Salaries of pounds 500 a month are generous by Indian standards but less than a quarter of the going rate for

Salaries of pounds 500 a month are generous by Indian standards, but less than a quarter of the going rate for similar skills in the UK. That’s one reason why IBM, HP and Sun have development programmes in India, sometimes in partnership with local firms like Tata and Wipro.Troubleshooting is another big growth area, thanks to the time differences between India, Europe and the US, as Ashwali Mathur at investment manager Guinness Flight explains: “A customer support agent in California can take details of a problem in the afternoon or early evening, and send it to India by electronic mail. In terms of staff numbers, the world’s second-largest software industry is found in and around Bombay and, above all, Bangalore, sometimes dubbed India’s science city. Go into the bars on Bangalore’s Church Street and Gandhi Road and you’ll find the talk is all about the computer industry – who’s up, who’s out, which contracts are going well You’ll also notice it’s men doing all the talking.

It provides both a growing market and an enormous resource for the country’s accelerating industrial development.
While much of the Indian economy conforms to the typical pattern of developing countries – “emerging markets” in investment speak – there are some surprises.Information technology, for example, is a big employer. Even then the terminal is bustling with people, prompting you to recall the line in the guide book that Bombay’s population density, at 43,000 per square mile, is one of the highest in the world. And that population is one of the key factors in making India increasingly attractive to investors. Given airline schedules and time zone changes, you might leave London before lunch but it is almost midnight, local time, when you land.

If you thought Heathrow was busy when you left, the crowds at Bombay Sahar are another story. The Czech Republic was second.
Are You Ready for the Longest Holiday of your Life? is the title of a free guide to pensions produced by Midland Bank in association with Age Concern It explains the way pensions work. Phone 0800 656565 for a copy.One in 24 homes is burgled, suggesting that people will suffer two or three break-ins in their lifetime, says Zurich Insurance But only one in 10 has an alarm.. Even more than the heat, the first thing most visitors notice when they arrive in India is the huge number of people.

Holidaymakers are more likely to have credit cards stolen in their hotel rather than when on the beach, while shopping or out for the night, says NatWest. More British credit cards were stolen in Spain last year than any other country. The Left Centre, based in Ironbridge in Shropshire, says that more than 80 per cent of its members grouse about traditional chequebooks which are designed for right-handers, adding that when left-handed chequebooks were introduced in New Zealand some customers changed banks to get them. Midland Bank is producing a left-handed chequebook for its estimated 600,000 left-handed customers.