Bulgaria has invited Indian companies to invest in its various sectors such as pharmaceuticals, tourism, agriculture and food processing.

Speaking at a function in New Delhi on Monday, Bulgarian Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Delian Dobrev said there is a huge potential for Indian investors in sectors like auto components, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food processing, electronics and tourism.

Talking about the bilateral trade between India and Bulgaria, he said, there is a lot of potential which needs to be tapped.

India and Russia have decided to accelerate their economic ties and agreed to factor in New Delhi's liability concerns in their techno-commercial negotiations for units III and IV of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

After talks with the visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in New Delhi on Monday, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna told reporters at a joint press conference that both the sides discussed the preparatory work for units III and IV.cost of electricty has risne because of delay...at the end societ as whole and people invidualy have tp pay for it.

Saying that a techno-commercial agreement is being negotiated, he expressed hope that a mutually satisfactory result will be arrived at.

Mr. Krishna was responding to a question on the progress on units III and IV of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, which is embroiled in differences over perceptions over India's civil nuclear liability.

Both Krishna and Rogozin agreed to step up trade and investment and shared the perception that the economic ties between the two countries are much below potential. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin co chaired the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission meeting on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC TEC) during which they also deliberated on these issues.The two leaders agreed that efforts have to be made to achieve the desired bilateral trade target of 20 billion US Dollars by 2015.

Ahead of his meeting, Rogozin had on Sunday said the cost of the third and fourth units of the Kudankulam atomic power plant would escalate if it is brought under the purview of India's civil nuclear liability law over which differences remained.

Differences in perception over the nuclear liability law have become a bone of contention between India and Russia in negotiations on units III and IV. The law makes foreign suppliers liable for compensation in the event of accident.

Russia argues that the civil nuclear liability law should not apply to these units as the agreement on them predates the 2010 civil liability law, and could be seen as grandfathered by the original 1988 agreement while India has clearly stated that making an exception for Russia will amount to diluting its law which will encourage the US and France to seek similar exemptions, which it cannot afford.

The estimated cost of units III and IV is 6.4 billion Dollars , of which 3.4 billion will be taken care of by Russian state credits.Rogozin has given an assurance that the reactors were safest in the world.

The visiting dignitary also asserted that it was important to understand the liability and responsibility of Indian and Russian governments in creating a favourable and stable investment climate as far mutual business was concerned.

ndia is determined to strengthen friendly and cross border trade relations with its all neighbouring countries especially with Pakistan. Various steps are on the anvil to enhance immigration of passengers and cross border trade between both parts of Jammu an Kashmir through Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing point. This was stated by Union Home Minister, Mr. Susheel Kumar Shinde during his visit to Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing point in Poonch today while addressing traders. Responding to demands of traders , Home Minister assured full help from the Centre and promised to remove all hurdles in the path of strengthening of cross-LoC trade with Pakistan. Shinde also reviewed the security situation in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri at Poonch. The Home Minister also visited Suchetgarh and interacted with several delegations before flying to Srinagar. During his visit to Suchetgarh the Union Home Minister took stock of overall security scenario in the Octroi Post on International Border. He also inspected various units of the post and interacted with the BSF commanders and jawans. Shinde expressed satisfaction over a notable decline in infiltration graph of the state and lauded the security forces for foiling the attempts of infiltration with a firm determination and added vigour. Later, the Union Minister interacted with top brass of Border Security Force (BSF) and got a detailed description about the security set-up in the region.

S President Barack Obama has blocked a Chinese-led group from purchasing several wind farms near a US naval station, saying the acquisition threatened the country's national security.

According to US officials, the wind farm sites are all within or near restricted air space at an Oregon naval weapons system training base where pilotless drone aircraft are being tested.

The President's move forces the company Ralls Corporation to divest its stake in the projects. It is the first time since 1990 that an American President blocked a foreign business deal.

 S President Barack Obama is expected to file a new trade complaint against China, accusing it of illegally subsidising exports of cars and car parts. Mr. Obama will announce at the World Trade Organization (WTO) action against China when he visits the US state of Ohio during a campaign stop later today. In the latest wrangle, the Obama administration clams that China's illegal subsidies in the car sector totalled one billion dollars between 2009 and 2011.

The US President believes that the subsidies encourage the US to outsource car and car parts production to China, with these products then exported into the US or other nations. Obama's move is seen as political. Last week, President Obama's main Republican rival Mitt Romney accused Mr Obama of being too soft on China. Almost immediately after Mr. Obama's plans were revealed, China requested formal negotiations with the US over extra duties imposed on Chinese tyre imports.

 ndia and China will set up a joint working group to address all their trade related issues to strengthen economic relationship. At the ninth session of the India-China Joint Group on Economic Relations, Trade, Science and Technology in New Delhi today, the two also agreed to work on a five-year plan for furthering economic co-operation.Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming led their business teams at the meeting.

Addressing a joint press conference, Mr.Sharma said,the joint working group will be established soon and it will give its recommendations and assessments in 90 days.The visiting minister Deming said that during the time of global economic crisis, there was a need for strengthening India-China economic relationship. He also expressed hope of achieving USD 100 billion bilateral trade target by 2013.

Mr.Sharma invited Chinese firms to invest in the proposed national investment and manufacturing zone. Mr.Deming also asked Indian businessmen to participate in the fairs and exhibitions in China in order to increase their exports. AIR correspondent reports,in 2011-12, bilateral trade between the countries stood at 75.45 billion US Dollars .

 Police in Peru have seized more than 16,000 dried seahorses, destined to be exported illegally to Asian countries where they are in demand for Chinese medicines and as an alleged aphrodisiac. Peruvian authorities say the illicit cargo was worth a quarter of a million dollars. Sea horses are recognised internationally as an endangered species and catching them is illegal in Peru

if the time is ripe for something, it is a good time to do it or for it to happen (often + for ) British socialists were convinced that the time was ripe for fundamental social change. (often + to do sth) Many employers feel the time is ripe to give workforces a bigger share of the profits they have helped to create.
Seahorse is the title given to forty-seven species of marine fish in the genus Hippocampus. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek hippos meaning "horse" and kampos meaning "sea monster

India will construct a four-lane bridge on the river Feni in Tripura's South district to connect Chittagong division of Bangladesh to boost bilateral trade between the two countries, official sources said on Wednesday in Agartala.

The decision to construct the bridge with four-lane facilities was taken in a high level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), the sources said.

Earlier technocrats of the two neighbouring countries had completed the survey for constructing the 150-metre long bridge and placed their survey reports to the concerned ministries which okayed the proposal.

Approximately 73 crore rupees would be spent to construct the bridge which would be borne by the Tripura government, the sources said.

The central government has agreed to construct a Land Custom Station (LCS) at Sabroom adjacent to the neighbouring country.

India has stressed the need for free movement of labour across borders. Addressing the Global Investment Conference in London, Commerce and Industry Minister Mr Anand Sharma said if the trade paradigm is viewed from a perspective of generating sustainable employment, it is imperative to address the issue of free movement of labour across borders. Mr Sharma wondered as to why in today's globalised world, where capital and technology move with unprecedented speed and volumes across national boundaries, labour cannot move.

Stating that India has engaged with all dynamic and emerging parts of the world in a spirit of true partnerships, Mr Sharma said that New Delhi is in an advanced stage of concluding an ambitious Broad based Trade and Investment agreement with the European Union.

He said India, in the last three years, has also signed Trade in Goods Agreement with ASEAN and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with South Korea, Japan and Malaysia

Mr Sharma said that trade during the 21st century is vastly different from that during the last century. He said it is so because the 21st century trade is based on a strong trade and investment linkage which is anchored in international investment in production facilities and trade in intermediate goods.

The minister said at present intermediate goods account for more than half of developed country imports and nearly three quarters of imports of large developing economies.

India and Indonesia today signed an agreement for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

The agreement was signed by the visiting Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Indian Counterpart S.M Krishna at the Hyderabad house in New Delhi this afternoon. Both countries also signed the agreed minutes of the 4th meeting of the Joint commission talks held between the two countries this morning.

Addressing the Joint Press conference along with his visiting Indonesian counterpart, External Affairs Minister S.M Krishna said, the talks were extremely fruitful and reviewed the entire gamut of India-Indonesia bilateral relationship including trade and commerce.

He said, both countries enjoy an excellent relationship based on the solid foundation of historical and cultural ties. Mr. Krishna said, both countries are also hopeful of achieving the trade target of 25 billion US Dollars by 2015.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said, his country enjoys a robust, strong and friendly relationship with India. He said, the two countries have agreed to further strenthening of the bilateral relationship in to a strategic partnership. Mr. Marty Natalegawa said, the India and Indonesia are partners in the Non Aligned Movement and the ASEAN grouping.

(S/B Marty Natalegawa )

In reply to a question, Mr. Marty Natalegawa said, discussion are on to evolve a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea. He said, diffences on the South China sea is a fact, and a Code of Conduct was necessary to ensure the dynamic developments in the region are materialised in a manner conducive to the stability and peace in the region.

External Affairs Minister S.M Krisna said, India had made its stand clear on the issue and favours resolution of all differences for the prosperity of the region and in accordance with international law 

External Affairs Minister S.M Krishna also said, he has conveyed to Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr. Marty that India looks forward to the visit of his Excellency Mr. Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia in December this year for the India-ASEAN commemorative summit.

The government today said, it may ban futures trade in highly volatile agriculture commodities. It has also asked Foward Markets Commission, FMC, to monitor the price movement of some agriculture commodities. Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K V Thomas told reporters in New Delhi that if need arises, those items where high fluctuations are seen, will be pulled out of the futures market. Mr Thomas added that price situation in the futures market will be reviewed with FMC this week.

At present, futures trade in urad, arhar and rice is banned, while it is permitted in wheat, sugar, soya oil, mustard seed, soyabean and some others. There are five national and 16 regional exchanges in the country. FMC regulates these bourses. The Commission is already monitoring the price movement of five agricultural commodities - potato, chana, soyabean, soya oil and mustard seeds.

India's exports contracted by 5.45 per cent, year-on-year basis, to 25.07 billion US Dollars in June due to the persisting global economic slowdown.

According to the Director General of Foreign Trade A Pujai that imports also declined by 13.46 per cent to 35.37 US Dollar billion, leaving a trade deficit of 10.30 billion US Dollar.

Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary S R Rao told reporters in New Delhi today that exports have contracted but trade deficit is also coming down. 

During the April-June quarter of this fiscal exports have shrunk 1.7 per cent to 75.2 billion US Dollar over the first quarter of 2011-12. Imports have also dipped by 6.1 per cent during the first quarter of 2012-13 to 115.26 billion US Dollar.

Trade deficit in first quarter has declined to 40.06 billion US Dollar from 46.30 billion US Dollar in April-June last fiscal.

Jul 10,  12:44 PM China's trade surplus widened in June as import growth weakened, underscoring worries about both the domestic and global economy. The customs bureau said the trade surplus grew to 31.73 billion dollar up 42.9 per cent from the same month last year. The main contributor was weak imports which grew 6.3 per cent, about half the pace, analysts were expecting. China's domestic economy has been one of the major drivers of global growth.

During the meeting, the two ministers agreed to hasten the Preferential Trade Agreement negotiations. 

They also agreed to deepen economic engagement between the two countries. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sharma said, the bilateral economic and commercial ties between the two sides have shown a healthy upward trajectory. He, however, said there is still a lot of untapped potential in diversifying commercial exchanges. 

The minister said there is scope to further deepen the ties in sectors, including agro-processing, manufacturing, drugs and pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, automobile parts, tourism and hospitality.

India has emerged as the largest trading partner of Dubai in the first quarter of 2012-13. The latest data of Dubai foreign trade was released by the Dubai Customs, shows the trade volume in the first quarter between India and Dubai worth 13 billion US Dollars. India was number one exporting and re-exporting country with a volume worth 7 billion dollars.

In terms of imports, India came second at 6 billion dollars after China. The Director General of Dubai Customs, Ahmed Butti Ahmed said, Dubai’s oil foreign trade saw a significant growth of 6.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2012-13, reflecting the resilience and diversity of the economy.

India and China today agreed to step up their defence and security dialogue and work to take steps to ensure that the two countries achieve a 100 billion dollars trade target by 2015.
A decision to this effect was taken during Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s talks with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jibao on the sidelines of the Ri0+ 20 summit at Rio De Janeiro. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said that during the discussion on trade and economic cooperation Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invited Chinese investment in infrastructure sector in India. He said India will commence rice exports to China soon
Mr. Mathai said Prime minister Manmohan singh raised the border issue during his talks. He said it was decided that the special representatives of the two countries who had been holding talks on the issue would submit a report on the developments so far by January next year.
The foreign secretary said that India would setup a inter ministerial group on its side while China would have an official team that would periodically exchange views on maritime issues relating to trade and security.

The government has lifted ban on export of skimmed milk powder, SMP, to improve finances of dairy firms and help milk producers.

Earlier this month, the government had decided to lift export ban on SMP amid surplus availability of milk.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade, DGFT, said in a notification that the classifications of export and import items has been bifurcated and export of new entry namely skimmed milk powder has been made free.

The notification, however, said, exports of milk and cream, concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter, including whole milk powder, dairy whitener and infant milk foods are still prohibited.

AIR correspondent reports, the government had banned SMP exports in February 2011 to contain rise in domestic milk prices.

The dairy industry has been facing liquidity crunch as it could not make profit through sale of skimmed milk powder due to steep fall in domestic prices following surplus supplies.

Domestic prices of SMP have declined to 150 rupees per kg now against 190-200 rupees per kg in the same period last year. Milk production in India, the world's biggest producer, is estimated at over 120 million tonnes in 2011.

The government has set a target of 20 per cent growth in exports during the current financial year while Indian exports registered 20.9 per cent growth in last year to touch 303 billion US dollar. Announcing the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 in New Delhi today, Commerce and Industry and Textile Minister Mr. Anand Sharma unveiled seven-point strategy to boost exports which include extension of interest subsidy scheme till 31st March of next year. Our correspondent reports, the government came out with an interest subvention scheme under which 2 per cent interest subsidy was given to handlooms, handicrafts, carpets and SME sector. The seven point agenda include give a focussed thrust to employment intensive industry, to encourage domestic manufacturing for inputs to export industry, to encourage exports from the North Eastern Region and to provide incentives for manufacturing of green goods recognising the imperative of building capacities for envrionmental sustainability.

India today asserted that the maritime freedom cannot be exclusive prerogative of a few. It said, passage at sea should be preserved to ensure access for all. Speaking at the annual Security Forum meet in Singapore, the Defence Minister Mr.A.K. Antony said, in an era of globalisation(harmonies) and interdependence, the balance between the rights of States and the freedoms of the larger global community is vital for international trade and global security.  Morganton said this at the conference where the developments in the South China Sea were in sharp focus. He reiterated that India has always championed and advocated adherence to the international regime which governs maritime freedoms, even while asserting its national sovereignty where it is applicable. Speaking on Indian perspective on Protecting Maritime Freedoms, Mr. Antony said, maritime security issues have become a strategic priority for India, especially from the aspect of trade, commerce, hydrocarbon resources, terrorism, piracy and drug trafficking.  Our correspondent reports, the South China Sea is vital with about 90 per cent of the global trade moving by sea through the teeming shipping lanes in the Indian ocean and Strait of Malacca. His reference to buildup in the South China Sea region came as the US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta announced at the conference that Washington is moving the majority of its warships into Asia-Pacific region in the coming years. The Defence Minister referred to China by name as he, expressed concern over hike in its defence spending, but said New Delhi did not perceive Beijing as a threat. Favouring a stable and continuous relations with the neighbour, Mr. Antony said that the two countries had started a military-to-military cooperation. The Defence Minister said, even though India does not believe in an arms race, it is strengthening capabilities on borders to protect its national interest. Like India, Japan also expressed concern over lack of transparency in China's massive defence spending, saying this secrecy posed a threat. China's military budget jumped over 11 per cent this year to a staggering 106 billion US Dollars. Mr. Antony also urged China and member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to discuss and settle South China Sea disputes involving some islands among themselves.  India, he said, welcomed the efforts of the parties concerned in engaging in discussions and the recently agreed guidelines on the implementation of the 2002 Declaration of the Conduct of Parties between China and ASEAN.

The Crown Prince of Bahrain,Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa is arriving in Mumbai on a three day Official Visit to India. He will also visit Delhi. He is being accompanied by a high level Ministerial delegation, senior officials and businessmen. This is the second visit of the Crown Prince to India, the last one was in March 2007. 

In Mumbai, he will address business and industry meetings. The Crown Prince will also meet the Governor of Maharashtra.

During his stay in New Delhi, the Crown Prince will meet President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Vice President, Mohammad Hamid Ansari who will host a banquet in his honour and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Minister of External Affairs, Shri S. M. Krishna will call on the Crown Prince.

Our correspondent reports, India and Bahrain enjoy historically close and friendly relations. Presence of nearly 350,000 Indian nationals out of a total of 1.2 million residents in Bahrain is an important aspect of India's bilateral relations with Bahrain. 

Trade and investment cooperation is expanding with trade at present being 1.5 billion US dollars during 2010-11.The visit of the Crown Prince is expected to provide further impetus to our multifaceted engagement with the Kingdom of Bahrain.