Institutional Investor (December 7)
“The Indian rupee has declined 12.8 percent against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of the year, making it the worst-performing currency in Asia.” Due to both domestic and external pressures, the Indian rupee looks unlikely to strengthen despite possible intervention by the Reserve Bank of India.
Time (November 21)
Will the century belong to China or India? Quite possibly, it will be “Chindian.” The two countries have much in common, especially in terms of growing economic might, yet remain a distinct ying and yang. Neither allies, nor enemies, they exist in parallel. There is room for concern lest harmony be upset. “The close economic ties between nations that often prevent conflict do not sufficiently exist between China and India.”
Will the century belong to China or India? Quite possibly, it will be “Chindian.” The two countries have much in common, especially in terms of growing economic might, yet remain a distinct ying and yang. Neither allies, nor enemies, they exist in parallel. There is room for concern lest harmony be upset. “The close economic ties between nations that often prevent conflict do not sufficiently exist between China and India.”
Tags: China, Chindia, Conflict, Economic might, India
Bloomberg (November 8)
“As China’s might increases, India’s influence flowers, South Korea grows more competitive and Indonesia booms, Japan’s standing is waning faster than Tokyo realizes.” Can Japan adapt? First it will need to abandon the “head-in-the-sand dynamic,” characteristic of the recent Olympus scandal, “that many investors had hoped was a thing of Japan’s past.”
“As China’s might increases, India’s influence flowers, South Korea grows more competitive and Indonesia booms, Japan’s standing is waning faster than Tokyo realizes.” Can Japan adapt? First it will need to abandon the “head-in-the-sand dynamic,” characteristic of the recent Olympus scandal, “that many investors had hoped was a thing of Japan’s past.”
Bloomberg (June 1)
India loses more power than any other nation to electricity theft, almost a third of its annual 174GW supply. “The pilfering of almost enough power to charge California for a year lowers the annual income of Indian distribution companies by $16 billion and cuts output by 1.2 percent in the $1.3 trillion economy.” India hopes to reduce electricity theft with competition and privatization. Compared to state-owned firms, private companies are less tolerant of electricity theft. Their inspectors are less susceptible to bribes to look the other way.
India loses more power than any other nation to electricity theft, almost a third of its annual 174GW supply. “The pilfering of almost enough power to charge California for a year lowers the annual income of Indian distribution companies by $16 billion and cuts output by 1.2 percent in the $1.3 trillion economy.” India hopes to reduce electricity theft with competition and privatization. Compared to state-owned firms, private companies are less tolerant of electricity theft. Their inspectors are less susceptible to bribes to look the other way.
Tags: Competition, Electricity, India, Privatization, Theft
Economist (April 14)
India should promote foreign direct investment (FDI). Restrictions barring or limiting foreign investment in certain industries are the main barrier. Railways, legal services, insurance and domestic airlines are areas where foreign investment is unnecessarily restricted. “Given the huge benefits that liberalisation could bring to India’s 1.2 billion people, the government should pluck up courage and fling wide the gates.”
Tags: FDI, India, Restrictions
Financial Times (February 16)
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is considered an upright and squeaky clean politician. Yet he has failed to trample out corruption. The telecom scandal revealed crony capitalism cost the government about $40 billion. The Financial Times expects more. “When you are prime minister of India, it is not enough to be clean yourself…. By failing to stamp down on graft, even among close associates, Mr Singh is frittering away the chance to modernise the country.”
Tags: Corruption, Graft, India, Telecom scandal
Financial Times (January 25)
Inflation in India is taking a toll on the stock market and causing foreign investors to rethink their exposure. Who would have guessed “that a rise in the price of onions would put a brake on the stellar growth of India’s stock market”? To battle food price inflation, the Reserve Bank of India has raised interest rates seven times during the past year. As a result, investors are now worried that “high inflation in India could threaten its economy.”
Bloomberg Markets (November Issue)
The BRICs have been racing ahead, but not all new records are enviable. With over 50 million diabetics, India is now home to more diabetics than any other nation. Over 1 million Indians are expected to die of the disease in 2010, and things are expected to get worse. “As a decade of 7 percent average annual growth lifts 400 million people into the middle class, bodies primed over generations for poverty, malnutrition and manual labor are leaving Indians ill-prepared for calorie-loaded food or the cars, TVs and computers that sap physical activity.”
Times of India (November 9)
Barack and Michelle Obama made a positive impression in India with their “air of informality” when interacting with the public and the press. The Times of India laments that Indian politicians are too often bound by formality and protocol, adding ““Our politicians would do well to take a cue from the Obamas.” President Obama also made an impression during his 45-minute address to parliament. Obama’s speech was interrupted more than 36 times by applause. The Times notes the speech hit “all the right notes.”
Tags: India, Obama, Politicians
Time (November 1)
Fareed Zakaria, Time’s Editor-at-Large, notes that when he leaves the U.S. to visit India, it appears “the world has been turned upside down. Indians are brimming with hope and faith in the future.” In contrast, the mood in the U.S. is “sour. Americans are glum, dispirited and angry…. The can-do country is convinced that it can’t.”
