Putin praises Indian policy for a multi-polar world
Moscow: On the occasion of India's Republic Day, Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed Indian foreign policy for its attempts to establish a multi-polar democratic world order.

In a message to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the occasion of Republic Day, he expressed confidence that further deepening of Indo-Russian cooperation will meet the vital interests of both countries.

Noting New Delhi's efforts for a multi-polar world order, he pointed to the "consistency of India's foreign political course aimed at establishing a multi-polar democratic world order and ensuring worldwide peace and stability".

"We are sincerely glad with India's successes as a dynamically developing, powerful state that is playing an increasingly growing role in international affairs," the Russian leader said in a separate message to President A P J Abdul Kalam.

"We highly value the strategic partnership relations formed between Russia and India," the Kremlin press service quoted Putin as saying.
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CCEA sets up National Investment Fund
New Delhi: The Central Government has decided to redirect the sales proceeds from the public sector disinvestment process into a special fund - the National Investment Fund. The fund will finance social sector schemes and capital investments by profitable PSUs.

Disclosing this here after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, said that proposals to disinvest Government equity in the 'navaratna' Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) would be taken up in the next few weeks.

With the decision to create the National Investment Fund, the United Progressive Alliance Government is finally ending the policy of using the disinvestment proceeds for bridging the fiscal deficit. This strategy had been severely criticised by the Congress and other UPA allies while in the Opposition.

The proposal for setting up a special fund for such proceeds and using them for social sector development had originally been mooted by the Chairman of the previous Disinvestment Commission, G.V. Ramakrishna, who has now been awarded the Padma Shri.

Chidambaram said the fund would be set up from disinvestment receipts coming to the Government from April 1 this year. The previous NDA government had used disinvestment proceeds for current expenditure.

He said that about 75 per cent of the revenues from disinvestment would be used for investment in social sector projects such as education, healthcare and employment. The balance would be used for capital investment in "selected profitable PSEs " that yielded adequate returns in order to enlarge their capital base to finance expansion and diversification.

The CCEA also approved the listing of currently unlisted profitable public sector enterprises each with a net worth over Rs.200 crores through an initial public offer (IPO). This is subject to the Government shareholding remaining at least 51 per cent and retaining management control of the companies. In addition, it has decided to allow the sale of minority shareholding of the Government in listed and profitable PSEs up to 49 per cent.

Some of the other decisions are as under:

• Fund to channel PSU disinvestment proceeds into social sector
  
• International status for Srinagar airport
  
• Administrative Tribunal to be divested of contempt powers
  
• Increased pension for freedom fighters' daughters
  
• More pay for judicial officers
  
• Programme for repair and revival of water bodies
  
• Tenth Plan outlay for Technology Mission 2020 approved.
  

Back to News Review index page   NCAER pegs GDP growth at 6.7 per cent for 2004-05
New Delhi: The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has forecast the gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6.6-6.7 per cent in 2004-05, against 8.2 per cent in 2003-04.

In its latest quarterly review released here, the Council, however maintains, "On the whole economy appears to be heading for a reasonable growth this fiscal, mainly backed by investment revival and growth in non-agricultural sector."

On the fiscal front, it said the Government's performance in view of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act has not been very encouraging.

Going by the trends in receipts and expenditure so far, tax revenue of the Central Government is likely to fall short by Rs9,600 crore and non-tax revenue by around Rs7,400 crore.
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Vietnam keen to expand trade with India
Chennai: Vietnam has welcomed the decision to start direct air services between India and Vietnam as auguring well for expansion of economic cooperation and tourist traffic between the two countries, and yet regrets that despite the historically close political and cultural ties, India and Vietnam still do not figure among the list of each other's trade partners.

Addressing a meeting organised here on Monday by the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), senior Vietnamese officials pointed out that against a total foreign investment of $46 billion in more than 4,000 projects registered in Vietnam since the opening up of its economy in the mid-eighties, only $45 million came from India, concentrated in a few sectors like oil and natural gas.

The bilateral trade of about $500 million accounted for only 0.3 per cent of India's total trade and one per cent of Vietnam's global trade. The trade balance was heavily in favour of India, whose exports totalled $449 million, against Vietnam's exports of $38 million.

Ton Sinh Thanh, Minister Counsellor of the Vietnamese embassy, said Vietnam, which was scheduled to become a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this year, had recorded a GDP (gross domestic product) growth of more than 7 per cent successively for the past few years. With a population of 81 million and an environment of political stability and peace "recognised by the world", Vietnam offered enormous scope for cooperation in trade, investment and tourism, he said.

India's public private and private sector airlines were likely to start services to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang later this year.
Embassy officials said that though India was working towards a free trade agreement with the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), of which Vietnam became a member in 1995, Vietnam would still prefer to have a separate preferential arrangement with India. The two countries had decided to increase bilateral trade to $1 billion by 2006.

Some participants in the meeting suggested that the Vietnamese government should try to settle property claims of Indians, especially those from Tamil Nadu, who had lost their property at the time of the revolution, just as it had done in the case of Chinese and other nationals.
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