Nearly two months into his new job as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, Nandan Nilekani says the real beneficiary of the project will be the poor who have no identity at present.He is in a hurry because "the next 12-18 months are very critical in getting this project off the ground," by when the first set of identity numbers will be issued. If all goes well, five years from now the UID data base will cover a few hundred million people.
Korean hardware prowess and Indian software prowess can result in a formidable partnership
Analysts and the media have near-unanimously approved the latest monetary policy update of the Reserve Bank of India which has left key interest rates unchanged, while indicating that its accommodative stance will continue until recovery becomes more robust. But it is possible to question whether this halfway house is the right place to be in right now.
The signal is that it is willing, but it is a bit open if it will be able to.
Climate change is not something only 'they' have to worry about because it is 'their' creation, says Subir Roy.
What does India need to do to realise the full potential that information technology and outsourced business services?
In 2009, when urban India was in the throes of a slowdown, with growth likely down to 6 per cent and shopping malls going empty, the electorate gave a clear thumbs up.
IT-BPO exports grew at a compound annual rate of 31.6 per cent in the boom years 2004-08. But the rate fell to 16 per cent last year (2008-09) and is likely to be in single digit in the current year.
Like so many other MNCs, it is targeting emerging markets, of which India represents a major chunk, as a critical growth area. But India is also rapidly becoming a key geography where some of the innovative products to address the market at the bottom of the pyramid are being developed.
Bangalore-based Ittiam Systems, which is in the digital signal processing space, is a case in point. Its business model is royalty-driven. It creates intellectual property by way of software and hardware designs, which are used by original equipment manufacturers in areas like mobile internet devices, IP-based networks, video security systems and medical screening.
The bank credit figures for 2008-09 (lowest overall credit and commercial credit growth in five years) provide further evidence, if any was needed, that a credit crunch lies at the heart of the severe slowdown that continues to beset the economy.
What is the future of the industry, is it likely to regain its premium status once the global recession is over and what do the leaders like TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL have to do in order to regain their past glory, asks Subir Roy?
The big question being posed is if you need to pay fancy salaries and bonuses to attract the best and the brightest to the financial services. Does the sector need that much of innovation, in relation to the needs of other sectors?
Given its emerging economic size and stock of soft resources, India is a laggard when it comes to innovation.
The world goes on a shopping spree and urbanised Indians simply set out to have a good time. But there is bleakness in the air this yearend, marked not so much by muted shopping as the foreboding that the next year will be worse than the terrible one just gone by.
A sea change sweeping the sector, signalling it has come of age. As much as this is a cause for celebration, it is also necessary to ask if all is well with the sector, which way it is going and, most importantly, which way it ought to go, says Subir Roy.
A lot more people should buy stocks, they should be guided far more by fundamentals and their expectation of returns should be far more modest
The rupee has given the economy a roller coaster ride for nearly two years now, relegating the stability of 2006 to a distant dream.
As I have got to know a wider world, I have often wondered how something as material as sweets can have such a strong, almost emotional, link with those who have grown up with it.
Nine years ago McKinsey, on behalf of Nasscom, projected that India's software and services exports would touch $50 billion by 2008
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