SHAKING HANDS 
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Top 10 common business leadership mistakes
Everyone wants to lead, but at what cost? A careless approach to leadership can result in major losses for everyone.
Most of us can recall a leader who just wasn't cut out for the job. Being a leader is demanding; becoming a great leader is uncommon. Followers aren't particularly merciful to those who lead incompetently. Instead, they can respond with insubordination, decreased productivity, or a generalized attitude of confusion or frustration.
If you are a business leader or thinking about becoming one, here are some mistakes to avoid:
1. Don't lord it over your staff. No one likes a know-it-all. Assuming a cocky stance or a bullying attitude will strike a similar flint in the hearts of your subordinates.
2. Don't be a softie. Just as a sharp edge can have a cutting effect, a marshmallow can quickly lose its shape. Being a people pleaser means that you will inevitably let someone down, so don't even try. Instead, focus on the job and make it work with everyone's interests as best you can without bending over backwards until you break.
3. Don't put on a over-confident front. If you need information, ask for it rather than pretend you have all the answers. There's nothing wrong with an honest question, but there's plenty wrong with someone who is afraid to ask.
4. Don't misjudge employees' abilities. Take time to read files, interview people, and observe performance before making staffing decisions. Put competent, trustworthy people in charge of important projects so that neither you nor the company will regret it.
5. Don't play favorites. Owing a favor or liking a person are two poor reasons for handing out raises and promotions. Feeling sorry for someone is just as bad. Use good judgment and fair play to make staff decisions.
6. Don't hold a grudge. If you don't get along with someone, stay away from the person; don't try to get even. Leaders who use their position of authority to take punitive action based on personal vendettas are likely to find themselves in trouble.
7. Don't take a casual approach to the budget. Get to know it thoroughly. Understand company growth patterns and long-term projections, as well as how your leadership can play a role. Being careless with money is dangerous and potentially costly in the business world. Careless mistakes take time to fix, and in business, time is money.
8. Don't overlook company shifts, goals, or problems. Study the "big picture" with a view to finding your place in it and growing with the company.
9. Keep an eye on industry trends. Know what's "hot" and what's not; that's how leaders keep leading. Otherwise, someone who is more knowledgeable than you may take your place.
10. Stay human. When mistakes happen, forgive others and yourself. Laugh and be friendly, but don't look foolish doing it. Avoid mechanical responses and a 24/7 mentality toward your job. Do your best, but then leave the rest of your job at work until the next day. It'll be there when you return. At night and on weekends, enjoy your family and have fun. You've earned it.
Becoming a leader is challenging. Follow these suggestions to avoid problems and help your company and your career reach their potential.
Most of us can recall a leader who just wasn't cut out for the job. Being a leader is demanding; becoming a great leader is uncommon. Followers aren't particularly merciful to those who lead incompetently. Instead, they can respond with insubordination, decreased productivity, or a generalized attitude of confusion or frustration.
If you are a business leader or thinking about becoming one, here are some mistakes to avoid:
1. Don't lord it over your staff. No one likes a know-it-all. Assuming a cocky stance or a bullying attitude will strike a similar flint in the hearts of your subordinates.
2. Don't be a softie. Just as a sharp edge can have a cutting effect, a marshmallow can quickly lose its shape. Being a people pleaser means that you will inevitably let someone down, so don't even try. Instead, focus on the job and make it work with everyone's interests as best you can without bending over backwards until you break.
3. Don't put on a over-confident front. If you need information, ask for it rather than pretend you have all the answers. There's nothing wrong with an honest question, but there's plenty wrong with someone who is afraid to ask.
4. Don't misjudge employees' abilities. Take time to read files, interview people, and observe performance before making staffing decisions. Put competent, trustworthy people in charge of important projects so that neither you nor the company will regret it.
5. Don't play favorites. Owing a favor or liking a person are two poor reasons for handing out raises and promotions. Feeling sorry for someone is just as bad. Use good judgment and fair play to make staff decisions.
6. Don't hold a grudge. If you don't get along with someone, stay away from the person; don't try to get even. Leaders who use their position of authority to take punitive action based on personal vendettas are likely to find themselves in trouble.
7. Don't take a casual approach to the budget. Get to know it thoroughly. Understand company growth patterns and long-term projections, as well as how your leadership can play a role. Being careless with money is dangerous and potentially costly in the business world. Careless mistakes take time to fix, and in business, time is money.
8. Don't overlook company shifts, goals, or problems. Study the "big picture" with a view to finding your place in it and growing with the company.
9. Keep an eye on industry trends. Know what's "hot" and what's not; that's how leaders keep leading. Otherwise, someone who is more knowledgeable than you may take your place.
10. Stay human. When mistakes happen, forgive others and yourself. Laugh and be friendly, but don't look foolish doing it. Avoid mechanical responses and a 24/7 mentality toward your job. Do your best, but then leave the rest of your job at work until the next day. It'll be there when you return. At night and on weekends, enjoy your family and have fun. You've earned it.
Becoming a leader is challenging. Follow these suggestions to avoid problems and help your company and your career reach their potential.
Dr. A P J ABDUL KALAAM'S SPEECH
Dr. A P J ABDUL KALAAM'S SPEECH
IN HYDERABAD
A must read for every Indian.
"I have three visions for India.
In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.
My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?
I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that,
unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life. I see four milestones in my career: Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist. After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India's guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994. The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss.
The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon. One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory.
He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me
his patients.
There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three Kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these floor reaction Orthosis 300-gram calipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn't believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. Load on their legs, they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss! Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them.
Why?
? We are the first in milk production.
? We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
? We are the second largest producer of wheat.
? We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan; he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things?
We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this
obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with selfreliance?
I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; Otherwise, choice is yours. YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work; the railways are a joke, The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say and say.
What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores.
YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Peddler Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in
a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't
say anything, DO YOU?
YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else."
YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the
traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's
son. Take your two bucks and get lost."
YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the
beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit paan on the streets of Tokyo?
Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston?
We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?
Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar,
had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent
droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize
and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the
officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels?
In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan.
Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right.
We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit
back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst
our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not
going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a
stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean
bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we
are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who
is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues
Like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room
protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system
which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So
Who?s going to change the system?
What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors,
other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not
me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system
we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at
countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a
majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and
praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When
England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the
Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian
government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding
the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of
introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am echoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his
fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....
"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO
MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE
TODAY"
Let?s do what India needs from us. Forward this mail to each Indian For a change instead of sending Jokes or junk mails.
Thank you
Dr. A P J Abdul Kalaam
Honorable President of INDIA
Indian standard and time to upgrade
Indian standard and time to upgrade
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, AUGUST 01, 2005 01:47:14 AM]
My tennis partner Lance Miller told me during a side change between games that he had called customer support for a problem with his computer and the call had again gone to India. This time, he said, his experience was much, much better than six months ago, when he had run up against an agent who wasn?t entirely clued in. This time the agent was patient, engaging, and walked him through the problem till it was fixed, explaining everything along the way.
They are obviously on a learning curve, I told Lance. They are bound to get better. It is also possible that there may not be the same competency and verve among all tech support staff. Some may be slackers. Someone else may have had a bad hair day. This could happen anywhere, even if the call went to San Antonio, Texas or Salt Lake City, Utah, where some of MY calls for tech support have gone.
So here?s my question: Are India and Indians held to a higher standard because of this whole hoopla about off-shoring?
I would think so based on my own experience and a couple of other related incidents. All tech support calls relating to my cable internet service with the provider Comcast go to a local call center based in Maryland. I suffer at least one major internet outage every month.
Comcast?s customer service ranges from average to poor. Sometimes it takes them 2-3 days to fix the problem, when they need to make a house call. I have similar experience with Verizon, my phone carrier. Would such sloppiness be acceptable if the tech support team was based in India?
My guess is Lance would have blown a gasket. As would have an Indian customer based outside India. They will benchmark India against the best in the west. Fortunately, my experience with call centers in India has been uniformly good. Maybe they recognise my Indian name and give me better service.
But a number of my American friends have complained to me about poor service, incomprehensible accents etc. I think there is a certain pathology about dealing with India because of the negative sentiment about off-shoring. Lance?s update last week was a rare exception, and may his tribe, as also improved service from India, increase!
I was reflecting on this sitting in sweltering Washington during Mumbai?s deluge last week. Around the time of the catastrophic downpour in India, there was a brief thunderstorm here. Strong wind gusts and rain for an hour uprooted trees and knocked out power in my suburb. We lost power at 6 p.m. and it did not come back till 2 a.m.
?Kya yaar, yahan bhi apna des jaisa ho gaya (Well my friend, this is just like India),? a desi friend joked to me over the phone. But we took it good - naturedly and killed time going to a bookstore and a Cineplex in a nearly suburb which was unaffected.
I doubt if visitors from the US -- Indian or American -- would have had the same equanimity faced with the situation in Mumbai. There would have been horror stories about how unprepared India is for such situations. But guess what -- 37 inches of rain in a day would have devastated any American city -- not for a day or two, but for a week or two.
It takes only four inches of snow for Washington to shut down and hunker down as if nuclear war is around the corner. In contrast, Mumbai will be back on its feet in no time. There is no city in the world with as much resilience. For that matter, there are few countries in the world that can take such pounding as India does and still be on its feet.
But to return to the question of standards -- yes, because we are a hungry nation (hungry for success, that is) and are setting out to eat the world?s lunch, we should expect to be held to a higher standard. We should also use that to our advantage and meet and surpass those standards. I?d like to hear Lance say he?s rather be dealing with tech support in India than anywhere else in the world.
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, AUGUST 01, 2005 01:47:14 AM]
My tennis partner Lance Miller told me during a side change between games that he had called customer support for a problem with his computer and the call had again gone to India. This time, he said, his experience was much, much better than six months ago, when he had run up against an agent who wasn?t entirely clued in. This time the agent was patient, engaging, and walked him through the problem till it was fixed, explaining everything along the way.
They are obviously on a learning curve, I told Lance. They are bound to get better. It is also possible that there may not be the same competency and verve among all tech support staff. Some may be slackers. Someone else may have had a bad hair day. This could happen anywhere, even if the call went to San Antonio, Texas or Salt Lake City, Utah, where some of MY calls for tech support have gone.
So here?s my question: Are India and Indians held to a higher standard because of this whole hoopla about off-shoring?
I would think so based on my own experience and a couple of other related incidents. All tech support calls relating to my cable internet service with the provider Comcast go to a local call center based in Maryland. I suffer at least one major internet outage every month.
Comcast?s customer service ranges from average to poor. Sometimes it takes them 2-3 days to fix the problem, when they need to make a house call. I have similar experience with Verizon, my phone carrier. Would such sloppiness be acceptable if the tech support team was based in India?
My guess is Lance would have blown a gasket. As would have an Indian customer based outside India. They will benchmark India against the best in the west. Fortunately, my experience with call centers in India has been uniformly good. Maybe they recognise my Indian name and give me better service.
But a number of my American friends have complained to me about poor service, incomprehensible accents etc. I think there is a certain pathology about dealing with India because of the negative sentiment about off-shoring. Lance?s update last week was a rare exception, and may his tribe, as also improved service from India, increase!
I was reflecting on this sitting in sweltering Washington during Mumbai?s deluge last week. Around the time of the catastrophic downpour in India, there was a brief thunderstorm here. Strong wind gusts and rain for an hour uprooted trees and knocked out power in my suburb. We lost power at 6 p.m. and it did not come back till 2 a.m.
?Kya yaar, yahan bhi apna des jaisa ho gaya (Well my friend, this is just like India),? a desi friend joked to me over the phone. But we took it good - naturedly and killed time going to a bookstore and a Cineplex in a nearly suburb which was unaffected.
I doubt if visitors from the US -- Indian or American -- would have had the same equanimity faced with the situation in Mumbai. There would have been horror stories about how unprepared India is for such situations. But guess what -- 37 inches of rain in a day would have devastated any American city -- not for a day or two, but for a week or two.
It takes only four inches of snow for Washington to shut down and hunker down as if nuclear war is around the corner. In contrast, Mumbai will be back on its feet in no time. There is no city in the world with as much resilience. For that matter, there are few countries in the world that can take such pounding as India does and still be on its feet.
But to return to the question of standards -- yes, because we are a hungry nation (hungry for success, that is) and are setting out to eat the world?s lunch, we should expect to be held to a higher standard. We should also use that to our advantage and meet and surpass those standards. I?d like to hear Lance say he?s rather be dealing with tech support in India than anywhere else in the world.
India: Great power or hollow power?
India: Great power or hollow power?
SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR
As we enter 2006, people increasingly ask if India is going to become a global power. The 2003 Goldman Sachs report on BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) emphasised the huge economic growth potential of the four countries, suggesting that by 2050 China would be global leader in GDP (though not GDP per capita), followed by the US, with some way behind in third place.
GDP is not everything: income per head and technological and military strength matter too. Arvind Virmani, the director of ICRIER, in a paper last November (Global power from the 18th to 21st century) used a mix of economic, technological and strategic parameters to formulate an index of power, which he with great modesty called the Virmani index of power (VIP).
The VIP of each country is relative to the US, which has the benchmark rate of 100%. The accompanying table gives estimates for VIP for the top 13 countries for 2003 and 2005. It shows that the US is way ahead. Note: the relative ranking of all BRIC countries goes up in the two years, while that of others goes down.
Virmani defines countries with a VIP of over 20% as global powers, and with over 5% as regional powers. By this measure, only Japan and China were global powers in 2005, apart from the US. Virmani describes this scenario pithily as ?uni-polar with a multi-polar fringe.?
Projecting trends forward to 2040, Virmani visualises the return of a multi-polar world. China will be the biggest power (measured by VIP), followed by the US, with India a long way behind in third place. If the European Union gets together as a political entity ? very unlikely ? it will be a fourth global power.
To attain number three status, says Virmani, India needs continued rapid economic growth; needs to persuade the US to supply military, nuclear and other techno-strategic inputs; needs to acquire technology from all other economic partners, even while developing its own R&D; and should seek a strategic partnership with democratic, multi-polar-fringe countries such as Japan, UK, Germany, France and Russia.
It feels nice to be told that India is going to become a great power. I think Virmani is absolutely right in stressing that strategic-military power flows overwhelmingly from economic power, not mere possession of arms.Yet I think the very concept of global powers and regional powers is flawed.
These concept are, to my mind, constructs of the 19th century that became decreasingly relevant in the 20th century, and have very limited relevance in the 21st century.
In past centuries, countries were willing to incur huge casualties and tax their citizens to the bone to achieve military success. Conquest was greatness. That is simply not so any more. Consider the US.
It is the sole superpower today. Yet it has failed to achieve its goals quickly in either Afghanistan or Iraq, and may not achieve them at all. A mere 2,000 casualties in Iraq has been enough to sap US morale, sink Bush?s popularity ratings, and lead to widespread calls to withdraw US troops.
Bush does not dare institute the draft (compulsory military service) which was uncontroversial in the Korean War, and was resisted only after several years in the Vietnam War. Bush has not dared raise taxes to fund his war on terrorism.
No country can be a conventional great power tax-free and casualty-free. The US retains great economic and military influence. But changed citizen attitudes simply will not permit a return to great power politics (and wars) of 19th century vintage.
India is widely called a regional power in South Asia. But in practical terms what does this mean? India has the biggest regional army and economy by far, but these are useless in attaining key regional aims. India cannot get Bangladesh to provide road transit from Tripura to West Bengal, or sell India natural gas.
India cannot persuade Nepal to build big dams to supply hydro-electricity to India, and cannot persuade the Nepal King to restore democracy. India cannot oblige the Tamil Tigers to lay down arms, or broker a peace in Sri Lanka. India can do nothing whatsoever to prevent Pakistan from sending militants into Kashmir.
There is vague and wild talk of bombing training camps in Pakistan or pursuing fleeing militants across the border. Neither would make the slightest dent on militancy. India cannot even persuade Pakistan to provide most-favoured nation status in trade, although this is mandated by WTO rules!
In sum, being a regional power amounts to very little indeed. Having nuclear weapons is useless: it may give Indians an illusion of power, but cannot be used for any political or economic objective.
Far from enabling a country to bend neighbours to its will, a big GDP and military strength appear to be a disadvantage. Big neighbours are resented, feared and treated with suspicion. They are not kow-towed to.
Talk of being a regional power sounds especially stupid when Indian power looks so moth-eaten and useless within the country. Today 150 of the country?s 600 districts have some degree of Naxalite insurrection, and the situation is worsening despite rising GDP, military strength and nukes.
Dawood Ibrahim is beyond our reach, and so was Veerappan for decades. Our moribund justice system is unable to catch and jail even the perpetrators of the Bombay bombings. Criminals increasingly dominate our legislatures. For such a country to claim to be a regional power, let alone a global power, is simply laughable.
India is an utterly hollow power. This hollowness cannot be disguised by an outer shell of rising GDP, technological prowess and nukes.
A government that steadily loses control over its own troubled regions, that cannot control Naxalites, Kashmiri militants or north-eastern militants, that cannot catch common criminals, simply cannot claim to be a regional or global power. Virmani?s measures of power are irrelevant.
SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR
As we enter 2006, people increasingly ask if India is going to become a global power. The 2003 Goldman Sachs report on BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) emphasised the huge economic growth potential of the four countries, suggesting that by 2050 China would be global leader in GDP (though not GDP per capita), followed by the US, with some way behind in third place.
GDP is not everything: income per head and technological and military strength matter too. Arvind Virmani, the director of ICRIER, in a paper last November (Global power from the 18th to 21st century) used a mix of economic, technological and strategic parameters to formulate an index of power, which he with great modesty called the Virmani index of power (VIP).
The VIP of each country is relative to the US, which has the benchmark rate of 100%. The accompanying table gives estimates for VIP for the top 13 countries for 2003 and 2005. It shows that the US is way ahead. Note: the relative ranking of all BRIC countries goes up in the two years, while that of others goes down.
Virmani defines countries with a VIP of over 20% as global powers, and with over 5% as regional powers. By this measure, only Japan and China were global powers in 2005, apart from the US. Virmani describes this scenario pithily as ?uni-polar with a multi-polar fringe.?
Projecting trends forward to 2040, Virmani visualises the return of a multi-polar world. China will be the biggest power (measured by VIP), followed by the US, with India a long way behind in third place. If the European Union gets together as a political entity ? very unlikely ? it will be a fourth global power.
To attain number three status, says Virmani, India needs continued rapid economic growth; needs to persuade the US to supply military, nuclear and other techno-strategic inputs; needs to acquire technology from all other economic partners, even while developing its own R&D; and should seek a strategic partnership with democratic, multi-polar-fringe countries such as Japan, UK, Germany, France and Russia.
It feels nice to be told that India is going to become a great power. I think Virmani is absolutely right in stressing that strategic-military power flows overwhelmingly from economic power, not mere possession of arms.Yet I think the very concept of global powers and regional powers is flawed.
These concept are, to my mind, constructs of the 19th century that became decreasingly relevant in the 20th century, and have very limited relevance in the 21st century.
In past centuries, countries were willing to incur huge casualties and tax their citizens to the bone to achieve military success. Conquest was greatness. That is simply not so any more. Consider the US.
It is the sole superpower today. Yet it has failed to achieve its goals quickly in either Afghanistan or Iraq, and may not achieve them at all. A mere 2,000 casualties in Iraq has been enough to sap US morale, sink Bush?s popularity ratings, and lead to widespread calls to withdraw US troops.
Bush does not dare institute the draft (compulsory military service) which was uncontroversial in the Korean War, and was resisted only after several years in the Vietnam War. Bush has not dared raise taxes to fund his war on terrorism.
No country can be a conventional great power tax-free and casualty-free. The US retains great economic and military influence. But changed citizen attitudes simply will not permit a return to great power politics (and wars) of 19th century vintage.
India is widely called a regional power in South Asia. But in practical terms what does this mean? India has the biggest regional army and economy by far, but these are useless in attaining key regional aims. India cannot get Bangladesh to provide road transit from Tripura to West Bengal, or sell India natural gas.
India cannot persuade Nepal to build big dams to supply hydro-electricity to India, and cannot persuade the Nepal King to restore democracy. India cannot oblige the Tamil Tigers to lay down arms, or broker a peace in Sri Lanka. India can do nothing whatsoever to prevent Pakistan from sending militants into Kashmir.
There is vague and wild talk of bombing training camps in Pakistan or pursuing fleeing militants across the border. Neither would make the slightest dent on militancy. India cannot even persuade Pakistan to provide most-favoured nation status in trade, although this is mandated by WTO rules!
In sum, being a regional power amounts to very little indeed. Having nuclear weapons is useless: it may give Indians an illusion of power, but cannot be used for any political or economic objective.
Far from enabling a country to bend neighbours to its will, a big GDP and military strength appear to be a disadvantage. Big neighbours are resented, feared and treated with suspicion. They are not kow-towed to.
Talk of being a regional power sounds especially stupid when Indian power looks so moth-eaten and useless within the country. Today 150 of the country?s 600 districts have some degree of Naxalite insurrection, and the situation is worsening despite rising GDP, military strength and nukes.
Dawood Ibrahim is beyond our reach, and so was Veerappan for decades. Our moribund justice system is unable to catch and jail even the perpetrators of the Bombay bombings. Criminals increasingly dominate our legislatures. For such a country to claim to be a regional power, let alone a global power, is simply laughable.
India is an utterly hollow power. This hollowness cannot be disguised by an outer shell of rising GDP, technological prowess and nukes.
A government that steadily loses control over its own troubled regions, that cannot control Naxalites, Kashmiri militants or north-eastern militants, that cannot catch common criminals, simply cannot claim to be a regional or global power. Virmani?s measures of power are irrelevant.
Family business as politics
By SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR
In a parliamentary democracy, ministers are generally supposed to be elected representatives of the people. But not in the era of Sonia Gandhi. Increasingly, her Cabinets — it would be naïve to call them Manmohan Singh Cabinets — are stuffed with her nominees from the Rajya Sabha.
This is the culmination of decades of centralisation of power in the Congress party in the Gandhi family. The Congress is not fond of members who can actually develop their own power base and get elected with large majorities: such upstarts might forget that the party is a closely-held family business.
In past decades, powerful Congress chief ministers (H N Bahuguna, Y B Chavan, Sharad Pawar) suspected of high ambitions were put in their place. Congress party bosses are nominated, not elected.
This trend is now reflected in the composition of the Cabinet. Ministers are being nominated via the Rajya Sabha by the Gandhi-in-chief, rather than entering by the popularly-elected Lok Sabha route.
Consider the new Cabinet appointees in the week-end reshuffle. Of the six new Congress entrants, only one (A R Antulay) is a Lok Sabha member. Murali Deora, Vayalar Ravi and Saifuddin Soz are Rajya Sabha members. Sushil Kumar Shinde and Ambika Soni are not MPs, and will enter via the Rajya Sabha within six months (they have neither the opportunity nor appetite for fighting an early Lok Sabha by-election).
The trend is not entirely new. The prime minister is himself a Rajya Sabha member, having lost the only Lok Sabha election he fought. Home minister Shivraj Patil, HR minister Arjun Singh and law minister Bharadwaj are also Rajya Sabha members.
The contrast with Congress allies in the Cabinet is glaring. No less than 10 of the 11 Cabinet ministers representing UPA allies are from the Lok Sabha.
What exactly is happening? The Congress party has become a family business parading as a political party. Enthusiastic investors seek to become shareholders in this great enterprise, and share in its dividends and capital appreciation. They can hope to rise to the Board.
But only at their peril can they dream of becoming CEO; that post, as in all good family businesses, is reserved for the controlling family. Even if you are made prime minister, like Manmohan Singh, you know that the CEO is the Gandhi-in-chief.
Intellectuals have long bemoaned the transformation of the Congress from the party of the independence movement to the Gandhi family business. But that is now old hat. More to the point, other parties are becoming family businesses too. The Gandhis have set an irresistible political fashion.
Some years ago, reviewing the change in the political scene in the last decade, I said that parties claiming to reach out to all Indians (Congress, CPI, CPM) had lost ground to parties based on religion (BJP, Shiv Sena), caste (BSP, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal) and region (the BJD, NCP and TRS being new additions to older regional ranks).
I saw in this the rise of identity politics, of parties based not on issues but on identity groups loyal to a religion, caste or region.
However, that analysis now seems inadequate. Identity politics is a major force, but even identity-based parties are degenerating into family businesses. The RJD, which started as a backward-caste party, has become a fief of the Lalu Yadav family.
The Samajwadi Party is a Mulayam Yadav business, to be inherited by his son. Bal Thackeray’s son and nephew have battled to inherit the Shiv Sena. Janaki Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa battled to succeed the late M G Ramachandran in AIADMK. Lakshmi Parvati and Chandrababu Naidu fought for the legacy of the TDP.
The DMK, once the proud standard bearer of Tamil backward castes, has become a Karunanidhi family business, causing non-family stalwarts like Vaiko to exit in disgust. And in Karnataka, Deve Gowda has seen one of his sons, Kumaraswamy, take over the party mantle that earlier seemed reserved for his elder brother Revanna.
In time, these parties too will probably use the Rajya Sabha route to the Union Cabinet. So, why is Indian politics becoming a contest of family businesses? What happened to issue-based politics and parties?
The answer seems to be that we are moving to a form of democratic feudalism. A democracy is supposed to be based on the rule of law, but feudal chiefs are above the law.
We have wrecked the judicial-administrative system inherited from the British, and made it incapable of convicting anybody of any crime beyond all appeals. People die of old age before their appeals are completed (Harshad Mehta and P V Narasimha Rao being recent examples).
In this polity, outcomes are determined not by rule of law but by money, muscle and influence. Corruption is rife and allegations of wrong-doing fill the air.
Yet this becomes political theatre rather than justice since nobody is convicted beyond appeals. Money-makers flourish, and those that fail to make enough money for their parties can lose their Cabinet posts. Thugs are useful in booth-capturing and are inducted into Cabinets.
Let me not exaggerate: elections and institutions provide enough checks and balances to prevent India from sliding into the downright thuggery of Africa. Still, when money, muscle and influence are seen by most people to determine most outcomes, citizens have no incentive to vote for quality politicians who swear by the rule of law but are ineffective.
Instead, citizens vote for those who can get things done because they have the most money, muscle and influence. These qualifications are found in the most ample measure in family businesses, as any feudal lord or mafia chief can tell you.
This is not a total negation of democracy. Political dynasties exist in other democracies too. So too do money and influence (though muscle and booth-capturing are less common). But India is suffering from grave institutional erosion.
One well-known consequence is the rising proportion of criminals in legislatures and Cabinets. Unexpectedly, another consequence seems to be the rising proportion of ministers from the Upper House.
In a parliamentary democracy, ministers are generally supposed to be elected representatives of the people. But not in the era of Sonia Gandhi. Increasingly, her Cabinets — it would be naïve to call them Manmohan Singh Cabinets — are stuffed with her nominees from the Rajya Sabha.
This is the culmination of decades of centralisation of power in the Congress party in the Gandhi family. The Congress is not fond of members who can actually develop their own power base and get elected with large majorities: such upstarts might forget that the party is a closely-held family business.
In past decades, powerful Congress chief ministers (H N Bahuguna, Y B Chavan, Sharad Pawar) suspected of high ambitions were put in their place. Congress party bosses are nominated, not elected.
This trend is now reflected in the composition of the Cabinet. Ministers are being nominated via the Rajya Sabha by the Gandhi-in-chief, rather than entering by the popularly-elected Lok Sabha route.
Consider the new Cabinet appointees in the week-end reshuffle. Of the six new Congress entrants, only one (A R Antulay) is a Lok Sabha member. Murali Deora, Vayalar Ravi and Saifuddin Soz are Rajya Sabha members. Sushil Kumar Shinde and Ambika Soni are not MPs, and will enter via the Rajya Sabha within six months (they have neither the opportunity nor appetite for fighting an early Lok Sabha by-election).
The trend is not entirely new. The prime minister is himself a Rajya Sabha member, having lost the only Lok Sabha election he fought. Home minister Shivraj Patil, HR minister Arjun Singh and law minister Bharadwaj are also Rajya Sabha members.
The contrast with Congress allies in the Cabinet is glaring. No less than 10 of the 11 Cabinet ministers representing UPA allies are from the Lok Sabha.
What exactly is happening? The Congress party has become a family business parading as a political party. Enthusiastic investors seek to become shareholders in this great enterprise, and share in its dividends and capital appreciation. They can hope to rise to the Board.
But only at their peril can they dream of becoming CEO; that post, as in all good family businesses, is reserved for the controlling family. Even if you are made prime minister, like Manmohan Singh, you know that the CEO is the Gandhi-in-chief.
Intellectuals have long bemoaned the transformation of the Congress from the party of the independence movement to the Gandhi family business. But that is now old hat. More to the point, other parties are becoming family businesses too. The Gandhis have set an irresistible political fashion.
Some years ago, reviewing the change in the political scene in the last decade, I said that parties claiming to reach out to all Indians (Congress, CPI, CPM) had lost ground to parties based on religion (BJP, Shiv Sena), caste (BSP, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal) and region (the BJD, NCP and TRS being new additions to older regional ranks).
I saw in this the rise of identity politics, of parties based not on issues but on identity groups loyal to a religion, caste or region.
However, that analysis now seems inadequate. Identity politics is a major force, but even identity-based parties are degenerating into family businesses. The RJD, which started as a backward-caste party, has become a fief of the Lalu Yadav family.
The Samajwadi Party is a Mulayam Yadav business, to be inherited by his son. Bal Thackeray’s son and nephew have battled to inherit the Shiv Sena. Janaki Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa battled to succeed the late M G Ramachandran in AIADMK. Lakshmi Parvati and Chandrababu Naidu fought for the legacy of the TDP.
The DMK, once the proud standard bearer of Tamil backward castes, has become a Karunanidhi family business, causing non-family stalwarts like Vaiko to exit in disgust. And in Karnataka, Deve Gowda has seen one of his sons, Kumaraswamy, take over the party mantle that earlier seemed reserved for his elder brother Revanna.
In time, these parties too will probably use the Rajya Sabha route to the Union Cabinet. So, why is Indian politics becoming a contest of family businesses? What happened to issue-based politics and parties?
The answer seems to be that we are moving to a form of democratic feudalism. A democracy is supposed to be based on the rule of law, but feudal chiefs are above the law.
We have wrecked the judicial-administrative system inherited from the British, and made it incapable of convicting anybody of any crime beyond all appeals. People die of old age before their appeals are completed (Harshad Mehta and P V Narasimha Rao being recent examples).
In this polity, outcomes are determined not by rule of law but by money, muscle and influence. Corruption is rife and allegations of wrong-doing fill the air.
Yet this becomes political theatre rather than justice since nobody is convicted beyond appeals. Money-makers flourish, and those that fail to make enough money for their parties can lose their Cabinet posts. Thugs are useful in booth-capturing and are inducted into Cabinets.
Let me not exaggerate: elections and institutions provide enough checks and balances to prevent India from sliding into the downright thuggery of Africa. Still, when money, muscle and influence are seen by most people to determine most outcomes, citizens have no incentive to vote for quality politicians who swear by the rule of law but are ineffective.
Instead, citizens vote for those who can get things done because they have the most money, muscle and influence. These qualifications are found in the most ample measure in family businesses, as any feudal lord or mafia chief can tell you.
This is not a total negation of democracy. Political dynasties exist in other democracies too. So too do money and influence (though muscle and booth-capturing are less common). But India is suffering from grave institutional erosion.
One well-known consequence is the rising proportion of criminals in legislatures and Cabinets. Unexpectedly, another consequence seems to be the rising proportion of ministers from the Upper House.
Kalam's 10-point vision for a competitive India
Kalam's 10-point vision for a competitive India
Inaugurating the Confederation of Indian Industry's Partnership Summit 2006
in Kolkata on Tuesday January 17, President APJ Abdul Kalam emphasised the
need for 'spiritual connectivity' in the 'dynamics of leadership.'
The President said that the country's primary challenge was to uplift the
260 million poor in India and remove poverty by 2020. He said that this
could be done through a network of connectivities encompassing a knowledge
grid, a healthcare grid, e-governance grid and the knowledge grid.
He said the focus should be on integrating the entire country economically
as it transforms itself into a knowledge society.
We reproduce the President's speech at the CII Summit below:
"I am indeed very happy to participate in the inauguration of Partnership
Summit 2006 with the theme 'Shaping the growth: Nurturing development.' My
greetings to CII, who has organised this meet consecutively with different
themes for the development of the nation.
I also greet the political leaders, industry captains, development planners
and other distinguished guests. My special greetings to international
delegates for participating and contributing in this important international
meet.
I was thinking, what thoughts I can share with you on this occasion. I have
selected the topic 'Dynamics of Leadership' that will present two important
systems of national development and will lead to rural development through
PURA (Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas) system and national
electronic grid connectivity.
Law of development
Last two years, I was studying the development patterns and the dynamics of
connectivity between nations, especially in trade and business. As you all
know the world has a few developed countries and many developing countries.
What is the dynamics between them and what connects them?
Developed countries have to market their products in a competitive way to
different countries to remain a developed country. The developing country,
to transform into a developed country, has to market its products to other
countries in a competitive way. Competitiveness is the common driving
factors between the two types of nations.
Competitiveness has three dimensions:
Quality of the product; Cost-effectiveness; and Product is in the market
just-in-time. Indeed this dynamics of competitiveness in marketing of
products by developing and developed countries is the law of development.
There is a relationship between the core competence and the competitiveness
of the country. Such a law applies to individual companies as well.
Ambience in the nation
In the Indian history, very rarely our nation has come across such a
situation, all at a time: an ascending economic trajectory, continuously
rising foreign exchange reserves, reduced rate of inflation, global
recognition of the technological competence, energy of 540 million youth,
umbilical connectivities of 20 million people of Indian origin in various
parts of the planet, and the interest shown by many developed countries to
invest in our engineers and scientists including setting up of new R&D
centers.
The distinction between the public and the private sectors and the illusory
primacy of one over the other is vanishing. India, as the largest democracy
in the world, has a reputation for its democracy and for providing
leadership for the one billion people with multi-cultural, multi-language
and multi-religious backgrounds.
And our technological competence and value systems with civilisational
heritage too are highly respected. Also, FIIs (foreign institutional
investors) find investing in India attractive. Indians are also investing in
abroad and setting up new business ventures.
As per the report titled From the Ganges to the Thames, which states that
the Indian foreign direct investment in Britain is second only to that of
the United States and Indian FDI project in Europe has increased from just 5
to 119 during the period 1997 to 2004.
The government is also committed to economic development by ensuring growth
rate of 7% to 8% annually, enhancing the welfare of the farmers and workers
and unleashing the creativity of the entrepreneurs, business persons,
scientists, engineers and other productive forces of the society.
Can we expect anything better than this for increasing the momentum of our
development missions and economic growth? Let us translate this great
opportunity for transforming India into a developed nation before 2020.
This calls for the agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors becoming
globally competitive leading to economically competitive. Then a competitive
profile will emerge that will create more opportunities to the corporate
sectors working in India.
Enabling environment has also been created by the government through the
sanctioning of Bharat Nirman programme -- with a commitment of Rs 1,74,000
crore (Rs 1,740 billion) allocation in 4 years, enhancement of Agriculture
credit from Rs 92,000 crore (Rs 920 billion) to Rs 200,000 crore (Rs 2,000
billion), sanctioning of 100 days' guaranteed and productive employment
programme in 200 backward districts and annual allocation of Rs 30,000 crore
(Rs 300 billion) for rural development programme.
Profile of a globally competitive nation
Global competitiveness for any nation is indeed a big challenge. For
achieving such a competitive edge for a nation, it is essential to have a
vision. I would like to share with you my visualisation of such a nation.
- A nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin
line.
- A nation where there is an equitable distribution and access to
energy and quality water.
- A nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work
together in symphony, absorbing technology thereby resulting in sustained
wealth-generation leading to greater high value employment opportunities.
- A nation where education is not denied to any meritorious
candidates because of societal or economic discrimination or because of
constraints of rules.
- A nation which is the best destination for the most talented
scholars, scientists, and investors from all over the world.
- A nation where the best of healthcare is available to all and the
communicable diseases like AIDS/TB, water and vector borne diseases and
other stress diseases, cardiac diseases, cancer and diabetes are brought
down.
- A nation where the governance uses the best of the technologies to
be responsive, transparent, fully connected in a high bandwidth e-governance
grid, easily accessible and also simple in rules, thereby corruption free.
- A nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy
removed and crimes against women are absent and none in the society feels
unalienated.
- A nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, peaceful and happy and
continues with a sustainable growth path.
- A nation that is one of the best places to live in on the earth and
brings smiles on the one billion-plus faces
How the nations can realise the specified goals? I will give an example for
our nation. Since India has a population of billion people, it represents
1/6th of the population of our planet. The ideas I am going to present may
also be relevant and applicable to many developing countries, which are
aiming to shape their growth and nurturing their development in an
environment of peace and harmony with other nations.
I would like to invite all countries and investors to participate with us in
the development process for mutual benefit. As far as Indian companies, they
can seek partnership with civil society in India to accomplish these
projects and also venture our in other countries helping them to transform
themselves.
India's national missions: The challenges
India's current population is about one billion people. We are going through
a major challenge of uplifting of 260 million people who are below the
poverty line and also to give better life for many millions who are on the
border line of poverty or just above the poverty line.
They need a decent habitat, they need work with reasonable income, they need
food, they need speedy access to health care, and they need education and
finally they need a good life and hope for a better future.
Our GDP is growing at more than 7% per annum on an average. Whereas, the
economists suggest that to uplift the people below the poverty line, our
economy has to grow at the rate of 10% per annum consistently, for over a
decade.
Integrated action: To meet the need of one billion people, we have the
mission of transforming India into a developed nation. We have identified
five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action:
- Agriculture and food processing;
- Reliable and quality electric power, surface transport and
infrastructure for all parts of the country;
- Education and healthcare;
- Information and communication technology (ICT); and
- Strategic sectors.
These five areas are closely inter-related and if properly implemented, will
lead to food, economic and national security of our country. In each of
these areas, there is a wealth of opportunities awaiting nations who would
like to work together for mutual benefits in a win-win situation.
Each of these missions comprise many projects, investments, innovations,
marketing and therefore many partnerships are possible. Those who seek out
will find a new opportunity. Let us remember the adage, 'early bird catches
the worm.'
Engines for growth: Emphasis would be on full utilisation of natural and
human resources of the nation to meet the demands of the modern society. We
should also remember that about 50% of our population is young people with
aspirations for better living.
Value addition in agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors, building
the national core competence and technologies will lead to additional
high-income employment potential. The engines for growth will be accelerated
by launching of the five national missions, which are common to all of us
wherever we are on planet earth.
The totality of these five missions will enable achievement of 10% GDP
growth rate per annum. It is possible to do so with ecological and economic
sustainability. It is not the mission of governments. It is a collective
efforts of big and small businesses, science and technology and academic
institutions, foreign investors, and many others who have confidence about
India.
With these aspects in view, we have already laid down the road map. The
priority for the government is to convert the road map into various
missions. It is to be done in a decentralized manner allowing a greater role
for private enterprise and local initiatives. While converting the vision
into different missions we seem to have many thoughts and variety of routes
to reach the goal.
This is where there is a need to have coherent thinking among all the
members of the society. All of us have to think that the nation is greater
than an individual or an organisation.
Now I would like to discuss the economic growth and societal transformation.
Societal transformation
Societal transformation and economic growth are interlinked. Knowledge
societies enrich information society through innovation. Information society
enriches agriculture and manufacturing through value addition. The whole
purpose of education in a country is to develop and enhance the potential of
our human resource and progressively transform it into a knowledge society.
The knowledge society will be a society producing products and services that
are rich in both explicit and tacit knowledge, thus creating value added
products. The real capital of this knowledge society will be its knowledge
components.
The society will be highly networked to create knowledge intensive
environment along with enabling process to efficiently create, share, use
and protect knowledge. Our education system should re-align itself at the
earliest to meet the needs of the present day challenges and be fully geared
to participate in the societal transformation through innovation, which is
the key to competitiveness.
It should also develop a global outlook. India has many strengths. It has to
reach out and make our individuals and institution capable of succeeding in
a competitive world.
Changing patterns of society:
When the world was moving from the industrial to information and knowledge
era, we witnessed a changing pattern in the sectoral share of GDP and the
number of people employed in each sector.
The sectoral share of gross domestic product percentage has undergone a
considerable change. Contribution of agriculture to India's GDP has reduced
from 39% to 22% during the period 1979 to 2004. During the same period
contribution of manufacturing sector has moved from 24% to 27% and whereas
the contribution from the services sector has increased from 37% to 51%.
There has been considerable change in the employment pattern also. The
percentage of people employed in agriculture has come down from 64% to 54%.
Simultaneously, the percentage of people employed in manufacturing has gone
up from 15% to 19% and in the service sector from 20% to 27%. This trend has
to continue and by 2020 our employment pattern should aim at 44% in
agriculture, 21% in manufacturing and 35% in service sectors.
The displacement of 10% people from agriculture sector has to be facilitated
through skill enabling for undertaking value added tasks in the rural
enterprises so that migration to urban area is reduced. Instead of the
person from the rural areas going to urban towns in search of jobs in
manufacturing and services sectors, PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural
Areas) facilitates creation of employment in the rural areas itself.
PURA achieves this by providing physical, electronic and knowledge
connectivities to a cluster of villages thereby leading to their economic
connectivity and prosperity. Knowledge creation and knowledge utilisation is
the key to the success of a PURA programme. PURA programme can generate many
business opportunities. This model is applicable to many countries.
Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA):
The number of PURA units required for the whole country is estimated to be
7,000. This envisages integrated connectivities to bring prosperity to rural
India. These are: physical connectivity of the village clusters through
quality roads and transport; electronic connectivity through
telecommunication with high bandwidth fiber optic cables reaching the rural
areas from urban cities and through Internet kiosks; and knowledge
connectivity through education, vocational training for farmers, artisans
and craftsmen and entrepreneurship programmes.
These three connectivities will lead to economic connectivity through
starting of enterprises with the help of banks, micro credits and marketing
of the products.
The PURA is required to be run by enlightened citizens and people capable of
giving moral as well as business leadership. There is profit for partners
but there is also a human face.
Both are built in the business plan itself. This is where the concept of
spiritual connectivity is seen as the foundation, which bonds all the other
four connectivities.
Each PURA cluster will connect about 20 villages depending upon the region
and population and will cost about Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion). After
initial short-term employment during construction etc., we have to plan for
initiating actions for providing regular employment and self-employment
opportunities in nationally competitive small enterprises in agro
processing, manufacturing and services sectors for about 3,000 people.
If the industrial/business parks are marketed well, they can generate
employment opportunities in support sector for about 10,000 people in that
cluster. This will provide sustainable economy for the rural sector. In this
national mission, bankers can promote entrepreneurship in the rural areas.
This will lead to the removal of urban-rural divide. This experience can
become a model for other countries to follow.
PURA as an enterprise: A large number of banks have entrepreneurial
development programmes. Banks have also been funding small scale industries
of different types in various regions. The small-scale industrialist is a
promising candidate for becoming the chief executive for managing the PURA
complexes in an integrated way.
PURA enterprises can also undertake management of schools, health care
units, vocational training centres, chilling plants, silos and building a
market, banking system and the regional business or industrial units. A new
mission mode management style has to emerge for PURA enterprises.
It should not be looking for protective legislations to support them. Rather
they should be efficient to compete with others. This new PURA enterprise
needs partnership from the bank, from the government and also from the
private entrepreneurs. Banks can train the entrepreneur for managing the
PURA in their training centres and also provide them loans for creating and
running PURAs as a business proposition.
Think of public-private-civil society partnerships in these efforts. Now I
would like to describe the societal grid which will give the connectivity
for the billion people.
Connectivity model
The core of the connectivity model is Electronic Connectivity for prosperity
of one billion people is the partnership between governmental and multiple
institutions in the public and private domains. The strength of this
partnership for collaborative growth and economic prosperity is facilitated
by free flow of knowledge and information in a seamless manner cutting
across levels and boundaries embracing all walks of life in the three
sectors of the economy such as agriculture, manufacturing and services
sector.
In this model, four grids bring about the inter-connectivity between these
three sectors of the economy: namely knowledge grid, health grid,
e-governance grid and the PURA (7,000 PURA) grid. Each grid is a system of
multiple portals. The aim is to maximize gross domestic production and
productivity of the land and people through maximizing the performance of
each sector, synergised by the system of inter and intra-sectoral electronic
connectivity to serve one billion people.
This will bring prosperity to 700 million people in the rural areas and 300
million plus people in the urban areas. In the process, it will ensure that
the lives of 260 million people will be uplifted from below the poverty
line.
Societal grid
To maximise the synergy between the various components of education,
healthcare, e-governance, rural development we need to establish
connectivities among them. These connectivities will certainly bring
seamless access and information flow among the various domains leading to
maximisation of GDP and productivity; hence, there is need for establishing
the grids, namely knowledge grid, healthcare grid, e-governance grid and the
PURA knowledge grid.
This interconnecting grid will be known as societal grid. Knowledge sharing,
knowledge utilisation and knowledge re-use is very vital by all constituents
of the society for promoting non-linear growth. The societal grid consists
of:
Knowledge grid:
Interconnecting universities with socio-economic institutions, industries
and R&D organisations.
Healthcare grid:
Interconnecting the healthcare institutions of the government, corporate and
superspeciality hospitals. Research institutions, educational institutions
and ultimately, pharma R&D institutions.
E-governance grid:
Interconnecting the central government and state governments and district
and block level offices for G2G and G2C connectivity.
PURA knowledge grid:
Connecting the PURA nodal centers with the village knowledge centres and
domain service providers. Since this is the backbone for rural development,
all other grids will infuse the knowledge into this grid for sustainable
development, healthcare and good governance.
For example, five of the Periyar PURA villages have now connected using
Wi-Max connectivity. Integrated village knowledge centers will act as an
inter-connected delivery mechanism for tele-education, tele-medicine and
e-governance services apart from individual access by the people, within and
between the village knowledge centres through the PURA grid.
We have, so far discussed all the four connectivities required for the
societal transformation. These connectivities can form the basis for
providing platform for societal transformation leading to empowerment. This
will blossom with the enabling environment of trust and confidence in the
overall system.
Pan African e-Network
While we are discussing the topic 'Shaping the Growth: Nurturing
Development,' I would like to recall my address to the Pan African
Parliament on September 16, 2004, at Johannesburg, South African which was
attended by heads of 53 member countries of the African unit.
There I announced the willingness of Government of India to provide seamless
and integrated satellite, fiber optics and wireless network connecting 53
African countries. This will provide three connectivities:
Heads of the State Network for e-governance; Tele-education network for
higher education, skill enhancement and capacity building; and Tele-medicine
for providing health care and super specialty medicare. The government of
India has already commenced the project in partnership with African Union
and it will be completed by early 2007.
Now I would like to discuss with you another international partnership model
for high-tech product development for world market.
Design and develop products for world market
In order to achieve global competitiveness, the product must be world-class
with high quality, high cost-effectiveness and must be available in time
within the shelf life of the product. I would like to share a unique
experience of design, development, production and marketing of a missile
system -- Brahmos, an Indo-Russian joint venture.
What we have achieved through this venture is the development and
realisation of a world-class product using the synergy of technological
competence and consortium of industries of partner countries. In addition,
the product being internationally competitive, it is able to service a large
market with availability in time and state of the art performance at reduced
cost per unit.
This will put India, a global defence exporter. Moreover, with minimum
incremental investment the product has been developed and led to production
and induction, at a relatively short time frame, well ahead of prescribed
schedule. This has enabled early entry of the product into the world market
well before any competitor could emerge.
I would like the civil industries to emulate this example and design and
develop commercial products for international markets. This will lead to a
win-win situation for the partner industries and enable availability of
product at a low cost for the customer leading to nation's wealth
generation.
Our experiences in mission mode programmes
I remember, during the 1960s India was in a state of ship to mouth existence
in food. If the American ships did not bring wheat, there will be a famine
in India. But there were two visionaries who worked together with the
farming community and brought the first green revolution.
They are the political thinker C Subramaniam and the agriculture scientist
Dr M S Swaminathan.
Today, we produce 200 million tonne of food grains, which is not only
sufficient for us but also available for export. Around the same time,
Varghese Kurien masterminded the white revolution, which resulted in placing
India at the top of the world map of milk producers.
In India much innovation and creative thinking took place at various phases
of our development. Dr Vikram Sarabhai in the 1960s said that India should
design and develop large satellite launch vehicle and put communication
satellite and remote sensing satellite in geo-synchronous orbit and polar
orbit respectively.
This vision statement ignited hundred of scientists, technologists and
thousands of technicians. Today India is capable of building any type of
satellite launch vehicle and satellite.
Similarly, the vision of nuclear programme led to establishing series of
nuclear power plants adding nearly 4,000-megawatt power to our electrical
grid of 100,000 megawatt. There is a proposal to increase the nuclear power
to 20,000 megawatt by 2020.
In the 80s, India had a very low base in information technology. Some young
entrepreneurs with their innovative and creative thoughts and within the
difficult boundary conditions of India's rules and regulations, demonstrated
how IT enabled services can fetch export revenue.
Subsequently, even the government had to bring out innovative and
liberalised IT policies. Now, our young IT entrepreneurs are making export
revenue of $18 billion. This is expected to grow to more than $100 billion
by the year 2020.
Similarly, the pharma industries are making a positive impact in the Indian
economy. Wherever the government works in mission mode, the programme is
successful.
Directory of Partnerships
Two decades ago, there has not been many international partnerships in
India. Therefore, one could keep track of all the partnerships entered into
by various business houses. In the recent past there is a trend of increased
partnerships by India with many countries.
However, we do not have a database on all the partnerships which are
presently operational in the country. Since CII has been conducting the
Partnership Summit for the last twelve years, I would recommend creation of
a directory of existing partnerships, which commenced from the year 2000 and
publish this as a partnership directory giving details of the country,
scope, progressive financial performance, brand image and the benefits
accrued to the partner countries.
This information placed in the web portal can be updated very frequently.
This will enable propagation of real meaning of globalization. In addition,
this will stimulate more partnerships and draw our youth into partnership
operations.
Conclusion
In India, we have seen whenever a vision is generated, missions are created
and mission mode operations have succeeded in governmental setup like space
programme, atomic energy programme, agriculture programme, milk programme
and defence research programme.
Also in the private sectors, we have instances of empowered management
systems particularly in Pharma and IT Sectors. However, it can be seen that
there is a large funding for rural development is emerging through Bharat
Nirman Programme encompassing multi-ministries.
There is a big challenge in evolving a management structure and to enable
convergence of multiple ministries in the state and central Governments.
With the background of successful mission mode operations in certain
government programmes and the distinction between public and private sector
and the illusory primacy of one over the other is vanishing, there is a
possibility of evolving a management structure.
What is needed is a creative leader. Who is the creative leader? Creative
leadership means exercising the vision to change the traditional role from
the commander to the coach, manager to mentor, from director to delegator
and from one who demands respect to one who facilitates self-respect.
I am sure creative leadership spearheads all the institutions and the future
aspiring institutions. For a prosperous and developed India or any other
country, the important thrust will be on the growth in the number of
creative leaders and innovative organisations that can create wealth through
dedicated management system.
I inaugurate the Partnership Summit 2006 and my best wishes to all the
participants for success in their mission of shaping growth and nurture
development of their industries, organisations and thereby their nation.
May God bless you."
South Asia Transport Website Launched
TAKE A LOOK
South Asia Transport Website Launched
The South Asia Transport sectorlaunched a Web site covering
activities in the areas of transport and infrastructure
maintenance. Rapid urbanization -- the region has five cities
with a population of over 10 million -- together with the rapid
increase in motorized transport leads to serious congestion on
urban roads, creating new demands for transport infrastructure
and services, over and above the existing backlog. This site
will cover these and many other transport and
infrastructure-related issues.more
("http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSARREGTOPTRANSPORT/0,,contentMDK:20411315~menuPK:874260~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:579598,00.html")
South Asia Transport Website Launched
The South Asia Transport sectorlaunched a Web site covering
activities in the areas of transport and infrastructure
maintenance. Rapid urbanization -- the region has five cities
with a population of over 10 million -- together with the rapid
increase in motorized transport leads to serious congestion on
urban roads, creating new demands for transport infrastructure
and services, over and above the existing backlog. This site
will cover these and many other transport and
infrastructure-related issues.more
("http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSARREGTOPTRANSPORT/0,,contentMDK:20411315~menuPK:874260~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:579598,00.html")
How to pick the perfect career
How to pick the perfect career
JAYANTI GHOSE
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2006 10:34:58 AM]
CHOICES AND ENTRY PROCESSES
After class 12/ SSLC in Science/ Arts/ Commerce or non-science based Chartered Accountancy (through Professional Education -I ) (www.icai.org), or Cost and Works Accountancy (http:// myicwai.com) or Company Secretaryship (www.icsi.edu) through the relevant Foundation course to be pursued alongside your graduation (preferably B Com). Changes are in the offing regarding the CA course, so keep track of developments.
5-year Integrated Law Degree course, National Defence Academy (for entry into defence services for unmarried males)( www.upsc.gov.in), Hotel Management, BBS/BMS(www.mu.ac.in) /BBA, BCA, Bachelor of Financial and Investment Analysis(www.cbsdu.net) (an indicative listing). Admission into most of these courses is through a selection process that includes objective type multiple choice tests covering English Language proficiency, Quantitative Ability, Reasoning Ability, General Awareness. Selection to NDA, BMS and Hotel Management courses at prominent national level institute would also involve Personality Assessment through Group Discussion, Interview, etc.
Bachelor of Journalism/ Mass Communication /Mass Media (www.mu.ac.in) course admits through an assessment of general awareness and writing skills.
The five year integrated Master's degree course in Foreign Languages at JNU(www.jnu.ac.in) admits through an objective type test with questions from English,general knowledge,reasoning and foreign language awareness.
4-year Integrated B A/B Sc/B Com +B Ed courses are offered at the Regional Institutes of Education after Plus Two in the relevant discipline .
TALENT BASED
These choices are open to you on the basis of talent specific to the course.
Admission to Bachelor of Fine Arts / Visual Arts/ Design /allied would be based on testing artistic aptitude, creativity and aesthetic sensitivity . So too for interior decoration, interior design, commercial art, jewellery design, fashion design and related courses. Admission to National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (www.nid.edu) and NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) (www.niftindia.com) is based on all India entrance tests conducted in January and February respectively. However, applications have to be made usually during October-November of the preceding year. Hence, if you are appearing for HSC in 2006, your chance for applying will come next year.
BFA Performing Arts (Music/ Dance) is meant for those who have innate abilities and practical exposure in the field.
Physical Education is offered as a 3- or 4-year course for those planning on a career as a Physical Education teacher, Sports coach or Fitness Trainer or to proceed for higher education and research in the field.
SCIENCE BASED
Selection to engineering and medicine courses involves testing of academic ability in the relevant sciences.
Choices through Physics, Chemistry and Biology are in Medicine - MBBS/BHMS/BUMS/BAMS, Dentistry, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Prosthetics & Orthotics, Audiology & Speech Therapy, Ophthalmic Technology/Optometry, Medical Laboratory Technology, Home Science, Veterinary Science, etc. Some institutions also admit students with PCB in their B Tech Biotechnology courses, e g Vellore Institute of Technology (www.vit.ac.in), JIIT Noida (www.jiit.ac.in), Padmashree Dr D Y Patil Institute for Biotechnology and Bioinformatics,Navi Mumbai (www.dypatil.com), to name a few.
Pharmacy, Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Sericulture, Fisheries Science, etc are open to students with Physics, Chemistry and Biology/ Maths Choices through Physics, Chemistry and Maths could be Engineering (Aerospace, Agricultural, Ceramic, Chemical, Civil, Computer Science & Engg, Electrical, Electronics and Communication Engg, Information Technology, Manufacturing, Leather Technology, Materials and Metallurgical Engg, Mining etc ); Architecture [you also need technical drawing skill/aesthetic sense]; Bachelor of Computer Science; Interior Design [plus drawing ability/aesthetic sense for Undergraduate programme at CEPT University Ahmedabad www.cept.ac.in]; Special Class Railway Apprentices Exam(www.upsc.gov.in), Dairy Technology, Food Technology; Marine Engineering /Nautical Science (www.dgshipping .com); Pilot training(www.igrua.com); Technical Entry Scheme for Army(after 10+2) and 10+2 (Technical) Cadet Entry Scheme (Permanent Commission) of the Indian Navy.
WHAT ELSE?
B Sc with related subjects would open up avenues for M Sc leading typically to careers in research and academia.Those pursuing arts may opt for BA if they are interested in careers related to subjects like Economics, Political Science, History, Geography, Psychology, etc.You can pursue B Com if you completed HSC with commerce. These are among the major choices after Plus Two/HSC (listing is indicative, not exhaustive).
After graduation, you may decide to work, or appear for competitive examinations for direct entry into a service or to pursue a variety of professional courses ranging from management, mass communication, fashion communication, journalism to law, computer applications, accountancy, etc.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER
Science students are eligible to join B A or B Com. HSC commerce students may move to arts discipline.
However, being eligible to make a switch from science to arts or commerce,and from commerce to arts would be possible only if you have competitive scores.If you do not keep school subjects in your graduation programme, chances are it would be difficult for you to enter a B Ed programme .
While choosing branches of engineering, consider the nature of work, industries to work in and the placement profile of the college where you are offered a seat. In the field of medicine, just because the merit list gives higher rank holders the choice of MBBS and then BDS, Physiotherapy, etc does not mean that any one course has better prospects. Choose the course in which the long term career path appears meaningful to you.
FINAL DECISION
Set realistic goals in which you have a 50% chance of success. Think of alternatives to a medical degree if you have never scored beyond 55% marks in biology and chemistry. It is better not to consider engineering as an option if your physics and mathematics scores are below 60%.
Just remember, there are no good or bad careers.You will have the maximum potential for success in a career which is in line with your personality , skills and abilities. Do not just follow what your friends are doing now or opt for any career which is 'in' .The occupational world is not only complex, it is also dynamic. So what is a huge opportunity today may not be so good in a few years time. Keep developing your communication skills and enhancing your general awareness so that you are abreast of developments in various industries and occupations
VISION 2025 : Maruti buys out GM for $82.7 billion
Maruti buys out GM for $82.7 billion!
Maruti Udyog Limited inked an agreement late on Sunday night to buy out General Motors lock, stock and barrel in a deal valued at $82.7 billion. The deal is expected to be announced at MUL’s AGM on Monday, TOI has learnt from reliable sources. The buy-out, the largest in the automobile industry for decades, will give MUL a 62% share of the world passenger car market. MUL outbid Chinese arch rival Dong Feng Motor Company, which was also keen on acquiring GM. Also expected at Monday's AGM is an announcement about MUL hiving off its loss-making Japanese subsidiary, Suzuki Motors. The Japanese car unit has been making losses for several years now, and senior officials at MUL said it was only a matter of time before this had to happen. The company officials also said that concentrating on the Indian market, now the largest in the world and accounting for 20% (and growing) of all cars sold globally, was a priority. The GM deal will give MUL a stronghold over the American car market, increasing its share from 45% to an even healthier 74%, while strengthening its position in China, the second largest market after India. Rumours of the impending deal had driven the benchmark index of the Delhi-based Indian Stock Exchange up to an all-time high on Friday. Secondary markets such as the BSE and the KSE also rose to all-time highs.
Purchasing power and glory
You’ve heard it so many times - Mumbai’s been the “business capital” of India for as long as you can remember, and Bangalore is the new face of India’s globalisation - but amidst all that tom-toming, Delhi’s where the biggest show of India Booming is being scripted. All you’ll ever really hear about Delhi from elsewhere is how good the roads here are, and that’s only because it happens to be the National Capital. In reality, the roads are great, but there’s much more to Delhi than meets the eye.
Though Mumbai is every immigrant’s dream and Bangalore is attracting talent from all over the country, the fastest growing metro in the country over the last couple of decades is Delhi.
Between 1981 and 1991, Delhi’s population grew by almost 47%, ahead of Bangalore at 41% and far ahead of Mumbai at 33.7%, Chennai at 26.4% and Kolkata at 19.9%. In the decade that followed, Delhi grew even faster, at an astonishing 51.9%. At the same time, between 1991-2001, growth rates actually declined in the other four cities, with Bangalore growing next-fastest at 37.8%.
It isn’t just the population burgeoning, though. Delhi is also clearly tops when it comes to purchasing power. Take the automobile market. Delhi accounts for 15% of all automobile sales in the small car segment, by far the highest in the country. Mumbai accounted for 10%, Bangalore and Chennai together accounted for another 10%, and Kolkata clocked 5%.
When it comes to the bigger car segments, Delhi’s even further ahead of the rest. Honda, for instance, sells more cars in Delhi than it does in all the other four cities put together. Delhi’s has a 33% share in Honda sales, while Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata have a combined share of 27%.
Delhi also leads the field in mobile telephony. An estimated 2.6 million mobile phones were sold in Delhi in 2005. That’s more than the number of phones sold in Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore put together. Kolkata bought 1.25 million phones, Chennai 0.75 million and Bangalore 1.1 million. Mumbai came closest to Delhi with 2.4 million.
Delhi has also emerged as the largest market for colour televisions. ORG data shows that as many as 35 lakh TVs sell in India’s 35 largest cities. Delhi alone accounts for as much as 18.5% of those sales, while next-best Mumbai is a fair distance behind, accounting for only 13%.
It’s the same story with fridges. Of the 13.3 lakh fridges sold in the 35 largest cities, Delhi accounts for 16.3%, with Mumbai trailing yet again with 13.4%. To put Delhi’s consumption figures in perspective, it helps to remember that Delhi has a population of 12.9 million people, about 20 % lower than Mumbai’s 16.4 million.
To drive home the point of Delhi’s ascendancy in India’s business hierarchy, take a look at figures from the latest National Council of Applied Economic Research survey on household incomes.
When in comes to households with moolah, there’s no beating Delhi. Delhi has more households earning in excess of Rs 10 lakhs every year than Mumbai and Kolkata put together. While Delhi accounts for a huge 30% of all such households in the country, Mumbai has only 22.6%, Kolkata is much further down at 5.5%, with Chennai at 5% and Bangalore at 2.4%.
All of this hasn’t happened overnight either. Delhi’s been where the action is for some time now. The last such survey, conducted in the mid-90s, showed that Delhi accounted for 37.4% of high-income families, with Mumbai accounting for 24.9%. While Delhi had about 13,000 more high-salary households in 1995, the current figures show a gap of 37,000 between the two cities. So perhaps it’s time everyone realised there’s a lot more to Delhi than just good roads.
Capital revolution: moving softly from local to global
Over the last decade or so, Delhi has been in the initial stages of an unheralded revolution. It has grown beyond recognition, creating the NCR region and becoming a poster-child for outsourcing and industry, designer labels and international brands. Malls have sprung up overnight and the metro has become the symbol of a city that has firmly turned its face towards the future.
Today, we stand at the tipping point. Waiting to be rocketed into higher orbit. Alongside world-class cities like New York, Tokyo and Paris. The road ahead is paved with challenges, no doubt. So was the one we covered till now. From the phasing out of the old 'phut-phuttis' (a dubious and yet apt symbol of all that Delhi stood for) and the introduction of CNG, to the building of new flyovers and the complete makeover of the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.
Backed with this confidence and riding on the buoyant, can-do outlook of young Delhiites, The Times of India is proud to champion Delhi's quest for super-city status through a three-month-long initiative titled, 'Chalo, Dilli: From Walled City to World City'. Over the next 12 weeks we will involve you to raise questions on issues that are tied to Delhi's future and seek answers from authorities, experts and citizens, while jointly celebrating the journey till this point.
A 'world-class' city is defined on parameters of living standards, education, commuting infrastructure, leisure and lifestyle avenues, sporting facilities, arts and culture as well as business environment.
New York, London and Hong Kong each have a fantastic business ethos that makes them powerhouses of international finance. Paris has a certain je ne sais quoi about it - that intangible essence that makes it the heart of international art, culture, cuisine, fashion and romance. Geneva and Sydney are among the world's best places to live because of a combination of a terrific infrastructure and low crime rates. Singapore, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur are symbolic of the coming of age of Asia — sleek and bustling yet clean and cultured.
How should Delhi evolve? What do we have going for us and what more will it take for Delhi to get there? We will evaluate Delhi on each of the above parameters (and more) every week, taking stock of where Delhiites believe we stand today and what should be done to achieve global standards.
Rest assured, it won't be an all-work-no-play approach. A spate of ground events will echo what we write - right from counselling workshops to cultural events. In everything that we do, we invite your whole-hearted participation. Besides writing to the paper, please join us on the microsite (http://chalodilli.indiatimes.com) and in cultural events that will span the length and breadth of the city - from Dilli Haat to India Gate, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, and more.
Today, we stand at the tipping point. Waiting to be rocketed into higher orbit. Alongside world-class cities like New York, Tokyo and Paris. The road ahead is paved with challenges, no doubt. So was the one we covered till now. From the phasing out of the old 'phut-phuttis' (a dubious and yet apt symbol of all that Delhi stood for) and the introduction of CNG, to the building of new flyovers and the complete makeover of the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.
Backed with this confidence and riding on the buoyant, can-do outlook of young Delhiites, The Times of India is proud to champion Delhi's quest for super-city status through a three-month-long initiative titled, 'Chalo, Dilli: From Walled City to World City'. Over the next 12 weeks we will involve you to raise questions on issues that are tied to Delhi's future and seek answers from authorities, experts and citizens, while jointly celebrating the journey till this point.
And here's the best part: would you believe that Delhi is perhaps the best placed to emerge as 'The World City'? Most world-class cities are good at one thing or, at most, two. There is hardly a city in the world that represents the confluence of the most promising political, economic and cultural realms as perfectly as Delhi promises. We have more heritage than all most so-called 'world-class' cities combined. We have a resurgent and thriving tradition of painting, sculpture and the performing arts. Gurgaon and Noida are internationally recognised names in the outsourcing industry. It is the entry point for numerous visitors to the 'Golden Triangle'.
It's time we got together and made Delhi the super city it is longing to be. Chalo, Dilli!
(zapped?
If this has you totally confused, don’t worry. You haven’t woken up in a sci-fi novel. Check out the dateline above. It could be a day in Delhi 20 years from now. Over the next 12 weeks The Times Of India will be setting the agenda for getting there.)
Maruti Udyog Limited inked an agreement late on Sunday night to buy out General Motors lock, stock and barrel in a deal valued at $82.7 billion. The deal is expected to be announced at MUL’s AGM on Monday, TOI has learnt from reliable sources. The buy-out, the largest in the automobile industry for decades, will give MUL a 62% share of the world passenger car market. MUL outbid Chinese arch rival Dong Feng Motor Company, which was also keen on acquiring GM. Also expected at Monday's AGM is an announcement about MUL hiving off its loss-making Japanese subsidiary, Suzuki Motors. The Japanese car unit has been making losses for several years now, and senior officials at MUL said it was only a matter of time before this had to happen. The company officials also said that concentrating on the Indian market, now the largest in the world and accounting for 20% (and growing) of all cars sold globally, was a priority. The GM deal will give MUL a stronghold over the American car market, increasing its share from 45% to an even healthier 74%, while strengthening its position in China, the second largest market after India. Rumours of the impending deal had driven the benchmark index of the Delhi-based Indian Stock Exchange up to an all-time high on Friday. Secondary markets such as the BSE and the KSE also rose to all-time highs.
Purchasing power and glory
You’ve heard it so many times - Mumbai’s been the “business capital” of India for as long as you can remember, and Bangalore is the new face of India’s globalisation - but amidst all that tom-toming, Delhi’s where the biggest show of India Booming is being scripted. All you’ll ever really hear about Delhi from elsewhere is how good the roads here are, and that’s only because it happens to be the National Capital. In reality, the roads are great, but there’s much more to Delhi than meets the eye.
Though Mumbai is every immigrant’s dream and Bangalore is attracting talent from all over the country, the fastest growing metro in the country over the last couple of decades is Delhi.
Between 1981 and 1991, Delhi’s population grew by almost 47%, ahead of Bangalore at 41% and far ahead of Mumbai at 33.7%, Chennai at 26.4% and Kolkata at 19.9%. In the decade that followed, Delhi grew even faster, at an astonishing 51.9%. At the same time, between 1991-2001, growth rates actually declined in the other four cities, with Bangalore growing next-fastest at 37.8%.
It isn’t just the population burgeoning, though. Delhi is also clearly tops when it comes to purchasing power. Take the automobile market. Delhi accounts for 15% of all automobile sales in the small car segment, by far the highest in the country. Mumbai accounted for 10%, Bangalore and Chennai together accounted for another 10%, and Kolkata clocked 5%.
When it comes to the bigger car segments, Delhi’s even further ahead of the rest. Honda, for instance, sells more cars in Delhi than it does in all the other four cities put together. Delhi’s has a 33% share in Honda sales, while Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata have a combined share of 27%.
Delhi also leads the field in mobile telephony. An estimated 2.6 million mobile phones were sold in Delhi in 2005. That’s more than the number of phones sold in Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore put together. Kolkata bought 1.25 million phones, Chennai 0.75 million and Bangalore 1.1 million. Mumbai came closest to Delhi with 2.4 million.
Delhi has also emerged as the largest market for colour televisions. ORG data shows that as many as 35 lakh TVs sell in India’s 35 largest cities. Delhi alone accounts for as much as 18.5% of those sales, while next-best Mumbai is a fair distance behind, accounting for only 13%.
It’s the same story with fridges. Of the 13.3 lakh fridges sold in the 35 largest cities, Delhi accounts for 16.3%, with Mumbai trailing yet again with 13.4%. To put Delhi’s consumption figures in perspective, it helps to remember that Delhi has a population of 12.9 million people, about 20 % lower than Mumbai’s 16.4 million.
To drive home the point of Delhi’s ascendancy in India’s business hierarchy, take a look at figures from the latest National Council of Applied Economic Research survey on household incomes.
When in comes to households with moolah, there’s no beating Delhi. Delhi has more households earning in excess of Rs 10 lakhs every year than Mumbai and Kolkata put together. While Delhi accounts for a huge 30% of all such households in the country, Mumbai has only 22.6%, Kolkata is much further down at 5.5%, with Chennai at 5% and Bangalore at 2.4%.
All of this hasn’t happened overnight either. Delhi’s been where the action is for some time now. The last such survey, conducted in the mid-90s, showed that Delhi accounted for 37.4% of high-income families, with Mumbai accounting for 24.9%. While Delhi had about 13,000 more high-salary households in 1995, the current figures show a gap of 37,000 between the two cities. So perhaps it’s time everyone realised there’s a lot more to Delhi than just good roads.
Capital revolution: moving softly from local to global
Over the last decade or so, Delhi has been in the initial stages of an unheralded revolution. It has grown beyond recognition, creating the NCR region and becoming a poster-child for outsourcing and industry, designer labels and international brands. Malls have sprung up overnight and the metro has become the symbol of a city that has firmly turned its face towards the future.
Today, we stand at the tipping point. Waiting to be rocketed into higher orbit. Alongside world-class cities like New York, Tokyo and Paris. The road ahead is paved with challenges, no doubt. So was the one we covered till now. From the phasing out of the old 'phut-phuttis' (a dubious and yet apt symbol of all that Delhi stood for) and the introduction of CNG, to the building of new flyovers and the complete makeover of the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.
Backed with this confidence and riding on the buoyant, can-do outlook of young Delhiites, The Times of India is proud to champion Delhi's quest for super-city status through a three-month-long initiative titled, 'Chalo, Dilli: From Walled City to World City'. Over the next 12 weeks we will involve you to raise questions on issues that are tied to Delhi's future and seek answers from authorities, experts and citizens, while jointly celebrating the journey till this point.
A 'world-class' city is defined on parameters of living standards, education, commuting infrastructure, leisure and lifestyle avenues, sporting facilities, arts and culture as well as business environment.
New York, London and Hong Kong each have a fantastic business ethos that makes them powerhouses of international finance. Paris has a certain je ne sais quoi about it - that intangible essence that makes it the heart of international art, culture, cuisine, fashion and romance. Geneva and Sydney are among the world's best places to live because of a combination of a terrific infrastructure and low crime rates. Singapore, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur are symbolic of the coming of age of Asia — sleek and bustling yet clean and cultured.
How should Delhi evolve? What do we have going for us and what more will it take for Delhi to get there? We will evaluate Delhi on each of the above parameters (and more) every week, taking stock of where Delhiites believe we stand today and what should be done to achieve global standards.
Rest assured, it won't be an all-work-no-play approach. A spate of ground events will echo what we write - right from counselling workshops to cultural events. In everything that we do, we invite your whole-hearted participation. Besides writing to the paper, please join us on the microsite (http://chalodilli.indiatimes.com) and in cultural events that will span the length and breadth of the city - from Dilli Haat to India Gate, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, and more.
Today, we stand at the tipping point. Waiting to be rocketed into higher orbit. Alongside world-class cities like New York, Tokyo and Paris. The road ahead is paved with challenges, no doubt. So was the one we covered till now. From the phasing out of the old 'phut-phuttis' (a dubious and yet apt symbol of all that Delhi stood for) and the introduction of CNG, to the building of new flyovers and the complete makeover of the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.
Backed with this confidence and riding on the buoyant, can-do outlook of young Delhiites, The Times of India is proud to champion Delhi's quest for super-city status through a three-month-long initiative titled, 'Chalo, Dilli: From Walled City to World City'. Over the next 12 weeks we will involve you to raise questions on issues that are tied to Delhi's future and seek answers from authorities, experts and citizens, while jointly celebrating the journey till this point.
And here's the best part: would you believe that Delhi is perhaps the best placed to emerge as 'The World City'? Most world-class cities are good at one thing or, at most, two. There is hardly a city in the world that represents the confluence of the most promising political, economic and cultural realms as perfectly as Delhi promises. We have more heritage than all most so-called 'world-class' cities combined. We have a resurgent and thriving tradition of painting, sculpture and the performing arts. Gurgaon and Noida are internationally recognised names in the outsourcing industry. It is the entry point for numerous visitors to the 'Golden Triangle'.
It's time we got together and made Delhi the super city it is longing to be. Chalo, Dilli!
(zapped?
If this has you totally confused, don’t worry. You haven’t woken up in a sci-fi novel. Check out the dateline above. It could be a day in Delhi 20 years from now. Over the next 12 weeks The Times Of India will be setting the agenda for getting there.)
VISION 2025 : Maruti buys out GM for $82.7 billion
Maruti buys out GM for $82.7 billion!
Maruti Udyog Limited inked an agreement late on Sunday night to buy out General Motors lock, stock and barrel in a deal valued at $82.7 billion. The deal is expected to be announced at MUL’s AGM on Monday, TOI has learnt from reliable sources. The buy-out, the largest in the automobile industry for decades, will give MUL a 62% share of the world passenger car market. MUL outbid Chinese arch rival Dong Feng Motor Company, which was also keen on acquiring GM. Also expected at Monday's AGM is an announcement about MUL hiving off its loss-making Japanese subsidiary, Suzuki Motors. The Japanese car unit has been making losses for several years now, and senior officials at MUL said it was only a matter of time before this had to happen. The company officials also said that concentrating on the Indian market, now the largest in the world and accounting for 20% (and growing) of all cars sold globally, was a priority. The GM deal will give MUL a stronghold over the American car market, increasing its share from 45% to an even healthier 74%, while strengthening its position in China, the second largest market after India. Rumours of the impending deal had driven the benchmark index of the Delhi-based Indian Stock Exchange up to an all-time high on Friday. Secondary markets such as the BSE and the KSE also rose to all-time highs.
Purchasing power and glory
You’ve heard it so many times - Mumbai’s been the “business capital” of India for as long as you can remember, and Bangalore is the new face of India’s globalisation - but amidst all that tom-toming, Delhi’s where the biggest show of India Booming is being scripted. All you’ll ever really hear about Delhi from elsewhere is how good the roads here are, and that’s only because it happens to be the National Capital. In reality, the roads are great, but there’s much more to Delhi than meets the eye.
Though Mumbai is every immigrant’s dream and Bangalore is attracting talent from all over the country, the fastest growing metro in the country over the last couple of decades is Delhi.
Between 1981 and 1991, Delhi’s population grew by almost 47%, ahead of Bangalore at 41% and far ahead of Mumbai at 33.7%, Chennai at 26.4% and Kolkata at 19.9%. In the decade that followed, Delhi grew even faster, at an astonishing 51.9%. At the same time, between 1991-2001, growth rates actually declined in the other four cities, with Bangalore growing next-fastest at 37.8%.
It isn’t just the population burgeoning, though. Delhi is also clearly tops when it comes to purchasing power. Take the automobile market. Delhi accounts for 15% of all automobile sales in the small car segment, by far the highest in the country. Mumbai accounted for 10%, Bangalore and Chennai together accounted for another 10%, and Kolkata clocked 5%.
When it comes to the bigger car segments, Delhi’s even further ahead of the rest. Honda, for instance, sells more cars in Delhi than it does in all the other four cities put together. Delhi’s has a 33% share in Honda sales, while Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata have a combined share of 27%.
Delhi also leads the field in mobile telephony. An estimated 2.6 million mobile phones were sold in Delhi in 2005. That’s more than the number of phones sold in Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore put together. Kolkata bought 1.25 million phones, Chennai 0.75 million and Bangalore 1.1 million. Mumbai came closest to Delhi with 2.4 million.
Delhi has also emerged as the largest market for colour televisions. ORG data shows that as many as 35 lakh TVs sell in India’s 35 largest cities. Delhi alone accounts for as much as 18.5% of those sales, while next-best Mumbai is a fair distance behind, accounting for only 13%.
It’s the same story with fridges. Of the 13.3 lakh fridges sold in the 35 largest cities, Delhi accounts for 16.3%, with Mumbai trailing yet again with 13.4%. To put Delhi’s consumption figures in perspective, it helps to remember that Delhi has a population of 12.9 million people, about 20 % lower than Mumbai’s 16.4 million.
To drive home the point of Delhi’s ascendancy in India’s business hierarchy, take a look at figures from the latest National Council of Applied Economic Research survey on household incomes.
When in comes to households with moolah, there’s no beating Delhi. Delhi has more households earning in excess of Rs 10 lakhs every year than Mumbai and Kolkata put together. While Delhi accounts for a huge 30% of all such households in the country, Mumbai has only 22.6%, Kolkata is much further down at 5.5%, with Chennai at 5% and Bangalore at 2.4%.
All of this hasn’t happened overnight either. Delhi’s been where the action is for some time now. The last such survey, conducted in the mid-90s, showed that Delhi accounted for 37.4% of high-income families, with Mumbai accounting for 24.9%. While Delhi had about 13,000 more high-salary households in 1995, the current figures show a gap of 37,000 between the two cities. So perhaps it’s time everyone realised there’s a lot more to Delhi than just good roads.
Capital revolution: moving softly from local to global
Over the last decade or so, Delhi has been in the initial stages of an unheralded revolution. It has grown beyond recognition, creating the NCR region and becoming a poster-child for outsourcing and industry, designer labels and international brands. Malls have sprung up overnight and the metro has become the symbol of a city that has firmly turned its face towards the future.
Today, we stand at the tipping point. Waiting to be rocketed into higher orbit. Alongside world-class cities like New York, Tokyo and Paris. The road ahead is paved with challenges, no doubt. So was the one we covered till now. From the phasing out of the old 'phut-phuttis' (a dubious and yet apt symbol of all that Delhi stood for) and the introduction of CNG, to the building of new flyovers and the complete makeover of the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.
Backed with this confidence and riding on the buoyant, can-do outlook of young Delhiites, The Times of India is proud to champion Delhi's quest for super-city status through a three-month-long initiative titled, 'Chalo, Dilli: From Walled City to World City'. Over the next 12 weeks we will involve you to raise questions on issues that are tied to Delhi's future and seek answers from authorities, experts and citizens, while jointly celebrating the journey till this point.
A 'world-class' city is defined on parameters of living standards, education, commuting infrastructure, leisure and lifestyle avenues, sporting facilities, arts and culture as well as business environment.
New York, London and Hong Kong each have a fantastic business ethos that makes them powerhouses of international finance. Paris has a certain je ne sais quoi about it - that intangible essence that makes it the heart of international art, culture, cuisine, fashion and romance. Geneva and Sydney are among the world's best places to live because of a combination of a terrific infrastructure and low crime rates. Singapore, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur are symbolic of the coming of age of Asia — sleek and bustling yet clean and cultured.
How should Delhi evolve? What do we have going for us and what more will it take for Delhi to get there? We will evaluate Delhi on each of the above parameters (and more) every week, taking stock of where Delhiites believe we stand today and what should be done to achieve global standards.
Rest assured, it won't be an all-work-no-play approach. A spate of ground events will echo what we write - right from counselling workshops to cultural events. In everything that we do, we invite your whole-hearted participation. Besides writing to the paper, please join us on the microsite (http://chalodilli.indiatimes.com) and in cultural events that will span the length and breadth of the city - from Dilli Haat to India Gate, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, and more.
Today, we stand at the tipping point. Waiting to be rocketed into higher orbit. Alongside world-class cities like New York, Tokyo and Paris. The road ahead is paved with challenges, no doubt. So was the one we covered till now. From the phasing out of the old 'phut-phuttis' (a dubious and yet apt symbol of all that Delhi stood for) and the introduction of CNG, to the building of new flyovers and the complete makeover of the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.
Backed with this confidence and riding on the buoyant, can-do outlook of young Delhiites, The Times of India is proud to champion Delhi's quest for super-city status through a three-month-long initiative titled, 'Chalo, Dilli: From Walled City to World City'. Over the next 12 weeks we will involve you to raise questions on issues that are tied to Delhi's future and seek answers from authorities, experts and citizens, while jointly celebrating the journey till this point.
And here's the best part: would you believe that Delhi is perhaps the best placed to emerge as 'The World City'? Most world-class cities are good at one thing or, at most, two. There is hardly a city in the world that represents the confluence of the most promising political, economic and cultural realms as perfectly as Delhi promises. We have more heritage than all most so-called 'world-class' cities combined. We have a resurgent and thriving tradition of painting, sculpture and the performing arts. Gurgaon and Noida are internationally recognised names in the outsourcing industry. It is the entry point for numerous visitors to the 'Golden Triangle'.
It's time we got together and made Delhi the super city it is longing to be. Chalo, Dilli!
(zapped?
If this has you totally confused, don’t worry. You haven’t woken up in a sci-fi novel. Check out the dateline above. It could be a day in Delhi 20 years from now. Over the next 12 weeks The Times Of India will be setting the agenda for getting there.)
Maruti Udyog Limited inked an agreement late on Sunday night to buy out General Motors lock, stock and barrel in a deal valued at $82.7 billion. The deal is expected to be announced at MUL’s AGM on Monday, TOI has learnt from reliable sources. The buy-out, the largest in the automobile industry for decades, will give MUL a 62% share of the world passenger car market. MUL outbid Chinese arch rival Dong Feng Motor Company, which was also keen on acquiring GM. Also expected at Monday's AGM is an announcement about MUL hiving off its loss-making Japanese subsidiary, Suzuki Motors. The Japanese car unit has been making losses for several years now, and senior officials at MUL said it was only a matter of time before this had to happen. The company officials also said that concentrating on the Indian market, now the largest in the world and accounting for 20% (and growing) of all cars sold globally, was a priority. The GM deal will give MUL a stronghold over the American car market, increasing its share from 45% to an even healthier 74%, while strengthening its position in China, the second largest market after India. Rumours of the impending deal had driven the benchmark index of the Delhi-based Indian Stock Exchange up to an all-time high on Friday. Secondary markets such as the BSE and the KSE also rose to all-time highs.
Purchasing power and glory
You’ve heard it so many times - Mumbai’s been the “business capital” of India for as long as you can remember, and Bangalore is the new face of India’s globalisation - but amidst all that tom-toming, Delhi’s where the biggest show of India Booming is being scripted. All you’ll ever really hear about Delhi from elsewhere is how good the roads here are, and that’s only because it happens to be the National Capital. In reality, the roads are great, but there’s much more to Delhi than meets the eye.
Though Mumbai is every immigrant’s dream and Bangalore is attracting talent from all over the country, the fastest growing metro in the country over the last couple of decades is Delhi.
Between 1981 and 1991, Delhi’s population grew by almost 47%, ahead of Bangalore at 41% and far ahead of Mumbai at 33.7%, Chennai at 26.4% and Kolkata at 19.9%. In the decade that followed, Delhi grew even faster, at an astonishing 51.9%. At the same time, between 1991-2001, growth rates actually declined in the other four cities, with Bangalore growing next-fastest at 37.8%.
It isn’t just the population burgeoning, though. Delhi is also clearly tops when it comes to purchasing power. Take the automobile market. Delhi accounts for 15% of all automobile sales in the small car segment, by far the highest in the country. Mumbai accounted for 10%, Bangalore and Chennai together accounted for another 10%, and Kolkata clocked 5%.
When it comes to the bigger car segments, Delhi’s even further ahead of the rest. Honda, for instance, sells more cars in Delhi than it does in all the other four cities put together. Delhi’s has a 33% share in Honda sales, while Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata have a combined share of 27%.
Delhi also leads the field in mobile telephony. An estimated 2.6 million mobile phones were sold in Delhi in 2005. That’s more than the number of phones sold in Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore put together. Kolkata bought 1.25 million phones, Chennai 0.75 million and Bangalore 1.1 million. Mumbai came closest to Delhi with 2.4 million.
Delhi has also emerged as the largest market for colour televisions. ORG data shows that as many as 35 lakh TVs sell in India’s 35 largest cities. Delhi alone accounts for as much as 18.5% of those sales, while next-best Mumbai is a fair distance behind, accounting for only 13%.
It’s the same story with fridges. Of the 13.3 lakh fridges sold in the 35 largest cities, Delhi accounts for 16.3%, with Mumbai trailing yet again with 13.4%. To put Delhi’s consumption figures in perspective, it helps to remember that Delhi has a population of 12.9 million people, about 20 % lower than Mumbai’s 16.4 million.
To drive home the point of Delhi’s ascendancy in India’s business hierarchy, take a look at figures from the latest National Council of Applied Economic Research survey on household incomes.
When in comes to households with moolah, there’s no beating Delhi. Delhi has more households earning in excess of Rs 10 lakhs every year than Mumbai and Kolkata put together. While Delhi accounts for a huge 30% of all such households in the country, Mumbai has only 22.6%, Kolkata is much further down at 5.5%, with Chennai at 5% and Bangalore at 2.4%.
All of this hasn’t happened overnight either. Delhi’s been where the action is for some time now. The last such survey, conducted in the mid-90s, showed that Delhi accounted for 37.4% of high-income families, with Mumbai accounting for 24.9%. While Delhi had about 13,000 more high-salary households in 1995, the current figures show a gap of 37,000 between the two cities. So perhaps it’s time everyone realised there’s a lot more to Delhi than just good roads.
Capital revolution: moving softly from local to global
Over the last decade or so, Delhi has been in the initial stages of an unheralded revolution. It has grown beyond recognition, creating the NCR region and becoming a poster-child for outsourcing and industry, designer labels and international brands. Malls have sprung up overnight and the metro has become the symbol of a city that has firmly turned its face towards the future.
Today, we stand at the tipping point. Waiting to be rocketed into higher orbit. Alongside world-class cities like New York, Tokyo and Paris. The road ahead is paved with challenges, no doubt. So was the one we covered till now. From the phasing out of the old 'phut-phuttis' (a dubious and yet apt symbol of all that Delhi stood for) and the introduction of CNG, to the building of new flyovers and the complete makeover of the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.
Backed with this confidence and riding on the buoyant, can-do outlook of young Delhiites, The Times of India is proud to champion Delhi's quest for super-city status through a three-month-long initiative titled, 'Chalo, Dilli: From Walled City to World City'. Over the next 12 weeks we will involve you to raise questions on issues that are tied to Delhi's future and seek answers from authorities, experts and citizens, while jointly celebrating the journey till this point.
A 'world-class' city is defined on parameters of living standards, education, commuting infrastructure, leisure and lifestyle avenues, sporting facilities, arts and culture as well as business environment.
New York, London and Hong Kong each have a fantastic business ethos that makes them powerhouses of international finance. Paris has a certain je ne sais quoi about it - that intangible essence that makes it the heart of international art, culture, cuisine, fashion and romance. Geneva and Sydney are among the world's best places to live because of a combination of a terrific infrastructure and low crime rates. Singapore, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur are symbolic of the coming of age of Asia — sleek and bustling yet clean and cultured.
How should Delhi evolve? What do we have going for us and what more will it take for Delhi to get there? We will evaluate Delhi on each of the above parameters (and more) every week, taking stock of where Delhiites believe we stand today and what should be done to achieve global standards.
Rest assured, it won't be an all-work-no-play approach. A spate of ground events will echo what we write - right from counselling workshops to cultural events. In everything that we do, we invite your whole-hearted participation. Besides writing to the paper, please join us on the microsite (http://chalodilli.indiatimes.com) and in cultural events that will span the length and breadth of the city - from Dilli Haat to India Gate, Red Fort, Jama Masjid, and more.
Today, we stand at the tipping point. Waiting to be rocketed into higher orbit. Alongside world-class cities like New York, Tokyo and Paris. The road ahead is paved with challenges, no doubt. So was the one we covered till now. From the phasing out of the old 'phut-phuttis' (a dubious and yet apt symbol of all that Delhi stood for) and the introduction of CNG, to the building of new flyovers and the complete makeover of the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.
Backed with this confidence and riding on the buoyant, can-do outlook of young Delhiites, The Times of India is proud to champion Delhi's quest for super-city status through a three-month-long initiative titled, 'Chalo, Dilli: From Walled City to World City'. Over the next 12 weeks we will involve you to raise questions on issues that are tied to Delhi's future and seek answers from authorities, experts and citizens, while jointly celebrating the journey till this point.
And here's the best part: would you believe that Delhi is perhaps the best placed to emerge as 'The World City'? Most world-class cities are good at one thing or, at most, two. There is hardly a city in the world that represents the confluence of the most promising political, economic and cultural realms as perfectly as Delhi promises. We have more heritage than all most so-called 'world-class' cities combined. We have a resurgent and thriving tradition of painting, sculpture and the performing arts. Gurgaon and Noida are internationally recognised names in the outsourcing industry. It is the entry point for numerous visitors to the 'Golden Triangle'.
It's time we got together and made Delhi the super city it is longing to be. Chalo, Dilli!
(zapped?
If this has you totally confused, don’t worry. You haven’t woken up in a sci-fi novel. Check out the dateline above. It could be a day in Delhi 20 years from now. Over the next 12 weeks The Times Of India will be setting the agenda for getting there.)
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