Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Jul 17, 2006
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Jul 17, 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home Page
-
Terrorism Industry & Economy - Gems & Jewellery States - Maharashtra Diamond trade lost many members to serial blasts Shailesh Menon
The western suburbs are home to pockets of urban development; they are also home to many business families, including those from diamond trade.
Mumbai , July 16 Forty-nine-year-old Dinesh Shah is a sad man. His friend, Anil Shah, was one of 12 members of the Mumbai diamond trade killed in Tuesday's suburban railway blasts. Around 25 members of the business were admitted to various city hospitals with injuries. The incident has jolted the industry considerably. "Anil was a very religious man who believed in the occult power of gems and stones," he reminisced, at a well-attended condolence meeting organised by the Bombay Diamond Merchants Association (BDMA) at Pancharatna Mahal, the local hub of the diamond trade. A resident of Goregaon, a western suburb, Anil Shah had been a broker in the diamond market. On Tuesday, he left Opera House - where Pancharatna Mahal is located - a trifle early to participate in `chauvihar' (meal taken by Jains before sunset during the monsoon season) with his family. "But he never reached home," said Dinesh Shah. Alkesh Sanghvi, a diamond broker, still remembers his days with Yogesh Doshi as classmate at IB Patel School, Goregaon. "He was an important member of our gang. Yogesh, a Gujarati Jain, married his college sweetheart, Shalini, a Maharashtrian. He shared a very close relationship with his brothers, was a loving husband, and a caring father." With the death of Manoj Shah, Chintan Gems has lost its vibrant and efficient managing proprietor. "Manoj rarely travelled by train. But that day he hopped onto the ill-fated one. We have lost a strategist and visionary. Manoj was our troubleshooter; he could find lasting solutions to problems in a jiffy," said partner, Nayanesh Shah. The city's western suburbs are home to several new pockets of urban development; they are also home to many business families, including those from the prosperous diamond trade. Observers have pointed to the deliberate targeting of the western suburban Railway line by the terrorists, useful to spread panic and insecurity among business people. Members of various diamond merchants' organisations have now expressed the need for more security at Opera House in south Mumbai, from where the bulk of their business is conducted. The Indian diamond trade recorded exports of Rs 54,000 crore in 2005-2006 compared to Rs 50,100 crore in 2004-2005. Surat houses the highest number of diamond cutting and polishing units in the world. Mumbai registers the maximum export figures of cut and polished diamonds.
More Stories on : Terrorism | Gems & Jewellery | Maharashtra
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | The Hindu Images | Home |
Copyright © 2006, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|
