Split (1)

train · 2.59M rows

text stringlengths 12 37.3k
United Western could no longer get its act together. Its expenses rose with the rising wage cost and increasing demands of its 3,000-plus employees affiliated to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh. Business continued to suffer. That led to losses in 2005, 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 and a steady erosion in capital and reserves.
P N Joshi, who had been at the helm of affairs for 10 years (between 1991 and October 2000) blames the "indifferent board of directors and incapable leadership" for the downfall of the bank. "The rights issue was planned in 2000 to infuse capital but it could happen only in 2005. Still the bank could not be saved," says an emotional Joshi.
Satish Marathe, who was made CEO of the bank in December 2002 and saw it through the troubled times till July this year when he resigned, refuses to accept the blame.
Marathe, known for his RSS connections (he was the all India treasurer of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in the 1970s and spent 14 months in jail under MISA), says politics never played a role in the bank. "I don't accept that the bank has failed. We have consolidated... We did not have the capital but if we were given more time we would have raised it," he says.
According to him, rising bond yield made a dent in the bank's treasury income. This, coupled with higher wage cost and the introduction of graded provisioning by the Reserve Bank for sticky assets, affected Western United's bottomline. "When you don't have capital, you cannot grow assets, so how will you generate income?" asks Marathe.
Indirectly, he blames the Reserve Bank of India for rejecting a proposal of capital infusion by a group of investors led by investment banker Udayan Bose.
The bank board submitted the proposal in January. A few Pune-based industrialists were part of the team but at least two of them backed out later. This could be one of the reasons behind the Reserve Bank's rejection of the proposal.
There was another proposal from entrepreneur and politician Vijay Kalantri for acquiring 35 per cent stake in the bank for Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion). Kalantri spearheaded the bid through his business entities under the Balaji group banner but the United Western Bank board did not take it up with the Reserve Bank of India.
Joshi also blames the regulator for being "insensitive" to smaller banks. "It wants only larger banks. Otherwise how would you explain its demand of Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) net worth from Ganesh Bank of Kurundwad which had a deposit base of Rs 217 crore (Rs 2.17 billion). It has been holding monthly meetings on United Western for so many years. What did it finally do? You don't kill somebody who has gangrene in one limb -- you can always amputate the limb," says the former CEO of United Western Bank.
Anand Sinha, executive director of the Reserve Bank, defends its decision saying the bank was placed under monthly monitoring from June 2001 on account of its poor financials and especially high non-performing assets.
The central bank issued 13 directions on January 27, 2003, relating to maintenance of capital adequacy ratio, reduction of high cost deposits, reduction of non-performing assets, restriction on opening of branches and so on.
According to Sinha, the Reserve Bank repeatedly advised United Western Bank to take steps to pump in fresh capital but it was unable to come up with any credible plan.
Under the Reserve Bank norms it must have 9 per cent capital adequacy ratio but after posting a net loss of Rs 6.08 crore (Rs 60.8 million) for the quarter ended June 30 this year, the bank's capital adequacy ratio turned negative to -- 0.3 per cent.
The Reserve Bank issued the final warning on January 9 and a meeting was held on January 19 where the Udayan Bose proposal was rejected.
United Western's failure to find a partner for capital infusion conforming to the Reserve Bank's 'fit and proper' promoter criterion put the last nail on the coffin of United Western.
However, those who have been keeping a close watch on the bank say United Western's funeral pyre was lit on August 7, 2000. Its pall-bearers? The rival factions of shareholders who held separate meetings at the Kanishka and Lotus halls at Satara. . .
Reserve Bank of India unveils a draft scheme to merge the Kerala-based Nedundagdi with public sector Punjab National Bank after putting it under moratorium for three months.
Nedungadi was guilty of violating arbitrage norms. It wanted to make a killing on the price differences of shares on the BSE and NSE an activity forbidden by the regulator. A string of brokers were holding a substantial stake in the bank which had given loans to companies fronted by the brokers.
Reserve Bank of India announces merger of Global Trust Bank with Oriental Bank of Commerce, 48 hours after imposing a moratorium on the beleaguered new private bank.
Ramesh Gelli, one of the promoters of the bank, blames the 2001 stock market fall and violations of internal procedures in sanctions for the collapse of the bank.
Oriental Bank of Commerce chairman B D Narang says he will be able to recover 40-45 per cent of the Rs 1,500 crore non-performing assets of Global Trust Bank within 12 months. Oriental Bank of Commerce gets 104 branches and 275 ATMs besides 1,200 employees and an asset book of Rs 6,800 crore. Gelli says his career as a banker is over.
The boards of Bank of Punjab and Centurion Bank meet separately to approve the merger of the two to create Centurion Bank of Punjab. The merger gives Centurion access to 120 branches in the north and takes its total branch network to 220 and asset base to Rs 10,000 crore.
The Reserve Bank of India announces an amalgamation scheme for merging a family-controlled western Maharashtra-based Ganesh Bank of Kurundwad with Federal Bank.
The Aluva-based Federal Bank is willing to pump in Rs 30 crore capital into Ganesh Bank from its Rs 657 crore reserves as it will give it greater exposure to Maharashtra and help build agriculture loan portfolio. Ganesh Bank's net worth turned negative to Rs 3.05 crore. On August 30, Supreme Court clears the deal which was challenged by a section of the promoters.
The Indian Overseas Bank board clears a proposal to buy 70 per cent stake of six banks in Bharat Overseas Bank to take over the old private bank in which it was holding 30 per cent stake.
The six banks are Bank of Rajasthan, Vysya Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, Federal Bank, South Indian Bank and Karnataka Bank. This is the first instance of an old private bank being taken over by a PSU bank without the moratorium route.
Centurion Bank of Punjab and Lord Krishna Bank announce their merger. Mohan Puri, who was holding 65 per cent in Lord Krishna Bank, had been under pressure from the Reserve Bank to bring down his stake.
On an earlier occasion, it entered into an MoU with Federal Bank for stake sale but the deal did not materialise on serious differences on valuation. With this, Centurion Bank of Punjab's asset base rises close to Rs 16,000 crore.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – A team of five undergraduate students in the University at Buffalo School of Management will share a $1,000 prize as winners of the 10th annual Challenge, the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) case competition.
Alex Killian, Philip Silvestri and Jonathan Voyzey of Grand Island, Spencer Gates of Kenmore and Josh Seward of Webster comprised the winning team.
Sponsored by PwC, Challenge is intended to help accounting students hone their analytical, problem solving and teamwork skills by proposing solutions to a real-world business challenge.
This year’s case involved the role of accounting consultants in helping a firm to evaluate sustainability for a new project.
Twelve teams representing 60 students took part in the competition on Nov. 1 on UB’s North Campus. Each five-member team was assigned faculty coaches and a PwC mentor.
Muriel Anderson and Ann Cohen, adjunct professors in the School of Management, were the winning team’s faculty coaches. Ryan Walter, assurance experienced associate, was the winning team’s PwC mentor.
The teams had two weeks to conduct research and develop a 12-minute case analysis, which they presented to a panel of PwC judges. This year’s judges were Keith Belote, assurance partner, Eric Chapman, assurance senior associate, Anetta Hendershot, assurance senior manager, and Everett Pefley, assurance manager.
Nathanael Carbrey, assurance experienced associate, was the PwC Challenge coordinator. Also contributing to the competition was Mark Bruno, human resources sourcing leader.
The winning team has advanced to the next round of the competition, where a video of their presentation will be judged against submissions from 50 other business schools nationwide. PricewaterhouseCoopers will select five of the teams as finalists and invite them to present at the New York City PwC office in January.
Nielsen, in blue, stands next to acting deputy secretary Claire Grady, who has also departed.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees are struggling to communicate from the agency’s brand new headquarters in southeast Washington DC, because cell phone reception in the area is spotty.
Even as Donald Trump appears to be dismantling the DHS by firing or forcing out top officials, the agency’s long-planned, approximately $5 billion new headquarters officially opened on April 10. Kirstjen Nielsen, the outgoing secretary, cut the opening ribbon, flanked by other DHS senior leaders who were also on their way out, including acting deputy secretary Claire Grady and Secret Service head Randolph “Tex” Alles.
About 14,000 DHS employees are in the process of moving from around Washington, DC to the west side of “St. Elizabeths campus,” the site of a former psychiatric hospital that sits across the Anacostia River from the US Capitol and has been mostly unused since 2003. In recent days, Quartz has had several conversations with DHS employees at the new headquarters who struggled to find decent cell phone reception.
Cell phone reception and data transmission is a problem in many DC federal buildings that were built generations ago. The Department of Defense’s headquarters in the Pentagon, opened in 1941, has such thick walls that there’s no cell phone reception through most of the building; the Department of Justice headquarters, completed in 1935, has similar issues in many areas.
The federal government says the DHS move to St. Elizabeths is “largest construction project in the Washington metropolitan area since the Pentagon was built during World War II.” The project began more than a dozen years ago, in 2006, when Congress allocated money to the DHS for that purpose. By 2014, the project was $1.5 billion over budget and as much as a decade behind schedule, according to a Government Accounting Office report.
The project includes preserving the facade of several historical buildings, including the pre-Civil War, Gothic Revival-style “Center Building” designed by the original architect of the Capitol, Thomas U. Walter. The building, which was used for exterior shots in the movie A Few Good Men, was gutted in the renovation.
The 220,000-employee DHS, which has an annual budget of nearly $50 billion, was created in the aftermath of the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to address the US intelligence, immigration, and aviation security failures that allowed 19 militants, mostly from Saudi Arabia, to hijack US planes and kill nearly 3,000 people. The fact that it’s hard to communicate with the outside world from its new, costly headquarters could give fuel to ongoing questions about whether the agency is focused on its national security remit.
T-mobile’s coverage map says it has “good signal” in the area that includes “cell reception outdoors, in most homes, and in some big buildings;” AT&T’s mobile coverage map says the entire area is covered by 4G LTE service. It is possible the coverage problem could be inside the DHS headquarters building.
GREENBURGH, N.Y. - Michal Rozsival may not get a reprieve from the Garden boo-birds Wednesday night. He may not get a pass from the home crowd anytime soon, for Rangers fans have strong memories of every misplay from their squad.
But even the most virulent boo-bird on hand for tonight's game against the Panthers might admit that Rozsival, an underachiever for much of the early part of the season, has lately shown what a steady, positive presence he can be.
It's not just the three assists in his last three games, all wins for the Rangers. Rozsival has been carrying a big load of ice time among the younger defensemen, pairing with Marc Staal to be the go-to duo for most even-strength and shorthanded situations.
"He's played in a lot of different situations and he keeps getting those situations because he's responded," John Tortorella said after Rozsival and most of the other regulars took the day off Tuesday, with just a dozen players skating at the MSG Training Center here. "[He needs to] come back and do it again. That's the key for us as individual players and a team."
Rozsival didn't get benched like fellow veteran Wade Redden did last week, but Rozsival was certainly among the older players put on notice by the coach, who wanted to end what he thought was a "sense of entitlement" for playing time. Rozsival, the longest-tenured Rangers player, has had some good moments for the team, but not too many since Tortorella arrived in February.
Part of Rozsival's increased minutes have come from power-play duty, though Ales Kotalik returned to his right point spot in Monday's 3-1 win over the Hurricanes. "We thought he was doing some things pretty well away from the puck," Tortorella said of Rozsival. "We gave him some opportunity on the power play, he does a good job, so we keep giving it to him."
The Rangers need Rozsival and the rest of the squad going strong to snap a three-game Garden losing streak Wednesday night.
Notes & quotes: Henrik Lundqvist, who did not skate Tuesday, will make his 10th straight start tonight . . . Among the players who skated, Brian Boyle and Brandon Dubinsky, engaged in a brief scrap and had to be separated by assistant coach-GM Jim Schoenfeld. "Just a friendly moment between brothers," Dubinsky announced to reporters.
Nintendo has revealed new information about Luigi's Mansion 2 launching exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems in March. Luigi stumbles through multiple mansions to capture ghosts and solve puzzles armed with his trusty ghost-catching vacuum cleaner, the Poltergust 5000, and in a series first, this is one of the Super Mario games that will feature a local and online multiplayer mode.
The game is a fully-fledged sequel to the Nintendo GameCube title that first put forth Luigi as the reluctant hero, battling his own nerves and a bevy of ghosts on a mission to save his brother Mario from a haunted mansion. On Nintendo 3DS Luigi will face an even greater challenge for solo players to enjoy in addition to the multiplayer.
Up to four players* can join up and journey into the Scarescraper jam-packed with paranormal creatures. In Hunter Mode, each player controls a different colour Luigi and is challenged to hunt down ghosts and use effective teamwork to clear each floor of the tower before the clock strikes zero. Bonuses and upgrades can be earned depending on how well the team performs, helping to get the ghost-hunting team to the boss battles awaiting at the top of each tower. Players can choose the number of floors in this mode ranging from 5, 10 or 25. They can also adjust the difficulty to cater to both new and veteran gamers. Fallen players can even be revived by their teammates to keep the adventure going.
Luigi's Mansion 2 will be available across Europe in March 2013 exclusively for Nintendo 3DS and will be available both at retail and as a digital download from Nintendo eShop.
*Additional systems and games may be needed for multiplayer mode and are sold separately.
A handful of lottery picks from the 2017 NBA draft have struggled to meet expectations by 2019.
These sophomores have been disappointing, either based on the bars that were set by their draft slots, rough rookie seasons that called for improvement or impressive first years that hinted at bigger second ones to follow.
As a result of minimal development, the height of their perceived ceilings has suddenly dropped.
The value of these players' second contracts could be in jeopardy if they don't start to make adjustments soon.
Long-term potential earned Frank Ntilikina a pass last year after he averaged just 5.9 points and 3.2 assists per game on 36.4 percent shooting.
Based on the first 34 games of his sophomore season, the expiration date on that pass has been moved up. He's shooting worse this year from the field (34.9 percent) and the three-point arc (30.0 percent) while averaging 6.2 points and 2.6 assists in roughly the same amount of minutes per game (21.7).
He's the only NBA player with at least 20 minutes per game and a true shooting percentage of under 45 in back-to-back seasons.
Converting 50.0 percent of his shots at the rim and 42.9 percent inside 10 feet, Ntilikina has limited explosiveness that continues to hold him back. He's also shown no improvement as a shot-creator, and if he's not making his catch-and-shoot opportunities, he's of little use offensively.
He loses confidence too easily, which becomes obvious when he's passing up open shots. He'll go stretches without looking at the rim or trying to make a play off the dribble.
Even Ntilikina's defense, which is still considered to be his NBA moneymaker, has looked suspect at times in terms of containing dribble penetration.
The New York Knicks will have a tough call at the Feb. 7 trade deadline. On one hand, his value is low, given the recent DNPs (did not play) and no improvement. He's also just 20 years old with a potentially valuable skill set as a combo who can guard multiple positions.
Either way, New York's front office can't be thrilled with Ntilikina's lack of development and aggressiveness 112 games into his career.
Marginal improvement isn't enough for Malik Monk to avoid the disappointment label, given his draft slot and poor rookie season.
He's still shooting 39.3 percent from the floor and is unable to find consistency with his jumper, the supposed top weapon in his bag.
Valued for his scoring at the University of Kentucky, the 2017 No. 11 pick is making just 0.9 of his 3.1 pull-ups per game (30.4 percent), 37.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot chances and 33.3 percent of his threes.
He's also been prone to poor decision-making, and Charlotte Hornets head coach James Borrego has limited his minutes at times, presumably because of his defense, which ranks 90th out of 99 2-guards in defensive real plus-minus, per ESPN.
Monk can catch fire at any moment, and chances are he still has explosive scoring outbursts up his sleeve. But his erratic play has been too frustrating for a lottery pick in his second season.
After Josh Jackson averaged over 17.0 points and shot near 45.0 percent in both March and April of last season, the arrow was pointing up heading into Year No. 2.
It's back down again. He's losing minutes to rookie Mikal Bridges, who's No. 24 among NBA small forwards in real plus-minus while Jackson ranks No. 80 of 86.
The 2017 No. 4 pick, one before De'Aaron Fox, the Sacramento Kings' budding star, is shooting just 38.6 percent from the floor, 46.9 percent inside 10 feet, 31.0 percent on pull-ups and 29.1 percent from three. He continues to experience problems shooting and finishing.
While he can score in a variety of ways, there isn't one he can bank on every game, leading to frustrating inconsistency for a player averaging 2.1assists to 2.3 turnovers.
Jackson also turns 22 next month, making him a year older than the other one-and-done lottery picks from his draft class.
Dennis Smith Jr. hasn't played poorly, but this isn't the breakout his rookie season suggested was coming.
He's averaging fewer points (13.0) and assists (3.9) as a sophomore alongside Luka Doncic and has been unable to optimize his offensive skill set while sharing the ball.
The Dallas Mavericks are scoring 10.4 more points per 100 possessions when Smith is off the floor.
While his jumper has shown signs of improvement, it still hasn't been reliable. He's also struggled figuring out how to maximize his athleticism on drives, making 50.5 percent of his attempts and only getting to the free-throw line 0.8 times on them per game. That's fewer than 36-year-old Tony Parker's averages.
Smith isn't doing himself any favors from the stripe, either, where he's shooting 67.7 percent, the second consecutive season he's below 70 percent.
His playmaking efficiency, a weakness dating back to North Carolina State, has also been troubling. He's the only NBA guard (since 2014) playing at least 25 minutes with an assist percentage below 25 percent and a turnover percentage above 20 percent.
An early wrist injury didn't make it easier to build or sustain rhythm. Still, expectations were higher for Smith in Year 2 after putting up 15.2 points and 5.2 assists last season.
Suddenly, it's at least worth questioning whether he fits into the Mavericks' long-term plans, given Doncic's start, obvious potential and the likelihood the offense will continue to run through him.
If Markelle Fultz's redemption story is to be written, it won't happen this year. He left the team after 19 games and a possibility of losing the backup point guard job.
Regardless of where the blame falls—bad luck, the Philadelphia 76ers front office and coaching staff, Fultz's communication—the result has led to one of the most disappointing NBA storylines in recent memory.
It took until December of his second year for a diagnosis (thoracic outlet syndrome) to be made on the shoulder that's forced Fultz, a 41.3 percent three-point shooter in college, to drastically revamp his jump shot and practically stop attempting it altogether.
He's being re-evaluated next week, per the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey. And ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Fultz's agent expects his client to play again this season.
Now it's just wait-and-see time for the Sixers and the 2017 No. 1 overall pick who was averaging 8.2 points and 3.1 assists in his second NBA season.
We’ll also use this space to post daily Royals lineups, news updates and other information that Royals followers will find indispensable.
In coming weeks, we’ll also be launching a new dedicated Royals app called TRUE BLUE. This free app will be your one-stop source for everything Royals: all of The Star’s current Royals content, from stories, stats, blogs, photos and video, plus new features that you’ll only find on TRUE BLUE.
So stay tuned for more details, and get ready for another exciting season.
Sign up for our Royals newsletter here.
Spring training is just a few weeks away.
Genetics decide body height and proportions more than sheer determination, and very few people fit the narrow standards imposed by the modeling industry. Though every agency and client has different requirements, for fashion and editorial work, female models are typically 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 11 inches tall and weigh between 110 and 120 pounds. Commercial print modeling has less stringent requirements of 5 feet 6 inches or taller for women and fitting into clothing sample sizes four to six. Given the dangerously low body mass index, 16 to 17, of fashion models with the above proportions, achieving that size is not advisable. Nevertheless, women of all shapes and sizes can improve their appearance to emulate the long, lean look of a model.

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.