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Headlines
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News:
Pakistan troops resort to shelling in Kargil
Venkatswami Commission issues notice to Fernandes, 28 others
Thackeray replies to 'injustice' of Srikrishna Commission with a book
Claws out over US first cat
Next Indo-Pak Summit to focus on nuclear security
Japan lauds Vajpayee for Agra initiative
CBI raids ex UTI-chief Subramanyam, others for conspiracy
RBI Governor suggests more public investment in agri sector
Easier procedure for non-immigrant U.S. visas
Mobile phones disallowed in legislature
Raid on UTI pulls down sensex by over 30 pts
CSE brokers to observe protest day on Monday
Gopichand crashes out of Malaysian Open
Prasar Bharati stopped from showing graphics during cricket
New Zealand restricted to 211 for 8
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Markets:
Sensex: 3340.75, -30.18
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Forex, Metals and
Weather below
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News
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Pakistan troops resort to shelling in Kargil
Srinagar,Friday, July 20, 2001: Pakistani troops today opened fire on Indian positions in Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir but there was no casaulty, police said.
The unprovoked shelling from across the border started around 0505 hours and most of the shells exploded in Goma Gali and Budgam mountain ridges, the police said, adding Indian troops fired in retaliation and intermittent shelling was still continuing.
This is for the first time after the 1999 Kargil war that Pakistani troops resorted to shelling using artillery weapons to target forward Indian posts in Kargil, the police said.
Unofficial sougces said some of the shells landed about three km away from the town in Chinigund and Kaksar areas triggering panic among the locals.
The shelling from across the border comes close on the heels of a powerful explosion in Mushkhoh valley on July 11 in which four army personnel were killed and nine others injured.
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Venkatswami Commission issues notice to Fernandes, 28 others
New Delhi,Friday, July 20, 2001: Justice Venkataswami Commission probing into the Tehelka expose today issued notice to former Defence Minister and Samata Party leader George Fernandes to put forward his views on the issue despite Attorney General Soli Sorabjee expressing reservations over it.
After hearing arguments of Sorabjee and Commission Counsel Gopal Subramaniam issued notice to Fernandes under Section 8-B(b) of the Commission of Inquiry Act.
Sorabjee said issuance of notice to the former Defence Minister at this stage would not be fair, proper and correct.
The Commission can issue a notice under Section 8-B(b) of the Act to a person if it is of the opinion that the person's reputation is likely to be prejudicially affected by the inquiry.
The Commission has also issued notices under Section 8-B(a) and 8-B(b) to 28 other persons including disgraced former BJP President Bangaru Laxman, former Samata Party President Jaya Jaitly, Tehelka.Com Editor Tarun Tejpal, his colleagues Mathew Sameual and Anirudh Behal, Maj. Gen (Rtd) S P Murgai, Lt Col. (Rtd) V P Sayal and Maj Gen P S K Chaudhary.
The Commission can issued a notice under Section 8-B(a) to a person at any stage of hearing, if it considers necessary to inquire into the conduct of the person.
These 28 persons have been asked to respond to the notice by July 27, the next date of hearing.
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Thackeray replies to 'injustice' of Srikrishna Commission with a book
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Wednesday night tonight released a book Srikrishna Commission Report-Purna Satya, penned by leader of opposition in state assembly Narayan Rane and advocate Bal Krishna.
The book is a reply to "the injustice meted to Shiv Sena by the Commission", Thackeray said. "The report has done a lot of injustice to the Sena and the book has nothing to do with the cases pending before the court in this connection", Thackeray added.
He said that attempts were made to arrest him sometime back but proved futile and any attempt to imprison him would not succeed. He, however, clarified this is not a threat.
The Sena-BJP opposition had demanded discussion in the assembly over implementation of Commission report and its effect on the law and order situation.
Those present included BJP national vice president Gopinath Munde, leader of opposition in legislative council Nitin Gadkari, Sena leader Raj Thackeray and Sena-BJP MLAs.
Prior to the release of the book thackeray addressed a close door meeting of Sena-BJP MLAs.
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Claws out over US first cat
US President George W. Bush has set the cat among the pigeons in India.
Claws were out on Thursday in the financial capital Bombay after a member of the country's ruling Hindu nationalist party, surfing the Internet, stumbled upon the name of Bush's cat: "India".
"Mr. President, don't make mistake. Indians are 'lion', not the 'cat'," said a big banner held by 30 silent demonstrators outside the U.S. consulate.
"Our sentiments are hurt," said Vinod Tawde, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the man who says his discovery of the president's Web site let the name out of the bag.
"Despite knowing that it is a proper name of a country how could the United States president do this?"
The protesters demanded an apology from Bush and handed a memorandum to consulate officials.
Elizabeth Corwin, director of public affairs at the consulate, told Reuters the cat's name was actually "India Ink", because of its dark blueish-black colouring.
Besides the cat, the Bushes have two dogs, Spot and Barney, at the White House.
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Next Indo-Pak Summit to focus on nuclear security
Moscow,Friday, July 20, 2001: The issues of nuclear security and safety would be discussed at the next India-Pakistan Summit, Itar-Tass reported quoting Pakistan's Ambassador here.
Ban on nuclear tests followed by mutual inspections would be discussed at the next summit meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to diffuse the tension between the "two nuclear" powers, Ambassador Iftikhar Murshed said.
Murshed told Itar-Tass that although Islamabad possesses nuclear weapon technology, yet it was firm on its earlier stand of not deploying nuclear warheads on its missiles.
He also reiterated Pakistan's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.
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Japan lauds Vajpayee for Agra initiative
New Delhi,Friday, July 20, 2001: Japan on Friday lauded Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the Agra initiative and hoped the two countries would continue their dialogue to resolve outstanding differences.
Despite many difficulties, Vajpayee had continued the peace process, Japanese Ambassador to India Hiroshi Hirbayashi said at a press meet here organised by the Foreign Correspondents' Club.
"Although there was no agreement or written document, the two leaders had spent many hours of discussions on so many issues of mutual concern. They are on speaking terms. I hope they know each other much better now than before," he said.
Acceptance of invitation to visit Pakistan by the Prime Minister and the External ASffairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, were clear indicators of the desire by the two countries to continue the process of engagement, he said.
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CBI raids ex UTI-chief Subramanyam, others for conspiracy
Mumbai,Thursday, July 19, 2001: CBI today raided residences of former Unit Trust of India chairman P S Subramanyam, UTI executive directors M M Kapur and S K Basu, general manager Prema Madhu Prasad and stock broker Rakesh Mehta of Renaissance Securities Ltd for allegedly conspiring and misappropriating public funds worth Rs 328 million.
+The raids began around six this morning and we have acted on source-based information that these persons had conspired and made a private placement of 345000 shares aggregating Rs 328 million in Lucknow-based Ms Cyberspace Ltd belonging to Arvind M Johari,+ CBI sources told PTI here.
Economic Offences Wing of CBI, Mumbai, has registered cases against these persons along with Johari whose residence and office has already been searched by CBI, Lucknow, they said.
+Subramanyam and others conspired and privately placed shares at a price of Rs 9.30 per share which are now valued less than Re one+, they said.
Cyberspace had approached UTI with an offer for private placement of equity in June, 2000. However, at that time UTI's equity research cell and fund managers had opposed the offer for +various features noted by them while assessing and analysing the company+, sources informed.
Initially, Subramanayam, Kapur and Basu did not participate in the offer, CBI said, but later reversed their decision, which the agency suspects, could have happened after the entry of stock broker Mehta in the scene.
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RBI Governor suggests more public investment in agri sector
Bangalore,Friday, July 20, 2001: Expressing concern over the falling agriculture growth rate, RBI Governor Bimal Jalan on Wednesday suggested greater public investment in the sector and an intervention policy to help farmers in distress.
Inaugurating a national seminar on 'Value Addition in Indian Agriculutre', Jalan said growth of agriculture and agri-products is central to the country's economic development. +Linkage of agriculture with rest of the economy is vital+, he said, emphasising the need for value addition in the sector.
He said average agriculture growth in the 90s has dropped to 2.3 per cent from 4.1 per cent in the 80s. +What is more troubling is that the yield has fallen+.
Jalan underscored the need to increase public investment in agriculture, saying +perhaps because of the 'gap' in public investment the agri growth rate has come down+.
Stressing that the falling agriculture growth rate needs to be reversed, he said agri market -- domestic as well as international -- is +highly imperfect+ and there is +tremendous volatility+ in prices.
+It seems to me that a policy of intervention is necessary to remove roadblocks and safeguard the interest of farmers from undue volatility. Farmers need to be given a safety net+, Jalan observed.
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Easier procedure for non-immigrant U.S. visas
The U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai has announced a series of new visa processing procedures for facilitating those seeking non-immigrant or temporary visas to the U.S.
Under the new procedures, U.S. visa facilitation services (VFS) application centres would be opened in key business centres in western India. The first such centre will be inaugurated on July 24 at Tirupati Apartments, Bhulabhai Desai Road (opposite Crossroads). Initially, the centre will only accept `drop-box applications' and fees. Over the next six months, however, the centre will start collecting application fee from all non-immigrant visa applicants, courier pass back in association with Blue Dart Courier Services Limited.
It will also schedule appointments for visa interviews, a press release said. "With appointment scheduling, applicants will no longer have to wait in long queues outside the consulate and will be guaranteed admission on the date indicated,'' said the release.
The consulate has announced that from July 24, all drop box applicants will have to submit their passports and applications through the VFS centre only and not at the consulate. Also, under the new rules, all visa applications will require two or three days of processing time and will not be ready on the same day. Moreover, passports will be returned only by courier and will not be available at the consulate to be personally picked up.
The consulate has plans of starting a second VFS centre at Andheri (E) by September end. By October, it will also set up VFS centres at Pune, Ahmedabad and Surat for the convenience of visa seekers from outside Mumbai.
Details of the new procedure are available at the website: visa-services.com/usa.
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Mobile phones disallowed in legislature
In a historic decision, the Maharashtra legislative council has decided unanimously that rather than jamming transmission for mobile telephones, its members will observe self-discipline and ensure that no mobile instruments are brought inside the House.
Mobile telephones has been a cause of irritation for the past two years. Members were seen leaving the House speaking on the phone even when important business was being transacted. As directions by the presiding officers were of no use, the legislative assembly has activated a jammer mechanism which ensures that no mobile telephone can receive any communication insider the House and its lobby.
"I have decided to return the jammer mechanism," council chairman N.S. Pharande announced in the House on Thursday. "If any mobile telephone rings in the House, I shall decide what action to take," he warned the members.
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Raid on UTI pulls down sensex by over 30 pts
Mumbai,Friday, July 20, 2001: The benchmark fell by another 30.18 points to close at 3340.75 at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today on renewed selling following news of a raid by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on key personnel of Unit Trust of India (UTI).
As soon as the news filtered in, the market reacted downwards due to a fresh wave of selling after opening on a positive note following overnight firm Wall Street advices, dealers said.
CBI today raided office premises and residences of former UTI chairman, two executive directors, general manager and a broker Rakesh Mehta of Renaissance Securities.
+The nervousness at the bourse extended a five-day string of losses on the BSE after operators initially appeared to show a turnaround following the recovery of over 30 points at the Nasdaq on thursday,+ a dealers said, adding +But it was short-lived as sellers later dominated trade+.
The fall in the sensex could be gauged by a sharp to moderate decline in 23 out of 30 index-based scrips which included heavyweights like BHEL, ACC, GACL, L&T, MTNL, NIIT, Ranbaxy, RIL, Satyam Computer, SBI and Zee Telefilms.
Had there not been a smart rise in other heavily weighted counters like Infosys Tech, HLL and ITC, the index would have showed ever sharper losses, another dealer commented.
The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened slightly better at 3375.82 and moved further to a high of 3389.49. Later it dropped to a low of 3331.42 before closing at 3340.75, a loss of 0.90 per cent.
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CSE brokers to observe protest day on Monday
Kolkata,Friday, July 20, 2001: Brokers at the Calcutta Stock Exchange will not effect any log-in of deals on July 23 in protest against the ban of the badla system and introduction of rolling settlement by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) from July 2.
The Calcutta Stock Exchange, however, will be officialy open on the day.
According to the brokers' representatives, the protest is being undertaken at the call of the Securities Industry Association of India, the apex body of brokers associations in the country.
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Gopichand crashes out of Malaysian Open
New Delhi,Friday, July 20, 2001: All England Badminton Champion and sixth seed Pullela Gopichand crashed out of the Malaysian Open badminton championships.
Gopichand lost 6-8 3-7 5-7 to unseeded Indonesian Rony Augustinus in the pre-quarter finals in Kuala Lumpur last night according to information recieved here.
Against Augustinus, Gopichand played too aggressively and committed a number of errors. The Indonesian weathered the early attack from his Indian rival and then slowly took control to win in straight games.
Playing his first tournament in the new seven-point scoring system, the Indian champion failed to adjust to the new format against Augustinus, the Asian Championships silver medallist.
He had reached the last 16 with a laboured 7-2 0-7 8-7 7-3 victory over Sairul Amar Ayob of Malaysia in the second round earlier in the day.
Gopichand's exit ended the Indian campaign in this four-star tournament as Indian number two Abhinn Shyam Gupta, Men's doubles pair of Sanave Thomas/V Diju and the mixed pair Chetan Anand/PVV Lakshmi went out in the second round.
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Prasar Bharati stopped from showing graphics during cricket
New Delhi,Friday, July 20, 2001: In a significant judgement, the Delhi High Court today restrained Prasar Bharati (PB) from superimposing any logo, commercial or branded graphic during the telecast of cricket matches on Doordarshan.
The restraint order would apply to the matches for which marketing rights had been given by PB to Buddha Films Ltd, an associate of Zee Telefilms.
Restraining PB from displaying graphics "www.dd.now.com" and "www.dd.sports.com", which spoils the quality of the telecast, Justice J D Kapoor directed DD to telecast only such logos, commercials and branded graphics which are suppllied or provided by Buddha films under the contract.
Buddha Films, whch was given exclusive rights to market the air time of the telecast of cricket matches on DD under a Rs 450 crore contract, had challenged the superimposition of its logos by the PB saying it was violative of the deal.
The exclusive marketing right to sell the air time to prospective advertisers in India and abroad was given to Buddha Films following DD won contrct for telecast of all cricket matches in 1999 from Cricket Board (BCCI) till 2004.
Buddha Films's counsel Kapil Sibal and Pratibha Singh alleged DD during the India-South Africa and New Zealand series had imposed its logos in violation of the contract.
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New Zealand restricted to 211 for 8
Colombo,Friday, July 20, 2001: A disciplined Indian bowling helped restrict New Zealand to 211 for 8 off 50 overs despite a fighting century by opener Nathan Astle in a triseries one-day league match here today.
Electing to bat, New Zealand were off to a disastrous start when they lost opener Mathew Sinclair off the very first ball of the innings, trapped plumb in front by left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan.
But the Kiwis were quick to recover from the early shock as Astle, who went on to score 117 off 150 deliveries, teamed up with skipper Stephen Fleming to put up a 70-run partnership for the second wicket.
Fleming struck some exquisite cover drives and also a fine pull shot over square boundary off Zaheer in his knock of 25 before he edged a simple catch to Virendra Sehwag at slips off off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Both Astle and Fleming scored at a steady pace till the spinners were introduced in to the attack in the 13th over. Between the 12th and 18th overs, the run rate simply froze with just seven runs conceded by the Harbhajan and Sehwag tandem.
With the exception of Astle who played the sheet anchor role to perfection, hitting nine boundaries and a six and sticking on till the very end, the other batsmen struggled against a tight disciplined bowling.
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Sensex: 3340.75, -30.18
The sensex closed at 3340.75, down 30.18
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Forex
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1 U.S. $ = 47.09 INR
1 Japanese Yen = 0.38 INR
1 British Pound = 67.38 INR
1 Canadian $ = 30.52 INR
1 Singapore $ = 25.82 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 12.82 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 12.55 INR
1 Euro = 41.19 INR
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Metals
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Weather
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Temperature: 82 F / 28 C
HeatIndex: 87 F / 31 C
Humidity: 74%
Dewpoint: 73 F / 23 C
Wind
SW at 12 mph / 19.3 km/h
Pressure: 29.62 in / 1003 hPa
Conditions
Rain
Clouds
Scattered Clouds (SCT): 1500 ft / 459 m
Scattered Clouds (SCT): 2500 ft / 764 m
Overcast (OVC): 8000 ft / 2440 m
Sunrise : 06:11 AM (IST)
Sunset : 07:19 PM (IST)
Moon Rise : No Moon Rise
Moon Set : 07:03 PM (IST)
Tonight : Low: 75 F / 24 C Chance of a Thunderstorm
Saturday : High: 82 F / 28 C Chance of a Thunderstorm
Saturday Night : Low: 73 F / 23 C Chance of a Thunderstorm
Sunday : High: 82 F / 28 C Chance of a Thunderstorm
Sunday Night : Low: 73 F / 23 C Thunderstorm
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