PM: India correcting excessive tilt towards Europe and US
Jakarta: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that India will aim at a 7.5 per cent growth rate by taking steps to open up further.

"We are committed to be more open - a more open economy, more open society and more open polity," Singh told over 400 members of the Indian community in Jakarta. "Winds of change are creating a situation for growth of India. We want to see the growth rate go up to 7.5 per cent in the future," he said.

"The future belongs to India and China. India is on the move, working together the people of India are bound to enjoy their destiny, I invite you all to make it happen," he added.

Referring to the direction and focus of the country, Singh felt that till 1991, Indian policies had been excessively oriented towards Europe and the US. "Now India is purposely actively engaged with South-East Asia. Our horizons are expanding to cover more countries of East Asia."

"Our partners in South-East Asia and East Asia have accepted the reality of India's role in the world economy," Singh said, adding that India will be a part of the East Asia summit to take place in Malaysia later this year. The Prime Minister said many countries in the region were keen to see India as part of the grouping.

The Prime Minister noted that in the next five to ten years, India's working population was going to increase substantially resulting in the rise in the savings rate of the economy.

The Prime Minister also stressed on the need to create more wealth to tackle mass poverty.

He said the next decade in India is going to be an exciting one, which would see more emphasis on health, education and agriculture.

Human resource management is important as are education, health and information technology in the growth of a country, Singh said.
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CPI (M) to oppose Pension Bill
Chennai: The government's plan to make employees contribute to the pension fund and open them to investment in the stock market has run into rough weather again, with the CPI (M) making it clear that the UPA government cannot count on its support regarding the bill in the Parliament.

The party says its opposition to the Pension Regulatory Authority Bill, which was part of the UPA government's budget proposals, remains unchanged, for it feels that it will dilute the social security benefit to employees.

The bill proposes a ten per cent contribution by employees, whereas in the existing pension scheme, employees do not have to make any contribution. It also seeks to open the doors to private players in the pension sector by allowing them to invest a part of the funds in the stock market.
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CII calls for enhanced bilateral trade with Japan
New Delhi: Ahead of the Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi's high-profile visit to India on April 28, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has called for greater bilateral cooperation between the two countries, pointing out that though 45 per cent of Japan's international trade is with Asia, India's share is a meagre one per cent of that share.

China retains the largest share at 34 per cent of the Asian market.
The paper points out that India's export basket to Japan is heavily "skewed" with the top four categories constituting more than 50 per cent of the exports in FY 2004 and the next six categories accounting for 21 per cent of the total exports.

India's top export commodities to Japan include natural cultured pearls and gems and jewellery, fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, ores, slag and ash, mineral fuels, minerals oils, organic chemicals, cotton, clothing accessories, nuclear reactors, opticals, photographic accessories etc.

According to the CII study, some commodities such as organic chemical, mineral fuels and mineral oils, nuclear reactors and boilers, optical, photographic and cinematographic equipment, electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof have shown impressive growth in the past few years.

The recommended commodities for enhancing India's exports to Japan, according to the paper, are edible fruit and nuts, cereals, oil seeds, fruits etc, mineral fuels, mineral oils, organic chemicals, pharmaceutical products, plastics and articles thereof, articles of leather and harness, footwear, gaiters, iron and steel, among others.
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Prasar Bharati pegs revenue generation at Rs1,000 crore
Vijayawada: The Prasar Bharati is aiming at augmenting its revenues and has set itself a target of Rs1,000-crore for the current financial year (2005-2006), said the company's CEO, K. S. Sarma.

At a press meet here on Sunday, Sarma said that Prasar Bharati had earned a record Rs825 crore during 2004-2005, with Rs665 crore being realized through Doordarshan and the rest through All India Radio (AIR). "We are aiming at the Rs1,000-crore target this year, Rs800 crore through DD and the rest through AIR," he said.

He added that Prasar Bharati would tie up with the various Government Departments and also tap other sources for augmenting its revenues. "Our annual expenditure is around Rs2,000 crore. Our aim is to be completely self-sufficient."

Sarma said that the Union Agriculture Department had granted Rs311 crore to the Prasar Bharati for two years to improve agricultural coverage. Prasar Bharati has identified 36 clusters in the country, with each cluster having five high-power transmitters to telecast region-specific agricultural programmes for farmers.

"In Andhra Pradesh, there would be five such clusters - two apiece in the Andhra and Telangana regions and one in Rayalaseema," he said.

Scrolling will be introduced this year to telecast local commercials. "We expect to earn at least Rs100 crore more through this manner. On an experimental basis, we introduced scrolling at Salem in Tamil Nadu and earned roughly Rs1 lakh a month."
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