Inflation falls to 8.23% in Jan as prices of sugar, wheat ease

NEW DELHI: Inflation declined marginally to 8.23% in January from 8.43% in the previous month, as prices of certain commodities like wheat, pulses and sugar eased, although essential items like onion and other vegetables continue to remain dearer.

The headline inflation, based on wholesale prices, has remained above 8% mark since January 2010.

The fall in inflation has been mainly on account of declining prices of sugar (down 14.99%), pulses (12.78%), wheat (4.94%) and potato (1.21%).

However, vegetable and fruits continued to remain expensive. On an annual basis, vegetable prices rose by 65%, and onion prices nearly doubled. Also, fruits became costly by 15.01% and egg, meat and fish by 15.09%.

Overall, primary articles became costly by 17.28% with food articles rising 15.65%.

In the non-food articles category, fibre prices rose by 48% on an annual basis.

Prices of fuel and power shot up by 11.41%, with petrol rising 27.37% on an year-on-year basis.

However, among manufactured items, sugar prices fell by 15%, while edible oils turned costlier by 7.16%.

The inflation number for November has also been revised upwards to 8.08% from 7.48%, according to government data released today.

The easing of inflation is expected to come as a morale booster for the government which have been under pressure due to high prices of food items in recent months.

It also shows that Reserve Bank of India's action of raising rates seven times since March 2010 has started showing some result.

It may be recalled, the food inflation, which accounts for over 14% in the overall Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation, has remained high since December scaling up to 18.32%.

At its third quarterly review last month, the RBI revised its inflation estimate to 7% by March-end, from the earlier 5.5%.

TOI

Somali pirates hijack ship with 23 crew, including 10 Indians

NAIROBI: Somali pirates hijacked a ship with 23 crew, including 10 Indians and a Danish warship freed a hijacked Yemeni fishing vessel that had been held for nearly a year, maritime authorities said on Sunday.

The Maltese-flagged bulk carrier MV Sinin had 13 Iranians and 10 Indians onboard when it came under attack Saturday, the European Union Naval Force said.

The ship subsequently lost communications and a maritime patrol aircraft photographed two skiffs onboard the vessel. The MV Sinin was taken about 560 kilometers east of Masirah in Oman.

In a separate incident, a Danish warship freed a hijacked fishing vessel and arrested 16 suspected Somali pirates, NATO said.

The HDMS Esbern Snare stopped a suspicious vessel with two skiffs on deck. The warship fired warning shots and sent a boarding party to the hijacked Yemeni vessel. NATO said there were 16 suspected pirates and two Yemeni hostages onboard.

The original fishing crew of nine people had been held for a year but most of them had been released. Sometimes owners of small vessels without insurance are unable to raise the ransoms demanded by the pirates. Somalia has not had a functioning government in two decades, and piracy has flourished off its coast.

TOI

Sensex climbs 211 points in opening trade

MUMBAI: The Sensex gained over 211 points in opening trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday on fresh buying by funds, tracking a firming trend on other Asian bourses.

The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, which gained 265.57 points in the previous session, gained another 211.55 points, or 1.19%, to 17,940.16 points today, with auto, metals, banking and realty stocks leading the rise.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index also moved up by 63.10 points, or 1.18%, to 5,373.10.

Brokers said the investor sentiment was boosted by a firming trend in Asia following a higher close in the US market on the weekend.

They said prevailing low levels also attracted buying activity. Furthermore, covering up of pending short positions helped the Sensex rise.

Among banking stocks, State Bank of India rose 1.79% to Rs 2,631, while ICICI Bank gained 1.81% to Rs 1,019.75 in opening trade today.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei index was up by 0.86% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index by 0.73% in early trade today.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.36% higher in the previous session on Friday.

TOI

Congress doubles stakes in Tamil Nadu, may ask for 80 seats

CHENNAI: The Congress committee, drafted for holding seat-sharing talks with the DMK, met Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi at his residence on Sunday after the initial round of intra-party consultations earlier in the day. Though Congress leaders claimed that no specific demand with regard to the number of seats was made in the meeting, the general mood within the party is that it should contest in at least 70-80 seats in the forthcoming assembly polls, said a senior leader.

The committee, comprising Union ministers P Chidambaram and G K Vasan, TNCC president KV Thangkabalu, AICC general secretary K Jayakumar and Congress national spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan, kick-started consultations with Congress MLAs and MPs as well as former legislators on Sunday. The intra-party consultation in the Congress was like an interview in which each member was called separately for discussion, said a party leader.

Thangkabalu described the meeting with the DMK patriarch as a "courtesy call." He said: "No specific demand with regard to the number of seats was conveyed to the chief minister. We also did not demand any share in power. All that will happen at a later stage."

Congress had contested 48 seats and won 34 in the 2006 assembly polls. It later won the byelection for Madurai West constituency.

Soon after the meeting with Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence, Chidambaram left for Delhi. The rest of the members returned to Satyamoorthy Bhavan to continue the interaction with the party leaders.

TOI