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| 12 killed, 40
injured in road mishap GUWAHATI, Dec 7: At least 12 people, including some
football players and fans died....more NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Government today admitted in Rajya Sabha that provisions of the.....more
Sickness takes PATNA
Dec 7: Sickness
has taken its toll on the prime accused in the fodder
scam......more JAIPUR,
Dec 7: Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, after keeping his
ministers.....more NEW
DELHI, Dec 7:
Corporation Bank has decided to fully implement the
prudential norms...more |
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India-US talks to be NEW
DELHI, Dec 7:
Jaswant Singh, who took charge as the new External
Affairs Minister....more TIRUCHIRAPALLI,
Dec 7 : Seventh
Judicial Magistrate S Muthusamy .......more JAIPUR, Dec 7: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, after keeping ...more Defamation case against Kesri withdrawn NEW DELHI, Dec 7 : One of the three defamation cases.....more Minial impact of restrictive NEW DELHI, Dec 7: The Government today said the restrictive economic....more
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12 killed, 40 injured in road mishap GUWAHATI, Dec 7: At least 12 people, including some football players and fans died on the spot and about 40 were injured, when the truck in which they were travelling met with an accident in Sibsagar district of Assam last evening, an official report here today said. The injured, some of whom were serious, were shifted to hospital. The players and the supporters were returning home after winning a football match. The accident occurred at Naharani near Demow in the district. (UNI) |
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SC/ST prevention of atrocities act misused: Minister NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Government today admitted in Rajya Sabha that provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were often misused and sought members’ suggestions to strengthen it. Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Maneka Gandhi said there have been instances when provisions of the 1989 act were misused with the intention of land grabbing. Such victims do have the right to appeal to a higher court under Indian Penal Code, she said but asserted that the loopholes would be plugged through further strengthening of the act. If members of the house apply their minds to the problem, we can come up with ways to strengthen the act, she said and pointed out that average rate of disposal of cases in special courts under this act was 27.5 per cent as against national average of eight per cent disposal rate. Referring to data for the past three years, Gandhi said the number of atrocities registered under the act had declined from 38,494 in 1995 to 32,494 cases in 1997. (PTI) Sickness takes toll on Laloo, Mishra PATNA Dec 7: Sickness has taken its toll on the prime accused in the fodder scam case, including former Bihar Chief Ministers Laloo Prasad Yadav and Jagannath Mishra. They were not produced before the special CBI court today from Beur Central Jail as they reported sick. The conspiracy angle regular case RS20 (A)/96 relates to fraudulent withdrawal of over Rs 37 crore from the Chaibasa treasury. Mr Yadav, Dr Mishra, former Union Minister Chandra Deo Prasad Verma, Rashtriya Janata Dal Legislator R K Rana and others were in judicial custody in Beur Central Jail in fodder scam RC64 (A)/96. Mr Sajal Chakraborty, IAS, and Mr Shyam Behari Sinha, former Regional Animal Husbandry Director, also accused in RC 20 (A)/96, were undergoing treatment in Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science (IIGMS) and Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) respectively under judicial custody in RC64(A)/96. Mr Verma, Mr Rana, Mr Chakraborty and Mr Sinha also could not be produced before the court as they were reportedly unwell. Of the 55 accused in RC 20 (A) /96, all of them except Mr Chakraborty, had been granted bail. Special CBI Judge S K Lal has fixed December 21 rpt two one the next date for their production in the case. (UNI) Rajasthan CM keeps 17 portfolios JAIPUR, Dec 7: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, after keeping his ministers waiting for nearly two days, allocated portfolios keeping the key ministry of Home apart from Medical and Health and Policy Planning and State Investigation Bureau departments to himself. Among the 17 portfolios kept by Gehlot include Command Area Development, Colony Planning and General Administration departments. The Finance portfolio was given to a senior member of his ministry, Chandan Mal Baid, who also held the same in 1970s in the Congress Governments. Baid has also been given the departments of Excise and the Indira Gandhi canal. While B D Kalla has been made Minister for Primary and Secondary education and Bhasha Vibhag (Language department), Dr Chandra Bhan has been made the Energy Minister who will also hold the charge of alternative source of Energy, and the Sainik Kalyan departments. Thirtyone Ministers, 18 cabinet and 13 Ministers of State were sworn in last Saturday.(PTI) |
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Corporation Bank to follow RBI’s PNA guidelines NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Corporation Bank has decided to fully implement the prudential norms announced by the Reserve Bank of India recently during the mid-term review of monetary and credit policy for 1998-99, in the current year itself. Bank Chairman R S Hugar said here that the bank would be able to fully absorb the total impact of the new prudential measures on provisioning and capital adequacy requirement due to its intrinsic financial strength. Despite the additional provisioning of about Rs 20 crore required to be made on account of new policy measures, the bank will be comfortable in posting the projected net profit of Rs 210 crore for March 1999. The capital adequacy ratio, even after assigning risk weights on Government securities held by the bank and foreign exchange open position, is expected to hover around 15 per cent as at March 1999 which will be far higher than the norm of 9 per cent now prescribed for March 2000. Thus, the bank will have networth of Rs 1000 crore as at the close of current fiscal, Mr Hugar said. Mr Hugar said despite severe pressure on the balance sheet due to acute competition, the bank has contained the fall in spread to a reasonable level of 3.4 per cent. In the wake of thining spread, the bank is concentrating on NPA management and stepping up of non-interest income. The bank has put in place an effective monitoring system to ensure that the incremental delinquency is the barest minimum and at the same time, the recovery in NPA portfolio is maximum. The bank has carried out an account to account review of the large borrowal accounts and this exercise has revealed that its exposure to recession struck industries is minimal. The bank has achieved 92 per cent of cash recovery target fixed for the first half of the year and is confident of effecting cash recovery of over Rs 50 crore for the full year which is 20 per cent higher than that of the previous year. In Forex business, the Corporation Bank has set a target of business of Rs 49,000 crore for the current year, which reflects a growth of 32 per cent over the previous year’s level. The bank is planning to open its third overseas branch at Ahmedabad shortly. Mr Hugar said to supplement spread management and sustain profits, the bank is augmenting its business volumes through judicious planning of both liabilities and assets. The bank’s total business is likely to surpass Rs 18,500 crore by March 1999 and this enhanced volume is likely to contribute to the projected profits substantially. The bank is constantly reviewing its funding costs and has recently rationalised its interest rate structure for deposits. The bank has also embarked upon special drives to step up the share of low cost deposits. On the technology side, in the critical area of compliance, Mr Hugar said that the bank has made noteworthy progress so far. As a pilot project, y2k compliant total branch automation (TBA) software has been since imported in one of its branches for test running. The bank is confident of completing the y2k compliance project in all its 230 TBA branches by March 1999. In the first half of the current fiscal, the bank’s net profit at Rs 106.73 crore is up by 25 per cent over the corresponding period of last year despite adverse market conditions. Consequently, the EPS has buoyed to Rs 17.79 in September 98 from Rs 13.91 in March 98.(UNI) |
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India-US talks to be held in Jan: Jaswant NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Jaswant Singh, who took charge as the new External Affairs Minister today, indicated that the next round of Indo-US talks on non-proliferation issues, slated to be held in January, would proceed as decided earlier by the two sides. "The talks are ongoing," he told reporters at the foreign office shortly after he was escorted into the building by Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje and senior officials. Singh was specifically asked whether a new direction would be given to the ongoing Indo-US talks he has been having with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott on nuclear issues. A senior ministry officials said Prime Minister was expected to make a statement on Indo-US talks later this week. The 60-year old former Army officer, who acted as special emissary of the Prime Minister on numerous occasions, has been holding tough negotiations with Talbott pressing Washington’s demand that India should unconditionally sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Singh has also been in the forefront of India’s high-level parleys with other key countries to explain New Delhi’s stand in the wake of the Pokhran tests in May this year. Asked what would be his priorities, Singh, a trusted aide of Vajpayee and BJP’s articulate exponent on foreign affairs and security matters, quipped "I am new to the job. I am still learning". "It is a great honour and a great responsibility that the Prime Minister has conferred on me. I am mindful of the eminent persons who have held this high office in the past. I will try to emulate them", he said. Shortly after reaching the foreign office, Singh had a briefing session with Foreign Secretary K Raghunath, R S Kalha, Secretary (West), Nareshwar Dayal, Secretary (East) and S T Devare, Secretary (economic relations). Singh said he would decide on the priorities after holding detailed consultations with senior officers. (PTI) |
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Chidambaram attack case TIRUCHIRAPALLI, Dec 7 : Seventh Judicial Magistrate S Muthusamy today supplied the copies of charge-sheet to all the 65 accused in the case relating to the attack on former Union Minister P Chidambaram . Mr Chidambaram was attacked outside the airport here on August 16, 1991 by a group of AIADMK men during a black flag demonstration. The 65 AIADMK men against whom charges have been framed, included Mr P Rajarathinam, MP, state Jayalalitha Peravai Secretary T Rathinavel, Mr Arokiasamy, Ms G R Mala and Mr N R Sivapathy (all former MLAs). Of the 65 accused, 63 appeared before the Court today while the two others, who were already in judicial custody, did not turn up. However, separate petitions for seeking exemption from appearance in Court were filed by the two. The Court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants against seven AIADMK men, including Mr Rathinavel, Mr Rajarathinam and Mr Sivapathy, for non-appearance during the previous hearings. However, all the seven had surrendered before the Court and sought recall of the warrants. Accepting their plea, the Magistrate recalled the arrest warrants and released them on bail. The Magistrate posted the case for tomorrow and directed all the accused to be present. The charge-sheet said that all the accused, either members or sympathisers of the AIADMK, had formed themselves into an unlawful Assembly with the object of causing damage to the convoy of cars brought to receive Mr Chidambaram and assault him and other congressmen to show their protest on the Cauvery issue. Charges have been framed against the accused under Sections 147, 148, 323, 427, 506 (II), and 427, 506 (II) read with 114 IPC, 353, 332. Read with 149 and 114 read with 332 of the IPC. (UNI) |
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measures announced against
India in the wake of nuclear explosions have had
minimal impact so far as the fundamentals of the
economy were strong enough to withstand any
pressure.