Some bumps ahead but not a dead end
plagued by labour unrest, auto majors in INDIA May have cause for worry, yet doubts about the country's capability to be a global hub are unfounded, reports Pawan Chabra
For the global automotive industry majors, India has for a
long time been a favoured driveway. With companies like Hyundai, Toyota and even Ford choosing this country as their manufacturing hub, the sector is enjoying one of its best growth phases ever. However, one cannot deny that this is a labour intensive industry and it has hence been buffeted by recurring incidents of labour unrest in the country. Industry watchers claim that India (which is currently the second largest two-wheeler market in the world after China) is well on course to becoming the seventh largest passenger car market worldwide (currently the eleventh largest) by 2016. However, the current labour problems that are looming large over companies like Rico, Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India Limited (HMSI) and Sunbeam in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt have once again ignited the debate on whether India can indeed grow into a major hub for automotives in such a scenario. The billion-dollar quation to be asked is: will such incidents slow down the growth of the Indian automotive industry in the long run?
The problems started with the strike at HMSI’s plant when the majority of the 5,500 workforce decided to launch a 'go- slow' in August. As a result of the action, production at the HMSI plant dropped by over 50%. HMSI filed a petition in the court threatening to take its operations out of India. In fact, the company has stopped taking orders for some of its models with the back-order touching 1.4 lakh units leading to a production loss of over Rs 300 crore for about 75,000 units of two-wheelers. Similarly, Rico, which supplies to giants like Maruti Suzuki and Hero Honda (market leaders in their respective segments) has been facing severe labour problems for the past one month. At present almost 95% of its 3,500 workers are on strike.
The protest became dangerous after a worker, Ajit Kumar Yadav, 26, died when police fired on agitating employees of the auto component manufacturer. In fact, the auto belt in the region of Gurgaon-Manesar was rocked by the industrial unrest that had been simmering for the past few months. About 8,000 workers walked off their jobs as the Communist Party of India-affiliated trade union, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) mobilised a protest against the death of the worker. The picture gets clearer when one looks at the issues from the workers’ point of view. “We are fighting here for our rights and the management has no right to exploit workers,” asserts Chander Jeet Singh, a member of the Rico’s employees union. “After all, it is also in our interest to keep our jobs. We didn’t do this to threaten the management,” said another worker protesting against the company.
For the global automotive industry majors, India has for a
long time been a favoured driveway. With companies like Hyundai, Toyota and even Ford choosing this country as their manufacturing hub, the sector is enjoying one of its best growth phases ever. However, one cannot deny that this is a labour intensive industry and it has hence been buffeted by recurring incidents of labour unrest in the country. Industry watchers claim that India (which is currently the second largest two-wheeler market in the world after China) is well on course to becoming the seventh largest passenger car market worldwide (currently the eleventh largest) by 2016. However, the current labour problems that are looming large over companies like Rico, Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India Limited (HMSI) and Sunbeam in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt have once again ignited the debate on whether India can indeed grow into a major hub for automotives in such a scenario. The billion-dollar quation to be asked is: will such incidents slow down the growth of the Indian automotive industry in the long run?The problems started with the strike at HMSI’s plant when the majority of the 5,500 workforce decided to launch a 'go- slow' in August. As a result of the action, production at the HMSI plant dropped by over 50%. HMSI filed a petition in the court threatening to take its operations out of India. In fact, the company has stopped taking orders for some of its models with the back-order touching 1.4 lakh units leading to a production loss of over Rs 300 crore for about 75,000 units of two-wheelers. Similarly, Rico, which supplies to giants like Maruti Suzuki and Hero Honda (market leaders in their respective segments) has been facing severe labour problems for the past one month. At present almost 95% of its 3,500 workers are on strike.
The protest became dangerous after a worker, Ajit Kumar Yadav, 26, died when police fired on agitating employees of the auto component manufacturer. In fact, the auto belt in the region of Gurgaon-Manesar was rocked by the industrial unrest that had been simmering for the past few months. About 8,000 workers walked off their jobs as the Communist Party of India-affiliated trade union, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) mobilised a protest against the death of the worker. The picture gets clearer when one looks at the issues from the workers’ point of view. “We are fighting here for our rights and the management has no right to exploit workers,” asserts Chander Jeet Singh, a member of the Rico’s employees union. “After all, it is also in our interest to keep our jobs. We didn’t do this to threaten the management,” said another worker protesting against the company.
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temporarily. Some doctors, who were rendering free services to HIV positive victims, have stopped work because they allege that they are getting no help from the government. Dr I. S. Gilada, secretary of the AIDS Society of India, blames the state government for the sudden spread of HIV/AIDS in the state.
place in Iran in the past two decades, suicide bombers targeted a delegation of Revolutionary Guard leaders. At the time of the attack the Guards were on a tour of Pishin district — bordering Pakistan — to facilitate a meeting with tribal leaders in the region.
CPI(M)’s K.K. Ragesh by a huge margin. The other aspect which makes the battle for Kannur interesting is that M.V. Jayarajan is pitted against former comrade-in-arms A.P. Abdullakkutty, who has twice represented the constituency in Parliament for CPI(M). Abdullakkutty, who joined the Congress after his controversial ejection from CPI(M), also takes this as a critical contest as nothing less than a victory could baptise him as a Congressman. However, Abdullakkutty won’t have it easy. Within the Congress itself, there is a group of disgruntled leaders who fear that a victorious Abdullakkutty can put paid to their future political careers. Both the CPI(M) and the Congress are accusing one another of preparing to rig the election. While the Congress alleges that the CPI(M) leadership, with the help of the district administration, has added bogus voters’ names to the voters’ list, CPI(M) accuses the Congress of trying to spread unrest in the constituency. A case has been registered against Sudhakaran charging him with unbailable offences including that of disrupting the duty of a tehsildar. Sudhakaran, of course, refutes the charge and alleges that the district collector has become a tool in the hands of the CPI(M). Thus, Kannur has emerged as the hottest battleground among all the three constituencies.
understand where the inspiration for today's US TV serials came from. Hollywood has copied so much from French cinema. True Lies, a Hollywood blockbuster, was lifted from a French film. We are making Unnaipol Oruvan. But we have acknowledged the source: A Wednesday. But America is different. They’ve been aggressors; they conquered the land by force and now treat it as their own. The same attitude prevails in Hollywood.
With the help of The National Security Archive based in Washington DC, this magazine had published overwhelming evidence against Posada that included, among others, the bomb circuit diagram used to blow up the flight, the notes about how to assemble it and the fake passport used by Posada. However, those evidence in no way had pointed out that dreaded Posada was in any way used by the CIA for any sort of open or clandestine operations. It appeared then – to the untrained eyes – that CIA was only guilty of shielding him and nothing more. That at least provided CIA the much needed cushioning. This week, that cushion was pulled away and CIA stands naked. As friends and relatives of those killed aboard Cubana flight 455 mourn 33rd year of the disaster, the Washington based National Security Archive has released other chilling documents concerning Luis Posada and his aides and masters. These documents confirm that “the Company”–as CIA is sometimes called – had excellent ties with the terrorist and it took immense pain to keep these ties strong.
not as strong as the market is proposing at the moment. Going by fundamentals, India’s growth GDP is still expected at just 7 to 7.5%. Other economic indicators too have not recovered completely from the global meltdown. Even global cues are still on the lower side. All these mean that the fundamentals are yet to recover and the market movement that we see at the moment is more of hype than anything else. Under these circumstances (especially with the media bombardment of news that talks of huge returns made by various investors), no doubt it’s easy for anyone, who does not have a deep knowledge, to get carried away. But the truth is, that’s exactly what the retail investors must refrain themselves from at the moment.
is one true world champion that India has. After he became world champ in 2000, many Indians were attracted to the game. Now any Indian chess player receives a tremendous response at international events. Whenever a young player goes abroad to participate in an event, Vishy calls him or her up with his best wishes. Now Anand lives in Spain and when he won the world championships, even the Spaniards celebrated. 
and songs from across the subcontinent are liberally punctuated with references to the month of Shravan. These ditties extolling the magic and mystique of the rains (varsha, baarish, barsaat) spring forth from the fecund imagination of creative souls.
money spent on getting a premium listing on one of the matrimonial websites that have catapulted the traditional ritual of finding a life partner straight into the Cyber age. Shaadi.com and Bharatmatrimony.com have replaced the neighbourhood uncle and aunt who earlier performed the delicate dance of facilitating legalised mating. Of course, for the more popular newspapers, matrimonial ads are still a huge source of revenue. In fact, the matrimonial ads reveal more about India and Indians than all the other news pages put together. If you come across words like ‘innocent divorcee’ and 'early, decent’ marriage; rest assured that monetary transactions of substantive nature are lurking round the corner. Money is what the parents of the bride often cough up for the “happiness of the daughter.” People simply it dowry; scholars from JNU see no dialectical contradiction in raining fire and brimstone on ‘greedy capitalists’ and receiving a hefty dowry once they win a lottery called the Union Civil Services.
doesn’t matter if one has to walk, take a train or a bus and then walk again. They’ve simply got to be there, even if that means spending the night out in the cold under the open sky. It’s their faith that takes them everywhere. I’m thankful to Him for giving me the opportunity to marvel at something as grand as that. Even a man who earns as little as Rs 100 per day goes there and thanks Him. Just stand there and watch the crowds move towards the Sangam and you can’t believe your eyes. They don’t want to look at anything else, they don’t relate to anything else. The holy dip at Sangam is everything. This blind faith is how India survives in spite of the chaos all around us. One can just stand there and take pictures endlessly. 
he is the man who brought India’s first and last ODI World Cup. Standing on the Lord's balcony with the Prudential Cup, he showed to the world what India was capable of. ‘Paaji’ of Indian cricket gave an entirely new dimension to the sport. It is only because of him we see a brigade of fast bowlers emerging from every nook and corner of this country. Of course, how our IPL stars can forget this gentleman? He came up with ICL. To counter that move, BCCI came up with IPL. Thanks ‘paaji!'
by Rishi Vyas at the beginning of kalyug, approximately 5000 years back. A recent Oxford University study asserts that the ancestors of the British people were cannibals, as if calling them apes was not enough insult! Respect for creation and everything within it and beyond it, is characteristic of Indian culture. Our Vedic ancestors were descendents of Herculean beings who not only gave the world the knowledge of the material world but also the etheric world. Any serious practitioner of the subject of spiritual sciences would clearly see the devolution of mankind, which was anticipated by the Vedic Rishis hence they gave to the world tools as per the anticipated capacity of the beings who would inhabit this planet at different points of time – poetry, art, romance, economics, medicine, physics, chemistry, dance, music..........peace; you name it and they gave it.
energy and power for them. They naturally glorified the cow. What appears unique to India is the duality of attitudes towards, and treatment of, the cow. At an ideational level, the cow is highly venerated. The Aryans were a pastoral society. Cow, being a milch animal, was naturally valued. The celestial cow, the Kamdhenu, became the symbol of plenty and prosperity. The Aryans valued the cow for the milk. They also relished the cow as an item of ceremonial food. Early Vedic literature adduces evidence that the cow was also used as a sacrificial animal. Not only this. Different parts of the cow were differently valued and relished. Since the emergence of reactionary tendencies among a section of the Hindus, there is a conscious effort to suppress these references. The cow divided the society into two groups. One comprises those from the higher castes who swear by vegetarianism and venerate the cow. The other consists of the lower castes which eat the cow and is non-vegetarian. This section constitutes the majority among Hindus. One reason they are looked down upon is that they eat beef. Christians, Muslims and tribals are similarly considered lowly.
been by and large motivating investors to partly shift to gold as an investment class.” And why not? After all this is one such asset class, which has shown immense resistance to loss over the past two years, when there was carnage in the share markets the world over. For that matter even in India, while the BSE Sensex has offered only 19.82% return over the last 12 months, gold has returned nearly double (35.76%). The gold exchange traded funds too have returned a handsome of around 35%. And thus gold is the one, which is still glittering in the eyes of the investors despite the fact that the stock market is on an upswing at the moment. But it’s all for the investors and not for the traditional Indian buyers.
title to trouncing nine-time and defending champion Mike Russell to become the new World Professional Billiards Champion, Pankaj Advani has obviously picked the right cues. The undisputed king of the green baize in an exclusive interview with Satish Chapparike….
long way – from confinement of their home to the limelight of business and power. The dark period of women era, without any apprehensions, is currently witnessing a transition phase. Although this transition is quite slow and to some extent quite delayed too. The camouflage has been removed, if not by all then by the likes of Sonia Gandhi, Chanda Kochhar and a few others. Writing their own success story, these women have overcome many societal hurdles and made themselves a prominent figure in national as well as international circle. In a patriarchal Indian society, few women have not only achieved new milestones but also booked their slots in the world’s most esteemed magazine. Few weeks ago, a few Indian women, namely Sonia Gandhi, Chanda Kochhar and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw made it to the Forbes’ ‘The 100 Most Powerful Women’. Being featured in this globally recognised list is not only their personal achievement but is also a matter of pride for the whole country!
started working. She didn’t face any pressure from her family, nor was there a need for her to work, she chose to do so of her own free will. Like her job, all other aspects of her life, from what to wear, what to eat, where to party were all her choice. Her earnings were spent on eating-out, shopping, recreation etc and little on household expenses or any major investments. Now at 23, responsibilities haven't cast even the slightest shadow on her life. Settling down is a distant probability... She’s supported completely by her parents – be it for food, a roof, or even the extra pocket money. Such is the world of ‘twixters’, people in the age bracket of 18 to 30, who are no more adolescents yet not close to being adults. They are ready to go out and experiment with their lives. Marriage is not on their mind till they reach late-twenties. To adults these youngsters might sound confused, aloof, irresponsible, but perhaps the truth is that they are preparing themselves for the bigger responsibilities and challenges of life.
played a stupendous role in reliving the memories of the Kargil War, a war whose existence the bureaucracy had refused to accept once. Again, it was vindicated why the Indian Army is one of the finest institutions of the country. So, while the debates of the worst kind over the commemoration of the Kargil War continued (some from the political dozen were busy arguing whether it was purely an NDA victory, which therefore excludes the UPA from having the right to celebrate), what has been conveniently forgotten in between is the loss of numerous lives in the summer of ’99. Not only were those lives valuable, but the fact also is that many of those who died were young officers and jawans freshly out of military academies who willingly gave up their lives for a forgetful nation. Also is forgotten the fact that without that victory, the strategic paradigm of India and even the map of India would have changed forever.
story during the recent Lok Sabha elections in Western Uttar Pradesh? It was the sleazy, demeaning and distasteful “visuals” of the Rampur Lok Sabha candidate Jaya Prada. Dozens of mesmerised and possibly unhinged men try their best to seek their 15 minutes of fame when a Madhuri Dixit or a Sridevi or an Aishwarya Rai gets married. But who got more than her unfair share of 15 minutes of fame when Aishwarya Rai got married? It was a nonentity called Jahnavi Kapoor.
pro-poor welfare schemes of the YS Rajasekhar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh is slowly giving way to some criticism. All those schemes that initially drew public applause are now being questioned for their alleged lack of transparency. There are two lines of question being posed by analysts: One, can the government safely transfer its responsibilities to private parties? Two, what exact measures are being taken to ensure that corrupt officials do not end up lining their pockets; especially with vital sectors like health and education at the receiving end?
