Govt. rules out FDI in news agencies
Bhopal: The Government has ruled out allowing Foreign Direct Investment in news agencies, maintaining that the 26 per cent ceiling on FDI in print and electronic media would remain unchanged.

"There is no move to extend it (FDI) to news agencies," Information and Broadcasting Minister, S Jaipal Reddy said yesterday. FDI would continue to be allowed only in other print and electronic media, he said.
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Pension Bill referred to committee
New Delhi: The UPA government has decided to refer the controversial Pensions Bill to a parliamentary committee. The bill aims to allow pension money to be invested in private funds and the Left had made it clear they would vote against this bill if it came to the House.

On Tuesday, the Left had supported the government on the Patents Bill after ensuring their proposed amendments were included. The government decided not to table the Pension Bill even though with the BJP's support, the numbers were on the government's side.
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Aiyer: India can invest up to $25 bn in oil fields abroad
New Delhi: The Petroleum Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, has said that India could invest up to $25 billion in acquisition of overseas oil and gas fields, and has urged China to join forces with India towards attaining energy security.

Addressing a Confederation of Indian Industry conference on `The China Miracle', the Minister said, "We are in a position to raise $25 billion to invest in acquiring oil and gas properties abroad."

The Minister also hinted at the possibility of India soon receiving a foreign direct investment of over $8 billion in the energy sector.

While India and China would continue to be dictated by market forces and could compete in some areas, there were possibilities of working together, the Minister said. Often, India's flagship ONGC Videsh Ltd faced Chinese competition in bidding for oil and gas assets abroad, a rivalry that had seen asking price for the properties shoot up.

"In Sudan, both India and China have been working together for years in perfect harmony. China has a built a refinery in Khartoum while India has built a pipeline to transport oil. This model of co-operation can be replicated in Iran, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Africa, Latin America and North and Central Asia," Aiyar said.
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EEPC and China Chamber of Commerce sign MoU
New Delhi: The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Chambers of Commerce for import and export of machinery and electronic products, besides covering exchange of trade- related information and setting up a trade dispute settlement mechanism.

The MoU was signed recently during the visit of a high-level trade delegation from EEPC to China. To further enter the Chinese market, EEPC has decide to set up a dedicated desk for China to exchange information and undertake sector-specific studies mainly to ascertain the market of various products there.

The EEPC further said that goaded by the Government of India's "Look East Policy" and Focus ASEAN, the Council has already managed to generate serious business enquires amounting to $4 million during the recently held engineering exhibition INDIATECH in Jakarta. Nearly 100 large, medium and small engineering firms across all sectors including agricultural implements, forgings, cotton ginning machinery, cast iron and stainless steel castings, auto components, auto parts, industrial bearings, pumps, electric power tools, IC engines and pumps, welding electrodes participated in the exhibition, he said.
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