Sigh of relief as SBI staff return to work

      New Delhi: Anguish turned into relief for millions of customers of India's largest commercial bank, State Bank of India (SBI) after its employees, who had gone on an indefinite strike demanding higher pension, returned to work on Monday morning. As work resumed after a week-long strike the customers could finally access their accounts. More than 200,000 workers of the government-run bank had been on strike since April 3 demanding increase in pension that has been limited to 4,250 rupees (95 dollars) a month since 1992. The employees returned to work following a pact signed by their unions with the bank management at the behest of Union Finance Ministry on Sunday. Many of the State Bank's automated teller machines, from where about 1.5 billion rupees (33.5 million dollars) are withdrawn by depositors per day, had been posting signs saying 'no cash' during the strike period. On Monday morning, thousands of customers of SBI in the national capital New Delhi rushed to their respective branches to transact business only to be greeted with long queues and slow transactions. State Bank, which has 9,000 branches across the country, earns more than 10 percent of its net profit from funds that the government deposits with the bank, analysts said.

60 pc polling in final phase in Asom (Go To Top)
by Peter Alex Todd

      Guwahati: Over 60 percent of the 8.2 million voters eligible to exercise their franchise in Asom voted during the final phase of elections on Monday. Results of the voting pattern will decide the fate of 482 candidates in 61 constituencies of the 126-strong State Assembly. Heavy rains and a boycott call given by the proscribed Karbi Longri North Cachar Liberation Front (KLNLF) failed to dampen the spirit of the voters, as they queued up at various polling booths to cast their ballot. Although polling across all the 61 constituencies was largely peaceful in the valley areas, there were reports of isolated group clashes and attempted rigging by former militants in the Karbi Hills and other areas near the Indo-Bhutan border. One person was reported killed and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan kidnapped by KNLF insurgents today in Asom's Kokrajhar and Karbi Anglong districts. The votes were cast in 8,995 polling stations. In all, 42,000 security and police personnel were deployed by the Election Commission (EC) to ensure hassle-free polls. Some of the candidates whose political career depends on the second phase of the elections are AGP president Brindabon Goswami, Asom Gana Parishad -Progressive (AGP-P) president and former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Health Minister Bhumidhar Barman, Minister of State for Home Rockybul Hussain and Badruddin Ajmal - President of the newly formed party Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), who is also the richest candidate in the poll Elections in the first phase of the Asom polls in 65 constituencies on April 3 registered a 68 percent voter turnout.

SC rejects Zaheera's mercy petition (Go To Top)

        New Delhi: The Supreme Court today rejected the mercy petition filed by Best Bakery case prime witness Zaheera Sheikh. Zaheera had through her petition sought a reduction in the jail term and the subsequent fine imposed on her after she was found guilty of perjury charges. At present, she is lodged in a Mumbai jail. Zaheera Sheikh had been awarded an imprisonment of a year and fined Rs.50, 000 by the apex court on March 8. The apex court gave the verdict after accepting the report of a high-powered committee, which said that Zaheera was a "self-condemned liar". Zaheera on the other hand has raised doubts and questioned the findings of the committee which accused her as "self-condemned liar". She has alleged that the inquiry was biased and truth was tampered with. A trial court in Mumbai on February 24 gave a verdict of life imprisonment to nine people accused in the case. A total of 17 accused faced trial on charges of murdering 14 persons who had taken refuge in the Best bakery on Hanuman Tekdi at Vadodara on March 1, 2002, in the post-Godhra riots.

Salman Khan gets five-year jail (Go To Top)

      Jodhpur: Bollywood actor Salman Khan was today sentenced to five-year imprisonment by a local court here in the 1998 Chinkara poaching case. The court found him guilty under sections 51 and 52 of the Indian Wildlife Act. Salman will also have to pay a fine of Rs. 25,000. Another accused, watchman of the Ghora farmhouse, Goverdhan Singh was also found guilty and was sentenced to one-year jail term. However, the court acquitted four other accused, namely Bal Angre, Pratap Singh, Om Singh and Dushyant Singh. Justice Jain had on March 28 reserved the verdict for today after hearing the argument of Salman's defence counsel, Hastimal Sarswat. Saraswat last week had filed an application to the magistrate requesting him to summon the prime key witness Harish Dulani who recently in a TV interview retracted his earlier statement citing that the his statement was made under the police pressure. In the TV interview, Dulani who had been the driver of Salman, aid that he had never seen Salman killing the chinkara and have never took the actor for a hunt. The case is related to 1988 when a Chinkara (deer species) was killed allegedly by Salman and other accused at Ghora farmhouse while shooting for the film Hum Saath Saath Hain. Salman has already been pronounced with one-year jail term in another case related to the killing of the black bucks in Rajasthan. The earlier sentence was a suspended one that prevented Salman from being arrested immediately.

Jethmalani nominated to Rajya Sabha (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: President APJ Abdul Kalam on Monday nominated Ram Jethmalani to the Rajya Sabha to fill the seat which had fallen vacant due to the demise of Vidya Niwas Misra. Jethmalani, whose term as Rajya Sabha member ended on April 2, will continue till August 26, 2009 which was the remainder of the term of Misra, who died in a road accident last year. Jethmalani, a noted lawyer was appointed by the President Kalam on a recommendation from the Government, an official spokesman said.

Report on Sardar Sarovar rehabilitation (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The ministerial team, which had gone to review the rehabilitation programme for the people displaced due to Sardar Sarovar Project in Madhya Pradesh, submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here today. Earlier, the three-member team comprising Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, Union Minster for Social Justice, Meira Kumar, and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office Prithviraj Chavan, faced the ire of protestors in villages during their visit to Madhya Pradesh. The team decided to take stock of the situation after Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar went on an indefinite hunger strike, demanding complete rehabilitation of the families affected by the project and immediate halt to construction work at the dam. The three-member team returned here on Saturday after visiting four rehabilitation sites and two villages to be submerged by the dam. Meanwhile, Patkar and Jamsingh Bhai Nargave continued their hunger strike for the 13th consecutive day today at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where they were forcibly shifted by police on the night of April 5. Besides, other NBA activists and individuals from supporting organisations have been sitting on protest dharna for the 25 days at Jantar-Mantar. The Narmada Control Authority, at its last meeting, had decided to increase the height of the dam to 121.92 meters from the current 113 meters. NBA has claimed that 35,000 families would be rendered homeless by the government decision to increase the dam height.

Dalmiya gets bail in BCCI case (Go To Top)

      Mumbai: The former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Jagmohan Dalmiya, was today granted anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court in the embezzling of BCCI funds case. The Court also granted anticipatory bails to three other accused in the case, namely former BCCI Secretary S K Nair and former treasurers Kishore Rungta and Jyoti Bajpai, on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 each. Earlier, the BCCI's Disciplinary Committee, headed by its president Sharad Pawar, suspended Dalmiya from attending all Board meetings till further notice. Pawar heads the Disciplinary Committee and board's vice president Shashank Manohar and Chirayu Amin are the two other members. Dalmiya, who has been accused of misappropriating Rs. 21.74 lakhs from PILCOM, the organising committee of the 1996 World Cup and running up of phone bills that run into lakhs, will not be allowed to attend any meeting of the Working Committee during his suspension. The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police had interrogated the former BCCI president along with board's former treasurers Bajpai and Rungta, in the last week of March and first week of this month following a Bombay High Court order.

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