74-year-old Thane man becomes 8th victim of PMC Bank crisis
Mumbai: Another depositor of the troubled cooperative lender PMC Bank has died allegedly due to an inability to take care of his medical bills, his family members said on Monday.
The 74-year-old Andrew Lobo died at his home at Kasheli in the neighbouring Thane late Thursday evening, his grandnephew Chris told PTI.
Lobo is the eighth PMC depositor to have reportedly died after the bank was placed under an RBI administrator with withdrawal caps. There was a case of suicide of a depositor as well at the bank since September 23 when the RBI suspended the bank management.
Chris said Lobo had over Rs 26 lakh in his accounts with the bank and used to depend on the interest for his day- to-day needs.
"Two months ago, he developed a lung infection which needed regular medicines and visits to the doctor. His money was stuck in the bank, and we also have our accounts with PMC, due to which none of us could take care of his medical requirements," Chris said.
Lobo had a business of fabrication in suburban Mulund till he discontinued it a few years ago, the grand nephew said, adding his accounts were with the Mulund branch.
The RBI has put an administrator on the bank and claims that 77 percent of the 16 lakh depositors can fully withdraw their money with the limits having being raised to Rs 40,000 per account.
The city police has pegged the overall size of the financial scam at the bank at Rs 4,355 crore and has arrested five people in connection of the case.
According to investigators, the bank management colluded with realty developer HDIL in such a way that loans were made to the company despite non-payments through specially created dummy accounts. These transactions were also allegedly hidden from the central bank's audit.
As a result, over 6,500 crore of the bank's overall advances of Rs 9,000 crore have turned sour.
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India-bound LPG tanker clears Hormuz
New Delhi (PTI): A tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for India has sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz and is now headed towards the country, an official statement said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged LPG carrier MT Sarv Shakti, loaded with 46,313 tonnes of LPG and staffed by 20 crew, including 18 Indians, cleared the key shipping chokepoint on May 2 and is expected to reach Visakhapatnam on May 13, it said.
The cargo -- enough to meet half a days requirement of the country -- will partly tide over supply constraints being faced since the start of the West Asia conflict more than two months back.
Ship-tracking data showed its position in Oman Gulf on Sunday evening.
The very large gas carrier has previously made runs between the Persian Gulf and Indian ports, has been chartered by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Sarv Shakti is the first India-linked tanker to cross the war zone since a weeks-old US blockade of ships tied to Iran began, pushing transits through Hormuz back down to almost zero.
There are as many as 14 Indian flagged or India-owned vessels still stranded on the west side of the Strait of Hormuz.
The statement said no incident involving Indian-flagged vessels has been reported in the past 24 hours. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is working closely with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian missions and maritime stakeholders to ensure crew welfare and uninterrupted operations.
The Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) control room has handled 8,373 calls and more than 17,965 emails since activation, including 38 calls and 127 emails in the last 24 hours.
India has also facilitated the repatriation of more than 2,953 seafarers so far, including 31 in the past day from across the Gulf region.
Port operations across the country remain normal with no congestion reported, the statement added.
