Flat start for equities; ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel down

MUMBAI: It was a flat start to trade on Wednesday tracking mixed cues from global shores. ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and TCS led declines on the Nifty while M&M ,BPCL and Unitech edged higher.National Stock Exchange's Nifty was trading at 5082.30, lower by 0.17% or 8.8 points from the previous close. Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex was at 17133, down 2.45 points or 0.01%. "Derivative day traders can look at Bharat Forge, JSW Steel, and Tata Chem. Nifty continues to struggle in 5080-5180 range. Foreign institutional investors are cautious and booking profits at higher levels. A thrust above 5180, with large volumes should be considered a sign for a new rally. A close below 4900 will have severe bearish implications," said Anagram Stock Broking. US stocks fell on Tuesday on lackluster economic data in a session marked by low volume and choppy trading, but losses eased after the Federal Reserve raised its expectations for growth in 2010. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 17.24 points, or 0.16%, to end at 10,433.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index inched down just 0.59 of a point, or 0.05%, to 1,105.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 6.83 points, or 0.31%, to 2,169.18. Asian markets were trading with modest gains after a weak session earlier. The Nikkei gained 0.17%, Topix rose 0.24% and Straits Times climbed 0.14%.

PM's banquet in Washington: It just keeps getting bigger

Two Washington DC dinner parties just got bigger. The guest list for President Obama's state banquet for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expanded to nearly 400, forcing the White House to shift the venue from inside the White House to the grounds outdoors where heated tents will provide an exotic setting. And invitees for Prime Minister Singh's reception by the Indian Ambassador has grown (with a groan) to more than 600, much to the consternation of the US Secret Service tasked with security at the event at the Marriott Hotel ballroom opposite the National Zoo. Pity the social secretaries of the two sides. They are being deluged with phone calls from the high and mighty, low and lofty, smart and shifty, all determined to cadge an invitation to the hottest party in town. Because it is the first State dinner of the Obama administration -- described by one paper as the Washington DC equivalent of Oscars -- it is being watched keenly for who’s in and who’s out. The popular blog Politico even has a regular page devoted for coverage of the event, with frequent updates.

Five killed as Delhi-bound Mandor Express derails

At least five persons were killed and 20 seriously injured when all 15 coaches of Delhi-bound Mandor Express got derailed near Bans ka phatak, about 40 km from here at 0130 hours today, a railway official said.Five AC, seven sleeper and three general coaches of the train plying between Jodhpur and Delhi got derailed near Jaipur and Jar or Jatwara railway stations, CPRO North Western Railway K L Enkhia told PTI. One AC coach got completely overturned, he said. The injured people taken out by GRP personnel were shifted to hospitals near here. Meanwhile, GRP personnel are using hydraulic cutters to cut into the overturned coaches, GRP incharge of Jaipur, Ashwini Atre said.

Cyclone Phyan threatens Gujarat, Maharashtra

The India Meteorological Department has issued an 'orange' alert, one step below the red alert put out for a really severe cyclone. The cyclone had moved northwards over the Arabian Sea overnight and was about 250 km west-northwest of Goa, 350 km south-southwest of Mumbai and 620 km south-southwest of Surat at 5:30am, the IMD said on its website. "The system is likely to intensify further and move north-northeastwards and cross south Gujarat and north Maharashtra coast between Alibagh and Valsad by late evening/night," the IMD said at its cyclone warning issued at 9:50 am. Phyan had speeded up since the last alert had been issued. Mumbai and Maharashtra disaster management departments have warned that heavy to very heavy rain could lash many parts of this city and low-lying areas could get flooded. Factories along the north Maharashtra coast have been asked to take special precautions. Fishermen in Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, besides the Lakshadweep Islands, have been advised not to go out to sea.

Congress bags all three assembly seats in Kerala

The LDF suffered a blow in politically sensitive Kannur, where Congress candidate and former CPM MP A Pullakutty emerged victorious by a margin of 12,000 votes over CPM's M V Jayarajan.

Abdullakutty, who represented Kannur twice in parliament on a CPM ticket, was expelled from the party a few months back following serious differences with the CPM leadership, after which he joined the Congress.
Congress candidates Dominic Presentation trounced CPM's P N Sinulal in Ernakulam by over 8000 votes, while his colleague A A Shukur retained Alappuzha seat by defeating G Krishaparasad of CPI by 4000 votes.

The November 7 by-polls were necessitated by resignation of sitting Congress MLAs K Sudhakaran (Kannur), K V Thomas (Ernakulam) and K C Venugopal (Alappuzha) on getting elected to Lok Sabha.

The results showed that UDF had been able to consolidate its Lok Sabha performance of lifting 16 of the 20 seats in the state. The current round of elections were seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2011 assembly polls to be preceded by the civic elections next year. Despite its best efforts and high voltage campaign, the LDF failed to reverse the rout it faced in Parliamentary polls.

Just one cigarette can harm arteries

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The study found that smoking one cigarette increases the stiffness of the arteries in 18 to 30 year olds by a whopping 25 percent.
Arteries that are stiff or rigid increase resistance in the blood vessels, making the heart work harder. The stiffer the artery, the greater the risk for heart disease or stroke.
"Young adults aged 20-24 years have the highest smoking rate of all age groups in Canada," says Stella Daskalopoulou, an internal medicine and vascular medicine specialist at the McGill University Health Centre.

Any more terror attack from Pak will be retaliated: Chidambaram

He said he has been warning Pakistan not to play with India and that the Mumbai attacks should be the "last game". "We have been gaining strength day by day to counter terrorism from across the border. I have been warning Pakistan not to play games with us. (I have told them that) the last game should be Mumbai attacks. Stop it there," he told a public meeting here last night. "If terrorists and militants from Pakistan try to carry out any attack in India, they will not only be defeated but will be retaliated very strongly," he said in his speech in Tamil. Chidambaram said India would retaliate strongly against any attempt by Pakistan to send infiltrators into India and "we have strength to tackle any such infiltration". He said he had been consistently warning Pakistan against meddling in India's affairs but if they continued to do so, "we will deal with them strongly".