#11, Bangalore

• Bangalore has lots of shiny new malls. Most of have a large, noisy power generator outside, to cope with the region’s frequent power cuts.
• Female infanticide in India is now so common that the government is beginning to open pre-emptive orphanages for girls, to persuade parents to orphan rather than kill their daughters. At present it is thought that many thousands of Indian girls may be being killed every day:
  "Recent estimates of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in India reveal that out of 71,000 babies born every day in India, only 31,000 are female, with a ratio of 882 females for every 1000 males. According to the global average of 954/1000, at least 38,000 girls should be born every day. It is believed that this shortfall of 7,000 girls a day is due to the widespread use of female foeticide by parents." [Article in the Times of India, yesterday]
  
• There are 33 million Hindu gods, although a much smaller number are well known. Generally people have a favourite god, or gods.
• 75% of young Indians say they would prefer arranged marriages to “love marriages.”
• Taken together, these two facts mean that most Indians chose their favourite god but not their wife, broadly the reverse of what is true in the west.

• The percentage of Indians below the poverty line has fallen by half in the last 25 years.
• There are about 100m cell phone users in India. Amazingly, Nokia has 92% market share in the handset business.
• Roughly 4.5 million people in India are employed in the business process outsourcing (BPO) Industry.
• There is a mall in Kuala Lumpar which requires patrons to present either a credir card or a mobile phone to allow entry.