Sixth Pay Commission: Pay issue of armed forces to be resolved soon: Pranab
Oct 13, 2008
New Delhi, October 13: A ministerial committee, set up to look into the armed forces' grievance about pay "anomalies", is
likely to sort out the matter soon.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads the three-member committee, on Monday said he had discussed the matter
with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A K Antony.
"Shortly, I am going to discuss with the Finance Minister (P Chidambaram)," he told reporters here when asked about the
issue.
Without giving details of his discussions with the Prime Minister, Mukherjee merely said "I do hope we will be able to sort
out the issue shortly".
The committee, which also includes Antony and Chidambaram, was set up by the Prime Minister on September 25 in the wake of
deep resentment in the armed forces, who complained that there were "anomalies" in the 6th Pay Commission recommendations and
that it had lowered the status of their officers.
After the government notification was issued on August 29, the issues of "anomalies" in the pay for officers was first raised
by Air chief Fali Homi Major in his letter in his capacity as acting Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC).
Chiefs of Navy and Army too have been voicing their resentment.
Antony has strongly favoured resolution of core issues raised by the three services chiefs in their representation to the
government.
He wrote to Chidambaram, raising issues of disparities", including the ones relating to Personnel Below Officer Rank (PBORs).
Source: http://www.expressindia.com/
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Sixth Pay Commission: Hyundai Motor offers discounts to Indian govt employees
Sixth Pay Commission: Hyundai Motor offers discounts to Indian govt employees
NEW DELHI, Oct 13, 2008 (Asia In Focus via COMTEX)
India's second largest carmaker HYUNDAI on Friday announced a special discount of up to Rs 31,000 (US$641) on its various
cars for government employees aiming to cash in on the higher salaries and arrears under the Sixth Pay Commission. The
scheme, offered during October and November, would be for both state and central government employees, a company statement
said.
* In view of the fact that government employees are due to receive the arrears after revision in the Sixth Pay Commission,
the arrears can be utilised as down payment for purchase and the revised salary increment would help them to accommodate
their monthly installments, the company said.
* Hyundai said it has tied up with STATE BANK OF INDIA (BSE:500112), AXIS BANK (BSE:532215) and HDFC BANK (BSE:500180) to
offer finance schemes to the government employees for car purchase.
Source: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/
NEW DELHI, Oct 13, 2008 (Asia In Focus via COMTEX)
India's second largest carmaker HYUNDAI on Friday announced a special discount of up to Rs 31,000 (US$641) on its various
cars for government employees aiming to cash in on the higher salaries and arrears under the Sixth Pay Commission. The
scheme, offered during October and November, would be for both state and central government employees, a company statement
said.
* In view of the fact that government employees are due to receive the arrears after revision in the Sixth Pay Commission,
the arrears can be utilised as down payment for purchase and the revised salary increment would help them to accommodate
their monthly installments, the company said.
* Hyundai said it has tied up with STATE BANK OF INDIA (BSE:500112), AXIS BANK (BSE:532215) and HDFC BANK (BSE:500180) to
offer finance schemes to the government employees for car purchase.
Source: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/
Sixth Pay Commission: Fertiliser subsidy: Govt may soon release Rs 50,000 cr
Sixth Pay Commission: Fertiliser subsidy: Govt may soon release Rs 50,000 cr
Joe C Mathew / New Delhi October 13, 2008, 0:58 IST
80% of delivered cost of fertiliser is realised from govt payouts.
The government may sanction nearly Rs 50,000 crore as the first supplementary grant for settling fertiliser subsidy bills in the upcoming Parliament session beginning October 17. It intends to issue bulk of this amount in cash and nearly Rs 12,000 crore in bonds to fertiliser companies.
The first supplementary demand for grants in 2008-09 is expected to be taken up for discussion and approval around October 20-22.
In the last few months, the Centre has committed itself to several new expenditure, including the farm debt waiver (which will cost Rs 25,000 crore this fiscal), Rs 22,100 crore on account of the Sixth Pay Commission award and several new social sector initiatives.
In addition, the government is expected to release around Rs 70,000 crore worth of bonds to public sector oil companies.
All this is expected to ease liquidity, a point that Finance Minister P Chidambaram emphasised last Friday. Referring to the first supplementary demand for grants, he told a private TV channel that “in about 10-12 days from today, when the supplementary is passed (by Parliament), a substantial amount of liquidity will be infused into the market”.
Also, the fertliser sector should be impacted positively. Although lower than the Rs 66,450 crore demanded by the Department of Fertilisers, the release of nearly Rs 50,000 crore will be a substantial move, say officials.
The entire amount, however, will not be for the fertiliser industry, as it includes Rs 22,000 crore that was released as the second tranche of the subsidy two months ago.
The government had asked public sector banks to disburse this amount to rescue fertiliser units from liquidity crunch. While Rs 22,000 crore will be for repayment to banks, the rest — Rs 16,000 crore in cash and Rs 12,000 as bonds — will be for fresh disbursements.
According to official sources, the finance ministry is in the process of finalising the subsidy break-up for various fertilisers like urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP).
Increasing prices of imported raw materials have resulted in a steep escalation of production costs in recent months. This had also compelled the department to revise its estimate of annual subsidy burden for 2008-09 from Rs 95,013 crore in March to Rs 1,19,772 crore in June.
Industry estimates put the current fertiliser subsidy at Rs 1,25,000 crore, three times larger than the actual subsidy burden (Rs 40,338 crore) shouldered by the government in 2007-08.
Meanwhile, the fertiliser industry is lobbying hard to ensure that the entire subsidy is paid in cash. “The liquidity crunch is severe and we cannot afford to get subsidies in bonds. The fertiliser bonds (worth Rs 7,500 crore) issued in 2007-08 were encashed at 10-15 per cent discount due to our urgent need for working capital. A similar situation now will put us in deep trouble,” said a fertiliser industry official.
The industry feels a cisis is imminent unless the government sanctions the entire amount at one go, “There may not be another session during the tenure of the current Parliament. If the entire amount is not sanctioned now, delay in payments is just a matter of months. That will lead to problems,” the official added.
The Fertiliser Association of India has also said that the industry wants the subsidy bill to be cleared on time as 80 per cent of the delivered cost of fertiliser is realised from government payouts.
The government had allocated Rs 30,986 crore for the fertiliser subsidy in the Union Budget 2008-09. It also released Rs 22,000 crore under a special arrangement in August.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com
Joe C Mathew / New Delhi October 13, 2008, 0:58 IST
80% of delivered cost of fertiliser is realised from govt payouts.
The government may sanction nearly Rs 50,000 crore as the first supplementary grant for settling fertiliser subsidy bills in the upcoming Parliament session beginning October 17. It intends to issue bulk of this amount in cash and nearly Rs 12,000 crore in bonds to fertiliser companies.
The first supplementary demand for grants in 2008-09 is expected to be taken up for discussion and approval around October 20-22.
In the last few months, the Centre has committed itself to several new expenditure, including the farm debt waiver (which will cost Rs 25,000 crore this fiscal), Rs 22,100 crore on account of the Sixth Pay Commission award and several new social sector initiatives.
In addition, the government is expected to release around Rs 70,000 crore worth of bonds to public sector oil companies.
All this is expected to ease liquidity, a point that Finance Minister P Chidambaram emphasised last Friday. Referring to the first supplementary demand for grants, he told a private TV channel that “in about 10-12 days from today, when the supplementary is passed (by Parliament), a substantial amount of liquidity will be infused into the market”.
Also, the fertliser sector should be impacted positively. Although lower than the Rs 66,450 crore demanded by the Department of Fertilisers, the release of nearly Rs 50,000 crore will be a substantial move, say officials.
The entire amount, however, will not be for the fertiliser industry, as it includes Rs 22,000 crore that was released as the second tranche of the subsidy two months ago.
The government had asked public sector banks to disburse this amount to rescue fertiliser units from liquidity crunch. While Rs 22,000 crore will be for repayment to banks, the rest — Rs 16,000 crore in cash and Rs 12,000 as bonds — will be for fresh disbursements.
According to official sources, the finance ministry is in the process of finalising the subsidy break-up for various fertilisers like urea and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP).
Increasing prices of imported raw materials have resulted in a steep escalation of production costs in recent months. This had also compelled the department to revise its estimate of annual subsidy burden for 2008-09 from Rs 95,013 crore in March to Rs 1,19,772 crore in June.
Industry estimates put the current fertiliser subsidy at Rs 1,25,000 crore, three times larger than the actual subsidy burden (Rs 40,338 crore) shouldered by the government in 2007-08.
Meanwhile, the fertiliser industry is lobbying hard to ensure that the entire subsidy is paid in cash. “The liquidity crunch is severe and we cannot afford to get subsidies in bonds. The fertiliser bonds (worth Rs 7,500 crore) issued in 2007-08 were encashed at 10-15 per cent discount due to our urgent need for working capital. A similar situation now will put us in deep trouble,” said a fertiliser industry official.
The industry feels a cisis is imminent unless the government sanctions the entire amount at one go, “There may not be another session during the tenure of the current Parliament. If the entire amount is not sanctioned now, delay in payments is just a matter of months. That will lead to problems,” the official added.
The Fertiliser Association of India has also said that the industry wants the subsidy bill to be cleared on time as 80 per cent of the delivered cost of fertiliser is realised from government payouts.
The government had allocated Rs 30,986 crore for the fertiliser subsidy in the Union Budget 2008-09. It also released Rs 22,000 crore under a special arrangement in August.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sixth Pay Commission: It's not pay - it's a question of status
Sixth Pay Commission: It's not pay - it's a question of status
Q&A: Lt Gen HS Bagga
Aditi Phadnis / New Delhi October 12, 2008, 0:44 IST
(Retd), former Director General (Personnel) in the Army and co-author of the Ajay Vikram Singh (AVS) Committee report on
restructuring the Army officer cadre, tells Aditi Phadnis why the men in uniform are not happy.
The government has taken two important HR steps to address the problems of defence personnel. It has announced some financial
breaks in the Sixth Pay Commission report, and it has accepted recommendations of the AVS Committee relating to promotions.
Are you satisfied?
Let’s take the AVS committee first. A few recommendations have been accepted, but most haven’t. The government has agreed to
create and fill additional vacancies of selection grade officers ranging from Colonel to Lieutenant General. It has also
agreed to reduce, for purposes of promotion, the number of years in service put in by officers of the rank of Captain and
Major. The Lieutenant Colonel was earlier a selection grade rank given after 16 to 17 years. It has now been made a
time-based rank after 13 years. The government needs to be complimented for this decision.
But the most important recommendation which could have been a permanent solution to HR issues — making the Short Service
Commission (SSC) the prime entry system into the Army — has not been accepted.
When you join the Army, you have the option of making a permanent career of it or leaving it after a fixed tenure. SSC is not
an attractive proposition for youngsters today as it does not provide them a full career. After serving for a short tenure,
their rehabilitation is the central issue. The report suggests that they be trained for another profession while they are in
service.
At this point, we take in 1,000 regular commission and 500 SSC. This ratio, it was suggested, should be reversed as the
utility of an officer is felt the most at the junior level. We don’t need so many senior officers because the Army follows a
hierarchical system — a steep pyramid, if you like, having a large number of junior officers and very few senior officers
The problem is that all junior officers are extremely capable and it is very difficult to overlook them for promotion if they
stay in the system.We need officers to peel off after 12-15 years of service. This can be achieved and more SSC appointed if
we do the following:
Pay Rs 1 lakh for every year of service (because these officers will not be entitled to pension, for which the minimum
service needed is 20 years).
Give two years’ study leave before the end of the tenure so that they can find an appropriate alternative career.
Relax the age norms for the UPSC exam so that these officers can take the central services examination.
Make Military Science a subject in the UPSC and allow them to take only four subjects in the examination.
Transfer them laterally to paramilitary forces as an alternative career.
Till the SSC is effective, the age profile of our Army will not change.
What happens today?
Today, 1,000 officers join as permanent commissioned officers and all 1,000 are in the reckoning for promotions. We promote
approximately 400 out of 1,000 as Colonels every year. The rest are superseded as there are no vacancies. If there are only
500 in the reckoning, hardly anyone will be left out.
You cannot lower the age profile overnight. In the interim, we had suggested five steps:
Additional selection grade vacancies — Col and above — which the government has done. This will bring the age profile down
for a few years.
Allow officers to undertake any course in any university at the Army’s cost, while being considered on duty.
Provide paid vocational training or study leave without asking the officer to do residual service.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is ready to take Army officers but they say they must be trained. So the
government could attach superseded officers with any industrial house at the Army’s cost.
An attractive Voluntary Service Severance Scheme that encourages superseded officers to leave after 20 years of service to
start their own venture.
So what has the government done?
What they’ve done is accepted the recommendation to create additional vacancies across all ranks, without creating the
peel-off effect as suggested. This is shortsighted, because it just postpones the problem that will have to be faced again
four or five years hence.
We’ve heard the views of the Chiefs on the Sixth Pay Commission. There is a feeling that whatever you give them, the services
are always whining.
This is not true. The Chiefs are not asking for additional salary — it is a question of status. Successive Pay Commissions
have succeeded only in elevating the status of civil, police and paramilitary forces. In the 1960s, the Raghuramiah Committee
had recommended the Army be equated with the IPS. Okay, we said. But over the years, the police have been upgrading their
senior ranks, so the senior ranks in the Army are automatically downgraded. For example, in the Warrant of Precedence
pre-1947, the head of the police in a state, that is, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), was equal to a Brigadier.
Post-1947, an IGP became equal to a Major General. This obtained till the mid 1970s. Today a Director General of Police draws
a salary higher than a Lieutenant General, because successive Pay Commissions have increased his salary to match a Lt
General’s. Is this justified?
Status today in the Order of Precedence is equated with the salary, or the pay band in which one is located. The Sixth Pay
Commission has fixed four pay bands. The civil and paramilitary forces including those working in Army Headquarters who were
junior or equal to a Lt Col have been placed in pay band 3, whereas a Lt Col has been placed in pay band 4. We have a large
number of Lieutenant Colonels. While their status has not been lowered, the status of other officers has been raised higher
than them. This can create operational problems.
Let me give you an example. We have a Lt Gen commanding troops in the north-east which comprises several small states. He
handles counterinsurgency operations. Each state has a DG police who was earlier drawing less pay than a Lt Gen and was
required to attend all the meetings called by the Lt Gen to coordinate operations among several states. However, ever since
the pay of DG Police was raised higher than that of a Lt Gen, they are reluctant to attend such meetings. If the Service
Chiefs have voiced their concerns on these two issues should it be taken as an affront ?
This is not the only issue. Earlier Persons Below Officer Rank (PBOR) drew 75 per cent of their pay as pension. Normally a
person’s pension is calculated on the basis of the last pay drawn, whereas in the case of PBOR it is calculated on the basis
of the highest pay scale of the rank he was holding: for example, a Sepoy may have drawn Rs 3,700 per month at the time of
his retirement, but if the highest grade in a sepoy’s salary was Rs 4,700, it was on Rs 4,700 that his pension was
calculated. This actually worked out to a pension of nearly 75 per cent. The Sixth Pay Commission has reduced this to 50 per
cent, on the ground that the soldier will be entitled to serve in the paramilitary forces after they leave the Army. The
problem is, the second part is not happening. So the Chiefs are saying: give them their original pension.
We should not look at this as a problem of the defence forces. We should see it as a national problem.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com
Q&A: Lt Gen HS Bagga
Aditi Phadnis / New Delhi October 12, 2008, 0:44 IST
(Retd), former Director General (Personnel) in the Army and co-author of the Ajay Vikram Singh (AVS) Committee report on
restructuring the Army officer cadre, tells Aditi Phadnis why the men in uniform are not happy.
The government has taken two important HR steps to address the problems of defence personnel. It has announced some financial
breaks in the Sixth Pay Commission report, and it has accepted recommendations of the AVS Committee relating to promotions.
Are you satisfied?
Let’s take the AVS committee first. A few recommendations have been accepted, but most haven’t. The government has agreed to
create and fill additional vacancies of selection grade officers ranging from Colonel to Lieutenant General. It has also
agreed to reduce, for purposes of promotion, the number of years in service put in by officers of the rank of Captain and
Major. The Lieutenant Colonel was earlier a selection grade rank given after 16 to 17 years. It has now been made a
time-based rank after 13 years. The government needs to be complimented for this decision.
But the most important recommendation which could have been a permanent solution to HR issues — making the Short Service
Commission (SSC) the prime entry system into the Army — has not been accepted.
When you join the Army, you have the option of making a permanent career of it or leaving it after a fixed tenure. SSC is not
an attractive proposition for youngsters today as it does not provide them a full career. After serving for a short tenure,
their rehabilitation is the central issue. The report suggests that they be trained for another profession while they are in
service.
At this point, we take in 1,000 regular commission and 500 SSC. This ratio, it was suggested, should be reversed as the
utility of an officer is felt the most at the junior level. We don’t need so many senior officers because the Army follows a
hierarchical system — a steep pyramid, if you like, having a large number of junior officers and very few senior officers
The problem is that all junior officers are extremely capable and it is very difficult to overlook them for promotion if they
stay in the system.We need officers to peel off after 12-15 years of service. This can be achieved and more SSC appointed if
we do the following:
Pay Rs 1 lakh for every year of service (because these officers will not be entitled to pension, for which the minimum
service needed is 20 years).
Give two years’ study leave before the end of the tenure so that they can find an appropriate alternative career.
Relax the age norms for the UPSC exam so that these officers can take the central services examination.
Make Military Science a subject in the UPSC and allow them to take only four subjects in the examination.
Transfer them laterally to paramilitary forces as an alternative career.
Till the SSC is effective, the age profile of our Army will not change.
What happens today?
Today, 1,000 officers join as permanent commissioned officers and all 1,000 are in the reckoning for promotions. We promote
approximately 400 out of 1,000 as Colonels every year. The rest are superseded as there are no vacancies. If there are only
500 in the reckoning, hardly anyone will be left out.
You cannot lower the age profile overnight. In the interim, we had suggested five steps:
Additional selection grade vacancies — Col and above — which the government has done. This will bring the age profile down
for a few years.
Allow officers to undertake any course in any university at the Army’s cost, while being considered on duty.
Provide paid vocational training or study leave without asking the officer to do residual service.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is ready to take Army officers but they say they must be trained. So the
government could attach superseded officers with any industrial house at the Army’s cost.
An attractive Voluntary Service Severance Scheme that encourages superseded officers to leave after 20 years of service to
start their own venture.
So what has the government done?
What they’ve done is accepted the recommendation to create additional vacancies across all ranks, without creating the
peel-off effect as suggested. This is shortsighted, because it just postpones the problem that will have to be faced again
four or five years hence.
We’ve heard the views of the Chiefs on the Sixth Pay Commission. There is a feeling that whatever you give them, the services
are always whining.
This is not true. The Chiefs are not asking for additional salary — it is a question of status. Successive Pay Commissions
have succeeded only in elevating the status of civil, police and paramilitary forces. In the 1960s, the Raghuramiah Committee
had recommended the Army be equated with the IPS. Okay, we said. But over the years, the police have been upgrading their
senior ranks, so the senior ranks in the Army are automatically downgraded. For example, in the Warrant of Precedence
pre-1947, the head of the police in a state, that is, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), was equal to a Brigadier.
Post-1947, an IGP became equal to a Major General. This obtained till the mid 1970s. Today a Director General of Police draws
a salary higher than a Lieutenant General, because successive Pay Commissions have increased his salary to match a Lt
General’s. Is this justified?
Status today in the Order of Precedence is equated with the salary, or the pay band in which one is located. The Sixth Pay
Commission has fixed four pay bands. The civil and paramilitary forces including those working in Army Headquarters who were
junior or equal to a Lt Col have been placed in pay band 3, whereas a Lt Col has been placed in pay band 4. We have a large
number of Lieutenant Colonels. While their status has not been lowered, the status of other officers has been raised higher
than them. This can create operational problems.
Let me give you an example. We have a Lt Gen commanding troops in the north-east which comprises several small states. He
handles counterinsurgency operations. Each state has a DG police who was earlier drawing less pay than a Lt Gen and was
required to attend all the meetings called by the Lt Gen to coordinate operations among several states. However, ever since
the pay of DG Police was raised higher than that of a Lt Gen, they are reluctant to attend such meetings. If the Service
Chiefs have voiced their concerns on these two issues should it be taken as an affront ?
This is not the only issue. Earlier Persons Below Officer Rank (PBOR) drew 75 per cent of their pay as pension. Normally a
person’s pension is calculated on the basis of the last pay drawn, whereas in the case of PBOR it is calculated on the basis
of the highest pay scale of the rank he was holding: for example, a Sepoy may have drawn Rs 3,700 per month at the time of
his retirement, but if the highest grade in a sepoy’s salary was Rs 4,700, it was on Rs 4,700 that his pension was
calculated. This actually worked out to a pension of nearly 75 per cent. The Sixth Pay Commission has reduced this to 50 per
cent, on the ground that the soldier will be entitled to serve in the paramilitary forces after they leave the Army. The
problem is, the second part is not happening. So the Chiefs are saying: give them their original pension.
We should not look at this as a problem of the defence forces. We should see it as a national problem.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com
Sixth Pay Commission: Teachers against admin pay commission implementation
Sixth Pay Commission: Teachers against admin pay commission implementation
Puducherry,Oct 11:Teachers in government schools here are up in arms against the administration for the `delay in enforcing
the report of the Sixth Pay Commission` to pay increased pay and allowances to them. Puducherry is perhaps the only State in
the country where Teachers Day (September 5)highlighting the birth anniversary of former President Dr S.Radhakrishnan) is yet
to be celebrated this year.
As there was virtual delay in finalising the portfolios for the new incumbents of the six member congress ministry headed by
V.Vaithilingam which was sworn in on September 4 the administration put off the Teachers Day celebration without announcing
fresh dates.
An attempt was made to hold it yesterday and again it was put off without finalising the fresh date. Associations of Teachers
had gone on record stating that they would hold picketing and intensify their stir if the celebration was held without
implementing the report of the Sixth Pay Commission for them.
Teachers of all categories in government schools had Resorted to sit in yesterday and have also planned to hold a fast on
October 15 after taking a mass leave to urge the administration to implement the pay commission report.
Official sources pointed out that the plea of the teachers to extend them the benefit of Assured Career Progression for
senior teachers would have to be met first and once this was finalised the new pay scales would be available to them.
Also around 1400 teachers who come under the category of `directly recruited trained graduate teachers` in government schools
also want immediate implementation of new pay scales. When the government staff had received enhanced pay scales, teachers
were paid only the "salaries under old system as the pay commission report was kept out of bounds" for them which they said
was `unjustified and discriminatory` - Agencies
Published: Saturday, October 11, 2008
Source: http://www.chennaionline.com
Puducherry,Oct 11:Teachers in government schools here are up in arms against the administration for the `delay in enforcing
the report of the Sixth Pay Commission` to pay increased pay and allowances to them. Puducherry is perhaps the only State in
the country where Teachers Day (September 5)highlighting the birth anniversary of former President Dr S.Radhakrishnan) is yet
to be celebrated this year.
As there was virtual delay in finalising the portfolios for the new incumbents of the six member congress ministry headed by
V.Vaithilingam which was sworn in on September 4 the administration put off the Teachers Day celebration without announcing
fresh dates.
An attempt was made to hold it yesterday and again it was put off without finalising the fresh date. Associations of Teachers
had gone on record stating that they would hold picketing and intensify their stir if the celebration was held without
implementing the report of the Sixth Pay Commission for them.
Teachers of all categories in government schools had Resorted to sit in yesterday and have also planned to hold a fast on
October 15 after taking a mass leave to urge the administration to implement the pay commission report.
Official sources pointed out that the plea of the teachers to extend them the benefit of Assured Career Progression for
senior teachers would have to be met first and once this was finalised the new pay scales would be available to them.
Also around 1400 teachers who come under the category of `directly recruited trained graduate teachers` in government schools
also want immediate implementation of new pay scales. When the government staff had received enhanced pay scales, teachers
were paid only the "salaries under old system as the pay commission report was kept out of bounds" for them which they said
was `unjustified and discriminatory` - Agencies
Published: Saturday, October 11, 2008
Source: http://www.chennaionline.com
GUNS N ROSES - GUNS N' ROSES 'ANNOUNCE RELEASE DATE FOR NEW ALBUM'
GUNS N ROSES - GUNS N' ROSES 'ANNOUNCE RELEASE DATE FOR NEW ALBUM'
Guns N Roses' new album CHINESE DEMOCRACY will be released next month, reports suggest.
Speculation on the internet suggests that the follow-up to 1993's The Spaghetti Incident? will hit the shelves on the
November 23rd in the US, the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
The potential release date would give the record seven days before entering the Billboard chart.
The Hits Daily Double website reported the news today but the band's label Interscope has not yet confirmed the news.
The band achieved worldwide notoriety in the 1980s and 1990s after the release of the hugely successful albums Appetite for
Destruction, G N' R Lies and Use Your Illusion I and II.
In March, reports suggested that Dr Pepper had offered a free can of the drink to everyone in America, except the band's
former guitarists Saul 'Slash' Hudson and Brian Carroll, if Chinese Democracy was released in 2008.
Tracks expected to feature on the LP include 'Rhiad And The Bedouins', 'Shackler's Revenge', 'If The World' and 'Madagascar'.
The record is rumoured to have cost £6.5 million to produce.
The group's debut album Appetite For Destruction is also being re-released at the end of October.
Sources: contactmusic.com,digitalspy.co.uk
Guns N Roses' new album CHINESE DEMOCRACY will be released next month, reports suggest.
Speculation on the internet suggests that the follow-up to 1993's The Spaghetti Incident? will hit the shelves on the
November 23rd in the US, the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
The potential release date would give the record seven days before entering the Billboard chart.
The Hits Daily Double website reported the news today but the band's label Interscope has not yet confirmed the news.
The band achieved worldwide notoriety in the 1980s and 1990s after the release of the hugely successful albums Appetite for
Destruction, G N' R Lies and Use Your Illusion I and II.
In March, reports suggested that Dr Pepper had offered a free can of the drink to everyone in America, except the band's
former guitarists Saul 'Slash' Hudson and Brian Carroll, if Chinese Democracy was released in 2008.
Tracks expected to feature on the LP include 'Rhiad And The Bedouins', 'Shackler's Revenge', 'If The World' and 'Madagascar'.
The record is rumoured to have cost £6.5 million to produce.
The group's debut album Appetite For Destruction is also being re-released at the end of October.
Sources: contactmusic.com,digitalspy.co.uk
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Sixth Central Pay Commission: The war of wages
Sixth Central Pay Commission: The war of wages
Sandeep Unnithan
October 10, 2008
On September 24, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Suresh Mehta sent out an unclassified signal to his men. It spoke of how the navy was delaying the implementation of the Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations passed by the Union Cabinet.
Two days later, it was followed by a similar signal from the Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor. Shaken by this unprecedented move, which some whispered was nothing short of a revolt, Defence Minister A.K. Antony pulled them up, following which the forces released 40 per cent arrears to their men.
The Government stepped in days later to announce the formation of a three-member committee headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, including Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Antony.
The services have also delayed the implementation of another government order to implement the revised pay scales, preferring instead to wait for the recommendations of the committee.
But what compelled the chiefs to cross the line in disobeying a Cabinet decision? "Such a situation has never been seen. It sets a bad precedent. Tomorrow, it could be used for any issue at the local level," says former defence secretary Ajai Vikram Singh.
Army officials insist the chiefs did not send out the service instructions which would implement the new pay commission from October 1 only to quell the possibility of unrest among the ranks. "The chiefs had no other recourse. They could not afford to let their men down," says Lt-General (retd) Vinay Shankar.
Protests from the armed forces have left the Sixth CPC hanging fire for over six months. The forces have painted the bureaucrats as villains of the piece for keeping them out of the panel that formulated the pay commission.
This despite an internal report of Ministry of Defence (MoD) that explicitly states that key proposal of the Task Force On the Management of Defence-the appointment of an armed forces' representative on the Sixth CPC-has been implemented.
The armed forces emphasise that their grievances are not about money but about how the existing pecking order has been disrupted. Lt-colonels and their equivalent, wing commanders and commanders, have been put in a pay bracket lower than their counterparts in the police and paramilitary forces.
This grievance ironically surfaced after the recommendations of an anomaly committee set up to review the Sixth CPC. Lt-generals have been kept out of the higher administrative grade where director-generals of police are included. Even pension of soldier has been reduced.
"The issue is not about money but of status equivalence. There are certain functional requirements working at a certain level," says Admiral Mehta, who is also the chairman of Chiefs of Staffs Committee.
Government rules determine an officer's seniority on pay and the date of his entry into the pay band. While raising IPS ranks, what the Sixth CPC did was to raise paramilitary ranks also.
An imbalances which can prove disastrous when the armed forces operate in conjunction with police and paramilitary agencies. "India will be the first country where the paramilitary will be senior to the armed forces," says Vice Admiral (retd) A.K. Singh.
Murmurs of the status quo being upset are already apparent. Last week, the Indian Defence Services Employees' Association, which represents civil engineers, informed employees of 'altered relativities' of the Sixth CPC. The implication was quite clear-the civil engineers have been upgraded to the pay bracket of their erstwhile superiors, the army officers.
The last two commissions were hotly contested by the armed forces with the Fifth CPC triggering off a near-revolt among the technical cadre of the Indian Air Force. "This time around the Government has been more standoffish, leaving the services little room for manoeuvre," says Major General (retd) Surjit Singh , a member of two previous commissions.
The Sixth CPC has led to silent yet widespread discontent among the men in uniform and continuing protests by ex-servicemen's organisations. This peculiar situation has led to the unhappy sight of service chiefs almost reduced to the role of playing union leaders bargaining for higher pay.
Expressing a lack of faith in the committee of secretaries which was to look into their grievances, they have turned to the political leadership. The chiefs have pushed their case with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. How did these imbalances creep in?
The chiefs say they were not consulted by the Government before the gazette notification was issued. The military points to their old bete noire-the civilian bureaucrats at the MoD-and allege the entire episode is the outcome of their 'subverting the democratic functioning of the state'.
When the chiefs met Antony last month to protest over the four anomalies, he assured them that he would take up the issue with the Prime Minister. MOD bureaucrats were instructed to communicate with the Prime Minister. But inexplicably, they sent it to the Finance Ministry without mentioning these anomalies.
"The military is subservient to civil authority which includes the government, Parliament and the Constitution. On day-to-day functioning the bureaucracy may represent the Government but it cannot replace it," says an army official.
Antony, however, chose to play down the rift. "There is no difference between the government and the services, because they are also part of the Government," he says.
The three-member ministerial committee which Antony is part of is set to present its findings well before the unofficial Diwali deadline. MOD officials say the committee is not averse to putting Lt-colonels in the higher pay band and giving them the same grade pay as their civilian counterparts.
But it is unwilling to accede to the other two demands. The only certainty in this sad dispute is that the gap between the bureaucracy and the armed forces is set to widen into a chasm.
Whine list
Lt-cols are in Pay Band 3, lower than their counterparts in police and paramilitary.
Armed forces officers have lower grade pay than civilians.
Lt-generals left out of higher administrative grade while their civilian counterparts have been included.
Pension of persons below Officer Rank has been cut.
Source: http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in
Sandeep Unnithan
October 10, 2008
On September 24, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Suresh Mehta sent out an unclassified signal to his men. It spoke of how the navy was delaying the implementation of the Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations passed by the Union Cabinet.
Two days later, it was followed by a similar signal from the Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor. Shaken by this unprecedented move, which some whispered was nothing short of a revolt, Defence Minister A.K. Antony pulled them up, following which the forces released 40 per cent arrears to their men.
The Government stepped in days later to announce the formation of a three-member committee headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, including Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Antony.
The services have also delayed the implementation of another government order to implement the revised pay scales, preferring instead to wait for the recommendations of the committee.
But what compelled the chiefs to cross the line in disobeying a Cabinet decision? "Such a situation has never been seen. It sets a bad precedent. Tomorrow, it could be used for any issue at the local level," says former defence secretary Ajai Vikram Singh.
Army officials insist the chiefs did not send out the service instructions which would implement the new pay commission from October 1 only to quell the possibility of unrest among the ranks. "The chiefs had no other recourse. They could not afford to let their men down," says Lt-General (retd) Vinay Shankar.
Protests from the armed forces have left the Sixth CPC hanging fire for over six months. The forces have painted the bureaucrats as villains of the piece for keeping them out of the panel that formulated the pay commission.
This despite an internal report of Ministry of Defence (MoD) that explicitly states that key proposal of the Task Force On the Management of Defence-the appointment of an armed forces' representative on the Sixth CPC-has been implemented.
The armed forces emphasise that their grievances are not about money but about how the existing pecking order has been disrupted. Lt-colonels and their equivalent, wing commanders and commanders, have been put in a pay bracket lower than their counterparts in the police and paramilitary forces.
This grievance ironically surfaced after the recommendations of an anomaly committee set up to review the Sixth CPC. Lt-generals have been kept out of the higher administrative grade where director-generals of police are included. Even pension of soldier has been reduced.
"The issue is not about money but of status equivalence. There are certain functional requirements working at a certain level," says Admiral Mehta, who is also the chairman of Chiefs of Staffs Committee.
Government rules determine an officer's seniority on pay and the date of his entry into the pay band. While raising IPS ranks, what the Sixth CPC did was to raise paramilitary ranks also.
An imbalances which can prove disastrous when the armed forces operate in conjunction with police and paramilitary agencies. "India will be the first country where the paramilitary will be senior to the armed forces," says Vice Admiral (retd) A.K. Singh.
Murmurs of the status quo being upset are already apparent. Last week, the Indian Defence Services Employees' Association, which represents civil engineers, informed employees of 'altered relativities' of the Sixth CPC. The implication was quite clear-the civil engineers have been upgraded to the pay bracket of their erstwhile superiors, the army officers.
The last two commissions were hotly contested by the armed forces with the Fifth CPC triggering off a near-revolt among the technical cadre of the Indian Air Force. "This time around the Government has been more standoffish, leaving the services little room for manoeuvre," says Major General (retd) Surjit Singh , a member of two previous commissions.
The Sixth CPC has led to silent yet widespread discontent among the men in uniform and continuing protests by ex-servicemen's organisations. This peculiar situation has led to the unhappy sight of service chiefs almost reduced to the role of playing union leaders bargaining for higher pay.
Expressing a lack of faith in the committee of secretaries which was to look into their grievances, they have turned to the political leadership. The chiefs have pushed their case with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. How did these imbalances creep in?
The chiefs say they were not consulted by the Government before the gazette notification was issued. The military points to their old bete noire-the civilian bureaucrats at the MoD-and allege the entire episode is the outcome of their 'subverting the democratic functioning of the state'.
When the chiefs met Antony last month to protest over the four anomalies, he assured them that he would take up the issue with the Prime Minister. MOD bureaucrats were instructed to communicate with the Prime Minister. But inexplicably, they sent it to the Finance Ministry without mentioning these anomalies.
"The military is subservient to civil authority which includes the government, Parliament and the Constitution. On day-to-day functioning the bureaucracy may represent the Government but it cannot replace it," says an army official.
Antony, however, chose to play down the rift. "There is no difference between the government and the services, because they are also part of the Government," he says.
The three-member ministerial committee which Antony is part of is set to present its findings well before the unofficial Diwali deadline. MOD officials say the committee is not averse to putting Lt-colonels in the higher pay band and giving them the same grade pay as their civilian counterparts.
But it is unwilling to accede to the other two demands. The only certainty in this sad dispute is that the gap between the bureaucracy and the armed forces is set to widen into a chasm.
Whine list
Lt-cols are in Pay Band 3, lower than their counterparts in police and paramilitary.
Armed forces officers have lower grade pay than civilians.
Lt-generals left out of higher administrative grade while their civilian counterparts have been included.
Pension of persons below Officer Rank has been cut.
Source: http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in
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