JNU students ‘gherao’ admin block over compulsory attendance issue

Agencies
February 16, 2018

Feb 16: JNU student’s today gheraoed the administration block demanding a meeting with the vice-chancellor on the issue of compulsory attendance, and stopped Rectors Chintamani Mahapatra and Rana Pratap Singh from leaving the building. The two rectors could manage to leave the building only after an ambulance arrived there at 11 pm amid reports of some “medical emergency” with Mahapatra. As of now, it was not immediately known where Singh and Mahapatra were taken to.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of students, led by the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), picketed outside all the gates of the building and confronted and stopped senior university officials who tried to go out. Vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar was in his office.

In a statement, Registrar Pramod Kumar earlier said Mahapatra was feeling unwell and asked the students to disperse. The students demanded the administration revoke the compulsory 75 per cent attendance required in an academic year for availing of scholarships and fellowships, and convene a meeting of the Academic Council which was postponed indefinitely.

Since 11 AM, a group of students performed skits and mimes and sang songs near the main entrance of the administration block. Security guards were deployed to block the students’ entry into the building. A human chain was also formed around the building.

“We are just following UGC guidelines not JNU guidelines. Students have all the right to protest as they feel it is injustice according to them. Ask anyone about compulsory attendance, they will say it is needed,” Chief Proctor Kaushal Kumar, who was gheraoed for nearly two hours, told reporters. Speaking about the attendance ruling, Kumar, who was allowed to leave later said, it was passed with a majority in the Academic Council.

“Though it was not mentioned in the agenda, one of the centres brought up the issue in the Academic Council and the VC said it must be implemented. The JNU works according to statutes and ordinances,” he added. In a letter written to the administration in morning, the JNUSU said, “Students of this university are waiting for the vice-chancellor to have a dialogue with JNUSU representatives.”

“There has been no call to lay siege to the administration building. All administrative works have been going on without any obstruction,” JNUSU joint secretary Shubhanshu Singh said, adding the gherao would continue till the vice chancellor met the students. Rector-1 Mahapatra, when he was stopped by the students from going out, had earlier said he could not take a decision on the matter in individual capacity and that there would be dialogue with the students.

Registrar Pramod Kumar in the statement requested the students to disperse citing age, job responsibilities of the officials who were gheraoed. “The administration has repeatedly requested the students to let the officials go out. Now the Rector-1 is feeling giddy and may require medical attention. The students are also protesting at the top of their voice and beating drums and obstructing the functioning of the varsity,” he said in the statement.

After the statement was issued, the JNUSU called in an ambulance to treat Mahapatra’s medical emergency but refused to disperse. JNUSU President Geeta Kumari said until the students meet the Vice Chancellor and their demands are met they will remain there.

Calling the gherao an “illegal confinement”, a group of professors sat on a dharna after they were not allowed to go in to let their colleagues out. The students raised slogans against the professors. University Director R&D Rupesh Chaturvedi had said, “We will be going to the administrative building to free the rectors if we are not allowed to do that we will sit on dharna.”

When the two rectors came out, the group of professors surrounded the two officials and helped them leave in the ambulance. The students’ protest was on till reports last came in.

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News Network
March 6,2020

New Delhi, Mar 6: As panicky depositors rushed to withdraw money from Yes Bank whose control was seized by the RBI in a dramatic late-night move, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday assured depositors that their money is safe and said the central bank was working for an early resolution of the crisis.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday evening capped withdrawals at Rs 50,000 for the next one month and imposed strict limits on operations at the country's fourth-largest private lender that faced "regular outflow of liquidity" after an effort to raise new capital failed.

"I am in continuous interaction with the RBI. The RBI is fully seized of the matter and has assured they will give a quick resolution," Sitharaman said here.

She said no depositor will lose his or her money and insisted that the immediate priority is to ensure Yes Bank customers are able to withdraw money within the stipulated cap.

"I want to assure every depositor that their money shall be safe. Their monies are safe," she said. "I am constantly in contact with the RBI and the steps that are taken are taken in the interest of depositors, banks and economy. We are fully seized of the development."

She was talking to reporters after meeting State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar. On Thursday, the SBI board gave its "in-principle" approval to exploring investment opportunities in Yes Bank.

"So I repeat, the depositors can be assured that their money is safe," she said.

Soon after the RBI takeover, depositors thronged Yes Bank ATMs to withdraw money and police had to be deployed in some places to control the crowds.

Yes Bank has 1,000 branches across the country.

Refusing to elaborate on her meeting with the SBI chairman, the minister said that "was on a completely different matter".

"RBI governor has given me assurance that there will be an appropriate resolution soon. No depositor will lose (money)," she said. "Reserve Bank has taken cognizance of the problem."

The central bank, she said, has gone through the "process over and over again to find out an amicable solution".

"And that has been over the last couple of months. So it is not as if they have come in suddenly now. We have been monitoring the situation," she said adding the RBI has appointed an administrator who previously was with the SBI.

"Both the RBI and the government are looking at this with all the details before them, not just today. I have personally monitored the situation over the last couple of months with the RBI. Therefore we have taken a course which will be in everybody's interest," she added.

Yes Bank had been seeking new capital since last year to bolster its ratios and quell questions about its stability due to its exposure to the non-banking finance industry entangled in a prolonged crunch in the local credit market.

The SBI chairman said the resolution to the Yes Bank crisis will come "very shortly".

"This is not a sectoral problem. It is a bank-specific problem," he said. "The RBI will take all steps to ensure financial stability."

On SBI picking up a stake in Yes Bank, he said the lender already has an in-principle approval for doing so.

"If SBI has to pick up a stake in Yes Bank, we have an in-principle approval for that," he said.

Commenting on the crisis at Yes Bank, Alka Anbarasu, Vice President – Senior Credit Officer, Financial Institutions, Moody's Investors Service, said: "RBI's moratorium on Yes Bank is credit negative as it affects timely repayment of bank depositors and creditors."

"While Moody's expects Indian authorities will take steps to prevent the weakness in the bank's viability from significantly impacting its depositors and senior creditors, the lack of a coordinated and timely action highlights continued uncertainty around bank resolutions in India," she said.

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News Network
May 28,2020

May 28: Boeing is cutting more than 12,000 jobs through layoffs and buyouts as the coronavirus pandemic seizes the travel industry, and more cuts are coming.

One of the nation's biggest manufacturers will lay off 6,770 U.S. employees this week, and another 5,520 workers are taking buyout offers to leave voluntarily in the coming wee

Air travel within the U.S. tumbled 96% by mid-April, to fewer than 100,000 people on some days. It has recovered slightly. The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 264,843 people at airports on Tuesday, a drop of 89% compared with the same Tuesday a year ago.

Boeing had said it would cut 10% of a work force that numbered about 160,000. A Boeing spokesperson said Wednesday's actions represent the largest number of job cuts, but several thousand additional jobs will be eliminated in the next few months.

The layoffs are expected to be concentrated in the Seattle area, home to Boeing's commercial-airplanes business. The defense and space division is stable and will help blunt the impact of the decline in air travel and demand for passenger jets, the company said.

Boeing said additional job cuts will be made in international locations, but it did not specify numbers.

"The COVID-19 pandemic's devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices," CEO David Calhoun said Wednesday in a memo to employees.

Calhoun said the company faces the challenges of keeping employees safe and working with suppliers and airlines "to assure the traveling public that it can fly safe from infection."

Calhoun warned that Boeing will have to adjust business plans constantly because the pandemic makes it hard to predict the impact on the company's business.

Boeing's crisis began with two crashes of its 737 Max, which led regulators around the world to ground the jetliner last year. The company's problems have deepened with the coronavirus, which has cut global air traffic by up to 90% and caused airlines to postpone or cancel orders and deliveries for new planes.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Aurangabad, Jan 29: Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating a conflict between Hindu and Muslim communities in the country, former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar has said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was adding fuel to the fire.

He was speaking at a rally held on Tuesday at Pathri in Parbhani district of Maharashtra against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It was organised by NCP MLC Abdullah Durrani.

"Modi and Shah used to create conflicts between Hindus and Muslims during the Gujarat elections. Now they are adopting the same strategy in the country," Kumar alleged.

Citizens should keep the religious conflicts aside and question the present government about unemployment and the poor state of the economy, he said.

"Through the CAA, the government is adding fuel to the fire, which is already raging in the country," he alleged.

When anyone questions the government about the problems existing in the country, it in turn asks him about his citizenship, the former JNUSU leader alleged.

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