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Manik Sarkar to be Tripura CM for third time
Agartala, Mar 8 (PTI) Manik Sarkar, who led the CPI(M) to a stunning victory in last month's assembly polls, will be on Monday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tripura for the third consecutive time.
The swearing-in of the Council of Ministers will also be held on March 10, CPI(M) state secretariat sources said.
Known for his clean image, 59-year-old Sarkar will be the longest-serving Chief Minister of the state.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front stormed back to power in Tripura for the fourth successive term with a massive majority, crushing main rival Congress in the elections held on February 23. The Front secured 49 seats in the 60-member assembly -- marking four-fifths majority -- with CPI(M) alone bagging 46 of them.
Congress and its ally Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura together finished with a meagre tally of 11 seats.
The veteran Marxist leader joined politics in 1967 by participating in the food movement which was organised by the then opposition CPI-M in the state. He became a party member the next year.
He entered the Tripura assembly in 1980 after winning a bye-election from Krishnanagar constituency in the state capital and became the chief whip of the ruling Left Front. He was elected from the same constituency in 1983.
Sarkar was elected from the Dhanpur Assembly constituency in 1998 and became a member of the CPI(M) politburo and Chief Minister of Tripura. PTI
DAN all set to form govt in Nagaland
Kohima, Mar 8 (PTI) The Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) today emerged as frontrunner to form the government in the state with the conglomerate bagging 29 of the 57 seats, results for which were declared, and needing just two more to reach the required number.
The Nagaland People's Front (NPF), which heads the DAN, won 25 seats while its opponent Congress bagged 22. NCP and BJP secured two seats each.
NPF, BJP, JD-U and NCP forged a pre-poll alliance but contested the elections on separate manifestos.
Six Independents also won from their respective constituencies.
Analysts said the three seats, where counting was not held, are NPF strongholds.
Among NPF winners were its president Shurhozelie, who retained his Northern Angami seat for the sixth time.
Former chief minister and NPF candidate Neiphiu Rio won from Northern Angami II seat defeating his Congress rival Sevetso by over 10,000 votes. Rio retained the seat for the fifth time.
Nagaland Assembly Speaker Kiyanlilie Peseyie won from Western Angami seat. Former home minister Thenucho lost the the Chazouba seat to Independent Chotisuh Sazo.
Prominent Congress winners were former chief minister K L Chishi, former CLP leader I Imkong and C Apok Jamir, son of Goa Governor S C Jamir.
Nagaland was brought under President's Rule recently in the wake of the fluid political situation and the state assembly was subsequently dissolved. Counting of votes for three assembly segments under Zunheboto district would begin tomorrow with repoll held there today under tight security. PTI
20 injured in Assam blasts
Guwahati, Mar 8 (PTI) At least 20 people were injured, six of them seriously, in two explosions in Guwahati and Tinsukia suspected to be triggered by banned ULFA today.
A third bomb was recovered from Tangni Bazar in Darrang district.
A bomb, kept under a truck in Fancy Bazar here, the main commercial hub of the northeastern region, went off at around 1.30 pm causing injuries to four persons, police said.
The impact of the explosion was not severe and caused minor injuries to a labourer, a tea stall owner and two passersby, police said adding they were released after administering first aid.
Half an hour later, ULFA militants triggered another explosion at G N B Road in Tinsukia town, injuring 16 people, six of them seriously.
The area was immediately cordoned off and the injured admitted to a hospital there, police said.
In both Guwahati and Tinsukia, eye witnesses said they heard a loud noise as soon as the bomb exploded and saw smoke billowing from the spot.
A 2.5 kg bomb was recovered from a bicycle at Tangni Bazar, under Dhula police station in Darrang district at around 11.30 am. The bomb was later defused by experts of the army and CRPF.
Police suspected it was the handiwork of the ULFA, which was stepping up subversive activities in the run up to its foundation day on April seven. PTI
Kumble, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman declared fit for SA series
Bangalore, Mar 8 (PTI) Skipper Anil Kumble and veteran team-mates Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman and Sourav Ganguly were today declared fit for the upcoming Test series against South Africa starting on March 26 in Chennai.
Pacemen Rudra Pratap Singh and V R V Singh also passed the fitness test at the National Cricket Academy but Rajasthan bowler Pankaj Singh was advised rest for three weeks.
Pankaj, who suffered a back strain in Australia, has now developed a hip strain. He was put through the three hour-long fitness assessment by trainer Paul Chapman and physio Paul Close, under the watchful eye of NCA Director of coaching Dav Whatmore.
Each of the six players, who were later declared fit, underwent a medical examination, beep test, body strengthening and fielding practice.
Ganguly, who was in good batting form in Australia, took the test this morning after arriving here last night. Media men and sportslovers were waiting for three hours to get a glimpse of the former captain.
The findings of the tests were sent by the NCA to the BCCI today.
The BCCI had instructed all players who featured in the Test series in Australia but not in the tri-series that followed to undergo the fitness tests.
Hitherto, injured players were tested by Dr Anant Joshi and after they are given specific advice for recovery, the players used to collect a certificate of fitness from their personal physician and forwarded the same to the Board. PTI
Those nine overs were the turning point of my life: Ishant
Sheelpa Kothari
New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) The 54 balls that he bowled to the world's highest-ranked Test batsman Ricky Ponting was the "turning point" of his life, says India's pace sensation Ishant Sharma.
The gangling 6'4" Delhi speedster, hailed as the find of the just-concluded Australian tour, has cool head despite being thrust into limelight suddenly.
The 19-year-old cricketer told PTI in an interview here "the nine overs during which I bowled Ponting out (in Perth Test) are very important for me. That was the turning point of my life. This tour was very crucial for me. It has changed my whole life".
Big bucks, hysterical fans and media adulation that comes with cricket stardom have not gone to his head.
"Everyone tells me don't forget from where you've come. Never forget your roots," said Ishant, son of an air conditioner mechanic.
While Ponting lavished praise on Ishant for producing "outstanding" spells, his predecessor Steve Waugh described the Delhiite as "next best thing in Indian cricket".
"It is a good sign that every one has words of praise for me. To get a compliment from a great batsman like Ricky Ponting motivates me," said the bowler, who emerged as India's highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps from nine matches in the tri-series. PTI
Anand retains Morelia-Linares title
From Our Chess Correspondent
Linares (Spain), Mar 8 (PTI) World Champion Viswanathan Anand asserted his supremacy at the Morelia-Linares tournament for the second time on the trot after settling for a facile draw with former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the 14th and final round here.
Anand ended this category-21 tournament with 8.5 points and finished a half point clear of nearest rival Magnus Carlsen of Norway who played a draw with Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in his last game.
Levon Aronian of Armenia signed peace with Peter Leko of Hungary while Alexei Shirov of Spain could not break the ice and reached the same result against Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk making it an all-draws affair in the final round.
For the records, Aronian and Topalov tied for the third spot on 7.5 points, Radjabov finished fifth on 7, Ivanchuk ended clear sixth a half point behind while Shirov and Leko tied for the seventh spot scoring just 5.5 points apiece.
It was an encore of Anand's last year's result here but the gap was a bit narrower. In the previous edition too, Anand had won the title scoring 8.5 points but was a full point ahead of nearest contenders.
In the final round Anand, white, had little troubles against Topalov as the Indian knew that his half point cushion was going to be tough for Carlsen to jump over.
It was a Sicilian Najdorf by Topalov wherein Anand, as demanded by the tournament situation, played it safe and allowed Topalov to get away with an easy equality in the middle game. PTI
Venus Williams, Patty Schnyder advance to semis
Bangalore, Mar 7 (PTI) Venus Williams and Patty Schnyder fought their way into the semifinals of the USD 600,000 Canara Bank Sony Ericsson WTA Bangalore Open after beating their respective opponents here today.
Venus, the second-seed American, was far from her usual self against seventh seed Russian Vera Zvonareva and just managed to get past Vera 6-4 6-3 in a quarterfinal encounter.
Swiss seventh seed Schnyder had to dig deep to her reserves to ward off a strong challenger in Akgul Amanmuradova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1) in an almost two-and-a-half hour battle.
High bounce of the court and windy conditions did trouble the American player as she committed a series of unforced errors.
However, Zvonareva, who had beaten Venus way back in 2003 French Open was too erratic and matched her opponent in committing unforced errors.
Venus had three breaks --two in the first set-- against her rival. Zvonareva lost her second and fourth games but won the third game on deuce to break Venus to trail 1-3.
Venus was leading 5-2 and had a match point but the Russian, who was patchy throughout, managed to hold her serve. Venus pocketed the set and finished the match by winning next game.
Amanmuradova made a good start as she broke Schnyder in the very first game and then went on to win the first set but she made too many unforced errors, which allowed her opponent a comeback in the match.
Amanmuradova saved two break points in the fifth game of the decisive set and even led 4-2 but Schnyder raised her game to stretch the match to the tie-breaker, in which she prevailed to move to the next level. PTI
Progress of India-assisted projects in Bhutan reviewed
Thimphu, Mar 8 (PTI) Indian and Bhutanese officials have reviewed the progress of New Delhi-assisted projects undertaken during the Himalayan country's 9th Five Year Plan.
The officials expressed satisfaction over the projects which are expected to finish within the time frame, a statement from Bhutan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Indian government has released Nu. 70,352 million for projects in the 9th plan.
"This comes to be around 81 per cent of the total funds. The remaining 19 per cent, Nu 1,700 million will be released for the remaining four months of the Plan," the statement said.
A three-member Indian delegation headed by Finance Director Arun Kumar Chatterjee was in Bhutan for the two-day 6th project monitoring committee meeting.
The minutes of the meeting were signed by Chatterjee and Bhutan's director of the Department of Bilateral Affairs, Kezang Wangdi.
The delegation called on top Bhutanese officials including Foreign Secretary Yeshey Dorji and Secretary of GNH Commission Karma Tshiteem.
Views were also exchanged during the meeting on how the mechanism could be made more contemporary in view of growing cooperation between the two neighbouring countries, Chatterjee said.
The projects funded by India include the Punatsangchu Hydroelectric Project, JDWNR Hospital and Semtokha Dzong..
The next monitoring committee meeting will be held in September. PTI
Reliance eying petrochem project in Qatar
Dubai, March 8 (PTI) Reliance Industries is keen to set up a petrochem complex in Qatar especially for polymer production.
The company is "definitely interested in establishing a world-scale petrochemical complex here with Qatar Petroleum," R P Sharma, president (LNG business) of Reliance Industries who was in Qatar to attend the Middle East Gas Summit, said.
Sharma said India had a huge market for polymers.
"India consumes a lot of polymer and is a huge market," he was quoted as saying by Gulf Times daily.
Earlier, making a presentation on "Emerging trends in India and China" transnational pipelines and LNG at the summit, Sharma said domestic gas production in the two countries was expected to increase rapidly over the next 15 years.
Consumption was expected to be growing even faster, making gas imports necessary for both India and China. India also plans to import some 22.5mn tonnes to meet its demand in 2011 and 2012.
The development of gas transmission and distribution networks in China and India is opening greater export opportunities for Russian and Middle Eastern gas, he said.
"Over a period of time, China and India may move from the role of a price-taker to price-maker in the Asia-Pacific region," Sharma said. PTI
HDFC seeks nod to mortgage farm property for giving loans
Chandigarh, Mar 7 (PTI) Private sector housing lender HDFC today said it has written to the Punjab government for allowing it to take agriculture property as security in lieu of loans to rural people of the state.
"Unlike banks, we are not allowed to mortgage agricultural property under the Agriculture Act in Punjab for advancing loans to rural people for purchasing rural assets," HDFC Joint Managing Director Renu Sud Karnad told reporters here today.
"If we are allowed to keep the property as security for advance then we will be able to disburse loan to rural people," she said.
The corporation targets to disburse loan of Rs 200 crore to rural people of the state.
Stating that the market potential for such loans is quite high in the country as over 70 per cent of the population in India resides in rural areas, she said the corporation would have to devise a mechanism whereby the income of the rural folks could be ascertained for advancing loan to them.
"We will have to match the income level of farmers with the crop cycle and try to understand the income generation so as to ensure the repayment of loan for the success of this scheme," she said.
In rural areas of the northern region, comprising Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, HDFC plans to disburse Rs 800 crore this year.
HDFC has disbursed Rs 4,000 crore since its inception in this region, she added. PTI
Tie-up with Virgin Mobile above board: Tatas
New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) Under attack for a tie-up with the UK's Virgin Mobile for its telecom operations, Tata Teleservices today said the deal was absolutely transparent and within the laws of the country.
"The tie-up for virgin mobile services is above board and completely in compliance with the laws and regulations of the country," Anil Sardana, Managing Director of Tata Teleservices (TTSL), told reporters here.
Sardana also admitted that the company had received a communication from the Department of Telecom (DoT), seeking clarifications about the contours of the deal and TTSL had sent its reply on March five.
Although he did not divulge the commercial details of the deal with Virgin, he said there was absolutely no scope of Virgin entering the country as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).
"Network belongs to us... Billing will be done by Tata Teleservices and revenues will come to us," he said, adding that the tie-up is only for using Virgin brand on exclusive basis to expand into segmented sections.
Within two days of launching the services to attract the youth, Sardana said 500 subscribers had come on board.
The GSM operators lobby COAI had sought DoT's intervention to seek clarifications on Richard Branson's Virgin Group's entry into the Indian mobile segment.
The COAI had alleged that the tie-up was nothing but entry of Virgin as MVNO which was not allowed as per the country's existing license terms and conditions. PTI
Important role for army chief in future set-up: Zardari
Islamabad, Mar 8 (PTI) Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said he foresees an important role for the army chief and the military in the country's future set-up.
Slain former premier Benazir Bhutto's widower said during an interaction with the Jang group of newspapers that the National Security Council, which is headed by the President, and local governments were here to stay.
He said the PPP did not favour confrontation with these institutions and that parliament should be strengthened to decide all issues.
"The National Security Council and local governments are also institutions, so the PPP would not be in a hurry to send them packing. Rather, the formation and working of these institutions could be improved through discussions in parliament," he told the panel yesterday.
Asked how the "troika" of President Pervez Musharraf, PPP's prime minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif would function, Zardari said it would work due to "their political handling".
"We want to keep Nawaz Sharif on our side and he will sit with us," he said.
Zardari was also hopeful about his party's long-term partnership with the PML-N and said he desired to take that party along on all major issues which would confront the new government.
He said there were many issues on which the PML-N and PPP had 30 to 40 per cent agreement, but on some issues such as the freedom of the media there was 100 per cent understanding.
"I will make all-out efforts to persuade them to come on board as I have already termed Mian Nawaz Sharif, Asfandyar Wali and Maulana Fazlur Rehman my elder brothers," he said. PTI
Medvedev formally declared elected as next Russian President
Moscow, March 8 (PTI) Russian President Vladimir Putin's handpicked successor Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev was formally declared elected to the top post with a landslide win, bagging 70 per cent of the votes in the last Sunday's poll.
Medvedev, 42, got 52,530,712 votes (70.28 per cent) and the turnout was little over 64 per cent of the total 190 million registered voters, deputy chair of the Central Election Commission Stanislav Vavilov said.
He will be post-Communist Russia's third president for a four-year term.
Medvedev's nearest rival Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov polled 13,243,550 million votes (17.72 per cent) followed by ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky with 9.35 percent (6,988,510 votes) and Andrei Bogdanov 1.3 per cent votes (968,344 thousand votes).
Immediately after the announcement of official results, Medvedev thanked the voters for backing him, saying the high percentage and a turnout of over 64 per cent is a "credit of trust" for pursuing radical economic and social reforms in the country.
Medvedev, who for the first time in the Russian history has got the official status of "president-elect", will be sworn in on May seven. PTI
UN seeks data for most comprehensive forest survey
New York, Mar 8 (PTI) In pursuit of the most comprehensive picture of the state of earth's forests which are a crucial factor in mitigating effects of climate change, United Nations has sought 'accurate data' from member states.
"Stronger support from countries and advances in communication technology will make the next Global Forest Resources Assessment the most comprehensive and reliable yet," Jan Heino of the Forestry Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said about the assessment that will be published in 2010.
Some 220 experts are attending this week's meeting convened by FAO to kick-start the process, and many more are likely to be involved. The last survey was produced with the help of over 800 people working in 172 countries in teams.
Besides generating unprecedented information on deforestation, new forestation and natural forest expansion, the survey will provide insight into the land uses that are replacing forests and the forests' role in climate change, the agency said.
In addition, the 2010 assessment will expand knowledge of the biological diversity of forests and will include a special study on trees outside forests, a survey of the area of forest under sustainable forest management and data on forest policy.
Started over 60 years ago, the Global Forest Resources Assessment process provides information on how much forest area exists, how it is being managed and how it is being lost.
Global forest cover currently amounts to just under four billion hectares, 30 per cent of earth's area.
The 2010 survey will also utilize the data provided by remote sensing satellites. PTI
Digest of domestic news for the week March 1-7, 2008
Saturday
Raipur: A court here acquitts senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi of the charge of being involved in the murder of NCP leader Ram Avatar Jaggi, citing insufficient grounds to press the allegation against him.
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh is stripped of the status of Cabinet Minister rank and as head of the secretariat administration in the wake of controversies surrounding him.
Lucknow: Against the backdrop of Rajput community's protests against the film, Uttar Pradesh government bans the screening of Ashutosh Gowarikar's controversial movie 'Jodha Akbar' based on the life of the Mughal Emperor.
Sunday
New Delhi: The Central Government, in its fresh affidavit before the Supreme Court, has sought to allay environmental concerns regarding the Sethusamudram project.
New Delhi: The CBI, probing allegations of kickbacks received by arms dealer Suresh Nanda, is preparing to send a request to the UK to find out whether he had acquired British nationality, even as the External Affairs Ministry is still undecided about its plea for revoking his passport.
Monday New Delhi: India commissions Ocean Research Vessel Sagar Nidhi that would help scientists recover metals from the seabed, manage the newly-built tsunami warning system and provide logistics support to the Antarctic and Arctic missions.
New Delhi: All four TRS MPs, Vinod Kumar, Ravindra Naik and T Madhusudan Reddy and its leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, resign from the Lok Sabha protesting delay in creation of a separate Telengana state. Tuesday Pune/Mumbai: After Mumbai, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, who indulged in an anti-North India campaign, is barred from going public with his speeches in Pune even as more Bollywood actors come out in opposition to the gag order against him.
Attari(Punjab): A former constable Kashmir Singh returns home to a hero's welcome and reunites with his family amid tears and hugs, a day after he was freed after languishing in Pakistani jails for 35 years.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court lifts all restrictions imposed on screening of controversial Bollywood film 'Jodha Akbar' by various state governments, till March 14.
Wednesday New Delhi: Taking the opposition head on, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hits back saying the massive farm loan waiver was a result of NDA government's neglect of farmers and asserted it was not apologetic on schemes for minorities.
New Delhi: A ship-to-shore version of the supersonic Brahmos missile is successfully test fired in the Andamans.
Pune/New Delhi: Stoking a fresh round of confrontation with his anti-North Indian comments, Bal Thackeray targets MPs from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh triggering an angry reaction in Parliament with a privilege motion moved against the Shiv Sena supremo.
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader S M Krishna resigns as Maharashtra Governor after the party asks him to take the plunge in the fight against a resurgent BJP and a well-rooted JD(S). Thursday Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who had made a strong criticism of the state's Left Front government for its handling of the Nandigram issue, fails to mention it in his speech at the start of the budget session of the assembly, irking the opposition parties.
New Delhi: With fresh polio cases being reported from various parts of the country, the Government feels that the national programme for its eradication has not been upto the mark and decides to review the entire initiative.
Friday Agartala: The CPI(M)-led Left Front storms back to power in Tripura for the fourth successive term with a massive majority, crushing main rival Congress. The Front secured 49 seats in the 60-member assembly--marking four fifths majority--with CPI(M) alone bagging 46 of them.
Shillong: The election to the 60-member Meghalaya assembly throws up a hung house with the ruling Congress emerging as the single largest party bagging 25 out of 59 seats for which polling was held on March three.
New Delhi: Large parts of northern India, including the national capital, remains without electricity for over ten hours today as heavy smog tripped transmission lines, affecting railway services in the region. PTI
Asia through the eyes of cartoonists
Ruby Nanda
New Delhi Mar 7 (PTI) Art requires no language to convey a message. More so if it is a cartoon. An exhibition of cartoons from Asian countries proves the point.
A trendy girl in a chic tee and jeans with folded hands before the ancient guru begs him for the secret of life.Pat comes the reply, "go to www.Secret of life.Com and see ok".
A young boy engrossed playing games on TV, while his father is down on floor literally begging to let him watch news.
"Forget about the oil shortage. Have you noticed the textile shortage." Guys looking at skimpily dressed girls walking by.
These are some of the cartoons from ten Asian cartoonists displayed at the Okakura Tenshin Gallery in the capital by the Japan Foundation from February 27 to March 12.
The cartoonists are from India, Bangladesh, Japan, China, Vietnam, Philippines,Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia.
Director Japan foundation Nao Endo says, "It is a way of experiencing the culture of the countries and connecting together. Japanese traditional theatre might not be so easy to understand by the common person here in India but cartoons are easily understood." "We have been organising this cartoon exhibition every year since 1995. And it has been improving every year" says Endo.
Almost 85 per cent of the world's youth lives in developing countries, with approximately 60 per cent in Asia alone according to the UN website. Thus the theme of this year's cartoons being youth is very appropriate. PTI
Bollywood music industry needs revolution in composing: Lata
New Delhi, Mar 6 (PTI) The Bollywood music industry is in urgent need of a revolution in composing to fish itself out of the slump it has witnessed in recent times, says veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar.
"If things have to improve, one of the two has to happen. Either a new musical phenomenon must emerge in composing, or some playback singer or the other should get into composing, taking charge of the music they get to sing," a new book -- "Bollywood Melodies" -- quotes Lata as saying.
But Lata is doubtful if either of these will happen. "For the sake of film music, I wish it did," she hopes. But according to the singer, dubbed as the 'nightingale of India', there is no dearth of talented singers in the country.
"It is just that there's no composer to test a singer's range; work on exploring the voice of the singer the way composers used to do in the 1950s." Lamenting that the emphasis of present-day music is on instant popularity and not on creating something that is original, the book quotes, "Creative music is not happening anywhere -- not in Mumbai, not in the south or even in Bengal. How can you blame the singers alone for it?" The book, written by Bangalore-based organisation development consultant Ganesh Anantharaman, traces the evolution of the Hindi film song to its present status as the cultural barometer of the country, through an evaluation of the works of over 50 leading composers, singers and lyricists -- from K L Saigal to Sonu Nigam, Naushad to A R Rahman, Sahir Ludhianvi to Javed Akhtar. PTI
Indians are charity rich but philanthropy poor
Anurag Sharma
New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) There is no paucity of funds or lack of individual commitment to society but Indians are stingy, say non-governmental organisations and experts.
"We raise 90 per cent of our funds to support orphanages from individuals and rest from trusts. There is no shortage of funds but a lack of heart amongst people who spend several thousand rupees on eating out but do not help the impoverished," says Anjali Gopalan, who heads Naz Foundation, a Delhi based NGO.
Most of the time people donate money only if it is connected to aid religious purposes, adds Gopalan. Naz works for raising awareness to prevent spread of HIV/AIDS.
Major-General Surat Sandhu (Retd.), Chairman, South Asian Fund Raising Group (SAFRG), says that while India is charity rich, it is philanthropy poor and NGOs need professional fundraisers to motivate and inspire people to contribute for social issues.
"Most of NGOs suffer from fund crisis. There are 1.2 million NGOs in India but less than one per cent of NGOs has professional fund-raisers and that too in the metros only, what about other cities? The potential of giving in the country is huge but we are tapping a mere fraction of it," he says while adding India has more than 87,000 millionaires in dollar terms and over 700,000 people earning more than 2 million rupees a year.
The civil society sector in the country raises funds upto USD 600 million in a year while the potential is of more than USD 10 billion. Non-profit sector in US raises USD 260 billion each year from population of 295 million and UK raises USD 41 billion in a year from 60 million people. PTI
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