OUTSOURCING AND EXODUS OF IT JOBS FROM USA TO INDIA In the United States, India could soon become the next political whipping boy for its trade and currency policies because it has been snaring U.S. hi-tech jobs. Unemployed computer professionals, labour unions and politicians have become alarmed that U.S. companies are moving growing numbers of information-technology jobs to India. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. Technology workers staged a protest at a San Francisco conference promoting offshore outsourcing of service jobs to countries like India. The protesters were backed by a unit of one of America’s most powerful unions, the Communications Workers of America. The unit, called the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers or WashTech, was set up to fight the exodus of jobs overseas. A new group of unemployed computer specialists calling itself The Organization for the Rights of American Workers or Toraw, protested at a similar job outsourcing conference in New York. These sentiments were bolstered when Intel Chairman warned that a huge number of IT jobs could move from America to countries like India and China in the next decade. The hi-tech pioneer added that his California-based semiconductor manufacturing firm had “no choice” but to continue sending work offshore because of rising costs and the pressure, to increase productivity. It would be one thing if the protests and dire warnings stayed confined to angst-ridden words, but now American legislators are getting involved. Many smell a populist, potentially vote attracting issue. On October 20, 2004 theHouse of Representatives small business committee held a hearing on the exodus of white-collar jobs. Only a few years ago, American technology companies were accused of stealing some of the best and brightest engineering and scientific minds from India to meet a severe talent shortage. But now that the global economy has struggled for many months, technology unemployment in the U.S. is high and the jobs are moving to India. Some industry insiders blame at least part of the unemployment problem on the U.S. Programme of granting temporary work visas to hi-tech workers from India. Many of those who come to the U.S. under this visa scheme go home to set up or work for companies that compete with American companies. This concern has prompted legislators in at least nine states to join the fight to slow job migration. New Jersey took the lead in drafting legislation [...]
Archive for August, 2007
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FOREIGN BANKS IN INDIA
August 18th, 2007 
Deepak FOREIGN BANKS IN INDIA Foreign Banks operating in India are banks of other countries having their branches in India. At present, there are about 50 foreign banks having a total of more than 250 branches in most of the big cities of the country. These foreign banks have a flourishing business and earn large profits. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. Indian banks also have their branches in other countries and they too are doing well. . Some economists are of the view that foreign banks should not be allowed to operate in the country. But permission to such banks to operate in the country is unavoidable on the basis of reciprocity. This is certainly the view of the Reserve Bank of India, and it is justified by the success of Indian banks operating in foreign countries. Foreign Banks were established in India quite early during the British rule and have been around for over a century now. As a result of globalisation of Indian economy, the number of foreign banks is likely to increase in the coming years. The foreign banks are also called foreign exchange banks, as they also finance the foreign trade of India. Of late, a sort of competition has developed between various foreign banks and Indian commercial banks because the foreign banks, which previously dealt only in big money, have now also started performing the day-to-day banking functions, which were previously performed only by the Indian commercial banks. These day-to-day banking functions include acceptance of deposits, creation of credit by fixing lending rate in accordance with the RBI policies, etc. ANZ Grindlay Bank has its presence in a number of Indian cities with as many as 56 branches in the country. The Standard and Chartered Banks has 24 branches while Hong Kong Bank has 21 branches in various Indian cities. One peculiar feature of these foreign banks is that they concentrate on the corporate clientele and have specialised in areas of international banking. There is no denying the fact that the foreign banks are playing a pivotal role in Indian economy. They help the economy by financing the import and export trade of the country. They also receive deposits from the public as fixed deposits and current account deposits. They also give roans and advances to the traders and businessmen. They also issue bank drafts, TTs cheques and [...]
J.R.D. TATA
August 17th, 2007 Deepak J.R.D. TATA The life of JRD (1904-93) spanned almost the whole of the twentieth century. He was born in Paris and he died in Geneva. In between, he spent over seventy years of his working life in India. During that period, he brought to India the gift of civil aviation in 1932 and later, in 1948, helped the country spread her wings abroad by launching Air-India International. Thirty years later, when he was removed as Chairman of Air-India, the Daily Telegraph of London, among others, credited him with making Air India one of the world’s most successful airlines. Had he achieved nothing else his place in India’s hall of fame would still have been securer, but he did far more. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. For fifty-two years he was Chairman of the largest industrial group in IndiaTata-which produced everything from steel and electric power to chemicals and automobiles. Apart from Air-India (which was nationalized), Tata Chemicals and TELCO, both started under his Chairmanship, became two of India’s top ten companies in both sales and assets. On the social scene, he was the first national voice to call for family planning. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed with him and said that the country’s strength was its people. Undeterred, for forty years he pursued a campaign to promote family planning, especially through the agency he founded-the Family Planning Association of India. Belated recognition came to him for this effort: the last of the many international awards he received was the UN Population Award. Two national institutions-the Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research and the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA)-were started because of his support and vision. A third, the National Institute of Advanced Studies, was inaugurated by him two years before he died. For thirty years, JRD raised his voice against the misguided policies of a controlled economy that stunted the country’s industrial growth and destroyed his own dreams for India’s industrial future. His joy lay not only in what he personally achieved, but also in the achievement of the other individuals whom he had groomed and who worked for him. When he stepped down after fifty-two years as Chairman of Tata Sons, the press noted that he was the only eminent industrialist in the country who had nurtured, within his own organization, people who had grown into corporate giants in their [...]
INDIAN FILMS: THE HIT AND MISS
August 17th, 2007 Deepak INDIAN FILMS: THE HIT AND MISS Although ‘hit film’ and ‘successful film’ are terms that are used very lightly in the film industry, there is a marked difference between the two. A hit film is one in which a distributor doubles his investment. If a distributor acquires a film for Rs 1 crore (including print and publicity cost), and it does a business of Rs 2 crore, it is termed a hit. However, if the film does not reach the Rs 2 crore mark, it is termed a successful film but NOT a hit. For instance, if the film in question does a business of Rs 1.25 crore, it will be termed a commission earner (20 per cent of Rs 1.25 crore or, in other words, Rs 25 lakh is the commission). If the film does a business of more than Rs 1.25 crore but less than Rs 2 crore, it is termed an overflow film. In other words, a commission earner or an overflow film is termed a successful film. HOUSE FULL: In filmi (film related) parlance ‘opening’ is a term used to describe the first show and, to an extent, the first day’s collections. In the good old days, a fantastic opening denoted house-full shows everywhere. But full houses are a thing of the past now. With the number of cinemas in which a film is released increasing manifold and with multiplexes not restricting the shows of a new release to three or four a day, there is easy availability of tickets for every new film, even on the Friday of its release. So a fantastic opening today may not necessarily mean full houses. What it does mean is “lots of money on the opening day because of the total attendance in all the shows put together at all the cinemas”. And so if you hear that a particular film has opened to bumper houses, don’t assume that tickets aren’t available at a cinema close to your house. Tickets may be available openly in current booking and yet, it may be construed as an extraordinary opening or initial. Now let’s have a look on the value of some of film stars. AKSHAY KUMAR: Akshay Kumar can take solace in the fact that he was part of Namastey London but two things must’ve come in the way of his celebrations: Firstly, Namastey London just about managed to scrape through [...]
INDIAN FOLK SONGS
August 16th, 2007 Deepak The real culture of a people lies embedded in their customs, folk dances, folk lore, traditional beliefs, and the folk songs. No country of the world is an exception to it. We can easily compile a cultural history of a people of specified class after we study their customs, traditions, folklore, dances and songs. Invariably all the communities have this great wealth of their intangible culture, which does find expression at the time of their festivals or festivities. India being a vast country has a rich treasure of folk songs which obviously exhibit the culture of various communities inhabiting this vast land. Indian folk songs are interwoven around some legends or traditional tales which are presumed and passed on to the next generation through the same. These folk songs may be laden with joy or sorrow or some historic event or legendary myths. Folk songs of the Himachal Pradesh are distinct from those of the Punjab or Haryana. The love stories or traditions of Heer-Ranjha, Shirin-Farhad, Laila- Majnu can still be found on the lips of the people even in the remote countryside of the Punjab. These songs are accompanied with dance or music. The folk songs from Rajasthan are still inspiring and they speak of the valour shown by the Rajputs or their women folk in the face of heavy odds. Even a most cowardly person would be transformed into a courageous or brave person after listening to the folk songs of Rajasthan. If one wishes to have the glimpses of Lord Krishna and his Radha and the Gopikas, one should visit the Uttar Pradesh where in the Brijbhumi these folk songs are still heard more frequently and especially at the time of certain festivals like Holi, Diwali, Dussehra and Raksha Bandhan. If you go to deep South, there you shall come across the South Indian folk songs which, even if you do not follow, you would definitely enjoy, for their sweet and melodiously modulated voice. So is the case with songs from the interior of Assam and Nagaland besides Orissa and Bihar. But one thing which speaks through all these folk songs from different parts of the country in Indian culture is so subtly embodied in them that only a man with keen insight can decode and decipher them. But one thing which every lay man can understand is that they are quite sweet and are almost identical [...]
THE INDIAN YOUNG & RESTLESS: CAN THEY HANDLE THE PRESSURE?
August 12th, 2007 Deepak Modeling, movies, music, television… the players in these glamorous professions are getting younger by the day. Slouched in front of the television set, watching the latest episode of the Zee TV serial Kasamh Se, you haven’t the faintest idea what goes through the head of the actress who plays Bani whenever she does a bedroom scene. True, as a viewer, you don’t have to know. The actress is an actress after all. She has a job to do, and she must do it well. And Prachi Desai, who plays Bani in the serial, does do her job well. You see no sign of the fact that she’s uncomfortable doing these scenes. Because, let’s face it: though Prachi plays a 27- or 28-year-old married woman in the serial, she’s actually just 18 years old. The things she must do for the part she plays are things she’s never experienced in her life. CHASING DREAMS Before you call the Child Welfare Board to rescue this 18-year-old from this situation, Prachi would like to make one thing clear. It doesn’t matter if these scenes make her uncomfortable. First, these are not her only scenes. Second – and more important she’s doing what she’s always wanted to do. Act. Today, Prachi is just one teenager among many in the several worlds of glamour – acting, modeling and singing. Check out former child star Hansika Motwani, for instance. A lead actress at the age of 16, she romances Himesh Reshamiya, a man perhaps twice her age, in Aap Ka Suroor. Then there’s 17-year-old Abhas Joshi, a class XII student who gave up his family life and school-leaving exams when he left his home town, Jabalpur, to participate in Star’s Voice of India contest. The contest is still on, so Abhas isn’t a star, but his dream was always to make it big in the film and music industry, and he’s single-mindedly chasing that dream. At 18, model Anushka Sharma actually lives her dream. Why not? She isn’t an inexperienced newcomer. Having started on the catwalk at the age of 14, she’s been in the business for four years. For most people, these youngsters are just children. ‘Barely out of their diapers’ would be a bit of an exaggeration, but we’d definitely consider them much too young to make the sort of decisions and live the sort of lives that their chosen professions impose on them. [...]
THE BOX OFFICE REPORT CARD OF MAJOR RELEASES
August 10th, 2007 Deepak THE BOX OFFICE REPORT CARD OF MAJOR RELEASES: No single hero or heroine could claim to have had a fulfilling affair with the box office in the first six months of 2007. If Amitabh’s Cheeni Kum at least brought a smile to people’s faces, his Nishabd and Eklavya made his fans a tad sad. ShahRukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan were busy shooting and lucky not to have had a single release during the bad phase of the industry. Or maybe, the period was bad because the three superstars did not have a single release. Let’s have a look on for how the first half of 2007 turned out for the stars whose films did hit our cinema screens this year BHEJA FRY: The sleeper hit of the first half of 2007 was the non-starcast, small budget Bheja Fry. It came almost out of nowhere and took the city multiplex audience by storm, in the process making Vinay Pathak an overnight star. Made at a very modest budget, the comedy earned almost six to seven times that money as net profit. Bheja Fry worked big time in the small-capacity multiplex screens of big cities, but bombed in the big-capacity single screens of big cities. As for smaller towns, the film fared so poorly that most of the cinemas in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class centers refrained from even releasing it. A classic example of one man’s Bheja fry being another man’s poison! Comedies generally work better in the cities, but the jokes in I were so sophisticated that the masses in cities that still have single-screen cinemas, could not appreciate them. Aap Kaa Surroor: The film which was least expected to find favour with the audience gave the industry reason to smile and those associated with it, reason to laugh all the way to the bank. Himesh Reshammiya’s debut film as hero, Aap Kaa Surroor, was the film that changed the half-yearly report card of the industry. But for this film, the first six months of the year would not have boasted of a single universal hit. NAMASTEY LONDON: Katrina Kaif wasn’t half as lucky as Abhishek Bachchan. Even after proving that she could act in Vipul Shah’s Namastey London, Salman did not jump to tie the knot with her. Although hot as successful as Guru, Namastey London managed to keep its distributors in good spirits though world distribution rights [...]
what is wrong with indian cricket
August 3rd, 2007 Deepak WHAT IS WRONG WITH INDIAN CRICKET? Ever since Australia and England started playing Test matches, cricket has travelled a long way. Since then, a number of changes have also taken place in the structure as well as in the format of the game. The game of cricket took its birth in India when this country was under the British rule and thus, like English language, cricket too can be rightly called the legacy of the Raj. Right from C.K. Naidu to Mohd. Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar to M. S. Dhoni, Indian cricket has seen many ups and downs and has long since come of age. It was way back in 1932 that India had made its first official tour to England. But during all these years, Indians have never been recognised as good tourers of the game. During their foreign tours, Indian teams of yesteryears, as also of the present day, could never quite muster the confidence that they could ever play on equal terms with their foreign competitors. It was only in the year 1971 that a miracle occurred for the Indian team when Indian players, under the leadership of Ajit Wadekar, defeated both the West Indies and England on their home turfs. These were some of the great victories that the Indian team had ever managed to win abroad. There have been some great names in Indian cricket right from Lala Amarnath to Sachin Tendulkar-the men who have really dominated the Indian cricket scene during their heyday. Down the decades, Indian cricket has never been able to present a picture of strength and integrity for long. It is, therefore, quite natural for millions of thinking Indians to ask the billion-dollar question, “What is wrong with Indian Cricket?” Every now and then, the Indian cricket team has been accused of lacking in the killer instinct and mettle to pull it out at the right time. Many Indian cricketers are accused of playing individual cricket rather than playing for the team. During some of the events one gets the impression that various Indian participants in the event are competing with each other in winning individual laurels at the cost of their team-mates rather than winning the match for their country by defeating the opposite team- even the one from Pakistan. It is clear that Indian cricket is marred by individual rivalries leading to internecine quarrels. Who can forget the slanderous [...]
SPICES
August 2nd, 2007 Deepak HISTORY IN SPICES & SPICES IN HISTORY IF you’ve read histories of the colonial period then you’ll know that European traders first came to India because they were looking for spices to take back to their countries. In those days, any Indian spice was so highly valued in Western markets that traders found it worth their while to spend years at sea in inhospitable conditions just to return with a consignment of cloves or nutmeg. And Europeans, in turn, prided themselves on possession of the spices of the East. If a man had a fistful of nutmeg, he was probably a millionaire! To serve any kind of Indian spice was regarded as a mark of great prosperity and social accomplishment. As we all know, the Spice Route became the stuff of legends (and the subject of many contemporary books) and led, almost entirely; to the birth of colonialism. The Europeans first came here as traders (as in the case of John Company; better known later as the East India Company), then settled down to wage war with the local rajahs and nawabs and then took over great swathes of land. In most colonies, the traders were then replaced by governments themselves and 19th century imperialism was created: In India, for instance, the East India Company ran the show till 1857 when the violence of the Mutiny/Revolt/First War of Independence (pick your option according to your political perspective) led the Crown to intervene and Queen Victoria proclaimed that her government would administer India henceforth. Why am I giving you a history lesson? Well, because two things about this story have always intrigued me – more so, now, as we celebrate the anniversary of the battles of 1857. First of all, do we realize that the foundation of Imperialism – and certainly; of British rule in India – was food? If the East India Company had not arrived here in search of spices, there would have been no British Empire. But it’s the second thing .If the British came here looking for spices and the ones they took back to their country were so valued, then why is all European food (and English food in particular) so lacking in spice? Think about it. When you consider the diet of the average Brit, or even the rich Brit, in that era, do you imagine him eating anything other than joints of lamb, meat [...]
PRIVATISATION
August 2nd, 2007 Deepak PRIVATISATION For the last four decades, India has been pursuing a path in which the public sector was expected to be the engine of growth. But now, it is accused to have failed miserably in achieving its goal and so disenchantment is growing. THE PRINCIPAL CHARGES AGAINST THE PSU’s: The principal charges against the public sector are: low rate of return on investment, declining contribution to national savings, poor capacity utilization, over-staffing and bureaucratization leading to excessive delays and wastage of scarce resources. Performance of PSU It was stated in various plan documents that PSUs should earn a rate of return of 12 per cent per annum. But gross profit as a percentage of capital employed ranged between 4 to 8 per cent till 1980-81. During the seventh plan period the gross profit was 12 to 13 per cent. This was because the petroleum sector which accounted for 18.4 per cent of capital employed provided 40.5 per cent of total gross profit earned by all public sector undertakings. The performance of all other sectors was well below the targeted level of 12% gross rate of return. The operational efficiency of state government enterprises revealed that they were perennial loss makers. The chief culprits among them’ were: State Electricity Boards, Irrigation Works and Road Transport Corporation. The situation is distressing and is the cumulative result of the poor performance and absence of any remedial action taken to alleviate the situation. The failure of public sector is glaring in respect of savings. After 39 years of planning, the public sector contributes only 8% of the- nation’s saving: that also in part, through heavy taxation and semi-fictitious profits of reserve bank. The remaining 92% of the nation’s saving came from the private sector. The PSUs show a mixed record judged by the criterion of capacity utilization. There are high performates like Indian Oil Corporation, National Textile Corporation and in news-print who can equal any private sector undertaking in terms of efficiency, absorption of advanced technology and even in surplus generation along with a better deal for its employees. There are of course scores of low performates who bring the overall standing of PSUs down. Causes of non-performance: The major problems faced by public sector enterprises could be summed up as under: The freedom for decision-making by PSU managers was extremely limited because of political interference. Consequently inordinate delays resulting in inefficiencies, lack of [...]
