Author: Ajay Vaishnav

Anti-CAA protests: Days after voting for CAB, AGP to now oppose it

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Days after supporting the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 in Parliament, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), an ally of the ruling BJP, has now decided to oppose it. The AGP would file a petition in the Supreme Court praying for revocation of the amended Citizenship Act seeking exemption for all the districts in the Brahmaputra Valley, party leader Kumar Deepak Das said on Sunday.

He asserted that the AGP respected the sentiments of common people, who were wary that the law might threaten their identity and existence.

“We will take the legal route to seek revocation of the amended Act as the indigenous people of Assam are apprehensive that their identity, language might come under threat,” Das, a former Rajya Sabha MP, told PTI.

Meanwhile, protests by students from universities across India were held demonstrations against the police crackdown on students of Jamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi, who were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. Students in several campuses, including in Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai and Kolkata, came out in support of Jamia students.

Opposition parties have also rallied against the CAA. In Kerala, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala will together lead a “satyagraha” to protests the amended Citizenship Act on Monday, in a rare display of bipartisan politics by traditional antagonists.

In Bengal, CM Mamata Banerjee hit the streets of Kolkata along with thousands of partymen and vowed not to allow the proposed country-wide NRC and the amended Citizenship Act in West Bengal.

Sources said a delegation of the AGP, led by Das, would leave for Delhi in the evening to file the plea in the apex court as PILs seeking revocation of the Act were scheduled to be taken up for hearing on December 18.

Former AGP Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who had been vocal about his opposition to the amended Act, claimed the party never adopted any resolution supporting the law. Mahanta urged the AGP leadership to clear its stand on the contentious matter.

It is worth noting that AGP was formed in the aftermath of a six-year-long Assam agitation against illegal infiltration of foreigners from Bangladesh into the state. The turn of events at that time helped in launching the political career of Mahanta, who was elected as the youngest chief minister in history, after bagging 60 seats in elections in late 1985.

That election year marked the end of the agitation with the signing of the Assam Accord between leaders of the AASU, All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) and former PM Rajiv Gandhi.

But, dissidence had been brewing in the AGP after party chief Atul Bora said if the Centre “wants to bring the Bill, he cannot do anything about it”.

The AGP’s decision to oppose the CAB, which has become an Act now, comes days after the party’s lone Rajya Sabha member Birendra Prasad Baishya voted in favour of the CAB in Parliament. The Assam-based regional outfit is reportedly facing severe backlash amid the ongoing protests against the Act in the region and other parts of the country.

On Thursday, headquarters of the AGP in Guwahati’s Ambari area was attacked by anti-CAA protesters.

Earlier this year, the AGP had walked out of the NDA over CAB, but returned to its fold two months later to contest the General Elections 2019 with the BJP.

The party won 14 seats in the 2016 elections to the 126-member Assam assembly, where its alliance partners BJP won 61 seats and BPF bagged 113.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear on December 18 pleas of the Congress and former Maharaja of Tripura Pradyot Kishor Deb Barman challenging constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said it will hear the pleas along with other pending matters coming up for hearing on December 18.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned for urgent listing the two pleas and said this petition should also be heard along with a similar plea filed by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which is coming up for hearing on Wednesday.

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Jharkhand Assembly polls 2019: 53% voter turnout recorded till 3 pm

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Voting ended in five of the 15 assembly seats that went to the polls in the fourth phase in Jharkhand on Monday. According to the Election Commission, more than 53.37 percent polling have been been reported till 3 pm. Voting ended at 3 pm on five seats — Bagodar, Jamua, Giridih, Dumri and Tundi, while on rest of the 10 seats, it will end at 5 pm. In Dhanbad, an elderly woman was brought on a cot to cast her vote.

Despite cold weather condition and Maoist threat, voters turned out in large numbers to exercise their franchise. Jharkahnd had witnessed rain on Sunday and the weather is cloudy in most part of the state on Monday.

Earlier, Jharkhand recorded 28.56 percent voting till 11 am in the fourth phase of the assembly polls on Monday. According to the Election Commission data, the highest polling has been recorded in Bagodar with 34.63 percent and the lowest in Bokaro with 21.46 percent so far.

There are a total of 221 candidates including 23 females in the fray in this phase. The maximum, 25 candidates, are contesting from the Bokaro seat while the minimum, eight candidate, are trying their luck from the Nirsa seat.

Out of 15 seats, three — Deoghar, Jamua and Chandankiyari — are reserved for Scheduled Castes, while remaining 12 are general seats.

A total of 47,81,422 voters are eligible to cast their votes in these 15 Assembly constituencies that spread across four districts — Deoghar, Giridih, Bokaro and Dhanbad.

On 10 seats, polling will take place between 7 am and 5 pm, while on the remaining seats, which include Bagodar, Jamua, Giridih, Dumri and Tundi, the voting will end at 3 pm.

A total of 6,101 booths have been set up for voting out of which 4,296 fall in the rural areas.

In Maoist affected areas, 587 booths have been marked as “very sensitive” and 405 are “sensitive” while in the non-Maoist areas, 546 booths are “very sensitive” and 2,665 are “sensitive”.

Prominent candidates who are in the race for these seats include Labour Minister Raj Paliwar, Tourism Development Amar Kumar Bauri, Ragni Singh, Raj Kishore Mahto and Dhullu Mahto.

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Citizenship Act, NRC weapons of mass polarisation: Rahul Gandhi

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday termed the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens as “weapons of mass polarisation” unleashed by fascists on India and said the best defence against them is peaceful satyagraha.

Gandhi said he stands in solidarity with those protesting peacefully against them.

“The CAB and NRC are weapons of mass polarisation unleashed by fascists on India. The best defence against these dirty weapons is peaceful, non violent Satyagraha. I stand in solidarity with all those protesting peacefully against the CAB and NRC,” he said on Twitter.

The CAB & NRC are weapons of mass polarisation unleashed by fascists on India. The best defence against these dirty weapons is peaceful, non violent Satyagraha. I stand in solidarity with all those protesting peacefully against the CAB & NRC.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 16, 2019

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday said it will hear on December 18 pleas of the Congress and former Maharaja of Tripura Pradyot Kishor Deb Barman challenging constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said it will hear the pleas along with other pending matters coming up for hearing on December 18.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned for urgent listing the two pleas and said this petition should also be heard along with a similar plea filed by the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which is coming up for hearing on Wednesday.

-with inputs from PTI

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Here’s why ICICI Direct Research sees 36% upside in this pharma stock

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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ICICI Direct Research has recommended a ‘buy’ rating on Aster DM Healthcare with a long-term price target of Rs 210 per share. The target price is 36 percent higher from the pharma firm’s market price of Rs 154 apiece on December 10.

At 9.29 am, Aster DM Healthcare ltd’s share price quoted at Rs 156, up 2.33 percent on NSE. The broader Nifty50 traded 18.50 points higher at 12,105. The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex traded 72 points higher at 41,081. So far this year, Aster DM Healthcare has been mildly positive by 0.68 percent and the one-year return on the stock is 3.5 percent.

“We are positive on Aster’s integrated business model and expect a gradual improvement in margins and RoCE on the back of higher occupancy and capacity optimisation in new assets from FY20E onwards. At the current level, we envisage a favourable risk-reward matrix. Hence, we initiate coverage on the company with a BUY recommendation and target price of Rs 210 (SOTP basis),” analysts at the ICICI Direct Reserach wrote in a report last Tuesday.

It said, Aster has a “unique business model among Indian healthcare service providers with a strong established presence in GCC and India”.

The company derives around 81 percent of revenues from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and India.

“Of the total revenues from operations for H1FY20, the hospital segment
accounted for 52%, clinic segment accounted for 22% while the retail
pharmacy segment accounted for 26%. The company’s operations in India,
which primarily consists of hospitals, accounted for 19% of total revenues
from operations for H1FY20,” the report said.

Aster DM Healthcare’s Q2 revenue from operations recorded an increase of 14 percent reaching Rs 2,087 crore. It registered a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 27 crore in Q2 of FY20.

Among key risks cited by the ICICI Direct Research report, the overall improvement of the company’s financial metrics will depend on the performance of its Indian assets.

“Indian market dynamics are far more complex than GCC with a longer gestation period, stiff competition and frequent regulatory interventions by government agencies. We have observed that most of the successful Indian corporate hospitals have flourished in at least two specified regions before growing pan-India. Being a late entrant in India, the task is already cut out for Aster,” the report said.

Aster DM Healthcare was established in 1987 by Dr Azad Moopen as a single clinic and now includes 25 hospitals with bed capacity of almost 4800, 231 pharmacies and 115 clinics across GCC countries and India.

In India, it has a network of 13 hospitals and eight clinics, mainly n Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with the company looking to expand its network in metros and Tier 1 cities as well.

Aster DM Healthcare has a market capitalisation of Rs 7786 crore, as per the report. The company’s debt for FY19 stands at Rs 2788 crore.

Also, catch all the latest market action and updates from CNBCTV18.com’s live blog.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Citizenship Amendment Act 2019: Arch rivals CPM, Congress to launch joint protest in Kerala

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala will together lead a “satyagraha” to protests the amended Citizenship Act on Monday, in a rare display of bipartisan politics by traditional antagonists. The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) said they will launch a protest at the Martyrs Column in Thiruvananthapuram.

Addressing the LDF-UDF joint protest, Vijayan blamed BJP-RSS for pushing their agenda.

“The present atmosphere has been created by BJP-RSS, they are trying to implement their agenda. Situation in the country is volatile. Kerala is standing together against the Citizenship Amendment Act,” news agency ANI quoted the Kerala CM as saying.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at LDF-UDF joint protest: The present atmosphere has been created by BJP-RSS,they are trying to implement their agenda. Situation in the country is volatile.Kerala is standing together against the #CitizenshipAmendmentAct https://t.co/EqseGb39tI pic.twitter.com/AwJdxtiVuL

— ANI (@ANI) December 16, 2019

“Satayagraha protesting CAA starts near Martyrs Column at city centre of Thiruvananthapuram. CM, Opposition Leader, ministers and political and community leaders participate. Kerala is broadcasting a message to nation: United action of all secular force is the need of the hour,” Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac said in a tweet.

“The protest is to demand that the anti-Constitutional CAA be cancelled and to see that the Constitution is protected. The CAA will only help to divide our country and the secular fabric of our country will be in danger,” news agency IANS earlier quoted Vijayan as saying.

The new citizenship law cleared by the two Houses of Parliament, and signed by the President, is now known as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

Earlier speaking to the media, Chennithala said he will implead in the petition in the Supreme Court against the Act besides holding talks with all other parties over the CAA.

Of the 33 million Kerala population, Muslims account for around 20 percent and Christians around 18 percent of the state’s inhabitants.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Jharkhand assembly election 2019: Polling for penultimate phase begins

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Polling for the fourth phase of the five-phased Jharkhand Assembly election began in 15 constituencies on Monday. The voting began at 7 am, Election Commission (EC) officials said. It will conclude at 3 pm at Jamua, Bagodar, Giridih, Dumri and Tundi, while for the rest of the seats, the voting will continue till 5 pm, they added. The seats going to the polls in this round are Deoghar (SC), Jamua (SC), Chandankiyari (SC), Madhupur, Bagodar, Gandey, Giridih, Dumri, Bokaro, Sindri, Nirsa, Dhanbad, Jharia, Tundi and Baghmara, spread across four districts.

Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinay Kumar Choubey on Sunday said armed forces were deployed in the Naxal-hit areas.

Of the 6,101 polling stations, 587 were “critical” and 405 “sensitive” in the Naxal-affected constituencies, while the non-Naxal-hit seats had 546 “critical” and 2,665 “sensitive” polling stations, he said.

A total of 47,85,009 voters, including 22,44,134 women and 81 third-gender voters, are eligible to decide the fate of 221 nominees, including 23 women candidates.

The maximum, 25 candidates, are contesting from Bokaro seat while the minimum, eight candidate, are trying their luck from Nirsa seat.

As many as 34,106 voters were aged 80 years and above, while there were 66,321 differently-abled voters, the CEO said.

He said 2,504 wheelchairs and 4,039 volunteers will help the differently-abled voters, adding that a transport facility was being provided to bring them to the polling stations and drop them back.

Webcasting facilities will be there in 2,122 polling stations, while 183 model polling stations were set up and only women personnel will conduct polling in 70 polling stations, the CEO said.

More than one electronic voting machine (EVM) will be used in four Assembly constituencies as there are more than 16 candidates in these seats, he added.

There will be 9,902 ballot units, 7,628 control units and 7,931 VVPAT machines, Choubey said.

Visuals from a polling booth in Dhanbad as voting for the fourth phase of #JharkhandElection2019 begins. Fifteen constituencies of the state are undergoing polling today. pic.twitter.com/aVB6IwADQN

— ANI (@ANI) December 16, 2019

The key candidates in the fray are Land and Revenue Minister Amar Kumar Bauri (BJP) and Labour Minister Raj Paliwar (BJP) from the Chandankiyari and Madhupur seats respectively.

While Bauri is facing All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) Party’s Umakant Razzak, Paliwar’s opponent is Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) Haji Hussain Ansari.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seeking to retain power, is contesting in all the 15 seats in this phase.

Its ally AJSU Party is contesting on its own for the first time since the creation of Jharkhand in 2000.

Challenging the saffron party is the opposition alliance of JMM, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which has fielded candidates in accordance with its pre-poll seat-sharing arrangements.

Former minister and Congress candidate Mannan Malik is contesting the polls from Dhanbad, while another former minister and Congress nominee Jaleshwar Mahato is trying his luck from Baghmara against sitting BJP MLA Dhullu Mahato.

Former minister and JMM candidate Mathura Prasad Mahato is contesting from Tundi.

Three-time MLA Arup Chatterjee is seeking re-election from Nirsa, where he is facing a challenge from former minister and BJP candidate Aparna Sengupta.

The other parties that have fielded candidates are the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Marxist Coordination Committee, the Janata Dal (United), the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the CPI(ML-Liberation) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Other prominent candidates who are in the race for these seats included Labour Minister Raj Paliwar, Ragni Singh, Raj Kishore Mahto and Dhullu Mahto.

Of the total 81 Assembly seats, polling has been held for 50 in the first three phases between November 30 and December 12.

The fifth and final phase of polling for 16 seats will be held on December 20 and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 23.

-with inputs from agencies

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

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Markets at close: How the major indices and stocks fared on Friday

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian shares tracked higher global markets on Friday amid improved trade sentiment as the US-China reached phase one of the trade deal. Both the Sensex and the Nifty ended with gains of a percent each.

Here’s a quick recap of how top market indices and stocks fared on Friday:

Frontline indices

Sensex: The Sensex settled 428 points or 1.05 percent higher to close Friday’s trade at 41,009. So far this year, the 30-share benchmark BSE index has surged almost 14 percent, adding 4,941 points.

Nifty50: The Nifty50 gained 115 points, or 0.96 percent, to settle at 12,087. So far this year, the broader NSE index has been positive by 1,224 points, or over 11 percent.

Key stocks

Reliance Industries: The oil-telecom-retail conglomerates’ shares ended 0.95 percent higher, quoting at Rs 1,582.45 on NSE.

Tata Consultancy Services: The IT major settled 2.72 percent higher, closing at Rs 2,071.70 per share on NSE.

HDFC Bank: The private sector lenders’ shares settled flat, mildly down 0.05 percent in trade today, quoting at Rs 1,262.80 on NSE.

Hindustan Unilever: The FMCG major’s stock closed at Rs 2,005.30 per share, ending 0.06 percent lower at close on NSE.

HDFC: The NBFC stock settled at Rs 2,352.90, rising 1.49 percent.

Major sectors

Nifty Bank: The banking gauge settled 1.10 percent higher at 32,014, up 349 points at close. So far this year, Nifty Bank has gained 18 percent.

Nifty IT: The IT index ended 1.52 percent higher to settle at 15,200, rising 228 points. So far this year, it has gained 5.2 percent.

Nifty FMCG: The consumer goods gauge settled 0.66 percent higher at 30,426. So far this year, Nifty FMCG has corrected by 0.30 percent.

Nifty Auto: The index ended 1.61 percent higher to settle at 8,070. So far this year, it has corrected by over 12.6 percent.

Nifty Metal: The metal index gained 2.26 percent to settle at 2,627. So far this year, the index has lost 17 percent.

Disclosure: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty end higher led by bank, metal stocks; Axis Bank, Vedanta top gainers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian shares settled Friday’s trade with strong gains in metal, banks and auto counters, buoyed by improved sentiment as trade tensions between the US and China eased. The rupee also remained strong, after hitting its highest since September 30 at 70.510 earlier in the session.

The 30-share benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled 428 points higher at 41,010, and the broader 50-share NSE Nifty50 ended 115 points higher at 12,087. Broader markets also rose in tandem with the Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices also settling nearly a percent higher.

All sectoral indices were trading in the green for the day. Government banking sector gauge, the Nifty PSU Bank rose the most, up 4 percent, followed by Nifty Metal, which rallied 2.3 percent.

Nifty Realty and Nifty Auto were also up 1.6 percent each, while Nifty Bank and Nifty IT advanced 1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Among gainers, Axis Bank, Vedanta, Hindalco, SBI, and Maruti were leading on the Nifty50 index, while Dr Reddy’s, Bharti Airtel, Zee, Kotak Bnak, and UPL were the main laggards.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Parliament winter session 2019: Lok Sabha adjourned sine die after a productive session

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Parliament’s 20-day winter session has come to a close with Speaker Om Birla adjourning Lok Sabha sine die on Friday. While the last day of the winter session saw ruckus in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s reported remarks on rapes in India, the overall 20-day session has been legislatively very productive.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have worked over 100 hours with the lower house spending 130 hours and the upper house devoting 105 hours, according to data available on PRS Legislative Research.

Out of 130 hours of Lok Sabha, more than 56 hours were spent in legislative business. The lower house also spent over 48 hours in non-legislative business, almost 17 hours on questions and 5 hours on financial matters. Four hours were spent on other issues.

Out of almost 106 hours of functioning of Rajya Sabha, the upper house spent a good over 55 hours on legislative business, while over 30 hours were spent on non-legislative business. The Rajya Sabha spent nearly 14 hours on questions and 6 were spent on other issues.

In percentage terms, Lok Sabha achieved 114 percent of productivity compared to Rajya Sabha’s 94 percent, as per PRS Legislative Research data.

The winter session saw the longest over 12-hour sitting of Lok Sabha on December 9 when the house took up the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019. The Rajya Sabha also saw 9 hours spent on Wednesday, when the CAB was debated in the upper house.

The winter session came against the backdrop of the record-setting first session of the 17th Lok Sabha. In the previous session, Parliament passed 33 bills, the highest ever passed by it since 1952, with Lok Sabha MPs working beyond 10 pm on multiple occasions, debating legislation and raising important issues.

During the Budget Session which was combined with the oath-taking session, Lok Sabha had sittings for 37 days and Rajya Sabha had sittings for 35 days.

The session was planned to be held from June 17 to July 26, 2019 and was further extended till August 7.

During the session, Lok Sabha had sittings for 37 days and Rajya Sabha for 35 days.

Normally, a Parliament sitting is scheduled for six hours barring special occasions such as the President’s address and the election of the Speaker.

On an average, Lok Sabha has worked for 81 percent of its scheduled time in the past two decades, according to PRS Legislative Research data. However, the budget session saw Lok Sabha spending 281 hours which was 135 percent of the scheduled hours.

The Rajya Sabha worked for 195 hours, which was 100 percent of the scheduled hours, much better than its last two-decade average of 76 percent.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Nifty Metal rises 3% after US, China agree on interim deal

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Nifty Metal surged almost 3 percent in trade on Friday with the shares of Hindustan Copper, Vedanta, SAIL, Hindalco, Tata Steel, JSW Steel rising between 2 and 4 percent. Out of the 15 companies on the index, 14 were trading in the green.

At 11.09 am, the Nifty Metal index was trading higher by 2.58 percent at 2,634.95, after opening at 2,620.

So far this year, the Nifty Metal index has lost almost 17 percent, while the three-year return on the stock, too, is negative by over 7 percent.

The index advanced as the outlook for metal companies improved after US President Donald Trump approved an interim trade deal with China. “Getting VERY close to a BIG DEAL with China. They want it, and so do we!” Trump tweeted.

The development comes ahead of Washington’s scheduled imposition of fresh tariffs on Chinese goods from Sunday.

A wave of trade euphoria had already lifted Wall Street to record highs. Reuters reported the United States has agreed to reduce some tariffs on Chinese goods and delay a tranche of tariffs as part of the deal.

China has also reportedly agreed to make $50 billion in agricultural purchases in 2020 as part of the deal.

Besides, Myron Brilliant, the US Chamber of Commerce’s head of international affairs, who has been briefed by both the Trump administration and China, said: “We’re close to a deal”.

-with inputs from agencies

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow