Mumbai/ New Delhi Oct. 6:  The Securities and Exchange Board of India and the RBI acted in tandem on Monday after market hours in a bid to infuse liquidity into the system. The Sebi decided to lift the year-old ban on participatory notes and the 40 per cent cap on P-notes in both cash as well as derivative contracts. P-notes are issued by foreign institutional investors registered in India to unregistered overseas investors. Lifting of the ban comes in the backdrop of FIIs pulling out from the markets: On Oct. 3, FIIs took Rs 1,662 crore out of the markets.

The RBI cut the Cash Reserve Ratio — the amount that banks have to park with the RBI — to 8.5 per cent. This is the first cut in cash reserve ratio (CRR) in five years and is expected to infuse Rs 20,000 crore into the banking system. Mr Deepak Parekh, HD-FC chairman, told a channel from Hong Kong that had the CRR cut come on Friday, Monday’s carnage could have been avoided. “The RBI is in an unenviable position, having to cut the CRR when inflation is still so high, and so are the current account deficit and fiscal deficit,” said Mr Alok Agarwal, head research, K.R. Choksey Securities and Stocks Ltd.  “It does not make economic sense but it is an emergency,” he said.

Mumbai Oct. 6: A cocktail of catastrophic global events over the weekend saw carnage in the Asian and Indian markets. The Sensex was hit hardest after the Hang Seng (Hong Kong) because of heavy shorting by traders who took advantage of selling by FIIs and domestic institutions. The Sensex plunged over 760.87 points intra-day, hitting a two-year low in the last few minutes of trade, and recovered slightly to close 724.62 points down, at 11,801.70.

Heavy selling by the FIIs also saw the rupee hit a five-year low, to Rs 47.81 in intra-day trading. “The Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India should take steps to stop shorting in the market,” said Alok Agarwal, head, research, K.R. Choksey Securities and Shares Ltd. “Traders are creating mayhem as they know there is a lack of buyers, and so are shorting. There’s a complete lack of confidence and global cues everywhere are grim. At the macro level, foreign funds are selling as they have to meet redemption demands,” he said.

“Liquidity and margin calls were huge problems on Monday,” said Ambareesh Baliga, vice-president, Karvy Stock Broking. “Stocks became a four-letter word as no one wanted to buy stocks and no one was putting in fresh money. In such a scenario, he said, it was futile to talk of valuations or technicals. He added: “It’s a once-in-a-blue-moon type of market where there is no psychological support.”

Chennai / New Delhi Oct. 6: The Lankan ethnic crisis took another vexing twist as the Tigers exploded one more human bomb in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile in Chennai Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi warned that he was ready to even sacrifice his own government if the Lankan government failed to heed Delhi’s warning. At Delhi, India’s national security advisor  M.K. Narayanan summoned Lanka’s envoy demanding an end to the killings of innocent Tamils by the Lankan military.

The day began with the blast at Anuradhapaura, the capital of North-Central Province,killing Maj Gen (retd) Janaka Perera. His wife who is a former army officer herself and 26 others also perished. The explosion was set off by a lone Tiger, who hugged the former army commander with explosives strapped under his upper garment, reports reaching here said.

Over 80 were wounded, 17 of them critically. The opposition UNP building, which the general was inaugurating at a large party gathering, was destroyed in the big blast around 8.45 a.m.  Later on Monday morning at Delhi, Indian National Security Advisor, M K Narayanan, summoned Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner G G A D Palithaganegoda and conveyed India’s concerns and unhappiness at the growing casualties of unarmed Tamil civilians as a result of military action.

The NSA’s move comes after the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and assured him that his government would take all steps to stop the genocide in the island nation.  In the evening came Karunanidhi’s clarion call that the Tamils of his state will not remain silent spectators to the violence against their bretheren in Sri Lanka. He went a step further and declared, “We have brought this matter to the attention of the Centre and the Prime Minister spoke to me on Monday morning. He promised to meet all our demands include resumption of peace talks and protection for Tamil fishermen. If the war in Lanka continues Tamils here will not remain silent. In such a situation the Indian government should co-operate with us. If Sri Lanka transgresses the warning by India we would have to consider if this government (in Tamil Nadu) should continue?” he told a public meeting at Chennai.

Mumbai Oct. 6: It’s official: Mumbai was the next target of the Indian Mujahideen. The Mumbai police on Tuesday revealed that IM had planned to attack the city either during Navratri or Diwali on October 26. Mumbai police commissioner Hassan Gafoor said, “With the arrest of 20 members of IM we have averted a major terror attack in Mumbai. As per intelligence reports, there is reasonable presumption to suspect that the bomb blasts in Mumbai were to be done during Navratri.”

Anti-terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare added that Diwali, if not Navratri, would have been the day of the attack. “The accused arrested by the Delhi police have disclosed during interrogation that  Mohammed Atif, who was killed in a police encounter in Delhi, had even declared October 26 as a date for bomb blasts in Mumbai.” According to the police, the 20 IM members arrested by the Mumbai police include those who carried out blasts in Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, and those who planted the bombs in Surat that did not explode. Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chaudhari, arrested from Pune, and Aniq Shafeeq Sayyed, along with absconding accused Riyaz Bhatkal, were involved in planting bombs in Hyderabad in August 2007. Akbar had planted bombs at Dilsukh Nagar, which did not explode, while Shafeeq had planted bombs at Lumbini Park.

Bengaluru Oct. 6: Indian Space Research Organisation scientists are sitting pretty, preparations done and fingers crossed. The rocket PSLV-C11 is ready; the satellite Chandrayaan 1 is ready as well, and the country is waiting for the launch of what will be the first Indian step towards the moon and beyond.

Scientists are confident they will be able to launch India’s first mission to the moon — mainly an orbiter but also a 30-kg moon impact probe piggyback satellite — that is expected to hit the moon’s surface and unfurl the Indian flag between October 22 and 28. The only worry is that the north-eastern monsoon is expected to be more severe than usual. But Isro chairman Madhavan Nair was on Monday gung-ho about India’s entry into the elite club of space-faring nations. Speaking exclusively to this newspaper, Dr Nair called upon the nation’s scientific community to rise to the opportunity.

Chennai Oct. 6: Drawing up weather maps and forecasting thunderstorms is usually considered the job of a scientist or the meteorological department.  However, K. Rajesh, a computer professional and an amateur radio operator (HAM), makes his own weather maps and predictions as a hobby. Rajesh, who builds radios and works with satellites, has also set up a low cost weather station right at home.

Talking to Decccan Chronicle, Rajesh said, “To set up such a weather station one needs not more than Rs 2,000. Currently, there are three operational polar orbiting NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather satellites. Equipped with visual and infrared equipment, these satellites orbit the earth north-south, around the poles, at a height of about 300 km, once approximately every one and a half hours.”

“Depending on their footprint over India during their orbit, we can receive radio signals from the satellites. The signal has information about the land, cloud, water bodies, land and sea temperature, cloud height and cloud top temperature, moisture content and other things.  By decoding this signal and analysing the information, an accurate weather map can be formed in a computer.”  Rajesh says that the receiver and its antenna can be designed and built by anybody who is an expert in electronics at a cost of Rs 1,650 (antenna Rs 150 and receiver Rs 1,500).