Sreerag Love Killed Him

Gayathri wracked by guilt over her deadly stratagem
Her rejection is being cited as the reason for Sreerag ending his life
Sharath Sarma Kalagaru bmfeedback@indiatimes.com


    Be happy and be cherished for what you are. Let others be jealous of how happy you are but never let a gaze fall on you...” techie Sreerag wrote to his unseen girlfriend before committing suicide. But his last wish has turned into an antithesis for 23-year-old Gayathri.
    Instead of being happy, this telemarketing employee is now reeling under guilt. Instead of making others feel jealous, she is being sneered at for the prank that went wrong. Instead of not letting a gaze fall on her, she has become the cynosure of all eyes. While Gayathri has been weeping inconsolably for the last five days, the police point towards her and say, “We would not have been investigating this case had both Sreerag and Gayathri been straight and frank with each other.” She is now in depression.
    Sreerag, a native of Kozhikode in Kerala, committed suicide inside his car in Mahadevapura after his marriage proposal was turned down by Gayathri, whom he became close with on a social networking site in January. Gayathri had introduced herself as Jennifer and mailed him a friend’s photograph, claiming it was her. After looking at the photograph, Sreerag was head over heels in love. But he got dejected when Gayathri told him that she was engaged to a London resident and took the extreme step.
    “I was a bit scared when I received his e-mail, but I never thought he would end his life. I thought he was threatening, like boys usually do in such situations. When I heard of his death on television, I started trembling out of fear. I didn’t know how I became close to him, I was very happy that he was in love with me.
    But with his death, I am only filled with guilt,” a police officer quoted Gayathri as saying.
    Gayathri reportedly told the police, “I was hardly noticed by guys. When Sreerag came in, I became close to him on the phone and through chat. When he insisted on seeing me, I sent him the photo of a good-looking girl as I did not want him to be disappointed. I feared losing him. I was very happy that someone was in love with me. But when his interest became intense, I did not have the courage to go before him. I cooked up a story that I was getting married to another guy. I wanted him to move on, but did not expect him to end his life.”

RBI cuts rates; home & car loans to be cheaper

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Mumbai: Home and auto loans are expected to become cheaper with the Reserve Bank of India cutting interest rates on Tuesday for the first time in three years by a morethan-expected half-a-percentage point aimed at boosting the sagging economy. 
    The RBI, in its annual policy, reduced by 50 bps its repo rate — the rate at which it lends overnight funds to banks — and announced a slew of consumer-friendly measures such as zero-balance savings account for all and abolition of prepayment 
charges for home loans. The availability of cheaper funds is expected to spur individuals to spend more and business to increase investment. This was expectedly cheered by bankers and industrialists. Giving the policy a thumbs-up, the sensex closed 206 points higher at 17,357, buoyed largely by the magnitude of the cuts since it was only expecting a 25-bps reduction. Bonds rallied with the yield on the 10-year benchmark bond falling to 8.34% down from 8.44% on Monday. In the foreign exchange market, the rupee rallied against the dollar to 51.49, up from Monday’s close of 51.68. Though banks agree lending rates need to fall, not all see an immediate decline. 
CONSUMER ACTIVISM, RBI STYLE 
    Borrowers can prepay home loans without forking out foreclosure charges 
    Fixed rate loans may now be a reality. But, some may not want fixed rates when interest rates may fall 
    Banks can no longer get away by paying higher deposit rates to companies. RBI asks for ‘minimal variation’ between individuals & companies 
    Work begins on savings bank account portability, like your cell number, with a unique customer ID 
    Zero-balance accounts 
with minimum facilities to be extended to all customers 
    Getting loan against gold may get tougher. RBI proposes tighter norms and initiates review of business 
    Special thrust on distribution of coins and currency notes, which will now be done through currency chests and bank branches EMIs will dip, but will take time: bankers 
Mumbai: Following the RBI's monetary policy, not all bankers see an immediate decline in lending rates. “With the reduction in interest rates, of course EMIs (equated monthly instalments) will fall that is the good news. But how fast the transmission takes place we will have to watch depending on our cost of funds. 
    But clearly, the trend is downward” said Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private bank. 
    The country’s largest bank SBI is, meanwhile, looking at a comprehensive reduction in lending rates. “On car loans and all other loans, wherever the spreads over the base rate (benchmark rate for loans) is high we will look at bringing down rates. I am not sure about base rate but it is our asset liability committee that will take a call,” said Pratip Chaudhuri, chairman, SBI. 
    The policy designed to give growth the much-needed push predicted that the economy would grow at 7.3 % even as it continued to remain concerned about inflation saying it would remain high at 6.5 % in 2012-13. 
    The RBI governor, however, denied that the government had any influence on the move but said the government needs to do its bit to spur growth. 
    “Monetary easing is necessary but not sufficient condition for growth. The government should adjust oil and other subsidies and address supply side constraints,” RBI governor D Subbarao said. 
    Besides addressing rates and setting forecasts for 2012-13, the policy also includes a number of announcements aimed at giving bank customers a better deal. New regulatory initiatives include specialised training to bankers to help them detect fake notes by the RBI, which wants banks to scan every currency note before re-circulating it.