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Chirac announces India's decision to buy six Scorpene submarines
New Delhi: Speaking to reporters on Monday after holding talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, currently on a two day visit to the country, French President Jacques Chirac announced the decision of the Indian Govt. to order six Scorpene submarines from France.

A beaming French President Jacques Chirac termed the US$3bn deal for the submarines as the launch of a new chapter in the Indo-French relationship.

"I am happy that the Indian Prime Minister has cleared six Scorpene and 43 Airbus aircrafts. I think this increases confidence and co-operation between the two countries," he said.

The Indian Navy has 16 diesel electric submarines. Several of these are ageing and will be phased out once the Scorpenes sail in. DCN of France and Navantia of Spain have developed this submarine jointly. The 1500 tonne Scorpene is armed with a most modern torpedo, can stay at sea for 240 days and operate at a depth of 300 meters.

This is the second huge deal cleared by India, the first being the decision to buy 43 Airbus aircraft for Indian Airlines.
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Industrial growth slumps in July
New Delhi: Industrial growth in July slowed to 6.7 per cent, as compared with 8.5 per cent last year, mainly owing to a decline in the mining and electricity sectors.

During April-July 2005, the industrial sector grew 9.3 per cent, compared with 7.9 per cent during the corresponding period last year, according to data released by the Central Statistical Organisation yesterday.

However, according to D K Joshi, senior economist with Crisil, the index had captured the Mumbai floods impact on industrial production and "is not indicative of a slowdown in industrial activity". He said there should be a reversal of the trend in the coming months, particularly in the manufacturing and electricity sectors.

The spiraling oil prices, however, were likely to cause a decline in industrial production in the long-term, Joshi added. During July, manufacturing sector growth slowed marginally to 8.3 per cent from last year's 8.4 per cent.

The higher cumulative growth during April-July, 2005 was mainly due to manufacturing sector output that went up by 10.4 per cent against last year's 8.2 per cent growth.
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Dubai seeking Indian investments in its special zones
New Delhi: A high-level Dubai delegation is currently visiting the country in order to woo larger Indian investment in its various free zones and upcoming hubs like the Outsource Zone, which will be operational by June next year.

Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for promotion of joint trade and investment activities.

The 10-member high-level delegation includes representatives from the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Dubai Outsource Zone, Dubai Silicon Oasis, a new venture that has just commenced operation, Emirates Airlines, Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority and JAFZA-Dubai Business Hub, which is part of the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority.

During the week-long stay, the team would hold its biennial road shows in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai.

According to Carl Vaz, DTCM country manager in India, "India has emerged as Dubai's leading trade partner with bilateral trade in the region of US$8.7bn. Of this, Dubai's imports from India stand at US$4.8bn, exports to India at about $574 million and re-exports of Indian products from Dubai about US$3.2bn."

Indian companies are among the largest participants in most of the special zones being set up in Dubai, the officials said.

"In trade, India is seen as next only to China, while in investment we see tremendous complimentarity. Of the 70,000 companies registered at the Dubai Chamber, about 15 percent are Indian," said Sultan M. Lootah, business promotion manager of DCCI.

"With people in the Middle East looking away from the US to Asian countries for investment, India is seen as a good investment partner as there is greater comfort level compared to China, which is just coming up on our investment radar," Lootah said.
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IDC report: SMEs to propel growth in security tool market
Bangalore: The next wave of growth in the security software solutions market will be from small and medium enterprises (SMEs), according to the latest report by the analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

In contrast, during 2004-05, security vendors targeted the larger sectors, namely telecommunication, government, banking, financial services and insurance and IT services, the report said.

According to the report, the inherent need of such companies along with the increasing number of security threats propelled the adoption of security software. The emergence of malicious worms and viruses such as MS Blaster, Code Red and Nimda goaded enterprises into increasing their expenditure on security.

The continuing BPO boom and increasing stress on adherence to information security guidelines and compliance regulations by western clients also contributed to the growth of the security software solutions market, the report added.

IDC reports that security solutions was the fastest growing category of the India software market in 2004. Last year, the security software solutions market in India stood at $36.3 million, according to the report. The market is expected to grow at 40 per cent this year.
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