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Friday, July 24, 2009
HC issues notice to Gammon India in Delhi Metro mishap case
The Delhi High Court today issued notice to Gammon India, a contractor in Delhi Metro Rail project, on a petition filed by the family members of victims of the July 12 mishap, seeking compensation.
Justice Rewa Khetrapal directed the company to file its response by August 20 when the matter will be taken up for further hearing.
The Court passed the order on a joint petition filed by family members of four persons who lost their lives in the mishap.
Six persons, including an engineer, were killed and over a dozen others injured when an under-construction over-bridge of the Delhi Metro collapsed on July 12 in south Delhi.
The petitioners pleaded before the court that the family of the deceased should get a compensation of Rs 50 lakh each while injured persons should be given Rs 25 lakh each.
Justice Rewa Khetrapal directed the company to file its response by August 20 when the matter will be taken up for further hearing.
The Court passed the order on a joint petition filed by family members of four persons who lost their lives in the mishap.
Six persons, including an engineer, were killed and over a dozen others injured when an under-construction over-bridge of the Delhi Metro collapsed on July 12 in south Delhi.
The petitioners pleaded before the court that the family of the deceased should get a compensation of Rs 50 lakh each while injured persons should be given Rs 25 lakh each.
CAG pulls up SEBI for Rs 11.5 cr wasteful expenditure
The country's official auditor, CAG, has pulled up the market regulator, SEBI, for awarding database preparation work to NSDL without competitive bidding and before seeking comments from the stakeholders, resulting in wasteful expenditure of Rs 11.54 crore.
"Due to award of the MAPIN database work without competitive bidding and without waiting for the feedback from the market participants...SEBI incurred an unfruitful
expenditure of Rs 11.54 crore," the Comptroller and Auditor
General of India said in its report tabled in the Parliament
today.
On November 20 2003, SEBI had notified setting up of a
Central Database of Securities Market Participants and
Investors Identification Numbers (MAPIN) for the registration of all market participants and investors through allotment of unique identification numbers (UIN) to them.
It involved collection and maintenance of data in respect
of the participants such as demographic details, biometric
impressions and digital photographs.
SEBI awarded the work of MAPIN to the National Securities
Depository Ltd (NSDL) in May 2003 through a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) without competitive bidding.
As per the MoU, market participants were required to
deposit registration fees of Rs 300 each with SEBI, which was to be passed on to NSDL at periodic intervals based on the number of cards issued by it.
Four months after awarding the work to NSDL, SEBI asked
the participants for feedback.
"Several representations were received from intermediaries,
market participants, companies etc. expressing apprehensions
about the database," the report said.
The database was launched in November 2003 and till June
2005, only about three lakh MAPIN UINs had been issued
compared to over 70 lakh demat accounts.
SEBI had set up a committee in March 2005 to reexamine the
issues relating to MAPIN which concluded that the present
system should not be continued due to investors' concerns to
fingerprints, multiple IDs, the high cost of obtaining the
UINs and the inadequate reach of the system.
In light of these recommendations, in July 2005, SEBI
suspended all fresh registrations and the requirement of UIN
under the MAPIN regulations and made a total payment of Rs
11.54 crore from the participants to NSDL.
"Due to award of the MAPIN database work without competitive bidding and without waiting for the feedback from the market participants...SEBI incurred an unfruitful
expenditure of Rs 11.54 crore," the Comptroller and Auditor
General of India said in its report tabled in the Parliament
today.
On November 20 2003, SEBI had notified setting up of a
Central Database of Securities Market Participants and
Investors Identification Numbers (MAPIN) for the registration of all market participants and investors through allotment of unique identification numbers (UIN) to them.
It involved collection and maintenance of data in respect
of the participants such as demographic details, biometric
impressions and digital photographs.
SEBI awarded the work of MAPIN to the National Securities
Depository Ltd (NSDL) in May 2003 through a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) without competitive bidding.
As per the MoU, market participants were required to
deposit registration fees of Rs 300 each with SEBI, which was to be passed on to NSDL at periodic intervals based on the number of cards issued by it.
Four months after awarding the work to NSDL, SEBI asked
the participants for feedback.
"Several representations were received from intermediaries,
market participants, companies etc. expressing apprehensions
about the database," the report said.
The database was launched in November 2003 and till June
2005, only about three lakh MAPIN UINs had been issued
compared to over 70 lakh demat accounts.
SEBI had set up a committee in March 2005 to reexamine the
issues relating to MAPIN which concluded that the present
system should not be continued due to investors' concerns to
fingerprints, multiple IDs, the high cost of obtaining the
UINs and the inadequate reach of the system.
In light of these recommendations, in July 2005, SEBI
suspended all fresh registrations and the requirement of UIN
under the MAPIN regulations and made a total payment of Rs
11.54 crore from the participants to NSDL.
ICICI Bank accused for violating RBI guidelines: Pranab
New Delhi: ICICI Bank was twice issued letter of warning or advisory note in last two years for violating Reserve Bank of India guidelines, Lok Sabha was informed Friday.
In 2007-08, ICICI Bank was accused for violating RBI guidelines/directives relating to opening of deposit accounts, which led to a fictitious accounts being opened by fraudsters at the bank’s Patna branch.
The bank was issued ‘Advisory Note’ in December 2007 and a letter of warning in April 2008 for its irregular dealings in securities in Hong Kong, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a written reply.
Besides ICICI Bank, some other banks including Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank, HSBC Bank and Centurion Bank of Punjab Ltd were issued letters of displeasure by the RBI for violating FEMA guidelines or with regard to opening of deposit accounts, the minister said.
In another written reply, he said RBI performs various functions which, inter-alia, include monetary management of the country, management of foreign exchange and domestic debt of the government, regulation and supervision of banks, financial institutions and non-banking finance companies.
These functions are derived from the provisions of various statutes such as the RBI Act, 1934, The Indian Coinage Act, 1906, The Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and others.
Mukherjee said the objective of assigning these responsibilities to RBI is to have a coordinated approach towards orderly growth of banking and other financial services, strengthening financial system of the country, promoting synchronised development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in the country.
He, however, said that “as and when any such issue of conflict of interest come to the fore, appropriate remedial measure is taken to remove the conflict, depending upon the state of preparedness of the system.”
In 2007-08, ICICI Bank was accused for violating RBI guidelines/directives relating to opening of deposit accounts, which led to a fictitious accounts being opened by fraudsters at the bank’s Patna branch.
The bank was issued ‘Advisory Note’ in December 2007 and a letter of warning in April 2008 for its irregular dealings in securities in Hong Kong, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a written reply.
Besides ICICI Bank, some other banks including Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank, HSBC Bank and Centurion Bank of Punjab Ltd were issued letters of displeasure by the RBI for violating FEMA guidelines or with regard to opening of deposit accounts, the minister said.
In another written reply, he said RBI performs various functions which, inter-alia, include monetary management of the country, management of foreign exchange and domestic debt of the government, regulation and supervision of banks, financial institutions and non-banking finance companies.
These functions are derived from the provisions of various statutes such as the RBI Act, 1934, The Indian Coinage Act, 1906, The Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and others.
Mukherjee said the objective of assigning these responsibilities to RBI is to have a coordinated approach towards orderly growth of banking and other financial services, strengthening financial system of the country, promoting synchronised development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in the country.
He, however, said that “as and when any such issue of conflict of interest come to the fore, appropriate remedial measure is taken to remove the conflict, depending upon the state of preparedness of the system.”
No plans to change NIF guidelines: Finmin
Ruling out any plans to restructure the National Investment Fund (NIF), the government today said the proceeds from disinvestment of the NHPC and Oil India (OIL) will be credited to the NIF.
"The process of initial public offerings in NHPC and Oil India are already in progress. The receipts from the disinvestment would be channelised into NIF," Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
The IPOs of the NHPC and OIL were expected to hit the capital market in August and September respectively, while the disinvestment of other PSUs would be decided on a case by case basis.
Asked whether the government was proposing to amend the NIF guidelines, the Minister in a separate reply said, "no".
Under the existing guidelines, the disinvestment proceeds are deposited in the NIF, which is managed by three public sector mutual funds — UTI Asset Management Company, SBI Funds Management and LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Company.
The NIF currently has a corpus of Rs 1,815 crore. It generated an income of Rs 85 crore in the first year, Palanimanickam said.
"The process of initial public offerings in NHPC and Oil India are already in progress. The receipts from the disinvestment would be channelised into NIF," Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
The IPOs of the NHPC and OIL were expected to hit the capital market in August and September respectively, while the disinvestment of other PSUs would be decided on a case by case basis.
Asked whether the government was proposing to amend the NIF guidelines, the Minister in a separate reply said, "no".
Under the existing guidelines, the disinvestment proceeds are deposited in the NIF, which is managed by three public sector mutual funds — UTI Asset Management Company, SBI Funds Management and LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Company.
The NIF currently has a corpus of Rs 1,815 crore. It generated an income of Rs 85 crore in the first year, Palanimanickam said.
Obama stokes racial passions, police anger
BOSTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plunged his presidency into a charged racial debate and set off a firestorm with police officers nationwide by siding with a prominent black scholar who accuses police of racism.
Saying he was unaware of "all the facts" but that police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, "acted stupidly" in their arrest of Harvard's Henry Louis Gates, Obama whipped up emotions on both sides of an issue that threatens to open old wounds.
"The President has alienated public safety officers across the country by his comments," said David Holway, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents 15,000 public security officials.
In a letter to Obama, he sought an apology. "You not only used poor judgment in your choice of words, you indicted all members of the Cambridge police department and public safety officers across the country."
Obama's comments, made at a news conference on Wednesday evening, marked his biggest foray into the hot-button issue of race since taking office in January and underline how racial issues remain very much alive despite advances embodied by his election as the first black U.S. president.
"Unfortunately, the racial divide is still there. It's still very raw. I think he was trying to let the majority of non-minority Americans have a sense of what it is like to a black or Latino," said Boston University professor of politics Thomas Whalen.
CROSSED A LINE?
But many in Massachusetts said he crossed a line by passing judgment on police while acknowledging he did not have all the facts. Online polls in Massachusetts show strong support for the white arresting officer. A police union and his department's chief also came out strongly in his defense.
"Based on what I have seen and heard from the other officers, he maintained a professional decorum during the course of the entire situation," Cambridge Police Department Commissioner Robert Haas told a news conference.
Obama's comment stunned his policemen, Haas added. "They were very much deflated," he said. "It deeply hurts the pride of this agency." He is forming a panel to review the arrest.
Others questioned whether Obama should have so strongly backed Gates, a friend for many years, over the police without knowing fully what took place.
"He should steer clear of it if he doesn't know all the facts," said Patricia Lynch, 49, a consultant and graduate of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, as she emerged from a Boston cafe. "For any specific case, you have to go only by the facts of that particular case."
Gates, 58, director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African & African American Research, is a potent cultural force, listed as one of Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Americans" in 1997 and friend of talk-show star Oprah Winfrey.
His arrest on the porch of his home on Thursday prompted a moment of national soul-searching, but the facts of the case are far from clear. Gates says the incident underlines the persistence of stereotyping, or racial profiling, even in liberal America.
Police say Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct, accusing him of being uncooperative, refusing to initially provide identification and "exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior" by repeatedly shouting at a policeman in front of people gathered on the street in front of his house.
The incident began when a woman caller reported a man trying to force his way into a home. Gates said he was unable to enter his damaged front door after returning from a week in China. His home had been broken into while he was away, Haas said. Sgt. James Crowley arrived to investigate.
The charge was dropped on Tuesday but Gates is demanding an apology from Crowley, who has refused, saying he did nothing wrong. Gates has threatened to sue the police.
"I support the president to a point," Crowley, who taught a police academy class on racial profiling, said after Obama's comment. "I think it's disappointing that he waded into what should be a local issue," he added on WEEI radio.
Obama commented on the issue again on Thursday, telling ABC News he was "surprised by the controversy surrounding" his remark. "I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home," Obama said.
"I think that I have extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the job that police officers do," Obama said. "And my suspicion is that words were exchanged between the police officer and Mr. Gates and that everybody should have just settled down and cooler heads should have prevailed. That's my suspicion."
Saying he was unaware of "all the facts" but that police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, "acted stupidly" in their arrest of Harvard's Henry Louis Gates, Obama whipped up emotions on both sides of an issue that threatens to open old wounds.
"The President has alienated public safety officers across the country by his comments," said David Holway, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents 15,000 public security officials.
In a letter to Obama, he sought an apology. "You not only used poor judgment in your choice of words, you indicted all members of the Cambridge police department and public safety officers across the country."
Obama's comments, made at a news conference on Wednesday evening, marked his biggest foray into the hot-button issue of race since taking office in January and underline how racial issues remain very much alive despite advances embodied by his election as the first black U.S. president.
"Unfortunately, the racial divide is still there. It's still very raw. I think he was trying to let the majority of non-minority Americans have a sense of what it is like to a black or Latino," said Boston University professor of politics Thomas Whalen.
CROSSED A LINE?
But many in Massachusetts said he crossed a line by passing judgment on police while acknowledging he did not have all the facts. Online polls in Massachusetts show strong support for the white arresting officer. A police union and his department's chief also came out strongly in his defense.
"Based on what I have seen and heard from the other officers, he maintained a professional decorum during the course of the entire situation," Cambridge Police Department Commissioner Robert Haas told a news conference.
Obama's comment stunned his policemen, Haas added. "They were very much deflated," he said. "It deeply hurts the pride of this agency." He is forming a panel to review the arrest.
Others questioned whether Obama should have so strongly backed Gates, a friend for many years, over the police without knowing fully what took place.
"He should steer clear of it if he doesn't know all the facts," said Patricia Lynch, 49, a consultant and graduate of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, as she emerged from a Boston cafe. "For any specific case, you have to go only by the facts of that particular case."
Gates, 58, director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African & African American Research, is a potent cultural force, listed as one of Time magazine's "25 Most Influential Americans" in 1997 and friend of talk-show star Oprah Winfrey.
His arrest on the porch of his home on Thursday prompted a moment of national soul-searching, but the facts of the case are far from clear. Gates says the incident underlines the persistence of stereotyping, or racial profiling, even in liberal America.
Police say Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct, accusing him of being uncooperative, refusing to initially provide identification and "exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior" by repeatedly shouting at a policeman in front of people gathered on the street in front of his house.
The incident began when a woman caller reported a man trying to force his way into a home. Gates said he was unable to enter his damaged front door after returning from a week in China. His home had been broken into while he was away, Haas said. Sgt. James Crowley arrived to investigate.
The charge was dropped on Tuesday but Gates is demanding an apology from Crowley, who has refused, saying he did nothing wrong. Gates has threatened to sue the police.
"I support the president to a point," Crowley, who taught a police academy class on racial profiling, said after Obama's comment. "I think it's disappointing that he waded into what should be a local issue," he added on WEEI radio.
Obama commented on the issue again on Thursday, telling ABC News he was "surprised by the controversy surrounding" his remark. "I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home," Obama said.
"I think that I have extraordinary respect for the difficulties of the job that police officers do," Obama said. "And my suspicion is that words were exchanged between the police officer and Mr. Gates and that everybody should have just settled down and cooler heads should have prevailed. That's my suspicion."
Rediff.com moves HC over obscenity charge
Search engine's director moves HC over obscenity charge
A director of the Web site 'Rediff.com' has moved the Bombay High Court, seeking to quash a criminal complaint which alleges that the Web site, through the search engine linked to it, disseminates obscene material.
The lower court had issued process against Rediff and its directors in this case, despite experts' report that for a search engine, it would be impossible to censor results of any search.
The High Court is scheduled to hear the case after two weeks.
Petitioner Mr Sunil N Phatarphekar is one of the non-executive directors of Rediff.
One Abhinav Bhatt, a law student based in Pune, filed a complaint with the magistrate's court in June 2000, saying that Rediff has committed offence under section 292 of IPC (selling, distributing obscene material).
His contention was that if one was to type words such as ‘sexual intercourse’ in the search window on rediff's home-page, it threw up links of pornographic Web sites.
The judicial magistrate in Pune sought opinion of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd's (VSNL) internet experts in this case.
According to the petitioner, the VSNL's report clearly said that Rediff itself did not host any pornographic material. - PTI
Prev: United Breweries June quarter net up 57% at Rs 35 cr
A director of the Web site 'Rediff.com' has moved the Bombay High Court, seeking to quash a criminal complaint which alleges that the Web site, through the search engine linked to it, disseminates obscene material.
The lower court had issued process against Rediff and its directors in this case, despite experts' report that for a search engine, it would be impossible to censor results of any search.
The High Court is scheduled to hear the case after two weeks.
Petitioner Mr Sunil N Phatarphekar is one of the non-executive directors of Rediff.
One Abhinav Bhatt, a law student based in Pune, filed a complaint with the magistrate's court in June 2000, saying that Rediff has committed offence under section 292 of IPC (selling, distributing obscene material).
His contention was that if one was to type words such as ‘sexual intercourse’ in the search window on rediff's home-page, it threw up links of pornographic Web sites.
The judicial magistrate in Pune sought opinion of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd's (VSNL) internet experts in this case.
According to the petitioner, the VSNL's report clearly said that Rediff itself did not host any pornographic material. - PTI
Prev: United Breweries June quarter net up 57% at Rs 35 cr
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