Tribals in Jharkhand die of food poisoning

Chatra: Four people belonging to the Birhor tribe died of food poisoning and eight others have taken ill after allegedly eating wild roots at Pratapur in Jharkhand's Chatra district, Civil Surgeon Ramesh Prasad said today.
He said a medical team was sent to Pratapur immediately after getting information on Thursday. The tribals fell ill and were shifted to the local health centre.
Four tribals died yesterday, Prasad said, adding that the rest were safe and recovering at the health centre.
However, unconfirmed reports said more people died and the area was in the grip of diarrhoea, which the civil surgeon denied.

Source: www.mid-day.com

Manipur girls rescued from Kuala Lampur night club

New Delhi:
Five girls from Manipur, all victims of human trafficking and who were forced to work in a night club in Malaysia's Kuala Lampur, have been rescued by Indian Embassy officials there.
The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is currently making arrangements to bring the girls home after their parents were unable to deposit the required funds for purchasing air tickets with a neighbouring passport office.
All five girls of Naga origin managed to flee from the night club where they were forced to work and took shelter at a destitute home in Kuala Lampur run by Pastor Jeyabal David.
"The Indian Embassy was approached by the Pastor stating the condition of the girls and the Ministry intervened as the Protector General of Emigrants office had received similar complaints from some NGOs," said a Ministry official.
The five girls were identified to be from the Zeliangrong tribe residing in neighbouring districts of Imphal city.
An NGO Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) had reported to the Ministry and the National Commission for Women seeking their intervention about rescuing other girls trafficked out of North-East states.
Earlier police in Manipur had intercepted a human trafficking party while crossing the Indo-Burma border at Moreh. So far two travel agents have been arrested and 12 people are being questioned in this connection.
"NPMHR had sought government intervention for arresting one Ricky Ho of a fake Malaysian NGO operating as Abel & Co Private Limited. Ho had reportedly allured the girls offering jobs as house maids and nurses," said the Protector General of Emigrants.
Source: www.mid-day.com

Sensex reclaims 13k on IT, banking gains

MUMBAI: Indian stock market indices closed on a positive note after faltering in the initial stages. The recovery, led in turns by banking and IT stocks, saw the Sensex reclaim the 13,000 level and Nifty regain the 4000 mark, although briefly. The real estate sector continued to be under pressure, weighed down by heavy losses in Mahindra Lifespace, IndiaBulls Realestate, Orbit Corporation. At close, the BSE benchmark stood at 13,055.97, up 195.54 points or 1.52 per cent from Tuesday’s close. Intraday, the index moved from a low of 12,697.30 to touch a high of 13,203.86. BSE IT Index chalked up gains of 4.32 per cent to close at 3,228.66. The sector was led by Satyam Computer, Patni, and HCL Technologies, up over 7, 6, and 5 per cent, respectively. In banking, HDFC Bank, Bank of Baroda and IDBI Bank were frontrunners. The Bankex ended the day gaining 3.29 per cent. On NSE, the Nifty settled at 3951.75, up 30.55 points or 0.78 per cent from the previous close. The broader index scaled 4000.50 after falling to 3861.25 early in the day. The bounce was on the back of a rise in Europe and Asia as investors hoped the US Senate will push through the $700 billion plan to rescue its banks. MSCI World Index added 0.7 percent to 1,190.71. U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 1.4 percent on gains in Barclays and BHP Billiton. Germany's DAX fell 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.4 percent. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.5 percent, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 1.8 percent. The stock markets of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore were shut for holidays today.

Source; http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Sensex_reclaims_13k_on_IT_banks_gain/articleshow/3549809.cms#

FM, RBI allay fears over ICICI Bank

Mumbai: Amidst a run on its branches and ATMs in some places in the wake of rumours over its financial stability, ICICI Bank yesterday got a shot in the arm with Finance Minister P Chidambaram and RBI coming out in its support to allay fears of investors and customers. Haunted by reports over its stability and its stocks taking a beating, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank K V Kamath said that the bank was aware of rumours being repeatedly circulated in certain centres regarding its financial strength and described them as "baseless and malicious".The finance minister took stock of the situation in the capital markets with SEBI Chairman C B Bhave and said all Indian banks are "well capitalised and regulated". Earlier in the day, RBI stepped in to stem the tide following the rumours about ICICI Bank, saying the private sector lender has sufficient liquidity and was well capitalised.