Numbers:(”12″,”30″, “Billion”)

Figures stem from the fact that though China has the potential, India has the edge and to know more on this read the piece below.  

India should be quite relaxed now to know that China needs another 3-5 years to be of a potential threat to it as regards the global IT industry. surprised right! read on..

Nasscom, India’s National Association of Software and Service Companies, the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT software and services industry in India has released a Whitepaper (the first one in the series) on Tracing China’s IT Software Services Industry Evolution where among other aspects it dispels the myth that China will overtake India as the preferred IT outsourcing destination in the near future.

Some of the Key Highlights (as per Nasscom’s press release)

1. China has the potential to develop a large IT-BPO industry. Underlying this is substantial domestic market potential, a sizeable educated workforce and strong government emphasis on developing the sector
2. Currently the IT-BPO industry in China is in its early phases of evolution. Frequent comparisons with India and commentary positioning China as a substitute destination is misplaced
3. The current industry landscape in China bears some resemblance to earlier years of Indian IT-BPO. However, systemic weaknesses and comparatively evolved demand and competitive environments today pose some additional challenges
4. The Chinese government is keen on promoting this sector. Rapid progress on the ‘tangible’ aspects of infrastructure and capacity creation is evident, softer aspects remain a challenge
5. China is unlikely to catch on India’s lead in global services sourcing in any significant manner over the next 3-5 years. However, it must not be ignored
6. There is a strong case for increased partnership between the two countries as global corporations strive to strike a balance in their Sino-India co-sourcing models

(more…)

Numbers:(”30″,”1.2″, “Million”)

India has an acute shortage of bloggers while China boasts of 25 times more, figures sound as if India is shy to speak or it is offline!.

When I arrived here in Beijing, this year, I found it quite comparable to Delhi when it comes to traffic vows but as regards pollution levels china tops the charts. Anyone who has stayed in New Delhi over a decade knows that living in Delhi was the equivalent of unwillingly smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, not only you could see the pollution but as well could smell and taste it! Now it’s a complete different story, a profound change. Thanks to compressed natural gas (CNG) blessing the Capital.

Considering that Beijing has been accelerating the additions of its cars at the rate of about 1,000 per day and the consequent rise in its pollution, its no wonder that international Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has warned that some Olympic competitions might be postponed if the city did not clean up the air.  Seems like Olympics have shouted out loud at the authorities telling them if u cant fix it, forget it.

So Beijing comes out with the ban on cars and it’s been a bliss for commuters for 4 days in Beijing. Home was within a 15 minute reach whereas it took 4o minutes for the same distance! To those who didn’t know, there was a four-day ban from 17th August onwards which used an odd-even license plate number system, on the odd number day the even number car stays parked. The system was intended to take 1.3 million cars off the road every day - more than a third of the city’s 3 million vehicles. (more…)

                          Year 2007 has been marked as the ‘India-China Year of Friendship through Tourism’ which was lunched on 14.2.2007 in New Delhi to promote tourism between the two countries. On this date the two also officially released a joint logo for the tourism year, made up of Chinese landmark the Great Wall and India’s Taj Mahal as well as the two national flags.

Since then both have had on their agenda number of activities such as :

1. A sixteen Member Chinese Media / Tour Operators group visited India on fam tour in March, 2007 under the ‘Hospitality Scheme’ of Ministry of Tourism. 
2. China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) sponsored delegation comprising of Tour Operators from Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai visited India for tourism promotion.
3. CNTA participated in South Asia Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) Exhibition which was held in April, 2007 in New Delhi
4. Ministry of Tourism organized Road Shows in Beijing and Shanghai in April 2007 to showcase India’s tourist attractions in Chinese market

And both governments are immensely encouraging their citizens to visit each other’s country as part of the move to enhance economic, strategic and cultural ties.

The increase in the number of tourists from China to India and vice versa justifies these moves. (more…)

Numbers:(”300″,”1004″)

EurepGap is Good Agricultural Practice Certification from Euro-Retailer Produce Working Group, in India  the accreditions have highly risen since the last yr justifying its expanding horticulture sector .    

Seems like there’e a complete deadlock between the Indian Government and the Left over the Indo–US Nuclear Deal and none is going to change it mind…

Devils advocate, a classy program on CCN IBN, anchored by Karan Thapar, India’s best known television commentator and interviewer, had an  exclusive interview with Rajya Sabha‘s (Council of States, the Upper House of Parliament) MP,  Sitaram Yechury, on last Sunday, on how and why is the Left against the Nuclear Deal and is the Indian Government going to be “made to fall”?

The discussion was basically on two points: bringing down the government by the Left hence stopping the deal or the Left protecting the government at the cost of the deal. 

The interview on CNN IBN goes like this:

Karan Thapar :

If operationalising the deal is your key concern rather than withdrawing support, then I shall put it you that the deal is in fact not going to be operationalised until the US Congress ratifies it and until India and America sign on the dotted line. And that being the case, if you withdraw support, then you can stop the operationalisation. Are you prepared to do that or not?

Sitaram Yechury :

According to the Indian Constitution, once an international agreement has been arrived upon, there is no need for Parliament’s ratification.

Karan Thapar :

Many people watching this interview will say that Sitaram Yechury faces a trade-off. He can either bring the government down, as a result stop the deal, or he can protect the government at the cost of the deal. What he seems to be indicating is that he doesn’t want to bring the government down, so he is prepared to let the deal take place even though he speaks against it.

Sitaram Yechury :

No, I do not accept the facile link-up of the deal being or not being operationalised or even the government falling down, which you are making. You are making a link-up that is simply not acceptable because it is not true.

For the entire hot discussion watch the Video on CNN IBN Live

It seems a mid term poll is very likely…in a few months to go.

So does the present 21st century India fear America? And are we seeing a shift in our political scenario with foreign policy issues taking a shape that it has today leading to Governments falling?

What’s your say?

In July 2005, US and India reached an agreement on civilian nuclear energy cooperation which aimed at warming US-India relations, lift the US moratorium on nuclear trade with India, provide US assistance to India’s civilian nuclear energy program, and expand US-Indian cooperation in energy and satellite technology. With this deal US recognized India’s history of imposing voluntary safeguards on its nuclear program. It also recognized that India has a good record on proliferation. Although it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation (NPT) treaty, India has maintained strict controls on its nuclear technology and has not shared it with any other country. 

But India’s own political parties, all this time, had been thinking the other way. Some of these have never been happy with the US and now using this nuclear treaty as a weapon, they have raised voice over Indian government’s increasing relationship with the US. In this week, they have asked the government to stall the agreement and demanded an immediate review of all strategic aspects of the agreement  And if it not done, they have threatened mass protests across the country and also a re-look at its relations with the ruling United Progressive Alliance.

The left front is asserting that using this deal, US is putting pressure on India to buy fighter planes, helicopters, radars and artillery involving multi-billion dollars investments of Indian forex reserves. The left front says, this deal for US alone, is a strong “commercial advantage”. 

Pakistan & the deal?

Pakistan though a strong alliance of US since 9/11 happenings, has not received a similar deal on from Washington. Some critics say this apparent U.S. favoritism toward India could increase the nuclear rivalry between these two nations, and potentially raise tensions in the already dangerous region. 
Pakistan is worried that this will possibly feed the Indian nuclear weapons program and therefore weaken deterrence. Some experts feel these two countries, both already nuclear, will now deal more cautiously with each other. Pakistan is already exposed as a proliferation risk. Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan’s illicit nuclear network, revealed in 2004, had shocked the world with its trade of nuclear technology. These experts therefore has a reason to worry worry that this US-India deal could even prompt Pakistan to go elsewhere for a similar nuclear deal. 

China & the deal? 

Some analysts feel that China’s rise in the region is prompting US to seek a strategic relationship with India. The US is trying to cement its relationship with India to counter balance China. The US administration is hoping that improving ties with India is the only way to politically deal with China.

Numbers:(”2830″,”664″,”Billion kWh)

While China was surplus for the first time in 2006, India had a 14.5% peak power deficit.   

As India celebrated its 60th Independence Day yesterday, the world news agencies, particularly the European press has focused in the recent weeks on “this day of pride for India” and “the arrival of a golden (Indian) age“. The world today has accepted India’s rise to prominence and its emergence as a force to recon with.
 
For last many days, mainstream British newspapers have been running ‘India at 60′ series. While The Times produced a special India supplement, The Guardian devoted its entire features pull-out to “The New India“.

The Guardian’s India special’s theme was expressed by its cover headline: “This is the best place in the world to be born right now”.

Tuesday’s India specials are the culmination of a fortnight-long focus on India by the British press. These include The Independent’s attempt to answer the question, “60 years after Partition, why is India doing so much better than its immediate neighbour & rival - Pakistan, who too got independence at the same time?” (more…)