Bush-Lula hold talks

CAMP DAVID: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva arrived Saturday for talks with President George W. Bush expected to cover global trade at the US leader’s Camp David mountain retreat. The two are expected

to focus on moving forward the fraught Doha round of world trade talks. These aim to lower global trade barriers but have repeatedly stalled, largely due to disagreement over trade tariffs and farm subsidies. The United States and Brazil, the economic giant of South America, are two of the main players in the so-called Doha round. — AFP

LCD production starts

SEOUL: LG.Philips LCD Co, a major manufacturer of liquid crystal displays, said Sunday that it began full-scale production at its factory in Poland to meet growing demand in Europe. The plant, located in Kobierzyce in southwestern Poland, will produce panels mainly for 32-inch and larger LCD televisions, LG.Philips said in a statement. The company said it plans to expand annual production capacity at the plant from an initial 3 million panels to 11 million by 2011. Liquid crystal displays are used in flat-panel televisions, computer monitors and notebook computers. — AP

Handicraft village

BHAKTAPUR: Hastakala Gram (handicrafts village) constructed at Bhaktapur Industrial State is to become operational soon. Coordinator Yubak Rajbhandari said the Bhaktapur Hastakala Gram constructed with an objective of developing and promoting handicrafts and its trading is to open soon. Construction of the necessary infrastructures and building has been completed, said Bhaktapur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). It is said that the production of all types of handicrafts including wooden crafts, ceramic Thangka and carpet would be placed on display and would be on sale at the newly constructed Hastakala Gram. —RSS

EPF goes hi-tech

HETAUDA: Hetauda Branch office of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has started an on-line service between Kathmandu and Hetauda for its depositors and pensioners in order to provide service in an efficient manner. With the introduction of news service, pensioners no longer has to wait for two weeks to get their pension, the office claims. Now depositors and pension staffers can be paid within an hour through on-line service, Shiva Kumar Aryal, chief of EPF Hetauda said. The office has provided services to nine districts including four from Janakpur zone. —RSS

Shortage of seeds

DAMAULI: Tanahun district experienced shortage of maize seeds this year. Farmers have become worried after they failed to get maize seeds. According to agro-seed sellers, there is a shortage of high quality maize seed in storage. Two dozen agro-vets have been distributing agricultural tools including fertilizer, seeds, insecticides and vitamin in the district. —RSS

Textiles export at $25b

NEW DELHI: India’s textiles exports, which currently stand at $20 billion, will increase to $25 billion in 2007-08, a leading industry body has estimated. The domestic textiles sector would attract investments to the tune of almost Rs.1,000 billion under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), which aims at transforming the industry by extending fiscal assistance, said a report, ‘Future Textiles Exports’, of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). Under TUFS, loans worth Rs.140 billion have already been disbursed.—AFP