It is ironic that the region which was touted as the industrial hub of India should turn out to be the cradle of the dreaded plague. The diamond and the textile industries, the mainstay of Surat’s economy, have been hit hard. Bulk of the dead are workers engaged in the cutting and polishing of diamonds. Surat accounts for 40 per cent of India’s diamond export earnings (whose total size is around Rs.12,000 crores). Further, the industry employs around four lakh workers whose livelihood is at stake with the onset of the plague. Most of them hail from north Gujarat, Bihar and Orissa and; have fled to their States. Industries, cinema halls, education institutions, and other public places have been closed. In a way residents feel that the city invited trouble upon itself. Prosperity seemed to have come at the cost of increasing chaos and lack of civic amenities.

Freeing of rates soon: RBI chief

The Reserve Bank Governor, Dr. C. Rangarajan, has asked public sector banks and financial institutions (FIs) to prepare themselves for operating in a free-market situation as many of the restrictions on interest rates would soon disappear. Addressing chief executives of banks and FIs at the concluding session of a one-day meeting here on Saturday which was chaired by the Finance Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Dr. Rangarajan said that in such a situation banks should exercise caution while giving funds to non-banking finance companies. On the issue of the role of brokers, the RBI Governor said the Government security market would undergo a drastic change. Regarding the independent audit agency, he said the issue could be tackled to a large extent with the setting up of the Board for Financial Supervision.

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