JAMMU, Dec 29: To give fillip to hockey among youngsters, Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Foundation is organizing Sub Junior Under-16 Hockey Tournament at KK Hakhu Astroturf Stadium, here from tomorrow.
According to Dr Taran Singh, president Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Foundation, 10 teams will be participating in the event and the participating teams included Sittu Club Simbal Camp, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Hockey Club, APS Akhnoor, Guru Nanak Nagar Hockey Club, Young Star Simbal Camp, SOS Gole Gujral, APS Miran Sahib, Ajeet Club Gole Gujral, Hiranagar Hockey Club and Cantt Star Satwari.
Apart from winners and runners-up trophies, the players and teams will be provided individual prizes alongwith refreshment by the organizers.
GHAZIABAD, Dec 29: A day after assuming office, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said he does not want to give false assurances to people in the capital and wanted seven to 10 days time to put a system in place to address their problems and grievances.
Kejriwal said he would accept the applications of people visiting him for redressal of their grievances only after a system is in place.
“I don’t want to give you false assurances. I will take the application when we put a system in place to resolve the problems,” said the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), which has interests of the common man at the core of its agenda.
He assured the visitors, who gathered in large numbers at his Kaushambi residence for his Janta Darbar, that he needed the support of the people to establish such a system and without their backing, he would not be able resolve issues.
“We have just assumed power. It will take us sometime, seven to ten days to put a system in place to resolve your problems,” he said, addressing a gathering which included DTC employees and people from the Valmiki community.
Contractual employees of DTC and muncipal corporations had come to put forward their demand to end the contract system in these bodies. They also wanted that those working for several years should be made permanent.
Around 1,000 drivers and conductors of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), working on contractual basis, shouted slogans “Arvind Zindabad”, hoping that the new Chief Minister would work towards ending contractual employment.
“About 14,000 drivers and conductors have been hired on contractual basis by DTC. We have been working on contractual basis for around 10 years. Despite after such long service, DTC has still not made us permanent,” said Ramesh, a DTC driver.
“Kejriwal during election campaign promised that he would finish “Thekari Pratha” (contractual service) in Delhi after becoming Chief Minister. We are very hopeful that Kejriwal would direct DTC to make us permanent,” said Deshpal, a driver.
As a large number of people make a beeline to Kejriwal’s residence, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police force have made special arrangements to manage the influx of visitors.
The UP Police will manage traffic and crowd influx outside the premises of Kejriwal’s residence while a team of Delhi Police in plain clothes will remain inside the housing society to manage the crowd and to prevent any untoward incident, a senior UP police official said.
The Ghaziabad police have installed a doorframe metal detector at the main gate of the society where Kejriwal lives. (PTI)
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Dec 29: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Registrar Cooperative Societies, J&K, have strongly reprimanded the management of Citizen’s Cooperative Bank Ltd (CCBL), Jammu for wasteful expenditures and thus incurring losses.
“The bank (CCBL) continues to spend lavishly on purchase of new vehicles, renovation of chambers and creation of new posts without prior approval of RCS despite its negligible audited profit for the year ended March 31, 2013,” says the official communiqué, issued by RBI Deputy General Manager D S Rana to the CCBL General Manager, a copy of which is in possession of the Excelsior.
Further, the CCBL management has been asked to ensure implementation of the provisions of Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) and sent copy of the minutes of the Board meeting to RBI.
The RBI has issued this communiqué, UBD.JMU.No 283/12-01-13/2013-14, dated December 19, 2013, taking cognizance of complaint letter by one of the CCBL Directors, Varinder Singh Jamwal.
The perusal of the letters revealed that the Board meetings in your bank (CCBL) are not conducted in a proper way; details of agenda items are not circulated among the esteemed Director and dissent on the decision, if any, by any member, is not properly recorded in the minutes, says the RBI communiqué.
The RBI further points out that important items like recoveries made in NPAs, new loans sanctioned during intervening period, steps taken by the bank to contain Operative and Administrative expenses as stipulate in Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) imposed by the RBI since March 2012 etc, are not prepared and put up to the Board members.
“In view of the above, you are advised to ensure proper conduct of Board meetings covering all aspects and implement the provisions of SAF in letter and spirit to bring the bank back to the track of profitability, directs the RBI in its letter adding that a copy of the Board meeting minutes may be sent to the apex bank in future.
Not only RBI but Registrar Cooperative Societies J&K, has also pointed out the wasteful expenditure over fleet of vehicles by CCBL, which is not commensurate to its business undertaken, number of branches and area of operation.
“The fact that Devika Urban cooperative Bank Udhampur and Urban Cooperative Bank Anantnag despite having no vehicles, have conducted a business of Rs 50.42 crore and Rs 37.38 crore respectively for the year 2012-13 whereas during the same period, business of Rs 41.48 crore only was conducted by CCBL, which owns six four wheeler vehicles and four two wheelers,” says the letter number RCS/B&F/G-78/2013/552-62, dated December 11, 2013, issued to the bank by Registrar Cooperative, Sudershan Sharma.
Astonishingly, the banks having higher number of vehicles have higher amount of losses, which is further swelling due to high capital and revenue expenditure on account of vehicles, the Registrar observes the mismatch.
Incidentally, RCS vide its letter RCS/B&F/G-78/2013/552-62, dated December 11, 2013, has also expressed its displeasure on the avoidable expenditures incurred by the bank and has advised to exercise austerity measures avoiding extravagance.
As earlier reported by the Excelsior, notwithstanding poor financial condition of the bank, the top management of CCBL resorted to wasteful expenditure worth lakhs of rupees without seeking approval of the elected Directors.
Further, RBI inspection of the CCBL is going on and according to the sources bank NPAs are likely to double this year, which hint of bad loaning by the management.
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Dec 29: It may sound incredible, as one must have listened always about students caught mass-copying in exam Centres. However, this time, teachers- ‘the nation builders’ and not the students, have been caught red-handed by police while mass-copying.
Interestingly, these teachers were arrested not during the day but at night from the same exam centre where they had to appear the next day for the paper of B Ed examination. Most of them are teachers and they struck a deal with the Principal and concerned examination authorities for copying just to ensure their entry into the Master Grade of School Education Department, for raising the ‘so called standard’ of Education in the Government schools.
It is happening clandestinely, under the nose of concerned Chief Education Officers and the Zonal Officers while the Administration turned Nelson’s eye towards this practice which is eating the system like termite.
Police sources told the Excelsior that SP Rajouri, Mubassr Latiffi received a specific information that B Ed exam was going on in a Private School at Gambhir Muglan in Manjakote tehsil of district Rajouri on Friday night at around 10 pm. He directed SHO Mehmood Khan to conduct raid at the Centre and arrest all the people there.
Accordingly, the police party accompanied by Ist Class Magistrate raided the exam centre at around 11 pm and managed to arrest 13 persons including Principal of the private school (Exam Centre) at Gambhir Muglan, Zaffar Iqbal, son of Tasaduq Hussain, resident of the same area.
About 30 candidates were said to be involved in this criminal activity. Thirteen of them were nabbed by police while others managed to escape taking advantage of darkness. The written material and papers were also seized. All of them were taken to Manjakote Police Station and then shifted to Rajouri for sustained interrogation under the supervision of senior police officers.
During preliminary investigation, the police established that the Centre was affiliated to Jamia Urdu Aligarh University of UP and the candidates mostly serving teachers of Poonch and Rajouri area were appearing in the Urdu paper. While the exam was to be held on December 28 at 10 am, they had managed papers in advance from the Superintendent and other examination staff and were copying during night.
They had already managed earlier papers in the same manner but on the basis of a tip off the police party unearthed this unholy nexus. It is said that these teachers had struck a deal of Rs 20,000 per candidate with the examination authorities. Some members of examination staff were evading arrest.
The police during sustained interrogation of some the candidates found that majority of them were ReT and general line teachers and wanted to manage promotion to Master grade from the School Education Department, thus playing with the career of thousands of students. The police also claimed to have identified all others who managed to flee.
The police teams were conducting raids to nab others and those who facilitated this Criminal Act. The police was also planning to send a team to Aligarh for detailed investigation into the case and find the credibility of the degree and the Institute. The police arrested all of them and registered case FIR No. 98/2013, under Sections 409/120-B/420 and 2/3 RPC against them. It is said that three-four more such centres of that Varsity of UP were affiliated to institutes in Rajouri and in Poonch district as well.
Those arrested were identified as Zaffar Iqbal- Principal, resident of Gambhir Muglan Rajouri, Mohd Riaz, son of Raj Din, resident of Ari village in Mandi tehsil of district Poonch, Shakeel Ahmed, son of Gul Mohd from Ari in Mandi, Mohd Ayaz, son of Abdul Rehman of Marhot in Surankote, Shabir Ahmed, son of Manzoor Ahmed, resident of Khori in Mandi, Bashir Ahmed, son of Ghulam Hussain, resident of Ari in Mandi, Noor Mohd, son of Mohd Shafiq, resident of Harhi Surankote, Showkat Hussain, son of Mohd Ashraf, resident of Chhajla in Mendhar, Sabir Hussain, son of Mohd Sher from Ari, Sanjeet Kumar, son of Soni Lal resident of Sukla in Mandi, Mumtaz Ahmed, son of Abdul Rashid, resident of Bela in Mandi, Bashir Hussain, son of Ghulam Mohammed, resident of Mandi and Irfan Rather, son of Ghulam Mohammed, resident of Chhajla in Mendhar.
SP said that CEO Rajouri has been asked to look into the matter and find out the exact number of such persons operating in the area. He said that police will also write to University authorizes in Aligarh and if needed send its team for further investigation. The police would tighten is noose around all such institutes promoting such type of education spoiling career of the students and cheating the School Education Department just to get promotion.
Director School Education Jammu, Tushar Kanti Sharma when contacted was surprised and maintained that he would take serious note of it. The Director said that he would direct the CEO concerned and seek detailed report in this connection. The promotion cases of all such teachers would be stopped forthwith and they will be placed under suspension. He would recommend harsh action against such teachers and would stop all such exercise of promotion untill and unless they are cleared by the concerned universities regarding recognition and credibility of the degrees. He also assured to start inquiry into the cases where teachers/ lecturers managed degrees for seeking promotions from outside the State. And if found invalid action under law would be taken against them.
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 29: Police in Baramulla last evening apprehended a suspected Over Ground Worker (OGW) of a militant outfit and recovered arms and ammunition from him.
Sources said Police last night arrested one Mohammad Yasin Lone son of Ali Mohammad Lone of Dangerpora, Sultanpora Kandi during a raid. One pistol and few ammunition rounds were recovered from him and sources say he was OGW of a militant outfit. Police is questioning him.
NEW DELHI, Dec 29: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board will tomorrow take a call on Tesco’s proposal to enter India’s multi-brand retail segment and HDFC Bank’s request for raising foreign investment holding limit, among others.
The FIPB, headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, is also scheduled to take final call on Vodafone’s Rs 10,141 crore FDI proposal to buy out minority shareholders in its Indian arm.
The foreign investment application of SingTel Global (India) to increase foreign equity participation of existing foreign investor from 74 per cent to 100 per cent is also on the agenda of the December 30 meeting. The proposal entails investment worth Rs 2.98 crore.
UK-based Tesco Plc’s proposes to enter the Indian multi-brand retail segment with an initial investment of USD 110 million. If approved, Tesco will pick up a 50 per cent stake in Trent Hypermarket Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trent Ltd, a Tata group company.
A decision on Vodafone’s application was deferred in the December 9 FIPB meeting.
Tesco is the first global retailer to apply for multi-brand retailing after the Government allowed 51 per cent FDI in the segment in September last year.
HDFC Bank is seeking FIPB’s nod for raising foreign investment holding limit beyond the existing 49 per cent in the bank. The foreign shareholding in the Bank (as on December 13, 2013) was 52.18 per cent of its paid-up capital.
In September, FIPB cleared proposals of Axis Bank to raise foreign holding to 62 per cent from 49 per cent.
CGP India Investments Ltd, an indirect Mauritian subsidiary of Vodafone International Holdings BV, is seeking FIPB approval to buy the stake held by minority shareholders in Vodafone India Ltd. The UK-based telecom major holds a 64.38 per cent stake in the Indian unit.
In all there are 12 items on the agenda of the FIPB for Monday.
While India allows FDI in most of the sectors through automatic route, Government approval is required in certain sectors sensitive for the economy. (AGENCIES)
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Dec 29: The district administration will contemplate action against the proprietors of cinema halls/theatres in the Jammu district who till date have failed to renew their licenses.
According to official sources, the district administration has decided to seal all the cinema halls and take punitive action as warranted under the law who fail to renew their licenses within a week.
Sources said various cinema halls/ theatres in Jammu district were running without renewal of their licenses for last so many years and district administration after taking serious cognizance of the same has served the final notice to them, sources added.
Sources said that running of such cinema halls/ theatres without the valid licenses is violation of Cinematography Act of Svt 1989 and J&K Cinema (regulation) rules 1975 which is punishable offense under Section 6 of the Cinematography Act of 1989.
Sources said the administration had already served individual notices to the proprietors’ of cinema halls/ theatres but many of the cinema hall owners have failed to comply till date.
This has forced the district administration to serve a final notice under which the owners of all such cinema halls were directed to get their licenses renewed within a period of one week failing which punitive action warranted under law would be taken against them and all such cinema halls/ theatres running without licenses would be sealed.
Admitting the cinema halls/ theatres in Jammu district were running without renewing their licenses for a pretty long time, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, A K Sahu told Excelsior that district administration has served them a final notice and given one week’s time by which they should renew their licenses.
He said in case they fail to renew their licenses by that time the administration would be constrained to take legal action against them and seal all such cinema halls.
“The administration is providing them the last opportunity and without losing any time they should renew their licenses to avoid action’’, he added.
NEW DELHI, Dec 29: North America may account for the lion’s share of India’s IT exports but, growing demand for outsourcing services from Europe is expected to drive the USD 108 billion IT sector in 2014, industry body Nasscom said.
“Europe is growing faster than the US. That is something we saw this year and this will only gain momentum. There is a lot of latent demand in the region, which will drive growth for the sector,” Nasscom President Som Mittal told reporters.
North America accounts for over 60 per cent of revenues of Indian IT exporters, while the European region contributes about 20 per cent with the UK making up for the bulk of that share.
“The share of the European region has been growing… The market is now more open to outsourcing and in the coming year, we will see a lot of new projects coming up, which is a huge opportunity for our domestic companies,” he said.
Indian IT companies are also ramping up presence in Europe as they face uncertainty in the US market, where new immigration laws could drive up costs of sending workers on short-term visas.
“The companies are bullish on the European market, which is evident from the acquisitions that some of them have made in the recent past,” he said.
Indian companies have also been acquiring local firms to address labour issues and increase pace of growth in Europe. These include TCS’ acquisition of French IT services firm Alti for Rs 530 crore, Geometric acquiring 3Cap Technologies for 11 million euros and Infosys buying Swiss consulting company Lodestone for USD 350 million last year.
US-based Cognizant, which has 75 per cent of its workforce based in India, acquired six small IT services companies (part of Germany’s C1 Group) for an undisclosed sum.
“For European companies, many of them which have seen prolonged economic slowdown, Indian IT firms not only offers cost advantage but also high quality of work,” Mittal said.
Nasscom expects the domestic IT sector to grow by 12-14 per cent, while IT exports are likely to reach USD 86 billion in the current fiscal ending March next year on the back of adoption of new technologies and tapping new geographies by corporates. (AGENCIES)
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 29: Train traffic on Jammu-Pathankote section of Northern Railways was disrupted this morning when Sealdah Express was held up at Chan Arorian for about an hour due to electricity breakdown, leading to engine failure.
Official sources said train traffic to an fro from Jammu and Pathankote was suspended as Sealdah Express, which was on way to Jammu, was held up at Chan Arorian Railway Station at 6.45 am.
The Railways authorities sent an engine from Pathankote to Chan Arorian, which brought the train to Jammu.
Train traffic on Jammu-Pathankote railway track was resumed within an hour, sources said.
MUMBAI, Dec 29: The worst may be over for the struggling auto sector that is expected to see some improvement from the second half of the next year, with a likely fall in interest rates and deferred purchases materialising into better sales, says a report.
“While an immediate upturn in the auto industry is not expected, the worst may be behind us. Expectations of improvement in economic environment from the second half of 2014 along with potential interest rate cuts are likely to provide support to auto sales in the year ahead,” global research firm Dun & Bradstreet said in a note.
“We expect the deferred purchases to get converted into actual sales, mainly after the initial two quarters of the new year, owing to pick up in industrial activity and increase in infrastructure spending,” it added.
This year witnessed broad-based slowdown in auto sales owing to sustained deceleration in economic activity and consequent weakness in consumer and business sentiment.
Growth in domestic automobile sales slackened to 1.2 per cent in 2013 (January-November), compared to growth of 6.2 per cent during 2012 and 14 per cent in 2011.
The research firm expects the consumer sentiment to improve in rural areas, which would act as a positive trigger for certain segments and companies within the auto industry.
However, it said increasing competition is likely to keep margins under pressure.
It expects the light commercial vehicles, guided by small commercial vehicles, to witness strong growth in 2014 owing to replacement demand and improving demand from smaller cities.
For the passenger car vehicles, it anticipates a decline in diesel cars, due to the higher pricing of such cars.
“With the differential between petrol and diesel prices getting narrower, the coming year would witness the share of diesel cars to gradually decline. The higher prices of diesel vehicles will also act as a negative trigger,” it said.
The report said the export environment is likely to be challenging with India signing non-tariff barriers and preferential duty agreements with certain countries.
“Exports are likely to further lose some steam in light of the non-tariff barriers and preferential duty agreements inked by EU with certain African and Latin American countries.
“The latest move would act as a deterrent for auto companies, who had begun to make strong inroads into these economies. Export environment for automobiles is expected to remain challenging in 2014,” it added. (AGENCIES)
