ECONOMIC NEWS

There may have been a last-minute rush of visitors, but the 19th World Book Fair left many publishers complaining of poor sales and inadequate arrangements. Organisers, however, insist that the volume of international trade was substantially larger this year.

An unofficial estimate of the event held at the Pragati Maidan fairgrounds from Feb 1 to 8 said the number of footfalls touched nearly 30,000 on the last three days. No official numbers were made available to the media.

A prominent left trade union Sunday threatened an all-India shutdown if the central government raised prices of cooking gas and other petro-products following the Kirit Parikh panel recommendations.

Addressing a massive rally called by West Bengal's ruling Left Front against escalating prices, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) general secretary Mohammed Amin also urged the central government to stop futures trading in essentials and buy vegetables directly from the farmers to sell them through the public distribution system.

The Mayor of London, the city where Indian business establishments occupy a pride of place, has been accused of closing down his business facilitation offices in New Delhi and Mumbai through the "back door."

Mayor Boris Johnson, a leading light in Britain's opposition Conservative Party, has told London's regional assembly that representatives of the London Development Agency (LDA) in New Delhi and Mumbai resigned last year and have not yet been replaced.

Human right activists, tribal leaders and social activists in Orissa Sunday welcomed the Church of England's decision to sell its shares in British mining major Vedanta due to its dissatisfaction with the company's rights' record in the state.

"It is a great step by the Church. It understood the peoples' concern to protect their livelihood, land, forest, culture and identity," Bratindi Jena, an activist of the Niyamgiri Surakhya Samiti, a tribal organisation fighting to protect the hills, told IANS.

A company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has joined hands with the UN to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, WAM news agency reported Sunday.

Dubai Properties Group (DPG) is among 5,500 firms worldwide to join the UN Global Compact (UNGC) initiative. Other stakeholders from over 130 countries are also its members.

An Emirates Mumbai-Dubai flight made an emergency landing at the Mumbai airport Sunday soon after take off following an anonymous call warning that there were terrorists on board. Two passengers - a man and his wife - have been detained by police for questioning.

According to an airport official, the flight EK-505 was recalled by the air traffic control following the call shortly after 9.30 a.m. Sunday.

It's good news for those wanting to make a donation to the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine, at Amritsar but unable to do so by physically coming here. They can now donate online.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has tied up with the HDFC bank to facilitate online donation to the shrine, bank officials said here Sunday.

Pakistan's business community Sunday welcomed the upcoming foreign secretary-level talks with India, terming it a highly positive step that could result in many benefits for the people of both countries.

At a meeting here of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry, its members said both countries are endowed with plenty of human and natural resources and they should establish an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence to harness these for strengthening their economies and uplifting the living standard of their people.