Corporate, retail banking help boost Indian Bank's profit

Indian Bank continued its creditable performance during the year ended March 31, 2011 in all the key parameters. The directors have proposed a dividend of Rs. 7.50 per share of Rs. 10. It paid a dividend of Rs. 6.50 in the previous year.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, T. M. Bhasin, Chairman and Managing Director, said the bank registered a growth of 19.8 per cent in its operating profit at Rs. 3,292 crore against Rs. 2,747 crore in the previous year on a healthy growth in net interest income at Rs. 9,361 crore against Rs. 7,714 crore.

Total income improved by 16.8 per cent to Rs. 10,543 crore from Rs. 9,031 crore. Total expenditure, excluding provisions and contingencies, stood at Rs. 7,251.23 crore against Rs. 6,283.42 crore with interest expenditure accounting for Rs. 5,324.92 crore (Rs. 4,553.18 crore).

The bank has provided a sum Rs.92 crore towards transitional liability on a proportionate basis on employee benefits, Rs. 33.20 crore towards part of the additional gratuity fund requirement and a net sum of Rs. 153.06 crore towards additional pension fund liability.

After taking into account these provisions, the net profit has risen by 10.2 per cent to Rs. 1,714.07 crore from Rs.1,554.99 crore. Corporate banking and retail banking contributed significantly to the rise in net profit. Earnings per share improved to Rs. 38.79 from Rs. 35.09 and the book value to Rs. 184.44 from Rs. 156.66.

The overall business of the bank registered a growth of 20.3 per cent at Rs. 1,81,530 crore against Rs. 1,50,886 crore with deposits accounting for Rs. 1,05,804 crore (Rs. 88,228 crore) and advances Rs. 75,726 crore (Rs.62.568 crore), Mr. Bhasin said. Priority sector advances grew by 19.9 per cent to Rs. 25,.969 crore.

The net interest margin at 3.86 per cent (3.55 per cent), was the highest in the banking industry, Mr. Bhasin said.

The bank had made strenuous efforts to bring down non-performing assets and the ratio of net non-performing assets (NPA) to net advances stood at 0.53 per cent. During the year, total NPA recovery was Rs. 756.58 crore. The bank will continue its focus on recovery of NPAs and 2011-12 will be ‘the year of recovery', Mr. Bhasin said.

The capital adequacy ratio was comfortable at 13.56 per cent as per Basel II norms against 12.71 per cent in the year-ago period.

Financial inclusion

Under the financial inclusion plan 2010-12, the bank covered 1,010 villages as on March 31, 2011 and 1.53 lakh no-frill accounts were opened. Credit to MSME sector registered a growth of 15.8 per cent at Rs. 9.681 crore.

Under branch expansion, the bank opened 104 branches in India and a branch at Jaffna (Sri Lanka) taking the total to 1,860.

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Pak Army Chief Says 'Terrorist Backbone Broken'

Islamabad  : Pakistani army has “broken” the backbone of terrorists and will soon prevail over them, its powerful chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said today in an apparent riposte to US concerns about his force’s capability to take on militants.

“The terrorist backbone has been broken and Inshaallah we will soon prevail,” Kayani said in his address at a passing out parade at the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Let me assure you that we in the Pakistan Army are fully aware of the internal and external threats to our country. In the war against terrorism, our officers and soldiers have made great sacrifices and have achieved tremendous success,” he said.

Kayani’s comments came three days after Admiral Mike Mullen, America’s top military official, warned that the ISI’s longstanding links with the Haqqani militant network are at the core of Pakistan’s strained and problematic relations with the United States.

Earlier this month, a White House report had noted that Pakistan’s fight against militancy was making little progress.

The report further said that Pakistan had “no clear path to defeating the insurgency ... despite the unprecedented and sustained deployment of over 147,000 forces”.

However, Kayani said in his address that the people of Pakistan “value their freedom and independence more than anything else and consider no sacrifice too great to preserve it.”

“It is therefore for the people of Pakistan to remain optimistic and keep the dream of a strong and prosperous Pakistan alive. We must never forget that we all owe it to our future generations. I have no doubt that all of us together can achieve it,” he said.

“People of Pakistan have the capacity and the will to do it, whatever the difficulties and challenges. Let us revive our promise once again to make Pakistan a strong country worthy of its name and aspiration of its people,” he said.

Kayani called on the cadets who passed out of the military academy to fulfil their responsibilities despite the grave dangers and difficulties they would face. PTI

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Japan Plans Disaster Budget, Building 100k Homes

Tokyo:  Japan's government proposed a special $50 billion (4 trillion yen) budget to help finance reconstruction efforts Friday and plans to build 100,000 temporary homes for survivors of last month's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The twin disasters destroyed roads, ports, farms and homes and crippled a nuclear power plant that forced tens of thousands of more people to evacuate their houses for at least several months. The government said the damage could cost $309 billion, making it the world's most expensive natural disaster.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he was moved by his conversations with victims during a recent tour of shelters."I felt with renewed determination that we must do our best to get them back as soon as possible," he told reporters.

The extra $50 billion (4 trillion yen) the Cabinet approved is expected to be only the first installment of reconstruction funding. About $15 billion (1.2 trillion yen) will go to fixing roads and ports and more than $8.5 billion (700 billion yen) will go to build temporary homes and clearing rubble.

"This is the first step toward rebuilding Japan after the major disasters," Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said. Parliament is expected to approve the special budget next week.

More than 27,000 people are dead or missing after the earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan on March 11. About 135,000 survivors are living in 2,500 shelters, and many others have moved into temporary housing or are staying with relatives.As part of the government's recovery plan, it will build 30,000 temporary homes by the end of May and another 70,000 after that, Kan said.

Japan already was mired in a 20-year economic slowdown, Kan said, and he hoped the disaster recovery effort would help lift Japan economically. He urged Japanese to spend money during the upcoming Golden Week holidays to help spur the economy.

"People are feeling that we all must do something, and that will turn into a big strength," he said. "And it will work to help the recovery, and we will overcome both crises."

Recovery efforts have been complicated by the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which lost its power and cooling systems in the earthquake and tsunami, triggering fires, explosions and radiation leaks in the world's second-worst nuclear accident.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., which said it will take six to nine months to bring the plant under full control, has been heavily criticized for its handling of the crisis.

TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu was received harshly when he toured a shelter of 1,600 people in Koriyama."We're angry, angry, angry," one man shouted at him, according to television footage.

"How about you spend a month here?" another shouted."Take your nuclear energy back to Tokyo with you," a third said.Shimizu apologized to the governor of Fukushima prefecture, Yuhei Sato, an outspoken critic of the response by the government and company to the nuclear crisis.Sato bluntly told Shimizu the era of nuclear power plants in Fukushima had ended."No way. The resumption of nuclear power plants ... no way," he said.Meanwhile, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited Kita Ibaraki, a port wrecked by the tsunami about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Tokyo.

The royal couple surveyed the damage along the waterfront, where blocks of concrete were jumbled by the huge waves. When told that a man died there, they showed their respects with a deep bow toward the sea. They also visited an evacuation center.

An extra 250 police were sent to man roadblocks with flashing "Off Limits" signs Friday to stop some of the 80,000 evacuees from sneaking back to homes inside the now-sealed 12-mile (20-kilometer) evacuation zone around the stricken plant.

Authorities planned to erect fences on side streets, said Fukushima police spokesman Yasunori Okazaki. The order that took effect Friday is meant to limit radiation exposure and theft in the mainly deserted zone.Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano appealed for residents of five areas with relatively high levels of radiation outside the sealed zone to prepare for evacuation within a month.But Norio Kanno, chief of Iitate, a village of 6,200, questioned whether everyone would be able to move in time."It is really vexing. Just one nuclear accident is destroying everything," he said.AP

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Syrian Regime Seeking Iran's Help to Quell Protests: Obama

Washington : US President Barack Obama has condemned Syria’s “outrageous” use of violence against anti-government demonstrators, accusing the regime of seeking Iran’s aid to quell the rebellion.

“Instead of listening to their own people, President Assad is blaming outsiders while seeking Iranian assistance in repressing Syria’s citizens through the same brutal tactics that have been used by his Iranian allies,” Obama said in a statement.

Obama said the US continues to oppose Syrian government’s destabilising behaviour, including support for terrorism and terrorist groups.

“This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now. We regret the loss of life and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims, and with the Syrian people in this challenging time.  “The Syrian government’s moves yesterday to repeal Syria’s decades-old Emergency Law and allow for peaceful demonstrations were not serious given the continued violent repression against protesters today,” he said.

Obama said over the course of two months since protests in Syria began, America has repeatedly encouraged Assad and the Syrian government to implement meaningful reforms, but they “refuse to respect the rights of the Syrian people or be responsive to their aspirations.” “The Syrian people have called for the freedoms that all individuals around the world should enjoy: freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and the ability to freely choose their leaders. President Assad and the Syrian authorities have repeatedly rejected their calls and chosen the path of repression,” he said.

The US President said the Syrian regime had placed their personal interests “ahead of the interests of the Syrian people”, resorting to the use of force and “outrageous human rights abuses” to compound the already-oppressive security measures in place before the demonstrations erupted.  Obama’s comments came after activists and rights groups said Syrian government forces killed at least 72 people when they opened fire on demonstrators, seeking to disperse thousands who took to the streets for “Good Friday” rotests.PTI

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PM, Gen Kayani In Back Channel Talks : Sunday Times Report

London : Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has opened secret talks with Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to build on the diplomatic headway made during the PM’s meeting with his counterpart during the cricket match in Mohali last month, the Times newspaper of London reported today.

The daily reported that Singh “appointed an unofficial envoy to make contact with General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani about 10 months ago”. The Pakistan Army chief is known to have de facto control over Pakistani foreign policy.

The talks, conducted via a “back channel,” says the Times, has “encouraged” Washington and London which are keen to see a resolution of the two neighbours’ rivalry in Afghanistan through a bilateral peace process.

Kayani visited Kabul this week to hold talks with members of Afghan President’s High Peace Council and build contacts with Taliban groups. He was accompanied by ISI’s head, General Ahmad Shuja Pasha.

New Delhi’s silence over the visit, the Times said, which in the past would have drawn accusations of meddling, is proof that the meeting between prime ministers Singh and Gilani at the World Cup semi-final on March 30 has brought about a thaw.

This reported contact with Kayani comes after repeated feelers from Washington, London and other Western interlocutors to establish a channel of conversation with the Pakistan Army.

Even Pasha had indicated to Indian military attaches that he would like to meet his counterpart in a third country to discuss the entire gamut of security issues after 26/11. However, India had desisted such overtures on the assessment that such an interaction could undermine civilian authority in Pakistan.

Despite a strong view within the government that there was a need to engage Kayani just like every other power is doing, the considered decision was always to hold back.But going by the report, there has been a review of this position to the extent that it would help reopen the conversation between India and Pakistan with the backing of some vital security assurances by the Pakistan Army.

The PMO declined to comment and the Ministry of External Affairs was not available for a response tonight suggesting that Indian officials did take up the advice of their Western interlocutors. This, if accurate, may help add more durability to the renewed peace effort initiated between the two PMs at Thimphu last year and recently emphasised at Mohali.

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Police, GRP Bash Up Mentally Unstable Youth In Jhansi

Jhansi : In a barbaric act, the GRP and RPF personnel posted at Jhani railway station on Saturday thrashed a mentally unstable youth in an inhuman manner, reports india TV correspondent Sushil chaube.

earlier, the mentally unstable youth had a fracas with some railway staff and he broke some window panes, railway sources said. The youth was then  tied up and kept in a room, but he somehow managed to break free.

The youth then proceeded to smash up several computers at the railway enquiry counter, station manager Ram Dev  said.

It was then the Government railway police and the Railway Protection Force staff got into their act.

They tied up the youth, stuffed cloth inside his mouth so that his shouts could not be heard, and four to five policemen  bashed the lying youth on his face and body with their boots, even as blood was oozing out of his mouth.

Normally, a tranquiliser injection is given to mentally unstable people to control them, but the policemen resorted to third-degree torture.

All this was done in the presence of senior Railway officials at the Jhansi railway station

Doctors posted at the station refused to touch the injured youth. The policemen then  loaded the injured youth in an ambulance and dumped him at the Jhansi  Medical College hospital.

Dinesh Singh, commanding officer of the Government railway police said, his men had to use force to control the mentally unstable youth.

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Bhatt Had Gone To Modi's Residence, Says His Driver

Ahmedabad : The driver of IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt, who has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court implicating Narendra Modi in the post-Godhra riots, today said Bhatt had gone to the residence of the chief minister on February 27, 2002 when the meeting of the officials was held.

Incidentally, K Chakrabarthi, the Gujarat’s Director General of Police (DGP) at the time of post-Godhra riots, has said that Bhatt was “not present” in the meeting with the chief minister held on February 27, 2002.

“It was the car of DGP or Additional DGP, when sir (Bhatt) stepped out from our car and sat in that car. K D Pant was standing there with files. Sir, by waiving hand towards him, said something (which) I couldn’t understand so I asked Pant where we have to go, he (Pant) told me to follow the car,” Tarachand Yadav, driver of Sanjeev Bhatt said.

“Our car was empty and ahead of it there were four or five vehicles and I started following those cars. On following the car we reached the Chief Minister’s house. It was around 10:30 a.m or 10:45 a.m. Sir stayed there for around 25 to 30 minutes,” Yadav said.

Bhatt has filed an affidavit in Supreme Court in connection with the Zakia Jaffery case alleging complicity on part of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 communal clashes.

Bhatt stated in his affidavit that the chief minister in the meeting held on February 27, 2002 expressed that “Hindus be allowed to vent out their anger”.  Bhatt had been extensively questioned by the SIT headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan for three days on March 21, 22 and 23 this year, in connection with the complaint of Zakia Jaffery, wife of slain Congress MP Ehsan Jaffery.

Zakia, in her complaint, has alleged that Modi and 62 others, including his cabinet colleagues, police officials and senior bureaucrats aided and abetted the riots which left over 1,000 people dead across the state.

She had further alleged that between February and May 2002 there was a “deliberate and intentional failure” of the state government to protect the life and property of innocents.

Bhatt, a 1988 batch IPS officer was posted as DCP at the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) during the 2002 riots. He is presently posted as the principal of the State Reserve Police (SRP) training centre in Junagadh district. PTI

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