Best in terms of bottom line is yet to come: Parvez Ahmed

KD NEWS SERVICE

SRINAGAR, May 15: J&K Bank, the state-owned premier financial institution reported a 129% growth in net profit for the Financial Year 2018-19 at 465 Cr as compared to 202 Cr in the previous fiscal.

In the March quarter the bank has reported a profit of 214.80Cr as compared to 28.41 Cr in the corresponding quarter of FY 2018. Buoyed by strong retail credit growth, sale of a partial stake in PNB MetLife and resolution of some large NPLsthe total income of the bank rose to Rs8487crore in the FY 2018-19 as compared to Rs7116 Cra year ago.

The results for the FY 2018-19 and Q4 FY 18-19 were announced by the Bank today after Board of Directors of the Bank adopted the audited numbers of the Bank in its meeting held at Bank’s Corporate Headquarters Srinagar. The growth in J&K state credit has been reported at 23% over the last year and net interest income the difference between interest earned on loans and that paid on deposits grew by 42 % in the 4th quarter of the financial year 2018-19. The NIIM of the bank which is an indicator of profitability was calculated at 4.05 for the 4th quarter and on a full-year basis, it improved to 3.84% as compared to 3.65% in the previous fiscal.

The Chairman & CEO J&K Bank while acknowledging the support and guidance of the Board of Directors in navigating the bank in challenging times attributed the turnaround & stellar growth in the top and bottom line of the bank to the unflinching trust of the promoters and customers of the Bank especially from the J&K state. He commended the management team, business heads& operative staff for robust credit growth, management of NPAs, NPA recovery, improvement in Compliance culture etc. despite a challenging environment.

 “Our numbers are unfolding in line with our strategic business plan to direct the focus of our credit expansion in J&K state, especially in retail & SME segments. We are continuously gaining market share in J&K besides improving the penetration of credit to hitherto credit-starved geographies/segments, especially in consumer and housing sectors. If you see our segmental numbers in retail, housing has grown by 79% from 3117 Cr to 5384 Cr, Consumer finance has grown exponentially from 195 Cr to 1978 Cr, Car loans have grown by 37 % from 2000 Cr to 2741 Cr resulting in aggregate retail credit growth of 33%. The Corporate to retail mix of our overall advances is now 43 Corporate to 57% retail as compared 53 Corporate to 47 Retail a couple of years ago.” announced the Chairman.

 “The results also validate our medium-term growth strategy which is fanning out as envisioned to achieve  a total business of about 2.50 Lac Cr with a targeted profit of Rs 2000 Cr, NIIM ranging between 3.5-4%, ROA of 1.3%, ROE of 16% and credit cost below 1% at the end of FY 2022. We will carry forward the momentum of the robust business growth of previous fiscal to the current Financial Year and set the tone of exponential growth for strengthening the new paradigm of sustained profitability.

“I can say confidently that once our provisioning requirements due to the ageing of NPAs are over may be in 3-4 quarters, the best in terms of the bottom line is yet to come.” added Parvez Ahmed.

Outlining his vision to take the growth and business of the bank to the next level the Chairman informed about the rollout of new Zonal structure at the District level w.e.f. Q2 of the current financial year to dovetail the state governments budget/development plan with the business plan of the bank with a vision of socio-economic development of the state. The Bank he added will be targeting to extend its outreach for facilitating the vast majority of the rural population of the state including the bottom of the pyramid population, which is dependent on informal channels for their financial needs. This he said will further strengthen the Bank’s low-cost CASA franchise, which at 50.7% is one of the best in the banking industry.

 “As I have been saying earlier too, we see a lot of unmet demand and potential for increased lending in sectors of SME, Tourism Infrastructure, Agriculture & Allied, Infrastructure(Government Spending), Home Loan, Personal Finance to Govt. Employees, Horticulture, Gold Loans etc. which is validated by the exponential growth in the past few quarters. Promoting the startups& new entrepreneurs also remains our priority area as we go deeper in the geographies in congruence with the policy support for startups at the state and central government level and we will act as an enabler for the bright youths of our state,” said Parvez Ahmed in the statement issued to the press.

The Bank’s total business as on the close of 31st March 2019 touched 1,61,864 Cr comprising of deposits of Rs 89638Cr and gross advances of Rs72226 Cr  as compared to 1,42,466 Cr a year ago registering an increase of around 14%. The Bank reported a stable low cost of funds at 4.90% with a CASA contribution of 50.7%. The NPA coverage ratio has seen a minor dip on a sequential basis to 64.30 % mainly because of a downgrade of the IL&FSand its group companies. As a percentage of total loans, the Gross and Net NPA ratios of the bank improved to 8.97% and 4.89 % as compared to 9.96% and 4.90% a year ago.Notably, the Bank recovered NPAs of Rs 2750 Cr during the year besides making provisions of over Rs. 1000 crore for bad & doubtful debts.

Meanwhile, the spokesman said that market pundits are bullish on the prospects of the J&K Bank based on its undisputed leadership in the J&K state with a market share of 65% and growing, high CASA ratio, better yields on advances in the state leading to a NIM of more than 5% in the J&K state business, which is growing. The bank, which was earlier focused on lending to bigger companies mainly in its rest of India portfolio, has been for the last couple of years focused on SME and Retail customers in J&K state who are more profitable and ring-fenced from competition due to higher entry barriers to meet the geographical outreach of the Bank in J&K state.

The Operating Income of the Bank as per the analysts will be further amplified in the current fiscal as the pressure of interest capitalization due to JK Restructured Portfolio is also over now. Additionally to support the robust credit growth, the Board of the Bank has already accorded approval for raising additional Tier I and Tier II capital to the extent of Rs 1600 Cr. The analysts are expecting substantial upside as the share of the bank is still trading at a steep discount to its Book value of Rs 119.

Urges State Govt to work out modalities for their return

KD NEWS SERVICE

SRINAGAR, May 15: In a major development, Kashmir’s grand Mufti, Nasirul Islam announced that the Pakistani administered Kashmir (PaK) brides who had married to Kashmiri youth across the LoC and returned under the 2010 rehabilitation policy , majority of whom have been divorced, were living illegally and against the rules of Islam at their former in-law’s houses.

According to KNO, a local news gathering agency the decree comes at a time when disgruntled lot of PaK brides were seriously planning to cross the LoC along with their children as they feel let down on all fronts. 

Majority of the PaK brides had petitioned the Muslim Personal Law Board headed by Kashmir’s grand Mufti to seek relief as per Islamic rules and jurisprudence.

Figures available with the news agency reveals that at least 550 women who had married Kashmiri youth in PaK since 1990, along with their kids returned to this side of Kashmir via Nepal under the surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy announced by the then chief minister Omar Abdullah in 2010.

However, countless problems awaited these ill-fated women and their children here. First they were labeled as Pakistanis and their children PaK citizens as they were born in PaK. Their children were denied admissions in the schools and their husbands, who were local Kashmiris were denied jobs in both private and government sectors leaving in a great state of shock and despair.

With the passage of time, the husbands of these women developed psychological trauma and not able to earn a living, they divorced these PaK brides leaving them to go nowhere.

 “Where should we go? I have three children and I am still living with my former husband’s family,” said Zeba, who crossed over to this side in 2011 via Nepal route. She said all the promises made in the 2010 policy proved futile. “Our children were dubbed as Pakistanis and we as PaK spys.”

She said majority of them have been divorced and are still living in their in-laws houses despite the fact Islam prohibits it. Another woman, Posh, who lives in Tanghdar area of Kupwara, told that she has three children and has been recently divorced by her husband. “But I still live with my ex-husband as I have no place to go. The government should either allow us to cross over to go back to PaK or else address our concerns.”

Taking their case seriously, the Kashmir’s Grand Mufti, Nasirul Islam said that as per the Islamic jurisprudence, all these women who have been divorced by their husbands are living illegally and against the principles of Islam at their former in-laws’ houses.  “I urge the government to allow them to go back to Muzaffarabad or else resolved their issues by rehabilitating them properly along with their children,” the Grand Mufti told KNO.

Div Com orders for weekly review meetings

KD NEWS SERVICE

SRINAGAR, May 15: A delegation of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) led by Nasir Hamid Khan, Senior Vice President held the first meeting of the Joint Economic Monitoring Group constituted under the directions of the Governor S.P Malik.

A spokesman of the KCCI said that Group has been constituted to monitor the regular redressal of economic issues and follow-up on the decisions of the Government taken from time to time.

The Group is headed by the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and has all major Head of Departments including Chief Engineer I&FC, PWD (R&B), PDD, Director Srinagar Airport, representative of Municipality, SDA, LAWDA, Horticulture, Tourism, Handicrafts, and other enforcement agencies of the Government.

The meeting was held in the office chambers of the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir. The Divisional Commissioner has directed the holding of weekly meetings of the Group for speedy disposal of pending issues.

The agenda of the meeting was mainly regarding the Air/Road Connectivity, revival of Carpet/Handicraft Sector, problems faced by the Entrepreneurs like non-availability of land and procedural constraints like Pollution Clearances, Power Tariff issue of the Tourism Industry, Conservation of the Dal Lake, Crop Insurance Scheme, Prevention and Management of Floods and the restoration of the Cross-LOC Trade.

Khan reiterated the suggestion made by the KCC&I with regard to connectivity problem and stated that the transportation charges for vehicles had skyrocketed due to the road problem. It was brought to the notice of the administration that transportation charges of goods per truck from New Delhi to Srinagar had touched 85,000/-, Jammu-Srinagar Rs 28,000/-, Punjab-Srinagar Rs 55,000/- in some cases and transporters were not willing to ply their vehicles on this sector. As a consequence, the prices of commodities had also increased. Due to the intervention of the administration, around 3000 stranded vehicles had been cleared which had brought a measure of relief. The Divisional Commissioner briefed the participants about the various measures taken to resolve the road linkage problem.

He informed the KCC&I members that urgent meetings had been scheduled in this week with the National Highway authorities who had assured that the road position would be stabilized within a week. He also informed the members that the administration was working towards providing an alternative corridor from the Mughal Road for transportation of goods and passengers. The KCC&I members apprised the Divisional Commissioner about various impediments on this road link and suggested for follow-up on the Governments decisions to declare the Mughal Road as an National Highway. The KCC&I delegation also urged for bringing the Jammu-Srinagar air-link under the UDAN Scheme of the Civil Aviation Ministry.

The scheme is for the un-served and under-served airports under the Civil Aviation Policy aimed at making air travel affordable for the common man. It would bring a big relief to the Tourism Sector and the general public as the per ticket cost comes to around Rs. 1250/- for this sector. The Divisional Commissioner requested the Director, Srinagar Airport for getting a report on the UDAN Scheme and it’s applicability for the Jammu-Srinagar sector.

With regard to inter-city connectivity, the KCC&I members informed the Divisional Commissioner that the developmental plans for connecting the North and South areas of Srinagar City were stuck up due to unwarranted interferences of some lobby groups having vested interests in the area. The North-South Corridor approved in the year 1981 which envisaged construction of new roads and bridges over River Jhelum had been a non-starter. This had resulted in a major traffic bottleneck being created at Rajbagh. The KCC&I members urged for re-conversion of all the three foot-bridges to motorable bridges for proper ventilation of traffic. The Divisional Commissioner assured the members that the matter was already under active consideration of the Government and would be decided upon in the coming days.

For decongestion of the Central Business District, the KCC&I members urged for clearance of encroachments and addressing the problem of footpath vendors. The members were informed that whereas only about 2500 footpath vendors were registered with the SMC, and a majority of them were given alternate places, the position on the ground was different. All open spaces stood encroached upon by unauthorized stands and footpath vendors. The Divisional Commissioner informed the members that the Government had stopped fresh registration of foot-path vendors. He further asked the SMC representative to bring details in this regard in the next meeting.

Regarding the revival of the Carpet/Handicraft Sector, the Divisional Commissioner informed the members that with the view of effective promotion and marketing, Mr. BVR Subramanyan, Chief Secretary J&K, had directed the dovetailing of multiple economic sectors like Tourism, Handicrafts, Horticulture etc. This was aimed at boosting of multiple sectors through focused attention.

The KCC&I members raised the issue of non-availability of land for intending entrepreneurs and also procedural impediments which delayed projects by years. In this regard, special mention was made of delays due to time-consuming procedures of the Pollution Control Board. The Divisional Commissioner informed the members that the Government had considered the issue of non-availability of land for industrial use  and in this regard had decided upon many measures to make land available. Amongst these measures, mention was made of the Government’s decision to go for smaller Satellite Industrial Estates of around 40 kanals, retrieval of unused plots in existing estates and shifting of security force units from Industrial Estates.

Regarding Tourism Sector, the KCC&I members informed the Divisional Commissioner about the charging of power tariff on industrial rates as earlier decided by the Government. The Divisional Commissioner informed the members that the Hon’ble Governor had been apprised about the issue and a decision in this regard was expected soon. The KCC&I members also brought the problem of renewal of Tourism Registration License due to online glitches to the attention of the Divisional Commissioner. The Divisional Commissioner directed the Dy Director Tourism to issue manual licences till the problems with online registration is sorted out.

Regarding the preservation of Dal Lake, the KCC&I members urged for making functional the Common STP’s for controlling pollution around the lake. The Divisional Commissioner informed the members that the preservation of the Dal Lake was being regularly monitored by the Hon’ble High Court. Common STP’s and other measures to check pollution were being shortly discussed in a special meeting. He invited the KCC&I members to participate in the meeting as stakeholders for getting updated on the current status and also to give their suggestions for protection of the Lake.

The problem of non-availability of Crop Insurance Scheme for Kashmir was raised by the KCC&I members. The Divisional Commissioner directed the concerned department to furnish the present status of the proposal for consideration of the Group.

The Divisional Commissioner also gave a detailed account of measures taken to prevent and manage floods and improve the water absorption capacity by augmentation of the drainage system and construction of storm drain network in the city. For beautification of the Central Business District, the KCC&I members suggested underground cabling of power lines. The Chief Engineer, PDD Hasmat Qazi said that the proposal could be considered for main business areas.

6 kanal state land handed over to Cooperative deptt

Srinagar, May 15 : A joint of team of Revenue, Police and Cooperative departments headed by Sub Divisional Magistrate, Bijbehara on Wednesday sealed an illegal sumo stand at Srigufwara area of Anantnag district.

Some sumo drivers had occupied the land belonging to Cooperative department at main Srigufwara market some six months back and had established a sumo stand at the state land, Sub Divisional Magistrate Bijbehara Abdul Rashid Das told.

He said that 6 kanals of land belonging to State Cooperative department was retrieved from the encroachers.

The land valuing around 4 crore rupees was retrieved and handed over to Cooperative department, he added.

The locals have appreciated the action of the team and asked them to remove all structures constructed illegally on the state land.

Two other structures, constructed illegally on the state land, were also demolished by the team. (GNS)

Srinagar, May 15 : While as day temperature remained slightly lower than the normal in Kashmir Valley, the weatherman on Wednesday said the moisture-laden wind is moving towards J&K from north Pakistan as a result of which wet weather is expected for the next 24-36 hours. 

“Expect a short spell of moderate thundershower in Kashmir and Jammu later tonight. The moisture-laden wind is moving towards J&K from North Pakistan,” Sonam Lotus, Director Meteorological department said, adding wet weather is expected for the next 24-36 hours for J&K.  

Meanwhile, a meteorological department official told GNS that Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, recorded 23.3 degrees Celsius against 23.9 degrees Celsius normal for this time of the year.

He said Pahalgam, the world famous hill resort in South Kashmir recorded 19.6 degrees Celsius against 20.1 Degree Celsius while Gulmarg, the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir saw a maximum of 12.6 degree Celsius, 2.1 degrees below normal for this time of the year.

Srinagar, May 15 : With only a solitary special court constituted to deal with cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Jammu and Kashmir, a huge number of cases including bail applications are pending before it in nearly first two months of its constitution. 

On March 1, the government issued an SRO-149 by virtue of which trial of all cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Jammu and Kashmir take place in two designated courts of the state, instead of the sessions’ courts in the districts. 

Invoking powers under the National Investigation Agency Act, the government designated the court of additional district and sessions judge Srinagar (TADA/POTA) and 3rd additional district and sessions judge Jammu for trying cases under the law, which deals with “militancy-related offences” and “anti-national” activities.

If sources are to be believed as of now, around 480 bail pleas are pending adjudication due to overburdening of the court. Also, 100 challans and 100 remand cases are pending disposal before the court. 

While a number of families whose kin are booked under the UAPA said that they feel disappointed by the inordinate delay in disposal of the case, the security establishment in the Valley also voiced concern over the ferrying of accused from all places of the Valley to Srinagar. 

“My brother’s bail application is pending from nearly three weeks,” said a man from Kulgam.     

Another person whom news agency spoke to had the same story to share. “There is only one judge and it’s not humanly possible for a single person to deal with so many cases. The judge (presiding officer) is doing a wonderful job but what can he do in view of the huge pile of the cases,” said a person from Shopian district whose son has been booked under the UAPA.

A senior police officer told news agency that it takes a lot of effort in terms of security cover to ferry accused to Srinagar from far off places. The best option for the government, he said, would have been to establish more courts especially one at south Kashmir and one at north Kashmir.       

Referring to NIA Act’s section 22, the officer said that it empowers the state government to constitute one or more special courts for trial of offences under any or all the enactments specified in the schedule. (GNS)

Police today in a statement said thatCertain Social Media Reporters have been noticed to be violative of legal provisions about non disclosure of real name of Rape Victim. In this regard Hon‘ble Principal Juvenile Justice Board (CJIM) Ganderbal has taken cognizance into the matter and passed directions to Police for taking legal action against such media persons.

Accordingly SHO P/S Ganderbal has registered FIR No. 102/2019 U/S 23 POCSO Act, 228-A RPC against media person who has publicized the real name and disclosed identity of rape victim, Investigation of the case has been taken up. It is for the information of general public that the publication of real name of rape victim is a Criminal Offence under Prevention of Children from Sexual Offence Act (POCSO Act).