India, Japan may sign economic partnership
New Delhi: During the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Tokyo next month,
India and Japan may announce a Special Economic Partnership Initiative (SEPI), which will provide a window to boost Japanese investment in sectors such as infrastructure.

SEPI will tap Japanese investment in proposed areas like the railway freight corridor and free trade warehousing zones and will ultimately be a part of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement or the Economic Partnership Agreement an official said.

The two sides are also expected to announce the setting up of a joint task force headed by commerce secretaries of both sides for initiating the CEPA negotiations, likely to be concluded by 2008. Back to News Review index page  

Patent applications touch 24,000 in 5 yrs
New Delhi: The number of filed patent applications has touched a whopping 24,000 in five years from less than 5000 in 1999-2000. The number of patents granted in these years stood at 1881 and 4320 respectively.

The technology areas covered include primarily mechanicals, chemicals, computer/electronics, general items, drugs, electricals, biotechnology and food items, it said.

The list includes both the private and public sector.

Officials said the Government through the department of IT, bio-technology and others dealing with different areas of knowledge economy attaches priority with R&D efforts, especially in the knowledge sector.
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Sugar to be surplus next year: Pawar
New Delhi: India is expected to have a record sugar stock of 267 lakh tonne next year and may have at least 60 lakh tonne surplus left for exports. India would produce around 227-230 lakh tonne said Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar a 'National Farmers Conclave' here today.

With the 40 lakh tonne opening stock, he said, total sugar availability would be around 267 lakh tonne next year.
Sugar year runs from October to September.

The food minister said sugar consumption has remained around 185 lakh tonne for the last two years, while it would be around 195 lakh tonne this year.

Pawar said that the only way to get rid of this excess stock, over and above consumption, is to sell the stock in international markets and added that the exercise of selling the surplus stocks in global market can only ensure remunerative price to sugarcane growers. The government imposed a ban on sugar exports in July this year to reduce inflationary tendencies in essential commodities such as wheat, pulses and sugar. The ban is valid up to March 31, 2007.
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DoT rejects Trai's recommendations on number portability
New Delhi: The government has rejected Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) recommendations on mobile number portability (MNP) saying this should not be mandated by the licensor or the regulator, as it would deny subscribers the freedom to change operator without changing the number.

The telecom regulator had given its recommendations in March this year asking DoT to implement the facility by April 2007 saying the government may mandate all cellular mobile service providers to offer MNP, initially to be introduced within the service area only.
Since Trai had submitted recommendations suo-moto, DoT is of the view that these are not covered under the particular clause of the Trai Act 1997 and therefore, in case of not accepting the recommendations, it is not necessary to refer them back to Trai before taking a final decision.

Trai had estimated that the cost of Rs 940 crore for upgradation of the networks and the implementation mechanism is to be shared by all the operators, DoT said Rs 940 crore is not a small cost at present so as to implement these features from April 1, 2007.
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