Polling will be held in eight phases. The first phase of polling will take place on March 5, while the second phase is scheduled for March 7. The third, fourth and fifth phase of voting will take place on March 9, 12 and 14 respectively. The EC has marked March 16, 18 and 20 for sixth, seventh and eighth phases.
The rally in mid- and small-cap stocks has spilled over into the IT sector as well. Second and third-tier IT stocks, which historically traded at a discount to the big five IT companies, are now trading at nearly 25 per cent premium to their large-cap peers. The smaller IT companies have a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of nearly 38 times against the big five's current P/E multiple of around 31x.
The Congress, National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party have boycotted the first electoral exercise after abrogation of the state's special status.
Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma found himself in the midst of a fresh controversy over his remarks that Mulayam Singh Yadav allegedly has "terrorist links", with Samajwadi Party members disrupting the Lok Sabha on Monday demanding his removal from the Cabinet.
Smaller stocks continue to shine at the bourses. The BSE MidCap index is up 18 per cent since the beginning of January this year against a 5 per cent rise in the Sensex during the period. With the current rally, the mid-cap index has doubled in value since the end of March 2020 against a 70 per cent rally in the Sensex during the period. On Tuesday, the mid-cap index closed at 21,232, as compared to 17,941 at the end of December 2020. In the same period, the benchmark index moved from 47,751 to 50,193.
Historically, Tata Steel has always been among the biggest companies in the group in terms of m-cap, revenue, and profit but its fortunes began to decline after 2010 due to a sharp decline in the profitability of its European operations that it had acquired in 2007. The company was hit by a sharp rise in its debt level after this acquisition. First, it lost out to Tata Motors in terms of revenue in FY11 and then in March 2015, Titan beat it to become the third-biggest firm in the group in terms of m-cap. In FY20, TCS reported higher revenue and Tata Steel had become the third biggest company in that terms.
After outperforming the broader market and their public sector peers for the better part of the post-Lehman period, private sector banks - such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank - are now underperforming. Last week, the Nifty Private Bank index was up just 6 per cent year-to-date in the calendar year 2021, against nearly 13 per cent rally in the Bank Nifty and a 15 per cent rise in the benchmark Nifty50. Public sector (PSU) banks, such as State bank of India, Bank of Baroda, and Punjab National Bank, are now rally leaders and outperforming the broader market. The Nifty PSU Bank index was up 42 per cent since the beginning of this calendar year. But on a longer term, the Nifty Private Bank index is up 101 per cent since March 2016, against a 118 per cent rally in the Bank Nifty and just 2 per cent rise in the Nifty PSU Bank index in the period.
With the Trinamool Congress turning on the heat on the issue of rail fare hike, the Samajwadi Party on Friday offered solace to the Congress, saying its outside support to the coalition will continue.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will present the first Shailendra Kumar Singh award, named after the late distinguished Indian Foreign Service officer, on Friday at an event organised by Manju S K Singh, his widow, and the Ministry of External Affairs, in New Delhi.
Team Anna is reaching out to the members of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Lokpal Bill to ensure that their concerns are addressed in the recommendations they will be sending.
The judicial custody of Independent member of Legislative Assembly Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, Samajwadi Party member of Parliament Shailendra Kumar, member of Legislative Council Akshay Pratap Singh alias Gopalji, MLA Vinod Saroj and seven others was extended on Saturday by 14 days by a local court in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh.
Notices have been given by various members for discussion in the Lok Sabha on various versions of Lokpal Bill, but it is not clear when the debate will be taken up.
Samajwadi Party member of Parliament Shailendra Kumar, two members of Legislative Assembly including Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, and a member of Legislative Council were on Sunday arrested in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh on charges of an attempt to murder after they allegedly threatened a candidate in local body elections, the police said.
The issue was raised in during Zero hour and supported by several others.
The polling was slated for March 5, March 7, March 9, March 12, March 14, March 16, March 18 and March 20.
The decade-long quest by community activist Dr Shailendra Kumar of Maryland to convince the US Postal Service to issue a stamp commemorating Diwali as it has other religious festivals, has gotten a boost with Congressman Frank Pallone introducing legislation urging the Postal Service to do just that, particularly now that President Barack Obama himself lit the White House diya in observing Diwali.
The polling will be held from 9 am to 1 pm while the counting of votes will begin at 3 pm the same day.
Insisting on his right to speak on the behalf of judges, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Monday said that the remarks of a Karnataka High Court judge cannot bring 'embarrassment' to the judiciary. "How can the remarks of a single judge cause embarrassment? It (judiciary) is a big institution," he said. He was asked whether the judiciary does not feel embarrassed over the remarks of Justice Shailendra Kumar, who had questioned his authority, was an embarassment.
So far, 29 out of 31 accused have been convicted by the court.
After the hit of the pandemic, India Inc is now worried about the adverse impact of inflation and higher commodity prices on their revenues and margins. The inflation scare is the strongest among manufacturers of consumer goods such as automobiles, consumer durables, and fast-moving capital goods (FMCG). Companies across sectors fear they will not be able to pass on the hike in input costs to their consumers due to weak demand, which, in turn, would lead to a hit on margins and profitability in the forthcoming quarters.
Trains between Ahmedabad and Mumbai have been cancelled as tracks are submerged near Vadodara.
Two officials were suspended on April 21, the day of the accident, while four others were suspended on Friday, Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Shailendra Kumar said.
A group of miscreants pelted stones on the bus, resulting in head injury to a class 2 student.
Sessions Judge and the Designated POTA Judge, Shailendra Kumar Saxena, observed that the law is same for one.
The poll process for the second tier of the Panchayati Raj system will be completed by November 5, he said.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Monday ordered a probe into the freak accident at Churchgate Station in Mumbai wherein a local train crashed into the dead end, injuring five passengers and disrupting suburban services on the Western Railway line.
The country's top FMCG stocks, such as Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Nestl, Britannia, Godrej Consumer Products, and Dabur, among others, are currently trading at around 41x their trailing 12-month earnings, down from their peak P/E multiple of around 48x at the end of December 2018.
The train, which was coming in at a high speed rammed into the dead end at the terminal. The train's half of the first coach went through the platform.
Congress reached out to Samajwadi Party Supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for his support for passage of the Food Security Bill which is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday coinciding with the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
Tuesday's nightmare continued well into Wednesday morning for Mumbaikars, as trains on the Western Railway ran behind schedule.
Seven coaches of a suburban train travelling from Mumbai's Andheri to Churchgate station, have derailed between Andheri and Vile Parle. Details awaited.
With A K Antony speaking of involvement of Pakistani troops in the LoC attack, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday came out in support of the government on the response over the killing of Indian soldiers, saying it was happy that the defence minister has accepted his mistake and rectified it.
Simplifying the processes will lead to greater efficiencies. Bad processes will not help even if implemented well, says T N C Rajagopalan
Coming out in support of suspended Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that the officer is not unfairly treated.
Uproar over the killing of five Indian soldiers on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani troops on Tuesday led to adjournment of Parliament until noon.
Turmoil in Parliament over Telangana and other issues took a toll on the proceedings for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, resulting in transaction of no substantial business in both Houses.
