Airlines threaten to ground flyers on Aug 18

Congress Govt called the Oil Sector Employees' Strike a Deshdrohi's Act. We wonder what they will call this now when the organisations themselves are calling for strike? Will they jail Mallya and Goyal etc?

Or will it now be confirmed now what we long suspected that Business class have long purchased the Bureaucrats and Ministers?

Media has been always supporting Privatisation, arguing the Public Sector should be made History and everything should be privatised. They said this about the Oil Sector Strike when employees fought for legitimate demands. These employees were called DESHDROHIS by uninformed Media people who suck. And then the same people said Air India should be closed down because it is making losses. I am now waiting to see them say the same thing about these Private Airlines Bosses. Will media say 'Close these Airlines down because they are NOW holding India to Ransom and that they are making losses"? Or has the media people been purchased by Business houses in India?

Really you media people do suck!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms

MUMBAI: Taking a leaf out of employees' labour union books, private airlines on Friday threatened to suspend domestic operations on August 18 if the

government did not give in to their demand for a bailout package in the form of lower sales tax on fuel and airport taxes. Never before has an entire industry threatened to pull out from the market to arm-twist the government into buying its line. ( Watch ) "The airline industry realizes its role in the life of the nation. But in view of the indifference shown by the government, it may not be able to continue its operations... and so we have decided not to operate nationwide services on August 18," Anil Baijal, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Airlines, the lobby group of airlines in India, announced at the Jet Airways office in Mumbai. "The idea is to highlight the urgency for the government to intervene urgently. If, however, an adequate response is not received, member airlines will be compelled to suspend their services for an indefinite period." Baijal did not spell out the nature of the response or the level of commitment the airlines are expecting from the government in the next 18 days. For now, the government has little sympathy. "We understand the problems being faced by the aviation sector, but do not support any move that will inconvenience the people. My advice to the airlines is to engage in a dialogue with the government," said civil aviation minister Praful Patel. Although the relationship between governments and airline operators worldwide has never been an easy one, the threat by Indian private airlines is a first in the century-old history of the global airline industry. If it is indeed carried out, it will mean cancellation of about 12,000 domestic flights by airlines such as Kingfisher, Kingfisher Red, Jet Airways, Jetlite, IndiGo, Go Air and Spice Jet on August 18. The only option for the domestic air traveller will be the 300 scheduled flights operated by Air India and the additional ones it may mount to meet the demand. The no-fly decision was taken following an afternoon meeting attended by Jet Airways' Naresh Goyal, Kingfisher Airlines' Vijay Mallya and other members of FIA except those from Air India and Paramount Airways. Following the meeting, Baijal read out a statement to the media which began with the financial difficulties faced by the industry. The total losses incurred by the Indian airline industry in 2008-09 are estimated to be Rs 10,000 crore, he said, listing ATF sales tax, airport charges, depreciation in the value of India rupee, the economic meltdown and terrorists attacks as contributory factors. Patel stressed on Friday that tax on ATF was a state issue, and the aviation ministry had been requesting the states for the last few years to see reason. The minister declared that Air India
would not participate in the decision of "select private airlines" and would, instead, mount additional services on August 18 to reduce inconvenience to the public. The airline bosses refused to put a figure on the losses they would suffer if the threat was put to force. When asked whether suspending operations entirely did not amount to violating the provisions of the Scheduled Operators Permit that allows airlines to operate flight services, Mallya said that passengers who had booked on that day would be given a complete refund. Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India, a consumer rights organization, was scathing. "The losses are of their own making," he said. "The two big airlines, Jet and Kingfisher, bought loss-making airlines like Air Deccan and Air Sahara. The government, on the other hand, gave airlines benefits like a credit period for payment to oil companies and airports. Then again, IndiGo and Spice Jet made a profit in the last quarter, which means there is a turnaround in the industry. When they make a profit, do they share it with the government or public?"

No private airlines to fly on Aug 18 - PSU vs Pvt once again

Trust the media to always blindly attack PSUs.. We kept reading so many articles on how AIR INDIA should get closed down because it is making losses.. but the same media experts forgot about JET and Kingfisher who too were making losses..we wonder... are these media people in the employ of these Private Business people?

Here is a letter to PM

Dr Manmohan Singh,
Prime Minister,
New Delhi
Dear Sir,
Regarding media news "No private airlines to fly on Aug 18", I wish to advise as under:
They have flourished and become fat by getting financial incentives out of public money, getting administrative and infrastructure support from the Govt agencies like Aviation Ministry / Finance Ministry / Petroleum Ministry / Oil Companies / Airport Authority etc.
Govt has invested huge money in constructing / renovating air ports at major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata etc to help primarily these private airlines.
This lopsided priority has deprived the suffering masses of primary education, primary health facility and the affordable housing.
Mr Praful Patel Union Aviation Minister and Mr Murli Deora Union Petroleum Minister have gone out of the way, have abused their position to get price reduction in the price of ATF (while for MS, HSD, SKO, LPG etc used by common man, it was not done), discount on ATF, authorised and even unauthorised / illegal credit on supply of ATF to private sector airlines.
The situation in India of undue political interference has been like Italy in Alitalia case particularly with reference to the Air India / Indian Airlines. Their merger has not achieved the stated objective of synergy and the claims of UPA Govt for PSU mergers are simply bogus.
Further, these money hungry private sector Airlines operators have not passed on the financial benefits to the air line passengers, gone back on their promises and the Directors of these private lines have pocketed the money.
In their greed to increase their own business exponentiallly, with full support by Mr Praful Patel, kept non-viable low air fares and unnecessarily indulged into price war to initially lose money.
The beneficiaries of aviation sector are less than ninety five percent citizens of India and, if they close down, heaven is not going to fall. Railways and Private bus operators shall gain while the millionaires and billionaires have their own jets and helicopters to fly. Govt officers entitled to air journey can very well travel by train or by Air India.
Considering the above, UPA II Govt must convey in no uncertain terms forthwith to the Greatest Traitors, the unethical opportunist limpets who have thrieved on public money that they have no business threatening, they can go to hell if they do not want operate in India.
Let them close down their shops in India & go to other countries for business as, in this global village era, there will be no dearth of other country Airlines to utilise the infrastructure already available / further augmented in India for operating the flights.
While concluding,
I would request to sack Mr Praful Patel and Mr Murli Deora forthwith for creating this situation by undue favouritism and pampering.
I would also request stopping wastage of public money that does not help in any positive manner to the suffering masses of India.
With kind regards,
(Babubhai Vaghela).
C 202, Shrinandnagar V, Makarba Road Vejalpur, Ahmedabad - 380051 M - 94276 08632 http://twitter.com/vaghelabd http://www.esnips.com/user/vaghelabd http://www.youtube.com/user/vaghelabd (Administrator - Google Group - Right to Information Act 2005) http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/about?hl=en
References :
Further to assistance from CAG requsted - Regarding (1) Recovery from Third Parties RTI Ref : SMPPESCOQ5 (2) Unauthorised huge credit to Airlines by Oil PSUs (3) Rs 50 crore unauthorised credit to GSRTC by IOC...
http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/browse_thread/thread/b2a40c4d12bfd5c8/afc5eb42d9f2d5fd?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=deora#afc5eb42d9f2d5fd
PUBLIC LOOT : ATF Prices Cut by IOC BPC HPC but Not THE Airfares.
http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/browse_thread/thread/4bd02d574b6b1d38/6902ffad0f6724f0?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=atf#6902ffad0f6724f0
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http://m.economictimes.com/PDAET/articleshow/4842352.cms
AIRLINES / AVIATION
Private airlines seek bailout from government31 Jul, 2009, 1723 hrs IST, Economictimes.com and Agencies

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner Sukhoi Superjet 100 Air Force One India's Air Force One Top 15 global airlines
NEW DELHI: Private airlines on Friday sought bailout from the government and have threatened to suspend operations on August 18. The airlines have further threatened to call off domestic operations completely if the government does not give them a hearing. ( Watch ) According to FIA the total loss for aviation was at Rs 10,000 crore for 08-09. The ATF taxes are unviable and the estimated airline levies stand at $250 million. According to Vijay Mallya, airlines will refund the money for the passengers who have bookings for August 18. The international operations however, will not be impacted. According to Jet Airways' Naresh Goel, this is not an ultimatum to the government but only a way of drawing government's attention to the poor plight of the airline industry. "The operations are not sustainable any more and we have been asking for government's help for a long time now," added Goel. Earlier in the day, Indian flagship carrier Air India, struggling with massive losses, has cancelled orders for five Boeing 777 planes.
Also Read
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Earlier Kingfisher Airlines had warned its 6,000 employees of a delay in salary payment. In an email, its executive vice-president Hitesh Patel had asked its employees to be prepared for delayed salaries and embarrassing dealings with unpaid vendors in the coming days. Mr Patel said the company was in a tight situation regarding finances and it had trimmed its fleet to 69 from 89 to cut costs. The government on Thursday said leading airlines in the country had suffered losses over Rs 2,44,483.7 lakh during the 2007-08 fiscal.

Ineffective CVC

Whistleblower ACT has lost its meaning.. and corrupt people continue to roost and control our lives.. A daring few who gather facts and complaint to Authorities against Corruption are NOT at all protected but rather Persecuted! These daring few are trying to make our .. yesss! your and my life better..... but what do we do? We sleep..

The document below is from DAINIK Jagran 17/6/09 issue at this link
http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/epaper/index.php?location=49&edition=2009-06-17&pageno=3

It is in Hindi so for non Hindi Readers.. the gist is :-

Govt of india appointed the CVC as a nodal agency for acting upon the complaints of corruption against high level officers in public sector undertakings. The whistle blower resolution was also approved for this purpose only . For CVC the the contact officers were CVO's in respective organisations i.e PSU's , CVO' were supposed to act upon the complaints within a month's time and confirm compliance to CVC , which neither respective CVO's did nor the concerned Ministry's did ( Ministries also have their own CVO' s} . In the process complainants got victimised and harrased buy respective managements. Now CVC is being severly criticised for their inaction , and in turn Govt is being criticised for having a toothless body like CVC, after criticism , CVC has woken up and asked all CVO's to submit replies for pending cases in their organisation immediately.

Dainik Jagran News of 17.6.09 in Hindi on Whistleblowing

Spouses can join babus on tours; you'll pay

Forget the Salaries of 1 lac and above per mth and so on that the IDIOTs in media projected what India does not know is that the Oil Companies are now being made to reversal of several benefits that its officers enjoyed so many years.

These are the doings of IAS officers/ the Bureaucrats,those who are themselves corrupt and who rule PSUs. And on the other hand see? What they do?

http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090615/1053/tnl-spouses-can-join-babus-on-tours-you.html

Mon, Jun 15 09:30 PM
Get ready to again pay for the foreign jaunts of spouses of India's globetrotting bureaucrats. The government has slipped back a rule allowing bureaucrats to take free 'companion tickets' from airlines like Air India when they travel abroad to attend conferences, workshops or meetings in their official capacity.
"Government servants shall be allowed to avail the facility of free companion tickets offered by the airlines for international travel only," a memo by Simmi R. Nakra, director at the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), said last week. It reversed the bar on officials taking the free 'companion' tickets home imposed last year.
The October 2008 bar - which made violations liable for proceedings under conduct rules - was inspired by the Sixth Pay Commission report that frowned upon babudom quietly making official tours "a source of profit". But there is nothing like a free lunch.
Or ticket. Airlines like Air India offer the "free" companion tickets only when customers buy full-fare tickets, not tickets that are sold on discounts that could be even half this rate.
It gives bureaucrats an incentive to buy a full-fare ticket if he intends to take the spouse along. And they do, spending the taxpayers' hard-earned money to buy full-fare tickets ? say a First Class ticket on the Delhi-New York sector for Rs 3.52 lakh - when a discounted ticket is available for half this price, Rs 1.84 lakh.
And they do travel a lot. An RTI application last year had revealed officials travelled 5.65 crore km in 3.5 years - over 70 times a round trip to the moon which is 3.84 lakh km away.
Officials at the Department of Expenditure - that controls the government's purse strings - acknowledged the relaxation in rules had their approval. Just seven months ago, the expenditure department had ordered ministries to negotiate incentives with airlines in a way "that the benefits come to the government".
"The free companion scheme was reviewed at the request of the civil aviation ministry" where official business often necessitates international travel, an expenditure department official said. Civil aviation secretary M Madhavan Nambiar, for instance, is currently in the US. The only time the government has had some anxious moments over squandering of public money was about six years ago.
The Congress, then in the opposition, had questioned senior home ministry officials - accompanying then deputy prime minister L.K. Advani - taking their wives along. Former railway minister Lalu Prasad had some uneasy moments this week when news got out that he had gifted himself free railway passes.
But he isn't the only one. The Railway Board too, in 1996, had given retired board members and their spouses a life-time first class air-conditioned train pass, waiving a charge that had to be paid till then.
Mamta took back Lalu's pass but the bureaucracy still have theirs, said Delhi resident Subhash Agarwal, who was handed out the railway circular by Air India to explain a similar freebie that it had given its board members. The same year, 1996, when air-conditioned staff cars were considered a luxury, babus got air-conditioned cars for secretary-level officers on the ground that "protocol and representations obligations" often required them to wear formal clothes "which makes travel onerous in the absence of air-conditioners".

Mockery of Governance

If forcing unviable pricing was not enough, the government now wants public sector oil companies to spend 2% of their profits on social programmes.
The directive makes a complete mockery of the high standards of corporate governance the government wants India Inc to follow.

The dominant shareholder, the government, has unilaterally taken a decision that has a bearing on the investment and returns of other stakeholders. The government would do well to set a better example. The big four oilcos — ONGC, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil — are all listed on stock exchanges with public shareholding ranging from near 20% in Indian Oil to 48.9% in Hindustan Petroleum.

The 2% levy on profits for corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending would depress the valuation of these companies and create a handicap vis-a-vis private sector competitors, apart from upsetting their capital investments and dividend plans. Besides, given the political culture we possess, the sort of social spending the government is suggesting for oilcos would degenerate into funding schemes in, say, the petroleum minister’s constituency and/or those of top leaders of the ruling party. In fact, such misuse of PSU funds is already widespread, the current proposal only seeks to set aside more funds for the same.

True, there is a case for companies to conduct their affairs in a way that enhances social and environmental sustainability. The objection in this case is in the limited context of corporate governance or the apparent disregard of it.

There is a need for a wider stakeholder consensus in deciding what CSR projects a company may want to take up and the extent of spending. One important objective of listing state-owned companies on stock exchanges is to subject them to stock market discipline and bring in more transparency by making the m accountable to non-government stakeholders. If the government still insists on running them as private fiefs then it is better that it buys out the public and delists them. A listed state-owned company must respect shareholder democracy.

Source: Mockery of governance
20 Apr 2009, 0246 hrs IST, ET Bureau

Mera Desh Mahan- MPs ENJOY on PSU money

MPs enjoy FIVE STAR LIFE at the COST OF PSUs.. and PSU officers DIE for them -Specifically one officer of HPCL died taking care of these MPs... while the Poor gets poorer --- Mera Desh Really Mahan!!

..and MIND IT.. it is not JUST CONGRESS-- All Parties are involved even CPI(M) - that great Upholder of the downtrodden!!

From: Bimal Khemani
e.mail: bimal.khemani@ rediffmail. com
Member TRAP , TRANSPARENT REELIABLE ACCOUNTABLE PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT
To: Right-to-Information-Act-2005@googlegroups.com

Dear Friends,
At the time of 26/11 attack on MUMBAI, few questions arose in my my mind.

1. The CM of Maharashtra spoke to PM Manamohan Singh at about 10.00 p.m. and informed him about the situation and requested him to send NSG to bail out Mumbai in this grave situation of organised terrorist attack. The NSG arrived at Mumbai at about 7.00 a.m. i.e. after 9 hours. From various channels and News papers it appeared that in want of an air craft the NSG could not move out to reach Mumbai, as early as they could.

2. It appeared in some news papers that some of our Parliament Members and some staff of Rajya sabha , who had meeting with Bank of Baroda, Nabard, Air India etc. as the members of the Committee on Subordinate legislation, were there at HOTEL TAJ during the attack.

To clear my doubts, I took help of RTI and am glad to share my doubts and the replies received from the authority

My doubt no. 1. What all these Parliamenterian and Rajya Sabhay Secretariate staff were doing there? Are they entitled to stay in luxurious hotels at the cost of WE THE PEOPLE, So I sent my application to Rajya Sabha Secretariate.

My query and the reply are attached herewith , which are self explanatory. They are not entitled to 5 Star Hotel accomodation.

My doubt no. 2 To the best of my knowledge about 100 Commandos of NSG are always kept ready for any evantuality and can be moved out with in 15 mts. time, Then why a time of 9 hours was required to reach them to MUMBAI. There is a big fleet of Air Crafts especially and exclusive for the use of VVIPs and are always kept prepared. Why those crafts could not be used for the protrection of WE THE COMMON MAN. So I sent another RTI application , attached herewith , which is also self explanatory.

My doubt no. 3, Whether any other air craft of any private airlines may be of domestic or foreign companies , were available from 10.00 p.m. to 5.00 a.m on 26/27 Nov. I sent my RTI application to Air Port authority and as per their reply atleast 1 dozen of big aircrafts were available as per records of AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL and forther details are awaited from DIAL.
My dear friends, The information which I share with all is a proof how our politicians treat them selves above the law and also treat WE THE COMMON MAN.They stay at 5 star hotels at our money for which they are not entitled, why they can not stay in various Govt. Accomodations as maintained by state Govt., Public Sector Undertaking etc.

For this emergent situation created by terrorists our government can not put the valuable VVIP air crafts for the service of NATION and ferry our forces to fight against enemies. Our National Disaster Managemenrt group or the Aviation ministry does not dare to requisition the available air crafts for the defence of WE THE COMMON MAN.

Phir bhi hum garv se kahate hai MERA DESH MAHAN.
BIMAL KUMAR KHEMANI

---------RTI reply-1 -----------------


-----------end of RTI Reply-1------------------


-------------Rediff New Item --------------------
MPs ENJOY 5-STAR FACILITIES

Publish at Scribd or explore others: elections india oil sector

----------end of Rediff New Item-----------

Bureaucracy seen as unresponsive, corrupt: ARC

Bureaucracy seen as unresponsive, corrupt: ARC

New Delhi, March 25: Bureaucracy in India is generally perceived to be "unresponsive, insensitive and corrupt" and a common complaint against it pertains to excessive red-tapism, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission has said.

In its 12th report, the Commission said that during its visits to the states, it interacted with a large number of people and most of them complained of the poor quality of services provided by the government, the indifferent attitude of government servants, corruption and abuse of authority and lack of accountability.

"The reasons for governments not being citizen centric can be attributed to the attitude and work of some government servants, the deficiencies in existing institutional structures and also to some citizens," the Commission, headed by M Veerappa Moily, said.

While the laws made by the Legislature may be sound and relevant, very often they are not properly implemented by government functionaries, it said.

The institutional structure provided at times may be also weak and ill conceived and thus has neither the capacity nor the resources to implement the laws in letter and spirit, the report said.

"The system often suffers from problems of excessive centralisation and policies and action plans are far removed from the needs of the citizens. This results in a mismatch between what is required and what is being provided," it said.

Bureau Report

Courts Propose, Govt Disposes- Strikes in Oil Sector

Supreme Court may have ruled that it is a Constitutional Right for any body to go on strike in a Democracy but Govt thinks otherwise! Soon a Law soon to ban oil strikes is going to come it seems!!

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/law-soon-to-ban-oil-strikes/425400/
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Maneesh Chhibber Posted: Feb 19, 2009 at 0139 hrs IST

New Delhi: The Government is set to bring a bill in parliament making it illegal for Oil sector employees to go on strike. The Petroleum Sector Employees (Prohibition of Strikes) Bill, 2009 will ban strikes by all categories of employees of oil companies including contractual staff and employee associations, sources in the petroleum ministry told The Indian Express. The bill is likely to be introduced in the current session of parliament, the sources said.

A three-day strike by nearly 55,000 employees of state-owned oil companies demanding higher salaries and perks paralysed the nation last month with fuel pumps and gas outlets running dry and air traffic getting disrupted. The striking oilmen backed off after the government took a tough line, sacking 70-odd officers, invoking ESMA and calling in the Army to maintain supplies.
According to the draft of the proposed law, striking oilmen will face, in addition to strict disciplinary action including summary dismissal, jail terms of up to a year and/or a fine up to Rs 50,000.

But, the most striking feature of the proposed law is that it allows police to arrest striking employees without a warrant. Arrested employees will not be released on bail unless the prosecution has been heard by a magistrate and given an opportunity to oppose the bail plea.
Another tough clause provides for summary trials by designated courts.

Oil employees who will lose their right to strike work if the bill is passed include those involved in exploration, drilling, processing and distribution. They include all types of employees, whether in managerial, supervisory, non-managerial, manual or contractual labour categories.

Sources said many provisions of the proposed law are not in sync with the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 — something that could lead to opposition from some parties.

UPA re-prioritising gas distribution in the run-up to the elections

UPA re-prioritising gas distribution

10 Feb 2009, 2108 hrs IST, Soma Bannerjee & Prabha Jagannathan, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: An EGoM may have decided to prioritise low dependence on fertiliser imports as well as gas supply to the sector when it comes to the RIL’s KG basin (D6) produce but politics appears to have other plans. General elections in mid 2009, but more specifically, assembly polls in key states like Andhra where the ruling Congress has honed its “free power for farm” plank into a shining populist shibboleth, may now find the UPA re-prioritising gas distribution in the run-up to the elections. This would mean that instead of relegating gas supply to the power sector to the second phase pegged around mid April, the sector would get priority supply in the first phase of supply, from end February. The fertiliser sector, as a consequence, would only begin to receive supply in the second phase beginning mid April. Urgent fertiliser (mainly urea) needs in the meantime would, instead, be met wholly through imports as finished fertilisers. State chief minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy (YSR) was here last week lobbying hectically with EGoM head and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and petroleum minister Murli Deora for an urgent re-think on KG Basin gas allocation priorities to the power sector. The proposal is being mooted, significantly, on the eve of RIL’s plans to start signing term sheets with prospective customers within the next fortnight or so. In a letter written to Mr Mukherjee on February 2, YSR suggested a high level meeting for taking a decision on the issue with the ministers and RIL representatives present. The subliminal message in the note? If we don’t manage to garner enough power for markedly short-supplied AP, it could dent the party’s electoral performance noticeably. What is high irony, though, the letter to his party’s senior most leader at the national level does not suggest a meeting with fertiliser minister and UPA ally Mr Ram Vilas Paswan from whose sector he wants to divert the impending gas supply, even if only in the run-up to assembly and general elections, strictly in that order. The first five mmscd of KG Basin gas is set for production from February 25, totalling 40 mmscd roughly by the end of June or thereabouts. Of that, the EGoM earmarked the bulk of 18 mmscmd for the power sector and another 14 mmscmd for the fertiliser sector, three mmscmd for LPG extraction and another five mmscd for city-based piped gas. Over and above that, another 1.7 mmscmd of gas is set to be released to the Ratnagiri Power Projects Ltd in Maharashtra, ranking alongside fertiliser in priority. This means that the fertiliser sector plants on the mainline and the Ratnagiri project would get first charge on the gas to be produced and released by the RIL. The EGoM which met on October 23 2008 under the chairmanship of Mukherjee also directed of the gas allocated to the power sector, power projects in AP should get priority and that is something that the state chief minister is extremely keen on getting re-phrased and re-prioritised before the first of RIL’s KG Basin gas starts production end February, atleast for the weeks leading upto the assembly and general elections. “Many states in the country today have been suffering from severe shortages of power. The problem will be even more acute in the months of March and April because of summer, when lots of ground water drawls are required. Besides, globally the prices of urea have fallen from $900/tonne in May 2008 to $250 per tonne now. So, it makes greater sense to utilise the available gas first for the power sector and then for fertilisers,” YSR’s missive to Mr Mukherjee asserts. The letter has suggested that the fertilser sector that has been thirsting for gas for sometime now (and the shortfall of impacting directly on capacity utilisation and production and leaving the country__ the biggest fertiliser shopper in the world market at the complete mercy of export cartels at the height of the peak prices that both fertiliser inputs and finished ferts hit in 2008. India’s urea needs (27 m tonnes p.a,) already rely heavily on imports (6.7m tonnes imported in FY 08) and urea capacity is not increasing at the pace needed to meet the 3% annual growth in demand. Some three million tonnes of additional capacity is expected to be added in the next two years. However, natural gas availability remains a key block to capacity addition although a big 700/ of the 86% of the captive ammonia -urea capacity in the country is based on natural gas although government policy pro-actively favours conversion of all non-gas units to gas based units by March 2010. Gas, along with naphtha, fuel oil or LSHS are major feedstock for urea and of these, gas is the cheapest and the urea thus produced is the cheapest, with the lowest manufacturing cost per unit. “This arrangement is required for just 45 days as by the middle of May 2009, both power and fertilsier units will anyway get gas. I therefore request you to consider a change in the warrant of priority of gas allocation for just two months, that is, for the months of March and April 2009 by interchanging the priority between fertilisers and power so that the power sector can get priority over fertiliser during these two months,” the letter states. Speaking to ET, the high profile AP chief minister maintained “The kharif season requirements for fertilisers are topmost in July, which is the key sowing season. The only fertiliser Rabi crops now sown would need is urea which is much cheaper now compared to mid 2008 and can be imported in the finished form to meet the needs of agriculture. But what is crucial is that AP has acute power shortage, also in the key agriculture sector. Ensuring a re-prioritisation of gas supply to the power sector countrywide for just March and April will mean that in peak summer, states with acute power shortfall will not suffer whether for the industrial sector or for agriculture. According to the current decision, the power sector will only get gas supply in the second trance of KG Basin Gas release from somewhere in mid April 2009, which means that in March 2009, they will not be able to get any gas. Not only will sufficient gas supply to the sector in the first phase in the place of the fertiliser sector mean that the Ratnagiri power plant gets an additional 2500 mw to Maharashtra, power projects in AP will also get an additional 2500 mw of power if the available gas is given to the power sector for the two months. That alone spells 5000 mw of additional power in the peak power demand period.” Nor indeed do YSR’s political compulsions to re-prioritise gas supply take into account the fact that the country is passing through an economic downturn on account of which politically motivated funding of imports takes priority, particularly since several fertiliser inputs and raw materials are still relatively highly priced compared to imports in 2007. For instance, Rock Phosphate, a key input into DAP, still reigns in the global market at $250/tonne compared to $350/tonne at the peak time but is nowhere near the $70-80/tonne it was bought at in 2007 from the same market. Glossing over that, YSR’s letter contends smugly “... we can import fertilisers at some price but not power at any cost. ...” Interestingly enough, Nagarjuna Fertilsers in AP, among the big fertiliser plants that have fully converted to gas-based and are therefore entitled to gas supply from the first tranche of 14 mmscmd earmarked to the sector, is set also to be among the first in the sector to receive the gas. Currently, the feriliser units that have fully converted to gas-based plants in consonance with the government’s own policy rely heavily on gas supplied at administered price to them for the fuel and feedstock but also need to shop in the spot market for LNG at relatively high price to bridge the shortfall. In the event of the KG Basin Gas not being supplied to them on priority from February to March, they would have to depend on the same means despite the EGoM’s decision and the lengthy wait for production of KG Basin Gas. Several of the units identified for gas supply in the sector are in the private sector since the parent ministry, according to officials in the know, has accorded equal priority to public, cooperative and private sector units on this although they have earlier been occasions where first two sectors were granted priority vis a vis fuel/feedstock. What’s worse, importing finished urea would be directly to their disadvantage. Among those units who would lose out would be not just Nagarjuna Fertilsers but also the Aonla, Phulpur units of Iffco, one plant of KK Birla etc. Energy Conservation Consciousness (ECC) Campaign is a step towards better Energy Habits. We can avoid wastages in work area by implementing effortless energy conservation tips to create a more sustainable and greener organization.

Cricketers for Sale - Money Flies!!

On sale were 50 cricketers, all overseas players. Till a day ago, the perception was largely that the buyers would flinch. But India Inc proved it all wrong. By the time the auction got over, Lalit Modi, IPL chairman, could hardly stop smiling. “It is just amazing, great,’’ he kept saying. At the end of the two-hour process, around $7.67 million — a whopping Rs 37.5 crore — had been spent on buying just 17 players. “Recession? What recession? IPL doesn’t have any recession,’’ a bidder was heard saying.

After the auctions got over, the celebrities lurked around, chatting about cricket for a change. “It looks like fun. Sure, it is fun. But it’s also business. What went on inside was fierce bidding,’’ Wadia said.

That such big business got done was almost impossible to believe, given the party atmosphere. Speaking of parties, a lavish one awaited them all, hosted by liquor baron Mallya.

The above front page news item on TOI dtd 7/2/09 makes us think?
In an economic system Money does not get created nor destroyed, it only changes hands, unless the Govt wants to push in more money by printig more!. Say the world is one system then the total money would be constant in it. Will it not be?

What happens is that money changes hands, from one person to another, from one country to another, from stocks to banks and vice versa. When we hear recesssion and nobody buying anything it only means people who can buy have either lost their money to others or are just holding on to their money and certainly those who have taken the money of the former group, if that is so, are also holding on to their money and not spending. Hence Recession means less expenditure.

If money is constant then question arises where does the rich get their money from? Where did Vijay Mallya get his money from? And why then does he ask Govt of India to bail out his ailing Airlines at the cost of Public Money either through direct monetary packages or indirectly through interest free credit supplies of ATF from Oil PSUs which are already reeling with losses?

Whose money are we spending Mr Mallya and Ambani, even if you say it is your well earned money, where did the money get produced and come from?

When money is getting concentrated only in the hands of 5% of Indians.. or the rich of the world (the % fig is appxmt) then why will there not be discontent?

Deora tells oil firms to up social spends- Milching Cows- the Oil Sector

Deora tells oil firms to up social spends.

Just see what else Politicians do with PSUs! This will throw further light on why Govt does not want to give full independence to OIL PSUs.

Economy Bureau Posted: 2009-02-03 01:13:27+05:30 IST
Updated: Feb 03, 2009 at 0113 hrs IST

Mumbai: In an interesting development barely days before notification of the general elections scheduled for April-May—and imposition of the model code of conduct—the government has told state-run oil marketing companies to increase threefold their spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by petroleum minister Murli Deora with the heads of these PSUs in Mumbai on Monday. “More money will be available for CSR activities from these companies. This will definitely help improve the quality of life of the people in the vicinity of major units and installations of these companies,” Deora told FE.

Retailers Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, together with exploration & production major ONGC and Oil India Ltd, gas transporter GAIL India and Engineers India must now allocate 2% of their profit after tax (PAT), from the present 1% on CSR activities.

However, the decision to raise CSR spends comes at a time when the profitability of several of these companies are under strain thanks to rising subsidy burdens and crude oil price fluctuations. ONGC’s Q3 net slipped 43% to Rs 2,475 crore, against Rs 4,367 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Similarly, HPCL’s net losses mounted to Rs 422 crore, compared with Rs 15.74 crore. In financial year 2007-08, the PAT for these companies amounted to Rs 31,236.04 crore, of which Rs 222.31 crore was allocated to CSR. Under the revised 2% norm, they are expected to collectively shell out around Rs 650 crore.

Analysts, though, said while the CSR initiative is noble, the companies and their shareholders would have been better served if these funds were ploughed back into growth plans. Petroleum secretary RS Pande, who was also present at the meeting, said, “As there are practically two months remaining in the current fiscal, today’s decision will be effective from financial year 2009-10. Within a month, these companies will get approval from their boards of directors. The boards, whenever necessary, will also review the CSR activities.”

Pande said any allocated money that is left unspent during the fiscal would be carried over into the next year. These companies have already touched the lives lakhs of people by supporting social, cultural, educational and environmental initiatives with a focus on partnering communities in health, family welfare, education, environment protection, provision of clean drinking water, sanitation and empowerment of women and other marginalised groups. GAIL India had already decided to double its budget allocation to 2% for CSR activities in 2009-10. CMD UD Choubey said, “The company has already spent Rs 27.09 crore against the budgeted expenditure of Rs 26 crore for 2008-09.”

New Microsoft Word Document

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Letter to Editors of Newspapers by Aggrieved Officers

Dear Editors

First, we thank on behalf of all the PSU oilfield officers for bringing out the real facts behind the oil strike recently by some newspapers. It was a moment of grief and deep disappointment when we were called ‘Deshdrohis’, ‘Traitors’, ‘Blackmailers’, etc.

Sir, officers of Oil PSU's are not goondas, gang leaders, anti-social elements or terrorists to take the country for ransom. They are all educated, responsible and dedicated officers of the most profit making and fortune 500 companies. It is very easy to enact ESMA and threaten an upright middle class man who went through the right procedures before going on strike in our democratic country. Officers and their families are deeply disturbed, demoralised and demotivated by the actions of the government and the media.

We definitely feel there is a bigger conspiracy and some vested interest to tarnish the image of these profit making Navratna PSU's. These are world class companies providing huge revenue to the goverment and subsidies to the common public.
IS THIS THE RIGHT PATH TO PRIVATIZATION?

Here are some of the recent government actions to ponder

1. Reliance had closed its petrol pumps due to crude oil price, no ESMA or nor they are deshdrohis.
2. Private air-liners like JET and KingFisher had stopped flights few months back, government had financially bailed out for 3 to 6 months time for repayment of ATF charges. (& that too at the cost of PSU oil companies who were asked to extend credit when we all know that the Oil Cos are losing money due to high crude prices)
3. JET airways had sacked its employees, government and political parties intervened to stop them from such actions.
4. Satyam carried out 7000 crores fraud and government plans to bail out with financial aids.

However if an oil psu worker goes on strike as a last resort after repeated failure of talks and inaction from government officials for more than 2 years, then he is a Deshdrohi, Traitor, Blackmailer…etc.

India is a great democracy with a liberalized economy and visionary leaders like our Prime Minister, dismantling APM in Oil sector and providing opportunities for private sector to explore our country for oil & gas through NELP. In this competitive environment, PSU’s are no more charity organizations nor are the employees working for charity. These Oil PSU's have to compete with private companies like Reliance, BG, Shell, Cairn Energy..etc. To compete you need good performance, and for good performance you need motivated working employees and officers. Many experienced and talented officers have left these PSU's and joined Reliance and other Pvt companies because they provide better pay and facilitites. It is this attrition which led to the demands to save the Oil PSU's from becoming sick units.

Its was quite surprising how media had misinformed the general public by reporting that junior officers had a starting pay of Rs One Lakh. An experienced Oil PSU employee gets below Rs.50000/- even after rendering 10 – 15 years of service. Moreover, it is quite illogical to compare the salaries of high court judges with PSU officers. Can we compare the powers, authority and status of judges, collectors or defence officers to a PSU officer, who is an ordinary citizen by status. Oil PSU officers did not ask salaries comparable to the IT industry which is very highly paid. Demand was only to compete with private oil players like Reliance, reduce attrition and prevent national oil companies becoming sick units. I quote the former MoP&NG Mr. Mani Shanker Aiyer " If you pay peanuts, only monkeys will be left in ONGC."

It was quite heart-breaking to listen to the media calling our officers ‘Deshdrohis’, ‘Traitors’, ‘Blackmailers’, etc. Media was totally biased and hijacked by the government with the help of private oil players and vested interests. Media outright rejected to report the officers view and demanded huge amounts in several lakhs of rupees to air and present the real facts. A corrupt media will lead a nation to disaster.

OSOA did not go on strike overnight, they put their demands long back, had informed the government ministry about resentment in the pay revision package. Oil companies had several meetings with management and govt. officials past two years, had carried out dharnas, hunger strike, work to rule, etc before issuing strike notice when all talks and promises failed. Even the strike dates were defered for various reasons, what was the govt. and the petroleum ministry doing all this time? Officers had resorted to strike after losing their patience due to the INACTION of Government officials. Why questions are not raised against these bureaucrats?

IS THIS THE RIGHT PATH TO PRIVATIZATION?
PLEASE SAVE OUR COMPANIES FROM BECOMING SICK UNITS.

Jai Hind

Sincere Officers (Names withheld to avoid draconian measures by Govt.)
OIL PSU

TRAITOR, TRAITOR, EVERYWHERE, NOR ANY PATRIOT TO SEE

MAHENDRA GAUR

B.E., P.G.D.M, LL.B.

B-90, Saraswati Marg,

Bajaj Nagar, Jaipur-302015

Fax 0141-2705901

Phone: 09829059018

mahendragaur@gmail.com

January 18, 2009

Shri Raghav Sharan Pandey

Secretary to the Government of India

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas,

Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi –110001
Tel: 011-23383501, 23383562
Fax:011-23383100,23070723
sec.png@nic.in

SUB: STRIKE BY THE OFFICERS OF OIL PSU-YOUR CALLING THEM TRAITORS

Dear Sir,

1. You seemed to epitomise the patriotic fervour when you echoed the sentiments of the Nation by calling the striking oilmen as traitors. It was possibly for the first time someone showed the courage to call ‘a spade a spade’. What I did not like is your taking shelter under fudged salary figures to justify your remarks. However, if you add the cost of perks and hidden benefits enjoyed by OIL PSU officers then salary figures might inch towards the figures quoted by you and ZEE TV. At times it appeared that you and ZEE TV were acting in tandem.

2. I am coming across hundreds of mails from agitated officers of oil companies who feel hurt because of your calling them traitors. But in a way they deserved it.

3. I wish you show similar courage in calling ‘a spade a spade’ when it comes to people like Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mr. Mulayam Singh, Ms. Mayawati, Mr. Sharad Pawar, Mr. Murli Deora etc. You know the salaries of a few of them run into hundreds of Crores, if you add those hidden incomes on the same formulae. I wonder whether we should call them traitors when they boycott (strike work) Parliament. I think we should. But I have no guts. You have. So call them traitors when they strike work next. Tell ZEE TV also to do the same. You two can work beautifully in tandem.

4. I have read in some news magazines that IAS officers get up to 10 Crores in dowry. Though we have Anti-Dowry laws but these are not applicable to the IAS fraternity. Some people (may be mad caps) have re-christened IAS as Indian Avtar Service. Likewise IAS learn less of Administration in .…. Mussoorie but learn more about the tricks of moneymaking. I am not speaking of your times, but the modern era.

5. I am from Rajasthan. Once upon a time Barmer and Jaisalmer districts were dreaded postings as District Collector. Not these days. I understand a District Collector makes tens of crores from the smugglers in these two districts. Now these are considered prized postings. You know making hay while the sun shines. But I tell you these oil company officers may call such District Magistrates as Traitors. But you need not worry the Media is not going to give credence to their views.

6. This reminds me of one of your own departments ‘Anti-Adulteration Cell’. All the top bosses viz. from Director General to Regional Directors came from IAS. One of them Mr. Sandeep Garg was caught with Rs.3.0 Crores. CBI filed a DA case against him. I tell you this CBI also acts like a traitor. The whole department had to be scraped. While Mr. Garg was actually serving the nation, these traitors (oilmen) lost one of them by the name Mr. Manjunath fighting against Adulteration Mafia. What a fool Manjunath proved to be. If he had accepted bribes like Mr. Sandeep Garg, he could have kept the money as well as the job. What do you think; we should call these oilmen, traitors or fools. May be both.

7. In 1994, in Kota Kerosene Tragedy, about 30-35 people died. One Mr. Devi Dayal, I think from Indian Avtar Service came to liase with the State Government. Being a busy man Mr. Devi Dayal was on dawn-to-dusk visit to Jaipur. His wife duly accompanied him on such a serious and short trip. Two rooms were booked in Hotel Ram Bagh Palace. You know circuit house are below standard. And we have these traitors always eager to pay for National Heroes form IAS. I was posted at Jaipur then. One Mr. V. V. Jain from Delhi escorted Mr. Dayal. Mr. Jain was a senior traitor then but came separately in a pilot car. A few small traitors were running helter-skelter on NH 8 for the whole day to look after small needs of the AVTAR like ….you know to make his journey smooth and SULABH. The hotel, travel, and snacks bill ran in excess of tens of thousand for a few hours stay. Mr. Dayal could not wait for Mr. Bhairo Singh Shekhawat, the then CM who was to return from Kota in the evening and Mr. Dayal left for Delhi avoiding Bhairo Baba, but meeting a few patriots like him. May be in the estimation of Mr. Dayal Bhairo Baba could also be a traitor. But the oil company fellows certainly proved themselves to be fools by paying thousands of rupees on Mr. Dayal who did not deserve a penny.

8. Likewise one of your lady officers went to Shirdi on a pilgrimage. These fools-cum-traitors put her in a five star hotel gave taxi an escort traitor to take her to Shirdi and back. These fools thought that she was on pilgrimage, but actually she was on pricing mission. Your officers enjoy the luxuries provided by these fools-cum-traitors. If I write about all, it would be an endless saga.

9. You know this ZEE TV forgot about Masur Dal Scam and Bofors, and Coffin gate and one Late ….Mr. S….K…Bha....again from Indian Avtar Service. Such a great national hero’s name was unnecessarily dragged with the then PM etc. This reminds me of the story … but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone. (Pdf file enclosed) Kindly search your own heart, are you or your brother officers, also traitors? Are you not helping your political masters, who are/could be traitors? The fact remains that there are traitors on both sides. TRAITOR, TRAITOR, EVERYWHERE, NOR ANY PATRIOT TO SEE. Question is who is bigger traitor. You proved to be a smart traitor and oilmen turned out to be fools-cum-traitors.

10. If the oilmen are really hurt, I call upon them to stop all kinds of appeasements to Indian Avtar Service, and the Parliamentary Committees. Let all adulteration and black marketing stop. After all it is the money from oil industry that fuels the Patriots to call oilmen as traitors. Mr. Pandey you too were equally responsible for the strike as every single officer from oil industry. When upset, it is easier to pick up a stone, then to lay one down. The One who had the right to cast a stone in judgment refused and offered Himself up on a cross instead. Mr. Pandey, you should have opted for the cross rather than throwing stones. It now calls for reinstatement of dismissed officers gracefully, settlement of their grievances, removing wage anomalies and public apology for unnecessarily calling them traitors. My sincere apologies for being harsh on the entire IAS fraternity, many of whom are honest to the core and personal friends too.

With regards,

Mahendra Gaur

Cabinet Speech on 2oth November '08- that told us GOVT wants us to Strike

Cabinet Paper that started it all

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The PSU splurges on oil honchos & their families at strategic meetings

Ever anybody thought why the Navaratna PSUs are never given independence to run their show in spite of so much arguments for the same? A few news item may throw some light on this mysterious issue. See the amount spent on Mr R.S Pandey, Petroleum Secy.

Press Clip Dec08 MAIL_TODAY

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Look Ahead- RS Pandey says

What do we think looking ahead means? This will be evident from some news items soon to come from the same media on of which is already appearing in the Hindu on 16th Jan'09 that Govt is thinking of Deregulating the Pricing Mechanism to help Private Players in Retail Business.

Press Cip1 Jan13

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Salary & Govt. Concessions for a Member of Parliament (MP)

Friends of PSUs --> two aspects to be observed from this news item which you may have got in your emails.
A. The salaries of MPs.. they raise their own by simple voice votes.. and deny ours
B. The furore was created when honourable PM asked the pvt sector to reduce their salaries in a poor nation like ours in some seminar where all the Private Sector people were present (maybe the CEI or something-- pls get the link someone for posting here). So when now Pvt sector people - some of them - are ridiculing us for holding the nation to ransom for salary this item might remind them that money is requried by everybody or else this chain mail would not have started. Because PM did not talk of PSUs then).

Monthly Salary : 12,000
Expense for Constitution per month : 10,000
Office expenditure per month : 14,000
Traveling concession (Rs. 8 per km) : 48,000 ( eg..For a visit from kerala to Delhi & return: 6000 km)
Daily DA TA during parliament meets : 500/day
Charge for 1 class (A/C) in train: Free (For any number of times) (All over India )
Charge for Business Class in flights : Free for 40 trips / year (With wife or P.A.)
Rent for MP hostel at Delhi : Free
Electricity costs at home : Free up to 50,000 units
Local phone call charge : Free up to 1 ,70,000 calls.
TOTAL expense for a MP [having no qualification] per year : 32,00,000 [i.e . 2.66 lakh/month]
TOTAL expense for 5 years : 1,60,00,000
For 534 MPs, the expense for 5 years:8,54,40,00,000 (nearly 855 crores)

AND THE PRIME MINISTER IS ASKING THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED, OUT PERFORMING CEOs TO CUT DOWN THEIR SALARIES.... .

This is how all our tax money is been swallowed and price hike on our regular commodities. ...... And this is the present condition of our country:

855 crores could make their life livable !! Think of the great democracy we have........ . PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO ALL REAL CITIZENS OF INDIA ... but, STILL Proud to be INDIAN