Agriculture lending till November crosses Rs.1.36 tn

August 18th, 2009 Summary Box: Fed extends lending programWHAT HAPPENED?: The Federal Reserve said it's extending a program that was due to end Dec. 31. The major part of the program, aimed at boosting consumer and business lending, will now run through March 31.

August 6th, 2009 Paraguay landless try crucifixion to get attentionASUNCION, Paraguay — It's a gruesome tradition in Paraguay that gets results, at least from leftist priest-turned president Fernando Lugo. A half-dozen protesters have hammered long nails through their hands and tied themselves to crosses or laid in coffins in an appeal for land.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Former Karnataka chief minister and Lok Sabha member H.D. Kumaraswamy Monday urged the central government to "once for all waive the entire loan component of small and marginal farmers" to start lending process for them on a clean slate.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The country's second largest private lender HDFC Bank Monday cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 15.75 percent. "The benchmark prime lending rate has been reduced to 15.75 percent per annum with effect from July 20," the bank said on its website.

July 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Sunday said the US and India will explore new areas of cooperation in agriculture which she described as one of the five pillars of their strategic partnership. Agriculture is one of our five pillars of discussions.

July 17th, 2009 RAIPUR - Above-average rainfall in parched Chhattisgarh since July 13, the first time this monsoon, has set paddy cultivation back on the track on about 3.5 million hectares. According to agriculture department officials, sowing has been completed in about 45 percent of the near 3.5 million hectares targeted for paddy cultivation in the state's 18 districts.

June 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar has said that rains in the months of July and August are very crucial in deciding India's agricultural output for this year. Briefing the media persons after meeting with Agriculture Secretaries of various states here on Thursday, Kumar said that an action plan has been charted out to tackle any odd situation.

June 23rd, 2009 UK May mortgage lending weakest in 8 yearsLONDON — Net mortgage lending in the United Kingdom was 2.3 billion pounds ($3.7 billion) in May, the weakest monthly amount in eight years, the British Bankers Association said Tuesday. The report came as further evidence of sluggish lending activity in the U.K.

June 19th, 2009 KOLKATA - The city-based UCO Bank will cut its deposit and lending rates by 50 basis points soon, a top bank official said here Friday. We would cut both the deposit and lending rates by 50 basis points from June 27, UCO chairman and managing director S.K.

June 2nd, 2009 Agriculture, livestock futures mostly dropCHICAGO — Agriculture futures were mostly lower in early trading Thursday on the Chicago Board of Trade. September wheat dropped 11.25 cents to $5.175 a bushel, while September corn slid 6 cents to $3.41 a bushel and November soybeans lost 20.5 cents to $10.245 a bushel.

May 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Buses in the national capital will ply from 3.30 a.m. till midnight May 7 to facilitate travel for personnel on election duty as well as voters, the Delhi Election Commission said Tuesday.

March 7th, 2009 KOLKATA - The state-owned UCO Bank has decided to provide 50 basis points loan rate cut to borrowers in some sectors as incentives, a top bank official said here Friday. 'We have decided to give incentives of 50 bps to particular sectors like housing, auto and consumer loans.

January 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India is set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Canada for increased cooperation in the field of agriculture, the Canadian High Commission here said in a statement Monday. The bilateral MoU aims to enhance knowledge sharing, animal development and agricultural marketing know-how between the two nations and to increase the bilateral exports between the two nations.

January 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - The United Bank of India (UBI) has reduced its prime lending rate by 50 basis points to 13 percent effective from Jan 12, it said here Tuesday. 'With this, the existing floating rate in all corporate and retail categories borrowers such as SME (small and medium enterprises), agriculture, housing, auto and vehicle loans, as well as potential borrowers will get the benefit of reduced rate of interest,' a bank statement said.

January 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Two more state-owned banks joined the banking community in cutting lending rates by 50 to 70 basis points. In a regulatory statement, State Bank of Travancore announced Friday that it had revised the benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) from 13.25 percent to 12.75 percent with effect from Jan 1.