New year Greetings

CHSS - Declaration of family details

CHSS Circular No. 6.10 dt. Dec 15, 2016  reminds all ISRO Pensioners  to submit the Family details declaration before 25th January, 2017.
Make it a point to fillup the form (below)  and send it to the Admn Officer, CHSS,

CHSS - new Hospitals empaneled

The following Hospitals are now empaneled under CHSS.

1.     TSC Hospital, Bypass road, Kulathoor, Trivandrum  Phone - 0471 2412127, 2712128
        (Ref. Circular No. 6.3/2016 Dt. Dec 08, 2016 )

2.    DPMS Hospital, Eanikkara, Karakulam, Trivandrum Phone - 0471 - 2373004 / 8590203321
         (Ref. Circular No. 6.3/2016 Dt. Dec 01, 2016 )

3.    Ozanam Eye Hospital, inside Bishop Benziger Hospital, Beach Road, Kollam
        Phone - 0474-2768201
        (Ref. Circular No. 6.3/2016 Dt. Nov  17, 2016 )


Referral letter from the respective AMO is required for availing treatment in these Hospitals.

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

PF interest rates announced

EPFO, on Monday reduced the interest rate payable on their PF savings for this financial year to 8.65 %, as against 8.8 % in 2015-16. This is the lowest return on EPF savings in the last seven years.

Strike....Strike... brewing up !

Central Govt Employees' unions calls nationwide strike on February 15, demanding settlement of 21-points-charter demand.

This is also against what they say “the betrayal and breach of assurance by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu”.

The demands include implementation of OPTION 1 of 7CPC for all Pre-2016 pensioners.

NotRetired. Are You ?

Please read this news item (BusinessLine) if you  retired but not tired.  The "job offers site"  NotRetired.in  offers you something . Just rty !

Feast of FEAST

Composite Thoughts

Congratulations "Composites Group", for organising such an event.  ISROfef  hopes that the Organisers would  acknowledge the contributions of the men who built the "Composites Group".

The mirage

Senior most retired ISROite to his Grandchild :  Baby, ... did you listen Doordarshan news ?  Is option one coming anytime ?

`

And a Pre-2006 retiree :  Hell with it .... When is that damn option 1 coming ??

Congrats Jaspers

( A TheHindu report )

Team Indus - Lunar Probing

Team Indus !  That's great !!  Private sector in Space explorations !!!  ISRO be sMaRTer !!!!

No need for more comments !

61 Vs 16

" I'm not 61. I'm 16 with 45 years' experience"  ... goes a message from a SeniorCitizen, on the Social Media spreading.

Make it true !  Every Senior Citizen  should feel  16, irrespective of his age by number.  Afterall, age is just a number. The rest is what you feel !

Give up your Driving Licence

This news is quite interesting... but thought provoking !

Japan Police offers soup discounts for elderly drivers who give up driving licence !!

This offer comes after a series of deadly accidents caused by cars driven by Senior Citizens.


Are you driving vehicles ?  If so, then its time you think thrice .... Give up driving or not ! ?

But it all depends on your health, confidence, and experience. It's also better someone else too evaluate your driving .  Ask a mature youngster to assess your driving. Then take a decision to give up or not.

But one thing for sure ... DON'T  expect any discounts for anything atall !  May be that no one bothers if you make a deadly accident  ! Is that's our system ??  But YOU don't make that sin.

Rise of DA - Pre and post 1-1-2016

DA for Pensioners (as on Sept 2016 )  ;  %increase over 1-1-2006   =  135.04
                                                                 %increase over  1-1-2016  =   4.24

At the old rate, the increase in DA (over 1-1-2016)  is 10.04 % on pre-revised BP
At the new rate, the increase in DA (over 1-1-2016, 7CPC fixed)  is 4.24 % on 7CPC fixed BP.

LET US LIVE IN PEACE .... !!

"Bharat Pensioners Samaj", the largest Pensioners'Organisation, made a request to the Government.

" LET US LIVE IN PEACE IN THE EVENING OF OUR LIVES.  DO NOT PUSH PENSIONERS TO COURTS TO SEEK JUSTICE.

Allow us to choose any one of the following three options for Pension / Family pension revision of pre-2016 pensioners/ family pensioners.

1.     2.57 times of the pension recommended by the 7CPC and accepted by the Government.
2.      Option 1 recommended by 7CPC and accepted by the Govt, if that is beneficial for them
3.      Determine the pension based on the suggestion placed by the Pension Dept on 6-10-2016 ; ie. the Notional pay in  7CPC  be arrived by applying the formula for pay revision for the serving employees in each pay commission and giving 50% of this notional pay as pension to all pre-2016 Pensioners/family pensioners , if beneficial to them.

BPS  says, GET READY FOR THE FIGHT !   IT's NOW OR NEVER !!

No Pay hike for Non-performers

ISROfef supports this idea/ action (if implemented ! ) 

At the same time, ISROfef  thinks about ... Had this been implemented in 1976  ( 4CPC) or 1986 (5CPC)  !!  ????

How many of you would have got your full pensions ???

Squeezing the Seniors

Please make sure that you read today's Editorial of BusinessLine.

ISROfef is too happy that atleast one responsible media is now raising the issue, though a bit late.

The issue is that of the bank rates going down. Now with the demonetisation of  currencies, the inflation is heading south. This will now be followed by a sharp fall in bank deposit and small saving rates.  Though this is certainly good for the national economy, its a serious problem for the depositors.

As we all know, most of the pensioners / senior citizens have deposited their funds, hoping and depending on its interest income. With the interest rates falling, we all, pensioners and senior citizens are in a serious problem.

This well known issue, however , is not in the eyes of our Government authorities. BusinessLine now writes :

With bank deposits and small savings rates likely to fall sharply, the Centre must consider measures to cushion Senior Citizens.

Prof. M G K Menon

Padma Vibhushan  Prof. M G K Menon 

Our former Chairman, and a prominent Physicist / Scientist , is no more. He was 88, and died yesterday,  May his soul rest in peace.

Infosys Prize to Dr.Anil Bhardwaj

Dr. Anil Bhardwaj, Director, SPL

Winner of this year's  "Indian Nobel Prize"

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here added another feather to its cap on Friday, when Dr. Anil Bhardwaj, Director of the Space Physics Laboratory at the centre, was awarded the Infosys Prize 2016 in Physical Sciences.

Click above to read the News item in TheHindu

ISROfef   congratulates our young brother Anil 

Life Certificate - Date extended

Did you submit your LIFE CERTIFICATE to the pension paying Bank ?  If not done so far, please do not worry. Let the hullah..bellaa.. of currency exchange and cash problems be over. Government has kindly consented to extend the date of submission of Pensioners' Life Certificate to January 15, 2017. So you have two more months' time. But remember !  You should do it before 15 January !!

""

The last date for submission of the annual life certificate for the government pensioners which is to be submitted in November every year has been extended upto January 15, 2017

And another good news ...

Banks are advised to make arrangements for separate queues for Senior citizens and Divyang (disabled) persons. Similarly, separate queues should also be arranged for those who come to exchange SBN for cash and those who come to deposit into bank accounts

ISRO assists Farming

ISRO agrees to Kerala Govt in providing Satellite based information for farming. That's very honorable step towards Space Tcehnology assisting the common man !

Heart Attack / Stroke -- Emergency

The following information will be useful for our people in and around Trivandrum.

500 and 1000 Vs new 500 and 2000

Download the format ( in pdf ) and get it printed.

ISROfef is certain that none of our community will face any problems on the Currency changes. Ok.. may be little bit inconvenience for a few days, for changing the few 500/1000 notes you may have in possession. But that's for a noble cause and hence the trouble is not serious.

Are you aware what you should do to manage this situation. The media loudly tells you everything. So, please listen. However the following may be of use to you.

In addition to  this, you would need the following format filled up that should be given to the Bank along with the old currency notes.

Download in pdf format and get it printed.

Life Certificate

It's November now !  Yeah ... it's time to prove that you are alive, to the Pension disbursing authorities.

So, this is just a reminder to you. Please submit your LIFE CERTIFICATE in the coming days (before end of November) to your pension disbursing Bank. Choose your method. Visit the Bank Branch, or use a Digital Life Certificate (Jeevan Pramaan)

You would have already got a reminder from the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare.

Ram Kishan Grewal and OROP

Condolences

What's wrong ?  What happened ?? 

Balagangadharan V P

Congrats Balagangadharan ! We are proud of you !!






Sri. VP Balagangadharan has been selected for the Kerala Science Literature Award 2015 ( instituted by  Kerala State Council for Science, Technology  and Environment ) , This award is conferred on him for his commendable contribution to science literature in Malayalam. This carries a cash prize of Rs. 50000, a plaque,  and a Ceretificate.

He won this award for the best Science book (popular science) for his work titled "Mangalyaan - oru sasthranjante kurippukal "

Congrats Baaloo ..  !!

2 % DR for Pensioners

Yes... it's announced. 
2% DA/DR , w e f 1-7-2016,  announced by Govt yesterday.

CHSS News

Download / Read these Circulars

CHSS News
VSSC has sent us, the Pensioners, a set of Seven Circulars ( dt Jan to Oct 2016 period) now. The summary of information from these Circulars is as below.

Circular dt. January 05, 2016
Amala Cancer Centre (Trichur) is now recognised for all specialities ( Cardiology, Cardiothorasic surgery, and Nephrology, in addition to the earlier approved Oncology ) . This requires prior permission from Administration, VSSC/LPSC/IPRC/IIST )

Circular dt. May 06, 2016
Certain OP / IP facilities at KIMS , Trivandrum , derecognised during April 2015, are now reinstated.

Circular dt. June 07, 2016
Vijaya Hospital, Kottarakkara is recognised under CHSS for consultation and treatment.

Circular dt. July 22, 2016
AIMS, Cochin (Amrita) is now approved for all specialities/ Departments. Prior permission from Administration is NOT required (as per the new Circular dt October 24, 2016 )

Circular dt. August 02, 2016
Indian Institute of Diabetes, Pulayanaarkotta, Trivandrum is now recognised for Consultation and treatment.

Circular dt. October 17, 2016
Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly is now recognised for all beneficiaries from VSSC/LPSC/IISU. for Ophthalmic treatment.

Download / Read these Circulars

DA increase due on July 1, 2016

Routines are changing !  It used to be well before Deepavali, and arrears paid a week before the holidays. But everything changes over time. Believe me its all for those "ache din" coming up.

This is about the July installment of DA. This time, it's not yet decided .  Reports say that the Ministry is likely to discuss and decide on the DA today.  Earler reports said the Govt may consider 1 % DA increase. But today the reports talk about 2 %, against the Employees Federations demanding 3 %.

But we Pensioners have NO role in this process. Just accept whatever is given by the Govt.

Let's all hope that the announcement comes TODAY and the increase in DA and arrears are paid in a week's time.

Please be aware of this too !  DA increase over 1-1-2016 :  
June 16       2.91 %
July  16      3.44 %
August 16   3.69 %

Euthanasia

Most of you, I am sure, will not be inclined to read this. However, at least for academic interest, please read on.

It may take another century for our countrymen to  legalise euthanasia !

( Copied from BusinessLine )

Navarathri Greetings

Navarathri days are just over .  However, please accept this belated 

Navarathri Greetings.

Navarathri Greetings.

Navarathri Greetings.

The sweet pill, the bitter pill !

The most important news  headline today ( other than war related ) is “ RBI delivers the cut that cheers”.  As you know, its regarding the repo rate cut by 25 bps ( ie, 0.25 %) now effected by RBI . This  is expected to  a cut in the Bank interest rates by the same extend.  This is certainly good for the overall economy and growth. That’s very fine indeed !

But who  really  benefits  from this  interest rate  reduction ?  The advantage is for the new borrowers.  And definitely not for the existing borrowers , as the banks do not extend the cuts to existing loan accounts, and they retain the erstwhile base rates.

So, new borrowers get a sweet pill !  Earlier borrowers get a bitter pill !

And how about us, the pensioners ?  Being a pensioner, it is most probable that you have some Fixed Deposits in the Bank. You may be depending a lot on the interest income on this. If it’s so for you, you get a very bitter pill !  The interest will get reduced immediately now on ( Banks are too smart to reduce deposit rates !) and your returns are down !

Now , do you know who cheers ?  Its certainly not any cheer for the pensioners.

7CPC for Supreme Court employees implemented

Orders for 7CPC recommendations, now modified for employees of Supreme Court, is just released. The most glaring speciality is that the Revised Pay will be based on the PayMatrix (and not just the x2.57).

Read order .... Click here !
7CPC-SupremeCourt

Does this give hope for us,  Pensioners, for a Pension revision based on Pay Matrix as recommended by 7CPC ??   Let's hope for the best ! And wait on ...

Congrats ISRO

Congratulations ISRO !    for the wonderful successful innovative launch !!

Do you have Aadhar ?

Aadhar is certainly aadhar for anything now in our Country.  This is more right so, as the Govt is telling us (Senior Citizens) to have Aadhar.

Govt have decided that Senior Citizens must quote their Aadhar for availing concessions in Railway fare. To be implemented soon (from December this year ) Govt  now reminds all to get their Aadhar  registration (if not already done).

So, immediately make sure you have an AADHAR !

ONAM... all about Onam

Dear Friends and Associates,

It's quite interesting. Just watch this video !

Onam Greetings

ISROfef wishes all ISROites and visitors 

 a very happy ONAM

ഓണാശംസകൾ 

Congratulations ISRO

Congratulations GSLV Team

Congratulations ISRO

Congrats all our bachas !  

What else can ISROfef , the gang of forgotten people,  do ??

Interim appease

7CPC – Committee of Secretaries on Allowances may announce interim awards to appease Employees and Pensioners.

This news is on air now !   But how come "allowances" to appease Pensioners ? 

No way !! That's for employees only. "Allowances" (except DR) are double dutch for pensioners in our context.

But ISROfef welcomes any such positive  actions from Govt !!!

Loss ! Losing everywhere !

ISROfef hopes that you all received your 7CPC revised pension this month. And that too with the arrears for the last 7 months.  So far so good. But its not so good !

You all would have realised that you got a hike of just 14 % in your gross pension amount. But, this is far too less than what we really expected. This means that we are at a great loss !

But the losses doesn't stop with the revised pension. It continues ... Now its the DA !

The DA increase wef  1-7-2016 is 2 % . ie. 2 % of the revised Basic Pension.
Had it been on the pre-revised Pension, it is 7%.
Please compute your DA increase . You will be surprised to know that you get less now !!
Just look at this example.
Pre-revised Basic Pension : 23050
DA increase as on 1-7-16 = 7 %
So you get an increase of  23070x7/100 = 1614

7CPC revised Basic Pension : 23050x2.57 = 59238
DA increase as on 1-7-2016 = 2 %
So you get an increase of  59238x2/100 = 1185

So, your loss ( due to revision ) = 1614 - 1185 = 429

This translates to a loss of  27 % in you DA (wrt to the revised Pension )

On course, Ofcourse !

Congratulations VKS Panicker !

ISROfef congratulates you , your team,  and ofcourse  ISRO, for this achievement .

( inserts  from TheHindu )

ISRO Pensioner

2nd issue of ISRO Pensioner from ISRO Pensioners' Association is just released.
This magazine is very informative, useful, and looks good !

ISROfef congratulates the ISRO P A team.

Chasing an Aircraft

This is a news clip from BusinessLine supplement dt 13th August. You may wonder how this relates to ISRO retirees.  But, a couple of ISRO employees, in 1975/76, have experienced something like this,  at Trivandrum Airport !  Oh ... not convincing ! ?  I'll not tell you everything about it right now. I can mention a few key words. That's all right now !

RH 300 rocket, First Indian missile, BSF, Test flights, Barmer Rajasthan  !!

Eye Yoga Exercises

Yes ... This will certainly do GOOD for you. 

Courtesy :  Vision Express, Trivandrum

Pension Calculator - and Arrears

If you are not sure of how to calculate your 7CPC revised pension and arrears ( based on Govt orders dt. 4-8-2016) , I suggest , please use the GConnect Pension Calculator .

Click the GConnect link below to compute your Pension and Arrears.

GConnect Pension Calculator

But, I am sure,  as an ISRO retiree, you know it better how to compute your pension and arrears. If that's my ego, please forgive me ....

Pension Orders - 4 August 2016

7CPC - Pension Order 1


7CPC - Pension Order  2


7CPC - Pension Order  3

Revised Pension orders issued - Good and Bad

The news is good and bad !

The good thing is that the Govt has issued orders on 7CPC revised pension. This is based on the 2.57 multiplication factor (Option 2 of 7CPC recommendations) .  As you all would know, the increase in pension is just 14.2 %

This doesnot  implement the OROP as per the PayMatrix recommended by 7CPC (Option 1 of 7CPC recommendations).  Let's hope  that the "Committee for review of feasibility of implementing the Option 1 " will bring us good news !

To calculate your revised pension ?? Just multiply your present (as per 6CPC) basic pension by 2.57. That's your gross pension. Subtract the commutation element , and that's your net pension receivable.

(This is without the age based additional pension ).

See the next post to read/download the Govt Orders

7CPC Video

An amusing, but meaningful Video from FaceBook . Click below ...

7CPC

CHSS news

Two important  CHSS communications are reproduced here for your information.