NEW DELHI WEEKLY ECON OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF

UNCLAS NEW DELHI 004839 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/OSA/LDROKER/ASTERN/KRUDD DEPT OF ENERGY FOR A/S KHARBERT, TCUTLER, CZAMUDA, RLUHAR DEPT PASS TO USTR DHARTWICK/CLILIENFELD/AADLER DEPT PASS TO TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF SOUTH ASIA/ABAUKOL TREASURY PASS TO FRB SAN FRANCISCO/TERESA CURRAN STATE FOR SCA/INS AND EB/TRA JEFFREY HORWITZ AND TOM ENGLE USDA PASS TO DUS TERPSTRA, FAS/OCRA, RADLER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN EINV EPET ETRD EAGR ELTN EAID SENV IN SUBJECT: NEW DELHI WEEKLY ECON OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 29 - NOVEMBER 2, 2007 ¶1. (U) Below is a compilation of Economic highlights from Embassy New Delhi for the week of October 29 - November 2, 2007. INDIAN PARLIAMENT INVITES PUBLIC TRADE MARKS (AMENDMENT) BILL 2007 -------------- ¶2. (U) In the Monsoon Session of its Parliament, the GOI introduced The Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill, 2007 reflecting accession to the Madrid Protocol. The Bill has been referred to the Department-related parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce for public comment, examination, and report. The Bill is likely to pass in the Budget session of the Indian Parliament in February 2008. ¶3. (U) The main provisions of the Amendment Bill include: (i) prescribing a period of 18 months for the registration of trademarks, in line with the provisions of the Madrid Protocol; (ii) incorporating enabling provisions for accession to the Madrid Protocol, including empowering the Trade Marks Registrar to deal with all applications (international and originating from India); (iii) reducing the time-period for filing a notice of opposition to published applications, from four months to three months; (iv) simplifying the law relating to transfer of ownership of trademarks and bringing the law generally in line with international practice and modern business needs; and (v) removing redundant special provisions for textile goods. MONSANTO CORN SEEDS TO BOOST MAIZE PRODUCTION IN THE SOUTH -------------- ¶4. (U) Monsanto India Limited entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the GoI-owned National Seeds Corporation to market hybrid corn seeds. Christopher Samel, Senior Manager at Monsanto told Consulate Chennai that two varieties (Dekalb double and Dekalb Prabal) are expected to double productivity in the corn-growing belt in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. These two states account for over 30 percent of India's corn production. NEW BANGALORE AIRPORT ACCESS RAIL AND ROAD LINKS UNFINISHED -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Access roads to Bangalore's new international airport will likely not be ready when the facility, located about 35 kilometers north of the city, goes into operation in March 2008. V.P. Baligar (Secretary of Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka) told Consulate Chennai that problems in land acquisition had hindered road construction. ¶6. (SBU) The Secretary of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce told Consulate Chennai that a meeting organized by the Chamber on October 30 brought together project promoters, government officials, and customers to discuss the issue of access to the airport. He said most of the attendees came away with the impression that the government clearly had no plan to expedite road construction, which, at its current pace, would take another two years to complete. Some of the business leaders at the meeting told the group that it could take nearly four hours to drive to the airport with the current road configuration. Some attendees noted that it would be easier to drive to the existing airport and take a helicopter to the new one, rather than drive to it. The government officials at the meeting said nothing to dispute this analysis. ¶7. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov/p/sa/newdelhi Mulford