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Showing posts from December, 2017

2G verdict: Blow to BJP, leg up for Congress, as court acquits all accused

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Special Judge O P Saini acquitted all the accused, including then Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimohi, in both the cases filed by the CBI and ED LATEST NEWS :  A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted all the accused in the alleged multi-thousand crore rupee 2G spectrum scandal. Special Judge O P Saini acquitted all the accused, including then Telecom Minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimohi, in both the cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED). The alleged scam on the issuance of licences and allocation of 2G spectrum by the Department of Telecom occurred during the Congress-led UPA government's first tenure in 2008 but was widely reported in 2010 following a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Congress leaders said that the verdict vindicated then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA's stand that there was no scam in the allocation of spectrum and licences to telecom companies. ...

RCom surges 45% after NCLT adjourns hearing of insolvency petition

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Other ADAG stocks including Reliance Capital (up 6%), Reliance Power (up 6%) and Reliance Infrastructure (up 5%) also gained on the news LATEST NEWS :  Reliance Communications (RCom) rose as much as 45% in intra-day trade today after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) adjourned the hearing of insolvency petitions filed against Reliance Communicationsto early next month after a group of the telecom operator's lenders sought time to consider converting the company's loans into equity. The adjourned date comes as a breather for RCom as if the tribunal had accepted the insolvency petitions before December 28, by when the lenders need to decide on converting their RCom debt into equity, the process would have ended. RCom, which has shut its wireless business, started its strategic debt restructuring on June 2. Other ADAG stocks including Reliance Capital (up 6%), Reliance Power (up 6%) and Reliance Infrastructure (up 5%) also gained on the news. Earlier ...

Driverless metro crash a human error, experts say tech is a tested science

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According to DMRC, the crash happened because of human error as a trial train moved from the workshop without testing the brake system that had been disabled LATEST NEWS : With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to inaugurate Delhi Metro's magenta line, Tuesday’s incident of a train crashing into a wall at Kalindi Kunj metro station has now raised concerns about the safety of driverless trains and its technology. The line will be the first one to have driverless metro in India. Experts, however, believe that the technology implemented by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is one of the best in the world and the incident was not a technical but a human error. The route will be implementing Computer Based Train Control (CBTC) based signalling system, which compared to the conventional signalling has the ability to determine the location of a train independent of track circuits. “This is indeed a reliable and proven technology and we are doing it in many countries ...

4 more state elections in 2018: How it willl change the political equations

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Another set of state elections is due in 2018 LATEST NEWS : Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are over. Another set of state elections is due in 2018. Business Standard reporters assess the next round of the electoral challenge and how it could change India’s political equations. Which better caste combination? graph Scheduled for April, the Karnataka election campaign is already underway. A Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah, former leader from the Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (S), is fighting for another term. The main challenge is led by B S Yeddyurappa, a former chief minister, once imprisoned briefly on a graft charge. Yeddyurappa has already been named as chief minister (CM) if his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should come to power. Siddaramaiah’s pluses? An excellent orator, from the Kuruba (shepherd) community which is socially and economically backward. This gives him the sort of appeal enjoyed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The downsid...

SC extends all deadlines of Aadhaar linkages to March 31, 2018

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The next hearing would take place on January 17, 2018. LATEST NEWS :  The Supreme Court on Friday extended till March 31 next year the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with various services and welfare schemes. A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in an interim order, also modified its earlier order with regard to linking of Aadhaar with mobile services and said the deadline of February 6 next year for this purpose also stood extended till March 31. The bench, which also comprised Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, said that for opening new bank accounts, an applicant will not be required to provide Aadhaar number to the bank. However, the applicant will have to show the proof to the bank that he/she has applied for the Aadhaar number, Justice Chandrachud, who wrote the unanimous interim order, said. The apex court said the Constitution Bench would commence final hearing from J...

Hotels can charge you more than MRP for bottled water: What you should know

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The court rejected the government's argument that overcharging for pre-packed or packaged products was an offence under the Legal Metrology Act LATEST NEWS :  Can a hotel or a restaurant charge for a bottle of drinking water more than the maximum retail price marked on the container? The answer is yes. In a major blow to consumers, the Supreme Court on Tuesday held that hotels and restaurants are not bound by the maximum retail price (MRP) when they sell bottled mineral water and packaged food items. The court rejected the government’s argument that overcharging for pre-packed or packaged products was an offence under the Legal Metrology Act, which attracts a fine of Rs 25,000 or a jail term, according to ET. A bench headed by Justice Rohinton Nariman said the provisions of the law will not apply to hotels and restaurants, and these establishments cannot be prosecuted for selling such items above the MRP. “It is not a case of simple sale. Nobody goes to a ho...

Do you own a car? Be ready to start paying more for your cooking gas

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The government had last year excluded those with an annual income of more than Rs 10 lakh from LPG subsidy LATEST NEWS :  If you own a car, you might soon have to forgo the subsidy on your LPG cylinders . By eliminating 36 million fake connections through Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL), the government has saved nearly Rs 30,000 crore of cooking gas subsidy. Now, it is planning to strike car owners off the subsidy list. Sources in the government said the idea was in its initial stage. The government had collected registration details of cars from regional transport offices (RTO) in a few districts. If it worked out, there could be huge savings on subsidy. A lot of people who have two or three cars were also taking subsidy at present. The government had last year excluded those with an annual income of more than Rs 10 lakh from LPG subsidy. For deciding on the income cap, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had taken details of LPG customers fr...

Gujarat Assembly elections 2017: BJP's Muslim outreach worries Congress

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Congress workers say top leaders unwilling to campaign in Muslim areas; BJP encourages Muslims to attend its public meetings LATEST NEWS : As the Congress embraces “soft” Hindutva in Gujarat , Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reached out to the Muslim community of the state. In Bharuch, Modi accused the Congress of stoking a Hindu-Muslim divide. He said Bharuch and Kutch, two districts with significant Muslim populations, are economically the fastest growing districts of Gujarat. The PM went on to say how during the Congress rule, celebrating festivals comes with the apprehension of violence. The PM’s comments come on the heels of a finely-tuned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) outreach campaign among the minority as well as the majority communities in Gujarat, which has the Congress worried. According to Congress workers as well as activists, the feedback is increasingly that several in the Muslim community, even if they do not vote for the BJP, might not turn up...

Researchers identify new drug that can stop migraine before it starts

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The drug comes as a big relief to more than 127 million people suffering from chronic migraine LATEST NEWS :  In a good news for people who suffer from chronic migraines , researchers have identified a medication that can prevent the severe headaches before they start. An antibody therapy against a key inflammatory molecule involved in migraines reduces the number of headaches that chronic migraine patients experience per month in a phase III trial. "This therapeutic approach offers new hope for people whose migraines cannot be treated with existing medicine," said Stephen D Silberstein, from the Thomas Jefferson University in the US. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 127 and 300 million people around the world experience chronic migraine, defined as 15 or more headaches per month for at least three months. The disease can be debilitating and although a number of interventions exist, many only work for a certain time before the...

Eating cheese every day may reduce risk of heart attacks, says study

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Cheese, according to a previous study, also could hold the keys to a longer life LATEST NEWS :  Cheese Lovers, Rejoice! A new research shows that eating a daily portion of cheese could reduce the risk of fatal heart attacks and stroke. This comes just months after a previous study found that cheese could hold the keys to a longer life. According to the research, a daily portion of the size of a small matchbox reduces the chances of heart attack by 14 percent. All cheese is rich in vitamins, minerals and proteins which help protect against cardiovascular disease. Cheese also contains high levels of calcium, which means that although it is high in fat, less of that fat is absorbed by the body. Participants eating around one-and-a-half ounces (40g) a day saw the greatest reduction in risk to their health. The scientists said the research also showed cheese boosted levels of so-called "good" cholesterol while reducing levels of "bad" choleste...

UP civic polls: Congress faces drubbing in Amethi

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BJP candidates are leading in both Amethi town and Jais seats LATEST NEWS :  In bad news for the Congress , its candidates in Amethi, the parliamentary constituency of party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, were trailing in all the Nagar Panchayat seats during vote count for the civic polls on Friday. While the party had not fielded any candidate from Amethi town, its candidates from Jais was at a poor fourth after several rounds of counting. In Musafirkhana, an independent Brajesh Agrahari was leading, while in Gauriganj Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Rajpati Devi was ahead of her rivals. In Jais, BJP candidate Mahesh Sonkar was leading. BJP candidates are leading in both Amethi town and Jais seats. BJP's Chandrama Devi has secured 991 votes in Amethi Nagar Panchayat chairpersons seat, while at second spot is Lais Hawari (Independent) with 511 votes, SP's Chunna Singh is at third position with 336 votes. A BJP leader said they plan to use the electora...

Infosys buyback: A chance for small shareholders to cash out

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The buyback price offered by the company is Rs 1,150 LATEST NEWS :  The Rs 13,000-crore share buyback programme of Infosys commenced on Thursday. Eligible shareholders can tender their shares till December 14, the last day of the buyback. The buyback price offered by the company is Rs 1,150. Therefore, investors can pocket 18 per cent more upside (at current market rate) by tendering their shares. The entitlement ratio for retail shareholders works out to 28 per cent. In other words, 28 shares of those holding 100 shares will get accepted in the buyback. However, an investor can even tender 100 per cent of their shares. If eligible shareholders abstain from participation, the entitlement ratio goes up. “A study of the past few tender offers indicate that generally not all the small shareholders participate in the offer and the acceptance ratio is higher than the entitlement ratio,” says HDFC Securities. The retail-focused brokerage cites the example of the...

How Bhansali's 'Padmavati' made way for Amitabh Bachchan's 'Deewar

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Originally scheduled to be released today, the film still remains embroiled in controversy. So we watched Deewar instead LATEST NEWS : On Thursday, a parliamentary panel summoned Padmavati director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Central Board of Film Certification chief Prasoon Joshi to discuss the ongoing controversy over the film. The members of Parliament — with seemingly little to do after the postponement of the winter session — grilled the hapless director over whether he had distorted history and if he had fuelled the controversies to promote his film. Already, chief ministers of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar have declared that they will not allow it to be released in their respective states, earning a rap on their wrists from the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Originally scheduled to be released today (Friday), the future of the film now hangs in uncertainty. Last week, inspired by the claims of some Rajput groups that the 13th-century queen, Padmini, was like t...

Nissan sues India over outstanding dues; seeks over $770 mn

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According to the legal notice, Nissan said repeated requests to state officials for the payment, due in 2015, were overlooked LATEST NEWS :  Japanese automaker Nissan Motor has begun international arbitration against India to seek more than $770 million in a dispute over unpaid state incentives, according to a person familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by Reuters. In a legal notice sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, Nissan sought payment of incentives due from the Tamil Nadu government as part of a 2008 agreement to set up a car manufacturing plant in the southern state. According to the notice, Nissan said repeated requests to state officials for the payment, due in 2015, were overlooked and even a plea by the company's chairman, Carlos Ghosn, to Modi in March of last year seeking federal assistance did not yield any results. The notice, sent by Nissan's lawyers in July 2016, was followed by more than a dozen meetings between fed...