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Briefing
J&K to accord industry status to fruit trade
As part of its effort to provide a boost to the fruit trade which fetches over Rs 1,000 crore for the state annually, Jammu and Kashmir government is planning to accord it industrial status. Official sources said that this year's fruit production in the state, registered a record 11 lakh tonne. Of this, four lakh tonne have been exported so far. The state government earned Rs 32 crore annually as cess from the trade, which provided employment to nearly 50 lakh people, the sources said. In order to boost marketing facilities 15 satellite markets were being set up in Kashmir valley, besides fruit `mandis' in various parts of the state, they said. Herbal medicines Over 7,500 species of plants are used by 4,635 ethnic communities in India for human and veterinary health care and use of these herbal medicines is on the rise in the country, an expert on herbal medicine has said.Shedding light on the use of herbal medicine, Dr AS Mahal, a herbal practitioner says India has one of the oldest, richest and most diverse cultural traditions associated with the use of medicinal plants. In his paper "Herbal system of medicine around the world down the age" which was presented at the first International Conference on Health Sciences recently, he says around 1,700 species of plants are fully documented in terms of their biological properties, actions and drug formations for a range of health conditions. Poultry dumping
Indian poultry industry, considered to be one of the most competitive in the world, is faced with the danger of cheap imports of old and stale chicken legs from the United States with the dismantling of quantitative restrictions from April 1, 2001. Sending warning signals to the Centre to act immediately, by raising import tariff to the bound level of 130 per cent on poultry products, Anuradha Desai of National Egg Coordination Committee said there was every likelihood of the Indian market being flooded with chicken and egg exported from developed countries. Free raw import
The textile ministry has sought zero duty on imported raw material and over 50 per cent reduction in duty on imported textile machinery, in the budget for the year 2001-02. "The thrust of the proposals is to make raw material and machinery available at cheaper rates, for sustaining the double-digit export growth in the sector," official sources said. In its proposals to the finance ministry, it has sought duty free import of raw materials like raw cotton and cotton waste, adding the ministry has sought zero excise duty. Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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