13.10.2006

Composition of IIP (Index of Industrial Production)
It is a weighted average of mining, manufacturing and electricity output.

Diageo in talks with Sula for 26% stake
Diageo, the world’s largest drinks company is in talks with Sula, one of the top three Indian wine companies for a stake.

The Indian wine consumption is currently pegged at 8 lakh cases and growing at 20-30% YOY.

Nobel for literature
The Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk won this year’s prize for his “quest for the melancholic soul of his native city (that) has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures.”

Other Nobel laureates whose work is permeated with the experience of a single city include:
Naguib Mahfouz and Cairo, Saul Bellow and Chicago and Heinrich Boll and Cologne.

Poverty biggest violator of human rights: NHRC Chief Justice (Retd.) A.S. Anand
According to the UNDP report for 2003, Indian society is a highly inequitable society where the richest 10% consumes 33.5% of resources and the poorest 10% get only 3.5% of resources.

Around 233 mln people are chronically hungry.

India’s consumer durables industry is pegged at Rs. 20,000 cr.

UL to set up fire test lab in India by 2007
Underwriters Laboratories is an international fire safety and security body.

The National Building Code prescribes fire protection equipment approval by ISI or an international body. With UL setting up the lab in India, the UL tested fire safety equipment manufactured in India will find acceptance in markets abroad.

Motorola makes India its brand focus
India is edging close to China in terms of number of subscribers addition with nearly 5.9 mln subscribers (mobile) added in August 2006.

The handset market size is moving fast, growing from 33 mln handsets last year to an estimated 60 mln handsets by the end of 2006.

There are about 65 mln people in India who use search engines and the current size of the search engine advertising market in India is estimated to be $50 mln.

There are about 550 mln youth below 25 years in India and only 7 mln university seats in the country.

The Indian retail industry is estimated to be worth $300 bn and is expected to double by 2015.

Toll soon for two-lane highways
The government is considering the move as only four and six lane highways are presently tolled.

The tolling formula is linked to the Wholesale Price Index. According to the new policy a fixed additional charge of 3% will be added to the 40% increase in WPI to incorporate cost escalation.

Steel production in country
There are about 116 MOUs signed by the three state governments of Chattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand. If all these projects go on stream, they will add 146 mln tonnes of production capacity to the country.

There are about 17 lakh cases of multiple PAN card holders in the country.

Golden rice to arrive in India within a year
Golden Rice is a variety of rice containing 23 mg of provitamin A, which is converted by the body into Vitamin A.

Coal mining shifts to private hands
Reins of 93 blocks now held by private companies. These blocks together hold reserves of around 13 bn tonnes, which can be extracted up to 80% on a conservative basis.