Demand for gifts in the Christmas and New Year season is huge in countries like US and Europe. India exports gems, jewellery, leather, handicrafts and apparel to various countries for these special occasions. This year there has been a significant growth as the export of gift items from India for the Christmas and New Year has increased by around 20 percent. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), India’s apex body of export promotion organisations, estimates that merchandise exports would touch $14-billion mark in December.

Large retailers like Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Marks & Spencer and Tesco have increased their orders this year. Indian exporters have used innovative gifts and pricing strategy to improve their sales. As Indian exporters provide high quality products at competitive prices, major retailers have increased their orders this year. This has brought a much needed respite for exporters who have seen decline in their sales previously due to global recession. With Christmas and New Year season bringing good cheer to exporters, the trend is expected to continue as Western economy is on the revival track.

Though the year began on a shaky note, last two months saw the job scene improving by leaps and bounds. In fact, 2009 went much beyond the most optimistic predictions.

Of course the situation in India was never as bad as that in the US and other western countries hit badly by economic downturn. But the ripples were evident here as well, though pay cuts and job losses were minimal. The restriction on new recruitment was one of the worst fallouts of meltdown.

Things are gradually returning to normalcy at the end of the 2-year long trauma and heartburn.

After years of bullish run, 2009 was significant in infusing some sort of sanity in the job market. The gloomy phase brought home the realization that short-term goals are detrimental to career growth. Obsessive focus on compensation brought on the downfall of the entire system. A more realistic single-digit growth seen throughout the year has brought in more stability in the job scene than ever before.

The maximum brunt of recession was felt in the financial services sector. Many banks and NBFCs closed down loss-making units, thus resulting in a number of job losses in the sector. The debt capital market was the least affected. The second quarter has brought in much cheer with better hopes for the third quarter.

IT, ITeS and telecom sectors, that were experiencing growth plateaus in the first half of the year, are looking forward to moderate and realistic hiring by yearend. Hiring is expected to improve during the course of 2010.

The news has generated much cheer on the occasion of New Year to employees and across Indian campuses.

With India opposing to any legally binding green emission norms, India’s infrastructure sector is making a conscious effort to do their part to go green. Green infrastructure a concept originated in the United States is to highlight the importance of the natural environment in decisions about land use planning. Currently, all infrastructure projects in India are required to furnish an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report to seek approval from the Government of India (GoI). Likewise, the developmental projects have to acquire the Ministry of Environment and Forests’ (MoEF) consent to commence work. But there are no norms to address the environmental concerns linked with infrastructure development.

Companies in core sector development have already begun to deploy green innovations but there is a need for policy changes. Also many companies have started to invent more in R&D to address green issues. Designing has gained importance in terms of conservation of energy and water. Companies are concentrating on improving their designs to conserve energy and water and thereby improve their profitability. The future looks bright for companies joining the green bandwagon.

The food price inflation, which is at an 11-year high, is threatening to dent the shining economy and providing doubting Thomases a weapon to play down India’s laudable performance. As inflation prompts consumers to cut down unnecessary expenditure, it may impact GDP growth, if allowed to continue indefinitely. Before starting the blame game, it would be worth analyzing the root cause of the problem.

The reason most bandied about for inflated prices is the bad monsoon. The Indian farmers had to endure extreme natural calamities of drought and floods within a span of three months. Though the drought, the worst since 1972, affected a large agricultural area covering 13 states, is it really the culprit?

Even after more than 60 years of independence, it is a shame that the majority of Indian farmers are forced to depend on monsoons for irrigation. It is high time that suitable alternatives are found, so that droughts do not wreck havoc on food production and prices year after year.

Another aspect that cries for attention is the food storage infrastructure. According to rough estimates India loses a whopping 50,000 crore worth of food products to inadequacy in storage and transportation. Food saved is equivalent to food produced. Improving storage and transportation facilities itself is more than enough to attain food sufficiency, contain the after effects of natural calamities and thereby food prices.

Increasing agricultural yield by incorporating latest technology is another way to counter the problem.

The government is proposing uplifting of rural areas and inclusive growth as a long term measure. However, cracking down on hoarders and black marketers is necessary to prevent further worsening of the situation.