shameen

STT removal in Direct Taxes code finds favour with mkt players

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New Delhi, August 13: The removal of Securities Transaction Tax (STT) proposed in the new Direct Taxes Code may prove beneficial for market players as it may bring back strong volumes, analysts said.

“The abolishment of STT would be beneficial for brokers and day-traders, for whom the cost of transactions had increased considerably, and strong volumes may come back if it is removed,” Purpleline Investment Advisors CEO P K Agarwal said.

FDI inflow increases 5 times in April-June

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Mumbai, August 13: Signs of India’s economic recovery appears to have raised the confidence among foreign investors with the flow of foreign investment surging five times in the April-June quarter.

As against a flow of nearly USD three billion in the preceding quarter of Jan-March, the direct and portfolio investments flow together rose sharply to USD 15 billion during April-June this year, data released by RBI revealed.

US asks Colombo, Tamil Diaspora to seek political reconciliation

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Washington, August 13: The US has asked the Sri Lankan government and the American Tamil community to seek opportunities to engage one another on political reconciliation and the reconstruction of Sri Lanka.

The call was made by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake and US Charge d’Affaires in Sri Lanka James Moore in a meeting with 16 representatives of US-based organisations representing members of the Tamil Diaspora on Tuesday.

Holbrooke to visit AfPak; no plan for trip to India

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Washington, August 13: The US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has no plan to visit India even as he is travelling to the region for the second time in a month.

“I will be leaving day after tomorrow for Afghanistan and Pakistan in reverse order, Pakistan first and Afghanistan,” Holbrooke said at a panel discussion with Senior Advisor to the Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank.

Lockerbie bomber to be freed: British media

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London, August 13: Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, is to be freed from a British jail on compassionate grounds, media has reported.

Megrahi is serving life with a minimum term of 27 years over the downing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish village of Lockerbie, which killed 270 people in 1988.

The former Libyan agent is expected to return to his homeland following an announcement by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill next week, the BBC and Sky News television said, without quoting sources.

Nigeria, China to sign agreement against fake products

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Abuja, August 13: Nigeria on Wednesday said it will sign an agreement with Chinese government to check the import of fake products from Beijing.

“I am happy to inform you that the agreement had been concluded and will be signed shortly and put into effect in the overall interest of the Nigerian economy and our people,” said Samuel Ortom, chairman of the governing council of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

He said that measures will be taken to check importation of sub-standard textile and other products into the country.

Student injured in scuffle at north Delhi locality

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New Delhi, August 13: A student was injured on Wednesday during a scuffle between him and a shopkeeper at a north Delhi locality here which sparked off tension in the area.

During the incident, which was reported from Mukherjee Nagar, the victim was allegedly beaten up by the shopkeeper’s son after a heated argument.

After sometime, the shopkeeper and some locals also allegedly joined in roughing up the student.

Later, some students gathered at the spot which led to tension in the area and police was called to contain the situation.

Swine flu toll 17; Govt cracks down on mask, tamiflu hoarders

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New Delhi, August 13: The Union Health Ministry today told the state governments to crack down on people hoarding and black-marketing swine flu drug Oseltamivir and masks used as protection against the disease, warning that their “shortage will not be tolerated.”

Six people succumbed to the H1N1 virus in India Wednesday, including five from the same hospital in this “epidemic” city, taking the death toll in the country to 17. The sixth death was reported from Maharashtra’s Nashik town.

China urges world to respect Myanmar’s junta

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Yangon, August 13: China urged the world on Wednesday to respect Myanmar’s judicial sovereignty, suggesting Beijing would not back any U.N. action against the junta for returning

opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into detention.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said it was time for dialogue with Myanmar, not criticism, as outraged Western nations pressed for a U.N. statement denouncing the sentence imposed on the Nobel Peace laureate on Tuesday.

Make breaking, leaving nuke treaty harder, US says

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Geneva, August 13: States that break or leave the treaty preventing the spread of nuclear weapons should face tougher sanctions than at present, the top U.S. nonproliferation official said on Wednesday.

Susan Burk said the world now had a real opportunity to strengthen the regime enshrined in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), and President Barack Obama’s administration was determined to make an ambitious effort to do so.

NASA lacks money to track killer asteroids

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Washington, August 13: US space agency NASA does not have enough cash to track the large nearby asteroids that could pose a hazard to Earth, a study by the National Academy of Science found Wednesday.

In 2005, Congress ordered NASA to track up to 90 per cent of near- Earth asteroids that are 140 metres in diameter or larger by 2020. But no money was budgeted for the task, making it impossible to complete.

The report also said astronomers are capable of tracking the asteroids if given enough resources to do so.

6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes Japan

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Tokyo, August 13: A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Thursday morning off the eastern coast of Japan, the country’s meterological agency said.

The quake took place at a depth of 38 kilometres off the Hachijojima islands, about 280 kilometres south of Tokyo. While it was felt in the capital and neighbouring provinces, there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. There was no tsunami warning issued.

Scores of people were injured Tuesday when a magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck central Japan, causing the automatic shutdown of two nuclear reactors.

Jakarta hotel florist plotted deadly bombings

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Jakarta, August 13: When bomb blasts tore through two luxury hotels in Indonesia’s capital where Andi Suhandi worked as a florist, he tried to phone a colleague to make sure he was safe.

There was no answer. Flower arranger Ibrohim Muharram went missing after the twin suicide attacks at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels on July 17 that killed seven people and wounded more than 50 others. Within days it emerged he had resigned his job the morning of the bombings.

Rice outlines new direction of US diplomacy

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New York, August 13: The United States now views the United Nations as essential to tackle global security threats, having paid a price for “stiff-arming” the world body, its ambassador to the UN said Wednesday.

In a major speech entitled “A New Course in the World, a New Approach at the UN,” Susan Rice outlined President Barack Obama’s new diplomatic priorities, including a commitment to work constructively with most nations.

Swine Flu Cases Cross 300 in Oman

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Muscat, August 13: The count of Swine Flu cases in Oman has swelled by nearly 90 in the last three days to cross 300, officials of the Health Ministry said, adding that they expect the figure to rise rapidly in the coming weeks. The ministry also clarified that there had been no deaths from H1N1 in 
the country.

“Eight-nine new cases have been reported from around the country. The total number of affected people (in Oman) now is 323,” a spokesman for the ministry told Khaleej Times on Wednesday after a meeting of the H1N1 Control and 
Follow-up Committee.

Govt, society must keep watch on communal groups: PM

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New Delhi, August 13: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the government and civil society groups must keep an eye on and protest against those who resort to violence in the name of religion to spread disharmony.

“I believe that both the government and civil society groups must continuously watch and raise our voice against groups and individuals who use violence in the name of religion,” the prime minister said at a function to present the Kabir Puraskar and National Communal Harmony Awards for the years 2007 and 2008.

India a dominant power: Holbrooke

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Washington, August 13: Noting that India is a “dominant power” in South Asia, the Special US Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke on Thursday said the Obama administration is keeping New Delhi informed about its policies in Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

“The Indians are a major factor in the region. They are a dominant power,” Holbrooke said at a meeting on Af-Pak region organised by the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think tank.

Tight security in Kandhamal for VHP leader’s death anniversary

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Phulbani, August 13: Over 2,000 security personnel have been deployed in riot-scarred Kandhamal on the eve of the first death anniversary of VHP leader Laxamananda Saraswati on Thursday whose killing had sparked a communal frenzy in the Maoist-infested Orissa district last year.

Sangh Parivar outfits like the VHP and RSS have decided to observe it as ‘Sacrifice Day’. “Religious functions were being organised at two ashrams at Jalespeta and Chakapada on the occasion,” VHP state secretary Gouri Kumar Rath said, adding the programmes will be peaceful.

Fatah election results confirm younger leadership

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Bethlehem, August 13: Official results in the landmark vote for the main policy-making body of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement showed only minor changes from the unofficial tally, an official said Wednesday.

The main trend of having younger, local leaders replacing old-time revolutionaries as the center of power in Fatah was maintained, according to the official count announced by election committee head Ahmed Sayad.

Voting had started Sunday and extended into Tuesday.

Iraqi PM to visit Syria for security talks

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Baghdad, August 13: The Iraqi government insisted that it’s not up to the United States to negotiate over Iraq’s security with Syria as a delegation from the Obama administration arrived Wednesday in Damascus.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will make his own trip to Syria next week to discuss security, the government said, calling the issue an internal Iraqi affair. U.S. and Iraqi officials have long been concerned about the infiltration of foreign fighters across the Syrian border.

Israelis shot Gaza civilians waving white flags

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Jerusalem, August 13: Israeli soldiers unlawfully shot and killed 11 Palestinian civilians, including four children, who were in groups waving white flags during the Gaza war, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

“The Israeli military should conduct thorough, credible investigations into these deaths to tackle the prevailing culture of impunity,” the New York-based organisation said in a 63-page report.

It said the 11 people were only small fraction of the total number of civilians and combatants killed in the December-January Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Campaign Against Electronic Fraud, Phone Call Scams

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Abu Dhabi, August 13: An extensive media awareness campaign to educate the public against electronic fraud, text messages and phone call scams will be launched on Sunday by the Ministry of Interior (MoI), according to an
official release.

According to Lt Majid Abdul Kareem Al Marzouqi, head of Media Studies and Security Coordination section at MoI and campaign coordinator, around 9,682,000 SMSs in Arabic and English will be sent to all Etisalat and Du mobile phone users across the emirate at the start off the campaign, warning them against falling for electronic and
phone scams.

3,000 Complaints of Rash Driving Against Taxi Drivers

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Dubai, August 13: Reckless driving by Sharjah taxi drivers in the first half of this year was partly behind passengers registering more than 3,000 complaints, said a Sharjah Transport spokesperson.

Mahmood Al Hossani encouraged commuters call up the company’s toll-free hotline to register any complaint as it tries to implement quality services and take action against bad drivers.

Al Hossani said 3,107 complaints had been registered until the end of June this year.

Al Saleh Named Chairman of Support Fund

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Dubai, August 13: The Director-General of Dubai’s Department of Finance, Abdulrahman Al Saleh, has been appointed Chairman of the Board of the Dubai Financial Support Fund.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, on Wednesday also named Abdulaziz Rahmah Al Muhairi, Managing Director of the Investment Corporation of Dubai, as Deputy Chairman.

The support fund was set up last month to manage the proceeds of the Dubai government’s $20 billion bond programme, and any other bond issues.