The midnight of August 15, 1947 is memorable for every Indian within the country or an NRI, as it is the time, when India gained independence.

Flowers and Flags are sold at Colaba Market

I had the pleasure of experiencing India’s Independence Day celebrations last year while being in Mumbai. It was a very memorable event, very peaceful, colourful, joyful and it was the whole family that celebrated in the streets, on the many markets and in bars, cafes and restaurants. Nearly everyone I met was carrying a flag or wearing flowers as a sign of celebration.

Since 1947, it is celebrated with pomp and gaiety, across the length and breadth of India. Cultural programs and flag-hoisting ceremonies are the principal affair of the day. People indulge themselves in remembering the heroes of the freedom struggle and pay homage to them.

In all the schools and colleges across India, no academic work is done on Independence Day, but all the students and staff members would be present to celebrate the day. A sort of social gathering is arranged in the educational institutions, wherein cultural programs are organised. A majority of prominent business houses in India have the same routine as the educational institutions, while the rest spend their time on watching Independence day special LIVE from Red Fort.

Contradicting to the traditional Independence Day celebration, Generation Y in India is busy celebrating the same on the networking platform with their pals and business connects. It is a true day of India’s freedom and independence.

Our team here at ZaaBiz wish all our Indian members a “Happy Independence Day”.

Michael Brecht

Access to affordable high-speed Internet and mobile phone service are key to economic growth and job creation in developing countries according to a latest report by the World Bank. The report, Information and Communications for Development 2009, found that for every 10 percentage-point increase in high-speed Internet connections there is an increase in economic growth of 1.3 percentage points. Internet users in developing countries increased tenfold from 2000 to 2007 and there are now over four billion mobile phone subscribers in developing countries. These technologies offer tremendous opportunities.

The report identified the mobile platform as the most powerful way to reach and deliver public and private services to hundreds of millions of people in remote and rural areas across the developing world. Broadband provides the basis for local information technology services industries which create youth employment, increase productivity and exports, and promote social inclusion.

In the advent of the report being true, it would be great for India as the growth of telecom industry has been phenomenal in the past decade. The growth is still set to explode due to the huge potential in the rural areas of India. The same is the case with the broadband access, internet broadband service being mostly used in the corporate sector, there is huge untapped potential when it comes to exploring broadband service options for individual households. As theses two industries will grow and so will the Indian economy. For more such interesting articles and discussions join ZaaBiz Business Groups.

Betting on horses, cards and cricket is a common news, betting on the Indian Prime Minister is not a commonly heard of one. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a hot shot candidate for Prime Ministers post for the next term. With the ongoing elections, bets worth several thousand crore rupees have already been laid so far, and the tempo is likely to go up in the next couple of days. Mumbai has created a record of sorts with a punter — who is in the real estate business — betting as much as Rs 30 crore on different candidates, parties and their combination.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Wow, now that is something unheard of. ZaaBiz would like to wish Dr.Manmohan Singh all the very best for the results.

It was less than two weeks ago when India was still struggling with its share market, now all of a sudden there has been a miraculous turn around of events. The market has recovered by 58% and the most unimaginable part of it, 400 companies have soared high by 100%. Its like a dream come true for the Indian investors from times of fear. Its all behind us now. With such an impeccable performance, world economy is now eying India for support and growth. India is truly a magic land for investors.

Stock market - India

Out of the 2600-odd stocks listed on the BSE and NSE, 405 stocks have at least doubled their values from their 365-day lows touched in October last year. Simply put, one out every six stocks has gained over 100% from their one-year bottom. With sensex gaining momentum, the prices of many index constituents have gone up. Its la - la time for India. We at ZaaBiz hope that things remain the same for India over the future period, unless global recession is dumped and markets have stabilized.

Finally there seems to be some good news, SEBI is looking at possibilities of increasing trading time. This wold help the Indian market to align itself with other foreign markets, since there is a time difference within the global markets.

SEBI Bhavan, Mumbai

If at all this rumor turns true this would be a very good news for share market players. It is important to align Indian markets, as far as possible, with those of the international markets to facilitate the assimilation of any economic information that may flow in from other global markets. This in turn would help in making well informed investment decisions. Also considering the latest financial downturn that is affecting global markets, this might be a good opportunity to increase investment from Foreign players.

“Women in Business” group by ZaaBiz is the group which focuses on women who are in business. The group has a global appeal with women joining from across the countries like India, Austalia, USA, UK and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region. There are various forums like Let’s go to know each other, How ‘green’ is your business, News and current affairs, Business Q&A for women etc. to enable these women to network with other business professionls, discuss business ideas, information sharing, stress handling, Q&A and most importantly knowing each other.

The 500+ “Women in Business” group is one of the most aggressive and interactive groups on ZaaBiz and seems its growing heaps as the days pass by. Join for FREE

A.R.Rehman is now truly the pride of India. One movie - 3 nominations. Rehman has been making good music for more than a decade. Rehmans victory at Golden Globe Awards is a huge success for India. His music finds a unique place in Bollywood and now among the global competitors. There is no argument that he has accomplished what other talents could not achieve over a lifetime. With Slumdog Millionaire winning such high accolades for the movie as such and its music has been recieving ravishing reviews worldwide. An Oscar nomination for an Indian music director itself is a matter of great pride. Good Job Mr.A R Rehman, the ZaaBiz team would like to congratulate you on this success and would like to wish you all the very best for Oscars.

Karambir Singh Kang, the General Manager of Taj Hotel India is truly a hero of the nation. Despite losing his wife and kids in the Mumbai massacre, this man continued to ensure the safety of his guests. He showed extreme courage and determination. He has thus been awarded the Corporate Citizen Of the Year by the honorary PM Dr.Manmohan Singh. It was a moment when all audiences stood up to give him a standing ovation, which he truly deserved. It possibly was the happiest and saddest moment in his life.

Mumbai is fresh hurt from the terror attacks but the spirit of Mumbai never dies. Mumbai has always had a place for everyone inclusive of people from Chennai in south, Delhi in north or Kolkatta in East. These people have been since long part of Mumbai and have networked well with each other. Today is a chance to showcase the networking skills and prove that Mumbai also has online networking skills apart from physical networking. I am sure that not only people from mumbai but people from chennai settled in mumbai appreciate and accept the challenge to prove that they are better at networking.

We have had a north south divide in India for long. Today its not a divide but a question that separates the two, who is better at networking is it Chennai or Mumbai? In ZaaBiz we have both the groups “Business Bunch: Chennai” and “Business People in Mumbai” with a population over a 100 members. In competition Chennai has more members as compared to Mumbai, with a population of 142 Chennai is ahead of Mumbai by 10. Mumbai is at a figure of 132. It is a close competition between the two cities. We have a lot of members joining either of the group’s everyday but Chennai seems to maintain a lead over its closest competitor. The ZaaBiz team is happy about this competition and wishes both the group’s success at beating each other in numbers. May the best team win! You may want to check them out both.