The Indian medical tourism industry is about see to high levels of adrenaline as patients from China increasingly look to their Southern neighbour for cheap medical drugs, high quality treatment and professional doctors.

According to a report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (Ficci) and KPMG accounting firm in September 2014, India has become the world’s fastest-growing medical tourism market receiving more than 230,000 medical tourism visitors, mostly from the West.

India’s medical tourism market is expected to more than double in size from US$ 3 billion at present to around US$ 8 billion by 2020, according to a CII – Grant Thornton white paper. Almost 80 years after Dr. Kotnis went to China in a humble mission to help injured Chinese soliders, many Indian hospitals, Inchin Closer is talking to – are looking at attracting Chinese patients – especially oncology patients.

The lure is simple, while oncology treatments costs an arm and a leg in China, the costs are substantially low in India. Take for example, in Russia heart surgery costs US$ 20,000, but it only costs US$ 6,000 in India. Prices for liver transplants in the United States are more than US$ 200,000, but only US$ 14,000 in India. Robotic knee surgery can cost up to US$ 80,000 in the Middle East and Australia, while in India for just costs US$ 10,000.

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~ By Charmaine Mirza

The verdict is in – the Asian cocoon has been shattered and Chinese and Indian travelers are taking wing! As they pole vault across the globe, they are ruthlessly outstripping their Western counterparts, to become the world’s next travel titans.

The recent investment made by Ctrip of China into MakeMyTrip of India, only lends more credence to this fact. From Iceland to Peru, to Bora Bora – these are the new frontiers for Asia’s travelati. Perennial favourites like South East Asia won’t go away, but Asian travelers are increasingly adventurous to go that extra mile – and spend that extra buck. Everyone wants a piece of the outbound Chinese travel pie – and why not, given that its growth is practically exponential.

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The upcoming Rio Olympics, to be held from from August 5 to 21 will see an exceptional array of Indian and Chinese athletes that will demonstrate both nations growing emphasis on sport. While China will outshine India in taking home more medals, the increase in India’s delegation from 84 to 120 athletes, will hopefully bode her better than previous years.

For nations that prioritise academics over athletics, China and India have not only increased the number of delegates representing their country, but have also widened the events they are participating in. This shows that both nations are emphasizing on developing sport – a sign of a nations growth as she rises above basic developing nation issues of education, sanitation and housing.

While neither nation is completely above any of these problems, the ability to simultaneously focus on sport signals both China and India are moving towards a more developed, well rounded and balanced society and economy. The Chinese delegation includes 416 athletes, more than 3 times the Indian delegation of 120 delegates. In their 10th appearance at the Summer Olympics since China’s debut in 1952, 160 Chinese men and 256 Chinese women, who will compete in 210 events across 26 sports. China is expected to excel in Badminton, Basketball, Table Tennis, Diving, Swimming, Weightlifting, Shoooting and Gymnastics. China won the second largest number of medals at the 2012 London Olympics after the United States, 88 medals in total – 38 gold, 29 silver, and 21 bronze.

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In 600 AD Xuanzang, a buddhist Chinese monk braved the Himalayas to cross into India in search of buddhist texts. Almost 15 centuries later, braving tense diplomatic relations, border security and weather, more than 30 Indian pilgrims braved the same mountain range to Mount Kailash, the holiest site for Hindu’s and Buddhist’s.

Known as the abode of Lord Shiva, one of Hindu’s famed trilogy, Mt. Kailash, located in Tibet is only accessible from China. Tense border security due to a land route from India to Tibet had deterred Beijing in allowing pilgrims access up until now. Following President Xi Jinping’s visit to India last year, the neighbours decided to to give God a chance and open the sensitive land route. As a result, for the first time this summer, more than 30 Indian pilgrims traveled from Sikkim in northern India, across a 14,000-foot-high mountain pass into China and then journeyed more than another 900 miles to reach Kailash. The pilgrims were the first tourists to enter China at Nathu La since the 1962 war between India and China. Nathu La pass has until now just been accessible to traders with a permit  during the summer months.

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Indian Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is a sensation in China. Having awed audiences in 3 idiots, as a geeky yet charismatic student, his latest film PK, recently released to rave reviews.

In the first 72 hours of release in China, the film has already grossed US$5.3 million (32.6 million RMB). Known to make intellectual, creative and thought provoking films that have movie-goers reflect on their lives, society and ideologies, Aamir Khan’s movies also connect India and China – expose their differences and celebrate our similarities. Take for example, PK which ridicules the idea of religion and superstitions that are so ingrained in Indian society.

Yet, at the same time, reflects Chinese sentiments which from an communist, atheist perspective, religion has no purpose or function. In the story, PK, an alien from outer space (Khan), who doesn’t know what religion is, lands in India and through his various experiences and idiosyncrasies exposes the often strange and inexplicable religious notions much believed in India. The movie, which in a way reflects how Chinese audiences might view Indian religious rituals makes a comedy of an otherwise sensitive topic.

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The character 月 is the same for moon and month in Mandarin. This comes as no coincidence.

Its because China, like India follows the lunar calendar. As a result, the two neighbours celebrate several auspicious days at the same time. Take for example, On the 27th of September, China celebrated the mid autumn festival while India celebrated the Ganesh festival. Similarly, Chinese New Year was celebrated on February 19th this year, while Maha shivratri was celebrated in India on February 17th. Also, an auspicious day in the holy month of Ramadan was June 20th, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month which coincided with the Dragon Boat Festival in China.

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China maybe investing billions in companies worldwide, but its Indians who are controlling these empires. With the recent promotion of Sunder Pichai as the new CEO of Google, three Indian born executives now control companies whose combined revenue exceeds the gross domestic product of approximately 140 countries. The three CEO’s are Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Nokia’s Rajeev Suri and Google’s Sunder Pichai. The combined revenue of the three brands is US$159.6 billion in revenue last year, according to Quartz. Add to this the intellectual capital brought in by Indian born deans of American universities – Nitin Nohria, dean of the Harvard Business School, Sunil Kumar, dean of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Dipak C. Jain, the current dean of INSEAD and we have ourselves a world in which Indians control both intellectual and financial capital worldwide. Below, Inchin Closer profiles 14 of the top Indian born CEO’s of our generation – Read more

If you are a regular visitor or a long-term resident in India, you are always bound to come across some kind of celebrations in between the normal chaos & the fast paced life. Most of the times it’s either a marriage or a festival. Lighting, bright Colorful clothing, various flowers, very often dancing symbolize these festivals spread across different religion & communities of India. If you are wondering what’s going on with the colorful lights, loudly played music & dance everywhere these days, well! We are going through the NavRatri (Nava-9 & Ratri-Nights) Festival right now. This is a festival that goes for nine nights. In a highly male dominated Indian society where even Gods have a bigger share of festivals on their side, NavRatri is a rare extravaganza of Goddess. NIKE AIR MAX 2017 HEREN DAME LOVERS ZWART WIT During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti(power) / Devi (Goddess) are worshiped. It is the most enjoyable time of the year for Indian ladies because it is the festival especially for their respected Goddess. It represents the importance of women’ s power and they should gain their equality in the society as well. A lot of ladies wear shining traditional dress and dance overnight. Most of times in life, they are only looked as a supporting role, but during NavRatri, they finally play as a leading character! Read more

India’s first mission to Mars – Mangalyaan was given a skeptical send off by the Chinese, yet by successfully leaving the earth’s orbit on December 1st 2013, it joined an elite ring of nations – the United States, Europe, and Russia, whose probes have orbited or landed on the red planet.

China, a keen competitor in the space race, launched the Jade Rabbit a day after India’s maiden Mars mission left Earth’s orbit on its journey to the Red Planet, in what some observers characterize as Asia’s new space race. The  probe gives China the possibility of putting a man on the moon sometime after 2020 and aims to become the third country to achieve a soft landing on the moon, after the United States and Russia.

For India, “Getting to Mars is a big achievement,” said Mayank Vahia, a professor in the astronomy and astrophysics department of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. The Mars probe will study the planet’s surface and mineral composition, besides sniffing the atmosphere for methane, a chemical strongly tied to life on Earth.

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