Author Archive
Where are India’s Schumers?
Overnight, a US Senator has become a household name in corporate India. It is unlikely that Charles Schumer ever dreamt that he would be so well-known in a country which he has probably never visited and, obviously, does not know at all. His proposal – to hugely raise visa fees, ostensibly to fund the prevention of illegal immigration from Mexico – has earned him much infamy in India. The Bill, now signed by President Obama, is patently discriminatory, claerly targeting Indian IT companies doing work in the US. It defies logic as to why Indian IT companies, executing work that helps the competitiveness of the US economy, should pay an exorbitant visa fee to finance a plan for securing the US border with Mexico! Schumer has added insult to injury by not just mentioning Indian companies, but calling a highly-respected one a “chop shop” – American slang for a sleazy place that deals generally with stolen cars, stripping them for parts.
Opening the door for talent
Tomorrow’s world is not going to be about capturing ever-depleting natural resources, but about a scarcer commodity: top-flight talent. A global war for talent is already underway and India should act fast.
Structuring a new partnership
It is time for a new apex body to oversee social sector schemes with a mandate to create implementation structures that bring together expertise from the government, private sector and NGOs.
Year-end euphoria: Dreams for 2010
Before the season of festive good wishes and good resolutions wears out, here’s a list of the policy changes that I would like to happen in the new year, to promote growth and innovation
Incubating innovation in India
Creating an ecosystem that incubates and promotes innovation — converting undoubted potential to reality — requires policy intervention and funding by the government.
UID: Creating a new identity
The metaphysical, existential question, “Why am I?” (the purpose of life) has intrigued humans only marginally more than the psycho-social query “Who am I?”. Shakespeare’s answer (“…a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”) would gladden the generics industry, but offend individualists.
Creating engines for future growth
POST-1991, India’s economic landscape has witnessed huge changes. From 1.2% and 3% in the two earlier decades, the per capita GDP growth has increased to about 4% in the decade after liberalisation (1992-2002) and to 6% in the last six years. A more personal and human way of appreciating these figures is to look at the time required to double the income of an average Indian: this decreased from 60 years (a full life-time) in the 1970s to 12 years now. Another facet of economic change has been the emergence of yetsmall but rapidly growing sectors based on knowledge and technology. A particularly visible example is the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.
Resurgent state & its business impact
One way for business to minimise the negative facets of the new environment is through self-regulation. However, legitimacy can be achieved only by involving credible civil society groups.
Power to the pedestrian
The rich and powerful continue to enjoy special privileges and wield influence completely disproportionate to their numbers. They also appropriate a far bigger share of public expenditure than is justified.
Dreams for the New Year
As the strains of Auld Lang Syne fade out and the reverberations of the fire-crackers from this year’s subdued New Year celebrations die down, we end one year and enter another. It is but appropriate that the first month of the year is named after Janus, the two-faced Greek god who looks simultaneously forward and backward; appropriate, for what better time to review the past and plan for the future?
