In a hurry to add achievements to his ministerial performance list, Kapil Sibal had pushed the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill in the Cabinet. India can truly benefit from a foreign university to serve its people with better education. But to difficult to experience such good intended universities from abroad. We can give encouragement to the HRD minister provided he argument for better bargain. Unfortunately the lawyer turned politician has let down his country’s higher education system and the youth. By capping the corpus to be deposited by the foreign university to a peanut of Rs.50 crore he had done a great injustice.

The minister should have fixed a minimum of Rs.200 crore deposit, the fee limit of not more than Rs. 2 lakh and other safeguard mechanisms. Good that the minister had pleaded for the non plying of profit out of the country. Even in this trial and error game of foreign education in India the minister needs to exercise utmost caution. Just to add his namesake achievements the lawyer minister shouldn’t play with the future of the country’s children.

The Times of India writes on 16 March 2010

The country just took a big step for dramatically enhancing the profile of higher education in the country. On Monday, the Union cabinet cleared the Foreign Educational Institutions (regulation of entry and operation) Bill, which aims to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India.

The bill, which was adopted without changes, is expected to be introduced in Parliament after the recess of the budget session. If cleared, it would widen the definition of FDI in higher education and is expected to not only shake up the market but also throw up exciting possibilities for top Indian teachers. An excited HRD minister Kapil Sibal said the bill would lead to a ‘‘larger revolution than even in the telecom sector’’.

While the bill will be opposed by the Left, it shouldn’t face any serious obstacle in Parliament because the BJP is also in favour of the move, even though it might raise some objections on a provision or two of the bill.

Once it is cleared, some of the top foreign universities, said to be waiting in the wings, are expected to set up campuses in India. The Atlanta-based Georgia Tech University has already bought 250 acres in Hyderabad. Although Yale University is interested in having a presence in India, and welcomed the cabinet clearance, its assistant secretary George Joseph told TOI that there were no plans as of now to set up a campus here.

While the foreign universities would follow the national laws, they will not have to give reservation in admission to SC/ST/OBC students. The bill treats them as private universities. Even Indian private universities are free of quota-based admissions.

Similarly, foreign universities will have freedom to fix fees and decide their admission process.

The Foreign Educational Institutions (regulation of entry and operation) Bill makes it mandatory for foreign universities to publish a prospectus. Also, the bill disallows foreign educational providers from repatriating profit made from Indian campus through education.

With foreign direct investment in higher education already allowed since 2002, the bill stipulates that any
foreign university interested in setting up a campus in India will have to deposit a corpus of Rs 50 crore with the body that will register them. The registering body will be the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The bill promises time-bound registration to foreign universities, although they will have to go through a series of registrations at various levels. The registering body after going through the application will advise government whether the foreign university be allowed or not.

Asked what happens in case a foreign education provider sets up a campus in collaboration with private Indian university, ministry source said, ‘‘It is the foreign education provider who will have to come for the registration with details of collaboration.’’

Kapil Sibal was quick to welcome the cabinet approval. He said, ‘‘This is a milestone which will enhance choices, increase competition and benchmark quality. A larger revolution than even in the telecom sector awaits us.’’

AVerage monthly salaries

($ 2008 purchasing power parity)

Saudi Arabia 6611

Canada 6548

United States 5816

Australia 4795

New Zealand 4490

U.K 4343

Germany 4333

Japan 4112

South Africa 4075

India 1547

China 1182

Source: Rumbley, I Pancheco & Philip Altbach

With the union budget presented in the Parliament few minutes back, optimism has been revived. The Finance Minister had dispelled doom predictions circulated by the usual fear mongering economics crowd and put a strong hope forward. Tax concessions and special allocation to revive the green revolution in Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand and creation of oil seed villages are highly appreciable steps.

An inspiring road map to rebuild the agriculture and long term strategies to checkmate the prices of food grains and essential items are missing from the budget. All the loopholes are glaring in the major social sectors like education, health and women's development, budget 2010 deserves encouragement to pullout the society from deep crisis.

The Times of India writes

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday began the presentation of Union Budget 2010-2011 with a renewed sense of optimism over the country's growth and clear signals from policymakers to bring deficits back to manageable levels.

Referring to tax slabs, the finance minister said tax on income up to Rs 1.6 lakh would be nil, above Rs 1.6 lakh to Rs 5 lakh would be 10%, above Rs 5 lakh to 8 lakh would be 20% and above Rs 8 lakh to be 30%.

Over and above Rs 1 lakh deduction on tax savings, an additional deduction of 20% for investment in long-term infrastructure bonds would be allowed, Pranab Mukheree said.

Maninimum alternative tax (MAT) increased from 15% to 18%, direct tax concessions worth Rs 26,000 crore:, was another highlight of the Budget.

In his speech, the finance minister also said cars would be costlier.

Earlier, Mukherjee exuded confidence of introducing major reforms on direct and indirect taxes front in the form of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Direct Taxes Code (DTC) from April one, 2011.

"I am confident that the government will be in a position to implement DTC from April one, 2011... It will be my earnest endeavour to implement GST along with DTC from April one, 2011," finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his Budget speech.

This means that GST would miss its earlier introduction deadline of April one, 2010, by a year.

While DTC will replace the archaic Income Tax Act, GST will replace most indirect taxes at central and states levels like service tax, excise duty, VAT, cesses, surcharges and local levies.

Govt extends interest subsidy for exporters for 1 more yr
The government proposed to extend the concessional export finance regime for select exporters for one more year till March 31, 2011, thus giving the slowdown-hit sector further relief.

"I propose to extend the interest subvention of 2 per cent for one more year for exports covering handicrafts, carpets, hand-looms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs)," finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said .

The scheme was to expire on March 31, 2010. With a view to insulate the employment-oriented sectors like hand-looms, handicrafts, carpets and leather, from the impact of demand slowdown the government had extended the scheme for concessional export finance in the last Budget till March 31, this year.

Beginning his speech, the finance minister said the Indian economy had weathered the crisis well but the main challenge was to make growth inclusive. The focus is to get a double-digit GDP growth rate, he said. Social sector reforms will also be on the agenda, Mukherjee said.

Economic growth in 2009-10 may turn out to be higher than 7.2%, the finance minister said. We hope to breach the 10% mark in not too distant future, he added. He said the need was to make growth more broad-based.

Pranab Mukherjee said Rs 400 crore to be allocated for green revolution in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa, and Rs 300 crore for creating 6000 pulse and oilseed villages.

In his Budget speech, the finance minister said allocation for roads has been raised by 13% and allocation for power sector doubled. 46% of total plan dedicated to infrastructure, he added.

Pranab Mukherjee said listing of PSUs will improve corporate governance.

Expectations are high from the 74-year-old veteran politician, who has tabled four budgets in the past, that he will address the twin issue of bringing down prices while ensuring higher overall growth for the economy.

At the same time, he is also under pressure to roll back, albeit gradually, the $37-billion stimuli announced since December 2008 to help India weather the global economic slowdown.

The Economic Survey 2009-10 presented on Thursday favoured the gradual rollback of stimulus measures that were introduced following the global economic meltdown in late 2008. However on the eve of the Union Budget, Mukherjee talked about the measures that would be taken by the government to deal with 17.85 percent food inflation and certain aspects of the economy.

The union HRD minister Kapil Sibal is caught between the whirlwinds of private education providers and state control desiring politicians. One day he wants all the private establishments in the education to be brought under the total control of HRD ministry and the other day he wants total freedom for the private education sector. His unbalanced and weak position puts the students and parents under stress. Without understanding his responsibility and power, the minister skirts and fumbles his position which is the government's one.

The latest confusion created by Sibal is the school fees in private establishments. In a conference organised by the private education providers in New Delhi on 19 February 2010, he said that private sector is free to fix the teacher's salary. No questions asked if they give peanuts for teaching! This irresponsible statement will dilute the quality of teachers in private institutions who won't stay for a long time. Teachers can be recruited by the private schools may be for weeks but they will migrate to better paying institutions sooner or later. This will surely dent the smooth functioning of the schools and affect the students parents psyche.


If Sibal can't do something to better the education system it is good for him to keep quite rather than kicking controversy after controversy and confusion after confusion.

The Times of India writes on 20 February 2010


In what comes as a blow to the efforts of city parents' associations which have been campaigning for reining in school fees, Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal said on Friday that the fees of private schools cannot be regulated and that each school had the right to fix the salaries of its teachers.

Sibal's claims contradict provisions in the Delhi School Education Act, 1973, which stipulate that remuneration of teachers in private schools cannot be less than their counterparts in government schools. The minister said this contradiction will go away once the Right to Education Act is implemented from April 1 this year ^ implying that the central Act will override the state law.

``There is no such provision in RTE,'' Sibal said about the salaries of teachers while addressing principals at the 37th annual meet of National Progressive Schools' Conference -- a group of nearly 110 private unaided schools in the city.

``The salaries of teachers in private schools do not have to be according to the government. They will decide to pay what they want to pay,'' he declared, while countering a speaker at the meet who had earlier said that small schools, which are now mushrooming in the city, did not have quality teachers because they could not afford to pay good salaries.

While all schools were not required to pay Rs 22,000 (the minimum basic salaray as per the Sixth Pay Commission) to their teachers, there should be no compromise on the qualification of teachers, he added.

The minister's new announcement indicates that private schools in the city may finally get a free hand in deciding teachers' salaries and consequently the fees, much to the dismay of parents. There have been many protests against schools hiking their fees last year. After the Sixth Pay Commission was implemented in the second half of 2008, schools sought to hike their fee to generate revenue to pay the teachers more.

Delhi government then formed the Bansal Committee to decide how much fee a school could be allowed to increase and issued a notification in this regard on February 11 last year.

According to section 9 of chapter IV of the Delhi School Education Act 1973, private schools need to pay salaries at a par with government schools. ``The scales of pay and allowances, medical facilities, pension, gratuity, provident fund and other prescribed benefits of the employees of a recognized private school shall not be less than those of the employees of the corresponding status in schools run by the appropriate authority.''

However, according to Sibal, this act will be rendered ineffective from April 1. ``Once the Right to Education (RTE) is implemented, the Delhi School Education Act will not apply.'' RTE Act has already been notified.

On regulation of fees, Sibal referred to the T M Pai case saying, ``The Supreme Court has also said that fees of private schools cannot be regulated and yet some state governments have passed such acts,'' he told the teachers present.

The minister said he has also moved a malpractices bill under which all schools will have to give details of their infrastructure, number of students, salaries of teachers etc on their website. If the online information is found to be false, the school can be prosecuted.

As per the provisions of RTE, all unaided private schools operating in a city should be recognized. Sibal said that the bill did not aim at shutting down unrecognized schools. ``Our purpose is to enhance infrastructure and quality of private unaided schools,'' he said

Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is a natural ally for India. When her father was fighting for freedom, India helped adequately. To repay the debts she wants cordial relationship with her neighbor. But how far India is ready to take forward her genuine desire? She was well received and awarded Indira Gandhi peace prize recently. This is not sufficient. India should move up to dispel the wrong impressions created by it and by the opposition parties in Bangladesh about its interests in the Eastern nation . As a bigger nation, India should give wider concession to Bangladesh keeping long term benefits and geo political strategies in mind.

Mahfuz Anam writes in the Times of India on 2 February 2010

The history of mutual suspicion, petty bickering on trade negotiations, cavalier attitudes on border killings, dangerous gamesmanship with arms smuggling, etc, of the last three decades of Bangladesh-India relations would not normally justify the agreements that Sheikh Hasina penned sometime ago in Delhi. Only vision would. A vision of a South Asia doing what ASEAN did several decades ago, of trusting neighbours rather than of subverting them, of fighting poverty and not using it to justify other failures, of a thriving marketplace of goods and services rather than of counting items in the negative list. In the latest agreement, Bangladesh has moved towards such a vision. Has India responded? For us, the jury is still out.

Take the two biggest concerns of the two sides: for India they are security and connectivity with the north-east; for Bangladesh water sharing and trade imbalance. There is a feeling that the clarity and precision with which Bangladesh responded to its neighbour's concerns were not reciprocated in equal measure by India.

On Indian security concerns, Bangladesh's commitment was unequivocal: it will not permit the use of Bangladeshi soil for activities inimical to any other country, basically meaning India. It was in dramatic contrast to the past when India's worries about terrorist links and arms transit fell on deaf ears. India desperately needed friendly borders in the east that Bangladesh has now assured and is following up by decisive deeds. Sheikh Hasina has launched the most determined and widespread actions against internal militants and extremists and is systematically dismantling the terrorist infrastructure.

The permission for the use of the Chittagong and Mongla ports for shipment of Indian goods to the north-east is a very important step forward. With Bangladesh's present position on Asian highway and railway routes, the regional and sub-regional connectivity scenario is set to undergo a fundamental change.

On Bangladesh's priorities water sharing and trade imbalance there is no dramatic progress. On Teesta water sharing, the positive development is that the ministerial level joint river commission meeting will be held within March, 2010. But it still leaves us with an uncomfortable ambiguity about the outcome.

On the Tipaimukh dam issue, sadly, there was nothing new. The Indian prime minister reiterated his government's earlier stand that India will do nothing that will harm Bangladesh's interest. Such broad and generalised expression of good intention is definitely welcome. However clearer wording that further activity on Tipaimukh would only be undertaken after consultation with Bangladesh would have helped assuage remaining worries.

On enhancement of economic and trade relations, especially giving Bangladeshi exports (which are meager to start with) zero tariff access, the issue remained mired in the politics of an ever narrowing negative list which will now come down by 47 from 260 items, which earlier was higher still. The absurdity is that India earns a meagre $10 to $15 million in taxes from exports from Bangladesh of around $300 million. That is what it would have cost India to give Bangladesh zero tariff.

The promise of rebuilding of our railways, roads, bridges including the two ports, is welcome. The $1 billion credit line will serve to stimulate early action. However, all these are ancillary to both the functionality and efficiency of connectivity, which is a euphemism for 'transit'. The offer of 250 MW of electricity is of extreme relevance and among the most significant gains Bangladesh stands to make. Another hopeful sign is the agreement to amicably demarcate our maritime boundary.

Predictably, the Bangladeshi opposition, led by Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party and supported by Jamaat-e-Islami, have called the agreements a total surrender of Bangladesh's interest to India. They have called for opposition unity and are clearly marking time for an appropriate moment to strike against Sheikh Hasina's government.

Manmohan Singh's government must guard against the agreement getting entrapped in a bureaucratic maze, implementing its provisions soon. As a first step, India should formally assure that, as an upper riparian state, it will always consider Bangladesh's interest and display maximum openness and transparency on water sharing. Killings on the border must immediately stop and the promised 24-hour access to Tin Bigha implemented. On maritime boundary, it should go for a liberal interpretation and allow Bangladesh access to all available hydrocarbon and fish resources. Zero tariff access must be granted to all Bangladeshi exports. This must be followed by elimination of all inter-state taxes and non-tariff barriers. We must institutionalise annual summit and informal meetings in-between, for a few hours on one-day trips, as EU heads of governments have done. Such a step will do wonders for our relations.

The moment is opportune for India and Bangladesh to lay the foundation of a durable, mutually beneficial relationship that will transform the region's strategic and security scene. Now is the moment for grand visions and grander actions. If Bangladesh was guilty of being shackled to the mindset of the past, let India not be accused of having failed to think outside the box when opportunity beckoned.

The writer is editor, Daily Star, Bangladesh.

Private investors are queuing up to lock their wealth in the galloping education sector. Will this new found craze for educational returns for the investors will pay their gamble? or the recent steps by the union government to crack whip on the extra charging private educational providers will dent the interest among the private investors in education? One needs to wait and watch the results.

Reeba Zachairah writes in The Times of India on 1 February 2010

The evergreen and recession-proof characteristics of the education sector are drawing interest among private equity firms. Billed to be a $80-billion market, the number of private equity deals in the education space has grown four-fold in the last four years.

According to Venture Intelligence, a Chennai-based research firm focused on private equity and mergers & acquisitions, eight deals worth $121 million were sealed in 2009, compared with just two deals worth $73 million in 2006.

The first educational institute to get venture capital funding in India was Career Launcher from Intel Capital as early as in 2000. And last week, India Equity Partners invested Rs 172 crore for a 26% stake in IL&FS Education and Technology Services, which provides training to schools, colleges and to the government and corporate sector.

Unlike other sectors such as steel and automobiles which bore the brunt of economic slowdown, the education sector stood out as many professionals chose to go back to school as they waited for the gloomy scenario to change. Moreover, the government's thrust that every child should have the right to education and the enhanced outlay to develop infrastructure reflect the growth potential of the sector.

Also, education occupies a top slot in a typical Indian household budget. A cursory look around any neighbourhood would highlight the mushrooming of educational institutes and coaching centres in the last few years.

Says Rajesh Singhal, managing partner, Milestone Religare Investment Advisors, "The sector offers investment opportunities across the entire value chain, from basic to higher education, training and skills development."

Milestone Religare has invested in IMS Learning Resources, a test preparation firm for aspiring students across management, engineering and law streams. According to Singhal, the annualised return on investment could be between 25% and 30%. Funds typically have an investment horizon of 5-6 years.

Too many emails, forwards, spams and junks are crushing the instant communication network through email. Despite all anti spam wares and anti junk filters there are many unwanted messages keeping jamming our inboxes. Mostly our office updates, mass emails, birthday reminders, event reminders, anniversary wishes and social network updates are the major villains of the electronic communication system. I spend more than 30 minutes to delete the junk messages. Most of these forwards are repeated by friends. No wonder Netizens are not able to handle this trouble. This problem is common among the public figures, bureaucrats and professionals. Those who have wide network also face the same problem.

times of India writes on 17 December 2009,

Computer technicians have found 22 million missing White House emails from the administration of President George W Bush and the

Obama administration is searching for dozens more days’ worth of potentially lost email from the Bush years, according to two groups that filed suit over the failure by the Bush White House to install an electronic record keeping system.
The two private groups — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive — said they were settling the suits they filed against the president’s office in 2007.

It will be years before the public sees the emails as they will go through the National Archives’ process for releasing presidential records.

The biggest challenge today for parents is bringing up children. Apart from offering the children best possible education and nutrition, parents are facing difficulties in monitoring children's ethical behaviour. Apart from social ethics learnt from educational institutions children too learn from the family. Learning from the family has been labelled by sociologists like Talcott Parsons as "primary socialisation". But socialisation is under constant threat by technology and consumerism. Whatever ethical norms and behavioural patterns codified by parents and grandparents are on and off broken by the fast moving peers. Curbing this trouble will be the most crucial challenge in the coming days.

Amrit Dhillon writes in The Times of India on 2 December 2009


It's easy to visualise the Pune teenager who arranged to meet her boyfriend the day before Friendship Day recently. Just 15, she must have been flushed with excitement at the prospect of feeling special and desirable, and coming home later from the rendezvous floating in that delicious dreamy delirium that characterises the early days of a relationship. But the boyfriend brought along three friends for some 'fun' and they raped her in turns. The following day, the girl hanged herself. In their tragic interplay, i imagine she was seeking love while he wanted sex. Her humiliation and death reveal how the dating game in India is going horribly wrong because boys and girls are playing by different rules.

Girls are eager to explore their newfound social freedom to experience the headiness of loving and being loved. Physical desire is obviously an important part of this exploration because the hormones of a teenage girl are fizzing just as furiously as those of any young male. But girls venture into this new world almost utterly defenceless and, as mostly small-town ingenues, are vulnerable to the first predator who comes along.

So girls are filmed undressing by their boyfriends. The MMS clips are sent to friends or used for blackmail. Girls who end relationships have acid thrown on them. Girls who reject boys' advances are stalked and threatened. In the West, young girls absorb vast amounts of information about relationships before acquiring their first boyfriend. From TV programmes and debates, magazines, playground gossip and conversations with mothers and elder sisters, they develop a sixth sense for detecting a false note or a whiff of aggression that could endanger them.

More than information, certain ideas have entered their minds. The theories of the feminist movement from the 1970s onwards in the West made women aware of the power dynamic between men and women. The ideas of Germaine Greer, Simone de Beauvoir and Betty Friedman filtered down into popular consciousness. No doubt, they were diluted and reduced to slogans by the time they reached the woman on the street but they nevertheless coloured the landscape of her mind.

This process has been absent in India where such debates have been largely confined to women's groups and magazines such as Manushi. Here, girls plunge into the dating game intellectually blindfolded, groping (excuse the pun) for signposts as they navigate this new terrain. They possess none of the psychological tools to discriminate between genuine and fake interest. Having had arranged marriages themselves, their mothers and elder sisters are of no help.

Quite apart from the limited help available from their families, even the wider culture around them fails to imbue girls either with sense or suspicion. How can it? For centuries, social norms have imposed strict social segregation. The new freedom for the sexes to mix is so new that society has barely woken up to its implications. Whereas in the West, relations between the sexes evolved gradually, over decades, in India, the process has been squeezed into 10-15 years, jumping from Jane Austen to Paris Hilton in the blink of an eye.

As girls, without being forewarned, rush into the arms of their beaux, they misread the signals. Exacerbating their vulnerability is the desire for male attention that virtually consumes girls at this age. Not all young men, of course, are hell-bent on abusing their new access to women. Plenty of them treat their girlfriends with respect. But many, just like the girls, misread the cues.

They see a woman in a bar wearing attractive clothes as 'available' because they have never been educated by literature, films, books and newspapers to grasp the notion that a woman can be drunk, dressed revealingly and behave suggestively but if she says 'no' to sex, it means no. They too are confused. All the old familiar rules have gone and it's a free-for-all. Just the other day, at least in some circles, they were taught to believe that any woman who displayed pleasure during lovemaking, even with her own husband, was a whore. Now they have to learn that women can pose semi-naked, smoke and drink and yet must be treated as respectfully as they treat their mothers.

India has moved from segregation to mingling between the sexes without any of the attendant debates on sex, feminism and contraception. There has been no transition. Many men have leapt from believing that women should be sequestered inside the home to expecting their girlfriends to take responsibility for contraception. Girls pop the 'morning after' pill casually, rather than as an emergency measure. The boyfriends are happy to be carefree and few even bother to find out whether there could be repercussions on the girl's health.

Young Indian women need to realise that many of the new sexual freedoms that were hailed initially as 'liberating' in the West (such as the availability of the pill) turned out to carry a heavy price. When neither side knows the rules because the rules are still being worked out, the dating game becomes potentially lethal.

Everyone is eager to see technology solving all the problems faced by humanity. But the response to this mass expectation has been dismal. Bio technology which is touted as the one stop solution for all problems is yet to prove its credentials in a big way. Its achievements so far cannot be belittled. However there is a big mismatch between the hopes and reality.

Along with the developments in bio technology there is a parallel growth of controversies. Especially the food products and medicines. It is up to the bio technologists to sort out these troubles and prove to the world that they are savious of future.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw writes in The Times of India on 3 December 2009

Biotechnology is aptly described as the "technology of hope" for its promise to deliver food security, life-saving drugs, alternate energy and environmental sustainability. India has many assets in its strong pool of scientists and engineers, vast institutional network and cost-effective manufacturing. Over 100 national research laboratories employ thousands of scientists. More than 300 college-level educational and training institutes offer degrees and diplomas in biotechnology, bio-informatics and the biological sciences, producing nearly 5,00,000 students annually. About 3,00,000 postgraduates and 1,500 PhDs qualify in biosciences and engineering each year. According to reports, outside of the US, India ranks the highest with 61 USFDA-approved plants and in excess of 200 GMP certified pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities.

The Indian government's national biotechnology development strategy is a comprehensive road map for this emerging sector. The document recognises the challenges of building both scale and critical mass in pursuing a global leadership profile. The biotech industry is poised to deliver a size of $5 billion by 2010 with biopharma driving the growth trajectory. However, funding, infrastructure, regulation and skill competency mapping pose obstacles in this path to the future. Conversely, India is uniquely placed to build a strong competitive edge. It offers an attractive cost arbitrage in research & development at roughly a third of that in the western hemisphere. Key enablers include a large, qualified English-speaking workforce, a network of reputed research laboratories and state-of-the-art pharmaceutical labs and manufacturing facilities. Further, the patient population offers a large, diverse pool for effective clinical research and development.

Ever-increasing cost and time involved in drug discovery and development, fierce competition and pricing pressure are all spurring western pharma companies to have an India strategy. A large number of blockbuster drugs are also set to go off-patent, giving the sector here tremendous opportunities. The industry is collaborating with global giants in clinical trials, discovery and development research, and manufacturing, thus rapidly moving up the value chain. In this age of hyper competition and wafer-thin margins, India's biotech sector is poised at an inflection point.

Yet the industry continues to face numerous challenges. Foremost is finance. Venture funding has abstained from investing in this sector on account of its high risk profile. Aversion to risk is also seen within the sector, which prefers low risk ventures based on services and generics, shying away from an innovation-led business model. The department of biotechnology has plugged this deficiency through a number of funding schemes. It is for entrepreneurs to avail of these funds and rise to the challenge of innovation.

The sector also faces the same infrastructural hurdles affecting Indian industry. The country continues to fall short on critical enablers such as quality roads and uninterrupted supply of power and potable water. However, beyond these common issues, the sector has its own problems. It requires a streamlined regulatory framework to accelerate commercialisation of products. Numerous regulatory agencies pulling in different directions slow down the process of growth. Bt Brinjal is a good example of how years of intensive research investment are unable to guarantee commercial returns. Human clinical trials are still an unresolved aspect. Further, essential strong industry-academia connections are sadly lacking.

The government can lead the way in facilitating growth by treating biotechnology as a priority sector. R&D is the bedrock on which biotech rests. The government must enable international patenting, which curiously does not qualify for tax deduction, and encourage investment. A regulatory environment that helps the drug discovery process and approves products without delays is urgently required. A five-year tax holiday on new products developed in-house can be a great incentive for R&D. Profits on such products can be mandated for reinvestment in R&D to encourage development of newer and better drugs at lower costs.

The biotech sector needs creativity to harness its potential and assume global leadership. There exists a huge opportunity for growth but only if innovation becomes part of the business ethic and a primary enterprise driver. It is no longer enough to produce clones of pharma products that have saturated the market, which do nothing to add value. Benchmarks must be set high and out-of-the-box thinking must become the norm. Profit margins can be maintained through contract discovery and manufacturing for foreign firms.

Extensive research requires expensive equipment that needs to be imported. The government can step in again by exempting or reducing import duties. It can also approve the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises's (ABLE) recommendation to set up a biotech fund to support first-generation biotech entrepreneurs up to the 'proof of concept' stage. ABLE has also urged the government to exempt venture funds investing in the sector from capital gains tax. That can act as a reward for longer-term investment cycles.

Already a major hub, India has all that it takes to become a global biotech leader. This will not only spur economic growth and provide much-needed jobs, but also ensure that we find answers to modern-day challenges in healthcare, energy, food security, and the environment. However, biotechnology's promise and India's potential can be realised only if government and industry work together and draw up a road map to facilitate innovation.

The writer heads a biotech company.

Afghanistan has been America's curse for the past one decade. What was the last decade misdeeds of America has been paid back. In 80s America trained Afghans with weapons and sophisticated technology to crush Russian forces. The same training is giving nightmares to America for a decade.

Unable to get out of the Afghanistan mess the White House establishment has been clueless. Barack Obama the promised savior of America is trying his best to put an end to the American embarrassment in the troubled Asian soil. He might have bought another 18 months to crush the Al Qaeda network but the troubles will continue to complicate his image and leadership. It is better to phase out Allied troops in 18 months the time he had sought and leave it to the managerial skills of decade long trained Afghan nationals. If America cannot deliver the results and make Afghans to take care of their country it is utter shame. Ten years is not less time for this.

Times of India writes on 3 December 2009

US president Barack Obama's outlined plan for a troop surge in Afghanistan, coupled with an exit strategy setting July 2011 as the kickoff point for the withdrawal of US forces, is likely to attract criticism from both sides. Domestic public fatigue with the war may cause some to say he committed too much, while those wanting the US to stay the course will say he didn't commit enough. But Obama has probably made the best of a bad situation. There are no easy answers in Afghanistan after seven years of mismanagement. Now, to obviate the danger of the Taliban deciding to simply wait out the US presence, a few focus areas are important.

The first is ensuring that the Afghan government is in a position to deal with the Taliban once the US withdrawal starts. And for that, the prime necessity is an effective administration in Kabul. Without good governance, Afghan president Hamid Karzai's government will lack the legitimacy it needs to succeed against the Taliban. How exactly Washington can apply pressure without making Karzai seem a US stooge is problematic, but Obama hinted at it in his speech when he spoke of reaching out to local leaders and elders. It will serve both to build effective local governance systems and exert pressure on Karzai to clean up his act if he does not wish to be left out in the cold.

Another important facet of beefing up the Afghan government is bolstering the Afghan police and military's size and capabilities. At the same time, the complementary task of degrading the Taliban's strength must be undertaken. For this too, reaching out to local leaders is important. But perhaps the crucial factor is Pakistan. If Islamabad allows militants safe havens, all the American efforts will be wasted. A US withdrawal with the Taliban's Quetta shura still intact would mean that a decade of war and loss of life was for nothing. As for hardliners in Islamabad, they would do well to remember that July 2011 is simply the starting point for the withdrawal. The actual pace of the drawdown will depend on the situation on the ground.

New Delhi must not cavil if large amounts of civilian aid flow into Pakistan, since that would shore up anti-militancy forces. It must, on the contrary, stay closely engaged with Washington and with Kabul, keep reminding Washington and other international capitals of the urgency of the task of turning Afghanistan around, and itself remain ready to help.

The north eastern state of Assam has been undergoing tremendous fissures due to the high voltage terrorist activities for many decades. The fragile political situation compounded by the natural calamities and underdevelopment has taken heavy toll on the state. Lack of strong political leadership combined with the total neglect of the centre has made the terrorist control impossible. After Naxal violence, North Eastern terror groups pose major challenge to the Indian security system.



The porous border with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar has been the worst troubles. Luckily Bangladesh government is ready to cooperate with the Indian security agencies to curb the anti-Indian forces. It is now up to the home minister and his officers to put an end to the terror menace in north-east and save the Indian paradise.



Times of India writes on 4 December 2009

Good news has finally followed bad in Assam. The Nalbari attack and just a few days before that, the burning of 12 tankers and derailment of four

train bogies at Jorhat had created the expectation that the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) would ramp up its activities. But with the detention of Arabinda Rajkhowa, one of ULFA's founders and its current 'chairman', the scenario has been turned on its head. If ever there was an opportunity for New Delhi to make progress in the state, this is it. ULFA's pressure points have become apparent in the recent past, perversely enough after the Nalbari attack. The contradictory crosstalk that emerged from some of the organisation's lower level leaders at that point highlighted the tension between the pro-talks and anti-talks factions within ULFA. Rajkhowa's capture and New Delhi's offer of safe passage he is firmly in the pro-talks camp provides an opportunity to focus on this.

The larger takeaway, however, may be about the north-east as a whole. By some accounts, there are over 120 militant groups operating in the region. At least 30 of them demand sovereignty. Factor in highly porous national borders and it becomes apparent that these are not problems New Delhi can resolve entirely on its own. That is why recent events in Bangladesh are heartening. Rajkhowa was not the first arrest. Biswa Mohan Deb Barman, National Liberation Front of Tripura president, as well as two other ULFA leaders and a Lashkar operative have been captured in the past few days.

These point to a new sensitivity to Indian concerns on the part of Dhaka. Without Dhaka cracking down on cross-border safe havens and training facilities, any north-east initiative by New Delhi would be made more difficult. Cooperation on the part of Nepal and Myanmar is a must as well. The revised extradition treaty with the former could be useful here. Admittedly, it may face hurdles due to domestic opposition in Nepal, but New Delhi must persist with low-key efforts to push it through. As for Myanmar, a potential way forward is one that was, in fact, suggested by Dhaka in 2008 when it mooted a counterterrorism treaty between all three countries.

But these initiatives will amount to little if New Delhi lacks political will in engaging rebel groups who want to talk, while putting pressure on those who don't. Insurgency cannot be defeated unless at least a section of insurgents are weaned away and offered an honourable exit. The offer of unconditional talks with ULFA is a good one, but it is just the beginning. There should be enough of both carrots and sticks to bring rebel groups to the table.