Electronically Yours

Bulletin No.20	June, 2006
Monthly News Update of IACC- H.O.
From President's Desk
B Prabhakar National President, IACC	Now that elections are over in five States. New Governments are installed and started functioning. It is the time for initiating further reforms that have been kept on hold for some reasons or the other. Important among them are labor reforms, deepening the liberalization process in finance, insurance and the like. Along with that, the process of disinvestments, which has invited scathing criticism from some of the ruling partners. Should be put back on rail. Pension reforms require a more focused attention. Undoubtedly, taking the reform process to the logical conclusion require political will. In a coalition of parties having apparently divergent political ideologies such delicate balancing acts require circumspection and pragmatic handling. Most of the criticisms on liberalization emanate from the fact that they are not people centric and do not lead to any immediate benefits to the common man. Significantly, the government has initiated many programs that are aimed at the marginalized people in order to bring them to the mainstream such as job guarantee scheme, health care for the people, Bharat Nirman etc. Some how these programs have developed some avoidable hassles at the implementation stage. It is time that these programs are streamlined and implemented in a given timeframe. This will help integrate millions of people, outside the mainstream to come into the fold. Once their basic needs are met, they will appreciate the stake they would have in a reformed economy. There is a synergy between reform acceptability and the level of quality of living of the common man. Reform is a political and economic process. Broad contours of that have to be crystallized by engaging political parties with differing ideological perceptions to discussions to narrow down their differences. But at the same time, the latter, permeating development across the cross section requires micro management focused at the disadvantageous segment of the society. That can not be done exclusively with in the realm of the governmental delivery systems. Help of the non-governmental organizations
Policy framework
FMC May Tie-up with US Regulator	Forward Markets Commission (FMC) may sign an Mou with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for information sharing and training programs. The CFTC was formed in 1974 to regulate commodity futures and options markets in the US. The Indian commodity markets are likely to see a jump in trade volumes once the government clears options trading and allows banks and foreign institutional investors to enter the market. (FE, May 10,2006)
ISRO &NASA Ink Mou	Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will help each other in India's first mission to the moon scheduled for 2007-08. Chandrayaan 1 will be India's first unmanned scientific mission to moon. The main objective of the mission is to investigate distribution of various minerals and chemicals in the lunar surface and mapping of the lunar surface with high resolution three dimensional devices.
US Plans to Post IPR Attaché	In a bid to strengthen Indo-US Cooperation in the realm of IPR, the US Government has decided to post an experienced US Patent and trademark Office (USPTO) Attorney to the US Embassy in New Delhi. The attorney's job will be to work exclusively on furthering the Indo-US Cooperation in IPR (Business Line, 9th may 2006)
Corporate Updates
Anil Nanda to Sell 24.6 % in Goetze to US Company	Ani Nanda has decided to sell his 24.64 per cent stake in automobile component company Goetze India to Federal Mogul Holding of the US for Rs 138 crore. Following the deal, nanda will be left with 4-5 per cent holding in the company (BS, May 10,2006)
US Oak Eyes Investments in Listed Indian	Oak Investmnet Partners, a US Venture Capital company is considering change in strategy in India to include investing in publicly traded companies. The move would be appropriate as many publicly traded companies are suitable for the size of investment Oak Investment normally targets. (Business Line, 9th may 2006)
Glenmark Inks Marketing Pact with ASPEN US	Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has inked a deal with ASPEN US, in its second marketing agreement announced this month targeting the pain segment in the United Sates
Tricom Now Eyes company in US (corporate)	Tricom India Limited or Tricom, the non-voice related ITeS service provider, could be close to acquiring a company in the US Company, but the talks are still in process. Tricom, a company that specializes in document management and data capturing services recently
People to People
USCIS Gets 12,713 H-1B Filings	The proposed immigration reform bills and the latest SKIL Bill in the US Senate may have raised expectations of the IT industry, but visa hopefuls are not leaving anything to chance. The rush for the H-1B visas continues with US Citizenship and immigration services (USCIS) receiving 12,713 H-1B applications as on April 24, this year. (Business Line, 10th may 2006)
US General to brief	Chairman of the American Joint Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace will come to India early next month for a high-level engagement with the hosts to discuss regional security perspectives and the latter's security concerns. The scheduled high profile visit by Gen. Pace to India early next month will take forward the proposed enhancement of the strategic relationship as envisioned in the July 18, 2005 agreement between the two countries. (Asian Age, May 14, 2006)
American Universities	Indians have continued to have crowded American class rooms, their numbers growing over 150 per cent to 80,446 last year. A US$ 13 billion education export industry, it is expected that this segment is going to expand in the US despite some set backs on account of 9/11.