Is Delhi better than Mumbai

The city with a soul, the bustling metropolis that never sleeps, the country’s tinsel town and commercial capital - for years on end, Mumbai has been all of the above for people from all walks of life. The ‘Maximum City’ has also been home to the country’s top industrial houses, produced enough good cricketers and actors and actresses, so much so that for long it gave an impression of monopolising Talent Inc in the country. A well-connected public transport system wired by the railways, with steep realty rates and a high standard of living has only added to Mumbai’s commercial appeal, bringing it at par with the likes of Shanghai and New York. Add to that its resilience, zest for life, cultural richness, active nightlife, and you have the best that you could have ever asked for. So, when consulting firm Ernst & Young revealed in its latest survey that Delhi is the best place to live in among 48 Indian cities, including Mumbai, quite a few eyebrows were raised, and a few hearts were broken. Better infrastructure, long winding roads, numerous highways to deflect traffic congestion, a better travel network in the form of Metro and not-so-high real estate property - Delhi seemed to have scored over the country’s entertainment capital. While Mumbai boasts of paying the most in taxes, it is the Capital that takes the lead on city prosperity index in the survey due to its low population and high per capita income. And while Delhi does have an image of being an unsafe place, especially for women, Mumbai, too, has had a dent in its image equity, after the horrific serial blasts of July 2006 and the deluge of 2005. So, in real terms, does that mean that country’s political capital is better to live in than its commercial capital?

Students can become interns in UID project

After roping in techies as volunteers, and on sabbatical from the private sector, the government's unique identity project led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has now decided to cast its net wider to even include students in its functioning. "We want to bring in those studying in universities and researchers to work for us as interns for a specified period so that they can also contribute to the success of the venture," Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) director general & mission director R S Sharma told TOI on Monday. "They can work on designated projects as summer interns, for example. We will come out with the internship modalities shortly, which will contain details of the kind of people we are looking for," he added. Sharma said there had been a "wonderful" response from IT companies to Nilekani's request to send some of their best minds to work for the UIDAI on a temporary basis. "We are still processing many of the applications but some have already joined us (on a sabbatical)...we will write to Nasscom thanking them for their help in this regard," he added. In January, Nilekani had requested the software industry body to urge their members to send engineers, having expertise in the development of large-scale software systems, on a sabbatical to the Authority so that their abilities could help fast-track the roll-out of the UID project. Sharma said the UIDAI - which has already signed MoUs with states like Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh - hoped to do so with Maharashtra shortly. "Draft MoUs have been sent to all states and Union Territories. Following some points raised by the states, we have also fine-tuned the MoUs," he added. Constituted as an attached office under the Planning Commission, UIDAI's mandate is to develop and implement the necessary legal, technical and institutional infrastructure to issue an unique identity number to Indian residents, as well as authenticate the identity of a person who is in the UID database. As chairman of the UIDAI, Nilekani enjoys the rank of a Cabinet minister.

Bachchan's detractors the 'Taliban of untouchability': Modi

Lashing out at those objecting to Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan's presence at a government function in Mumbai, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has dubbed them as "Talibans of untouchability". Writing on his blog, Modi described 67-year-old Bachchan as a great artist with legendary humility and even taller achievements who has chosen to celebrate the glorious heritage of Gujarat even while facing a lot of criticism from many quarters. "This is inspiring", he said on Sunday. A controversy erupted over Bachchan attending at a government function in Mumbai where Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan was also present. A section of Congress took objection to his presence as he is the brand ambassador for BJP-ruled Gujarat. The Bachchan-Congress row took a new twist on Sunday with the megastar claiming that his son Abhishek's posters were removed from the venue of WWF's Earth Hour event in Delhi on Saturday evening attended by Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and saw a "pattern" behind such acts. Modi said the anti-Gujarat game plan behind the opposition and the controversy over senior Bachchan stood exposed in daylight now. "These 'Talibans of Untouchability' have lost all their sensibilities in their pursuit of anti-Gujarat attitudes. "They may well in future tell us not to eat even salt. They may even ban the eating of Amul butter and milk and order our young people not to wear denim jeans! And guess why? Because Gujarat produces these things," he said. "Friends, my heart is still unwilling to believe that these Talibans are unaware of the damage they are causing to this nation and to our society," said Modi. The Gujarat chief minister also wrote about his marathon grilling by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT in connection with a Gujarat riots case. "I have cooperated with the process of law and accepted its supremacy. I heartily express my thankfulness to the people for their support and prayers in this difficult moment," his blog entry read. Modi was grilled for over nine hours on Saturday for his alleged role in the Gulbarg Society massacre in which 69 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri were killed.

Mumbai Indians beat Deccan Chargers by 41 runs

Harbhajan Singh cracked a stunning 18-ball unbeaten 49 and then grabbed three wickets as Mumbai Indians crushed Deccan Chargers by 41 runs in an Indian Premier League match on Sunday
Harbhajan turned the game around for MI with a stunning innings laced with eight fours and two sixes as he single handedly took them from 119 for seven to 172 for seven after the home side were sent into bat and captain Sachin Tendulkar (43-ball 55) had held the innings together with his fourth IPL 3 half century. The fiesty off-spinner, who opened bowling for the home side, then took three wickets - including that of dangerous Adam Gilchrist - for 31 runs from his four overs as Deccan Chargers were all out for 131 in 17.4 overs in chase of 173. Harbhajan got superb support from pacers Lasith Malinga, who took three for 12 from his 3.4 overs, and Zaheer Khan who returned with figures of 3/21 from his three overs as MI put up a brilliant bowling effort to notch up a comprehensive victory despite the dew playing a part, though small, at the DY Patil Stadium at Navi Mumbai.

Indian American appointed US chief Agriculture Negotiator

An Indian American has been appointed as the chief agriculture negotiator of the United States, who would carry out all critical negotiations for the country in the crucial Doha round and other bilateral discussions. Welcoming Dr Islam A Siddiqui as Chief Agricultural Negotiator, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk yesterday said Siddiqui brings to this office incredible agricultural expertise built over years of work in both government and private sectors. Speaking on Dr Siddiqui, Kirk said "(he) can be counted on to stand up for American farmers, ranchers, and families in all our negotiations - from the Doha round talks to bilateral discussions." Currently serving as a consultant to the USTR, Dr Siddiqui formerly served as Vice President for Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America, where he was responsible for regulatory and international trade issues related to crop protection chemicals. "If we want to double American exports in the next five years, we have to seize every opportunity to grow agricultural exports, as well as exports of goods and services. Isi (Dr Islam Siddiqui) is going to make sure we don't leave any of those opportunities on the table," Kirk said.

Companies target young Indians to boost growth

Companies target young Indians to boost growth
The strong purchasing power of upwardly mobile young Indians is prompting corporate groups, which have been around for long, to adopt a fresh approach to market their products in a bid to remain relevant. At least two such groups are consciously making efforts to take on a more contemporary look — the Godrej group and Bombay Swadeshi Stores. Both the over hundred-year-old groups may be vastly different in their business profiles, but their objective is the same. From product range and image makeovers to tapping social networking sites, these traditionally run groups are aggressively pitching themselves to a younger audience with a clear objective to grow. The Godrej group has set up a special taskforce to ensure that its products continue to meet modern consumer needs. ‘‘Godrej would like to increase the proportion of youth, especially in metros, using four or more Godrej products to rise to a level of 44% over the next three years as against the current 39%,’’ said Tanya Dubash, executive director & president (marketing), Godrej Industries. The group recently launched an online platform (GoJiyo) for its brands to engage with the youth and is now extending the vision to its productline too. Within Godrej’s portfolio, there has been a perceptible shift in the pivot of a vast array of Godrej brands towards a younger audience. Launches like the Krsna Mehta range of Godrej Interio products, Godrej Eon Mirror Star air-conditioners, Yummiez, Good Knight Naturals and Yummiez, have been the vanguards of this youth-centric movement from Godrej. ‘‘There is a lot of innovation happening in the group to appeal to a younger, optimistic and ambitious target consumer. GoJiyo will be an extremely powerful platform for these future launches too,’’ said Dubash. Bombay Swadeshi Stores, which runs ‘The Bombay Store’, on the other hand, is tapping social networking sites to attract consumers and is soon going to launch its own e-commerce business to deliver products across India. ‘‘We are planning to relaunch an entire range with designer Krsna Mehta,” said Asim Dalal, MD , Bombay Swadeshi Stores.

9 players to bid for 3G, no new entrants in fray

NEW DELHI: Nine players will participate in the auctions for pan-India 3G spectrum, which will begin on April 9. In addition, the department of telecom has received 11 applications to participate in the auctions of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum, making for a total of 20 applications. Predictably, the 3G auctions have attracted only existing 2G players -- Aircel, Bharti, Etisalat, Idea, Reliance Telecom, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone and Videocon Telecom -- with not a single new entrant, global or Indian, in the list. TOI was the first to predict, way back on August 12, 2008, that new players would probably stay away from the 3G auctions after the auctions were first announced. Even after the guidelines were revised for the 2010 auctions, the barriers for new entrants remained unchanged. The absence of global bidders is likely to ensure that the bidding will be conservative, and probably lower than the ambitious Rs 40,000 crore revenue target first announced by telecom minister A Raja. The BWA list has four new players -- Augere, Tikona Wireless, Infotel Broadband Services and Qualcomm -- while Spice is making a comeback into the telecom space. Infotel belongs to Anant Nahatta, the son of HFCL owner Mahendra Nahatta. It could not be confirmed if these are all pan-India applications or if players will eventually bid only for select circles. DoT is meeting at 11.30am on Saturday, March 20 to screen the applications. "We will check to see if the applicants meet the licence criteria. For example, no company can hold more than 10% in another applicant company," a senior DoT official told TOI.