Second Bulgarian-Indian IT Forum. A four-member Indian delegation, headed by Mr. S. N. Zindal, D.G. Software Technology Park of India from the Ministry of IT and Communications, participated in the Second Bulgarian-Indian Forum held in Sofia on 30th and 31st of May, 2006. Areas discussed were: bilateral cooperation between High-Tec Pаrks; Industrial cooperation; High Performance computing; e-government. The Memorandum was signed by Mr. S. N. Zindal on the Indian side and on Bulgarian by Mr. Plamen Vachkov, Director general of the State Agency for information Technology and Communi-cations of Bulgaria.

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Fourth Session of Bulgarian-Indian Joint S&T Committee in Sofia. In April 2006 an Indian delegation, headed by Prof. V. S. Ramamurthy, Secretary DST, and with members Mr. L. K. Kalra and Dr. J. K. Mittal (Department of Atomic Energy), visited Bulgaria to participate in the Forth Session of the Indo-Bulgarian Joint Committee on Scientific and Technological Co-operation. Besides this the Indian delegation visited scientific institutes in Plovdiv and Stara Zagora and met their counterparts from the Ministry of Education and Science. Agreed minutes on the discussions and projects were signed by Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Bulgaria Mrs. Ekaterina Vitkova and from the Indian side by the co-Chairman Prof. Ramamurthy.

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Deputy Minister of Defence of Bulgaria Mr. Spass Panchev on head of a large delegation visited India to take part in the Defence exhibition. He met and discussed potential areas for enhanced defence cooperation with Minister of Defence of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. Reciprocal visit from India in Bulgaria is expected in the second half of 2006.

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A four member delegation, lead by the Deputy Minister of Justice of Bulgaria Mr. Margarit Ganev, visited India to discuss with their counterparts legal assistance on criminal matters. The Head of the delegation met Indian Minister of Home Affaires Mr. Shivraj Patil and the Minister of Law and Justice Mr. H. R. Bhardwaj.

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Bulgarian Deputy Economy and Energy Minister Mrs. Kornelia Ninova visited India in December 2005 and met Mr. S.N. Menon, Additional Secretary in the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to discuss opportunities for business in steel production, textile and food industry, agriculture and trade in leathers. She handed a formal invitation by Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Roumen Ovcharov to Minister for Commerce and Industry of India, Mr. Kamal Nath to visit Bulgaria at his convenience.

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Nawab Kazim Ali Khan, Minister of State of Tourism of Uttar Pradesh visited Bulgartia to discuss possibilities for enhancing the tourist flow between Bulgaria and the State of Uttar Pradesh. He met officials in the reciprocal Agencies in Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce.