Patent Law by next year
New Delhi: According to science and technology minister Kapil Sibal, India would have a new WTO-compliant patent regime ready by January 1, 2005, which would make the country competitive, protect public interest and foster economic growth.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a two-day conference on 'changes in IPR regime - challenges and opportunities,' being organised by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in the capital.

Sibal refused to comment when asked whether the Draft Bill would be sent to a parliamentary standing committee for its evaluation as demanded by the Left parties.

Stating that the country had made several changes in the IP Act over the years, the Patents Act of 1970 should not be seen as a historic blunder as it was indispensable to promote the pharmaceutical industry.
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LPG price not to be rolled back
New Delhi: The Government said that there would be no roll-back in LPG prices which would continue to rise by Rs5 per cylinder every month. As of now the decision to increase LPG prices every month stands, petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar stated here.

On November 4, the Government decided that petrol will be charged at import parity prices and diesel, LPG and kerosene prices will be administered by the government.
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Food sector projects to get financial assistance
New Delhi: The government has started a scheme to provide financial assistance to projects undertaken in the food sector according to which a grant amounting to 25 per cent of the project cost in general areas and 33.3 per cent in difficult areas, would be
provided to the project.

The grant would be subject to a maximum of Rs50 lakh and Rs75 lakh respectively and would cover fruits and vegetables, milk products, meat, poultry, oilseeds and horticultural produce for value addition and prolonging their shelf lives.

The scheme is project-specific and Panchayati Raj institutions can avail its benefits through their cooperative efforts.
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Gold at all time high of Rs6,495
Mumbai: Gold prices touched an all-time high during early trade on the bullion market with standard gold being quoted at Rs6,495 per ounce and pure gold at Rs6,530.

Standard gold (99.5 purity) resumed at a new high of Rs6,495 as against Rs6,480 quoted during the special Diwali muhurat trading on Friday.

Pure gold (99.9 purity) that had closed higher at Rs6,515 on Friday rose further today to an all-time high of Rs6,530.

The previous highest level for standard gold and pure gold were Rs6,490 and Rs6,525 respectively.

The yellow metal rallied to a 16-year high of $440.05 per ounce in the European market yesterday due to continued dollar weakness and market bullishness ahead of the gold-backed exchanged-traded fund in New York this week.
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India emerging Asian power: Study
Washington: A task force of the San Francisco-based Asia Foundation headed by Stephen Cohen, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, on America's role in Asia has said that US government should continue with its general movement toward normalisation and cooperation with India whose stunning economic
performance, skilled leadership and ability to function as a democracy have made it Asia's third great power, the study said.

The study said the progress of India and China has brought about a global shift in power — now economic but later military as well.

The next US administration, says Cohen, must continue the general
movement toward normalisation and cooperation with India that began in the late 1990s.

The study also notes, "China is rapidly becoming the world's manufacturing hub; India a key provider of services. This 'power shift' will gain further momentum if recent signs that Japan's economy is emerging from the doldrums are sustained. Needless to add, Asian nations are busy translating their growing economic power into political and strategic clout." The attention devoted to China's rise, they say, should not be allowed to obscure the fact that India is emerging as a major power in its own right.

Pakistan's stability, by contrast, the study says, is "fragile, and its control over radical Islamists and its own nuclear arsenal may prove unreliable."
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Steel prices hiked by Rs1,000 a tonne
Mumbai: The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), the two largest producers of construction grade steel, have hiked the prices of structurals and rounds by Rs1,000 per tonne and Rs500 per tonne, to Rs26,000 per tonne and Rs26,500 per tonne, respectively. Tata Steel has committed itself to maintain prices till March 2005.

This is the first price hike in the industry after major manufacturers voluntarily reduced prices in August this year.

The price increase comes in the wake of strong demand and the tight supply of such products.

Both SAIL and RINL had rolled back prices by Rs1,000 in August, following the price cut announced by Tata Steel and other primary steel producers. Tata Steel slashed prices of all its products by Rs2,000 per tonne, putting pressure on other companies to follow suit.
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CMIE says inflation forecast higher at 6.5 percent
Mumbai: The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) in its monthly economic review has upped the inflation forecast for 2004-05 to 6.5 per cent from earlier estimate of 5 per cent as it sees prices of fuel, sugar and metal products unlikely to go down in the remaining five months of 2004-05.

The average inflation during current fiscal (2004-05) works out to 6.5 per cent as compared to 5.4 per cent in the previous fiscal, it said, adding this would also be higher than CMIE's earlier projection of 5 per cent for 2004-05.

Inflation was higher at 6.6 per cent in April-September 2004 as against 5.3 per cent in the same period of 2003. In the current fiscal, inflation rate has steadily moved up to 8.3 per cent in August
from 4.5 per cent in April 2004, CMIE said.
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PC mart grew 35 per cent in Q3 2004
Mumbai: The Indian PC market grew 35 percent in the third quarter of 2004 said Global IT research firm Gartner.

According to a press release by Gartner, the Indian market grew by 35.1 per cent in Q3 2004-05 shipping more than 885,000 units including desktops, notebooks and servers. India's share in the Asia Pacific region increased to 10.4 per cent from 9.2 per cent in the previous quarter.

Overall in the Asia Pacific region, the professional PC market grew 15.7 per cent and the home market at 2.2 per cent Growth contributors in the professional market came from India, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Vietnam where seasonally it was the buying quarter.
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