FEDERATION OF NATIONAL POSTAL ORGANISATIONS,KOTTAYAM DIVISION YOU CANT DO IT UNLESS YOU ORGANIZE

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PRESIDENT:- SRI. V T UTHUP, VICEPRESIDENT:- SRI.K.P.MANOHARAN, SECRETARY:- SRI. SEBASTIAN JOSEPH, ASST. SECRETARY:- SANKAR N S, ORGANIZING SECRETARY:- RAJESH KRISHNA, TREASURER:- JYOTHI.U

Friday 25 November 2011

Postal/ Sorting Assistant Examination - Revised Recruitment Rules



The Department of Posts has notified Department of
 Posts (Postal Assistant and Sorting Assistants; Group C, Non-Gazetted) Recruitment Rules, 2011. 
These have been published in the Official Gazette 
on 03.11.2011. They come into force from the
 date of publication in Official Gazette.
· For Direct Recruitment, 10+2 or 12th standard 
candidates with at least 60%
 marks with English as compulsory subject
 (excluding vocational stream)
 55% for OBC and 45% for SC/ ST will be eligible

· GDS should have obtained 50% marks in 
10+2 or 12th standard and should have put in 
minimum 5 years of service.



No. 37-47/2010-SPB-I
Government of India
Ministry of Communications & IT
Department of Posts
Dak Bhawan, New Delhi-110001
Dated: 18.11.2011.
  1. All Chief Postmaster General
  2. Postmaster General
  3. The Director, PSCI, Ghaziabad
Subject; Framing of Recruitment Rules in respect of Postal Assistants/Sorting Assistants in Department of Posts.
Sir/Madam,
I am directed to forward herewith a copy of revised Recruitment 
Rules dated 3.11.2011 for the Posts of Postal Assistants/Sorting 
Assistants in Department of Posts notified in the Gazette of India, 
Extraordinary, Part-II Section 3, Sub-section (i) dated 3.11.2011.
It is requested that the provisions of Recruitment Rules 
may be brought to the notice of all concerned.

Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
(Alka Tewari)
Assistant Director General (SPN)
Encl: As above

Friday 18 November 2011

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT CLEARS CHANGES IN PFRDA Bill, ALLOWS 26% FDI IN PENSION




The govt on Wednesday approved amendments to the PFRDA Bill 2011 while agreeing to the proposed 26 percent foreign investment in the pension sector but refrained from providing assured returns to subscribers in the proposed law.
The government had decided not to mention FDI cap in the legislation itself for retaining the flexibility of changing it through an executive order. The 26 per cent FDI cap is to be mentioned in the regulations to the legislation.
The changes to the PFRDA Bill were approved by the Union Cabinet at its meeting in New Delhi.
The Bill, which has already been scrutinised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, is likely to be taken up for consideration and passage in the Winter Session beginning 22nd November.
"The government is of the view that FDI cap in the pension should be at 26 per cent at par with the insurance sector. However, it would like to retain the flexibility of changing the cap of FDI as and when required and that is why it has not been kept as part of the bill", an official spokesperson said.
The proposed legislation, the official said, will not provide assured returns to the subscribers of pension schemes.
The Committee, which is headed by senior BJP leader and former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, wanted the government to specify the FDI cap in the legislation itself and provide minimum guaranteed return to subscribers.
The government also turned down the Committee's recommendation for allowing greater flexibility to subscribers of pension schemes for pre-mature withdrawal of funds from their accounts.
"The flexibility of withdrawals from funds under the pension scheme, however, would be tightened. It would be allowed only in case of genuine needs...It would be considered when the need is critical. It will not be allowed for frivolous reasons," the official explained.
The government, however, upheld the panel's suggestion to provide greater participation of the employees and stakeholders in the Pension Advisory Committee, the official said.
The Bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 2011, was referred to the Standing Committee for consideration.
The government, it may be mentioned, has not been able to raise FDI in insurance from 26 per cent to 49 per cent because the changes require amendments in law. The Insurance (Amendment) Bill has been pending since 2008.
Once the FDI caps are mentioned in the regulations, it would be easier for the government to modify the ceilings, as and when needed, through an executive order.


Thursday 17 November 2011

FINANCE MININSTER APPROVES KEY CHANGES IN PROPOSED FOOD BILL


New Delhi, Nov 17: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the head of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food, has approved key changes in the proposed National Food Security Bill and the revised draft will be placed before Cabinet soon.

“Yesterday evening, the Finance Minister has given final clearance to the draft Food Bill. It will be soon placed before Cabinet,” Food Minister K V Thomas told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

The key changes proposed in the Bill have been approved and the Cabinet note will be circulated for inter-ministerial comments today, he added.

Earlier, in July, the EGoM on Food had cleared the draft National Food Security Bill, which seeks to provide a legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains to 75 per cent of the country’s rural population and 50 per cent of urban India.  

After consultation with concerned stakeholders and the state governments, the Food Ministry proposed several key changes in the draft Bill and those have been approved by the Finance Minister, Thomas told PTI separately.  

The two major changes include: keeping an option open for supplying more than 3 kg of subsidised foodgrains to general households and widening its reach to include lactating women, destitute and aged people and providing nutritious food to children, he said.

“The cash-handout of Rs 1,000 per month for six months to lactating women would be extended to the entire country instead of 52 districts,” he added. 

With respect to general households’ entitlement to subsidised foodgrains, Thomas said Mukherjee has approved insertion of the word, ‘minimum’, in the draft so that the government can increase allocation if production rises.  

In the present form of the Bill, the Food Ministry had proposed that the government will supply only 3 kg of rice and wheat per person per month to general households at a price not exceeding 50 per cent of the support price.  

Among other changes, Thomas said the Finance Ministry has agreed to remove the condition of extending the benefits of the proposed food security law only to general households in states where the Public Distribution System (PDS) is modernised.

“The present draft restricts benefits for general households to states having modernised PDS. Now the benefit will be extended to all states,” he said.  The changes to be made in the proposed Food Bill were discussed with Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, he added.

The proposed Bill would cost the government exchequer more than Rs 1,00,000 crore annually in subsidies. Presently, the subsidy bill on food is less than Rs 70,000 crore.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

CABINET APPROVES PENSION FUND REGULATOR BILL


The cabinet has approved the Pension Fund Regulator Bill, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting NewsWire18. The Bill will be tabled in the next session of Parliament.
Among the important suggestions, the Standing Committee on Finance headed by Yashwant Sinha, had favoured 26% cap on foreign direct investment (FDI) in pension programmes. Currently, FDI is not allowed in pension schemes.
The Bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 2011, was referred to the Standing Committee for consideration. The government is likely to take up the Bill for passage during the Winter Session of Parliament beginning November 22.
The Committee had also recommended that subscribers to the New Pension System (NPS) should get an assured return on their investments that is at least equal to the interest rate given by the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme.
The NPS, launched in January, 2004, has about 24 lakh subscribers, mostly those employed by the central government.
In India, no pension fund management company offers a guaranteed pension product.
Subscribers to the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) get 9.5% interest on their contribution.
The committee wanted the government to make concerted efforts to extend the coverage of the scheme in both the public and private sector. Currently, pension schemes are being monitored by an interim regulator, the PFRDA.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

PETROL PRICES SLASHED


 After several hikes in the petrol prices, there is finally some relief.
Oil companies, for the first time after deregulation, have announced a cut in the price of petrol.
The price of petrol has been slashed by Rs 1.85 per litre. However, the actual reduction will vary from states to states.

Monday 14 November 2011

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU REMEMBERED ON 122 BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

“We have to build the noble mansion of free India, where all her children may dwell. On this day, our first thoughts go to the Architect of this freedom - the father of freedom Mahatma Gandhij, who embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the Torch of Freedom and light up the darkness that surround us. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest and to India, our much loved motherland, the ancient and eternal and ever new, we pay our reverent homage and we find ourselves afresh to her services”.
























Saturday 12 November 2011

OFFICE MEMORANDUM ISSUED BY MINISTRY OF FINANCE



No. 6-1/2011-NS.II (Pt.)
Ministry of Finance
Department of Economic Affairs
(Budget Division)
New Delhi, the 11th November, 2011.
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Sub:   Decisions on the recommendations of the Committee for Comprehensive Review of National Small Savings Fund (NSSF).
The Thirteenth Finance Commission in its Report had, inter alia, recommended that all aspects of the design and administration of the NSSF be examined with the aim of bringing transparency, market linked rates and other much needed reforms to the scheme. As a follow up of this recommendation, the Government had constituted a Committee on 8th July, 2010, headed by Smt. Shyamala Gopinath, the then Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India for comprehensive review of NSSF. The terms of reference of the Committee included review of the existing parameters for the small saving schemes in operation and recommend mechanisms to make them more flexible and market linked; review of the existing terms of the loans extended from the NSSF to the Centre and States and recommend on the changes required in the arrangement of lending the net collection of small savings to Centre and States; review of other possible investment opportunities for the net collections from small savings and the repayment proceeds of NSSF loans extended to States and Centre; review of the administrative arrangement including the cost of operation; and review of the incentives offered on the small savings investments by the States.
2. The Committee submitted its report to the Government on 7th June, 2011. Comments/views of Department of Posts, Department of Revenue, Department of Financial Services, Department of Expenditure and all State/Union Territory Governments were sought on the recommendations made by the Committee.
3. The recommendations of the Committee have been considered in detail, taking into account the views/comments received from other Departments, States/UTs and representations received from various agents’ associations and others. After detailed examination the following decisions have been taken:-
Rationalisation of Schemes
(i)         The maturity period for monthly Income Scheme (MIS) and National Savings Certificate (NSC) will be reduced from 6 years to 5 years.
(ii)             A new NSC instrument, with maturity period of 10 years, would be introduced.
(iii)           Kisan Vikas Patras (KVPs) will be discontinued.
(iv)      The annual ceiling on investment under Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme will be increased from Rs.  70,000 to Rs.  1 lakh.
(v)                Interest on loans obtained from PPF will be increased to 2% p.a. from existing 1% p.a.
(vi)      Liquidity of Post Office Time Deposit (POTD) – 1, 2, 3 & 5 years – will be improved by allowing pre-mature withdrawal at a rate of interest 1% less than the time deposits of comparable maturity. For pre-mature withdrawals between 6-12 months of investment, Post Office Savings Account (POSA) rate of interest will be paid.
Interest Rates on Small Savings Instruments
(i)               The rate of interest paid under Post Office Savings Account (POSA) will be increased from 3.5% to 4% p.a.
(ii)             The rate of interest on small savings schemes will be aligned with G-Sec rates of similar maturity, with a spread of 25 basis points (bps) with two exceptions. The spread on 10 year NSC (new instrument) will be 50 bps and on Senior Citizens Savings Scheme 100 bps. The interest rates for every financial year will be notified before 1st April of that year.
(iii)        Assuming the date of implementation of the recommendations of the Committee as 1st December, 2011, the rate of interest on various small savings schemes for current financial year on the basis of the interest compounding/payment built in the schemes, will be as given below:-
Instrument
Current Rate (%)
Proposed Rate (%)
Savings Deposit
3.50
4.0
1 year Time Deposit
6.25
7.7
2 year Time Deposit
6.50
7.8
3 year Time Deposit
7.25
8.0
5 year Time Deposit
7.50
8.3
5 year Recurring Deposit
7.50
8.0
5-year SCSS
9.00
9.0
5 year MIS
8.00 (6 year MIS)
8.2
5 year NSC
8.00 (6 year NSC)
8.4
10 year NSC
New Instrument
8.7
PPF
8.00
8.6
(iv)       Payment of 5% bonus on maturity of MIS will be discontinued.
Commission to Agents
(i)                 Payment of commission on PPF schemes (1%) and Senior Citizens Savings Scheme(0.5%) will be discontinued.
(ii)             Agency commission under all other schemes (except MPKBY agents) will be reduced from existing 1% to 0.5%.
(iii)             Commission at existing rate of 4% will continue for Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana (MPKBY) agents.
(iv)              Incentives, if any, paid by the State/UT Governments will be reduced from the commission paid by the Central Government.
Investments from NSSF
(i)         The minimum share of States in net small savings collections in a year, for investment in State Governments Securities, will be reduced from 80% to 50%. The remaining amount will be invested in Central Government securities or lent to other willing States or in securities issued by infrastructure companies/agencies, wholly owned by Central Government.
(ii)       Yearly repayment of NSSF loans made by Centre and States, will be reinvested in Central and State Government securities in the ratio of 50:50.
(iii)      The period of repayment of NSSF loans by Centre and States will be reduced to 10 years, with no moratorium.
(iv)              For the current financial year the prevailing interest rate of 9.5% will continue. From 1st April, 2012 revised interest rate will be notified.
(v)             Half yearly payment of interest by the Centre and the States will be introduced.
(vi)              Interest rate on existing investments from NSSF in Central Government securities till 2006-07 will be re-set at 9% and on those from 2007-08 till 2010-11 will be re-set at 9.5%.
Operational Issues of NSSF
(i)                       A Monitoring Group drawn from Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India, Department of Posts, State Bank of India, other select banks and select State Governments will be set up to resolve various operational issues like reducing the time lag between collection and investment, etc.
4. Necessary notifications, including those requiring amendments to rules of various small saving schemes and National Small Savings Fund (Custody & Investment) Rules, 2001 will be notified separately. The above decisions will take effect from the dates to be specified in the notifications.
5. This has the approval of Finance Minister.
(Shaktikanta Das)
Addl. Secretary to the Govt. of India

SMALL SAVINGS SCHEMES TO FETCH BETTER RETURNS NOW

NEW DELHI: Your investments in the small savings scheme -post office savings scheme, National Savings Certificate, and public provident fund - will soon start earning higher interest rates that are benchmarked to market rates. 

The annual interest rate available on these schemes is at present below what an investor can get from bank deposits of comparable maturity. 

The government has announced a complete overhaul of the small savings scheme that has benchmarked rates of interest on these schemes to government securities, introduced a 10-year national savings certificate (NSC), increased the ceiling for public provident fund deposits to one lakh rupees every year and discontinued the Kisan Vikas Patra. 

The new rules will kick in when the government issues a notification. 

The decisions are based on the recommendations by a high level expert panel headed by former deputy governor of the RBIShaymla Gopinath

As per the memorandum issued by the finance ministry, returns on small savings instruments will be linked to government securities of similar maturities, pushing up the current rates on all instruments by 0.2%- 1.3%. 

Interest rates on postal savings will go up to 4% from 3.5% at present. 

In addition, the maturity period of monthly investment schemes and national savings certificates will be reduced form six to five years. 

The ceiling on annual contributions to the public provident funds will also be raised to 1 lakh from 70,000. 

The reforms will address the distortion caused by the small savings schemes in the overall interest rate structure of the economy. Depending on the market rates, these schemes either saw a large inflow of the big outflow, affecting the flows into banks in particular. 

When market rates are low, the high interest rates on small savings become a kind of subsidy to the investors.

In the event, as is the case now, when interest rates on these schemes are below the market rates they see a big outflow, affecting the government's fiscal management, as funds from these schemes are used by state governments and the centre. 

With bank deposits yielding more than 9% per annum, there has been a net outflow from the small savings schemes, which are administered by the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF), in the current year. 

This has forced the government to increase market borrowings by 52,800 crores over its budgeted fiscal target. 

The benchmarking of interest rates on small savings schemes will end this distortion, and also cut the volatility in inflows into these schemes. 

To reduce the cost of administration of the scheme, the government has also decided to lower the commission charged by agents that sell these schemes. 

As per the memorandum, the payment of agency commission on all schemes, except the Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana, will be either discontinued or reduced by at least 0.5%. Women agents will continue to receive 4% 

Thursday 10 November 2011

VAIKOM AREA CONVENTION

       The  Vaikom area Convention of  FNPO Unions  was held on 10.11.2011 at Vyapara Bhavan hall, Vaikom. The meeting was presided by       Shri.V.T.Uthup, State Asst. Secretary NUPE Group ‘C’.   Smt. Sreeletha Balachandran, Municipal Chairperson, Vaikom  inaugurated  the convention and the official web site of FNPO KOTTAYAM DIVISION.  Prominent Congress leaders Adv.V.V.Sathyan KPCC Member, Sri. P N Babu President Vaikom Block Congress Committee, Sri. B Anilkumar DCC General Secretary, Sri. Mohan D Babu KPCC Member, Sri. Bobin, Sri. K N Sreekumar  and our divisional level leaders addressed the convention.

A seminar and detailed discussion on various issues relating to GDS employees were also conducted.  




















A BOLD ONSET IS HALF THE BATTLE