Government Sops for SMEs Welcomed by Entrepreneurs

September 28th, 2009 LONDON - The announcement of a national scheme for Scotland to protect tenants' deposits and provide Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Private Rented Sector has been welcomed by The Tenancy Deposit Scheme, TDS. The Scheme has offered to provide assistance wherever it can.

September 20th, 2009 LONDON - - Successful Businesspeople are Opening up and Revealing How They've Managed to Prevail Within a Challenging Economic Climate - and They're Telling Their Stories to www.BusinessWings.co.uk. Many embryonic entrepreneurs are being reassured by the wise words passed down from experienced businesspeople.

September 2nd, 2009 BERLIN - - Affordable upgrade kit and set-top-phone empowering consumers and SMEs to do Full/True HD Video Conferencing with their existing PC and TV screens faceVsion Technology Inc., a market innovator in enabling HD video communications for consumers and SMEs, announced today the availability of upgrade kits for PC users to power up their computers for two-way HD (720p/1080p) video communications over open broadband networks. The company will be showcasing in IFA a comprehensive range of products allowing HD video calls conducted through XMPP, SIP, and direct IP-to-IP connections.

August 25th, 2009 LONDON - Unite, Britain's biggest union, has today (26th August) welcomed the Government's plans to appoint a Chief Adviser on construction. The Chief Adviser will have responsibility for strategy and equipping Britain's construction industry with the necessary skills and knowledge to compete in the 21st century.

August 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - - SME Cluster Study 2009 Will Focus on 6 Major SME Clusters in India - Study With Cluster Specific Industrial Information Will Benefit Buyers Hugely - Findings and Analysis of the Study Will be Discussed Through Cluster Specific Series of Events India's largest online B2B marketplace, IndiaMART.com, has join hands with Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) for its Indian SME Cluster Study 2009. The study, which would contain an in-depth analysis of six major industrial clusters in the country, would highlight the industries working in each of the six regions.

May 31st, 2009 OCEANSIDE, California - Foamtec International LLC today introduced PharmaMOP(TM), the cleanroom industry's lightest weight mop for cleaning and disinfecting aseptic manufacturing areas. At 485 grams, PharmaMOP(TM) sets the standard for ergonomics, allowing implementation of ceiling, wall and floor cleaning SOPs without strain.

May 7th, 2009 LONDON - Telnic Limited (www.telnic.org), the registry operator for the new communications-focused .tel top level domain (TLD), is pleased to announce today that the Seed Network (www.seednetwork.com), Lynne Franks' community for Women's Enterprise, has joined the .tel community. Seed Network is partnering with Domainmonster.com ( www.domainmonster.com/seed), which will be donating GBP2.00 to charities supporting women for every domain sold to Seed Network entrepreneurs and associates.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - Unite the union which represents hundreds of Forest Commission workers has today welcomed the Scottish Government's announcement to abandon proposals to lease up to 25% of Scottish woodlands to private companies. Unite, the UK's largest trade union, has also reiterated its call for the Scottish Government to also abandon its proposals to scarp the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (SAWB) which protects the terms and conditions and sets the wage levels for 25,000 workers in Scotland's agricultural sector.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - Unite, Britain's biggest union, has welcomed the successful second reading of the Statutory Redundancy Pay Amendment Bill which would increase to GBP500 a week the amount of pay used to calculate compensation for workers made redundant. Unite the union is calling on the government to introduce the measure through the forthcoming budget.

March 11th, 2009 BRUSSELS - The 3rd European Space Agency (ESA) Investment Forum will take place near Brussels (Dolce La Hulpe) on the 7th of April 2009. It brings together international investors specialised in seed and early stage funding, looking for hot new ideas, with innovative fledgling high-tech companies, who are seeking funds to get their business up and running.

March 4th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Despite government efforts to facilitate organised growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the sector continues to face serious constraints such as access to funds, timely financing and technology support, an apex body of management professionals and associations said Tuesday. 'A recent national sample survey has revealed that 92 percent of unorganised enterprises in India do not receive financial assistance from banks or other sources,' said All India Management Association (AIMA) SME committee chairman J.S.

June 14th, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR - The youth wing of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) has decided to intensify efforts to aid Malay Indian small and medium entrepreneurs get easy loans. MIC Youth chief T.

January 28th, 2009 SURAT - The Congress party Thursday asked the Gujarat government to take immediate steps to help recession-hit small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and diamond units. Addressing the media at Valsad, 270 km from Ahmedabad and 50 km from here, Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil said the central government had announced two packages but the state government was wooing only big industries and ignoring the small and medium enterprises.

May 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The World Bank has approved a $400 million additional financing loan to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), designed to improve access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This additional financing will help scale up the fully disbursed original project which the World Bank had approved in November 2004, the bank announced Thursday.

July 6th, 2009 MUMBAI - The All India Association of Industries (AIAI) has welcomed the hikes in allocations for infrastructure, agriculture and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for exports in the fiscal 2009-10 budget announced Monday, and termed the move as growth-oriented". According to AIAI president Vijay Kalantri, the increased allocation of Rs.5,000 crore for railways, 23 percent for national highways, higher allocation for gas grid, Rs.7,000 crore for rural electrification and 87 percent increase in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission would generate employment and serve as a growth stimulus.

February 3rd, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Chief executives of Technopark companies here Wednesday asked the Kerala government to announce a stimulus package for the state's IT industry, which has been hit hard by the economic slowdown. The Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH), a body representing the CEOs of the companies in Technopark, expected hope that the government would come up with some sops for the industry in the next state budget, to be presented later this month.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission has issued a notice to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for violating the model code of conduct. The Election Commission has demanded reply from Chidambaram for allegedly offering poll sops during his Rajasthan visit for a security review.

July 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A majority of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India are still struggling to cope with the global slowdown and remain unaware about the stimulus measures taken by the government to help them, says an industry survey. "Ninety-four percent of the respondents reported that their overall business has been affected severely or moderately due to the current economic slowdown," said the survey conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

March 19th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and state-run Union Bank of India (UBI) Wednesday signed an agreement for fostering research on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The bank will provide a grant of Rs.20 million for starting 'Union Bank Chair Professor of SME' at IIM-A and for carrying out research programmes titled 'Union Bank Research Programme on the SME Segment' for a period of six years, institute director Samir Barua told reporters.

February 17th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac Wednesday hinted that his budget, to be presented Friday, would have some special offers for the large number of NRIs, who are returning home after losing their jobs due to the economic slowdown. 'The situation in the Middle East is such that by June this year more than 200,000 people will return.