Tharoor, Pushkar to get engaged on June 26

BANGALORE: With the dust kicked up by Shashi Tharoor's foray into matters cricket having settled — but not before ensuring his exit from the Union ministry — the former UN diplomat is now set for an engagement with the lady who was the cause of it all: Sunanda Pushkar.

But, ahead of his engagement with Sunanda on June 26 and 27, the former minister of state for external affairs is currently chilling out abroad. Tuesday was a day for a ferry ride from Victoria to Vancouver, with a discussion on his favourite topic — international relations. Although he is holidaying, preparations for his engagement are on in Bangalore.

As a matter of fact, Bangalore will see a mega, high-profile gathering during the Tharoor-Pushkar ring ceremony. The engagement will be held at actor Sanjay Khan's The Golden Palms Hotel and Spa on Tumkur Road, which has played host to a number of celebrity events.

The venue hosted the dream wedding of actor Hrithik Roshan with Khan's daughter, while Maharashtra Congress MLAs were housed at the Spa when former CM Vilasrao Deshmukh's government was threatened. Even CM B S Yeddyurappa held a meeting with his legislators here sometime back.

Sources at The Golden Palms confirmed to TOI the Tharoor-Pushkar engagement. Tharoor is a good friend of Sanjay.

TOI

Government offers Maoists talks as terror shadows Chhattisgarh

Raipur/New Delhi, May 18: Fear stalked large parts of Chhattisgarh as police totted the toll of the Maoist massacre the day before and disheartened security forces stayed in their camps on Tuesday, when a shutdown called by the guerrillas hit four other states and the central government reiterated its offer of talks.

The shutdown called by the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) began -- a day after 31 people were killed when the guerrillas blasted a bus in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district -- amid fears of fresh attacks and crippled life in Bastar region as well as parts of Rajnandgaon and the rural areas of Raipur and Dhamtari districts.

Rising prices remain a worry, but economy progressed

Rising prices remain a worry, but economy progressed

By Arvind Padmanabhan

Although high inflation remained a sore point during the first year of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s second term, some major steps were taken, such as a cut in fertiliser subsidy, to keep the reform process going.

Logging a 6.5-per cent growth when economies the world over were floundering and limiting the impact of the global slowdown on India were the high points of this government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an internationally recognised economist widely applauded for economically reforming India and keeping it on a high growth path.

The unveiling of a new Direct Tax Code to rewrite the five-decade-old Income Tax Act, the increase in levies on crude and transport fuels and the hikes in fertiliser prices despite political opposition were the other notable achievements. On the flip side, though, was the total silence on reviewing the foreign investment norms on a host of sectors, the lack of movement forward in opening up the financial services industry and delays in implementing a host of infrastructure projects.

“Barring inflation and less-than-anticipated progress in roads and highways, the latest UPA government has been able to live up to India Inc's expectations," said the leading corporate lobby, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham). “The government has scored seven out of 10 points in the first-year performance since it assumed office for second term on May 22, 2009,” said the chamber, based on a survey it conducted among 500 chief executives across the country. Here is a list of hits and misses of the second term of the UPA government that was somewhat relieved by the electoral verdict of the people, which ensured it no longer needs the support of Left parties in the decision-making process.

Sensex up 40 pts on global cues

MUMBAI: Erasing early losses, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today jumped over 40 points to snap two days of losses, amid positive global trends.

After touching the day's low of 16,744.13 in early trade, the 30-share index bounced to close higher by 40.20 points at 16,875.76.

Brokers said buying interest in blue-chip shares Reliance Industries, Infosys Technologies and Larsen and Toubro helped the markets erase losses and settle the day higher.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty too closed with a moderate gain of 6.30 points at 5,066.20.

Marketmen said the recent declines were overdone, given the outlook for domestic demand.

In the 30-BSE index components, 19 stocks rose while 11 ended with losses.

The world stocks rose after Wall Street rallied overnight on optimism that plans being made to bail the Euro zone out of the crisis would work out. Chinese and Hong Kong markets closed with more than 1 per cent gain, while European shares were also trading higher by the same margin.

TOI