Railway bribery case: BJP protests against top CBI officer in Chandigarh

Chandigarh: At least 10 BJP activists were injured today after police used water cannons to stop them from marching towards CBI office in Chandigarh to protest against a top officer whom they accused of shielding former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal in the railway bribery case.

Several local party workers, led by BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan, protested against Chandigarh's CBI deputy inspector general Mahesh Aggarwal in Chandigarh alleging that he had close family links with Mr Bansal and had shielded the former railway minister after the arrest of his nephew in a multi-crore graft case.

The protesters tried to take their march towards the local CBI office but were stopped by police, following which the BJP activists tried to break the barricades.

Police then used water canons to disperse the BJP activists, in which at least ten of them, including a woman, received minor injuries, sources said.

"Our's was a peaceful protest...without provocation police used water cannons against us," Mr Dhawan said.

Mr Dhawan claimed that a CBI officer had submitted an affidavit before the Central Administrative Tribunal on May 15 against Mr Aggarwal alleging that he had tried to influence the investigation in two cases involving relatives of Mr Bansal.

Demanding Mr Aggarwal's immediate suspension and a high-level probe against him, Mr Dhawan also alleged that the CBI officer had leaked the information on Delhi CBI team's raid at Mr Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla's house on May 3 in connection with the railway scandal.

Mr Aggarwal, a 1994 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, came to Chandigarh as a superintendent of police in 2006 and was later promoted to DIG rank

Top 10 points from India-China's joint statement

New Delhi:  Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held formal talks in New Delhi today and briefed the press. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to areas of mutual concern with particular focus on border issues. Dr Singh said that there had been an agreement that peace at the border must be preserved and that lessons had been learnt from the recent incident on Western sector, referring to the incursion in Ladakh. Premier Li stressed on the need for sincere dialogue.

Here are the top 10 points from their joint statement:

1. Both sides reaffirmed mutual sensitivities for each other's concerns and aspirations.
2. Both countries view each other as partners for mutual benefit and not as rivals or competitors.
3. India and China consider the potential for a bilateral Regional Trade Arrangement and review the state of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
4. While striving to realise the trade turnover target of $100 billion by 2015, the two countries agreed to take measures to address the issue of the trade imbalance.
5. The Chinese side shall provide greater facilitation to Indian pilgrims for the Gang Renpoche and Mapam Yun Tso Pilgrimage (Kailash Manasarovar Yatra).
6. Two sides agreed to consult the other parties with a view to establishing a Joint Study Group on strengthening connectivity in the BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar) region.
7. The leaders expressed satisfaction over the work done so far by special representatives of the two countries on the boundary question and encouraged them to push forward the process of negotiations and seek a framework for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement in accordance with the agreement on political parameters and guiding principles.
8. Two sides shall work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas in line with the previous agreements.
9. The two sides will further strengthen cooperation on trans-border rivers.
10. Support for an "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" reconciliation process. 

Top 10 stocks to track in trade today

The BSE Sensex opened in the green on Wednesday after closing at its lowest level in a week on Tuesday. The Sensex has gained nearly 11 per cent since mid-May, raising prospects of a near-term correction. Market analyst Sarvendra Srivastava says the bullish setups are intact and markets may be range bound in a band of 6,100-6,200. The rupee, which has hit its lowest in 2013, continues to be an overhang on markets though.

1. Larsen & Toubro: Q4 sales seen up 14 per cent at Rs. 21,015 crore, while adjusted net profit is seen up 11 per cent at Rs. 2,041 crore.
2. Tata Motors: CLSA recommends buy with a target of 360 saying fundamentals are supportive of double digit growth in China.
3. United Spirits: Morgan Stanley initiates coverage with buy rating and a target of 3,115 expecting greater focus on profitable growth.
4. Tech Mahindra reported higher than estimated net profit in the March quarter. Sales rose 1.7 per cent sequentially to Rs. 1822 crore, while net profit jumped 18 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs. 327 crore.
5. Maruti Suzuki: LIC has sold 2.5 per cent stake in the car maker over the last six months. It still holds around 8.247 per cent in the company.
6. Oracle Financial Services' offer for sale will start today with floor price at Rs. 2,275.
7. JSW Energy's offer for sale will start today with floor price at Rs. 61.5.
8. Ranbaxy: India's health ministry will reportedly initiate a probe in the drugmaker after it settled a long-pending issue with the US Department of Justice, agreeing to pay a penalty of $500 million.
9. Zydus Wellness goes ex-dividend by Rs. 6 today.
10. SREI Infra's board has approves raising up to Rs. 1,500 crore via debentures and preferential issue of up to Rs. 500 crore.

Top 10 stocks to track in trade today

The BSE Sensex slipped below the key 20,000 in early trade on Thursday tracking weakness in Asian stocks. China's factory activity hit the lowest in seven months, dampening upbeat sentiments about the recovery in the world's second largest economy. Market analyst Sarvendra Srivastava advised traders to book profits after three consecutive days of losses have hit bullish sentiments on the Street.

1. State Bank of India Q4 net interest income is seen down 0.9 per cent at Rs. 11,602 crore, while net profit is seen falling 9.5 per cent at Rs. 3,664 crore. Fresh restructuring of Rs. 8,000 crore expected in this quarter.
2. Mphasis: HP has lifted its full-year earnings guidance, which is a positive for the IT firm.
3. ONGC: CLSA has upgraded the stock to outperform and raised its 12-month target to Rs. 360 citing lower subsidy sharing burden.
4. Ranbaxy: Owners Daichi Sankyo is exploring legal remedies to sue ex-promoters of Ranbaxy for misrepresenting critical information about U.S. Department of Justice and FSA probes.
5. Voltas: UBS maintains buy with a target of Rs. 125, says macro improvement a key catalyst to the stock.
6. AB Nuvo: Morgan Stanley maintains overweight, while raising target price to Rs. 1,459, saying risk-reward is very compelling for the stock.
7. Bharti Airtel goes ex-dividend by Rs. 1 per share today.
8. Kotak has upgraded Bajaj Auto to add with a target price of Rs. 2,000 saying Africa will be a key driver for the company.
9. LIC Housing: Kotak re-initiates coverage with add rating and a target price of Rs. 300. LIC Housing finance loan book is well-placed to benefit from decline in bulk borrowings rates. Kotak also retained its sell call on HDFC.
10. Jet Airways: Market regulator Sebi has reportedly written to Jet raising objections over parts of its agreement with Etihad.

Samsung Galaxy S4 hits 10 million units shipped

Samsung Electronics Co said sales of the latest version of its flagship Galaxy S smartphone have reached 10 million since its launch in late April, making the model its fastest selling smartphone.
The S4, the South Korean firm's challenge to Apple Inc's iPhone, is already selling in 60 countries and Samsung plans to expand sales to 327 carriers in 155 countries by next month, the world's biggest smartphone maker said on Thursday.

Solid sales have come even as supply issues have snarled the U.S. rollout through some carriers.

Analysts expect strong sales of the fourth version of the Galaxy, which has propelled Samsung to the top of the $225 billion smartphone market since its debut in 2010, will help the firm report record earnings in the current quarter.

Despite mixed reviews of the S4 by gadget experts, Samsung is benefiting from heavy marketing as it bids to gain market share in the absence of new competing models from Apple.

Samsung won a record 33 percent of the smartphone market in the first quarter, and JP Morgan analysts expect its operating profit to top Apple's this quarter for the first time in years.

BlackBerry says majority of top US firms testing its new devices

Sixty percent of US Fortune 500 companies are already testing or using the system to manage BlackBerry's new line of devices, the company said on Wednesday, as U.S. carriers began to roll out its new keyboard-equipped Q10 smartphone.The Q10, which comes with the tiny physical keyboard that many BlackBerry fans admire, is the second device powered by the new BlackBerry 10 operating system.
The touchscreen Z10 launched earlier this year.
The U.S. market is crucial for Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry as it seeks to win back market share ceded to Apple Inc's iPhone, Samsung's Galaxy smartphones and other devices powered by Google's Android operating system.
"This is a very exciting day for us, launching with all four major U.S. carriers," BlackBerry Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear said in an interview.
Tear said BlackBerry, which has long had a strong base of corporate and government users, expected the Q10 to allow it to win back customers who have been using other devices.
He believed demand for the smartphones would be helped by the fact that a majority of top U.S. companies were testing or installing the BlackBerry Enterprise Service system that would allow them to manage the new devices on their internal networks.
"Since everybody is migrating toward this, we expect it will definitely create pull for our (smartphone) products," he said.
"There are a lot of very loyal BlackBerry keyboard users out there who have been waiting for this and I think, with the Q10, we will also be able to win back prior BlackBerry customers, who are now trying other platforms."
The Q10 launched in Canada, Britain and a few other countries two months ago. The U.S. launch was delayed due to a longer carrier-testing process.
The device is already on sale through T-Mobile in the United States, while rivals Verizon and AT&T have begun to accept pre-orders for shipping later this month. Sprint plans to begin selling the devices this summer.

Top 8 firms' m-cap drops by Rs. 36,555 crore in a week

Mumbai: Eight of the top 10 most valued companies of the country saw a plunge of Rs. 36,555 crore in their combined market valuation last week, with mortgage lender HDFC and energy major RIL taking the steepest hit.

While eight of them, including HDFC, RIL, ONGC and HDFC Bank, saw losses in their market capitalisation (m-cap), the valuations of TCS and Infosys surged.

The m-cap of HDFC plunged Rs. 7,615 crore to Rs. 1,29,770 crore, while that of RIL dropped by Rs. 6,796 crore to Rs. 2,53,926 crore.

State-run ONGC's valued dipped by Rs. 5,946 crore to Rs. 2,73,690 crore, while HDFC Bank lost Rs. 5,582 crore to Rs. 1,61,097 crore from its m-cap.

The market cap of ITC slipped by Rs. 4,346 crore to Rs. 2,64,197 crore, Coal India shed Rs. 3,158 crore from its valuation to Rs. 2,02,092 crore.

State Bank of India's (SBI) value went down by Rs. 1,679 crore to Rs. 1,38,390 crore and the m-cap of ICICI Bank fell by Rs. 1,433 crore to Rs. 1,31,754 crore.

In contrast, TCS added Rs. 4,600 crore to Rs. 2,98,104 crore in its market cap, while Infosys saw a rise of Rs. 2,256 crore to Rs. 1,40,509 crore in its value.

In the ranking of top-10 companies, TCS continued to remain at number one position, followed by ONGC, ITC, RIL, CIL, HDFC Bank, Infosys, SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC.

The BSE benchmark Sensex ended the week 1.67 per cent lower at 19,429.23.