The Hindu Business Line : Friday, February 24, 2006

Markets are peaking out, says expert — Turns cautious on Indian equities, bets on commodities
Mr Jim Rogers' hot tips
Top-5 recommendations are sugar, copper, zinc, gold, and crude
Bullish on agri-commodities, base metals
Biggest risk for commodities is Indian Government
More

POWER

Govt priority for lift irrigation — AP to buy 300 MW Central power
Restricted supply
The Energy Minister, Mohd Ali Shabber, assured that standing crops during rabi 2005-2006 will be protected by all means and this is one reason, the State had to impose two-hour power supply cut. More

RUBBER

Spot rubber unchanged
The rubber prices were steady on Thursday. Traders remained rather inactive, as the overseas futures, particularly Japanese markets, were not encouraging. Sheet rubber RSS 4 closed unchanged at Rs 80 at Kottayam, while it moved down to Rs 80 ... More

SUGAR

Railway wagon hurdle — New plan to send sugar to Pak
The sugar industry is working out an alternative plan to overcome the hurdles posed by lack of railway wagons in exporting the commodity to Pakistan. "Thealternative plan could be time-consuming," industry sources said, without providing ... More

Bihar provides a sweet cure for sugar sector — Offers attractive incentive; plans PSU units privatisation
Private players are interested in public sector mills as these units have their own catchment area. More

OILSEEDS & EDIBLE OIL

Malaysia bullish on biodiesel demand
Palm oil is likely to benefit from a combination of factors, including changes in Malaysia's supply fundamentals, weather concerns in South America, the effects of China abolishing tariff rate quota, and higher global demand for palm oil for ... More

Soya to keep vegoil price under leash — Malaysian output weakness to boost crude palm oil
Crude palm oil prices will be boosted by weakness of Malaysian output, but in the global oil market strong US soyabean output will keep the average level of vegetable oil prices in check, according to Dr James Fry of London-based consultancy, LMC ... More

POULTRY

AP: Drop in chicken sales
The bird flu scare does not seem to have made any impact on Hyderabadis, despite the sharp drop in sale of chicken. To instill confidence among the people that eating chicken is still safe, the AP ... More

Navapur quarantined; travel curbs on
No bird flu virus found in human samples; some reports awaited
Laboratory analysis reports from the National Institute of Virology, Pune has confirmed that there is no presence of avian influenza virus in the first batch of 94 samples taken from the Navapur residents, said a spokesperson of the Maharashtra ... More

Bird flu: No panic in Kerala
PRELIMINARY REPORTS indicated that the death of fouls and other birds in Malappuram, Kozhikode and some other parts of the State were not because of bird flu. Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 23 The State ... More

Egg prices fall below Re 1
TABLE egg procurement price, especially in Tamil Nadu, hit a new low on Thursday in the face of the continued consumer apathy towards poultry products due to the avian flu fear. The severe demand recession forced the Namakkal-based NECC's ... More

`No human infection of bird flu'
The Health Ministry on Thursday categorically said that there has been no human infection of bird flu among the samples tested. However, the result of one sample is awaited. The Government had sent 95 samples for testing to the National ... More

AGRICULTURAL POLICY

`MSP for arecanut unwarranted'
WITH the bullish trend prevailing in arecanut market there is no need for the Government to introduce minimum support price (MSP) for arecanut crop, according to the Karnataka Minister for Fisheries and Horticulture, Mr B. Nagaraja Shetty. ... More

Kerala Cabinet nod for organic farming
The Cabinet gave its formal approval to the Organic Farming Policy. It states that organic farming will be introduced in 5,000 hectares every year. The Department of Agriculture will be the nodal agency ... More