Kashmir is observing bandh today in protest against the death on Sunday of a man who was critically injured 10 days ago, after his truck was fire-bombed in Udhampur on rumours that he had slaughtered a cow. Authorities have imposed restrictions in eight areas in Kashmir and placed several separatist leaders under house arrest. The restrictions have been imposed as a precautionary measure following violent protests yesterday in many parts of the Valley after Zahid, the truck conductor, succumbed to his injuries in a Delhi hospital.
Jaitley's remark on tyranny of unelected comes handy for Kejriwal
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is locked in a battle of power sharing with the lieutenant governor, latched onto finance minister Arun Jaitley's remarks over supreme court verdict on NJAC to fire his latest salvo at the Centre, saying the AAP has been demanding a Delhi shorn of "tyranny of the unelected". "Jaitley ji on NJAC- 'Indian democracy cannot be a tyranny of the unelected'. Jaitley ji, this is exactly what we have been demanding in Delhi,"Kejriwal tweeted. In unusually strong remarks over the SC's reasoning for striking down the NJAC Act, Jaitley had written in his facebook post that Indian democracy cannot be a "tyranny of the unelected".
Meanhwile, taking on Jaitley over his criticism of the court order striking down the NJAC Act, Congress on Sunday said he should not forget that imperiousness of numbers often converts elected governments into "unabashed autocrats" In a statement released here, Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also targeted the Centre saying Jaitley's comments criticising the order on NJAC reflects "intolerance" of Narendra Modi government with autonomy of institutions. Acrimonious attack on Supreme Court by Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley (through a blog) is a travesty of constitutional sovereignty," Surjewala said. He added that arrogance of constitutional acumen undermines its fundamental ethos, 'Justice above tyranny' ? whether of individual or majority, even legislative majority.
Amit Shah pulls up saffron elements
BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday delivered a stern reprimand to saffron motormouths in the news for controversial comments on issues like the Dadri lynching and beef bans, asking them to immediately stop making inflammatory statements, which he said deflected attention from prime minister Narendra Modi's development agenda. Those summoned to the BJP office in Delhi included Haryana chief minister M L Khattar, Union minister Sanjeev Balyan, MLA Sangeet Som and Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj.
Bihar polls make RSS to come around to support quota policy for social justice
In what came to be seen by political pundits as a damage-control exercise by the BJP-led NDA following the grand alliance's accusations that the BJP would scrap the job reservation policy, the RSS on Sunday clarified its chief Mohan Bhagwat's stand, saying it is "committed" to the existing quota policy for the sake of "social justice" in the country. Apparently prompted by reports that the reservation issue has caught the imagination of people benefitting the grand alliance with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and CM Nitish Kumar telling voters that Bhagwat would see to it that the Narendra Modi government withdrew the quota facility, RSS's Bihar-Jharkhand regional head Mohan Singh issued the clarification, saying, "The RSS considers that constitutional arrangement of the reservation should necessarily continue for social justice and social homogeneity."
OBC leader wants govt to halt Hardik Patel's agitation within 15 days
OBC leader Alpesh Thakor who is leading a movement to counter the Patel quota agitation, today gave a 15-day ultimatum to the Gujarat government to rein in the agitation led by Hardik Patel. Commenting on Hardik's detention by Rajkot police ahead of India-South Africa One Day International match, Thakor said the government could have taken proactive steps. Thakor is the convener of OBC-ST-SC Ekta Manch.
"It is unfortunate that a youngster (Hardik) is being allowed to do whatever he wants to. We condemn his attempts to use cricket match as a platform to stage protests. It will leave a huge dent on India's reputation if slogans are raised inside the stadium during a match," Thakor said.
Amazon is suing more than 1,000 for fake product reviews
Amazon, the world's largest online marketplace, is suing more than 1,000 people who it accuses of offering to write fake reviews on its website. The web giant filed a lawsuit against 1,114 alleged fake reviewers, who it says are tarnishing its brand reputation with "false, misleading and inauthentic" reviews. It claims the defendants - named as "John Does", the American term for an unidentified person - offer their false review service for as little as five dollars (£3.25) on the website Fiverr.com. Amazon has a list of all the defendants' Fiverr account names and is seeking a court judgement to identify the people behind them.
Sensex, Nifty marginally higher
The rupee edged higher by 8 paise to trade at 64.73 against the dollar on Monday on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters amid sustained foreign fund inflows. At 9.40 am, Sensex was up 50.69 points at 27,265.29. Nifty was up 8.70 points at 8,246.25.
HCL Technologies Ltd, India’s fourth-largest software services exporter by revenue, reported a 8 per cent fall in quarterly net profit on Monday, but met street estimates as its core manufacturing clients added more projects. The IT major announced its Q1 result on Monday before market hours. Revenue in dollar terms rose 8 percent to $1.54 billion.
Wal-Mart paid millions of dollars in bribes in India: WSJ
America’s multinational retail corporation Wal-Mart is suspected to have paid bribes worth millions of dollars in India. According to the Wall Street Journal Wal-Mart’s “suspected bribery” unearthed in India involves thousands of small payments to low-level local officials to help move goods through customs or obtain real-estate permits. “The vast majority of the suspicious payments were less than USD 200, and some were as low as USD 5, the people said, but when added together they totalled millions of dollars,” the daily said. In 2013, Wal-Mart shelved plans to open retail stores in India by severing a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises Ltd and instead decided to become solely a wholesaler there, the report said.
China economy grows 6.9 pct in Q3, weakest since 2009
China posted its weakest quarterly economic growth since the global financial crisis on Monday, raising pressure on policymakers to cut interest rates further and roll out other support measures to avert a sharper slowdown. Chinese leaders have been trying to reassure jittery global markets for months that the economy is under control after a shock devaluation of the yuan and a summer stock market plunge fanned fears of a hard landing. The world’s second-largest economy grew 6.9 percent in the July-September quarter from a year ago, slightly better than analysts’ estimate of 6.8 percent, but down from 7 percent in the second quarter. That is the weakest reading since the first quarter of 2009, when growth tumbled to 6.2 percent.