India's patent laws need reviewing: US
New Delhi: India needs to review its patent regime especially with regard to piracy issues in order to match international standards in intellectual property rights (IPR) laws according to US Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Jon W. Dudas.

He said though India's efforts in passing the 2005 Patent Amendment, which extended patent protection to pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals, were commendable, there were still some areas like data exclusivity and piracy which had been overlooked. 'This will be beneficial for India in the sense that it will help attract more foreign investment in the country,' he said at the conference jointly organised by the US embassy and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

He said the US government would like to work with India to encourage the establishment of a Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which is a consistent data protection regime for innovative pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical test data.'
Back to News Review index page  

Asia-Pacific mobility market to touch $33.5bn
New Delhi: The Asia Pacific enterprise mobility market, excluding Japan, will touch $33.5 billion in 2010 from $23.3 billion in 2006, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5 per cent according to IDC's recently updated study-Asia Pacific Enterprise Mobility Technology Solution Adoption 2006-2011.

However, while Australia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan poised as trailblazers where WLAN and 3G networks would provide the base for mobility adoption of enterprise applications, in India and China, enterprise mobility usage will be limited to business voice, and short message service (SMS) though horizontal applications like mobile-email would see rapid increase. According to the report the enterprise spending on mobility largely consists of communication services, notebooks and mobile devices.
Back to News Review index page  

EPFO goes online
New Delhi: Around 38 lakh subscribers of Employees Provident Fund Organisation spread across Kota, Patna, Karnal, Hyderabad, Mangalore and Indore, will be able to claim their dues online without facing procedural hassles.

Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes launched the pilot 'Re-Inventing EPF' project, giving online access to subscribers.

The project aims to achieve 'anytime anywhere facility' for the EPF subscriber and settle their claims within 2 to 3 days.

It works on real time basis and the system would be in place across India within a year.

The project would provide a unique identity card to all the subscribers.

The trial run is aimed at building confidence level among users at the field level familiarising them to the software, he said.
Back to News Review index page  

East Asia may get affected by US, Europe slowdown: ADB
Hong Kong: The regional economy in East Asia may be affected by the slowdown in US and Europe and post a lower growth in 2007 the Asian Development Bank said.

The average GDP growth for East Asian economies would slow to 4.4 per cent next year from 4.9 per cent in 2006, according to ADB's bi-annual report.

Excluding Japan, the most developed economy in the region, growth for East Asia is projected to fall back to 7 per cent from 7.7 per cent this year.
Back to News Review index page  

Indo-US nuclear deal to be put into operation soon
New Delhi: The US House of republicans and the Senate have reconciled their versions of the Indo-US nuclear bill after two days of detailed deliberations paving the way for a historic exception for India from the strict US non-proliferation regime.

The US Administration is now one step away from being legally empowered to operationalise the deal and enter into an agreement with India. According to the last update, the reconciled version had gone for the final clearance of the House Rules Committee.

Sources said there has been re-organisation of content in the two Bills so that most of India's concerns are now non-binding with several of the reporting requirements now clubbed under a couple of "manageable provisions."
Back to News Review index page  

India may soon have Airport Economic Regulatory Authority
New Delhi: A bill proposing to form the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is likely to be introduced in the budget session of parliament next year.

"A group of ministers (GOM) has sorted out certain issues regarding defence airfields paving the way for the bill to be tabled in parliament," said Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel in his inaugural address at 'Aerodrome India 2006.'

The government had also decided to upgrade facilities and improve traffic at 70 airports in the country where air traffic was extremely low, the minister said.
Back to News Review index page