Budget session advanced by a week — to open from Feb. 16
New Delhi: The budget session of Parliament has been advanced by a week and will now commence on February 16. The session was originally scheduled to have begun on February 23.

The change has been necessitated by the impending elections in four States. The session will now begin on February 16 and continue till March 17. The second part of the session would resume on April 3 and end on April 28, instead of third week of May.
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Saudi King hints at upgraded ties with India
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in an exclusive interview to news channel NDTV, has hinted at a dramatic upgrade in India-Saudi ties.

King Abdullah has said that India should be an observer at the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) and that Pakistan should in fact move a resolution to this effect.

"I do believe that India can play a role in such an organisation, just like Russia does. Russia has an observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Countries and I believe that it will be very beneficial if the application of India could be put forth by a country like Pakistan," said the King.

King Abdullah acknowledged that oil prices were too high but said that Saudi Arabia had the ability to meet any requirement that India may have for its energy security. "We want to strengthen the link between India and Saudi Arabia with regards to energy and the ability to provide energy to India over a long term. From our perspective I personally feel that the current price of oil is too high.

"The price is damaging to developing countries who subsequently have to suffer. The price needs to be at a more moderate level. With regards to the export of crude oil to India, we would like to provide India's requirement of energy in the future," he said.

King Abdullah also said that Saudi Arabia's ties with India are not linked to their ties with Islamabad. "Our relationship with India is not related with Pakistan. Both the countries are friendly countries with great ties. The relationship between us and India is not affected with regard to any other country."

Among the other highlights of what he said was a strong denial of any support to terrorist organisations, saying that those who accused Saudi Arabia of such support would soon learn how wrong they were.
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High profile Indian presence for Davos meet
New Delhi: Under the aegis of the "India Everywhere" tag line, the WEF meet at Davos is all set to experience the largest ever Indian participation.

The Indian representation would see the presence of senior representatives from the Government and business leaders from different sectors including the finance minister, P. Chidambaram, the commerce and industry minister, Kamal Nath, the deputy chairman of the planning commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the minister of tourism, Ms Renuka Chowdhury, along with three chief ministers, Delhi's Ms Sheila Dikshit, Rajasthan's Ms Vasundara Raje, and Kerala's Oommen Chandy.

The Government team will be joined by prominent business leaders such as Y.C. Deveshwar, chairman, ITC and CII President, Mukesh Ambani, chairman & MD, Reliance Industries and co-chair of the WEF annual meeting, and Nandan Nilekani, CEO, president & managing director, Infosys Technologies.

The other corporate honchos include Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Auto, Hari Bhartia of Jubilant Organosys, Ramond Bickson of Taj Hotels, Gunit Chadha of Deutsche Bank, Tarun Das, CII's chief mentor, J.N. Godrej of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co, Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways, Vijay Mallya of UB Group, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Enterprises, Lakshmi N. Mittal of Mittal Steel and Malvinder Singh of Ranbaxy among others.
The annual event would witness 2000 global leaders congregating to shape global, regional and industry agenda to find solutions to global challenges. India sees the Davos meet as an opportunity to engage with world participants that comprise a cross-section of political, social and business leaders.
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Swiss economic minister Deiss seeks to expand business ties with India
Bangalore: Swiss Economics Minister Joseph Deiss said that he hopes that his current visit to India will stimulate bilateral economic ties and make a strong relationship even better.

Speaking at Bangalore, Deiss said, "Swiss companies are increasingly aware of the potential of this region. Some 20 to 25 Swiss companies engaged in diverse fields have been present in Bangalore for a very long time and the number is increasing," said Deiss.

Deiss will be in the capital, New Delhi, from Sunday and is scheduled to meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and the commerce and industry minister, Kamal Nath. Although a free trade agreement between India and Switzerland is being talked about, it seems more likely that in the short term a free trade accord between India and the European Free Trade Association, of which Switzerland is a member, may materialise.
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