India News
One million bank staff strike against privatisation of Public Sector Banks
Deposit and withdrawal in bank branches, cheque clearance, NEFT and RTGS transactions will be affected
Services at public sector banks (PSBs) has been hit today as all the unions under the aegis of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) have observed one day strike to protest against the privatisation of PSB’s, and their merger and consolidation. However, the private sector banks such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank will continue to function normally except delays in cheque clearance.
Deposit and withdrawal in bank branches, cheque clearance, NEFT and RTGS transactions will be affected. “Around 40 lakh cheque clearances worth Rs 22,000 crore would be impacted due to the strike”, said General Secretary of AIBEA C.H. Venkatachalam.
But, the critical operations like data centers will remain open to facilitate online transactions.
Besides opposing the government’s consolidation move, the other demands by the unions include not to write off bad loans, and to declare willful default of bank loans as a criminal offence. Notably, Gross bad loans of Indian banks rose over 24 percent year-on-year to Rs 779000 crore at the end of June 2017. Of this, Rs 683000 crore belongs to public sector banks.
United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) is an umbrella body of nine unions, including All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW).
“Nearly one million bank employees across all 21 public sector banks are on strike today,”added Venkatachalam.
The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has already informed customers that the functioning of branches and offices will be affected due to the strike. It has also asked the banks to take measures in advance to minimise the impact.
Citing the reason, AIBOC General Secretary D T Franco said, “As the conciliation meeting before the Chief Labour Commissioner failed, unions are left with no other option but to go on strike. There was no assurance from the government and the management of banks.”
“All attempts to hammer out solutions to the demands raised by the unions yielded no result and hence, UFBU decided to proceed with the proposed strike on August 22,” Franco added.
NOBW Vice-President Ashwini Rana said, the government should provide overtime for additional work during demonetisation. He also suggested that banks should not pass on the burden of corporate Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) to bank customers by hiking charges.
NPA basically refers to a classification of loans on the books of financial institutions that are in default or are in arrears on scheduled payments of principal or interest. In most cases, debt is classified as nonperforming when loan payments have not been made for a period of 90 days.
In India, 21 PSB’s such as State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda control 75 percent of the total business.
2024 Lok Sabha Elections
Election Commission advises Bengal Governor to not visit Cooch Behar on voting day
The Election Commission advised the Bengal Governor to call off his proposed visit to Cooch Behar on April 19.
West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose has been warned by the Election Commission of India (ECI) not to visit Cooch Behar on April 18 and 19, since the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls will begin with a silence period on Wednesday evening.
According to those familiar with the situation in the EC, the poll body informed the governor’s office that no local program could be planned for the governor on April 19 due to the Model Code of Conduct and the election day.
The poll body added that if they had to provide local security cover for this unexpected proposed visit without a imminently known requirement, the tour would be a diversion because the district administration and police force will be completely occupied with election management on April 18 and 19.
As a result, under Section 126 of the Representation of People Act, campaigning is prohibited in Cooch Behar starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
In order to ensure a free and fair election process, the poll board has asked all district election officers and district police chiefs to make sure that all prominent individuals, campaigners, and political workers who are not local voters leave the polling area once the silence period begins.
The seven phases of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will take place between April to June. Polls will be conducted in seven phases: the first on April 19 and the seventh on June 1. On June 4, the results will be announced.
India News
Lamborghini Gallardo worth nearly Rs 1 crore set on fire over business dispute
A video circulating on social media shows the luxury car Lamborghini Gallardo being burned and reduced to ashes. The police officials said a complaint has been registered by Neeraj, a car reseller who had bought the luxury car from its original owner.
A person who deals in the sale and purchase of old luxury cars and a few others has allegedly burnt an old but expensive model of Lamborghini Gallardo on a road in Hyderabad over a dispute with its owner on Monday. The police said the owner of the Lamborghini Gallardo, Neeraj wanted to sell off the vehicle, estimated to be worth up to Rs 1 crore, and had informed some of his friends to look for a buyer.
The police added that the main accused Ahmed had called a friend of Neeraj and asked him to bring the car. The said friend of Neeraj was known to the Ahmed. When the luxury car was brought to Mamidipalli Road which is situated on the city outskirts Ahmed along with a few others, burnt the luxury car using petrol and claimed that Neeraj owed him money.
A video circulating on social media shows the luxury car Lamborghini Gallardo being burned and reduced to ashes. The police officials said a complaint has been registered by Neeraj, a car reseller who had bought the luxury car from its original owner. By the time fire department vehicles arrived at the scene it was too late as the luxury car was engulfed in flames and badly damaged. A video of the burning Lamborghini Gallardo has been circulating on social media.
The incident is a proof to the lengths to which disputes can rise. An expert spoke about the car that got burnt and said it was the Gallardo Spyder. He pointed out that it is a substantially older gen model which can only be found in the resale market. The expert further added the car has a powerful 5-litre NA V10 engine that made 513 horse power and 510 Nm of peak torque.
2024 Lok Sabha Elections
2024 Lok Sabha elections: TMC releases manifesto, Mamata Banerjee vows to scrap CAA, stop NRC
The Trinamool Congress has today released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections
West Bengal CM Mamta Banarjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) today released its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In its manifesto, the TMC pledged to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), stop the development of a National Register of citizens and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and stop its implementation nationwide.
The manifesto was unveiled by Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien, West Bengal Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, and Amit Mitra, who is the Special Advisor to the Chief Minister. However, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was not present at the event.
As Derek O’Brien unveiled the manifesto, he said, this is what they will do when the TMC, as part of INDIA bloc, forms government.
The Citizenship Amendment Act has long been opposed by the Trinamool Congress. Five years after it was approved by Parliament, the central government finally put the CAA into effect last month.
The party led by Mamata Banerjee has also expressed resistance to the National Register of Citizens proposal, claiming that West Bengal will never adopt it.
The manifesto titled Didi’s 10 sapaths, alludes to 10 oaths made by Mamata Banerjee, popularly known as Didi.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party additionally pledges to raise the daily allowance under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to Rs 400 per day in addition to the UCC and CAA. Everyone has also been offered pucca houses by the party.
A monthly pension of Rs 1,000 for people over 60, free home delivery of 5 kg of ration for every ration card user, 10 free LPG cylinders annually for families below the poverty line, and universal healthcare coverage worth Rs 10 lakh are among the other significant commitments made.
Additionally, the Trinamool Congress has pledged to establish a price stabilization fund in order to control the cost of gasoline and LPG.
The party has assured the youth that every student will receive a monthly stipend up until the age of 25. A student credit card of Rs. 10 lakh will be awarded to those who choose to continue their education.
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