India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee Meeting
 The Fourth India-U.K. Joint
Economic and Trade Committee
meeting was held at Somerset
House in London on December 13.
There was a closed-door meeting
between Kamal Nath, Minister of
Commerce and Industry of India and Rt.
Hon. John Hutton, Secretary of State for
Business Enterprises and Regulatory
Reform, followed by a plenary meeting
chaired by Andrew Cahn, Chief
Executive of U.K. Trade & Investment.
During the bilateral meeting, the two
sides reviewed the progress in bilateral
economic and commercial relations and
ways of taking the relationship forward by
removing barriers and encouraging partnerships.
The Minister also discussed preparations
for Prime Minister Gordon Brown's proposed
visit to India in January 2008, the
current status of the WTO Doha
Development Round Table negotiations,
and the India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement
which is currently under negotiation.
Minister Nath, Secretary Hutton,
Chairman of the Indo-U.K. Business
Council Lord Karan Bilimoria, Co-Chair of
the Indo-British Partnership on the Indian
side Feroze Vanderwala, and Vice-Chair of
the Indo-British Partnership Rana Kapur
addressed the plenary session. The issues
taken up by the Indian side included new
work permit regulations for professionals
in the IT sector, U.K.'s Highly
Skilled Migrant Programme, the regulatory
mechanism for registration of
practitioners of Ayurveda medicine,
improved market access for Indian
companies in the area of government
procurement, mutual recognition and
accreditation of laboratories for food
testing, social security agreement for IT
professionals, need for improved port
facilities in the U.K. to facilitate India's
exports and denial of export licences by
Britain for dual use technology.
The U.K. side took up the issues of protection
of intellectual property rights (IPRs)
and problems of Britain's energy companies
in India.
Six JETCO Group joint chairs were invited
to report back to the ministers on the
progress made in their respective areas and
plans for future deliverables.
Continued on page 2
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Global launch of Kamal Nath's book India's Century?
India's Minister of Commerce and
Industry, Kamal Nath, called on the new
generation of Indian entrepreneurs to go
global and look for synergies and integrations
arising out of developments in the
international trade and business environment.
Speaking at a gathering of senior
media critics and journalists at the global
launch of his book, 'India's Century: The Age
of Entrepreneurship in the World's Biggest
Democracy', in London on December 13,
Nath explained that the book's central theme
was India's emergence from the backwaters
of global economy to its frontline, generating
aspirations for the future based on the recent
outstanding achievements.
The function was attended by cabinet ministers
of the British Government, CEOs of
U.K.-based MNCs and a large section of the
Indian diaspora in London.
Pointing to the current uncertainties in
the global economy, Nath urged the Indian
entrepreneurs to stay globally competitive,
as this was possibly the only way to carry
the business forward. Not only was the
lifespan of new and emerging technologies
considerably changing - with what was
new today becoming outdated tomorrow
- but consumer preferences and consumption
patterns were also short-lived.
In the changing milieu, it was imperative,
the Minister observed, that the Indian
entrepreneurs not only came up with globally
competitive technological improvements
in their product profiles but ensured
globally competitive business practices to
be perpetually alive to new opportunities
for growth and partnerships.
Continued on page 2
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Peace crusader remembered at Belfast exhibition
The contribution of India's Father of
the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, to
peace, and respect for diversity was
marked at a special exhibition inaugurated
in Belfast by Kamalesh Sharma, High
Commissioner for India to the U.K. and
the new Commonwealth Secretary-General
elect.
Sharma was also the keynote speaker at
a gala dinner to mark the 60th anniversary
of India's Independence organised by Lord
Diljit Rana, Honorary Consul for India in
Northern Ireland. One hundred and fifty
local politicians including Sir Reg Empey,
Minister for Education and Learning in
Northern Ireland, business people and
community leaders attended the gala.
The Gandhi Exhibition was on display at
the Omni Centre in the Ramada Belfast
Hotel, Shaw's Bridge. The exhibition has
already been showcased in Britain and
parts of Europe, as part of initiatives by the
Government of India to mark the country's
Independence in 1947. It exhibition was
held in Belfast until the New Year.
Continued on page 2
Airtel is best brand
Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile service
operator, has been adjudged the best
brand and best mobile operator by the
World Communication Awards 2007.
The awards were announced on
November 28 in London. In the Best
Mobile Operator category, the other global
operators in the final shortlist were Orange,
T-Mobile (U.K.) and Telstra. Altogether
there were more than 200 entries for the
awards. Bharti Airtel, part of the Bharti
Group, operates in all 23 telecom circles in
the country with a current customer base of
53 million. The World Communication
Awards, instituted in 1999 by Total
Telecom, seek to recognise and award
excellence among communication
providers across the globe.
Bangalore is India's nano hub
Having triggered the growth of IT and
biotechnology, Bangalore, the silicon city
of India is set to spearhead development of
nanoscience and nanotechnology in the
country. Inaugurating "Bangalore Nano
2007" on December 6, Karnataka Governor
Rameshwar Thakur said the State
Government was collaborating with
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced
Scientific Research to foster nanoscience
and nanotechnology, leveraging the State's
rich talent pool and science and technology
resources. "The state has taken a lead in
exploring priority areas of nanoscientific
research and technology. A modest beginning
was made last year and in the current
fiscal, budgetary support has been made to
promote nano-technology," Thakur said.
India to have four nuke plants
The government has approved four sites
to set up nuclear power plants, Prithiviraj
Chavan, Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's Office, said in the Rajya Sabha on
November 29. The sites are located at
Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, Jaitapur in
Maharashtra, Kakrapar in Gujarat, and
Rawatbhata in Rajasthan, the Minister said.
The Kudankulam and Jaitpur plants will produce
2,000 MW of energy by using imported
light water reactor technology. The other
two plants will generate 1,400 MW of energy
by using pressurised heavy water reactors
of Indian manufacture, Chavan added.
IBM brings fastest chip to India
IT and ITES major IBM has launched the
world's fastest computer processor chip
called the dual-core POWER6 in India. With
this launch, the System p570, as per the
company's claim is the world's most powerful
midrange consolidation machine, and
BladeCenter JS22 servers, both powered by
this new chip, would be available in the
country, said IBM India and South Asia
director, Systems and Technology Group,
Shashi B. Mal. The POWER6 features virtualisation
capabilities - a means of server
consolidation - and is also the latest addition
to IBM's Project Big Green initiative.
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