Throughout the time we spent in India, several people told us that "whatever you have heard about India is true, however, the opposite is also true". As the days went on, I began to see just how accurate this statement was.
I do not wish to recant my initial opinion about India, because that is how I felt at the time. However, after spending more time there, I feel obligated to add to it. I am amazed at how a place that at first glance was described as "dirty" and "poor", became one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, upon taking a closer look.
In the beginning, I could not get past the culture shock, but once I allowed myself to step outside of my comfort zone, I was able to not only accept India's differences, but embrace them. Ultimately, what I found was a society that works, and works well.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Dharavi
After returning from our 10 day trek throughout India and friends and family are asking about out experience; our trip through Dharavi remains one of the most unique experiences. Although we had learned about Dharavi prior to departure (the vast size, redevelopment plans, and a revenue of of about $700M a year) our 2 hour tour with Reality Tours, questioned our prior perceptions.
Dharavi like most of India can be looked at from several perspectives. It is the largest " slum" in Asia, yet has highly developed and organized supply chains that feed into large MNE. Some of the major businesses we were invited to walk in were Plastics, Leather and Block printing.The slum itself is divided into a residential and business section by a bustling road. We learned that those who work in Dharavi are immigrants, and those who live there typically work within the surrounding city. Dharavi exuded a sense of community even stronger then some of the newer cities that we had visited earlier in the trip. This sense of community is also revealed through the dramatically low crime rates. It is a city within a city; hosting a marketplace, a variety of schools (public, ngo and private schools), health clinics, and even a gym. It was an amazing experience questioning our perceptions and seeing such a vibrant neighborhood firsthand.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Genpact (cont'd)
Although I’m very late…I will continue my blog post on Genpact! :P Genpact is a very interesting company. Having started off providing mostly basic outsourcing services only to GE , in 1997 they opened up to the public and have expanded their business to provide a wide range of services to the other companies . Although Genpact provides basic outsourcing services, such as Accounts Payable and collections, they’re primary focus is to provide more complex services that would be customized for the customer. During the presentation we learned that they are now providing comprehensive supply chain and procurement services comparable to those that are widely used in the United States. They believe they are 70% closer to being able to benchmark their client’s processes & metrics against other similar clients in similar industries, and against other industries and geographical regions. From an HR perspective, Genpact functions as many other companies do, they allow employees to grow and flourish in their respective departments and give them the option to move within the company to other departments. They also claim to provide careers that are in line with personal goals of the employees. They have a few competitors, namely Accenture, IBM, and Tata Consulting and, if I remember correctly, they are the #2 consulting company in world and are hoping that their current business strategy will bring them back to the #1 spot.
Ivon
Coming Soon...Final Thoughts :)
Ivon
Coming Soon...Final Thoughts :)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
US Embassy Officials and Genpact
This past Monday we met with U.S. Embassy Officials to discuss Economic and Political Relations with India and later met with Genpact to discuss the BPO industry and how Genpacts was able to be one of the top BPO industries in the world. I was surprised to learn that the US Embassy officials who are tasked to monitor the political situation in India do so by keeping up with politics and other areas that may be of interest to the U.S. and report back to the U.S. on these issues and topics without the Indian government being involved in what they are viewing and reporting to the U.S. I was aso surprised to learn that everything that is done by these officials is mostly to help only the U.S. in their analysis of Indian politics. The political situation monitor mentioned three issues of importance...1. Governance, 2. Corruption, and 3. Internal security threats as big issues in Indian politics. The monitor also stressed how the governement was often run by existing relationships and bribes as opposed to what is really in the best interest of the country and how there was a large disconnect between the states and country. Thee is also a prevalance of non-state elements controlling different parts of the country. We also spoke with an official from the commerce department who briefed us on the challenges U.S. firms faced when trying to enter the Indian market. This part of the governement provides consulting type fee based services and acts an advocacy group for these firms. To enter the Indian market a business requires many contacts within the market to try and overcome some of the contraints and cultural barriers. At times, tarrifs have become an issue and although the U.S. commerce officials can advocate for reducing these tarriffs they sometimes created non-tarriff barriers. The companies that are likely to succeed in entering the India market would be unique, high-tech, high-value, products as opposed to commodity type of products because commodity products often come from countries like China at a much higher cost.
More on Genpact...TBC (My laptop battery is dying and I don't have the right charger!)
More on Genpact...TBC (My laptop battery is dying and I don't have the right charger!)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Emotional Overload
My fascination with India began with my love of their food. Throughout the years I have made friends with many people who call India home. My friend Romila even jokingly refers to me as an "Indian magnet", because wherever I go, I always wind up inadvertently befriending an Indian person.
Prior to my long awaited journey to India, I felt quite prepared. My dear friend Rema had told me so much about the Hindu Gods, the caste system, proper greetings, the rich culture, and she even touched on the fact that there was a lot of poverty here. But nothing she could have told me would have prepared me for what I've seen with my own two eyes. It has been so overwhelming I don't even know where to begin.
With all due respect to everyone with any lineage to India, particularly Delhi, this is the poorest, dirtiest, poverty stricken country that I have ever seen. A bus ride from one place to another consists of men urinating in the streets, children covered in dirt and grime, malnourished animals, sharing the road with pedestrians, horse drawn carriages, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, and garbage as far as the eye could see.
A trip to the market was like no market visit I could imagine. The streets were filled to capacity with people who looked like they just may be desperate enough to do anything, and quite frankly, I just didn't feel safe. I clutched my purse the entire time as I impatiently counted down the time until I'd be safe on the bus again and on my way to my beautiful westernized hotel room.
An early morning stop at the train station included what I would typically view as an invasion of privacy, as the train station appeared to serve as the bedrooms to entire families. Everyone just walked over them as if it were normal. Nothing I've seen here wold meet my criteria for normalcy and it has been extremely difficult for me to process. During my short stay here, I've taken several opportunities to just sit and cry. My emotions are running wild. Partly due to the fact that I am incredibly empathetic in nature, but also because I have a great deal of guilt, as I think about my own life in the U.S. and how I unconsciously take so much for granted on a daily basis.
Overall, I'd say this experience is eye opening and one that everyone should experience, should they be given the opportunity. I've witnessed a lot in a very short period of time, and to think…this is only the beginning.
-Ronda Miles
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Panel Discussion
We had a fascinating panel discussion on the Indian Economy and political situation yesterday morning to begin visit. Dr. Bidisha Ganguly, head economist of the Confederation of India Industry gave as a broad overview of the economy, largely painting a very rosy picture. Mr. Ravi Garg, Director of Supply Chain of Coca Cola India, was equally optimistic and described some of Coke's supply chain challenges in India. Professor Babu Mathew of the National Law School ended with a stirring rhetorical presentation that left us all with a lot to think about. Professor Mathew argued that the new economy is leaving out a significant population in India, and in some ways exacerbating and worsening their situation through seizure of lands, disappearance of traditional livelihoods without providing new opportunities for work, and skewing democratic processes. A very lively discussion ensued.
Delhi Tour
What an interesting day today was! If you've never been to India before, like myself, today's tour would certainly be a bit of a culture shock. Even after having seen India many times on TV and seeing how alive and how busy the streets can be, it is really something else when you experience it first hand. I really enjoyed it and was surprised at how calm and collected the people were, working hard trying to make some money, while in the midst of what I described to be "organized chaos", it was amazing. Although India is a young country, it has history like no other and the people are very very proud of their history and culture as they should be. Looking forward to the Taj Mahal tomorrow.
Friday, March 11, 2011
2011 Course in India Begins
Friday, November 19, 2010
Transforming India’s logistics infrastructure
To get the most from massive investments, India must adopt a coordinated approach that aligns the development of each transport mode with the country’s needs.
SEPTEMBER 2010 • Rajat Gupta, Hemang Mehta, and Thomas Netzer
Source: Travel Infrastructure Logistics Practice
Continue @:
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Transforming_Indias_logistics_infrastructure_2670
SEPTEMBER 2010 • Rajat Gupta, Hemang Mehta, and Thomas Netzer
Source: Travel Infrastructure Logistics Practice
Continue @:
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Transforming_Indias_logistics_infrastructure_2670
Friday, July 9, 2010
SKS Microfinance Plans IPO
This news appeared in the Indian Edition of WSJ.
IPO Pits Profit vs. Altruism
Indian Microlender Sees Scale in Capitalism; Industry Pioneer Has His
By ERIC BELLMAN
Hyderabad, India
SKS Microfinance Ltd. moved a step closer to bringing Wall Street to the slums of India. But that also will bring more criticism from microfinance experts who say profits and initial public offerings have no place in the industry.
SKS won approval from the Securities Exchange Board of India to proceed with an IPO, according to people familiar with the situation. The company and its early investors expect to raise more than $250 million from the deal, which is likely to happen within 30 days and would make SKS the first microlender in India to go public.
Only a handful of microlenders around the world have made it to the global stock markets, so the SKS deal could encourage other companies in the sector to follow. SKS is the largest microlender in India, with a portfolio of about $1 billion. About $5 billion in microloans were made in the country last year, and the IPO would help SKS borrow money to fuel expansion.
"The only place you can get the amount of money that is needed to help the poor is in the capital markets," Vikram Akula, founder and chairman of SKS, said in an interview. "That's why we are doing this IPO."
But as SKS's executives and investment bankers went on a roadshow to stir up interest in the shares, they stressed how little profit the company makes. The strange sales pitch reflects sensitivity to accusations that SKS is gouging borrowers even as its makes millions of tiny loans to poor families.
Pioneer of Microlending
Mr. Akula has a decades-long relationship with Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, who is credited with sparking the microfinance revolution. The two men now stand on opposite sides of the question of whether altruism and capitalism can coexist.
"Microcredit should not be presented as a money-making opportunity. It is an opportunity to make an impact on poor people's lives," Mr. Yunus said in an interview. "An IPO gives a wrong message."
Mr. Akula, a 41-year-old U.S. citizen and Yale University graduate, launched SKS in 1998 after working in nonprofit organizations in India that tried to help the poor. Even the best-run groups lacked the capital or the organization to meet the needs of the world's poor, so he decided to build a new kind of microlender that wouldn't have to depend on government money, grants and charity.
Before launching the company that would become SKS, Mr. Akula went through the training program at Grameen Bank, telling Mr. Yunus that he wanted to tweak his model to reach more people. "If I remember correctly, he just smiled," Mr. Akula said.
Mr. Akula started on his own with a small team that went from village to village in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. He used the Grameen model, which sets up groups of poor women and lends them as little as $50 to help with small businesses like growing vegetables or running a tea stand.
He also took cues from McDonald's Corp. and Starbucks Corp., standardizing training and lending procedures to cut costs and accelerate growth. Employees were paid a decent wage so that Mr. Akula wouldn't have to rely on volunteers and regional managers from top, rural business schools. And he built in enough profit to make the business appealing to institutional investors.
The debate about profit's place in the microlending market exploded in 2007 when Mexican microlender Banco Compartamos SA listed its shares. Its original investors and founders took home millions, sparking accusations that they were profiteering from the poor by sometimes charging more than 80% annual interest.
Mr. Yunus contends that any microlender charging borrowers more than 15 percentage points above its cost of capital needs to cut costs or profits—and pass the savings on to the poor. SKS charges around 18 percentage points above its cost of capital.
"Vikram is a very capable young man," Mr. Yunus said. "But he took a wrong turn when he decided to use microcredit for making money."
Mr. Akula said he needs to build in around five percentage points of profit to expand, adding that Mr. Yunus's expectations are too high because his experience is in markets likes Bangladesh, where he didn't have to deal with the high costs of reaching remote villages.
A Subprime Crisis?
Some analysts and investors are worried that the growth being fueled by healthy profits could result in a subprime crisis as competing microlenders give too many loans to poor borrowers who can't repay them.
SKS has seven million borrowers, up from 200,000 five years ago. In the same period, the company's profit growth has averaged more than 200% a year.
MFIs Attract Executives From Other Sectors. Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More .Mr. Akula said SKS could charge interest rates of more than 40%, instead of its current average of 28%, but doesn't the company needs only enough profit to attract investments and lending for its rapid rollout.
Even after the IPO, a majority of SKS's investors will be committed to sticking with the lower-profit model, he said.
Earlier this year, Mr. Akula sold part of his SKS stake for more than $10 million. He said he isn't ashamed of the money, adding that rewarding microfinance employees with benefits closer to those in the conventional finance world is part of his business strategy.
—Arlene Chang contributed to this article.
IPO Pits Profit vs. Altruism
Indian Microlender Sees Scale in Capitalism; Industry Pioneer Has His
By ERIC BELLMAN
Hyderabad, India
SKS Microfinance Ltd. moved a step closer to bringing Wall Street to the slums of India. But that also will bring more criticism from microfinance experts who say profits and initial public offerings have no place in the industry.
SKS won approval from the Securities Exchange Board of India to proceed with an IPO, according to people familiar with the situation. The company and its early investors expect to raise more than $250 million from the deal, which is likely to happen within 30 days and would make SKS the first microlender in India to go public.
Only a handful of microlenders around the world have made it to the global stock markets, so the SKS deal could encourage other companies in the sector to follow. SKS is the largest microlender in India, with a portfolio of about $1 billion. About $5 billion in microloans were made in the country last year, and the IPO would help SKS borrow money to fuel expansion.
"The only place you can get the amount of money that is needed to help the poor is in the capital markets," Vikram Akula, founder and chairman of SKS, said in an interview. "That's why we are doing this IPO."
But as SKS's executives and investment bankers went on a roadshow to stir up interest in the shares, they stressed how little profit the company makes. The strange sales pitch reflects sensitivity to accusations that SKS is gouging borrowers even as its makes millions of tiny loans to poor families.
Pioneer of Microlending
Mr. Akula has a decades-long relationship with Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, who is credited with sparking the microfinance revolution. The two men now stand on opposite sides of the question of whether altruism and capitalism can coexist.
"Microcredit should not be presented as a money-making opportunity. It is an opportunity to make an impact on poor people's lives," Mr. Yunus said in an interview. "An IPO gives a wrong message."
Mr. Akula, a 41-year-old U.S. citizen and Yale University graduate, launched SKS in 1998 after working in nonprofit organizations in India that tried to help the poor. Even the best-run groups lacked the capital or the organization to meet the needs of the world's poor, so he decided to build a new kind of microlender that wouldn't have to depend on government money, grants and charity.
Before launching the company that would become SKS, Mr. Akula went through the training program at Grameen Bank, telling Mr. Yunus that he wanted to tweak his model to reach more people. "If I remember correctly, he just smiled," Mr. Akula said.
Mr. Akula started on his own with a small team that went from village to village in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. He used the Grameen model, which sets up groups of poor women and lends them as little as $50 to help with small businesses like growing vegetables or running a tea stand.
He also took cues from McDonald's Corp. and Starbucks Corp., standardizing training and lending procedures to cut costs and accelerate growth. Employees were paid a decent wage so that Mr. Akula wouldn't have to rely on volunteers and regional managers from top, rural business schools. And he built in enough profit to make the business appealing to institutional investors.
The debate about profit's place in the microlending market exploded in 2007 when Mexican microlender Banco Compartamos SA listed its shares. Its original investors and founders took home millions, sparking accusations that they were profiteering from the poor by sometimes charging more than 80% annual interest.
Mr. Yunus contends that any microlender charging borrowers more than 15 percentage points above its cost of capital needs to cut costs or profits—and pass the savings on to the poor. SKS charges around 18 percentage points above its cost of capital.
"Vikram is a very capable young man," Mr. Yunus said. "But he took a wrong turn when he decided to use microcredit for making money."
Mr. Akula said he needs to build in around five percentage points of profit to expand, adding that Mr. Yunus's expectations are too high because his experience is in markets likes Bangladesh, where he didn't have to deal with the high costs of reaching remote villages.
A Subprime Crisis?
Some analysts and investors are worried that the growth being fueled by healthy profits could result in a subprime crisis as competing microlenders give too many loans to poor borrowers who can't repay them.
SKS has seven million borrowers, up from 200,000 five years ago. In the same period, the company's profit growth has averaged more than 200% a year.
MFIs Attract Executives From Other Sectors. Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More .Mr. Akula said SKS could charge interest rates of more than 40%, instead of its current average of 28%, but doesn't the company needs only enough profit to attract investments and lending for its rapid rollout.
Even after the IPO, a majority of SKS's investors will be committed to sticking with the lower-profit model, he said.
Earlier this year, Mr. Akula sold part of his SKS stake for more than $10 million. He said he isn't ashamed of the money, adding that rewarding microfinance employees with benefits closer to those in the conventional finance world is part of his business strategy.
—Arlene Chang contributed to this article.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Stress-Free Blog and Follow up
We're done writing our papers, which takes a lot of stress away, hence the title for this: the stress free blog. India was a stranger before I met it, and now that we've met, it's definitely a place I would like to get to know better. I was ready to leave when we did, and I felt so at home for the next two weeks following the trip, and then a sudden homesickness dawned on me and I realized how much I missed the country. Its culture was so rich that there were so many more things to explore, and I barely got to make some friends who were locals. The only e-mails I exchanged were with my eyebrow threading artist and my sari fitting expert. Therefore, I'm still curious about what I'm missing out on and I'm hoping to go back, potentially teach abroad there for a year or two. Maybe I will be able to see it from a completely different perspective since if I do go on that program, I'll be more independent and be able to experience things somewhat similar to what a local would experience.
Train to India from a Different Angle
Many people have focused on how corruption played a major role in our train ride. Unfortunately, and fortunately, I did not get to witness the scene. Just a couple of cars down, I witnessed something completely different. Because the train was packed, there weren't any available seats, so we ended up standing for a bit. What amazed me were the following actions. First, the conductor felt bad and he personally tried to create a seat for us in the aisle by putting some newspapers on top of a crate. Then, a mother got up and offered her seat so that we could at least eat. Suddenly, it was as if the second world of India was in this car as compared to the one where our tour guide was being harrassed. Many men and women either tried to make space or offered their seats to us and this amazed me since it's a rare event in the states. After some polite declines since it was, after all, their seats, a man said to me "We're men, and it doesn't look good if a woman is standing while we're sitting, so please sit." I finally sat, and rested my head for the last half of the trip. During this time, I was still very sick and had a terrible sore throat so I didn't get a chance to talk much, but I know my classmates had a wonderful experience meeting and getting to know their friendly train neighbors. It's just interesting that the concept of two Indias can fall into so many different contexts, and one such example was our train experience.
Reflection
It is quiet at my desk. The India trip is last month's news, our research papers are handed in, and the class is just waiting to see the fruits of our research and field work manifest into that 'A'.
Before this trip, I was really not sure of what to expect from an MBA level course with a travel component. I knew that the course was designed to meet the elective requirements of a few different concentration areas at Rutgers Business School: Marketing, Supply Chain, and Global Business -- but unlike other courses there weren't traditional metrics to help me judge how I was doing and if I was learning what I needed to be learning.
But a few things helped to eleviate this predicament. There was reading to be done, news to catch up with, and we had to also research the companies we were going to see. During the course of the trip, being in a small, close knit group helped because we were able to bounce ideas off of each other and learn from other people's questions. Pictures, videos and diligent note taking also helped to keep us in check and to remind us of what we saw as we traveled. (Note: for anyone traveling through school, I highly recommend investing in a recorder, or an app on the iPhone. It is worth it when you are trying to remember details from the various meetings and encounters and also much easier to take voice notes than to write out your thoughts.)
When we got back from India, our class reflected on what we saw and how we viewed India. At a few points during our presentations, it was hard to believe we were all on the same trip: everyone had something new to add to the discussion and had viewed India in a completely different light. This was definitely the benefit of a travel based course such as this. We were not bound to text-book learning and could focus our learning on what interested us. I was happy to be able to apply concepts from other classes to what I saw in India. Other students choose to focus on ideas related to their profession.
My suggestion for anyone taking this course, or one similar to this, is to make sure to spend a lot of time reading and preparing for what you will see. But when you are there, just look out the window and take it all in. Try to have a few ideas in mind before you go, as to what lens you may want to see the country in. I knew before the trip that I wanted to look into innovation, science, and entrepreneurship. While I may not have seen all of what I expected to see, having an small idea helped to focus my thoughts during the trip.
Before this trip, I was really not sure of what to expect from an MBA level course with a travel component. I knew that the course was designed to meet the elective requirements of a few different concentration areas at Rutgers Business School: Marketing, Supply Chain, and Global Business -- but unlike other courses there weren't traditional metrics to help me judge how I was doing and if I was learning what I needed to be learning.
But a few things helped to eleviate this predicament. There was reading to be done, news to catch up with, and we had to also research the companies we were going to see. During the course of the trip, being in a small, close knit group helped because we were able to bounce ideas off of each other and learn from other people's questions. Pictures, videos and diligent note taking also helped to keep us in check and to remind us of what we saw as we traveled. (Note: for anyone traveling through school, I highly recommend investing in a recorder, or an app on the iPhone. It is worth it when you are trying to remember details from the various meetings and encounters and also much easier to take voice notes than to write out your thoughts.)
When we got back from India, our class reflected on what we saw and how we viewed India. At a few points during our presentations, it was hard to believe we were all on the same trip: everyone had something new to add to the discussion and had viewed India in a completely different light. This was definitely the benefit of a travel based course such as this. We were not bound to text-book learning and could focus our learning on what interested us. I was happy to be able to apply concepts from other classes to what I saw in India. Other students choose to focus on ideas related to their profession.
My suggestion for anyone taking this course, or one similar to this, is to make sure to spend a lot of time reading and preparing for what you will see. But when you are there, just look out the window and take it all in. Try to have a few ideas in mind before you go, as to what lens you may want to see the country in. I knew before the trip that I wanted to look into innovation, science, and entrepreneurship. While I may not have seen all of what I expected to see, having an small idea helped to focus my thoughts during the trip.
Monday, April 19, 2010
India's Infrastructure Drive Must Steer Around Potholes- WSJ
Upgrading infrastructure has fueled rapid economic growth in the world's most populous country, China. Hope is springing once again that the second-most-populous one, India, might follow the same path. To avoid disenchantment, India will need to work extra hard to get support from investors at home and abroad, and to deliver on past promises.
China, with its sprawling networks of new highways, airports and budding high-speed rail connections, makes for a daunting comparison. India has weaker government finances and an unruly democratic government that lacks China's authoritarian discipline. Clearing land for roads or power plants in China is a cinch; not so in India, where land rights are often hugely contentious. Government-backed companies have led China's infrastructure build-out. India's push will depend heavily on the private sector. And India, with its history of murky and investor-unfriendly rules on infrastructure investment, has a record of disappointment.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Geithner Has His Work Cut Out for Him in India
NEW DELHI, INDIA — Timothy F. Geithner, the U.S. Treasury secretary, lands in New Delhi on Tuesday for a two-day trip to inaugurate a new economic and financial partnership between the world’s largest and oldest democracies. It is a return of sorts for Mr. Geithner, who lived for five years in New Delhi as a child.
Mr. Geithner has his work cut out for him, economists and policy analysts in both India and the United States say. Hammering out economic agreements between the two countries has traditionally been an arduous task.
“On principle, they both agree on everything,” said Jahangir Aziz, chief India economist at J.P.Morgan in Mumbai. “It always comes down to the nitty-gritty and that’s where things get stuck. Part of the problem is neither of them wants to give the other side an inch.”
It took nearly 20 years for the United States to lift a ban on imports of Indian mangoes, for example, and a deal to allow energy-strapped India access to U.S. nuclear technology, agreed in principal four years ago, still has not cleared all the legal hurdles that would let American companies sign contracts to do business here. (French and Russian companies, by contrast, have signed contracts and are expected to begin work soon.)
Continue reading @ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/business/global/06geithner.html?pagewanted=1&ref=world
Mr. Geithner has his work cut out for him, economists and policy analysts in both India and the United States say. Hammering out economic agreements between the two countries has traditionally been an arduous task.
“On principle, they both agree on everything,” said Jahangir Aziz, chief India economist at J.P.Morgan in Mumbai. “It always comes down to the nitty-gritty and that’s where things get stuck. Part of the problem is neither of them wants to give the other side an inch.”
It took nearly 20 years for the United States to lift a ban on imports of Indian mangoes, for example, and a deal to allow energy-strapped India access to U.S. nuclear technology, agreed in principal four years ago, still has not cleared all the legal hurdles that would let American companies sign contracts to do business here. (French and Russian companies, by contrast, have signed contracts and are expected to begin work soon.)
Continue reading @ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/business/global/06geithner.html?pagewanted=1&ref=world
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Train Ride – Back from Agra to Delhi
So talk about corruption, this was definitely an enlightening experience to see corruption first hand in our face. We were on our way back to Delhi after our visit to Agra, where we got to see the beautiful Taj Mahal. Our tour guide, lead us every where so we were dependent on him to lead us into the right direction, and also on to the right train. But I guess we were expecting too much, as we landed up on the wrong train.
The train was jam packed, and there were literally no seats (more like very few seats). We started looking for our seats and I was shocked to see that people were in our seats. We actually did not even have the tickets in our hand, and we looked back and we said our tour guide has the tickets. The conductor came and was not pleased to see twenty five people standing in the path between seats. The people serving dinner in the train were looking at us and seemed pissed since we were blocking the way. The police on the train were asking us where the tour guide was as they needed to talk to him.
The train was jam packed, and there were literally no seats (more like very few seats). We started looking for our seats and I was shocked to see that people were in our seats. We actually did not even have the tickets in our hand, and we looked back and we said our tour guide has the tickets. The conductor came and was not pleased to see twenty five people standing in the path between seats. The people serving dinner in the train were looking at us and seemed pissed since we were blocking the way. The police on the train were asking us where the tour guide was as they needed to talk to him.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thoughts on Dharavi
After spending a few nights at five-star accommodations in the heart of Mumbai -Nairman Point- our journey to India exposed our bushy-tailed and bright-eyed group to one of the biggest slums in India: Dharavi.
Our RBS group had already been exposed to poverty in India before we reached Dharavi. We had seen make-shift homes around the street corners, under bridges, on sidewalks. Poverty is every where. In both Delhi and Mumbai, our RBS group was approached by peddlers trying to make a rupee. Some of them got lucky and were handed 500 rupee notes. Others were turned away. Being Indian and having visited India a number of times before this trip, I felt comfortable with the poverty in India. It took the eyes of my classmates to show me that this was not really okay. I was not too excited to visit Dharavi. Family members in India were surprised to hear that we were going to the slums, and warned me to take care.
Located in the suburbs of Mumbai, near Sion, Bandra, Kurla, and Kalina, Dharavi is a small scale industry and unlike the beggars on the streets of Mumbai and Delhi, you can sense work-ethic. Our group arrived at the slum around 9 AM. While plenty of stores in Delhi and Mumbai would be closed at this hour, Dharavi was bustling with activity. The slum was divided up into industrial areas: plastics, metal work, leather work, pottery work, and even some popular snacks are made there.
Our RBS group had already been exposed to poverty in India before we reached Dharavi. We had seen make-shift homes around the street corners, under bridges, on sidewalks. Poverty is every where. In both Delhi and Mumbai, our RBS group was approached by peddlers trying to make a rupee. Some of them got lucky and were handed 500 rupee notes. Others were turned away. Being Indian and having visited India a number of times before this trip, I felt comfortable with the poverty in India. It took the eyes of my classmates to show me that this was not really okay. I was not too excited to visit Dharavi. Family members in India were surprised to hear that we were going to the slums, and warned me to take care.
Located in the suburbs of Mumbai, near Sion, Bandra, Kurla, and Kalina, Dharavi is a small scale industry and unlike the beggars on the streets of Mumbai and Delhi, you can sense work-ethic. Our group arrived at the slum around 9 AM. While plenty of stores in Delhi and Mumbai would be closed at this hour, Dharavi was bustling with activity. The slum was divided up into industrial areas: plastics, metal work, leather work, pottery work, and even some popular snacks are made there.
Nehru Quote
“India is a land of contrasts, of some very rich many very poor people, of modernism and medievalism…India is not a poor country. She is abundantly supplied with everything that makes a country rich, yet her people are very poor.”
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Friday, March 26, 2010
First Thoughts
As part of the Rutgers Travel Course to India, I had the chance to experience the challenges and opportunities of this great country. Our group traversed the country from Bombay to Bangalore, from the old city of Delhi to the tranquil and modern campus of Infosys. If anything was clear from this trip, India is a nation of severe contrasts. From a malnourished, naked child lying helplessly on the sidewalk, to a well-dressed, highly-articulate business executive speaking of opportunities for his company to emerge as a market leader; the contrasts challenge your senses to the extreme. While it is clear that India continues to face significant challenges, it has also become clear that India is a country with limitless potential.
India is a country of extremes. The largest democracy in the world, India boasts a powerful middle class consisting of over 300 million citizens. At the same time, this is a country with more than one-third of the world’s chronically malnourished children . In fact, over a quarter of the population live below any humanly-accepted poverty level . India became an independent nation in 1947, however the young government installed socialist policies and largely aligned with the Soviet Union with regards to centralized economic planning and the regulation of markets. By 1991, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and it had become clear that deregulated, free markets were outperforming socialistic trending markets around the world. With such clear evidence in hand, India began to privatize industries and increase foreign direct investment opportunities.
India is a country of extremes. The largest democracy in the world, India boasts a powerful middle class consisting of over 300 million citizens. At the same time, this is a country with more than one-third of the world’s chronically malnourished children . In fact, over a quarter of the population live below any humanly-accepted poverty level . India became an independent nation in 1947, however the young government installed socialist policies and largely aligned with the Soviet Union with regards to centralized economic planning and the regulation of markets. By 1991, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and it had become clear that deregulated, free markets were outperforming socialistic trending markets around the world. With such clear evidence in hand, India began to privatize industries and increase foreign direct investment opportunities.
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