After hike, Indian MP gets 13 times less pay than US lawmaker! Read more: After hike, Indian MP gets 13 times less pay than US lawmaker!

NEW DELHI: Even after a three-fold pay hike, Indian MPs still rank much below their fellow parliamentarians in major countries in terms of their monthly salaries.

With the Cabinet today giving its nod to the MPs' pay rise besides doubling several other emoluments, the basic monthly salary of Indian lawmakers has now gone up to Rs 50,000 from Rs 16,000.

However, the new salary component, excluding perks and other allowances, is not on a par with the monthly emoluments their counterparts in other major economies are drawing at present.

For example, the current salary for all Senators and Members of the House of Representatives in the US is USD 174,000 per annum, or USD 14,500 per month. If converted into Indian currency, the monthly salary of a US lawmaker becomes Rs 675,203, which is more than 13 times the new salary of an Indian MP.

When compared with the monthly pay of a Canadian MP, the new salary of Indian MPs is almost 11 times lower, while it is eight times lower than that of British lawmakers.

A member of Canada's House of Commons is currently drawing USD 12,611 as salary per month while it is 5,478 pounds or Rs 399,941 for a British parliamentarian.

According to the Australian government's website, the base salary of a MP in that country is about USD 118,000 per annum or USD 9,833 per month.

Similarly, a member of Japanese Parliament (Diet) gets about 1.3 million yen, or USD 15,200, every month. The net monthly pay of a MP in Singapore is 13,710 Singapore dollars, or Rs 471,364.

The monthly salaries of lawmakers in France, Italy, Germany and Spain are EUR 7,002, EUR 5,487, EUR 7,688 and EUR 3,126 respectively.

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Sensex sheds 53 points on profit-booking

MUMBAI: Snapping a two-day winning streak, the BSE benchmark Sensex declined by over 50 points on profit-booking, coupled with negative global cues.

After gaining a record 406 points in the last two sessions, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share bellwether today opened weak and remained range-bound throughout the day to finally settle at 18,401.82 points, down 0.29%, or 53.12 points.

"The negative mood of the market was primarily in line with the weak global cues. Besides, there was portfolio churning by the investors, which suggests there was no fresh buying in stocks," CNI Research CMD Kishore P Ostwal said.

The National Stock Exchange's wide-based Nifty-50 ended 0.17 per cent lower at 5,530.65 points.

Analysts noted that Nifty managed to end above the psychological mark of 5,500, which it regained yesterday after 30 months, which shows the strength of the market.

Among the 13 indices on the BSE, the maximum loss was seen in IT, bank and FMCG.

IT bellwether Infosys, which carries the maximum weight in the Sensex after Reliance Industries, fell by 1.24 per cent to Rs 2,769.20. Other IT majors, Wipro and TCS, also declined by 1.77% and 0.56%, respectively.

"The US data that indicated the slowdown in the economic recovery is primarily taking the IT counters down," HDFC Securities Head for Private Broking and Wealth Management Vinod Sharma said.

Out of 30 Sensex scrips, 21 stocks ended in the red, while the remaining nine closed in positive terrain. The loss in the Sensex was offset by a 1.16% gain in the country's most valued firm, Reliance Industries.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors was the biggest Sensex loser, registering a fall of 2.41% to Rs 1,015. The country's largest car-maker, Maruti Suzuki, also closed down 0.97% from the previous close at Rs 1,239.35.

Among banking stocks, the country's largest lender, State Bank of India, ended with a loss of 0.79%, while private sector lender ICICI Bank plunged by 1.78 per cent. In addition, HDFC Bank was down 0.15%, while HDFC lost 0.68%.

"There is nervousness in the market due to weak global cues. Banking stocks have also reacted just in line with the negative broader market," SMC Capitals Equity Head Jagannathan Thunuguntla said.

FMCG counters ITC and HUL witnessed a fall of 1.36% and 1.74%, respectively.

Telecom majors Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications finished the day on a negative note, with the former losing 1.16% and the latter shedding 0.49%.

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Gold surges for ninth day in a row;closes in crucial 19K level Read more: Gold surges for ninth day in a row;closes in crucial 19K level

NEW DELHI: Gold prices on Friday rose by Rs 35 to settle near the crucial 19,000 level in bullion market on steady buying by jewellers to meet festive season demand amid firming global trends.

Extending gains for the ninth straight session, gold settled at Rs 18,985 per 10 gram, higher by Rs 35 over the previous close.

Sustained buying by stockists and jewellers in the last nine trading sessions brought the gold prices near to a psychological level last seen on July 1. A firming trend in overseas markets also influenced the uptrend.

The gold in overseas markets, which normally set the price trend on the domestic front, traded 35 cent higher at 1,232.50 dollar an ounce. The price jumped to 1,237.50 yesterday after US jobless claims climbed.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 per cent purity rose further by Rs 35 each to Rs 18,985 and Rs 18,885 per ten gram respectively. Sovereigns continued to trade around previous levels of 14,800 per piece of eight grams in limited deals.

On the other hand, silver ready fell further by Rs 100 to Rs 29,600 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 130 to Rs 29,185 per kg, silver coins remained steady at Rs 34,500 for buying and Rs 34,600 for selling of 100 pieces.

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