1. Bangalore

Bangalore’s (or Bengaluru’s) ten-fold growth in nippy time can be traced back to the IT boom over the past few years. Bangalore’s main activity is information technology and information technology-enabled services. Being the leading contributor to India’s IT industry, it has been dubbed the Silicon Valley of India.

Home too many software majors, like Infosys and Wipro, Bangalore accounted for 33 per cent of India’s Rs 144,214 crore ($32 billion) IT exports in 2006-07.

A recent study also revealed that the rupee millionaire club in Karnataka’s capital is the largest in India.

Bangalore also boasts of having the largest number of households with an annual income of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) or more. Needless to say, the city owes it all to the IT boom. Little wonder then that Bangalore is the number 1 IT desitnation in India.

2. Hyderabad

Like Bangalore, Hyderabad too has witnessed an IT boom in recent times, with software exports exceeding $1 billion in 2004. Of late, the city has seen huge investments in digital infrastructure. It is the second most attractive IT destination in India.

On February 19, 2008, the Indian government cleared seven projects, estimated to fetch about $7 billion over 10 years to Fab City, a silicon chip manufacturing facility, in the city.

The capital of Andhra Pradesh has also made considerable progress in the field of bio-technology through initiatives like Genome Valley and Nanotechnology Park.

3. Chennai

Chennai is the country’s third-largest exporter of information technology and information-technology-enabled services, next only to Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Experts say that the city has the potential to beat Bangalore and Hyderabad in terms of infrastructure and thus gain the position of the most attractive IT destination. Today, it is the third most preferred IT spot in India.

The software companies having their development centres in the city, are well positioned to tap the growing healthcare market for IT products and the emerging opportunity in life sciences.

Companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Covansys earn the lion’s share of their income from what they offer to the US healthcare market.

The capital of Tamil Nadu is often looked upon as the most reasonable and reliable outsourcing destination for IT and healthcare solutions.

Maharashtra, with its many cities doing excellently on the IT front, has two big IT destinations, Pune and Mumbai. The state is the 4th most attractive IT spot in India.

4. Pune

Once a sleepy town, nestling in Western Ghats, Pune (or the ‘Queen of the Deccan’) may soon become the number one destination for IT investments in India, considering the pace at which it is growing and attracting companies.

According to a recent report, Pune has the highest PC penetration among households. Several IT majors like Wipro, Infosys, Satyam, Tata Consultancy Services, Kanbay, Veritas, Cognizant, PCS and Mahindra British Telecom have development arms in the city.

IT parks like Rajiv Gandhi IT Park at Hinjewadi, Magarpatta Cybercity, MIDC Software Technology Park at Talawade, Marisoft IT Park at Kalyani Nagar are seats of technology that the city can boast of.

4. Mumbai

The Maharashtra government has done a fantastic job in building the IT Corridor connecting International Infotech Park, Millenium Business Park and the Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone. A number of IT companies have set up offices here.

The most important advantage that brings software enterprises to SEEPZ is the hi-tech 64 KB line, that enables these companies to communicate and video conference over satellite to any of the offshore sites, or branches around the world.

Mumbai, apart from being the financial capital of the country, is also a booming IT centre.

5. Kolkata

West Bengal is targeting to become one of the top three IT states by 2010, contributing 15-20 per cent of the country’s total IT revenue. A number of IT majors are today doing significant business in the state’s capital, Kolkata.

Announcing the results of a survey report on the state’s IT and ITeS sector in Kolkata recently, Indian Chamber of Commerce president Harsh K Jha said, “Between 2002-05, West Bengal has been recognised as the fastest growing IT destination in the country with more than double the national average growth rate.”

“The ICC carried out the survey by gathering feedback from prominent IT companies operating in the state, including TCS, Cognizant, IBM, Wipro, on issues like infrastructure, investment scenario and future business prospects,” he said.

According to the survey, 80.6 per cent of the respondents affirmed that the state was a competitive destination for IT and ITeS companies to set shop.

However, he warned that majority of the companies felt that IT and ITeS remained a ‘public utility service’ only on paper, with a resounding 74.19 per cent opining that the sector in the state could not operate on 24×7x365 model, as it was being frequently disrupted by strikes and bandhs.

1. Look

The overall look of a car tells you a lot about how it has been used. It is difficult to keep a car from minor scratches and dings given the state of traffic in cities and these do not cost much to fix.

So examine the interiors, the engine bay and the spare tyre compartment. If they are clean and well maintained, the owner is likely to have taken reasonably good care of the car.

But if a car looks battered and shabby, it has probably not been sufficiently cared for. Check for rust spots around the windshields and under the wheel arches.

Check the underbody too, ideally on a ramp. If there are rust spots, these could grow over time. If there are blisters in the paint or the coat is uneven, they are likely because of a shoddy repaint job, maybe after an accident.

Look carefully at the tyres. If there is little tread left, they will have to be replaced soon.

A full set will cost upwards of Rs 5,000. If the tread wear is uneven, then there is a problem with the suspension, which may be expensive to fix. It could also be due to body problems that you may not be able to fix at all.

2. Feel

Never buy a used car without driving it first. Start and rev the engine. If there is too much smoke coming out of the tailpipe, the engine could need an overhaul. That would set you back Rs 10,000-20,000 for a small car. Vary the speeds as you would under normal driving conditions.

If the seller fixes the first two and the problem continues, there is probably an issue with the body that you may not be able to fix. Try an emergency brake.

If the earlier problems exist, the car is likely to pull to one side under the mano-euvre.

If acceleration and, especially, deceleration lags well behind your accelerator inputs, then the engine or the clutch is packing up. The latter can set you back by Rs 3,000-4,000.

Let go of the steering at moderate speeds. If the car is pulling to any side, it may be because the wheels are not aligned and/or balanced, bent wheel rims, or an accident fixed badly. If this problem exists, the steering is likely to wobble at higher speeds of, say, 80 kph plus.

If there is too much of it, repairs could be costly. A car should feel right when you drive it. If it doesn’t, it is probably not for you.

If the tyres are bald, braking dista-nce could be long. A drive will also show the car’s squeaks and rattles.

3. Electricals and meters

Operate all the switches, lights and check the meters. Also, switch on the air-conditioner/heater if there is one. If it does not cool/heat, then it may need to be overhauled. Check the mileage on the odometer.

Small cars usually become due for an engine overhaul around 100,000 km. Stay away from cars that are close to or over that. Low milers are best, sometimes the odometer is tinkered with, especially at a used car dealership. Compare with the service papers to see whether they are in agreement.

Also check the driver’s seat. On high-milers it will show signs of wear and sag. If it does and the odo reads low, stay away.

4. Papers

You could bring this right up to the first stage. Unless these are in order, never touch a car. These include registration, insurance and pollution compliance certificate.

Next check service history. Ideally, do not buy a car without full service history. In fact, if you can get a full service history and the car drives right, it is worth considering a buy. Also, check insurance papers.

If there has been no-claim bonuses every year the car has probably not been in an accident. Finally, try to avoid cars that are more than five years old.

Every car goes through normal wear and many of the parts become due for routine replacement. Niggles also increase this time.

Happy hunting!

The Bankersalmanac.com ranks the world’s largest banks by total assets in US dolalrs. So which are the top 10? Read on to discover:

UBS AG , Zurich, Switzerland

UBS AG is the world’s biggest manager of other people’s money. The bank’s asset stood at $1,963.227 billion as in January 2008.

Present in major financial centres worldwide, UBS has offices in 50 countries. The bank had 81,557 employees on June 30, 2007. It originated in 1747, with its maiden branch coming up in the Swiss region of Valposchiavo.

The new UBS evolved out of a merger of the Union Bank of Switzerland and the Swiss Bank Corporation in June 1998. The merged bank’s new name was originally supposed to be the United Bank of Switzerland. But it had to be named UBS as the proposed name clashed with United Bank Switzerland.

Marcel Opel is the bank’s chairman of the board of directors, its executive vice chairman is Marco Suter, and the group CEO is Marcel Rohner. The bank’s main competitors are Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse etc.

Barclays PLC is a major bank operating in Europe, the United States, West Asia, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa. It operates through its subsidiary Barclays Bank PLC.

The bank has registered assets worth $1,951.041 billion. It is also the sponsor of the English Premier League. Forbes Global 2000 ranked Barclays PLC as the 18th largest company in the world in 2007.

The bank’s roots can be traced back to 1690 in London. It borrowed its name from Alexander and David Barclay, who provided credit to slave traders. The bank is headed by Marcus Agius, the group chairman.

Barclays being a member of the global ATM Alliance, its customers can use ATMs of other banks free of charge.

BNP Paribas is a major European bank. It was created on May 23, 2000 through the merger of Banque Nationale de Paris and Paribas. As on January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,899.186 billion.

It’s history can be traced back to 1869, when a group of bankers and investors, including Adrien Delahante, Edmond Joubert and Henri Cernuschi, founded the Banque de Paris.

The bank employs 162,700 people and operates in 87 countries. The bank is active in the finance, investment and asset management markets.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Edinburgh, UK, is the largest banking group in Scotland and the fifth largest in the world by market capitalisation. As on January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,705.680 billion.

The bank originated from the Equivalent Society set up by investors in the bankrupt Company of Scotland. The Society was formed to protect the compensation the investors received as part of the arrangements of the 1707 Acts of Union.

Controversy has dogged the bank off and on. It has been infamously dubbed ‘Oil Bank of Scotland’ by environmentalists as it provides finance for the fossil fuel industry, thereby causing global warming.

In 2001, the bank received threats for having financed animal testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences. As a direct fallout of this, RBS withdrew the company’s overdraft facility.

Credit Agricole SA is the largest retail banking group in France and the eighth largest in the world, according to The Banker magazine. On January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,663.101 billion

Through its subsidiaries, Credit Agricole SA is involved in the following services:

Retail banking

International retail banking

Specialised financial services

Asset management, insurance and private banking

Corporate and investment Banking

The banks’ varied activities are supervised by Rene Carron, the bank’s chairman.

Deutsche Bank AG is headquartered in Frankfurt. It employs more than 78,000 people in 76 countries. As on January 31, the bank’s asset stood at $1,485.008 billion.

Deutsche Bank was founded in Germany in 1870 as a bank for foreign trade in Berlin by private banker Adelbert Delbruck and politician Ludwig Bamberger. Its chief executive officer today is Dr Josef Ackermann.

he Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd came into being with the merger of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Limited and UFJ Bank Limited. As on January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,362.598 billion.

The bank, through its several subsidiaries, performs the following activities: commercial banking, trust banking, securities dealing, leasing, venture capital deals, factoring, research and consulting, securities custody service, etc.

The bank’s CEO is Nobuo Kuroyanagi.

ABN AMRO Holding NV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, evolved from the amalgamation of AMRO and ABN. As on January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,301.508 billion.

The bank created history when the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Fortis and Banco Santander announced on October 8, 2007, that an offer for 86 per cent of outstanding ABN AMRO stock had been accepted. This made way for the largest ever bank takeover in history. On November 1 2007, an extraordinary shareholder meeting changed the bank’s management.

Mark Fisher from RBS took over as the bank’s CEO. Since then, Fortis has been using the ABN AMRO brand name for retail banking in the Netherlands.

Societe Generale, one of the oldest banks in France, is also one of the main European financial services companies. As on January 31, 2008, its assets stood at $1,261.657 billion.

It is headquartered in France with the main head office in Tours Societe Generale in the business district of La Defense west of Paris.

Bank of America was formed after the consolidation of quite a few historical banks, the most prominent of those being the Bank of Italy. On January 31, the bank’s assets stood at $1,196.124 billion.

In 1958, the bank introduced the BankAmericard, which changed its name to VISA in 1977. A consortium of other California banks came up with Master Charge (now MasterCard).

Bank of America has divisions in US, Europe and Asia. The US headquarters are located in New York, European headquarters are based in London and Asia’s headquarters are split between Singapore & Hong Kong.

It is a city that you will fall in love with. Friendly people, homely atmosphere and beautiful sea. Given a choice, you might want to stay here forever.

We are talking about Mangalore, coastal city of Karnataka, about 300 km from Bengaluru.

The city is changing rapidly and it is just a matter of time before Mangalore makes its mark on the world map. Today, it is rated as the second-fastest growing Indian city in terms of real estate boom, according to the global real estate consultant Knight Frank.

Investors targeted Mangalore rather late. First they explored Bengaluru and then moved on to Mysore.

Real estate prices have hit an unimaginable high in the past six months, thanks to various developers showing interest in the place. The advent of information technology units has contributed to the city’s rapid development.

Now with both cities having almost reached a saturation point, the next stop has to be Mangalore. The upgradation of the Bajpai Airport to an international one is one of the reasons for investors to show a keen interest in this city.

The revamp ensured that the city is now well connected by land, water and air. Moreover, unlike Bengaluru and Mysore, plenty of land is available, especially in the outskirts of Mangalore, drawing IT giants as well as other investors.

According to the Knight Frank report, Mangalore is among the eight tier-III and tier-IV cities in India that are emerging as big growth centres.

IT major Infosys has already set up base in the city. Several other IT majors, who have been cribbing about the lack of infrastructure in Bengaluru, are also expected to shift operations to the city soon. This would mean that BPOs (business process outsourcing units) too would come up in Mangalore leading to further growth.

Apart from IT and BPOs, Special Economic Zones would also play a major role in the development of Mangalore. Infosys is setting up a 300-acre facility at the IT SEZ in Konaje. Satyam and Wipro will also be setting up base at a 200-acre campus in Ganjimutt where an export promotion park is coming up.

ONGC is planning to invest Rs 35,000 crore (Rs 350 billion) at the yet-to-come up SEZ in Mangalore. The city is already home to big companies like Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers, BASF, Nagarjuna Power, GMR Group, Suzlon, etc.

The change: These factors have had a straight impact on the prices of real estate. According to Ranjan Shetty, a leading real estate developer in Mangalore, there has been a drastic increase in the prices of land and it is going the Bengaluru way.

Land prices at Kadri, one of the best residential areas, stand at about Rs 700,000 per cent (1/100th of an acre or 435.6 sq ft). The ‘apartment culture’ — so far not too popular in Mangalore — too is on the rise. The prices of apartments (flats) in the city are steadily shooting up. Land that used to cost Rs 1,200 per sq ft is now available at Rs 2,500 per sq ft.

The prices of commercial property too have risen from Rs 500,000 a cent to Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 million) in the past two years. In case of residential property, the prices have shot up from Rs 1,200 per sq ft to Rs 2,500 a sq ft in two years, Shetty added.

Mangalore’s situation is so much similar to Bengaluru where very expensive prices are being quoted, but in many cases there are no takers for the same. Shetty says there are several instances where a fancy price is quoted, but there are no buyers.

This is exactly what happened in Bengaluru too. Builders quoted fancy prices for their apartments and as of today almost half of them lie vacant.

Areas in Mangalore where prices are going up are Falnir and Ballal Bagh. The Lal Bagh area, which was more a blend of commercial and residential complexes, is gradually transforming into a pure commercial area and is competing with areas like Hampankatta and Balmatta in pricing.

Vikram Hegde, a leading advocate in Mangalore, says the city is growing very fast. In fact, it startles one to see so many new complexes and residential buildings coming up at such a rapid pace.

What will Mangalore be like in the years to come? Ten years ago, it used to be a quiet town. The major shopping hubs were Hampankatta and Balmatta. It had two pubs, one discotheque and a couple of ice-cream parlours. The only non-Mangalorean crowd that existed were college students. But the city’s scenario has changed over the years.

Mangalore is a popular tourist centre now. The Kudroli Sri Gokarnanatheshwara Temple, Kadri Sri Manjunatha Temple, Mangaladevi Temple and the Kudroli Mosque are few places of religious importance in Mangalore.

The New Mangalore Port, St Aloysius Chapel and Sulthan Battery are the other places of religious importance in Mangalore. Proximity to the temple city of Udupi make tourists flock this place.

It is worth mentioning that banks like Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank and Karnataka Bank were launched in the Mangalore. The city also houses the country’s most prestigious institutions like the Kasturba Medical College, SDM Law College and the St. Aloysius College.

All this is bound to change, says Hegde. There will be more people from outside coming into the city and that, in turn, will ring in rapid social change. Mangalore might soon get rid of its laid-back culture and become like Mumbai, where no one has any time for others, says Hegde.

A lot is being done to attract people from outside to invest in Mangalore. The airport upgradation is one of the major factors. Apart from this, the Mangalore Corniche project will soon become a reality and is expected to give the city a new feel altogether. The Corniche is a 31-km promenade along the sea.

Mangalore currently lacks in the hospitality sector. There are very few quality hotels in the city. However, now that seems to be changing too. There are proposals from the Hilton, Leela, and Intercontinental groups for setting up hotels in and around Mangalore.

Will Mangalore lead by example or will it go the chaotic Bengaluru way? Only the time will tell.

This is the Beijing Capital International Airport. It is the world’s largest airport building and the centerpiece of China’s multi-billion-dollar infrastructure boom and provides a glimpse into China’s vision of 21st-century air travel.

The futuristic airport has been built in preparation for the millions who are likely to visit China for the Olympic Games and to meet the country’s booming air traffic.

An airport employee cleans the floor at the new terminal building Terminal Three — T3 — at the Beijing Capital International Airport. This is the world’s largest terminal.

The roof of the swanky new terminal looks like a dragon from the air with its wing spread running 3.25 km. The giant dragon-shaped terminal is 100 hectares in size: that is as big as 170 soccer fields.

This makes the airport larger than the Pentagon and almost 20 per cent bigger than all five terminals of London’s Heathrow put together.

The terminal has walls of glass. The skylights of the terminal building are designed to look like scales on a dragon’s back and to let natural light into the building. The dragon is considered a sign of strength and luck in China.

Almost 50,000 workers toiled round the clock in 8-hour shifts and built the colossal $3.75-billion terminal in only four years. China wanted the airport to be ready before August 8, when the Beijing Olympic Games begin.

However, the construction of the airport involved the demolition of thousands of houses that rendered more than 10,000 Chinese peasants homeless. China’s autocratic Communist regime could thus manage to do something that democratic governments — like India’s — can hardly ever match.

The airport was designed by British architect Norman Foster, who has also designed Hong Kong’s famous Chep Lap Kok airport.

British firm Arup, which has provided engineering and architectural design services for the Hyderabad International Airport, built the airport.

The new terminal will have a capacity of 75 million passengers a year. It features an extremely high-tech passenger baggage system — on 50 km of conveyor belts — that can handle 19,800 bags per hour.

The size of the new Beijing airport can be gauged from the fact that it boasts of 64 restaurants, 80 retail stores, 175 escalators, 173 lifts, 437 travelators or moving footpaths, and 300 check-in counters.

The terminal has a 3-km long concourse, divided into three sections and connected by a shuttle train. The airport’s shuttle train service can ferry passengers around the mammoth airport.

According to Norman Foster, the airport’s architect, the airport is ’so big that under a certain amount of light you can’t see one end of the building from the other.’

Apart from the shuttle, a high-speed commuter train (subway as also elevated) service will carry passengers between the airport and Beijing in 15 minutes. Two Airport Lines, scheduled to open before July, on elevated lines connect the airport with the transport hub of Dongzhimen. The Olympic branch line has four stations, each with a theme.

The airport’s runway is capable of handling the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.

The airport building has integrated environmental control systems to minimise energy consumption and carbon emissions, report say.

The airlines that will use airport initially include Air China, Sichuan Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Hong Kong’s Dragonair, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Qatar Airways, Qantas Airways, El Al Israel Airlines, Emirates and other Star Alliance members.