1.   

India, Pak set up panel to boost trade

At the Pakistan-India Business Round Table, held in Lahore on Tuesday, a joint business committee was set up to boost trade between the two countries. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, while agreeing with the proposal mooted by Punjab Province (Pakistan) Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for constituting a joint business committee, announced that the first meeting of panel — comprising politicians, industrialists, traders, progressive farmers and experts — will be held in the first week of December in Amritsar.

2.   

Need to accelerate efforts for bilateral cooperation: Lowen

UK Trade and Investment Director Barry Lowen Tuesday said efforts to push economic cooperation between India and UK need to be accelerated. "We need to accelerate our efforts for the growth of bilateral economic cooperation, particularly in view of the current economic scenario," he said. There is a need for greater synergy of efforts between the business communities of both the countries to speed up two way cooperation, he said while speaking during a PHD interactive session.

3.   

UP govt lifts all levies from rice exports in state

In a move to encourage rice exports from Uttar Pradesh, the second largest producer of rice in the country, the state cabinet on Tuesday approved the state's Rice Export Policy 2012. Expected to come into effect soon after the government issues a government order in this regard, the policy will be effective for five years. As a part of the new policy, the government also lifted all levies from rice exports, including Mandi tax and development cess for all varieties of rice produced in the state.

4.   

Odisha to set up agency for certification of organic products

With organic farming having great potential in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said the state government is planning to set up a separate agency for certification of organic products. The state has formulated a progressive agriculture policy in 2008 under which special focus has been given to organic farming, Patnaik said, while addressing the biennial Convention of Organic Farmers organised by the Organic Farming Association of India.