1.   

Negative list, Wagha route, Safta top agenda: Pakistan-India talks open today

The two-day 7th Round of Commerce Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan will start Thursday (Sept 20). to bolster economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries. Sources said on Wednesday that the issues of phasing out of negative list, opening of Wagha land route and preferential arrangements under Safta will be discussed, besides inking three agreements during the visit of the delegation.

2.   

Iran keen to sign long-term wheat import deal with India: Govt

Iran has evinced interest in importing wheat from India on a regular basis and up to two million tonnes of the grain could be shipped to the West Asian country this year, Food Minister K V Thomas has said. India lifted ban on wheat exports in September 2011 on account of record production in two consecutive years. However, Iran has not been importing the Indian wheat due to quality hurdles since 1996.

3.   

Indonesia to import 260,000 tons of raw sugar

The Trade Ministry has issued permits to import 260,000 tons of raw sugar to meet domestic demand for raw sugar in the first half of next year, an official has said. The Trade Ministry’s import director Arlinda said over the weekend that the ministry had granted the permits to import the raw sugar, saying that the permits were “valid until January next year”.

4.   

Bengal govt hopes for 8% growth in agriculture

With the West Bengal government eyeing 8% growth in agriculture, an ambitious target given that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself set a 4% growth target for the country, panic over a delayed monsoon seems to be a distant memory for the state government. “Nearly 70% of the state’s population lives in rural areas and almost two-third of our population is dependant on agriculture.