Date: Saturday, 25 April, 2009, 10:15 PM
Dear Colleagues,
Voting Dilemma?
It is never easy to decide who to cast your vote for. There is a suggestion that we should vote only for honest candidates. Indisputably laudable; no one can/should disagree. However, honesty is not that easy to judge in advance. A mendicant in the Himalayas or even an infantry company commander in remote location is very honest because there is little he can find to steal or pilfer. Does that indicate that he will continue to remain so if he is given a chance, to auction the liquor contracts for example?
Honesty?
Then again what is the barometer to judge honesty? There are allegations galore against the political leaders being made with impunity. How does one know these are true? Does one go by allegations, prosecution by law enforcement agencies or successful conviction by them? Further, what if one gets acquitted on appeal? Does it exonerate him/ her completely? Or does a correspondent of a leading media outlet determine who is honest and who is not?
There are no easy answers. At the end, one will use individual perception and will be guided mainly by self interest.
Best regards,
Lt Gen (Emeritus) Raj Kadyan, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
Chairman IESM
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Emerging Situation in Nepal: Implications for India
GeneralThe Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) organised a seminar on “Emerging Situation in Nepal: Implications for India” on September 23, 2008 at the CLAWS Seminar Hall. The seminar was attended by a large number of serving officers and members of the strategic community. The seminar was chaired by Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (Retd). The speakers included Maj Gen A K Chaturvedi, ACIDS Int A, HQ IDS, Ambassador K V Rajan and Brigadier Arun Sahgal (Retd)
Discussion Summary
Nepal is a base of drugs, narcotics, and illegal arms. The ISI activities in Nepal are continuing and have further indulged into anti-India activities. Madhesh is a terrain area in Nepal, and from a Nepalese perspective, Madhesh is the rest of India. There is resentment against the Madheshee entrenchment in the system and even their entrenchment in the ruling class. Nepal has asked India to revise the India-Nepal Treaty of 1950. The perception of the Nepali people is that the India-Nepal Treaty 1950 is an absolute one-sided treaty. Human development index of Nepal is very low, and there is abject poverty. The Maoists do not have political experience. China’s influence in Nepal is rising with the coming of the Maoist regime. India needs to a keep a tab on this fact. The responsibility mainly lies on the leaders and institutions to solve these issues. Civil society should not be underestimated in Nepal since it functions as a political force also. What would be the changes in the 1950 Treaty, and what would be its impact on India? Will it affect India’s security? India should work urgently towards addressing these questions.
(Report Prepared by Dr. Shah Alam, Research Fellow, CLAWS)
Read the full Discussion:
Emerging Situation in Nepal: Implications for India
Pension Benefits: Travails of a Widow
Sir,
May I bring to your notice the plight of an army officers widow and seek the views and advise of the very knowledgeable and highly experienced readers of "Report my Signals" .
The facts of the case are as follows(for keeping the privacy of the family I am ommitting the names of the concerned family):
1. Col "A" took premature retirement on 31st Dec 2007.
2. He was living in NCR region and working in a private organisation.
3. He had applied for the Commutation of his pension but the same was not paid with the other retirement dues.
4. He progressed his commutation case with the CDA for almost one year and finally the commutation was sanctioned and his Bankers PNB, who were also giving his pension, was asked to credit the amount to his account sometime on the 11 Dec 2008.
5. The bank actually credited the same on 3rd Jan 2009.
6. Unfortunately, the officer died due to heart attack on the same day- 3rd Jan 2009.
7. In the meantime the widow has been requesting the bank to pay her the family pension but the bank has been procrastinating on one ground or the other.
8. suddenly, the bank has reverted all the money from her account to itself a couple of days back (on or around 21st apr 2009) saying that the payment of the commutation money was an "over payment" as the officer had died the same day that the commutation money was credited in his account and that as per the CDA letter he should have been alive on the day the money is credited in his account and hence they have to make full recovery!.
9. not only that they have also not credited the arrears of 6th CPC which was sent by a different cheque by CDA to his account for over one month ostensibly to complete the recovery. Another Draft for Rs 50,000/- paid from AOBF has also not been credited to the acoount.
10. the money that was in her bank account in PNB in another station too has been withdrawn and confisicated by the bank.
11. In the first place the Bank has delayed creditiing the commutation money and then without any notice they have started making recovery of the same. they have not started paying her the family pension even though all the paper work that they needed has been done. moreover they have also recovered all the money that was in her bank account and have not credited the two cheques/drafts deposited by her / CDA(arrears of pay)
12. there are several question and wrongs that seem to be perpetuated by the CDA/PNB combine.
13. she has not received any notice or warning for recoevery.
no family pension has started. can they recover all the family pension at the same time?
14. all the money from her account has also been taken away by the bank to make the recovery.
15. are there no rules for banks to function in case of retired officers and their families pension payments and payment of other dues?
16. Is there any time limit laid down within which the payments sanctioned by the CDA are to be credited to the officers account?
17. can the bank affect recoverries in this fashion?
what are the remedies available to the widow now and how can she confront these insensitive people wihtout great deal of hassle? This also raises the problems we all are facing in getting our arrears and dues from SBI and get our new pension calculations worksheets which are not being provided by them. I wonder if there is a method to get redress without great deal of hassle for a lady who is now shiftd to her parents house very far away from NCR.
regards
Brig Chaitanya Prakash (Retd)
May I bring to your notice the plight of an army officers widow and seek the views and advise of the very knowledgeable and highly experienced readers of "Report my Signals" .
The facts of the case are as follows(for keeping the privacy of the family I am ommitting the names of the concerned family):
1. Col "A" took premature retirement on 31st Dec 2007.
2. He was living in NCR region and working in a private organisation.
3. He had applied for the Commutation of his pension but the same was not paid with the other retirement dues.
4. He progressed his commutation case with the CDA for almost one year and finally the commutation was sanctioned and his Bankers PNB, who were also giving his pension, was asked to credit the amount to his account sometime on the 11 Dec 2008.
5. The bank actually credited the same on 3rd Jan 2009.
6. Unfortunately, the officer died due to heart attack on the same day- 3rd Jan 2009.
7. In the meantime the widow has been requesting the bank to pay her the family pension but the bank has been procrastinating on one ground or the other.
8. suddenly, the bank has reverted all the money from her account to itself a couple of days back (on or around 21st apr 2009) saying that the payment of the commutation money was an "over payment" as the officer had died the same day that the commutation money was credited in his account and that as per the CDA letter he should have been alive on the day the money is credited in his account and hence they have to make full recovery!.
9. not only that they have also not credited the arrears of 6th CPC which was sent by a different cheque by CDA to his account for over one month ostensibly to complete the recovery. Another Draft for Rs 50,000/- paid from AOBF has also not been credited to the acoount.
10. the money that was in her bank account in PNB in another station too has been withdrawn and confisicated by the bank.
11. In the first place the Bank has delayed creditiing the commutation money and then without any notice they have started making recovery of the same. they have not started paying her the family pension even though all the paper work that they needed has been done. moreover they have also recovered all the money that was in her bank account and have not credited the two cheques/drafts deposited by her / CDA(arrears of pay)
12. there are several question and wrongs that seem to be perpetuated by the CDA/PNB combine.
13. she has not received any notice or warning for recoevery.
no family pension has started. can they recover all the family pension at the same time?
14. all the money from her account has also been taken away by the bank to make the recovery.
15. are there no rules for banks to function in case of retired officers and their families pension payments and payment of other dues?
16. Is there any time limit laid down within which the payments sanctioned by the CDA are to be credited to the officers account?
17. can the bank affect recoverries in this fashion?
what are the remedies available to the widow now and how can she confront these insensitive people wihtout great deal of hassle? This also raises the problems we all are facing in getting our arrears and dues from SBI and get our new pension calculations worksheets which are not being provided by them. I wonder if there is a method to get redress without great deal of hassle for a lady who is now shiftd to her parents house very far away from NCR.
regards
Brig Chaitanya Prakash (Retd)
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