india india turns 62 turns 62 - cgidubai.gov.inproducts are re-exported to pakistan and afghanistan,...
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PUBLICATION OF THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF INDIA IN DUBAI
◆◆ India’s GDP touches 6.1%in Q1 of 2009-10
◆◆ India to build 20 km ofroads everyday
◆◆ Sharjah Indian School getsa new block
INDIA TURNS 62 INDIA TURNS 62 VOL. 1 ISSUE 6 SEPTEMBER 2009
Celebrations in UAE
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LETTERS TO EDITOR
FROM THE CONSUL GENERAL’S DESKThe 63rd Independence Day was celebrated with gaiety all across the UAE, with special functions held in the
Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate in Dubai. People from all walks of life participated in the events, which arecovered in this issue of the magazine.
Both the Prime Minister and the President expressed optimism about the future of India in their address to thenation. Dr. Manmohan Singh reiterated his confidence in India’s political stability and economic strength. “It is only aresult of our policies that the global crisis has affected us to a lesser extent than many other countries,” he said.
The Bank of Baroda in Dubai conducted a brainstorming session on investment opportunities in India. We hope toencourage more investments from UAE into India, especially in the infrastructure sector. We welcome suggestions fromour readers on how India should go about this task. The inside back-cover of this issue features the highlights of our for-eign direct investment policy.
I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my Ramadan greetings to all the readers. Indians, in general, arefamiliar with Ramadan and Eid. There are 150 million Muslims living across the length and breadth of India. Membersof all communities greet their Muslim brothers and sisters during the holy month of Ramadan and also during EidMilan celebrations.I would like to urge all Indians living in the UAE to use this holy month of Ramadan as an opportu-nity to reach out to their Emirati friends and join them in their Ramadan activities as well as Eid celebrations.
Indians in UAE celebrate I-Day
The Government of India will spend $21billion annually from this fiscal to build20 km of roads everyday.
India’s GDP hastened to 6.1 percent inthe first quarter of 2009-10 from 5.8 percent for the quarter before due tostrong showing by various servicesindustries.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
India to build 20 km ofroads a day
INDIA-UAE
Brainstorming session onFDI opportunities in India
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Sharjah Indian School getsnew block
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BUSINESS & ECONOMY
India’s growth touches6.1% in Q1 of 2009-10
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20TRAVEL: CHIKHALDHARA
As India turned 62 years old on August 15, 2009, Indians in the UAE,along with the rest of world, celebrated the occasion with daylong programmes.
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Please accept my hearty congratulations for the wonderful way of organising our Independence Day celebration in the IndianHigh School premises. Your message was very apt and inspiring. Even the entertainment programme was very appropriateand was able to ignite patriotism. Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to participate in the function.
Dr. S. Gurumadhva RaoVice-Chancellor
RAK Medical & Health Sciences University
This is in appreciation of the efforts by the Indian Consulate led by Consul General Venu Rajamony, in organising a wonder-ful gathering to celebrate our 63rd Independence Day. Most notable was that the event started at exactly 8 a.m. as plannedand lasted precisely an hour. With good leadership, even with a significant gathering, it was demonstrated that time can bekept. The cultural programme by children was of good value and crisp. Great work by all concerned!
Prakash MuthuswamyProject Manager
Parsons
I would like to thank the Consulate General of India, Dubai, and place on record my deep gratitude to Thomas Mathew (ViceConsul Labour) for the guidance and the counselling given to my mother whose passport was stolen after immigration atDubai International Airport Terminal 2 on July 7, 2009. We were really tensed as she was alone without a family membernext to her and she was ill and running out of medicines. It was due to the quick process of paperwork, and help fromThomas Mathew that she could board the next day’s flight.
Mohammed ZahmeerOperation Manager,
Oryx Piping Associates FZCO Jebel Ali Free Zone (South)
This is just to acknowledge the wonderful experience I had in regards to renewing my passport with a jumbo booklet withinthree working days. The staff members at Karama branch for passport services were very helpful and the entire process wasvery smooth.
Rajesh BhatiaExpatriate Indian
India Mattersis a monthly publication of theConsulate General of India
(CGI) in Dubai. All rightsreserved. No part of this journal
may be produced, stored or transmitted in any form or by anymeans – electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
permission of the CGI Dubai.
Editorial correspondence and manuscripts can be addressed to
Content and design by IANS(www.ianspublishing.com)
on behalf of Consulate General of India in Dubai.
Indians in the UAE celebrated India’s63rd Independence Day on August15 with great fervour and pride. Alarge number of expatriates from all
walks of life attended functions at theIndian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and IndianHigh School in Dubai.
India’s Ambassador to the UAE TalmizAhmad hoisted the national flag at theEmbassy premises and read out PresidentPratibha Patil’s message.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event,he said that the UAE acts as a bridgebetween India and its neighbours.
“Booming non-oil trade between thecountries means a huge quantity of Indianproducts are re-exported to Pakistan andAfghanistan, which normally do not haveeasy access to Indian products,”Ambassador Ahmad said.
“Indian goods also reach East Africathrough Dubai, which has opened a mar-ket with a large geographical area for India.During the first nine months of 2008-09,India’s non-oil trade with the UAE hasreached $30 billion (about AED110 bil-
lion),” he added. Former Union Minister Mani Shankar
Aiyar was the chief guest at the Embassyfunction. Speaking on the occasion, he saidIndians could be proud of their countryonly if they were able to eradicate povertyand preserve the inherent diverse culture ofIndia.
“Poverty eradication is another crucialtask for Indians. What India requires isequitable growth – the benefits of highgrowth that the country has been achievingin the recent years should percolate down,”he added.
Aiyar said India had been immenselyreceptive to all divergent forms of cultureand faiths from various parts of the worldthroughout history. “The unity of Indiacan be protected only by preserving itsdiverse culture,” he added.
He talked about the challenges ofempowering the poor in India, andstressed the relevance of MahatmaGandhi’s goal to empower the massesthrough panchayats.
The Embassy function was followed bya cultural programme, organised by
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As India turned 62 years old on August 15, 2009, expatriate Indians in the UAE celebrated the occasionwith daylong programmes
Independence Daycelebrated across UAE
Prominent members of the expatriate Indian community at the Indian High Schoolcelebrations.
President PratibhaPatil on August 14urged the people of
India to help the Governmentbattle the drought and theswine flu virus, saying “anenlightened citizenry” is the“greatest asset” of a nation.
“This year, the monsoon hasbeen less than normal impacting agricul-ture and availability of water. We have tobe prepared to face the situation. TheGovernment is taking all possible steps todeal with it,” Patil said in her address tothe nation on the eve of IndependenceDay.
Noting that the Government was “tak-ing necessary measures” to handle theswine flu outbreak, she said: “Citizenshave to come forward to contribute to theGovernment’s efforts in these areas and inother development initiatives throughpublic-private partnerships, NGOs, com-munity groups or self-help groups.
“An enlightened citizenry conscious ofits civic duties and social responsibilities,maintaining discipline, following goodhabits particularly about hygiene andcleanliness, respectful towards nature’sbounty and sensitive to environmentalconcerns is the greatest asset of a nation,”the President maintained.
At the same time, Patil noted that theexpectations of the people “are rising asthey are becoming more aware of theirrights and seek better opportunities”.
“Facilities, amenities and services meantfor them whether they are living in rural orurban areas can be delivered smoothlyonly if there is an effective governance sys-tem that is less cumbersome but moretransparent and accountable,” she said.
Dwelling on the Government’s welfareschemes, the President said: “The flag-ship programmes of the Government arecomprehensive, ranging from health toeducation, employment to expandingsocial and economic infrastructure.
“Their implementation will have to beat optimal levels for an impact to be madeon the lives of the people. Hence, theemphasis on reform of governance foreffective delivery of public services is crit-
ical to change the lives of thepeople,” Patil added.
Urging administrators tobe “responsive” to the needsof the people, she said: “Theirwork is a public service –commitment, dedication andhonesty should be the hall-marks of their work.” Patil
also spoke of the need to draw the mar-ginalised sections of society into themainstream to ensure they reaped thebenefits of development.
“There are weaker and vulnerable sec-tions of society who are not full partnersin the growth and development processand remain on the sidelines. These sec-tions of society need to be drawn intothe national mainstream,” the Presidentsaid.
Noting that these sections of societyneed to be given access to education,health and skill-building – the tools ofempowerment – Patil said: “This willequip them with abilities and capabilitiesand generate confidence about theirfuture prospects. This will give them asense of control over their destinies.”
Holding that it was “within the realm ofpossibility to achieve this”, Patil said, “signsof change are becoming visible”. “Today,there are girls joining colleges, whose par-ents had never ever been to school. This isa development that has happened within ageneration. People are today realising theadvantages of being educated and are readyto seize opportunities.”
In this context, she noted that the pas-sage of the Right of Children to Free andCompulsory Education Bill was a “land-mark legislation” for achieving the goal ofuniversal education.
This apart, the National Mission onEmpowerment of Women will “sociallyand economically empower women”,who constitute 50 percent of India’s pop-ulation, “to play an active role in nationbuilding”.
“Giving an equal chance to everybodyto get ahead in life is an article of faith forthe Republic of India, and building aninclusive society our objective,” Patiladded.
‘Enlightened citizenry nation’s greatest asset’
Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad (centre) alongwith former Union Minister Mani ShankarAiyar (right) and Sunita Mainee Ahmad atthe I-Day celebrations in Abu Dhabi.
Consul General Venu Rajamony arrives forthe Independence Day celebrations at theIndian High School in Dubai.
UAE by following its rules, customs andtraditions,” he said.
This was followed by a cultural pro-gramme in which the Indian High School,Dubai, Delhi Private School, Sharjah, andDelhi Private School, Dubai, participated.From patriotic songs to classical dances,the performances highlighted the spirit offreedom and came in for high appreciationfrom the audience.
In the evening the Consulate, in associ-ation with India Club, Dubai, hosted an‘Evening of Geet and Ghazals’.
The programme featured different genresof Indian music such as classical, ghazals,bhajans and folk by the Gulwadi Quartet.
The group from Delhi comprisedShobhana Rao, Shaila Hattangadi,Nirmala Jaishankar and Arun Gulwadi.The performance was enthusiasticallyreceived by the audience, which comprisedClub members and select invitees.
UAE President HH Sheikh Khalifa BinZayed Al-Nahyan greeted his Indian coun-terpart Pratibha Patil on the occasion ofIndia’s Independence Day. Vice Presidentand Prime Minister of the UAE and Rulerof Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed BinRashid Al-Maktoum and Crown Prince ofAbu Dhabi HH Sheikh Mohammed binZayed Al-Nahyan also wished PresidentPatil on the occasion. !
Indian organisations in Abu Dhabi likethe Indian Social and Cultural Centre,Indian Islamic Centre, Indian LadiesAssociation, Kerala Social Centre andAbu Dhabi Malayalee Samajam. Theevent was held at the Indian SocialCultural Centre, where Aiyar was thechief guest and Ambassador Ahmad guestof honour.
In Dubai, the Consulate General ofIndia organised a function at the IndianHigh School.
It was attended by more than 2,000 peo-ple, including prominent members of thecommunity like Managing Director of theETA Ascon Star Group Syed M.Salahuddin, Convenor of the IndianCommunity Welfare Committee K.Kumar, Chairman of Arabian TradingAgency Maghanmal Pancholia, andExecutive Vice-chairman of the ITL-Group Ram Buxani.
Following the flag-hoisting ceremony,Consul General of India in Dubai VenuRajamony read out the President’s messageand urged all Indians in the UAE to worktowards the country's progress and pros-perity. “UAE has always welcomed Indianswith open arms, and Indians living heremust keep in mind the best interest of the
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Confident PM says India headed to ‘new glory’
Striking a positive note on India’s63rd Independence Day, PrimeMinister Dr. Manmohan Singh on
August 15 asserted that Indians hadimmense faith and confidence in them-selves, and the world’s largest democracywas headed to “new glory”.
In his sixth consecutive address fromthe ramparts of the Red Fort, the PrimeMinister sought to allay fears emanatingfrom the global economic meltdown,unending terrorism and swine flu toassert that India had the strength andresilience to overcome all obstacles.
“Some people question whether Indiawill ever be able to attain its true poten-tial,” Dr. Singh said, as a slight drizzleaccompanied his first Red Fort speechsince he was voted back to office in May.“I have no doubt about this.
“We are rapidly moving forward. Wehave faith in ourselves. We have politicalstability. Our democracy is an examplefor the whole world. We are gaining ineconomic strength. Most importantly, wehave confidence in our youth... I am surethat they will take our country to newglory.”
Speaking in Hindi from a preparedtext, the 76-year-old scholar-politicianreferred to a wide range of issues from cli-
mate change and water shortage to econ-omy, terrorism and a new world order.But his tone was positive and he vowed toreturn India to 9 percent annual growth.
Around 700 invitees, including school-children attired in the national tricolour aswell as political VIPs and diplomats,packed the seated and open enclosure fac-ing the Red Fort, the majestic Mughal-built 17th century monument that is at theheart of Independence Day celebrations.
The Prime Minister said India wasconfident of returning to its 9 percentgrowth path despite the global economiccrisis, and also of achieving a 4 percentannual growth in agriculture in five years.He urged people not to let swine flu dis-rupt their lives.
Pointing out that India’s economicgrowth slid to 6.7 percent in 2008-09, hesaid, “It is only a result of our policies thatthe global crisis has affected us to a lesserextent than many other countries.”
“Restoring our growth rate to 9 per-cent is the greatest challenge we face,” hesaid. “We expect there will be animprovement in the situation by the endof this year.”
An economist of repute, Dr. Singh saidthe time had come for India to unleashanother Green Revolution to dramatical-
ly boost its food output. He said the coun-try needed to embrace more modernmeans to succeed in agriculture, and makemore efficient use of its scarce land andwater resources.
“The country needs another GreenRevolution and we will try our best tomake it possible,” he said. He admittedthat deficit rains this year would have“some adverse impact on our crops” andpromised to help farmers in distress.
Making a reference to swine flu that hasclaimed lives in India, Dr. Singh said whilethe central and state governments woulddo everything to contain the disease, “thesituation doesn’t warrant a disruption ofour daily lives because of fear and anxiety”.
Describing terrorism as a global threat,
Dr. Singh said there was no place inIndian democracy to those whoresorted to violence to voice theirdisagreement. “The Governmentwill deal firmly with such people.”
He said India’s security forcesand intelligence agencies werebeing strengthened following theaudacious terror attack onMumbai by Pakistani terroriststhat left nearly 170 people deadlast year. “I am sure that with coop-eration from all sections of oursociety, we will be successful ineliminating terrorism.”
Dr. Singh said his Government wascommitted to eradicating backwardnessand unemployment and reducing dispari-ties in income and wealth.
He said India wished to tackle the prob-lem of climate change along with othercountries. India also desired to live inpeace with all its neighbours, he said, rais-ing questions about the effectiveness of themultilateral institutions without NewDelhi’s active participation.
Making promises to bring about sweep-ing changes in the lives of millions ofIndians in the economic, educational andsocial sectors, Dr. Singh said his Congress-led coalition had won “a mandate forstarting a new era of cooperation andharmony in our national life”.
(From left) Schoolchildren performing atthe cultural function held as part of the I-Day celebrations at the Indian High Schoolin Dubai; artistes performing at the‘Evening of Geet and Ghazals’ at IndiaClub.
(From left) A band playing at the Dubaifunction; schoolchildren performing at thecultural function held at the Indian HighSchool after the flag hoisting ceremony.
Former Union Minister forPanchayati Raj, Mani ShankarAiyar, addressed members of theIndian Business and Professional
Council (IBPC) in Dubai, took part in abook signing ceremony in Abu Dhabi, andinteracted with prominent members of theIndian and Emirati communities in thecourse of a four-day visit to the UAE.
India’s Ambassador to the UAE TalmizAhmad hosted a dinner in Aiyar’s honourin Dubai, where the former minister inter-acted with leading Indian businessmen.
Aiyar also attended a book-signing eventorganised by IBPC Abu Dhabi at theMillennium Hotel. He spoke on two of hiswell-known books, Confessions of a SecularFundamentalist and A Time of Transition:Rajiv Gandhi to the 21st Century. The func-tion was attended by UAE Minister forHigher Education and Scientific ResearchSheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al-Nahyan,Ambassador Ahmad and his wife,Chairman of the Jashanmal NationalCompany, Mohan Jashanmal, and variousmembers of the Indian and Emirati com-munities.
The former minister also visited theJashanmal Bookstore at the Abu Dhabi Mall.
At another function organised by IBPC
Dubai attended by Ambassador Ahmad andConsul General Venu Rajamony, Aiyar spokeon the various features of democracy in India.
“On adoption of the Constitution ofIndia on January 26, 1950, in one stroke,the entire population of India was giventhe right to adult suffrage, while other greatand older democracies of UK and USAgave rights to vote to women and otherminorities in many stages of time,” he said.
“India gave the right to vote to all adultsirrespective of gender, caste, creed andcolour at one go. It is amazing to see thatin a developing country like India, suchdemocracy is successful and functional,and has stood the test of a long 60-yearperiod.”
Aiyar also dwelt on various schemes toimprove the economic standards of ruralcitizens and empower them through vari-ous schemes.
“Rural empowerment will increase thegrowth potential of India for many decadesto come. The minimum wage bill,National Rural Employment GuaranteeAct and various others schemes of theCentre and states will further augment theprocess,” he said.
In their speeches, Ambassador Ahmadand Consul General Rajamony admired
the contribution made by Aiyar to nation-al politics. Aiyar won Lok Sabha pollsthrice.
Ahmad talked about Aiyar’s importantcontributions during his tenures as UnionMinister with important portfolios, and hiseffective participation in the Parliament.
Rajamony praised his bold initiativesparticularly when he was Union Ministerfor Panchayati Raj. He said that ruralIndia lived in the heart of Aiyar, and heinitiated various schemes for ruralgrowth. !
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From left: Mani Shankar Aiyar, India’s Ambassador to the UAE Talmiz Ahmad, SunitaMainee Ahmad and Chairman of Jashanmal National Company Mohan Jashanmalarrive at the Jashanmal Bookstore in the Abu Dhabi Mall.
Mani Shankar Aiyar visits UAE
SBI Dubai launches corporate banking services
The Dubai International FinancialCentre (DIFC) branch of India’slargest bank, State Bank of India(SBI), launched its corporate
banking services on August 16.Formally inaugurating the services,
Consul General of India in Dubai, VenuRajamony, said, “At a time when there isgloom in the financial sector across theworld, SBI is expanding operations. Itreflects its determination to serve theIndian business community and …thegrowth of the UAE economy.”
He urged UAE companies with theirproven ability to access resources andexpertise to look towards India’s massiveinfrastructure programmes, especially inthe roads and logistics sectors.
DIFC CEO Abdulla Al Awar said that asIndia’s largest bank, the SBI has an impor-tant role to play in the growth of the region’sbanking sector. “Our economic relationshipwith India is historically strong. We can doa lot more by working together.”
SBI had started its operations at theDIFC in 2007 under a Category 4 licence,and recently acquired an upgraded licencefor its operations in the UAE from theDubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).
The bank now has a Category 1 licence,which allows it to offer corporate credit,accept deposits, arrange credit for invest-ments, and also offer advice on financial
products. CEO of SBI’s DIFC branch, A.J.
Vidyasagar, said that the branch couldnow provide credit in currencies otherthan UAE dirhams, and could acceptdeposits in foreign currencies like the USdollar, euro and pound sterling. “Ourservices are open to all nationals as we aredetermined to acquire a more prominentniche as a global player in internationalbanking circles.”
The acquisition of the upgraded licencewould also enable the branch to provide awide range of corporate credit facilitiessuch as working capital and trade finance,
both fund-based and non-fund based. “The DIFC branch now offers the entire
gamut of non-dirham fund-based and non-fund based working capital and tradefinance facilities to corporates in UAE, inaddition to term loans and project finance,”Vidyasagar added. “It also arranges or par-ticipates in syndicated deals. It accepts non-dirham deposits from professional clients innon-local markets. Further, it offers invest-ment products of the SBI and other fundsto retail or corporate investors.”
According to Vidyasagar, the SBI branchin DIFC also caters to the needs of non-res-ident Indian (NRI) customers in the regionby tying up with various exchange compa-nies through whom remittances to Indianaccounts can be made. He stated that thebank also catered to the needs of NRI cus-tomers in the region, by tying up with vari-ous exchange companies through whomremittances to Indian accounts can be made.
The Government of India holds a 59percent stake in the 200-year-old SBI,which today has around 12,100 officeswith more than 150 million customers.
The Bank has an international presenceat 92 places spread over 32 countries. Inthe Middle East, the Bank has two branch-es – one in Bahrain and another in Oman– apart from the DIFC branch. It will soonopen new branches in Jeddah, SaudiArabia, and the Qatar Financial Centre. !
From left: Regional head and CEO (MENAand West Asia) of SBI Farooque Shahab,DIFC CEO Abdulla Al Awar, and ConsulGeneral Rajamony at the launch of SBI’scorporate services in Dubai.
(From top) Aiyar with Sheikh Nahyan (centre)and Ambassador Ahmad at the IBPC AbuDhabi event; at the dinner hosted byAmbassador Ahmad in Dubai; interactions atthe Jashanmal Bookstore in Abu Dhabi Mall.
HH Dr. Sheikh Sultan BinMohammed Al Qassimi, Member of
the Supreme Council and Ruler ofSharjah received diplomats of various
countries in the UAE, who came toextend greetings to him on the occa-
sion of the Holy Month of Ramadan.(L-R) Consul General of PhilippinesBenito B. Valeriano, Consul Generalof Thailand Pasan Teparak, Consul
General of India Venu Rajamonywith Consuls from Singapore and
South Africa.
Diplomats greet Ruler ofSharjah on Ramadan
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Brainstorming session on FDI into India
As part of efforts to promoteinvestments into India acrossvarious sectors, the Dubaibranch of Bank of Baroda (BoB)
organised a discussion on ‘Increasing FDIflow from UAE to India: Opportunities andStrategies’ on August 11.
Among those who participated in thediscussion were India’s Ambassador to theUAE, Talmiz Ahmad, Consul General inDubai, Venu Rajamony, and top executivesof various corporate groups, banks, invest-ment intermediaries and agencies.
Issues that came up for discussionincluded how the foreign direct investment(FDI) flow from the UAE to India can beincreased, initiatives needed by theGovernment of India, and difficulties facedby investors while investing in India.
Ambassador Ahmad stressed the various
positive aspects of the Indian economy,and pointed out its healthier emergencefrom the global recession, its GDP growth,investor-friendly FDI policies, stable polit-ical scenario, and scope for investments inIndia.
Consul General Rajamony assuredinvestors in the UAE full support in imple-menting their plans for India. He alsomentioned various sources through whichinvestors can get information to facilitatepotential investments.
BoB Chief Executive for GCCOperations Ashok Gupta spoke about theemergence of India as a global economicpower, and the increasing FDI flow to itfrom across the world. He said that theshare of the UAE in the overall FDI flowsto India was only 1 percent, and there wastremendous scope to enhance this.
“We will be ready to provide funds tothe investors from both the countries, andhelp them identify viable projects and suit-able partners at investment destinations,”he said, adding that India currently has avery huge appetite for FDI considering itshigh economic growth levels and the mas-sive expansion plans in infrastructure andseveral other sectors.
Those who participated in the sesionincluded Chief Economist of the DubaiInternational Financial Centre NasserSaidi, and representatives of DubaiInternational Capital, Sebastien DelasnerieAbu Dhabi’s Department of EconomicDevelopment, Economic ZonesWorld/JAFZA, State Bank of India,Limitless, Dubai Chamber of Commerce,Morgan Stanley, and Abu DhabiInvestment Company or Invest AD. !
Vayalar Ravi’s appeal to rich NRIs
Minister for Overseas IndianAffairs Vayalar Ravi hasasked rich Indians workingabroad to contribute to a
new diaspora fund created by theGovernment of India, so that welfare activ-ities could be undertaken for distressed cit-izens living outside the country.
“We request the rich and well to do tocontribute to this fund, so that the mis-sions can add to their corpus and do morewelfare activities for the needy. Recently inRussia, two businessmen sponsored thetickets of 10 people from Kerala who hadarrived there to work but got cheated,” hetold reporters in Thiruvanthapuram.
In a major boon for Indian citizens whofind themselves in distress overseas, theGovernment has set up an annual Rs.16million Indian Community Welfare Fund(ICWF) that will operate through thecountry’s diplomatic missions in 18nations, mostly in the Middle East andAfrica.
The decision to create the ICWF wastaken at a Cabinet meeting presided overby Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.Ravi said the fund would be operated bythe heads of missions concerned.
Under the fund, Indian missions inseven countries – Qatar, the UAE, SaudiArabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain andMalaysia – would annually be providedRs.1.5 million each to meet contingencyexpenditure incurred by them for carryingout various welfare activities for overseasIndian citizens who are in distress.
Missions in 11 other countries – Libya,Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan,Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon, Thailand, theMaldives and Iraq – will annually get Rs.500,000 each.
“Initially, we have set this up for threeyears, and this would be basically used tomeet contingency expenditure incurred forcarrying out welfare activities for overseasIndian citizens who are in distress,” Ravisaid. !
The ICWF is aimed atproviding the followingservices:
" Boarding and lodging for distressedoverseas Indian workers in house-hold/domestic sectors and unskilledlabourers;" Extending emergency medical careto overseas Indians in need; " Providing air passage to strandedoverseas Indians in need; " Providing initial legal assistance tooverseas Indians in deserving cases; and " Expenditure on incidentals and forairlifting mortal remains to India orlocal cremation/burial of deceased over-seas Indian, in such cases where a spon-sor is unable or unwilling to do soaccording to the contract and the fam-ily is unable to meet the cost.
ICWC organises blood donation camp
The IndianC o m m u n i t yW e l f a r e
Committee (ICWC), inassociation with theDubai HealthAuthority and theBlood DonationCentre in Al WaslHospital, organised a blooddonation camp on the August 5 at theIndian Consulate.
As many as 112 persons volunteeredto donate blood. Consul General ofIndia Venu Rajamony and ICWCConvenor K. Kumar were the first fewdonors.
The hospital is constantly in need ofblood for transfusion to children suffer-ing from thalassemia. In addition, bloodis also required for patients undergoing
surgery and accident victims. The Dubai Tamil Sangam, and
members and patron of theICWC, provided light refresh-ment to donors at the camp.
Donors at the blood donationcamp organised by the ICWCat the Indian Consulate inDubai.
Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, HHSheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al-
Qasimi, received Consul General of India in Dubai,Venu Rajamony, at the Ruler’s Court on August 18.
They discussed bilateral cooperation and ways toboost relations, particularly in the areas of trade, cultureand investment.
Chief of the Ras al-Khaimah Ruler’s Office, SheikhEsam bin Saqr Al-Qasimi, and Chairman of the Ras al-Khaimah Department of Sea Ports and Customs, SheikhKhalid Bin Abdullah Al-Qasimi, were also present at themeeting.
Sharjah Crown Princemeets Consul General
Rajamony with HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Bin Sultan Al-Qasimi.
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IMAN Iftar in Dubai
Consul General of India inDubai Venu Rajamony, and hiswife Dr. Saroj Thapa joined theIndian Muslim Association
(IMAN) for Iftar at the Kuwait Mosque inDeira, Dubai, on August 25.
He was accompanied by Member ofParliament from Vellore, and former resi-dent of Dubai Abdul Rahman, GeneralSecretary of IMAN Liyaqat Ali and otheroffice bearers.
IMAN, one of the leading organisationsof Indians in Dubai, has since its inceptionin 1976 been organising Iftar everyday,during the holy month of Ramadan formore than 5,000 devotees.
“The Consul General always joins us forthe Iftar feast during the holy month of
Ramadan,” MP Rahman, who had speciallycome down from India to attend the func-tion, said. “He sits on the floor with every-one and eats. This time he was also accom-panied by his wife and his children. TheseIftar functions are a perfect example of com-munal amity and harmony,” he added.
From its humble inception in 1976,IMAN Dubai has reached a commendableposition in attaining its goals and objec-tives. This year, it completed its 28th yearof service to the community.
Apart from various charities and socialactivities, the organisation conducts func-tions during Eid ul Milad, Lailathul Qadr,Isra wal Mi’raj and Shab-e-Barat, wherescholars and special speakers are invited fromIndia to speak on various subjects. !
Sharjah Indian School gets new block
HH Sheikh Tahnoun binMohammed Al Nahyan,
Representative of Ruler for EasternRegion, inaugurated LuluHypermarket, the biggest multipurposeshopping mall centre in Al Ain city onAugust 16.
Sheikh Tanhoun toured the hyper-market and was briefed by Yousuf AliM.A., Board Chairman of Lulu andFalah Plaza about the new shoppingmall centre.
The new hypermarket is spread outover 200,000 square feet.
Lulu Hypermarkets, the retail divi-sion of the multidimensional and multi-national EMKE Group, has more than70 stores across the Gulf region. Apartfrom the UAE, it has stores in Oman,Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Yemen andwill be soon seen in Saudi Arabia too.
BO
OK
LA
UN
CH
ES Padma Shri and Managing Director
and CEO of NMC Dr. B.R. Shetty’sbook Sailing the 7even Cs was releasedby Consul General of of India in DubaiVenu Rajamony on July 31 in AbuDhabi. The book, co-authored byVijayan Nambiar and Dr. AshooKhosla, outlines the leadership roleplayed by Dr. Shetty in developing theNMC empire into a company of 15,000employees spanning five continents.
Sheikh Tahnouninaugurates Lulu
The foundation stone of a new block of theSharjah Indian School (SIS) was laid onAugust 4 by Consul General VenuRajamony and Founder President of the
Indian Association, Sharjah (IAS) V. Damodaran. IAS General Secretary Abdullah Mallachery,
Managing Committee Member Mohammad Theyyab,Acting General Secretary Chandraprakash Edamana,Acting Treasurer K. Nalakrishnan, SIS Vice-PrincipalMini Menon, and students and staff members of theschool also attended the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Damodaran traced thehumble beginnings of the institution, which had opened30 years ago with 346 students and 22 staff members.Today it has 8,350 students and a 450-strong staff.
Consul General Rajamony applauded the efforts anddedication of the staff members and the office-bearers ofthe IAS for the success of the school. He also urged theinstitute to consider adopting the coeducational system.
Rajamony said UAE authorities have assured thatIndian schools wanting to turn to co-education mayapproach them to secure permission.
“When I approached the higher leadership of the Governmentand the Ministry of Education, they had no hesitation in offeringto get it changed immediately. Now, the option is available withthe schools and I appeal that you take the consent of the parentsand make the change as soon as possible,” he added.
The SIS is owned and managed by the Indian Association,Sharjah. It was officially inaugurated on September 5, 1979, bythe then Ambassador of India to the UAE M.H. Ansari, who isnow Vice-President of India
Chairman of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Ahmed Mohammad Hamad Al Midfa, is the patron of the school. The school fulfills the educational needs of children from all
income groups. The low fee structure is a boon to many middle-income parents in search of quality education for their children inthe UAE. The school has classes from kindergarten to class 12, anda nursery for children below three years of age.
The first batches of students for the 10th and 12th CentralBoard of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations were sent upin the years 1982-83 and 1984-85 respectively. Since then theschool has always maintained a 98 to 100 pass percentage. !
Consul General Rajamony and Founder President of IAS V. Damodaran lay-ing the foundation stone of a new block of SIS.
IBPC Sharjah conducts blood donation camp
To mark the 63rdIndependence Day of India,the Indian Business and
Professional Council (IBPC) ofSharjah, in association with Al ZahraHospital, conducted a blood donationdrive on August 15.
IBPC Sharjah ManagingCommittee Member, Dr. AbhayPande, spearheaded this initiative atthe Al Zahra Hospital in Sharjah.
Donors received a general bloodpressure and lipid profile (cholesterolcheck) and a blood test free of cost.There was overwhelming response to
the event, with 81 people donatingblood.
During the course of the event, anIndian Independence Day edition ofthe IBPC Sharjah Newsletter was alsoreleased. Chairman of IBPC Sharjah,Sudesh Aggarwal, gave away the firstcopies of the newsletter to ConsulGeneral Venu Rajamony andChairman of the Sharjah Council ofCommerce and Industry, AhmadMohammed Al Midfa
The event was also graced by mem-bers of IBPC Sharjah and Al Zahraofficials among others.
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Special housing loanscheme pays dividendsBy Sam Pitroda
August marked the 25thanniversary of what is nowwidely acknowledged to beIndia’s first defining stepstowards an information andcommunications revolution.
It was in August 1984 that the Centre forDevelopment of Telematics or C-DOTwas set up with the specific intention ofindigenising digital switching technologyto meet India’s unique requirements.
At the celebratory level, all those whoworked at C-DOT in one capacity oranother have come together on theInternet to create a virtual communityspread from America to Australia and Indiato Indonesia. Over a thousand profession-als have interacted from all over the worldto design a series of events to celebrate theirwork. This is a generation of young profes-sionals who believed in themselves 25 yearsago and focussed on creating somethingunique from scratch for the nation asopposed to merely copying Western prod-ucts from multinationals.
C-DOT was established as an independ-ent society to help develop a series of digi-tal switching products to meet Indianrequirements. Then we had over two mil-lion phones for 750 million people. It usedto take 15 years to get a telephone connec-tion. In the short span of 25 years, Indianow has close to 500 million phones. Weare adding 10 to 15 million phones everymonth. And a telephone connection canbe obtained on your way to buy grocery. C-DOT planted the right seeds for this infor-mation and communication technology(ICT) revolution in the country a quartercentury ago. The spirit of private enterprisehelped it grow to a substantial industry.Now is a good time to review and reflect onwhat was so unique about the C-DOTendeavour.
To begin with, it was a big idea with anopportunity for generational change. It wasan idea, which could affect people in urbanand rural areas in all walks of life and con-nect the nation in a very modern way. Itwas crucial that this big idea was articulat-ed in a manner that would convince the
political leadership of the day and compelit to commit to realising that dream. Itrequired political will at the level of thenPrime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with nation-al visibility, unconditional support andegalitarian management approach. It alsorequired unconventional and selfless lead-ership at the helm of C-DOT with clarity,simplicity and values.
The concept was to build indigenousIndian technology for a digital switchingsystem with focus on rural connectivity,accessibility as opposed to telephone densi-ty, ancillary industries and young talentwith new energy and new work culture,work ethics, work norms and work values.The overall strategy was to design, developand manufacture products to suit Indianclimate conditions, especially for ruralexchanges without airconditioning at sub-stantially lower costs, and at thesame time train human resourcein ICT to manage, maintainand develop products for thefuture.
C-DOT made a public com-mitment to develop products in36 months for Rs. 360 million.As a result of openness, transparency andpublic accountability, C-DOT was fortu-nate to get substantial support fromnational and local media. Right from dayone, C-DOT focussed on public-privatepartnership with a clear understanding thatthe products designed by C-DOT will bemanufactured by public and private com-panies. It will require support of the unionsand new regulations. All of this was notpossible without organisational innovationwhere hierarchies were systematically bro-ken, young people were empowered withautonomy, freedom, and flexibility, towork long hours and give their best. Themood at work was upbeat with a missionto help build an information infrastructurefor India. Young people were systematical-ly shielded from the day-to-day bureau-cratic bottlenecks. It was their energy, self-confidence, hard work and can-do mental-ity, which were the key to delivering vari-ous products.
The first product was a small ruralexchange to connect villages. Thereafter a
small PBX was delivered for the businesscommunity. Then came a medium-sized2,000-line digital exchange, a 16,000-lineexchange and eventually a 40,000-linelarge exchange to meet urban needs. All ofthis was achieved with young talent whoseaverage age was 23 years without any expe-rience or background in digital communi-cations technologies. Most of them wereright out of colleges like IITs with no expe-rience but a dream to help build thenation. Today over 20 million lines of C-DOT exchanges are in service. The ruralexchanges were used to provide STD/PCOto improve access to telephones nation-wide. Because of the perceived benefit ofSTD/PCO to the masses, the privatisationof telecom had little resistance in India.
It is gratifying that despite many upsand downs, C-DOT stuck to its mandate
steadfastly and created telecominfrastructure in areas of thecountry, which suffered fromwoeful neglect until then. Inmany ways, C-DOT becamethe signature project of India’squest for modernisation andinfused new vigour in a tech-
nologically diffident nation. C-DOT wasalso an experiment in problem solving tomake generational change with scalableand sustainable systems to improve thelives of the masses in India.
It is for technology historians to make adefinite judgement, but in my limited andadmittedly subjective view, C-DOT standsat the vanguard of India’s rise as an infor-mation and communications powerhouse.The C-DOT journey is a tribute to RajivGandhi and the energy of the young engi-neers. However, we have a long way to go.The next big challenge is to benefit fromthe ICT revolution to improve education,health, agriculture, financial services andgovernance to bring growth and prosperityto the doorsteps of the people at the bot-tom of the pyramid.
(Sam Pitroda is Chairman of India’sKnowledge Commission. He was head of
C-DOT and chaired the various technolo-gy missions set up by the late Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He can be con-tacted at [email protected])
The catalyst behind India’s telecom boom IN SHORT
Engineering and infrastructuremajor Larsen and Toubro (L&T)
has bagged orders worth $217.45 mil-lion from Gulf-based firms to buildelectrical substations, the company hasannounced. L&T, in a regulatory state-ment, said it would construct substa-tions for Qatar Petroleum, DubaiElectricity and Water Authority, OmanElectricity and Transmission andKahramma. These projects will be exe-cuted by L&T’s construction divisionin the Gulf region.
Larsen and Toubro winsorders worth $217 mn
India’s healthcare industry regis-tered 42.44 percent growth in net
profit during April-June, accordingto a new study. The AssociatedChambers of Commerce andIndustry in India said in its studythat, despite the global slowdown,India’s healthcare sector registeredhealthy growth during the firstquarter of the 2009-10 fiscal. The10 leading companies in the sectorposted a growth of 23.94 percent intotal income and 21.37 percent intotal expenditure during the quar-ter, it said.
Healthcare sector grew42% in Q1 of 2009-10
India received $7 billion in foreigndirect investment (FDI) during the
first quarter of the current fiscal,according to Gopal Krishna, JointSecretary in the Department ofIndustrial Policy and Promotion.According to him, for the April-Juneperiod there was an approximate $2 bil-lion FDI inflow every month. Servicesincluding financial, non-financial, soft-ware, telecommunication, constructionand real estate are the areas where therewere large amounts of FDI inflows.
India gets $7 bn FDI infirst quarter
T he stimulus package issued by theGovernment in the form of spe-cial home loans in December last
year has started paying dividends, withhousing loans disbursed by banks growingby over four times to 353 percent duringthe three months ended May 2009.
According to the latest figures releasedby the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), this isin sharp contrast to the average 53 percentdecline in the three previous quarters.
“It was a right step to introduce thestimulus package. This helped to ease outthe risk of interest rate volatility for at leastthe initial years,” a report in The EconomicTimes business daily quoted Bank of IndiaExecutive Director M. Narendra as saying.
Unless housing, real estate and construc-tion sectors were boosted, core sectors likesteel and cement would not grow, he said.
When the special loan scheme waslaunched, home loans were drawing 11percent. Under the new scheme, publicsector banks charged 8.5 percent interest
from those borrowing Rs. 500,000, whilethose borrowing Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 2 mil-lion had to pay 9.25 percent interest.
The scheme had ended on June 30 thisyear, and demand under the schemepeaked in April and May. Citing RBI fig-ures, the report said housing loansincreased by Rs 31.38 billion during thethree months ended May 22, compared toRs 6.93 billion in the first three months ofthe scheme.
“The response to the scheme showed theimpending demand in the sector. April,May and June saw the maximum loanapplications,” I.C. Shetty, DivisionalManager of Canara Bank was quoted assaying.
The special scheme helped bring a lot ofhomebuyers back to the market and alsohelped developers generate revenues. Whilevery few units were sold in the periodbetween August last year and March thisyear, demand picked up in April with threeto four flats being sold every week. !
New JV to offer logisticsservices to Indian ports
French shipping and logistics firmLouis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA)and Mumbai-based ABG Ports have
inked a 49:51 JV for offering efficient portand logistics services to customers andIndian ports. ABG also plans to transferthe ABG group’s bulk handling division tothis new JV.
Named ABG-LDA, the new company islooking at an investment of $80 million byOctober 2009, and is looking at a first fullyear income of Rs. 1.8 billion to Rs. 3 bil-lion. The investment will include buyingbarges as well as cranes for its operations.
“We hope to register a total tonnage ofabout 10-30 million tonnes during 2010-11. And with handling rates at Rs 75-100per tonne, we are looking at a first year rev-enue of Rs 180-300 crore (Rs. 1.8-3 bil-
lion),” a report in The Economic Timesquoted Saket Agarwal, Director of ABGBulk Handling, as saying.
“Having established a formidable pres-ence in the growing infrastructure space ofthe economy, being one of the two largestcrane rentals company in the country, anda presence on both the coasts of the coun-try for container terminal operations atKandla and Kolkata, it was only logicalthat ABG entered into the business of han-dling bulk cargo. Currently ABG is han-dling bulk cargo at three ports. It is operat-ing mobile harbour cranes at NewMangalore, Paradip and Vizag ports,” hesaid.
ABG-LDA has also proposed to offercustomised barging solution to bring backvolumes. !
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New era of India-Arab economic ties
As the world fights an economicdownturn, a new dimension isbeing added to trade and busi-ness relations between India
and the Arab world, enhancing centuries-old ties between two sides of the ArabianSea. Though Arab countries, particularlythe Gulf nations, have traditionally beenlooked at as an important source of oil andgas for India, today it has changed intocooperation across multiple sectors markedby cross-investments from both sides.
Following the signing of a memorandumof cooperation between India and the Arabcountries during a visit of Amr Moussa,Secretary-General of the League of ArabNations, to India late last year, the two sidesare in the process of putting in place a struc-ture of multi-faceted cooperation.
India is also working on sealing a freetrade agreement with the GulfCooperation Council (GCC), which hasBahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, SaudiArabia and the United Arab Emirates(UAE) as its members.
Nothing reflects the rapidly growing tiesbetween the two sides across multiple sec-tors more than trade figures. Of India’stotal international trade of $414.54 billionin 2007-08, Arab countries accounted for20.99 percent.
Within the Arab world, India’s tradewith the GCC nations alone rose to$66.75 billion in 2007-08, or 16.1 percentof the country’s total global trade. Andwithin the GCC, the country’s trade withthe UAE increased to $29.11 billion in thesame period, making it India’s largest trad-ing partner after China and the US.
Most of the five million expatriate
Indians in the Middle East are concentrat-ed in the Gulf countries, making this animportant factor in the growing tiesbetween the two sides.
India’s trade with the Arab region, whichgained prominence in the post-liberalisa-tion drive, accelerated in the first decade ofthe new century as figures revealed byLarbi Moukhariq, the Ambassador ofMorocco to India and Dean of the ArabDiplomatic Corps in New Delhi, show.
“India-Arab trade stood at $7 billion in2001. This rose to $20 billion in 2005-06,and was nearing the $100 billion-mark in2009,” Moukhariq said at the release of amanual on business and trade opportuni-ties in India and the Arab world, broughtout by the Associated Chambers ofCommerce and Industry of India(Assocham) in cooperation with theLeague of Arab Nations.
True, energy security continues to be thetopmost priority for India as far as the Arabworld is concerned. According to Ministerof State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor,apart from the Gulf and Saudi Arabia,Egypt, Sudan and the Maghreb haveemerged as important areas for India’s ener-gy security.
“Indian companies have secured conces-sions or otherwise invested in the oil sectorsignificantly in Sudan, Egypt and Libya,”he said at the manual launch event.
Besides energy security, the Arab worldhas also gained importance for India fromthe food security point of view.
“Less publicised perhaps is the enor-mous importance for India’s food security,countries such as Jordan, Nigeria,Morocco, Tunisia as providers of rock
phosphate, phosphoric acid and potash, allof which translate into fertiliser for ourfarmers,” Tharoor said.
This apart, several Indian companieshave either set up or are in the process ofexecuting a number of projects in the Arabworld, including a thermal power plant inSudan, a cement plant in Djibouti, anarchitecturally complex bridge in Jordanand a variety of projects in Libya.
And what do the Arab countries stand togain from this engagement with India?
“In many areas, countries of the Arabworld have the capital while India offersthe opportunities, especially in the devel-opment of infrastructure,” Tharoor said.
Beyond that, the Arab countries canlook forward to India for sharing its vastexperience and expertise in institutionalcapacity building, governance, scienceand technology, IT, biotechnology,healthcare and higher education. Whythis is important is because Arab countriesare shifting their traditional economicdependence from oil and gas to theknowledge sector. !
The 2010 Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi is being built by a joint venturebetween Dubai’s Emaar and Indian real estate developer MGF.
Emaar MGF to investin Shillong project
Realty major Emaar MGF Land saidon August 24 it will set up a resi-
dential complex in the northeastern cityof Shillong, capital of the state ofMeghalaya, with an investment of Rs. 4billion.
The 84-acre Windermere Estatestownship will have world-class villas, amodern community retail centre, club-house and a hotel, the company said ina statement.
“The development of WindermereEstate will have a multiplier effect onthe local economy and provide employ-ment opportunities, which will directlyand indirectly benefit over 1,000 peo-ple,” it added. “More importantly, thismove is a reflection of Shillong’s grow-ing stature as a prominent business andeducation hub and a world-renownedtourist destination in the Northeast.”
East India Hotels eyesGulf for expansion
East India Hotels (EIH), the flagshipcompany of hospitality major The
Oberoi Group, is setting up two hotelsin the Gulf region. One is at Abu Dhabiand the other in Oman, while its prop-erty in Dubai is progressing well, thegroup said in a statement on August 20.
The company said plans for consolida-tion and expansion were on track. Theseinclude renovation of Trident Hotel inMumbai, one of the victims of last year’sterror attacks. The hotel is expected toreopen in the first quarter of 2010.
The group has also signed a manage-ment contract for an Oberoi hotel andresidences in Marrakech, Morocco, forwhich planning is under way.
It is also scaling up its flight kitchenbusiness. Operations in Mauritius,Kochi and Kozhikode are expected tocommence in 2010, while a new flightkitchen in Delhi is expected to start in2011.
Consumer confidence in India ison an upswing, with the countryranking second only to Indonesia
in the Global Confidence Survey, con-ducted by market tracker AC Nielsenduring the second quarter this year.
In a report released on August 11,Nielsen said India registered a 13-pointrise in its confidence survey, reflectinghopes of early revival of its economy.
“Globally consumer sentiments arepositive, with the Global ConsumerConfidence Index, rising to 82 – anincrease of five points (from 77) fromMarch,” it said. “This has been spurredby renewed consumer optimism andstock market gains in BRIC markets(Brazil, Russia, India, and China) andkey Asian countries.”
According to the survey’s findings, 66percent of Indians polled said they were
optimistic that the country would be outof the slowdown in the next 12 months.
In the survey that covered 14,029online consumers in 281 countries, 62percent of Indians thought their countrywas in recession – a positive reduction of10 points from 72 percent when the sur-vey ran in March.
“This is the highest percentage for anycountry globally that thinks the reces-sion would be over in the next 12months. A little less than half (38 per-cent) think that India is not currentlyfacing an economic recession (thirdhighest globally),” says Vatsala Pant,Associate Director of ConsumerResearch at Nielsen.
The report added that the recent elec-tions in India also had a positive effecton Indians’ sentiments towards its econ-omy.
Consumer confidence highin India: Nielsen survey
India to build 20 km of roads a day
The Government of India willspend Rs. 1,000 billion or $21billion this fiscal, and an equalamount in subsequent years,
with a target of building 20 km of roadevery day, acccording to Minister for Roadand Transport and Highways Kamal Nath.
“This year we will build more road kilo-metres than was done between 1999-2004,” Nath said while speaking at a sem-inar on ‘Accelerating the Pace of HighwaysDevelopment in India’, conducted byindustry lobby Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI).
“The target of building 7,000 km roadthis year alone will make a visible differ-ence in infrastructure,” he said. Accordingto him, the target of 20 km a day is a bigchallenge before the Government.
The Government is also considering fea-sibility studies for the projects it plans totake up. “This would ensure that there are
no cost and time overruns. We would alsoaddress the lack of capacity of the technicalconsultants,” the Minister said.
At a separate event, Nath said India’sroad construction sector is likely to receive$10 billion of foreign direct investment
(FDI) within the next two years.“I’m confident of bringing foreign
investment into building roads and high-ways in India,” he said at the ConvergingIndia Leadership Summit 2009, organisedby the Indian Chamber of Commerce. !
India and the 10-member Associationof South East Asian Nations(ASEAN) on August 13 signed amajor economic pact after six years
of talks, hoping to widen the access to theirrespective markets of 1.7 billion peopleand push bilateral trade beyond the cur-rent level of $40 billion.
The Free Trade Agreement was signedin Bangkok by Commerce MinisterAnand Sharma and his counterparts fromthe ASEAN member-countries, and comesinto force from January 1 next year.
“The agreement is a well balanced one,it is very much in harmony with ourcountry’s ‘Look East Policy’,” Sharma saidafter the signing ceremony.
To be implemented in phases, the pactcalls for eliminating duties on some 4,000items by 2016 to cover 80 percent ofIndia’s imports from the 10 countries.
Industry lobbies in India welcomed theagreement. The Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce and Industry
expected it to open up new market oppor-tunities for Indian businesses with zero-tariff on 80 percent of ASEAN importswithin four years.
The Confederation of Indian Industrysaid the agreement would give India accessto a $1-trillion ASEAN economy, whilethe Associated Chambers of Commerceand Industry of India said it would pushtwo-way trade to over $60 billion shortly.
The ASEAN comprises Indonesia,Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,Vietnam and Brunei. In 2007, these coun-tries exported merchandise goods worth$864.4 billion while the value of importsamounted to $774.05 billion. !
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India, ASEAN sign free trade pact
India among most matureemerging forex markets
India, along with Russia and SouthAfrica, are the most mature out of the14 emerging forex markets, according
to new research.Leading forex firm Mecklai Financial
conducted the research and has developeda market maturity index (MMI) using datafrom the last (2007) BIS survey of centralbanks. China has been placed last, TheFinancial Express business daily reportedciting survey figures.
“Of course, as we are anecdotally aware,the Indian market has developed quiteconsiderably since 2007, both in liquidityand sophistication,” the newspaper quotedthe research report as stating.
“In parallel, its risk management indexhas also improved. In 2008-09, when riskmanagement has been particularly difficultin all markets, including the fully devel-oped FX markets, like EUR and USD,India ranked first of all the emerging mar-kets in the study,” it added.
The research selected the currencies of14 countries to develop the MMI. Theseincluded seven in Asia – China, India,Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan
and Thailand – and Brazil, Hungary,Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa andTurkey.
The MMI enables a more tailored wayof looking at different elements of maturi-ty and can assist central banks by providingdirection to deregulation. According to thereport, the study also said that despite thecontinuing constraints on the capitalaccount, the Indian market has matured inseveral other ways.
“There is increasing breadth of partic-ipation, and a substantial increase in thevolume of options and other derivativesbeing traded; the offshore non-deliver-able forwards (NDF) market has alsogrown in liquidity and depth. Mostimportantly, two-way movements in theprice of the rupee are now a matter ofcourse, confirming that the domestic FXmarket is certainly coming of age,” itsaid.
India scored second highest to Russia onthe real sector subindex, confirming con-siderable anecdotal evidence that Indiancompanies are extremely savvy and pro-active in hedging their risk. !
Kerala will form a joint workinggroup with Britain to explore busi-
ness opportunities in that country as wellas attract foreign investments to the state.
The decision to set up the joint busi-ness group was taken on August 6 in ameeting between top Kerala officials ledby Industries Minister Elamaram Kareemand a visiting British business delegation.
Robert Kelly, Deputy Head ofMission at the British Deputy HighCommission in Chennai, led the Britishteam, which included members repre-senting the UK Trade and Investment(UKTI). UKTI is a business promotionbody of the British government.
“It (the business group) would includepeople from both public and private sec-tors from here as well as from the UK.We expect to get the group to be formedshortly,” Jane Owen, Director of UKTI,told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
Both sides have identified areas liketourism, IT and healthcare to boostcooperation. “Quite a number of UKcompanies are looking forward to workin Kerala's tourism sector. Anotherimportant area is the skill category inhealthcare,” Owen said.
Kerala, Britain to formjoint business group
Indian economy: the road aheadBy Anoop Bhargava
Despite the global economic slow-down, figures show India is ontrack to become a global power-
house due to its track record due to itstrack record of reforms in the past 20 yearsand a high rate of capital formation.
Today, advanced economies account forthree-fourths of the global GDP. The BRIC(Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations andthe Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) con-tribute 14.3 percent to the global GDP, withIndia accounting for 1.7 percent. By 2012,the BRIC and GCC nations will drive mostof the world GDP growth, contributing 20percent, with India’s share being 10 percentin incremental global growth.
From a $60-million economy in 1950(population: 365 million), India is todayamong the fastest-growing economies inthe world with a GDP of $1.1 trillion in2008 (population: 1.147 billion)
All categories of savings have witnesseda robust increase, thereby providing capi-tal for growth. Consider:" Foreign capital: Foreign direct invest-ment (FDI) and foreign institutionalinvestment (FII) have increased at a com-pound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40percent over the past six years, contributing
over 6 percent of the country’s GDP in2007-08." Government savings: From being a net“dis-saver”, the Government has been sav-ing 2-3 percent of the GDP since 2003-04. " Corporate savings: Increasing GDPgrowth and profitability has seen corporatesavings grow from 4 percent to 8 percent ofthe GDP. " Household savings: This has been steadyat 23-24 percent of the GDP and is expect-ed to grow to 28 percent due to India’sgrowing working population.
Outlook for the Indian economy:2009 and beyond
India’s GDP grew at 7.4 percent lastyear, in spite of the global economic melt-down. In comparison, the US GDP grewby only 1.1 percent, while Japan’s declinedby 0.7 percent.
India is structurally better positionedto combat the crisis compared to devel-oped countries because:" It has lesser reliance on “leveraged con-sumption” with an investment/GDP ratioof 34 percent. This compares well with thatof the US which is at 19 percent, UKwhich is at 18 percent, and China which isat 43 percent.
" It has limited reliance on the externalworld, with external debt/GDP ratio of 19percent. For the US, it is 90 percent, UK is379 percent, and China 17 percent."The country has an exports/GDP ratio ofonly 21 percent. For the GCC, it is 65 per-cent, UK 26 percent and China 39 percent.
Given the emergence of a new class ofconsumers, the long-term outlook for Indiais good. The total population of middle class(earning more than Rs 200,000 per annum)was 52 million in 2005, which is projectedto 270 million in 2015. For Russia, it is 55million and for Brazil 38 million.
Household consumption analysis indi-cates that most sectors can expect gooddomestic demand. For instance, the foodsector, which contributes 43 percent ofhousehold consumption, has seen stablegrowth, while the non-food sector has seenmoderate growth.
In addition, India is supported by astrong and growing working age popula-tion. It is likely to be the “largest workingnation” with 960 million working popula-tion by 2025.
In summary, irrespective of the currentcrisis, India will continue to grow andbecome a global economic powerhouse.
(The writer is the Head of ConsumerAffluent Business for Dunia Finance.)
India’s economic growth logged anotable acceleration to 6.1 percentfor the first quarter of the 2009-10fiscal from 5.8 percent for the quar-
ter before due to strong showing by vari-ous services industries, official datashowed on August 31.
The growth registered by the farm sec-tor at 2.4 percent and manufacturing at3.4 percent remained below the overallexpansion, showed the data on the coun-try’s gross domestic product (GDP)released by the Central StatisticalOrganisation (CSO) in New Delhi.
“It is consistent with what we have beenmaintaining,” said Planning CommissionDeputy Chairman Montek SinghAhluwalia. “This definitely shows the
worst is finally over,” he told reportershere, reacting to the national incomenumbers.
The best performance was from trade,hotels, transport and communicationsgroup, as also the financial services andreal estate sectors with an 8.1 percentexpansion each, while mining came nextwith 7.9 percent, followed by constructionwith 7.1 percent.
“The Indian economy has emergedfrom the disruption created by the globalfinancial crisis,” said Chandrajit Banerjee,Director General of the Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII). “The numbersindicate the economy has bottomed out.”
Sharing similar sentiments, Harsh PatiSinghania, President of the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce andIndustry (FICCI), said the chamberexpected some sectors, especially services,to accelerate their growth in the ensuingmonths.
“This growth on a sequential basis –from 5.8 percent in the fourth quarter of2008-09 to 6.1 percent in the first quarterin 2009-10 – is an indication of a turn-around in the economy,” Singhania said ina statement.
“The economy will gradually bounceback on higher growth path as cement,steel and even real estate has started pick-ing up. Likewise, core infrastructure willalso restore its growth pace,” added theAssociated Chambers of Commerce andIndustry (Assocham).
India’s growth hastens to 6.1% in Q1
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma (second from left) after signing the FTA.
introduction of the Semadhoh TigerProject at Melghat in 1973. The 25-kmforest stretch from Chikhaldara toSemadhoh is home to abundant wildlife.Panthers, sloth bears, sambar, the Indianbison, wild boars and wild dogs inhabitthe area.
Mythologically important for pilgrims,Chikhaldara is also home to an ancienttemple in the Vairat village. Situated nearly150 feet underground, visiting the originaltemple is not an easy task. The locals,however, have made a new temple for
devotees. The original temple is located onthe west side of the Vairat hills and onehas to pass the valley and then with thehelp of ropes reach the underground way.
Blessed with numerous small waterfallsand enchanting valleys, the beauties ofChikhaldara are best observed fromHurricane Point, Devi Point, ProspectPoint and Panchbol. Devi Point, near theChikhaldara bus station, houses a templebuilt inside a huge stone for the local god-dess. The entrance to the natural temple isdraped with the curtain of a waterfall,which finds its source in the nearbyShakkar Lake.
One of the most famous landmarks isthe Panchbol Point. One can experiencethe marvels of nature at this scenic spot. Ahuge common valley formed by the edgesof five hills, this place is also known as theFive Echo point. As the valley is fencedoff by the five hills, the echos can be dis-tinctly heard five times. Thus the name,‘Panchbol’. At Vairat hills, named afterKing Vairat, the brother of Keechaka, isthe Sunrise Point. This spot is a must-see
for all those early risers who wish to seethe morning hues spread across the sky.
Chikhaldara also has its share of histor-ical heritage in the form of the Gavilgadfort and the Narnala Akola fort. Situatedat an altitude of 1,103 m on the Satpudarange, the fort is named after the Gavlis,the rulers of the shepherd community,who had built a mud fort on this hill cen-turies ago. The new fort was built in1425 AD by Ahmad Shah Wali ofBaharmani. The most beautiful remnantof the fort is a mosque, situated at thehighest vantage of the fort. The minaretsand carvings are a tribute to the Pathanstyle of architecture.
Excursion trips are available to theseforts as well as the Nehru BotanicalGarden and the Tribal Museum, whichare must-sees.
Away from the crowds, hiking in thiscanopy of nature offers the perfectpanacea to the stressed soul, but doremember to carry a pair of binoculars toobserve the lovely and exotic birds ofChikhaldara. !
Meandering through thegreen hills, the watercourses ahead to enter aforest. Lost in the lush
green vegetation, suddenly the wateremerges and crashes down at breakneckspeed, a white shimmering sheet, offeringa delightful visual treat. The fresh air ofthe hill tinged with the lingering fragranceof coffee offers repose to the tired summersoul. This little beauty, tucked away fromthe hustle and bustle of a city, is calledChikhaldara.
Situated at an altitude of 1,118 m inAmravati district of Maharashtra,Chikhaldara is not only the ‘sole’ resort ofthe Vidarbha region, but also the onlycoffee growing area in Maharashtra.Chikhaldara’s beauty first caught the eyesof Captain Robinson of the HyderabadRegiment in 1823, who found theEnglish countryside reflected in the huesof this Indian valley. The lush greenreminded him of an English spring andthe brown and orange hues of an Englishautumn. Blinded by the beauty of the
place, Robinson even had suggested trans-ferring the seat of power of the Britishempire to Chikhaldara!
The hills of Chikhaldara are believed tohave been named after the villainousKeechaka, who was killed by Bheema, thegreat Pandava warrior. According to theMahabharata, after a long, drawn-outfight, Bheema threw Keechaka into thevalley. Thus it was named ‘Keechakadara’.Chikhaldara is the corruption of the origi-nal name. After his fight, he bathed in anearby lake, which is today known asBhimkund. Nearly 3,500 feet deep, situ-ated near the Alladhoh village, Bhimkundoffers a spectacular view of the waterfall.
Abounding in scenic beauty, this placeis home to a variety of exotic flowers,birds, wildlife and beautiful butterflies.Developed as a hill station for the officersof the empire, the plateau boasts of a‘Company Bagh’, which is now the prideof the forest department. A variety ofroses adorn the garden while a mini trainoccupies pride of place in the midst of itall. The area became well known with the
Situated at a height of 1,118 m, Chikhaldara in Maharashtrais a reflection of the beautiful English countryside
The splendid isolation of
Chikhaldara
TTRRAAVVEELL
|21SEPTEMBER 2009
INDIA MATTERSSEPTEMBER 2009
20|INDIA MATTERS
BY AIR: The nearest airstrip at Akolais 150 km away from Chikhaldara.The next nearest airstrip is at Nagpur,230 km away. BY RAIL: Badnera, 110 km away, isthe nearest railway station. BY ROAD: Chikhaldara is well con-nected by roads to Nagpur andAmravati. Buses are available fromNagpur, which is 230 km away, andfrom Amravati, 100 km away.ACCOMMODATION: Resorts man-aged by the tourism department areavailable. Another option is theSatpura Resort.
HOW TO REACH
1. Established in 1911 by Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala, this wasthe first Indian commercial bank to be wholly owned and man-aged by Indians. Can you name this bank, which is today anationalised one?
2. If you are a tourist in Karnataka’s Shimoga district and lookingat Raja, Rani, Roarer and Rocket, at which tourist attractionwould you be?
3. Scottish inventor John Adrian Shepherd-Barron, who wasborn in Shillong, the capital of India’s northeastern state ofMeghalaya, first developed it in today’s form. It was first installedat the Enfield branch of Barclay’s Bank in north London in 1967.What is it?
4. Formed in 1988, it calls itself the only family-run football clubin India. It won the inaugural 2008-09 edition of Indian foot-ball’s premier event, the I-League. Can you name the club?
5. Teen Murti House in New Delhi served as the official resi-dence of which Indian leader?
6. Launched on September 20, 2004, by the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation, it is the first Indian satellite built toexclusively serve the educational sector. Can you name the satel-lite?
7. Which recent Bollywood release, directed by Sabir Khan, is aremake of the 2002 Tamil film Pammal K. Sambandam?
8. Ka Hsaw Wa of Myanmar, Antonio Oposa Junior of thePhilippines, Ma Jun and Yu Xiaogang of China and KrisanaKraisintu of Thailand are five of this group of six people whowere in the news recently. Name the sixth.
9. This town in northeastern India came up after the fifth Dalai
Lama, Mera Lama, while searching for a place to construct amonastery in 1681, saw his horse standing quietly on a hilltopand took it as a divine sign. The 1997 Bollywood hit Koyla, star-ring Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit, was shot extensivelynear this town. Can you name this town?
10. In this traditional cuisine of India, etiquette demands thatthe meal is served in groups of four – in other words, four peopleshare a ‘tarami’ or a large plate after initially washing their handsin a ‘takht-i-nari’ or basin that is passed around. Can you namethis cuisine?
11. Which major event was held at the Sports Authority ofAndhra Pradesh (SAAP) Indoor Stadium at Gachibowli inHyderabad from August 10 to 16, 2009?
12. The person inthe picture here isknown as the‘Father of thePentium chip’ forhis role in thedevelopment ofthe chip while hewas working inIntel. He is alsofamous as a suc-cessful venturecapitalist. Can youidentify him?
This magazine will accept contributions from readers in the form of Q&As, factoids, quiz news,announcements of upcoming quiz events and also photographs.You can write in [email protected].
THE 13TH QUESTION
Why is Army Day in India observed every year onJanuary 15?
1.Central Bank of India.2.The Jog Falls in Karnataka, India’s highest plunge waterfall created by the Sharavathi river.Raja, Rani, Roarer and Rocket are the four tracts thatform the Jog Falls.3.The automated teller machine or ATM.4.Churchill Brothers, based at Salcette, Goa.5.Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister.It has now beenturned into the Nehru Memorial Museum.6.Edusat.7.Kambakht Ishq, starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor.8.Deep Joshi of India.They are all winners of the 2009Ramon Magsaysay Awards, considered the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize.Joshi was recognised for his “vision and leadership to bring professionalism into the NGOsector in India by effectively combining ‘head’and ‘heart’in the transformative work of rural development”.9.Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.10.The Wazwan cuisine ofKashmir.11.World Badminton Championships 2009.12.Vinod Dham.The 13th QuestionIt was on that day in 1948 that Lt.Gen.(later Field Marshal) K.M.Cariappa became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.
ANSWERS
QQUUIIZZ
SEPTEMBER 200922|INDIA MATTERS
India Welcomes Global InvestmentINFRASTRUCTURE
! 100% FDI permitted in generation,transmission and distribution of power –the Government is keen to draw privateinvestment into the sector.! 74% to 100% FDI permitted for various telecom services.! 100% FDI under the automatic route ispermitted for all road development projects.! 100% FDI under the automatic route ispermitted for port development projects.! 100% FDI is permissible for airports.! 100% FDI is allowed in petroleumrefining, petroleum product and gaspipelines and marketing/retail through theautomatic route.! 100% FDI under the automatic routepermitted for townships, housing, built-upinfrastructure and construction-develop-ment based projects subject to minimumscale norms.
SERVICES! Indian private banks can be 74% for-eign owned, with a 5% cap on ownershipby any one entity.! FDI up to 26% is permitted in theinsurance sector under the automaticroute subject to obtaining a licence fromthe Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDA).! 100% FDI is allowed in real estatedevelopment subject to minimum scalenorms of either 25 acres in case of serv-iced plots or integrated townships or50,000 square metres of built-up area forconstruction development projects.! 100% FDI is allowed in cash and carrywholesale formats in the retail sector.Franchisee arrangements are also per-mitted in retail trade.! 100% FDI is permitted in hotels andtourism through the automatic route.
MANUFACTURING! 100% FDI is allowed under the auto-matic route for metallurgy and processingof all metals.! 100% FDI is allowed in textiles and gar-ments sector through the automatic route.! 100% FDI is allowed in the electronicshardware sector under the automaticroute with a few exceptions.! 100% FDI under the automatic route isallowed for all chemical items except hazardous chemicals where govern-ment/FIPB approval and licence to man-ufacture are required.! 100% FDI allowed in automobile man-ufacturing sector through the automaticroute.! 100% FDI allowed in the auto compo-
nents sector through the automatic route.! 100% FDI is permitted in the gemsand jewellery sector through the auto-matic route.! 100% FDI is permitted under theautomatic route for the agro-processingindustry.
NATURAL RESOURCES! 100% FDI allowed under the automatic route for coal and lignite mining for captive consumption.! 100% FDI is allowed under the automatic route for mining of metal ores.! 100% FDI is allowed in the explorationof crude oil and natural gas through theautomatic route.
KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY! 100% FDI is permitted through theautomatic route for the manufacture ofdrugs and pharmaceuticals provided theactivity does not attract compulsorylicensing or involve the use of recombinant DNA technology and specific cell/tissue-targetted formulations.! 100% FDI is permitted for all health-related services under the automatic route.! 100% FDI is permitted in IT and IT-enabled services sector under the automatic route.
Source: www.investmentcommission.in
! Indian Community Welfare Committee Iftar
Consulate General of IndiaP.O. BOX 737, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
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CONSULATE HOTLINE NUMBERS: +971 50 9433111 (For women/housemaids in distress and counseling for stress and depression)
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Embassy of India, Abu DhabiPlot No. 10, Sector W-59/02, Diplomatic Area, Off the Airport Road
P.O. Box 4090, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesTel: +971 2 4492700, Fax: +971 2 4444685 / +971 2 4447768
Email: [email protected]
Scenes from the Iftar hosted by the Indian Community Welfare Committee on August 27in Dubai to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.