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US says India is 'perfect candidate' for UNSC seat
New Delhi: Visiting US Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns has said that the United States feels that India is a perfect candidate for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

This statement comes a week after US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's statement saying that the United States is open to increasing the number of permanent members on the UNSC by two. With the United States announcing last week that it backs Japan for one of the two permanent seats on the UNSC, it was assumed that India as an Asian country was at a definite disadvantage to claim the second seat.

But now, visiting US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns has clarified that India was a perfect candidate and that Asia would not be over-represented.

The criteria given by Burns for this is a large developing country with a substantial population, which is democratic with a history of committing resources to the UN and also with a strong commitment to countering terrorism. During his talks with Indian officials in New Delhi, Burns made it clear that the United States had still not decided which country to back for the second permanent seat.

But he said that President George W Bush will take the decision.
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Montek: Rain delay and oil prices not to hit GDP
Mumbai: Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has maintained that the Commission's assessment of around 7% economic growth for the current fiscal remains unchanged. This is despite the delayed monsoon and spike in global crude oil prices.

The National Development Council (NDC) will review the performance of the economy, on Monday and Tuesday at a mid-term appraisal. According to Dr Ahluwalia, the NDC will discuss 59 important policy initiatives to give further fillip to the economy so that 8% growth can be attained.

Dr Ahluwalia, who was speaking to newspersons after delivering the Sir Purushotamdas Thakurdas Memorial Lecture, organised by the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance, felt that it was too early to warrant any reassessment of the growth prospects.

"India should aim for an 8% 'inclusive' growth. Given that over 60% of the population depends on agriculture for livelihood, 'inclusive' growth will happen only if the agriculture sector doubles its growth rate to 4%. This growth should come via diversification in the agriculture sector by focusing on development in areas like horticulture, dairy farming, livestock, et al," he said.

The deputy chairman observed that unlike the rest of the world, India did not rush headlong on the path of liberalisation. India had an even keel, gradual approach to liberalising its economy, avoiding upswings and downswings.
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Cabinet nod for GDN headquarters in India
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Thursday has approved the establishment of the Global Development Network (GDN) as an international organisation with its headquarters in Delhi.

GDN is a global network of research and policy institutes working together to address the problems of national and regional development. It began as a unit of the World Bank and provides funds for new research through regional competitions, supports networking through global research projects and conferences, and builds capacity of electronic networking through the GDN.

The Cabinet has also approved the signing of the "Agreement Establishing the GDN" by India as a "State Party," Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, informed reporters.
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Inflation rate inches up to 4.33 per cent
New Delhi: After falling continuously for six weeks in a row, the annual rate of inflation inched up marginally to 4.33% during the week ended June 11 due to costlier vegetables and fruits, from 4.22% in the previous week.

The point-to-point wholesale price index (WPI) was 6.58% a year ago.

The WPI rose by 0.1% to 192.6 points due to costlier primary articles, even as fuel and manufactured prices stood unchanged. The index was 184.6 points in the year-ago period. The impact of rise in prices of petroleum goods on inflation will become visible in the coming weeks. The government increased the prices of petrol and diesel with effect from June 21.

The index of mass consumption primary articles' group was up 0.3% to 189.7 points due to costlier food articles and the index was 190.7 points in the year-ago period.

Food articles' group index increased by 0.5% to 191 points owing to higher prices for eggs (6%), vegetables (2%) and fruits, mutton, bajra, arhar, barley and rice (1% each).
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