Monthly Archives: May 2014

Convention in BSNL Corporate Office

23 Friday May 2014

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As per the decision of the Rajkot CEC of BSNLEU a Circle level Convention of workers of Corporate Office was held at National Council premises. All India President, BSNLEU Com. V.A.N.Namboodiri presided. Com. Kamal Sah, Circle Secretary welcomed all. Coms. Animesh Mitra, Dy.General secretary, BSNLEU, R.L.Moudgil, AGS, R.S.Chauhan, All India org. Secretary and CS NTR and other leaders addressed. They explained about the issues of the workers, the need to fight the neo-liberal policies of the government, the efforts for Revival of BSNL etc. Circle union President proposed vote of thanks.

WFTU – Successful Arab TU Meeting at Athens

23 Friday May 2014

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Successful Arab Trade union Meeting held in AthenS

The WFTU Arab Trade Union meeting was conducted with great success on May 11th – 12th 2014, in Athens – Greece. The 2 – day meeting was
attended by 39 trade unionists from 13 countries of the Arab World. 26 delegates took the floor and discussed on the hot and crucial issues Arab workers and the Arab labor movement are facing, issues of international solidarity and trade union activities in support of the Palestinian cause. The participants concluded in and voted a resolution and an ambitious action plan for the region. The resolution puts forward a series of important initiatives and activities of the WFTU and its affiliates and friends in the Arab world. Once more, the participants of the meeting expressed
their unconditional support to the struggle of the Palestinian people and their cause, defending their right to a free, independent and sovereign state.

Tipu’s Ring auctioned for Rs. 1.42 crore in London

23 Friday May 2014

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Ring_generic_thinkstock_360x270_1It is reported from London today that a ring of Tipu Sultan with an inscription ‘Ram’ has been auctioned for Rs. 1.42 crore. The name of the person who bid for the ring is unknown. The bid amount was ten times more than the auction amount. The inscription ‘Ram’ is written in Devanagari.

The ring was in the finger of Tipu Sultan when he was killed in the fight at srirangapatnam with the british in 1799. It was taken from his finger by Arthur Wellesley, the Commander of the British Regiment. Later it was in the custody of the his nephew Fitzroy Somerset and then his inheritors. It is now bid for Rs. 1.42 crores.

It is well known that innumerable treasures like this have been looted by the British army, officers and even British civilians from India. They captured many kingdoms and treasures were taken to Britain. In the museums in Britain, one can see thousands of such articles and valuables looted by the British. Much more will be in the residences of lords and noblemen who looted them from India.

The rulers of independent India should have demanded return of these valuable and article of historical importance. But they did nothing of that sort. Now that a new government is going to be formed, it is their responsibility to get all these back to its original country. Will they do it?

TRAI to recommend MVNO policy to DOT

23 Friday May 2014

Posted by in BSNL - Better Service to the Nation

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Advance technology results in new services. It is more true with the telecom services. Such a one is the service through Mobile Virtual Network Operators(MVNO). MVNOs are agents or resellers of data, bandwidth etc. to end users. It buys talk-time and bandwidth from a telecom operator and sell it / provide services to the end user/subscriber. This will include international, national, internet services etc.

It is yet to start in India, although the proposal was there since 2011. now the DoT has requested the TRAI to recommend how this MVNO policy is to be introduced.

What will the effect of this on the existing telecom operators including BSNL is to be studied.

Disinvest Department Recommends strategic sale of PSUs

23 Friday May 2014

Posted by in PSU, TU News - India

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While most of the departments of the government are sluggish in taking decisions on the governance of the country, there is a particular department which seems to be working round the clock. It is nothing else than the Disinvestment Department. During the earlier NDA government it was a ministry itself, but was downgraded to a department after the UPA I government took over.

Disinvestment was at very low pace in the UPA I since it was sustaining itself with the support of the left Parties,which strongly opposed disinvestment of PSUs. The UPA II wanted to speed up disinvestment, but could not move much due to various reasons. Its target of enriching the exchequer through sales of PSU shares could not be reached.

Now that the NDA with huge majority is taking over the government, the Disinvestment department will be feeling that it is the right time to directly sell the PSUs, instead of piecemeal. The sale of PSUs to strategic partners ( as in the the case of VSNL to Tata Telecommunications) they want to pursue now.

Accordingly, the Disinvestment Department has recommended to the new government for strategic sale of PSUs in the non-core PSUs like Cement, Steel, Textiles, petrochemical, fertiliser etc., which may also be extended to core PSUs later.

What will be the decision of the new government is not known.But there is real danger to the existence of the Public Sector. The Public Sector banks, which have stalled the recession in India to a certain extend is under severe attack. State Bank activities are already outsourced to Reliance company. The corporates and India Inc have demanded privatisation of the nationalised banks.

The working class under the Central trade Unions will have to seriously consider these issues and pressurise the new government from proceeding in the above matter, failing which mighty struggles should erupt to stop this selling of the national assets.

Forum decides to submit memorandum on BSNL to new Government

22 Thursday May 2014

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The meeting of the Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations which met today at New Delhi decided to prepare a Memorandum on the Revival of BSNL and submit the same to the new government. The points to be included in the memorandum were also discussed.
The draft memorandum will be discussed and finalised in the meeting to be held on 27th May 2014.

Rally people against Twin-pronged attack – Prakash Karat

22 Thursday May 2014

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“With the ascent to power by RSS-backed Narendra Modi, the people of the country will be subjected to a twin-pronged attack – intensified pursuit of neo-liberal reforms and heightened communalisation of society resulting in the division of the people. The task before the Left today is to rally the people against neo-liberal policies and prepare the people for struggles while safeguarding their unity.”
( Com. Prakash Karat, General Secretary CPI(M) delivering Com.P.Sundarayya Memorial Lecture at Hyderabad)

Japan People object to re-opening of Nuclear Reactor

22 Thursday May 2014

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The Fukui District Court in Japan has denied permission to restart operation of nuclear reactors accepting the opposition of the people of the area. The Kansai Electric Power Company was preparing to restart the reactors, which have been stopped after the 2011 nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

All of the 48 reactors in Japan in kept inactive after the 2011 disaster which resulted in huge damage and loss of lives. But the Government wants to restart, which the people are opposing.

21 Million forced labour workers worldwide – ILO Report

22 Thursday May 2014

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The exploitation of the forced labour, whether in domestic chores, sex or other occupations has exceeded 21 million ( 2.1 crore) worldwide according to a report of the International Labour organisation (ILO). The same report by the UN organisation also points out that through this brutal exploitation, the employers are getting profits of more than $150 billions. It is also stated that nearly two-thirds of the profits are from the sexual exploitation.

In India also, it may not be much different. There have been many such reports in the media.

Forced labour is a stigma on the civilised society. There should be no place for it anywhere. Instead of reducing or putting an end to the same, more and more such practices are taking place. The neo-liberal policies, the greed for maximisation of profits and the backwardness of the people are the main reasons for this state of affairs.

There should be an end to this brutal exploitation.

CPI(M) Condoles death of Com. R.Umanath

21 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Obituary, Tributes

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CPI(M) Condolence Resolution on Com. R Umanath

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its deep grief at the passing away of Comrade R Umanath, veteran leader of the Party at Tiruchirapalli. He was aged 92 years.

R Umanath was a member of the Central Committee of the Party from 1978 to 2012. He was elected a member of the Polit Bureau in 1991 and served in that capacity till 2008. He served as a member of the Tamilnadu State Committee and Secretariat of the Party for several decades.

He began his political activity as a young student by participating in the freedom struggle. He joined the Communist Party in 1939 while studying at the Annamali University in Tamilnadu. He left his studies to become a wholetimer of the Party.

Umanath became a talented organizer of the trade unions and played an important role in building the trade union movement in different parts of Tamilnadu. He was one of the founders of the CITU and was the first General Secretary of Tamilnadu CITU. He served as the General Secretary and later as the President of the State CITU for long years. He served as the national Vice President of the CITU till 2010.

Comrade Umanath served as a member of the Lok Sabha in 1962 and 1967. Later he was elected to the state legislature for two terms. He was a powerful speaker in Tamil and English and made a mark in the parliamentary forums.

The Communist Party was repressed by the British rulers in the years before independence. Com. Umanath was convicted along with other Communist leaders in the Madras Conspiracy case and jailed for two and a half years. He spent altogether nine and half years in jail both before and after independence. He also spent seven years underground, the last period being during the Emergency in 1975-77.

Com. Umanath was a staunch Marxist-Leninist. He set an example of the Communist style of work among the working class. As a member of the Polit Bureau and the Central Committee, Umanath made a notable contribution to the evolution of the Party’s ideological and political line.

Married to Papa Umanath, they both were an inspiring example of dedicated work and simple style of living.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) pays homage to the memory of this outstanding communist leader. It conveys its heartfelt condolences to his daughters U Vasuki and Nirmala Ravi.