The U.S. has amended visa regulations that will permit more high-skilled immigrants from India and China to become permanent residents. The legislation aims at eliminating a country-by-country cap on visas offered to skilled workers for obtaining a green card.Once approved, people can apply for a green card on a first-come, first-served basis.Currently, the U.S. makes available 140,000 skill-based green cards and limits availability to 7 percent of that allocation for each country. India gets a quota of roughly 3,000 green cards annually. In such a case, U.S. visa applicants would have to wait up to 70 years before getting their cards approved. The new Bill aims to reduce the time span by removing the limit on green cards. The move will help appease technology companies who have been pressuring Congress to provide more green cards for foreign employees.

American retail giants woke up to learn that India had unlocked the door for global retailers. Wal-Marts are to quickly take root across India, as the cabinet paves the way for international supermarkets and department stores to establish joint ventures. “We will create thousands of jobs through inclusive growth, increase farm productivity and income and help small and medium industries prosper and grow with us,” said Doug McMillion. “We’re confident that the government, after seeing the value we bring to India and its people, will view this opening as a first step in further liberalising FDI in retail.”

The Asian School of Business (ASB) has ties up with Kansas University School of Business. The purpose of this collaboration is to groom young managers by providing them with a global exposure. Under this the students of ASB will get chance to study abroad, interact with foreign students, learn under international faculty, develop overseas business networks and become global managers. 

As per the Application Trends Survey 2011, conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), has revealed that India is the fastest growing source of foreign applicants. Meanwhile, the number of applicants from China looking to study abroad has also increased. India and China are the leading Asia Pacific countries contributing to the influx of applications for full time MBA programmes. 

Pay hikes in the corporate sector have failed to arrest attrition that was an overall 18.6 percent annualised average. Companies offered an average salary increment of 12.97 percent to its employees across all levels this year, according to a compensation trends survey conducted by Deloitte India.For most companies, increments ranged between 10 percent and 19 percent, according to Mr. Thiruvengadam P, leader, human capital advisory services, Deloitte India.The study also found that voluntary exits, which had come down since 2008, made a comeback with more job opportunities in the market. Annualised attrition across sectors varied from 5 percent to 25 percent. Career advancement, personal reasons and compensation were all responsible for the trend, as per the study. Companies are offering “spot bonuses” to retain employees, said Kamal Karanth, managing director of Kelly Services India.

For the past 10 years, Indian cardiac surgeon Devi Shetty has been working relentlessly to drive down the cost of quality cardiac care in India and to make it accessible to the masses. At his Narayana Hrudayalaya chain of cardiac care hospitals, Shetty offers heart surgeries at a fraction of what it costs across the world. The cost savings have been achieved through what he terms “process innovation.”

Shetty is now looking to take this service model outside India with a 300-bed hospital in the Cayman Islands. Over time, the facility is expected to expand to a 2,000-bed multi-specialty hospital. Talking recently to economic daily, Business Standard, Shetty said: “The Cayman Islands is an hour’s flight from the U.S. We intend to offer cost-effective treatment for the citizens of the U.S. and also for those who are under-insured. We will also cater to the local population.” Shetty is now looking at creating a presence in Malaysia.

With spiraling health care costs a matter of serious concern across the world, Shetty’s model could be a game changer for the global health care industry. Rana Mehta, executive director PricewaterhouseCoopers, notes: “The Indian model of health care is a very cost-effective one and is attractive to both developed and developing countries.” Rana says that, within the health care sector, services like diagnostics could also be an area where Indian companies can make a significant mark worldwide.

K. Raman, practice head (infocomm, media & education) at the Tata Strategic Management Group, an independent management consulting firm, points out that health care spending is high all over the world both at the individual and government level. “Any solution that brings down the cost of health care delivery can have a large scale impact,” he adds.

But this is not about health care alone. Shetty’s move needs to be seen in the larger perspective of services from India having the potential to be game changers and redefining various sectors across the globe. It has already happened in the information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. Not only are Indian IT and BPO companies servicing their global clients from India, they are increasingly taking their model outside the country and setting up centers in different parts of the world. Other global players have had to follow suit.

In the telecom industry, Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom player, is seen as a pioneer in introducing a new, low-cost business model. Last year, the company took its learning from the Indian market to tap African consumers through its acquisition of Zain Africa. Bharti plans to look at other markets, too.

According to Raman, services from India that are built around innovations to cater to the unique needs of the Indian market have global potential. Education, he says, could be another sector where India could make a mark. He points out that education, like health care, involves significant spending at the government and individual levels. The sector has a large nation-level impact; needs to be delivered over a wide area and can leverage technology in a big way. “If India is able to address its own internal challenges in this sector, particularly in terms of quality and reach, it could be replicated across many countries,” Raman notes.

He goes on to add: “As a concept, frugal innovation has been there for some time. The whole idea is around innovating for developing countries and then taking the same innovations to developed countries. Until now, this has primarily been on the product side. Taking low-cost service methodology to other countries is a logical extension.”

An overwhelming 40% of entrepreneurs in India have declared that their stress levels have risen markedly in the past two years, clearly indicating that the difficult economic environment of the past two years has not only left a mark on business attitudes but also on the entrepreneur’s personal lives. However, stress level among entrepreneurs globally is 46%.The increasing stress levels among entrepreneurs of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), vital for Indian economy clearly identify that their personal lives are closely tied up with their business lives. The survey, conducted by global work-place solutions providing leader, Regus canvassed the opinions of over 5,000 entrepreneurs in 78 countries asking them about their recent revenue and profit trends, along with their main concerns and causes of stress in the past years.

Source : India Infoline