Oxford Univ. to honour Manmohan Singh
London: The Oxford University will confer an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law on the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on a mutually agreeable date.

Singh completed his higher studies at Cambridge and Oxford where he completed a D.Phil. in Economics. The Prime Minister is among ten leading international figures due to receive an honorary degree this year.
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Natwar's visit to Pakistan first bilateral visit in sixteen years
Islamabad: Foreign Minister Natwar Singh arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to carry forward the peace process between the two countries. The visit marks the first bilateral visit by any Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in sixteen years.

Singh's three-day visit could result in a series of agreements between India and Pakistan in the coming months. Most important of all is a gas pipeline from Iran to India, running through Pakistan, which is crucial to the economy of both nations.

"We have agreed to consider a pipeline through Pakistan subject to satisfaction of our concerns related to security and assured supplies.

"There are several agreements that are possible in the coming months including one on pre-notification of missile tests, MOUs between coast guards on Pakistan maritime security agency and MOU between narcotics control authorities," clarified Singh.

The cabinet last week approved holding talks with Iran, Myanmar and Turkmenistan for laying a pipeline to import natural gas.
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Aiyar off on expedition to Kazakhstan
New Delhi: Mani Shankar Aiyar is leading an Indian delegation to the fifth Indo-Kazakh Joint Commission meeting to be held in Kazakhstan's Capital of Astana on February 17 and 18.

The team hopes to push India's case as a partner in the development of the Kazakh oil industry. India will focus on relatively smaller, unexplored fields.

"There is a possibility of India offering to make seismic surveys in Kazakhstan in the unexplored fields if only to establish itself as a serious, long-term player in that country," Aiyar said.

The Darkhan exploration block with estimated reserves of three billion barrels of oil as well as some other blocks with estimated reserves of between 400 million and 700 million barrels are good prospects in this regard, according to Aiyar.

Aiyar said that it could be possible to link the Caspian oil to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas assuming that India is given a substantial field in the Caspian Sea. India will also offer its expertise in improved oil recovery/enhanced oil recovery techniques to Kazakhstan for its older, producing fields.

The joint commission will also discuss a proposal to establish an Almaty Software Technology Park for which a representative from the Software Technology Parks of India will be going with the team.
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GAIL inks pact with Bangladesh firm
New Delhi: GAIL (India) Ltd has inked an agreement with Spectra International Ltd of Bangladesh to identify possibilities of cooperation in compressed natural gas (CNG) infrastructure development projects and gas retailing in Bangladesh.

Under the terms of the MoU, GAIL would consider taking up CNG and gas distribution projects on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis.

"Spectra will offer certain services required in the implementation of projects in a cost-effective and timely manner and provide necessary support and coordination in obtaining all the statutory clearances," the release said.
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Bihar polls: Paswan's LJP to emerge as key player
New Delhi: After the second phase of voting in Bihar and Jharkhand drew a turnout of 55 per cent, exit polls by TV channels Zee News and Aaj Tak are projecting an RJD-Congress-JMM alliance majority in Jharkhand and Star News and Aaj Tak forecast a hung House in Bihar.

The polls are also predicting Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party as a likely key player in government-formation in Bihar.

Projections by Zee and Star showed the RJD was poised to suffer substantial losses in terms of seats in Bihar. While Zee News gave RJD-Congress combine 122 seats in Bihar, the magic figure in the 243-member assembly, Star News projected the alliance bagging 100 seats.

The projections were for 239 seats as polling has been postponed in four constituencies due to certain irregularities.
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Car sales rise eight per cent in Jan. '05
New Delhi: According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger car sales have seen a modest single digit growth in the domestic market in January 2005 at 8.17 per cent, even as motorcycles continued their strong run, witnessing a 22.8 per cent jump helped by higher demand for Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto bikes.

Domestic passenger car sales stood at 77,743 units in the month against 71,867 units in January 2004, Market watchers point out that the slower growth was due to consumer purchases in December itself in anticipation of a price hike, which had been indicated by several car manufacturers.

Flat sales of market leader Maruti Udyog at 38,863 units (38,140) was made up by the double-digit demand rise for Hyundai India and Tata Motor vehicles in the segment.

Meanwhile, the motorcycle segment recorded sales of 435,665 units in the month up from 354,640 units in the same month last year.

In addition to good sales of Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto bikes, growth in the segment was helped by new entrant Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) which recorded bike sales of 11,284 units in the month.

HMSI had a good run in the scooter/scooterette segment as well with its sales jumping by 36.6 per cent sales jump to 38,720 units (28,338) in January 2005. Overall though the segment saw a dip in sales to 70,490 units from 73,905 units in January last year, due to declining sales of players such as Bajaj Auto, and LML.

The commercial vehicle segment kept up its good run with domestic sales in January growing 17,7 per cent to 29,630 units in January as against 25,154 units in the same month last year.

The growth was driven by sales of medium & heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCVs). The segment grew 19 per cent to 18,666 units in January against 15,674 units in the year-ago period. Light commercial vehicles (LCVs), on the other hand, saw a 15.6 per cent growth in the month.
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