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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh honoured by FAO

The Director General of FAO, Dr. Jacques Diouf conferred 'Agricola Award' on the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, at the function of Global Agro-Industries Forum, in New Delhi on April 10, 2008.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been awarded the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) highest distinction, the Agricola Medal for his contribution to agricultural and social development in India. Dr. Singh is the first Indian Prime Minister to receive the honour. The medal was instituted in 1976.

Previous recipients of the Agricola Medal include King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, French President Jacques Chirac, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Pope John Paul II, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, and President Johannes Rau of Germany.

First India-Africa Forum Summit Held

The first India- Africa Summit was held in New Delhi. Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s remarks at a Joint Press interaction at the concluding session of the First India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi

“We have just concluded the First India-Africa Forum Summit. This is a historic Summit between India and countries representing the AU and the Regional Economic Communities of Africa. Over the last two days we have held extremely substantive and productive discussions on all issues which confront India and Africa. The Summit was held in an atmosphere of great friendship, warmth and sense of partnership. The Summit has adopted the Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation. These documents constitute the blueprint for our cooperation in the 21st Century.

Our decision to expand unilateral duty free and preferential market access for exports from all the 50 Least Developed Countries, 34 of which are in Africa, and our offer of lines of credit amounting to $5.4 billion are steps in this direction. The enhancement of our budget for technical assistance and training programmes and, greater opportunities for African students to pursue studies in India reflect the priority we attach to human resource development and capacity building.

Continued on page 02

Record FDI inflows into India

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity capital inflow during the year 2007-08 till February 2008 has reached a record level of US $ 20.1 billion. This is the highest FDI into equity in the country during any year. FDI inflows received in the month of February 2008 are an unprecedented US $ 5.671 billion. The inflows in the month of February have surpassed the inflows received in any single year since 1991 barring last year i.e. 2006-07. The FDI inflows received in February 2008 is an increase of 712% over that in February 2007. The inflows for April 2006 - February 2007 were US $ 11.88 billion. The inflows for April 2007-February 2008 at US $ 20.137 billion is thus an increase of about 70% over the corresponding period of last financial year.

Tata Motors seal deal to buy Jaguar, Land Rover for $2.3 billion

Tata Motors on March 26 inked an agreement with Ford Motor Co. to buy its two iconic British auto brands — Jaguar and Land Rover — for $2.3 billion in yet another topnotch acquisition by a globally ambitious Indian company. “The transfer of ownership to Tata Motors is expected to close by the end of the next quarter, subject to applicable regulatory approvals,” said a statement by the group.
“The total amount to be paid in cash by Tata Motors for Jaguar and Land Rover upon closing will be approximately $2.3 billion. At closing, Ford will contribute up to $600 million to the Jaguar and Land Rover pension plans.”

The announcement comes barely a year after the group acquired Anglo-Dutch steel producer Corus for approximately $12 billion to make Tatas the fifth-largest producer of the commodity in the world. Tata officials said Ford will continue to supply Jaguar and Land Rover vehicle components for an agreed period in addition to a wide variety of technologies, such as environmental and platform technologies. “We are very pleased at the prospect of Jaguar and Land Rover being a significant part of our automotive business,” said Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata.


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