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India can access surplus Gulf funds to beat global meltdown:PM
New Delhi, Nov 7 (PTI) On the eve of his visit to Oman and Qatar beginning tomorrow, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today suggested that India can leverage "vast surplus funds" in the Gulf for its development needs in the backdrop of current global financial crisis.
"The current international economic and financial situation provides a unique opportunity for India to leverage the vast surplus funds in the Gulf for our development needs and to accelerate trade and investment flows into teach of the countries", Singh said in a statement.
He said that during his visit he would be taking up with the leadership of Oman and Qatar the safety and welfare of Indians working there.
"We have a large number of Indian citizens working in Oman and Qatar. Their contribution to these countries is widely acknowledged and appreciated by the authorities....During my discussions in Oman and Qatar, I shall also discuss in which we can assure their safety and welfare", Singh said.
Referring to his visit to Qatar on November 9-10, the Prime Minister said "we attach great importance to our ties with Qatar which is one of the largest and most relaible suppliers of our energy needs from the region".
He said given the complementarities between the two countries, "I am confident that we can build a mutually beneficial and strategic partnership in this sector". PTI
AI plane tilts while landing on runway, passengers safe
Malappuram (Ker), Nov 7 (PTI) As many as 161 passengers and crew on board an Air India Airbus A 310 had a narrow escape today when the right wing of the aircraft on a flight from Jeddah tilted and grazed the runway while landing at the Karippur International Airport here.
According to airport sources, the pilot managed to bring the airplane( Flight AI 962) to a quick halt before any danger could occur after he saw the right wing rubbing the runway. The incident occured at around 9.15 AM All passengers were safe and the aircraft did not suffer any damage except for some paint on the wing getting scraped, the sources said.
A senior airport official said prima facie there was nothing abnormal with landing parameters like weather, wind speed and visibility.
Only a detailed probe including the examination of Flight Data Recorder could give clues on why the aircraft tilted while landing, the official said.
The aircraft has been grounded and engineers from Mumbai were expected to arrive here for detailed check, he added. PTI
Lankan forces kill seven LTTE in intense clashes
T V Sriram
Colombo, Nov 7 (PTI) At least seven LTTE cadres were killed in fierce clashes in embattled northern Sri Lanka where government helicopter gunships and fighter jets pounded rebel bases to support the advancing ground troops, officials said today.
Troops of the newly formed military formation, Task Force 3, advancing from northwest of Mankulam in Kilinochchi towards A-9 main road dominating LTTE areas, confronted with tiger rebels, causing heavy damage to the enemy yesterday, the Defence Ministry said.
According to the sources, hours of fighting ensued in general area Panikkankulam leaving scores of "terror cadres killed: and many others injured, it said in a statement.
By intercepting terror communication, it is learnt that many terror cadres have gone missing during the confrontation, the ministry said.
In a subsequent search operation conducted in the area, troops have found 7 bodies of LTTE cadres killed during the intense battle, it said adding one GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun), five T-56 riffles and one T-81 riffle were also found in the search operation.
Troops are continuing their march towards Mankulam with effective military thrust on LTTE, the military said.
Meanwhile, Air Force MI-24 helicopter gunships launched air sorties targeting LTTE resistance point observed in north of Nachchikuda Forward Defence Line (FDL) in Kilinochchi last evening, the air force said.
The rebel resistance point is located 1.2 Km north off security forces' defence line in Nachchikuda, Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said. PTI
Sensex gains 230 points but falls short of 10k level
Mumbai, Nov 7 (PTI) The Bombay Stock Exchange bellwether Sensex gained 230 points in a choppy trade today, ending a two-day falling streak, on the back of encouraging global cues and a rise in infrastructure output in September, though closed the week short of 10,000-point mark.
The market sentiment was also boosted by an impressive 75 basis point cut in prime lending rate by several public sector banks even as global equity markets bounced after Bank of England and European central bank yesterday slashed key rates by 1.5 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively.
The BSE barometer settled the day at 9,964.29, a net rise of 230.07 points or 2.36 per cent from its previous close. It had lost 896.90 points or 8.44 per cent in the last two days.
The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also recovered by 80.35 points or 2.78 per cent to close at 2,973.00 from its last close.
Brokers, however, attributed the recovery to week-end buying support, saying, "The market is still bearish with investors worried about the global recession." They said a rise in infrastructure growth in September and firm trend in US futures and European markets led a smart recovery in local stocks. Asian markets too recovered from their early lows following a rate cut by world's two major central banks.
After registering a hefty loss in the last two days, the country's largest private sector company Reliance Industries recovered by 3.95 per cent.
Reliance Infra was the day's bright star with a rise of 10.92 per cent. PTI
IMF approves USD 15.7 bn loan to Hungary
Washington, Nov 7 (PTI) The International Monetary Fund has approved a 15.7 billion-dollar loan for Hungary to shore up the country's economy ravaged by financial turmoil.
Hungary becomes the second country after Ukraine to receive financial assistance from the IMF.
The multilateral lending agency would disburse 6.3 billion dollar immediately and the rest of the amount would be made available to Hungary in five installments, subject to quarterly reviews, IMF said in a statement on Thursday.
IMF said the stand-by arrangement would support the country's longer-run economic goals by creating conditions necessary to facilitate appropriate reforms in government finances and banking sector.
The programme is based on "two key objectives: to implement a substantial fiscal adjustment to ensure that the government's debt-financing needs will decline; and to maintain adequate liquidity and strong levels of capital in the banking system." IMF's loan combined with the commitments by the European Union (about 8.4 billion dollars) and the World Bank (about 1.3 billion dollars), total to 25.8 billion dollars in financial support to Hungary. This would provide the country with the amount of reserves that is sufficient to meet its external obligations.
"... With the decline in global liquidity and increase in risk aversion, financial markets in Hungary came under intense pressure, given Hungary's high debt levels and significant balance sheet mismatches." Several government bond auctions failed, liquidity in the secondary bond market dried up, and bond yields rose sharply. At the same time, the stock market fell and the currency depreciated," IMF said.
Earlier this week, the multilateral lending agency had approved a loan of 16.4 billion dollars to Ukraine. PTI
Diwali releases brings cheer at box office
Mumbai, Nov 7 (PTI) There were Diwali cheers for Bollywood this year with 'Golmaal Returns' and 'Fashion' raking in the moolah at the box office.
Though the excitement and curiosity was much less compared to last year, when big-budgeted movies 'Om Shanti Om' and 'Saawariya' were released, the successes brought respite to the industry which was going through a dull phase following poor box office response to big budgeted movies like 'Drona' , 'Karzzz' and 'Roadside Romeo' just before the festive season, trade sources said.
Sources said that 'Golmaal Returns' earned Rs 72 crore gross in the opening week worldwide, while 'Fashion' generated more than Rs 33 crore worldwide.
Both films were released on Wednesday, unlike the customary Fridays, last week to cash in on the Diwali-mania.
'Golmaal Returns', produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd and directed by Rohit Shetty, is a sequel to 'Golmaal' which was one of the biggest grosser of 2006.
Talking about the film, Shetty said that the the box office response to "Golmaal Returns" had been bigger than the original film.
'Golmaal Returns' ran to packed houses for three days, he said. "'Chitra' theatre in central Mumbai beat all records for the past nine years for the opening week and was booked houseful in advance for the second week as well," Shetty said.
Exhibitors and distributors are thrilled with the film's response not just in the Mumbai circuit but all over India too, he added. PTI
One year later, baby born with 8 limbs in TV film
New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) Lakshmi Tatma, born exactly a year ago as a medical anomaly with four hands and feet in a remote town of Bihar, now stands, talks, runs and giggles like any other toddler her age.
The story of Lakshmi's birth, her parent's dilemma, the reactions of global media and local villagers who regarded her as the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi because she was born on Diwali day, and the complicated surgery she underwent to remove the extra pair of limbs is scheduled to be telecast on Discovery Channel tomorrow, October 8.
Lakshmi was born a parasitic twin with two bodies united at the pelvis. Only one of the twins had a head. Two pairs of arms and legs had formed at either end of the two adjoining torsos, creating a child with eight limbs.
After exactly one year Sharan Patil the doctor who led the operating team says, "Everything is fine now. It has been a mathematically perfect operation.
There has been no setbacks yet and Lakshmi has begun to walk independently. All investigations and from all points of view she has been found to be functioning normally." A team from Discovery accompanied Patil right from the beginning when the doctor, who is Chief Orthopedic surgeon at Sparsh Hospital, Bangalore heard about the case and offered his services for free. It filmed almost everything including the 27-hour long operation that was attempted for the first time in India.
"Cases like Lakshmi are extremely rare. Medical literature point out that there have been 3 or 4 cases like her, two in the US and one in Europe which were successfully operated and one case in London over 20 years ago where the lady survived and went on to live a near normal life. Of course there are many attempts that do not get published," says Patil. PTI
Book: Of Gandhi, spirituality and sexuality
New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) To Mahatma Gandhi the greatest obstacle in his spiritual striving was the promptings of his sexuality, says psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar.
"The manner in which he conceived the struggle and the weapons he chose to employ in a lifelong conflict with the god of desire have earned him the derision of many, especially in the West, who have discerned crankishness, if not worse, in his ideas that relate to sexuality," writes Kakar in "Mad And Divine: Spirit And Psyche In The Modern World".
"For an explanation of his failure to influence people and the course of events, Gandhi would characteristically probe for shortcomings in his sexual abstinence, seeking to determine whether Kama, the god of desire, has perhaps triumphed in some obscure recess of his mind, depriving him of his spiritual powers," the book, published by Penguin, says.
According to the author, in the midst of widespread political turmoil and religious frenzy, Gandhi wrote a series of five articles on celibacy in his weekly newspaper.
"But more striking than his public evidence of his preoccupation were his private experiments wherein the aged Mahatma sought to reassure himself on the strength of his celibacy by having close women associates (his 19-year-old granddaughter among them) share his bed and try to ascertain in the morning whether any trace of sexual feeling had been evoked, either in himself or in his companions.
"In spite of criticism by his co-workers, Gandhi stubbornly defended these experiments which he regarded as exercises in self-purification and tests of his celibacy and insisted that they be public even if they met general condemnation from his close associates." Besides the contemplative and ecstatic spiritual traditions, Gandhi was a pioneer of a new spirituality, Kakar writes. PTI
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Sensex: 9964.29, +230.07
The sensex closed at 9964.29, up 230.07
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______Forex_______
1 U.S. $ = 47.795 INR
1 Japanese Yen = 0.4907 INR
1 British Pound = 75.522 INR
1 Canadian $ = 40.107 INR
1 Singapore $ = 31.951 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 13.011 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 12.761 INR
1 Euro = 61.103 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 13.140 INR
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