Raju FDs in BNP Paribas fake

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Raju FDs in BNP Paribas fake

HYDERABAD: BNP Paribas bank on Tuesday certified that the so called fixed deposits worth more than hundred crore rupees that were shown by Raju and Co of Satyam Computers were indeed fake and that such a money was never deposited with them.

"The fixed deposit receipts and the amounts given in the documents pertaining to their bank, that were seized by the CID last year in the multi-crore Satyam Computers scandal, were all fake," A Sebastian, BNP Paribas bank's Hyderabad branch manager told the local court which is trying the Satyam case.

The sleuths seized confirmation letters from various banks, including ICICI, HSBC, BNP Paribas and City Bank on bank balances and fixed deposits of Satyam Computers that were allegedly used to inflate financiers.

Sebastian told the court that the CBI had approached the BNP Paribas bank to certify genuineness of the set of documents seized (on current account statements, FD receipts and letter heads) and after verification they found the documents were not issued by their bank.

The fixed deposit numbers and the amount given in the documents did not match with the bank records at Hyderabad, but they were shown as issued by the Mumbai branch of BNP Paribas. On verification it was found that the documents did not belong to either Hyderabad branch or to its Mumbai branch and even the balance amount in the accounts did not match either.

The documents including the letter heads contained the Mumbai bank address, and it also had the e-mail ID of former Chief Executive Officer of the bank who in fact had left the bank in 2002. The signatures also did not belong to any of the officials.

The trial court here examined the banker in connection with the alleged fake bank documents and fixed deposit receipts of Satyam Computers Services Limited (SCSL) which the CBI said were forged by Satyam accused.

Satyam firm maintained five current accounts and a fixed deposit at BNP Paribas Hyderabad branch only and they did not have any other account anywhere in India with BNP Paribas, the banker said.

Two of the current accounts were operated by the company in Indian Rupee while the remaining was operated in foreign currency of USD, Euro and Swiss Franks, the bank official said.

However, the defence counsel objected saying how could a Hyderabad branch manager be a witness to the verifications and certifications given by the bank's Mumbai officials and wanted the Mumbai bank official be made as witness. The Magistrate BVLN Chakravarti, asked the CBI to produce the BNP Paribas Mumbai official and posted the matter to November 22 for cross examination.

Government leaves villages wallowing in neglect: report

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Government leaves villages wallowing in neglect: report

The cash-strapped government slashed development spending after summer floods caused nearly $10 billion in damages

NOOR PUR SHAHAN:Less than a kilometer from the sprawling residential complex of Pakistan’s prime minister, villagers have to scrabble for firewood in the dirt if they want a cooked meal.

Noor Pur Shahan is typical of many villages in the country, where supplies of cooking gas, clean water, electricity, classrooms, and also hope for the future, are hard to come by.

Improving government services for millions of increasingly frustrated Pakistanis is critical for bringing economic and political stability to a country the United States sees as an indispensable ally in its global war on militancy.

Many say the current system of governance onl

y benefits Pakistan’s political elite and the wealthy. And it’s one that drives disaffected young men to join Muslim militant groups violently opposed to the government, analysts say.

The administration of President Asif Ali Zardari, like many before it, is accused of being too corrupt and inept to ease widespread hardship. It denies the allegations.

But in Noor Pur Shahan, where goats roam on winding roads beneath lush mountains about 8 km northeast of the capital, these denials ring hollow.

“The government only looks after the rich people,” said Mohammad Aleem, an elderly man with a long white beard, as he clutched his cane.

Conditions are unlikely to improve anytime soon. The cash-strapped government slashed development spending after summer floods caused nearly $10 billion in damages.

Securing reconstruction funds may not be possible unless Pakistan persuades Western donors spending will be transparent and accounted for.

The International Monetary Fund, which has kept the economy afloat since 2008, wants Pakistan to implement politically sensitive economic reforms such as imposing new taxes and eliminating electricity subsidies.

WHERE IS THE AID?

Washington has pumped billions

of dollars into Pakistan since the country joined the U.S. war on militancy after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Little seems to have trickled down to the poor.

In the center of Noor Pur Shahan is a water purification plant inaugurated in 1963 by former Pakistani military leader Ayub Khan. The water largely flows to government offices in Islamabad. That means most residents are deprived of clean supplies.

Mukhtiar Hussain, a worker at the plant for 32 years, says villagers break pipes to steal water for their homes. “Things have gone from bad to worse,” he said.

A spokesman for the Capital Development Authority (CDA) said the government was working on an urban development programme to relocate people from places like Noor Pur Shahan so they can get better services.
Critics accuse the government of neglecting education as well, and warn that social ills will deepen.

At Noor Pur Shahan’s state-funded boys secondary school, over 1,000 students are taught in 12 classrooms.

“There are only 20 computers and one teacher for computer studies,” said principal Iqbal Khan Niazi. The facility has not had clean water for three years. There are no playgrounds.

Umair Akhtar, 18, a villager, believes the army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history, would do a better job running nuclear-armed Pakistan than civilian governments, even though that would hurt the country’s democratic credentials.

He applied for a job in the CDA but says he has “no money to bribe people.”

Pakistan’s government may be too preoccupied with a host of problems to notice the plight of people like him.

It faces stubborn Taliban insurgents who continue to carry out bombings despite army offensives, a possible showdown with the powerful Supreme Court, and relentless US pressure to help stabilise war-ravaged Afghanistan.

For some Pakistanis, God alone is the answer.

“We want to instil the fear of God in the students and want then to follow the life of the holy Prophet Mohammad. That is the answer to all problems,” said Niazi, the village’s school principal. – Reuters

Rumours are never baseless

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Rumours are never baseless

As soon as the Kochi IPL team was formed, everyone in the cricketing circuit started gossiping about how legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has been roped in by the consortium to help them form a very strong team. And since nobody does anything for free these days, some were saying he was being given sweat equity in the team, while others were saying he was being paid a fat salary for giving good cricket gyaan. Don’t know the exact sum the team was planning to pay him, but all those rumours about Gavaskar having a vested interest in the team have been proven right.
Suresh Kalmadi was very angry and threatened to sue newspapers for speculating that the funds allotted for the CWG were being misused. He was most upset with all those corruption rumours. Sadly for him, the truth turned out to be so much uglier than the gossip. Cricketer turned politician MD Azharudin denied there was anything wrong with his marriage to former model Sangeeta Bijlani, but rumours about their marriage being on the rocks proved right after she decided to move into ex-boyfriend Salman Khan’s farmhouse for a bit. In the past, rumours about Kareena Kapoor dumping Shahid Kapoor for Saif, and Shahid hooking up with Priyanka Chopra were also bang on.
Moral of the story is, rumours are never baseless. Yes, we have all heard about the dry ice machine and maybe there can be smoke without fire, but there can seldom be a rumour without some truth to it.
Social Scientist Shiv Vishwanath says rumours shouldn’t be dismissed as idle gossip. “Look at it as a gradient. First comes a rumour, then the gossip, followed by a hypothesis and then the fact.” Vishwanath says gossips are actually intuitive people who know their market and subjects very well. They can smell something in the air, read a person’s body language and cook up all the facts together.
If you are clever you will take the rumour as an early warning and correct yourself, if it’s something uncomplimentary.
Film magazines are filled with rumours, and as much as the stars deny these stories, they are almost always right. “Denial is an anticipation of confirmation says Vishwanath.”
So true. How many stars have denied being in a relationship when they practically live together? And some denied their splits. Everyone talked about how Mahesh Bhupati and Shweta Jaishankar’s marriage was almost over but they denied it. Mahesh was often spotted in the company of other ladies, it’s only when Lara Dutta came into his life did he announce that his marriage with Shweta was over.
Therefore, cricketer Suresh Raina should be careful, because the rumours suggesting that he is close to a lady who has links with bookies, can harm his career. For now, he has the support of BCCI. They’ve rubbished the rumour saying the lady is said to be his manager. But she also manages Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma. Howcome their names were not mentioned? Maybe it’s time Raina gets himself a new agent and becomes a bit more selective about the company he keeps.