China and India initiate financial dialogue
Beijing: China and India have set up a financial dialogue mechanism to boost cooperation in major international financial issues. Their dialogue will cover the economic situation of the two countries, their financial policies, financial reform and exchanges on matters related to international economic forums and institutions, according to the statement.

The Chinese and Indian government officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Financial Dialogue during the just-concluded visit to India by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

The Chinese ministry said the dialogue between the two countries will be held once every 12 to 18 months at a deputy ministerial level or other levels that the two sides agreed upon.

China has set up similar financial dialogue mechanism with the United States, France, Britain and the European Union, on a regular basis at ministerial levels.
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Musharraf arrives in India today
New Delhi: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will arrive in India today on a three-day official visit. This will be his second visit in nearly four years.

Musharraf's first stop in India will be a visit to the Ajmer Dargah, which he missed out on last time after the breakdown of talks in Agra. His wife and a 45-member delegation, including Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan and Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, will accompany him to the shrine.

Musharraf will then fly back to New Delhi, where he will attend the Kotla encounter between India and Pakistan. After this, he will hold a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He will then meet the President APJ Abdul Kalam and leader of the opposition, L K Advani. Also on his agenda, are meetings with UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, and Hurriyat leaders.
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India and Qatar to firm up ties in the hydrocarbon sector
New Delhi: Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, has said that he has invited Qatari investments in the country's hydrocarbon sector.

India has invited Qatari investments in proposed projects like the one at Bhatinda of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd's (BPCL) projects at Bina and Allahabad.

After his meeting with the visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabor Al Thani, here on Friday, Aiyar told presspersons that Qatar has agreed in-principle to hike the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the current five million tonnes.

India is targeting import of 20 MT of LNG from Qatar by 2015. "If we have 20 MT of LNG by 2015 from Qatar, then one-third of our LNG needs would be met by that country," he said.

Further, India proposes to chalk out an action plan for working out a strategic partnership with Qatar for the hydrocarbon sector. The Minister was hopeful that by May, Qatar would be receiving a high-level Indian delegation for the purpose.

Apart from importing LNG, India was also concerned over ensuring the entire hydrocarbon value chain. Mr Aiyar indicated that state-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) is likely to import 0.5-1.0 million tonnes of crude oil from Qatar.

"We have agreed in principle that MRPL will pick up 0.5-1.00 million tonnes of Qatari crude. Commercial negotiations are to be initiated," he said.
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BrahMos completes development phase with combat version test
Hyderabad: The induction of the ship-launched version of BrahMos, the Indo-Russian supersonic cruise missile, into the Indian Navy will begin in mid-2005. The 10th test flight of BrahMos was successfully launched from a ship today, as it hit the designated decommissioned ship, which was moving off the Western Sea coast at 8.15 a.m.

Announcing the test, which was in combat mode, Defence Ministry officials said that the missile hit the target and destroyed it. The missile has a range of 290 km, with the capacity to carry a warhead of 200-300 kg, and cruises at speeds of 2.5-2.8 Mach. The missile is launched from a canister, which also acts as a storage-cum-transportation container.

The Chief of Navy, Admiral Arun Prakash; his Deputy, Vice-Admiral Suresh Mehta; the Commander of Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Byce, and the Chief Executive Officer of BrahMos, Dr A. Sivathanu Pillai, witnessed the flight.

Friday's launch is the fourth from a ship and the 10th overall, with all the flights accomplishing their mission targets. With this, the development phase is complete and the missile is ready for induction. The missile is being integrated at facilities of BrahMos in New Delhi and Hyderabad. BrahMos can be launched from multiple platforms based on land, sea, sub-sea and air, against sea and land targets.
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Inflation moves up to 5.26 per cent
New Delhi: Inflation has risen to 5.26 per cent during the week ended April 2 due to costlier food, fuel and manufactured products. Inflation stood at over four per cent in the year-ago period.

The point-to-point Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation rose by 0.21 per cent from the previous week's level of 5.05 per cent despite cheaper non-food items and edible oils. The WPI increased by 0.4 per cent to 190.2 points during the first week of April with all major indices of primary articles, fuels and manufactured products going up. It was 180.7 points in the year-ago period.

Government revised downwards inflation to 4.96 per cent for the week ended February five as compared to the provisional level of 5.01 per cent.

The WPI also stood corrected at 188.5 points during the first week of February against the provisional estimate of 188.6 points.
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Govt. to divest stake in IA, A-I
Mumbai: The Centre is planning to offer 20-25 per cent of its stake in Indian Airlines (IA) and Air India (A-I) to the public and the national carriers will have the same status like that of listed public sector oil companies on the stock exchanges.

"The Centre is planning to offload its 20-25 per cent stake in IA and A-I and companies will be listed on the stock exchanges," Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here today. Patel, however, said the government has not decided on the exact number of shares to be offered to the public.

The government has also firmed up its resolve not to privatise these two national carriers, Patel said. He added that the employees of IA and A-I should not remain complacent as competition has reached new heights with the entry of more private carriers into the aviation sector.
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Passenger car, two-wheeler and CV sales up in 2004-05
New Delhi: New launches and improved purchasing power have helped domestic passenger vehicle sales cross the one million mark in the last fiscal.

Passenger vehicle (including passenger cars, utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles) sales grew 17.65 per cent in the last fiscal to 10,61,290 units as against 9,02,096 units in the previous year, according to the data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Meanwhile, domestic passenger car sales, driven by Maruti, Hyundai India, Tata Motors and Honda Siel, jumped by 17.78 per cent to 8,19,918 units last fiscal. Maruti Udyog's sales jumped by 16.6 per cent in the period to 4,17,179 units, followed by Tata Motors at 1,44,827 units. Hyundai recorded the third highest domestic car sales in the period with sales of 1,41,870 units. The compact car segment accounted for the bulk of sales in the period at 4,96,270 units.

Meanwhile, two-wheeler sales also crossed a significant landmark in the last fiscal with sales crossing 6 million units. Total two-wheeler sales, driven by motorcycles, grew 15.75 per cent to 6,208,860 units in 2004-05. Motorcycle sales - driven by Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda and new entrant Honda Motorcycles and Scooter India (HMSI) - grew 19 per cent to 49,64,442 units in 2004-05.

Sales of scooters/scooterettee increased by only 4.2 per cent to 9,23,566 units in the last fiscal with HMSI and TVS Motor Company being the only two companies which did not see a dip in sales in the year.

According to the data, the commercial vehicles segment, driven largely by growing sales of goods carriers, saw a 22 per cent increase in sales to 3,18,438 units in 2004-05.

Overall automobile exports, meanwhile, jumped by 31.2 per cent in the year to 6,29,887 units with passenger cars and motorcycles contributing to the bulk of exports.
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National jute policy unveiled
New Delhi: The National Jute Policy was unveiled on the Bengali New Year. The policy targets jute exports of Rs5000 crore by 2010, an increase of 400 per cent from the current Rs1000 crore.

Under the new policy, a national jute board will be created with both public and private sector players, and jute technology missions will aid farmers by providing R&D and better seeds.

"The ministry is asking for Rs350 crores for R&D, seed development and help to small scale industry," said Shankarsinh Vaghela, Union Minister for Textiles.

However, the real thrust could be on finding new uses for jute. The fibre is now being used for roads and railway line construction, and a pilot project with the Ministry of Rural Development is already in progress in five states across India. There is also the question of extending jute packaging to different products, which offers obvious advantages of a chemical-free alternative. Jute packaging also lets the food breathe by letting moisture in.
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