Indian villagers try 'e-policing' to close the digital divide

India's IT revolution is sometimes thought to benefit only the better off, but developments in Bhanegaon village in Maharashtra state, and 10,000 other Indian villages, suggest that it is slowly taking deeper roots.

Until a few weeks ago the village was on the have-not side of the digital divide.

Now some of its 8,000 inhabitants have used computers, e-mailed scanned documents and above all been part of regular video conferencing between the village and the district police headquarters in Nagpur city.

Read full story - Indian villagers try 'e-policing' via bbc news

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US economist warns India over the impact of globalisation

A Nobel-prize winning US economist has warned that public services could suffer in countries like India as a result of globalisation.

Professor Joseph Stiglitz told the BBC News website that globalisation had led to lower tariffs, an important source of public revenue.

"A decline in tariff leads to less money for the governments to spend on its people," Professor Stiglitz said.

He won the Nobel Prize in 2001 for his work on the economics of information.

Read full story - India warning on globalisation via bbc news

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China and India 'boosting Africa'

China and India's growing trade and investment in Africa holds great potential for African economic growth, a World Bank report has said.
The study found that, led by China and India, Asia now gets 27% of Africa's exports, triple the amount in 1990.

At the same time, Asian exports to Africa are now growing 18% per year, faster than any other global region.

The study says both China, India and African nations must improve their trade reforms to help boost this trend.

Read full story - China and India 'boosting Africa' via bbc news

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India PM warns of terror attacks

  Mr Singh said terrorists may attack religious and economic targets

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that intelligence agencies have warned that more terrorist attacks were likely in the country.
Mr Singh said that that "economic and religious targets", as well as nuclear installations, could be the targets.

He said the intelligence agencies have also warned of more suicide attacks.

Mr Singh's comments come nearly two months after a series of bombings on commuter trains in Mumbai (Bombay) which killed over 180 people.

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Indians head home in 'brain gain'

For much of the last century India suffered a "brain drain". Generations of Indians set off in search of a better life in other countries. Today, an estimated 25 million people of Indian origin live overseas. But could the tide be turning?

"My dad was against me moving back to India," Manish Amin tells me in his new flat in Delhi where he lives with his wife and two sons.

Three decades ago Manish's parents moved from India to the UK. He has just moved back.

"My dad's idea was that everyone wants to get away from India", Manish says. "But now he's seen the big high rise flats, the big shopping malls, even he's amazed. You get Marks and Spencer, Debenhams, everything's here now."

Manish has set up his own online travel company. He's already taking 200 bookings a day.
read full story via bbc news

Climb down by 'Hitler' restaurant in India

The owners of a new restaurant named "Hitler's Cross" in the Indian city of Mumbai have changed its name after protests from the Jewish community.

The restaurant opened last week in the city's outskirts, initially displaying a giant poster of Hitler.

But now one of the restaurant's owners has acknowledged that naming the restaurant after Hitler was "most inappropriate" and has apologised.

The small Jewish community said they were insulted over the choice of name.
read full story via bbc news

Adventure racing on auto-rickshaw - just for fun

Teams from around the world have begun racing across the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu in three-wheeled auto-rickshaws.

The 1,000km (590-mile) race, which kicked off in Madras (Chennai), will end in Kanyakumari, the southern-most tip of India, on 27 August.
   Colourfully named teams like Tamil Devils" and Curry in a Hurry will get a first-hand experience of Indian roads.

Participants come from as far as the UK, US, Hungary, Armenia and Russia.

The Indian Auto-rickshaw Challenge is strictly fun, without any prize at the end of the race, the organisers say. Adventure racing on auto-rickshaw via bbc news

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