Gold prices jumped all time high Rs 30,000 level

Gold prices jumped sharply up to Rs 1,095 per ten gram crossing the Rs 30,000 per ten gram level, its all-time high, on account of rise in global prices of precious metal and weakening rupee.



The maximum jump in prices was seen in Chennai, where gold became costlier by Rs 1,095 at Rs 30,380 per ten gram, followed by Delhi with a again of Rs 960 to Rs 30,300.



In Mumbai and Kolkata too, gold prices increased sharply by Rs 895 and Rs 785, respectively. Gold prices are ruling at Rs 30,030 per ten gram in Mumbai and Rs 30,245 per ten gram in Kolkata. In Delhi, the previous high was Rs 29,750 on May 4
The rupee has depreciated sharply after the Budget and was ruling yesterday at 55.54 against the dollar. It had touched an all-time low of 56.52 against dollar on May 31.



Expressing similar views, Bombay Bullion Association President Prithviraj Kothari said, "Bearish sentiments in global and domestic equity and forex markets has led to a spurt in gold buying both in India and outside."



Gold is considered as a safe haven asset when other assets like stocks are not doing well.



Rupee depreciation and high global prices have together impacted domestic gold rates. Besides, the hike in import duty to 4 per cent has also contributed in price rise, he said.



Kothari warned that if global prices continue to rise and rupee falls further to 57-58 against dollar, local gold prices could touch Rs 32,000 per ten grams.



India, the world's biggest gold consumer, had imported 969 tonnes of gold last fiscal

PTI

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Anna Hazare and yoga guru Baba Ramdev will sit on a day-long fast in New Delhi at Jantar Mantar on JUNE 3RD

New Delhi: Social activist Anna Hazare and yoga guru Baba Ramdev will sit on a day-long fast in the national capital tomorrow as a mark of their protest against corruption and black money stashed away by Indians abroad.

"The protest will take place in the capital at Jantar Mantar, in all state capitals and in 650 districts across the country," Baba Ramdev said at a press conference in Delhi yesterday.

The yoga guru said he would be joined by Anna Hazare during his day-long hunger strike. Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bedi will also participate in the protest.


The yoga guru said their protest in Delhi would start at 6 am. The protest also marks a year of the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his supporters in the capital's Ramlila Maidan while they were protesting against black money. The police action had led to the death of a woman.

Thousands of people are expected to join the protest, said Baba Ramdev, who would reach Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat at 10 am.

"Our protest is against black money, corruption in government, and for a strong Lokpal. June 3 will mark the beginning of our protest, which will continue in four phases. We will also decide our future course that day," he said.

Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare will break their fast at 6 pm. This will be then followed by candle marches and protest rallies in several districts across the country.

Tomorrow's fast comes in the wake of fresh corruption allegations made by Team Anna against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 14 of his cabinet ministers.

Team Anna has alleged that the Prime Minister misused his position during 2006-2009 to allot coal fields at highly under-valued rates to private players. The PM was in charge of the Coal Ministry during this time. Team Anna says he ignored advice from bureaucrats to auction the coal fields; as a result, private companies paid far less than they should have, and the government lost 1.8 lakh crores, according to some estimates. The issue has been studied by the government's auditor and its draft report was leaked in March, after which Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai said the leaked portions were misleading.

The Prime Minister's Office issued a detailed rebuttal of these allegations through a press statement earlier this week. It said that coalfields were intended to boost development, industry and infrastructure, not revenue.

The Prime Minister too delivered an uncharacteristically aggressive rebuttal. "To use such words, which have been used without reason or rhyme, I think, the public in India should make up its mind whether this sort of politics will rule the roost in the country," he said.  He also promised to resign if "even an iota of truth" was found in the charges of corruption levelled against him.

The charges against the PM were first publicly announced by Team Anna members like New Delhi: Social activist Anna Hazare and yoga guru Baba Ramdev will sit on a day-long fast in the national capital tomorrow as a mark of their protest against corruption and black money stashed away by Indians abroad.

"The protest will take place in the capital at Jantar Mantar, in all state capitals and in 650 districts across the country," Baba Ramdev said at a press conference in Delhi yesterday.

The yoga guru said he would be joined by Anna Hazare during his day-long hunger strike. Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bedi will also participate in the protest.


The yoga guru said their protest in Delhi would start at 6 am. The protest also marks a year of the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his supporters in the capital's Ramlila Maidan while they were protesting against black money. The police action had led to the death of a woman.

Thousands of people are expected to join the protest, said Baba Ramdev, who would reach Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat at 10 am.

"Our protest is against black money, corruption in government, and for a strong Lokpal. June 3 will mark the beginning of our protest, which will continue in four phases. We will also decide our future course that day," he said.

Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare will break their fast at 6 pm. This will be then followed by candle marches and protest rallies in several districts across the country.

Tomorrow's fast comes in the wake of fresh corruption allegations made by Team Anna against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 14 of his cabinet ministers.

Team Anna has alleged that the Prime Minister misused his position during 2006-2009 to allot coal fields at highly under-valued rates to private players. The PM was in charge of the Coal Ministry during this time. Team Anna says he ignored advice from bureaucrats to auction the coal fields; as a result, private companies paid far less than they should have, and the government lost 1.8 lakh crores, according to some estimates. The issue has been studied by the government's auditor and its draft report was leaked in March, after which Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai said the leaked portions were misleading.

The Prime Minister's Office issued a detailed rebuttal of these allegations through a press statement earlier this week. It said that coalfields were intended to boost development, industry and infrastructure, not revenue.

The Prime Minister too delivered an uncharacteristically aggressive rebuttal. "To use such words, which have been used without reason or rhyme, I think, the public in India should make up its mind whether this sort of politics will rule the roost in the country," he said.  He also promised to resign if "even an iota of truth" was found in the charges of corruption levelled against him.

The charges against the PM were first publicly announced by Team Anna members like PNew Delhi: Social activist Anna Hazare and yoga guru Baba Ramdev will sit on a day-long fast in the national capital tomorrow as a mark of their protest against corruption and black money stashed away by Indians abroad.

"The protest will take place in the capital at Jantar Mantar, in all state capitals and in 650 districts across the country," Baba Ramdev said at a press conference in Delhi yesterday.

The yoga guru said he would be joined by Anna Hazare during his day-long hunger strike. Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bedi will also participate in the protest.


The yoga guru said their protest in Delhi would start at 6 am. The protest also marks a year of the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his supporters in the capital's Ramlila Maidan while they were protesting against black money. The police action had led to the death of a woman.

Thousands of people are expected to join the protest, said Baba Ramdev, who would reach Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat at 10 am.

"Our protest is against black money, corruption in government, and for a strong Lokpal. June 3 will mark the beginning of our protest, which will continue in four phases. We will also decide our future course that day," he said.

Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare will break their fast at 6 pm. This will be then followed by candle marches and protest rallies in several districts across the country.

Tomorrow's fast comes in the wake of fresh corruption allegations made by Team Anna against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 14 of his cabinet ministers.

Team Anna has alleged that the Prime Minister misused his position during 2006-2009 to allot coal fields at highly under-valued rates to private players. The PM was in charge of the Coal Ministry during this time. Team Anna says he ignored advice from bureaucrats to auction the coal fields; as a result, private companies paid far less than they should have, and the government lost 1.8 lakh crores, according to some estimates. The issue has been studied by the government's auditor and its draft report was leaked in March, after which Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai said the leaked portions were misleading.

The Prime Minister's Office issued a detailed rebuttal of these allegations through a press statement earlier this week. It said that coalfields were intended to boost development, industry and infrastructure, not revenue.

The Prime Minister too delivered an uncharacteristically aggressive rebuttal. "To use such words, which have been used without reason or rhyme, I think, the public in India should make up its mind whether this sort of politics will rule the roost in the country," he said.  He also promised to resign if "even an iota of truth" was found in the charges of corruption levelled against him.

The charges against the PM were first publicly announced by Team Anna members like PNew Delhi: Social activist Anna Hazare and yoga guru Baba Ramdev will sit on a day-long fast in the national capital tomorrow as a mark of their protest against corruption and black money stashed away by Indians abroad.

"The protest will take place in the capital at Jantar Mantar, in all state capitals and in 650 districts across the country," Baba Ramdev said at a press conference in Delhi yesterday.

The yoga guru said he would be joined by Anna Hazare during his day-long hunger strike. Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bedi will also participate in the protest.


The yoga guru said their protest in Delhi would start at 6 am. The protest also marks a year of the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his supporters in the capital's Ramlila Maidan while they were protesting against black money. The police action had led to the death of a woman.

Thousands of people are expected to join the protest, said Baba Ramdev, who would reach Jantar Mantar in the heart of the capital after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat at 10 am.

"Our protest is against black money, corruption in government, and for a strong Lokpal. June 3 will mark the beginning of our protest, which will continue in four phases. We will also decide our future course that day," he said.

Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare will break their fast at 6 pm. This will be then followed by candle marches and protest rallies in several districts across the country.

Tomorrow's fast comes in the wake of fresh corruption allegations made by Team Anna against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and 14 of his cabinet ministers.

Team Anna has alleged that the Prime Minister misused his position during 2006-2009 to allot coal fields at highly under-valued rates to private players. The PM was in charge of the Coal Ministry during this time. Team Anna says he ignored advice from bureaucrats to auction the coal fields; as a result, private companies paid far less than they should have, and the government lost 1.8 lakh crores, according to some estimates. The issue has been studied by the government's auditor and its draft report was leaked in March, after which Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai said the leaked portions were misleading.

The Prime Minister's Office issued a detailed rebuttal of these allegations through a press statement earlier this week. It said that coalfields were intended to boost development, industry and infrastructure, not revenue.

The Prime Minister too delivered an uncharacteristically aggressive rebuttal. "To use such words, which have been used without reason or rhyme, I think, the public in India should make up its mind whether this sort of politics will rule the roost in the country," he said.  He also promised to resign if "even an iota of truth" was found in the charges of corruption levelled against him.
Prakash Javadekar. He had approached the Central Vigilance Commission or CVC which forwarded his complaint to the CBI. The CBI's mission so far does not name anyone; it says the inquiry is against "unknown officials of the coal ministry." The inquiry will also not probe government policy. It will look at how 156 companies were allotted 65 coal blocks, and whether these companies were ineligible and violated the terms of their contracts

IANS ,NDTV

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Petrol prices cut by Rs. 2 a litre

Aided by the falling international crude oil prices, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Saturday announced a cut of Rs.2.02 per litre in the price of petrol. Petrol will now cost Rs.71.16 in Delhi. The price cut will come into effect from Saturday night.

On May 24, OMCs had effect a Rs.7.54 per litre hike in prices of petrol leading to all round sharp criticism including UPA allies and its Ministers in the Union Cabinet. The opposition parties had called for nationwide shutdown on May 31 to protest the steepest ever hike and to pressurise the government into rolling back the hiked prices.

At present, petrol costs Rs.73.18 per litre in Delhi and now it will be available for Rs.71.16 per litre. The decision to cut the fuel prices was taken after a fortnightly review meeting of the oil marketing companies. The Rs.7.54 per litre hike was carried out on an average gasoline price of $124.37 per barrel and a rupee-dollar exchange rate of Rs.53.17 in the first fortnight of May.

However, gasoline price have since fallen to $115.77 per barrel in the second fortnight but rupee-dollar rate has worsened to Rs. 54.96 to a U.S. dollar during the period. The fall meant that petrol rates be cut by Rs.1.68 per litre, excluding local sales tax or VAT. In Delhi, after including 20 per cent VAT, the reduction will be Rs.2.02 a litre, an official statement said here.

It said the Indian basket of crude has reduced from $113.08 per barrel to $106.68 per barrel. “The cut could have been more for the consumers had the rupee performance against the dollar not worsened further,’’ a senior OMC official said.

OMCs are suffering high level of under-recoveries on diesel, kerosene and domestic LPG cylinder. Last revision in selling price of these sensitive products was undertaken in June 2011. As compared with last price change, current under-recovery on diesel has gone up from Rs.6.13 per litre to Rs.12.53 per litre, for kerosene from Rs.24.16 per litre to Rs.30.53 per litre and for LPG domestic from Rs.331.13 per cylinder to Rs.396.00 per cylinder as on June 1. At these rates, it is estimated that under-recovery on sale of sensitive products during 2012-13 is likely to be around Rs.96000 crore. The next revision of petrol prices is scheduled for June 16


THE HINDU

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Jagan given to CBI Custody for five days

Hyderabad: YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy on Saturday failed to get any reprieve from the Andhra Pradesh High Court which directed that he be in CBI custody for five days for further questioning in an alleged disproportionate case.

The High Court also dismissed Jagan's petition seeking directions to declare his arrest as illegal.

Justice B Chandra Kumar issued orders that the CBI can question Jagan from June 3 to 7. After three days of intense grilling, Jagan was arrested by the CBI on May 27 and the next day the CBI court sent him to judicial custody till June 11. He is now lodged in the Chanchalguda Central Jail.



"When highly influential persons are involved in the case, CBI, as part of its investigation, has a right to take the accused into custody and question them," Justice Chandra Kumar said while pronouncing the order.

A CBI court yesterday dismissed Jagan's petition for interim bail. He had sought bail at least till June 10 so that he could campaign for the June 12 by-elections to one Lok Sabha and 18 assembly seats.

The investigating agency can take the custody of Jagan and the accused can be questioned between 10.30 AM to 5 PM, the order said.


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Suspended Andhra judge may be arrested
 Whatever procedure was applied when Vijaya Sai Reddy was questioned when he was in CBI custody, same procedure has to be followed in case of Jagan also, the High Court said.

Vijaya Sai Reddy who is currently on bail was earlier given CBI custody after he was arrested in January.

The CBI registered FIR against Jagan and 74 others on August 17, 2011 in the case of illegal assets and alleged flow of illegal investments into his business empire and registered cases under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 477A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code, besides Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act


PTI

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24 MLAs ready to jump into YSR Congress Party?

The ruling Congress party in the state on Thursday received a rude shock with the intelligence reports that at least 24 MLAs are likely to jump the fence to join YSR Congress party in the coming days.
The intelligence authorities are learnt to have identified the MLAs and submitted a report to the ruling party on their moves. However, there may not be any en masse resignation of these MLAs, since there is every possibility that assembly speaker Nadendla Manohar sitting over them for an indefinite period. So, they would resign in a phased manner, while extending open support to Jagan, much to the embarrassment of the Congress leadership.
On Thursday, Kakinada MLA Dwarampudi Chandrasekhara Reddy, who had earlier dumped Jagan to get back into the Congress party, went back into the YSR Congress party fold. He met Jagan’s mother and party honorary president Y S Vijayalakshmi in her election campaign and extended his solidarity with her. He declared that he would continue to sail with YSR family.
Watch out for more defections in the coming days

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MLA Bharat Singh shot at in Delhi

INLD MLA Bharat Singh was shot at on Saturday morning in south-west Delhi by “four to five” unknown attackers with police suspecting it to be a case of personal rivalry.

A passer-by was also injured in the incident which took place near the MLA’s office in Najafgarh’s Sarangpur village at around 8:30 a.m., a senior police official said.

According to the official, four to five people came and opened fire at Mr. Singh, the 35-year-old MLA from Najafgarh, who suffered a bullet injury.

Dharampal, a villager who was passing through the area also, was caught in the firing and got injured.

Both were rushed to the hospital and are undergoing treatment.
“We are investigating the matter. No arrests have been made,” the official said.

Mr. Singh is the brother of MCD councillor Krishan Pahalwan against whom there are several criminal cases.
Police sources said Mr. Singh has suffered two to three bullet injuries and is being operated upon.

Half a dozen people were at the MLA’s office in the morning when the attackers came, they said, adding his supporters tried to save him.

The attackers chased him and shot at him inside the office, they said.
Reacting to the incident, Delhi Leader of Opposition V. K. Malhotra alleged that Delhi was becoming a crime capital. “Singh

PTI

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Jagan's bail petition dismissed by Special CBI Court

The bail petition of Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy seeking immediate relief to campaign on behalf of his YSR Congress Party in the by-elections up to June 10 was rejected by the principal court for CBI cases on Friday.

The grounds for turning down his request were not known as the verdict was delivered by court late in the evening. A senior counsel of Supreme Court Ranjit Kumar who appeared for Jagan had argued that the arrest of his client ahead of by-polls was politically motivated. Moreover, the arrest itself was illegal as Jagan had appeared before the CBI in response to summons by the court when he was picked up.

Jagan had a right to bail because he could not have been arrested without the permission of the court. Anticipating opposition to bail from the CBI, he requested the court to grant Jagan bail for a limited period to enable him to campaign in the by-elections.

The CBI counsel Ashok Bhan rejected the plea on the ground that the law did not permit it.

Moreover, Jagan was not a candidate himself. He was also not entitled to bail as a politician because he subverted Constitution by his alleged economic offences.

Meanwhile, in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, Justice B. Chandra Kumar declared that the orders in petitions filed by the CBI, Jaganmohan Reddy and his wife Bharati will be pronounced at noon on Saturday. These cases arise out of the arrest and remand of the YSR Congress president.

The judge heard the arguments submitted by a battery of advocates from New Delhi.

 

THE HINDU

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Judge T Pattabihi Ramarao suspended in allegations for Granting bail to Galli janardhan Reddy

Hyderabad: The Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court Madan Lokur suspended Judge T Pattabihi Ramarao over allegations that he granted bail to Bellary mining baron Galli Janardhan Reddy after taking a bribe of Rs five crore.

Reddy was granted bail in Obulapuram illegal mining case on May 12, 2012 by Judge Ramarao. However, the former Karnataka minister is still under custody in Bangalore as he is yet to secure bail in the Associated Mining Co illegal mining case.

Granting of bail to Reddy in Obulapuram case had come as a surprise to many given the strong stand being adopted on corruption cases by courts in the country



Amid murmurs of an underhand deal, the Central Bureau of Investigation initiated a probe against Ramarao and discovered that Janardhan Reddy had paid a bribe of Rs 5 Crores to the Judge.

As per Andhra Jyoti newspaper, Rs 2 crores of the bribe amount was stashed in a locker belonging to Ramarao’s son. The rest was kept in another location.

Armed with proof, the CBI approached the Chief Justice, who ordered the investigating agency to continue with the probe.

The CBI then opened the locker and seized the bribe amount.

Following which the Chief Justice discussed the matter with High Court Collegium and suspended Pattabhi Ramarao.

Ramarao has been asked not to leave Hyderabad without the High Court’s permission even as the CBI gets ready to register a case against him under the Prevention of Corruption act

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CBI court rejects bail to YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

The special CBI court on Friday refused to grant bail to Kadapa MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who has been in judicial custody in the alleged quid-pro-quo investments case following his arrest on May 27, while rejecting the argument that the arrest was made only to keep him away from campaigning in the ensuing by-elections.

The principal judge, A Pulliah, while rejecting the bail petition filed on behalf of Jagan, as the Kadapa MP is popularly known, maintained that the court cannot grant relief to the accused when the investigation is still on.

Opposing the bail petition, CBI counsel argued that the accused was capable of influencing the witnesses and tamper with the evidences available in the case if he was granted bail. The judge finally accepted the contention of the defense lawyers. The orders came three days after the Jagan's lawyers approached the court for bail to their clients.

The orders are yet to be pronounced on the petitions filed in the AP High Court terming the arrest of Jagan itself as illegal and challenging his judicial custody. The high court also completed the hearing on the custody petition filed by the CBI seeking the custody of Jagan . The CBI court on May 28 rejected the petition for police custody of Jagan and sent him to a 14-day judicial remand.

Meanwhile, the AP High Court had suspended an additional judge working in one of the newly-constituted CBI courts on a complaint made against him by th CBI. The judge allegedly took bribe for granting bail to former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy. He is in jail in connection with the illegal iron ore mining case involving Obulapuram Mining Company owned by him.

AP govt terminates Gali’s steel project
The Andhra Pradesh government has terminated the memorandum of understanding (MoU) entered in 2007 with Brahmani Industries Limited, promoted by former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, for failing to complete the proposed integrated steel project in Kadapa district.

All the incentives offered for the project have also been cancelled through a separate order recently.

Giving reasons for the termination of the MoU in its orders issued yesterday, the industries and commerce department stated that the company had failed to complete the project. The first phase of two-million tonne capacity was to be completed in 2009, even after a lapse of one-and-a-half year.

The department has also contradicted with the company’s claim of having already been invested about Rs 1,350 crore stating that the actual value of the work so far done at the project site was only about Rs 170.95 crore.

Janardhan Reddy had come forward to set up the project with an ultimate capacity of 10 million tonne by 2017 for which his company was given 10,760 acre of land, besides allocating about 2 TMC of water from a nearby reservoir along with other policy incentives.

The then government led by YS Rajasekhara Reddy had also allotted iron ore mines to Obulapuram Mining Company, owned by Janardhan Reddy for captive use in the light of the proposed project, which subsequently lead to the ongoing CBI investigation against the former minister.

However, the government is yet to initiate action in connection with the land that had been alienated to the company, which in turn took a Rs 350-crore loan by pledging the same with a private bank, according to the government.

Source : Business Standard

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