Interest rate cut cheers bankers

Mumbai, Oct 22 (ANI): Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Bimal Jalan said on Monday that his mid-year policy review released earlier aimed to provide adequate liquidity and keep interest rates stable, with a preference for softer rates.

"The immediate measure is a cut in the bank rate that is the rate of interest by about half a percent.It is a very substantial cut in the cash reserve ratio, the impact of both these measures is to make money available at cheaper interest rate and for liquidity to be plentiful," he told reporters when asked whether he saw any pressure on rates.

Earlier, the central banks mid-year review of monetary and credit policy for 2001/02 (April-March) cut banks cash reserve ratio (CRR) in two stages to 5.50 percent from 7.5 percent.

The bank rate, used by commercial banks to price their loans, was lowered to 6.5 percent from seven percent.

The RBI said there was limited scope for banks to lower their lending rates, citing large levels of bad loans with banks, their high operating expenses and the returns on small saving schemes as some of the hurdles.

The moves cheered bankers as the RBI had so far held out against the global trend of cutting rates after the September 11 attacks to stave off recession.

"Reduction in bank rate as well as the giving of more interest on bank balances on Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is a welcome step.

Regarding the reduction in CRR, certain big assumptions have been withdrawn.

We have to work out its impact, but I think on the whole it is going to give some liberty to the bank," said S.S.

Kohli, chairman of the Indian Bank Association.

P.S.Shenoy, chairman, Bank of Baroda said :" It is the most forward looking policy and this will give a fillip and a kickstart to the economy." The policy measures will release about 80 billion rupees of which about 60 billion will be available from November 3.

The RBI noted that sustained export growth was crucial to ensure the balance of payments remained viable and said it would pursue its policy of monitoring markets and intervention to manage the impact of unexpected developments.

US official cuts short visit to India NEW DELHI, October 22 (UNI) US under secretary of state for economic, business and agricultural affairs Alan P Larson cut short his visit to India and cancelled his meetings with senior bureaucrats and ministers scheduled for today.

Mr Larson was here for a brief period last night and had a few meetings.

"He had to change his travel plans", US embassy spokesperson said.

She did not elaborate the reasons for the change in his travel plans.

His meeting with commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran was also cancelled.

Reports said Mr Larson would have discussed with Mr Maran, Indias stand on the forthcoming ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation at Doha.

Senior US official came to India after visiting Islamabad where the leaders apprised him of the cost of Afghani refugees in Pakistan.

Mr Larsons press conference scheduled for the evening was obviously cancelled.

NLFT, ATTF assure Puja celebration sans fear AGARTALA, Oct 22 (UNI) Tripuras traditional Durga Puja festival began today, with two militant organisations calling upon the tribals for the fist time to celebrate the five-day carnival "without fear." A senior police officials said the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), who till last year obsturcted the festival by demolishing images of the Goddess and firing at the Puja Pandals in some parts of the state, have asked the Hindu tribals to celebrate the Puja with usual enthusiasm.

The NLFT, however, warned the tribals not to associate themselves with the non-tribals in urban and semi-urban areas, the official said.

In an interesting turn of events, both the outfits had also donated money to the tribal Puja organisers in some parts of the state, he added.

However, there was no report of militants activities to stymie the celebrations, the official stated.

Massive security arrangements have been made all over the state, specially in the extremists dominated hilly and tribal areas.

Counter-insurgency trained Assam Rifles and other paramilitary forces were alerted and asked to maintain a strict vigil during the five-day annual carnival.

Police pickets have been set up in front of all Puja pandals while round-the-clock police patrolling would be maintained to prevent any untoward incident during the festival.

With the organisers completing their task of giving final touches to Pandals, lakhs of devotees are expected to throng the makeshift Mandirs.

People from across the border were also expected to join the "sea of people" during the festival.

Meanwhile West Tripura district magistrate Manish Kumars initiative to stop animal sacrifice at the royal Durgabari temple suffered a setback as the law department did not give its opinion on the issue and people protested against the move.

Mr Kumar had sought legal opinion to stop animal sacrifice in the temples.

Under the 1949 merger agreement, the state government is supposed to bear the expenses of all rituals including animal sacrifice in some temples in the state, including the Durgabari temple, which traditionally belongs to the royal family of Tripura.

Though the Puja mainly begins tomorrow on the "Maha Saptami" day, festivities started from today with "Bodhan" of the Durga.

Official sources said over 300 community and family Pujas are held in the capital city and its outskirts and over 3,000 elsewhere in the state.

Most of the Puja organisers have highlighted Indian temples, historical events, besides, famous monuments, and places in their decoration of Pandals.

Sydney Olympics, the Red Fort and forest brigand Veerappans fight with Durga are also depicted by local clubs.

Demolition of World Trade Centre and Titanic have also found place in the colourful decoration.

Biological warfare potent, ancient weapon: experts PUNE, Oct 22 (UNI) Notwithstanding the recent panic over the use of anthrax by terrorist groups, experts here point out that the threat of germ warfare is nothing new.

"We have to live with bioterrorism," says former director of the city-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) Dr Kalyan Banerjee.

While creating a mass hysteria is the sole purpose of terrorist groups the citizens should refrain from falling prey to their nefarious designs.

Dr Banerjee was presiding over a lecture session on "bioterrorism" organised by the School of Health Sciences of the University of Pune here yesterday.

Head, department of microbiology at the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) Col (Dr) A Nagendra enlightened the students of the school on the various dimensions of germ warfare.

He said biological warfare was resorted to even by the early Romans, who polluted the water sources of their enemies by dumping animal carcasses.

The British distributed blankets to Indians as a "goodwill" gesture in 1763.

The blankets, however, were those which had been used by Smallpox victims and the "grateful" people, who received the blankets contracted the dreaded disease.

Incidentally, although smallpox was declared as eradicated in 1980, stocks of the pathogen have been maintained in Atlanta in the US and Russia for research purposes.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) governing body has, however, ordered the destruction of the stocks by the year 2002 extending an earlier deadline.

Gruinard Island, where the British had detonated an experimental Anthrax bomb during the second world war, continues to remain contaminated.

The US, which is facing an Anthrax scare, had been accused of using biological warfare agents in Korea, Col Nagendra said.

An outbreak of Anthrax followed an explosion in the Sverdlosk plant in erstwhile Soviet Union and in 1992, president Boris Yeltsin confirmed the incident.

In 1984, as many as 750 people fell victim to food poisoning in Oregaon and a member of a prominent cult had later confessed to spreading Salmonella that had been cultured in their laboratory, Col Nagrendra said.

Biological warfare has been clearly defined.

It is the intentional use of doses to harm or to kill an adversarys military forces, population, food or livestock and includes any living or non-living micro-organism or its bioactive substance (toxin), he said.

Thus the germ warfare can be spearheaded by, not just Anthrax, but a whole range of bacteria, viruses, fungi, Rickettsiae and toxins.

Low infective dose, high virulence, short incubation period, little immunity in target population, ease of production, ease of delivery, robustness and stability and availibility of protection with the aggressor, are some of the characteristics of the biological warfare agents.

But the last characteristic could also serve as a deterrant in the use of germs for waging a war because the threat of a backlash always looms large if the first user itself does not have adequate protection against the pathogen.

The greatest threat, feels Col Nagendra, could result from genetically engineered pathogens which could make possible the development of ethnic biological weapons which could be used to affect a particular ethnic group.

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