The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, June 24, 2004

COMMODITY EXCHANGES
MCX ties up with Telequote for online rates
THE Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) has tied up with Telequote, a financial information service provider that covers real time data feed of some of the major stock and commodity exchanges. The Hong Kong-based Telequote Data ... More

FARM CREDIT
Pvt banks sceptical on farm lending targets
WHILE the public sector banks have heartily agreed to meet the Finance Minister's ambitious targets of 30 per cent growth in farm lending, most private sector banks are sceptical about the numbers. "How can we draw up such aggressive targets ... More

Vijaya Bank confident of agri target
VIJAYA Bank is confident of achieving the 30 per cent target in agriculture lending and is hopeful of surpassing it. In an informal chat with presspersons here, the Executive Director of the bank, Mr P.A. Sethi, said, "Blue print in this ... More

HORTICULTURE/FRUITS & VEGETABLES
Kerala pineapples to hit US shelves
THE prospects of pineapple exports from Kerala look brighter than ever with new processing units coming up in the state, targeting the US market, experts have said. "No other pineapple can match the sweetness of the Mauritius variety we have in ... More

RUBBER
Rubber continues to rule steady
RUBBER prices continued to rule steady on Wednesday. Certain growers, who were in need of immediate cash, appeared to be selling at the prevailing rates. Expectations of an improvement in production and arrivals in the absence of rains for the ... More

SUGAR
Sugar output seen sharply lower at 140 lakh t
THE country's sugar production is likely to be only around 140 lakh tonnes (lt) during the 2003-04 season (October-September). This is considerably lower than the initial estimate of 155-160 lt made by the Government. The downward revision, ... More

TEA
Sick tea plantations leave Valparai ill
VALPARAI, once considered Tamil Nadu's richest town panchayat, seems to have lost its sheen, with the corporate tea plantations that dominate this hamlet in the Anamalai Hills turning sick. The economy of this town panchayat has been dependent ... More

COTTON
A custom-made tour to learn China's cotton sector!
AFTER the manufacturing sector learnt a thing or two from China's thriving domestic industry, it now seems to be the turn of the agricultural sector to look to our neighbour across the wall for inspiration. This is the message one gets looking at ... More

OILSEEDS & EDIBLE OIL
Edible oils surge on tight supply
EDIBLE oil prices in the country have increased by over five per cent since the beginning of the week on tight supply. This, in turn, has led to surge in global palm oil prices. "There is tightness in the physical market. With imports being ... More

WTO
US hopes for breakthrough in WTO talks — `India likely to be tough bargainer in agriculture'
THE US said on Wednesday that it was "hopeful" that a framework agreement would be reached in the coming weeks to take forward the stalled talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) while admitting that India was going to be a "tough bargainer" ... More

`Agriculture will be deal-maker or deal-breaker in WTO talks'
THE WTO concept, though highly technical, is nothing but a basket of trade-offs, a kind of give and take, where neither everyone wins nor everyone loses. Speaking at an interactive session on `WTO July package - what should be strategy of ... More

MARKETING
KRRS `vanilla' meet tomorrow
MANGALORE: The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) will hold a consultation meeting on marketing strategies for vanilla, here on June 25. The General Secretary of KRRS, Mr Sunny D'Souza, told presspersons here on Wednesday that ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES
Rights forum calls for long-term measures
THE Human Rights Forum has urged the State Government to take immediate steps to prevent the suicides of farmers, as five to ten such incidents are being reported everyday, by addressing the basic issues. Short-term solutions will not ... More