Received with thanks from Er. Naveen Gupta

Dear brother Engineers I draw your attention to the fact that a gross injustice has been done to the Sr. Xens and AEEs of PSEB in the revised Pay Scales notified by PSEB vide Office Order No. 478/PRC-302/2006 dated 15.10.2009. PSEB has always maintained an edge in providing remuneration to its employees and engineers in order to attract and retain best talent. The revised pay scales of Sr. Xens and AEEs are not only disproportionately lower in the overall salary structure but also much lower than the scales being offered by other electricity utilities of the Region such as HVPNL, UHBVNL, DHBVNL and HPGCL. Whereas the complete salary structure of PSEB as per the revised pay scales is better than these utilities, in line with the tradition of PSEB to provide a leading edge to its employees and engineers, gross injustice has been done to Sr. Xens and AEE/AEs whose scales are much less and disproportionate by any means and dimension.
In the revised pay scales, while PSEB has given the pay scale of Rs.16650-39100 (with grade pay of Rs. 8500) to Sr. Xens, the corresponding scale of Sr. Xen. given by HSEB (i.e. HVPNL, UHBVNL, DHBVNL and HPGCL) is Rs.37400-67000 (with grade pay of Rs.8800). It implies that initial basic pay of Sr. Xen in PSEB is Rs. 33240 against Rs. 46200 in case of HSEB. While Sr. Xen of HSEB with about 15 years service after induction, is drawing a basic pay of about Rs.53000/-, a PSEB Sr. Xen with equivalent length of service shall draw a basic pay of only Rs.39000/-. A live example of engineers from PSEB and HVPNL, working in BBMB with nearly same length of service (DOJ January 1994) and almost similar date of promotion as Sr. Xen, is given in the table below:

Load shedding is a regular menace in metro and urban areas. As per World Bank, India faced a 16.6% shortfall of electricity during peak hours in 2008. It was due to 9.9% gap in energy generation & demand.

SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) had earlier decided to do away with the concept of entry loads in Mutual Funds (MF). However, now this practice is likely to meet its end. As per a leading daily, SEBI has issued directives to a couple of firms to come up with a MF trading platform.

---Correct your mental actions,
mind is first and foremost;
Deeds of body and speech are offspring of the mind.

---If you seek release from bondage,
and freedom from suffering;
Be master of your mind;
do not be mastered by it.

---By mind control your mind,
By mind transform your mind;
By mind cleanse your mind and open the door to liberation.

In the revised pay scales, while PSEB has given the pay scale of Rs.16650-39100 (with grade pay of Rs. 8500) to Sr. Xens, corresponding pay scale of Sr. Xen. given by HSEB (i.e. HVPNL, UHBVNL, DHBVNL and HPGCL) is Rs.37400-67000 (with grade pay of Rs.8800). It implies that initial basic pay of Sr. Xen in PSEB is Rs. 33240 against Rs. 46200 in case of HSEB. While Sr.

'Political parties are the most corrupt in India' was the conclusion of a recent survey conducted at the 2009 Global Corruption Barometer. More than half (58% to be precise) of the participants felt this way. Second in line was bureaucracy (13%), followed by the parliament and legislature (10%), business and private sector (9%) and judiciary (3%). But isn't this already a well known fact?

Till recently Swiss Banks Association (SBA) maintained its stand that India was not welcome on a name fishing expedition. However, recently the bank softened its stand and after negotiations with India has agreed to amend its laws which will allow Switzerland to exchange information on all tax matters, including cases of tax evasion.

The Board in its today's meeting approved the revised pay scales for PSEB employees. According to sources, the recommendations of WFC has been accepted in toto except the rate of increment as 3%. The other details are awaited.

The monsoon season in India has passed and according to official data released by the Met department India's monsoon this year was the worst since 1972 with 24% less rainfall than average. Dividing the country into four broad zones, the northwest region suffered the most with a 36% deficit in rainfall this year.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the sale of one-eighth of its gold reserves as China, India and Russia have indicated interest in such purchases as a way of reducing their position in dollar-denominated securities. It may be noted that the IMF is the third largest official holder of gold in the world with 3,217 metric tons after the United States and Germany.