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Headlines
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News:
No decision on ceasefire extension yet: Fernandes
Hindujas to be grilled further
INS Mumbai and INS Kirch commissioned
Notices served to politicians, ministers on wedding gifts
Sonia takes plunge into Hinduism
Boat Leaks Oil in Ecuador's Pristine Galapagos
India signs air agreements with Hong Kong, Russia
27,000 SBI employees apply for VRS in four days
Anand settles for yet another draw
Sriram starts with a bang in Ubeda Chess tournament
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Markets:
Sensex: 4267.11, +72.65
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Forex, Metals and
Weather below
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News
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No decision on ceasefire extension yet: Fernandes
New Delhi,Monday, January 22, 2001: Defence Minister George Fernandes today voiced concern over stepped up violence in Kashmir and said government would take a decision on whether ceasefire be further extended after examining the present level of militants' activities.
The violence aimed at "sabotaging the peace process" and other factors would be taken into consideration in deciding whether to extend the current ceasefire which expires in four days.
"We expected the Pakistan's Chief Executive to rein in the mercenary groups operating in Kashmir, which has not been done so far," the minister said.
Rejecting suggestions that Pakistan Government had no control over groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Harkat-ul- Mujhaeddin, the Minister said there was clear evidence on record that these groups had been "lauded, supported, armed and trained in so called jehad by official Pakistani agencies".
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Hindujas to be grilled further
New Delhi,Monday, January 22, 2001: Hopes of the Hinduja brothers, accused in the Bofors kickback scam, for an early exit from India were frustrated today when a Designated Court allowed CBI to interrogate them till January 30.
The order came after CBI Investigating Officer (I O) Keshav Mishra told Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke that the agency has so far interrogated the Hinduja Group Chairman S P Hinduja and would require at least one week time to conclude questioning of G P Hinduja and P P Hinduja.
The hearing of the application filed by Hindujas seeking permission to go out of the country was adjourned till January 30.
"The I.O. has further stated that by his assessment he may be able to conclude their interrogation within a week or so," the judge said.
Today's CBI stand represented a change from its earlier position when it had told the Court on Friday that it would require the Hindujas for questioning only for three to four days. Since then the CBI has questioned only the eldest of the three brothers.
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INS Mumbai and INS Kirch commissioned
Mumbai,Monday, January 22, 2001: Indian Navy has strengthened its sea-fire power by commissioning guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai and guided missile corvettes INS Kirch here today.
Built indigenously with a cost of Rs 900 crore, the 6700 tonne INS Mumbai is fitted with an array of weapons backed by state-of-the-art sensor package of modern radars, sonars and electronic warfare suites and has a speed of 32 knots.
The 163 metre long vessel, third in the "Delhi Class" series, is capable of carrying two advanced light helicopters "Sea Kings" on board to provide the "extended reach" to a modern surface combatant.
INS Mumbai has joined the Western Fleet after commissioning while INS Kirch of "Kora Class" will be assigned to the Eastern Fleet after attending the forthcoming International Fleet Review, according to Naval Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar.
INS Mumbai which was to be commissioned in November last had a delayed commissioning due to problems with one of its four gas turbines, according to Captain Sanjeev Bhasin.
The 1500 tonne corvette INS Kirch, the second ship of the Kora class is fitted with surface to surface and surface to air missiles, a close range gunnery system with a high rate of fire, and a self defence system, commander Amar Kumar Mahadevan said.
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Notices served to politicians, ministers on wedding gifts
Patna,Monday, January 22, 2001: High-profile wedding of Misa, former Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Yadav's daughter has prompted the Income Tax Department to issue notices to senior ruling party leaders and ministers to explain sources of expensive gifts to the bride.
"We have asked them to explain the source of income for procurement of gifts including gold and cash worth several lakhs of rupees... And also to confirm whether they have actually presented such expensive gifts," a top department official said.
Legislative Council Chairman Jabir Hussain and former State Assembly Speaker Radhanandan Jha had already replied to the notices which had been issued over a fortnight, the official said here.
Prominent among those who have been served notices are: Finance Minister S P Tekriwal, Energy Minister Shyam Rajak, Land and Revenue Minister Ramai Ram, former ministers Tulsi Singh, Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav, Hind Kesri Yadav, the official said.
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Sonia takes plunge into Hinduism
ALLAHABAD: Congress president Sonia Gandhi took to Hinduism with telling effect
on Monday by taking a dip at the Sangam during the Mahakumbh. Sonia boarded a
motorboat from Saraswati Ghat to reach the heart of the Sangam where she took a
dip and performed puja.
With this, the Italian-born Sonia, reasserted the Brahmanical lineage of the
Nehru-Gandhi family that she had married into. Although Sonia arrived in a
silent motorcade, she created waves all over the place. In almost every tent of
devotees at the Mahakumbh, she was the topic of discussion on Monday. By the
time she went back, she had achieved her aim: public entry into Hinduism.
Wearing a sari and light brown shawl, Sonia folded her hands over clumps of
grass and incense and chanted hymns as a priest performed rituals. She then
bowed, scooped some water from the river with her hands, and sprinkled it over
her body. She lit a lamp, then stepped out of the boat and sat on a wooden
ledge, dipping her legs into the water up to knee-level. She did not immerse
herself.
Five boats travelled with Sonia preceded by police in patrol boats, blowing
whistles and ordering all boats carrying pilgrims to the bathing site to row
back. For about 45 minutes all boat traffic was halted and no one was allowed
to bathe until Sonia left.
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Boat Leaks Oil in Ecuador's Pristine Galapagos
QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) - A boat carrying fuel to Ecuador's Galapagos Islands that ran aground four days ago is leaking oil into the ecologically sensitive waters near the famous islands, the government said on Saturday.
The spill has already affected animals including sea lions and pelicans and volunteers are on standby to clean up and rescue them, an ecologist said.
Adm. Gonzalo Vega, director of Ecuador's Merchant Marine in Guayaquil, said the oil spill began late on Friday when a pipe in the boat's machine room burst, fouling the water near the islands that boast unique marine and land creatures such as iguanas and giant tortoises.
He said a second and potentially more harmful leak occurred early on Saturday, when about 1,000 gallons of a heavy fuel called IFO 120 began to spill from the craft.
"That (the IFO 120) is the dangerous part. The worst thing that would happen is that the boat would burst entirely and it would all spill," he told Reuters. "If we manage to unload the majority today, the situation will be
under control."
The Galapagos Islands, located 600 miles from the Ecuadorean shore, were visited by British naturalist Charles Darwin in 1835. His observations of island life led to the development of his theories on natural selection.
The Galapagos National Park preserves the creatures and their natural habitat, where they have evolved for thousands of years in isolation and with little human intervention.
The boat, named "Jessica", was carrying 160,000 gallons of diesel and about 80,000 gallons of IFO 120. It ran aground half a mile from the Galapagos' main port on San Cristobal Island on Tuesday.
It was on its way to service an Ecuadorean naval operation and a private tour boat operator, according to a government spokeswoman.
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India signs air agreements with Hong Kong, Russia
New Delhi,Monday, January 22, 2001: In its bid to enhance seat capacity to meet the growing demands of air travellers, government has signed bilateral agreements with Russia and Hong Kong last week and is scheduled to do so with Germany and Myanmar in the coming days.
"We have signed bilateral air services agreements with Russia and Hong Kong and will do so with other countries including Germany in a phased manner," Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav told PTI.
During the past few months, bilateral agreements have been signed with several countries including the United Kingdom, Austria, several Gulf states and Mauritius, increasing the air seat capacity by over 17,000 seats a week, he said.
In addition, all foreign airlines were last month allowed to increase their capacity and introduce larger aircraft to cater to the winter rush and ensure that passengers were not off-loaded as was done in 1999-2000.
Though the entire additional capacity was not being currently fully utilised by the airlines, Yadav said "the hue and cry has stopped this year.
"The additional requirements have been by and large fully met," the Minister said.
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27,000 SBI employees apply for VRS in four days
Kolkata,Monday, January 22, 2001: Over 26,862 employees of the State Bank of India (SBI), 11.53 per cent of the total staff strength, have applied for voluntary retirement within four days of the scheme opened on January 15.
As on January 19, the bank has received VRS applications from 15,123 officers and 11,739 clerks and 'award' staff, a highly placed source said.
The number of officers who applied for VRS comes to 24 per cent of the total number of officers of the bank.
The scheme will remain open till the end of this month.
The employees opting for VRS will receive two months of salary for each year served or full salary for the number of remaining years in service, whichever is lower. The average benefit under this formula will be Rs 7 lakh to 8 lakh per employee opting for the scheme.
Incidentally, the bank had planned to reduce the work force by ten per cent through VRS.
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Anand settles for yet another draw
Wijk Ann Zee,Monday, January 22, 2001: The spate of draws continued for world champion Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand in the Corus Grandmaster Group A chess tournament as he split points in the fifth consecutive game against Alexander Morozevich of Russia in the seventh round.
Alexei Shirov of Spain maintained his lead at 5.5 points with an easy draw against Michael Adams of England. Russians Gary Kasparov and Vladmir Kramnik, who registered seventh round victories over Vaselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine respectively, were half a point behind at the joint second. Playing white against Morozevich, Anand opened with the Queen pawn for the first time in the tournament and faced the the Russian's pet Chigorin defence. A connoisseur of this opening, Morozevich showed his profound understanding in the non-standard middlegame wherein it appeared as though Anand had all the initiative he had been looking for. The castling on different flanks paved the way for Morozevich to initiate an attack on the Queenside and Anand started to look in troubles despite his well advanced passed pawn on the Queen file. The attack soon took a dangerous shape and Anand had to pull up best resources to keep it down. In the end Morozevich ran short of time and decided to repeat the moves. The game lasted 33 moves.
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Sriram starts with a bang in Ubeda Chess tournament
Ubeda (Spain),Monday, January 22, 2001: Sriram Jha produced the biggest upset of the opening day of the Ubeda International Open chess tournament here which otherwise was one of mixed fortunes for the Indians.
Sandipan Chanda and R B Ramesh registered easy victories but K Visweswaran, Aarthie Ramaswamy and Rahul Shetty lost their first round matches on sunday. C S Gokhale and Dinesh Kumar Sharma drew their opening games. But it was Jha who took all the attention as he beat sixth seeded GM Oleg Korneev (2600) of Russia with black pieces. Sriram employed the Sicilian Pelikan variation which he rarely plays and sacrificed a pawn in the opening for better development of the pieces. Korneev clung on to the pawn and allowed Sriram to initiate a wonderful piece sacrifice on the fg3 square. Sriram then gave another pawn as clearance sacrifice and won back the piece while Korneev's King was still in the mating net. Korneev was about to loose his Queen or get mated when he decided to give up on the 27th move. IM Ramesh (2467), playing with white pieces against partially blind Draghici (2128) of Spain, got a slight advantage from the opening in a Sicilian Richter Rauzer game. The game went into long ending where Ramesh showed enough patience to win a pawn and the game in 59 moves.
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Markets
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Sensex: 4267.11, +72.65
The sensex closed at 4267.11, up 72.65
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Forex
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1 DMark = 21.99896 INR
1 FFranc = 6.559397 INR
1 U.K. Pound = 67.51998 INR
1 US $ = 46.31000 INR
1 Yen = 0.397170 INR
1 Canadian $ = 30.64 INR
1 Singapore $ = 26.68 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 12.61 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 12.35 INR
1 Euro = 43.02 INR
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Metals
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19 January
Gold Std. (10g): Rs 4440
Silver (1 Kg) : Rs 7870
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Weather
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Temperature: 72 F / 22 C
HeatIndex: 75 F / 24 C
Humidity: 70%
Dewpoint: 63 F / 17 C
Wind
NNW at 4 mph / 6.4 km/h
Pressure: 29.88 in / 1012 hPa
Conditions
Smoke
Visibility
1 miles / 2 kilometers
Sunrise : 07:14 AM (IST)
Sunset : 06:24 PM (IST)
Moon Rise : No Moon Rise
Moon Set : 04:41 PM (IST)
Tonight : Low: 66 F / 19 C Clear
Tuesday : High: 86 F / 30 C Clear
Tuesday Night : Low: 68 F / 20 C Clear
Wednesday : High: 87 F / 31 C Clear
Wednesday Night : Low: 68 F / 20 C Clear
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