Premier League - Liverpool cruise to win over Villa

Gerard Houllier's return to Anfield did not go to plan as his Aston Villa side was comfortably beaten 3-0 by Liverpool in the Premier League.

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was not at the match as his wife went into labour earlier on Tuesday, but David N'Gog and Ryan Babel stepped into the breach and each scored first-half goals.
Maxi Rodriguez added a third 10 minutes after the break to send the Reds up to eighth in the table.
The defeat means Villa remain just two places and two points above the relegation zone.
Villa had looked uncertain when defending set pieces right from the start, and they were unable to clear Raul Meireles's third-minute free-kick that came back to Dirk Kuyt, who fired wide from 12 yards.
Liverpool soon capitalised on that weak spot as they went ahead on 14 minutes. Kuyt's persistence forced Stephen Warnock into conceding a corner which was swung in to Martin Skrtel at the far post. The big Slovak defender headed back across goal, and the unmarked N'Gog was free to head past Brad Friedel for his eighth goal of the season and first in 13 games.
Villa were still reeling from that opener when Babel scored two minutes later. Lucas Leiva lifted a ball over the top for Babel, who was a shade offside. The flag stayed down, however, and the Dutchman fired across Friedel for his first goal since his first appearance of the season back in August.
Liverpool dealt well with the absences of Torres, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher but Villa, without the suspended Ashley Young and target man John Carew starting on the bench, struggled to create anything for lone striker Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Houllier brought on Nathan Delfouneso for Ciaran Clark at half-time, and while the young striker did not make a significant contribution personally, the switch to 4-4-2 did give Villa a boost.
They started the second half brightly, and Agbonlahor had his first real sight of goal when Stewart Downing pinged in a low ball across the six-yard box. Agbonlahor stuck out a toe to steer the ball goalwards, but Pepe Reina spread himself well to make the save.
That was the most the Spanish goalkeeper - wearing the captain's armband - had to do all evening as he recorded his 100th clean sheet in the Premier League.
Three minutes later Liverpool were out of sight. Maxi played the ball out to the left and found N'Gog in plenty of space. The French striker pulled a return pass into Maxi's path and the Argentine sidefooted his first-time effort into the far top corner for his third goal in seven games.
Houllier introduced Carew and Robert Pires from the bench, but it was a lot to ask of the pair to change the game at that stage. By contrast, Roy Hodgson used his three allotted changes to give Joe Cole, Fabio Aurelio and Martin Kelly a late run-out.
Liverpool showed plenty of the attacking instinct evident against Tottenham in their last match, and they continued to push for a fourth.
Glen Johnson stung the palms of Friedel with a rasping strike at the near post before Sotirios Kyrgiakos's header from a corner was blocked on the line by Jonathan Hogg.
Downing went for the spectacular in injury time, but even a late long-range effort would have been scant consolation for Villa and Houllier, who had his homecoming well and truly ruined by his good friend Hodgson.

Ashes - England clinch big win in Adelaide

England defeated Australia by an innings and 71 runs on the fifth day of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval to inflict an emphatic defeat on Ricky Ponting’s side.

Australia resumed on 238 for four at the start of the day, hopeful that they could survive for a draw with six wickets in hand and an ominous weather forecast, but it took England less than 90 minutes to skittle out the hosts’ lower order with a masterclass of potent and clinical bowling.
It was a devastating morning for Australia as the tourists clinched a comprehensive victory before lunch with Graeme Swann taking a stunning five for 91 to enable Andrew Strauss’s side to assume a 1-0 lead in the series.

Kevin Pietersen finished up his successful over from the previous evening, in which he dismissed Michael Clarke, before Strauss took the second new ball after 83 overs.
Steven Finn struck within eight deliveries to take his first wicket: Michael Hussey's wicket was regarded as the key one on day five, and he mis-pulled a quicker delivery from the paceman which skewed up to James Anderson at mid on as the left-handed lynchpin departed after having reached a 98-ball half-century.
The sixth wicket, with Marcus North and Brad Haddin, at the crease was always going to be key.
It put on only 25 runs, before Haddin was caught behind pushing forward to some Anderson swing - the first of three wickets without addition in four balls.
Ryan Harris bagged a king pair when he shouldered arms to go lbw, despite looking in vain for a DRS reprieve - the ball shown to be just clipping a bail.
Graeme Swann (four for 89) was then convinced by wicketkeeper Matt Prior to chance another review for lbw against North - he had been unsuccessful with a similar attempt earlier on - and this time, the same batsman had to go.
Swann very nearly had his fourth wicket when Peter Siddle saw the ball roll back on to the base of his stumps, on nought, from an attempted forward-defensive - but fail to dislodge the bails. But the ninth wicket did fall moments later when Xavier Doherty was bowled by the off spinner, and England were down to Doug Bollinger.
Peter Siddle was the final wicket to fall in the 100th over as Swann clinched a deserved five-wicket haul with a jaffa which breached the tail-ender’s defences, and the jubilant celebrations began in earnest.
The emphatic victory was England’s 100th in Tests over Australia, while the hosts suffered the ignominy of their first innings defeat on home soil since their capitulation to the West Indies at Perth in 1993, and their second-heaviest defeat ever in Adelaide.
One man for whom the victory celebrations were tinged with immense disappointment was Stuart Broad, whose series-ending abdominal injury effectively leaves the number eight berth up for grabs with an England XI set to take on Victoria at the MCG in a three-day game on Friday. Pacemen Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan are set to vie for the vacant spot in Strauss's bowling ranks.
The last time England took a series lead in Australia, it was the winning tour of 1986-87 under Mike Gatting and, as the holders of the urn, Andrew Strauss and his men will retain the Ashes unless Australia can win at least two of the remaining three Tests - a monumental task given that they have now gone five Tests without tasting victory.
It was an England side brimming with confidence and fervour which left the Adelaide Oval with a 1-0 series lead, while a beleaguered Australia, minus the injury-stricken Simon Katich, were left to brace themselves for the inevitable onslaught of derision from the national press and turn their focus to the crucial third Test in Perth on December 15.
Day five timeline (All times UK):
23:38 - Australia 239-4 (81 overs) - Swann has a 'not out' decision reviewed as he raps North on the pads, but the decision is upheld.
23:41 - Australia 248-4 (83 overs) - Hussey moves to his half-century with a firm clip through square leg for four runs off the bowling of Swann.
23:43 - Australia 248-4 (83 overs) - Swann locates the outside edge of Hussey's bat, but Prior cannot hold on to a very tricky catch behind the stumps.
23:54 - Australia 261-5 (86 overs) - Finn has Hussey caught at mid on as Mr Cricket skies an attempted pull shot into the air, with Anderson taking the catch.
00:18 - Australia 286-6 (91 overs) - Haddin edges behind to Prior off the bowling of Anderson as he departs for 12.
00:20 - Australia 286-7 (91 overs) - Anderson traps Harris plumb lbw next ball and, despite the decision being reviewed, the decision is upheld as he goes for a king pair.
00:27 - Australia 286-8 (92 overs) - North is rapped on the pads in front of middle stump by Swann. The appeal is initially rejected, but the TV umpire gives the batsman out.
00:29 - Australia 286-8 (92 overs) - Swann beats Siddle with a ball which ends up rolling against the base of the stumps, but with the bails remarkably remaining in tact.
00:34 - Australia 287-8 (93 overs) - Anderson is on a hat-trick, but Doherty blocks out the delivery as the paceman digs the ball in short.
00:45 - Australia 297-9 (96 overs) - Doherty is clean bowled by Swann, who gets a delivery to zip through the tail-enders defences for his fourth wicket.
00:59 - Australia 304 all out (100 overs) - Siddle lurches forward and is comprehensively clean bowled by Swann, who takes his fifth wicket to clinch victory.
00:59 - ENGLAND WIN BY AN INNINGS AND 71 RUNS.

Home Loan Queries

Buying a house is one of the biggest decisions in one’s life. Today with so many options available in the market, it is very difficult for a person to decide on which one to finalize. Same was the issue when I decided to purchase a flat. However on booking my flat I found it even more difficult to finalize on the bank for my housing loan. Like all the people, my task started with visiting all the banks personally, and discussions with my colleagues who already have a home loan. Initially I was stubborn to go with State Bank of India, as I was obsessed with the thought that private banks are all here to cheat and SBI being the best nationalized bank I should go with it.

After considering several options I came across an innovative product called the Interest Saver a.k.a Offset Loans. And you won’t believe me, but with this product and proper planning I discovered that I can save Rs9,00,000 on my over all interest cost as compared to traditional floating rate housing loans. But surprisingly I didn’t see any bank executives publicizing this product much, and hence thought of writing this blog. I first discuss some criteria’s that one should consider before going for a housing loan, and then I discuss in detail on what is this interest saver loan and how you save on the interest rates. Also provided is the link to download excel sheet with all calculations to see the impact yourself.

As home loan is a long term commitment unlike vehicle or personal loans these are a few criteria’s that I think everyone should consider before deciding on the bank to go with for home loans:

1. Structuring of Interest Rate

Firstly, consider how the rate of interest is calculated. Now RBI has issued a guideline for all the banks to distribute loans on the Base Rate mechanism, however there are still some banks that continue to follow the old Prime Lending Rate (PLR) system. So what is the difference between the 2 mechanisms? Base Rate system is a slightly upgraded system over the PLR system. Under the PLR system banks determine their PLR depending upon RBI’s decision to raise or lower the prevailing interest rates and then a markup to determine the interest rates. Say for instance the PLR of a bank is 12% and the markup is 2.75% then the rate of interest (ROI) on your home loan is 12 – 2.75 = 9.25%. Same logic is for Base Rate which is determined on the basis of cost of funds for the banks, just that here we add the markup on base rate. Say for instance the same bank has a Base Rate of 7.5% and a markup on base rate is 1.75%, so your ROI comes to 7.5+1.75 = 9.25%. Now all the banks used to grant home loans on a PLR system earlier, but now they have to move to the base rate mechanism. Here’s how the catch works, it has been a policy of all the banks to lure new customers by offering less ROI as compared to what its existing customers are paying. To gauge this simply ask anyone who took a home loan couple of years back, and compare it with the prevailing rates of the same bank. My boss has a home loan from SBI which he took 6 years back, today he is paying 10.5% ROI however even if we forget the teaser rates SBI’s prevailing rate is 9.25% for new customers. Now recently SBI increased its PLR by 0.25 % but the base rate only by 0.10%. So, the ROI for existing customers will increase more than what it will be for the new customers. So it is always beneficial to go under the upgraded system.

2. Markup on the Base Rate:

Before I discuss this, I think it is necessary to discuss on how the banks have responded to increase in the interest rates historically. Earlier under the PLR system, when interest rates used to go up, banks used to increase the PLR and hence the ROI immediately, however if the interest rates come down they won’t bring down their PLR immediately or to the same extent. In order to remain competitive they will increase the markup, so the ROI is less for new customers but the same or little more than this for the existing customers. For e.g. if a bank has PLR of 13% and a markup of 3%, so the ROI is 10%. Now if the interest rates come down by 1%, the banks won’t bring down the PLR by 1%, but will increase the markup to 4% from 3%. So the ROI applicable to new customers is 9% however for existing customers it continues to be 10%.

So, not necessary but I personally feel that markup should be an important criteria that you should consider. Suppose that Bank A has a base rate of 7.5% but a markup of 1.75 % and a bank B has a base rate of 8.5% and a markup of 0.75%. So the present ROI applicable is 9.25% for both banks. Now after several years say the base rate for both the banks go up by 2%. So the applicable ROI for existing customers would be 11.25%. As per the RBI guideline banks cannot lend to any customer at an ROI of less than the base rate. So to lure new customers banks can decrease the markup than bringing down the base rate when the interest rates fall. Now Bank A has a markup of 1.75% but Bank B has a markup of only 0.75%. So Bank A has more scope to reduce the markup to lure new customers by keeping the Base Rate same as compared to Bank B. Bank B in order to remain competitive will have to reduce the base rate and the existing customers will also enjoy the benefit of reduced interest rates.

3. Disbursement Terms:

Not everyone buy a fully constructed apartment, where the bank has to disburse the entire amount at one time. For under construction apartments amount is demanded and accordingly disbursed by the bank in installments depending on the terms of the agreement with the builder. Generally the installments are linked to the roof slabs of different floors, as and when the construction of the building progresses the payment needs to be disbursed. Builders generally give 7 to 10 days of time to make payment after raising the demand note, failing which they charge high interest like 18%. Once you give the demand note to the bank, they carry out an inspection at the site to check if the property has been constructed up to the level as specified in the Agreement of Construction, and then disburse the amount.

So if you are going for an under construction flat make sure that the processes of the bank are fast enough to disburse the installments on time.

4. Processing Fees:

Compare the processing fees with several banks, and also check if the bank that you have finalized already financed loan for someone in the same project. In this case you have a better negotiating power for the processing fees, also try dealing with the banks directly rather than dealing with the 3^rdparty organization that are on contract with the bank. If you deal directly with the bank there are better chances that they will reduce the processing fees than if you deal with an agent, as part of the processing fees goes to the agent. I took a loan through a third party and had to pay a processing fee of Rs. 15,000 however, I soon discovered that if I had dealt with the branch directly they would have charged me a processing fee of Rs. 10,000.

5. Other Parameters:

Other parameters to consider are the prepayment penalty, whether the interest is calculated on daily or monthly reducing balance. Private Banks generally calculate interest on monthly reducing balance while nationalized banks calculate the same on daily reducing balance.

Let’s talk about Interest Saver also known as Offset Home Loans:

1. What is it?

Interest Saver Loans a.k.a Offset Home Loans are meant for people who can do some periodic savings apart from regular expenses. It is simply a normal home loan along with which bank will open a current account which is linked to your loan. The outstanding principal on which interest is calculated is reduced by the amount you maintain in the current account. So the interest portion in your EMI is reduced and you payback more of your principal, in financial terms your outstanding principal reduces more.

2. Is there any catch here?

The common question which arises in everybody’s mind is why banks would offer this benefit to us, is there any catch in this. Well yes, interest saver loans do not come free. Banks generally charge an extra interest rate as compared to normal floating rate loans. I have gone for this loan with IDBI bank and it charges 0.5% extra. So for normal floating loans the ROI is Base Rate + 0.75% and for Interest saver it is Base Rate + 1.25%, all other terms are the same.

3. An example to show the savings:

I have gone for a loan of Rs 30,00,000 so I have prepared an amortization schedule for this amount based on the terms of IDBI. So presently ROI applicable to me in Interest saver would be 9.75% whereas for normal floating rate loan it would be 9.25%. Firstly if I do the calculation for normal floating rate loan for 20yrs at 9.25% my total interest cost comes to Rs35,94,241 and I repay my loan in 20yrs with EMI of Rs. 27,476. Now for Interest saver loan, for 20 year term my EMI comes to Rs 28,456 and I assume that every month I’ll deposit Rs10,000 in my current account linked to the loan account apart from paying the regular EMIs. Here my total interest cost comes to Rs.17,57,268. But this is not the only cost. The Rs10,000 that I deposit in the current account every month, if I open a recurring deposit I’ll gain some interest on it, which I have to forego over here(I assume an ROI of 7% for this) and call it opportunity cost which totals to Rs.9,40,121. So my total cost under interest saver option is Rs.26,97,389 thus I save Rs8,96,852 over the interest cost as compared to normal loans plus I repay my entire loan amount in just 14 years as compared to 20 years in normal floating scheme. Moreover, it’s only for the 10 years that I have to pay interest and after that my entire EMI goes for the deduction of principal part only. So effectively we can say that I repay my loan in just 10 years.

4. What is its difference with prepayment?

An immediate question that comes to our mind is if I have extra cash why not just pay it to the bank rather than keeping it in an extra account. Well friends answer to this is simple but very important. Life is full of uncertainties, today you have money but the need for the same may come tomorrow. If you pre pay the loan, you cannot get the amount back if you need it in future, but if you maintain it in the interest saver account, you can withdraw it at any time whenever you need it. Moreover just imagine if you pre pay the loan now and later when you need it you’ll have to go for a personal loan, the ROI for the same is much higher than for a home loan which you still enjoy in the interest saver option.

5. What are the things to look out for?

Well generally the other terms and conditions are same with Interest Saver and normal floating loans. I would strongly recommend going with the banks that do interest calculation on a daily reducing balance system than a monthly reducing method. Under daily reducing method, your interest liability would come down from the very same day you make a deposit in the interest saver account. Also the effective method which I myself plan to follow is to transfer your entire salary to your loan account as you get it. As you’ll get a debit card for the same account you can withdraw funds to meet your expenses as and when required. This will be effective only under the daily reducing balance method.

6. Who am I, and should you blindly trust my calculations?

Well I am a consumer like you all and not an agent of IDBI or any other bank. I am not forcing you to go with IDBI, in fact if you get better offers from other bank please go ahead and share with me. Regarding my calculations, being a mathematics and finance graduate I would say strictly do not completely trust someone else’s calculations. Hence I am providing you the link from where you can download the excel sheet below. You can change the parameters like loan amount, interest rate, and additional markup for interest saver options and ROI for recurring deposits to suit your needs. Input parameters are highlighted in green, then simply put you excel in automatic mode or press F9 for the calculations and see the savings. If you find any error in my calculations please highlight it to me, I’ll rectify the same.

DGCA asks domestic airlines to show fares on their websites

NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA today directed all Indian carriers to show route-wise and date-wise airfares on their websites by Wednesday evening and ensure transparency so that flyers do not feel cheated by high ticket prices.

A fresh directive was issued shortly after top officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation met representatives of full-service carriers -- Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher.

DGCA had met officials of the no-frill carriers - IndiGo, Spicejet and GoAir, on Saturday after issuing a directive asking all carriers to explain the high fares they were charging.

In order to maintain transparency in tariff and enable predictability for customers, all scheduled domestic airlines have been directed to "upload the route wise tariff across its network in various fare categories commensurate with date of purchase on their respective websites, in addition to adhering to the directions issued on November 19", the directive said.

All airlines have agreed to comply with the directive that has to be implemented "latest by 1700 hrs of December 8", an official spokesperson said.

The directive implies that the airlines would have to not only provide details of route-wise fares but also detail them for each 'fare bucket'. Aircraft seats are grouped into different categories, each at a distinct price. These categories are referred to as 'fare buckets'.

At the two meetings, all airlines were briefed about the provisions of Rule 135 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, which deals with publishing of tariff established by them on their websites or in daily newspapers.

In view of the "sudden and inordinate surge" in airfares from November 15 particularly on the metro routes, all airlines were directed to bring tariffs to a reasonable level, the spokesperson said.

Following this, the DGCA had issued a directive on November 19 asking airlines to furnish a copy of established tariff route-wise across its network in various fare categories to the DGCA on every first day of the calendar month.

"The response of the airlines to the notice was not satisfactory and as the increase in tariff continued unabated, the DGCA commenced meetings with the CEOs of the established domestic airlines on December 4 and 6 in order to remedy the situation," the spokesperson said.

WikiLeaks strikes a blow at US global interests

WASHINGTON: In its latest blow, WikiLeaks has released a secret list of infrastructure from British telecommunications facilities to chromite mines in India, whose loss or attack by terrorists could "critically impact" US security.

The list of companies and installations around the world was revealed in a February 2009 State Department cable requesting overseas US missions to update a list of infrastructure and resources around the globe "whose loss could critically impact the public health, economic security and/or national and homeland security of the United States".

The list includes factories, ports, fuel companies, drug manufacturers, undersea cables, pipelines, communication hubs and a host of other "key resources".

A Danish insulin plant, a company making anti-snake venom in Australia and a cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo are also included.

Its publication was denounced as "irresponsible" by State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, amid fears it could be used as a list of targets by terrorists.

The document asks US missions to identify "systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States the incapacitation or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters".

The cable is marked "secret state ... noforn, not for internet distribution." "Noforn" means it should not be shown to foreign governments or other non-US interests.

The cable said the State Department, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, was seeking input from embassies on "critical infrastructure and key resources within their host countries which, if destroyed, would likely have an immediate and deleterious effect on the United States".

It said diplomats were "not being asked to consult with host governments with respect to this request".

The request came under the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, which aims to enhance protection of key resources "to prevent, deter, neutralise or mitigate the effects of deliberate efforts by terrorists to destroy, incapacitate or exploit them; and to strengthen national preparedness, timely response, and rapid recovery in the event of an attack, natural disaster or other emergency".

India France sign multi-million dollar nuclear power deal

NEW DELHI: India and France signed a multi-million dollar agreement on Monday to build two nuclear power plants in India as French President Nicolas Sarkozy worked to drum up business for his nation during his four-day visit here.

Areva SA, one of France's main nuclear power companies, will build two European pressurized reactors of 1,650 megawatts each at Jaitapur in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

The agreement, valued at about $9.3 billion, was signed in the presence of Sarkozy and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The deal marked the first two of 20 nuclear reactors India wants to build to meet its soaring energy demand.

Foreign governments have been courting India to try to get a piece of that lucrative market, but there have been concerns that India's recently passed liability law might prove too onerous for international companies to risk entering the market here.

Indian officials assured France that their liability laws were in keeping with international standards and the security of nuclear operators was ensured, a French official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Sarkozy and Singh later met to discuss regional security, trade and investment.

The talks were also expected to touch on plans for the structural reform of the international monetary system through the Group of 20 countries, currently headed by France.

Sarkozy, who arrived on Saturday, is accompanied by his defense, foreign and finance ministers and nearly 60 business leaders.

No defense agreements are expected during the visit, but Sarkozy is likely to push for French companies to win contracts to supply military hardware.

French companies are negotiating to upgrade 51 Mirage-2000 jet fighters in the Indian air force. India is also in the market to buy 126 fighter jets, a deal worth $11 billion, and about 200 helicopters worth another $4 billion.

According to defense experts, India is expected to spend $80 billion between 2012 and 2022 to upgrade its military.

Sarkozy's visit also coincides with at least two important meetings with Indian business leaders. The French president is keen to attract Indian companies to invest in France, even as French companies are seeking a slice of India's booming economy.

Bilateral trade declined in 2009 due to global economic woes, but was on the upswing this year, said Vishnu Prakash, India's external affairs ministry spokesman. The two countries have set a trade target of 12 billion euros ($15.8 billion) for 2012.

Sarkozy is to visit Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, before returning home on Tuesday

"Tangled" knocked British boy wizard Harry Potter

Disney animated fairy tale "Tangled" knocked British boy wizard Harry Potter from the top of movie box office charts on the weekend, claiming the No 1 spot with USD 21.5 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

After two straight weeks at No 1, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" fell to second place, ringing up USD 16.7 million and pushing its total ticket sales in the United States and Canada to just over USD 244 million in three weeks for the Warner Bros studio, a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Family film "Tangled," based on the tale of long-haired Rapunzel who longs to escape from her tower in the forest, has now raked in more than USD 96 million in two weeks for The Walt Disney Co.
The only new movie in wide release, action flick "The Warrior's Way," opened a distant ninth with just under USD 3.1 million for its backers at privately held Relativity Media.

Nifty above 6K; RIL, ONGC, Bharti, TCS, Infy, Wipro up

The benchmark Nifty was trading higher in opening trade on the back of buying support from oil & gas exploration, metal, technology, telecom and select financial companies' shares. Both equity benchmarks were above their psychologically important levels - the Nifty above 6000 and Sensex above 20000 mark.
Among frontliners, Sterlite Industries, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Tata Steel, JSPL, ONGC, Reliance Industries (crude oil is including towards USD 90/barrel), Hindalco, SAIL, HUL, ICICI Bank, HDFC and IDFC were on buyers' radar.
Among frontliners, Hero Honda plunged 4% as there were reports that institutional investors may oppose Honda's stake sale plan.
BPCL lost 1%. ITC and L&T were down.
At 9:17 hours IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 20,074, up 107 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty was at 6026, up 33.5 points.
The CNX Midcap rose 62 points to 9,073 and BSE Smallcap was up 51 points at 9,909. The Nifty Junior went up 68 points to 12,568.
New listing - RPP Infra Projects slipped in opening traded to Rs 72.65 but immediately managed to recover those losses. It was trading at Rs 77, up 3% over issue price of Rs 75.
Midcap & Smallcap space:
Welspun Corp bounced back with 7% rally as it crashed 26% on Friday. KS Oil was up up 2%.
Aqua Logistics went up 2% and CESC up 3.25%. Chennai Petro was up 2.5%.
However, Bank of India was down 1%, Allahabad Bank down 0.8% and Murli Industries tanked 10.4%.
Kingfisher Airlines was down 3% as Aviation Ministry opposed hiking air fares. Jet Airways was down 2%.
Karuturi Global, Punj Lloyd and South Indian Bank were up 2%.

Asian markets were mixed in trade. Hang Seng, Straits Times, Taiwan and Jakarta were up 0.6-1%. However, Shanghai, Nikkei and Kospi fell 0.3% each.

'Dilli' from 'No One Killed Jessica' is a winner

Film: "No One Killed Jessica"; Music Director: Amit Trivedi; Lyricist: Amitabh Bhattacharya; Singers: Tochi Raina, Biswasjit Chakraborty, Shriram Iyer, Raja Hassan, Anushka Manchanda, Sonu Kakar, Aditi Singh Sharma, Sonika Sharma, Vishal Dadlani, Mame Khan, Robert Omulo, Meenal Jain, Joi Barua, Raman Mahadevan, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Shilpa Rao; Rating: *** and 1/2
Amit Trivedi has arrived! The young composer, who has given music buffs a reason to celebrate with soundtracks like "Dev D", "Aisha" and "Udaan", proves his prowess yet again with the music of the forthcoming film "No One Killed Jessica".

The cutting-edge, out-of-the-box tracks are definitely worth a listen, especially "Dilli", which will give you goose bumps.
The film offers six tracks, all written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.
Anyone who has been following Trivedi's music knows that the composer usually likes to experiment and compose tracks out of the realms of a typical Bollywood song.
So is the case with the first track of the album "Aali re", crooned by a host of singers including Tochi Raina, Biswasjit Chakraborty, Shriram Iyer, Raja Hassan, Anushka Manchanda, Sonu Kakar, Aditi Singh Sharma and Sonika Sharma.
The song is the description of a bold, rebellious, outspoken, dynamic and headstrong woman. A lot of slang is used with edgy music. The song grows on you and is not something that is normally hummable, but it does make an impact on the listener.
Then comes in the star of the film "Dilli". Brilliantly sung by Tochi Raina, Shriram Iyer and Aditi Singh Sharma and keeping in mind the mood of the film, the song is extremely hard-hitting and makes you sit up and take notice.
It starts slow but soon gains momentum, packing in a lot of spunk and energy. With strong rock influences and a lead that pierces through, "Dilli" is a sure shot winner.
The track also has another version "Dilli harcore"; there is however not much difference between the two songs.
Next is "Aitbaar", another rock-flavoured arrangement with Vishal Dadlani, Mame Khan Manganiyar and Robert Omulo behind the mike. The song, which is an amalgamation of folk, rap and rock, is an amazing combo of outstanding vocals and engaging music.
Then the album takes a turn and brings forward a softer song "Yeh pal" to the forefront. Effectively voiced by Shilpa Rao, the song starts with a focus on vocals and minimal musical arrangements in the background. Slowly towards the end of the song there is a long musical piece where the orchestration becomes stronger and louder. A likeable track.
Finally there is "Dua", which is sung by Meenal Jain, Joi Barua, Raman Mahadevan and Amitabh Bhattacharya. The song starts with a soft prelude of varying tempo, which is more than a minute long.
The song gets a head start when the chorus sets in. It is quite engaging but after more than three minutes in the song, it gains momentum and the music becomes stronger and the pace becomes slightly faster. This arrangement gives an edge to the song.
On the whole, Trivedi, who is also a National Award winner, has given impressive music which is sure to create a stir.

LeT planned to kill Modi, establish bases in Kerala, Tamil Nadu Read more: LeT planned to kill Modi, establish bases in Kerala, Tamil Nadu - The Time

WASHINGTON: Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba had planned to assassinate Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and use Kerala and Tamil Nadu as base for carrying out strikes in southern India, according to a secret US diplomatic cable.

Information coming out of a secret State Department cable dated June 19, 2009 released by WikiLeaks indicates that LeT has established a facilitation centre in Sri Lanka and was looking at setting up a base of operations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

It also reveals the dangerously expanding Lashkar network in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The United States, which has charged the Wikileaks of indulging in a criminal act by stealing and releasing these cables, has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of these documents.

The secret State Department cable is based on various intelligence inputs received by it, the source of which is not mentioned in the cable.

The cable notes that the network of Shafiq Khafa - a Lashkar leader - is "striving to stand up two teams in southern India that rely on the support of LT members based in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal".

Although specific details of planned LeT attacks remain unknown, late-May 2009 intelligence indicates that Khafa's cells were engaged in surveillance activities of potential targets, likely in southern India.

"Early-May reporting further suggests Kerala or Tamil Nadu may be used as a base of operations following the establishment of a facilitation team in Sri Lanka, with the estimated time of completion for setting up the facilitation route and camps to be two to three months," the cable said.

It is understood that the specific intelligence information was passed on to India.

"Separate tearline indicates, & Pakistan-based Shafiq Khafa prepared in mid-June with India-based associate S J for possible operations in India.

"Khafa was looking for information on possible training sites in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala," the cable said.

The cable says that LeT's Shafiq Khafa was preparing for operations in India including the assassination of Modi.

"Tearline reports, & Hussein, an India-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) member, continued operational planning on three tasks in early June.

"The tasks were associated with a possible operation against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendar Modi, the establishment of a training camp, and unspecified work involving a car.

"Hussein would coordinate his activities with an India-based colleague identified as Sameer," the cable said
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15 Pakistanis among 19 detained foreigners: Police

KOCHI: Interrogation of the 19 foreigners, apprehended on board a dhow by a naval warship off Bitra Island, started today with police claiming 15 of them were Pakistani nationals.

There were 15 Pakistani nationals and four Iranians in the dhow which was intercepted by warship INS Rajput on Friday when they were sailing suspiciously, police said.

The crew were being questioned by a joint team of Navy, Coast Guard, Intelligence Bureau and police in Lakshadweep, top police sources in the Union Territory told PTI when contacted from here.

Confirming the presence of the Pakistani nationals, the sources said that the men had identity cards displaying their nationalities.

INS Rajput, a destroyer warship, was on patrol in the Exclusive Economic Zone west of Bitra when it spotted the dhow sailing suspiciously.

The dhow with the 19 foreigners was escorted to Kavaratti in the Lakshadweep Islands and handed over to local police late last night, they said.

The Navy's operation came just four days after India deployed a multi-ship force in the Arabian Sea, which has been witnessing a spurt in piracy in the recent weeks, to ward off the sea brigands operating there.