Its economy strong, military power growing and diplomatic clout increasingly formidable, India welcomed British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday in hopes that his visit will help bring closer economic and political ties with Europe.

But rather than looking for a helping hand from Britain and the European Union ? as might have been the case a decade ago ? India comes to the talks ready to find out how it and Europe can enrich each other through more investment, trade and energy cooperation. ?There is a clear attitude change toward India, which is reflected in Britain treating India as an equal partner,? said Charan Wadhwa, a trade analyst at Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.

?There is a realization that India has arrived on the scene.? Blair, who is also the current EU president, will spend two days in the country, taking part in an EU-India summit and holding talks with Singh. India is clearly a confident nation at the top of its game - economic growth is pegged at 7 per cent this year; its first aircraft carrier is being built, and a seat on the UN Security Council is in the offing.

In a sign of that confidence, Indians are rethinking their history with Britain, from which the South Asian country won independence in 1947. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in July that Britain?s rule of India was not all bad, noting the British established a free press, professional civil service and universities. It was a bold statement in a country where British colonizers have long been viewed as plunderers, and Singh was sharply criticized by leftists and Hindu nationalist opponents.

<B>Expansion of investment</B>

But in the ensuing debate, the consensus seemed to be that it was time for India to move beyond the scars of its colonial past and take its place as a new, burgeoning power. Blair?s visit is a chance to showcase the new India, and find ways India and the EU can work together. During the visit, India and Britain plan to announce a deal to increase the number of flights between the two countries and to allow expansion of investment in one another?s film-making companies.

The visits were expected to generate about 2 million pounds (US$3.7 million; euro2.9 million) of new business for EU companies. and European business leaders, such as British American Tobacco chairman Jan du Plessis and Rolls-Royce PLC chairman Simon Robertson, are making the trip with Blair. Britain is the third largest investor in India and in recent years, Indian firms have also emerged as important investors in Britain. India was the eighth largest investor in the UK in 2004. ?Britain has played a very healthy role in stimulating trade and investment with India,? said Chandrasekhar Dasgupta, a former Indian ambassador to the EU.

India, for its part, is looking for European expertise and investment in improving its infrastructure and gaining access to clean energy supplies. Analysts say the two areas are where India needs the most help if its economy is to maintain its strong growth. India is also keen to join a cutting-edge international project to develop a nuclear fusion reactor, which could eventually supply clean energy. ?There needs to be collaboration in research and development effort to come up with new, clean technologies,?.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told journalists recently, expressing India?s interest in participating in the US $ 5 billion International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.

India will also press Britain to ease visa rules for Indian professionals traveling to Britain, said an Indian official who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press. Britain fears easing of visa rules will lead to an increase in illegal immigrants.

Source : Times of India

HYPOTHESIS

<B>New theory traces mad cow disease to animal feed exported from India</B>

■ The government is furious about a hypothesis that the epidemic of mad cow disease which struck Europe had its roots in exports, decades ago, of animal feed and bones from South Asia which included human remains scavenged from the Ganga. Published in the reputed medical journal Lancet, this hypothesis has been picked up by the world?s media. The government fears this could erode India?s trade advantage of being a country free of the mad cow disease. ?Misleading, highly mischievous, a figment of imagination, absurd,? says India?s animal husbandry secretary P M A Hakeem, seeing in it a design to damage India?s trade. India earned nearly Rs 1,700 crore from export of meat and meat products in 2003-04. It has been maintaining constant surveillance and has not had a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), mad cow disease, or its human form, variant CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease). ?The fact that we are BSE-free is a strong point and people don?t like it too much,?says animal husbandry commissioner S K Bandhopadhyay. In the last few years, he says, there has been a shortage of feed and fodder and exports haven?t been allowed. No ruminant origin material is allowed in cattle feed ? nothing from cattle, sheep, goats, for instance. Officials at the Indian Council for Medical Research are as scathing. A senior epidemiologist said: ?In India, we haven?t had a single case when cattle or sheep have died of mad cow disease. In the absence of any evidence, how can one support this study? This is just a weird guess which will not hold water. The report can only be given a chance if the researchers can give evidence of feed exported from India being infected.? The hypothesis, adds Hakeem, stands on someone having possibly spotted a human corpse in the Ganga and imagining the rest.

<I>Source : Times of India</I>

?SOUTH BLOCK IN THE SKY?

<B>Flying high: Indian PM to get ?Air Force One?</B>

■ Just like Dubya has his ?Flying Oval Office? on board Air Force One, the Indian Prime Minister will also have a ?South Block in the Sky? by 2009 ? complete with missile shields and secret devices.The Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday cleared the purchase of three wide-bodied Boeing business jets at a total cost of over Rs 1,000-crore ? fitted with self-protection suites, encrypted communication facilities and the works. These long-distance jets themselves cost $169.90-million, but the price tag for their specialised US-made self-protection suites to fend off missiles and other threats will be $44.6-million. ?These specially-configured VVIP jets will be in the class between the Boeing 737-700s and 737-800s. The self-protection suite will, among other things, include radar warning receivers to alert the plane that a hostile radar has ?painted? it and a missile may be on the way,? said an official. The aircraft, with state-of-the-art navigation, will then take ?automatic evasive action? by shooting metal chaff to ?fool? radar-guided missiles or flares to evade heat-seeking missiles. They will also be armed with sophisticated electronic countermeasures. ?These three new corporate jets will replace the existing two VVIP jets (Boeing 737-200s) bought in 1983, which are aging. The delivery will be by January 2009,? said defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, after the CCS meeting.

<I>Source : Times of India</I>