Overseas investors pull out Rs. 800 crore from stock market

• Overseas investors have pulled out nearly Rs. 800 crore from the Indian stock market since the beginning of this month, mainly on account of profit booking. In comparison, the debt market saw huge inflow of over Rs. 6,300 crore during the period.
• Foreign investors were gross buyers of equities worth Rs. 20,252 crore till October 10 and sellers to the tune of Rs. 21,038 crore — a net outflow of Rs. 786 crore (USD 128 million), according to the latest data.
• The outflow comes after overseas investments in the stock market hit seven months low in September. Market experts attributed the outflow to profit booking and consolidation in the equity market.
• “We have witnessed an outflow in this month mainly due to profit booking and the market is also in a consolidation mode,” CNI Research Head Kishor Ostwal said. He further said that the long-term prospects of staying invested in India are still positive.
• Overseas investors (Foreign Institutional Investors or Foreign Portfolio Investors) had pumped in a little over Rs. 5,100 crore in Indian equity markets in September, making it the lowest net investment since February when they had infused Rs. 1,404 crore.

Huge crowd return to Hong Kong streets

• Protests in Hong Kong continue to follow a roller-coaster path, with huge crowds which have once again converged on the streets, facing a ultimatum by authorities to disperse.
• After a sharp decline in mobilisation following an initial high, crowds supporting the protests surged in the Admiralty area, the political heart of Hong Kong. The build-up followed calls for a demonstration of street power by protests leaders, after the government earlier stepped back from proposed talks, which it said were possible only if the agitators stayed at home.
• But in the back-and-forth between the protesters and the authorities, it was now the government’s turn to warn students to clear the roads. In a televised address, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying, made it plain that the protesters would have to be dispersed by Monday morning so that normality could return. 
• He warned that officials and police would take “all necessary actions” to restore order. Student leaders, taking the ultimatum seriously are hinting at a via media-provide access lanes through which government vehicles can pass, without abandoning the protests.

IS jihadists meet dogged Kurdish resistance

• Islamic State (IS) jihadists met dogged Kurdish resistance in the high-profile Syrian battleground town of Kobane but in Iraq they put forces under strong pressure, prompting U.S.-led relief drops.
• A roadside bomb killed the police chief in Iraq’s Anbar province, between Baghdad and the Syrian border, where Pentagon officials have voiced concern about the vulnerability of government troops to a renewed jihadist offensive.
• Farther north, around the key oil refinery town of Baiji, the Iraqi army and its Sunni Arab tribal allies came under fresh attack by IS, prompting a first resupply operation by coalition aircraft. In Kobane, where IS, is battling Kurdish fighters under the gaze of the international media just across the border with Turkey, the jihadists were taking heavy losses, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
• It said IS was pouring in reinforcements from Syria, after its Friday capture of the Kurdish headquarters in Kobane failed to deliver a knockout blow.

India’s quest for Nobel Prize completes a cycle of sorts

• More than 100 years after Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Nobel for Literature in 1913, India’s quest for the Nobel Prize has attained a certain philosophical completeness under all categories for which it is awarded, with Kailash Satyarthi of India being chosen along with Malala of Pakistan for the Nobel Peace Prize 2014.
• While C.V. Raman won the Nobel for Physics in 1930, Har Gobind Khorana bagged it under the category of Medicine in 1968. Khorana shared his prize with Robert W. Holley and Marshall W. Nirenberg.
• The Albanian-born Mother Teresa who later worked out her spiritual destiny in Calcutta was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, even as India was again crowned with the Nobel Physics in 1983 in the hands of Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar. He shared it with William Alfred Fowler.
• If in 1998 Amartya Sen won extraordinary laurels for India by winning the prize for Economics “for his contributions to Welfare Economics,” it was then followed by Venkatraman Ramakrishnan chosen for the Nobel Chemistry in 2009. Dr. Ramakrishnan shared it with Thomas A Steitz and Ada E. Yonath.
• Five years later, an Indian has again bagged the Nobel Peace, this time sharing it with a courageous Pakistani girl, rounding off a rare sub-continental partnership to work together for suffering humanity at large.

Hudhud snapped communication and power networks

• Odisha, which escaped the fury of Cyclone Hudhud, announced that it would extend help to districts of neighbouring north Andhra Pradesh. “As Visakhapatnam was terribly devastated, Andhra Pradesh government wanted Odisha to contribute in restoration efforts by deploying skilled manpower and equipment.
• Cyclone Hudhud snapped communication and power networks and damaged hangars and radar at the Eastern Naval Command headquarters at Visakhapatnam, but warships were able to withstand its impact. Sources said INS Circars suffered the most as the cyclone uprooted trees that fell on power and telephone lines.

Centre will set inflation targets for RBI

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has given the go-ahead for a major overhaul of the current monetary policy framework wherein the Centre will specify ‘inflation targets’ for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to achieve. Under the proposed new regime, the RBI will set inflation as its top priority in its policy statements.
• The decision departs from the recommendation of an expert committee of the RBI, appointed to examine monetary policy. Headed by Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Urjit R. Patel, the committee had recommended that the monetary policy decision-making should be vested with a monetary policy committee, chaired by the RBI Governor.
• Other recommendations were that the apex bank adopts the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the measure of the nominal anchor for monetary policy. And that the RBI set the target CPI inflation level at 4 per cent (+/- 2 per cent) to be achieved through its monetary policy tools.
• A senior Ministry official told that the Modi government decided that the RBI “cannot set for itself an inflation target level of 4 per cent for all times to come…the Centre will set this target.” “It is best that inflation targets are set by the governments elected by the people and not a bunch of bureaucrats and economists sitting in the Reserve Bank.”
• RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said last that many earlier reports including one by himself talked about the importance of central bank accountability and independence.

IIP will not impact GDP growth: Nirmala Sitharaman

• Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, dismissed fears about the latest data on index of industrial production (IIP), saying they were overly worrisome and would not impact the country’s GDP growth.
• The Minister, along with Minister of State for Textile Santosh Gangwar, was here to meet the stakeholders in the jute industry.
• Responding to reporters’ queries, Ms. Sitharaman said over the last few months, the government had improved the ease of doing business. There were signs of revival, or else agencies such as Standard and Poor’s would not have assigned a stable outlook to India.
• To a question on FTAs (free trade agreements), she said a review of SEZs (special economic zones) and FTAs was now in the final stages. The new Foreign Trade Policy, due to be announced soon, would give domestic manufacturers and exporters the benefit of the revisions.
• She said her Ministry wanted better utilisation of the FTAs for boosting exports, adding that India was keen on FTAs with ASEAN countries.
• On WTO negotiations, Ms. Sitharaman said India believed in multi-lateral agreements, but not at the cost of the country’s sovereignty.

Roger Federer claims another Masters title

• Roger Federer claimed one of the few titles to have previously eluded him after he overcame a sluggish start to beat injured Frenchman Gilles Simon in the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
• The Swiss 17-times Grand Slam singles champion triumphed 7-6(6), 7-6(2) to register his 23rd Masters Series title and first in China, where strong winds saw the roof on the Stadium Court closed for the hard court final.
• The 33-year-old let off a huge roar and threw both fists into the air after a battling Simon could only net a return to hand the Swiss a fourth title of the year and 81st of an unparalleled career.
• It had all begun so well for the unseeded Frenchman, who broke a sloppy, error strewn Federer in the opening game and comfortably held firm until he felt the pressure of serving for the set at 5-4 and began to creak.
• With his first serve and accurate groundstrokes deserting him, Federer had two break points but wasted the first with an alarmingly high 14th unforced error only for Simon to hand him the game on the next point after netting a backhand.

G20 urges U.S. to support IMF reform

• Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from G20 countries had sharp words for the U.S. Congress, with the Group Treasurer describing Capitol Hill as being a “very difficult… obstacle” in their bid to pass internal reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• Issuing the Group’s statement during the annual fall meetings, Australian Finance Minister Joe Hockey, whose nation currently holds the Group’s presidency said,
• “It does affect the U.S. and their reputation, when there is global agreement and in fact agreement from the White House to undertake IMF reform… For domestic reasons the U.S. Congress might not be moving on this issue but for global reasons the U.S. should move on this issue.” More broadly, the Ministers and Governors said regarding the world economy, “While some key economies are recovering, others face renewed weakness.”
• Their statement also emphasised an agreement regarding a Global Infrastructure Initiative, and a Global Infrastructure Hub to support the Initiative, to be finalised before the Group leaders’ summit in November.
• The issue of reforming the Bretton Woods institutions has been a long-standing one, particularly for emerging economic powers such as India and China, who have consistently argued that the changing global dynamics favours their economies and it is high time that the institutions’ constituent structure reflected this new reality.
• In 2011, shortly before the announcement of the candidacy of current IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, its Executive Directors from the BRICS economies had openly revolted against the prospect of the top role remaining with a European.

Cyclone Hudhud bears down on Vizag

• Ahead of Cyclone Hudhud, classified as very severe, more than 1.5 lakh people were evacuated to 370 relief camps and shelters from four districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and East Godavari of Andhra Pradesh. With up to 45 cm of rainfall and wind speeds of 180 kmph expected, Hudhud is due to make landfall between Visakhapatnam and Kalingapatnam in Srikakulam district.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to be in touch with the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Cyclone Warning Centre Director Ramachandra Rao said the movement of Hudhud was being tracked every minute.

SC to hear PIL against rise in drug price

• The Supreme Court will hear next week a public interest writ petition challenging a circular providing for increase in the prices of life-saving and other essential drugs.
• A Bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justices S.A. Bobde and A.M. Sapre told petitioner-advocate M.L. Sharma that the PIL would be listed for hearing as expeditiously as possible.
• The petitioner said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had issued a circular on September 22 providing for a hike in the prices of 108 life-saving drugs, resulting in a windfall gain to pharmaceutical companies.
• “There are approximately 4.1 crore diabetes patients in India, 5.7 crore people have coronary heart disease, 22 lakh suffer from TB, 11 lakh from cancer, 25 lakh from HIV/AIDS and 6 crore blood pressure patients who are in need of life-saving drugs,” he said.
• The petitioner alleged that there was a conspiracy among government officials and pharmaceutical companies for allowing an increase in drug prices. Citing examples of the steep increase in drug prices, he said, “Glivec, an anti-cancer tablet, rose from Rs. 8,500 to Rs. 1.08 lakh; Plavix, a blood pressure/heart ailment tablet rose from Rs. 147 to Rs. 1,615; anti-rabies injection and Kamrab from Rs. 2,670 to Rs. 7,000.” “The government succumbed to pressure from industry lobbies,” he claimed.

PM launches village adoption scheme for MPs

• Taking forward his announcement during his address to the nation on August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a blueprint for the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) on Jayaprakash Narayan’s birth anniversary.
• The scheme encourages Members of Parliament from both Houses to identify and develop one village from their constituency as a model village by 2016, and two more by 2019, covering over 2,500 villages of the 6 lakh villages country-wide.
• “This is not a rupiya-paisa yojana but a demand-driven, people’s participatory scheme. There are 800 parliamentarians and in three years, 2,500-odd villages could get covered. If States were to initiate their own similar schemes with MLAs, 6,000 to 7,000 villages could get covered. One good village can affect an entire area, and a viral effect could begin,” Mr. Modi said while unveiling SAGY for which no new funds have been allocated.
• The 65-page outline for the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari, requires MPs to identify one village with a population of 3,000-5,000 in the plains and 1,000-3,000 in the hills within a month for convergence of existing schemes for socio-economic development of the area.
• MPs can choose any village except their own or their spouse’s. There is no other criterion. MPs are expected to facilitate a village development plan, motivate villagers to take up activities and use the Rs.5-crore MPLAD fund to fill gaps for funds besides mobilising “additional resources especially from Corporate Social Responsibility” in sewage and water supply schemes.