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By Raghavendra Verma, in New Delhi

The recent victory of the Congress party in the Indian general elections is a positive signal for international business and diplomacy. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has a good chemistry with many world leaders and has aptly stuck to his international commitments in the past - the successful implementation of the Indo-US deal on nuclear power is an example.

The most important aspect of Congress’ re-election has been its much more comfortable position in the new parliament, eliminating the need to seek support from rigid and obstructive communist parties. During the last five years India has moved forward in opening its economy, but the last government’s speed and the level of engagement was restricted due to threats by powerful left-wing allies of necessity.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IT has long been outmoded and inaccurate to split the world into two camps: industrialised developed economies, and largely agricultural developing countries. The growth of the 1990s and the current decade means there is a wide range of social and economic sophistication and wealth amongst the poorer of these two old-fashioned categories.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and EMMA JACKSON

IF the competition to build gas pipeline networks from Russia, the Caucasus and central Asia to central and western Europe were a horserace, commentators would say it was still too close to call.

For although politicians and diplomats in Brussels, Moscow and other European capitals would never admit it publicly, these multi-million investment projects are contests of power and influence.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

IRAN has been under international financial and other trading scrutiny since the Islamic revolution 30 years ago, with sanctions by the United States tightened under the Clinton administration through the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. And since Iran’s decision to embark on a nuclear programme, US sanctions have intensified, but in the face of such restrictions Iranian banks and individuals are increasingly using joint venture banks in the Middle East and South America to bypass scrutiny.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE FINAL shape of the European Union’s (EU) third energy packaging and its varied options on unbundling has generated concern, especially amongst acolytes of full scale liberalisation. The debates over this legislation have pitted countries such as France, with a mercantilist approach that a borderless market is an opportunity for local, especially large, companies; and liberalisers such as the Dutch and the British seeing the union as a massive market in which the fittest thrive, from whatever country.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is to launch an inquiry into the digitalisation of millions of books by Google, without the permission of their rights holders, to see whether the European Union (EU) should protect authors and publishers.

This follows a request made yesterday (28-3) by the EU Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels.…

BY RUSSELL BERMAN

A SERIES of financial regulatory reforms have been proposed for the United States in the aftermath of the vast Ponzi scheme executed by Bernard Madoff – a failure of oversight and enforcement that led to steep criticism of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).…

BY DOMINIQUE PATTON

DEMAND for halal cosmetics worldwide is on the rise, driven not only by more affluent Muslim consumers but also growing interest in high quality, safe products.

Sales of all kinds of halal-certified goods have surged in recent years alongside higher purchasing power in Muslim countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SCIENTISTS from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have warned that the amount of the potentially harmful contaminant acrylamide appearing in biscuits is increasing despite industry efforts to reduce its presence.

Figures released this month (May) by EFSA say tests showed the average presence of acrylamide in European Union (EU) biscuits in 2007 was 317 ?g/kg,…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, ALAN OSBORN, DAVID HAWORTH, RUSSELL BERMAN, MARK GODFREY and GAVIN BLAIR

INTRODUCTION

WHILE the drinks industry is undoubtedly an important sector in the global economy, the honest truth is that there are bigger players in town: the IT sector, steel making, and food, to name a handful.…