building india for the new millennium-indian opinion express -manoj benjamin page 27

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IND IA’S TOP -20

C O V E R S T O R Y

Vol 18 I No 3March 2010 l Rs 20

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BANDRA-WORLI SEA LINK INMUMBAI IS A MASTERPIECEOF MODERN TECHNOLOGYAWESOME MACHINE

India is the second fastest growing economy in theworld after China and with a projected populationgrowth of 180 million people every ten years, the

country needs a lot of housing. The Government ofIndia's Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviationrecently reported an immediate need for 26.53 millionhouses with an additional growth of 7.37% from 2007to 2012. Meanwhile, India's middle class is growingexponentially. A recent report by McKinsey GlobalInstitute, the economic research arm of internation-

al consulting group McKinsey and Company, states thatIndia's middle class currently constitutes 50 million. By 2025 this will

exceed to 583 million - roughly 41% of the population. These household incomes willgrow to 51.5 trillion rupees, ($1.1 trillion USD), the report says, 11 times today's leveland 58% of total Indian income. This means India's housing industry needs another 62.8million houses by 2025."According to Government of India approximately US$200 Billionwill be required over the next 7-10 Years for Basic Infrastructure Projects". In India alone,The Economic Intelligence unit estimates that an 80 Million unit housing shortage ex-ists, 40 Million of this in urban areas. It is evident that the infrastructure of our nationhas to be addressed in all areas and modernized to the levels of developed nations. Thenumbers quoted are enormous and of a truly staggering proportion. Frankly, the state ofthe nation's infrastructure remains severely out of date and built to the requirements ofmany decades ago and is not capable of supporting the large increased population whichis expected to surpass that of China's by 2050.

Regrettably, the Indian system works to frustrate the transaction for example, in cer-tain areas such as Land Registration, Title Clearance and Land Conversion there is a con-voluted and arduous process here at best. This can be made completely transparent andeasily accessible through legal reforms with appropriate laws enacted and a well-man-aged, organized electronic database. These simple procedures would increase global andnational competitiveness, encourage entrepreneurship and simultaneously increase na-tional productivity, development and distribution of higher quality products and servicesresulting in lower consumer pricing. This is a reason why since 1980, Our Northern neigh-bor China has attracted approximately $345 billion USD in FDI, while India has languishedbehind at a mere $18 billion USD.

Few realize that while 54% of the US's $13 trillion GDP is linked to its organized re-alty industry, India's real estate currently constitutes only 3% of the GDP, (projected toreach 12% by 2015.) India's real estate sector has only been open to foreign investorssince 2004. Foreclosure laws were introduced the same year under the SecuritizationAct. No residential mortgages existed until early 2000 and no land loans, constructionloans, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) nor conventional construction finance likewe know it in the West exist to this day.

Indian real estate development has declined in the last year because of the globaleconomy, primarily a knee jerk reaction but it will resurge strongly due to the country 'sprojected population growth (180 million per decade and 70% growth in major metro ar-eas per decade.) Cushman & Wakefield Research is equally optimistic. In a recent paperit states that India's real estate will remain robust, especially its residential market.

Addressing India's Housing and Infrastructure requirements is an immense task thatwill require everyone's cooperation and at all levels. It is now very clear that we need tocontinue to create this alternative framework or system in the Urban Infrastructure &Housing sector through aggressive and rapid reforms. The corporatizing of this sector tointernational levels and making it attractive to FDI can and will bring great benefits to usthrough large FDI flows in this sector.

So the time has come to jump the ravine in one giant leap. A series of feeble jumpscan only lead to inertia and further lack of productivity. So the question in front of us iswhether we have the industry resolve to enact the necessary measures required at thepolicy making level. If we can, the results will be immediate and relief will be clear as wetap into the enormous power of the international money markets. Their favor to our na-tion will in effect provide an invaluable equity component when channeled into our infra-structure projects and their financing provision will affect massive infrastructure andhousing developments greatly benefiting the nation of India and her children as well asall parties involved. — Prashant Tewari

India Inc must focus onstrengthening infrastructure

RNI UP-ENG70032/92, Vol 18, No 3

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P32 Concern: Looking into the enigmaticGreek saga

P34 Columns: India goes unipolar, yetagain!

P41 Personality: The doctor with Midastouch

P45Diaspora: Britain’s first Hindu schoolgets going

P48 Gopio News: Lahiri nominated toObama’s arts panel

P50Postscript: Dr Gaurav Pradhan getsHindrattan award

DECEMBER 2009

C O V E R S T O R Y

IN NEWSDOUBLEDELIGHT

P5FACE-TO-FACEGO AIR GOING

STEADY

P39

P35

SECURITYHITECHWAYS

INDIA’S TOP CITIESP6-31

O P I N I O N E X P R E S S SEPTEMBER 2009 I 5

In the 40-year-old history of ODIs, mas-ter blaster Sachin Tendulkar becamethe first batsmen to score a double

century. The record was good enough forIndia to snatch a 153-run win and a seriesvictory over South Africa.

Tendulkar smashed 200 not out off147 balls to help India post 401-3.SouthAfrica were bowled out for 248 with AB deVilliers hitting a defiant 114 not out in theday-night match at the Captain RoopSingh Stadium.

Tendulkar struck 25 fours and three six-es on a ground with short boundaries in aspectacular innings that combined power,timing and enthusiasm with stunningstrokeplay.

"The way Sachin batted, the way hecontinued until the 50th over it was su-perb. Even when he was tired and hecouldn't play big shots, he used the paceof the bowler quite nicely," India captainMahendra Singh Dhoni told the prize-giv-ing ceremony.

The 36-year-old batsman reached 200with a single off Charl Langeveldt in the fi-

nal over. The capacity crowd erupted in joyas Tendulkar looked skyward, kissed thecrest of his helmet and raised his bat.

India lost opener Virender Sehwag fornine to left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell but

Tendulkar, who extended his record num-ber of one-day centuries to 46, proceededto put on 194 for the second wicket withDinesh Karthik (79).

Tendulkar reached his 100 with a singleand moved to 150 with a four off Parnell.He was in complete control of the attack

after hitting a century in each of the twotests against South Africa in the drawntest series earlier this month.

"It was a fantastic innings fromTendulkar, he took advantage of the con-ditions, he's a world-class bat and heproved it again today," South Africa'sstand-in captain Jacques Kallis said.

Tendulkar holds the record for mostruns in tests (13,447) and ODIs (17,598)and most centuries in tests (47) andODIs.

He put on 81 for the third wicket withYusuf Pathan (36) and 101 for the unbro-ken fourth with Dhoni who blasted 68 off35 balls with seven fours and four sixes.

"It was one of the best innings everyplayed and it was great watching some ofit from the non-striker's end," Dhoni said.

Tendulkar moved past the previousrecord score of 194 jointly held byPakistan's Saeed Anwar andZimbabwe's Charles Coventry with a twooff Parnell before recording the first dou-ble century since international one-dayerswere first played in 1971.

IN NEWS

DOUBLE DELIGHTThe master blaster becomes the first bastsman to hit a ODI double ton

Tendulkar moved past theprevious record score of 194jointly held by Pakistan'sSaeed Anwar andZimbabwe's Charles Coventrywith a two off Parnell beforerecording the first double cen-tury since international one-dayers were first played in1971.

CITYSCAN

Which are India’s top 20 cities? An indepthanalysis based on an extensive survey

COVER STORY

GURGAON-DELHIEXPRESSWAY IS A NEWLANDMARK OF THENATIONAL CAPITAL

O P I N I O N E X P R E S S MARCH 2010 I 7

Beginning 2005, good times prevailed in the real estate sector in Indiawith the market peaking in 2007. The Indian real estate story, how-ever, experienced a revision in 2008, with the recession slowly mak-ing its mark on the market. The revised market dynamic brought withit scope for speculation, a questioning of fundamentals and a bouquet

of uncertainties for investment and development decisions. The experience of the past year has apparently made it clear that there is an in-

herent need to understand cities as complete entities. The real estate dynamicswithin a city are determined by the socio-economic and infrastructure develop-ment of the city.

COVER STORY

CITIES OF DREAM

COVER STORY

O P I N I O N E X P R E S S8 I MARCH 2010

Delhi retains the number one posi-tion. New Delhi , the second largestmetropolis of India, is its national

capital. Located on the banks of theYamuna River, it is one of the oldest in-habited cities in the world. The archaeo-logical remains in Delhi stand testimony tothe ancientness of this city. It has a richhistory of being a capital of many Indianempires of the medieval period. Delhi isthe proud home of many important gov-ernment offices, most importantly, the Parliament of India. In the recent years, Delhihas attracted many immigrants, thus emerging as a cosmopolitan city. Today, it is aprominent political and commercial center of India. The Delhi-Agra highway joins Delhito the beautiful city of Agra, which is a major tourist attraction. The world-famous TajMahal and many other great historical monuments like the Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikriand Sikandara are located in Agra. In the epic, Mahabharata, it was mentioned asParadise. The city is demonstrating the fastest transformation in the country, steadi-ly moving closer to achieving the status of a global city by 2010 because of theCommonwealth Games. Some of the key developments enveloping the city includeDelhi's Rapid Mass Transit System (Delhi Metro), which is operational in most partsof the city. By 2010, Delhi Metro will be world's second-largest network.

The Indira Gandhi international airport is being modernized with the introduction ofnew amenities to increase flight handling capacity. Road-widening projects are under-way, with dedicated efforts to make the ring roads- the main arterial roads signal free.Flyovers, underpasses, pedestrian walkways, high capacity buses, hotels and town-ships are the other elements that seem to dot the emerging cityscape.

1new delhi

CAPITALADVANTAGE


COVER STORY

2

mumbai

MAXIMUMCITY

Mumbai, a close second, scores betteron the business environment index.The city, however, loses to Delhi when

it comes to the infrastructure index. The paceof infrastructure development in Mumbai hasbeen slower, pushing down the city a notch.Capital city of the state of Maharashtra,Mumbai is the financial capital of India. Housingaround thirteen million people, it is the secondmost populous city in the world. Mumbai hous-es the world-famous Hindi film and television in-dustry, Bollywood. Important financial institu-tions such as the Reserve Bank of India and theNational Stock Exchange of India are located inMumbai. It houses the headquarters of severalmultinational companies and has thus becomean important commercial and entertainmentcenter of India.

COVER STORY


Chennai, which ranks 3rd in thestudy, is the largest city in TamilNadu and is located on the south-

eastern coast of India. Chennai is also calledas the 'Gateway to South India'. Today, the cityhas gone through a tremendous change and is developing rapidly. Located on theCoromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal, this capital city of Tamil Nadu is the home ofaround 7 million people. It was established in the 17th century by the British andformerly known as Madras. Chennai hosts an international airport, two majorports and five national highways stretching to other parts of the India. Its contri-bution to India's exports of automotive products has conferred upon Chennai,the title, 'Detroit of India'.

3chennai

SOUTHERNGATEWAY


COVER STORY

4

bangaluru

SILICONTOUCH

Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India because of its position as thenation's leading IT exporter. It is today Asia's fastest-growing cosmopolitancity. It is home to some of the most high tech industries in India. The IT in-

dustry views Bangalore as the 'byte-basket' of India. Bangalore is also home tosome of India's premier scientific establishments. Officially known as Bengaluru, itis the capital city of Karnataka state and the third most populous city of India.Bangalore houses some of the most recognized educational and research institutesof India. Numerous public sector industries, software, telecommunication and aero-space industries are located in Bangalore. Its remarkable contribution to the IndianIT sector has made it the Silicon Valley of India.

COVER STORY


Hyderabad, the fifth largest metropolis of India, is known for its rich historyand culture with monuments, mosques, temples, a rich and varied heritagein arts, crafts and dance.

Hyderabad has developed into a major hub for the IT industry in India. It is thefinancial and economic capital of Andhra Pradesh. The city is the largest contrib-utor to the state's GDP, state tax and excise revenues.

5

hyderabad

THE ITCULTURE


COVER STORY

Referred to as the 'Oxford of the East', thecity has gained significance due to a largenumber of institutions imparting quality

training across streams. Pune, by virtue of itsstrategic location near Mumbai and a suc-cessful regional setting, is an emergingeconomic hub for tertiary economicactivities such as services, tradeand commerce in the western re-gion. The city is the second-biggestcommercial centre in Maharashtra.

Post 2000, there was a spurt ineconomic activity in the city withIT/ITeS, automobile and auto compo-nent industries being the primary growthdrivers. The city has the distinction of hav-ing the first STPI unit in India. Pune is alsothe largest auto hub of India. The industry ac-counts for 54% of the total excise revenue col-lection of the district.

Kolkata is the main business, commercial and finan-cial hub of eastern India and the northeasternstates. It is home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange -

India's second-largest bourse. Kolkata is the capital ofWest Bengal and one of the very important cities in

India. It has been a center of education, indus-try and culture. However, it has undergoneeconomic stagnation that continued till therecent times. It was after 2000 that the citywitnessed economic growth. It houses theSalt Lake Stadium that is largest in Asiaand the second largest in the world. The

Indian Institute of Management, one ofIndia's most prestigious management schools

is also located in Kolkata. Victoria Memorial, lo-cated in Kolkata, is now a museum and remains a

popular tourist attractionTrade & Industry in Kolkata plays a significant role in de-

veloping the economical condition of West Bengal. For thelast couple of years, Kolkata is showing tremendous per-formance in the industrial sectors like information tech-nology, real estate, electronics, apparel and plastic prod-ucts.

6

7

kolkataORIENTAL PUSH

puneOXFORD OF EAST

COVER STORY


Surat, the second largest city in Gujarat, is aport city situated on the banks of the Taptiriver. The city is largely recognized for its tex-

tile and diamond businesses. It is also known as the diamond capital of the

world and the textile capital of India. Surat is alsothe third cleanest city in India after Chandigarh andGandhinagar.

Ahmedabad is the commercial capital of Gujarat.Historically, Ahmedabad has been one of the most im-portant centers of trade and commerce in western India.

The city was once well known as the Manchester of India onaccount of its flourishing textile industry. The city is con-

sidered as a major industrial and financial centercontributing about 14% to the total investments

in all stock exchanges across India and 60% tothe total productivity of the state of Gujarat.

The city is an industrial base for sectorssuch as chemicals, textiles, drugs and phar-maceuticals and agro and food processing in-

dustries. Four major industrial estates within thecity's municipal limits, namely Naroda, Odhav,

Vatwa and Behrampura, house various manufactur-ing, chemical and petrochemical products, metallurgy,

food products, textile, paper, and leather companies. Prominent business conglomerates such as the Adani

Group, Reliance Industries, Nirma group of industries, ArvindMills, Claris Life Sciences, Cadilla Pharmaceuticals, Shell,Vadilal Industries Ltd, Rasna, Bosch Rexroth (Germany), Storkand Rollepaal (the Netherlands) have set up their operationsin these industrial estates.

8ahmedabad

TRADING POINT

suratDIAMOND’S FOREVER

9


COVER STORY

The city houses over 15 industrial areas, 45 large and medi-um scale units and approximately 19,000 small scaleunits. IT/ITeS have also emerged as a prime sector in the

city.Being one of the cities of the Golden Triangle, it enjoys im-

proved connectivity and accessibility, with the National Capital

Region (NCR) and Agra, enhancing tourist footfalls. The upcom-ing bus rapid transport system, the Jaipur Metro and construc-tion of a 12-lane ring road is expected to provide further impe-tus to real estate and economic development of the city. ThreeSEZs have been proposed around the city to cater to a vast ar-ray of sectors and variety of customised products. There is a365-acre Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) set up atSitapura (Jaipur) provides manufacturing facilities to units in keysectors. f The expansion of the l Jaipur international airport i isdue for completion by 2015. The government is planning imple-mentation of the Metro Rail project in Jaipur in consultation withthe Delhi Metro Rail i Corporation (DMRC).

jaipurCONNECTIVITY EDGE

10

11

chandigarhPLANNED MIRACLE

Chandigarh has moved upfrom 10th to the 9th rankin this year's EY City

Ranking. Known internationallyfor its architecture and urbanplanning, it is the first plannedcity of India.

The government is a majoremployer in Chandigarh withthree governments having theirbase here.

Chandigarh has a well devel-oped market and banking infra-structure.

Nearly all the major banks inthe country have registeredtheir presence in Chandigarh.The economy of Chandigarh de-pends for its revenue on theagricultural, industrial, animalhusbandry, fishing, IT, andtourism sector.

COVER STORY


Coimbatore is one of the most industri-alised cities of South India. The chief rea-sons behind the city moving up the ranking

include infrastructure projects here such as widen-ing of the narrow bridges and flyovers at crucialtransport intersections, a ring road around the cityand plans to upgrade the Avanashi road between Uppilipalayam andNeelambur to a four-lane road. IT space is also coming up on Dr.Nanjappa Road and Rajshree Itec on Avinashi Road. In addition to this,four IT parks are under various stages of construction; while more than10 are proposed aggregating significant supply in the region.

The city is expected to become one of the largest urbanagglomerations (among the other Tier-II cities) in thecountry by the year 2011. With the upcoming Lucknow-

Unnao industrial corridor proposed by the Lucknow IndustrialDevelopment Authority, the city and its surrounding areas arelikely to experience a growth in industrial activities.

The proposed industrial corridor, to be developed onan area of 2,000 acres, is likely to see invest-ments from national as well as international play-ers. The upcoming metro rail network is expect-ed to improve connectivity of Kanpur Road,Sultanpur Road and Faizabad Road withHazratganj (CBD) and some other prominentcorridors within the city. Elevated expressway is

expected to improve connectivity with major cen-tres such as Kanpur, Rai Bareilly, Sitapur andSultanpur.

The Lucknow Development Authority and UPHousing Development Board in turn, are promoting affordablehomes for the low budget buyer. The UPHDB is promoting theIntegrated Housing Scheme wherein private developers will bepermitted to develop hi-tech townships on 25-100 acres ofland.

lucknowON ACCELERATOR

coimbatore

INDUSTRYADVANTAGE

12

13


COVER STORY

Infrastructure projects in Guwahati include the developmentof Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) at Kathabari, a flyover proj-ect on GS Road near Vangagar, an international trade centre,

and an athletics stadium at Saru Sajai. Modernisation plan isunderway for the Guwahati airport (likely to be completed by

2010). On completion, Airports Authority of India plans to makeGuwahati a hub for air connectivity.

Guwahati is among 50 train stations identified for develop-ment as world-class stations. The key real estate developmentsare seen along the GuwahatiShillong (GS) road, with most officespace and retail (high street retail and large format malls) ac-tivities developed along this corridor.

Satellite townships are being planned around Guwahati us-ing the PPP route to accommodate a growing population andease pressure on the city centre.

guwahatiEASTERN SURGE

14

15

bhubaneswarREALTY SURGE

Bhubaneswar is witnessing sub-stantial real estate develop-ment activity with national and

regional realty players active innorthern and western India re-

portedly acquiring land. Key players include DLF,Unitech etc. Prominent IT/ITES players in thecity such as such as Infosys (46 acres), TCS (45acres), Wipro (27 aces), Mindtree (20 acres)and Satyam (2 ment across the real estatespectrum, including residential, hospitality, re-tail and IT office spaces.

COVER STORY


The key infrastructure drivers includethe Kochi Port, which is set for an ex-pansion with various green field in-

frastructure projects, including theVallarpadom International ContainerTransshipment Terminal. The Kochi inter-national airport was the first Indian airportto operate on a PPP model with multiplestakeholders such as the government, air-line operators, financial institutions andnon-resident Indians (NRIs). "Aerotropolis"is an airportbased industrial park being de-veloped by the Cochin International AirportLimited (CIAL). The project is spread over450 acres of land under the ownership ofCIAL. The focus on developing Kochi as acentre for information technology has ledto the development of the Thrikkakara-Kakkanad belt. The "Smart City" project atan investment of Rs17 billion estimated tocreate 90,000 IT jobs has been on thehorizon since 2007.

maduraiE-FFICIENT GOVERNANCE

kochiPORT’S TRUST

17

16The Corporation of Madurai (CoM) is undertaking con-

struction of toll roads through PPP to decongest thecity. It has constructed a 27km, two-lane Inner Ring

Road (MIRR) between Kanyakumari Road and Melur roadunder the scheme. Infrastructure upgrade, such as robuste-governance and proactive urban governance, has easedapproval timelines and increased operational efficiency.

City suburbs are being planned through participatorytown planning schemes (TPS). Various IT spaces, such asTidel Park, IT Park and software city, are planned by thestate government, and are expected to augment real estatedevelopment across the city.


COVER STORYThe strong commercial base and manufacturing hub with sev-

eral large format industrial parks, is attracting the attentionof major corporate and foreign investors in the country.

Developments such as the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and AutoTesting Track in Pithampur, and IT Park at Khandwa Road are ex-pected to provide further impetus to the growth of the city. The cityalso has several industrial clusters such as pharmaceuticals, tex-

tile, food, IT and auto components clusters. Key infra-structure developments include the upcoming AB

Indore Bypass road that is expected to improve ac-cess to other major commercial cities (for exampleMumbai) of the country, thus providing tremen-dous potential for real estate and industrial in-vestments. The upcoming Delhi-Mumbai IndustrialCorridor (DMIC) is expected to enhance industrial

activity around the satellite towns of Pitampura andDewas region. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) isundertaking the upgrading of the existing domestic air-port to an international airport.

indoreINVESTORS’ CHOICE

nagpurHEART OF VIDARBHA

18Nagpur has been the main center of commerce in the

Vidarbha region Nagpur's economy is now recover-ing from past slowdown and city has attracted Rs

8,000 crore in investment post 2004.The city is importantfor the banking sector as it hosts the regional office ofReserve Bank of India, which was opened on September10, 1956. Sitabuldi market in central Nagpur, knownas the Heart of the city, is the main and majorcommercial market area of city.

The Butibori industrial area is the largest inall of Asia in terms of area.The estate'slargest unit is of Indo Rama Synthetics,which manufactures synthetic polyester yarn.Other units in Butibori include the powertransmission company KEC, Hyundai Unitech,ACC Nihon Castings Ltd.Koradi Thermal PowerStation and Khaparkheda Thermal Power Stationare the two major thermal power stations locat-ed near Nagpur and operated by MSPGCL.

19

ll Inputs from E&Y report, FICCI report and OEMCL News Bureau

Amritsar is anticipating in-creased penetration of or-ganised retailing in the

next two to three years with alarge inventory build-up of mallspace distributed approximatelyacross 10 malls. There arearound 1012 upcoming hotelprojects identified in and aroundthe city, which are expected toaugment the existing hotel roominventory across segments by800-1,000 rooms over the nexttwo to three years.20

amritsarRETAIL BOOM

C OVER STO RY


Roopa Purushothaman andRajesh Shukla, the celebratedco-authors of Goldman Sachs'famous BRIC report, which in2003 had predicted that by

2050 Brazil, Russia, India, and China puttogether will have larger economies inUS$ terms than the G-6, consisting of theU.S., Germany, Japan, the U.K., Franceand Italy have collaborated again to comeout with a joint study entitled "The NextUrban Frontier: Twenty Cities To Watch."This time the study, though, has been pre-pared on behalf of their respective currentemployers, Kishore Biyani's FutureCapital Research and National Council of

Applied Economic Research's (NCAER).The study has identified 20 top Indian

cities, which though accounting for only10% of the country's population, gener-ate as much as 60% of its surplus incomeand 31% of its disposable income.

The authors have classified these 20large cities, which accounted for nearly$100-billion of consumption expenditurein 2007-08, in three groups comprising;Megacities (8), Boomtowns (7), and NicheCities (5).

The eight Megacities that apart fromlarge population also have large con-sumer markets are: Mumbai, Delhi,Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad,

Ahmedabad and Pune.The seven Boomtowns that have big

population and high expenditure perhousehold are: Surat, Kanpur, Jaipur,Lucknow, Nagpur, Bhopal andCoimbatore.

The five Niche cities that are relativelysmaller in population but have above na-tional-average household spend are:Faridabad, Amritsar, Ludhiana,Chandigarh and Jalandhar.

According to the report, these 20 citiesdespite impending economic slowdown,for the next eight years (2008-2016), willgrow at a healthy rate of 10.1% per an-num, compared to other cities growing at

METRO WITH MONEY POWER: Mumbai’s skyline

POWER OF T-20India's top 20 cities account for one-third of disposable income


7.9% per annum. In the past three years(2005-08), the top 20 have registered agrowth of 11.2% per annum.

The increase in income levels will alsohave a direct impact on income profiles ofhouseholds. In the next eight years by2016, while, the share of middle-incomehousehold ($6,000 to $30,000 per an-num) in these twenty cities will increasefrom current 39% to 55%, the share ofhigh-income households (more than$30,000 per annum) will increase three-fold to 13%. The share of very low-incomehouseholds (below $3,000 per annum)not surprisingly, would come down by halffrom 16% now to 7% by 2016.

The changing household demographicswill no doubt bring about a major shift indemand pattern of different classes ofgoods. According to the study, there is a52% increase in spending as householdsgraduate from low-income to middle classsegment. The demand for the durables,for example, may go up by a substantial84%, says the study.

The report has also predicted that,even on conservative basis, in the next40-odd years by 2050, share of the urbanpopulation in India will almost becomeequal (45%) to that of the rural population(55%).

Currently, the ratio is 30:70 in favourof the rural population. This rapid urbani-sation will mean an additional 379-millionpeople in urban India. Interestingly, thiswould mean adding more than the entirecurrent population of the US to urbanIndia.

India's scale and rapid pace of urban-ization presents an opportunity for newmarket expansion in the world's secondfastest growing economy. Income distri-bution has changed dramatically in cer-tain cities. After adjusting for cost of liv-ing, the diamond hub of Surat is now therichest city in India. Between 2004-5 and2007-8 Surat's middle class doubled insize and its low income category was re-duced by a third.

The annual household income growth inIndia's 20 key cities averaged 11.2% be-tween 2005-8 and is projected to grow at10% annually over the next 8 years. Incomparison, annual household income forthe rest of India will grow at a much lowerrate of 7.9% from now til 2016.

These 20 top centres of economic de-velopment together account for just under10% of India's population, but generate31% of disposable income and 21% of to-tal spending. It is estimated that in 2007-08, these cities fuelled just under $100billion of consumption expenditure.

Out of the 20 cities, the number of high-income households in boomtowns has

grown 19% annually since 2001-02,against 14% in the megacities. Today,there are an estimated 90,000 high-in-come households and 1.2 million middleclass households across the boomtowns.

More than half (54%) of boomtowns'unusual expenditure goes towards socialspending, while 28% goes towards health.Among the boomtowns, Surat has nearlythe population size of a megacity; it is theyoungest city in the entire group (with over64 per cent of the population below theage of 30).

Surat is already a larger consumer mar-ket than Ahmedabad and Pune. In partic-ular, Surat stands out in apparel spend-ing. It is the largest apparel market afterMumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.

As a group, boomtowns have the high-est proportion of "overstretched" house-holds: more than a fifth of boomtownhouseholds spend more than their re-ported income, compared to 14% in nichecities and 11% in megacities.

COVER STORY

India's scale and rapid pace ofurbanization presents an op-portunity for new market ex-pansion in the world's secondfastest growing economy.

Why India'stop cities

matterTheir citizens are mosteducated, have highest

incomes and highest shareof savings

Rajesh Shukla

India's top 20 cities accountfor just 10 per cent of thecountry's population, but thispopulation earns more than

30 per cent of the country's in-come, spends 21 per cent and,so, accounts for just under 60 percent of the surplus income. Thenext lot of cities account for 20per cent of population, 13 percent of income and under eightper cent of surplus income or sav-ings. Rural areas account for 70per cent of population, 64 percent of expenditure and just athird of the country's surplus in-come. It's obvious then thatIndia's savings can grow only asthe country's urbanisation rises.Given this, the promise of creat-ing more urban centres would bea more effective tool in gettingvotes from rural India.

The reason for this is quiteclear once you look at the dataclosely. NCAER's annual surveyof households across the countryshows that around 51 per cent ofthe households in the top 20cities have at least one graduate(that means, at least a tenth ofthe population in these cities con-sists of graduates);the figure is38 per cent for other cities, andthe number is just 15 per cent inthe villages. As a result, nearly 49per cent of those employed in thetop 20 cities tend to have salariedjobs, and another 32 per cent areself-employed. In comparison, theother cities and rural areas, whichhave a smaller proportion of grad-uates, tend to have a much small-er proportion of either the

C OVER STO RY


salaried or those who are self-employed -32 per cent of those in the other cities aresalaried and the figure is just 10 per centin villages; in the case of the self-em-ployed in non-agriculture, the figure is 30per cent for smaller towns and a mere 11per cent in rural India.

Combining this occupation structurewith the big difference in earnings acrossthe top 20 cities and rural areas is whatgives us the difference in income and sav-ings levels. So, for instance, the latestNCAER survey shows us, the averagegraduate earned Rs 180,000 per year inthe top 20 cities as compared to just Rs91,000 in rural areas. The difference, infact, is higher for the illiterate as well - theaverage earnings of an illiterate was Rs70,000 per annum in the top 20 cities ver-sus just Rs 22,500 in rural areas.

In terms of those with regular jobs, theratio of salaries in rural areas to the top20 cities was 0.62 (Rs 96,500 versus Rs155,000); it was 0.38 in the case of theself-employed and 0.47 in the case oflabourers. As a result, the average earn-ing of those in the bottom-most quintile inthe top 20 cities was Rs 44,000 as com-pared to Rs 19,500 in rural areas; for thetop-most quintile, the earnings were Rs302,000 and Rs 136,000 respectively.

An interesting finding is that the top 20cities are not any more unequal than rural

areas are, with the ratio of the earnings ofthe average family in the top quintile tothat in the lowest quintile being around6.9 in both the top 20 cities as well as inrural areas.

This is important to keep in mind be-cause, when looked another way, inequal-ity levels appear very high in the top 20cities - 53 per cent of households in thetop-most income quintile are to be foundin the top 20 cities. The figure is 30 percent in the other cities and just 12 percent in rural India. The Gini coefficient(the higher it is, the more the inequality)for the top 20 cities is 0.41 versus 0.43for other cities and rural areas.

From the point of view of India's mar-keting firms, the top 20 cities and theirgrowth are clearly of paramount impor-tance. In the case of colour televisions,for instance, 68 per cent of households inthe top 20 cities own these products, thefigure is a lower 47 per cent in the othercities and a mere 17 per cent in rural ar-eas. For cars, the figures are 23 per cent,five per cent and three per cent respec-tively; for refrigerators, the figures are 63per cent, 34 per cent and eight per centrespectively. With 67 per cent of house-holds in the top 20 cities putting theirmoney in bank deposits versus just 46per cent in rural areas, the impact on fi-nancial savings is obvious.

Another interesting finding relates tothe impact of the slowing economy on in-come levels across the country. NCAERregularly uses data from its annual surveyto get the shape of the income distribu-tion curve and then super-imposes this onGDP projections to get estimates of thenumber of households in different incomegroups. This showed the number of lower-income households (those earning underRs 71,000 per annum at 2007-08 prices)would fall from 65 million in 2001-02 to46 million in 2007-08 - if GDP next yeargrows at under six per cent, this numberwill fall to 41 million.

The number of middle-income house-holds (Rs 71,000 to Rs 285,000) wasprojected to rise from 109 million in2001-02 to 136 million in 2007-08 andthis, under a lower GDP growth, will rise tojust 141 million in 2009-10.

The upper-income classes were project-ed to rise from 14 million to 37 millionand, under a lower GDP growth, will stillrise to 47 million in 2009-10. In otherwords, the lower income classes will con-tinue to fall at more or less the same paceeven if GDP growth falls, the upper incomeclasses will also continue to rise at moreor less the same pace; the middle class-es, however, will see a slight slowing intheir growth with GDP growth falling.

(The author is Senior Fellow, NCAER)

MARVEL:BANGALORE’S

HEBBAL AIRPORT


Laveesh Bhandari

Cities are 24-hour market placeswhere a large group of people re-side and trade. The high concen-tration of people brings with it a

variety of tastes, preferences, wants, re-sources, products and services. Peoplefrom within the city and outside interact,thereby generating the necessary massfor trade to occur. And so markets andcities are two sides of the same coin.

The history of great civilizations is es-sentially the history of great cities. Thereis a direct relationship between humanprogress and dynamic and prosperouscities. India is well endowed with citiesspread more or less evenly across thecountry.

Like in other countries, cities in Indiatend to be located in areas with adequatewater and on trade routes. And like in oth-er countries, its cities also contain thebulk of the economic wealth.

Topmost Cities in India

Many think of large cities as those thathave a larger population. Since we con-sider cities as markets, where those livinginside or outside interact, the total marketsize is a better measure of the impor-tance of a city. But the term 'topmost'also incorporates other characteristics. Ifour focus is on where to locate our of-fices, then other issues become more im-portant, such as presence of government,and also good quality infrastructure. Bythese criteria all state capitals should beincluded.

If on the other hand, we need to betterunderstand which are the most importantemerging urban locations, then we alsoneed to include emerging population con-centrations around large cities.

First, the top 100 urban areas of dis-tricts were sorted on the basis of theirmarket sizes. Next all the capitals ofStates and Union Territories were substi-tuted at the cost of those cities with thesmallest market sizes. In most cases thestates and UTs were already among thetop 100 cities. Last, the important urbanareas in the vicinity of the large metroswere identified, and these were also in-cluded at the cost of the smallest citiesas per the market size.

CATEGORIZING THE TOP CITIES

But within this set of top 100 urban ar-eas there exists vast diversity. These arediscussed below under each of the 4 ma-jor classes of cities.

Alpha Cities - The Elite Club of 10

The alpha cities are the elite cities ofIndia. They are the elite not only becauseof their market size but because of the im-portant role they play in all aspects of hu-man endeavor. Among the most impor-tant cities of modern India, first, therewas Calcutta - the political, cultural, edu-cational, and economic capital of BritishIndia. Then came Bombay. Delhi slowlyregained its lost glory after the Britishmoved in, and Chennai steadily gained instature. At the time of Independencethese four were the elite cities of India.Sometime during the seventies,Bangalore and Ahmedabad also enteredcommon acceptance as being among thedriving forces of modern India. Eightiesand nineties have seen the emergence ofPune and Hyderabad into this select club.And the 2000s are pointing towards Suratand Coimbatore. Both have strongeconomies, have better governance thanmost other Indian cities, are located be-

tween other major centers, and are wellconnected. But most important, theyhave by their example shown how the gov-ernment and citizens can together turnadversity into an advantage and bringabout revolutionary changes in shortspans of time.

Beta Cities - On the Threshold

These are the cities that can be. Indeedsome among them will become elite citieseventually. Many of these cities are statecapitals such as Jaipur and Lucknow, ben-efiting from better infrastructure and pub-lic services. Some such as Indore havebeen threatening to break into the bigleague for many years, but never quitemanaged it. Some others such as Kanpurhave somehow lost their way. But what-ever be their current status, these areamong the largest urban markets and canat anytime break into the elite club theway Surat and Coimbatore have.

Another group of urban areas are al-

C OVER STO RY

The Diversityof Top 100

Cities of India

CHENNAI SURGIG AHEAD

C OVER STO RY


ready very large markets, some beingeven larger than the smaller alpha cities.But we insist on retaining them in the betaclub for a simple reason - they are nottechnically a single city, rather a collectionof smaller cities clustered around eachother and highly dependent on a neigh-bouring elite city. Three such sibling ur-ban areas are:l Mumbai's sibling urban centers inThane district (containing cities such asDombivli, Bhayandar, Navi Mumbai,Thane, Ulhasnagar and Virar)l Kolkata's sibling urban centers inNorth 24 Parganas (containing cities suchas Baranagar, Barasat, Dum Dum,Kamarhati, Panihati and including SaltLake City)l Chennai's sibling urban centers inThiruvallur district (containing cities suchas Ambattur, Avadi and Tiruvottiyur)

Gamma Cities - Upcoming Cities

Goa, Vijaywada, andThiruvananthapuram are some examplesof these cities that, either in recent years,or sometime in the past have come ontotheir own. These are important regionalor state centers of economic activity. Theyare among the top fifty urban centers inthe country. As they progress they willcreate opportunities for citizens living inthem and in surrounding areas.

Delta Cities - Budding Centers

This is a large group of 50 cities thatare budding, or have the potential to turninto, into much larger centers. Many aresteadily gaining the necessary scales interms of population and market size.

Capitals of states and UTs, such asGandhinagar, Srinagar and Shillong, cen-ters that are siblings of larger cities suchas Gurgaon and Noida, industrial centerssuch as Durg-Bhilai and Bokaro, histori-cally important cities such as Udaipur andMysore, large emerging centers such asJamnagar, religious cities such asVaranasi and Ajmer, are all included in thisset.

Within these 100 cities, the top 50 ac-count for 45 percent of the urban popula-tion, and half the incomes, savings, ex-penditures, and assets. They also tendto account for a large share of the urbancommercial bank deposits and credit -about 70 to 80 percent. The top 30 citiesaccount for more than half of all urbancredits and deposits. This is not reallysurprising. Larger cities do tend to havegreater concentration of economic activi-ties. And even some residing in sur-rounding areas tend to depend upon thecity.

However, this should not be interpretedas larger cities being more dynamic andgrowing more rapidly than smaller cities.Based on data from credit and depositgrowth as well as increases in population,we find a more complex pattern. Thetable below presents figures that are in-dicative in nature. The figures in each cellrepresent the median of the city wisegrowth rates within each group. In largercities, deposits are growing more rapidly.However credit growth in very small citiesis expanding at a higher rate as well.Expected market size growth is also notnecessarily weighed only among thelargest cities.

The top 50 cities have about 54% of theSEC A households and 54% of all the ur-

ban households earning greater than Rs.300,000 annually. The next fifty addmerely another 12 odd percent. Morethan the SEC characteristics it is incomethat shows greater variations. We findthat the low-income groups are mostly insmaller cities. If on the other hand wewere to add income breakups greater thanRs. 6,00,000 or Rs. 12,00,000 chancesare the top 100 cities would have a sig-nificantly higher share.

THE CHARACTER OF THE TOP CITIES

Market size and demography are onlytwo aspects of a city. The presence of cer-tain minimum infrastructure may define acity, but what is more important is thequality of that infrastructure and servicesthat go on top of it. Potholed roads, wa-ter supply mechanisms that work onlyonce every few hours or even days, elec-tricity that is characterized more by its ab-sence than availability, a public transportsystem that is so poor that few use it inmost cities, taxi and auto-wallahs whoseprices change depending upon the whimsof the drivers, parks that are dumpinggrounds for trash and resting place forcattle, drains characterized by stagnantwater through the year and overflows inmonsoons. The list is long.

But living in a city is not only about in-frastructure; it is also about pollution lev-els, temperature and temperature varia-tions, rain, heath care and education fa-cilities, and so on. A range of factors af-fects lifestyles of those living in a city. Butsecondary data sometimes do not reflectthe true conditions of a city. For this pur-pose a survey of about 10,000 Internetusers across 50 cities was conducted,

GAMMA CITY: GOA


the results for the Top 10 are reportedbelow. Perceptions of the better off re-veal a lot about the conditions of cities.This is so, as the poorest sections facepoor conditions across the country, andtherefore there is little variation in thatsegment. Though this was not a repre-sentative survey it does provide a goodglimpse of life in various cities.

India is changing rapidly in many dif-ferent ways. And the cities are changingeven more rapidly. Typically, we find thatmost new changes in all spheres comeabout first in the metros, then spreadonto other larger cities, and then even-tually spread across whole of the urbanlandscape.

Many new technologies are associatedwith a westernized lifestyle and alsoEnglish. We do find that the topmostcities tend to be more westernized.However, there is a lot of variation. For in-stance, Surat and Coimbatore areamong the largest markets, but have lowwesternization levels. Similarly the cos-mopolitan character tends to be greaterin larger cities but is not necessarily highin all large cities. Kolkata is a large citybut not as highly cosmopolitan asNagpur. On the other hand a smaller citysuch as Guwahati is quite cosmopolitanbeing the gateway into the north-east.Apart from Assamese, it boasts of alarge number of Bengalis, Hindi speakingcommunity, and many from differentstates of the North-east.

EARNING, INVESTING, AND RESIDINGIN CITIES

It is not that the top cities in terms ofmarket size are necessarily the easiest

to live in. They tend to have much largereconomies and as a result offer greateroptions and choices for both income andconsumption for their residents. In orderto comprehensively assess the cities werate the top 100 cities in India at threelevels. For this purpose three indiceswere developed: (1) City Earning Index(2) City Investing Index, and (3) City

Residing Index .City Earning Index: A city that

has a good earning environment is onewhere employment levels are high, andwhere employment growth is high, whereper capita incomes are high, and onewhere job opportunities are high as re-flected through internet job sites.

City Investing Index: A city is agood place to invest in where others arealso investing. This is reflected in highcredit growth, and the extent to whichcredit is higher than deposits, and whereper capita credit to small business isalso high. A city where a large number ofpeople are migrating in also reflectsgrowing opportunities for all.

City Residing Index: A city is agood place to reside in where (i) publichealth, (ii) basic and higher education,(iii) utilities and transport, (iv) environ-ment, (v) safety, and (vi) entertainmentconditions are good. Health is reflectedin immunization and good quality hospi-tals, basic education through literacyrates, professional education throughMBA and engineering seats per capita,and safety is reflected in murders, crimeagainst women, and robbery and thefts.A good environment is where pollution(as reflected in residential SPM and N02levels) is low, where temperatures arenot too high, where temperature varia-

tions are also low. Adequate entertain-ment is also an important criterion for re-siding in a city. Good quality restaurants,malls, and locations to visit in a city re-flect entertainment options.

Public facilities perhaps make up alarge part of the overall residing friendli-ness of a city. These include roads, safedrinking water, households electrified,and safe drinking water, and adequacy ofparks. But this forms only one set.Inverses of power cut frequency, pres-ence of inverter/ generator, housing in-flation levels, and growth in housing in-flation also reflect overall living condi-tions in a city.

Ranking among Top 10 Alpha CitiesTop 10 Cities Earning Index

Investing Index Residing IndexDelhi 4 7 8Mumbai 7 5 2Kolkata 10 10 4Chennai 9 3 3Bangalore 2 6 1Hyderabad 8 8 6Ahmedabad 6 9 9Surat 1 2 10Pune 3 4 7Coimbatore 5 1 5

Source: Indicus Estimates, CitySkyline of India 2006

We find that though there is a signifi-cant correlation between the Earning andInvesting indices, the Residing Index hasno relationship with the other two.Locations that are good places to earnand invest in tend to have greater levelsof in-migration. These cities also tend tohave higher income levels. Both result ina higher demand on utilities. In somecities the physical and social infrastruc-ture is better able to keep up with this in-crease, than in others. In those areaswhere it does, the Residing Index is high-er. But not all cities are able to respond.This in turn makes them poor locationsto live in.

CITY REGIONS - TWINS, SUBURBSAND SIBLING CITIES

No work on the top Indian cities can becomplete without a mention of the sub-urb or the 'twin' cities around them.Typically, a suburb is a residential areaor community outlying a city such thatthose living in the suburb can commuteto the main city for their economicneeds. Internationally the term suburbconjures up images of a quiet, relativelyunspoilt, less densely populated and pre-dominantly residential community in thevicinity of a city. In India, it is difficult tofind such conditions.

COVER STORY

SURAT: WEALTH CENTRE

COVER STORY


Whether it is Gurgaon, or Salt LakeCity, we find them to be economic enti-ties quite independent from the largercity near which they are located. For in-stance, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad,and Gurgaon are much more than meresuburbs of Delhi. But they are also notlarge enough to be called Delhi's twins.These are younger cities, not largeenough yet, but one day may even over-take Delhi.

There are quite a few such locations inIndia. There is Salt Lake near Kolkata,Navi Mumbai in Thane district close toMumbai, the communities on Bangalore-Hosur and Bangalore-Mysore routes inBangalore Rural District, Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune, and so on. Andthere are many more across the country,not as well known yet, but will be knownsoon enough. Why are these locationsimportant enough to study separately?What should we call them? How shouldwe define them? And how should wemeasure them?

These cities typically fulfill an impor-tant need that the larger city was unableto offer. In the initial phase they mayhave been uni-dimensional, however,over time they have gained a distinctcharacter and momentum of their own.The lack of office space in Delhi, the lackof new residential areas in Kolkata, ex-pensive real-estate in Mumbai have con-tributed to the growth of Salt Lake,Gurgaon, and Navi Mumbai respectively.But now all three are much more thanmerely a real-estate alternative to thelarger neighbors. They are more likeyounger siblings of the larger city.

These sibling locations include com-munities that may be large or small,planned or spontaneously arisen, withand without quality infrastructure, some-times similar and sometimes quite dis-similar to the neighboring larger city, andso on. Indeed there is only one thing incommon between them - they are in thegeographical vicinity of a much larger city.Since we also require a 'workable' defi-nition, it should be possible to obtaindata on these locations from disparatesources.

Conclusion

There are very high levels of diversityin India in almost all spheres of our lives.And the same is true for our cities. Somuch so that it is difficult to identify com-monalities and patterns such that we caneasily categorize and fit cities in.

For the researcher interested in neatlycategorizing different cities in differentgroups, this poses a problem, as the

only categorization that will work is relat-ed to size. For the manager interested ina common approach for her marketing ef-forts across cities, this poses an evenlarger problem. It will be difficult to imag-ine a common strategy for Mumbai andSurat - both among the 10 largest mar-kets in India and only a few hundred kilo-meters away. This diversity exists notonly between cities, but also withincities.

Whichever way we see it, India is aheterogeneous country with cities thatare also heterogeneous. An appreciationof this heterogeneity needs to be built-inas an integral part of our understandingof cities.

Another aspect of Indian cities needsto be appreciated. No one single citydominates any large sphere - trueMumbai dominates the financial sector,

Delhi the political 'sector', but there islittle else. Almost as many movies aremade out of Chennai as in Mumbai, theautomobile sector is spread aroundPune, Delhi, Chennai and many othercities. And though many of the large ITcompanies are headquartered inBangalore, cities such as Pune,Hyderabad are rapidly catching up, not tomention the high levels of IT activity inMumbai and Delhi regions. Whether it isan economic activity, or any other aspectof life, India is fortunate to have a largenumber of diverse and dynamic cities.

Delhi and Mumbai do not dominateIndia as much as, say, Mexico City dom-inates Mexico, or Sao Paolo dominatesBrazil. The top 100 largest cities only ac-count for roughly 50 to 60 percent of theoverall market. So as long as we arethinking of the Indian middle class, orthose at the bottom of the pyramid, thereis a large chunk spread much more fine-ly in the rest of the 5000 odd cities inIndia. These masses may not necessar-ily be from the top educational institutesof India, most may not be English speak-ing - but many of the highly educated andhigh income earners are not necessarilyonly in the top 100 cities.

But the glass is half full. These top100 cities do contain the largest chunkof the Indian urban population and mar-ket. For those interested in covering thebulk of India's urban population and mar-ket, concentrating on these 100 citiescan yield rapid results provided enoughflexibility exists in their strategies to ac-count for the heterogeneity.

OUT OF DELHI’S SHADOW: GURGAON IS NO MORE A MERE SUBURB

The lack of office space inDelhi, the lack of new resi-dential areas in Kolkata, ex-pensive real-estate inMumbai have contributed tothe growth of Salt Lake,Gurgaon, and Navi Mumbairespectively. But now allthree are much more thanmerely a real-estate alterna-tive to the larger neighbors.


COVER STORY

Manoj C. Benjamin, Chairman Royal Indian RajInternational Corporation (RIRC) Vancouver,Canada. The son of immigrants, 44-year-oldBenjamin is a highly successful local business-man who has taken some of the wealth he

earned here and invested it in India. He is considered a hawkin North America elite business circle, who takes tremendousrisk but with calculated plans and vision to follow them.

Manoj C Benjamin a pioneer in the rapidly developing IndianInfrastructure & Housing Sector. Being among the first ap-proved FDI's in the Indian nation and recognized by India's,Business & Economy with a rank of 21 among the top 100 peo-ple for 2007.

RIRIC is launching multi billion dollar master planned town-ship communities under its Royal Garden Villas & Resorts,Royal Garden Cities. 135 hotels in various Indian Cities underthe Choice Budget Brand and a national exclusive chain of JackNicklaus PGA courses.

When India opened its economy to the world in 1991,Benjamin started on the path to realizing his vision and dreamto build communities that would stand out on the world's stageas being progressive and of the highest possible standards.Today, that dream is becoming a reality and RIRIC is on the fore-front of developing first-class resort communities and modernsatellite cities in India under its Royal Garden City, Royal GardenVillas & Resorts and its hotel brands.

"We see the integrated township format as a key driver of fu-ture housing supply and as a catalyst for the much needed in-frastructure investments in the rapid urbanization of India. TheIndian government has spelt out key incentive policies to pro-vide an impetus towards easing the flow of private investmentsand royal garden city is one of the first to have been conceptu-alized and planned to meet this objective," says Benjamin.

According to Anil K. Agarwal, President of ASSOCHAM(Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India), lead-ing international investors like Royal Indian Raj International,Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup PropertyInvestors, Morgan Stanley and GE Commercial Finance RealEstate are showing a keen interest and establishing their pres-ence in Indian real estate.

Few years ago Benjamin began aligning himself with venturepartners who also saw the potential for modernizing real estatein the Indian market and committed them to RIRIC's objectiveof "Building India for the new millennium."

Over a projected 12-15-year program, RIRIC will inject an es-timated $10 billion dollars into its premier real estate develop-ments under the highly-touted Royal Garden Cities projects andits Royal Garden Villas and Resorts' brand.

India is truly emerging as the quiet lion about to roar.Benjamin's drive and vision is to create an economic and tech-nological connection between East and West. His company isplaying an integral part in the country's burgeoning infrastruc-ture, finance and development sectors.

Manoj C Benjamin spoke his heart out during aninterview with PPrraasshhaanntt TTeewwaarrii, Editor-in-Chief,

touching wide ranging issues that includes his corebusiness to macro business situation in the world.

He is extremely bullish on India Inc story andpromised that all his words shall be followed with

constructive action...

Q. Real Estate was the buzz word prior to the current eco-nomic tsunami, i remember you had rightly predicted doomfor west and boom for east in 2005 during an interview ses-sion. Tell me it was a guess or well thought off statement?

My statements were based on demographic expectationsthat India and China with their vast markets and domestic mar-kets had the weight and dynamism to transform the 21st -cen-tury global economy. The closest parallel to their emergence isthe saga of 19th century America, a huge continental economywith a young, driven workforce that grabbed the lead in agricul-ture, apparel and the high technologies of that era such assteam engine, telegraph, and electric lights. Now the pendulumis swinging back to the East and with it a need to transform thenational physical and economic infrastructure over here.

ROYAL INDIA RAJBuilding India for the

new millennium QA&

COVER STORY


Q. Experts are betting heavily on Indiaand China with Brazil and Russia (BRIC)on board to take the world out of reces-sion, there are focused on economicswithout realizing the crucial value of in-ternal dynamics like insurgency, popula-tion explosion, growth of religious funda-mentalism, mounting external debt etc,do you think it is wise to continue withthe same set of mind to predict the finaloutcome in respect to economic growthof BRIC?

In 2003, Goldman Sacs coined theterm BRIC to cover Brazil, Russia, Indiaand China pre-sagging a fundamental shiftin the global balance of power.

The group of four countries representthe enormous potential of the emergingmarkets, and there populations will pro-vide most of the worlds growth in thedecades to come .Indeed these nationsrepresent four of the world's largestemerging economies, representing 40%of the world's population and 15% of theGlobal GDP estimated at 15 trillion dollarsand its going to grow .In comparison tothe USA economy which presently repre-sents about 27.5% of Global GDP. TheBRIC's having together greater economicweight than the traditional powers of theGroup of Seven Industrial nations by2032.

At present trends by mid century it isconceivable that two nations China andIndia will account for half the worlds glob-al output. Indeed the troika of China, Indiaand the USA-the only industrialized nationwith significant population growth-by mostprojections will dwarf every other econo-my.

China and India will certainly be domi-nant global suppliers of manufacturedgoods and services and that of Brazil andRussia will be dominant suppliers of rawmaterials.

The BRIC'S nations will continue togrow they are characterized by all havinglarge and competitive domesticeconomies, large populations amongemerging markets with India expected tohit 1.6B people mid century overtakingChina .China and India have two of thefastest economic growth rates in theworld. All have strong natural resources,with Brazil and Russia being a cornucopiaof commodities and energy which in thepast have been inadequately exploited.Escalating energy and commodity pricingof the last five years has brought rapidgrowth to Brazil and Russia enabling themto develop active consumer sectors.Finally access to capital is strong withChina sitting on foreign exchange re-serves of more than $2 trillion, Russiahas more than $500 billion, India close to

$300 billion and Brazil around $200 bil-lion allowing them great latitude in poli-cies. China has recently announced a$600 billion stimulus plan which it caneasily afford concentrating on a more vi-brant domestic market.

However, internal dynamics like insur-gency, population explosion, growth of re-ligious fundamentalism, mounting exter-nal debt etc certainly are factors to con-sider. Add to this several other factorssuch as economic structure, open eco-nomic policies as well as cultural/politicaland legal environment not to mention eco-logical degradation will have a role to play

in the levels and rates of growth. With thisin the background is the somber realitythat political ineptitude blunts growth.Now that the global downturn has hit , thefour countries have diverged and some ofthe bright future of the BRIC's might bederailed.

Russia looks to be most at risk, withthe latest UN population projections sug-gesting that its population may fall from142 million to 100 million by mid century.Russia has been transformed from aemerging market posting a growth rate of8.1% in 2007 into a corrupt kleptocracywithout rule of law and with only oil ex-ports propping it up .Its consumer pricingare rising at a 14% clip ,its currency is col-lapsing -down by a third in the past year-and stock prices are down by 80% from itshigh of last year.

Brazil will remain a successful growthstory ,albeit at a moderate rate with onlya 1.6 growth rate in 2009 better thanmost places ,interest rates at 12.5% in-

flation high at 6% -to high but at least itavoids deflation and its stock marketdown only 4% in 2009 ,which is more thaninvestors can say for Wall Street with abudget deficit under control. Large finds inoff shore reserves of oil which begin pro-duction in 2012 promise to make Brazil apremier oil exporter.

India did well 2004-2008 largely due toreforms of the previous government.However the present government hasmade almost no reforms with the Indianeconomic machine showing clear signs ofrunning down. 2009 growth rate wasabout 5% with the budget deficit as highas 12% of GDP. But India is not China: Itdoes not have the huge foreign exchangereserves to finance such a deficit yet Thus,the rating agencies are considering down-grading India's debt. Given the financingissues it may be likely that any growthmay be thwarted by lack of foreign ex-change pulling us back to 3% to 4% growthrates. A growth rate that's nowhere nearenough to lift its India's rapidly growingpopulations out of poverty In which casethe governments overspending and oppo-sition to reform of the last five years willcontinue .India will then remain in a enor-mously frustrating enigma, a country withhuge growth possibilities that is shackledby a corrupt and incompetent governmentbureaucracy incapable of building the eco-nomic, legal and physical infrastructurethe nation needs.

China will remain the main engine ofworld growth despite -current difficultiesthe Asian giant appears to be having. Ithas a enormous stimulus plan of morethan $600 billion .However with roughly$2 trillion in foreign -exchange reserves,huge domestic savings and a budget thatis close to being balanced ,it seems like-ly that China can afford its stimulus. andby increasing domestic demand the stim-ulus will pull the nation out of recession.China is expected to grow 9% plus thisyear as well China's shares have risen by20%.Its physical and economic infrastruc-ture is robust attracting record FDI and itspopulation growth rate in control.

The corruption index of TransparencyInternational reports however is not soflattering. Brazil, China and India sharinga lowly 72nd place and Russia off thecharts at 143 rd place. They also have lowranking on the World Banks "ease of do-ing business " index .China comes in bestat 93rd in the world, Russia at 96,Brazilat 121 and India at 134.

So there Is a lot of work to be done bythe BRIC'S here to improve efficiencywhich certainly will bring growth. Howeverdespite markets going up and downthere is sure to be many boom and har-

China and India will certainlybe dominant global suppli-ers of manufactured goodsand services and that ofBrazil and Russia will bedominant suppliers of rawmaterials


COVER STORYrowing bust cycles. However over thelong haul these markets will remainstrong having survived earlier crises andhave immense untapped potential. Thererising consumer classes will drive inno-vation and hopefully the real risks of so-cial strife, war and financial crisis will bemanaged properly.

Q. Royal Raj Corporation is investingheavily in India via dedicated India spe-cific fund created in USA in real estatesector, now that there is a slowdown inthe real estate sector world-widethough not so evident in India andChina, do your company is planning toventure out in other vibrant sectors ?

The slowdown in the real estate sectorin India will be temporary as natural pop-ulation growth fuels demand along withthe huge Indian housing shortage. Our fo-cus remains national UrbanInfrastructure and Housing with Townshipdevelopment at its fore-front .This bringswith it a greater integrated focus in thedevelopment ,construction, ownershipand operation of infrastructure coveringgreen self sustainability, bio-degradableand environmental technologies, ,watersupply, waste to energy generation, wa-ter and sewage treatment/managementWe are also developing a greater depthin Pre-Fab construction and road buildingand recycling and hope to be active inthese fields in the years to come.

Q. How do you rate the future of Indiaand China economy in general and realestate sector in specific in the comingyears keeping in view the current boomis largely fumed by government stimu-late plans which might be creating an-other asset bubble in the zone?

For the past two decades, China hasbeen growing at an astonishing rate of9.5% a year and India by 6% and has ben-efited from globalization. Given theiryoung populations, high savings ,and thesheer amount of catching up they stillhave to do ,most economist figure thatChina and India possess the fundamen-tals to keep growing in the 7% to 8%range for decades and will become 21stcentury heavy weights. Indeed by midcentury, China certainly will overtake theU.S as No#1 and India will vault overGermany to take 3rd place. At presentChina's FDI inflows have increased toUS $62bn, while India's FDI inflows arein the region of $6B a ratio of 10:3 inChina's case comfortably financing itsstimulus plans. China's FDI 's successhas been primarily due to its large eco-nomic zones as well as the adequate in-frastructure, highly stream lined admin-

istration, cheap yet skilled labor force,flexible labor laws, low corruption, stronglegal environment, better bureaucraticdelivery system, and favorable regulato-ry and tax treatments. This policy bene-fits the development of real estate in-frastructure where China has been busybuilding new cities, bullet trains, indus-trial zones ,research centers ,roads,ports, etc. For example in 1990,Shanghai seemed caught in a socialisttime warp ,today Shanghai has erectedenough high-rises to fill Manhattan.

On the real estate sector analysis,India has a 27 million housing shortagetoday , a population increasing by 180m

every ten years adding a requirement of3 million to 5 million new homes annual-ly and a population set to reach 1.6B bymid century ,India has a incredible taskin front of her needing to address power,telecoms, retail and urban infrastructureand housing. Presently it is lacking themeans of production to satisfy such largescale demands. Urban Infrastructure andHousing as a sector is still enormouslyinefficient and lacks the capital structureto prosper internally although strideshave been made in the residential mort-gage market while finance in the com-mercial market remains enormously dif-ficult. This despite its critical importancein attracting much needed FDI's and itsvital role in building the nation. So de-spite this based on demographics alonethere is incredible upside in the underrepresented real estate economy .Asmore reforms and refinement in thissector occurs a powerful catalyst for

change develops as demand is there. !

Q. Developed nations are amidstworst recession since great depression,forcing millions of people to changebusiness pattern and lifestyle. You havea good exposure of western lifestyle andthought process; predict life after thecurrent shock for western block?

There is no doubt the recent Americanrecession has forced many to re-definebusiness patterns and rethink lifestylesin the West. This brings with it a strongeremphasis on practicality , affordabilityand sustainability. This re-assessmentcan be seen as a end to a cycle with es-tablished nations particularly USA recog-nizing its need to break its bubble-and-bust cycle economy with a new way ofthinking. This is resulting in the calling fora new economic foundation for these na-tions. In the case of USA the leader ofthe developed nations with 27.5% of theGlobal GDP this foundation would be builton better schools, alternative energy,more affordable health care and a moreregulated Wall Street and financial mar-kets.

An excerpt of this new way of thinkingis reflected by the American PresidentBarack Obama and The Times's DavidLeonhardt during an interview in the OvalOffice on April 14,2010

"But I actually think that there was al-ways an unsustainable feel about whathad happened on Wall Street over thelast 10, 15 years, and it's not that dif-ferent from the unsustainable nature ofwhat was happening during the dot-comboom, where people in Silicon Valleycould make enormous sums of money,even though what they were peddlingnever really had any signs it would evermake a profit. That does't mean,though, that Silicon Valley is still not ahuge, critical, important part of our econ-omy, and Wall Street will remain a big, im-portant part of our economy, just as itwas in the '70s and the '80s. It justwon't be half of our economy. And thatmeans that more talent, more resourceswill be going to other sectors of the econ-omy".

It will also be tempered by the com-petitive forces of the new global econo-my and its inter-relationships with na-tions like India and China with theirgrowth patterns possessing the weightand dynamism to transform the 21-stcentury economy over a complete spec-trum of consumer markets, investors,producers and users of energy and com-modities providing a "future shock" tothe established nations. Along with thischanging pattern of behaviour will come

There is no doubt the recentAmerican recession hasforced many to re-definebusiness patterns and re-think lifestyles in the West.This brings with it astronger emphasis on prac-ticality , affordability andsustainability.

COVER STORY


a need for new world economy .Globalization and transformation willtranslates into layoffs and lower wages fora changing America. However everydaylife will go on with a little belt tightening inthe West

Q. Royal Indian Raj InternationalCorporation has tremendous depth andgreat vision for future strategic businessplans but the company has restrain itselfin going for aggressive branding inIndia.RRC is running huge projects andhave even larger plans for future in India,do you foresee continuation of samestrategy or RRC will be pro active and ag-gressive in coming days to promote itsbrand, products and services?

Our presence in North America andour focus on India, generally regarded asa developing economy ,has routinely en-countered a cultural divide in the Westwith mis-conceptions around eastern cus-toms, land ownership practices, laws,norms ,long gestation times and bureau-cracies in the Indian Urban Infrastructureand Housing sector as well as numbersand logistics unfathomable in the west ,.Progress can easily be misconstrued bythe developing nature of rules and regu-lations in the nascent Indian Realty sec-tor and forces not understanding the longgestation times, our anti corruption policyand the complexities such large endeav-ors require in India .

For example our inaugural 12,000 CRInternational Township in Bangalore North,Karnataka India one of several was slat-ed to start in 2005 .Despite gaining FIPBpermissions from the Central Governmentin 2005 the first in the nation to get FDIsanction under the Integrated Townshipcategory and being heralded by the NRIMinister of that time Jagdish Tytler. Sincethen the project has been delayed at theState Level by zoning changes, four-failedstate government, in-efficient state gov-ernment bureaucracy resulting in stalledRIRIC project permissions. A secondRoyal Garden Villas & Resort project inthe region suffers a similar fate.

This can be construed and regarded bywestern sources as negative and deroga-tory to Bangalore and India. We have cho-sen to be moderate on branding until suchtime as full project permissions aregained to avoid this. We do anticipate proj-ect clearances shortly and at which timewe will certainly promote these excitingtownship projects and others like thisthroughout India and take active partici-pation in "Building a New India" .

Q What will be the key points as peryour view for Vision 2020 India?

India remains a country with hugegrowth possibilities and can close in onChina and exceed it by building on itsdemocratic legacy and creating a favor-able environment similar to that of Chinaby replicating her extraordinary ability tomobilize workers and capital laying downthe nations physical and economic infra-

structure .This can be achieved by institu-tional reforms in a more accountable andtransparent way, imperative for the coun-try. It calls for the creation of special eco-nomic zones, improvement in urban infra-structure and housing , policy stability, in-troduction of labor reforms, establish-ment of a strong legal environment,streamlining bureaucracy ,and the elimi-nation of corruption. This will aide in in-creasing larger FDI flows, helping in the fi-nancing of large scale growth the nation iscapable off achieving .This should not bea daunting task if there is a adequate po-litical will with respect to the economy,laying down the ground work for decadesof new growth. This will however requiresa new way of thinking and electorate thathas the force to counter the political in-eptitude that can blunt growth .

Population demographics will also hasa role to play, India has nearly 500m peo-ple under the age of 19 and has high fer-tility rates. India's rising middle class ex-pected to hit 700m between 2020 to

Progress can easily be mis-construed by the develop-ing nature of rules and reg-ulations in the nascentIndian Realty sector andforces not understandingthe long gestation times, ouranti corruption policy andthe complexities such largeendeavors require in India

GROWTH BAROMETRE: Bombay Stock Exchange


COVER STORY2030.By mid century the population

rises to 1.6B with 220 million more work-ers then China. Opening power, tele-coms, commercial real estate and retailsectors to FDI's will lure big capital flows.Other factors can include harnessingthe Global NRI's and PIO,s Diaspora andthe Internet/information age may wellcontribute meaningfully to a new way ofthinking ,defining the management andgovernance of the Indian nation into thedecades to come..

Q. Is there any future plan to capital-ize Indian Stock Markets?

I think we may look at capitalization onthe Indian Stock Markets as it remainsin our strategic plans 12 to 24 monthsdown the line after several of our pro-posed Townships and a SpecialEconomic Zone (SEZ) get there finalclearances from the government agen-cies involved.

Q. Share information on the socialwork done by Royal Raj Corporation tohonor its corporate social responsibili-ty?

RIRIC has a interest in poverty allevia-tion, adoption agencies ,homeless shel-ters, health clinics, missionary projects,peace organizations, libraries ,war on il-literacy, single mother's micro loans andmedical research leading to curing orcontaining disease .In the past we havebeen involved in schooling contribution tovillage children and mentoring and edu-cating homeless peoples.

Q. Manoj C Benjamin is a recognizedbusiness name in corporate world, butlet us know about your political andbusiness hero's and why do you admirethem?

On the business front great businessleader possess more than the celebrat-ed traits of charisma and an appetite forrisk. They have "contextual intelligence"-a profound ability to understand the zeit-geist of their times and harness it , tocreate successful organizations.Entrepreneurial innovation, savvy man-agement, and transformational leader-ship. Those that stand out in my mindare...

Jamsetji & Jrd , TATA , for being thecreator of modern Indian industry.Dhirabhai Ambani , Chairman andManaging Director of Reliance Industriesfor revolutionizing the Indian stock ex-change also named the IndianEntrepreneur of the 20th Century by theFederation of Indian Chambers ofCommerce and Industry (FICCI) with TheTimes of India in 2000 voting him "great-

est creator of wealth in the century". N.Murthy ,Infosys a revolution in software, Azim Premji - Indian billionaire busi-nessman of the Wipro software compa-ny., Lakshmi Mittal - Mittal SteelCompany chairman for developing aworld wide steel conglomerate andForbes 2005 ,3rd richest man in theworld. Muhammad Yunus - Bangladeshieconomist and founder of the GrameenBank that has pioneered Microcredit.And Sunil Mittal for connecting India viathe telephone. Samuel M. Walton ,Wal-Mart the world's largest retailer incred-ible vertical standardization,Walt DisneyDisney for making children laugh, WilliamH. Gates III Microsoft for championingthe beginning of the information age anda new world economy, Gordon E. Moore& Andrew S. Grove Intel for the Pentiumchip.Henry Ford ,Ford Motor & Alfred P.Sloan Jr. General Motors for standardiza-tion and giving the world a ride. GeorgeEastman Eastman Kodak for capturingthe world on film,Asa G. Candler Coca-Cola for giving the world a coke ,

Howard Schultz ,Starbuck for making wa-ter into liquid gold . John F. Welch Jr.General Electric for making home lifeeasier. Raymond A. Kroc ,McDonald'sfor giving the world a burger. Frederick W.Smith Federal Express for deliveringthings . John D. Rockefeller Sr. StandardOil for fueling it all.

On the political front .....Gandhi ..forthe incredible and extraordinary conceptof satyagraha non-violent protest to hisbattle for right and wrong and its contri-bution to Indian independence. Mandelafor his adaptation of this and his certainknowledge of right in bringing a end toApartheid in South Africa. GeorgeWashington and Thomas Jefferson forthe championing of democracy and theReligious Charter of Freedoms freeingminds around the earth..Underdogs like, Ho Chi Minh .a leader of astonishingquality and organizational skills who leadhis nation to victory against two of theworld's great powers, France and USA.Winston Churchill for his resolve andleadership during WW2 .

MMYY HHEERROOEESS:: On the political front .....Gandhi ..for theincredible and extraordinary concept of satyagraha non-vio-lent protest to his battle for right and wrong and its contribu-tion to Indian independence. Mandela for his adaptation ofthis and his certain knowledge of right in bringing a end toApartheid in South Africa. George Washington and ThomasJefferson for the championing of democracy and theReligious Charter of Freedoms freeing minds around theearth..Underdogs like , Ho Chi Minh .a leader of astonishingquality and organizational skills who lead his nation to victoryagainst two of the world's great powers, France and USA.Winston Churchill for his resolve and leadership duringWW2

CONCERN


DK Matai

Has the Greek crisis taken on adecidedly sub-prime feel fol-lowing revelations that WallStreet investment banksearned hundreds of millions of

dollars over the past decade from trans-actions that helped the country mask bil-lions of dollars of debt? ApparentlyGreece wasn't the only EU government touse these types of deals, where a gov-ernment would raise cash up front in ex-change for handing over the rights to fu-ture income streams, to hide the extent oftheir budget deficit(s) and national debt.Such schemes were also popular in someof the other PIIGS countries.

Greece remains the main subject of dis-cussion for EU finance ministers currentlymeeting in Brussels. The EU appears tohave slept through the Greek use of ac-counting tricks to hide their deficits and ispresently engaged in a good deal of col-lective self-recrimination for not payingcloser attention to the true state ofGreece's dismal public finances muchearlier. As a result, the EU is to sendteams of experts from the European com-mission, the European Central Bank andthe International Monetary Fund to policethe Greek austerity programme and rulewhether the package will achieve its aims.The meeting in Brussels was dominatedby working out how the unprecedentedpolicing regime would work.

Greek Finance Minister GeorgePapaconstantinou said his task was likechanging "the course of the Titanic."

SWAPS DISCLOSUREBrussels based European Union regu-

lators have ordered Greece to disclose de-tails of complex derivative currency swapsafter an inquiry by the Greek FinanceMinistry uncovered a series of agree-ments with banks that may have beenused to conceal mounting debts. Theswaps were employed to defer interestpayments by several years, according to aFebruary report commissioned by theFinance Ministry in Athens that is beingexamined by lawmakers. "While swapsshould be strictly limited to those thatlead to a permanent reduction in interestspending, some of these agreementshave been made to move interest from

the present year to the future, with long-term damage to the Greek state," ac-cording to the Greek Finance Ministry re-port.

Genesis of Swaps RequirementGreece's burgeoning budget deficit

caused it to fail the criteria for joining thesingle European currency in 1999.Member nations had to reduce deficits toless than 3% of GDP and trim nationaldebt to less than 60% of GDP to join. Asa result, it joined the euro in 2001. Howdid it manage to do that?

COMPLEX DERIVATIVESShortly after Greece joined Europe's

monetary union, Wall Street investmentbanks helped the government quietlyraise billions of dollars without immediatevisible impact. Athens was thus enabledto continue its free-spending ways whileappearing to comply with the strict EUdeficit regime, because the currencytrades took the form of complex deriva-tives transactions rather than loans.

Christoforos Sardelis, head ofGreece's Public Debt ManagementAgency from 1999 to 2004, who joinedBanca IMI, the investment-banking unit ofItaly's Intesa Sanpaolo SpA has revealedthe following: The Greek governmentturned to Goldman Sachs in 2002 [othersources suggest that this began even be-

fore] to get USD 1 billion through complexderivative swaps.

The transaction consisted of a cross-currency swap of about USD 10 billion ofdebt issued by Greece in dollars and yen.Debt was swapped into euros using anhistorical exchange rate, a mechanismthat implied a reduction in debt and gen-erated about USD 1 billion of funding forthat year. The agreement was restruc-tured "a couple" of times between 2002and 2004. The fees, or the spread, thatthe investment bank was paid on the con-tracts was "reasonable."

The New York Times recently reported:Goldman Sachs made about USD 300 mil-lion from a swaps agreement with Greece.The firm's bankers, including PresidentGary Cohn, travelled to Athens inNovember 2009 to pitch a deal that wouldpush debt from the country's health-careservices into the future. Greece appar-ently rejected the offer.Greek Government View of InvestmentBanks

George Papaconstantinou, the Greek fi-nance minister, has said that the roleplayed by investment banks such asGoldman Sachs and JP Morgan in strikingderivatives deals with the Greek govern-ment intended to conceal the true state ofthe public accounts was not unique toAthens. "Greece was not the only countryusing them [derivatives]."

Enigmatic Greek SagaLooking into the mechanism of hiding government debt via complex derivatives


CONCERNTrust UnderminedThe revelation that Greece participat-

ed in such Wall Street transactions hasfurther undermined its credibility withinthe EU. Greece had already been criti-cised by the EU for supplying incorrect in-formation about its budget situation inthe past.

RATING AGENCIESStandard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings

have just begun questioning the Greekgovernment over its use of the swaps.The rating agencies are doing the rightthing, but it may be too little too late.S&P, Moody's and Fitch all cut Greece'scredit rating in December 2009. l S&P lowered the rating by one lev-

el to BBB+ from A- and the country 'sdebt was put on negative credit-watch;l Fitch cut Greece's rating one lev-

el to BBB+ from A-; andl Moody's cut Greece to A2 from

A1.

FAULTY STATISTICSGreek officials last month pledged to

provide more reliable statistics after theEU complained of "severe irregularities"in the nation's economic figures. TheGreek Finance Ministry report blamed"political interference" for the collapseof credibility in Greece's statistics.There were "serious weaknesses" indata collection, especially with spendingfigures, as information often came fromsecond-hand sources, the report found.Eurostat, the EU statistics office, hasgiven Greece until the end of the monthto provide more information on theswaps.

LEGALITYGreek Finance Minister George

Papaconstantinou visiting Brussels hassaid the country's use of swaps agree-ments was legal at the time. He also saidthe contracts are no longer legal andGreece has stopped using them.

EU PledgeAfter meeting in Brussels last week,

EU political heads pledged to supportGreece, but they failed to detail whatmeasures they might adopt to rescue thedebt-burdened country. EU finance min-isters resolved to keep Greece under un-precedented surveillance as the countryattempted to slash its budget deficitfrom its present level of 13 per cent ofGDP to less than 3 per cent by 2012. EUfinance ministers have also discussedthe type of financial assistance theycould theoretically provide to Greece,

such as direct loans, guarantees of thecountry's debt, and purchasing Greekgovernment bonds.

GERMAN VIEWVolcker Wissing, finance committee

chief in Germany's Bundestag, calledthe Greece swap deals a grave breach oftrust. The Greek efforts to mask the sizeof their debt may make it less likely thatthe Bundestag will be willing to endorsea debt guarantee or loan package forGreece.

Michael Meister, financial affairsspokesman for German ChancellorAngela Merkel's Christian Democrats,states: "Goldman Sachs broke the spiritof the Maastricht Treaty, though it is notcertain it broke the law. What is certainis that we must never leave this kind ofthing lurking in the shadows again."Chancellor Merkel's party within theGerman government coalition aims topush for new rules that will force euro-re-gion nations and banks to disclose bondswaps that have an impact on public fi-nances. Germany's Constitutional Courthas already issued rulings that prohibit -- or complicate -- any bail-out for EMUstates. German opinion polls suggestthat any PIIGS bailout would be equiva-lent to suicide for the coalition govern-ment.

DEFICIT CONTROL

The problem for Greece is that it nowfinds itself under extreme pressure to cutits budget deficit by slashing spendingand boosting its revenues. EU leaderslast week pressed Greece to get itsdeficit under control and vowed "deter-mined" action to staunch the worst crisisin the euro's 11-year history. But the re-sult of these past deals with Wall Streetbanks is that the Greek government hasalready handed over the rights to bigchunks of its revenues, such as airportfees and lottery proceeds, for years tocome. Greek Prime Minister GeorgePapandreou more than tripled the 2009deficit estimate to 12.7 percent afterousting two-term incumbent KostasKaramanlis in October.

DEFLATIONARY SHOCK

Is the EU incubating a "deflationaryshock" for all of Europe by forcing PIIGSnations to tighten fiscal policy in the mid-dle of The Great Unwind and The GreatReset without enough monetary stimulusto offset the effect? Do distinguishedATCA members detect an unfolding eerieparallel with the early 1930s?

Courtesy ATAC The writer is Chairman and

Founder: mi2g.net, ATCA, ThePhilanthropia, HQR, @G140

Greek Finance Minister GeorgePapaconstantinou visitingBrussels has said the country'suse of swaps agreements waslegal at the time. He also saidthe contracts are no longer legaland Greece has stopped usingthem.

COLUMN


TJS GEORGE

What happened to the world ageneration ago is happening toIndia now. When the Soviet

Union collapsed, America became theworld's only policeman and GeorgeBush put that status to diabolic use.With the BJP and the Communists writ-ing their own death warrants, theCongress is becoming the choicelessface of a unipolar India. The odious po-tential of this can be seen in the partyspokesman's proclamation that the

Congress triumphed in the latest bye-elections duesolely and wholly to Rahul Gandhi's "vision".The spokesman did not say that TyphoonPhyan spared Mumbai because of the fore-sight and perspicacity of Rahulji. For thismercy, much thanks.

Of course Rahul Gandhi is an asset to theCongress. He has gained experience anddoes not make vapid statements of thekind that marked his early days. But to seehim as the sole depository of wisdom is tobelittle the Congress and, worse, to signal anew phase of unrestricted, all-consuming syco-phancy.

Film star Raj Babbar won in Firozabad becauseof (a) his star appeal and (b) people's disgust atMulayam Singh fielding his son first and thistime the son's raw, inexperienced wife - asthough Firozabad was a private fiefdomand the voters his vassals. To ignorethese crucial factors and attributethe Congress win there to the"Rahul factor" is self-deception.Where was the Rahul factor inthe nine out of eleven seatsthat Mayawati won despiteRahul's systematic campaignagainst her in recent months?

Mayawati will remain a bubblefor a few more years. But evenshe must have realised by nowthat she has no hope in hell out-side UP despite the disbursementof vast sums of money. InMaharashtra this time she con-tested in 281 seats - and lost thedeposit in 252. Not thatMaharashtra's well-wishers havereasons to rejoice. For the MNS (Maharashtra Nava-rowdy Sena)has won some seats and alreadydemonstrated how they plan tohold the state to ransom.

Similarly the Reddys are holdingKarnataka to ransom. The cabinet,

the civil service, the police force and the party high com-mand have all been brought under the thumb of one

family which makes no bones about its intentions tomilk this once-proud state for its private profit. Thisis the most lurid evidence yet of the decline and fallof the BJP. With "new generation" leaders likeSushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley succumbing to thepulls of money power, there is no likelihood of theBJP finding a viable identity of its own in the fore-seeable future.

The most disappointing - and the least surprising -of political collapses is the CPM's. Not a single seat

won in West Bengal. Not a single seat won in Kerala.What a fall for a party built on the dreams of the mass-

es. Yet it surprises no one because the party of theproletariat had become the party of five-star lead-

ers. The Bengal leaders at least accepted theirdefeat and said they would try to correct their

ways. The Kerala leaders are justifyingthemselves by saying that the percentage

of their votes had gone up and that any-way it was all the fault of an abom-

inable media conspiracy.A new left force is what the hap-

less electorate of India badlyneeds. The first requirement forsuch a turn-around is the resig-nation of failed leaders likePrakash Karat, BuddhadevBhattacharya and PinarayiVijayan. Buddha perhapsmay be willing to leave.The other two won't. Sothe CPM will go downfurther in the daysahead. Which is an-other way of admit-ting that Rahulji

will remain the vi-sion for India. Watch

for the partyspokesman's take

when Typhoon Phyancomes our way next time.

India goes unipolar, yet again!The Congress is becoming the choicelessface of a unipolar India. The odious potentialof this can be seen in the partyspokesman's proclamation that theCongress triumphed in the latest bye-elec-tions due solely and wholly to RahulGandhi's "vision". The spokesman did notsay that Typhoon Phyan spared Mumbai be-cause of the foresight and perspicacity ofRahulji. For this mercy, much thanks.


SECURITY

Collectively, from our research, global experi-ence of 17 years in the Intelligence and Riskmonitoring/Tactical Security Solutions busi-

ness, and writing this brief report looking forwardfor all countries, we see a future with converging,connected, and accelerating technology that will soincrease choices for individuals and the ways we in-teract with technology, that the changes will affectour identity. The World Homeland Security GroupCentres of Excellence (WHS COE) throughout Indiawill certainly be focusing; researching, training andmonitoring all aspects which can help India in-crease the speed and safety of these new 21stCentury technologies. There will also be an in-creased global threat of terrorism which will requireall of us to be more alert and helpful with real factsso that we can make efforts to help our communi-ties. In the months ahead we at World HomelandSecurity Group (WHS Group/WHS COE) will be shar-ing security and safety tips with all the OPINIONEXPRESS readers so that more peaceful actionscan be taken by all of as we unite in making thisand the next generation more peacefully just.

F i v e Te c h n o l o g y A r e a sFive technology areas will be maturing in many ways by 2025

that will increase their impacts unlike ever before.

1. Biotechnology. We will see significant advances in a widerange of areas from biomanufacturing and information pro-cessing to robotics and cognitive enhancement. The body willbecome its own laboratory, as we will harness the ability to gen-erate medicines and necessary chemicals within our bodies.Possible obstacles to advances include the difficulty of obtain-ing funding for truly innovative work, and the regulatory envi-ronment. Future developments will also include the building ofcomplex systems and the addition of biological parts to engi-

JO S BIRRING, HEAD OF WORLD HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP

Technologyguides our

security

SECURITY


neering and electronic devices.Biotechnologies such as algae, pro-grammed cells, bio-catalytic systems, andenzymes will play a role in alternative fu-els, and the manipulation of viruses andbacteria could pose a potential threat.

2. Cyber-based technology. The growthof low-cost, ubiquitous computing mayshift the balance between the haves andhave-nots, and will also empower devel-oping countries, as we are already seeingwith initiatives such as the "One Laptopper Child" program. As computers spread,communication will become extremelycheap and wireless networking will be-come ubiquitous. Computer capabilitieshave already escaped the confines ofdesktops, laptops, and servers. In partsof the developing world where computersare currently scarce, programming mobilephones is increasing, skipping genera-tions of traditional wired and computing in-frastructure. Across the globe, hundredsof computers chatting with themselves ina single automobile and with satellites forGPS is common today and will createmore cyber noise in the future.

The proliferation of vir tual worlds willcreate an increasing number of personas-the online "identities" we assume as weparticipate in different online communi-ties and across different parts of the in-ternet-which in turn will require us to cre-ate methods to authenticate and managethem. Cyber-technology will become in-creasingly integrated with the humanbody, and this will raise the possibility thathackers may soon target the cognitive orphysical abilities of individuals or groups.

3. Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology willinfluence advancements in DNA sequenc-ing, bio-augmentation, performance en-hancement, energy generation and stor-age, and water purification. Positive ben-efits will include the ability to improve theenvironment, as well as the health of theindividual. We will soon develop the capa-bility to build materials with specific atom-ic properties, freeing us from working withthe constraints of the "natural" propertiesof materials. There is a real risk, however,that the U.S. will lose its advantage innanotechnology, due to stricter regula-tions based on health concerns and ashrinking talent pool, to other countriespromoting science education and invest-ment.

4. Ubiquitous Sensing. By 2025, sens-ing will be ubiquitous in many areas of theworld and technology will continue to drivecheaper sensors that consume increas-ingly less power. Nano particle-sized sen-sors could be dispersed nearly anywhere,making it increasingly difficult to keep se-

crets or avoid detection. This may compli-cate future conflicts as we may be unableto detect these sensors and may thus beforced to make decisions under the as-sumption that adversaries are monitoringmuch of what are doing. Benefits may in-clude more accurate weather prediction,greater ease and safety in exploring haz-ardous areas, and a proliferation of"mash-up" tools and business modelsdedicated to combining available sensordata with a variety of personalized needs.Storage capacity, growth of related algo-rithms, and growth of processing powerare three key technical factors that will af-fect the development of ubiquitous sens-ing in the future, while concerns over pri-vacy as well as international and nationalregulations may limit growth.

5. Wild Cards. A "fifth technology area"

we called "wild cards," representing de-velopments that do not fit cleanly into asingle definable technology area like theones above. Three types of "wild card" inparticular could have uncertain and po-tentially highly disruptive effects:

(1) carbon-free or carbon-neutral tech-nologies, and the ensuing disruptionsthey will bring as oil-dependent countriesmay become oil-independent; (2) "thenext big thing" in the field of physics - a fu-ture discovery or theory as fundamentallychanging as Relativity Theory; and (3) theability to leverage neuroscience and neu-rotechnology to directly affect the cogni-tive functions of human beings from out-side their bodies. The potential of such"wild card" science and technology devel-opments, and others, could change soci-ety in myriad ways that even the most for-ward-thinking analysts are only now be-coming able to understand.

F i v e Types o f I m p l i c a t i o n s

1. Economy and Wealth. Popular andprofitable products and services that willarise by 2025 will include various forms ofhuman enhancement, sensor-relatedtechnologies and services, and privacyservices-services that will allow individu-als to "opt out" or remain anonymous

The growth of low-cost, ubiq-uitous computing may shiftthe balance between thehaves and have-nots, and willalso empower developingcountries, as we are alreadyseeing with initiatives such asthe "One Laptop per Child"program.


SECURITY

amidst an increasingly sensor rich environment. The de-creasing cost of hardware and software will also change profitmodels for certain types of technology, especially consumerelectronics, where some products may become cheap enoughto be virtually free.

2. Energy and the Environment. Both the price of energy andconcerns about pollution will continue to pressure decisionsover the next 5 - 10 years until replacement technology ma-

tures. Conflicts over precious resources, such as water or en-ergy, will increase globally during this period spurring migrationand population displacements. We will see advancements in dif-ferent energy technologies, however, that could fundamentallychange some countries 'energy production and consumptionneeds. In addition to increased conflict, the U.S.A governmentwill also face challenges in dealing with environmental prob-lems caused by neighbouring countries, resource shortages,

The attacks on Indians in Australia are not necessarilyracist but surely taking place because of inadequatepolicing which needs to be fixed, said a visiting 10-mem-

ber student delegation from Australia which arrived here un-der the banner of Australia-India Business Council onThursday.

The Australian delegation also includes members of Indianorigin.

There is a consensus among the members of the delega-tion that Indians are more vulnerable to the attacks than stu-dents from other countries like China be-cause they travel at night by public trans-port which is very unsafe and also be-cause they venture into the no-go areaswhich have shoddy track record vis-'-vissecurity.

Former president of National Union ofStudents David Borrow said lack of policepresence on the trains as the reason ofwhy Indians are attacked.

Indian are more vulnerable becausethey take up night jobs and they travel innight that is why they are attacked, saidDavid Borrow and further added thatIndian students are taking trains late atnight because of the type of jobs they haveto do in Australia

Harpinder Singh Chipra, an Indian stu-dent perusing MBA in Australia, said thatsecurity measures like CCTV on publictransport are in place but they are inef-fective. He also questioned the efficiencyof the police in stopping the attacks.

"We have seen attacks happening on CCTV in Victoria, ifsomeone is watching the attack why no prompt action is tak-en to stop the attack, asked Chipra, who moved to Australiatwo years ago.

Indians approximately has 100,000 students studying inAustralia, the largest group only next to Chinese studentsthere.

Most of the members of the visiting delegation haveslammed the Australian government for not establishing prop-er infrastructure in tune with the rising number of incoming for-eign students.

Delegation members, however, disagreed that Indians aresingled out and they are the only community facing attacks.

But the members agreed that racism is a small factor,

which is triggering such attacks.Ruchir Punjabi, the managing director of digital media com-

pany, said that attacks on Indians get wide media coveragebecause Indians are reporting the abuse whereas people fromother Asian countries like China are hesitant in reporting at-tacks to police. "I have heard that a Chinese lady was rapedbut the media did not cover it," said Ruchir Punjabi.

Indian origin Australian Karishma, who is living in Australiafor last 18 years, said: "People of other Asian countries likeChina, Philippines, Koreans might not report violent or non-vi-

olent incidents to the police like Indians,due to increased media coverage Indiansfeel more comfortable reporting to po-lice."

Social adaptability and Integration intothe Austarlian society are also cited asmain factors behind the attacks.

Harpinder, another member of the dele-gation said that Indians have to acknowl-edge that it is a different culture.

Indians have to be cautious and en-dorse their business culture; simplethings like standing in a queue or driving,he said.

According to Victoria-based JulianCampbell, foreign students are discrimi-nated by the government.

Foreign students in Victoria have to paydouble fare to travel in public transport incomparison to their domestic counterpart,said Campbell and added: "Foreign stu-dents are treated as second class citizens

and they feel that this is the form of racism which is endorsedby the government. This also upsets foreign students andwidens the wedge, which results in clashes."

While some members of the delegation opined that themeasures undertaken by the Australian authorities are notenough to stop further attacks while others believe thatAustralian authorities have taken some positive steps like put-ting a curb on small institutions offering private professionalcourses and monitoring of the bank accounts of the incomingforeign Students.

Members said that some of the states like Sydney andAdelaide might have fixed their security apparatus but Victorianeeds a complete overhaul because this is the place wheremaximum attacks on Indians have taken place.

Source: ANI

Attacks on Indians a resultof weak policing: Panel

Indian origin AustralianKarishma, who is livingin Australia for last 18years, said: "People ofother Asian countrieslike China, Philippines,Koreans might not re-port violent or non-vio-lent incidents to the po-lice like Indians, due toincreased media cover-age Indians feel morecomfortable reporting topolice."

SECURITY


and related international humanitarian crises.3. Health and Demographics. The convergence of nanotech-

nology, biotechnology, and advances in IT infrastructure will leadto more remote healthcare services, perhaps making self-sur-gery possible within the home. In addition, developments in bio-enhancement, and the convergence of biotechnology and ro-botics, will create a digital divide between people in those soci-eties that can afford human enhancement and those that can-not. Our definitions of what it means to be "human" will be ques-tioned, and we may see the emergence of "post-humanism" andhuman-level artificial intelligence.

4. Infrastructure. Three drivers will have particular influenceon future infrastructure: a ubiquitous IT network, demassifica-tion of energy sources, and decentralization of many organiza-tions and entities. The convergence of developments in alter-native energy technologies, bio-generation technologies, infor-mation technologies and healthcare will allow people to live inincreasingly remote decentralizedcommunities. Infrastructure willalso become increasingly linkedinto the network, as technologicaladvances could continually im-prove peoples' ability to live "offthe grid."

5. Governance. As people areincreasingly connected across theplanet, they are sharing informa-tion and creating new bonds. Theiraffinities are multiplying and couldpotentially shift. As virtual worldsgrow in importance, loyalties bornof those worlds will extend intothe physical realm, and may com-pete with loyalties to the state.Some believe these virtual worldswill need governance as theeconomies they create becomemore substantial and create op-portunities for both wealth andcrime. Government-like structuresmay arise to serve temporary pur-poses, surrounding particular is-sues, and serving self-formingcommunities that may form on-line. In addition to local and issue governance, technology-en-abled nongovernmental organizations may grow to provide manyservices that have traditionally been provided by the govern-ment.

P o t e n t i a l D i s r u p t i o n s

Thought leaders and executives see multiple drivers shapingour world between now and 2025; technology and their innova-tive applications are only one driver. Yet, technology and inno-vation are a key source of disruptions - both negative and posi-tive ones - as our social systems and economies shift during thisperiod of accelerating change. Now couple science and tech-nology developments with demographics changes, concernabout the environment and climate change, and proposed shiftsfrom fossil fuels to alternate sources of energy. And considerthe convergence of these forces.

During the same period, globalization will continue to accel-erate, driving complexity, innovation and a myriad of new oppor-

tunities and challenges. Many of these developments will con-tinue to fuel knowledge-based economies and societies, dis-rupting industrial-age structures, organizations, and businessmodels. These disruptions can cause new conflicts and chal-lenges for some and create opportunities for others. The par-ticular technology developments we explored highlighted dis-ruptions at a different, more personal and social level. For ex-ample, with the expected developments of personalized bio- andnanotechnology applications and ubiquitous sensing capabili-ties, many thought leaders emphasized the potential impact onprivacy.

There could be an inverse relationship between technologicalcapabilities and societal permissiveness. New privacy laws andregulations will increasingly tie up the government in "a morassof red tape" as officials strive to catch up with technical ad-vancements. Thought leaders generally agree that the govern-ment will continue to fall behind the technology curve, causing

it to be perceived as unresponsive.As humans augment performanceand health with technology, somemay alter their view of technology it-self; others will not. In the past,technology was seen as an instru-ment or tool fashioned from sci-ence and engineering. Technologywas separate and outside us.Some say that food additives,steroids, drugs, contact lenses,knees, and stents are already com-mon technologies inside of hu-mans today. By 2025, many willhave much more technology insideof them and consider that normal,even "natural." Others will resist.Disruptions may manifest as largescale political and economic shifts,as pressures on social norms suchas privacy, and as personal distinc-tions. Maturing technologies willnot cause all these disruptions, butwe expect them to be relevant tothe decisions citizens and leadersmake.

The World Homeland SecurityGroup Centres of Excellence (WHS COE) throughout India willcertainly be focusing; researching, training and monitoring all as-pects which can help India increase the speed and safety ofthese new 21st Century technologies. There will also be an in-creased global threat of terrorism which will require all of us tobe more alert and helpful with real facts so that we can makeefforts to help our communities. In the months ahead we atWorld Homeland Security Group (WHS Group/WHS COE) will besharing security and safety tips with all the Opinion Expressreaders so that more peaceful actions can be taken by all of yougood people.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to con-tact Opinion Express Editor team and we look forward to an-swering. For further details in regards to the specialized tacticalsecurity solutions we can offer your family and businessesthroughout the world please view the World Homeland SecurityGroup Inc website at www.worldhomelandsecurity.com andplease email [email protected]

www.worldhomelandsecurity.com

The World Homeland Security GroupCentres of Excellence (WHS COE)throughout India will certainly be focus-ing; researching, training and monitor-ing all aspects which can help India in-crease the speed and safety of thesenew 21st Century technologies.


GoAir is India's leading low fare airlinebased in Mumbai and is the aviationforay of the Wadia Group. Positionedas 'the Smart People's Airline',GoAir aims at offering passengers a

consistent, quality-assured and time-efficientservice through 'pocket-friendly' fares. GoAir op-erates with 8 aircraft and today hosts theyoungest fleet in Indian skies. The airline cur-rently operates across 13 destinations through596 weekly flights and 42 routes. The airlineuses the state-of-the-art Airbus A320 aircraftfleet. The GoAir route network as of February2010, spans prominent business metropolis'across the length and breadth of the Indian sub-continent. This includes Ahmedabad, Bangalore,Chandigarh, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Jaipur, Jammu,Mumbai, Srinagar, Guwahati, Bagdogra andIndore. Through this route network GoAir en-sures a smart value-for-money option for bothbusiness and leisure travelers, without compro-mising on either safety or service factors.

In addition to this, GoAir plans to focus on itsBusiness plan of inducting to its existing brandnew fleet of 8 aircraft, another 12 aircraft by2012 details of which will be shared in a phasedout manner. GoAir is also planning to relaunchits cargo services shortly under the brand nameGoCargo.

GoAir's distribution network has been well-re-searched and after thorough evaluation of theavailable mediums, the Airline has introduced agamut of service options designed to make tick-ets very accessible to a traveller. The airline hasalso partnered with Radixx International, a lead-ing technology provider of automated aviationand travel related software solutions, for the useof its Air Enterprise. The adoption of such tech-nology solutions enables GoAir to achieve supe-rior process efficiency, thereby helping transfera greater portion of time savings to its passen-gers.

Q&A with RRaakkeesshh TTiiwwaarrii,Director, Commercial

Q. Global aviation sector is passing through its worst peri-od in the recent past but GoAir have managed to hold itsground firmly in recessionary time, explain the secret of thisunique achievement?

Due to a churn in Market in 2009, Indian airline Industry suf-fered the most as they grew too big too fast and passenger loadfactor dropped consistently. Now that it is predicted that growthwill return to the Indian aviation industry over the next sixmonths we are hoping to see drastic improvement in the IndianAviation industry especially on the domestic front as more andmore people are travelling by air these days considering thereis not much difference in the Train and Air Ticket prices. GoAirrealized in 2005 that the industry would take upto 3 - 5 yearsto turn healthy and as a result decided to increase its fleetstrength only starting in 2009. This strategy was critized bymany as GoAir was consistently told that it is too small and thatGoAir is not growing its fleet like the other airlines. Today thesame critics respect GoAir's strategy as we are the only airlinenot to return aircraft and not to retrench people. On the con-trary when most airlines are retrenching there staff and re-turning/subleasing there aircraft we are in fact hiring peopleand bringing in more aircraft. In addition to this GoAir has seenconsiderable improvement in its Load Factor and Market Sharefor the last six months. GoAir has also one of the bestCancellation rate as compared to other airlines and the highestmarket share % per aircraft. GoAir plans to focus on itsBusiness plan of inducting to its existing brand new fleet of 8aircraft, another 12 aircraft by 2012, completing its order of 20Airbus's which the company bought in the year 2007 for $1.2

FACE-TO-FACE‘Our’s is the only airline not to

return aircraft & retrench people’

FACE-TO-FACE


Billion USD. GoAir is planning to in-duct its 9th & 10th Aircraft by Septemberthis year and the rest of the 10 aircraftby 2012. Today we are in a position to ex-pand irrespective of the economic down-turn, which we all know is temporary.GoAir is positioned as 'the SmartPeople's Airline'. Its captivating theme,'Fly Smart' is aimed at offering passen-gers a consistent, quality-assured andtime-efficient service through 'pocket-friendly' fares. Airline efficiency is at anall time high owing to the all new fleet inthe sky. GoAir operates with 8 aircraftand today hosts the youngest fleet inIndian skies(average age of 12 month).GoAir since inception endeavors to giveits customers value for money by launch-ing one of the most attractive innovativeoffers and being very competitivelypriced. GoAir currently offers three prod-uct categories as compared to one eachby the other airlines. The recent launch-es by the airline are GoBusiness whichgives the customers advantage to fly theComfort of a Business class at the priceof an Economy Class fare. Fly smart of-fers-Tickets booked 30 days in advancecan be bought at 0 base fare and GoFlexi -Passenger can change or returntickets in a day's time without having topay anything extra. Also all GoAir Pilotsand Aircraft are Cat IIIB compliant to nav-igate through foggy conditions success-fully.

Q What is the future of low fare airlinein India? Why a conventional airline isturning out to be a liability in Indian con-text?

The low cost carriers have undoubted-ly been the real innovators by keeping atight rein on costs all along. When thefirst LCC was launched in India, therewas enough debate around it. Industryexperts, analysts and stake holdersquestioned the significance of the LCCmodel for the Indian market for variousreasons like lack of secondary airports,absence of disparity in the airportcharges paid by the full service carriersand the LCCs respectively. However overtime, the low cost model has proved tobe a more viable option for the Indianmarket than the full service carrier mod-el. This is evident from the current mar-ket scenario, which further shores up thecase for the LCCs in India. No wonder,LCCs have carved their own niche marketat a rapid rate. While full service carriershad been adversely affected by risingcosts of operations, low volumes of traf-fic and overcapacity in a falling market -Low-cost carriers had notched highermarket share and are still giving a tough

time to full service carriers. It is evidentthat the airlines are battling with variousstrategies and value added initiatives tocombat their financial loses. The legacycarriers are now betting on no-frills asthey have realized that India is a low-costmarket. Liberalization of the Indian avia-tion sector lead to the emergence of theprivate airlines and the very successfulLow Cost Model in India has made airtravel an affordable mode of transporta-tion.

Q Cost of operations in India is grow-ing rapidly in India that is putting pres-sure on even low fare airline, what spe-cific strategy is planned by GoAir man-agement to counter this threat?

Due to a churn in Market in 2009,Indian Airline Industry suffered the mostas they grew too big too fast and pas-senger load factor dropped consistently.Now that it is predicted that growth willreturn to the Indian aviation industry overthe next six months we are hoping to seedrastic improvement in the IndianAviation industry especially on the do-mestic front as more and more peopleare travelling by air these days consider-ing there is not much difference in theTrain and Air Ticket prices. GoAir realizedin 2005 that the industry would takeupto 3 - 5 years to turn healthy and as aresult decided to increase its fleetstrength only starting in 2009. Thisstrategy was critized by many as GoAirwas consistently told that it is too smalland that GoAir is not growing its fleet likethe other airlines. Today the same criticsrespect GoAir's strategy as we are theonly airline not to return aircraft and notto retrench people. On the contrarywhen most airlines are retrenching therestaff and returning/subleasing there air-craft we are in fact hiring people andbringing in more aircraft. In addition tothis GoAir has seen considerable im-

provement in its Load Factor and MarketShare for the last six months. GoAir hasalso one of the best Cancellation rate ascompared to other airlines and the high-est market share % per aircraft.

Q Price of oil is a key factor to avia-tion industry, with the inflation loominglarge and price of oil is escalating tohigher side what will be the GoAir spe-cific strategy to mitigate this factor?

GoAir since inception endeavors togive its customers value for money bylaunching one of the most attractive in-novative offers and being very competi-tively priced. . Fly smart offers-Ticketsbooked 30 days in advance can bebought at 0 base fare and Go Flexi -Passenger can change or return ticketsin a day's time without having to pay any-thing extra.

Q Tell us about Go Cargo? GoAir, India's smartest airline has in-

troduced a dedicated air cargo business,branded Go Cargo from December 13,2009. The airline has outsourced 3rdparty vendor as its national partner forcargo business. The airline will connectall the 13 cities under the GoAir networkfor Cargo Business. Air Cargo traffic inIndia has been growing due to strong do-mestic demand and rising internationaltrade. According to the reports, the aircargo observed the highest growth in thecargo transportation sector in 2007-2008. Today, domestic cargo market inIndia offers a huge potential with a mar-ket share of approximately Rs 33cr permonth. The market will get a furtherboost with the recent raise of the FDI lim-its allowing up to 74 percent stake inIndian cargo airlines, as this will bring inthe much-needed capital and global bestpractices to the Indian air cargo industry.With Go Cargo, GoAir anticipates toachieve a market share of 10%.


MIDAS DOC

Dr Rajesh Khanna was born inChandigarh and raised in Delhi.Tenant of doctors, had an influ-ence on choosing a profession.

Good school with excellent teachers whohelped to guide us. The top from our classall chose medicine. Even though he gotadmission into five medical colleges in-cluding Maulana Azad ( MAMC), he optedfor Jawaharlal Institute of PostgraduateMedical Education and Research (JIP-MER), Pondicherry. During medicalschool he had a rotation in

Ophthalmology. Dr RK was so fascinatedby the colors in the eyes. Therefore I dida residency in King Edward MedicalCollege, amongst the best in India.

Next phase of life was very interestingand fulfilling. Dr RK got a teaching post inTerna Medical College and was appointedat the youngest consultant at MahatamaGandhi Medical College.

He started private practice in NewBombay. At that time in one of the lec-tures he was attending, he met a leadingrefractive surgeon from the United States.Talking to him he realized that how far ad-vanced US was in that field.

There was no such opportunity in Indiaat that time. So he embarked on a mis-sion to win a fellowship or advanced train-ing in the United States. For this he hadto write and pass a series of exams calledUSMLE. On overcoming that hurdle hewas accepted into the University ofCincinnati for a Corneal and Refractivesurgery fellowship.

Doc with Dr. Rajesh Khanna, MD the

The Khanna Institute of Lasik, locatedin Los Angeles, was established with

the idea that people should be able totrust a doctor and the Institution for theirvision. First do noharm was the guid-ing principle

. KhannaInstitute is one ofthe most compre-hensive Lasik facil-ities serving theLos Angeles area.Our main locationsinclude Beverly Hills and Westlake vil-lage. Each one of our facilities includesthe latest and most superior technologyin eye and patient care.

Khanna Institute specializes in provid-ing individualized vision correction carewith a calm and caring approach. All pa-tients are evaluated and personallycared for by Dr. Khanna and his well

trained, certified staff in our modernsurgical facilities.

.The Khanna institute of Lasik hasserved thousands of individuals across

the globe.Including some upand coming moviestars such asCorbin Blue fromHigh SchoolMusical andBrenda Song fromDisney. World fa-mous celebrities

like Sharon Stone Smokey Robinson andbillionaire tycoon Richard Branson haveconsulted with Dr. Khanna. As well asthe President of Jewish life television,he had his eyes operated on at our eyeinstitute. Dr. Khanna has performed vi-sion correction procedures on nearlypeople from all professions and fromage ranges of 5 to age 106.

Fixing eye is our mottoKhanna Institute of Lasik

Next phase of life was veryinteresting and fulfilling. DrRK got a teaching post inTerna Medical College andwas appointed at theyoungest consultant atMahatama Gandhi MedicalCollege.

DR RAJESH KHANNA WITH RICHARD BRANSON

MIDAS DOC


The next 16 months he was able to in-teract with imbibe skills from corneal spe-cialists. Dr RK learnt Radial keratototomy,laser vision correction and advancedcataract surgery withPhakoemulsification.

Dr RK proudly narrates his achieve-ments in US, he said - “ I have been for-tunate that my surgical skills and hardwork has been recognized on many levels.The readers of Los Angeles Daily newsvoted me the best LASIK surgeon. The pa-tients’ have written numerous heartfeltnotes of gratitude. I have had the honor ofoperating on physician colleagues, mystaff and family members and celebrities.I have been bestowed the CongressionalMedal of Honor. Today I am the Team oph-thalmologist for the US men’s andwomen’s Water polo team. Numerous ar-ticles have been written about me in thepress. I have been interviewed on radioand television.”

Dr RK have presented numerous origi-nal research papers to my peers at theAmerican academy of ophthalmology andthe American society of refractivesurgery’s annual meetings. At the sametime he continually imbibes new surgicaltechniques.

The Khanna Institute of Lasik hasstrived to be one of the leaders in visioncorrection. Our facilities include the lat-est and most updated top of the linetechnology for vision correction. We usethe latest, safest, and most precise FDAapprovedtechnolo-gy. TheKhanna in-s t i t u t eprides it-self in of-fering allc u r r e n ttechnologyfor refrac-tive sur-gery. Thisallows usto offerwhat is best for the patient, preventingus from doubting one technology as be-ing better than the other. We offer thelatest vision correction as in Lasik,Superlasik, Lasek, Post Lasik and Lasekprocedures .We also offer all laser Lasikvision correction using the Intralasehere in our facility.

Custom Wavefront Lasik for the cor-rection of farsightedness or nearsight-edness, Superlasik for individuals withthin corneas and LASEK individuals whomay have had a previous refractive pro-cedure, multifocal lenses, refractive

lens exchangeand ultra smallincision refrac-tion cataracts u r g e r y .K h a n n aInstitute pro-vides each pa-tient with acustom proce-dure made tofit with that in-dividual’s dailylife and hob-bies.

All the Cataract and PRELEX surgeriesare done in an AAA HC and Medicare cer-tified surgical center. People from all cor-ners of the world including Australia,Argentina, and India have flown in tohave their eyes operated with us.

Coordinated by Opinion Express NorthAmerica Bureau

Custom Wavefront Lasik for the cor-rection of farsightedness or near-sightedness, Superlasik for individu-als with thin corneas and LASEK in-dividuals who may have had a previ-ous refractive procedure, multifocallenses, refractive lens exchange andultra small incision refraction cataractsurgery.

O P I N I O N E X P R E S S FEBRUARY 2010 I 43

MIDAS DOC

Dr Rajesh Khanna spoke with our editorP R A S H A N T T E WARI on wide rang-ing issues, including his personal life. Hetouched the basic instinct of a profes-sional with tremendous marketing skills. Q. “Do your Duty and Enjoy Life”, DrRajesh Khanna is a dedicated profession-al with an inbuilt showman traits. How doyou explain this rare synergy?

Believing in the dictum that we havecontrol on our efforts but not the result.And believing in karma- do good unto oth-ers and good shall come back to you.Therefore whatever project I undertake Igive my 100 %. I don’t get depressed if aparticular project does not succeed. For itis better to have fought like a tiger andlost than to have run away from a battle.Q. You enjoy your work because you arehappy in doing it but there are many peo-ple who cannot fulfill their desired dreamshence seeking tips of art of living fromsuccessful person like yourself, suggestroad map to them.

There is no substitute for hard work. Abalanced life with time devoted to work,family, sports and creativity or hobbies. Itis for sure that having a written schedulewhich one follows helps tremendously.Avoid binge eating or drinking.Q. What pioneering and innovative work isdone in your Khanna Instiute of Lasik andRefractive Surgery ?

Our main focus is on patient safety andexcellent results. So we keep absorbingthe latest technology and skills. A fewyears agowe introduced PRELEX surgery,where a person above 50 years can seefar and near in each eye. Our goal is tomake Khanna vision synonymous withquality of visual surgery. We also offer thelatest surgical treatment for keratoconus,where cornea is weak.Q. It is said that eyes are the window toworld, Dr Rajesh Khanna is touching themost crucial part of the man’s imagina-tion hence do you feel super hero in you?

I don’t know about feeling a superhero,but I do feel utmost happiness when acertified blind person can see again. Thatreward is so satisfying that all the hardwork feels worthwhile.Q. Dr Khanna is obsessed with glamour

or it comes naturally to you?I don’t run after glamour. I am proud of

who I am, my roots and background. I amnot pretentious. I think that is whyHollywood celebrities feel comfortable

with me. Happiness and glamour are likea butterfly. The more you run after it themore it runs away from you. If you be pa-tient they come and sit on your shouldersQ. Living in west and earning name andfame must have given tremendous satis-faction to you, do you harbor any plan totake your skills to deprived people in Asiaand Africa for larger satisfaction?

That is the ultimate lofty goal. I have re-alized no one individual can do it alone.We would need the help of philanthropicbusinessman to support the infrastruc-ture and execute the operations.Governmental and ophthalmic Industryhelp would be needed too. In this envi-ronment the best surgeons in the worldcan come and help the needy.Q. Now that India is growing and west isin grip of severe recession, you have anycommercial plans to touch base India innear future?

I think the recession in the US will endin a few years. India is special. The mid-dle class in India is the largest in theworld. And now we have some of the rich-est people in the world. The society andpoliticians are maturing too. I feel anycommercial plan will have to be linkedwith a charitable component.Q. What is the fundamental work differ-ence between west and east in medicalprofession?

The emphasis laid on evidence basedmedicine in the west is the significant dif-ference. Quality of surgery and the out-comes are stressed and appreciated inthe Unites States.

Believing in thePOWER OF KARMA

I don’t know about feelinga superhero, but I do feelutmost happiness when acertified blind person cansee again. That reward isso satisfying that all thehard work feels worth-while. Dr Rajesh Khanna

WITHPAULAABDUL


VROOM...

By Herman Silochan, Canada Bureau

Toronto: It is difficult to believe the beauty and technological ge-nius called Infiniti Essence, it is a concept car built by Infiniti to com-memorate the 20th anniversary of the Infiniti brand. The car is a hy-brid electric vehicle. The vehicle was designed by Infiniti design di-rector Takashi Nakajima.

The Essence concept is not expected to enter production, as itwas created as a brand icon to celebrate Infiniti's twenty years ofhistory.

It included a 3.7L V6 gasoline engine with twin turbochargers rat-

ed 440 PS (320 kW; 430 hp), an electric motor (called 3D Motor)rated 160 PS (120 kW; 160 hp) and 500 N·m (370 lb·ft), with com-bined rating of 600 PS (440 kW; 590 hp).The electric motor waspowered by lithium-ion battery at lower trunk area.

A three-piece Louis Vuitton luggage set fits in the trunk, and thefloor slides out when the trunk is open to access the luggage.

The Infiniti Essence also contains safety features to prevent col-lisions in the back and side that are known as Side CollisionPrevention (SCP) and Back-up Collision Prevention (BCP). Sensorson the sides and back warn the driver when it senses a vehicle, andbrakes are activated if the warning is ignored.

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DIASPORA

Krishna Avanti, a name that will godown in British history as the firstHindu school established throughstate and private funds to pro-

mote high quality education within aframework of Hindu values and ethos.Background to Education in England

There are some 17, 064 PrimarySchools, 3,225 Secondary Schools,1,058 Special Schools, 2356Independent Schools and 133Academies. In total there are around 24,737 schools of all types in England.

Of these, faith schools represent6,384 Primary Schools and 589Secondary schools.

Breaking this down further there are4,716 that are Church of England, 2,108Roman Catholic, 37 Jewish, sevenMuslim, two Sikh, one Greek Orthodoxand one Seventh Day Adventist. No Hinduschools.

It was the Labour Party when elected in1997 that brought in the law which for thefirst time allowed people of other faiths toalso aspire to have their own faithschools. Until then all state faith schools

were Christian or Jewish.The Road to Krishna

The brain child is that of the I-Foundation, an organisation set up to es-tablish sustainable projects that furtherthe advancement of Vedic culture and phi-losophy. In pursuit of their aims, the foun-dation contributed around £2 million sothat if accepted by the Governments’ ed-ucation department, they could then har-ness a subsidy of more than £10 million

to help build the school. It has also se-cured the support of its faith partner,ISKCON (UK) which will underpin the Vedicand Hindu values of the school.Ground breaking ceremony

The road to Krishna led the foundationto Harrow. Harrow has the highest Hinduconcentration of any borough in theUnited Kingdom and home to over 40,000Hindus. This represents 19.6% of theHarrow population compared to 47.3%Christian, 6.3% Jewish and 7.2% Muslim.This makes Hindus the second largest re-ligious group in Harrow, and the largestethnic group. Yet, there was no faithbased schooling provision for the Hinducommunity in the locality.

Commenting on this the leading HinduPeer, Lord Dholakia, said, “It is simply notsustainable for Hindu parents to be ex-cluded from often outstanding faith-based educational opportunities alreadyavailable to Anglicans, Catholics,Methodists, Baptists, Jews, Muslims andSikhs. The I-Foundation’s plans offer theopportunity to put right this inadvertentwrong.”

Britain’s First Hindu School

By Kapil Dudakia

DIASPORA


Giving support was Cllr David Ashton,Leader of Harrow Council who said, "Wehave been pleased to support the estab-lishment of the country's first state fund-ed Hindu primary school in Harrow, bothat the planning stage and then by offeringtemporary classrooms for its pupils whilethis outstanding site was built.”What about the name?

Did you know that during his presenceon this planet, Lord Krishna also went toschool? Yes of course, and it was in aplace called Avanti. Hence with the name'Krishna-Avanti’.

What did it take to build it?The whole project was completed with-

in 15 months; it was on time and evenmore interesting, on budget also. Thebuilding will get 70% of its heating fromground source heat pumps – that is right,it will recycle heat from the ground so thatit is used in the school.

The Temple is build from Makrana mar-ble carved in Makrana itself. It has won-derful teak doors and the altar is fromUjjain. The outside temple walls havecarvings of Dasavatar and Krishna lilawith the inside walls covered with carv-ings of stories from the SrimadBhagavatam.Facilities at the school

The School offers children an eco-friendly state-of-the-art building and facili-ties to encourage learning and play. Thesedum roof classrooms are equipped onthe inside with the best of modern tech-nology, including interactive white boardsand laptop access.

The classrooms are also designed tooptimise light, acoustic and ventilationlevels so that children have an ideal learn-ing environment all year round. It alsohouses a designated ITC suite for distinctITC lessons and a special Creative Spacelab, ideal for cooking and science les-sons. All these core teaching areas havebeen designed with the concept of seam-

less flow between classroom and outdoorteaching provision. Pupils playing the playground

Music and drama form an important as-pect of the School's curriculum with adesignated music and drama room. Thissmall hall adjoins both the main hall (gym)and the marble temple where collectiveworship will take place on daily basis.

The main hall includes a theatricalstage, lighting and sound for school per-formances. Physical education for all

Sports facilities at the school are vastand cutting edge. There is a large allweather pitch ideal for football or rugbyany time of the year, a grass pitch forhockey and tennis, an indoor gym for gym-nastics, basketball and other indoorsports, and several different adventureplay areas catered to the different key

stage groups. For older classes, there isalso a separate girls changing area.

The landscaping provides for variousdifferent learning facilities. Some of thesefacilities include a pond, wildlife gardensand an outdoor amphitheatre.

The catering facilities include a kitchencapable of providing fresh, hot, healthyvegetarian meals for children of Krishna-Avanti, and other nearby schools if re-quired.What do people say about the school?

Nitesh Gor, the Chair of Governors said,“In only our second year, we had five ap-plicants for every two places. We com-bine the ethical values and moral disci-pline which accompany faith educationwith a willingness to engage with theworld beyond and prepare our children toplay a full part in British society.”

Lord Dholakia

The small temple is actually part of theschool building itself

Nitesh Gor – Chair

The Temple is build fromMakrana marble carved inMakrana itself. It has wonderfulteak doors and the altar is fromUjjain. The outside temple wallshave carvings of Dasavatar andKrishna lila with the inside wallscovered with carvings...


DIASPORA

Elena Beltran-Clarke (parent) said,“Krishna-Avanti School offers to our childthe rare opportunity to grow and developat all levels: socially, emotionally, aca-demically and especially spiritually."

The Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP (Chairman,Home Affairs Committee andChairman, Ethnic Minority TaskForce) said, “The Labour govern-ment made a historic decisionwhen it came to power in 1997 toopen up the faith schools sectorto people of all faiths. By doingso, it allowed for equality andequity regardless of one's faith.Krishna Avanti represents the re-alisation of the aspirations of theHindu community which has con-tributed so magnificently to theUnited Kingdom. It's a proudday for both the Hindu communi-ty and also for the nation to see such su-perb facilities being made available with-in the ethos of Hindu values.”

The Conservative Party leader, DavidCameron said, “I'm in favour of choiceand discretion. I think that actually drivesup quality and standards in our educationsystem.

Faith schools often bring a culture andan ethos to a school that can help themimprove. I'm a supporter politically andpersonally.”

So all three political parties in the UKhave now come to a shared belief that al-lowing other faith communities to havetheir own schools is not only unavoidable,but positively a requirement for the bet-terment of educational provision in the

country.And what do I think?

As an ex-inspector of schools in the UK,and a Hindu advising a number of nation-al organisations - I of course do have aninsider view on the events that are un-

folding. Whilst there existed several thou-sand Christian and Jewish faith schools inthe UK, it was unacceptable to continuewith the practice of not allowing otherfaiths the same right under the law.Therefore giving this right was the firststep towards realising equality in practice.

Having a right is one thing, exercisingthat right for the betterment of society isof course a totally different challenge.Faith communities have a challenge ontheir hands to not only establish some ofthe best schools in the country, but toalso ensure that any particular faith ide-ology does not highjack the core educa-tional aims of a school. The Hindu com-munity is of course blessed in that thecore elements of Santhan Dharma are so

universal that the emergent core valuesand ethos will no doubt attract people ofall faiths.

The Hindu (Indian) community haveshown that when it comes to educationalexcellence, we are second to none and in

the vast majority of cases, ourchildren will normally top mostclasses. However, education forthe acquisition of paper certifi-cates and bragging rights of howmany degrees one has got is notin itself sufficient for a full andmeaningful life. The formation ofone’s character based on solidvalues is fundamental to how weas a society develop over thecoming decades. The world haslost its moral and ethical com-pass – maybe the children of to-morrow having gone through an

educational experience at one of the faithschools might be better placed to guidethe planet to a better future.

For the time being, Krishna Avantistands on the green fields of England.Proud of its tradition, cultural heritage andfaith. Ready to meet the needs of thechildren and to contribute to the richnessof our diverse society and towards helpingto build good relations with all communi-ties.

(The writer is an Ex-Ofsted Inspector ofSchools in the UK. He is now an interna-tional business consultant working in di-

verse sectors such as infrastructure,trade finance, investment funds, com-

modities and health care. Email:[email protected])

Rt Hon David Cameron MP

I'm in favour of choiceand discretion. I think thatactually drives up qualityand standards in our ed-ucation system. Faithschools often bring a cul-ture and an ethos to aschool that can helpthem improve. I'm a sup-porter politically and per-sonally.

The Hindu (Indian) communityhave shown that when it comes toeducational excellence, we aresecond to none and in the vastmajority of cases, our children willnormally top most classes.However, education for the acqui-sition of paper certificates andbragging rights of how many de-grees one has got is not in itselfsufficient for a full and meaningfullife. The formation of one’s char-acter based on solid values is fun-damental to how we as a societydevelop over the comingdecades.


GOPIO NEWS

Rashad Hussain, White House lawyer and ahafiz of the Holy Quran, has been chosen byPresident Obama as America's special en-

voy to the Organisation of Islamic Countries.Hussain 31, is entrusted with expanding part-

nerships with Muslims across the world, an im-portant element of Obama's foreign policy and ameasure to repair the US' strained relations withthe Islamic world.

As a hafiz - a person who has memorised theholy Islamic text of the Quran - Hussain is a re-spected member of the American Muslim commu-nity.

Hussain has also worked with the NationalSecurity Staff. He is currently the DeputyAssociate Counsel to the President and his workfocuses on national security, new media, scienceand technology.

In a neuroscience knowledge contest heldin Sydney, Uma Jha 14, of Perth'sShenton College beat

over 4000 competitors fromAustralia to win the title.

The Australian Brain BeeChallenge is designed totest high school studentson a range of topics includ-ing intelligence, memory,emotions, sleep,Alzheimer's disease andstrokes. Students mustcompete against other statewinners in the national finalof the competition that alsoincluded a brain-teasing

anatomy exam, doctor patient diagnosis anda neuroscience quiz.

After the eventwinner Uma said thecompetition was atie till the end and itwas a nerve wrack-ing finish. She hasnever won a nationalscience competitionbefore and isamazed.

Uma will nowtravel to Californiafor the InternationalBrain Bee Challengein August.

Murzban F Shroff, Mumbai based authorwho spent sixteen years in the advertisingbusiness at a number of multinational agen-cies left, to create his own consultancy thatovertook his expectations for its measure ofsuccess. That overwhelming achievementapart, he says he lacked a deep downsense of fulfillment and decided to cross thechasm and return to his first love - writing.

During his seven years after returning tohis love of words, ideas, and the nuts andbolts of the author's slow and self torturousconstruction of a creative concept, this timea book, he published fiction in over 25 liter-ary journals in the US.

He also published his fiction in severaljournals in India, Japan and the UK.

In 2008 his debut short story collection,'Breathless in Bombay' was published bySt Martin's Press, USA. The work was alsopublished by Picador India and received araft of critical acclaim from various forumsand reviewers including the BBC AsianNetwork.

This year Murzban's 'Breathless inBombay' was shortlisted for the 2009Commonwealth Writers' Prize in the bestfirst book category from Europe and SouthAsia. Murzban is currently at work on a nov-el and a larger-than-life India collection.

NRI appointed USenvoy to Org of

Islamic Countries

Australia's brainieststudent is NRI teen

NRI author shortlisted forCommonwealth Writers' Prize

US President Barack Obama has ap-pointed Jhumpa Lahiri, IndianAmerican Pulitzer Prize winning author

as a member of his Committee on the Artsand Humanities.

Mr Obama stated he is proud that MsLahiri and five other individuals will serve hisadministration and enhance the vibrancy ofour society, inspire us and strengthen ourdemocracy.

Others appointed to the committee areChuck Close, Fred Goldring, Sheila Johnson,Pamela Joyner and Ken Solomon.

Lahiri's debut collection of stories'Interpreter of Maladies' received thePulitzer Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award,the Addison M Metcalf Award and the New

Yorker magazine'sDebut of the Year.

Her novel 'TheNamesake' was a New York Times NotableBook, a finalist for the Los Angeles TimesBook Prize and was selected as one of thebest books of the year by USA Today andEntertainment Weekly.

Her latest collection of stories'Unaccustomed Earth' won the FrankO'Connor International Short Story Awardand the Vallombrosa-Gregor von RezzoriPrize.

The film that was made on 'TheNamesake' incidentally starred Kal Pennwho is now working for the White House.

US Prez appoints JhumpaLahiri to arts committee

Lahiri's debut collection of stories 'Interpreter of Maladies'received the Pulitzer Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award,the Addison M Metcalf Award and the New Yorker maga-zine's Debut of the Year. Her novel 'The Namesake' was aNew York Times Notable Book, a finalist for the LosAngeles Times Book Prize...


GOPIO NEWS

Turner prize-winner AnishKapoor 55, has joined theranks of the UK's super

wealthy artists with a multi millionpound fortune.

In 2008 Kapoor made a profit of17 million pounds taking his art for-tune to 40 million pounds. He nowplans to add a 5 million pound coun-try house in the Berkshire downs tohis assets. He will be the first spe-cialist sculptor on the Sunday TimesRich List when the 2010 edition isreleased, joining artists as DamienHirst and Lucian Freud.

Kapoor whose giant sculpturesadorn squares from Chicago toNottingham is now engaged in theworld's largest commission, a 15million series of sculptures knownas the Tees Valley Giants, destinedfor five towns in northeast England.

Kapoor was born in Mumbai andthe main activity of his company,White Dark, is the creation and saleof art.

NRI sculptor on UK millionaire listArtist Anish Kapoor poses next to his major instillation artwork, entitled Shooting into the Corner, which fires red wax at the Royal Academy’s walls every twentyminutes

Blocks of snow slowly slide down Anish Kapoor’s sculpture called ‘Cloud Gate’, also popularly known by ‘the bean’


The Chief Executive Officer and CIO ofTimetunnel Consulting, South Africa Dr.Gaurav Pradhan was awarded with “Hind

Rattan Award 2010” by Mr. VilasraoDeshmukh, Union Minister for HeavyIndustries and Public Enterprise, Governmentof India at 29th International Conference ofNRIs.

This prestigious award is being presentedfor his outstanding services, achievementsand contributions in IT Industry globally andkeeping the Flag of India high. He is the firstNRI from South Africa to be awarded this pres-tigious award.

Dr Pradhan was honored with this award onthe eve of Republic Day, 25th of January2010, at a glittering function in the presenceof dignitaries from all over the world at HotelLalit, New Delhi.

Dr Pradhan has distinguished himself as an

Entrepreneur, a Management Consultant, anInnovator and a world class IndianProfessional.

Keeping in view his contributions in ICTIndustry, teaching and research for more than19 years, he was appointed as advisor tomany African Government and Companies.

Research accomplishments of Dr Pradhaninclude Green IT, Micro Generation and com-mercial projects running on Off Grid Power. Inhis career of 19 years in more than 50 coun-tries, he has been involved with and headedsome of the biggest IT projects.

Dr. Pradhan designed the Timetunnel GreenView and Timetunnel Unified Banking Engine.Both these solutions have near zero carbonfoot print, operate on Off Grid Power and arebased on FOSS Architecture. The TUBE canempower millions of people with affordableworld class banking.

Gauteng Treasury hired him to develop amodel that entails 15 provincial departmentscompiling their annual budgets on the web, on-line at real time. The project was the first of itskind in South African public sector. He led theproject team from conceptualization, vir tual-ization and development. With his high-levelexpertise, the project was adopted by theprovince at large and enabled on-line compila-tion, in time, less administrative processes,less costs. Recently he was heading thePassenger Rail Agency of South Africa - PRASASAP project.

At present Dr. Pradhan is working on an offgrid based green IT and Micro Generation proj-

ect for urban and rural users. He is also work-ing on the world first off grid based $100 mil-lion Green Sport Complex project for India.

His passion and mission is to light as muchhome as possible and make world class edu-cation & sports affordable to every child. Inhis view, quality Education & Health is the fun-damental key to build a strong nation andeconomy.

Dr. Pradhan, a keen golfer was born in asmall town Bareilly, UP, India. His detailed

profile can be downloaded fromwww.linkedin.com/in/gauravpradhan. His ba-sic schooling was at KV ASC Bareilly.

He is married to Ms. Maniksha, an engineerby profession and blessed with a 6 year oldson Jai, who only dreams to win awardsthrough his hard work and have a display shelfnext to his father’s one.

POSTSCRIPTFirst NRI from SA to bagHind Rattan awardFirst NRI from SA to bagHind Rattan award

Dr Gaurav Pradhan

The objective of the GlobalEconomic Summit was toproject the global trade and

investment potential sphere head-ed by India which was achievedthrough a large extent with thesupport of over 300 Business toBusiness meeting organized toforge global alliances and the pre-sentations made by the heads ofvarious regions, policy decisionmakers and special Envoys toIndia provided the perfect plat-form for investors to assess theInvestment market globally. Over35 countries participated in pre-senting their investment opportu-nities during the 2-day Summit.

Mr. Subodh Kant Sahai,Minister of Food Processing

Industries, Govt. of India in his in-augural address said,“Government has approved thescheme for the establishment ofMega Food Parks, for which Rs.50crore worth grant would be pro-vided by the Central Governmentfor each Mega Food Park. We willset up 10 such Mega Food Parksinitially, out of the total proposed30 Mega Food Parks during the11th Plan period.

Storage and logistics of theagri-produce is another majorchallenge. World over logisticscost of entire processing chainworks out to be 6% of the productcost in case of India it is as highas 11%. He hoped that this costwould be brought down.

Global Economic Summitconcludes successfully

with Global Alliances

L to R: Mrs. Ravneet Kaur, Chairperson and Managing Director, Export-Import Bank of India, Mr. Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association ofIndustries (AIAI) and Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre, Mumbai , Mr.Chhagan C. Bhujbal, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister, Government ofMaharashtra, Mr. Kamal Morarka, Chairman, World Trade Centre, Mumbai,Mr Subodh Kant Sahai, Hon’ble Minister for Food Processing Industries,Government of India at the Inaugural function of Global Economic Summiton Trade and Investment held in Mumbai.

building india for the new millennium-indian opinion express -manoj benjamin page 27

Real Estate

indias housing industry

indias middle class

indias real estate sector

slicker cities indias

land loans

lot of housing

urban areas

nations infrastructure