I am Gurgaon. The new Urban India | Documentary

The shining facades of Gurgaon, a satellite city of New Delhi, are symbols of Indias unparalleled economic growth. Gurgaon was built at the turn of this century by the largest project developers in the world. A village 15 years ago, has now grown into a city of 1,4 million inhabitants, but with little or no infrastructure. How viable is this new type of city?

Residents of the gated communities of this privatized society offer insights in their hope, desires, and in the new self-confidence of the Indian middle class. Gradually it becomes clear what the consequences of the credit crisis and the growing gap between rich and poor are for the city and the psyche of its inhabitants.

Gurgaon: a Ponzi Scheme or the prototype for future mega cities as they will be found all over India within a few decennials?

Manu Joseph Vs Barkha Dutt | NDTV

Arundhati Roy: On Maoists in India | CNN

Ravinder Reddy's Artwork Under Siege | Art & Politics

Bombay: One Year On

Images: Outlook India

WHAT'S RECESSION?

In India, the rich just got richer. Despite one of the worst global recessions in history, the number of billionaires in the subcontinent has almost doubled since last year.

Figures show that there are now 52 billionaires in India, compared with 27 last year.

Over the course of the year, the stock market has gained more than 75% and the economy has grown at almost 7%, pouring billions of dollars into the bank accounts of India's richest people.

But with 0.00001% of India's population now accounting for around a quarter of its trillion-dollar gross domestic product, fierce debate about the polarisation of the country's society has begun.

Mukesh Ambani, the chief of Reliance Industries, India's biggest private company, remains its richest person with a net worth of around $32bn (£19.2bn).

He is followed by the London-based steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, with $30bn, with the net worth of both men rising by half.

Ambani's estranged brother, Anil, was India's third wealthiest person, with a fortune of $17.5bn.

The combined wealth of India's 100 richest people was put at $276bn – considerably more than China's 100 wealthiest, who have $170bn.

These two Asian giants have been the bright spots in the global economy, and analysts expect India, Asia's third-biggest economy, to expand by 6.4% next year – the fastest pace among the G20 nations after China.

By contrast, the rich in the US have got poorer. The Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, lost $7bn, shrinking his personal wealth to $50bn.

The investor Warren Buffet was down to his last $40bn, while almost 100 billionaires in the US were reduced to being worth millions last year.

In a sign of how wealthy Indian billionaires are, Mukesh Ambani, whose oil to supermarkets empire is ubiquitous in the country, is now almost three times richer than the Microsoft chief executive officer, Steve Ballmer, a classmate at Stanford University.

There has been increasing concern about the emergence of a super-rich in India, a country in which 800 million people live on 20 rupees (50 cents) a day.

Last month, the corporate affairs minister, Salman Khurshid, called for a cut in the "vulgar" salaries of top bosses in India, who have seen their pay rocket.

Soon after his call for restraint, Reliance announced a 66% pay cut for Mukesh Ambani to "set a personal example of moderation".

The elder Ambani will take home $3.2million) in salary and a share of profits for the year.

However, Professor Abhijet Sen, a leftwing academic who also is a member of the Planning Commission – India's advisory panel on government spending – said: "I am certain that inequality is increasing and nothing is being done to curb grotesque amounts of wealth building up."

He said the government was "sincere about doing something for the poor, but not about capping the rich".

"I can see a major problem, because money is corrupting politics," he added. "People are able to buy power in a way that is not healthy.

"You have to be a millionaire to contest even local elections. So there are problems with rising inequality."

He said that, as a first step, India "should institute a death tax. In America, there are inheritance taxes. This would be a good first step to immediately reducing inequality."

However, other experts say inequality, as measured by the government, has not risen.

"This is just a few headlines, not a serious look about wealth distribution in the general population," Surjit Bhalla, of Oxus investments, said.

"Forbes' billionaire list allows for leftwingers to talk up poverty. The [government] surveys show that, for 20 years, inequality has not risen.

Six women made the rich list, with Savitri Jindal, the head of Jindal Steel, listed as the richest businesswomen in India. Her wealth rose from $2.9bn to $12bn.

Forbes magazine said the list showed India was a land of opportunities.

"Happy days are definitely back again for India's richest," Nazneen Karmali, the India editor of Forbes Asia, said.

"This year's list shows that, when conditions in the financial markets and the economy are right, India has the scale and resources to produce billionaires faster than most countries."

Source: TheGuardian

Tata looks for successor

RATAN Tata, the 72-year-old chairman of the $71-billion Tata Group, is looking for someone like him as a successor. But his choice is plainly not as straight and simple as that of the grand old ruling Congress party, which is grooming Rahul Gandhi.

The second most keenly-awaited succession announcement in India became the topic of discussion in corporate boardrooms on Wednesday, after Mr Tata said in a conference that he has hired consultants to choose a successor.

As always, Mr Tata is not in a hurry. He has given himself two years to finalise as to who would step into his rather big shoes, people familiar with the matter said.

“The successor, I would hope, would have integrity and our value systems in the forefront and hopefully would carry on the path that we have tried to set for the company’s growth,’’ Mr Tata told a conference organised by the Wall Street Journal. Mr Tata will retire in 2012, whenheturns75.Heisthechairmanof Tata Sons, the group’s holding company, and non-executive chairman of group companies like Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy Services.

The choice of successor may be at the top of his mind, as he may prefer to leave behind a conglomerate, where the next chairman does not face the challenges he did when he was called in to head the group after his uncle JRD Tata.

Ratan Tata, after taking over in 1991, spent the initial few years asserting his control over a group dominated by senior executives like Russi Mody and Darbari Seth, widely referred to as ‘satraps’.

As the world knows Mr Tata succeeded, transformed the group from a bunch of India-focused companies to one reaching out for business opportunities across the globe.

The process of succession planning is much more dignified than at the time of JRD Tata,’’ said Gita Piramal, management writer and author of ‘Business Maharajas’. “Nobody knew JRD’s mind. There seems to be an inclusive exercise going on, as Ratan Tata is consulting within and outside to find the successor.”

Neither Ratan Tata, nor anyone else in the group, is talking about who would succeed. But the choice seems to be as huge as the group’s business empire.

As has been for many years, the first name that crops up in any debate about it is Noel Tata, a natural heir with the surname. What strengthens the argument for him is that he is the son-in-law of the biggest shareholder of Tata Sons, Pallonji Mistry, popularly known as the Phantom of Bombay House.

Noel Tata is building the retail business under Trent, which runs the Westside stores. Some say he has not proved his mettle by running the biggest of the companies in the group. But this was also the case with Ratan Tata when he took over. An external spokesperson for the group said it had “nothing to add” beyond what had been stated by Mr Tata.

But Ratan Tata, in his own words, is open to anyone at this point of time. “We are looking both within the organisation and outside,’’ he told the conference. “It would certainly be easier if that candidate was an Indian national.” In the same breath, he said, “It could also be an expatriate sitting in that position,’’ with nearly 65% of the group’s revenue coming from overseas markets.

Many names, including Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Vikram Pandit of Citigroup and former Vodafone Group CEO Arun Sarin, have done the rounds. But none of them seem to be interested, say people in the know who did not want to be identified.

Some experts are notconvinced that an expat, particularly a person who is not of Indian origin, could lead the group. “There are complexities with a diversified conglomerate which not many expats are used to or exposed to. Where as Indian CEOs may be routed through several companies and may be more prepared to take over as the head of a conglomerate. But that’s not the only reason, there are cultural nuances they (expats) need to adapt to,” said Arvind Mahajan of KPMG.

There is also a galaxy of leaders in the group which makes Ratan Tata’s choice difficult. There is RK Krishnakumar who has been involved in the plantations and hotels businesses for many years, though at 71, age is against him.

R Gopalakrishnan, a former Hindustan Lever executive; B Muthuraman, former managing director at Tata Steel who lead the nation’s biggest overseas acquisition, that of steel company Corus, and Ravi Kant of Tata Motors who steered the takeover of Jaguar Land Rover, are the other top leaders.

But Mr Tata is not taking chances. He may be seeking advice from the best of the global expertise in head hunting.

John Ward, author of many books on family businesses and a visiting lecturer at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, is being speculated as one of the advisors, though there is absolutely no confirmation of this. Others rumoured to be involved are McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group.

According to Rajiv Memani, country head for Ernst & Young, which has worked with various Tata group companies, a typical external consultant for a group like the Tatas would have to be one with the least conflict of interest. “The firm should also be capable of matching intellectual wavelength with the group’s senior executives and be able to visualise the group’s objectives.”

Source: The Economic Times

Revitalizing 104 year old Bombay Stock Exchange

Sari Soldiers

Synopsis

Filmed over three years during the most historic and pivotal time in Nepal’s modern history, The Sari Soldiers is an extraordinary story of six women’s courageous efforts to shape Nepal’s future in the midst of an escalating civil war against Maoist insurgents, and the King’s crackdown on civil liberties. When Devi, mother of a 15-year-old girl, witnesses her niece being tortured and murdered by the Royal Nepal Army, she speaks publicly about the atrocity. The army abducts her daughter in retaliation, and Devi embarks on a three-year struggle to uncover her daughter’s fate and see justice done.

The Sari Soldiers follows her and five other brave women, including Maoist Commander Kranti; Royal Nepal Army Officer Rajani; Krishna, a monarchist from a rural community who leads a rebellion against the Maoists; Mandira, a human rights lawyer; and Ram Kumari, a young student activist shaping the protests to reclaim democracy. The Sari Soldiers intimately delves into the extraordinary journey of these women on opposing sides of the conflict, through the democratic revolution that reshapes the country’s future.

More: The Sari Soldiers

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Arthashastra | Word from India

The Arthashastra (IAST: Arthaśāstra) is a treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya^[1] and Viṣṇugupta,^[2] who are traditionally identified with Chāṇakya (c. 350–-283 BCE),^[3] who was a professor at Taxila University and later the prime minister of the Maurya Empire.

Translation of the title

Different scholars have translated the word "arthaśāstra" in different ways.

• R.P. Kangle – "science of politics," a treatise to help a king in "the acquisition and protection of the earth."^[9]
• A.L. Basham – a "treatise on polity"^[10]
• D.D. Kosambi – "science of material gain"^[11]
• G.P. Singh – "science of polity"^[12]
• Roger Boesche – "science of political economy"^[13]

Roger Boesche describes the Arthaśāstra as "a book of political realism, a book analysing how the political world does work and not very often stating how it ought to work, a book that frequently discloses to a king what calculating and sometimes brutal measures he must carry out to preserve the state and the common good."^[14]

Centrally, Arthaśāstra argues for an autocracy managing an efficient and solid economy. It discusses the ethics of economics and the duties and obligations of a king.^[15] The scope of Arthaśāstra is, however, far wider than statecraft, and it offers an outline of the entire legal andbureaucratic framework for administering a kingdom, with a wealth of descriptive cultural detail on topics such as mineralogy, mining and metals, agriculture, animal husbandry, medicine and the use of wildlife.^[16] The Arthaśāstra also focuses on issues of welfare (for instance, redistribution of wealth during a famine) and the collective ethics that hold a society together.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthashastra