Shares of Indian companies with key markets in Europe such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Bharat Forge, Motherson Sumi and Crompton Greaves have crashed by as much as 19% since mid-September on concerns their earnings may get adversely affected by the slowdown in the region. However, analysts say investors should buy some of these stocks. “We are positive on companies such as Tata Motors, Bharat Forge […]
New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on Monday scrapped the selection of six chiefs of public sector banks, recommended under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, following a high-level panel finding irregularities in the process followed. The probe into selections for banks such as Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank followed the arrest of tainted Syndicate Bank Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) S K Jain […]
By Harihar Swarup Will Congress fade away? Will the 128-year old party, whose leaders fought for independence, a party having deep roots, just wither away? Judging by its performance in the Lok Sabha elections in May this year and, its dismal performance in the state assembly elections, latest being Maharashtra and Haryana, the future of the Congress looks gloomy. But it is not as gloomy as prophets […]
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An unfortunate war of words and articles has erupted between the CPI and the CPI(M), which can only cause immense damage to the communist movement in the country. What makes it all the more saddening is that the angry exchange has come at a time when both the parties should be bending their energies towards strengthening the left, secular and democratic forces […]
By Nora Chopra Rahul Gandhi will contest the party president post next year. Before July 2015, Sonia Gandhi is likely to abdicate In favour of her son and will hold the post of some kind of local guardian of the party depending on the name being given to her position on the liens of the kind of a Marg Darshak in the BJP. In a meeting with […]
By Kalyani Shankar The BJP is jubilant after its spectacular success in Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls this week. Coming as it does on the heels of the recent impressive Lok Sabha victory, the BJP can claim that the momentum as well as the Modi magic is intact. The Congress on the other hand is demoralized further after its humiliating defeat in both the states. There is […]
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a momentous occasion worthy of a celebration. And the Kerala Congress(Mani) did celebrate the fiftieth year of its formation in grand style. But the celebrations were marred by an acrimonious war of words and articles between the KC(M) and ‘big brother’ Congress, allies in the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) in the State. The proximate cause for the […]
NEW DELHI: To expedite infrastructure projects — road and rail — along the border with China for strategic reasons and also for better connectivity, principal secretary to Prime Minister has called a meeting of top officials of key ministries such as defence, rail and road, head of Border Roads Organization (BRO), national security adviser and others on Thursday. Sources said the agenda of the meeting to […]
By Harihar Swarup It is unbelievable but true that there are as many as 3,000 obsolete, redundant or repetitive laws in India. There are over 300 colonial-era enactments in force, which are absolutely redundant. Some of these British-era laws are even derogatory to a particular group and hence remind us of the days of slavery. Have a look at some of the ridiculous laws still […]
Video | Fighting Rages in Syrian Border Town President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey warned that the Syrian border town of Kobani might fall to Islamist militants as fighting intensified between Kurdish rebels and Islamic State fighters. By KARAM SHOUMALI and ANNE BARNARD October 7, 2014 MURSITPINAR, Turkey — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said Tuesday that the Syrian border town of Kobani, under siege from Islamic State fighters, was […]
By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cohesion of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has been severely dented with the Kerala Congress (M) openly hinting at the possibility of the party having tie-ups with ‘like-minded’ parties outside the UDF. The KC(M)’s latest warning came in an interview party president and Finance Minister K. M. Mani gave to a TV channel. In the interview, Mani said that the […]
By Nantoo Banerjee Barely hours after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaj Sharif harped before the world audience on its over-six-decade-old position, long discarded by India as ‘unacceptable’ and held ‘impractical’ by most nations deeply interested in peace in the region, that Kashmiris be allowed the right to ‘self-determination’ to decide whether or not to remain part of India, visiting Indian private channels were rushing to Pakistan’s National Security […]
By Surojit Mahalanobis It is better late than never. The news that the power minister Piyush Goyal has set up an inter-ministerial panel (IMC) to examine and move forward with effective allocation of the 214 coal blocks, after the Supreme Court’s recent order, is indeed acceptable. What is positive about the move is that the committee (IMC) would comprise engineers of power, steel, and mining sectors as […]
David Cameron has said he will keep the Barnett Formula but Scotland must expect extra responsibility and any deal must be fair to all parts of the UK Photo: FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/EPA The Scottish inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, coined the phrase “When one door closes, another opens”. His fellow Scots’ nail-biting rejection of independence shelves the debate on secession. But it prises open the possibility of […]
ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said on Monday that several exiled leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood who fled to Qatar but lately have come under pressure to leave that Persian Gulf monarchy could perhaps find a new refuge in his country. “If they make any request to come to Turkey, such an application would be assessed and examined,” Mr. Erdogan said, according to a […]
President Obama on Wednesday in Washington. Mr. Obama says he is aware of the “political price” he pays for being deliberate. By PETER BAKER September 13, 2014 WASHINGTON — Just hours before announcing an escalated campaign against Islamic extremists last week, President Obama privately reflected on another time when a president weighed military action in the Middle East — the frenzied weeks leading up to the American invasion of […]
President Barack Obama told Americans on Wednesday he had authorized U.S. airstrikes for the first time in Syria and more attacks in Iraq in a broad escalation of a campaign against the Islamic State militant group. Obama’s decision to launch attacks inside Syria, which is embroiled in a three-year civil war, marked a turnabout for the president, who shied away a year ago from airstrikes to punish […]
Barack Obama got a warm reception in Rhode Island last week, yet his lack of strategy has dismayed many others Photo: AP Just in case you thought that the Leader of the Free World was secretly harbouring a calculated, well-developed plan for bringing Isil under control and putting Russia’s imperial leader back in his box, Barack Obama banged that idea firmly on the head last week. He gave […]
Mumbai: After witnessing decline in profit for six consecutive quarters, State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, reported 3.3 per cent net profit growth to Rs 3,349 crore for the quarter ended June, compared to Rs 3,241 crore in the corresponding period of last year. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, SBI, said: “Pressure (on asset quality) appears to be subsiding. But we need to see a pick-up in the economy to see appreciable changes in asset quality.” Net interest income grew 15 per cent to Rs 13,252 crore and fee income growth was 11 per cent to Rs 2,837 crore, though there was a fall in treasury income. The profitability got a boost of Rs 6,000 crore from sale of stressed assets to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) during the q
NEW DELHI: Through a quick series of notifications, the Union environment ministry has eased rules for mining, roads, power and irrigation projects and other industrial sectors. It has diluted a host of regulations related to environment, forest and tribal rights. Besides, sources in the ministry say, more changes in regulations are in the pipeline.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar had earlier done away with the requirement of public hearing for coal mines below 16 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) wishing to expand output by up to 50 per cent. This has now been extended to mines above 16 mtpa, permitting them to mine up to five mtpa more without consulting affected people. Public hearings, the only occasion when affected people are
Wall Street Breakfast Editors submit: EconomyPolish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he has reasons to suspect that the threat of a direct intervention by Russia’s military in Ukraine has increased over the last few days. NATO’s deputy secretary general says that Russia has amassed about 20,000 troops along its border with eastern Ukraine, following a Pentagon spokesman’s announcement yesterday that said Russian forces are closer than when […]
NEW DELHI: The central government’s worries on the Insurance Bill aggravated on Tuesday with Congress accusing it of adopting double standards on the issue and dismissing threats from the treasury benches that a joint session may be convened, forcing BJP ministers to knock on the doors of parties like SP and BSP to muster the numbers in the Rajya Sabha. Congress sources maintained the government was reportedly keen on passing the insurance bill in Parliament in this session so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi can showcase it to the US during his visit in September and hence wants to hurry through the process without sending it to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha. BJP leaders, on the other hand, alleged Congress was playing politics on
New Delhi: The government is likely to start selling its stake in public sector banks (PSBs) in November. It is also expected State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest lender, will tap the markets this year. Financial Services Secretary G S Sandhu on Thursday said the government would seek a Cabinet nod for stake dilution in PSBs, adding the sale would be in tranches, based on banks’ requirement of funds. “It will be a combination of follow-on public offer (FPO) and, in some cases, it will be through qualified institutional placement. It may start around Diwali, most likely November,” he told reporters after a meeting with the heads of PSBs and other financial institutions. Asked whether large banks such as SBI and Punjab National Bank (PNB) would op
Three young rebels, their AK47s propped against wooden stools in the afternoon heat, guard the entrance to the giant Ndassima goldmine carved deep into a forested hilltop in Central African Republic. Sat in a thatched shack at the edge of a muddy shantytown, the gunmen keep the peace – for a price – among hundreds of illegal miners who swarm over the steep sides of the glittering […]
