Banking facility by 2012 in 73,000 villages

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said 73,000 villages in the country would have banking facility by next year.

"By March 31, 2012, banking facility will be available in 73,000 villages across the country going by the current pace of work," Mukherjee said after inaugurating a Punjab National Bank branch at Talai under Raghunathganj police station area in Murshidabad district.

Mukherjee said the government wants to enable every citizen of the country to avail banking facility in future.

He said Talai was among the 117 villages of the country to have been chosen by the PNB to mark its 117th year, where branches were being set up and local development projects undertaken.

Mukherjee also inaugurated an agri-training centre in the village and hoped it would help farmers acquire modern farming skills for better yield.

"Agriculture should prosper through modern technology," he said.

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Spectrum row:PAC to examine journalists

Murli Manohar Joshi, who heads parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said Sunday that the journalists whose names have surfaced in the 2G spectrum scam will have to appear before the panel.

Joshi said that all those whose names were revealed in corporate lobbyist Nira Radia's taped conversations cannot escape from appearing before the PAC.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that the country suffered a huge loss on account of 2G spectrum bungling and everybody was accountable for their conduct.

"Editors and senior journalists who have incriminated themselves in a way on the 2G (spectrum) scam tapes will be summoned by the PAC," Joshi said.

Contacts between some well-known names in the media world and Radia came to the surface after the Income Tax department tapped her telephones.

The scam revolves around the allocation of airwaves in 2008 to mobile companies at below market prices. This caused a loss of crores of rupees to the government.

UAE will participate in 16 trade fairs

To attract more foreign investments, the United Arab Emirates will participate in 16 international trade fairs and exhibitions across the globe, including one in India, this year.

The Ministry of Foreign Trade (MFT) is also busy in arranging promotional tours to many countries this year.

Abdullah Ahmad Al Saleh, the undersecretary of the MFT, said that the ministry's plans include the participation in over 16 international trade fairs and exhibitions that are scheduled to take place around the world this year.

The ministry also aims at boosting the export of UAE products to important global markets and at promoting various investment opportunities in the country with the aim of attracting more foreign capital, he added.

The list of fairs and expos that the ministry plans to participate in includes: The UAE-Spain Forum in Spain, which is scheduled from Jan 31 to Feb 1; the 19th International Engineering & Technology Fair in New Delhi, India, from Feb 10-12; the GCC Economic Forum in Romania from March 8-10; the Australia Arab Business Forum & Expo 2011 in Australia from May 5-6; Africa's Big Seven in Johannesburg and Cape Town from July 17-18; and the Trade Expo - Indonesia in Indonesia from Oct 19-23.

Pregnancy really calm and good

Actress Natalie Portman says that her pregnancy has been easy so far.

"I feel great. I'm through my first trimester. It's been really calm and good," usmagazine.com quoted her as saying.

Portman walked away with the best actress award for her role in "Black Swan" at Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles, Friday. The teary-eyed star thanked her parents, Avner and Shelley Hershlag during her acceptance speech.

"If I am a shadow as good a parent, an echo, then I will be the best in the world, so thank you," she said.

She also credited "Black Swan" director Darren Aronofsky for introducing her to her fiance, choreographer Benjamin Millepied.

"I have to thank you (Aronofsky) for this incredibly fulfilling experience. You made me very skinny, and now you're indirectly responsible for getting me fat. You introduced me to my love, Benjamin Millepied, who also choreographed the film, and I am so incredible grateful for that most special of gifts," she added.

RSA thrash India Down to Nine wickets

South African pacer Dale Steyn removed dangerous Sehwag on duck. India was 1/1. Dravid (0) and Gambhir (1) were at the middle.

Indian skipper out 136/9.South African skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and invited India to bat first in the first Test match of three-match series at Super Sport Park in Centurion on Thursday.


Indian pacer Zaheer Khan was ruled out due to hamstring injury and is replaced by debutant Jaidev Unadkat.

Earlier, an entire first session was washed out due heavy downpour and wet ground field.

The Test series is believed to be series of the year and India will definitely try to break its past record in the South African soil.

Ind: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, JD Unadkat

SA: GC Smith, AN Petersen, JH Kallis, HM Amla, AB de Villiers, AG Prince, MV Boucher, LL Tsotsobe, PL Harris, DW Steyn, M Morkel

Audi India's sales zoom up

German luxury car manufacturer's subsidiary Audi India Friday reported a 153 percent rise in its sales during November - 256 cars against 101 in the same period last year.

"We attribute this success to our customers as well as our business partners who truly appreciate our luxurious sporty design and progressive cutting edge technology," said Audi India head Michael Perschke.

The company's sales dudring January-November jumped 80 percent and stood at 2,791 cars from 1,550 cars in the same period last year.

The company expects to continue on its growth trajectory in 2011 with new launches and opening of new showrooms.

"We are confident that we will further this positive trend in 2011 with the opening of our new showrooms in Delhi and Chennai early next year," Perschke said.

According to him, the product line would also be enhanced with the launch of flagship - the Audi A8 L and the all new super sports car Audi R8, equipped with the powerful V10 engine.

Globally the company reported that the first eleven month of the year were its best ever in terms of sales with a growth of 15.3 percent and which stood at over one million cars.

"Between January and November 2010 the brand sold around 1,003,900 cars, beating the sales figures of the previous best year in the company's history (1,003,469 cars in 200")," the company said in a statement.

"This upturn was driven by high growth rates in China and the growing success in the United States. Audi continues to hold its No.1 position in China and Europe and retain its market leadership in the SUV segment in India," the statement added.

Currently Audi offers a range of models in the country which includes Audi A4, Audi A6, Audi Q5, Audi Q7, Audi TT and the super sports car Audi R8.