Oil billionaire T Boone Pickens has predicted that crude oil will touch $150 soon. And he also says the one commodity that will grow bigger than oil is natural gas. In the last one year, natural gas prices across the world, especially in the US, UK and Russia have more than doubled.
The world must take care when developing biofuels to avoid perverse environmental effects and higher food prices
A recent survey by Bureau of Indian Standards in Delhi revealed that there was indeed cheating on the part of jewelers and consumers were getting much lesser value for gold for the amount they pay.
Even though the government is making tall claims about the agriculture loan waiver and myriads of schemes for the uplift of farmers in the country, if you want to know the plight of small farmers you have to really go to the grassroots and ask them. In India there is not a single small-scale farmer who is living a happy life with enough income from his fields.
With inflation rising at its fastest rate, the Union government was prompted to reduce import duties on edible oils even as Reserve Bank of India is expected to bring in tighter monetary policies to combat the rising inflation rate. In an effort to temper price rises, the government has already cut import duties on edible oils and banned the export of pulses and most types of rice.
India's steel industry is surging ahead, entering into global deals and taking the country's economy to new heights. The Indian government plans to invest over $350 billion in steel industries related to infrastructure and construction. The Indian government estimates that steel production would grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent to touch 124.06 MT by 2011-12. India's steel production capacity is estimated to be 200 MT by 2020.
In the new generation diplomacy, the US definitely occupies the most important place on Indian thinking wavelength but India is no sub-contractor of America in the global context wherein Uncle Sam can decide what and how much Indians should eat or not! US President George W Bush blaming the 'wealthy' lifestyle of India's huge middle class for the spiraling global food prices endorsing his Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice views only adds insult to the injury for Indians.
India's 'corrupt' gas market with unscrupulous dealers and delivery men is going to be a thing of the past as public oil companies are all set to tap the illegal sales of domestic gas. This system would put axe on your multiple connections intended to use cooking gas to run your multiple purposes.
Speaking to reporters in Madrid, he said ''The pressure is to suspend a few more food articles, If rightly or wrongly people perceive that commodities- futures trading is contributing to a speculation-driven rise in prices, then in a democracy you will have to heed that voice''. Left parties in India who supports the government wants to stop trading in cooking oil, sugar and other commodities, saying speculators are driving up prices and fanning inflation.
According to USDA estimates, the US accounted for an average of 11.5 percent of world exports of rice for calendar years 2004 through 2007 and is projected at 12.7 percent for 2008. US exports will increase to 3.5 million metric tons while world total exports decline to 27.5 MMT. The largest rice exporter is Thailand at 9.0 MMT for 2007/08, 32.7 percent of world exports, down 0.5 MMT from 2006/07 and up from 7.3 MMT in 2004/05 and 2005/06.
In a recent call to Filipinos, president Arroyo said they should boil rice with sweet potatoes or they should go for cheaper cereals to avoid going hungry as rice prices soared to record levels. "This is a once-a-millennium global crisis. We have an action plan," Arroyo said, noting that residents of the central island of Cebu are already using cheap sweet potatoes to beat the crisis.
According to reports, the world's biggest energy group announced a first-quarter record profit of $10.9 billion but its oil production fell almost 10 per cent in the first three months of the year. Moreover, its refining profits also slumped. Reports said that the company's broader market rallied, but Exxon shares fell 3.6 per cent to $89.70.
And she has blamed the 'growing Indian and Chinese appetite in contributing to the global food crisis'. The US Secretary of State is technically correct since both the countries dominate the world food consumption. But analysts feel she is morally and socially wrong.
World food prices have been rising since 2000, but this sped up slightly in 2007, then sharply in early 2008. High prices have hit the urban poor especially hard, and led to food shortages, riots and demonstrations worldwide. IRRI is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, a network of international agricultural research institutes started in the 1960s.
Many schools across the world received breakfast or lunch for their students under World Food Program. But even this aid is under serious threat. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon has put the priority on feeding the hungry by closing a $755m funding gap for the UN's World Food Programme this year.
In an effort to produce biofuel from a variety of elephant grass, Monsanto Co of Creve Coeur and Mendel Biotechnology Inc are joining hands. According to the two companies, Monsanto will lend its crop-testing, breeding and seed-production expertise to the Bioenergy Seeds & Feedstocks unit of Mendel, based in Hayward, California.
With the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) hiking their fees, many general category students will have to approach banks for educational loans. Most will also have to furnish collateral to get that all-important loan.IIM-Ahmedabad, for instance, has almost trebled its fees to Rs 4 lakh to Rs 11.5 lakh. IIM-Kolkata has hiked it from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh. Others like IIM Bangalore and IIM Lucknow have hiked it from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh and Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
In today's world if the diamond is over one carat in size it will usually come with a certificate from the laboratory specifying the inclusions, color and size. The carat itself is made of one hundred particular parts called points. While it is possible to estimate the weight of a mounted diamond, the lab uses ultrasensitive scales to achieve an exact weight, measured 3 decimal places, although the third decimal place is not usually mentioned at the retail level.
According to the Third Advance Estimates for 2007-08, the total foodgrains production is slated to reach an all-time high at 227.3 million tonnes, recording an increase of 4.6 per cent over the previous year (217.3 million tonnes). The production during 2007-08 would exceed the target set earlier (221.5 million tonnes) by 5.8 million tonnes. Notwithstanding the moderation, the growth performance was in tune with the high average real GDP growth of 8.7 per cent.
HUL has recently developed a new process of manufacturing soap based on 'Plough Share Mixer' technology which eliminates the need for steam in soap making. The new technology cuts carbon emissions by 15,000 tons per year and HUL has been awarded carbon credits for this under the Clean Development Mechanism scheme operated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
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