India | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

03/03/2014

* India Looks Set to Miss Growth Target – India Real Time – WSJ

Disappointing growth in the September-December quarter means India’s economy will likely fall short of even its reduced target for the year.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation last month projected gross domestic product growth of 4.9% for the fiscal year ending March 31. Until then, the Finance Ministry had been predicting growth of 5% or slightly more — down from a forecast of6.4% earlier in the year.

Data Friday showed India’s economy grew 4.7% in the three months to December, after expanding 4.8% and 4.4% in the first two quarters of the fiscal year. That means the economy would have to grow 5.7% in the current quarter – highly unlikely — to hit the full-year mark of 4.9%.

“The economy appears to be at a standstill, both in terms of investments and consumption,” said Anjali Verma, a Mumbai-based economist at brokerage PhillipCapital. “The numbers have been very tepid, and it’s unlikely we’ll see much improvement soon.”

Some economists already are writing off this quarter, as corporate and government decision makers are expected to delay big projects until after national elections that must take place by the end of May.

Businesses are essentially in a holding pattern until they know the next government’s economic policies.

via India Looks Set to Miss Growth Target – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in Economics, GDP, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Anjali Verma, Asia, December, Economy of India, Finance Ministry, Fiscal year, Gross domestic product, India, India’s economy, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, mumbai

03/03/2014

India to investigate suspected kickbacks in Rolls-Royce deal | Reuters

India’s defence ministry said on Monday it had ordered a bribery investigation over state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited‘s (HAL) purchase of jet engines from Britain’s Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.L) in a deal worth at least $1.2 billion.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Central Bureau of Investigation, the country’s top crime-fighting agency, will look into more than 5 billion rupees ($80 million) in alleged kickbacks in the deal that was signed in 2011, a ministry official told Reuters.

No comment was immediately available from Rolls-Royce’s office in India.

Suspicions of corruption in India’s defense procurement program have for years delayed the modernization of the armed forces of the world’s most populous nation that continue to rely heavily on outdated Soviet-designed equipment.

The air force has been dogged by a series of crashes of its Russian-built MiG fighter jets, while an accident aboard a Soviet-made submarine that killed two officers last week led the navy’s chief of staff to resign.

India’s Congress party-led government is keen to be seen as tough on graft before parliamentary elections due by May. The party, lagging in the polls, has faced rising public anger over a string of corruption scandals in its current term.

The probe into the HAL deal follows the arrest in Britain last month of Indian-born businessman Sudhir Choudhrie and his son in a bribery investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into Rolls-Royce’s dealings in China and Indonesia.

Both men denied any wrongdoing and have been released on bail, their spokesman said last month.

via India to investigate suspected kickbacks in Rolls-Royce deal | Reuters.

Posted in corruption, Economics, India alert, Social & cultural | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Central Bureau of Investigation, China, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, India, Rolls-Royce, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Serious Fraud Office, Sudhir Choudhrie

03/03/2014

China’s media says deployment of troops for war with Japan is now complete; waiting for opportune time to attack

Let’s hope this is mere “sabre ratling” rather than real. But given China’s past conflicts with neighbours around border/territorial issues (India, Russia, Vietnam – see https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/chinese-tensions/) this may be genuine preparation.

Posted in China alert, GeoPolitics, History, Military, Neighbour conflict, Politics, Territorial dispute | Leave a Comment »

Tags: China, Crimea, India, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, United States, Vietnam

02/03/2014

India Wants to Build Its Own Chips to Satisfy Electronics Demand – Businessweek

India’s IT services companies are tops in outsourcing, with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS:IN) and Infosys (INFY) competing globally with IBM (IBM) and Accenture (ACN). The cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad are well established as research centers for such multinationals as Microsoft (MSFT), General Electric (GE), and Intel (INTC).

Pedestrians pass in front of smartphone wholesale outlets at Gaffar Market in New Delhi on April 9, 2013

But when it comes to hardware, India is behind. In 2013 it imported $33.5 billion worth of electronics, from semiconductors to smartphones. That’s more than it spent on any imports except oil and gold. With India’s large and growing middle class buying more digital devices, the reliance on imported semiconductors and other hardware is likely to increase. By next year, according to market analysts Frost & Sullivan, such imports will top $42 billion. “Our manufacturing has not kept pace with our consumption,” says PVG Menon, president of the Indian Electronic & Semiconductor Association. India does some assembly of TVs, mobile phones, computers, and set-top boxes.

The government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is trying to address this technology gap. The Indian cabinet on Feb. 14 approved plans for two semiconductor manufacturing projects, requiring an investment of $10.2 billion, with IBM, Geneva-based STMicroelectronics (STM:FP), and Israel’s Tower Semiconductor (TSEM:IT) taking part.

via India Wants to Build Its Own Chips to Satisfy Electronics Demand – Businessweek.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Manufacturing, Technology | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Accenture, General Electric, IBM, India, Infosys, Intel, manmohan singh, Microsoft, Semiconductors, STMicroelectronics, Tata Consultancy Services

02/03/2014

The Right to Inherit Isn’t Working for Indian Women, Says U.N. Study – India Real Time – WSJ

As their husbands, fathers, and brothers migrate to cities in search of work, women across India have become the backbone of the country’s agricultural sector. Nearly 80% of all rural women in India labor in the fields.

A study released Sunday by United Nations Women India and Landesa, a U.S.-headquartered nonprofit working to improve land rights for women and men, found that despite their time spent working in orchards, cotton fields, and rice paddies, and changes to inheritance laws, women rarely inherit the land that has sustained them and that they have sustained.

In 2005, the government of India amended its inheritance laws to ensure daughters enjoyed equal rights to inherit their parent’s land and property. But the law seems to be having little impact.

The survey of more than 1,400 women and 360 men in agricultural districts with large numbers of women farmers in three Indian states, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh, found that just one in eight women whose parents own agricultural land inherit any of it.

This has significance far beyond intra-family squabbles over divvying up the family fortune. It is fundamental to India’s rural development and progress on a host of development indicators.

Simply, if women farm the land but don’t own it, they are little more than migrant laborers tilling fields owned by others. Without legal control over the land, or any documentation that they have rights to the ground they farm, they can’t access institutional credit, such as bank loans. Nor can they take advantage of agricultural extension programs, such as government offers of subsidized seeds and fertilizers. All of this stymies agricultural development.

It also limits agricultural production. This doesn’t just mean women have fewer tools for climbing out of poverty, it can also mean that their children are stuck there too: Researchers have found that women simply direct more of their income than men towards their children’s education and nutrition, which in turn lowers child mortality and helps reduce diseases of poverty.

The 2005, Hindu Succession Amendment Act giving sons and daughters equal rights to inheriting family land and property was heralded as an important step forward for India’s women.

The study published Sunday, is the first substantial evaluation of the impact of that amendment and indicates that many women have yet to benefit from the legal changes.

via The Right to Inherit Isn’t Working for Indian Women, Says U.N. Study – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in agriculture, Economics, India alert, inheritance | Leave a Comment »

Tags: agricultural development, agricultural land, agricultural sector, agriculture, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, India, inheritance laws, Land law, Landesa, Madhya Pradesh, rural women in India labor, United Nations Women India and Landesa, Women in India

28/02/2014

India, the Best Customer for America’s Defense Industry – Businessweek

Once again, Indians are mourning after a tragedy aboard one of the navy’s submarines. After an accident on the INS Sindhuratna filled the vessel with smoke yesterday, two officers with severe burns died and seven other sailors suffering from smoke inhalation had to be flown to safety. Last year, an explosion aboard another Indian sub left 18 sailors dead. Shortly after Wednesday’s incident, Indian Navy Chief of Staff D.K. Joshi resigned, effective immediately.

Indian commandos from the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police (JKAP) at the Sheeri training center, near Srinagar, on Feb. 24

Wednesday’s accident comes at a bad time for India’s embattled government. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Congress Party, facing a string of corruption scandals as well as a lackluster economy, will probably lose in the upcoming national elections due by May. The leader of the largest opposition party, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, is a Hindu nationalist who argues that Singh hasn’t been tough enough, especially toward the country’s assertive neighbor to the north—China.

In his first major speech as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s leader last September, he accused the Congress-led government of not doing enough to protect India’s borders. “Unless there is a capable government, patriotic government, there cannot be any guarantee of security,” Modi said. Over the weekend, Modi criticized what he called China’s “expansionary mindset.”

via India, the Best Customer for America’s Defense Industry – Businessweek.

Posted in India alert, Military, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, congress party, India, indian navy, indian prime minister manmohan singh, INS Sindhuratna, manmohan singh, Narendra Modi, smoke inhalation, United States

28/02/2014

* Report Details India’s Worst Recent Human Rights Abuses – India Real Time – WSJ

Abuses by the police and security forces including extrajudicial killings, torture and rape, as well as corruption at all levels of government, are the most significant human rights problems in India, according to a report commissioned by the U.S. Congress and published by the State Department this week.

The world’s largest democracy is also dogged by separatist violence, life-threatening prison conditions, sex trafficking of children and an atmosphere of impunity resulting from the overburdened judicial system, the “India 2013 Human Rights Report” said.

The 68-page document, released by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday to mark the 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights sets out a timeline of recent human rights abuses by the police, bureaucrats and security forces.

The U.S. report found continuing allegations that the police raped women, including while in police custody. Tribal girls were gang-raped in government hostels, and 48,338 child-rape cases were recorded from 2001 to 2011, the authors said.

“Some rape victims were afraid to come forward and report the crime due to social stigma and possible acts of retribution, compounded by lack of oversight and accountability, especially if the perpetrator was a police officer or other official,” they added.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives state governments the right to declare any state a “disturbed area,” allowing security forces to fire on any person to maintain law and order and to arrest anyone without informing the detainee of the reason for doing so, was also a cause for concern, according to the report. The law gives security forces immunity from civilian prosecution in regions where it operates.

A government-commissioned report on changes needed to the law after the gang rape of a young woman in Delhi in Dec. 2012 had said the AFSPA was being used to legitimize “impunity for systematic or isolated sexual violence in the process of internal security duties” and needed to be reviewed. The government had taken no action in this direction during 2013, according to the authors of the human rights report.

They also provided evidence of a complaint long-held by Indians: that corruption exists at all levels of government and leads to a denial ofjustice.

Nonprofit organizations, the report said, had noted that bribes typically were paid to expedite services, such as police protection, school admission, water supply, or government assistance.

“The CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] registered 583 cases of corruption between the months of January and November,” of last year the report said.

via Report Details India’s Worst Recent Human Rights Abuses – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in Human rights, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: AFSPA, Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958, Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Central Bureau of Investigation, Delhi, Human rights, human rights abuses, India, John Kerry, security forces

25/02/2014

EDF-Backed Acme Starts 25-Megawatt Solar Plant in India – Businessweek

Acme Solar Energy Ltd., backed by Electricite de France SA’s renewable unit, started generating power from a 25-megawatt solar plant in central India.

Map of India showing location of Madhya Pradesh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The completion of the project in Khilchipur, Madhya Pradesh state, more than doubles Acme Solar’s photovoltaic holdings to 43 megawatts, the company said by e-mail.

The developer, a venture between EDF Energies Nouvelles, Luxembourg-based Eren Groupe SA and India’s Acme Group, plans to jointly develop 200 megawatts of solar capacity.

via EDF-Backed Acme Starts 25-Megawatt Solar Plant in India – Businessweek.

Posted in Economics, Electricity, India alert, solar power | 1 Comment »

Tags: Acme, Acme Solar Energy Ltd., Électricité de France, central India, EDF Énergies Nouvelles, India, India’s Acme Group, Khilchipur, Luxembourg, Madhya Pradesh, Map of India, Watt

25/02/2014

Indian E-Commerce to Become $8 Billion Industry – India Real Time – WSJ

The outlook for India’s economy may be gloomy for now, but one sector looks set to boom: online retail.

As more and more Indians use the internet, revenues of e-commerce companies could triple over the next three years to 504 billion rupees ($8.13 billion), according to Crisil Research, a unit of division of Mumbai-based ratings firm Crisil Ltd.

There are around 200 million internet users in India currently and the number could grow to 500 million by 2015, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

Over the last few years, dozens of websites have been launched in India to sell everything from books and appliances, to baby care products and flight tickets.

Online retail companies earned revenues of around 139 billion rupees ($2.24 billion) in the financial year that ended on March 31, 2013, according to the Crisil report. Though this is just 0.5% of the total revenues of brick-and-mortar retail companies, online retail sales have been growing much faster.

Revenue of e-commerce firms grew by 56% annually between the financial year that ended March 31, 2008, and the year ended March 31, 2013, according to Crisil.

The scope for growth in this sector has already attracted a lot of interest from venture capital investors.

Earlier this month, online retailer Jabong.com raised around $100 million from CDC Group PLC, a U.K. government-backed private-equity fund-of-funds that invests in some emerging markets, according to The Economic Times.

Clothing and accessories-seller Myntra.com also raised $50 million, this month.

Foreign companies have also been looking to get a piece of the action in India. Amazon.com Inc. launched its India website in June.

via Report: Indian E-Commerce to Become $8 Billion Industry – India Real Time – WSJ.

Posted in eCommerce, Economics, India alert | Leave a Comment »

Tags: CDC Group, Crisil, Crisil Research, E-commerce, Economic Times, India, India website, McKinsey & Company, mumbai, Online retail companies, Online shopping, retail companies

23/02/2014

After farmers commit suicide, debts fall on their families – The Times of India

Latha Reddy Musukula was making tea on a recent morning when she spotted the money lenders walking down the dirt path toward her house. They came in a phalanx of 15 men, by her estimate. She knew their faces, because they had walked down the path before.

After each visit, her husband, a farmer named Veera Reddy, sank deeper into silence, frozen by some terror he would not explain. Three times he cut his wrists. He tied a noose to a tree, relenting when the family surrounded him, weeping. In the end he waited until Musukula stepped out, and then he hanged himself from a pipe supporting their roof, leaving a careful list of each debt he owed to each money lender. She learned the full sum then: 400,000 rupees, or $6,430.

A current of dread runs through this farmland, where women in jewel-colored saris bend their backs over watery terraces of rice. In Andhra Pradesh, the southern state where Musukula lives, the suicide rate among farmers is nearly three times the national average; since 1995, the number of suicides by India’s farmers has passed 290,000, according to the national crime records bureau, though the statistics do not specify the reason for the act.

India’s small farmers, once the country’s economic backbone and most reliable vote bank, are increasingly being left behind. With global competition and rising costs cutting into their lean profits, their ranks are dwindling, as is their contribution to the gross domestic product. If rural voters once made their plight into front-page news around election time, this year the large parties are jockeying for the votes of the urban middle class, and the farmers’ voices are all but silent.

Even death is a stopgap solution, when farmers like Reddy take their own lives, their debts pass from husband to widow, from father to children. Musukula is now trying to scrape a living from the four acres that defeated her husband. Around her she sees a country transformed by economic growth, full of opportunities to break out of poverty, if only her son or daughter could grasp one.

via After farmers commit suicide, debts fall on their families – The Times of India.

Posted in agriculture, debt, Economics, India alert | 1 Comment »

Tags: Andhra Pradesh, Debt, Farmer, farmers, Gross domestic product, India, Moneylender, Suicide

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Posts tagged ‘India’

* India Looks Set to Miss Growth Target – India Real Time – WSJ

China’s media says deployment of troops for war with Japan is now complete; waiting for opportune time to attack

India Wants to Build Its Own Chips to Satisfy Electronics Demand – Businessweek

The Right to Inherit Isn’t Working for Indian Women, Says U.N. Study – India Real Time – WSJ

India, the Best Customer for America’s Defense Industry – Businessweek

* Report Details India’s Worst Recent Human Rights Abuses – India Real Time – WSJ

EDF-Backed Acme Starts 25-Megawatt Solar Plant in India – Businessweek

Indian E-Commerce to Become $8 Billion Industry – India Real Time – WSJ

After farmers commit suicide, debts fall on their families – The Times of India

Tags

Creative Commons

Archives

Meta

Blog Stats