Banks: Indefinite Strike from 16th March 2015

Posted on Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 4:26 PM

4 Days strike from 25th Feb 2015
* Indian Banks' Association Backtraacks from its Assurance 
*  United Forum of Bank Unions Decided to Revive the Strike Programme 

Ludhiana: 20 Feb 2015: (Rector Kathuria//Punjab Screen): 

On the decision taken and call given by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), officers and employees in all the Public Sector Banks are going to observe  4 Days' All India Bank Strike from 25^th February to 28^th February 2015 demanding

 ¨       Immediate Wage Revision

¨       To stop Banking Reforms

 As per decision, United Forum of Bank Unions (Unit : Ludhiana) held a massive demonstration  in front of State Bank of India, Civil Lines, Near Fountain Chowk, Ludhiana.  Com. Naresh Gaur, Convener, United Forum of Bank Unions,  Com. Gulshan Chauhan, Com. J.P.Kalra, (All India Bank Officers’ Confederation), Com. D.C.Landra (NCBE),  Com. Pawan Thakur, President, Punjab Bank Employees Federation (Ludhiana Unit) and Com. Rakesh Khanna,  Associate Banks Officers' Association (Unit : State Bank of Patiala) addressed the bank employees.                   

  

While addressing the bank employees, leaders of the Forum said that in the background of the assurance given by Indian Banks' Association (IBA) towards expeditious wage settlement and considering the positive developments since last conciliation meeting, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) put on hold its call for 4 days' strike from 21^st January 2015.  In the meeting held on 3^rd February 2015,   IBA finally proposed to improve their offer from 12.5% to 13% and expected UFBU to scale down its demand.  Our sincere and persuasive efforts to negotiate a reasonable and mutually acceptable wage increase are being misunderstood by the IBA and the Government as its weakness. With utmost patience, for the past two years, UFBU has been making its best efforts to settle the demands amicably. At every point of time, we have shown our flexibility. But unfortunately, it is not being reciprocated by IBA.

Leaders further stated that wages and service conditions in the banking sector are governed by the industry level bipartite settlements signed between the Indian Banks Association and the trade unions of bank employees and officers. Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks and Foreign Banks who give their mandate to the Indian Banks Association are party to the Settlements and hence are covered by the same. The 9th Bipartite Settlement came to an end on 31-10-2012. Consequently, revision of wages and other service conditions have become due as from 1-11-2012. In view of this,  common set of demands for the employees and officers was submitted to the Indian Banks Association on 30-10-2012. UFBU requested the IBA to adopt a time-bound programme to hold the negotiations on the demands and to expedite the Settlement as early as possible. Even though the formal negotiations started in February 2013, a few rounds of discussions have taken so far. It will be appreciated that the alarming and unabated price rise have seriously eroded the income of the employees and hence the wage revision has become all the more important. The Consumer Price Index has gone up by almost 2400 points under (1960=100) Index series since November, 2007. Hence wage revision to catch up with the high inflation and price rise has become an urgent necessity. Similarly, the workload in the bank branches has gone up substantially due to increase in total volume of business and also due to non-provision of adequate staff and officers in the branches. Employees and officers are working under a lot of stress and strain. The job profile of the staff has also undergone a change and all these require to be properly remunerated with adequate increase in wages. For this reason also the wage increase has become important. But unfortunately, the IBA is delaying the Settlement.

The fact is otherwise :                              Profits of Public Sector Banks

Year	Total Profit	Provision for bad loans  etc	Net profit
31.03.2012	1,16,000 crore	66,000 crore	50,000 crore
31.03.2013	1,21,000 crore	71,000 crore	50,000 crore
31.03.2014	1,27,000 crore	90,000 crorer	37,000 crore

 ¨                     Thus the total profits are increasing but obviously net profit is less due to provision for bad loans which burden should not be passed on to the shoulders of the ordinary employees. In fact, the Unions have assured that we can find out the ways and means to recover the bad loans through stringent measures and improve the profits through better productivity etc but it is unfair to deny their legitimate wage crease. When the entire workforce in the banking industry is making every effort to implement the various programmes of the Government including the recent Jan Dhan Yojana, when employees and officers are working under lot of stress and maximum difficulty due to manpower shortage and increased volume of work, it is regrettable that the Government is remaining a passive spectator without initiating any steps to find an amicable solution to the genuine expectations of bank employees for a better and reasonable wage revision. We have been once again pushed to the path of struggle.  Since the increase in offer of 0.5% by IBA was paltry, inadequate and not satisfactory, UFBU decided to revive the strike programmes as under:-

20th February 2015	Badge Wearing & Demonstrations
23rd February 2015	Press Meet in all State Capitals
24th February 2015	Centralised Demonstrations at all centres
25th  to 28th February 2015	FOUR DAYS ALL INDIA BANK STRIKE
16th March 2015	INDEFINITE STRIKE

Comrades - March ahead with solidarity and unity – Let us exhibit clearly that our united movement brings Success and success alone.....

“WE SHALL FIGHT – WE SHALL FIGHT,TILL WE SUCCEED – WE SHALL FIGHT”

AAP Mass Contact Programme continued in Ludhiana

Thu, Feb 19, 2015 at 5:19 PM

Road Show in Ludhiana West gets tremendous response

Ludhiana: 19 feb 2015: (Punjab Screen Bureau):

AAP Ludhiana today carried out a Mass Contact Programme cum Road Show in Ludhiana West, which got an overwhelming response from the public. AAP District convener Ahbaab Singh Grewal said that following the party’s phenomenal performance in the Delhi Elections, it was decided that AAP would carry out road shows in all constituencies of the district and tried to reach out to the people. In this regard a road road show was held today, which was welcomed by the city residents everywhere.  As per instructions from the state executive we will start a Mass Contact Programme on February 26 to strengthen party’s organization.   The route of today’s road show was Sarabha Nagar, BRS Nagar E Block, Orient Cinema, BRS nagar J Block, Western Mall, Ferozepur Road, Rajguru Nagar, Dashehra Ground, BRS nagar, Lodhi Club, Pakhowal Road, From Hero Bakery Chowk to Kochar Market, Bus stand, Bharat Nagar chowk, Durga Mata Mandir, Rakh Baag Road, Fountain Chowk, Old Court Chowk, Dandi Swami Road, DMC Road, Kitchlu Nagar, Hero Heart, Government  College Road, Rose Garden, Ghumar Mandi,  Aarti Chowk, Bhai Bala Chowk, Pakhowal to Hero Bakery, Malhaar Road to back to party office at Gurdev Nagar. 

In todays  road show party’s  members  Col. Lakhanpal, Jai Reet Singh Dhindsa, Varinder Khara, Sartaaj Singh, Jeevan Singh Sangowal, Jagdeep Singh Ghumman,  Raj Fateh Singh, Nishant Kohli, Puneet Sahni, Sumit jaiswal, Amritpal Singh, Neeru Bala, Rajinderpal Kaur, Pawan Kumar, Pyush Kumar, Manjit Singh, Ravi, Daljeet Singh, Col. Darshan Singh Dhillon, Pardeep Kumar, R. P. Singh, Balwant Singh Minia, Tarlochan Singh Bedi, Atul Datta, Sarabhjeet Singh, Jagtar Singh Devgan, G. S. Kang, Udeavaan, Navpreet Singh Bedi, Hazura Singh (USA) and so on were present.

4 Days' All India Bank Strike from 25th February to 28th February

Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 6:27 PM

INDEFINITE STRIKE FROM 16TH MARCH 2015

ñ    INDIAN BANKS' ASSOCIATION BACKTRACKS FROM ITS ASSURANCE

ñ    UNITED FORUM OF BANK UNIONS DECIDED TO REVIVE THE STRIKE PROGRAMMES

ñ    4 DAYS STRIKE FROM 25TH FEB. to 28^th FEB.  2015

ñ    INDEFINITE STRIKE FROM 16TH MARCH 2015 

On the decision taken and call given by United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), officers and employees in all the Public Sector Banks are going to observe  4 Days' All India Bank Strike from 25^th February to 28^th February 2015 to demanding

 ¨                  Immediate Wage Revision

¨                  To stop Banking Reforms

 For the preparation of 4 days' strike, Punjab Bank Employees Federation (Ludhiana) held a General Body Meeting at Punjabi Bhawan, Bharat Nagar Chowk, Ludhiana.  Com. S.K.Gautam, Joint Secretary, All India Bank Employees Association and General Secretary, Punjab Bank Employees Federation, Com. P.R.Mehta, President,  Com. Amrit Lal, Chairman, Com. G.K.Joshi, Secretary, Punjab Bank Employees Federation and Com. Pawan Thakur, President, Punjab Bank Employees Federation (Ludhiana Unit) addressed the meeting.                                      

  

While addressing the bank employees, Com. S.K.Gautam said that in the background of the assurance given by Indian Banks' Association (IBA) towards expeditious wage settlement and considering the positive developments since last conciliation meeting, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) put on hold its call for 4 days' strike from 21^st January 2015.  In the meeting held on 3^rd February 2015,   IBA finally proposed to improve their offer from 12.5% to 13% and expected UFBU to scale down its demand.  Our sincere and persuasive efforts to negotiate a reasonable and mutually acceptable wage increase are being misunderstood by the IBA and the Government as its weakness. With utmost patience, for the past two years, UFBU has been making its best efforts to settle the demands amicably. At every point of time, we have shown our flexibility. But unfortunately, it is not being reciprocated by IBA.

 Com. Gautam further stated that wages and service conditions in the banking sector are governed by the industry level bipartite settlements signed between the Indian Banks Association and the trade unions of bank employees and officers. Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks and Foreign Banks who give their mandate to the Indian Banks Association are party to the Settlements and hence are covered by the same. The 9th Bipartite Settlement came to an end on 31-10-2012. Consequently, revision of wages and other service conditions have become due as from 1-11-2012. In view of this,  common set of demands for the employees and officers was submitted to the Indian Banks Association on 30-10-2012. UFBU requested the IBA to adopt a time-bound programme to hold the negotiations on the demands and to expedite the Settlement as early as possible. Even though the formal negotiations started in February 2013, a few rounds of discussions have taken so far. It will be appreciated that the alarming and unabated price rise have seriously eroded the income of the employees and hence the wage revision has become all the more important. The Consumer Price Index has gone up by almost 2400 points under (1960=100) Index series since November, 2007. Hence wage revision to catch up with the high inflation and price rise has become an urgent necessity. Similarly, the workload in the bank branches has gone up substantially due to increase in total volume of business and also due to non-provision of adequate staff and officers in the branches. Employees and officers are working under a lot of stress and strain. The job profile of the staff has also undergone a change and all these require to be properly remunerated with adequate increase in wages. For this reason also the wage increase has become important. But unfortunately, the IBA is delaying the Settlement.

The fact is otherwise :                      Profits of Public Sector Banks

Year	Total Profit	Provision for bad loans  etc	Net profit
31.03.2012	1,16,000 crore	66,000 crore	50,000 crore
31.03.2013	1,21,000 crore	71,000 crore	50,000 crore
31.03.2014	1,27,000 crore	90,000 crorer	37,000 crore

 Thus the total profits are increasing but obviously net profit is less due to provision for bad loans which burden should not be passed on to the shoulders of the ordinary employees. In fact, the Unions have assured that we can find out the ways and means to recover the bad loans through stringent measures and improve the profits through better productivity etc but it is unfair to deny their legitimate wage crease.

When the entire workforce in the banking industry is making every effort to implement the various programmes of the Government including the recent Jan Dhan Yojana, when employees and officers are working under lot of stress and maximum difficulty due to manpower shortage and increased volume of work, it is regrettable that the Government is remaining a passive spectator without initiating any steps to find an amicable solution to the genuine expectations of bank employees for a better and reasonable wage revision. We have been once again pushed to the path of struggle.

AAP holds grand bike car rally in the Atam Nagar Constituency

Mon, Feb 16, 2015 at 3:57 PM

Victory Celebrations Continued 

Ludhiana: 16 Feb 2015: (Punjab Screen Bureau):
Continuing with the celebration of its spectacular success in the Delhi elections. the  Aam Aadmi Party Ludhiana took out a grand bike/car rally through the Atam Nagar Assembly constituency. Starting from the Main party office at Gurdev Nagar, the rally route covered Ambedkar Nagar, Model Town, Gill Chowk, Atam Nagar, Shimlapuri, Dugri Phase !, Dugri Phase 2, Basant Avenue etc. finally ending at the Party office in the afternoon.
The residents of the areas came out in huge numbers to welcome the  sea of volunteers with their signature white caps and cut outs of Arvind Kejriwal. According to an onlooker, “The success of Aam Aadmi Party at Delhi signifies that honest intentions can beat muscle and money power and we would like to be a part of this revolution for a corruption free India”.

According to the District Convener, AAP Ludhiana, Mr. Ahbaab Grewal : “Like volunteers from all over India, our Ludhiana volunteers too under the guidance of Mr. H. S. Phoolka,  went to Delhi  to campaign and provided great support through social media too. This rally is a way of thanking those volunteers as well as all the aam aadmi of this country who have given us this unprecedent massive mandate.”
The Aam Aadmi Party Dugri office was also inaugurated on this occasion near the old police station near Durga Mata Mandir in Phase 1.
The rally was organized under the leadership of Col. C. M. Lakhanpal (Retd.) with the co-ordianting committee including Mr. Pankaj Saxena, Mr. Gurpreet Singh, Mr. Nishant Kohli, Mr. Gurdeep Singh, Mr. Raj Fateh Singh, Mr. Gurmeet Singh and Mrs. Dupinder Kaur.
Those present in the rally included Mr. Ramit Saxena, Mrs. Rajwant Kaur, Mr. Paramjit Bharaj, Mr. Jagtar Singh, Mr. Jatinder Moudgil, Mr. Varinder Khaira, Dr. H. S. Cheema, Mrs Rajinder Pal Kaur, Mr. Manjit Singh, Mr. Amritpal Singh, Brig. T S Thind, Capt Satvir Singh, Kuljeet S Khalsa, Gurjeet S Khalsa, Chetan Singh, Gauravdeep S, Sultan Singh, Jiwan S Sangowal, GS Kang, Sukhram, Pinky Maurya, Atul Dutta, TS Bedi, etc.

Film World: "The Night of the Interview"

Mon, Feb 16, 2015 at 9:54 PM
Pallavi Chatterjee’s Promotional event for her Film

Mumbai: 16^th February, 2015: (Sridevi Shetty Wagh):

During Actress Pallavi Chatterjee’s Promotional event for her Film “The Night of the Interview” Spotted lot of Bengali actors from Television during the event at Classique Club,Andheri West,Mumbai.

Spotted Marathi Actor Rajesh Shringarpore, yesteryears Bollywood and Bengali Superstar Bishwajeet Chatterjee(father of current Reigning Bengali Superstar Prosenjit), was present to support his daughter in Mumbai,Kanwaljeetji,Ayub Khan,Priyanshu Chatterjee,Jaya Bhattacharya,Mahesh Thakur,Anupam Bhattacharya,Director of Bhootnath Vivek Sharma,Director Kittu Saluja of Chain Kulii ke Main Khuili, Nitin Keni from Zee Group - Essel Vision Productions Ltd. , Ashish Roy Basu and Art Director Bijon Das Gupta. 

About Pallavi Chatterjee She’s the daughter of yesteryear superstar Bishwajeet and the sister of the current reigning Bengali superstar Prosenjit, but that is not all her claim to fame is. Pallavi Chatterjee, who is in Mumbai this week for her maiden Hindi film’s release, is a successful actor, producer, writer and a singer in her own right!

But if you ask her to describe herself, she says simply that she is a “worker in pursuit of new challenges.” She elaborates, “I have always believed that all that glitters in NOT gold and that nothing is permanent, especially in our industry – the industry of entertainment! Behind all the glamour and the adoring fans, the only permanent truth  is hard work, hours of toil, loads of personal sacrifices, and the constant search for good work, path-defining roles, and a dare-to-be-different attitude! And that is precisely why I chose to play a blind girl in my new Hindi film.” 

Speaking about her film The Night of the Interview, which stars her and Mumbai actor Rajesh Shringarpore as the protagonists, Pallavi reveals that it’s a bi-lingual film, simultaneously picturized in Bengali and Hindi, and titled Brishti Brishti and The Night of the Interview respectively.. “Every bit in the film was shot twice. We even used different songs in the two versions! So it was double the work for everyone. We had decided right at the start that we will NOT dub the film in Hindi, but make a new film altogether! And by a queer coincidence, Rajesh couldn’t speak a word of Bengali while I was equally fluent in both the languages.”  

Speaking about her character in the film - that of a blind author, Pallavi admits that it was one of her toughest roles till date. “I was aware that some really great actors like Naseerbhai, Al Pacino and Rameshwari have played blind characters in their films, and those are very big shoes to fill! So, I went into intensive training with Prof. Kanchan Gaba, who runs the Blind Academy in Kolkata, to get the fine nuances of playing blind right.” According to her, the underlying message she wants to convey through her character is that being blind is not being helpless. Blind people are well aware of everything around them – they can read, write and even watch. They don’t need our sympathy, but they need our support and understanding.

“This is an experimental film, which I’m hoping, will get a favourable response here”, Pallavi concludes. I’m not expecting any box office miracles with this one. I’m just testing the waters. And we have a few very exciting projects which I want to start later this year. I’m hoping my stay here is going to be permanent!”

Well, so do we. Here’s wishing the spunky lady the very best for her Bollywood debut, and her future projects. The Night of the Interview opens in theatres across Mumbai on February 13^th.

World Yoga Day-Decision taken at the UN is a proud moment for India-Grewal

Sun, Feb 15, 2015 at 12:44 PM
India received support of 170 nations 

Italy:15 February 2015: (Punjab Screen Bureau):

National Secretary, BJP Kisan Morcha and Prabhari Himachal Pradesh Advocate, Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal said that the United Nations also declared June 21 as the World Yoga Day. The decision, taken at the UN General Assembly, is being seen as a proud moment for India. Talking with the media persons after BJP workers meeting here today Grewal stated that our Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi had urged the world community to celebrate Indian yoga at the international level during his visit to the United Nations in September this year. Grewal told here that India received support of 170 nations and United Nations declare June 21 as the World Yoga Day. He stated that in their speech at the UNGA, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi had said, "Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day. Yoga is an invaluable gift of our ancient tradition. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature." He told that around 170 nations supported PM Modi's proposal. In November, European Union President Mr. Herman Van Rompuy told Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi that the 28 member EU supported his idea for a Yoga Day at the UN. Grewal said that about four months ago, Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had appealed to the world community that India's yoga should be celebrated as World Yoga Day. Grewal said that I am happy to inform you that India have received support of 170 nations and the United Nations will declare June 21 as the World Yoga Day". Grewal told that Yoga is the 5000 years old Indian physical, mental and spiritual practice that aims to transform body and mind for good health. In this meeting with the party workers of Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and people of Indian origin Grewal firstly thanked everyone for inviting him to this historical country. Grewal said though India and Italy are quiet distant from each other but Italy have made its presence felt in the kitchens of India as every modern day indian cooks pasta and enjoys the dish pretty much and Italy resides in the hearts of modern day Indian. Grewal said that these two ancient civilizations have known, interacted and traded with each other for over 2000 years. Modern day contacts between the two nations were formed through exchanges between the intellectuals from both sides. Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore visited Italy  on invitation of Carlo Formichi, a Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Rome. Grewal praised indian community Residing in Italy and said there contribution in the country is huge .Italy is home to  second largest community of Indians in Europe after UK. As per the latest Italian official estimates, more than 1, 60000 Indian nationals are resident in Italy. As first generation migrants, majority of them are engaged in economic sectors such as agriculture, dairy farming, leather industry, construction works and in service Industry. In meeting listening to the problems of People Grewal said that he is aware of the problems which NRI's face relating to property disputes in India and other cases and he assured that Bharatiya Janata party operates a NRI wing which deals with such problems faced by NRI's , this wing stays in touch with its members . He further stated that NRI thanas are opened in punjab which has Bharatiya Janata party in power, He urged Indians in Italy and across the world to join Bharatiya Janata party and contribute further in the growth and development of your country. In this BJP Italy meeting President Satish Kumar Joshi, Cashier Sangeeta Sharma Monte-forte Dal pone , Aman Gupta Vicenza , Surender Kumar Khattar Asand Monte-forte Dal pone , Raj Kumar Vicenza , Balbir Saini San Bonifacio Verona , Sandeep Kumar Talhan Lonigo Vicenza Italy , Rajan Kumar Talhan Lonigo Vicenza , Balwinder Singh Dhillon Kulam Verona , Balvir Singh Verona , Jagtar Singh Sanboni Facio Verona ,  Ashok Kumar Sanboni Facio Verona , Parvesh Kumar Shukla Sanboni Facio Verona , Jagjit Singh Sanboni Facio Verona , Charanjit Singh Vicenza , Harpal Singh Sanboni Facio Verona , Sanjiv Kumar Vicenza , Sher Singh Dherdu Sanboni Facio Verona , Subash Chand San Bonifacio Verona , Baljit Singh Lonigo , Jatinder Pal  Trento , Ranjit Singh Vicenza , Gurmukh Singh Crespadoro Vicenza , Rajinder Singh Crespadoro Vicenza , Raminder Singh Altissimo Vicenza and large number of Italy BJP workers were present.

Anti Drug Campaign: Abhishek Memorial Seminar organized at Raikot

Sat, Feb 14, 2015 at 1:40 PM

A joint awareness by Panjab University and Sadhbhavna Group Raikot 

Raikot (Ludhiana)::14^th Feb 2015):: (Rector Kathuria//Punjab Screen):

Sadbhavna Group Raikot, which conducts a chain of professional colleges, hospitals and de-addiction centre at Raikot organized 1-day Seminar today in the college campus. The theme of the seminar was “ Drug-addiction – role of Educators and Academic Institutions.” 

Deepika A Student

It was sponsored by Panjab University, Chandigarh. The seminar was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. AK Bhandari, Dean from Panjab University. In his address, he lauded the efforts of Sadbhavna Group for their commitment in social works. He said that drug addiction is eating out a whole generation in Punjab. Sadbhavna group, with its right mix of academic institutions, educators and Hospital framework is doing a yeomen service in eradicating this menace. Prof. Dr. Madhu Meeta Banerjee, Director said that the college works overtime to generate awareness against drugs. It offers treatment to the addict. It conducts research to uncover new modalities of management of addiction. Sadbhavna group also does advocacy for families of addicts or victims of drug-crime.

Dr Rini Sharma

Prof. Dr. BD Budhiraja, Director, Sadbhavna Group reminded the audience that they are to disseminate maximum information and knowledge about ill-effects of drug-addiction to maximum members of their society. Dr. Budhiraja said that “Addiction is a Family Disease and every member of the family should help the addict to recover.” Educators from Desh Bhagat University, Panjab University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Lovely Professional University, and and Jaipur National University, e.g. Dr. Inderjeet Singh, Dean, Desh Bhagat University, 

Ms. Guneet Toor, Mr. Rachpal Singh, Ms. Meenu Choudhury, Ms. Tina and Mr. Amritpal Singh Benipal worked as Resource Persons. Sh. Pramod bhan, IAS, Commissioner of Police & Sh. Naveen Singla, IAS, DCP congratulated Sadbhavna College for their excellent works. 

Actively fighting against drugs at Drug Addiction Center Jagraon Dr. Rini Sharma explained the complications of drugs in very simple words. Her words were coming from heart and striking directly to heart and mind. She successfully conveyed the true difference between medicines and drugs. She "showed a short movie" in her words regarding the impact of addiction. audience was not only listening her. All were realizing that pain also.

It may be mentioned that about 8 months ago, the only child of Dr. Madhu Meeta, Abhishek was murdered in Ludhiana allegedly by drug mafia for unveiling them to police. The seminar was organized in memory of Abhishek Banerjee