Supreme Court upheld Right to Education Act

13 Friday Apr 2012

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The judgement  of the Supreme Court yesterday upholding the provisions of the Right to Education Act (REA) is to be highly appreciated. The private school management has appealed to the apex court stating that the provision of 25% free seats to poor students will infringe their fundamental rights assured in the Constitution. The Supreme Court rejected the petitions and stated that this provision is to be implemented.

NCCPA Conference plans agitational programmes

13 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in AIBDPA - BSNL DOT Pensioners

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The All India Conference of the NCCPA at Ratlam ended successfully today with unanimous election of office-bearers and adoption of agitational programmes for settlement of the urgent demands. The demands also have been formulated. Coms.  Umraomal Purohit and V.A.N.Namboodiri have been re-elected as Patrons. Coms. R.L.Bhattacharjee and S.K.Vyas have been re-elected as President and Secretary General. From AIBDPA, General Secretary Com. K.G.Jayaraj has been re-elected as Organising Secretary.

Holiday for Ambedkar Jayanti

13 Friday Apr 2012

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This year also, the government has issued orders declaring 14th April, the Birthday of Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, as Public holiday in the last moment. Year after year, this practice is going on. We have several times demanded that the date may be permanently declared as holiday as in the case of holidays like Independence Day and Republic day.

Dr. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution and an icon of the SC/ST and Backward classes deserves such an honour. Let the government discuss and take a decision without delay.

Air India turnaroud plan with Rs.30,000 crore in 10 years.

13 Friday Apr 2012

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The Government has approved a turn-around plan for the ailing Air India with infusion of Rs. 30,231 crore within 10 years with stringent conditions on operations and efficiency. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the plan yesterday. The restructuring of the Rs. 18,000 crore loan by banks is also planned. At the same time, it will also form two subsidiaries  and will shift 19,000 out of the total 27,000 employees to the subsidiaries. More FDI may also be brought in the meantime.

In the name of assisting the Air-India, the government is reducing the staff as also trying to bring more FDI. The present critical situation has been created only by the wrong and anti-PSU policy of the government. And now citing loss, the game of further privatisation and reducing employment are planned. While we welcome the allocation of Rs.30,000 crore, we have to be careful to ensure that the privatisation policy and job curtailment is defeated.

BSNL may lose ‘Mini Ratna’ status

13 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in BSNL News

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The continued losses for three years may result in loss of ‘Mini Ratna’ status to BSNL. From the status in 2006-2007, when the company was having a revenue of Rs. 39,715 crore and profit of Rs. 6,000 crore, the revenue has come down to Rs. 38,053 crore in 2007-08, to Rs. 35,812 in 2008-2009 and to Rs.32.046 in 2009-10. It started posting loss from 2009-10 continuing the same in 2010-11 and in 2011-12 the last with a loss of about Rs.6,000 core.  Thus from a profit of Rs. 6,000 crore in 2006-2007 it has reached to a loss of about Rs. 6,000 crores in 2011-12.

BSNL was eligible for the grant of Navaratna in 2006-2007, but the government delayed it and granted Mini Ratna only. The government did not want to give Navaratna as it had already made plans to ensure that it is weakened so as not to compete with the private players.  Continued denial of procurement, taking away all the surplus cash through many flimsy pleas, corruption etc. BSNL has been made loss making. Now it is going to ne downgraded from Mini Ratna also.

Unless there is a strong united move by the workers and pressure from political parties, BSNL future will be a matter of past. Let us all join together to save the BSNL.

The massacre at Jhalianwala Bagh

12 Thursday Apr 2012

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Jhallianwala Bagh is another pilgrimage site for the Indians. It was here on 13th April 1919, more than 1,000 people were murdered and many more wounded by the bullets fired as per the orders of the British imperialists to stop a meeting being held there to protest the arrests of popular leaders of the independence movement.  The firing was pre-planned and intended to kill the protesters.

Every year  functions are held at the Jallianwala Bagh maidan where the memorial to the martyrs have been constructed. I was invited to participate in the function three years back. It was a poignant moment when all the people stood up at the exact time when the firing and killing took place.

Revolutionary Homage to the memory of all those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the country!

NCCPA All India Conference starts

12 Thursday Apr 2012

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The two-day All India Conference of National Co-ordination Committee of Pensioners Association (NCCPA)  has started at Ratlam (M.P) today. Hundreds of delegates from all over India has reached by yesterday and today morning. All India BSNL DOT Pensioners Association (AIBDPA) is represented by Com.K.G.Jayaraj, General Secretary and delegates including Coms. Mohandoss (T.Nadu), Supriya Mitra( Kolkatta) N.Ramesh (Kerala), H.S.Thakur (M.P) and others. As the Patron of the NCCPA, I was to attend the AIC, but due to the Sunami threat in Kerala etc. yesterday, I had to cancel the journey and the railway ticket. It is fortunate that no Sunami hit the Indian coast, but at that time, nothing was sure and the sunami alert was existing.

The Central Working Committee was held yesterday, presided over by Com. R.L.Bhattacharjee, President. Com. S.K.Vyas Secretary General presented the report which was adopted after slight modification by the CWC. Com.KG Jayaraj, General Secretary and Mohan Doss spoke from AIBDPA.( to be continued)

2G Scam – What is the Presidential Reference to Supreme Court ?

12 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in 2G Scam Corruption

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The cancellation of illegal 122 telecom licences by the Supreme Court on 2nd February 2012 has been a slap on the face of the UPA government. The baffled government is trying to come out of it by making the issue more complicated by making a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court seeking clarifications on many issues directly or indirectly connected with the case. It has referred to the SC seeking clarifications on all licences which have been granted without auction since 1993. There are about 102 licences on which the Presidential Reference seeks advice from the apex court. These include 22 licenses of Airtel, 8 of Airtel, 17 of Tatas, 18 of Reliance 12 of Vodafone, 2 of Idea, 1 of loop etc. Incidentally, the licences allotted to BSNL and MTNL is not included in the Reference.

It seems that the Government had made this unusual reference to complicate the issue so that it can save itself from the 2G Scam or at least making it impossible to complete the case and punish the guilty.

Centre adds to SC list

12 Thursday Apr 2012

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The government today, 12th April 2012,  decided to include some communities in the list of Scheduled Castes in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Tripura. In Kerala, Pulluvan and Thachar communities will be included in the list of Scheduled Caste, an official release said here. The carpenters in the Thachar community will not be included in the SC list. The Dahiya community of Madhya Pradesh and Amata, Amath, Bajia, Jaggili, Jagli and Buna Pano communities of Odisha will also be included in the SC list. In Tripura, Chamar Rohidas, Chamar Ravidas, Dhobi and Jhalo-Malo communities will be included in the list. The Majhi (Nepali) community in Sikkim will be excluded from the SC list, the release said. The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the proposal to introduce a Bill in Parliament in this regard, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said. After the Bill becomes an Act, members of the communities included in the SC list will be able to derive benefits meant for Scheduled Castes under the existing schemes. Some schemes of this kind include Post-Matric Scholarship, National Overseas Scholarship, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship, concessional loans from national Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation, hostels for SC boys and girls.

BSNL, MTNL merger again in the agenda

12 Thursday Apr 2012

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The issue of BSNL & MTNL merger has again come in to the agenda of the government. This issue was discused in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology yesterday. Secretary DOT, R.Chandrasekhar while appearing before the Standing Committee stated that the DOT Committee which looked in to the recommendations of the Board for Reconstruction of the Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) has accepted the merger of BSNL & MTNL.

The JAC had earlier favoured the proposal but had insisted that the issue of the pay scales, the issue of disinvestment ( while in MTNL about 46% is disinvested,  the unions did not allow any disinvestment in BSNL) etc. should be sorted out. The JAC had demanded that the MTNL shares disinvested should be bought back before merger.

The  JAC has to urgently move  to ensure that before the merger, the necessary actions are taken by the government as demanded by the JAC.