Month: December 2014

Jewellery stocks shine, gain up to 20% on RBI move

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Jewellery stocks on Monday rose sharply by up to 20 per cent on easing of gold import restrictions by the Reserve Bank.

Shares of Shree Ganesh Jewellery House soared 20 per cent, while Gitanjali Gems surged 19.96 per cent and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri zoomed 18.54 per cent on the BSE.

Among others, PC Jeweller jumped 14.93 per cent and Titan Company rallied 8 per cent.

Easing restrictions on gold imports, the Reserve Bank of India had on Friday scrapped the controversial 80:20 scheme, a move which the industry believes will bring down prices of the precious metal.

Spinach Uttapam

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Ingredients

1. 160 g urad dal
2. 240 g rice
3. 100 g blanched spinach paste
4. 30 g grated fresh coconut
5. 50 ml water for grinding
6. 1 tsp chopped coriander
7. 1Tbsp oil

Method:

1. Soak urad dal and rice separately overnight to allow fermentation.
2. Grind together to a thick batter. Add blanched spinach paste. Smear a non-stick girdle/pan with oil.
3. Pour batter with a ladle and spread to the desired size. Add fresh grated coconut. Cook on both sides.
4. Serve hot with sambhar and chutney.

Steven Cantor arrested for alleged shoplifting

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‘Unraveled’ director Steven Cantor has been arrested after he was allegedly spotted switching price tags on a pair of jeans by a security guard of a department store here.

Cantor was arrested on November 28 after he apparently attempted to mark down a pair of USD 500 Dolce & Gabbana pants by switching tags with a less-expensive pair, reported the New York Post.

The Emmy Award-winning filmmaker was detained at the store until police officers arrived. They issued him a desk-appearance ticket for petit larceny.

Gulab Pak

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ngredients

1. 1 litre milk,
2. 1/2cup rose petals,
3. 1/4 cup sugar,
4. 1/2tsp rose water
5. A pinch of alum (fitkari) powder,

Method:
1. In a non-stick pan, bring the milk to a boil on a high flame.
2. Then mix in the alum powder and stir till the milk becomes grainy.
3. Keep stirring till the milk thickens.
4. Then mix in the rose petals and sugar.
5. Stir for a few more minutes and then stir in the rose water.
6. Garnish with almonds.

Gazette notification for uniform wage structure soon: Govt

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Government will soon issue a gazette notification for a uniform wage structure to reduce the disparity across the country.

Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya told Lok Sabha that an inter-ministerial group constituted by the Labour Ministry has submitted its report to the government and the new minimum wages will be fixed on the basis of that report.

“The gazette notification will be issued soon,” he said during Question Hour.

Currently the minimum wage is fixed at Rs 137.

BJP calls TMC’s allegations on Amit Shah a ‘political stunt’

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Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Monday dismissed the TMC’s accusations of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah’s alleged links with the Sahara Group, as a ‘political stunt’.

“These are all false speculations and allegations. What the TMC said is a political stunt, and it is not correct,” said Rijiju.

Earlier today, TMC MPs staged a protest outside the Parliament seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarification on Shah’s alleged links with the Sahara group.

Raising slogans, the TMC lawmakers were seen holding a red book with Sahara inscribed on it.

Uproar in RS over eviction notice to SP member

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Eviction notice to Samajwadi Party member Neeraj Shekhar from an official bungalow today created uproar in Rajya Sabha as party members raised the issue accusing the government of vendetta.

Soon after the start of Question House, Jaya Bachchan (SP) raised the issue seeking Chairman Hamid Ansari’s protection over the issue, as other party members joined by Congress accused the government of doing so deliberately.

Office space demand grows 58% in Sept qtr: JLL

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Office space demand in India saw a net absorption of 9.3 million sq ft in the July-September quarter this year, says a report.

This is nearly 58 per cent higher than the year-ago period, according to the report by property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

“The Indian monsoon months are synonymous with low activity in real estate, but this year witnessed considerable amount of activity in the office sector,” JLL India COO Business and International Director Ramesh Nair said.

Australia police appeal to mother of baby buried on beach

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Australian police today urged the mother of a baby girl, found dead and buried at a popular Sydney beach, to come forward as the city reeled from its second case of abandoned infants in days.

Two young boys playing at Maroubra beach found the decomposed body in the sand yesterday morning, a week after another baby was found barely alive in a drain in western Sydney.

New South Wales state police commissioner Andrew Scipione urged the mother of the dead child to come forward.

Hyundai’s November sales up 8.7% to 54,011 units

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Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) today reported an increase of 8.7 per cent in total sales at 54,011 units in November 2014.

The company had sold 49,681 units in the same month last year, it said in a statement.

In the domestic market, Hyundai sold 35,511 units last month as compared to 33,501 units in November 2013, up six per cent.

During the month, Hyundai’s exports increased 14.7 per cent to 18,500 units as against 16,180 units in the same period last year.

Only interlocutors should speak: Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis on BJP-Shiv Sena talks

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In a veiled attack on senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said “only the official interlocutors in the BJP-Sena talks should comment on the parleys.” “My request is that if only those who are official interlocutors talk (to media), then the process will move ahead,” Fadnavis told reporters.

Ebola virus suspect shifted to hospital in Pak

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A 47-year-old Pakistan national returning from Liberia has been shifted to a special facility at a hospital here from airport on suspect that he contracted the deadly Ebola virus abroad.

The passenger arrived in Karachi from Liberia via Qatar and appeared to be in poor health condition.

The Express Tribune reported that after a brief medical assessment, the suspected patient was sent to Jinnah hospital, while his blood samples were sent to Islamabad for testing.

Toyota Kirloskar sales up 11% in November

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Toyota Kirloskar Motor today reported 11 per cent increase in total sales at 14,134 units in November 2014.

The company had sold 12,748 units in the corresponding month of previous year, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) said in a statement.

In the domestic market, TKM sold 12,175 units in November 2014, up 19 per cent as compared to 10,208 units in November 2013.

During the month, the company exported 1,959 units of Etios.

‘Railway jobs are open for all; not reserved for any region’

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Jobs in railways are open to all eligible citizens of India and there is no specific policy for employment of people of a specific region or terrain, Lok Sabha was informed today.

“A railway line in any area is an engine of growth and it generates large quantum of direct and indirect employment which is not possible to quantify. Such employment is not created in terms of a particular project,” Minister for Railways Manoj Sinha said during Question Hour.

Hyundai’s Nov sales up 8.7 percent

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Automobile major Hyundai Motor India Monday reported an increase of 8.7 percent in its total sales in Nov which stood at 54,011 units, up from 49,681 retailed during Nov 2013.

“Hyundai with a volume of 35,511 units indicate strong demand for Hyundai models, giving growth month after month bettering the industry slow growth. The strong investment of launching four new products in a year’s time has resulted in this growth,” said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Hyundai Motor India.

My film on Bhopal gas tragedy a cautionary tale: Ravi Kumar

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Ravi Kumar initially set out to make a small, independent movie on Bhopal gas tragedy but the director said the canvas of ‘Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain’ kept getting bigger as he realised the story behind the disaster needed to reach a wider audience.

“As filmmakers we have a moral responsibility to tell real stories. It is a story that should be told cinematically and on a bigger canvas. It is not an isolated incident, we see similar chain of events everywhere. We can learn a lot from Bhopal to ensure that another Bhopal does not happen ever again,” Ravi told PTI in an interview.

Reviewing M&A deals not a ‘crystal gazing’: CCI chief

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As some big-ticket deals await its clearance, Competition Commission Chairman Ashok Chawla today said that M&A reviews are not a work of “crystal gazing”, else astrologers could do that job.

The CCI chairman’s comments come at a time when some of the major Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As), including the USD 4 billion Sun Pharma-Ranbaxy transaction, have been subject to strict scrutiny as part of assessing their overall impact on fair competition.

Mandya leads the way in toilet construction in Karnataka

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Mandya has become the first district in the state to reach the target in the construction of toilets under “Swacch Bharath Abhiyan”— clean India campaign.

While the set target was 31,425 toilets, the district achieved it by October 2014, and has even launched construction of an additional 40,000 toilets.

The district had achieved 68 per cent target during 2013-14 by constructing 17,033 toilets.

Zilla Panchayat CEO Rohini Sindhuri said the baseline errors were rectified that led to the district achieving the target.

Confident India-UAE ties will improve: Mukherjee

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President Pranab Mukherjee Monday greeted the government and people of the UAE on the eve of its national day, voicing confidence that bilateral ties will continue to diversify and strengthen in the years to come.

In a message to UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Mukherjee said India and the United Arab Emirates have enjoyed close and friendly relations deeply rooted in civilizational links.

“These ties are marked by vibrant people-to-people contacts, mutually beneficial economic and trade engagement and regular high-level exchanges,” he said.

‘Don’t promote Sanskrit at the cost of other regional lang’

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Sanskrit should not be promoted at the cost of other regional languages, said former HRD minister M A A Fatmi, who also accused the Centre’s education policy as “backward and insular”.

“It is a welcome step that the government has decided to promote Sanskrit but this should not be done hastily at the cost of other regional languages,” Former Union HRD Minister of State M A A Fatmi said today.

Toy-related injuries on the rise in US

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Toy-related injuries in the US rose by nearly 40 percent from 1990 through 2011, says a new study.

The study highlights that while playing with toys helps children to develop, learn, and explore, parents should also note that many toys pose an injury risk to children.

In this first-of-its-kind study, the researchers found that an estimated 3,278,073 children were treated in United States emergency departments from 1990 through 2011 for a toy-related injury.

In 2011, a child was treated every three minutes for such an injury.

Vietnam arrests anti-China blogger for posting ‘bad content’

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Vietnamese police said they had arrested a blogger for posting “bad content” about the government, as part of a long-running crackdown on online dissent in the communist country.

Hong Le Tho, 65, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday for posting articles “with bad content and incorrect information that reduce trust in state agencies”, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement released late Saturday.

IFFK to screen works of jury members

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Movies directed by the jury members will be screened at the 19th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala, to be held here later this month.

A total of five acclaimed films will be screened in the ‘Jury Films Session’ in the upcoming edition, scheduled to take place from December 12-19, Kerala Chalachitra Academy, the organiser of the event, said here.

Three films of the jury chairman and acclaimed Chinese director Xei Fei, one film each by Sumithra Bhave and Resis Celik, the two other jury members, will be screened in this category.

It’s easy to work with Amitabh Bachchan: Farhan Akhtar

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Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar says it’s quite easy to work with megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is a positive personality and makes one feel comfortable on the sets.

“I was anxious to know how the days would be with him,” says Akhtar on Bachchan, his co-star in the upcoming film ‘Wazir’.

“But it’s very easy to work with him. He has a positive personality and keeps the atmosphere easy on the sets. So, the minute you reach the set and start talking to him, you will feel comfortable automatically. It is amazing to work with him,” Farhan told PTI here.

Pak defence exhibition begins; Russia to attend for first time

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Pakistan’s international defence exhibition began here today with Russia making its first appearance at the four-day event this year, signalling improvement in defence cooperation between the two countries.

The 8th biennial ‘IDEAS 2014’ show is being attended by 136 international and 34 Pakistani companies and an important aspect of the event will be an international defence seminar.

Russia will make its first appearance in the exhibition, indicating improvement in defence ties with Pakistan.