Top of the world

When he is not looking down on creation from his billion-dollar perch in Mumbai, Mukesh Ambani's gaze is directed to even more rarified realms of high business. The odd architectural excess apart, the Chairman of Reliance Industries has been quietly going about expanding his already considerable global influence. Last week Mukesh bhai became the first non-American citizen to be named to join the board of Bank of America. Though a mere formality, still Dilli wondered how odd it must be for him to even need to be elected. But that's the American way ufffdthey apparently do things differently there. Though Mukesh may be the first on the Bank of America Board but we are pleased that desis have long before, cracked this glass ceiling of global MNC boards. This is one move though that will be worth some extra watching.Theft tourismCall it the flip side of the Indian growth story, but apparently India is no longer just a magnet for the inflow of FDI and MNCs, but also crime. Dilli was recently bemused by the arrest of a gang of Columbian burglars in the capital. We already know about Nigerian drug dealers and Myanmarese poachers in custody. What gives?While Dilli has always been a happy hunting ground for the criminal set, the advent of the foreign criminal is also a form of globalisation. It's clearly not so palatable to Dilli residents who can hardly cope with the local homegrown variety. This distressing trend may awaken the professional interest of not just the police and sociologists, but also local criminal entrepreneurs who may resent outsiders muscling into what they consider their home turf. Clearly, it's the kind of foreign direct investment we all can do without.