Maoists kill Congress leader in Jharkhand

Maoists kill Congress leader in Jharkhand

RANCHI, June 30: In two separate incidents, Maoists have killed a Congress leader and a building contractor as their two-day strike began in Jharkhand on Wednesday, police said.

Maoists killed contractor Kedar Munda in Khuti district, around 65 Km from Ranchi, after abducting him from his Salehatu village Wednesday morning. His body was recovered from nearby jungle, police said.

In the other incident, rebels killed a local Congress leader, Bardhan Kachhu, in Garwah district. He was abducted from his Barkol village Tuesday night. His body was recovered Wednesday.

Maoists in many districts have asked Congress leaders to quit the party. They blame the Congress for the current security offensive against them.

Rail and road services were hit in Jharkhand today on the first day of a two-day strike in five states, officials said. The national highways wore a deserted look as trucks were stranded at many places and long-route buses did not ply.

This is the second two-day strike called by the Communist Party of India-Maoist in June. It covers Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

RIL, financial shares push Sensex up by 167 pts

RIL, financial shares push Sensex up by 167 pts

MUMBAI, June 30: The BSE benchmark Sensex today recouped early losses to end the day higher by 167 points after a firm opening in European bourses buoyed the sentiment.

The 30-share index closed at 17,700.90, up 166.81 points, or 0.95 per cent, after RIL and financial stocks rallied at the fag-end of trading.

The National Stock Exchange’s wide-based 50-share Nifty Index added 1.07 per cent to finish at 5,312.50 points. Reliance Industries (RIL) ended up close to 2 per cent amid reports that the petrochemicals giant is close to signing a JV deal with US-based private equity and hedge fund giant DE Shaw. The deal, when signed, will see the Mukesh Ambani-led company entering into the financial services sector. Energy major RIL has been on gaining spree since petrol prices were deregulated last Friday, barring its 2 per cent loss yesterday when the markets were hammered.

Banking stocks bounced back, a day after being battered on fears of an imminent rate hike. ICICI Bank rose 1.55 per cent, HDFC Bank 0.57 per cent and HDFC 1.36 per cent. SBI, which fixed its base rate at 7.5 per cent, rose 0.31 per cent. Marketmen said that contrary to expectations that markets would linger in the red on account of global hiccups, the bourses showed strong resilience.

TRAI raises FDI limit for DTH, FM radio

NEW DELHI: Telecom regulator TRAI on Wednesday raised the foreign investment limit for broadcast carriage services like DTH to 74 per cent and that in FM radio to 26 per cent.

The investment limit for news and current affairs TV channels has been retained at 26 per cent. The foreign investment limit for local cable operators (LCO) will be 26 per cent.

The FDI limit for broadcast carriage services ie DTH, IPTV, Mobile TV, HITS, Teleport and MSOs who are upgrading to digital and addressable environment will be 74 per cent.

The foreign investment limits will be 26 per cent for news and current affairs TV channels and FM radio. While for TV and current news channels, the limit has been retained, for FM radio the cap has been raised from 20 per cent to 26 per cent.

Maintaining the status quo, there will be no restrictions on foreign investments for uplinking and downlinking of TV channels other than news and current affairs.

All Foreign investment less than 26 per cent will be through automatic route. Investments of 26 per cent and above will require prior approval of the government.

The ministry of information and broadcasting has requested Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to review its recommendations dated April 26, 2008 on foreign investment in broadcasting sector in the light of recent changes in FDI policy.

The consolidated FDI policy dated March 31, 2010 issued by the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) has come into effect since April one, 2010.

This policy has modified the methodology of calculation of foreign investment in Indian companies.

The ministry had recently said that it has restarted issuing licences for new television channels, but it will not accept any fresh applications until the TRAI recommendations come.

The regulator was studying the existing disparities in FDI limits in different sections of the media sector.

The government had stopped issuing licences to launch new television channels a few years back as it felt that many of the pending nearly 500 applications are not serious players and hence it wanted to keep away non-serious/fly-by night players from the market.

It was also forced by the limited availability of the radio waves for the industry.

TOI

LG launches 2 touchscreen phones

NEW DELHI: LG has refreshed its touchscreen lineup in the country with the launch of two mid-range phones -- Cookie Fresh GS290 and Cookie Plus GS500v.

Sporting a sleek look, LG GS290 features a 3-inch LCD touchscreen display with 240x400 pixel resolution. The phone has a 2 megapixel camera and a built in Oxford dictionary. GS290 has a 28MB of internal memory that can be expanded upto 16GB.

The phone also features a one touch access to social networking sites with a dedicated Facebook interface. The handset supports MPEG 4 videos and video editing. Other multimedia features include FM tuner with recorder, 3.5 mm earphone jack and an MP3 audio playback.

The phone's battery promises upto 5 hours of talktime and upto 390 hours of standby time.

The second model LG Cookie Plus GS500v sports a 3-inch LCD touchscreen display and has a 3 megapixel camera. The phone's key features include one touch social networking, editable screen shot, MMS and a 3-way user interface.

The handset offers support for 3G connectivity and comes with Facebook auto update feature. The phone has 30MB of internal memory that can be expanded upto 8GB.

LG Cookie Fresh GS290 will come for Rs 6,199 while the LG Cookie Plus GS500v is priced at Rs 7,999.

TOI

Oil firms to invest $1.1bn: Govt

NEW DELHI: Oil minister Murli Deora said on Wednesday companies have committed an investment of $1.1 billion in the eighth oil and gas blocks auction round held in 2009.

Deora said, later in the day, India will be signing contracts for 31 exploration blocks awarded to 23 companies, including BHP Billiton Petroleum International, BG Exploration and Production and Cairn IndiaCAIL in the eighth round.

"Out of (the) 31 blocks, 17 blocks are awarded to national oil companies like ONGC, Oil India Ltd and NTPC," Deora said in his written speech at the event to sign the contracts for the blocks.

India aims to launch the ninth round of oil and gas blocks licensing in the third quarter of 2010, Deora said.

"...The total investment under the earlier NELP (new exploration licensing policy) rounds stands at $13.8 billion," he said, referring to the earlier seven auction rounds.

TOI

PM calls meeting to discuss situation in Kashmir

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a high-level meeting this evening to discuss the situation in Kashmir, which has seen unrest for the last four days.

The meeting will be attended by union home minister P Chidambaram and senior officials of his ministry, Prime Minister's Office and from security agencies.

Chidambaram is expected to brief the meeting on his discussions with Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.

The meeting is expected to take note of intelligence reports suggesting that certain elements from Pakistan were trying to foment trouble in the valley.

National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon is also likely to attend the meeting.

PTI

Kashmir has been on the boil due to protests over killings of youth in alleged CRPF firing.

Sensex ends 167 points higher in volatile trade

STAFF WRITER 16:9 HRS IST
Mumbai, June 30 (PTI) In choppy trade, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today ended nearly 167 points higher on buying support which emerged after a strong opening in European bourses.The 30-share index settled at 17,700.90 points, a rise of 166.81 points, or 0.95 per cent, from the previous close.The index for a brief period dipped into negative terrain in opening trade, falling as much as 160.31 points.The National Stock Exchange index Nifty closed 56.35 points, or 1.07 per cent higher, at 5,312.50 points. It moved in a range of 5,210.00 to 5,315.55 during the session.Brokers said trading sentiment turned bullish following the firm opening in European markets and a partial recovery on Asian bourses.Covering-up of short positions by investors also had a positive impact, they added.

Suzuki Motorcycle India sales jump 44 pc in June 2010

STAFF WRITER 16:12 HRS IST
New Delhi, June 30 (PTI) Two-wheeler maker Suzuki Motorcycle India today reported a 44.37 per cent jump in sales to 17,876 units in June, on the back of good response to its new products.

The company had sold 12,382 units in June 2009, Suzuki Motorcycle India said in a statement.

"As promised, we have delivered quality products as well as customer satisfaction to our consumers. We will continue to keep up this growth momentum in coming months as well," Suzuki Motorcycle India Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Atul Gupta said.

The subsidiary of the Japanese auto giant Suzuki Motor Corporation attributed robust growth last month on good response to its new motorcycle GS150R and its only scooter Access 125.

The two-wheeler maker had earlier this month launched its superbike GSX-R1000 at Rs 12.75 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) making it the costliest product from the company's stable in the country.