The Indian Information Technology firms are bracing themselves for a difficult year ahead due to the ongoing debt crisis in the European countries as well as policies in the US states that discourages outsourcing by firms.

Europe is the biggest market for the Indian software firms after the US. Service orders from the region are expected to be low in the coming quarters due to the prolonged debt crisis in the Euro zone countries.

The European leaders have come together in times of Europe's worst financial crisis in generations while the UK has been pusher to a corner.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy succeeded in persuading all the members of the union except the UK to endorse a new agreement involving tighter fiscal rules.

Leaders of the member states of the European Union have agreed on much tougher rules government their budgets in order to control the economic crisis in the region.

Following hours is discussions among the leaders; they agreed to work towards a new "fiscal compact". The member states will now work under tougher deficit and debt regime in the eurozone amid growing threats from the debt crisis.

Leaders of the member states of the European Union have agreed on much tougher rules government their budgets in order to control the economic crisis in the region.

Following hours is discussions among the leaders; they agreed to work towards a new "fiscal compact". The member states will now work under tougher deficit and debt regime in the eurozone amid growing threats from the debt crisis.

The Euro rose slightly against the dollar after following hints that the proposal to channel European Central Bank loans through the International Monetary Fund could bring in 200 billion euros for resolving the debt crisis in the Eurozone.

The new government in Italy has put forward to cut its deficit before a European summit to help resolve the debt crisis. The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.3404 from $1.3391 on Dec. 2, when it had recorded a growth of 1.2 percent n the week.

According to the official reports, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday revealed plans to trim government spending in an effort to save almost $100 billion by 2014.

Deutsche Welle has reported that the plan calls for phasing in the cuts with a savings of $12.4 billion next year.

Exceeding expectations, the proposed cuts call for spending reductions of $20.3 billion in 2012, $30.6 billion in 2013 and $38.6 billion in 2014.

The cuts do not change pension rates in Germany or alter plans to reform healthcare, Merkel has said.

Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel begged President Horst Kohler to remain in office instead of submitting his resignation.

Giving Merkel, only 2 hours notice, Kohler stepped down on Monday. It had learned Merkel warned him his decision, even though the presidency has little power, could cause public questioning about German institutions, Der Spiegel has said.

In her meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, German Chancellor Angela Merkel lauded the austerity efforts of the former and shifted the focus saying Greece doesn't need financial aid.

Merkel instead expressed her desire to restrict the use of derivatives that exploit a nation's budget deficits, in this case Greece.

According to the German Chancellor Merkel, she, along with other leaders from European Union, will make sure that the Greek debt crisis doesn't come into the way to stability for the euro, not even in the coming future.

After the discussions with the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, the German chancellor paved the way to comprehend the discussion on Athens to initiate the reforms process, as soon as possible.

However, nations like Ireland have already been to the rough and bumpy roads along with Germany on its side trailing a little late.

Further austerity measures unveiled by Greece have won the confidence of its EU counterparts, but any sort of financial assistance is still a 'mirage' for the Debt-stricken country. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet the George Papandreou tomorrow, but made it clear that that the talks will focus on Greece's fiscal prudence and certainly not about any aid commitments.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, German Finance minister, however was hopeful that the recent deficit-reduction measures proposed by the Greek Prime minister were sufficient to persuade investors to buy Greek bonds. The measures are "convincing," the European Central Bank said.

Mainz (Germany), Dec 7: German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Monday for movement by India and China at the world climate summit.

Speaking in a special news broadcast on Germany's ZDF public television, she said big emerging economies had not offered enough.

"India and China in particular must offer more," she said, noting that the US had already accepted the objective of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by 2050.

Berlin, Dec 3 :Germany is to assist Brazil in staging the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel after a meeting in Berlin Thursday with visiting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The Germans are to provide similar help in getting Brazil ready for the 2014 Football World Cup in Brazil.

Germany is Brazil's principal trading partner in Europe, with two-way trade worth nearly 18 billion euros (27 billion dollars).

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Saturday her new government's plans to cut taxes - rejecting a warning by the government's panel of economic advisers that it would achieve little.

She told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung "We knew from the start that tax cuts would not be 100-per-cent self-financing."

Merkel was referring to the argument that tax cuts stimulate economic activity, thus leading to higher state revenues.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Saturday her new government's plans to cut taxes - rejecting a warning by the government's panel of economic advisers that it would achieve little.

She told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung "We knew from the start that tax cuts would not be 100-per-cent self-financing."

Merkel was referring to the argument that tax cuts stimulate economic activity, thus leading to higher state revenues.

Paris - Chancellor Angela Merkel is traveling to Paris Wednesday to commemorate the soldiers who fell in World War I - the first ever German head of government to do so.

On Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy had traveled to Berlin to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with the German chancellor.

Sarkozy and Merkel will together place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, under the Arc de Triomphe, and each of the leaders is scheduled to deliver a brief address.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that she expects the country's economic situation and the consequences of the global economic crisis to worsen in the coming year.

Citing the prospect of rising unemployment, Merkel said "The problems will first get bigger, before they can be improved."

"Germany is facing a test such as it has never had since reunification," the chancellor said at the beginning of her second term in government.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a personal account of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, which she called the "luckiest day of recent German history," in a video broadcast released Saturday.

The chancellor, who grew up in former East Germany, said the news came at the end of a regular Thursday.

Berlin, Nov. 6 : German Chancellor Angela Merkel has revealed that she was not part of the frenzied East German crowd that poured through the newly opened border to witness the historic fall of the Berlin wall, instead she was taking her scheduled sauna bath.

On the night of 9 November 1989, after work, Merkel headed to the sauna with a female friend, as she did every Thursday.

"The atmosphere had been tense for days, I thought something was going to happen, and had heard the announcement on television that the borders would open," the Guardian quoted Merkel, as saying.

"But it was Thursday, and Thursday was my sauna day so that''s where I went – in the same communist high-rise where we always went," she added.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel departed on a trip to the US on Monday, where she was due to address a joint session of the US Congress, an historic opportunity granted to few foreign leaders. The rare invitation, extended to around 100 world leaders in American history, was meant to mark the end of the Cold War when the Berlin Wall toppled on November 9, 1989.

However, Merkel has indicated she will also tell Congress it is time for the US to take on a more active role in reducing the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change.

Washington  - The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall is giving German Chancellor Angela Merkel a chance to talk to US legislators about an issue close to Europe's heart: climate change.

Merkel on Tuesday will have the historic opportunity granted to few foreign leaders to address a joint session of the US Congress.

Erfurt, Germany  - A last-minute crisis nearly robbed Chancellor Angela Merkel's party of power in one of Germany's states on Friday - before legislators in Thuringia appointed a Merkel supporter as state premier.

Christine Lieberknecht of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won 55 out of 87 votes cast in a secret ballot in the state legislature in Erfurt. Though not the first woman state premier in Germany, Lieberknecht, 51, is the only female currently leading any of the 16 states.