Vajpayee was thwarted over Modi exit, reveals Shourie

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: Supporters of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi thwarted then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who wanted Modi to quit over the 2002 communal violence, according to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Shourie. In an interview to NDTV news channel, Shourie alleged that the party almost “orchestrated a coup” against Vajpayee over Modi’s future when the BJP national executive met in Goa in 2002.

Shourie recalled that the BJP had made up its mind to sack Modi following the 2002 violence that left over 1,000 people dead. Most victims were Muslims. Shourie claimed that party veteran LK Advani was to ask Modi to quit at the Goa meeting but things turned out to be quite the opposite.
Shourie, who called Modi prime minister material in the run-up to this year’s Lok Sabha elections, said: “It was definitely decided that when we get down (from the plane in Goa), Advaniji will ring up Modi and say in the (national executive) ... offer to resign. (The) meeting starts, speeches start? Atalji and Advaniji are sitting on (the) stage. Modi got up and said ‘mujhe kuch kehna hai (I want to say something)’ and he offered to resign”.

Sensex continues winning streak

MUMBAI, Aug 25: Despite weak global markets, Indian equities continued their winning streak for the fourth consecutive session on Tuesday, with a key index ending 60 points higher than its previous close. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened lower 15,573.91 points, ended at 15,688.47 points, up 59.72 points or 0.38 per cent.

After opening 55 points lower on weak global cues, the index slipped to a low of 15,423.39 points, but managed to crawl back into the green on fresh buying. It touched an intra-day high of 15,735.32 points. The broader-based Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed in the positive terrain at 4,659.35 points, up 36 per cent.

Sensex rallies in last hour, ends 228 points up

Mumbai, Aug 21: Indian equities markets closed for the week on a high, with a key index rising smartly in the last hour before closing bell on Friday and adding 228 points to its previous session’s tally. The rally was led by auto, technology and realty stocks.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 14,951.49 points, ended at 15,240.83 points, up 228.51 points or 1.52 per cent. The broader-based Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed in the positive terrain at 4,528.8 points, up 1.69 per cent.

Broader market indices similarly ended in the green, with the BSE midcap index closing 1.5 per cent higher and the BSE smallcap index ending 1.61 per cent up. The market breadth was positive, with 1,711 stocks advancing, 958 declining and 102 remaining unchanged.

India will import food

New Delhi, Aug 21: India will not hesitate to import food as and when the need arises to deal with this year's drought, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Friday, adding that stocks of grain with state-run agencies were healthy now.

"We will go for imports. But we do not make announcements of import in a very big way because that has another cascading effect," the minister told a meeting with state agriculture ministers here. "The moment news spreads India is going for heavy dosage of imports, then it will automatically have an impact on market prices being jacked up," Mukherjee told the meeting called to deliberate on the current drought declared in 246 out of India’s 626 administrative districts. "The decision is already there. Whichever commodity is in short supply, to meet the demand and supply mechanism, we shall go for imports," he said, adding that for commodities like edible oils and pulses, imports were on for a long time.