Maiden workshop for babus aims to boost service delivery system

Breaking a trend, where officers remain confined to narrow domains of their respective services in absence of a regular interaction among different wings of civil services, the government will for the first time hold a weeklong joint inter-service workshop in Nagpur for IAS, IFS, IPS, IRS and officials of other elite central services to bridge the gap in service delivery system across sectors.


Besides sharing best practices of different services, the workshop, which is to begin at the National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT) in Nagpur on April 29, will also impart a crash course to bureaucrats on how to use social networking sites.

"Since social networking sites can be an important tool in quick sharing of citizen-friendly information, one should not expect the officers from elite services to remain aloof from the dynamic changes happening around them," said a senior official.

It has been decided that 50 officers from different services will be engaged in various group activities, aptitude and skill tests, listen to lectures to be delivered by eminent personalities and also watch a movie together during the workshop.

The workshop aims to help the officers in sharing experiences of their respective services in the rapidly changing global scenario. "Such an experience sharing will help them in becoming all-rounder who can understand jobs of the fellow bureaucrats in different sectors like revenue, railways, forest and security among others," said the official, referring to the office memorandum issued by the ministry of personnel last week.

The workshop will be held regularly for officers having 12 to 14 years of experience in different services. The government will bear the expenses of such workshops, which may be held at different academies meant for training IAS, IPS, IRS and others.

Besides five IAS officers, the batch of 50 mid-level officers consist of five each from IPS, Indian Forest Service, IRS and Customs & Central Excise, two each from Indian Foreign Service, Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Indian Railway Traffic Service, Indian Railway Personnel Service, Indian Postal Service, Indian Economic Service and Central Secretariat Service and one each from Indian Civil Accounts Service, Indian Defence Accounts Service, Indian Trade Service, Indian Defence Estates Service, Indian Corporate Law Service, Indian Information Service and Indian Ordnance Factories Service among others.

Source:-The Times of India 

Department of Posts launches e-post, fax post services in in J&K

The Department of Posts today launched e-Post and fax post services in Jammu and Kashmir for transmission and delivery of greetings and messages.

The new services were launched by Minister for Finance and Ladakh Affairs, Abdul Rahim Rather, during a function at Gandhi Nagar HeadPost Office here.

Rather sent message to all the Postmasters of the state mentioning that such services will prove a boon for the rural areas, to inaugurate the new service.

The Minister, on the occasion, also released J&K Postal Circle's Calendar for the financial year 2013-2014 depicting the rich diversity and beauty of state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Lauding the steps taken by Department of Posts for improving the postal services in the state under Chief Postmaster General John Samuel, Rather said: "Since Samuel has taken the command of Postal establishment in Jammu and Kashmir things in the Department has changed rapidly."

"He has infused a new sense of enthusiasm among the postal employees which is quite evident from visible change in their working," Rather said.

The Minister appreciated the steps taken by Department of Posts, J&K Circle, in making J&K a financially inclusive state adding that Post Offices have wider reach than the banks and hence play an active role in the financial development of people living in the state.

"It is impressive that Department of Posts have achieved target of 100 per cent Financial Inclusion in 150 villages in the state and achieving 35 per cent growth which is highest in the country despite being a small state," he said.

Samuel, meanwhile, said that DoP, J&K Circle, was making an extra effort for brining Post Offices closer to people.

Briefing about the new services, the Chief PMG said that through e-POST, customers can send their greetings and messages to any address in state and country. 

Source:-The Economic Times

Bad bosses damage health, quality of life

A good boss is like having a good neighbour. If you are not lucky enough to have such a boss, then it can be incredibly damaging to your health and quality of life.

According to health experts, abusive bosses who humiliate, insult employees and isolate them from co-workers not only harm company's growth but also affect performance and overall life of co-workers.

Psychiatrist, Dr Manish Jain, says, "There are three types of personality groups which generally a boss falls into. In the first category are those, who mistrust co-workers, the second one has those who wants assigned work to be done anyhow and the third ones are those who are insecure and anxious about how they and their co-workers work." He added saying that such personality trait are harmful for company as well as the employees. Workplace stress increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, increases risk of insomnia, depression and anxiety, weakens immune defence and can cause chronic muscle pains and migraines. Another doctor Manoj Jain said, "Problems in professional life affect brain activity. It causes stress and affects quality of life. Professional issues looms all the time and managing family and spending time with them gets difficult. Irritation, high blood pressure and diabetes occurs in such cases."

Recently, a survey conducted by Assocham also revealed that 69% of corporate employees who quit their jobs complained about the indifferent attitude of their bosses or immediate supervisor while remaining move to a new position in the same company. Survey also found that around 42% of employees have been a victim of workplace bullying and almost 56% are bullied by their boss. About 82% of respondents said that a good work environment was often much more important than their current pay level. Workers are quitting their jobs and even switching to another career because they're fed-up with their current boss, adds the survey.

Meanwhile, human resource professionals believe that they are careful in selecting employees and managers but predicting personality trait is a difficult task. Prateek Balbhadra, a human resource professional said, "Employees selection is a critical decision of HR professional as they have huge impact on the retention and turnover of the organisation. But, understanding personality of employees sometimes gets difficult and once the mistake is done it cannot be undone."

Source:-The Times of India 

Cabinet to consider hike in DA to 80%

A proposed hike of 8% in the dearness allowance of government employees is likely to come up before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Tuesday but a decision could be deferred with finance minister P Chidambaram out on a tour to Japan. 

The move to increase DA to 80% from 72% is likely to benefit around 50 lakh employees and 30 lakh pensioners of the central government. The government had raised DA to 72% in September last year, which had come into effect from July 1, 2012. According to the current proposal, the increase would be effective from January 1, 2013 and employees and pensioners would be entitled for arrears. 

Source:-The Times of India

Brace for harsher interest rate cuts on small savings

Sanjay Kumar Singh

If you are disappointed by the recent cut in interest rates on small savings, get used to the feeling because a harsher cut is in store next year. This is because interest rates are linked to the yields of government securities in the previous calendar year.

The various small savings schemes offer interest rates that are 25-100 basis points more than the yield of government bonds with similar maturities. The mark-up varies from 100 bps for the Senior Citizen's Savings Scheme (SCSS), 50 bps for the 10-year National Savings Certificate (NSC), and 25 bps for others, including the all-time favourite Public Provident Fund (PPF).

The government bond yields were high in the first quarter of 2012, but fell after the RBI cut interest rates. For instance, the yield of the 10-year bond spiked to 8.7% in April 2012, later dropped to 8.2%, and has stayed below 8% in the past three months.

The RBI has cut the repo rate by 50 bps this year, but there is no certainty if this trend will continue. At the policy review meeting on 19 March, the RBI governor indicated that there was little room for further cuts. The central bank is concerned about the divergence between the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), which has softened to 6.84%, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which remains stubbornly high at 10.91%.

Even if the central bank pauses for some time and there is no further policy action during the year, investors should brace themselves for harsher cuts next year. Assuming that the 10-year bond yield stays put at 8%, the rate for the 10-year NSC will be scaled down by 30 basis points from 8.8% to 8.5%. By the same assumption, the PPF rate could recede by almost 45 basis points to 8.25% in 2014-15.

The new interest rates announced for the NSC, SCSS and term deposits are only for fresh investments. In other words, you can lock in at the current rates and enjoy the same rates till maturity. However, this does not apply to the PPF and the new rate announced every year applies to new as well as existing investments.

Despite the rate cuts, small savings are good bets for risk-averse investors who want to put money in government-backed instruments. The 9.2% offered by SCSS is lower than that given to senior citizens by most banks. However, the quarterly payment of interest is useful for retirees. The tax-free status of the PPF still makes it an attractive option, especially for those in the high income bracket. 

Source:-The Economic Times

Post offices across nation to be networked

Post offices across the country will be online integrated into a single network, Union Minister of State for Communications and IT Killi Kruparani said on Sunday. “Post offices have more account holders than banks and more customer-friendly services are in the offing”, she said, at the foundation stone ceremony for a modern post office at Kukatpally.

The new post office is being constructed at a cost of Rs.2 crore and will be one of the hubs for the ‘Logistic Post service’. The Minister explained that under ‘Project Arrow’ 149 post offices were modernised in the State and another 48 were in the pipeline while Aadhaar-enabled pension disbursement and other monitory benefits would also be taken up. Around 1,000 POs across the country would be equipped with ATMs along with GIS maps and the Mobile Money Order facility would be introduced in October, Ms. Kruparani said. An ultra modern Automated Mail Processing Centre will be inaugurated at Shamshabad soon. She also said that more post-offices would be built through PPP model. LSP chief Jayaprakash Narayan, Chief Postmaster General Karuna Pillai and Director of Postal Services Mariamma Thomas were present.

Source:-The Hindu

My Stamp service launched

The Department of Posts has launched ‘My Stamp’ service through which one can customise Rs.5 stamps with their own photo along with an image of their choice. Customers can get 12 stamps for a price of Rs.350. “These stamps can be used as postal stamps on letters and invitations to add a personal touch,” Chief Postmaster General Karuna Pillai said.

The service is currently available at Abids GPO and the post office will take the photo and deliver the stamps in 10 minutes.

Source:-The Hindu

Revised Clerkage Charges and Cancellation Charges for Train Journeys to be Effective From 1st APRIL 2013

The revision of Clerkage Charge and Minimum Cancellation charge was announced in the Railway Budget 2013-14.  The revision will come into effect on tickets cancelled on and after 1^st April 2013.  The details of the revision are as under:-

(1)   Clerkage Charges

Class	Clerkage charge in case of cancellation of waiting list and RAC tickets (in Rs.)
	Existing	Revised
Second (Unreserved)	10	15
Second (reserved)	20	30
AC Chair Car	20	30
AC-3 Economy	20	30
AC-3 Tier	20	30
First Class	20	30
AC-2 Tier	20	30
AC First	20	30
Executive	20	30

          (ii) Cancellation Charges:

                       

Class	Minimum cancellation charges in case of cancellation of confirmed tickets (in Rs.)
	Existing	Revised
Second	20	30
Sleeper	40	60
AC Chair Car	60	90
AC-3 Economy	60	90
AC-3 Tier	60	90
First Class	60	100
AC-2 tier	60	100
AC-First	70	120
Executive	70	120

Source:PIB

Reservation Fee and Supplementary Charge for Super-fast Trains and Withdrawal of Enhanced Reservation Fee to be Effective from 1st April 2013

 It has been announced in Railway Budget 2013-14 for revision of Reservation Fee, Supplementary charge for Superfast Trains & withdrawal of Enhanced Reservation Fee. The revision will come into effect on tickets issued on and after 01.04. 2013 The details of these reservations are as under:-

                    (i) Reservation Fee:-

Class	Revision Fee (in Rs.)
	Existing	Revised
Second	15	15 (No change)
Sleeper	20	20 (No Change)
AC Chair Car	25	40
AC-3 Economy	25	40
AC-3 Tier	25	40
First Class	25	50
AC-2 Tier	25	50
AC First	35	60
Executive	35	60

(ii) Supplementary Charge for Superfast Trains:-

Class	Supplementary Charge for Superfast Trains (in Rs.)
	Existing	Revised
Second	10	15
Sleeper	20	30
AC Chair Car	30	45
AC-3 Economy	30	45
AC-3 Tier	30	45
First Class	30	45
AC-2 Tier	30	45
AC First	50	75
Executive	50	75

 (iii) Enhanced Reservation Fee:

The enhanced reservation fee which is levied on tickets booked for journeys originating from other than the ticket booking stations like return tickets, onward journey tickets etc. is also being withdrawn for tickets issued on or after 1^stApril 2013

Source:-PIB

Revision of Tatkal Charges for Train Journeys to be Effective From 1stApril 2013 Onwards

As per announcement made in the Railway Budget 2013-14, it has been decided by the Ministry of Railways to revise Tatkal charges.  These charges will be applicable for journey starting from 01.04.2013 onwards. Now, the Tatkal charges will be realized @ 10% of basic far for reserved Second (2S) class and 30% of basic fare for all other classes subject to minimum and maximum as given below:-

                                       

Class to Travel	Minimum TatkalCharges (in Rs.)	Maximum Tatkal Charges (in Rs.)
Reserved Second Sitting (2S)	10	15
Sleeper	90	175
AC Chair Car	100	200
AC-3 tier	250	350
AC-2 tier	300	400
Executive	300	400

Source:-PIB