तुमचे 'भविष्य' सुरक्षित आहे का?

कर्मचारी भविष्य निर्वाह निधी अर्थात प्रॉव्हीडंट फंडचा लाभ घेणे हा कर्मचाऱ्याचा हक्क आणि कंपनीचे कर्तव्य असते. सध्याच्या काळात निवृत्तीवेतनाची निश्चिती नसल्याने उतारवयातील उदरनिर्वाहाची सोय म्हणूनही या पीएफकडे पाहिले जाते. निवृत्तीच्या वेळी खूप मोठी रक्कम हाताशी येईल किंवा अडीअडचणीच्या वेळी कर्ज मिळेल या आशेने कर्मचारी पीएफसाठी पैसे भरण्यात कुचराई करत नाहीत.

किंबहुना नवीन कंपनीत रुजू होण्यापूवीर् सर्वप्रकारची चौकशी करून, जुन्या कंपनीतील खाते स्थलांतरित करून सर्वसामान्य कर्मचारी भविष्य अधिकाधिक सुरक्षित करण्याचा प्रयत्न करतात. मात्र गेल्या काही वर्षांत उघड झालेले घोटाळे आणि सरकारी आकडेवारी पाहता कंपन्यांकडून प्रॉव्हीडंट फंड भरण्यात कुचराई होत असल्याचे सिद्ध झाले आहे.

सध्या भविष्य निर्वाहनिधीतील रकमेवर ९.५ टक्के दराने व्याज मिळते. गेल्यावषीर्पर्यंत या ठेवींवर ८.५ टक्के दराने व्याज मिळत होते. सर्वसाधारण बचत खाते किंवा गेल्यावषीर्पर्यंत मुदत ठेवींमधून मिळणाऱ्या व्याजापेक्षा ही रक्कम अधिक होती. त्यातच पीएफमधील गुंतवणुकीला करातून सवलतही मिळत असल्याने पीएफ हा नोकरदार वर्गासाठी गुंतवणूकीचे व भविष्य सुरक्षित करण्याचे पसंतीचे स्थान आहे. सध्या कर्मचाऱ्यांचे मूळ वेतन आणि महागाई भत्त्यामधून दरमहा १२ टक्के रक्कम पीएफ खात्यात वळविण्यासाठी कंपन्या पगारातूनच कापून घेतात. मात्र स्वत:च्या हिश्यातील १२ टक्के रक्कम भरताना मात्र टाळाटाळ केली जाते. त्यामुळे वर्षाअखेरीस कर्मचाऱ्यांना मिळणाऱ्या पीएफ स्लिपमध्ये खात्यातील एकूण रकमेचा अंदाज घेणे कर्मचाऱ्यांना शक्य होत नाही. विशेष म्हणजे भविष्य निर्वाह निधी मंडळाच्या क्लिष्ट कारभारामुळे मंडळाकडे कोणाकडेही दाद मागण्याऐवजी शांत बसणेच कर्मचारी पसंत करतात. मात्र यामुळे होणारे नुकसान म्हणजे कंपन्यांकडून ही रक्कम जमा करण्यात होणाऱ्या विलंबामुळे त्या कालावधीच्या व्याजावर कर्मचाऱ्यांना पाणी सोडावे लागते.

केंदीय कामगार मंत्री मल्लिकार्जुन खर्गे यांनी लोकसभेला दिलेल्या माहितीनुसार देशातील तब्बल एक लाख २० कंपन्यांनी कंपन्यांनी प्रॉव्हीडंट फंडाची रक्कम भरण्यात टाळाटाळ केली आहे. आकडेवारीच्या दृष्टीकोनातून विचार करता आंध्र, महाराष्ट्र आणि तामिळनाडूसारखी प्रगत राज्ये या क्रमवारीत आघाडीवर आहेत. तर ईशान्येतील राज्ये, गोवा, उत्तरांचल, बिहार, छत्तीसगड, ओरिसा यासारख्या राज्यात ही टाळाटाळ करणाऱ्या कंपन्यांची संख्या तुलनेने कमी आहे. अशावेळी देशातील प्रगत राज्यांमध्ये इतरांच्या तुलनेत रोजगाराच्या संधी अधिक आहेत, कंपन्या अधिक आहेत आणि त्यामुळेच भरणा चुकविणाऱ्यांचे प्रमाण अधिक असेल हा युक्तीवाद पटण्यासारखा नाही. किंबहुना प्रगत तंत्रज्ञान आणि सातत्याने वाढणाऱ्या नफ्यामुळे कर्मचाऱ्यांच्या भविष्याची अधिकाधिक काळजी घेऊन तरी या कंपन्यांनी पैसे लवकरात लवकर भरावे अशी अपेक्षा आहे.

पीएफचा भरणा चुकविणाऱ्या कंपन्या
राज्य एकूण कंपन्या
आंध्रप्रदेश २०,२१३
महाराष्ट्र १८,६६६
तामिळनाडू १३,७३४
दिल्ली ११,८४२
उत्तर प्रदेश ८७५७
कर्नाटक ८०६८
पंजाब ७२८५
गुजरात ६१६५
हरियाणा ४५०८
प. बंगाल ४२०९

पीएफची रक्कम भरण्यात टाळाटाळ करणाऱ्या कंपन्यांवर कारवाईचे पाऊलही भविष्य निर्वाहनिधीकडून उचलण्यात आले. मात्र एक लाख २० हजारांहून अधिक कंपन्यांनी टाळाटाळ केली असताना केवळ निम्म्या म्हणजे ५५ हजार ८८ कंपन्यांविरोधात तक्रार दाखल करण्यात आली आहे. विशेष म्हणजे तक्रार दाखल करण्यात आलेल्यांमध्येही आंध्रप्रदेश आणि महाराष्ट्राने आघाडी कायम ठेवली आहे. हैदराबादमधील कंपन्यांवर सर्वाधिक म्हणजे ५३४२ तक्रारी दाखल झाल्या. तर ४३६१ तक्रारींसह महाराष्ट्र दुसऱ्या स्थानी आहे.

हे टाळण्यासाठी काय करावे लागेल

कम्प्युटरायझेशनचे काम वेगाने पूर्ण करणे गरजेचे

भरणा करण्यात टाळाटाळ करणाऱ्या कंपन्यांवर जबर दंड लावणे

विभागनिहाय खातेक्रमांक बदलण्याऐवजी कर्मचाऱ्यांना 'आधार' प्रमाणे एकच क्रमांक देणे. त्यामुळे खाते स्थलांतरित करताना अधिक कालावधी लागणार नाही.

रक्कम काढताना किंवा स्थलांतरित करता जमवावी लागणारी कागदपत्रांची जंत्री कमी करून ही सुविधा ऑनलाईनही उपलब्ध करून देणे.

पीएफचा हिस्सा वाढणार?

सध्या कर्मचाऱ्यांच्या मूळ वेतन आणि महागाई भत्त्यामधील रक्कमेच्या १२ टक्के पीएफ खात्यात जमा केले जातात. तितकेच पैसे कंपनीने देखील खात्यात जमा करणे आवश्यक असते. पण गेल्या काही वर्षांपासून कंपन्यांनी मूळ वेतन कमी ठेवून मेडिकल, कन्व्हेयन्स, नाईटशिफ्टअलाऊंस यासारखे निरनिराळे भत्ते वाढवून दिले आहे. त्यामुळे कर्मचाऱ्यांना अधिकाधिक रक्कम घरी घेऊन जाण्याचा आनंद आज मिळत असला तरी त्यांची भविष्याची तरतूद मात्र त्यामुळे कमी होते आहे. त्यामुळेच मध्यप्रदेश आणि मदास हायकोर्टाने प्रॉव्हीडंट फंडाची रक्कम भरताना हे भत्तेदेखील त्यात समाविष्ट करून घ्यावेत, असा आदेश दिला आहे. इतरही राज्यात लवकरच या निर्णयाची अंमलबजावणी होण्याची शक्यता आहे. त्यामुळे हा निर्णय लागू झाल्यास सध्या दरमहा मिळणारी पगाराची रक्कम कमी झालेली दिसली तरी भविष्य मात्र अधिकाधिक सुरक्षित होणार आहे.

Pioneer 10 Plaque

This is a postcard from Earth to Aliens. This plaque was sent aboard Pioneer 10, launched on March 02, 1972.Pioneer 10 was designed to study outer solar system and travel outside towards infinity till some extraterrestrial life finds it out and learns about earth using this plaque, which gives visual information about Earth, Solar system and Human race.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton (दर्जा : ***)

Pirate Latitudes is an action adventure novel written by Michael Crichton. The book was published posthumously by HarperCollins on November 24, 2009. It is an adventure story concerning piracy in Jamaica in the 17th century.

The novel stars the fictional privateer Captain Charles Hunter who, together with the governor of Jamaica, plots to raid a Spanish galleon for its treasure. Johnathan Burnham's review states that it is "thoroughly researched...packed through with great detail about navigation and how pirates operated, and links between the New World and the Caribbean and Spain.”

Michael Crichton's "Pirate Latitudes" is everything you're looking for in a pirate adventure. It doesn't necessarily do anything new with the genre, but it will satisfy those who found the popular "Pirates of the Caribbean" films too over-the-top and cartoony.

This (relatively short) novel tells the story of pirate (he prefers "privateer") Charles Hunter and his crew of super-pirates as they embark on a quest for the ultimate prize-- a Spanish treasure galleon. I say "super-pirates" because each of his crew does one or two things extraordinarily well, creating a sort of "who's who" of pirate archetypes. You have the stealth assassin, Sanson, who kills entire ship crews without making a sound. Then there is Bassa, the giant Moor who seems inspired by Fezzik from "The Princess Bride" and who kills with his bare hands. There is Lazue, the quintessential female pirate, who goes about as a man unless it suits her to use her feminine attributes and whose eyes are capable of spotting even the most camouflaged of reefs. There is Enders, the dependable helmsman, who can sail even the bulkiest of ships through the eye of a needle. And finally Don Diego aka "The Jew", the crafty munitions expert, who does something with rat innards you will not believe.

Other pirate tale staples appear as well: cannibals, damsels in distress, storms at sea, and sea monsters. The inclusion of the sea monster surprised me, given Crichton's realistic account of 17th century pirate life up to that point. While my initial reaction was to scoff, I soon found myself going with the idea. Crichton was a man of science, and you get the impression that he is acknowledging the possibility that perhaps the strange stories of sea monsters told by the old seafarers of the past may have had some truth to them. I won't go into too much detail about the monster, but its presence in the story is handled well. The sea monster scene is not particularly original, but it's hard not to smile while reading it. Yes, we've seen it before, but it's still fun to go over again with a new set of characters and circumstances.

"Pirate Latitudes" doesn't really hit its stride until about halfway through. From there on it is difficult to put down. The publisher's description of the book is incomplete (probably intentionally so). Yes, Captain Hunter and his motley crew are indeed embarking on a dangerous mission to cut out a Spanish treasure galleon from a nigh unconquerable port, but that is only half the story. I will not give away any more, but will instead allow you to discover the rest for yourself as I did.

As you read though the novel, you get the impression that this was something Crichton was writing merely for his own enjoyment. It was well-publicized that the completed manuscript was discovered after the author's death. We'll never know what he intended to do with it. Perhaps he never intended to publish it at all. While this may sound ludicrous to non-writers, I suspect this is the case. Many prolific authors have completed manuscripts tucked away that they wrote just for the pleasure of writing, and "Pirate Latitudes" seems to be one of those. Perhaps it was something he picked away at while trying to stave off writer's block for something else he was working on. Even if this novel was never intended to see the light of day, I am glad his family decided to go ahead and let us have a look at it.

"Pirate Latitudes" delivers everything you'd ever want from a pirate story, and also gives a fairly accurate historical portrayal of 17th century pirates, particularly the violent lives they lead. This book will likely not receive any awards, nor will it impress many literary critics, but it is not attempting to do so. It is well-worth reading if you enjoy fast-paced action adventure, particularly of the cutlass-wielding, piratey variety.

India set to sign $2.4bn Mirage deal with France

Faced with a dual threat from China and Pakistan, which have even come together to manufacture fighter jets , India is really cranking up military aviation contracts. Even as the $4.1 billion deal for 10 American C-17 Globemaster-III strategic airlift aircraft awaits the final nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), another major contract is now headed that way.

Defence ministry sources on Wednesday said the long-awaited deal with France for the upgrade of 52 Mirage-2000 multi-role fighters in IAF's combat fleet is "finally ready" at a cost of almost Rs 11,000 crore ($2.4 billion).

"This is also now going to CCS for approval. Another big contract, which was being progressed simultaneously, for around 450 MICA (interception and aerial combat missiles) systems to arm the upgraded Mirages is also in the final stages now," said a source.

This comes after long-drawn negotiations with French companies Dassault Aviation (aircraft manufacturer), Thales (weapons systems integrator) and MBDA (missile supplier), which were "initially asking for much more", said sources.

Under the contract, the first four to six Mirages will be upgraded in France, while the rest will be retrofitted in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) with transfer of technology from the French companies.

This means the overall Mirage upgrade package, including the fire-and-forget MICA missiles and the infrastructure build-up at HAL, will eventually cross the Rs 15,000-crore mark.

It obviously raises questions whether it would be more prudent to simply buy new fighters rather than upgrade older ones at such a huge cost. IAF, however, argues the "retrofitted" Mirages -- with new avionics, radars, mission computers, glass cockpits, helmet-mounted displays, electronic warfare suites, weapon delivery and precision-targeting systems -- would remain "top-notch fighters" for almost two decades more.

With a depleting number of fighter squadrons (each has 16 to 18 jets), down to just 32 from a `sanctioned strength' of 39.5, IAF is going for a mix of upgrades and new inductions to stem its fast-eroding combat edge over even Pakistan.

There is, for instance, the ongoing upgrade of 63 MiG-29s under a $964 million deal inked with Russia in March 2008. Then, India is also progressively inducting the 272 Sukhoi-30MKIs contracted from Russia for around $12 billion. Moreover, the first lot of the around 120 indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft will begin joining the force from end-2013 onwards.

India also wants to ink by December this year the $10.4 billion project for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), in which only the French Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoons are now left in contention after ejection of the American, Russian and Swedish jets.

On top of this all, India hopes to begin inducting 250-300 advanced stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), being co-developed with Russia, from 2020 onwards, in what will be its biggest-ever defence project at around $35 billion.

Eye on China, Navy boosts Eastern Command

With an eye on China as well as in keeping with India's "Look East" policy, the Navy is slowly but surely bolstering force levels on the eastern coast with new warships, aircraft and spy drones as well as forward-operating bases (FOBs).

So much so that the Navy has now upgraded the post of the chief of staff (CoS) at the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), which is next only to the flag officer commanding-in-chief, to a three-star general rank. Vice-Admiral S Lanba will take over as the new CoS at ENC on May 1, 2011. The other full-fledged naval operational command, the Western Naval Command (WNC) based at Mumbai, has had a vice-admiral as the CoS for quite some time now.

Additions to the ENC, which has around 50 warships at present, include the new indigenously-manufactured stealth frigate INS Shivalik, which is packed with weapons and sensors, and the 16,900-tonne INS Jalashwa, the huge strategic sea-lift amphibious warship second only to aircraft carrier INS Viraat in size.

"The next two indigenous stealth frigates being built at Mazagon Docks, INS Satpura and INS Sahyadri, which should be commissioned by 2012, will also be based in ENC. Tuticorin and Paradeep are being developed as FOB and OTR (operational turn-around) bases," said a source.

Then, the new fleet tanker, INS Shakti, which should come to India from Italy by September, and the P-8I Poseidon long-range maritime patrol aircraft will also be based in ENC. India is acquiring 12 P-8I aircraft, the first of which is slated for induction by early-2013, from the US for over $3 billion to plug the existing gaps in its surveillance of the entire Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

While these aircraft will be based in Rajali, Navy is also going to deploy spy drones or UAVs at the Parundu air station in Tamil Nadu. At present, Navy has two UAV squadrons based at Kochi and Porbandar, with Parundu and Port Blair next on the agenda. As part of Navy's three-tier aerial surveillance grid for IOR, the drones are already being used for the innermost layer reconnaissance up to 200 nautical miles.

Source : Times of India, 08/04/2011.