MUMBAI, July 1: The parliamentary standing committee on commerce has opposed any restriction on coffee growers to sell their produce through curing houses as has been proposed in the Coffee (amendment) Bill, 1997.

The committee, while discussing the bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 28, suggested three amendments after soliciting views from the concerned ministry officials and party, official sources said. The government had proposed the amendement to the Coffee Act 1942 through the bill, which seeks to formalise the free sale quota offered to coffee growers.

Move to reduce IA's operating costs: In a move aimed at reducing Indian Airlines' operating expenses, the civil aviation ministry has decided to take fresh initiatives to ensure that the state-owned airline got its aviation turbine fuel (ATF) at international prices. The price of ATF in India is almost four times the international price and an amount of Rs 250 crore could be reduced each year if ATF was to be charged at international rates.

Tamil Nadu move on transport body: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday deleted the names of leaders from districts and state transport corporations. Chief minister M Karunanidhi told a press conference that the all the districts would be called after the names of the respective district headquarters and transport corporations would be amalgamated into seven corporations and would be called as the Tamil Nadu transport corporation.

Fertiliser production up 35 per cent: The fertiliser production during April-May 1997 has registered over 35 per cent increase as compared to the same period last year. The estimated total production during April-May 1997 was 14.47 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of nitrogen and 4.57 LMT of phosphate as against the targets of 13.87 LMT and 4.34 LMT respectively. As compared to the last year, the output during April-May 1997 was 35.3 per cent higher in case of nitrogen and 38.9 per cent for phosphate, according to an official release.

Indian carpets affect Iranian industry:

Indian carpets have made a dent into the Iranian market in the United States giving a hard blow to the Tehran carpet industry. Apart from the US sanctions, carpets from India, Pakistan and China have hit the Iranian carpet industry hard due to the low cost of production owing to low wages, The Wall Street journal reported on Tuesday.

Asean scribes communique on tourism:

Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) journalists are working on a joint communique on the development of tourism industry in Southeast Asia. The communique will be issued at the end of a five-day seminar in Antara on July 6, according to the chairman of the seminar's organising committee, H Sondang Meliala.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.