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Andhra Pradesh reimposes ban on Maoists
Hyderabad, Aug 17 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh government today reimposed the ban on maoist groups operating in the state.
Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy signed the order banning CPI(Maoists) and four of its front organisations.
The decision comes hours after the Union Home Ministry gave its green signal to the state government for reimposing the ban on the naxalite groups in the wake of spurt in violence, especially the killing of Congress MLA C Narsi Reddy, his son and seven others in Mehboob Nagar district on Monday. PTI
Govt eases restrictions on Hurriyat leaders to travel to Pakistan
New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Signalling easing of travel restrictions on Kashmiri separatist leaders, the Government has allowed former Hurriyat Conference Chairman Maulana Abbas Ansari to travel to Pakistan for attending a Shia conference.
Ansari, who arrived here last evening from Srinagar, left for Karachi this afternoon by a PIA aircraft where he would be attending the conference. He is likely to travel to Saudi Arabia later, informed sources said.
The Government had had in the past denied permission to Hurriyat leaders to travel to Pakistan after one of its leaders Sheikh Aziz had indulged in anti-India propaganda.
The Hurriyat leaders were given the passport before their visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in May this year to facilitate their visit to Islamabad. However, breaching the understanding, Pakistan allowed Hurriyat leaders to travel to Islamabad without stamping their passport.
Last week, founding Chairman of Hurriyat Mirwaiz Umer Farooq also left for Jeddah and later to Saudi Arabia before reaching London. PTI
Centre under pressure to make law on quota
New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Government today came under increasing pressure from allied political parties and Members of Parliament for a legislation to overturn the Supreme Court judgement abolishing government quotas in private unaided colleges, prompting two senior Cabinet ministers to say that the Centre was committed to the reservation policy.
HRD Minister Arjun Singh told the Lok Sabha that he has convened a meeting of state ministers in charge of professional education in Delhi on Aug 27 to evolve a national approach to last week's apex Court ruling.
An all-party meeting would be convened before the end of the current session of Parliament to discuss the issue, he added.
Delegations of MPs from Tamil Nadu comprising parties of the UPA, headed by the DMK, and a separate Left parties leaders group met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to bring a Central legislation to provide for reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in self-financing higher educaitonal institutions.
The MPs and political parties were of the view that the Supreme Court judgement was a "direct blow" to social justice. PTI
Asian XI elect to field in Afro-Asia Cup opener
Centurion (South Africa), Aug 17 (PTI) Asian XI captain Inzamam-ul Haq won the toss and elected to field against African XI in the opening one-day international of the Afro-Asian Cup cricket tournament here today.
This is the inaugural edition of the inter-continental event which was planned after the formation of the Afro-Asian Cricket Co-operation, with Asian Cricket Council chief Jagmohan Dalmiya as its first chairman, earlier this year.
The Asian squad features players from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh while the African squad is a collection of players from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.
South African bowler Shaun Pollock replaced compatriot Graeme Smith as African team skipper following the latter's ban for slow over rate. Smith is expected to return for the last match of the series.
The event features three one-dayers with the second and third to be played at Durban on August 20 and 21.
The teams: Africa XI: Shaun Pollock (captain), AB de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Kallis, Justin Ontong, Ashwell Prince, Nicky Boje, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn (South Africa); Steve Tikolo, Thomas Odoyo (Kenya).
Asian XI: Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan); Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra (India); Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka). PTI
Geet Sethi, Mehta start Bahrain snooker with win
New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Aditya Mehta got off to a winning start, beating Ehab El Agamy in his opening encounter in the World Under-21 and Seniors snooker championship at Manama, Bahrain.
Mehta recorded a 78-2, 67-24, 70-33, 10-61, 77-17 win in the championship which also saw ace cueist Geet Sethi starting off with a win in the seniors category.
Sethi recorded two good breaks of 51 and 34 enroute to his 68-13 93-33 14-66 73-40 win over local player Guloom Abbas.
Mehta and Sethi's wins last night followed world champion Pankaj Advani's victory earlier in the day. PTI
Tendulkar starts mild practice
Mumbai, Aug 17 (PTI) Sachin Tendulkar has started light practice since yesterday and said he was taking one step at a time in getting fit after undergoing elbow surgery in May last.
The master batsman also sounded cautious about whether he would be able to play in the two-Test series against Zimbabwe next month for which he has been selected subject to getting fit.
"I started practising yesterday. It was not a full session. I batted against season (cricket) balls bowled at a slow pace of 40 kph and not 90 mph which I have to face in matches. I faced around 35-40 balls," Tendulkar said today.
"I have to take gradual steps (to get fit). The next step would be to practice longer with the season (cricket) ball. I used to practice with a special ball, something which is in between (in hardness) a tennis and season ball so that the impact (on his operated elbow) is not too much," the ace batsman said.
Asked whether he would be fit for the second half of the Zimbabwe tour, Tedulkar said, "it's too early to say as I have started practising only yesterday," he said.
Tendulkar said he had not rushed his comeback into the national team last time around when he played two Tests against Australia and then took part in the full series in Bangladesh as well as the home rubber against Pakistan. PTI
Chidambaram pinpoints defects in strategic sale of PSUs
New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Crossing swords with his predecessor Yashwant Sinha, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today disputed NDA's claim on strategic sale of PSUs, saying it can never be a preferred route for disinvestment.
"UPA has rejected this NDA policy, as strategic sale raises more questions than it answers," he said, pointing to a number of defects in valuation of assets, bidding process, reserve price and post closure adjustment claims.
He countered the claims of Sinha that strategic sale of PSUs ensured a higher Price-Earning Ratio (P/E) of their shares, saying there was no difference in the ratio whether disinvestment was done through book-build public offers or the previous practice of strategic sale.
Chidambaram also took cudgels against Sinha for accusing UPA of derailing reforms, and said they are meant to accelerate growth and all economic fundamentals indicate that the Manmohan Singh government had precisely achieved it.
He also said the government had not made any new announcement with regard to abandoning strategic sale or retaining at least 51 per cent government stake in PSU banks, as these objectives have been clearly laid down in the National Common Minimum Programme.
Elaborating on the defects of the strategic sale route, he cited Balco privatisation and said it had raised questions on the valuation of assets by taking into account only the productive assets and excluded unproductive assets. PTI
Sensex up by 31 pts, small-cap by 84 pts
Mumbai, Aug 17 (PTI) The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share Sensex and Small-cap index today rallied smartly in an otherwise lacklustre activity during morning trading and was quoted up by 31 points on fairly good buying support.
The benchmark Sensex (Sensitive Index) opened moderately up at 7771.78 as against yesterday's close of 7768.24 and later fluctuated in a range of 7799.79 and 7735.37 before being quoted at 7799.68 at 10.30 am, up by 31.44 points.
The BSE Mid-Cap Index were quoted up by about 39 points and the Small-Cap Index by about 84 points during late morning deals over previous close.
Investors have shifted their attention to small-cap and mid-cap counters after Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) adopted a cautious approach in the last few days, brokers said adding, local funds, however, were heavy buyers in small-cap counters.
FIIs reported net investments of Rs 275 crore on Friday while domestic funds made net purchases of Rs 505.61 crore on the same day.
Indian Financial Institutions were believed to be buyers, mainly in small-cap and mid-cap segments.
Blue chip stocks like Tata Steel, RIL, ONGC, Infosys Tech Hindalco, HDFC Bank and Grasim were quoted remarkably up on keen demand from investors. PTI
Rupee reacts slightly downward against USD in early trade
Mumbai, Aug 17 (PTI) The Rupee reacted slightly downward against the US currency early today on moderate corporate dollar demand in extremely quiet but cautious trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market.
Opening on a soft note at 43.5325/5375 per dollar, the Rupee moved down to 43.5400/5450 per dollar in late morning deals due to steady dollar demand on the back of fresh rise in crude oil prices.
The Rupee ended at 43.5250/5325 per dollar yesterday.
The forex spot trade remained subdued and within narrow bands due to lack of market moving factors.
Sporadic dollar demand from oil corporates exerted mild pressure on the currency amidst a cash dollar scare in the system, a forex dealer said.
However, steady FIIs inflows into equity market remain a comforting factor for the rupee, he added.
World crude oil prices were hovering around USD 66.21 a barrel in early Asian trade today due to supply concerns.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have injected around USD 4 billion during June-August 15, 2005.
FIIs have invested USD 7.34 (Rs.32,059 crore) in the equity market during the current calender year so far.
Turning to cross currency trades, the Euro was quoted at Rs 53.68/70, Pound Sterling at Rs 78.68/70 and the Japanese Yen (100) Rs 39.73/75. PTI
BJP to oppose FDI in retail sector
New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) The Opposition BJP today decided to steadfastly oppose FDI in retail sector and any attempts by the UPA Government to "dilute" the Employment Guarantee Scheme.
A meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Party, chaired by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also favoured continuation of reservation for Scheduled Cates and Tribes in the five southern states affected by the recent Supreme Court Judgement against reservation in private unaided educational institutions.
The hour-long weekly meeting also demanded that geography should also be a criterion alongwith population in the current delimitation exercise, BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman V K Malhotra told reporters here. PTI
Fuel prices may not be hiked till end of Parliament session
New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Petrol and diesel prices are unlikely to be changed before the end of the current monsoon session of Parliament, a top official said today.
"We do not see the Cabinet deciding on increasing prices till the end of next week," the official said.
The monsoon session of Parliament ends on August 26.
The price hike seems imminent with no signs of a let up in global crude oil prices that are still hovering around 66 dollars a barrel.
All state-run oil marketing companies posted net losses for the first quarter this fiscal and are pressing for a hefty hike in fuel prices to avoid turning financially sick.
Indian Oil Corp, the country's largest oil firm, has sought a steep Rs 4.54 per litre hike in diesel and Rs 5.29 per litre increase in petrol prices. The company has also sought Rs 11.25 per litre increase in kerosene prices and a massive Rs 92 hike in price of LPG cylinder.
According to the Petroleum Ministry's estimates, IOC will turn sick in 35 months from now if prices are not changed in line with the spurt in global oil prices.
However, since such a steep increase in fuel prices might not be politically feasible for the government in view of the stiff opposition from the Left parties, the Petroleum Ministry has proposed an increase of Rs 1-2 per litre in petrol and diesel prices and cut in excise duty on them to offset the impact of surging global oil prices. PTI
2 killed, 138 injured in near simultaneous Bangla blasts
From Nadeem Qadir
Dhaka, Aug 17 (PTI) About 400 small bombs, suspected to have been planted by an Islamic militant outfit, exploded almost simultaneously in cities and towns across Bangladesh today killing at least two persons, including a child, and injuring 138.
A security alert was sounded all over the country immediately after the explosions which occurred between 11.00 am and 11.30 am (local time), targeting government offices, courts and press clubs in all but one of the 64 districts in the first such attack in the politically volatile Bangladesh.
No organisation has claimed the responsibility for the blasts but police suspected involvement of outlawed militant outfit Jamiat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh after recovering leaflets under its name from the blast sites which demanded implementation of Islamic law in the country.
At least 46 suspects have been arrested from different parts of the country, sources said.
The private NTV television channel said at least 138 people were injured in nearly 400 explosions of crude bombs. A rickshaw puller and a child died in the blasts.
"This is not a scattered incident, but an organised one," State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Baber told reporters at his office. "In such attacks it is possible that a motive is there." "We had intelligence report about such incident, but that time had expired," he said, referring to reports of the possible attacks on 14h, 15th or 16th August.PTI
Security tightened ahead of Pak local body polls
K J M Varma
Islamabad, Aug 17 (PTI) Pakistan today deployed thousands of security personnel across the country ahead of local body polls, being termed by President Pervez Musharraf as a "silent democratic revolution".
The three-phased polls beginning tommorrow, officially contested on a non-political basis, would end on September 29. However, political parties are involved in a big way in the polls, mounting security concerns leading to the deployment of para-military forces and policemen in large numbers.
The polls comes amid speculation that President Pervez Musharraf is toyed with the idea of getting re-elected in 2007 by seeking endorsement from local body representatives.
The elections will be conducted all over the country barring capital Islamabad and the military cantonments. The government has invited foreign observers to oversee the polls and Commonwealth has already sent 10 observers.
Opposition parties, the Alliance of Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and Islamist alliance Muthahida Majlis Amal (MMA) have alleged pre-poll rigging by government in favour of ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q, while the MMA itself was at the receiving end in the North West Frontier Province.
Just ahead of the polls, the MMA and the Islamist groups yesterday suffered a major setback as the Supreme Court de-recognised matriculation and equivalent certificates issued by madrasas based on which many persons were contesting.
Dubbed by Musharraf as "a silent democratic revolution aimed at establishing sustainable democracy", the local body elections were being conducted under this regime for the second time, the first being in 2000. PTI
Indians to leave Neveh settlement in Gaza strip
Harinder Mishra
Eshkol (Israel), August 17 (PTI) Indians in Neveh Dekalim settlement of Gaza Strip said they had "accepted their fate" and were ready to leave as thousands of Israeli security forces entered the area to evict Jewish settlers who refused to move out voluntarily.
"It is unthinkable for us to fight against our own army. What is depressing is the way our contribution to this country has been ignored and how we have been made to look like miscreants," Avin Gangte, the leader of the Bnei Menashe community, hailing from Manipur and Mizoram, told PTI.
Indians form the single largest immigrant community in the Gaza Strip.
"Evacuation looks inevitable and we can't get violent against our own people. There have been clashes here since the morning but we have accepted this fate and will move out if that's what the government wants," a community member told PTI asking not to be named.
Israeli security forces have encountered violent resistance from settlers and pullout opponents who had infiltrated into this largest settlement of the Gaza Strip.
The protestors, who were opposing the Israeli pullout, threw eggs and water bottles at security force personnel as they entered the area to forcibly evict them following the expiry of the deadline to leave the settlement voluntarily.
"Police scuffled with a large crowd, grabbed settlers and pushed them into buses," Amos, a witness, said.
Police arrested about 20 protesters and placed them on a bus. PTI
Sena crisis blows over, cousins patch up
The controversy over Shiv Sena leader Raj Thackeray's remarks regarding the removal of "inactive" members from the party posts, seemed to have subsided at least for now with Raj stating that all his grievances have been sorted out during his meeting with Sena chief Bal Thackeray today.
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Sensex: 7859.53, +91.29
The sensex closed at 7859.53, up 91.29
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______Forex_______
1 U.S. $ = 43.4680 INR
1 Japanese Yen = 0.3960 INR
1 British Pound = 78.6466 INR
1 Canadian $ = 36.2052 INR
1 Singapore $ = 26.1919 INR
1 UAE Dirham = 11.8316 INR
1 Saudi Arabian Riyal = 11.5893 INR
1 Euro = 53.4439 INR
1 Qatar Rial = 11.9385 INR
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