SBI Marches On............!!

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Sunday inaugurated the 10,000th branch of State Bank of India (SBI) in Puduvayal – making it the second bank in the world to have as many branches.

The launch of the branch in Puduvayal in Sivaganga district was accompanied by the playing of traditional musical instruments like Tharai and Thappattai.

A Chinese bank is the only other in the world to have so many branches.

SBI chairman O P Bhatt was also present at the inauguration ceremony.

A small panchayat (village council) town in the Chettinad region, Puduvayal is well known for its rice mills and the Friends Volleyball Club. Puduvayal means 'new farm' in Tamil.

This is the second rural bank branch Chidambaram launched in Sivaganga, his constituency, after presenting the 2008-09 union budget.

On Saturday, he opened the 2,956th branch of Bank of India at Kundrakudi in the same district.

Why People Elected Govinda......??

Actor-politician Govinda is known for being late on film sets but it appears that his bad habit has crept into his political career as well.

In 2004, when he defeated the BJP heavyweight Ram Naik from Mumbai North many saw at it as a second innings for Govinda.

However, the actor’s political stint has been totally uneventful. Here’s a look at how he fares as a parliamentarian.

• Parliament records show that he has attended only 10 per cent of all Parliament sessions in the last four years.
• He had had a relatively good year in 2005, attending 15 sessions out of 85.
• In 2006, his attendance fell to seven out of 77.
• 2007 saw the worst with the actor attending only two sessions out of 66.
• This year, when the Congress leadership was glowing in its apparent dream budget, Govinda decided to give that the miss too. His account is yet to open this year in Parliament.
• Parliament records also show that the actor has spoken only twice in the House – on May 10 and 11, 2005, for a minute each during Zero Hour.