PM launches Door Darshan's DTH service
New Delhi: The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Thursday said that Prasar Bharati's free DTH service was a step forward in the continuing process of emotional integration.

Dr Singh also urged Doordarshan to think about setting up global news channels like BBC and CNN. "Do we have the aspirations to launch a news channel for the world market?"

Earlier, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Jaipal Reddy, called Prasar Bharati's DTH venture "a common man's DTH platform" and said that it could become the growth engine.
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S Korea welcomes economic bloc of India and East Asian nations
Seoul: South Korea's President has welcomed India's idea of forming an economic bloc that comprises East Asian nations and India.

President Roh Moo-hyun praised the proposal when he met Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, who is visiting South Korea to promote trade, investment and other bilateral ties.
According to a presidential spokesman President Roh welcomed the basic idea although further discussions were necessary on its system and procedural matters.

During a trip to New Delhi by Roh in October, the two countries agreed to build two-way trade to US$10 billion by 2008. South Korea is the fifth largest investor in India, pumping in more than US$657 million in 1991-2004. It also is India's 11th largest trading partner, with two-way trade hitting US$3.2 billion in 2003-2004. (AP)
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Engineering export promotion body raises export target for fiscal
Kolkata: The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) has revised upwards its export target for 2004-05, from the earlier $12 billion to $12.75 billion.

The engineering sector has already clocked a 38 per cent growth in dollar terms for the April-August 2004 period, far surpassing the general growth of overall exports, which was around 24 per cent as in November 2004.

The share of the engineering sector in the overall export target of the country now stood at 17 per cent.

The EEPC with adequate infrastructure support, engineering exports could not only double its performance during the next five years, but also surpass the same in line with the government's expectations of achieving a 1.5 per cent share of global trade during this year. He said a steady growth in engineering exports have been maintained during the last five years.
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India and Czech Republic call for greater bilateral trade
New Delhi: India and the Czech Republic have called for stepping up bilateral trade, as the current level of trade between the two countries does not reflect the existing potential.

S.N. Menon, Commerce Secretary, while addressing the Joint Inaugural Session of the two-day Sixth Indo-Czech Joint Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Fourth Joint Business Council (JBC), organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) here said, "There was scope for further increase in trade for a variety of items and both the countries had the capabilities to diversify the bilateral trade basket to include niche products."

"Sectors such as engineering, information technology, packaging, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, food processing industries, bio-technology, science and technology offer opportunities for flow of both trade and investment," he said.

Miroslav Somol, Czech Vice-Minister of Industry and Trade, said Indo-Czech trade is poised to touch $300 million by the end of the current financial year.
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DGFT: Input output norms for new export items
New Delhi: The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has notified Standard Input Output Norms (SIONs) for twenty-eight new export items. It has also carried out amendments /corrections/ deletions in the SIONs for twenty three existing export items.

Out of the twenty-eight new norms, twenty relate to the chemical and allied products, six relate to textile product and two relates to miscellaneous products.

An official release said that "fixation of SION" would facilitate issuance of advance licences to the exporters of the new items without any need for referring the same to the headquarter office of DGFT on repeat basis.
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Assocham sees four percent growth in FMCG sector
New Delhi: The Rs48,000-crore fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, which grew by a mere 1.5 per cent during the last four years, is all set to achieve 3-4 per cent growth in 2005-06, according to a survey by Assocham.

The survey said that "major products moving towards recovery in terms of higher sales include biscuits, beverages, toothpastes, shampoos, washing powder, skin creams and chocolates."
The slow growth of 1.5 per cent that the FMCG industries registered in the last four years was because it went through challenging times in terms of price wars and poor monsoons.

As a result of intense competition, only five out of 12 FMCG companies managed a cumulative annual growth rate in double digits between 2000 and 2004, the Assocham statement said.

Assocham also pointed out that while transnational companies such as HLL, ITC, Colgate Palmolive and P&G are dominant players, many home grown ones such as Godrej Consumer Products, Dabur India and Nirma have also become household names. Besides, small and regional brands, supported by low pricing and aggressive marketing, have of late been giving tough competition to big firms such as HLL and P&G.

It predicts a pick-up for FMCG sector in the current fiscal, which will further be strengthened in 2004-05 due to a general improvement in business environment, economic activities and possible acceleration in agricultural activities.
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