Business
Wall Street reaps weekly gains amid Fed announcement, economic data

US equities advanced for the week as Wall Street parsed the Federal Reserve’s tapering announcement and a slew of economic data.
For the week ending Friday, the Dow rose 1.4 per cent, the S&P 500 increased 2 per cent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied nearly 3.1 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.
The S&P US Listed China 50 index, which is designed to track the performance of the 50 largest Chinese companies listed on US exchanges by total market cap, logged a weekly decline of 0.7 per cent.
In a highly anticipated move, the Federal Reserve announced this week that it would begin unwinding, often referred to as “tapering,” its monthly bond and mortgage security purchases amid great concerns over elevated inflation levels.
“Inflation is elevated, largely reflecting factors that are expected to be transitory. Supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic and the reopening of the economy have contributed to sizable price increases in some sectors,” the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s policy-making committee, said in a statement after a two-day policy meeting.
In light of the “substantial further progress” the US economy has made toward the Fed’s goals since December 2020, the committee decided to begin reducing the monthly pace of its net asset purchases by $10 billion for US Treasury securities and $5 billion for agency mortgage-backed securities, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, the Fed included the usual caveat that the taper pace could change if the FOMC deems it advisable.
“The FOMC statement was almost unchanged in November with the exception of a taper to begin in November and to follow exactly the path laid out in the September minutes,” Chris Low, Chief Economist at FHN Financial, said on Wednesday.
“The tweak to the inflation language does not change the meaning but offers an explanation of the transitory factors the Fed believes underlie inflation pressures,” he added.
Analysts at Zacks Investment Management noted that “the Fed is intentionally winding down its programs slowly, while widely telegraphing its plans to the market,” adding “the taper and associated tightening are poised to happen very slowly, which should give the markets ample time to adjust.”
Investors also sifted through the latest payroll data to assess the shape of US labor market.
The US Labor Department reported on Friday that US employers added 531,000 jobs in October, higher than a gain of 450,000 jobs expected.
The latest data followed upwardly revised job gains of 312,000 in September, and upwardly revised job gains of 483,000 in August, when labor market recovery slowed amid a Delta variant-fueled Covid-19 surge.
The unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percentage points to 4.6 per cent in October, after dropping by 0.4 percentage points in September. The figure was down considerably from its recent high in April 2020, yet remained well above the pre-pandemic level of 3.5 per cent.
The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.6 per cent in October and has remained within a narrow range of 61.4 per cent to 61.7 per cent since June 2020, according to the report. The participation rate is still 1.7 percentage points lower than that of February 2020.
A separate report by the Labor Department on Thursday showed that US initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, registered 269,000 in the week ending October 30, a decrease of 14,000 from the prior week’s revised level. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had estimated new claims would total a seasonally adjusted 275,000.
Crime
Mere recovery of blood-stained weapon matching deceased’s blood group not sufficient to prove murder: SC

suprim court
New Delhi, June 27: Upholding the acquittal of an accused, the Supreme Court has ruled that mere recovery of a blood-stained weapon bearing the same blood group as that of the deceased would not be sufficient to prove the charge of murder.
A bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and P.B. Varale was dealing with a criminal appeal filed by the Rajasthan government challenging a judgment of the Rajasthan High Court, which had acquitted the respondent-accused of the offence of murder.
In its impugned order, a division bench set aside the judgment passed by the Additional Sessions Judge in December 2008, which had convicted the respondent for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs 100, and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo 3 months simple imprisonment.
During the trial, the respondent was charged with the murder of Chotu Lal, which took place on the intervening night of March 1 and 2, 2007.
Initially, an FIR was filed against unknown assailants, and at a later stage, the respondent was arraigned in the case on the basis of suspicion and circumstantial evidence.
The prosecution led circumstantial evidence in the form of motive, alleging the respondent was having an evil eye on the wife of the deceased; recovery of the weapon of offence and the FSL report indicating that the blood group on the weapon matched with the blood group of the deceased (B +ve).
Contrary to the findings of the trial court, the Rajasthan High Court opined that the prosecution could not prove the complete chain of circumstances required to bring home the guilt of the accused in the case, which was based entirely on circumstantial evidence, and proceeded to acquit the respondent.
Concurring with the view taken by the Rajasthan HC, the Justice Mehta-led Bench said: “We find that the incriminating circumstances relied upon by the prosecution, i.e., the motive and the recovery of the blood stained weapon, even taken in conjunction cannot constitute the complete chain of incriminating circumstances required to bring home the charges against the accused.”
“The High Court seems to have overlooked the FSL report, which fact was stressed upon by learned counsel for the appellant (state government). However, in our view, even if the FSL report is taken into account, then also, other than the fact that the weapon recovered at the instance of the accused tested positive for the same blood group as that of the deceased (B +ve), nothing much turns on the said report,” it added.
The apex court, relying upon a previous judgment of the apex court, opined that mere recovery of a blood-stained weapon even bearing the same blood group of the victim would not be sufficient to prove the charge of murder.
It discarded the theory of motive, saying the evidence in that regard seems to be very vague and vacillating.
The Justice Mehta-led Bench added that the law is well settled by a catena of apex court decisions that in an appeal against acquittal, interference can only be made if the only possible view based on the evidence points to the guilt of the accused and rules out his innocence.
Dismissing the appeal of the state government, the Supreme Court said: “In the present case, we are duly satisfied that the prosecution failed to lead clinching evidence to bring home the charges. The only possible view is the one taken by the High Court, i.e., the innocence of the accused.”
National
BJP accuses Congress of opposing voter verification to shield fake votes in Bihar

New Delhi, June 27: Following Congress’ objection to the Election Commission of India’s special revision of the state’s voter list ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar, the BJP has launched a sharp counterattack, accusing the grand old party of attempting to protect fake voters.
BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal defended the ECI and called Congress’ objections baseless.
“The Election Commission is an independent body which works independently. It is its responsibility to ensure that elections are conducted with complete transparency. If any political party opposes this, it is wrong. Fake voting can be prevented by the revision of the voter list. Voters who have died will be identified. This process will also make it clear whether the voter is actually in Bihar or voting somewhere else. This is a very necessary step for transparency. I congratulate the Election Commission for this,” Jaiswal said.
Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar on Thursday criticised the ECI for initiating the voter list revision process in a limited time frame.
He alleged that the move is part of a conspiracy to suppress the electoral rights of marginalised communities.
Reacting strongly to these allegations, BJP leader and Minister Nitin Nabin questioned Congress’ intent behind opposing the exercise.
“I say that Congress should clarify what exactly they are objecting to. If genuine voters are being verified and fake voters are being removed, is Congress sitting here to commit fraud? I want to ask the opposition members who are opposing this, are you trying to gain power through fake votes? Such fake voters will definitely be stopped, and the parties doing fraud will also be taught a lesson,” Nabin asserted.
The ECI has issued instructions for holding Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, where polls are to be held by year-end. This means electoral rolls for the state will be prepared afresh.
The special voter list inspection has been undertaken by the ECI as a standard pre-election procedure to ensure the accuracy of electoral rolls.
Officials have stated that the process will help remove deceased or duplicate voters and correct errors, ensuring a fair and transparent election.
Crime
Kerala HC judge files complaint of theft at his residence, police probe on

Kochi, 27 June: The Kochi police have received a theft complaint from Kerala High Court Judge, Justice A. Badharudeen, according to officials on Friday, stating that six sovereigns of gold were missing from his residence.
The complaint, which was filed on Thursday, mentions that the gold has been stolen from the judge’s bedroom. The police have registered an FIR under Section BNS 305.
What has surprised many is that the thief has decamped with gold from a high-security guarded house located in the heart of the commercial capital of the state.
The judge registered the complaint with the Kalamassery police under which his residence falls.
After the preliminary probe, the police are now planning to prepare a list of those who need to be spoken to, as this incident occurred in the bedroom of the senior judge.
More details are awaited.
The incident has raised concerns regarding the security situation in the state. The Congress-led UDF has been accusing the state government of failing to curb the crimes.
It has been found that Kerala is a haven for organised gangs hailing from neighbouring states who specialise in robbing homes, and the cases against non-Keralaite thieves are also on the increase.
According to information prepared by the home department, which was placed before the Assembly last year, it showed 192 cases of theft involving non-Keralites were registered in 2021, and the numbers have been steadily increasing. This rose to 360 in 2022.
In 2023, the number increased further to 519, and by September 2024, a total of 307 such cases were registered. But the image of the Kerala Police got a boost when over 1,350 thieves during this period were put behind bars.
However, with regards to the case being registered in the burglary at the home of a judge, the police appear to have a tough job ahead.
Likewise, with other crimes also on the increase, the Ernakulam Police have come out with a directive to landlords who are seeking to rent out their properties. The police have urged the landlords to get a police clearance certificate from the prospective tenants from their local police station where they stayed.
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