april 1, 2011 vol. 7 issue 4

A Publication of the Embassy of India, Washington, D.C.

April 1, 2011

nn India unveils a new

telecom policy to

usher in reforms,

change merger and

acquisition norms

nn India’s updated fdi

policy simplifies joint

venture norms, opens

up new areas for

overseas funds

nn Indian automobile

industry reports good

sales numbers for

March, driven by a

growing economy

Indian Industry Representatives meet U.S. Congressmen

(Standing L-R): Senator John Cornyn, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus; Congressman Jim McDermott; Ms. Meera Shankar, Ambassadorof India to the U.S.; Congressman Joseph Crowley, Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans; and Ms. Kiran

Pasricha, Deputy Director General, CII, hold copies of the CII study on the contribution of Indian companies in the U.S., that was releasedon March 30 at Capitol Hill, Washington D.C.

� Vol. 7 Issue 4 � www.indianembassy.org

India Review

India ReviewApril 2011

CoverSTORY

2

IndIan Industry reps

meet u.s. Congressmen

A t an event organized by theConfederation of IndianIndustry (CII) and the IndiaBusiness Forum at the

Capitol Hill on March 30, representa-tives from over 25 top Indian companies operating in the U.S. invarious sectors, including informationtechnology, automotive industry, phar-

maceuticals, communication, and steelmanufacturing, interacted withCongressmen, Senators and seniorofficials, both from the House and theSenate.

Ambassador Meera Shankar spokeof the two-way flow of India-U.S.trade and commercial engagementsin various sectors. The Ambassador

said that representatives of the Indianbusiness community were reachingout to the U.S. Congress with themessage that the Indian industryformed one of the key constituentsand stakeholders in the growingIndia-U.S. relationship.

As the India-U.S. StrategicPartnership grows, Indian businesses

(Standing L-R): Senator John Cornyn, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus; Congressman Jim McDermott; Ms. Meera Shankar, Ambassador of India to theU.S.; Congressman Joseph Crowley, Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans; and Ms. Kiran Pasricha, Deputy Director General,CII, hold copies of the CII study on the contribution of Indian companies in the U.S., that was released on March 30 at Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. (Photo Credit: Bala Chandran, Asian Ocean Media)


CoverSTORY

3

are investing in the U.S. economyand are today generating and sustain-ing thousands of direct and indirectU.S. jobs.

The Ambassador said Indian busi-nesses are committed to workingclosely with U.S. stakeholders, in theCongress, the Administration, andthe private sector to promote broad-based and mutually beneficial bilat-eral trade and economic engage-ments.

In his remarks, Senator JohnCornyn said that the relationshipbetween the United States — theworld’s oldest democracy — andIndia — the world’s largest democra-cy — has grown by leaps and boundsin recent years.

Trade in goods and servicesbetween the U.S. and India hasgrown exponentially, creating count-less economic opportunities for both

the countries and providing U.S.consumers access to affordablegoods, he said. Representative Roycespoke not just about the investments

being made by Indian firms in theUnited States, but also praised theIndian development model. He alsopushed for U.S. companies to investin India as part of the ‘two-way rela-tionship’.

Senator Klobuchar fromMinnesota provided a positiveaccount of Essar Americas’ $1.3 bil-lion greenfield investment inMinnesota which had helped save amine from closure.

The Ambassador also released apublication titled “Indian Roots,American Soil: A Look at IndianCompanies in the U.S. Economy”, inthe presence of Senators,Congressmen and the CII CountryDirector Kiran Pasricha.

The book showcases the messageof creation of value and jobs byIndian companies in the UnitedStates.

Rep. Joseph Crowley speaks at the CII event on March 30, 2011 at Capitol Hill, Washington D.C., surrounded by Kiran Pasricha, Deputy Director General,CII; Dave Ryan, Head-North America, Tata Communicat ions, and Ambassador Meera Shankar. (Photo Credit: Bala Chandran, Asian Ocean Media.)

The Ambassador saidthat representatives

of the Indian businesscommunity were

reaching out to theU.S. Congress with the

message that theIndian industry formed

one of the key stakeholders in the

growing relationshipbetween India and the United States

4


Ambassador visits California

A mbassador Meera Shankarvisited California on March23-25. During the visit, shemet with the Governor of

California, Jerry Brown, and theMayor of San Francisco, Edwin M.Lee, and discussed bilateral trade,

economic and cultural cooperation. The Ambassador also met with

Senator Diane Feinstein, theChancellor of UC Berkeley, RobertBirgineau, and the Deans of the SouthAsia and South East Asian faculties,former Secretary of State George

Shultz, and CEO of HP LeoApotheker. She addressed the IndianCultural Center at Milpitas and theUSIBC at Palo Alto.

The Ambassador met with selectIndian CEOs and senior officials ofIndian origin of various companies.

Meets with Congressman Buck McKeon

AmbassadorMeera Shankarwith CongressmanBuck McKeon,Chairman of theHouse ArmedServicesCommittee, onMarch 16.

Ambassador discusses bilateral ties with Hon’bleJohn A. Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House

Am b a s s a d o rM e e r aShankar met

Congressman BuckMcKeon, Chairmanof the House ArmedServices Committee,on March 16.

A m b a s s a d o rShankar and McKeondiscussed develop-ments in India-U.S.relations, includingdefense exchanges,and regional andglobal issues of mutual interest.

Ambassador’sENGAGEMENTS

AmbassadorMeeraShankar withthe Hon’bleJohn Boehner(R-Ohio),Speaker ofthe newlyelected U.S.Congress, onMarch 2.

Ambassador MeeraShankar called on theHon’ble John Boehner

(R-Ohio), Speaker of thenewly elected U.S. Congress,on March 2. The discussionfocussed on the positive andstrategic relationship betweenIndia and the United States.Opportunities for furthercooperation in the areas oftrade, economy, energy andhigh technology were alsodiscussed. Speaker Boehnersaid that the relationship withIndia was important for theUnited States, including forthe Congress.


5

EmbassyEVENTS

SOUTH CAROlINA FEdERATION OF REPUBlICAN WOMEN’S BRIEFINg

Briefing of members of the South Carolina Federation of Republican Women on ‘India-US relations’ at the Embassy on March 10.

‘CARE’ RECEPTION

Ambassador Meera Shankar welcoming guests at a reception hosted formembers of the ‘CARE’ organization on the occasion of the ‘2011 CAREConference & International Women’s Day Celebration’, at the EmbassyResidence on March 8. Ms. Helene D. Gayle, CARE President and CEO, addressing the gathering.

U.S. Congresswoman Nita Lowey addressing the gathering. A section of the audience.


EmbassyEVENTS

6

NORTH EASTERN COMMUNITy RECEPTION

Ambassador Meera Shankar addressing members of the IndianAmerican community from the North-Eastern states of India at areception hosted at the Embassy on March 11. A section of the audience.

Artistes presenting a variety of cultural programs

on the occasion.


EmbassyEVENTS

7

COMMERCE SECRETARy PRESS MEET

Commerce Secretary Mr. Rahul Khullar addressing a press conference at theEmbassy of India, Washington, D.C. on March 17. Also seen in the picture isAmbassador Meera Shankar. A section of the audience.

CII-INdIA BUSINESS FORUM

CII-India BusinessForum members withAmbassador MeeraShankar and DeputyChief of Mission, Mr.Arun K. Singh (frontrow, extreme right).(Photo Credit: BalaChandran, AsianOcean Media.)

INTERNATIONAl NEIgHBORS ClUB II BRIEFINg

Ambassador Meera Shankar briefing members and spouses of theInternational Neighbors Club II on ‘India-U.S. relations’ at the EmbassyResidence on March 31. A section of the audience.

T he Consulate General of India,New York, organized a two-dayevent on apparel promotion

titled ‘Fabric to Fashion India 2011’,in association with the FashionInstitute of Technology (FIT) onMarch 24-25. The event included aBuyer-Seller Meet and a networkingreception on March 24. Around 200textile and apparel vendors, retailers,wholesalers, fashion designers, andmainstream and ethnic mediapersonsparticipated in the event. A panel discussion on various aspects of theIndian apparel industry and the opportunities in India was held at FITon March 25. In his opening remarks,

Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, Consul-General of India, New York, welcomedthe guests and noted the high level ofinterest that Indian fashion and apparels have been generating in theUnited States. He spoke of the ancient origins ofIndian textiles and garments and saidthat India was a major supplier of tex-tiles even before its colonization. Indiahas regained its position and is now aworld’s leading exporter of textiles andapparel due to the role played by theprivate sector, government incentives,and innovation, he said.Ambassador Dayal said India wasrecognized as a prime sourcing

destination for garments, textiles andaccessories and New York had played aleading role in this process. He addedthat India was the world’s second-largest producer of textiles and garments and the second-largestprovider of employment in the country,supporting a workforce of around 7million people.A fusion instrumental musical program was presented by guitaristSudeip, tabla player Nitin Mitta andviolinist Raghuttam.A short film on the Indian textile andapparel industry, highlighting India’scompetitive advantage and effortsundertaken by the Apparel ExportPromotion Council, was played, followed by a film presentation ondesigner Sushma Patel.


8

ConsulateEVENTS

Consul-General Mukta Tomar visits ChicagolandChamber of Commerce

Fabric to Fashion India 2011

Consul-General of India inChicago Mukta Dutta Tomarmet Gerald J. Roper,President, Chicagoland

Chamber of Commerce, on March 8 todiscuss how Indian and U.S. companies could take advantage ofemerging business opportunities.Consul-General Tomar discussedIndia’s recently announced budget andsaid there was $500 billion worth ofinvestment opportunities in the field ofagriculture, including warehousingand transportation, and about $1 tril-lion in opportunities in infrastructure

development in India. Roper suggesteda quarterly meeting, including himself,Tomar, Chicago Sister Cities, theChamber’s Global ConnectionsCouncil, and other key parties to dis-cuss how Chicagoland could takeadvantage of business opportunites inIndia.Roper said that he looked forward tocreating future programs so thatChicagoland could benefit from busi-ness opportunities in India, and assisting interested Chamber membersto expand their business efforts inIndia.

Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, Consul-General of India, New York, welcoming guests.

A fusion instrumental musical program being presented by guitarist Sudeip,tabla player Nitin Mitta and violinist Raghuttam.

Consul-General of India in Chicago Mukta DuttaTomar with Gerald J. Roper, President,Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, on March 8.


9

ConsulateEVENTS

Celebration of Vishwa Hindi Divas at ConsulateGeneral of India, New York

T he Consulate General ofIndia, New York, celebratedthe Vishwa Hindi Divas onMarch 30 at the New India

House. About 150 guests, includingacademics, working to promote Hindiin New York and New Jersey, Hindipoets and litterateurs, representativesof the mainstream and ethnic media,and people interested in Hindi andIndian culture attended the event.In his opening remarks, Consul-General of India, AmbassadorPrabhu Dayal, laid emphasis on theneed to popularize Hindi and exhort-ed guests to begin the process byspeaking in Hindi at home. He readout the message of the Hon’ble PrimeMinister of India Dr. ManmohanSingh.

The first session dwelt on the activ-ities being undertaken by variousinstitutions to popularize Hindi.Ashok Ojha, a noted journalist, spoke

about workshops conducted by theVishva Yuva Sansthan to encouragechildren of People of Indian Origin tolearn Hindi. He also discussed activities initiated by individuals and associations in the Tri-State Area.Ambalika Mishra spoke about theactivities Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan wascarrying out to propagate Hindi.Hariet Lengel and Nooriya Puri, Hindistudents of the Bhavan, recited theirworks on the occasion. Geeta Setiaand Ashok Vyas of ITV engaged theguests with their composition ‘ShabdMere Meet’ — a dialogue emphasizingthe importance of appropriate usage ofHindi lexicon in daily life.The second session was dedicatedto the rendition of poems of eminentHindi poets.

Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, Consul-General ofIndia, New York, addressing guests.

CGI-HOUSTON EVENTS

Consul-General Sanjiv Arora (7th from left), Dr. Ajeet R. Singhvi,President, AAPI (8th from left), Dr. Manju Sachdev, Chair, AAPI WomenPhysicians’ Committee (5th from right), and Dr. Arti Gupta, HostPresident of the event (7th from right) are seen with some of the participants on March 5.

Congressman Ted Poe and Consul GeneralSanjiv Arora at the sidelines of the AnnualConsular Corps Luncheon hosted by theAmerican Jewish Committee, HoustonChapter, on March 28, 2011.

C onsul-General Sanjiv Arora was the Chief Guest at the concluding gala of the Annual Women’s Conference of theAmerican Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) in

Dallas on March 5, organized in cooperation with the Texas Indo-American Physicians Society (North East Chapter).

T e x a sCongressman TedPoe, Member,

House Foreign AffairsCommittee, was thekeynote Speaker at theAnnual Consular CorpsLuncheon hosted bythe American JewishCommittee (AJC),Houston Chapter onMarch 28. On the side-lines of this event,Congressman Ted Poeand Consul-GeneralSanjiv Arora had a briefexchange of views onIndia-U.S. relations andmutual cooperation.

C onsul-General Sanjiv Arora delivered the Florida AtlanticUniversity (FAU) Distinguished International Visitor Lecture on“India-US Partnership: A Win-Win situation” at FAU’s main cam-

pus at Boca Raton on March 31. His lecture focused on India’sachievements and challenges as the world’s largest democracy andthe fourth largest economy on purchasing power parity terms, India-U.S. relations, major priorities of the Consulate’s functioning and theConsulate’s role in expanding collaborations between local universities and institutions in India.Consul-General Sanjiv Arora (5th from left) is seen with some members

of FAU’s India Task Force on March 31.


10

I ndia on March 31announced an updatedforeign direct invest-ment (FDI) policy that

simplifies joint venture normsand opens up new areas foroverseas funds.The updated policy allowsoverseas firms in existing jointventures to operate separatelyin the same business segment.Earlier, they needed priorapproval from their Indianpartners. “The FDI policy is part ofongoing efforts of proceduresimplification and foreigndirect investment rationalisation, which will go a long way ininspiring investor confidence,” Commerce and IndustryMinister Anand Sharma said. According to the updated policy released by theCommerce and Industry Ministry, companies have nowbeen classified into only two categories — companiesowned or controlled by foreign investors, and companiesowned and controlled by Indian residents.The earlier categorization of investing companies,

operating companies, andinvesting-cum-operating com-panies has been done awaywith. “The simplification of jointventure norms will send a goodmessage to foreign investors,”said Manoj Kumar, managingpartner of legal advisory firmHammurabi and Solomon. Hesaid the new policy would givea boost to falling foreign directinvestment levels in the country. Foreign direct investmentinflows into India declined 25percent to $18.3 billion during

April-February period of fiscal 2010-11. Other stepsannounced by the Ministry include allowing conversion ofnon-cash items, such as import of capital goods, and pre-operative or pre-incorporation expenses (including payments of rent) to equity. Earlier only royalty, lump-sumfee and external commercial borrowings were allowed to beconverted into equity.The policy also allows overseas investments for the devel-opment and production of seeds and planting material.

INDIA EASES jOINT VENTUrE NOrMSTO DrAW FOrEIGN FUNDS

INDIA UNVEILS NEWTELECOM POLICY

I ndia on April 11 unveiled the broadframework of a new telecom policywhich would usher in reforms, such as

audit of spectrum usage, de-linking of spec-trum allocation and licences, and change ofmerger and acquisition guidelines.

“We want regular audit and review ofusage of spectrum by various agencies. Wefeel this is required. Which agency, whetherit is going to be the CAG (Comptroller andAuditor General of India) or the TRAI(Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), wehave not decided yet,” Communications andIT Minister Kapil Sibal said in New Delhi.

“All future licenses should be unifiedlicenses and spectrum should be de-linked

from licenses,” he saidwhile presenting the100-day report on theprogress of variousmeasures announcedat the beginning ofthe year. The Ministersaid that a uniformlicense fee across allservice areas was needed, and added thatthe quantum of fee would be decided in duecourse.

Existing roll-out obligations, too, wouldbe modified, as the Department of Telecomwas finding it difficult to monitor the same,he said. The terms for renewing licenseswould also be changed in the new policy.

Companies seeking to renew theirlicences will have to apply 30 months beforethe current one expires “so that there isenough time for us to deal with the applica-tions, enough time for the licensee also toknow what he is in for”, Sibal said. Thelicenses will be renewed after 10 years, not20 years.

EconomyNEWS

Kapil Sibal

KEY POINTSn Four categories of licenses to be

put in place: unified licenses, classlicenses, licensing through author-ization, and broadcasting licenses.

n Two levels of unified licenses, atthe national level and at the service area level.

n Spectrum sharing to be controlled and permitted onlyunder certain conditions.


EconomyNEWS

11

I ndian businesses which haveinvested widely in the Americaneconomy in diverse sectors inservices and manufacturing

have created thousands of jobs in theUnited States in recent years, according to a new study.India-based companies have alsocontinued to hire locally wherever theyhave put down roots, said the study bythe Confederation of Indian Industry(CII), ‘Indian Roots, American Soil: ALook at Indian Companies in the U.S.Economy’ released on Capitol Hill onMarch 31. The study was based on a survey of35 CII-India Business Forum membercompanies. “Indian businesses have investedwidely in the U.S. economy in diversesectors in the fields of services andmanufacturing,” Meera Shankar,

Indian Ambassador to the UnitedStates, said at the CII event highlight-ing the jobs and investments created byIndian companies in the U.S. “Theyhave generated and sustained thou-sands of direct and indirect jobs in theU.S. economy and have contributed tothe global competitiveness of U.S.companies,” she said.“This is CII’s first major attempt inbringing together Indian companieswith operations in the United States, asa group, to interact with members ofthe U.S. Congress,” said CII DeputyDirector General Kiran Pasricha. “What we want to do is highlight therange and depth of the US-India busi-ness relationship,” Pasricha said. “Wewant the Congress to appreciate thegrowing contributions of Indian com-panies to the U.S. economy and toU.S. society,” she said.

‘Indian firms create thousands of jobs in U.S.’

Come and see potential of India: Anil Ambani to U.S. firms

I ndia, which along withChina is one of theworld’s “documented

growth stories”, offerssome of the largest oppor-tunities for American companies, Anil Ambani,Chairman of Reliance AnilDhirubhai Ambani Group(ADAG), one of India’s mostsuccessful corporations, hassaid. “The opportunities forU.S. companies is vast vol-ume markets of the world,”he said, while participating

in a panel discussion on‘The Shifting GlobalEconomy and Implicationsfor Trade’ at the U.S. EximBank Annual Conference inWashington on April 1.

“The challenge for U.S.

companies is to come andreally see the potential ofIndia,” Ambani toldAmerica’s premier forum fordiscussing U.S. trade policyand developing strategiesto expand the role exportsplay in the U.S. economy.

"India and China are nowdocumented growth storiesfor many decades. Theirvery large needs of infra-structure across all sectorsis a great opportunity forU.S. exports,” he added.

Creating jobs, saving jobs

n Since 2005, nearly two-thirds ofIndian companies have addedjobs to their U.S. operations

n Together, 35 companies employover 60,000 people across 40states

n More than four-fifths of workersat these companies are hiredlocally

n A majority of workers employedat these firms are U.S. citizens

n India-based companies that haveoperations in the U.S. have saved2,585 jobs from being eliminateddue to their acquisition of U.S.firms.

US aerospace major Boeing has submit-ted a $300-million plan for investment

in the Indian defense industry as “offsets”for the four additional P8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft that India intends tobuy for its navy, a senior company officialsaid. The four P8Is are a follow-on orderfrom India, which has already signed a con-tract with the U.S. for eight P8I platforms inmaritime reconnaissance and anti-subma-rine warfare roles in January 2009 at a costof $2.1 billion.

Under the offsets (proportion of the ordervalue to be invested in the domestic indus-try of the buyer) clause in the contract,Boeing will have to plough back in theIndian defense industry 30 percent of the $1billion that these four aircraft would cost.

“We have an indication that the (Indian)government has approved four more (P8I)and it will have offset obligation. We havegiven them some draft offset proposals,”Christopher M. Chadwick, President ofBoeing Military Aircraft, said in New Delhi.India’s Defense Ministry had approved thefollow-on P8I order in October 2010.

Boeing plans $300 mninvestment in Indian

defense industry

Anil Ambani

Ambani meets Gary Locke

Anil Ambani, ADAG Chairman, on March31 met with U.S. Commerce Secretary

Gary Locke in Washington and discussed thevalue of having more U.S. medium-sizedcompanies do business in India.

Ambani and Locke also discussed theimportance of U.S. Export-Import Bank

financing. Locke spoke of the momentum inUS-India economic ties generated followingU.S. President Barack Obama’s historic visitto India last November.

Both expressed the desire to work together to accelerate the development ofthe bilateral relationship.


EconomyNEWS

12

IndIan automobIle sector’s march sales soar

T he Indian automobile industryon April 1 reported good salesnumbers for March 2011,

prompted by a growing economy,increasing disposable incomes, and lowinterest rates.Indian car market leader Maruti

Suzuki reported a 28.2 percent jump intotal sales at 121,952 units duringMarch this year against 95,123 unitsduring the same period of 2010.In March, the company’s sales were

driven by its best-selling compact carsegment, including models like Alto,Wagon-R, Estilo, Swift, A-Star andRitz. It saw a 43.3 percent rise in salesat 78,460 units against 54,763 units inthe same period of 2010. In the company’s sedan segment,

which includes cars like SX4 and Dzire,sales grew by 33.1 percent and stood at13,910 units as against 10,453 units in March 2010. The automobile giant has further reported a growth of

24.8 percent in sales for the complete financial year2010-11 at 1,271,005 units as against 1,018,365 units

during the previous fiscal. The company’s domestic salesin the fiscal grew by 30.1 percent with the sale of1,132,739 vehicles as compared to the previous financialyear.

India’s mobile subscriber basetouches 791.38 mn

The number of mobile sub-scribers in India rose to791.38 million in February

with the addition of 20.2 millionconnections, official data showed.According to the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India,the wireless user base grew 2.62percent, from 771.18 million inJanuary.

While the share of urban sub-scribers declined to 66.36 percentfrom 66.42 percent, the share ofrural subscribers increased from33.58 percent to 33.64 percent,the report said. With this, the totalnumber of telephone subscriberstouched 826.25 million, register-ing a growth of 2.50 percent.

Overall teleden-sity in India hasreached 69.29. Ofthe total 791.38million sub-scribers inFebruary, only562.98 millionsubscribers were

active subscribers on the date ofpeak visitor location register(VLR).

VLR is a database of subscriberswho have roamed into the particu-lar area, which it serves. Each basestation in the network is served byone VLR, hence a subscriber can-not be present in more than oneVLR at a time.

India’s February exportsrise 49.7 percent

India’s merchandize exports were up over 49 per-cent in February at $23.59 billion compared to the

year-ago period, and oil imports dipped marginally by0.3 percent, latest trade data showed on April 1.Cumulative value of exports for 11 months of thisfiscal was $208.2 billion, registering a growth of31.4 percent over $158.49 billion logged during thelike period of the previous fiscal. The country import-ed goods worth $31.7 billion during February, a riseof 21.2 percent from the like month of 2010.

Cumulatively, imports were up 18 percent at$305.29 billion for the April-February period against$258.74 billion logged during the similar period lastyear. Oil imports in the month under review stoodvalued at $8.21 billion, 0.3 percent lower than$8.24 billion in the like month of the last fiscal.During the 11 months of this fiscal, these importswere 12.4 percent higher at $88.17 billion, against$78.14 billion.

EconomyNEWS


13

VodaFone to buy out essar’s stake InIndIan JoInt Venture For $5 bn

B ritain-based VodafoneGroup on March 31 said itwould buy out its Indianjoint venture partner Essar

Group’s stake in India’s leading tele-com company Vodafone Essar Limitedfor $5 billion.Essar Group holds a 33 percent

stake in Vodafone Essar Limited. Afterthis deal, the global telecom giant willhave a 75-percent stake in the Indianmobile operator.“The Essar Group has exercised its

under-written put option over 22 per-cent of Vodafone Essar Limited(VEL),” said Vodafone Group in astatement. “Following the exercise by the Essar

Group of its put option, Vodafone hasexercised its call option over theremaining 11 percent of VEL ownedby the Essar Group, resulting in a totalcash payment of $5 billion,” it added.The final settlement is expected byNovember 2011.

However, Indian norms do not allowforeign companies to hold more than74 percent stake in a telecom compa-ny. So, Vodafone will have to offloadthe excess holding.“Vodafone Group’s published net

debt figure already includes this $5 billion,” the company said.Vodafone Essar is the Indian sub-

sidiary of Vodafone Group, withVodafone holding 67 percent andEssar Group 33 percent. The telecomcompany had bought a 67-percentstake in Hutchison Essar for $10.7 bil-lion in 2007. The operator is the third-largest service provider by number ofsubscribers in India with over 130 mil-lion customers as on February 2011.

Wipro to buy u.s. firm’s It business for $150 mn

G lobal softwaremajor Wipro onApril 1 announced

it would buy the oil and gasIT service business of theUS-based ScienceApplications InternationalCorporation (SAIC) for$150 million in an all-cashdeal.The Virginia-headquartered SAIC’s

IT business unit provides consulting,system integration, and outsourcingservices to global oil majors withdomain expertise in digital oil field,petro-technical data management andpetroleum application services for theupstream segment.“Post-acquisition, 1,450 employees

of the $10-billion Fortune 500 firmwill join Wipro and will be basedacross the United States, Europe,India and the Gulf region,” the com-pany said in a statement in Bengaluruand in New York. The acquisition will

also strengthen the IT bell-wether’s presence in theglobal oil and gas sectorthrough its energy, naturalresources, and utilitiesstrategic business unit. “ITspend in the energy sector isexpected to grow as cus-tomers look for newerstreams of revenues, opti-

mizing operational cost and finding better ways to become environmental-ly conscious,” Wipro Vice-PresidentAnand Padmanabhan said. With oil and gas companies in the

upstream business looking at rational-izing cost through IT, the domain con-sultancy and competencies of SAIC’sIT services unit will enhance Wipro’sposition as an end-to-end leader inservicing customers. “Bringing ourskills and client base to Wipro willincrease our combined market poten-tial,” SAIC’s IT services unit Vice-President Rex Ballard said.

S tanford Medical Center, an Ivy Leagueinstitution in San Francisco, and Jaslok

Hospital and Research Center in Mumbaihave signed an MoU to study possibilities ofcooperation in medical services and training.

In the initial phases, TeleconferencingPrograms developed by Stanford will provide Jaslok doctors with top-class education on “hot topics” and offer besttherapeutic options to Indian patients.

There would also be opportunities to par-ticipate interactively with Stanford’s faculty.This could be expanded in later phases withvisits by Jaslok doctors to hospitals and clinics at Stanford and its affiliate hospitals in the U.S.

“I firmly believe that Jaslok Hospital’smultispeciality doctors will benefit greatlyfrom the Stanford Medical Centre,” saidBoston-based Indian American CardiacSurgeon Dr. Mukesh Hariawala. “At Jaslok,we plan to establish a ‘Center forExcellence’ in cutting-edge medical technologies,” Hariawala, who leadsJaslok’s International PartnershipsDevelopment Program, said.

stanford medicalcenter’s partnershipwith Jaslok hospital

Wipro chief Azim Premji


DiasporaNEWS

14

Siddhartha Mukherjee bags Pulitzer

I ndian-American cancer spe-cialist Siddhartha Mukherjeehas bagged this year's Pulitzerprize in the general non-fiction

category for his book The Emperor ofAll Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.Delhi-born Mukherjee’s book hasbeen described as “an elegant inquiry,at once clinical and personal, into thelong history of an insidious diseasethat, despite treatment break-throughs, still bedevils medical science”. The finalists in the category were

The Shallows: What the Internet IsDoing to Our Brain by Nicholas Carrand Empire of the Summer Moon:Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fallof the Comanches, the Most PowerfulIndian Tribe in American History byS.C. Gwynne. An Assistant Professor of Medicineat Columbia University and a staffcancer physician at ColumbiaUniversity Medical Center,Mukherjee had said in December lastyear: “Cancer is growing dramatical-ly in certain parts of South Asia.”Mukherjee advocated a strong anti-smoking campaign and breastcancer screening to battle the growing

incidence of the disease in India.Less than a month after its publica-tion, Mukherjee’s book, published byScribner, featured among ‘The 10Best Books of 2010’ in the New YorkTimes Book Reviews, a rare feat for awork of non-fiction.The doctor blamed increase in cancer in tobacco smoking as

“clearly one culprit among youngmen and women”. “But there areother culprits too,” he said. “As thepopulation ages and other diseasesare slowly eliminated, cancer beginsto come about.”“Cancer rises in the double nega-tive only when all the other killershave been killed. So I think that’sbeginning to occur in some parts ofSouth Asia,” Mukherjee said.Mukherjee, 40, who grew up inNew Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave,“immersed in reading and books” athome and studied at St. Columba’sSchool, says he “came into oncologyin a sort of reverse, in the sense that Ifirst trained as a cellular biologistwhen I was in Oxford as a Rhodesscholar”.“So I really came from the cell intomedicine. Many people first train inmedicine, then eventually get fascinated by cells.”The book isn’t meant for the med-ical profession alone, he said. “Thetarget is everyone. The point of thisbook was to make the world of medi-cine and science and culture accessi-ble to anyone who is interested,” Mukherjee said.“This is a disease that has devel-oped in our times in a very poignantway. So I intend this book to be readby anyone who wishes to find outabout it: patients and people whoseloved ones are affected by cancer orany person interested in its history.”

— IANS

Hall of Fame: Siddhartha Mukherjee

W hen Indian AmericanSiddhartha Mukherjeecancer specialist called his

mother at 1 a.m. on April 19 to sayhe had won the Pulitzer, she thoughthe was pulling a fast one!“It came as a complete surprise.Siddhartha called us at 1 a.m. andasked if we were awake. I said ofcourse not — senior citizens don’tstay up so late. Then he told me thathe has won this prize and I justcouldn’t believe it,” Mukherjee’smother Chandana, who lives inDelhi, said. A resident of Safdarjung

Enclave, homemaker Chandana saidthey have been flooded with callssince early April after the newsbroke. “There have been a lot ofcalls.” Asked if they would fly downto meet their son to celebrate theoccasion, she said would go only inJune. “We had planned our vacationwell in advance and have our ticketsbooked for June. We will go for amonth or a month-and-a-half. Thenthe celebrations are going to happenwith Siddhartha, his wife and thekids and his wife’s family,"Chandana said. — IANS

‘Couldn’t believe he won Pulitzer’

The book is foreveryone. The point

was to make theworld of medicine

and science accessible to

anyone interested

DiasporaNEWS


15

Nitin Kotak gets key research post

N on-resident IndianAmerican Nitin Kotak hasbeen elected Vice-President and Chief

Financial Officer of the HowardHughes Medical Institute (HHMI)engaged in advancing scientificresearch and education in the UnitedStates.Kotak, 53, joins the Institute fromBethesda-based Technest Holdings,Inc., where he was Chief FinancialOfficer and Treasurer. “Nitin comes tous with great enthusiasm for our mis-sion and significant experience infinancial analysis, reporting, and com-pliance,” said Cheryl Moore, HHMI’sExecutive Vice-President and ChiefOperating Officer.At the Howard Hughes MedicalInstitute, Kotak will oversee budgetand financial analysis, the con-troller’s office, treasury, internalaudit, and procurement. “I am veryexcited at this opportunity to be apart of this outstanding organizationand work in a spirit of giving back to

the community. I feel honored to beselected for this great responsibility,”said Kotak.During fiscal 2010, the Institutemade disbursements of $889 million,including $738 million for scientificresearch and $89 million in grants tosupport science education and interna-tional research. The Institute’s endow-ment at the close of fiscal 2010 stoodat $14.8 billion.A senior member of three major

professional institutes in India — theInstitute of Chartered Accountants,the Institute of Company Secretariesand the Institute of Cost and WorksAccountants — Kotak started hiscareer in 1981 working as the assis-tant company secretary for a Tatagroup enterprise, Tinplate Companyof India.He then spent more than 17 yearswith ITC Limited where he held avariety of finance-related positions.In 1999, he moved to India-basedMattel Toys, a subsidiary of Mattel,Inc., as its chief financial officer.Kotak moved to the U.S. in 2003 tobecome Director of Finance andAccounting for Able Laboratories, Inc.,a publicly traded developer and manu-facturer of generic pharmaceuticals. Ayear later, he became Able’s Vice-President for Finance and Accounting.Kotak joined Technest in 2005 asVice-President for Finance andOperations and became ChiefFinancial Officer and Treasurer in2008. — IANS

Nitin Kotak

A n Indian-American mother daughter-led firm, that has designed severalaward-winning projects around the

world, has now set its eyes on India, withthree new contemporary commercial and res-idential complexes in Gurgaon, the satellitetown of the capital New Delhi. “We’re a firmthat has always had a very strong sense ofplace, of roots, and of keeping those in vieweven as we look to the future in our designpractice,” says New Delhi-born Suman Sorg,Founding Principal of Washington-based SorgArchitects.

“These three new commissions in Indiagive us a chance to demonstrate both of thoseinstincts,” said Sorg, who runs one of thelargest woman-owned architecture practicesin the U.S. with her 30-year-old daughter,Nikki. Sorg has also won a “City of the Future”competition imagining Washington in theyear 2108. Sorg’s award-winning schemeimagined a “City of Ideas” that envisions it as

an incubator and platform for internationalexchange and education and yet preservesand enhances its historical identity.

Among the over 250 projects in the U.S.and abroad designed by her firm are the U.S.embassies in Afghanistan, Barbados, Finland

and Saudi Arabia, the HolocaustMemorial Museum, Kovno GhettoExhibit, an Egg-Shaped DigestersFacility, the National Library of theCzech Republic and the Library ofCongress, and CoolidgeAuditorium.

Each of her planned projects forIndia is unique and uniquely suitedto India’s natural and cultural cli-mate and will bring high qualitycontemporary architecture toGurgaon, says Sorg. “We’re excitedabout these new projects,” shesays about the three projects calledthe Grand Arch, Skyon and Sector

62, set to open over the next year-and-a-half.“We’ve been working in India for a number

of years, but this represents a unique oppor-tunity: these three large-scale, multi-usestructures really reflect the best of our longwork,” Sorg said. — IANS

A 12-building complex takes cue from classic works ofIndia’s past like the Taj Mahal.

Architect duo plans unique aesthetics for India


Trends inSOCIETY

16

T he Indian biotechnology sec-tor is one of the fastest grow-ing knowledge-based sectorsin India and is expected to

play a key role in shaping India’s rapid-ly developing economy. With numer-ous comparative advantages in termsof research and development (R&D)facilities, knowledge, skills, and costeffectiveness, the biotechnology indus-try in India has immense potential toemerge as a global key player.The biotechnology industry in India

is likely to see a significant increase inmerger and acquisition (M&A) activi-ty, according to research firm GrantThornton. The Indian biotech industry crossed

the $3 billion mark in 2010, witnessinga 23 percent growth over the previousyear. Of this, while the share of domes-tic firms stood at 47 percent, exportsaccounted for 53 percent of the overallrevenues. India’s high-skill and low-cost advantage is said to have helped ingaining export contracts and clinicalresearch bioservices.The Indian biotech industry grew

threefold in just five years to report rev-enues of $3 billion in 2009-10, a rise of17 percent over the previous year,according to the eighth annual surveyconducted by the Association ofBiotechnology-Led Enterprises(ABLE) and a monthly journal,BioSpectrum, based on inputs fromover 150 biotech companies. The biopharma sector contributed

nearly three-fifth to the industry’s rev-enues at $1.9 billion, a rise of 12 per-cent, followed by bioservices at $573million and bioagri at $420.4 million.The remaining revenue came from thebioindustrials $122.5 million andbioinformatics $50.2 million segments. Biopharma and bioservices sectors

contributed 63 percent and 33 percent,respectively, to the total biotech

exports. The bioagriculture, bioindus-trials, and bioinformatics sectorsremained focussed on domestic opera-tions, bringing in nearly 90 percent oftheir revenues from India. Moreover, according to Kiran

Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman andManaging Director of Biocon, whichhas topped the list of biotech compa-nies in India in the ABLE survey, Indiais looking forward to achieve $5 billionin revenue this fiscal (2010-11).India is also gaining importance as

a clinical trial destination. Accordingto a joint study by an industry bodyand Ernst and Young (E&Y) releasedin August 2009, the industry-spon-sored Phase II and Phase III clinicaltrial sites in India have grown by 116percent during June 2008 and August2009, with the country moving fromrank 18 to 12 across the 60 mostactive countries. India participates in 7 percent of the

global Phase III trials and 3.2 percentin the Phase II trials with industry-sponsored trials having grown by 39percent CAGR during 2004-08. According to a report by the

Confederation of Indian Industry andYES Bank, the Indian biotechnologyindustry is estimated to witness a 20percent annual growth rate, to reach$8 billion in 2015 from $1 billion in2005. The report forecasts that Indiawill account for 3-5 percent of theglobal biopharmaceutical market.

Major Investments Investments, along with outsourcingactivities and exports, are key driversfor growth in the biotech sector. According to data released by the

Department of Industrial Policy andPromotion, the drugs and pharmaceuti-cals sector has attracted foreign directinvestment (FDI) worth $1.85 billionbetween April 2000 and December 2010.

India’s Biotechnology Sector:Growth and Opportunities

Trends inSOCIETY


17

Some of the major investments inthe sector are as follows: n Swiss Pharma company Lonza AG,plans to invest around $55.33 mil-lion through its Indian subsidiary ina phased manner in Genome Valley project, Hyderabad, said StefanBorgas, CEO, Lonza.

n Biotechnology major Biocon plans toinvest around $107 million over thenext three years to set up plants thatwill supply generic biotechnologydrugs to Europe and the UnitedStates, said Murali Krishnan K N,President-Group Finance, Biocon.

n The Defense Research andDevelopment Organization, whichcaters primarily to the armed forces,plans to spend $63.5 million toupgrade and custom-make its exist-ing line of biotech products for civilian use.

Tie- UpsBangalore-based Biocon Ltd signed amarketing deal with drug-maker Pfizerto globally commercialize four of itsinsulin biosimilar products. Pfizer willupfront pay $200 million for the exclusive world rights.The Department of Biotechnology,

Government of India, and the IndianCouncil of Agricultural Research(ICAR) have entered into an MoU withthe Biotechnology and BiologicalScience Research Council (BBSRC),UK, and the Department forInternational Development (DFID). The initiative is expected to forge

productive global partnerships betweenscientists in the UK, India and otherdeveloping countries to leverage high-quality biological and biotechnologicalresearch for sustainable crop produc-tion in South Asia and Sub-SaharanAfrica. An agreement on Russia-IndiaBiotech Network (RIBN) was signedto serve as a dedicated platform to helpfacilitate collaboration betweenRussian and Indian biotech companieson September 14, 2010. Hyderabad-based contract research

firm GVK Biosciences has also part-nered with ResearchPoint Global, theUS-based clinical organization.Together, the two companies, which

are full-service contract research orga-nizations (CROs), will offer access tomedical writing, clinical data manage-ment and biostatistics, as well as quicker patient recruitment.Biocon Limited has signed an MoU

with Malaysia’s BiotechnologyCorporation (BiotechCorp) to explorecollaboration and potential investmentin Malaysia’s biotechnology industry.Moreover, Syngene International, thecustom research subsidiary of BioconLtd, has entered into a discovery anddevelopment collaboration with EndoPharmaceuticals of the United Statesto develop biological therapeuticmolecules against cancer.

Government InitiativesIn recognition of the need for trainingand education for generating interdis-ciplinary human resource relevant tobiotechnology, the Government ofIndia and UNESCO have taken a jointdecision to establish the RegionalCenter for research, training and edu-cation in biotechnology under the aus-pices of UNESCO. The UNESCORegional Center for Biotechnology isscheduled to come up in Faridabad,Haryana. Further, the Department of

Biotechnology (DBT), Government ofIndia, has also decided to set up aunique Health Biotech Science Cluster(HBSC) at Faridabad. Moreover, thegovernment will fast-forward the pro-cess of setting up a NationalBiotechnology Regulatory Authority, tostimulate public and private investmentin biotechnology.

A draft bill to set up theBiotechnology Regulatory Authority ofIndia (BRAI) to modulate the research,import, manufacture and use of organ-isms and biotechnology products isready, Prithviraj Chavan, then federalMinister of Earth Sciences, had said onNovember 10, 2010. Besides the feder-al government initiatives, individualstates are also doing their bit to pro-mote the biotechnology industry. According to B.S. Yeddurappa, Chief

Minister of Karnataka, a bio-venturefund with a seed capital of $10 millionwill be set up to incubate start-ups byyoung entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, the Government of India

proposes to set up a $640.68 millionventure capital fund to give a fillip todrug discovery and strengthening thepharma infrastructure in the country,Ashok Kumar, Secretary, Departmentof Pharmaceuticals, said.The National Agri Food

Biotechnology Institute (NABI), aDBT project, is likely to be ready in thenext three years. The autonomousinstitute, along with a bio-processingunit, would become India’s first insti-tute in the field of agri-biotechnology,for which the federal government hasearmarked $86.36 million to be inject-ed in next five years. The DBT is implementing a program

to augment and strengthen institution-al research capacity for the promotionof excellence in interdisciplinary science and innovation in specific areasof biotechnology.

Looking AheadIndia is being globally recognized as amanufacturer of economical and high-quality bulk drugs and formulations.With a huge base of talented, skilledand cost-competitive manpower, Indiahas great potential to become a leadingglobal player in biotechnology. According to Shaw, who is also

Chairman of the Karnataka VisionGroup on Biotechnology, the nextgoalpost that the domestic biotechnol-ogy sector has set for itself, is to reacha turnover of $10 billion by 2015. (Courtesy: The India Brand EquityFoundation)

The Government ofIndia and UNESCOhave taken a joint

decision to establishthe Regional Centerfor research, training

and education inbiotechnology under

the auspices ofUNESCO


ScienceNEWS

18

W hat’s the right lifestyleand diet for the season?To find out, turn to thefirst of its kind

ayurvedic calendar brought out by theBanaras Hindu University (BHU) inVaranasi.The Faculty of Ayurveda at theBHU, a prestigious federal university,has come up with a health calendarthat would guide people on how tostay fit and healthy round the year.“Put simply, the calendar wouldenable people to select the right diet

and lifestyle tipsin every seasonfor staying fit,”V.K. Joshi, aprofessor withthe University’sayurveda facul-ty, said in

Varanasi on March 25. “You canbroadly say the calendar has variousguidelines in sync with different seasons that would make people stayhealthy,” Joshi said. “The calendar also has other bene-

ficial information. One of them is tomake people select the right color forclothes on a seasonal basis — anexercise that helps in healthy living,”added Joshi, who has conceptualizedthe calendar. The calendar is based onritucharya, the time-tested ancientseasonal regimen, which helps keeppeople healthy through proper dietand lifestyle pertaining to the season.The guidelines and information inthe ayurvedic calendar are based onthe seasons as traditionally classifiedby Hindu calendars.

An ayurvedic calendar to promote healthy living

Jatropha holds potential to be sustainable aviation fuel

T here is a significant potential forsustainable aviation fuel basedon jatropha-curcas, an oil-pro-

ducing non-edible plant, says a studyreleased by Boeing.The study, led by Yale University’sSchool of Environmental Studies, hasshown that if cultivated properly, jat-ropha can deliver strong environmentaland socio-economic benefits in LatinAmerica and reduce greenhouse gasemmisions up to 60 percent compared to petroleum-based jet fuel.“Research study like this is vital tohelping developers deliver better social,environmental, and economic sustain-ability outcomes from jatropha cultiva-tion,” says Rob Bailis, Assistant

Professor at the Yale School ofForestry and Environmental Studies.The study, conducted from 2008-2010 and funded by Boeing, used sus-tainability criteria developed by theRoundtable on Sustainable Biofuels toassess actual farming conditions inLatin America. A key study findingidentifies prior land-use as the mostimportant factor driving greenhousegas benefits of a jatropha jet fuel.

I ndian scientists wouldstudy the impact on theIndian Ocean of the

Pacific Ocean tsunami thatravaged north-eastern Japanrecently, a meteorologicaldepartment official said onMarch 23.

“The Pacific Ocean is sovast that if there are somechanges in the sea following

the recent tsunami, it willhave a global impact. Wewill study the impact of thePacific Ocean tsunami onthe Indian Ocean,” saidIndia MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) Director-General Ajit Tyagi. Scientistsare awaiting data related tochanges in the pattern ofthe Pacific Ocean. “We need

to study changes in sea cur-rents, bottom of the sea andocean conditions, and howit can impact the IndianOcean,” Tyagi said. The dev-astating earthquake andtsunami that struck Japanon March 11 left 9,301 peo-ple dead, while at least13,786 are still unaccountedfor.

India to study Japan tsunami’s impact on Indian Ocean

India will launch an advanced remotesensing satellite on April 20 to study

and manage natural resources, the IndianSpace Research Organization (ISRO)announced on April 9.

Preparations to launch the 1.2-tonResourcesat-2 spacecraft onboard thePolar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16)were progressing well at the SatishDhawan Space Center at Sriharikota, theISRO said.

Sriharikota, in Andhra Pradesh, isabout 80 km northeast of the southernIndian city of Chennai. The polar orbitrocket will also carry a 92 kg Youthsat, ajoint Indo-Russian nanosatellite for stellarand atmospheric studies, and a 105 kgmicrosatellite X-sat for imaging applica-tions, built by the Singapore-basedNanyang Technological University.

“The launch authoriziation board willreview the readiness of the rocket, satel-lites and ground stations on April 16. Thecountdown will begin on April 18 for the scheduled lift-off on April 20 at 10.12am,” the statement said.

The upcoming event will be the spaceagency’s first launch mission after thefailure of its geo-satellite launch vehicleon December 25 after 10 connectorssnapped within a minute after the 418-ton rocket took off from the spaceport,carrying an advanced communicationsatellite.

India to launchadvanced remotesensing satellite

India Review

ShortSTORY

April 2011

19

THE MOUNTAIN TRAILBy Anil Chandra

(The author, a former Indian bureaucrat, is a short story writer and a scholar. Chandrahas also written three books on history covering ancient India and China.)

S ukhram Lodhi sat leaningagainst a rock, his turbanover his eyes, the warmth ofthe sun on his bare feet. His

feet told him where he was. They knewthe feel of the sand and the stones, andthe different kinds of grass.To his right a bird twittered. Itseemed to Sukhram that he knew whatit was saying. Because he was blind, thebirds and beasts let him into theirworld, made him a party in it. He neverspoke of this except to his brotherRajbir and his grandfather ShivpriyaChauhan. They never laughed at himfor his fancies.Sukhram was fourteen and he knewthat people were sorry for him. But hethought, if only they could guess howbeautiful his world was, they wouldenvy him. Most people did not knowabout the little rustlings in the grass.They did not know the feel of things,round things like eggs, and water-worm stones, rough things like rocks,

or of leather, or of skins. They did notknow anything about smells. Theywent through life with blind noses.Sukhram spent his time herding hisfather’s hundred goats. He knew themby the sound of their cloven hoofs onthe stones by their smell. It was easy to

herd goats. When Sukhram called,they came. When he played the flute,they followed him over his father’sfields and the hills beyond.There was less heat in the sun now.It was time to go. Sukhram got out hisflute, raised it to his lips, and blew anote softly. He could feel a movementabout him. The goats had raised theirheads and were looking toward him.He blew again. The goats were allabout him. Now he would play themdown the mountain and into the shelter, and tomorrow he would leadthem out again. It was a happy life.But while he had been on the moun-tain that day, Rani Lakshmi Bai, thequeen of Jhansi, declared war on theEnglish and was joined by theindomitable Tantia Tope. He found hisfather and Rajbir saddling their horses.They kissed him goodbye, their riflespressing into his chest as they held him.As the sound of hoofs faded into thedistance, he felt his mother beside him.

Sukhram was fourteenand he knew that

people were sorry forhim. But he thought, ifonly they could guess

how beautiful hisworld was, they wouldenvy him. Most people

did not know aboutthe little rustlings in

the grass. They did notknow the feel of

things


20

STORYShort

She put her arm about him. “What willwe do now, amma?” he asked.“We are going son. We are going toyour grandfather.”“But it will be dark there. I do notknow those fields and how shall I grazemy father’s goats in a strange placewhere it’s dark?” For the first time heknew what it was to be blind.In the morning, the horses werehitched to the wagon, and the loosecattle and goats were collected for thefifteen-kilometer trek. “ComeSukhram,” his mother said. “We areready.”He had a long parcel wrapped insacking. “I am bringing my brother’sother rifle,” he said. “They say my eyesare clear and black. If anything happened to us, you could stand meright with the gun in my hand, and noone would know.”Sukhram got up beside his mother.Suddenly, he said, “I am nothingamma. I am going to a strange placethat my feet do not know, and I amnothing.” As the wheels turned, heknew this more than ever.Later, he asked: “Tell me what yousee amma? Can you still see the moun-tain where I used to graze my goats?”When they reached there, his grand-father had gone — everyone, all theold men and the boys as well. Sukhramalone was left. There was nothing to dobut wait.Day after day it was the same, neverany news. Sukhram was finding hisway about his grandfather’s farm bet-ter now, but it was not home. He didnot belong here.One day, some soldiers passed, tiredmen on tired horses. Sukhram lis-tened. The shuffling of the horses andthe sweaty smell of men, told him allthat he needed to know.“Have you seen my father or mybrother?” he asked.“Who are you?”“I am Sukhram Lodhi,” he said. “Iam blind. My father is with TantiaTope’s army.”“We are joining Tantia Tope. We willtell him we have seen you.”Shortly he heard more horses com-ing. But these were not the horses of

his people. They were heavier and werenot being ridden loose reined.He could hear the jingling of chains,the strike of metal on metal. Thesewere English. They must be in pursuitof the tired men who had passed himearlier.“Have you seen some soldiers pass,boy?” It was the man on the nearesthorse, no doubt the officer in com-mand.“I have been out all day,” Sukhramreplied. “I have seen nothing.”“You’ll get nothing out of that, boy,”another man said, “but they came thisway all right and have gone toward thehills. They can’t be far away. Theirhorses are tired.”Yes, their horses were tired,Sukhram thought, but it was strangethat these men could not see where thesoldiers had gone, when he could feeltheir spoor with his feet, when thedung of the horses was still warm and

dustless. “Come on then,” the officersaid,” “They can’t be far.”The soldiers swirled past Sukhram.There were, as far as he could makeout, some thirty of them. But if therewas one troop of English cavalry, therewould be more, He strained his ears,waiting. It would come soon.It came, a single shot. Three more,singly — those were his people. TheEnglish did not shoot like that. Theydid not fight like his folk, in small bodies. Their shots were faster now.They were fighting a running battle asthey moved toward the mountain. Hebegan to be afraid for Rajbir and hisfather.He made his way back slowly.“Did you see the English?” hismother asked.“Yes, I saw them, amma, he said.“They spoke to me. They were follow-ing some soldiers that were going tojoin Tantia Tope. Father and Rajbir arethere.”“I wish we had news,” his mothersaid.“Yes amma, it is hard to live withoutnews. It is hard also to be a man and tobe here. Today I was ashamed. First toface our folk and then to face theEnglish. I told our people but I did nottell the English. They did not knowthat I could not see. Oh amma, is therenothing I can do?”That night Sukhram could not sleep.It seemed as if by not sleeping, by suf-fering, by thinking, he could help theothers. So he built up a battle in hishead — by the feel of the sweatingnecks, imagining of horses, by thesmell of men like those who had passedthat day, by the sound of rifle bolts, thereek of exploding cordite, the crackleof shots, the sound of hoofs, and therattle of chains. Suddenly, he sprangup. “Amma, amma” he shouted. “I have had a dream. It is my broth-er on horseback. He is riding hard.”He ran to his mother. He felt her sitting up in bed. “The gun”, he said,“Get me the gun!”She pushed the rifle into his hand.He opened the bolt and closed it. Thecartridge slid into the breech. Hefound the door and opened it. The

Perhaps it was as wellit was dark. Had there

been more light, perhaps the menwould not have

climbed. But theycould not see. Amongthem all, because he

was blind, onlySukhram could see

21


STORYShort

approaching horse had not sloweddown.“Light the lamp, Sukhram said.“Then come and stand beside me.”He stood in the middle of the door-way. His bare feet gripped the stonefloor. His gun was held across him,ready to raise.“Stop or I shoot”, he shouted. ‘It isRajbir’s horse, but it might not beRajbir’, he thought.“Sukhram… Sukhram… what areyou doing with the gun?” It wasRajbir.“What is it, Rajbir?” his motherasked.“Amma, I have no time to explain. Ihave come to fetch Sukhram. TantiaTope needs him.”“Tantia Tope? You are takingSukhram to the war? What canSukhram do?”“Yes. What can I do?” Sukhramasked.“I’ll tell you on the way. Come here.”Sukhram went toward the horse andfelt for his brother’s leg. He held thestirrup with one hand and put his footinto it. His brother had his left hand.He was up.“Hold fast, Sukhram. We are goingto ride.” He had hardly got hold of hisbrother’s waist when the horse was off.They were galloping. It began to rain.Where were they going? What was heto do? What use could he be to TantiaTope? The ground grew rougher.There were loose stones. Suddenly, hesat up straighter. He could smell themountain, his mountain...“We are nearly there,” Rajbir said.He pulled up. “I am back,” Rajbirshouted. Sukhram felt his brother’sarms around him. He lifted him down.“Is Sukhram there?” It was hisfather’s voice.“I am here, father. Brother hasbrought me.”“Where’s the boy?” It was TantiaTope.“We are here,” Rajbir said. “Explainwhat you want of him. I have saidnothing.”“Listen, Sukhram,” Tantia Topesaid. “We are a hundred men. TheEnglish are to the north and a big com-

mando is driving them back. TheEnglish do not know we are here andare retreating toward the river crossingthat we are holding.”“I understand,” Sukhram said.“They will be caught between twofires.”“Yes,” said Tantia Tope. “But some-thing has gone wrong. A force ofEnglish has got to the top of the moun-tain by another way. We command thecrossing but they command us. We aregoing to attack them tonight, but thereis only one path from this side. It isvery small, a goat track, and the nightis so dark that we can do nothing. Yourbrother said you could lead us up themountain.”“Me. Lead Tantia Tope’s army?”“Yes, you, Sukhram,” his brothersaid. “You know the path.”“Yes, I know the path.” Of course.Had he not been up it almost every dayof his life?They set his feet on the path where itbegan. His father was behind him; thencame Rajbir, and then the others, along line of men on his goat trail, allfollowing him up his mountain. Hewas leading the soldiers. His feet kneweach stone and root, each bend, eachrock. He recognized the scents of themountain, the trees, the little breezes,the small eddies of air — here it waswarmer, there it was colder. “This is atrail for goats,” his father whispered. “Inever knew you came up here. I wouldnever have let you come. If youslipped…”“I’ll not slip. It is my mountain trail.”He laughed to himself. Perhaps itwas good that it was dark. Had therebeen more light, perhaps the men

would not have climbed. But theycould not see. Among them all,because he was blind, only SukhramLodhi could see.“We are nearly there father,” he saidas he came to the face of a cliff. He feltfor a finger hold in the wet rock andcommanded the others to start climb-ing. Soon, he and his father were onthe top. Man after man passed, breath-ing heavily. There had been no chal-lenge. Tantai Tope whispered instructions. The men spread out.Sukhram’s father pushed himbehind a big stone. “Stay there,Sukhram. We’ll come back for you.”He must wait now. He could feelthem leaving him — feel them creep-ing toward a camp of sleeping men.There was a shout and then another.Then everyone was shouting andshooting. There were cries from thewounded. Shots and more shots, ahoarse cheer from Tantia Tope’s menand the shout: “They are running!”There was a terrific burst of fire.Sukhram could smell burning cordite.A single shot and then nothing till heheard his father call him. “Sukhram,are you there?”“I am here.”Someone took his hand. It wasTantia Tope. “I want to thank you,” hesaid. “Without you this could not havebeen done, and had it been a fair night,I do not think it could have been done.I do not think we would have facedthat climb had we been able to see.”They were all around him now,pressing against him and taking hishand. They had tears in their eyes. “Ifit had not been for you…”“They will make songs of this,” anold man said. “Ballads of SukhramLodhi in our local ‘bundeli’ dialect. Itwas the will of God that you shouldlead us up the mountain trail.”Yes, it must have been the will ofGod that had guided his feet in unac-customed places, for he had neverbeen up to the top of the mountainbefore. His goats had been — he knewthat, for he could feel their foothold inthe rocks. But Sukhram had neverbeen. He had never dared. Not to the top.

April 2011India Review

CinemaNEWS

22

New York Indian film fest

geTTINg bIgger, beTTer

I t could become the Indiancounterpart to Sundance. Thisyear’s New York Indian FilmFestival (NYIFF) still features

Indian independent and diaspora

films, but each year “it’s getting bigger,better and more exciting than the last”,says its creator Aroon Shivdasani.Having it in spring instead of winter— it’s in May — will ensure a lot ofaction inside and outside the theaters,

said Shivdasani, Executive Director ofthe Indo American Arts Council(IAAC) in New York. “We intend eachyear to be bigger, better and moreexciting than the last,” Shivdasani,

who created the first Indianfilm festival in the U.S. back in2001 soon after 9/11, said.“We want to establishNYIFF as the Indian counter-part to Sundance, add a filmbazaar, grow the festival to awhole week of screenings, pan-els, awards, special events,international interest,” shesaid. “We want to make it THEfestival for Independent andDiaspora films from the Indiansubcontinent.”The 11th annual edition of

the May 4-8 film festival in Manhattanwill present Disney’s first ever liveaction Hindi film Do Dooni Chaar,starring the actor couple Rishi Kapoorand Neetu Singh, on the openingnight.

Aroon Shivdasani, Executive Director of the Indo American Arts Council in New York

A film on Nobel LaureateRabindranath Tagore’s life is to bemade soon. In the year of the

poet’s 150th birth anniversary, directorSangeeta Datta plans to capture the bard’sliterary excellence on camera.

“The project that I am getting inspiredto start work on is something onRabindranath Tagore’s life,” said Datta,whose directorial debut Life Goes On wasreleased in India on March 25.

“I think it’s too early to talk about it. Itwould be on a small section of his life, onthe years he spent in England and it canspan out to be a bit larger,” Datta said.

Life Goes On is the first film in whichveteran actress Sharmila Tagore workedwith her daughter Soha Ali Khan. The filmmade an extensive round of festivals inIndia and across the world. Owing to somecontractual compulsion, she had to releaseit in India after opening it in the U.S. andBritain, said Datta.

“We had a long festival circuit, youknow. We were travelling almost thewhole of last year. In December, it wasreleased in the U.S. and in mid-March, itwas released in Britain,” she said.

The story, script and screenplay are byDatta. The film is a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s “King Lear”,but it has a hopeful ending.

Apart from Sharmila Tagore and Soha,actor Girish Karnad, Om Puri, RezKempton, Neerja Naik, Mukulika Banerjee,Christopher Hatherall, Stef Patten and AriaGitanjali Banerjee Watts have played pivotal roles in the film.

Film on Tagore tobe made soon

K.L. Saigal: The Musicianof the Masses

S ome voices refuse to fade from memory.Legendary musician K.L. Saigal, the musi-cian of the masses and the enduring face of

Devdas on the Hindi screen, remains one of themeven 63 years after his death.“Saigal’s greatest contribution was that hebrought music to the masses. Before he arrived onthe musical centre stage, music was meant for theelite who either enjoyed it at the salons of profes-sional singers or soirees of maestros like FaiyazKhan and Abdul Karim Khan,” Pran Nevile, author of a new volume K.L. Saigal:The Definitive Biography, said. Saigal was gifted with a “divine voice, a flair forwriting and composing songs and an imposing screen presence which made himone of the greatest singers of the 20th century and a superstar”, said Nevile, aformer Indian Foreign Service officer and former UN official, who has authored12 books on art and culture. Saigal was considered the creator of sugam sangeet— the kind of music enjoyed by the masses, he said. Nevile recently unveiled thepaperback edition of his new Saigal biography published by Penguin-India. Bornin Jammu on April 4, 1904, Saigal was initiated into music by mother KesarDevi, an accomplished singer who often took him to religious soirees.

D o you think your life hasbecome a little too monot-onous and you need someadventure? Visit Rajaji

National Park where you can explorethe wilderness in the company of some400 wandering wild elephants. Seethese giant mammals up close. Theygulp down up to 200 liters of waterdaily, eat over 200 kg of food, and wal-low in the mud for hours in thissprawling reserve ensconced in theShivalik foothills of the Himalayas inUttarakhand.The 800-plus sq km park is home tothe largest population of wild elephantsin northern India and a cradle forendangered wildlife, such as the slothbear, ghoral goat, jackal, leopard andtiger. Leisure Hotels, one of India’s lead-ing hospitality groups, is helpingtourists discover this tranquil worldwith a range of itineraries at its ForrestResort near the reserve.You can take a jeep safari to the park,or hike to one of the villages atop thepicturesque hills early morning. Youmay even choose to laze around orspend time reading books on yourfavorite subjects while sitting in areclining chair on the cold concrete porch of one of the luxury

tent cottages at the resort, as the gentlebreeze nourishes you with the scents ofthe forest.If you long for a gastronomicadventure or if you are a bookworm,then also there’s plenty for you. Youcan dig into a range of cuisines pre-pared by the finest in-house chefs.And you may even get inspired towrite after enjoying the romanticcharm of the place.During the parched season, a dryriverbed serves as the only motorableroad to the resort. This 12-km stretchfrom Kodiya village up to Shiargarh,where the resort is located, is in itselfan adventure, as your vehicle lurchesforward through boulders big andsmall that form the rugged surface ofthe serpentine channel.The dry waterbed skirts through thesparsely forested hills, giving you amajestic view of the Shivalik during theride. And as you prepare for the nightahead, the afternoon sun gently stokesyou with a fresh dose of energy. A deepcroak of the great hornbill at a distancewill alert you to your entry into her ter-ritory; so will her cousins, the orientalpied and grey hornbills. In monsoon, the movement of vehi-cles on this stretch is not possible.River water with overpowering force

gushes downhill. This abundant seasonal water nurtures the lush decid-uous forest of Rajaji, named after thefirst and last Governor-General ofindependent India, C. Rajgopalachari.“The Balkumari Temple trek is one ofthe best places here for hikers,” saysAjay Ghale, Corporate Chief Naturalistof Leisure Hotels. “You can get apanoramic view of the mountains fromthe hilltop.”The resort, gracefully spread inabout 10 acres at the base of theShiargarh Hill, radiates in the dim yel-low lights that emanate from some 20cottages at nightfall. The staff helpsyou unwind and it’s time for barbequeand bonfire.The Shivaliks beckon. And don’t getsurprised if a wallcreeper comes callingat your cottage. You will at once fall inlove with this tiny, attractive little bird.The night soon takes you to anotherworld as you ground yourself near abonfire. “We want the resort to be eco-friendly as much as possible. In thenext season, we will try to introducesolar energy for all purposes,” saysBankim Sharma, one of the partners atForrest Resort.The resort is open from Novemberto mid-June.

hOw TO reAchBY AIR FROM DELHI to Jolly Grant airport inUttarakhand, and from there by vehicle upto the site in Shiargarh. Or by train fromDelhi to Haridwar or Rishikesh and fromthere by road.

23

Travel &TOURISM

MAgIc OFrAJAJI PArK’SJuMbO hAveN

April 2011India Review

n Festival of Colors

Students playing Holi, the Festival of Colors, in New Delhi on March 18. Holi also marks the end of winterand the beginning of spring.

Printed and Published by the Press & Information Office, Embassy of India, 2107 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, D.C., 20008Content, design and production by IANS. www.ianspublishing.com

CONSULATES

Consulate General of India1990 Post Oak Blvd. # 6003 Post Oak CentralHouston, TX 77056

Tel. 713-626-2148/49Fax. 713-626-2450

E-mail:[email protected]

Website:www.cgihouston.org

Consulate General of India3 East, 64th Street

New YorkN.Y. 10065

Tel: 212-774-0600Fax: 212-861-3788


Website:www.indiacgny.org

Consulate General of India540 Arguello Boulevard

San FranciscoCA 94118

Tel: 415-668-0662Fax: 415-668-2073

E-mail:[email protected]:

www.cgisf.org

Consulate General of India455 North Cityfront Plaza Drive

(NBC Tower Building)Suite #850 Chicago, IL 60611

Tel. 312-595-0405 to 0410Fax. 312-595-0416


Website:www.chicago.indianconsulate.com

EMBASSY OF INDIA2107 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, D.C. 20008Tel: 202-939-7000 Fax: 202-462-7276 PRE

-SORT FIRS

T CLASS Pre-sort First Class

U.S. PostagePaid

Silver Spring, MDPermit No. 3966

EMBASSY OF INDIA2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

Tel: 202-939-7000; Fax: 202-462-7276E-mail: [email protected]: www.indianembassy.org

april 1, 2011 vol. 7 issue 4

Documents