India may manufacture defence components for US
New Delhi: India is exploring the possibility of
outsourcing the manufacture of defence components and spares for American contractors, the Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, said. Addressing the India Economic Summit here, he said the possibility of setting up a design bureau in the country was also being explored.

Saran said that strategic initiatives such as the `Next Steps in Strategic Partnership' (NSSP), `High Technology Cooperation Group' (HTCG) and US-India Economic Dialogue have served as platforms to discuss issues and opportunities for partnerships.

He said the first phase of interactions between the two countries on the NSSP has been concluded and now the two sides were also considering several other proposals for bolstering their commercial and economic relations. He said in the area of biotechnology, the two sides were examining prospects of working together for setting up research institutions in India for carrying out, among other things, clinical trials.

He said the four years of the Bush Administration and the last four years of the Clinton Administration have seen a "very significant transformation" in Indo-US relations.
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India and Israel joint study group to boost bilateral trade
New Delhi: India and Israel have agreed to set up a joint study group to formulate a comprehensive economic partnership between the two countries.

This was announced by Minister for Commerce and Industry, Kamal Nath, at an interactive meeting organised by FICCI with the visiting Israeli business delegation led by the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade, Labour and Communications of Israel, Ehud Olmert.

Kamal Nath also proposed a $ 5-billion target for bilateral trade between India and Israel in three years and noted that going by the present trends, it should be possible to achieve this target. He indicated that in 2004, Indo-Israeli trade should comfortably cross the $ 2 billion mark.

Referring to the diamond trade between India and Israel, Mr Kamal Nath said that the creative and successful leveraging of mutual strengths witnessed in the diamond trade between the two countries should be replicated in other sectors.

In his address, Olmert said Israel was looking to the East and India, indeed, is the first stop.
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India and Switzerland to promote bilateral trade
New Delhi: India and Switzerland have emphasised their commitment for further promotion of bilateral trade and investment at the ninth meeting of the Indo-Swiss Joint Commission held here.

An official release said that the meeting noted with satisfaction the positive developments in the bilateral economic relations, especially the increase by 24 per cent in the total bilateral trade so far in 2004.

The Indian delegation raised the issue related to social security contribution in Switzerland and the need for a simple framework for serving legal notices from India. The Swiss delegation raised some issues relating to intellectual property rights.
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Salary hike to be high next year: Survey
Thiruvananthapuram: SalarY increases in many Asian countries including India are expected to be high next year, says a survey by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.

According to the company's 'Global compensation planning report 2005', employees in India can expect to see their salaries go up by 11.4 per cent in 2005. However, when the projected inflation rate of 4.2 per cent is considered, the increase in Indian salaries is likely to be 7.2 per cent, the survey adds.

Globally, salaries are projected to rise by an average of 1.9 percentage points above inflation, says the report. In the US, pay is expected to rise by 3.5 per cent with inflation at 3.1 per cent.
Salaries in the UK are likely to rise by 3.4 per cent, while inflation is predicted to be 1.8 per cent.
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Parliament: India to express concern over US arms sale
New Delhi: India will express strong concern over United States' proposed sale of surveillance aircraft and anti-tank missiles to Pakistan to the visiting US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Foreign Minister Natwar Singh told Parliament on Wednesday that such arms sales will have a negative impact on Indo-US relations.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had brought up the issue of the sale of 25 F-16 fighter aircraft when he met President Bush last week.

Rumsfeld is also likely to discuss the second phase of an initiative aimed at cooperation in space, nuclear technology and missile defence. This is the first high-level contact between America and India since President George W. Bush was reelected.
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Parliament: LPG price must be hiked to Rs.492 for parity
New Delhi: The price of cooking gas would need to be hiked by Rs210.40 per cylinder and kerosene by Rs11.05 per litre to maintain import price parity, the Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The State-owned oil marketing firms have incurred a Rs7,800-crore loss due to under-recovery on these products, he said while making a statement on a calling attention motion on the exorbitant rise in prices of petro products.

The oil PSUs have also estimated under-recoveries of an additional Rs3,300 crore during April-November 2004 due to non-revision in the prices of petrol and diesel in line with international prices. The Oil PSUs have been sharing the burden on kerosene and cooking gas by not passing the full increase in international prices in the domestic consumer prices, he said.

After the UPA Government assumed office, the retail selling price of domestic LPG has been increased twice by only Rs20 a cylinder, once in mid-June and in early November, he said.
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