Monsoon
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Congressman Danny K Davis arrived at Washington Dulles
International Airport today morning (April 5, 2005, United Airlines
923, 11:25 AM) after his visit to Tsunami-affected areas in Sri
Lanka. He was received at the airport by members of the Tamil
community in the Washington area. One placard read "Thank You
and Welcome Back US Congressman Danny K Davis."
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Economist Jeffrey Sachs wants to end global poverty. He says
simple measures -- like a mass distribution of mosquito nets --
could have a huge impact. We host a conversation with Sachs
about a blueprint for a more prosperous world.
Guest:
Jeffrey Sachs, director, Earth Institute at Columbia University;
author of The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time
Book Excerpt
The path from poverty to development has come incredibly fast in
the span of human history. Two hundred years ago, the idea that
we could potentially achieve the end of poverty would have been
unimaginable. Just about everybody was poor with the exception
of a very small minority of royals and landed gentry.
Guy de Jonquières
The Financial Times, 29 March 2005
There are still people out there, it seems, who think India's
outsourcing industry is just a bunch of poorly paid clerks with PhDs
doing mind-numbing drudgework. Until recently, one of them was
the senior US insurance executive who visited the business
processing arm of Wipro, India's third largest software and services
company. He was soon disabused by his hosts.
What they showed him was a virtual back office staffed by
insurance specialists equipped to handle a full range of tasks, from
receiving claims to adjudicating them up to a value of £500,000
($931,000). "We understand everything!" Raman Roy, head of the
Wipro division, told his visitor. He immediately clinched a contract.
Another myth is shattered by a stroll around the modern
campus-style headquarters in Bangalore of companies such as
Wipro and Infosys, where corporate customers' global information
networks are managed round the clock from Nasa-like control
rooms. If these are sweatshops, the Ritz hotel is a doss-house.
Even judged by the blistering speed of information technology
industry change, India's achievement is astonishing. In barely a
decade, it has created a business with more than 800,000
employees and annual sales close to $20bn, almost all exports.
The corporate names on the welcome boards at Bangalore
reception desks read like the Fortune 500.
And that, industry leaders say, is only the start. Mr Roy foresees
continuing annual growth of 50 per cent or more and a trebling of
business processing jobs to 1.2m by 2008. Meanwhile, Azim
Premji, Wipro's chairman, aims to boost software productivity and
slash development times by applying techniques pioneered by
Toyota in manufacturing.
The larger companies are already plotting their next leap: to evolve
from sub-contractors into strategic partners, sharing risks with
customers. Many are busy hiring consultants with experience in
target industries including banking, healthcare and
telecommunications. The goal, says Mr Roy, is to "suck out
knowledge" from customers, to serve them better.
Wipro's IT development centre is an example of how much further
outsourcing of what were once core activities can go. It does much
of the vital circuit design for consumer electronics manufacturers.
They say what they want new products to do; the centre ensures
they do it.
India's ambitions seem to know no bounds. But these companies
still face hurdles. One is building customer trust. Despite the IT
companies' proved competence and reliability, they lack the brand
recognition and market presence of an IBM or an Accenture, which
means that they must compete heavily on price.
They must also manage increasing complexity and scale, while
keeping footloose employees loyal. Intensifying competition for
skilled labour makes that harder. Demand for engineering
graduates may soon strain even India's capacity to produce them.
The hunt for talent is already spreading to China and other parts
of Asia.
Indian textile firms made big initial gains in the quota-less world
The end of country quotas on textile exports marks one of the
most major events of the world economy - one that can cause
tectonic shifts in the global business landscape.
The Multi-Fibre Agreement (MFA), under which these quotas were
organised, was put in place in 1974 to protect the textile industries
in the US and Europe.
The MFA expired in 1994, but the quotas were continued and
managed by the World Trade Organisation with the understanding
that they would be terminated at the start of 2005.
That has happened now and the winds of change are palpable.
Each year thousands of foreign workers are invited to Israel, lured
by the promise of good jobs and a new life. The reality is grimly
different.
CHEN AND Wang sit in their solicitor's office in Ramat Gan, Israel.
They are dressed in their best clothes but look worn and
crumpled. The two Chinese men are used to sitting indoors,
waiting and hiding. They are each in debt to the tune of $10,000,
the money they paid for a permit for manual work in the Israeli
construction industry.
They came to Israel in July 2004, but there was nobody waiting for
them at the airport as had been promised. Their permits, made out
for the catering industry, did not allow them to work. Chen, 51, and
Wang, 44, both support wives and children in China, as well as
parents, parents-in-law, brothers and sisters. "I am missing my
family. I don't know when I will see them again," says Wang. "I can't
go home because I don't have money. It's a mess, a mess. I want a
job, that's all."
Rural women breathe in the equivalent to 20 cigarettes a day,
researchers say; Pictures: Sudipto Das/Con Images
Maksudum Bibi, a housewife from the village of Abdalpur north of
Calcutta, coughs furiously and is almost in tears as she lights up
her traditional cooking stove.
Known locally as chula, the stove uses firewood or cakes made of
cow-dung for fuel.
"I am unable to breathe properly whenever I use the chula," she
says. "But I have been using it for over 20 years. It is the only
thing I have with which to cook".
[The Hindu]
The experiment of
Jewish social life in
the U.S. is an
excellent instance of
how a community has
maintained its identity
and also taken care
of individual members
in the age of
globalisation.
Strolling through the
streets of Manhattan,
one inevitably comes
across members of
the Jewish community.
The attire of its male
members, with their
black skullcaps, is the
strong symbol of the
community's identity.
It has become a cliché
that the famous
Jewish lobby wields
considerable
influence in the United
States' economic,
political and foreign
policy. But its success
story, according to
members of the
community is due to
its strong knit society,
which provides a
strong social back up
for building a
resourceful human
capital.
At least 500 million cases of malaria occur each year - nearly 50%
more than estimated by the World Health Organisation (WHO),
health experts say.
The findings of an international team of specialists in tropical
medicine were published in the journal Nature.
The experts pointed out that the WHO relied heavily on clinical
reports of the disease for its statistics, but many sufferers did not
seek treatment.
They voiced particular concern over the situation in south and
South East Asia.
Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the US, yet one in
four Americans regard Muslims living among them with suspicion.
What does it mean to be both Muslim and American?
Touring the US with his band Junoon, rock star and Muslim
American, Salman Ahmed, wanted to find out how the aftermath of
9/11 continues to shape the lives of Muslim Americans in 2005.
"Following the attack," he says, "there were human rights abuses
against Muslims, using immigration violations as a weapon.
Thousands have been detained and others deported."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on a four-day state
visit, conquers Indian hearts.
IT was a visit many Indians were eagerly looking forward to.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's reputation as a radical had
preceded him and he did not disappoint his countless admirers in
New Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. His visit was unlike one by any
other foreign dignitary. Here was a statesman and a revolutionary
who just wanted to mingle with the people. Chavez's
communication skill was on full display during his interaction with
students, peasants and people from all walks of life during his
hectic four-day state visit to India.
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