" China Offers express Visa to Indians"

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As the Indian economy roaring, seems the another Asian economic power house, China, has realized that there's no permanent friend, no permanent foes, only permanent interests. The Launch of Indo-China business Alliance can be termed as the extension of yeteryear's visit of Hu Jintao and reopening of Nathu- la pass at the border of the two countries. Under the aegis of india's economic chamber ASSOCHAM, the ICBA will work to facilitate the business men from both sides. In the launching Mr. Yuxi announced that in a bid to closely knit business synergies of China and India, the Chinese Embassy would be issuing `Express Visas' that are recommended by the ICBA to Indian businessmen. The express visa will help both side as both are the fastest growing economies and to sustain the growth of same its better to cooperate against to vie. The cooperation will facilitate bilateral retail trade to grow upto$50 billion from the current level of around $20 billion in the next few years,This move can be seen as good Confidence building measure and of high importance in the way of PM manmohan Singh's forthcoming visit to China, which may give us some more exciting and good business announcements.

7.1/10 AMIT

TATA wins CORUS

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When Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata house, announced the bid to acquire Anglo-Dutch steel maker CORUS during 2006 Diwali, Indian media was gung-ho about the deal and it was hailed as the biggest blitzkrieg of all time in the Indian corporate world. Tata has estimated the deal to be of 8billion USD, but as the time changed a new rival came into the picture in the name of Steinbruch’s Companhia siderugica nacional, or CSN and it challenged TATA and questioned his estimated deal. The battle was set up and TATA Steel was also ready to clinch the deal. So one fine day Tata beat his Brazilian rival steinbruch in a closely contested auction. In 8 round bidding Tata finally clinched the deal with 12 billion USD at 608 pence per share against CSN’s offer of 603 pence per share.
In one go Tata steel leapfrogged from 30 to 5th rank in the biggest steel makers’ list.
Several analysts are suggesting that TATA has gone overboard in trying to best CSN. But given TATA’s previous record it would be a matter of argument. Tata is known for his splendid comeback after each slide down due to acquisition of some big company or some landmark announcement. Also Tata has did rightly so as the acquiring a established firm was easier than establishing and expanding the new business in India specially in steel industry as acquiring land in steel rich states is hard nut to crack. However Tata steel’s share has fallen considerably just after the announcement of deal.
Acquiring CORUS will give Tata the new market in the name of Europe and it will be the leading steel making company and why not as the latest trend in the steel making industry is consolidation (Mittal- Arcelor).
The market reaction was a short term reflection as Ratan Tata said in a call with journalist "Hopefully, in the future somebody will look back and say we did the right thing."
Being an Indian i hope so…Do you?

Budget 2007 - A NOTE

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As P Chidambram was unfolding the Budget 2007 on 28th feb. , industries, corporate and academicians were keen to analyze the SWOT for their interest. It’s really a tough job to comment on annual budget of second largest growing economy of the world, that too in very brief and succinct manner. For corporate crunchers, here’s the news - E&Y has come up with 87 pages analysis report whereas their counterparts from KPMG, ICRA and CRISIL have tried to concise the report but couldn’t help and end up with 50, 17 and 8 pages report. But I am going to give you the hint and mood of the budget in extremely brief and terse way.
The Annual budget looks to have struck balance between fiscal consolidation and the need to spend, especially in key areas such as agriculture, the rural economy and social services.
Fiscal and revenue deficit, both come down from the previous FY and are 3.3 and 1.5 % of GDP respectively. Total spending in 2007/08 seen at 6.81 trillion rupees ($154.6 billion); non-plan expenditure next year seen at 4.35 trillion rupees.
Its matter of irony that just before the budget day the results of Punjab, UT and Mizoram legislative elections were declared and INC tasted defeat in the same. INC supremo blamed it to inflation rise and so the effect of this is clearly visible in the budget as she asked the Govt. to rein in the spiraling inflation. Leading the way is a reduction in customs and excise duties for a number of commodities. Notably the Agriculture sector is a key focus reflecting the sector’s central role and socio-economic-politco importance . Reforms have also got slow down because of Sonia influence. Tax exemption for some sectors have cut down too especially for IT and ITES sector.
On the other hand Govt. has increased the budget allocation for farm credit and education to name a few among other rural and social issues.
Bottom-line is policy making and budget allocation is good to priorities for key sector to maximize sustain growth, but effective implementation of policy and efficient use of allocated budget for the growth is the area to stress upon. Eleventh five year plan is to be start from this year and achieving the target is a challenge for the country.

"India has maximum number of Billonaries in Asia"

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Forbes magazine's 2007 rankings of the world's richest people is out and India dethroned Japan from second spot which has 24 billionaires against that of 36 from India. India is second in terms of total no. billionaires in top 20 with 3 second only to US which has 4 candidates in top 20. Indias bandwagon of billionaires is headed by LN mittal who is on 5th spot followed by ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil on 14 and 18 spot respectively. Wipro head Azim Premji is on 21 spot , who once had been the only Indian to make in the list.Though India snatched second spot from Japan in terms of Billiaonaires but its still way behind in per capita income. This fact unfolds the ground reality behind the curtains. This shows that the chasm between rich and poor is insreasing in India. Rising no. of billionaires will stimulate big companies to launch their niche products in India, which are meant for supoer richs only in this way Bentley have already announced to launch his premium multicrore cost car, Some real estate companies are planning to offer homes with all the luxuries of world.If we see positive side of the story, its the result of growing Indian economy or may be former is the result of later.Although the list make Indians proud but not happy. It will be happy and proud both if the no. will rise further and the effect of this will be visible in growth of common Indian .

Amit 7.7/10

Merger of IA and AI

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Much awaited and touted megamerger of two state owned carriers Air India And Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) has received cabinet nod on 2nd of march. This maha merger will bringforth a globaly and domestically competitive edge to the airlines. Civil aviation minister said this will take another 4 month to practically exist the merger and he promised not to cut jobs.This merger will allow state to reap up benefit of 6 billion INR in next 4 years and It will be one of the biggest airlines of Asia with 122 carriers in his kitty. On the other hand workers and employees of AI and IA are apprehensive and worried about their future inspite of MR. Patel's promise.The Govt should try to allay this feeling in the days to come and the time should be utilised by reducing the lazyness of employees and boboodome.Given that seven new carriers have sprung up in the past four years in India's liberalised skies, once dominated by the state-run airlines, and another five have applied to take off, it will be interesting to see how this merger will reap up profits in the highly competitive indian aviation sector.

A 7.9/10

" Indian Team for World Cup "

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Sixteen teams, forty seven days, fifty-one matches and one CUP, welcome to the 2007 world cup cricket in Caribbean. Sixteen members squad of India, riding high on the hopes and prayers of millions Indian cricket fans is confident enough to win the World Cup, thanks to the recent series win of Indian team over Sri Lanka..Selectors have tried to chose the best from what the good they had. In fact they have nothing much to chose from. Selectors lead by Dileep vegsharkar has shown their confidence in experience over the young blood this is pretty averred with the inclusion of Kumble, Zaheer and sehwag. There has been some question raised over noninclusion of kaif , who could have been an asset at the fierce newlymade pitches of west Indies.India has indeed a best batting lineup in the world and the very experienced one. Undoubtedly the maestros like Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid can turn the outcome of any match. In addition to this If Dhoni and yuvrajhas cracked, it's the doomed situation for opponents. In fact Dhoni and Yuvraj are turning out to be a good finishers.Bowling, the recent form of Zaheer is looking promising with the add of aggressiveness of Srisanth can be good combination of pacers. Whereas the spinners like Kumble and harbhajan has proven their wirth at many occasions. However the bowling attack of India has some loopholes and fifth bowler will be problem. It will be interesting to see how Skipper overcome this problem and how judiciously he use the options available.Come to fielding, this is the area where Indian team seems to be vulnerable. There is dearth of young blood in Team and only few are world class fielders. Kaif is not in the team and Yuvraj is coming out of injury. So it will be loophole again.Bottomline is India can win the cup provided the batsmen have to click and score high. And prayer of millions of cricket fans can work what a eleven players' team cannot, so destiny and toss can play a vital role too. If the ace three members of the team to be believed, India is going to win the cup second time. Wait and watch .

Amit 8/10

ICICI Bank raises retail lending rates

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ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank and second-largest lender overall, has hiked its retail lending rates, including home loan rates by 50 basis point (100 basis points = 1%). This move is obviously come up after announcement of RBI's hike of CRR by 50 basis point which in turn has done so to curb the northward movement of inflation. Although the new rates will be applicable to the new customers but the impact on burgeoning middle class will be twofold. First, the rising inflation and skyrocketing prices of essential commodities are cause to worry and now the hike in retail lending rates both fixed and floating will ccause double trouble for consumers. The recent unrealistic spurt in the real state and stock market led the RBI to take monetary measures like hiking standard asset provisioning on retail loans. But it has abstained in hiking rates however the private players has gone a step ahead and they increased the PLR.Analyst have their own arguments in for and against the move , as the hike may slow down the growth in the housing market but the real impact is remain to be seen as the India's economy is growing like never before and this obviously prompts the more spurt in real state and housing market.

"Mobile Giants Plan Rival to Google"

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When an ant get a grain of sugar, the whole lot of other ants come
to break into the pie of the former's gain. Same is the case can be
perceived with
the rumour of Telcos plan to come up with a mobile search engine to
rival googal, yahoo.
The bigwigs of the telecommunication, Vodafone, France Telecom,
Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Hutchison Whampoa, Telecom Italia and
Cingular and the likes are going to meet in 3GSM to discuss the
possibility to come up with their own search engine on mobiles.
Reason is very obvious, call revenues are declining and every
telecommunication company is looking to generate extra revenues with
one means or other. According to research and marketing firm
Informa Telecoms & Media, is growing dramatically. Informa predicts
that by 2011, nearly 50 percent of all mobile phone subscribers
across the world will be browsing the Web from a mobile handset,
making the associated ad deals valuable indeed. and the
announcement of google's revenue has prompted them to think on this
aspect.

If, it is not a threat, definitely it make sense to google which
announced good ad revenues on the mobile search and who is clearly a
winner in the search engine market. And it seems they have already
sniffed the threat as Google and Yahoo have already started
developing a similar service for mobile phones with individual
telecommunication companies as the mobile internet market looks set
for take off over the next five years.
Whether it will be a blast in mobile search engine market or just a
wet cracker, is remain to be seen but if telcos come up with their
own search engine . it will sure end up with facilitating consumers.

Hrithik is the next superstar

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The industry, the media and the masses are always waiting for a superstar. They have always created one and carried him on their shoulders as long as they want or believed the superstar should be carried. They give some of them a long life. They give others time till they don’t get on their nerves because of their standing as superstars. They have dumped some of the best of them whenever they have behaved in ways other than the ways they want them to and left them to fight their own battles to survive and then look for other superstars.


There have been times when there have been more than one superstar like there was the time when the trio of Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor ruled. There was a time when there was just one Rajesh Khanna. Then there was a superstar like Amitabh Bachchan who is a superstar among superstars even after 30 years. There is Shah Rukh Khan, the King or Baadshah Khan as they call him now but the King has suddenly found competition. For a time it looked like there would be a tough competition between Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan and there were bets laid on who would emerge the winner at the end of the year but with 'Dhoom-2' Hrithik has clearly emerged as the superstar today and for a long time to come.


Hrithik has been a very careful and cautious player. He proved that he was a star with his very first film 'Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai', which was a golden jubilee hit. He proved that he was a bigger star who was also a very good actor in 'Koi Mil Gaya'. He showed the first major signs of being a superstar when he grew into a cult figure with Krrish. And now with 'Dhoom-2' he has just sailed through and staked his place and even claimed it as the next superstar. There are experts who claim that he has taken the place of the King. This talk started when Hrithik was the first ever star to sign a 36 crore contract for three films with a leading corporate company, a fact that took the industry by storm.


His performances, his personality and the élan and ease with which he has carried himself in a daringly different role for the Hindi film hero and despite the competition from Abhishek, the other contender for the throne, he has made his intentions clear without making any overtly and conscious efforts.


Hrithik has all the other qualities that go to make a superstar. He has the patience. He has hardly had ten releases during his less than ten-year-old career. He has steered clear of all controversies and gossip. He is unanimously accepted as the most well-behaved, disciplined and knowledgeable star. He is in no hurry to grab films. Surprisingly he has just one film on the floor, Jodhaa Akbar when other stars of his generation have them by the dozens.I always knew Hrithik would make it big and I am happy that he has proved me right. He is the biggest young star today, you can call him the next superstar who can take on challenges even from Hollywood and give some of the best actors a run for their money. So, isn’t it time to welcome the new superstar and give him the place he has earned for himself?

Clarification

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sowwie, was having some prob at home so cudnt post in. in fact will be dormant in days to come as loads of exigent wrk ahead. bear with me.
Yup the poll stands cancel, as when i have posted the poll, that was an inchoate poll and with the passage of time the things changed . Release date of Dhoom2 and UmraoJaan postponed (perhaps because of tough competition or may be post production delay or as consequence of good understanding berween distributers and directors of the movies). and Jaan-E-Mann vied with the DON, the release date of which was nt in the picture at the time, poll started off..
However here is the result Dhoom2 is clearly emerged as the winner and UmraoJaan is on astonishingly on second spot, The picture might have been diffrent if the Jaan e mann wud have been in the poll.
Selection Votes
DHOOM-2 Back in action 56% 5
DON - The chase begins again 11% 1
Umrao JAAN 33% 3

9 votes total

thanx to everyone who actively on inactively participated in the poll.
will be back in action very soon.

Anil Ambani gets go ahead for DTH

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Nothing can beat the relaxed hours one spends before a television
after an office/school rigour. Be it a bloody battle between Brazil
and Argentina (people call it football!!) or be it the Devil's
Advocate with Karan Thappar at his articulate best, everybody enjoys
watching TV. However here and there, a middle class wife will fight
with her husband around 28th or 29th of every month to cancel the
cable TV subscription pointing to the ever-burgeoning cable cost and
the dip in the quality due to illegal usage. Well here is an answer
to all the problems abovementioned- DTH expanded to Direct To Home.

When DTH was first introduced in the late nineties by private
players, the Government was not in all favours citing security
problems. However the idea was revamped in 2001 and Rupert Murdoch
owned iSkyb launched he first DTH service and the government too
forayed with the DD direct plus. Now the market has become
competitive with the entry of R-ADA into the broadcasting setup.

If one has followed the recent activities of Anil Ambani he/she
wouldn't be surprised with this move. Anil has began to expand his
grip over the Indian market by including diversity in his ambit and
it is evident from his investment in joint ventures with PVR and
Adlabs in building multiplexes, in FM radio channels and in
producing films in synergy with high network bollywood people.

A smart businessman that Anil is, has been fast in realizing the
growth potentials one has in the broadcasting market.
PricewaterhouseCoop er has predicted a manifold increase in the
number of DTH subscribers. From a mealy 3.25 millions to 15 millions
in two years is a real growth if PricewatrhouseCoope r is to be
trusted. Further more Anil could also make his viewers subscribe to
his multiplex shows or listen to his FM if he can gain a strong hand
in the DTH market.

This R-ADA foray into DTH market may make profound implications on
1) The market cap of Reliance
2) The competitors' interest and
3) The public

Despite the split of the Reliance Empire, Reliance stocks still soar
high and Anil's strategic moves have been instrumental in
maintaining the momentum. The latest arrow from the Ambani quiver is
Reliance Blue Magic the subsidiary, which will deal with the DTH
market. With only four major private players viz IskyB of News Corp,
Dish TV of Zee groups, Sky TV- an 80:20 venture of Tatas and Star TV
and the South Indian major SUN Network, much is at the offering and
Anil has displayed immaculate entrepreneurial skills in setting up
this DTH service providing venture. With the Midas touch that he
has, no doubt Reliance Blue Magic will hit the target and bring in
more revenue to Reliance Energy, the parent organization of Anil
Dhirubai Ambani enterprise.

The Cable TV operators' honeymoon is going to end soon with CAS and
DTH's taking over. Zee is offering its DTH services at Rs 200/- and
the package includes eventy five channels. Star offers similar
number of channels for Rs 180/-. These charges do not include the
setting-up charges and with the entry of RBM will only make the
setting more interesting and it will be a good spectacle to watch
how these competitors battle it out.

With all these private parties engaging in a gripping combat, the
viewers will be promised the best of the quality, making TV watching
a pleasant experience. The viewers now have a wide choice of service
providers to choose from, with the package from each being more
attractive than the competitor's in one way or the other. Gone are
the days of illegal usage and cable operators' escapade from higher
entertainment taxes.

Having done all the formalities and with the LoI of the government
in its kitty, RBM is all set to make its presence felt in the DTH
services. Anil's strategy to win the battle will also be a thing to
watch out and having seen him all these days I am sure it will be
unique and successful as usual.

H k

HDFC to raise Rs 3240 cr from FDI

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They say, "When it pours, it pours heavy". It is indeed pouring
heavily in India. Apart from the torrential rains the FDI is also
pouring into the country, which is expected to quadruple in the next
seven years. Gone are the days when the government was reluctant in
allowing foreign companies to enter the Indian market. These days
India and China are branded as the best places to invest for at
least another 25 years and no surprises foreign organizations are
competing big time to be a part of this FDI spree. The latest
participator is the housing finance leader HDFC. The proposal of
HDFC o invest a staggering Rs 3240 crore ($720 mn) into the Indian
real estate business has been a given an affirmative nod by the
Cabinet Committee on External Affairs.

India is currently holding the position, which was
formerly held by the US (in the post war years) as the best place to
invest thanks to the burgeoning economy and scrupulous economic
planning. The Real Estate Market of the country deserves a special
mention, which is expected to grow from the current $12 bn market
position to an Himalayan $90 bn in the next decade, courtesy Merrill
Lynch. May be that will be an eye opener for those who wonder at the
reason behind giants Farallon Capital Management, Morgan Stanley,
Merrill Lynch and GE Commercial Finance Real Estate craving to
dominate the Indian real estate space, needless to mention the local
players. Now HDFC has forayed into the market by registering India
Offshore Real Estate Investments, a fund raising company in
Maurtius, which will invest in the Indian real estate. Its inviting
International Banks, Financial Institutions and high network
Individuals to invest in the fund for a minimum period of three
years.

This investment plan of HDFC has direct implications on
1) Its own revenue
2) The "home country" economy and
3) The market capitalization of local players

HDFC has made many smart moves in the past, joining hands with SBI,
being one such and this investment plan is another strategic move,
every economic pundit would say. The Indian government has signed a
treaty not to tax the Mauritius investors, which will directly
benefit HDFC. The stock value has already increased by 3.07% in BSE
and the future looks really rosy for the organization.

The liberalization and the globalization binge have benefited
the country largely with its economy growing at a breakneck speed.
This approval by CCEA will attract other international players to
pour in investments and thereby adding to the FDI revenue. It's a
win-win situation and surely India would cash in by making use of
these opportunities.

The real problem is for the Indian players who with their
already fragile investment now should meet this external pressure
from the foreign investors as well. If only they stand tall in this
competition, it would make the market positions more exciting and
the investors more interested. Companies like UB group of Vijay
Mallaya have the financial cushion and they can offer stiff
challenge to HDFC and only time will decide the winner.

Harish Krishnan

Google Offers Classics for Free

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Books are no doubts " treasures of knowledge and wisdom" , and making
them accesible in this way via internet has really helped the
information on net to be gathered in organised form,all credits to
Google.Getting a printed copy is now going to be less expensive than
to pay the cost of toner and paper.The Google mechanism,would also
beuseful for a book that's hard to find.

By taking this huge step forward Google has helped realising words of
'Charles W. Eliot ' who said "Books are the quietest and most
constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of
counsellors, and the most patient of teachers", google has helped in
realising these word into physical world with this step. The step
taken by google in this direction is really a big step which is not
only going to help the current generation but is also going to add
feathers in knowledge of future generations who'll have very easy and
free of cost access to all hidden knowledge of their past and
future.This step also has added to the reputation of expanding google
as a big-wig under the leadership of 'Larry Page',Sergey Brin' and
'Eric Schmidt' who have allready prooved Google's brilliance in
fileds like Search Engine,Google Earth,Mail,Chat,Video's ,Image's etc
etc. the step taken by google can now help an avid reader to scan
through his list of books on internet and see what is available
easily.


Though the other side of google step may sound little bit shaky as
formainstream publishers It's certainly going to hurt a little bit, but
one should be surprise to see if it hurts very much.Google has also
tried it' best to make it's critics silent by not allowing access to
books still under copyright, for them only bibliographies are
available along with limited extracts Also for books made available
toGoogle via publisher, including editions from Oxford University
Press,Penguin, and Dover the viewer would only gets only a "limited
preview"of a few pages. In other cases, where Google believes that a volume
might be in copyright, but has no relationship with the publisher,
Google provides an even more restricted "snippet view."

I guess the step taken by google should be really appreciated as it
has tried its best to save the interest of both the publisher's and
ofcourse the readers.
Gurpreet

Volvo in talks for stake in Ashok Leyland

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Today's market is full of competition, with one firm trying to
usurp another.Competition brings out the best in anybody and it has
direct implications in all kind of markets. The partnership talks
between two automobile majors, Volvo and Ashok Leyland is only a
testimony for the aforesaid.

Volvo has been India for the past eight years, doing decent
business by selling buses and trucks to both government and private
parties. In Volvo's perspective, entering into the medium commercial
vehicle market is very crucial for its expansion. The medium
commercial vehicle business has not been in its ambit as far as the
Indian market is concerned and this partnership would suffice its
needs to gain a stronghold. Volvo was forced to payback a sum of
$2.2 bn due to recent pressure from its shareholders and this has
made it inquisitive in making acquisitions and adding to its
repertoire. So this alliance would and could prove to be beneficial
to the Swedish giant.


On the other hand, Ashok Leyland would consider this partnership
as a filling of gap caused due to the quitting of IVECO Fiat, the
Italian player. With IVECO Fiat- the heavy truck arm of Italian
automobile giant, having joined hands with rivals, Tata Motors after
selling its 15% stake in LRLH, the Hindujas are all set to enter
into a partnership with Volvo. LRLH, the holdings firm of the
Hindujas family who now hold 51% of Ashok Leyland, requires
technology for its own betterment and it would expect the much
needed technology exchange would happen in this partnership. With
global conglomerates like Daimler Chrysler, International Truck &
Engine Corporation and MAN Nutzfarhzeuge vying the Indian Market and
Tata Motors planning to introduce world truck range in 2008 Ashok
Leyland has to try every trick to be competitive enough in the
market.

Though the fiscal dealings haven't been disclosed yet, this
partnership would certainly be fruitful to both the parties. The
salubrious competition would also bring the best out of the people,
as said before and when two firms, best in their business, tie up,
it is needless to say it would benefit the people and the nation at
large.

KRISHNAN

Samsung to open second plant in India

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Looking at the present industrial trend the first thing which comes
to mind is the Darwin's theory " Survival of the fittest". Only the
Companies having the zeal for quality, price competance and custumer
satisfaction can survive in present market scenario in almost any
sector of bussiness.The south korean major Samsung electronics
declaration that it is going to start a new venture in south india
in near future does supports the survival theory. From an annonymous
brand in India in 1995 to the market leader position in 2006 does
takes a lot of efforts and grit.

Positive impacts:

The company has so far invested 150 million dollars at the noida
facility, in uttar pradesh. Not to mention that employement
oppertunities and vendor development are a few tangible benefits
that are generated due to the presence of a market leader in state,
also the intangible benefits like Best quality product at most
competance price with exempler custumer support services are also
noteworthy. As Samsung India is the hub for Samsung's south west
asia region, the local talent also gets the oppertunity to work with
the best in industry and to get the acclaim at international arena.
Also, as the world is heading towards free trade, Indians should
look to it as an oppertunity to raise its level to compete for the
rest of world by lowering the manufacturing cost so that more
bussiness houses are attracted to shift towards indian market to
invest for other manufacturing facilities. Mr. Ravinder Zutsi's
remark that exports from the Indian subsidiary were to tune the
Rs.100 crore in 2005 and were expected to touch Rs 150 crore this
year clearly make a note that indian manufacturing sector is at its
flourish and this positive trend has to be maintained further in
near future.

Negative Impacts:

With the rise of foreign companies snaching the market share, Indian
companies in respective sectors seem to lose their identity. But the
only solution to this is that Indian companies will also have to
sharpen their technological skills and should invest more in R&D so
that they are also able to stand in front of these International
players rather than to follow anachronicle methods of production.

Bottom line:

With the announcent of 2nd production facility in India, Samsung is
ushering in a new era for Indian base as a Manufacturing hub, which
will speeden up the countries pace to compete up with the other
countries like China ,Malaysia & Hong Kong which are supposed to be
the front runners in cheap production with cutting edge
technological facilities.

AMIT G

India offers more duty cuts to ASEAN

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Free Market economy has been the buzz word that has been driving indian trade policy over the last 15 years and the country yesterday showed the interest and the commitment it has got towards the concept. The announcement of tariff cuts by Indian trade and commerce minister Mr.Kamalanath, highlights the importance India gives to the ASEAN in terms of trade. The asean which is a regional trading block is a consortium of the far-east countries. The announcement by the honoured minister is laudable for many but is quite a catastrophe for some others. Tariff cuts on agro based products are a serious threat to the local industry, so are tariff cuts in other areas like textiles. Indian farming is largely indigenous and does not make much use of the modern technology. In light of the above stated reasons the decision to lower the tariffs is a dangerous game that India is playing and to favour one side of the argument is only being baised.

Looking at the positive side of things, the tariff cuts are a good sign of things to come in the future. India has shown it's commitment to keep the talks alive by rising the number of products out of the tariff cuts to 94p.c from 69 p.c last year. The decision by the commerce ministry is largely influenced by the fact that the trade between the two countries has risen to a high figure of $17bn but still is very less compared to the amount of trade between ASEAN and the United States which is of the order of $132Bn. It can be seen from the above facts that India is eyeing the huge gains that the trade between the two groups can offer and is ready to forefit a bit from it's side. The fastly growing Indian middle class and the plans by major companies like Reliance to enter the retail sector are also major catalysts in lowerng the tariff cuts. There is a large and yet untapped market in india which the trade can leverage upon.

On the negative side of things the decision posses a great challenge to the government to protect it's own industries and agriculture. A 40 p.c cut on tariff is not something that pleases the average farmer and it would not be easy for the government to implement it. Tea estates are largely labour intensive. In this context the move to reduce the tariff by half on black tea and other varities is something that needs to be discussed more. Tariff cuts on Textiles is also of concern as the Indian textile industry has just learned to make use of advanced technology and is still in a growing stage. However, The government has a timeperiod of 5 years a la WTO agreements and major steps have to be taken to make both the retail and textile sectors to be competent.

To Sum it up, It was a brave, visionary and commendable move from India to lower the tariff rates. This agreement if implemented would bolster the trade withe countries like Malysia which augument for 70p.c of India's oil needs. But having said all this the government should realize that the opening up of market comes at a price and sufficient and quick measures are required to prevent the price from becoming too high.

Prasad

Crackdown on colas can hurt investement in India!

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After 3 years, Capital based CSE has again tests positive the famous
Cola brand of India and cosequently the denate over COLA ban is
again making news.. SOon after the announce ment of CSE that the
famous COLA brand has exceed the limit of permissible pesticdes in
the contents. the news was hot and even the traces have been seen in
the indian Parliament. Around six ates of India has banned cola
partaially or fully lead by KErala who was the first to introduce
ban .

The reaction has taken no time to come up and within few hrs The
American Government and Business leaders had warned India the the
move to ban Cola will lead to thwart the investors in India. Indian
business leaders and Association were coherent with their american
counterparts in criticizing the move.
Actually In India there is no any written specification for the
permisible limit of pesticides in the ingredients of soft drink .
The CSE , which is claiming that pesticide limeit is higher than
permissible is taking the latest draft into account , which is nt
yet a law. So in the wake of just a private NGO's test the move of
Govt sounds hurried move.
However if the limit is crossed and its nt the violation of law ,
still its condemnable. Indian soft drink market is of 2 bn USD. and
a bn plus populated country cant be just ignored in terms of Quality
and these MNCs sud understand this.
It s still remains to be seen that the present fizz over to make
unfizzy cola giants will sustain and will give us some fruitful
results or it will be just a fizz and wioll cool down with time as
it had been three yrs back.

AMIT

NO FDI in retail sector !

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Much awaited FDI in retail is again in abeyance and If commerce minister Mr. Kamal nath to be beleived, there seems no sign of nod for the FDI in retail sector until its going to create technological advancement and betterment of indian workers at large scale.
Indian retail sector is one of the booming sector in India of late and Foreign giants have already having close watch on the indian govt's move on the issue.
The big players in the retalil like wallmart have already expressed their willingness to take on the indian players which are blossoming and gathering momentum lead by Pantaloons group and the likes.
Now the statement of Mr. Kamal nath is a move which can shatter the dreams Foreign investors.
If the FDI in retail is allowed it will give consumers of India a wide option to choose from and the healthy competition will sure make the sector as buyers market. This will wrk like it has wrked in other sectors so there is no need to be be sceptic. The move will ensure betterment and it will generate employment opportunities.
However, the small players in the field may get adversely affected and consequently there may be shortage of some unskilled employment. Also the technology stagnation is the area to be concern. sinnce the fibished good r nt going to evolve the technology.
Till date only the single brand retail has been allowed . now it will be interesting to see the move of Indian govt. in days to come , which will decide the future of indian retail sector.

AMit

India a step closer to Rupee convertibility

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In the wake of submission of The report by S. S. Tarapore committee on fuller capital account convertibility to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday the debate over full convertiblity of Rupee is again on.
some say we have been thgirved ovewr the time and now as the Indian multinationals r ready to take on the world time is arrived for full convertiblity of rupee. The hunger of indian multinational is increasing for M&A of world's companies, so its high time to leverage their move by allowing full convertiblity.
However the other side of coin is not to allow this in a hurry and RBi sud keep close watch on this issue. The inflation rate is already high and Fiscal deficit is also fluctuating so these two areas should be considered before being liberal on this issue.
To sum it up , nothing can be better except the quote of Assocham President Anil K. Agarwal, who said, "CAC is a welcome goal, but India needs to tread on this path with care as the country faces a large number of challenges relating to CAC which include macroeconomic scenario, capital mobility and foreign exchange reserves

India Rejects $100 Laptop Project

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Well, yet here again we have an exciting issue on the table which
though doesn't need a debate at all, its still there. So for the
sake of it being there let me present my point of view on it.
Needless to say, the much-hyped about issue on `one laptop per
child' is entirely baseless, at least in a developing country like
India. It is a surprise in fact that the planning commission had
actually done lots of paper work on this program put forth by Prof
Nicholas Negroponte who is very well known for his innovative ideas
in the field of education. However, as said by Aswari Ghatage, a
student at Mount Carmel College, the professors at MIT are far too
removed to feel the reality on India, it is only too true that a
program such as OLPC despite being just too good and innovative for
students has no real value in actuality unless these students are
provided with the basic needs. Here are some of the very basic
reasons why this program if put in place in India in the recent
times is going to have a fiasco:
1. more than half the Indian population communicates and learns
in vernacular languages and hence the introduction of laptops is
going to be of little use to these majority of children.
2. the children who still depend on the government to provide
them their basic primary education are hardly capable enough to even
buy books or uniform for their school. How are they going to be able
to pay for the maintenance and internet connectivity in case they do
receive the laptops?
3. giving these children computer education is another hurdle
since their parents themselves are computer illiterates.
4. now comes the shipping and delivery of these laptops. We all
know just too well how the Indian system works. Even in the
instances of natural disasters, only a small part of the relief
reaches the victims, so how can it be ensured that the supply of
laptops to all the areas would be penetrated enough with so much of
corruption through out the way right from the workers to high level
officials?
Well these are just some of the superficial apprehensions by one and
all, if the program is ever put into place, more problems which have
not yet been even thought of will pop up from nowhere. So the stand
taken by our government is completely justified. Also the positive
point to this issue is its capability of creating innovativeness and
creativeness in students as young children are far too curious and
fast learners through creative ideas such as these. But that only
becomes possible when they are already proficient with using the
computers easily that these ideas can actually be realized. So
programs such as these will actually be a big hit in developed
countries but for the still developing ones, that's far too a reach.
The good times for Indians is yet to come and soon. Till then we
need to wait patiently and be rationale towards all the decisions
without hurrying into things.

Singh P.