Window on India
August 23, 2006

News Bullets

• The government of India seems to have dropped the proposed amendment to the Right to Information Act (RTI) which in effect would have blunted the cutting edge of the law. So much has been indicated by the government which has postponed discussing the amendment in the current session of Parliament. The amendment had proposed removing notings on government files from the purview of the law. People who fiercely opposed the amendment consider this as the triumph of the enlightened public opinion. Mr. Anna Hazare, who had undertaken a protest fast against the amendmend near Pune in Maharashtra ended the agitation after a week following the government's statements.
• Madness gripped parts of the Western coast of India including Mumbai and Surat when people in thousands rushed last week to drink the sea water turned sweet by a 'miracle'. The police had to control crowds descending on the beaches to avoid stampedes. The local authorities and the government insisted that decreased salinity of sea water near the mouths of rivers following heavy rainfall was a regular phenomenon and there was no miracle in it. Despite warnings by the authorities against drinking the unhealthy water full of harmful contents, the melee joyously went on for a couple of days and then slowly abetted. By then, thousands of people had collected the 'holy' water in bottles to keep at home.
• The 'miracle' on the Western sea front evoked another superstitious bout, this time in North India, when people. claimed their Gods idols and framed photographs had actually begun drinking milk to oblige devotees, a repeat of a similar frenzy a decade ago that swept Pune, Mumbai and then spread like a wildfire across the country and abroad among devout Hindus.
• A euphoria spread among the business communities, entrepreuners and investors following the reports of the latest economic outlook from the office of the Prime Minister of India that this year the economy would record a growth of 7.9 per cent. The reports said the industrial output was expected to grow 9.7 per cent., service sector by 9.5 per cent. and agricultural output by 1.5 per cent. The Foreign Direct Investment was expected to go up from dollars 5.7 billion last year to dollars 8.5 billion.
• Intellectuals and film writers are agog at a newly released Indian film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (KANK) starring superstars Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan not so much for its cinematic qualities or for blazing a new trail but for the fact that it has been attracting raving crowds in India and abroad to overfill the pockets of its young producer, Karan Johar.

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Opinion

Blast or two cannot undermine economy - by Arun Sadhu

Come rains or droughts, floods or earthquakes, terror attacks or frenzied bouts of superstitions, observers of the Indian scene confidently assert that India's economy has reached a critical momentum that cannot be easily derailed by quirky disasters, man-made or natural. The belief is not misplaced. The latest economic outlook coming out from the Prime Minister's office gives a cheerful confirmation. Mr. Manmohan Singh is a cautious man not given to bravado or exaggeration. In the latest parliamentary battles, he has emerged with flying colours consolidating his reputation as a man of integrity and setting at rest all doubts about who wields power in the government. It is Singh the economist who had unfolded economic reforms in India as finance ministerway back in 1991. His credibility in the field of his expertise is unquestionable. Indeed, the 59th Independence Day of India on August 15 had dawned with grim trepidation under a gloomy blanket of security over the rain-soaked nation. There were real threats conveyed by friendly intelligence agencies abroad of serious terror attacks in Delhi, Mumbai and elsewhere. In several raids across the contry, police and security agencies had confiscated large volumes of explosives, detonators and guns and had arrested suspected terrorists with connections to highprofile terror organisations of the world. With several terrorist attacks during the last few years in Delhi and Mumbai culminating into the 7/11 serial blasts in Mumbai, the authorities were unlikely to take the warnings lightly. The independence day passed off without any incident and the whole India heaved a collective sigh of relief. Next day, the market pushed up after a day's rest. India has learnt to live with terror threats as the vibrant citizens of Mumbai amply demonstrated last month. Life went on undisturbed. So has the economy. The terrorists' design to blow a hole in India's burgeoning economy and instill a fear in the minds of its people is unlikely to succeed. The figures of economic growth indicate this. Captains of industry and business have underlined this fact.

India is a strange country. Even as it surges ahead in information technology,, software industry and business, usage of communication gadgets and nurturing of quality educational institutions, it swings on the bursts of frenzied superstitious waves occassionally. Yet, there are strong public groups all over the country engaged in eradication of superstition. On the days of religious festivals, be they Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Sikh, the air is filled with joyous prayers, songs and dances. And yet when it comes to do business, Indians do it with ruthless efficiency as it is done everywhere else in the world. Fear of terror has not waned the confidence of entrepreuners, investors, traders and businessmen. After all, the power of economy depends on good governance based on reasonable law and parallel institutions that encourage people's economic activities.The current threat is very high entailing a red alert in metropolitan cities, important commercial establishment and markets and places where crowds gather. The government has beefed up security and business houses have followed. But a blast or two would not undermine the determination of the Indian people.

It is on this background that the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has forecast 7.9 per cent growth in the economy during the current year. The figure may rise to 8 per cent if the monsoon is good and signs are quite optimistic. This year's achievement comes on top of four years of successive growth of nearly 8 per cent. During the last eight successive quarters the growth has been 8.1 per cent. Industrry nand services have grown at 9.5 per cent up from 8.5 per cent last year. Fuerther, at current prices the size of economy is expected to reach the mark of Rs.40 lakh crore. There is no question India Inc; has arrived on the world scene with a mature confidence in its growing economy.