Valsad writes itself into Guinness records

Dear Comrades,

SURAT: While the relevance of the age-old postcard may be debated in the cyber and mobile era, this humble piece of postal stationery helped residents and district administration of Valsad enter the Guinness Book of World Records on Saturday.

The entry is for 'most people sending a postcard from a single location simultaneously'. The people had pooled 17,599 post cards on April 30 that were addressed to their near and dear ones thanking them for participating in the Lok Sabha polls.

The residents of Valsad breezed past the previous record standing in the name of Nalanda Engineering College in Andhra Pradesh from where 14,004 postcards were sent in 2011.

A large number of people from different parts of the district had converged at the sprawling Bulsar District Cricket Association (BDCA) ground on Saturday morning to write the post cards. The entire programme was conducted by Valsad district administration under the leadership of district collector Dr Vikrant Pandey to express gratitude to the voters for the phenomenal turnout during the Lok Sabha polling on April 30. The postcards were written simultaneously by the residents and posted at virtual post offices set up by the Valsad postal department.

CWC MEETING OF AIPEU GROUP-C ODISHA CIRCLE BRANCH

Dear Comrades,

 

NATIONAL COUNCIL ( STAFF SIDE) JCM WRITES TO 7th CPC

Dear Comrades,

NATIONAL COUNCIL ( STAFFSIDE) JCM WRITES TO 7th CPC

= TO VIEW THE LETTERS  REGARDING " ORAL EVIDENCE AND REQUESTING EXTENSION OF TIME  UPTO 31^st July 2014 for submission of Memorandum by Individual Federations/ASSOCIATIONS

CLICK HERE   FOR  LETTER  ONE

CLICK HERE   FOR  LETTER  TWO

Antivirus is dead: Symantec

Dear Comrades,

Symantec, maker of the widely used Norton Antivirus software suite, has declared that antivirus technology "is dead".

The company's senior vice president of information security Brian Dye told the Wall Street Journal that hackers were not only finding new ways to break into computers but that antivirus wasn't "a moneymaker in any way."

India Post banking system and ATMs goes live in hundreds of post offices

Dear Comrades,

India Post has gone live with its core banking platform in 200 post offices, piloting Infosys Finacle and a postal life insurance system based on Infosys McCamish platform.

This is the part of the end-to-end IT Modernization project 2012 programme by the Department of Posts to equip itself with modern tools and technologies.

Around 23,200 out of 155,000 post offices in India are to be migrated into the Core Banking Solution (CBS) by 2015.

Once all the post offices are live on the CBS, customers will be able to access their post office savings account anywhere in the country through multiple channels including internet browser, mobile and ATM.

C.N Raghupathi, head of Infosys’s India business, said there has been positive acceptance among end users with smooth implementation and adoption.

While the implementation is not affecting India Post staff, they do need some training on the usage and deployment of the new platform and solutions.

“There are two types of users for the software,” said Raghupathi. “One is the users from India Post and the second is the end users.” He said there are some pockets of resistance among users. “The resistance stems from the fact that this is a much more robust piece of software and has complexities which we are trying to work on through training. And for the India Post users, there is training that we have to do.”

“Also, most of the post offices are operated by people who are largely educated to only middle school level and who operate in some of the most remote areas of the country. Obviously, giving them a robust piece of software which is used by international banks and global insurance agencies requires a lot of training,” said Raghupathi.

India Post has post offices in 22 areas across India with one branch per 8,000 people for every 22 square kilometres. CBS, which went live in December, is already implemented in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam and Andhra Pradesh.

Additionally, the software for the ATM is ready and these ATMs have been installed in 100 post office banks. These ATMs will be replicated in 1,000 other locations across the country in the next few months and will be scaled up to 2,800 by 2,015.

“The next step is to roll it out to 2800 [Post Office] banks. We have to make sure this is done correctly and things work smoothly. This in itself will take the better part of the next one year,” said Raghupathi.

Raghupathi said that to enrich the mobile banking experience, the next stage would be to add mobility as a solution to take the banking system to people that can’t reach a bank. “That’s a different project in itself and the software for this is ready but India Post has to order the hardware, which is essentially handheld devices which will let the post man become a mobile banking correspondent.”

http://searchcio.techtarget.in

FinMin nixes India Post's plan to set up a bank : Tells RBI this is not the time to consider such a foray, especially given the lack of funds to spare for such a venture

Dear Comrades,

The Union finance ministry has poured cold water on India Post's application to set up a bank. The postal department might be asked to re-apply when new guidelines for bank licences are issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
As suggested by the Bimal Jalan-headed screening committee, the issue came up for discussion at a recent meeting of the finance ministry and RBI, a ministry official said. The ministry said India Post was not ready for a banking foray.
India Post had said it needed Rs 1,800 crore to set up the bank. The postal department had sought an initial capital of Rs 623 crore from the finance ministry. It had thought of raising the rest from other sources.

NO BANKING JOB FOR THE POSTMAN

Finance ministry says India Post is not ready for a banking foray India Post had said it needed Rs 1,800 crore to set up the bank The postal department had sought an initial capital of Rs 623 crore from the finance ministry The advantage with India Post for getting a banking licence is that it has a branch in every nook and corner of the country India Post has deposits of Rs 4 lakh crore but doesn't have experience in handling advances

"When we don't have enough money to recapitalise existing public sector banks, how can we afford to give funds for a new government bank?" said the official.

RBI had granted licences to only two entities, IDFC and Bandhan Financial Services, of the 25 applicants which applied to set up a bank.

The high-level advisory committee (Jalan panel) set up by RBI to look into the bank licence applications had recommended the central bank consider India Post's application separately, in consultation with the government, and RBI had agreed to do so.

RBI had also said that instead of only opening the licensing window periodically, it would like to make it a regular process, also mooting the idea of differentiated licences.

Officials said RBI might issue new guidelines with some modifications for on-tap and differentiated licences. Then, India Post could stand a chance, particularly as a deposit-taking bank, provided it addressed the concerns of all stakeholders, they added.

The advantage with India Post is that it has a branch in every nook and corner of the country. So, it can help the government reach the objective of financial inclusion.

"India Post deserves the licence because they have the ability to attract customers, the first step towards financial inclusion. It is easier to lend but difficult to get deposits," said Abizer Diwanji, partner and national leader-financial services, EY.

While India Post has deposits of Rs 4 lakh crore, it doesn't have experience in handling advances. It has a huge workforce but lacks experience in the range of banking operations, particularly treasury and risk management. Thus, it will have to get talent from the market, while some from its existing staff of 474,000 might be redundant.

India has the largest postal network in the world, with 155,015 post offices (against 98,000 bank branches), of which 90 per cent are in rural areas. However, the department posted a loss of Rs 5,805 crore in 2011-12. Both Bandhan and IDFC, on the other hand, are profitable.

http://www.business-standard.com/

Procedure to be observed by Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) - Assessment of entries and gradings in ACRs/APARs

Dear Comrades,

Procedure to be observed by Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) - Assessment of entries and gradings in ACRs/APARs

CLICK HERE

MACP ON PROMOTIONAL HIERARCHY ON PERSONAL BASIS ONLY - DoPT in an RTI REPLY

Dear Comrades,

MACP ON PROMOTIONAL HIERARCHY ON PERSONAL BASIS ONLY --- DoPT in an RTI REPLY

CLICK HERE

7th CPC Quessionare - Reply given by JCM National Council (Staff Side)

Dear Comrades,

7th CPC Quessionare - Reply given by JCM National Council (Staff Side)

No.NC-JCM-2014/7^th CPC                           May, 2014

The Secretary,

7^th Central Pay Commission,

New Delhi

Sub: - Reply to Questionnaire

Respected Madam,

We are enclosing herewith reply to Questionnaire on behalf of National Council (Staff Side) JCM for kind consideration of the Commission.

With regards,

Yours faithfully,

(Shiva Gopal Mishra)

Secretary

CLICK HERE

Temporary Deputation of Hajj Assistant applications are to be sent MoEA directly by Circles

Dear Comrades,

Simplification of Pension procedure - Submission of undertaking by retiring Government servant

Dear Comrades,

Simplification of Pension procedure - Submission of undertaking by retiring Government servant

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

7th and previous Central Pay Commissions

Dear Comrades,

Seventh Central Pay Commission

 

In a resolution dated 28th February, 2014, Government of India has appointed the Seventh Central Pay Commission comprising Justice Shri Ashok Kumar Mathur as Chairman, Shri Vivek Rae as full time Member, Dr. Ratin Roy as part time Member and Smt. Meena Agarwal as Secretary. The Commission is headquartered in Delhi and has been given 18 months from date of its constitution to make its recommendations. To this end the Commission will set up its team of Officers, Advisers, Institutional Consultants and Experts and call for required information and documents from Ministries and Departments of Government of India and various Service associations.

 

The dates of appointment and submission of recommendations of the previous six central pay commissions are as under-

 

Central Pay Commissions	Date of Appointment	Date of Submission of Report
First Pay Commission	May, 1946	May, 1947
Second Pay Commission	August, 1957	August, 1959
Third Pay Commission	April, 1970	March, 1973
Fourth Pay Commission	June, 1983	Three Reports submitted in June, 1986; December, 1986 and May, 1987 respectively
Fifth Pay Commission	April, 1994	January, 1997
Sixth Pay Commission	October, 2006	March, 2008

Delhi HC refuses to stay functioning of Seventh Pay Commission

Dear Comrades,

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to stay the functioning of the Seventh Pay Commission while hearing a plea that challenged a notification on inclusion of a former IAS officer as a member of the panel.

Justice Sudershan Kumar Misra also issued notice to the central government on the plea filed by retired members of the all India Services, central civil services and armed forces against the government's February 28 notification constituting the commission.

The petitioners argued that inclusion of a former Indian Administrative Service officer, Vivek Rae, in the four-member commission give rise to a "real likelihood of bias" on his part to give a favourable recommendation to the IAS.

The petition said: "The impugned resolution, by retaining the practice of including a member of the IAS as a member of the commission has given rise to a real likelihood of bias on the part of such member in favour of maintaining the status quo, under which the IAS enjoys a position of special privilege in respect of pay fixation."

Rae has a directed pecuniary interest in the recommendations of the commission, as it would also determine his pension and retirement benefits, alleged the plea.

The petitioners further questioned the practice of previous pay commissions providing an "edge" in pay scales to members of the IAS over other members of the AIS and other central civil services including India Forest Services (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS), and all other group A central services.

"Past report of the commission rise to a reasonable apprehension that the reason for the repeated rejection of the demands for parity of other services in the AIS with the IAS is attributable to the fact that the commission has always comprised of a member of the IAS," the petition submitted.

Central government counsel, however, argued the commission was not a "one-man show" and that it recommendations inturn have to go through scrutiny of the government and Rae was included in the commission because of his wide experience in the field.

Former Supreme Court judge Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur is the chairman of the commission and former petroleum and natural gas secretary Rae, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) Rathin Roy, OSD in finance ministry's expenditure department Meena Agarwal are the members.

Source: www.ibnlive.in.com

Ready Reckoner on Standardisation of mails

Dear Comrades,

Ready Reckoner on Standardisation of mails

CLICK HERE

DRAFT REPLY TO 7TH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION QUESTIONNAIRE - SUGGESTION, ADDITION AND ALTERATION, IF ANY, CALLED FOR

Dear Comrades,

MOST URGENT

MOST IMPORTANT

DRAFT REPLY TO 7^TH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION QUESTIONNAIRE - SUGGESTION, ADDITION AND ALTERATION, IF ANY, CALLED FOR.

Dear Comrade,

            We place hereunder the draft reply to the questionnaire issued by the 7^th CPC.  We want you to go through the same and make suggestions to enrich it further.  We propose to place the same at the staff side meeting of the National Council on 6^th May, 2014.  The final version as formulated by the Staff Side will also be published on7th May. 2014.  We have to arrive at a consensus taking into account all shades of opinions.

            The replies are drafted to make it as brief as possible.  It covers only common issues. The staff side National Council will be submitting a detailed memorandum later as and when it is called for by the 7^th CPC.  The said memorandum will be drafted taking into account the views of all organizations including pensioners organisations. Department specific issues are to be covered by the memorandum submitted by the respective departmental organizations.  Since there will be very short time available for submission of memorandum, in view of the overall time frame of 18 months  all affiliates are requested to finalize their approach and prepare the memorandum and keep it ready for submission without loss of time.

            It will be our endeavor that on common issues, complete unanimity of opinion emerges amongst all Federations of Central Govt. employees.

Suggestions may be sent by e-mail to confederationhq@gmail.com

With greetings,

Yours fraternally

S. K. Vyas                                             K. K. N. Kutty                                       M. Krishnan

Advisor                                                President                                             Secretary General

Mob: 09868244035                             Mob: 09811048303                             Mob: 09447068125

DRAFT REPLY : CLICK HERE

DEPARTMENTALISATION OF GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS (GDS) AND INCLUSION OF GDS UNDER 7TH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION FIRST HEARING OF THE COURT CASE ON 7TH MAY 2014 HON’BLE DELHI HIGH COURT ISSUED NOTICE TO THE GOVERNMENT AND DEPARTMENT OF POSTS.

Dear Comrades,

DEPARTMENTALISATION OF GRAMIN DAK SEVAKS (GDS)  AND INCLUSION OF GDS UNDER 7^TH  CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION

FIRST HEARING OF THE COURT CASE ON 7TH MAY 2014

HON’BLE DELHI HIGH COURT ISSUED NOTICE TO THE GOVERNMENT AND DEPARTMENT OF POSTS.

India Post PA/SA exam answer key 2014 to be released soon

Dear Comrades,

TruthDive: India Post, Government of India which conducted Postal Assistant / Sorting Assistant Exam 2014 on 27th April is expected to release the Answer Key 2014 on its official website soon.

Candidates who appeared for Postal Assistant / Sorting Assistant Exam 2014 may download the India Post Answer Key 2014 in the following official website at www.pasadrexam2014.in

India Postal department issued a recruitment notification of 8243 vacancies for SA /PA posts and invited candidates to apply for the mentioned posts through online mode.

Candidates who appeared in large numbers for Postal Assistant / Sorting Assistant Exam 2014 will be selected based on their performance in the written examination held on 27^th April and 4^th May 2014.

A total of twenty lakh candidates have applied for India Post Postal Assistant / Sorting Assistant Exam 2014.

To download India Post Answer Key 2014 candidates may follow the below steps:

Log on to the official website at www.pasadrexam2014.in

Plot a route to answer key section.

Click the link titled as India Post PA/SA exam answer key 2014.

Answer key for India Post PA/SA exam 2014 will display on the screen as a PDF file.

Aim to release answer key is to facilitate candidates to check and match the answer key with the answers written in the answer sheet. Candidates may verify the answers and make a rough calculation of their results. Answer key of the questions based on the written test will be placed shortly on the official site.

Discrepancies if any relating to questions/incorrect keys should be notified before the stipulated date which will be announced later along with the release of answer key.

For more details candidates may visit the official website at www.pasadrexam2014.in.

http://truthdive.com

Greetings on May Day

Dear Comrades,

 

International Workers' Day is a celebration of labour and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs on May 1 every year. That day, May 1, is also the traditional European Spring holiday of May Day. Therefore, May 1 is a national public holiday in more than 80 countries, but in only some of those countries is the public holiday officially known as Labor Day or some similar variant. In the other countries, the public holiday marks the Spring festival of May Day.

Further, still other countries celebrate a Labour Day unrelated to International Workers' Day and on other dates significant to the labour movement in that country, such as the Labour Day in the United States which is on the first Monday of September.

May 1 was chosen as the date for International Workers' Day by the Socialists and Communists of the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago that occurred on May 4, 1886.

India

Triumph of Labour at the Marina Beach in Chennai.

 

The first May Day celebration in India was organised in Madras (now Chennai) by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan on 1 May 1923. This was also the first time the red flag was used in India. The party leader Singaravelu Chettiar made arrangements to celebrate May Day in two places in 1923. One meeting was held at the beach opposite to the Madras High Court; the other meeting was held at the Triplicane beach. The Hindu newspaper, published from Madras reported,

The Labour Kisan party has introduced May Day celebrations in Madras. Comrade Singaravelar presided over the meeting. A resolution was passed stating that the government should declare May Day as a holiday. The president of the party explained the non-violent principles of the party. There was a request for financial aid. It was emphasized that workers of the world must unite to achieve independence.

May Day is a nationwide bank and public holiday in India. The holiday is tied to labour movements for communist and socialist political parties. Labour Day is known as "Kamgar Din" in Hindi, "Kamgar Divas" in Marathi and "Uzhaipalar Dinam" in Tamil. On this day, banks and other public organisations in Assam, Bihar, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, West Bengal and Orissa observe a holiday. In North India, Labour Day is mostly not given its previous importance as a holiday now.

May 1 is also celebrated as "Maharashtra Day" & "Gujarat Day" to mark the date in 1960, when the two western states attained statehood after the erstwhile Bombay State was divided on linguistic lines. Maharashtra Day is held at Shivaji Park in central Mumbai. The Governor of the state takes the salute at the ceremonial parade, comprising members of the state reserve police force, Brihanmumbai Commando Force, home guards, civil defence, fire brigade and city police. Schools and offices in Maharashtra remain closed on May 1. A similar parade is held to celebrate Gujarat Day in Gandhinagar.

History

International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the May 4, 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. The police were trying to disperse a public assembly during a general strike for the eight-hour workday, when an unidentified person threw a bomb at the police. The police responded by firing on the workers, killing four demonstrators. "Reliable witnesses testified that all the pistol flashes came from the center of the street, where the police were standing, and none from the crowd. Moreover, initial newspaper reports made no mention of firing by civilians. A telegraph pole at the scene was filled with bullet holes, all coming from the direction of the police."

In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests^. May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891^.

Subsequently, the May Day Riots of 1894 occurred. In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on "all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." The congress made it "mandatory upon the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on May 1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers."

In many countries, the working classes sought to make May Day an official holiday, and their efforts largely succeeded. May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist and anarchist groups. In Germany, May Day coincides with Walpurgisnacht. May Day has been an important official holiday in countries such as the People's Republic of China, North Korea, Cuba and the former Soviet Union. May Day celebrations typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in these countries.

In the United States and Canada, the official holiday for workers is Labor Day in September. A September holiday was first proposed for the United States in the 1880s, before the Haymarket affair. Groups in Canada were already celebrating a Labour Day. In 1887, Oregon was the first state to make it a public holiday. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, thirty states officially celebrated Labor Day. After the Haymarket affair, US President Grover Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the affair. Thus, in 1887, it was established as an official holiday in September to support the Labor Day that the Knights favored.

In 1955, the Catholic Church dedicated May 1 to "Saint Joseph The Worker". Saint Joseph is for the Church the patron saint of workers and craftsmen (among others).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day#India