India News: April 2007

Solar loans light up rural India
Monday, April 30, 2007 | AY

The $1.5m project, led by the UN Environment Programme (Unep), supports Indian bankers who offer finance to people who want to purchase a unit. The sunlight-powered systems are used to light homes and shops instead of expensive and polluting kerosene lamps. Since the project began in 2003, there has been a 13-fold increase in the number of the solar power units being financed within the scheme's pilot area in southern India. A system capable of powering two to four small appliances, or lights, costs about $300-$500. Before the UN project was set up, purchases were predominately cash only - making the devices too expensive for most people.

India will bid to host 2020 Olympic Games
Sunday, April 29, 2007 | AY

India will make a pitch for the 2020 Olympics after deciding not to bid for the 2016 Games. They will start their (bid) preparations as soon as the 2010 Commonwealth Games (being hosted by New Delhi) are over. India dropped plans to bid for the 2016 Olympics after failing to secure the 2014 Asian Games last week. New Delhi lost out to the South Korean port city of Incheon in the race for the 2014 Asian Games last week, a defeat Kalmadi blamed on Indian Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar. IOC president Rogge supported the Indian bid for the 2020 Olympic Games, which has received the backing of the Indian government, saying the nation of 1.1 billion people would become a "sporting tiger" by then.

Launch of the first Italian satellite in India
Thursday, April 26, 2007 | AY

India made its first step through the ever increasing aerospace sector, launching the first Italian satellite on the “Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle” (PSLV-C8) rocket, used for its eleventh flight. The launch of the 352-kg satellite “Agile” was promoted by the Indian Space Agency, and took place on the isle of Sriharikota. Giovanni Bignani, the head of Italian Space Agency (ASI), defined the event as the evidence of a “New era of cooperation between Italy and India".

India granted to manufacture Influenza vaccine
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 | AY

India is among six developing countries who have been awarded grants to establish capacity to manufacture influenza vaccine so that it is readily available in case a pandemic breaks out, the United Nations health agency has announced. The other nations include Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam, each getting up to USD 2.5 million from funds provided by the United States and Japan to begin the process of acquiring the technology to produce the vaccine. WHO said it will take a minimum of three to five years for the grant recipient countries to begin producing vaccine locally. Until then, these countries will require support to ensure they can access vaccine to protect their populations.

NRI group plans biggest FDI in Indian real estate
Sunday, April 22, 2007 | AY

A US-based infrastructure company on Thursday unveiled plans to invest $1 billion in Indian real estate in what is being billed as the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the newly liberalised sector. Royal Indian Raj International Corporation (RIRIC), a Nevada-based company promoted by people of Indian origin, is firming up plans to build integrated townships and planned cities in the country. The company has entered into a strategic partnership with New York-based real estate investment banking firm The Greenwich Group International to finance the development of multiple private cities in India. RIRIC said it aimed to take advantage of India's immense housing shortage by developing large-scale commercial and residential townships in four megapolises - Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi. The company claimed its plans for the next 10 years in India would provide direct employment to nearly 10,000 people and indirect employment to another 40,000.

India to supply cheaper second line HIV drugs
Thursday, April 19, 2007 | AY

Indian Government has taken a decision to supply cheaper drugs for treatment of HIV /AIDS which will help in controlling the fast spreading AIDS. It would be made available from January next year. Under the National programme for AIDS control, the drugs which cost 12 times more than the older medicines, will be handed out once India has treated 100,000 AIDS patients with the cheaper drugs. In India there are between 50,000 to 1 lakh HIV-infected children, of whom 43,000 are under the Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART). India will acquire six more PCR machines to test the infants for the HIV infection. At present India has just one such machine which can only test the infants 18 months old. India has also taken the lead in drafting guidelines for treating HIV positive children and these are now being circulated all over the world.

India's TCS breaks US$4B revenue mark
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 | AY

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), reported a 41 percent year-on-year revenue increase to US$4.3 billion on net income of US$950 million. Explaining the revenue growth, TCS CFO S. Mahalingam said in a statement that the company carried out "several levers in terms of pricing, offshore leverage and cost controls" to boost its profit margins in light of a fluctuating rupee. The company identified several service segments as high-growth drivers, including infrastructure, consulting and business intelligence services, which grew by more than 100 percent over the past year and currently contribute 18 percent to TCS revenues.

Shilpa Shetty's effigies burnt
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 | AY

Angry crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Richard Gere on Monday after he swept a popular Bollywood actress into his arms and kissed her several times during an AIDS-awareness event. In Mumbai, members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks and set fire to glamorous shots of Shetty. Similar protests broke out in other cities, including Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, and in the northern town of Meerut, where crowds chanted "Down with Shilpa Shetty!".

IRCTC launching a travel portal
Monday, April 16, 2007 | AY

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is shortly launching a separate travel portal within its existing www.irctc.co.in that will give travel destinations, hotels and other lodgings, choice of meals - vegetarian or non-vegetarian - mode of travel, car rentals, bus connections with advance bookings etc. Travel portal is aimed at providing a single window facility to the tourist and traveller anywhere in the world. It is targeting both foreign tourists and Indians on sight seeing and visiting pilgrimage spots. After the successful run of the Palace on Wheels in Rajasthan, Indian Railways is all set to extend the run of heritage trains in Punjab and Karnataka as well. IRCTC is coming up with 'Punjab Palace on Wheels' that will take tourists to places like Amritsar, Patiala, Kapurthala, the Wagah border in Punjab along with hill resorts of Kangra valley and Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh besides touching Jaipur and Agra in an eight-day package.

India to set up $50b industry corridor in 2008
Sunday, April 15, 2007 | AY

The Indian Trade Minister announced that Japan has offered to assist India in constructing a $50 billion industrial corridor between Delhi and Mumbai starting from January 2008. The project will include a high-speed rail freight corridor, three new seaports and six airports. He added that India is also planning to upgrade its existing industrial units, build 12 new industrial clusters, 10 logistic parks and agricultural hubs alongside the corridor. He added that India expects to attract $25 billion in foreign direct investment in the year to March 2008, compared to $15 billion in the fiscal year of 2006-07.

ASUS India Launches EN8800 GTX AquaTank/HTDP/768M Graphics Card
Wednesday, April 11, 2007 | AY

ASUS Technology Pvt. Ltd. has introduced the ASUS EN8800 GTX AquaTank/HTDP/768M graphics card in India. With an innovative all-in-one watercooled module, this graphics card is able to push performance by 11% and still be 12°C cooler than generic GF8800 GTX cards. A GeForce 8800 GTX video card with stock cooling can reach temperatures around 80°C at full load, something that isn't ideal in the long run, especially if you want to overclock the GPU. ASUS said that pre-sorting and stringent high quality checks on boards ensure that the EN8800 GTX AquaTank/HTDP/768M can bear higher clock speeds. With new sets of overclocked configurations that are stable yet surpass conventional settings, users can enjoy up to 11% faster graphics performance when compared to GF880 0GTX graphic cards.

Chappell resigns as India coach
Thursday, April 5, 2007 | AY

Indian cricket coach Greg Chappell resigned his job, citing personal and family reasons. Greg Chappell has today personally talked to the president of board, Mr.Sharad Pawar, and also in his letter he has informed the president that due to family and personal reasons he will not seek an extension to the existing contract with BCCI. Chappell's resignation comes two days ahead of his meeting with top BCCI officials and three days ahead of the crucial working committee of the board. It also comes on the day Sachin Tendulkar, in a published interview, hit out at Chappell for questioning the commitment of senior players. During Chappell's stint, India played 62 One-day Internationals, won 32, lost 27 and three matches ended in no result.

Tremors in Pak, North India
Tuesday, April 3, 2007 | AY

An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale rocked Pakistan causing strong tremors even in Jammu and Kashmir and parts of North India. The earthquake which took place at around 09:05 am is reported to have had its epicentre near Hindukush in Afghanistan. Reports say the tremors in Srinagar lasted for around 8 to 10 seconds. No immediate report of loss of life or damage to property. The US Geological Survey website put the magnitude of the quake at 6.2 on the Richter scale and said it hit near Feyzabad in Afghanistan.

India ready to further ease visa procedures
Monday, April 2, 2007 | AY

Heeding to demands for free movement of media persons and goods across South Asia, India today announced that it would unilaterally take further steps to liberalise the visa regime as it emphasised the importance of connectivity to enable the region to realise its potential. The External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said South Asia was at a "defining moment" in history and had a "collective opportunity for leap-frog" in terms of growth. In terms of connectivity of ideas, Mukherjee favoured freer movement of media persons and goods and creation of conditions for unhindered and free flow of information.

Links: News Archives: 06 | 05 | 04 | 03 | 02 | 01