Prof. Jagdish Sheth's new book Chindia Rising: How China and India will Benefit your Business has recently been published by Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi.

Advance praise for Chindia Rising from Azim Premji, Chairman and Managing Director of Wipro, Ltd: "Business Leaders in East and West will surely read with interest Jagdish Sheth's thought provoking assessment of how the rise of China and India (Chindia) will prove to be an enormous boom to the worldwide economy. With his profound insight into global business trends, Prof. Sheth shows how Chindia's rise will not only stimulate the mature economies of the West but will also help birth economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America."

Chindia Rising is available online at Oxford Book Store.

Chinese currency hits new high against U.S. dollar (The People's Daily, January 31)
China's currency, the yuan, hit a new high against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, following an overnight key interest rate cut in the United States. The yuan, also known as the renminbi, went up 145 basis points from the previous day to a central parity rate of 7.1853 yuan to one dollar, breaking the 7.19 mark.

India's exports up 21.7 percent in three quarters (Silicon India, February 4)
India's merchandise exports were up 21.7 percent during the first three quarters of fiscal 2007-08, growing to $111.05 billion from $91.20 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal. Official trade data released Friday, however, showed that in rupee terms the growth was significantly lower at 7.74 percent during the period under review, indicating the sharp appreciation of the Indian currency this fiscal.

Chinese bank gets approval to buy into SAfrican bank in US$5.46 billion deal (IHT, February 3)
China's biggest bank said Sunday it has received approval to buy a 20 percent stake in South Africa's biggest lender, the latest big- ticket overseas expansion by Chinese investors. The deal between state-owned Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Standard Bank Group Ltd. is one of China's biggest foreign corporate acquisitions to date.

Reserve Bank of India Keeps Rates On Hold (Forbes, January 29)
India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, on Tuesday left policy rates unchanged in its quarterly review and reiterated its economic growth forecast of 8.5% annually. But inflation remains a concern. “Liquidity management will assume priority in the conduct of monetary policy,” the bank remarked in its statement. Inflation, based on the wholesale price index, dropped to 3.8% as of Jan. 12, down from its peak of 6.4% at the beginning of the financial year. The bank’s target for the year is below 5%.

World Bank sees slower China growth, higher inflation (The Times of India, February 4)
The World Bank on Monday scaled back its projection for Chinese growth and raised its forecast for inflation but said Beijing was in a strong position to stoke demand if the global economy turns down sharply. The bank said in a quarterly update that it now expects gross domestic product to expand 9.6 per cent in 2008, which would be the slowest growth since 2002.

Bigge st Canadian bank comes to India (Silicon India, February 4)
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the country's biggest, has become the second Canadian bank to enter India by opening a representative office in Mumbai. This is the first foray into Asia for the bank, which has little operations outside North America. Akhauri Sinha will head its India operations.

India Caps Ownership In Commodity Exchanges (Forbes, January 31)
Goldman Sachs and Fidelity will see their holdings in India’s commodity exchanges reduced after the government capped the stake any investor can own to 5%. Goldman Sachs acquired 7% of the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange in 2006, and Fidelity bought 9% of the Multi Commodity Exchange of India; these are the country’s largest commodity bourses. Both companies declined comment on the latest move. There was no limit on the holdings when they bought the stakes. A government release on the new investment caps did not mention a timeline.

India's tax to GDP ratio jumps to 11.8 percent (Silicon India, February 4)
India's ratio of taxes to gross domestic product (GDP) has jumped to 11.8 percent this fiscal from 8.2 percent in 2001-02, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Friday. "Buoyant economic growth along with efforts to improve the tax administration system has yielded rich dividends," the finance minister told the parliamentary consultative committee attached to his ministry.

US-China developing better military ties: US admiral (AFP, Jan 28)
The United States and China are developing better ties despite a recent row over the port visits of US ships, the head of the US armed forces in the Asia- Pacific said Monday. "The sense I got is that they didn't want to be confrontational," Admiral Timothy Keating told reporters, after a visit to China this month. "I am not as concerned today as I was before ... We think we are developing a better understanding of them."

Indian PM reaffirms hold over territory claimed by China (AFP, Feb 1) India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has unveiled a 1.75 billion dollar development package for the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, a sensitive area claimed by China, reports said. The initiative was announced during a rare visit to the remote mountainous region, where the boundary dispute was the cause of a brief but bitter war in 1962.

Getting in step: India country briefing (Jane's, Feb 4)
From an introspective, sub-continental tactical force, preoccupied with neighbouring nuclear rivals Pakistan and China, the Indian armed forces are attempting to evolve into a comprehensive, strategic power with an expanded regional role. Backing the country's evolving economic profile, India's military has launched a diplomatic thrust overseas in addition to developing force-projection capabilities to secure growing national interests extending from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca, the northern Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and to Central Asia.

U.S. lawmaker eyes China's military buildup (Reuters, Feb 5)
Ask Rep. John Murtha about the U.S. war in Iraq and the conversation eventually veers to China. Five years into a war the 75-year-old ex-Marine actively opposes, Murtha worries Iraq is sapping the U.S. military at the exact time the United States should be adding muscle to answer Beijing's growing military and economic clout.

India and US strategic partners, not allies: Ronen Sen (Hindustan Times, Feb 5)
India and the US will never be allies in the military sense, but they can rightly be called strategic partners given their cooperation in nuclear energy, defence and space, says ambassador Ronen Sen. The India-US civil nuclear initiative "is the most outstanding symbol of the new relationship between the two countries as well as of India's new standing in the world", he said in Washington on Monday 

US-India ties set to go over the moon (The Times of India, Jan 31)
On matters of space flights and exploration, India has put its cards on table for the United States to see - literally. At a luncheon meeting on Wednesday hosted by a Washington DC think-tank on K-Street, better known as a hang-out for lobbyists than space buffs, the tables were all named after Indian space pioneers - Dhawan, Chandrasekhar, Sarabhai...

Opinion
USA or Russia: Strategic partner in Civilisation-III, India's strategic interest in Central Asia (Organiser, Feb 5)
Russia has always been a reliable friend to India, whereas America's record is mixed. What would be our standing in Central Asia after the 123 nuclear agreement with USA goes through? Can we not acquire nuclear fuel and technology from a resurgent Russia? USA backtracked from a signed agreement on Bokaro steel plant in the 1960s. Internationally, it has withdrawn from many treaties when its national interests so demanded.

Intel to invest over $1 Bn in India (Silicon India, February 4)
Global chip maker Intel will invest more than one billion dollars in India over the next three years. The investment is for the purpose of producing light-weight personal computers in partnership with Indian and foreign hardware firms like ASUS Technologies, HCL, Wipro and Zenith. "We are focusing on a number of new initiatives to enable easy availability of personal computers (PCs) and broadband Internet in India," said John A McClure, Intel Technology India Director- marketing and operations.

Chinese begin to protest censorship of Internet (IHT, February 4)
As an 18-year-old student with an interest in the Internet, Zhu Nan had been itching to say something about the country's pervasive online censorship system, widely known here as the Great Firewall. When China's censors began blocking access to the popular photo-sharing site Flickr, Zhu felt the moment had come. Writing on his blog last year, the student, who is now a freshman at a university in this city, questioned the rationale for Internet restrictions, and in subsequent posts, began passing along tips on how to evade them.

India, U.S. to cooperate in space flights, outer space use (Silicon India, February 4)
India and the U.S. plan to cooperate in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, including in the area of human space flights, under a new agreement between their space agencies. A framework agreement establishing the terms for future cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and U.S. space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was signed Friday at the Kennedy Space Centre by ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair and NASA administrator Michael Griffin.

Natural Gas Demand Continues To Drive Worldwide Pipeline Construction Activity (Red Orbit, Feb 5)
Unprecedented demand for natural gas is helping fuel pipeline construction worldwide. This is reflected in P&GJ's latest worldwide survey figures that indicate 144,096 miles of oil and gas pipelines are under construction and planned. Of these, North American companies are planning, designing and building 46,072 miles of pipelines. North American Projects.

China, Germany seek green energy co-op (China Daily, Feb 1)
Sino-German collaboration on renewable energy can set a good example for other countries, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said yesterday. China and Germany should expand cooperation to promote the use of renewable energy and achieve more sustainable development, Wu Guihui, deputy director of the energy bureau of the NDRC, told an energy forum.

Bush budget boosts nuclear, coal, science (Reuters, Feb 4)
Research into producing electricity from low- emission coal and nuclear plants saw big funding boosts in the 2009 budget request submitted by the U.S. Energy Department on Monday, along with basic energy sciences. The 2009 budget proposed by the White House -- which requires congressional approval -- includes $25 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Energy Department, up nearly 5 percent from 2008. 

China needs to cut energy reliance on coal -official (Reuters, Feb 4)
Power and coal shortages in China should serve as a wake-up call for the country to increase power production from nuclear and wind plants, and reduce its reliance on coal-fired generators, a leading energy official said. Power plants in many parts of the country were running short of coal due to soaring prices for the black hydrocarbon and transport bottlenecks, while persistent snow and ice storms had disrupted power transmission.

Renewable Energy Companies Thriving in Volatile Market (Fox Business, Feb 5)
America's renewable energy industries are thriving at a time of unprecedented market volatility -- and wind and solar companies in particular are among the few bright spots in the current gloom over Wall Street. Wall Street's JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs and the big utilities have been buying up renewable energy companies in a scramble to get a piece of the record-breaking growth.

In dia faces LPG crisis (UPI, Feb 5)
 India has sounded a nationwide alert as various states are facing an acute shortage of liquefied petroleum gas. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry said it has gone into an alert mode following reports of severe shortages of LPG, which is used as a fuel for cooking. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora asked government- controlled oil companies to give priority to restoring LPG supplies. 

Opinion
US Energy Challenges and the Way Forward (American Chronicle, Feb 5)
Utilities turn from coal to gas, raising risk of price increase (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/0 5/business/05gas.html?pagewanted=print) explains US energy challenges and there is a dire need to find a way forward. In my view politics (including foreign policy), poor governance and corruption are the major obstacles in resolving America´s energy problems. In their redirection and resolution, lies answer to country´s energy difficulties.

Chinese official urges practical action to slow down climate change (The People's Daily, February 1)
A senior Chinese official said in Honolulu Wednesday that all relevant countries should take practical actions to slow down the climate change process. Addressing a closed session at the second "Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change," which opened here Wednesday, Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said that to discuss about setting a long-term goal for slowing down climate change requires time.

China's Big Chill Unlikely To Cool Economy (Forbes, February 1)
The worst snowstorms to hit China in five decades have come, in certain respects, at both the worst and best of times. The severe winter weather has cut a trail of devastation and despair, paralyzing the national rail and road networks in a season when they are normally at their busiest, stranding millions of migrant workers on their way home for the Chinese lunar new year holidays, as well as causing severe power blackouts and telecom failures.

U.S. says tariff cuts will be focus in WTO papers (Reuters, Feb 5)
U.S. trade negotiators will focus on tariff cuts this week when new negotiating papers are released in world trade talks, seeking to block developing nations from protecting the very goods the U.S. believes could be their meal ticket in years to come. Lead negotiators in the World Trade Organization's Doha round, hoping to finally reach a breakthrough in the long- troubled talks, are expected to release the latest agriculture draft this week, which free-traders hope will set the stage for a meeting of leader negotiators this spring.

India May Increase Wheat Purchases From Farmers, Paring Imports (Bloomberg, Feb 5)
India, the world's largest wheat user after China, plans to increase purchases from farmers to build stockpiles and lower imports. The government may buy as much as 15 million metric tons, up 35 percent from a year earlier, said T. Nanda Kumar, federal food secretary, in an interview in Dubai today. Higher purchases would reduce the need to buy wheat overseas at prices that have almost doubled in the past year, reaching a record $10.095 a bushel on Dec. 17.

China to increase investment in agriculture, rural areas  (Xinhua, Jan 30)
The Chinese government on Wednesday said it would invest more funds in the countryside this year as part of its efforts to boost agricultural development and narrow the widening urban-rural gap. The decision was made when the country is confronted with difficulties in balancing the supply and demand of farm products, maintaining stable growth of grain production and farmers' incomes, and narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, said the first document of this year jointly issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, or China's cabinet.  

China urges local authorities to ensure vegetable, meat supply (Feb 4)
China's Ministry of Commerce issued a notice on Sunday mobilizing all forces to ensure agricultural supplies that are severely threatened by the heavy snow that has hit the southern part of the country over the past few weeks. About 105 million mu (seven million hectares) of farmland, mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, was hit by the snow. Among these, about 11.3 million mu lost all its output to the weather.

Opinion
Free India's land market (Live Mint, Feb 4)
It is legitimate to acquire land for industry. But why can't a farmer buy a thousand acres?

EU opens second anti-dumping investigation against Chinese steel (The People's Daily, February 2)
The European Commission on Friday opened a new anti-dumping investigation into certain steel products from China, the second of its kind in recent months. The investigation covers stainless steel cold rolled flat products, according to the Official Journal of the European Union (EU). Besides China, South Korea was also targeted.

China remains world's largest stainless steel producer (The People's Daily, February 1)
China remained the world's number one producer of stainless steel last year, taking up more than one quarter of the global output, figures with the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) have shown. China churned out some 7.2 million tonnes of stainless steel in 2007, or more than one quarter of some 28 million tonnes of global output, said chairman of the stainless steel council under the CISA Li Cheng.

Indo-China tourism all set to develop at "amazing speed: Indian envoy to China (The Cheers, February 1)
Indian Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao has said that the tourism between India and China is all set to develop at an "amazing speed." With the ending of the year 2007 came a new chapter of the communications between the two countries, Rao said at the closing ceremony of the "China- India year of friendship through tourism-2007."

Robust outlook for China's tourism sector (China Daily, February 4)
Citi Investment Research (CIR), a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc, issued a report titled The China Traveler at the beginning of this year, to offer investors a perspective on how to gain exposure in the Chinese travel market. The report says six key themes will affect China's travel sector in the near and mid-term, including robust demand, competition, deregulation and consolidation in the sector, infrastructure and operations upgrades, expansion into second-tier cities and fuel prices, as well as the impact of a possible slowdown in the US and global economies.

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Editor of Academic Resources: Dr. S.V. Char
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