The City of Mumbai has ranked first amongst 26 cities in renewable energy consumption, according to a latest report by PwC. The finance and business centers of the future may not be the traditional capitals of global dominance, says the report released by PwC and the Partnership for New York City. The fourth edition of Cities of Opportunity shows that in a more virtual and mobile world, holistic cities with balanced economies and strong quality of life offer an attractive alternative: resilience during downturns and allure for skilled people who will build the future.
The 2011 study, which analyses and ranks how 26 global centers of finance, business and culture includes Mumbai and records its performance across 10 key indicators. It highlights that there is significant scope for improvement for Mumbai across all parameters. Mumbai tops the index on renewable energy consumption, performs well on recycling of waste and lowering its carbon footprint and also ranks fifth on the sustainability parameter.
"It is no longer sufficient for cities to provide good governance and good infrastructure. Other dimensions such as health, security, culture and art, demographics, etc. not only make a city more liveable, but also help in attracting talent for nurturing innovation and further economic growth. Most cities in India are still grappling with addressing the infrastructure issues. However, more mature cities can begin looking at improving these aspects to become globally competitive," says Ranen Banerjee, Executive Director, PwC India.
"Changes in communications, education and knowledge-sharing, transportation and urban migration are transforming world dynamics. Cities that want to thrive, need to adapt to these changes. Size is no longer a leading predictor of influence. The success of cities such as Toronto, San Francisco, Stockholm and Sydney sends a clear signal that...
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With the heavy weights and veterans joining the elite panel of jury, the Construction Week India Awards 2011 has created a buzz in the industry. It’s been our endeavour to formulate an award process which is free, fair and transparent so that we honour the real heroes of the industry. What could be the better way than having some of the Who’s Who of the Industry who command immense respect within their respective domain to judge the winners?
Some of the senior industry experts who have agreed to join the elite panel of jury are: Mr. Kumar Gera, Ex Chairman, CREDAI; Mr Pradeep Singh, MD, IDFC Projects; Mr. S Paramasivan, ED (Finance & Commercial), Afcons Infrastructure Ltd; Mr. Pranay Vakil, FRICS, Chairman, Knight Frank (India) Pvt Ltd; Dr Mangesh Koregaonker, DG, NICMAR; Mr. Sachin Sandhir, MD & Country Head-RICS India; Mr. Raj Kalady, MD, Project Management Institute, India; Ms Gagan Singh, Head - Project & Development Services Business, Jones Lang LaSalle India; Mr. DK Vyas, CEO, Srei BNP Paribas and Mr. Alok Kumar Singh, ED- Strategy & Fund Operations, Azure Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd. But that’s not all as we have more to join soon.
For the starters, the Construction Week Awards is a brand which has now become synonymous with recognizing excellence in the construction industry in the Middle East. The award will see its debut in India this June 2011. The award which is now eight years old in Middle East will be launched in India to honour those individuals, projects and companies that have contributed to building this wondrous nation.
This year we will celebrate exceptional performance in 16 key areas of the industry, with nominations open to contractors, developers and consultants working in India. Foreign contractors operating in India are also eligible to nominate themselves.
Dates to remember:
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Date: 28-29 April, 2011
Venue: JW Marriot, Mumbai
These are the times when BUSINESS is GETTING more COMPLEX. Your organization's Reputation, Valuation and Profitability are directly linked to Good Governance, Effective and Real-time Risk Management and adhering to regulatory Compliance.
Ground Reality: multiple groups bear responsibility for several functions and processes; operate in silos, with insufficient sharing of information, following multiplicity of frameworks and systems. Audits, Finance, Compliance, Risk and Legal have their own functioning styles and process. Business line managers and IT bring in their own perspectives.
By Adopting a Common GRC Framework, you can simplify your internal processes, cut down on complexities, now overseen by a number of departments.
“The key SUCCESS for a GRC PROGRAM is a coordinated effort by audit, legal, risk and compliance functions and among key administrative, operational personnel and business lines in both the implementation of the systems and the interpretation of the data generated.”
GRC Summit 2011 represents one of the first comprehensive discussions on Harmonizing and Synergizing - People and Process for a workable GRC Program and Framework which fits into the working environment of organizations.
The meet will feature more than 130 senior practitioners from across departments and job functions, from organization that are looking at implementing and establishing their GRC Program and Framework that is practical, takes care of disparities and conflicts of various departments and can be adjusted to the needs of their organization.
Do contact for participation at the meet NOW as we have ‘limited number of participants’ to 130 to ensure a ‘Shared...
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Part of Mumbai at night (development across the Powai lake)
Mumbai is the densest city (amongst the 22 major Asian cities) as per the Asian Green City Index. The Index, commissioned by Siemens, analyzed the environmental sustainability of 22 major cities in Asia with respect to environmental and climate protection. The unique research project came up with interesting findings including the fact that Singapore is Asia’s greenest metropolis. Singapore stands out in particular for its ambitious environmental targets and its efficient approach to achieving them. However, in other Asian cities as well, environmental awareness and climate protection guidelines are playing an increasingly important role.
Some interesting findings of the report include:
1. Of the 22 cities, Mumbai, is the densest city in the Index with 27,000 people per square kilometers - more than 27 times more tightly packed than Wuhan, which has less than 1,000 people per square kilometre.
2. Kolkata benefits from a relatively low level of water consumption, at 138 litres per person per day - this is one of the best rates among the 22 cities, and better than the average of 278 litres. The low rates might partly be explained, by a lack of supply.
3. Delhi has an extraordinarily low per capita waste generation figure of 147 kg per year.
4. Bangalore/Bengaluru has some of the lowest levels of CO2 emissions per capita – this is partially reflected in the fact that 30% of Bangalore’s / Bengaluru’s energy consumed comes from renewable energy and 61% of the electricity is generated from renewable sources, mainly hydropower.
5. There is a variation in green spaces from 2 square metres per person in Kolkata, to 166 square metres per person in Guangzhou.
6. Asian cities produce less waste per capita than Europe and Latin America, but...
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While India's place has gone down from last year's 49th rank, the overall outlook has been described as stable
Switzerland tops the overall rankings in The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011, released by the World Economic Forum. The People’s Republic of China (27th) has topped amongst large developing economies, while the three other BRIC economies, Brazil (58th), India (51st) and Russia (63rd) remain stable.
Several Asian economies perform strongly, with Japan (6th) and Hong Kong SAR (11th) also in the top 20. In Latin America, Chile (30th) is the highest ranked country, followed by Panama (53rd) Costa Rica (56th) and Brazil.
The United States falls two places to fourth position, overtaken by Sweden (2nd) and Singapore (3rd), after already ceding the top place to Switzerland last year.
"Policy-makers are struggling with ways of managing the present economic challenges while preparing their economies to perform well in a future economic landscape characterized by uncertainty and shifting balances," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. "In such a global economic environment, it is more important than ever for countries to put into place the fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development."
Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA, and co-author of the report, added: "Amid concerns about the outlook for the global economy, policy-makers must not lose sight of long-term competitiveness fundamentals amid short-term challenges.
For economies to remain competitive, they must ensure that they have in place those factors driving the productivity enhancements on which their present and future prosperity is built. A competitiveness-supporting economic environment can help national economies to weather business cycle downturns and ensure that the mechanisms enabling solid economic performance going into the future are in place."
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As some of you may be aware, September 23 is marked as the Green Building Day. World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and its member Green Building Councils celebrated the first World Green Building Day last year to raise the profile of green buildings globally in the lead up to COP15 in Copenhagen.
The day was shaped by a series of synchronised events hosted by GBCs around the world, including the official launch of the Asia-Pacific Regional Network. Drawing on the success of last year's celebration, WorldGBC has extended this year's event to 'World Green Building Week' (September 20-26).
The 'World Green Building Week' will be observed every year to draw attention to the role of green buildings in the creation of healthier, more sustainable communities.
Key activities for this year include the launch of the WorldGBC Special Report "Tackling Global Climate Change - Meeting Local Priorities"* and a series of coordinated green building events hosted by Green Building Councils from around the World which includes countries like Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, United Kingdom to name.
(The Indian Green Building Congress is scheduled during Oct 6 - 9, 2010 at Chennai where Construction Week is a media partner).
According to the new report* from WorldGBC, Green buildings can also play a central role in providing affordable housing, job creation and disaster recovery. highlights how green buildings can play a valuable role in meeting local needs worldwide, including in areas hit by natural disasters, as well as providing the most cost-effective way of tackling climate change.
"In the past some thought we could only address environmental concerns when the going was good and that 'green'...
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August 19, 2010 has been definitely one of the momentous days of my journalistic career. I was in Delhi to present the copies of the August issue to the Union Minister of Power Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde. I had done an interview with him in it. Initially, I was to meet him at his office in Shram Shakti Bhavan at Rafi Marg. Sadly, I missed the appointment after being stuck in the legendary Delhi Traffic (and that too on a rainy day).
By the time I reached the office, he had left for the parliament as a session was on. Mr Lokesh Chandra, his personal secretary asked me to come back later in the afternoon.
I did but the Minister hadn't been able to return. Disappointed, I decided to leave about an hour later after seeing Mr Chandra again. To my surprise, he asked me to meet the Minister at the latter's office in Parliament House.
It was indeed my lucky day. I immediately headed for the Parliament House. I have seen this majestic building several times during my many visits to Delhi but this was the first time I had the opportunity to actually visit it. Thankfully, I could meet the Minister at his office in 45B and could present copies of the August issue. He appreciated the truthful representation of facts and specially mentioned that he liked the heading - 'Changing India's Power Equations'. "You couldn't have got it better, young man. That's exactly what we are actually trying to do here," he said. It was a fulfilling moment.
The walk from the entrance of the Parliament to the Minister's office had seemed quite long. Surprisngly, the journey back was relatively quick. And I will not deny it - I felt quite elated walking through the corridors of power. (And it was a lovely coincidence that I had a meeting with the Minister of 'Power'.) However, during my way back, I noticed what I had seen earlier but missed. The walls, the floorings...
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While Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have emerged as the most expensive Indian cities, their global rankings are quite encouraging considering the significance of these three cities. According to the Worldwide Cost of Living survey 2010 conducted by Mercer, New Delhi is ranked 85, Mumbai is 89th while Bangalore is further down at 190.
The survey covers more than 200 cities globally and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in every location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world’s most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowance for their expatriate employees.
New York is used as the base city for the index and all cities are compared against New York. Currency movements are measured against the US dollar. The cost of housing – often the biggest expense for expats - plays an important part in determining where cities are ranked.
For the first time, the ranking of the world’s top 10 most expensive cities includes three African urban centres: Luanda (1) in Angola, Ndjamena (3) in Chad and Libreville (7) in Gabon. The top ten also includes three Asian cities; Tokyo (2), Osaka (6) and Hong Kong (jointly ranked 8). Moscow (4), Geneva (5) and Zurich (joint 8) are the most expensive European cities, followed by Copenhagen (10).
According to Nathalie Constantin-Métral, a Senior Researcher at Mercer with responsibility for compiling the ranking each year, "In the past couple of years, corporate assignments have become truly global, with expatriates and ‘global assignees’ being transferred across all parts of the world. However, global mobility is still an expensive undertaking for companies, so selection of the right candidates and a real understanding of the costs involved in relocating...
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The biggest issue for the sector was to attract investors
India’s effort to build roads and highways has not been very commendable in last several decades. And that has resulted in creating huge backlog of road building work. Now, the country is trying to catch up with the past by accelerating the road building activities. Kamal Nath had once commented: “We are not building roads for tomorrow; we are catching up with the past.” Thankfully, the sector has started to receive good attention but it’s still a long way to go before the government can achieve the target of building 20 km highways a day.
The biggest issue for the sector was to attract investors which, many analysts say, has started to improve but it will still need massive investment. The government has taken up the task of construction and improvement of about 54,000 kms of national highways under the NHDP (National Highways Development Project), spending about US$80 billion in the next four years. It is expecting huge investment to come from private sector. With the entry of PE, debt and equity funds, the sector would see more inflow of investment in the future.
Good thing to happen to the industry is the participation of private players through BOT projects. This ensures two things— timely completion of projects; and proper maintenance of roads. Since the onus lies with the developers to maintain good conditions of the roads, they would be more committed to build good quality roads. The government is trying to expedite its project-awarding exercise. It has awarded 6,500 km during last one year since end-FY2009 in comparison to just 850 km during FY2009.
Road building equipment manufacturers are responding quite positively to industry’s need by availing all the latest technologies. The sector is now going through a transformational phase where contractors are looking to adopt cost-effective technology. With the entry of bigger players in the BOT projects, the sector looks to see good reform in terms...
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Serious attention will be given to transparency to attract investments, says the report
Most of the global real estate markets have showed slow improvement in terms of increase in transparency according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle and LaSalle Investment Management. The 2010 Commercial Real Estate Transparency Index shows that Australia is the world's most transparent real estate market in 2010 with Canada at second place.
Whilst one third of markets globally registered no change or a deterioration, there are a number of bright spots, and real estate transparency continues to improve, albeit moderately, in the majority of markets, says the report. Interestingly - from the Indian perspective - India is amongst the top 15 improvers. The remaining nine are from Europe and five are in Asia Pacific. Turkey tops the league table of transparency improvers, and progress has been made in China, India, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Greece and Hungary.
Markets in Pakistan, Kuwait, Venezuela, Dubai and Bahrain have registered modest levels of declines. Jacques Gordon, Global Head of Strategy for LaSalle Investment Management, the independent fund management arm of Jones Lang LaSalle said: "The 2010 Global Real Estate Transparency Index suggests that the recent turmoil in global financial, economic and real estate markets has impacted on market behaviour, with real estate players focusing on survival rather than market advancement.
It is interesting to note that the most highly transparent countries experienced illiquidity and volatility over last two years, despite their positions at the top of the transparency rankings. That said transparency does appear to speed up the restructuring process.
Rosemary Feenan, Head of Global Research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: Indian tertiary cities are benefiting from improvements in the availability of title records and moves such as the consistent application of building codes.
These approaches are...
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