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Restore
sugar NEW DELHI, Apr 18: Commerce and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran has asked the European Union to restore India’s annual quota for sugar exports to the EU to the original 25,000 tonnes and continue the present system of market access for Indian basmati rice in Europe.........more Metals plunge on NEW DELHI, Apr 18: The previous day’s rally on the bullion market proved to be temporary as both the precious metals, silver and gold, plunged today on stockists’ selling and wiped off entire gains to closed lower......more Companies prod SINGAPORE, Apr 18: Companies are offering auto-loving Singaporeans shuttle services, transit cards and free breakfasts tomorrow to prod them into relying on public transportation or their feet during the city-state’s first car free day, organizers said today......more DGAD recommends NEW DELHI, Apr 18: The anti-dumping authority has recommended provisional anti-dumping duties on.........more |
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Govt considering
freeing exports of onion, sugar, wheat NEW DELHI, Apr 18: Government is considering lifting restrictions on exports of nine agricultural products ...........more
Swaraj justifies Govt NEW DELHI, Apr 18: Government decided against allowing foreign print media in the country after "very .......more
CVC asks SEBI NEW DELHI, Apr 18: Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), N Vittal, said today the Commission is ....more Japan’s airlines to TOKYO, Apr 18: Japan’s domestic airliner Skymark Airlines Co. said today it will introduce next month .......more |
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Restore sugar export quota: Maran tells EU NEW DELHI, Apr 18: Commerce and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran has asked the European Union to restore India’s annual quota for sugar exports to the EU to the original 25,000 tonnes and continue the present system of market access for Indian basmati rice in Europe. Also, there is need for some uniformity in respect of sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards for food products so that EU legislations could be in tune with international standards, Mr Maran told Mr Franz Fischler, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries in the European Commission at a meeting here yesterday. India also wants the EU to quicken the procedure for notifying approved units for Indian marine products. There is need for exclusive quota for Indian mushrooms and generally a better market access for other Indian agro products, including egg products and floriculture, an official press note said today. On multilateral trade, Mr Maran reiterated India’s position that implementation concerns emanating from the Uruguay round agreements should be addressed upfront before the launch of any new round. The existing distortions should be removed and confidence building measures taken so that developing countries could participate meaningfully in multilateral trade negotiations. India and EU agreed to have detailed discussions at the level of experts on issues relating to the agreement on agriculture. Mr Fischler is on a three-day visit from April 16 to discuss bilateral and multilateral trade issues with Indian leaders and officials. (UNI) |
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Metals plunge on stockists’ offering NEW DELHI, Apr 18: The previous day’s rally on the bullion market proved to be temporary as both the precious metals, silver and gold, plunged today on stockists’ selling and wiped off entire gains to closed lower. Marketmen said selling emerged following reports of a steep fall in gold prices in other Asian markets where it tumbled to 260.20 US dollar an ounce against previous level of 263.10 US dollar. They said most of the investment funds were diverted to the rising equity markets. Standard gold and ornaments which climbed up by Rs.85 the previous day, today declined by Rs.75 each at Rs.4260 and Rs.4110 per ten gram. Sovereign was also down by Rs.25 at Rs.3700 per piece. Silver ready was down by Rs.55 at Rs.7290 per kilo and weekly-based delivery by Rs.65 at Rs.7300 per kilo. However, silver coins held unchanged at Rs.11,000/11,200 per 100 pieces. The following were today’s quotations: Silver ready 7290 and delivery 7300. Silver coins buyer 11,000 and seller 11,200 standard gold 4260, ornaments 4110 and sovereign 3700. (PTI) |
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Companies prod Singaporeans into
leaving SINGAPORE, Apr 18: Companies are offering auto-loving Singaporeans shuttle services, transit cards and free breakfasts tomorrow to prod them into relying on public transportation or their feet during the city-state’s first car free day, organizers said today. The Singapore Environment Council (SEC) is hoping the event, held in more than 800 countries, will raise awareness of pollution and promote an "eco-friendly lifestyle." Car-free day started in Europe in the 1970s. Since then it has become so popular certain roads are closed for the day. Among the more than 30 companies and organizations planning to participate, oil giant British Petroleum plans to provide a free shuttle service at peak hours for its staff. More than 400 employees from Alexandra Hospital said they will take the train and walk. In exchange for the effort, they will be offered free breakfasts. Adams parking, which runs 34 carparks in Singapore, has been distributing leaflets to its customers urging them to keep their cars at home if possible. "It’s for a good cause," said Manager Peter Yik. Mexican Ambassador Eduardo Ramkos-Gomez said he will take a bus to work and buses and trains to meetings. Acting Environment Minister Lim Swee say told The Business Times he expects the trend to be towards natural gas vehicles, which produce only one-third of the carbon dioxide emitted by conventional ones. Diesel vehicles account "for about 50 per cent of particulate matter in the air," Lim said. The SEC has acknowledged the battle to separate Singaporeans from their cars even for a day is an uphill one, and is anticipating only a 10 percent reduction in vehicle use. (DPA) |
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DGAD recommends provisional
anti-dumping NEW DELHI, Apr 18: The anti-dumping authority has recommended provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of common drug - paracetamol from China while initiating another investigation against it on imports of sodium ferrocyanide. The Directorate of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has recommended provisional anti-dumping duties on paracetamol equivalent to the difference of 3.26 US dollar per kg on imports from China and Taiwan and their landed value. The DGAD had conducted an investigation against imports of the commonly-used drug on basis of a petition filed by three domestic companies - Hyderabad-based Triton Laboratories Ltd, Solapur-based Vamsi Labs Ltd, Vijayawada-based Srinivasa Agro Industries and Drugs Ltd, and Hyderabad-based Sri Krishna Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Investigations were conducted for the period April 1999 to September 2000. Paracetamol is a bulk pharamaceutical active ingredient displaying analgesic and antipyretic properties. Though the drug has been imported from China and Taiwan for quite some time, the DGAD in its notification said that dumping had intensified recently. Quantum of imports from China went up by 23.7 per cent in 1998-99 over the previous year while imports from Taiwan went up by 243 per cent in 1999-2000 over 1997-98, it said. Meanwhile, on the basis of a petition filed by Cyanides and Chemicals Co, the DGAD has initiated another investigation against China for the period January-December 2000 concerning imports of industrial chemical sodium ferrocyanide. (PTI) |
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Govt considering freeing exports of onion, sugar, wheat NEW DELHI, Apr 18: Government is considering lifting restrictions on exports of nine agricultural products including onions and sugar following the removal of Quantitative Restrictions (QRs) on imports in April this year. Commerce Ministry officials said as per the proposal under consideration the quota restrictions on exports of items such as onion, wheat, pulses, coarse gains and sugar would be lifted. Explaining the rationale behind the move they said that since QRs on imports had been lifted it made no sense to restrict the exports and thereby curtail India’s share in the export market. "These restrictions had been imposed unilaterally by India earlier keeping in mind factors such as the international volume of trade, prices and demand and supply," they said, adding that these considerations along with availibility of substitutes were being examined for certain sensitive items such as onions prior to freeing their exports. "India found it difficult to import onion in 1998 when its domestic production was less than demand. In such cases the ministry is examining the possibility of enhancing the limit of exports,Rratherey said. Similarly at present exports of pulses were restricted to packs of five kg only which could be enhanced to 25 to 50 kgs. (PTI) |
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Swaraj justifies Govt decision
on entry of NEW DELHI, Apr 18: Government decided against allowing foreign print media in the country after "very careful" consideration and keeping in mind that it was not just another "trade" sector, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj today said. "There is a difference between the print and electronic media. Through the print media you can influence views.... It is not just another trade," she said in reply to questions during an interaction at the Foreign Correspondents Club here. She said there was consensus against allowing foreign equity in print media as the "concerns" that dictated the 1955 cabinet resolution were "still valid". Asked what’s so "sacrosanct" about the resolution passed just eight years after independence, Swaraj said "it is sacrosanct till concerns are valid.... All sectors have their own validity." Swaraj said the decision was taken after "very careful" consideration and was not influenced by any "lobby" of newspaper owners. (PTI) |
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CVC asks SEBI chief to clarify on Reddy’s allegations NEW DELHI, Apr 18: Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), N Vittal, said today the Commission is looking into the complaint of a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) official against its Chairman D R Mehta but added that he did not doubt Mehta’s integrity. "We are looking into the D R Mehta case. SEBI Deputy General Manager, G S Reddy, gave us some information about Mehta two days ago. We have asked for his (Mehta’s) comments," Vittal told reporters on the sidelines of a CII conference. Vittal, however, clarified that it could not be construed as a probe as the matter was being looked into just because a SEBI official had given some information against Mehta. He said he did not suspect the integrity of an official like Mehta whom he believed was above board. He also said that there were complaints against Reddy on various counts. Mehta filed two defamation suits against Reddy in Jaipur on Monday for allegedly levelling defamatory charges against him. While in one case, Mehta sought criminal proceedings against reddy, in the other, he demanded Rs 10 lakh as compensation. The SEBI Chairman had described the charges levelled against him by Reddy as false, fabricated, motivated and malicious and said that Reddy had made him the target because of "personal grouse". Vittal declined to comment on whether CVC would go through the SEBI inquiry report on alleged price manipulation that brought down the market after the union budget. (PTI)
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Japan’s airlines to introduce first female-only seats TOKYO, Apr 18: Japan’s domestic airliner Skymark Airlines Co. said today it will introduce next month female-only seats on Tokyo-Fukuoka flights mainly in response to requests from women who say sitting next to people of the same sex is "more relaxing." A spokeswoman at the company said it will introduce the programme on May 7 in a first for Japanese airlines. It will consist of about 10 seats out of 309 seats for females aged 12 and up on flights between Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and Fukuoka Airport in southwestern Japan. "About 40 per cent of the total passengers are female. We have received requests from many women to sit next to people of the same sex, so we decided the service," said the official. Fukuoka is located about 1,200 km southwest of Tokyo. Tokyo-Fukuoka flight takes about 90 minutes. Skymark provides a total of 12 flights between Tokyo and Fukuoka daily. Japanese airline companies have been facing price competition. Each airline has tried to introduce new services to lure more customers. Hokkaido International Airlines Company, commonly known as Air Do, introduced last December a new service on its domestic Sapporo-Tokyo route allocating about one-fourth of its seats to smokers. The new system, aimed at luring greater numbers of passengers to the airline, was a controversial idea, coming when the trend in the aviation industry is toward a non-smoking policy. It had to drop the service two months later. Skymark’s action was taken after Tokyo-based private rail operator Keio Electric Railway Co. began running late-night women-only carriages last month in an effort to curb incidents of groping. Keio officials said the railway company received complaints by female passegers that they’re not comfortable taking late trains due to the bad behavior of some men. The carriages are designated daily on express and rapid trains leaving Tokyo’s downtown Shinjuku Station from 11 p.m. for the capital’s suburbs. (DPA) |
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