With 14.1 per cent growth (2007) in the manufacturing sector, 14 per cent (2006) in the service sector, and an agriculture sector that is beginning to finally look up, the Indian economy needs all the energy it can get to sustain the growth momentum. However, enshrouded in the figures of the galloping Indian economy is the precarious energy situation that the country faces.

Indian aviation has been witnessing spectacular growth in the past five years. Private low-cost airlines have proliferated and the average middle class Indian today aspires to fly rather than use rail or road transport to travel to major destinations. This has also resulted in the growth of inland tourism, and with the economy registering an impressive 8 per cent growth, this trend is likely to continue. Indian skies are now buzzing with activity.

In October 2006, when India decided to pull out of the ambitious Galileo project, a global navigation system jointly developed by the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA), some Indian observers had expressed surprise that a long-drawn negotiation process within the ambit of the EU-India Strategic Partnership came to naught. Envisaged to be the most accurate and sophisticated navigation system thus far, the Galileo project has attracted the attention of developed and developing nations mainly because of its civilian focus and near perfect resolution.

The arrest of three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists on April 26, 2007 from Dilli Haat in New Delhi has once again exposed the challenge of terrorism confronting the capital. Attempts to target the National capital Region (NCR) is indicative of a broader trend of terrorists targeting mega cities in the country. Among the various terrorist outfits that seem to have a presence in New Delhi, the LeT appears to be the most dangerous and most persistent.

From all accounts it appears that the much talked about India-US nuclear deal is slowly but surely unravelling. This should not come as a surprise. Right from the beginning when the US secretary of State declared her country's intention to help India become a major power, we should have become alert since it is not very often that one major or superpower will help another to become a possible contender in the future. There were many other indications as well in terms of opposition to the deal. The US non-proliferation lobby vehemently opposed it.

On February 28, 2007, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented the Union Budget for the fiscal Year 2007-08 (April 1, 2007 - March 31, 2008). Out of a total budgeted expenditure of Rs. 6,80,521 crore, Rs. 96,000 crore was earmarked for national Defence, which includes allocations to the three Services - Army, Navy and Air Force - Defence Ordnance Factories, and the Defence Research and Development Organisation. This is besides the allocation of Rs. 16, 695.83 crore for Defence Civil Estimates, including Rs. 14,649 crore for Defence Pensions.

With the passage of a year since the visit of President George W. Bush to India, it is the business communities of the two countries that have benefited the most from the momentum created by the upsurge in Indo-US relations. While two-way trade and investment had been growing at a steady clip, the announcement and subsequent passage of the Bill on Co-operation in Civil Nuclear Energy, intended to remove the last vestiges of the adversarial relations between the two countries, have taken business relations to a new level.

The recent meeting of the Indo-Russian Business Co-operation Council and the Trade and Investment Forum in New Delhi was significant, in that it took place after the recent summit-level talks between the two countries. This symbolises the fact that both countries assign considerable value to increasing bilateral trade and economic co-operation.