Indian car exports surge 36 pc in first half of 2009-10

Car exports from India in the first half of this fiscal jumped by 35.73 per cent as major manufacturers like Hyundai Motor India and Maruti Suzuki cashed in on scrappage incentive provided in Europe, despite other segments of the auto industry witnessing decline.

According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Association (SIAM), car exports during April-September stood at 2,10,088 units as against 1,54,783 units in the year-ago period.

The European Union (EU) nations had incentivised buying of new cars in exchange of the old ones under a scrappage programme in May that will run till February 2010.

The growth in exports were largely driven by the country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India as its overseas shipments rose over two-fold during April-September to 65,752 units from 29,699 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said.

Hyundai Motor India, the country's largest car exporter Hyundai reported 16.02 per cent jump in exports at 1,39,971 units against 1,20,648 units in the same period last year.

Is Automobiles the new sunshine industry for India?

Move or Lose - Migration and World on the Move

The 2009 Human Development Report (HDR), released simultaneously across the world on Monday, makes a strong case for removing barriers to migration within and across borders, arguing that human movement had brought perceptible all-round benefits and held the potential to improve the lives of millions of poor and low-skilled people.

Released jointly here by Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and United Nations Resident Coordinator Patrice Coeur-Bizot, the report, “Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development,” says: “The poorest and the low skilled could benefit the most by moving, yet they face the largest barriers to movement: legal, financial, social.”

The report estimates that nearly one billion (one out of seven) people the world over are migrants. Of this, 740 million are internal migrants — almost four times as many as those who have moved internationally. Among those who have emigrated out, just a third or only about 70 million people, have moved from a developing to a developed country. “Most of the world’s 200 million international migrants moved from one developing country to another or between developed countries.”

Some disturbing Questions :
1. How does migration impact on Nationhood?
2. As the world is on the move, does staying put in one's own country means losing out?