Indian Budget 2010: Cheers to middle class, jitters for 'aam admi'

The elephant has been synonymous with India from time immemorial, through history, mythology and belief. For decades, the Indian economy, too, came to be likened to an elephant, but in a pejorative, lumbering sense. Today, as the balance of global power shifts to the East, and India is regarded with awe for weathering the financial storm better than most, the elephant analogy is back – but with the positive attributes of size, stability, solidity and strength. With our economy projected to become the second largest in the world, after China and ahead of even the US, there's a growing sense that we're riding a quiet but powerful giant, one that needs to be taken care of if we want it to travel far and carry over a billion people on its back. Just as the elephant-god is worshipped by millions as remover of obstacles and bearer of good fortune, our Budgets are awaited with a prayer that they will lead us to a better tomorrow. Will this Budget make a difference to our lives, will it help the elephant dance?
NEW DELHI: When finance minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the interim budget last year on the eve of elections, the phrase 'aam admi' figured five times in his speech starting with the opening paragraph. In his latest Budget speech on Friday, the aam admi figured only twice and had to wait till well into the speech to be invoked.
Is this more than just trivia? It might well be. The salaried middle class can celebrate an entirely unexpected windfall of up to Rs 56,000 per annum from the reworked personal income tax slabs and a new tax exemption option. Most Indian corporates have reason to be happy with the surcharge on corporate tax coming down from 10% to 7.5%, even if some among them will be unhappy about the minimum alternate tax (MAT) being hiked from 15% to 18%.
Reformers will welcome the declaration of intent implied in a disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore for the coming year — and another Rs 14,000 crore in the one month left in this year — and the assertion that the return to fiscal rectitude has begun with the deficit being pruned to 5.5% of GDP. The proposal to issue new banking licences to the private sector after a gap of over 10 years should also please business groups that have been hankering for entry into the sector.
In contrast, the aam admi might wonder why the 'flagship' rural employment scheme (NREGS) has been given just 2.5% more than in last year's budget and the ambitious Bharat Nirman has got just 6% over the budgetary allocation last year. In real terms, adjusting for inflation, both would amount to a cut in outlays.
The aam admi is also hardly likely to be pleased with the hike in fuel prices by way of excise and customs duty increases on crude oil and petroleum products — which alone are estimated to yield the government an additional Rs 26,100 crore in the coming year. This is bound to stoke fears of further inflation. The fact that excise duty hikes are more or less across the board — in a partial exit from the stimulus package rolled out through late 2008 and early 2009 — does not help.
Mukherjee's announcement that excise duty on petrol and diesel will go up by one rupee per litre prompted what might well be the first-ever boycott of a budget speech, or a part of it, by the Opposition. That's a sign that these parties believe they can gain some political traction on the issue.
True, the middle class too will not be spared the impact of these duty hikes, which the FM later insisted would directly raise the inflation rate by just 0.4%. It can also point to the fact that the extended coverage of service tax to things like domestic air travel and under-construction houses will do it no favours. But it would be difficult to dispute that on balance the Budget has saved more money for this section than it has taken away.
As for corporates, the 175-point rise in the Sensex on the day was a fair indicator of how the markets perceive the overall impact of the Budget on India Inc. While excise duty hikes are never good news for industry, the much lower-than-expected borrowings of the government — projected at Rs 3.45 lakh crore — means business need not fear being either crowded out of the credit market, or being hit by the kind of rise in interest rates that a larger borrowing programme would have meant by increasing the demand for credit.
The FM is clearly betting on growth to help him raise revenues on the scale he expects, while the fact that the pay commission arrears and farm loan waiver are no longer a millstone around his neck has helped enormously in keeping expenditure from rising too much.
The direct tax changes for individuals and corporates, he said, would cost him Rs 26,000 crore over the year, while the excise, customs and service tax changes would get him an additional Rs 46,500 crore, thus yielding a net Rs 20,500 crore. On the corporate tax front, a higher MAT will fetch him Rs 6,000 crore, while lower surcharge will lose him Rs 5,000 crore — a modest additional burden of Rs 1,000 crore on India Inc.
Mukherjee said in his speech that the proposed move to a goods and service tax (GST) would have to wait till April next year and that he would also introduce the proposed new direct tax code, which is premised on lower rates with fewer exemptions, from April 2011.
Later in the day, he told a TV channel that while he was sure about the introduction of the direct tax code next year, since that was within his purview, GST coming into force would require the concurrence of the states and hence was something he couldn't guarantee.

First India-Pakistan Talks Since Mumbai Attacks

India and Pakistan's top diplomats met today for the nuclear neighbor's first formal talks since the Mumbai terror attack more than a year ago, a preliminary summit that resumed a basic dialogue but did not accomplish anything substantive.

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, left, shakes hand with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir before the start of a delegation level meeting, in New Delhi, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. India and Pakistan held high-level peace talks Thursday for the first time since the 2008 Mumbai attacks in an effort to rebuild confidence and reduce tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.
(Manish Swarup/AP Photo)As expected the two countries brought two different agendas to the New Delhi meeting, with India focusing almost exclusively on terrorism and Pakistan looking for a wider dialogue that includes the disputed territory of Kashmir.

U.S. officials have encouraged India -- the somewhat less willing partner in this new dialogue -- to come to the table, hoping a thaw on Pakistan's eastern border would allow Pakistan's overstretched army to focus on Taliban safe havens near the Afghan border. The U.S. says it needs Pakistan to crack down on Taliban groups that use Pakistan as a safe haven if the U.S. surge in Afghanistan is going to be successful.

But the terrorism that India is most worried about involves a jihadi group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, which even Pakistan admits was responsible for the Mumbai attacks. The United States recently declared that Lashkar-e-Taiba was expanding its operations to include targets in Europe.

Indian officials accused Pakistan of failing to crack down on the group, pointing out that immediately after these talks were first discussed, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the supposed charity arm behind Lashkar-e-Taiba, reemerged in public.

The group sent out its first press releases in almost a year and held multiple rallies to mark a Pakistani holiday that celebrates solidarity with Muslim Kashmiris. Indian officials accuse Pakistan of unleashing the group into the public as a way to send a message to India that cross-border attacks -- which India says are state-sponsored -- were still possible.

Sachin becomes first batsman to score 200 in an ODI

GWALIOR: Milestone man Sachin Tendulkar re-wrote the record books on Wednesday, hammering the first double century in the history of one-day cricket to add another feather to his well-adorned cap.

The capacity crowd at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium witnessed history on Wednesday as Tendulkar, statistically the greatest batsman the game has ever seen, pushed a Charl Langeveldt delivery through the off-side and ran a single to achieve a feat which no other cricketer has achieved.

One-day international cricket, since its 1971 inception, had to wait nearly four decades to see a batsman score 200. The previous best mark was shared by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry (194 not out against Bangladesh in 2009) and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar (194 against India in 1997).

As the crowd erupted with unbridled joy, Tendulkar, tired but composed, took off his helmet, looked skyward, closed his eyes to offer a silent prayer.

His captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni came down from the striker's end to shake hands and hug him.

And as Tendulkar set on his way back to the pavilion after the completion of the Indian innings, a tumultuous celebration greeted him.

The crowd gave him a standing ovation as the entire stadium erupted in euphoria while his teammates were simply ecstatic as they clapped and hugged each other, basking in the glory of their senior teammates.

Tendulkar batted like a man with a mission on Wednesday and the South African bowlers simply had no clue where to bowl.

Once he crossed the 150-mark, the crowd anticipated something special and Tendulkar did not let them down.

A six off Roelof van der Merwe took him past Kapil Dev's 175 not out and in the next over, he hit Jacques Kallis for a four to equal his previous best of 186 not out that had come against New Zealand in Hyderabad in 1999.

The crowd got restless as Tendulkar approached the 194-run mark and a couple off Wayne Parnell saw him eclipse it.

His teammates and spectators were on the edge of their seat with a double century round the corner but with Dhoni going berserk at the striker's end and facing most of the deliveries, it was an agonising wait for all.

Dhoni took singles off the final deliveries of the 47th-49th overs and Tendulkar finally took strike with four balls left in the innings.

The first ball he received from Langeveldt was steered past point and Tendulkar ran for a single to remain unbeaten after an unforgettable unbeaten 200 that came off just 147 balls with 25 fours and three sixes in it.

It was yet another milestone for the man, who has some 30,000 international runs under his belt, including 93 centuries (47 in Tests and 46 in ODIs).

Pakistan-based group claims India bombing: report

NEW DELHI — A previously unknown Islamist group that said it had splintered from a larger Pakistan-based outfit has claimed responsibility for a weekend attack in India, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
The Hindu, a respected Indian newspaper, said it had been contacted by someone claiming to be a spokesman for a group called Lashkar-e-Taiba al-Almi which said it had carried out the bombing
Police said Wednesday the toll from the blast at the German Bakery restaurant in the western city of Pune had risen to 11, with the number of injured rising to 60 after new victims were discovered in local hospitals.
The latest fatality was a 20-year-old engineering student who died from burns at a hospital in Pune on Tuesday night.
The Hindu said an individual codenamed Abu Jindal rang the paper's Islamabad correspondent and said the attack was in response to India's "refusal" to discuss the disputed region of Kashmir, claimed by Pakistan and India, in peace talks due to resume this month.
The caller said Lashkar-e-Taiba al-Almi had split from the larger Lashkar-e-Taiba because the latter "took its orders from Pakistan's intelligence agency", The Hindu reported.
The banned Lashkar-e-Taiba is blamed by India for the attacks on Mumbai in November 2008 which killed 166 people and led to a suspension of dialogue between India and Pakistan.
The Pune bombing was the first major attack on Indian soil since the 2008 Mumbai carnage and four men have since been detained by Indian police for questioning.
Foreign secretaries from India and Pakistan are to hold peace talks in New Delhi on February 25.
The Hindu said the call to its correspondent came from an area with a telephone code common to the restive Waziristan tribal area, a stronghold for militants, and the neighbouring volatile Northwest Frontier Province.
The caller said he was ringing from Miramshah in North Waziristan.

India describes Nepal President's visit as historic

New Delhi, Feb 18: New Delhi on Thursday described Nepal President Ram Baran Yadav's four-day India visit as historic.
At the invitation of President Pratibha Patil, President Yadav paid a State visit to India from February 15 to 18. This was Yadav's first visit abroad after assuming the office of the Nepal's President.
India and Nepal share a unique relationship of friendship and cooperation characterised by open borders, deep-rooted people-to-people contacts and extensive cooperation, an MEA statement said.
The visit of President Yadav to India has helped further strengthen the friendly ties that exist between both the countries. The visit was in keeping with the tradition of regular high-level exchange of visits between the two countries.
President Yadav during his visit met with the Indian President Pratibha Patil and conveyed that India's relations with Nepal were unique and special in every sense.
President Patil reiterated India's commitment to assist Nepal and its friendly people in keeping with their wishes and priorities. Reciprocating the sentiments, the President Yadav conveyed his deep appreciation for India's support for the development of Nepal and highlighted that Nepal and India were bound by ancient history, geography, culture, and religion and shared values.
A banquet was hosted by President Patil in honour of Yadav.
Besides, President Yadav and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh exchanged views and held discussions on issues of mutual interest and concern. Both expressed their satisfaction at the progress in implementation of decisions taken during the visit of Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to India in August 2009.
President Yadav emphasised the importance of close relations between India and Nepal and expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the continued support from India for the economic development of Nepal.
While Prime Minister Singh conveyed that India attached the highest priority to further strengthening relations with Nepal in every sphere and expressed full support for the ongoing peace process and efforts to bring about economic transformation in Nepal.
Dr. Sing said that India would be happy to extend any assistance that Nepal would like India to render in this regard and hosted a lunch in honour of the President Yadav. To facilitate economic and infrastructure development in Nepal, Singh announced extension of a new concessional Line of Credit for US 250 million dollars.
Prime Minister Singh conveyed that India would supply 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat, 25,000 metric tonnes of rice and 10,000 metric tonnes of yellow peas dal to Nepal, in response to Nepal's request for supply of food items. He also conveyed India's readiness to supply 200,000 metric tonnes of wheat, if required by Nepal.
During President Yadav's visit both the countries signed Air Services Agreement (ASA) and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for extension of railway lines to five cross-border points along the Indo-Nepal border, on the establishment of Nepal-Bharat Maitri Polytechnic at Hetauda and on the establishment of Nepal-Bharat Maitri Sabha Griha in Birgunj.
 

Bombing at bakery in western India kills 8; tourists were apparent targets

A powerful blast at a popular bakery frequented by tourists killed eight people and injured 33 in the western Indian city of Pune on Saturday, the first attack since the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege that appears to have targeted foreigners.
The explosion took place a little after 7 p.m. at the German Bakery in Koregaon Park, a crowded, upscale neighborhood near the Osho Ashram, a spiritual center with many Western followers. The ashram was one of the locations canvassed as a potential target by David Coleman Headley, who is now on trial in Chicago for plotting terrorist acts.
Eyewitnesses told reporters on the scene that there was an unidentified bag at the bakery, which is also near a Chabad House, a Jewish outreach center similar to the one targeted in the Mumbai siege.
"We could hear the blast," Rabbi Betzalel Kupchik said in a telephone interview. "Thank God we are fine. We will continue our work here."
Early reports say four foreign women were among the dead. Officials were seeking to determine their nationalities and those of the other dead and the injured.
The bombing came just one day after Pakistan agreed to resume high-level talks with India, the first such dialogue between the nuclear-armed powers since relations were frozen after the Mumbai massacre.
In New Delhi, the secretary in the Home Affairs Ministry, Gopal Pillai, confirmed that the explosion was an act of terrorism and said a team from the National Investigation Agency was en route to Pune.
Authorities are also investigating who was behind the attack.

My Name Is Khan : Review - Five Stars

Story: Rizwan Khan, afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome, sets out on a historic journey to meet the US President, when his world takes a somersault after 9/11. His wife, Mandira, meanwhile tries to cope with her grief and come to terms with the new racially-divided reality.

Movie Review: Ok, let's get this straight from the very beginning. It's Khan, from the epiglotis (read deep, inner recesses), not `kaan' from the any-which-way, upper surface. In other words, it's the K-factor -- Karan (Johar) and Khan (Shah Rukh) -- like you've never seen, sampled and savoured before. My Name is Khan is indubitably one of the most meaningful and moving films to be rolled out from the Bollywood mills in recent times. It completely reinvents both the actor and the film maker and creates a new bench mark for the duo who has given India some of the crunchiest popcorn flicks. This time round, it's a whole new mantra for the two moguls and the Indian movie industry per se which might henceforth go something like: My name is Bollywood and I'm not just an entertainer. I have a whole lot to say and I'll say it in style....

The high point of the film are its performances. Shah Rukh Khan's Rizwan Khan and Kajol's Mandira cannot easily be forgotten and you end up carrying them out of the audi with you. As is Zarina Wahab's Ammi who articulates an almost perfect prototype of the perfect Indian as Shah Rukh Khan's mom: completely rooted in her culture and yet, completely secular. Add to this the film maker's eye for detail which not only sweeps across contemporary history, but also creates startling vignettes with scenes that question, challenge, debate and debunk established myths, and you have a cinema that inspires, moves, motivates and forces you to think. All this, even as it entertains. For, nowhere does the film get heavy or pedantic, despite taking on the arduous task of telling you, in plain terms, that tolerance is the indispensable virtue for the 21st century which can have no place for fundoos, regionalists, communalists, casteists, gender, class and cultural chauvinists. Let them all rest in peace while the rest of the world moves forward.

But more than everything, it is the searing simplicity of Karan Johar's narration that scintillates. Choosing a protagonist who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome seems to be a deliberate move on the part of the film maker and it works like a master stroke. One of the most seminal scenes in the film entails a young Shah Rukh (Tanay Chheda) turning back from his balcony, spewing the hate-filled abuses he's just heard in the streets below which are getting violent and bloodied with an ongoing communal riot. His mother takes him in, draws a match stick figure with a stick and another with a lollypop and asks the young Rizwan to pick out who's the Hindu and who's the Muslim from the picture. Can't tell...both are the same...the stick man is bad, the lollypop man is good...mutters Rizzu. And that remains the most important lesson of his life which a mumbling, fumbling, awkward, socially inept hero carries like a golden talisman through his monumental life. One which simply says: the world is divided into good men and bad men. Period. No other differences matter. Isn't that a lesson we'd like everyone to learn. And if it means getting back to the basics, to mum's bedside tutorials, so be it.

My Name is Khan unfolds essentially as a love story. Rizwan, the boy-with-a-difference, grows up with his mother and younger brother in the back alleys of Mumbai. He is forced to join his brother (Jimmy Shergill, rightfully jealous with all the attention his elder sibling gets) in the US and sell his beauty products as part of the family business. On one such business meet, he meets up with the spirited hair dresser, Mandira who happens to be a single mom too.

Needless to say, he wants to move in with Mandira and her 13-year-old son, Sam, urging her to marry him and convincing her he won't take too much place because he's thin and undemanding. Cute! The entire love story proceeds like a dream: full of beans and beauty and before you know, it's tragedy time. The world discovers a new dateline -- 9/11 -- and hurtles towards divide and doom. Rizwan and his family are forced to bear the brunt of racial prejudice in an intensely personal way that brings down their citadel. Time for the handyman who "can repair anything" to move out on an impossible journey that hopes to end with setting the world right. All this, while wife Mandira devilishly battles her own demons and society fights its own ills.

The film takes on an expansive canvas: 9/11, post 9/11, racial abuse, draconian homeland security laws, a hysterical US jurisprudence, hurricane Katrina....Yet, it rarely loses focus -- just here and there, post-interval -- and remains primarily the story of a good man who wants to live in a good world with good people around him. The film is brimming over with scenes that relentlessly move you to tears, not because they are sad, but because they are uplifting, inspirational and just sometimes heart-rending. Performance-wise, this undoubtedly towers as Shah Rukh's best act. He never once loses grip on his character, despite the mannerisms, the awkward body language and the distinct speech style. Definitely, this one's a few miles ahead of even Tom Hank's Forrest Gump. Kajol's Mandira is a complete winner, with the actor pitching in such a restrained act in one of the most difficult scenes of the film, she simply blows you away. Zarina Wahab is unforgettable in a cameo and the kids are super. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music score is apt, while Ravi Chandran's camera captures San Francisco like never before. But eventually it's Rizwan Khan who walks out with you, branding all the fundamentalists as `Liars' and telling all those who doubt his integrity: My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist, a non-Mumbaikar, or an unpatriotic Indian.

A word about
Performances: Shah Rukh is stupendous, Kajol mesmerising, Zarina Wahab moving and the kids -- Tanay and Yuvaan -- are brilliant. Not once does Shah Rukh lose his grip on the distinct character who has a distinct body language and a completely unchartered emotional graph.

Direction: Karan Johar comes of age. He tells a complex story with sparkling simplicity, without forgetting that cinema is primarily meant to entertain.

Story: Karan Johar and Shibani Batijha's script is expansive, covering several events that have made headlines in the recent past. Yet, it essentially remains a moving love story that moves you no end.

Dialogue: Niranjan Iyengar and Shibani Bathija have demystfied contemporary strife with polish, restraint and research.

Music: Shankar-Ehsan-Loy's audio track is brimming over with soulful, uplifting tracks like Noor-e-Khuda.

Cinematography: Ravi K Chandran creates a dreamy San Fransisco on canvas even as his Mumbai remains so real, so downtown, so back-alleyed.

Styling: Manish Malhotra and Shiraz Siddiqui go cosmo and chic with Kajol and nerdish with SRK. Perfectly apt.

NRI accuses Amnesty of favouring 'pro-Taliban activists'

An NRI working for Amnesty International on Sunday accused the global human rights body of putting the rights of al-Qaeda terror suspects above those of their victims.

Gita Sahgal, the head of the gender unit of Amnesty's International secretariat, alleged that putting the human rights of al-Qaeda terror suspects above those of their victims had "damaged"' the organisation.

She believes that collaborating with Moazzam Begg, a former British inmate at Guantanamo Bay, "fundamentally damages" the organisation's reputation.

Sahgal describes Begg as "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban". He has championed the rights of jailed al-Qaeda members and hate preachers, including Anwar al-Awlaki, the alleged spiritual mentor of the Christmas Day Detroit plane bomber.

Amnesty this weekend said it had launched an internal inquiry after Sahgal raised her concerns with bosses, including Allen and Chaudio Cordone, the interim secretary-general.

In an email sent to Amnesty's top bosses, Sahgal suggested the charity has mistakenly allied itself with Begg and his "jihadi" group, Cageprisoners, out of fear of being branded racist and Islamophobic.

Anne Fitzgerald, policy director of Amnesty's international secretariat, said the charity had formed a relationship with Begg because he was a "compelling speaker" on detention. She said he had been paid expenses for his attendance at its events.

Overhaul in Aus immigration rules to affect 20,000 applicants

In a bid to curb ‘back door´ permanent residency through its skilled migration scheme, Australian government has decided to overhaul the immigration rules which is likely to affect over 20,000 visa applicants, including Indians.

The changes would focus on overhauling of the queueing system that identifies occupations in demand and creates a points system.

The Immigration Minister would have the new legal authority to set a maximum number of visas for a single occupation. The state governments would be asked to develop new migration plans.

The Australian immigration department would tightened the rules from today, The Age reported.

Foreign students, who have a qualification for an occupation which is no longer in demand, could apply for a temporary 18-month visa.

This would allow them to gain work experience and give a foreign graduate time to find an employer willing to sponsor their application as a skilled migrant, and if they failed in their attempt they will have to return to their country of origin.

The cancelled applications apply to all offshore general skilled migration claims lodged before September 2007. For onshore overseas students, government would introduce transitional arrangements to apply until 2012.

India Inc upbeat on hiring; 71% cos hiring

New Delhi: India Inc's hiring activity has increased considerably since September last year and the current recruitment level is one of the highest globally, says a survey by international recruitment firm Antal. The quarterly global survey asked more than 6,000 firms in 30 countries that whether they were hiring at managerial and professional level and planned to do so in the coming quarter as well.
As much as 71 per cent of Indian companies surveyed said they were currently hiring compared to around half in September, the survey revealed.
Nigeria (79 per cent) is the only country to have a higher rate of hiring than India's.
"Confidence is back at its peak in the Indian job markets, its happy days again for job seekers," Antal International Managing Partner Joseph Devasia said.
Further, the survey stated that Indian firms plan on increasing their hiring activity even more, with 78 per cent expecting to hire managerial staff over the next three months. "Combined with a very low rate of letting people go (16 per cent and set to drop by a further three per cent) the results indicate a strong employment market which is improving all the time," the Antal report noted about India.
China and Pakistan also have high rates of hiring at 71 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively. Although China predicts an increase in recruitment activity, Pakistan forecasts a drop of 25 per cent.
"Manufacturing & auto sectors along with the traditional IT, FMCG, pharma companies have ramped up hiring, against what we witnessed in our previous survey. Increased hiring indicates that the need for exceptional talent is now ever more," Devasia added.
Antal said that globally although a few countries are still seeing a decline in the employment market, the global picture has definitely improved once again. "As a result we are already seeing the first clear signs of organisations thinking in terms of the 'war for talent' once more with more robust businesses making early moves to snap up the best people in their markets before general recovery becomes too apparent," Antal CEO Tony Goodwin said.

Siemens eyes up India's renewables

German engineering group Siemens is to invest $346m in India's renewables sector over the next three years.
In an interview with the Financial Times Peter Löscher, Siemens' chief executive, said the firm will increase its Indian workforce by about 50 per cent to 25,000 people.
About a third of the new investment would be directed towards the development of wind turbine technology with an expected product launch by 2012, with some of the money going towards solar development also.
"We are taking advantage of the Indian growth opportunity and adding specifically tailored products. These are in addition to our high-end technology global portfolio," Mr Löscher said.
India already has 10,000MW of wind capacity and is considered to be one the fastest growing markets in the world. The government is currently considering adopting official renewables targets.
The administration also recently unveiled a plan to give out $5bn in subsidies to utilities every year for the next 20 years for solar power.
The company plans to put a turbine manufacturing plant near Tamil Nadu and Gujarat on India's west coast, where it expected new wind farm developments to be built.
The initial focus would be on serving the domestic market, but India's low engineering and labour costs could make it the base for a turbine export business at a later date, Löscher said.
Suzlon Energy, which commenced operations in south India in 1995 with just 20 people, now has a manufacturing capacity of 4200MW a year and about 10 per cent of the global wind turbine market.

India hands over $ 5 million in aid to Haiti

India has handed over $ 5 million to Haiti's UN envoy Leo Merores, as aid for the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit the Caribbean nation in January.

India is now considering the second phase of its response that will be geared towards reconstruction and rebuilding of Haiti's infrastructure and economy.

The ambassadors of both the countries discussed areas in which India would be able to best serve Haiti's need in the coming months.

India's envoy to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri told PTI that New Delhi was "seriously studying" the situation and was considering providing the "Jaipur foot and low cost housing among other things."

Describing the international outpouring of aid as overwhelming Merores said that Haiti "deeply appreciated the very generous contribution of the government (Indian)."

"It will go into the emergency fund account to help the earthquake victims but at this point I cannot say precisely what will be done with it," he told PTI.

Responding to concerns that has been expressed about tracking the aid, Merores, noted that his government "in due time would set up an ad hoc committee" to show how the money was spent. The Indian side also noted that it would perform due diligence.

Several countries have made pledges to Haiti through different mechanisms bilaterally, through UN agencies or the UN flash appeal. China has contributed four million dollars in aid while Saudi Arabia has contributed $ 50 million.

The UN launched a flash appeal of $ 575 million out of which, UN's emergency relief coordinator, John Holmes, noted that 80 per cent of it had been met and overall the world body through its different agencies had received $ 2 billion.

Indian students in trouble as UK halts visa operations

CHANDIGARH: Some have paid their tuition fees, others have their acceptance letters in their hands. But now hundreds of Indian students may not be able to study in the UK thanks to a sudden decision to temporarily stop accepting student visa applications at its three centres in north India.

As there is no guarantee of getting their tuition fees back, which students have already paid in some cases, the fear of losing lakhs of rupees is looming over their head.

"The admissions process is an arrangement only between the student and the college and we cannot intervene. However we hope that genuine colleges will understand this situation but we cannot play any role in it," Nigel Casey, British deputy high commissioner, said.

This indefinite suspension, put in force from Monday, was the direct result of a 10-time increase in student visa applications during the period October to December 2009, at three visa application centres of Chandigarh, Jalandhar and New Delhi.

Last year, 13,500 applications were received during this period whereas only 1,800 and 1,200 were received in 2008 and 2007, respectively.

"We will again review the situation by the end of this month. Then depending on our evaluation, we will decide when to resume accepting applications again," said Casey.

Casey said that this suspension was necessary to scrutinize the situation and to save genuine applicants as there were some cases where people were abusing the student visa norms.

"Some unscrupulous agents mislead youth by telling them that they can easily attain PR (permanent residency) through student visas, which is totally wrong," he pointed out.

As per official records, Britain's visa operation in India is its largest in the world.