Srinagar- Muzaffarabad bus service runs into usual speed breakers
New Delhi: An Indian offer that "entry permits" be used, instead of visas, along with passports by passengers wanting to travel on the proposed Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, has drawn a cold response from the Pakistani delegation currently here for talks.

Pakistan is sticking to its stand that only local identity documents be carried by Kashmiris, who wish to use the bus service. According to the Indian side, the Pakistani delegation insisted that it would not accept the proposed "entry permits" or passports in the two hours of talks that took place yesterday.

The Indian side formally informed Pakistan that as far as they were concerned it would be the "entry permit" and not the passport that would be stamped - with the passport to be used merely as an identity document.

The Pakistani reluctance to accept this position would stem from their fear that this might take away from the disputed nature of the territory on either side of the LoC. The carrying of the passport, too, could become a problem in the future.

Also, the Indian side has also made it clear that such a bus service could not be restricted to Kashmiris holding Indian passports, but would have to be extended to all Indians. It was not possible to make a distinction between one group of Indians and another on ethnic grounds.

Govt. sources have indicated that if the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service began operations it could possibly detract from the long-held Pakistani position that Kashmir was a "flashpoint" in South Asia. The normalcy of a bus service would take the sting out of the 'flash point'theory.
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Municipal elections in J&K after two decades
Jammu: Elections for the urban bodies will be held in Jammu and Kashmir in the next two months after a lapse of more than two decades. The Election Commission has announced the schedule, except for Leh and Kargil districts.

A spokesman for the commission has said that the elections would be held on party lines with one-third of the total seats in each municipal body reserved for women. Reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes had also been provided in proportion to their respective population in the municipal area.

Urban body polls were last held in Sheikh Abdullah's regime in the early 1980's.
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Preferential trading arrangement between India and S. Africa likely
New Delhi: India is likely to sign a preferential trading arrangement with the South Africa Customs Union soon in order to strengthen mutual trade and investment flows between the two sides.

The Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Kamal Nath, indicated this during discussions with the Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa, Mandisi Mpahiwa.

Nath also expressed the hope that the process of dialogue among the member countries of the India-Brazil-South Africa dialogue forum would facilitate enhanced level of cooperation and strengthen South-South cooperation.

Both the Ministers emphasised the potential for cooperation in various fields and noted that the two countries had been working together in the WTO on several issues including agriculture and Singapore issues. Nath suggested that India and South Africa could have a coordinated approach in the non-agricultural market access negotiations also.
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Foreign tourist arrivals numbers jump 25 per cent
New Delhi: Foreign tourist arrivals in India have gone up more than 25 per cent in November 2004 from the same month a year ago.

A government statement has said that the number of foreign visitors last month rose to 364,635 from 290,583 in November 2003, while foreign exchange earnings have soared 32 per cent to $459.26 million in the same period.

The government has been trying to push tourism through a high-profile campaign called "Incredible India", which highlights everything from its beaches, soaring mountains and national parks to spiritual and rural destinations.

In the first eleven months of 2004, foreign tourist arrivals have grown 24 per cent to 2.983 million over the same period last year.
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India offers $10-m line of credit to Morocco
New Delhi: The Export and Import (EXIM) Bank of India has offered to extend an initial line of credit of $10 million to Morocco. Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, indicated this at a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Trade of Morocco, Mustapha Mechahouri.

Exim Bank is discussing this proposal with the Moroccan Bank of Foreign Trade. Kamal Nath urged the Moroccan authorities to expedite the conclusion of the line of credit agreement to further enhance the level of trade between the two countries.
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Rapid growth seen in telecom
Mumbai: India will remain the highest growth market for telecommunications with around 35 million new subscribers in 2005, according to a Gartner report, which would mean an 18 per cent increase from 2004. "This accounts for almost one-fourth of the new subscribers forecasted in Asia Pacific." The growth will occur in selected technologies, mainly mobile.

The consumer segment is rapidly gaining importance, driven by adoption of mobile services, said Gartner. This is reflected in their in increased contribution towards spending for telecommunication services, from 35 per cent in 2002, to 43 per cent in 2005.

By 2008, according to Gartner, the consumer segment will account for more than half of telecommunications spending.
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Software sector set for $16 b in exports: Nasscom
Hyderabad: The Indian software industry is on course to achieving about 30 to 32 per cent growth in exports this fiscal to cross the $16 billion (around Rs69,920 crore) mark in spite of several concerns including infrastructure bottlenecks in major cities.

Human resource challenges, huge fluctuation in dollar rates, relatively higher bandwidth costs and security related legislations are other concerns, according to the Nasscom President, Dr Kiran Karnik. He also observed that, "software exports peaked to $12.5 billion (around Rs 54,625 crore) last fiscal despite a recessionary trend in the US, lower tech spend and the post 9/11 issues.

However, the tech sector turnaround has been remarkable given the tough business environment, including outsourcing related issues. Though the US elections are behind us, outsourcing related concerns still remain."

Dr Karnik said, "The domestic market however continues to be subdued. Even the proposed investment of about 2 per cent of the Government budget for the IT sector has not actually happened. We will continue to urge the Government to allocate 2-3 per cent for IT in next Budget".

"With the India Inc brand well established, major corporations and some large customers are expressing concerns about infrastructure related issues. They question, if we can construct about one million sq.ft office space in six months, can't we develop related infrastructure? The case in point is Bangalore where the airport project is pending for years. We need to expedite," he said.

The recent volatility in the dollar rates is a serious cause of concern for the software sector as about 70 per cent of the exports are dependent on the US markets, Dr Karnik said.

Fluctuation of about 2-3 points is fine, but large fluctuation creates pressure. While large corporations have the capability to hedge and thereby de-risk, it is the SMEs, who account for a large part of exports, are faced with tough prospects. They would not have resources to meet this issue, he added.
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