How many airports can a city afford to have?

Planning can make the difference; Western examples may not work

The public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and public opinion in Bangalore have suggested the retention of the existing HAL airport for the city, even after the new greenfield airport becomes operational on April 2, 2008 at Devanahalli. The distance from the core city seems to be the main criterion for voicing this demand. Such a move obviously has major consequences and may violate the terms of agreement reached with the consortium developing the new airport ̵ 2; the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL).

At the heart of this debate lies the central issue — how many airports can a city have? Aviation officials and infrastructure consultants offer diverse views. “It is not such a simple or straight forward answer that we can give. It depends on the city, the traffic potential, and the distance between the two airports if there are two of them,” reasons a senior official at the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Passengers and airline officials certainly prefer an airport that is located closer to the city centre, and in the case of Bangalore, the HAL airport takes the cake — it may be just 9 km from the core city, while the new airport may be over 35 km away. Aside from the cost of transportation, what weighs of these two constituents is obviously the time taken. For a passenger flying from Chennai to Bangalore, takes a maximum of 45 minutes by a turboprop aircraft. But it may take much more time to reach the city from the new airport.

Infrastructure consultants say that it may not suffice to point to western examples to suggest that London or New York has two or more airports to handle the traffic. These decisions are taken on the basis of traffic and aircraft movement, not just on distance. “The most convenient differentiation relates to domestic and international airports, when a city goes for more than one. But the basic requirement is that the two must be well connected by a public or even a dedicated transport system that provides immediate connections to passengers coming from one flight and going to catch another in a different airport,” explains R. Menon, a consultant with an airport developer.

At a time when Bangalore and Hyderabad are in the process of getting their new greenfield airports ready, Chennai has sought not just a major expansion of the existing airport at Meenambakkam, but another new airport near Sriperambudur, about 40 km from the city centre and at least 25 km from the old airport. Whether it is viable to develop two airport projects simultaneously remains to be seen.

Traffic projections

Those involved in the development of new airports now have no doubts. They insist that the terms of agreement read very clear — the existing airport will be closed down when the new one becomes functional. Civil Aviation Ministry sources say that in the case of Delhi and Mumbai, a major redevelopment project is under way.

The Maharashtra Government even proposes another airport at Navi Mumbai. “All these are based on traffic projections over the next 5-10 years. Our earlier projection was about reaching 100 million passengers in our airports by 2010. Given the current rate of growth, which is averaging 25 to 30 per cent every year, we may achieve it even earlier. So, there is no doubt on the need to speed up expansion and redevelopment of airports around the country,” he says.

Bangalore debate

On the Bangalore debate, he says that without the concurrence of the BIAL, there can no be change in the plans. One option that needs to be considered, even a little later, may be to designate the existing HAL airport as the low cost airlines’ terminal. In addition to HAL’s activities, a maintenance and repairs establishment will also come up there.

Of course, HAL will lose about Rs. 150 crore that it now earns from user charges from airlines and other levies. The low cost airlines may also feel the pinch of the additional travel cost to their passengers if all operations get shifted to Devanahalli. The HAL airport just cannot handle the growth in Bangalore’s air traffic.

According to AAI sources, Mumbai handles nearly one-third of the passenger traffic in the country, followed by Delhi at a close second. Among the southern airports, Chennai tops, followed by Bangalore and Hyderabad. Bangalore’s growth has been constrained because of the airport’s limitations.

The Authority manages over 125 airports in the country. The Planning Commission has estimated that about Rs. 40,000 crore may be required to upgrade, expand and modernise the airports to deal with the projected growth in traffic.

Canopies can crash when overloaded

Sunshades in some instances are not being used for the original purpose for which they are meant.

Sunshades could be the least dramatic things to write about, but when there is a news report in the city pages that a child died because of a sunshade collapse, we tend to sit up and look around for potential dangers. And there are many, if one were to look at things with the unusual eyes of suspicion that only accountants are famed for.

Before launching onto the exercise, we need to be clear about the meaning of sunshade. Dictionary defines the word as something, such as an awning that is used as a protection from the sun’s rays; a canopy made of canvas to shelter people or things from rain or sun. Awning is a roof-like structure, often made of canvas or plastic that serves as a shelter, as over a storefront, window, door, or deck. We see sunshades as projections above windows and doors. In otherwise nice buildings, sunshades are often the neglected and abused areas.

A common use of sunshade is to place a frightening pumpkin on top to ward off evil spirits. Nature-lovers look upon sunshades as a patch of rare surface to immediately fill with pots, even if it meant that whenever they watered these pots, water would drain off down below, trickling on heads of passers-by, and making them curse under their breath. I’d rather suggest they count their blessings because it is only water and not the pots that fell on their heads. For those habituated to throwing trash through windows, sunshades become the suspended garbage heaps with anything from cigarette butts to used latex.

“Sunshade is provided to protect rooms from slashing of rainwater inside,” explains Mr C.H.Gopinatha Rao, my architect friend. “It is a cantilevered member.” Means what, I ask. “A beam which is built in and held down by weight or otherwise securely fixed at one end and hangs freely at the other end. This corresponds to the old bracket of masonry or cast iron or timber. The normal projection is two feet. More the projection better is the protection, however the room will get less light.” So, there is a trade-off between shade and light. I ask Mr Rao why in many places sunshades seem to age faster than the building. “A common mistake committed by masons is to use only three-fourths jelly or broken mosaic chips, which results in steel bars coming down. Then, the cantilever collapses.” Never overload the sunshade, is his advice. So, instead of brickwork for facia of sunshade, use chicken-mesh; avoid mortar because it may fall apart and cause injury. Sunshades are supposed to be safe shades too. So, if you see sunshades that accommodate heavy split AC units, or where somebody has constructed an extended room on what was meant to be a simple sunshade, remember not to throw safety to the winds by seeking shelter under such shades.

Banking as a career

We move on to bank management, with an introduction to the country’s banking sector.

Banks play a vital role in the economy of any country. A bank is much more than “a financial institution that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities.” Its broad functions cover areas such as credit intermediaries, bank-related operations for customers, electronic funds transfer, cash management for corporate customers, maintaining endowment funds, keeping safe deposit lockers, managing trust accounts, and underwriting securities. In dev eloping countries like India, it plays a pivotal role in national development.

The origin

The term ‘Bank’ is derived from banco, the Italian word for bench, as the Lombard Jews in Italy kept benches in the market place, where they exchanged money and bills. If a banker collapsed, his bench would be broken up by the people; hence the term ‘bankrupt’.

The Preamble of the Reserve Bank of India, which is the foremost monitoring body in the Indian financial sector, indicates the basic functions of the Reserve Bank as: “...to regulate the issue of Bank Notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage.” It is a prerogative of the RBI to regulate, control, and inspect the banks in India.

Indian milestones

Milestones in the growth of Indian banking

1786: The General Bank of India (defunct).

1806: The Bank of Calcutta, changed as The Bank of Bengal in 1809.

1840: The Bank of Bombay.

1843: The Bank of Madras.

1861: Paper Currency Act.

1870: Bank of Hindustan (defunct).

1921: The Imperial Bank of India (amalgamation of the three Presidency Banks).

1935: The Reserve Bank of India, as the central bank.

1949: Transfer of Reserve Bank to the Government Sector.

1949: The Banking Companies Act / Banking Regulation Act.

1955: The Imperial Bank of India became the State Bank of India (first nationalisation).

1961: Insurance cover for deposits.

1969: Nationalisation of 14 major banks on July 19.

1971: Credit guarantee corporation.

1975: Regional rural banks.

1980: Nationalisation of seven more banks, with deposits over Rs.200 crore.

The nationalisation of major banks in 1969 ushered in big changes in the style, approach, and functioning of banks.

•The main priority was making profit by collecting deposits and giving credit. This shifted to functioning as an instrument for desirable social changes.

•While advancing money, the focus was the person to whom money was lent. After nationalisation, the purpose of the advance gained importance.

•The common people got priority over the elite.

•The emphasis moved from profit to service.

•Small transactions became as important as large transactions

•Agriculture became as important as industry in the eyes of the banker.

•New styles including mechanization and automation were evolved.

•The overemphasis on urban areas disappeared; operations spread to the rural sector.

•Modern trends in structural organisation and management were invoked.

•Training schemes were evolved to move in step with changing times

Against these merits, there are shortcomings as well. Enthusiasm for development banking has often witnessed the sacrifice of basic banking principles of prudential norms, profitability, and risk management. The gross and net non-performing assets as percentages of advances leave much to be desired.

Tech-savvy banks

The emergence of new generation tech-savvy banks in the early nineties set in motion a new style in the banking system in the country at certain levels of operation.

There are substantial contributions from the nationalised, private, and foreign banks in the country. Indian banking is fairly mature in terms of service, product range and reach. However, the focus of private and foreign banks is still the urban sector. There are adverse comments on some of their styles.

“Given the multi-tier financial system of our economy, and the complementarity and synergetic relations among these different tiers, it is difficult to isolate the efficiency of banking system from that of the long-term financial institutions, co-operatives, rural banks and non-bank financial companies.

Reorientation

A more meaningful reorientation of objectives and functions of various tiers of financial institutions would be necessary in dealing with the long-term issue of enhancing competitiveness of the system as a whole,” says Bimal Jalan, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Strides in technology have blessed us with several gifts like ATMs, Mobile Banking, SMS Banking and Net Banking. The big leaps in Indian economy being contemplated are sure to bring forward new challenges in financial engineering.

The services of properly trained professionals are essential for ensuring the efficient discharge of banking functions, in tune with the emerging competitive dynamics of the market and consequent demands.

Training institutes

The main facilities for training in bank management in our country are the following:

National Institute of Banking Management, Pune; The Reserve Bank of India has six Training Establishments. Three of them – College of Agricultural Banking, Bankers Training College, and Reserve Bank of India Staff College – are part of the Reserve Bank.

The other three – National Institute for Bank Management, Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR) and the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) – are autonomous institutions.

Jobs aplenty in sunrise areas

An ASSOCHAM study says certain sectors such as retail and IT-Enabled Services will lead the employment boom in India, reports Abdul Latheef Naha

It is boom time in India. The country’s economy is poised to touch double digit growth after achieving the 9.2 per cent mark in the current fiscal. The credit for engineering this robust growth goes chiefly to manufacturing and services sectors. The brisk pace of the country’s economic growth is set to throw open innumerable job opportunities for the youth. But little is heard about the new career alternatives from the campuses of our 200-odd universities, incl uding over 100 general universities, a dozen science and technology universities, 30-plus agricultural universities, five women universities, 11 language universities, and 11 medical universities.

New thrust

A recent study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has found that sectors such as retail, aviation, hospitality, entertainment and brokerages will get paramount thrust in the next few years. A vast array of opportunities will be generated in these so-called sunrise industries. The study on ‘job opportunities in emerging sectors’, brand-named the ASSOCHAM Business Barometer (ABB), has revealed that a wide information gap exists for the students aspiring for rewarding careers. Says Venugopal N. Dhoot, president of ASSOCHAM: “Our ABB is aimed at bridging the information gap for students thronging the university campuses. The students, as also their parents, are well advised to seek admissions in those areas where opportunities exist than making a beeline to a selected courses.”

The ABB assures that Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) will continue to hire manpower most aggressively in the years to come. Having hired a workforce of nearly 1.63 million by March this year, IT-ITeS has proved that it has been the biggest employment sector in recent times. The IT-ITeS industry is projected to require 50,00,000 technology professionals in three years.

K.R. Srivathsan, Director of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITMK), Thiruvananthapuram, says that most emerging sectors need people with capacity to work in unique environment. “Our management schools need to re-orient themselves towards meeting that requirement,” he says. He says logistics management in all sectors should be taught in a more sensitive manner. It should get priority in the changing scenario, Dr. Srivathsan says.

Skill levels

Apart from the highly skilled engineering jobs, Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs), Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPOs) and more recently Legal Process Outsourcing (LPOs) have been offering a variety of jobs requiring different levels of skills. The $9.5-billion BPO industry may employ close to 23,00,000 people by 2010, the ABB study says. Following the BPO success in India, the global companies have begun to increase their presence in the knowledge processing. KPO industry is currently worth three billion dollars and is projected to scale up to $12 billion in three years.

After BPO, the KPO industry is emerging as a lucrative job destination for the youth. KPOs, which require high-end skills and intellectual attributes, will throw job opportunities in the higher pay-scale category. According to ASSOCHAM, the players in the KPO sector are looking to hire professionals for financial analysis, equity research, treasury operation, credit decision processes and accruals services among others. The segment is set to create 2,50,000 jobs by 2010, hiring workforce from a range of backgrounds from science, engineering, law, accounting, pharmaceuticals to technological streams.

Although at a nascent stage, LPO is projected to grow fast owing to a significant cost advantage in India. ASSOCHAM says that LPOs will generate about 79,000 jobs by 2015. At present the processes being outsourced to India include patent application drafting, legal research, pre-litigation documentation, advising clients, analyzing drafted documents, writing software licensing agreements and drafting distribution agreements.

According to Sanjay Kamlani, co-CEO of Pangea3, a global leader in LPO, the entire global legal market is now open to Indian law professionals.

The retail sector

ASSOCHAM study underlines that high consumer spending has spawned a huge interest in the largely unorganised retail sector.

It is estimated that the retail sector will add $14 billion in terms of market size by 2010 to cross $21.5 billion. Considering the size and the purchasing power of the Indian consumer, it is only a matter of time before our domestic retail industry catches up with its Western counterparts. India is in the midst of a retail boom. Some business schools, according to P. Mohan, head of the Department of Commerce and Management Studies, Calicut University, have begun to respond to the retail boom. “Retail management has been added to the MBA curriculum,” Dr. Mohan says.

The ABB study says that retail is expected to create the maximum number of job opportunities among the upcoming fields after IT-ITeS. The forecasts suggest that the sector may produce 20,00,000 jobs by 2010 directly through retail operations.

Aviation, other sectors

The aviation sector in India is growing at a whopping 25 per cent per annum, creating abounding job opportunities.

Openings would be generated in the areas of flight dispatchers, cabin crew, airline managers, airport managers and ground handling personnel as well. The industry would create 2,00,000 jobs by 2017.

With the business travel increasing at a rapid pace and Commonwealth Games round the corner, hoteliers are in the expansion mode. The sector would need a fresh workforce of at least 94,000 by 2010-11. HR managers are looking to hire graduates from home science, commerce, physics and engineering for the sector. Bollywood-driven music industry including expanding reach of FM is leading to expansion of the entertainment sector in a big way. Besides, the content creating firms for the television have grown manifold. The animation industry has grown by over 30 per cent on year-on-year basis in the last three years and looks promising in the time to come as well. The segment alone would need close to 3,00,000 professionals by 2009, says the ASSOCHAM study. Growing at more than 10 per cent for the past three years, Financing, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services have outpaced overall GDP growth. With investment and banking companies growing at a rapid pace there would be many vacancies in retail banking, asset management and financial management.

The girl next door

Expectations were high for the ‘Palunku’ girl, Lakshmi Sarma, to perform for the movie

“Keep your heart pure, conceive your own dreams

Respect your fellow man, the earth and the trees...”

These lyrics from the King Klick album ‘Positive Vibes’ would describe Lakshmi Sarma the best. The Palunku girl comes across as an optimistic, contented, girl next door. As prelude to the conversation, she hums an old Malayalam number.

“‘Oru Madhura Kinavin lahariyilengo...,’ Remember Rahman and Sobhana dancing to it? I loved it. I heard this number when I came down to Guruvayur for a visit. I was in the 10th standard then. I went back to Vijayawada and asked some of my Malayali friends to get me that song ,” says Lakshmi.

That was Lakshmi Sarma’s first encounter with Malayalam Cinema. The second one was to come years later, in 2006. “I was doing a bit of modelling, ballets and television once I finished college. By then, we had moved to Hyderabad. I did a couple of Telugu films too. I got a call from a model co-ordinator in Chennai asking me to audition for a Hariharan movie. I did, but did not get through. Later when Blessy was casting for ‘Thanmatra,’ he spotted me from those tapes and offered me Meera Vasudev’s role. I could not take it up then, as I was engaged with my ballets. He called me again for ‘Palunku.”

Though a bit nervous about working in an unknown language, Lakshmi says she managed with the help of the crew. “The director, cinematographer and the rest of the cast were very patient with me. I had to put in extra effort because ‘Palunku’ was different from the films I had worked on. High expectations were pinned since it was a Blessy-Mammootty film. Obviously you have to keep up to the mark. Or at least try not to go below that.”

Lakshmi regards ‘Palunku’ as a special film not only because it fetched her awards, but also because it gave her a chance to meet her all-time favourite hero, Mammooty.

“My brother and I had many Malayali friends. Some of Mammooka’s super hit movies like ‘Dalapathy’ were dubbed into Telugu. He has also done an excellent Telugu movie called ‘Swathi Kiranam.”

Says Lakshmi who is back in Malayalam movies with M. A. Nishad’s ‘Nagaram,’ where she plays an Anganvadi teacher, “I liked the theme of ‘Nagaram.’ It is set in Sivaramapuram - a village where urban waste is dumped. The Government does not provide a proper waste management system. As a result, the natives contract unknown diseases. ‘Nagaram’ is about their fight for the issue. My character progresses from a naive villager to a social activist.”

Although not a hardcore activist, Lakshmi says she too gets agitated with the system at times. “I cannot stand injustice. I do protest, in my own way. I may not be able to change the world overnight, but I will do my bit towards it. I would like to be part of such issue-based films.”

Lakshmi adds that she prefers to work in Malayalam - the only industry where “her kind of roles happen.”

“My colleagues in Telugu used to tell me that I should work in Malayalam. They said that my looks and aptitude matched the Malayali sensibilities. Chiranjeevi Sir once told me that I resemble Srividya. “If Srividya had a daughter, she would look like you,” he said. I know I am no where near her, but it was the most flattering compliment I ever got...”

Waiting for the first cruise terminal

The first cruise terminal in the country will come up in Kochi, if everything goes right, reports Priyadershini S. The blueprint is ready and tourists the world over may drop anchor here

The glamour capital of the State, Kochi, is poised for bigger things. The face of tourism in the State will change when Kochi port gets its star facility, the cruise terminal, the first in the country. With plans past the conceptual stage and with th e tying of loose ends Kochi may see a top-of-the-pops cruise terminal by 2009. The chairman of the Port Trust, N. Ramachandran says, “We have very ambitious plans for a cruise berthing terminal and we are confident that the project will be viable and be ready by 2009.”

Mega project

The increase in the number of cruise liners making Kochi their port of call has necessitated this mega project. With high profile travellers, the rich and the famous, the retirees and the leisurely, the tourism aspect of this new trend cannot be overlooked.

In fact, the port is capitalising on this very aspect and is ready to have a terminal that will compel cruise travellers to enlist Kochi as a must-see destination on their wish list.

With over 40 bidders responding to the global tender floated by the port, it is the consortium of Transystems of USA, Virginia and Mir Projects & Consultants Pvt.Ltd. of India that has been chosen to conceive the project. Mir Projects & Consultants is the Asian partner for Transystems Corporations.

Arun Kumar K, MD, Mir Group says, “Cruise tourists are the richest in the world and they don’t travel much in the port of call. The liner is in the port for not more than 10 to 12 hours, so we need to have a very attractive facility that will draw them out from the ship into the terminal.”

And so the cruise terminal is planned as a glitzy public plaza that will have facilities ranging from large immigration halls to shopping malls, trade centre, food plaza, ayurvedic spa and even a star hotel attached to it. “We have earmarked 12 hectares of land near the Port Trust Guest House and with possibility of more land in the vicinity for this project, plus a deep water front to make the jetty. As of now Kochi gets cruise ships only during the tourist season, from August to April. We must have a facility that will generate enough revenue to maintain and set off the investment that we have made,” says Mr Ramachandran,

And to make this a profitable venture the terminal is to be an attractive round-the-year spot for both travellers and locals. To make it so, Mr. Arun Kumar says, “We have envisaged something like the ‘chaukidhani’ in Jaipur that showcases Rajasthan in its entirety, at a point.

We are planning something unique like that. It should truly reflect Kerala. From large scale shopping malls selling handlooms, cashew, coir that will promote our own trade to large food plazas serving ethnic foods from all over India will be an attraction.

As these cruise liners have restaurants serving different continental foods we have to provide them with local cuisine. We are also planning high-end office spaces to lease out for the Port to earn revenue.

As this will be the first cruise terminal in India there are plans for a five star hotel on the premises. This should become a brand like Miami or the Aloha terminal in Honululu, to be included in International tourist maps.”

Mir Group says it envisages this 500 crore mega project as a Public Private Partnership( PPP)venture.

Viable

Excited at the prospect of such a terminal says, Sejoe, Director Marvel Tours, a company which handled the Queen Elizabeth 11 and Queen Mary passengers this past season, “There is a huge need for this. It will definitely be viable as more passenger ships will dock once this facility is available. As of now the QE11 took the extra effort to come to Kerala because Kerala is a hot destination. Such a terminal will attract more such ships. It will ease the present problems, like now, often, unloading of coal goes on the other side when the passengers are disembarking.”

But the nagging question that remains is whether Kochi will attract this many cruise liners after all, to make this a viable project. People from the shipping community seem upbeat. Says Rajesh Asher, President Cochin Steamer Association, “In 2005-06 we had 26 cruise vessels which became 38 the very next year. For 38 to become 72 will be easy if such an attractive terminal comes up. If 26 can become 38 without facilities why not 38 turning 72 with facilities?” With the general cruise business increasing the world over the timing to drop anchor for a cruise terminal in Kochi port is perfect.

Congress wrests Madurai West from ADMK

The Congress on Friday increased its tally of seats in the Tamil Nadu assembly from 34 to 35 by wresting Madurai West seat, where its nominee K S K Rajendran trounced the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Sellur K Raju by 31,115 votes.

The result was also a shot in the arm for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam patriarch M Karunanidhi's elder son and its pointsman in the southern districts, M K Azhagiri, who spearheaded the campaign for Rajendran.

The candidate of Congress, part of the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance, was leading since the counting began at 0800 hours on Friday.

The by-poll, on June 26, was necessitated due to the death of rebel AIADMK member S V Shanmugham.

In 2006 polls, Shanmugham defeated a Congress nominee by over 3000 votes.

Azhagiri was in the eye of a political storm following the attacks on the office of Dinakaran, owned by Maran brothers, after the Tamil daily published a survey that claimed Azhagiri's younger sibling M K Stalin as a possible political successor to Karunanidhi.

The attack led to Dayanidhi Maran's exit from the Union Cabinet, also in the run-up to the polls. The results also showed the increasing popularity of DMDK, founded by film star Vijaykant, whose T Sivamuthukumaran occupied third position with 21,272 votes.

free-hit in ODI, additional fielder in power play

Cricket's bias towards batsmen keeps growing with ICC [Images] giving its nod to a change in playing conditions which empowers a batsman to go for a free-hit without fearing a dismissal in the delivery following a front-foot no-ball.

The International Cricket Council on Friday okayed a number of changes to playing conditions at its annual meeting.

Accordingly, if a bowler bowls a front foot no-ball in an ODI, the following delivery will be deemed a free-hit and the batsman cannot be dismissed by the bowler from that delivery. The changes would come into effect from October 1, ICC said in a statement.

It has also decided that an additional fielder would be allowed outside the fielding circle during the second or third power play in ODIs.

In case a one-day innings is reduced, the number of overs making up each of the three power plays shall be reduced proportionately.

There will also be a mandatory change of ball after 35 overs of each innings in ODIs. The replacement will be a clean used ball.

ICC also decided that the minimum boundary sizes in all international matches will be increased with the square boundary measuring at least 150 yards from one side of the ground to the other.

Outsourcing is a problem: Hillary Clinton

Top Democratic Presidential contenders, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, are of the view that outsourcing was an issue for Americans and favoured measures to retain jobs, including ending tax breaks for outsourcing.

Outsourcing was one of the questions put to party contenders for the Presidential ticket in 2008 at a debate at Howard University in Washington.

"A lot of Americans are concerned with outsourcing of US jobs. Most corporations, I think it's fair to say, don't share that concern. In fact, they argue that we're living in a global economy and Americans have to compete in that environment. Which side are you on? And if you agree that outsourcing is a problem, what's your solution?" was the question put to candidates.

Terming outsourcing a "problem", New York Senator Hillary Clinton said tax breaks for "outsourcing" jobs have to be ended.

"Outsourcing is a problem. We have to do several things: End the tax breaks that still exist in the tax code for outsourcing jobs; have trade agreements with enforceable labour and environmental standards; help Americans compete, which is something we haven't taken seriously, which goes back to the very first question about education and skills," she said.

"Let's not forget that 65 per cent of kids in an age cohort do not go on to college. What are we doing to help them get prepared for the jobs that we could keep here that wouldn't be outsourced? And find a new source of jobs. Clean energy, global warming would create millions of new jobs for Americans," Senator Clinton added.

Senator Obama from Illinois, who recently ran into rough weather with Indian Americans over a document paper prepared by his staffers, called for not only having to come to terms with trade agreements but also ending tax breaks for companies moving overseas.

"Not only do we have to deal with our trade agreements, not only do we have to eliminate tax breaks for companies that are moving overseas, not only do we have to work on our education system, but we also have to have an intentional strategy...to make sure that we are reinvesting in those communities that are being burdened by globalisation and not benefiting from it," he said.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson emphasised the need to upgrade science and maths education in the US and fair trade agreements.

"Most outsourcing jobs are technical. We need to upgrade our science and math standards in our schools. It's education," he said.

"In addition to that, what we need is trade agreements, fair trade agreements, where we say no slave labour, no child labour...we're going to have environmental protection. We're going to have to deal with wage disparity," Richardson said.

He also favoured a policy of investing in high-growth, health, hi-tech and renewable industries to retain jobs.

Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska was the only one who did not consider outsourcing a problem.

"No, outsourcing is not the problem. What the problem is our trade agreements that we have, that benefit the management...the shareholders, and have neglected on either side of the issue, whether it's in Mexico...or the United States. That's the problem that must be addressed. So, no, it's not outsourcing," Gravel said.

How to stop SBI's decline?

Something needs to be done quickly to State Bank of India [Get Quote], something is being done but it is unlikely that this will help where it matters the most. The current chairman of SBI started on the right note last year by highlighting the bank's declining market share.

It is not clear if this has shaken up the organisation suitably, except that the decline may have been contained in the second half of the last financial year. What is significant about the loss of market share is that it has been accompanied by a decline in margins. SBI's return on assets, a key measure of performance, has now fallen for two years in a row.

Sometimes an organisation consciously strives for market share at the expense of margins but when both market share and margins show a negative trend then the situation is somewhat serious. Worse, the bank suffers in contrast to not just private banks but some other public sector banks.

Not just the two best-performing public sector banks - Oriental Bank of Commerce [Get Quote] and Corporation Bank [Get Quote] - but also other large public sector banks like Punjab National Bank [Get Quote] and Canara Bank [Get Quote] are doing better. SBI is clearly declining even in its class and something needs to be done urgently about it.

Two statutory changes have taken place recently and they can have an impact on the future of SBI. One is the transfer of ownership from the regulator, Reserve Bank of India, to the real owner, the government of India.

On the face of it, this is sound as the player and the referee should be different entities. But the reality in this case is complex. SBI was the first bank to be nationalised, the decision to do so was taken in response to a felt economic need - the absence of a delivery mechanism for developmental credit at the grassroots - and not as a political strategem like the mass nationalisations in 1969 and thereafter.

Over time some healthy practices were put in place vis-�-vis SBI, which made the RBI a de facto "filter" between the bank and the government, reducing the scope for political interference.

This was nurtured by players of substance on all sides - the bank, the RBI and the government. Two former chairmen of SBI have narrated to me stories of how in individual instances I G Patel and Bimal Jalan backed them up.

Patel said, I am approving your move, no need to go to government. Jalan, then finance secretary, told the person concerned, you go ahead, I will back you up. These instances happened at the margin, SBI has had plenty of eminently forgettable chairmen and for all practical purposes the government has been calling the shots for SBI.

So what was de facto (government control) will be come de jure. But still, in a small way, a culture of marginal autonomy, which was different and better, will wither away. This is at a time when SBI, to be able to deliver as a national firm, needs more autonomy, not less.

What total government control does (political board appointees instead of independent directors who can add value) is highlighted by the charade being played out at Punjab and Sind Bank.

The other recent statute change allows SBI to lower its stake in its associate banks to 51 per cent. Listing those subsidiaries, which are not and SBI lowering its stake in those that are listed will allow SBI to unlock value for its shareholders.

This is good as far as it goes but there is a far bigger issue at stake - what to do with the subsidiaries. Both the SBI chairman and the finance minister have spoken of the need for SBI in particular and leading Indian banks in general to get much bigger as the Indian economy becomes a global leader.

Indian banks have to have large, not just strong, balance sheets to make commitments and manage exposure as leading Indian firms go global.

But the point is, do you need thousands of branches to acquire balance sheet size? It is easy to visualise a consolidated balance sheet for the SBI group (that takes care of size) even as the associate banks - particularly the strong ones - have total autonomy vis-a-vis SBI in their operations.

In fact, these banks, historically set up in some of the stronger princely states, have extensive an grassroots presence and brand equity also. At a time when retail and non-urban lending will fuel future growth in the entire banking sector, having your ear to the ground is vital.

On the other hand, there is strong evidence that SBI is too unwieldy. To make it more so and kill the vibrant individual identities of some associate banks by simply merging them with SBI will be hugely retrogressive.

SBI clearly needs to use information technology extensively to overcome the management challenge created by its size. It has to ask if it needs a full- fledged branch everywhere and evolve different models of outreach in which IT plays a significant role.

It has to tackle costs and look at delayering - getting rid of the zonal offices (made possible by things like tele-conferencing) as some of the weak banks did earlier. It must improve the quality of its intake and also the level of business per employee. None of these changes is likely to automatically follow from the recent statute changes.

iPhone gets its gear on

With Apple set to release the iPhone on June 29, accessories makers are readying new products, anticipating that the smartphone's market could grow as big as the iPod's.

One such company is Marware, which is already producing cases designed to protect the pricey smartphone. Its factory in Asia has gone to full production and will remain so at least until the launch date.

"We believe everyone who is going to spend $500 to $600 for the phone is going to buy a case, and they're going to want to do it at the point of sale," says Sean Savitt, Marware's sales manager. Savitt anticipates 30% sales growth this year, up from under $20 million in sales last year, with about 20% of total sales coming from iPhone products.

Marware, which started as a software company in 1993, has been making accessories for the iPod since it debuted in 2001. Since then, the Hollywood (Fla.) company of about 25 employees has seen an army of competitors spring up.

• How big will the iPhone be?
• Apple reignites the browser wars
• 5 things to know about the iPhone

At last count there were at least 400 companies making cases and other accessories for the iPod. And at least 200 are making iPhone accessories, with more to follow, says Jeremy Horwitz, editor-in-chief of independent Apple product information site iLounge.

Timing the Entrance

All told, the iPod accessory market, already valued at over $1 billion, continues to grow, according to industry researcher NPD Group.

Another accessories company, Singapore-based iStyles, a company that makes and sells iPod fashion accessories including colorful covers and silicon skins, is introducing whole lines of products to go with the iPhone.

"We can't estimate the success of the device, but if the iPod is any indication, Apple will soon be a dominant player in the mobile phone market by the second or third revision of the iPhone, and we want to be on the bandwagon starting from revision one," says Ming Keong Kuan, director of the eight-employee business.

Not all accessory makers think an early market entrance is the best move. At least for now, some are resisting the urge to enter the iPhone market altogether, preferring to concentrate on their existing business surrounding the iPod.

• Higher hopes for Apple TV
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Mark McJunkin, president of TuneBuckle, an Atlanta company that produces a belt buckle product for the iPod, says his company is going to wait and see if the iPhone catches on before developing a product for it.

Keep It Simple

Horwitz says small companies considering getting into the iPhone accessories market would do well not to try to compete with the big electronics companies. "At least in the early going, if it's not at the point of sale, then it needs to be simple," says Horwitz.

"Or else it should be something that's adaptable to both the iPod and the iPhone." For its part, Apple does produce a few of its own accessories, but doesn't attempt to monopolize the market.

Experts think that despite the high price of the iPhone and the fact that it will require a switch to AT&T Mobility (formerly Cingular Wireless) and a new contract, the iPhone will take off.

"If consumers flock to the product and if Apple releases newer models that are priced lower, or if the subsidization and discounting, which is very widespread in the wireless market, take hold, then it could be really popular," says Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD.

• Apple TV + YouTube = What's next?

Lanka, LTTE agree on demilitarised zone

The Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers have agreed to declare a demilitarised zone around a much revered Catholic church in the island's north, a religious leader said Thursday. Bishop Rayapu Joseph, the Bishop of Mannar, said that the Madu Church in Mannar would be declared a non-fighting zone from early July to mid-August.

The annual church mass and festival, which draws a large number of Catholic devotees from all parts of the island, begins on July 2 and ends Aug 15.

Bishop Joseph said that after the talks between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels, he obtained the consent of both sides for the arrangement.

"It is a relief that both sides agreed to facilitate the Madu festival," Bishop Joseph said.

Mannar, some 280 km north of capital Colombo, is under LTTE control and there have been heavy fighting in the area during last two months.

Fighting escalated between the two sides since the end of 2005 and the violence so far has cost nearly 5,000 lives.

After BPO & KPO, now comes PPO

You have heard about BPO (business process outsourcing) & KPO (knowledge process outsourcing), but it's time now to add a new word to your vocabulary: PPO.

Coined by Alok Aggarwal, chairman of Evalueserve Inc, PPO means person-to-person outsourcing. The US-based Aggarwal, who is the co-founder of the global research and analytics services firm, says offshoring is now beginning to go mainstream and is touching the upper class and working class alike.

"This is very reminiscent of 1991-92 when manufacturing in China and other low-wage countries began to impact the lives of the rich and the not-so-rich in developed countries," he says.

Here's how: small offices, home businesses and even individuals are utilizing PPO services everyday through various means such as online tutoring and home & landscape design services. Even invitation cards for weddings and other parties, personal assistant secretarial services like scheduling appointments and maintaining calendars are now being outsourced.

Many of these professionals work from their homes with a broadband connection and given the low overhead, vendors and freelancers can charge fairly low rates.

A few companies, such as Future Net (a subsidiary of the Alaphuza, India-based Future Groups) are also experimenting with providing ancillary and concierge services from low-wage countries.

In their model, the end-client registers on their website and agrees on a price. Future Net then provides property deals for customers or for their family members and friends. Other services would include payments made to utility service agencies, educational or other institutions; and purchase of simple items such as movie tickets, personal computers, and electronics equipment.

Apart from online tutoring, for instance, companies such as Transtutors, Career Launcher, Educomp Datamatics, and Tutor Vista also offer one-on-one "live" homework assistance over the web and provide essay-writing guidance and help with educational content. Most Indian tutors charge between $8 and $40 per hour - a pittance by US standards.

If you thought the PPO market is too small and hence insignificant, Aggarwal has an answer. Individual contracts are often of low value - between $100 and $5,000 - but since the number of end consumers and small businesses is enormous, the total addressable market in the US alone easily exceeds $20 billion.

Evalueserve's research and analysis shows that between April 2006 and March 2007, the revenue from this sector was more than $250 million and it is likely to grow to over $2 billion by 2015 - a cumulative annual growth rate of around 26 per cent. The growth rate, Aggarwal says, is likely to be much more in the future as many of these PPO offshoring trends are at the beginning of their lifecycles.

According to Evalueserve, PPO services follow two business models: the direct interaction model where the individual client signs a contract directly with a vendor in a low-wage country, whose employees (tutors, admin etc) work on a full-time or a part-time basis, or as sub-contractors.

Since these contracts are of low monetary value, the individual client cannot usually travel to the offshore location or perform a costly due-diligence process, and is therefore exposed to some risk.

Although payments can be made through cheques or wire transfers, since the cost of individual projects is fairly low, clients usually pay the vendors with credit cards, which can help offset some of this risk.

The second is the online marketplace model where the vendors providing PPO services enrol in an online marketplace by paying a monthly subscription fee plus a fixed percentage of the revenue if they win the project through this marketplace. So, when an individual client posts requirements for a new project to be conducted on the online marketplace, the marketplace communicates these opportunities to the selected vendors and freelancers and requests proposals to be delivered to the client.

The client then awards the work to the appropriate vendor depending on price (which may be on a per hour or a fixed cost basis), delivery time and a quality score provided by other clients who have been served by this vendor.

In this model, the online marketplace typically earns between 5 per cent and 15 per cent of the contract price in return for an assurance of a minimum service level from the vendor, thereby reducing the risk for the client.

Evalueserve's research estimates that there are currently more than 90 online marketplaces on the World Wide Web and projects that they have involve over 500,000 vendors and freelance professionals who are providing these services from low-wage countries.

Some of the prominent online marketplaces are Guru.com (the largest marketplace with more than 625,000 registered vendors and freelance professionals), California-based Elance.com, Florida-based RentACoder.com and GetAFreeelancer.com, owned by Sweden-based Innovateit.

Crespo double rescues Argentina

Paraguay, inspired by a Roque Santa Cruz hat-trick, thumped Colombia 5-0 while Argentina overpowered the United States 4-1 in a glut of goals at the Copa America on Thursday.

Favourites Argentina survived an early fright against inexperienced opponents, going behind to an Eddie Johnson penalty before two Hernan Crespo [Images] goals set them on the way to an impressive win.

Colombia striker Alvaro Dominguez missed a penalty two minutes before Paraguay opened the scoring in the first game of the Group C double bill in Maracaibo.

The result prompted Colombia coach Jorge Luis Pinto to apologise to his countrymen.

"I lament the score," he said. "I'm sorry for Colombia and for my country."

Argentina had Juan Roman Riquelme back in the side after going back on his decision to quit and Juan Sebastian Veron playing his first competitive international since 2003 but looked in trouble early on.

Johnson won and converted a ninth-minute penalty to give the United States, who are playing as Copa guests and brought an experimental team, a shock lead.

Crespo equalised two minutes later but Argentina were then frustrated by a packed U.S. defence for nearly an hour.

Crespo finally put Argentina ahead in the 64th minute, running onto to Lionel Messi's [Images] pass to place his shot beyond Kasey Keller.

Substitutes Pablo Aimar and Carlos Tevez added two more late in the game as their opponents were forced to open up.

PATIENT GAME

"We knew it was going to be hard and that they would defend all the time," said Riquelme.

"But we played with patience. We knew we had 90 minutes and we were always sure we would win the game."

Colombia dominated the first half of the opening game but squandered an excellent chance in the 28th minute when Dominguez's penalty was saved by Justo Villar.

Two minutes later, Santa Cruz broke clear of the defence to put Paraguay ahead.

The Bayern Munich striker added another just 22 seconds after halftime and completed his treble in the 79th minute.

Substitute Salvador Cabanas compounded Colombia's misery by adding two more in the closing minutes.

"We missed a penalty and then they took advantage of the spaces we left and the mistakes we made in defence," said a bewildered Pinto. "We dominated the game."

Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino agreed the penalty was decisive.

"The key moment was the penalty, which Villar saved," he said. "The team was ruthless. We didn't have much of the ball but we got to the opponents' penalty area and scored."

Meanwhile, Brazil [Images], upset 2-0 by Mexico on Thursday, had more bad news when striker Fred broke his foot during training and was ruled out of the rest of the tournament.

Coach Dunga, whose team must beat Chile on Sunday to stay alive in Group B, admitted he hardly slept after the defeat and had watched the match twice more in a bid to correct mistakes.

Rakesh Patel called, but will he be chosen?

With luck smiling on him again, when least expected, Baroda's right-arm medium-pacer Rakesh Bhanuprasad Patel, who wasn't in the original squad for India's current twin tour of England [Images] and Ireland, gets a chance to make his One-Day International debut in the series against South Africa.

The team management, badly hit by a viral attack on its leading bowlers, had probably no other option but to send an SOS to the readily available Rakesh, who plays for St. Helen's in the Liverpool League as an overseas pro since past three years. He did not get a chance in the first ODI, but, with many players still down with the viral bug, was still kept as cover. Will he play in the second ODI on Firiday? It's anybody's guess, but certainly, there can't be a better testimony or tribute to his calibre and competence as a new ball bowler. Though belated, he fully deserves the recognition.

Rakesh, who scalped 37 victims in the last Ranji Trophy season, was only behind Ranadeb Bose and Joginder Sharma among the leading wicket-takers. It's a pity, though, that the selectors did not consider him for national duty and kept ignoring him just like their predecessors had in the past.

The closest he came to representing the country was during Team India's tour of New Zealand [Images], just before the World Cup in South Africa, in 2003. He wasn't in the original tour party then too, and, ironically, was sent an SOS after illness struck a couple of key bowlers! Unfortunately, he did not get to play a single ODI.

And once the New Zealand tour was over, the selectors conveniently forgot him and he remained in the wilderness in spite of performing consistently well in domestic first-class cricket.

The focus, then, was on his Baroda colleague, Irfan Pathan [Images], and Munaf Patel [Images], who hails from Ikhar, which isn't too far from the Cultured City, but doesn't play for Baroda

Interestingly, neither Pathan nor Munaf are part of Team India on the current tour for a combination of factors like injuries, lack of fitness and want of form.

Rakesh has his former Baroda mate Zaheer Khan [Images] to literally give him company on the field as well as in the dressing room. The two had forged an effective fast bowling pair for Baroda before Zaheer switched allegiances.

In fact, it was Zaheer who recommended Rakesh's name to the team management when it was decided to ask for a couple of bowlers to join the tour party. Not only did he give Rakesh's cell phone number to Rahul Dravid [Images], but also ensured that the Indian captain called him up.

Rakesh, who actually hails from Kothambi village near Navsari, which is famous for its Parsi community, in southern Gujarat, was born on October 23, 1978. Coming as he does from a poor background and a place where there is hardly any cricket facility, he has learnt and pursued the game the hard way, just like Munaf.

"Besides my family, who always supported me to the hilt, I've been much encouraged by distinguished Baroda cricketers like Aunshuman Gaekwd, Kiran More, Nayan Mongia and Zaheer Khan and many others. But for their continual support and encouragement, I wouldn't have made any headway in cricket irrespective of whatever little talent I've," the unassuming Rakesh told rediff.com.

He made his first-class debut in 1998-99. Like most Indian opening bowlers, the tall and well-built Rakesh also used to bowl very fast at the beginning of his career, but reduced his pace a bit and became a better bowler, capable of moving and swinging the ball dangerously.

Though he played for Gujarat for a while, he gave his best years to Baroda. If Baroda is one of the formidable teams in Indian first-class cricket today, much of the credit should go to Rakesh, who spearheaded its attack consistently and remarkably even in the absence of men like Zaheer and Irfan.

Rakesh, who has so far taken 234 first-class wickets at 28.50 (including 5 wickets in an innings on 11 occasions) in 67 matches, also played for West Zone, National Cricket Academy, India 'A' and India 'B'. But the India cap continued to elude him for curious, even mysterious, reasons.

Now that his "dream" is about to come true, he should have no complaints or regrets whatsoever.

As they say, better late than never. The ball is in his court now. He must grab the opportunity with both hands, justify the team management's confidence in him and cement his place in Team India. The experience of bowling in the cold European weather should come handy for Rakesh, who is also a more than useful batsman down the order.

SMSing obscene jokes can land you in jail

Think twice before you SMS that really funny obscene joke or blindly forward a photograph--you could land yourself behind bars or unknowingly act as a conduit for a terrorist gang, warn IT experts.

"Terrorist use the net for achieving their goals. An innocent man may be unknowingly drawn into the terrorist network, when he receives a photograph of a beautiful woman from a stranger, who then asks him to forward it to 21 friends to win a prize. The photograph could contain a hidden terrorist message encrypted within," Vijayshankar, consultant, Cyber Law and Techno Legal Cyber Security, warns.

The attack on Parliament was linked to hidden messages SMSed to various people in the garb of a beautiful photograph of leading Indian actress, he said.

"Hence, one should not forward messages received from unknown persons," says Vijayshankar who is part of the IT Professionals' Forum group which is organising a web seminar on June 29 on www.itpfindia.org to warn people on cyber crimes.

"Cyber crime is no longer happening only to people working with higher technology.It has begun to affect ordinary people and was reaching the smaller cities and towns as well," Vijayshankar told PTI.

Even a person who has never used the net could become a victim of cybercrime. Citing an example of housewife in Coimbatore, he said the housewife who did not know how to use a computer began receiving obscene calls.Investigations revealed that her phone number had been posted on the net by a relative from her own house since the two were not on good terms, he said.

Youngsters, who often threw caution to the winds and indulged in 'cyber adventure', could land themselves in the grip of law, says Vijayashankar, quoting an instance where an employee of a leading company hacked into the e-mail of his friend and sent an obscene e-mail to his friend's new employer even before his colleague could take up the job.

"The innocent colleague on landing at the office was handed over a sack order even before he joined the company. However, with subsequent help from the cyber crime cell, he was able to prove his innocence and track down the offensive e-mail to his friend, who has now lost his job," he said.

Sending obscene jokes also may no longer be a laughing matter, if a person offended by the joke decided to take action against the sender under the new cyber law.

"Anything within the domain of an electronic document, including cell phones, e-mail, blogs can provide evidence in cyber crime. An employee of a leading company, who wrote defamatory words against a rival organisation on his blog, was taken to task by the rivals, who demanded punitive action against him and the company was forced to ask him to resign," says Vijayashankar.

"Replace adventure with caution and do not 'freak out' on the net because in cyberspace there is no concept like anonymity. Anything and everything can be tracked down," he said, adding it was easier to track a cyber crime compared to physical crime because one left behind electronic documents and secondly because the investigator sitting in one place could track you down no matter where you are.

The virus 'I love You' which hit the net was tracked down to a student in Phillipines. "You can't escape no matter how smart you think you are," he said.

W Bengal: Maoists burn down railway station

Maoists burnt down Birandih railway station, 55 km off Purulia in West Bengal, and assaulted railway staff and whisked them out of the building as part of their economic blockade early on Wednesday.

Three railway staff and RPF personnel were asked to leave the station building at gunpoint before the Maoists burnt down the station building and damaged important documents and papers, K S Mukjherjee, Special Deputy Commercial Manager (Adra division), said.

Train services on the section were disrupted and many long distance trains were diverted through alternative route.

Mukherjee said the Railways informed both Purulia police and their Jharkhand counterparts about the incident.

RPF personnel have rushed to the station.

The two-day economic blockade entered its final day on Wednesday, with the CPI (Maoists) protesting against the state and central government's globalisation, industrialisation and SEZ policies.

Mumbai world's most densely populated city: UN report

Major cities in the world including Mumbai and Kolkata are witnessing a rare phenomenon as the number of people who are moving out of these metros are on an increase, contrary to what has been predicted.

A UN report said these cities have far greater number of people moving out than into them and few of these cities will be of the size that doomsayers had predicted for them in the 1970s.

Even though by next year more than half of the world population will be living in urban areas, the urban growth is showing a decline in most regions, the United Nations Population Fund said.

Population of towns and cities in developing countries like India is set to double in the space of a generation, while urban population in developed world is expected to grow relatively lower, the State of the World Population 2007 report, which was released on Wednesday said.

In comparison to the urban population growth rate, the world's rural population is expected to decrease by some 28 million between 2005 and 2030.

Mega cities are still dominant but they have not grown to the sizes once projected and has consistently declined in most world regions says, the report said.

Pointing out that large cities like Kolkata or Seoul have more people moving out than in, the report says few are close to the size that doomsayers had predicted for them in the 1970s.

Among the 20 mega cities, the population of only six grew at rates consistently above 3 per cent a year over the last 30 years.

The others experienced mainly moderate or low growth, it said.

The report suggests that over the next 10 years, the population of only Dhaka and Lagos are expected to grow at rates exceeding 3 per cent a year.

Pointing out that 52 per cent of the world urban population continues to live in smaller cities having less than five lakh people, it said small cities will dominate over larger cities when it comes to urban growth in the foreseeable future.

The report said 28 per cent of Indian population live in urban areas while 55 per cent of Indian urban residents live in slums.

Forty per cent of India's urban residents has no access to safe water source, it said adding Mumbai is the most densely populated city in the world with 29,650 per square kilometre and projected that Mumbai will be the second most populous city in the world by 2020 with over 25 million inhabitants.

Suggesting that poor people will make up a large part of the urban growth, it says most urban growth comes from natural increase (difference between the number of births and number of deaths) rather than migration.

Developing regions as a whole will account for 93 per cent of the urban growth while Asia and Africa for over 80 per cent.

The report also suggested that between 2000 and 2030, Asia's urban population will increase from 1.36 billion to 2.64 billion and both Asia and Africa will include almost seven out of every ten urban inhabitants in the world.

The report also suggested that more than half of the Chinese population will be urbanites in less than a decade with 18 million migrating from rural areas to cities every year.

Boeing hikes plane prices

Boeing Co has raised list prices about 5.5 per cent for all of its airplanes, including the 787 Dreamliner set to debut next month, to keep up with the costs of labor and materials.

"The price increase is generally consistent with the inflation rate for manufactured goods," according to Jim Condelles, a Boeing spokesman.

He said rising labor costs were a bigger factor in the price hike than the cost of raw materials, though both played a part in the company's calculations.

Condelles said that the company generally raises list prices each year to keep up with costs.

As of last Thursday, a new 787 could cost anywhere from $146 million to $200 million, around six per cent higher than 2006 list prices, which ranged from $138 million to $188 million, depending on the model.

Prices for Boeing 737s, which have racked up more than 7,000 orders over more than 40 years on the market, jumped to a range of $50 million to $85 million, from a range of $47 million to $80.5 million in 2006.

Boeing's list prices, based on different configurations for each type of aircraft, are considered the starting point for negotiations with airlines.

The aircraft maker is on track to roll out its first 787 by July 8. Test flights are slated to begin around the end of August.

The company is set to deliver the first plane for commercial service to All Nippon Airways Co next May. Boeing has taken 634 orders for the 787.

Sania to begin Wimbledon campaign

Sania Mirza will begin her 2007 Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday, she has never advanced beyond the second round at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

The Hyderabad hurricane has not had a very successful run off late. After her return from a two-month injury lay-off, Sania has struggled to find form in her singles game.

Though Sania has climbed the WTA rankings since then and is now ranked 44th in the world.

Sania takes on Yaroslava Shevdova of Russia in the first round later in day

How Toyota develops exceptional people

Leading Toyota authorities Jeffrey Liker and David Meier give you the keps to growing top performers from within through a detailed preocess of preparation, traning, and follow-up. Here are Toyota's secrets to building an exceptional workforce . . .

No one seems to be sure of the exact course of events that led to the development of the Toyota Production System (TPD) as it is today, but we are sure that without highly capable people the current system would quickly disintegrate.

We know that in the early development of TPD, its chief architect, Taiichi Ohno, wanted to press forward with some of this ideas and discovered that people were not ready.

When he went to work to achieve single-piece flow in a machine shop and he needed multiskilled workers, he encountered resistance and learned that he had to be patient and to think about developing people who would be able to support the methods. He could not simply order people to flow the rules (although he was known as being very forceful when necessary).

He needed people with thinking capability because of the challenges resented by the application of his new ideas. In fact, the real purpose of creating flow was to bring problems to the surface, which would force people to think about solving the problems and to help them to develop their abilities.

A select few front-office experts could not possibly deal with all the situations that would surely arise as Ono pressurized the system, thereby forcing failures. He needed capable masses.

The development of capable masses requires a clear plan. It requires time and patience. Above all its takes persistence and the willingness to stick with it and to deal with the individual peculiarities and challenges of each person.

When Taiichi Ohno discovered the importance of highly capable people, he sought a method of teaching that would support his needs. He believed he had found such a tool in the Job Instruction (JI) Method taught by the American occupation forces after World War II.

It has been the primary teaching tool for all of Toyota since 1950s. Today the capabilities of Toyota employees are a hallmark of the company. We often talk to managers of other companies who view the capability of Toyota employees to be some sort of anomaly or option that is open only to Toyota.

The truth is that Toyota does like to start with good people who posses the capability to become exceptional employees. The people whom Toyota selects must have the capacity and desire to learn. Those are the only absolutes. In fact if one were to look closely at Toyota employees, one would find a broad spectrum of humanity similar to that in any other company -- with all the beauty and blemishes found anywhere.

Toyota employees bring to bear issues similar to those of other companies, such as attendance problems, resistance to change, lack of motivation, and even reluctance to accept the philosophy of TPS.

What allows Toyota to be successful in spite of these challenges is the efforts and interest in drawing out the best of the employee's abilities and initiating possible solutions (rather than a shrug and the 'What are you going to do?' attitude we hear from other companies). Perhaps Toyota has recognized the reality of human behavior and limitations, and it has created systems that minimize those limitations or take advantage of human desire.

People are carefully selected to join Toyota based on their potential and a judgment that there is a fit with the job and with Toyota's culture. They must have some general problem-solving capability and be willing to work as part of a team.

People develop specific capabilities after they are hired at Toyota. It is Toyota's expectation that it will mold the individual to fit the needs of the organization as well as support the interests of the individual. It is this mutuality of purpose that leads to more satisfied employees who are able to perform in exceptional ways.

One must not assume that Toyota is completely altruistic in its efforts to develop employees and to provide engaging activities. The objective is to provide benefits for the employees, which in turn also returns benefits to the company.

Toyota often creates situations in which there is an equal balance between reward and punishment in order to encourage the desired behavior. For example, given the critical nature of attendance on the performance of the system, a high emphasis is placed on having great attendance (perfect attendance is preferred).

On the reward side, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK) has an annual award ceremony for all employees who achieved perfect attendance in the previous year (over 60 percent in 2005).

The award ceremony includes entertainment from some top acts in the country including jay Leno, Bill Cosby, and Brooks and Dunn. In addition, each person has his or her name placed into a hat, and 14 winners are drawn, each receiving a brand new car (a mix of Camrys and Avalonds).

To sweeten the pot, each team member with consecutive years of perfect attendance will have his or her name added to the hat an additional time for each year of consecutive perfect attendance.

In 2006 there were more than 400 employees who had achieved 15 consecutive years of perfect attendance (the length of the program)!

On the punishment side, repeated unexcused absences are one of the easiest ways to lose a job at TMMK. The policy is fairly strict and is weighted heavily on attendance history and also the circumstances.

Consideration is given for good reasons, but repeated absences for poor reasons are sure to lead to discipline. A flat tire is not considered a 'good' reason, for example, but the effort a team member makes to reduce the time loss is in his or her favor.

If a team member has a flat tire and misses the entire day, it is not viewed favorably. And apart from the fear of being fired, sitting home while all your team associates are at the big bas hoping to win a car is its own punishment.

Reprinted by permission of Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited.

Excerpted from:

Toyota talent: Developing Your People The Toyota Way

By Jeffrey K Liker and David P Meier

Quota dogs Indian girl... in the US

A 11-year old Indian-American girl was denied admission to an elite public school in New York because of a race-based quota system that was established in 1974 following a federal court order.

Nikita Rau's Indian descent came in the way of her entry into the Mark Twain School in Coney Island, an institution that attracts gifted students, as being a minority student meant attaining a higher cut-off mark in the admission test.

"I feel bad because I would have gotten in if I were white," Nikita said. The education officials agreed that it was unfair but said they had no choice but to follow the court order until it is overturned.

The quota system was originally meant to boost the enrolment of minorities. The judge had allocated 60 per cent seats to the whites and 40 per cent to the minority students.

The racial quota was established to achieve desegregation but Nikita's father Anjan Rau, a Brooklyn resident who came to the US from India in 1982, said the situation has changed much since then.

"The country believes in racial equality and we should not face this in America," he told the New York Post.

The family said it was shocked when they found that the school had denied admission to Nikita who scored a 79 in the admission test, when white students with lower scores were admitted and they were considering a possible legal remedy.

Nikita as also her parents are US citizens.

She was classified as minority and needed a score of 84.4 to be accepted but white students with score of 77 were admitted.

UTV Inks Pact With Radaan

UTV Software Communications Limited and Radaan Mediaworks have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to produce films in South Indian languages.

Radaan shall produce all South Indian language films jointly with UTV. Adaptation of any such South Indian movies in North Indian languages shall be produced by UTV jointly with Radaan. A minimum of four films are planned for production this year.

Under the tie-up, UTV and Radaan are currently producing a Tamil film titled Kannamoochi Yenada starring Sathyaraj, Radhika Sarath Kumar, Prithviraj and Sandhya. The film is directed by V Priya and music is by Yuvanshankar Raja. The film is nearing its completion, the press release said.

In the pipeline, UTV and Radaan have planned their next Tamil movie to be directed by K S Ravikumar. Further, UTV has planned to remake the film 7G Rainbow Colony in Hindi and it would be directed by K Selvaraghavan himself.

Ten years on, Hingis still smiling

Back in 1997, Martina Hingis was just 16, winning Grand Slam titles, catching up on her homework and didn't have a care in the world. In her own words, she felt "invincible".

Ten years after her historic Wimbledon win, when she became the youngest ever women's champion in the Open era, the Swiss admits that these days she's just happy to be playing.

"Some days, it seems a long time ago. Some days, it doesn't," said Hingis. "When I look at the pictures of the past champions, I look totally different now. It's been 10 years. A lot of things have happened." Hingis has never been far from controversy and the headlines. Her infamous meltdown at the 1999 French Open final where she left the Roland Garros court in tears was followed, just a few weeks later, by a first round exit at the hands of Jelena Dokic in the first round at Wimbledon.

She also took a two-year injury-enforced break before returning to the tour in 2005 and is now engaged to fellow professional player Radek Stepanek. Even that's a far cry from the days when one newspaper dubbed her the 'Black Widow', a reference to the faltering careers of players to whom she had been linked in her private life.


"I'm happy to be still around and playing. The older you get, probably the more fears you have. I was totally pleased with myself at 17," said Hingis who clinched her only Wimbledon title to date with a win over Jana Novotna.

"You think the world belongs to you. That year I felt like I was invicible," she said.

Seeded nine for this year's championships, Hingis is not even contemplating a second Wimbledon title to go with her career crop of five Grand Slam crowns. "The older you get, the harder it gets. Sometimes simple things make you happy. "Sometimes you realize that not everything is about winning Grand Slam titles." Hingis faces Japan's Aiko Nakamura on tomorrow for a place in the third round.

Ice 'Shivalingam' melting in Amarnath cave

The ice 'Shivalingam' (the phallic symbol of Lord Shiva), which was formed fully this year due to heavy snowfall here, at the holy cave shrine of Amarnath has started melting in view of the hot weather in the cave periphery.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Lt General (retd) S K Sinha said in an interview to a television channel the 'ice-lingam' was formed fully when he had visited the holy cave shrine recently to take stock of the arrangements for the two-month-long pilgrimage, commencing from June 30.

''There is no control over weather,'' he said, adding only weather God could preserve it for the entire pilgrimage period.

About the controversy over the alleged tampering with the 'ice-lingam' at the cave shrine last year, which had forced the authorities to order a judicial inquiry into the matter, General Sinha said the court verdict had proved that nothing was done with the lingam.

''The controversy is over now, the Governor, who is also the chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB),'' said.

This time some measures, such as preventing tourists from throwing things like flowers on the lingam among other things, had been taken, he added.

A pilgrim Surinder Kumar, who returned yesterday after having 'darshan' of the ice-lingam, said one could see it melting as it was very hot in the cave vicinity.

Mr Kumar, who paid the obeisance along with three others from Jammu at the cave shrine on June 23, said the pilgrimage was a dream come true for them.

However, they said the ice-lingam would melt further if there was no change in the unusual above normal maximum and minimum temperatures.

Official sources said the ice-lingam was about 15 to 16 feet in the first week of June due to heavy snowfall in the last week of March. ''However, now it is reduced to only 8 to 10 feet,'' they added.

People in the valley experienced the hottest night yesterday when the minimum temperature was recorded at above 22 degrees Celsius.

Mahant Deependra Giri, the custodian of Charri-Mubarak Swami Amarnath (the holy mace of Lord Shiva), had resigned from the SASB on September 15 last year following the allegations that the ice-lingam was artificial.

The High Court, later, dismissed the writ petition for want of evidence and directed the SASB to take all necessary measures to protect and safeguard the 'Shivalingam'.