THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.
I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty,
believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
-Louisa May Alcott

AMRITSARIAN BOY SHINES AT ALL INDIA LEVEL

Gaurav Bhatia, a PhD student of Guru Nanak Dev University, has stood third in the Indian Economic Services (IES) examination. Unlike others, he completely relied on self-study. Gaurav says, “I decided not to join any coaching centre at Delhi as such institutes were only hankering after money. Hard work is the key to success.”
He is the only one from Punjab to clear this examination. Belonging to a middle class family, Bhatia was also selected as Assistant Commandant in 2005 and later as statistical investigator but because of his IES dream, he did not take up the posts.

INDIAN COMPANIES TARGET AFRICA

The first Indian entity to set foot in Africa was the Tata group, which in 1977 opened an office in Zambia and sold vehicles. Since then the group's operations has expanded to tea, hotels, coal mines, telecom and soda ash, with investments over $1.5 billion across seven countries.

Over the last several years, major Indian groups like the Jindals, Godrej, Kirloskar, Infosys, Vedanta, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dabur and L&T, besides others, too have sought to tap the underdeveloped markets of Africa.

Essar, that now owns a 50% stake in 80,000 barrels-a-day refinery in Mombasa, said it will invest $350-450 million towards upgrade of the facility. It bought the stake from three oil majors — Shell, BP and Chevron — with the balance held by the Kenyan government. This is Essar's second business venture in Africa, where it is also a cellular operator under the Yu brand. The quest for energy security has driven companies including ONGC Videsh hold stakes in exploration blocks in the region.

SOURCE: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Essar-Energy-acquires-50-in-Kenyan-firm/articleshow/4844302.cms