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SBI, India’s biggest bank announced on Friday a reduction in lending rates against warehouse receipts to farmers. It is done with the objective to increase credit flow to rural areas and helping farmers to avoid distress sales during the harvest season.

The bank will disburse loans up to Rs 10 lakh against warehouse and cold storage receipts directly to farmers at a fixed rate of 8% against the floating rates of 10.5-14.25%.

The 8% interest announced by the bank on Friday will come into force with immediate effect and be valid for 12 months in respect of loans sanctioned and disbursed across the country till May-end. After May, a farmer will not be able to avail of the package.

The loans will be made available to farmers, irrespective of whether or not they were given crop loans for raising the produce. The presenet outstanding against such loans is Rs.500-600 crores and SBI expects to increase it to Rs.2000 crore by May end.

SBI lends against warehouse receipts issued by public and private sector warehouses which are recognised by the bank. Prices of agri products tend to decline during the harvest season.

A farmer after depositing his produce with a warehouse, could avail of a loan of up to 65-75% of the value of the produce against a warehouse receipt from the bank which holds the goods as collateral. The bank can sell the goods in the event the borrower defaults on repayment of loan or interest.

Prices on an average tend to rise around 40% three months after the harvest season ends. Therefore if a farmer borrows Rs 100 from the bank, under the current package, he will end up paying just Rs 2 to the lender after three months and get a 40% appreciation in price. He thus enjoys the twin benefit of getting his immediate credit needs met and securing a higher price for his product by selling during the lean season.

Popularity: 4% [?]

State Bank of India (SBI) has surprised competitors by slashing interest rates on loans for new cars.

SBI will offer new car loans at a fixed rate of 10% for one year. It is 1.75% lower than the prevailing rate offered by market leader, HDFC Bank. After one year, rates will be linked to the bank’s existing prime lending rate (PLR). The borrower will be charged 75 basis points (bps) below PLR for a three-year loan of Rs 7.5 lakh and above. Loans below Rs 7.5 lakh will carry an interest rate of 50 bps below PLR.

However there is no cut in interest rates by HDFC Bank. The 10% offer is the lowest in the industry, with most commercial banks offering car loans in the 11.5-13% range. Up until now, SBI offered new car loans at 11.5-12.5%. The new scheme’s success would depend on how the SBI promotes this scheme among auto dealers.

The concessional 10% new auto loan scheme announced by SBI on Friday will be

1. applicable for new cars only.
2. available from February 23 to May 31, 2009 and
3. applicable for all types for passenger cars.

Last month, the bank has decided to freeze interest rates on home loans at 8% for one year.

SBI expects the new auto loan scheme to generate substantial incremental demand for passenger cars. SBI’s auto loan portfolio is about Rs 9,000 crore against HDFC Bank’s outstandings of 13,000 crore.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, overall automobile production in January 2009 fell by 11.92% over the same month last year. However, it is more than December 2008. January sales are generally more than December sales as customers wait for new models in January, which fetch a better value in the used car market. The cumulative production data for April 2008-January 2009 shows growth of 2.32% over April 2007-January 2008. With lower prices and huge discounts, January 2009 sales registered more than December 2008 sales, but they were not enough to make the year-on-year growth positive.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Pune is now going to get its own international airport. The state cabinet has given nod to the international airport near Chakan and agreed for releasing initial amount of Rs 200 crore.

The government’s decision taken during Wednesday’s late night cabinet meet is expected to expedite the work process for airport. The airport is expected to come up on around 2500 hectres of land at Shiroli-Chandus village near Chakan, some 45-kilometers away from Pune along the Pune-Masik national highway.

After this latest decision by cabinet, the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), will be able to acquire land and start other work for the airport. The state government constituted MADC in 2002 as a Special Purpose Company. Allocation of fund will help MADCto start land acquisition.

The existing airport at Lohgaon in Pune belongs to Indian Air Force (IAF), which uses the space as its base. The need for separate international airport came in after Lohgaon airport began facing frictions during the time schedule of civilian and IAF flights.

Pune International Airport for the Pune metropolitan region has been on a way for a long time and the initial responsibility for executing of International Airport project was given to Maharashtra Industrial Deevelopment Corporation (MIDC). The MIDC on its part has done surveys and completing other formalities like issuing notification for land acquisition. The actual development of the airport will now be done by MADC”.

Once the airport start functioning, it would act as a gateway of Pune and western Maharashtra to the rest of the world, and agricultural and floricultural exports are expected to get a faster movement to its international markets on the completion of this project.

It is also expected to minimize the passenger of Mumbai airport with several passengers of Pune will prefer the New air port.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Indian post offices will shortly have Electronic Money Order Services (EMOs) in the country. A press note issued by the Department of Posts says nearly 4,800 Post Offices in the country are now equipped with Electronic Money Order service. The Government launched the scheme in October last year.

These Post Offices are electronically transmitting over 2.5 lakh money orders per month. With the number increasing rapidly, this service seems all set to replace physical transmission of money orders from one corner of the country to another.

Popularity: 3% [?]

In the supreme court hearing a plea from Martin F D’souza, a Mumbai-based doctor, who had challenged the order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission that had directed him to pay Rs 4 lakh fine after holding him guilty of medical negligence for causing hearing loss to a patient. The SC gave the doctor a clean chit and waived off the fine.

A bench headed by Justice Markandeya Katju said that-

1. “Current practices, infrastructure, paramedical and other staff, hygiene and sterility should be observed strictly,”
2. The doctors should avoid prescribing medicines without examining a patient. “
3. The tendency to give prescription over telephone, except in an acute case of emergency, should be avoided,” .
4. The court advised doctors to make their own analysis instead of treating a patient on a version given by him or her.
5. Before doing any experiment, the doctor should get a written permission from the patient.
6. The court directed the medical fraternity to keep full record of the diagnosis, treatment etc of a patient.
7. The Court also restrained consumer forums and criminal courts from taking cognisance of medical negligence complaints against a doctor or a hospital without receiving an expert committee’s report on the allegations levelled by the complainant.
8. A private complaint should not be entertained unless the complainant produces prima facie evidence before the court in the form of credible opinion given by another competent doctor, the court observed.
9. The court said the investigating officer, before proceeding against the doctor, should obtain the opinion of an independent and competent medical practitioner working with the government in the same field.
10. The court restrained the police from arresting the doctor for interrogation, unless there was absolute necessity for collecting evidence or for a further probe.
11. The SC in 2005 had stalled immediate arrest of doctors in cases related to medical negligence and had directed the police not to proceed against doctors without obtaining an independent and competent medical opinion.

Popularity: 3% [?]

For persons affected with HIV virus, now help is at hand in the form of an invisible counsellor. Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) and AIDS Prevention and Control (APAC) on Tuesday launched a helpline “Hello+” for counselling HIV/AIDS patients.

Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, Subburaj inaugurated the helpline by making a call to the helpline number 1800 419 1800.

This toll-free helpline is the first of its kind in India and can be reached from any mobile or landline between 7 am and 11 pm.

The counsellors have been trained by the APAC to provide counselling on a wide range of problems that require psychological support.

The counsellors are equipped to answer queries in Tamil, Telugu, English and Hindi. So far, six counsellors have been trained and APAC plans to train 10 more to meet the demand.

In cases where the counsellors fail to handle queries, the callers will be directed to NGOs such as Positive Network and The Doctors.

Hello+ will maintain a database of healthcare providers, community care centres, ART centres and legal experts.

The project was conceived with support from Tata Business Support Services Ltd (TBSS) and Tata Tele Services Ltd (TTSL).

TBSS will provide the daily management of the call centre hub for the helpline while TTSL will provide the toll-free number through the Tata Indicom network.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Banks across the country have lost Rs 6.57 crore to internet frauds in 233 incidents of cyber crime with Tamil Nadu topping the list in last fiscal year.

Rs 2.09 crore have been lost by various banks in Tamil Nadu in seven cases reported between April and December 2008. Whereas, the lending institutions in Maharashtra, which reported the highest number of 23 incidents, have lost Rs 55.54 lakh to online fraudulent practises, Minister of State for Home Shakeel Ahmad told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The banks in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have lost Rs 89.93 lakh, Rs 64.29 lakh and Rs 35.72 lakh respectively while Kerala and Delhi lost Rs 17.60 and Rs 10.90 lakh respectively owing to cyber frauds.

11 cases of internet frauds were reported from Andhra Pradesh, eight from Delhi, seven from Tamil Nadu, six from Karnataka and five from West Bengal during the said period, the Minister said in a written reply.

However, banks in Bihar, Goa and Jharkhand did not lose a single penny to such activities and no case was reported from any of these states.

The minister tabled in the House a state-wise list of number of incidents of internet frauds that include cases of fraudulent withdrawal of money from banks through internet/online banking, as reported by the banks to the Reserve Bankof India.

According to a data updated till 2007, out of the total 355 people arrested across the country, a maximum 156 people were arrested in Madhya Pradesh in connection with cheating related cases under IT Act — Fraud digital signature (Section 64) and Breach of ConfidentialityPrivacy (Section 72) – and IPC Crime (Forgery and Criminal Breach of Trust/Fraud).

The highest number of cases, 153, is also registered in Madhya Pradesh for forgery and Criminal Breach of Trust/Fraud out of the total of 302 cases in the said period.

Similarly, a total of 41 incidents –38 under IPC crime and three under IT Act — were reported in Chhattisgarh for cyber frauds and 75 persons — 72 under IPC crime and 3 under IT Act — were arrested, it said.

A total of 59 people were also arrested in Andhra Pradesh, 36 in Punjab, 16 in Andaman and Nicobar Island and four in Delhi in connection with cheating related incidents in 2007.

The amount lost to cyber frauds during April 2007 and March 2008 were Rs 5.58 crore and 374 people were arrested in this connection.

Source: IndianExpress

Popularity: 4% [?]

There are evidences to show that an apple a day can keep not just the doctor away, but breast cancer too.

Rui Hai Liu, Cornell University associate professor of food science said “Breast cancer is the frequently diagnosed invasive cancer and it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women in US”.

Recently, Liu reported that fresh apple extracts significantly inhibited the size of mammary tumours in rats – and the more extracts they were given, the greater the inhibition.

“We not only observed that the treated animals had fewer tumours, but the tumours were smaller, less malignant and grew more slowly compared with the tumours in untreated rats,” said Liu, which confirmed the findings of his preliminary study in 2007.

In his latest study, for example, he found that a type of adenocarcinoma – a highly malignant tumour and the main cause of death of breast-cancer patients, as well as of animals with mammary cancer – was evident in 81 percent of tumours in the control animals.

However, it developed in only 57 percent, 50 percent and 23 percent of the rats fed low, middle and high doses of apple extracts (the equivalent of one, three and six apples a day in humans), respectively, during the 24-week study.

“That reflects potent anti-proliferative [rapid decrease] activity,” said Liu. The studies highlight the important role of phytochemicals, known as phenolics or flavonoids, found in apples and other fruits and vegetables.

In a study of apple peel, Liu reported on a variety of new phenolic compounds that he discovered that also have “potent antioxidant and anti-proliferative activities” on tumours, said a Cornell release.

Recently, Liu’s group also reported the finding that apple phytochemicals inhibit an important inflammation pathway (NFkB) in human breast cancer cells.

These findings were published in the Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

Source TOI

Popularity: 4% [?]

Browsing child pornography sites is to become an offence in India, along with the creation or transmission of child pornography.

A newly amended Information Technology Act has come as a caution for the porn site users, as viewing child porn online, will now become punishable under the IT Act. Offenders are liable to five years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000,000.

This is the first time in nine years that the bill has been revised. Other changes include bringing cyber terrorism, identity theft and violation of privacy into the domain of cyber crime. Critics of the bill say that it will enable the government to snoop into citizens’ computers while investigating “any offence”.

Creating and transmitting child pornography was punishable under the the previous law. The amendment added a new clause, which makes browsing, downloading and viewing such materials punishable under the law.

Section 67 of the existing act deals with “publishing obscene information in electronic form”, but does not specifically define “pornography” or make it an offence. Child pornography is not even mentioned. But the revised avatar, Section 67B, proposes specifically to punish involvement in sexually explicit content that depicts children. It will also be an offence to “cultivate, entice or induce children to online relationship with other children for a sexual act.”

Cybercrime experts believe that once the bill is introduced it will have a huge positive impact. The only fear is that innocent users who accidentally open a site could be branded offenders. The bill is now awaiting the Presidential assent.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Following are the highlights of the Railway Budget 2009-10

1. Fares reduced by Re 1 for ordinary trains travel costing up to Rs 50 per ticket for journey above 10 km.
2. Second class and sleeper class fares cut by two per cent for tickets costing Rs 50 and more.
3. A/C First Class, II and III tiers and A/C Chair Car fares cut by two per cent.
4. As many as 43 new trains to be started in 2009-10.
5. Frequencies of 14 trains to be increased and another 14 to be extended.
6. Plan outlay kept at Rs 37,905 crore.
7. Gross traffic receipts estimated at Rs 93,159 crore, an increase of Rs 10,766 crore from last fiscal.
8. Passenger traffic estimated to grow by 7 per cent.
9. Freight loading targeted at 910 MT, up by 60 MT from last year.
10. 25 surveys proposed comprising 14 new lines, of which three for gauge conversion and eight for doubling projects.
11. Pre-feasibility study for bullet trains being pursued at 6 stretches, including Delhi-Amritsar and Delhi-Patna.
12. Dividend payable to general revenues kept at Rs 5,304 crore for 2009-10.
13. Ordinary working expenses budgeted at Rs 62,900 crore to cover the full year impact of 6th Central Pay Commission.
14. Work on diesel and electric locomotive factories at Marhoura and Madhepura targeted for early start.
15. Construction of rail wheel factory at Chapra on.
16. Bharat Wagon Ltd, Mokama and Muzaffarpur transfered to the Railways Ministry.
17. Transfer of wagon units of Burn Standard at Burnpurand Howrah to Railways Ministry is also under consideration.
18. Number of accidents came down to 194 in 2007-08.
19. For the fiscal 2008-09, plan outlay revised at Rs 36,773 crore.
20. Implementation of 6th CPC likely to cost Rs 9,000 crore more on staff cost and Rs 4,500 crore on pension in 2008-09.
21. Freight loading target retained at 850 MT, passenger growth estimated at 7 per cent for 2008-09.
22. Dividend payable to general revenues for 2008-09 kept at Rs 4,711 crore.
23. Cash surplus before dividend for 2008-09 projected at Rs 19,320 crore.
24. Ordinary working expenses raised to Rs 55,000 crore and appropriation to pension fund to Rs 10,500 crore in 2008-09.

List of 43 new trains announced in Rail Budget

1. Bilaspur – Tirunelveli via Thiruvanathpuram Express (Weekly)
2. Ranchi -Jaynagar Express (Tri-weekly)
3. Secunderabad – Manuguru Superfast (Daily)
4. Mumbai – Karwar Superfast (Tri-weekly)
5. Bhopal – Lucknow Junction Garib Rath Express (Weekly)
6. Durg – Jaipur Express (Weekly)
7. Chhatrapati Sahu terminal (Kolhapur)–Dhanbad Link Service via Parasnath (Weekly)
8. Sengottai – Erode Passenger (Daily)
9. Dibrugarh Town – Chandigarh Express (Weekly)
10. Ajmer – Bhagalpur via Delhi Garib Rath Express (Bi-weekly)
11. Nizamuddin – Bangalore via Kacheguda Rajdhani Express (Tri-weekly)
12. Barauni – Delhi Jan Sadharan Superfast (Bi-weekly)
13. Mumbai – Varanasi Superfast (Daily)
14. Mysore -Yesvantpur Express (Daily)
15. Jamalpur – Gaya Passenger
16. Koraput – Rourkela Express via Rayagada (Daily)
17. Agra – Ajmer Superfast (Daily)
18. Sitamarhi – Patna Link Service (Daily)
19. Tiruchirapalli – Madurai Express (Daily)
20. Mumbai – Bikaner Superfast (Bi-weekly)
21. Jaynagar – Ajmer Link Service (Bi-weekly)
22. Agra – Lucknow Junction Shatabdi Express (Daily)
23. Gandhidham – Kolkata Superfast (Weekly)
24. New Delhi – Guwahati Rajdhani Express via Bhagalpur (Weekly)
25. Mumbai – Tirunelvelli Superfast via Thiruvanathpuram (Bi-weekly)
26. Jammu Tawi – Darbhanga Garib Rath Express (Weekly)
27. Saharsa – Delhi via Express Patna (Weekly)
28. Gwalior – Bhopal Intercity Express via Guna (5 days a week)
29. Coimbatore – Tuticorin Link Service (Daily)
30. Howrah – Haridwar Superfast (5 days a week)
31. Machhalipatnam – Mumbai Superfast (Bi-weekly)
32. Varanasi – Jammu Tawi Superfast (Daily)
33. Gorakhpur – Mumbai Superfast (Daily)
34. Jhajha – Patna MEMU
35. New Delhi – Palwal MEMU
36. New Delhi – Guwahati Rajdhani Express via Muzaffarpur (Weekly)
37. Veraval – Mumbai Link service (Daily)
38. Ranchi – Patna Jan Shatabdi (Daily)
39. Jhansi – Chhindwara Superfast (Bi-weekly)
40. Mumbai – Jodhpur Express (Weekly)
41. Hajipur – Bagaha Link Service
42. Howrah – Delhi Link Service via Azimganj- Bhagalpur (Weekly)
43. Sitamarhi –Delhi Garib Rath Express via Patna (Weekly)

Extension of Trains

1. 5761/5762 Ranchi – Alipurduar Express to Guwahati
2. 9269/9270 Porbandar – Bapudham Motihari Express to Muzaffapur
3. 1471/1472 Jabalpur – Bhopal Express to Laxmibai Nagar, Indore
4. 6865/6866 Ernakulam – Tiruchchirapalli Express to Nagore
5. 3155/3156 Kolkata – Darbhanga Mithilanchal Express to Sitamarhi
6. 2175/2176 Howrah – Gwalior Chambal Express to Mathura
7. 2177/2178 Howrah – Agra Cantt Chambal Express to Mathura
8. 6507/6508 Jodhpur – Bangalore Express to Coimbatore
9. 2187/2188 Jabalpur – Mumbai Garib Rath Express to Allahabad
10. 2927/2928 Mumbai – Vadodara Express to Chhotaudepur
11. 541/542 Patna – Darbhanga Kamlaganga Fast Passenger to Biraul
12. 3113/3114 Kolkata – Murshidabad Hazar Duari Express to Lalgola
13. 2993/2994 Mumbai – Jaipur Garib Rath Express to Delhi
14. 2143/2144 Nagpur–Gaya Dikshabhoomi Parasnath Express to Dhanbad via Parasnath

Increase in Frequency:

1. 2423/2424 New Delhi – Guwahati/Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express from 5 days to 6 days
2. 2443/2444 Bhubaneshwar – New Delhi Rajdhani Express from 2 days to 4 days
3. 2395/2396 Ajmer – Rajendra Nagar Ziyarat Express from weekly to Bi-weekly
4. 2211/2212 Nizamuddin – Bapudham Motihari Garib Rath from weekly to Bi-weekly
5. 2183/2184 Bhopal – Lucknow Junction Express from Bi-weekly to Tri-weekly
6. 7091/7092 Secunderabad – Patna Express from Bi-weekly to Daily
7. 2739/2740 Secunderabad – Vishakhapatnam Garib Rath Express from 4 days to Daily
8. 2111/2112 Amravati – Mumbai Amravati Express from Tri-weekly to Daily
9. 2149/2150 Pune – Patna Express from 4 days a week to Daily
10. 2957/2958 Ahmedabad – New Delhi Rajdhani Express from 6 days to Daily
11. 2947/2948 Ahmedabad–Patna Azimabad Express from Bi-weekly to Tri-weekly
12. 2887/2888 Puri – Howrah Express from weekly to Bi-weekly
13. 2487/2488 Jogbani – Delhi Seemanchal Express from 5 days to 6 days a week
14. 2823/2824 Nizammudin-Durg Chattisgarh Sampark Kranti from 2 days to 3 days a week

Gauge Conversion

1.  Khijadia – Amreli – Junagarh
2.  Champaner – Pani Mines
3.  Chhuchhapura –Tanakhla with extention to Rajpipla

Doubling of Rail Lines

1.   Hospet – Swamihalli
2.   Tornagallu – Ranjitpura
3.   Bandikui – Alwar
4.   Ajmer – Palanpur
5.   Tinpahar–Bhagalpur
6.   Anand Vihar – Tilak Bridge 3rd & 4th line
7.   Dangoaposi – Pandrasali 3rd line
8.   Katwa – Farakka

New Lines Surveys

1.   Ringus – Didwana via Khatu Shyamji
2.   Islampur – Manpur via Khijar Sarai/Sarbhada
3.   Bakulha- Belthara Road
4.   Bihariganj – Forbesganj via Muraliganj, Kumarkhand, Chhatapur
5.   Piduguralla – Narasaraopet
6.   Madhepura -Virpur via Singheshwar, Pipra, Triveniganj
7.   Botad – Jasdan via Gondal
8.   Bihariganj – Naugachia via Udakishunganj, Puraini, Chausa
9.   Samdari – Phalodi
10.   Burhwal – Bahraich
11.   Areraj – Narkatiaganj via Lauria
12.   Lalganj – Faizabad via Akbarganj, Maharajganj and Rae Bareilly
13.   Parasnath – Madhuban
14.   Dheng – Sonbarsa via Majorganj, Kanhauli

Source:New Delhi (PTI)

Popularity: 6% [?]