14 gasp to death as floods snap Chennai ICU power
As the city continued to reel under calamitous
floods, 14 critically ill patients at a private hospital died in the past 48
hours after generators holding up their life support systems were swamped by a
surging Adyar river.The toll in the floods in Tamil Nadu rose to 415 on Friday , with
at least 64 people dying over the past two days across Chennai.
Peg standard GST
rate at 17-18%, drop 1% levy: Panel
A Centre-appointed panel has recommended standard
Goods and Services Tax rate at 17-18% and a revenue-neutral rate of 15-15.5%
and dropping of 1% additional tax on inter-state trade, readying the basis for
fresh negotiations with Congress.“It is a forward movement,“
said Congress's Randeep Surjewala. But the initial welcome was no guarantee for
an early resolution of the stalemate over the landmark tax reforms scheme as
Surjewala indicated the principal opposition party would stick to its demand
for a constitu tional cap of 18% on GST.
RIL heads for gas row with ONGChttp://acmeentranceexpert.com
The stage seems set for an other confrontation
between Reliance Industries (RIL) and state-run ONGC, after US-based consultant
DeGolyer and MacNaughton submitted its final report which says gas worth Rs
11,000 crore has flowed from ONGC's idle block off Andhra coast into RIL's
neighbouring block, reports Sanjay Dutta.The report was submitted
earlier in the week to the directorate general of hydrocarbons, the oil
ministry's quasi-judicial technical arm.It raises more questions than it
answers and could lead to a long-drawn legal battle stretching into years
before a resolution is found.
Assembly passes
Janlokpal Bill
The AAP government got the
Delhi Janlokpal Bill, 2015, passed in the assembly on Friday with a mammoth
majority of 64 votes. CM Arvind Kejriwal said he would be forced to resort to “other
tactics“ if the Centre didn't support passage of the law. The bill has no prior
sanction from the LG's office.
Rupee hits 2-yr low of 67, sensex dips on global
cues
The sensex dropped 249 points on Friday to settle
at a two-week low of 25,638, tracking a global rout after the ECB stimulus fell
short of expectations. Sentiment was also impacted by a weakening rupee which
fell to 67.01 intraday , a two-year low, which along with sustained capital
outflows kept investors on the edge.The RBI stepped in through
public sector banks to support the rupee, which resulted in the domestic
currency closing at 66.69 -three paise lower than its previous close.
Meanwhile, data released by the RBI showed that India's foreign exchange
reserves fell $750 million to $351.6 billion in the fortnight ending November
27.
Gas row with ONGC
may open another front for RIL
Globally , oil and gas
pools are known for not sticking to geographical or political boundaries. The
eastern gas bowl off the Andhra coast in the Bay of Bengal has been the stage
for intense rivalry among explorers to pump up volumes. Additionally , it has
also cradled a festering dispute between two of India's largest oil companies
-state-run ONGC and private sector RIL -over allegations of gas siphoning since
2013.
