Category Archives: Uncategorized

Defence Minister oppose increase of FDI in Defence

03 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Telecom, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

 

 

Defence Minister AK Antony comes down hard on proposal for 49% FDI The difference in approach on the increase of FDI in Defence has come out. Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had announced yesterday that FDI in  Defence sector is proposed to be increased from 26% to 49%. The earlier proposal was, as reported, to increase to 74%.

As per the latest reports, Defence Minister A.K.Antony has strongly opposed the proposal. See the following report:

‘In a note to Mr Sharma, the Defence Minister has argued India “cannot afford to be dependent on foreign companies and vulnerable to policies of their countries of origin”.  He also says “Allowing foreign companies to set up manufacturing/ assembly facilities here would be a retrograde step as it will stymie the growth of indigenous design and development.”‘

We fully support the stand taken by the Defence Minister opposing the increase in FDI. There should be nation wide protest against this ‘retrograde step’  to increase the FDI in Defence.

The pertinent question is whether Mr. Antony will be able to withstand against the pressure of the PM as also MNCs or succumb to the pressure.

Whether Communications Minister Kapil Sibal will take a similar stand against increase  in FDI as Defence Minister  A.K.Antony has taken?

BSNL Employees Donate One Day pay to PM’s Relief Fund

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in General, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

The meeting of the Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations held today, 26 June, has unanimously decided to donate one day pay to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for helping the people affected by the Uttarakhand disaster. The Forum has requested that the amount be deducted from the salary of the employees. It is expected that the donation will come around Rs. 40 to 50 crore.  The Forum has also suggested that an advance by BSNL be immediately given to Relief Fund, without waiting for the collection.

The Forum meeting congratulated the Military (including Air Force and all defence personnel ) for the continued efforts to save the stranded pilgrims, tourists and local population round the clock, without even considering their own safety. Already some of these army personnel have sacrificed their lives to bring the stranded to safety. The Forum condoled the death of these brave hearts who are the pride of the country. The Forum also mourned the death of more than 1,000  in one of the worst disaster the country has ever seen.

The Forum urged the BSNL Management to make all efforts for the immediate restoration of the BSNL services in the state. Our employees have been doing their best to restore the services, even working 24 hours. The Forum requests the management to make available all required equipment for the restoration. Forum wants the management to immediately take necessary steps to assist the BSNL employees who have been affected due to the disaster both in Uttarakhand and those tourists/ pilgrims from other circles.

The Forum also wants the DOT to financially support the BSNL in its efforts to restore the services in Uttarakhand. This will help BSNL which is in weak financial position.

10 PSUs pay dividend of Rs. 36,441.74 crore in 2012-13

24 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by in PSU, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

PSUs are milching cows for the government. BSNL may be in loss for the last four years due to the neo-liberal policies and inefficient management, but there are many other PSUs which are still making good profit. The following 10 PSUs have given a total amount of Rs. 36,441.74 crore dividend to the government in 2012-13. This is more than Rs. 4,507.64 crore paid in 2011-12, which was Rs. 31,934.10 crore.

Coal India      Rs. 8,842.90 crore   Indian Oil Corpn   Rs. 1,505.33 cr.

ONGC            Rs. 8,127.74 crore    BHEL                   Rs. 1,324.15 cr

NTPC             Rs. 4,741.14 crore    GAIL                    Rs. 1,217.74 cr.

NMDC            Rs. 2,775.29 crore     Power Fin. Corpn  Rs.    924.01 cr.

Oil India         Rs. 1,803.42 crore     SAIL                     Rs.    826.11 cr.

Total              Rs. 36,441.74 crore.

The young Rani who fought the British

17 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by in History, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

 

Rani of jhansi.jpgThe courageous leadership and ultimate sacrifice of Rani Lakshmibai  of Jhansi against the British and for the freedom of the country is well-known to all. There are many ballads and stories about her bravery, war strategy etc. But what is not much known is that at the time of her death in the battlefield on 17th June 1858  she was young and only 30  years of age.

Today is the 113th anniversary of her sacrifice for the country. She was killed in action, in the battlefield and was buried in Gwalior.

Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi will ever be remembered by the people.

Horrible exploitation of contract workers in BSNL

16 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in BSNLCCWF - Casual and Contract workers, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, ,

A meeting of the Circle Executive Committe of the Maharashtra Labour and Contract Labour Union of BSNL was held today at CITU office. The union is both affiliated to CITU and BSNL Casual & Contract Workers Federation (BSNLCCWF). About 50 comrades were present representing the SSAs Maharashtra.

The reporting by the District Secretaries about the condition of the contract workers was shocking. Most of the orders issued by the BSNL Corporate office or the Instructions of the Govt.f India are not implemented. In some SSAs, only Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,000 is paid as minimum wage. In some other SSAs it is Rs. 3,000 to 4,000. These are much below the minimum wages fixed by the Central Govt. and orders issued by the BSNL Corporate office. EPF and ESI are not implemented. These are not checked by the concerned officers and action taken against the culprits.

However, due to the continuous struggle of the union, in SSAs like Latur and Nasik, the situation is somewhat better,though not completely.

The meeting has taken decisions to strengthen the union by bringing all the contract workers in to the organisation and also persue the issues with the management for settlement with the help of BSNLEU, CITU etc.

 

Greece Govt.close TV and Radio – strong protest by people

13 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by in General, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

 

 

 

A report from Greece is reproduced below regarding strike of the people against closure of TV and Radio as part of austerity measures.

Athens, Jun 12 : Greece’s conservative-led government was facing a political crisis today after its decision to shut down state-run TV and radio as part of spending cuts triggered a wave of strikes and fierce opposition from within the coalition government.                 The country’s two largest labour unions called a 24-hour general strike for tomorrow with flights from Greece’s airports set to halt for two hours that day.                 TV and radio signals from the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp., or ERT, went dead early today, hours after the government closed the broadcaster down and fired its 2,500 workers, citing the need to cut “incredible waste.”                 Protesters gathered outside the company’s headquarters north of Athens for a second day, sheltering from torrential rainfall in the building’s giant lobby, as ERT’s journalists defied the order and continued a live Internet broadcast.                 Journalist unions also launched rolling 24-hour strikes, halting news programs on Greece’s privately owned broadcasters, while the government’s center-left coalition partners demanded that ERT’s closure be reversed.                 The government defended its decision, insisting a new more efficient and less costly public broadcaster would be launched before the end of the summer.                 “When you restructure something from the foundations, you have to close it, temporarily,” government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said.

Closure of Telegram Services opposed

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in BSNL - Better Service to the Nation, Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, ,

I express my strong protest against the decision of BSNL to close the telegram services. BSNL has issued orders stating that the telegram services will be closed with effect from 15th July 2013.

This decision has been taken by the management without discussing with the recognised unions. Telegraph Services were started in India by the British in 1850. On 5th November, the first message went between Diamond harbour and Calcutta.First  it was only for use of the government and later extended to the people. Telegraph was the fastest mode of communications till the telephones services started in the 1930s. Still telegraphs continued as a major method of communication.

The Central Telegraph Offices in Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Madras etc. employed hundreds of Telegraphists, Telegraph Clerks and Telgraphmen on duty round  the clock. It was not  much different in other cities. The cut-cut-cud-cut of the telegraph machines filled the Instrument Rooms. The traffic was so busy that sometimes the staff have to forego even tea-break.

Of course, everything has changed during the last two decades. 90% of the telegrams have been reduced. Now it is being used in the rural areas, by the military and military personnel, some banks, medical rpresentatives and by some others for legal and record purposes etc.

BSNL management might have issued the order  to reduce its losses being incurred for running the services. Nobody will deny that justification. BUt as in the case of loss making telephone services in the rural areas, the telegram service also has to be maintained. Further, before taking such a drastic action as closing the service completely, the recognised unions of the employees have not even been consulted. The Management also should have considered the people who are still using the telegram services. Telegraph is to be treated as a Heritage service and maintained at least in the District HQrs as at present.

I express my strong protest against this closure of one of the earliest service in the country. The BSNL Management should urgently discuss the matter with the unions/associations so that the issue is solved in an amicable way.

Nelson Mandela still in critical condition

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Nelsn Mandela, the icon against apartheid and former President of South Africa is still in hospital and in serious condition. Not only people of South Africa, but the entire world is wishing for restoration of his health.

It was on 12th June 1964 that Nelson Mandela was put in  prison  for leading the Freedom struggle for the independence of South Africa from the British. He was put in solitary confinement in Robben Island for long  24 years.

After getting freedom he was unanimously elected as the first President of the free South Africa.

US intelligence agencies tap all internets – India also?

08 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in General, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

It has come to light that the U.S. intelligence agencies have a direct tap into the servers of the U.S.’s largest Internet companies where agents can go through for any suspicious activity.

“The highly classified program, designed to look at international communications and run by the National Security Agency and the FBI, can peek at video, audio, photos, emails and other documents, including connection logs that let the government track people, according to the sources, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity.”

“The program, code-named PRISM, was first publicly exposed Thursday evening by The Washington Post and The Guardian.”

“According to the Post, which reported that it had obtained an internal NSA presentation on the PRISM operation, the tool was so successful that it was the top contributor to President Barack Obama’s daily intelligence brief — with 1,477 articles last year.”

“The participating technology companies were a virtual “Who’s Who” of Silicon Valley, including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube and Apple,  the Post said.”

As seen from the above reports, the US Intelligence Agencies are even peeping in to the secret lives of each and everybody whom they want. This is a gross criminal act and can not be condoned any way. Privacy of people can not be violated. The world opinion has to be mounted up against this violation of the fundamental rights of each and every citizen.

Another report has come in the press that Indian government also is employing similar method to spy the citizens. It is completely wrong and had to be opposed and stopped.

Birds of the same feather – Reliance Vs.Reliance

08 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

In business every move is based on  profitability. The media has been continuously giving news about the bitter rivalry between the two Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil, who head two of the richest corporates in the country. Now both are in the telecom sector, since it is one of the most profitable sector. Anil Ambani is the owner of the Reliance Communications Limited which is one of the leading private telecom company. Mukesh Ambani has started Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited and is in the move.

Both R-Com and jio Infocomm have now signed an Rs. 12,000 agreement by which the former will lease out its 45,000 towers to the latter.

It once again proves that maximisation of profit is the basic motto of the corporates.

 

 

 

 

 

When the i