Friday, July 8, 2016
Communications and IT Ministry has been split with Manoj Sinha taking the charge of the telecom ministry
The
high-profile Communications and IT Ministry has been split with Manoj Sinha
today taking the charge of the telecom ministry, which is all set to conduct
the largest-ever spectrum auctions in the country.Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is the new Minister
for Law and Justice, will continue to look after Department of
IT and Electronics. So far, Prasad was handling both Communications and IT
portfolios."I will share my views (on telecom) day after tomorrow,"
Sinha told reporters after assuming the charge at his new office as Minister of
State (Independent Charge).He is aLok Sabha MP from Ghazipur constituency of Uttar Pradesh.Sinha, an M Tech
in civil engineering, will have his hands full as the new minister for the
telecom sector which boasts of the world's second largest mobile subscriber
base and the lowest tariffs, and where the biggest corporate houses - RIL,
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular - are slugging it out for market dominance
While on the one hand, Telecom Department is gearing up for the mega
spectrum auction, where airwaves worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore will be up for
bidding, on the other, Sinha will have to address issues such as call drops
wherein the Supreme Court has struck down telecom regulator Trai's plans of
making operators compensate mobile phone users for call dropsIn fact, to check
call drops, Trai has demanded more teeth, including imposing fine of up to Rs
10 crore on operators and jail term of up to two years for their executives,
prompting the telecom companies to term such powers as 'draconian'.Sinha will
also have to handle framing of regulation on the much-debated net neutrality
issue, where battlelines are already drawn between telecom operators and
internet based content providers. As such, Trai has started pre-consultation
process on net neutrality, and has already got written comments from industry
stakeholders and members of civil societyFormer telecom minister Prasad had
earlier said that the government will take a view on net neutrality after
receiving Trai's recommendation.Sinha will have the challenging task of
protecting consumer interest for affordable telephony services while
maintaining investor confidence in the sector.The IT-BHU pass-out Minister will
also look after the Department of Posts which is undergoing massive reforms to
start 650 payments bank branches by September 2017.
It
is after 20 years, the telecom ministry has been handed over to an MoS
(Independent Charge). Before this, former telecom minister Beni Prasad Verma,
also from UP, handled the ministry with independent charge between 1996-98.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
The Press Release by the Government today (06-07-2016) is reproduced below:
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
06-July-2016 20:50 IST
Government assures Representatives of Unions
representing employees of the Central Government that the issues raised by them
relating to the pay scales and other recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission
would be considered by a High Level Committee.
Representatives of Unions representing employees of the Central
Government had met the Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh, the Finance Minister
Shri Arun Jaitley and the Minister for Railways Sh. Suresh Prabhu in the
evening of 30th June, 2016.
They had requested that certain issues raised by them in
relation to the pay scales and other recommendations of the Pay Commission be
allowed to be raised before a Committee of Secretaries looking into different
aspects of grievances of employees in relation to the Pay Commission
recommendations.
The Ministers assured the Union leaders that the issues raised by
them would be considered by a High Level Committee.
NJCA UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVES TO DEFER THE INDEFINITE STRIKE
After the meeting with the Home Minister today by the NJCA and
further developments leading to issue of a Press Release by the Government of
India assuring consideration of the issues raised by the Staff Side relating to
the pay scales and other recommendations of the Pay Commission by a High Level
Committee. The NJCA has decided to defer the Indefinite Strike in the
background of meetings with the Ministers and the assurance by the Government
of India.
Details of NJCA Meeting
The National Joint Council of Action (NJCA) met at the Staff
Side office, JCM, New Delhi today (06/07/2016) at 11:30 AM as scheduled. During
the discussions, the Convener received an invitation from the Honourable Home
Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh. The following members of the NJCA met the Home
Minister in a delegation.
1. Dr. M. Raghavaiah (NFIR), 2. Shiv Gopal Misra (AIRF), 3.
Rakhal Dasgupta (AIRF), 4. Guman Singh (NFIR), 5. K. K. N. Kutty
(Confederation), 6. C. Srikumar (AIDEF), 7. M. Krishnan (Confederation), 8. Ashok
Singh (INDWF), 9. R. Srinivasan (INDWF), 10. M. S. Raja (Confederation), 11. J.
R. Bhosale (AIRF), 12. Bhatnagar (NFIR), 13. R. N. Parashar (NFPE), 14. Giriraj
Singh (NFPE), 15. Satish Chander (FNPO), 16. Shiv Kumar (FNPO), 17. N. Kannaiah
(AIRF).
The issues in the Charter of demands were discussed with
special reference to the 7th CPC related demands. The
delegation brought to the notice of the Honourable Home Minister that the NJCA
has not received a communication from the Government over the assurances held
out on 30th June, 2016, when the NJCA delegation met the
Honourable Home Minister, Finance Minister and the Railway Ministers. On 30th June
2016, the Government had assured to refer the revision of Minimum wage and
fitment formula to a Committee. The Finance Minister has also clarified that
the Government has taken the decision to implement the recommendation of the 7th CPC
to bring about parity between the past and present pensioners. They added that
such a communication in confirmation of the assurances will enable them to take
a decision over the strike action which is to commence from 11th July,
2016.
The Honourable Home Minister assured the delegation that the
Government will honour the assurances held out to the NJCA leaders on 30th June,
2016 and accordingly the Honourable Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitly will
issue a Press Statement today, with copy to NJCA.
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
NJCA decided to deferred proposed strike on July 11..details will follow....
JOHNSON AVOKKARAN
(Circle Convenor)
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
NFIR clarified that there is no change on Indefinite Strike decision of NJCA.
NFIR
National Federation of Indian Railways
No.IV/NJCA/(N)/20l4/Part II
Dated: 02/07/2016
The General Secretaries of
Affiliated Unions of NFIR
Brother,
Sub: Charter of Demands – Indefinite Strike from 11th July 2016-reg
Ref: (i) NFIR’s letter No.II/95/PartlX dated 30/06/2016
(ii) GS/NFIR’s letter No.IV/NCJA (N)/2014/Part II dated 01st July 2016
It has since been learnt from some of our cadres that reports appeared in the Media (Thiruvananthapuram etc.) that a union/Federation has withdrawn from the strike decision. This report is not only false but also misleading. It is reiterated that the NJCA in its meeting held at New Delhi on July 1, 2016 has decided to meet on 06th July 2016 at New Delhi for taking appropriate decision.
It is hereby clarified that there is no change on Indefinite Strike decision of NJCA.
Yours fraternally,
sd/-
(Dr.M.Raghavaiah)
General Secretary
Sunday, July 3, 2016
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