| Banker's
strike enters second day, operations affected New
Delhi: Normal banking operations continued to be affected by public sector
banks employee's two-day strike on the second day on Friday too. Cheque clearings
were hit badly on Thursday and ATM were expected to go dry on Friday. Union Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed hope that the strike might come to an end
today, as talks between the IBA and UFBU are progressing. On Thursday, the strike
reverberated in Parliament as Left Front members urged the government to hold
a dialogue with the striking employees. The members argued that a prolonged confrontation
between the staff and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) might put the entire
financial system in jeopardy. The Labour Commission has convened a meeting with
bank unions at 3 p.m. on Friday to resolve the issue, sources said. Major private
sector and foreign banks partly offset the effect of the strike. However, the
impact was clearly visible as public sector banks control over 70 per cent of
banking operations in the country. United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) is demanding
a wage revision, a second option for pension scheme, implementation of compassionate
appointment, ex-gratia etc. The UFBU is also claiming that some of the banks in
the private sectors have joined the strike. Industry and commerce pressure groups
are demanding the imposition of the Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) on
striking employees. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sources said it received only
70,000 cheques for clearing on Thursday against the normal of over 600,000 cheques.
Delhi
police arrest two Hizbul militants Top New
Delhi: Delhi Police arrested two suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militants here
last night. Police said the arrested militants identified as Javed Ahmed and Ashiq
Ali were allegedly planning attacks in the national capital. Joint Commissioner
of Police (Special Cell), P N Agarwal said the suspected militants have been apprehended
by the Delhi Police's elite anti-terror wing, from Central Delhi's Daryaganj locality.
Two AK-47 rifles, two grenades and around 100 cartridges, besides some documents
were recovered from the militants. Law
Commission recommends more working hours for judges Top New
Delhi: In a report submitted by the Law Commission, it has recommended that
judges should work more by cutting down the number of vacations and increasing
their working hours. "Considering the huge pendency of cases, vacations in higher
judiciary must be curtailed by at least 10-15 days and court working hours should
be extended by at least half-an-hour," the Commission said in its report. In its
230th report submitted by the Law Commission chairman A R Lakshamanan to Union
Minister for Law Veerappa Moily on August 5, it suggested a seven-point reform
for judiciary. The commission highlighted that following the boost in their (judges)
remuneration it was their duty to work for the goodwill of the judicial system.
"With the increase in the salaries and perks of the Judges, it is their moral
duty to respond commensurately. Considering the huge pendency of cases at all
levels of judicial hierarchy, it has become necessary to increase the number of
working days," the report stated. The Commission also expressed concern over the
erosion of working culture in the Judiciary and suggested that it must be revived.
"Of late there has been a general erosion of work culture throughout the country.
Government servants avoid discharging their duties and responsibilities. The Judiciary
has also been affected by this evil," it added. The Commission further said that
it was high time for all the judges at different levels of judicial hierarchy
to devote full time to judicial work. Lok
Sabha, Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die Top New
Delhi: The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die on Friday
concluding the first, month-long session of the newly constituted House. Friday
was the concluding day of the ongoing budget session of the 15th Lok Sabha, which
began on July 2 with the presentation of the Economic Survey, followed by the
Railway Budget on July 3 and the General Budget on July 6. During this session,
16 bills were introduced and eight bills were passed, including the Right of Children
to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2009. Before the adjournment of the House,
Speaker Meira Kumar said in her valedictory address that the Lok Sabha lost over
23 hours and 34 minutes due to interruptions and forced adjournments, but it sat
late for 30 hours and 52 minutes to transact important financial and other business.
The session had 26 sittings spread over 162 hours. "This amply demonstrates the
commitment of the members to the welfare of our people," Kumar said The House
had four short discussions on swine flu, droughts and floods in various parts
of the country, and issues arising out of the Prime Minister's recent visit to
foreign countries and rise in prices of essential commodities. Parliament witnessed
stormy scenes and debate over the Sharm -el-Sheikh joint statement, and Mayawati
and Rita Bahuguna Joshi case, the furore over the proposed division of the Shiromani
Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee, the attack on Indian students in Australia, the
Buta Singh's bribery case, the Lalgarh operation and the Shopian murder case,
and Virbhadra Singh CD exposure etc. Steel
Ministry identifies two PSUs for disinvestment Top New
Delhi: Steel Ministry has identified two Public Sector Units (PSUs) for disinvestment,
and is going to send its recommendations to the cabinet later this month, Union
Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said on Friday. "We have identified two steel PSU's
for disinvestment. We will be going to cabinet within this month," Singh told
reporters here. Speaking on the sidelines of Converging India Leadership Summit,
Singh said the ministry is in the process of finding more PSU's for disinvestment.
"A couple more are in the pipeline for selling govt stake", he added. Singh said
the ministry is looking to raise about 15,000 crore rupees from the process of
disinvestment. Meanwhile, the Steel Ministry has already sent its proposal to
sell 10 per cent of its stake in Manganese Ore (India) Limited to the Ministry
of Finance. Steel Secretary PK Rastogi had said on August 4 that the ministry
had approved the sale of 8.38 percent of its stake in iron ore producer NMDC and
would take the proposal in a day or two to the Finance Ministry. India's present
annual steel production stands at 55 million tonnes and is being enhanced to 124
million tonnes by 2011-12. Shiv
Sena activists torch MP State Transport bus in Maharahtra Top Amravati
(Maharashtra): Activists of Shiv Sena on Friday torched bus of Madhya Pradesh
State Transport Corporation to vent their anger at the Central government's decision
to divert water from the region's Upper Wardha Dam to neighbouring state, Madhya
Pradesh. The bus, on its way to Pandhurna in Madhya Pradesh, was ransacked before
being torched. The irate Shiv Sena activists alleged that inspite of the Maharashtra
Government being aware of acute water shortage in the region, it still accepted
the central government's decision to supply water to Pandhurna. "In Morshi and
Varud sub-division the problem of drinking water is very acute. There is no water
for irrigation; the water is also reserved for Amravati factories and power project,"
said Anil Bonde, a leader of Shiv Sena. "There is already less water for the farmers
too and our Chief Minister is giving charity to Madhya Pradesh for which the central
government has given approval," Bonde added. The Union Urban Development Ministry
had recently approved an Rs 850 million project facilitating supply of water from
the Upper Wardha Dam to Pandhurna. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena activists have threatened
that if the Government continues to supply water to Madhya Pradesh, they would
further stage a massive and even violent protest. Hindi
movie lyricist Gulshan Bawra passes away Top Mumbai:
Popular Hindi movie lyricist Gulshan Bawra passed away at his Pali Hill residence
on Friday. According to sources, seventy-two-year old Bawra died of heart failure.
Bawra was famous with his songs like 'Mere Desh Ki Dharati' (Upkar), 'Yaari Hai
Imaan Mera' (Zanjeer), 'Agar Tum Na Hote' (Agar Tum Na Hote), 'Waada Karle Saajana'
(Haath Ki Safai) and 'Kasme Vaade Nibhayenge Hum' (Kasme Vaade). In his career,
he had given good numbers along with composers like Kalyanji-Anandji and R.D.
Burman. Bawra bagged two Filmfare Awards for his songs 'Mere Desh Ki Dharati'
and 'Yaari Hai Imaan Mera'. Bawra was born in Sheikhupura in Pakistan on April
12. Delhi
Sanskriti school student tests positive for swine flu Top New
Delhi: A school in New Delhi was closed down on Friday after one of its student
tested positive for H1N1 virus. Authorities closed down Sanskriti School as precautionary
measure, after a sixth grade student was detected with swine flu. Five new cases
of swine flu have been reported from the national capital. Of the five, three
are school students. The death of 14-year-old Rida Shaikh in Pune has triggered
panic amongst the Indians with hundreds of people thronging the hospitals daily
to get them checked for the disease. Three new screening centres were opened at
New Delhi at Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Lady
Hardinge Medical College. Meanwhile, following the rise in number of H1N1 cases,
an alert has been sounded in Uttarakhand. The doctors at the Doon Hospital in
Dehradun, said they have come across only one swine flu case so far but are well
prepared to deal with more patients. "We have made two isolation wards for the
patients coming to us with swine flu. If the patient has swine flu symptoms, then
we give him medicines and his sample is sent to NICD and if it is positive then
he is put on treatment," said RK Pant, Chief Medical Superintendent, Doon Hospital.
According to reports, the total numbers of swine flu cases have risen to 616 in
the country. India recorded its first H1N1 case in Hyderabad in May and since
then the virus has spread across the country with dozens of cases from Pune itself.
Kasab
backtracks after pleading guilty Top Mumbai:
Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of last year's Mumbai attacks,
on Friday (August 07) backtracked in court once again, pleading guilty to all
charges an hour earlier. Kasab, 21, a Pakistani citizen, has been charged with
86 separate offences including murder and waging war against India for his role
in the last November assault. "Today he (Kasab) told the court that he would like
to confess the entire guilt, but soon after ...he again changes his stand and
says that he won't like to confess the guilt," Ujjwal Nikam, Chief Public Prosecutor
told reporters after the hearing in Mumbai. "Kasab is mentally disturbed for the
last few days...he says something one day and different thing another (day)...he
is under the impression that as soon as he would plead his guilt the court would
pronounce its verdict the following day," said Abbas Kazmi, defence counsel. Meanwhile,
scores of supporters and party workers of India's main opposition Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest in front of the Arthur Road jail,
where the trail of Kasab has been taken place. Frenzied protestors symbolically
hanged Kasab. "The workers and supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party have symbolically
hanged Kasab and this hanging ceremony has been watched by the entire country...now
we will not tolerate the delay and demand that Kasab should be awarded death penalty
immediately," said Atul Shah, BJP's deputy leader in Maharashtra Assembly. Kasab,
who had been videotaped carrying an AK-47 assault rifle while carrying out the
assault on Mumbai's main train station, was the only one of the 10 gunmen captured
alive during the Nov. 26-28 attacks on targets including two luxury hotels and
a Jewish centre. India has charged 38 people including Kasab over the attack,
but most of the accused are in Pakistan, the Indian government says. Qureshi
says Pak intelligence has confirmed Mehsud's killing Top Islamabad:
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that country's intelligence
sources have confirmed the killing of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
Xinhua quoted Qureshi, as saying that the government is still in the process of
ground verification of the death of Pakistan's enemy number one. Earlier in the
day, tribal sources had confirmed that Mehsud had been killed in a drone strike.
According to sources, the Namaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayer) for the Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) chief was held in a tribal village, and the Taliban group would
elect his successor on Friday. Interior Minister Rehman Malik was also quoted
as saying that Mehsud may have been killed in pilot-less US drone aircraft attack
on his residence. Mehsud is wanted by the Pakistani Government for his alleged
involvement in the December 2007 assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto
and other terrorist attacks, while US government had announced reward of five
million US dollars for this head. According to an NYT report, officials in Washington
and Islamabad were scrambling to make sense of communications intercepts and other
intelligence that seemed to indicate that Mehsud might have been killed in the
strike. By Thursday evening, American officials said they were growing increasingly
confident that the Taliban leader was dead. Still, they cautioned that it might
be weeks before they are certain, and they may never gain access to the remote
location in South Waziristan to perform DNA tests. "There is reason to believe
that reports of his death may be true, but it can't be confirmed at this time,"
said an American official with access to classified intelligence reports. The
militant leader seemed to take pleasure in taunting Pakistani officials and holding
news conferences to demonstrate the inability of officials in Islamabad to rein
in his network. He pledged to attack Washington, but American officials did not
take the threat seriously. Still, his network is believed to have close ties to
al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan's tribal areas. The CIA made the killing Mehsud one
of its top priorities this year, partly at the urging of the Pakistan Government.
UK
Ministers hunt for 4,000 'bogus' foreign students Top London:
Ministers are trying to locate nearly 4,000 foreign students who are living in
Britain after coming to the UK to study at bogus colleges. According to The Independent,
these students are all from colleges that have had their licenses revoked by the
British Government under a system brought in to close immigration loopholes linked
to foreign education. The Conservatives, who secured the new student numbers from
the Home Office, have accused the Government of not taking the problem seriously
enough. Despite the Government's claims to have tightened up the student visa
system, they have failed to crack down on high numbers of "bogus" students who
are already here, said the Tories' immigration spokesman, Damian Green. The Tories
said that those students who entered the UK before 1 April 2009 and were found
to have enrolled at a bogus college, which had had its license revoked had entered
the UK on fraudulent purposes. Air
India targets profitability within 24 to 36 months New
Delhi: Air India on Friday came out with numerous revival programs that would
see the airline return to profitability within the next 24 to 36 months. Addressing
the media in the national capital, Chief Managing Director of Air India Arvind
Jadhav said that Air India would be back in profit after 36 months and that the
company would come up with an IPO in the next 18 months. Among other the revamp
plans Jadhav informed that Air India would launch a domestic low cost service
and re-evaluate aircraft purchase and financing processes. "Air India would launch
low cost domestic services in 9 months and would increase the accountability of
its staff," Jadhav added. The low-cost services would initially be operated from
24 cities with a mix of both metro and non-metro routes, while the service is
expected to have 161 flights a week. Air India would also restructure existing
debt and fleet rationalization particularly matching capacity with the availability
of demand. "The target is also to ensure the phasing out of old aircrafts and
returning of the leased ones," Jadhav said. (Previous
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