Govt filed Appeal on modified parity in pension to the pensioners retired prior to 1.1.2006

The Government has filed an Appeal against the 1ST November 2011 judgment of the Principal Bench of Delhi Central Administrative Tribunal on modified parity in pension to the pensioners retired prior to 1.1.2006. You may remember that the Principal Bench of Delhi CAT had directed implementation of OM dated 1.9.2008 based on the Government's Resolution dated 29.08.2008 accepting the recommendation of 6th CPC for modified parity of pension to pre 1.1.2006 pensioners by nullifying the clarificatory orders issued subsequently that denied the real content of the 6th CPC recommendation as accepted earlier by the Union Cabinet through its Resolution dated 29.08.2008. However now the Government has filed an Appeal against the judgment of the CAT.

Awards for PLI / RPLI Best performers in AP Circle

As a part of celebration of February 2012 as Postal Life Insurance month, a valedictory function is being organized on 29.02.2012 at 17.00 hrs at Asman Mahal Community hall, P& T Officers Quarters, Khairatabad  to felicitate the best PLI/RPLI performers in Andhra Pradesh Postal Circle.  The awards are being presented in the following categories  for procuring highest business in PLI/RPLI  during the year 2010-2011.

Sl No		Category		Best performer in PLI		Best Performer RPLI
1.		Best Region		Vijayawada		Vijayawada
2.		Best division		Visakhapatnam		Khammam
3.		Best Development Officer (PLI)		K Ramakrishnaiah O/o SSPOs, Secunderabad division.		-
4.		Best Departmental Employee		Y Madhava Rao, PA Guntur division of Vijayawada Region.		M Sreenivas, IP Tadepalligudem sub dn of Vijayawada Region
5.		Best Direct Agent		Md Osman Basha V.V.Reddy Nagar, Proddatur, Kurnool Region		G Venkata Rao, Tadepalli BO, Vijayawada Region.
6		Best Field Officer		M. Sreeramulu Hyderabad City Region		-
7.		Best Gramin Dak Sewak		-		S.Muralidhar BPM, Satyanarana puram BO,Tirupathi division Kurnool Region.

            Ms Rachel Chatterjee,, Chair Person, APPSC, has consented to be the Chief Guest and give away the awards to the best performers.  Ms.Karuna Pillai, Chief Postmaster General, Andhra Pradesh Circle will preside over the function.

National Pension Schemes will be linked to Aadhar

The Rural Development Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh today said that National Social Assisstance Programme, NSAP will be completely restructured and all payments under the scheme will be done through Aadhar-based payment system. Talking to a select group of media persons here, he said,

Dependent children of widowed/separated daughters to be included in CGHS

The ministry of health and family welfare decided to expand the ambit of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) to include dependent children of widowed/separated daughters as beneficiaries under the government’s comprehensive health scheme. Till now, serving central government employees, pensioners, current and former members of Parliament, serving and retired judges of Supreme Court and high court, freedom fighters, accredited journalists, former governor and former vice president of India could avail of CGHS benefits.

“The move has been initiated with the aim of empowering widowed and separated daughters who live with parents who are CGHS beneficiaries,” said a health ministry official.

GENERAL STRIKE ON 28 th February 2012

Postal Federations have jointly given a call to all Postal employees to participate in the one day token strike on 28th February 2012 (Tuesday) based on the call given by Central Trade Unions.The unions have come together on a five-point charter, which seeks strict enforcement of all basic labour laws without any exception or exemption and stringent punitive measures for violation; a universal social security cover for unorganised sector workers without any restriction and creation of a National Social Security Fund.Workers of all 11 recognised unions  and 5,000 un-affiliated unions will strike work, affecting banking, postal, port and government operations.

Minutes of the meeting of Departmental Council (JCM) held on 10.02.2012

Government of India

Ministry of Communications & IT

Department of Posts

( SR  Section )

Dak Bhavan, Sansad Marg,

 New Delhi -110001

No.6/2/2011-SR                                                                                Dated the 17^th February,  2012

To

Secretary General. NFPE

Secretary General, FNPO

Subject:  Draft minutes of the meeting of Departmental Council (JCM) held on 10.02.2012 – Vetting thereof.

Sir,

Please find enclosed draft minutes of the meeting of Departmental Council (JCM) held on 10.02.2012. The draft will be put up for consideration of Chairperson, Departmental Council after receipt of your no objection/comments.

Yours faithfully,

(Subhash Chander)

Director(SR & Legal)

Minutes of the meeting of Departmental Council (JCM) held on 10.02.2011

……….

A meeting of the Departmental Council (JCM)  under the Chairpersonship of Secretary(Posts) was held on 10.02.2012.  The following were present:

Postmen to now collect data for calculation of rural Consumer Price Index (CPI)

NEW DELHI: The postman in rural areas across the country has his hands full. Apart from his regular job, he now has to go out three to four times a week to collect data from retail outlets which is then used to calculate the rural consumer price inflation.

Faced with an acute manpower shortage, the ministry of statistics and programme implementation tied up with the department of posts to get over the problem of collecting such massive amount of data from rural areas across the country.

House panel for hiking IT relief limit to Rs.3 lakh

Parliamentary Committee, scrutinising the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill, will recommend raising the annual income-tax exemption limit to Rs.3 lakh and hiking the limit on tax breaks for investments to Rs.2.50 lakh following a broad consensus among its members.

“There is a consensus among the members that the annual tax-exemption limit be raised to Rs.3 lakh,” sources said after a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha.

Some members had earlier suggested that the annual income-tax exemption limit be raised to Rs.5 lakh from Rs.1.80 lakh at present, in view of high inflation and erosion in purchasing power of the rupee.

The DTC Bill proposes the tax exemption limit at Rs.2 lakh and also provides for revising the tax slabs for all the three categories.

At present, income in the bracket of Rs.1.80-5 lakh attracts 10 per cent tax, 20 per cent for Rs.5-8 lakh. It is 30 per cent for above Rs.8 lakh.

Members also felt that the limit for the total tax saving deductions, which include investment in provident fund, life insurance, children education and infrastructure bonds, should be raised to Rs.2.50 lakh from Rs.1.2 lakh, sources said.

At present, investments up to Rs.1 lakh in specified instruments are deducted while calculating the tax liability.

In addition, investments up to Rs.20,000 in infrastructure bonds are also exempted from tax.

To finalise report

The Standing Committee on Finance has decided to finalise its report on DTC by March 2, enabling Parliament to consider the ambitious reforms in the direct tax regime in the budget session beginning March 12.

“The committee will present its report to Parliament in the third week of March”, sources said. 

Source : The Hindu 25.02.2012

Task Force on an Aadhaar Enabled Unified Payment Infrastructure Submits Report to Finance Minister

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that Aadhaar-Enabled E-payment system would help not only in ensuring the timely payments directly to the intended beneficiaries but would also help in reducing the time taken, transaction costs and the leakages among others.  The Finance Minister said that this would also help in bringing transparency in the system and reducing avoidable delays.  The Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee was speaking after receiving the Final Report of the Task Force on Aaadhar-Enabled Unified Payment Infrastructure presented to him by Shri Nandan Nilekan, Chairman UIDAI and the Task Force, here today. The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee further said

RTI Queries Don't Affect Govt. Work

The time spent by government officials replying to RTI is so little that it cannot be a pretext for them to shirk that task.

 In August 2011, the Supreme Court made an observation which had some unintended consequences on the Right to Information (RTI) process. The judgement by Justice R.V. Raveendran is turning out to be a seemingly legitimate excuse for government officials to restrict information.

Aditya Bandopadhyay went to court when the Central Board of Secondary Education declined to provide his examination answer sheets under the RTI Act. While the court allowed access to answer sheets, it also observed that the cherished right to information should not affect administrative efficiency.

In his judgement, Justice R.V. Raveendran said:

CHQ News - Communication of AIC resolution on IP Grade pay

No. CHQ/IPASP/1/2012 Dated : 22/2/2012.

To,
Ms Yesodhara Menon,
Member (P),
Department of Posts,
Dak Bhavan, Sansad Marg,
New Delhi 110 001.

Subject : Minutes of the meeting taken by Secretary (Posts) with All India Association of Inspectors and Assistant Superintendents Posts on 3/11/2011.

Ref. : Directorate Letter No. 01/01/2011-SR dated 14/11/2011.

Respected Madam,

The 37th All India Biennial Conference of this Association was held at Bangaluru on 28th and 29th January, 2012. In the Conference, the matter related to merger of the posts IP and ASP was deliberated in depth and the house passed a resolution unanimously as under:

Sri N.Umamaheswara rao Inspector Posts RMS "V" Dn Visakhapatnam was felicitated at Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad on 18.02.2012  for winning first prize to his childrens story book "Melerigina Manishi" in children story Books competition (Bala Sahitya Grandhala Poti) from Arunodaya Art Creations and Rashtra Bala Sahitya Parishad, Hyderabad. Other dignitaries present on the occasion are Sri P.Vijayababu, Editor Andhra Prabha daiy, Sri K.V.Ramanacari, I.A.S., Sri Giri Babu, Cine actor, sri Venugopal, Editor, AASHA monthly, Sri Voleti Parvateesam, Doordarshan, Hyderabad and Sri Pradeep cine & TV actor. Congratulations to our friend.

Consideration of compassionate engagement to Depandants of GDS discharged on medical grounds prior to 14.12.2010

Government of India

Ministry of Communication & IT

Department of Posts

(GDS Section)

Dak Bhawan, Sandad Marg

New Delhi – 110001

No. 19-19/2009-GDS                                                                                        Dated: 21 Feb 2012

Chef Postmaster General

Postmaster General

Subject :Consideration of compassionate engagement on GDS posts to Depandants of Gramina Dak Sevaks discharged on medical grounds based on proof of invalidation prior to 14.12.2010 

pension Fund Regulator invited Bids to manage NPS funds

Pension fund regulator PFRDA has invited bids from financial institutions to manage funds of Central Government Employees under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) for the next three years beginning April 1, 2012.

            The fund managers will be required to manage the pension assets of Central government employees, according to Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

India Post Web site - Taken new look

Home page of India Post Web site www.indiapost.gov.in is completely changed now. Nothing to get panic on non availability of Quick links option in Indiapost new website. Speednet, Rnet, UID,eMO, ePayment, Accounts ,Project Arrow,NREGS MIS are provided in "Employee Corner" option in new home page. Pl click this link provided at the bottom of web page to access these MIS pages.

Result of Inspector Post Exam - An update

It was informed by General Secretary of IP/ASP association that he contacted the concerned officers in the Postal Directorate on announcement of result of Inspector Post Examination-2011 and he was informed that CMC has not submitted the marksheet so far. Hence, result will be announced by the DE Division only after scrutiny of marksheet received from the CMC which will take some more time.

Children Educational Allowance - Clarification

I. Department of Personnel & Training has issued clarification vide OM no 12011/07(i)/2011-Estt(AL) dated 21.02.2012 on reimbursement of Development fee/ parents contribution charged by Schools , Fee charged for catering the needs of the child with Disabilities and on minimum age condition of the child. As per this clarification, there is no minimum age for any child for claiming reimbursement of Children Educational allowance.

Click here to View the DOPT OM in original.

II.  In another OM no 12011/07(ii)/2011-Estt(AL) dated 21.02.2012, clarification was issued on reimbursement in case of loss of original receipts issued by School/Institution and on allowing reimbursement of 50% of eligible amount in Ist quarter.

Click here to view the DOPT OM in original.

Chraging Extra premium on PLI policies taken by physically Challenged persons - High Court Delhi raps Govt.

Complaints of discrimination against the disabled are common in matters of civic amenities, job appointments and admissions to educational institutions. But now one such case has emerged in relation to a life insurance scheme floated by the central government itself.

Slamming the Centre, the Delhi High Court has said it will quash its postal life insurance policy that charges the physically challenged extra premium.

State and central government employees are the beneficiaries of this policy. As per its rules, the assured sum for the disabled is much less while the premium much more than what is applicable to ordinary employees. The discrimination was brought to the notice of the court by a PIL filed by a visually challenged lawyer, Pankaj Sinha.

"Why this discrimination? How can you charge the disabled extra premium? They have the same risk factor as ordinary policyholders. The premium should be linked to various ailments — not disability," a bench headed by acting chief justice AK Sikri told the Centre's counsel.

"Disability is not a disease or a medical problem. We are going to quash the policy," the court said. Sinha told the bench: "While non-handicapped persons are insured for a maximum of Rs 5 lakh, disabled people are insured for a maximum of only Rs 1 lakh. The premium paid by disabled people is also more than the premium for non-disabled people."

The court rejected the Centre's argument that disabled people are more prone to accidental risks as compared to persons without any disability and therefore the premium charged should be marginally different.

Source : The Hindustan Times, Feb 20, 2012

AP Circle conference - New office bearers elected

39th Biannual Circle Conference of All India Association of Inspectors and Asstt. Supdt Posts, Andhra Pradesh Circle Branch was held at Kurnool on 18th and 19th February 2012. The new office bearers of the Association elected  for the next two years term are as follows.
1.G. V. Srinivasulu, ASP (HQ) Kurnool Division as Circle President.
2.G.Siva Naga Raju , ASP (HQ) Gudivada Dn as Vice President.
3.K. Raghunathswamy, ASP (HQ) Nalgonda Division as Circle Secretary.
4.G.Bala Saraswathi , IP (PMI) o/o PMG Vijayawada region as Asst Circle Secretary I.
5.. Shri P. B. Srinivas, ASP (Marketing) o/o CPMG, Hyderabad as Circle Treasurer.

New office bearers of Chattisgarh Circle

7th Biennial Circle Conference of IP / ASP Association of Chhatisgarh Branch held at Raipur on 18.02.2012.  Kum. Sandhya Devgirikar, ASP (HQ) Raipur Division and Shri A. K. Singh, SDI (P) Baloda Bazar Sub Division, Raipur are elected as Circle President and Circle Secretary respectively.

Guide Line for Newly introduced Mail net work system

The existing mail offices have been classified into Level 1 (L-1) and Level 2 (L-2) mail offices. There would be 89  L-1 and 244 L-2 mail offices under the new set up.

 All L-1 mail offices will close direct bags for each other. An  L-1 office will also close bags for all L-2 offices as well as delivery post offices mapped/attached to it.

Deputation of Dr. P.V.S. Reddy (IPoS-1993) to NIPHM, Hyderabad

Dr. P.V.S. Reddy (IPoS-1993), DPS(BD&Technology), O/o CPMG, Odisha Circle Bhubaneswar is relieved on 17.02.2012 A/N to join as Registrar National Institute of Plant Health Management(NIPHM), Hyderabad on deputation for three years vide Directorate, New Delhi  Memo No.14-14/2009-SPG dated 17th February, 2012.

Result of LGO examination held on 16/10/2011

Result of Departmental competitive Examination of Lower Grade officials for promotion to the cadre of postal Assistants/ Sorting Assistants held on 16-10-2011 pertaining to AP Circle is declared.

Click here to view the result division wise.

India and Sri Lanka play out a sensational tie

It was a face-off of the gladiatorial kind. The world's foremost death overs paceman against a feared finisher. It was Lasith Malinga versus Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the Adelaide Oval.

India required four runs off the last ball. Malinga, his mane gleaming under the lights, steamed in. Dhoni settled into his stance. The crowd held its breath.

Group B Postings in Hyderabad Region

Sri K.Janardhna Reddy SPM Repalle MDG and qualified Group B candidate from General line Qouta of PS Group B Examination 2010 who stands alloted to Hyderabad Region is now posted as SPOs Sangareddy Division.

Civil Services (Pre) Exam, 2012 to be Held on May 20

The Union Service Public Commission (UPSC) will hold the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2012 on May 20, 2012 for recruitment to the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and certain other Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ Central Services/Posts. The examination will be held at various centers across the country. 

For details regarding the syllabus and scheme of the examination, centers of examination, guidelines for filling up application form etc. aspirants must consult the website of the Commission (www.upsc.gov.in) from 04.02.2012. Detailed Notice of the examination is being published in the Employment News/Rozgar Samachar on 11.02.2012. Candidates must apply online using the website www.upsconline.nic.in. Detailed instructions for filling up online applications are available on the above-mentioned website.

In case of any difficulty in filling up of the on-line application form, candidates are advised to contact the facilitation counter of the Commission or over telephone no.011-23389366/Fax No.011-23387310, on working days during working hours.

The online applications can be filled up to March 5, 2012 till 11.59 pm after which the link will be disabled. The candidates are strongly advised to apply online well in time without waiting for last date for submission of online application.

United States Postal Service Ranked No. 1

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A review of the performance of universal postal service providers by the Oxford Strategic Consulting (OSC) firm ranks the U.S. Postal Service the best postal service within the world's top 20 largest economies for access to services, resource efficiency and public trust.

Result of Inspector Posts Exam 2011 - Update

It was informed by CHQ  that the result of Inspector Posts Examination 2011 will likely be announced  in the next week i.e. 3rd week of this month.

National award for excellence in financial inclusion under MGNREGA

K.Raghunadha Swamy ASP(Hq) Nalgonda Dn and K.Sivaiah  BPM, Molkacherla BO a/w Miryalaguda HO were selected for presentation of  National award for excellence in financial inclusion under MGNREGA.  Shri Jairam Ramesh, Hon'ble Minister for Rural Development, Govt.of India has presented the  Awards in MGNREGA Sammelan, 2012 held on 02/02/2012. Among the 30 awardees from the entire country, 12 from Dept of Posts.Besides the above two, other Awardees from AP state are Dist Collector, Vizianagaram and one Bharat Nirman Volunteer from Prakasam District.

   

Congratulations to all the Award Winners.

Committee to examine GDS matters

3rd India Post Cup Cricket Tournement - Income Tax Team is the Winner

INCOME  TAX Dept Team  won the 3^rd India Post Cup for Cricket Tournament on Friday, defeating BSNL by eight wickets in final.

Brief  Scores

BSNL – 171 in 45 Overs (Anshul Kapur 86, M Suresh Babu 4/26). Income Tax 172/2 in 40.2 Overs (Rajesh Tabiyar 53 not out)

Famous actress Sharmila Tagore released a Special Cover on Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Ex Captain of Indian Cricket team during a function held at the Jadavpur University campus ground on 10.02.2011. The BCCI vice-president, Chitrak Mitra, was present on the occasion.

Grant of Special CL to Delegates of Kurnool Circle conference

Circle office Hyderabdad has issued orders vide CO memo no U/3-8/2011-12 dated 27-01-2012 to grant Special Casual Leave to the Delegates and CWC members for attending 39 th Circle conference of All India Association of Inspectors & Asst Supdts Posts APcircle Branch scheduled to be held at Kurnool on 18.02.2012 and 19.02.2012. Special CL may also be granted for to and fro journey periods. Click here to download the CO letter in original.

Regional allotment in PS Group B cadre

Sri K.Janardhna Reddy SPM Repalle MDG and qualified Group B candidate from General line Qouta of PS Group B Examination 2010 is alloted to Hyderabad Region vide CO memo dated 10.02.2012.

Circle allotments to 2010 PS Group B Exam candidates

Directorate has issued Circle allotments to the following  candidates selected against  the two unfilled OC vacancies from General line qouta of PS Group B examination for the year 2010.

Sl no	Name of the selected candidate	Circle to which alloted
1	K.Janardhan Reddy, SPM Repalle MDG	Andhra Pradesh
2	R.Rama lingam (TN circle)	Jammu & Kashmir

Railways Extend Advance Reservation Period to 120 Days

The Ministry of Railways has decided to increase the advance reservation period for booking reserved train tickets from existing 90 days to 120 days on experimental basis (excluding the date of journey) w.e.f. March 10, 2012.

However, there will be no change in case of certain day-time express trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express etc. where lower time limits for advance reservations are at present in force. There will also be no change in case of the limit of 360 days for foreign tourists. 

Source : PIB

India Post Cup for Cricket Tournament

3^rd  India Post Cup for Cricket Tournament inaugurated by Smt. Manjula Prasher, DG Posts on 06.02.2012 at Saltlake, Kolkata. Sri Bablu Koley, Vice-President, Trustee Board of CAB, Sri S.K.Chakraborty, Chief Postmaster General, WB Circle and Smt. Sharda Sampat, PMG, Kolkata Region, were present in this inauguration programme.

6 teams are participating in this tournament.

Gr. ‘A’	Gr. ‘B’
Services (combined-XI)	India Posts
BSNL	CAG
Indian Income Tax	Customs & Central Excise

A Special Cover on Polly Umrigar was released at the Jadavpur University’s Salt Lake Campus.

Final Match will be held at 10:00hrs. on 10.02.2012.

Income Tax Bonanza for Salaried People for 2012-13

The government is planning to enhance tax slabsof salaried class persons.According to reports, Union Finance Minister Sri. Pranab Mukherjee may announce the income tax slab rates soon. The basic tax exemption may increase from 1.8 lakh to 2 lakh. Further the income between Rs. 2-5 lakh will be taxed at 10 percent, Rs. 5-10 Lakh be taxed at 20 percent and income above Rs. 10 Lakh will be taxed at 30 percent rate. 

 The present tax structure is that incomes between Rs 1.8 lakh and Rs 5 lakh are taxed 10 percent, those between Rs 5-8 lakh taxed 20 percent while 30 percent tax is slapped on incomes above Rs 8 lakh.

proceedings of 37th All India Conference held at Bangalore

The 37^th All India Biennial Conference of our Association was held at Bangaluru on 28^th and 29^th January, 2012. Out of 22 circles, 234 delegates from 19 circles attended and actively participated in the deliberations. There was no representation from Assam, J & K and Himachal Pradesh circle branches.

Deliberations on following issues have been taken place and approved by the august house.

Latest position on announcement of LGO Exam result

The position at Circle office Hyderabad is that the CMC authorities as well as Directorate  had not provided full information to declare the results of AP Circle. OMR sheets are wanting in some cases and Marks lists are wanting in some other cases. Tabulation will be completed only on availability of both the OMR sheets and Marks lists. Directorate was addressed to supply the wanting OMR sheets as well as Marks lists. This is the main reason for delay in announcement of result and as reported earlier, it will take another 20 days time.

Transfers & Postings in SAG cadre

Shri B. Chandrasekhar, Postmaster General, Mumbai Region is  transferred and posted as Brigadier in APS Kamthee (Maharashtra).

Transfers & Postings in HAG cadre

Directorate has issued the following orders of transfers and postings in the Posts of Chief PMsG vide No.1-1/2009-SPG  dated 02.02.2012.

1. Shri A.K. Sharma (IPoS 1981), PMG, Allahbad is posted as CPMG, Odisha Circle.

2.Shri P.T.S. Kumar (IPoS 1981), PMG, Shillong is posted as CPMG, NE Circle.

3.Shri Faiz Ur Rehman (IPoS 1979), CPMG, Maharastra Circle is transferred and posted as CPMG, Gujarat Circle.

4.Ms Humera Ahmed (IPoS 1979), CPMG, Gujarat Circle is transferred and posted as CPMG, Maharastra Circle

7 % D.A Hike from January 2012

Dearness Allowance to all categories of Central Government employees is being sanctioned by the Government twice in a year, on 1st January and 1st July based on the increase in the average monthly All India consumer Price Index and it is granted to compensate the price hike above 115.76 Points (Base Year 2001=100). The average increase is calculated up to December for grant of D.A from 1st January and up to June for grant of DA from 1st July. The average price index stood at 191.5 points by the end of December 2011. Thus, the D.A hike arrived  is 7% from 58% to 65% from 1st January 2012. Usually, Central Government announces the 1st January DA hike in the month of March.

I. All-India Average Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers
(Base 2001=100)

Item	January 2011	February 2011	March 2011	April 2011	May 2011	June 2011
General Index	188	185	185	186	187	189

Item	July 2011	August 2011	September 2011	Oct 2011	Nov 2011	Dec 2011	Average
General Index	193	194	197	198	199	197	191.5