Ramesh Itnal

Private Insurance company can now enhance its capital  Up to 45.1%

without  insisting for indian investment

An ordinance on insurance has  paved  the way for a fresh dose of foreign investment in the insurance. Through this ordinance  present  limit  of foreign investment in a private insurance company has increased from 26 % to 49 %.

Now a  private insurance company,  where foreign investment  is up to  maximum  limit of 26%,  can  enhance its present capital to  the extent of 45.1%  by additional foreign investment,  without expecting  any further contribution from Indian investment.

Consider  the following case.

If the total capital of private company is Rs 100 crore, the maximum allowable foreign investment up till now is Rs 26 crore, the rest of Indian investment is Rs 74 crore. The existing  ratio of foreign investment to Indian investment is  26%  to 74%.

With the promulgation of insurance ordinance, the above company, can now increase its capital by additional contribution of Rs 45.1 crore from foreign investment. By this new capital will be Rs 145.1 crore, ie increased by 45.1%

In the increased capital of Rs 145. 1 Crore,

The share of  foreign investment is Rs 71.1 crore,  (original Rs 26 cr + additional Rs 45.1 Cr)

The share of  Indian  investment is Rs 74.0 crore,  (original Rs 74 cr + additional Rs  nil )

The New  ratio of foreign investment to total investment is = 71.1 / 145.1 = 49 %

The New  ratio of Indian  investment to total investment is = 74  / 145.1 = 51 %

-       Ramesh Itnal (Rtd ADM) – Dharwad

Train travelers may note

(courtesy: Basudeb Das)

Illustration: Chronicle.

Restrictions on use of ATMs questioned

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned the decision by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to put a cap on free withdrawals by banking customers using their ATM cards, saying account holders were being "unnecessarily taxed".

As per the new RBI guidelines, bank customers in six metros - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore - are allowed to withdraw money free of charge only five times a month and every transaction beyond this limit will be charged Rs 20 per use.

A division bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice P S Teji issued a notice to the RBI, Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and State Bank of India while fixing the matter for next hearing on February 18.

"Why are you unnecessarily taxing your own account holders? File your response by next date of hearing," the bench said.

Finance Ministry (MOF) issued e-book

Finance Ministry on Thursday issued an e-book containing important decisions and initiatives with a view to improving governance and bringing government closer to the public.

"MoF (Ministry of Finance) hopes this will be useful to the citizens and an important step in bringing the governance closer to the public," the Ministry said while launching the e-book on 'Sushashan Diwas' (Good Governance Day).

The digital book provides easy access to various initiatives, including good governance steps, taken under the ministry and an IT enabled platform. The government, the ministry said, attaches utmost importance to the need for improving governance and service delivery to the common man.

"One of the important tenets in this direction is the effective use of IT based applications under e-Governance initiatives," it said, adding the e-book is in line with this.

The e-book details disinvestment plans, trade facilitation initiatives, Swachh Bharat Kosh (SBK) and direct benefit transfer scheme, among others. It also contains steps taken by the ministry for providing tax clarity and dispute resolution and steps taken by the new government to curb menace black money.

R.B.KISHORE,VP,AIRIEF

 

5-kg mini LPG cylinders to consumers

In a bid to make cooking gas (LPG) easily available to consumers, 5-kg mini LPG cylinders will now be available at select petrol pumps and neighbourhood grocery stores besides regular gas agencies in almost all major cities.

Till now, cooking gas (LPG) was available for domestic use in 14.2-kg cylinders only from gas agencies. Consumers were entitled to 12 such bottles in a year at a subsidised rate of Rs 417 in Delhi.

Now the subsidised cooking gas will also be available in 5-kg cylinders. Those entitled to subsidised gas can buy 34 bottles of 5-kg each at Rs 155 per cylinder in Delhi.

While the subsidised 5-kg mini LPG cylinder will be available only at regular LPG distributor, market-priced mini LPG cylinders costing Rs 351 can be bought across-the-counter without prior booking and minimal paper work at petrol pumps, gas agencies and select grocery stores.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan used the ‘Good Governance Day’ to relaunch the scheme at more outlets across the country.

“This is not a new scheme but we are now rebranding and relaunching it with an elaborate marketing plan so as to make available environment friendly fuel to people,” he said on the occasion.

(the financial express)

X'mas 'cartoon'

LIC PENSIONERS CHRONICLE WISH ITS READERS A MERRY CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR WISHES FROM RB KISHORE

Dear Editor,

I used to wonder, when I had the habit of

taping rare sequences from Discovery, Animal

Planet, National Geographic, must be having 3 hour

video tape, atleast 15 to 20, why these Channels have

not given importance to other creatures, like crows,
sparrows, pigeon, squirrel etc. Plenty they have on
parrots, eagles, peacock, vultures & all
sorts of animals & bapre, to be seen
to be believed underworld creatures,
a marvelof Nature.

I love photography as an amateur only, my PICASSA 3 in PC stores thousands of pictures. Some only I could transfer to Pen Drive & in Hall Samsung LCD those family pictures & others, we can enjoy. We allow, with empathy, squirrel at kitchen last shelf near window & in Balcony, they have small space cosy & rear their darlings. Even if Netlon is there, they have the knack of smooth entry ! It was a scene how mother squirrel trains babies to move, to jump, to find ways & exit. I could take only a few & I send in NEXT instalment.

Greetings for MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY & HEALTHY, PEACEFUL, PLENTIFUL & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

R.B.KISHORE
CHENNAI

RESERVE BANK ANNOUNCEMENT

RBI CUSTOMER GUIDELINES

This is

summarised

and simplified

version of the Reserve Bank

of India’s

Know Your Customer guidelines. For further details, please refer to the links provided below.

Q 1. What is KYC? Why is it required?

Response: KYC means “Know Your Customer”. It is a process by which banks obtain information about the identity and address of the customers. This process helps to ensure that banks’ services are not misused. The KYC procedure is to be completed by the banks while opening accounts and also periodically update the same.

Q 2. What are the KYC requirements for opening a bank account?

Response: To open a bank account, one needs to submit a ‘proof of identity and proof of address’ together with a recent photograph.

Q3. What are the documents to be given as ‘proof of identity’ and ‘proof of address’?

Response: The Government of India has notified six documents as ‘Officially Valid Documents (OVDs) for the purpose of producing proof of identity. These six documents are Passport, Driving Licence, Voters’ Identity Card, PAN Card, Aadhaar Card issued by UIDAI and NREGA Card. You need to submit any one of these documents as proof of identity. If these documents also contain your address details, then it would be accepted as as ‘proof of address’. If the document submitted by you for proof of identity does not contain address details, then you will have to submit another officially valid document which contains address details.

(http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/content/pdfs/PMLAME170714_A.pdf
(http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/notification/PDFs/CA090614FCN.pdf) 

Govt Does Not Rule Out Ordinance for Insurance Sector Reforms

NEW DELHI: Government on Tuesday appeared not to rule out the possibility of promulgating an Ordinance on insurance sector reforms.

"We will have to consider all possibilities right now because the fact is that the country needs more investment in the insurance sector," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said when asked whether the government would look at the Ordinance route.

He attributed the non-passage of the Bill on the last day of Winter session of Parliament to "political obstructionism", after opposition Members in Rajya Sabha disrupted proceedings.

The Insurance Laws Amendment Bill 2008, among other things, seek to increase the composite foreign investment limit in insurance companies to 49 per cent from current level of 26 per cent.

The 49 per cent cap would include both FDI and foreign portfolio investments.

"We need the skills and the expertise that foreign insurance companies do provide. So we have to really think through all the different alternatives. We need to ensure that the product and services (related to insurance) are available to all the people of India," the Minister told reporters outside Parliament.

Pointing out the government had done everything possible in this regard, Sinha said the select committee, under Chandan Mitra, did a good job.

"It was ready to be passed in the Rajya Sabha this time... But again there was political obstructionism and we were not able to pass the Bill," Sinha said.

According to him, the Bill is sorely needed to ensure insurance for more people and that there was a need for re-insurance industry to take off in the country.

"All of this is being blocked, because people want to oppose it, because of obstructionism... but people of India look through all of this very very quickly," the Minister said.

(the new indian express)

That was Vaidyanathapuram Rama Iyer Krishna IYER

Krishna Iyer stayed in his chambers until mid-night, dictated the judgment and went home to sleep in peace. His last order for the day was to ask the court staff to stay in the court until 5000 copies of the judgment were ready. Why 5000 copies ? He said that getting a copy of the judgment from the Supreme court is cumbersome and anyone who was present in court  and wanted a copy should get it free. Iyer wanted the judiciary to be proactive, humane and impartial.

Krishna Iyer was a trend setter in judicial morality worthy of emulation.

R.K.VISWANATHAN

(And he lived in India for 100 years. LIC pensioners remember him now when the Supreme Court takes up their case for pension. -Ed.)

One Rank, One Pension

Posted: 22 Dec 2014 05:15 AM PST

New Delhi: Seeking justice for ex-servicemen, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Monday met Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and raised the issue of one-rank one-pension.

He reminded Parrikar that the implementation of same-rank same-pension scheme was BJP's 2014 election promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the campaigning at Bhiwani.

In his speech at Bhiwani, Modi had stated that if BJP came to power after the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP government would do justice to the ex-servicemen of the armed forces on the same rank-same pension issue.

One-rank, one-pension means soldiers of the same rank and the same length of service get the same pension, irrespective of their retirement date. For an example, a sepoy who retired in 1995 would get the same amount of pension as the one who retired in 1996.

According to Swamy, Parrikar told him that he is seized of the matter and is closely studying the issue with a view to finding a solution to the satisfaction of ex-servicemen.

The Defence Minister assured Swamy that an announcement on the issue of one-rank one-pension is expected to be made by the time of the Budget presentation in February next year.

There is now a consensus the world over that the free market economic model does not work, said World Bank chief economist and former Chief Economic Adviser to the government of India Kaushik Basu on Sunday.

Dr. Basu was speaking at a function organised here by the ‘Ideas for India’. Just as complete state control fails, leaving all decisions to markets results in grave inequalities and so it doesn’t work even politically, argued Dr. Basu. “The things that were ideologically rooted on the extreme right and extreme left, those fringes have now fallen off.”

Now, “sharing of the pie” with the bottom 40 per cent of people is gaining traction even with the International Monetary Fund and economists such as Thomas Piketty, Dr. Basu said.

Reflecting the new consensus, Dr. Basu said the World Bank formally changed its goal to fighting no longer for just eradication of poverty but also for shared prosperity.

The need for policy intervention is getting recognised globally, said Dr. Basu, since a large part of the inequality in the world is being inherited at birth and getting dynastically transmitted from generation to generation. “Since there can be no distinction on the lines of hard-working babies and lazy babies, the issue of inequality at birth has come to the policy makers’ table.”

Education paradox
As a case in point, he cited the problem of India’s education paradox: “India’s small elite are able to receive world-class education but the masses get very poor quality education… Literacy levels were till 10 years ago below some sub-Saharan countries.”





















Dr. Basu also said that the World Bank was planning to create an ‘Ease of Living Life’ rating of countries that would be on the lines of the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in which India ranks poorly. The rating being planned will rank countries on the costs incurred by ordinary people in interface with the bureaucracy.


(CourtesyR.B.KISHORE,VP,AIRIEF)

Excessive payments to employees not to be recovered after 5 years

Order of recovery of excessive payment made to employees would be impermissible in law if the mistake is detected after 5 years or if it is from Group C (Class III) or D (Class IV) employees or from retired employees: SC

Quashing an order of recovery of excessive payments made to employees, a Supreme Court bench comprising of Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice Arun Kumar Mishra has held that, if the mistake of making a wrongful payment is detected within five years, it would be open to the employer to recover the same, but if the payment is made for a period in excess of five years, even though it would be open to the employer to correct the mistake, it would be extremely iniquitous and arbitrary to seek a refund of the payments mistakenly made to the employee.

The Bench held that such recovery would be impermissible in law, if the Court arrives at the conclusion, that recovery if made from the employee would be iniquitous or harsh or arbitrary to such an extent, as would far outweigh the equitable balance of the employer’s right to recover.

The Court also concluded that such recovery from employees belonging to the lower rungs (i.e., Class-III and Class-IV – sometimes denoted as Group ‘C’ and Group ‘D’) of service, should not be subjected to the ordeal of any recovery, even though they were beneficiaries of receiving higher emoluments, than were due to them as such recovery would be iniquitous and arbitrary and therefore would also breach the mandate contained in Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

Recovery of excess payments, made from employees who have retired from service, or are close to their retirement, according to the Court, would entail extremely harsh consequences outweighing the monetary gains by the employer. In its view, a period within one year from the date of superannuation, should be accepted as the period during which the recovery should be treated as iniquitous.

Postal stamps - CIC's recommendations

MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2014

Use of Postal Stamps as RTI Application Fee: CIC's recommendation to DoPT

Give “New Year Gift” to citizens by permitting and publicising the use of ordinary Postal Stamps for payment of RTI fee: CIC’s recommendation to Department of Personnel and Training

Central Information Commissioner Prof. M. Sridhar Acharyulu has strongly recommended the use of postal stamps as RTI application fee. While disposing off a petition, he observed, “The Commission strongly recommends Department of Personnel and Training to adopt the one year old proposal of the Department of Posts, which is very user-friendly and avail the opportunity of giving New Year Gift to the citizen by permitting and publicising the use of ordinary Postal Stamps for payment of RTI fee, as this would go a long way in setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information. Accepting postal stamps for RTI fee would resolve many difficulties in payment, besides preventing wastage of public money in returning or rejecting the IPOs or spending much larger
amounts than Rs 10, for realizing Rs 10, and avoidable litigation.” 
(courtesy:Basudeb Das)

Being humble

Summary of a research study conducted Brigham Young University.

Psychologists conducted a bottom-up exploration of what it really means to be humble. They found that people see a unique dimension of humility akin to a love of learning.

An error in judgement !

Colouring of hair is more difficult than cutting the hair. 
Counting the hair in turn is more challenging, 
while searching before counting is the most arduous task!

With greetings.

C H Mahadevan

EXCHANGE PRE-2005 NOTES

NEW DELHI:

People have only 11-days left to exchange currency notes of various denominations, including 500 and 1,000, which were printed before 2005.

The deadline for exchanging the pre-2005 notes is January 1, 2015.

The Reserve Bank has so far shredded 144.66 crore such notes valued at Rs 52,855 crore since the launch of the drive to take out the pre-2005 notes from the circulation.

(the economic times)

-courtesy: RBK.

FAMILY FLOATER MEDICLAIM POLICY-LIC CO CIRCULAR dt 17 Dec 2014

-- Those who opted less than Rs 20 lacs OPTIONAL SA(OSA) now GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to complete OPTION FORM,& choose HIGHER OSA 

-- Those with Revised Basic SA ONLY ie Rs 3 lacs, 4 lacs, 6 lacs& not opted at all for OSA

now GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to choose OPTIONAL SA (OSA),upto Rs 20lacs, LAST DATE for exercising OPTION : 28 FEBRUARY, 2015. Don't wait till that date. Be alert, complete the OPTION FORM as soon as you get the Intimation, as FAMILY FLOATER POLICY is secured after good deal of fup, emails, letters to EDP, CHIEF P & talks with them for consideration, which announcement has just come.

2) PLEASE ALSO DO NOT FORGET THE CONSISTENT, COMMITTED PRESSURES WE GAVE TO LIC CO EARLIER YEARS FOR PREMIUM REBATE, AS WAS BEING GIVEN 75 % TO EMPLOYEES, WHICH WE RIGHTLY GOT IN MAY 2010, plus 2 reductions in mediclaim premium after that, ranging to 6.8%, the refund we got, all these & now this Wonderful Scheme, 

3)Inform everyone u know, whether Regular Pensioners or FAMILY Pensioners, wherever they are,

*That is why we solicited email ids which has grown considerably after successive victories in Courts & Supreme Court,

*That is why we pleaded all to send MOBILE NOs, as SMS can be given on MOBILE only, not on Landline,

Sri B. Angurajan, AIOS, AIRIEF immediately FLASHES such VITAL news, where response is needed from Pensioners & other CO Circular briefs to about 750 pensioners, magnificent work & sacrifice, 

*Many are aware of ACTIVISTS Email id, Landline & Mobile No, We are Warriors, trouble us, keep in touch but also cooperate with your spontaneous donations, as we go on resolving many contentious & other problems facing the entire Pensioner Fraternity. Still we are way behind & not satisfied with the thrust. WE ARE IN SERVICE TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT IN SERVICE NOW.

4)I have contacted SZO,they will be sending detailed letter to all shortly.So too, other ZOs/DOs. Be alert from now on & respond after due consideration, as this OFFER is for 1/4/2015--31/3 2016 & thereafter next Option ONLY for FFPolicy year 2018 we will get a chance to MODI FY our OSA preference.

5)AIRIEF included this Floater Policy mediclaim idea in our 24 Page Charter of Demands

GREETINGS,

"Cut or count your hair?"

Old man has 8 hair on his head.

He went to Barber shop.
Barber in anger asked:
shall I cut or count ?
Old man smiled and said:
"Colour it!"
LIFE is to enjoy with whatever you 
have with you, keep smiling.


(courtesy:RBK)

The need to work together and to speak in one voice...




The scales of Justice are held by Lady Justice, or Justitia, in Latin, the Roman goddess of justice. The image depicts the balance between the support and opposition a case has, with Lady Justice responsible for weighing the two and reaching a fair and just verdict. The scales of justice remind attorneys, judges, and juries of the heavy task before them. Each side presents evidence and argument and the scales tip to one side or the other. The judges weigh the factors of a case to render a justice and are responsible for determining which side is heavier when all the evidences and arguments have been presented.

The cases fought by the pensioners at different courts and now fighting in the Supreme Court are for the pensioners' constitutional rights of getting pension updation and DR. 

to put all the best brains together. 
to speak in one voice . 
to present strong and cohesive arguments before the learned judges. 
to secure the right and lasting judgement in favour of pensioners.

SN (from sources)

An erudite write up (Excerpts prepared by RB Kishore)

Select Excerpts from a Write-up of Sri B.G. Raithatha, GS, UNION BANK RETIREES ASSN & OS, AIBRF

IV : LEADERSHIP OF BANK RETIREES’ MOVEMENT

10. In most of the Bank Retirees’ Organizations, the responsibility of Office Bearers are undertaken by retired Officers, as they possess better knowledge and organizing ability.

11. It is a matter of pleasure that some of the bank retirees’ organizations are led by the retired Executives of the Banks and they are leading the movement with their abundant ability. 

12. The leaders who are retired from the fold of All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) are not found very active in retirees’ movement, since according to the policy of AIBEA, many of them are allowed to hold Officer Bearers’ posts in the Unions of working employees.

V: Strength & Weakness of Retirees’ Fedns

13. Function of most of the Bank Retirees’ Organizations are reasonably good. They are serving well for the causes of the retirees in their respective areas of operation. However, if we frankly make an overall assessment, the retirees’ movement has many infirmities as enumerated in following paragraphs.

14.Almost 50% of the retired bank employees are not organized – they are not members of any Association of Bank Retirees. Retirees of Dena Bank in Surat and around deserve much praise and appreciation to be organized under the banner of “Dena Bank Retired Employees’ Welfare Association – Surat”. (It is essential to undertake membership mobilization mission on priority basis. If each member of an Association decides to persuade enrolling at least one retiree in a year, strength of retirees’ organizations will be almost doubled in a year !!! )

15.Apex / National Level Retirees’ Organizations have not been able to establish unity to a satisfactory level inspite of very sincere efforts put in by AIBRF and some of the leaders of SBI Pensioners’ Federation to for such a co-ordination. (Recent joint representation by several bank retirees’ organizations to the Government and the Indian Banks’ Association for certain common issues is a good initiation to exhibit unity. The bond of unity should be fasten further fast. If unity is taken in a larger perceptive, we should co-ordinate with Retirees of Insurance and other Financial Sectors as well as with the Pensioners of Central and State Governments).

16.The Government and the Indian Banks’ Association have so far not recognized Bank Retirees’ Organizations. Most of the Banks are also not holding formal discussions with the Retirees’ Organizations. ((i) Political lobbying (ii) periodical agitation (as it was organized by AIBRF at Delhi before of a couple of months) and (iii) good rapport / liaison with the Unions / Associations of the serving workmen / officers will certainly go a long way for our formal reorganization. Unification / co-ordination among the various bank retirees’ organizations may also fasten the process of reorganization).

17.Most of the retirees’ organizations are working under acute financial crunch.(The remedies are - increase amount of membership subscriptions from new retirees joining our Associations, as they are getting handsome superannuation benefits. There should be regular appeals for generous donations to the Associations at periodical intervals to the members and well wishers whose wallets and hearts are big. Some of the Associations have established good traditions of sending birth day greeting cards to the members every year. Appeals for voluntary donations are also printed in the cards. Marriages of members’ children and grand children are other auspicious occasions, when we may expect good donations. We should not shy or hesitate to solicit fund for the organizations).

18.The ‘poor’ General Secretaries of most of the retirees’ Associations are doing Associations’ work from their homes and that too with very little infrastructure. It is very difficult to call other Office Bearers / Activists to homes of the General Secretaries to assist them. Ultimately the work suffers. (Vigorous endeavors are needed to mobilize funds for purchasing or at least for hiring offices and there should be certain minimum required office equipments viz. computers, scanners, printers, telephone, internet, etc. to make the Associations efficient and to keep pace with the time).

19.Ours is a movement of the retirees. Obviously, with growing age, leaders are more susceptible to illness / disability, thereby hampering activities of the organizations. Many leaders – even the General Secretaries of the Associations go to other states or countries for long term / permanent settlement. But continue on the posts. (If their illness or settlement elsewhere is permanent / very long term, they should gracefully vacate the chairs for others who are able to run and run the organizations. If we look around, certainly there will be at least few recently retired – ‘young’ officers / employees who have got caliber and inclination to take responsibility of leading the organizations).

RK VISWANATHAN

Dear Mr Gangadharan

"United we win, divided we lose"

Our war-cry at this crucial juncture should be 

"shed EGO and don WEGO"

The impassionate and decisive appeal by Mr Sreenivasa Murty in the PC for unity and floor coordination by all concerned for the D Day of 14th Jan 2015 in SC, deserves serious consideration by all stake holders in all the three petitions, who have on hand favourable verdict from their respective Courts. 

• The pensioners all over, are grateful to the three groups for the hard work each of them have put in all these years to achieve these precious verdicts.The crucial time has now come when we should stand united to get these favourable verdicts get translated into action by an unequivocal and firm direction by SC to LIC, benefitting  the pensioners' community once for all. All the three groups should unitedly ensure to bring to halt the unusually long struggle and patient wait.

In this context, the following suggestions by Mr Sreenivasa Murty deserves serious attention  and suitable action by the petitioners/organisations and their legal luminaries who are to appear in SC on the 14th Jan 2015, to achieve the desired results:

We first brief our respective Counsels fully on facts from our angle and also provide inputs to them to meet the Appellant's contentions comprehensively, We discuss with them the points of law and the overall strategy that may be adopted for opposing the Appeals. We also leave certain freedom to the Counsels to use their original skills arising from their erudition and experience.

In effect, we should facilitate a conference among all the Counsels to share and exchange their views and agree on how to go about to oppose the Appeals. This meeting can happen along with the concerned clients.

After strongly opposing the Appeals on facts and on legal grounds, our counsels should adopt a collective approach in securing an unambiguous Order from the SC granting 1) Revision of Pension with each pay revision, past and future (which automatically includes DR at the same rate as applicable to in-service employees) 2) Effective from the date of retirement or 1.11.1993 whichever later. All the Counsels representing the Pensioners should be of the same mind in respect of the relief sought and should respond to any queries from the Bench in one voice avoiding the impression of a divided house. 

Let us all hope and pray that the respective petitioners/ organisations and their counsel to appear in SC on the 14th Jan 2014 come together and speak in one voice on this historic occasion in the lives of pensioners and usher in the long awaited relief  and happiness in their lives.

I am confident, Mr Gangadharan Editor PC can lend a helping hand to bring about this fusion at this crucial juncture, as suggested by Mr Sampath Iyengar.
Kind regards

MC JAIN'S CASE: ARREARS BE GIVEN TO OTHER ELIGIBLE PENSIONERS

                              K.G. Ramachandra

The news that pensioners can revise their option and opt for higher cover under the floater policy is welcome.

The real question is how fast is this coverage available when an unforeseen contingency arises. Right now the TPA service is available for 6 contingencies only. For all other ailments/ surgeries/ sickness requiring hospitalisation and sudden payment of money at the hospital counter, no help is available under the policy conditions. You have to pay and then claim from the Insurer. Again how fast you get the claim differs from One office of the Insurer to another in a different region. 

There were instances when the amount claimed was not fully reimbursed as per rules. This inspite of reliable proofs from hospitals of repute. There seems to be a suspicion that either the hospital or the insured or both are felons. So while fresh option should be welcome, all organisations of pensioners must demand for issue of IDENTITY CARDS which can be shown at Hospitals and required service is availed without the necessity of running from pillar to post. Otherwise the figures of increased coverage remain on paper for the smug satisfaction of management and the organisations.

If the organisations feel a Dharna or relay hunger strike is necessary to achieve even this small concession (as per contract) it is time they act at once.

CENTRAL OFFICE ISSUED CIR. FOR ANOTHER OPTION UNDER GR. MEDICLAIM FLOATER INSCE SCHEME

"Option for increased Floater mediclaim cover to those employees/retired employees who could not opt for increased Floater cover earlier."

This option is also available to those who had opted earlier but now desire to increase their total coverage. (Please refer to the circular posted.)

Outcome of Pension & Gratuity Trust and DRF Administrators meeting.

ALL INDIA UNION BANK EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION

CENTRAL OFFICE

C/o UNION BANK OF INDIA, 6^TH FLR, M.S. MARG BRANCH, 66/80 M.S.MARG, MUMBAI –400023

Phone:  22629486(Bank); 22629509(U.O.); Fax: 22642785(Bank); 9819375526(M)

E-mail:aiubeaco@gmail.com

Cir No.GS 3/116/ 14                                                                19^th December, 2014

To All Units,

Dear comrades,

Sub : Out come of Pension & Gratuity Trusts and DRF Administrators Meeting.

The Annual meeting of Pension Trust, Gratuity Trust and Death Relief Fund were held yesterday at Mumbai at Bank’s Head Quarters. On behalf of our Association, the undersigned, Com A. Chidambaram Organizing Secretary   & Com R. B. Saraiya Assistant Secretary being our representative on the above funds / Trust attended the meetings. The fund position & the outcome of these meetings are as under:

1)    Pension Fund:

The fund position as at 31^st March 2014 is as below

Item	Amount in Cr
Pension Fund	6249.75
Investments	6221.16
Cash & Bank Balance	28.59
Banks Contribution  in the year	1107.56
Income yearned	446.57
Average yield.	7.89%

Bank’s contribution to fund increased from last year’s Rs 961.61 cr to Rs 1107.56 cr..  The trust has increased its investment income from Rs 338.04 Cr to Rs 446.57 Cr with improved yield.

There is no shortfall in provision other than the amount amortized as per RBI guidelines and permissions towards 2^nd pension option granted in 2010. Such amount is Rs 338 cr and the same will be made good in current financial year.

It was decided to hold at least two meetings of trustees in a year.

We requested the Bank to consider the pension option of employees & officers who did not opt with in the time schedule in 2010. However Bank sighting the IBA directions has decided to not to consider the request.