Reserve Bank of India drains out money, Financial Markets guards food

There are short term relief, possibility of medium term pain and two big questions in RBI's keenly anticipated monetary policy review which was marked by a 0.25 percentage point hike in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) to 8.25%.

CRR determines the amount of money banks have to keep in deposit with RBI and higher CRR means less funds for banks to lend. RBI is arguing there's too much cash sloshing around in the system fuelling inflationary expectations. Inflation as measured by the wholesale price index has been 7% plus in recent weeks, a three year high.

CRR was increased earlier this month and has climbed from 7.5 to 8.25% in a few weeks. The CRR hikes will take around Rs 27,000 crore out of the banking system, forcing banks to rethink lending strategies but it needn't immediately make them raise rates, including those on home loans. That's the short term relief

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Harbhajan can now only watch IPL

The Indian Premier League (IPL) today came down heavily on star spinner Harbhajan Singh, banning him from the remaining matches of the Twenty20 tournament this season after video footage proved he was guilty of slapping Sreesanth without provocation last Friday.

Harbhajan will lose 100 per cent of his fee for the 11 or 13 matches (if the side makes it to the semi-final and final) that his team will go on to play in the tournament. He stands to lose Rs 3 crore.

The slapping incident occurred after the Mumbai Indians, which was led by Harbhajan in the match, lost to Kings XI Punjab for whom Sreesanth plays.

Match referee Farokh Engineer, who conducted the disciplinary hearing, wrote in his report: "It is a condemnable act and against the ICC's Rule 4.2 under players' code of conduct." The report was based on a 10-minute uninterrupted feed provided by TWI, broadcasters of the tournament. Engineer watched the footage and concluded that Harbhajan had not been provoked.

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For first time, United States made gun seized in the Valley

For the first time in the Valley, a US-made gun has been recovered from militants killed in an encounter three days ago. While militants have been known to use Chinese, Russian and Japanese weapons in the state, security forces had never recovered one of US origin.

The gun its butt burnt has markings of Colt's Firearms, Colt Industries, Hartford, USA, etched on its body, right above the trigger.The black plastic magazine, recovered intact, has markings of THERMOLD D.& D INC WILSON, N.C., USA.

The police said the gun has 22 rounds of slim but long bullets in its magazine, and is probably an SMG (submachine gun). Deputy Inspector General, Baramulla range, B Srinivasan said that they suspected that the gun was a used Pakistani army weapon.

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Maharashtra Minister' s words of wisdom: ' How can mothers, daughters watch this?'

A Day after they forced the state government to put on hold its decision to introduce sex education in schools, Maharashtra's moral police brigade struck again on Thursday, raising not just the red flag against cheerleaders at IPL matches in the state but also the prospect of a ban against them.

Foreign cheerleaders as well as dancers from local troupes performed at the first IPL match in the state at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium last Sunday and they are set to perform again at the second match to be played at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on April 27.

But if Minister of State for Home Siddharam Mhetre has his way, IPL organisers are expected to only get conditional permission to hold the match and restrictions could be imposed on cheerleaders. Mhetre said he would consult the Central government before granting permission.

The issue was first raised in the state legislative council on Wednesday by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari. The Congress NCP government, he said, should ban semi-naked women dancing in stadiums just like it had banned dance bars in 2005.

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Drop Iran gas transit fee or we walk out IPI

New Delhi plans to issue an ultimatum to Islamabad on the proposed Iran-Pakistan-Indian at- rural gas pipeline later this week: drop transit fee or else India may exit the project.

Murli Deora's brief for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khwaja Muhammad Asif on April 25 is succinct: "If transit fee is further added on to the already high cost of gas, the whole project might become unattractive for India as it would result in unacceptably high levels of rate of power. So any loading of transit fees by Pakistan on India might literally be the last straw on the camel's back and then India might have to reconsider its continued involvement in the project."

The confrontational stance was phrased after a meeting of the technical teams of both sides at Islamabad on April 16-17 where Pakistan stuck to its demand that India pay 10 per cent of the gas price as transit fees. India's position was that the fee be "nominal" considering the value it brought into the project by its participation.

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On bumpy nuclear-deal road, UPA switches on Left indicator

A Head of a Left-UPA meeting on the nuclear deal that coincides with sessions of the IAEA Board of Govenors and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Government is clearly trying to signal to its Left allies that it has not, as they have accused, bartered away its "independent foreign policy."

That signal is not so subtly couched in a series of carefully chosen steps which today included an unusually strong rebuff to Washington for commenting on the April 29 visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And the cancellation of a joint media interaction on Konkan 2008, the Indo-UK joint naval exercise that gets underway the same day Ahmadinejad is in India. Significantly, USS Cole is in Indian waters as an observer.

"India and Iran are ancient civilizations whose relations span centuries.Both nations are perfectly capable of managing all aspects of their relationship with the appropriate degree of care and attention...Neither country needs any guidance on the future conduct of bilateral relations as both countries believe that engagement and dialogue alone lead to peace," said the MEA spokesperson in response to queries on remarks made in Washington last evening.

During the daily press interaction, US Department of State spokesperson, asked about Ahmadinejad's visit to India, said: "We would hope that the Indian Government or any government that was engaging with the Iranians, including with President Ahmadinejad, would call on him to meet the requirements that the Security Council and the international community has placed on him in terms of suspending their uranium enrichment activities and complying with the other requirements regarding their nuclear programme.

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IIMA - Government turns the screws again to stall IIM fee hike

The Government has once again stepped in to stall the IIM fee hike, prompting the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) to call for an emergency meeting of the Governing Council, its apex decision making body, on April 26. A decision to rollback the hike is expected to be taken in the meeting, top sources told The Indian Express.

The HRD Ministry appointed review committee will visit IIMA on April 25 after it has raised objections against the fee hike.

This comes almost three weeks after IIMA chairman Vijaypat Singhaniamet HRD minister Arjun Singh and got the fee hike proposal endorsed on April 2 after announcing a 20-fold increase in scholarships.

On April 4, the Ministry's higher education secretary R P Agrawal and senior officials had a meeting with the members in the Review committee for IIMs, headed by Maruti Udyog chairman RC Bhargava, where a single-page interim report was received.

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From darkness to Knights

It's the kind of script that even Shah Rukh Khan might not dare to take up on the sets of Tinseltown. For 30 long minutes, time stood still at Eden Gardens. The floodlights had gone off following a glitch, the two teams were tied on Duckworth and Lewis calculations, and the dreaded waiting game was on.

Finally, as the lights returned, two unlikely heroes, David Hussey and Laxmi Ratan Shukla, got back on the pitch for Kolkata Knight Riders, needing 22 runs off 20 balls to consign V VS Laxman's Deccan Chargers to defeat.

In the end, it was the Bollywood Badshah who had the last laugh, but not before some heart-in-the-mouth moments. The tenacious Australian Hussey proved his mettle when it mattered most, smashing a six, a four, and another six to see Knight Riders through to a five-wicket win with six balls to spare. Deccan Chargers had fought hard on a devil of a pitch, thanks largely to heroic bowling efforts from Chaminda Vaas (2/9), RP Singh (1/15) and Pragyan Ojha (2/18), but came up just short.

In stark contrast to the IPEs tournament opener in Bangalore, here was one low-scoring match on a nightmare of a pitch. Luckily, though, it threw up the most thrilling contest of the tournament as yet.

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Helping hand, some muscle

I am sorry.

We could have provided you a more "spectacular" protest today if security arrangements were little more relaxed than 17,000 police personnel, including commandos, on their toes. For those of you who couldn't see us, there was a heart-rending yak dance as our parallel freedom torch was carried through in Delhi, and if that was not enough, one Buddhist nun knelt down in front of a policeman and said, "Please help us, China is killing our people inside Tibet." But this was the sideshow.

China has once again proved that with its military power it can even turn the central heart of the capital of a free and democratic country like India into a military zone, throw the city's roads into gridlock.Even if for a few hours.

I started my day with a protest plan but was unsure of executing it in this maze of security. The aim was to make ourselves heard. With fellow activists, we revisited our plans first thing in the morning and by 11 am, our plans had already changed several times as we got to know more de- tails about the security. Many of our activists got arrested even before they could do anything. By 4 pm, it was impossible for our people to reach the protest site in groups. I was constantly coordinating but the more phone calls I made, I realized that our protests were dissipating in the face of an impenetrable fortress around Rajpath.

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Government taking no Tibet chance, seals torch route for 5 hrs

The Olympic torch landed in Delhi late tonight for the India leg of the relay tomorrow. Hours earlier, the Union Home Ministry issued strict security guidelines which includes sealing all government buildings overlooking the Rajpath. The Ministry issued instructions stating that "all windows and doors" of these buildings should be closed from 1 pm to 6 pm tomorrow, and visitors barred.

In measures in line with those seen during the Republic Day parade, rooftops and balconies of these buildings will be secured, open only to security personnel.

The Olympic torch relay is planned along a 2.3 km route, from the main gate of the Rashtrapati Bhawan to India Gate, between 3 pm and 6 pm. In keeping with concerns expressed by the Chinese, the Ministry has come out with a comprehensive checklist that it hopes will keep potential Tibetan protesters at bay.

The measures, reviewed at a meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, includes a multi-layered security along the torch route that will involve thousands of military, paramilitary and police personnel. Crack commandos will form the inner cordon.

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Priyanka meets Nalini, says it was 'my coming to peace'

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today confirmed that she met Nalini Sriharan, serving a life sentence for her role in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, on March 19 but records at the Vellore Central Jail don't mention her name anywhere. She has been logged as "a visitor", with no further details.

Though the records state that Nalini (convict number 301) - categorised as an "important prisoner" by the jail authorities - was paid a visit by her mother, Padma, the previous day, there is nothing in the prison records to show that the two women met.

According to prison records, there were 31visitors on March 19 who had come to meet "remanded prisoners". Details of the visitors and inmates are mentioned in the records. But one entry has been logged as just "a visitor" to a "convict accused", with no further details.

"It is true that I met Nalini Sriharan in Vellore Central Jail on March 19, 2008. It was my way of coming to peace with the violence and loss that I have experienced," said Priyanka in New Delhi.

In a statement, she she said it was a personal visit "that I undertook completely on my own initiative" and "i would be deeply grateful if this could be respected". "

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Aboard Maitree Express, history overcomes geography

There were few dry eyes as the Maitree Express entered Bangladesh on a scorching Poila Baisakh afternoon on Monday, 43 years after the last train from India chugged down this route. Cheers went up inside the compartments as hundreds of onlookers lined up on both sides of the tracks broke into applause.

The loudspeaker at the minimalist platform blared greetings and the travellers were showered with petals and greeted with bouquets of Rajanigandha (tuberoses) as they made their way into the Customs building at Darshana.

Seven hours earlier, around 7.15 am, the Maitree Express had started from Kolkata, five minutes behind schedule. Almost simultaneously from Dhaka's Cantonment station, a train had left for Kolkata.

The rail service between Kolkata and Dhaka was snapped during the Indo-Pak war in1965, when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan. However, in 1996, India and Bangladesh resumed a direct bus service.

Despite the high security, including security personnel moving with sniffer dogs, the excitement within the Maitree Express compartments was palpable.

The only dampener perhaps was the half empty coaches. The lack of a public campaign meant that the historic maiden run had only 65 passengers in a train for 368.More than half the seats were occupied by media persons.

Just before Gede, the last station on the Indian side, there was a minor hiccup when there was a protest by a local group near Aranghata.Barely had this been left be- hind when the confusion over paper work at Gede rattled passengers. While some were quick to predict that the new service was bound to fail at this rate, others were more generous. "It is just the beginning, hopefully things will get better with time," said one passenger.

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India spin a win in Kanpur, clear Test before IPL carnival

Like a commuter on a rush hour Virar Fast, Virender Sehwag is hanging on to the SUV as Team India gets ready to start yet another victory lap. Coach Gary Kirsten smiles as he watches his team test the capacity of the vehicle, the prize for the man of the series, that has the stand-in skipper and the unofficial team driver for all such occasions at the wheel.

Sehwag shouts in an exaggerated accent, "Gary, come along." The coach doesn't oblige as he has a television interview to give. But watching the new coach in a sea of happy faces around him, it was clear that the Kanpur trip has helped the coach hop onto Indian cricket's bandwagon that has been on a roll for some time now. Dhoni spoke about Kirsten's rapport with the team. "Of course, it is too early, but I think he is hitting the right areas," he says.

It isn't just the coach who's hitting the right areas, but the entire team did that here after being totally off-target during the three-day loss at Motera. They travelled to Kanpur with a lot on their minds. Sunil Gavaskar had spoken about IPL distractions during the Test series and asked Kirsten to crack the whip. Injury had hit the bowling department hard. There was a question mark over Ishant Sharma, who was retuming after an injury.

Intrigue was speculated as shorter-version skipper Dhoni replaced injured Test captain Anil Kumble. The moming that had started with television visuals showing Kumble leaving the team hotel with interpretations of a senior-junior divide in team ended with a number of happy family frames around.

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OBC quotas in, OBC well-off out

Almost three decades after the Mandal Commission report on affirmative action called for it, the Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling today, up- held the UPRs law providing 27 per cent quota for OBCs in IITs, IIMs and other Central educational institutions but said it would not apply to the "creamy layer".

Headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, the fivejudge Constitution Bench unanimously ruled in the Ashoka Kumar Thakur versus Union of lndia case that the "creamy layer" must be excluded from the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs) and continuance of quota under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 should be periodically reviewed after five years.

The Bench upheld the validity of the Constitution (93rd Amendment) Act 2005, empowering the Centre to come out with the special law for OBC quota in institutions of higher learning. With today's order, reservation in these institutions will go up to 49.5 per cent.

Members of the Bench, which delivered four separate judgements, were unanimous that the 93rd Amendment and the 2006 legislation providing for the quota were "not violative of the basic structure of the Constitution".

The only divergent view was on the constitutional validity of the 93rd Amendment in the case of private unaided institutions. Four judges left the issue open since none of those institutions had approached the court. But Justice Dalveer Bhandari that "imposing reservation on unaided institutions violates the basic structure by stripping

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Latest from Raj: reserve 80% jobs in pvt firms for Maharashtrians

Weeks after targeting North Indian migrants, Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has raked up the son-of-the soil issue, demanding 80 per cent job reservation for Marathi-speaking locals in the private sector and warning "we know how to explain" if this is not done.

Since Sunday, the MNS has been delivering letters by hand to private companies in and around Mumbai. The party said around 100 companies, mostly call centres and security firms, have already been approached in the suburbs of Mumbai (Vile Parle, Malad and Juhu), Pune, Nashik, Igatpuri and Vidarbha. In the coming days, the MNS plans to approach 44,000 companies.

Manoj Chavan, chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Kaamgar Sena, said members are personally "hand-delivering the letters" and meeting company officials. "It is just a cordial reminder to the industries and the trade sector. If they don't respond, we know how to explain to them in our own way," he said.

In the letter, the MNS says a job candidate must have a 15-year Maharashtra domicile certificate which it claims is also the policy of the state government. "This rule is being violated openly and the MNS has complaints regarding the matter".

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A 50-min break from IPL: Chak De Ireland film

Trent Johnston took an indefinite break from cricket last month. This week, Dave Langford Smith hung up his boots for good. In this Twenty20 season, fans may have forgotten that these amateurs, who have silently moved back to their 9-to-5 jobs while the rest of the world is waiting for the IPL, were Ireland's heroes at the World Cup last year.

But thanks to first-time filmmaker Paul Davey's documentary Breaking Boundaries, the big high of Ireland's part-timers has been chronicled forever.

Spellbinding, says the Sunday Independent; "an absolute triumph...a true emotional journey with the band of brothers behind one of Ireland's greatest and most unlikely sporting success stories," raves The Mirror; another critic calls it "David swing bowling at Goliath."

The 50-minute film opens with a postman, a teacher, a truck driver, a marketing agent, an electrician and a farmer at their workplaces before the World Cup. It ends with the same men returning from the Caribbean as national heroes. It showcases some rare moments when cricket rediscovered its innocence - Ireland's wins over Pakistan and Bangladesh, a tie against Zimbabwe, a Super Eights spot and finally one-day status.

It's an against-the-odds-underdog-triumph sports flick. But unlike commercial movies of the same theme, there is no buzzer beating three-pointer or a last-ball six as Davey's unobtrusive fly-on the-wall camera roams cinema verite style into the dressing room, gets a ride on the team bus, chases players during victory laps, gets drenched in champagne and captures more than one teary eye.

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For delaying flight, pilot makes Kerala MP get off

Ordered out of a Dubaibound Indian flight after he allegedly delayed the aircraft's departure from Kozhikode this morning, Kerala's richest MP is thinking of moving a privilege motion in Parliament against the pilot.

In the eye of the storm is P V Abdul Wahab, Muslim League's influential Rajya Sabha MP with business interests in the Gulf. He had declared a net worth of Rs 130 crore when he filed his nomination four years ago.

Wahab was booked on Indian's Kozhikode-Kochi-Dubai flight with his family this morning. Airport sources said the take-off was delayed until the MP and his kin turned up some 15 minutes past the scheduled departure time.

The angry pilot summoned the local airport manager, who had entered the aircraft with the MP, and pulled him up.Sources said Wahab got into an argument with the pilot who then declared that the plane would not take off until the MP since there was some confusion over the flight timing. The airport manager came and took him to the aircraft and the pilot rebuked the manager for some delay, at which Wahab intervened. The pilot allegedly told Wahab that he did not care if he was an MP and asked him to get out of the aircraft," sources close to Wahab said, adding that the MP was planning to move a privilege motion against the "humiliation".

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Inflation at 3-year high of 7%, growth fears spread

India's key inflation rate surged to a three year high of 7 per cent, as prices of primary articles continued to rise. According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry today, the inflation rate, based on the wholesale price index, accelerated to 7 per cent in the week that ended March 22 from 6.68 per cent a week earlier.

This is the fifth straight week that the inflation rate has breached the Reserve Bank of India's stated comfort level of 5 per cent for the financial year that ended Monday. Inflation rate had last breached the 7 per cent mark in December 2004.

A rise in the price of "minerals" was a significant factor that led to the prices of all primary articles increasing by 1.8 per cent, as compared to the previous week. Primary articles - comprising food and non-food commodities as well as minerals - have the second highest weightage in the wholesale price index.

According to the inflation figures, while the index for food and non-food commodities increased by 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively, the index for minerals increased by a whopping 38.2 per cent, largely on account of a 46 per cent increase in the prices of iron ore.

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Maharashtra set for India's first housing regulator

Maharashtra became the first state in the country today to approve a regulator for the housing sector which would have sweeping powers, including the authority to fix prices of houses, in a bid to control the sector.

The Maharashtra Housing Sector Regulatory Commission Act 2008, when passed by the state Assembly, will give the regulator powers of a civil court to settle disputes, regulate builders and have a separate budget to function independently, besides allowing it to set prices of flats built for the poor and middle classes by government agencies and private builders.

The formation of the highly publicised commission and introduction of the Bill in the ongoing session of the Assembly was cleared by the Vilasrao Deshmukh cabinet on Thursday, top government sources told The Indian Express. The decision follows a recommendation by the Law Commission to enact a law and form a commission to deal with contentious issues in the housing sector.

The commission will have three members, including a chairperson, who will be a well-known housing sector expert. It will also have an advisory committee of up to 21 members who will be experts from areas related to housing, sources said.

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Not allowed to sell her flat to a Muslim, Pune woman takes on entire ‘society'

When Madhavi Kapoor decided to sell her 1500 sq ft apartment in Pune's upmarket Boat Club Road area and move to a new house in Koregaon Park, she thought it would be a breeze because in an emerging metropolis, an apartment such as hers is sold in no time. But Kapoor, a former principal of the Rewachand Bhojwani Academy, was in for a shock when others in the building told her she had no right selling her apartment to a Muslim family.

And because she had her way, Kapoor says she has been made to run around for the requisite paper work. Till date, the building society - Cozy Corner has 16 apartments, 14 occupied by Sindhis - hasn't handed her a No Objection Certificate.

"It all started when I took the prospective buyers to the society meeting last month to introduce them to the other residents as has been the practice.Because the buyers' surname was Hirani, members assumed they were Sindhis, like 80 per cent of others in the society building. But when the buyers introduced themselves and residents

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Will carry it, not for china but with a prayer forTibet, blogs Aamir Khan

After Indian soccer star Baichung Bhutia, it is the turn of film actor Aamir Khan to express his solidarity with the Tibetan cause - but in a completely contrasting fashion.

While Bhutia declined an invitation to participate in the Olympic torch relay when it comes to India on April 17, saying it was his way of standing by the people of Tibet, Aamir Khan today spurned calls for a similar boycott and said he will run "...not in support of China... but with a prayer in my heart for the people of Tibet..."

Stressing that he had "the highest regard and respect for the struggle that the people of Tibet are going through," Aamir Khan said he would still run because the Olympic Games did not belong to China but to the entire human race".

In fact, if we were to try and find on this planet a place to hold the Olympic Games where the government of that place has not been responsible for human rights violations (in one way or the other), then I suspect that we would be left with very few options, if any at all," he wrote in his blog today.

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Readers helping hand reaches Mumbai 7/11 terror victims

Their loss can never be compensated, or even entirely comprehended, but readers of The Indian Express can lend a helping hand.

With funds raised from reader contributions, The Indian Express My Mumbai Trust today disbursed cheques for Rs 2.2 lakh each to 12 of the most dispossessed families left behind by the serial bomb blasts aboard Mumbai's suburban trains on July 11, 2006.

A K Jhingron, General Manager of Western Railway who handed out the cheques at Express Towers, said: "With the limitations that the Railways have, there is just this much that the Railways could do. It is in the light of this that work by organisations like The Indian Express has helped the victims. We truly appreciate your efforts".

Soon after the blasts, The Indian Express kicked off 187 Life Stories, a series recounting for readers how these unfortunate Mumbaites had lived.

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