalore next month. Expected revenues of $1 billion dollars from 300 stores in India by 2010

India: ADAG to invest Rs 500 cr to produce 40 movies
ADAG has already tied up with film director Madhur Bhandarkar for three films and is negotiating with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The company will look at big budget and art house films.

Eros Intl to set up animation studio in India
In addition, Eros will invest over Rs 600 crore in 30 Bollywood films a year. This includes movie acquisitions, co-productions and for producing three-four films under their flagship.

Japan's Nippon Sheet to build India plant
After rival Asahi Glass Co. set up an India operation, Nippon Sheet will also build a plant in India to manufacture glass for vehicles at a cost of about 15 million euro

India's DLF wins 40 bln rupee integrated township project in Durgapur
This will be public-private effort to develop a 95-acre integrated township at Durgapur, West Bengal

National Sample Survey Organisation indicates poverty down by 4.3% in India
In 2004-05, the estimated number of poor was 238.5 million. The poverty ratio in rural areas fell from 27.1 percent in 1999-2000 to 21.8 percent in 2004-05. In the urban areas it fell from 23.6 percent to 21.7 percent in the same period. The population increased by approx 65-70 million during the sam period

India's JSW Steel buys 3 US cos for 900 mln usd
JSW is the 4th largest steemaker in India and it is also setting up an 8.5 bln rupee iron ore beneficiation plant in Karnataka. Nor will JSW stop with these acquisitions. It is seeking to enter the oil and gas sector in North America

Lehman of USA picks 26 percent in India's Edelweiss for $55 mn
Last week, Lehman acquired a part of India's Brics Securities. From 2006 to now, Lehman has set up investment banking, private equity and brokerage operations, as well as property funds and a back-office operation.

Delhi Govt to spend Rs 1.5 billion to upgrade schools
Shelia Dixit's Delhi government would spend Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) to upgrade and construct 200 schools in east Delhi,

India to launch INSAT-4CR on September one
This spacecraft is identical to INSAT-4C, which was lost during the unsuccessful launch of Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F02) in July 2007. The pressure is on.

Citibank's Hong Kong arm buys 5% in India realty firm for Rs 325 crores
The Indian realty group is developing a township on 1,500 acre of land in Nahar Par area in Faridabad

India's Great Offshore to buy Norway's PetroJack for USD 500 mln
India's Great Offshore Ltd is believed to be taking over Norwegian offshore company PetroJack in two weeks

Zenta of USA to set up 1,500-seat Chennai facility
Zenta is doing some pretty sophisticated work in India including cash-flow modelling, real estate valuation and pretty high-end finance and accounts work

State Bank of India tying up with post offices to reach villages
Leverage the 155,000 postal outlets in the country in a bid to reach out to the remotest villages of India

India's Manipal group launches stem cell institute in Bangalore
The Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine (MIRM) is the first in the country and faculty will be from India and the US. Enrolled 30 students already and a branch will be coming up in Malaysia in 3 months

India: 100 acre catering college set up in Munnar, Kerala
At a cost of Rs 17 crore for the project, this is a co-educational, international and residential institute. Claim to fame is an exact replica of a 5-star hotel

Indian Fast food chain Jumbo King plans 500 outlets by March 2010
The chain was started in August 2001and currently has 30 outlets in Mumbai, selling 40,000 vada pavs priced affordably between Rs 8 and Rs 16 apiece. An additional 120 outlets will open by March 2008

India: ONGC finds new gas reserves in Tripura
With this new gas find at Sundalbari in Tripura, the company has identified two new gas reserves in Tripura this year.

Around the world in 80 days, Indian Air Force pilots set new record
The 300-kg microlight plane covered a distance of 40, 497 kilometres and circumnavigated the globe in 80 days. In creating a new world record for the fastest round-the-world trip, the IAF team achieved a speed of 21 kmph to better the earlier record of 16.53 kmph set by UK aviator Colin Bodil in 2001.

India's cold storage capacity up by 11 pc
In the past two years, cold storage capacity went from 195.52 lakh tons to 216.94 lakh tons.

India: NTPC to set up 750 MW thermal power project in Assam
The project is estimated to cost Rs 4,500 crore. All key clearances have been obtained and commissioning is set for 2010-11.

India: Chennai firm to launch music-download kiosks
Users can search for music with multiple combinations, browse, hear and download music as ring tones or full songs on to cell phones, CD, iPods or smart cards. Each download is priced at Rs5 and up, as determined by the music company. Very high download speeds allow a full CD to be burned in less than 5 min.

State Bank of India plans commodity broking, launches online equity trading
This will be via their subsidiary SBI Capital and potentially another big player to compete with ICICI Securities, the market leader with around 1 million online trading accounts.

Bear Stearns of US to buy Ford Finance’s India operations
It will buy the financial arm, Ford Automotive Finance Co., for 900 million rupees (USD 22.09 million) and inject an additional 1 billion rupees (USD 24.54 million) because they want to start a full-fledged financial services company

India: Textile maker Donear to roll out 200 retail stores, set up integrated unit
These will target the mid-market segment of consumers & the first 3 will come up in Mumbai shortly.

India: Wi-Fi system at 50 railway stations
Passengers at these stations can access broadband internet facility using laptops and other Wi-Fi enabled devices.

India targets 10 million tourists in 2010
Even with the Commonwealth games effect, this seems ambitious, based on recent trends
2005 - 3.92 million
2006 - 4.43 million
2007 - 5.0 million (projected)

India's VISA Steel signs JV with Chinese company for Orissa plant
I've lost count of how many steel plants are coming up in Orissa. This latest JV will coat an estimated Rs 260 crore.

India: OCI cardholders to get some NRI privileges
Will be treated on par with NRIs in terms of adoption of children in India, domestic airfares, entry fees to national parks, monuments and museums and hotel tariffs, 100 per cent investment under automatic route - without prior approval of the government or the Reserve Bank of India - in the domestic airlines sector. OCIs will also have the right to practice in India in professions like medicine, dentistry, architecture, chartered accountancy and engineering.

Sequoia Capital raises $300 m in new India fund
Private equity investment in India is growing explosively and will hit $10 bn for 2007. This is Sequoia's third fund & it now manages more than $1 billion in capital for India

TCS close to bagging $1.5 bn outsourcing contract
This is from Prudential Insurance, one of the leading life and pensions provider in the UK and services over seven million customers

India's domestic insurance outsourcing to hit $10 b in 5 years
This is because the domestic insurance sector is growing by leaps and bounds, expected to hit $60.5 billion by 2010 from the current $10.2 billion. Over 70 million insurance policies would be sold over the next five years and insurance companies will require over 500,000 agents and thousands of operational staff for claims processing and customer service.

India starts work on 8 new Heavy Water Reactors
This is under the eleventh plan for the Atomic Energy to build indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 700Mwe each.

India: Luxury Tourist Train to start in Karnataka
Proposed itinerary is Bangalore – Srirangapatna – Mysore – Shravanabelagola – Hassan – Hospet – Gadag – Vasco/Dabolin – Bangalore. The train is likely to become operational in tourist season 2007-08.

India sets up third Research Centre in Antarctica
Funding has increased from Rs. 160 Cr to Rs 320 cr in the 11th Plan for Antarctic Research and logistic activities. In addition, the Ministry of Earth Sciences is getting in on the act by proposing to construct an ice-breaker class research-cum-logistic vessel.

India's Carborundum Universal set to acquire Russia's Volzhsky Abrasives Works
Volzhsky's silicon carbide business, its exports and its huge unused capacity are the main attraction for the Indian company.

India: Chhattisgarhs first of 6 malls draws large crowds
The mall has 154 shops and showrooms and an Inox multiplex, with each of its four movie halls boasting 1,280 seats and tickets priced at Rs.80.

Indians losing interest in Gulf jobs
This is a result of the economic boom and the generous pay packages offered by many companies exceeds or matches what is being paid in the Gulf countries.

3i-Backed Hedge Fund Administrator Fulcrum To Set Foot In India
Bermuda based Hedge funds administrator Fulcrum Ltd is setting up shop in India by end of the year. They are currently hiring to staff the India office.

India: Champagne Indage ties up with Adelaide Univ for wine institute
This is a Public-Private with the Maharashtra government to set up a wine institute to develop skills for this fast growing sector which will require at least 20,000 people by 2020.

India: 175 radio stations to go on air by year end
Eleven would be All India Radio stations and 164 would be private FM radio channels

Essel Propack sets up Rs 65 crores unit in Uttarakhand
To serve its substantial client base in Northern India.

Intergraph of USA expands India team
The company is adding more software developers, certification teams and product support personnel. Its products range from geospatial software used by the Ministry of Defence in India, to next-generation 3D plant and marine design software used by process, power, ship and offshore companies globally.

Union Bank of India to open 200 more branches
It will also open 700-800 ATMs, a branch in Hong Kong and a representative office in Abu Dhabiby the end of this year. An insurance JV with Japan's Deichi and Bank of India is also in the cards.

India Army to induct 40 more indigenous Dhruv helicopters
The army will also induct the weapon-ised variant of Dhruv after their certification and operational clearance.

Coca-Cola to invest $250 mn in India
Coke currently has 61 bottling plants and employs 150,000 people in the country. It is also planning to set up a retail university to equip Indian retailers with the right techniques, tools and knowledge.

India: Steel Technology Centre to be set up in IIT Kharagpur
To create a post of Chair professor in the Department of Metallurgy in IIT, Kharagpur, Benaras Hindu University (BHU) and NITS Rourkela, Durgapur and Jamshedpur and other institutes. Will also provide scholarships to 5 undergraduate students in each of them to pursue studies in areas related to iron and steel.

India: Rain brightens agri crop prospect in FY08
According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), good rainfall and systematic sowing has led to a 4.8% increase in the area under cultivation compared to last year

India to start work on massive new freight corridor in 2008/09
Completion by 2012. The final cost is expected to be a staggering $90 bn and includes a rail link, a 4,000 MW power plant, 3 new sea ports and 6 airports.

U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch plans second India brewery
This one will likely be in Maharashtra. They recently introduced the Budweiser and Armstrong brands in India.

India: Punjab National bank grows 32%, to open 140 new branches in India
PNB will also open a branch in Hong Kong and spend Rs 300 crores on I.T system upgrades

Genetically Modified Food in India

Sanjay Garg — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:07:46 EDT

India's Ministry of Environment and Forests has given the go-ahead to test four hybrid varieties of Bt brinjal, promising better yield and making less use of pesticides, across 11 locations in the country until April 2008. The Ministry also cleared proposals for test studies for other food crops — bhindi (okra), rice and tomatoes. What more could one possibly want in a thali?

What is Bt?
Bt. Stands for Bacillus Thurigniensis, a soil bacterium which synthesizes a crystal (Cry) protein. In the insect gut, the protein breaks down to release toxin, which kills the insect. These Cry genes are known as Bt genes which are inserted into a plant through genetic engineering. This allows the plant to produce its own toxin which it not normally produce.

Bt Cotton
Bt. cotton is the only transgenic crop approved for commercial cultivation in India. It contains the Cry 1 AC gene (MON 531 event) of M/s Mahyco was the first transgenic crop released in India in April 2002 with the approval of the GEAC. Subsequently, 62 new Bt cotton varieties have been released. Despite large-scale protests, this new technology allowed India to surpass the U.S. and become the second largest cotton producer after China. Note that India was a late entrant given that Bt cotton is under commercial cultivation in USA, Australia, China, Mexico, South Africa and Argentina.

Bt Brinjal
The Bt brinjal has the same Cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis as cotton. The gene makes the plant tolerant to the fruit and shoot borers, pests which attack it throughout its life cycle. The yield-loss due to fruit and shoot borers in India alone is estimated to be about $221 million (Rs 900 crores). What is unique about Bt brinjal is that it is the first GM crop to be released in India and the first to be released globally. Bt okra is hot on the heels of bt brinjal and has been permitted for testing in confined field conditions in Rabi 2007. Transgenic rice and Bt tomato trials have also been allowed under confined field conditions.

It is not that far away when we can order an entire thali of bt food, served by a waiter in bt cotton uniform and dropping curry on a table covered with bt cotton tablecloth.

India Economic News Weekly Report, August 10-16, 2007

Sanjay Garg — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:28:09 EDT

With the crash of the Indian stock markets in response to a crisis in the U.S. mortgage markets, questions were raised about what this means for the strength of the Indian economy. In this column in The Hindu, Dr. R.Vaidyanathan, professor of Finance & Control, Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) writes:

"The country’s capital market is increasingly influenced by global developments because of the active participation by FIIs and big corporates’ growing appetite for global borrowings. This is leading to a widening disconnect between the stock market and the economy, which is expected to grow at more than 9 per cent in coming years".

His advice to Finance Minister Chidambaran: "Do not lose sleep because of the rise or fall of the index since it is due to a chill in London or Tokyo and not in our economy." Here are the news items for this week.

India: Mobile Magic to set up 1,000 stores by ’10
Mostly in Tier 2, 3 cities. They sell 11 brands of handsets, accessories, applications, ringtones and games.

Timken shifting manufacturing to India
This is as much to lower costs as to take advantage of India's fast-growing infrastructure market.

India: Bank of Maharashtra targets Rs 72,000 cr biz
This represents a 24% topline growth over the previous year. The bank is also adding another 65 branches.

India's ITC takes over Australian agri-biotech Co
It is interesting to watch the evolution of ITC from a tobacco company to an increasingly more diversified portfolio. While TATA is clearly in the lead, there are an increasing number of such conglomerates in India.

India's CBaySystems acquires US-based AMSplus
AMSplus serves both physician practices and hospitals with annual sales of $13.8 million. Total market is worth $15 bn.

India: Lokmanya Co-op Society to double branch network to 92
Will concentrate on the Western region of Maharashtra and open branches in Sangli, Satara, Karad and Mumbai.

French salon chain Jean Claude Biguine to open 50 salons in India
Starting in Mumbai and Delhi by 2007-08 offering international quality services by global and local professionals

Italian luxury brand Fendi opening 6 stores in India
In Mumbai, followed by Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata.

XL Telecom firms up Rs 300-cr expansion plan
For a solar module unit and the for a plant to manufacture photovoltaic cells

India's HAL, Canada's CAE in $55 million JV for pilot school
This B'lore school will primarily train pilots of the indigenously built advanced light helicopter Dhruv. What I found extremely ambitious is the stated aim to manufacture multi-role combat jets.

India's Concept Hospitality to manage hotels in China, South Africa
Indians seem to be carving out a niche in managing and operating hotels worldwide. This winning bid includes the 159-room Gold Reef hotel in Johannesburg and two projects in China with a total room strength of around 850

Lehman Brothers buying India's Brics unit
This will significantly expand Lehman Brothers’ presence in India by accelerating the development of their equities business and immediately establishing an equity research and sales function

India: TCS plans 5000 seat facility in Nagpur
It will initially start operations in Nagpur with a workforce comprising 2,000 people

India's Coffee exports to top Rs 2,000 cr by 2010
From current level of Rs 1,650 crore and export quantity exceeding five lakh tonnes from current level of 3.3 lakh tonnes

India's Aaj Tak TV news expands to UK after USA and Europe
The Middle East is next on the list

DishTV India to invest Rs 800cr in 3yrs
DTH market has been gaining momentum rapidly and this has attracted the attention of biggies like Reliance, Bharti Group and Sun TV

India set to capture share in 90 bln euro global media pie
Revenues from the Indian television industry are expected to grow to $11 billion by 2011 from the current $4.2 billion

India Ministry of tourism leverages YouTube to promote 'Incredible India
This includes 18 promotional videos with more to come

India: $280-million World Bank loan for vocational training
This is to upgrade 400 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and introduce a craftsman training scheme across India

India: Torrent Pharma to invest Rs 70 crore in Sikkim
To take advantage of a 20 yr tax holiday and set up a capsule and tablets plant in Sikkim. Company is also looking for $100 million acquisition overseas.

Fonterra of New Zealand to outsource software support to India
This is a $48 mn deal for application development, maintenance and support across all Fonterra's computing

India's Ispat to invest Rs 10,000 crore in next five years
After Tata and Essar, it is now the turn of another domestic steelmaker Ispat to expand overseas through capacity expansion and backward integration

India: Aviation mechanics course started at Univ of Pune
This is as a result of Boeing investing $100 million to set up a multi-million dollar Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility at Nagpur.

Delhi domestic airport to get new terminal building
This will be a two-level building equipped with 72 check-in counters, an in-line baggage screening system, ultra-modern lounges, retail facilities and 16 security channels

Global diabetes research centre to come up near Chennai
Apparently, India has 40 million diabetics and this new global research centre will intensify studies on diabetes among Asian Indians in collaboration with Emory University at Atlanta, USA.

India's SBI Life plans to expand business to Rs 6,000 cr
The business is there to be had and the company is broadening its distribution channels and ramping up its sales force.

Prime Tech to invest $20 mn for three new units in India
One centre will be a new training facility in Visakhapatnam that has capability to train over 500 people and two new centres at Pune and Gurgaon.

SGT investing $8 m for further expansion in India
They have already invested $4 million so far and is planning to invest another $8 million to scale up operations and double headcount.

India's BSNL, MTNL investing $400 m for undersea cables
India already controls a significant part of undersea cable infrastucture globally. This will link India to South-East Asia as well as West Asia.

India: ICML plans Rs 800-cr investment to increase production
The company has already invested Rs 200 crore to set up its manufacturing unit. The additional investment is to ramp up the production from 2,000 to 5,000 units per month.

Air-India, Jet turn heat on Delta
Intense competition by Indian carriers Air-India and Jet Airways in the Mumbai-New York sector has forced established US carrier Delta Air Lines woo business-class passengers by offering complimentary helicopter rides.

India's TATA to bring 1000 jobs to Cincinnati, USA
TATA already employs 11,000 in USA

Jobs growing faster than population in India
Result of NSSO survey 2004-2005. For the first time since Independence, employment has grown at a faster rate than population during a five-year period between 2000 and 2005. A clear reversal of the jobless growth witnessed in the '90s.

India's ONGC-Mittal win Trinidad Tobago gas block
The NCMA-2 block is gas bearing and is estimated to hold at least two trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

India: Tamil Nadu's 2nd desalination plant planned for Nemmeli
The first one is coming up Kattupalli village, near Minjur with capacity of 100 million litres per day (MLD). It will start producing 15 MLD by June 08 and full production by September

Germany's GEA Group setting up €10 million plate heat exchanger facility in Pune
To make parts currently sourced from Germany. Potential global market exceeds $3 bn

India to get Rs 65 crore Steel Development Research Mission
This will be a Public-Private partnership. India's steel production is on track to climb from 50 million tonnes (MT) per year to 120 MT by 2015 (world's largest) and 200 MT by 2020.

GM to source $1 bn spares from India
GM had losses of more than $12 billion in 2005 and 2006 and is seeking to lower costs in a bid stay competitive with the competition

India's Bisleri to go global by September
Exporting mineral water from the Himalayas to US, Europe, UK, UAE and Japan.

424 Indian companies make foray into Pakistan market
Pakistan is getting ready to sign on the International Property Rights regime. In anticipation, these Indian companies have already registered their products in Pakistan in advance of the locals.

India Railways to install anti-collision device across network by 2013
Lately, there has been phenomenal increase in traffic and the numbers of consequential train accidents have come down from 464 in 2000-01 to 234 in 2005-06 and 195 in 2006-07

Norwegian firm buys Proteans of India for $6 million
This is a classic case of producing in India and selling in Europe and America.

Ajuba Solutions India Pvt Ltd to double headcount
Headcount will go to 3,000 employees over the next two years.

Wipro, Lockheed Martin start operations in Gurgaon
To develop, demonstrate and experiment with emerging network-enabled capabilities and solutions to cater to military and civil applications to and help the armed forces in the areas of command, control, communications, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Hamid Ansari elected vice-president of India
Ansari got 455 votes and Najma Heptulla ended up with 222.

Vishal Retail to invest Rs 200 cr to add 40 stores in N India
This adds to the 53 stores currently operating across 41 cities

Italy's Domina Hotel Group to enter India
They are targeting tier-I and tier-II citie such as Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Pune, Shantigarh and Indore. Plans are to build 30 properties over the next 5 years.

IIT Delhi to start courses in bio-medical sciences, micro-engineering
This is due to growing demand and enabled by funding of Rs 50 crores from GoI

India Economic News Weekly Report, August 3-9, 2007

Sanjay Garg — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:13:29 EDT

The biggest economic news of the week by far, at least globally, is the virtual collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market in the U.S. caused by large numbers of people defaulting on their home mortgages. What made it much more worrisome is the uncertainty about who actually holds large chunks of these mortgages and are therefore exposed to a large drop in value. In Germany, Allianz SE revealed today that it has $2.3 billion of exposure to the U.S. subprime market, Deutsche Bank AG lost 30% of the value in its asset-backed securities WDS ABS Fund; WestLB Mellon Asset Management suspended redemptions from its asset-backed securities ABS Fund. A pool of German banks stepped in this week to shield IKB Industriebank AG from further losses after the lender's Rhinleland Funding Capital Corp. bought 14 billion euros ($19.11 billion) in fixed-income securities -- some of them backed by subprime mortgages. The bank's chief executive and chief financial officer have both resigned. French bank BNP Paribas SA announced the suspension of three asset-backed securities funds, saying it could not value them accurately. A number of Australian Hedge Funds are close to a virtual collapse. America's largest home loan lender, Countrywide Financial said yesterday that it is running dangerously short of money and this news caused its shares to fall by 13.8% in Friday pre-market trading.

As far as the Indian economy is concerned, things are moving along quite nicely. Here is the news for the past week:

India: Vijay Amritraj to spearhead Rs 15 mn junior tennis promotion
Amritraj and the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) will associate with the programme and extend their expertise for grooming next generation tennis players.

Bosch India plans to invest Rs 250 crore in unit
Bosch is working on advanced technologies designing new Electronic Control Unit for diesel and Gasoline engines, and other automotive applications such as portable navigation systems, semi autonomous parking systems and adaptive cruise control

Infosys to open 200 seat BPO unit in Mexico
This is a first for Infosys in that part of the wolrd. The centre will be set up in the city of Monterrey

Pizza Hut plans 60-70 more outlets in India
There are currently 135 Pizza Hut outlets across 34 cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai etc

India: Fun Cinemas to pump in Rs 5 billion for expansion into tier 2, 3 cities
The chain plans to operate another 300 screens by the end of FY 2011 across 23 cities.

India: Pragya religious channel to launch by mid-September
The company has been beaming test signals from 30 July. Programming will be centered around spirituality and religion.

India: Tunga group to launch Rs 40 crore, 55- room 4-star hotel in Mumbai
The same group also owns Hotel Tunga Regency, Tunga International and Tunga Paradise, all in Mumbai.

Galaxy Hotel to invest Rs 750 cr for lifestyle hotels in India
Land cost is extra. The first hotel in Gurgaon has 80 rooms which range in size from 370-750 sq ft, offers a spa and high end shopping

Indus Inns sets up 150-room no frill property in Bangalore.
Cost is 7 crores and it will charge Rs 1,500 per night.

35 Indian airports to get modern facilities
This includes international terminal buildings, parking bays, expansion of cargo facilities and ultra-modern runways

3 reservoirs, water treatment plants to come up at Rajarhat, near Kolkata
Residents in the area will soon have acces to fresh water

Blackstone set to invest 100 mln usd in India's Gokaldas Exports
Gokaldas is one of India's largest apparel exporters, supplier to Nike, Adidas,GAP and Abercrombie and Fitch

India to provide Rs 1,600 mn fellowship for 600 tribal students
Financial assistance of Rs 8,000 per month for the initial two years and Rs. 9,000 per month for the remaining period of the fellowship. Beside this fellowship amount, a contingency fund for humanities and social sciences is also provided at the rate of Rs 10,000 per annum for the initial two years of the fellowship and Rs 20,500 annually for the remaining period of research work.

Ramky group setting up Rs 170 crore pharma incubation centres
Ramky is developing a pharma city near Visakhapatnam and expects to see investment of Rs 5,000 crore

Apollo Group India, DKV AG launch health insurance company
DKV AG is Europe's largest health insurer. For this venture, the partners have invested Rs 108 crore to set up six regional offices in major metros and expand to 25 category A cities by the end of the second year. By 2010, it expects to have a presence in over 100 cities across the country.

Bombardier of Canada setting up €25 million metro coach factory in Vadodara
The very first foreign direct investment in the metro coach manufacturing sector and this new facility will make propulsion equipment for metro coaches.

India's Sierra Atlantic acquires US-based ArrAy, Inc.
The combined entity will have over 1,500 employees worldwide and has global delivery centres in Guangzhou and Shanghai in China.

All Nippon Airways to launch first Tokyo-Mumbai non-stop flight
This flight is an all-business, 36-seat configuration, non-stop and 6 days a week

India's Sensex rises 375 points, crosses 15,000 again
Trading sentiment was buoyant on Wednesday as IT and refinery stocks powered the sensex

DuPont sets $11 million up health solutions plant in India
Location is Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and it will manufacture animal and human healthcare solutions. .

HK firm to build $125 mn wind farm in Gujarat
CLP Holdings is Hong Kong's biggest power utility and the capacity of this plant is 100.8 mw

French IT services giant Steria buys outsourcing firm Xansa in £456m deal
Xansa has been winning a lot of business recently on the strength of its 5,038 employees in India

Wipro of India to open two BPO centres in China
The two centres, in Shanghai and Chengdu, will employ 300 and will provide financial services and accounting works

India: Nirula's to open 150 more outlets by 2009
Nirula’s currently runs 52 outlets in North India and will ramp up to 200 in the next 2-3 yrs.

Accentia of India buys 2 US companies
Both companies, GRS Physicians Billing Services and GRS Systems, provide billing and collection services in the US healthcare insurance field.

India: Birla Science Centre to expand IT research
The centre has tied up with universities in the European Union for conducting research programmes. From 7, they will soon go to 15 scholars.

India's major ports record 15% growth in cargo handling
Handled 164 million tonnes during April to July when compared with 143 million tonnes for the corresponding period last year.

India's Kale Consultants buys Zero Octa of U.K.
Kale is interested in Zero Octa's end-to-end solutions to airlines and its presence in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific

Qatar Airways expands Indian route to tier 2, 3 cities
Will add Nagpur now and Ahmedabad 3 months later. Who would have thought that Nagpur would be an international destination?

Infosys to invest Rs 30 crores to expand Chandigarh facility
Will ramp up headcount from 2,000 to 3,000.

Anjani cements lines up Rs 170 cr for capacity expansion
This is a great turnaround case. Took over a sick, non-operating unit and turned it into a healthy dividend paying company within 7 years.

Isagro Asia to set up Rs 50-cr facility in Gujarat
This includes establishing a process development laboratory and strengthening agronomical research facility.

Think3 of italy sets up shop in India
The company is starting with a12-member sales and marketing team which will ramped up to 60 by the year-end. It will also establish a 100-seat centre in Gurgaon in the next two months.

India: Pulse output likely to go up by 12% to 51.25 lakh tonnes
Good news. More daal for everyone.

India succesfully tests indigenous cryogenic stage
A cryogenic stage is used as the topmost stage in a GSLV launch of heavy satelltes weighing up to 2,500 kg.

Wipro buys US-based Infocrossing for $598 mn
Wipro is currently sitting on cash reserves of about Rs 3,200 crore or approx $800 million as of June 30, 2007

Wipro to set up major hub in Bhubhaneshwar, India
This one can accomodate 15,000 including the facilities to train 3,000 persons

10 million saplings planted in one day in U.P. India
Led by Mayawati, hundreds of thousands took part in a massive greening exercise across Uttar Pradesh Tuesday

68 marine police stations coming up in India
The Coast Guard and police forces of 10 maritime States and five Union Territories will set these up to enforce laws in inshore waters up to five nautical miles.

India's Akkayya to invest Rs 5000 crores for 108 E-Inns
The E-Inns are a smoke-free, alcohol-free and meat-free hotels

India to set up first Arctic research base
India has had a presence in Antarctica since 1981 but this is the first in the Arctic.

Reliance to hire Indian armed forces ex-servicemen
Reliance Industries has a capacity to hire almost 60,000 & Reliance Retail requires almost five lakh employees

Indian Rlys approves 244 proposals for additional earnings of Rs 305.29 crore
Secret to Lalu's success? Delegate more decision making powers to zonal offices and generate additional revenues.

University of Hyderabad plans to double enrollment
In the current academic year, two new schools of study – School of Medical Sciences and School of Engineering Sciences and Technology – have been added.

Microsoft India centre working on Windows 7
The India center has already come up with XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), which will benefit 400-500 million users globally and filing 180 patents.

India: IT jobs will double to 3.2 m in four years, says Nilekani
It took 30 years to get to 1.6 million. For comparison, the U.S. has 5.6 million in the hitech sector which includes infotech, biotech etc.

Tata Indian Hotels shifting to rupee tariff as rupee strengthens
Plans to up room count to around 18,000 in 36 months. Considering foray into Vietnam, Indonesia, Fiji

Reliance expects 3 trillion cubic feet gas from North-East coast block
The company has already drilled eight wells and made six discoveries in this block. Government projections indicated that India will be self-sufficient in natural gas by 2009.

Tata Steel to buy 35% in Australian co for A$100 million
The Mozambique Coal Project is a listed company and the output will be supplied to Tata's Corus facilities in the UK and Europe and also to the company’s enhanced requirement in India in the future

Apollo to build 17 bed hospital inside Hyderabad airport
Medical facilities like ultrasound, ECG and dental care will be offered. Once can almost see foreign visitors getting their teeth cleaned at low cost in between connections!

Domino’s India building Rs 9 crore pizza dough making facility
At present, there are 148 outlets in the country and another 50 would be added by March 2008. Additional pizza dough making facilities will come up in Bangalore and on the outskirts of Mumbai.

India: Apollo building 3 hospitals in Mumbai at Rs 600 cr
This is joint venture with a subsidiary of the JP Morgan group. Other projects include a 200-bed orthopaedic hospital in North Chennai and hospitals in Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar, Nashik, and Visakhapatnam. In addition, the company is setting up training facilities for nurses at Chennai and Madurai.

India projects a million biotech jobs by 2010
GoI aims to create world-class human capital, build quality infrastructure and generate $5 billion revenues.

ICICI Bank India to invest $370 millon for western hub
This will be in Gandhinagar. A 31-storey building, full range of financial services and direct employment of 30,000.

HDFC Bank India taps rural BPO firm
Will set up a 50 person center in Puttaparthy, followed by five more in rural areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh

State Bank of India plans to triple ATM network
Will go from 7,200 to 25,000. SBI also expects to issue 1 million debit cards per month.

India: Tata Motors set to set up world's largest bus plant
Possible sites for the plant include Goa and Karnataka

India Economic News Weekly Report, July 27-August 2, 2007

Sanjay Garg — Fri, 3 Aug 2007 01:49:36 EDT

The main business news item of the week is the stock market crash brought about by the sub-prime disaster in the USA. Consensus is emerging, however, that India's markets will be largely unaffected by this global meltdown. Another interesting item is that Dell finally rolled out its very first "Made in India" computer after Michael Dell once said he would never manufacture in India.

ChrysCapital sets up $1.25 bln India fund
Citigroup, Blackstone and 3i have already announced financing for major infrastructure projects.

India's Star City to build 200 managed apartments in Australia
In 2005, there were about 14,000 students from India and this year it has crossed 37,000

Reliance Mart set to open 1.65 lakh sq ft hypermart in Ahmedabad
Reliance already operates 11 Reliance Fresh outlets in Ahmedabad.

Globus Spirits plans Rs 100-cr investment; launching new brands
It is also setting up captive power unit in the next one year

Hamleys of Iceland to invest Rs 500 crore in India
This company is one of the world’s largest toy shops owned by Iceland-based investment company the Baugur Group

Somfy India expanding to 12 tier-II cities in the next six months
This is a subsidiary of a French company secializing in energy-saving solutions and green building concepts

Maersk India initiatives to tap $4.7 bn global banana market
The company will facilitate research in banana production, harvesting, warehousing and packaging and providing end-to-end logistics support, in addition to arranging for training to local exporters in cold chain management and marketing support in foreign countries.

Cognizant plans to invest $100 m more in India
This is in adition to the previously-announced $200 million infrastructure expansion programme across the country announced last month

India: TCS & Cognizant expand to Hyderabad outskirts
TCS to invest Rs.4 billion and accommodate 15,000 employees by 2013. Cognizant to invest Rs.3.3 billion and hire 12,000 employees by 2012.

New career options for visually challenged in India
Four batches have passed out since the course was started in 2004, and while some 15 visually impaired students are working independently, several have opened their own massage parlours, providing jobs to others, says Rampal Singh, who is working as an instructor.

India: Nvidia Open New Design Center in Hyderabad
This is the third such center in India since 2005

Nokia Opens First Satellite Design Studio in India
Clear indication of the increasing impact that India is having on the development of mobile phones worldwide.

Brocade sets up R&D center in India
The company expects India to ultimately account for about 40 percent of it's worldwide development resources

Black Wednesday: India's Sensex tanks 615 points
Market analysts said the current crash in the indices was attributed to worries over the sub-prime loan industry in the US

Thermo Fisher Scientific of USA Extends Reach in India
Over the past few years, the company has steadily increased its presence throughout India

India's GTL in final talks to buy two companies in UK, Far East
No figures available. Both companies are in network engineering services and the deals should close within three months.

PepsiCo to double its India investment in three years
No numbers available. A significant part of this is expected to go into R&D and to scale up its business of health drinks.

India's JSW Steel set to acquire US firm for $1.2b
Final stages of negotiations to acquire a steel plate mill in North America.

Dell delivers first "Made in India" computer
Made at Dell's plant near Chennai, production capacity 400,000. Finally, Dell sees the light.

World Bank to grant Rs 15,252 cr loan to UP
Mayawati delivers a major win for U.P. This is a debt swap, paying off a 11.5% loan with a 6.25% loan. Huge savings for U.P.

India's Sobha Developers plans hospitality projects in South
To set up luxury hotels with a total of 600 rooms in Bangalore, Mysore, Kochi and Thrissur

Taiwan’s Dogetech plans textile machinery plant in Coimbatore, India
This is in addition to the $3-million investment in a Kolhapur assembling plant

Berger Paints India plans Rs 50-cr plant in Pune
This is in addition to setting up a new manufacturing unit in Russia

India Has a Million Less AIDS Cases Than Believed: Study
Survey was financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and carried out under international supervision

India becoming an attractive solar market
Firms such as Moser Baer ($880 million) and US-based Signet Solar ($150 million for 3 photovoltaic module manufacturing facilities) are investing heavily in India.

India: After Brahmins, Mayawati set to woo Muslims
Just as she had success with a section of the Brahmins, I believe Mayawati will get some support from Muslims too

India's Jagson Airlines to construct Rs 8 Cr ropeway to Shimla top
This is a bit of a diversification into tourism for Jagson. The ropeway would rise to an eight story level structure and would go over the tree line.

India's Biocon in Dubai joint venture to tap $5 bn market
To provide affordable drugs for cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, cardiac diseases and obesity.

India's Cooch Behar airport to be opened next month
Trial flight will be on Aug 10, first commercial flight by Air Deccan on August 15.

India: Amritsar Int airport to get ready by March 2008
First up will be direct flights from the U.K.

Lakshmi Mittal makes new $2.3 billion investment in Poland
The rich get richer. L.N. Mittal, who acquired 69 percent of the shares of Polskie Huty Stali in 2004 will buy the rest of the small change for $2.3 billion

PepsiCo replaces potato seeds to contract farmers
This item is newsworthy because it shows how market competition can sometimes lead to compassionate capitalism.

India's Sensex recovers 112 points on global cues, Infosys up
Tracking global markets, it recovered by more than 112 points

India's Reliance plans $2.5 bn fertilizer plant
For a 4 million tons-a-year fertilizer plant at either Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh or Jamnagar in Gujarat. Key will be availability of natural gas.

India's packaged water industry —set for massive growth
Major players like Tata who recently bought stake in Mount Everest brand of packaged drinking water, will lead the surge.

Global private equity firm Carlyle Group invests $41.1 million in India's Great Offshore
Great Offshore seen as a leader in its chosen field globally

Baring India to invest $35 m in JRG Securities
Money will be used to set up another 59 branches in the current year

International Diamond Laboratories launches operations in India
Underscores the importance of India to the global diamond industry

India's SpiceJet to start Delhi-Kochi service
More inter-city airline connectivity, growing almost on a daily basis.

India: Bhatinda refinery finalizes financing of Rs 7,793 cr
Work can now begin and will offer employment to several thousands just in the construction phase until 2011

India: New Holland Tractors to ramp up capacity to 25,000 units
Also exporting tractors out of India, a testimony to the company's global quality standards

Malaysian restaurant chain Awana sets up multi-cuisine centre in India
This one is at Hyderabad and eight more within three years including two in Mumbai and Delhi shortly.

India's Elder Pharma picks up 20% in UK’s Neutra for £5.63 million
Elder will manufacture in India and Neutra will market in the West.

India: Gayatri Projects to raise $30 m
Yet another company raising decent money for expansion

India's share of global textile trade to go from $51 billion to $110 billion by 2012
Textiles is the next big wave in India.

INDIA: Spentex completes 25 million euro Czech firm acquisition
Enhances the company’s presence in the European market, improves revenues by 55 million Euro and adds another six million euro per year in cash flows.

Air India to offer direct US flights starting Aug 1.
Becomes the first India-based operator to offer direct, non stop flights between the US and India.

Seafood exports from India increase by over 15%
Despite new duties in the U.S. which decreased exports to that country

India: General Atlantic LLC investing $60 million in IBS
General Atlantic is a top 20 private equity investor & seeks to grow in IBS' speciality in IT solutions to the travel, transportation and logistics industries.

Indian IT companies step up overseas hiring
This is not a surprise. As the Indian Rupee continues to strengthen, Indian IT companies will find it more affordable to hire overseas talent.

China's Lenovo plans $11-million plant in Himachal, India
And likely to start production in November

India: TeamLease plans to hire 80,000 people
TeamLease is not really hiring, merely building up its database of candidates.

India: Global Hospitals launching Bangalore unit in August
This is a 500-bed, Rs 150-crore located on 50 acrs of land. Offers a specialised liver transplant facility

Mitsui, Marubeni of Japan seeking to invest in India
Mitsui would focus on the development of logistics and infrastructure at Greater Noida and Rajasthan. Marubeni has set up a study group to identify projects and Indian partners.

Imagining India, Imagining Indian Women

Sanjay Garg — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:08:44 EDT

I thought this opinion piece by Sujatha is a textbook example of how the West imagines India and Indian women. Pratibha Patil becomes merely the latest excuse.

In his book, Imagining India, Professor Ronald Inden shows that most of what we take for granted about India is actually a construction of 19th century Indologists, each motivated by narrow interests. The British, an uneasy mix of fair play with a hyper-inflated class consciousness, needing to justify empire, loot, violence and neglect positioned themselves as the "civilizing" force.

The Germanic uber-ethnic fixation took on an imaginary "Aryan" identity, placing it at the center of history and ditched their own real ancestors. Max Weber fondly constructed the West as being rational (all while the highly "rational" WWI was in progress) and progressive, as compared to the 'world negating', irrational and mystical Indians. Indian Marxists, aiming to show to the rest of the world how India was a deserving candidate for Marxism, imagined everything that moved via a feudalistic lens.

In 2005, Sarah L. Rasmusson of the University of Illinois extended this to include Imagining (Indian) women. She writes

"There is an intriguing double-speak about women, global reproductive politics, and developing nations. The same countries that are purportedly ‘over-populated’ are the same ones without enough women. Even though India's ''missing women'' don't exist because they were never born they are figured, interestingly, as heterosexual future wives that would have reproduced a more gender-balanced India."

She goes on to say how these “missing women” in the sex-selective controversy are homogenized, fetishized and exoticized by those memorializing them.

Finally, of course, what really matters is not the image but the reality. In current Indian politics, powerful women will be playing key roles in 2009. Well known are Sonia Gandhi, Sheila Dixit, Mayawati, Jayalalithaa, Sushma Swaraj, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, Uma Bharti in MP, Rabri Devi in all of north India. Brinda Karat, CPI-M has emerged as a force by becoming a polit bureau member of the CPI.

Newcomers include M Karunanidhi's daughter & heir-apparent, Kanimozhi who has been made a member of the Rajya Sabha and could soon be inducted into the Union Cabinet. Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP leader Sharad Pawar is already a member of the Upper House and is expected to contest from her father's borough of Baramati in Maharashtra in the 2009 polls.

I'm taking bets now. Before America elects its first female president, India will have a female Prime Minister, a female President AND a female Vice President.

India Economic News Weekly Report, July 20-26th, 2007

Sanjay Garg — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:27:59 EDT

Having cautioned people against Economists in my last column, I take the opportunity to add "don't take my word instead". Rather, there is enough evidence available about the growth and development happening in India right now. Here is a sample of related stories from just the past week:

Key Indian share market index crashes by over 500 points
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) witnessed its sharpest fall since April 2, dropping 541.74 points, or 3.43 percent, to close the day at 15,234.57 points. This was part of the global weakness triggered by the mortgage/ housing fiasco in the U.S.

Standard & Poor's to shift business from Singapore to India
S&P is looking to make India the hub that would support and grow the cross-border business.

India's Deccan Airways to buy stake in airport combine
In a consortium that will help identify and build low-cost airports in India

Air India cuts non-stop US fares by 33%
Reduced its economy fares by 37.17 per cent to Rs 50,700 from Rs 80,700. The magic of competition.

Axiom signs India joint venture deal
Axiom Telecom, the Middle East's largest mobile phone retailer, has signed a deal to carry out wholesale distribution and servicing of mobile phones and accessories in India.

India's Bharat Forge sets up second plant in China
Expanding its manufacturing capacity in China to 135,000 tons by setting up a second plant there for US$20 million

India's Ispat Industries to invest Rs 2,100 cr till 2009
To to finance four projects involving about Rs 2,100 crore. Will create several thousand jobs.

Nike inks deal with Mumbai School Sports Association
To help budding sports talents in something other than cricket; involves over 550 schools and 40000 school children

Infosys bags $250 mn contract, acquires 3 Philips centres
Acquiring three captive business process outsourcing (BPO) units in Eastern Europe helps to hedge USD risk

India's TRF to buy 52% in Singapore co for $16.5 mn
To gain expertise and markets in the design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of trailer axles and related components

India: Ventura Textiles plans Rs 92-cr expansion
The company will also set up a captive power plant at its unit in Nashik and modernize the existing spinning plant with ring spindles.

Indian cabinet backs US-India nuclear deal
Looks like all of India's concerns had been met.

India: Jupiter plans $100 m JV with Kingfisher for Bangalore project
For a global aviation outsourcing hub that will also cater to training and design needs of global carriers

Intuit to expand in international markets including India
Intuit has announced that they are now planning to expand their presence in international markets including India, China, Russia, and Brazil.

General Electric Buys 15% Stake in India Rail Car Maker
Two units of General Electric Corp. (GE) have invested a 15% equity stake in a coach maker for Indian Railways, Titagarg Wagons Ltd.

Atlas Copco India acquires US firm
California-based Mafi-Trench, supplier of turbo expanders for the oil and gas industry, has a small operation in India.

India's Patni buying US-based Taratec
For $27.2 million (about Rs 108.8 crore) in cash for access to the life sciences industry

India: Rs 11,000-cr investments planned near Chennai
Investments of about Rs 9,000 crore, that will lead to creation of over one lakh jobs, are expected to be made in the Sriperumbudur-Oragadam region, near Chennai, within the next couple of years.

Astonfield of USA plans India projects worth $1.5 bn
To take up projects in renewable energy, airport and telecommunication sectors across India over the next 12-24 months.

India: JK Lakshmi plans Rs 10 bn expansion
To significantly increase the capacity of its existing facility at Sirohi, Rajasthan from 3.4 million ton to 7 million ton. A

Intellectual power of India takes hold in UK
— India is the second-fastest-growing economy after China. GDP growth in first quarter was 9.1 per cent. Full-year growth is expected to be at its strongest in 20 years
— Per capita income in India will rise 26 per cent, from $831 to $1,021, this fiscal year, moving it into the category of lower- middle-income countries, as designated by the World Bank
— The UK is India’s fourth-largest trading partner behind the US, China and Belgium
— India represents 16 per cent of the flow of foreign direct investment into London
— There are 1.3 million people of Indian origin in Britain; 437,000 live in London. The capital is home to 173,000 Indian citizens
— There are 160 multinational Indian companies in London. More than 10,000 Indian-owned businesses in the capital generated a combined turnover of $14.4 billion, or 5 per cent of the city's economy. India is the second-largest foreign creator of jobs in the UK, after the US

US couple sets up bone marrow registry in India
Venture capitalist Tim Dutta hopes to save other people from a disease that almost killed his wife.

Fresno Bee to outsource ad production to India
31 advertising jobs sent to India

India: Three-way battle for VP's post between Ansari, Heptulla, Masood
The UPA-Left candidate, Mr. Ansari and the National Democratic Alliance candidate, Najma Heptulla would have to file their nominations on Monday, the last day for it. The United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) nominee Rasheed Masood filed his papers on Friday.

India needs 856 new planes over the next 15 to 20 years
Both Boeing and Airbus stand to win about $36 billion each

Asian Heart Institute to invest Rs 30 crore in India
Asian Heart Institute plans to invest Rs 30 crore for acquisition of hospitals outside Mumbai

India: Bata opens 3,500 sq ft flagship store in Thiruvananthapuram
The store covers an area of 3,500 square feet. Each store directly employes over 50 employees. Over the next two years, the company plans to add 200 new stores

India: Zee Interactive plans 35 more Kidzcare centres
Zee Interactive Learning Systems to set up a total of 35 Kidzcare centres across the country in the current fiscal.

India: Canaan to announce $10-25 Mn more investments
The VC has previously invested in e4e and Aztec Software.

Madras Cements to put up a 2 mt a year plant in Tamil Nadu
It proposes to put up a 2 mt a year plant in Tamil Nadu, for which it will have wind turbines to meet the power requirement.

American Tower Corp entering India
US-based American Tower Corporation is all set to enter the Indian market.

India: IVR Prime Urban Developers plans to raise Rs 840 crore
IVR Prime focuses on integrated townships, residential apartments and commercial projects including hotels, retail malls and IT parks.

US mining equipment giant Bucyrus International to set up shop in Bengal
Bucyrus International, Inc., a world leader in the design and manufacture of mining equipment, is setting up a $5 million manufacturing unit

India: New Mangalore Port on expansion mode
NMPT will spend Rs. 6,400 crore up to 2013 on expanding cargo handling facilities, with four additional deep berths for ships

GlobalLogic to invest USD 50 mn in India
Company would also increase headcount to 3,000 by the end of current fiscal

India's first space science university takes wings next month
Create a full-fledged infrastructure for IIST on a picturesque site in Ponmudi near the Kerala state capital.

Best hotel tag for India's ‘Udailvilas’ a boost to tourism
The brand image of The Oberoi Group, with hotels and resorts in countries such as Indonesia, Egypt, Australia and Mauritius, has gone up a few notches with The Oberoi Udaivilas being ranked as the ‘Best Hotel in the World’ by the Travel & Leisure magazine readers worldwide.

Indian Railways to implement air-conditioned local train project in Mumbai
Suburban non-air conditioned trains in Mumbai carry an average of about 5,000 passengers per rake against the capacity of 1,700 passengers.

Dredging Corporation of India gets nod to buy 3 dredgers
Each dredger would have a capacity of 5,000 cubic metres and costs Rs 1,087 crore

Lockheed Martin eyeing India for R&D, products
The world’s number 1 aerospace company is exploring partnerships with Indian companies for in-flight refuelling for its F16 fighters for which it has signed an MoU with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Another MoU has been signed with Bharat Electronics Ltd, while it has teamed up with L&T for the Navy’s integrated platform system.

Manitowoc Co. buys out partner in India
The acquisition of Shirke expands Manitowoc's manufacturing base in India

India’s Global Service Providers Growing Stronger
Six Indian companies have made it to this year’s BusinessWeek's ranking of the top 100 global information technology companies. Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computer Services, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro Technologies are the Indian companies vying with the top performers in the world.

India's Essar Oil Finds Oil in Gujarat Exploration Block
The well is expected to produce around 50-60 barrels of oil a day and the plan is to drill another six to seven prospects shortly to produce around 300 to 400 barrels of oil a day

First female president for India
Mrs Patil, 72, won nearly two-thirds of votes cast in state assemblies and in India's parliament

India's Service tax to cross Rs 50,000 cr in FY08
Compared to Rs 37,500 crore in the year 2006

British firm strikes gas in northeast India
The London-based Premier Oil has found gas at a drilling block at Pechadhar near Silchar, Assam

India: GSPC finds oil in Gujarat
The oil was found at a depth of 2,479 metres in Miroli 1 under NELP-IV Block CB-ONN 2002-03

NEC, Fujitsu to double headcount in India
Fujitsu will be tripling its engineers in India

Royal Bank of Scotland to double India headcount
RBS, which has an India development centre at Gurgaon with about 600 employees currently will be doubling headcount to about 1,000 people by year end

Unemployment in India will be wiped out by 2010: PM’s advisers
In its economic outlook for 2007-08, the panel also projected that inflation would remain around 4 percent.

India's Wipro plans 1,000-employee development center in Atlanta
It's the first of four centers planned for the U.S.

Skyline to invest Rs 200 cr in Mangalore
In residential, commercial, hospitality and retail segments .

India's Exide picking up 26% stake in Australian co Ceil Motive
This would help Exide emerge as a leading player in traction batteries segment in Australia.

Rain Calcining completes $595 million acquisition of CII Carbon of US
With this acquisition, Rain Calcining has become the largest manufacturer of calcined petroleum coke in the world

Indian firm to buy BCGI for $65m
Boston Communications Group Inc., a major US provider of prepaid wireless services, yesterday said it has agreed to be purchased by an Indian company for $65 million.

Ford to scale up production in India
Production pushed up from 42,000 to 65,000 per year

Economics: The Pretence of Knowledge

Sanjay Garg — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:22:14 EDT

Fred Hayek, one of the most prominent economists and political philosophers of the twentieth century once described Economics as "The Pretence of Knowledge". Nowhere has this been more in evidence than in the pathetic record of world economists in predicting the growth and development of India.

Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Professor of Economics in the department of Economics at MIT writes: "If you ask an economist today what the body of economic theory has to tell us about the stability of the capitalist system, or whether the poor countries of today are destined to catch up with the rich countries, or even whether free trade is better than some protection, he would throw up his hands (though in the next instant he would probably offer his own opinions)."

Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, columnist for Businessworld, writes "I have for long been sceptical about the ability of economists to exactly predict the really significant long-term trends that change the destinies of nations."

The folks over at the The Economist have been puzzling over and scratching their heads non-stop over the past few years trying to figure out what's happening in India. In recent years, leading Business schools in the West have made it a point to closely analyze the phenomena of the Mumbai dabbawalas and Lalu Prasad Yadav, two "outliers" that do not quite fit conventional wisdom. The Christian Science Monitor equated the managerial and organizational simplicity, the efficiency and on-time delivery record of the dabbawalas with that of a modern, sophisticated global chain like McDonald's. One important lesson The Economist should draw from this is that education is not everything - entrepreneurial spirit and risk-taking cannot be taught in schools.

Lalu Yadav's success with Indian Railways have been even more puzzling. How has a man with no formal education brought about a change of this magnitude? How has he transformed the loss-making organization into a profitable one without retrenchment and privatization? With no hikes in fare and freight charges? When Japan's railways faced the same problem a few years ago, did they not have to privatize in order to survive? Ironically, in the US, the bastion of capitalism, the Railways run at a loss and in Europe it survives basically on subsidies.

If you really want to understand the Indian economy, the first thing you need to do is tune out the economists and other "manufactured" experts. The next thing you need to do is become invested. Or maybe this order should be reversed.

Mayawati - Caste-ing a Wide Web

Sanjay Garg — Mon, 21 May 2007 14:16:45 EDT

A 51-year old Indian dalit woman, single scripts perhaps the biggest landslide in Uttar Pradesh electoral history and this seems to have brought the anti-caste convention to town. With so many heads nodding in automated, synchronized disapproval, the rattling could be heard for miles. That some of these heads were attached to the bodies of political opponents one understands, even expects. After all, it is their dharma. But what about those that merely talk - whether Indian or foreign? why are they upset with poor, old Mayawati?

After all, seen from a Western perspective, Mayawati’s win is equivalent to a black woman ( and I mean a real African American woman, not Condi “white” Rice) in America winning ultimate power in a large state like Texas or even in a self-described liberal state like California.

Of course, it would take quite an African American woman, someone secure enough in her single status to withstand the inevitable lesbian canards, strong enough to beat out all challengers from her own constituency, wise enough to recognize the need of the times, flexible enough to shake off the constraints of her party’s manifesto, entrepreneurial enough to seize the opportunity, persuasive enough to motivate (the equivalent of) white males to accept her as boss and of course lucky enough to win – BIG - in the conservative Hindi heartland of India. Just another indication that being “conservative” in India is in many ways more liberal and progressive than liberals in the West. But I digress.

And then it occurred to me why these talking heads have a furrow on their foreheads. Mayawati’s win has been a harsh reality check for the average disconnected scribe. She has forced them to see that caste has not really gone away but has in fact gotten stronger; that caste status or gender does not prevent anyone from gaining political power in India; that both Muslims and especially Christians are enthusiastic practitioners & supporters of casteism in India and elsewhere; that caste is an excellent, natural “interest group” and allows benefits to be channeled more precisely to the street level. That caste status is not an instrument of division, but of social harmony. Hard lessons to swallow for those that have a Pavlovian response to the word “caste”.

And the hardest lesson of all? Since the U.P. results coincided with the release of Spider-man 3, one cannot fail but to observe: some societies excel in creating superheroes on celluloid; others create them in real life.