In brief

Released fishermen from Pak: List did not include cancer-afflicted
VADODARA: The name of an Indian fisherman,who died of cancer in a Pakistani jail,was not included in the list of prisoners to be released by Pakistan,a fellow inmate who was released,said here on Monday.
Lalji Hira,one of the 100 fishermen released by Pakistan said: “Sukkan Koma and his son had been languishing in the Pakistani jail for the past one year and four months. Their names were not included in the list of fishermen released on December 26 due to a criteria fixed by the Indian authorities of spending more than three years in Pakistani jails.”
Koma (50),was suffering from cancer,and died of shock when he learnt about the non-inclusion of his name in the list,Hira said,adding that his body is still in Pakistan.
Koma was arrested in 2006 for illegal fishing in Pakistani waters. He died in the Malir Jail in Karachi on December 25,around the same time Pakistan released 100 Indian fishermen languishing for up to five years in the jail,as a goodwill gesture.
Sixty-four of the released fishermen were from Gujarat,while the remaining were from Maharashtra and Daman and Diu.

IBM,state co-op bank sign 10-yr IT deal
NEW DELHI: IBM has signed a 10-year services agreement for providing IT services to the Gujarat-based Sardar Bhiladwala Pardi People’s Co-operative Bank,the company said here on Monday.
IBM will provide managed services like servers,network,security,back-up and database management to the bank,the company said in a statement.
The engagement,a complete operational expenditure (pay-as-you-go) model,will enable the bank to save up to 50 per cent in its IT infrastructure expenses,it added.
Neeraj Sharma,IBM India/South Asia Director for Integrated Technology Services,said: “This is a strategic victory as it is aligned to IBM’s geographical expansion initiative and our focus to help financial services clients.”
Hemant M Desai,Managing Director,Sardar Bhiladwala Pardi People’s Co-operative Bank said: “This model will set a good example for other co-operative banks for evaluating their core banking system with predictable and low expenditure.”
IBM has earlier signed such agreements with other co-operative banks like the Madhav Nagrik Sahakari Co-operative Bank of Rajasthan and the Kurmanchal Nagar Sahkari Bank of Uttarakhand.