LTC Relaxation to travel by private airlines to visit Jammu and Kashmir is Extended

LTC Relaxation to travel by private airlines to visit Jammu and Kashmir is Extended 

No.31011/7/2014-Estt.(A-IV)

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Department of Personnel and Training

Establishment A-IV Desk

North Block, New Delhi-110 001

Dated: June 1st, 2016

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:- Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules, 1988 — Relaxation to travel by private airlines to visit Jammu & Kashmir – Extension reg.

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Ministry’s O.M. No. 31011/3/2014- Estt.(A-1V) dated 26th September, 2014 where Government servants in relaxation to CCS(LTC) Rules, were allowed to travel by air to visit Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), North East Region (NER) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (A&N) on LTC for a period of two years against conversion of one block of Home Town LTC. The relaxation was given subject to air travel by Air India only.

2. Later vide DoPT’s O.M. of even no. dated 28.11.2014, the Government decided to allow travel by private airlines to visit Jammu & Kashmir under this special dispensation scheme subject to certain conditions. The scheme was valid for a period of one year from the date of issue of the O.M. and expired on 27.11.2015.

3. It has now been decided to extend the scheme for a further period from the date of issue of this O.M., till the date of expiry of the of the special dispensation scheme of travel by air to J&K, NER and A&N, i.e. 25.09.2016. All other terms and conditions prescribed in this Department’s O.M. dated 28.11.2014 shall continue to apply.

(Mukesh Chaturvedi)

Director (Establishment)

India Post Payments Bank to be a reality

India Post Payments Bank to be a reality

The total corpus of the payments bank is of Rs 800 crore, which will have Rs 400-crore equity and Rs 400-crore grant

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will be set up as a public limited company under the Department of Posts with 100 per cent government equity. The Cabinet approved a proposal in this respect on Wednesday.

The total corpus of the payments bank is of Rs 800 crore, which will have Rs 400-crore equity and Rs 400-crore grant.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that 650 branches of the postal payments bank would be established in India, which will be linked to rural post offices.

India has 154,000 post offices, of which 139,000 are rural post offices. IPPB will obtain banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by March 2017 and by September 2017, all 650 branches of the postal payments bank would become operational.

Its services will be available across the country through these 650 payments bank branches, linked post offices and alternative channels, riding on modern technology including mobiles, ATMs and simple digital payments.

“This we had planned for three years, but now we will be doing it in a year,” said Prasad. He added that the payments bank, which will be run by a Chief Executive Officer, would be professionally managed and there would be a representation from various other government departments including the Department of Posts, Department of Expenditure, etc.

He said all ‘grameen dak sevaks’ in rural post offices would be given hand-held devices by March 2017.

“We are reinforcing it further. I have had discussion with my officers to give iPad and smartphones to postmen in urban post offices,” said Prasad.

At present, the core banking network of post offices is more than that of the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI).

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-post-payments-bank-to-be-a-reality-116060101947_1.html

7th Pay Commission Report to be put up before Cabinet in June

7th Pay Commission report to be put up before Cabinet in June –

 7th CPC implementation Notification to come at the earliest Central government employees can expect to get some good news trickling in from government sources towards the end of June.

As per reports, the Finance Ministry is likely to table the 7th Pay Commission report to the Cabinet for approval in the last week of June.

The 7th pay panel headed by AK Mathur had recommended the minimum salary for central government employees at Rs 18,000 and maximum salary at Rs 2,50,000. As employees protested against the wage hikecalling it the “lowest ever” raise, the government set up the Empowered Committee of Secretaries group to review the AK Mathur-panel’s recommendations.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries on the Seventh Central Pay Commission is expected to soon wrap up its report on the remuneration of government employees.

Sources added that even the Prime Minister’s Office is keen on a favourable pay hike for the central government employees, so the panel is likely to recommend a minimum salary at Rs 24,000 and the highest salary at Rs 2,70,000.

Sources added that the government is exploring options for meeting the additional payout over and above what was recommended by the 7th pay panel. The payout could be substantial with salary hike and arrears adding up to a Rs 1.02 lakh crore burden on government finances.

Report add that once the report moves from the table of the empowered group of committee to the cabinet, there is no reason why the cabinet would inordinately delay it.

The Finance Ministry is keen that higher salaries reach government employees just before the festive season starting mid-August, as spurt in consumption during the festive period will have a domino effect on the economy.

Souce: Zee News

Media reports : Govt likely to table the 7th pay commission report before Cabinet next month

Media reports : Govt likely to table the 7th pay commission report before Cabinet next month

Central government employees can expect to get some good news trickling in from government sources towards the end of June.

As per reports, the Finance Ministry is likely to table the 7th Pay Commission report to the Cabinet for approval in the last week of June.

The 7th pay panel headed by AK Mathur had recommended the minimum salary for central government employees at Rs 18,000 and maximum salary at Rs 2,50,000. As employees protested against the wage hike calling it the "lowest ever" raise, the government set up the Empowered Committee of Secretaries group to review the AK Mathur-panel's recommendations.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries on the Seventh Central Pay Commission is expected to soon wrap up its report on the remuneration of government employees.

Sources added that even the Prime Minister's Office is keen on a favourable pay hike for the central government employees, so the panel is likely to recommend a minimum salary at Rs 24,000 and the highest salary at Rs 2,70,000.

Sources added that the government is exploring options for meeting the additional payout over and above what was recommended by the 7th pay panel. The payout could be substantial with salary hike and arrears adding up to a Rs 1.02 lakh crore burden on government finances.

Report add that once the report moves from the table of the empowered group of committee to the cabinet, there is no reason why the cabinet would inordinately delay it.

The Finance Ministry is keen that higher salaries reach government employees just before the festive season starting mid-August, as spurt in consumption during the festive period will have a domino effect on the economy.

Source : Zee News

President conveys his appreciation and admiration for India’s unparalleled postal network.

President conveys his appreciation and admiration for India’s unparalleled postal network.

Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India held a meeting with Shri Ravishankar Prasad, Minister for Communications and IT at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on 20th May 2016, in which the central topic of discussion was the ongoing transformation of the postal network. The President enquired about the modernisation project, and was happy to learn about how the induction of IT was making service delivery at post offices contemporary. He also used the occasion to convey his fondness and admiration for the postal network to the postal staff, through the Minister.

File photo of President Mukherjee with Minister Prasad at a stamp release function in October 2014. Courtesy:www.prokerala.com

Details of this interaction with the President were revealed by Shri Prasad himself, during his keynote address on 22^nd May 2016, at the Conference of the Heads of Postal Circles at Hyderabad.

There have been a few other occasions in the past also when the Department has had the opportunity to benefit from President Mukherjee words of guidance and came in for praise from him. While inaugurating an international postal event at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan in 2013, he had commended the unparalleled network of the Post Office and advised that there is a huge scope for postal services to be engaged in e-commerce, and that it should capitallise on the rising demand for such business products. On that occasion, he had also highlighted the need to move with the times, and said that globalization and easier movement of workforce across nations have opened a great window of opportunity for the postal sector in parcel and money remittance businesses. Further, he had emphasised that worldwide, postal administrations enjoy the trust of people and advised that the Post Office must leverage this and other strengths to provide improved quality of service to the people.

Inauguration of the new building of the Rashtrapati Bhavan PO 

in July 2014. Photo courtesy: Exposeindialive.com

It is no surprise then that hearing from the Minister about developments like the networking of post offices, postal savings coming on a CBS platform and the Post Office preparing to set up a Payments Bank would have been a matter of satisfaction for him. His sending a message a message to the postal staff through the Minister is a rare gesture, which is sure to inspire them to higher standards of service delivery.

The words of appreciation from the President represent the increasing significance of the Postal network in the national mainstream and in public perception. With it also comes a higher responsibility for the management and staff of India Post, the responsibility of living up to the expectations of the country’s First Citizen.

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India Post Payments Bank Will Be Functional By March 17: IT Minister

India Post Payments Bank Will Be Functional By March 17: IT Minister

He said the proposed India Post payments bank will have immense potential to sell third party product and services.

Hyderabad: India Post's payments bank will start functioning from March 2017 and serve as a wider platform to implement financial inclusion programmes, IT & Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Sunday.

"We are going to start the postal payments bank by March 2017. Very soon we will go to the Cabinet and postal payments bank will become operational from March 2017," Prasad told reporters here.

He said the proposed India Post payments bank will have immense potential to sell third party product and services. About 50 companies, including some from abroad, are keen to partner with postal department for the payments bank, like World Bank, Citi from America, Barclay's from England, he said.

Reacting to a query, he said these institutions will offer third party services like insurance products, mutual funds, banking instruments and a variety of financial instruments. Asked on the interest shown by these institutions, the minister said, "...that board will decide, I'm only saying value addition of postal department it is attracting so much global attention." "...they will decide how much to give them. It is a call they will take," he said.

The payments bank of postal department will become a big platform of financial inclusion, Prasad said. "We are going to invest about Rs 800 crore -- Rs 400 crore will be invested by  the department and the remaining amount will be equity part (mobilised as equity)," he said.

"Postal department has the widest network in India. We have 1,54,939 post offices in the country, out of that 25,560 are departmental post offices and 1,29,379 are branch post offices," he said.

"Under (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, we have decided to re-energise the postal department for India's growth and financial inclusion," he further said. In August 2015, the RBI had given in-principle approval to 11 entities to start payments bank, including the postal department.

The approval is valid for 18 months and all the entities are required to submit a detailed business plan after which they shall be given the final nod.   

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MAY DAY GREETINGS TO ALL

MAY DAY GREETINGS TO ALL

എല്ലാവര്‍ക്കും മേയ്ദിനാശംസകള്‍!

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അല്പം ചില മേയ്ദിന ചിന്തകള്‍

മേയ് ഒന്ന്, ലോക തൊഴിലാളി ദിനം. 1886ല്‍ അമേരിക്കയിലെ ചിക്കാഗോ വ്യവസായ നഗരത്തിലെ തെരുവീഥികളില്‍ മരിച്ചുവീണ നൂറുകണക്കിനു തൊഴിലാളികളുടെയും, ആ സമരത്തിന് നേതൃത്വം നല്‍കിയതിന്റെ പേരില്‍ കൊലമരത്തില്‍ ഏറേണ്ടിവന്ന പാര്‍സന്‍സ്, സ്‌പൈസര്‍, ഫിഷര്‍, എംഗള്‍സ് തുടങ്ങിയ തൊഴിലാളി നേതാക്കളുടെയും സ്മരണാര്‍ത്ഥമാണ് ഈ ദിനം ആചരിക്കുന്നത്. ഫ്രെഡറിക്ക് എംഗള്‍സിന്റെ നേതൃത്വത്തിലുള്ള രണ്ടാം സോഷ്യലിസ്റ്റ് ഇന്റര്‍നാഷണലാണ് ഈ ദിനം സാര്‍വ്വദേശീയ തൊഴിലാളി ദിനമായി ആചരിക്കുവാന്‍ തീരുമാനിച്ചത്. ആദ്യകാലത്ത് റഷ്യയിലും ചൈനയിലുമാണ് ഈ ദിനം വളരെ സജീവമായി ആചരിച്ചുവന്നത്. പിന്നീട് ലോകം മുഴുവന്‍ ഈ ദിനം ഏറ്റെടുക്കുകയായിരുന്നു. അമേരിക്ക, ദക്ഷിണാഫ്രിക്ക, കാനഡ മുതലായ ചില രാജ്യങ്ങള്‍ മേയ്ദിനം ഇനിയും അംഗീകരിച്ചിട്ടില്ല. അമേരിക്കയില്‍ ഈ ദിനം നിയമദിനമായാണ് ആചരിക്കുന്നത്. ഇന്ത്യയില്‍ 1923ല്‍ മദ്രാസിലാണ് ആദ്യമായി മേയ്ദിനം ആചരിക്കുന്നത്. ഇന്ത്യയില്‍ മേയ് 1 പൊതു അവധി ആയത് അതിനുശേഷമാണ്. 1957ല്‍ കമ്മ്യൂണിസ്റ്റ് മന്ത്രിസഭ അധികാരത്തില്‍ വന്നപ്പോഴാണ് കേരളത്തില്‍ മേയ്ദിനം പൊതു അവധി ആകുന്നത്. മേയ്ദിനം അംഗീകരിച്ചിട്ടുള്ള മിക്ക രാജ്യങ്ങളിലും ഈ ദിനം പൊതു അവധിയാണ്. വിപ്ലവഗാനങ്ങള്‍ പാടുവാനും വിപ്ലവനേതാക്കളെ ഓര്‍ക്കാനും തൊഴിലാളിവര്‍ഗ്ഗ വിമോചനത്തിനുള്ള പോരാട്ടങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് ആവേശം പകരുവാനും മേയ്ദിനം ഉപകരിക്കുന്നു. വെറുമൊരു ദിനാചരണമല്ല മേയ് ദിനം. അത് തൊഴിലാളികളടക്കം അടിമസമാനമായ ജീവിതം നയിക്കുന്നവരുടെയും പലവിധ ചൂഷണങ്ങള്‍ക്കിരയാകുന്നവരുടെയും അധ:സ്ഥിതരുടെയും അടിച്ചമര്‍ത്തപ്പെട്ടവരുടെയും വിമോചന മന്ത്രമുരുവിടുന്ന ദിവസമാണ്. ഒപ്പം ആധുനികകാലത്ത് ലോകമെങ്ങുമുള്ള സാമ്രാജ്യത്വവിരുദ്ധ പോരാട്ടങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് മേയ്ദിനം നല്‍കുന്ന സന്ദേശം ഉത്തേജനം നല്‍കും.

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