Bank,
airport strike on September 29
New
Delhi: One million employees at state-run banks and
insurance companies are to go on strike on September 29
to protest against the government backing for mergers.
Reports say that another 30,000 employees in 124 airports
- opposed to privatisation plans, will join the strike
called by the United Forum of Bank Unions. The All India
Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has said that mergers
will shrink employment opportunities for the employees,
reports the BBC. The Union Finance Ministry had earlier
said that state banks should merge for boosting their
competitiveness. "There's a need to expand branch network
and not shrink them in the name of mergers," Vice president
of AIBEA Kamal Bhattacharya was quoted as saying.
Rain,
flood in coastal Andhra, Gujarat still grim (Go
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by Ishakhi/Uday Advaryu
Vijayawada
(Andhra Pradesh)/Ahmedabad: Andhra Pradesh continues
to battle the cyclone that has caused flooding in the
state's coastal areas, even as the meteorological department
has forecasted more rains for the weekend. Large areas
of the coastal state are still inundated after the powerful
Bay of Bengal storm crossed India's eastern coast on early
this week, and they feared a spike in cases of malaria,
diarrhoea and other diseases. Residents of Vijayawada,
where more than 15,000 people have been evacuated, are
still marooned as no aid or relief work has come. More
than 75 people have been killed due to electrocution,
house collapses and drowning in Andhra Pradesh after the
storm caused heavy rains and flooding. It also uprooted
thousands of trees and brought down hundreds of electric
poles. Andhra Pradesh has a history of being hit by cyclones
and storms from the Bay of Bengal. Meanwhile, an alert
has been sounded across the state of Gujarat after heavy
rains there led to the deaths of 15 people on Friday.
Twenty-two of the state's 25 districts have been lashed
by heavy rains over the last 24 hours, preventing people
from reaching their offices. Schools and colleges across
the state have been closed as an emergency measure. Road
and rail transport has been affected. The Met department
has said that the rains will continue for some more days,
especially in Saurashtra and Kutch.
Amritanandmayi
pledges $1 m for Katrina relief (Go
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by K Ashik
Thiruvananthapuram
(Kerala): God- woman Mata Amritanandamayi has promised
one million dollars as aid for the victims of Hurricane
Katrina that devastated the United States late last month,
killing hundreds of people and leaving thousands homeless.
"Now the storm is in America and we have said that we
will donate one million dollars," Amritanandamayi told
reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. India has already
donated five million dollars and medicines as relief to
the people of the devastated regions and has also sent
22 tonnes of blankets, sheets, personal hygiene kits and
tarpaulins as immediate relief material to the U.S. authorities.
More than 1000 people died and a million displaced by
the storm that devastated New Orleans, Louisiana, as well
as coastal areas of Mississippi and Alabama. "Our team
is already there, the devotees and our center in San Francisco
is very much involved. We have over 200 'satsang samitis'
(religious groups) known as Amma center across the United
States," added Swami Amritaswaroopananda, a key disciple
of Amritanandamayi. Amritanandamayi also said that her
trust would construct more houses for the tsunami victims
in Kerala. "The nearby villagers also appealed to me to
adopt their village and so I accepted it. And in the first
phase we will be constructing 50 houses," she said. The
spiritual leader said, she had already provided 20.2 million
dollars as aid for the tsunami victims and was still rebuilding
in the devastated areas. More than 9,200 people died when
the killer waves slammed into India's mainland coast and
the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands on December 26,
2004. Amritanandamayi, 51, who wears a white saree and
a large diamond stud on her nose, has tens of thousands
of followers in India and abroad. Her charities run schools
and hospitals around the country and people flock to her
to be hugged and blessed.
Ganguly
hopes team will remain untouched by row (Go
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Kolkata:
Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly has said
that he hoped that the Indian cricket team would not get
dragged into the controversy over coach Greg Chappell's
bid to have him removed as captain. He said that although
he did not know anything about the team's morale, but
the team should not be dragged into the controversy. He
said that though the entire team was aware of the controversy,
but they were all in different situations and hence should
not be involved in this. "I don't know about the team's
morale, but keep the team and the boys away from it. They
are all aware but they all are in different, different
situations and in different, different positions. I think
the best thing they should do is to keep quiet," he said
while speaking to reporters. Ganguly is under pressure
after Chappell sent an e-mail to the Board of Control
for Cricket in India (BCCI), criticising him, and allegedly
declaring him as unfit to lead the team anymore. The Indian
players landed in Mumbai early on Saturday after their
test series victory over Zimbabwe and straight into the
storm raised by the captain-coach row. It was the team's
first test series victory outside the sub-continent since
1986. Chappell did not travel with the players. Ganguly
was mobbed by the media at Mumbai and Kolkata airports
upon his arrival. The issue has been splashed on front
pages across newspapers and debated on television channels
across the country. BCCI officials have said that Chappell's
comments would be discussed at a committee meeting on
Tuesday to review the team's recent poor showing in one-dayers
in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. "I cannot stop Greg Chappell
from giving comments from his point of view. It is his
(Greg Chappell) point of view, but I'll do what is right
because everybody is different, I am different. As I said,
I am sure Board will ask my point of view because it's
not just going to be one way traffic and I'll explain
every detail- what happened from day one to last day of
the series, to the people concerned," Ganguly said.
Meanwhile, cricket fans, holding photographs of their
"dada" as Ganguly is known in Kolkata, took out protest
march in the city against Chappell for his remarks. Activists
shouted slogans against the coach for trying to defame
Ganguly, who has been termed as the most successful captain
India has ever had, and burnt effigies of Chappell. Ganguly,
who has led the side since 2000 is India's most successful
test captain with 21 wins. The row broke during the first
test in Bulawayo last week after Ganguly, having hit his
first test hundred since November 2003, told the media
that Chappell wanted him to sit out and play an in-from
batsman. Ganguly was criticised for breaching convention
by making dressing room discussions public. Chappell then
said he had intended only to motivate the player.
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