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Headlines
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News:
US President arriving in India in March
Indian Air Force Aircraft Crashes
Swiss Hand Over New Bofors Documents to India
France Closes Oldest Consulate in India
Bedlam in Maharashtra assembly, 7 MLAs suspended
Jethmalani to participate in seminar on delayed justice
Brain tumour record
Mumbai's residents breathe 660 tonnes of pollutants everyday
Aussies may unleash Lee
Mental tips for Melbourne
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Markets:
BSE Sensex gains 44.93 points to close at 4710.49
CII committee asks government to close down three PSU banks
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Forex, Metals and
Weather below
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News
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US President arriving in India in March
New Delhi, December 16 : US President Bill Clinton is coming to India in the second
half of March, though the exact dates have yet to be finalised.
American diplomats say Clinton may not visit Pakistan and confine his trip to India
alone. Officials say the US is no longer interested in balancing India and Pakistan as it
had done for several decades. The situation there is different and unless some
dramatic change takes place in Pakistan, the President may well bypass Islamabad.
Officials did not spell out the exact terms. A change will perhaps mean a date for a
return to democracy or a helping hand in getting through to Osama Bin Laden, the
Saudi dissident who heads America's most wanted list.
The trip is not linked with New Delhi signing the test ban treaty, according to senior
US officials. However, they say the tone and tenor of the trip will be determined by
India signing the Comprehensive Test Ban treaty (CTBT).
"If India is really interested in Indo-US ties taking off, signing the CTBT will be a good
way to do so. It will invest the presidential visit with a special significance," a senior
US diplomat said. But Clinton will not call off his trip if the Vajpayee government does
not sign on the dotted line.
The first visit by a US President in over two decades will still be an important event.
Though the US Congress has refused to ratify the CTBT, non-proliferation still remains
the Clinton administration's pet refrain. Indo-US ties are looking up and if New Delhi
decides to sign the CTBT, without necessarily ratifying it, it will be good enough for
Washington.
Meanwhile, the joint secretary in charge of the Americas, Alok Prasad, and the joint
secretary, disarmament, Rakesh Sood, will be leaving for Washington by the weekend
for expert-level discussions with their US counterparts. The talks flow from Strobe
Talbott-Jaswant Singh rounds. The meetings will focus on disarmament, where the
issue of India signing the CTBT will naturally come up.
Top
Indian Air Force Aircraft Crashes
A MIG-21 military aircraft belonging to the Indian Air Force has crashed
during a routine practice flight in the northeastern state of Assam, the
Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Thursday.
There was, however, no casualty as the pilot managed to bail out of the plane
which left its base in the area at 1230 a.m. local time Wednesday and crashed
15 minutes later in a reserve forest, PTI quoted an delayed official report as
saying.
No cause of the crash was reported.
Top
Swiss Hand Over New Bofors Documents to India
GENEVA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Swiss federal police said on Thursday they gave
India a second set of Swiss bank documents this week relating to a $1.3 billion
arms deal which helped bring down the government of Rajiv Gandhi a decade
ago.
The Department of Federal Justice and Police said in a statement it had rejected
a further appeal by appellants whose petition to block further judicial
cooperation had already been denied by the Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne
last September.
"The Office of Federal Police gave the documents to the Indian embassy in
Berne on Wednesday," the statement said.
"According to Indian authorities pursuing a criminal investigation, the documents
which have been handed over should pave the way to establish whether the
Swedish arms group Bofors bribed Indian governmental officials and politicians
in order to win a major supply contract from the Indian army.
"Part of the bribes, more than $40 million, are alleged to have transited bank
accounts in Zurich and Geneva," it added.
The appellants trying to block the latest transfer of documents following a
request for judicial assistance from India, were not identified. But the statement
said charges had been laid against them as part of the criminal inquiry in India.
Falco Galli, federal police spokesman in Berne, told Reuters: "We never name
them."
The Swiss statement said the appellants had asked the federal police last August
not to provide the judicial assistance to India as it could "compromise the
sovereignty, public order and other essential interests of Switzerland."
But the appellants had not provided "solid proof or evidence" to back this up, it
said.
An Indian corruption inquiry a decade ago established that Sweden's Bofors
Group had paid millions into Geneva and Zurich bank accounts to win the 1986
artillery deal.
The latest move comes just two weeks after the Indian government cited legal
opinion to reject a demand from the opposition Congress Party that Gandhi be
dropped from a list of people charged with wrongdoing in the arms deal.
Gandhi was prime minister in 1986 when the Indian government signed the deal
for purchase of about 400 155mm howitzers manufactured by Bofors, a unit of
the Celsius group. The scandal contributed to the defeat of his
government in 1989.
Top
France Closes Oldest Consulate in India
France has closed its consulate in Calcutta, the
cultural capital of India.
It is one of France's oldest consulates and has existed since 1870, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported Thursday.
The consulate's closing was part of a plan to scale down the diplomatic postings
by the French Foreign Ministry, Albert Fust, the last French consul in Calcutta,
was quoted as saying.
The foreign ministry will deploy a diplomat in the German consulate in Calcutta
to take care of French affairs in the eastern Indian coastal city, where there is a
French-Indian cultural alliance, said AFP.
France has closed 71 consulates throughout the world, while opening 42 new
ones since 1981.
Top
Bedlam in Maharashtra assembly, 7 MLAs suspended
Nagpur: Seven Shiv Sena members were today suspended for a week for
their 'unruly' behaviour after the Maharashtra legislative assembly
witnessed uproarious scenes following opposition demand to suspend
question hour to debate the 'deteriorating' law and order situation in
the state, particularly in Mumbai. The motion for suspension of Dilip
Bhole, Rohidas Chavan, Bhaskar Jadhav, Gulabrao Patil, Dnyaneshwar
Patil, Subhash Wankhede and Vinayak Raut was read out by parliamentary
affairs minister Rohidas Patil as soon as the house reconvened after
the bedlam. It was passed by a voice vote despite protests from the
opposition benches. The seven members were the first to climb atop the
speaker's podium despite the chair's ruling that the question hour
could not be suspended to facilitate discussion on law and order
situation, the minister said while moving the motion. The bedlam
started as the opposition's demand to suspend the question hour to
debate the law and order situation was turned down by the speaker,
Arun Gujrathi. Leader of opposition Narayan Rane drew the speaker's
attention towards the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Anita Bagwe's
husband Atmaram in Mumbai last night. Alleging that the situation was
worsening day by day, Rane said only Sena activists were being
murdered since the Democratic Front (DF) government came to power. The
chair ruled that question hour could not be suspended and discussion
on the matter would be allowed later.
Top
Jethmalani to participate in seminar on delayed justice
Mumbai: Legal luminaries, including Union minister for law and
judiciary Ram Jethmalani, would participate in a day-long seminar
titled "delayed justice is injustice itself" on December 18 here.
Organised jointly by Mumbai Lawyers' Association, Bar Council of
Maharashtra and Goa and city eveninger "afternoon despatch and
courier", the seminar would attempt to find out ways and means for
solving the problem of pendency of cases in courts all over the
country. The speakers at the seminar would include, justice A.P. Shah
and justice A.V. Sawant, both sitting judges of the Mumbai high court,
advocate R.V. Bhasin, president of the association, told. Advocate
general Goolam Vahanvati, additional advocate general P. Janardhan,
former advocate general Arvind Bobade and eminent lawyers Jai Chinoy,
Rohit Kapadia and retired judges of the high court, V.S. Deshpande and
S.K. Desai would also deliver a talk on the subject. The seminar would
culminate in a question-answer session in the evening where Jethmalani
himself would reply to the queries raised by the public, Bhasin said.
Top
Brain tumour record
Mumbai: Surgeons have removed a brain tumour weighing 1.4 kg, which
they say is the largest brain tumour ever removed in India. The tumour
was removed yesterday at the KEM Hospital from 45-year-old Ramchnadra
Patil.
Top
Mumbai's residents breathe 660 tonnes of pollutants everyday
Mumbai: Residents of Delhi breathe 1,046 tonnes of pollutants every
day, according to statistics released by the clean-air, a coalition of
non-government organisations working towards creating awareness about
alarming levels of air pollution. ''Of this, 69 per cent is caused by
vehicular pollution, 27 per cent by industry and the balance from
refineries, thermal power stations, landfills and bakeries,'' the
clean-air said indicating that pollution levels in the national
capital is alarming. Releasing facts and figures about the pollution
levels here yesterday, the clean-air said Mumbaites are no better as
they breathe 660 tonnes of pollutants each day. In its pursuit to
create awareness amongst the masses, the clean-air will organise a
motorcade of 50 vehicles with sporting banners, which will cover a
route of around 20 km from Nariman Point to the Mahim Nature Park. The
motorcade, which will be flagged off by transport commissioner Vinay
Mohan Lal, will be received by Maharashtra minister for transport
Shivajirao Moghe. ''It is going to be a rally against pollution,''
representatives of the clean-air told reporters.
Top
Aussies may unleash Lee
Adelaide, December 16 : The "chucking" controversy bedevilling international cricket
seems set to continue, with Australia's fastest bowler Brett Lee considered almost
certain to line up against India in the second Test. Unsourced reports from India
suggest the 23-year-old firebrand from New South Wales has a suspect action. But
indications are the Australian authorities will ignore the reports and choose the
right-arm express for the Melbourne Test starting on December 26. As far as is known,
there have been no official complaints about Lee's action. Lee may not straighten his
arm fully because of a previously broken elbow. Australian captain Steve Waugh has
made it clear he would like to see Lee in the team to provide even more firepower to an
attack which crippled the Indian batting twice in the first Test here, won by the home
team by a resounding 285 runs. Lee's action had never been questioned until the
unsourced Indian reports raised the issue immediately after he had destroyed the
Indian line-up with a withering 4/25 from 10 overs when playing for the Prime Minister's
XI just before the opening Test. The tourists were all out for 170, losing by a massive
164 runs.
Top
Mental tips for Melbourne
Hobart, December 16 : Indian officials threw the book at their beaten cricket team.
After a 285-run thrashing by Australian in the first of a three-Test series, the Indian
players were each given a book called The Psychology of Cricket, by Australian sports
psychologist Graham Winter. Coach Kapil Dev denied his side's confidence had been
shattered by the heavy defeat but said an improved mental approach was required. "A
loss is a loss by either 100 runs or this or that," Kapil Dev said.
Top
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Markets
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To get today's complete NIFTY (the NSE index) listing send an e-mail to
get-nse@mumbai-central.com
(Now updated multiple times a day)
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BSE Sensex gains 44.93 points to close at 4710.49
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive index closed
at 4710.49 gaining 44.93 points.
Top
CII committee asks government to close down three PSU banks
New Delhi, December 16 : The Confederation of Indian Industry asked the
government to close down three 'weak' public sector banks - Indian Bank, Uco Bank
and United Bank of India - and privatise four others including the State Bank of India. It
was useless to keep these banks on artifical respiration, CII's national task force on
non-performing assets (NPAs) said, adding shutting down of these banks with a
severance package would cost Rs 9,800 crore to the exchequer. The task force,
headed by ICICI managing director K.V. Kamath has made wide-ranging
recommendations to make banks and financial sectors manage their huge NPAs.
Releasing the recommendations, given to finance minister Yashwant Sinha , Kamath
said, "eventually, nothing will work better than privatisation of banks and FI." Kamath
said total cost to the government for shutting down these three banks with a generous
severance package and no loss to depositors is about 7,500 crore. However, keeping
in view the contingent liabilities of these banks amounting to Rs 4,637 crore, the task
force estimated a higher cost at Rs 9,800 crore.
Top
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Forex
| 1 DMark = 22.53930 INR
1 FFranc = 6.720401 INR
1 U.K. Pound = 70.16429 INR
1 US $ = 43.44000 INR
1 Yen = 0.421829 INR
1 Singapore $ = 25.95 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 11.83 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 11.58 INR |
Metals
| Gold
Mumbai (Rs/10 gm) 4430.00 -10.00
London ($/Oz) 280.50 -0.70
Silver
Mumbai (Rs/kg) 8105.00 45.00
London ($/oz) 5.21 0.07 |
Weather
|
Temperature: 77 F / 25 C
HeatIndex: 79 F / 26 C
Humidity: 65%
Dewpoint: 64 F / 18 C
Wind: Calm
Pressure: 29.91 in / 1013 hPa
Conditions: Smoke
Tonight: Low: 66 F / 19 C Clear
Friday: High: 86 F / 30 C Clear
Friday Night: Low: 68 F / 20 C Clear
Saturday: High: 87 F / 31 C Clear
Saturday Night: Low: 68 F / 20 C Clear
|
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Send a surprise gift and make someone's day!
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Admin Message
A few people wrote in with questions on the renaming of Sahar airport to
Chhatrapati Shivaji airport.
The airport was renamed on March 31 on the occasion of Shivaji's 319th
death anniversary. You can find news articles about this in the
Grapevine archives at:
http://www.mumbai-central.com/grapevine/msg00223.html
http://www.mumbai-central.com/grapevine/msg00226.html
(look for Sahar).
It was apparently decided by the Union cabinet.
Regards,
- 'shal
harshal@mumbai-central.com
Features
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The Millenium's first sunrise in India?
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Six point program to eradicate dowry: via nukkad
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Review of Khoobsurat
Everything you ever wanted to know about the word
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Shyamala visits a temple inside a church in Ireland.
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Re: FYI - SIX POINT PROGRAM TO ERADICATE DOWRY IN INDIA
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