Gold dips below 22,000 level after 10 weeks

Gold prices dipped below Rs 22,000 per 10 grams after 10 weeks in the national capital on Saturday on sustained selling by stockists on the back of a weak trend overseas.

Gold declined by Rs 230 to Rs 21,820 per 10 grams, a level last seen on April 19. Silver fell by Rs 350 to Rs 51,500 per kg.

Dealers said that trading sentiment remained bearish after gold fell in the global markets on easing sovereign debt crisis in Greece, curbing demand for the precious metals as an alternative investment.

Reduced offtake by retailers and jewellery manufacturers at existing higher levels further fuelled the downtrend, they added.

Gold fell by USD 20.20 to USD 1,482.60 an ounce and silver by 3.2 per cent to USD 33.70 an ounce.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity fell by Rs 230 each to Rs 21,820 and Rs 21,700 per 10 grams, respectively.

The metal had lost Rs 270 Friday.

Sovereign remained unchanged at Rs 18,650 per 10 grams in restricted activity.

Silver ready and weekly-based delivery dropped by Rs 350 each to Rs 51,500 per kg, respectively. Silver coins declined by Rs 500 to Rs 56,000 for buying and Rs 57,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

Silver, gold fall on global cues

Silver and gold prices fell further at the bullion market here today on moderate selling by stockists and investors amidst continuing bearishness in the global markets. Silver ready (.999 fineness) declined by Rs 125 per kg to end at Rs 51,585 from Friday''s level of Rs 51,710. Standard gold (99.5 purity) moved down by Rs 45 per 10 grams to close at Rs 21,585 as against Rs 21,630 yesterday. Pure gold (99.9 purity) also eased by a similar margin to conclude at Rs 21,690 from Rs 21,735 previously. In overseas trade, precious metals plunged over fading uncertainty of Eurozone debt problems pushing investors to place their bets elsewhere. In New York, gold for August delivery tumbled by USD 20.20, or 1.3 per cent, to USD 1,482.60 an ounce on the COMEX division of NYMEX yesterday. Silver for September delivery shed USD 1.13 or 3.2 per cent to USD 33.71 an ounce.

10 states selected for ''Krishi Karman'' award

Ten states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, have been selected for agriculture awards for their performance in the foodgrain production.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would give the newly instituted ''Krishi Karman'' awards to the winning states, an official statement said here today.

Three awards are being given for total foodgrain production and four awards for production of rice, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses the crops that constitute the food grain basket.

''Krishi Karman'' awards are the first-ever awards being given to states for their effort and contribution towards raising the country's food grain production.

Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are the joint winners of the award in the category of states with overall foodgrain production of more than 10 million tonnes recorded in the last five years.

Assam and Orissa get the award in the category of states with overall food grain production of between one and 10 million tonnes.

Tripura is the sole winner in the category of states with overall food grain production of less than one million tonnes.

In the second set of four awards, being given for individual crops and crop groups, the award for rice goes to Chhattisgarh, wheat to Haryana, pulses to Maharashtra and Rajasthan and coarse cereals to Karnataka.

Each award winning state gets a trophy, a citation and cash award. The cash award (for each state) is Rs 2 crore for total food grain production and Rs 1 crore for each of the four crops included in food grains.

A selection committee headed by Secretary (Agriculture and Cooperation) assessed the performance of states against objective criteria that took into account production outcomes, implementation of crop production programs and innovative approaches adopted for effective service delivery.

Gas, renewables to be future energy sources of choice

Natural gas will fast become the fossil fuel of choice to complement renewable energy for the foreseeable future, after long being regarded as merely a step on the way to a greener energy mix.

Especially in electricity generation, natural gas has so far stood in competition with coal-fired and nuclear production.

But coal's high carbon emission levels have reduced its market allure, while the crisis at Japan's Fukushima plant following an earthquake in March has put a serious dent in the prospects for global nuclear power generation.

At the same time, new technologies in extracting gas have sharply raised reserve forecasts, and it emits less carbon and is not as potentially dangerous as nuclear power.

Bharatiya Global Infomedia IPO to open on July 11

Bharatiya Global Infomedia is entering the capital market with a public issue of 67.2 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each on July 11, by diluting 42.42% stake.

The company has fixed a price band of Rs 75-82 a share for the issue, which closes on July 14.

Company works with sectors such as information technology security and compliance automation software solutions and technology related to media & entertainment industry with focus on research & development.

Current business operations consist of information technology based solutions-RFID & smart card and digital post production studio.

Issue proceeds are proposed to be used for setting up of corporate office at Noida & branch office at Mumbai; upgradation of digital post production studio & investment in IT division; expansion of R&D technology centre; repayment of bank borrowings; and long term working capital requirements.

The book running lead manager to the issue is Almondz Global Securities Limited and Karvy Computershare Private Limited is the registrar.