10.05.2008

• India’s uneasiness with China’s military prowess on the high-seas
• It was recently revealed that China is building a harbour that can dock a large number of nuclear submarines equipped with ballistic missiles and aircraft carriers at the Sanya base on Southern tip of Hainan island. The revelations caused ripples around the world.
• INDIA on Friday said it will soon float a global tender for six conventional submarines and develop a nuclear-powered submarine. The DRDO is in the process of developing a nuclear-powered submarine, codenamed the ‘Advanced Technology Vessel’, which could either be equipped with conventional or nuclear weapons, chief of naval staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta said on Friday.
• Paanchvi Pass & Star Shah Rukh fail
• Been seeing this “Kya aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tej Hai?” I did watch a couple of the episodes and found it quite interesting.
• The show debuted with a rating of 4.61 as per TAM data across cable & satellite 4-years-plus households. As per the latest TAM data, all the five episodes of Paanchvi Pass delivered a rating of 3.4 in all C & S homes in the major Hindi speaking markets.
• Sponsors seem to be unhappy with the ratings that the show is receiving. As a result Star has offered its sponsors free advertising on the show’s re-runs on weekdays.
• Sources say Star has made Rs 140 crore through ad revenues adding that it could get end up making about Rs 150-160 crore in all from Paanchvi pass.
• The image market
• Demand for Indian faces boosts the image industry, according to recent reports.
• The Indian image market is estimated to be about $10 mn, compared to the global industry which is worth $2 bn.
• Surveys reportedly revealed that in visual communication, a product or service meant for a particular population would be more successful if it carries a face that viewers can relate to, rather than a visual from a different part of the world.
• Debate about whether India is a rising great power
• Ever since the BRIC report I have always believed that India is a rising power and there is no looking back. That is till I saw today’s op-ed in ET questioning a lot of that wisdom. Though I still don’t agree with this op-ed in full, there are some points being made there which cannot be dismissed by us.
• Take a look at it. It is worth a read. It is here. Some snippets that I found worth noting from this piece:
• The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) and the 2007 report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), also known as the Arjun Sengupta Report, suggests that 77% of the India’s working population lives on less than Rs 20 per day — which is a little over half a US dollar a day. India may have actually re-defined the global poverty index better known as the crushing DAD syndrome — or a dollar a day — to half a DAD!
• Countries buy and sell at actual value and not PPP. As per the latest WDI figures for 2005, India is the 12th largest GDP in the world — and the asymmetry is glaring. The USA leads the list at $13.2 trillion and the next nine nations are all over the $1 trillion GDP mark and include Japan, Germany, China, UK, France, Italy, Canada, Spain and Brazil. Russia is 11th being just under one trillion and India is next with a GDP of $ 906.3 billion.