Niti Aayog to start work on 15-year vision document

New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) Government think-tank Niti Aayog will start consultations with states and experts from next month on preparing a 15-year vision document and a strategy for its implementation.

The Aayog has invited Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, former Finance Commission Chairman Vijay Kelkar, former RBI Governors Bimal Jalan and Y V Reddy among others for the crucial deliberations, a senior government official said today.

NITI Aayog has been entrusted to prepare a 15-year vision document beginning 2017-18 fiscal, which will replace Nehruvian five year planning system followed for over six decades.

Apart from focusing on sectors such as infrastructure, commerce, education and health, the vision document will also cover internal security and defence, which were not part of the earlier five year plans.

"Besides, the consultations will also cover forming a seven-year (2017-18 to 2023-24) strategy to convert the longer vision into implementable policy as part of the National Development Agenda, which will be reviewed after three years (2019-10 fiscal)," he added.

Confirming the development, an official source said that Aayog will also formulate a three-year Action Document (2017-18 to 2019-20) that will be aligned to the predictability of financial resources during the 14th Finance Commission Award period.

"This is being done as it will help to translate into actions, government goals to be achieved by 2019," the source added.

Several committees have questioned the merit in having Plan and Non-Plan classification of government expenditure and the general view is that it has skewed allocations in the Budget and the classification should be done on the basis of revenue and capital expenditure.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced in his Budget speech this year that Plan and non-Plan classification will be done away with from 2017-18.

1% tax on cash buy of goods,services over Rs2 L

New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) Payment in cash for buying goods and services worth more than Rs 2 lakh with the exception of jewellery will attract 1 per cent tax collected at source (TCS) from tomorrow.

The existing TCS of 1 per cent on cash purchase of over Rs 5 lakh of jewellery and over Rs 2 lakh of bullion will continue, tax officials said.

The Income Tax Department has been levying 1 per cent TCS on cash purchase of bullion in excess of Rs 2 lakh and jewellery in excess of Rs 5 lakh since July 1, 2012.

The position is maintained and there is no change in the position, the officials said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget 2016-17 imposed TCS of one per cent on goods and services purchased in cash in excess of Rs 2 lakh.

Besides, sale of options will also attract increased Securities Transaction Tax (STT) of 0.05 per cent from tomorrow. Currently, STT is 0.017 per cent.

In the Budget speech, Jaitley had said: "I also propose to collect tax at source at the rate of 1 per cent on purchase of luxury cars exceeding value of Rs 10 lakh and purchase of goods and services in cash exceeding Rs 2 lakh." 

"For compliant tax payers with resources, this levy not only advances collection of tax when the expenditure is incurred, but it provides data to tax authorities to identify the persons who incur such expenditure, but may be missing from the tax base.

Payments bank of the postal department to have Rs 800 crore corpus

NEW DELHI: Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said the payments bank of the posts department will have Rs 800 crore corpus at the beginning. 

"The payments bank of the department of posts will be functional by March 2017. It will initially have a corpus of Rs 800 crore, out of which Rs 400 crore will be equity and rest will be grant," he told reporters while announcing various achievements of his ministry in the last two years. 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on August 2015 granted 'in principle' approval to 11 applicants, including Reliance Industries Ltd, Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, Department of Posts and Cholamandalam Distribution Services Ltd, to set up payment banks. 

The others who got the approval are Airtel M Commerce Services Limited, Fino PayTech Limited, National Securities Depository Limited, Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Tech Mahindra Limited and Vodafone m-pesa Limited. 

The payment banks will cater to the needs of small savings accounts, remittance services, low income households, small businesses and other unorganised sector entities. 

The minister also flagged off 14 vans of Digital India Outreach Campaign with the objective to create awareness about the programme.

Source:-The Economic Times

Prime Minister approves retirement age of doctors of Central Health Services to 65 years

The Prime Minister today approved the proposal of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for enhancing the age of superannuation of all doctors of the Central Health Service to 65 years with effect from 31st May 2016.

This will enable the Government to retain experienced doctors for a longer period, and to provide better services in its public health facilities, particularly to the poorest, who are entirely dependent on public facilities.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Shri J P Nadda stated that this step will empower the Government to strengthen the healthcare sector in the country. It will help in providing additional doctors in the health pool of the country, he added. This will strengthen the efforts of the Ministry in conceptualising and rolling out various people-oriented schemes which l need the services of doctors in implementing them, Shri Nadda stated. 

Source:-PIB

Retirement on Superannuation

Shri Jeeraman Deep, SSPOs, Sundargarh Division, Sundargarh is retiring today the 31st May, 2016(A/N) on superannuation. 

On the occasion of his retirement from Govt. Service, All India Association of Inspectors and Assistant Superintendents of Posts , Odisha Circle Branch bids him a respectful farewell and wishes him a good-health and peaceful life in his post-retirement days. 

Kind Attention of DOP Employees

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Five ways to constructively disagree with your boss

Speaking up for what we believe is a good thing, but when it amounts to disagreeing with your boss, you need to be tactfully. ET's Rica Bhattacharyya brings you expert advice on how to constructively disagree with the boss.

Go Prepared

While your boss would want to know the reason for your disagreement, he would also be keen to know the alternative solution. 

"The more confidently you disagree by stating the alternative, higher is the probability of your boss agreeing to your perspective," said Sudhir Dhar, director, human resources and administration at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

"To begin with, you must say that you agree with him in principle, however, there are a few disagreements and you can proceed with explaining them in brief," said Abhishek Kumar, assistant professor at BIM Trichy.

Express Right

"You can disagree with any person, however, to gain acceptance of your views, expressing it in the right way is vital. Hence, begin your discussion stating the mutual purpose and interest you hold," said Dhar. 

"You need to express that the desired results may not be achieved as expected by your boss and state in a subtle way the outcome of your viewpoint," he said. 

"You may first try to relate one or two incidents that support his points and then relate a few more incidents that support a contrary view," Kumar suggested.

Give Examples

While disagreeing, it is best to put forward the facts, figures, experience, scenarios supporting your viewpoint. "This would help your boss analyse your view and consider it," said Dhar. 

"Raise the argument to the level of the issue or the concept and then discuss pros and cons, as concepts do not remain any one person's domain and, therefore, an objective discussion becomes possible," said Kumar.

Ask Questions

31 May, 2016

It is best to state your point clearly and directly. However, when it comes to disagreeing with your boss, you may have to adopt some alternatives. Dhar said one of the alternatives is asking relevant questions. "Seek to understand your boss' perspective by asking questions. 

Direct your questions towards the expected results, which is where you can put forward your reason for disagreement and state alternatives," he said.

Listening

Without Burden of Agreement Let your boss know that you're your view point should be heard without the burden of agreeing to it. This will get you're your boss' attention.

Grab this opportunity to put forward your perspective using the above ways, said Dhar. "Remember, alternative views help in improvement and innovativeness in the organisation. Leaders who understand this welcome people with CANDOR," he said.

When your approach is not right, leaders who prefer candor may also unwelcome your disagreement; they may perceive your intentions as wrong. 

Thus, disagreeing calmly and constructively will help you maintain your professional credibility. Never hesitate to put forward your views, however, state it the right way, said Dhar.

Source:-The Economic Times

Some snap shots of 9th Biennial Conference of AIPEU, Gr-C, Bhubaneswar Division

Attended 9th Biennial Conference of AIPEU, Group-C, Bhubaneswar Division on 29.05.2016 as a Speaker as Circle Secretary of All India Association of Inspectors and Asst. Supdts of Posts, Odisha Circle Branch. I convey my sincere thanks to AIPEU, Group-C, Bhubaneswar Division for the invitation.It is a symbolism of co-operation, respect, understanding and reciprocity.

Com Bruhaspati Samal, Divisional Secretary, AIPEU, Gr-C, Bhubaneswar

Com.M Krishnan, Secretary General Confederation of Central Govt. Employees and Workers.

Com R.C. Mishra, Circle Secretary, AIPEU, Gr-C, Odisha Circle

Shri Pitabasa Jena, Circle Secretary, All India Association of Inspectors and Asst Supdt of Posts, Odisha Circle 

No TDS for PF withdrawals of up to Rs 50,000 from June 1

No tax would be deducted at source for PF withdrawals of up to Rs 50,000 from June 1. 

The government has notified raising the threshold limit of PF withdrawal for deduction of tax ( TDS ) from existing Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000, a senior official told PTI. 

"The Finance Act , 2016 has amended section 192A of Income Tax Act, 1961 to raise the threshold limit of PF withdrawal from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 for Tax Deducted at Source (TDS)," the notification stated. 

The provision will come into effect from June 1, 2016, providing relief to subscribers of retirement fund body EPFO . 

The government had introduced the proposal to deduct TDS on PF withdrawals in order to discourage pre-mature withdrawal and to promote long term savings. 

According to existing provisions, TDS is deducted at the rate of 10 per cent provided PAN is submitted. 

TDS will be deducted at the rate of 10 per cent provided PAN is submitted. 

However, in case Form 15G or 15H is submitted by the member, then TDS is not deducted. These forms are to declare that their income would not be taxable after receiving payment of their PF accumulations from retirement fund body EPFO. 

While Form 15H is submitted by senior citizens (above 60 years of age), Form 15G is submitted by claimants below the age of 60 years. 

TDS is deducted at the maximum marginal rate of 34.608 per cent if a member fails to submit PAN or Form 15G or 15H. 

However, there are certain exceptions to deduction of TDS by EPFO. TDS shall not be deducted in case of transfer of PF from one account to another PF account. 

Also, no tax is deducted if employee withdraws PF after a period of five years. 

Source:-The Economic Times

Gangajal by post to be a reality soon

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) Receiving Ganga water by post could be a reality soon as the government endeavours to tap the e-commerce platform to bring the holy water at the doorsteps.

"I used to get several request that with vast network of post can we get Ganga water.

I have directed Department of Posts to utilise e-commerce platform and make arrangement for providing pure Gangajal from Haridwar, Rishikesh to people.

They have assured that they will take pro-active step to address cultural needs," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said while sharing details of the NDA government's achievements.

He said parcel revenue of post offices has increased by 80 per cent during his regime by delivering e-commerce products.

"If postman can deliver, mobile phones, sarees, jewellery, apparels then why not Ganga water," Prasad said.

He said speed post revenue of the department has increased from Rs 1,372 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1,600 crore in 2015-16 and cash on delivery collections for e-commerce parcels has increased from Rs 100 crore to Rs 1300 crore in the same period.

"Today, core banking network of post offices is more than that of State Bank of India. SBI has 1,666 core banking branches while 22,137 post offices now have core banking facility," Prasad said.

He said by the end of this year all postmen in urban centres will be given smartphones, and handheld devices will be provided to postmen in 1.3 lakh rural post offices by March 2017.

"4,000 handheld devices have already been given. It will help in financial inclusion. It will be a moving ATM. Postmen of urban centres will get smartphones. We will provide (smartphones) by end of this year," Prasad said.

Interaction with Identified Pensioner Associations through video conferencing from NIC Centres on 01.06. 2016 at 9.45 A.M.

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Enhancement in the Financial Powers of Ministries/Departments with regard to expenditure on Non-Plan Schemes/Projects

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Postal dept's payments bank to have diff ownership model: Min

Mumbai, May 27 () Union Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said having committed to invest Rs 400 crore in Department of Post's payments bank venture, the government is considering a different ownership structure to run the arm professionally.

Stating that it is targeting to launch the bank by March next year, he said, "We propose to have Rs 400 cr investment by the government and the rest by way of equity. The final architecture will come about then."

When asked if he is hinting at a possible equity dilution in the payments bank venture, he said, "It would be a separate architecture from the postal department. The bank will be run professionally."

However, the minister did not explain the structure of different ownership.

Speaking at the specially-convened meet, which is part of a plan to elaborate the government's achievements across the country, Prasad said the Narendra Modiregime believes in empowering its officials.

"This government gives discretion to its officials and the system. Why do you want me to take decisions on their behalf? We give them freedom, we only help them by enabling atmosphere," he said.

The Postal Department was one of the 11 entities to be given in-principle nod by the RBI to launch payments banks. Three of the chosen entities - Cholamandalam, Tech Mahindra and Dilip Shanghvi-Telenor-IDFC - have already said they would be surrendering their licences citing aggressive play by competition.

When asked about the concerns expressed by these entities, Prasad said, "We are neither jittery, nor happy. Let there be a fair competition. The one who wants to come, will come."

He said the approval (to Postal Department) is only in-principle and in the move towards getting the final nod from RBI, the department will be moving some proposals before the Cabinet.

He said the department has embarked on giving 4,000 hand-held devices to the rural postmen on a pilot basis and will soon be rolling out 1.3 lakh of such machines, which will help them sell third-party products, make e-commerce deliveries, etc.

He said a major chunk of the department's over 1.5 lakh post offices is in the hinterlands, which contributes over 60 per cent of the e-commerce players' catchment area.

After starting an e-commerce delivery station in central Mumbai's Parel, Prasad today laid the foundation stone for a similar facility to come up in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai's Airoli node, which has been planned as the single-biggest facility in Asia.

Over 22,000 post offices have already been connected under the core banking system and the department has also started over 800 ATMs, he added. 

Source:-The Times of India

Streamlining the Agents Portal operations and enabling HAGTXP menu - Detailed instructions - Important communication - regarding::

 

Revised process brought into the system without change in menu:

 

Agents Role:

 

There is no change prescribed for Agents – They will continue to work in the agents portal and submit the transaction details to the Teller (users) across the counters.

 

Teller (Users) Role:

 

1.     HAGTXP menu will be enabled at 1000 AM today

2.    The Tellers across the country, having huge, back log to upload the files (as on 28^th)

3.    Hence, a time schedule for circle wise is prescribed to upload the back-log alone.

4.    The fresh files can be handled in a routine manner.

5.    These request accepted by the system would generate a reference number instantaneously

6.    At a given point in time 200 such files would be processed by the system for posting the respective accounts

7.    All other request which are entering in to the system would be queued for processing

8.    As and when the first 200 files are processed, the second set of 200 would be taken up by the system automatically for processing

9.    The posting will be complete as and when the individual files are processed

10.It is very important for the Post Office users not to re-submit the request

11.   Since the requests are processed in a queue, the users may have to wait for some time

12.  They can view the status of the transactions processed through HJCM menu.

13.  They should be told strictly not to re-submit repeatedly as re-submitting would create second postings in the system

14.  This is a temporary and immediate solution provided by Infosys to handle this month end smoothly.

15.  In case of non-processing of files, support would be provided case-by-case basis by the Infosys L-2 team

 

Schedule to upload the agents transactions  held in arrears – (Purely to avoid any sudden surge in the number of files in to the system)

 

Time Slot                                   -       Name of Circles that can upload the old files

 

 

1.    1000 – 1200                       -       AP, ASM, Bihar, Chat, Delhi and Gujrat

2.   1100 – 1300                       -       Haryana, Himachal, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka

3.   1200 – 1400                       -       Kerala, MP, Mah, North East, Oddissa, Punjab

4.   1300 – 1500                       -       Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, UTR,UP and WB

 

If this is strictly followed, the L-2 monitoring team headed by one Mr Vijay and Ms Gayathri would be able to manage the operations and provide adequate support to post offices. Issues in this may please be escalated through Mr Gopinath in email gopinath.s@indiapost.gov.in

Source:-CEPT, Mysore

Cadre Restructuring of Group 'C' employees in Department of Posts

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Government takes to social media to hasten postal services

Email and social media have signed the death warrant of postal services , but the communications and IT ministry has scripted the resurgence of Speed Post, postal banking and parcel services using the very same social media networks. 

Communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has taken to Facebook and Twitter in a big way to speed up postal services, notorious till some years ago for their snail-paced delivery. He and his IT team will look into grievances of customers and take immediate steps to get the post or parcel delivered to the recipient. 

A young man studying in DELHI had applied for the Bihar civil services examination. When he did not get an acknowledgement of his application, he inquired from the post office which informed him that the application had wrongly been delivered to Lucknow University instead of Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) in Patna. 

He sent a tweet to the minister's handle with just 48 hours to go for the deadline for submission of application forms. " India Post officers in Patna were alerted about the urgency. The form was delivered to BPSC hours before the deadline," Prasad told TOI. 

A newspaper report about a 95-year-old woman making the rounds of a post office to redeem her Kisan Vikas Patra made the minister direct officials to visit her in the village with the redemption money. The woman was surprised to find officials with flowers and money at her doorstep. 

There are many such stories in the turnaround of India Post. "We can say with confidence now that Speed Post and parcel services will deliver at any place in India within four days of the item booked with post offices. It can give private courier services a run for their money, being equally efficient and reliable. That is the reason Speed Post has been rated best by the Comptroller and Auditor General," Prasad said. 

The minister's claim about India Post's turnaround in the last two years is matched by statistics. Speed Post revenue has increased from Rs 1,372 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1,600 crore in 2015-16. Parcel revenue registered 80 per cent increase in the last two years from Rs 118 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 310 crore in 2015-16. India Post delivers around 40,000 e-commerce parcels every day.

Source:-The Economic Times

Filing your ITR? Don’t forget to claim tax relief on arrears

By 

Chandralekha Mukerji

, ET Bureau 

It is bonanza year for government employees. Around 16 lakh ex-servicemen have received the first installment of the one-rank-one-pension payouts along with another fifty-two lakh retired pensioners from central government service who would benefit from the 7th Pay Commission recommendations. Although, technically, they have earned the money years back, the pension and pay hikes will be credited as lump sum to their bank accounts only now. This could mean a huge tax bill. There is, however, an escape route which most are not aware of. As per tax rules, if you have received any portion of your salary or pension in arrears or in advance, you are allowed tax relief under section 89(1) . 

The intention of the relief is to save you from any additional tax burden due to delay in receiving your earnings . "The relief protects the taxpayer from paying a higher tax. In many cases, the individual might have moved up in the tax slab and should definitely not be penalised with higher taxes because he received his income late," says Archit Gupta, founder and CEO, ClearTax.in. Not many people understand how arrears should be taxed as the calculations are a bit complicated (see box). 

While you are claiming relief under Section 89(1) do not forget to fill Form 10E. It is is mandatory to file to be eligible to make the claim. "Taxpayers who have claimed relief under section 89(1) in the previous years but had not filed Form 10E have received letters from the department stating the relief was not allowed as Form 10E was not furnished," says Gupta. Good thing is that Form 10E can be easily filed and submitted online under e-file, other than ITR section. 

ELEMENT: Calculating tax relief on arrears correctly. 

Step 1: Calculate tax payable on the total income, including arrears for the year in which it is received 

Step 2: Calculate tax payable on the total income, excluding arrears for the year in which it is received 

Step 3: Calculate difference between tax liability in Step 1 and Step 2 

Step 4: Calculate tax payable on the total income, including arrears for the year o which the arrears relate 

Step 5: Calculate tax payable on the total income, excluding arrears for the year o which the arrears relate 

Step 6: Calculate difference between tax liability in Step 4 and Step 5 

Step 7: Subtract the tax difference you arrived at at Step 6 from Step 3. The excess amount is the tax relief you can claim. 

SOURCE: ClearTax.in 

Note: If the tax liability at Step 6 is more than the tax liability at Step 3, no relief will be allowed. 

Courtesy : The Economic Times

Ministry of HRD directs UGC to amend regulations regarding workload of teachers.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has reviewed the recent amendment to the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and measures for the maintenance of standards in higher education) Regulations, 2010.

Consequent on the review, the Ministry has issued a direction to the UGC, under Section 20(1) of the UGC Act, 1956, to undertake amendments in the Regulation. After these amendments are carried out, the position regarding workload will be as follows:-

(i) In the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and measures for the maintenance of standards in higher education) Regulations, 2010, the overall workload of Assistant Professors and Associate Professors/Professors in full employment was prescribed to be not less than 40 hours a week for 180 teaching days. This workload remains unchanged, even with the amended Regulation.

(ii) The direct teaching-learning hours to be devoted by Assistant Professors (16 hours) and Associate Professors/Professors (14 hours) too will remain unchanged, as a consequence of the direction from the MHRD and subsequent notification by the UGC.

In consonance with established academic and teaching traditions, and with a view to reinforcing a student-centric and caring approach, teachers are encouraged to work with students, beyond the structure of classroom teaching. Indicatively, this could entail mentoring, guiding and counselling students. In particular teachers would be the best placed to identify and address the needs of students who may be differently-abled, or require assistance to improve their academic performance, or to overcome a disadvantage. There are no prescribed hours for such efforts, measured either in weeks or months. While they will not be included in the calculation of the API scores, these are nevertheless important and significant activities that could be carried out by teachers.

Teachers were required to allocate 6 additional hours per week, beyond the direct teaching-learning hours, on research. These hours can now be also utilized for tutorials/remedial classes/seminars/administrative responsibilities/ innovation and updating of course contents.

There will be no increase in the workload of teachers, after the amendments, in comparison with the workload prescribed earlier. 

Source:-PIB