The government should order immediate withdrawal of the 100 per cent increase in prices of cotton seed by the state-run seeds corporation `Mahabeej' and an inquiry as to why the prices were hiked should be made, Rajya Sabha member Vijay Darda has demanded. In a letter to Prime Minister AB Vajpayee and state Chief Minister Narayan Rane, Darda said he suspected an `underhand deal' between Mahabeej and private producers and sought an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the hike. The price hike had badly hit the cotton growers of Vidarbha region, who had suffered the third consecutive year of crop failure due to vagaries of the weather, he said.

Shanghai copper futures down

Shanghai copper futures closed sharply lower in heavy trade on Thursday, pressured by overnight losses on the London Metal Exchange, traders said. The active October 1999 contract closed at its lifetime low of 14,570 yuan ($1,760) per tonne, down 330 yuan from Wednesday. It openedat an intra-day high of 14,740. Volume reached the contract's lifetime high of 22,720 lots. LME three-month copper ended Wednesday's afternoon kerb at $1,411, down $9 from Tuesday. The renewed falls on LME after a one-day rebound disappointed local investors.

TN ryots threaten poll boycott

One of the farmers' associations in Tamil Nadu has threatened to boycott the Lok Sabha polls, on the plea that the political parties were neglecting the demands of the agriculturists. A resolution to boycott the elections was passed by the executive of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayeegal Sangam (Narayanaswmy Naidu) Thiruchirapalli on Thursday. The resolution said that the farmers were disappointed over the manner in which prices for agricultural produce were fixed. It also demanded simplification of procedures to enable the farmers to have an easy access to institutional credit. It condemned the delay in the fixing of sugarcane price by the Tamil Nadu government for the current crushing season. Raja Chidamabram,president of the association, presided over the meeting.

Haryana power tariff

The Haryana government has incurred expenses of more than Rs 40 crore on implementation of the `slab system in power tariffs based on depth of tubewells to agriculture sector' after the present state government took the reins three years back. Stating this in Bhiwani on Thursday, Haryana cooperative and development bank chairman Narinder Singh said the fourth slab of Rs 30 per hp for tubewells more than 200 ft deep was implemented as soon as legal hindrances were overcome. Farmers in drought-prone areas of the state would be benefited by this system, he said and added that prior to 1996, the system consisting of three slabs was applicable only in Mahendragarh, Bhiwani and Rewari districts, whereas it had now been extended to all districts of the state.

Asian crudes remain firm

Heavy Asian crudes remained firm but demand for the lighter grades were also starting to pick up tightening availabilities, traders saidon Thursday. Indonesian state oil company Pertamina issued a surprising tender to buy back some of its light domestic crudes for July, seeking Belida, Handil and Ardjuna. The tender, which closes on June 8, did not specify volumes sought, and did not have a validity date. Traders said they were taken aback by the tender, and were still trying to get information why it was issued. Some speculated that Pertamina was worried about tight spot supplies of light crudes as its July purchases were still uncovered.

Malaysian oilfield output

The average output of Malaysia's Tapis oilfield is expected to fall to around 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July due to a planned terminal maintenance, Malaysian oil sources said on Thursday. The oilfield produces around 330,000-340,000 bpd of crude.Sources said the terminal loading Tapis crude would be shutdown for around five days in early July for planned maintenance, resulting in reduced production. Earlier, the sources had said that only the single buoy mooring(SBM) would be shut down for maintenance and that production would not be affected.