Saturday, July 7, 2012

Kofi Annan seek more attantion to Iran,role in Syria

Envoy Kofi Annan says in an interview with France’s Le Monde that efforts to find a political solution in Syria have failed so far, and says more attention should be paid to Iran’s role.

Annan is quoted as saying he has been working for a peaceful and political solution but “the evidence shows that we have not succeeded.”

Annan says that Russia’s role as an ally and arms supplier to Syria is key, but that Iran, too, “is a player, it should be part of the solution,” the report says.

Opposition leader urges Assad’s ouster

Difficult to find a Home to a Muslim

Finding a home to rent in India's national capital is an arduous task for anyone - but, an investigation by The Hindu has found, almost impossible for citizens who happen to be Muslim. Homeowners and property dealers contacted by reporters often firmed up deals, only to be disqualified as soon as they revealed their religion.
Housing apartheid was at its worst in New Delhi’s most affluent and educated neighbourhoods: New Friends Colony, Vasant Kunj, Jangpura and Rohini. By contrast, in areas such as Mukherjee Nagar, Karol Bagh, Janakpuri and Ashok Vihar the responses were mixed.

Global Economy--situation could get worse---IMF Chief

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde Friday warned the global economy was slowing and said the situation could get worse because Europe was not doing enough to fix its debt crisis.

Lagarde said the IMF would cut its growth forecast in its global outlook to be released later this month.

“What I can tell you is that it will be tilted to the downside and certainly lower than the forecast that was published three months ago,” she told an economic forum in Tokyo during a week-long Asian tour.

Maharashtra leading in GDP, Investment and Farmer suside.

P.Sainath report on farmer subside in Maharashtra 

and

GDP of Indian States & Union Territories for FY2011  


It accounted for well over a fifth of the total of 14,027 deaths in 2011
With a figure of at least 14,027 in 2011, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the total number of farm suicides since 1995 has touched 2,70, 940. The State of Maharashtra shows a rise in numbers yet again, logging 3,337 against 3,141 farmers’ suicides the previous year (and 2,872 in 2009). This, despite heavy massaging of data at the State level for years now, even re-defining of the term “farmer” itself. And despite an orchestrated (and expensive) campaign in the media and other forums by governments and major seed corporations to show that their efforts had made things a lot better. Maharashtra remains the worst single State for farm suicides for over a decade now.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Russia slams U.S. criticism on syria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday an increasing stream of defectors from the Syrian army, including a Syrian general who had been close to President Bashar al-Assad, showed the situation was shifting in the country.

“If people like him, and like the generals and colonels and others who have recently defected to Turkey are any indication, regime insiders and the military establishment are starting to vote with their feet,” Clinton told reporters in Paris, Reuters reported.

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Share price slip due to Poor US jobs data

US shares have fallen after official data showed firms had created only 80,000 new jobs in June, leaving the jobless rate unchanged at 8.2%.
Job creation remains below the 100,000 judged necessary by the Federal Reserve for a stable job market, according to the US Labor Department.
Shares slipped after the news, with the opening Dow Jones index falling 1%.
President Barack Obama said the rise in employment was "a step in the right direction".
Campaigning in the swing state of Ohio on Friday, President Obama acknowledged that "it's still tough out there" for ordinary Americans.
'Kick in gut' Republican White House candidate Mitt Romney said from Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, that the jobs data underlined the need for a new president, adding "this kick in the gut has got to end".

Andy Murray became the first British to reach the Wimbledon final

The 25-year-old took a step that no compatriot had managed in 11 attempts since Bunny Austin in 1938.
He overwhelmed Tsonga 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-5 in two hours 47 minutes on Centre Court and faces 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in Sunday's showpiece.
Murray 'relieved & excited' by final  Fred Perry was the last British man to lift a major singles title in 1936.
Perry triumphed at Wimbledon and the US Open that season, and Murray will be desperate to emulate the Englishman's achievement.
It is his fourth Grand Slam final but the first at a venue where Federer is bidding for a record-equalling seventh crown.
While the Swiss offers formidable opposition, Murray will be confident of fulfilling the hopes of a nation after dispatching Tsonga.

Heavy Tension in libya ahead of National Vote

Fears of militia violence and calls for a boycott threatened Friday to mar Libya’s first nationwide parliamentary election, a milestone on the oil-rich North African nation’s rocky path toward democracy after the ouster of dictator Muammar Qadhafi.
Saturday’s vote for a 200-member transitional parliament caps a tumultuous nine-month transition toward democracy for the country after a bitter civil war that ended with the capture and killing of Qadhafi in October. Many Libyans had hoped the oil-rich nation of 6 million would quickly thrive and become a magnet for investment, but the country has suffered a virtual collapse in authority that has left formidable challenges. Armed militias still operate independently, and deepening regional and tribal divisions erupt into violence with alarming frequency.

Centre would release the funds only after utilisation of the money report to West Bangal

New Delhi, Jul 5 : Amid a chill in relations between Congress and Trinamool Congress, the Centre has refused to release funds to the tune of Rs 168 crore to West Bengal Government for drinking water projects, pointing out that the amount disbursed earlier had not been spent.
        Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who also holds the portfolio of Drinking Water and Sanitation, has written to state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asking her to expedite the spending of available funds and report it to the Centre.
     "The first instalment of NRDWP funds for 2012/13 amounting Rs 168.47 crore could not be released so far to your state because the high unspent balance of Rs 253.29 crore with the state as on June 1, 2012," Ramesh said in his letter highlighting the delay in implementing the project.

A US case study about Corporate control of public education

For more than two weeks, the University of Virginia has been in an uproar over the abrupt resignation of school President Teresa Sullivan. Sullivan stepped down after just two years in office, citing "philosophical differences" with the institution's governing Board of Visitors.
The June 10 announcement shocked students and faculty, who had just finished graduation festivities and had begun settling in for a hot, quiet summer surrounded by the Charlottesville school's neoclassical columns and red brick architecture. Sullivan is highly regarded within the academic community, and her supporters have rallied to her defense, rocking the campus with massive protests demanding her reinstatement.
"She is an extraordinary academic leader, with superb administrative abilities, the heart of a faculty member, and evident strength of character,” the school’s top faculty wrote in a letter to the board on June 11.

Use of Drones by the US for Targeted Killings violate international law

 Prabir Purkayastha
Two successive UN Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions, have said that use of drones by the US for targeted killings violate international law. Christof Heyns, the current UN special rapporteur said in Geneva last week that the US drone warfare threatens the regime of international law built up over the last 50 years. At the conference, Heyn’s made clear that if the reports of the US’s policies of attacking first responders and funeral guests following an initial attack, are correct, this would indeed constitute a war crime.
There is little doubt that drone strikes have become the US’s preferred mode of waging war. From a scant 50 drones that the US possessed 10 years back, the drones with the US Air Force stands today at about 7,500. No new aircraft divisions are being created in the US, all the new divisions are drone divisions.

Varitas says that Kingfisher may shut down

Mr. Neeraj Monga from Veritas says in a talk that all the issues that we had raised in our Kingfisher report of September 2011 have actually come to pass in the marketplace... and it is interesting. It is a small airline carrier, with very little market capitalisation. So I do not believe that the company can survive. Lenders are already signalling their intent by deciding to sell the fixed assets of the company. What is going to be interesting to see is what will be the recoverability on these loans. Meanwhile, the company continues to shrink and I believe sooner or later, it will shut down.

Russia and China not attandind the meeting about Syria at Peris

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged allies at a Paris meeting on Syria to demand from Russia and China that they end their support for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
She said Moscow and Beijing had nothing to gain by standing up for Mr Assad, and their actions were intolerable.
More than 100 countries, known as Friends of Syria, are making a fresh attempt to decide what should be done to end the violence in Syria.
Russia and China are not attending.
On Thursday it emerged a senior member of Syria's regime had deserted it and fled to Turkey.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Indian Mujahideen is ban by UK

The British government on Thursday banned the Indian Mujahideen (IM) describing it as a threat to national security and citing its alleged involvement in several terror attacks, including the Mumbai bombings.
The ban, which followed a unanimous vote in the House of Commons, came as five men and a woman were arrested in London in a counter-terror swoop ahead of the Olympic Games. Police said the arrests though “significant” were not linked to any imminent attack. Those arrested — three brothers and a married couple — were aged between 18 and 30. The BBC said some were British nationals.

"Internet Doomsday" virus can blackout on monday

BOSTON (Reuters) - About a quarter-million computer users around the world are at risk of losing Internet access on Monday because of malicious software at the heart of a hacking scam that U.S. authorities shut down last November.
Some blogs and news reports hyped the risk of an outage, warning of a potential "blackout" and describing the Alureon malware as the "Internet Doomsday" virus.
Yet experts said only a tiny fraction of computer users were at risk, and Internet providers would be on call to quickly restore service. They said they considered the threat to be small compared with more-prevalent viruses such as Zeus and SpyEye, which infect millions of PCs and are used to commit financial fraud.
As of this week, about 245,000 computers worldwide were still infected by Alureon and its brethren, according to security firm Deteque. That included 45,355 computers in the United States.
The viruses were designed to redirect Internet traffic through rogue DNS servers controlled by criminals, according to the FBI. DNS servers are computer switchboards that direct Web traffic.
When authorities took down the rogue servers, a federal judge in New York ordered that temporary servers be kept in place while the victims' machines were repaired. The temporary servers will shut down at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Monday, which means the infected PCs that have not been fixed will no longer be able to connect to the Internet.
Some U.S. Internet providers, including AT&T Inc and Time Warner Cable, have made temporary arrangements so that their customers will be able to access the Internet using the address of the rogue DNS servers.
Information on how to identify and clean up infections can be found on a website that a group of security firms and other experts set up: http://www.dcwg.org.
"It's a very easy one to fix," said Gunter Ollmann, vice president of research for security company Damballa. "There are plenty of tools available."
Many of the machines that remain infected are probably not in active use since most victims were notified of the problem, said security expert Johannes Ullrich, who runs the Internet Storm Center, which monitors Web threats.
The United States has charged seven people for orchestrating the worldwide Internet fraud. Six were arrested in Estonia, while the seventh, who was living in Russia, is still at large. Tallinn has so far extradited two of the men to New York where they appeared in Manhattan federal court.
The case is USA v. Tsastsin et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-cr-878.

Libyan national poll--First test of Democracy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyans will vote in their first free national poll in more than half a century on Saturday amid fears that violence could taint an election meant to usher in a temporary national assembly and draw a line under Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year autocratic reign.
Voters will select a 200-member assembly that will choose a cabinet to replace the self-appointed interim government and also pick a new prime minister. Many of the 3,700 candidates have strong Islamic agendas.
The chamber was also due to appoint a committee charged with drafting a new constitution. But Libya's transitional rulers announced on Thursday this body would also be elected directly by Libyans - a move one analyst said was a bid to appease federalists that have urged a boycott of Saturday's vote.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

After rigorous self-appraisal, CAG sticks to its guns on 2G

The CAG, after completing this month a detailed ‘internal appraisal’ of two of its most high-profile reports, has not just stood by its findings “regardless of media comments and the statements made by senior functionaries of the government,” but also substantiated them, citing additional crucial events.
The internal assessment has been done on its reports on the 2G spectrum scam of November 2010 and Civil Aviation (Air India) of September 2011.
The entire issue of irregularities in award of government contracts/licences in general, and specifically for scarce natural resources, to private parties, took centre stage. It gained further momentum with the arrest of the former Telecom Minister, A. Raja, and several senior industry leaders, starting February 2011.

The economist as saviour------------- Sanjaya Baru

Like Keynes, Manmohan Singh is treading the middle way, balancing contending ideas in an effort to stimulate the animal spirits of enterprise
We were flying to Mumbai where the Prime Minister was to address a gathering of business leaders. I had drafted a speech that he found time to read only on the plane. Half way through the journey he returned the draft with his notes scribbled in the margins. “I have added a quotation from Keynes”, he wrote. “But this is from memory. You will have to check it against the original.”
As soon as we reached Mumbai’s Raj Bhavan I asked the university library for a copy of John Maynard Keynes’s The Economic Consequences of the Peace (first published in 1919). A soiled old copy arrived in time. The quote in the printed volume matched, almost to the last word, the one scribbled by the PM on the margins of the draft.

A step away from corruption is anarchy---- Shanti Bhushan

Most people remain at the mercy of a venal administration that, encouraged by the absence of an independent watchdog, exploits them relentlessly
The state of affairs in the country is characterised by rampant corruption at all levels leading to a breakdown in the rule of law and lack of accountability all around. One can say that there is a complete collapse of governance in the country. Something drastic needs to be done soon, else the country will become an ungovernable anarchy.
Elusive
The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments of 1992 were intended to empower the people to plan for their development themselves by providing for the establishment of self-governing panchayat institutions in villages and municipal institutions in towns. Unfortunately, even 20 years later, the promise of local self-governance remains largely unimplemented. Consequently, most people remain at the mercy of a corrupt administration imposed upon them from above, which has continued to exploit them. It is this failure which has given rise to militant Maoism in large areas of India.

Barclays scandal: public banking solution needed

The Barclays scandal has underlined the financial sector’s unmuzzled power. But it also offers a chance to take democratic control.
The greatest danger of the rate-fixing scandal now engulfing London’s financial sector is that it will be managed and defused in the usual way, and nothing will really change. The forced resignation of Bob Diamond, the Barclays chief executive, follows well-worn procedures for dealing with crises that potentially threaten those in power: denounce the worst offenders, let a few symbolic heads roll, set up an inquiry under a safe pair of hands, and tweak the regulations to prevent a repetition of the most egregious misdemeanours.
That’s been the pattern of the past few years as Britain’s establishment has lurched from the disaster of the Iraq war to the disgrace of parliamentary expense fiddling and media phone-hacking (though in the case of Iraq, the only heads to roll were BBC executives and an army corporal). As for the banks that triggered the greatest economic crisis for 80 years, they have been bailed out and featherbedded, with only the loss of the odd sacrificial financial sector baron to show for their reckless mayhem.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Leftist candidate rejects Mexico results as 'fraudulent'

Mexico City, Jul 3 : The runner-up in Mexico's presidential election has rejected Enrique Pena Nieto's "fraudulent" victory, raising the specter of protests that rocked Mexico City when he lost six years ago.
    When Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lost the 2006 presidential election by less than one per cent he claimed fraud and organised mass protests that paralysed Mexico City for more than a month.
    The first official results from Sunday's vote showed Lopez Obrad or with 31 per cent of the vote against 38 per cent for Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) – a much wider margin than six years ago.
    "We cannot accept a fraudulent result, nobody can accept that," Lopez Obrador, of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) said at a press conference, decrying Sunday's vote as a "filthy ... national embarrassment."
    The PRI was synonymous with the Mexican state as it governed for seven decades until 2000 using a mixture of pervasive patronage, selective repression, rigged elections and widespread bribery.
    Lopez Obrador claimed the PRI, through its national party and governors, spent millions of pesos buying votes. He also charged that the news media heavily favoured the PRI and that the party shattered campaign spending limits.
    "We will provide evidence for these claims and will file appropriate legal action," said Lopez Obrador, emphasizing that he and his supporters will first scrutinize the balloting results with election officials.
    He was coy about whether he would call for protests like in 2006, saying: "We're going to wait
AFP

French police search Nicolas Sarkozy home and office

Police have carried out searches of the home and offices of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy as part of a campaign financing probe.
A law firm in which Mr Sarkozy owns shares was also searched, reports say.
The investigation is related to allegations that Mr Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign received illegal donations from France's richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt.
Mr Sarkozy has previously denied all wrongdoing.
He is currently in Canada with his family, his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, told the AFP news agency.
In presidential elections in May, Mr Sarkozy lost to Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, and his presidential immunity from prosecution ended on 16 June.
Tens of thousands of euros were allegedly funnelled to Mr Sarkozy's campaign by Ms Bettencourt's office.

Analysis

It is not so much the investigation; we have known for some time that magistrates were looking closely at the affairs of the last president and how his 2007 campaign was funded. What is far more significant is the speed with which Tuesday's operation was mounted. Nicolas Sarkozy lost the cloak of presidential immunity on 16 June and within a month his home and offices have been raided, seemingly without warning.
We don't know what was taken but it seems clear now that on the basis of witness evidence gathered, the financial crimes unit is looking for a "smoking gun". Mr Sarkozy has vehemently denied there is one to find. But then so did his predecessor!
It took the French authorities five years to catch up with former President Jacques Chirac. But in December, after a long running investigation - and no end of attempts by Mr Chirac to avoid justice - he was found guilty and handed a two-year suspended sentence for corruption. There was criticism for years that Mr Chirac had been shown favourable treatment. That is plainly not the case with Mr Sarkozy.
This operation may have uncovered nothing in material evidence but there is no escaping the symbolism. And this won't be the first or the last time Mr Sarkozy faces embarrassing questions over influence and campaign funding.
Individual campaign contributions in France are limited to 4,600 euros ($5,800).
"These raids... will as expected prove futile," Mr Herzog said in a statement.
'Lies and calumny' An investigating magistrate is looking into claims that staff acting for the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, gave 150,000 euros in cash to Mr Sarkozy's aides during his 2007 bid to become president.
Ms Bettencourt's former accountant, Claire Thibout, alleges Mr Sarkozy's campaign treasurer - Eric Woerth - who later became his budget minister - collected the cash in person.
In addition, there are other witnesses who allege that during the 2007 campaign, Mr Sarkozy made several private visits to Ms Bettencourt's home.
But Mr Herzog has said that Mr Sarkozy's detailed diary, from the time he was interior minister and accompanied everywhere by police officers, will prove that claims of him attending those meetings were "materially impossible".
Eric Woerth is already under criminal investigation.
The charges in his case relate to claims he had used his influence as a minister to secure France's highest award, the Legion d'honneur, for Mrs Bettencourt's financial manager.
But as yet he is not under criminal investigation for the wider allegation of illegal campaign financing.
The former president has condemned the allegations he is facing as "lies and calumny".
BBC

Syrian opposition agrees to Assad overthrow, backs Free Syrian Army

Syrian opposition groups meeting in Cairo agreed on Tuesday that the government of President Bashar al-Assad be overthrown, reaching a consensus on the formation of a national unity government and supporting the Free Syrian Army, Egypt’s state run news agency MENA reported.

“Solving the Syrian problem starts with the departure of Assad’s regime and we in the opposition agreeing among ourselves on an adequate leadership with qualified people, whether from outside the official regime, or those who may have taken part in the official government,” Egypt’s state run news agency MENA cited Abdulbaset Seyda, the head of the Syrian National Council, as saying.

Twitter ordered to surrender Occupy protestor tweets

Last month it was Google that revealed an “alarming” jump in government requests for search results censorship, including a 49 per cent rise in Government of India requests.
This month the U.S. justice system showed that Twitter users challenging state power would not be spared from intrusive scrutiny either, as a Manhattan Criminal Court judge ruled that the micro-blogging site had to hand over the tweets of an Occupy Movement protestor to the authorities.
Upholding the validity of a subpoena on the Twitter messages posted by Malcolm Harris (23), Judge Matthew Sciarrino, Jr. said in an order this week that he intended to review approximately three months’ worth of tweets by Mr. Harris and would pass “relevant portions” on to prosecutors.

Assad regrets downing of Turkish jet, says won’t allow open combat with Ankara

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regretted that his country’s defense forces shot down a Turkish fighter jet on June 22, he said in an interview with the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet published on Tuesday.

“The plane was flying in an air corridor used three times in the past by the Israeli air force,” he said, but added that he regretted the incident -- which has further fuelled tensions between the two former allies – “100 percent,” according to AFP.

Assad said that he would not allow the tensions between the two countries to turn into open combat.
“We learned that it (the plane) belonged to Turkey after shooting it down. I say 100 percent ‘if only we had not shot it down’,” the newspaper quoted Assad as saying.

Russia accuses West of distorting Syrian accord, plans meeting with opposition

Russia on Tuesday accused the West of seeking to “distort” the agreement reached last weekend in Geneva on a plan for a political transition to end the escalating conflict in Syria.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hailed the accord as an “important step” but added, “unfortunately... some Western participants have started in their public statements to distort the agreements that were reached” in Geneva.

Lavrov’s statement came after some optimism was expressed by the spokesman of peace envoy Kofi Annan.

U.S. moves new forces to Gulf to ward off Iran: report

The United States has moved new forces into the Gulf to keep strategic waterways open and strike deep within Iran in the event of a regional military escalation, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

The Times cited senior officials as saying the quiet build-up was aimed at reassuring Israel that Washington is serious about addressing Iran’s nuclear program and keeping the Straits of Hormuz -- a key oil choke point -- open.

“The message to Iran is, ‘Don’t even think about it,’ “it quoted a senior Defense Department official as saying.

Monday, July 2, 2012

looking for a Leader of the Lok Sabha, fixing the economy, after Pranab

The man most likely to get that job is Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde
Even as there is no certainty on precisely when the next Cabinet reshuffle takes place or indeed, when a new Finance Minister is appointed — it is likely to happen only after the country gets a new President and a Vice-President — a new Leader of the Lok Sabha will have to be named before the monsoon session starts in July-end.
As things stand, the man most likely to get that job is Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde: Congress sources say that of the senior leaders available in the Lower House, he fulfils best the criteria required, apart from the social message that it will send out as he is a senior Dalit leader. As far as experience goes, he has not just been a Union Minister, he has been Chief Minister of Maharashtra — earlier, as Finance Minister in the State, he presented nine successive budgets. In a fractious House, his rapport with leaders across party lines can help him play the role of Leader better, and he has a pleasant, conciliatory manner.

Sharad Pawar quits as new Chief of EGoM on Telecom

Contends his association with decision-making may motivate vested elements
The spectrum allocation issue continues to be a hot potato for the Centre with the newly-appointed chairman of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Telecom, Sharad Pawar, recusing himself on Monday from the high-powered body to stay out of controversy.
In a statement issued here, he said he had communicated his decision to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has “agreed” to relieve him from the responsibility.
Mr. Pawar was given the charge of the EGoM, after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who headed it, stepped down as he became the United Progressive Alliance’s Presidential candidate. Apparently, Mr. Pawar was entrusted with the responsibility as he is the senior-most Minister in the Cabinet.
The first inkling of his intention came when he postponed the debut meeting of the panel under him slated for Monday afternoon.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Blake beats Bolt in 200 metres Olympic trials

Yohan Blake won his second of two races against Usain Bolt, claiming the 200 meters at the Jamaican Olympic trials in 19.80 seconds Sunday to edge the world-record holder by 0.03.
In a result that can no longer be considered a surprise, Blake started edging into the lead near the turn, then burst past Bolt for the narrow victory.
The win came two days after Blake, the reigning world 100 champion, beat Bolt in the 100 by running a 9.75.
If everything goes to form, their next meeting will be at the London Olympics.
In the women’s 200, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran a personal best 22.10 seconds to also complete the 100-200 sweep. She’ll be joined by Sherone Simpson and two-time defending Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown. 
AP

Publish the 1962 war report now

The suppression of the Brooks-Bhagat report on the war with China is a betrayal of Nehru’s promise to the nation
The Government of India’s statement in Parliament on May 10, that the Report of the Operations Review Committee on the 1962 War with China, by Lt.Gen. T.B. Henderson Brooks and Brigadier P.S. Bhagat, V.C., will not be published follows an Order of March 19, 2009 by a Bench of the Central Information Commission comprising the Chief Information Commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah, and the Information Commissioner, M.L. Sharma on Kuldip Nayar’s application for a copy of the Report.
The Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) had replied to him on June 13, 2008 quoting S. 8(1) (a) of the RTI which reads thus: “‘Notwithstanding anything contained in this act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence.’ Since the report contained information, which was considered sensitive therefore, same, was regretted.” The vague word “sensitive” does not figure in S. 8.

The Supreme Spain sinks Italy 4-0 for Euro title

Spain rediscovered their magic on Sunday to beat ailing Italy 4-0 in the Euro 2012 final and with it became the first nation to win three big football titles in a row.
David Silva (14th), Jordi Alba (41st), Fernando Torres (84th) and Juan Mata (88th) were on target as Barcelona midfielders Xavi and Andres Iniesta pulled the strings in midfield in their usual commanding style after some slightly below-par performances earlier in the tournament.
Spain became the first team to get a big event hat-trick following titles at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup with the biggest winning margin in a final, are the first to win back-to-back Euro titles and matched Germany’s record three continental titles, the first being in 1964.
Italy, who had held Spain 1-1 in their opening group match and made a surprise run to the final with a 2-1 victory over Germany in the semis, failed to end a 44-year drought since their only Euro trophy in 1968.
The Azzurri were down to 10 men for the final half hour as Thiago Motta was stretchered off injured four minutes after coming on and coach Cesare Prandelli had already made all three substitutions.
Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque fielded a line-up without a recognised striker, with Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas in a strengthened midfield just as in the group game with Italy on June 10.
Italy saw Ignazio Abate back from injury at right-back in place of Federico Balzaretti for the final, which started after a short closing ceremony in front of 64,000 fans in Kiev — with Spain’s crown prince Felipe in attendance along with the Prime Ministers from both finalist countries, Mariano Rajoy and Mario Monti, and President Bronislaw Komorowski from Euro co-hosts Poland.
Spain’s famed passing game swiftly shaped up, and they took the lead in the 14th minute after Sergio Ramos and Xavi had aimed high.
Iniesta sent a surgical pass into the back of the Italian defence into the path of Fabregas, who shook off Giorgio Chiellini and crossed shortly before the touchline for Silva to send a thumping header into the roof of the net.
Italy responded with a series of corner kicks to their first deficit of the tournament but their mood didn’t get better when Chiellini had to limp out injured in the 20th and was replaced by Balzaretti.

Nifty to gravitate toward 5400 levels next week: Analysts

NEW DELHI: Indian markets started the July series with big gains and have snapped out of the 5170-5050 range seen in most part of June.

"We believe Friday's move represents a decisive breakout and is likely to be followed up with more buying in the week that is to come," Kunal Saraogi, CEO at Equityrush.com, said.

"We expect the Nifty to gravitate toward 5400 levels in the next week on the back of improving global and domestic cues. Markets seem to have liked the government's initiative on GAAR and Vodafone tax issue, and we expect these signal a reprieve from the policy paralysis that has plagued the government till now," Saraogi added.

Both the Sensex and Nifty registered a growth of over 7 percent in June supported by positive global cues and clarification on GAAR.

"It was an excellent comeback for the key indices to close the month on a positive note. We witnessed a combination of short covering as well as fresh longs entering the market," Kunal Bothra, Senior Technical Analyst - Manager Advisory at LKP Securities Ltd, said.

Technically, the Nifty is above the 200-DMA, and it can now be assumed that the markets have moved into a different band in the short term.

Bothra is of the view that bullishness will persist for the next few days as many frontline stocks are trading above their crucial DMA levels. Frontline stocks like Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, SBI and Kotak Bank can continue the uptrend next week.

"July will be difficult for the benchmarks after registering a 7 per cent rise in June as a below average monsoon and slowing auto sales will weigh," A.K. Prabhakar, Senior Vice President - Equity Research at Anand Rathi, said.

"The eurozone gave a positive surprise but how long the market will hold on to these levels we have to wait and watch. The GAAR development is below expectations and the Nifty could trade between 5000 and 5400 in July," Prabhakar added.

Prabhakar is of the view that the results season might put pressure on indices. Private banks are likely to post good results, while FMCG and pharma can surprise on the positive side.

The Sensex closed more than 400 points higher on Friday and registered gains of over 7 percent for June. However, analysts are of the view that fundamentals of the economy are still weak and markets are likely to be rangebound.

"The Indian market remains weak fundamentally as the macroeconomic situation is still the same as last month and with a change of guard expected, political uncertainty remains," Yogeshwar Vashishtha of Online Trading Academy said.

Vashishtha is of the view that the international scenario is better now and might take the price technically into the next supply zone of the weekly chart, which is from 5200 to 5350. However, no big rally is expected and market is likely to be rangebound, he added.

Markets will also be eyeing the Reserve Bank of India's policy meet due 31 July. According to experts, rate-sensitive stocks have already picked up traction ahead of the event.

"Ahead of the key event, rate-sensitive stocks have started to outperform the market. The RBI has already indicated that some action can come from the central bank if inflation cools down and our expectation is built on CRR or OMO rate cuts which could bring positive surprise to markets," Prabhakar added.

Vashishtha said the central bank does not have much room for rate cuts and the market would be looking forward to some growth boosting measures. "Unless major policy decisions are taken it might not be a very significant event," he added.
(The views and recommendations expressed in this section are the analysts' and do not represent those of EconomicTimes.com) 
curtsy-Economic Times 

: Banking system is corrupt---UK politicians

LONDON: British politicians harshly criticized the country's banking system Saturday after Barclays was fined for manipulating data, with the leader of the opposition calling for an inquiry and government ministers joining the attack.

 Labour leader Ed Miliband said the once-lauded banking sector has fallen into disrepute, claiming that over the last 20 years the word ``banker'' has gone from a compliment ``to a gross insult.''

 The British public ``will not tolerate anything less than a full, independent and open inquiry'' that will investigate every part of the industry, he said during a speech at the left-wing Fabian Society think tank.

 U.S. and British agencies on Wednesday imposed fines totaling $453 million on Barclays for submitting false data used in setting the London interbank offer rate (LIBOR), a key market index, between 2005 and 2009, to make its financial position appear stronger.

 U.S. and British investigators say the employees of Barclays _ and possibly those of other major international banks _ clearly knew it was wrong to manipulate the London interbank office rate. The scandal has added fuel to public anger at the banking industry, whose executives face mounting accusations of being overpaid and unethical, and politicians from across the political spectrum were taking on the industry with tough language.

 Business Secretary Vince Cable, a member of the Liberal Democrats, the junior partner to the Conservatives in Britain's coalition government, described the country's financial sector as ``a massive cesspit.''

 Justice Secretary Ken Clarke, a Conservative, said bankers who commit financial crimes must be brought to trial, telling the BBC that he suspected ``financial crime is easier to get away with in this country than practically any other sort of crime.''

The Royal Bank of Scotland, one of the banks that was bailed out by taxpayer money in the 2008 financial crisis, has also said it was being investigated for a similar scam. Britain's main financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, uncovered serious failings in the way complex financial products have been sold to small businesses.

 The British government bought up large chunks of the country's banking system after it ran into major financial difficulties during the 2008 credit crunch. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group were two of banks that had to be rescued. Barclays did not need a public bailout at the time.

Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays bank will appear before lawmakers next week to answer questions about the scandal.