The campaign to elect the US President later this year caught Democrat hopeful John F Kerry in a Bangalore state of mind. Speaking in San Jose last week, during a trip to the high-tech Silicon Valley, the US Democratic presidential hopeful said, "If Bangalore in India can be completely wired, then so should all of America". The fact that Bangalore conjures up visions of a "completely wired" city is an important pointer to India's infotech standing in today's world. This could be the transformation of India, from being seen as a low cost-driven, BPO-fattened monstrosity, to the role of a trendsetter that even the US has to at least match up or do one better. According to the latest Nielsen/Netratings study, less than 50% of the online population in the US is covered by broadband and the country ranks only 11th in worldwide broadband usage, which prompted Kerry's comments. In spite of what Mr Kerry might have been led to believe, broadband as it is known in the US is pretty much non-existent in Bangalore or anywhere else in India. In an industry that suffers from the lack of any effective regulation and any decent incentive to push it along, service levels are abysmal and pricing levels are exorbitant.

Courtesy: The Times of India, June 29, 2004

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Italy is keen to cooperate with India in agriculture and related technology, Italian officials told a visiting Indian delegation. Under secretary in the Italian ministry for productive activities, Dell'Elce told a delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), led by its vice-president YC Deveshwar that Rome appreciated New Delhi's respect for trademarks and patents. Indian embassy officials said the CII delegation first held meetings here and then went to Bologna in central Italy, which has a conglomeration of Italian machinery makers interested in dealing with Indian companies. The delegation interacted with members of the Confederation of Small and Medium Scale Industries of Italy and Federalimentare, the apex body of Italian companies in the food and beverage sector. They also met the Federation of Italian Mechanical and Engineering Industry Association, an agency dealing with machinery for meat and meat products, and the National Association of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers. They said despite the overall Italian exports growing by just one percent last year, the country's exports to India were up six percent. Indian exports to Italy too registered a six percent growth last year. The lure of the Indian market that can be tapped by technology transfers and joint ventures between Indian and Italian companies was emphasised by the CII delegation.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, June 28, 2004

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The theme of the four-day international conference on "Vitality of India in a regional and international perspective" organised by the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies was thoroughly examined by a number of internationally renowned scholars here today. Prof. Arthur Waldron, an expert on Chinese studies, said that according to the perception of India in the West, the concept of vitality is not connected to India and the term is associated more with development and globalisation. However, he lauded the Indian democratic system and underlined the mutual relationships between India and United States through which both have enriched each other in terms of vitality. Prof. Gowher Rizvi spoke about the substantive nature of Indian democracy, which sustains despite all odds. "The vitality of India is evident during the electoral process," he said. Prof. P.N.Dhar reiterated that India's vitality consists in the fact that it has a vital stake in the maintenance of world peace and stability and it has to lead the subcontinent out of its fractious history. Providing a regional perspective in the context of SARRC, the scholars spoke about how to raise the image of India and demonstrate her vitality in the global perception. India's role in SARRC was perceived as being marginal and more regional cooperation was suggested.

Courtesy: The Hindu, June 26, 2004

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Business links between Northern Ireland and India are set to be strengthened following the launch of a major campaign focusing on building trade, technology transfer and investment between the regions. The campaign is being facilitated by Northern Ireland hotelier and property developer Lord Daljit Rana, who is president of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and the UK's only Honorary Consul for India. A number of events have already been planned by Invest NI to highlight trade opportunities with India and which promote Northern Ireland as the best European location for India's fast developing technology sector. There will also be a major trade mission leaving Northern Ireland for Mumbai for a week from October 30 to November 5 while local companies will also have a key present at IT.Com in Bangalore in November and at the NASSCOM event in Mumbai next February.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, June 24, 2004

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A team of European Union parliamentarians led by the redoubtable John Cushnahan is travelling to Srinagar this week, a measure of the confidence with which New Delhi is dealing with foreign diplomats on this issue. Cushnahan & Co's trip comes in the wake of an EU-India round table event in the Kashmiri capital last week, on the margins of which the EU Ambassador to India told the press that Kashmir was like ''any other part'' of India-also a measure of the distance European diplomats have travelled in their views on Kashmir.

Courtesy: The Indian Express, June 23, 2004

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The Indian Air Force, fresh from fraternal praise from the US Air Force after a friendly shooting match in bilateral air exercises in Gwalior in February this year, will cross uncharted waters and new frontiers over the next few days. A large contingent of some 200 Indian pilots, airmen and assorted crew took off from Ambala, Haryana on Tuesday morning on six Jaguar strike aircraft, two IL-76s transport air craft and two IL-78 tankers. Their destination: Alaska, United States, site of Operation Cooperative Cope Thunder, a multinational air exercises the US hosts annually with allies such as UK, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. There are several firsts to the 19,760 km roundtrip mission. It is the first time India has been invited to a US air exercise; in fact, it is the frost time IAF planes have exercised outside Indian territory. It is also the farthest the IAF has ever flown; and the first time the giant IL-78s tankers are being exposed in the west. "The IAF has never been on such a journey and we just want to be careful getting our planes and equipment across safely," a senior IAF official said. "This is a big honour and a big debut for us." The IAF is in an upbeat mood after USAF officials showered high praise on the Indian service following the Gwalior exercises, crediting it with excellent skills and equipment. The IAF threw its top-of-the-line fighter planes, including the Sukhois and Mirages, at the USAF in Gwalior. The Jaguars are of relatively older vintage, but officials said they still remained very relevant.

Courtesy: The Times of India, June 23, 2004

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An "India - United States Conference on Space Science, Applications, and Commerce" started here today with the emphasis on the "four decades of cooperation" in science and technology, and a firm resolve to stick to non-contentious issues such as remote sensing. Two senior American officials, who spoke at the inauguration, termed the U.S. relationship with India as "strategic" and one that needed to be "actively re-energised." The U.S. Ambassador to India, David C. Mulford, said that President Bush had identified the relationship with India as one of "key strategic importance" to the United States. They could be seen in the "joint military exercises to joint business undertakings, from academic exchanges to links among civil society, to cooperation between our governments on many international issues, including global climate change and the war on terrorism." The two countries had embarked on the "Next Steps" initiative in their partnership which "sets out a vision to expand cooperation in civil space, civil nuclear and hi-tech trade and to expand the dialogue in missile defence." The participation of four senior officials from Washington D.C., including himself, should be taken as proof of "the importance we attach to this event," he said. Mr. Mulford said the two nations must "capitalise" on the scientific and commercial talent and the human and technological assets they both possess, to foster an atmosphere in which private sector and people-to-people links can further develop.

Courtesy: The Hindu, June 22, 2004

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Infosys Technologies on an average will absorb 12,000 people yearly over the next few years -- is doing, by setting up the world's largest corporate training centre at Mysore at an investment of Rs 260 crore. The centre, which will be ready by October 2004, will have the facility to train 4,000 people at a time. Said Infosys chairman, Mr N R Narayana Murthy , "We are setting up the biggest corporate training facility in the world with 2,000 rooms which can house 4,000 people on a twin sharing basis at Mysore. As we would be hiring roughly 12,000 people on an average, if we train 4,000 employees for four months, we should be able to turnaround three batches in a year at this centre." Training is hugely important as it is the only way one can keep in touch with contemporary issues." The corporate training centre will be housed in Infosys' 270 acre campus at Mysore. Besides the hostel, it will have a food court, an employee care centre, a theatre, and an education research block and will be spread over 16 lakh sq ft of area. Shoba Developers, who built the new Infosys campus in Bangalore is developing this project. The centre will be independent of the Infosys Leadership Institute (ILI), which is also situated in the same campus. ILI has 96 rooms and trains about 400 Infoscians annually to become `leaders.'

Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 18, 2004

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India and China, co-founders of the Panchsheel principles, must work together to reform the United Nations and expand the Security Council to include populous and democratic developing countries to ensure a "viable" world order, former President K.R. Narayanan said here on Monday. Mr Narayanan was addressing the seminar attended by an array of statesmen and former diplomats, including former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and former UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali. "The appropriate code of conduct for a globalised world would be the five principles of peaceful co-existence and not the over-lordship of one super power or group of nations. The United Nations should be at the core of this world order," Mr Narayanan said. (PTI)

Courtesy: The Asian Age, June 16, 2004

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India has provided two military attack helicopters to Nepal's poorly-equipped army to help crush an eight-year-old Maoist revolt that has killed around 10,000 people, officials said on Monday. The Himalayan kingdom does not have an air force, but its army, deployed since 2001 to combat 15,000 to 20,000 guerrillas in their hideouts, has seven helicopters, and the new aircraft will take the total to nine. Officials said the army needed more as the country's rugged terrain and its sparse roads and communication links often hobble efforts to fight the Maoists battling to overthrow the monarchy and establish a communist republic. "They will boost the air capability of the army in its fight against the Maoists," a defence ministry official said, adding that the helicopters were gun ships. He told Reuters Nepal had paid 30 per cent of the cost of the two advanced light helicopters while the rest was a grant from India, a key supporter of Nepal's fight against the Maoists, who control large swathes of the countryside. In the past, New Delhi has provided four helicopters besides trucks, mine-resistant vehicles, weapons and training to Nepali soldiers.

Courtesy: www.indianexpress.com, June 2004

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Asia's largest naval academy, being set up at Ezhimala in the southern state of Kerala, will be ready within the next two years, a top Indian navy official has said. The academy is being set up in Kannur district and it is expected to be ready by 2006-2007, said Vice Admiral V Bharathan, the navy's chief of personnel. As many as 900 foreign cadets will be trained in the Ezhimala academy every year, he said. The first phase of the naval base in Karwar in neighbouring Karnataka, is expected to become operational in 2006. This project will be fully operational in about seven years, Bharathan said. The Karwar base, once in operation, will help take over much of the extra workload of the naval base at Mumbai. The Russian Gorshkov aircraft carrier will join the Indian Navy in another four years, after it conversion, he said.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, June 14, 2004

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A major Russian non-commodity company plans to invest over half a billion dollars in India. The AFK Sistema, a fast-growing multi-billion holding with diverse interests in communications, media and high-tech manufacturing, has set apart $600 million for the purchase of Indian assets over the next few years, the company head said. "Indian assets are fantastically undervalued and we are keen to bid for PSUs that are being disinvested,'' the AFK Sistema founder and principal owner, said in an interview here. He told the Vedomosti daily that AFK Sistema had signed MOUs with "virtually all Indian financial-industrial groups'' to prepare the ground for entering the Indian market. The AFK Sistema President, Yevgeny Novitsky, said on Friday that his company was "considering buying a mobile telephone operator in India.''

Courtesy: www.thehindu.com, June 2004.

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India continues to be less risky than China as a business destination, according to a corporate study. India has been ranked 10th among 29 emerging markets in the latest country risk analysis by Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), an information service arm of the Economist group. With a score of 39 out of 100 in the risk scale, India has got 'B' risk rating and has outranked China (41), Saudi Arabia (41), South Africa (45), Mexico (45), Brazil (48) and Egypt (49), who have got 'C' rating. A low risk rating is an important indicator of a country's global credit rating and the willingness of foreign investors to invest in a country. Industry representatives said India has an opportunity to gain from China 's slowdown. Rapid growth, highly skilled labour and opportunities in outsourcing boosted India 's ratings. While change in government brings no decline in risk for India , EIU says that Manmohan Singh-led coalition must support reforms to sustain current ranking. India is watched closely by overseas investors on whether reforms will continue in the Left supported government. Former RBI governor Bimal Jalan is confident that the country can handle any economic crisis. Compared to China , India has become marginally safer in 2004. This perception could be partly attributed to the strong external sector performance and reduced border-tension that India experienced a year back. EIU says that India is poised to grow at 8.3% in 2003-04 (April-March) and will grow at 7.3% in 2004-05 - owing to a "smaller harvest and hence less robust growth in personal incomes". It also predicted a slowdown in China .

Courtesy: The Times Of India, June 14, 2004

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A naturally existing submerged limestone bridge in the Palk Strait - that was seen in photos taken by Nasa space shuttle several years ago - can be elevated to permanently connect India with Sri Lanka by a land route, said a scientist from the Netherlands. R.D. Schilling, a geoscientist at the Utrecht University, has proposed a "geochemical engineering solution" for linking the two countries by lifting the buried bridge that had formed naturally. Named Adam's Bridge, it consists of a chain of "shoals" or islands stretching between Danushkodi (India) to Thalaimannar (Sri Lanka) submerged a couple of metres below the sea level. These islands are made of calcium carbonate, also known as limestone. Mr Schilling said these islands of limestone can be raised by injecting sulphuric acid into holes drilled into the limestone. According to Mr Schilling, waste sulphuric acids, a by-product of many Indian industries, could be used for raising the Adam's Bridge simultaneously solving an environmental problem.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, June 12, 2004

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The Group of Eight industrialised nations are considering opening doors of the elite club to include more states, including India and China, to reflect the growing importance of the two Asian economic giants. There is "certainly a case for including countries like China and India," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at the end of the G-8 summit held in Sea Island, Georgia, on Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said India and China's participation in the G-8 Conference would make much sense. "India and China are huge countries, whose potential is growing energetically and intensively," he was quoted by Russian news agency Itar-Tass as saying. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had said on the first day of talks that the leaders were considering inviting China and India into the G-8 fold. "It doesn't make sense for us to talk about the economy of the future without the two countries that are protagonists on the world stage."

Courtesy: The Times of India, June 11, 2004

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India has decided to protect its food security before giving any concessions on market access at the negotiations on agriculture at the World Trade Organisation. A mandate to this effect has been given to the Commerce and Industry Minister, Kamal Nath, who leaves tonight for the UNCTAD XI conference being held in Brazil. The mandate was given by the Cabinet Committee on WTO Affairs headed by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, at its second meeting today. According to Mr. Nath, the mandate is for negotiating the criterion and mechanism for the draft framework to be discussed next month at WTO. He told presspersons that the Cabinet Committee stressed that there should be no compromise on the country's food security which would be guarded before giving any market access. Indian agriculture was unique owing to varying climatic conditions and multiple products with many small farmers and thus needed to be guarded. The non-Group -5 includes India, Brazil, the U.S., the EU and Australia. These meetings assume significance since the UNCTAD conference is the first major international trade meeting since the Cancun ministerial conference of WTO ended conclusively in September last year.

Courtesy: The Hindu, June 11, 2004

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On his first visit here, Mr David Danieli, ambassador of Israel to India, showed keen interest in increasing economic cooperation with India. He offered Israeli expertise and assistance in the development of agriculture, water management and industries. He also expressed hope that there would be a major jump in the trade volume between India and Israel. Later at a programme organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the ambassador said a business delegation from Israel with special focus on IT, telecom and agriculture will be visiting Kolkata among other Indian cities in the country in December. Speaking at the Writer's Buildings, Mr Danieli stressed the need to strengthen the cultural ties.

Courtesy: The Statesman, June 11, 2004

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The new UPA government is digging in its heels on world trade talks, demanding full market access for its exports and protection for the hundreds of millions of farmers that swept it to power. The tough stance underscores the difficulties facing the 147 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as they race to clinch framework deals on lowering barriers to global trade in farm and industrial goods by the end of July. At a meeting of trade envoys in Geneva last week, US and European Union negotiators insisted that all states would have to accept some opening of their farm markets if rich states were to go along with cuts in export and other agricultural subsidies.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 10, 2004

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The CII sponsored Indian trade fair, "Enterprise India", is attracting large number of people including businessmen with nearly 90 companies showcasing their products. "The objective is to facilitate greater exchanges, joint ventures, technology transfer, enhanced trade and commerce between the India, and Trinidad and Tobago," Indian High Commissioner Virendra Gupta, said. The trade fair, being organised in Port of Spain at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya, commenced on June 5 will continue until June 13. The project is jointly-organised by the Indian High Commission and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). There are over 200 different products from 90 companies on display and for sale. "India has recently emerged as an outsourcing super power for both quality goods and services. Trinidadian consumers have not been able to fully derive advantage of Indian goods and services for various reasons," he said. Urging Indian companies to take advantage of the market, Gupta said "Trinidad and Tobago may be small in population compared to India's one billion people, but it has a economy of $10 billion."

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, June 09, 2004

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Hemant Batra, the incumbent Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Law (SAARC-LAW), a regional apex body of SAARC has been re-elected to the post in the elections held at Colombo, Sri Lanka on May 29 for a two-year term. According to an official release, Mr. Batra was re-elected for his outstanding contribution towards attainment of the objectives of SAARC and SAARC-LAW. The outgoing President of SAARC-LAW, Dhara Wijayatilake, Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Sri Lanka proposed his name and senior advocate and spokesman of the Congress, Abhishek Manu Singhvi seconded his name.

Courtesy: The Hindu, June 02, 2004

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