Posts Tagged ‘October’
Written by Rahul on 04 September 2009
Washington, September 4 (ANI): Actress Hilary Swank has urged people to support a new scheme to rehouse unwanted pets.
The ‘Million Dollar Baby’ star became an ambassador for the Home 4 the IAMS Holidays Pet Adoption Campaign, which helps animals in shelters find new owners.
“I’m so proud to be working to help raise awareness about the importance of pet adoption,” Contactmusic quoted her as saying.
“Last year, the program’s adoption goal was to get one million pets adopted in just three months, but this year the goal is even bigger.
“We’re on a mission to find loving homes for 1.5 million orphaned pets between October 1st and January 4th,” she added.
The animal loving Oscar-winner has previously adopted many pets, most recent being her two dogs, Karoo and Rumi. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 22 August 2009
New Delhi, Aug 22 (ANI): A Delhi court on Friday sentenced two former members of the President’s Bodyguard to life imprisonment in connection with the 2003 Budha Jayanti Park rape case.
The court also sentenced two other convicts to ten years each in prison.
On August 17, Additional Sessions Judge S.K. Sarvaria held Harpreet Singh, Satyender Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Manish Kumar of the elite President’s Bodyguard guilty of gang rape, kidnapping and robbery under the various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Of four convicts, Satender and Harpeet who were convicted of gang rape, abduction and robbery will get life imprisonment, while Kuldeep and Manish, who were convicted for abduction, robbery and common intention, have been sentenced for ten years of imprisonment.
The court acquitted Kuldeep and Manish, of the charges of gang rape.
The victim, a 17-year-old student of the Delhi University, had gone with her friend to the park – which is located near Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 6, 2003.
The prosecution alleged that Harpreet and Satender raped her while the other two kept guard.
The incident shocked the national capital six years ago.(ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 22 August 2009
Male’ (Maldives), Aug 22 (ANI): Defence Minister A K Antony has said India and Maldives are a ’shining model of how two countries of differing sizes can cooperate with each other as equals’.
Speaking at the concluding session of the India-Maldives Friendship Week here last night, he said: “India would like to share views on issues like climate change, economic development as well as problem areas such as drug trafficking, extremism and the threat of terrorism that is afflicting the region as well as the larger world.”
“We would be happy to work with Maldives in these areas to evolve collaborative and cooperative approaches,” he added.
Antony said: “Both countries have been extremely conscious of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and, at the same time, realize that their destinies are intertwined. Both countries have always emphasized the mutuality of interest and support each other in numerous ways- at the bilateral, regional and International level.”
“India is proud of this partnership and engagement and deeply value the friendship of the people of Maldives. In this quest, the people of Maldives can always count on India as a sincere and well-meaning friend,” he added.
Referring to the democratic transformation that has taken place in Maldives in recent years, he said India would be happy to assist Maldives in any way that is possible in strengthening democracy and democratic institutions that are being built in Maldives.
The event was attended by the top leadership of Maldives including President Maohammed Nasheed.
Meanwhile, Nasheed has agreed to a request from Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to be the chief guest at the Technology Development and Transfer Meeting on Climate Change to be held in New Delhi on October 22.
The request of the Prime Minister was conveyed by Antony to Nasheed in Male’ on Thursday. (ANI)
Tags: ANI, Antony, Aug, change, chief guest, Climate, climate change, Cooperative Approaches, DEFENCE, Defence Minister, democracy, democratic institutions, Democratic Transformation, Destinies, development, Dr. Manmohan Singh, drug, drug trafficking, engagement, event, extremism, friend, friendship, Friendship Week, guest, india, integrity, interest, international, leadership, level, Maldives, male, Manmohan, Manmohan Singh, Maohammed, Minister A. K. Antony, model, mutuality, Nasheed, New Delhi, Night, October, Partnership, place, president, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan, problem, problem areas, quest, region, request, session, Singh, sovereignty, Technology, Technology Development And Transfer, territorial, territorial integrity, terrorism, threat, Thursday, time, Trafficking, transfer, transformation, way, Ways, week, Well Meaning, world
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Written by Rahul on 17 August 2009
New York, Aug.17 (ANI): Bollywood actresses Shilpa Shetty wowed fans of Indian cinema at was touted as one of the largest India Day Parade’s and Festivals on Sunday here.
Shetty performed the role of Grand Marshal of the parade.
It was an event packed with jaw dropping performances, incredible food, and all that is famous about Indian culture.
The parade, which has showcased India’s culture on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue since 1981, saw the participation of industrialist Vijay Mallya as the chief guest.
The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), an umbrella group of cultural, educational and community organisations in the New York tri-state region, organized the parade,
Its president Yash Paul Soi had earlier flagged off the event at the Indian consulate in New York on June 10.
The parade began on 41st Street, winded down Madison Avenue and culminated in a variety show on 23rd Street, drawing an estimated 50,000 people.
Last year, Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra was the grand marshal at the event, which celebrated India’s 61st anniversary of independence.
In past, actors and actresses Govinda, Madhuri Dixit, Dev Anand, astronaut Sunita Williams and music conductor Zubin Mehta have marched with the crowd.
This year’s guest list included New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, New Jersey governor John Corzine, New York Governor David Paterson, and President Bharrat Jagdeo of the Republic of Guyana.
The organisers also paid homage to the martyrs of the first struggle for the independence of India in 1857.
The FIA has already announced plans to campaign for two statutes of Mahatma Gandhi-one on Ellis Island and the second inside the campus of the United Nations.
The process for fund raising for these two projects has already begun. The FIA has also said that it campaign to get Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary (October 2) celebrated in public schools in the New York region.
he event, which is the 29th annual India Day Parade, also saw the particiupation of beautiful newcomer actress Reshma Shetty from USA’s Network new original series “Royal Pains” as well as the dance group Broad Street Baadshahz. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 10 August 2009
London, August 10 (ANI): Unseen pictures of acting legend Paul Newman are set to form a part of a new photographic exhibition in London, based on the life and times of the star.
The display will cover Newman’s career as an actor, director, philanthropist and professional racer from the lense of Leo Fuchs, the late Hollywood producer-turned-photographer, reports The Telegraph.
The exhibition runs from September 3 to October 23 at the Proud gallery in Camden, north-west London.
The photographer’s son was said to have stumbled upon the pictures hidden in a locked vault. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 10 April 2009
A family is celebrating a £20,000 win on this year’s Grand National after getting a tip from beyond the grave. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
Fan’s Racing Tip A Dead Cert For Family
Racing fan Danny Shea died from kidney cancer five months ago, but he left his family strict instructions on how to spend the £250 he left them.
As instructed, the Shea family, from Eston in Middlesborough, placed the money on outsider Mon Mome who defied the odds and won the Aintree race at 100-1.
Mr Shea’s wife Pat said she ‘couldn’t believe’ her husband had finally picked a winner.
“He was generally pretty useless at picking winners,” she said.
“He didn’t have much of a clue, though he liked a bet. The best we hoped for was a place.
“I have to say I thought ‘what a waste of money’. But it’s what Danny wanted.”
Mr Shea, who was 66, had worked as an off-shore rigger before being diagnosed with terminal cancer in October 2007.
He knew he would not live to see this year’s National but was convinced that Mon Mome had the talent to defy the odds.
Pat’s brother Pete laid a complicated combination of spread bets with Mr Shea allocating £20 for each punter except Pat who had £60.
Mr Shea’s betting winners were wife Pat, son Martin, daughter Lesley, sisters Pat and Gloria, brother-in-law Pete, and friends Eddie, Freddie, Tommy, Rod and Kelly.
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Written by Rahul on 09 April 2009
Singapore – Child-care centres and kindergartens in Singapore are stepping up cleaning of classrooms as the number of children coming down with hand, foot and mouth disease nears the official “epidemic level,” a newspaper reported Thursday.
Last week, 653 people were affected by the disease, 12 short of the Health Ministry’s official epidemic level, the Straits Times said.
The number of cases was expected to rise from April to May, one of two traditional peak infection times for the disease with the other being August and October.
There were 4,926 hand, foot and mouth disease cases in the first 13 weeks of this year, compared with 4,423 for the same period last year when a 3-year-old boy died from an inflammation of the brain lining caused by the disease.
Seven Singapore children died from it during an outbreak from 2000 to 2001. Hand, foot and mouth disease usually hits children under 10.
The symptoms are usually mild and include ulcers and blisters in the mouth, rashes on the hands and feet, and fever.
The illness usually passes within a week without treatment, but a small minority of cases become life-threatening, mainly because of neurological complications – such as encephalitis, meningitis and paralysis – as well as lung haemorrhages.
The virus is highly infectious and transmitted through saliva, blister fluid and faeces. There is no vaccine.
For now, no child-care centres have been ordered to close because the cases have been spread out rather than clustered in any particular area. Authorities have closed them in the past several years during the worst outbreaks. (dpa)
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
Prague – The fate of Czech Republic’s interim government, due to take the helm of the European Union and bring the country to October early elections, appeared uncertain Tuesday after two small parties refused to participate.
Two junior partners in Mirek Topolanek’s outgoing ruling coalition, the Christian Democrats and the Greens, balked late Monday at a deal their leaders forged with the two biggest parties and bitter rivals, Topolanek’s Civic Democrats and the opposition Social Democrats led by Jiri Paroubek.
The leaders of four of the five parties in parliament’s lower house agreed Sunday to form a caretaker technocrat cabinet chaired by statistician Jan Fischer that would govern until the snap polls to be held before October 15.
While the Christian Democrats said they still may back the new government if they like its programme, the Greens insist on new talks and want Topolanek’s cabinet to complete the country’s EU term.
The Czech Republic holds the six-month rotating EU presidency until June 30.
Analysts said that the small parties probably balked at the deal in a bid to improve their poor standing prior to the early polls.
The large rival parties continue to back the deal. It is unclear what the they would do if it falls through.
They could still agree on an interim technocrat cabinet, a grand coalition or a minority opposition-backed cabinet as they jointly control a safe majority of 149 seats in the lower house.
The future shape of the Czech EU presidency is also at stake. The interim cabinet would take over from Topolanek when appointed by President Vaclav Klaus, having 30 days to win a confidence vote in parliament.
Under the Sunday deal, the four party leaders wanted Klaus to appoint Fischer’s caretaker cabinet on May 9, which could provide outspoken EU critic Klaus with greater sway over the presidency’s last two months.
It remains unclear whether Klaus or Fischer would replace Topolanek in the post of the president of the EU Council, who would chair a regular top-level EU summit in Brussels planned June 18-19.
Klaus said in a radio interview on Monday that he is ready to play a greater role in the presidency if needed.
The Greens, who loathe Klaus over his doubts on whether global warming was man-made, said in their statement that they also removed support for the deal in an effort to foil chances of “the europhobic president” to preside over the 27-member bloc.
But their leader, outgoing Vice-Premier Martin Bursik, also added that they would return their backing if the Christian Democrats do, the Czech news agency CTK reported him as saying.
Topolanek’s three-party center-right cabinet has ruled as a caretaker since being forced to step down on April 26, following a lost vote of no-confidence in the lower house two days earlier, a result of domestic wrangling.
The cabinet’s term should have lasted until regular general elections in mid-2010. (dpa)
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
Nairobi – Hundreds of thousands of civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo are still displaced and suffering abuse and hunger as a result of an operation targeting Hutu militia, the British arm of Oxfam said Tuesday.
Rwandan and Congolese troops joined forces in January to target the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – an armed group created by Hutu militia who took part in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.
The subsequent fighting saw around 250,000 displaced in the east of the country – as many as during heavy fighting between government troops and Tutsi rebels late last year.
Oxfam said there had been reports of reprisal attacks on civilians, insecurity and widespread looting.
“Homes and shops are being looted and ransacked, women and girls are being raped, and civilians are being forced to flee, many for the third or fourth time,” Marcel Stoessel, head of Oxfam in DR Congo said.
“The war is far from over for ordinary Congolese,” he added. “These terrible human tragedies are happening in remote areas far away from television cameras, but this does not make the suffering less real for those concerned.”
Oxfam is to step up its emergency response to reach an extra 150,000 people displaced in the provinces of North and South Kivu.
The operation began after DR Congo and Rwanda reached an agreement to allow Rwandan troops across the border to tackle the FDLR – something Rwanda has been keen to do for a long time.
Rwanda’s first act in crossing the border was to arrest rebel Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda, a long-term ally of the Kigali government.
Nkunda’s National Congress for the Defence of the People then promised to integrate into the Congolese army, bringing an end to the conflict that flared up in October.
However, while many of the civilians who fled last year’s fighting have now returned home, the fight against the FDLR – taking part in different areas of DR Congo – has forced many others to flee.
The United Nations has faced continuous criticism of its role in DR Congo – the 17,000-strong force was unable to protect civilians during the fighting last year – and Oxfam said that once again a lack of resources was hampering efforts to protect the general populace.
“More than four months after the UN Security Council approved 3,000 additional peacekeepers, not one extra soldier has arrived,” said Nicole Widdersheim, the Head of Oxfam International’s New York office.
“Until the reinforcements come, MONUC (the UN peacekeeping force in DR Congo) needs to ensure that the troops on the ground are doing all in their power to protect people.”(dpa)
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
Paris –
New Delhi – A Sikh journalist hurled a shoe at India’s security minister during a press conference on Tuesday after getting angry at a reply to a question about the
1984 riots in which scores of Sikhs were killed.
There was high drama at the conference after the shoe missed Palaniappan Chidambaram, who deftly leaned back to avoid being hit.
“Please take him away,” a smiling Chidambaram told security guards. “It doesn’t matter.”
The journalist, identified as Jarnail Singh, working with Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, was taken to a local police station.
Singh had got into a minor argument with Chidambaram on the circumstances that led to former minister Jagdish Tytler being exonerated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the riots.
There is anger in the Sikh community which believes that the Congress Party-led coalition government pressured the bureau to give Tytler a clean chit.
More than 3,000 Sikhs were killed by rioting mobs of Congress Party sympathizers after then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot by her Sikh bodyguards on October
31, 1984.
Tuesday’s The incident was reminiscent of shoe attacks that have been used as a symbol of protest against leaders including former US President George W Bush and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
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Written by Rahul on 07 April 2009
Washington/Zurich – Four key central banks agreed on Monday to provide foreign currency to the Federal Reserve should it need to pump liquidity into financial institutions, many of which are in danger of collapse due to a lack of capital.
Should the need arise, the Fed would be able to access up to 285 billion dollars in euro, yen, sterling and Swiss francs through the new swap agreements, which come on top of previous commitments with the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank.
“Central banks continue to work together and are taking steps as appropriate to foster stability in global financial markets,” read a joint statement, noting that each central bank had a mirror agreement allowing it to draw US dollars.
The US central bank has extended swap lines with a total of 14 central banks since the financial crisis exploded on the scene with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September.
The deals, in effect until October 30, provide the Fed with swap lines of 30 billion pounds (44 billion dollars), 80 billion euros (107 billion dollars), 10 trillion yen (99 billion dollars), and 40 billion Swiss francs (35 billion dollars).
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Written by Rahul on 07 April 2009
Zurich – Four key central banks have agreed to provide foreign currency to the Federal Reserve so that it can pump liquidity into financial institutions in need of capital, the Swiss National Bank said Monday.
Should the need arise, the Fed would be able to access euro, yen, sterling and Swiss francs through the new swap agreements, which come on top of previous commitments, with the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank.
These deals, in effect until October, would give swap lines of up to 30 billion pounds, 80 billion euros, 10 trillion yen , and 40 billion Swiss Francs.
“Central banks continue to work together and are taking steps as appropriate to foster stability in global financial markets,” the Swiss bank said in a statement, noting it had a mirror agreement allowing it to draw US dollars
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Written by Rahul on 05 April 2009
NEW DELHI: The recession’s cascading effect may be spelling doom for others, but it’s actually bringing some much-needed cheer to the armed forces.
The economic downturn has led to a huge dip in the number of officers willing to shed their uniforms for the corporate world’s greener pastures.
The Army, Navy and IAF are all gleefully recording that the earlier exodus of officers is turning to a trickle now. Moreover, officers who have already applied for premature retirement (PMR) are rushing to withdraw their applications.
This is indeed good news for the armed forces, which have been failing to attract enough bright youngsters to their officer cadre and losing the ones already there for several years now.
“Around 100 officers have withdrawn their PMR applications since October. In January-February alone, the tally was 50,” said a senior Army officer. The story is similar in the much-smaller Navy and IAF.
Said an IAF officer, “There is a marked change now. The PMR applications have stopped piling up. Of those who had applied, over two-third want to withdraw them. Moreover, many whose PMR was approved have asked for their release to be deferred.”
Some officers who have withdrawn their PMR applications told TOI that the private sector “no longer looked as rosy as before”. “Leaving a secure job, even if it is not well-paid and causes disruption in family life due to frequent transfers, for an uncertain future seems foolish at present,” said a Colonel.
With the internal haemorrhaging stemming to some extent now, the armed forces are also now hopeful of getting more youngsters with the requisite OLQs (officer-like qualities).
Tags: Armed, armed forces, Army, army navy, army officer, cadre, change, cheer, Colonel, Colonel.
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Written by Rahul on 05 April 2009
Thai and Cambodian soldiers exchanged rocket and small arms fire on a disputed stretch of their border on Friday, the latest flare-up in a long-running feud over a 900-year-old Hindu temple.
Both sides accused each other of firing first in a clash lasting nearly an hour at Eagle Field, near the Preah Vihear temple, which was at the centre of a military stand-off between the Southeast Asian neighbours last year.
There were no reports of wounded or dead. Thai and Cambodian military commanders on the border agreed to meet at midday to avoid further violence.
General Srey Doek, Cambodia’s commander at the temple, said a Thai patrol crossed into Cambodian territory and opened fire on his men.
“The Thais fired rockets and rifles at us, and we responded in the same way,” he told Reuters. Both sides agreed a ceasefire after their border commanders spoke by radio.
In Bangkok, Thai officials denied their troops had trod on Cambodian soil and accused the other side of shooting first.
“This was just a misunderstanding,” Thai army chief Anupong Paochinda said.
Preah Vihear, or Khao Phra Viharn as it is known in Thailand, sits on an escarpment that forms the natural border between the two countries and has been a source of tension for generations.
The International Court of Justice awarded it to Cambodia in 1962, but the ruling did not determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) of scrub next to the ruins, leaving considerable scope for disagreement.
The latest fighting erupted a day after a Thai soldier was badly wounded when he stepped on a landmine near the temple, where both sides have stationed troops since the armed clashes last year.
TENSIONS
Tensions rose last month when 100 Thai troops crossed into a disputed area near the temple and were stopped by Cambodian soldiers, but no fighting occurred.
The border had been quiet for months while the Southeast Asian neighbours sought to jointly demarcate the jungle-clad area where one Thai and three Cambodian soldiers died in last October’s exchange of rifle and rocket fire.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander, warned this week that his soldiers would fight if Thai troops crossed the disputed border again.
The site is 600 km (370 miles) east of Bangkok and only a decade ago was controlled by remnants of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge guerrilla army.
Few foreign visitors go there, although both countries have said they would like to develop the area as a tourist destination.
The Cambodia-Thailand Joint Border Committee will meet again on Sunday for three days of talks in the Cambodian resort town of Siem Reap to try and find a solution to the row.
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Written by Rahul on 05 April 2009
Three men have been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering South African reggae star Lucky Dube in 2007, SAPA news agency reported on Thursday.
Dube, 43, was killed in a botched carjacking in October 2007. Dube recorded more than 20 albums and had shared a stage with Sinead O’Connor, Peter Gabriel and Sting.
The High Court in Johannesburg also sentenced Sifiso Mhlanga, Julius Gxowa, and Mbuti Mabe to 15 years each for their attempted robbery of Dube’s car, SAPA said. They were found guilty earlier this week.
The singer won over 20 awards locally and internationally. His first album, released in 1984 with the title “Rastas Never Die”, was banned by South Africa’s apartheid government.
South Africa has one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime, with frequent murders, rapes and carjackings.
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Written by Rahul on 03 April 2009
Frankfurt, April 2 (DPA) Falling inflation and a deepening recession paved the way for the European Central Bank (ECB) to deliver another rate cut Thursday, trimming borrowing costs to an historic low of 1.25 percent.
The 25-basis-points reduction, less than the half-percentage-point analysts had expected, brought the total rate cuts made by the ECB in the 16-member eurozone since October to 300 basis points, reflecting its effort to spur economic growth.
The cut – the ECB’s sixth since October – coincided with Thursday’s Group of 20 summit of leading economic powers in London, which is aimed at bolstering global economic confidence and revamping world financial rules.
Economists, however, are divided on whether borrowing costs at 1.25 percent will bring the ECB’s current rate-cutting cycle to an end or if the bank will continue easing monetary policy.
The scale of the economic downturn has meant central banks around the world believe they can no longer rely solely on interest rates and have been forced to revert to so-called unconventional measures to combat the global recession.
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Written by Rahul on 03 April 2009
India’s annual inflation rate hovered above zero in mid-March and analysts said they expect it to turn negative in the next couple of weeks, providing enough room to the central bank to further ease monetary policy.
The wholesale price index, India’s most widely watched inflation measure, rose 0.31 percent in the 12 months to March. 21, basically steady with the previous week’s 0.27 percent and slightly above a forecast of 0.18 percent in a Reuters poll.
“Inflation will go into the negative territory in mid-April and we are looking at a 5-6 month period of negative inflation,” said Abheek Barua, chief economist at HDFC Bank.
“It will bottom out in July and turn positive in November or December. This gives RBI more room to ease up monetary policy.”
The bond market and rupee showed little reaction to the data, while an already strong stock market extended gains of 4 percent to more than 5 percent.
Atsi Sheth, chief economist at Reliance Equities, said the the slowing in the rapid decline in the inflation rate was good news for growth, showing that while demand was declining it was not plummeting.
ROOM FOR CUTS?
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said plenty of liquidity and low inflation offered room for further interest rate cuts.
Growth in Asia’s third-largest economy is expected to have slowed to about 7 percent in 2008-09 from rates of 9 percent or more in the three previous years, as the global slowdown hit.
The central bank has cut its main short-term lending rate by 400 basis points in five moves since October, and the central bank has called on banks to pass the lower rates on to customers.
Manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in March and exports fell sharply in February, and Reserve Bank of India governor Duvvuri Subbarao last week said that stemming the slowdown was the current policy challenge.
Subbarao also said there was no concern about India falling into a deflationary cycle. The consumer price index, which is released monthly, rose an annual 9.63 percent in February.
And with food prices high and liquidity in money markets improving, not all economists saw a rate cut as imminent.
“The central bank is not likely to touch key rates in the next policy (review) as liquidity has improved significantly and also banks’ lending rates to consumers and corporates have softened to the extent possible,” said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at Bank of Baroda in Mumbai.
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Written by Rahul on 03 April 2009
Police clashed with demonstrators gathered around the Bank of England in the heart of London’s financial centre on Wednesday during a day of protest against the G20 summit.
Riot police staged baton charges to try to disperse several hundred people protesting against a financial system they said had robbed the poor to benefit the rich.
Demonstrators earlier attacked a nearby branch of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), shattering three windows.
Rescued by the government in October, RBS and former boss Fred Goodwin, who controversially refused to give up a pension of 700,000 ($1 million), became lightning rods for public anger in Britain over banker excess blamed for the financial crisis.
During the protests one man died after he collapsed and stopped breathing. Police said they tried to resuscitate him but that they came under a hail of bottles. The man was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A police source said it was likely the man died from a medical condition but that a post-mortem was needed.
The protests in London’s City financial area coincided with a G20 meeting of the world’s leading and emerging economies.
Protesters hurled paint bombs and bottles, chanting: “Our streets! Our banks!”
RBS said in a statement it was “aware of the violence” outside its branch and “had already taken the precautionary step” of closing central City branches.
As dusk fell, police charged a hard core of anti-capitalist demonstrators in an attempt to disperse them before nightfall. Bottles flew through the air towards police lines and police on horseback stood by ready to intervene.
Some protesters set fire to an effigy of a banker hanging from a lamp post.
Police brought out dogs as they tried to channel the few hundred remaining protesters through the narrow streets surrounding the classical, stone-clad Bank of England.
Police said 63 protesters had been arrested by late evening and at least one officer was taken to hospital for treatment, although he was not believed to be seriously hurt.
Some 4,000 protesters had thronged outside the central bank. A Gucci store nearby was closed and had emptied its windows.
Demonstrations were planned for Thursday at the venue in east London where world leaders will discuss plans to fight the financial crisis, police said.
HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE
During Wednesday’s protests, demonstrators marched behind models of the “four horsemen of the apocalypse” representing financial crimes, war, climate change and homelessness.
Some threw eggs at police and chanted, “Build a bonfire, put the bankers on the top”. Others shouted “Jump” and “Shame on you” at financial sector workers watching the march from office block windows.
“I am angry at the hubris of the government, the hubris of the bankers,” said Jean Noble, a 60-year-old from Blackburn in northern England.
“I am here on behalf of the poor, those who are not going to now get their pension or who have lost their houses while these fat cats keep their bonuses, hide their money in tax havens and go and live where nobody can touch them.”
A smaller demonstration against Britain’s military role in Iraq and Afghanistan attracted several hundred people in Trafalgar Square, not far from parliament.
The protests, which brought together anti-capitalists, environmentalists, anti-war campaigners and others, were meant to mark what demonstrators called “Financial Fools’ Day” — a reference to April Fool’s Day which falls on April 1.
Police stopped a military-style armoured vehicle with the word “RIOT” printed on the front and a police spokesman said its 11 occupants were arrested for having fake police uniforms.
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Written by Rahul on 03 April 2009
U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday as factory and home sales data raised hopes the economic downturn is moderating, sparking a broad advance.
Big manufacturers and their suppliers, such as Caterpillar Inc and US Steel Corp, rose sharply after data showed factory activity in March fell at a slower rate than the month before, while pending home sales rose more than expected in February.
The data was enough to counter a report that showed U.S. private-sector job losses accelerated in March to 742,000, heightening concerns ahead of the government’s monthly payroll numbers on Friday.
The housing and factory data pointed to “an economy that fell off a cliff (and) that may have found a bottom,” said Linda Duessel, market strategist at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh.
“Because we fell off a cliff, you need to get a lot of diverse areas telling us it’s not as bad this month as it was last month and that’s what’s happening.”
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 152.68 points, or 2.01 percent, to 7,761.60. The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index added 13.21 points, or 1.66 percent, to 811.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 23.01 points, or 1.51 percent, to 1,551.60.
On Tuesday, the S and P 500 finished its best month since October 2002 and has gained almost 20 percent from 12-year lows hit in early March. The rally has been fueled mainly by hopes that the economy is showing signs of stabilization.
Shares of automaker Ford rose 4.2 percent to $2.74 as the company said March sales declined 41 percent, which was better than expected. The company said the pace of the economic decline may be moderating.
After General Motors executives cited March sales data that pointed to the “first signs of brightening” in the auto industry, GM’s stock pared losses even as investors fear the struggling automaker may be headed for controlled bankruptcy.
GM’s stock fell 0.5 percent to $1.93, well off its session low at $1.58. The New York Times reported the government is seeking to ease GM into a “controlled” bankruptcy, but a senior official said the White House remains optimistic that GM can restructure without going to bankruptcy court.
In the financial sector, JPMorgan Chase rose 5.9 percent to $28.14 while Goldman Sachs gained 4 percent to $110.29.
Shares of homebuilders were among top gainers following the home sales data, with Centex Corp up 2.9 percent at $7.72. The Dow Jones home construction index gained 2 percent.
In the industrial sector, Caterpillar was up 3.7 percent at $28.99 and U.S. Steel was up 7.1 percent at $22.62, while Dow Chemicals Co rose 4.5 percent to $8.81, boosted by news it had completed a merger with Rohm and Haas Co, creating a specialty chemicals and advanced materials company.
But gains were tempered by declines in the health-care sector after Celgene Corp forecast first-quarter earnings below estimates, prompting at least four brokerages to cut their price target on the stock.
Celgene was the top drag on the Nasdaq, down 13.4 percent at $38.47. The S and P health-care index slipped 0.3 percent. Health was the only one of 10 sectors on the Nasdaq to fall.
Trading was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 1.50 billion shares changing hands, slightly above last year’s estimated daily average of 1.49 billion, while on Nasdaq, about 2.28 billion shares traded, matching last year’s daily average.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of 3 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, about two stocks rose for every one that fell.
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Written by Rahul on 03 April 2009
The government has asked state-run banks to review their lending rates and aim for a robust 24 percent loan growth to help pump-prime a slowing economy, the country’s top bureaucrat said on Thursday.
Cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, who reviewed the credit situation at a meeting with bankers and industrialists, said some sectors were still facing a shortage of loans.
He said state-run banks had stepped up lending and a “growth rate of about 24 percent in the credit is anticipated this year.”
Bank loans were up 18 percent by early March year on year, central bank data showed.
Since October, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut its benchmark lending rate by 400 basis points in five stages, while government has rolled out a series of fiscal stimulus measures to limit the impact of the global financial crisis on the country.
“We are here in a situation where all of us have to work together and we have to see … to what extent we can bring it (interest rates) down together,” Chandrasekhar said, without giving any details of the meeting.
Officials of industry lobby groups present in the meeting said there was a scope for banks to further lower lending rates by 50-100 basis points.
Aggressive monetary easing was only partially benefiting the economy as banks are yet to match the central bank’s rate cuts, and this posed risks to the recovery of the Indian economy.
“One point that came out very clearly from the industry was that the stimulus packages are working,” Chandrasekhar said.
But policy makers say there was a need for more fiscal and monetary stimulus to protect growth and jobs.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday the economy may have grown at less than 7 percent in 2008/09, slower than 9 percent or more in the previous three years.
Analysts say the Indian economy is expected to grow less than 6 percent in 2009/10.
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