NEW DELHI, Jan 7: Refined soya oil remained weak for the second day and prices shed 0.56 per cent to Rs 682.50 per 10 kg in futures market today as speculators reduced positions following sluggish demand in the spot market against adequate stocks position.
At the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, refined soya oil for delivery in January fell further by Rs 3.85, or 0.56 per cent, to Rs 682.50 per 10 kg with an open interest of 34,140 lots.
Similarly, the oil for delivery in February declined by Rs 3.75, or 0.55 per cent, to Rs 675.60 per 10 kg in 1,24,140 lots.
Analysts said trimming of positions by speculators following sluggish demand in the spot market against adequate stocks position kept pressure on refined soya oil prices at futures trade. (AGENCIES)
GUANGZHOU (CHINA), Jan 7: Chinese authorities have detained some activists in the southern city of Guangzhou to try to derail a protest planned for today to commemorate a strike by reporters at an outspoken newspaper, several activists said.
The clampdown comes on the first anniversary of a rare newsroom strike at the Southern Weekly over censorship, which some experts say was the trigger for tighter controls on Chinese media in the past year under President Xi Jinping.
At least three activists contacted by Reuters said they would not join the protest after being warned by police.
‘In recent days, those who were planning to mark the anniversary were either asked to meet (police), warned, put under house detention, forced to go on holiday … Or were detained,’ said Wu Wei, also known by his pen-name Ye Du, the Guangzhou-based deputy head of the Independent Chinese Pen Center, which campaigns for freedom of expression in China.
Security was tight outside the gates of the Southern Media Group, which owns the Southern Weekly, with at least eight police vans and jeeps parked outside, and scores of uniformed and plainclothes police patrolling the area.
Police at the scene declined to comment.
Journalists at the weekly went on strike for several days last year after censors scrapped a New Year editorial calling for China to enshrine constitutional rights. The strike ended after local propaganda officials promised to take a lighter hand with censorship.
Prior to the run-in with the censors, the Southern Weekly had earned a reputation for pushing the boundaries in pursuing agenda-setting, hard-hitting news.
‘For the government, these kinds of commemorative events and street activities are not tolerated within their social stability framework,’ said Wu. ‘They have … Pre-emptively clamped down on us.’
On Saturday, police raided the home of activist Liang Songji, taking him into custody along with three others, according to two activists and online microblogging accounts.
Sui Muqing, a rights lawyer, said police had forced their way into Liang’s home.
A rights lawyer in Guangzhou, Liu Shihui, was also detained and his whereabouts remained unknown, said Human Rights in China, an advocacy group.
Prior to Saturday’s detention, two other prominent rights activists in Guangzhou, Guo Feixiong and Liu Yuandong, were charged with assembling a crowd to ‘disrupt public order’ during protests last year in support of the strike. The pair are expected to stand trial this month in Guangzhou.
In the protests last year outside the newspaper gates, some activists called for greater rights and democracy and lay wreaths of flowers in support of the journalists in a rare case of a politically charged street protest being tolerated by local authorities.
Since then, the government has tightened control over the media, punishing bloggers for spreading rumours on popular microblogging services, while media outlets nationwide have come under greater state scrutiny, according to many Chinese journalists. (AGENCIES)
NEW DELHI, Jan 7: Copper prices gained 0.14 per cent to Rs 467.70 per kg in futures trade today as speculators enlarged their positions on a firm global trend.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange, copper for delivery in February gained 65 paise, or 0.14 per cent, to Rs 467.70 per kg in a business turnover of 2,122 lots.
Similarly, the metal for delivery in far-month April edged up by 50 paise, or 0.11 per cent, to Rs 472.20 per kg in 77 lots.
Analysts attributed the rise in copper futures to a firm global trend as declining inventories and signs that US manufacturing is gaining momentum outweighed concern that demand will slow down in China, the biggest user.
Meanwhile, copper for delivery in three months rose 0.3 per cent to USD 7,344.75 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange. (AGENCIES)
ANKARA, Jan 7: Iran and the European Union will hold a two-day meeting in Geneva on Thursday to discuss implementing a landmark nuclear deal between the Islamic state and major powers, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported today.
‘We will meet (EU negotiator) Mrs. Helga Schmid in Geneva on Thursday and Friday,’ Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, told IRNA.
Schmid is a deputy of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has overseen contacts between six world powers and Iran on the nuclear standoff.
Iran and the P5+1 – the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China – reached a deal on November 24 in Geneva aimed at curbing the country’s most sensitive nuclear work in return for easing some economic sanctions.
Nuclear experts from Iran and the six powers have since held several rounds of talks to resolve various technical issues before the accord can be put into place.
The experts have to work out when the deal will be implemented. An Iranian negotiator earlier said the six powers and Iran had agreed to start implementing the deal on Janury 20.
Western countries fear that Iran’s nuclear work has military goals and have imposed years of crippling sanctions on Iran. Tehran denies seeking to build an atomic bomb and says its nuclear work is aimed at power generation and medical research. (AGENCIES)
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, Jan 7: Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade has sought a one-month extension of the deadline for charging her in the visa fraud case but her plea has been opposed by the prosecution, even as the US today said it wants to resolve the “ordeal” as soon as possible.
Khobragade has requested for the extension of the January 13 indictment deadline, saying the “pressure of the impending” deadline is interfering with the ability of the parties to have meaningful discussions.
India-born US prosecutor Preet Bharara’s office is required to file charges against the 39-year-old diplomat within 30 days of her arrest.
However, in the request submitted late yesterday with Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Khobragade’s counsel sought postponement of the preliminary hearing date, currently scheduled for January 13 and extension of the indictment deadline by 30 days “to and including February 12, 2014”.
“Significant communications have been had between the prosecution and the defense and amongst other Government officials and it is our strong view that the pressure of the impending deadline is counterproductive to continued communications,” Khobragade’s counsel Daniel Arshack said in the request.
The lawyer told the judge that he has conferred with the prosecution concerning extending the deadline and has been informed that the prosecution will not seek an extension of the deadline.
“We therefore, wish to inform the court that we waive the 30 day time limit set by the court on December 12, 2013 because we believe that the time limit is interfering with the parties ability to continue to have meaningful discussions,” Arshack said in his request to the judge.
Responding to Arshack’s request, Bharara wrote to the judge that his office is opposed to the extension of the deadline sought by Khobragade, saying plea discussions can continue even after she is charged.
“This office remains receptive to continuing the plea discussions that have taken place over the past several weeks. We have participated in hours of discussion in the hope of negotiating a plea that could be entered in Court before January 13,” Bharara said.
“Indeed, as recently as Saturday, January 5, the Government outlined reasonable parameters for a plea that could resolve the case, to which the defendant has not responded,” he said.
The US, meanwhile, stated that it wants the issue to be resolved as soon as possible, with State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf saying “As I’ve said, many, many times throughout this whole ordeal, that we don’t want this to define our relationship going forward and don’t think that it will.”
“We want it to be resolved as soon as possible. Certainly, that’s our goal, but we’re only part of this process,” Harf said.
She said the US does not want India-US ties to be affected by the arrest of the Indian diplomat in New York.
Asked if the US was hopeful that the issue would be resolved, Harf said, “absolutely”.
The US and Indian officials are believed to be working on both the diplomatic and judicial front to arrive at an amicable resolution of the issue, with American officials insisting that law would take its own course.
“We’re the diplomatic part that focuses on the relationship and all the issues we work together on. There is a separate judicial and legal process that is working its way through right now,” Harf said.
“There is a reason we have these processes, and hopefully that will work itself out soon as well, but I don’t want to get ahead of that process, and certainly don’t want to speak for it,” she noted.
India has sought an US apology and withdrawal of charges against Khobragade.
The US, however, insists that this is an isolated incident.
Harf said that the US is “letting it (this entire episode) run its course” and was focused on “where to go from here because, as we’ve always said, the relationship with India is incredibly important.”
A 1999-batch IFS officer, Khobragade was arrested on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid Sangeeta Richard. She was released on a USD 250,000 bond.
India retaliated by downgrading privileges of a certain category of US diplomats among other steps last month. (PTI)
Excelsior Correspondent Srinagar, Jan 7: Five persons were injured in a road accident in south Kashmir’s Tral in Pulwama district.
A police spokesman said an SRTC passenger bus, bearing registration number JK01Y-0304, met with an accident near Nowdal, Tral resulting in injuries to five passengers. A case has been registered.
ANKARA, Jan 7: Around 350 Turkish police officers were removed from their posts in Ankara overnight, CNN Turk said today, in the biggest single reported police shakeup since a corruption probe rocked the Government last month.
Hundreds of police have been dismissed or reassigned across the country since the graft investigation emerged on December 17 with the detention of businessmen close to the Government and the sons of three cabinet ministers, who subsequently resigned.
Around 250 people, mostly from outside Ankara, have been appointed in place of the reassigned officers, who will take up duties in traffic police departments and district police stations, broadcaster NTV reported.
Ankara police declined comment on the reports. (AGENCIES)
NEW DELHI, Jan 7: Mentha oil prices rose by 0.21 per cent to Rs 826 per kg in futures trade today as speculators created fresh positions after pick up in demand from consuming industries in the spot markets amid restricted arrivals from producing regions.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange, mentha oil for delivery in January rose by Rs 1.70, or 0.21 per cent, to Rs 826 per kg in a business turnover of 120 lots.
Similarly, the oil for delivery in February edged up by Rs 1.50, or 0.18 per cent, to Rs 837 per kg in 29 lots.
Analysts said speculators created fresh positions on pick up in demand from consuming industries in the spot market amid restricted arrivals from Chandausi in Uttar Pradesh that led to rise in mentha oil prices at futures trade. (AGENCIES)
WASHINGTON, Jan 7: The US Senate today confirmed Janet Yellen as the head of the Federal Reserve, making her the first woman to lead the the world’s most powerful central bank in its 100-year history.
Yellen, described by US President Barack Obama as the country’s most respected economists, is expected to be sworn into office on February 1.
She will replace Ben Bernanke as the Chair of the Federal Reserve. The Senate voted 56-26 to confirm 67-year-old Yellen as the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve.
“With the bipartisan confirmation of Janet Yellen as the next Chair of the Federal Reserve, the American people will have a fierce champion who understands that the ultimate goal of economic and financial policymaking is to improve the lives, jobs and standard of living of American workers and their families,” Obama said, soon after Yellen’s confirmation.
“As one of our nation’s most respected economists and a leading voice at the Fed for more than a decade and Vice Chair for the past three years, Janet helped pull our economy out of recession and put us on the path of steady growth,” Obama said in a statement.
With the confirmation of Yellen as the first Chairwoman in the 100-year history of central bank, the Senate has taken a momentous and much-needed step to ensure our country continues to be the engine of a thriving global economy, Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic Leader, said.
Pelosi said Yellen will lead the Federal Reserve with an extraordinary level of discipline, determination, and expertise on America’s economy.
“As a Professor Emeritus at University of California- Berkeley, she quickly rose as a respected leader in the field of economics and later worked within the Federal Reserve system for nearly ten years – as a governor, as the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and currently as vice chair,” she said.
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said with many years of experience in economics and at the Federal Reserve, Yellen is a proven leader who will assume the vast responsibilities of this position with a steady hand.
“Janet is not only enormously qualified to take on this role, she is also widely respected for her keen mind, sound judgement and independence. At the Federal Reserve, she has been a vital and often prescient voice,” he said. (AGENCIES)
