How Indians can save India -- at a price; Facing down the bankers; Big US law firm collapses; Sherpa syndrome; Hong Kong, US most competitive

1 How Indians can save India – at a price (The Wall Street Journal) What's the price of Indian patriotism? Some government officials and advisers say the large population of overseas Indians could be the answer to the country's current-account and currency mess. The idea is that non-resident Indians, or NRIs, would be keen to buy Indian government bonds in dollars or euros. The sweetener is that the central bank would bear the foreign-exchange risk. Barclays Capital estimates a bond sale could bring in as much as $15 billion. That would help offset India's projected current-account deficit for this fiscal year of nearly $70 billion.

NRI money is already crucial. Remittances were $17 billion in the December-ended quarter, equivalent to 36% of India's trade deficit. The fund is also seen as stickier than other sources of overseas funds partly because of the strong ties some NRIs keep with their homeland. It helps that banks in India offer higher deposit rates on accounts for overseas Indians who save for families back home. New Delhi has sold bonds to NRIs before. In 1998, it raised $4 billion through five-year bonds yielding 7.5% sold to non-resident Indians. Then in 2000, it offered a special deposit program for NRIs with an interest rate of 8.5% that netted $5.2 billion.

The RBI hasn't ruled out another NRI bond. But it could be costlier this time. Standard & Poor's last month downgraded Indian debt because of large deficits in the government's budget and the current account. That will test the loyalty of NRIs. With other overseas investors shunning India, patriotism could be the last resort.

2 New York to ban big size sugary drinks (The New York Times) New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity. The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.

''Obesity is a nationwide problem, and all over the US, public health officials are wringing their hands saying, 'Oh, this is terrible,'" Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an interview. ''New York City is not about wringing your hands; it's about doing something," he said. "I think that's what the public wants the mayor to do." ''The New York City health department's unhealthy obsession with attacking soft drinks is again pushing them over the top," the industry spokesman, Stefan Friedman, said. "It's time for serious health professionals to move on and seek solutions that are going to actually curb obesity. These zealous proposals just distract from the hard work that needs to be done on this front."

3 Facing down the bankers (The New York Times) Dennis M. Kelleher, one of the most powerful lobbyists on financial regulatory reform looks every bit the corporate lawyer and high-ranking Senate aide he formerly was: tailored suit, quick smile, assertive tone. But Mr. Kelleher does not work for banks. He works against them. “What is at stake is whether the American people are at risk of another Great Depression,” Mr. Kelleher, 54, said in a recent interview. “We exist to fight back against the forces trying to make us forget just how bad it was.”

Mr. Kelleher is the president of Better Markets, a nonprofit organization that pushes for a stringent interpretation of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law, which passed in 2010 but whose specific rules and regulations are currently the focus of an intense, complex and expensive behind-the-scenes battle. Think of Better Markets as Occupy Wall Street’s suit-wearing cousin.

Better Markets does not march against banks, or bring loudspeakers to their lobbies. It instead writes detailed comment letters to regulators, meets with them, files friend-of-the-court briefs, puts out studies and testifies before Congress. Since JPMorgan Chase announced that it had lost $2 billion or more on a failed hedge, Mr. Kelleher has made an effort to be everywhere: in its crisis, he saw his opportunity to stress that banks need tougher controls.

4 India’s Anand remains king of world chess (The Guardian) Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand, the Indian-born world chess champion, retained his crown when he narrowly beat Boris Gelfand in a series of rapid-play games in Moscow. Anand has been world champion since 2007, and this is his third successive title defence. "I simply hung on for dear life," said the urbane Anand after the match. "It just comes down to nerves in the end. The only feeling I have right now is relief. I feel too tense to be happy." At 42 and with a host of immensely talented twenty-somethings snapping at his heels, Anand is unlikely to hold the crown for many more years, but his place in chess history is now secure.

A key part of his legacy is that he has inspired a chess boom in India, where tens of millions followed the match online. "Congratulations to both players," said Russian grandmaster Peter Svidler as the match, played at the Tretyakov art gallery in Moscow, ended. Gelfand, who was born in Minsk but emigrated to Israel in 1998, admitted afterwards that time trouble had been a perpetual problem, denying him the opportunity to exploit several promising positions. Also a veteran at 43, this is likely to be his only crack at winning the crown, and he looked exhausted at the post-match press conference. He said he hoped his achievement in reaching the final would encourage the Israeli authorities to give greater recognition to chess.

5 Big US law firm collapses (BBC) Dewey & LeBoeuf is set to become the biggest law firm to collapse in the US. The firm filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and said it plans to liquidate its business after failing to find a merger partner. It was hit by the economic downturn, having promised large guaranteed payments to some of its lawyers. It ran out of cash earlier in the year, which led to the immediate resignation of the majority of its partners. Dewey & Leboeuf was formed in 2007 by the merger of Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf, Lamb, Green & MacRae, which left it with more than 1,300 lawyers in 12 countries. It has now reduced that to 150 employees, who will wind down the business.

6 UN’s most serious cyber warning (Khaleej Times) A United Nations agency charged with helping member nations secure their national infrastructures plans to issue a sharp warning about the risk of the Flame virus that was recently discovered in Iran and other parts of the Middle East. “This is the most serious (cyber) warning we have ever put out,” said Marco Obiso, cyber security coordinator for the United Nation’s Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union.

The confidential warning will tell member nations that the Flame virus is a dangerous espionage tool that could potentially be used to attack critical infrastructure, he said. Evidence suggest that the virus, dubbed Flame, may have been built on behalf of the same nation or nations that commissioned the Stuxnet worm that attacked Iran’s nuclear programme in 2010, according to Kaspersky Lab, the Russian cyber security software maker that took credit for discovering the infections.

7 Kashmir tourism on a high (Khaleej Times) It’s another summer of peace for Jammu and Kashmir and tourists are flocking like never before to this picturesque land of meadows, streams and hills that was deserted just two years ago as tension reigned and bullets flew. Visitors in their thousands are pouring in each day - galvanising the tourism industry and bringing smiles to the faces of thousands of craftspersons, hotel owners, restaurateurs, shikara ‘wallahs’ and the like. In this summer capital, there are simply no rooms to be had. All houseboats on the Dal and Nigeen lakes, hotels and guesthouses are booked to capacity.

“There is simply no place anywhere in the Boulevard Road area, which is the famous haunt of the tourists coming to Kashmir each year. Many locals are now converting their residential homes into paying guest facilities,” said Gowhar Maqbool, a hotel owner. Long queues of tourists are seen outside Srinagar’s many Mughal gardens with people waiting for entry tickets to enter the Nishat, Shalimar and Chashma Shahi gardens.

8 School pregnancies worry SA (Johannesburg Times) The number of primary school girls getting pregnant has soared in the past few years. A report compiled by the Department of Basic Education details a litany of negative circumstances under which children are expected to complete their schooling: In Grade 3 alone, about 109 pupils fell pregnant in 2009 - as against "only" 17 in the same grade in 2008. In Grade 4, the number increased to 107 from 69 in 2008, and in Grade 5 297 girls fell pregnant in 2009. The highest concentration of pregnant pupils was in high schools, from Grade 7 to Grade 9. In 2009, a total of 45,276 girls became pregnant.

9 The Sherpa syndrome (Javed Naqvi in Dawn) there are several ways to glean facts from a news story that can put an entirely new focus on a narrative. Last week I read a story, with an unintended gem of a fact thrown in casually. A 24-year-old Israeli mountaineer who was close to becoming the youngest representative of his country to climb Everest had abandoned his plan on the last lap to rescue a stranded Turkish friend. The beautiful story would tug at the heartstrings of anyone who feels for amazing human gestures. Had the stranded friend been a Palestinian, would the story be more poignant?

A line in The Jerusalem Post report interrupted my reverie. “Lifting Irmak over his shoulders, Ben-Yehuda carried his Turkish-New Yorker friend alongside his Sherpa guide for about eight hours back down to Camp IV. Brave act indeed, but everybody in the story had a name except the Sherpa. In such stories everyone becomes a hero in the end except the ubiquitous Sherpa, who is always there in the background as part of the logistical paraphernalia, not someone who makes the summit in his own right.

This Sherpa syndrome is a more widespread phenomenon, though. In its many avatars it turns Kipling’s romance with the White Man’s Burden on its head. Instead of being rendered civilised it is the native’s turn to literally carry the responsibility of delivering fame and fortune to his new-found patron saint, who may be of a different ethnicity. India Gate in New Delhi is a grand memorial to the many natives who died while fighting for their British patrons in Afghanistan. Bob Marley sang ‘Buffalo Soldier’ to underscore the plight of segregated black soldiers who were not even allowed gallantry awards although they fought for their masters. 1

10 Hong Kong, US most competitive (Straits Times) Singapore has dropped one place in an important global competitiveness study, coming in fourth, behind Hong Kong, the United States and Switzerland. The Republic's ranking in the IMD World Competitiveness study was dragged down by fast-rising prices, a slowing economy and falling productivity.

11 Great Indian hair auction (The Wall Street Journal) Srinivasa deals with 900 kilograms of human hair a day. He is in charge of the collection, categorization and sale of hair shaved from the heads of pilgrims at Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh. At the start of June, Srinivasa, who is an engineer by training, will oversee a third e-auction of tresses. He expects it will raise millions of rupees for the temple thanks to huge international demand for Indian hair, which is used to make wigs and hair extensions. According to their scriptures, Hindus should shave their heads at least once during their lifetime. Doing so is variously regarded as a way of shedding the ego, ridding oneself of sin and making a vow to the gods.

There are 500 barbers who work on rotation at the Kalyana Katta building, located to the west of the main Venkateswara Temple, and 16 other smaller locations in the town. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam [the temple’s governing body] says revenue from the sale of hair generated 200 million rupees ($3.6 million) last financial year, up from 54 million rupees the previous year. The increase is attributed to the introduction of the e-auction, which has replaced traditional open bidding. India exported $190 million-worth of hair and related hair products in 2009-10 and could more than double that to $470 million by 2013-14, the Department for Commerce and Industry says.