INDIA RISING
India, the second most populous nation in the world, is being transformed. We have heard about the rise of Asian tigers and the Chinese dragon - now here comes the elephant. India's economy is growing more than 9% a year, and the country is modernizing so fast that old friends are bewildered by the changes. India is now the world's fourth largest economy. At the same time, more than a quarter of India's 1.1 billion people still live in slums and live on less than one dollar a day.

India’s booming technology industry has bred a new middle class some 250 million strong. Many are engineers employed by outsourcing firms like Infosys, whose Bangalore headquarters, employs some 19,000 people. At the same time, more than a quarter of India’s 1.1 billion people still live in slums.

Two young muslim girls hang out at the Haji Ali mosque. Lying as it does on an islet off the coast of Worli in the heart of the city, the mosque is one of the most recognizable landmarks of Mumbai.

In Dhobi ghats Saat Rasta near Mahalaxmi Station a young man is swinging the laundry. A unique feature of Mumbai, the dhobi is a traditional laundryman, who will collect your dirty linen, wash it, and return it neatly pressed to your doorstep. The clothes are soaked in sudsy water, thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry.

India’s massive overpopulation, poverty, environmental problems and the chaotic infrastructure, as well as widespread corruption, are major challenges.

The Sassoon Docks is one of the few docks open to the public and is the main fish loading and trading centre in South Mumbai. Hundreds of women squat around enormous piles of tiny shrimp, shelling them one by one. Everywhere it is dirty and stinky, yet somehow these women remain pristine and clean in their exquisite orange, pink and turquoise sarees.

In 2006 the Danish company Novozymes signed a US$ 115 million agreement to acquire the enzyme activities of India-based Biocon, stating that the move will help strengthen its position in the attractive Indian enzyme market. This indian employee at the Novozymes factory in Bangalore is now a part of the world’s leading enzyme manufacturer.