India eyes 10 pc growth by 2012, US spoiler a risk

India's economy could be growing by 10 per cent a year by 2012 with the right set of policies, but the US subprime crisis might trim exports and capital flows, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday.
Annual growth dipped to 8.9 per cent in the September quarter, falling below 9 per cent for the first time in three quarters, as industrial output slowed due to monetary tightening designed to trim inflation.
Top officials are confident they can maintain growth momentum despite a surge in the value of the rupee against the dollar this year, which is hurting exporters, and high interest rates.
"It is possible that with the correct set of policies... we will not only be able to maintain this momentum of high growth into the near future but may be able to raise it to 10 per cent," Manmohan Singh told top policy makers.
India, the world's fastest-growing major economy after China, grew 9.4 per cent in the last fiscal year, its strongest in 18 years.
Its surging expansion has attracted global investors, fuelling a stock market boom and pushing firms to expand capacity.
"This high growth rate has become possible because of the historically high savings and investment rates which we are witnessing," Singh said at a meeting of the National Development Council set to approve a policies for the 5 years to 2012.
"Our savings rate after stagnating for almost two decades has touched 34 percent of GDP and the investment rate has crossed 35 per cent. These high rates... are likely to go up in future because of our young population profile."
Trade Minister Kamal Nath said on Tuesday expansion in the 2007/08 fiscal year to March 31 would be in excess of 9 per cent, and analysts say the central bank's forecast of 8.5 per cent should be met in Asia's third-largest economy.
The PM said global credit worries would not completely skirt India's economy, despite it being largely driven by domestic demand. "There are some clouds on global financial markets following the subprime lending crisis. There are worries that the growth of the US and other leading economies may slow down and some may even go into a recession," he said.
"This may impact both our exports as well as capital flows."
Such concerns mean India must redouble efforts to maintain domestic drivers of growth, the Prime Minister said. The government is discussing ways to minimise the impact of the rupee's appreciation on exporters, who have seen their margins squeezed by a 12 per cent rise in the currency this year.
The Reserve Bank of India, keen to cool price pressures and stop the economy from overheating, raised interest rates five times between mid-2006 and March this year, but has since held them steady.
Many economists now expect the next move to be down.

Amazing Body scanner that sizes you up for perfect fit

Amazing Technology plays an integral part in fashion, right from the sketching board to your closet — clothes that glow and sparkle and designs that change with your touch. That is the latest technology from Philips.
Philips has developed a glass chamber called the Intellifit Body Scanner. It works just like your neighborhood tailor, except it sizes you up with radio waves instead of a measuring tape. That means, perfect fitting clothes every time. And this is coming soon to a mall near you.
The best part is Intellifit issues a smart card that stores all your measurements so it can be used every time you shop. Or if you want your boyfriend or someone else to shop for you online, just give them your user name and password to access your size details.
For the problem of the stores that don't stock your size, this is the perfect solution. Shop floor arguments will soon be history with a radio frequency chip, with everything there is to know about a piece of garment recorded inside the chip. Tagged to every garment, the salesperson will know immediately if they have your size and where exactly in the store to find it.
CEO Avaana Software Bimal Sareen, says “RFID will allow the shopkeeper to recognize the clothes you take into the changing room, and flash matching accessories on the mirror for you that have been matched by a designer.”
Of course, fashion and technology are much deeply intertwined. What once took hours of sketching is today achieved in minutes on a designer's desktop.
Fashion Designer JJ Valaya,says, “Software like Photoshop and CorelDraw allow us to see many versions of a drawing with we couldn't do earlier. It now helps us to produce much faster.”
Once a design is completed, it’s uploaded onto the web through software like WFX. After global partners approve it, it’s then sent to the factory floor, where the smallest of details like, cut, color, measurements are faithfully reproduced. Thus, every garment that reaches the shop floor ends up exactly the way the designer wanted it.
Director, WFX, Jatin Paul, adds, “It is not uncommon for large brands like Nike or Gap to cancel million dollars worth of Shipments because a sleeve is too long or a pocket manufactured is crooked. Technology like WFX stops this from happening. “
Who knew so much technology was involved in helping one select the perfect outfit.

Amazing Brand Bangalore gets bigger, IT will get only better

Brand Bangalore has not lost its sheen yet - that's what the Information Technology Department has to say. While the state government has cleared the path for investments worth Rs 60,000 crore in August, September and October had over 40 projects worth over Rs 38,000 crore cleared.
The state IT secretary Vidyashankar says the numbers for November and December will be just as encouraging and proves that Bangalore has not suffered because of the state's political instability.
"We are seeing, on the contrary, an increase in participation not only from IT but also from telecom, biotech and nano industries. Bangalore is acting more,” he says.
The reason? Brand Bangalore is still synonymous with outsourcing, making it easier to market to client overseas.
"Bangalore is a global entity and is top of the mind recall for it honchos all over the world. If the country is going to continue to grow, Bangalore will grow as well,” says Vidyashankar.
Other senior government officials tell CNN-IBN that the absence of an elected government may have made the state more business friendly. This is because the governor's executive committee is not making decisions that are purely based on merit and there is very little room for vested interests.
The city's infrastructure continues to be the bone of contention. But officials say changes are being made.
"The kind of initiatives we are putting in will take care of infrastructure for the next 20 years. Be it water, roads or metro, it's all being taken care of," says Vidyashankar.
While the city exported Rs 49,000 crore worth software in 2006-07, its nearest competitor Chennai managed just about Rs 21,000 crore. This year, the exports are estimated to touch a record Rs 70,000 crore.
The I-T secretary says the target of Rs 100,000 crore in exports for the year 2010-11 is more than achievable

India's Hollywood man finds gay role challenging

Actor Irrfan Khan, who is tasting rare success in Hollywood, says playing a homosexual man in his latest film was a challenge.
"For a heterosexual role I need no preparation," Khan, who won a Spirit Award nomination for best supporting actor in The Namesake, told the Times of India in an interview published on Friday. "It's always more challenging to do something untried."
Known to experiment with roles, Khan plays a homosexual in a short film about AIDS by Mira Nair, a character most Bollywood heroes would avoid lest their romantic or macho images suffer.
In Migration, Khan does not portray the homosexual character as effeminate, breaking away from the stereotype in most Indian films.
"That would have been the easy and boring way," said the actor, adding that he was inspired by similar roles played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Khan has been acclaimed for his role in The Namesake as an Indian immigrant in the United States.
He has also starred alongside Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart, a film on American journalist Daniel Pearl who was killed in Pakistan.