Month: August 2013

Spices continued to maintain a stable trend at the Spices market here today in the absence of of any worthwhile buying.

Following are today’s closing rates in Rs with previous rates in brackets:

Black pepper (per kg) 425/455 (425/455), ginger bleached (per kg) 180 (180), ginger unbleached (per kg) 190 (190), copra office Alapuzha (per quintal) 5,000 (5,000), copra office Kozhikode (per quintal) 4,900 (4,900), copra Rajapur Mumbai (per quintal) 6,500 (6,500) Copra edible Mumbai (per quintal) 5,850 (5,850).

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was the cynosure of all eyes in Rajya Sabha on Monday on the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament.

Wearing blue striped shirt and black trousers, Tendulkar walked in with minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajeev Shukla well before the House was called to order.

Tendulkar, who was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member in April last year along with Bollywood actor Rekha and businesswoman Anu Aga, shook hands with some MPs before taking his seat.

The proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament on the first day of monsoon session on Monday were disrupted following protests by the members from Seemandhra region against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned more than once when some members did not allow the House to function demanded that the Centre withdraw its decision on Telangana. Meanwhile, a few MPs from Assam held protest demanding separate Bodoland.

Senior Congress member Jagdambika Pal was today made a member of the panel of Chairpersons who preside over the Lok Sabha.

The announcement was made by Speaker Meira Kumar who said Pal has come in place of Girija Vyas, who could no longer preside over the House as she has now become a Union Minister.

She also announced the acceptance of resignations of two Janata Dal(S) members – H D Kumaraswamy and N Cheluvaraya Swamy.

They put in their papers following their election to Karnataka Assembly recently.

Despite melting of Himalayan glaciers due to global warming, water levels of critical Himalayan rivers like Ganges and Indus will not drop over the next century due to an increase in monsoon rains, say scientists.

The latest research led by Dr Walter Immerzeel, a scientist from Utrecht University in Netherlands and visiting scientist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Nepal, indicates that increasing rains would prevent rivers from drying up.

Both the precious metals, gold and silver, weakened in the national capital today owing to slackened demand at prevailing higher levels.

While gold declined by Rs 50 to Rs 28,750 per ten grams, silver dipped by Rs 25 to Rs 42,075 per kg on lack of buying support.

Traders said sluggish demand at prevailing higher levels mainly led to decline in gold and silver prices.

Gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity declined by Rs 50 to Rs 28,750 and Rs 28,550 per ten grams, respectively. The yellow metal had climbed by Rs 450 in the previous session.

Small sugar prices moved down at the Vashi wholesale market here today due to subdued demand from stockists and retailers.

Meanwhile, medium sugar ruled steady in the absence of any worthwhile buying activity.

Small sugar (S-30) edged-down by Rs 6 per quintal to Rs 3,046/3,135 from last Saturday’s closing level of Rs 3,052/3,135.

Following are today’s closing rates for sugar (per quintal) with the previous rates given in brackets:

Medium sugar (M-30) quality: Rs 3,156/3,311 (Rs 3,156/3,311).

Small sugar (S-30) quality: Rs 3,046/3,135 (Rs 3,052/3,135).

There was simmering tension in Darjeeling Hills on the third day of the indefinite bandh by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) as a silent procession with the body of a party supporter, who died after immolating himself over Gorkhaland demand, began its last journey in Kalimpong.

Official sources said additional security personnel, including police, were deployed in Kalimpong in view of the prevailing situation.

Parliament was disrupted Monday on the first day of the monsoon session, as some members vehemently opposed the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned three times, first for 15 minutes around 11.20 a.m. and then till noon.

At noon, two members from the Seemandhra region continued to protest against the formation of a separate Telangana, forcing Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien to adjourn the house till 2 p.m.The Lok Sabha was adjourned around 11.45 a.m. till noon.

Samajwadi Party today struck a defiant note on the issue of suspension of IAS officer Durga Sakhti Nagpal, saying officials are punished whenever they do something wrong and the Centre can withdraw IAS officers from the state.

“There might be many children (sitting here) who I can say would have received a beating from their teachers and parents when they had done something wrong…. the government is also run like this, whenever any official does something wrong, he is punished”, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said while addressing a function here.

Supreme Court Monday allowed CBI to withdraw the prosecution of mafia don Abu Salem under the provisions of criminal law that attracts death penalty.

The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam also vacated the stay on the trial of the cases going on against Salem in several courts across the country.

While disposing off the petition by Abu Salem, the court ruled out his returnto Portugal from where he was extradited to face trial for his alleged involvement in 1996 Mumbai serial bomb blast cases.

Rules will “be followed” in the case of suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday.

“There are rules laid down. They will be followed. We are in touch with the state government to get details of the case,” the prime minister said here in response to a question from a mediaperson on the government’s stand on Durga Shakti’s case.

The suspension of Nagpal, a 28-year-old 2009-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) by the Uttar Pradesh government July 29, has led to a public outcry.