Globalization Blog link

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Compelling argument in favour of Indian Retail Revolution

1. some of the data on the retail sector in India makes for interesting reading. For instance the CII-AT Kearney retail study shows that retailing is the largest contributing sector to the country's GDP. Besides, the retail sector contributes about 10 percent to the GDP compared to 8 percent in China, 6 percent in Brazil and a matching 10 percent in the US.

2. Data clearly shows that the retail sector is not only extremely large but provides a huge amount of jobs in this country. The entry of the organised large retail chains may not have an immediate impact on the trading community. But in the long run, it is clear that small traders and retailers will be affected and the government cannot ignore the issue.

3. wastage estimated in the Indian food chain is around 40 percent, valued at over Rs.500 billion ($10 billion) annually. A study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) has also shown that only about 2 percent of fruits and vegetables are processed in this country. In this backdrop, it is felt that there is no option but to allow big retail chains to make huge investments needed to create an efficient and modern agro processing industry.


Link : India's retail explosion: boon or bane?

Bikini vs Burka

On my wall, I have a picture of a Muslim woman shrouded in a burka. Beside it is a picture of an American beauty contestant, wearing nothing but a bikini. One woman is totally hidden from the public; the other is totally exposed. These two extremes say a great deal about the so-called "clash of civilizations"



The role of woman is at the heart of any culture. Apart from stealing Arab oil, the impending war in the Middle East is about stripping Arabs of their religion and culture, exchanging the burka for a bikini. I am not an expert on the condition of Muslim women and I love feminine beauty too much to advocate the burka here. But I am defending some of the values that the burka represents for me. For me, the burka represents a woman's consecration to her husband and family. Only they see her. It affirms the privacy, exclusivity and importance of the domestic sphere. The Muslim woman's focus is her home, the "nest" where her children are born and reared. She is the "home" maker, the taproot that sustains the spiritual life of the family, nurturing and training her children, providing refuge and support to her husband.

In contrast, the bikinied American beauty queen struts practically naked in front of millions on TV. A feminist, she belongs to herself. In practice, paradoxically, she is public property. She belongs to no one and everyone. She shops her body to the highest bidder. She is auctioning herself all of the time. In America, the cultural measure of a woman's value is her sex appeal. (As this asset depreciates quickly, she is neurotically obsessed with appearance and plagued by weight problems.) As an adolescent, her role model is Britney Spears, a singer whose act approximates a strip tease. From Britney, she learns that she will be loved only if she gives sex. Thus, she learns to "hook up" rather than to demand patient courtship and true love. As a result, dozens of males know her before her husband does. She loses her innocence, which is a part of her charm. She becomes hardened and calculating. Unable to love, she is unfit to receive her husband's seed. The feminine personality is founded on the emotional relationship between mother and baby. It is based on nurturing and self-sacrifice.

Masculine nature is founded on the relationship between hunter and prey. It is based on aggression and reason. Feminism teaches woman that feminine nature has resulted in "oppression" and that she should convert to male behavior instead. The result: a confused and aggressive woman with a large chip on her shoulder, unfit to become a wife or mother. [...] Feminism is another cruel New World Order hoax that has debauched American women and despoiled Western civilization. It has ruined millions of lives and represents a lethal threat to Islam. I am not advocating the burka but rather some of the values that it represents, specifically a woman's consecration to her future husband and family, and the modesty and dignity this entails. The burka and the bikini represent two extremes. The answer lies somewhere in the middle.

Reference:

1. Henry Makow, "The Debauchery of American Womanhood: Bikini vs. Burka"
2. Politics of the Female Body

Outsourcing 'to earn India $40bn'

Indian software and services exports are expected to earn about $40bn (£19.9bn) in the year to March 2008 as demand for outsourcing remains strong.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) added that the sector should achieve $60bn in export revenue by 2009/2010.

"We are confident and I think we will get there," said Nasscom president Kiran Karnik.

"The overall demand is strong... the headroom for growth is huge."

BRIC’s Are the Next Global Powers

According to Goldman sachs, The Bric Countries have already become a superpower

As per the study, at the end of the first Gulf War in 1991, out of the 20 largest companies in the energy sector, 55% were American and 45% were European. In 2007, 35% of them are from BRICs countries, 35% are European and only 30% are American.

The U.S. is now lagging with the smallest percentage number of energy companies worldwide. If you think about the global resource industry typically being a leader in terms of global trends, we’re starting to see this replicated in the mining industry where 20 percent of the top 20 companies are now from BRICs countries. We believe this sort of pattern will be repeated industry by industry.

The BRICs are now expected to venture into the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Nissan-Renault CEO looking at $3000 car in chennai

BusinessLine reports as follows:

Mr. Ghosn, CEO of Nissan-Renault tells " We are investigating,at alliance level, how can we can make a $3000 car. We will be part of this competition".

Nissan-Renault is opening a factory in oragadam, west chennai, with the Government handing over the first parcel of about 1,100 acres of land to the officials.

Also, another news item in Business Line related to low cost car :

Bosch's marquee products like common rail direct injection systems (CDRi) and anti-lock braking system (ABS) would find their into new low cost passenger car models.


It is surprising that the TN government is not having any issues in acquiring such large plots of land while West Bengal Government keeps stumbling.

More Trouble in Little Singur

Mamata has rejected the renewed package offered by the West Bengal government. Is she just playing dirty politics to garner the voteshare from the Communists?

Companies would slowly walkout of West Bengal and it would be loss not only for West Bengal for entire Eastern India.