ITS 89 batch

DON'T WORK HARD...... "WORK SMART"

2011-10-18T20:03:00.001-07:00

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag. 1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven. 2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven. 3) But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail. They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag. Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities: 1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble. 2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat. 3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment. Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers. Pls read the story again carefully. The solution is hidden in the path. What would you recommend to the Girl to do? Well, here is what she did .... The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. "Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked." Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one. MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution. It is only that we don't attempt to think. Start your day with this thought provoking story and have a nice day. DON'T WORK HARD...... "WORK SMART"

SURPLUS FAQs

2011-10-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Mail from Manish Bansal:

Dear Friends,

Till date total 4 Circulars/ Gazzet Notifications have been issued by Govt.

a. Circular dated 25.02.1966 ( Now superceded)
b. Circular Dated .04.1989
c. Gazzet Notification dated28.02.1990
d. Circular Dated 26.03.2002

I've attempted to prepare some FAQ to simplify the circulars, bur some errors may be there in compilation:

Q1. What is the basis/ procedure for rendering the staff surplus?

A1. Civil servants may be rendered surplus along with their posts from the Ministries/Departments/ Offices of the Government of India as a result of
(i) administrative reforms , restructuring of an organization, transfer of an activity to a State Government, Public Sector Undertaking,or other Autonomous Organisation: discontinuation of an ongoing activity,and introduction of changes in technology: or
(ii). studies of work measurement undertaken by the Staff Inspection Unit of
the Ministry of Finance or any other body set up by the Central govt. or
the Ministry/ Department concerned: or
(iii). abolition or winding up (in whole or part) of an Organisation of the
Central Government.

Q2. Whether any local surplus cell will be created within DOT ?

A2: The Members of the staff who are declared surplus with the prior concurrence
of the Department of Personnel and Training ( The employee will be deemed to be surplus from the date of accepting the proposal by DOPT) will be transferred to a Surplus Staff Establishment ( SSE) which will be created to accommodate such surplus staff in the concerned Ministry/Department and will continue to draw last salary. It means there will be SSE in DOT.

Q3. Whether the staff declared surplus is supposed to report to any body while waiting redeployment?

A.3 Every employee while borne on the SSE keep attending office and report to officer designated by Dept. for the purpose regularly and some work of temporary nature may be given to that employee.

Q.4 How many chance I will be getting for redeployment while being on the roll of surplus cell? Some body told that 3 offers will be given?

A.4 Only single chance will be given for joining new posting even in lower grade and if refused the process for termination will be started.

Q5. Can I be re-deployed in any senior or junior pay scales/ posts?

A5. Effforts will be made to redeploy in the equivalent grade but may be redeployed in any post and in dissimiliar scales, Provided that –
(i) the maximum of the pay scale of such post does not exceed the maximum
of the pay-scale of the surplus employee by more than 10 per cent; and
(ii) such post is not lower than the post which forms or would ordinarily form,
the next lower rung in the promotional ladder for the incumbents of the post
of the level currently held by the surplus employee
It means redeployment in one scale lower is also possible.But pay will be protected.

Q6. Can I make representation for re-adjustment if redeployed in lower grade?
A6. Yes , but subject to certain conditions.

Q.7. What are the posts for which I'm eligible? Am I eligible for deputation posts to other ministries?
A7. The surplus employees recommended by the cell will be entitled to first priority for
appointment to the vacancies in Group 'A' ' Services or post filled by direct
requirement including those fields through the Commission (otherwise than on
the basis of a competitive examination ).
I understand that we are not eligible to be posted on deputation in different ministries, but will be eligible for posts which we occassionally find in news papers like 1-2 posts in DRDO, NHAI etc.or some posts recruited by UPSC directly without competitive exams.

I think above will answer some of queries of batchmates.

Thanx and Regards
Manish

Surplus Cell rulings

2011-10-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS

(Department of Personnel and Training)

O.M. No. 1/1/2002-CS.III

New Delhi, dated the 26^th March, 2002

Subject: Redployment of surplus staff – Identification/ declaration of surplus staff and related instructions

Reference:

1. O.M. no. 1/18/88/CS-III dated 1.4.89 (1989 Revised Scheme)

2. CCS (Redployment of Surplus Staff) Rules, 1990

3. Special VRS for surplus staff vide O.M. no. 25013/6/2001-Esst.(A) dated 28.02.02 ( an ex-gratia over and above the normal retirement entitlements under CCS (Pension ) Rules, 1972).

Steps:

1. The department taking an administrative decision to declare staff as surplus (along with their posts).

2. Determination of posts which are required to be abolished. Once posts are identified, vacant posts need to be abolished (within 3 months).

3. Identification of surplus staff working against posts which have been identified for being abolished.

4. Preparation of final list of surplus staff for reporting the same to the Division of Retraining and Redeployment which was earlier known as the Surplus Cell in the Department of Personnel and Training (hereafter referred as the ‘Division’)

5. Reporting the final list to the Division.

6. Acknowledgement from the Division regarding acceptance of surplus staff on the rolls of the Division within a month. However, the Division may refer back the proposal to the concerned ministry within 14 days. Date of acceptance on the Surplus Rolls of the Division would be the actual date from which a staff would be treated as having been declared surplus for all intents and purpose.

7. Formal intimation to the surplus staff by the department advising them that their names have been reported to the Division for redeployment.

8. Issue of formal orders by the department from the date staff are declared surplus, transferring them to a surplus staff establishment to be constituted within the concerned department

Instructions contained in this O.M. are supplemental to the provisions of the 1989 Revised Scheme and the CCs (Redeployment of Surplus Staff) Rules, 1990.

O.M. No. 1/4/89-CS.III

New Delhi, the 28th February, 1990

CCS (Redeployment of Surplus Staff) Rules, 1990

In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution.

2. Definitions- In these rules unless the context otherwise requires-

'Cell' means, - in relation to the surplus staff belonging to Groups 'A', the Central (Surplus Staff) Cell in the Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;

'Commission' means the Union Public Service Commission;

'Readjustment' means the reappointment of an ex-surplus employee, though already deployed to another post, in accordance with these rules;

'Redeployment' means the appointment of a surplus employee against a vacancy in a Central Civil Service or post in accordance with these rules;

'Surplus staff’ and 'surplus employee or employees' means the Central Civil Servants who- (a) are permanent; and (b) have been rendered surplus along with their posts from the Ministries, Departments, as a result of-

Administrative and financial reforms including inter-alia, restructuring of an organization, zero base budgeting, transfer of an activity to a State Government, Public Sector Undertaking or other autonomous organisation, discontinuation of an on-going activity, and introduction of changes in technology;

‘Rolls' means the list of surplus staff currently under redeployment or readjustment through the Cell.

3. Reporting of Vacancies to the Cells:

(1) Vacancies in the Central Civil Services and Posts in Groups 'A'-

(i) The controlling authority in respect of a Group' A' Service or post in which any vacancy is to be filled up by direct recruitment through the Commission (otherwise than on the basis of a competitive examination) shall while sending requisition for the purpose to the Commission, also simultaneously send a copy thereof to the Cell.

(iv) All vacancies in Central Civil Services and posts in Group ‘A’, which are to be filled by direct recruitment or by transfer but otherwise than through the Commission, shall first be reported to the Cell and shall be filled from amongst the surplus staff, unless the controlling authority of the service or post in question has ascertained from the Cell that they have no suitable persons from amongst the surplus staff available with them for being nominated against the particular post.

(v) The provisions contained in sub-rule (1) shall not apply to the posts and services under the administrative control of-

(a) the Departments of (i) Atomic Energy, (ii) Space, (iii) Electronics, (iv) Indian Audit and Accounts, (v) Railways (excluding the posts located in the Headquarters Offices of the Railway Board);

(b) the Ministry of Defence (lower field formations other than the Defence Research and Development Organization):

Provided that this shall not debar the controlling authority of such services or posts to request the Cell to sponsor suitable surplus employees, and to appoint them.

(4) Selective reporting of the vacancies to the Cells.-

Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), the concerned cell may issue instructions that,-

(b) vacancies existing in particular posts, grades, services or regions at any point of time should be reported to it, and should not be filled up through any other modes including those prescribed in the Recruitment rules, except after obtaining a specific clearance from the Cell aforesaid.

4. Redeployment of Surplus Staff:

(1) Against vacancies in Group ‘A' Services or Posts-

(i) The surplus employees recommended by the Cell will be entitled to first priority for appointment to the vacancies in Group ‘A' Services or posts filled by direct recruitment including those filled through the Commission (otherwise than on the basis of a competitive examination held by the Commission), or by transfer:

Provided that they are found suitable by the Commission or other prescribed authority and no suitable disabled defence services personnel are available with them for appointment to such vacancies.

(ii) The Cell shall recommend to the Commission the name of surplus employee who, for the time being, is borne on its rolls for being considered for appointment to a specific post wherein the vacancy has been notified to the Commission and to the Cell, and for appointment to which the surplus concerned appears to the Cell to be prima facie suitable, having regard to the scale of pay attached to the post and the one held by him, his qualifications and the relevance of his previous experience.

(iv) The Commission may consider any surplus employee whose bio-data has been referred to it by the Cell, for appointment to a post, even if he has not been specifically recommended by the Cell for that post provided (a) the post in question carries the same scale of pay or has the same maximum of the pay scale, as the one held by him, (b) the surplus employee is found suitable for appointment to such post in preference to the other posts for which his candidature may have been sponsored by the Cell, and (c) he does not suffer from any of the disabilities mentioned in clause (v) of this sub-rule.

(v) The Cell shall not recommend the name of a surplus employee to the Commission,-

(vi) The Commission may, in its discretion, consult the confidential reports written earlier on a surplus employee or, if necessary, call him for interview to determine his suitability for appointment to a post but shall not subject him to a written test for this purpose.

(4) Determination of suitability of surplus employees for appointment to posts other than those filled through the Commission-

The following authorities shall have the power to determine the suitability of surplus staff for appointment to the posts, filled otherwise than through the Commission, as shown below, where necessary by relaxation of the qualifications, experience, etc., prescribed under the relevant recruitment rules.-

(a) The Department of Personnel and Training in respect of employees nominated against,-

(i) vacancies in Group 'A' Services and posts reported under clause (iv) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 3.

(b) The Ministry or the Department concerned in respect of employees nominated against vacancies in the Ministries, Departments, etc., mentioned in clause (v) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 3.

(6) Absorption of surplus staff within the Ministry or Department-

Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (4), the Ministry or Head of Department may, under intimation to the concerned Cell, adjust an employee declared surplus by it against a vacancy (if any available at the time he is declared surplus or before he is redeployed through the Cell) in any post located in any office under its control and carrying equivalent pay scale for appointment to which he is considered by the appointing authority to be suitable.

5. Determination of placement:

(1) (i) As far as possible, a surplus employee shall, subject to his suitability, be redeployed in a post carrying a pay scale matching his current pay scale.

(ii) For the purpose of clause (i), a matching pay scale shall mean a pay scale the maximum of which is equal to that of the pay scale of the surplus employee, and the minimum of which is not higher than the basic pay (including the stagnation pay) which the surplus employee is in receipt of at the time of making his nomination.

(2) Where a suitable vacancy in a post carrying matching scale of pay is not available, the surplus employee may be redeployed in a post carrying a non-matching pay scale:

Provided that,-

(i) the maximum of the pay scale of such post does not exceed the maximum of the pay scale of the surplus employee by more than 10 per cent; and

(ii) such post is not lower than the post which forms, or would ordinarily form, the next lower rung in the promotional ladder for the incumbents of the post of the level currently held by the surplus employee:

Provided further, that,-

(ii) when redeployed in a post carrying a lower scale of pay, the surplus employee shall be permitted to carry his current pay scale along with him to the next.

6. Readjustment of Redeployed Surplus Staff:

(1) A surplus employee who has already been redeployed shall not be eligible to seek readjustment, except in the following cases:-

(a) when redeployed, otherwise than at his own request,-

(i) in a post carrying a pay scale lower than the pay scale on which he was borne at the time of being declared surplus; or

(ii) in a post carrying a lower classification than that of the post held by him at the time of being declared surplus.

(2) A redeployed employee, who in terms of sub-rule (1) is eligible to seek readjustment, shall exercise an option in favour of such readjustment in the form given in the Appendix and shall transmit the same to the Department of Personnel and Training (Surplus Cell), through his Head of Office within two months from the date of joining the post in which he has, for the time being, been redeployed.

(3) In the event of the option being found acceptable, the existing redeployment of the employee shall be treated as provisional and the employee concerned shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the definition of the term 'Surplus Staff', be treated notionally to be a surplus employee awaiting final redeployment.

(4) The readjustment shall be subject to the following further conditions:-

(a) The surplus employee shall have no claim to count his past service, including that rendered in the post of his provisional redeployment, towards fixation of seniority in the post in which he is readjusted.

(c) Readjustment shall be only against a vacancy available in a Central Ministry, Department or subordinate office and reported to the concerned Cell.

7. Age-limit:

The upper age-limit shall not apply in the case of a surplus employee appointed under these rules.

8. Medical Examination:

The surplus staff redeployed by the Cell shall not be required to undergo fresh medical examination unless different medical standards have been prescribed for the post in the recipient organization or unless the person concerned had not been medically examined in respect of his previous post or, if examined, had been declared medically unfit.

10. Amendment of Recruitment Rules:

All rules regulating the recruitment of persons to the Central Civil Services and posts shall be deemed to have been amended to the extent as provided for in these rule.

11. Imparting of Training to Surplus Staff in certain cases:

(1) If the authority in charge of a Cell is of the opinion that a surplus employee cannot be usefully redeployed unless he is given training in certain additional skills, it may nominate him to a suitable course of training.

(2) During the period of training the employee shall continue to be borne on the Surplus Staff Establishment of his parent organization and shall be paid pay and allowances at the rates already admissible to him.

(4) Notwithstanding that a surplus employee is on training, the Cell may nominate him or sponsor his candidature for any suitable post, and on receipt of offer or orders of appointment, he may, at any stage, during the course, be relieved to join the post.

O.M. No. 1/18/88-CS.III

New Delhi, the 1st April, 1989

A scheme for redeployment of Surplus Staff was issued by the Government of India in the then Ministry of Home Affairs vide OM No. 3/27/65-CS.II dated 25.2.66. Subsequently rules and orders were issued from time to time to give effect to the provisions of the Scheme and also to extend the scope of the scheme to further categories of Surplus employees.

2. One of the important provisions of the existing scheme is that any surplus employee who remains un-redeployed for any reason at the end of 6 months is retrenched by giving him a notice under the appropriate rule applicable to him. It has now been decided that this provision in the present scheme should be deleted.

3. Taking into consideration the various changes already made in the procedure laid down under the original scheme and also the experience gained in its working and the aforesaid decision, a revised scheme has been prepared. This scheme which comes into force immediately supersedes the scheme issued on 25-2-66.

4. In this connection, it will be pertinent to point out that the Revised Scheme differs form the scheme issued in February, 1966 broadly in the following areas:-

4.2 In the Revised Scheme there is no provision for the time-bound termination of services/retrenchment of the surplus employees who cannot be redeployed within a period of six months. Accordingly, there shall be no retrenchment of Surplus Staff in future after the expiry of 6 months period. Further the Revised Scheme envisages that at least for the first three months a surplus employee will not be nominated for absorption in a post carrying a lower pay scale.

The earlier scheme contains no provision for readjustment of a person who has already been redeployed. In the Revised Scheme a provision has been made that the surplus employees who have already been redeployed in posts carrying lower pay scales or lower classification, may at their option, be readjusted in equivalent posts.

REVISED SCHEME FOR THE DISPOSAL OF PERSONNEL RENDERED SURPLUS DUE TO REDUCTION OF ESTABLISHMENT IN CENTRAL GOVT.DEPARTMENTS/OFFICES

1.0 Preamble

It is the considered view of the Government that it will be contrary to the concepts of personnel management that improvement in administrative and financial management should affect the continuity of service of the affected employees; particularly, as the Government would be losing the benefit of their valuable experience if they were to lose their jobs. Since 25.2.66, a scheme has already been in operation for arranging alternative placements for the staff found surplus in such contingencies. The scheme, by and large, proved very successful in arranging the placement of the eligible categories of surplus employees. However, on the basis of the experience gained so far and taking into account the changes made in the working of the existing scheme, in the meantime, it is considered necessary to revise the existing scheme with a view to eliminating the possibility of retrenchment of the employees who are rendered surplus in these contingencies.

3.0 Application of the Scheme

3.1 The scheme will apply to the Central Civil Servants

(a) are permanent, and

(b) have been rendered surplus alongwith their posts from the Ministries/Departments/Offices of the Government of India as a result of –

(i) administrative reforms including, interalia, restructuring of an organization; transfer of an activity to a State Government, Public Sector Undertaking or other Autonomous Organization; discontinuation of an ongoing activity and introduction of changes in technology.

3.2.1 Placement for the surplus staff aforesaid shall ordinarily be arranged only against vacancies to be filled by direct recruitment in Central Civil Services and posts located in the various Ministries/Department/Offices of the Central Government, other than the services/posts to which recruitment is made through a competitive examination held by the Union Public Service Commission.

However, redeployment may be arranged against vacancies in an autonomous organization or a Public Sector Undertaking of the Central Government at the terms and conditions in force therein, if so opted for by the surplus employees concerned.

5.0 Agencies for deployment of surplus staff

5.3 A Ministry/Head of Department may adjust its surplus staff in vacant posts available in other cadres or other offices under the Ministry/Department in consultation with the Central Cell concerned with such staff.

6.0 Disposition of surplus staff while awaiting redeployment

6.1 The members of the staff who are declared surplus with the prior concurrence of the department of Personnel Training will be transferred to a ‘Surplus Staff Establishment’ which will be created to accommodated such surplus staff in the concerned Ministry/Department.

6.2 On transfer to the Surplus Staff Establishment, the surplus employees will continue to receive pay and allowances in their previous scales, till they are relieved either to join another post or on their retirement, resignation, etc., whichever is earlier.

6.4.1 Every surplus employee will, while borne on the Surplus Staff Establishment, keep attending office and report to the officer (s) designated for the purpose by the Ministry/Head of Department, regularly, except when he has been granted leave of the kind due and admissible to him.

6.4.2 A surplus employee may, while awaiting redeployment, be given by his Head of Department/Organization or other superior authority, alternative duties or charge of work, which though not necessarily related to his earlier area of work – he can be expected to perform conveniently keeping in view his position, qualifications and experience. Such duties should be casual or supportive in nature so that the surplus employees can be relieved to join the alternative placement arranged for him by the Central Cell without any difficulty or loss of time.

9.0 Placement of Surplus Staff

9.1 Surplus staff will be entitled to the first priority for appointment to a vacancy, next only to the disabled Defence personnel.

9.2.3 Where a suitable vacancy in a post carrying matching scale of pay is not available, the surplus employee may be redeployed in a post carrying a non-matching pay scale;

Provided further that when redeployed, otherwise than at his own request, in a post carrying a lower scale of pay the surplus employee shall be permitted to carry his previous pay-scale along with him to the next post, even if he was only officiating in it.

9.3 Normally, a surplus employee will not be sponsored for appointment to a lower post within the first three months.

11. Benefit of past service after redeployment/ readjustment as the case may be

11.1.1 No change is contemplated in the present policy that the past service rendered prior to redeployment should not count towards seniority, in the new organization / new post which a surplus employee joins after he is redeployed. The same rule will also have to be applied in the case of those readjusted after redeployment.

11.3 A surplus employee who is permanent will enjoy protection of lien when redeployed / readjusted in a new organization.

12. Closure of efforts for redeployment and taking action for abolition of post and consequent termination of services

If a surplus employee is offered alternative placement but refuses to join such post or willfully fails to join the said post within the period specified by the appointing authority of the new post, without showing adequate cause for such failure and timely applying for extension of time for joining, his surplus post in the Surplus Staff Establishment should be abolished forthwith, further action for his redeployment may be closed and his services terminated after serving upon him a notice of termination under the appropriate rule as may be applicable to him, viz., rule 39(1) of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 in respect of a permanent employees.

ANNEXURE-I

STEPS FOR IDENTIFYING SURPLUS STAFF FOR THEIR TRANSFER TO THE SURPLUS STAFF ESTABLISHMENT AND THEIR FURTHER DISPOSAL

2.0 Time limit for implementation

Three months (Unless a different time-frame is prescribed in any case)

(1) 2 months for identifying the superfluous posts and surplus staff and reporting their bio-data to the Central Pool to examine their eligibility for redeployment.

(2) 3 months, inclusive of (1) above, for declaring excess staff surplus, and transferring them to the Surplus Staff Establishment.

3.0 Steps for identification of surplus staff

3.2 Ascertain any person in the surplus zone who has a lien on another post and wants to revert to that post; if so, revert such person.

3.4.1 Determine the number of persons yet to be declared surplus. Prepare a list of junior most persons equal to such number by following the reverse order of seniority.

3.5.1 Where employees are to be declared surplus out of a cadre in the reverse order of seniority, invite options from the persons higher up in the ladder of seniority, who would suo motu like to be declared surplus in preference to their juniors included in the aforesaid list (vide step 3.4.1 above) for availing of the benefit of voluntary retirement or redeployment.

3.6 Now identify the persons due to be declared surplus.

The list thus prepared will consist of :

(a) the senior persons who have opted suo-motu for being declared surplus, and

(b) junior most persons required to make up the total as at para 3.4.1 above.

If a permanent post required to be abolished is held by a person who is on deputation to some other post, he should be given a notice to revert to the permanent post and also informed that in the event of his choosing not to revert, he shall be left without a lien on abolition of his permanent post and will consequently not be able to revert to his parent organization / cadre later. In the event of reversion of such a deputationist to his parent cadre, he will be declared surplus and the junior most person officiating in the cadre will be liable to reversion / retrenchment, as the case may be.

3.7.1 Prepare a list of the persons so identified as surplus in the cadre, arranged in the prevailing order of inter-se-seniority.

3.8 Examine whether the number of Scheduled Caste Officials in the remaining cadre falls short of the percentage prescribed for their recruitment to the cadre / post in question; if so, to the extent of deficiency, the Scheduled Caste employees (if any) amongst those identified to be declared surplus, should be retained and equal number of junior most persons belonging to the general category added to the list of persons to be declared surplus.

3.9 Repeat the same process to ensure maintenance of the representation of officials belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in the continuing cadre.

3.17 In the case of the surplus employees holding their permanent posts, such posts will be treated as abolished, and supernumerary posts with same designation and pay scale will be deemed as created for them simultaneously in the said Establishment.

3.20 As soon as order of appointment/posting against a post for which the Surplus Cell had sponsored a surplus employee, or a direction from the concerned Surplus Cell for relieving a surplus employee to join a post for which he had been sponsored by it, is received in the parent Ministry/Department, etc., the controlling/appointing authority therein should immediately relieve the surplus employee concerned with direction to report to the appropriate authority of the new organization within the stipulated joining time and issue orders abolishing the surplus post from the date of relief of the employee. The employee concerned should not be allowed to continue in his post merely on the ground that the new appointment does not suit him. Even if the employee makes a representation for the reconsideration of his posting/renomination against another post, the process of relieving him from surplus post and abolishing such post should not be postponed, though his representation may be forwarded for appropriate consideration to the authorities of the Central Cell concerned.

3.22 Where in any case, a surplus employee refuses to accept the post offered to him, for which he was sponsored by the concerned Central Cell, or recommended by the Union Public Service Commission or refuses to undergo training in new skills for which he is sponsored by the Central Cell as the case may be, the action for his redeployment should be treated as closed and he should be served with a notice for termination of his service under the rules applicable to him.

Special VRS for surplus central government employees

O.M. no. 25013/6/2001-Esst.(A) dated 28.02.02

Eligibility: All permanent Central government employees declared surplus (irrespective of their age and qualifying service) can opt to retire under this scheme.

Entitlements: An optee is entitled for pensionary benefits and Family Pension under CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, Encashment of Earned Leave under CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972, payment of savings element with interest in the CGEGI scheme as per rules, T.A. as on retirement for self and family for settling anywhere in India and in addition-

(i) Weightage for 5 years to the qualifying service under CCS (Pension) Rules if he had rendered a minimum of 15 years qualifying service on the date he is declared surplus.

(ii) An ex-gratia amount equal to basic pay plus DP plus DA for the number of years of actual service rendered at 35 days for each completed year of service and at 25 days for each remaining year reckoned up to the date on which he would retire on superannuation.

Conditions:-

(iii) The ex-gratia amount shall be paid in lumpsum and will be exempt from Income Tax upto a maximum of Rs. 5 lakhs.

(iv) Group ‘A’ officials opting for the special VRS will be exempted from the operation of rule 10 of the CCS (Pension) Rules which stipulates previous sanction of the Government for accepting commercial employment.

Seniority in Special Types of Cases

(Pl. ref. chapter 40, “Seniority”, of “Establishment and Administration” for Central Government Offices by Muthuswamy & Brinda; O.M. no. 22011/7/86-Esst.(D), dated the 3^rd July, 1986)

4.3.1 The surplus employees are not entitled for benefit of the past service rendered in the previous organization for the purpose of their seniority in the new organization. Such employees are to be treated as fresh entrants in the matter of their seniority, promotions, etc.

4.3.2 When two or more of surplus employees of a particular grade in an office are selected on different dates for absorption in a grade in another office, their inter-se seniority in the latter office will be same as in their previous office.

4.3.3 When two or more surplus employees of a particular grade in an office are simultaneously selected for redeployment in another office in a grade, their inter-se seniority in the particular grade, on redeployment in the latter office, would be same as it was in their previous office.

4.3.4 The above orders would not be applicable in respect of personnel who are appointed on the recommendations of the UPSC to posts/services, recruitment of which is made through the Commission. Seniority of surplus officers appointed on the recommendation of the Commission will be decided on the merits in consultation with the Commission.

O.M. no. 15/2/88-CS III, dated the 15^th June, 1992:

Past service does not count for seniority in respect of redeployed surplus staff.-

The issue raised was the subject matter of the case and came to be finally decided by the Supreme Court. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has categorically held that such service does not count for determining seniority of the redeployed official in the recipient organization.

O.M. no. 15/3/98-CS III, dated the 2nd December, 1998:

Refer the Civil Appeal nos. 6201-06 of 1995, titled Union of India v. K. Savitri and others before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. The Hon’ble apex Court in its order, dated 4-3-1998 has held as under:

“… The service conditions of the redeployed employees under the Rules being governed by the provisions in the Rule as well as the instructions issued from the Government of India from time to time and in view of the clear unambiguous language in Para. 11.1 of the instructions referred to above the conclusion is irrestible that the past service of the redeployed staff cannot be counted for seniority in the new organization.”

O.M. nos. 10/1/63-Esst.(D), dated the 30^th November, 1963 & 9/22/68-esst.(D), dated the 6^th February, 1969:

Fixation of inter-se seniority of the staff rendered surplus and redeployed on different occasions but in the same office

… persons higher in the list be released for absorption elsewhere before those who are lower in the list.

The overall position of Surplus Staff and their redeployment since inception of the Scheme:-

Category of surplus staff	No. of emp-loyees await-ing redepl-oyment as on 1/4/2003	No. of employees added from 1/4/2003 to 31/3/2004.	Total No. of persons accepted in the surplus Cell since inception till 31/03/04	No. of persons redeploy-ed since inception of the scheme.	No. of persons retrench-ed or who have resigned	No. of persons retired on superann-uation or those who have opted for VRS /Spl. VRS terminal benefit.	No. of persons awaiting redeploy-ment as on 31/03/04
Group’A'	5	7	100	60	4	24	12

CCS (Redeployment of Surplus Staff) Rules

2011-10-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

FORMS PRESCRIBED UNDER CCS (Redeployment of Surplus Staff) Rules, 1990

FORM OF OPTION FOR READJUSTMENT

[ See Rule 6 (2) ]

I, -----------------------------------, hereby exercise option for readjustment in terms of Rule 6 of The Central Civil Services (Redeployment of Surplus Staff) Rules, 1990 and furnish below the relevant information for the purpose:

1. Name (as given in the Service Book)

2. Father's Name

3. Date of Birth

4. Date of superannuation

5. (a) Office in which employed at the time

of being declared surplus ...

(b) Post held when declared surplus...

(d) Classification of the post held...

[Group' A' /'B' /'C’/’D’]

(e) Status

[Permanent /Quasi Permanent/Temp/Officiating]

(f) Category...

[Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Ex-serviceman/Handicapped personnel

6. Date from which declared surplus...

7. Particulars of Office/Post in which redeployed

(a) Name and address of office ....

(b) Date of joining the office ...

(d) Pay scale of the post......

8. Present Address :

Permanent …..

Office Address ….

9. Information relevant to the reasons for seeking readjustment:

(A) In a case of redeployment in a post carrying a lower pay scale (otherwise than on own request)-

Pay scale attached to the post

1 2

held at the time of In which redeployed

being declared surplus

(B) If a case of redeployment in a post carrying lower classification-

(i) Nomenclature of the post held in parent office

(ii) Whether it was classified as Group 'A'/'B'/'C'/'D'

(iii) Nomenclature and classification of the post in which redeployed ...

(iv) Whether facility of protection of classification-status availed of under D.P. & A.R., O.M. No. 1/15/84-CS. III, dated 3-9-1984; if not, reasons therefor-

(C) If a case of redeployment in a State other than the one in which posted at the time of being declared surplus, or the one indicated for arranging placement in, when awaiting redeployment [available only in the case of Group 'D'/Group 'C' and such Group 'B' employees whose maximum of pay scale (including personal pay scale where allowed) as per CCS (Revised Pay) Rules, 1986, does not exceed Rs. 2,900/-]

(i) Station at which posted at the time of

being declared surplus and the State/UT

in which it is located …………………….………………..

(ii) Station at which posted on redeployment

and the State/UT in which it is located…………………….

(iii) Whether any request was made to the

concerned cell for arranging redeployment

in any particular States; if so, name the State/UT in

which redeployment was requested. Furnish details

of reference made to the Cell in this regard………………..

(iv) (a) Whether the post of redeployment

is an isolated post or forms part of a cadre/service ……….

(b) In the latter case, whether the cadre/service

has no post located in the State referred to in (iii) or

alternatively (i) above (as applicable) to

which the applicant can be transferred

intra-departmentally in the normal course.………………..

2. I understand that my past service including that rendered in the post at present held by me, shall not count towards fixation of seniority in the post in which I am readjusted.

3. 1 also understand that the action for readjustment shall stand closed in any of the circumstances mentioned in clause (b) of sub-rule (4) of Rule 6 ibid.

Signature

Date: Name of the Optant

Station Present Designation

Office address

No……………………………………………………………… Date

Certified that the above-mentioned official was appointed to this organisation on redeployment from the Central (Surplus Staff) Cell of the Department of Personnel and Training/Special Cell of the Directorate General of Employment and Training in terms the Scheme for Redeployment of Surplus Staff.

2. The particulars furnished by the official, as above, have been verified with reference to the records available in this office and have been found to be correct.

3. In case of readjustment under column 9 (C) above:

The employee in question cannot be transferred intra-departmentally to the State indicated in sub-col. (iii) and alternatively in sub-column (i) of column 9 (C) in the proforma above.

4. The option was received in this Department/Office on (Date)-----(Month)-------(Year)------His eligibility for readjustment in terms of Rule 6 of the Central Civil Services (Redeployment of Surplus Staff) Rules, 1990, has been verified and accordingly his option for readjustment is forwarded for necessary action.

(Signature of Head of Office)

Station:

Name and Designation

Phone No.:

Telegraphic Address (if any): Office Address -----------

Office Stamp

Annexure-II

P R O F O R M A

Option for being declared surplus and being

transferred to the Surplus Staff Establishment

-------

I, (Shri/Shrimati/Miss …………………………………………………………..

serving as ……………………………………………………………. in the office of the ………………………………………………………………………………….. do hereby volunteer myself for being declared surplus and transferred to the Surplus Staff Establishment in preference to my juniors, in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Scheme for disposal of Surplus Staff. I understand that my transfer to the Surplus Staff Establishment is subject to all the attendant consequences of such transfer under the said scheme and rules/orders issued under it.

(Caution :- A surplus employee who refuses or fails to join the redeployment arranged for him, including in a post carrying a lower scale of pay or a lower classification may be retrenched/retired on compensation pension (if admissible). If he holds lien on a lower continuing permanent post in his parent organization, he will be reverted to such post on the expiry of the period of six months from the date from which he was declared surplus or refuses to accept or fails, to join the post/training course arranged fro him, whichever is earlier.

Signature__________________________

Name ____________________________

Designation _______________________

Place _____________________________

Date _____________________________

Annexure-III

P R O F O R M A

Name & Address of the Office from :

which the staff has been rendered surplus

Bio-data of the Surplus Employee ( as on

the date of transfer to the Surplus Cell)

1. Name (as recorded in his

service book) :

2. Date of birth :

3. Date of Superannuation :

4. Whether belongs to Scheduled

castes/Scheduled Tribes/Ex- :

serviceman, or is physically

handicapped

5. Designation :

6. Place at which posted :

7. State/UT in which posted :

8. Scale of pay :

9. Pay :

10. Class of post last held : Gazetted/Non-gazetted/Tech./

Non-Tech.

Group ‘A’/ ‘B’/ ‘C’/ ‘D’

11. Whether appointment to the post

held was:

(a) on permanent basis

(b) on regular officiating basis

(d) on short terms ad-hoc basis

12. Appointing authority of the post

last held :

12 .A Name & Address of the Financial

Advisor/Controller of Accounts:

13. Details of service rendered & experience

gained till being declared surplus

(i)	(ii)	(iii)	(iv)
Office/organization	Designation of post held & its scale of pay	Length of service rendered	Duties (in brief)

14. Educational & Other Qualifications:

(Information only in respect of examinations passed and certificates/diploma recognized by Central Government to be furnished.)

Examination Year in which School/Board/University Subjects Division/

Passed passed etc. from which passed studied class per-

centage of

marks

obtained

_______ _________ __________________ ________ _______

15. Date from which declared/proposed

to be declared surplus :

16. Whether the employee is being declared :

surplus in the reverse order of seniority

or in his own option. In the latter case,

add his option in the proforma at

Annexure II duly authenticated by

Head of Office.

17. (a) whether permanent/quasi-pmt./temporary.

(b) If permanent/quasi permanent, the name

of the post in which declared permanent/

quasi permanent.

Scale) of the authority that appointed

him in permanent/quasi-permanent

capacity

(d) In the case of officiating employees

the particulars of the post in which

substantive administrative lien held,

and the office/cadre/service in which

such post is located.

(e) In the case of regular temporary

employee indicate whether the probation

has been successfully completed and if

so, why the official has not been confirmed.

18. Whether any vigilance case/disciplinary :

proceedings are pending or contemplated

against the individual if so, grounds thereof

19. Whether the employee was medically examined

at the time of his entry into service; if so, the

status of the medical authority and the post

for which found fit.

20. whether the employee’s character &

antecedents were got verified (If

anything adverse was reported against

him please furnish details.)

21. Whether the employee has opted for

voluntary retirement (if eligible)

under rule 29 or 48 or 48A of the CCS

(Pension Rules) 1972, or the relevant

clause of FR 56 or any other rule

applicable to him if so

i) the rule under which applied:

ii) the date of application:

iii) the date from which retirement sought:

iv) comments on admissibility of the request:

22. Remarks:-

Certificates:-

1. Certified that (a) the employee mentioned above was recruited through the prescribed channels (e.g. Employment Exchange, advertisement through newspapers, etc.) and

(b) Satisfied the qualifications prescribed in the Recruitment Rules for the post last held by him.

the employee mentioned above was recruited by relaxation of prescribed mode of recruitment/qualifications for the post last held with the approval of the competent authority.

2. Certified that (i) the particulars furnished above have been verified from the relevant records and are correct.

*(ii) I have been authorized by the Head of the Department to sign this proforma under his office order No.___________________ dated ___________.

Place:

Date:

Phone No.: Signature of the Head of Department or

Other authorized officer.

Telegraphic address (if any) (Name & Designation with Stamp)

Note : 1. If the employee has attended any special training/vocational courses, or has written articles, books, etc., or has done any literary/research work the details thereof may be furnished in a separate sheet.

2. If appointment to the post last held required holding of a statutory licence (e.g. in case of Motor Vehicle Drivers, Cinema Operators, Pharmacists, etc., furnish a copy thereof)

______________________________________________________________

*To be furnished when the proforma is signed by an officer below the rank of an Under Secretary to the Government of India.

Mobile Number Portability is here. But think before you switch

2011-01-21T01:52:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: With mobile number portability ( MNP )) becoming operational from Thursday, telecom consumers now have the choice of switching their operator without having to change their mobile number. This facility is available to both postpaid and prepaid customers and subscribers of GSM as well as CDMA service. The only restriction is that you can change your operator without changing your number only within your current service area. Which means subscribers cannot take their Delhi number to an operator in Mumbai . They can only change their operator within Delhi.

The cost of porting a number to a new operator is Rs 19, with the maximum porting time capped at 7 working days by telecom regulator Trai except in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and North East service areas, where it will be 15 working days. However , consumers will have to remain with the new operator for three months before moving on.

Number portability has been delayed by three years, leaving many consumers anxious . Several subscribers, who feel disappointed with billing, customer care, and overall service delivery, have been waiting for this moment . But the real question is whether you should take the plunge and switch loyalties or not. Will the switch really be worth your trouble?

The real reason for change would be to access better quality of service or improved customer care and of course, the proposition of a better tariff package. This, however,will occur only if operators believe that the churn out of their subscriber base will be so high that they need to improve their service or customer care, etc. However , surveys have revealed that the net effect of number portability is practically negligible . This means most large operators gain and lose roughly the same number of subscribers, taking away any incentive to dramatically change quality of service or customer care or pricing owing to the threat of losing subscribers or the option of gaining subscribers.

For the consumer, this could mean you might switch your operator, but based more on a perception of improvement rather than a real difference. Trai’s September 2009 data suggests that at a pan-India level, the call set up success rate was upwards of 97.26%—the lowest being in UP (East) and the highest at 99.99% in Mumbai . Similarly the call drop rate according to Trai is less than 3% across the country with the highest at 1.9% in Rajasthan and the lowest at 0.42% in Orissa. In fact, the difference between GSM and CDMA operators is also negligible .

Further, all operators across the country score upwards of 90% with regards to the parameter called connection with good quality voice with the highest in UP West (CDMA) at 99.99% and the lowest in UP East (GSM) at 95.1%. It is also a well established fact that tariffs are extremely competitive and so moving to a dramatically lower bill is unlikely.

Some consumers who are frequent callers, an equivalent of closed user group—or family members who are currently on different networks could now move to single network to take advantage of attractive tariff packages, including free calls within the same network, etc.But before you make any switch check whether your operator is providing a similar option.

MNP to spare biggies, hit small telcos: Analysts

2011-01-21T01:50:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI: The much-delayed mobile number portability (MNP), which kicked off on Thursday, is unlikely to have any major impact on large cellular service providers, but smaller ones could feel the pinch from customer migration , market analysts feel.

During the day’s session, stocks of the listed telecom service providers had a mixed fortune with Bharti Airtel, Idea and MTNL closing in the red, while Reliance Communications ended higher. Tata Tele (Maharashtra ), on the other hand, closed unchanged.

In a recent research report , Goldman Sachs said that it is the postpaid section of the customers and the high-end prepaid users who are more likely to shift to another operator from the incumbent . Goldman Sachs analysts also expect corporate subscribers, rather than shifting to a new operator, will negotiate their tariffs with the incumbents.

“We estimate postpaid contributes about 15%-20 % to Bharti/ Idea’s cellular revenues and believe 5%-8 % of Bharti’s earnings may be at risk,’’ the report said. “Case studies from other markets show limited impact from MNP in the majority of the cases,’’ it added.

MTNL and Loop Telecom appear to be the most vulnerable of the lot since these two have “legacy high-end postpaid subscribers but over a period of time have arguably struggled with network quality /customer service, would likely see high-end subscriber churning out,’’ Goldman Sachs analysts said.

Ratings major, ICRA, too believes that mobile operators with better network quality will gain now that the MNP regime has kicked in.

“Operators with superior quality of service would be the clear winners, while those with less than satisfactory service quality would stand to lose the maximum by way of subscriber churn,’’ ICRA analysts said in a recent report.

Frequently Asked Questions on Mobile Number Portability

2011-01-15T00:13:00.001-08:00

Mobile Number Portability(MNP)" is the facility which enables a non BSNL Mobile customer to become a Wholly Government owned company BSNL's mobile customer without any change in the mobile telephone Number and with out any additional charges.It is a golden opportunity for a non – BSNL customer to become a BSNL Customer.Just enter your Name and Telephone number in the given form

Q.What is MNP?

MNP is Mobile Number Portability through which any non BSNL Mobile customer can migrate to BSNL within the same service area (State/Circle) without changing the number.

Q. Can I port my landline number to a mobile number?

Ans. No. MNP is allowed only for mobile numbers

Q. I have a BSNL/non BSNL CDMA Mobile phone, can I PORT to switch over to BSNL Mobile (GSM) ?

Ans. CDMA Mobile Sure! But you will need a GSM compatible handset.

Q. Can I use mobile number portability to port in to anywhere in India?

Ans. .MNP is allowed only in the circle/state from where you got your mobile number. For example a customer from Kerala can migrate to any migrate to any operator within Kerala.

Q. Do I need to pay any charges for porting in to BSNL?

Ans. No. Even though it is chargeable, BSNL is offering the facility free of cost.

Q. Do I need to cancel my account with my non BSNL service provider?

Ans. Once you give the request It will be cancelled automatically

Q. What is a UPC code?

Ans. UPC code is an 8 digit Unique porting code which you will be required to provide to BSNL at the time of switching to us. You need go to the write message option on your mobile and type PORT followed by your ten digit mobile number. Send this message to 1900 from your mobile phone and you will get the UPC code. That's it!

Q. How fast will I get the UPC code?

Ans. Immediately after sending the SMS.

Q. What steps do I need to follow if I want to switch over to BSNL?

Ans. You can give details by clicking the link above. Our sales executive will approach you to get the formalities done. ( You need to fill the subscription form and provide our sales representative with valid proof of address & proof of identity and a passport size photograph.) OR Walk into any of our Customer service centres with a photocopy of valid proof of address and proof of identity and a passport size photograph.You need to provide an 8 digit UPC code. (The UPC code can be taken from your existing operator by sending SMS "PORT <space> <your 10 digit mobile number to 1900.)

Q. What is the validity period of UPC code?

Ans. 15 days. (You can again send SMS and have a new code.)

Q. What documents are required for a mobile number portability request?

Ans. You need to submit:Duly filled CAF form with UPC code detailsCopy of valid Address and Identity proofCopy of last bill paid to current service provider (in case of post paid customer)

Q. Are there any conditions to join BSNL?

Ans. As per TRAI guidelines,You should have completed a period of 90 days (from the date of activation of your mobile connection) with your current operator.You should have cleared all outstanding payments of your current Operator.You should have no pending request for change of ownership of the mobile number.Your mobile number sought to be ported should not be sub-judice i.e. under trial in a Court of Law.Porting of your mobile number should not have been prohibited by a Court of Law.There should be no ownership change request pending against the number you wish to port.

Q. When will my number get ported after applying?

Ans. On receipt of your documents , we will send a request to your existing operator for validations, After which an intimation will be sent to you on exact time and date of switching of your mobile number. The entire process will take maximum 7 days as per time limit set by TRAI.

Q. Will there be any disconnection of services in this process?

Ans. Your number will be functional throughout this process. The switchover will happen in a two hour window between 10 pm and 5 am. Exact time will be communicated to you in advance.

Q. Do I have to replace my SIM card?

Ans. Yes, BSNL will offer a fresh SIM. You need to change the SIM after porting.

Q. Will I enjoy all existing services on your network as well?

. You can enjoy all services offered by BSNL.

Q. I have a prepaid number with current operator, can I take a BSNL postpaid connection through Mobile Number Portability?

Ans. Yes.

Q. Can my Mobile Number Portability request be rejected?

Ans. Yes. Your current service provider can deny a request if any of the conditions of eligibility is violated.

Q. I have paid my bills with my current operator till my last billing cycle, How will I be billed for balance days?

Ans. Bill for the remaining period will be raised by your old service provider. In case you do not pay the bill the BSNL connection is liable for disconnection.

Q. Is there any penalty fee if I want to move out of BSNL after getting ported?

Ans.. There will not be any penalty fee if you decide to move out, however you can only port out after completing 3 months with BSNL.

Q: Is it possible to change my decision after applying for Mobile Number Portability to BSNL ? Yes , It is possible. But you should submit a written application within 24 hrs to BSNL.

Q. Do I need to apply for DND (National Do Not Disturb) service after port in?

Ans. Yes, you can call at our call center and request for DND service activation. Also you may opt for the same while filling up the subscription form. OR else you can register for DND by sending SMS to 1909

Q. What will happen to the balance amount of talk time, if any, at the time of porting

Ans:In case of Pre – paid customer, the balance amount of talk time, if any, at the time of porting shall lapse.

Q. Can my number be ported without my permission?

Ans:No it cannot be. BSNL will verify all the documents before porting.

Q. Before porting Should I have to settle all the bills with non-BSNL Operator?

Ans:There will be a period between the final billing date and the porting date. To which operator this bill is to be paid? Non-BSNL operator will issue bill to the ported out Subscriber for his unbilled usage till the time of porting. Subscriber will have to pay it within a stipulated period.

Q. Can I subscribe any kind of service prepaid/post paid, 2G/3G etc

Ans:Yes. You can be ported to any type of service you want irrespective of your old category/type of service. For e.g. a pre paid subscriber can opt for post paid services after porting.

Q. If I have a company mobile can I port the same?

Ans: No unless you are given written permission from your company allowing your number to be ported.

Q. I am not the account holder of my number. Can I port my number?

Ans:No unless you are given written permission from the account holder allowing your number to be ported

Q. Will there be an impact on roaming during the porting process?

Ans:If you are planning to travel outside LSA(State)/abroad during porting process, there may be an impact on roaming. So choose wisely the time of the change.

Plans afoot in India for $13 billion NBN rollout

2011-01-02T23:59:00.000-08:00

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India has issued a 148-page proposal that calls for the setting up of a new government entity to build a US$13.34 billion national fibre network that will total more than 2.5 million kilometres.
Citing the lack of advancement in the broadband market in India, which only has 10 million subscribers – 10 million short of a previous policy target set in 2004, TRAI is now proposing that a new 100% government-owned entity to be called National Optical Fibre Agency (NOFA) be set up to take over the roll out of the country’s fibre infrastructure.
While NOFA will be directly responsible for rolling out the fibre network in 63 cities, TRAI further recommends that each state set up its own entity, called State Optical Fibre Agency (SOFA) to work with NOFA. SOFA will owned 49% of the projects while NOFA will own 51%. The entire project, estimated to cost Rs 60,000 crore, or over US$13 billion, will be funded by the country’s USO fund and possible loans from the government.
According to the initial summary of the plan, the new infrastructure will be offered on an open access model to the country’s operators with TRAI setting the access pricing. What it doesn’t cover is any detail in terms of how operators will be able to access that network, what services they can provide over it and how much can they expect to pay for access.
In its full report however, TRAI does acknowledged it has had discussions with industry stakeholders of alternative funding models, such as public-private partnerships. But having taken those discussions into account, TRAI decided to stick with the recommendation for a 100% government owned plan anyway, which effectively cuts the private sector out of a big chunk of the broadband equation. TRAI estimates that NOFA and SOFA will generate an annual revenue of Rs 26,000 crore (US$5.7bn).
TRAI argued that public private partnerships don’t guarantee a high level of investment from the private sector, who “may not perceive the business as lucrative,” hence resulting in low bids for tenders. “The bid amounts may be low and it may be difficult to carry out the work in the amount of funds made available,”
TRAI said. The regulator also dismissed a private consortium for carrying out the work, arguing
that such a “consortium may find it difficult to coordinate with state and central governments for clearances and ROW (rights of way).”
TWO PHASE PLAN: The first phase of the plan will cover all cities, urban areas and Gram Panchayats – areas under a town government, with optical fibre by the year 2012 while a subsequent phase will see the network extended to all villages with a population of more than 500. In terms of bandwidth, the network will offer 10Mbps downloads in 63 Metro and large cities, 4Mbps in 352 cities, and 2Mbps for villages and towns by 2014, the TRAI plan said. On top of that, a full national backhaul network is called for that can support all the fibre access networks.
“The National Broadband Plan envisages provision of 75 million broadband connections (17 million DSL, 30 million cable and 28 million wireless broadband) by the year 2012 and 160 million broadband connections (22 million DSL, 78 million cable and 60 million wireless broadband) by the year 2014,” TRAI said.
At the same time, TRAI also called for the government to review its duties levied for customer premise equipment required to roll out the plan, suggesting that the government consider allowing 100% depreciation of CPE equipment, including modem and routes, in the first year.
Considering the size and population of India, the TRAI proposal is an extremely aggressive one, both in terms of timeline – which calls for the setting up of NOFA as early as February 2011, as well as its demand for government support. Basically, TRAI wants government ownership of the whole fibre infrastructure while also demanding operating privileges (free ROWs and lower cost CPEs) to roll it out and operate it. TRAI’s premise for its proposal? It cites studies that have indicated a 10% increase in broadband penetration accounts for 1.38% increase in the per capita GDP growth in developing economies.

Quote

2011-01-02T23:56:00.001-08:00

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.

TRAI proposes $13 billion National Broadband Network (India)

2011-01-02T23:54:00.001-08:00

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued recommendations for a National Broadband Plan.

The outline comes after the 2004 national broadband policy failed to markedly develop the Indian broadband market.

Currently, there are 10 million fixed broadband subscribers in India, a penetration of less than 1%. Under the 2004 plan, there were expected to be 20 million fixed broadband subscribers by 2010.

TRAI has suggested setting up a National Optical Fiber Authority (NOFA), a central agency, and a State Optical Fiber Authority (SOFA). These organizations will drive the rollout of the proposed $13.34 billion NBN, which will cover 63 large cities, 4,315 cities/towns, and contain more than 25 million route kilometers of fiber.

Through NBN, TRAI has targeted 75 million broadband connections by 2012, and 160 million connections with download speeds of 10Mbps in 63 large cities, 4Mbps in 352 cities, and 2Mbps in the remaining towns/villages by 2014.

TRAI expects that the NBN will yield annual revenues of $5.8 billion once it is fully operational. Although TRAI’s plan will bring renewed relevance to wired networks in the country, we believe that mobile broadband will continue to be the driver for increased broadband penetration in India.

Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-29T21:36:00.000-08:00

Congratulations

2010-12-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

Congratulations.
Two of our batchmates have become Additional GM in the pay scale of Rs. 62000-80000
20138 Shettv K. Mahabala KTK
20767 William P. Paul WB
Hope the rest of batch will follow soon.

MNP

2010-12-07T03:35:00.000-08:00

Five telcos to get notices in licence row

2010-11-30T20:40:00.000-08:00

UNITECH WIRELESS

22 licences

Group companies of Indian realty firm Unitech that were given 22 telecom licences had not fulfilled eligibility norms for getting these licences, the auditor said. The companies had suppressed facts, had less share capital than required, and submitted false certificates for paid-up capital among other deficiencies found, the auditor said.The telecom venture has since been bought into by Norway’s Telenor, which currently owns 67.3% of the venture with Unitech holding the remainder.

LOOP TELECOM

21 licences

Loop Telecom, which was issued 21 telecom licences, suppressed facts, its authorised share capital was much less than required, and it did not have telecom as the main object clause in its memorandum of association among other flaws, the auditor said.

VIDEOCON TELECOMM

21 licences

Videocon Telecommunications, formerly Datacom Solutions, is part of India’s Videocon group and was issued 21 licences. The auditor said the company had suppressed facts, had much less-than-required authorised share capital and submitted false certificates regarding the company’s paid-up capital.

ETISALAT DB TELECOM

15 licences

Formerly Swan Telecom, the company had been given 13 licences and also later merged with itself another firm that had won 2 licences. Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat in late 2008 bought about 45% of the company that was then renamed Etisalat DB Telecom. The auditor said Swan had suppressed facts, had less-than-required authorised share capital, and submitted false certificates from its company secretary regarding paid-up capital. The auditor also said a unit of India’s No. 2 telecom firm Reliance Communications held over 10% of equity in Swan at the time of issue of the licences, which is a violation of rules. The telecom minister said they would refer Swan’s case to the corporate affairs ministry to see if “front companies” were involved.

S TEL

6 licences

S Tel, which was given six licences, suppressed facts, had much less than the authorised share capital required to get the licences, submitted false certificate from its company secretary regarding paid up capital. Bahrain Telecommunications Co had bought a stake in S Tel, whose other major shareholder is India’s Siva Group.

Kapil Sibal gets cracking on BSNL restructuring

2010-11-29T20:38:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: New telecom minister Kapil Sibal has got cracking on reviving ailing BSNL, which recently announced a loss of Rs 1,823 crore for the year to end-March , its first ever in its 10-year history as a corporate entity. Top officials from Mr Sibal’s ministry will meet their counterparts from the finance ministry, planning commission, IT, department of Industrial Policy & Promotion amongst others on Tuesday on restructuring the PSU, executives aware of the development told ET.

BSNL, once a monopoly in domestic telephony, has been deteriorating in financial performance over the years as it could not expand on time. On the agenda for Tuesday’s meet is the implementation of the Pitroda committee recommendations , which includes a 30% stake sale by listing BSNL and staff cut by 100,000. Last month, an internal panel of the telecoms ministry, under then minister A Raja , after sitting on the Pitroda committee report for several months, rejected most key proposals in it.

In late 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, worried about the steep decline in BSNL’s profitability over the
years, called in Sam Pitroda along with banker Deepak Parekh to suggest measures for revival . They in turn recommended a strategic 30% stake sale, staff cut by 100,000 and also raising funds from sale of its infrastructure , such as signal towers and real estate, to revive the flagging fortunes of state-owned BSNL.

The state-owned telco’s performance has been touching new lows every year since 2007. ET had reported on Monday that BSNL’s losses for the year-ended march were as high as Rs 5,955 crore and that the company had managed to show a lower figure due to its Rs 4,132 crore income from nontelecom related activities. Off this, about close to Rs 2500 crore was from interest from its cash reserves, which has dipped to from Rs 28,660 crore Rs 40,000 crore in 2008.

For the fiscal year to end-March 2009, BSNL showed a measly Rs 575 crore as profit. Even this was possible only because interest income from its cash reserves was about Rs 3,900 crore. In 2007-08 , its net profit was Rs 3,009 crore on interest income of Rs 4,004 crore, proving that its profits in the past three years has less to do with its telecom business.

The DoT’s internal panel that looked into Pitroda committee’s recommendations had said that BSNL’s IPO must be ‘deferred for two years to allow the telco to improve its performance and get the right valuation’ . It had also rejected the Pitroda’s committee’s proposal to allow BSNL to bring in top professionals, including a CEO from the private sector, and said that ‘implementing such a move selectively for top-level positions, and also in just one PSU would have wider repercussions’ .

BSNL ups FY10 losses to Rs 5,955 cr from Rs 1,823 Cr

2010-11-29T20:36:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: New telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal has his work cut out — to pull out BSNL from its march on the road to ruin after it has emerged that the telco’s actual losses were nearly Rs 6,000 crore for the year ended March 10.

BSNL, which suffered from rampant political interference and neglect under former telecoms minister A Raja , had recently announced a loss of Rs 1,823 crore for the year to March, a first for the company since it was set up. But financials uploaded by the telco on its website reveal that losses were as high as Rs 5,955 crore for this period. In fact the losses would have have been much higher but for the Rs 4,132 crore income from non-telecom-related activities . Off this, about Rs 2500 crore was from interest on its cash reserves , which too dipped to Rs 28,660 crore from Rs 40,000 crore in 2008.

The financial performance of BSNL, once a monopoly in domestic telephony, has been deteriorating over the years as it could not expand on time to compete with private mobile phone firms, such as Bharti Airtel, which took decisions quickly.

Executives with the telco point out that political interference coupled with legal challenges and probes into its tenders for mobile networks resulted in the telco being able to increase its mobile capacity by a mere 20 million since 2005, even as the country added over 450 million mobile users during this time. BSNL’s initial tender for 63 million global system for mobile communications (GSM) in 2006 was slashed to 23 million by Mr Raja in what was his first major decision after taking charge of the ministry.

This tender was further cut to 14 million lines after Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) that was slated to supply 40% of the contract failed to do so. Its follow-on tender for 93 million GSM lines, the world’s largest equipment order , was cancelled after a series of controversies, even as rivals such as Bharti, Reliance Communications and the Tatas expanded to feed the expanding customer base.

The Parliamentary Accounts Committee had recently pointed out that the ‘single most important reason’ behind BSNL’s decline was failure of the tendering process, leading to non-supply of equipment , which eventually resulted in the stare-owned operator losing market share.

BSNL can impose max penalty on RCOM for masked calls: SC

2010-11-29T20:35:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld BSNL’s right to impose the maximum penalty on the Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications (RCOM) for wrongly routing international calls through the state-run telco’s network as local connections by tampering with Calling Line Identification (CLI) numbers.

RCOM, India’s secondlargest mobile phone operator, slumped to a record low on BSE after the apex court order. Its shares fell 2.2% to Rs 128, the lowest since listing in March 2006. The BSE sensex gained 1.4% on Monday.

A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice S H Kapadia said that as per BSNL’s interconnect agreement with RCOM, the staterun firm had the right to levy a penalty on all calls routed by the R-ADAG firm through its network, including local calls, based on the highest call rate slab.

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Number portability across the country from Jan 20: Sibal

2010-11-27T04:34:00.000-08:00

ROHTAK: The much-awaited mobile number portability (MNP), a service that allows subscribers to change service providers while keeping the same number, will be available to more than 700 million Indian subscribers from January 20, 2011, new telecom minister Kapil Sibal said on Thursday, while launching this facility in Rohtak in Haryana.

“Mobile number portability that we are inaugurating in Haryana today will be available on January 20 next year across the country. We will be technically and commercially ready,” Mr Sibal said. Telecom department officials present at the event said that BSNL customers had switched to Idea Cellular and used their examples to demonstrate this facility during the launch.

Mobile phone users in Haryana will be able to switch among nine operators — Airtel, Idea Cellular, BSNL, Aircel, Loop, Vodafone , Etisalat, Sistema and Videocon. The customer has to pay a maximum of Rs 19, the lowest in the world, to migrate to a new mobile phone company. The new operator has the option to provide the service at a lesser rate or even free of cost.

DoT panel to survey before issuing notices

2010-11-22T01:19:00.001-08:00

NEW DELHI: Armed with regulator Trai’s recommendations to cancel 69 new licences for missing roll-out schedule, the telecom ministry has asked its internal wing to conduct field survey in cases of each operator before issuing a show cause notices to them.

According to official sources, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has asked its Telecom Enforcement Resource Monitoring (TERM) cell to collect data after conducting field surveys in case of each operator and submit the report. This, the officials said, is done by DoT on its own from time to time to ensure that roll-out of services took place as per licence terms and conditions for effective utilisation of the spectrum.

Trai had last week submitted suo moto recommendations asking the government to cancel 69 new licences of five operators, including Etisalat, Uninor and Videocon, issued in January 2008 by former telecom minister A Raja as these licencees have failed to roll out services at all or for improper launch of services.

Asked whether DoT may initiate action to cancel the licences, officials said cancellation may not be a viable solution as this would cause hardship to customers and new telecom minister Kapil Sibal may decide on the matter soon.

The regulator had recommended that licences be cancelled in at least 15 circles given to Etisalat, a company earlier known as Swan that CAG had dubbed as a front company of Anil Ambani group, and 10 circles given to Sistema-Shyam. Sistema-Shyam, a JV between Shyam group and Russian giant Sistema, has claimed that they have rolled out services in all 22 circles and has over seven million subscribers in its kitty.

Similarly, Uninor, a JV between Unitech and Telenor of Norway, has rolled out services in 12 circles and was in process to start services in others. Trai, which had recommended penalty for non-compliance with the roll-out obligations, said that this amount could be huge.

“So, we had suggested that these licences should be cancelled. This would vacate enormous amount of spectrum (radio waves) and this can be given to companies that are serious about meeting the schedule,” Trai report has said.

MNP rollout to begin from Haryana on November 25

2010-11-22T01:17:00.000-08:00

PUNE: Mobile number portability , the much talked and the much postponed service is finally seeing the light of the day. While the Department of Telecom has already announced November 25 as the launch date, just as it has done earlier, the announcements have started from cellular operators. Idea Cellular has taken the lead with its ‘Switch to Idea’ commercials debuting on TV channels.

MNP entitles a cellular subscribe to switch from his cellular operator to any other operator, and retain his mobile number. It is being rolled out on 25 November in Haryana circle where subscribers can switch in between any of the operators. Haryana has eight cellular operators Airtel, Idea, BSNL, Aircel, Loop, Vodafone, Etisalat DB, and Videocon . According to figures from Cellular Operators Association of India, the circle has 11.68 million subscribers as on October 31, 2010. India’s total cellular subscriber base stands at around 700 million.

There is no clarity yet about what will be next after Haryana. In the discussion between DoT and operators, it is decided that all operators will do it at one go. Even if one operator is not ready with the systems, it will create a problem for other operators. Rajat Mukarji, chief corporate affairs officer at Idea Cellular confirmed that that the company will start MNP on November 25 from Haryana , but was waiting to hear from the DoT about the roll out in other circles.

Offlate, mobile phones or rather the SIM cards, have become an important tool in investigation of crimes, as it helps the police establish the presence of its owner (the criminals, in this case) in a particular area. However, barring Delhi Police, which is in constant touch with the operators, the police in other states does not seem to be clear about MNP.

Recently, Alok Kumar joint commissioner (crime) Bangalore said that MNP will create a headache for investigation agencies as offenders will misuse the ‘60-day’ portability period as they can go ‘off-network’ and would be untraceable till they come ‘on-network’ .

Mr Mukarji clarified that the portability period was only seven days from the time a customer puts in a porting request . He also said that that the ‘off-network’ to ‘on-network’ time, which is the when the customer is switched off by one operator and switched on by the other operator, was only overnight.

Complete News

Ethical call: Govt plans to ask companies to name lobbyists in annual reports

2010-11-22T01:14:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: The government plans to ask companies to disclose the names of lobbyists employed by them and their positions on issues affecting their business as it looks to bring in greater transparency into its dealings with companies that are trying to influence decision-making.

Such disclosures will be voluntary and companies may be asked to list these details in their annual reports , said a senior official with the ministry of corporate affairs.

But they will need to provide an explanation if the information is missing from their annual reports, the person said. He requested anonymity because the ministry was formulating the guidelines.

The ongoing 2G spectrum controversy has brought the role of lobbyists into the limelight. The alleged role of a corporate lobbyist is being probed by investigative agencies.

Complete News

Another embarrassment for govt as SC questions appointment CVC

2010-11-22T01:08:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has questioned the appointment P J Thomas as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner. Questioning the appointment the apex court said how Thomas would work as CVC since a chargesheet naming him is pending in a criminal case.

"Without looking into the file, we are concerned that if a person is an accused in a criminal case how he will function as CVC," a bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia observed after Attorney General G E Vahanvati placed the file in a sealed cover.

The bench said it will go through the file and posted the matter after two weeks.
Complete News

Babus deny involvement in 2G spectrum scam

2010-11-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

Two of the four retired bureaucrats reportedly being probed by the Cabinet Secretariat for their links with lobbyist Nira Radia have strongly denied having anything to do with the telecom sector and 2G spectrum allocation , while in service and since retirement.

The Times of India on Thursday reported that four ex-bureaucrats—former Trai chairman and disinvestment secretary Pradip Baijal; fomer economic affairs secretary CM Vasudev; former industrial policy and promotion secretary Ajay Dua; and former Trai member DPS Seth were being investigated for their connections with Noesis Strategic Consulting Services owned by Nira Radia .

Former secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion Ajay Dua told ET that he was associated with Radia’s Vaishnavi Corporate Communications as a non-executive director for a few months in 2008-09 . But the firm’s board never met during his tenure and Mr Dua said he had resigned suo moto from the directorship in January 2009.

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2G scam: Trai asks govt to annul 62 licences for rollout delays

2010-11-18T18:54:00.000-08:00

THE telecom regulator has asked the government to cancel 62 of the 122 licences issued by former telecom minister A Raja under controversial circumstances in 2008 to telecom operators, including joint ventures of international operators such as Telenor ASA , Emirates Telecommunications and Sistema JSFC , because they had not been able to launch services in time.

The recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India — which claims that its views were ignored by Mr Raja — strengthens the possibility that several of the licences issued in 2008 could be revoked.

On an action-packed day, the telecom department, under new minister Kapil Sibal, decided to seek legal opinion on the validity of the telecom licences dished out by Mr Raja after the country’s national auditor said that 70% of these mobile permits were obtained through fraudulent means, an official aware of the development told ET.

Full News

Senior politician under scanner in 2G spectrum scandal

2010-11-18T18:52:00.000-08:00

Investigating agencies are examining the role of a senior politician, believed to be close to real estate developers in Maharashtra, who may have introduced the beneficiaries of the 2G spectrum scam to ousted telecom minister A Raja.

A key beneficiary was Swan Telecom, then controlled by DB Group, which is in the real estate business. Swan was allowed to jump the queue for licences and airwaves, which investigators suspect was due to its proximity to this politician.

Agencies are probing the nature of the politician’s links with Swan Telecom, which bagged a licence for Rs 1,651 crore, but later Etisalat of the UAE became a partner with 45% holding after paying $900 million, or about Rs 4,000 crore, triggering allegations that licences were sold at throwaway prices to a favoured few.

Swan Telecom is now called Etisalat DB. Investigating agencies are also probing the links between this politician and two directors of Indian descent in a Mauritius-based investment arm of the UAE firm.

Full News

Supreme Court asks Vodafone to deposit Rs 2,500 crore

2010-11-15T05:30:00.001-08:00

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday directed telecom major Vodafone to deposit Rs.2,500 crore ($550 million) as part of a tax liability in the takeover of Hutch Essar group's India operations.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia also said Vodafone has to provide a bank guarantee of Rs.8,500 crore to the government. The cash amount of Rs.2,500 crore has to be deposited in three weeks and the bank guarantee within eight weeks, it said.

Vodafone sticks to its claim;says no tax payable in Hutch deal

2010-11-15T05:28:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: Sticking to its claim that no tax is payable on its $11.2 billion deal in 2007, telecom giant Vodafone today said it is looking forward to the final hearing in February next year.

"After today's hearing, Vodafone looks forward to the matter being heard in final on the February 24, 2010, when the central issue of jurisdiction will be thoroughly reviewed by the Supreme Court," Vodafone spokesperson said.

In a major setback to the telco, the Supreme Court today asked it to deposit Rs 2,500 crore in three weeks. Besides, the Court has also directed the company to furnish bank guarantees worth Rs 8,500 crore in eight weeks.

Vodafone said it will provide the deposit and the bank guarantee as asked by the Court.

However, Vodafone maintained that it is confident that there is no tax liability resulting from the transaction and all the tax and legal advice it has received remains consistent with this view.

Vodafone had been maintaining that no tax is payable by the company and that Indian authorities has no right to tax the deal which took place on foreign soil.

The tax tangle between Indian tax authorities and Vodafone was been closely watched by other MNCs as the outcome of landmark case can give some indications on the future M&A policies in India.

The case relates to the acquisition of Indian assets in 2007. Vodafone had bought 67 per cent stake in Hutchinson Essar from Honk Kong based Huthiscon Telecom International in 2007 for $11.2 billion. Post the deal, the company was renamed Vodafone Essar. India's Essar Group still holds 33 per cent stake in the firm.

In September, the income tax department had issued an order raising a tax demand of Rs 11,217.95 crore on Vodafone International treating it as an assessee in default for failure to deduct tax as required before making a payment of USD 11,076 million (about Rs 55,000 crore) to Hutchison Telecommunication International.

Vodafone has claimed that no tax is payable by the company and the Indian tax authorities have no right to seek tax as the transaction was executed outside the country.

The Supreme Court has fixed February 24, 2011 as the final date for full hearing of the Vodafone case.

CAG to table report on 2G spectrum tomorrow in Parliament

2010-11-15T05:26:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: The much-talked about report of the CAG on the 2G spectrum allocation is likely to be tabled in Parliament tomorrow, which may give fresh fodder to the opposition already demanding a JPC probe into the matter.

The BJP and its allies as also the Left parties, AIADMK, SP and RJD are demanding a JPC to examine the issue amid the CAG report learnt to have accused the telecom ministry for undervaluing 2G spectrum, which has caused revenue loss of up to Rs1,76,700 crore to the government.

A senior minister said the notice saying that the government wants to table the CAG report will be given by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Regarding a discussion on the CAG report, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has already said the government is ready to discuss every issue including Spectrum but a decision on whether to list it for discussion has to be taken before the CAG report goes to the Public Affairs Committee or any committee.

The CAG has already submitted the report to the government.

While the opposition is insisting on a JPC probe into the issue, Government has ruled it out saying it is not required.

Government has already ruled out any statement from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue saying there is no such move as of now.

Govt says JPC demand in 2G spectrum issue 'meaningless'

2010-11-15T05:25:00.001-08:00

NEW DELHI: With the Opposition insisting on a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into alleged irregularities in allocation of 2G spectrum, the government on Monday dismissed the demand as "meaningless" and said they should allow Parliament to function.

"Demand for JPC is completely meaningless. Let BJP allow the House to run," Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters here minutes after a united opposition forced adjournment of Question Hour in both Houses of Parliament demanding a JPC probe into the spectrum issue.

Under attack from opposition, Telecom Minister A Raja resigned from the government late last night in connection with the issue.

Chidambaram said the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) will be referred to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, which has representation of all parties.

"The CAG report will go to the PAC. What is PAC? It is chaired by the Leader of Opposition. In fact, all political parties are represented in that," Chidambaram said.

"Let PAC go into the matter. The CAG report will be discussed comprehensively in the PAC," he said.

Kapil Sibal given charge of Telecom Ministry

2010-11-15T05:20:00.000-08:00

New Delhi: HRD Minister Kapil Sibal was today given the additional charge of the Telecom Ministry by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a development that takes the portfolio away from DMK at least for the time being.

Official sources said Sibal will hold the charge of the Ministry held by A Raja, who yesterday resigned facing allegations of scam in 2G spectrum allocation.

The arrangement is seen to be temporary in view of the ongoing Parliament session when issues related to the ministry are to be handled at the senior level, particularly at a time when the ministry is facing allegations of corruption of huge magnitude.

By tradition, a reshuffle of the Council of Ministers is not undertaken during a Parliament session.

Sibal, a renowned lawyer-turned-politician, was a week earlier given the additional charge of Ministries of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, which fell vacant after incumbent Prithviraj Chavan was made Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

In another decision, V Narayansamy, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, was given additional charge of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which also fell vacant after Chavan's departure.

Dell enters smartphone business in India

2010-11-11T00:02:00.000-08:00

Dell today launched two new smartphones in the Indian market. These phones, called XCD28 and XCD35, run on Android 2.1 platform.
Both these phones have specially been designed for emerging markets and have been launched first in India.
Dell has said its target group for the smartphones is both the youth as well as to office-going folk.
Mahesh Bhalla, general manager, consumer and small-medium businesses, Dell India, said that "These phones are powerful enough to handle all shorts of tasks. We will look at selling them to corporates for different use cases like, sales force automation, CRM and ERP etc. Health and education are other areas for which we will look at developing applications."

When asked about marketing strategy, Bhalla said, “I would like to grow through word of mouth but initially we will have mass media campaigns.”

Complete News

Telecom industry cannot afford tariff war in 3G space: Bharti

2010-11-11T00:01:00.001-08:00

Bharti Airtel today said there is no possibility of a tariff war in 3G services as operators have shelled out high prices for bagging spectrum.

Bharti Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor told reporters here that it was unlikely that there would be a tariff war in 3G space under rational circumstances. "Irrationality can never be explained," he added.

With the entry of new players, the Indian telecom sector has seen fierce tariff wars eating into profitability of telcos.

Bharti Airtel had bagged airwaves to offer 3G services in 13 out of 22 telecom circles. It plans to launch the service before the the end of this calendar year.

For having a pan-India footprint, Kapoor said the company is in talks with "quality operators who have got 3G" for roaming pacts.

Rival Tata Teleservices yesterday launched 3G services with a tariff of 0.66 paise per second. State-run BSNL and MTNL are already offering 3G services.

There were speculations in the market that Bharti will enter into strategic alliance with Vodafone and Idea for rolling out 3G services pan India.

3G mobile services will allow high-speed content download and broadband services.

Airtel had paid the highest amount of Rs 12,295.46 crore for securing 3G spectrum (radio waves) in 13 telecom circles.

They include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, which account for 21 per cent of India's data traffic and are expected to have the strongest uptake of 3G services.

Bharti Airtel, which operates in 19 countries, already offers 3G services in Seychelles. It is also running 3G broadband services in Sri Lanka, Jersey and Guernsey.

HC heat on Raja over BSNL, MTNL appointments

2010-11-10T23:15:00.000-08:00

Telecom minister A Raja faces further trouble with the Delhi High Court on Wednesday wanting to know the Centre’s stand on alleged irregularities in the appointment of CMDs of BSNL and MTNL. Raja faces charges of pushing his favourites into the posts by following an “arbitrary and mala fide appointment procedure."

The high court directive comes 10 days after the Supreme Court questioned his continuation as minister while facing serious allegations and slammed the CBI for its “slipshod” investigations into the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

Court notices have also gone to Kuldeep Singh and RK Upadhyay, who were recommended for the post of CMD in MTNL and BSNL, respectively. NGO Telecom Watchdog and Executive Association of Sanchar Nigam moved the court seeking quashing of the appointment procedure.
Read Full News here

BSNL threatens to stop WiMAX rollout across rural India

2010-11-10T23:13:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: Blaring its disgust at operating as a social workhorse without compensation, BSNL has bluntly told the government that it will continue building wireless internet services across rural India only with a grant of Rs 2,395 crore more to support an unviable business.

The state-owned telecom company has written to the telecom department it is against rolling out services on the WiMAX technological platform without adequate financial support. ET has seen a copy of the letter dated September 29.

BSNL’s move, unusual for a state-owned company, is a sign that it has had enough of fulfilling the government’s social obligations without rewards. Though it made several threats in the past to stop its unviable businesses in rural India, including the subsidised landline connections it offers there, this is the first instance of the telco stopping a project rollout on the grounds that it did not make commercial sense.

BSNL’s grouse is that the work-without-pay culture to run unviable businesses that incur huge capital and operational expenditure has led to significant losses. The company posted a loss of Rs 1,822.65 crore for the year to end March, a first in its history.

Read Complete News here

MTNL posts net loss of Rs.605 crore in Q2

2010-11-08T00:08:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI: State-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) today said it has registered a net loss of Rs 604.89 crore for the quarter ended September 30, on account of high employee cost.

The company had a net profit of Rs 21.30 crore for the July-September quarter last year, MTNL said in a statement.

"Staff cost has increased in comparison with the corresponding period last year on account of wage revision implemented and accounted for in Q4 of 2009-10 and thereafter," the company said.

Further, with reference to Q1 of 2010-11, the difference in arrears of wage revision of Rs 44 crore for 2008-09 and 2009-10 is also accounted for this quarter, it added.

Total income has also decreased to Rs 1,095.23 crore for the quarter ended September 30, from Rs 1,120.80 crore in the same period previous fiscal.

The company, which has paid a one-time charge of Rs 11,097.9 crore on account of 3G and BWA liability (over 15-20 years), has amortised Rs 157.6 crore for Q2 FY'11.

MTNL with 5.28 million subscribers, offers services in two circles -- Delhi and Mumbai as on December 31, 2010.

Shubh Deepawali

2010-11-04T02:06:00.001-07:00

Hope the festival of lights enlightens your home and heart with peace and serenity.
Wishing you loads of joy and happiness on Diwali.

~ Rahul Ashokayan

Happy Diwali to all of my Batchmates

2010-11-04T01:49:00.000-07:00

Tele user data dials wrong numbers

2010-10-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

Just how many telecom subscribers does India have? Recent government data put the total subscriber figure at 706.37 million at August end, an addition of 18.18 million during the month. Surely a reason to rejoice as we pace towards the 1-billion mark.

However, there is a dampener to all this. The department of telecommunications (DoT), with whom all operators file their monthly figures, revenues and other details, has discovered that the real subscriber figure is only about 450 million. How? There are two sets of figures the operators submit - active customers, also known as visitor location register (VLR), and the home location register (HLR) or the inactive customer base which is largely a product of multiple SIM cards.

According to DoT officials, the VLR (or the active subscriber) figure at August end stands at 450 million. Of this, new additions were only 10 million, a lag of 8 million from the total monthly additions.

Obviously, the 59.63% tele-density reported at August end also gets revised downwards to 38% if the real subscriber base stands at 450 million. This means that there is much more scope for operators to grow and invest than what appears on paper.

This vast discrepancy has now prompted the government to mull release of both the sets of figures every month.

The government is also looking to replace tele-density with SIM penetration as the former does not give the real picture of phone penetration in the country because its computation is still based on the old land-line pattern when there was a remote possibility of households having more than one phone connection.

But how does such a big gap occur? The Indian telecom market is a crowded one with around 14 operators per circle and one of the cheapest tariffs in the world. In addition, the lifetime validity scheme introduced four years ago changed the entire scenario. Under lifetime validity, a customer's pre-paid connection remains active after paying a certain amount of money even if it is not recharged regularly and there is no balance to make outgoing calls. Visualise a scenario: a non-resident Indian visits the country and buys a pre-paid connection with lifetime validity. He leaves within a week and returns a year later for a week.

His connection continues to be alive on the operator's books though he is not actively contributing to either the company's revenue or minutes of usage. Such user base is known as HLR the inactive ones.

BSNL reports first-ever net loss of Rs 1,823 crore

2010-08-02T00:43:00.000-07:00

Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, July 31, 2010
State-owned telecom firm BSNL on Saturday reported a net loss of Rs 1,823 crore for 2009-10 mainly due to payment of wage arrears for the past three years, as against Rs 575 crore net profit in the previous year. The company's total revenues also plunged by over 10 per cent during the year at Rs 32,045 crore (both from services and other income), compared to Rs 35,812 crore in 2008-09, BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal told reporters in New Delhi.

This is the first-ever loss registered by the PSU since its inception in October 2000, when it was spun off the Department of Telecom (DoT).

The losses, however, coincided with a distinction of BSNL achieving mobile subscriber base of 100 million.

Goyal, meanwhile, is retiring today after a stint of 3-year as CMD of BSNL.

"We have implemented the wage revision this year and paid arrears for the last three years and the outgo was Rs 2,900 crore," Goyal said.

Had the wage revision expenditure not been there, the company would have recorded a profit before tax of Rs 703 crore, he added.

On the targets for the current financial year, Goyal said an increase of Rs 4,000 crore revenue would bring BSNL back into profit. He, however, expressed concern over the payment of Rs 18,500 crore for the spectrum of 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) services, saying it would have an impact of Rs 1,500 crore in interest income alone.

On the company's market share, Goyal said that in revenue terms it was 19.5 per cent, second after Bharti Airtel.

BSNL has also set an ambitious target of adding 20 million new mobile subscribers in the current financial year.

BSNL to outsource 3G mobile services

2010-07-05T00:47:00.001-07:00

State-run telecoms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd plans to outsource its third-generation mobile services and is working on details for a franchisee agreement, the Business Standard reported on Monday.

The company will invite expressions of interest by the end of this month, the newspaper quoted BSNL Chairman Kuldeep Goyal as saying.

The paper said outsourcing would help BSNL reduce investments it needs to roll out the 3G services.

Goyal told the paper the franchisee could be an existing mobile service provider or a company that had not won or bid for 3G spectrum.

The franchisee will manage customer acquisition, marketing and sales of BSNL’s 3G services across the country, he said.

Vodafone and Bharti Airtel paid a combined $5.1 billion for 3G mobile licences in India last month, ending an epic auction that yields a bonanza for a deficit-strapped government.

Relaxation for travel by air to visit Jammu & Kashmir

2010-07-03T03:51:00.000-07:00

NO. 31011/2/2003-Estt. (A-IV)

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, P.G. & Pensions

(Department of Personnel & Training)

New Delhi, dated the 18th June., 2010

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject.: CCS (LTC) Rules, 1988 – Relaxation for travel by air to visit J&K
The undersigned is directed to say that in relaxation of CCS(LTC) Rules. 1988, it has been decided by the Government to permit Government employees to travel by air to J&K as per the following scheme:-

(i) All officers/employees of Government of India will be allowed to avail LTC to visit J&K against conversion of one block of their Home Town LTC.

(ii) Officers/employees of Government of India entitled to travel by air can avail this LTC in their entitled class.

(iii) All other employees of Government of India can travel by air in economy class from Delhi and Amritsar to any place in J&K by any airlines subject to their entitlement being limited to LTC-80 fares of Air India. Journey from their place of posting up to Delhi/Amritsar will have to be undertaken as per their entitlement.

(iv) Restriction of air travel only by Air India on LTC to other places shall continue to remain in force.

(v) This scheme shall be effective from the date of issuance.

2. These orders shall be in operation for a period of two years from the date of issue of this O.M.

3. In their application to the staff serving in the indian audit and Accounts Department, these orders issue on consultation with comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Smt.Rajbala singh

Under secretary to the Govt.of India

BSNL to form IT, tower arms

2010-07-03T03:33:00.000-07:00

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) plans to float a subsidiary for IT application management and development of value-added services (VAS). It expects to tie-up with a large established private sector firm operating in IT management and VAS. It is willing to cede a minority stake to that company.

“This is at a very nascent stage of planning. We are looking at it and some concrete steps are expected to be taken in a few months,” Kuldeep Goyal, CMD, BSNL, told FE.

To create a robust business model for this subsidiary, BSNL will be allowed to allot contract to it without going through the tender process. This will help speed up its decision making capabilities and lead to better and on-time implementation of technological advancements.

The company floated two tenders for implementing ERP solutions and IT coil data recording (CDR) for Rs 400 crore and Rs 800 crore, respectively. These solutions will be implemented by the end of 2010-11.

The company has been also been planning to hive off its tower business. It plans to float a tower infrastructure company in six months to aggressively market its infrastructure to other private players and unlock substantial potential value through a strategic stake sale.

This will also be done to explore possibilities of monetising its tower assets and fiber optic capabilities. “We have signed agreements with almost all major operators for sharing our towers. We are working on making a separate tower subsidiary,” said Goyal.

The company has more than 50,000 towers on a pan-India basis. It has already committed to share 8,000 towers, of which 500 are being shared by private incumbents and new entrants like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Shyam Sistema Teleservices (SSTL), among others.

In 2008-09, BSNL earned Rs 17 lakh from tower sharing. It targets leasing 11,000 more towers for revenues of about Rs 250 crore. The formation of these two subsidiaries is subject to examination which may also involve Department of Telecommunications and other departments.

BSNL currently has a subscriber base of about 97 million (28 milion wireline and 69 million wireless subscribers). It also has 5.3 million broadband subscribers and is about to launch Wi-Max services.

No 3G fee refund for BSNL, MTNL

2010-07-03T03:29:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The finance ministry is learnt to have turned down the demand of state-owned telcos BSNL and MTNL to refund the Rs 29,000 crore both companies had jointly shelled out for third generation and broadband access spectrum, officials with direct knowledge of the development said.

In an unrelated development, the finance ministry has approved a waiver of the Rs 938 crore spectrum usage charge for the armed forces. This was one of the key demands of the defence ministry for vacating 3G airwaves so that this spectrum could be allotted to mobile phone firms for commercial telephony. The Centre will award 3G airwaves to successful bidders on September 1.

Following the conclusion of the auction process, BSNL chairman Kuldeep Goyal in his communication to the telecoms department had sought a refund of the Rs 10,187 crore it had coughed up for 3G. BSNL had argued that while private operators were allowed to choose particular circles during the bidding process based on their business plans, BSNL had been forced to launch high-end services on this platform in all circles, except the metros of Delhi and Mumbai. BSNL had also pointed out that other operators were paying far less for 3G airwaves outside the two metros when compared to the PSU. For instance, Bharti is paying Rs 5,731 crore, Vodafone Rs 5,054 crore, Aircel Rs 6,499 crore, Reliance Communications Rs 2,021 crore, Tata Rs 5,864 crore and Idea Rs 5,769 crore, the PSU added. It has also made a similar representation in the case of broadband spectrum.

MTNL, which offers communication services in Delhi and Mumbai, then demanded any concessions given to BSNL should be extended to it. The telecoms department had forwarded these requests to the finance ministry.

Now, the only option left with the telecoms department is to approach the Union Cabinet seeking a bailout, a move that is unlikely as any refund will be legally challenged by private operators. Private telcos already maintain that the Centre has given a clear first-mover advantage to BSNL and MTNL by awarding them 3G and broadband airwaves 12 months prior to the auction process.

Officials linked with these developments said BSNL will be compensated through other means such as an increased support from the Universal Service Obligation Fund for its unviable rural telephony operations. BSNL receives about Rs 2,000 crore annually from this fund to prop up its rural operations.

Completed 19 Years

2010-02-03T22:44:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to the batchmates. The last lap of this long marathon has begun today.

BSNL employees seek PM's help; demand change of top brass

2010-02-02T03:21:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: Upset by deteriorating market share and falling revenues, the employees' associations of BSNL have sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
intervention and demanded change in management and induction of professionals in the Board to run the PSU.

"We have written to the Prime Minister's Office to look into the matter among other things. There is absence of professional management at the Board level at BSNL," the President of All India Graduate Engineer Telecom Officers Association (AIGETOA), NJP Shilohu Rao, said.

The association (AIGETOA) represents over 10,000 graduate engineers and account professionals at BSNL.

"We are also planning to meet Sam Pitroda, who is the IT adviser to the Prime Minister, and raise these issue with him," he added.

This comes in the wake of BSNL's deteriorating market share in the last various quarters and has come down to fourth place after Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and RCom. Even revenues have taken a hit last year.

BSNL's revenues dipped by about 12 per cent in 2008-09 to over Rs 33,000 crore but its market share, especially in the mobile telephony, took a bigger hit.

Drawing comparison between another ailing PSU Air India, the association said, "The decision to employ prominent and professionally well qualified COO in place of old brass is path-breaking in the history of public sector enterprises.

Raja urges PM to clear, fast-track BSNL tender

2010-02-02T03:19:00.000-08:00

Telecom Minister Andimuthu Raja has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of BSNL’s mega GSM tender, seeking his intervention to protect BSNL’s market share, CNBC-TV18 reports quoting sources.
BSNL, in 2007, floated a tender to buy 93 million GSM lines and Raja, it is learnt, has written to the PM the tender is “very important” for BSNL’s future. Recently, some reports suggested the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had suggested a quick retender.
Sources said Raja assured the PM that all procedures were followed in the BSNL order process and that an independent committee may look into the tender.

Expected DA from 1.7.2010

2010-02-02T00:14:00.000-08:00

Also I have calculated expected DA w.e.f 01.07.2010, without considering any change in Index nos. That comes to 9% minimum. So we may get more than 9% w.e.f 01.07.2010

DA wef 1.1.2010

2010-02-02T00:13:00.000-08:00

Just as we expected. The All India Consumer Price Index number for (Industrial Workers) (Base 2001=100) for the month of December 2009 is 169 as announced by Statistics Department, Labour, Government of India.

Consequently, we can easily calculate the Dearness Allowance rate applicable for Central Government Employees as well Central Government pensioners with effect from 01.01.2010, using the GConnect DA Calculating tool by entering CPI Index (which is 169) in the box provided for the month of December-2009 and then by clicking the button “Calculate DA Jan 10″.

Yes. As calculated by you, the eligible DA rate with effect from 01.01.2010 is 35%. So, we may expect an increase in the DA rate to the tune of 8% from Jan 2010. Normally, the eligible DA Rate will be approved by the Cabinet and thereafter will be officially declared in the month of March every year.

Source: Gconnect

BSNL, CIL set to go off divestment list for now

2010-01-11T02:02:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI: BSNL and Coal India are not part of the list of dozen odd state-run firms that are slated to hit the market next fiscal, with the government worried that the current valuations of the telecom major and the mining firm are nowhere near their potential.

The disinvestment department estimates that BSNL will be able to command a valuation of only around Rs 58,000 crore, which is just about half of what it was valued in 2008, said a finance ministry official. Coal India will have a market value of over Rs 75,000 crore, much lower than what the government thinks the company should be commanding, he said requesting anonymity. The government would now want the two firms to tap capital markets only after a major restructuring aimed at unlocking their potential value, said another official at the finance ministry.

BSNL, the telecom firm that runs fixed and mobile telephony services across India except the metros of Mumbai and Delhi, is sitting on cash reserves of more than Rs 40,000 crore. However, the firm has been making huge operating losses in the past two years, and has evaded the red so far only because of the interest it earns from its reserves. The firm ran out of capacity to expand cellular services nearly 18 months ago, and no new major contracts for mobile networks and equipment have been awarded in the past 24 months.

Coal India, one of the largest companies in the world engaged in coal production, has a cash pile of around Rs 5000 crore. Although the coal ministry has repeatedly stated that the mining major will be tapping the market towards the end of the next fiscal, the disinvestment department believes that a complete overhauling of the company is needed including hiving off some of its subsidiaries.

Meanwhile, the prime minister’s IT advisor, Sam Pitroda, told reporters in Mumbai that "there is no move to merge BSNL and MTNL”. However, the government is considering selling a part of its stakes in BSNL and will move in quickly in that direction, he added.

Disinvestment secretary Sunil Mitra will meet the heads of close to 14 government-run companies that are expected to hit the market next fiscal year, reflecting the sense of urgency among policymakers to pursue the government’s plan to raise funds for its social sector programmes. The meetings will be held in the last week of January and the first week of February.

The department feels that government companies lack the expertise needed to restructuring balance sheets and assets to make them palatable to the equity markets, and the meeting will discuss steps to be taken to command high valuations. The department has also finalised a list of 26 PSUs for divestment over the next two financial years.

According to Prithvi Haldea, CMD of Delhibased Prime Database, a portal that tracks capital market activity, to build a robust pipeline of PSU issues, the government has to work well in advance as it is a long run process to identify companies that are compliant with the regulations.

News from SNEA site

2010-01-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

Absorption of ITS: Secy/DOT informed that fresh Cabinet note on this important issue is under active consideration and is likely to be sent to the Union Cabinet very shortly. He further mentioned that he was fully conscious of deciding this important issue as quickly as possible.

Govt to identify more PSUs for selloff for next 2 yrs

2010-01-10T23:09:00.000-08:00

After the planned divestment in four more public sector enterprises this fiscal, the Centre will identify more candidates for public offers for the next two years.
The Government is also planning to change the criteria of appointing investment bankers so that only those advisors with deep-pockets do not qualify for this purpose, an official close to the development said.

The Government plans to divest stakes in NTPC in the last week of January or early February, followed by REC just before the Budget (likely on 26th February), NMDC by 10th March, and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam by the end of March, which will together fetch around Rs 30,000 crore to the Exchequer.

"After we are through with these disinvestment plans, we will identify public sector enterprises where the Government could offload its stakes in the next two years," the official informed.

The Disinvestment Department has already asked 32 nodal ministries to identify state-run firms where the government stake could be sold, a senior official had said earlier.

As per the recently cleared criteria by the Cabinet, around 60 PSUs, including MMTC, BSNL, Neyveli Lignite Corp, Engineers India, State Trading Corp, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers, National Fertilisers and Andrew Yule, are eligible for stake sale.

Also, the Department will approach the Central Vigilance Commissioner to allow it to change the criteria of choosing investment bankers from just cost-basis to quality-cum-cost basis, the official said.

PM forms committee to arrest BSNL s falling revenues

2010-01-10T23:07:00.000-08:00

Concerned over deteriorating financial health and competitiveness of state-run telecom firm BSNL, the govt has constituted a high-level committee, headed by Sam Pitroda and Deepak Parekh as member, to look into the issues and give recommendations within a month.
This was decided at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week to review the performance of two telecom PSUs BSNL and MTNL.

"There was an agreement that the situation of BSNL required immediate action to address both the short as well as long term issues affecting its financial health and competitiveness," the Prime Minster s Office (PMO) said in New Delhi on Sunday.

On the position of another PSU MTNL (that offers services only in two metros of Delhi and Mumbai) was comparatively better and the issues concerning it be considered in the normal course, separately, it added.

The committee, headed by Pitroda, Adviser to PM on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation, would also look into BSNL s ongoing Rs 35,000 crore GSM expansion tender.

The tender has been marred by controversies and is in limbo since last more than a year and the PSU has not been able to place the order affecting its market share in the fastest growing mobile telephony.

Payment of Second instalment of arrears

2009-08-25T04:54:00.000-07:00

F.No.l/l/2008-IC
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Expenditure
Implementation Cell

New Delhi, dated the 25th August, 2009

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Payment of second instalment of arrears on account of implementation of Sixth Central Pay Commission's recommendations.

As communicated vide this Department's Resolution No.l/l/2008-IC dated 29th August, 2008, the Government had decided that the arrears on account of implementation of Sixth Central Pay Commission's recommendations will be paid in cash in two instalments - first instalment of 40% during the year2008-09 and the remaining 60% in the financial year 2009-10. The first instalment bas already been paid in 2008-09. It has now been decided that the remaining 60 % of arrears may now be paid to the concerned Government servants.

2. Further, as already stipulated vide this Department's O.M. No-j (2)/ EV/2008 dated 17th August, 2009, in the case of post-Ol.01.2004 entrants into the Central Government, the second instalment of arrears may be released only after individual application forms for registration to the New Pension Scheme have been obtained by the DDO/PAO from the concerned Government servant.

3. As in the case of the first instalment of arrears, Government servants will be permitted to deposit their arrears in their GPF Accounts. Though not mandated, Government servants are encouraged to deposit their arrears in their GPF accounts.

( ALOK SAXENA)
DIRECTOR

All Ministries/Deparments of Government of India and others (as per standard list).

Copy' also to: Department of Pensions and Pensioners' Welfare - for issuing orders for releasing 60% of the arrears in the case of pensioners.

News from SNEA website

2009-08-19T04:05:00.000-07:00

18th Aug 2009 It is reliably learned that as promised to SNEA(I) and Joint Forum by DoT and BSNL Management, the ITS absorption issue is taking a final shape. DoT is preparing a Cabinet Note on ITS absorption for the consideration of Union Cabinet.

Latest Addition : Chandra Kodwani

2009-08-11T21:57:00.001-07:00

From: "Kodwani, Chandra (NSN - IN/Gurgaon)chandra.kodwani@nsn.com
I am not able to see my name in its 89 batch blog.
Add my name in it.
My contact number is 09711144819, and I am presently based in Gurgaon, working for NSN Ltd.
Chandra
VoIP- 874-9019
Mobile- +919711144819

Really nice to have your contact details here Chandra. Keep it up. Send details of more friends.

Young Dynamic Ajay being felicitated by Young Beautiful Mughda

2009-07-24T23:39:00.000-07:00

Consolidated List

2009-07-22T00:48:00.000-07:00

A K Singh DGM Sateelite Project New Delhi 9868201088
A S Verma DIR DOT 9868138506
ABBAS SYED TAUSIF Dir(CS-III) DOT New Delhi 9868831786
Ajay Gupta New Delhi 9414014088
Ajay Kararaha DGM(Opn.) o/o CGMT Punjab Circle ,Sector 34 Chandigarh 9417010031
Ajith kumar : 09448010336 : Bangalore : DGM BB , Data networks
Alok Bharti DGM Nagpur 9422611441
Amit Singal DGM (North) o/o GMTD Chandigarh, Punjab 9463700028 0172-2549000 amitsingal@bsnl.co.in
Anil Kumar DGM( plg ) UP E Lucknow 9415010555
Anup Kumar : 09448010971 : Bangalore : DGM BB, Karnataka Circle office
Anurag Khare Australia
Asheesh Pathak Pune 9423572072
Atul Kumar Choudhury : DGM Personnel ; Corporate Office Delhi : 09868210414
Atul Sharma DGM(MS) Lucknow 9454211011
Benny Chinnappan DGM NSS Trichur, Kerala 9447020202
Buddhsen Yadav Circle FA Lead Reliance Communications Ltd Chandigarh 9316130302 01723031178
C Manoj DIR (SEC)-II New Delhi 9868138883
D Thamizhmani DGM (Admin), Tamilnadu Circle 09444000910
Deepu N S DGM Ernakulam 9447066666
Devanand Sahay DGM ALTTC , Ghaziabad 9968630005
Dilip Saha DGM Mtce ETR 0943300172
Ghazala Faisal DGM Indore 9425059786 07312700808 ghazala@bsnl.co.in
Harish Motwani c/o Reliance Communication Ltd. Mumbai 9324110153
Harsh Vardhan Singh DIR(VT) New Delhi 9868133221
Jai Prakash c/o Reliance Communication Limited Lucknow 9335257066
Jaiprakash CTO M/S Reliance Lucknow 9335257066
Jakhar H S DGM ALTTC Ghaziabad 9412000487
Jayant Kumar Dir TEC New Delhi 9868136055
K D Vizo DIR ( TERM) NE II Dimapur 9436000032
K P Singh IRS Central Excise Jaipur 9352251770
K P Verma DGM (opn) o/o GMTD Noida 9412000441
K.M.SHETTY, STAFF NO. its 20138, DGM(Assam) Mob no. 09435000088
Kannan Senthamarai c/o Reliance Communication Ltd. Mumbai 9324110017
Kishore Babu DGM Data o/o PGMTD Bangalore 9448010288
Kush Kumar TDM Arrah , Bihar 9431000035
Manmohan Singh Dir (TERM) DOT J& K Jammu 0191-2472009 9419120093
Mithiliesh Kumar , DGM , WTP , Bhopal 9425001092
Mohan Lal DGM Ludhiana Punjab 9417200011
Mukesh Kumar Nihale DGM(NC), CO AP Circle 040-23202244 (off) 040-23200662 (fax)
Murali Mohan P. DGM STR Bangalore 9448010556
Nagesh Rao DGM Mktg 9436100361
Nitin Chiyande DGM WTR Nagpur 9422106585
Nutan MS : DGM Admn & Urban: Tirupathi, AP : 09440000791
O.P. Soni DGM(Tech) PBD/SPK MTNL, Mumbai. 098690 12211
P K Singh Dir ( TERM ) Delhi 9868139955
P. Muralimohan : 09448010556 : Bangalore : DGM STR
Pabitra. K Debriary c/o Vadafone(GHY) 9706018509
Parthiban S : 09444050044 : Chennai ; DGM STP
Piyush Verma DGM WTR Ahmedabad 9426660202
R K Malpani DGM Data networks New Delhi 9868176700
R.G.Yadav DGM(Mobile) o/o PGMTD Jaipur 9413394052
Raghvendra Gupta DGM MTNL Okhla 9868131493
Rahul Ashokayan DGMM NTR Agra 09412000088, 0562-2230033, 2231144 ashokayan@bsnl.co.in
Rajendra Meshram DGM North East Task Force Silchar Assam email: rajmesh03@yahoo.com rajmesh@bsnl.co.in Tel 09435000074
Rajesh Jindal IRS Chandigarh 9915032033
Ramji Tiwari DGM( Rural) Allahabad 9415035666
Ranbir Katal c/o Reliance Jammu 9419203103
Roshni Sohani DGM (Admn.)Bhopal 9425411800 2481600
S B Singh DGM QA : Bangalore , QA HQ, 09448010841
S S Yadav Dir DOT New Delhi 9868218059
Sailja B DGM Broadband Hyderabad 09440000462
Saji Kumar : DGM BB : Corporate office, Delhi : 09868280066
Samuvel Bhatambhare DGM Pune 09422006162
Sandeep Gupta : DGM LC : MTNL Delhi : 09868132272
Sanjay Khare DGM(SW) Mumbai 9869008001
Sanjay Kr Choudhary DGM QA Bangalore 9448010266
Sanjay Kumar DGM ( Plg ) UP W Meerut 9412000011
Sanjay Kumar DGM Ranchi 9431100089
Sanjay Sohani DGM (MSC )BHOPAL 9425411811 2553040 2553050
Sanjeev Sharma DGM BB o/o CGMT MP Circle Bhopal 9425001123
Sanjeev Singal DGM T&D Chandigarh Ph: 9463903399
Sastri YV : DGM Tx Mtce : MTNL Mumbai : 09869206677
SESHACHALAM M DGM Hyderabad 04024043048
Shashank Malviya DGM Marketing MTNL Mumbai 9869009800
Shishir Shyam c/o Reliance Communication Ltd. Lucknow 9335978626
Srinivasa Rao J, DGM Op : Nellore , AP : 09440000605
Subodh Gupta DGM(Project) Lucknow 9415015006
Sudhakar S DGM IMPCS Chennai TN Circle 09444000963 04428295511
Sudhir Gupta DGM CMTS BSNL CO 9868261106
Surendran DGM Ernakulam 9447001000
Suresh Puri MTNL New Delhi 9868133104
Sushil Aggarwal c/o Unitech Wireless 9999136444
V K Chablani DGM Chattisgarh 9425201154
V K Surendra DGM Nagaur 9414001088
Venkatesan S. DGM Silchar Assam, 09435000099
Vineet Bhatia c/o Nokia Ahmedabad 09925238333
Vineet Saxena DGM BSNL CO 9868218027
Vipul Aggarwal DGM(North) Ahmedabad Telephones 9426646565
Virendra Kumar DIR(TERM) Lucknow 9415413102 virendrakumar.its@gmail.com
Vishwanath Kendurkar,DGM(VAS),Pune 9422010012
Vivek Narayan Jt. DDG CMTS BSNL CO New Delhi 9868217067
William P Paul DGM Kolkatta 9433000119
YGSC Kishore babu : 09448010288 : Bangalore : DGM Data services, Bangalore District

Star Attractions

2009-07-20T04:45:00.000-07:00

Star attraction

2009-07-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

BSNL Live & Jail Movie

2009-07-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

BSNL Live Launch

2009-07-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

6th CPC Perks

2009-07-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

Dir (HR/Fin) informed that the BSNL Management Committee, in today’s meeting, has approved some Perks/Allowances. The necessary order in this regard will be issued shortly. It is understood that as per 6th CPC recommendations relating to LTC, grant of Children Education Assistance & reimbursement of tuition fee and grant of child care leave to women Employees etc. have been approved by BSNL Management Committee. Regarding implementation of DPE OM dated 02.04.2009 for fitment benefit from 68.8% to 78.2%, Dir (HR/Fin) was non-committal. Click here for 6th CPC recommendations on (1) Child Care Leave (2) LTC (3) Children Education Assistance & reimbursement of tuition fee

(Source: AIBSNLEA site)

Updates

2009-06-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

C V Kodwani c/o NSN Gurgaon 09711144819

BSNL awaits Government's nod on IPO

2009-06-24T00:09:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, June 23: State-owned telecom firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) said on Tuesday it is waiting for the government's approval for its initial public offer.

"We will have to await the decision of the government.... We will start negotiating with (employee) unions once we get the government's approval," BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goel told reporters here on the sidelines of a conference.

BSNL had proposed to dilute 10 per cent of the government’s equity holding through an IPO to raise about 10 billion dollars. However, the offering was put off amid opposition from the employees union.

The IPO proposal was submitted a year ago. "We have not submitted any fresh proposal...our proposal is with the government. If the government decides we have to go for the IPO. Then we will talk to the unions and evaluate the company."

On the company's mega GSM tender, Goyal said Ericsson had technically qualified for supplying equipment in the northern and eastern parts of the country, while China's Huawei had qualified for the southern region.

BSNL will negotiate pricing with the two companies, he said.

The company is yet to decide on a bidder for the western region.

BSNL earmarks Rs 30,000cr war-chest for foreign buys

2009-06-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, June 23: Eager to expand its footprint overseas, state-owned BSNL on Tuesday said it has a war-chest of about six billion dollars (approximately Rs 30,000 crore) and is looking for acquisitions, especially in South Africa.

"We are looking at various options, whether it is new licences being issued or partnering with existing players in the overseas markets," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Kuldeep Goel told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

"We have cash balance of over Rs 30,000 crore with us and BSNL has already got a go-ahead from the government to apply for overseas licenses," he added.

South Africa is one of the potential markets for acquisitions.

The PSU is looking at Africa as an area of focus as it is an emerging region and also culturally, financially, African countries suit more to India firms.

The state-run firm offers telecom services throughout the country except in Delhi and Mumbai where MTNL operates.

The PSU has already short-listed eight consultants, including Ernst & Young, McKinsey, KPMG and PriceWaterHouseCoopers, for its plans of mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships and overseas forays.

According to sources, BSNL has also empaneled British Tele Consults, Value Partners, PRPM Consults and Diamond Management and Technology Consultants for its global forays.

Travel entitlement for the purpose of Leave Travel Concession

2009-06-09T01:19:00.000-07:00

No.31011/4/2008-Estt.(A)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

**** ~
New Delhi, the 3'" June, 2009.

Subject:-Travel entitlement for the purpose of Leave Travel Concession.
he undersigned is directed to refer to O.M. of even No. dated 23rd September, 2008 which says that the travel entitlements while on LTC and official tour/transfer will be the same but no daily allowance shall be admissible for travel on LTC. Subsequently, the Ministry of Finance, vide their O.M. No. 7(1)/E.Coord.l2008 dated 10th November, 2008, had stipulated that in the case of travel on LTC for those entitled to travel by air, only the cheapest economy fare ticket will be allowed, irrespective of their entitlements on tour. A number of references are being received in this Department to restore the travel entitlements as per the O.M. dated 23rd September, 2008.
2. The matter has been examined in this Department in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and it has now been decided to restore the travel entitlements for LTC as stipulated vide O.M. dated 23rd September, 2008. The Ministry of Civil Aviation may bring out a
scheme on the lines of LTC 80 for travel by business class. The officers and/or their families may chose to travel on LTC by any airline provided the fare does not exceed the fares offered by NACIL (Air India) under their new LTC scheme for business class.
~

(SimmrR. Nakra)
Director

.J
Dated the ~ June, 2009.
(1) Office of the Comptroller &Auditor General of India.
(2) Office of the Controller General of Accounts, Ministry of Finance.
(3) Secretaries to Union Public Service Commission/Supreme Court of
India/Election CommissionILok Sabha Sectt./Rajya Sabha
Sectt./Cabinet Sectt./Central Vigilance CommissionlPresident's
Sectt./ Vice-President's Sectt./ Prime Minister's Office/ Planning
Commission.
(4) All State Governments and Union Territories.
(5) Secretary, National Council of JCM (Staff Side), 13-C, Feroz Shah
Road, New Delhi.
(6) All Members of Staff Side of the National Council of
JCMlDepartmental Council.
(7) All Officers/Sections of DOPT/Deptt. of Administrative Reforms &
Public Grievances/ Department of Pensions & Pensioners
Wclfarc/PESB.
(8) Official Language Wing (Legislative Deptt.), Bhagwan Dass Road,
New Delhi.
(9) Railway Board, New Delhi.
(10) NIC, DOPT - With the request to upload the O.M. on the website.
(11) 50 spare copies.

http://persmin.gov.in/WriteData/CircularNotification/ScanDocument/31011_4_2008-Estt.(A)-1.pdf

Encashment of Leave for LTC - Condition on nature of leave relaxed

2009-06-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

As per Rule 38-A of CCS Leave Rules, 1972, CG employees are permitted to encash earned leave upto 10 days at the time of availing Leave Travel Concession subject to the condition that earned leave of at least an equivalent duration should be availed of by the employee simultaneously.

While facility of LTC is also admissible while availing Casual Leave, employees who are proceeding on LTC after availing leave other than earned leave could not encash their leave availed for LTC as the this procedure allows encashment only for earned leave when LTC is availed.

Now it has been decided by Government to allow encashment of earned leave upto 10 days at the time of availing LTC without any linkage to the number of days and the nature of leave availed while proceeding on LTC.

In fine, issue of this order would definitely be a happy news for those who avails LTC without proceeding on EL, so that they can save EL to encash the same at the time of retirement.

No. 14028/4/2009-Estt. (L)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training
****
New Delhi, the ~3rd June,2009.
Subject:-Encashment of earned leave alongwith Leave Travel
Concession while in service.
****

The undersigned is directed to refer to Rule 38-Aof CCS(leave) Rules, 1972 regarding encashment of earned leave alongwith LTC while in service which says that Government servants are permitted to encash earned leave upto 10 days at the time of availing Leave Travel
Concession subject to the condition that earned leave of at least an equivalent duration is also availed of by the Government servant simultaneously. This Department has been receiving a number of references from various Ministries/Departments to waive this condition citing practical problems faced by them as the facility of LTC is also admissible while availing Casual Leave.
2. The matter has been examined in this Department in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and it has now been decided to permit Government servants encashment of earned leave upto 10 days at the time of availing LTC without any linkage to the number of days and the nature of leave availed while proceeding on LTC.
3. These orders shall take effect from the date of issue.
4. Formal amendment to the provisions of CCS(Leave) Rules, 1972 are being issued separately.
5. Hindi version will follow.
~
Dated the.3 June, 2009.
(1) Office of the Comptroller &Auditor General of India.
(2) Office of the Controller General of Accounts, Ministry of Finance.
(3) Secretaries to Union Public Service Commission/Supreme Court of India/Election Commission/Lok Sabha Sectt.lRajya Sabha Sectt.lCabinet Sectt.lCentral Vigilance Commission/President's Sectt.l Vice-President's Sectt.l Prime Minister's Office/ Planning
Commission.
(4) All State Governments and Union Territories.
(5) Secretary, National Council of JCM (Staff Side), 13-C, Feroz Shah Road, New Delhi.
(6) All Members of Staff Side of the National Council of JCM/Departmental Council.
(7) All Officers/Sections of DOPT/Deptt. of Administrative Reforms

http://persmin.gov.in/WriteData/CircularNotification/ScanDocument/14028_4_2009-Estt.(L)0001.pdf

MTNL unveils pre-paid 3G service for Rs 300

2009-06-05T23:18:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: State-run MTNL today brought 3G services to the masses by introducing a prepaid option for this high-end service at just Rs 300.

Announcing the launch of the pre-paid 3G service, company CMD R S P Sinha said, "MTNL is launching 3G Jadoo Prepaid Services so that customer should be able to avail the latest 3G/3.5G services at an affordable price".

Since pre-paid is the preferred by customers, the 3G service will be available for only Rs 300 with lifetime validity, whereby a customer can make local video calls at Rs 1.8/minute and data download at Rs 3/MB.

In addition, a subscriber can also choose any of the data coupons to avail free data downloads coupled with free video calling to suit ones individual requirement, Sinha said.

Sinha expects the launch of pre-paid 3G services to increase it customer base.

He said the PSU has around 400 subscribers for its recently-launched 3G service and expects 2,00,000 to 3,00,000 users for in the first year of operations.

The company introduced 3G services in Delhi in December and in Mumbai last month.

The state-run telecom operator expects to add new capacity to accommodate 8,00,000 users, he said

BSNL mulls single-vendor contract system

2009-06-05T23:16:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: In a radical move that could transform public sector tendering, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) plans to scrap multiple tendering, and follow the private sector practice of long-term tendering with a selected bidder.

The new thinking at BSNL is an attempt to avert a repeat of the tendering delays that held up its many projects.

Under the new scheme, each time the company wants to expand its GSM mobile capacity it wouldn’t have to float a fresh tender as it does now. Instead, the selected lowest bidder would be awarded all subsequent projects for several years. Incremental payments would be made on the basis of per line capacity expansion, which would be negotiated according to the prevalent market price.

The long-term tendering scheme, the modalities of which are being worked out, would be similar to what Bharti Airtel has done with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens. Bharti has outsourced its mobile network erection and operations to the two equipment vendors and each year negotiates the price with them. Most other private operators also follow the same system for awarding equipment contracts.

BSNL’s new tendering system, however, needs to be first approved by its board, and later by the government.

BSNL officials said that a change in the tendering scheme has become inevitable, as the present system of frequent tendering causes delays in awarding the contract, as vendors often dispute the selection process and move courts, which costs the company in terms of marketshare. For instance, the 45.5-million GSM line expansion tender floated in mid-2006 was awarded only a year later, by when the company lost its second position in the GSM segment to Vodafone-Essar, which it has not been able to wrest since. The delay also led to the order being finally halved to around 25 million lines.

“We cannot compete with private operators in a tough competitive market if we stick to floating a tender each time we want to add capacity to our network. We have to move to a long-term pact with equipment vendors so that capacity expansion can be planned and implemented in a timely manner,” a BSNL official told FE.

The process of floating separate tenders for subsequent expansion had created trouble for the company last year, when it floated a 93-million lines GSM tender. In that, Ericsson emerged L1 for the north and east zones while Chinese vendor Huawei was short-listed for the southern and western zone. Nokia Siemens was disqualified due to technical shortcomings.

Unhappy over it, Nokia Siemens moved the Competition Commission of India, Central Vigilance Commission and the Delhi High Court. Though CCI and the Delhi High Court have dismissed the plea, the matter is yet to be sorted out as some other state high courts are hearing the matter.

In an earlier tender too, a disqualified vendor, Motorola, had moved the Delhi High Court where several months later it withdrew the case, but by then the damage had been done.

BSNL has a subscriber base of over 47.7 million and a marketshare of 16%. It is growing at 3.5% on a monthly basis while Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Essar are growing at more than 4%.

Sachin Pilot gets father’s job

2009-05-29T03:34:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: It was an emotional moment for Sachin Pilot, who made his debut as Minister in the Manmohan Singh team, when portfolios were announced on Thursday night.
He was made Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications and Technology, a portfolio once held by his father, Rajesh pilot.
Rajesh Pilot held the post with independent charge in the Narasimha Rao government in the early 1990s.
“I am happy to be in the same department which was once held by my father,” said Mr. Sachin Pilot, who was inducted into the Congress on the birth anniversary of his father two years after he died in a car accident near Jaipur on June 11, 2000.
Rajesh Pilot was credited with working to reach the “communication revolution” to rural masses and he ensured that every village had an STD/ISD facility.

BSNL invites bids for hiring telecom towers

2009-05-29T03:18:00.000-07:00

Indian operator is looking for towers in 600 small towns and cities to enable it to expand its mobile network.

State-owned Indian telecommunication company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. has invited bids from independent telecom infrastructure providers to hire towers for expanding its wireless network, according to a bid document on its Web site.

The document didn't specify the number of towers the company intends to hire, but said it was looking for towers in some 600 small towns and in cities like Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and the outer areas of Mumbai and Delhi. Bharat Sanchar, India's fourth-largest telecom company by number of users, is planning to add 93 million lines to its network so that it can more effectively compete with aggressive private players in the world's second-largest mobile-phone market by subscribers.

The companies bidding for the contract will have to inform Bharat Sanchar in advance if they want to share the towers with other wireless companies, the document showed.

The non-exclusive contract will initially be for 15 years for new telecom towers and 10 years for existing ones.

The company will accept bids until June 10 and will open the bids the same day, the document showed.

BSNL Seeks Bids from Consultants

2009-05-29T03:15:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI -- India's Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., or BSNL, has invited bids from consultants to assist it in its move to expand outside the country.
BSNL and other Indian telecom operators are trying to expand overseas to help boost revenue as intense competition and expansion into rural areas have led to lower average revenue per user in India.
"The company, with a view to establish itself as a global player in the telecom sector, and to achieve inorganic growth, aims to expand its area of operations, by going for acquisitions or mergers or strategic partnerships or acquiring telecom licenses outside India," a bid document for consultants on the company's Web site showed Tuesday.
The state-owned telecom operator lags rivals such as Bharti Airtel Ltd., which Monday revived merger talks with South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. that would create one of the five largest telecom companies in the industry.
BSNL, India's fourth-largest mobile phone services provider, had 52.14 million subscribers at the end of March, compared with Bharti Airtel, which had 93.92 million subscribers.
The deadline to submit the bids is June 1 and they will be opened the day after - June 2, the company said, adding that it will first shortlist the consultants on their technical capabilities followed by their financial bids.
The consultants should have handled overseas deals for at least five years and shouldn't be working with any of BSNL's competitors, the document showed.
Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile phone operator by users, has hired Standard Chartered Bank and its affiliate First Africa SA (Pty) Ltd. as financial advisors for the merger talks with MTN. Its legal advisors are AZB and Partners and Bowman Gillfillan.

BSNL Disinvestment

2009-05-28T03:15:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated that the full Budget for 2009-10 may announce a disinvestment of government stake in public sector companies.

"Fiscal prudence and disinvestment of public sector units -- all these issues will be tackled by the Finance Minister in the Budget," Singh told reporters after the second round of swearing in of Union Ministers at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The Prime Minister said economic growth would not come at the cost of fiscal prudence. "We would ensure economic growth momentum but at the same time fiscal prudence will be kept in mind," he said.

A host of companies waiting for the government nod for disinvestment include Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), railway consultancy firm RITES, National Aviation Company, and Ircon.

The government has already cleared the disinvestment of NHPC and Oil India but could not tap the capital market due to the prevalent negative sentiment.

Fund mobilisation by the government by way of initial public offers (IPOs) declined in 2008. There was only one PSU IPO, which was that of Rural Electrification Corporation, worth Rs 1,421 crore.

New Posting Orders

2009-05-18T01:18:00.000-07:00

Surendran V. Transferred as Director TERM, Kerala
Dilip Saha transferred to NE-I

2nd Amendments in BSNL CDA Rules, 2006

2009-05-18T00:15:00.000-07:00

F. No. 10-2/2007-WS & I/O & M/Vol-II(Pt.) Dated 12 th May, 2009
Approved Amendment in BSNL CDA Rules 2006 (BSNL Board in its 119th meeting)

Rule 21(3) -
Every employee shall report within a month to the competent authority every transaction concerning movable property owned or held by him in his own name or in the name of a member of his family, if the valueo fsuch propertye xceeds:
(i) Rs 100000/-in case of employeesi n the nonexecutive category.
(ii) Rs. 200000/- in case of employees in the executive category

SC notice to Reliance Communications on MTNL's plea

2009-05-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to Reliance Communication, formerly Reliance Infocomm, on a petition by MTNL alleging that the private mobile services provider had tampered the calling line identification.

The state-run telecom major alleged that Reliance Infocomm (now Reliance Communications) had indulged in tampering of the calling line identification (CIL) in a completely unlawful manner in 2004-2005 when the company was controlled by Mukesh Ambani.

MTNL has sought transfer of Reliance's petition pending before the TDSAT and clubbing the same with another Reliance plea pending before the Supreme Court.

A bench headed by Justice S B Sinha sought explanation from Reliance as to why the company's pleas involving similar issues pending before the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) should not be transferred to the apex court.

On May 1, the apex court had also issued notice to Reliance on a similar plea filed by BSNL.

CLI is the telephone number of the subscriber who makes the call and is the only method of deciphering the point of origin of any call.

Don't award BSNL deal to Huawei: IB, MoD

2009-05-14T01:11:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The intelligence bureau and defence ministry has said that stateowned BSNL should not award telecom equipment contracts to Chinese equipment majors Huawei and ZTE in the interest of national security. Both IB and the defence ministry’s reactions are in the wake of BSNL’s move to shortlist Huawei, along with Swedish equipment major Ericsson, for its mega 93-million-line GSM expansion project worth around Rs 30,000 crore, in what is the single-largest telecom contract in the world. Ericsson was short-listed as the lowest bidder for north and east zones while Huawei was selected for west, east and south zones.

The views of IB and the defence ministry were conveyed to BSNL at a meeting on April 9. During the meet, both BSNL and the Department of Telecom (DoT) suggested that Huawei could be awarded the contract in south India since the region did not share sensitive borders with Pakistan, China and Bangladesh. Besides, the Department of Telecom argued that Huawei was already working with BSNL in south India.

Shooting down the request, IB director said: “Considering the present security scenario in the country, even the southern region with its coastline can be considered sensitive,” while adding that “with the reference to the sensitive communication sector, distinction in terms of zones was relevant.” As per the minutes of this meeting, a copy of which is available with ET, IB added that ‘BSNL should not award contracts to Chinese companies, as these companies are known to have links with the Chinese state and security apparatus and, therefore, their presence in this critical sector has national security implications in a variety of ways’.

Defence ministry representatives, who attended the meeting, were of the view that Huawei has been set up with the assistance of the Chinese army and has a tainted past in addition to being black-listed in US,’ according to minutes of the meeting. “Similarly, the other Chinese company ZTE also does not have a good track record and, in case, these two companies should not be allowed to come in any part of the country,” the defence ministry representatives added.

The government has also set up a committee to examine the issue of participation of foreign companies, particularly with regard to security related sensitivities in BSNL tenders. According to sources, the committee members include IB coordinator & joint director R N Behura, Mr P K Mittal from the Department of Telecom, Major General P K Das and Cdr S K Gupta from the Ministry of Defence. Additionally, it will also have Research and Analysis Wing’s (RAW)cabinet secretariat joint secretary S K Gupta and a representative from the National Technical Research Organisation. The committee is expected to submit its report within the next couple of days.

Apex court stays part of TDSAT judgment on BSNL

2009-05-14T01:09:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a part of telecom tribunal TDSAT's judgment that directed the Department of Telecommunication to withdraw the allocation of additional spectrum given to state-run BSNL.

A Bench headed by Justice Tarun Chatterjee passed the order on a petition filed by BSNL challenging the TDSAT judgment that direct the DoT to withdraw additional spectrum from the telecom firm.

BSNL has challenged the part of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal judgment that asked the DoT to withdraw the additional spectrum held by the PSU.

April saw 9-million new GSM subscribers

2009-05-14T01:06:00.000-07:00

The country added a total of nearly 9 million GSM subscribers during the month of April taking the total GSM subscriber base to 297 million, a growth of 3.11% over the additions made the previous month.
Bharti Airtel which registered a growth of 2.99% during the month for the first time saw a dip below 3%. The company at the end of the month continued to dominate the market with a market share of 32.49%. Bharti Airtel recorded a total of over 96 million subscribers at the end of the month adding 2.8 million subscribers. The highest additions for the company came from Rajasthan that added 3.9 lakh subscribers. Vodafone-Essar registered a high 4.09% growth during April. Vodafone added 2.7 million subscribers in April taking its total mobile user base up to 71.5 million during the month.

How You can achieve your financial goals

2009-05-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

1. Get rid of ULIPs
It is advisable to stop the premiums you are paying for the ULIP plans as they are an expensive mode of investment. One should never mix investment with insurance as both have separate requirements in life. Instead, you can take term insurance plans which have lower premium charges and provide higher life insurance cover. Invest in mutual fund schemes for your future goal achievement.

2. Build an appropriate portfolio of Mutual Funds
For long-term purpose, one should have maximum exposure to plain vanilla diversified equity funds and a minimal exposure to sector or theme based funds.

3. Make separate portfolios for separate goals
Some of the goals in life ( Child's higher education or marriage) are long-term oriented with different time spans. It is advisable to maintain separate portfolios for each of the goals so that you can track them separately.

4. Invest systematically
It is very important for you to start your investments by adopting a systematic investment approach. This is an appropriate choice for long-term investors as it not only provides the benefit of rupee cost averaging but also ensures a disciplined investment approach.

5. Add debt
It is important to have some exposure to debt so as to curtail the downfall of equities during falling markets.

6. Rebalance your portfolio once every year
After choosing appropriate funds, allocating SIP amount to it and paying the money on time, your work doesn't end here. It is very important for you to continuously monitor the portfolio and rebalance it according to the predetermined asset allocation at least once every year.

All you need to do is follow these basic principles and opt for the right investment approach to easily achieve your goals.

Pay Anomaly representation by senior batches

2009-05-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

From
S. J…………………………………..,
I.T.S
(ITS – 198X Batch, Staff No. 8XXX)
General Manager Telecom D….,
Karnataka-577XXX.

To
1. The Secretary,DOT, New Delhi – 110001.
2. The Secretary,DOPT, New Delhi.
(Through Proper Channel)
Sir,
Sub: Pay Anomaly in implementation of 6 CPC with regard to S24 & S25Pay Scales with same Grade Pay –reg.
Ref: F.No.1/1/2008/IC dated 30/08/2008 issued by Ministry of Finance
I belong to Indian Telecom Service (1986 Batch) and as on 1/1/2006 I was inSGJAG (NFSG) grade with basic pay as Rs.16700 in the old scale (S24) of14300-400-18300. As per the practice so far, the IAS cadre will have same scale as that of other Central Services with an exception of 2 extra increments at the beginning of the scale up to SGJAG (NFSG) level.Accordingly, the 5th CPC has placed SGJAG (NFSG) IAS officers in 15100-400-18300 (S25) Scale, while other services were fixed in 14300-400-18300 (S24) Scale. Further, in 6th CPC also, the benefit of two increments for IAS over other services was proposed and accepted by Government.In view of the above, all officers with basic of Rs.15100 as on 1/1/2006belonging to different services, either in S24 or in S25 should be getting same basic as on 1/1/2006 in revised scales. But, on careful examination of all scales with same Grade Pay, it is found that Rs.15100 basic in old pay of S25 was fixed at Rs.39,690/-, where as the same basic in S24 was fixed at Rs.38,530/- as shown below.S-24 S-25
----------------------- ---------------------
Pre-Revised Revised Pre-Revised Revised
14300 37400 14700 37400
15100 38530 15100 39690
15500 38530 15500 39690
15900 39690 *15900 40890(this is higher to S-24)
16300 39690 16300à40890(Anomaly for 87 Batch)
16700 40890 16700à42120(Anomaly for 86 Batch)
17100 40890 17100 42120
17500 42120 17500 43390
17900 42120 17900 43390
18300 43390 18300 44700
Because of this anomaly, as my basic was Rs.16700 as on 1/1/2006 (in S24), my pay was fixed as per Ref-1 mentioned above as Rs.40,890/- as on 1/1/2006 in revised scale, while an officer with same basic in S25 (with same Grade Pay) being fixed at Rs.42,120/-Also, a basic of Rs.15900/- in S25 itself was fixed at Rs.40,890/-(with Grade Pay of Rs.8700/-), higher than that of Rs.16700/- basic in S24 with similar Grade of Rs.8700/- after 6CPC.In fact, in the case of Officers of IAS and other Central Services at STS & JAG level belonging to S19 & S20 and S21 & S22 were taken care of without such anomaly. Further, it is also violation of Para 2.2.21 of 6th CPC which states that "It has also been ensured that a person drawing higher basic pay in any Fifth CPC pay scale is not fitted lower vis-a-vis a person drawing a lower basic pay irrespective of the pay scale". As it is "in contravention of the principle or policy enunciated by the Sixth Central Pay Commission itself without the Commission assigning any reason", it is a clear case of anomaly.Hence, I request you to kindly take early action for the re-fixation of my basic as Rs.42,120/- in the revised scale as on 1/1/2006, and redress the anomaly caused to me at an early date, since this increment is carried forward, it will have bearing on almost my entire career/life.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Yours faithfully,
(S. Jxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Staff No: 8xxx, 1986 BATCH ITS,
General Manager Telecom Dxxxxxxxx-577xxx.
Karnataka.
08192-2xxxxx, Mob. 094xxxxxxxx)
Dated: May 4, 2009, at Dxxxxxxxx, Karnataka.

Beautiful Sunset

2009-05-11T04:36:00.001-07:00

Bharti Airtel becomes India's biggest music company

2009-05-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

May 10 (PTI) Riding on success of its music- related value-added mobile services, Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel has now become the country's biggest music company, overtaking the industry leader Saregama, a top executive said today."Music Bharti has become the largest music company in India, overtaking Saregama India Ltd in terms of revenue," Bharti Airtel's Deputy CEO Sanjay Kapoor said.While Kapoor did not disclose the exact revenue earned by Music Bharti, which provides music services like hello tunes, call-back tunes and music on demand, Saregama had a annual revenue of about Rs 150 crore in the fiscal ended March 31, 2008.Bharti Airtel, flagship company of Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Group, recently entered into an exclusive multi-million dollar deal with Machester United here, under which it would offer its mobile subscribers access to the mobile content related to the British soccer club."We are growing fast in the music segment," Kapoor said, adding there was huge growth potential for the company in other value-added service segments like mobile commerce also. PTI