PM lifts farm hurdle

New Delhi, April 7: Roadblocks in the way of the Asean-India free trade agreement (FTA) has been removed following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention on the issue of sensitive farm products like pepper, rubber, palm oil, coffee and tea. A meeting convened by Singh was attended by commerce minister Kamal Nath and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. Both the ministries have been asked to hold consultations on tariff rate quota approach for these products in the FTA.

Trade zone

Tokyo, April 7: An Asian economic free-trade zone will be less beneficial than a global pact and a ?Herculean task? to achieve given diplomatic frictions, the Asian Development Bank's chief economist Ifzal Ali said today.

Forex reserves

Mumbai, April 7: The forex reserves increased by $2.96 billion to stand at $151.622 billion during the week ended March 31 against $148.662 billion during the week ended March 24. The reserves had increased by $ 2.503 billion during the preceding week ended March 24, 2006 compared with a week ago.

Nestle post

New Delhi, April 7: Naina Lal Kidwai, chief executive of HSBC in India, has been elected a board member of Nestle. The election of Kidwai was approved at Nestle?s annual general meeting in Lousanne yesterday.

Nabard chief

New Delhi, April 7: The government has appointed Nabard managing director Y.S.P. Thorat the chairman of the organisation. Thorat took charge as the chairman of the bank from today.

GAIL offer

New Delhi, April 7: GAIL (India) Ltd today said it would co-operate with any government agency in evaluating the financial implications of the choice of technology for the Dahej-Uran pipeline.

Petronet funds

New Delhi, April 7:Petronet LNG Ltd has raised Rs 1,233 crore as loan for financing the expansion of its Dahej terminal to 12.5 million tonnes.