Indian Stock Markets opened strong on Monday as the government announced fiscal stimulus package of Rs 20k crore. Among major gainers during first 30 minutes of trading session were ICICI Bank, DLF, Idea Cellular, Grasim and SAIL. At 10.30 am, NSE Nifty was up by 87 points while BSE Sensex was up by 300 points.

Among other gainers were, Reliance Industries (up by Rs 26 at 1143), Satyam Computers (up by Rs 5.6 at 231), Unitech (up by Rs 2.5 at 33.3).

Technical Analyst Sudarshan Sukhani belives that the stock markets may remain bearish for next couple of months.

Leading computer manufacturer Lenovo, launched a new desktop series in the Indian market. It is known as ThinkCentre A62, which is available at the starting price of Rs. 18,900. 

On Thursday, the scientists reported that an analysis of rings on a stalagmite from a cave near Jerusalem, reveals a drier climate in the region at a time in history when the Roman and Byzantine empires were in decline.

The chemical composition of individual rings as small as one-hundredth of a millimeter across was analyzed by the University of Wisconsin geologists, which formed the stalagmite growing up from the floor of the Soreq Cave near Jerusalem between 200 BC and 1100 AD.

"The climate was drier in the eastern Mediterranean between 100 AD and 700 AD, with steep drops in rainfall around 100 AD and 400 AD.; a period of waning Roman and Byzantine power in the region," said Geologists John Valley and Ian Orland.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has again becomes the Finance Minister of the country amid tight monetary policy and global slowdown. Dr. Singh is known as the liberator of the Indian economy, as he initiated market reforms in 1991 as a Union finance minister. He terminated the 'licensee Raj' system and opened the doors of for multinational companies that helped to ensure above 9 per cent growth rate. 

On Saturday, repo rate- the rate at which RBI lends to banks- was cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by 100 basis points to 6.5 per cent from 7.5 per cent. On the other hand, reverse repo rate- the rate at which banks park excess funds with RBI- was also cut by100 basis points to 5 per cent from 6 per cent, effective from December 8.

But the cash reserve ratio (CRR) has been kept unchanged by RBI at 5.5%. CRR is basically the proportion of deposits banks must keep with the central bank.

Telecom giant Vodafone, approached the Supreme Court against the recent decision of the Bombay High Court on tax issue. The I-T department had asked it to pay income tax of $1.7-billion over its acquisition of Hutchison. Bombay High Court had pulled the telecom company for suppressing facts and granted eight weeks to file any appeal.