EPFO retains interest rate at 8.75% for current fiscal

NEW DELHI: Retirement fund body EPFO's trustees on Tuesday decided to retain interest payment on provident fund deposits for 2014-15 at 8.75 per cent. 

"It has been decided to pay 8.75 per cent interest in the current fiscal," Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC) K K Jalan told PTI after the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex decision making body of the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). 

The EPFO has about 5 crore subscribers and the decision will have a bearing on their retirement fund. 

The decision to retain the interest rate on the provident fund deposits at last year's level was taken despite some protest by the trade union members of the CBT, sources said. 

The final notification for payment of the interest rate for the current fiscal will be issued by the finance ministry later.

The EPFO had provided 8.75 per cent rate of interest on PF deposits for 2013-14, which was higher than 8.5 per cent paid for the previous fiscal. 

Source : TOI

Air India offers tickets for Rs 100

NEW DELHI: Air India will sell tickets for Rs 100 (taxes extra) for five days from Wednesday — which it will celebrate as Air India Day to commemorate the merger of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India on this day in 2007.

"On this occasion Air India is launching the Air India Offer for its travellers. Under the scheme tickets will be offered for Rs 100/- apart from all applicable taxes. The sale of these tickets will be made only through the Air India website for five days from August 27 to 31 2014 for travel between August 27 and September 30, 2014, only," an AI statement said.

This is the first time that the airline will be celebrating the Air India Day. A function will be held to celebrate the day and also to award the meritorious employees of Air India.

Source : TOI 

Enhancement of rate of honorarium to IO/PO for conducting inquiries under Rule-10 GS writes to Dte.

No. GS/AIAIASP/GDS-Hon/2013                                    dated :    25/8/2014

To,

Ms Kavery Banerjee,

Secretary (Posts),

Department of Posts,

Dak Bhawan, Sansad Marg,

New Delhi 110 001.

Sub: Grant of honorarium to part time Inquiry Officers/ Presenting Officers for conducting inquiries under Rule-10 of GDS (Conduct and Engagement) Rules, 2011 and revision of financial powers delegated to CPMG for sanction of the Honorarium.

Ref:   Directorate memo No C-32016/03/2005-VP dated 23.08.2005.

Respected Madam,

  

        IP/ASP Association would like to invite your kind attention to this Association’s letter of even number dated 22/6/2013 followed by reminders dated 13/9/2013 and 11/11/2013, 1/2/2014, 25/4/2014 and 23/6/2014 whereby it was brought to the notice that, Directorate vide memo No 32016/12/2011-VP dated 04.07.2011 on the basis of notification issued by DOP&T has revised honorarium rates for Inquiry Officers/ Presenting Officers engaged for conducting departmental enquiries which was further revised on 8.1.2013. Under the existing structure, minimum Rs 5000/- and Maximum 10000/- are required to be sanctioned as honorarium if the enquiry is completed within stipulated time frame. But no such revision whatsoever has been made for IO/PO for conducting GDS inquiries, perhaps this was not part of DOP&T memo as no such cadre exists in any other department except DOP.

        It is further bring to your kind notice that the minimum rate of honorarium have already been revised for departmental inquiries and the FR 46 B also stood amended (vide MOF, DOE I.CU.O.No.4.2/5/2008-IC dated 29.01.2009). The issue in question was discussed at length with the then Secretary (Posts) and OSD to Secretary (Posts) in the informal meeting held on 23/9/2013. During the course of dialogue, both the officers apprehending the position, assured that Department will re-look into the matter and shall accordingly convey the approval, but till date nothing is heard from Directorate despite issue of above captioned reminders.

        It is therefore requested to pass an order to resolve this long pending issue at the earliest.

       

Yours sincerely,

Sd/-

(Vilas Ingale)

General Secretary

Transfers and postings in group "B" cadre in HCR.

Circle Office has on 22.08.2014 issued the following transfers and postings in Hyderabad City Region.

1. Sri K.Jayaraju ADM (PLI) CO transferred as Supdt PSD Hyderabad.

2. Sri P.Sivashankaraiah Supdt PSD Hyderabad (Adhoc) posted as Supdt CSD,

3. Smt. G.Hymavathi Supdt CSD  posted as ADM (PLI), % the CPMG Hyderabad. 

Association conveys best wishes to the officers on their  new assignment.

My Stamps new designs launched.

India Post has launched 'My Stamp' at Indipex-2011, World Philatelic Exhibition on 12th February 2011. 17 different sheets were made available during the launch of 'My Stamps' having designs/themes of 12 diff. Sun signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Aquarius, Pisces, Cancer and Capricorn) Taj Mahal, Jungle lore (Wildlife: Indian lion, Indian elephant, Tiger, Rhino), Tales of Panchatantra (The lion and the rabit, The monkey and the crocodile, The crow and the snake and The tortoise and the geese, Full steam ahead (Locomotives: WP/1, 1963, WDM2, 1963

, GIP No. 1, 1853 and F/1, 1895) and Flying high (Aeroplanes: LCA - Tejas, Dhruv and HT-2).

 

In the second phase four new designs on Flower theme (Lily, Dahlia, Cineraria and Pansy) were launched on 19th October, 2012.

 

 

As per the Directorate OM No. 17-5/2013-Phil, dated 22nd July 2014, 10 new themes of My Stamps have been launched, viz. Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Taj Mahal, Hawa Mahal, Mysore Palace, Fairy Queen, Port Blair Island, Ajanta Caves, St. Francis Church and Greetings.

 

These new themes are based on local tourist attraction places. Therefor the distribution of the same has been prepared in view of the location of the above places, except Taj Mahal, Fairy Queen and Greetings which are distributed to all postal circles, rest of the themes are circulated only to the concerned circle headquarters. However My Stamp Counters and philatelic bureaux of the circles other than the philatelic bureau situated at circle headquarter can place their demand of My Stamp sheetlets to the philatelic bureau situated at circle headquarters.

Source: IP&ASP Chq.

What is EBOLA?

It's a virus that attacks a person’s blood system:

Ebola is what scientists call a hemorrhagic fever - it operates by making its victims bleed from almost anywhere on their body. Usually victims bleed to death.

Ebola is highly contagious; Being transmitted via contact with body fluids such as blood, sweat, saliva, semen or other body discharges.

Ebola is however NOT AN AIRBORNE VIRUS!

EXTREMELY deadly: About 90% of people that catch Ebola will die from it. It's one of the deadliest diseases in the world, killing in just a few weeks.

Untreatable(no cure): Ebola has no known treatment or cure. Victims are usually treated for symptoms with the faint hope that they recover.

How Do I Know Someone has Ebola?

•Fever •Headache •Diarrhoea •Vomiting •Weakness •Joint & Muscle pains •Stomach Pain •Lack of Appetite

Protect Yourself: •Wash Your Hands with Soap Do this a lot. You can also use a good hand sanitizer. Avoid unnecessary physical contact with people.

■Restrict yourself to food you prepared yourself.

■Disinfect Your Surroundings The virus cannot survive disinfectants,heat, direct sunlight,detergents and soaps.

Clean up!: •Fumigate If you have Pests. •Rodents can be carriers of Ebola. •Fumigate your environment & dispose off the carcasses properly! •Dead bodies CAN still transmit Ebola. •Don't touch them without protective gear or better yet avoid them altogether.

Protect Yourself: •Use protective gear if you must care or go near someone you suspect has Ebola.

Report: •Report any suspicious symptoms in yourself or anyone else IMMEDIATELY.

Do not delay!

Educate Everyone: •Tell your neighbours, colleagues and domestic staff (anyone really). Basically you're safer when everyone is educated.

Source:GS IP/ASP Association 

Transfer policy to regulate transfer of Group A / Group B / GrOUP C Officers/officials - Clarification

Independence day greetings.

Greetings to all the members and viewers on the occasion of 68th independence day.

Transfers and postings in group "B" cadre in Hyderabad Region.

The Regional Office Hyderabad vide their memo number PMG(H)/ST/1-17/PS Gr-B/2014 dated 05.08.2014 issued the following transfers and postings.

 Sri J.Pandari SP Adilabad division has been transferred and posted as SP Mahabubnagar division vice Sri A. Venkatreddy SP Mahabubnagar transferred and posted as SP Adilabad. Association conveys best wishes the officers on their new assignment.

Standard Questionaire for visit to HO/SO & BO

To view the orders issued by Directorate under memo No. 11-Misc/2014-Inspn. dated 30/7/2014,

Please CLICK HERE.

NDA government plans to bifurcate Indian Postal sector between AP & Telangana

NDA government focused on division of Indian postal sector between two states for separate head post offices in Telangana and AP. They plans to divide the postal sector within 8 months and searches for new Chief Post Master. The central government decided to segregate employees with a ratio 58:42

Please CLICK HERE  to view the video

Posting on ad-hoc promotion to JTS Gr-A cadre.

 As per the Circle office  memo no. ST/12-A/2013 dated 0.07.2014, Sri A.Seshagiri Rao the then SSP Bhimavaram division and presently working as Chief Postmaster Hyderabad GPO (On ad-hoc basis) was posted as APMG (Vigilance) for a period of 180 days or till joining of  regular incumbent, after terminating the present arrangement as Chief Postmaster.
Association conveys the officer best wishes on his promotion.

7 CPC-- Visit Bengaluru between 25th to 27th August 2014

The commission has, in its first phase of interaction, been seeking the views of various stakeholders on its terms of reference. To this end, meetings have been held in Delhi with various organisations and heads of various agencies.

In its second phase of interaction, the Commission plans to hold meetings in different parts of the country to facilitate stakeholders staying in various areas to present their views personally before the Commission and ensure larger representation. This exercise is being undertaken to enable the Commission to get a firsthand impression about the functioning and the condition of service prevailing in different parts of the country.

Accordingly, the Commission, headed by its Chairman, Justice Shri A. K. Mathur, proposes to visit Bengaluru between 25th August and 27th August 2014. The Commission would like to invite various entities/associations/federations representing any/all categories of employees covered by the terms of Reference of the Commission to present their views.

Your request for a meeting with the Commission may be sent through e-mail to the Secretary, 7th Central Pay Commission at secy-7cpc@nic.in . The memorandum already submitted by the requesting entity may also be sent as an attachment with this e-mail. An early response in this regard would facilitate proper scheduling of the meetings.
 

Expected DA from July 2014 at 7%.

With the announcement of the AICPI(IW) points for the month of June, the calculation of the additional dearness allowance for central government employees and pensioners from July onwards have ended. The percentage of Dearness allowance and Dearness relief to be paid from July 2014 will be increased by 7%.

Based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission, in order to meet the rising expenses of essential commodities and inflation, dearness allowance is given twice every year to the central government employees – from January to June and from July to December – calculated on the basis of the All India Consumer Price Index of Industrial Workers Base Year 2001=100.

The most recently released AICPIN points for the month of June have increased by two and now stands at 246. Since the AICPIN points have increased by two, the dearness allowance percentage arrived at 107.25, is to be calculated, after ignoring the decimal points, as 7%. This will be officially announced by the Central Government after approval of Unionn Cabinet committee in the month of September. 

The last two installments, 10% dearness allowance was being paid to the employees. Many wonder why it has come down to 7% this time. There are two main reasons for this, one is AICPIN points, and another is the method of calculating DA. One has to also keep in mind the fact that dearness allowance of 10% was also given based on the same calculations.

Source : CGEN.in

Govt proposes to amend Indian Post office Act

The government today said it is considering a proposal to amend the Indian Post Office Act, making postal authorities responsible for non-delivery or loss in transit of articles for consumers.

"The proposal to amend the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, is under consideration which includes the examination of the scope of making postal authorities responsible for non-delivery or loss in transit of the articles of consumers," Minister of Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

On a query if Indian Post is losing its share to the operations of private courier companies, the Minister said the share of both the traffic and revenue of Speed Post have been increasing over the years.

"Study on Speed Post conducted through the Indian Market Research Bureau International, reveals that the share of Department of Posts in the overall courier market has increased from the range of 15.1 per cent to 18.3 per cent in the year 2010-2011, 16.7 per cent to 19.8 per cent in year 2011-12 and 17.4 per cent to 20.2 per cent in year 2012-13," he added.
Source : PTI

16 Postal ATMs Soon in Vishakhapatnam Region.

SRIKAKULAM: The Postal Department will soon set up 16 ATMs in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts to provide its customers with hassle-free financial transactions. The department will also have an agreement with banks for mutual transactions, post master general (Visakhapatnam region) Sharda Sampath has said.

Sharda Sampath inspected Srikakulam Head Post Office here Thursday and asked the officials to set up more counters for providing quick services, as per the citizen charter, which stipulates time for each transaction. “Online services will be a boon for the customers as the facility would enable them to make payments in all the post offices. Payments of loans, insurance and savings can also be done easily online. Customers can henceforth complete the transactions of the other cities from their nearest post bank,” she said. She also asked the officials to launch a special drive ‘Clean and Green’ at all the branch post offices and the head post office. Superintendent of posts, Srikakulam J Prasad Babu explained about the latest initiatives taken up in the branches of the district.

Source : http://www.newindianexpress.com/

Transfers & Postings in ASP Cadre

R.O, Vijayawada has ordered the following transfers and postings in ASP Cadre vide memo dated 01.08.2014.

Modifications in Transfers ordered vide memo dated 13.06.2014 : 

Sl No.	Name of the Officer S/Sri	Present post of working	Place of posting on transfer	Remarks
1.	M.Srinivasa Murthy	ASRM Y Dn and apptd ASP, Bapatla	ASP(Hqrs),O/o SPOs, Tenali Dn, Tenali	Vice  sl.no.2
2.	K.Ramesh Babu	ASP(Hqrs), O/o SPOs, Tenali Dn Tenali	ASP(Hqrs), O/o SRM Y Dn, Vijayawada	In the interest of service
3.	Ch.Siva Rama Prasad	ASP(Hqrs) Vijayawada Dn and Apptd ASRM(Hq), O/o  SRM, RMS ‘Y’ Dn,	Dy. Manager, SPCC, Vijayawada	Vice Sri S.Srikarbabu stands re-allotted to Visakhapatnam Region

 Part-I(Re-allotments) 

Sl no.	Name of the official. S/Shri	Present place of working.	Place of posting on re-allotment	Remarks
1	K.PrakashRao	ASP, Nizamabad North Sub Dn Hyderabad Region	ASP. Bapatla Sub Dn, Tenali Dn, Vijayawada Region	Vice Post Vacant
2.	P.S.Pavan Kumar	ASP, HCR, on deputation to PTC,Mysore	ASP(Hqrs), O/o SPOs, Gudur Dn, Gudur, Vijayawada Region	Vice Post Vacant
3	S.Srikar Babu	Dy.Manager, SPCC, Vijaayawada, Vijayawada Region	ASP, Tekkali Sub Dn, Srikakulam Dn, Visakhapatnam Region	Vice Post Vacant

     Part-II(Promotions)            

Sl no.	Name of the official. S/Shri	Present place of working.	Place of posting to the cadre of Assistant Superintendent of Post Offices, on promotion.	Remarks
1	Sk.Ahmed Ali	IP, Vijayawada Region	ASP. Kanigiri  Sub Division, Prakasam Dn	Vice post vacant