Govt unwilling to ban futures trading.
NEW DELHI: Unwilling to commit to a definite view on the fate of forward trading in essential commodities, food minister Sharad Pawar told the Rajya Sabha that "there are a lot of conflicting views". Mr Pawar's vacillation comes in the wake of indication that the Abhijit Sen Committee is...

CMs react on expected lines.
CHANDIGARH: Politicians in the three state capitals of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh reacted on expected lines to the unprecedented farm loan waiver scheme announced by the finance minister on Friday. For NDA constituents, BJP and Akalis, ruling in Punjab and Himachal, the waiver was a "classic...

Andhra assembly adopts resolution welcoming loan waiver.
HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and Council on Monday adopted resolutions welcoming the loan waiver scheme unveiled by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the 2008-09 budget. Moving the resolution in the Assembly, Chief Minister Y S Rjasekhara Reddy said the debt relief announced by the Centre...

Higher acreage fails to rein in maize prices.
Byline: Arun Iyer BANGALORE: Maize prices have continued to show a marked uptrend though the fact remains that acreage has risen and the country is expected to witness a rabi maize crop of three million tonnes. The rising price of maize would be bad news...

Rs 29 crore to help fight pests.
Farmers in the state as well as in the country can hope to produce bumper crops without suffering any crop loss due to pest attack. Finance minister P Chidambaram announced Rs 29.4 crore for the upgradation of National Plant Protection Training Institute (NPPTI) at Rajendranagar in 2008-09...

PAU should not promote BT cotton: KVM.
Byline: Balwant Garg BATHINDA: A day after Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) approved two new Bt cotton varieties, Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM) among many other voluntary organizations working in the field of natural and sustainable agriculture strongly raised objection to the new varieties. "It is quiet...

Pawar lauds Punjab, Gujarat, HP, UP & Kerala for acting on ECA.
NEW Delhi: Agriculture, food and civil supplies minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday frustrated attempts by the Congress Left-combine to put the blame for the current bout of inflation on opposition-ruled states. Quoting figures compiled by the food ministry, Mr Pawar told the Lok Sabha during his reply...

New ministers assume office.
PATNA: Newly-appointed ministers Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Nandkishore Yadav, Ramnath Thakur, Jamshed Ashraf, Renu Devi, Prem Kumar, Bhagwan Kushwaha and Nagmani assumed the offices of their respective ministries on Tuesday after the recent cabinet reshuffle. Water resources development minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav held a meeting of senior officers...

"This does not matter in Mexico": Mexico-U.S. competition law - conflicts and resolutions.
I. INTRODUCTION II. MEXICO'S COMPETITION LAW: BEHIND THE LANGUAGE A. Single Agency Enforcement B. Substantive Provisions C. Similar Language, Different Results D. Differences in Legal Systems and Traditions: Civil Law's Certainty Versus Common Law's Flexibility III. RECENT DISPUTES: THE WTO TAKES ACTION TO SETTLE COMPETITION LAW CONFLICTS A. An...

From field to biorefinery: Biomass harvesting, handling, transport, and storage.
The successful establishment of bio-based industries will require a stable supply of high-quality biomass feedstocks in large quantities at competitive prices. The preceding article in this energy series discussed efforts underway to develop the supply of biomass feedstocks. This feature examines research to move the biomass from the field...