New Delhi/Chennai, Dec 15 (PTI) The CBI today carried out searches at the premises of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and former TRAI chairman Pradeep Baijal in connection with the alleged Rs 22,000 crore 2G spectrum scam, a week after conducting raids at the residences of former Telecom Minister A Raja.
About 150 sleuths of the investigating agency swooped down at 27 places in Tamil Nadu and seven in Delhi in the wee hours and began searches which included some auditors and accountants of Raja besides the premises of Radia and Baijal, official sources said.
Radia's office -- Vaishnavi Corporate Communications -- and her farm house in South Delhi were among the first of the premises searched by the CBI, the sources said, adding some of the persons who had been closely associated with the handling of accounts and funds of Raja were also been searched by the agency.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
2G scam case: CBI raids premises of Radia, Baijal
Rupee down by 35 paise against dollar in early trade
Mumbai, Dec 15 (PTI) The Indian Rupee weakened by 35 paise to Rs 45.29 a dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange today, following dollar's gains against other currencies.
Besides, demand for the American currency from importers also kept pressure on the Indian rupee, according to Forex dealers.
The rupee had ended 20 paise higher at Rs 44.94/95 against the US dollar in the previous session.
* Sensex down 76 points in opening trade on profit-booking
Mumbai, Dec 15 (PTI) The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by nearly 77 points in the opening trade today, on profit-booking by funds amid a weak trend in the Asian region.
The 30-share barometer, which had gained over 550 points in last three session, fell by 76.80 points or 0.38 per cent, to 19,722.39 points in first five minutes of trading.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index also declined by 26.35 points or 0.44 per cent to trade at 5,917.75 points.
The market analysts attributed the decline to profit-booking by investors after the stocks rally for the previous three trading sessions.
Besides, other Asian markets were also in red. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 0.60 per cent down, while Japan's Nikkei was trading 0.04 per cent low in the early trade today.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.
BPCL hikes petrol prices by Rs 2.95/L from midnight
New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) today hiked petrol prices by about Rs 2.95 rpt 2.95 a litre effective midnight tonight, and other state-owned oil companies IOC and HPCL will follow suit tomorrow.
The oil ministry today gave the three companies a go-ahead to raise petrol prices after international crude oil prices touched USD 90 per barrel.
BPCL, the second largest fuel retailer in the country, took the lead to raise petrol prices by Rs 2.95 rpt 2.95 a litre to Rs 55.86 rpt 55.86 per litre in Delhi, sources privy to the decision said.
Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the largest fuel retailer in the country, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) will do the same by an equal measure tomorrow, sources said.
Indirect tax kitty up 50% in Apr-Nov
"On the indirect tax front, our collection stood at 66.3% of target this year till November. The collection stands close to Rs 2,08,000 crore against our target of Rs 3,15,000 crore," Mitra said.
Customs revenue collection grew by 64.7% and central excise was higher by 37.9% over last year.
Mitra said customs collections and central excise till November already achieved 73.5% and 57.4% of their respective targets.
Cumulative tax collection at the end of November had reached 55.8% of its target of Rs 7,45,000 crore, he said.
Direct taxes stood at 50% of the target till November at Rs 2,16628 crore with a growth rate of 17.8% over the comparable period.
Read more: Indirect tax kitty up 50% in Apr-Nov - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Indirect-tax-kitty-up-50-in-Apr-Nov/articleshow/7103010.cms#ixzz189UqDu5w
