Sonawala passes away
Shantilal Sonawala, former president of Bombay Bullion Association, expired in Mumbai on Friday due to prolonged illness. He was 86. Sonawala was suffering from a paralytic attack for a longtime. He leaves behind his wife and two sons. As a mark of respect to the late Sonawala, the Bombay Bullion will remained closed on Friday.

Groundnut oil up on fresh buying
In New Delhi, groundnut oil improved on the oils and oilseeds market on Friday on emergence of buying by local parties and closed with gains. Marketmen said fresh buying in groundnut oil by locals and manufacturers influenced the market sentiment. The prices of other oils hovered around previous levels in small trading activities and closed at last levels. The volume of business transacted was small. Groundnut mill delivery gained Rs 50 at Rs 4,100 per quintal on increased buying. Mustardseed was traded at Rs 1,670-1,770, cottonseed at Rs 840-890, groundnut Rs 1,550-1,900 and sesame Rs 3,000-3,200 per quintal.

Tea board amy introduce futures
The Tea Board of India has expressed keen desire to introduce futures trading and it has commissioned Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Plantation Management (IIPM) to conduct a study in this regard. The chairman of Tea Board, SS Ahuja, said that futures trading in tea would help producers to get steady returns over a period of time. He said that owing to cyclical nature of price movements, producers could take full advantage of futures when introduced for certain standardised grades of tea. He said that IIPM was expected to submit the report with in a months time. Meanwhile, the board has also commissioned Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, to undertake a study on the functioning of auction centres. Ahuja said that Indian auctions should be able to meet the growing aspirations of tea buyers, adding that if that was not done, then these centres, particularly Calcutta, would meet the same fate as the London auction, which is now closed.

Banana planters reject import rules
Central American banana planters rejected the proposed new European Union banana import rules designed to end a trade dispute with the Americas. "We reject the basis of the proposals," said Francisco de Soto, vice minister of trade for Panama, the world's fourth-largest producer. "None of the ideas that the Latin American producers presented have been taken into consideration," De Soto said. The proposed new rules, still to be reviewed by EU members, aim to bring the EU's controversial banana regime into line with WTO rules and lead to the lifting of $191 million in US sanctions on EU exports, approved by the organisation in last April.

Ban on recycled plastic bags
Delhi High Court on Thursday endorsed the centre's ban on using `recycled' plastic carry bags and containers for packaging and supplying food stuff. Disposing of a public interest litigation in this regard, a division bench comprising Arun Kumar and DK Jain said since the union ministry of environment and forest in a notification of September 2 had banned the use of recycled plastic carry bags and containers for food items, the petition did not survive. The court did not agree with the contention of petitioner advocate BL Wadhera that the ban should also be extended to use of such bags for carrying vegetables, fruits, cereals, rice and the like.