New Delhi, April 05: Loans to farmers, small entrepreneurs and exporters are most likely to be governed by a different set of rules and not come under the ambit of the proposed new base rate lending system that is scheduled to come into force from July.
Washington, April 05: U.S. crude futures jumped 1 percent towards $86 a barrel on Monday, to their highest since October 2008, after data showed U.S. employers created jobs in March at the fastest rate in three years.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose 162,000, the Labor Department said on Friday, only the third increase since the economy sunk into recession in late 2007 and the largest since March 2007.
Mumbai, April 05: Sustained buying in index pivotals pushed the key benchmark indices to their highest level in 25 months. Firm Asian stocks underpinned the sentiment. US markets settled at 18-month highs on Thursday, 1 April 2010 while some Asian markets zoomed to 19-months high in today’s trade buoyed by an upbeat US job data. The BSE 30-share Sensex was up 126.23 points or 0.71%, up 125.19 points from the day’s low and off just 3.94 points from the day’s high.
New Delhi, April 05: Delhi is likely to witness a hot day Monday with the met office predicting an above average day temperature.
The capital Monday reported a minimum of 23.2 degrees Celsius, five notches above average for this time of the season.
‘Skies will mainly be clear with the maximum temperature likely to hover around 38 degrees Celsius,’ said an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Delhi Sunday recorded a maximum temperature of 39 degrees Celsius.
—–IANS
Bangalore, April 05: It is history in the making in Bangalore as for the first time in 54 years the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks set to win the Greater Bangalore City Corporation beating the Congress.
The BJP has taken a decisive lead already winning 71 wards and is leading in 45 others.
The Congress has so far only won 42 wards and the Janata Dal (Secular) has won 10.
If the BJP gets a majority, it’ll be the first time the party comes to power in the civic body since Independence, ending five decades of Congress dominance.
Jerusalem, April 05: Palestinian militants fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on Sunday night, the Israeli military said, but there were no reports of casualties or damage.
Local media reported that the rocket landed in an empty field.
Gaza militants have stepped up rocket fire lately. One recent projectile killed a Thai labourer on a kibbutz, or collective farm, and Israel’s armed forces have repeatedly raided the Gaza Strip in response.
–AFP
Cairo, April 05: The Egyptian publisher of a book supporting former UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei was released from custody on Sunday a day after his arrest, a security source said.
“He has been released,” the official who requested anonymity told without indicating the reasons for his arrest.
Ahmed Mahanna, who runs the Dawin publishing house, had been arrested in a dawn raid Saturday at his home, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said in a statement.
New Delhi, April 05: New British visa rules come into force this week amid fears they will obstruct the smooth flow of Indian workers being posted on intra-company transfers, and impact vital Indian investments into Britain.
The new rules say the gross salary package that will “actually be paid to a migrant must be at least equal to that paid to a resident worker.
” An Indian delegation is expected to meet British authorities soon.
—-Agencies
Mumbai, April 05: After a 50-day schedule in Patiala, a homesick Bobby Deol heads off to Canada for another 40-day schedule.
The actor, who is extremely attached to his home, hearth, wife Tania and two sons, Aryaman and Dharam, hasn’t been home for over two months and will be leaving for a long outdoor immediately after his shoot in Patiala ends.
Islamabad, April 05: Militants blew up a girls primary school while unidentified people set fire to seven oil tankers Monday in Pakistan’s tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
A government girls primary school was blown up in Baizai while unidentified people set fire to seven empty oil tankers parked in Landi Kotal in in Mohmand district, Xinhua reported.
The number of schools so far destroyed by militants in Mohmand district has reached 40.
The Pakistani Taliban, opposed to women’s education, have destroyed hundreds of schools in the country in the past two years.
—-IANS
Kolkata, April 05: The former Pak skipper Wasim Akram has expressed his shock at the treatment meted out to cricketers for so long by PCB.
Akram insists that Pakistan never respected its cricket stars, and reiterated the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was wrong to slap indefinite bans on cricketers.
Akram’s comment comes after the PCB effectively banned former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan from playing international cricket for an indefinite period on March 10, following an inquiry into the crushing whitewash on the tour of Australia.
Dubai, April 05: The Dubai Court of Appeal on Sunday upheld the one-month jail term given to a British couple for kissing in a restaurant.
The court also upheld their deportation order and fine of Dh1,000 each for consuming liquor.
The duo — a 24-year-old expatriate man and a 25-year-old tourist — were arrested by Dubai Police in November after receiving a complaint from an Emirati woman who allegedly saw them kissing in a restaurant in Jumeirah Beach Residence.
Wasington, April 05: The United States will supplement its multi-billion dollar aid package to Pakistan with a series of powerful new weapons, including smart bombs, to help Islamabad crackdown on its growing militant groups.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates have in recent weeks pledged further security assistance to Islamabad, in addition to the $7.5 billion in aid over five years that the US Congress approved to fund infrastructure and education projects.
Tehran, April 05: After the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) rejected the government’s subsidy reform plan, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls on the legislative body to make a revision in the bill.
“In a letter to Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, the president pointed to problems in the way of implementing the plan and called on the Majlis to help the government,” the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) quoted Vice-President for parliamentary affairs Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini as saying on Sunday.
Banglore, April 05: Amit Mishra, the Delhi Daredevils legspinner who currently leads the wickets tally for IPL 2010, is motivated to continue his good form despite missing out on a spot in the Indian side for the World Twenty20.
Dubai, April 05: Fast growing countries like the UAE which have become host to hundreds of nationalities have to invest in risk reduction, efficiency and preparation of people drawn to them from across the globe.
In an exclusive interview, Dr. Mukesh Kapila, Chief Executive of the PHG Foundation in Cambridge, UK and special adviser to the United Nations in Afghanistan, put forward what he termed as the most important investments that should be incorporated in their development highlighting the historic shift of wealth from the West to the East and UAE’s position in the current shift.
Thane, April 05: The Thane Rural Police claim to have cracked a dacoity case within four days with the arrest of six men, including a relative of the complainant, on Friday night.
The police reached the spot within five minutes but were unable to catch them. “An search was carried out in the jungle and by dawn we caught Dashrath Jamadar (20), a Vasai resident,” said SP (Thane Rural) Madhukar Pandey.
—–Agencies
Mumbai, April 05: Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is heading the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on the Food Security Bill that is meeting on Monday evening, is a worried man.
Insiders say if National Advisory Council (NAC) chairperson Sonia Gandhi forces the government to revise the ambit of the bill, the food subsidy will shoot up from Rs55,578 crore to about Rs85,000 crore this fiscal.
Melbourne, April 05: Steve Waugh, the former Australia captain, has backed day-night Tests and suggested some unorthodox tweaks to revive interest in one-dayers.
“I would have loved to play day-night Test cricket,” Waugh said, speaking to Harsha Bhogle on Cricinfo’s Opening Up interview show. “I think it is exciting, brings another dimension to the game.
“People want a bit of change, they want that excitement. Why not bring that into Test cricket? We have got it in Twenty20s. Let’s get a pink ball in and play a day-night Test if it is possible.”
New Delhi, April 05: After showcasing India through the Incredible India campaign, actor Aamir Khan will be creating awareness about urban sanitation and hygiene issues among schoolchildren.
The government has approached Aamir to be the brand ambassador for the Urban School Sanitation project, a joint initiative of the Human Resource Development Ministry and the Urban Development Ministry, and help save children. “Yes, we have been approached and have said yes to the initiative,” a spokesperson at Aamir’s office said.
Dubai, April 05: A radiography technician molested a woman patient during a test at a local hospital in Muraqqabat, a court heard on Sunday.
The 56-year-old Sudanese national allegedly molested the Emirati student, 19, while alone with her in the radiography room on January 30. He went on trial in the Court of First Instance on the charge of molestation.
The complainant, a 19-year-old student, told the prosecutors that the incident happened during her stay at the hospital.
London, April 05: Filmmaker Woody Allen has replaced French First Lady Carla Bruni with Marion Cotillard in his new film.
Allen had last year said that Bruni would be the “natural” choice to star in his forthcoming flick, set in France, describing her as “wonderful”.
However, earlier this year rumour mills went into overdrive around Bruni and Nicolas Sarkozy’s marriage, which seemed to have left the Allen sour, reports express.co.uk.
Sharjah, April 05: Amid concerns here over capital punishment given to 17 Indians in Sharjah, UAE on Monday said its legal system guarantees fair trial and the death sentence is subject to appeal and annulment by the rule of law without any interference from the parties concerned.
“The UAE embassy in New Delhi has been following press reports with regard to convicted Indian nationals in Sharjah. Death penalty in UAE legal system is subject to appeal and cassation by the rule of law without any interference from the parties.
Bangalore, April, 05: The BJP appears poised to reach the half-way mark in the 198-member Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) by winning 50 wards and maintaining a lead in 58 others.
According to trends in the counting process, which began at 8 am in 28 different counting centers in the City, the Opposition Congress had been declared elected in 28 wards and was leading over its nearest rival in 33 other wards by 10.30 am.
The JD (S) had bagged 9 wards and was leading in another 9 wards. Independents had won four and were leading in two other wards.
Uzbekistan, April 05: The drying up of the Aral Sea is one of the planet’s most shocking environmental disasters, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday as he urged Central Asian leaders to step up efforts to solve the problem.
Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, the sea has shrunk by 90 percent since the rivers that feed it were largely diverted in a Soviet project to boost cotton production in the arid region.