Fall in four months: Service road near Kundalahalli underpass of Bengaluru caves-in
Bengaluru: Barely four months after inauguration, the service road near Kundalahalli underpass caved in, giving rise to fresh charges of corruption in the Karnataka state government, especially the ‘40 per cent’ charge.
The road had been built as a part of a Rs 19.5-crore project in Bengaluru. It is also a part of the Signal Free Corridor project of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
An executive engineer, who was working in the Signal Free Corridor project, has said that a pipe under the road broke. “The water had been seeping over the last few days, loosening the soil and resulting in the cave-in,” he added, said NDTV.
The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), which handles the water supply facilities, is reported to have repaired the pipeline.
The BBMP, however, has said that the repair of the stretch that caved in would require a few more days. The officials also said that the contractor would have to do it sans charges since the underpass is covered under the Annual Maintenance and Defect Liability clause.
The Congress, meanwhile, has called the incident of cave-in as another example the government’s ‘40 per cent’ administration and corruption. The government, in turn, has called such charges political vendetta that is baseless.
Congress leader and MLC Nagaraj Yadav has also asked the contractors’ associations to prove their dedication to provide quality work. “They will merely reply that the low quality in work is due to corruption,” he said.
The association members, however, are yet to respond to Yadav, who has demanded that a criminal case be filed against the concerned contractors as well as government officials.
The MLC also called this an instance that substantiates the Congress demand for a diligent minister for Bengaluru. “Although Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai himself is in charge of Bengaluru, he has failed to fulfill his duties and responsibilities,” said Yadav.
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Investors become poorer by Rs 12 lakh cr in three days of market fall
New Delhi, Jan 10: Investors' wealth tumbled Rs 12 lakh crore in three days of market slump due to uninterrupted foreign fund outflows and concerns over quarterly earnings.
Also, rising crude oil prices and a strengthening dollar index added to investors' pessimism.
In three days, the BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 820.2 points or 1.04 per cent.
On Friday, the 30-share BSE benchmark declined 241.30 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at 77,378.91. During the day, the benchmark gyrated 820.15 points between the day's high of 77,919.70 and low of 77,099.55.
The NSE Nifty dropped 95 points or 0.40 per cent to 23,431.50.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms diminished by Rs 12,07,314.99 crore to Rs 4,29,67,835.05 crore (USD 5 trillion) in the three days.
From the 30-share blue-chip pack on Friday, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, State Bank of India, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Tata Steel and Power Grid were among the major laggards.
Tata Consultancy Services jumped nearly 6 per cent after the IT services company reported an 11.95 per cent surge in the December quarter net profit to Rs 12,380 crore.
Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities, said, "Strong quarterly earnings from TCS drove the IT index up 3.4 per cent, helping the market withstand a sharp sell-off."
However, despite broad gains across IT stocks, the Nifty fell for the third consecutive session, Vakil added.
Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Infosys and Bajaj Finserv were the other big gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 7,170.87 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
"Domestic market sentiment remained subdued due to rising crude oil prices, driven by supply concerns, and a strengthening dollar index. Despite the IT sector's resilience following positive early Q3 results, broader indices bled due to uncertainties surrounding Trump policies and high valuations.
"Consolidation may persist in the near term, yet investors are closely watching the US non-farm payroll data today for further guidance," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.
The BSE smallcap gauge dropped 2.40 per cent and midcap index declined 2.13 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, power tanked 3.07 per cent, utilities (2.86 per cent), realty (2.64 per cent), industrials (2.08 per cent), commodities (2.05 per cent) and consumer durables (1.98 per cent).
BSE Focused IT jumped 3.17 per cent, IT (2.65 per cent) and teck (2.24 per cent) were the biggest gainers.
As many as 3,167 stocks declined while 827 advanced and 84 remained unchanged on the BSE.
"Markets continued its downward trajectory as the rupee dropping to new lows against the strengthening dollar has further dampened investors' sentiment. Amid concerns of subdued economic growth and expectations of a slowdown in the quarterly earnings, investors cut their bet on banking and mid & small cap stocks.
"With expensive valuations of Indian markets at large still a concern, investors would mostly resort to stock-specific activities," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
