AP Inter Advanced Supplementary Results 2014

 AP Inter Advanced Supplementary Results 2014
Board of Intermediate Education, Andhra Pradesh BIEAP Inter Advanced Supplementary Examinations May/June 2014 Results of both 1st and 2nd year will be released on Third week of June 2014.

Andra Pradesh State board of Intermediate education BIE AP released the Intermediate First and Second Year annual examination results on 28th April 2014 and 3rd May 2014 respectively. BIE AP conducting Advanced Supplementary Examinations from 25th May 2014 to 3rd  June 2014 for failed students in annual exams. The Students of Junior and Senior Intermediate of all Groups (MPC, Bi.PC,CEC, MEC, HEC, Vocational) can write these examinations for not to waste their academic year.


AP Intermediate Advanced Supplementary Examinations May/June 2014 Results date:
AP Inter Board Advanced Supplementary Results 2014 will be declared in the Third week of June 2014. We will update the exact date and time after confirmation from the Board.


All the best to Students of AP Intermediate 1st year and 2nd Year Supplementary Exam Appeared Students.

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Obama suspends Iran oil sanctions for six months

Tehran is fully co-operating with the US-led international community to address their concerns about its nuclear weapons programme'

With Iran complying with its commitment on a controversial nuclear weapons programme, US President Barack Obama has suspended his action on Iranian oil sanctions for the next six months.

Even though there is enough oil in the international market for countries like India and China to reduce their dependence on Iranian oil, so as to avoid US sanctions as per Congressional Act, Mr. Obama determined that there is no need to do so for the next six months as Tehran is fully co-operating with the US-led international community to address their concerns about its nuclear weapons program, the White House said on Wednesday.

“While market conditions suggest that there is sufficient supply to permit additional reductions in purchases of Iranian oil, the United States has committed to Obama suspends Iran oil sanctions for six months and

pause efforts to further reduce Iran’s crude oil sales for a six month period under the Joint Plan of Action between the P5+1 and Iran,” the White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney said.

“In return for this and other limited relief measures, Iran has committed to take steps that halt and in key respects roll back progress on its nuclear programme.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran is complying with these commitments,”

The analysis contained in the Energy Information Administration’s report of April 24, indicates that global oil consumption has exceeded production in recent months,  adding to this resulted in a small withdrawal from global oil stocks, in line with rates earlier this year.

“Global oil supply disruptions in recent months increased compared with earlier this year, but the resulting supply reduction was offset by increased petroleum production, particularly in the United States,”

Global surplus crude oil production capacity has increased modestly in recent months but remains lower than a year ago, Oil inventories among members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development are three per cent below year ago levels, The Brent crude oil price remains near $ 110 per barrel, in line with the price level 6 months ago when the last determination was made, he added.
“While these factors indicate general market tightness, they also indicate there currently appears to be sufficient supply of non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to reduce significantly their purchases of Iranian oil, taking into account current estimates of demand, increased production by countries other than Iran, inventories of crude oil and petroleum products, and available spare production capacity,”

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Shares in tyre makers gained 2 to 4 per cent as prices of natural rubber fell to their lowest in 4-1/2 years in the global market.

Apollo Tyres Ltd gained 2 per cent, MRF Ltd was up 2.2 per cent, Ceat Ltd jumped 4.5 per cent, while JK Tyre & Industries Ltd rose 2.1 per cent.

Natural rubber makes up more than 40 per cent of the cost of a tyre, according to analysts.

Indian tyre makers are increasing imports of natural rubber as it is cheaper overseas compared to local supplies.
 

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Sensex ends above 25000, up 214 pts; Infosys, Sesa gain

03:40 pm Market closing All the Nifty, Sen sex, CNX Mid cap end at record closing highs. The Sensex closed above 25,000 for the first time ever. The Sensex is up 213.68 points at 25019.51 and the Nifty is up 71.85 points at 7474.10. About 2130 shares have advanced, 883 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged. Except Bank Nifty, all indices end trade in the green. Infosys, Sesa Sterlite are major contributors to Nifty gain. Reliance Infra, SAIL & Havells contribute most to the midcap rally. 
03:30 pm International markets European shares held steady and the euro languished near four-month lows against the dollar on Thursday, with the common currency hostage to expectations the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy to support a fragile economic recovery. In anticipation of lower interest rates, euro zone government bond yields fell. This helped push the premium that two-year U.S. government debt offers over euro zone benchmarks to its widest since 2007. In one of its most keenly awaited decisions in years, the ECB is expected on Thursday to impose negative interest rates. Economists in a Reuters poll expected the ECB to cut its main refinancing rate to 0.10 percent from 0.25 percent and cut its overnight deposit rate to -0.10 percent from zero. It may also launch a loan programme to banks to encourage lending. 
03:20 pm Budget expectation Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet captains of Indian industry to elicit their views on the budget, which is likely to be presented in the first week of July. As a part of the pre-budget consultation exercise, the Finance Minister has already met with agriculturists and will meet representatives of social sector later today. The industry wants the new government to take steps to boost the manufacturing sector, which has remained stagnant in the past two years. It also wants clear and credible policies to attract investments, push mega projects and encourage growth. It has already made a case for non-adversarial, conducive and fair tax regulatory environment.

All the Nifty, Sensex, CNX Midcap end at record closing highs. The Sensex closed above 25,000 for the first time ever. The Sensex is up 213.68 points at 25019.51 and the Nifty is up 71.85 points at 7474.10. About 2130 shares have advanced, 883 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged. Except Bank Nifty, all indices end trade in the green. Infosys, Sesa Sterlite are major contributors to Nifty gain. Reliance Infra, SAIL & Havells contribute most to the midcap rally. 03:30 pm International markets European shares held steady and the euro languished near four-month lows against the dollar on Thursday, with the common currency hostage to expectations the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy to support a fragile economic recovery. In anticipation of lower interest rates, euro zone government bond yields fell. This helped push the premium that two-year U.S. government debt offers over euro zone benchmarks to its widest since 2007. In one of its most keenly awaited decisions in years, the ECB is expected on Thursday to impose negative interest rates. Economists in a Reuters poll expected the ECB to cut its main refinancing rate to 0.10 percent from 0.25 percent and cut its overnight deposit rate to -0.10 percent from zero. It may also launch a loan programme to banks to encourage lending. 03:20 pm Budget expectation Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet captains of Indian industry to elicit their views on the budget, which is likely to be presented in the first week of July. As a part of the pre-budget consultation exercise, the Finance Minister has already met with agriculturists and will meet representatives of social sector later today. The industry wants the new government to take steps to boost the manufacturing sector, which has remained stagnant in the past two years. It also wants clear and credible policies to attract investments, push mega projects and encourage growth. It has already made a case for non-adversarial, conducive and fair tax regulatory environment. 03:10 Deal Piramal Enterprises has acquired 9.99 percent stake in Shriram City Union Finance for a total of Rs 790 crore. The Mumbai-based firm has acquired 65,79,840 equity shares of Shriram City Union Finance Ltd, the retail focused non-banking financial company (NBFC) of the Shriram Group, Piramal Enterprises said in a statement today. The acquisition, by way of a preferential allotment of shares by Shriram City Union, was at a price of Rs 1,200 per equity share, taking the total capital paid at Rs 790 crore, it added. "We are happy that the shareholders of Shriram City Union Finance have approved our investment in the company. Thiscapital infusion will support its present business model and help further its growth plans over the next few years," Piramal Enterprises Ajay Piramal said. Shriram has a good team and the company is confident about creating long-term value for shareholders of both the companies, he added. 02:55pm J&K Bank up 1.4% Jammu and Kashmir Bank will raise Rs 500-600 crore by selling 5 percent stake in PNB Metlife. The stake sale process will be completed by December, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Reuters. 02:45pm IDFC weak IDFC’s provisions will increase over the next couple of quarters, the infrastructure financier’s executive chairman Rajiv Lall said in an interview to CNBC-TV-18. On the positive side, Lall said his firm was sitting on 21 percent Tier-I capital and had enough capital to ride out the worst storm. He said the health of gas power plants would be the key to IDFC's asset quality. According to him, pure infrastructure loan growth for IDFC is likely to take place in the next fiscal because of their transition to bank . “Even if there is an opportunity, pure market based to grow the balance sheet, we may not want to because our starting position as a bank becomes that much more complex,” says Lall. 02:35pm Interview Reports suggest that the RBI has rejected United Bank of India's plea to ease curbs on lending. United Bank of India’s Executive Director Deepak Narang says that they need to show RBI that all systems and procedures are in place and credit administration has been tightening. The bank hopes to approach the Reserve Bank soon to enhance the limit for AAA and AA rate accounts. Narang believes RBI is willing to relax those accounts up to Rs 25 crore for normal lending. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he says they are focussing on recovery and not on credit expansion. 02:26pm Suzlon bags repeat order Suzlon Group, the world's largest turbine maker has received a 100.8 MW order from ReNew Wind Power. "As per the agreement, the group will not only supply 48 units of its robust S97-120 m WTG's but will also oversee operations, maintenance and service of the wind site over the contracted period," says Suzlon Group in its filing. It further says, "ReNew Wind Power currently deploys Suzlon WTG's for 100+ MW at their wind farms in Gujarat and Maharashtra and this will be the third successful order placed with Suzlon Group. This repeat order demonstrates the confidence our customers have with Suzlon's products and service capabilities," 02:22pm Market Update The Sensex surged 202.92 points to 25008.75 and the Nifty rose 68.60 points to 7470.85. About 2086 shares have advanced, 835 shares declined, and 105 shares are unchanged. 02:18pm Oil marketing companies in focus Sources told CNBC-TV18 that oil ministry will consult prime minister's office and finance ministry on hiking LPG and kerosene prices. It will consult on one-time LPG price hike, say sources. The current under-recovery on LPG stands at Rs 432.71 per cylinder and in case of kerosene, it is at Rs 32.87 per litre. It is learnt that PMO and finance ministry want more market-aligned prices and better targetted subsidies. Oil ministry says FY15 under-recovery bill is expected to be at Rs 98,000 crore, say sources. BPCL touched a record high of Rs 605.55, up 5 percent now while IOC and HPCL gained 3-3.7 percent. 02:10pm Market Update The Sensex inched towards the 25000-mark, up 178.01 points to 24983.84 and the Nifty rose 61.10 points to 7463.35. About 2056 shares have advanced, 829 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged. 02:05pm FII View Sanjay Shah, Co-Country head and Co-head Indian Equity Business, Morgan Stanley, said the “realms of a strong policy framework in the making”, has made India an attractive destination for foreign investors. He said the investor interest has returned after election results. In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, on the sidelines of Morgan Stanley Annual India Summit 2014 which was attended by over 70 corporates and 370 investors, Shah said the investors here are not just India-dedicated or confined to emerging markets, but they are the large global funds from North America and Europe who are looking at emerging markets as an asset class and within that finding India much more interesting. However, international investors are closely monitoring the Budget, he added. 02:00pm Equity benchmarks gained strength post consolidation. The Sensex rose 129.36 points to 24935.19 while the Nifty touched 7450 level (for the first time since May 26), up 48.10 points to 7450.35. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices climbed 1.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. About 2039 shares have advanced, 846 shares declined, and 87 shares are unchanged. Sesa Sterlite remained top gainer in the Sensex, gaining over 6 percent followed by Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries with around 3 percent. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and ITC recouped losses in afternoon trade, rising 0.5 percent, 1.2 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. Top lender State Bank of India and its rival Axis Bank advanced 0.9 percent each while ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank declined 0.6-1 percent.

Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/local-markets/sensex-inches-towards-25000-reliance-hdfc-rebound_1099528.html?utm_source=ref_article
All the Nifty, Sensex, CNX Midcap end at record closing highs. The Sensex closed above 25,000 for the first time ever. The Sensex is up 213.68 points at 25019.51 and the Nifty is up 71.85 points at 7474.10. About 2130 shares have advanced, 883 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged. Except Bank Nifty, all indices end trade in the green. Infosys, Sesa Sterlite are major contributors to Nifty gain. Reliance Infra, SAIL & Havells contribute most to the midcap rally. 03:30 pm International markets European shares held steady and the euro languished near four-month lows against the dollar on Thursday, with the common currency hostage to expectations the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy to support a fragile economic recovery. In anticipation of lower interest rates, euro zone government bond yields fell. This helped push the premium that two-year U.S. government debt offers over euro zone benchmarks to its widest since 2007. In one of its most keenly awaited decisions in years, the ECB is expected on Thursday to impose negative interest rates. Economists in a Reuters poll expected the ECB to cut its main refinancing rate to 0.10 percent from 0.25 percent and cut its overnight deposit rate to -0.10 percent from zero. It may also launch a loan programme to banks to encourage lending. 03:20 pm Budget expectation Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet captains of Indian industry to elicit their views on the budget, which is likely to be presented in the first week of July. As a part of the pre-budget consultation exercise, the Finance Minister has already met with agriculturists and will meet representatives of social sector later today. The industry wants the new government to take steps to boost the manufacturing sector, which has remained stagnant in the past two years. It also wants clear and credible policies to attract investments, push mega projects and encourage growth. It has already made a case for non-adversarial, conducive and fair tax regulatory environment. 03:10 Deal Piramal Enterprises has acquired 9.99 percent stake in Shriram City Union Finance for a total of Rs 790 crore. The Mumbai-based firm has acquired 65,79,840 equity shares of Shriram City Union Finance Ltd, the retail focused non-banking financial company (NBFC) of the Shriram Group, Piramal Enterprises said in a statement today. The acquisition, by way of a preferential allotment of shares by Shriram City Union, was at a price of Rs 1,200 per equity share, taking the total capital paid at Rs 790 crore, it added. "We are happy that the shareholders of Shriram City Union Finance have approved our investment in the company. Thiscapital infusion will support its present business model and help further its growth plans over the next few years," Piramal Enterprises Ajay Piramal said. Shriram has a good team and the company is confident about creating long-term value for shareholders of both the companies, he added. 02:55pm J&K Bank up 1.4% Jammu and Kashmir Bank will raise Rs 500-600 crore by selling 5 percent stake in PNB Metlife. The stake sale process will be completed by December, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Reuters. 02:45pm IDFC weak IDFC’s provisions will increase over the next couple of quarters, the infrastructure financier’s executive chairman Rajiv Lall said in an interview to CNBC-TV-18. On the positive side, Lall said his firm was sitting on 21 percent Tier-I capital and had enough capital to ride out the worst storm. He said the health of gas power plants would be the key to IDFC's asset quality. According to him, pure infrastructure loan growth for IDFC is likely to take place in the next fiscal because of their transition to bank . “Even if there is an opportunity, pure market based to grow the balance sheet, we may not want to because our starting position as a bank becomes that much more complex,” says Lall. 02:35pm Interview Reports suggest that the RBI has rejected United Bank of India's plea to ease curbs on lending. United Bank of India’s Executive Director Deepak Narang says that they need to show RBI that all systems and procedures are in place and credit administration has been tightening. The bank hopes to approach the Reserve Bank soon to enhance the limit for AAA and AA rate accounts. Narang believes RBI is willing to relax those accounts up to Rs 25 crore for normal lending. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he says they are focussing on recovery and not on credit expansion. 02:26pm Suzlon bags repeat order Suzlon Group, the world's largest turbine maker has received a 100.8 MW order from ReNew Wind Power. "As per the agreement, the group will not only supply 48 units of its robust S97-120 m WTG's but will also oversee operations, maintenance and service of the wind site over the contracted period," says Suzlon Group in its filing. It further says, "ReNew Wind Power currently deploys Suzlon WTG's for 100+ MW at their wind farms in Gujarat and Maharashtra and this will be the third successful order placed with Suzlon Group. This repeat order demonstrates the confidence our customers have with Suzlon's products and service capabilities," 02:22pm Market Update The Sensex surged 202.92 points to 25008.75 and the Nifty rose 68.60 points to 7470.85. About 2086 shares have advanced, 835 shares declined, and 105 shares are unchanged. 02:18pm Oil marketing companies in focus Sources told CNBC-TV18 that oil ministry will consult prime minister's office and finance ministry on hiking LPG and kerosene prices. It will consult on one-time LPG price hike, say sources. The current under-recovery on LPG stands at Rs 432.71 per cylinder and in case of kerosene, it is at Rs 32.87 per litre. It is learnt that PMO and finance ministry want more market-aligned prices and better targetted subsidies. Oil ministry says FY15 under-recovery bill is expected to be at Rs 98,000 crore, say sources. BPCL touched a record high of Rs 605.55, up 5 percent now while IOC and HPCL gained 3-3.7 percent. 02:10pm Market Update The Sensex inched towards the 25000-mark, up 178.01 points to 24983.84 and the Nifty rose 61.10 points to 7463.35. About 2056 shares have advanced, 829 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged. 02:05pm FII View Sanjay Shah, Co-Country head and Co-head Indian Equity Business, Morgan Stanley, said the “realms of a strong policy framework in the making”, has made India an attractive destination for foreign investors. He said the investor interest has returned after election results. In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, on the sidelines of Morgan Stanley Annual India Summit 2014 which was attended by over 70 corporates and 370 investors, Shah said the investors here are not just India-dedicated or confined to emerging markets, but they are the large global funds from North America and Europe who are looking at emerging markets as an asset class and within that finding India much more interesting. However, international investors are closely monitoring the Budget, he added. 02:00pm Equity benchmarks gained strength post consolidation. The Sensex rose 129.36 points to 24935.19 while the Nifty touched 7450 level (for the first time since May 26), up 48.10 points to 7450.35. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices climbed 1.2 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. About 2039 shares have advanced, 846 shares declined, and 87 shares are unchanged. Sesa Sterlite remained top gainer in the Sensex, gaining over 6 percent followed by Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel and Hindalco Industries with around 3 percent. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and ITC recouped losses in afternoon trade, rising 0.5 percent, 1.2 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. Top lender State Bank of India and its rival Axis Bank advanced 0.9 percent each while ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank declined 0.6-1 percent.

Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/local-markets/sensex-inches-towards-25000-reliance-hdfc-rebound_1099528.html?utm_source=ref_article
03:40 pm Market closing All the Nifty, Sensex, CNX Midcap end at record closing highs. The Sensex closed above 25,000 for the first time ever. The Sensex is up 213.68 points at 25019.51 and the Nifty is up 71.85 points at 7474.10. About 2130 shares have advanced, 883 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged. Except Bank Nifty, all indices end trade in the green. Infosys, Sesa Sterlite are major contributors to Nifty gain. Reliance Infra, SAIL & Havells contribute most to the midcap rally. 03:30 pm International markets European shares held steady and the euro languished near four-month lows against the dollar on Thursday, with the common currency hostage to expectations the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy to support a fragile economic recovery. In anticipation of lower interest rates, euro zone government bond yields fell. This helped push the premium that two-year U.S. government debt offers over euro zone benchmarks to its widest since 2007. In one of its most keenly awaited decisions in years, the ECB is expected on Thursday to impose negative interest rates. Economists in a Reuters poll expected the ECB to cut its main refinancing rate to 0.10 percent from 0.25 percent and cut its overnight deposit rate to -0.10 percent from zero. It may also launch a loan programme to banks to encourage lending. 03:20 pm Budget expectation Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet captains of Indian industry to elicit their views on the budget, which is likely to be presented in the first week of July. As a part of the pre-budget consultation exercise, the Finance Minister has already met with agriculturists and will meet representatives of social sector later today. The industry wants the new government to take steps to boost the manufacturing sector, which has remained stagnant in the past two years. It also wants clear and credible policies to attract investments, push mega projects and encourage growth. It has already made a case for non-adversarial, conducive and fair tax regulatory environment.

Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/local-markets/sensex-inches-towards-25000-reliance-hdfc-rebound_1099528.html?utm_source=ref_article
03:40 pm Market closing All the Nifty, Sensex, CNX Midcap end at record closing highs. The Sensex closed above 25,000 for the first time ever. The Sensex is up 213.68 points at 25019.51 and the Nifty is up 71.85 points at 7474.10. About 2130 shares have advanced, 883 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged. Except Bank Nifty, all indices end trade in the green. Infosys, Sesa Sterlite are major contributors to Nifty gain. Reliance Infra, SAIL & Havells contribute most to the midcap rally. 03:30 pm International markets European shares held steady and the euro languished near four-month lows against the dollar on Thursday, with the common currency hostage to expectations the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy to support a fragile economic recovery. In anticipation of lower interest rates, euro zone government bond yields fell. This helped push the premium that two-year U.S. government debt offers over euro zone benchmarks to its widest since 2007. In one of its most keenly awaited decisions in years, the ECB is expected on Thursday to impose negative interest rates. Economists in a Reuters poll expected the ECB to cut its main refinancing rate to 0.10 percent from 0.25 percent and cut its overnight deposit rate to -0.10 percent from zero. It may also launch a loan programme to banks to encourage lending. 03:20 pm Budget expectation Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet captains of Indian industry to elicit their views on the budget, which is likely to be presented in the first week of July. As a part of the pre-budget consultation exercise, the Finance Minister has already met with agriculturists and will meet representatives of social sector later today. The industry wants the new government to take steps to boost the manufacturing sector, which has remained stagnant in the past two years. It also wants clear and credible policies to attract investments, push mega projects and encourage growth. It has already made a case for non-adversarial, conducive and fair tax regulatory environment.

Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/local-markets/sensex-inches-towards-25000-reliance-hdfc-rebound_1099528.html?utm_source=ref_article03:40 pm Market closing All the Nifty, Sensex, CNX Midcap end at record closing highs. The Sensex closed above 25,000 for the first time ever. The Sensex is up 213.68 points at 25019.51 and the Nifty is up 71.85 points at 7474.10. About 2130 shares have advanced, 883 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged. Except Bank Nifty, all indices end trade in the green. Infosys, Sesa Sterlite are major contributors to Nifty gain. Reliance Infra, SAIL & Havells contribute most to the midcap rally. 03:30 pm International markets European shares held steady and the euro languished near four-month lows against the dollar on Thursday, with the common currency hostage to expectations the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy to support a fragile economic recovery. In anticipation of lower interest rates, euro zone government bond yields fell. This helped push the premium that two-year U.S. government debt offers over euro zone benchmarks to its widest since 2007. In one of its most keenly awaited decisions in years, the ECB is expected on Thursday to impose negative interest rates. Economists in a Reuters poll expected the ECB to cut its main refinancing rate to 0.10 percent from 0.25 percent and cut its overnight deposit rate to -0.10 percent from zero. It may also launch a loan programme to banks to encourage lending. 03:20 pm Budget expectation Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet captains of Indian industry to elicit their views on the budget, which is likely to be presented in the first week of July. As a part of the pre-budget consultation exercise, the Finance Minister has already met with agriculturists and will meet representatives of social sector later today. The industry wants the new government to take steps to boost the manufacturing sector, which has remained stagnant in the past two years. It also wants clear and credible policies to attract investments, push mega projects and encourage growth. It has already made a case for non-adversarial, conducive and fair tax regulatory environment.

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Professedly secular vs. conspicuously communal

A quasi-secular ideology remained dominant for much after independence, but concessions were periodically made in favour of particular religions


Until the beginning of the 20th Century, India’s war of independence from foreign rule was fought on the plank of equality of all faiths and of their followers. The scene changed thereafter and certain sections of the majority community began projecting their religion as an inseparable part of the country’s future political ideology. As a reaction to this, some Muslim leaders began demanding special arrangements for their community in the nation’s forthcoming political structure. These competitive aspirations eventually led to the partition of the country accompanying its independence from British rule in 1947. During the protracted phase of Constitution-making, demands were made for the protection of certain religious traditions in the national charter under preparation, and some of these had to be accommodated. This gave birth to a peculiar concept of state secularity, different from how the rest of the world understands it.
 
No state religion   
Adopted in the third year of independence from foreign rule, the Constitution of India did not declare any religion to be the state religion or an otherwise privileged faith tradition. It declared liberty of belief, faith and worship and equality of status and opportunity to be the basic ideals of future polity, and non-discrimination on religious grounds to be one of the people’s Fundamental Rights. 
However, it neither erected a U.S.-type ‘non-establishment’ clause — a ‘wall of separation’ between state and religion — nor adopted the French doctrine of laïcité requiring the state to estrange its people from all walks of life. To put it in concrete terms, the state was not prevented from playing a role in the affairs of religion, but religion was to have no role whatsoever to play in state affairs. Twenty-six years later the Preamble to the Constitution was amended to add the word ‘secular’ to the prefatory description of the character of the country. It, however, made no difference, and the concept of secularism remained basically distinct from its western stereotypes, leaving ample room for the politicians of tomorrow to play with it as they liked.
A quasi-secular ideology remained dominant in state affairs for about half a century after independence, but throughout these years concessions were periodically made in favour of particular religions. Towards the end of the 20th Century, the majority community’s protagonists of a different ideology that they called ‘Hindutva’ — an ideology which insists on the religio-cultural beliefs and practices of the majority community being an essential attribute of patriotism, national culture and social practice — began aspiring to capture political power. Soon they took over the reins of the nation and their ideology of ‘cultural nationalism’ remained dominant in the country’s governance throughout their six-year rule. The professedly secular political outfits returned to power in 2004 and have ruled the country for a full decade. There have been severe blows to secularism under both dispensations — destruction of the Ayodhya mosque in 1992 and the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 bear testimony to this fact. The difference has been of a passive tolerance and active support to a gradual decline of the ideal of state’s secularity and neutrality to religion.

The judiciary and secularism


The judiciary in India has been generally favouring the ideology of secularism. A leading case on India’s secular character was decided by the Supreme Court in 1994. The Court declared that secularism was an inalienable part of the Constitution and clarified that “secularism is more than a passive attitude of religious tolerance; it is a positive concept of equal treatment of all religions… when the State allows citizens to profess and practise their religions, it does not either explicitly or impliedly allow them to introduce religion into non-religious and secular activities of the State” (S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, 1994). There have, however, been occasional aberrations too, a clear instance of which was found in the late Justice J.S. Verma’s so-called Hindutva judgments of 1995. Gravely disturbed by their tenor, his brother judge K. Ramaswamy hastened to get them referred to a larger Bench for review. The public outcry against the language used in those rulings, which seemed to be lending weight to protagonists of political communalism, forced the learned author to dispel such impressions in a clarifying decision given in quick succession. He was soon appointed to the Chair of the National Human Rights Commission, and his policies and performance there turned into a direction exactly opposite to what his earlier judgments were made out to be.
Democracy envisages periodical change of guard, and a time for that has come once again. The race for taking over the reins of the nation next is currently on, and is unfortunately fast developing into a tug of war between professedly secular and conspicuously communal ideologies. The outcome is anybody’s guess. Neither unbridled political ambitions nor media speculations will however be decisive. The people of this country will be the real arbiters of its destiny.

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Facebook lets users login to apps anonymously

In an attempt to quell privacy concerns, Facebook has announced that users can now login to third party apps without sharing their data 
 
Facebook is introducing a new way for users to log into apps without sharing any personal information.
In recent years, Facebook has successfully encouraged a growing number of third-party app makers to allow users to log in with their Facebook identity rather than by entering an email address or creating a dedicated account.
However, users have become increasingly concerned about these app developers gaining access to their private information.
Speaking at Facebook's F8 developer conference in San Francisco, a new version of Facebook's log-in tool, called Anonymous Login would let users control what information they allow third-party apps to see.
The  developers told that the tool would let users feel more comfortable about logging into apps using Facebook.

"By giving people more power and control, they're going to trust all the apps , and over time use them more. And that's positive for everyone,"

With Anonymous Login, users can login to any app using their Facebook login, and the only information that will be shared is their name and gender.

The revamped login screen will let users select which personal information stored on the social network, such as an email address, birthday or items that they have 'liked' on Facebook, can be accessed by any particular app.
 
People can decide later if they want to share any additional information, once they understand more about the app.

"The changes Facebook announced today regarding Facebook Login mark a major milestone for trust and transparency between brands and consumers,"

"It's hugely important that brands understand that capturing user data needs to be part of a 'virtual handshake' where the users not only understand what data they are providing but also how their data will be used and what value they will receive in exchange for it."

Facebook also announced a new service that enables advertisers to extend their campaigns beyond Facebook and into other mobile apps.

The Audience Network uses the same targeting available for Facebook ads today, including custom audiences, core audiences and lookalike audiences. It also features the same measurement tools marketers use for their Facebook ads. 

"This is really the first time that we're going to help you monetize in a serious way on mobile,"

Facebook generates the bulk of its revenue from ads that appear on its own Web pages and within its own mobile app. By distributing ads across a constellation of independent mobile apps, Facebook effectively expands its advertising space, opening the door to more revenue.

To get access to the extra ad space, ad networks typically share the revenue with their partners. Facebook will share most of the ad revenue with apps makers, as is standard in the industry, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

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Supergiant galaxy hurls entire star cluster out at superspeed





The supergiant galaxy known as M87 has hurled an entire star cluster out at more than three million kilometers per hour. The outcast cluster, made up of thousands of stars, is now doomed to drift through the void between the galaxies for all time.

"Astronomers have found runaway stars before, but this is the first time, found a runaway star cluster,"

The speeding star cluster has been named HVGC-1, the initials standing for hypervelocity globular cluster. Relics of the early universe, such globular clusters usually contain thousands of stars crammed into a ball a few dozen light-years across. The Milky Way galaxy is home to about 150 globular clusters. The giant elliptical galaxy M87, in contrast, holds an estimated 15,000 star clusters.








M87 is a monstrous elliptical galaxy, home of several trillion stars, and at least one supermassive black hole. It weighs as much as 6 trillion Suns, making it one of the most massive galaxies in the nearby universe. It is located about 5.3 million light years away from Earth.

How did HVGC-1 get ejected at such a high speed? Astronomers aren't sure but say that one scenario depends on M87 having a pair of supermassive black holes at its core. The star cluster wandered too close to those black holes. Many of its outer stars were plucked off, but the dense core of the cluster remained intact. The two black holes then acted like a slingshot, flinging the cluster away at tremendous speed.

Having two supermassive black holes at its core must be the result of a long-ago collision between two galaxies, which merged to form a single giant galaxy. The same fate awaits our own Milky Way, which will collide with the Andromeda galaxy in a few billion years to create an ellilptical galaxy that astronomers have dubbed Milkomeda

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