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The chair of a powerful group of MPs has criticised Britain’s biggest banks for “doing as little as they can get away with” to reward savers, after unveiling their quarterly finances.
Harriett Baldwin, who chairs the Treasury Committee, said the “big four” banks – Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and HSBC – have not done enough to pass on higher interest rates to savers.
It comes despite the lenders revealing their financial performance has been impacted in recent months by higher savings rates on the market.
We will continue to press for individual and business savers to be rewarded. Meanwhile, savers should shop around for the best rate
Harriett Baldwin
The Conservative MP said: “The big four banks have been far too slow to reward savers through better rates on instant access savings accounts.
“The Treasury Committee summoned them in February to suggest they offer better rates.
“They should have listened to our suggestion as there are signs that savvy consumers are switching for better rates elsewhere.
“The figures published in the past week still show signs that the banks are trying to do as little as they can get away with to reward our constituents for saving.
“We will continue to press for individual and business savers to be rewarded. Meanwhile, savers should shop around for the best rate.”
Over the past week, all four banking giants said higher borrowing costs had helped them generate more income from mortgages and loans throughout the year.
However, in recent months, more customers have been locking cash away into savings accounts to make the most of higher rates.
Barclays said the savings market had become “extremely competitive” and reported a 6% drop in deposits in the UK.
Lloyds, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, said people were making the most of its own savings deals.
It saw some £3.2 billion taken out of current account deposits and £3.9 billion put into savings over the quarter.
And NatWest revealed that 15% of its customer deposits are now in fixed-term accounts which pay better interest rates, up from 8% in the first quarter of the year.
Overall, customer deposits across the group grew by £2.4 billion between July and September, compared with the previous three months.
The Treasury Committee, a group of cross-party MPs who scrutinise the work of the Treasury, earlier this year pressed bank bosses to explain why some of their savings rates were still significantly lower than the Bank of England base rate.
Top rates on savings accounts have been rising since, with smaller specialist banks such as Paragon Bank matching the current 5.25% base rate on its easy-access savings account.
Earlier this month, NS&I withdrew one-year bonds paying 6.2% interest from sale, after nearly a quarter of a million savers snapped them up in just over five weeks.
Matthew Perry, who has died aged 54, made no secret of his addiction struggles over the years, writing candidly about his substance abuse and attempts to stay sober in his affecting memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
Released in 2021, the book chronicled the exacerbation of Perry’s addiction under the “white-hot flame of fame” after he shot to international stardom, aged 24, as the wise-cracking Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom Friends.
“Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name,” he wrote in the book’s opening passage. “My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.”
In the book, Perry recalled drinking heavily through the first two seasons of Friends, although he said he was never drunk or high on set, and then becoming addicted to the opiate pain medication Vicodin after a jet ski accident while filming Fools Rush In with Salma Hayek in 1996.
By the end of the 10th series of Friends, Perry became “entrenched in a lot of trouble”, he revealed years later.
At one point during his time on Friends, he was taking up to 55 Vicodin painkillers a day and was down to just 128lb (just over 9st) in weight. He said in a 2016 interview that he did not remember filming three seasons of the show because he was a “little out of it at the time”.
In his memoir, Perry also noted that fans would have been able to tell whether he was drinking or taking drugs in certain seasons, depending on his appearance.
“When I’m carrying weight, it’s alcohol; when I’m skinny, it’s pills; when I have a goatee, it’s a lot of pills,” he said.
Perry was eventually confronted by his concerned co-star Jennifer Aniston, who starred in Friends as Rachel Green.
“‘I know you’re drinking,’” Perry recalled Aniston telling him. “To be confronted by Jennifer Aniston was devastating. And I was confused. ‘How can you tell?’ I said. I never worked drunk. ‘I’ve been trying to hide it.’
“‘We can smell it,’ she said, in a kind of weird but loving way, and the plural ‘we’ hit me like a sledgehammer,” Perry wrote.
Perry’s drug use continued after Friends, with the actor explaining in his memoir that he “nearly died” four years ago when he was 49.
Perry’s colon burst due to opioid overuse, after which he spent two weeks in a coma, five months in a hospital, and nine months using a colostomy bag. His family were told he had a “two per cent” chance of living.
A couple of years later, Perry came close to death again after his heart stopped beating for five minutes.
Perry was in rehab in Switzerland at the time, but had lied to his doctors about having severe stomach pain in order to get prescribed hydrocodone, an opioid used to treat pain and as a cough suppressant.
Perry was due to have surgery to alleviate his pain, but he took hydrocodone the night before his surgery, which, combined with anaesthetic propofol during the procedure, stopped his heart for five minutes.
“It wasn’t a heart attack – I didn’t flatline – but nothing had been beating,” he said, explaining how eight of his ribs broke during CPR.
As a result, he was forced to pull out of appearing in Adam McKay’s Netflix comedy Don’t Look Up, despite having already filmed a scene.
Matthew Perry wrote of how he almost died on two occasions as a result of his drug abuse
(AP)
Following 15 stints in rehab and therapy sessions, Perry described himself as “pretty healthy” by June 2022 and said he was motivated to help others struggling with addiction.
In 2015, he was honoured by Phoenix House, a nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabiliation programme, prompting Perry to joke that he was an “award-winning alcoholic”.
“I shouldn’t be getting an award; Phoenix House should be getting an award,” he told The Hollywood Reporter that year, while he was in the process of relocating his own sober-living facility, the Perry House.
“Phoenix House was kind enough to open their doors about four months ago when I went on a tour of [the Lake View Terrace facility],” he said. “Getting sober is a really hard thing to do, and I saw hope on the faces of the kids.”
He added: “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life and a lot of wonderful accolades, but the best thing about me is that if an alcoholic comes up to me and says, ‘Will you help me stop drinking?’ I will say, ‘Yes. I know how to do that.’”
Perry often spoke of his pride at helping others struggling with substance addiction
(AP)
Perry said the fact the public knew about his substance abuse issues made it easier to become a spokesperson for addiction recovery, including a major interview he gave to People in 2013.
“When I was in big trouble, it was so public because I was on a TV show that 30 million people were watching,” he said. “The fact that I [am] on TV makes people listen a little bit more, so I take advantage of that from time to time.”
In recent years, Perry often spoke about how proud he was of his work in addiction recovery, and the fact that he used his platform to urge people to seek help.
“When you’re having a bad day, the best thing you can do is call somebody and ask them how they’re doing,” he said, “and actually pay attention and listen to the answer to get out of your own head.”
If you or someone you know is suffering from drug addiction, you can seek confidential help and support 24-7 from Frank, by calling 0300 123 6600, texting 82111, sending an email or visiting their website here.
In the US, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration can be reached at 1-800-662-HELP.
Curated By: Business Desk
Last Updated: October 28, 2023, 19:30 IST
Eligible account holders can also avail a lifetime free credit card.
Bank of Baroda has launched a new lifetime zero balance savings account this festive season. As a part of its ‘BoB Ke Sang Tyohaar Ki Umang’ campaign the public sector lender has introduced the BoB LITE Savings Account with a Lifetime Zero Balance facility. Through this account the customers can enjoy all the banking services without the requirement of maintaining minimum balance.
Under this, you can open a lifetime zero balance savings account. Customers can also opt for a free RuPay Platinum Debit Card. All you need to do is maintain a nominal Quarterly Average Balance (QAB) in the account. Eligible account holders can also avail a lifetime free credit card.
Features of bob LITE Savings Account
The features of the bob LITE Savings Account include:
1. Lifetime zero balance savings account.
2. Can be opened by any resident individual, including minors (above 10 years of age).
3. Lifetime free RuPay Platinum Debit Card with the following nominal Quarterly Average Balance (QAB) requirements:
● For Metro/Urban Branch: Rs 3,000
● For Semi-Urban Branch: Rs 2,000
● For Rural Branch: Rs 1,000
4. Attractive offers and discounts on Bank of Baroda debit and credit cards.
Festive Season Offers
During the festive season, the BoB LITE Savings Account also comes with various offers. Under the festive campaign, the bank has tied up with leading consumer brands in categories like electronics, consumer durables, travel, food, fashion, entertainment, lifestyle, groceries, and healthcare products.
Bank of Baroda cardholders can avail special offers and discounts from brands like Reliance Digital, Croma, MakeMyTrip, Amazon, BookMyShow, Myntra, Swiggy, Zomato, and more. The festive campaign will run until December 31, 2023.
Documents Required for bob LITE Savings Account
The valid KYC documents for bob LITE Savings Account are:
● Driving license with photo
● Passport
● Voter’s ID Card
● NREGA Job Card
● Municipal or property tax receipt
● Utility bills
● Letter by National Population Register that contains the beneficiary’s name and address
Documents for students
College or institution ID
● Admission letter from the college or institution
● An allotment letter on letter head of the college or institution
KYC documents for foreign nationals
● Passport
● Valid Indian Visa
● Address proof noting the current overseas address, such as Foreign Driving License
Documents required for foreign students
Passport
● Address proof having the current overseas address, including driving license, Social Security Card National Identification Card, among others.
● Valid Indian Visa
● PAN
● Form 60
Hurri–cane Otis killed at least 27 people as it lashed Mexico’s beach resort city of Acapulco as a scale-topping category 5 storm, officials said on Thursday, in what residents called a “total disaster.”
The storm crashed into Acapulco with furious winds of 165 miles (270 kilometres) per hour, largely cutting off communications and road links with the region.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador arrived at the scene late on Wednesday, after his convoy found roads blocked by landslides and other debris, forcing top officials to abandon their vehicles and walk the final miles. The closures meant some residents slogged for hours through mud and debris in an attempt to find food and shelter.
“Acapulco is a total disaster. It is not what it was before. The park was totally destroyed, the buildings, all the streets,” said 24-year-old Eric Hernandez, who made the decision to leave on foot.
“The shops had all been looted, people were fighting for things. So we decided to walk as there wasn’t anything left there,” he said. Others said an overflowing river and collapsed bridges had cut off communities near Acapulco.
“A lot of people got stuck on the other side of the river in our village, which was overflowing a lot. People were left homeless, there’s no electricity,” said Israel Perez, a 21-year-old baker. Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez told a news conference that 27 people were dead and four were missing.
A convoy carrying humanitarian aid set off to try to reach Acapulco — home to about 780,000 people — by land since the airport was closed, authorities said. Otis rapidly strengthened to the most powerful category of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale before hitting land overnight Tuesday Wednesday, taking authorities by surprise.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday assured Moldova of Berlin’s support on its path to accession to the European Union as Moldovan and American officials allege Russia of trying to weaken the government in Chisinau.
“Moldova is part of our European family. In the summer, we granted it candidate status. And I very much welcome how resolutely Moldova has tackled the necessary reforms that are indispensable for EU accession,” Scholz told a news conference in Bucharest, Romania alongside Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and Moldovan President Maia Sandu.
“Moldova can be sure of our support on this path. I assured the President [Sandu] of this once again today. Moldova does not stand alone, but receives massive international support,” the German chancellor continued.
Scholz expressed “great concern” about reports of alleged Russian attempts to destabilize Moldova and said Germany would do its “utmost” to support Moldova in arming itself against “attempts of destabilization by Russia.”
In February, Moldova’s President Sandu accused Russia of planning to use “saboteurs who have undergone military training and are disguised as civilians” to destabilize the country — claims which were rejected by Russia’s foreign ministry as “unfounded.”
According to White House officials, the US believes that Russia is working to weaken the Moldovan government, as it continues to seek closer ties with the European Union.
“The sovereignty and territorial integrity of any state is inviolable. This requirement of the Helsinki Final Act and other agreements under international law was also signed by Russia. And it is still valid. Therefore, we do our utmost to support Moldova in arming itself against attempts of destabilization by Russia,” Scholz said.
Speaking at the same event, Sandu said that “it is very important, and I am happy that Moldova is a dialogue partner with Romania and Germany. The projects we are involved in together are very useful for our people and will strongly lead us to the accession (to the European Union).”
CNN’s Radina Gigova, Anna Chernova and Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting to this post.
Sports
26 October 2023, 6:15 pm 1 minute
Reuters exclusively reported on Wednesday evening that major European cycling teams have been exploring plans to create a new competitive league in a move that could reshape the sport’s landscape and allocate more funding for participants. Reuters was first to reveal the possible shake up to the sport, some of the parties involved and the possible investor to back the initiative, private equity firm CVC.
External investors could help finance the project, two of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private. The venture could amalgamate new and existing races, one of the people said.
Article Tags
Topics of Interest: Sports
Type: Reuters Best
Sectors: Sports
Regions: Europe
Win Types: ExclusivitySpeed
Story Types: Exclusive / Scoop
Media Types: Text
Customer Impact: Significant National Story
“It’s an honour to be able to represent AKU at such a notable occasion, and to showcase impactful work being done in Pakistan,” Dr Haider says
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A duo named Sal Aiello and Monica Powers broke the myth by harnessing the power of generative AI and developing a valuable product with a minimal investment of $185, which was around Rs 15,000.
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