Index Contents

Index

President’s Message ............................................................................................................................... 4

From the Secretary General’s Desk ......................................................................................................... 6

Happenings at IACC ................................................................................................................................ 7

Trade Opportunities from India ............................................................................................................ 35

US investments in India ........................................................................................................................ 36

E-Commerce Heats Up as Amazon pledges to invest US$2 billion ................................................................................. 36

Merrill Lynch arm buys 30 lakh HDIL shares for about Rs 29 crore ................................................................................ 37

Honeywell opens seventh manufacturing unit in Pune .................................................................................................. 37

Peel-Works raises $2million ............................................................................................................................................ 38

AppDra raises $1.5 million .............................................................................................................................................. 38

SocialCops raises $320,000 ............................................................................................................................................. 38

India’s Investments in U.S ..................................................................................................................... 39

IGATE inks $200-million multi-year pact with Chicago based insurance firm ................................................................ 39

Mumbai Headquartered Sun Pharma buys Pharmalucence Inc. .................................................................................... 40

Glenmark to build $100 Million plant in North America ................................................................................................ 40

Zensar buys New York based e-commerce solutions firm .............................................................................................. 41

Indo-US Corporate News ...................................................................................................................... 42

Tech Mahindra signs agreement with Wichita State University ..................................................................................... 42

Times Internet to launch digital version of Ad Age in India ............................................................................................ 42

Donald Trump says 'money will pour into India' under Modi ........................................................................................ 43

Citibank India gets new consumer banking business head ............................................................................................ 43

America’s favorite pizza chain now in India .................................................................................................................... 44

Cisco India revenue up 18% in Q4 FY 2014, despite global flop ..................................................................................... 44

The minute you are willing to take risks, you can focus on being an innovator: Sudhakar Ramakrishna ...................... 46

Coca-Cola plans Rs 1,000-crore bottling plant in Telangana .......................................................................................... 48

RIL plans to invest $2 billion in US shale gas assets ........................................................................................................ 48

Microsoft to set up data centre in India to accelerate growth ....................................................................................... 49

In the News: ......................................................................................................................................... 51

Hagel visit to form base for revival of defence ties ........................................................................................................ 51

Joint Statement on the Fifth India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue ............................................................................................ 52

NIIT signs MoU with University of Missouri to offer 5-year programme ....................................................................... 54

US keen to invest in infrastructure, manufacturing sectors ........................................................................................... 55

IAF gets sixth C-17 Globemaster with vintage package in belly ..................................................................................... 56

Obama Administration Making Strategic Bet on India: Biswal ....................................................................................... 56

Over 300 Indo-U.S. Organizations Join Hands to Welcome PM Modi ............................................................................ 57

For India outreach, US brings into play Indian-Americans ............................................................................................. 57

'Transformative Moment in Ties', Says John Kerry Ahead of India Visit ........................................................................ 59

Investigation Discovery launched in India ...................................................................................................................... 60

Thomas Vajda takes over as new US Consul-General in Mumbai .................................................................................. 61

US lawmakers to foster closer India ties through community........................................................................................ 61

City cops undergo training in US to combat digital piracy .............................................................................................. 62

India-US solar issue: WTO sets up dispute panel ............................................................................................................ 62

US envoy Stephens meets Gujarat CM ........................................................................................................................... 63

Calendar of IACC Events for 2014 .......................................................................................................... 64

Indo-US Trade Statistics ........................................................................................................................ 67

2014: U.S. trade in goods with India ............................................................................................................................... 67

2013: U.S. trade in goods with India ............................................................................................................................... 67

India – US Trade Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 68

International Buyer Program, 2014 Trade shows ................................................................................... 69

How to reach us: .................................................................................................................................. 70

President’s Message

Dear Member, Stage has set for heightened business interface between India and the US. Visit of the Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker have led to high level discussions to sort out many bilateral issues. The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi next month and his meeting with President Obama will open up a flurry of economic engagements between the two countries. Modi administration will be in a better position to negotiate with the US counterparts if the insurance bill, which is pending before the Upper House is passed without any hick-up. Equally significant is the view expressed by Mr. Kerry that the US was aware that India needed a huge investment in the infrastructure sector and easing of visa restrictions, particularly for the H1B segment. Of course, there are still some vexatious bilateral and multilateral issues that have to be sorted out. India’s stand to club food security with trade facilitation did not go well with the US Administration. Hopefully, the stalemate created in the WTO negotiations will be sorted out during the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Modi to the US. Understandably, in any growing relationships and the negotiations that take place to strengthen them, there should be a policy of “give and take” to herald them to the logical conclusions. Appreciation of each other’s problems is critical to push forward the agenda and to enhance the content, velocity and direction of the negotiations. E-commerce is an area that needs a clear policy framework to take the Indo-US partnership to a higher orbit. Visibly, this segment is in the process of reckoning in India. There has been considerable media attention in the recent days about Flipkart’s drive to mop up resources to expand its operations in India. According to reports, it could mobilize close to US$ one billion from foreign investors to fund its expansion activities. Its overall valuation zoomed to US$ seven billion. Not to be far behind, Amazon India, a recent entry into the Indian scene upped its investment commitment to India to US$ two billion, primarily from its parent sources. Experts feel that many developments are expected in this vertical, where the potential is enormous, notwithstanding the fact that barring a very few, the proliferated e-commerce companies are running in losses. Those losses are mostly due to the physical and virtual infrastructure that has to be laid to tap the market. For instance, for e-retailing, once the demand is booked through the virtual medium, there has to be a well-oiled physical infrastructure to deliver goods in time. Also, to excite the customers, the companies have to offer discounts to all commodities sourced. They can absorb the impact of these competitive discounts only when the volumes of transactions are very high. In economic parlance, economies of scale are critical to the successful running of e-commerce companies. Another area that needs immediate attention is the policy towards FDI in e-commerce and taxation on the transactions to mop up the revenue for the government. In India, FDI is not allowed in e-commerce. There are differing views on allowing the FDI in the vertical. The brick and mortar organized retail is against it. They apprehend that their business would be affected since e-commerce can divert the businesses from them. But the fact is that despite the presence of

organized retail in India for the last 10 years or so, its market share is only 10 percent. The rest is with the mom and pop shops. In an upward moving consumer market, everyone will have a role to play and businesses to bag. Many people predict that the organized retail also will have virtual platform to cut down the cost of rentals, reduce the cost of inventories etc. That way there benefits could be double whammy since the virtual platform will be a logical extension of the physical business they carry out now. I am sure the government would take a balanced decision in this regard, where the considered views of every player is facted and addressed to. Also, an immediate call has to be taken on taxing the goods transacted through the e-commerce. In some countries, there is no tax on e-commerce. That could be justifiable when the volumes transacted are less. But when the volumes are high, the governments may find difficulty in foregoing revenue. We have to devise mechanisms to address these issues; having regard to the fact that e-commerce will be the futuristic medium of transactions given its advantages. Sooner we address these issues the better. Chella K Srinivasan National President, IACC

From the Secretary General’s Desk

Dear Members,

The current macro-economic variables are a mixed bag. While manufacturing sector is showing some signs of improvement, inflation continues to be a concern. Latest data indicates that wholesale price index has come down by some four percentage points, and consumer index is still ruling high. By the end of next month or so, food prices are expected to be under check with improvement on the supply-side. That, hopefully, will have a bearing on the retail inflation, since food articles are given higher weightage while constructing consumer index. Coupled with this, the general outlook that the monsoon deficit is not as high as expected will augur well for higher agricultural production, which can strengthen the supply-side of the agricultural produces. Equally worrying is the dip in exports after a fragile pick up in the last few months. Drop in imports, particularly of gold, had counterbalanced the adverse effect. Also, capital goods import was at a sluggish pace. That did not affect the current account balance much. But the continued buoyancy in the manufacturing sector will necessitate higher import of capital goods in the coming months, widening the gap between the imports and exports. It is therefore necessary to increase the pace of growth of exports and at the same time reduce the unnecessary imports. Happily, the recent RBI policy has reduced the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), thereby releasing close to Rs. 20,000 crore credit for development works. Considering the fact that rate of interest is still ruling high, corporates will have to shell quite a lot of resources by way of interest burden. It is high time the interest rate is brought down to trigger a cheap money policy, which has been the persistent demand of the corporate sector. IACC has held a number of programs last month. Soon after the announcement of the budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, we hosted Post Budget Analysis events in Varanasi, Bangalore and Chennai with the intention of allowing a joint discussion on key points of interest, specifically within the Indo-US business and trade context. We also hosted our flagship event Indo-US Trade Excellence Awards in Mumbai and American Independence Day celebrations across our branches, among other events. A detailed description of these activities is given in the ensuing report. I welcome you to read this issue of the Newsletter that covers pertinent information regarding Indo-US trade, business news, our forthcoming events pan India and activities undertaken in the past month.

With regards, Atul Vyas, Acting Secretary General

Happenings at IACC IACC supports SES 2014

ELCINA had launched the Strategic Electronics Summit (SES) in 2010 to offer a platform for the domestic and global defence electronics industry to explore opportunities to work with the defence and para-military establishments (homeland security). SES brings all stakeholders including the government, private and public sector on one platform to enable them to work together, enhance local manufacturing and meet the country’s security and defence requirements.

The 5th SES 2014 was a very successful event with participation from the industry and defence officials beyond our expectations. Over 150 organizations participated as Exhibitors and / or Delegates. All the activities like Conference, Exhibition, Technical Sessions & Buyer-Seller meetings witnessed keen participation with over 300 delegates in the Conference and good footfalls of business visitors. All the major defence PSU’s & defence organizations have participated in SES and supported this initiative comprehensively. This year we have included Homeland Security segment in SES and there was participation by CRPF, Bureau of Police R&D and Cyber Security wing of MP Police. SES 2014 has further catalyzed the industry’s interest in strategic electronics and open up new opportunities for manufacturing in India and enable higher domestic value addition. This year SES conference theme was “Make Indian – Dream to Reality” - Transforming the Indian Strategic Electronics Eco-System”. Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) was supporting partner for SES 2014 event.

OBJECTIVES OF THE EVENT

Bring all stakeholders on one platform to enable better communication and understanding of requirements of the defence establishment.

Facilitate in creating indigenous capability to manufacture defence equipment and meet these requirements.

Create awareness about opportunities in the Strategic Electronics sector.

Involve the Small and Medium Enterprises to meet the requirements of Defence Forces.

Bridging the gap between R&D, Government organizations and businesses.

Explain and highlight the new Defence Production and Offset Policies.

Encouraging and enabling investments for developing strategic strengths.

Buyer-Seller Meet during SES 2014 witnessed participation by Directorate of Indigenization – Army, C-DOT, HAL and BEL. All the buyers met above 50 vendors companies. There were Special Technology Sessions at SES 2014 conducted by HAL, ECIL & Directorate of Indigenization which were attended by a large number of delegates to enable them to understand the commercial and technical requirements of these organisations which are large buyers of the Strategic Electronics sector.

Lamp Lighting by (from right to left) Chief Guest, Dr. R. K. Tyagi, Chairman, HAL, Mr. Ian Felton, Deputy High Commissioner, UK,

Guest of Honor, Mr. M Maheshwar Rao IAS, Commissioner for Industrial Development & Director of Industries & Commerce, Govt. of Karnataka, Mr. Subhash Goyal, President ELCINA, Dr. Maheshwara Reddy K, Group Director & Outstanding Scientist, DARE

West India Council

IACC in association with Indo-American Society hosted an inbound student delegation from Northeastern University, Boston on Thursday, July 10, 2014 at Indo-American Society

Panelists answering questions during the interactive session

Students at the event

Students, Speakers and the Secretariat of IACC and IAS during a group photograph

IACC in association with Indo-American Society hosted an inbound student delegation from Northeastern University, Boston on Thursday, July 10, 2014 at The Lincoln Auditorium of Indo-American Society. Prof. Duane Lefevre from the Northeastern University led this group of business students on a study abroad program in India for 36 days called “Marketing in Asia and Indian Dialogue”. The 27 member delegation comprised of 24 students from the North Eastern University business school and an engineer and two music business concentrators. Mr. Manoj Gursahani, Vice Chairman of US India Investors Forum and President of Visit USA Committee highlighted how Media, Research and Public Relations functions in India. Dr. Lalit Kanodia, CMD, Datamatics Ltd. spoke on being an entrepreneur in India and gave an overview of how business works here. Mr. Ketul Contractor, Head – Innovation | Education | Market Communication, Financial Technologies (India) Limited educated the delegation on the emerging opportunities in India for young international professionals. The session was moderated by Ms. Rajyalakshmi Rao, Vice-President, IACC-WIC who also pointed out very important aspects of social and business environment in India, particularly for women. The session was followed by an Interactive session and Q&A. The program was well appreciated by the Delegation.

IACC in association with the American Consulate General in Mumbai, celebrated the 10th Indo-American Trade Excellence Awards and the 238th American Independence Day on July 2, 2014 in Hotel Trident,

Nariman Point, Mumbai

Chief Guest Shri Dilip Walse-Patil, Speaker of the Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly, being felicitated by IACC-WIC Regional

President Mr. Nanik Rupani and Acting US Consul General, Mumbai, Ms. Deanna Abdeen

Femina Miss India World 2014 Koyal Rana and Gail Da’Silva, Miss India 2014 2

nd Runner Up, with their bouquets and mementos

Guest of Honor Shri. Anil Deshmukh, Minister of Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Protection, Maharashtra State, greeting the

guests at the event

Mr. Abhishek Agrawal, Country Director, receiving the Award for EXCELLENCE IN NGO CATEGORY for Accion India

Mr. C. M. Sharma, Global Chief Finance Officer, and Mr. S. M. Gupta, Global Chief People Officer, receiving the Award for

EXCELLENCE IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY and COMPANY OF THE YEAR respectively for Aegis Limited.

Mr. Anish Bafna, Managing Director, Baxter India Pvt. Ltd., received the BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR Award

Mr. Karamjit Dua, Vice President, Advertising Sales, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific (South Asia), received the BUSINESS LEADER OF

THE YEAR Award on behalf of Mr. Rahul Johri, EVP & GM – South Asia

Mr. Shaun Srivastava, Country Sales & Marketing Manager, Global Forwarding India, receiving the Award for OPERATIONAL

EXCELLENCE IN OTHER SERVICES (LOGISTICS) on behalf of C.H. Robinson Worldwide Freight India Pvt. Ltd.

Ms. Muge Yuzuak, Country Head - Cards and Personal Loans, CitiBank India, received the WOMAN CORPORATE LEADER Award

Mr. Rajiv Bakshi, Vice President – Marketing, and Mr. Karamjit Dua, Vice President, Advertising Sales, and all six members from the

team from Discovery Communications India received the COMPANY OF THE YEAR Award

Mr. Maruthi H., Manager - Safety Health & Environment, and Dr. Ranjan Patnaik, Technology Director – South Asia & ASEAN, received the Award for EXCELLENCE IN ENVIRONMENT HEALTH & SAFETY AND EXCELLENCE INNOVATION for DuPont Knowledge

Center

Mr. Baljeet Mokha, Director, Plant Operations, received the Award for OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN MANUFACTURING for Harley

Davidson Motor Company India Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Srinath Batni, Member of the Board and Head of Delivery Excellence, received the Award for EXCELLENCE IN ENVIRONMENT

HEALTH & SAFETY AND EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION for Infosys Ltd

Mr. Rajiv Bakshi, Vice President – Marketing, received the Award for OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT for

Discovery Communications India

Mr. Kiran DB, Director - Solution Sales, received the Award for EXCELLENCE IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY on behalf of

Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Kamal Agarwal, Chairman, and Captain Ammeet Agarwal, President & CEO, received the Award for OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

IN SME for Sangeeta Aviation Services Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. R. Karthikeyan, Chief General Manager, Foreign Offices, International Banking Group, receiving the Women Corporate Leader

Award on behalf of Smt. Arundhati Bhattacharya – Chairperson, State Bank of India

Mr. Rakesh Khanna, Chief Operating Officer, receiving the Award for OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN TECHNOLOGY &

COMMUNICATIONS on behalf of Syntel India Limited

Mr. Dhananjay Dave, Associate Vice President, and Head, International Business, receiving the Award for OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

IN OTHER SERVICES (CONSULTING ENGINEERING SERVICES) on behalf of Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd

Mr. Hemant Dabke, Head - India, receiving the BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR Award on behalf of Mr. C.P Gurnani, CEO & MD, Tech

Mahindra

Mr. Ravindra Kelkar, Vertical Head, receiving the Award for OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATIONS on

behalf of Tech Mahindra. Also in the picture is Mr. Tarun Katyan, Head – BSFI (India).

Mr. Vikram Subrahmanyam, Head-Operations & Technology, Citi South Asia (in the extreme right), received the award for

Operational Excellence in Financial Services, on behalf of Citibank NA

Pune Branch American Independence Day celebrations, on July 12, 2014 at Lavasa Experience Centre, Pune

IACC Pune in association with Lavasa Corporation Limited hosted an informative and action packed day followed by

American Independence Day celebrations. The day started with film viewing of Lavasa city followed by hands-on baking

and decorating cookies and cupcakes for women and kids and sightseeing for men. Lavasa is India’s first planned

metropolitan Hill City approximately 80kms from Pune. Around 15 families enjoyed a sit down Jazz lunch at Dasvino

Town and Country Club as a part of the celebrations. The day was full of excitement and all the delegates had fun

throughout.

Informative film viewing at Lavasa

Attendees enjoying the flea market at Lavasa Jazz brunch at Dasvino

Varanasi Branch

“Live telecast on Union Budget 2014” on July 10, 2014 at Hotel Clarks Varanasi Indian Industries Association (IIA), Varanasi Chapter and Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, U.P. Branch Varanasi jointly organised a programme to watch “Live telecast on Union Budget 2014” on 10th July, 2014 at Hotel Clarks Varanasi. The idea was to give an opportunity to our members to express their immediate reaction on the merits and shortcomings of the Union Budget. Chairman of IACC, Varanasi Mr. Arun Kumar Agrawal welcomed to all participants and guests. CA Mukul Kumar Shah Past Chairman, IACC, Varanasi and members of IACC Mr. Bharat Kumar Agrawal, Mr. R.C. Jain were present on this occasion. Mr. R.K. Chaudhary, President, Indian Industries Association (IIA), Varanasi Chapter presented the vote of thanks. Mr. Rajendra Kumar, Assistant Commissioner, Service Tax, Mr. A.P. Singh, Assistant Director, Income Tax, Mr. H.K. Behra, D.G.M., Union Bank of India, Varanasi, Mr. Vipin Kumar, D.G.M., Oriental Bank of Commerce, Varanasi, Mr. K.K. Gupta, President, Laghu Udyog Mahasangh and BHU Management professor participated along with other members of their respective Associations.

East India Council

IACC in association with the American Consulate General organized a Panel Discussion followed by Video conference on “Sustainable city-Kolkata” on July 24, 2014

The Indo American Chamber of Commerce in association with the American Consulate General organised a Panel Discussion followed by Video conference on “Sustainable city-Kolkata” The Panel was included experts from India and USA. The programme was focused on the Government of India`s decision to come up with 100 Smart Cities in the country. These were expected to be smaller cities built around the existing larger cities and to be built with a design framework around the following sustainability aspects. 1. Managerial Sustainability 2. Social Sustainability 3. Environmental Sustainability 4. Economic Sustainability 5. Legal Sustainability

The Panel included eminent speakers such as Ms Joanne Joria, Director American Center, Mr Debashis Sen, IAS, Chairman HIDCO, Professor Joyashree Roy, Jadavpur University & Mr Supdipta Das, Partner Ernst & Yound and Regional

President IACC, EIC. A panel discussion was followed by a video link up with speakers from USA Mr Crull Daynan Sr. Program Manager in the NYC Mayor’s Office and Ms. Nancy Gillis, Senior Manager, Ernst & Young, Washington DC.

While this was a laudable decision taken by the Government, the IACC felt that we should also look into the aspect of making our existing large cities as Sustainable as possible. One such city is Kolkata

(L-R) Ms Madhusree Daityari, Regional Director, IACC EIC interacting with audience; Mr. Supdipta Das, Partner Ernst & Yound and

Regional President IACC, EIC; Ms. Joanne Joria, Director American Center; Mr. Debashis Sen, IAS, Chairman HIDCO; Professor Joyashree Roy, Jadavpur University

Panelist interacting with the audience

Mr Crull Daynan Sr. Program Manager in the NYC Mayor’s Office interacting with the audience in kolkata

South India Council Tamil Nadu Branch

AMERICAN CROSS-CULTURAL SKILLS on July 24, 2014 at Hanu Reddy Residences, Chennai

Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) organized a Workshop on American Cross-Cultural Skills on Thursday, July 24th, 2014 at Chennai. The objective of the training was to aid participants in developing their skills to deal with global customers by helping them understand: • The context of the business culture • Understanding and managing expectations of the stakeholders from American culture • Protocols to be followed when working with American culture. The trainer Mr. Nigel Saldanha used various methodologies like PowerPoint presentation, Role plays, experiential learning techniques etc. at the training session. He enlightened the participants on several aspects of American Culture including dinner etiquette, dress code, American phrases & jargons, email communication, historical events etc. The feedbacks from the participants were encouraging as session was very informative and useful in understanding the work ethics followed with American Culture.

Trainer Mr. Nigel Saldanha, MMM Training Solutions interacting with the participants.

Participants are interacting with each other during the session.

UNION BUDGET 2014 on July 15, 2014 at Sheraton Park Hotel & Towers, Chennai Indo-American Chamber of Commerce organized a Seminar on UNION BUDGET 2014 held on Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at Chennai. This program was conducted in partnership with Fox Mandal (Knowledge Partner) and HSBC Bank (Banking Partner). In the Inaugural Session Mr. A.Shekar, Vice-Chairman, IACC delivered the Welcome address to the participants and Mr. Chella K. Srinivasan, National President, IACC addressed the gathering in the session. Mr. Gopal Srinivasan, CMD, TVS Capital Funds Ltd was the Keynote Speaker. The Technical session was chaired by Mr. R. Anand, Past Chairman, IACC. In the technical session, speakers addressed on the topics:

Economic Implications of Union Budget 2014

Direct Tax Proposals and Indirect Tax Proposals The topic on Economic Implications of Union Budget 2014 was addressed by Mr. Rajat Mehta, Director – Sales Treasury, HSBC Bank. The session was continued by Mr. N. Muralidharan, Partner, Ernst & Young about Direct Tax Proposals, he explained about the taxation at personal and corporate, banking, finance and insurance for personals and corporates Mr. Mahadevan, Director, Fox Mandal & Associates stated in hs session on “Indirect Tax Proposals”, he explained about the external sector balance and annual GDP growth in future. He said that some systemic changes in Budget proposals like infrastructure, real estate, social, power, start up, Skill India, FDI in defense, etc. The key drivers of Indirect Tax Proposals are, mandatory fixed Pre-deposit; rationalize duty structure to avoid disputes; Amendment to section 8B of CTA; Alignment of third schedule; Amendment to CCR, 2004; Insertion of Section 15A CEA; Infrastructure and construction contracts; Levy of duty on goods sold at below cost; Disposal of appeals; To boost domestic manufacture. Finally the session concluded with a Q & A session with the Guest Speakers. Overall the program provided an excellent platform for the participants to understand the significance of Post Budget Analysis. The event was extremely well attended by all large, SME and MSME organisations.

Mr. Gopal Srinivasan, CMD, TVS Capital Funds Ltd delivering the

Keynote Address Guest Speakers with IACC office barriers

Andhra Pradesh Branch

238th American Independence Day Celebrations at AVASA Hotel, Hyderabad on July 01, 2014

Stage decorated for the event

Mr. Ravi Vishnu, Chairman IACC, Welcome the participants

Mr. Michael C. Mullins, Consul General –Hyderabad, addressing the gathering

Shri K. T. Rama Rao, Minister of Panchayat Raj & Information Technology, Govt. of Telangana

From R-L, Mr. Michael C. Mullins, Consul General, Shri K. T. Rama Rao, Minister of Panchayat Raj & Information Technology, Govt. of

Telangana, Mr. Ravi Vishnu, Chairman IACC, Mr. Kannatt Surendran - Vice Chairman, IACC

Mr. Kannatt Surendran - Vice Chairman, IACC

Committee Members & Past Chairmen with Chief Guest and Consul General

Bangalore Branch Session on “Global Flows in a Digital Age” on July 22, 2014

Today the web of cross-border exchanges has exploded in scope and complexity, powered by rising prosperity in the emerging world and the spread of Internet and digital technologies. Previous studies have examined individual cross-border flows—the trade of goods and services, flows of finance, the movement of people, and the growing flows of data and communications. But the new report by McKinsey Global Institute is one of the first to examine all five major flows together for 195 countries around the world, and examines how these flows are growing and evolving, how participation in them is evolving, and how they contribute to economic growth. The research includes a new McKinsey Global Institute Connectedness Index that ranks countries on their participation to the five types of flow over time—with some surprising results. The report discusses what the next era of globalization will mean for companies, policy makers, and individuals. This discussion could focus on how India ranks on this index and how the country can make the most of global connectedness, which our research has confirmed, is a major driver of economic growth. To provide more details to the members on this report by McKinsey, Indo- American Chamber of Commerce in association with US Consulate, Chennai, organized a session on Global Flows in a Digital Age at the Hotel Citrus Cunningham, Bangalore on July 22, 2014. Mr. Sarbajit Ghose, Sr. Vice Chairman- IACC Karnataka Chapter introduced and welcomed the speaker, Dr. Susan Lund, Partner at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), McKinsey's business and economics research arm, based in Washington, DC.

Dr. Susan Lund, Partner, McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) delivery the session

Dr. Susan made the participants aware of how trade, finance, people and data connect the world economy. She stated that Globalization is entering a new era and driving economic growth and participation in global flows is expanding to include more countries and companies, large and small. Digitization is transforming and enabling all flows and capital may become scarcer in the next era – and India is missing out on some key trends. Dr. Susan also mentioned that India has increased its participation in globalization, but has opportunities to growth further. She also threw some light on opportunities and challenges for companies and policymakers and concluded her session by stating that global flows are creating new opportunities and challenges for companies.

Participants enjoying the session

The event was a dynamic forum which benefitted the participants. The speaker was very open to hear the concerns and questions of the audience and answering to their each question. The session was very interactive. Mr. Prahalad Achutharao, Vice Chairman- IACC Karnataka Chapter delivered vote of thanks and presented a bouquet to Dr. Susan.

Union Budget 2014 on July 16, 2014 at Hotel JW Marriott, Bengaluru

The Union Budget 2014 – 15 was present by the Hon’ble Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on Thursday July 10, 2014. The first budget of newly elected BJP Government was keenly awaited by the industry at a time when the country's economy needs a strong fillip to get back on the high-growth path, at the same time staying within fiscal prudence. Indo- American Chamber of Commerce organized a seminar on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at Hotel JW Marriott Bengaluru in collaboration with Fox Mandal & Associates and HSBC to discuss the ramifications of the policy announcements on tax and regulatory areas. Eminent professionals with rich practical experience of consulting shared their views and focused on the issues impacting the industry at large. The seminar deliberated exhaustively on the several provisions and implications on the budget both on the Direct and Indirect Taxes amendments by a team of experts drawn from industry and profession.

Mr. Prahalad Achutharao, Vice Chairman- IACC Karnataka Chapter, welcomed the participants and speakers at the event.

The event was well received and attended by 150 participants of known organizations from Hubli- Dharwad region.

Prof. N.L. Mitra, Chancellor of KIIT University, keynote speaker of the seminar addressed the gathering and said that tax is the cost of governance and if the governance cost is higher, tax will be high and vice versa. Macroeconomic processes are generally picked on 2 keys - Saving oriented budget and investment oriented budget. He stated that saving and investment are directly related. Budget 2014 does not reflect much on investment on employment opportunity. Prof. Mitra mentioned that Mr. Jaitley, Finance Minister had tried to focus more on reducing the tax to make it more saving oriented. Indian banking system is very slow. India requires banking growth policy. Budget is a fiscal planning as it is done by political heads and they want actually to stipulate taxation and direction of economy. Hence, budget determines the fiscal processes. Budget has got another aspect that is called monetary policy. Monetary policy impacts the investment on short run whereas fiscal policy impacts the investment on long run.

Smt Prof. N.L. Mitra, Chancellor of KIIT University delivering keynote address

Later, the event headed to the topic ‘Economic Implications on Union Budget 2014’ which was delivered by Mr. Manoj Goel, Director at Global Markets, HSBC India.

Mr. Manoj Goel, Director, HSBC India

Mr. Subramanian Krishnamani, Partner, Deloitte Haskins stated in his session on ‘Direct Tax Proposals’ about significant policy proposals w.r.t. FDI in Insurance and Defence; Banking and Finance; Capital markets. His presentation also covered information about policy statements, personal taxation, corporate taxation, transfer pricing and trusts.

Mr. Subramanian Krishnamani, Partner, Deloitte Haskins

In the next session Mr. G. Mahadevan, Director – Indirect Taxation of Fox Mandal elaborated the topic, ‘Indirect Tax Proposals’ and made the audience aware of what the finance minister said- A comprehensive action plan to usher in a prudent policy regime that fosters higher growth, lowers inflation and could result in sustained level of external sector balance and achieve a prudent policy stance and a beginning towards sustained annual GDP growth of 7% to 8% in the next 3-4 years. He said that the budget proposals of the systemic changes in sectors like infrastructure, real estate, social, power, start up, Skill India, FDI in defense, etc. and their intent to bring about growth, fiscal stability and job creation need to be backed by a clearly drafted legislation and their implementation. The tax reforms intend to remedy the fallacies or the inconsistencies but may need a pragmatic approach to the execution of the reforms measures. Yet, growth, stability and equity may be hard goals to be achieved simultaneously. Mr. Mahadevan briefed the participants on key drivers of indirect (IDT) proposals and its kinds such as dispute resolution; mandatory fixed Pre-deposit; rationalize duty structure to avoid disputes; Amendment to section 8B of CTA; Alignment of third schedule (deemed manufacture); Amendment to CCR, 2004; Insertion of Section 15A CEA; Infrastructure and construction contracts; Levy of duty on goods sold at below cost; Disposal of appeals; To boost domestic manufacture. He also threw some light on GST roll-out and inconsistencies persist.

Mr. G. Mahadevan, Director – Indirect Taxation of Fox Mandal

The event saw a lot of interaction from the audience, who were quite keen to know the various aspects of Union Budget 2014. Very dynamic Q&A session between delegates and the speakers took place.

Mr. PN Sudarshan, Former Chairman of IACC Karnataka Branch; Mr. Prahalad Achutharao, Vice Chairman; Mr. Sanjeev Gulati; Mr. Rohan Joshi, Mr. Javaji Munirathnam; Mr. Sanjay Simha; Mr. Ashok Belle, Branch Committee Members and

Mr. Vasanth Kini, National Executive Council Member of IACC presented bouquets and mementoes to the speakers and panelists.

The event was extremely well attended by companies such as Accord Software & Systems Pvt Ltd, Adobe Systems India, AirAsia India, Airbus Helicopters, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, KPMG, etc. The guests enjoyed every bit of the event and one could visibly see its effect through the networking and discussions that happened during lunch and beyond.

IACC- WBC POSH Event on ‘Social Conditioning and its Impact on the Indian Workplace’

Indo- American Chamber of Commerce- Women’s Business Council, after organizing six successful sessions on Prevention of Sexual Harassment, organized next conference on “Social Conditioning and its Impact on the Indian Workplace” on Friday, July 11, 2014 at Café Coffee Day, Bangalore. Panelists of the event were Ms. Geetha Kannan, MD of Anita borg Institute; Mr. MD Ramaswami, Youth Mentor, Management Consultant; Ms. Navita Shyam, Mountaineer; Ms. Shashi Deshpande, Social Observer and Author. The panel was moderated by Ms. Laxmi Char.

Panelists- Mrs. Geetha Kannan, MD of Anita borg Institute; Mrs. Navita Shyam, Mountaineer; Mr. MD Ramaswami, Youth Mentor,

Management Consultant and Mrs. Shashi Deshpande, Social Observer & Author

Mrs. Geetha Kannan said, “Social conditioning is a result three influencers: parents/relatives, Peers/friends/colleagues and yourself. Social conditioning then determines how you react in the workplace and how you treat your colleagues and team. The best way to negate the negative effects of social conditioning is for each one of us to reach out and try to help other women, men at the workplace, husbands and even in-laws. All of us should be willing to save a starfish (another human being) by throwing it back into the sea”. Mrs. Navita Shyam mentioned, “Social conditioning starts indoors, in our own homes. The do's & don'ts laid out by our parents/family members, the borrowed principles & faith we begin growing with, and over time our own experiences that add & broaden our value systems and shape us into who we are. The limitations are in our own minds. I have never noticed that being a woman is a handicap or a plus. There are men & women, and we climb together. Some days, I'm stronger, sometimes they are. There are more differences within the sexes than between them. So, it is important for women and men, alike, to acknowledge & accept that we are innately different, and work together at home, in society, and at the workplace, empowering & motivating each other, to make it a better place to live in.” "What social conditioning impacts most is confidence; and confidence impacts one's ability to communicate - which impacts the way in which one is perceived at the workplace. The best way to reduce the impact of social conditioning,

therefore, is to give confidence to the individual (by highlighting and applauding small successes in public) and help her/him communicate without fear or favor", said Mr. MD Ramaswami. The fourth panelist, Mrs. Shashi Deshpande said that all cultures rest on the foundation of male superiority and domination. This idea buttressed by stories, mythology, theology, laws customs etc. She also stated, change resisted but had to come, one of which that there are now women in the workplace. Prevention of Sexual Harassment act counterpart of the Domestic Violence Act - which applies to the home, both two faces of the same coin. Women need to speak out, no longer remain silent. The event was very interactive, knowledgeable and informative. IACC organized this session to make the participants aware of social conditioning and how it impacts the employees at the workplace.

Participants at the event

The session was very well received and attended by participants of known organizations like- Titan, Volvo India Pvt Ltd, Tesco, Intuit, SAP Labs India Pvt. Ltd., Yahoo!, Wipro, etc to name a few.

IACC Green Tee 2014 & American Independence Day Celebrations on July 04, 2014

Corporate action had moved from the board rooms to the soothing greens of Bangalore Golf Club on Friday, July 04, 2014 as the who’s who of Bangalore’s corporate circles got together to shake hands, showcase their game and close a business deal or two. The occasion was IACC’s Green Tee 2014 - the Invitational Networking Golf tournament - organized by the Indo–American Chamber of Commerce.

Celebrity Tee Off: Mr. Vasanth Kini, National Executive Counil Member- IACC; Mr. Ashish Kumar Ballal, Former Indian Hockey Player;

Mr. B Prabhakar, MD, Japcon and Mr. Naresh Shah, President, Hewlett-Packard

The event saw corporate rivalry take a backseat to corporate bonhomie as CEOs, CXOs, CMOs, MDs and VPs of leading corporate from Bangalore came together to enjoy a game of golf. The IACC Green Tee 2014 not only provided them a platform to network and an opportunity to win the title but also close a deal or two.

Mr. Ashish Kumar Ballal, former Indian Hockey Player and Mr. Sujith Bijjahalli Somasunder, former Indian cricketer

participated in IACC's Green Tee 2014. IACC Karnataka is proud to state that its objective of bringing together Indian and

US businesses was met at this event.

Winners of Green Tee 2014: Category A: 0-11

Winner Mrs. Dhanalakshmi Rice 40 Pts Runner Up Mr. Manpreet Sachdev 37 Pts

Category B: 12-18

Winner Mr. Murali 39 Pts [Better Back 9 Hole] Runner Up Mr.Praveen Singhvi 39 Pts

Category C: 19-24

Winner Mr. Rajan Sood 39 Pts Runner Up Mr. Panish Hangal 35 Pts

On Course Prizes

Straightest Drive Mr. Jaganath Rao 10 Inch Closest To Pin Mr. Vivek Rao 5 Ft 7 Inch Longest Drive Mr. Raj Arasu 256 Yards

The top Management of companies like Toyota, Airbus, SAP Technologies, GE Aviation, Hewlett Packard, Mindtree Ltd,

Hind High Vacuum, Oracle among others participated in the IACC Green Tee 2014 tournament. The event was a platform

for the who’s who of Bangalore’s Corporate world to get together to showcase their game and network. The event was

sponsored by Citibank, Triumph, Titan India Pvt Ltd, Levis, The Serai, Infinite Computer Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Hotel Royal

Orchid, The Ritz Carlton, Elite Golf Inc., UB Group, Sabmiller, Narang Group, Lavazza, Sancho’s and Desmond’s.

Mr. Vinod Chinappa, Former Olympian Hockey Player (center) with other guests

The event was followed by a gala evening of American Independence Day Celebrations with awards presentation to the winners of golf tournament, entertainment, cocktails and dinner at Hotel Royal Orchid, Off Old Airport Road.

Mr. Sujith Bijjahalli Somasunder, Former Indian cricketer (second from right) enjoying the evening

There was a US Golf Quiz, for which the audience participated enthusiastically and the winners won prizes. The guests also won various raffle prizes from Hotel Ritz Carlton, Lavazza, The Serai, Titan, Desmond’s and Sancho’s and enjoyed the music by Mr. Ozie Fernandes and team. Great networking and discussions took place during cocktails & dinner and beyond.

Trade Opportunities from India

Sr. No. Business Interest of the Company Contact details

1. Goodwin India Pvt. Ltd. – This company manufactures abrasive resistant slurry pumps mainly for core sector like steel power and mining –The joint venture partner is a UK company

Gold Star Powders –A joint venture unit manufacturing investment powder –a consumable used in precious metal casting industries

Asian Industrial P Ltd –A refractory powder used in Rapid Proto Typing Industry-Overseas partners are from UK and Bangkok. All the three manufacturing units are located in Chennai. They are looking out for a similar joint venture manufacturing association mainly in flow control equipment’s like valves /flow meters etc. from any of the US manufacturing companies who don’t have a presence in India.

Ms. Sujatha Ravishanker Regional Secretary, IACC - SIC Tel: 91-44-24310506 sujatha@iaccindia.com ; B2B@iaccindia.com

2. TRS is specialized in data capturing and Document Security in India. With more than 2 decades of experience they have introduced many technology based solutions in the education vertical and these are being followed everywhere in exam processing in India.

They have recently introduced some online platforms and solutions related to the education vertical and have been very successful in India. They are looking to have tie-up with a reputed organization in the US who can help them in taking these solutions to the US education vertical without much hassle. Their products and solutions are tested and can be implemented anywhere.

Ms. Sujatha Ravishanker Regional Secretary, IACC - SIC Tel: 91-44-24310506 sujatha@iaccindia.com ; B2B@iaccindia.com

3. Samsara Shipping Pvt. Ltd. is one of the leading Shipping agency organizations in India catering to diversified shipping activities. Samsara also represents Port of New Orleans in India and can assist co-ordinate provide economical logistical solutions to Indian importers / exporters shipping through Port of New Orleans. Any importers / exporters requiring landslide logistics with regard to warehousing / storage /transportation etc. of their goods to / from Port of New Orleans located in Louisiana's lower Mississippi River which is well connected to major inland markets in USA and Canada via about 23000 kms of inland waterways , class-1 rail roads and an interstate highway system . Port of New Orleans is an ideal gateway for steel, project cargo, containers, coffee, natural rubber, chemicals, forest products etc.

Ms. Rakhi Panda Regional Director, IACC-WIC Tel: 91-22-22821413 rakhi@iaccindia.com ; B2B@iaccindia.com

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US investments in India

E-Commerce Heats Up as Amazon pledges to invest US$2 billion After Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart raised US$1 billion in fresh funding recently, Amazon has announced it will invest a further US$2 billion to boost its India-based operations. “We see huge potential in the Indian economy and for the growth of e-commerce in India,” said Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. “After our first year in business, the response from customers and small and medium-sized businesses in India has far surpassed our expectations. With this additional investment of US$2 billion, our team can continue to think big, innovate and raise the bar for customers in India,” he added. Amazon will reportedly use a large portion of the investment to increase its in-country presence by opening five new warehouses that will double its storage capacity to half a million square feet. Currently worth around US$13 billion, India’s e-commerce market is among the fastest growing in the world. While India permits 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, FDI in business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce remains strictly prohibited and bound by FDI restrictions on the retail sector more generally. India’s existing FDI cap on multi-brand retail trading (which also applies to e-commerce) also limits FDI to 51 percent with prior government approval and changes made in 2013 further clarify that at least 50 percent for the first US$100 million invested must be in ‘back end infrastructure.’ Because of this, many foreign e-retailers such as Amazon and eBay have established a “marketplace model,” whereby local independent merchants sell goods directly to consumers, and the platform earns commission from those merchants. Since launching its marketplace platform in India last June, Amazon India has expanded its product line from books and video content to toys, music and now clothing, apparel, shoes and accessories. With over 12,000 contemporary and traditional styles from more than 90 apparel brands in Amazon’s new clothing & accessories department, the firm is giving other online retailers a run for their money. Amazon’s foray into apparel and accessories has placed the firm in direct competition with Jabong and Myntra – India’s largest apparel e-retailers – and increased competition with existing rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal. Founded by two former Amazon employees in 2007, Flipkart is currently India’s largest e-retailer and reports more than 10 million registered users and over 100,000 shipments daily. Acquiring Myntra earlier this year, Flipkart is commonly cited as Amazon’s primary competitor in India. While Flipkart has raised US$760 million over the past seven years, the US$1 billion in fresh funding the firm announced this week is the largest ever for an Indian internet firm and will inevitably raise the stakes for competition in the Indian e-commerce market. For now, however, domestic heavyweights Flipkart and Snapdeal will continue to enjoy a distinct advantage in India while the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) mulls a higher FDI cap in e-commerce.

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Merrill Lynch arm buys 30 lakh HDIL shares for about Rs 29 crore A total of 30, 50,000 shares of HDIL were acquired by the Merrill Lynch Capital Market arm, bulk deal data with the stock exchanges showed. Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Espana recently picked up over 30 lakh shares of real estate player Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) for nearly Rs 29 crore through the open market route. A total of 30, 50,000 shares of HDIL were acquired by the Merrill Lynch Capital Market arm, bulk deal data with the stock exchanges showed. The shares were acquired for an average price of Rs 94.73 apiece, bringing the transaction value to Rs 28.89 crore. In a separate transaction, ATPI offloaded 32.30 lakh shares of Indiabulls Real Estate for Rs 24.97 crore. The shares were sold for an average price of Rs 77.32 apiece. Meanwhile, Anil Ambani group company Reliance Capital sold 3.75 lakh shares of TV Today Network for more than Rs 6 crore. The shares were offloaded for Rs 163.41 apiece. Copyright © 2013, Kasturi & Sons Ltd., Chennai All Rights Reserved. Click here for index

Honeywell opens seventh manufacturing unit in Pune

The new plant will integrate manufacturing, factory testing, quality control and advanced manufacturing engineering for Honeywell’s

automation business

Honeywell announced the launch of its seventh manufacturing facility in India. This 75,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility has been built for Honeywell Automation India Limited (HAIL) and will significantly expand Honeywell's manufacturing capabilities in the country. Honeywell now has seven state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and five technology development and engineering centers in India with ~2 Million sq. ft. of combined built-up area. "The Pune facility is the second manufacturing location we have built in India this year alone, demonstrating Honeywell's continued commitment to India," said Thomas A. Szlosek, senior VP and CFO of Honeywell International, while in Pune to officially inaugurate the facility. The new facility will integrate manufacturing, factory testing, quality control and advanced manufacturing engineering for Honeywell's automation business in India. It will provide a full suite of process solutions, which comprehensively deployed, can improve efficiencies for industries by up to 30 percent. It will serve all major process industries such as refining, oil and gas, pulp and paper, power generation, chemicals, life sciences, and metals, minerals and mining. Honeywell's flagship solution - the Experion Process Knowledge System, a range of pressure and temperature transmitters, and process safety systems, are some key products from the process solutions portfolio that will be manufactured here. Sensing and control products manufactured here will offer precision, repeatability and durability for OEM and industrial applications spanning aerospace and defense, medical, transportation, and test and measurement

markets. Key products include shifters, pressure switches, limit switches, position sensors, speed sensors, and hour meters. "Consolidating manufacturing in one location will create efficiencies and improve productivity for us. It will enable businesses to share expertise and training capabilities as well. More importantly, customers realize the benefits of these efficiencies to improve their business performance, and gain closer access to world-class technology at home," said Vikas Chadha, MD, HAIL. Copyright © 2014 Cyber Media (India) Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Peel-Works raises $2million

Peel-works enables companies to keep tabs on people who close the sales cycle to check whether they are performing optimally

Mumbai-based big data analytics firm Peel-Works has secured a $2-million investment from IDG Ventures India and Inventus Capital Partners, according to some news reports. The company had previously raised $1 million from Indian Angel Network back in 2011. Peel-works enables companies to keep tabs on people who close the sales cycle to check whether they are performing optimally. The start-up's cloud-based solution, called 9Yards, gives companies analytics data on nine parameters to measure the performance of their sales staff. The company plans to use the money to develop its product and analytics platform, strengthen its management team and enter new overseas markets like the United States and South East Asia in the next 6-12 months. Founded in September 2010 by Sachin Chhabra, Peel-Works' salesforce management solution provides companies analytics data on the performance of their salesforce across nine parameters like recruiting, training, development and segmentation of employee performance.

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AppDra raises $1.5 million

Bangalore & US based app development startup Appdra Software Solutions has raised $1.5 million in Series A round of funding through US based crowd funding platform Becovillage. The investors in this round included John Harris, founder of consulting firm, International Barter-Business.

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SocialCops raises $320,000

Technology data company Social Cops has raised $320,000 in seed funding from 500Startups, Google India MD Rajan Anandan and Frost and Sullivan APAC MD Manoj Menon. SocialCops uses mobile phones to source ground-level data from citizens and non-profit organisations. It provides mobile apps for citizens to report civic problems in their locality like poor streetlighting, potholes and garbage dumps by sharing their location and uploading photographs.

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India’s Investments in U.S

IGATE inks $200-million multi-year pact with Chicago based insurance firm

Barely three quarters after taking over as President and CEO of IGATE Corporation, Ashok Vemuri has clinched the company’s largest multi-year deal ever, worth $200 million, in the second quarter (April-June) of fiscal year 2014. While Vemuri declined to mention the name of the customer and total value of the multi-year deal, sources said, it is estimated at well over $200 million. “IGATE has signed a multi-year, platform-based contract with CNA Financial, which is America’s eighth largest insurance company to design, implement and manage claim and policy holder administration of CNA’s long-term care (LTC) business. The contract is worth over $200 million. IGATE will administer the client’s LTC business through its proprietary and differentiated IGATE Business Administrative Solution (IBAS),” said an official in the know of things. American banking and financial services firm Wells Fargo also estimated that the CNA contract could be worth over $200 million and said, it thinks the contract is one of the three large deals IGATE previously indicated that it had been pursuing. Confirming this, Vemuri said “The second quarter has been a truly seminal quarter for IGATE. We have entered into a partnership to implement a transformational technology and best practice process for the LTC business of our client, which is by far the largest partnership in the company’s history. It is one of the three large deals that I had spoken about in the previous quarter and revenues for this deal have not kicked in as yet.” On being asked about the status of the other two large multi-year deals, he said: “We continue to be positively placed in the other two large deals for which decisions are awaited in the coming quarter.” New hiring strategy In a marked departure from the industry practice of ‘just in time’ hiring, IGATE has moved to the ‘hiring for growth’ model. While the company added a net of 2,500 employees during the last two quarters, a record number of 1,907 (net) employees were added during the second quarter taking the total headcount to 32,742 employees as on June 30, 2014. On the logic for moving to a ‘hiring for growth’ model, Vemuri said “‘Just in time hiring’ for this industry is an inappropriate model to follow. If you believe you have the right business model and if the leadership has the confidence that they are delivering value to clients, then the right hiring model has to be to hire for growth and that is what we are doing.” However, he admitted that the new hiring model has resulted in a marginal decline in utilisation from 74.2 per cent last quarter to 73.8 per cent in the second quarter. It plans to continue with its robust hiring over the next few quarters and increase its intake of freshers, which is low at present, at just 40 per cent of overall hires.

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Mumbai Headquartered Sun Pharma buys Pharmalucence Inc. Drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has acquired Massachusetts -based Pharmalucence Inc for an undisclosed sum. The latter has a sterile injectables facility and research capabilities in the US. Sun Pharma’s latest acquisition comes within months of its $4 billion proposal (in April) to acquire troubled drug company Ranbaxy. That transaction is awaiting regulatory and other approvals. Sun’s acquisition of Pharmalucence will help strengthen its presence in the sterile injectables segment, since the manufacturing unit is close to the market, said Ranjit Kapadia, Senior Vice-President of Centrum Broking. Pharmalucence has around 100 professionals, he said, and regulatory approvals for its new facility are expected to come through this year.

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Glenmark to build $100 Million plant in North America Glenmark has more than a dozen manufacturing plants around the world, recently opening a mAb manufacturing facility in Switzerland to feed its pipeline of monoclonal antibodies and biosimilars. But the Indian generics maker does not have a plant in North America and figures it is time. "The U.S. is a key market for Glenmark, and it's important to have a manufacturing base here to serve its growing business," a Glenmark official told The Times of India. He said the company would be deciding soon on a site for the investment, which sources tell the newspaper could run to about $100 million. Sujay Shetty, who heads the pharma group for PwC India, says that with FDA citations raising concerns about the quality of drugs made in India, some drugmakers from there figure that setting up plants in North America is a good bet right now. "Due to quality issues, more domestic companies are trying to de-risk strategy by looking at setting up facilities close to the U.S. soil, in Canada and Mexico," Shetty said. "Now, with technological advances and other government incentives, the cost of manufacturing in the U.S., particularly injectables, has also reduced, which is a big draw for these companies." The FDA bans of Indian plants operated by Ranbaxy Laboratories, Wockhardt, Sun Pharmaceutical, Apotex and others in the last several years have given India's generic drug business a black eye. Some doctors and lawmakers have begun to question the country's reliance on Indian-made drugs, which make up about 40% of the generics and over-the-counter products sold in the U.S. The Indian drug industry contends that the issues are not serious and has launched a public relations campaign to attempt to counter the bad publicity. The U.S. is the world's largest pharma market, and so no drugmaker wants to face any kind of resistance to sales there. According to the media Glenmark's U.S. business amounts to about $65 billion a year. The company has 14 manufacturing facilities in India, Brazil, Argentina and the Czech Republic.

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Zensar buys New York based e-commerce solutions firm

Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Zensar Technologies

Professional Access’ founders will continue to manage the firm and all their associates based in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR will become a part of Zensar’s Global Delivery organisation. Zensar Technologies Inc of the U.S., part of RPG Group’s Zensar Technologies, has entered into a definitive agreement with Professional Access Inc of the U.S. to acquire the latter for an unspecified amount. Under the terms of the agreement, New York-based Professional Access will now be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zensar Technologies Inc. The deal will be financed by a combination of internal accruals and debt, Zensar Technologies said. Professional Access’ founders Babu Venkatesh and Ashu Chahal will continue to manage the company. Their management team and all their associates based in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR will become a part of Zensar’s global delivery organisation. With revenues of over $38 million, Professional Access is one of the largest Oracle ATG and Endeca partners in the world. It is an Oracle Platinum partner with presence in the U.S., the U.K., Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The company works with several large and mid-sized retailers in these geographies to build and implement their e-commerce strategies. “This acquisition furthers Zensar’s mission to strengthen its dominant position in the critical and fast growing Oracle e-commerce space by combining Zensar’s Oracle EBS, Oracle Retail and Fusion Middleware solutions for global clients. With this acquisition, Zensar will be well positioned to deliver solutions that can transform the future of e-Commerce around the world,” Zensar said. “Professional Access’ market leadership in the Oracle e-commerce space and its strong management team is strategic to Zensar’s plan to increase its market share in the high growth e-commerce space specifically and the MRD segment in general. The combination of the two companies will enhance the value Zensar delivers to clients in the Retail domain,” Harsh Goenka, Chairman of RPG and Zensar said. “Zensar’s proven track record with large Oracle deployments for retail and manufacturing clients will be significantly enhanced by the outstanding retail commerce credentials of Professional Access,” said Ganesh Natarajan, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Zensar. The addition of Professional Access’ 800 plus Oracle e-commerce associates will now take Zensar’s overall Oracle practice strength to over 2,200, focusing on delivering Oracle enterprise and digital commerce solutions to retailers and manufacturers globally. ICICI Securities was the financial advisors for this transaction and legal advisors were Nishith Desai Associates in India and Stahl Cowen Crowley Addis LLC in the U.S.

Copyright© 2014, The Hindu. All rights reserved.

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Indo-US Corporate News

Tech Mahindra signs agreement with Wichita State University

Tech Mahindra, a provider of connected solutions, announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Wichita State University, a state educational institution in Kansas, the US, in the areas of aerospace engineering, certification, information technology and automotive testing. Tech Mahindra would collaborate with the university and its National Institute for Aviation Research, the largest academic aviation research and development institution in the US, in multiple areas of engineering, including composites, advanced materials and structural testing. Tech Mahindra would gain access to the university’s extensive research and test lab capabilities and have the opportunity to train students before they enter the workforce. Tech Mahindra aspires to be among the top three engineering solutions companies, providing end-to-end solutions from design to certification. Tech Mahindra plans to invest in equipping the engineering talent available in the region to enhance their employability in the Wichita aerospace community. This investment would enable Tech Mahindra to provide end-to-end solutions from design, to testing and certification for global aerospace and automotive customers and prospects in the region. The collaboration would not only ensure that Tech Mahindra has a local pool of trained aerospace, information technology and automotive engineers available to service their global network of clients, but will also facilitate cooperative initiatives in innovation and R&D projects, including possible involvement with the university’s Innovation Campus.

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Times Internet to launch digital version of Ad Age in India

Times Internet Ltd has tied up with American publishing house Crain Communications to launch the digital version of Advertising Age (Ad Age) in India, the two companies. Times Internet is the digital arm of media company Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL). Founded in 1930, Ad Age delivers advertising, marketing and media news through various platforms including a weekly print product. The New York based-Ad Age is among the leading global media and marketing magazines known for its original rankings on global marketers, media companies and its annual agency report. Its parent Crain Communications brings out other trade publications such as Autoweek and TelevisionWeek. It also publishes a few city-based business newspapers such as Crain’s Cleveland Business, Crain’s Chicago Business and Crain’s New York Business. The alliance is a part of the Times Local Partners, a business unit of Times Internet that partners with global digital companies and helps them launch in India, the Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Ad Age joins a growing Times Local Partners portfolio, which has already rolled out the Indian editions of Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Techradar and Business Insider, among others. Anurag Batra, chairman of exchange4media group, which runs a website that covers news related to the media and advertising industry, said there is little room for more such publications. “Advertising and media is a very tough space to be in. We welcome competition. We have built leadership and we’ll try harder to maintain it.” When it launches in India, Ad Age will compete with other online media and marketing news brands such asexchange4media, agencyfaqs and Campaign India. “India has emerged as one of the world’ fastest-growing ad

markets with a vibrant and innovative community of advertising, media, and marketing leaders,” said Allison Arden, vice-president and publisher of Ad Age. Puneet Singhvi, business head, Times Local Partners, said: “Ad Age has achieved an iconic status among the media and marketing community globally and we look forward to creating a strong platform for the fraternity through Ad Age India…We also plan to roll out the regional versions of the highly revered Ad Age Lists soon. ” Times Local Partners will put together an editorial and insights team to publish local industry news, trends and analyses alongside the global coverage of strategic topics for marketers and media.

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Donald Trump says 'money will pour into India' under Modi US property tycoon Donald Trump praised Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday, saying foreign investors were returning to the country after years of slowing economic growth. The developer and television star predicted that "money will pour into India" as he briefed journalists on a new luxury apartment block in Mumbai dubbed "Trump Tower”. “I have not met him, but your new PM has done a fantastic job of bringing people together," he told the journalists in Mumbai. Narendra Modi swept to power this year on a pledge to jolt the country from the economic doldrums. He won support from across India and particularly among the young, who were attracted to his record as a business-friendly administrator during his 13 years running Gujarat as chief minister. "The perception about India has changed. The optimism is returning," said Trump. "You can see it in our sales. We are selling units more than our own expectations."

Real estate developer Donald Trump speaks during a news conference to announce his first project in Mumbai.

The building's promoters say they have sold nearly 100 apartments in the tower, which occupies prime real estate in the city. "In my opinion, real estate prices in Mumbai are incredibly low because there are so many other places, cities, countries where you will find prices that are way too high," said Trump. With prices that start at 90 million rupees ($1.48 million), the new apartments are way out of the reach of most of the city's inhabitants, nearly 40 percent of who live in slums. Since January, foreign investors have poured $26 billion into Indian debt and equities, more than three times the figure for the same period last year.

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Citibank India gets new consumer banking business head Kartik Kaushik has been with Citibank since 2010 and his previous role was Deputy Consumer Business Manager

Citibank, the foreign lender in the country, has appointed Kartik Kaushik as the head of its consumer banking business in India, effective from 1st August. Kaushik, has been with Citibank since 2010 and in his previous role was the Deputy Consumer Business Manager at Citi India Kaushik, has replaced Anand Selvakesari who has been promoted to now head the consumer banking business in

the ASEAN cluster- including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, in addition to India. Selvakesari has been with Citibank for 22 years. The lender’s Consumer Banking business includes all asset and liability products, including branch banking, wealth management, FX, trade services, retail brokerage, mortgages, credit cards, payment products, unsecured lending, digital banking and Non Resident Indian products.

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America’s favorite pizza chain now in India Marco’s Pizza, Toledo-based robustly growing pizza franchise in the US, has announced its entry into India via franchise route. The pizza chain is looking forward to open 400 stores over next 10 years. “We are thrilled to launch operations in an untapped market such as India with two Marco’s Pizza area representatives native to the area,” says Bryon Stephens, President and COO of Marco’s Pizza. It is spread over 500 locations. The brand has signed more than 15 hundred new franchise deals in 2013. In a span of five to seven years, it is hopeful of quadrupling its store count. The expansion goals in India will be led by DJ Patel and Monaliza Patel. They both have a combined experience of over 33 years in pizza and franchise sectors. DJ oversees 40 units of Marco’s Pizza in Georgia, Maryland, DC, Virginia and now even India. Monaliza is an area representative and partners with DJ in co-managing stores in Atlanta and Southern Georgia. “After conducting a sound market research, the expansion plans in India have been thought about. The first store will be opened before the year end,” adds Stephens. Marco’s Pizza believes in selling “ah!thentic” product and endeavors to build a strong community image. Their product menu includes sandwiches, salads and breads as well. Marco’s Pizza has its headquarters in Toledo, Ohio. It was founded in 1978 by a native Italian, Pasquale “Pat” Giammarco. He moved to the US at the age of nine. Having grown up working in his family pizzeria, he went on to make pizzas on a larger scale using his special sauce recipe. The business refined further. The company has evolved from its nascent stage as an Ohio brand to being a developed brand operating in more than 500 stores in 35 states and the Bahamas. Based on the number of stores signed into development since 2007, Marco’s Pizza is one of the fastest growing pizza companies in the US. It is a pioneer in making Italian pizzas. Copyright © 2009 - 2014 Franchise India Holdings Ltd.

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Cisco India revenue up 18% in Q4 FY 2014, despite global flop Enterprise networking vendor Cisco said its India revenue rose 18 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.

The impressive performance in India is despite Cisco posting 0.5 percent dip in global revenues to $12.4 billion and 1 percent drop in net income to $2.2 billion in Q4 FY 2014. In FY 2014, Cisco revenue fell 3 percent to $47.1 billion, while income decreased 21.3 percent to $7.9 billion. In the Asia Pacific region, revenue from Japan and China dipped 7 percent, while China revenue fell 23 percent. The remaining emerging countries in Asia declined 34 percent. isco, which will be cutting around 6,000 jobs during the current quarter, said emerging countries within the three geographies declined 9 percent in the fourth quarter. Its business in Americas grew 2 percent, U.S. rose 5 percent, with U.S. commercial and U.S. enterprise continuing the strong growth up 17 percent and 16 percent respectively. Cisco said Latin America declined 6 percent with ongoing pressures in some of the largest emerging countries and including a decline of 13 percent in Brazil. EMEA grew 2 percent. In EMEA, enterprise business grew 8 percent and commercial grew 7 percent. UK revenue grew 6 percent and within the UK commercial was up 18 percent and enterprise was up 19 percent. Germany grew 16 percent with commercial up 13 percent and enterprise up 17 percent.

Cisco SP business Cisco CEO John Chambers said it is continuing to face challenges in several IP and the service provider market which declined 11 percent. Within the service provider market the largest impact came from SP Video with orders down 13 percent and the ongoing decline in emerging markets where service provider is the higher mix of the business. “Our service provider customers are dealing with transitions in their business and have been consolidating with the transaction volumes of these consolidations over the last 12 months about as much as we have seen in the past four years combined,” Chambers said.

Routing declined 7 percent though Cisco posted double-digit growth in the ASR 9000 because of strong penetration among the Web 2.0 customers offset by softness in MOB and optical and mobile business, said Cisco. Switching declined 4 percent. Catalyst 3850 posted over 80 percent growth in the latest quarter. In the datacenter, Nexus 9000 and application-centric infrastructure customers tripled to over 580 customers, against 180 in the previous quarter. Copyright © Kizhakedath Media Services Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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The minute you are willing to take risks, you can focus on being an innovator: Sudhakar Ramakrishna

Interview with Senior Vice-President and General Manager Enterprise and Service Provider Division, Citrix

Sudhakar Ramakrishna, Senior Vice President and General Manager Enterprise and Service Provider Division, Citrix Systems, Inc.

With start-ups and associated systems in India evolving quickly, the country is increasingly seeing entrants wishing to participate in this wave. Citrix, an America-based information technology major, is the latest to do so, set to launch a Start-up Innovator’s Program. This is aimed at helping entrepreneurs to cultivate and market breakthrough ideas and technologies. Sudhakar Ramakrishna, its senior vice-president and General Manager Enterprise and Service Provider Division, who heads the initiative, spoke to Itika Sharma Punit on it, their plans and why India is an exciting place to be in. Edited excerpts: What is the rationale behind Citrix engaging with start-ups and running programmes for them? We do not want to box customers into a single solution or specific point product. Hence, we have the accelerator programme that helps us engage with start-ups and gather learnings about several non-technology specific and non-product specific areas. Through this, we also keep in touch with the key areas where disruptions are happening in the market. What's been the background of this programme in the US so far? We established the Citrix Accelerator programme in 2010. The idea was that we would select companies, give them facilities, have a board that provides guidance and we provide initial funding. The goal for was to promote open innovation. The initial funding varies and there are no encumbrances. We typically also make another round of investments, six to nine months after the initial round. After that, we expect them to get either outside funding or, in some cases, these companies have been acquired by larger ones. So, our engagement is broadly for one year. What success have the accelerated start-ups seen so far? Many have gone on to achieve success of their own, many have got funding after the seed runs we did for them and some, honestly, failed. The way we look is that if you don't stretch the boundaries of innovation, you are going to be a very conservative team. And, it's not like we are failing or they are failing - everyone is learning from it. What brings you to India? Part of the reason is the vibrancy and opportunity in the ecosystem. The population dynamics here have changed from a conservative career-oriented attitude to an ability to take risks. My belief is that the minute you are willing to take risk, you can focus on being an innovator. The mental make-up of the population in India has changed significantly and, obviously, the availability and abundance of talent is a big reason. There is also a greater willingness on the part of venture capitalists and other stakeholders in bringing money here, which has created a confluence of events for greater influence. Another reason is that India is the largest research and development (R&D) centers for us now.

Could you shed some light on the Innovator's Program you're bringing here? We launched it this February. The idea is that in three months, you should be able to say whether your idea has wings, it needs to be changed or it will not fly at all. After graduating from this, teams can apply for the accelerator programme (at Citrix or outside). Basically, this one helps teams to figure what are the things that can be done even before getting into an accelerator. It is open to all, outsiders and employees of Citrix. Would you be bringing your accelerator programme to India? Launching it here is on the cards but we don't have any specifics yet. All I can say right now is - it's coming, stay tuned. We want to take it in phases, we are not testing the waters, we are committed but we are just phasing. Would you look at partnering with other players? We do not co-invest with other accelerators in the US but that does not mean we would do the same thing in India. We engage with other accelerators for knowledge sharing and best-practices sharing in the US. Most likely, we would be collaborating for them in India, too. (Nasscom Product Council chairman) Ravi Gururaj is a Citrix alumni, so he is deeply engaged with us in discussions about what we can do in India. But we haven't really formalised an arrangement. What would be an ideal batch-size you'd look at? To some degree, it's going to be a function of the number of applications and their quality. I don't believe in a quota system which says that I will support 10, and even if I don't get 10 ideas that I am enthusiastic about, I take these in. I would say that at any point in time, a rough order of magnitude will be around 10 teams. What kind of companies would you look to enroll into the Innovator's Program? We're looking more at idea-stage companies. We take the more graduated ones in our Accelerator Program. We are absolutely open to all kinds of technology. We welcome diversity and our Accelerator Programs are not at all about making money.

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Coca-Cola plans Rs 1,000-crore bottling plant in Telangana Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, The Coca-Cola Company's largest bottling partner in India, has expressed interest to set up a Rs 1,000-crore bottling plant in Telangana and has sought land for the proposed venture. "Executive Vice President of the company (The Coca-Cola Company) and President, Bottling Investments, Irial Finan and the Chief Executive Officer of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd (HCCB), the company-owned bottler in India, T Krishnakumar, conveyed the proposal when they called on Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao at the Secretariat here," an official release said. The release quoted Finan as saying that the company is interested in setting up a mega plant with Rs 1,000 crore investments in the State and needs the support of government for the purpose. The Chief Minister assured the delegation of full support from his government, including identifying suitable land for the proposed plant, the release said. Telangana Chief Secretary Rajeev Sharma, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, S Narsing Rao and Managing Director of Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, Jayesh Ranjan were present at the meeting. According to Coca-Cola website, Finan is responsible for managing a multi-billion dollar internal bottling business, the Bottling Investments Group (BIG). BIG has operations on four continents (South America, Europe, Africa and Asia), with revenues of over USD 8 billion and employs in excess of 60,000 people.

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RIL plans to invest $2 billion in US shale gas assets

Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s biggest private sector company by revenue, plans to invest $2 billion (around Rs.12,000 crore) in its three shale assets in the US, betting big on the potential of extracting natural gas and oil from the sedimentary rock formations. Having already invested $7.3 billion since 2010 towards development of shale gas and oil in the booming US market, the company has now firmed up the new investments in the three joint ventures it has in the US, said two persons familiar with the plan. The plan to step up RIL’s shale-gas investment comes at a time when the company is at loggerheads with the Indian government on the issue of increasing the price of natural gas produced from the company’s D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin. The newly elected National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has deferred until 30 September a decision on a proposed price hike pending modifications to a price formula suggested by the C. Rangarajan committee that would have nearly doubled the price of gas. Last month, it decided to join arbitration proceedings initiated by RIL and its partners seeking a price increase. On 30 June, in its full-year earnings statement, Canadian company Niko Resources Ltd, which is a 10% partner in the D6 block, said the partners will defer their investment plans for the KG basin if the gas pricing issue is not resolved. While these issues have deterred RIL’s domestic investment in exploration and production (E&P), the company has been steadily increasing its interests overseas with its bet on the shale oil and gas ventures, which have become a revenue generator for the company in a short span of three years. According to the company’s June quarter results announcements, its shale gas operations posted a 26% increase in revenue to $270 million (Rs.1,620 crore) and 22% rise in operating profit to $201 million (Rs.1,206 crore) from the year-ago period. Its share of production from the shale business too stood at 15 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscm) of gas, higher than its production of 8 mmsc of gas daily from the D1 and D3 fields of the D6 block in the KG basin. “RIL’s share of US shale production increased to 15 mmscmd, 178% of its share of KG D6 production. Also, shale gas Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) of $201 million for RIL in 1Q was 126% of that from

domestic E&P,” said a note by Deutsche Bank AG analysts Harshad Katkar and Amit Murarka on 20 July. On 19 July, Alok Agarwal, chief financial officer of RIL, said after the announcement of its latest financial results that the company expects to post 20% growth in revenue, profit as well as production in this business. One of the two persons cited above said the $2 billion of additional capex planned for the shale ventures will be largely directed towards the Marcellus region in the eastern part of the US where the company has agreements with Chevron, and Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc. Most likely, the investment will flow into the Chevron shale acreage, the person said. In 2010, RIL ventured into the fledgling shale gas business in the US through joint venture agreements with three companies—Atlas Energy Inc., (now owned by Chevron) and Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc., in the prolific Marcellus region in south-western Pennsylvania and with Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PNRC) in the Eagle Ford shale acreage, in the Texas region of the US. It had invested a total of $2.046 billion in acquiring the stakes, giving it access to 12 trillion cubic feet of reserves. “In the JVs with Pioneer and Carrizo, the business has already turned profitable and cash flows from the business are enough to fund the incremental capex there. Therefore, the new capex is meant for the stake with Chevron,” the second person said. The ramp-up of production in the Chevron JV is still very slow while the prospects are high. It is the Marcellus reserves the company is banking on, he added. A mail sent to Chevron and RIL on 7 August remained unanswered till press time. Ashish Jagnani, an analyst with UBS, said in a 21 July note that in the future the Chevron JV will account for a large part of the capital expenditure for RIL. Jagnani said RIL’s shale JV production was expected to rise at a compounded annual growth rate of 21% between fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2018. Dhaval Joshi, analyst with brokerage Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd, said that a substantial part of the investment also depends on the Henry Hub prices, the benchmark natural gas price for the US market. “Since the life span of a shale well is for a period of two to three years, companies always take a call on investment based on the estimated trend of Henry Hub. Anything above $4 per mmBtu makes good sense to invest heavily,” he said. According to Bloomberg, the current Henry Hub prices are at $3.9 per million metric British thermal units (mmBtu) and analysts say the outlook for the price is tepid for the next one year.

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Microsoft to set up data centre in India to accelerate growth Even as Microsoft has seen exponential growth for its cloud platform Azure in India, the firm has not yet set up local servers

In a move that is likely to be followed up by several global technology majors, Microsoft is planning to set up a local data centre in India. The move would help Microsoft offer its cloud offerings to several industry sectors, especially banking, financial services and insurance sector, which is the biggest consumer of technology. Jim Dubois, Microsoft's corporate vice-president and chief information officer, confirmed the move. He, however, did declined to divulge more details. "We are considering a data centre in India. That's all that we can say for now," he said. Speaking to Business Standard, he added: "It will absolutely help us accelerate. There are a lot of companies that are looking at us now in anticipation that Microsoft will at some point have a local data centre." Even as Microsoft has seen exponential growth for its cloud platform Azure in India, the firm has not yet set up local servers. Due to the absence of a data storage facility on Indian soil, several industries such asBFSI are unable to use Azure for certain specific requirements. There has been demand for setting up local servers in India in view of the potential security threat of storing sensitive data at remote locations abroad.

Not very long ago, BlackBerry was forced to set up local servers in India after the Department of Telecommunications asked the Canadian company to do so if it wanted to continue operations in India. Governments across the globe have become cautious about sensitive information being stored on servers at foreign locations after Edward Joseph Snowden released thousands of classified documents he had acquired while working as a National Security Agency (NSA) contractor for Delland Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden's release of NSA material to several media outlets was called the most significant leak in the history of US by Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg.

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In the News:

Hagel visit to form base for revival of defence ties

U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said that his India visit was to build a relationship and not just military-to-military ties

"When we look at Asia-Pacific, the area of operation represents tremendous new opportunities, but challenges as well. We need partners. We need relationships."

U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived here on Thursday on a short visit that is expected to lay the groundwork for the revival of Indo-U.S. defence ties and identify niche areas of common interest in the Asia-Pacific region. “When we look at Asia-Pacific, the area of operation represents tremendous new opportunities, but challenges as well. We need partners. We need relationships. That's the kind of world we live in, and that's the kind of world that we're going to be living in,” Mr. Hagel said at a meeting in Germany on Wednesday before leaving for India. Mr. Hagel pointed out that he would follow up on the recently concluded visit to India of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. “India represents the largest democracy in the world. They just had an election. They have a new government. The new Prime Minister is coming to Washington to see President Obama next month. So I'll be there, working, yes, our specific issues, but it's larger than that,” he said. Analysts said the Americans are hoping to revive Indo-U.S. defence trade, which had dropped sharply during the second innings of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. But, the Indian side is not inclined to off-the-shelf purchases, preferring instead arrangements that would galvanise Indian defence industry in partnership with U.S. firms. Diplomatic sources said negotiations on the purchase of 15 Chinook heavy lift and 22 Apache helicopters have advanced significantly, ahead of Mr. Hagel’s visit. The Defence Procurement Board (DPB) is set to take a call on the contracts worth $2.5 billion. However, discussions on the procurement of the 145 M-777 ultra-light howitzers appear to be floundering. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told Parliament in July that apart from cost issues, the manufacturers had not fully complied with the offset requirements related to the contract.

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Joint Statement on the Fifth India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue

(R-L) External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj and Secretary of State John F. Kerry led their respective delegations to the fifth

annual India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue.

The two sides recognized that the decisive mandate provided by the Indian people to their new Government provided a unique opportunity to re-energize this relationship. They expressed confidence that the Summit Meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama in Washington D.C. in September 2014 would generate new dynamism in the relationship. The two sides welcomed the participation of Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman in the Strategic Dialogue and the productive discussions they held on bilateral trade and economic issues in their inaugural meeting. They looked forward to the visit of U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel in August 2014 to deepen discussions on military exercises, defense trade, co-production and co­development, and research on new technologies for defense, in keeping with the Summit-level Joint Declaration on Defense Cooperation issued in September 2013. Faced by a common threat from terrorism, including in South Asia, the two leaders committed to intensify efforts to combat terrorism, proliferation of WMDs, nuclear terrorism, cross-border crime, and address the misuse of the internet for terrorist purposes, in compliance with respective laws. The two leaders welcomed the continuation of the Counter-Terrorism Joint Working Group process, sustained exchanges of senior experts, and the upcoming meeting of the Working Group in 2014. They also welcomed plans to hold the next Ministerial Homeland Security Dialogue. They agreed to have their Central Authorities meet to discuss ways to improve mutual legal assistance and extradition processes. They also agreed to work towards greater cooperation in cyber security and reducing cybercrime. The two leaders reviewed efforts since November 2010 toward India's phased entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group. Secretary Kerry reaffirmed the United States' support for India's membership in these groups and welcomed India’s recent decision to ratify its Additional Protocol with the IAEA. The two leaders supported an early conclusion to these efforts. Secretary Kerry welcomed raised foreign investment ceilings in several sectors of the Indian economy, including defense, railways, e-commerce and insurance. The two sides agreed to identify specific areas for investment in India's manufacturing and infrastructure sectors including through establishing a new initiative in this regard. They also sought to empower the India-U.S. CEO Forum to build a better business environment. Minister Swaraj and Secretary Kerry resolved to discuss bilateral trade and economic concerns in a spirit of partnership, including at the Ministerial Trade Policy Forum in India that both governments hope to convene in fall 2014, focusing on key trade and investment issues. The two sides plan to expand the Commercial Dialogue. They also agreed that India would host the next round of the High Technology Cooperation Group on mutually convenient dates this year.

Minister Swaraj welcomed the United States as a partner country, for the first time, at India's annual Technology Summit in November 2014. The leaders looked forward to the convening of the next bilateral Joint Science & Technology Committee meeting immediately preceding that event. Secretary Kerry welcomed India’s commitment to the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) including in the areas of anti-microbial resistance and immunization. The Leaders welcomed work under the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) in its Research and Deployment components. They reviewed the new initiative on Promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy (PEACE) in bringing Indian citizens in rural areas access to off-grid sources of clean energy. They welcomed outcomes facilitated by the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Centre in solar technologies, second generation biofuels and energy efficient buildings. They also intend to scale-up existing initiatives on space cooling, to reduce demand for power for air-conditioning. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the full implementation of the India­- U.S.civil nuclear agreement. They welcomed the Authorization to Proceed provided to Westinghouse to implement the pre-Early Works Agreement with NPCIL as of September 2013.Both sides urged NPCIL and U.S. companies Westinghouse and General Electric-Hitachi to expedite the necessary work to conclude pricing and contractual details. They looked forward to advancing the government-to-government dialogue and facilitating the establishment of U.S.-built nuclear power plants in India. The leaders also welcomed progress in the bilateral dialogue on nuclear safety, nuclear security regulatory processes, the establishment of India’s Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP), and projects in fundamental physics. They urged expedited agreements and arrangements to facilitate Indian participation in the High Intensity Superconducting Proton Accelerator Project, the Thirty Meter Telescope, Monsoon studies, and Joint Oceanic surveys. The leaders appreciated India joining the Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) program of the U.S. National Science Foundation, which will facilitate support for high-quality research projects across identified disciplines. The Minister and the Secretary welcomed civil space cooperation between India and the United States in Earth Observation, Space Exploration and Satellite Navigation. New focus areas could include joint realization of dual frequency microwave satellite for earth observation and launch services. Both sides plan to continue discussions on space security in 2014, to include areas of mutual interest such as space situational awareness and collision avoidance. The two sides identified education and skills development as an important area of future cooperation. They called for partnerships between Indian and U.S. testing services institutions to improve nation-wide student assessments in India. Minister Swaraj and Secretary Kerry recognized that a truly strategic India-U.S. partnership was a significant contributor to regional peace, stability and prosperity in the South Asian region, Asia, and globally. They reaffirmed their commitment to jointly support other partner countries, including through capacity-building in Afghanistan, agriculture management projects in Kenya, Liberia and Malawi, and Open Government Platforms in Rwanda and Ghana. They emphasized the need for India, the United States and Japan to work together to build transport and trade connectivity between South Asia and ASEAN, via Myanmar, including by developing economic corridors. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to work towards a successful outcome in Paris in 2015 of the work of the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The two sides convened the first round of bilateral consultations under the India-U.S. Joint Working Group on Climate Change, continuing their enhanced dialogue on an ambitious climate change agreement for the post-2020 period, and strengthening bilateral efforts in the areas of clean technology, smart grid, energy efficiency, adaptation strategies, sustainable forestry and REDD+ issues. Minister Swaraj and Secretary Kerry reaffirmed their commitment to ensure that the United Nations Security Council continues to effectively play its role in maintaining international peace and security as envisioned in the UN Charter. Secretary Kerry reaffirmed that the United States looks forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member. The two leaders intend to upgrade the existing dialogue on Peacekeeping into a broader dialogue on UN issues, the first round of which India offered to host prior to the UN General Assembly session in September.

The two leaders reaffirmed their support for a unified, independent and sovereign Afghanistan. They expressed admiration for the determination of the Afghan people to exercise their democratic right to vote despite the significant threat from terrorist elements. They welcomed the efforts of the two Presidential candidates, and all Afghan institutions involved in the current electoral process to work together with the United Nations to ensure the timely completion of the ongoing process, so that the elections are a source of unity and strength for the country and a source of stability for the region. Both sides agreed to continue their engagement with Afghanistan on this issue. Minister Swaraj and Secretary Kerry reiterated their condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and reaffirmed their commitment to eliminating terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, and disrupting terrorist networks including Al-Qa'ida and the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The leaders called for Pakistan to work toward bringing the perpetrators of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks to justice. The leaders reiterated their deep concern at the current situation in Iraq, which posed a direct threat to the security of the people and the territorial integrity of Iraq. They affirmed that they attached the highest priority to the security and safety of their respective nationals in Iraq. They stood by the people of Iraq in their fight against international terrorism and their efforts to preserve Iraq's unity and territorial integrity, recognizing that a stable, peaceful, united and democratic Iraq is in the interest of regional and global peace and security. Both sides expressed concern at the steep escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel, resulting in the loss of numerous civilian lives and damage to property. They called upon both sides to exercise maximum restraint and expressed hope that necessary conditions will be created for a sustainable ceasefire and the early resumption of peace talks, towards a comprehensive resolution of the Middle East issue. They also expressed deep concern at the continuing violence and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria, which impacts significantly on the security and stability of the region. The leaders reiterated the importance of a Syrian-led comprehensive political solution to the crisis, in alignment with the Geneva Communiqué of 2012. They urged all parties to demonstrate the requisite political will, exercise restraint and commit to seeking common ground in accommodating their differences. The two leaders encouraged Departments and Ministries on both sides to continue to evolve ambitious plans to further the partnership. Secretary Kerry thanked Minister Swaraj for hosting the fifth Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi. They agreed to convene the next round in the United States in 2015. Courtesy: state.gov

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NIIT signs MoU with University of Missouri to offer 5-year programme NIIT University (NU) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the University of Missouri - Kansas City’s (UKMC) School of Computing and Engineering (SCE) to offer a five-year programme offering B.Tech degree from NU and Masters of Science in Computer Science (MSCS) from SCE. The two institutions will also carry out research activities through student and faculty exchange in the area of computer science and computer engineering. Students undertaking the course will be required to complete 3.5 years at NU and 1.5 years at UMKC’s School of Computing and Engineering. Candidates will be admitted to UMKC’s SCE graduate programme based on IELTS score of 6.5/9.0 or higher, or an IBT score of 79/120. Course grade of 70 per cent or higher in each completed course at NU (3.0/4.0 GPA – the US scale) is also mandatory. Successful candidates should complete all the necessary requirements for the NU B.Tech degree and the UMKC MSCS degree. Full admission in the programme will be dependent on the student’s performance in semester 8 at UMKC. A GPA of 3.0/4.0 in all courses at UMKC is required to be scored by students.

UMKC has graded NU B.Tech at par with their undergraduate programme. Hence no GRE will be required from students who have met all the undergraduate and graduate admissions requirements throughout the programme. The US-based university has also offered scholarships to all NU students admitted to UMKC programme. The fee will be approximately 40 per cent lesser than the fee charged to any international student. There is also a support for teaching assistantship. Incepted in 2009 in Neemrana, Rajasthan, NIIT University currently offers 4-year B.Tech programme in three streams: Biotechnology (BT), Computer Science Engineering (CSE), and Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE). It also offers M.Tech Programmes in Educational Technology & Geographic Information Systems; and PhD programmes in Bio-Technology, Computer Science Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Educational Technology, and Humanities & Social sciences & Management.

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US keen to invest in infrastructure, manufacturing sectors

Penny Pritzker, US Secretary of Commerce, addressing at an interactive session organized in Mumbai

The US has expressed a desire to share its expertise in infrastructure and manufacturing with India to build on the growing trade ties. Penny Pritzker, US Secretary of Commerce, said the two-way trade between India and the US has grown more than five-fold since 2000 to $96 billion with American companies investing $28 billion in India while Indian investment in the US touching $9 billion, supporting about 45,000 jobs. Addressing an interactive session organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry here on Wednesday, she said India was facing the pressing challenge of building infrastructure. In nearly every sector – roads, power, ports, rail, airports, water and sewage – the Indian Government has identified the need for modern infrastructure. It is estimated that India needs $1.7 trillion in infrastructure investment by 2020, to keep pace with economic growth and urbanisation. “This is an enormous figure and daunting task and American businesses want to help as they have solution and expertise to share,” she said. The US has cutting-edge technology in the fields of energy transportation, ports and airports, freight corridors and urban development, IT and digital infrastructure. Securing a steady supply of energy to India’s villages would transform lives, thus planting the seeds of economic growth in every region, she said. “Imagine if we helped delivery of energy to the 400 million Indians currently off the grid. We have a vested interest in seeing India succeed, in seeing this nation reach its full economic potential. We are ready to share our best practices. Create a business climate in India that is more open for global investment,” said Pritzker. The private sectors in both countries have a vested interest in encouraging governments to make progress in protecting intellectual property rights, promoting transparency and ensuring a predictable and consistent investment environment.

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IAF gets sixth C-17 Globemaster with vintage package in belly The Indian Air Force today received its sixth C-17 Globemaster heavy lift transport aircraft which also carried a World War II vintage 'Harvard' aircraft in its belly. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley visited the Palam air base where has was briefed about the aircraft and its capabilities by IAF chief Arup Raha, an IAF release said.

Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Defence, Shri Arun Jaitley, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, the Air Officer Commanding-In-Chief Western Air Command (WAC), Air Marshal S.S. Soman and other IAF officials, during the arrival

of Sixth C-17 Globemaster-III, at Air Force Station Palam, in New Delhi on 28 July 2014. Image courtesy PIB

The Havard, which is a 1930s aircraft, was brought from the UK by the C-17 after it was restored there as part of IAF's plan to bring back to life its nine vintage planes, IAF officials said. The C-17 is the biggest aircraft in IAF's inventory and the government had accorded approval to buy 10 C-17 Globemaster III along with associated equipment for the IAF in June 2011. The first aircraft touched down in India on 18 June last year and the delivery of all 10 is expected to be completed by December 2014. The aircraft will enhance the operational potential of the IAF with its payload carriage of 75 tonnes and performance and would augment the strategic reach, with about 4500 km range, of the nation during operations, disaster relief or any similar mission, the IAF said.

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Obama Administration Making Strategic Bet on India: Biswal

The Obama administration is making a "strategic bet" on India as it has a vital role to play at the global stage, a top Indian American official has said as the United States moves towards implementing its "rebalance to Asia." Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told lawmakers that "India has vital role to play in South Asia, in the Asia Pacific, and, increasingly at the global stage." Her comments came ahead of an important visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to attend the India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue on July 31 in New Delhi. Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee's subcommittee on the Asia and the Pacific, she said India's rise as a regional and global leader, and its economic and strategic growth, are deeply in American interest. Asserting that the Obama administration is committed to a "strong and influential India" in the security realm, Biswal said India is a regional and emerging global power, as well as provider of security and a strategic partner with shared interests from the Indian Ocean to Afghanistan and beyond.

Recognizing that America's future prosperity and security are intertwined with the East Asia-Pacific region, Obama administration is strengthening political, economic and security ties with Asian countries. "The Strategic Dialogue will kick off a series of high-level visits throughout late summer and fall, culminating in the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Washington at the invitation of the President," she said. "We think this is a time of tremendous potential for the U.S.-India partnership. By reinvigorating this partnership and setting ambitious new goals for the future, we are making future generations of Americans and Indians safer and more prosperous and helping strengthen stability and around the world," Biswal told the lawmakers. She also said now that President Barack Obama has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House, the visa issue associated with him is a thing of past. "When the president invited Prime Minister Modi and welcomed him to come to the United States, that he did so knowing that a visa would be granted for him to be able to do that, and we look forward to that," she said. In related news, U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, who is headed to India this week, said the India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue will play a key role in advancing the vital commercial relationship between two countries.

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Over 300 Indo-U.S. Organizations Join Hands to Welcome PM Modi More than 300 Indo-American organizations from across the U.S. have come together to give Narendra Modi a "historic public reception", when he comes to Washington on his maiden visits as India's Prime Minister in September. The event is also expected to be attended by a number of U.S. lawmakers. Held under the banner of newly-formed "Indian American Community Foundation", Modi is expected to deliver a major policy speech on Indian Diaspora from the historic Madison Square Garden in the New York City on September 28. An official announcement is yet to be made. Given that the Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan in the Big Apple, having a capacity of 18,000 to 20,000 people, is expected to be jam packed, this would be the largest ever public address by an Indian Prime Minister, or for that matter an Indian leader overseas. Modi's scheduled public reception is also said to be the largest by a foreign leader on American soil in recent memory. And given that even mainstream a politicians have a tough time in attracting a few thousand people to their events, Modi addressing nearly 20,000 people at one venue on September 28, would be considered as a massive rally by American standards.

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For India outreach, US brings into play Indian-Americans

US secretary of state John Kerry had Nisha Desai Biswal by his side during his visit to India last week and commerce secretary Penny Pritzker had Arun Kumar. Biswal, Kumar, and Talwar are all assistant secretaries in the Obama administration, key operational level officials who manage major programmes and implement policies. They are of sub-cabinet level rank, appointed by the President of the United States with the consent of the US Senate, and assigned to assist a specific cabinet secretary. For decades, they have also typically been US-born Americans, particularly when it used to be the second-ranking post after the secretary of state. Now they are fourth in the pecking order after Cabinet secretaries, deputy secretaries, and under-secretaries, but they are considered hands-on pointpersons in specific areas, a vital cog in the administrative wheel.

Indian-Americans have been routinely making the assistant secretary grade from the time George Bush nominated Bobby Jindal to be assistant secretary of health and human services for planning and evaluation in 2001. Generally though, they have had little to do with India. When Karan Bhatia held the post of assistant secretary of transportation for aviation and international affairs from 2003 to 2005 and deputy US trade representative from 2005-2007, India was just part of his overall beat. Sometimes they had even less to do with India — as with Richard Verma, who was the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs at the US department of state until March 2011. Nisha Desai-Biswal broke the mould. An Indian-American whose family emigrated from Dahod in Gujarat when she was six, she became the first assistant secretary of subcontinental origin who was given direct charge of the region when Obama nominated her to be assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia, a region that includes India and Pakistan. Arun Kumar has even closer ties to India. An undergrad from University of Kerala who later earned a degree from MIT, he started his career in India as a member of TAS, the central management cadre of the Tata Group. He later became a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and then founded and led KPMG's US-India Practice. He is also the co-editor of Kerala's Economy — Crouching Tiger, Sacred Cows. Nothing in their US government career points to anything other than their loyalty to the United States, notwithstanding the gaffe by a US Congressman last month when he mistook Kumar and Biswal to be Indian officials, ostensibly because of their brown skin. The Obama administration, on its part, has hardly concealed its desire to use them for its India outreach, while recognizing their contribution America. "America's prosperity rests more than ever in the strength of our links to this region. Nisha's experience and the success that so many Indian Americans bring to the American table shows to everybody in the world the deep ties that we have between the United States and India. And I know that we're going to unlock the enormous potential of stronger economic, security, and cultural ties between our countries," Kerry said at Biswal's swearing in. Talwar too will be part of that unlocking mechanism, accompanying defense secretary Chuck Hagel to a country Washington finds particularly hard to crack as it found out when it lost the multi-role combat aircraft bid. Although an assistant secretary in the state department, he heads the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which interfaces closely with the department of defence. He has also served as the special assistant to the President and senior director for Iraq, Iran, and the Gulf States at the White House National Security Council, all areas of interest to New Delhi. Most recently, he was in Tel Aviv meeting senior Israeli officials to discuss political-military issues, including, according to the administration, "security cooperation and defence trade, our efforts to ensure Israel's Qualitative Military Edge, and ways to build on our progress to date in expanding our enduring strategic partnership." So inasmuch as the Hagel mission will also want to hawk US military hardware, there will be much else to talk about. "The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs supports the department of defence's US-India Defence Trade and Technology Initiative, and seeks opportunities to expand peacekeeping, counter-piracy, and security cooperation," the state department said in a statement, announcing Talwar's joining of the Hagel mission. Copyright © 2014 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved.

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'Transformative Moment in Ties', Says John Kerry Ahead of India Visit

US Secretary of State John Kerry

Calling India an indispensable partner for the 21st century, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that the dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit of this bilateral relationship is needed to solve some of world's greatest challenges. Laying out a roadmap for a long-term strategic partnership between the largest and oldest democratic countries, Kerry said that deepening America's ties with India is a strategic imperative. Noting that the India-US ties are yet to "blossom" together, Kerry said, "This is a potentially transformative moment in our relationship with India." Kerry was referring to the post-election scenario and the formation of the new government, which he said has received historic mandate from its people to deliver change. "The US and India can and should be indispensable partners for the 21st century. The dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit of our relationship is needed to solve some of world's greatest challenges," he said. He said the two countries can work together to tackle global challenges from climate change to clean energy and others. "The new Indian government plans 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' -- together we all development for all -- is a vision that we want to support," the Secretary of State said this in his address on 'The United States and India: A Shared Vision for 2020 and Beyond' at the Center for American Progress (CAP), a major US think-tank. "We believe this to be a great vision," Kerry said as he praised the vision and developmental concept of Mr. Modi. Kerry said it is time to adopt Mr. Modi's vision of development. "Innovation and entrepreneurship is both in our DNA," he said, adding that the US and India can't afford to rest back on these advantages. More American companies would come to India if the new Indian government goes ahead on its promise of liberalization and economic reform, he said. Mr. Modi, as the Gujarat Chief Minister has already provided a model of ambitions growth, he said, and sought to increase the bilateral trade between the two countries to USD 500 billion per annum. Kerry in his speech supported India's vision of an integrated South and Central Asia and that with the South East Asia. The Obama Administration is ready to help India in this regard, Kerry said as he praised Modi's steps to establish peace and improve relationship with the neighboring countries. By inviting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his inauguration, Kerry said Mr. Modi has taken the "first step" to establish peace and friendship with its South Asian neighbor. Supporting the move to increase India-Pak economic relationship, Kerry said improved trade is a win-win for both countries, both economies, and both peoples. Reiterating support for India's place in the UN Security Council, Kerry in his speech said India is a global power. The Secretary of State listed out the progress made between the two countries in various areas including economy, clean energy, and counter-terrorism. The India-US collaboration on counter terrorism, in particular real-time information sharing, helps confront common threats and bring terrorists to justice, he said. Describing climate change as a biggest challenge not only for the world, but also India, Kerry called for increased collaboration between the two countries on this issue.

"Of the 10 cities in the world with the worst air quality, six are in India," he said. In his speech, Kerry also spoke about monsoon deficit and Uttarakhand floods. Climate change is already a catalyst for instability, he said, adding that climate vitality is already taking a toll on Indian population. "Forging the solutions are a huge economic opportunities for both India and the US," he said. "The solution to climate change is energy policy...It's a huge market," he said, adding that today's energy market is USD 6 trillion market. Kerry in his speech supported the call of "saffron revolution" by Mr. Modi and said that US is ready to do all it can with all its technology and resources in this regard. "We are two confident nations connected by core values, optimistic nations?" he said, as he spoke on women’s issues. "This can be a moment where our destinies do converge," he said, referring to the history speech by India's first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. Kerry said US President; Barack Obama would welcome the Indian Prime Minister at the White House in November.

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Investigation Discovery launched in India Discovery Communications India has entered the Hindi entertainment space, with the launch of its ID, or Investigation Discovery, channel. It has launched high definition (HD) variants of its channels: TLC HD World and Animal Planet HD World, taking its channel portfolio in India to 11. ID is available across the country on analogue and digital networks, including Hathway (channel number 24), SITI Cable Network (127) and DishTV (128). The channel will offer stories of crime and suspense. Among the series that will premiere on ID is who the (Bleep) Did I Marry? It narrates stories of married couples where one spouse has hidden a secret. Another Disappeared follows the unpredictable twists of missing-person cases and tracks probes aimed at solving how and why people simply vanish. Evil-in-Law will show how marriages are nearly ruined when a meddling mother-in-law oversteps her bounds and Blood Relatives will probe homespun murder mysteries where everyone is a suspect and every suspect shares a last name. Rahul Johri, executive vice-president and general manager (South Asia), Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, and head of revenue, pan-regional ad sales and Southeast Asia, said ID was a hit in the US and one of its fastest-growing channels. Internal research had shown the channel had potential in the country. The channel’s American predecessor was launched in 2008 when the network was in the process of rebranding and positioning one of its existing channels Discovery Times, drawing 80,000 viewers a day and was subscribed to by less than 60 million homes.

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Thomas Vajda takes over as new US Consul-General in Mumbai

A career diplomat Thomas L. Vajda took charge as the new US Consul-General in Mumbai. He took over from Peter Haas, who completed his tenure in Mumbai as the US Consul-General. Vajda, with a rich experience of 23 years’ experience in the US Foreign Service, was the US State Department's Deputy Coordinator for Assistance to the Middle East, immediately prior to his Mumbai assignment. Vajda supported all efforts to coordinate US assistance to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in response to the Arab Spring and subsequent major developments in the region. Earlier, he has also served as director, Middle East Partnership Initiative, a foreign assistance program supporting political and economic reforms in the MENA region. "I have arrived in Mumbai during an exciting time. My team and I will build upon progress in the US-India relationship and advance the goals our governments articulate at the Strategic Dialogue," Vajda said of his new responsibility. On a personal note, Vajda said he and his family - wife Amy Sebes and their two daughters - look forward to exploring western India. During his diplomatic career, Vajda has served as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Myanmar, and postings in the Balkans, Germany and South Korea. In Washington, he worked in the areas of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, weapons removal and abatement, and human resources. Vajda is a graduate of the Stanford University and later did his Master's from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy.

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US lawmakers to foster closer India ties through community Three leading Democratic lawmakers have vowed to engage with the Indian-American community to identify possible areas for near-term collaboration and work to address challenges in the US-India partnership. The three - Steny H. Hoyer, Joe Crowley and Eliot L. Engel - voiced their commitment to engaging with the Indian-American community on issues concerning the future of US-India relationship at a roundtable recently. Hoyer is House Democratic Whip, Crowley is Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans and Engel is the leading Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The lawmakers were joined by members of the Indian-American community, business leaders, diplomats, and Obama Administration officials to explore potential avenues for closer collaboration between the two countries. "America has much to gain through close engagement and partnership with the world's largest democracy," said Hoyer. "A stronger India is positive for the United States and the world, and could serve as a force for greater stability, security, and prosperity." "The United States and India aren't just friends, we are natural partners rooted in our shared values and interests," said Crowley. "From economic ties and tourism, to defence and cultural relations, the multifaceted relationship between the US and India is growing at a rapid pace." "And as India has assumed an essential role on the global stage, US-India ties have never been more relevant," he said.

"This dialogue is an important step in fostering the US-India relationship and discovering new opportunities to grow and develop what has the potential of becoming the most important bilateral relationship in the world." "The ties between the United States and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," said Engel. "India has become an important economic, political, and security partner for the United States and we must find ways to further strengthen the many areas where we are already working together," he said. Copyright © 2014 IANS India Private Limited.

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City cops undergo training in US to combat digital piracy A team of 13 state police officers who had gone to the US for a week for training in combating digital piracy and violation of intellectual property rights returned to the city recently. "The purpose of the trip was to learn about the latest techniques that can help us tackle the piracy of e-books and movies and violation of intellectual property rights," said police commissioner Rakesh Maria. The team included six officers from the city: Dinesh Joshi and Tanvir Shaikh from the economic offences wing (EOW), Mukund Pawar of the cyber-crime investigation cell, and Anil Naik, Raju Sawant and Parkash Varke of the crime branch. "The training programme was undertaken by United States' Patent Trade Mark Organisation under the ministry of commerce. Piracy is today a global problem, and security forces in all countries are struggling to curb this menace. The trainers told us about techniques to combat digital piracy," said a police officer who was part of the programme. India has emerged as a big market for videos and books, and digital books are now available on the net. Pirated products estimated to be worth over Rs 500 crore are manufactured and circulated in India alone. "Book piracy began in the form of physical printing of books. However, the suspects have now graduated to the digital era. The programme helped us to understand various aspects of these cases," said a police officer. "Pirated e-books cause huge losses to publishing houses. Many of these books, even those written in the West, are easily available in India and other countries," one of the participants in the programme said. As the piracy business also affects the national economy, a specialised unit has been set up at the EOW for protection of intellectual property rights, an officer said. Copyright © 2014 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved

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India-US solar issue: WTO sets up dispute panel The US has filed a complaint in the WTO against India's domestic content requirement (DCR) under the country's Jawaharlal

Nehru National Solar Mission.

The WTO has set up a dispute settlement panel to examine a complaint by the US against India's domestic content requirements under the country's solar power programme, Parliament was informed today. "Since the consultations could not result into satisfactory outcome, on the request of the US, the Dispute Settlement Body established the WTO dispute panel in May. Once the panel is composed, the panel proceedings shall be finalised by the WTO secretariat," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The US has filed a complaint in the WTO against India's domestic content requirement (DCR) under the country's Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. The Minister said the US has claimed that the DCR violates WTO agreements such as national treatment principle and agreement on trade related investment measures. On the issue, consultations were held with the US in March 2013 and March 2014 under the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism but no satisfactory result came out. India has an ambitious target of generating 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2022. "India is preparing the defence strategy based on WTO principles and jurisprudence," she said. The US has also dragged the country into WTO on certain measures of India related to import prohibition of poultry and poultry products from the country infected with avian influenza viral strains. Similarly, India too has filed a complaint against the US in WTO on countervailing duty imposed by America on certain hot rolled carbon steel products of India. Besides, the Minister said,

both the countries have raised certain issues at WTO SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary)/ TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade) committee meetings. "The Indian side has raised the issue relating to fixing of maximum residual levels on basmati rice. The US side has raised the issues relating to food safety and standards regulation, toys and e-waste," she added. Replying to another question, the Minister said the meeting of India-US Trade Policy Forum has not been held during the last three years. The US-India TPF is an inter-agency collaboration led by the USTR. It is the principal trade dialogue between the countries. It has five focus groups: Agriculture, Investment, Innovation and Creativity (intellectual property rights), Services, and Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers.

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US envoy Stephens meets Gujarat CM

The US interim Ambassador to India paid a courtesy visit to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandi Patel and discussed a host of issues, including relations between the two countries and the BJP-ruled state's progress in the energy sector. Kathleen Stephens, who took charge in June, is on a two-day visit of Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Met the US Ambassador (Charge D Affairs Ad Interim) Ms. Kathleen Stephens in Gandhinagar today," Patel said on her twitter account. According to an official release, the Chief Minister, during the meeting with Stephens, expressed the hope that the Indo-US relations will be strengthened further after the forthcoming visit of Modi to America. Patel told the envoy Gujarat is self-reliant in energy production and suggested setting up of a 'US-India-Gujarat working group' to encourage low carbon emission. Stephens praised Gujarat for attaining self-reliance in energy sector, the release said. "Stephens said it is really an appreciable achievement for Gujarat to attain self-reliance in the energy sector." Patel urged Stephens to set up an American visa center in Gujarat. Patel told the envoy Gujarat is self-reliant in energy production and suggested setting up of a 'US-India-Gujarat working group' to encourage low carbon emission. Stephens praised Gujarat for attaining self-reliance in energy sector, the release said. "Stephens said it is really an appreciable achievement for Gujarat to attain self-reliance in the energy sector." Patel urged Stephens to set up an American visa center in Gujarat. "With a view to ease the difficulties Gujarat students face in procuring US visa, after securing admission in various universities there, the Chief Minister urged the envoy to set up an American visa center in Gujarat," the release said. She invited Stephens to attend the state government's Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit in 2015. Stephens said a stable government at the Centre will add a new chapter in the Indo-US ties. "A stable government in India would surely add a new chapter in the bilateral ties and start a new phase of cordial relationship between the two countries." Stephens later visited 'Sarkhej Roza', a 15th century monument in the city and held an informal talk with some of the people managing the site.

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Calendar of IACC Events for 2014

Event Sector Description Date Venue Contact

Fellowship Nite General - Networking

Felicitation of Key Officials of the US Embassy from various section. Chief Guest : Mr. Amitabh Kant, IAS, Secretary, DIPP; Guest of Honour : Mr. K K Modi, President, Godfrey Phillips India Limited

Wednesday, August 20, 2014 | 7 p.m. onwards

New Delhi, Hotel The Lalit

Ms. Neelu Sadana neelu@iaccindia.com

“An address on Corporate Governance by Justice Altamas Kabir” ( Ex-Chief Justice of India)

Finance, Taxation and Corporate Affairs

Keeping in view the current scenario Justice Altamas Kabir will giving an address on Corporate Governance which is integral part of a success for the trade, Commerce and corporate world. The programme will be held in association with Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and the Telegraph under the Think Series

Tuesday, August 26, 2014 | 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Kolkata, Palladian Lounge, BCC&I Building

Ms. Madhusree Daityari eic@iaccindia.com

"Indo-US outbound & inbound Investments" by KPMG

International Trade Development

This event is organized keeping in view the increasing demand of bilateral trade between India & USA.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014 | 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Gujarat, IACC Conference Hall

Ms. Krishna Israni krishna@iaccindia.com

Indo US Ventures Possibilities in Media & Entertainment Indo US Ventures Possibilities in Media & Entertainment with focus on curving of piracy

Media, Entertainment & Tourism

The emerging and importance for this sector holds possibilities for Indo – US ventures and trips

Thursday, September 4, 2014 | 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Kolkata, The Bengal Club

Ms. Madhusree Daityari eic@iaccindia.com

MOOCs & the Future of Corporate Education

Education The Event is focused on Massive Open Online Courses & the Future of Corporate Learning. The event will provide participants with a basic understanding of the evolution of the MOOC landscape & how Corporate Training and Education is borrowing from such models to keep employees enriched and up-to-date. This session will be of value to participants who are looking at the future of Corporate Education & to understand possibilities of disruption in the online education space

Friday, September 05, 2014 | 06 p.m. to 09 p.m.

Bangalore Ms. Swati Srivastava swati@iaccindia.com

Forthcoming Events

IMS 2014 – India Manufacturing Show

Aerospace & Defence

IACC is a supporting partner for India Manufacturing Show IMS 2014 Aerospace & Defense. The objectives of this show are to promote Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, and to provide a platform for them to interact with Large Public Sector Industries / Private Sector Industries / Industrialists / Business leaders / Customers from India and abroad for an overall development of Industrial sector in India.

September 11-13, 2014 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Bangalore, Bangalore International Exhibition Center

Ms. Trupti Pawar trupti@iaccindia.com

Event on Prevention of Sexual Harassment- POSH

Human Resource Development

In this event POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) Committee members will be attending. A program that helps recognizes and prevents Sexual Harassment at work. With the added might of the POSH laws now in place in India, the program also focuses on creating a collaborative platform and ongoing network for best practices across organizations that could ensure a more respectful and inclusive workplace.

Friday, September 12, 2014 | 10 a.m. to 12 noon

Bangalore, Infinite Computer Solutions

Ms. Swati Srivastava swati@iaccindia.com

Tennis Tournament

Sports Sunday, September 14, 2014 | 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

New Delhi, R K Khanna Tennis Stadium

Ms Sonia Khattar Sonia.iacc@gmail.com

National Conclave: The Indian Food Processing Sector

Food Processing

The program aims to enhance the potential of India's processed food sector and highlight focus area of improvement across the entire food value chain.

Thursday, September 18, 2014 | 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Chennai, Hotel Hyatt Regency

Mr. Syed Nabeen nabeen@iaccindia.com

Deftronics (electronica India 2014 and Productronica India 2014)

Aerospace & Defence

IACC is a supporting partner for Deftronics (electronica India 2014 and productronica India 2014). This industry symposium focused on aerospace and defense electronics called “DEFTRONICS”. The premier edition of this conference will examine sector-specific issues, emerging trends, and outlook for Strategic Electronics for aerospace and defense.

September 23-25, 2014 | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Bangalore, Bangalore International Exhibition Center

Ms. Trupti Pawar trupti@iaccindia.com

Emerging Importance of Skill Development and Resultant Employability

Human Resource Development - Skill Development

An Inter facing between trainees for skill development candidates and the corporate sectors

Thursday, September 25, 2014 | 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Kolkata, BCCI Ms. Madhusree Daityari eic@iaccindia.com

45th Annual General Meeting

General Monday, September 29, 2014 | 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Public Session) & 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (EC Meeting)

Mumbai, The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Ballroom

Ms. Shweta Sanghvi shweta@iaccindia.com

3rd

Nuclear Energy Summit in association with American Nuclear Society – India Section

Infrastructure - Power & Energy

The summit is targeted for the Government, regulators, industry, consultants, academia and the students to renew their vigor and enthusiasm to speed up the activities and help India achieve its promising goal in harnessing the civil nuclear power program

October 8-9, 2014 | 2014 Mumbai, IIT Powai

Ms. Trishla Dosi trishla@iaccindia.com

Indo-US Economic Summit

Trade in Services

The 10th Indo-US Economic Summit titled "Convergence and Connectivity in Indo-US Economic Relations" will focus on trade in the services sector and will include discussions on IT & Cyber Security sector, "Trends in Indo-US Cooperation in Aviation", Education & Skill Development, Media & Entertainment, E-commerce, Hospitality & Tourism sectors

October 15-16, 2014 | 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

New Delhi, Hotel Hyatt Regency

Mr. Atul Vyas atul@iaccindia.com

Krishi 2014 - International Agricultural Trade Fair & Conference

Agriculture Objective of the exhibition is to enhance the business in agriculture sector and provide a platform for the corporate Indian and US to network and explore beneficial business opportunities.

November 14-18, 2014 Nasik, Thakkers Ground, Trimbak Road

Ms. Trishla Dosi trishla@iaccindia.com

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Indo-US Trade Statistics

2014: U.S. trade in goods with India NOTE: All figures are in millions of U.S. dollars on a nominal basis, not seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified. Details may not equal totals due to rounding.

Month Exports Imports Balance

Jan-14 1,582.40 3,675.40 -2, 093.0

Feb-14 1,366.90 3, 043.0 -1,676.10

Mar-14 1, 714.2 3, 882.2 -2, 168.0

Apr-14 1,401.10 4,457.90 -3,056.80

May-14 1, 736.8 4, 102.3 -2, 365.5

Total 2014 7,801.40 19,160.80 -11,359.40

2013: U.S. trade in goods with India NOTE: All figures are in millions of U.S. dollars on a nominal basis, not seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified. Details may not equal totals due to rounding.

Month Exports Imports Balance

Jan-13 1,699.30 3,171.10 -1,471.80

Feb-13 1,605.00 2,829.60 -1,224.50

Mar-13 1, 861.6 3, 662.0 -1, 800.4

Apr-13 1,656.90 4,069.50 -2,412.60

May-13 1, 924.2 4, 201.3 -2,277.00

Total 2013 8,747.00 17,933.50 -9,186.30

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India – US Trade Analysis India - US Trade Trade and commerce form a crucial component of the rapidly expanding and multi-faceted relations between India and U.S. From a modest $ 5.6 billion in 1990, the bilateral trade in merchandise goods has increased to $ 63.7 billion in 2013 representing an impressive 1037.5% growth in a span of 23 years. India’s merchandise exports to the U.S. grew by 9.7% from $ 9.66 billion during the period January-March 2013 to $ 10.60 billion during the period January-March 2014. US exports of merchandise to India fell by 9.7% from $ 5.17 billion during the period January-March 2013 to $ 4.66 billion during the period January-March 2014. India - U.S. bilateral merchandise trade stands at $ 15.26 billion during the period January – March 2014.

Trade during the period March 2014 i) Major items of export from India to US Select major items with their percentage shares, are given below. a) Textiles (17.1%) b) Precious stones & metals (19.2%) c) Pharmaceutical products (11.7%) d) Mineral Fuel, Oil (9.4%) e) Organic chemicals (5.2%) f) Machinery (4.7%) g) Lac, Gum, Resins (3%) h) Electrical Machinery (2.9%) ii) Major items of export from US to India Select major items with their percentage shares, are given below a) Precious stones & metals (24%) b) Machinery (11.3%) c) Aircraft, spacecraft, Parts (8.2%) d) Mineral Fuel, Oil etc. (7.9%) e) Optical instruments & equipment (6.8%) f)) Electrical machinery (6.8%) g) Misc. Chemical Products (4%) h) Organic chemicals (3.8%)

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International Buyer Program, 2014 Trade shows

2014 International CES® (Consumer Electronics Show) January 7–10 • Las Vegas, NV • cesweb.org

InfoComm International® 2014 June 18–20 • Las Vegas, NV • infocommshow.org Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade Show and Conference

January 14–17 • Las Vegas, NV • shotshow.org

2014 International Franchise Expo June 19–21 • New York, NY • ifeinfo.com

World of Concrete® 2014 January 21–24 • Las Vegas, NV • worldofconcrete.com

Fancy Food Show (Summer) 2014 June/July (TBD) • New York, NY • specialtyfood.com

DistribuTECH® Conference and Exhibition January 28–30 • San Antonio, TX • distributech.com

2014 Annual Meeting and Clinical Laboratory Expo of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry July 27–31 • Chicago, IL • aacc.org

International Production & Processing Expo January 28–30 • Atlanta, GA • ippexpo.com

MAGIC Marketplace (Summer) 2014 August 17–20 • Las Vegas, NV • magiconline.com

NAHB International Builders’ Show® 2014 February 4–6 • Las Vegas, NV • buildersshow.com

International Woodworking Machinery & Furniture Supply Fair August 20–23 • Atlanta, GA • iwfatlanta.com

Progressive Insurance® Miami International Boat Show® February 13–17 • Miami, FL • miamiboatshow.com

Farm Progress Show August 26–28 • Boone, IA • farmprogressshow.com

CONEXPO-CON/AGG® 2014 March 4–8 • Las Vegas, NV • conexpoconagg.com

WEFTEC® Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference 2014 September 27–October 1 • New Orleans, LA • weftec.org Natural Products Expo West/Engredea 2014

March 6–9 • Anaheim, CA • expowest.com PACK EXPO International 2014 November 2–5 • Chicago, IL • packexpo.com International Home + Housewares Show 2014

March 15–18 • Chicago, IL • housewares.org American Film Market® November 5–12 • Santa Monica, CA • americanfilmmarket.com

WasteExpo 2014 April 1–3 • Atlanta, GA • wasteexpo.com

Greater New York Dental Meeting November 28–December 3 • New York, NY • gnydm.com

The 2014 NAB Show® April 7–10 • Las Vegas, NV • nabshow.com

POWER-GEN® International December 9–11 • Orlando, FL • power-gen.com

2014 Offshore Technology Conference May 5–8 • Houston, TX • otcnet.org

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The National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (NRA Show) 2014 May 17–20 • Chicago, IL • show.restaurant.org

How to reach us: We invite articles, industry related market research reports and whitepapers, information on policy matters related to Indo-US trade and investments via e-mail. Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) deserves right to edit the said articles for clarity and space and use them in all electronic and print form. E-mail: pratik@iaccindia.com Disclaimer: No part of this newsletter may be reproduced, reprinted or utilized in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical without prior permission of the publisher. While every care is taken in compilation of information contained herein, the publisher cannot accept any responsibility for error or omission or for the use of trademark, copyrights, brand name, logos or other identifying symbols provided in supporting and participating companies and organizations. However all possible and reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information in this newsletter is as accurate and up-to-date at the time of printing. This newsletter is for internal use only. Credits: A number of persons and organizations have assisted us in the preparation of this newsletter. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable and are based on research and analysis, whitepapers, academia, websites, internet postings and e-mails received. We wish to thank and express our gratitude to everyone named and unnamed for providing valuable inputs and providing data willingly. Conceived, Designed and Researched by: Pratik Waghela, Web Systems Manager, IACC; E-mail: pratik@iaccindia.com

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