France wooing Indian professionals with liberalised permits

October 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on Wednesday announced the establishment of the Australia-India Council Media Fellowships. hese new fellowship will give India's young media professionals grants of Australian dollars 10,000 (four lakh rupees) to enable them to spend up to six weeks in Australia researching stories of their choice.

August 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Inc. is opposed to protectionism practised by the European Union (EU) by way of agriculture subsidies and non-tariff barriers on services exports and faces adverse conditions in the European market, especially the pharma and IT sectors, a survey by an industry body has revealed.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Promoting Australia as a safe place to study, visiting Immigration Minister Chris Evans Monday said his country was looking at India for skilled human resource, and his government was doing everything to give a safe environment for foreign students and professionals. India is a young country with young people and ours is an ageing country.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian government Monday partially met the "one-rank-one-pension" (OROP) demand of the armed forces, announcing enhanced pensions for soldiers and junior commissioned officers (JCOs) that will entail additional expenditure of Rs.2,100 crores per year. Officers, however, who had initiated the OROP demand, have been ignored.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday announced enhanced pensions for soldiers and junior commissioned officers that will entail additional expenditure of Rs.2,100 crores per year. "The decision will benefit 12 lakh pensioners.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bhutan Prime Minister Jigme Yoser Thinley called on Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here on Wednesday over bilateral economic relationship. Bhutan has liberalised its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) laws to attract Indian investors.

June 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Indias new Trade and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said Monday rich countries must grant Indian professionals more visas as he pressed for a resumption of stalled global trade talks. Sharma, who is in Britain for talks with his opposite number Peter Mandelson, told a gathering of prominent British and Indian businessmen the logjam in the so-called Doha Development Round of trade talks must be broken".

June 19th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Despite the global economic slowdown, the service sector in India contributed 56 percent to the GDP during 2008-09, according to an expert. "With innumerable surveys revealing the immense growth prospects in India and the country being projected as one of the high-growth economies in the world, there is an increasing realisation for the need of more professionals and experts in financial planning," Ranjeet S.

May 12th, 2009 MUMBAI - Indian passengers who travelled from Paris to Mumbai on an Air France flight that was delayed by 28 hours Tuesday alleged that the airline staff ill-treated them and were racially biased. Passengers told reporters after arriving here that Indians were treated shabbily as compared to passengers of other nationalities.

May 7th, 2009 KOLKATA - After the Congress, it is now the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) that is wooing Janata Dal-United leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for a post-alliance with the Left-led Third Front grouping. CPI-M leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Budhhadeb Bhattacharjee Thursday said that the party was in constant touch with Nitish Kumar.

March 23rd, 2009 HAMBURG - World No.1 Rafael Nadal stretched his lead at the top by winning the Indian Wells Masters tennis tournament. Nadal beat fourth-ranked Briton Andy Murray in straight sets Sunday to win the title.

January 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The law ministry will continue to streamline the legal framework to help India's business with the US expand, the government said here Saturday. The ministry is working closely with other ministries, including those handling commerce and industries, in providing suitable legal framework to ensure that the 'two big democracies of the world realise their full potential of business transactions', Law Minister H.R.

January 7th, 2009 CHENNAI - Qualified overseas Indian professionals can soon practice in India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Thursday. 'The overseas Indian citizenship scheme, which we had announced in 2006, has elicited an overwhelming response,' the prime minister told delegates at the seventh Pravasi Bharatiya Divas - India's annual convention to connect with its diaspora.

January 7th, 2009 CHENNAI - The announcement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here Thursday that overseas Indian professionals can practise in India was cautiously welcomed by Durban Deputy Mayor Logie Naidoo. 'It opens up a window of opportunity for many South African Indians, but we must remember that we have been very reliant in recent years on Indian nationals assisting in the development of post-apartheid South Africa,' Naidoo, who is also a speaker at the annual gathering of the diaspora, told IANS.

January 7th, 2009 CHENNAI - Qualified overseas Indian professionals, with Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cards as well as others, can soon practise in India, it was announced here Thursday. The government will extend its new scheme permitting qualified professionals holding Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cards to practise in India to other members of diaspora possessing similar qualification.