India
Kategorie: Geografia (celkem: 1046 referátů a seminárek)
India
1. Executive SummaryThe Republic of India, commonly referred to as simply India, is the seventh largest and second most populous country in the world. It is the world’s largest democratic republic. It is a country with a very diverse population, culture, geography and climate. India is a home to over 1 billion people, 1/6 of the world’s population. The Indus Valley civilization is one of the oldest in the world and goes back at least 5,000 years. India was under British political control for about 150 years, until nonviolent resistance to British colonialism under Mohandas Gandhi led to independence in 1947. India was divided into the Hindu state of India and a smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. East Pakistan became later the country of Bangladesh. India is a vibrant parliamentary democracy and has been one since its political independence from British rule more than 50 years ago. There is no serious revolutionary movement in India; hence there is no conceivable possibility of the state collapsing. Sovereign Risk in India is therefore zero for both "foreign direct investment" and "foreign portfolio investment." It is however advisable to avoid investing in the extreme northeastern parts of India because of terrorist threats. Kashmir in the northern tip is also a troubled area, but law anyway restricts investment opportunities in Kashmir. India suffered political instability for a few years due to the failure of any party to win an absolute majority in Parliament. However, political stability has returned since the previous general elections in 1999. This political instability did not change India's economic course though it delayed certain decisions relating to the economy. Political instability in India, in practical terms, posed no risk to foreign direct investors because no policy framed by a past government has been reversed by any successive government so far.
A way of life is changing in India, and changing quite rapidly. A great deal of this change has been fueled by India’s vibrant, secular democracy, the largest in the world, and in recent years also by new economic opportunities. More visible evidence of a rapidly changing India is the emergence of a large “new middle class.” For several decades since independence in 1947 India had a quasi-socialist mixed economy, dominated by the public sector. But in the 1990s, the government changed track and encouraged private enterprise and the entry of multinational corporations into India.
Though beginning to crumble in recent decades, the patriarchal joint family structure, with its deep-rooted belief in arranged marriages, obedience to elders, and emphasis on duty over individual liberties, remains the norm in much of India. Poverty, illiteracy, and caste-based divisions remain evident, particularly in the countryside. Women continue to face inequality and the girl child is still regarded as an unwanted burden in many communities. Religion and ritual pervade almost every aspect of life in India. Two of the major world religions – Hinduism and Buddhism – were founded here. A majority of Indian population are Hindus. For most Indians, however, religion is more a matter of rituals and ceremonies that mark each day, season and passage in life. An interesting example is a place of cows in Hindi religion. Cow is a sacred animal and therefore cannot be killed or used as source of food. At a crowded downtown strip it wouldn’t be unusual to see a cow loitering next to a Mercedes Benz. Do not disturb them; they are respected and left alone to do as they wish. One of many emerging industries in India is Indian handmade crafts industry, which is famous all around the world. The skills are passed on from one generation to the next. It is a major source of rural employment in India and earns substantial foreign exchange. Among these export items are well known Indian hand-knotted carpets. One of these carpets can take an Indian craftsman up to four years to manufacture. India, for first-time visitors and long-term residents alike, can be a powerful assault on the senses – noisy, frenetic, vibrant, and chaotic; a land of incredible contrasts and paradoxes. And yet, underlying the contrasts, there are patterns of continuity, an indefinable essence that is quintessentially Indian. 2. Geography
India is located in Southern Asia. With an area of 3.3 million sq. km (slightly more than 1/3 of the US), India is a subcontinent. The peninsula is separated from mainland Asia by the Himalayas. The country lies between 8° 4' and 37° 6' north of the Equator and is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean to the south. Bordering countries with India are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, Nepal and Pakistan. Climate varies from tropical monsoon in the south, to very cold mountainous temperature in the north. Elevation extremes are high, starting from lowest point 0 m at Indian Ocean, to highest point 8,598 m above sea level in the Himalayas Mountains. India is in Indian Standard Time zone, which is 11.5 hours ahead of Oklahoma. India does not use daylight saving time system.
India’s most important natural resources include coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, and arable land. India has the fourth largest reserves of coal in the world. India’s major trading partners are USA, UK, Germany, Japan, Benelux, Belgium, etc. 3. Form of Government
The Republic of India is a federal republic of 28 states and 7 union territories. The capital city is New Delhi. India gained its independence from United Kingdom on August 15th 1947. India, a union of states, is a sovereign, secular, democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government. The President is the constitutional head of Executive of the Union. Real executive power vests in a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as the head of government. India’s prime minister currently is Atal Bihari Vajpayee (since 1999). Legislative branch consists of bicameral Parliament or Sansad (a body of not more than 250 members chosen by elected members of states and territories) and the People’s Assembly or Lok Sabha (545 members elected by popular vote). India is a member of many international organizations including World Trade Organization. As a founder member of the United Nations, India has been firmly committed to the purposes and principles of the United Nations and has made significant contributions to its various activities, including peacekeeping operations. India has succeeded in establishing a network of mutually beneficial relations with all countries of the world. India values its bilateral relations with the US. As democracies, both countries have many shared ideals. The Bush Administration has acknowledged India as a major power and has repeatedly signaled its intention to build further upon recent progress in bilateral relations. An important achievement of India's foreign policy has been the strengthening of regional cooperation. India is an active member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which was launched in December 1985. With India's full support, SAARC has recently taken significant steps in accelerating the pace of economic cooperation. India was admitted as a full dialogue partner of ASEAN and a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum in 1996. 4. Economy
A series of ambitious economic reforms in recent years made India into a complex and rapidly changing nation, and an attractive place for investment. Foreign investment is welcome, approval is required but is automatic in sixty categories of industries. Skilled manpower and professional managers are available at competitive cost.
India’s time tested institutions offer foreign investors an environment that guarantees the security of their long-term investments. These include a free press, a judiciary, which can overrule the government, a sophisticated legal and accounting system, and an intellectual infrastructure. Indian economy has posted an excellent average growth rate of 6% since 1990. 2002 inflation rate was 5.4% and unemployment rate of 8.8%. Today, India is one of the most exciting emerging markets in the world, increasingly tied to the global economy. It offers skilled managerial and technical manpower that can match the best available in the world. A middle class of India, whose size exceeds the population of the USA or the European Union, provides India with a distinct strength in global competition. India’s highly competitive private sector accounts for over 75% of its Gross Domestic Product. India’s 2002 GDP per capita is estimated to $2,540. India’s total GDP was $2.66 trillion, accounting 50% to services, 25% agriculture, and 25% industry. The size of India’s economy is about 25% compared to the US $10 trillion economy in 2001. India is the fourth largest economy in the world, and has the second largest GDP among developing countries, based on purchasing power parity. Economic indicators are promising.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was established 1935 and is the sole authority for issue of currency in India – Indian Rupee. The Bank acts as banker to the Central Government, state governments, commercial banks, state cooperative banks and some other financial institutions. It administers monetary policy to ensure stability in prices. RBI plays an important role in maintaining the stability of exchange value of the rupee and acts as an agent of the Government in respect of India's membership of International Monetary Fund. Indian Rupee has been relatively stable against major foreign currencies in the past few years. Currently the exchange rate against the US dollar is about 47 Indian Rupee to $1. The Reserve Bank also handles the borrowing program of the Government of India. Agriculture has been the preoccupation of the majority of the Indian population. Since independence, however, India has achieved a good measure of self-sufficiency in manufacturing goods. Textile is the largest industry in the country and accounts for one third of India’s total exports. Major industries also include iron and steel industry, machinery, transportation equipment, food processing, mining, petroleum, software, etc. Among the Third World countries, India is a major exporter of heavy and light engineering goods.
In the field of computer software, India is among the major exporting nations with an overflow of scientists in the field. The compound growth of the computer industry has been 50% during the last five years. Trade between India and the United States has shown a healthy growth in 2000 with India’s exports increasing by almost 25% over the level of the previous year. Bilateral trade now stands at around US$15 billion. Software exports account for another US$3 billion (approximately). The most produced agricultural products include rice, wheat, cotton, tea, sugarcane, and others. India’s major exports include textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures. The US is India’s largest export partner. Exports to the US account for about 21% of India’s exports. Most important imports are crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, and chemicals. US and UK are its main import partners and each account for about 6% of India’s imports. 5. Population
Over 1 billion people live in this nation. 2002 estimated population growth was about 1.51 percent. India has a large infant mortality rate of about 61.5 deaths per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy at birth is about 63 years. India is a country with probably the largest and most diverse mixture of races. All the five major racial types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid, Caucasian and Negroid - find representation among the people of India, who are mainly a mixed race. The people of India belong to diverse ethnic groups. At various periods of India's long history, successive waves of settlers and invaders including the Aryans, Parthians, Greeks and Central Asians came into the country and merged with the local population. This explains the variety of racial types, cultures and languages in India. India has about 15 major languages and 844 different dialects. Hindi spoken by about 45 percent of the population is the national language. English has also been retained as a language for official communication and is the language of business in India. An average educated Indian speaks 3 languages: Hindi, English, and their mother tongue. Mother tongue is spoken at home and their close community; English or Hindi is spoken at schools, place of business, and official government institutions. The 10 heavily populated districts of the country are Calcutta (city of 13 million), Chennai (7 million), Greater Mumbai (18 million), Hyderabad (7 million), Delhi (11.5 million), Chandigarh (750 thousand), Mahe, Howrah, Kanpur City (2.5 million), and Bangalore (5.5 million).
All of them have density of above 2,000 persons per square kilometer and about 5% of the country’s population lives in these districts. India is a birthplace to two of the world’s largest religions: Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism is the largest religion in India and accounts for about 81 percent of the population. It is not merely a religion but also a philosophy and a way of life. It does not originate in the teachings of any one prophet or holy book. It respects other religions and does not attempt to seek converts. About 12 percent of the population practice Muslim religion, and 2.3 percent Christianity. Central to traditional Hindu society is the family, welded together by arranged marriages in which adolescent girls bring negotiated dowries to the selected husband. Such marriages join not simply two individuals but also two families, clans, or even communities. Money, land, tradition, and social convenience all play a part. Times are changing though. With education and birth control more widely available, women now have far greater control over their own lives, and love marriages are increasingly accepted by the middle classes. 6. Infrastructure
Power, transport, and other infrastructure industries are owned by the State. In recent years, the infrastructure industries in India have been growing at the rate of 9 to 10% annually. The generation of power has increased impressively in recent years. India has large reserves of coal and it is its primary source for power generation. It also produces about 57% of its crude oil consumption, and imports the rest. Natural gas production has also increased in recent years. India has an aviation infrastructure, which caters to every aspect of this industry. Within the country, there are five international airports and more than 88 other airports are linked by Indian Airlines. There are over 300 airports in the country. The Government has adopted a liberal civil aviation policy and many private airlines are already operating in the country. The Indian Railway system with its total route length of 63,000 kilometers is the second largest network in the world. It carries more than 4000 million passengers and transports over 382 million tons of freight every year. In recent years the Railways have launched a series of improvements in tracks and plans are afoot to introduce faster trains. The roadways have also grown rapidly in independent India. Ranging from national highways to the roads in remote interiors, the country has a road network of 2.1 million-km.
India manufactures most of its motorized vehicles – cars, trucks, vans, buses and wide range of two-wheelers. The use of private automobiles is consistently increasing and traffic in urban areas is very congested. The natural advantage of vast coastline allows India to use sea transport for the majority of cargo transport. The Indian shipping industry and major ports are open to the private sector. With rapid advances in technology, India now uses digital technology in telecommunications. The private sector is expected to play a major role in the future growth of telephones services in India. The recent growth in telecommunications has been impressive. Cellular services in major urban areas are widely spread. About 75% of the population in urban areas has a telephone connection. To call India from the US or anywhere in the world, the country code 91 must be dialed first. The use of internet is also becoming widely spread especially in the business place and schools. Although having an internet connection in major urban city home is not uncommon in India today, majority of the people rely on the plentiful availability of cyber cafes and clubs. 7. Business Etiquette
The Indian economy had been booming for the past few years. Liberalized foreign policies had unleashed the entrepreneurial spirit of its people, and many multi-national firms had set up offices here. Understanding the culture in India is a key to successful business relationships. In the United States of America, efficiency, adhering to deadlines and a host of other similar matters are considered normal and to be expected. But, one needs to understand that one is dealing with people from a different cultural background that think and interact differently. Aggressiveness can be interpreted as a sign of disrespect. This may lead to a complete lack of communication and motivation on the part of the Indians. One needs to take the time to get to know them as individuals in order to develop professional trust. Talking about your friends and family is an important part of establishing a relationship with those involved in the negotiating process. Indians tend to be enthusiastic about discussing politics and religion. They enjoy opinionated conversations and don't necessarily want to hear only bland pleasantries from a foreign guest. Nevertheless, refrain from tackling these controversial subjects unless you are well informed. Topics of interest: Indian traditions, foreign countries, families, cricket, politics.
Indians are very good hosts and will therefore, invite you to their homes and indulge in personal talk often. All this is very much a part of business. One is expected to accept the invitation gracefully. Taking a box of sweets, chocolates or a simple bouquet of flowers would definitely be a welcome gesture. Indians respect people who value their family. They will allow family to take priority over work, whenever necessary.
Business clothing is casual but neat. Standard attire for men is pants and short-sleeved shirts; however, a jacket should be worn to initial meetings or when seeing government officials. For more formal meetings and during the cooler season a lightweight suit will suffice. Women should wear casual dresses or pants ensembles. It is acceptable for foreign women to wear the traditional sari (Indian women in particular admire foreigners who do so), but wear a sari only if you feel comfortable in one. Women should always dress conservatively. Women should not wear skirts that rise above the knee, and should never wear a sleeveless dress or blouse.
Humor in the work place is something that some Indians are not used to. Most traditional Indians are vegetarians, so their eating habits need to be respected. Westernized Indians are more outgoing and do socialize and drink. Nonverbal communication is important in every society. Problems arise when two cultures meet, and the physical nonverbal signal means one thing in one culture and has quite another meaning in the other culture. In India, shaking the head from side to side is a visual way to communicate to the speaker that you understand what they are saying and in many cases that you agree with them. On the other hand, in the American culture this is how disagreement and a definite "no" is conveyed. Indian culture does not have a nonverbal way to express "no" because they are so kind that they have no verbal way of saying "no."
Indians value punctuality in others, but will often be late themselves. Also, traffic is extremely heavy in Indian cities and sometimes prevents people from getting to an appointment at all. Schedule appointments well in advance and reconfirm them. Most meetings will begin with pleasant small talk over a cup of tea and perhaps food. To be polite, one should not refuse any food or drink offered. Business Gifts are not normally expected at the first meeting. Gifts may be given once a relationship with your counterpart develops. Suggested gifts could be: Imported Whiskey (only if the recipient drinks), pens, ties, calculators, desk accessories, etc. Gifts made in the U.S.
are especially valued. Never give alcohol to a Muslim. Large or very expensive gifts could cause embarrassment. One should give gifts with both hands. A gift should not normally be opened in the presence of the giver.
Despite the inclusion of service charges in the bills, tips are expected in most places. A tip of 10 rupees is fine for parking attendants, room service and porters, but waiters expect 5 to 10 percent of the bill. Taxi drivers don’t need to be tipped, because the rate is usually negotiated. Indians greet each other (and say good-bye) with the namaste, which is formed by pressing the palms together (fingers up) below the chin and nodding the head. When greeting superiors or to show respect, a slight bow is added. When meeting foreigners, Indian men will shake hands. Indian men do not generally shake hands with or otherwise touch women, as a gesture of respect for a woman's dignity and privacy. Indian women who are educated or familiar with international customs may offer their hands to foreigners as a courtesy. As Indians are used to a system of hierarchy in the workplace, senior colleagues are obeyed and respected. While it is perfectly normal for men to shake hands if they are both in the same age group, it is not as common for older man to shake hands with a much younger man, even in professional business setting. Women in the business place will shake hands if the man offers it first. Women do not shake hands with other women. Even to the most modern women, the Indian form of greeting, namaste said in a soft tone is the safest one to adopt. To a progressive woman it would not matter and helps in asserting her modernity. But it is safer to make sure that the woman and the people around would not find it culturally sensitive. Women are treated with respect in the work place. They feel quite safe and secure in most organizations. Foreign women working here will find it easy to adapt to an Indian work environment. Things are changing in India and they are changing fast. Not everyone has gained from the new technologies, and vast stretches of India remain under the seemingly eternal haze of heat and dust. But in town after town, there are growing numbers of people who are better off than their parents could ever dream of being, wielding mobile phones, driving cars and chatting in cyber cafes. Whether the consumerist boom in India will fuel an economic miracle or increase inequality is a topic of much heated debate. One thing is certain, though.
Winds of change never lead to radical ruptures in India. The new blends with the old, traditions adapt to technology, continuity goes hand in hand with change.