Indo-Nepal border sealed a day before sixth phase of UP Polls

Mahrajganj(UP), Mar 3 (PTI) The Indo-Nepal border has been sealed, 24 hours before the polling in the sixth of the seven phased Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls begins tomorrow.

Voting for 49 Uttar Pradesh assembly seats will be held on March 4.

"The 84 km long Indo-Nepal border will be sealed 24 hours prior to the start of voting and will remain so till the end of polling on March 4. Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) will enforce the sealing. Only emergency vehicles will be allowed across the border during this period," said District Electoral Officer Virendra Kumar Singh.

Cameras have been installed on trade and transit points along India's border with Nepal to prevent illegal movement of people during polling.

He said two such cameras have already been set up at Sonauli Indo-Nepal Border of Maharajganj district on India-Nepal border.

Five Assembly seats in the district- Siswa, Nautanwa, Frenda, Paniyara and Maharajganj - are going to polls in the penultimate phase-VI of UP Assembly polls tomorrow.

Market changes course, Sensex gives up 145 pts

Mumbai, Mar 2 (PTI) Stocks frittered away a good beginning today as the Sensex stumbled and lost about 145 points to end at 28,840 after investors moved in to take profit towards the close amid a lower opening in Europe.

Both the Sensex and the Nifty even touched nearly 2-year highs (March 2015) in their early sessions.

Asia saw a mixed closing and Europe a lower opening amid growing optimism of Fed rate hike bets this month, which may suck out capital from emerging markets, traders said. The US markets yesterday closed at a new high.

The BSE index ended down 144.70 points, or 0.50 per cent, at 28,839.79 after moving between 29,145.62 and 28,784.31 intra-day.

The BSE barometer had gained by 241.17 points in the previous session on the back of strong GDP data for the December quarter and positive global cues.

The NSE Nifty closed lower by 46.05 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 8,899.75 after hitting 8,992.50 -- the highest since March 3, 2015. It also touched a low of 8,879.80.

As many as 22 stocks in the Sensex group fell and only 8 rose.

Market started on a strong footing, picking up cues from global markets on growing optimism about corporate tax cuts and other policy proposals as referred to by US President Donald Trump during his speech before the Congress.

Barring auto, all sectoral indices ended lower with realty, power, PSU, healthcare, oil and gas, FMCG and bank down by up to 4.34 per cent.

Wockhardt fell sharply by 4.95 per cent after the company said the US health regulator has issued a warning letter to its step-down subsidiary Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Adani Ports plunged 3.07 per cent followed by Sun Pharma (2.63 per cent), NTPC (2.50 per cent), Bharti Airtel (1.71 per cent) and Dr Reddy's (1.98 per cent).

Auto stocks buzzed for the second straight day after release of monthly sale numbers as the BSE auto index gained 0.28 per cent. Tata Motors shot up 2.66 per cent, the best show among Sensex scrips, after the company yesterday reported a jump in total sales in February.

The mid-cap index fell 1.41 per cent and small-cap 1.30 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 198.27 crore yesterday, showed provisional data.

Regional markets were mostly mixed, with China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.52 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.20 per cent. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.88 per cent.

Europe too was in the grip of weakness in its early session. .

Varsities should be place of debate, not violence: Prez

Kochi, Mar 2 (PTI) Advocating free thinking in university campuses, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said students and faculties must engage in "reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagating a culture of unrest"

He also said it was tragic to see students caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet

His comments come in the backdrop of the ongoing tussle between RSS-affiliate ABVP and Left-backed AISA supporters in the Delhi University and a raging debate over free speech and nationalism following recent tweets of one of the varsity's students Gurmehar Kaur

"It is tragic to see them (students) caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet," Mukherjee said while delivering the sixth K S Rajamony Memorial Lecture here

Underlining ancient glorious culture of universities in the country, he said, "Our premier institutions of higher education are the vehicles on which India has to propel itself into a knowledge society." 

"These temples of learning must resound with creativity and free thinking," he said.

Mukherjee also cautioned against the exploitation of "fault lines" in the society, intolerance and attack on women

He said there should be no room in the country for the "intolerant Indian" as this nation has been a bastion of free though, speech and expression since ancient times

The society has always been characterised by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate as well as discussion, the President said

"Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution

There must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent," he said

The views of Kaur, daughter of an army officer killed in action against militants, evoked sharp reaction from Union minister Kiren Rijiju who went on to ask, "who is polluting her mind"

Kaur was allegedly threatened with rape on her Facebook page and was mocked by sportspersons and celebrities who questioned her pacifist approach

"Protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children. India should not fail this test," he said

In terse comments, Mukherjee said he does not consider a society or State to be civilised if its citizens' behaviour towards women is uncivilised

"When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the feminine as divine," he said. .

Pak created terror outfits, now 'monster' devouring it: India

Geneva/New Delhi, Mar 1 (PTI) Pakistan created terror outfits against India and the "monster" is now devouring its own creator, India's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva said today.

Addressing the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), Ambassador Ajit Kumar hit out at Pakistan for destabilising the situation in Jammu and Kashmir by promoting infiltration and cross-border terrorism, inciting, promoting and glorifying violence.

Asserting that terrorism is the "grossest violation of human rights", he said members will recognise the irony of a nation that has established a well-earned reputation of being a "global epicentre of terrorism holding forth on human rights".

"Pakistan has created terrorist outfits against India.

This monster is now devouring its own creator," Kumar said, adding that in the last two decades, the most wanted terrorists of the world have found "succour and sustenance" in Pakistan.

The fundamental reason for disturbances in parts of Jammu and Kashmir is cross-border terrorism aided and abetted by Pakistan, he said, noting that for many years now, Islamabad has been carrying out an intense campaign to destabilise the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

He further emphasised that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the situation there is an internal matter of the country.

The central government and democratically elected state government have led a system-wide effort last year to restore normalcy in the state in the wake of Pakistan-supported violent unrest, he said in the session's 'General Segment'.

India would also like to point out that Pakistan's unwarranted references to UNSC resolutions are "grossly misleading as Pakistan was required to vacate the parts of the State of J&K under its illegal and forced occupation," Kumar said. .

India test-fires indigenous supersonic interceptor missile

Successful Test Firing of AAD Endo-Atmospheric Interceptor Missile

Balasore/New Delhi, Mar 1 : India today successfully test-fired an indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile capable of destroying any incoming enemy missile at low altitude, a feat which reflects the country's Ballistic Missile Defence prowess.
The Defence Ministry said all the mission objectives were successfully met during the test-firing of the endo- atmospheric missile from Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha.

This the second time that the missile has been test-fired in less than a month and is part of an effort to put in place a multi-layer missile defence system.

"The endo-atmospheric missile, capable of intercepting incoming targets at an altitude of 15 to 25 km successfully destroyed the incoming missile. All the mission objectives were successfully met," the Defence Ministry said.

DRDO conducted the successful launch of the interceptor missile Advanced Area Defence (AAD) at 1015 hrs today from Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. The endo-atmospheric missile, capable of intercepting incoming targets at an altitude of 15 to 25 kms successfully destroyed the incoming missile. All the mission objectives were successfully met.

The weapon system radars tracked the target and provided the initial guidance to the interceptor which could precisely home on to the target and destroyed it in endo-atmospheric layer. The complete event including the engagement and destruction was tracked by a number of electro-optical tracking systems using infrared imagery. Radars and telemetry stations tracked the target and the interceptor till the destruction of the target. The launch has proved the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) prowess of the country.

The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar congratulated DRDO on the successful launch of the interceptor missile. Chairman DRDO and Secretary Department of Defence R&D Dr. S. Christopher also congratulated team AAD for the successful test firing."The launch has proved the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) prowess of the country," the Ministry said.

Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri and Director General (Missiles & Strategic Systems), DRDO Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy monitored the launch operation along with other senior officials.

Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and Director General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy monitored the launch operation along with other top officials.

The Ministry said the complete event including the "engagement and destruction" was tracked by a number of electro-optical tracking systems using infrared imagery.

Radars and telemetry stations tracked the target and the interceptor till the destruction of the target.

"Today's test launch was conducted in order to validate various parameters of the interceptor in flight mode," a defence official said, adding it was a low altitude trial.

The interceptor was engaged against a target which was a Prithvi missile launched from launch complex 3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore, taking up the trajectory of a hostile ballistic missile.

The target missile was launched at about 10.10 hours from Chandipur.

After about four minutes the interceptor, Advanced Air Defence (AAD) missile positioned at Abdul Kalam Island in the Bay of Bengal, getting signals from tracking radars, roared through its trajectory to destroy the incoming hostile missile in mid-air, in an endo-atmospheric altitude, the official said.

"The mission was excellent and it was a direct hit," said a scientist of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO).

The interceptor is a 7.5-m-long single stage solid rocket propelled guided missile equipped with a navigation system, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical activator, the official said.

The interceptor missile had its own mobile launcher, secure data link for interception, independent tracking and homing capabilities and sophisticated radars, the official added.

On February 11, an incoming hostile ballistic missile target was successfully intercepted at high altitude, above 50 km of the earth's atmosphere by an exo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the Odisha coast.

Earlier, a low altitude (endo-atmospheric) test of AAD missile was successfully test launched on May 15, 2016 from the same base.

India retains fastest-growing major economy tag despite cash crackdown

File Photo - An employee works inside an undergarment factory in Kolkata, India, February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri/File Photo

By Rajesh Kumar Singh | NEW DELHI

India's economy defied expectations on Tuesday to retain the title of the world's fastest-growing major economy, despite the pain caused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shock cash crackdown.

Gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to an annual 7.0 percent in October-December from 7.4 percent the previous quarter. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 6.4 percent growth rate.

India's growth was higher than China's 6.8 percent for the last three months of 2016.

The federal statistics office retained its growth forecast for the fiscal year ending in March 2017 at 7.1 percent.

The figures surprised economists, who had expected the economy to take a bigger hit from Modi's decision last November to outlaw old 500 rupee and 1,000 rupee banknotes, taking out 86 percent of the currency in circulation virtually overnight.

"Perhaps this data is not capturing the impact of demonetisation," said Aneesh Srivastava, chief investment officer, IDBI Federal Life Insurance Co.

"I am totally surprised and stunned to see this number ... I believe that, with a lag, we will see an impact on GDP numbers."

The data also backs the RBI's assessment, which all along maintained the economic disruption caused by Modi's shock monetary therapy as a transitory phenomenon.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signs ten (10) more Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs)

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) signs ten (10) more Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) pertaining to various sectors of the economy like Telecom, Pharmaceutical, Banking & Finance, Steel, Retail and Information Technology etc.; With this, the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT reaches 140.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into 10 more Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) over the last one week, including 7 Unilateral APAs signed today. Two of these ten agreements are Bilateral APAs with the United Kingdom and Japan. Seven of these Agreements have Rollback provisions in them. 

         With this, the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT has reached 140. This includes 10 Bilateral APAs and 130 Unilateral APAs. In the current financial year, a total of 76 APAs (7 Bilateral APAs and 61 Unilateral APAs) have already been entered into. The CBDT expects more APAs to be concluded and signed before the end of the current fiscal.

The APAs entered into over the last week pertain to various sectors of the economy like Telecom, Pharmaceutical, Banking & Finance, Steel, Retail, Information Technology, etc. The international transactions covered in these agreements include Payment of Royalty Fee, Trading in Goods, IT Enabled Services, Software Development Services, Marketing Support Services, Clinical Research Services, Non-binding Investment Advisory Services, Payment of Interest on ECB, etc. 

The APA Scheme was introduced in the Income-tax Act in 2012 and the “Rollback” provisions were introduced in 2014. The scheme endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and setting the prices of international transactions in advance. Since its inception, the APA scheme has evinced a lot of interest from taxpayers and that has resulted in more than 700 applications (both unilateral and bilateral) being filed so far in about five years.

         The progress of the APA Scheme strengthens the Government’s resolve of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime. The Indian APA programme has been appreciated nationally and internationally for being able to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner.

Index of Eight Core Industries (Base: 2004-05=100)

1.       The summary of the Index of Eight Core Industries (base: 2004-05) is given at the Annexure.

2.       The Eight Core Industries comprise nearly 38 % of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).  The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stands at 191.8 in January, 2017, which was 3.4 % higher compared to the index of January, 2016. Its cumulative growth during April to January, 2016-17 was 4.8 %.

Coal

3.       Coal production (weight: 4.38 %) increased by 4.8 % in January, 2017 over January, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2016-17 increased by 2.3 % over corresponding period of previous year.

Crude Oil

4.       Crude Oil production (weight: 5.22 %) increased by 1.3 % in January, 2017 over January, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2016-17 declined by 2.8 % over the corresponding period of previous year.

Natural Gas

5.       The Natural Gas production (weight: 1.71 %) increased by 11.9 % in January, 2017 over January, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2016-17 declined by 1.9 % over the corresponding period of previous year.

Refinery Products (93% of Crude Throughput)

6.       Petroleum Refinery production (weight: 5.94%) declined by 1.5 % in January, 2017 over January, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2016-17 increased by 6.8 % over the corresponding period of previous year.

Fertilizers

7.       Fertilizer production (weight: 1.25%) declined by 1.6 % in January, 2017 over January, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2016-17 increased by 2.9 % over the corresponding period of previous year.

Steel (Alloy + Non-Alloy)

8.       Steel production (weight: 6.68%) increased by 11.4 % in January, 2017 over January, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2016-17 increased by 9.2 % over the corresponding period of previous year.

Cement

9.       Cement production (weight: 2.41%) declined by 13.3 % in January, 2017 over January, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2016-17 increased by 1.0 % over the corresponding period of previous year.

Electricity

10.     Electricity generation (weight: 10.32%) increased by 4.8 % in January, 2017 over January, 2016. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2016-17 increased by 5.4 % over the corresponding period of previous year.

Note 1: Data are provisional. Revision has been made based on revised data received for corresponding month of previous year in respect of Coal, Crude Oil, Refinery Products, Fertilizer, Steel, Cement and Electricity. Accordingly, indices for the month of January, 2016 have been revised.

Note 2: Since October, 2016, Electricity generation data from Renewable sources is also included.

Note 3: Release of the index for February, 2017 will be on Friday, 31^st March, 2017.

Growmoney Voice

Growmoney Voice

(Intra Day Tips Given for educational / academic purpose – see Notes given at the end of blog)

28 /02/2017 (Intraday trading hours : 09.45 AM to 3 PM)

NIFTY Future:

Range : 8888 - 8941

Likely to open between : 8901 - 8928

Buy above 8930; Tgts - 8949/8973/8996/9020 ; sl - 8907

Sell below 8906 ; Tgts - 8887/8863/8840/8816 ; sl - 8929

Break down - 8887 ; Break up - 8942

click : http://thenewsofuse.blogspot.in/

Over 52 pc turnout till 4 PM in ph-V of UP polls

Lucknow, Feb 27 (PTI) Amid tight security, an estimated 52 per cent of 1.81 crore electorates today cast their votes till 4 PM during the fifth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh where all eyes are set on Amethi and Faizabad.

Polling is on, by and large peacefully, in 51 Assembly constituencies spread over 11 districts of the state.

"Over 52 per cent polling was recorded till 4 PM," poll officials said here.

The exercise was slow in the first two hours but picked up pace gradually, with the first-time voters seen exercising their franchise quite enthusiastically.

Prominent contestants in this phase include controversial minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati from the ruling Samajwadi Party, who is facing Amita Singh from Congress and BJP's Garima Singh in Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Rahul Gandhi.

Prajapati, against whom an FIR has been lodged in an alleged rape case, said the people were with him and there was a strong wave in the favour of ruling SP. "Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will become the CM again," he claimed.

Amita, wife of Congress leader Sanjay Singh, hoped people would support the best candidate "and I will definitely win."

Garima, the first wife of Sanjay, on the other hand said there was no development in the constituency and people were facing problems.

The districts going to polls in this phase are Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Basti, Siddharth Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Amethi and Sultanpur.

Faizabad is another hot seat with BJP's Ram Temple issue once again figuring in its manifesto this time.

Ayodhya Assembly seat, which falls in Faizabad district, used to be a traditional stronghold of BJP since the Ram Temple movement days. But it was snatched by SP in 2012 and this time the saffron party is trying to wrest it back.

Due to death of SP candidate Chandrashekhar Kanaujia in Alapur (Ambedkar Nagar), the EC has announced fresh date of voting in this constituency on March 9.

The SP had won 37 seats out of 52 (total seats in this phase including Alapur) in the 2012 Assembly polls. While the BJP and Congress won five seats each, the BSP had won 3 and the Peace Party 2.

The turnout in these constituencies in 2012 was 57.09 per cent.