Indo-Israel free trade pact likely by year-end

Hyderabad: The Indo-Israel Free Trade Agreement may be concluded by the year end, paving the way for deeper engagement between the two countries, according to a senior Israeli diplomat.
“It should have been signed by the end of last year, but it got delayed. I am expecting that it will be finalised by this year end,” Avi Friedman, Consul for Trade and Economic Affairs, Head of Trade Section, Consulate General of Israel, said.
This agreement could significantly increase bi-lateral trade, currently at $4.5 billion, excluding the defence sector, he told Business Line . Friedman identified the cyber sector as a new potential area for greater cooperation, especially in the context of preventing cyber attacks.
“India is a victim of cyber attacks in the power and oil and gas sectors. Even Israel is faced with cyber attacks (hacking of key installations),” he said.
A Frost and Sullivan report says the cyber defence market for oil and gas industries alone may reach $3.75 billion globally by 2021. Russian security firm Kaspersky pointed that India follows Russia in the number of cyber attacks faced, with UK, Ukraine and Vietnam being other victims.

India has the Second Fastest Growing Services Sector with Compound Annual Growth Rate at 9 Per Cent

New Delhi: India has the second fastest growing services sector with its Compound Annual Growth Rate at 9.0 per cent, just below China’s 10.9 per cent, during 2001 to 2012. Also, India ranked 12th in terms of services Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2012 among the world’s top 15 countries in terms of GDP. While services share in World GDP was 65.9 per cent and in employment was only 44 per cent in 2012, in India, they were 56.9 per cent and 28.1 per cent respectively.
GDP
Services constitute a 57 per cent share in GDP at factor cost (at current prices) in 2013-14, an increase of 6 percentage points over 2000-01. Despite deceleration, services GDP growth at 6.8 per cent was above the 4.7 per cent overall GDP in 2013-14. The growth rate of the combined category of trade, hotels, restaurants, transport, storage, and communications decelerated to 3.0 per cent while financing, insurance, real estate, and business services grew robustly at 12.9 per cent.
FDI
In 2013-14, FDI inflows to the services sector (top five sectors including construction) declined sharply by 37.6 per cent to US$ 6.4 billion compared to an overall growth in FDI inflows at 6.1 per cent resulting in the share of the top five services in total FDI falling to nearly one-sixth.
Exports
India’s increase in share in world services exports from 0.6 per cent in 1990 to 3.3 per cent in 2013 was faster than in merchandise exports. Exports of software services, accounting for 46 per cent of India’s total services exports, decelerated to 5.4 per cent in 2013-14, travel, accounting for a nearly 12 per cent share, witnessed negative growth of 0.4 per cent.

Argentina-based luxury brand La Martina opens store in Delhi

Mumbai: Argentina-based luxury brand La Martina, a polo lifestyle company known for its apparel, technical equipment and accessories, has started operations with its maiden store in Delhi.
The 1,800 sq ft standalone store was opened at luxury mall DLF Emporio.
Eliana Koulas, Director of Luxus Retail, the Indian franchisee for La Martina, said La Martina has a strong association with vacations and leisure.”
La Martina has also diversified the brand to add general fashion products for ladies, men and kids. The apparel and accessories are priced between Rs 8,900 and Rs 66,800.
La Martina has offices in North and South America, Switzerland and the UK.

Glenmark gets USFDA nod to launch anti-hypertension drug in US

Mumbai: Glenmark Generics Inc, USA, a subsidiary of Glenmark Generics, has been granted final abbreviated new drug approval (ANDA) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for Telmisartan tablets, indicated for the treatment of hypertension. Glenmark is to commence distribution of the product immediately.
Telmisartan tablets are Glenmark’s generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Micardis. The approval is for the 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg tablets. For the 12-month period ended March 31, 2014, Telmisartan garnered annual sales of $250 million, according to IMS Health.
Glenmark’s current portfolio consists of 92 products authorised for distribution in the US market and 73 ANDAs pending approval with the USFDA. In addition to these internal filings, the company continues to identify and explore external development partnerships to supplement and accelerate the growth of the existing pipeline and portfolio.
Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals were trading at Rs 595.60 per scrip in the mid-day trade, up 1.09 per cent from the previous close on the BSE.

Rail Budget 2014: 58 new trains to be introduced, 11 existing trains to be extended

New Delhi: Proposing to introduce new 58 new trains, Railway Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday said that these will include five Jansadharan Trains, five Premium Trains, six AC express trains, 27 express trains, eight passenger trains, two MEMU services and five DEMU services this year.
Announcing this in Parliament while presenting the rail budget, Gowda also proposed to extend the run of 11 existing trains. Gowda said these services would be meeting the demand surges which manifest themselves on special occasions.
He said that special trains would continue to run to meet the holiday and festival rush including services for Melmaruvathur, Velankanni, Jhalawar etc. Here is the list of new trains that have been announced in the Railway Budget:
NEW TRAINS
Jansadharan Trains
Ahmedabad-Darbhanga Jansadharan Express via Surat
Jaynagar-Mumbai Jansadharan Express
Mumbai-Gorakhpur Jansadharan Express
Saharasa-Anand Vihar Jansadharan Express via Motihari
Saharasa-Amritsar Jansadharan Express
Premium Trains
Mumbai Central-New Delhi Premium AC Express
Shalimar-Chennai Premium AC Express
Secunderabad-- Hazrat Nizamuddin Premium AC Express
Jaipur-Madurai Premium Express
Kamakhya-Bengaluru Premium Express
AC Express Trains
Vijayawada-NewDelhiAPExpress(Daily)
LokmanyaTilak(T)-Lucknow(Weekly)
Nagpur-Pune(Weekly)
Nagpur-Amritsar(Weekly)
Naharlagun-NewDelhi(Weekly)
Nizamuddin-Pune(Weekly)
Express Trains
Ahmedabad-Patna Express(Weekly)via Varanasi
Ahmedabad- Chennai Express(Bi-weekly)via Vasai Road
Bengaluru -Mangalore Express(Daily)
Bengaluru -Shimoga Express(Bi-weekly)
Bandra(T)-Jaipur Express(Weekly)Via Nagda,Kota
Bidar-Mumbai Express(Weekly)
Chhapra-Lucknow Express (Tri- weekly)viaBallia,Ghazipur,Varanasi
Ferozpur-Chandigarh Express(6 days a week)
Guwahati-Naharlagun Intercity Express(Daily)
Guwahati-Murkongselek Intercity Express(Daily)
Gorakhpur-Anand Vihar Express(Weekly)
Hapa-Bilaspur Express(Weekly)via Nagpur
Hazur Saheb Nanded-Bikaner Express(Weekly)
Indore-Jammu Tawi Express(Weekly)
Kamakhya-Katra Express(Weekly)via Darbhanga
Kanpur-Jammu Tawi Express(Bi-weekly)
Lokmanya Tilak(T)-Azamgarh Express(Weekly)
Mumbai_Kazipeth Express(Weekly)via Balharshah
Mumbai-Palitana Express(Weekly)
New Delhi -Bhatinda Shatabdi Express(Bi-weekly)
New Delhi-Varanasi Express(Daily)
Paradeep-Howrah Express(Weekly)
Paradeep-Visakhapatnam Express(Weekly)
Rajkot-Rewa Express(Weekly)
Ramnagar-Agra Express(Weekly)
Tatanagar Baiyyappanahali (Bengaluru) Express(Weekly)
Visakhapatnam-Chennai Express(Weekly)
Passenger Trains
Bikaner-Rewari Passenger(Daily)
Dharwad-Dandeli Passenger(Daily)via Alnavar
Gorakhpur-Nautanwa Passenger(Daily)
Guwahati-Mendipathar Passenger(Daily)
Hatia-Rourkela Passenger
Byndoor-Kasaragod Passenger(Daily)
Rangapara North-Rangiya Passenger(Daily)
Yesvantpur-Tumkur Passenger(Daily)
MEMU services
Bengaluru -Ramanagaram 6 days a week(3Pairs)
Palwal-Delhi-Aligarh
DEMU services
Bengaluru -Neelmangala (Daily)
Chhapra-Manduadih (6days a week)via Ballia
Baramula-Banihal (Daily)
Sambalpur-Rourkela (6 days a week)
Yesvantpur -Hosur (6 days a week)
EXTENSION OF RUN OF EXISTING TRAINS
22409/22410 Anand Vihar Sasaram Garib Rath Express to Gaya
12455/12456 Delhi Sarai Rohilla Sriganganagar Express to Bikaner
15231/15232 Gondia Muzaffarpur Express to Barauni
12001/12002 New Delhi Bhopal Shatabdi Express to Habibganj
54602 Ludhiana-Hissar Passenger to Sadulpur
55007/55008 Sonpur-Kaptanganj Passenger to Gorakhpur
55072/55073 Gorakhpur-Thawe Passenger to Siwan
63237/63238Buxar-Mughalsarai MEMU to Varanasi
63208/63211 Jhajha-Patna MEMU to Jasidih
64221/64222 Lucknow Hardoi MEMU to Shahjahanpur
68002/68007 Howrah-Belda MEMU to Jaleswar

Ministry lays special emphasis on education

Mumbai: The ministry of railways has taken some initiatives to help its staff continue their education and to encourage the spirit of innovation.
“The railways proposes to set up an Innovations Incubation Centre to harness the ideas generated from the staff and convert them into practical solutions to increase efficiency of the railways,” said minister Sadananda Gowda.
This is akin to the concept of incubation centres in engineering and management schools, where students’ business and project ideas are mentored by professors and visiting industry officials, to determine viability and ability to be transformed into a successful venture.
“The railways’ workforce, due to its sheer number, is a gold-mine of ideas. If there is a professional platform to analyse their ideas and convert them into solutions, it could lead to newer innovations in our railway systems. However, there should be a proper mix of internal and external mentors to harness their ideas,” said the head of the entrepreneurship and incubation cell at an Indian Institute of Technology. Further, Gowda said these innovations, which result in cost saving and revenue generation, will be rewarded.
As part of this exercise, it is also proposed to set up summer internships for the undergraduates of engineering and management studies. Students can intern at any of the various units of the railways - division, railway public-sector units and production units. The Indian Railways is one of the largest employers in India with more than 1.36 million employees selected through a competitive examination.
According to placement officials of business schools, it would be an enriching experience for students to intern with the Railways.
“Although we don’t know how many students would be given an opportunity to intern, this will be a hands-on experience in a very large enterprise and would reflect highly in the student's curriculum vitae in the future," said the chief placement officer of a Mumbai-based business school.
Some placement heads, however, added that students from the top three to five management schools, which are particularly focused on the job-role and pay package, may not be comfortable in a government functioning since it is not explicitly stated whether these students would be given a stipend. However, the dean of a private engineering institute in West Bengal said students in the instrumentation and mechanical fields would find these internships extremely useful from a practical knowledge perspective.
The minister has said that railways is also contemplating on setting up a Railway University for both technical and non-technical subjects. “Indian Railways will tie up with technical institutions for introducing railway-oriented subject for graduation and skill development,” he said. Officials close to the development said the university would provide degree programmes starting this year. Currently, there are several institutes floated by the railway ministry that provide diploma courses.
Staff at the ground level will be sent for short-duration courses of technical and non-technical nature, involving locally-available technical institutions. The exposure for specialised areas such as high-speed, heavy haul operations etc will be undertaken for all level of staff and officers at appropriate institutes in India and abroad.
The ministry has institutes like Indian Railways Institute of Electrical Engineering, Indian Railways Institute of Civil Engineering, and National Academy of Indian Railways for training its officials. The Institute of Rail Transport offers diploma programmes to railway and non-railway professionals in the areas of transport economics and management, logistics management, and rail transport and management.

India, UK to set up Financial Partnership in three months

New Delhi: India and the UK have agreed to launch a UK-India Financial Partnership that will aim to promote closer ties between Mumbai and London as financial centres.
The strategic partnership — to be supported by both the Governments and the respective financial services industries — will be set up over the next three months, according to a joint statement issued by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.
This followed the seventh round of UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue held here on Tuesday.
In the first year, the deal will cover the following work-streams: collaboration to develop the Indian corporate bond market; mutual sharing of expertise on banking regulation and capitalisation; enhancing financial training and qualification; financial inclusion; (v) and developing a programme around the opportunities to improve cross-border provision of financial and insurance services.

Venture capital investments surge; reflects optimism about India's entrepreneurial ecosystem

Mumbai: Venture capital (VC) investments surged during the first half of 2014, reflecting optimism about India's entrepreneurial ecosystem and the potential of the country's market.
According to data from audit and advisory firm E&Y, investments in early-stage companies and startups rose nearly 40% to 121 deals with the transaction value jumping 66% to $605 million (Rs 3,630 crore), compared with the same period in 2013.
Venture capital investments are at their highest level for the first half since 2010, when $663 million (Rs 3,978 crore) was invested across 51 deals.
"The 15 years I have been involved in India, this is the most healthy venture ecosystem I have ever seen," said Avnish Bajaj of Matrix Partners India, who founded e-commerce venture Baazee in 2000 before becoming a VC in 2006.
He said that factors like a deep consumer market, hungry entrepreneurs and different business models are providing an interesting market for risk capital firms. VC investments in 2014 so far are close to overtaking the entire amount deployed in 2013, when $630 million (Rs 3,780 crore) was ploughed in across 179 deals.
VC investments had reached a high in 2011 when $1.3 billion (Rs 7,800 crore) was invested in 159 deals

PMI points to boost in manufacturing

New Delhi: Manufacturing activity rose a four-month high in June, albeit the pick-up was too gradual, shows a widely-tracked HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).
The index rose 51.5 points in June from 51.4 points in the previous month. A reading above 50 denotes expansion while one below 50 implies contraction.
PMI has been slowly picking up pace since April. However, it was nowhere close to 52.5 points in February.
The slow pace suits the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as otherwise higher growth would push up inflation, said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economic Research at HSBC.
“The muted pace will suit the RBI: since input and output prices are rising as well, faster growth would only stoke inflation and require tightening,” he said.
Even then, inflation of final products rose to an eight-month high. Also, higher prices paid for metals, plastics, textiles, food and energy led to a further increase in average purchase prices, said Markit Economics, a financial information firm which compiles the PMI data.
Input cost and output price inflation accelerated over the month, although in both cases the rates of increase were below their respective long-run averages, it said.
Markit Economics said greater domestic and foreign demand led companies to increase production levels further.
Buying activity expanded at a faster rate, while employment continued to rise.
The financial information firm said operating conditions improved for the eighth month in succession, although modestly.
Output expanded at the fastest pace since February, with survey respondents indicating that growth reflected the signing of new contracts.
All three broad areas of the manufacturing sector registered higher production volumes, led by consumer goods producers.
The sharpest rise was noted at consumer goods firms, a finding which contradicts the latest official index of industrial production (IIP). Both consumer durables and fast moving consumer goods fell in May IIP.
The June data highlighted a marked and accelerated expansion of new export orders received by Indian manufacturers. Officially, exports grew by double digits in May. If PMI is any indicator, exports may continue their upsurge in June as well.

France extends €1b for sustainable development projects in India

New Delhi: France plans to extend a €1-billion credit line to India for funding sustainable infrastructure and urban development. This was announced by Laurent Fabius, France’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, on Tuesday.
The credit line, which is to be available over three years, will be given through the French Development Agency (AFD).
Curbing temperature rise
France is to host the next edition of the World Climate Conference in Paris in 2015. Fabius urged nations to come together and agree on limiting global warming to an average global temperature increase of below two degrees Celsius when they meet in Paris for the conference.
Globally, the attempt is to curb the rise in temperature to under two degrees to reduce the impact of climate change. Studies predict that a global rise in temperature by two degree celsius could lead to a 20 per cent dip in water availability, severely impacting food production and causing other disasters.
Fabius also charted five areas of cooperation between France and India — on carbon-free energy (off-shore wind energy, ocean thermal energy); on civilian nuclear energy; water-management in the context of various projects on rivers in India; urban development; and space and earth observation.
A six-member French delegation led by Fabius met Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forests and Climate Change on Tuesday.
Javadekar suggested that part of the Green Climate Fund could be used to buy technology IPRs, which would help developing countries transition to climate-resilient development, an official release said.
He said the Government’s focus on poverty eradication and providing energy access to all would ensure sustainable, balanced development.