NEW DELHI: Robert Zoellick has seen a lot change over the course of a long career, first in the US government, now as the World Bank president. But perhaps the most startling change is in the way the world views India.
‘‘The outside world’s image of India now is of cutting-edge competitive companies that are going to take jobs away from the developed world. I get more and more voices coming from Europe and North America saying, ‘Why should we give money to India when they’re going to be a threat to our businesses?’ I have to constantly explain the huge income diversity of India and the fact that a lot of development work still needs to be done,’’ he chuckles.
In an exclusive interview to TOI, Zoellick also dwelt on how the growing strength of India-US ties has proved helpful to him. “I’m eventually going to have to go to the US Congress to seek its support for an increase in the World Bank’s capital. I spoke to the Confederation of Indian Industry and said, ‘Maybe you can help me because I know there’s a strong India Caucus in Washington. Together we can make a case that an increase in the Bank’s capital would help India’s development’.”
Wrapping up a four-day visit to the country, Zoellick praised India’s “strong crisis management” and said it was playing an important role in leading a global recovery. “We all look to India now as a rising global economic power and in our interconnected world it has played a helpful role over the tough moments of the past year,” he said.
But he brushed aside a suggestion that the strong showing of the Indian and Chinese economies — at a time when the US and other developed countries are still struggling — might decisively shift the balance of power and make this the Asian Century.
‘‘Two centuries ago, India and China probably accounted for 20-25% of the world’s GDP each. For a variety of reasons, their share dropped dramatically thereafter. It’s natural that their share will increase again. But I personally think that the US retains a huge amount of dynamism and it’s not going away anywhere. When I visit India and China, I find a lot of people wanting to deepen their ties with the US. There has been a greater distribution of growth and opportunity in recent times, which is great. But I don’t see it as the Asian Century or the American Century or the European Century. I see it as the challenge of how to get the globalization process to work more effectively for everyone.”
Speaking specifically about the Bank’s role in India, Zoellick said he favoured a shift in strategy to get “more bang for the buck”. “Our current portfolio of commitments is $22 billion. That includes $3.4 billion a year from the International Finance Corporation (the Bank’s private sector arm). India is the primary country for IFC, we have more investments here than anywhere else. I’d like to do more. But if you look at our investment profile here, it tends to be a series of individual projects. We’re talking to the government to see whether it would be interested in consolidating, maybe doing fewer projects but trying to use the money to help support public policy and institutional development.”
“In a country of India’s size, if you want to have an effect on public policy, you probably need about a billion dollars to play in the game,” he added. “We’re lending about a billion to help clean up the Ganga — a fascinating project, because of the river’s cultural importance. In agriculture, we’ll do some $5 billion in 2009-12. On the national highways project, we’ll probably start with a billion and move up. But even with the sums we’d like to do, it’s still modest compared to India’s needs. So I was asking your government, ‘how can we use our resources to have a greater effect in priority areas’? And I want to make sure we’re aligned to the government’s priorities.”
Zoellick added that the Bank had a role to play in providing not just financial resources but also leveraging its knowledge of global best practices. “I had a meeting with Kamal Nath and some private entrepreneurs. And we discussed how the Bank could apply its learnings from around the world to help make India’s bidding process for road
projects more transparent and competitive, while ensuring quality and engaging local communities.”
If the Bank were to focus on poorer states, we asked, wasn’t there a chance that it would actually be lending money to the worst-governed regions? And wouldn’t that negate its intent of maximising effectiveness of lending? “We’d like to focus on states where there’s interest in building capability and institutional capacity, even if they’re poor for historical reasons. Also, if you look at China, we don’t do many large projects there but lots of pilot projects which serve as models,” he responded.
So, does he think disbursing intellectual capital is as important as disbursing financial capital? “One of our problems is that we’re called a bank,’’ he replied. “We don’t just put out money. We work most effectively when we combine knowledge, experience and learnings from around the world. We’re trying to use money in the most effective way possible. But we also try to build markets and institutional capacity. It could be a local currency bond market or carbon market or microfinance development market. But we’re constantly asking ourselves, ‘how can we have more effect’?”
“It’s not a one-way street, either,” he concluded. “Today, toll roads are fairly common in India, but would be a revolutionary concept in many US states. You have some of the world’s finest minds, impressive companies and dynamic entrepreneurs. There are still huge challenges, but India has made impressive progress in developing programs that reach poor people. I believe the world has a lot to learn from India.”
Saturday, December 5, 2009
IIM, Prometric do CAT stretch
BANGALORE: It's official. Prometric and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have extended CAT 2009 by a day. The Common Admission Test,scheduled from November 28 to December 7, will now end on December 8 to accommodate students who couldn't take the test as per their original schedule thanks to all the software glitches.
Prometric said it has prepared the registration and scheduling system and all registered students can take the test. Some testing labs experienced technical difficulties mainly on account of viruses and malware. "The majority of these issues have been identified and eradicated. Prometric, in partnership with NIIT, is continuing to monitor and assess all labs. If testing is not possible for any session at specific labs, affected students will be contacted via SMS and email the day before. Rescheduling of these students will then be initiated and new appointments communicated," said Prometric.
By December 3 (Day 6) more than 1.12 lakh students completed their test. Most affected students were given rescheduled dates and they have taken the test too. "In the meantime, virtually all students are continuing to successfully test without issues, and the number of impacted candidates has decreased significantly," the press release stated.
On December 8, CAT 2009 will be held over one morning session in 20 cities -- Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kochi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, New Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Pune and Varanasi.
Ramesh Nava, vice-president and general manager, Asia Pacific, Japan & Africa, Prometric said: "We're working with the IIMs to add an additional session on Day 11 to accommodate the students within the city they were originally scheduled."
Prometric has extended hours for CAT Candidate Care (1800 103 9293), added more telephone lines and agents to accommodate the large number of calls. The Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) and phone support is available every day from 8 am to 8 pm throughout the testing period. About 2.41 lakh students have registered for CAT 2009.
Problems galore for students
Even as some students are yet to get their rescheduled date, some live quite far from their centres. This has created anxiety as many feel they may not be able to go there but some are willing to go that extra mile as they've invested a lot of effort already.
Ashish Jain, an engineering student in Bhopal, said he was supposed to take the test on November 29 but couldn't take it due to a technical snag. On Friday, he received a mail from Prometric saying his rescheduled date is December 7 in Lucknow. When he called the CAT Candidate Care, the agent told him it was unlikely that he would be allotted a Bhopal centre. "My college test starts on December 8. I've put in a year of hard work preparing for CAT. I have no other option but to go for Lucknow if it's not changed," he said.
Ashish may have decided to go but for Jairam, another engineering student from Bhopal, the rescheduled date proved to be disastrous as his name was missing from the list in spite of his getting an email from Prometric. "My test was rescheduled on Friday in Guwahati. I called the helpline in the morning and asked them to reschedule it to any centre near Bhopal. They gave the 3.30 pm slot on Friday. When I went there, they said I can't take the test as my name was not in the list. They made me wait for more than 1 hour and then asked me to call the helpline again. However, they have given me a new time and date -- 10 am on December 7. I hope it works this time. It's so frustating," Jairam added.
Some students are in a worse position -- they're yet to get a communication from Prometric. "I'm very upset. I was supposed to give the test on November 28 but when I went to the test centre the security staff told me the test has been cancelled. I called the helpline on November 30 and they informed me the rescheduled date would be sent through either SMS or email. Till date, I have not got any information. They don't reply properly to our calls," said Shireen Khan, an IT graduate from Manipal.
Even as students waiting for their reschedule date, Manoj (name changed) got the shock of his life on Thursday when he received a reschedule date when he has already given the test. "There is no reason why my test date is rescheduled. I'm trying to contact the helpline but not been able to get a proper answer," he added.
Sample of mail received by a student
Due to technical related issues, the seat you were scheduled for was closed. We regrettably have rescheduled your CAT 2009 test. An email and sms text will be sent to you with your appointment details. If you have not received this in 24 hours, please contact our CAT Candidate Service helpline.
It is not necessary to bring an updated admit card, you can take your old admit card with you to the testing center. Seats are currently very limited and may not be available in the city you wish to test, however, if the rescheduled date/time is not suitable to you, please contact our CAT Candidate Service helpline at 1-800-103-9293. Please do not send an email through the webform. You must speak to a CAT Candidate Service Representative.
Prometric said it has prepared the registration and scheduling system and all registered students can take the test. Some testing labs experienced technical difficulties mainly on account of viruses and malware. "The majority of these issues have been identified and eradicated. Prometric, in partnership with NIIT, is continuing to monitor and assess all labs. If testing is not possible for any session at specific labs, affected students will be contacted via SMS and email the day before. Rescheduling of these students will then be initiated and new appointments communicated," said Prometric.
By December 3 (Day 6) more than 1.12 lakh students completed their test. Most affected students were given rescheduled dates and they have taken the test too. "In the meantime, virtually all students are continuing to successfully test without issues, and the number of impacted candidates has decreased significantly," the press release stated.
On December 8, CAT 2009 will be held over one morning session in 20 cities -- Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kochi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, New Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Pune and Varanasi.
Ramesh Nava, vice-president and general manager, Asia Pacific, Japan & Africa, Prometric said: "We're working with the IIMs to add an additional session on Day 11 to accommodate the students within the city they were originally scheduled."
Prometric has extended hours for CAT Candidate Care (1800 103 9293), added more telephone lines and agents to accommodate the large number of calls. The Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) and phone support is available every day from 8 am to 8 pm throughout the testing period. About 2.41 lakh students have registered for CAT 2009.
Problems galore for students
Even as some students are yet to get their rescheduled date, some live quite far from their centres. This has created anxiety as many feel they may not be able to go there but some are willing to go that extra mile as they've invested a lot of effort already.
Ashish Jain, an engineering student in Bhopal, said he was supposed to take the test on November 29 but couldn't take it due to a technical snag. On Friday, he received a mail from Prometric saying his rescheduled date is December 7 in Lucknow. When he called the CAT Candidate Care, the agent told him it was unlikely that he would be allotted a Bhopal centre. "My college test starts on December 8. I've put in a year of hard work preparing for CAT. I have no other option but to go for Lucknow if it's not changed," he said.
Ashish may have decided to go but for Jairam, another engineering student from Bhopal, the rescheduled date proved to be disastrous as his name was missing from the list in spite of his getting an email from Prometric. "My test was rescheduled on Friday in Guwahati. I called the helpline in the morning and asked them to reschedule it to any centre near Bhopal. They gave the 3.30 pm slot on Friday. When I went there, they said I can't take the test as my name was not in the list. They made me wait for more than 1 hour and then asked me to call the helpline again. However, they have given me a new time and date -- 10 am on December 7. I hope it works this time. It's so frustating," Jairam added.
Some students are in a worse position -- they're yet to get a communication from Prometric. "I'm very upset. I was supposed to give the test on November 28 but when I went to the test centre the security staff told me the test has been cancelled. I called the helpline on November 30 and they informed me the rescheduled date would be sent through either SMS or email. Till date, I have not got any information. They don't reply properly to our calls," said Shireen Khan, an IT graduate from Manipal.
Even as students waiting for their reschedule date, Manoj (name changed) got the shock of his life on Thursday when he received a reschedule date when he has already given the test. "There is no reason why my test date is rescheduled. I'm trying to contact the helpline but not been able to get a proper answer," he added.
Sample of mail received by a student
Due to technical related issues, the seat you were scheduled for was closed. We regrettably have rescheduled your CAT 2009 test. An email and sms text will be sent to you with your appointment details. If you have not received this in 24 hours, please contact our CAT Candidate Service helpline.
It is not necessary to bring an updated admit card, you can take your old admit card with you to the testing center. Seats are currently very limited and may not be available in the city you wish to test, however, if the rescheduled date/time is not suitable to you, please contact our CAT Candidate Service helpline at 1-800-103-9293. Please do not send an email through the webform. You must speak to a CAT Candidate Service Representative.
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