India’s racing ahead, but are we on track ?

INDIA is getting ready to play. The government’s chief economist says India will soon overtake China as the world’s fastest growing economy. So it would, concurs a Morgan Stanley study, based on the expected demographic dividend as the share of the non-working, dependent population shrinks, boosting not only the share of active workers but also the savings required to finance massive investment. Foreign direct investment inflows of the magnitude that the world envied China for, for much of the last couple of decades, is now flowing into India. Indians themselves are aggressive outward investors, and investment promotion outfits of most advanced countries woo Indian capital.

The president of the United States warns his country’s children that if they don’t study hard, Indian children will eat their jobs. Indian enterprise is respected, even feared, as being capable of devouring good, middle-American jobs, if business process outsourcing is not curbed.

Indian managers are making their mark around the world. Indra Nooyi, Vikram Pandit and Anshu Jain have steered their ships with great elan over the choppy waters of the financial and economic crisis, to the far shore of greater profitability. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s views are received with respect and attention, when leaders of the world meet, to discuss globally coordinated solutions to global problems.

Yes, on most counts, India would indeed seem to be getting ready to play. So it would seem appropriate that India should host a major sporting event like the Commonwealth Games. However, the manner in which we went about organising them, producing a sordid tale of incompetence, corruption and shoddiness that has been unfolding in daily installments to public shock and horror, has made us hang our heads in shame.

But this is not all. The nation was on edge on September 30th, when a high court delivered its verdict on a disputed shrine at Ayodhya. The police forces were on full alert in all parts of the country. Several states had issued prohibitory orders, closed schools and colleges, in anticipation of violence that is no less menacing for its eventual non-occurrence. Should a nation about to take wing be cringing at its own reflection morphed through a prism of anger? The insurgencies in Kashmir and the north-east and by the Maoists, the concept of honour that impels father and brother to kill daughter and sister, the skewed distribution o social power that makes Dalits easy prey to the greed and lust of upper caste miscreant, the custom and mores that make even the Capital’s Metro provide exclusive compartments for women and, every so often, send a doctor off to jail for conducting pre-natal sex determination tests, what do all these tell us about the state of the Union? If this is preparation for play, what macabre sport are we preparing for?

Yes, there is ugliness in our midst that the opening ceremony spectacle or Shera, the Games mascot’s smile or the colourful screens planted strategically all along the route the foreign athletes would travel cannot conceal. But India is not just chaos and dirt and violence. If there is one thing that suffuses India’s collective consciousness today as never before, it is hope — hope that things would improve, drastically, and for everyone. Without hope for the future, there can be neither joy in the present, nor creative action. But there is, indeed, hope, and joy, and plenty of action. India is indeed prepared to play. Let the games play on!

Why is foreign direct investment into India declining ?

Foreign direct investment in India fell by nearly a quarter in the first seven months of 2010 and the much-publicised chaos around preparations for the Commonwealth Games has added to worries foreign firms could put off further investment.

A UN survey found investors ranked India as the second top-priority destination for FDI this year, replacing the United States , after China. Following are some questions and answers on foreign investment flows into India.

Why are FDI flows important for India?

India needs inflows to drive investment in infrastructure, a lack of which is often cited as restricting the country's economic growth. Investment is also needed to expand capacity and technology in sectors such as autos and steel, as well as to offset a big current account deficit.

In 2009, India attracted $36.6 billion in FDI funds, equivalent to 2.7 percent of its gross domestic product. China attracted $95 billion, or 1.9 percent of GDP. But foreign direct investment flows into India fell by over 24 percent in the first seven months this year to $12.56 billion, putting pressure on domestic investment to take up the slack.

Why have FDI flows slowed down?

The slow pace of policy reform that would further open sectors such as retail, insurance and real estate to foreign investment have acted as a deterrent.

Delays in framing a new land acquisition act, which would ease availability of land for industry, have also hurt FDI flows into infrastructure and other sectors. FDI flows to India are likely to remain subdued in coming months as well, analysts said, given the shaky global recovery.

That's a contrast to flows of foreign funds into Indian stocks, which are on track to hit a record high this year. FDI flows into India, which held up reasonably well during the global financial crisis, are likely to total between $20 billion and $30 billion in 2010, economists say.

Will the Commonwealth Games have an impact on FDI?

Negative publicity surrounding preparations for the Commonwealth Games, which opened in New Delhi on Sunday, could hurt sentiment among portfolio investors, but is unlikely to have a big impact on FDI flows.

A report by credit research agency Moody's Analytics said negative publicity around the Commonwealth Games could tarnish India's image as a foreign investment destination as it reflected poorly on India's capacity to handle big projects. The games chaos may give multinationals considering expanding in India reason to think twice, Moody's Analytics said.

However, most major corporate investors are aware of the challenges of doing business in India and will focus on the longer-term opportunities in a country where the 1.2 billion population is growing at a rapid 8.5 percent a year.

Which sectors are facing slowdown?

FDI flows in financial services, real estate and power fell as regulatory restrictions and strong domestic investment squeezed out some foreign bidders for high-return projects.

FDI flows to real estate declined to 6 percent of total FDI flows during the June quarter from 11 percent in 2009/10, while flows to the services sector fell to 11 percent from 17 percent. However, FDI in telecoms, at about $1 billion during the June quarter, formed 16 percent of the total FDI funds during the period, up from 10 percent in the 2009/10 fiscal year.

Big foreign firms have had mixed success investing in India. Vodafone paid $11 billion for control of an Indian mobile carrier but earlier this year booked a 2.3 billion pound ($3.64 billion) charge on its business due to fierce competition and the high cost of wireless spectrum.

South Korea's Posco has endured more than three years of delay for a $12 billion steel plant in Orissa state due to protests by farmers. London-based Vedanta Resources said in August it had reached a deal to pay up to $9.6 billion for control of oil producer Cairn India .

How will a decline in FDI affect the current account deficit?

The trade ministry forecasts that the current account gap will reach 3 percent of GDP this fiscal year, or about $46.4 billion. Officials have said that India may end up with a balance of payments deficit this year given the rapid expansion in the current account deficit and fall in FDI. If so, massive foreign exchange reserves of some $291 billion will be more than sufficient to fund the gap.

What is the impact of FDI flows on monetary policy?

A fall in FDI inflows will keep the balance of payments under pressure and could undermine the rupee. If commodity and oil prices rise globally, a weaker rupee will add to inflationary pressures.

With fighting inflation is the central bank's top priority, any development that could push up prices will be carefully watched and play into its thinking on tightening monetary policy.

On the other hand, a wider deficit could lead to some liquidity tightness in the market, helping the central bank's five rate hikes so far this year be passed on more effectively.

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Cricketing Sensation...!!!!

Cricket world's newest sensation, Sachin Tendulkar, has a minor problem. Yes, literally a minor problem. He is not old enough to put his signature down on a contract, on an agreement between two parties. Therefore, when he is approached by the cricket administrators to sign tour contracts, his father or his brother will have to do it for him.

And then, when they hand out huge bottles of champagne in England or New Zealand for his great batting, he will have to rely on his older teammates to empty the bottles and give them back to him to be retained as souvenirs. What is more, an application from Sachin for a driver's licence is not likely to be entertained.

These are just a few of the several minor problems that India's major cricketing sensation of the day will have to face until April 24, 1991, when he turns 18.

Turning 18 — an important milestone in any young man's life. And an age when most young cricketers still dream of making it to the national under-19 team But, by the time Sachin turns 18, he will have played in at least 11 Test matches.

Really, nobody has done so much at such a young age in the history of Indian cricket. From Imran Khan to Abdul Qadir to Graham Gooch, almost every great cricketer who has watched him play, has sung praises of the most attractive young batsman in the cricket world today.

In the 10 Test matches that Sachin has played so far, the 17-year-old from Bombay has scored 577 runs at an average of 41.21. The record itself may not be phenomenal. But the promise is.

A promise that was evident right from the moment he played for India first and one that was seen in all its glory in Manchester last August when Sachin hit a spectacular unbeaten 119 to save India from defeat against England.

The debate now seems to have narrowed to just one question: Is he the next Sunil Gavaskar or the next Vivian Richards? Actually, he might turn out to be neither. Merely, Sachin Tendulkar. And that is good enough for Indian cricket.

Sachin says both Richards and Gavaskar are his role models. But, then, the charming, curly haired young man's first big idol in the world of sport was not a cricketer.

In 1981, when John McEnroe beat Bjorn Borg to win his first Wimbledon title, the eight-year-old Sachin jumped in joy. He fancied himself a tennis star. But in a city where the conditions were more favourable for cricket, Sachin soon turned his attention to the country's favourite game.

His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, a professor of Marathi literature, helped move his youngest son to his eldest son's house near the Shivaji Park grounds to see that he could practise regularly. The Tendulkars live a long way from Shivaji Park.

When he was playing school matches, there was this joke doing the rounds in Bombay. It seems the rival captains requested the scorer to start from 100 when Sachin came in to bat as it was taken for granted that he would get his century anyway. It made the bowlers' job easier.

Coached by the modest, simple Ramakant Achrekar, Sachin plundered runs by the hundreds and was playing in the Ranji Trophy when only 16, getting a century on his debut .

It was not long before he made it to the national team He stands a little over 150 cms and weighs 64 kg now. But he is still growing. Like every other middle class youngster, he loves pop music and has the superstition of always putting his left pad on first.

A very level-headed young man. Sachin is very confident too in whatever he does. He knows his strengths as well as his few limitations and he is always willing to learn. In Manchester, after saving the match for India, he came back and asked Bishen Bedi. the team manager, if he had done anything wrong.

Really, Sachin is very much the model student who is already a master of the game.

And it is this willingness to learn from his seniors that will take the young man far. It may not be wise to look too far into the future in sport but, all things considered, Sachin should be around doing his bit for India well into the next century.

If what he has achieved so far is nothing short of phenomenal, then the teen prodigy will have to watch out for the crippling symptoms that sooner or later seem to afflict young overachievers in most of the popular international sports.

In tennis, they call it burnout And the world of professional tennis has seen any number of gifted young ones — girls and boys — get tired of the game, both physically and mentally, in their early 20s after performing astounding feats in their teen years.

There may be a pitfall or two to watch out for in the road ahead, but given Sachin's temperament and background there is no reason to fear that the darling of Indian sports fans will lose his way in the years ahead.

If he has dashed in like a sprinter, then he has all the qualities of a classic stayer too.

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Games people play...!!!!

An international, multi-sport event, the Commonwealth Games is much looked forward to. This year, with India as the host, there is a lot of suspense as also excitement…

Once every four years a major sports event takes place. Members of the Commonwealth of Nations come together to participate in the Commonwealth Games.

The first time this event took place was in 1930. It was then known as the British Empire Games and 11 nations participated. It has been held regularly since then, with just one interruption in 1942, during World War II.

After months spent attempting to scrub the stench of corruption and organisational incompetence off its frame, the 2010 Commonwealth Games is finally upon the capital.

A dengue outbreak, the collapse of a foot overbridge outside the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the revelation that the Games village was in ‘unlivable' condition two weeks to the start of the event, and heightened security fears following an attack of a tourist bus near the historic Jama Masjid have led to a host of athletes pulling out of the event.

On track :At the CWG village.

A great platform

Even before this, the Games was bereft of some of the world's best sportspersons. Tennis world number four Andy Murray declined a crack at the men's singles gold, preferring instead to focus on the season-ending events of the ATP Tour. Likewise, Jamaica's roster of athletes didn't contain superstars Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, and instead included the unflatteringly-named 200m runner Steve Slowly.

Shorn of big names, the primary focus of the event — at least in India — will concern the performance of the host. In recent times, the Commonwealth Games has given Indian sport its most rewarding platform, and fourth-place finishes in the medals tally of the 2002 and 2006 events.

Invitingly cool :The swimming pool

India won 119 of its 272 medals in the competition's history and 52 of its 102 golds in those two editions.

At Melbourne four years ago, shooter Samaresh Jung won the David Dixon Award as the meet's outstanding performer, with seven medals in total — five gold, one silver and a bronze, and three Games records to boot.

Shooting will again represent India's best medal hopes in the Games. Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Ronjan Sodhi, Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Jung are among the best male shooters in the world, while Tejaswini Sawant, the World 50m rifle prone champion, heads a formidable women's contingent.

Making friends :Shera with team members from the Cook Islands.

Other athletes India will look to with realistic expectations include boxers Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar, wrestler Sushil Kumar, badminton ace Saina Nehwal and Davis Cup heroes Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna.

Table tennis star Achanta Sharath Kamal will look to achieve a repeat of his gold at Melbourne while the squash contingent, led by Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal, will hope it can pull off a couple of upsets against some of the finest racket-wielders from Australia, England and Malaysia to break India's duck in squash.

Members

There are currently 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and 71 teams participate in the Games. The four Home Nations of the United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — send separate teams to the Commonwealth Games, and individual teams are also sent from the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man (unlike at the Olympic Games, where the combined “Great Britain” team represents all four home nations and the Crown dependencies). Many of the British overseas territories also send their own teams. The Australian external territory of Norfolk Island also sends its own team, as do the Cook Islands and Niue, two states in free association with New Zealand.

Photo : Rajeev Bhatt

South African boxer :Lebogang Pilane.

A lil' history

Every four years, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations plays host to the Commonwealth Games. This year it is India. It is an international, multi-sport event and athletes from all the Commonwealth of Nations participate.

As well as many Olympic sports, the Games also include some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball. The Games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities. The host city is selected from across the Commonwealth, with eighteen cities in seven countries having hosted it.

The first CWG was first held in 1930 and was known as the British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It was later renamed as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, the British Commonwealth Games in 1970. It came to be known as the Commonwealth Games in 1978. Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Australia has been the highest achieving team for ten games, England for seven and Canada for one.

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Bringing joy....!!!!

It was time to have fun at the two-day carnival organised as part of the ‘Joy of Giving Week'....

The two-day carnival organised as part of the ‘Joy of Giving Week' for people suffering from Down's Syndrome, provided them a rare opportunity to take part in various entertaining activities and a chance to interact with each other. People in the age group of 14 to 40 years from across the state took part in the event organised by the Down's Syndrome Association of India (Tamil Nadu chapter) in association with Courtyard by Marriot . The campaign held at the Nehru Indoor Stadium also emphasised the need to change our outlook towards people who are intellectually challenged and to mainstream them.

Around 3000 people from 42 institutions took part in the activities which included aerobics, music, fun games like lemon and spoon race and relay. The smile on their faces as they danced enthusiastically was proof enough that they were having a good time. Those who have been selected to represent the country at the Special Olympics 2011 were given prizes. Archana Jayaram, 25, was selected for cycling while her best friend Aarthi will be participating in swimming.

Some problems

Dr. Rekha Ramachandran, President of the Down‘s Syndrome NGO, said that most people who participated in the event are those with their I.Q level below 7.7. “They need our attention and care,” she said. The event was also an attempt to create awareness among the carers. She said that sometimes the carers may become impatient and resort to scolding or beating. “We should learn to understand them and treat them with love and respect,” she added.

According to Dr. Ramchandran, the problem arises when the carers see this as a ‘paid job'. Many aspects that need regular attention are neglected. An eye-camp conducted for these people revealed a shocking fact that 90 per cent of them were visually impaired. In the same way, ear and dental problems are not detected and treated. The event focused on the health issues and provided all the participants with toiletry kits as many of these children are from economically poor backgrounds. She said that they have a well-equipped medical team that supports this cause and is always ready to render their service to the needy.

Aarthi Madhusoodan, a volunteer with the ‘Joy of Giving Week' initiative said that the idea was to give the participants two days of pure fun.

“The beauty of the campaign is that every aspect of the event is taken care of by sponsors; T-shirts, drinking water, bags... everything was given to all the participants,” she said.

Beauty of Joy...!!

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