India Re ie - indianembassyusa.gov.in 12.pdf · (Above) Members of the Southern Baptist Church...

A Publication of the Embassy of India, Washington, D.C.

January 1, 2012

nn USAID, FICCI inkdeal to support innovation

nn Food Security Bill tabled in Parliament

nn India’s romantic hero Dev Anand passes away

(Above) Members of the Southern Baptist Church Choir rendering a series of traditional Christmas hymns; (Below) Members of the American Jewish Committee Young LeadersGroup rendering traditional Hanukkah songs.

� Vol. 8 Issue 1 � www.indianembassy.org

India Review

Embassy Celebrates Christmas and Hanukkah

2

India ReviewJanuary 2012

Ambassador’sENGAGEMENTS

Speaking at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, on‘India and the Asia-Pacific:Expanding engagement’ on

December 5, 2011, AmbassadorNirupama Rao observed that the Asia-Pacific region had emerged as the primary center for globalopportunities. She said that India’s engagement

with the Asia-Pacific region was notnew. “It has been a continuousprocess that goes back over a millen-nium. From the fact that we are a vastnation, with a rich and diverse history,we have had very dynamic and exten-sive contacts with our eastern neigh-bors since the first century — contactsbased on cultural exchange, trade and commerce and maritime interaction,”Ambassador Rao said.

Excerpts from AmbassadorNirupama Rao’s speech at theevent:“It is well accepted that the

Asia-Pacific region today is the centerof gravity for global opportunities withits continued economic growth. Whilethe global economic situation is showing several signs of stress, theemerging market countries in Asia aregrowing well and have demonstratedtheir resilience.The region can be expected to con-

tinue contributing to global growth,trade, prosperity and innovation.Today, Asia has by far the greatestshare of rising middle classes and ayoung population; its economies aregrowing both quantitatively and quali-tatively and integrating with the globaleconomy. The sheer numbers alone,in terms of population or acceleratingeconomic activity, ensures that theregion will play a starring role in the21st century. We do not deny, howev-er, that there are still many challengesthat the region faces and that need tobe successfully tackled.In this regard we also have an

increasing convergence of interests

with the United States, which hasbeen an important player in Asia, andtoday is renewing its engagement withthe region. The continuance of eco-nomic growth and prosperity in bothour countries is in many ways linkedto the Indo-Pacific region. It is neces-sary in this context that we worktogether to manage challenges such asthose posed by terrorism and extrem-ism, or other diverse threats to ourpeace and security.These converging interests have

opened up new opportunities forenhancing cooperation and our effortswould be to capitalize on these oppor-tunities. It was in recognition of thesemutual interests that Prime MinisterSingh and President Obama spelledout the shared vision of both countriesfor peace, stability and prosperity inAsia, the Indian Ocean and Pacificregions during the visit of PresidentObama to India last year.We will work together and with

other countries of the region, throughforums such as East Asia Summit forevolution of an open, balanced andinclusive architecture in the region, sothat all stakeholders can make theirrespective contributions to regionalsecurity. In multilateral forums suchas the East Asia Summit, ASEANRegional Forum or ADMM + 8process, there is now a regular consul-tation between our two countries andwe work together constructively.We are supplementing such multi-

lateral efforts by bilateral consultationson the Asia-Pacific. We instituted aregular dialogue on developments inthe region last year and have held fourrounds of meetings. This dialogueprovides an opportunity for two sidesto discuss and exchange our respec-tive perspectives on a wide range ofregional issues. We have agreed to further deepen these strategic consultations on developments in theAsia-Pacific.As both our countries have a shared

interest in maritime security in theregion, cooperation in this areabetween India and the United Stateshas deepened in the past several years.We both have affirmed the importanceof maritime security, unimpeded com-merce, and freedom of navigation, inaccordance with relevant universallyagreed principles of international law,including the United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea,and peaceful settlement of maritimedisputes. As we move towards an Asia-Pacific

century, India will continue to deepenits engagement with the region as wellas contribute to it’s overall prosperity,stability and security.”

The full text of the speech can beviewed at: http://www.indianem-

bassy.org/prdetail1833/address-by-ambassador-nirupama-rao-at-uc-

berkeley-on-5-december-2011------andlsquo%3Bindia-and-the-asia-

pacific%3A-expanding-engagemen-tandrsquo%3B

‘AsiA-PAcific region is the center of grAvity

for globAl oPPortunities’

Ambassador Nirupama Rao

Ambassador Rao pointedout that the economic

growth and prosperity ofboth India and theUnited States was

linked in many ways tothe Asia-Pacific region

3

EmbassyEVENTS

christMAs celebrAtion At eMbAssy resiDence on DeceMber 8

PHOTO LEGENDS1. Ambassador Nirupama Rao welcoming and

greeting the guests.2. Congressmen Ed Royce speaking on the

occasion.3. Invocation prayer by Rev. Mathai

Mannoovadakkethil VICAR Malankara.4.Dr. Sajan Mathews, Professor of Theology,

Moody Bible Institute addressing the guests.5. Patrick Jacob, Seventh Day Adventist Church

proposing the vote of thanks.6. Community Choir Group led by Ayona Dutta

rendering a medley of Christmas Carols in different Indian languages.

7. Christmas Carols rendered by a group fromMizoram.

8. Christmas Carols rendered by the SouthernBaptist Church Choir.

9. Guests in attendance.


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EmbassyEVENTS

HANUKKAH CELEBRATION AT THE EMBASSY ON DECEMBER 22

PHOTO LEGENDS1. Invocation Prayer by Benjamin Reuben (President, Magen Abraham

Synagogue, India), Nissim Reuben (American Jewish Committee) &Rabbi Rachel Gartner (Georgetown University).

2. Ambassador Nirupama Rao greeting the guests through a video message.

3. Deputy Chief of Mission Arun K Singh welcoming the guests.4. Dan Arbell, Minister & DCM, Embassy of Israel, Washington,

DC, speaking on the occasion.

5. Jarrod Bernstein, Director of Jewish Outreach, Office of PublicEngagement, The White House, addressing the gathering.

6. Jason F. Isaacson, Director, Office of Govt. & International Affairs,American Jewish Committee (AJC), addressing the guests.

7. Daniel S. Mariaschin, Executive Vice-President, B'nai B'rithInternational, speaking on the occasion.

8. Jewish Acapella songs by American Jewish Committee Young LeadersGroup.

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Dr. bhuPen hAZAriKA MeMoriAl service on DeceMber 3

Lighting of the Ceremonial Lamp by Deputy Chief of Mission Arun K. Singh and Aroona Borpujari.

EmbassyEVENTS

Smita Barua reading Dr. Bhupen Hazarika’s biography.Chorus rendered by Arundhotee Goswami, Nipika Patgiri, Barnali Deka,Satyen Das, Anurag Barua and Rabin Goswami.

Deputy Chief of Mission Arun K. Singh delivering the Memorial Address. Tej Hazarika, son of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, speaking on the occasion.

Asad Rehman proposing the vote of thanks. Guests in attendance.


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embassY Celebrates inDian armeD ForCes FlaG DaY 2011

PHOTO LEGENDS1. Defence & Military Attache, Brig. B.K. Jain

welcoming the guests at the Embassy onDecember 5, 2011.

2. Deputy Chief of Mission Arun K. Singh addressingthe guests.

3. A view of the audience gathered on the occasion.

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Consulate EVENTS

Christmas Celebration at CGi new York

T he Consulate General of India, New York, hosted aReception at the Consulate on December 14 to celebrate Christmas.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Prabhu Dayal,Consul-General of India in New York, extended his sea-son’s greetings and best wishes for Christmas to all theparticipants. He reflected on the secular traditions of Indiaand the Consulate’s special endeavors in celebrating vari-ous religious festivals and thanked the community mem-bers for their active and enthusiastic participation at all theevents organized at the Consulate.

A 30-member Chamber Choir of the Herricks HighSchool and a group of The Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints rendered various carols. Various community leaders, including Prof. BlairWilliams, President of the Anglo-Indian community, Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman of GOPIO and Suzy Abraham of the Indian Overseas National Congressthanked Ambassador Prabhu Dayal for reaching out to allthe community members and keeping them together byway of holding such events and conveyed their Christmasgreetings and best wishes to all the participants. About 100 people, including eminent members of theChristian community from the Tri-State Area, members ofthe Indian-American community and their associationsand media representatives participated and enjoyed thegaiety and festive ambiance of the celebrations.

Clockwise from above left: Consul-General Prabhu Dayal addressingthe guests; a 30-member Chamber Choir of the Herricks High Schoolrendering carols; a group of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter DaySaints rendering carols

EmbassyEVENTS


India-U.S. Relations2011 AT A GLANCE

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A fter President BarackObama’s historic visit toIndia in November 2010,India-US relations

achieved a new momentum. Whileseveral leaders from India visitedWashington, Secretary HillaryClinton and several other leaders fromthe U.S. too visited India to widen thecanvas of India-U.S. relations in2011. Besides political level coopera-tion, the two of the world’s largestdemocracies, that share the values ofpluralism, tolerance, openness, andrespect for fundamental freedoms andhuman rights, also strengthened their relations in different sectors such as

science, space, clean and renewableenergy, information sharing, militaryexchanges, defense trade, counter-terrorism, education, health, agriculture, technology, innovation,manufacturing and services. AsAmbassador Nirupama Rao, address-ing the Chicago Council on GlobalAffairs on “India’s Global Outlookand Foreign Policy” on September 20,said that India’s bilateral relationswith the U.S. had “matured into astrategic partnership of global dimensions”. The role of the Indiandiaspora in the U.S. has also beencritical in strengthening the bilateralrelations between the two countries.

May: HoMeland Security dialogue

Affirming the strategic importanceof cooperation for the security ofIndia and the United States and theirpeople, the two countries concludedthe India-U.S. Homeland SecurityDialogue in New Delhi on May 27,2011. At the Dialogue, the Indiandelegation was led by Home MinisterP. Chidambaram and the U.S. side bySecretary, Homeland SecurityDepartment, Janet Napolitano. It was as part of the growing globalstrategic partnership between Indiaand the United States, that PrimeMinister Dr. Manmohan Singh andPresident Barack Obama had launched

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh meets with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and East AsiaSummits in Nusa Dua on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on November 18. AFP PHOTO / Saul Loeb

India Review travels back through 2011 to take stock of how two of the world’s most important nations, India and the United States, gave greater meaning and substance to what Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama had termed

as one of the “defining partnerships of the 21st century”

inDia-U.s. relations 2011: a retrospeCtive

the India-U.S. Homeland SecurityDialogue during President Obama’sState Visit to India in November 2010.During their talks, Home MinisterChidambaram and SecretaryNapolitano hailed the growing coop-eration between the two countries intheir counter-terrorism efforts.Referring to the Mumbai terror attackof November 2008, they restated thatthe two governments were determinedto bring to justice the perpetrators andthe supporters of the carnage.As regards institutional coopera-tion, the two leaders agreed to deep-en agency-to-agency engagement,sharing of intelligence and informa-tion, and access to data relating toterrorism.

June: Financial and econoMic

PartnerSHiP

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjeearrived in the United States ofAmerica on June 27 to attend the sec-ond meeting of India-U.S. Financialand Economic Partnership inWashington, D.C. Speaking at theinauguration of the meeting, FinanceMinister Mukherjee said that in theone year since the forum’s launch, ithad succeeded in giving an impetus tothe rapidly expanding financial andeconomic engagement between Indiaand the U.S.

During the meeting, billed as the“highest-level” economic engage-ment between the two countries,Mukherjee and the US TreasurySecretary Timothy Geithner interacted with top U.S. corporateleaders and policy makers to discussways to further strengthening economic cooperation between thetwo countries. The first meeting of the India-U.S. Financial andEconomic Partnership was held inApril, 2010, in India’s capital New Delhi.While Minister Mukherjee led theIndian delegation, Timothy Geithner,Secretary, U.S. Department ofTreasury, led the U.S. delegation.The two-day meeting focussed oninfrastructure development, capitalmarkets reforms, and cooperation on

the Group of 20 (G20) efforts toreduce trade imbalances.Minister Mukherjee assured theAmerican investors that with the“major steps” that India had takenrecently, its economy was back on itsover 8.5 percent growth path.During the course of his visit, theIndian Finance Minister also held abilateral meeting with the U.S. TreasurySecretary and discussed issues ofmutual interest and those related to theworld economic situation.Later, on June 28, Mukherjee participated in the Cabinet LevelMeeting of the India-US Financial andEconomic Partnership with Geithner.Asserting that India and the USAwould work together to expand theirtrade and investment links and wouldfurther develop and strengthen theirfinancial systems, the two leadersissued a joint statement at the end ofthe meeting.According to the joint statement, thetwo countries also agreed to “worktogether in the G-20 on an effectivemutual assessment process to bringabout strong, sustained, and balancedglobal growth”.It further said that “leveraging theircombined knowledge, experience, andshared interests, the two sides have agreed to a robust agenda for the coming year that includes

Home Minister P. Chidambaram meeting with U.S. Secretary forHomeland Security Janet Napolitano in New Delhi on May 27.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner at theIndia-U.S. Financial and Economic Partnership meet in Washington, D.C. on June 28.

Taking forward their ties,India and the UnitedStates have agreed to

expand trade and investment links betweenthe two economies, and

to develop and strengthen their financial

systems



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deeper engagement” in three keyareas:nMacroeconomic challenges, including growth, unemployment,inflation, global liquidity, commodi-ty prices, international capital flowsand fiscal consolidation.

n Financial sector reforms, including deepening of capital markets, financial inclusion, andensuring the stability, transparency,and integrity of the financial system.

n Infrastructure finance, includinginnovative strategies to mobilizecapital for infrastructure develop-ment, and sharing best practices andbuilding capacity for design and successful execution of Public-Private Partnerships. The United States, the joint statement said, was “committed tomaking investments in technology,skills, and infrastructure necessary to maintain and enhance U.S. compet-itiveness in the global economy.” On its part, “India intends to takesteps to marshal private and public savings to meet the infrastructureneeds of a rapidly growing Indianeconomy,” the joint statement said.According to the joint statement, the India-U.S. relationship offers enormous economic opportunities forAmericans and Indians alike. Through stronger collaboration andcoordination amongst their economicand financial policymakers, the two

countries have sought to deepen bilateral and multilateral engagementsin order to fully capitalize on thewealth of economic opportunitiesbetween the two nations. It said the India-U.S. economic relationship had made significantprogress over the past decade and thattrade and investment between the twocountries had expanded across a vari-ety of industries and sectors duringthis period. Between 2000 and 2010,Indian exports to the United Stateshad grown by nearly 180 percent whileU.S. exports to India had increasedover four times the previous levels, thestatement said. Earlier, the combined bilateral India-U.S. foreign direct investmenthad grown by nearly 165 percentbetween 2005 and 2009, according tothe statement. Despite this progress,and especially given the size of the two respective economies, the jointstatement pointed out that thereremained untapped potential andopportunities to expand trade andinvestment linkages to the benefit ofthe two countries. The Indian Finance Minister alsomet with the Chief Executive Officers(CEOs) of Indian and American companies during his three-day tripto the U.S. Later, Mukherjee had a bilateral meeting with the US National Security AdvisorThomas E. Donilon.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal speaking at the First US-India Higher Education Summit atGeorgetown University, Washington, D.C. on October 13, 2011.

India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma meetingU.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, in Washington on June 22, 2011.

I n a significant development, India andthe United States signed the BilateralAviation Safety Agreement (BASA) on

July 18 in New Delhi. India representativeDr. Nasim Zaidi, Secretary, Civil Aviationand U.S. Representative J. RandolphBabbitt, Administrator, Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) signed the agree-ment in the presence of senior officialsfrom the Civil Aviation Ministry,Directorate General of Civil Aviation,Airports Authority of India from the Indianside and FAA and U.S. Trade andDevelopment Agency from the U.S. side.The signing of the agreement coincidedwith the visit of U.S. Secretary of State,Hillary Clinton, to India.

BASA will facilitate reciprocal airworthi-ness certification of civil aeronauticalproducts imported or exported betweenthe two signatory authorities and accept-ance of Indian aeronautical products bythe U.S.

The aircraft manufacturing industry inIndia is expected to benefit as a result ofthe new agreement. The agreement is alsoexpected to spur trade between India andthe U.S. BASA would also encourage theindigenous aircraft and aeronautical prod-ucts industry and the U.S. acceptance ofIndian products would help the industry toachieve global acceptance of its products.

The BASA is expected to lead to thesigning of the Implementation Proceduresfor Airworthiness, which provides for tech-nical cooperation between FAA and itscounterpart civil aviation authorities.

July: bilateral aviation safety agreement



June: trade & coMeerce talkS

During his visit to the UnitedStates, Anand Sharma, India’sMinister for Commerce and Industryheld wide-ranging discussions withAmbassador Ron Kirk, the UnitedStates Trade Representative on June22. Minister Sharma andAmbassador Kirk agreed to fast-trackthe technical negotiations for an earlyconclusion of the India-US BilateralInvestment Agreement. The two sidesalso agreed to re-invigorate the TradePolicy Forum (TPF) and make itmore robust and effective in resolvingbilateral commercial issues. Duringtheir discussions, the two leaderscovered the entire range of issuesrelated to bilateral trade and com-mercial engagement.

July: Second Strategic dialogue

India and the U.S. concluded thesecond round of their bilateralStrategic Dialogue in New Delhi onJuly 19, 2011, with a commitment todeepening the India-U.S. globalstrategic partnership. At theDialogue, the U.S. delegation was ledby Secretary of State Hillary Clintonand the Indian side by ExternalAffairs Minister S. M. Krishna.During the meeting, both the sidesrecognized that their strategic consultations had expanded to coverall major issues and regions of theworld. India and the U.S. haveincreased counter-terrorism coopera-tion, intelligence sharing, and lawenforcement exchanges. The twocountries have significantly expanded

their defense cooperation and partnership on export controls andnon-proliferation. They have also wit-nessed an expansion of the alreadyrobust people-to-people ties; scientific,space, and technology collaboration;clean energy cooperation; and connec-tions among entrepreneurs and socialinnovators.Addressing a joint press conferenceafter his meeting with SecretaryClinton, Minister Krishna said, “TheStrategic Dialogue is the bedrock onwhich we are building our globalstrategic partnership that would beone of the defining relationships ofthe 21st century. This is the vision ofPrime Minister Dr. ManmohanSingh and President Obama.”He further said, “We reiterated our

commitment to taking forward civilnuclear energy cooperation on thebasis of full implementation of mutualcommitments. We were reassured thatUnited States reaffirmed its commitment for full civil nuclear cooperation. I expressed appreciationfor our ongoing engagement and fullsupport of the U.S. for India’s fullmembership of the four export controlregimes and our expectation ofprogress in tandem on the fourregimes. We discussed UNSC reformsand India’s permanent membership ofa reformed UN Security Council.” Describing the meeting very “productive”, Secretary Clinton said,“We are building habits of coopera-tion and bonds of trust. And we arestanding on a firm foundation. And

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna with Secretary Hillary Clinton in New Delhi on July 19.

The second meeting of the India-U.S.Strategic Dialogue stressed on the issuesof global stability and prosperity.

n Both India and the U.S. expressed theirintention to expand strategic consulta-tions to other regions, including LatinAmerica and the Caribbean.

n The two sides reaffirmed their commit-ment to consultation, coordination, andcooperation in Afghanistan.

n As part of their global concerns, the twosides agreed to promote food security inAfrica through a triangular cooperationprogram with Liberia, Malawi and Kenya.

n The two sides reiterated their commit-ment to working together to strengthenelection management capacity in inter-ested countries.

n Secretary Clinton recalled PresidentObama’s statement that, in the yearsahead, the United States looks forwardto a reformed UN Security Council thatincludes India as a Permanent Member.

n Both sides also affirmed their desire tostrengthen cooperation through technol-ogy transfer, and joint research, devel-opment and production of defenseitems.

n India and the U.S. affirmed the impor-tance of maritime security, unimpededcommerce, and freedom of navigation,in accordance with international law,and the peaceful settlement of disputes.

n The two sides cited the signing of aBilateral Aviation Safety Agreement asa big step forward.

n Minister Krishna and Secretary Clintonwelcomed the continued commitment ofthe Indian and American governmentsto full implementation of the India-U.S.civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement.

highlights of the india-U.s. strategic Dialogue

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we believe that we can do even morework to ensure that this importantdialogue leads to concrete and coordinated steps that will producemeasurable progress for the well-being and betterment of theIndian and American people.”

october: HigHer education SuMMit

With a view to further strengtheninghigher education collaboration andexchange between institutions in Indiaand the United States, the two coun-tries hosted the first US-India HigherEducation Summit at GeorgetownUniversity in Washington, D.C. onOctober 13. India’s Minister forHuman Resource Development andCommunications and InformationTechnology Kapil Sibal and Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton delivered theopening remarks at the inaugural ses-sion of the Summit.Minister Sibal and Secretary Clintonreaffirmed the strategic partnershipbetween India and the United Statesfor meaningful dialogue, cooperationand engagement in the field of highereducation, and launched a new phasein this partnership. The two leaders

acknowledged the immense possibili-ties for further collaboration betweenthe two countries given the inherentdynamism, emerging challenges, andnumerous exciting opportunities avail-able for sharing and growing together.Minister Sibal and SecretaryClinton emphasized that access to,and development of technology andskills were cross-cutting require-ments to meet the challenges thattheir two countries faced. Theyacknowledged the fruitful collabora-tion between India and the UnitedStates in the areas of education,research and innovation and noted itscontribution to the development oftechnologies, skills and knowledge-based societies in both countries.Both leaders emphasized the need toenhance this collaboration.Expressing their commitment tothat vision, Minister Sibal andSecretary Clinton launched theexpanded US-India HigherEducation Dialogue as an annualbilateral event to map out strategiesfor partnership in the field of educa-tion between the two countries. The Dialogue should identify areas

for mutually beneficialexchanges and provide a plat-form for intense and meaning-ful collaboration among aca-demia, the private sector, andgovernment on both sides. TheDialogue is planned to be heldalternately in the United Statesand India.The two leaders reiteratedtheir strong commitment to theFulbright-Nehru Program andits contribution to leadershipdevelopment and scholarlyachievement. They also high-lighted and encouraged the fullarray of direct collaborationsbetween higher education com-munities, such as the India-U.S.Higher Education LeadershipProgram. Minister Sibal andSecretary Clinton underscoredthe need to enhance the scopeof collaboration. The two leaders alsoexpressed their support for theIndo-U.S. Science and

Technology Forum, which providesfresh impetus to academic collabora-tion in cutting-edge areas of scientif-ic research and technology develop-ment. They lauded the continuing

From Left: John J. DeGioia, President, Georgetown University, Ambassador Nirupama Rao, Secretary of StateHillary Clinton, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and Robert O. Blake, Jr. Assistant Secretary for South and Central AsianAffairs, at Georgetown University.

T he United States and India on July 19,2011 signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) between the

Computer Emergency Response Teams(CERT-IN and US-CERT) of both the countries to exchange information on cyberattacks and mutual response to cyber securi-ty incidents, to cooperate on cyber securitytechnology, and to exchange information oncyber security policy and best practices andcapacity building and exchange of experts.

I ndo-U.S. Engineering EducationConclave was held in January 2011 inNew Delhi for strengthening higher

educational institutions in the fields ofengineering and technology and expressedthe hope that more such opportunities forengagement would emerge in the future inother fields.

January: engineeringeducation Conclave

July: moU between Computeremergency response teams

efforts by both sides to explore newavenues for collaboration such as theIndo-U.S. Engineering EducationConclave, held in January 2011 inNew Delhi, for strengthening highereducational institutions in the fieldsof engineering and technology.

noveMber:PriMe MiniSter

dr. ManMoHan SingH MeetS

PreSident barack obaMa

Prime Minister Dr. ManmohanSingh met with President BarackObama at Bali in Indonesia onNovember 18 on the sidelines of the

ASEAN-India Summit and the EastAsia Summit.“Last year around this time, I embarked on what was an extraordi-nary trip to India, in which we contin-ued to strengthen the bonds, bothcommercial, on the security side, andstrategic between the world’s twolargest democracies,” PresidentObama said.“And since that time, we’ve contin-ued to make progress on a wide rangeof issues. The bonds between ourcountries are not just at the leader-ship level, but they’re, obviously, atthe person-to-person level, given theextraordinary contributions ofIndian-Americans to our culture, ourpolitics and our economy,” PresidentObama told Prime Minister Singh.Prime Minister Singh remarkedthat there “were no irritants whatso-ever” in the working relationshipbetween India and the U.S. extendingacross “multiplicity of areas”. Recalling President Obama’s visitto India, Prime Minister Singh saidthat “progress in every direction” hadbeen made during the last year. “And whether it is in humanitarianrelief and disaster management, mar-itime security — all these are issueswhich unite us in a quest for a worldfree from the threat of war, want andexploitation.”

T he two sides endorsed the resolve ofthe stakeholders from academia, gov-ernment, and industry to take forward

the following areas of consensus arrived atduring the Summit:1. A continued expanded India-U.S. Higher

Education Dialogue with representativesfrom government, academia, and businessthat would interact on a periodic basis toinform and underpin the Dialogue.

2. Support for the following goals:n Promoting strategic institutional part-

nerships for further strengthening andexpansion of collaboration in the priori-ty areas of higher education, includingscience and engineering, social sci-ences, and humanities, and addressingsocietal challenges in areas such ascyber security, energy, environment,health and agriculture;

n Encouraging expansion and deepen col-laboration in research and developmentin the above areas between academicinstitutions of the two countriesthrough existing initiatives;

n Fostering partnerships in the areas ofvocational education and skills

enhancement to meet the needs oftoday’s world;

n Exploration of models for ‘educationalinstitutions for the 21st Century’ (suchas ‘meta’ universities);

n Further strengthening programs for stu-dent and faculty enrichment andexchange, and development of leader-ship in academia at all levels;

n Welcoming the involvement of the pri-vate sector in the two countries to sup-port and deepen collaboration with thehigher education community, facultyexchanges, skills development, andinstitutional partnerships.

3. India announced its intention to set up anIndia-U.S. higher education platform as ameans to pursue these goals.

4. Strengthening educator enrichment andexchange programs (with the Governmentof India indicating its intention to sponsorinitially up to 1,500 faculty and juniorscholars to leading universities andresearch institutes in the United States) topromote development of human resourceswhile also enhancing broader interactionbetween the two countries.



M s. Nirupama Rao assumed herresponsibilities as the newAmbassador of India to the United

States in September 2011. She served as theForeign Secretary, the highest office in theIndian Foreign Service, for a two-year termtill end-July 2011, before joining as theAmbassador of India to the United States.

Ms. Rao served previously in Washington inthe capacity of Minister for Press and CulturalAffairs at the Indian Embassy from 1993 to1995. She also served as Deputy Chief ofMission at the Indian Embassy in Moscow, inthe late 1990s. Ms. Rao was also designatedas Spokesperson of the Ministry of ExternalAffairs in 2001, the first woman Indian ForeignService officer to hold this post.

From 2006 to 2009, She served as India’s

first woman Ambassador to China. In her dis-tinguished diplomatic career spanning overthree decades, Ms. Rao’s other ambassadori-al assignments include Peru and Bolivia, andSri Lanka (where also she was India’s firstwoman High Commissioner).

An M.A. in English Literature, Ms. Raojoined the Indian Foreign Service in 1973.

Ambassador Rao was a Fellow at theCentre for International Affairs (now theWeatherhead Centre) at Harvard University inthe early 1990s. She was also a DistinguishedInternational Executive in Residence at theUniversity of Maryland at College Park in1999-2000.

Ambassador Rao is married to SudhakarRao, a distinguished civil servant and formermember of the Indian Administrative Service

who retired as the Chief Secretary of the StateGovernment of Karnataka. They have twosons, Nikhilesh and Kartikeya.

september: ambassador nirupama rao takes charge

Ambassador Nirupama Rao presented her credentials to President Barack Obama onSeptember 9, 2011 (Photo:- White House).

highlights of the First Us-india higher education summit

12


EconomyNEWS

13

T he government on December22 tabled in the Lok Sabha,the food security bill whichseeks to provide subsidized

food grain to over half of India's 1.2billion population and ensure that peo-ple "live a life with dignity".Food Minister K.V. Thomas intro-duced the National Food SecurityBill, 2011, "to provide for food andnutritional security by ensuringaccess to adequate quantity of qualityfood at affordable prices".It promises 75 percent of rural pop-ulation and 50 percent of urban house-holds the right to 7 kg food grain perperson per month, at `3 ($0.056) perkg for rice, `2 ($ 0.037) per kg forwheat and `1 ($0.018) per kg forcoarse grains to the priority beneficiar-

ies. The general category will get notless than 3 kg grain per person permonth at half the maximum sellingprice (MSP).The federal government will identi-fy the priority (BPL) and general cat-egory (APL) beneficiaries and willdecide the distribution quota for thestates.

The bill will also provide rations orcooked meals to children under 14years of age, pregnant women andlactating mothers and persons on themargins of society. Community kitchens are also pro-vided for to give at least one meal aday to destitute persons. These entitlements will increase thefood subsidy from around $11.8 billionat present to $15 billion in 2011-12,which could go up later. It will alsorequire the government to improveprocurement from around 55 milliontonnes to 61 metric tonnes. In a first of its kind, the bill willtreat the eldest woman, not less than18 years of age, as the head of thefamily while issuing ration cards tothe beneficiaries.

FooD seCUritY bill tableD in parliament

India will soon have a new regulation thatwould ensure stringent punishment forcorporate fraud and make independent

directors more accountable, CorporateAffairs Minister M. Veerappa Moily said onDecember 19.

"Based on the experience gained over theyears, existing provisions regarding inspec-

tion, inquiry and investi-gation are proposed tobe strengthened in theCompanies Bill 2011,introduced in the currentsession of Parliament,"Minister Moily said.

He said the proposedregulation would ensure"more effective actionagainst companies andtheir officers who

indulge in fraudulent actions of non compli-ance with law".

"The role of key managerial personnel,board committees, audit committee, remu-neration committee and stakeholders rela-tionship committee, independent directorand auditors is being made more account-able in the management of company," theMinister said.

The definition of "officer in default" wouldalso be revised to make it more relevant inthe present corporate and economic envi-ronment, he said.

tough action against corporate fraud proposed

D espite the global downturnand major fluctuation in thevalue of the rupee, India's

merchandise exports logged a robustrise during 2011 with experts attribut-ing this to the government's focus onproduct and market diversification.The year also saw Pakistan extend"most-favored nation" status to India,even as two comprehen-sive economic partner-ship agreements weresigned with Malaysiaand Japan.Merchandise exportsthat account for 22 per-cent of the country'sgross domestic product,rose by an impressive33.2-percent to reach$192.7 billion duringthe first eight months ofthis fiscal, exceeding theofficial target.Now the governmentand industry hope thatthe fiscal year will end inMarch with the countrylogging at least 20 per-cent annual growth to

top $300 billion, against $246 billionin the previous year."The overall growth in our exportshas been quite impressive given theglobal economic situation," said RamuS. Deora, President, Federation ofIndian Export Organizations (FIEO).Minister of State for CommerceJyotiraditya Scindia said the govern-

ment's strategy of prod-uct and market diversifi-cation would minimizethe impact of uncertain-ties in Europe, the U.S.and Japan which tradi-tionally accounted forover 60 percent ofexports.As part of the marketdiversification pro-gramme, the govern-ment promoted exportsto some non-traditionalmarkets like Africa andLatin America. On theother hand, petroleumand engineering goodsled the exports growth interms of products, alongwith jewelry.

exports sUrGe in 2011

Corporate AffairsMinister M.Veerappa Moily

FollowinG are thehiGhliGhts oF inDia's

ForeiGn traDe in 2011:

n Export target set at $300billion for 2011-12 against$246 billion logged lastfiscal.

n Target to boost exports to$500 billion by 2013-14.

n April-November exportsrose 33.2 percent to$192.7 billion.

n Imports also surged to$309.5 billion duringApril-November, 2011.

n Asia, Africa and LatinAmerica named focus mar-kets for exports.

n Focus products cover phar-ma, electronics, auto, engi-neering, electronics andaerospace industries.


14

EconomyNEWS

T he Reserve Bank ofIndia’s decision tokeep key ratesu n c h a n g e d

would help improvebusiness sentimentsand regain economicgrowth momentum,Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee saidon December 16.“I am hopeful today’sannouncement will help inregaining our growth momentumwith improved macro economicparameters in the remaining period offiscal 2011-12,” Minister Mukherjeesaid while reacting on the RBI’s mid-quarter review of monetary policy inwhich it kept key policy ratesunchanged. Welcoming the central bank’smove, the Finance Minister said theRBI had chosen to address the con-cerns on slowing growth. “The RBI has changed its policystand from monetary tightening.

There is no changein any policy variables

and that includes the repo rate... TheGovernor has chosen to reflect hisconcern on growth which has alteredin the past few months,” he said. In its mid-quarter review of themonetary policy on December 16, thecentral bank kept key ratesunchanged after 13 successive hikessince early 2010. The review came against the back-drop of India’s annual rate of inflationfalling to 9.1 percent in November,while the food inflation fell to 4.35

percent for the week ended onDecember 3. The Indian economygrew by 8.5 percent in 2010-11and the government had set a tar-get of around 9 percent growth forthe current financial year. The Finance Minister said therecent moderation in inflation andgrowth had necessitated change inmonetary tightening stance. “There has been an appreciabledecline in food inflation in the

month of November but inflation inmanufactured products is still high,” he said. “The need to improve the businesssentiments and recover the growthmomentum in the remaining monthsof the current fiscal necessitated areview of the current monetary policystance,” Minister Mukherjee said. The Reserve Bank said it main-tained its projection for annual infla-tion at 7 percent for end-March, whilereserving its forecast on growth forthe third quarter review, which isexpected in January, 2012.

The Indian Navy will acquire 12 more long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR)aircraft in addition to the 12 Boeing P-8I air-

craft already ordered or being ordered to boost itseye in the sky over the country’s territorial watersand exclusive economic zone, a top commanderhas said.

Indian Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said that the force was satisfied with the progressof the first eight Indian P-8Is being built by Boeingunder a 2009 order and that a second order forfour more aircraft was being processed to beplaced within the current fiscal ending March2012.

At a later date, the force also plans to acquire12 more LRMR aircraft for offshore surveillanceand protection of the Indian waters and interests,bringing the total to 24. The exact type of the 12additional aircraft would be worked out later.

Admiral Verma said that the P-8I was the mostadvanced LRMR platform with a capability toobserve even small boats and destroy hostile submarines.

India is the first export customer for this air-craft, and the advantage is that India will benefitfrom the hi-tech systems being developed for theU.S. Navy, which has ordered 117 aircraft.

Most of the specifications of the U.S. and theIndian navies are reportedly common but detailsare understandably being kept secret.

However, there would be some Indian compo-nents, thanks to the offsets and transfer of tech-nology requirements. India’s Bharat ElectronicsLtd has already started supplying its Data Link IIsystem to facilitate the P-8I’s communicationswith Indian space, naval, and land based-assets.

The U.S. aircraft, designated the P8-A poseidon multimission maritime aircraft (MMA),has the capability of broad-area surveillance andlaunching Harpoon anti-ship and land attack mis-siles, depth charges and torpedoes against sub-marines and underwater unmanned assets. Theaircraft can also perform electronic intelligence(ELINT) missions with its highly sophisticatedRaytheon APY-10 radar and Northrop Grummanelectronic warfare (EW) systems.

Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee

T o cater to the growing cargo traf-fic demand, the Indian govern-ment on December 17 said it

would increase capacity at the coun-try’s ports to 3,130 million tonnes fromthe current 870 million tonnes by 2020through infrastructure development.

“The total traffic handled by Indianports is expected to go up to around to2,495 million tonnes by the year 2020.For the purpose of handling this volumeof traffic, the capacity at the ports isexpected to enhance to 3,130 milliontonnes by 2020,” Shipping MinisterG.K. Vasan said in a statement.

According to Minister Vasan, aninvestment of $0.52 million would bemade in the next 10 years to create fur-ther capacity.

Indian ports handled a total cargotraffic of around 870 million tonnes in2010-11, out of which major ports han-dled 570 million tonnes, and non-majorports handled around 300 milliontones.

Indian ports to handle3,130 mn tonnes by 2020

Indian Navy to induct 24 long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft

‘Rate pause will help regain growth momentum’


15

EconomyNEWS

10 INdIaNs IN FoRbes’bRIGhtest staRs lIst

T en Indians, including a 17-year-old, rub shoulderswith the likes of Facebookfounder Mark Zuckerberg

and pop stars Lady Gagaand Justin Bieber in aForbes list of ‘Tomorrow’sBrightest Stars’.Among the Indians onthe list of people from 12diverse fields, includingenergy, finance, media,law, entertainment, sci-ence, design and technolo-gy, who are “reinventingthe world” is Kunal Shah,at 29, the youngestManaging Director atGoldman Sachs.Also on the list is Param Jaggi, 17, an“award-winning high schooler” atAustin College, who created an algae-filled device that fits over a car’s tailpipeand turns carbon dioxide into oxygen.Vivek Nair, 23, Chief Executive ofDamascus Fortune, is developing atechnology that transforms industrialcarbon emissions into carbon nan-

otubes. Vikas Mohindra, 25, financialadvisor at the Bank of America MerrillLynch gathered $38 million in threeyears from scratch, while Manvir

Nijhar, 28, Co-Head ofEuropean EquityDerivatives Sales atCitigroup, gave “Citi’sderivatives business ajolt”. Raj Krishnan, 29,Chief Executive ofBiological Dynamics isdeveloping blood teststhat use electric fields todetect key signals that apatient has cancer.Sidhant Gupta, 27, agraduate student at

the University of Washington, isdeveloping new sensors and softwarefor the home that conserve electricity,heat and gas.Nikhil Arora, 24, co-founded a busi-ness that sells ‘grow-your-own-mush-room’ kits using one million pounds ofrecycled coffee grounds and ManeetAhuja, 27, a producer at CNBC and ahedge fund expert is also on the list.

T he Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) of India, Vinod Rai, has beenelected Chairman of the United

Nations panel of external auditors.Rai succeeds Norbert Hauser,

Vice-President of Germany’s Federal Courtof Auditors, the CAG said in a statement onDecember 8.

As head of the panel, Rai will be respon-sible for overseeing the external auditworks and periodical reports on accountsand management of the UN and its special-ized agencies.

Jagbans Singh, Director-General in theoffice of the CAG, has also been electedChairman of the Technical Group of the UN panel.

caG of India to head UNpanel of external auditors

Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai

Param Jaggi

MaRylaNd closes deals woRth $60 MN wIth INdIa

A six-day trade mis-sion to India netteda total of $60 mil-

lion in new business dealsfor Maryland and dealsworth millions more are inthe works, according tostate Governor MartinO’Malley.“This mission hasopened new doors forMaryland to create jobs,bolster trade and invest-ment, and strengthenexisting business and cul-tural relationships,” he said onDecember 12.Two Indian companies plan invest-ments in Maryland state, bordering

Washington, and eightMaryland businesses inkeddeals with Indian partnersduring the trip aimed atselling the state as the bestplace for Indian compa-nies to get a foothold inthe American market.More than 100 businessleaders, educators andstate officials participatedin the trip that includedstops in Hyderabad,Mumbai and New Delhi.“Together, with our

entire delegation, we are sending astrong message to India’s top businessorganizations and companies thatMaryland is the gateway to doing

business in the US,” O’Malley said.Jasco Nutri Foods, an India-basedmanufacturer and exporter of organicfood products, is planning to invest$10 million in opening a facility inBowie, he said.Jubilant Life Sciences, which alreadyhas a drug manufacturing facility inSalisbury, also announced plans tospend $20 million to triple its EasternShore warehouse space and add new jobs.During the trip, Maryland signed anagreement with the Federation ofIndian Chambers of Commerce andIndustry to create an India-MarylandCentre in Maryland to boost bilateraltrade. The federation will lead a dele-gation to Maryland in April, 2012.

Governor Martin O’Malley


16

EconomyNEWS

INdIa, Us alUMINUM assocIatIoNs sIGN MoU

T he Aluminium Associationof India and its U.S. coun-terpart, The AluminumAssociation, signed a

Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) for technology and knowl-edge sharing on December 8.The MoU signed on the last day ofthe sixth International Conference onAluminium (INCAL 2011) inHyderabad is expected to facilitatethe growth of the aluminum sector inIndia. K.S.S. Murthy, HonoraryGeneral-Secretary, AAI and CharlesD. Johnson, Jr. Vice-President(Environment, Health & Safety),The Aluminum Association (TAA)signed the MoU.The MoU will facilitate exchangingof information on effective recyclingprograms in the transportation,

packaging and building and con-struction markets; and promote alu-minum as a sustainable material.The U.S. is the fourth largest pro-ducer of aluminum and secondlargest consumer in the world whileIndia is the eighth largest producerand fifth largest consumer.The gap, however, is very wide interms of per person consumption ofAluminum. While per person con-sumption of aluminum in the U.S. is22.3 kg, in India it is 1.8 kg.Organizers said the three-dayINCAL 2011 was a huge successwith participants, especially thosefrom top aluminum markets, such asthe US, China and Japan, expressingsatisfaction over the outcome of the deliberations on promoting aluminum.

UsaId, FIccIINk deal to

sUppoRtINNovatIoN

T he United States Agency forInternational Development (USAID)and the Federation of Indian Chambers

of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) onDecember 20 signed an agreement to set upan institution that would support innovationin India and elsewhere in the world.

The two organizations have pledged $7.5million each for setting up the ‘MillenniumAlliance: an India-US Innovation Partnershipfor Global Development’, which will promoteinnovation in sectors such as health, foodsecurity, climate change, energy and education. “USAID and FICCI both will workto raise up to $50 million within the next 12months,” Rajiv Shah, Administrator, USAID,said after signing of the agreement.

Shah said the new alliance would wel-come “academics, entrepreneurs, non-gov-ernment organizations and private sectorplayers to discover scalable answers to someof the subcontinent’s greatest challenges”.

FICCI Secretary-General Rajiv Kumar saidthe alliance would raise money throughdonations and contributions from corpora-tions, foundations and other governments.

“This is a path-breaking approach to fos-tering a new paradigm of partnershipbetween the U.S. and India that promotesinnovations for the benefit of the people inboth India and other developingeconomies,” said Kumar.

American aero-engine manufac-turer Pratt and Whitney(P&W), a unit of the United

Technologies, has won a deal for pro-ducing first four engines for the BoeingC-17 Globemaster heavylift plane forthe Indian Air Force (IAF).P&W will produce the four F117-PW-100 engines for delivery inthe second quarter of 2012, accordingto a release from the aero-engine man-ufacturer on December 19.Earlier this year, India’s DefenseMinistry had signed a Letter of Offerand Acceptance with the U.S.

government to acquire 10 C-17s. Indiawill take delivery of its first C-17 inearly 2013.“We are delighted the Indian AirForce has selected the C-17 with Pratt& Whitney F117 engines to support itsairlift mission,” P&W’s Military

Programs and CustomerSupport Vice-President BevDeachin said.“The F117 is suited for awide range of operating envi-ronments and conditions andit has demonstrated superbperformance and reliability

from the Antarctic to the deserts of theMiddle East,” he said.Four F117s provide exclusive powerfor the C-17 Globemaster III heavyairlifter. The F117-PW-100 is the sis-ter engine of Pratt and Whitney’sPW2037 commercial engine.

american firm wins deal for engines in c-17 plane for India


17

ScienceNEWS

IIt-kaNpUR eNGINeeRs a tINydevIce to pReveNt deRaIlMeNt

A fter fabricating Jugnu, thecountry’s tiniest satellitewhich was launched inOctober, Indian Institute of

Technology-Kanpur graduates havenow come up with a matchbox-sizeddevice to monitor the wear and tear ofrailway tracks and prevent derailment.The new device is aimed atreplacing a bulky, box-likecontraption that is cur-rently used by IndianRailways.For Railways, safetyis important as thou-sands of trains usearound 114,500 kmtracks of its network —the world’s fourth largest.With regular use, the tracksdevelop cracks and fissures,including problems linked to loose nutsand bolts at the joints. If the tracks areless firmly anchored on the soil, itcould lead to derailment. All thesefaults can now be detected in real timeand recorded automatically to preventderailment, thanks to the oscillationmonitoring system, a cutting-edgedevice weighing just 100 grams.The device has been designed anddeveloped by a team of IIT-Kanpur’smechanical engineering graduates,

under the guidance of N.S. Vyas,Professor and Head, MechanicalEngineering, and the Railways’Research Design and StandardsOrganization (RDSO), Lucknow.“Our device is a supplementary system for monitoring track health,making it simpler to integrate with theexisting railway infrastructure,”said Kshitij Deo, M.Tech inmechanical engineering,who developed thedevice with three othersfrom the vibration anddynamics lab of theIIT.The device, based on

micro-electro mechani-cal system, can monitortrack health more compre-

hensively and enable efficienttrack maintenance.“The extremely handy packagelocates and logs track faults accuratelywith the help of the GPS (global posi-tioning system), eliminating humanerrors and making train journeys safer.It has a battery life of 10 hours and canbe recharged by USB port on comput-ers,” said Deo. “We did manage toreduce the number of buttons to one asagainst 50 required on the keypad ofthe railway equipment,” Deo said.

INdIa-U.s. collaboRatIoN oN dIabetes & steM cell ReseaRch

T he Infosys Science Foundation of the ITbellwether on November 16 selectedSriram Ramaswamy, Professor of

Physics at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc),Bangalore for the Infosys Prize 2011 in recog-nition of his outstanding contribution inPhysical Sciences.

For similar prizes in five other categories ofscientific research, the Foundation selectedKanpur Genetic Algorithms LaboratoryDirector Kalyanmoy Deb in Engineering andComputer Science, Centre for Cellular andMolecular Biology scientist Imran Siddiqi inLife Sciences, Stanford University ProfessorKannan Soundararajan in MathematicalSciences, University of Chicago ProfessorRaghuram G. Rajan in Social Sciences andCentre for Policy Research Chief ExecutivePratap Bhanu Mehta in Political Science andInternational Relations.

In recognition of their contribution, each ofthe six distinguished winners received prizemoney of $97, 609, a 22-carat gold medallionand a citation certificate from former PresidentA.P.J. Abdul Kalam on January 9, 2012 inBangalore.

Congratulating the winners, InfosysChairman Emeritus N.R. Narayana Murthy saidthe prestigious prize for the third year was acommitment to encourage the distinguishedscientists at a time when it could make agreater difference to their career and attractyoung minds to research.

INFosys scIeNceFoUNdatIoN

aNNoUNces wINNeRs

D uring his first official visit toIndia from December 1-6, 2011, Dr. Francis S.

Collins, Director of the U.S. NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH), signed twoletters of intents to launch new India-U.S. collaboration in the field ofdiabetes and stem cell research. TheNIH would be collaborating with theIndian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) for diabetes research and withthe Department of Biotechnology(DBT) for stem cell research. Fordecades, NIH is involved in a robustcollaboration with the Indian govern-

ment and India’s medical researchcommunity in the biomedical andbehavioral health sciences, focused inseveral high-priority areas for both the

nations. High-value collaborationbetween the two countries includesresearch related to vaccine, HIV/AIDS, neuroscience, maternaland child health, infectious diseases,cardiovascular disease, cancer, eye disease, and low-cost medical devices. Dr. Collins, globally known for hisleadership in human genome project,visited several of India’s best medicalresearch institutions in Bangalore andNew Delhi, met with senior Indiangovernment officials from the HealthMinistry and the Science &Technology Ministry.

Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director, NIH (left) and Dr. V.M. Katoch, Director General, ICMR signingthe Letter of Intent for Diabetes ResearchCollaboration.


Trends inSOCIETY

18

I ndia possesses the world’s mostcompetitive gems and jewelrymarket owing to its low cost ofproduction and availability of

skilled labor. Gems and jewelry forman essential part of the Indian tradi-tion. The components of jewelryinclude traditional gold, diamond andplatinum, as well as a variety of otherprecious and semi-precious stones.The Indian gems and jewelry sector

is expected to grow at a compoundannual growth rate (CAGR) ofapproximately 13 per cent during2011–2013, on the back of increasinggovernment efforts and incentivestogether with private sector initiatives,according to a report Indian Gems andJewelry Market Forecast to 2013, byresearch firm RNCOS. Asper the research report,with India’s con-sumption pegged atnearly 24 per centin 2008, the coun-try remains theworld’s largest goldconsumer and thisshare is expected togrow further.Moreover, India alsoforms the largest cut-

ting and polishing Industry for dia-mond in the world. The Governmentpolicies and the banking sector haveprovided a lot of assistance to this sec-tor with around 50 banks providingnearly $3 billion of credit to the Indiandiamond industry.India will soon overtake the U.S. to

become the third-largest men’s luxuryjewelry market in the world, accordingto a study by EuromonitorInternational, a leading marketresearch farm. The study estimatedthat the country’s men’s jewelry mar-ket stood at around $194.4 million, insales and it is projected to grow by36.4 per cent in 2012.“Although it’s a nichemarket, it is grow-

ing. Nobody can ignore it now,” as perGR Radhakrishnan, ManagingDirector, GRT Jewelers, one of India’sleading jewelry store, that pegs theshare of men’s jewelry in its total salesat 20-25 per cent.Indian sellers on eBay, a leading

online marketplace, export an iteminternationally every 32 seconds,according to the company’s Asianexporters’ index. Forty four pieces ofjewelry are sold every hour by Indiansellers on eBay.Ratings agency CRISIL has

launched a Gold Index to track theperformance of gold prices in theIndian market. This is the first index

launched by CRISIL in thecommodities space. Thepurpose of the CRISILGold index is to pro-vide an independent,relevant and commonbenchmark for per-formance evaluationof investment prod-ucts with gold asunderlying invest-ment, according to a

release from CRISIL.Swiss watchmaker Rado,

a part of the world’s largest

Fortune in gems and jewelryAlthough dominated mostly by the unorganized players, the $16 billion gems and

jewelry market in India, the largest gold jewelry market in the world, has witnessed thearrival of a number of global jewelry brands in the recent times

watch conglomerate The SwatchGroup, recently unveiled its luxuryjewelry collection at the Rado boutiquein Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. Thisrange features beautiful diamond stud-ded watches. The Rado jewelry collec-tion brings together an exquisite selec-tion of the brand’s most cele-brated products. The Swisswatch brand has been a pio-neer in the use of innova-tive materials such as hardmetal, high-tech ceramic,lanthanum and ceramos. Italso features convex, dome-shaped sapphire crystals,affording innovative watchdesigns and shapes. The jewel-ry range is priced from $574.66to $76,626.75.“In the last 3-4 years, a lot of

Indians are investing in gold which isin the paper format. People shouldtake a long-term perspective whileinvesting in gold,” as per JijuVidyadharan, Head, Funds and FixedIncome Research, CRISIL Research.

Industry structure

The gems and jewelry industry inIndia is greatly dominated by the unor-ganized players, but with the growingeconomy and increasing income levels,the organized segment and retailing ofbranded jewelry is fast catching up inthe currently fragmented market whichis worth $16 billion and shows hugepotential for growth in the future. The center of trade in India’s gems

and jewelry industry is Mumbai. Most

imports of gold and rough diamondarrives in Mumbai. However, most ofthe processing of diamonds takes placein Gujarat.

Key Industry components

DIAMONDS: Currently India is themajor polishing and cutting hub fordiamonds. India is also the thirdlargest consumer of polished dia-

monds. Thesurge of urban-

ization andr a p i d l yg r o w i n g

m i d d l eclass inIndia has ledIndian con-sumerism tonew heights,particularly in the diamond jewelrysector. Every 11 out of 12 diamondssold around the world are processed inIndia regardless of the place they aremined.GOLD: India is the leading gold con-suming nation. In the third quarter of2011, year-on-year gold demand inIndia is up 15 percent in tonnes and46 percent in value (US$), as reportedby the World Gold Council inNovember 2011. The other key markets include

Japan, China, Turkey, Italy, the U.S.

and the UK. It is also estimated thatabout 600 tonnes of gold is used tomake jewelry

COSTUME JEWELRY: The Indiancostume jewelry market is also witness-ing growth in the international market,as per the Export Promotion Councilfor Handicrafts. The industry bodyfurther stated that the government wasalso working towards formulating aninternational compliance code formanufacturing costume jewelry Thecurrent global costume jewelry andaccessories market is estimated at$16.3 billion, of which India onlyexports around $53 million, thereby,providing a huge opportunity area forthe Indian costume manufacturers.

exports

India is the largest market for goldjewelry in the world, representing anamazing 746 tonnes of gold in 2010.The net exports of gem and jewelrygrew from $22,616.35 in April-October 2010 to $26,160.04 inApril-October 2011.

the road ahead

The enormous growth of the Indiangems and jewelry industry has seen thearrival of many new branded jewelryshops in various metros of thiscountry. Brands such as, DamasJewelry, Reliance Retail,Swarovski, and Joy Alukkas are

either opening or have alreadyopened their new branches. The avail-ability of cheap labor and presence ofwell skilled people in various states ofIndia is helping in the growth of dia-mond polishing and gold jewelry mar-kets. Experts feel that the growingdemand for expensive jewelry in Indiais a result of the strengthening of theIndian economy. India will soon over-take the U.S. in terms of market size ofgems and jewelry in the not so distantfuture, as per the Rapaport Group, aninternational network of companiesthat support the development of free,fair, efficient and competitive diamondand jewelry markets.

(Courtesy: India Brand EquityFoundation).

Trends inSOCIETY


19


ShortSTORY

20

T he large clock at Wodehouse nursing homeCalcutta read two fifty p.m. As she climbed thestairs, she wondered what she’d have to do in thenext eight hours of her life. Would it be simply

controlling a patient’s pain with a little morphine, orwould she be constantly running mental calculations tokeep drugs balanced and respirators pumping smoothly?She reached the last step and had to juggle her lunch-

box and purse to open the door to the green waiting room.As she walked under the acute coronary care sign, shenoticed a woman in a light yellow saree and white hair sit-ting on the couch and crying. Another elderly womanleaned over her, touching her shoulder, saying nothing.She passed them and opened the door into the

world of the critically ill — four rooms, eachholding a single blue bed. Only one of themonitor banks was lighted and running. BedTwo.She walked to the locker and took the

white-cotton uniform from its hanger.Lacing her white shoes, she wondered aboutBed Two. How old? Man or woman? Howbad was it? The grieving white-hairedwoman in the waiting-room hinted at theanswers.“Both his electroencephalograms have

been flat, and I haven’t heard results of thehead scan he had this morning,” the on-dutynurse told her. “He is sinking fast. It is aquestion of time.”Briefed, the nurse coming on duty walked

quietly into the coronary-care room. The res-pirator was on. She looked closely at him. A mistof sweat covered his balding head.She walked back to the door and pulled the

blue curtain all the way around the glass room.They were alone now. She began routine assess-ment, like analyzing a dysfunctional engine, pieceby piece. Heart rate: 140. Blood pressure: 80.Skin: wet and mottled. Color: bluish gray. Drugs:dopamine, procainamide, and lidacaine. Neuro:pupils widely dilated, all reflexes absent.He had been laughing and very active only a few

hours before it happened she had been told. Therehad been a family dinner that day, and she couldimagine the grandfather’s joy at being there. After allher experience, it still amazed her how quickly itcould happen.Her initial assessment finished, she allowed the

family in to be with him, one at atime, according to policy. Hissister walked in first. “Oh Ronu,Ronu, goodbye now,” She saidin a low voice. Her tears fell onher brother’s arm, and she madeno attempt to wipe them away.“I always called him Ronu,” thesister explained. “It was his nick-name.” She started to say something else to her brother,her lips moving without the sounds. She put her hand toher mouth and backed out of the room.Ten minutes later a thin young man in is late teens

walked stiffly into the room. A grandchild. Theyouth reached out to touch his grandfather’sface but caught himself halfway. Suddenly, theboy’s shoulders began to shake. He turned

away and quickly left. The nurse’s hand movedto the patient’s forehead and slowly wiped awaythe sweat.She moved down to the end of the bed and

massaged his white feet as they lay still andcold. She noticed the monitor: heart rate seven-ty, blood-pressure seventy four. He was slow-ing down.

Twenty minutes passed and the softwhooshing noise from the respirator lulledher into a kind of trance as she sat at thenurse’s desk doing her charting andpreparing the paper work. A deep voice

startled her. She looked up and saw a verytall man with a pretty woman standing closeto him.

“How is he?” The man asked, hope hang-ing on the words.“Not good,” she said.The woman moved towards the nurse,

wringing her hands. “We’re good friends. Ishe going to pull out of it?”The nurse stared directly at the woman.

“He is dying now… as we talk.”“Look,” the man said, “if we go and get the

best doctors, would that help?”“No,” she said. “His brain is gone. We are

keeping his heart beating with drugs, and amachine is breathing for him.”Both visitors looked away from her. “He was awonderful man,” the tall man said. “The best. Hemade everyone laugh. He helped people feel good

FAREWELL, MY LOVE By Anil Chandra

about themselves.” He paused, then hespoke more slowly: “Special, yes. He was special.”The nurse said, “Yes, I’m sure he was.”

Then they left, and she returned to herpatient. The thermometer now read ninety-six degrees Fahrenheit. Shewalked to the outer door. Through thewaiting-room window she could see thewhite haired woman still sitting on thecouch. The nurse opened the door andasked her to come in.The wife touched his face and kissed

him. “Ranjan don’t go just yet. Not justnow, Ranjan. Let me go first.”The nurse pretended to rearrange the

plastic tubes and gray monitor leads thatwere no longer of use.“He woke up several times that night,”

the white-haired woman said. “You know,the way we old people do. But the lasttime, when he walked back towards thebed, he called my name. He was scaredand he wouldn’t answer me. I kept talkingto him, but he never said anything.” Thewoman picked up his limp hand and putit to her cheek. She stood a long timeholding it. “Farewell, my love”, sheseemed to be saying. Then, putting hishands down, she walked out of the roomwithout another word.The nurse was turning him on to his

side when she looked up and saw his doc-tor, who guided her to the monitor bank.“The head scan showed massive cere-

bral hemorrhage. Go ahead and stop thedrugs and discontinue the respirator. Hisother doctor and I have discussed it withhis family… they want it this way.”The nurse made no move towards the

bed. She waited for the doctor to leave.Carefully letting down the side rails,

she put her hands gently under Ronu’s shoulder andspoke to him in a whisper. “You are very fortunate to haveall this love. Did you feel it today? You can leave thisbehind you now.”Her face touched his.Blood-pressure forty, heart rate thirty two. She

squeezed his hand and felt a lump rise in her throat. Hisface was blurred by her tears.She reached towards the blue intravenous fluid that kept

his blood-pressure up, and turned the valve switch to“off”. Then the yellow fluid, keeping his heart pumping.“Off”.Again, the monitor flashed and buzzed as a straight line

moved across the screen. No pulse, blood-pressure zero.

“Farewell, Ronu uncle,” she murmured softly.The respirator suddenly seemed loud and obnoxious,

diminishing the dignity of death. With one swift move-ment she pulled the plug from the wall. Silence.She removed the tubes and the tapes from his body and

washed him with warm, soapy water reserved for the liv-ing. The she covered him with a soft blanket.Just after midnight, she walked through the empty

waiting-room. She felt drained. Yet, as she stepped outof the hospital, the nurse found that she carried some-thing with her — the dignity of the mourning wife andfamily, and the love that had surrounded him. He hadnever spoken to her. There had been no gestures. But hisspirit lingered.

“He was a wonderful man,” the tall man said.“The best. He made everyone laugh. He

helped people feel good about themselves.”He paused, then he spoke more slowly:

“Special, yes. He was special”

India Review

ShortSTORY

January 2012

21

S hah Rukh Khan, who played an anti-hero inthe beginning of his career, returned in a neg-ative role in his latest release Don 2: The King

is Back. The superstar says that portraying villainouscharacters gives a different high to an actor.

“I really enjoyed it. I will be really honest and Iam not glorifying badness in real life and these arejust films and stories, but as an actor it is one of thegreatest highs to play a villain’s role,” said ShahRukh. Directed by Farhan Akhtar, the film also starsPriyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Lara Dutta, Om Puriand Kunal Kapoor.

The 46-year-old, who rose to fame by playingnegative roles in superhit films Baazigar and Darr,

believes in the existence of one central character infilms, who can be either good or bad.

“I started with theatre and there was nothing likea hero for me. There was a protagonist, a centralcharacter. I have been a bad guy on stage, I havebeen a good guy on stage,” said SRK.

“I was thrilled that I got this opportunity and I didnot think of the hero type roles. Now that I am get-ting a chance to play a negative role in Don after somany years, there is no justification to it,” he added.

Besides Don2, in 2011, Shah Rukh’s mega-budg-et sci-fi film Ra.One was released and he also madecameo appearances in Always Kabhi Kabhi andLove Breakups Zindagi.

January 2012India Review

CinemaNEWS

22

E vergreen romantic star Dev Anand, who epito-mized the debonair, urbangentleman on screen died

after a cardiac arrest on December 3in London. He was 88. In his career as an actor and film-

maker spanning over six decades,

Dev Saab, as he was popularlyaddressed, gave classic hits like Guide.He acted, directed and produced tillthe end with his last film Chargesheetreleased this year when he was 88 andstill raring to go, as ebullient and age-less as ever. Dev Saab romanced hisway through generations of actresses— from Nalini Jaywant to ZeenatAman. And of course, his charming per-

sona is incomplete without a mention

of his hairstyle, the puff à laHollywood legend Gregory Peck. He ruled the black & white era with

movies like Munimji, CID and HumDono and then moved into the coloredage with classics like Jewel Thief andJohny Mera Naam. He provided thelaunch pad for some of tinsel town’s

most remembered head-turners likeZeenat Aman and Tina Munim. Heacted as the lead in more than 110movies. The prolific star also releasedan autobiography, Romancing withLife in September 2007.Born on September 26, 1923 as

Dharam Dev Pishorimal Anand inGurdaspur district of the then undi-vided Punjab to an advocate father, hegraduated in English literature fromthe Government College, Lahore

(now in Pakistan) before moving tothe city of dreams, Mumbai, where hiselder brother, late filmmaker ChetanAnand, was already finding foothold,to fulfill his acting dreams.He was offered a break as an actor

by Prabhat Talkies to star in Hum EkHain (1946). It was while shooting

for the film in Pune that Dev Anandmet Guru Dutt — and was born atrue friendship. A genius in his own right, Dev

Anand turned producer and launchedhis production house Navketan in1949. As a prior commitment, heasked Guru Dutt to direct the ban-ner’s first outing — crime thriller,Baazi (1951) — which made DevAnand an overnight star and heremained a star till his last breath.

shahrukh enjoys playIng a vIllaIn

IndIa’s romantIc hero bIds adIeu

T his Chandigarh has not beendesigned by French architectLe Corbusier, nor does itnestle in the foothills of the

Shivaliks. It snows here and peoplehave even started growing apples. ThisChandigarh is a remote village and,unlike its famous namesake, is notlocated in Punjab or Haryana. It lies atan altitude of over 10,000 feet inHimachal Pradesh, close to the Tibetanborder in the picturesque Spiti Valleyof Lahaul and Spiti district thatremains cut off from the world formore than four months a year due toheavy snowfall. Some 320 km fromstate capital Shimla, it has some 15houses, most of them made of mud-and-stone.“After the 1962 India-China war, the

villagers of Kaurik and Lepcha (closeto the international border) were reset-tled in Chandigarh by the governmentof India. Since then we have beenhere,” said Tsering Bodh, an octoge-narian resident of the village. The cold desert has been converted

into green land. Bodh’s son

Chhombel Singh said the villagers hadstarted planting apples, peas and pota-toes. “Earlier, the entire area was bar-ren. Now people have started plantingapples. It is not of much use, since dur-ing the winter, heavy snow damagesthe apple trees. But the sowing of peasand potatoes is quite successful here,”he said.Even the government has again

greened some of the patches aroundthe village by planting willow trees,employing villagers under the federalgovernment’s rural jobs guaranteescheme, the Mahatma GandhiNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act.Bodh said Chandigarh was earlier a

center of barter trade with Tibetansbringing blankets, flasks, raw wool,herbs and leather products, andexchanging these for wheat flour, rice,spices, plastic goods, farm imple-ments and livestock.“Now traders from across

the border have

stopped coming and the villagers areno longer dependent mainly on tradi-tional vocations for livelihood. Theyhave started cultivating crops and rear-ing livestock,” he added.Chandigarh, lying on the highway

connecting Sumdoh with Kaza, theheadquarters of Spiti, is not isolatedfrom the winds of change sweepingacross the hills. Heating appliances,cable TV and mobiles are commonmodern gadgets here.Hurling, the place known for its

delicious apples, and Tabo, known fora more than 1,000-year-old Buddhistmonastery, lie close to Chandigarh,located on the banks of the gurglingSpiti river. The climatic conditions ofthe area are harsh as mercury dropsbelow minus 20 degrees Celsius duringthe winter.

hImachal’s own chandIgarh

This Chandigarh is a remote village located at analtitude of over 10,000 feet in Himachal Pr adesh’sSpiti Valley, over 300 km from Shimla.

23

Travel &TOURISM

January 2012India Review

n Welcome 2012

Residents of New Delhi celebrating the New Year eve by lighting up the streets on December 31.

Printed and Published by the Press & Information Office, Embassy of India, 2107 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, D.C., 20008Content, design and production by IANS. www.ianspublishing.com

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