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Rural Employment Guarantee Bill introduced in LS
New Delhi: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, 2004, seeking to guarantee 100 days of employment to every rural household in a year was taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, with the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, saying the measure would fulfill the promise made by her party in its election manifesto last year.

Members across party lines welcomed the, which was moved by the Rural Development minister, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, for consideration after the Government incorporated a number of amendments to the original legislation introduced in the House last year.

Declaring the UPA Government's resolve to improve the lives of rural people, Ms Gandhi termed it a `historic' measure, through which "we are starting to give them their right so that they have a better future," she said.
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World Bank chief to learn from India's model of development
Hyderabad: "India is rapidly emerging as a country of global importance and we are seeing its footprints across the world now in new and exciting ways. I am here to learn from your model of development and reform in a democratic environment," World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said in Hyderabad on Wednesday night.

"For all its increasing excellence in information technology, industry and commerce, India remains home to more than a quarter of the world's poor people," he noted.

He said he would have discussions with the government about ways in which the World Bank could support India's efforts to attain its development goals.

"A majority of Indians still live in rural areas and I know that this government has, quite rightly, made rural infrastructure a priority," he observed.

"The World Bank is determined to be of help as you scale up this effort to reach the millions of people needing better access to services in rural areas," he added.

Wolfowitz, who is making his first visit to India as the president of the global development institution, will spend one day meeting women and community groups in rural areas outside Hyderabad before reaching New Delhi for discussions with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and other officials.

He will also make a courtesy call on President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
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Narayana Murthy: Exports must constitute 30 per cent of GDP
Mangalore: The chief mentor of Infosys Technologies Ltd, N.R. Narayana Murthy, on Thursday said India should move people from the agricultural sector to manufacturing and services sectors, and stressed the need for an economic model where 30 per cent of the GDP came from exports.

Inaugurating the Dr T.M.A. Pai International Convention Centre here, Murthy said only the creation of a large number of jobs could solve the problems of the less fortunate and less educated. The country must integrate with the world economy for this to happen, he said.

"We have to move people from the agriculture sector to the manufacturing and services sectors. This means that we need large buyers from abroad. As disposable income is low at this point of time, we have to necessarily move towards exports," he said.
From the present 9-10 per cent share of GDP coming from exports, the country should increase it to 30 per cent. "This is the model that China, Brazil and East Asian countries have used," he said.

"So if we have to move nearly 7-8 million people from agriculture to manufacturing, we have to necessarily address large investments on the one hand and find markets abroad on the other," he said. Visible signs of progress should be created in the country. This called for good infrastructure to help raise the comfort level and confidence of customers.

Stating that India was at a historical juncture, he said that never before in the last 1,200 years did the world look up at India. Today many developed nations like the US look to India in areas such as IT, life sciences, clinical research and financial services.
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US ambassador: India must improve IPR record to attract American investments
Kolkata: India should try to improve its maintenance of intellectual property rights (IPR) if it wants to attract more American investment in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and clinical research sectors, Dr David C. Mulford, US Ambassador to India, has said.

This was one area that required concerted action, he said, addressing members of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

He said both India and the US shared a major interest in science and technology and India had proved itself to be a world-class player in these sectors.

"As IPR protection improves, US companies will become major investors, contributing capital, top quality science and technology, global management expertise, and new jobs," Dr Mulford said.

He appreciated the Indian Government's policy on the removal of fiscal and regulatory barriers among States with the help of VAT (value-added tax) across the country. He said the move would create a `national market' for investors.

According to him, physical infrastructure and energy security were two crucial issues that would determine the development of India. India should develop other sources of energy generation so that its economic development was not hampered by energy shortage.

He urged the Government to develop infrastructure on a war footing. "The most prominent challenge is world-class infrastructure, which India must provide as a platform for sustained growth and rural development, especially in agriculture."
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