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India, US to sign technology pact
Washington: India and the US are signing an agreement on science and technology in order to accelerate cooperation between scientists from both the countries in areas like space, energy, IT and nanotechnology.

The agreement would be signed by US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and union minister for science and technology Kabil Sibal during the latter's visit to the United States later this month.

Known as th 'science and technology umbrella agreement', it is expected to increase cooperation between scientists from both the countries working in government agencies, private sector, and academia in areas like basic sciences, space, energy, nanotechnology, health and information technology.
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India rejects US, EU moves for farm tariff cuts
Geneva: India has rejected the latest US and EU proposals on farm tariff reduction, forcing them to give up their proposals recently, in order to break the impasse in the WTO talks.

Union commerce minister Kamal Nath said the US-Australia proposal of 'progressivity within a band' and the EU formula of a 'pivot within each band' for tariff reduction in agriculture would have been detrimental to the interests of the developing countries.

The US and EU made the proposals at the recent meeting of the 'five interested parties' (FIPS) in Zurich, convened especially to boost the stalled trade talks ahead of the WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong in December this year.

Nath opposing the proposal said the G-20 had already agreed to the banded formula in the July framework. Progressivity is nothing but the Swiss formula, which we had already rejected.
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Toyota, 24 other projects cleared by Karnataka government
Bangalore: The high-level committee of the Karnataka government has cleared 24 mega projects involving investments of Rs24,893 crore.

These include three major proposals submitted by Toyota Motors Corporation (TMC), Wipro and I-flex.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors will now set up its second manufacturing facility at the cost of Rs1,147 crore to manufacture compact cars. The company already operates a car manufacturing plant in Bidadi village, 25 kms away from Bangalore which has 2,300 employees.

Toyota would set up its new facility in 200 acres of land within the existing factory premises in Bidadi. The company is planning to manufacture 1,50,000 units of compact cars per year by employing 2,600 people. The committee has also given a nod to Wipro's plan to set up two Special Economic Zones (SEZs) at the cost of Rs 263 crore near Bangalore.

I-flex' plans to invest Rs475 crore towards a software development centre at Mysore also has been cleared.
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Domestic gold price hits a new high
Mumbai: Spot gold prices in India are touching new highs of nearly Rs7,000 per 10 grammes of 24 carats. Strong demand from festive buying aided the prices to remain firm following high overseas prices. On Monday, gold had closed at Rs6,955 per 10 gramme.

In the international markets also gold prices are soaring and touched an 18-year high of $482 an ounce Monday. Gold prices are seen surging by another $4 an ounce on fears of rising inflation in the US, traders and analysts said. This may result in another nearly Rs200 rise in domestic gold prices. The demand for gold as an investment commodity to hedge risk against inflation is expected to go up.

Gold consumption in India is expected to surpass last year's 800 tonnes. The demand for the yellow metal in India is likely to grow 10-12 per cent annually in the medium-term.

Gold consumption in India went up by 47 per cent to 277 tonnes in the second quarter of 2005-06 (April-March) compared to corresponding period last year. The consumption of gold for investment purposes rose 74 per cent in July-September while that for jewellery during the period went up by 42 per cent. Currently, the share of gold purchases for investment purposes in India is 25 per cent.
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India-China trade up 40 per cent in Q1
New Delhi: Merchandise trade between China and India increased by nearly 40 per cent in the first three months of the current fiscal to touch $3.21 billion against the $2.30 billion recorded in the same period last year.

According to the data compiled by the Department of Commerce, India's exports to China increased by 44.58 per cent during April-June 2005 to touch $1.20 billion ($0.83 billion). On the other hand, imports from China surged by 36.73 per cent during April-June 2005 to $2.01 billion ($1.47 billion). The bilateral trade during 2004-05 stood at $13.6 billion.

Trade with Singapore too saw a robust increase, with two-way movement of goods growing by 70.15 per cent in April-June 2005 to worth $2.28 billion ($1.34 billion). While India's exports to Singapore surged to $1.58 billion ($0.81 billion) for the period under review, imports from Singapore in April-June 2005 stood at $0.70 billion ($0.53 billion).

India's exports to the US increased by 8.25 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal to $3.28 billion ($3.03 billion). Imports from the US in April-June 2005 rose to $1.62 billion ($1.26).
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