Soaring price of gold turns Goldsmiths idle

October 7th, 2009 VIJAYWADA - Apart from wreaking large-scale havoc and rendering thousands homeless in Andhra Pradesh, floods have affected the price of vegetables as well. The vegetable sellers cite shortage of vegetables due to the floods and so have found a valid reason for hiking the prices, upsetting the people's budgets badly.

October 6th, 2009 SRINAGAR - People in Srinagar are buying artificial jewellery instead of gold jewellery as it gives them more variety and is cheaper. "The big sets that you buy you just dump the things in the lockers.

September 30th, 2009 COIMBATORE - About 500 poverty-stricken families in Coimbatore are engaged in eking out their living by extracting gold from the silt and sand of the urban drainage system. They have been in this profession for the past two decades.

September 21st, 2009 JAIPUR - The sale of upmarket and luxury cars of international brands in Jaipur has seen a spurt, as the goldsmiths and real-estate dealers have helped develop the standard of living of residents here. According to a recent report presented by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on the sale of Luxury cars, the average sales growth across the country is between 12 to 15 per cent per year, while the figure almost doubles in Jaipur.

August 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Government on Thursday announced a big increase in the minimum support price of the kharif crop. The minimum support price (MSP) for the common variety of paddy has been hiked by 100 rupees per quintal, while for pulses, the MSP has been raised by 100 rupees per quintal.

August 2nd, 2009 MUMBAI - To protest against the soaring prices of commodities in the country activists of Shiv Sena along with a large number of local residents took to streets of Mumbai on Sunday. Protestors raised slogans against the ruling Congress party for not checking the prices of essential commodities, leading to a high cost of living.

August 2nd, 2009 AHMEDABAD - A majority of goldsmiths in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city are sitting idle these days, as the rising prices of gold have drastically affected the number of customers of the yellow metal. Most of the goldsmiths are apprehending a jobless situation.

July 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Members of opposition parties, including CPI-M and RJD, staged a sit-in outside the Parliament House to protest against soaring prices of essential commodities. "Under the leadership of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Left Front parties along with Biju Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Telugu Desam, Samajwadi Party and other allies, we all have gathered to express our opposition to the soaring price rise of essential commodities and have demanded to know what the government is doing to control this," said CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury.

April 30th, 2009 MUMBAI - Gold sales across the country zoomed 14 percent in value terms April 27, this year's Akshaya Tritiya, compared to the auspicious day last year, the World Gold Council (WGC) announced here Thursday. Akshaya Tritiya is an auspicious day according to the Hindu calendar for buying long-term assets like gold and silver, including ornaments made of the same, diamond and other precious stones, and real estate.

April 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI/MUMBAI/CHENNAI - Despite the high cost of the yellow metal and the slowdown, people bought gold jewellery in large numbers Monday on Akshaya Tritiya, considered an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar for buying long-term assets like gold, silver and real estate. Akshaya Tritiya falls on the third day of the bright half of the Hindu month of Baisakh (April-May), when the Sun and Moon are believed to be in exalted positions and are simultaneously at the peak of brightness, which happens only once every year.

April 27th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - People began buying gold jewellery from Monday morning here on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, considered an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar for buying long-term assets like gold, silver and real estate. 'Gold is the ultimate symbol of wealth and prosperity.

March 7th, 2009 LUCKNOW - After Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Delhi, now it is the turn of post offices in Uttar Pradesh to sell gold coins, an official said Friday. As many as 102 post offices in the state will start selling gold coins March 9, a day before Holi, Sachin Kishore, director of postal services told IANS here.

March 3rd, 2009 MUMBAI - Gold was hovering around Rs.16,040 per 10 grams in intra-day trade Monday, an all-time trading price high, with consumers avoiding buying new gold and preferring to exchange old gold for new. Around 1:40 p.m., gold's April futures prices touched a high of Rs.15,968 per 10 grams at the Multi Commodity Exchange as the rupee continued to reign at over Rs.50 to the dollar.

February 16th, 2009 MUMBAI - Gold prices Tuesday zoomed Rs.360 to a record high of Rs.15,200 per ten grams in Indian bullion market on strong global cues and support from a weak rupee. The yellow metal continued its bull run at international markets also as investors kept buying gold amid worsening global economic outlook.

January 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Three days after the government announced reduction in petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices, state-run oil companies Saturday slashed the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) by four percent. The ATF price in New Delhi will go down Rs.1,208 per kilolitre to Rs.30,288 from Saturday midnight, an Indian Oil Corp official said.