Sensex snaps three sessions of falls

Indian shares rose on Thursday with blue chips such as Tata Motors rebounding after a three-session losing streak was seen as overdone, though broader gains were capped by persistent worries about the economy and mixed earnings results.

The broader NSE Nifty rose 0.38 percent to 7,735.50, after declining 1.8 percent in the previous three sessions.

The benchmark BSE Sensex gained 0.64 percent to 25,262.21.

(Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

SC favours 2005 Jharkhand for floor test in U'khand

New Delhi, May 4 (PTI) The Supreme Court today suggested that it may order a 'composite floor test' for Uttarakhand Assembly as was directed by the apex court in 2005 in Jharkhand when BJP leader Arjun Munda had challenged the government formation by JMM supremo Shibu Soren.

"The floor test (in Uttarakhand Assembly) can be on Jharkhand Model," a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh.

While senior advocate Kapil Sibal and Abhishekh Manu Singhvi, appearing for sacked Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, was advocating that the floor test in the assembly would be like a vote of confidence for him, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi was toeing the bench's suggestion and submitted that it can be decided after a debate when the matter is taken again on Friday.

The apex court on March 9, 2005 had passed the order for Jharkhand Assembly on the line of its earlier order for a composite floor test in Uttar Pradesh in 1998.

It had directed the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to "see that all elected MLAs attended the proceedings of the Assembly freely, safely and securely without any interference by anybody".

In the Jharkhand matter, Rohatgi had then appeared for Munda as a senior advocate and Singhvi had represented the then state government which was formed after the then Governor Syed Sibtey Razi had invited Soren to form the government despite the claim of the NDA to have majority support.

The order, in which the apex court had also directed video-recording of the proceedings of the floor test, had evoked mixed reaction from the legal experts as some had favoured the recording while others had raised eyebrows saying that it amounts to judicial over-reach and encroaching the domain of the Speaker or the pro-tem Speaker.

The apex court in the Jharkhand case had also advanced the date of floor test to March 11 from March 15 to determine who - UPA nominee Shibu Soren or NDA's Arjun Munda - commands majority in the House.

The top court had also stayed any move to nominate a representative of the Anglo-Indian Community as a Member of the House by saying this could wait till a "legitimate" government took over after the floor test on March 11.

The court had advanced the floor test date to March 11 wondering as to why the Governor had given five days more to the Soren government to prove its majority even though the MLAs were to take oath on March 10, 2005.

Trump looks to unify Republicans after decisive primary victory

Indianapolis : Billionaire Donald Trump assumed the mantle of presumptive Republican presidential nominee on Wednesday with a message on unity that also suggested he was not going to work too hard to placate some party establishment figures angered by his outsider candidacy.

The former reality television star, who has never held public office, won a commanding victory in Indiana's primary on Tuesday, forcing his main rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, to drop out of the race.

Trump's win cleared the way him to prepare for a likely match-up in the Nov. 8 general election against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Democratic front-runner Clinton lost the Indiana primary to her tenacious challenger, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, but remains on course to become her party's nominee.

The New York businessman's immediate challenge is to mend deep fissures within the Republican Party, easing tensions with party loyalists who are appalled by his bombastic, bullying style, his denigrating comments about women and his proposals to build a wall on the border with Mexico and deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

But in a series of Wednesday morning television interviews, Trump, 69, made clear he would not forget some wounds from a tumultuous primary campaign in which many establishment Republicans rejected him and spawned Stop Trump and Never Trump movements.

"I am confident that I can unite much of it, some of it I don't want," Trump said on NBC's "Today" show. "Honestly, there are some people I really don't want. People will be voting for me. They're not voting for the party."

Since launching his White House bid last summer as a longshot amid a crowded field that included governors, former governors and U.S. senators, the real estate magnate repeatedly defied predictions that his campaign would implode.

He prevailed over rivals he derided as "grown politicians," despite making provocative statements along the way that drew sometimes furious criticism from many in the party but fed his anti-establishment appeal.

Trump also directed fire at Clinton, telling MSNBC, "She is a disaster, and she will be a disaster as president."

ISRO signs MOU with 37 Foreign Countries

New Delhi : Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) of Department of Space, Government of India has signed MoU/ Cooperative agreements for exploration and use of outer space with 37 countries viz. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Norway, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Venezuela. 

The fields to explore newer research activities addressed in these MoUs include - Joint development of advanced scientific instruments to observe earth and universe; joint realization of satellite missions; jointly carrying out calibration and validation experiments; conducting airborne campaign with advanced instruments; deep space navigation and communication support for space science missions; development of advanced technologies for building and launching of spacecrafts for earth observation and space science exploration. 

Application possibilities in the field of remote sensing addressed in these MoUs include - natural resource management; vegetation biomass estimation; meteorological & oceanographic applications; atmospheric parameter retrieval & modelling; climate monitoring and weather forecasting; disaster management support. 

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr, Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

Benefits of Radiation Sterilization

Atomic Material

Radiation Sterilisation is a cold process that uses gamma radiation for sterilisation of Healthcare Products. Controlled gamma energy which is released by radioisotope such as Cobalt-60 is used for sterilisation. Cobalt-60 is most preferred radioisotope as it is readily available from single nuclear reaction in reactor and also cost effective. Gamma radiation is characterised by deep penetration and kills microorganism by destroying DNA structure. The process is suitable for Industrial scale sterilisation. Radiation dose of 25 kGy (2.5 Mrad) is officially accepted dose for sterilisation of healthcare products. Delivery of dose to the products is measured by dosimeter. Radiation sterilised products are acceptable by Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Advantages and Benefits of Radiation Sterilization 

(a) Products of any shape can be sterilised because powerful gamma rays can penetrate right through the package and the product.

(b) Being a cold process, heat sensitive plastic medical devices and pharmaceutical products can safely be sterilised.

(c) Flexibility in packaging, as the products can be packed individually in sealed bags and sterilised in the fully packaged form.

(d) Since sterilisation is effected after final packaging, product sterility is retained indefinitely provided the package is undamaged.

(e) Radiation Sterilisation enlarges the market for ready to use pre-packaged products. The process does not result into residual toxicity of any form in the product.

(f) Products sterilised by this process do not become radioactive and are safe for use.

(g) Presently out of 18 operating plants in Government/Semi-Government/Private/Co-operative sectors, around 13 are also engaged in sterilisation of medical products.

Major components of a Radiation Sterilisation Plant 

(i) A source of gamma radiation (Cobalt-60)

(ii) A radiation processing cell (irradiation cell)

(iii) Product conveyors and control mechanisms

(iv) Safety devices and interlocks

A Gamma Radiation Processing Facility is licensed by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and Local Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

High energy Electron Beam (EB) and X-ray machines are also used nowadays for this purpose. The major difference in gamma radiation and EB lies in their penetration powers, where gamma radiations can penetrate deep inside the products the electron beams do not have as good penetration power.

Though X-ray have comparable penetration power to gamma radiation at suitable energy range but they are not yet very popular.

(b) Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT)/Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has not carried out any impact assessment studies independently for Radiation Sterilisation of healthcare products.

(c) BRIT/DAE had setup a radiation sterilisation plant ‘ISOMED’ which is in operation since 1974 for sterilisation of medical products. Technology has been found to be effective, reliable and acceptable among users. Later two more Radiation Processing Plants one at BRIT, Vashi Complex, Navi Mumbai and other at Lasalgaon near Nashik were set up for radiation processing of food and allied products. Both these plants are operating and users of this radiation technology are regularly increasing. In view of this BRIT has not carried out any impact study independently. However, it is promoting setting up of commercial radiation processing plants and so far 15 such plants are commissioned in Government/Semi-Government/Private/Co-operative Sectors excluding 3 plants of BRIT/DAE. Thus, the use of this technology is found to be acceptable.

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

India to sign a pact with WHO in the field of traditional medicines

New Delhi : The Union Cabinet in its meeting held on 17th Februray 2016 approved the signing of Agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO). The Agreement, however, is yet to be signed. As per Cabinet approval, as a first step in the long term collaboration, India would assign to WHO activities for development of the following WHO Technical documents/publications which will help in better international acceptability of Indian Systems of Medicines: 

• Benchmarks for training in Yoga 

• Benchmarks for practice in Ayurveda 

• Benchmarks for practice in Unani Medicine 

• Benchmarks for practice in Panchkarma 

For enhancing the acceptability and branding of AYUSH systems internationally, in the recent past Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for undertaking collaborative research have been signed with Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, UK and National Centre for Natural Product Research (NCNPR) University of Mississippi, USA and Letter of Intent (LoI) with University of Strasbourg, France. The long term collaboration with WHO would help in improving international acceptability and branding of AYUSH systems. 

The areas of cooperation would help to facilitate awareness regarding AYUSH systems of medicine by means of education, training, skill development, workshops, publications and exchange programmes between AYUSH and WHO for capacity building to facilitate advocacy and dissemination of information on AYUSH systems amongst the member states and collaborations with third parties for creating synergies in implementation of WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023. 

The Ministry of AYUSH has also launched a scheme for Voluntary Certification of Yoga Professionals on 22nd June, 2015 in collaboration with Quality Council of India (QCI). The scheme aims at promoting authentic Yoga as a preventive and health promoting drugless therapy and involves certifying the competence level of the professionals to help their deployment within and outside the country. Besides signing of ‘Country to Country’ MoUs for cooperation in the field of Traditional Medicine with Mongolia, Turkmenistan and China, MoUs for setting up of AYUSH Academic Chairs have been signed with Universities in Russia, Indonesia, Slovenia, Thailand and Armenia. AYUSH Information Cells have been set up to disseminate authentic information about AYUSH Systems of Medicine at Dubai, Croatia, Kyrgyzstan, Israel, Argentina, Serbia and Sweden. 

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 

Liberty House to submit first bid for Tata Steel UK

Liberty Steel boss Sanjeev Gupta stands outside his newly bought processing mill in Dalzell, Scotland, Britain April 8, 2016.

LONDON | BY KATE HOLTON AND ANDY BRUCE

Metals group Liberty House sparked new hope for Britain's endangered steel industry on Tuesday by announcing the first firm bid for Tata Steel UK, potentially saving thousands of jobs.

Tata Group announced plans to sell its entire UK steel operation in March, leaving the government battling to save an industry that has been hurt by cheap Chinese imports, soaring costs and weak demand.

Keen to avoid the loss of 10,000 jobs, the government has offered hundreds of millions of pounds in support to potential buyers and said it could take a 25 percent stake in the firm.

Liberty's Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta was the first businessman to express an interest in Tata's loss-making assets which include the Port Talbot steel plant in Wales, and on Tuesday the firm said it would submit a bid.

"We can confirm that Liberty will submit a letter of intent to Tata Steel today and has put in place a strong internal transaction steering committee and panel of leading external advisers to take the bid forward," a spokeswoman said.

"We hope to make a further short statement later today."

A source close to Tata Steel told Reuters it expected to receive a bid from Liberty, which has done early due diligence on a deal, and that it had not received a bid from any other party.

Indian-born Gupta, who established Liberty House while a student at Cambridge in the early 1990s, has spoken of his desire to invest in Britain's steel industry and return businesses "to their former glory".

He has previously said Port Talbot and its jobs could be saved if the giant blast furnaces were replaced with facilities to process imported slab steel into higher grade product or make steel from scrap metal rather than from iron ore.

Liberty bought former Tata Steel plants in Scotland with government help in March. Scottish authorities had temporarily purchased two mills from Tata before selling them to Liberty.

Another group to emerge as potential buyers for Tata Steel UK has come from Port Talbot itself where a management team have appointed advisers to work on a buyout plan.

The group, Excalibur Steel UK, has named Tata's UK strip products director Stuart Wilkie as chief executive, according to a Companies House filing.

Mark Rhydderch-Roberts, an investment banker, has been appointed as a non-executive director.

"I believe that Excalibur's proposed model of management and employee participation can also potentially provide the foundations of a transformed and profitable business which should be attractive to a wide range of investors and stakeholders," Rhydderch-Roberts said.

Last week, Prime Minister David Cameron visited Port Talbot and said any sale of Tata's British assets would have to cover the whole of the business.

Britain's government has also offered help in lowering the cost of energy for steel works and with workers' pensions to try to save the industry but says its efforts are not linked to the EU referendum on June 23.

Those campaigning to leave the bloc have seized on the crisis, accusing the EU of not doing enough to stop Chinese imports and have blamed the bloc's rules on state aid for preventing government intervention.

(Additional reporting by Krishna Das in New Delhi, writing by Andy Bruce; editing by William Schomberg and Jason Neely)

Make efforts to counter influence of China in Pacific: Prez

On Board Special Air India Flight, May 3 (PTI) President Pranab Mukherjee has said India needs to make efforts to improve its presence in the Asia Pacific region to counterbalance the growing influence of China.

"You know nothing happens automatically. We shall have to make efforts," he said when asked about Chinese influence in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and New Zealand.

The President was talking to reporters on board the special Air India flight while returning after a six day trip to PNG and New Zealand, his first state visit to the two countries.

He also said India was ready to work for early conclusion of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with New Zealand.

I conveyed India's willingness to work towards an early conclusion of an FTA keeping in mind the need to find a satisfactory resolution of our mutual concerns," the President said.

"We are not maintaining silence. Ten rounds of discussions have taken place on FTA. Unfortunately the negotiations began in 2010 and we have not been able to finalise it.

"There are some problems about some of the agricultural products but I think we have come a long way from the days when our agriculture required total protection because we are the largest producers of the liquid milk. So apart from green revolution, white revolution has also been achieved," he said.

The President said the policy followed by the government in the 1960s and 70s or even 80s may not be relevant in 2015-16.

"I understand government is considering this aspect carefully. Of course when you enter into an FTA, it boosts your bilateral trade substantially," he said and cited an example of Sri Lanka with which India's bilateral trade grew 20 times after signing of FTA.

He lauded the Narendra Modi government for having organised two summits of Asia Pacific Island countries. "The third summit is being held at PNG and I do hope Indian delegation will consist of high-level representatives.

"Therefore, a begining has been made and it will naturally be taken to its logical conclusion in course of time," he said.

Mukherjee said he was satisfied with his visit to the two countries.

"So far PNG is conerned, not even a politician ever visited PNG. On the other hand, you look at their approach, they have voluntarily extended their support to India's legitimate claim to permanent membership of UNSC," he said.

"Therefore, I do feel that this visit was important and I am satisfied with the outcome of this visit....I do feel it is time for us to expand our relationship, both horizontally and vertically in trade, commerce, investment and sharing technical expertise in respective fields," he said.

Hague court says India must release Italian sailor - Italy

Salvatore Girone (C) and Latorre Massimiliano (3rd R), members of the navy security team of Napoli registered Italian merchant vessel Enrica Lexie, are escorted as they leave a courtroom at Kollam in Kerala March 5, 2012.REUTERS/SIVARAM V/FILES

A U.N. court has ruled that India must allow an Italian marine detained in Delhi for more than four years to go home, Italy's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

India acknowledged the ruling but said Salvatore Girone would remain under the authority of its Supreme Court which might impose various conditions on his release.

Girone is one of two Italian marines were arrested in India in 2012 on suspicion of killing two fishermen while on an anti-piracy mission on an Italian oil tanker. One returned to Italy with health problems, but India has refused to let Girone go.

He is living in the Italian embassy in Delhi.

"This really is a significant step forward which we have worked on with great dedication," Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told reporters. "I'll take advantage of this moment to send a message of friendship to the great people of India."

The case has soured relations between India and Italy, and also overshadowed Delhi's efforts to improve its ties with the European Union as other EU countries backed Rome in the row.

Looking to overcome the legal impasse, the two countries agreed last year to move their dispute to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and abide by its decision.

The Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that in an initial ruling, the court had decided that Girone should be allowed home while it continued its deliberations, which might take many months. The court itself declined to comment.

Responding hours later, India said Girone should be free to return home for the duration of the U.N. investigation, but stressed that he would remain on bail and would have to return to India if the Hague court ruled that India could try the case.

The Ministry of External Affairs said the Supreme Court might demand that he surrender his passport to the Italian authorities and not leave Italy without Indian permission.

The U.N. court will continue to review the merits of the case and no date has been set for a definitive ruling.

"The government underlines that today's court decision ... will not influence the progress of the arbitration procedures, which should decide if Italy or India has jurisdiction in the case," Italy's Foreign Ministry said.

Italy has argued that the case should not be heard in India because it said the incident had occurred in international waters. India said it remained confident that the issue of jurisdiction would be decided in its favour.

Marines are viewed by Italy as state officials immune to foreign prosecution. Italy has paid $190,000 in compensation to each victim's family.

(Additional reporting by Douglas Busvine in Delhi and Thomas Escritt in Amsterdam; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Sensex sheds 170 pts on muted earnings, Japan rout

Mumbai, May 2 (PTI) Equities started the week on a dull note with the market benchmark Sensex tumbling to a three-week low today as a plunge in Tokyo and disappointing domestic corporate earnings along with a fall in manufacturing sector activity rattled investors.

In contrast, broader markets were in a better shape with the mid-cap and small-cap indices closing higher by 1.10 per cent and 0.39 per cent, respectively.

Falling for a second straight session, ICICI Bank emerged as the top Sensex loser, skidding 4.08 per cent to close at Rs 226.95 as the company posted its worst numbers in over a decade with net profit plunging 87 per cent in March quarter.

Investor sentiment was badly hit following heavy losses in Japanese shares, dragging the Nikkei down by 3.11 per cent, as exporters took a major hit from surging yen after BOJ took investors by surprise by deciding against fresh stimulus.

Markets in China, Hong Kong, Malaysian, Singapore and Thailand remained closed for public holidays.

Housing finance major HDFC Ltd, however, perked up by 0.36 per cent on 30.76 per cent surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,460.46 crore for the March quarter.

"Value buying efforts were capped by India's PMI figures released during the day, which showed manufacturing activity slowed sharply in April," Anand James Chief Market Strategist Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

A monthly survey showed that manufacturing output grew at its slowest pace in four months in April as new orders stagnated and input costs rose sharply.

The 30-share index stayed in the negative zone throughout the day and settled 169.65 points or 0.66 per cent lower at 25,436.97 after touching a low of 25,341.14. This is the weakest closing since April 12.

The broader Nifty also succumbed to selling and slipped below the 7,800-mark in early trade to hit a low of 7,777.30 before recovering partially to close 43.90 points or 0.56 per cent down at 7,805.90.

On the other side of the spectrum, the country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki ended 0.91 per cent up at Rs 3,829.55 after it posted a 13.3 per cent growth in sales in April.

Shares of IndiGo's parent InterGlobe Aviation plunged 4.51 per cent to close at Rs 1,023.80 after its net profit remained flat at Rs 579.31 crore in the three months ended March.

In Europe, most indices rose as a sharp decline in the previous session prompted investors to look for bargains. Key indices in France and Germany rose between 0.49 per cent and 1.06 per cent. .