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KERALA AGITATION-DISCUSSION WITH CMD, BSNL.

Coms. VAN Nambodiri, President, BSNLCCWF, G.L.Jogi, President SNEA, K.Sebastin, General Secretary SNEA and M.C.Balakrishna, AGS BSNLEU met Shri Anupam Shrivastava, CMD BSNL and demanded that Shri MSS Rao, CGM, Kerala be immediately transferred out of Kerala Circle as agreed in the meeting of the unions and management held at Thiruvananthapuram chaired by Shri N.K.Gupta, Director (CFA) on 20th August 2015. Any delay in the matter will result in further agitational programmes from 1st September 2015. It was also brought to his notice that after joining back from leave, the CGM is creating further troubles which will adversely affect the workers effort to improve the services. The vigilance /CBI enquiry against the officer was also pointed out. Any further day being allowed the present CGM to continue in Kerala will only result in further agitation programmes by the concerned workers..

We hope that the CMD will take immediate action in the matter by shifting the present CGM from Kerala. We congratulate the Kerala workers for their sustained struggle for getting justice.

VII PAY COMMISSION TERM EXTENDED BY FOUR MONTHS ,UPTO 31-12-2015.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for the extension of the term of the 7th Central Pay Commission by four months up to 31.12.2015.

Background:

The 7th Central Pay Commission was constituted by the Central Government on 28.2.2014. According to the Resolution dated 28.2.2014, by which the Commission was constituted, it is to make its recommendations within 18 months of the date of its constitution that is by 27th August, 2015.

In view of its volume of work and intensive stake-holders’ consultations, the 7th Central Pay Commission had made a request to the Government for a four month extension up to 31.12.2015.

The Chairman of the Pay Commission, Justice A. K. Mathur just had stated that the report of the Pay Commission will be submitted by end of September, 2015. If so why this extension of time. It may be the intention of the government to delay the implementation to the maximum extent possible. The indefinite strike of the Central Government Employees including Railways from 23-11-2015 will only ensure timely implementation of the pay commission recommendations with reasonable benefits at least from 01-01-2016.

AIBDPA WISHES ALL A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS ONAM.

VII PAY COMMISSION WILL SUBMIT REPORT BY END OF SEPTEMBER,2015- SAYS CHAIRMAN

Justice A.K.Mathur, Chairman of the VII Central Pay Commission has stated that the recommendations of the Commission will be submitted to the Government by the end of September 2015. This is one month’s delay from the earlier proposal to submit the report in August 2015.

The CG Employees are due for pay revision w.e.f. 2016. Most of the state governments are revising the pay of their employees based on the recommendations of the Central Pay Commission.

VII PAY COMMISSION MAY RECOMMEND FOR PERMANENT PAY PANEL.

The seventh Pay Commission is likely to recommend the government to form a permanent pay panel to give recommendations to the government from time to time on issues pertaining to pay structure of central government employees.

The permanent pay panel would recommend regular salary hikes in keeping with the rate of inflation.

The formation of the permanent pay panel would help raise the salaries and allowances of central government officials and employees, an official of the pay panel said.

He added the permanent pay panel would recommend salary and allowance hikes in keeping with the rising inflation rate, which will be implemented by the government. “Then it will not be necessary to form a new commission during the next several years for central government employees.”

However, the Seventh Pay Commission got one month extension to submit its recommendations.

Accordingly it is expected to submit its report by the end of September. The time allotted for the commission ends this month.

The government appointed the Seventh Pay Commission on 28 February 2014 under chairman, Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur, with a time frame of 18 months to make its recommendations

“There are some data points that are missing, which we hope to get by this month end. We are trying to submit the report by 20 September,” the official of the pay panel also said.

The government’s salary bill will rise by 9.56% to Rs 1,00,619 crore with the implementation of the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, according to a statement tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on August 12.

The recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, is likely to be implemented in April, next year. (Courtesy: Confederation)

NO PROGRESS IN TALKS WITH CENTRAL TRADE UNIONS AND GOVERNMENT ON 2 SEPTEMBER STIKE.

The meeting between the Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and the Central trade Union leaders did not make any headway since there was no concrete proposals from the government for settling the major demands raised by the CTUs. The talks will continue tomorrow.

The Central TU leaders called upon the workers to fully prepare for the strike since no concrete proposals have come from the government. Anyhow, they will attend the meeting tomorrow.

Make the 2nd September Strike a big success.

MADE IN CHINA, SOLD IN INDIA: THE NEW WAVE OF SMARTPHONE BRANDS.

Which is the top selling Chinese handset brand in India? Well, that’s tough to tell, because rankings change every other month. For the first two months of 2015, Gionee topped the charts, according to a shipment report by Infodrive, a firm that tracks export-import data. Come March, it was toppled by Lenovo, the world’s largest personal computer maker. By April, it was the turn of Xiaomi, which held the lead through May. But in June and July, Lenovo came in from behind to reclaim the top slot, with Gionee and Xiaomi close on to its heels.
Welcome to the dragon dance in the land of the Elephant. The first half of 2015 has seen a noholds-barred slugfest among the top three Chinese brands in the world’s second largest mobile handset market.
Over 26.5 million smartphones were shipped to India in the second quarter of 2015, up 44 per cent from 18.4 million units for the same period last year, according to International Data Corporation’s (IDC’s) Asia/Pacific quarterly mobile phone tracker released this month. Never mind who’s on top and who’s not. The Chinese brands collectively stole the show, trebling their shipments year on year and doubling them quarter-onquarter. Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei and Gionee alone accounted for 12 per cent of the total smartphone market, two times the share a year ago, says IDC.
“As China started to slow down, most vendors began looking at India as the next big growth market,” Kiranjeet Kaur, research manager with IDC’s Asia/Pacific mobile phone team, said in a press release. Kaur adds that the key to success of Chinese vendors has been popular flash sales through etailers such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon.
Flash sales a business model wherein a website offers a single product for sale for a limited period, which gets snapped up in a few seconds has surely been the game changer for Lenovo in India. From a mere 32,000 units shipped in the first quarter of 2013, the Chinese brand took a phenomenal leap to take its count to over 11,74,250 units in the second quarter of the current year, according to IDC.
“The product has to be a differentiator. Nobody is going to wait online for an average product,” says Bhaskar Choudhuri, marketing director of Lenovo India. Small wonder Lenovo, which had its first flash sale in India in January for the A6000 model, has become the largest selling Chinese handset brand in the country.
Though Choudhuri attributes the success to flash sales, he is quick to point out that the brand doesn’t believe in talking about its Chinese lineage. “We don’t consider ourselves to be a Chinese brand. We are a multinational brand,” he says.
In stark contrast, rival Gionee is proud to flaunt the ‘Made in China’ tag. Arvind R Vohra, CEO of Gionee India, says he has no qualms in talking about China parentage. “If somebody asks the name of your father, won’t you disclose it?” he asks.
Vohra believes that one shouldn’t look at monthly figures to judge leaders. “We had held on to the top slot for more than a year but not being online has led to a stumble in the rankings,” he says, adding that Gionee is changing its marketing strategy. The Chinese brand, while keeping its offline retail focus intact, will soon debut online. “We will reclaim our top position in India,” declares Vohra.
Marketing experts say that the new wave of Chinese brands in India is more aggressive than their predecessors who came a decade back but not in a Chinese avatar. “The first-gen players were shy of flaunting their roots and got re-branded once they landed on Indian shores,” says brand strategist Harish Bijoor.
But the second-gen entrants are proud of their parentage, he adds. However, Bijoor feels that the biggest challenge for these brands is to crack through the high-value segment of the market, where the likes of Samsung and Apple reign supreme. The real big, bruising battle is yet to begin.

(courtesy: The Economic Times)

PRIME MINISTER WANTS IMMEDIATE RESOLUTION ON CALL DROPS.

NEW DELHI: Expressing serious concerns over rising instances of call drops, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed officials to address the issue on an urgent basis.

Modi “asked officials as to what steps were being taken to address this problem, which, he said, directly affects the common man,” according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office issued on Tuesday.

The prime minister had raised the issue at a meeting held on Monday evening to review progress of digital infrastructure, rural infrastructure and connectivity sectors.

Modi also asked officials to ensure that the problems in voice connectivity do not extend to data connectivity in the future, the statement added.

Modi’s remarks come days after the telecom department pulled up telecom operators over the issue and asked them to spend more on network optimization. Telecom operators, though, have repeatedly maintained that the primary cause of growing incidence of call drops is their inability to get sites to install telecom towers. They blame the government for not doing enough to help set up the towers.

According to GSM industry association COAI, operators are unable to install more towers mainly due to radiation scare and rent seeking behaviour of the local government bodies.

On Tuesday, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad again urged telecom operators to do more to optimize their networks to improve the call drop situation.

“Whatever is necessary for policy, we will do, like installation of mobile towers on government buildings, speaking against radiation fears. So, what is required from the government, we will do,” Prasad told reporters. “I expect operators should also do what is required to reinforce their system, optimise their networks”.

Prasad has already sought ‘in-principle’ approval for allowing operators to set up towers in government buildings and has written to various chief ministers seeking their efforts in the area. The DoT has also sought the health ministry’s immediate intervention to enable mobile carriers to install cell towers in hospitals across India. Operators have also sought permission to install towers on defence land as well.

At the meeting on Monday, officials were directed to explore the possibility of leveraging existing resources, including railway and other communication infrastructure, to provide mobile connectivity in remote, unconnected areas.

Modi emphasized that the targets for digital infrastructure should be synchronized with those for the ‘Digital India’ initiative, the PMO said.

Arvind Panagariya, vice chairman of NITI Aayog, as also senior officials from PMO, NITI Aayog and ministries concerned attended the meeting.

(source: The Economic Times)

WAGE REVISION OF BSNL EMPLOYEES SO ALSO PENSION REVISION.

If the period for wage revision is taken as 10 years, as in the case of central Government Employees, the BSNL employees are due for wage revision in January 2017. If the demand of BSNLEU is accepted for 5 years, the wage revision is due from January 2012. For the executives in BSNL, pay revision depends upon the Pay Revision Committee to be appointed by the government. For the non-executives, it is through direct negotiations between the Management and the Recognised Unions.

Whatever be the position, it is high time that the wage negotiation starts. Last time it took about more than three years of hard negotiation and struggles including strikes to reach an agreement. (Of course, it was a very good wage revision). Even if the negotiation takes about one year, it is time to start the same. There need not be any delay in the matter.

Once the wage revision is implemented the pension also should be revised simultaneously.

REDUCTION OF RENT FOR STAFF QUARTERS FOR DOT & BSNL PENSIONERS.

Staff quarters were not allotted to retired employees, since the quarters were not sufficient even to the working employees. However, during the last many years due to non-recruitment as also the comparison of HRA and the outside rent, many quarters are vacant. After much pressure from BSNLEU and AIBDPA, orders were issued for allotting quarters to retired employees also, where there are vacant quarters. But as per the orders they had to pay market rent, which is very high. The AIBDPA demand is that the retired persons also should be given quarters on the same criteria as that of regular employees and not market rent.

Com. VAN Namboodiri, Advisor, AIBDPA met Smt. Sujata Ray, Direct (HR), BSNL on 24th August 2015 and discussed the matter. The need for removing the market rent condition was pointed out by Com. Namboodiri. Director(HR) assured that the matter will be favourably considered by BSNL management