Mobile Ticketing Van

Railways have launched a pilot project in Delhi and Kolkata where the mobile ticketing van is stationed at pre-decided locations for issuing reserved and unreserved tickets, to facilitate public not to travel to railway reservation centre for buying tickets. Wide publicity has been given through daily newspapers in which dates, timing and locales where the mobile ticketing van will be stationed are informed to the public.

Mobile ticketing van will be introduced in rural areas after a detailed study of alternate type of communication suited for rural areas is done since the GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) used for mobile connectivity is not always available in adequate signal strength with many rural areas.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways, Shri K.H. Muniyappa in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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PFRDA may raise allocations for fund managers

The Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) is likely to allocate Rs 4,100 crore in 2010-11 among the three pension managers, State Bank of India, UTI Mutual Fund and LIC Mutual Fund. Last year, the regulator had allocated Rs 3,700 crore.

The corpus would mainly be the contribution of central and state government employees. At present, 25 states have signed up for the new pension scheme (NPS).

The NPS’ board of trustees met yesterday and decided to review the allocation formula. The allocations will be decided on the basis of the managers’ performance over the past year. According to PFRDA’s website, SBI’s pension fund had the highest net asset value (NAV) under central government schemes. As on April 23, SBI pension fund had an NAV of Rs 12.82 for central government employees, while UTI Retirement Solutions posted an NAV of Rs 12.38. LIC Pension Fund’s NAV was Rs 12.41.

The final decision will be taken by the NPS’ board of trustees on Monday. Last year, SBI had got 40 per cent, UTI MF 31 per cent and LIC MF 29 per cent.

The media budget for 2010-11 will be in the range of Rs 8-10 crore. “We are working on a media plan and going forward, we will not just have investor awareness programmes but also advertisements which attract reader interest,” said a source.

“A number of multinationals have approached us for managing their employees’ pension assets. Among public sector companies, Nalco (National Aluminium Company) has already signed up whille DVC (Damodar Valley Corporation) is in the process of doing so. We are also in talks with Pawan Hans Helicopters, Power Grid Corporation, Konkan Railway and public sector insurance companies,” said a senior PFRDA official. SBI will also invest a portion of its pension liabilities fund into NPS for meeting the requirements of its older recruits.

Although completing close to a year, the NPS for the unorganised sector has been able to build a corpus of only Rs 10 crore, with 4,500 investors. This is mainly due to lack of incentives for points of presence (PoPs), competition from insurance companies, tax disparity and lack of investor awareness.

PFRDA would soon invite fresh bids for the Central Record-keeping Agency, the CRA. At present, NSDL is the central record-keeping agency and charges Rs 470 per account. In spite of keeping other charges such as fund management and PoP quite low, the present CRA charges are quite high, a reason why PFRDA wants to bring competition and reduce costs. This time, the bids are most likely to be opened for private players as well. PFRDA has also lowered the eligibility criteria for PoPs from Rs 100 crore to Rs 10 crore. To encourage small investors, the Budget announced the government’s intention to contribute Rs 1,000 per year to every new NPS account opened this year. The scheme, ‘Swavalamban’, will be extended to those who join with a minimum contribution of Rs 1,000 and a maximum contribution of Rs 12,000 per year during 2010-11. States such as Haryana and Karnataka are offering an additional contribution of Rs 1,000 per year.

PFRDA has also launched a small-ticket pension scheme called NPS Lite. This is mainly aimed at helping self-help groups invest their money in NPS. Under NPS Lite, the minimum annual investment limit is Rs 2,000, lower than the Rs 6,000 per annum for the unorganised sector. The annual record-keeping charges have been brought down to Rs 65-70.

source - business-standard

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To reserve houses for minorities, plan to stop some quotas

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) plans to scrap the housing quota for some categories, such as freedom fighters and war veterans, and reserve those houses for minorities - a move that might turn out to be a political ploy ahead of the civic polls in Mumbai,

The move comes two weeks after NCP chief Sharad Pawar, while speaking at a party meeting, had asked Minister of State for Housing Sachin Ahir to explore the possibility of providing reservation for minorities in housing projects.

“At present we have 49 per cent reservation for various categories like scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, freedom fighters, handicapped, war veterans’ families, ex-servicemen, state government employees, central government employees, etc,” Ahir told The Indian Express on Wednesday. “We need to provide reservation for minorities to bring them into the mainstream. My department has already prepared a proposal that will be discussed with the Chief Minister soon.”

source- indian express

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Computer games as addictive as booze, drugs

Melbourne, Apr 28 : Computer games can be as costly and debilitating as drug and alcohol dependence.

In a study by the Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, conducted online among 1945 participants, 8 per cent were identified as problem gamers.

The volunteers who were part of the study admitted to gaming for extended periods, had fewer friends in real life and had even lost a significant relationship due to excessive play, reports The Herald Sun.

Other problems extended to craving more play time, and restlessness or irritability if they couldn't get back to the controller.

Psychiatrist Guy Porter, who co-wrote a paper based on the survey's findings for the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, said: "Any pleasurable activity has the potential to become addictive or to form a repetitive pattern of use.

"Games are very enjoyable and provide a very positive experience for most people who use them.

"But there are a small number of people out there - those who are playing for eight hours plus a day - who have got a problem with it."

source-ANI

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Centre extends NE LTC schemes

NEW DELHI, April 28 – Overwhelmed by the response to the innovative LTC scheme for Central Government employees, leading to record growth of tourists’ inflow into the North-East to the tune of 21 per cent in the last couple of years, the Centre has extended the scheme for another two years, official sources on Wednesday confirmed.
Over 57.04 lakh government employees travelled to the picturesque North-East till now by and large avoided by tourists because of the looming dangers posed by insurgency. Meghalaya followed by Sikkim and Assam were the most favourite destination, according to the available figures.

Officials said that the scheme of relaxation of Leave Travel Concession (LTC) rules allowing the Central Government employees to travel to the different parts of North Eastern region by air has been extended by two years with effect from May 1. The Department of Personal and Training has issued a notice pertaining to the effect on April 20.

Minister of State for Personnel and Public Grievances, Prithviraj Chavan in a Lok Sabha reply has also confirmed the extension of time limit to visit NE region by air in relaxation of LTC rules, 1988 for two years.

Sources said that Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Bijoy Krishna Handique had set the ball rolling for extension of the scheme in February. He wrote to the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension, Prithviraj Chavan calling for extension of the scheme citing the tremendous response generated among the Central Government Employees in the past twenty months.

Handique, further, mentioned that the extension would give necessary fillip to the tourism potential of the NER in particular, and the economy in general, sources added.

According to available data, the inflow of domestic tourists to the eight NE States recorded a growth of 21 per cent in the last two years. Last year, saw a growth of 11 per cent in the inflow of domestic tourists over the previous year.

This growth is primarily attributed to the huge increase in LTC tourists since introduction of the scheme in May, 2008 at behest of the Ministry of DoNER. There was a total domestic inflow of 5.7 million tourists in the year 2009.

Handique has appealed to all the State Governments and people of NER to avail this opportunity to give a boost to the tourism in order to create more employment avenues.

source-assamtribune

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Steps Taken for Speedy Trial of CBI Cases

In order to facilitate speedy trial of cases investigated by the CBI, the Government has decided to set up 71 additional Special Courts, approved 284 posts of Prosecuting Officers with supporting staff and notified a new scheme for engaging Law Officers on contract basis for a period up to five years.

Similarly, to fill up the vacancies in the CBI at the earliest, several steps have been taken which, inter-alia, include:

• Grant of Special Incentive Allowance @ 25% of Pay up to the level of Senior Superintendent of Police and @ 15% for officers above that rank to attract officers on deputation.

• Amendment and rationalization of recruitment rules for various posts from time to time to meet the changing requirements of the CBI.

• Decentralization of induction of officers upto Inspector level on deputation

• Diversion of 77 posts of Deputy Superintendent of Police from deputation quota to promotion quota, as a one time measure in relaxation of Recruitment Rules to expedite filling up of these posts.

The trial of cases investigated by the CBI takes longer time than conventional cases as it often involves complicated questions of fact and law, necessitating examination of a large number of witnesses, besides proving voluminous documents. The accused also generally exhausts all possible avenues available under the criminal justice system to prolong trial proceedings.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Shri Prithviraj Chavan in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

***

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Employees' State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950

[To bepublished in the Gazette of India. Part Il, Section 3, Sub-Section (i)]

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

NewDelhi,20 th april, 2010

NOTIFICATION

G.S.R. (E)- The following draft rules further to amend the Employees' State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950 were published as required under sub-section(l) of section 95 of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 (34 of 1948) in the notification of the Government of Indian in the Ministry of Labour & Employment vide No. G.S.R.164(E), dated the 26th February, 2010, in theGazette of India, Part Il, Section 3, Sub-section (i), dated 27th February, 2010 for inviting objections and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby till the expiry of the period of thirty days from the date on which the copies of the Gazette of India in which the said notification was published, were made available to the public;

And whereas the copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public on 27th February, 2010;

And whereas, objections and suggestions received from persons likely to be affected thereby have been considered by the Government;

Now, therefore, in exercise of powers conferred by section 95 of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948, the Central Government, after consultation with Employees' State Insurance Corporation, hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Employees' State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950, namely:-

1.These Rules may be called the Employees' State Insurance (Central) Amendment Rules,2010.

2. These shall come into force from the l " day of May, 2010.

3. In the Employees' State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950, in Rule 50, for the words "ten thousand", wherever they occur,the words"fifteen thousand" shall be substituted

[F. No.S-38025/04/2010 -SS-I]

S.D. XAVIER

Under Secretary

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Bank staff to enjoy a 17.5 pc pay hike

Mumbai, Apr 27: Bank employees unions managed to secure a hefty pay hike of 17.5 per cent by getting the employer's forum, Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), to sign an accord.

Buzz up!The ninth bipartite wage revision agreement was signed between six workmen unions, four officers’ associations and IBA on Tuesday, Apr 28.

With this, about 7.5 lakh bank employees and officers of 26 nationalised banks, 12 private sector banks and eight foreign banks will be enjoying 17.5 per cent increase in their wages, effective from Nov 1, 2007.

However, for the lower level employees the hike will be marginal.

The basic pay of officers at the entry level will be between Rs 14,500 and Rs 52,000 per month as against the floor of Rs 10,000, IBA said in a statement.

The basic pay for clerical staff will range between Rs 6,200 and Rs 23,900 while subordinate staff will get between Rs 5,500 and Rs 13,800 per month.

The accord also gives the choice to employees and officers covered by the provident fund scheme to join the pension scheme. This also means that over 50,000 retirees could choice to join the pension scheme.

Besides this, a contributory retirement benefit scheme introduced for employees of the central government with effect from Jan 2004 will be introduced for the employees, including officers and workmen, joining the services of banks on or after Apr 1, 2010, the IBA informed in its statement.

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CCS (LTC) Rules, 1988 - Relaxation for travel by air to visit NER.

F.No. 3 101 1/4/2007-Estt.(A)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel. Public Grievances & Pensions
Department of Personnel & Training

New Delhi, dated 23th April, 2010

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:- CCS (LTC) Rules, 1988 - Relaxation for travel by air to visit NER.

The undersigned is directed to refer to this Department O.M. of even No. dated 20.4.2010 and to clarify that the validity of this Department O.M. of even NO. dated 2.5.2008 stands extended on the same terms and conditions for a further period of two years beyond 1.5.2010 in relaxation of CCS (LTC) Rules, 1988 to visit North Eastern Region of lndia.

(smt.Raj Bala Singh)

Under Secretary to the Government of lndia

Tel: 230923 13

All MinistriesiDepartments of the Government of lndia

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ACRs with below benchmark grading considered in past DPCs-reg

No. 21011/1/2010-Estt.A

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions

Department of Personnel & Training

*****

North Block, New Delhi

Dated the 27" april 2010

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:- ACRs with below benchmark grading considered in past DPCs-reg.

The undersigned is directed to state that this Department has issued O.M. of even number dated 13.04.2010 that if an employee is to be considered for promotion in a future DPC and his ACRs prior to the period 2008-09 which would be reckonable for assessment of his fitness in such future DPC contain final grading which are below the benchmark for his next promotion, before such ACRs are placed before the DPC,the concerned employee will be given a copy of the relevant ACR for his representation, if any, within 15 days of such communication. The representation is to be decided by the competent authority as per provisions in para 2 of aforesaid O.M.

2. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in their judgement dated 12.05.2008 in Civil Appeal No. 763 lof 2002 (Dev Dutt vs Union of India) had held that the 'good' entry in the ACR of the appellant which had not been communicated to him and considered in a past DPC which found him unfit for promotion, should be communicated for representation and if upgradation is allowed by the competent authority, he should be considered for promotion retrospectively by the DPC. When the petitions in SLP (Civil) No. 15770/2009, now converted to Appeal Civil No. 2872 of 2010 (Union of India vs. A.K. Goel & Ors.)were called for hearing, the Supreme Court has taken note of the apparent conflict between the decisions of the Hon'ble Court in Dev Dutt case on one hand and the judgemetns of Supreme Court in Satya Narain Shukla Vs UOI 2006 (9) SCC 69 and K.M. Mishra vs. Central Bank of India & Ors. 2008 (9) SCC 120 on the other hand and by their Orderdated 29.03.2010, the Hon'ble Court has referred these appeals to a Larger Bench(copy/ attached).

3. In the light of the Orders issued by Hon'ble Supreme Court in the aforesaid SLP (Civil) No. 15770/2009, Union of India Vs. A.K. Goel & Ors.,allMinistrieslDepartrnents are advised that wherever petitions have been filed in the Courts to grant relief on the basis of the aforesaid decision of the Supreme Court in Dev Dutt case, the latest Orders of the Supreme Court in A.K. Goel case may be brought to the notice of the Court.

(C.A. Subramaninn)

Director

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