Over 200 pilgrims, mostly boys or men in the age group of 15-40 years , were killed and over 60 injured in a stampede outside the Chamunda Devi temple on a hillock adjoining the Mehrangarh Fort. The incident took place on September 30, 2008, the first day of the nine- day navratra festivities in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan when throngs of devotees gathered on the installation (Sthapana) ceremony. Around 9,000 people had stood in queues on the 2-km mountain road to have a darshan of the goddess.
The morning chant for the installation (Sthapana) ceremony turned into shrieks of hapless victims as suddenly, some people began pushing forward for an early darshan. As a result , barricade broke, opening up more space on the 8- fit – wide path. Seeing the widened approach, people began jumping the queue which went wrong. Someone mentioned a bomb and all hell broke loose . Panic –stricken people rtarted runnhng hn opposhte direbtion, ptshing and trampling. The slope rendered slippery due to coconut water further worsened the situation leading to the spot death of 20 people .
However , the authorities rejected the reports of any bomb scare and denied that any instance of eve-teasing lad to the stampede .Chief Minister Ms. Vasundhara Raje, who reached Jodhpur from Banswara, announced a relief of Rs. 2 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs.50,000 to those seriously injured. The government later announced a judicial inquiry by a retired Rajasthan High Court Judge which will submit the report in three months.
Jodhpur Chamunda Devi Temple Stampede
0 comments
Cabinet Approves Higher Ceiling For Creamy Layer
0 commentsThe Union Government , on October 3, 2008, approved raising the income criterion for the “Creamy layer” among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from Rs. 2.5 lakh to 4.5 lakh a year. The decision was taken at a Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.
The higher ceiling for “Creamy layer” will help in bringing more people under the reservation category. In fact, it will also help students seeking admission under the Central Educational Institutions Act, 2006 which provides!27 percent reservation for the OBCs. However , the decision will not impact admissions in the current academic year as the Supreme Court has already said vacant OBC seats are to be filled by general category students Hence, it will benefit those applying under quota in 2009.
The proposal had been mooted by the Ministsy of Social Justice and Empowerment on the recommendatinns nf the N`tional Bommhssinn fnr B`ckw`rd Blasres. It vas discussed at an inter-governmental level, involving the Ministries of Tribal Affairs, Home, Law , the Departments of Personnel and Training, and Human Resource Development , besides Social Justice and Empowerment.
The National Commission for Backward Classes submitted its report on July 1, 2008. It took into account the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission besides the all- India Consumer Prices Index , price rise, inflation rate, the monthly per capita expenditure of the OBCs , their economic conditions , and per capita national product before arriving at the new ceiling .
Moreover ,most of the States had demanded that the new ceiling be fixed between Rs. 4 lakh and 6 lakh . However some States like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh had demanded much higher ceilings .Karnataka sought the ceiling of Rs. 25 lakh while Madhya’ Pradesh , of Rs. 10 lakh.
The annual income ceiling for OBC reservation was fixed at Rs. 1 lakh first in 1993 and it was increased to Rs. 2.5 lakh in 2004. Now , it has been raised to Rs. 4.5 lakh.
SHRI O.P.BHATT DECLARED CNN IBN'S BUSINESSMAN OF THE YEAR 2007
0 commentsOur Chairman Shri O P Bhatt, has been declared the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2007 in the Business category ahead of Vijay Mallya and the Ambanis .After much deliberation, the jury voted for the maverick banker Shri O P Bhatt, at the helm of the State Bank of India since 2006, as the CNN-IBN's businessman of the Year. He has been credited with doing the impossible. Shri Bhatt took over at a time when India's largest bank was faced with tough competition from fast growing private players. The mammoth challenge was to arrest SBI's falling market share, raise funds for expansion and look for new avenues of growth.In another daring move, Shri Bhatt has started the merger of all seven associate banks with the parent bank. Once the merger is completed, the combined entity will have a balance sheet of over 8 lakh crore rupees, and a countrywide network of 14,000 branches - enough to take on global banks looking to penetrate the Indian market after 2009. Bhatt is the only SBI chairman since liberalisation who has been given a five year term. He is setting himself some tough targets. One of the targets is to up SBI's market share by one per cent every year. Under him the bank is also looking at new business streams like general insurance, pension funds & mobile banking. It's a vision to make SBI a truly global bank and the man behind that dream is CNN-IBN's Indian of the Year in the Business category for 2007.
INDIAN ECONOMY
0 commentsGrowth Hit, Market Plunges
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 10, 2008 announced a surprise one percentage point cut in reserve requirement of commercial banks- Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) – so as to inject more liquidity into the system. This cut, coupled with the helf a percentage point cut announced on October 6, 2008, would release about Rs. 60,000 crore into the system.India’s industrial production seemed to hit rock bottom on October 10, 2008 , as the economy registered the slowest growth in 14 years . What made the situation worse was the global financial turmoil that sent the Sensex into a nosedive . Also , the fall in the value of rupee compounded the worries ,as the rupee turned out to be the most vulnerable of Asian currencies touching a record low of 49.26 per dollar.The recent developments in India’s economic scenario have clearly signalled the onset of a slowdown bordering on recession. The possibility of an economic recession was further accentuated by the dismal 1.3 percent industrial growth rate which the economy registered in August 2008. It represented a drastic downslide in industrial growth as compared to the 10.7 percent growth logged during the same month in 2007. As markets around the world tumbled amid deepening fears of a global recession , more evidence surfaced which showed that India, too was taking a bigger than expected hit. The impact of the global financial crisis, so far limited to the stock market and a couple of other export- centric businesses, now appears to be cascading into the real economy. It is evident that the ongoing global financial crisis has taken its toll in India as well. The financial turmoil , coupled with the monetary tightening measures put in place to check inflation, contributed in worsening the crisis . Analysis opine that a possible fall in industrial growth has for quite sometime been around the corner in view of the high interest rates and decreasing demand in both domestic and international markets. However , the magnitude of the fall has come as a surprise to many.Meanwhile ,almost all sectors of the economy continued to suffer as the global financial crisis triggered a number of spill-over effects. It included stock markets, rupee value and other such aspects. Sensex tanked by 800 points to 10,527 points on October 10, 2008 , which was the lowest in two years. The rupess touched an all-time low and the inflation rate was at11.8 percent for the week ended September 27, 2008 . The financial situation also markedly affected the fortunes of Indian business conglomerates, as the top five Indian companies suffered huge value erosion. Reliance (Mukesh Ambani) Group’s net worth went down by 49.1 percent ,Anil Ambani-led Bharti Group by 28.4 percent, KP Singh-led DLF Group by 75.3 percent , and Azim Premji-led Wipro Group slid by 46 percent.However to India’s credit, controls on capital flows and banking transactions have relatively insulated the country from the kind of turmoil that financial institutions are facing in the US and elsewhere. The economic slowdown in the US is not an abrupt development . This is basically a credit crisis which stems from skyrocketing expectations of financial services companies that made them overindulge in the risky business of trade in derivatives. Derivatives usually project overstated earning estimates, which , if used as an instrument for gauging returns, may happen to be a fallacious premise . The US financial majors like the Lehman Brothers, now in the dock , banked overmuch on such innovative patterns as trade in Futures & Options . In the long run, the rick factors associated with such ventures caused their failure. As a result , markets around the world took a tumble. India has so far been comparatively immune to the global turmoil because of the fact that the country’s financial and banking set – up revolves around old- world and time- tested principles involving savings deposits, mutual funds, equity shares and the likes. These instruments have a lower risk of inducing across the board failures and that is why Indian economy appears relatively safe as of now. However , there is concern at the highest level that though the US meltdown has not had a substantial impact in India, a prolonged crisis may take is toll on our economy as well. Globalisation has interlinked all nations and economies to the extent that no single country can sustain immunity for long in the wake of a global crisis . In some sectors such as IT and in the overall corporate scenario , the impact of the turmoil is already visible. Experts are unanimous in their opinion that if such a situation continued for long , it will be foolish to expect that India will remain insulated in the long run. Referring to emergency liquidity injection by central banks around the world , Union Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram said that India would also take the necessary steps to bring the situation under control. He added "We will take steps to infuse liquidity because we recognize that flow of credit efficiently and smoothly through the system is vital to the stability of the financial system".
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 10, 2008 announced a surprise one percentage point cut in reserve requirement of commercial banks- Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) – so as to inject more liquidity into the system. This cut, coupled with the helf a percentage point cut announced on October 6, 2008, would release about Rs. 60,000 crore into the system.India’s industrial production seemed to hit rock bottom on October 10, 2008 , as the economy registered the slowest growth in 14 years . What made the situation worse was the global financial turmoil that sent the Sensex into a nosedive . Also , the fall in the value of rupee compounded the worries ,as the rupee turned out to be the most vulnerable of Asian currencies touching a record low of 49.26 per dollar.The recent developments in India’s economic scenario have clearly signalled the onset of a slowdown bordering on recession. The possibility of an economic recession was further accentuated by the dismal 1.3 percent industrial growth rate which the economy registered in August 2008. It represented a drastic downslide in industrial growth as compared to the 10.7 percent growth logged during the same month in 2007. As markets around the world tumbled amid deepening fears of a global recession , more evidence surfaced which showed that India, too was taking a bigger than expected hit. The impact of the global financial crisis, so far limited to the stock market and a couple of other export- centric businesses, now appears to be cascading into the real economy. It is evident that the ongoing global financial crisis has taken its toll in India as well. The financial turmoil , coupled with the monetary tightening measures put in place to check inflation, contributed in worsening the crisis . Analysis opine that a possible fall in industrial growth has for quite sometime been around the corner in view of the high interest rates and decreasing demand in both domestic and international markets. However , the magnitude of the fall has come as a surprise to many.Meanwhile ,almost all sectors of the economy continued to suffer as the global financial crisis triggered a number of spill-over effects. It included stock markets, rupee value and other such aspects. Sensex tanked by 800 points to 10,527 points on October 10, 2008 , which was the lowest in two years. The rupess touched an all-time low and the inflation rate was at11.8 percent for the week ended September 27, 2008 . The financial situation also markedly affected the fortunes of Indian business conglomerates, as the top five Indian companies suffered huge value erosion. Reliance (Mukesh Ambani) Group’s net worth went down by 49.1 percent ,Anil Ambani-led Bharti Group by 28.4 percent, KP Singh-led DLF Group by 75.3 percent , and Azim Premji-led Wipro Group slid by 46 percent.However to India’s credit, controls on capital flows and banking transactions have relatively insulated the country from the kind of turmoil that financial institutions are facing in the US and elsewhere. The economic slowdown in the US is not an abrupt development . This is basically a credit crisis which stems from skyrocketing expectations of financial services companies that made them overindulge in the risky business of trade in derivatives. Derivatives usually project overstated earning estimates, which , if used as an instrument for gauging returns, may happen to be a fallacious premise . The US financial majors like the Lehman Brothers, now in the dock , banked overmuch on such innovative patterns as trade in Futures & Options . In the long run, the rick factors associated with such ventures caused their failure. As a result , markets around the world took a tumble. India has so far been comparatively immune to the global turmoil because of the fact that the country’s financial and banking set – up revolves around old- world and time- tested principles involving savings deposits, mutual funds, equity shares and the likes. These instruments have a lower risk of inducing across the board failures and that is why Indian economy appears relatively safe as of now. However , there is concern at the highest level that though the US meltdown has not had a substantial impact in India, a prolonged crisis may take is toll on our economy as well. Globalisation has interlinked all nations and economies to the extent that no single country can sustain immunity for long in the wake of a global crisis . In some sectors such as IT and in the overall corporate scenario , the impact of the turmoil is already visible. Experts are unanimous in their opinion that if such a situation continued for long , it will be foolish to expect that India will remain insulated in the long run. Referring to emergency liquidity injection by central banks around the world , Union Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram said that India would also take the necessary steps to bring the situation under control. He added "We will take steps to infuse liquidity because we recognize that flow of credit efficiently and smoothly through the system is vital to the stability of the financial system".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
