Soaring security expenses mean this month's parliamentary election will cost India over 50 per cent more than the last such poll in 2004.
It is hard to believe that barely two months ago Manmohan Singh was having quintuple heart bypass surgery. The Indian prime minister appears robust, if a little tired, as he pursues a punishing schedule that yesterday involved taking time out from campaigning in hotly contested parliamentary elections to fly to London for the Group of 20 summit.
It's been a tough few months for Rajesh Mehrotra, a Mumbai-based businessman with interests in shipping and travel. Freight rates are down, and the market for corporate incentive trips, his agencies' speciality, has all but dried up as India's economy decelerates in tandem with the global economic slowdown.
India's once soaring demand for high-end apartments and offices has slumped, leading to falling profits for large property developers and a shift in focus towards affordable housing for middle-class families.
Cheap Chinese-made toys have filled India's toyshops and bazaars in recent years, displacing locally made goods, but Indian politicians are now striking out against the imports.
Shunned for decades for refusing to relinquish its nuclear weapons programme, India was finally welcomed as a member of the global nuclear club last year when the US dropped long-standing sanctions.
India's affluent middle class is rekindling its affair with long-distance train travel, as sharp jumps in domestic airline ticket prices push many former frequent fliers back to the railways.
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