News Source: Yahoo News News Highlight: Indian naval exercises with Thailand and Indonesia are aimed in part at ensuring security for a new sea route linking the Indian and Pacific oceans, a top Indian general said. Lieutenant-General Aditya Singh also said in an interview the military backs the idea of allowing foreign airlines at its airport in Port Blair, capital of the tsunami-struck Andaman and Nicobar islands, to boost tourism. India held its first naval exercise last week with Thailand and concluded semi-annual exercises with Indonesia. Both took place near the mouth of the Malacca Strait, the main sea lane between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea leading to the Pacific. URL of the news item: http://in.news.yahoo.com/050929/137/60cwy.html Read more

URL Link: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1661&L2=21&L3=33&srid=268&gp=0 Highlights: * A survey of business leaders around the world shows that executives at Indian companies are more upbeat than others about the effects of globalization on their businesses but less confident of their ability to find suitable talent. * Most Indian executives think that globalization, increasing affluence in emerging markets, and other worldwide trends will enhance the profits of their companies. * India is looking to the United States for much of the expected growth and virtually ignoring China. * After the shortage of talent, Indian executives say that their biggest challenge is increased competition. Source: Mckinsey Quarterly Read more

URL Link: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_print.aspx?L2=19&L3=67&ar=1663 Highlights: India has always held great promise. Soon after independence, in 1947, its foreign reserves were among the world's largest, at $2.1 billion in 1950–51, and it accounted for 2.4 percent of global trade. Over the next 44 years, however, attempts to follow the Soviet model of self-sufficiency brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy. Domestic savings failed to keep pace with the investment needed to contain unemployment, especially as India's working-age population expanded. The crisis begged for drastic reform, and in 1991 the government delivered. This reform program took its cue from China, which by 1991 had surpassed India on all major economic indicators. But in the shadow of the Chinese economic miracle, it is easy to overlook what India's reforms have accomplished during the past 14 years. A solid foundation for growth is now in place: the program of renewal, backed by successive governments, has increased the country's foreign reserves to an enviable $137 billion and raised annual economic growth from an average of around 4 percent in the four decades before reform to almost 7 percent today. Growth rates of 8 to 10 percent are within reach. The amount of foreign direct investment coming into the country, often cited as a failure of India's policy, has grown from about $100 million in the early 1990s to about $5.5 billion today. If China were not the yardstick used to measure India, this increase would be a matter for celebration, not censure. Source: Mckinsey Quarterly Read more