Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 14: The 15th Foundation day of Shiv Mandir, Trikuta Nagar (Sector-5, 7) will be celebrated on February 17, 2013 in the Mandir complex.
According to president, Shiv Mandir Executive Committee, Davinder Seth, the celebrations will start with Havan at 8: am followed by Amrit Wani. The celebrations will conclude with mass bhandara at 6: 30 pm onwards.
Foundation day of Shiv Mandir on Feb 17
SBI Q3 Net profit rises marginally by 4 pc to Rs 3396 cr
MUMBAI, Feb 14: Country’s largest lender SBI today reported a marginal 4.08 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 3,396 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012, mainly on account of higher provisioning for bad loans.
State Bank of India (SBI) had a net profit of Rs 3,263 crore in the October-December quarter of 2011-12 fiscal.
The total provisioning of the bank stood at Rs 4,394.70 during the December quarter, up from Rs 3,996.97 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, SBI said in a statement.
The gross Non-performing Assets (NPAs), which represents portion of bad loans, stood at Rs 53,457 crore at the end of December, up from Rs 40,098 crore in the year ago period.
The gross NPA as a percentage of total loan rose to 5.30 per cent during the quarter, from 4.61 per cent in the year ago period. The net NPA was at 2.59 per cent of loans in the December quarter.
The Net Interest Income (NII), however, declined to Rs 11,154 crore during the quarter, from Rs 11,518 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income of the bank rose to Rs 33,992 crore during the third quarter, from Rs 29,787 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.
On a consolidated basis, SBI’s net profit rose 7.64 per cent to Rs 4,648 crore during the October-December quarter. It was Rs 4,318 crore in the year ago period.
(PTI)
BJP holds meeting with Sikh representatives
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 14: A meeting of prominent Sikh activists was held at the BJP headquarters here today. The meeting was presided by State president of the party Jugal Kishore Sharma in presence of State general secretary (Organisation) Ashok Koul.
The meeting was convened by State chief spokesperson Dr. Jitendra Singh.
Jugal Kishore Sharma said that the motive of the party leadership is to bring in more and more people into the party fold. He said that the ruling National Conference and Congress parties have failed to address the problems of Sikh community inspite of being in power and therefore it is only the BJP which can help them.
He asked the representatives of Sikh community to identify their major problems because the party is committed to solve them. He said the struggle for community is a continuous process and in future, the party will raise important issues like that of Sikh refugees, both inside and outside the Assembly and will also resort to dharnas and protests for the same.
Ashok Koul said that the party’s objective is to extend BJP influence in the community. He said that the party has given adequate representation to Sikh representatives in the new State team as well as Working Committee that has recently been constituted.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said that BJP has the credit of being the only political party in the State which took the initiative of organizing a Sikh Sammelan in Jammu in September last at which party’s national leader Sardar S.S. Ahluwalia was present and paper presentations were made highlighting different issues related to the community.
He said the Sikh community is known for its patriotism, nationalism, uprightness and self respect. It is therefore the endeavour of the party to channelize the energies of the community in a positive manner and also take up the problems of the community as a part of the party agenda, he added.
S. Amrik Singh, S. H.S. Pammy, Gurdyal Singh Bali, S. Pritam Singh Nirdosh, S.Ranjit Singh, S. Rajinder Singh and Balbir Ram Rattan were prominent among those who attended the meeting.
Actor Steve Martin is first-time dad at age 67
LOS ANGELES, Feb 14: Actor, writer and comedian Steve Martin has become a dad for the first time at age 67 – and managed to keep it secret from the media for more than a month. Martin and his second wife, Anne Stringfield, 41, “are new parents and recently welcomed a child,” a spokeswoman for the actor said yesterday. (agencies)
“Endless Love” leads Billboard’s top love songs
NEW YORK, Feb 14: When it comes to love, sometimes old songs say it best. The 1981 Motown ballad “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie topped Billboard magazine’s “Top 50 ‘Love’ Songs of All Time” list yesterday, just in time for Valentine’s Day. (agencies)
Josh Groban beats Tim McGraw to top of Billboard 200 Album chart
LOS ANGELES, Feb 14: Singer Josh Groban scored his third No 1 yesterday as his latest album shot to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart, edging out new entries from Tim McGraw and rock band Coheed and Cambria. “All That Echoes,” Groban’s sixth studio album, sold 145,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, making it the singer’s third chart-topping album since 2007’s holiday set, “Noel.” (agencies)
West, Kardashian in security screening flap at JFK: Reports
NEW YORK, Feb 14: Two celebrity passengers – reported by newspapers to be Kanye West and Kim Kardashian – were allowed to bypass airport security to catch a flight at New York’s JFK International Airport, but were later given a private screening, the US Transportation Security Administration said yesterday. An airline employee escorted two unnamed celebrity travelers on Tuesday through a non-public area “in order to provide expedited access to their domestic flight,” TSA said in a statement. It did not say whether the two entered the plane. (agencies)
Lady Gaga needs hip surgery, cancels remainder of tour
LOS ANGELES, Feb 14: Lady Gaga canceled the remainder of her “Born This Way Ball” concert tour to undergo hip surgery, promoters Live Nation said yesterday. The 26-year-old singer announced she was suffering from an inflammation of the joints on Tuesday, but the tour operator said Gaga’s injuries were more serious than she realized. (agencies)
Kelly Rowland emotional after lunch with Beyonce and Jay-Z
LONDON, Feb 14: Singer Kelly Rowland was in floods of tears after an emotional birthday lunch with Destiny’s Child band mate Beyonce Knowles and her rapper husband Jay-Z.
The 32-year-old singing star wiped away her tears after coming out of the restaurant, reported Daily Mail.
Rowland recently gushed about getting to perform with the woman she sees as her sibling, after so long working apart.
“When I looked on the other side of the stage at the Super Bowl and I saw Beyonce and Michelle Williams, my heart just went into my throat. I was so happy. It was just such a beautiful moment,” she said.
“Now everybody’s asking about other things, if we’re gonna do other things. We’re like ‘No, we’re still doing our solo things. Michelle’s doing Fela! B’s about to start the Mrs Carter Tour. We’re just supporting each other. We had a moment for the Super Bowl,” she added. (PTI)
Operation to kill Osama was risky: Panetta
WASHINGTON, Feb 14: US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta today said the daring operation to kill Osama bin Laden at his Abbottabad safe house in Pakistan was very risky as the al- Qaeda chief’s presence there was not 100 per cent confirmed.
As Director of the CIA, Panetta played a leading role in the finding and killing of bin Laden. Subsequently he was made the Defense Secretary by President Barack Obama.
“What I saw… Was a very professional intelligence operation that was able to determine the location of the compound in Abbottabad,” Panetta told reporters in his final press conference as the Defense Secretary.
If confirmed by the Senate, he would be replaced by Chuck Hagel, the former Nebraska Senator.
“I think despite all of the work that was done on the intelligence side… We were putting the bits and pieces together, we never had a hundred per cent confidence that it was bin Laden who was located there. So from the very beginning, it was always very risky because we didn’t know that in fact it was bin Laden,” he said.
“We continued to look at the intelligence. It seemed to all point to it being bin Laden, but very frankly, we did not have a hundred percent,” he said.
Panetta disclosed that during planning for the operation, there were a lot of different views that raised questions and concerns about whether or not the US should do this.
“I remained very confident that, with the information we had, the best information we’d had on bin Laden since Tora Bora, that it was important for us not to simply ignore what we had but to take action and to go in and determine whether or not it was him,” Panetta said. (PTI)