Struggling financial services conglomerate Citigroup named Vikram Pandit, 50, as its new CEO and board member effective immediately.

Vikram Pandit, who hails from Nagpur in India, was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup’s Institutional Clients Group, which comprises Citi Markets & Banking and Citi Alternative Investments. 

For his new job as Citi CEO, Vikram Pandit should thank the sub-prime lending disaster in the U.S. After all, Vikram’s predecessor Charles Prince wouldn’t have lost his job in November but for the sub-prime mess at the bank.

Vikram Pandit
CEO of Citigroup

As far as we can recollect, Vikram Pandit is the third Indian (after Shailesh Mehta and Ramani Ayer) to head a large U.S. financial institution.

In 1997, Shailesh Mehta, an IIT Bombay alumni, was named CEO and Chairman of Providian Financial, an issuer of credit cards to those with spotty or limited credit history a.k.a sub-prime lending.

When we first moved to the U.S. in the 1990s we did not have a credit history, so like many other immigrants we made a deposit and got our first credit card in this country from Providian.

But Providian was dogged by charges of unfair business practices and Shailesh Mehta had to step down in 2001 after Providian’s performance deteriorated badly. Providian was acquired by Washington Mutual On October 1, 2005 and became the Washington Mutual Card Services division.

Isn’t it ironical that sub-prime lending in the U.S. proved to be the undoing for one Indian (Shailesh Mehta) and a blessing for the career advancement of another Indian (Vikram Pandit)? 

Vikram’s appointment to the top post at Citigroup is no surprise as he’d been considered the frontrunner and had Citi Chairman and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin strongly rooting for him.

Following his appointment, Vikram said:

During this challenging time, Citi’s role in the global markets is more vital than ever. We will address our issues head-on while continuing to deliver value for our clients, shareholders, employees and the communities in which we operate.

Citigroup is reeling from massive losses due to its disastrous missteps in

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If you are seeing pink elephants, it ain’t good.

Ain’t good at all.

Because pink elephant is an euphemism for drunken hallucinations.

Pink elephant is a phrase that is nearly a century old.

One of the earliest references to pink elephant is in Jack London’s autobiographical novel John Barleycom published in 1913.

So what if India has a glorious 5,000-year-old history or an ancient civilization or too many pictureque spots to count.

India has one of the worst records on the planet in attracting foreign tourists to the country.

For the first 11 months of 2007, India recorded just 4.4 million foreign tourists (Source: Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Government of India).

Forget Europe or the U.S.

India’s tourist record looks pathetic when you compare it with even other Asian countries like Singapore, China, Thailand or even Vietnam.

For instance, Singapore had 4.9 million visitors in the first six months of 2007 alone. In 2006, Singapore had 9.75 million visitors while India had 4.43 million visitors last year.

Taj Mahal - A major tourist attraction in Agra, India

When you consider China, Indian tourist arrivals look positively awful. Beijing alone had 3.68 million arrivals in the first 10 months of 2007.

In 2006, China received 46.51 international tourists.

Other Asian countries are also doing better. Thailand is expected to get 14.2 million tourists this year.

Even tiny Vietnam expects 4.3 million tourist arrivals this year. Tourist arrivals in Vietnam has supposedly doubled since 2000.

Much of the blame for India’s shameful performance in attracting tourists should rightly go to India’s hopelessly incompetent tourism ministry at the Central level and the soporific tourism departments in the various states.

Indian entertainment conglomerate Adlabs Films (majority-owned by Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) plans to operate a 200-screen cinema exhibition chain in the U.S. that will show both Bollywood and Hollywood movies.

Adlabs’ plan is to have a nationwide footprint covering 28 cities across the U.S. including the key desi hotspots on the East Coast, West Coast and Mid-West.

Besides Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, the Adlabs’ cinemas are supposed to screen mainstream Hollywood films as well.

In the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania areas, Hindi and regional language films are routinely screened in mainstream American theaters like Regal and AMC as well as in theaters run by Indian entrepreneurs.

On the West Coast, Indian movies are screened mostly in theaters owned by Indian entrepreneurs in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Apparently, Adlabs has already signed deals with several existing cinema properties in the U.S.

In India, Adlabs operates one IMAX theatre, 37 properties and 112 screens.

A few weeks back, Indian cinema theatre chain Pyramid Saimira Theater acquired FunAsia, which operates 17 screens at four locations in Texas - in Irving, Richardson  and Houston - that screen Bollywood movies.

Pyramid Saimira has also formed a North American unit called Pyramid Saimira Entertainment America Inc, based in Richardson(Texas) with an office in Los Angeles to expand FunAsiA rapidly to major cities in the U.S. and Canada.