Bharti surrenders at Hubli
Hubli: Uma Bharti surrendered before a Hubli court on Wednesday in connection with a 10-year-old rioting case, after the necessary political drama enacted by party members, and was remanded to 14 days judicial custody.

The former Chief Minister spent the night in a makeshift jail in Dharwad, but will be shifted to a Belgaum jail today. Bharti is charged with attempt to murder.

Five people had died in police firing after she and her followers defied prohibitory orders to unfurl the national flag at the Idgah Maidan, a restricted area.
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India and Gulf Co-operation Council sign agreement
New Delhi: INDIA and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have signed a framework agreement on economic cooperation that is expected to boost existing commercial and economic ties between the two sides.

The Commerce and Industry Minister, Kamal Nath, and the visiting Foreign Minister of Kuwait, Dr Mohammed Al-Sabbah Al-Salem Al-Sabbah, on behalf of GCC, signed the agreement here on Wednesday. Kuwait is the current Chairman of the six-nation GCC, comprising Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The agreement would pave the way for initiation of discussions on the feasibility of a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two sides.

The Commerce Minister said that although the country's exports had grown by 43 per cent in 2003-04 to about $7 billion and imports (excluding oil) from GCC had risen by 72 per cent to $3.5 billion, the existing trade was not commensurate with the potential.

The Commerce Minister also said that the agreement would provide a framework for private sector on both sides to enter into profitable ventures in new areas.

Besides paving the way for initiation of discussions on feasibility of FTA, the agreement provides for setting up of a joint committee on economic cooperation to oversee the implementation of the pact and other bilateral agreements.

Both sides will also make arrangements for setting up of joint investment projects and facilitating corporate investments in various fields.

It was also held that individual member-states of GCC were, notwithstanding the framework agreement on economic cooperation, permitted to undertake bilateral activities with India in the fields covered by the agreement.
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Tata group looking beyond Indian shores
Mumbai: Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata group said that the Industry should not get overtaken by the desire to improve corporate results at the cost of the longer term, referring to the recent price cuts by steel manufacturers in a situation of rising inflation.

He was speaking after the formal listing of TCS on the NSE in Mumbai.

Steel prices were high and this had a cascading effect on the other industries in the country. Most of the steel manufacturers were making good profits and that the price cuts would not greatly impact them, he said.

According to Tata, not only TCS, but the Tata group itself was looking beyond Indian shores. The group already has a presence in the US, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Nepal and China through its subsidiaries.

"We are planning to grow out companies across the globe and will be looking for both organic and inorganic growth."

The group has been doing this in the automobile, IT, hotel and other sectors, he said. "We will be refining these plans."

Tata also confirmed that the Bangladeshi Government had agreed to supply gas on a 20-year contract with the Tata group for its activities planned in that country. He did not elaborate on the planned activities nor the quantum of investment planned.
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