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Headlines
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News:
Disobedience movement begins in Manipur
No CBI investigation for UTI yet
Vajpayee convenes all-party meet today
Massive rescue and relief operation in flood-hit Orissa
Nepal premier G P Koirala resigns
No Indian POWs in Pakistani jails: Pak
Musharraf upset but optimistic about talks
HC reserves verdict on anticipatory bail plea of Ketan Parekh
Financial bids received for fourth cellular slot
OREC--a Rice OPEC--Proposed for Thailand, Vietnam, India
Rupee recovers moderate ground against US dollar
Determined India to push the monkey off their back
Kumble to return to competitive cricket later this month
Indoor cricket series cancelled
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Markets:
Sensex: 3370.93, -12.48
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Forex, Metals and
Weather below
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News
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Disobedience movement begins in Manipur
Imphal,Thursday, July 19, 2001: The anti-ceasefire stir in Manipur intensified as United Committee Manipur (UCM) launched a four-day civil disobedience movement from today with thousands of people staging sit-ins across the state, official sources said.
All nationalised and other banks remained closed in response to the call by the six-body UCM, spearheading the agitation, they said.
Attendance in several offices was "thin", they said.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Committee for Maintaining Communal Harmony decided to request the UCM and pro-ceasefire United Naga Council (UNC) to hold parleys to resolve issues thrown up by the ceasefire extension, a Raj Bhavan release said.
The meeting, chaired by Governor Ved Marwah, yesterday decided to ask the UCM and UNC to take measures for ensuring communal harmony in the state.
It was also decided to ensure full protection to the minorities both in the valley and the hills to allay fears.
State leaders including former Chief Ministers Rishang Keishing and R K Ranbir Singh, advisors to Governor K Kipgen and E Ram Mohan, writer M K Binodini Devi, Chief Secretary Rakesh and DGP A A Siddique also attended the meeting.
A six-member UCM team is now in Delhi, meeting central leaders and prominent personalities to explain the threat posed by the extension of the truce to the territorial integrity of Manipur, UCM sources added.
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No CBI investigation for UTI yet
Despite Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha’s assurance nine days ago that there would be an independent probe into the functioning of UTI under its ex-chief P Subramanyam’s tenure, the country’s investigating agencies have yet to be given the formal go-ahead for investigating the case. Even more interesting, despite telling a press conference that the finance ministry would be enquiring into the role of the heads of various financial institutions who were on UTI’s board, the finance ministry is yet to take any action.
The lack of action against Subramanyam is especially curious since Sinha had also told the country’s press that he had some specific information about Subramanyam but was not prepared to disclose what that was. Sinha, sources say, was referring to an interim CBI report, prepared by the agency’s Mumbai staff, on some suspicious purchases of UTI and a possible link with Ketan Parekh. The report was sent to Sinha around a fortnight before Subramanyam was asked to put in his papers.
At the press conference Sinha was asked if he planned to sack the heads of institutions like SBI, LIC and IDBI who were on UTI’s board, and clearly knew how bad things were in the institution — and who changed the provisions of the UTI Act between June 28 and 30, to allow a freeze in the sale/repurchase of US-64. At that time Sinha said he would inquire into their role as well. So far, UTI sources say, the finance ministry has not yet asked UTI for any information on the role of the financial institution directors.
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Vajpayee convenes all-party meet today
New Delhi,Thursday, July 19, 2001: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has convened an all-party meeting today to discuss the recently concluded Agra Summit which ended in a deadlock.
"The Prime Minister will seek the opinion of all parties tomorrow (Thursday) evening on the Agra Summit," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan Wednesday said.
Vajpayee, who will be meeting leaders of all Parliamentary parties, had a series of meetings with the opposition parties and the NDA before he left for Agra on July 14 to hold crucial talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
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Massive rescue and relief operation in flood-hit Orissa
Bhubaneswar,Thursday, July 19, 2001: A massive rescue and relief operation, assisted by Indian Air Force helicopters, was mounted in Orissa as the flood situation in the state turned critical claiming 35 lives and affecting over five million people in the coastal areas.
The grim situation would continue for the next few days since the catchment areas of the Mahanadi were likely to receive heavy rains during the next 48 hours under the influence of a low pressure system moving in a north-north- westerly direction, state chief secretary D P Bagchi said.
Bagchi said about a million people mostly in the districts of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Nayagarh and Cuttack had been marooned in the swirling flood waters.
Four MI-8 helicopters of the IAF made 12 sorties during the day dropping food packets in Kantilo, Banki, Mahanga and Biridi blocks.
The air-dropping operation, which was hampered due to inclement weather, would be stepped up tomorrow with the arrival of two more choppers, he said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made an aerial survey of the flooded areas before making a review of the situation at a high level meeting.
Bagchi said the state government had relaxed the norm for gratuitous relief given by the collectors to the flood-hit people and had empowered them to go beyond the stipulated seven day period wherever necessary.
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Nepal premier G P Koirala resigns
Kathmandu,Thursday, July 19, 2001: Nepal's Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala resigned today after a decade in power in the face of a Maoist insurgency, a bribery scandal and recriminations over the royal family massacre.
Koirala, prime minister for most of the 10 years since Nepal has had a democratic government, handed his resignation to King Gyanendra.
International new agencies have reported that opposition had been demanding Koirala's resignation over the June one palace massacre that wiped out most of Nepal's royal family and the government's suspected involvement in a bribery scandal involving the national airline.
More than 1,600 rebels, security personnel and civilians have been killed in the Maoist insurgency since it began in 1996. The rebels, who model themselves after Peru's Shining Path guerrillas, have intensified their attacks on the police in the past few weeks, kidnapping the entire staff of remote village police stations.
Despite the government's deployment of the army for the first time in an operation last week to rescue 70 policemen, the guerrillas escaped with more than 70 policemen hostages.
A democracy movement 10 years ago forced the previous King, allegedly assassinated by his son and heir on June one, to abolish absolute monarchy and change the Himalayan Kingdom's feudal laws.
The prime minister faced down a rebellion in his own Nepali Congress Party a few months ago.
The party controls 113 seats in the 205-seat House of Representatives, the lower house. But it lacks a majority in the upper house, having lost a June 28 election. That stalls adoption of new laws.
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No Indian POWs in Pakistani jails: Pak
Islamabad,Thursday, July 19, 2001: Pakistan has said there are no Indian Prisoners of War (POWs) in its jails but Islamabad is ready to trace them again if New Delhi provided clues about their presence.
During the Agra summit, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee raised the issue with President Pervez Musharraf of the presence of 54 Indian POWs still languishing in Pakistani jails and demanded their immediate release and return to India. Musharraf had promised to look into the matter.
"We don't have any such prisoners in our jails," Pakistan Interior Secretary Tasneem Noorani told a newspaper here.
"A total of 135 Indian nationals were found detained in different Pakistani jails. Not only that none of them was a POW but also over 70 of them were waiting for Indian government's arrangements to take them back to India," Noorani told 'the News.'
Noorani said a similar exercise can be conducted again for India's satisfaction if New Delhi passed on to the Pakistani authorities any clue about the presence of its POWs.
"We will again undertake a similar exercise if it is required so. But if they (India or the relatives of missing soldiers) have any clue they should pass it on to us for investigation," he said.
The Interior Secretary supported Musharraf's view that there was no reason to keep Indian POWs (of 1971 war) in Pakistani jails for 30 years.
Some POWs might be useful for the enemy country but what could Pakistan gain out of any Indian POWs for 30 long years, he said.
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Musharraf upset but optimistic about talks
Islamabad,Thursday, July 19, 2001: Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has said that he was upset about the outcome of the Agra Summit but at the same time asserted that the talks were not deadlocked and he was hopeful of resolving the differences with India.
"I am upset but still optimistic and determined to pursue the process of dialogue with India," he told a joint meeting of the Cabinet and the National Security Council, (NSC) meeting yesterday, reports in the Pakistan media said today.
Gen. Musharraf stated at the meeting that there was no deadlock in the talks and both the countries would continue to hold dialogue to sort out differences.
The President told the Joint meeting that he was still hopeful about resolving issues with India, the 'Dawn' quoted Pakistan Information Secretary, Sayed Anwar Mehamood as saying.
He also said that Gen. Musharraf would be formally sending a invitation to Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee to visit Pakistan. Vajpayee has informally accepted the invitation when it was personally extended by Gen. Musharraf during his visit.
Giving details of the meeting, Mehamood stated that "the President said that he was hopeful that talks would soon resume between the two sides. The military ruler also hoped that he would be meeting Vajpayee at the UN General Assembly meeting at New York this September.
Gen. Musharraf informed the Cabinet and the NSC members that although no declaration could be issued at the end of the summit, the talks went off well and that there was renewed understanding on both the sides on many issues including Kashmir, according to the daily.
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HC reserves verdict on anticipatory bail plea of Ketan Parekh
Mumbai,Thursday, July 19, 2001: Mumbai High Court today reserved till tomorrow its judgement on anticipatory bail plea of Ketan Parekh, stock broker and prime accused in the multi-crore pay order scam, who is fearing arrest on fresh charge of siphoning off huge amount of money from India to his Swiss Bank account.
The verdict was reserved by Justice A B Palkar who heard arguments at length.
Parekh filed the petition in the wake of reports which indicated that his Swiss Bank account had been frozen following a request from Interpol at the behest of CBI. Fearing arrest, he moved the court for anticipatory bail.
Parekh filed an affidavit today contending that he did not have any account in Swiss Bank and refuted CBI allegations that millions of Swiss Francs were deposited therein.
Parekh categorically denied CBI's claim that he had siphoned off the money allegedly acquired from the scam involving funds of Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank (MMCB). CBI had alleged on July 5 that this money was deposited in Swiss Bank.
Parekh's counsel Mahesh Jethmalani argued that his client had already been arrested and kept in custody for 56 days in regard to pay order scam involving Rs 137 crore. Hence his custodial interrogation was not required and he could not be arrested again for offences relating to the same transaction.
Additional Solicitor General, Harish Salve, justified Ketan's custodial interrogation saying his arrest was being sought in regard to a different transaction. He prayed for dismissal of Ketan's anticipatory bail petition.
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Financial bids received for fourth cellular slot
New Delhi,Thursday, July 19, 2001: Government today received the final financial bids for the fourth cellular slot, but it was not clear as to when a decision would be announced in the wake of stay by Mumbai High Court on a petition filed by the employees of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL).
No official comments were available but industry sources said that bids have been submitted by the telecom players already in the fray to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) although a clear picture is yet to emerge on the opening of bids.
VSNL employees had recently moved the High Court challenging government's decision restraining the PSU from participating in the process of bidding for the fourth cellular slot.
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OREC--a Rice OPEC--Proposed for Thailand, Vietnam, India
Thailand has invited India to join with Vietnam and itself as pioneers in the formation of an Organization of Rice Exporting Countries (OREC, the acronym is a play on OPEC, or Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) to avoid price undercutting in the global rice market, India's Business Standard reported on July 14.
"We invite India to join us in developing OREC. Such an arrangement will benefit our farmers significantly because their income will increase, and prices will be more stable,"
Thailand's foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai said at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Thailand and Vietnam have already entered into a rice pool arrangement to avoid price undercutting on exports, he said.
"India joining such an agreement can ultimately lead to the formation of OREC," Sathirathai added.
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Rupee recovers moderate ground against US dollar
Mumbai,Thursday, July 19, 2001: The Rupee recovered moderate ground against the US currency early today on fresh exporter dollar sales and unwinding of long positions by banks in fairly active but slightly nervous trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market.
The Rupee was quoted at Rs.47.14/15 per dollar in late morning deals, sharply higher from the record-low overnight closing quote of Rs.47.16/17. The Rupee, however, opened on a distinctly weak note at Rs.47.17/18.
"The Rupee threatened to move lower after opening at Rs.47.17/18, but renewed exporter dollar sales led banks to unwind long positions in the absence of follow of demand, which helped the Rupee to recover early lost ground", a forex dealer said.
The Rupee ended at its lowest-ever close of Rs.47.16/17 yesterday's after a late bout of heavy dollar demand from banks pulled the currency down. The Rupee had plunged to historic-low of Rs.47.20/21 in intraday deals on July 3.
In cross currency trades, the Euro was quoted at Rs 41.13/15, Pound Sterling at Rs 66.97/99 and the Japanese Yen (100) at Rs 38.05/07.
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Determined India to push the monkey off their back
Colombo,Thursday, July 19, 2001: Shrugging off the absence of the redoubtable Sachin Tendulkar, a determined India will strive to overcome the disappointments of recent past as they start their campaign in the one-day triangular series with a day-night encounter against New Zealand here tomorrow.
India have of late built up a rather dubious reputation - that of doing exceptionally well in the league matches but stumbling in the final. This time around, without Tendulkar to fall back upon during the entire tournament, the going may be tougher in the run up to the final as well and the pressure will be greater on the batsmen. The Indian team, which was expecting the maestro to join it before the final, received a rude jolt when Tendulkar yesterday ruled himself out of the tri-series due to a hairline fracture in the right big toe. The one most vulnerable to pressure could be dashing left-handed opener Amay Khurasia who has the uneviable task of filling in for the master blaster as skipper Saurav Ganguly's opening partner. Ganguly, thankfully back in form with a couple of half centuries in the one-dayers in Zimbabwe and in full flow in yesterday's warm-up game against Sri Lanka 'A' with an unbeaten 74 off 58 balls peppered with five sixes, will be expected to lead by example. Support for Ganguly must come from V V S Laxman, who has not been able to get big scores after the series against Australia, and the ever-dependable Rahul Dravid. The latter was also in good nick in the practice game with a well-struck 59 but the other batsmen, especially Virendra Sehwag and Hemang Badani need to bridge a widening gap between potential and performance. India's bowling will have to revolve around left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan and off-spin sensation Harbhajan Singh. The team management may opt for a second spinner by inducting Rahul Sanghvi, given the sluggish nature of the wicket here. Zaheer Khan took four wickets in yesterday's practice match and his fast bowling partners could be any two from among Debashis Mohanty, Ajit Agarkar and Ashish Nehra. All-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi, who shared an 84-run partnership with his skipper yesterday and impressed with the bat in Zimbabwe, and wicketkeeper Sameer Dighe can be expected to provide solidity to the late middle-order which often appears fragile once the top four batsmen are out.
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Kumble to return to competitive cricket later this month
Bangalore,Thursday, July 19, 2001: After an injury lay-off of several months, leg-spinner Anil Kumble will return to full-fledged competitive cricket later this month testing his fitness at the higher level of the game.
Kumble, out of cricketing action after his shoulder injury in January last, has been named captain of the Karnataka State Cricket Association XI in the KSCA Diamond Jubilee All India Invitation Tournament for Coromandel Cement Trophy here. The Tournament is scheduled to be played here betwen July 28 and August 15, is expected to give a clear picture on the status of his fitness. Test discards Venkatesh Prasad and Sunil Joshi are also part of the KSCA team. Kumble earlier this month appeared in a match representing his alma mater club Young Cricketers in the KSCA-Coca Cola third division league tournament against Dooravani Cricketers. In that match, he had come up with figures of three for 49 as his team won by two runs in a thrilling encounter. But Kumble, who had bagged 550 international wickets - 276 in tests and 274 in one-dayers - had then complained that the rythm was not returning and the shoulder needed to cope with the strain. He had said he expected to be fit well in time for the South African Tour in October. "I don't want to hurry things and have a relapse. I want to be 100 per cent sure".
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Indoor cricket series cancelled
Sydney,Thursday, July 19, 2001: The Australian Cricket Board today announced the cancellation of the one-day international indoor series in September this year following the inability of the Indian team to participate in the event.
The matches which were scheduled to be held at Melbourne and Brisbane on September 21, 23 and 26, were cancelled following advice from the Indian Board that it was no longer able to take part in the series, ACB said in a press release here today. "The President of BCCI, Dr A C Muthiah, has confirmed that India can no longer meet its commitment to the three-match tour after holding recent discussions with the Indian players and hearing their concerns about the team's heavy workload," it said.
ACB Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said whilst he was disappointed at the outcome, ACB would continue to work with BCCI to bring the Indian team to Australia for future series.
Sutherland said the unforeseen gap in the programme now provided ACB management with the opportunity to develop a long-term strategic plan for the indoor cricket concept.
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Sensex: 3370.93, -12.48
The sensex closed at 3370.93, down 12.48
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Forex
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1 U.S. $ = 47.07 INR
1 Japanese Yen = 0.38 INR
1 British Pound = 66.72 INR
1 Canadian $ = 30.57 INR
1 Singapore $ = 25.78 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 12.81 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 12.55 INR
1 Euro = 41.13 INR
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Metals
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Weather
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Temperature: 78 F / 26 C
HeatIndex: 81 F / 27 C
Humidity: 91%
Dewpoint: 76 F / 25 C
Wind: WSW at 5 mph / 8.0 km/h
Pressure: 29.69 in / 1005 hPa
Conditions: Light Rain
Visibility: 1 miles / 2 kilometers
Sunrise : 06:11 AM (IST)
Sunset : 07:19 PM (IST)
Moon Rise : 05:22 AM (IST)
Moon Set : 06:01 PM (IST)
Tonight : Low: 73 F / 23 C Chance of a Thunderstorm
Friday : High: 82 F / 28 C Chance of a Thunderstorm
Friday Night : Low: 73 F / 23 C Chance of a Thunderstorm
Saturday : High: 82 F / 28 C Chance of a Thunderstorm
Saturday Night : Low: 73 F / 23 C Thunderstorm
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