Business and Economy

• The SemIndia fabrication project to come up in Andhra Pradesh is likely to see Government of India equity participation speculated to be 26% of the project. The USD 3.3 billion project went to Hyderabad after Bangalore and Chennai lost out. While the issue with Bangalore was crumbling infrastructure and Governmental incompetence, the reasons for Chennai is not very clear. Communication and Information & Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran says that he did not get "co-operation" from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Jayalalithaa, who is from a rival political party, says that Maran played politics. SemIndia wanted 1,200 acres of "free land," subsidized power, and abundant supply of water.

• The Indian tourism sector growing at an impressive rate and now makes up 5.83% of the revenue. According to National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the India economy is now at USD 14 billion employing 8.27% of the workforce or 38.6 million people. With these numbers, India ranks 8th in the world in terms of earnings and 3rd in terms of employment. In 2005, 4 million people traveled to India and 2006 is expected to see 5 million and 6.2 million Indians traveled out of India. By 2010, the number of tourists leaving the country is expected to cross 15 million making India second only to China. Domestic tourism also grew from 309 million in 2003 to 368 million in 2004. Over half a billion Indians are expected to travel within India. More than half of those Indians are expected to be from rural areas demonstrating that increasing disposable income is being generated in rural India.

• Increasing populations, depleting water tables due to free electricity from states to farmers, and irregular power has created a large unorganized market for water. With an estimated market size of Rs. 50 billion, water costs anywhere from Rs. 3 per hour to Rs. 45 per hour. Water tankers supply water at Rs. 200-400 for 8,000 liters. Most of those who sell water are landlords with large holdings, politicians, and rich farmers and the recipients are usually small farmers, hotels, apartment complexes, and commercial buyers. While in the case of minerals, the Constitution clearly says that the state owns the water; it is ambiguous on who owns water-- the state or those who find water underground and able to pump it out. Maharashtra has already passed Water Resources Regulatory Act 2005 that would require water sellers to seek the state's permission. Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh have also enacted a law with regulatory mechanisms to control indiscriminate use of ground water. But none of these laws or Federal policy deals with waterways, rivers, lakes, and ponds that span state boundaries. There are also differences in how states see water, their laws to regulate it, and how the implement them.

Democracy, Politics and Judiciary

• Mafia don and Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Mohammed Shahabuddin are increasingly isolated even within his own party as more evidence of his terrorist links emerges. Some of the Kashmiri students studying in his Siwan Dental College enticed him to travel to Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir. These students later turned out to be Hizb-ul-Mujahideen sleeper units. Refusing to accept the charges or responsibility, he said "If former Prime Minister Chandrasekhar can have dealings with an international arms dealer what is the problem if I have good relations with Dawood Ibrahim?" Ibrahim is the most wanted man in India in connection with the Mumbai blasts and on going terrorist activities in India. Shahabuddin says he does not know Ibrahim and is only making a point. Many people see Shahabuddin as the poster boy of corrupt criminal politicians and his party Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal as the most corrupt party in India, which is the most dysfunctional state of Bihar. 

Terrorism, Defense and Security

• The Defense Ministry has invited the Tata Group, Israel's El Bit, and Britain's BAE Systems to upgrade 155mm 39 caliber Bofors howitzer guns by the end of the year for USD 400 million. The upgraded gun will have a longer range and take 45 caliber shells. The Defense Ministry has been increasingly sourcing work to private sector. Recently, it awarded a Rs. 500 million contract to the Tata Group and Larsen and Tubro to develop the launcher, fire control systems, and guidance electronics for its Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher.

Neighbors

• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that Iran would pull out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the West forced it to limit its nuclear program. Known for his controversial and hard-line views, Ahmadinejad also repeated his earlier assertion that the Nazis never killed the Jewish people and the real holocaust was being committed on Iran and Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to celebrate the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted then King Shah Pallahavi and saw the American Consulate being taken hostage with all diplomatic personnel. The US never reconciled to this event and considers Iran as one of the countries in the "axis of evil." Apart from disparaging statements from Ahmadinejad on Jews, Iran has in recent years taken several steps that would further the suspicion. Iran bought nuclear weapons technology and hid it from the International Atomic Energy Agency, unilaterally abrogated the Paris Agreement that froze its nuclear program and resumed enrichment at Ishafan and Natanz, and called for the destruction of Israel. Russia and China with large trade and oil interests in Iran are advocating restraint but the West is arguing that Iran is being increasingly belligerent and escalating tensions. Russian produced a plan that would allow Iran to jointly enrich uranium in a joint venture in Russia. All countries have supported this proposal but rejected by Iran.