Balasaheb Thackeray powers Shiv Sena to BMC win ,NCP returns with an abosolute majority in PCMC, NCP-Congress tie up for Pune and the MNS is the largest party in Nashik.
18.2.12
Swiss rubbish black money estimates
Denying that Switzerland was a tax haven, Swiss authorities issued a statement saying that estimates in India about money held by Indians in Swiss banks “lack evidence”. The statement follows a comment by CBI chief A P Singh that Indians are the “largest depositors” in Swiss banks. Meanwhile, the government on Thursday said that Singh’s statement was based on the report of a Supreme Court-appointed committee on black money. “I have spoken to Singh and he told informed me about the basis of his statement,” minister of state for personnel V Narayanasamy said.
SC on homosexuality
Homosexuality should be seen in the context of a changing society, as many things which were earlier unacceptable have become acceptable with the passage of time, the Supreme Court observed on Thursday. A bench, which is hearing a bunch of appeals filed against decriminalisation of gay sex, said that these things should be seen in the light of changing times. “Recent phenomena of live-in relationships, single parents, surrogacy. There is a case where a man is unmarried but wants to be a father and engage a surrogate mother. Thirty-forty years ago it was against the order of nature but now artificial fertilisation is a thriving business,” the bench said. “The society is changing,” it said, adding that gay sex was not an offence prior to 1860 and referred to paintings and sculptures of Khajuraho. Senior Advocate Amrendra Sharan, who is opposing the Delhi High Court’s verdict of decriminalising gay sex on behalf of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, submitted that social issues cannot be decided on the basis of sculptures.The bench, however, observed that homosexuality should not be seen only in terms of sexual intercourse.
NCTC runs into resistance
The newly set up National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) has run into strong political resistance. A group of chief ministers has come out in the open against the NCTC’s powers in a move that can trigger serious doubts about the effectiveness of the agency billed to be the country’s principal counter-terror body after its launch on March 1. A diverse group of CMs, including personalities as politically disparate as Orissa’s Naveen Patnaik and Gujarat’s Narendra Modi, said the NCTC’s charter was violative of the federal structure. They questioned the manner in which it was set up without states being taken on board, and demanded that the government reverse its decision. The NCTC’s opponents include the CMs of Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, HP and Madhya Pradesh—Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, J Jayalalithaa, P K Dhumal and Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The number is likely to rise. TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu also joined the protest, calling for the revocation of the notification announcing the setting up of the NCTC with the aim to improve response to terror threat. The Centre has set itself a deadline of 90 days to complete the recruitment process and make the agency fully operational. Patnaik, who was the first to raise the red flag and also instrumental in rallying his peers around, said, “My concern is the authoritarian notification with draconian overtones about law and order, among others, in which states have not been consulted.” He and Banerjee have lodged a strong protest with the PM. Besides their lament against the Centre’s alleged unilateralism, the CMs are peeved with the provision that enables the NCTC to carry out arrests as well as searches and seizures which, they say, is in conflict with the constitutional scheme where ‘law and order’ is the concern of states.
16.2.12
Sensex snapshot
Buoyed by strong foreign institutional investment flows on the back of strong global cues, the sensex surged past the psychologically significant 18,000 mark on Wednesday — a level last seen in August 2011. In the process, the index also registered a 20% increase from the 52-week low it hit on December 20, which technically signals a bull market. Although investors in sensex companies are richer by about Rs 3 lakh crore since the December low, not all the traders shared the euphoria on the possibility of a sustained bull run. That is perhaps to do with the fact that no one was really expecting this rally. On a day when the index jumped nearly 2% to close at 18,202 points, three of the 30 sensex stocks — HDFC Bank, Tata Motors and TCS — climbed to their highest ever levels. The market capitalization of companies listed on the BSE soared to Rs 64.75 lakh crore or Rs 11.3 lakh crore higher compared with December levels. FIIs bought a net Rs 1,839 crore worth of stocks, which takes their total purchases to $4.56 billion so far in the year. Expectations of a rate cut by the RBI in the coming months acted as a positive trigger. The rally in Asian markets on hopes that Greece would be able to enact harsh austerity measures and comments from a top Chinese official that Beijing would continue to invest in Euro zone debt also boosted sentiments. The Nifty also continued with its uptrend, touching an intra-day high of 5,542 points. It ended the day at 5,532 points or 2.1% higher.
Foodgrain production
Exceeding target, the country is set to harvest a record 250 million tonnes of foodgrains this year, as efforts to push farm growth seem to be paying off, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday. “Our farmers have done us proud again this year. ... but we still have a long way to go. ... we cannot afford to be complacent since demand of horticulture and animal products is increasing very rapidly and this will require some shift of area away from production of foodgrains. “Therefore productivity in foodgrains has to go up handsomely,” he said at a workshop at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The workshop is the part of the initiative of President Pratibha Patil for enhancing farm productivity, especially in rainfed areas. A Committee of Governors constituted by the President has already met twice. Besides Patil, today's meeting was attended by over 20 governors, eight union ministers, five chief ministers and 37 vice chancellors of agricultural universities. The Prime Minister said foodgrains production will exceed the target by five million tonnes and cotton output at 34 million bales is a new record as per the latest estimates. However, there was only one per cent growth rate in food production in the country, against two per cent required to meet India's grain requirement by 2020-21, he said. The Prime Minister also pointed out distortions arising from pricing and subsidy regimes resulting into soil degradation. He expressed concern over volatility in prices of farm products. "There is a big gap between farm gate and retail prices that the consumers pay. There is also volatility with prices being low after harvest. We need to address all this by reforming agricultural marketing systems and investing in supply chains," he said.
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