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Sensex on roller-coster ride, settle 191 pts down
Mumbai, Oct 27 (PTI) Weighed under selling pressure from funds, Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today went on a roller-coster ride yet again, falling over 1,000 points to breach the crucial 8,000 level in intra-day trading, but later recovered some losses on renewed buying.
In a choppy trade, the 30-share index, which had lost over 1,000 points during the mid-session on major sell-off by funds, attracted some buying at the existing lower levels only to regain 812.17-point losses and closed at 8,509.56 level, 191.51 points down from the last week's close. It touched the day's low of 7,697.39, a level last seen on October 2005.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped below 2,300 points before ending at 2524.20, still showing a loss of 59.50 points.
Marketmen said emergence of buying by domestic financial institutions and covering up of short positions by speculators at prevailing lower levels helped Sensex recover part of the lost ground.
They said a steep fall in equities drove down the rupee against the dollar and gold also fell sharply, thus leaving no other option for investors but to return to the bourses.
A remarkable recovery was seen in the realty sector, which had suffered heavy losses during the day. The realty index bounced back to close higher by 74.01 points at 1,817.28 as stocks of Unitech, Indiabulls Realestate, Omax and Akruti City closed with handsome gains. PTI
Sadhvi to undergo brain mapping, narco tests
Nashik, Oct 27 (PTI) Pragya Singh Thakur, the sadhvi arrested in connection with Malegaon bomb blasts, will undergo polygraph, brain mapping and narco tests, a government lawyer said today.
A local court gave the Anti-Terrorist Squad permission for the tests while remanding her and two others to police custody till November three, Public Prosecutor Ajay Misar told reporters here.
An application was moved by the ATS before Joint Civil Judge Senior Division A N Khadse to grant permission for polygraphy, brain mapping and narco tests on 38-year-old Pragya, he said, adding that the tests were part of the investigation.
He said that he had no idea about possibility of the two retired army officers, questioned for their role in the blasts, being produced before the court here.
"I have not received any intimation from the authorities concerned," he said. He did not reveal when Pragya will undergo polygraph, brain mapping and narco tests. PTI
Gunman killed in shoot-out in BEST bus in Mumbai
Mumbai, Oct 27 (PTI) In a broad daylight shoot-out, an unidentified gunman was killed today by police in a state transport bus after he was suspected of trying to take the passengers hostage in suburban Kurla.
The incident occurred around 0930 hours inside a BEST bus in the northeast suburb, they said.
"The man fired at the police in 'Bail' bazar area of Kurla and was shot in retaliatory fire," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Rakesh Maria said.
He said that the police suspected that the gunman was trying to take the bus passengers hostage and "this is being verified".
He was pronounced dead at the Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar, police said but did not release details about him.
A passenger, who also sustained injuries in the incident, has been taken to the same hospital, where his condition is reported to be critical. PTI
India lose 2-3 to Malaysia, settles for fourth place
Pune, Oct 27 (PTI) India's doubles woes continued and the hosts went down 2-3 to Malaysia to finish fourth in the World Junior Badminton Championship at the Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex here today.
India's hopes of a third place finish went up in smoke after all the doubles pairs failed to win.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and Aditya Prakash did their bit, winning their respective singles matches but it was not enough.
Mixed doubles pair of Gurusaidutt and Prajakta Sawant was the first to disappoint as the duo received a 8-21 17-21 thrashing from Kok Siang Teo and Kah Mun Vivian Hoo in a 20-minute match.
However, Saina spanked Siew Fong Florah Ng 21-9 21-6 in the women's single, while Aditya Prakash 21-12 20-22 26-24 staved off the challenge of Iskandar Zulkarnain Bin Zainuddin in a 55-minute gruelling battle to take the lead 2-1.
But Sai Praneeth B and Pranav Chopra squandered the chance as they failed to put up a fight against Hee Chun Mak and Kok Siang Teo and went down 21-14 21-13 in just 22 minutes in the men's doubles category.
Though Sikki Reddy and Thulasi PC gave a scare to Kah Mun Vivian Hoo and Sannatasah Binti Saniru, the duo could not defy the inevitable and lost 14-21 21-13 9-21 to the Malaysian duo in 37-minutes. PTI
Bhupathi-Knowles pair clinches Swiss Indoors Championship
Basel (Switzerland), Oct 27 (PTI) Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles clinched their third ATP title together this season, winning the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Championship with a straight-set triumph in the final here.
Bhupathi and Knowles defeated Germans Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-3 in a 61-minute final yesterday. For the 34-year-old Indian, the title was his 44th overall.
"We really wanted to win this one. I'm glad we were able to do it as we have been playing well all week. We have two big tournaments at Paris and Shanghai left, so hopefully we'll continue the form right through to the end of the year," said Bhupathi.
Knowles, meanwhile, became the 21st player in ATP history (since 1973) to capture 50 career doubles titles.
"I'm elated. It's a big number and I'd be a liar if I said I hadn't been thinking about it, as I've lost in a couple of finals lately. I'm really happy to win my 50th title and get past the milestone," the 36-year-old Knowles said.
Bhupathi, who reached the 2001 final with compatriot Leander Paes, and Knowles have amassed a 36-16 season record so far.
The pair had earlier clinched back-to-back silverware at Memphis and Dubai. Last week, the duo finished runners-up at ATP Masters Series Madrid. They now have a 3-6 record in ATP finals this year.
The Indo-Bahamian team has already qualified for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai and is currently number three in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race.
Bhupathi and Knowles split 46,500 euros in prize money, while Kas and Kohlschreiber divided 27,300 euros. PTI
Bopanna-Mirnyi finish runners-up at St Petersburg Open
St Petersburg (Russia), Oct 27 (PTI) Rohan Bopanna and his Belarusian partner Max Mirnyi squandered a good start to go down to the American-Slovak pair of Travis Parrott and Filip Polasek in the final and finished runners-up at the ATP St Petersburg Open here.
The Indo-Belarusian team went down 6-3, 6-7 (4), 8-10 in a contest that lasted one hour and 37 minutes.
Bopanna and Mirnyi dominated the proceedings initially and after winning the opening set easily, the duo was 4-3 up before Bopanna double faulted at 40-40, which shifted the momentum towards the American-Slovak pair.
Bopanna, who won his first ATP title with Eric Butorac in Los Angeles in August this year, also finished runner-up in Newport with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.
The 28-year-old Bangalore boy dropped to 16-17 (win-loss record) on the season and 1-5 in ATP finals.
Obama promises more jobs, curbing outsourcing
Sridhar Krishnaswami
Washington, Oct 27 (PTI) Sitting politically "pretty" with only a week to go for Presidential polls, the Democratic nominee Barack Obama has kept hammering away with his theme of creating jobs and curbing outsourcing and blamed the Republicans for the mess America finds itself in.
Back on the campaign trail after a short break in Hawaii to see his ailing maternal grand mother, Senator Obama was in the "Red" state of Colorado pushing his economic plans.
Holding the Bush administration and by extension his Republican rival John McCain for the current economic recess, Obama said, "It's time to turn the page on eight years of economic policies that put Wall Street before Main Street but ended up hurting both." "We need policies that grow our economy from the bottom-up, so that every American, everywhere, has the chance to get ahead -- not just the person who owns the factory, but the men and women who work on its floor; not just the CEO, but the secretary and the janitor," he said in Denver yesterday.
The Illinois Senator said, "If we've learnt anything from this economic crisis, it's that we're all connected; we're all in this together; and we will rise or fall as one nation as one people. The rescue plan that passed the Congress was a necessary first step to easing this credit crisis, but if we're going to rebuild this economy from the bottom up, we need an immediate rescue plan for the middle-class, and that's what I will do as President of the United States" he added.
Keeping his rhetoric on outsourcing alive, Obama said, "I've proposed a new American jobs tax credit for each new employee that companies hire here in the United States over the next two years. I'll stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas and invest in companies that create good jobs right here in Colorado." PTI
Pak, Afghan officials pledge cooperation on terrorism
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 27 (PTI) Pakistan and Afghanistan today pledged to step up cooperation to counter terrorism and extremism as leaders from both countries gathered here to discuss modalities for engaging the Taliban and other militant groups in a dialogue.
Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Pakistan-Afghanistan jirga gai or mini-jirga here, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi emphasised the need for close cooperation between the two countries to effectively counter and completely eliminate terrorism.
Both countries have "suffered immensely and continue to suffer" due to extremism, militancy and terrorism and the situation demanded a joint and comprehensive strategy to bring peace and stability to the whole region, he said.
Both Qureshi and former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who is leading the country's side in the talks, highlighted the need to increase cooperation especially in the restive region bordering the two countries.
The two countries have "no choice" but to work together to combat terrorism, Abdullah said.
Qureshi, on the other hand said Pakistan will continue its drive against militant groups resorting to violence.
"Pakistan's territory shall not be used for any kind of attacks on other countries and foreign fighters, if found, will be expelled from our soil," he said.
In an apparent reference to a series of missile strikes on the Pakistani side by US drones operating from Afghanistan, Qureshi said the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity would "be safeguarded at all costs".(MORE) PTI
US officials sceptic of halting ground raids in Pakistan
New York, Oct 27 (PTI) The US has ceased conducting ground raids into Pakistan following furious reactions from its ally and is instead relying on intensified air strikes which according to some in the government is not sufficient to reign in militants in the restive areas.
Citing American and Pakistani officials, the New York Times said attacks by remotely piloted Predator aircraft have increased sharply in frequency and scope in the past three months.
There have been at least 18 Predator strikes since the beginning of August, some deep inside Pakistan's tribal areas.
However, officials were quoted as saying that by relying on air strikes alone, the United States would not be able to weaken Al Qaeda's grip in the tribal areas permanently.
Within the government, advocates of the ground raids have argued if the US can successfully capture suspected Qaeda leaders by just sending Special Operations forces into Pakistan, the paper said.
The decision to focus on an intensified Predator campaign using Hellfire missiles appears to reflect dwindling options on the part of the White House for striking Al Qaeda in the Bush administration's waning days, it added.
After months of debate within the administration and mounting frustration over Pakistan's failure to carry out more aggressive counter terrorism operations, President Bush finally gave his approval in July for ground missions inside Pakistan.
But the only American ground mission known to have taken place was a Special Operations raid on September three, in which the roughly two dozen people killed including some civilians, it said, adding that American officials say there has not been another commando operation since. PTI
Bulls pin hope on Diwali for reversal of downslide
Mumbai, Oct 27 (PTI) Dalal Street will be pinning its hope on Diwali, the festival of lights when the goddess of wealth 'Lakshmi' is worshipped, for reversing the downslide continuing in stock valuations for more than 10 months.
Since 2000, markets have registered a fall only twice on the day of Diwali, when business is conducted for one hour as a muhurat trading -- the occasion marking opening of books.
However, just like the last year, this time around too the pre-Diwali trend has been negative on the bourses, adding to the concerns that a fall could be seen on the Diwali muhurat trading for the second consecutive year.
The stock market's benchmark Sensex had settled 151 points down on last Diwali, although it recovered nearly half the total intra-day loss of about 300 points.
Prior to 2007, the Sensex had slipped in a muhurat trading in 2000. The last Diwali had marked the fifth consecutive day of fall for the Sensex. Indicating a similar trend, the Sensex today continued its downhill journey for the fourth straight trading session and a fall tomorrow would make it fifth consecutive day of losses on a Diwali day.
However, on a positive note, the slide was limited to only the blue-chips last year as the Midcap and Small-cap indices had closed in the positive territory.
The Sensex today closed 191.51 points down at 8,509.59 points -- its lowest level in nearly three years. However, the index rebounded sharply today from an intra-day loss of more than 1,000 points. In the previous trading session on Friday, the Sensex had lost 1,071 points -- its biggest ever single- day fall after a 1,408-point plunge on January 21 this year.
Since last Diwali, when the Sensex stood at 18,907.60 points, the benchmark index has lost about 10,400 points or over 55 per cent, while more than Rs 40 trillion has been wiped off from the investors' wealth. PTI
SBI posts 40 pc growth in Q2 net profit
New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) Beating projections, India's leading financial conglomerate State Bank of India has posted 40 per cent growth in net profit for the second quarter of this fiscal on high interest income.
Crediting the good numbers to income from high interest rates and fee-based income, SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said bank has been giving good returns consistently in the last 5-6 quarters and growth has beaten projections by analysts.
SBI has posted a net profit of Rs 2,259.72 crore for the quarter, a growth of 40 per cent against 36 per cent in the same quarter a year ago. The bank's profit in the September quarter last year stood at Rs 1,611.42 crore.
The total income rose to Rs 17,909.64 crore in the second quarter from Rs 13,658.22 crore a year ago, an increase of 31 per cent.
The bank registered a deposit growth of 67.93 per cent at Rs 57,861 crore. Its current and savings account (CASA) ratio was up by 26 basis points to 39.71 per cent. Advances of the bank grew by 162.35 per cent to Rs 51,020 crore.
Return on assets was flat at 0.99 per cent, while return on equity was at 14.64 per cent at the end of September 2008.
Besides, home loans grew by 23.47 per cent, auto loans by 30.48 per cent and education loan by 43.81 per cent.
Meanwhile, SBI has doubled its business to Rs 1,08,881 crore in the September quarter this year.
On the consolidated basis, SBI posted a 11.50 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 2,458.04 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. PTI
Samvat 2064 ends on uncertain note, Sensex down 192 pts
Mumbai, Oct 27 (PTI) On the eve of 'Festival of Lights', the investors were warned of likely black days ahead with the Samvat 2064 ending on a high level of uncertainty as the benchmark Sensex swung wildly before ending 192 points lower in sync with global markets.
Bouncing intra-day by 812 points, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer ended the day at 8,509.56, a net fall of 191.51 points or 2.20 per cent from its last close.
The market experienced a roller-coaster ride, diving by 1,004 points to a three-year intra-day low of 7,697.39 as investors became panicky and resorted to frenzied selling triggered by a global meltdown.
The Sensex, however, regained 8,000 level after aggressive buying support from domestic institutional investors, which have been engaged in the salvage operation ever since the global credit crisis surfaced.
Brokers said Foreign Institutional Investors too were seen covering their shorts at the fag-end of the day.
The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also shed 59.80 points or 2.31 per cent to close at 2,524.20 from its last close.
Defying government's efforts, which seemed too short to ward off the threat of a slowdown, panic-stricken investors dumped their stocks as Asian indices hit more than four-year lows during the day.
The market was highly volatile also due to the expiry of derivative series on Wednesday in view of 'Diwali' holidays on October 28 and 30. However, there will be a 'Muhurat' trading between 1815 hours and 1915 hours on October 28. PTI
Indian film festival in Abu Dhabi from Nov 2
Abu Dhabi, Oct 27 (PTI) An Indian film festival will be held in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, from November two in which Yash Chopra's cross-border love saga 'Veer Zaara' and Ashutosh Gowarikar's epic movie 'Jodha Akbar' are to be screened.
The ten-day festival is aimed to engage Emirati nationals to share the Indian culture and traditions and thus help in cementing ties between the two countries, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, Talmiz Ahmad, said here yesterday.
Shahrukh Khan starrer 'Veer Zaara,' which portrays a love story of an Indian officer and a Pakistani girl, will be the first film to be screened at the festival and its director Yash Chopra will also be present on the occasion, Ahmed said.
Besides, seven other films are also to be screened during the festival including Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Rai starrer 'Jodha Akbar', 'Daatu' (Kannada), 'Anuranan: The Resonance' (Bengali), 'Kayyooppu' and 'Gul Mohar' (Malayalam), 'Paruthiveeran' (Tamil).
Terming Indian cinema as the "influential reflection of contemporary India" to the outside world, the ambassador said, "The films chosen by us emerge from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, but explore themes that will resonate with discerning audiences anywhere in the world." UAE's Minister of Higher Education and Research, Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, will inaugurate the festival. PTI
Actor Samir Soni finds playing a gay character challenging
Mumbai, Oct 26 (PTI) Actor Samir Soni, who plays a gay designer in Madhur Bhandarkar's upcoming film 'Fashion', said that he has taken care that playing the character would not override his personality.
"Playing Rahul Arora, the gay designer in 'Fashion' was exciting on several levels. I had never played such a character before and no one would expect me to play it. Also, the character was so beautifully etched out that it would be an actor's dream," he told reporters today.
To a query on why he agreed to play a gay character, Soni said he as an actor loved unconventional roles and hence took upon the challenge of playing a gay character convincingly, without stereotyping it.
"I hope the audience accepts the character by observing beyond his sexual orientation. I was lucky to have Madhur(Bhandarkar) guiding me and at the same time giving me space to experiment. My character would wear a mascara but would have a stubble and we had to draw that healthy balance," he added.
"There are gays you don't know, unless told. It was the essence of the character that was exciting and you can say that I got more than my share of compliments from women and men," he said.
Talking about his experience with actress Priyanka Chopra, Samir said she was a fine actor and a very sensitive girl. The actor however said that he kept his distance from her during the shooting of the film. PTI
EMI- a film on loans and recovery
New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) With credit cards, loans and a recovery agent- Easy Monthly Installments (EMI) the Bollywood movie starring Sanjay Dutt would hit theatres soon in the backdrop of a financial meltdown and a crisis looming large over banks and credit card industry.
"Liya Hai To Chukana Padega!" (If you have got the loan, you have to repay) depicts Sanjay Dutt in the role of a loan recovery agent and Urmila Matondkar as a super-sweet next door girl in a plot that portrays contrasting characters who spend without thinking." After playing a super-vamp in 'Karzzzz', Matondkar enacts a light hearted comedy based on a very serious issue.
"Both are different characters. In 'Karzzzz', it was a negative role but in this film I am playing Prerna, who's husband dies and she needs money to take care of herself and her daughter. So she takes a loan," she says.
"I have not done any film to prove myself as an actress. I chose roles from my conviction and self belief. Even I have not taken loans and don't know about EMIs much, I enjoyed doing the film and I am sure people will like it," she adds.
'Easy Monthly Installments' (EMI), which also stars Arjun Rampart, Aashish Choudhary and Maliaka Arora Khan, is a tale of the interconnecting characters coming from different strata and styles who live off credit cards and personal loans, and it takes recovery agent, Sattar Bhai (Sanjay Dutt) to make them realise their blunder.
Slated for release this month, the film is directed by debutante Saurabh Kabra and music by Chirantan Bhatt with Sanjay Dutt lending his voice to the title track. MORE
Fashion accessories generate more sales than designer clothes
Himanshu Vatsa
New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) A brightly lit Christmas tree among other imagination defying headgear showcased during the Fashion Week in Mumbai has pioneered a new trend of fashion shows exclusively for accessories like shoes, handbags, jewellery and other knick knacks.
Stepping beyond conventional boundaries of ramps designers are now increasingly holding sidewalk exhibitions of jewellery and other luxury accessories that complement an outfit and have been found to generate more sales in the global market.
At the Lakme Fashion Week, designer Shilpa Chavan's 'Littleshilpa' label showcased imagination defying headgear made from unconventional materials such as plastic, crochet, wire, paper, silk, feathers, net and organza.
Three other designers Abdul Tawwab, Malini Agarwala and the label 'Stoffa' by Priyanka Malini and Hersh displayed a complete accessory package of shoes, handbags, belts and shoes on the runway.
Also, the just concluded two parallel fashion weeks - Wills India Fashion Week and Delhi Fashion Week held in Delhi- along with the ongoing Lakme India Fashion Week in Mumbai witnessed a number of designers showcasing accessories.
"Accessories are very important for fashion. It has to go hand-in-hand with clothes. Apart from clothes we wear watch, spectacles, cap, necklaces and various other things. It defiantly an essential complement for clothes," said designer and documentary filmmaker Muzaffar Ali. PTI
Chetan Bhagat now in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam...
New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) Bestseller Chetan Bhagat says he never misses an opportunity to be the first in line ahead of others.
The author who took the world of English publishing by storm in the country by creating a record with his debut book 'Five Point Someone' is now hoping to replicate his success in Hindi and other regional languages.
"People have called me a youth writer and the response to all my books have been very good. I feel that unless my books are read by more youngsters in the rural and other languages I cannot justify the tag," says Bhagat.
Bhagat who is currently not writing any book is busy cutting deals with publishers to get his works translated and sold in as many regional languages as possible. "My books have already had editions in Marathi and Gujarati and now in Hindi. We are looking at publishers for Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam which will also be out soon." The 35-year-old author has his priorities clear. While others like him might aspire for the Booker or other such coveted prizes, Bhagat, whose books are sold at Rs 95 per copy, says he writes for the common man with appeal to the college-going teenager.
"I am not that category of writer. Anyway I do not qualify for the Booker which rules that you must have published in UK. But I am sure if I want then I can get a Booker. It is just that my writing is not of that kind," Bhagat told PTI just before the launch of the translated versions of his two books 'Five Point Someone' and the more recent 'One night @ the Call Centre.' PTI
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Sensex: 8509.56, -191.51
The sensex closed at 8509.56, down 191.51
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______Forex_______
1 U.S. $ = 50.025 INR
1 Japanese Yen = 0.5360 INR
1 British Pound = 77.051 INR
1 Canadian $ = 38.770 INR
1 Singapore $ = 33.136 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 13.618 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 13.358 INR
1 Euro = 62.216 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 13.736 INR
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