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NRI ACHIEVERSmarch 2013

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2 NRI ACHIEVERS march 2013 http://www.nriachievers.net

KUDOS !Sir, I had opened the PDF version of your magazineand could not stop reading each page till the end. Itis a very thoughtfully composed compilation with rich

content. My happiness doubled when I saw one ofmy known contacts, Ms. Senorita Isaac, featured inone of the profiles. It is great to see how NRI Achiev-ers has evolved over time. I must compliment you forall the efforts you have gone through to put the mag-azine together, making it informative for NRI's and forbeing especially encouraging to new entrepreneurs.My Best wishes will always be with you, and I thank


GREAT MAGAZINEDear Friend! At the outset let me seek an apology for not being in touch, but I must now congratu-late you and your team for this beautiful and meaningful magazine that you have brought out. AndI must thank you for sending me this by e-mail. If possible please do send one copy by courier aswell. Further, I thank NRI Achievers for sending many purposeful, thoughtful and worth-remem-bering messages eregularly. I hope you will continue in future as well. Once again a lot of thanks.May god bless you and your families, and I pray that your wonderful Magazine will shine and shine... all over the world.

Regards, G. P. Goyal, Kochi, Kerala

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Hello,Thanks for sending out this copy to me, helps me stay in touch with India and what's going on there. A greateffort from the publishers to collect such good stuff at one place for us to read and stay connected. It shouldgain momentum as you start publishing it and cover broad areas.

I love travelling as you know which is why i was able to relate myself to the Travelogue section showcasingthe wall of India, i have been to Jaipur but missed going to Udaipur in that trip, now that i have read aboutthis, this is going to be on my radar in my next trip to India. It was great to read how it was built, its purposeand how it connects to Indian history. Other articles like toursim and business are also of great interests topeople like me.

I felt the education sector and real estate needs to be covered since these are big areas of growth in India.Don't forget to include broad news from all 4 metro cities. I did miss some news sections like the present eco-nomic situation, business growth sectors, news specific to NRI's especially for those planning to return backto India and looking for that extra push. Also, the article about CM Narendra Modi going Tech-savvy was agood read. I would overall say this initiative has a lot of potential of growth, it just needs to cover more areasfor the publication of news and should have more detailed sections pertaining to NRI's.

Nikhil Kumar, Toronto, Canada.

çÎÜ¿SÂ ç·¤´Ìé ¥ÏêÚUæßáü w®vx ·Ô¤ z ¥´·¤ ÂÉ¸·¤ÚU ¥çÌ ÂýâóæÌæ ç×ÜèÐ ÈÚUßÚUè ¥´·¤çÎÜ¿SÂ Ü»æ ç·¤´Ìé ¥´ÌÚUÚUæCþèØ Âýð×. Â¹ßæÇ¸æ; ßðÜðÙÅUæ§Ù Èð¤SÅUèßÜ·¤æ ¥æØôÁÙ âÂýð× Öê×´ÇÜ ·¤ô ÚUô×æ´ç¿Ì ·¤ÚU »Øæ, ¥õÚU ©â·¤æ çÁ·ý¤¥æÂÙð ¥ÏéÌ. Âßü ×æÙ·¤ÚU ©Q¤ Âç˜æ·¤æ ×ð´ ·¤ÚUÙæ ØÍôç¿Ì Ù â×Ûææ.ç·¤´Ìé ÂæÆ·¤»‡æô´ ·¤ô ©�×èÎ Íè ç·¤ ÖæÚUÌèØ Âýð× ·¤æ Âýð×Ùæ×æ ÂçÆÌ ãô»æ,¥æàææ ß ©�×èÎ ãñ ¥æ»æ×è ¥´·¤ Âýð×. ÚUâ ·¤æ ÚUSâæßæÎÙ â´Âê‡æü çßàß·¤ô Âýð× âð ÚUô×æ´ç¿Ì ·¤ÚUð»æÐ ¿ê´ç·¤ çß»Ì z ¥´·¤ô´ ·¤ô ÂÉ¸·¤ÚU Ü»æ ç·¤Âç˜æ·¤æ ·¤æ ×êÜ ¥æÏæÚU ÖæÚUÌ, ÖæÚUÌèØ, ÖæÚUÌßæâè, ÖæÚUÌÂýð×è, â¢S·¤ëçÌ°ß´ ÂÚU´ÂÚUæ ·Ô¤ âæÍ çßàß Õ´Ïéˆß §ˆØæçÎ çßáØ ßSÌé â×æçãÌ ç·¤Øð ãñ´.©žæÚUôžæÚU ·¤ÜðßÚU ß �ÜðßÚU ×ð´ â·¤æÚUæˆ×·¤ ÕÎÜæß ã×æÚUè ©ˆâé€Ìæ ß ãÚUÙØð ¥´·¤ ·¤æ ÕðâÕýè âð §´ÌÁæÚU ·¤ô ÕÙæ° ÚU¹Ìè ãñ. ÂéÙÑ ÙØð ¥´·¤ ·Ô¤çÜ° ÂýÌèÿææÚUÌ. ¥æÂ·¤æ âçÂýØ ÂæÆ·¤,âÏ‹ØßæÎ âçãÌ!

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LETTERS MATTER

you for keeping me posted with such alovely and progressive magazine.

Warm Regards, Sharda Aulla, Benga-looru

NICE NAME !

The name of your magazine ‘NRI Achievers’itself depicts the image of it. I have gonethrough the current issue of your maga-zine, I liked the content and the way ofpresentation. I enjoyed while reading theglossy pages of your magazine. Hoping fora bright future for your magazine. GoodLuck!

Naveen Pandey, Ghaziabad, UP

WHERE IS EDUCATION ?

Good wishes for your magazine. It’s a niceand eye-catchy product for NRIs like us.All the contents and the photographs arepresented in an attractive way. But onething which struck me was that there isnothing related to sports & education. I aman MBA student, and I just want to learnsomething about the growth of India in ed-ucation field. Hope to read some more in-teresting content through your magazine.

Rahul Verma, London.


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It was indeed a pleasure to meetup with the NRI Achievers' teamduring the 2013 Pravasi BharatiyaDivas conference held in Cochin.The conference was a great oppor-tunity to learn, listen and meet theglobal diaspora of Indians. TheGovernment of India is to be com-mended for hosting this conferenceand providing a forum for theglobal diaspora of Indians to buildpartnerships to promote greattrade, cultural and investment re-lationships. The global diaspora ofIndians are to be commended fortheir tremendous achievements. Iam sure by working together we

can build a society in which peoplecontinue to believe, achieve and suc-ceed. I look forward to working withyou as we build stronger, effectiveand dynamic partnerships. Onceagain, I thank all of you for makingmy visit to Cochin most memorable.If I can ever be of assistance pleasedo not hesitate to contact me. Bestwishes for a prosperous and healthyyear. Thanks and Kind Regards.

H. H. WICKARAMASINGHESecretary to Hon. Praba Ganesan, MP

(Ex-Media Secretary, Ministry Of CommunityDevelopment, Govt. of Sri Lanka)

11, Haig Rd, Colombo 00040, SRI LANKA

MOST MEMORABLE PBD EVER !

FORM IV (SEE RULE 8)1. Place of Publication A-208, Weaver’s Colony,

Ashok Vihar, Phase IV, Delhi 110052

2. Periodicity of Its Publication Monthly3. Printer’s Name Rajeev Gupta

Whether Citizen of India YesAddress 53, Nimri Colony, Phase I,

Delhi 1100524. Publisher’s Name Rajeev Gupta


Delhi 1100525. Editor’s Name Rajeev Gupta


Delhi 1100526. Name & Address of Rajeev Gupta

Individuals who own the 53, Nimri Colony, Phase Inewspaper AND Shareholders Delhi-110052holding more than One Percent of the total capital.

I, Rajeev Gupta, hereby declare that the particulars given aboveare true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Sd/-Rajeev Gupta

Date: March 1, 2013 Publisher

STATEMENT ABOUT OWNERSHIP AND OTHER PARTICULARS OF NRI ACHIEVERS, DELHI, ASREQUIRED UNDER RULE 8 OF THE REGISTRATION OF NEWSPAPERS (CENTRAL) RULES, 1956.

Cover Photo : Ajay Sood

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EDITOR: RAJEEV GUPTA

@ ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDVIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE ARTICLES ARE THOSEOF THE AUTHORS, & NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS

THOSE OF NRI ACHIEVERS OR ITS EDITORS.ALL DISPUTES ARE SUBJECT TO

EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OFCOMPETENT COURT & FORUM IN DELHI.

INSIDECOVER FEATURE

STRIVING FORBALANCE

FROM JAMAICAWITH LOVE

ORCHHA THEHIDDEN GEM

KAMAL HAASAN UNIVERSAL HERO

14

26

44

40

News & Views 8

Searching for one's Roots 10

Networking, Networking, Networking... 11

India shines... only if Bharat shines too... 19

A Budget Fiasco 6 Centuries AGO 22

MY GOD ! 25

Chanson A Car at your Call 34

Etihad-Jet Airlines Deal In The Works 37

Brain Teasings 43

http://www.nriachievers.net7NRI ACHIEVERSmarch 2013

It is all about balance when it comes to budgeting, be it for the home, for anew project, or for a new venture. And budgeting for a nation too is allabout balancing, as is obvious from the tightrope walk that characterizesthe dexterity with which most general budgets attempt juggling aroundlimited resources and options, in order to seek that fine balance needed to

keep an economy shipshape ... at least till the next budget.

This sixth edition of NRI Achievers is also in part about the budget and its finebalancing act, which seems to have been pulled off rather well by an adept financeminister, who has managed to cobble together a budget that balances fiscal pru-dence with the looming political imperatives of a soon to come general election.Though not overtly populist on the surface, the budget seems to have ensuredenough elbow and head room for a political class that needs to reinvent itself thecoming year by going to the hustings once again. Apropos budget, it is our in-tention to henceforth devote every March Issue to this economic aspect of ourlives, just as every February Issue of NRI Achievers will invariably focus on thePravasi Bharatiya Divas, and the concerns raised by the conclave every year.

2013 promises to be a tumulous year, hinting at just enough excitement tokeep our constituencies occupied on matters interesting to them, with promisesof many an interesting milestone that is to come about. In this current issue, wetake a look at what the budget implies for us and our readers, take some glimpsesat sectors of the Indian economy that are likely to draw our attention later thisyear, including travel, tourism and hospitality, realty, infrastructure, banking, in-surance and the services sectors, and some other areas that are fast growing, withbudding potential for overseas investment.

We have also included several other sections that might be of interest to you,ranging from the offbeat travelogue to cuisine to little known facts about wellknown places and topics. Cinema is featured, and we are working on getting youquality content from domains like education, sports, the small screen, and otherwalks of life, climes and times Indian. Apart from profiles of individual achieversboth in India and abroad, we feature a country in focus as well, which is Jamaicathis time round, a gem from the Caribbean.

As ever, we are feedback-driven, and therefore keen to get quality inputs fromour readers. So I would encourage you all to get back to us with your views andopinions on content that is of most interest to you. Yes, do keep talking to us, beit by email or snail-mail, or via social networks!

—Rajeev Gupta

Its All About Balancing!

[email protected]

Editorial


Ayurveda Center In Trinidad & TobagoThe Indian High Commission in

Trinidad & Tobago haslaunched a center for Ayurveda,in response to growing interest inthe Caribbean into this traditionalIndian system of medicine. Thecenter was inaugurated byTrinidad & Tobago’s Minister ofLocal Government SurujattanRambachansometimeago. TheMinister alsoannouncedthat a Chairof AyurvedicMedicine willsoon be in-stituted atthe University of the West Indiesin St. Augustine. India’s HighCommissioner Malay Mishra saidthat Trinidad & Tobago was thesecond country outside India tohave an Ayurvedic center afterMalaysia. He said people can visitthe center and access all forms ofinformation, brochures, applica-tions and videos on Ayurveda.

Ravi Shankar Gets Lifetime Grammy

Indian music legend Pandit Ravi Shankar was named a re-cipient of the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award a day

after his death at 92 in a US hospital. The sitar maestro washonored along with another six artists at an invitation-only

ceremony in Los Angeles on Feb 9,2013. His daughters, Nora Jones andAnoushka Shankar, received the awardon his behalf. It was only last monthwhen Ravi Shankar was named as oneof the Grammy nominees for the BestWorld Music Album. It is a category inwhich his daughter, sitar virtuoso

Anoushka (31) was also nominated, marking what appearedto be the first time that a father's and his daughter’s albumswill both be competing for the same honor at the Grammy’s.

UAE, Saudi Arabia Have Maximum Indian WorkersSaudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) account

for the largest number of Indians working in the Gulf, theGOI has revealed. Overseas Indian AffairsMinister Mr. Vayalar Ravi told the LokSabha that a total of two million Indians liveand work in Saudi Arabia, followed by 1.8million in the UAE. Kuwait is home to anIndian working population of 641,062 fol-lowed by Oman (581,832), Qatar (500,000)and Bahrain (400,000). Iraq has 16,000 In-dian workers, Lebanon 10,000, Jordan9,000 and Libya 1,800. These figures are based upon the sta-tistics provided by Indian diplomatic missions.

The United Kingdom seems to have embarked uponan exercise of formally wooing Gujarat State and

its Chief Minister Narendra Modi, bringing about athaw in the icy hauteur that has been the norm foralmost a decade now. One of UK'sbiggest industry associations, led byMP Ian Swales, is to visit Gujarat inMarch 2013, followed soon after inApril by a delegation of British MPs.Swales will lead a 20-member delega-tion of the North East of EnglandProcess Industry Cluster (NEPIC),which will visit Vapi and Dahej. Theywill explore trade and investment op-portunities with companies in Gujaratto source active pharmaceutical ingredients, besidesspecialty chemicals from the state. The NEPIC cluster

represents 560 industrial units, accounts for 60% ofUK's petrochemicals output, and around 35% ofpharmaceutical production. Goods worth GB£ 11Billion are exported from the cluster annually. TheUK India Business Council had even partnered theVibrant Gujarat investor summit in January 2013with the British High Commissioner to India, James

Bevan, attending the event. During thevisit in March, the delegation is expectedto meet potential customers and part-ners, besides networking with local busi-nessmen, said an official of the UK Tradeand Investment (UKTI), which is sup-porting the trip. Four British universitieswill also be part of the delegation tosearch for setting up campuses and fran-chises in the state. Bilateral trade be-tween India and the UK is being pegged

at GB£ 14 Billion per annum, and Gujarat enjoys alion's share of it.

The UK Warms Up To Gujarat

News & Views


News & Views


Marshall Scholars Of 2013

Four Indian-Americans –Aditya Balasubramanian,

Aditya Ashok, Paras Minhasand Rahul Rekhi – are amongthe recipients of the prestigiousMarshall Scholarships. Thisgives them the opportunity tostudy at any university in theUnited Kingdom. This opportu-nity is given to 40 Americanstudents by the ‘Marshall AidCommemoration Commission’,which grants them two fully-handled years of study. AdityaSubramanian plans to studyEconometrics and MathematicalEconomics at the LondonSchool of Economics and Politi-cal Science. He is also inter-ested in histories of poverty andeconomic development. AdityaAshok intends to study globalhealth at the University of Glas-glow to better understandhealth disparities that exist be-tween the United States and theUK. Paras Minhas intends to doa doctoral degree in molecularcell biology at University Col-lege, London. He aspires to be-come a physician and scientistand is interested in coming upwith new methods in the area ofmental health care. Rahul rekhimay use this scholarship tocomplete a Master of Sciencedegree in international healthpolicy at the London School ofEconomics (LSE) and a Masterof Science Degree in bio-engi-neering at Oxford University.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited(BHEL) has paid an interim divi-

dend of 106 percent on the enhancedequity capital post-bonus, for fiscal2012-13. In value terms, the total div-idend paid amounts to Rs. 518.89crore. With this, the company hasmaintained its impeccable track recordof earning profits and rewarding investors by paying dividendsuninterruptedly for over three decades.

ONGC Wins Quality Award

ONGC has won the prestigious ‘Golden Peacock NationalQuality Award-2012’ yet another time. The Golden Peacock

National Quality Award is an annualrecognition administered by the GoldenPeacock Award Secretariat, as a part ofthe activities of The Institute of Directors,New Delhi. The award was presented toONGC by Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah,Chairman IOD Advisory Committee andFormer Chief Justice of India.

Indian Academics Are Dance Champions

An India-born journalism lecturer has won one of the mostprestigious competitive ballroom dance titles in the UK.

This is for the first time that an Indian haswon this laurel. Chindu and his dance part-ner Janine will now represent England in theworld championships in May 2013 at Black-pool. Chindu had formed a partnership withJanine in March this year, and after sixmonths of concerted training, they hadbegun competing in October. This was theirfirst national championship together, againstseveral well-established partnerships. A Ker-alite, Chindu worked as a journalist coveringthe Kashmir conflict before moving to Eng-land nine years ago to undertake a Ph.D inwar journalism. He currently runs the MA In-ternational journalism course at Bournemouth University insouth-east England. Talking about their achievement, Chindusaid, “This is something I and Janine have worked towardsfrom the first day of our partnership. Hard work paid off”Chindu, 39, said. He had moved to England in 2003.

BHEL Pays 106 Percent Interim Dividend

Atman Ramchalavan is afilm maker of Indian ori-gin, currently based outof the Netherlands. NRIAchievers connected

with him to get his takes on India,his efforts to get back to his roots,and his plans for the future. We re-produce here excerpts of the con-versation we had with him, wherehe tells us about himself, and whathe wants to do.

“Although I am a NRI and livefar away from Indianshores, I am still verymuch an Indian at heart.So much so that I am atpresent involved in makinga documentary on myroots in Balia, UP. Deepdown, I have this feelingtoday that I have so farbeen successful enough inmy mission of decoding myroots. I did manage to getsome information from theNational Archive of Lon-don, which helped. And Ihave gathered lots of mate-rial before getting back tothe Netherlands. I do hopethat I’ll finish this well ontime.

“I have Janethan Yadavto thank for this, for he helped mein locating all my relatives and myDada, Dadi et al. I for one am quiteglad to have found my ancestralroots, from both my maternal andpaternal sides. It took me morethan one and half years seekingclues and linkages, before finallytracing my roots back to the actualvillage in Balia. As you are aware,there are literally millions of peoplelike me living in the Fiji Islands,Mauritius, Surinam etc., most ofwhom are in the same boat as me.

At our ancestral place, though, Ifound people are unwilling to re-veal their records, fearing as theydo for claims about their propertiesand land.

“On my personal side, I wentParis, upon getting a scholarshipfrom French Government to studyCinematography. That was fol-lowed by another scholarship I gotfrom the US Government, and Iwent to California to do an ad-vanced course in Photography,

where I learnt how to shoot fromHelicopters. After completion ofmy course, I returned to Paris, andthen came here to the Netherlands.I have applied for a subsidy fromthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs fordocumentary making & am alsolooking for grants.

“My better half is an artist andpainter, who keeps herself busy byorganizing exhibitions.

“I have travelled a lot, and frommy point of view, Indian cities likeMumbai and Delhi are quite well

developed, and Patna is fast evolv-ing into a metropolis in its ownright. But places in rural India likeBalia and Chhapra do not haveelectricity, water, sanitation, ba-sics. It takes hours to reach theseplaces.

“I belong to a normal family,and I have established everythingin my business on my own. Thismakes me a satisfied person. Ihave established a company calledthe 'Trigger Films Production Com-

pany'. Like I said, I havehad occasion to travel acrossmany countries, and I dovery much want to give backsomething to India. For thatvery purpose, I am in theprocess of establishing amultimedia company inNoida, UP, to produce Bho-jpuri films of high caliber,with infusion of the sort oftechnology we have in Eu-rope. And I am looking forinvestors in Europe, whocould participate in this ven-ture. In my projects, I pro-pose to take all artists,song-writers, dancers,everyone from UP and Bihar.I also intend to be a depend-able resource for film-mak-

ers and film-crews from India whowant to come to the Netherlandsand shoot locales for their projects.I can be of help to them, as I havegood contacts with the local Gov-ernment there.

“I try to speak Bhojpori, but notso much Hindi.

Dossier

10 NRI ACHIEVERS http://www.nriachievers.netmarch 2013

Searching

for one's Roots

—NIMESH SHUKLAThe Writer has a creative bent ofmind, who contributes to manymagazines.

Photo : Rajeev Tyagi

NRI Achievers soughtout the suave and ar-ticulate Sunny Ku-lathakal in thesidelines of the

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas recentlyheld at Kochi this January, toknow more about the man andlearn something about his suc-cessful foray in networking peopleof Indian origin across geogra-phies and political borders. Hereis an outline of the story thatemerged during our informal andfree-wheeling conversation withhim one fine balmy afternoonoverlooking the Kochi marina ...

Sunny has this effervescent,bubbly enthusiasm that is infec-tious, a character trait that giveshim his uncanny knack for win-

ning friends and influencing peo-ple ... and yes, if you do run intohim, chances are that you toowould want to be friends withhim forthright. No wonder thatthis affability and charm has gothim a legion of friends indeed ...from Kings and Premiers toCourtiers & Nobility; from Presi-dents & Premiers of myriad na-tions to India's Union Ministers &Chief Ministers present & past;from Statesmen & Diplomats toPolicy-makers & Opinion Lead-ers; not to mention top MediaProfessionals, Writers, Industrial-ists, Technocrats and Business-men. This inherent talent forsealing lasting friendships is whathas helped Kerala-born SunnyKulathakal make the Indian dias-

pora in the Gulf a close-knit fam-ily.

Networking, networking net-working. This is another thing hebelieves in and is quiet adept at.In fact, it is probably the singularsource of all his achievements, asa writer, journalist and social ac-tivist. "Networking is a very im-portant thing that I have alwayskept in mind because until one isin good terms with others, thebusiness or exchange of informa-tion cannot be done success-fully", he avers. True to this allalong, he has adroitly used thisadeptness and single-mindedpurpose to turn goodwill gener-ated through friendships intocommunity advantage.

This trait has also stood him


Dossier


Networking, Networking, Networking...


in good stead in creating that ef-fective networking tool he hasgifted the Gulf-Indians with, viz.,the 'Gulf Who's Who Directory',which has since established itselfas the most effective tool in net-working for diaspora. This ex-haustive compendium of theGulf's business leaders and In-dian expatriates is indeed asmuch a celebration of the greatIndian success story that is play-ing out in the Middle East, as it isa tribute to his own yearning tohighlight and acknowledge thetriumph of Indians living andworking in the desertsheikhdoms. Sunny's pioneeringeffort proved to be an invaluablesource of information on Gulf na-tions. The initial 1050-odd-pagedirectory with about 4,000 en-tries was a sell-out. Sunny ex-plains the philosophy behind hisventure: "Our concept is to havea few individuals and companiesfrom different areas of activitiesand interests. For getting addi-tional information on a particulararea or business, these individu-als or companies can come for-ward and help others."

A prolific writer, Sunny didnot stop with his magnum opus,the Gulf Directory. He haspenned several more, amongthem his Malayalam works, 'TheWorld of Drugs' and 'World ofFallen Women', were the result ofpainstaking research, with theformer being inspired by his artistfriend Peter Mark, a one-timedrug addict. He also has to hiscredit a biography of MartinLuther King, whose commitmentto the upliftment of the downtrod-den was a source of inspirationfor Sunny. The late Civil RightsLeader's wife, Mrs. Coretta King,was instrumental in providinghim with inputs for Martin Luther King, the 'Story of a Martyr'. His latest work,Kalpadukal (Footprints) com-prises interviews published invarious newspapers.

Shuttling between Bahrainand Bangalore today, Sunny Ku-lathakal, as the Vice-President ofthe Global Organization of Peopleof Indian Origin (GOPIO), is ac-tively involved in welfare and ref-erence services for Indianexpatriates. Speaking to NRIAchievers, Sunny Kulathakal

sums up the GOPIO story thus:“24 years ago, GOPIO was formedwith the main intention of puttingin place a global networkingmechanism for people of Indianorigin, to in-situ address themany vexing problems faced byour Indian Expats, and try find-ing lasting solutions to theirproblems. Each country had itsown unique idiosyncrasies andproblems, so GOPIO interfacedwith the UN and made severalpresentations to it.

“The Pravasi concept too wasmooted by GOPIO to the GOIsome 24 yrs ago, right at the timeof inception of the organization. Itsaw fruition in 2003, when thethen Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee set things in motion andthe first Pravasi Bharatiya Divastook place. And so since then, we have been bringingour people from all over the globe,for the Pravasi Divas conclaves allthese years. I personally, havenever missed any of the PBDs.

“However, in retrospect, Iwould say that the first one wasthe Number One insofar as tangi-ble outcomes were concerned.GOPIO is active in more than 60countries, and we have a largebase of members. Almost all in-fluential and powerful PIOs/NRIslike Trinidad Premier Kamla Biss-esar, Mauritian President, Suri-nam president, etc., are membersand active ones at that. We haveseveral councils within GOPIO,like the media council, the youthcouncil, etc. In the media council,for example, numerous journal-ists and media personalitiesworking across the globe share allsorts of information and news.The Business editor of KhaleejTimes, Mr. Isaac John, is the cur-rent chairman of this council.

“GOPIO also periodically hon-ours our NRI/PIO members withcommunity service awards, givento those Indians who do some-thing precious for the communityin various parts of the world.

—NRI Achievers Bureau

Photo : Sumit Singh

Dossier


Business Buzz



Finance Min-ister P Chi-dambaram,while pre-

senting his GeneralBudget for the year2013~14 to the In-dian Parliament onFebruary 28 thisyear, has offered nomajor tax sops, but

instead has socked the super-richwith a surcharge, raised duties onmobile phones, cigarettes and im-ported luxury vehicles, and intro-duced tax deduction at source(TDS), on sales of property aboveINR. 50 Lakhs. This last full-fledged budget of UPA-II justahead of the forthcoming 2014

General Elections seeks to garneradditional resources to balancethe budget, while at the sametime ensuring that adequate roomis there for poll-populism. FMChidambaram has thus striven tobalance growth imperatives withfiscal prudence, by stepping upexpenditure in social sectors andcutting subsidies. He pegs the fis-cal deficit at 5.2% of GDP in 2013-14, and wants to take it down to4.8% in 2014-15. Defence alloca-tion has risen marginally, by 14%,to INR. 2 Trillion.

Without tinkering with the basicslabs in income tax, the FM hasgiven a benefit of INR. 2,000 to in-dividuals with a taxable income ofupto INR. 5 Lakhs. First-time

home buyers get an additional in-terest deduction of INR. 1 Lakhfor home loans above INR 25Lakhs and INR. 1.5 Lakhs forhome loans upto INR, 25 Lakhs.This is over and above the currentINR. 1 Lakh deduction allowed forself-occupation. The ‘Super-rich',or persons with income of overINR. 1 Crore, have to pay a 10%surcharge, and likewise, for cor-porate entities with a taxable in-come of INR. 10 Crore, thesurcharge has been raised from 5to 10%. Foreign companies willnow pay an increased surchargeof 5%, up from 2%. The Budgetproposes that the surcharges willbe in existence for just a year,while continuing the 3% educa-

Striving For

Balance


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tion Cess on all tax payers. TheFinance Minister has also pro-posed a TDS of 1% on all transfersof immovable properties for a con-sideration of above INR. 50 Lakhs.Agricultural land, however, is ex-empt.

While Securities TransactionTax (STT) has been marginally re-duced, the Minister has intro-duced a new CommoditiesTransaction Tax (CTT) on non-agricultural commodities futures.The Budget does not make anychanges in the peak Customs andExcise Duties or Service Tax, butit has notched up import duty onhigh-end luxury cars, motorcycles

and yachts from 75 to 100%, andexcise duty on SUVs from 27 to30%. Cigarettes, cigars, cigarillosand cheroots will attract an addi-tional 18% excise duty. Dining atair-conditioned restaurants willcost more, as service tax has beenextended to such establishmentsthat were earlier exempted if theydid not serve liquor. Mobilephones costing above INR. 2,000will attract a 6% excise duty in-stead of the current 1%. Marblesand silver manufactured fromsmelting zinc or lead, and ready-to-wear garments, carpets andfloor-coverings made of Coir &Jute will become cheaper. Voca-tional courses in state-aided insti-

tutions and agricultural- testingfacilities have been exemptedfrom service tax. One million serv-ice tax defaulters have been of-fered a voluntary complianceencouragement scheme underwhich penalty and interest will bewaived for returning to the taxfold.

Chidambaram has also hikedoutlays for health, water and san-itation, for SCs/STs & Tribals,and for Rural Development. Hehas pegged the total expenditureat INR. 16.653 Trillion, with Planexpenditure accounting for INR.5.55 Trillion, while non-plan ex-penditure is estimated at INR.

Photos : Ajay Sood

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11.1 Trillion. The Finance Minis-ter expressed optimism that by2016-17 the government would beable to bring down the fiscaldeficit to 3% and the revenuedeficit to 1.5% of GDP and effec-tive revenue deficit to zero.

Unusually, the Budget doesnot make any economic growthrate prognosis for the current orthe next fiscal. Chidambaramhas also brought down the sub-sidy for 2013-14 to INR. 2.31 Tril-lion from INR. 2.57 Trillion, raisedthe target from disinvestment pro-ceeds to over US$ 10 Billion fromthe previous year’s US$ 5 Billion,and announced the grant of in-vestment allowance at the rate of15% to manufacturing companiesthat invest more than INR. 100Crores in plant and machinerybetween April 2013 and March2015. This will be over and abovethe currently allowable deprecia-tion. For promoting householdsavings, the income limit for RajivGandhi Equity Saving Scheme forfirst time investors is being raisedfrom INR. 10 Lakh to INR. 12Lakh. He has also introduced in-flation indexed bonds to protectsavings from inflation. He an-nounced that the government willallow certain companies to raisetax free bonds up to INR. 50,000

Crores, or nearly US$ 10 Billion,and encourage infrastructuredebt fund.

The Budget sees increased al-location for education at INR.65,867 crores, or US$ 10 Billion,on health and family welfareschemes to INR. 37,330 Crore, orUS$ 5.5 Billion, backward regiongrant fund at INR. 11,500 Crores,drinking water and sanitationINR. 15,260 Crores, and forJawarhar Lal Nehru Urban Re-newal Mission at INR. 14,873Crores.

A Simple Reading Of The Writing On The WallFinance Minister P. Chi-dambaram seems to have been in-tent at snatching the politicaladvantage from the Oppositionparties with his budget this year.He has delivered what could bethe final budget of this term witha tightrope walk that seeks to bal-ance the budget while still keep-ing room for populism during apoll-year, by focusing on women,youth and the poor. He reiteratesthat it was his rudimentary man-date to spend on these three crit-ical elements of society, bravingcriticism that he was splurging ona populist budget to garner votesagainst trying to spur economicgrowth, what with the GeneralElections to the Lok Sabha due insummer 2014. Critics of thebudget assert that the FinanceMinister wasn’t being prudent;and most political pundits are stillarguing against it. Business thatexpected lots of tax incentives andbig ticket reforms was disap-pointed, and the Sensex re-sponded by crashing, tankingnearly 300 points. The FM de-fended himself saying one had tofactor in the liberalization he pro-poses by raising foreign capitaland domestic investment through


Cover Feature


derivatives, and expanding thebond market that would promoteinfrastructure growth. The 12thfive year plan proposes US$ 1Trillion investment in expandinginfrastructure for power, railwaysand roads, ports and airports,47% of which is to be the privatesector's share. He asserts thatthe domestic savings that haddipped, from 36% before the lastthree-year downturn to 30% now,would return to the earlier peaklevel that had enabled India toshow a 9% growth for three suc-cessive years ending 2008.

That said and done, the polit-ical overhang on the budget is ev-ident throughout, anyhow. Withwomen across urban parts ofIndia demonstrating for securityand dignity, youth opposing cor-ruption and a mere million jobsbeing created over the last fouryears when India adds 22 millionpeople to its demographic massof over 1.2 Billion, and over 30%of the people living below an in-come of US$ 1.5 per day, thebudget has enough in store thatcan win these sections back forthe ruling Congress. A new gov-ernment owned bank exclusivelyfor women, manned by women,has been proposed with an initialINR. 1,000 Crore corpus allot-ment. The budget also proposesanother INR. 1,000 Crore for 'en-hancing security for workingwomen'. The skill developmentprogram to train 50 millionyoung people to make them em-ployable has got increased allot-ment. Chidambaram has alsopromised early rollout of an ex-tensive food security scheme thatentitles some 70% of its people toobtain foodgrains at an ultra lowprice of Rs 2 per kg for wheat,and Rs 3 per kg for rice. The Gov-ernment is also rolling out a di-rect-cash-transfer-into-bank-accounts scheme to beneficiariesthat could well become a gamechanger.

And Chidambaram has askedthe super-rich with an tax liability

The contribution of overseas Indians, and GOI's ongoingengagement and romance with its diaspora received anew fillip on February 28, 2013, with the Finance Minis-ter of India P Chidambaram making a mention of the

Gadar Movement Centenary during the general budget presen-tation in Parliament. Chidambaram announced that the govern-ment of India will convert the Gadar Memorial Hall in SanFrancisco into a full-fledged Museum and Library. It is rare for aforeign commitment to not only be earmarked in the country’sbudget, but more so for the Finance Minister to make a categor-ical mention during his speech to the entire Parliament in a livetelecast to the na-tion. Indian newsmedia both printand electronic werepleasantly sur-prised with this,and the mentionwas flashed acrossnews wires and in-ternational mediapromptly. It may berecollected thatoverseas Indianshad begun theGadar Movement inSan Francisco wayback in 1913, andtens of them werehanged, died in jailsor were given lifeimprisonment afterthey returned toIndia to join the In-dependence struggle. To mark the solemn sacrifice of overseasIndian martyrs and freedom fighters, Prime Minister Dr. Manmo-han Singh had announced that the year 2013 be observed as the'Gadar Centenary Year' during his inaugural address at thePravasi Bharatiya Divas held in Kochi, Kerala, on January 8 thisyear. Dr. Singh had also made a promise, that his governmentwill convert the 1913 memorial established by Gadari Babas, intoa museum and library. It was indeed gratifying to note thesecommittments and promises were promptly followed through inletter and spirit, with the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, notonly making a mention about these, but also earmarking an out-lay for the fruitition of the same. Minister of Overseas Indian Af-fairs Mr. Vyalar Ravi, in an exclusive interview with PIO TV, saidthat he was happy that the Prime Minister and Finance Ministerhad made it a point to mention the Gadar Memorial in theBudget. He also mentioned it that President Pranab Mukherjeehad likewise acknowledged the Gadar Centenary Year in his jointaddress to both houses of Parliament on February 21, 2013.

Gadar Memorial

18 NRI ACHIEVERS march 2013 www.nriachievers.net

of INR 1 Crore to pay a surcharge of10% and a similar payment fromcorporations with a tax liability ofover Rs 10 crores. While this is onlyfor one year, he expects a directtaxes code to come into effect in theinterim, using which he could stabi-lize and consolidate as well as sim-plify income and corporate taxes. Heis also planning a general goods andservices tax for the whole country inplace of the multiple and diverse taxrates in different states that is ex-pected to boost trade and businessmanifold.

Much of the failure or successof this scheme of things the FMhas proposed will depend uponthe economy picking up and in-vestment levels rising. Even gov-ernment-owned companies aretoday wary of investing their largecash holdings while the privatesector prefers to invest abroadrather than into domestic marketsdue to domestic tax volatility andpolicy uncertainty, changes orother hurdles. Policy confusionand corruption seems to havestalled the meteoric success ofIndia's Telecom revolution, whensubscribers of mobile services rosefrom 50 million to 900 million overthe last 12 years. The sudden andsteep downturn from there wasevident when the auction for radiospectrum got little or no responsefrom domestic service providers

during the recent auctions. Both economists and business

have criticized the policy flip-flops,and the opposition BJP holds thatpolicy volatility rather than itsown political filibustering are re-sponsible for the economic re-forms getting stalled inParliament. Moreover, it needs tobe understood that Prime MinisterDr. Manmohan Singh is for allpractical purposes running a mi-nority government now, one thatis afloat thanks to the uncomfort-able support of two regional par-ties that publicly do not see eye toeye with him on the need for eco-nomic reforms of the type hewould prefer. That said, there arestill signals that reforms will berolled out. Like the most recentone for example, where the Gov-ernment had allowed foreignbanks to expand, and openeddoors for private sector and corporate bodies to set up banks ... that surely was hailed as a strong signal of morereforms in the pipeline. As of nowthough, it is time to wait andwatch ...

Cover Feature

Stock Markets TankBut RecoverStock markets reacted with a

thumbs down to FM P Chi-dambaram's Budget 2013-14,with the BSE Sensex dropping291 points to close below the19,000 level soon after thebudget was announced. Bank-ing stocks led by SBI sufferedlosses on concerns that liquiditywill be affected after the govern-ment set its target for gross mar-ket borrowing at INR 6.29Trillion this fiscal, less than themarket expectations. Autostocks were also down as thegovernment announced en-hanced excise duty on SUVs,luxury cars and their parts.However, on March 1, 2013, theBSE benchmark Sensex re-gained from the three-month lowit hit the previous day, finishingnearly 57 points higher at18,918.52 on value-buying afterthe FM's promise to address con-cerns over Tax Residency Certifi-

cate. The National StockExchange Nifty also rose by26.65 points or 0.47% to5,719.70. Good auto sales at-tracted investors to MarutiSuzuki, Bajaj Auto and M&Malso rose smartly. HDFC, L&T,HUL, Cipla, Jindal Steel gained2-3%. Buying activity was con-fined more to stocks of consumerdurables, capital goods, autoand banking. IT stocks like In-fosys gained on a weakeningRupee, which was last trading at54.92 versus US$, up 1%. Bank-ing stocks rose on hopes thatslowing growth with GDP expan-sion falling to 4.5% in Q3 mightforce RBI to cut rates sooner.

—MUNISH GUPTAThe author is a well-known interna-tional & expatriate journalist andcurrently Chairman & Managing Ed-itor of PIO TV. He is also a foundermember of GOPIO International.


Cover Feature


Much water hasflown under thebridge since thesetwo famous postu-lations, the world

economy, and thereby also the In-dian economy, has undergone amajor metamorphosis as well. A

seemingly inconsequential(mis)interpretation of a clause thatdeals with the Tax Residency Cer-tificate (TRC) led to the BSE Sen-sex plunging within hours of thebudget speech of the FM P Chi-dambaram. And when the nextpress statement clarifying the

Government's position on theissue was released, the sombremood of the market changedagain, causing a sudden 0.3%northward swing in the index, fol-lowing the buying of stocks worthINR. 626.90 Crore by FIIs (ForeignInstitutional Investors).

Nobel laureate Ragnar Nurkse had once said, “the ... poor are poor because theyare poor! The vicious circle of poverty that runs from low income to low savings tolow investment to low productivity and then back to low real income can be brokenby an increase in savings and investment”

Added to this is the famous quote from Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” whichreads, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer and the baker thatwe expect our dinner, but from their own ... self- ... interest”.

India shines...

only if Bharat shines too...

Photos : Ajay Sood


Cover Feature

Although the following day theFinance Minister puts up a braveface in an interview, saying, “Imake the budget for the people ofIndia, and not for the Rating Agen-cies,” the fact remains that pres-ent day economic managementcannot be oblivious to the moodsof foreign investors, NRIs and rat-ing agencies”. Willy -nilly, thebudget managers have to face alooming contradiction betweenpoverty alleviation schemes thatdraw heavily on financial re-sources by way of subsidies on theone hand, and the fiscal deficitthat is a red rag to rating agencies,on the other.

Chidambaram’s predicamentis understandable. The 31 years ofeconomic liberalization (since1980), integrations of the Indianeconomy into the world economy(since 1991) and the neo-liberal-ization (since 2001) that our na-tion has embarked upon, saw anaverage 6.5% of growth rate, lead-ing India to become one of the tenlargest global economies, as perthe volume of GDP (Gross Domes-tic Product). But in the HumanDevelopment Index, however, ourcountry ranked 134 in the worldin 1980, and has stood there, ex-actly at the same rank, even in2011. This paradox is what beliesthe Finance Minister’s assertion

that he makes the budget for the'people' of this country.

The Finance Minister visiblyfelt elated when he announcedthat he proposes to bring down the fiscal deficit to 4.8%,and perhaps his penchant for re-ducing the Fiscal deficit has hadits imprint in the entirety of thebudgetary provisions for the year2013-14. It is also telling in thateven though this is the last full budget before the general elec-tions scheduled for next year,there was complete absence ofpopulist measures.

The Finance Minister has han-dled the taxation policy with kidgloves when it came to taxing theburgeoning super- and ultra-richclasses of Indian society. Consid-ering that the suggestions, evenfrom the Prime Minister’s eco-nomic advisory council, were loudand clear to the effect that richsections ought to be brought intoa new higher and multi-tier taxbrackets, Chidambaram chose totake just a baby-step in that direc-tion, by effecting a ten percentsurcharge on the section earningmore than Rupees One Crore. Inthis he seems to have followed therecent Good Samaritan statementof the Wipro chief Azim Premji. “Ibelieve that there is a little bit ofspirit of Azim Premji in every tax

payer”, said the finance minister,justifying the levying of surcharge.Curiously enough, the IndianCrorepatis' did not react to thenew tax proposal with an expectedelement of anger, as was seenwhen the US President Obamataxed his rich recently. Perhapsthe Indian rich are more benevo-lent than what Chidambaram maythink about them.

But what is of more concern tothe “aam aadmi” is the paltry re-lease of INR. 10,000 Crore to meetthe much-touted food securityneeds of 67% of the poor (around80 Crore people). For the pastthree years there has been a run-ning tiff between the finance min-istry and the planningcommission on the one side, andthe National Advisoty Council(NCA) inspired by ruling UnitedProgressive Alliance Chairpersonand Congress president SoniaGandhi on the other. SoniaGandhi wanted that the Food Se-curity policy be institutionalized,legalised and given effect to, withearliest dispatch. But the Op-posers in the finance ministry, asalso in the planning commission,continued to talk about a subsidyburden of INR. 2.40 Lakh Croreagainst its implementation. Howcome all of a sudden a mere INR.10,000 Crore has been earmarkedfor this great poverty-alleviationand hunger-eliminating plan?Even if we take into account theexisting subsidy under PDS (Pub-lic Distribution System) it hardlygives any fillip to the plan to pro-vide Wheat @ Rupees Two a Kilogram, and Rice @ RupeesThree a Kilogram, to 80 crore peo-ple who are undernourished andhungry. A sum of INR. 10,000Crore for food security, if workedout with simple arithmetic, comesto Rupees 125 Per Annum for oneperson, or less than 33 Paise perday. It is indeed an insult to thepoor.

Under this anti-spending drivepertaining to food, fertiliser andfuel, the finance minister has ex-pressed no qualms while cutting


Cover Feature


down subsidies by 11%, instead ofraising it. Against the 2012-13 re-vised estimate of INR. 2.47 LakhCrore, the budget proposes apruned expenditure of INR. 2.20Lakh Crore during the year 2013-14. Oil subsidy has been broughtdown to INR. 65,000 Crore, fromthe 2012-13 Revised Estimate ofINR. 96,880 Crore. If India boastsof a high food-grain production ofa record 260 Million Tons, thecredit goes not to the Government,but to the toiling and poverty-bat-tered farmers and ... maybe ...Lord Indra. It is not without rea-son that in the past 15 yearsnearly three lakh farmers havecommitted suicide.

Now it is true as Chidambaramhas stated in his speech too, thatIndia has the lowest tax-GDP ratioof 9.9% (Seven percent from directtaxes like income tax and corpora-tion tax, and 2.9% from indirecttaxes like customs and exciseduty), approximately. Even theless poor countries have a tax-GDP ratio of 12~14%, whereas forseveral advanced economies it isas high as 30%. Why can Indianot have a six slab system of in-come tax, ranging from 10% to60% ... we may ask. Because ... itwill irk the corporate world andthe rich ... hence Chidambaramshied away from this kind of tax

regime. “It vitiates the investmentclimate as also acts as deterrentagainst higher earnings” claimthe representatives of the industrybodies.

So if a salaried person earnsINR. Ten Lakh per year and an in-dustrialist earns INR. 10,000Crore, both fall in same taxbracket, i.e., 30%. Do not forgetthat salaried class cannot concealits income, and is thus forced tocough up 30% of its taxable in-come above this amount, but acorrupt nexus of a corporate giantwith a tax collector can manage to

ensure “zero” tax. Another aspect. Finance Minis-

ter rues that Indian has a low tax-GDP ratio. The logic given againsthigh tax brackets for super-rich isthat it will prod the rich towards taxevasion. But this year despite lowtax-GDP ratio, the finance ministryfailed to achieve its tax collectiontargets. There is a huge gap be-tween the budgetary estimates andthe revised estimates so far as taxrevenue is concerned. Does it notshow that despite potential to mopup tax, the tax authorities failed torealize the revenue expected ofthem?

The moot question is ... If GDPis moving up north, why not theHDI in a democratic India? The so-lution (If we go by what AdamSmith had said) is: do not shy awayfrom taxing the rich, award severepunishment to those officials whoshow laxity in tax collection anddistribute gainfully to the poor asBrazil had done under Lula’s overtwo-decade regime adopting thedoctrine of Direct delivery.

Ratings agencies assessmentwill not change the destiny of Indiabut HDI will.

—N K Singh The writer is a well-known vet-eran journalist of more than 33years experience in print & elec-tronic media

His decisions were ambitious and at-tempted with best intentions, but exhib-ited lack of proper planning andinadequacy of correct information. A vi-sionary, he extended his empire to an ex-

tent no other Sultan of Delhi ever did in the entirehistory of the Sultanate period. Muhammad Bin Tugh-laq was one of those few learned, highly educated Is-lamic/Turkik rulers, who could understand and speakfluent Sanskrit, along with Persian, Turkish and Ara-bic. It was this polyglot skill that helped him uniteIndia and establish embassies in several countries.His interest in mathematics, astronomy, philosophyand physical sciences gave him the tag of a ‘Scholar’,while his extensive knowledge of medicine made himmore than 'half-a-hakim' (doctor). So learned an intel-lectual was he, that he thought far into the future butfailed to handle the present. Innovations thrilled him,and he was forever busy in planning something newfor both the domestic and foreign fronts.

He is also credited with initiating the practice ofkeeping income and expense records of all princes.Governors were ordered to submit periodic accountstatements of their jurisdiction. It was the earliest formof centrally controlled accounting system that wouldinvolve everyone, from the king to the peasant. Thoughconsidered a useless step by many at that time, weknow today how important a national level central ac-counting system and national budget have become inour lives.

Since Anangpal Tomar appeared on the Delhi scene

A Budget Fiasco

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, the Emperor of Hindostan from February 1325to March 1351, was a learned and visionary ruler, but tended to be ec-centric and even a mite cruel. He implemented many decisions thathe presumed were for the betterment of his empire, but ended upmessing up so much that he was more widely known by his subjects asthat “Crazy Emperor” (Pagla Sultan).

6 Centuries AGO

Did You Know?


in 736 AD, around 38 rulers from 6 dynasties haveruled from Delhi’s throne. Many of these establishedcities, forts and villages. To name a few, the Tomarsbuilt Lal Kot, Mahipal Tuar built Mahipalpur (near theairport), Prithvi Raj Chauhan built Qila Rai Pithora,Khilji built Siri and Ghiasuddin Tughlaq built the ma-jestic fort of Tughlaqabad. But Muhammad Bin Tugh-laq the visionary realized that the growing populationof his capital will require far bigger places to live. Sohe did what was best … combining the previously builtcities of Rai Pithora, Siri & Tughlaqabad, creating “Ja-hanpanah” (Abode of the world).

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq's military forays took hisarmies into Himalayan provinces like Kangra, and evento Chinese cities. But there was only one flaw in hisotherwise flawless military plan … he failed to take thevicissitudes of nature into account, and the Himalayaswith its wintry harshness swallowed up his bravestmen, who were unprepared for the numbing cold.These military adventures, or misadventures rather,took their toll on the treasury, and Tughlaq resortedto upping the taxes. He guessed right that the mostproductive land in his realm was the portion betweenGanges and Yamuna (the Doab), and hiked taxes to asmuch as twenty-fold for this area, but failed to notethat it was a famine year … the poor and the disgrun-tled began leaving home and hearth, and turned intorobbers and dacoits. But Tuglaq's officials continuedto collect tax, fuelling a major revolt. Very late, Tugh-laq finally realized his mistake, and did establish aministry for Agriculture. But he instructed his newminister to find more fertile land and lease it out topoor farmers, who will cultivate it for the court’s ben-efit. This policy was an even bigger failure, with theministry coming to naught, and had to be disbandedwithin 2~3 years due to incredible levels of corruptionon the part of those implementing the program, who


Did You Know?


Did You Know?


purchased fallow, infertile land and assigned it to apeople who were loath to cultivating government land.

Another disastrous decision of Tuglaq was the shiftof the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, a fort city inMaharashtra which was earlier known as Deogiri.Circa 1327, Tughlaq coerced the entire population ofDelhi to shift to Daulatabaad. His move harked to thenotion that in order to unite India, the capital tooought to be centrally placed. His other reason forwanting to move away from Delhi was because it wason the direct radar of invaders from Khorasan. Thethird reason was probably due to a dawning realizationthat a country as big as Hindostan needed at least twocapitals. While all reasons did have their logical un-derpinnings, his men implementing his schemes failedhim by not analyzing the situation and the lay of theland properly. The land of Daulatabad and the journeythereto was one of the biggest debacles of the Sul-tanate period, and the city was abandoned within 2years due to lack of water and adequate cultivableland.

In the bargain, Delhi’s population lost everythingthey had, and the economy took a tailspin, with allbusinesses shattered. Most of the populace perishedduring this transition, and an entire cattle fleet van-ished into thin air.

The aftermath of such disastrous decisions was fi-nancial ruin, and Muhammad Bin Tughlaq's treasurybore the brunt of these misadventures, depleted andnear-bankrupt. Realizing the precarious state of hisempire's finances, Tughlaq one fine day decided to dosomething to improve this financial status. He neededmore money in circulation, but in order to mint GoldCoins, he needed a lot more wealth, which was notthere anymore. So he decreed that copper coins beminted but valued on par with gold. Circa 1329, he re-leased this copper currency from the mints of Delhiand Daulatabad. This policy he based on the thenChinese currency system, where brass and copper

coins were used, but equivalent gold/silver was keptas a reserve in the treasury. Tughlaq’s two scalablestandards were issued, one in North and other inSouth. In order to impress his citizens he engraved onhis Copper coins “He who obeys the Sultan obeys thecompassionate”.

For a change, the citizens were very happy with thismove, as this currency was so very easy to forge. Illegalmints mushroomed across the length and breadth ofthe city of Delhi, and everyone started minting coppercoins and using them as Gold Coins. Within 2~3 years,the treasury was in its worst state ever. Tughlaq or-dered immediate recovery of copper coins and in orderto ensure that innocent people do not suffer, he de-cided to reimburse the copper coins with original goldcoins. And all the illegal mints minted their last lot ofillegal currency and got it replaced with Gold to boot!The Delhi Currency mafia became multi-billionairesovernight and the royal court was no longer able tosupport Tughlaq’s ambitious plans. For years, heapsof copper lay everywhere in courts of Tughlaq.

Tughlaq’s gold and silver coins were minted in thecities of Delhi, Daulatabad, Lakhnauti (now Lucknow),Salgaun, Sultanpur (now Warangal), Tirhut and coupleof other cities. He also changed the weight of the GoldDinar from 172 to 202 grains. His silver coins (Adlis)were not very popular among people, and lasted for only7 years of their circulation. He is also known to have is-sued more than 30 varieties of calligraphically rich bul-lion coins. In today's context, Budgets are one of themost important functions of any government, as all poli-cies of government rely on the 'budget' … but when gov-ernments plans their budgets without application ofmind accounting for “all” factors, disasters like “Tugh-laqi Farmans” will happen and happen again ...

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq's militaryforays took his armies into Hi-malayan provinces like Kangra, andeven to Chinese cities. But therewas only one flaw in his otherwiseflawless military plan … he failed totake the vicissitudes of nature intoaccount, and the Himalayas with itswintry harshness swallowed up hisbravest men, who were unpreparedfor the numbing cold.

—VIKRAMJIT SINGH ROOPRAI The writer is a self-made IT entrepreneur, who is alsoa passionate heritage & history buff


Metaphysical


Alittle boy wanted to meet God. He knew it wasa long trip to where God lived, so he packedhis bag with some chips and a carton of limejuice and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three kilometers, he metan elderly man. The man was sitting in the park justfeeding some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his bag.He was about to take a drink from his carton when henoticed that the man looked hungry; so he offered himsome chips.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at theboy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted tosee it again, so he offered him a drink.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was de-lighted ! They sat there all afternoon eating and smil-ing, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he wasand he got up to leave, but before he had gone morethan a few steps, he turned around, ran back to theman, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his

biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house ashort time later, his mother was surprised by the lookof joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you dotoday that made you so happy?

He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before hismother could respond, he added, "You know what?God has got the most beautiful smile I have ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy,returned to his home. His son was stunned by the lookof peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did youdo today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate chips in the park with God." How-ever, before his son responded, he added," You know,he is much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, asmile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compli-ment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which havethe potential to turn a life around. People come intoour lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. So be car-ing always !!!

MY GOD !

Taken From the Walt Disney Movie "UP"

In Focus


India's connection with Ja-maica harks back to abouta century and a half, andthe Indian communityspread out through the

towns of the Caribbean nation isa well-respected minority in thecountry. The Indian communitynow forms the third largest eth-nic group in Jamaica after the

Africans and the Jamaicans ofmixed African ancestry. Indiansliving in Jamaica comprise differ-ent segments from the recent im-migrants and Indian expatriates,second generation Jamaicans aswell as descendants of older ar-rivals including many whoseconnections to India may at bestbe discernably only through their

Indian-sounding names.There were three distinct

waves of Indian migration to Ja-maica. The first Indians to arrivewere the indentured workers ofthe 1845 wave. Their ship an-chored at Jamaica after severalweeks of sailing on the 10th ofMay, a day commemorated in thecountry as 'Indian Heritage Day'.

With LoveFrom Jamaica


Whilerecords show that another smallgroup from India travelled to Ja-maica in the 1930s as traders,the second wave of arrivalslanded up on the shores of Ja-maica during the late1940s~early 50s, when Sindhifamilies from Karachi and Hyder-abad migrated to the Caribbeanislands at the time of partition.The past few of decades havealso seen Indian businesshouses in Jamaica recruiting ex-patriate managers and account-ants, and over the years severalof them have chosen to settledown in Jamaican towns and setup their own business establish-ments ... the third wave.

Indian professionals like doc-tors, academicians, and manage-ment executives have joined theIndian expatriate community inthe recent years, replenishingthe talent pool and adding bothvalue and dynamism to the In-dian community, which sees aregular migration from its ranksto places like the Americas insearch of greater growth oppor-tunities in the economic, profes-sional, and personal spheres.Today, the 70,000 strong Indian

c o m -munity constitutes just under3% of Jamaica’s population. Ac-cording to Rajkumar Sablani,former president of the MoBayIndian Association, “Indian doc-tors and professors are in gooddemand in Jamaica. There havebeen about 500 doctors whocame here from India, and mostof them completed their tenurebefore moving on to America.”

Indians were first brought toJamaica in the mid-1800s after

slavery was abolished inthe British colonies.There was a pressingneed for agriculturalworkers on the sugar-cane and banana plan-tations in Jamaica.Indians had alreadybeen taken to Mauritiuswhere they worked onthe sugar-cane planta-

tions, so the Jamaican authori-ties turned to India when theyneeded agricultural workers.About 46,000 Indians werebrought over to Jamaica duringthe indenture period spanning1845 to 1917.

The indentured workers werebonded to work on the planta-tions for five years, and oncetheir indenture period was over,they had to look for work outsidethe plantation. Workers were el-igible for repatriation to theirhome-country only after com-pleting ten years in Jamaica. Butonly about a third of the Indianimmigrants returned home, withmost of them opting to stay backand start a new life in Jamaica.Life was difficult and conditionson the plantations was hard, anda number of workers succumbedto diseases like yaws, hookwormand malaria.

About half the indentured In-dian migrants remained in Ja-maica after the abolition of thesystem of indenturing labor.Most of them went into agricul-ture and market gardening, butsome took up their original voca-tions, like carpentry, jewelerymaking, etc. They faced manydifficulties in the early days but

Jamaica is the fourthlargest group of islandsin the Antilles region ofthe Caribbean. English isthe official languagewhile Creole, a mix ofEnglish and African lan-guages also known asJamaican patois is thelingua frança (commonlanguage) spoken by allJamaicans.

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In Focus


perseverance and hard workhelped them to better their eco-nomic adversity.

The Indian stamp on Ja-maican society is visible in myr-iad ways. Goat curry, rice, rotiand various callaloo (spinach)dishes are an integral part of thestandard Jamaican menu. Andit was the Indians who estab-lished rice cultivation and fishfarming in Jamaica. It was thefarming techniques brought bythe Indians that helped growrice in the fertile soil of Jamaica.As those early Indians got edu-cated, many of them movedaway from farming to take upjobs in the urban centers; overtime Indians entered all walks oflife in Jamaica, from profes-sional jobs to business, sportsand social work.

The older Indian communityis well assimilated in Jamaicansociety and form an intrinsicpart of the country’s slogan –“Out of many, one people”. Theircontribution to the Jamaicaneconomy and to its social devel-opment is also well recognized.Indians have held top positionsin the country and two personsof Indian origin have served onthe Jamaican Supreme Courtand its Appellate Bench.Founder and Chairman of theGuardsman Group, Kenneth S.Benjamin was awarded thePravasi Bharatiya SammanAward by the Indian govern-ment in 2007.

Jamaica is the fourth largestgroup of islands in the Antillesregion of the Caribbean. Englishis the official language whileCreole, a mix of English andAfrican languages also knownas Jamaican patois is the linguafrança (common language) spo-ken by all Jamaicans. Tourismis the mainstay of the Jamaicaneconomy, with over a milliontourists visiting the island na-tion famed for its pristinebeaches, sunny weather andfriendly people.

The main tourist destina-

tions of the nation lie on thenorthern coast of the island atMontego Bay, Port Royal andKingston, and the duty-freebusinesses in these port townsis dominated by the Sindhi fam-ilies. Later immigrants fromother parts of India have goneinto the jewellery, householdgoods and handicrafts business.Bhaskar Reddy from Warangal,Andhra Pradesh has been in Ja-maica for 18 years and runs theTuff Gong shop named afterfamed reggae singer Bob Marleyat the international airport.Reddy came to work for an In-dian company and stayed on. Itis a decision he has not regret-ted as “Jamaica is a good place

to make a living.”Cultural life of the Indians is

channelized through the variouscultural associations. NationalCouncil for Indian Culture inJamaica is an umbrella body ofIndian associations and groups.The Indian groups include sev-eral religious and social organi-zations such as the ‘Friends ofthe Indian Community’, ‘IndianCultural Society’, ‘Club India’,Indian Associations in each ofthe big towns of Jamaica as wellas the ‘Sanatan Dharma Soci-ety’, ‘Brahma Kumari Raj YogaCentre’, ‘Prema Satsang of Ja-maica’ and the ‘Shri Satya SaiBaba society’.

These organizations cater tothe social, cultural and religiousneeds of the different segmentsof the larger Indian Diaspora inJamaica. And Jamaican societyis much richer with the contri-bution of its community with anIndian ancestry.

The indentured workerswere bonded to work onthe plantations for fiveyears, and once their in-denture period wasover, they had to lookfor work outside theplantation. Workers wereeligible for repatriationto their home-countryonly after completingten years in Jamaica.

SHUBHA SINGHThe writer is a senior journalistand author and has worked in twoleading newspapers, The Tele-graph, Kolkata and The Pioneer,Delhi. She has written three bookson the Indian diaspora entitled‘Fiji: A Precarious Coalition’,‘Overseas Indians: The GlobalFamily’ and ‘Journeys of Discovery- Ancestral Searches in India’.


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History & People:C H R I S T O P H E RCOLUMBUS discov-ered it in 1494, andthe Spaniards settled

it early in the 16th century. Thenative Taino Indians get deci-mated, with slaves from Africa re-placing them. In Europe, withFrance outlawing the Jews on itssoil, Jamaica sees the first wave ofJews reaching it in 1510. Primarilymerchants and traders, the Jewishcommunity lived a clandestine life,and by 1660, Jamaica had become

a safe-haven for Jews in the NewWorld. The English arrive on thescene in 1655, seizing the isle andbuilding a plantation economybased on sugar, cocoa, and coffee.After the British take-over, theJews feel that the best defenseagainst Spanish threat would be tomake the colony a base forCaribbean pirates. And so the pi-rates of the Caribbean get installedin its main port, Port Royal, serv-ing as a deterrent to the Spanish.Abolition of the slave trade in 1807sees a quarter million slaves being

set free, many of whom stay on tobecame small farmers. In order tofill this sudden void, the British re-sort to importing Indian and Chi-nese workers as indenturedservants to supplement the laborpool. Descendants of these inden-tured servants continue to residein Jamaica today. Another hun-dred odd years of the British yokefollow, after which Jamaica takesfirst steps to gradually unfetter it-self from Britain, joining otherBritish Caribbean colonies in 1958to form the Federation of the West

Despite its location bang in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, the island of Jamaicadoes not really blend in well with the rest of the archipelago. It boasts of, for sure, thesame addictive sun rays, sugary sands and pampered resort-life as most of the other is-lands, but it's visitors will appreciate their taste of Jamaica all the more if they open theirmind to the island’s unique character and the inherent ‘African-ness’ of its populace.That apart, Jamaica does have a lot more to offer to the curious, the thirsty or the wearytraveller. Try a cup of the world's best coffee in the Blue Mountains, at the century-oldfactory at Mavis Bank, or dive into world-class reefs like those at Runaway Bay, or justlounge around on the golden stretches of palm-fringed sand at Treasure Beach orFrenchman’s Cove near Port Antonio. Go on offbeat bush-medicine hiking tours, visitcongenial fishing villages, trek to photograph roaring waterfalls, or traipse around its cos-mopolitan cities … and yes, do not forget to soak in those unforgettable sunsets ...

JAMAICA

Sun-rays, Sunsets, Sugary Sands ...


Indies, and later, gaining full inde-pendence in 1962.

Nowhere else in the Caribbean isthe connection to Africa as keenlyfelt as it is in Jamaica. Kingstonwas the major nexus in the NewWorld for the barbaric triangulartrade that brought slaves fromAfrica and carried sugar and rum toEurope, and the Maroons (run-aways who took to the hills of Cock-pit Country and the BlueMountains) safeguarded many ofthe African traditions. Marcus Gar-vey founded the back-to-Africamovement of the 1910s and ’20s;Rastafarianism took up the call adecade later, and reggae furnishedthe beat in the 1960s and ’70s. Lit-tle wonder many Jamaicans claim astronger affinity for Africa than forneighboring Caribbean islands.This is one country infused withpride in its unique history, stun-ning landscape and influentialculture. Welcome to Jamaica!

Jamaica is an island na-tion in the Caribbean Sea, sit-ting on the third-largestisland of the Greater Antilles.The island, all 10,990 squarekilometers of it, lies south ofCuba and west of Hispaniola,the island home to the nation-states of Haiti and the Do-minican Republic. Theindigenous people, the Taíno,called it Xaymaca inArawakan, meaning, "Land ofWood and Water" or the "Land

of Springs". With 2.8 million peo-ple, it is the third most populousAnglophone country in the Ameri-cas, after the United States andCanada. Kingston is the country'slargest city, with a population ofabout a million, and serves as itscapital. Jamaica is a Common-wealth realm, with Elizabeth II asQueen of Jamaica and head ofstate. Her appointed representativein the country is the Governor-Gen-eral of Jamaica, currently SirPatrick Allen. The head of govern-ment and Prime Minister of Ja-maica is currently PortiaSimpson-Miller. Jamaica is a par-liamentary constitutional monarchywith legislative power vested in thebicameral Parliament of Jamaica,consisting of an appointed Senateand a directly elected House of Rep-resentatives.

Economy: Jamaica is a mixed

economy with both state enter-prises and private sector busi-nesses. Major sectors includeagriculture, mining, manufactur-ing, tourism, financial and insur-ance services. Tourism and miningare leading earners of foreign ex-change. The economy is heavily de-pendent on services, which nowaccount for nearly 65% of GDP. Thecountry continues to derive most ofits foreign exchange from tourism,remittances, and bauxite/alumina.Remittances account for nearly15% of GDP and exports of bauxiteand alumina make up about 10%.The bauxite/alumina sector wasmost affected by the global down-turn while the tourism industry wasresilient, experiencing an increaseof 4% in tourist arrivals, withtourism revenues account forroughly 10% of GDP. Jamaica wasalso hard hit by the effects of the

global economic crisis, expe-riencing economic contrac-tions from 2008-10 andgrowth remains low eventoday.

Infrastructure: Trans-port infrastructure in Ja-maica consists of roadways,railways and air transport,with roadways forming thebackbone of the island's in-ternal transport system.The Jamaican road networkconsists of almost 21,000kilometers of roads, of whichover 15,000 kilometers is

Ian Fleming, who lived in Jamaica, repeatedly used the island as a setting in the James Bond novels, includ-ing Live and Let Die, Doctor No, For Your Eyes Only, The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and TheLiving Daylights. In addition, James Bond uses a Jamaica-based cover in Casino Royale. Filming for the fic-

tional island of San Monique in Live and Let Die also took place in Jamaica. Journalist and author H. G. de Lisser(1878–1944) used his native country as the setting for his many novels. Born at Falmouth, de Lisser worked asa reporter for the Jamaica Times at a young age and in 1920 began publishing the magazine Planters' Punch.The White Witch of Rosehall is one of his better known novels. He was named a Honorary President of the Ja-maican Press Association, and worked throughout his professional career to promote the Jamaican sugar in-dustry. The American film Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise, is one of the more popular films to depict Jamaica. ErrolFlynn, another notable, also lived with his third wife Patrice Wymore in Port Antonio in the 1950s. He was re-sponsible for developing tourism to this area, popularizing raft trips down rivers on bamboo rafts.

In Focus


In Focus


paved. The Government has sincethe late 1990s, embarked on a cam-paign of infrastructural improve-ment projects in collaboration withprivate investors, one of which in-cludes the creation of a system offreeways, the first such access-con-trolled roadways of their kind on theisland, connecting the main popu-lation centers. Railways in Jamaicano longer enjoy the prominent posi-tion they once did, having beenlargely replaced by roadways as theprimary means of transport. Of the272 kilometers of railway found inJamaica, only 57 kilometers remainin operation, currently used totransport bauxite.

There are three internationalairports in Jamaica with modernterminals, long runways, and thenavigational equipment required toaccommodate large jet aircraft usedin modern air travel: Norman Man-ley in Kingston, Ian Fleming inBoscobel, and the island's largestand busiest airport, Sir DonaldSangster Airport in the resort city ofMontego Bay, the last also home tothe country's national airline, AirJamaica. There are several localcommuter airports and many small,rural centers served by privatefields on sugar estates or bauxitemines. Jamaica also recieves highcontainer traffic, owing to its loca-tion in the Caribbean Sea bang inthe middle of the shipping lane tothe Panama Canal in relative prox-imity to large markets in NorthAmerica and the emerging marketsin Latin America. Montego Freeport

also handles a variety of cargo likethe Port at Kingston, mainly agri-cultural products.

Energy: Jamaica depends onpetroleum imports to satisfy its na-tional energy needs. Many test siteshave been explored for oil, but nocommercially viable quantities havebeen found. The most convenientsources of imported oil and motorfuels are from Mexico andVenezuela. Jamaica's electricalpower is produced by diesel gener-ators located in Old Harbour. Othersmaller power stations support theisland's electrical grid.

Jamaica also successfully oper-ates a SLOWPOKE-2 nuclear reac-tor of 20 KW capacity since theearly 1980s, but there are no plansto expand nuclear power at present.Jamaica imports approximately80,000 barrels of oil energy prod-ucts per day, including asphalt andlubrication products. Just 20% ofimported fuels are used for roadtransportation, the rest being usedby the bauxite industry, electricitygeneration, and aviation. Jamaicaproduces enormous quantities ofhydrous ethanol (5% water con-tent), most of which appears to beconsumed as beverages, and noneof it used as motor fuel. Facilitiesexist to refine hydrous ethanol feed-stock into anhydrous ethanol (0%water content), but the process ap-pears to be uneconomic at this timeand the facility remains idle.

Communication: Jamaica hasa fully digital telephone communi-cation system with a mobile pene-

tration of over 95%. The country’sthree mobile operators – Cable &Wireless, Digicel, and Oceanic Digi-tal – have spent millions in networkupgrade and expansion. Both Digi-cel and Oceanic Digital weregranted licences in 2001 to operatemobile services in the newly liberal-ized telecom market that had oncebeen the sole domain of the incum-bent Cable and Wireless monopoly.A new entrant to the Jamaicancommunications market, Flow Ja-maica, has laid a new submarinecable connecting Jamaica to theUnited States. This new cable in-creases the total number of subma-rine cables connecting Jamaica tothe rest of the world to four.

Sport: The most popular sportis cricket, but Jamaicans havetended to do particularly well attrack and field athletics as well. Ja-maica has consistently producedworld class athletes in track andfield, including Olympic and WorldChampion Usain Bolt, world recordholder in the 100m and 200m formen. Jamaica has also producedseveral world class amateur andprofessional boxers. Associationfootball and horse-racing are otherpopular sports. Chess and basket-ball are widely played, and netballis also very popular.

—CHAKRAVARTHI SUCHINDRANThe Writer is a technocrat whodabbles in journalism print &broadcast, photography & creativevisual arts.


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Special Supplement


Do tell us about how it all began …

I started this transport business in 2001, when an op-portunity presented itself, the Jindal Group wantedsomeone to provide them with two cars for their execu-tives on an operating expenditure model, and I came toknow of it. I approached them and they were willing totry my services. So I mobilized a seed-capital of1,40,000/- borrowed from the market, tied up with theApeejay Group, and got two vehicles financed, and de-

ployed them with Jindal. This was soon followed by an-other fortuitous circumstance of HCL Group wanting 5vehicles which also I deployed ... that is how it all began.From there we have grown to what we are now ... a fleetof more than 1000 vehicles on our books (and a fewthousands more owned by others but attached to ourfleet) that are serving the transportation needs of nu-merous corporate houses. Today, my company has aturnover of more than 110 crore rupees.

Chanson

A Car at your Call

'Chanson' is a provider of personal transportation, with a large presence in Delhi NCR,Chandigarh & Bangalore. The brainchild of Harjit Singh Chandhok, the venture shows enor-mous promise, having sustained a growth path from 2 vehicles in 2001 to more than a1000 vehicles in 2013. NRI Achievers touched base with the founder, to find out moreabout the ingredients of his recipe for success ...

Photos : Suchindran


Special Supplement


What is Chanson's focus, thrust area rightnow?

Right now in india there are only 4~5 playerswho work on the luxus segment ... like Mann,Doaba etc. These people have a very good fleetsof luxury cars, but as there are limited playersin this segment now, there is good room forgrowth, enough for many more people willingto run a professionally managed service. Ourassets ... our fleet ... is also more or less in asimilar segment ... and if I am to talk about ourindustry sector, I would place our company inmaybe second place or so, or, seen from thepoint of view of turnover, extent of fleet in NCRregion, and such parameters, I would even gofurther and say we are in number one positionand category now. Well, we have our sights onthat top-notch luxury segment and would nowlike to get into that.

What would be the financial implications for some-one who is willing to partner you from abroad?

Investment in this sector is open to everyone, there areno hindrances or caveats, it is an open field, anyonecan bring in the money. To give you a ballpark idea ofwhat will be needed for an investor to tie-up with some-one like us and embark on a startup, it will meanroughly an initial investment of around Fifty Crore Ru-pees to start with. In fact we have done a lof of footworkon this especially, and have several scenarios workedout, along with the sort of outlays needed, and I canshare that with NRI Achievers.

What is your prognosis for this market segment?

The luxury business is very good, low volume but highvalue and good profitability, it is stable. To illustratethe scope, let me tell you an anecdote about Mann,today's largest luxury transporter in the NCR. Duringthe late nineties, 97 if I recall, we had a small shop inPalika Palace, out of which we ran a small sale-pur-chase business of mobiles. Mr. Mann ran a muchsmaller operation then, and he used to freely mix withthe drivers, drink tea, play cards and banter with them... today he is a multi-billionaire. He has today a hugefleet, and has created immense wealth, all in a decadeor so ... that is the extent of opportunity in this sector,if one plays his cards right. In today's world, it is team-work, so without a good team, it will not work. And theadoption of best management practices.

Tell us more about your team, both technical andmanagerial.

Talking about our team, the sort of human capital we

have built, I would say that without exception, all sen-ior team members of our company are people whostarted with us during our inception in 2002 and arestill with us. And I am happy to say that we have a rea-sonably happy, dedicated human resource base withus. From our side, as an enlightened management, wetry to ensure that their growth prospects are ad-dressed, we make sure they get the best training, theircareer graphs slope upwards, etc.

Radio cabs are a phenomenon that have caught onin many major cities … why is it that they are notyour thrust area?

Oh we are very much in that business segment, wehave a reasonably large fleet of radio cabs as well, butare not really in the forefront because the others likeMega and Meru and Easycabs etc., all cornered mostof the funding that was available.

Many people like you who have had economic suc-cess are contributing to society in some way orother. Are you into any social not-for-profit activ-ity?

Yes, I have instituted a non-profit, with the intentionto work with mentally-challenged children. So far, Ihave only formed the company, but will start activitiessoon. You might ask why this specifically, so I will tellyou. My daughter was born mentally challenged, andas parents, we have been through the pangs, the prob-lems, the paradox, and the acute social need for ad-dressing such children's development from a very close,personal point of view. We need institutions that cancare to them. So this is my way of giving back some-thing to a society that has been good to me.

—NRI Achievers Bureau

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Business Buzz


The US$ 84 Billion FMCGgiant Procter & Gamble

(P&G) has chalked out a US$ 1Billion investment plan for Indiaover the next five years, as partof a strategy to look at emergingmarkets. The move comes at atime when many companieshave complained of problems indoing business with India oflate. The Cincinnati US-basedcompany is keen on acceleratingits presence in India. The objec-tive is to bring in newer cate-gories into India and greenfield

plants, that along with innova-tion, can enhance India's shareof the developing market pie.P&G's chairman of the board,Robert 'Bob' McDonald report-edly said P&G's Indian businesshas been growing at over 20%every year for over a decadenow, and 700 million Indiansuse one or the other of theirproducts. Part of the invest-ments, he said, would go intoexpanding manufacturing facil-ities in Hyderabad and Man-dideep. The combined turnover

of the India business is overUS$ 1 Billion. India featuresamong the top 10 emergingmarkets in P&G's 40:20:10global plan.

Franco-Japanese automaker Renault-Nissan has said that it will invest an-

other US$ 320 Million to expand itsoperations in India, reports mail today.The intention, it seems is to cash-in onthe rising demand for low-cost vehiclesin emerging markets. The auto giant willspend 30 Billion Yen (US $ 320 Million)to build a second plant in the outskirtsof South Chennai.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways paid US$ 70 Million toJet Airways to buy three pairs of Jet's slots at Lon-

don's Heathrow Airport, the Gulf carrier disclosed.This purchase is part of a sale and leaseback agree-ment signed on February 26, 2013, and Jet wouldcontinue flying to London using the slots. Etihad iscurrently in talks with the Jet management to acquirea stake in the Indian civil aviation firm, and all indi-cations are that further investment into the airline willcontinue in future. Shares of Jet Airways surged byover 18% in trade on February 27, 2013. Reports haveit that Etihad is likely to buy upto a 24% stake in JetAirways for US$ 400 Million, and is likely pay a largechunk of this in the first tranche of the deal itself.

Renault- Nissan Will Set-Up Another Plant

Proctor & Gamble To Invest US $ 1 Billion

Etihad-Jet Airlines Deal In The Works

The GOI has recently cleared nine FDI proposals totaling over INR1,140 Crores. The FIPB however, has deferred decisions on 11 FDI ap-

plications, including those of Norway-based Telenor Mobile Communi-cations AS, and Coca-Cola's bottling arm. Mahindra Insurance Brokersand Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services have been permitted to in-duct foreign equity for Insurance Broking business. Lagardere ServicesSingapore Pte Ltd too has been permitted to set up a holding joint ven-ture company. M&C Rakindo Hospitality, and Security & IntelligenceServices (India) Pvt Ltd, Bihar, are among other FDI proposals that havebeen cleared. The FIPB has deferred the decision on request of TelenorMobile Communications to set up a joint venture company in telecomsector, and rejected the proposals of Mumbai-based Yorkshire India forinduction of foreign equity for business of importing, exporting, buying,selling and distribution of Chemicals, biotech and allied industrial prod-ucts on B2B basis, as well as the application of Equitas Holdings to in-crease its FDI & in an investing company by way of transfer of shares.

FDI Scan

India cancelled INR 12,000 Crores (US$2.2 Billion) in market borrowing sched-

uled for February 22 after a review of itsfunding requirement, thanks to an im-proved cash scenario. This step high-lights the government's determination totrim spending for meeting it's fiscaldeficit target of 5.3% of GDP in the cur-rent financial year. The cash-strappedgovernment had takenseveral measures, in-cluding an austeritydrive, to keep a closewatch on spending,and cautioned min-istries to strictly ad-here to approvedspending plans. Lat-est government datashowed that the totalplan spending upto December 31, 2012,stood at 56.8% of the full year target,lower than the previous year's 62.7%,while non-plan spending touched 71.7%,slightly lower than the 75.9% posted inthe same period a year ago. SamiranChakravarty, a regional economist atStandard Chartered Bank, says that thegovernment is likely to end up with acash balance of INR 80,000 Crore byMarch-end.

Cash Rich India StaysAway From ECBs

Business Buzz


India has a negative trade balance with as many as 110countries including China, Singapore, Germany, In-

donesia, Australia and the UK, the Minister of State forCommerce and Industry D Purandeswari informed Par-liament the other day, while replying to a question. Shesaid that bilateral trade between India and China has de-clined by 11.60% year-on-year during April-December2012-13, adding that exports to China during the ninemonths of this fiscal declined by 25.10%, while importsshrunk by 7.7%. The trade deficit during April-December2012 stood at US$ 31.65 Billion. In 2011-12, the deficitaggregated to US$39.44 Billion. TheMinister said astudy titled 'En-hancing India -Pakistan Trade'has recently beenundertaken byeconomic think-tank ICRIERwhich assessestrade possibilities between the two countries. A substan-tial proportion of India's export potential (about 58%) isin products that are on Pakistan's negative list of 1,209items, or on Pakistan's sensitive list of 936 products ap-plicable to India under the SAFTA Agreement. It has sug-gested that there are trade opportunities in servicesectors such as IT, BPO, health care, entertainment, etc.,where both countries can tap opportunities through aprocess of liberalizing the trade process, by setting up ofjoint ventures/production units, etc.

Balance of Trade Adverse For India


Business Buzz


Adozen plus large Indiancorporate houses like

the Aditya Birla Group,M&M, L&T, and the state-owned PFC, LIC and IndiaPost is in the Queue toapply to the RBI for li-censes to open banks. Oth-ers keen on entering thebanking space are IFCI,Shriram Group, Religare,ADA Group, SREI Infra,India Infoline Ltd, IndiaB-ulls Ltd, Reliance Indus-tries Ltd, and the TataGroup. Power Finance Cor-poration’s CMD SatnamSingh has also said that hiscompany would seek ap-proval from its shareholdersfor entering into the bankingspace at its next board meeting,

as it qualifies in both the cate-gories to set up, or convert itselfinto, a bank. A Larsen & Toubro

spokesperson said thatthe group too would be in-terested in applying for abanking license. As perthe new norms, entitieswith a minimum trackrecord of 10 years wouldbe eligible after clearancesfrom sector regulators, en-forcement, and investiga-tive agencies such as theDept. of IT, CBI, and theED. Minimum paid-upcapital for setting up abank will be INR 500Crores. The cap on foreigninvestment, includingFDI/FII and NRI, has beenset at 49%. IFCI that lost

out on a license in 1993 whenICICI and IDBI got it, will alsoforay into banking.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Indian Railways(IR) have signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding(MoU) for settingup a greenfieldMainline Elec-tric MultipleUnit (MEMU)coach factory atBhilwara in Ra-jasthan, to caterto the growingdemand formore local ands u b u r b a ntrains. The MoUwas signed inthe presence ofPraful Patel, Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public En-terprises, Government of India and Pawan Kumar Bansal,Union Minister of Railways, and other dignitaries. B.P. Rao,Chairman & Managing Director, BHEL and Kul Bhushan, Mem-ber Electrical, Railway Board, signed the MoU.

BHEL-Indian Railways MoU: GreenfieldMainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU)

Leading accounting & consultancyfirm Ernst & Young India hasawarded the Tata Group patriarchRatan Tata, Chairman Emeritus ofthe US$100 Billion conglomerate,with the Entrepreneur of the YearLifetime Achievement Award.Ratan Tata was presented theaward by Company Affairs MinisterSachin Pilot.

Ratan Tata Gets Lifetime Award

Banking Sector Reform: Private Players Welcome

Silver Screen


Kamal opens our conversation with a mentionabout that one question he is often asked byjournalists … why actors from the Southhave not had as much acceptance by audi-ences in the North, and proceeds to answer

the question himself: “I do not think that there is anyparticular reason for this, except that we actors fromdown South keep quite busy with, and committed to ourregional films, so often find it difficult to take time outto work in Hindi films”.

Elaborating further, he says: “Rajanikant or I werenot the first actors from Tamil cinema to try our handat Hindi films. Raja Sandow, who hailed from Coimbat-ore in Tamilnadu, was the first ever South Indian actorwho had made his presence felt in North Indian films.Since then, there have been a host of artistes who haveappeared in Hindi films, including Gemini Ganeshan,better known to the audiences in the Northern belt asthe late father of actress Rekha.

Kamal admits that he does get annoyed when jour-nalists refer to the Indian film industry as Bollywood orKollywood, Mollywood and Tollywood. “Why can’t theyjust call it Mumbai, Tamil, Telugu or for that matter theMalayalam film industry ? It is high time that westopped aping the West. Just because films being madethere are known as Hollywood films, there is no reasonfor us to call films being made in Mumbai as Bollywoodfilms”, he avers.

“Today, thanks to technology, there is no longer theelement of parochialism as far as films are concerned,and films are being made in Hindi as well as Tamil andTelugu, like I made my film VISWAROOPAM in Tamiland Telugu, as well as in Hindi, VISHWAROOP.” Ac-cording to Kamal, his film needed dedicated attendanceand to put it simply, he just could not accommodatestars, and that included Kamal Haasan himself as well.“Everyone behaved like a technician on the sets– be itthe acting, music or production department. The reasonI decided to cast a newcomer like Pooja Kumar to play

Kamal Haasan

Universal HeroKamalahasan, or KAMAL HAASAN is no stranger to avid cinema buffs, an actor, director,producer and screen-writer widely respected and admired in the Indian film industry. Somuch so that he has earned the sobriquet “Universal Hero” for his versatility in acting. JYOTHI VENKATESH caught up with him recently in Mumbai, for a freewheeling conversationon his approach to cinema, and of course, his latest film, “VISWAROOPAM”…


Silver Screen


the leading lady in my film is that I wanted talent anddedication, and not star power for VISHWAROOP.

“I decided to give top priority to the content. If I castKamal Haasan in my film, the reason is as KamalHaasan, I was ready to humble myself in front of thecontent. In case of Pooja, I had to make the choice asthe director at the last minute since Sonakshi Sinhapleaded inability to be part of the project. I have nothingagainst the star system per se. All that I can say is thatmy film Vishwaroopam is too big for stars and hence Icould not afford to work with stars in the film. Pleasedo not for a moment forget that I too am a star. It is justthat I just do not have that much of patience as aRamesh Sippy … ”

On his reasons for asking Shankar Mahadevan tocompose music for VISHWAROOPAM instead of Ilai-yaraja, who has been the music director for all his ear-lier Tamil films, he shares his thought process … asVISHWAROOPAM was also made for Hindi, he had feltthat Shankar would be able to do proper justice to thefilm, being a Mumbai-based Tamilian in tune with thepulse of Hindi audiences. “I have no rift with Ilaiyaraja… In fact Ilaiyaraja himself came to release the musicof VISHWAROOPAM in Chennai.”

When setting out to act in a film, Kamal says hemakes it a point to forget the fact that he is also a di-rector. “I have learnt the ropes of direction by observing

filmmakers like K. Balachander (who has been my guru)at work, at close quarters when I was acting under histutelage. I have learnt to keep the actor in me separatefrom the director in me, because when I am on the setsI totally surrender myself to the vision of my directors.Like Shekhar Kapoor completely trusted me when heagreed to work in my film, though on his own right, heis an accomplished director today. There is no questionof my disagreeing with what they ask me to do on thesets because in the first place I do not agree to workwith a director if I am not confident of his caliber”.

Kamal explains further that if people accept todaythat he is a blend of not just an actor but also a film-maker who is equally adept at acting as well as direc-tion, it is because he has been an ardent fan offilmmakers like Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt etc., all his life.“People like Raj Kapoor or for that matter Guru Duttdidn’t just act but also proved that they could makemasterpieces which were way ahead of their time. Theywere my Dronacharyas, even before I learnt what direc-tion is from my mentor K. Balachander. Even today Iam constantly on the job, learning from every good di-rector. I am also a fan of Vishal Bharadwaj.”

On the subject of his daughter Shruti's success,Kamal does not hesitate to show pride at her abilitieslike any other parent. “She has succeeded on her ownsteam, whether in the South Indian film industry or for

Photos : Rajeev Tyagi

Silver Screen


that matter in Hindi or what I would call the Mumbaifilm industry”.

He hastens to add that he did not launch her as anactress down South though he is a producer in his ownright, because he wanted her to make it on her ownfirst. “Today she is an actress in her own right becauseGABBAR SINGH, the remake of DABANGG in Telugu,with her as the leading lady is a big hit, and I am doublyhappy because now there are two stars at home - Shrutiand I. I will make a film in Hindi with her the day shemanages to get a hit in Hindi too.”

Kamal says that he does not agree with cynics who

snigger that Cinema is the root cause of all evils perpe-trated in the society these days: “I am of the opinionthat Cinema is only a mirror which reflects what is hap-pening in society. Earlier we used to say that crime doesnot pay at all but now we have started saying that itpays politicians and there is insurance too for them.Kids today learn all kinds of gaalis not necessarily fromcinema, but simply by observing their parents at home.My daughter Akshara will not know what a Sati is if Ido not teach her about satis.”

Kamal was the first producer in India to release hisfilm with a DTH premiere even before its theatrical re-lease. “I don’t want to burn any bridges or disturb theexisting ecosystem of the business. Going to the cinemais a cultural habit – it’s a part of our milieu and it willnever go away. But we are evolving and this is a part of

growth. Both can coexist, and there is enough room foreveryone. I feel that a TV Premiere is entirely differentfrom a set top box premiere, because while TV is for themasses and is available for free, you can see on DTHonly once a day before the release of a film”.

Kamal concludes. “Any new avenue for garnering rev-enue is good for the business model. It is only when weset out to travel that we learn what new roads are, andwhat shipping means, isn’t it ? In any case, I think I hadthe right to decide, because I had put INR. 95 Crore intothis film, so it is actually I who had to be more afraidthan the exhibitors. VISWAROOPAM/ VISHWAROOPwas a super thriller meant for the theatres and when Iand my cinematographer, Sanu Varghese, saw it on thebig screen for the first time during post-production, wewere blown away. But I also knew at the same time thatTV viewing will not take away from the theatre experi-ence, just like having the calendars of Hanuman or LordShiva does not mean that your visits to your neighbor-hood temple will become redundant… ”

Kamal says that he does not agree with cynics

who snigger that Cinema is the root cause of all

evils perpetrated in the society these days: “I am

of the opinion that Cinema is only a mirror which

reflects what is happening in society. Earlier we

used to say that crime does not pay at all but now

we have started saying that it pays politicians

and there is insurance too for them. Kids today

learn all kinds of gaalis not necessarily from

films, but simply by observing their parents at

home. My daughter Akshara will not know what

a Sati is if I do not teach her about satis.”

The Writer is a well-known and estabilished film critic


Not only our technical knowledge helps, butalso the presence of mind and the right an-swer at right time.

Following Questions given to Candidates whonow have become IAS Officers.

We hope you not only like these but would goto any extend to find the right answers.

We give the biggest clue that they require yourpresence of mind simply..

Q. How can you drop a raw egg onto a con-crete floor without cracking it?

Q. If it took eight men ten hours to build awall, how long would it take four men tobuild it?

Q. If you had three apples and four orangesin one hand and four apples and three or-anges in the other hand, what would youhave?

Q. How can you lift an elephant with onehand?

Q. How can a man go eight days withoutsleep?

Q. If you throw a red stone into the blue seawhat it will become?

Q. What looks like half apple?

Q. What can you never eat for breakfast ?

Q. What happened when wheel was in-vented ?

Q. Bay of Bengal is in which state?

Dear Readers ... Do give it a serious thought,test your presence of mind & note down youranswers. Our next issue will feature the correctones for you to check out your IQ.

Travelogue


Iled a small group of photo en-thusiasts to Orchha in Sep-tember last year. It is a smalltown in Tikamgarh, MadhyaPradesh. The town had quite a

few surprises in store for us. Thisquaint little town was foundedsometime in the early 16th centuryby Bundela chief Rudra PratapSingh, on the banks of the BetwaRiver. There's an interesting nuggetof a story that narrates how thename 'Bundela' came about… Leg-

end has it that the first ruler of Or-chha used to offer drops of blood tothe Goddess Kali, and thus thename Bundela – he who offersdrops.

Orchha is breathtakingly rich inculture and architecture. Some ofthe most impressive architecturalstructures and ensembles here arethe Orchha palace and the fort, theChaturbhuj Temple, a cluster ofcenotaphs, the Raja Ram templeand the Lakshmi temple. The Or-

chha palace has two distinct sec-tions - Raja Mahal and JahangirMahal. While Raja Mahal is mod-elled on Bundela architecture, Ja-hangir Mahal is a sterling exampleof Mughal architecture. This part ofthe palace was built for Salim (Ja-hangir), who after having foughtwith Akbar had left home andhearth. Orchha incidentally means'hidden', and so the story has it,that while passing through CentralIndia, Salim came across this hid-

OrchhaThe Hidden Gem

Cenotaph of Bundela Kings

Photos & Text: Ajay Sood


Travelogue


den territory ruled by the fierce Ra-jput tribe of Bundelas. At that time,the Bundela Chief, Bir Singh Deo,extended hospitalityto him, providinghim much neededsanctuary and ren-dered tremendoushelp.

Subsequently,Salim mended hisbridges with Akbar,made-up for past fol-lies and went backhome. This help ex-tended by the Bun-dela Chieftain toSalim earned Or-chha unparalleledroyal patronage. Andthat's when andhow, with theircoffers loaded,many charis-matic palaces,temples, and

Betwa river flows behind Bundela Kings' cenotaphs

Cenotaph of Bir Singh Deo

Shiva Temple in RajaMahal, just outside

Diwan-e-Aam

Travelogue


buildings reflecting Bundela archi-tecture came about to be built.

The Betwa, a tributary of the ya-muna, is a rocky river not navigablefor almost half its length, and likedby enthusiasts for minor rafting.During the monsoons, it swells andcuts off the other side, as the fragilebridge gets submerged. The Ceno-taphs or Chattris on the banks ofthe Betwa, were built to pay hom-age to dead ancestors of the Bun-dela kings. There are 15 cenotaphsin all. These were built for everyBundela chief who ruled Orchha,until the lineage faded. These ceno-taphs demonstrate superlativeworkmanship.

The Raja Ram temple is in apalace, and this is the only templewhere Ram is worshipped as a king,and not as a God. The Lakshmitemple here, surprisingly, has noidol of Goddess Lakshmi, (it wasstolen) but has an altar meant forsacrifices, very similar to temples ofthe Tantric cult. Interestingly, thetemple's walls resemble those of afort, replete with slots for canons tofire at the enemy.

For a small town, this placeswells with tourists during the oc-tober-march tourist season, withmost tourists coming from Franceand Germany. It is surprisinglywell-geared for tourists, with manyhotels and resorts, including one,Bundelakhand Riverside, built re-cently by the descendants of thelast Bundela chief.

Any travel enthusiast will not re-gret visiting this place at least once,as this place also boasts a minorwildlife sanctuary, is close toMatatila Dam, which is importantfor migratory water birds, and hasanother lesser known place of inter-est nearby, Kranti Sthal, the memo-rial of freedom fighter,Chandrashekhar Azad.

Murals on the ceiling in Raja Mahal

Jahangir Mahal Lakshmi Temple

Palace from Betwa River

Diwan-e-Aam, Raja

Mahal

—AJAY SOOD

Ajay is an accomplished and avid travel photogra-pher, relishing equally the challenges in capturingcityscapes and landscapes, heritage and architecture,wildlife and citylife, street and people. An ex-adver-tising professional, a communicator, a travel photog-rapher and much more, he is also the photo editor ofthis magazine.


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