ATM damages rap on foreign bank

Chennai (PTI): A consumer disputes redressal forum here has directed a foreign bank to reverse debit entries made by it in the account of an ATM card holder for an amount of Rs 1.50 lakh in February last year.

Disposing of a complaint against the bank by Sunny George, the three-member forum headed by V. Kengasubbiah held that Standard Chartered Bank had been deficient in its service. The forum also directed the bank to pay Rs 1,000 as costs.

The complainant alleged that on February 27, 2002 he had inserted his ATM card in the machine at the bank’s premises to have the pin code changed. On completing all the formalities, George claimed, he got a slip from the machine informing him that his card had been captured and asking him to contact the bank.

George said he then informed an employee of the bank about what had taken place and asked for the card to be retrieved. After checking the machine, the employee told him to meet her later in the day to collect the card.

He said as he was busy he could not go to the bank and left for Delhi on March 1, 2002.

On his return from Delhi on March 17, he was surprised to find a bank statement dated March 9, which showed that between February 27 and March 4 there had been 21 withdrawals through his ATM card aggregating an overdraw of Rs 1.50 lakh, he said.

After requests by him to recover the amount failed, George sent a legal notice to the bank and filed a complaint with the forum.

The forum however, turned down the complainant’s prayer for a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the mental agony suffered by him.

Permit hope for private airlines

New Delhi: The government is likely to formally issue permits to private airlines to fly to South Asian countries barring Pakistan next week, reports our special correspondent.

The formal permits come about two months after the cabinet cleared the move. The open skies over South Asia decision was taken as part of the feel-good factor package at the insistence of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The civil aviation ministry had initially wanted the cabinet to take a decision allowing private airlines freedom over all of South Asian skies. However, objections from intelligence agencies had scuppered plans to open up to Pakistan.

Any move by India to open up South Asian skies has to be reciprocal and intelligence services have reservations about large influx of Pakistani passenger into the country as a result. Sources said security agencies felt that the current decision to let Pakistan restart flights between Delhi-Karachi (three times a week), Mumbai-Karachi (five times a week) and Delhi-Lahore (four times a week) had ensured sufficient flights for now.

Officials said Jet and Sahara have indicated that they are keen on flying to Sri Lanka and Nepal.

3 miners still trapped

Jamadoba (Dhanbad): Three mining officials are still to be rescued from Tata Steel’s inundated mine here. Five officials were trapped on Friday in a drilling hole. Two were rescued in the evening.

rror in judgment has been stated as the prima facie reason for the mishap. Tata Steel officials said: “It appears that the five officials, who were inspecting the non-working phase of the mine, could not judge the sensitivity of the situation.”

Student shot dead

Chandigarh (PTI): The principal of a government school in Amritsar district has allegedly shot dead a youth who was said to have come to the institute to help his friends cheat during their examinations, say police. Seventeen-year-old Sandeep was shot at by the principal in the chest on Friday when he was inside the school premises with his friends, they said.

Missionary attack

Kota (PTI): Five Bajrang Dal activists who allegedly manhandled a Christian missionary and burnt his publicity material, were taken into custody, police said. Though the missionary refused to lodge a complaint, the activists were taken into custody on Friday.

Jail inmates clash

Gwalior (PTI): Three prisoners were injured in a clash between two groups of inmates in the central jail. Trouble started after an argument between Sishupal, son of a BJP MLA, and Bunty Shukla but supporters of the two attacked each other as the altercation continued.

Tusker dies

Dehra Dun (PTI): A tusker was electrocuted at Luxor area on the fringes of Rajaji park when it came in contact with a high-tension wire, forest officials said.

Torture for dowry

Moga (PTI): The police arrested a father-son duo after the daughter-in-law alleged she was harassed by her in-laws for not bringing adequate dowry. Suvita, the daughter of Moga chief judicial magistrate J.K. Mattu, who was allegedly beaten by her in-laws at her parents’ house on Thursday, leading to her hospitalisation, lodged an FIR against husband and in-laws.

A man who swallowed nails to ward off evil died in a hospital in Rourkela on Friday. Akhyay Kumar Mohanty, who was admitted to Ispat General Hospital, told surgeons he had swallowed 99 nails which were scooped out from his stomach, duodenum and colon.