Economy

By IANS, New Delhi : India has developed a better variety of hybrid seed of mustard, which it is saying will catapult the output of the country's key oil crop. The new hybrid of the rapeseed-mustard seed has been developed by scientists at the National Research Centre (NRC) in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. NRC is an affiliate of India's premier farm research body, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR). The Delhi-headquartered ICAR under the ministry of agriculture Thursday claimed the new rapeseed-mustard seed was the first hybrid one ever developed by Indian scientists.

By IANS Dhaka : Bangladeshi beverage producer Pran is to set up a food and soft drink processing plant in Tripura with an eye on the vast market potential in India's northeastern region. Pran, one of Bangladesh's leading brand names, Wednesday announced plans to build a factory, it first foreign manufacturing bid, taking advantage of India's recent decision to lift its ban on Bangladeshi investment.

Chandigarh, Nov 5 (IANS) The Punjab government has decided to auction vehicle registration numbers, taking a cue from the union territory of Chandigarh that auctions all VIP and preferential vehicle numbers, generating millions in revenue annually.

By TCN News

By Devirupa Mitra, IANS New Delhi : The modernization of the Employees Provident Fund, which has 40 million subscribers across the country, is now back in the hands of a government body - after Rs.60 million and seven years spent on a private consultant. 'Reinventing EPF' was launched in 2001 as a way to modernize one of the world's largest social security organisations to manage its corpus of over Rs.2 trillion through computerisation of records, distribution of smart cards and access to online accounts, as well as faster processing of withdrawal claims.

By M. Burhanuddin Qasmi

By IANS, Shimla : Three cement majors Thursday reduced the price of cement by Rs.25 per bag in Himachal Pradesh, said Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net, Hyderabad: India may have the third- largest concentration of Muslims around the world and 10% of total world’s Muslim population,...

By TCN News New Delhi: The Institute of Objective Studies (IOS) in association with FIAN India and The Child Trust organised a consultation on “National...

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net, New Delhi: India’s eminent Islamic clerics today pitched for introduction of Islamic banking and financial system in the country while opening to the public the Islamic Investment & Finance Board, an advisory committee headed by clerics to assist both corporations and markets as well as common people regarding Shariat-compliant investment and finance.

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram : State-owned Tourist Resorts Kerala Limited (TRKL) will set up an urban recreation-cum-commercial centre in the city through public-private partnership to boost tourism in the state further. TRKL head T.K. Manzoor told IANS that the centre would come up at a cost of Rs.1,500 million on a 20-acre plot overlooking the Veli Lake. "The project is being implemented by TRKL. Twenty-one major players, including experienced groups such as Tata Infrastructure Limited, Oberoi Constructions, Chalet Hotels (Raheja Group), have shown interest," said Manzoor.

By Ziaulla Nomani, India is the world's second largest single consumer of gold after China. The consumption of gold in India is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry.