The Indian government is furious that yoga practices dating back thousands of years are being “stolen” by gurus and fitness instructors in Europe and the US. Foreign practitioners are already said to have claimed hundreds of patents and copyrights on poses and techniques lifted straight from classical Indian yoga treatises. “Yoga piracy is becoming very common, and we are moving to do something about it,” says Vinod Gupta, the head of a recently established government task force on traditional knowledge and intellectual-property theft. In an effort to protect India's heritage, the task force has begun documenting 1,500 yoga postures drawn from classical yoga texts — including the writings of the Indian sage, Patanjali, the first man to codify the art 
of yoga. The data is being stored in a digital library whose computerized contents will soon be made available to patent offices worldwide.

India's communications minister Dayanidhi Maran met Bill Gates at Microsoft's US headquarters to discuss plans to streamline Indian broadband access and accelerate IT literacy. Among the specifics is the launch of a new multi-lingual version of Windows XP's starter program for the Indian market, and Microsoft's “adoption” of 100 Indian schools for interactive IT education. “The various steps announced today address important issues like IT literacy, taking high-quality IT education to schools in India, availability of local language computing solutions and e-governance,” Maran said in a statement. “There is an urgent need to enable affordable access to locally relevant IT applications at a broad level.”

The International Institute of Finance, which has reps from 360 major banks and financial institutions of 60 countries, has suggested the expansion of the G-7 to G-11 to include India, China, Russia and Brazil. “An effective approach requires the right authorities around the table. A new forum is needed that reflects the realities of today's globalised world and the rising importance of emerging markets,” Managing Director, Mr Charles Dallara said. 
The G-7 consists of the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.

Thanks to the steady rise in the fortunes of high networth individuals (HNIs) and companies, global yacht manufacturers and marina builders are planning to anchor in Indian waters. Leading the pack is Italian luxury motoryacht maker, Ferretti Group. The British Pound 627 million (nearly Rs 3,500 crore) group has tied-up with Mumbai-based Marine Solutions to mark its foray in Indian market. The group is focussing on top-end yacht including Flybridge, where one can even sit on the top of the yacht. 
“As HNIs in India are growing at the rate of 14.5 per cent every year, many more international yacht companies are eyeing the country. The Ferretti Group is already here. The Princess Group and Fairline are also expected to touch Indian shores. Yatch dealers are flooded with enquiries for owning luxury yatchs,” said a dealer. 
Currently, very few Indians own a yacht, Liquor baron Vijay Mallya and industrialist Gautam Singhania being the exceptions.
The market potential is huge and the yacht industry is expected to see a lot of action by 2007. According to Ferretti Group MD Alessandro Diomedi, the average price of a luxury boat ranges from Rs 5.5 crore to Rs 220 crore.