Zero balance in a/c need not worry you anymore

The high court on Tuesday observed that banks recovering penal charges from customers not maintaining minimum balance in their accounts might have to pay back the amount with penal interest once the RBI comes out with its decision.

The court's observation came following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by T S Muthukrishnan. The petitioner contended that in the name of non-maintenance of minimum balance, banks levy hefty penal charges. The petitioner said it is obvious that only the poor man, who struggles to make "both ends meet", doesn't maintain minimum balance. A division bench presided by Chief Justice J S Khehar, while disposing of the PIL, said: "The final determination will only emerge after objections from the stakeholders. It is apparent from the recommendations in the Damodaran Committee report that the final determination may relate to levy of penal charges. The issue has financial indications.

The banks concerned would be advised not to levy penal charges till Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lays down parameters."

The RBI counsel informed the court that objections have been invited from the customers and the banks concerned and a final decision will be taken after that.

The court observed that since the issue of maintaining minimum balance and penal charges also finds mention in the Damodaran Committee report, the RBI would take a decision.

Read More

Britain on boil: Another day of rioting, looting in London and several other cities

After three nights of violence in London and several other cities, which left authorities stunned and the people hunkered down, questions about the way Britain is handling its ethnic minorities have again come to fore. With nearly 5 million non-Whites , that is, about 8% of the population, the image of multiculturism has taken a severe beating as the current round of proteststurning-into-general criminal violence plays itself out.

Many are calling this the worst ever, arguably, even more severe than riots that engulfed Britain in the early 1980's when Margaret Thatcher was in power and the economy was being rebooted.

In 1981, violence had first exploded in Brixton and later spread to several other cities. In a damning indictment of the racial policy of the government , Lord Scarman's enquiry report said that the violence was "essentially an outburst of anger and resentment by young black people against the police" .

Similar findings were presented by a host of reports following riots and violence in subsequent years, especially in 1985 and as recently as the 2001 Oldham riots.

Fifteen years of rule by New Labor, elected in reaction to the conservative policies of Thatcher appear to have left the inequalities untouched. In 2009, the Equality and Human Rights Commission released a report called 'How Fair Is Britain'.

Speaking of the poor and ethnic minorities, Trevor Phillips, its chairman said, "Gateways to opportunity that appear permanently closed, no matter how hard they try; while others seem to have been issued with an 'access all areas' pass at birth" .

People of Asian origin, mainly Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis comprise about half, while Blacks make up a quarter, of the ethnic minorities in Britain.

Unemployment rates among Black Caribbean, Black African, Bangladeshi and Mixed ethnic groups (between 13 and 14 %) were around three times the rates for White British (5 %), according to an Office of National Statistics study of 2004.

According to UK's Department of Works and Pensions study, two fifths of the ethnic minorities live in low-income households, defined as 60% or less than the median British income. This is twice the rate for White households.

Among families with at least one member working, around 65% of Bangladeshis, 50% of Pakistanis and 30% of Black Africans are in low-income households, much higher than the 10-20 % for Whites, Indians and Black Caribbeans.

Criminality has become endemic among poorer communities - there are seven times more Blacks in British jails than Whites. Cuts in social welfare have meant local councils and police no longer have contact with the people.

Protesters are using Blackberry for mobilizing and coordinating . The last recession hit the poor badly in Britain. With another one looming, the fires of discontent are being stoked - Tottenham may just be the beginning.

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More

Govt may cut petrol, diesel prices

The government on Tuesday said that prices of petrol and other fuel could be lowered if global crude prices continue to slip further.

A fall in crude prices would also help the government bring down its subsidy bill on fuel which would help curb the fiscal deficit. The government has projected the fiscal deficit at 4.6 per cent of GDP for 2011-12.

"We are not fully satisfied with the downward movement from $107 per barrel to $102 per barrel, the prices are still reasonably high," said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

"We hope prices of oil and other commodities will come down further, which will help us to manage inflation and also help in reducing subsidy on oil," he added.

Global crude oil prices have been falling after credit rating agency Standard and Poor downgraded the sovereign debt of the US.

Speaking on the decline, Petroleum Minister S. Jaipal Reddy also said that if the prices fall any further it will be passed on to the consumers.

"If the prices globally come down sharply and in a stable way, naturally the prices of petrol would be adjusted downwards," Reddy told reporters.

Petrol prices have been de-regulated and now oil marketing companies price the fuel on the retail level according to global movement of crude. This has led to sharp increases in the petrol prices.

Other fuels like diesel, kerosene and cooking gas are still under government control. The petroleum ministry had hiked prices of fuel in June as global crude oil prices shot up.

A dip in prices of fuel will also have a sobering effect on high inflation, which has been troubling policymakers for over two years.

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More

Maruti engineers to develop new 800cc vehicle in India

Maruti Suzuki is aggressively working on an all-new car, as Maruti's engineers embark on an independent full-model change capability, something not attempted before, managing executive officer (engineering) IV Rao said.

Rao, who declined to speak about the pricing of the new vehicle, said the idea was to develop a car that would co-exist with the Alto, the country's largest-selling car with monthly volumes averaging over 30,000 units. He shot down suggestions that the new car would be a renewed version, or fresh attempt, to revive the M800 model that has already made its way out of 13 top metros (due to stricter emission norms) and will be phased out gradually from the rest of the country in the coming years.

"This will be an all-new car, though based on an existing platform. The idea is to do it in-house at Maruti, with minimal support from our Japanese parent, Suzuki," Rao said. Maruti engineers have done facelifts on some of the existing models previously while also assisting Suzuki during the development of some global models such as the Swift and the A-Star.

The car will be meant primarily for the Indian market, he said, adding that the idea behind the model was to "constantly introduce new models while also developing the company's R&D capability to develop, design and engineer a model on its own."

Also, the company wants to fill the gap created by the phase-out of the M800. "It will be no less than a milestone for us," Rao said.

"It may co-exist with the Alto and we want to have a two-model strategy at the entry-end of the market, like we have on the upper segments where we have a multi-model approach with cars like Ritz, Swift and WagonR pitched around the same price bracket," sources said.

"This will be an all-new car, though based on an existing platform. The idea is to do it in-house at Maruti, with minimal support from our Japanese parent, Suzuki," I V Rao, managing executive officer, said.

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More

Mumbai cops nab man at ATM with Sachin Tendulkar's debit card

The Mumbai police was taken aback on Tuesday when they caught a man trying to withdraw money using Sachin Tendulkar's debit card.

At an ATM near Bharatmata Cinema a 21-year-old Mahim resident, Shoyeb Doodhwala, tried to withdraw money from HSBC bank ATM. The police became suspicious when he took longer than usual, and were shocked to find that the card belonged to Sachin Tendulkar.

Police are probing whether the card belongs to the batting maestro and how the accused managed to get hold of it. Investigations are on to know whether the accused has procured the data of the card belonging to the batting maestro to make a fake card.

Investigators seized four credit and debit cards of different banks (ING Vyasa, ICICI and Kotak Mahindra), including the card of Sachin, that was found when Doodhwala was frisked. He claims to be a second year junior college student from a western suburban college. "Doodhwala said he got hold of the card from a bus stop in the central suburbs and thought to check it to withdraw money from ATM centres. But we do not believe his claim," said the investigators.

"The name on the Kotak Mahindra card showed Sachin Tendulkar," said Bhoiwada police senior inspector Vikram Patil. "We have sought the bank to provide details whether the card belongs to Sachin or whether the bank has ever issued such a card. We will get in touch with Sachin after we get the bank's report. Meanwhile we are also getting details of whether he filed any complaint for loss of card," Patil said.

When the constables frisked Doodhwala they found four cards and Rs8,640 cash. "Doodhwala claimed that he was in urgent need of money and went to withdraw at the ATM.

Police also found that Doodhwala had a fake driving license. "Initially Doodhwala claimed that he found the card lying at a bus stop. But later he said it is a dummy card that the bank has made and he managed to get hold of it. Probe is on whether he is part of a racket that steals data of the credit and debit cards with the help of skimming machine and uses it to make a fake card," the investigating officer said. Doodhwala has been booked for cheating and forgery.

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More

Four killed in police firing on protesting farmers in Pune

Four persons, including a woman, were killed in police firing at Maval near here on Tuesday when a farmers' protest against a dam water pipeline project turned violent.

The trouble broke out after about 400 agitators held a rally along the Mumbai-Pune expressway, blocking the busy vehicular traffic and refusing to disperse despite police request, Sandeep Karnik, superintendent, Pune rural police, said.

The farmers attacked policemen and their vehicles, after which the officers fired at the mob that indulged in heavy stone-pelting, he claimed. The officer said police resorted to firing when teargas and rubber bullet rounds failed to control the demonstrators.

About 25 policemen received injuries in stone-pelting by the mob and the condition of an inspector was serious, police added.

The farmers were protesting against the closed water pipeline project conceived to supply water to the neighbouring industrial township of Pimpri Chinchwad from the Pavna dam in the region.

A spokesman of the protesting farmers, said the project would deprive the local farmers of their land and affect supply of drinking water in the region, about 70 kms from here.

Police rounded up about 300 people in connection with the violent incidents even as villagers observed a bandh in support of their demand.

Traffic on the expressway connecting the two cities remained paralysed for over three hours with vehicles queuing up along many kilometers, sources said.

Police said the situation, though tense, was "under control" and the traffic normalised.

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More