Banks strike against privatization of public sector banks continues for the second day, services affected across the country

Lakhs of employees of public sector banks continued their strike on Friday to protest against the privatization of public sector banks. This is the second day of the strike and this is affecting the functioning of these banks across the country.

Lakhs of employees of public sector banks continued their strike on Friday to protest against the privatization of public sector banks . This is the second day of the strike and this is affecting the functioning of these banks across the country. The strike has been called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), a forum of nine bank unions including All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Bank Employees' Organization (NOBW). Employees are on strike against the government's decision to privatize two more public sector banks in the current financial year.

The services of banks were also affected on Thursday due to this two-day strike. The customers of these banks are facing problems due to the suspension of services like deposit and withdrawal, check clearing and loan sanction due to the closure of the banks.

State-run banks, including State Bank of India, had already informed customers that services at their branches may be affected due to the strike. However, business in the private sector banks, especially in the new generation private banks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, continued as normal.

AIBEA general secretary CH Venkatachalam said the strike was taking place against the government's decision to privatize state-run banks, which play a vital role in nation building. AIBOC general secretary Soumya Dutta said lakhs of bank employees across the country are taking part in the two-day strike.

Significantly, in the Union Budget presented in February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the privatization of two public sector banks under the Centre's disinvestment plan. To facilitate privatization, the government has listed the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 for introduction and passage during the current session of Parliament.

The government had earlier privatized the bank in 2019 by selling its majority stake in IDBI to LIC and also merged 14 state-run banks in the last four years.

BJP has given nothing to the people except shortage and hardship: Akhilesh Yadav

Regarding the election prospects this time, the SP chief said, 'The enthusiasm and enthusiasm that people are showing towards us so far, it seems that they want change. Whatever promises BJP made to the public turned out to be false. False promises were made regarding jobs and employment, so the public wants change.

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav has said, 'If the party wants, I will contest the assembly elections in UP.' during Samajwadi Party's Rath Yatra, Akhilesh said, 'I had said earlier also that if the party decides, I will contest the assembly elections. I am currently a Lok Sabha MP from Azamgarh, I will decide after asking the people there. On the question that even in 2014 and 2019, there was a crowd in your Rath Yatra and rallies, but in that proportion the support was not received, Akhilesh said that in 2011 the chariot was also run and the cycle was also run. Yes, in the year 2014, 2017 and 2019, the chariot and cycle could not run. He said, 'This time I have started the election campaign in advance so that I can reach more and more people.'

Regarding the election prospects this time, the SP chief said, 'The enthusiasm and enthusiasm that people are showing towards us so far, it seems that they want change. Whatever promises BJP made to the public turned out to be false. False promises were made regarding jobs and employment, so the public wants change. On another question, he said that when elections come, BJP puts on 'religious glasses'. He tries to divide the votes, but due to Corona, people were very upset. The investment promised did not come. The price of the crop is not being received, there is a double whammy of inflation from above. Akhilesh said that BJP did not give anything to the people except the lack of knowledge.

'Europe is going through a serious situation, we have to be alert': Government warns amid Omicron fears

The head of the Kovid Task Force said that Europe is going through a very serious situation. So we also have to be ready. Preparations have to be made to deal with every situation.

The government has advised people to take all possible precautions amid the growing threat around the world regarding Omicron. The central government has warned about a new wave in Europe amid rising cases of the new variant Omicron of Corona. NITI Aayog member VK Paul has asked India to be careful, citing the current situation in European countries Britain and France. Paul said that around 80 thousand cases are coming to Britain every day. Most of these are from the Delta variant, but Omicron is growing. If we look at it according to the population of India, then today around 14 lakh cases would be coming in the country every day.

Significantly, during the second wave of corona in India, the cases had reached above 4 lakh and at that time the health services had collapsed. Giving the example of France, VK Paul said that there are about 65 thousand cases coming every day, but according to the population there, if we look at the cases from the perspective of India, then about 13 lakh cases are coming every day. The head of the Kovid Task Force said that Europe is going through a very serious situation. So we also have to be ready. Preparations have to be made to deal with every situation.

Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Lav Aggarwal said that the situation in India is still in a comparatively controlled situation, but we need to be cautious in view of the situation in the world. is spreading. He said that in such a situation it is necessary that non-essential travel and mass gathering was avoided. Implement strict measures in districts with more than 5% positive cases.