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Mumbai
(Bombay) is the commercial capital of
India. It is the nation's business nerve
centre, with a marked presence of major
corporate houses. It is hailed as the
city of professionals that nurtures the
spirit of enterprise. It is home to the
National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) which now
rank third and fifth respectively among
the stock exchanges of the world by the
numbers of trades per year. In fact, the
budget for the current financial year
proposes to make Mumbai a nerve centre
of finance, in the league of regional
hubs like London and Tokyo.
Since
this conference focusses on the role of
corporate sector in disaster management,
Mumbai rightfully earns its place as the
host city for the event.
CITY INFORMATION
Ancient yet modern, fabulously rich yet
achingly poor, Mumbai is India in microcosm.
Once a sultry tropical archipelago of
seven islands, and the Raj's brightest
jewel, Mumbai was the dowry of Portuguese
Princess Infanta Catherine de Braganza
who married Charles II of England in 1661.
Today it's a teeming metropolis, commercial
hub of an old civilization seeking to
find its place in the New World Order.
Forty
percent of India's taxes come from this
city alone, and half of India's international
trade passes through its splendid natural
harbour. In fact Mumbai is the very soul
of human enterprise. At the city's Stock
Exchange, millionaires and paupers are
made overnight, and the sidewalks are
crowded with vendors hawking everything
from ballpoint pens to second hand mixers.
Everyday, half of Mumbai's population
commutes from far-flung suburbs to downtown
offices, banks, factories and mills for
a living.
Nearly
thirteen million people live here - wealthy
industrialists, flashy film stars, internationally
acclaimed artists, workers, teachers and
clerks - all existing cheek by jowl in
soaring skyscrapers and sprawling slums.
They come from diverse ethnic backgrounds
and speak over a dozen tongues adding
colour, flavour and texture to the Great
Mumbai Melting Pot. |
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