Sensex gains 95 points

MUMBAI: The BSE benchmark Sensex rose by over 95 points in opening trade today after witnessing a sharp fall in the previous session on the back of selective buying by funds and retail investors, ignoring a weak trend on other Asian bourses.

The Sensex, which had lost 295.30 points in the previous session on Friday, rose by 95.23 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 18,306.75 today, with capital goods, IT and oil and gas stocks leading the recovery.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index moved up by 24.60 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 5,483.55 points.

Marketmen said the emergence of buying at select counters and covering-up of pending short positions by speculators ahead of monthly expiry in the derivatives segment on Thursday mainly influenced the trading sentiment.

They said, however, the ongoing probe into the 2G spectrum scam and a weak trend on other Asian bourses capped the gains.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by 0.56 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.20 per cent in early trade today.


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MCI puts curbs on visits by foreign doctors

CHENNAI: No foreign national or NRI medical professional will henceforth be permitted to demonstrate procedures/ surgeries in India without prior permission from the Medical Council of India. A warning to this effect has been circulated by MCI to all medical colleges/institutions, state medical councils, all medical associations and hospitals.

Clarifying that prior MCI permission/registration was mandatory, the February 11, 2011 circular, signed by MCI's additional secretary P Prasanna Raj, said suo motu action would be initiated by the MCI against erring medical colleges/institutions.

Aimed at verifying the credentials of foreign/NRI medical professionals participating in continuing medical education (CME) programmes or workshops or post-graduate courses in India, the circular said: ''This is to inform you that all foreign nationals/NRI faculty will have to take prior permission from the MCI in the prescribed form no. MCI-07 available on the website, if he/she demonstrates/conducts any procedure, intervention, surgery, drug therapy, application of any new device or any treatment, on a patient in any CME programmes/workshop/PG course or any other programme, conducted by medical college/ hospitals/ medical association or any other organisation in India.''

The announcement has evoked mixed reactions from the medical fraternity across the country. While some leading doctors agreed on the need to screen the bonafides of visiting medics, many felt that the proposal would needlessly hamper flow of knowhow and research findings into India.

Dr T D Naidu, president of the All India Medical Association and chairman, Chennai-based DD Medical Hospital and DD Hospital, welcomed the proposal and said verification of the bonafide of the foreign medical professionals by MCI would enhance credibility of the profession. ''Some medical institutions flaunt foreign faculty without conducting due diligence on the professional's standing and record in his home country," Naidu said.

He also called upon MCI to step in and play an active role in whetting the memorandum of understanding being signed by Indian medical institutions with foreign entities. "A representative of the MCI shall be part of the expert team finalizing the fine print of such MoU," he said.

While agreeing that prior permission was a must for performing surgeries or live demos on Indian patients, doctors and institute heads said the MCI circular was too restrictive. "What is wrong with foreign nationals or NRIs coming to give lectures or share valuable knowledge about the latest developments in medical field?" said founder-chairman of Frontier Lifeline hospitals, Dr K M Cherian.

"Nothing original in the field of medicine has come out of India. We depend solely on studies by our peers in other countries," he added.

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President inaugurates Budget session of Parliament

NEW DELHI: Inaugurating the budget session of parliament, President Pratibha Patil Monday admitted India has gone through a "difficult year", plagued by inflation and violence in certain areas.

"We have gone through a difficult year for our country," Patil said in her joint address to both houses of parliament.

"Certain parts of the country have suffered from unacceptably high levels of violence, especially areas affected by leftwing extremism and the Kashmir valley," she said.

The president was referring to the summer of protests in Kashmir, as well as the continuing problem of Maoist violence in various parts of the country.

"There has been a grievance in some quarters that the benefits intended for the poor through anti-poverty programmes have not reached them in full measure," she said.

Patil offered her sympathies to the people of Ladakh where a cloudburst had killed nearly 200 people last August.

"Our heart goes out to the people of Ladakh, who suffered the consequences of a severe cloudburst, leading to an unprecedented loss of life and property," she said.

She also condoled the death of classical music legend Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.

The budget session will continue till April 21, with an 18-day recess from March 17 to April 3. The first part of the session will have 17 sittings while the second part will have 12 sittings.

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26/11: HC upholds death sentence for Kasab

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court today upheld the death sentence to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks that left 166 people dead. ( Read Bombay HC's judgment )

A division bench of the court comprising justices Ranjana Desai and R V More also dismissed the Maharashtra government's petition against acquittal of two Indians, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, accused of aiding the commission of the crime.

Kasab, 24, the only one of the 10 perpetrators of the attack to be captured alive, was sentenced to death by a special anti-terror court on May 6 last year.

Ansari and Ahmed had been, however, let off for want of adequate evidence by the trial court.

Kasab appeared briefly in the court through a video link wearing a white kurta with his head down.

Kasab and his accomplices had landed at Budhwar Park in south Mumbai on November 26, 2008 night from Karachi by sea and went on a shooting spree at various city landmarks including CST railway terminus, iconic Taj Mahal and Oberoi Hotels, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital and Nariman House, a Jewish outreach centre, leaving 166 dead and many more wounded.

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