India: Same Gold Price All the Places

Gold is a very important commodity in India. If I am not wrong then I think that the country has the highest amount of gold. In marriage, it is a must and giving gold ornament is a normal tradition. However, a big problem is that there is no uniformity of gold price in the country. So, you can find different prices in different areas. A new association called Indian Bullion Market Association (IBMA) has been formed to ensure same price all over the country. I hope that it can happen and it can benefit the consumers. Representatives from all the major stake holders have been included in the new association.  

Students Should not become too much Engrossed with Twenty20 World Cup 2009

The practice matches will start from tomorrow and thus for the next 22 days, millions of people in South Asia will be totally glued to their TV sets about cricket. Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are playing from South Asia and all of them have good teams. In fact, in 2007, India and Pakistan played in the final.

So, for the next 3 weeks, many people will have nothing to do but discuss about cricket and watch matches. There is nothing wrong in it. However, I am concerned about the negative impact it may have on students. It will have bad effect on their studies.

I sometimes wish that the people of South Asian countries were less passionate about sports. This can help the students to study better. Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India have won the title of World Cup Cricket once. So, their people are crazy for it. Bangladesh could not win any major trophy in this sports until now but that did not have any problem to make it as the most popular sports.

You can find detailed coverage of Twenty20 World Cup 2009 in Sports37 blog.

Maruti Suzuki Alto Recorded Highest ever Monthly Sales in March 2009

Maruti Suzuki India has seen excellent success in the domestic market for its Alto car model in March 2009. The company sold a record 23569 Alto cars in India in March which has become the highest ever monthly sales for Maruti Suzuki Alto.

Maruti Alto has seen extensive success in Indian car market since its launch in 2000 and at this moment, this is the best selling hatchback car in India and it has become the largest selling car in India since 2006. The city car has become the only third model from Maruti Suzuki to cross the 1 lakh production mark earlier last year, after Maruti 800 and Omni models.

Maruti Suzuki celebrated its silver jubilee in 2008-09 and the celebration was fueled up as the company sold 70,023 units that marked the highest ever yearly sales in the 25-year history of the company. The company has also become very active in exporting cars from India in several European countries. Maruti A-star has become a very successful model of the company in the overseas markets.

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New Indian Government and President Barack Obama

A new government is in India and it is led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He was the prime minister in the previous government too but at that time, he had to depend on the support of left parties for survival. So, he did not have strong mandate to carry out economic reforms or even improve relation with the US. Now, Manmohan Singh has enough majority and he is not dependent on the left parties. So, his hands are more open. On the other hand, Obama has the opportunity to deal with a new government in Delhi.

William Cohen has written a nice commentary in Financial Times and he wrote:

The president also has an opportunity to expand trade and investment. Between 2000 and 2007, US-India trade increased by more than 300 per cent – and foreign direct investment reached all-time highs as well. Mr Obama’s recent criticism of tax incentives that move jobs from Buffalo to Bangalore, however, has caused Indians to question whether this will translate into increased protectionism. We must seize the opportunity presented by india’s election to address such concerns and forge new ties of trade and investment.

Of course, the same thing must come from Indian leaders too. They must show that they are willing to improve bilateral ties and India is willing to increase trade between the two countries.

Breaking News: Barcelona is the Champion of UEFA Champions League 2009

Barcelona has become the champion of Champions league 2009 by defeating Manchester United 2-0 in the final. With this victory, Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has become the youngest ever manager to win Champions league in his debut season. On the other hand, Manchester United failed to become the first ever European team to win Champions league title on consecutive seasons. Manchester United went into the game on the back of record leveling 25-match unbeaten steak in Europe and another victory would see them making a new record of longest unbeaten streak in Europe. Samuel Eto’o opened scoring for Barcelona which reminded of his goal in Barcelona’s 2006 victory over Arsenal in the Champions league final. Messi doubled the lead in the second half, scoring his 9^th goal in 12 European appearances this season, and thus, becoming the leading scorer of the tournament.

Manchester United started off very well in the match as the Red Devils got a scoring chance in the first minute of the game. Ronaldo’s free kick was not successfully gripped by Barcelona goalkeeper and fell in the box, but Park failed to score from a close range shot. However, Barcelona went ahead in the 10^th minute when Samuel Eto’o scored against the run of play. Eto’o received a pass from the midfield and then slot it pass into United post with a left foot strike. After the goal, Barcelona got on top and made a number of threatening attack. Ronaldo got an excellent chance in the 17^th minute, but Pique turned him down illegally just outside the box. Barcelona then dominated most of the time before half time and the Catalan side was leading 1-0 at the half time.

Barcelona got off to a good start to the second half. Just four minutes into the second half, Thierry Henry missed perhaps the easiest chance of the game when he failed to score after getting United keeper alone in the post. No doubt, the credit must go to Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Ser who superbly blocked it for corner. Luck once again went against Barcelona just four minutes later when Xavi’s free kick hit the goal bar. Barcelona doubled the lead thanks to Lionel Messi in the 71st minute when Messi headed Xavi’s excellent cross home to break the heart of United fans.

Just a minute after conceding the second goal, Manchester United got an excellent chance of reducing Barca’s lead, but Ronaldo failed to score from it. After that Manchester United tried to create chances and in fact, they created some good scoring chances that United squandered off. Barcelona captain Carlos Puyol got a chance to increase the lead in the 85^th minute, but once again ManU keeper saved the English champions. In the end, Manchester United tried their best to bring out a goal by deploying Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov, Ronaldo together in attack.

Tata Received More Response for Nano’s Luxury Model

You know that Tata Motors has created a buzz in the Indian car market with its world’s cheapest car Nano which goes on sale with the initial price of $2,600. Tata Motors needed almost 4 years and 500 engineers to come up with Nano minicar. However, now it seems that most of the car users are less attracted by the base model of Nano; rather they are more attracted towards the luxury model of Nano which will have air-conditioning and cup board facility.

Tata Nano received 203,000 bookings for Nano car in which 20% bookings were for the base model, while 40% customers booked for the luxury model of the car. You might think that this is bad news for Tata, but the reality is that this could open up an opportunity for Tata Motors to make more profit because the profit margin in the luxury model is better than the base model.

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Barcelona vs Manchester United UEFA Champions League 2009 Final Live Updates

Final score

Barcelona (2) vs Manchester United (0)

90+3 minutes: History is made. Barcelona has won the match. Thanksf or being with us

90+2 minutes: watiing for teh final whistle. CHange of player for barcelona just to waste some seconds

89 minutes: Barcelona supporters are singing in happiness while Man United fans are laving the stadium.

87 minutes: Corner for Man United but Barteov gave a bad header

85 minutes: Messi just missed a easy opportunity

83 minutes: Freekick for Barcelona but nothing happened

80 minutes: Now Scholes shown yellow card for a wreckless challeneg

78 minutes: Ronaldo earned unnecessary yellow card

77 minutes: Man Utd on attack again

73 minutes: What a miss from Ronaldo. It is now Manchester United's night.

71 minutes: Messi has scored the second goal. Barcelona has scored the second goal. Excellent head from Xavi's cross.

70 minutes: Corner for United but very badly taken

68 minutes: Bad pass towards Ronaldo. United players are out of their rhythm now

65 minutes: Henry threatened but United defense held on. CHange of player. Barbetov has come in place of Park now. It should have been done long ago

63 minutes: Rooney had an excellent run in the right wing and earned a corner, but the corner was poorly taken.

61 minutes: A threatening attack from United, but Rooney was offside

59 minutes: Manchester United is looking for the equalizer.

56 minutes: Barcelona is now on attack.

53 minutes: Xavi's free kick for the woodwork. Badluck for Barcelona.

50 minutes: Another threatening attack from Barcelona, Messi appealed for penalty

49 minutes: What a miss from Henry, and what a save by Edwin van der Ser. Henry got the ManU keeper alone, but still failed to score.

46 minutes: Second half started just now. Tevez has come into the field in place of Anderson.

This is now half time in the Champions League final 2009. We will be back with second half action. So, be with us and enjoy the live updates of the match.

45+1 minutes: Iniesta and Henry formed the last attack before half time.

45 minutes: Messi had a run on the left wing and crossed to box, but nothing happened. 1 minute of time added on.

43 minutes: Barcelona attacked, but United keeper was up to the mark.

41 minutes: Manchester United had a good attack, Park lost the possession in the end.

39 minutes: Neither side is currently dominating in the match.

36 minutes: Barcelona got a corner, but Pique just failed to head it home.

33 minutes: Evra sent a pass to the box from the left wing, but no body was there to receive it.

30 minutes: Manchester United is relying on counter-attacking football.

27 minutes: Xavi took an excellent free kick, but it went just off the target.

25 minutes: Barcelona is attacking more now.

22 minutes: Wayne Rooney earned a corner, but nothing happened in the end.

19 minutes: Messi's long range shot just missed the target. A threatening attack from Barcelona.

17 minutes: Pique shown yellow card for turning Ronaldo down just outside the box. Giggs free kick went over the bar.

13 minutes: Barcelona is playing better now, while Manchester United is trying to get the equalizer.

10 minutes: Samuel Eto'o scored from a close range shot now. Barcelona is now leading by 1-0.

8 minutes: Ronaldo's close-range shot went just off the target

6 minutes: Both sides are trying to create chances.

4 minutes: Manchester United attacked again, but nothing happened this time.

2 minutes: Manchester United had a threatening attack as they earned a free kick and then a corner.

Barcelona and Manchester United are going to take on each other in a mouth-watering battle in Rome today as the two European powerhouses are gearing up to win Champions League title this year. The final match between Barcelona and Manchester United will kick off from 19:45 BST (British Standard Time) on 27 May 2009.

Here, in this entry, we will be giving live score and updates of the Champions league 2009 final with text commentary. So, be with us for the live updates when the match resumes. To get the updated score, you just need to refresh or reload the page after every few minutes.

Notable forests of South Asia

Forests may not be inhabited by human beings but they have major contributions in our lives. Aside from providing woods and various plants, the forest play a major role when it comes to the betterment of the weather and climate of the country. Every country in the world must have certain level of green areas for better climate otherwise the population faces serious trouble. Forest plays a major role the economy of South Asia. In this post I am going to write about the forests in seven South Asian countries:

Nepal:

Though Nepal is famous for the Himalayas and the Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, to the rest of the world, the country has forest that is rich in flora and fauna. Nepal contains a wide variety of forests such as tree less subalpin pasture, dense fir forests of the high valleys, oak and rhododendron woods of the middle hills and tall sal forests of the south. The tropical deciduous monsoon forest occupies the Terai plains and the broad flat valleys situated between hill ranges. Shorea robusta or the Sal tree is the dominant tree species in this region. The subtropical mixed evergreen forest is situated in the surrounding areas of Mahabharat Lekh, a east-west mountain range that is 1500 to 3,000 meters high across Nepal.Major tree species of this region are Castenopsis indica, Schima wallichi, Alnus nepalensis, Acer oblongum and various species of oak and rhododendron.

India:

India is the largest country in the South Asian region and very rich in bio-diversity. It has a wide variety of forests small, medium and big. Some of the forests are situated between borders of two countries. A total of 3,166,414 square kilometers of India are covered with forest. The forests differ according to rainfall, altitude, topography, and latitude. The Assam region in the North East India offers a rich bio-diversity. The area is filled with lush green hills, pastures, tea gardens, river plains and wilderness. It has an area of 78,438 square kilometers. The major types of forests in these regions are the tropical wet evergreen forests, tropical semi-evergreen forests, tropical moist deciduous forest, sub-tropical broad leaved hill, sub-tropical pine and littoral and swamp forests.

Bangladesh:

Bangladesh is a small country but it has a rich and diverse forest resource. The forests of Bangladesh can be divided into three categories: hill forests, plain Sal forests and Mangrove littoral forests. The hill forests contain most of the productive forests areas and it has a huge contribution in the economy followed by the Sundarbans, the famous mangrove forest and home of Royal Bengal Tiger. The hill forests are situated between the Indian subcontinent floristic region and the Indo-China floristic region. The hill forest is then divided into various small forests. The Plain Sal forests is the least productive and endangered forest of Bangladesh. These forests are situated in most of the lowlands and flood plains in the central and western part of Bangladesh. The Sal forests consists of pure sal forest that consists of 100% Sal that grew on shallow dry and less productive soils in the north of Dhaka and was frequently burned. There are mixed Sal forests consisting of Terminalia bellerica, Albizzia procera, Lagerstroemia spp and Ficus species. Then there is the mangrove forests divided in three groups –the Sundarbans, coastal char forests, and coastal area forest from Chokoria to Teknaf.

Maldives:

Maldives is a small island country situated on the south-west of Indian ocean. It consists of a 1192 small islands two fifty of which are inhabited. Most of the country consists of wetlands and water bodies. I could not find any detailed information on forests in Maldives. According to Mongabay.com has less than 2,500 acres of forest and the country is severely suffering from deforestation problems.

Sri Lanka forest:

Though Sri Lanka has seen rapid deforestation over the past decade, forests of Sri Lanka are very rich in flora and fauna. It has the highest density of species diversity in the world. The forest is home various animals including amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles. In 2005, wild life researchers discovered 35 new frog species in the region. The country is known as the hotspot of the global biodiversity. The island is home to 3210 flowering plant species of which 916 are endemic. The southwest corner of Sri Lanka is covered with rain forest. The northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka are considerably drier which is covered by a tropical dry broadleaf forest. These forests have been cleared due to agriculture and timber. The long running civil war is also another major cause of deforestation.

Bhutan:

Bhutan is the only country in the world that emphasize on Gross National Happiness instead of Gross Domestic Product. In this twenty first century, where every country is trying its best to become highly industrialized, Bhutan is trying to follow the path of spiritualism. Thanks to GNP, since it is not so focused on increasing industry, most of the country’s natural resources have remained intact. In Bhutan, there are nine broad categories of forest: fir, mixed conifer, blue pine, chir pine, broadleaved mixed with conifers, broadleaved, and forest scrub. The mixed conifer forests occupy the largest area in the country of about 486,710 ha. The forest offer several tree species including Picea spinulosa, hemlock, larch, rhododendron, bamboo and various shrubs. The blue pine forests can be found in the Ha, Paro and Thimpu valleys in the West and Bumthang and Gyetsa valleys.

Pakistan:

Pakistan’s land mass can be divided into two general categories: alluvial plain and sand-dunal deserts. Five rivers run through the country including namely, Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej. Hence, the country has a rich forest resource. There is the littoral and Swamp forests which can be found around the coast of Karachi and Pasni in Balochistan. There tropical dry deciduous forests are available in the Rawalpindi foothills. They are facing extinction from cultivation. The chief tree species of these forests are: Lannea (Kamlai, Kembal) Bombax ceiba (Semal), Sterculia, Flacourtia (Kakoh, Kangu), Mallotus (Kamila, Raiuni) and Acacia catechu (Kath). Common shrubs are Adhatoda (Bankar, Basuti, Bansha), Gymnosporia (Putaki) and Indigofera (Kathi, Kainthi). Tropical thorn forests occupies the entire Indus plain except the driest parts. The major tree species are Prosopis cineraria (Jhand), Capparis decidua (Karir, Karil), Zizyphus mauritiana (Ber), Tamarix aphylla (Farash) and Salvadora oleoides (Pilu, wan). The forests also contains large number of shrubs of all sizes.

Source:

Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations-Bangladesh

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations- Bhutan

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations- Pakistan

Wikipedia-Ecoregions of India

Wikipedia-Fauna of India

Wikipedia-Flora of India

Wikipedia-Mahabharat Lekh

Indian Wildlife Portal

Manang.com

Ten reasons to Travel Maldives

Planning for your honeymoon travel? Why not try Maldives? This small island country situated in the Indian Ocean is a great destination for tourists. If you love taking a walk on sandy beaches, enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful blue sea, the Maldives is the place where you should be.

Officially know as the Republic of Maldives, the Maldives is an island country consisting of 1192 islets stretching south of Lakhadweep islands between Minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago and about seven hundred kilometers south-west of Sri Lanka in Laccadive Sea of Indian Ocean. Out of the 1192 islands of the country, two hundred islands are inhabited. Due to its small land mass, Maldives do not have much heavy industry. Tourism and fishing industry are two of the country’s major foreign currency earners. Hence, the tourism sector of the country is very much well developed. Every year, thousands of tourists from Europe come to Maldives.

Some interesting facts:

The Maldives is the smallest Asian country in terms of population and land mass.

The Maldives is also the smallest Muslim nation in the world.

With its average ground level 1.5 meters above the sea level, Maldives also has the lowest highest point in the world, at 2.3 meters above sea level.

Here are some reasons why you should travel to Maldives:

1. Maldives is a country of natural beauty. From ancient times, the country charmed many travelers and sailors. Ibn Batuta, a famous Moroccan traveler and scholar of 14^th century referred Maldives as “one of the wonders of the world.”

2. Maldives is a popular traveling destination for Hollywood celebrities. Famous Hollywood actor Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes did their honeymoon in Maldives. Other major Hollywood celebrities who came to Maldives include Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, George Michael, Katie Price, and Naomi Campbell.

3. As I have mentioned earlier, tourism is one of the main industries of Maldives. There are many islands that have beautiful tourist resorts surrounded by beautiful landscape. Currently, there are more than 80 tourist resorts in the country. The resorts are equipped with all the modern facilities making Maldives a great travel destination.

4. You would not need any travel visa if you have plans to travel for thirty days. Upon arrival, you will be given necessary permits if you have valid documents. People who come from malaria and cholera infected countries need a vaccination certificate.
   

5. The beautiful sea beaches and sea are the main attraction of Maldives. If you love to walk on the sandy beaches on a beautiful sunny day then Maldives is the answer to your prayer.

6. Aside from that Maldives is also famous for its rich aquatic diversity which makes it an ideal place for scuba diving. The resorts also have arrangements for night fishing trips and snorkeling.

7. The Maldives is basically a collection coral islands. There are many coral reefs that offer a rich collection of plants and fish species. The stony coral has thousand species. They can grow upto 30 meters. These corals can be seen at a depth of 20,000 feet. They make up the coral reefs.

8. Maldives has seventy different species of coral reefs. Each of these reefs has different colors. More than 700 species of fish are found in these reefs including Dogtooth Tuna, Tuna, Jacks, Sweetlips, Butterfly fish, Wahoo and Fusiliers. Octopus and giant Napoleon wrasse.

9. Water sports is another major tourist attractions of Maldives. The tourist resorts have facilities for a wide range of water sports including windsurfing, catamaran sailing, para-sailing, banana-boating, water-skiing and beach volleyball.

10. The resorts of Maldives are basically floating cottages over crystal clear sea water. Isn’t that a beautiful scenery to imagine? Surrounded by beautiful landscapes the resorts are situated in three different atolls and each resorts have their unique set of services.

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Welcome to SouthAsia37 Blog

It seems that my fate is some how related to South Asian region and I do not mind it because I was born in this part of the world and have lived almost all of my life here. This is perhaps my 5^th blog about South Asia in the last 3 years. I have seen success in all of the previous four. So, I am optimistic about it too. You may wonder why I left the previous 4. Well, I did not leave them. Actually, I used to write for Know More Media blog network and there I used to write about South Asian Business and Indian Business. The blog network got closed because of economic recession and some other reasons and I lost the two successful blogs.

Then I joined another network and did not continue after 4-5 months. So, on January 2009, I opened SouthAsiaBlog.com and it is still going on smoothly. In fact, this month, it has received almost 100,000 page views- a good traffic for a 4-5 month old blog. In South Asia Blog, I am supposed to cover business and economy related topics. However, what happens from time to time is that I try to cover off topics such as sports and entertainment.

As a result, often, I digress from my main theme and it becomes a big problem because it destroys the beauty of the main topic. That is why; I strongly felt the need to open a new blog on South Asia. I want to cover different aspects of South Asia in this blog.

So, if you are interested about South Asia in anyway, then you will like this blog hopefully. So, warm welcome to South Asia 37.