50 new branches of United Bank inaugurated in Assam
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has inaugurated 50 new branches of United Bank of India electronically at a function held here. Lauding the initiative of United Bank of India, Gogoi hoped that opening of new branches will usher a new era in the growth and development of Assam. The Chief Minister said the effort put by the bank to open branches in remote rural areas in the state would benefit the underprivileged population of the state to reap benefit of various banking facilities including credit, according to a statement issued here on Saturday. In her address, Chairperson and Managing Director of United Bank Archana Bhargava highlighted the journey of the Kolkata headquartered bank since its first step in 1933 through Comilla Banking Corporation, which subsequently amalgamated to become United Bank of India. She unveiled bank’s plan for further expansion of branch network by opening six more branches in addition to 50 branches opened. Soon, bank’s total network of branches will go up to 250 in Assam. The United Bank will open one more regional office at Tezpur in addition to existing five regional offices at Guwahati, Nagaon, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh and Silchar. Bhargava informed that the United Bank has already crossed Rs 2 lakh crore of business and is going to cross 2000 Branch network strength this fiscal. The role of the bank in financing Assam’s tea industry was also highlighted for which the bank earned the acronym “Tea Bank”. The new branches have mobilised business of Rs 46 crore on the opening day. Hiranya Borah, director of the bank, highlighted the role played by the bank to cater to the banking needs of rural populace of the state. (PTI)
5534 street children live in Guwahati, says a survey
Guwahati: A total of 5534 street children live in Guwahati, the Gateway to the North East, with the majority being in the age group of 12-17 years, a survey conducted by an NGO said. Of them, 80.5 per cent are boys, according to the study report released here today. Majority of the children were in the age group of 10 years and above, with those in the age bracket of 10-14 years constituting close to half of the street children surveyed. About 60 per cent of the children’s place of origin was Assam followed by West Benagl at 31.1 per cent, the survey pointed out. A significant 42 per cent of the children had never been to school. Unsafe places such as street and railway platforms were the place of stay for most children with no education, it said. There was a significant association between education and place of stay of street children with primary and upper primary educated children mostly living in slums and this attributes to the availability of affordable education close to the slums, the study pointed out. Younger children were largely engaged in rag picking (58 per cent) or in begging (23 per cent) and the older ones were in selling wares or work in shops. Savings behaviour of the children showed that only 21 per cent saved money and a majority of 56.2 per cent tried to finish the money as soon as possible, the study said. (PTI)
Nagaland bags India Today Award for Health & agri sectors
Kohima: Nagaland has received the 11th India Today Award for the, ‘The Best Performing Small State Category in Health and Agriculture’. The ceremony was held at New Delhi’s Hyatt Regency Hotel yesterday, where Union Minister for Urban Development Jairam Ramesh gave away the award. Official sources said on Saturday that Nagaland Minister for Road & Bridges and Parliamentary Affairs, Kuzholuzo Neinu and Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Dr Benjongliba Aier received the award. Principal secretary Rajiv Bansal, Resident Commissioner, Nagaland House, Joyti Kalash and others attended the ceremony. Speaking at the ceremony, Ramesh said every state in India has a good story to tell and has something noteworthy which other states can learn from. He said, “we had been talking of inter-state disparity but must also consider intra-state disparity as many developed states have underdeveloped pockets while a few underdeveloped states too have something to show in some area.” Ramesh said while Gujarat had a fine economic model, Kerala had progressed a lot on the social front. The key, he said, is to combine phenomenal economic growth with social development. He said Tamil Nadu exemplified the merger of economic and social growth. Ramesh also said there was a consensus in Indian politics on welfare programmes as no government had dismantled the welfare schemes started by its predecessor. He said the development in a state is more due to the governance system than a particular leader or a political party. He said it had used objective data and there was nothing subjective about it, sources said. (UNI)