BPO hiccups not to affect India IT biz
Washington: Describing India as a "software outsourcing superpower", an investment banking research firm has said the offshore info-tech outsourcing trend is irreversible and India is well placed to capitalise on it despite the general economic downturn in the rest of the world. In a June 16 industry report titled 'Secular Megatrends: India – Software Outsourcing Superpower', Brean Murray Research said the need to maintain a complex software infrastructure plus continued budgetary pressures will force global organizations to adopt the outsourcing model as a "strategic necessity" despite hiccups like adverse sentiments in the United States and slowdown in tech spending. With a dominant 70 per cent market share, India has emerged as the preferred destination ahead of China, Russia, Philippines and others based on the critical requirement of savings (typically 20-40 per cent), language, reference sites, scalability and government policy, the report said. Nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies have outsourced some work to India and software and service exports from India are expected to advance five-fold in fiscal 2003-2008 from $10 billion to $50 billion, it added.
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Ghosn will remain in Nissan's driver seat
Tokyo: Carlos Ghosn, the businessman credited with reviving the fortunes of Nissan Motor, told investors on Thursday he would remain at the controls even after taking on the top job at Renault in 2005. "In 2005, I am not leaving Nissan," Ghosn said in an apparent effort to reassure the nearly 1,000 investors who gathered at Nissan's shareholder meeting in central Tokyo. "I am still going to be president and chief executive officer of the company," he said after an investor asked him if his new job might affect the "Ghosn premium" on Nissan's share price. Nissan shares extended gains on Thursday to close up 2.47 per cent at 1,119 yen, after hitting a 13-year high on Wednesday. The stock has leapt nearly 20 per cent so far this year, outperforming the Nikkei average, which has risen 4.5 per cent. Ghosn will become president of Renault, which owns about 44 per cent of Nissan, in 2005.

While retaining the CEO job at Nissan, the Brazilian-born executive is expected to vacate the chief operating officer position, which he has said would be taken over by a Japanese.
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Eurocopter, HAL to make choppers
Le Bourget: European helicopter maker Eurocopter has proposed setting up a joint venture company with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to produce its Cougar and Fennec family of military choppers in India. Andreas Loewenstein, deputy executive V-P of Eurocopter, told that the EADS group firm will finalise the equity structure and the investment plans for the new joint venture company by this year-end. Though he stated that the choppers to be built under the JV will complement the Indian partner's existing range, insiders pointed out that the products are being planned as a replacement for the ageing Cheetah and Chetak helicopters in HAL's stables. "The Cheetah and Chetak were produced with support from Eurocopter — HAL has been for some time looking at a replacement for these choppers. The new military choppers from Eurocopter are likely to be their replacement," the sources added. Loewensteing, however, said, the Cougar AS 532 and the Fennec helicopters would be produced in India to complement HAL's advanced light helicopter christened Dhruv.
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US to file case on EU biotech after talks fail
Washington: Talks between the United States and the European Union to end a trade dispute over genetically-modified goods have failed, and America will challenge the EU's policy at the World Trade Organization, the Bush administration said on Thursday.
The United States and EU were meeting this week and holding consultations which the US Trade Representative said "have not resulted in any changes to the EU's 5-year-old illegal and unscientific moratorium" on approvals of new biotech goods. As a result, USTR spokesman Richard Mills said in a statement, "We'll be moving forward with requesting a (WTO) panel." American farmers have clamored for the WTO complaint, saying the EU is violating international trade rules by prohibiting new biotech products without giving a scientific reason for doing so. The European Commission has been working to get the moratorium repealed, but with consumer sentiment in many European countries running high against biotech foods, it has failed so far. US corn farmers say they are losing about $300 million in sales to the EU each year because of the trade barrier
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