Happy Republic Day

A Very Happy Republic Day to all the Indians out there.
Here is the weekly column (Read it here) in Financial Times titled Engaging India that covers the "issues, trends and forces behind the business and politics shaping India and its impact on the world"


The Times Group has launched the 'India Poised' campaign this year. Perhaps, a marketing ploy,TOI calls the year 2007 as the "Year of India", when India will make waves in the world.
The legendary Bollywood star Amitabh Bachan stars in a video...Very impactful.

Watch the video here.

BTW, GS gave its latest update on the famous BRICs report and said that India would continue with its "potential or sustainable growth rate" at about 8 per cent until 2020.

Here are some highlights from the report: ( Source: Money Control)

* India has 10 of the 30 fastest-growing urban areas in the world. Based on current trends, a massive 700 million people (roughly equivalent to the current population of Europe) will move to cities by 2050. This will have significant implications for demand for urban infrastructure, real estate, and services.

* Policies to enhance financial sector growth, openness to trade, rural-urban migration, capital formation, education, and environment — together labelled the `FORCE' factors — will be critical to sustaining growth.


* Assuming that policies to open up the financial sector remain on track, including the entry of foreign banks starting from 2009, there will be more "financial deepening". This will contribute to increases in productivity in the medium term.

* Today, India is the fastest growing market for mobile phones, with average growth rates of over 80 per cent every year since 2000.

* The success of India's elite students from IITs and IIMs masks the generally abysmal state of higher education in India. Higher education remains heavily regulated, with little to encourage private-sector participation or innovation