Current Affairs: India & World - Minor Issues 10 to 18 August 2010

CAG Weekly
(Current Affairs & GK)
By Om Prakash (Goldy sir)

Shanghai Expo

• At world's biggest fair India misses an opportunity
• Biggest fair-The Shanghai Expo isn't just another world's fair — it's the biggest fair in history. The six month-long Expo, which opened on May 1, will receive an estimated 70 million visitors from all of China's provinces and more than 200 countries.
• In the midst of the recession, many countries have seized the chance to use their national pavilions to promote their best companies to tap a robust Chinese market that has come through the downturn largely unscathed. The United Kingdom, Japan and Germany have interactive and high-tech displays, combining culture and business, and suggesting innovative ways of building sustainable communities. Countries are displaying their best companies, particularly those based in China, in an effort to attract investment.
• The 12 stalls of the Indian Pavilion are all either handicraft shops or food stalls. The ITPO has rented out each stall at Rs. 75 lakh. After the Expo's opening, the ITPO asked the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to “urgently” find companies to take up stalls. At first, there were no takers. The CII eventually cobbled together a group of eight China-based companies to pool in the rent and set up a stall. The companies include Infosys, Thermax, the State Bank of India, the Adani Group and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. The end result is a hastily put together stall, which is essentially a room of eight printed posters and brochures (all in English). On a weekend in May, when the Indian pavilion hosted in excess of 30,000 visitors, there were no volunteers manning the empty stall.