Print and Electronic Media Standards and Regulation Bill, 2012

New Delhi, May 1 2012: Congress in its brief has distanced itself from a private member's bill tabled by party MP Meenakshi Natarajan saying it contained her personal views and not those of Rahul Gandhi with whom she is considered close. "The bill was based on her (Natarajan's) views. These are not not the views of Rahul Gandhi. Neither are these his views or nor has she got his consent to this bill," PTI reports Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters here. Dwivedi's clarification comes on media reports that Natarajan was to introduce in Lok Sabha last week The Print and Electronic Media Standards and Regulation Bill, 2012 which could not not take place because she was absent when called. The bill provides among others things for a regulatory authority with sweeping powers including a ban or suspending coverage of an event or incident that may pose a threat to national security from foreign or internal sources. It even provides for a fine of up to Rs. 50 lakh, suspension of a media organisation's licence for up to 11 months and cancellation in some cases. Natarajan, a first-time MP representing Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, is an AICC Secretary and is a member of Rahul Gandhi's core team of youth leaders for building the party.
Congress MP Bill out to gag media.
Mint report said,Ambika Soni and Manish Tewari said that the Bill may not reflect the party’s or the government’s views and that “three Congress leaders, including a cabinet minister, said the proposed law embarrassed the party.” Mint further states likelihood of the bill passing in perspective.

 “According to PRS Legislative Research, a non-profit organization focused on pending legislation, no private members’ Bill has been passed by Parliament since 1970. Of the about 300 private members’ Bills introduced in the 14th Lok Sabha, barely 4% were discussed; 96% lapsed without even a single debate in the House,” it said.

Print and Electronic Media Standards and Regulation salient features are:-
Regulatory authority to be notified by the central government; exempt from RTI; can ban coverage of an even:
* Selection committee to have three members selected by the central government
* Among “standards”: “prohibition of reporting of any news item based in unverified and dubious material”; “prohibition of publication or broadcast of any material that is defamatory; clear “segregation of opinions from facts”; prohibition of reporting a news item which is obscene, vulgar or “offensive”
* Power to “search and seize” any document “kept secretly at some secluded place”. Authority can suspend operations of the media organisation for a period of up to 11 months
* No civil court will have jurisdiction of any matter which the Authority is empowered to determine

On Safety of North East students _Dr Mukul Sangma CM Meghalaya

SC reserves order on Mayawati's plea in DA case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on BSP supremo Mayawati's plea challenging a CBI probe against her in an alleged disproportionate assets case.

A bench headed by P Sathasivam on Tuesday reserved its order after two-hour-long hearing during which the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister accused the CBI for fixing the disproportionate assets (DA) case against her, a charge refuted by the agency.

Mayawati had filed a petition in May 2008 seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings against her in the DA case lodged by the CBI over eight years ago, alleging it was an act of political vendetta.

Mayawati's counsel had said the bench should direct the CBI to consider the aspect of order passed by the Income Tax Tribunal holding that her income was genuine.

The order had also been upheld by the Delhi High Court, he had pointed out. The CBI, during earlier hearings, had said there was "ample evidence" to show that she had amassed wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income.

She had claimed she had received the money through donations from party workers. Questioning Mayawati's assets, the CBI had said that her declared assets of Rs one crore in 2003 had gone up to Rs 50 crore in 2007.

The CBI, in its last affidavit filed on 13^th September 2011, had alleged there was a "criminal nexus" between Mayawati and her relatives and the disproportionate assets case against her cannot be closed on the basis of conclusions arrived at by the Income Tax Department.

The agency had rejected Mayawati's stand that the DA case should come to an end after the income tax authorities had accepted her income tax assessments.

Oriental Bank of Commerce Annual results 2011-12

                                                                                                         

                                                                                                   

Oriental Bank of Commerce: FINANCIAL – RESULTS FOR YEAR 2011-12

By sagarmedia on May 1, 2012 | Edit

Oriental Bank of Commerce, a leading Public Sector Bank with Total Business Mix of Rs.2,69,000 crore with a total customer base of more than 18.25 millions. The Bank has a Branch Network of 1730 Branches 22 Extension Counters and 1251 ATMs all over India.Shri Pranab Mukherjee Hon’ble Finance Minister, Govt. of India had inaugurated Feb 2012 Bank’sonly Public Sector Bank having its Corporate Office in the State of Haryana & Hon’ble Finance Minister inaugurated an E-Lobby in the same premises. This State of Art unmanned E-Lobby provide wide ranging 24×7 Banking facilities to its customers on a self-service basis which includes: All ATM Services including Cash Withdrawal, Balance Inquiry, Mini Statement, Pin Change, Funds Transfer, Income Tax Payment, Cheque Status Inquiry, SMS Registration, Stop Payment request, etc.  through ATM by the Bank’s own customers as well as other Banks Customers.Deposit of Cheques and Drafts through the Cheque Deposit Machine which provides acknowledgement for deposit and copy of cheque to the customer.Internet Banking Kiosk for undertaking Internet Banking transactions in the E-Lobby. Coin vending machine for dispensing coins to customers.On 30th April 2012  Oriental Bank of Commerce FINANCIAL – RESULTS FOR THE YEAR 2011-12 were declared in New Delhi at Le Meridien hotel with following details     

                                                                           Amt.                            (YoY Growth) 

                                      Business Mix           Rs. 2,69,000 crore      (14.04%)

                                      Deposits                     Rs. 1,56,000 crore      (12.16%)            

                                      Core Deposits          Rs. 1,13,000 crore      (23.36%)

                                      Advances                  Rs. 1,13,000 crore      (16.74 %)

                                      Customer Base       18.25 million

                                      NET PROFIT             Rs. 1142 crore

CD RATIO AT 72.68%

GROSS NPA AT 3.17%

NET NPA AT 2.21%

Performance Highlights for the Fourth Quarter of FY 2011-12

Ø  Yield on Advances increased by 183 bps (Q4 to Q4) to reach 12.65% from 10.82%.

Ø  Interest Income increased by 30.58% (Q4 to Q4).

Ø  Non Interest Income increased by 14.65% (Q4 to Q4).

Ø  Net Interest Margin (NIM) stood at 2.68%.

Ø  CRAR of the Bank is at 12.69% under BASEL-II (Tier-I Capital: 10.12%; Tier –II Capital: 2.57%).

Ø  100% system driven classification and provisioning of NPAs.

PROFIT

Ø  Net Profit of the Bank stood at Rs.265 crore for Q4 of FY 2011-12 as compared to a profit of Rs.334 crore for Q4 of FY 2010-11 largely due to the provisioning for restructured advances.

Ø  Net Profit for Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012 stood at Rs.1142 crore as compared to a profit of Rs.1503 crore for Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2011.

Ø  Operating Profit of the Bank stood at Rs.754 crore for Q4 of FY 2011-12 as compared to a profit of Rs.843 crore for Q4 of FY 2010-11.

Ø  Operating Profit for Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012 stood at                                 Rs.3141 crore as compared to a profit of Rs.3245 crore for Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2011.

BUSINESS

Ø  Total Business of the Bank increased to Rs.2,69,015 crore as on                            31^st March, 2012 from Rs. 2,35,893 crore as on 31^st March ,2011, registering a YoY growth of 14.04 %.

Ø  Total Deposits increased to Rs.1,55,965 crore as on 31^st March, 2012 from                  Rs.1,39,054 crore as on 31^st March, 2011, registering a YoY growth of 12.16 %.

Ø  Core Deposits increased to Rs.1,12,564 crore as on 31^st March, 2012 from                  Rs.91,246 crore as on 31^st March, 2011, registering a YoY growth of 23.36%.

Ø  Advances of the Bank increased to Rs.1,13,050 crore as on 31^st March, 2012 from Rs.96,839 crore as on 31^st March, 2011, registering a YoY growth of 16.74%.

Ø  CASA Deposit increased by Rs.3480 crore to Rs.37,628 crore from                   Rs.34,148 crore registering a growth of 10.19% (YoY).

Ø  CASA Deposits to Total Deposits at 24.13%.

Ø  Credit Deposit Ratio at 72.68%. 

INCOME

Ø  Total Income during Q4 of FY 2011-12 increased by 29.23% to Rs.4565 crore from Rs.3532 crore in Q4 of FY 2010-11 due to healthy growth of 30.58% in Interest Income which reached Rs.4221 crore.

Ø  Total Income during Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012 increased by 30.71% to Rs.17,055 crore from Rs.13,048 crore in Financial Year ended 31^st  March, 2011 due to healthy growth of 30.83% in Interest Income which reached                  Rs.15,815 crore.

Ø  Non Interest Income during Q4 of FY 2011-12 increased by 14.65% to                        Rs.344 crore from Rs.300 crore in Q4 of FY 2010-11.

Ø  Non Interest Income during Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012 increased by 29.18% to Rs.1240 crore from Rs.960 crore in Financial Year ended                                31^st March, 2011.

Ø  Net Interest Income during Q4 of FY 2011-12 increased by 5.41% to                 Rs.1068 crore from Rs.1013 crore in Q4 of FY 2010-11.

IMPORTANT RATIOS

Ø  Gross NPA ratio stands at 3.17% as at 31^st March, 2012 and Net NPA ratio at         2.21%.

Ø  Provision Coverage Ratio at 61.52%.

Ø  Net Interest Margin (NIM) at 2.68% for Q4 of FY 2011-12 and 2.79% for Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012.

Ø  Return on Assets (RoA) at 0.60% for Q4 of FY 2011-12 and 0.67% for Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012.

Ø  Cost of Deposit is at 7.99% for Q4 of FY 2011-12 and 7.69% for Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012.

Ø  Yield on Advances is at 12.65% for Q4 of FY 2011-12 and 12.16% for Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012.

Ø  Cost to Income Ratio is at 43.67% for Q4 of FY 2011-12 and 42.44% for Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012.

Ø  Book Value Per Share at Rs.361.20 as on 31^st March, 2012 as against                        Rs.325.13 as on 31^st March, 2011.

Ø  CRAR of the Bank is at 12.69% under BASEL-II (Tier-I Capital: 10.12%; Tier –II Capital: 2.57%).

Ø  Business per Branch increased to Rs.151.81 crore from Rs.145.61 crore registering a growth of 4.26 % (YoY).

Ø  Business per Employee increased to Rs.14.62 crore from Rs.14.18 crore registering a growth of 3.12% (YoY).

DELIVERY CHANNELS

Ø  Bank’s Branch Network stood at 1772 Branches with 19 Extension Counters.

Ø  42 Branches have been opened by the Bank during Q4 of FY-2011-12 and                   152 Branches have been opened during Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012.

Ø  Bank Installed 19 New ATMs during Q4 of FY-2011-12. The total number of ATMs as on 31^st March, 2012 stood at 1270 (including 7 Mobile ATMs, 331 offsite ATMs and 6 Biometric ATMs).

Ø  ATM Coverage is at 71.67% vis-à-vis Branch Network.

Ø  6.88 lac ATM Cards were issued during the year taking the total ATM customer base to 32.71 lac.

Ø  4.46 lac internet banking users and 24.81 lac customers availing SMS facility.

Ø  81.40% of eligible cash transactions happening through ATMs.

RETAIL CREDIT

Ø  Retail loans (excluding Indirect Housing) at Rs.11,599 crore  constituted 10.26% of Total Advances and grew by 19.74%(YoY).

o   Vehicle Loan Portfolio grew by 27.33% (YoY) to reach Rs.1171 crore as on 31^st March, 2012 from Rs.920 crore as on 31^st March, 2011.

o   Education loan Portfolio grew by 8.04% (YoY) to reach Rs.1191 crore as on 31^st March, 2012 from Rs.1102 crore as on 31^st March, 2011.

o   Direct Housing loan portfolio grew by 18.79%(YoY) to reach Rs.5290 crore as on 31^st March, 2012 from Rs.4453 crore as on 31^st March,2011 .

 PRIORITY SECTOR

Ø  PS Advances grew by 13.68%(YoY) to Rs.40,527 crore as on 31^st March,2012 from Rs.35,651 crore as on 31^st March,2011 .

o   Agricultural advances grew by 21.15% (YoY) to Rs.15,411 crore as on                    31^st March, 2012 from Rs.12,721 crore as on 31^st March, 2011.

o   Bank issued 35,861 Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) during the Quarter ended                      31st March, 2012 with an amount of Rs. 827 crore. Total number of KCCs as on 31st March, 2012 was 4,22,611 KCCs with an amount of                 Rs.8756 crore.

MICRO, SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

Ø  Number of MSE (Micro & Small Enterprises) Accounts increased to 1,76,978 from 1,69,102 and Bank’s Fund Based exposure under MSE to Rs.17,978 crore from            Rs.15,844 crore thereby registering a growth of Rs.2134 crore i.e. an increase of 13.47% (YoY).

Ø  Number of MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) Accounts increased to 1,78,535 from 1,69,883 and Bank’s Fund Based exposure under MSME to                    Rs.20,127 crore from Rs.17,670 crore thereby registering a growth of                        Rs.2457 crore i.e. an increase of 13.90 % (YoY).

Ø  17 MSME Specialised Branches and 45 MSME focused Branches were functional as on 31^st March, 2012.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION

Ø  82008 NO FRILLS Accounts were opened during Q4 of FY 2011-12 taking the total number of NO FRILLS Accounts to 21,35,299 as on 31^st March,2012 with an outstanding balance of Rs.427.29 crore .

Ø  569 Villages have been allotted to the Bank with population of more than 2000 and all of them (492 Villages through BC Model, 23 through Branch Model & 54 through Mobile Branch Model) have been covered as on 31^st March, 2012.

Ø  Bank has opened 492 Ultra Small Branches during the Year.

Ø  4,38,314 No Frill/ Other Savings Accounts have been opened in 569 covered villages  up to 31^st March, 2012 covering 3,35,038 households.

Ø  1,59,207 Biometric Cards have been issued in FIP allotted villages and 3,02,289 transactions have been done through the same.

HR INITIATIVES

Ø  Bank recruited 439 personnel including 28 Probationary Officers & 13 Specialist Officers during Q4 of FY-2011-12.

Ø  During Financial Year ended 31^st March, 2012, Bank recruited 2249 personnel including 452 Probationary Officers & 311 Specialist Officers.

Ø  Bank plans to recruit 2675 personnel including 400 Probationary Officers & 475 Specialist Officers during FY-2012-13.

 

NEW INITIATIVES

Ø  The Bank has shifted its Corporate Office from New Delhi to Gurgaon. With this, Oriental Bank of Commerce became the only Public Sector Bank having its Corporate Office in the State of Haryana.

Ø  LAUNCH OF ORIENTAL REVERSE MORTGAGE SCHEME: To facilitate particularly group of elderly people, a scheme of reverse mortgage has been launched as a new Retail Credit product with brand name “ORIENTAL REVERSE MORTGAGE SCHEME”. The scheme has been formulated on the basis of operational guidelines received from National Housing Bank.

IT INITIATIVES

Ø  Online Generation of Password through Internet Banking-This feature facilitates our esteemed Net- Banking customers to generate Login and Transaction passwords online, in case they forget them.  Customers have to register online for this facility and follow certain validation checks, before they are permitted to generate the passwords.

Ø  Implementation of 256-bit VeriSign Extended Validation (EV) SSL for Bank’s website

Ø  Implementation of E-payment of VAT for Maharashtra State

Ø  Loans EMI Module in Internet Banking-This new functionality has been recently implemented and allows Retail Net Banking customers to pay Loan EMI installments to their own account or third party loan account

Ø  NREGA-Seamless integration of transfer of NREGA file having accounts maintained by branches of RO Jaipur and RO Sriganganagar through SFTP server and SBBJ server on daily basis around 9.00 AM.

CSR INITIATIVES

Ø  As a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, the Bank has set up a Trust in the name of ‘OBC Rural Development Trust’ on 09.12.2005 for setting up of Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs). The Trust has set up Institutes in five Districts, viz., Jaipur, Sriganganagar, Ferozepur ,Dehradun & Palwal. Since inception, a total of 753 training programmes have been conducted benefiting 25,848 candidates. During the Financial Year 2011-12, 170 training programmes have been conducted benefiting 5236 candidates.

Ø  The Bank has opened 4 Financial Literacy & Credit Counselling (FLCC) Centres in Karnal and Palwal districts of Haryana, Sriganganagar in Rajasthan & Ferozpur in Punjab. A total of 13,418 persons were counseled in these FLCCs, out of which 91 cases were referred for debt restructuring.

Ø  A Project for extending social welfare schemes such as NREGA, Pension, etc. has been launched in 6 Districts viz. Sriganganagar & Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Muktsar in Punjab and Jind in Haryana. A total number of 2,75,766 smart cards have been issued to the beneficiaries in these 6 districts up to 31^st  March,2012.

Ø  The Bank has constructed Sulabh Shouchalaya (Public Toilet) at Village 24 LLW (B) Distt. Hanumangarh Junction, Rajasthan and has made the same available to the entire village. The same was constructed after observing that out of total population of 3039, majority of people belonging to low income group have no access to sanitation facility.

Ø  Ludhiana Region of the Bank identified 31 villages out of 35 allotted villages under Financial Inclusion Plan (FIP) where drinking water is infected and has carcinogenic effect. Under CSR activity, Bank has provided Water Purifier System in 31 villages and in different institutions like Schools, Hospitals, Religious Places etc. to provide safe drinking water to school children, patients and general public.

Ø  In village Sanpera in District Sonepat, Haryana, allotted under FIP, Tricycles to physically handicapped person have been distributed under CSR activity.

Place  : New Delhi

Date   : 30.04.2012

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