61% Indians aged 45-plus want to retire in next 5 years: Survey

MUMBAI: Nearly 61 per cent working population in India aged 45 plus want to retire in the next five years, with the majority saying work-related pressure is affecting their mental and physical health.

Also, financial constraints are the biggest reason for those unable to retire, an HSBC survey revealed.

Global bank HSBC's latest edition of 'The Future of Retirement Healthy New Beginnings study' found that 61 per cent of the working population in India aged 45 plus want to retire in the next five years.

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/50793274.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Now take a selfie, open a bank account

In a few weeks, you can probably create a bank account with a self ie. All you'd have to do is upload a selfie, a photo of your PAN card taken with your mobile phone, and a scan of the QR code of your Aadhaar card using an app. They'll serve as Know Your Customer (KYC) credentials, and you can open a bank account and conduct transactions up to Rs 10,000 a month.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/50792019.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

DoPT requests comments from Secretary, National Council(Staff Side), JCM on recommendations of 7th CPC regarding Gazetted and Restricted Holidays

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India Post opens ATM

Collector Ronald Rose using the ATM inaugurated at the district post office at Sangreddy in Medak.– PHOTO: Mohd Arif 

 

Coln. Elisha, Post Master General, Hyderabad region, called upon the public to use the services being extended by the Postal Department.

Inaugurating the ATM established by India Post at Sangareddy main post office along with Collector D. Ronald Rose on Saturday, Coln. Elisha said that eight India Post ATMs were established at the main post office at Hyderabad.

He also informed that ATMs would be established at Siddipet, Zaheerabad and Medak post offices and the postal department customers can withdraw money from any postal ATMs across the nation. They would be able to withdraw from any bank ATMs only after connecting postal accounts online.

He said all pension holders can withdraw money through ATMs.

Expressing displeasure over people not completely using railway reservation counter at post office, he said that they can come and use the service during working hours. He also explained about Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana and Sukanya Samruddhi Yojana.

Head Postmaster Shankar and others were present.

Source :  http://www.thehindu.com

 

CBS GO LIVE OF MADHAPUR NDTSO UNDER KEONJHAR DIVISION, ODISHA CIRCLE

 

 

7th Pay Commission: Disappointing News! Centre may implement hike after OROP execution

New Delhi, Jan 30: At a time when Central Government employees are anxiously waiting for the implementation of Seventh Pay Commission(7th CPC), this could dishearten them.

 

 Days after reports came to fore that CPC will be delayed and will come into force in the month of June-July, here is yet another disappointing news for these employees. Sources say that Centre may implement new Pay Commission after the execution of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme.

Sources say that Army veterans want some modification into the current form of OROP scheme but Modi Government has yet not accepted their demands. 

 

One can understand this delay of the salary increment, as notification for Seventh Pay Commission is yet to be issued. Sources say that there are lots of issues to be sorted out before final approval will be given.

 

 Earlier, Government set up a 13-member Empowered Committee of Secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet Secretary to process the recommendations of the Pay Commission. 

 

 An office memorandum of the Finance Ministry was quoted as saying, "The Empowered Committee will function as a screening committee to screen the recommendations of the Commission after taking into account the views of the concerned stakeholders... So as to firm up the final conclusion for approval of the Cabinet". 

 

Reportedly, first meeting to formulate action points for processing Seventh Pay Commission recommendations is scheduled on February 2. Nodal officers of different ministries and departments will participate in the meet. 

 

Nearly 48 lakh central government employees and 55 lakh pensioners will be befitted by the the pay commission.

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/

Meeting of the NJCA on 08.02.2016

Com. R C Rana, Postman, Bhoinagar S O retired

Com. Rama Chandra Rana, Postman, Bhoinagar  S O retired on attaining the age of superannuation.

 

Shri Rajkishore Senapati, Postmaster, Bhoinagar S O and his team arranged a very nice farewell meeting on 30.01.2016

 

Com. B Samal and Com. S K Swain, Divisional Secretary, AIPEU, Group-C and Postman & MTS respectively attended the farewell meeting.

 

Sri Rana was felicitated by the staff members of Bhoinagar S O

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SALARY OF 90% RAILWAY EMPLOYEES WILL BE REDUCED AFTER 7TH CPC IMPLEMENTATION

The recommendations of the seventh central pay commission (CPC) would reduce, rather than increase, the ‘take-home’ salary of almost 90% of Indian Railways’ workforce, the largest railway trade union has alleged. It has also threatened to go on an indefinite strike in the first week of March in response to the panel’s recommendations.

The National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR), which represents more than 90% of the railways’ workforce, has said 1.3 million railway employees are ‘seriously disturbed’ over what they call retrograde recommendations of the panel with regard to their pay structure as their take-home salary would be less than what they currently receive, particularly employees living in government accommodation.

“Those being covered against pay levels 1 to 12 of the seventh CPC Pay Matrix are approximately 90% of the workforce in the Indian Railways and these employees are seriously disappointed as their ‘take-home’ salary after 10 years waiting would be reduced ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 per month with effect from 1 January 2016,” NFIR said in a statement, without explaining how it arrived at the conclusion.

 

In a response to the “illogical” recommendations, the Union has threatened to go on indefinite strike in the first week of March after participating in a three-day Dharna at Jantar Mantar along with employees of Defence and Postal services.

 

“The Seventh CPC has done grave injustice to the employees in the Railways as well in the Central Government employees with regard to multiplying factor and computation of need based minimum wage,” the NFIR said, adding a comparison with earlier pay panels reveals several of the current pay commission recommendations are negative and illogical.

 

The recommendations are effective from the current month and would lead to total annual wage burden of Rs 28,000 crore, the government estimates.

The Union also said that the hike in wages in general will either be marginal or less than what is received now in most of the cases of employees. “Experience proved that successive Pay Commissions’ reports have resulted into pay anomalies since the age old relativities in pay scales got disturbed and those aberrations continued unresolved for decades as the authorities always prefer to procrastinate matters,” NFIR General Secretary M Raghavaiah said in a strongly-worded statement.

 

The trade union termed it ‘sad’ that the seventh CPC had not seriously gone into the skills requirement, nature of duties, accountability, remoteness and arduousness of over 1.3 million railway employees. It complained the Pay Commission has recommended abolition of various allowances and interest free advances in the Railways, generating serious unrest among the employees.

Source:- Business Standard

February to be observed as ‘Sukanya Samriddhi’ month

TIRUCHI, January 30, 2016

 

The Department of Posts will observe February as “Selvamagal Semippu Thittam month” and a campaign for opening of Sukanya Samriddhi accounts will be conducted in all the 11 postal divisions in the central region.

About 2.9 lakh accounts have been opened in the post offices in Central Region so far under the scheme. There are more than 3,500 post offices in the central region.

Special counters would be set up in all 24 head post offices at Chidamabram, Cuddalore, Karur, Kulittalai, Kumbakonam, Melakaveri, Mayiladuturai, Sirkali, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Pattukkottai, Tiruthuraipundi, Pudukkottai, Perambalur, Srirangam, Thuraiyur, Mannargudi, Papanasam, Thanjavur, Lalgudi, Tiruchi, Kallakurichi, Tirukoyilur, andVriddhachalam.

Institutions such as schools, banks, and government offices can open accounts in bulk and contact the respective Postal Division or call 9443847055 to get the accounts opened on their premises itself.

Under the scheme, accounts can be opened in the name of girls aged below 10 by crediting a minimum amount of Rs. 1,000. Subsequent deposits can be made in multiples of Rs. 100 and a minimum of Rs. 1,000 has to be deposited in the account every financial year.

The maximum amount for a financial year is Rs. 1,50,000, a Postal Department release said.

The interest rate which was 9.1 per cent for 2014-15 has been enhanced to 9.2 per cent for 2015-16, the release added.

Source :  http://www.thehindu.com

CBS Go-live of Utareswar S O under Balasore Division on 29.01.2016

 

Observance of Martyrs' Day by staff members of Ashoknagar MDG, Bhubaneswar-751009 on 30.01.2016

Shri B Samal, Postmaster briefed the importance of Martyrs' Day

 

Two minutes ( 11 AM to 11.02AM) silence was observed in the memory of those who gave their lives in the struggle for India's freedom

 

Members of public and SAS/MPKBY agents  also participated

 

 

 

 

CBS Go Live of Nalibar SO -754104 under Cuttack South Division on 29.01.2016

 

 

 

Red Salute the martyrdom of soldiers who lost their lives defending the sovereignty of the nation.

 

 

Meeting of Nodal officers of various Departments - implementation of the recommendations of the 7th CPC

Meeting of the committee for reassessment of CVO positions in CPSEs and other organizations under different Ministries/Departments and rationalization of pay,incentive,allowances etc. of CVOs.

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National Pension System (NPS) Service Week will be observed from 1st February to 6th February, 2016

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance29-January-2016 11:35 IST

To mark the completion of two years of statutory status of PFRDA, National Pension System (NPS) Service Week will be observed from 1st February to 6th February, 2016 dedicated to service-orientation towards the subscribers and building awareness and improved information dissemination.

PFRDA would be completing 2 years of its statutory status on February 1, 2016 as the ACT conferring the statutory status to PFRDA was notified on 1st Feb 2014. To mark this occasion, PFRDA in collaboration with all its intermediaries in the National Pension System (NPS), namely the Central and the State Governments nodal offices, POPs, Aggregators, Central Recordkeeping Agency, NPS Trust etc. is observing NPS Service Week from February 1- 6, 2016. This week-long campaign is being dedicated to service-orientation towards the subscribers and aimed at awareness building and improved information dissemination.

On this occasion, besides sharing of information on the range of functionalities and services now available under the NPS, the subscriber community shall be apprised about the need for constant updation of data/information to enable the system to operate at its optimum service level, so that the intended benefits now available under the new functionalities, can reach all the employees/subscribers under NPS. Besides, the subscribers will also be able to make best use of this opportunity and facilities available therein.

Following are some of the activities which may be undertaken by the nodal officers in the proposed NPS Service Week:

• Creating awareness about the NPS – Salient features of the scheme, the process of joining it, special efforts to reduce subscribers’ grievances, etc.

• Printing and distribution of the subscriber brochure for Govt. Subscribers.

• Updation of subscriber details through S2 Form.

• Conversion of non IRA to IRA compliant status.

• Advising subscribers regarding benefits associated with PRAN being IRA compliant and updation of contact details.

• Printing of Transaction Statement for the subscribers and distributing the same on the specific request of the subscriber.

• Suitably rewarding/ acknowledging the best performing office/ branch/ person on completion of the NPS Service Week.

PFRDA has also advised the CRA (NSDL) in this matter for actively assisting the Nodal Offices, POPs and aggregators in this campaign and for providing necessary guidance and further information to the employee-subscribers. This exercise is likely to help around 95 lakhs subscribers and would be available through more than 2 lakhs of points of interface comprising of Government offices , banks, non- bank Points of Presence and aggregators.

On its part, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority is organizing the 2nd Pension Conclave in Delhi on 4th February 2016 with the theme, “Towards Universal Pension: Coverage, Adequacy and Sustainability”. All the stake holders – POPs, CRA, TB, PFs, Custodian, Nodal Officers etc are expected to participate and share their experiences. PFRDA proposes to use this occasion to acknowledge/ award the best performing banks and Post Offices in mobilization and registration of subscribers under the Atal Pension Yojana up to 31st December 2015 and institute awards for best performing POPs under the Voluntary segment of the National Pension System.

Sack erring government officials who don't mend ways, PM tells secretaries

TNN | Jan 28, 2016

 NEW DELHI: In a stern message to government officials refusing to mend their ways despite repeated complaints, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked secretaries to carry out assessment of such employees and recommend action, including dismissal and slashing their pension.
The PM also asked all central government departments, which have to extensively deal with the public, to set up a grievance-monitoring mechanism.
Thed PM's warning came as he reviewed grievances relating to the excise and customs department during his monthly interaction with central government secretaries and chief secretaries of states through Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI), a web-based interface, sources said.
"Though he (the PM) specifically asked the excise and customs department to identify and take action against such officials, he said the message is for all secretaries and chief secretaries," a secretary level official told TOI.

The department of personnel and training (DoPT) rules specify the circumstances under which an a government officer can be "retired" in "public interest". Rule 56(J) of Fundamental Rules says, "Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, the appropriate authority shall, if it is of the opinion that it is in public interest to do so, have the absolute right to retire any government servant by giving him notice of not less than three months in writing or three months' pay and allowances."
Employees attaining 55 years can be impacted under this rule.
Similarly, Rule 48 of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rule says, "At any time after a government servant has completed 30 years qualifying service, (a) he may retire from service or (b) he may be required by the appointing authority to retire in public interest, and in case of such retirement, the government servant shall be entitled to a retiring pension."

 As per rules, the government can initiate disciplinary action against any employee for dereliction of duty, and his pension and other benefits can be withheld pending investigation.
In an official release, the PMO said that taking strong exception to public complaints and grievances related to the customs and excise department, the PM asked for "strict action against responsible officials. He urged all secretaries whose departments have extensive public dealing, to set up a system for top-level monitoring of grievances immediately".

 Officials said though the Central Board of Excise and Customs said it had already been initiating steps to warn errant officials and installed CCTV cameras to keep tab on them, the PM observed that they must take quick action in such cases.
Sources said Modi also asked top bureaucrats to work together and resolve prickly issues quickly and get out of the "government way of doing business" by passing files from one to another.
This was Modi's ninth such interaction through PRAGATI. 

Source :  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

India Post ATM inaugurated at Bhadrak HO on 29.01.2016

Bhadrak HO ATM inaugurated by Hon'ble Collector, Bhadrak in presence of Supdt. of Post Offices, Bhadrak Division on 29th January 2016.

6 Signs That India's Unemployment Problem Might Actually Be Getting Worse

19,000 people applied for 114 posts as sweepers last week in Uttar Pradesh town Amroha, officials said. "Of some 6000 applications we have seen so far, many are graduates in arts and sciences, post-graduates, even engineering graduates and MBAs," Amroha municipal superintendent Faiz Alam.

“Even sweepers in our village have a good standard of living and send their children to English-medium schools," applicant Shamshad Ahmed Saifi of Makhdoompur village, a B Com final year student told the Times of India.

If Q3-Q4 2015, and January 2016 are a sign of things to come, India’s unemployment problem might get worse in the coming years.

75,000 well trained people want to be peons

The New York Times

Last year, the State Government's Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Chattisgarh, was barraged by 75,000 applicants for 30 peon jobs - for a 14,000 Rupee job that includes a task of fetching tea. It wasn’t surprising that of the 70,000 online applications and 5000 post applications, many included requisitions from qualified engineers and management graduates.  According to Census 2011 data, over 20% of Indian youth (between the age bracket of 15-24) or 4.7 crore Indians are jobless.

Cash burn is making startups panic and fire startup employees

Last year, realty portal Housing.com announced plans to lay off at least 600 employees, in the wake of wannabe maverick co-founder and former CEO Rahul Yadav's dismissal. "Housing is being completely restructured and performance for each employee across departments is being (scrutinised)," said a top executive at the company, which in July fired for bad behaviour after months of chaos.  "While some people have been asked to leave because businesses are being shut down, others because of under-performance and in some cases due to over-staffing," a source stated.

The going is good as long as the funds were pouring in

Fire fast is often more pragmatic option than failing fast, and India's fluid business models mean the need for constantly changing skill sets.  The one-year-young Gurgaon-based hyperlocal grocery delivery service closed a Series B funding round of $36 million (around Rs 237 crore) in October this year. In 2015, PepperTap laid off some 40 employees, pegging its current headcount at a little over 2,000.  Reasons for the layoffs? Poor performance coupled with a business rejig, as the startup shifted from distributed customer care call centres to a centralized one.

India is still hesitant to add women to the workplace

McKinsey

"Decreased labour force participation of women in India is a big problem. It is very important to promote their participation, their involvement in the Indian economy," the chief of International Labour Organisation research division Raymond Torres said while launching a new global unemployment report.

According to a McKinsey report, women’s equality can add another 12 trillion dollars to the global economy, and India stands to benefit quite a bit:  “...the best-in-region outcome could increase annual GDP by 2025 by more than 10 percent over the business-as-usual case, with the highest relative regional boost in India and Latin America…”

India's number of job seekers is only increasing

ap

India's unemployment rate remained at 3.5 per cent in 2014 and 2015 but will decrease slightly to 3.4 per cent in 2016 and 2017, according to the ILO findings. However, the number of people seeking jobs will increase to 17.6 million people in 2017 from 17.5 million people in both 2015 and 2016.   This is not India's problem alone: "The global economy is not generating enough jobs to reverse the continuing increase in the alarmingly high unemployment situation in the world," said the ILO Director- General Guy Ryder.  

The #StartUpIndia initiative doesn't necessarily mean more employment

reuters

Last week, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled incentives to boost start-up businesses. These included a tax holiday, capital gains tax exemption, a Rs 10,000 crore corpus, and and no inspections for the first 3 years of a startup's existence. It’s the exemptions from labour inspection that have scared India’s labour community. 

The popular faces of #StartupIndia, brands that can afford crores in advertising spends have hired – and fired liberally.

Soon after securing Rs 177 crores in funding to help it last another 12 months, Tiny Owl fired 300 people, in spree across multiple offices was that became the topic of much drama. By November, Housing.com had also fired 600 employees, and announced 200 more layoffs after its shareholders tightened budgets. Food Tech players Zomato and Foodpanda had also fired 300 employees each. PepperTap, which closed around around Rs 237 crore in 2015 suddenly fired 40 employees, citing poor performance and a newer business model.

(With inputs from Agencies and TNN)

Source :  http://www.indiatimes.com/

Leader and leadership

Smt. Nandita Mohanty

Chairperson, Women Sub-Committee

AIPEU, Group-C, Bhubaneswar 

The importance of leader is well illustrated by sage Valmiki in Ramayana- 

“Like herd of cattle without a keeper

Like an army without a General

Like a night without moon

Like a group of cows without a bull

Such would be the country

Where there is no king”. 

       A leader is indispensible in an organization. Leadership is not the mere use of people and their potential for achieving the goal of an organization. His ultimate goal is to raise the ethical aspiration and human behaviour of people. The leader not only commits his followers to achieve the goal but also inculcate required resources, guides and motivates the followers to reach the goal. The leadership process is similar in effects to that of the secret chemical that turns the insect pupa into a butterfly with all beauties. Leader turns the potential of people into reality. 

      According to Lee Hun-Jo, CEO, LG Electronics” you have to transform human beings. If you can’t change your people, you can’t change your organization. And if you can’t do that you can’t reach your goal”. Good leader can transform people into the desired shape by his experience and expertise. 

     In recent times authentic leadership is added to the phenomenon to create an effective leader. Authentic leader understands him-self well. He knows what he believes in and values his principles. He acts on his beliefs openly and candidly. His followers take him as the most ethical person.  The primary quality produced by authentic leadership is ‘integrity’. Authentic leader shares information, encourage open communication and stick to his ideals. As a result of which people have faith on him.  

         Transformational and charismatic leaders are known to have moral virtue and ethical component and they foster it when they try to change the attitude and behaviour of the followers. But unethical leaders use their charisma to enhance power over followers, directed towards self serving ends.  Ethical leaders use it in a socially constructive way to serve others. Leaders who treat their followers with fairness, especially by providing honest, frequent and accurate information come out to be more effective. 

        Trust is the primary attribute associated with leadership, breaking of which can have serious adverse effects on group performance. The prime task for a leader is working with people, finding their problems and solving them. A leader feeds on the trust of people to gain access to knowledge and think innovatively to solve the problem. So trust and leadership go hand in hand in any organization, each of which is necessary for the other to thrive. 

          In short a leader brings out the best in every individual and encourages team spirit. A leader can only be successful in his endeavours when his team support, follow and love him. A righteous leader can lead the organization to the pinnacle of success and greatness.

 

*****

Government announces first batch of 20 smart cities - Bhubaneswar tops the list

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Urban Development
28-January-2016 17:58 IST

Government announces first batch of 20 smart cities from 11 States and Delhi

Bhubaneswar tops the list; Bhopal at 20

23 States/UTs left out to participate in fast track competition

Selection through competition totally objective and transparent, says Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu

20 cities propose an investment of Rs.50,802 cr over five years ; All cities to resort to PPP
26,735 acres area in 20 cities identified for making them smart

            The Government today announced the 20 winners of the Smart City Challenge competition for financing during this financial year. Announcing the cities here today, Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu said that the winners were from 11 States and the Union Territory of Delhi and the selection was totally objective and transparent based on standardized processes.

            Shri Naidu further said that Smart City Mission marks a paradigm shift towards urban development in the country since it is based on ‘bottom up’ approach with the involvement of citizens in formulation of city vision and smart city plans and the Urban Local Bodies and State Governments piloting the mission with little say for the Ministry of Urban Development. He also observed that it was for the first time in the country and even in the world that investments in urban sector are being made based on competition based selection of cities.

            Informing that 1.52 crore citizens participated in shaping smart city plans of 97 cities and towns in the first round of competition, Shri Naidu said that this enthusiastic participation of people is a major positive outcome. 

            3 cities from Madhya Pradesh, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and one each from the remaining five made it to the winning list.

            The Minister informed that 23 States and UTs who could not make to the list of winners will be given an opportunity to participate in a ‘fast track competition’. Each top ranking city form these left out states can upgrade their smart city proposals and submit them by April 15, this year for inclusion in the mission.

            Shri Naidu informed that the 20 winning cities and towns have proposed a total investment of Rs.50,802 cr over five years with all the cities proposing Public-Private-Partnership as a major vehicle of resource mobilization. 10 of the 20 cities have proposed to mobilise Rs.8,521 cr under PPP model while others have also indicated this option. A total area of 26,735 acres has been identified by these cities for making them smart through necessary interventions.

            Elaborating on the advantages of Smart City Mission, Shri Venkaiah Naidu said that this leads to integrated urban planning by addressing the issue of infrastructure, land use planning, transport, urban design and architecture in a holistic manner unlike in the past. Stating that building a smart city is not a destination but a series of small steps in that direction, Shri Naidu said that the country has taken one such step today. 

            The Minister said that urban local bodies are taking a quantum jump to improve their capabilities and have resorted to SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of each city for coming out with city vision. 

            The 20 smart cities announced by Shri Venkaiah Naidu were :

           

Rank	City	State
1	Bhubaneswar	Odisha
2	Pune	Maharashtra
3	Jaipur	Rajasthan
4.	Surat	Gujarat
5	Kochi	Kerala
6	Ahmedabad	Gujarat
7	Jabalpur	Madhya Pradesh
8	Visakhapatnam	Andhra Pradesh
9	|Solapur	Maharashtra
10	Davanagere	Karnataka
11	Indore	MP
12	New Delhi Municipal Council	Delhi
13	Combattore	Tamil Nadu
14	Kakinada	Andhra Pradesh
15	Belagavi	Karnataka
16	Udaipur	Rajasthan
17	Guwahati	Assam
18	Chennai	Tamil Nadu
19	Ludhiana	Punjab
20	Bhopal	MP

            Of these 20 cities accounting for a total population of 3.54 crore, 5 have  population below 5 lakhs each, 4 in the range of 5-10 lakhs, 6 in between 10-25 lakhs, 4 between 25 and 50 lakhs and only Ahmedabad has above 50 lakhs.