Business in India, Account in India, NRI Returning to India, NRI India, NRI Loans, NRI Banking

CONNECTING INDIA WITH ITS DIASPORA

Vol 1 Issue 7 July 2008

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs www.moia.gov.in, www.overseasindian.in

NALANDA: SEAT OF LEARNING

N alanda, founded in the 5th century AD, is well-known the world over as an ancient seat of learning. Theruins of this erstwhile residential university of Nalanda near Patna, in Bihar, are the silent reminders of thehigh levels of accomplishment attained in the field of education and learning in India in the past. Nalanda

was one of the best known universities of its time, attracting thousands of students from far off places. Scholars allover Asia and other countries in the Middle East had learnt about Nalanda and continued to visit Nalanda till itsdestruction by Turkish and Afghan invaders in the 12th century.

Though the Buddha visited Nalanda several times during his lifetime, this famous centre of Buddhist learning shotto fame much later, during 5th-12th centuries. Hieun Tsang stayed here in the 7th century AD and left detailed descrip-tion of the excellence of its education system and the purity of monastic life practised here. He also gave a vivid accountof both the ambience and architecture of this unique university. In this first residential international university of theworld, 2,000 teachers and 10,000 monks students from all over the Buddhist world lived and studied here.

The Gupta kings patronised these monasteries, built in the old Kushan architectural style, in a row of cells arounda courtyard. Emperors Ashoka and Harshavardhana were some of its most celebrated patrons who built temples,monasteries and viharas here. Recent excavations have unearthed elaborate structures here. An International Centrefor Buddhist Studies was established here in 1951. Nearby is Biharsharif, where an annual urs is celebrated at theDargah (tomb) of Malik Ibrahim Baya. Baragaon, two kilometres away has a sun temple, famous for its Chhath puja.The place is now one of the biggest tourist destinations in Bihar and attracts tourists, especially Buddhists, from allover the world.

M I N I S T R Y O F O V E R S E A S I N D I A N A F FA I R S

The POWERof GARBAGE

Waste is no mean debri — recycle it and you have life-sustaining value

PRAVASI BHARATIYA

The POWERof GARBAGE



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PRAVASI BHARATIYA

W aste is no longerwaste. Ask ColinDrummond,

who recently led a group ofBritish experts to India. Hesays that his company ViridorWaste makes a profit of £45

million (US$88 million) on a £350 million annualturnover, by managing 87 cubic metres of landfill andgenerating 75 MW of energy from it besides. “Profit hasgrown by over 20 percent each year since 2000 and themarket value (of the firm) has grown from 200 millionpounds to over a billion pounds,” Drummond says.

Such is the power of waste. While most would holdtheir noses at the sight of garbage, Drummond and hiscolleagues smell money there. What is more, and per-haps more importantly, proper and scientific waste man-agement brings hope of rejuvenation to a world belea-guered by increasing pollution and toxification of landand water resources, the all-imperilling spectre of glob-al warming, and rising sea levels. Britain’s waste man-agement is a revealing example.

Once the segregation (plastic from other forms ofwaste, for example) is carried out, garbage sent to a land-fill shrinks considerably. Britain cut it from around 16million tonnes in 2001 to less than 12 million tonnes in2007 and has set itself a target of reducing it to five mil-lion tonnes by 2020!

Other statistics open up astonishing vistas. In Britainagain, household recycling and composting rate hasgrown from 10 percent in 2001 and 26 percent in 2006and municipal authorities plan to increase it to 50 per-cent by 2020, Drummond says. Again, segregated wastesgenerate energy both through conventional methodsand by new ones such as pyrolysis and gassification.Drummond says that power generation from landfillgas has increased six-fold in Britain to 4,424 GigawattHours — representing nearly 24 percent of the total UKrenewable energy! Besides, there is considerable reduc-tion in methane emissions into the atmosphere.

This issue of Pravasi showcases the power of waste.Alongside Drummond’s is a fascinating story of howSingapore has raised an island out of rubbish — rootedin a landfill out in the sea! It is an island where birds nestand people play… Amazingly, there’s no sight or smellat Semakau landfill that was once the last depository ofSingapore’s garbage. The place is now a new holidayspot and today, you can navigate the tides and take inthe mangrove roots, seagrass, coral reefs, crabs, starfish-es, sponges, shrimps and many other forms of life thatthrive on the island.

Far from home, in distant Haiti, India is one amongthree countries helping poor communities in a slum onthe rim of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, manage

garbage through an innovative community-based wastemanagement project funded by India, Brazil and SouthAfrica along with the United Nations DevelopmentProgramme. The slum dwellers are converting trash tocash…

There is significant relief for overseas Indian work-ers in the UAE where the government’s HigherCorporation for Specialised Economic Zones plans tobuild family-styled labour complexes to provide prop-er residential units for those with limited incomes.About 40 percent of the labour complexes will be allo-cated for families. Planned housing complexes will go along way in providing a sense of security and comfortfor expatriate Indian workers in the UAE.

On the economic front, inflation has been of key con-cern. As Pravasi goes to press, the Reserve Bank of Indiaplans to hold a crucial meeting to discuss further mone-tary steps to help rein in inflation. Meanwhile, on July16, oil prices settled sharply lower for a second straightday — a spectacular drop that left crude more than $10cheaper in just two days of frenzied trading. Analysts are,however, unsure if the plunge could usher in a long-termshift in sentiment or if it was simply a short-term cor-rection to crude’s bull rally. Nevertheless, it is likely todetermine India’s measures to check inflation and prices.

Kerala is forging ahead in the IT sector and has scoreda first by introducing the Private Public Partnershipmodel in its own Silicon Valley. “Our idea is to devel-op IT parks in all districts in the state. The two majorIT parks, Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, andInfopark in Kochi, will be the hubs while the proposeddistrict IT parks will be the spokes,” says N.Radhakrishnan Nair, director of Kerala State ITInfrastructure Ltd and chief executive ofThiruvananthapuram Technopark. Incidentally,Tiruvananthapuram Technopark is rated the best in thecountry. Kerala with its educational infrastructure andhigh human development index is sure to attract top tal-ent in its IT domain, challenging traditional rivalsBangalore and Hyderabad.

There is fragrant news from the world of diaspora.Apparently, more and more Australians are getting smit-ten by the Indian rose! Australia’s The Lynch Group issigning an MoU with India’s Tanflora to import fresh-cut flowers. Come Valentine’s Day, Tanflora plans toexport over 10 million roses around the world, includ-ing Australia.

This issue of Pravasi features Dr. Renu Khator, awoman who has scripted an unusual journey, one frommoffusil Kanpur to the hallowed environs of HoustonUniversity. Dr. Khator is President and Chancellor ofthe university and shares with our readers a life mostdream of emulating.

Happy reading...

Printed and Published by V. K. Bhatia on behalf of

the Ministry ofOverseas Indian Affairs

Akbar Bhavan, Chanakyapuri,New Delhi - 110021

Website: http://moia.gov.inwww.overseasindian.in

Consulting EditorK.G. Sreenivas

Printed atPrintech Grafix,

F-148 D, GTB Enclave,New Delhi-110093

Pravasi Bharatiya is a monthlypublication. The views expressed in thisjournal are those of the contributorsand do not necessarily reflect the viewsof the Ministry of Overseas IndianAffairs (MOIA). All rights reserved.No part of this journal may beproduced, stored, or transmitted in anyform or by any means — electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording,or otherwise, without the permissionof MOIA.

Editorial correspondence andmanuscripts can be addressed [email protected]

Designed and produced by IANS(www.ians.in) on behalf of the Minstryof Overseas Indian Affairs.

f rom the editor’s desk

c.o.

n.t.e

.n.t.

s

WHAT RUBBISH... OR IS IT? P 12

KERALA BETS ONPUBLIC-PRIVATEPARTNERSHIP IN IT P 20

MANDU P 40

Rubbish is not rubbish always. In an energy thirsty world, there is a silver lining inthe heaps of garbage piling up on city outskirts. For, garbage is a major source ofrenewable source of energy and income... British entrepreneur Colin Drummondshows us how.

God’s Own Country is flexing itsmuscles to be a software superpower. A tourist hotspot, it hasall the potential to emerge as thenext best ‘Silicon Valley’ of India.Thiruvananthapuram and Kochiare emerging as major IT hubs ofthe state while the proposed newdistrict IT parks will be its spokes.

Mandu was sheer poetry carved in stone, amonument to life itself... Surrounded bylakes, baobabs and monuments, it is a mar-vellous throwback to a magnificent past.

Dr. Renu Khator is one ofthe first Indian Americansto become a provost at acomprehensive researchuniversity in the U.S. Sheis now the president andchancellor of theUniversity of Houston.Khator has a doctorate inpolitical science fromPurdue University and abachelor’s from KanpurUniversity, India.

SHOOTING STAR AIMS HIGHER P 42Gagan Narang has won a gold for India and set a world record inthe air rifle men’s contest held at Hannover in Germany. Narang’sscore of 704.3 was 1.2 more than the existing world record of703.1 set by Austrian shooter Thomas Farnik in the World Cupfinals held at Grenada in 2006.

NRI OF THE MONTH P 36

HOUSING IN UAE FOR EXPATS . . . . . . . 860 BN PETRO COMPLEX IN TN . . . . . 23SALMAN RUSHDIE KNIGHTED . . . . . . 30 GENTLE NOOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34BOOK REVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

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The number of expatriateIndians working and living inBahrain has risen to a record

290,000, according to IndianAmbassador Balkrishna Shetty.During the course of an embassy openhouse for Indian expatriates, Shettysaid around 5,000 Indians have beenarriving in Bahrain every month. “Afew years ago we had around 140,000people. The increase has been sub-stantial and is a reflection of the faith,capacity and discipline of Indian work-ers.” During the course of an amnesty

offered by the Bahrainigovernment to illegal for-eign workers to either reg-ularise their papers or leavethe country, 8,000 Indiansleft the country while22,000 others regularisedtheir visas, the ambassadorsaid. The amnesty hadended this January 31.

With new labour lawshaving come into effect inBahrain in July, a total of

52,444 Indians have registered withthe country’s Labour MarketRegulatory Authority (LMRA). Theyregistered their names in the courseof a labour registration festival organ-ised in June by LMRA, which willnow be the sole authority on alllabour-related issues in Bahrain.

“The number of expatriates on ourrecords is nearly 500,000,” reportsquoted LMRA chief executive AliRadhi as saying. “These include about77,000 housemaids, who have not yetregistered.” —IANS

pravasi bharatiya | july 2008 9pravasi bharatiya | july 20088

The Ministry of OverseasIndian Affairs (MOIA) hasasked the state governments

to sign a memorandum of under-standing (MoU) to facilitate legal emi-gration and take stringent actionagainst unscrupulous recruitmentagents. This message was put throughat the Ministry’s two-day consultationmeeting which was attended by offi-cials from 14 states. According to theMinistry, the Punjab government hasalready signed the first such MoUwith the ministry.

One of the most important stepswould be to set up a nodal cell in thestate capitals to deal with the issues ofoverseas Indians. “One of the mainproblems was that the states do nothave any dedicated person or depart-

ment dealing with Indian nationalsabroad. So, we had to carefully choosethe right officials to come here —most of them are from the labourdepartments,” a senior MOIA officialsaid Thursday.

An MOIA press release said that a“nodal department or a nodal cellwould be constituted by the states tobestow mainstream attention tothese issues”.

Punjab and Kerala are the excep-tions who have already established aseparate department for NRI affairs.

Besides, the states will also create adatabase of overseas Indians from theirterritory. One of the important pointsof an MoU would be an undertakingfrom the statss to monitor prosecu-tion of offenders under the

Emigration Act. Overseas IndianAffairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said atthe meeting, that there had not beena single conviction under theEmigration Act so far, despite theMinistry forwarding its sanction forprosecution to the states. Besides, thestates will set up an Overseas WorkersResource Centre and undertakeawareness campaigns.

It was also decided during thecourse of the consultations that theMinistry and the state governmentswould work to develop a platformto help overseas Indians trace theirroots. They would also consider thepossibility of setting up fast-trackcourts for speedy disposal of cases ofIndian women duped or abandonedby their NRI husbands. —IANS

Expatriate Indian populationin Bahrain now 290,000

Malaysian Prime MinisterAbdullah Ahmad Badawi has

formed a new governmental panel tolook into the welfare of Indians thatwould study greater training for youthand micro-credit for ethnic Indians.

The cabinet committee is chairedby Deputy Prime Minister NajibRazak and Malaysian Indian Congress(MIC) president S. Samy Vellu. Oneof the issues before the committeewould be to study the fall of Indianequity ownership from 1.5 percent to1.1 percent, raising the questionwhether the Indian community hasthe capacity to absorb more funds.

The other issues to be discussed arethe standard of living of the ethnicIndian community, estimated at 2.6million, that is 8 percent of Malaysia’s

28 million, and ways to improve theirlifestyles, The Star newspaper said.Badawi said that the formation of thecommittee was part of the Mid-TermReview (MTR) of the Ninth MalaysiaPlan. Denison Jayasooria, a formerexecutive director of MIC’s SocialStrategic Foundation, noted that theincidence of poverty had droppedfrom 5.7 to 3.6 percent nationally.

The review has made headway inaddressing issues of Indian youththrough skills and entrepreneurshiptraining. It also breaks new ground inproviding training to over 6,000 youthand a micro-credit of RM3 million($900,000). Jayasooria, however, not-ed that the review continued to reaf-firm raising the share of Indian equi-ty ownership to 1.5 percent by 2010.

ews N

Anodal police officer in Kerala hasbeen working in coordination

with police in the United ArabEmirates (UAE) to check human traf-ficking and illegal migration.

“A nodal police officer appointedby the Indian government and basedin Kerala is working in coordinationwith police in the UAE to checkhuman trafficking and illegal migra-tion,” India’s Consul-General inDubai Venu Rajamony said at a con-ference on labour management in theGulf Cooperation Council (GCC)countries on June 18.

“Through this system, we can askpolice in the UAE to conduct raids tobust human trafficking and illegalmigration rackets,” he said. Speakingto reporters on the sidelines of theconference later, Rajamony said thenodal officer in India was appointedaround a year ago following a visit ofKerala’s Home Minister to UAE.

“We took up the issue from thereand the officer was appointed. Thereason he has been based in Kerala is

because most of the migration fromIndia to the UAE takes place fromKerala.” Asked if similar officerswould also be appointed in othermajor labour exporting states in India,he said: “Not nodal police officers.The Ministry of External Affairs’ rep-resentatives in Hyderabad (in AndhraPradesh) and Chennai (in TamilNadu) are working in coordinationwith the officer in Kerala.”

Earlier, during the course of a pre-sentation on ‘India-UAE LabourRelations: Striving for a Partnershipand Win-Win Situations’ at the con-ference, the Consul-General said thatIndia was taking a very pro-activeapproach to make migration an order-ly process.

To this end the Ministry ofOverseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) wastaking several steps to promote legalmigration and prevent illegal migra-tion. “Stringent penalties are imposedon those indulging in human smug-gling. In 2007 alone, the licences of sixRAs (recruiting agents) were cancelled

and efforts are on to make the RA sys-tem professional and acceptable to allstakeholders.”

Rajamony said that MOIA had tak-en several steps to prevent abuse ofIndian domestic maids.

“The minimum wage of Indiandomestic maids in the UAE has beenfixed at $300 a month and the mini-mum age for domestic maids seekingemployment abroad has been fixed at30,” Rajamony said.

“Also, employers of such maidshere have to make a security depositof $2,500 and provide a SIM card tothe maid. Our missions here run a24x7 helpline to help domestic maidsin distress.”

The Indian government had start-ed a compulsory insurance scheme forall workers going abroad, he said.

India is also implementing the e-governance process in its migrationsystem and efforts are on to link thedatabases of India and the UAE, theConsul-General said.

— Aroonim Bhuyan/IANS

Panel on Malaysian Indians’ welfare

Indian, UAE police fight human trafficking

MOIA: Emigrants’ skillsupgrade scheme soon

The Ministry of OverseasIndian Affairs (MOIA) will

launch a skills upgrade programmefor potential emigrants. This coun-try-wide scheme would belaunched in the construction, engi-neering, manufacturing, nursingand IT sectors.

The scheme is being imple-mented with help from theMinistry of Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises, state govern-ments, industry associations andNGOs. It is part of recent initiativesthat include the Overseas WorkersResource Centre (OWRC), with atoll-free helpline to provide infor-mation to Indian workers planningto go abroad.

The Ministry is establishing theCouncil for Promotion of OverseasEmployment which will serve as a“strategic think-tank”. A welfarefund for emigrants to providefinancial support will be establishedduring this financial year.—IANS

NRIs from Kerala to getidentity cards

Ahost of programmes are beingworked out for non-resident

Indians (NRIs) from Kerala,including a welfare scheme. Theywould also be issued identity cards,Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan has said. Thesemeasures would be implementedby Roots Norka, a state-run organ-isation that looks after the welfareof non-resident Keralites (NRKs).

Around two million Malayalisare settled abroad, with close to 90percent working in the Gulf.Manjalamkulam Ali, a legislator anddirector of Roots Norka, said thatthe “card will also act as an insur-ance card, where in the case of acci-dent or death of an NRK, the ben-eficiary will get Rs.100,000. Thiscard can also be used as a discountcard at select shops in the state.”

MOIA calls for MoUs on emigration


Agroup of University of Texasresearchers led by IndianAmerican Sudhir Paul have

pinpointed the Achilles heel in theprotective mechanism of HIV, thevirus that claims millions of livesworldwide when it develops intoAIDS. The finding may give hope tomillions of HIV positive people.

The weak spot is hidden in the HIVenvelope protein gp120. This proteinis essential for HIV attachment to hostcells, which initiate infection andeventually lead to AIDS.

The Achilles heel, a tiny stretch ofamino acids numbered 421-433 ongp120, is now under study as a targetfor therapeutic intervention.

Paul, who led the research and co-authored the paper said: “Unlike thechangeable regions of its envelope,HIV needs at least one region thatmust remain constant to attach tocells.” If this region changes, HIV can-not infect cells, he said, adding:“Equally important, HIV does notwant this constant region to provokethe body’s defence system.”

So, HIV uses the same constant cel-lular attachment site to silence B lym-phocytes — the antibody producingcells. The result is that the body isfooled into making abundant antibod-ies to the changeable regions of HIVbut not to its cellular attachment site.

“Immunologists call such regionssuper-antigens. HIV’s cleverness isunmatched. No other virus uses thistrick to evade the body’s defences,” saidPaul, an alumni of New Delhi’s AllIndia Institute of Medical Sciences. Forthe same reason, no HIV preventivevaccine that stimulates production ofprotective antibodies is available.

First reported in the early 1980s,HIV has spread across developingcountries, infecting some 33 millionpeople by 2007 according to a WHOreport. Paul’s group has engineeredantibodies with enzymatic activity,also known as abzymes, which canattack the Achilles heel of the virus ina precise way.

“The abzymes recognise essentiallyall of the diverse HIV forms foundacross the world. This solves the prob-

lem of HIV changeability. The nextstep is to confirm our theory in humanclinical trials,” Paul said. A singleabzyme molecule deactivates thou-sands of virus particles, permanently,unlike regular antibodies that act onlyagainst a single virus particle, and theiranti-viral HIV effect is weaker.

“The work of Paul’s group is high-ly innovative. They have identifiedantibodies that, instead of passivelybinding to the target molecule, are ableto fragment it and destroy its func-tion,” said Steven J. Norris of theUniversity of Texas Medical School.

“Their recent work indicates thatnaturally occurring catalytic antibod-ies, particularly those of the IgA sub-type, may be useful in the treatmentand prevention of HIV infection.”

The abzymes are derived from HIVnegative people with the autoimmunedisease lupus and a small number ofHIV positive people who do notrequire treatment and do not getAIDS. These findings have appearedin the latest issue of the journalAutoimmunity Reviews. —IANS

India to connect with Africanhospitals, universities

ewsNUAE plans housing for labourers with families

Democratic presidential hopefulBarack Obama has thanked

South Asians for supporting his cam-paign and stressed that they played abig role in enabling the US to “over-come the politics of division and dis-traction”. In a letter to South Asiansfor Obama (SAFO), a voluntaryorganisation, he wrote: “I truly can’tthank you enough for doing your

part and for helping us get this far.”The organisation is led by nationalcoordinator Hrishi Karthikeyan,Dave Kumar, Anhoni Patel andNicholas Rathod. “Together, we aresending the message that ordinarypeople can still do extraordinarythings. We are doing somethingextraordinary, and you are an impor-tant part of that,” Obama said.

Obama thanks South Asians for support

PIO leads breakthrough in AIDS research

Arecent string of joint ventures andinvestments cementing ties

between Bollywood and Hollywoodmight turn Indian entertainmentshares of Adlabs Films and UTVSoftware Communications intoblockbusters, the Wall Street Journalhas said. Although Viacom has start-ed a joint venture in India to do tele-vision and films and Sony PicturesEntertainment released its first Hindi

film ‘Saawariya’ this year, the biggestjoint projects are coming from Indianemerging media powers UTV and theReliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani(ADA) Group, which aim to becomeglobal media giants. Reliance ADA’sdeal to invest over $500 million tohelp build a company with StevenSpielberg would help Adlabs, its mainlisted media unit, the Journal said.

UTV, which is building a mediaempire encompassing movies, televi-sion and the Internet with 32 percentownership by Walt Disney Co, isalready producing films inHollywood. It coproduced the recentM. Night Shyamalan’s fairly success-ful horror flick ‘The Happening’.’

These Indian groups stand to prof-it more than investors in Hollywood

because they can use the US connec-tions to make more money in India’sbooming media market, WSJ said.With Indian incomes climbing,receipts from the domestic movieindustry are rising at 15 percent a yearcompared with the US, where thegrowth rate is under 5 percent.

The growth inthe Indian market ismarshalled by smarter distribution.Bollywood producers use DVDs,cable television, the Internet and evenmobile phones to reach moviegoers togenerate more money out of eachfilm.

India makes 1,000-odd movies ayear and earns a revenue of $3 billionwhile Hollywood makes just 600-oddmovies, earning revenue in excess of$80 billion.

Hollywood tieups to boost Bollywood: WSJ

In a move that will benefit thou-sands of expatriate labourers, theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE) is

going to build labour accommodationcomplexes to let workers keep theirfamilies too.

The Higher Corporation forSpecialised Economic Zones(HCSEZ) has announced plans tobuild family-styled labour complexesto provide proper residential units forthose with limited incomes, the state-run Emirates News Agency.

The HCSEZ has taken regulatorymeasures to ensure good environmentfor residents at the current labouraccommodations.

The report quoted Khadem

Sawayeh Al Muhairi, executive direc-tor for labour services at HCSEZ, assaying that the corporation wouldconstruct world-class complexes atcompetitive prices for the limitedincome categories.

Forty percent of the labour com-plexes will be allocated for families, hesaid, indicating that the corporation atthis moment is seeking to build suchcomplexes for workers in the indus-trial sector.

Indian workers comprise 42.5 per-cent of the total labour force in theUAE and 65 percent of them are inthe blue-collar category.

The expatriate Indian population inthis Gulf nation stands at 1.5 million.

New insurance productLIC (International), the global sub-

sidiary of India’s Life InsuranceCorporation, has launched a newinsurance product targeted at expatri-ate Indians. Called Fortune Builder,it is a new units-linked insurance plan(ULIP) launched to mark LIC’s 20thyear of operations in the Gulf.

“The new product will cater to theinvestment as well as insurance needsof the customers,” said Sudhin RoyChowdhury, LIC (International)’sCEO. “It also provides an option totake back your money systematicallyover a period of five years on maturi-ty of the policy. The premium payingterms are also highly flexible.”—IANS

Ravi SeethapathyReceives Shastri

Institute’s Honour

Dr. Gary vanLoon,President of the

Shastri Indo-CanadianInstitute conferred theInstitute’s HonourRoll distinction to Mr.Ravi Seethapathy inOttawa on June 12,2008.

Ravi Seethapathy, anIIT Kharagpur (India) graduate, hasbeen involved in developing educa-tional structure of the country. He isnow the Chair of the Institute’sCanadian Advisory Council since2004.

The Shastri Honour Roll distinc-tion is awarded to individuals whohave made an important contributionto the advancement of the institute’sgoals of building knowledge andunderstanding between Canada andIndia through academic partnerships.

Since its founding in 1968, theShastri Institute has awarded this dis-tinction to select individualsrenowned for their knowledge, ded-ication and service.

Displaying its prowess in the fieldof information technology,

India will be setting up an e-net-working infrastructure in 53 Africannations to share its expertise in thefield of medicine and education.

The government of India initiativewill connect 12 hospitals in the coun-try with five African hospitals to assistin remote diagnosis and staff training.Seven Indian universities will also benetworked with five African univer-sities for providing tele-education aspart of a $53 billion project. HCLInfosystems Ltd will be the technical

partner in this project setting up. “There is a huge potential for

increasing the pace of development inAfrica by usage of IT by institutionsof learning,” said Ajai Chowdhry,chairman and chief executive officerof HCL.

R ubbish is not rubbish,it’s just money beingthrown away, says Colin

Drummond, an entrepreneurfrom Britain who made his mil-lions managing waste and gener-ating electricity out of it.

Drummond, who recently leda group of British experts in thisfield to India, said there that hiscompany Viridor Waste is nowmaking a profit of 45 millionpounds ($88 million) on a 350-million pound annual turnover,by managing 87 cubic metres oflandfill and generating 75 MW of

pravasi bharatiya | july 2008pravasi bharatiya | july 200812 13

over StoryC What rubbish, it’s moneydown the drain!

By Joydeep Gupta

The Tama Berin Landfill, England.

pravasi bharatiya | july 2008 15

over Story

pravasi bharatiya | july 200814

energy from it, among other projects.“Profit has grown by over 20 percent

each year since 2000 and the market val-ue (of the firm) has grown from 200 mil-lion pounds to over a billion pounds,”Drummond told a group of would-beentrepreneurs from around India.

If you ask the average Indian whatthe country’s biggest environmentalproblem is, he/she is likely to point toa garbage dump. The edge of everyhuman settlement in India is strewnwith solid waste. While others holdtheir noses, Drummond and his col-leagues can smell money there.

“Of course there are some pre-req-uisites,” Drummond told Indo-AsianNews Service. “The waste has to be seg-regated. The landfill has to be lined.”

Once the segregation is done, theamount of garbage sent to a landfilldecreases automatically. Britainreduced it from around 16 milliontonnes in 2001 to less than 12 milliontonnes in 2007 and aims to reduce itto five million tonnes by 2020.

At the same time, household recy-cling and composting rate in Britainhas grown from 10 percent in 2001and 26 percent in 2006 and the plan isto increase it to 50 percent by 2020,Drummond said. Once the landfill

gets segregated waste, it can generateenergy both by conventional methodsand by new ones such as pyrolysis andgassification, he added.

Power generation from landfill gashas increased six-fold in Britain to4,424 Gigawatt Hours, saidDrummond. “It represents 24 percentof total UK renewables, with energyfrom waste combustion a further sixpercent and anaerobic digestion ofsewage sludge another three percent.And there is a corresponding reduc-tion in methane emissions to theatmosphere.”

Methane is a greenhouse gas 21times as potent as carbon dioxide.Methane’s contribution to climatechange is still relatively unstudied.

Other entrepreneurs in the Britishdelegation were as enthusiastic aboutbusiness in India as Drummond was.

Helen Fairfield would like to reit-erate the benefits of compost with alittle innovation. The firm she worksfor has developed a compact com-posting unit that can handle all thefruit and vegetable waste fromManchester’s wholesale market on thespot, something that would be veryhandy in the major markets spreadaround India, she pointed out.

Shantanu Banerjee, who works inBritain-based firm Enviros, hasdesigned landfills that can provideenergy and clean water in Britain,Hong Kong, Malaysia and SouthAfrica. He would now like to do thesame in the land of his birth and sayshe now knows the special problems ofdesigning landfills in the tropics.

“Every sizeable landfill site in theUK generates power. There is no rea-son why a similar success story can-not happen in India,” Banerjee said.(Joydeep Gupta can be contacted [email protected])

CGarbage dump is India’sbiggest environmentalproblem. The edge of

every human settlementin India is strewn with

solid waste. Whileothers hold their noses,

Drummond and hiscolleagues can

smell money there.

Garbage island rises from the sea

O nce there was a dirty bit of sea next to the world’sbusiest port here. Today it is an island where birds

nest and people play, though the entire island is made ofrubbish.

You wouldn’t know unless you were told. There’s nosight or smell at Semakau landfill to indicate it is the lastdepository of Singapore’s garbage. The corals and all theanimals of the beach have been fooled too — they think it’sa natural island, and they have grown in droves around it.

Singapore has been incinerating its waste for decades. Aplace had to be found to dump the ash that’s left behind.Since the city state has hardly any space left, the plannerslooked at the sea.

They put a seven-kilometre perimeter wall around 350hectares, divided up the area inside into small portions,and started filling it up with ash in April 1999.

Today, four of the portions are full, but the rate at which

the ash is being generated is going down, much to delightof the municipal authorities. Singaporeans are getting moreaware of the need to recycle what they used to throw awayearlier. At the current rate, the landfill will be operationaltill 2045, the planners estimate.

The place is so clean it has turned into a new holidayspot. School and college students come in droves for inter-tidal walks where they gawk at mangrove roots, seagrass,coral reefs, crabs, starfishes, sponges, shrimps and manyother forms of life that thrive in the belt between high andlow tide marks.

Birdwatchers come to glimpse at some of the 66 speciesrecorded at Semakau, sport-fishermen love its artificiallagoon and even amateur astronomers prefer it becausethey can get away from the glare of the city lights. The lastthing on their minds is that they are standing on an islandmade of rubbish... —IANS

An ariel view of the Semakau Landfill, Singapore.

Image of An Indian Landfill.

pravasi bharatiya | july 2008 17pravasi bharatiya | July 2008

over StoryC

16

H aiti hits the headlineswith its coups, rebellions,crushing poverty and

food riots. But now there’s a ray ofhope in one of the toughest slumsof its capital here thanks to a tri-country initiative that includes India.

Nowhere is gnawing hunger, thedaily struggle through power cuts,street violence and constant politi-cal upheavals more apparent than in

the shanties of this fragile Caribbeanisland state of almost nine millionpeople.

However, there are stirrings ofchange. India is one among threecountries helping poor communi-ties in a sprawling slum on the edgeof Port-au-Prince, the Haitian cap-ital, break through the cycle ofpoverty, violence and despair.

“I know we have a bad image. But

the violence is going down in myneighbourhood,” said Gislène LaSalle, a widow and a mother of sixfrom Carrefour-Feuilles, the site ofan innovative community-basedwaste management project fundedby India, Brazil and South Africa(the IBSA alliance) along with theUnited Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP).

IBSA has already committed

India helpsHaiti slum

dwellers turntrash to cash

Gislene La Salle (foreground) and others working at the wastemanagement plant in the Carrefour-Feuilles district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Photo by Patralekha Chatterjee

by Patralekha Chatterjee


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over Story

Adeadly peril lurks on MountEverest, the highest summitin the world, which is far

more dangerous than the freezingcold, gale winds and recently postedsecurity forces who are empowered toshoot at the sight of political activities.The new hazard comes from humanwaste scattered along the mountainslopes, which could run into hundredsof tonnes.

“Toilet paper and human excreta lit-ter the Everest base camp (at an alti-tude of 6,400 metres), the slopes, andeven the summit (8,848 metres) itself,”says Ang Tshering Sherpa, chief of theNepal Mountaineering Association,which is entrusted with promotingmountaineering in this country.

“In summer, when the snow melts,the frozen human waste comes intosight and starts raising a stink. Thegrave health and environmental haz-ard the untreated excreta pose is a mat-ter of great concern,” Sherpa added.

While conscious mountaineers havebeen trying to clear the garbage left on themountains, nothing has been done so farto treat the human waste lying there.

In the past, expeditions have col-lected used oxygen cans, tents, foodtins and other litter and brought muchof it down but the human wasteremains.

“As it remains frozen during theexpeditions, it is very difficult toremove it and bring it down,” Sherpatold Indo-Asian News Service.

In a bid to prevent the world’s tallestmountain from turning into the high-est cesspool, an expedition is nowintroducing, for the first time in thehistory of the Everest, bio-degradabletoilets.

Sherpa’s son Dawa Steven Sherparecently led a 24-member Eco Everest2008 expedition to the summit inmemory of the peak’s greatest bene-factor, Edmund Hillary, to try andclean the garbage.

The team carried three “Clean

Mountain Cans” with them, a portabletoilet manufactured by an Americancompany. The bins were lined withbio-degradable bags that decomposethe human waste deposited in them.

The expedition was armed with 200such bags. The attempt was to removethe frozen waste on the summit, putit in the bags and bring it down to thebase camp.

The cans, which can be bought for$75 a piece in the US, cost a thumping$150 when brought to Nepal, one ofthe poorest countries in the world.

“The cans were gifted by theAmerican Alpine Club, while some ofthe bags were donated by the factories

that made them,” Sherpa said. Sherpa, who runs Asian Trekking,

one of the leading trekking agenciesin Nepal, said his company wouldhenceforth use the cans and urge oth-er agencies to employ them too.

The expedition that also highlight-ed the dangers of climate change inthe Himalayan slopes, is tying to putinto action a banner in Kathmanduthat urges citizens to use garbagewisely and turn it into money.

It is offering each climber whobrings down human or other wastedown from the peak to the base camp$1 for each kg of junk.

—IANS

Everest turning into world’s highest cesspoolExpedition introduces bio-degradable toilets on Mount Everest

$1.17 million to the project. “India’sobjectives in promoting South-Southcooperation is one of the key factorsbehind the project, currently imple-mented in partnership with UNDP,”India’s honorary consul in Haiti EddyHandal told a visiting Indo-Asian NewsService correspondent.

When the project began in 2005,Carrefour-Feuilles was synonymouswith guns and gangsters. Today, res-idents like Gislène who have foundwork in the recycling project exude ahope rare in the impoverished nation.

Gislène was one among the tens ofthousands of street vendors whomake up the informal economy in thewestern hemisphere’s poorest coun-try. “But when the security situationdeteriorated sharply, I could not workin the streets. Luckily, six months ago,I found work in this project. Now,life is more stable. I have a regularincome,” she said.

“The money I earn allows me tofeed my family better and send threeof my six children to school,” Gislènetold Indo-Asian News Service in a mix-ture of Creole and French.

Georginette is also a widow. LikeGislène, this mother of seven isthrilled to find a regular job. “Earlier,only three of my seven children wentto school. Many children from theneighbourhood roamed the streets.But since November 2007 when Ibegan working here, I can afford tosend five...”

Proud in their cobalt blue uniform,the two are among the 385 men andwomen currently working for theIBSA-funded waste managementplant.

“Twenty-five persons who work atthe ‘triage centre’ sorting out thegarbage so that it can be recycled orcomposted receive $6 per day for aneight-hour shift,” said Eliana Nicolini,the UNDP project coordinator.

“The 360 others who work fourhours every day, collecting trash fromthe streets, get half that amount. Halfof the workers are women in a neigh-bourhood where most households areheaded by a single parent. Impressed

by the positive results so far, theHaitian government would like toreplicate this model in other regionsof the country,” Nicolini added.

The idea of turning trash into cashcame from watching garbage pile upalong Haiti’s ill-maintained roads.

The waste not only clogged thecapital’s drainage system and canals,it also posed a security hazard asarmed gangs used the mounds oftrash as barricades, local media reportssuggest.

It was against this backdrop that theIBSA/UNDP project was conceptu-alised in 2005.

“Every morning, a group of work-ers go out and collect waste fromhouse to house,” said PatrickMassenat, a local youth heading acommittee created to implementactivities contributing to waste man-agement and to ensure effectiveinvolvement of governmental insti-tutions.

“The trash is brougzzzztic, metalsand all that. Then, part of the waste ismade into fuel briquettes. The pro-ject aims to reduce violence in thecommunity, clean up the area and to

provide more possibilities to peopleso that they can buy something to eat.That is why the local population is sohappy with the project. It is not easyto choose who to hire in a placewhere so many are desperately inneed of work.

“Many people beg us for work butwe don’t have vacancies at themoment. If we can hire even 100more persons, it would solve a lot ofproblems,” Massenat said.

But three years and a UN awarddown the line, there are concernsabout the continuation of the project.

The first phase is over. “We arewaiting for the results of a feasibilitystudy before taking a final decision onthe second phase,” Malay Mishra,Joint Secretary in the Ministry ofExternal Affairs in New Delhi, toldIndo-Asian News Service.

The results of the feasibility studyare expected in July. The second phasefocuses on marketing the recycledproducts.

Paper waste is already being recycledinto fuel briquettes to be sold in localmarkets. Money from the sale of thesebriquettes will be reinvested into theproject.

“IBSA is committed to the con-struction of a composting centre, forwhich it has already allocatedresources. The procurement processis under way and completion of workis now planned for the end of theyear,” said Francisco Simplicio fromUNDP’s Special Unit for South-South Cooperation.

Workers at the site hope donorswill continue to support the projectthat has changed the face of theCarrefour-Feuilles slum.

Can employment to 385 peoplereally end vziolence in one of themost notorious slum areas of Port-au- Prince?

“Most people in this area neverknew real work. Now, they haveexperienced it. They also have fami-lies. The area is cleaner; the womenwho lost their husbands in gang warsand police firing are happier. It’s abeginning,” said Massenat. —IANS

C


K erala would rather emulateTamil Nadu than Karnataka— considered the cradle of

India’s information technology (IT)industry with its own Silicon Valleyin Bangalore — to attract IT infras-tructure investments.

“We do not want to repeatKarnataka’s mistake of promoting justone city, Bangalore, as the destinationfor IT investments. We would ratherfollow Tamil Nadu’s model,” N.Radhakrishnan Nair, director ofKerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd(KSITIL), told Indo-Asian News Service.

Tamil Nadu, leveraging the spreadof industrialisation across the state, ispromoting Tier-II cities likeCoimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchira-palli as IT park and special economiczone(SEZ) destinations.

It is this recipe that Kerala hasdecided to follow, said Nair, who isalso chief executive of Technopark,the IT hub in Thiruvananthapuram.

“Our idea is to develop IT parks inall districts in the state. The two majorIT parks, Technopark inThiruvananthapuram, and Infoparkin Kochi, will be the hubs while theproposed district IT parks will be thespokes,” Nair said.

The Kerala government hasacquired land in Kozhikode for a pro-posed 75-acre IT park, calledCyberpark. Land is also beingacquired in other districts for settingIT parks and SEZs.

Similarly, Nair said 100 acres ofland has been acquired for the pro-posed 500-acre integrated IT town-ship project, Technocity, on theThiruvananthapuram-Kochi highway.

Another 200 acres would beacquired by the month-end and theentire land acquisition is expected tobe completed by the year-end, he said.

Unlike Tamil Nadu where severalprivate promoters have built IT parks,Kerala’s focus is on public-private

partnerships with KSITIL as the pri-mary vehicle.

KSITIL is a proposed joint venturewith the Kerala government holdinga 51 percent share and the balance tobe held by private equity investors andnon-resident Indians.

Nair said the process to select a con-sultant to advice on attracting privateinvestors is on.

“Once the partner and funds are inplace, separate special purpose vehicles(SPV) will be formed for each project,in which KSITIL will hold 26 percentand private promoters the balance.” Thiswill be done to help develop the ambi-tious Technocity project as well.

According to plans, the project landwill be parcelled into six lots and allot-ted to different private developers.

An SPV will be formed with eachdeveloper, with KSITIL holding 26percent share and the developer own-ing 74 percent.

“We have got 10 Requests for

Qualification (RFQ) proposals fromreal estate developers, which will nowbe scrutinised,” said Nair.

While that is for the future,Technopark, the single largest IT parkin the country spread out on 260 acresand generating an annual revenue ofabout Rs.400 million ($9.25 million),will also be expanded.

“In the first phase, we developedTechnopark and rented out thepremises. In the second phase, landwas allotted to companies such asInfosys Technologies and TCSwhich in turn built the infrastructure.Now, in the third phase, we willacquire land and develop the infras-tructure jointly with private players,”Nair said.

The third phase of expansion willbe on 100 acres, and land acquisitionis about to be completed. Accordingto Nair, the state has targeted creating200,000 jobs in IT by 2012, comparedto the 40,000 currently. —IANS

India’s IT sector has set new globalbenchmarks. And Kerala adds another featherin its cap by introducing the Private PublicPartnership model in its own Silicon Valley.Venkatachari Jagannathan looks at theemerging IT boom in Kerala.

Kerala bets onpublic-privatepartnership in IT

conomyE

An aeriel view of

TechnoparkThiruvananthapuram

pravasi bharatiya | july 2008 pravasi bharatiya | july 2008

conomyE

22 23

T amil Nadu IndustrialDevelopment Corp Ltd(Tidco) is planning to devel-

op the Cuddalore-Nagapattinam beltas a petroleum, chemical and petro-chemical investment region at aninvestment of Rs.60 billion ($1.4 bil-lion), said a top official.

Talking to reporters after signing agas cooperation agreement with GasAuthority of India Ltd (GAIL) there onJune 6, Tidco chairman and managingdirector S. Ramasundaram said that thestate and central governments woulddevelop the infrastructure while theprospective investors would have tosource the required land for the facto-

ry. “The infrastructure developmentin the region is estimated to requirean investment of Rs.60 billion ($1.38billion),” he added. However, the pro-ject needs to be cleared by the centralgovernment. The first meeting with theMinistry of Petroleum and Natural Gaswas held on June 11.

Ramasundaram added that Tidcowants to develop a petrochemical plantat Nagapattinam. Chennai PetroleumCorp Ltd (CPCL) has been request-ed to consider Nagapattinam as analternative location instead of Ennoreto build its greenfield refinery andpetrochemical complex, he said.

About the gas cooperation agree-

ment, he said that GAIL would con-duct preliminary techno economicfeasibility study for gas demand poten-tial in industrial, commercial, trans-port, residential sectors and evaluatethe medium and long-term gasdemand potential of the state.

GAIL will also assess pipeline infras-tructure and associated facilitiesrequired for supply of natural gasincluding optical fibre network.

“The agreement between GAIL andTidco would help in preparation ofthe future roadmap for realising thenatural gas potential in Tamil Nadu,”said GAIL chairman and managingdirector U.D. Choubey. —IANS

Optical storage device majorMoser Baer India Ltd on June 9

signed a memorandum of under-standing with the Tamil Nadu gov-ernment to set up a photo voltaic andnano technology plant at Oragadum,near Chennai.

The plant, to be set up at an esti-mated investment of Rs. 20 billion ($476 million), willcome up in the Small Industries Promotion Corporationof Tamil Nadu (Sipcot) industrial estate there, said a gov-ernment release. The deal was signed by Industries

Department Secretary M.F. Farooquiand Moser Baer chairman and man-aging director Deepak Puri in thepresence of Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi and Minister forCommunications and InformationTechnology A. Raja.

The Moser Baer deal comes afterSignet Solar Inc announced its plans to set up a photo volta-ic product plant at Sriperumbudur special economic zone(SEZ) near Chennai at an outlay of Rs. 20 billion ($463million). —IANS

Moser Baer to invest Rs. 20 bn in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu to build Rs.60 billionpetrochemical mega-complex

India’s annual rate of infla-tion for the week-endedJune 21 maintained an

upward trend, rising to 11.63percent compared to 11.42percent for the week before.

The wholesale price index(WPI) for all commoditiesreleased on July 4 by theMinistry of Commerce andIndustry showed an increasein the prices of tea, fruits,vegetables, unrefined oil,tanning materials, texturisedyarn, tyre cord, steel andchemicals. More monetarymeasures to rein in inflationmay be likely. “The ReserveBank of India (RBI) willthink of monetary steps tocontain inflationary trends,”a senior official said.

The Reserve Bank, India’sapex bank, on June 24 hikedrepo rate or lending rate by50 basis points to 8.5 percent and thecash reserve ratio or the minimumbalance a bank is required to maintainto 8.75 percent from 8.25 percent.The RBI is likely to hold a meetingon July 29, where the issue of freshfiscal measures could be discussed.

“The government needs to evolvemedium and long term plans for agri-cultural production increase, moder-ating the prices of steel and cement,”said Anjan Roy, economic adviser atthe Federation of Indian Chambers

of Commerce and Industry, an indus-try lobby. “An increase of 0.21 per-cent in inflation is not alarming, butcalls for measures to bring inflationdown to 10 percent first and finally tothe tolerable level of 5 percent. Thesupply side needs to be strengthened,”Roy told Indo-Asian News Service.

Sajjan Jindal, vice-chairman andmanaging director JSW Steel, andpresident of the Associated Chambersof Commerce and Industry(Assocham), also agrees: “Costlier

prices of edible oil, foodproducts, fruit and vegetablesand even iron and steelfuelled the inflation to 11.63percent and if their suppliesare not maintained, inflationwill exceed even 12 percent.”

“Rising crude oil pricesand higher food prices inter-nationally will also furtherescalate inflation as these arenot showing reversal trends,”Jindal said, adding that fiscalsteps from the governmentto contain inflation may bearfruit in the coming weeks.

The index for primaryfood articles comprising tea,fruits and vegetables rose 0.6percent while that of non-food articles like raw cottonrose 0.4 percent in the weekunder review.

Some of the items regis-tering high price rise for theweek-ending June 21 wereunrefined oil (8 percent),texturised yarn (9 percent),basic and foundry pig iron (8percent), steel sheets, platesand strips (6 percent) andcomponents and accessoriesof switch gears (10 percent).

G. Srivatsava, director,economic policy,Confederation of IndianIndustry, said: “High pricesof oil and commodities aredriving up inflation.”

The WPI of fuel, power,light and lubricants declined0.1 percent, while the index

for manufactured products like oil-cakes rose 0.5 percent.

The data showed an increase of 4percent in the price of tea while that offruits and vegetables, maize, bajra andfish marine went up 2 percent each.

The final wholesale price for allcommodities stood at 229.1 points forthe week-ended on April 26 and theannual rate of inflation based on finalindex calculated on point to pointbasis stood at 8.27 percent.

—IANS

More monetarysteps likely as inflation

climbs

Medium andlong-term plansto increaseagriculturalproduction whilemoderating theprices of steeland cement arealso required tocurb inflation


conomyE

24 25

L uxury tourism is redefiningitself in urban India with spe-cial interest holiday packages to

meet the mature market needs in whichcustomers look for “deeper satisfaction”rather than the usual gamut of vacationactivities.

Such holidays also provide greaterfreedom to explore destinations at one’sown pace and time.

As the high-end leisure segments ofoutbound Indian travellers — those hol-idaying abroad — curtail their holidaydurations because of increased workpressure, entrepreneurs and travel firmsare going out of their way to come upwith emotionally satisfying “short-haul”packages to give customers the best andthe most innovative tours that moneycan buy.

The cornerstones of the new holidaypackages on the shelves are “freedom,flexibility, relaxation and space”, unlikeholidays of the past when outboundtourists packed in the maximum activ-ities and destinations in their itinerariesto make most of the money spent.“These specialised and short-haul hol-idays will drive the Indian tourismindustry in the future,” P. Srinivas,senior vice-president of SOTC’s SpecialInterest Tours, told Indo-Asian News

Service from Mumbai. To cater to thegrowing tribe of special interest tourists,comprising mostly stressed corporateexecutives, double-income workingcouples taking a break from work andaffluent baby boomers who have trav-elled early in life but now want to relaxwith their children, Six Senses Resortsand Spas, a leading wellness holidaychain, has unveiled a new package called“Destination Spas”.

The first destination wellness resort,a place devoted exclusively to wellnesstourism away from the bustle of dailylife and cut off from the mainland, isNaka Yai, an island off Phuket.

“It is different from other spas. Thiswellness centre is a destination in itselfwhere tourists can avail of completetherapies of the mind and the bodywithout interruption throughout theirholidays without having to indulge inthe usual holiday chores like shopping,sight-seeing, eating out and having torub shoulders with the local lot,” saysVasudha Sondhi, managing director ofOutbound Marketing Private Limited,which represents the Thailand-basedSix Senses in India.

“It is another world where we do notallow tourists to smoke on the islandexcept on designated zones, do not

admit children below 16, do not servemeat and egg and discourage mobilephones and contact with the world out-side,” Sondhi adds.

The pace of life is slow, relaxed and“disciplined”.

The target audience this year, accord-ing to Sondhi, is the “moneyed” seg-ment from Tier-II and III cities acrossIndia.

“We have a fixed clientele inBollywood and in the metros, but weare getting maximum business fromplaces like Lucknow, Kanpur and citiesin Punjab where travellers are becom-ing more discerning, hip and informed,”Sondhi says.

They are the ones who are lookingfor more spaced-out holidays at themoment. “As most of them go on for-eign holidays at least two to three timesa year now instead of the once-in-a-yeartrip till a couple of years ago, there is norush to cram holiday schedules withevery major attractions and activity onthe way,” she says.

Her travel firm, which fetched onlyfive percent of its business from the sec-ond and third rung towns till 2003, nowgenerates nearly 35 percent businessfrom the smaller cities.

“Small-town tourists are opting for

destinations that are isolated and preferpackages with a lot of space and varia-tion,” Sondhi says.

Seema Kundra, the chief executiveofficer of a public relations firm in thecapital, who is just back from Bali,agrees. “I just chilled out in my resort.I did not venture out except for mymeals and to explore the beaches,” saysthe genial corporate honcho.

Most vacationers feel that packing aschedule with too many stops is tiring.“The traveller returns exhausted. Itrequires another holiday to overcomethe fatigue,” Kundra says.

Industry watchers feel that one of thereasons why special interest holidays isbecoming popular in India is the grow-ing need to spend quality time with thefamily and loved ones, and indulge infavourite pastimes which are not possi-ble in the western lifestyle models thatmost Indian metros have embraced toadapt to the new globalised economy.

Mumbai-based SOTC for instanceis cashing in on the Indian passion forsport. It has launched the country’s first-ever Formula One sports holiday pack-age jointly with the Singapore TourismBoard.

Called the SOTC Sport Abroad, theholiday schedules will coincide withSingapore Grand Prix to held September20 to October 5. It will feature variousFormula One themed entertainmentand lifestyle activities allowing Formulabuffs the freedom to enjoy the races aspart of the holiday packages. FormulaOne Singapore Grand Prix is theworld’s very first night-race on theFormula One calendar.

“More and more Indians are travel-ling abroad to play or watch sportingevents. Cricket and football are nolonger the main draws and neither iscorporate travel, nor incentives for deal-ers and employees driving the growthin sports tourism.

“Instead, groups of friends and fam-ilies travelling abroad to catch a sport-ing event form the majority of oursports tourists,” says Srinivas.

According to him, the SOTC SportAbroad packages are not only restrictedto watching the race on the tracks “butgo much beyond this”. —IANS

S purred by the success of thePalace on Wheels and other lux-

ury train services in India, Kazakhstanhas sought help from India’s tourismministry for similar packages along thefamous Silk Route that dates back overtwo millennia.

“We would like to have a luxurytrain along the Silk Route, which issimilar to India’s luxury trains, includ-ing the Palace on Wheels,” KazakhVice-Minister for Tourism and SportsKairbek Uskenbayev said.

“We could even consider joint part-nerships to improve the quality of ourproduct,” Uskenbayev told Indo -AsianNews Service after attending a presen-tation organised there by the IndianTourism Ministry.

The presentation, at the invitationof the Kazakh government, was toaddress tour operators, hoteliers,investors and officials on brand andlogo development for the hospitalityindustry and share their expertise inluxury trains. Officials said a train ser-vice on the Silk Route via Kazakhstanruns through Central Asia coveringKyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistanand Tajikistan, but the tracks neededto be standardised to broad gauge andwagons upgraded.

The new luxury train will be a partof five tourism projects onKazakhstan’s list of priorities for whichit has a budget exceeding $30 billion,explained the Kazakh tourism and

sports minister. The Silk Route, whichdates back to around 110 BC,stretched from China and the Indiansubcontinent to Central Asia andEurope. It was used not only by thetraders to transport their merchan-dise but also by monks, pilgrims andsoldiers.

Kazakhstan’s economy is expandingas fast as India’s and China’s with agrowth of 10 percent expected this year,due mainly to its huge hydrocarbonreserves and mineral resources.

M.N Javed, Deputy Director withIndia’s Ministry of Tourism, said aspart of the growing bilateral ties, atwo-day road show will be held inAlmaty this September to push therelationship further, especially in thehospitality sector.

The event will coincide with ameeting of mayors from cities fallingon the Silk Route train service to dis-cuss common visas to present theregion as a single tourist destination.

“We would like to learn fromIndia’s experience in brand buildingto build our own brand,” saidUskenbayev, referring to theIncredible India campaign of theIndian tourism ministry that hassecured worldwide acclaim.

At present Kazakhstan receivesaround six million visitors a year witha target to grow to 10 million byupgrading its infrastructure over thenext four years. —IANS

Kazakhstan wants a Palaceon Wheels along Silk Route

Urban Indian tourists opting forspecial interest relaxed holidays


The Tata group, India’s largestbusiness conglomerate, onJune 2 said that they had for-

mally acquired British marquees Jaguarand Land Rover (JLR) from FordMotor Company. The business wasacquired at a function in Gaydon,Britain. JLR’s acting chief executiveofficer (CEO) David Smith, who hashad 25 years experience with JLR andFord, will be the new CEO of thebusiness, Tata Motors announced.

The business has been acquired for$2.3 billion on March 26 in an all-cashtransaction. Ford has contributedaround $600 million in the JLR pen-sion plans, the announcement said.

Ford Motor Company’s executivevice-president and chief financial offi-cer Lewis Booth, who looks after thecompany’s responsibilities for Europe,Volvo and JLR, was present at the June2 ceremony at JLR headquarters.

Describing it as a “momentoustime” for Tata Motors, Tata Groupchairman Ratan Tata said that Jaguarand Land Rover are two iconic Britishbrands with worldwide growthprospects. Tata Motors would extendfull support to the JLR team to realisetheir competitive potential and helpretain their distinctive identities andcontinue to pursue their respectivebusiness plans as before, Tata said.

JLR has been acquired at a cost of

$2.3 billion on a cash-free, debt-freebasis. The purchase considerationincludes the ownership by JLR or per-petual royalty-free licences of all nec-essary intellectual property rights, man-ufacturing plants, two advanced designcentres in Britain and a worldwide net-work of national sales companies.

Tata Motors has also entered intolong-term agreements for supply ofengines, stampings and other JLRcomponents, plus transition supportfrom Ford, including IT, accountingand access to test facilities.

The two companies will continuetheir cooperation in areas such asdesign and development throughsharing of platforms and joint devel-opment of hybrid technologies andpowertrain engineering.

The Ford Motor Credit Companywill also continue to provide financ-ing for JLR dealers and customers fora transition period. Tata Motors isnegotiating with leading auto financeproviders to support the JLR businessin Europe and the US and is likely toselect financial services partners soon.

The JLR deal catapulted TataMotors, India’s largest automobilecompany with revenues of $8.8 bil-lion in 2007, to international headlineswhen it announced the Ford deal inMarch-end 2008.

—IANS

T elecommunications giant Motorola Inc., a Fortune 100company, says that the newer Wimax technology scores

over 3G in data transmission capabilities and that it’s thebroadband route India needed to take.

Wimax or Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess is a non-cellular telecommunications technology,which like 3G has the capability to transfer data wireless-ly over long distances. But while 3G offers speeds in the rangeof 5.8-14.4 mega bits a second, Wimax has the potential to“deliver 70 mega bits over the same spectrum”, a seniorMotorola executive says.

“This technology enables better speeds than the stan-dard 3G and even traditional broadband connections,”Tarvinder Singh, Motorola India’s head of marketing andproduct management, told Indo-Asian News Service.

Incidentally, the Department of Telecom will auctionthe 2.1 GHz and higher spectrum band — which will sup-port both the technologies — some time this month. AndSingh says service providers winning the bids ought to opt

for Wimax. His assertion comes on the heels of theInternational Telecommunications Union (ITU) induct-ing the Wimax technology as part of its 3G standard, thefirst non-cellular telecommunication technology to getITU approval.

Researchers at Nokia-Siemens Networks and HeinrichHertz Institute have showcased a futuristic 3G technolo-gy, the Long Term Evolution or LTE, which has a trans-fer speed of 100 mega bits per second.

But Singh is unimpressed. “Those who swear allegianceto 3G bank upon its development into LTE, which is stillin its development stage and cannot be introduced before2011 commercially,” he added.

Singh said India could not wait till 2011 to provideInternet access and modern technology to its towns andvillages. “We are already lagging behind other nations.Wireless broadband in the form of Wimax can solve theproblem of building infrastructure for wired Internetaccess.” —IANS

Motorola backs Wimax over 3G as India’s next broadband technology

I n spite of a slowdown in thegrowth of both industrial pro-

duction and merchandise exports,India’s direct tax collections rose byas much as 38.61 percent in the firstquarter of the current fiscal, thefinance ministry said on July 4.

The direct tax collections,according to an official statement,rose to Rs. 573.73 billion ($13.27bn) during the period against Rs.413.91 billion ($9.5 bn)in the likequarter of the previous fiscal.

Corporate Snippets

India’s direct taxcollections up 38%

D aimler Hero Motor Corp, aJV floated by German auto

major Daimler AG and Indian two-wheeler giant Hero group, on July7 signed an agreement with theTamil Nadu government to man-ufacture commercial vehicles there.

The JV will set up the manufac-turing facility at the Sipcot industri-al estate near Chennai to roll out70,000 light, medium and heavyvehicles annually. Daimler holds 60percent in the new company, withthe Hero group holding the rest.

Daimler Hero to roll outvehicles in Tamil Nadu

T ata Motors, the world’s sec-ond-largest bus and fourth-

largest truck manufacturer, is intro-ducing a new range of fuel-efficientSuper Milo buses with a startingprice of Rs. 8,50,000 ($19,795).

Available in two variants, Cityand Highway, the buses will havecustomised parameters, fuel effi-cient and eco-friendly engineswhich will result in better pick-up and mileage, the company’sexecutive director for commercialvehicles business unit P.M.Telang said on July 8. —IANS

Tata Motors launchesfuel efficient buses

India third most attractivemarket for apparel retailers

I ndia has emerged thethird most attractivemarket destination

for apparel retailers,according to a new study

by global managementconsulting firm A.T.Kearney.

India comes after Braziland China in the A.T. KearneyRetail Apparel Index, whichlooks at ten drivers, including

apparel consumption andclothing imports/exports, to

rank the top 30 emerging markets forretail apparel investments.

“In India, apparel is the second largestretail category, representing 10 percent ofthe $37 billion retail market. It is expected togrow 12-15 percent per year,” said HemantKalbag, principal, Consumer Industries &Retail Practice, A.T. Kearney.

“The top seven apparel companiesaccount for less than 10 percent of thetotal apparel retail market in India and

Indian consumers tend to be more loyalto a specific retailer than to an apparelbrand. The result is a thriving private labelapparel market,” the study said.

“Like many developed countries, appar-el retail in India is driven by sales pro-motion,” it added.

“The Retail Apparel Index was pub-lished for the first time this year as a com-panion to A.T. Kearney’s Global RetailDevelopment Index (GRDI), a study ofretail investment attractiveness among 30emerging markets conducted annuallysince 2001,” said Saurine M. Doshi, apartner of A.T. Kearney India.

“The analysis evaluates more than 20apparel markets to identify the top 10 coun-tries in terms of market size, growthprospects and consumer affluence,” Doshiadded.

Turkey, Chile, Romania, Argentina,Thailand, Russia and the United ArabEmirates are the other countries in thetop-10 list.

—IANS

conomyEJaguar, Land Rover actingCEO to head new Tata-JLR

! WASHINGTON

I ndian Americans are switchingtheir loyalties from the Clintonsto the likely Democratic presi-

dential nominee Barack Obama,thanks to Hanuman, so suggests acolumnist in the Washington Post.When it comes to American politi-cians, former U.S. President “BillClinton has been the darling of India”,wrote Matthew Mosk in his columntitled “Indian Americans Take Noteof Obama, Thanks to Hanuman” —with a picture of the Hindu monkeygod.

“That love extended to Hillary

Clinton during the Democraticprimaries — especially so with respectto fundraising among IndianAmericans, who grew to become asignificant base of support for herWhite House bid.”

“But now a surprise revelationduring an off-the-cuff exchange inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, hasturned Barack Obama into the talk ofthe Indian news media,” he saidreferring to the brouhaha in Indiaover one of the lucky charms that theDemocratic nominee reportedlycarries. “One of the trinkets, it turnsout, was a tiny figurine of Hanuman— the Hindu monkey god,” said

Mosk definitively though the firstmedia reports described it only aswhat looks like a “tiny monkey god”.Neither Obama nor his campaign hasacknowledged if the figurine wasindeed that of Hanuman.

More likely it was just a trinketgiven by one of his supporters. As thecolumnist recalled it was at a townhall meeting a woman asked Obamawhat kept him grounded, and inresponse he emptied his pockets.“People are so generous to me,investing their hopes in me,” he said,holding up a cupped hand full oftrinkets.

“This I usually don’t show in thesetown hall meetings. I have all thesethings that people give me — all thesedifferent little good luck charms.”

But for the Indians “It’s a big deal,”said the Post citing Bhavna Pandit, 28,a political fundraising consultantbased in Washington “who thinks therevelations will lead to new interest inObama among Indian Americandonors”. The daily quoted Pandit assaying “news of the Obama trinkethas swept across Indian Americanliving rooms and through Indiannewspapers and TV networks.

She said the people she knows as“aunties and uncles” — women andmen from her parents’ generation —are suddenly taking note of Obamain a way they had not done before.

“They think it’s kind of neat. Theyrarely see our religion played out inthe mainstream media in America.”

And, she said according to the post,“In India, they’re like, ‘Wow! Theperson who can be the president hasa connection to us that’s verypersonal. Commenting on thecolumn, a reader ‘Chaya’ remindedPandit that ‘Obama was given thesetrinkets and I wouldn’t be surprised ifhe did not know who Hanuman is’.”

“Let us not be too dumb to thinkthis somehow connects Hindus to thesenator,” said a blogger. “His policiesand his abilities to bring changeshould bring Indians closer to thepresident, not a trinket. That’s whereClintons proved themselves and areloved by Indians.”


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The Hanuman factorin Indian support toBarack Obama!

! WASHINGTON

I ndian-Americanastronaut SunitaWilliams has

received India’s thirdhighest civilian award,the Padma Bhushan, forher feat of completingthe longest space flight for a woman.

“It is a great honour. I am elated,”said Williams as she received heraward from Indian Consul-GeneralS.M. Gavai at a function in Houstonon July 4.

Among this year’s Republic Dayhonourees, she could not receive theaward in person from IndianPresident Pratibha Devisingh Patil inNew Delhi.

Recounting her 195 days stay inspace, she said: “The Earth looksbeautiful from space as there are noborders on the planet. Sometimes wethink we have borders because we aremale, female, of different religions orhave differently coloured skin. Well,

you don’t, they are justin your mind and theyare not real. I could seethis borderless worldonly after I went tospace, but there arepeople like MahatmaGandhi, who couldvisualise all this even

without going to space. Gandhiji’svision of keeping people at peacetogether is really a cornerstone ofhumanity,” Williams added.

Launched to the InternationalSpace Station on space shuttleDiscovery on December 9, 2006, shereturned to Earth on June 22, 2007,after 195 days in space. She also set aworld record for women with fourspacewalks totalling 29 hours and 17minutes. Astronaut Peggy Whitsonsubsequently broke the record in2008 with five spacewalks.

Among the personal items Williamstook with her on the flight were a copyof the Bhagwad Gita, a small figurineof Ganesha and samosas.

The US-based Sikh Council onReligion and Education

(SCORE) held a function inChandigarh on July 6 to honourprominent Sikh personalities andorganisations for excellence in theirfields and humanitarian service.

“In America we have been work-ing for the past five years to bringSikhs in the mainstream of the soci-ety,” Rajwant Singh, chairman ofWashington-based SCORE said.

“American Sikhs have done won-ders in the fields of InformationTechnology, electronics, agricultureand education so we are just tryingto underline their contributionsamong the political leaders ofAmerica,” he said. “Our endeavouris to honour those people who havecreated a positive image of the Sikhcommunity and those who havebeen doing pioneering work in dif-ferent areas,” he added.

Sikhs were honoured at the‘Excellence among Sikhs’ pro-gramme. Many Indians residing incountries like Canada, the US andBritain, attended the event.

US organisationhonours Sikhs

Delhi-bred Kunal Nayyar wentto the US to study marketing,

but as luck would have it he becamean actor and now features in thepopular American TV show “TheBig Bang Theory” as RajeshKoothrappali.

“It is quite crazy and weird. I wentthere as a student and became anactor,” said Kunal. “It is interestingto play Rajesh as I see him not as acharacter but as a person trying to fitin America,” Kunal said.

He says that there are lots of sim-ilarities between him and his char-acter. “I also have a lot of nerdy ele-ments in me and at the same time Iact as a geek like him. I love playingvideo games and just like him I alsolike a lot of epic stuff.”

Indian student in UStelevision show

Sunita Williams receivesPadma Bhushan

Ravi Shankar honoured in US! NEW YORK

I ndian spiritual guru Sri Sri RaviShankar has been honoured bythe New Jersey general assembly

and by the city of Edison for hisorganisation’s initiatives in the U.S.and its service to the world at large.

The state assembly passed a resolu-tion acknowledging that the guru, inthe US recently, has been “furtheringthe best of human instincts, traits andcharacteristics, and promoting sus-tainable growth in poor rural com-munities”.

It also praised his Art of LivingFoundation, “which assists at-riskyouth in turning away from gang vio-lence, drugs and alcohol towards a lifeof greater generosity and service”.

The Foundation’s projects in theUS include inner city youth leader-ship programmes, free trauma relieffor survivors of tragedies such asHurricane Katrina and the VirginiaTech shootings, special programmesfor returning war veterans, prisonerreform, stress-elimination pro-grammes for corporations and work-ing adults, and human-values basedprogrammes for children and youth.

! LONDON

Just a month afterbuying Britain’s

most expensive home,India-born billionaireLakshmi Niwas Mittalhas reportedly acquireda third house onLondon’s costliest streetfor £70 million.

The house inKensington PalaceGardens is the formerPhilippine embassy andlooks on to Kensington Palace, homeof the late Princess Diana, the EveningStandard reported. It is the thirdacquisition on the street for Mittal,chairman of steel giant ArcelorMittal,with a fortune of £27 billion. He paid £117 million a month ago for ahome for his son Aditya in PalaceGreen, an extension of KensingtonPalace Gardens.

The industrialist himself lives in alarge house in Kensington Palace

Gardens that hebought for £57 millionin 2004.

The paper quoted aspokesman for a top-end estate agent inLondon as saying thatMittal had alreadyraised the value of hismain property.

“The Mittals havecarried out substantialimprovements to theirmain home, which isprobably the largest

private house in Central London afterthe Buckingham Palace,” said Noelde Keyzer, a director at Savills. “Iwould put its current value at close to£250 million.” The paper said the £70million price tag for Mittal’s latestproperty was all the more remarkablesince the former Philippines embassywas in need of modernisation.

“The 16,250 square feet home isalso not the largest on the road but itlooks on to Kensington Palace.”


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Doctor by profession, actor byaccident. An Indian-born

British radiologist became the cyno-sure of all eyes as his debut film,‘Accident’, premiered in London onJuly 4. Mahesh Kumar Neelala Anandfrom Oldham, near Manchester, playsthe role of a singing, dancing, mur-dering gangster in the Kannada film,said to be a success in India.

Anand is the head of radiology atPennine Acute Trust, which runshospitals in Oldham, Rochdale, Buryand north Manchester. He tem-porarily traded in the radiology roomsto travel to Bangalore last Octoberwhen his friend Ramesh Aravind, asuccessful Indian film director,offered him the role out of the blue.

A fter stately homes, the Mittalsare now eyeing heritage hotels

of Britain. One of the world’s rich-est families, they are consideringinvesting in the company behindupmarket country hotels includingCliveden, near Heathrow, and TheRoyal Crescent in Bath. An agencyrepresenting Mittals is said to be intalks with Von Essen Hotels, one ofBritain’s largest privately-ownedcollections of luxury hotels.

The hotels are seeped in Britishhistory. Cliveden House, set amid376 acres of formal gardens, has apast going back 300 years. Severalprominent persons have called ittheir home over the years, the mostfamous being Nancy Astor, the firstwoman MP of Britain. QueenVictoria, a confidante of the origi-nal owner, the Duchess ofSutherland, used to drop in for acup of tea. Guests have includedevery British monarch since GeorgeI as well as Charlie Chaplin,Winston Churchill, HaroldMacmillan, Roosevelt, GeorgeBernard Shaw, to name a few.

Indian doctor turns film star in Britain

! BUCHAREST

Indian poet, writer and journalistSurender Bhutani was felicitated

by the Romanian Writers Union onJuly 5 when a collection of his poemswas released in Romanian language.George Anca, an Indologist, has trans-lated Bhutani’s poems from Englishand Urdu into Romanian.

Bhutani’ s earlier works have beentranslated into Polish. A known Urdupoet, Bhutani has written six volumesin the language and has now startedwriting in English also.

“It was a sheer delight for me totranslate his amazing poetry intoRomanian. I felt privileged when Istarted receiving his poems and imme-diately I started working on his poet-ry. The universal appeal of his poetrywarms the heart of every poetry loverwhatever may be his language,” saidAnca during the book release cere-mony.

Indian poet felicitated byRomanian Writers Union

Salman Rushdie is finally knighted

Mittal buys third house onLondon Billionaire’s Row

Mittals now eyecountry hotels in UK

Indian-origin authorSalman Rushdie

received a knighthoodfor services to literaturefrom Britain’s QueenElizabeth II on June 25,saying he was proud ofthe honour and had “noregrets” over thecontroversy sparked byhis work.

Sir Salman, as the Anglo-Indianwriter will now be known, said theknighthood was in recognition “notfor any specific book but for a verylong career in writing and I’m happyto see it recognised”.

Speaking after the ceremony, anddisplaying his knighthood medal, hesaid: “I’m very proud, very happy.”

“It’s been a long time — my firstnovel was published 33 years ago butI think the thing you hope to do as awriter is leave behind a shelf of inter-esting books and it’s great just to havethat work recognised.”

Asked about the recent controver-sy surrounding his knighthood, hesaid: “At this stage, you know, it’s cer-tainly not a day to talk about contro-versy, it’s a day for myself and myfamily to celebrate this.”

Asked if, with hindsight, he had anydoubts about writing the controver-sial Satanic Verses, Rushdie said: “I real-ly have no regrets about any of mywork. If you’re lucky enough to haveone book that gets into people’s con-sciousness in that way then it’s fortu-nate,” said Rushdie.

! LONDON

T he United Breweries Groupof India has been granted aUS patent for manufactur-

ing diet whisky and vodka, chairmanVijay Mallya said in what he describedas an example of “thinking out of thebottle”.

The flamboyant Indianentrepreneur told students at theLondon Business School that hisVittal Mallya Scientific ResearchFoundation (VMSRF) in Bangalorehad developed the technology toconvert the active ingredient of anIndian fruit that helps fight obesityinto a safe liquid version. The plant

called Garcenia contains some nat-ural substances that works on yourdigestive system and actually breaksdown your sugar cells and fat cells,”Mallya said.

“It has been used in the UnitedStates health food industry fordecades. But making this Garcinia sol-uble in liquid is a technology that wehave developed and patented in theUS,” he added. “So we now have alegitimate diet whisky and a legitimatediet vodka which had been success-fully tested for calories. We sent it to alab to check the calorific value and weproved it,” Mallya said.

Mallya said manufacturing andmarketing was delayed “because of thefighting with the European Unionover classification”. “All of this wasdeveloped by us in India. We do thinkout of the box — no, make that out of

the bottle,” he said during a lectureand interaction session with LBS stu-dents — an event organised by theUK India Business Council and thebusiness school’s India BusinessForum.

Research by VMSRF has centredaround a fruit from the Garcinia fam-ily, the Malabar Tamarind (biologicalname, Garcinia Cambogia), whoseprimary acid, hydroxycitric acid(HCA), can help bring about weightloss.

Garcinia fruits have been used as acommon natural food flavouringagent on the Malabar coast “for ages”,VMSRF says on its website.

The research says it has developeda unique soluble salt after extractingHCA acid from the Malabar tamarind,which not only lowers appetite butalso helps control cholesterol.

Mallya to make diet whiskyand vodka, has US patent

! TORONTO

Bollywood singer Kumar Sanubrought the 23rd annual North

American Bengal Conference(NABC) alive in Toronto with hishigh-voltage performance.

By belting out his hit Bengali andHindi numbers, the playback singeron July 6 night provided a befittingfinale to the North American Bengalimega-show which came to town after10 years. Singing to a packed house atthe Metro Toronto ConventionCentre, the Bengali heartthrob hadthe audience shouting for encore ashe regaled them with Bollywood hits— ‘Ek Sanam Chahiye’, from the1990 musical hit ‘Aashqui’, and ‘EkLadki Ko Dekha’, from ‘1942: A LoveStory’ — and Bengali versions ofKishore Kumar’s hit songs.

Before him, Arnab Chakrabarty hadthe audience spell-bound with hisrenderings of some of RabindranathTagore’s musical compositions.

The famousCalcutta Choirperformed theclosing ceremo-ny by creating ariveting displayof colour, danceand puja, makingBengali expatri-ates nostalgicabout life backhome in its all aspects.

Conceptualised by Calcutta Choir,the show by Toronto dancers sent the6,000-strong gathering away withsweet memories of “BangalaSammelan”. The highlight of the lastday of the three-day conference wasNextGen events.

Under the event called Ice Breaker,second-generation Bengali youth metwith one another to network.

Under Speed Dating, they wereencouraged to know the opposite sexto find — if possible — their perfectmatch.

Kumar Sanu brings Toronto show alive


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32

Minimum wage fixed for Indiandomestic workers in Oman

! DUBAI

I ndia has fixed the minimumwage for Indian domesticworkers in Oman at 75 Omani

riyals ($195) per month, effectivefrom June 1. “The Embassy of Indiain Muscat, Oman, has, under theinstructions of the Government ofIndia, decided to raise the wages ofIndian house maids coming to theSultanate from the existing RO50($130) per month to RO75 permonth with effect from June 1, 2008,”the Indian Embassy said.

India’s Ambassador to Oman, AnilWadhwa, said in the statement thatthis was necessitated by inflation andrising cost of living worldwide,particularly in Oman, as the wages ofIndian household workers haveremained static for over 15 years.

Other countries supplyinghousehold workers in Oman are thePhilippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal,Indonesia, Tanzania and Bangladesh.

The Embassy also stated that

during 2007 it registered 7,797 labourcontracts of household workers fromIndia and helped in repatriating home65 household workers who werefacing problems.

According to Wadhwa, theEmbassy was also taking several stepsfor the welfare of Indian householdworkers in that Gulf nation. Theseinclude making prior attestation oflabour agreements by the Embassymandatory to allow householdworkers to leave India. An orientationprogramme for household workersprior to their leaving India and acontract signed by the sponsoragreeing to provide a pre-paid mobilephone to the household worker onarrival have also become mandatory.The sponsor must also allow thehousehold worker to report to theEmbassy within four weeks of his/herarrival in Oman. They will also beprovided free legal and otherassistance should they be ill-treatedwhile the Embassy will pay formedical treatment and airfare in

deserving cases. The Embassy, incollaboration with Oman’s Ministryof Manpower, has also prepared flyersin six languages, including four Indianregional languages, containing ‘dosand don’ts’ for Indian householdworkers in Oman.

These have been placed at allimmigration counters and incommercial aircraft, which arenormally used by Indian householdworkers coming to Oman.

Musician magician unravels superstitions! KOZHIKODE

Ummer Bhai teaches musicat a school in the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE). But

back home in Kerala he dons the robeof a magician to tell children the truthbehind superstitions and black magic.

Ummer, who is based in the Ummal-Quwain emirate, has taken fourmonths’ leave to spend time in hisnative state, but he has no time to sit athome as he prepares to stage magicshows in the schools of Malappuramand Kozhikode in northern Kerala.

“Sometimes tricksters tell a personthat his neighbour has tried to poisonhim through black magic and evenpretend to draw out the poison. But Ishow children how such a trick is per-

formed,” Ummer said. Ummer, whoteaches the harmonium, keyboardsand even vocals at a school in Ummal-Quwain, takes his role as a magi-cian seriously and does not even takeremuneration for his performancesexcept the transport cost to the venue.

One magic show costs around Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 3,000, which hespends from his own pocket.

“This year I will be here for fourmonths. I have plans to conduct 100shows. This will cost more than Rs.150,000,” he says. In the last nineyears, he says, he has spent around Rs.1 million performing such shows. “Ihave already covered 50 percent of theschools in Malappuram district. Thisyear I am planning to concentrate onschools in Kozhikode district.”

Ummer, who is in his 40s, saysschools are free to raise funds throughhis shows.

“I do not take any money for theshows. If any amount is collected, it isgiven back to the school authorities tobuy books for the school library or tohelp poor students.

“If a show is organised to mobilisefunds, children’s parents are alsoencouraged to attend,” Ummer says.

He said the maximum he has raisedfrom a show so far is Rs. 35,000.

School officials where his pro-gramme is staged vouch that his programme is good even if it did notraise much funds. “His programmewas good. He did not take any mon-ey,” said a school principal inMalappuram district.

Australians want Indian roses! SYDNEY

M ore and more Australians may soon beexpressing their enduring love with roses fromIndia as a delegation heads to Bangalore to

facilitate a joint venture between India’s largest producerof fresh cut roses, Tanflora, and Australia’s largest providerof floral bouquets, The Lynch Group.

“The aim is to increase the market shares of Indian rosesin Australia and make them more affordable andaccessible,” director of Sydney-based Roses Galore, M.A.Khan, who first introduced Indian flowers to Australia in1996 and is helping to facilitate the joint venture, said.

Tanflora is preparing to export 10 million roses all overthe world, including Australia, come Valentine’s Day 2009.In recent years, there has been a growing demand forIndian producers to meet the Australian flower industryrequirements.

Every day, roses, gerberas, lilies, carnations and otherfresh flowers from India are sold at Australia’s largesttrading market for fresh flowers, the Flemington marketsin Sydney. The Moorebank-based Lynch Group, thedominant suppliers of fresh flowers to the Australianwholesale market, recently launched Tanflora’s newpremier red rose variety named ‘Tajmahal, Symbol ofLove’, in Sydney.

“The Taj Mahal variety will be available in the retailmarket later this month,” informs Khan, who migrated toAustralia in 1986 from Hyderabad and is one of the largestimporters of fresh flowers from India.

“This exclusive rose variety, with its unique colour,shape, vase life, stem length and overall vigour, for whichTanflora holds world rights, has been received with greatenthusiasm by local buyers,” said Khan, who is also oneof the 25 growers at Tanflora’s 50 hectare facility and hasbeen closely linked with the formation of the company.

A joint venture between the Tamil Nadu IndustrialDevelopment Corporation Ltd. (TIDCO) and theAgricultural & Processed Food Products DevelopmentAuthority (APEDA), Tanflora floriculture facility is basedin Hosur (Tamil Nadu) with an annual productioncapacity of 70 million roses.

In May, a memorandum of understanding was signedbetween TIDCO, Tanflora and the Lynch Group onstrengthening ties and introduction of value addedproducts in the rapidly growing Indian and Australianmarkets. Tanflora, which is among the top five rosegrowers of the world, is hoping to reach the top spot witha proposed expansion of an additional 300 hectares in thenext five years and boosting production to a million stemsper month.

! NEW DELHI

A task left unfinished by a mil-itant-turned-good Samaritanin the little village of

Saraipani in Assam has now becomethe “mission” of a Texas-based ITprofessional of Indian origin.

After the untimely death of surren-dered United Liberation Front ofAssam (ULFA) militant Jugal Bhuyanin March last year, Ankur Bora, anative of Assam, has now pitched into help Prajnalaya, a home for desti-tute children that was set up in 2002.

The orphanage, now home to 115children, was built by Bhuyan on thebanks of the Saraipani river in Jorhatdistrict. The death of Bhuyan — hedied of a massive heart attack — leftthe orphanage without a mentor. Tomake things worse, a high intensitystorm almost razed the children’s

home to the ground early this year.But a ray of hope has appeared forPrajnalaya after Bora stepped in toprovide solace to the children.

Bora recently donated a sum of$5,000 to rebuild the damaged struc-ture of Prajnalaya.

The 41-year-old IT professionalparticipated in the AT&T AustinMarathon race in February to raisemoney. Asha Austin, a US-basedNGO, supported Bora’s run.

“It was during my visit to Assam toparticipate in Bhogali Bihu festivitiesin January this year that I came toknow about the plight of Prajnalaya.Almost instantaneously I decided todo something to help the children,”Bora said. “Now I am also trying tomotivate the entire Assamese com-munity based in the US to generous-ly donate money to help rebuild theorphanage,” he added.

Bora’s effort has not gone unno-ticed. The Association for India’sDevelopment (AID), a US-basedorganisation, has also vouched to helprebuild the children’s home.

“We are thankful that several US-based organisations have come for-ward to help us. After Jugal’s death thehome was facing several crises and thefinancial part hurt us all,” said Maina,Bhuyan’s widow.

Like many idealistic college-goers,Bhuyan wanted to work for an egali-tarian society. He joined the rebelgroup in 1989 with the aim of chang-ing society. But after roughing it outin the jungles for two years, he becamedisillusioned and subsequently sur-rendered.

Initially Jugal built a bamboo hut forthe children in his own ancestral landand he refused money from any gov-ernment or private body.

Texas man fulfilling ex-Assam militant’s dream

D

pravasi bharatiya | july 2008pravasi bharatiya | july 2008

amous PravasiFGGeennttlleeNNooooRR

A person of high integrity,former President of theRepublic of Trinidad and

Tobago, Noor Hassanali, madehistory by having been

appointed to the nation’shighest office by two differentruling political parties for two

consecutive terms...

Crown Counsel in Attorney-General’s Chambers. In 1965,he was appointed Assistant Solicitor-General and the fol-lowing year he was appointed Judge of the High Court. In1978 he was appointed to the Court of Appeal, after whichhe retired on April 14, 1985.

He was elected President in 1987 following electionswhich brought the National Alliance for Reconstruction(NAR) to government. Although the office of Presidentwas largely ceremonial (similar to that of Governor Generalbefore the country became a republic), he was such a pop-ular national figure and he was re-elected in 1992 by thePeople’s National Movement (PNM) administration.

Hassanali was described as “one of the most neutral,reserved, and dignified figures in the history of the Republicof Trinidad and Tobago politics”. When he was inaugu-rated as President in 1987 he was described as “a person ofimpeccable credentials who has a reputation for honestyand humility of the highest order”.

As a Muslim, Hassanali chose not to serve alcoholic bev-erages at President’s House. Despite reservations on thepart of then-Prime Minister A.N.R. Robinson, the deci-sion was never seen as controversial by the public.

He was married to Zalayhar Mohammed and had twochildren, Khalid and Amena Hassanali-Sutton. Togetherwith his brothers, Noor Hassanali was an avid and skilfulfootballer, playing both for Naparima College and for hisclub Spitfire. Hassanali got double first class colours forfootball and cricket at Naparima College, and was also amember of the Southern Amateur Football AssociationTeam. He also played in national inter-league competition.

In 2003 he published a book of his speeches entitledTeaching Words in conjunction with the Naps CharitableFoundation. His brother, Fyzul Hassanali has written twobooks on cricket. His cousins include Manny Ramjohn

who was an Olympic long-distance runner, and Dr. JeanRamjohn-Richards, First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago andwife of its fourth President, Professor George MaxwellRichards. Hassanali succeeded acting president MichaelWilliams and was himself succeeded by Arthur N.R.Robinson (President 1997-2003).

Hassanali died on August 25, 2006, aged 88.

N oor Mohammed Hassanaliwas the second President ofthe Republic of Trinidad and

Tobago (1987 to 1997). A retired HighCourt judge, President Hassanali was thefirst Indo-Trinidadian to hold the officeof the President and was the first Muslimhead of state in the Americas. The sixthof seven children, Hassanali, descendedfrom Indian forbears, was born in SanFernando and was educated at Canaanand Corinth Canadian Mission (nowPresbyterian) Primary Schools andNaparima College. After graduating hetaught at Naparima from 1938 to 1943. In 1943 he travelled to Canada, where

he read law at the University of Toronto.While in Canada he served as a memberof the Canadian Officers Training Corpsfrom 1943 until the end of the war in1945. He was called to the bar at Gray’sInn in London in 1948.

Hassanali worked as a lawyer in pri-vate practice from 1948 to 1953, when hewas appointed as a magistrate. In 1960,he was appointed senior magistrate andlater that year was appointed Senior

As a Muslim, Hassanali chose notto serve alcoholic beverages atPresident’s House. Despitereservations on the part of then-Prime Minister A.N.R. Robinson,the decision was never seen ascontroversial by Trinidadians.

Former First Lady Zalayharat the funeral of her

husband, former PresidentNoor Hassanali.

President Noor Hassanaliand First Lady ZalayharHassanali at President

House in 1996.

Sir Georgewith NoorHassanali

3534

S he was just 18 years whenshe left India as a youngbride and is today among

America’s premier universityadministrators. Dr. Renu Khatoris one of the first IndianAmericans to become a provostat a comprehensive research uni-versity in the United States. Sheis now the President andChancellor of the University ofHouston.

Khator has a doctorate in polit-ical science from PurdueUniversity and earned her bach-elor’s degree from KanpurUniversity in India. She hasserved as Provost at South Floridasince 2003, and was Dean of theCollege of Arts and Sciences forthree years before that.

Author or editor of five scholar-ly books and numerous articlesconcerning global public adminis-tration, environmental policy andSouth Asian politics, Khator cameto the US in 1974 after her marriageto Suresh Khator. Both pursuedgraduate degrees at PurdueUniversity and later accepted teach-ing positions at the University ofSouth Florida.

She enjoys writing poetry and shortstories, several of which have beenpublished. In addition to her duties asprovost, she has been teaching acourse in Hindi at the University ofSouth Florida this year.

The Khators were honoured byIndia in 2007, receiving the ‘Jewel ofIndia’, a special award recognisingnon-resident Indians for making out-standing contributions in their field.

The US Citizenship andImmigration Services included RenuKhator among its 2006 OutstandingAmerican by Choice awardees. Theaward recognises outstanding achieve-ments of naturalised US citizens.

Also in 2006, Khator received theDistinguished Alumnus Award fromPurdue University’s College of LiberalArts and the Outstanding EducatorAward from the American Foundationfor Greek Language and Culture forenhancing Hellenic studies.

Khator and Suresh have two daugh-ters, both of whom are ophthalmol-ogists.

Her life philosophy, she says, issimple: “When life gives you lemonsand everyone else is busy makinglemonade, think about making mar-garitas.”


RI of the MonthNA journey from

Kanpur toHouston

It is the “fire in Indian students’ belly” that defines their character andpushes them towards greater heights. It is not just their dream but

of their families’, said Dr Renu Khator keeping Indian value high in an e-mail interview with Indo-Asian News Service.

Her credo: When life gives you lemons andeveryone else is busy making lemonade,

think about making margaritas.

Q What were your thoughtswhen you as the first Indian werenamed the president of theHouston University System? Whatwas the sense of it all? Did you everimagine that you would one daycome to occupy such a significantposition in the American educa-tional system?

A I felt honoured, humbled, andelated all at the same time. Havinggrown up in a small town in India andhaving come from the “Marwari” clanwhere I had few role models if any, itwas impossible for me to have dreamsthat expanded to becomingChancellor/President of such a reput-

ed and large university system. Thismilestone has been possible onlybecause I did not take this journeyalone. Many people — my parents,siblings, husband, daughters, teachers,mentors, friends, and family — all havebeen part of this exciting and unbe-lievable journey.

Q Dr. Khator, travelling back intime, how did you manage thetransition from India to the US —that is, how did you successfullystrike roots in an alien society andculture? What were the ‘unlearn-ings’ and learnings?

A I came to the United States as ateenager. I was fascinated by new

things, new approaches and new ideasthat America had to offer. But since Ibrought a strong sense of culture andvalues from India, I was able contextu-alise everything within this learnedframework. Looking back, I feel that Iwas able to get the best of both of theworlds. I quickly learned the Americanway of connecting with people — attailgate parties with casual conversa-tions and by respecting others’privatespace. Among the things that I had tounlearn were showing affectionthrough food, and giving unsolicitedadvice. The most important thing forme was to observe, learn, and respectAmerican ways without being judg-mental. Today, I am equally comfort-able at a football game and at a havan.

‘Indians are known for their intelligence’

States to meet their educational needs.There are several complications, includ-ing accreditation and tuition, whichneed to be worked out, but I am con-vinced that we will be able to accom-plish the goal in the very near future.

Q What aspects of the Indianeducation system you think couldperhaps in some substantive waycontribute to the American systemof education?

A The Indian education system hasa lot of offer to the world. The IndianInstitutes of Technologies and theIndian Institutes of Management areamong the world’s best institutions. Ipersonally found that my theoreticalbackground, which I acquired in India,was extremely strong and helped megrasp the practical components better.

Q Indian students are amongthe best in US universities. Whatwork ethic or ethos drive suchexcellence?

A Indian students who come to theUnited States are crème of the crème.They are intelligent, hardworking, tena-cious, and focused. Most are willing tosacrifice common pleasures, consid-ered to be necessities in America(Friday night clubs or Saturday nightfootball games), in order to accomplishtheir goals. They are not easily dis-tracted because they are looking to ful-fill not just their dream but that of theirfamilies’. It is the “fire in their belly”that defines their character and push-es them toward greater heights.

Q It is said that the centurywould belong to India and China.What are the perspectives thatmould contemporary perceptionsabout India in the West, particu-larly America?

A Indians are held in the high regardby their American colleagues. They areknown for their intelligence, workethics, and loyalty. Indians face stereo-types as well, the strongest one beingthat all Indians are math wizards.Sometimes, it prevents children ofIndian immigrants from finding theirtrue potential in non-math fields.Lately, I see Indians shining in non sci-

ence and engineering fields as gover-nors, newscasters, directors, artists,painters and poets. I think they arebeing noticed and it will help changethe stereotypes.

Q India stands on the cusp ofsignificant transformation — interms of its economic and politicalclout. Have you ever felt you couldperhaps participate in some man-ner in the story that India repre-sents today?

A I feel that I do participate albeitfrom afar. I am proud to see the trans-formation and do not fail to avail anyopportunity to educate people aboutit in any part of the world.

Q Your most defining momentas a person of Indian origin in theUnited States of America.

A From the visibility point of view,I must say that the appointment asChancellor/President of the Universityof Houston topped everything. Thestory was covered in over 165 news-papers, radios and television stationsin many parts of the world and washailed as the “American Dream”.However, at a personal level, I wouldsay that the most defining moment waswhen I heard American students, whodid not know how to say “Namaste”,carry on a 10-sentence conversation inHindi at the end of my Hindi 101 class.


RI of the MonthN

38

Q How would you describe thedifferences in the education sys-tems of India and the US?

A The two systems have their ownstrengths. The most striking differ-ences relate to (i) curriculum; (ii) gov-ernance; and (iii) partnerships.

In terms of curriculum, I find theIndian education system to be theory-based, while the American educationsystem to be translational. College edu-cation is approached in a structuredand specialized way in India while theapproach in America is more compre-hensive and unstructured. For exam-ple, an aspiring scientist and engineerin India selects his/her path in the 9thgrade, while an American student doesnot have to make such a decision untilafter completing two years of college

education. All college students, irre-spective of their intended degree, mustcomplete two years of commoncoursework which includes liberal arts,humanities, and sciences. Furthermore,the American system allows a personto enter college at any age and changehis or her mind during the course ofthe degree. I have seen grandmothersand granddaughters receiving degreesat the same commencement and I haveseen people completing their Ph.D wellinto their 70s.

In terms of governance, theAmerican system seems to enjoy moreautonomy and flexibility than its Indiancounterpart. Academic decisions arecontrolled by the faculty with as littleintrusion from political and social influ-ences as possible.

In terms of partnerships, theAmerican system relies heavily on the

private sector to build its resourcebase. The top public universities todayare receiving only 10-15 percent oftheir budgets directly from the gov-ernment. Private philanthropy supportseducational mission as does the con-tributions from the alumni who takepride in building their alma matter.Industry also plays a significant role indefining educational needs and thensupporting the quality of the outcome.

Q Would you at some point oftime collaborate with Indian insti-tutions?

A The University of Houston is cur-rently in conversation with more than adozen universities in India. We areexploring joint degree programmes aswell as seamless pathways for studentsto travel between India and the United


ravelT


Mandu, known as ‘the city of joy’, is sit-uated in the central Indian state ofMadhya Pradesh. Its origins areuncertain. However, available liter-ary and archaeological references date

it to the end of the first millennium, when the Palmararulers in the Malwa region took advantage of its naturaldefences and built a fortified place under the name ofMandovgarh, the capital of some of their short-lived king-doms. At the end of the 14th century, the city fell toDilawar Khan Ghori, the governor of Malwa, who was atthe service of the Sultanate of Delhi. He took advantageof the circumstances of the siege of Delhi by the Mughaltroops of the fearsome Tamerlain, to become indepen-dent, nominating himself as the first Sultan of Malwa, andestablishing his capital in Mandu. The city was thenrenamed Shadiabad or the ‘City of Joy’.

Today, a traveller can see even in the middle of nowherecurious baobabs beside the walls and domes of any of thecountless cenotaphs, graves, huge stepwells or smallmosques, sometimes almost overrun by weeds. It is almostbaobab country...

A walk through the different monumental areas fromthe north on the road to Indore through one of the stronggates (Alangir or Bangui) takes one to the ‘Royal Enclave’where lie some of the most impressive palaces of Mandu.

The Jahaz Mahal or the ‘Ship Palace’, long as a ship andsituated in the middle of two artificial lakes, welcomes thebeholder, and in the full-moon night and romances himwith the oriental flavours of the tales of the thousand andone nights. The fourth Mughal emperor, Jahangir, a greatadmirer of the site, was reported to have often talked aboutits beauty. Nur Jahan, the most famous of his wives, alsoadmired the beauty of the place.

Not far from there, is the Hindola Mahal, a palace witha strange architectural attraction, built in an odd style thatfrom the outside reminds one of a ptolomeic temple, withsuccessive archs looking like small viaducts in the interior.It was here that the king gave an audience to his subjects.

A few metres further, the Nilakanta temple melds witha curious fountain designed like a snake. Not far from thereare two big baolis or step-wells, Ujala Baoli and ChampaBaoli. These huge step-wells with several rooms and hallswere used by the royalty to rest in the hot days of summer.From there can be seen the remains of old palaces like GadaShah Shop and the Royal Palace next to the northern lake.

The mosque of Dilawar Khan is another monumentwhose ruins are scattered in the area.

In the middle of the village stands out the huge JamaMasjid, inspired by the great mosque of Damascus. TheMasjid is regarded as the finest example of Afghan art inIndia. Its considerable size together with the austere ele-gance of its interiors holds out an aweseome architecturaleffect. Inside are 17 polychrome mihrabs, the biggest ofthem in the middle preceded by a graceful pulpit with dec-

orated steps. In front of the façade is the tomb of MahmoodShah Khilji and the Palace of the Golden Coins or AshrafiMahal, originally an important madrassa. Today, only oneof the eight towers remains of the celebrated VictoryTower, commemorating Khilji’s famous victory againstthe king of Mewar. The tower, still bearing polychromemarble etchings, was perhaps the most important monu-ment in Mandu.

Behind the Jama Masjid is another jewel of Mandu —the Tomb of Hoshang Shah. This mausoleum is located inthe middle of a big courtyard with four towers in the cor-ners of a cloister with arcaded galleries. The ‘tunnel vision’effect created by row after row of carved columns seekingto converge on an infinite point is reminiscent of the GreatMosque of Cordoba.

The main building houses the tomb of Hoshang Shah aswell as five other smaller graves of his family. The build-ing is made of white marble and was one of the sources ofinspirations for the Taj Mahal. It is said that Shah Jahansent four of his architects to Mandu to study the mau-soleum’s architecture.

Another beautiful monument is the Roopmati Pavilion.People in Mandu say that they still hear the echoes of songsabout the love of Roopmati and poet-king Baz Bahadur!Roopmati’s Pavilion was built over an old fort. From thereshe looked north at the palace of her beloved king and fromthe other side longingly gazed at her birth place — the val-ley of River Narmada.

Today, Mandu is located in an evergreen plateau in themiddle of lush vegetation. Surrounded by lakes, exoticbaobabs and splendorous monuments, it is an astonishingthrowback to a magnificent past.

MANDU: Hidden &Forgotten

MANDU: Hidden &Forgotten

The Tomb of Hoshang Shah is made ofwhite marble and was one of the sourcesof inspirations for the famous Taj Mahalof Agra. It is said that Shah Jahan sentfour of his architects to Mandu to studythe architecture of the mausoleum.

Tomb of Hoshang Shah

Mandu is a celebration in stone, Mandu is a celebration in stone, of life and joy, of the love of theof life and joy, of the love of thepoet-King Baz Bahadur for hispoet-King Baz Bahadur for hisbeautiful consort, Rani Roopmati...beautiful consort, Rani Roopmati...

T he International CricketCouncil (ICC) is likely toinclude Indian Premier

League (IPL) in its calendar.The multi-million dollar Twenty20

tournament has been included in thefinal draft of a radical proposal torevamp ICC’s international pro-

gramming. The suggested sched-ule includes IPL and will be

presented to the ICC’s exec-utive board, reports TheAustralian.

Leading players and playerassociations have demandeda space for the IPL for fearthat emerging crick-

eters will abandon playing for theircountry and instead take the big mon-ey on offer in the IPL.

A recent survey by the Federationof International Players Associations(FICA) showed that more than halfof the 64 players polled from seven ofthe nine active Test countries, includ-ing Australia, were willing to sacrificethe end of their international careerfor IPL money.

The new proposal has each of thenine active Test nations playing eachother over a two-year period in three-Test series. The top four nationswould then play semi-finals and a final

in the third year, while the fourthyear of the cycle would be keptfree for “icon” series such as theAshes. The current future-toursprogram, which runs on a six-year cycle, does not end until2012 but the ICC has alreadybegun discussing what willreplace it. —IANS

India’s Karun Chandhok has strucka purple patch at Silverstone, U.K

with a stunning drive that saw himstarting 10th on the grid and finishingthird in the GP2 Feature race. The 24-year-old from Chennai, who is backedby Red Bull, Punj Lloyd, JK Tyre,Amaron, ICSA Logistics and Sidvin,added to his previous podium finish

this year (at another classic track inMonaco) with a stunning perfor-mance on July 6 that included a vastarray of passing manoeuvres.

“That has to be my best race everin GP2,” said Karun, the iSportInternational driver who is already awinner in Formula 1’s feeder formu-la after his victory at Spa-Francorchamps last year.

“I was quicker than Lucas di Grassi,who finished second, but I just did nothave the time to catch him. But to fin-ish third from 10th on the grid afterpassing a lot of guys feels awesome,”he added. —IANS

In Brief

Indian judokas won eight medals,including four gold, at the Asian

Youth Judo Championships inSana’a, Yemen. Balinder (boys,42kg), Amit Kumar (boys, 50kg),Sandhya Devi (girls, 48kg) andPooja Dhanda (girls, 57kg) won thegold medals for India on July 3.

Ichal Devi (girls, 63kg) won thesilver while Neha Thakur (girls,40kg), Sushila Devi (girls, 44kg) andRomen Singh (boys, 60kg) won thebronze medal. The 12-memberIndian team were second in boththe boys and girls sections.

India wins four gold atAsian Youth Judo Champ

A t a glittering ceremo-ny held at the majes-

tic 19th century MohattaPalace on July 6 night, theIndian players cheered asSachin Tendulkar’s namewas announced by Rameez Raja asthe continent’s best one-day bats-man at the inaugural Asian CricketCouncil (ACC) awards ceremony.Former India and Pakistan captainsSunil Gavaskar and Imran Khanwere also honoured with specialawards titled “legendary cricketers”of the neighbouring countries.

Tendulkar named bestAsian batsman

A fter football, now the profes-sional basketball league in the

country. The Basketball Federation(BFI) is ready with the blueprint fora pro league and is in the process oftying up sponsorship deal. FIBApresident Bob Elphinston toldreporters in New Delhi on July 4the world body will do everythingit can to raise the standard of thegame in the country.

The BFI is ready with a six-teamleague and it is in the process offinalising a sponsor. —IANS

Professional basketballleague soon in India

Business executive Meena Baroton July 7 created history by

becoming the only Indian to takepart in the Olympic torch relay inChina, a moment she called the“most beautiful” in her life.

Cheered and clapped by thou-sands of Chinese and a handful ofexpatriates, Barot, 36, who lives inChina, ran with the Olympic torchfor around 50-60 metres in Lanzhoucity in Gansu province around 8.30a.m. (6 a.m. IST).

“It was like a celebration. I havenever seen anything like this in mylife,” an excited Barot said after herrun that lasted just a minute but issure to remain etched in her memo-ry all her life. Barot, who moved toChina in March 2005 and speaksMandarin fluently, was ecstatic thatshe got to keep the torch. —IANS

I ndian shooter Gagan Narangwon the gold and surpassed theair rifle men’s world record at an

Olympic test event held at Hannoverin Germany.

Narang’s score of 704.3 was 1.2more than the existing world recordof 703.1 set by Austrian shooterThomas Farnik in the World Cupfinals held at Grenada in 2006.

Gagan shot a score of 599 in the

qualifications and then followed it upwith an excellent score of 105.3 in thefinal round on July 2. In the sixthqualification series he shot 9.9 whichprevented him from obtaining a per-fect score of 600/600.

“By any standard this is a wonderfulperformance and it is above the worldrecord score. The range authoritieswere naturally happy with this high-est ever score made by anyone in their

range and I feel it might take a lot oftime before anyone can break thisrecord,” said national coach SunnyThomas.

“I am happy he is training and shap-ing very well for Beijing Olympics.There is a lot of difference betweenshooting a high score in a training ses-sion than that from shooting it in acompetition. But I am very sure thatthis will boost Gagan’s confidence andinspire him to shoot a great score inthe Olympics,” he added. —IANS


Indian woman runs inOlympic torch relay

in China

IPL likely to be the partof ICC calendar

Podium for Karunin GP2 Feature race

portS

Gagan sets worldrecord at Olympic test

India to host CommonwealthBasketball Championship

In a major boost to basketball inthe country , the International

Basketball Federation (FIBA)declared that India will

host the firstCommonwealthBasketballChampionship

in July 2010. FIBA President

Bob Elphinstonhoped that the tourna-

ment will popularise thesport in India and helpit close the gap withother Asian giants likeChina.

“We thought thebest way to popu-larise the sport inIndia is to hold bigtournaments and so

we decided to have the firstCommonwealth Championship herein India. The youth here will knowthat basketball is a prominent sportacross the world. And hosting itbefore the Commonwealth Games(CWG) in Delhi is the best way to goabout it.”

“Basketball is not included in theCommonwealth Games in Delhi in2010. But the Indian OlympicAssociation (IOA) has told us that itwill extend all possible support forbasketball,” Elphinston saidduring histhree day visit to India.

Eight teams will feature in the tour-nament, including Canada, NewZealand, Nigeria, England, SouthAfrica and hosts India. BFI secretary-general Harish Sharma said the tour-nament will help the sport grow inthe country. —IANS


Star Buzz

S cores of fans, mostly young, gathered outside theDusit Thani Hotel, one of the oldest five-star hotelsin Bangkok, to catch a glimpse of the stars during

the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, theJune 6-8 extravaganza that drew the cream of Bollywoodled by the Bachchan clan. From Amitabh Bachchan,Abhishek, Aishwarya Rai, Saif Ali Khan and KareenaKapoor to Fardeen Khan, Akshay Kumar, Govinda, ZayedKhan, Katrina Kaif and Vivek Oberoi — people went ga-ga over the superstars as well as budding actors. But theBachchan family was the most popular of them all. Fansturned out in huge numbers to see the Bollywood’s mostsought after couple Aishwarya and Abhishek — they hadthe longest line of autograph seekers.

“IIFA means a lot for us Indians living here. It is a per-fect showcasing of India in terms of our stars and glam-our,” said Ravi Mathur, who works as general manager ina company in Bangkok.

Thailand has a nearly 85,000-strong Indian diaspora,with families of many having settled in the country three-four generations ago. Ashima, a young woman, was over

the moon as her autograph book was full. She said: “It islike a dream come true for us. We usually see them (stars)in films and admire them. But the experience of meetingthem in person is ecstatic. I can’t explain in words how I amfeeling right now. And Bollywood stars were at their bestbehaviour and went all out to please their NRI fans, whocame in droves and stood outside the main IIFA venue forhours to see them.”

The IIFA, which has Amitabh as its brand ambassador,has till date been held in nine different locations across theworld, including Dubai, Sun City and Singapore.

“I am so happy that IIFA happened here this year. WhenI watched the award function in London, I never thoughtit will come here this time. Finally, it happened here. I amso delighted,” said Richa Sachdev, who runs a provisionshop in Bangkok. The grand IIFA awards ceremony washeld at Siam Niramik on the evening of June 8, completewith glitzy performances and Boman Irani and RiteishDeshmukh as hosts had the crowd in splits with their easyrepartee.The 2,000-capacity hall was full, with a majorityof the audience comprising the Indian community.


ollywoodB

44 45

BangkokBangkokIndiansIndiansgo ga-ga over go ga-ga over Bollywood idolsBollywood idols

‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ shines at National Film Awards

B ollywood blockbuster ‘LageRaho Munna Bhai’, based onMahatma Gandhi’s ideology,

hit the jackpot by winning fournational awards.

Starring Sunjay Dutt and VidyaBalan, the film was cited for “revali-dating the philosophy of non-violencein a strife-torn world and helpingrediscover the Gandhi within thecommon man”. Besides, Abhijat Joshi,Raj Kumar Hirani and Vidhu VinodChopra got the best screenplay award.The best lyricist went to SwanandKirkire for the song ‘Bande Mein ThaDum - Vande Mataram’.

Dilip Prabhavalkar was adjudgedbest supporting actor for his roles in‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ and in the

Marathi film ‘Shevri’. Thefilm’s producer Vidhu VinodChopra and director RajKumar Hirani will get aSwarna Kamal and a cashaward of Rs. 200,000 each.

Malayalam film‘Pulijanmam’, directed by

Priyanandanan, bagged the best fea-ture film award. The film, based onthe eponymous play by N.Prabhakaran, portrays the relentlessstruggle between oppressors and thosewho have the courage to resist them.

Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjeewon the best actor award for his rolein debutant director Suman Ghosh’s‘Podokkhep’. Tamil actress Priyamaniclaimed the best actress award for heracclaimed performance in AmeerSulthan’s ‘Paruthiveeran’.

The three-member jury for theawards comprises BuddhadebDasgupta, K. Bikram Singh andMadhu Jain. The awards wereannounced on June 10 are for filmsmade in 2006.

Yash Raj Films to createentertainment district in Dubai

O riginal tracks by south Indiancomposers, Lekha Rathina

Kumar, have been chosen for thegymnastics events at the BeijingOlympics, starting August 8.

“While my music available in theGermany-based Sonoton Librarywas selected earlier for the warm-up events, I am composing originaltracks to suit gymnasts’ body lan-guage during the Olympics,” saidKumar. The special symphony isbeing created by Kumar in collab-oration of keyboard player ManiSharma, flautist Sudhakar and sitarmaestro Janardan.

South Indian composerscreate music for Oympics

LegendaryBollywood actor

Amitabh Bachchan hasbeen voted Asia’s sexi-est vegetarian male in asurvey conducted byanimal rights groupPeople for the Ethical Treatment ofAnimals (PETA).

While Hong Kong’s actress FayeWong was voted Asia’s sexiest veg-etarian female in the poll conduct-ed among members of PETA .

Amitabh voted Asia’ssexiest vegetarian

Hyderabad-based animationentertainment company DQ

Entertainment International (DQE)has entered into a strategic five-yearalliance with Paris-based entertain-ment company MoonScoop tojointly produce television pro-grammes and feature films, includ-ing those with Indian mythologyand stories. MoonScoop group is aleading worldwide brand manage-ment and entertainment companyengaged in the production, distri-bution of animated creations.

DQ Entertainment tiesup with MoonScoop

Top Indian entertainment house Yash Raj Films (YRF)has entered into a multi-million-dollar joint venture

with investment firm Dubai Infinity Holding (DIH) tocreate an entertainment district in this West Asian metropo-lis. To be called Yash Raj Films Entertainment District, itwill comprise theme park attractions, a movie palace,unique hotel concepts and Indian genre entertainment con-

cepts, according to a DIH statement. All the components of the entertainmentdistrict will be themed around the YRF banner.

“Bringing such a honoured name into the UAE (United Arab Emirates) hasbeen a strategic move as it attracts the core demographic of the country,” DIHchief executive Samira Abdulrazzak said in the statement.

“Furthermore Indian cinema has an increased general following within theregion, as cinema statistics highlight that Bollywood films gross higher thanWestern films. This will be a one-of-a-kind partnership here in the UAE, whichwe are very proud to be associated with,” she added.

The UAE is home to around 1.5 million expatriate Indians.“DIH is a dynamic investment company and what really counts is that we

share a similar vision,” YRF head Yash Raj Chopra said. The first phase of theYashraj Entertainment District is scheduled to be completed by 2012.

ook ReviewB


The 1800s were a time ofenormous social disrup-tion and displacement inlarge parts of India.

Poverty and loss of land holdingsforced people to move to distantplaces. In his latest book Sea of Poppies,best-selling author Amitav Ghoshdraws a connection between large-scale opium cultivation in India for theChinese market and the beginnings ofthe indenture system, which took overa million Indians through a span of 90years to work on plantations in newcolonies of the imperial powers.Ghosh brings it together, painting awide canvas of life in northern Indiain early 19th century in a saga full ofaction, drama and adventure.

He reveals a little known fact of thehistory of opium cultivation in 19thcentury India — it formed about 20percent of the country’s revenue tillthe 1920s. It was grown in India underan extreme form of contract farmingin parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh andBihar in the 1830s to be sold by theEast India Company (EIC) to China.

The large-scale enforced farming ofa single cash crop disturbed the sub-sistence agriculture of the region forit did not allow the farmers to growfood for their own consumption.Opium cultivation impoverished thefarmer as the monopolistic EICoffered low returns for the poppy

crop. The trade declined after theChinese banned its import and theBritish launched the opium wars toforce open the Chinese market.

It was about that time when slaverywas abolished in the British Empireand plantation owners in Mauritiusand other colonies urgently requiredworkers to replace the newly freedslaves on the sugarcane plantations.

The slave ships were quickly divest-ed of their chains and shackles andperfunctorily refurbished to carry theindentured workers to Mauritius. Thesocial and economic disruption causedby the colonial policies resulted inmany people accepting the indenturecontract and eastern Uttar Pradeshand Bihar became the epicentre of theindenture movement.

During his research, Ghosh discov-ered that contrary to popular percep-tion, many people came back homeafter completing their contract, thoughmost people chose not to return toIndia. Some of those who returnedwent back later to Mauritius.

He also found letters written bypeople in Mauritius inviting their rel-atives and friends to join them. It was,in fact, those who had returned homethat became the most actively involvedin the organisation of migration inIndia. Another myth of indenture isthat it was mainly the lower castes whomigrated, but Ghosh discovered many

Brahmins and other upper castesamong the indentured workers. Therewere also a large number of Bengalis.

The moment of departure was atime of loss and displacement, but theindentured ‘girmitiyas’ found themeans to endure it — their greatestresource was their capacity to takepleasure in the little things of life, intheir songs and rituals...

The sailing ship Ibis had a variedgroup of characters among whomwere the girmitiyas, who were throwntogether in cramped conditions in theship. It was an alien world out at seawith a frightening, unknown destinyawaiting them. But they slowly forgednew relationships, enmities and rival-ries also sprang up. The girmitiyas alsoforged the beginnings of a new com-munity — they become ‘jahazi bhaiand behen’ (ship brothers and sisters).

Sea of Poppies links the decline of theopium trade and the emergence of theindenture migration with the rollick-ing world of the lascars — the Asiansailors of Indian, Malay and Javaneseorigin who ruled the Indian Oceanand beyond.

The first part of Ghosh’s plannedtrilogy ends with a violent falling-outon the ship — a small group stealthi-ly departs in the ship’s longboat bynight, leaving the reader eagerly await-ing the second instalment of the saga.

—By Shubha Singh Ministry of OverseasIndian Affairs

Confederation ofIndian Industry

Making investment in India easier for overseas Indians.

For details contact:Col. Harmit Singh Sethi

Chief Executive Officer - OIFC &Director, CII

249-F, Sector 18, Udyog Vihar, Phase IVGurgaon - 122 015, Haryana, INDIATel: +91-124-4014060-67 / 4014071

Fax: +91-124-4014070Website: www.oifc.in

TThhee wwoorrlldd ooff‘‘ggiirrmmiittiiyyaass’’

Author: Amitav Ghosh Publisher: Penguin Viking Price: Rs.599.00; Pages: 528

From enforced opium cultivation, Indianindentured workers forge a world farfrom their homes in Uttar Pradesh andBihar — amid the expanse and nethershores of the Indian Ocean...



Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs www.moia.gov.in, www.overseasindian.in

NALANDA: SEAT OF LEARNING

N alanda, founded in the 5th century AD, is well-known the world over as an ancient seat of learning. Theruins of this erstwhile residential university of Nalanda near Patna, in Bihar, are the silent reminders of thehigh levels of accomplishment attained in the field of education and learning in India in the past. Nalanda

was one of the best known universities of its time, attracting thousands of students from far off places. Scholars allover Asia and other countries in the Middle East had learnt about Nalanda and continued to visit Nalanda till itsdestruction by Turkish and Afghan invaders in the 12th century.

Though the Buddha visited Nalanda several times during his lifetime, this famous centre of Buddhist learning shotto fame much later, during 5th-12th centuries. Hieun Tsang stayed here in the 7th century AD and left detailed descrip-tion of the excellence of its education system and the purity of monastic life practised here. He also gave a vivid accountof both the ambience and architecture of this unique university. In this first residential international university of theworld, 2,000 teachers and 10,000 monks students from all over the Buddhist world lived and studied here.

The Gupta kings patronised these monasteries, built in the old Kushan architectural style, in a row of cells arounda courtyard. Emperors Ashoka and Harshavardhana were some of its most celebrated patrons who built temples,monasteries and viharas here. Recent excavations have unearthed elaborate structures here. An International Centrefor Buddhist Studies was established here in 1951. Nearby is Biharsharif, where an annual urs is celebrated at theDargah (tomb) of Malik Ibrahim Baya. Baragaon, two kilometres away has a sun temple, famous for its Chhath puja.The place is now one of the biggest tourist destinations in Bihar and attracts tourists, especially Buddhists, from allover the world.

M I N I S T R Y O F O V E R S E A S I N D I A N A F FA I R S

The POWERof GARBAGE


PRAVASI BHARATIYA

The POWERof GARBAGE


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