Hong Kong spot gold ended lower on Thursday in quiet trading after selling from Australia amid lingering market gloom caused by official gold sales. Gold bullion ended at US$256.00/50 per ounce on Thursday compared to New York's previous close at US$256.90/257.40 on Wednesday. ``There was some selling from the Australians, but we also saw good two-way interest. The market was quiet and the price stayed within about $1,'' a trader said. The bearish mood set by Britain's programme of gold sales continued with concern over possible International Monetary Fund gold sales, traders said. The IMF board will discuss gold sales at a meeting in Washington on Friday. Gold fell to new 20-year lows after Tuesday's 25-tonne UK sale, the first in a series by the Bank of England to dispose of 415 tonnes. The London morning gold fix on Wednesday of $256.20 was the lowest since May 16, 1979. Gold was likely to trade in a US$256-258 range in the short term, traders said. InTokyo, gold futures rebounded moderately on bargain-hunting from investors but momentum was weak due to bearishness about gold sales. Spot silver ended at US$5.21/24 an ounce.

Mechanised boats ban pays

Kerala fisheries minister TK Ramakrishnan on Thursday informed the state assembly that the 45-day ban on trawling by mechanised boats from June 15 had helped arrest the depletion of fisheries sources. Replying to a calling attention motion, on the problems faced by traditional fishermen, raised by AV Thamarakshan (RSP), he said this had resulted in increased fish production, as monsoon months were the spawning season of important fish species.He said the figures available with the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) showed that the production of fish had gone up to 607,000 tonnes during 1998-99 from 569,000 during 1997-98 in the marine sector. In the inland fisheries sector, the increase was 20,000 tonnes during 1998-99 as compared to 1997-98. The government would implement variousschemes in the marine sector, costing Rs 60.61 crore, for improving the living condition of the traditional fishermen. Raising the issue, Thamarakshan urged the government to prepare a special scheme, to seek funds from the Eleventh Finance Commission, and improve the lot of the estimated 200,000 traditional fishermen, whose average monthly income was Rs 1008 as against Rs 2113 of an ordinary citizen of the state. The funds spent on various schemes for traditional fishermen had not reached the real beneficiaries, he alleged.

Three-day mango festival

The ``juiciest event of the year'' is here again. Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit will inaugurate on Friday the 11th mango festival at which more than 500 varieties of the luscious fruit from home and abroad would be on display. Products made from mangoes would also be on display besides fresh mangoes and mango saplings. The three-day festival would also include the popular mango eating competition on July 10 and 11. Each participant would be givenabout three kg of mangoes to be eaten in a fixed time of three minutes. The festival, organised by Delhi Tourism, would feature the special varieties of the ``king of fruits'' from Saharanpur, Malihabad, Lucknow and Rataul. Delhi's tourism minister Narendar Nath would give away the prizes on July 11. India accounts for about 60 per cent of the total mango production in the world. About 1,000 hectares of land spread in UP, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu is used for mango cultivation.

Orissa policy on Chilka Lake

The Orissa government is formulating a new policy on Chilka Lake to protect the rights of the local fishermen. State chief minister Giridhar gamang told newspersons on Wednesday night that police and the district administration have been instructed to immediately remove all illegal encroachments by prawn cultivators in Chilka Lake. On the night of May 29, three persons were killed and 14 injured in police firing in Soran village of the Khurda districtfollowing violent protests by local fishermen against illegal prawn cultivation by ``outsiders,'' allegedly backed by influential persons including bureaucrats. The report revealed that the federation had agreed to a proposal of the district administration.