Saturday, October 31, 2009

NEW PENSION SCHEME---BENEFITS TO GET BETTER WITH TIME.

NPS: benefits to get better with time



By H Sadhak

The fee structure of the New Pension System, opened for all citizens since May 1, 2009, has attracted a lot of criticism, much of which focuses on levying administrative charges even on the minimum annual contribution of Rs 6,000. However, a patient analysis of cost structure, the nature of services of various entities and long-term benefits of retirement savings through NPS would dispel the initial impression about the charges.

NPS is a defined contribution (DC) pension system which involve several specialised entities for collecting contribution, managing funds and rendering various services to the members. The entities involved in NPS management are pension fund managers (PFM), central record keeping agency (CRA), point of presence (POP), trustee bank, custodian and annuity services providers (ASP).





These entities act in a cohesive and orderly manner under the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) guidelines and NPS trust supervision to ensure safety security and growth of assets to provide maximum risk adjusted return and timely service to the subscribers. The regulator needs to ensure that the cost is not a burden on the system, impacting long-term earnings of the fund. At the same time, fee structure should also provide sufficient incentives for efficient performance of the various entities involved in managing pension funds to conduct business in a professional manner, observing investment ethics.





International practice of fee structure and cost regulation in DC private pension system vary widely in different countries. While some countries put the limit on various fees, some leave them to market forces. There is also variation in the composition of fee structure globally. In most Latin American countries, fees are charged on contribution basis and some such as Peru and Columbia do not charge fund management fees separately but include it in contribution fees. Countries such as Australia and Chile charge both. Costs of managing private pension also depends on the nature of collection of contribution and record maintenance.





In Colombia, Uruguay and Poland centralised agencies collect contribution and distribute funds among the pension fund managers while Chile, Peru and Hungary have decentralised collection system and contributions are collected by the pension fund managers. In Chile, Mexico and Peru, there is no limit on fees, but there is not much variation in actual fee structure even without any cap. Average administrative charges, including funds management fees, vary from 1% to 1.8%. Generally, the asset management fees vary from 0.5% to 1.5% in eastern European countries.





Under the NPS, there are separate charges. The CRA charges Rs 50 for opening an account, Rs 350 for annual maintenance and Rs 10 per transaction. Likewise, the POPs charge Rs 40 for initial subscription registration and Rs 20 for subsequent registration and the PFMS charge investment management fees at the rate of 0.0009%. The charges for custodian and trustee bank are insignificant. Account opening and PRA maintenance charges of the CRA are not static; annual maintenance charges and per transaction fee will decline to Rs 250 and Rs 4, respectively, when the number of accounts with CRA reaches 30 lakh.





Initial charges for the minimum contribution in the initial years seem high in NPS. But it is a national scheme and open to all section of investors, therefore, the total cost will decline with an increase in contribution amount. The NPS costs are comparable with mutual fund. Some analysis shows that overall cost, including fund management, distribution, custodian, registrar and so on in case of mutual fund comes to 2.25%. However in NPS, one time investment of Rs 20,000 would cost approximately 2.21%. The most important component of investment management is the fund management fee — it is 0.0009% (based on assets under management) compared to 1.25% for the mutual fund.





Fund management fee for NPS is probably the lowest in the world. Further, there is no guaranteed return in DC. Even so, fund managers need to set an implicit performance and liability benchmark for themselves to ensure better return and to manage liability driven investment management (LIDM ). NPS is, thus, a performance driven system and cost should not be considered in isolation of performance.





NPS is in its nascent stage, operationalised in phased manner since April 2008. The system is evolving and will be rationalised as time passes. Even the most successful experiment introduced in Chile in 1981 continues to undergo refinement. In that context, two-year-old NPS may be considered as an extremely successful initiative.





(The author is CEO, LIC Pension Fund. Views are personal)





SOURCE;ET
Filed Under:

COURT GRANT INTERIM STAY ON TRANSFER ORDER OF TNSTC DRIVER

Court grant interim stay on transfer order of TNSTC driver





 The Madras High Court has granted interim stay of the operation of a State Transport Corporation order transferring a driver who sought some information from his employer under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Granting the stay, Justice K.Chandru ordered notice.

The petitioner R.Ravikumar said he was working as a driver in the Mettupalayam-2 branch of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Coimbatore. Not satisfied with politically affiliated trade unions, he and some other like-minded employees wanted to start a new trade union under the name “Driver conductor social welfare association.”

The petitioner said he was also trying to get redressed the grievances of other employees who proposed to join the new union. In the process, he requested the Public Information Officer to furnish certain details regarding the functioning of the transport corporation. In the reply, certain information was true and the others were irrelevant. Hence, he sought certain details regarding the functioning of the legal section.





However, he did not get the information he needed. All he earned was the officials’ displeasure. In January this year, he was informed that he should go to the branch office and receive his order of transfer. He alleged that the corporation in an act of retaliation passed the transfer order. He also informed the branch manager and officials that unless he was informed of the genuine reason for his transfer, he would not accept the order and would go on a fast with his family in front of the branch office. He submitted a representation to the General Manager in January requesting him to do justice.





After a gap of nearly six months, he was relieved from duty on July 14 and asked to report at the new place of posting, Gudalur, the next day. The relieving order was served before the transfer order dated January 22. The transfer was with the malafide intention to punish him for seeking information under the RTI Act, the petitioner said. Hence, the petition seeking to quash the transfer orders.





SOURCE;THE HINDU
Filed Under:

Friday, October 30, 2009

STAFF SELECTION COMMISSION DECLARES WRITTEN PART RESULT OF GRADE C

SSC declares written part Result of Grade ‘C’ Stenographers’ Test



The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has declared the Main written part result of Grade ‘C’ Stenographers Examination held as part of the Combined Matric Level (Exam) 2008. 320 candidates are qualified for being called for Skill test in stenography. The schedule for holding the Skill Test in Stenography will be available on Commission’s Website shortly. The Skill test for Grade ‘C’ Stenographers of the said recruitment will be held on Computer with option available to the candidates to take the Skill test(transcription) on manual typewriter. In this regard candidates have to give their option to the concerned Regional Offices of this Commission immediately. Option given by the candidates in this regard will be treated as final. This result is available on the Commission’s website: http://ssc.nic.in



Staff Selection Commission had conducted the Combined Matric Level (Preliminary) Examination, 2008 on 30th March, 2008 for filling up the posts of (i) Grade ‘C’ Stenographers (ii) Grade ‘D’ Stenographers and (iii) Lower Division Clerks in various Central Government Ministries/Departments/Offices (other than in Central Secretariat Clerical Service Cadre). 643,435 candidates registered for the examination. The result of the preliminary examination of the said recruitment was declared on 06.08.2008 wherein 67,205 candidates were declared qualified for appearing in the Main examination of this recruitment. The Main examination of this recruitment was held on 27th and 28th September, 2008. In the Main written part result of Lower Division Clerks & Grade ‘D’ Stenographers of this recruitment which was declared in September 2009, wherein a total of 17,512 candidates were qualified for being called for Skill test in Typewriting/Stenography Test.



SOURCE;PIB
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THE UPSC HAS ANNOUNCED THE RESULT OF GEOLOGISTS

The UPSC has announced the result of the Geologists’ Examination 2008 held in December 2008 and the interviews for Personality Test held in September 2009. The candidates have been recommended for appointment to the posts of:



(i) Geologist (Junior) Group ‘A’



Category-I





(ii) Junior Hydrogeologist (Scientist B) Groups ‘A’

& Assistant Hydrogeologist Group ‘B’



Category-II

The total number of candidates recommended for appointment in List-I is 215 (including candidates who have also qualified for Category-II), including 84 General Candidates, 33 candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, 18 candidates belonging to Scheduled Tribes & 80 belonging to Other Backward Classes. Seven (07) posts were reserved for physically handicapped (Hearing Impaired) having functional Classification Partially Deaf (PD) candidates. No physically handicapped candidate of Hearing Impairment category appeared at the examination.

Result of one candidate is withheld due to pending clarification from Ministry of Mines regarding his educational eligibility for the Examination.





The total number of candidates recommended for appointment in List-II is 36 (including candidates who have also qualified for Category-I), including 15 General Candidates, 03 candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, 04 candidates belonging to Scheduled Tribes & 14 belonging to Other Backward Classes. One post is reserved under PH Category for Asstt. Hydrogeologist Group B for Blindness or low vision candidates (Having Functional classification of partially Blind (PB). No candidate under PH category qualified written part of the examination. 02 vacancies reserved for OBC Category are left unfilled due to unavailability of eligible OBC candidates.





Appointment to the two categories will be made according to the number of vacancies available, which is as under:- CATEGORY   1          CATEGORY  2

General    109                                 06



OBC      55                                    02



SC        29                                    01



ST        16                                    01



Total    209                                  10

* Seven posts reserved for Physically Challenged (Hearing Impairment) having functional Classification Partially Deaf (PD)

# One vacancy reserved for Physically Challenged candidates belonging to the category of Blindness of Low Vision having Functional Classification Partially Blind (PB).





35 candidates have qualified for both the Categories i.e. Category-I & Category-II. Of these, 28 candidates bearing Roll Nos. 3079, 6415, 2274, 7548, 834, 5314, 5930, 3688, 027, 1618, 6132, 3725, 5484, 2284, 1978, 4039, 4675, 052, 6893, 2424, 2263, 176, 6092, 2279, 5928, 7868, 3733 & 1931 are to be adjusted against Category-I vacancies and 07 candidates bearing Roll Nos.2425, 5980, 7879, 2282, 2286, 1176 & 2406 are to be adjusted against Category-II vacancies on the basis of their preferences.





The candidature of the following candidates is provisional:

6415, 2284, 2265, 7367, 2910, 7068, 2279, 3709, 6401, 7879, 6619, 3733, 4818, 7884, 6254, 6405, 7263, 1931, 1144, 646, 6590, 3686, 1176, 2406, 2572, 6607, 2281, 1458, 6562, 7868, 4677, 5921, 6447, 2905, 4980, 2923, 4655, 7885, 5155, 1132, 6755, 6456, 6910 & 2891.



UPSC has a “Facilitation Counter” near Examination Hall in its campus. Candidates can obtain any information / clarification regarding their examinations / recruitment on the working days between 1000 hrs. to 1700 hrs. in person or over telephone Nos.011- 23385271 / 23381125. Result will also be available on the U.P.S.C. web site i.e., http/www.upsc.gov.in. However, marks on the web site will be available in due course for a period of thirty days.





SOURCE;PIB
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AIR INDIACO-PILOT IN MISBEHAVIOUR CASE

A committee of state-run carrier Air India probing the midair scuffle among its staff Oct 3 on Friday termed the allegations of



misbehaviour levelled by an air hostess against a co-pilot as "baseless".





"The air hostess has been issued a charge sheet for violation of the conduct rules and for not complying with the company policy," an Air India spokesperson told IANS, referring to the probe findings.

"She will be asked to explain her position."

The incident between air hostess Komal Singh and co-pilot Aditya Chopra broke out on board Sharjah-Lucknow-Delhi flight IC-884 Oct 3, when it was on its first leg.

Singh then levelled charges of sexual harassment against the co-pilot with the police in New Delhi a few days later.

"She did not raise the issue of sexual harassment during the internal inquiry, nor did she register her complaint while at Lucknow and Delhi airport," the spokesperson said.

"Instead, she complained to the police. It was an after-thought."

Initially, reports said the IC-884 cockpit was also reportedly left unmanned during the mid-air scuffle. But Air India denied the charge, even as the India's aviation regulator is probing this aspect.





The state-run airline grounded the pilots and the cabin crew after the Delhi Police registered a case of molestation against the pilots on the complaint filed by the air hostess.

The president of Indian Commercial Pilot's Association, Shailendra Singh, backed the pilots saying they were not at fault, adding no person can barge into the cockpit and pick up a fight.

The National Commission for Women also formed a panel to probe the charges of assault levelled by the air hostess against the two pilots.





SOURCE;ET
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NEW DEFENCE POLICY TO OPEN $100 bn MARKET

New defence policy to open $100 bn market



NEW DELHI: Indian defence companies will gain access to a potential $100 bn market over the next 10 years, following a new policy that allows



domestic firms to bid for large defence contracts, officials said on Friday.





India, one of the world's biggest arms importers, wants to increase the role of its private sector, which holds around 20 percent of the defence industry market but has the potential to grow significantly.





Under the new policy, the government will allow domestic companies to bid for key projects on their own.





Indian companies until the policy change were not invited by the government to bid for big government defence projects and were left to supplying locally made non-combative equipment for the defence forces.





With foreign countries reluctant to share advanced technology with India, the government wants to encourage private defence companies to enter the arms market, officials say.





"The field is now open for them to come and bid for any project along with the world's best. The government is giving them an opportunity to expand their capabilities," Sitanshu Kar, the defence ministry spokesman said.



Local companies are free to bid for projects involving tanks, artillery and aircrafts, Kar said.



"This move can also save costs and help us turn India into a major production hub in the near future," Kar said.

The new policy will provide more opportunities to Indian companies such as Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ashok Leyland and Larsen and Toubro, defence experts and officials said.



"The current review is primarily focused on two essential areas of promoting and facilitating wide participation of defence industry and enabling transparency and integrity in all acquisitions," defence minister A.K. Antony said at a conference.

"Over the next five to six years, the total budgetary provision for capital acquisition is likely to reach $50 billion," Antony said. Defence and company officials say it will touch the $100 billion mark in 10 years.





India wants to upgrade its largely Soviet-era arsenal to counter potential threats from Pakistan and China. The government plans to spend more than $30 billion over the next five years to upgrade its defences.





Foreign defence companies have welcomed the government move.





"The government is very forward leaning and the steps we view as a sign of the government's confidence in the maturity of the Indian industry," Vivek Lall, India country head for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems said on Friday



SOURCE;ET
Filed Under:

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

PRIVATISATION OF ORDINANCE FACTORIES?-----------AIDEF

'Privatisation of OFs will compromise nation's security'







CHANDRAPUR: General secretary of All-India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) C Shrikumar, expressed concern over Union Government's plans to



privatise the defence units and ordinance factories. He is here to participate in 23rd national convention of AIDEF that began on Tuesday evening at Ordnance Factory, Chanda, located near Bhadrawati.







Interacting with media persons in Chandrapur on the eve of inauguration of convention Shrikumar said, "The issue is related to security of country, hence AIDEF is opposed to privatisation of defence units. The privatisation of ordnance factories may compromise the safety and security of the country."







He informed that there are around 40 ordnance factories in the country off which Maharashtra alone has 10. These ordnance factories supply key ammunition used in army, navy and other government security agencies. There are around 4.5 lakh employees working in ordnance factories and other defence units across the country. "All the workers are opposed to privatisation of the ordnance factories and employees union is all set to take up agitation for the same," he said.







He alleged that private players in defence supply are infested with corruption. Union defence minister has banned seven such companies, which include five Indian and two foreign companies, he claimed adding that privatisation would make these defense units susceptible to corruption. "However the worker unions will not let such designs materialise," he vowed.







He informed that other employees' related problems such as anomalies in recommendations sixth pay commission, recruitment on vacant post, 100% appointments on compassionate grounds, etc will also be discussed at the length and charter of demands drafted in the convention will be forwarded to defense minister AK Antony, he said.





Around 500 representatives from across the country are expected to participate in the convention, he claimed.         SOURCE;TOI
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COURT NOTICE TO KENDRIYA VIDYALAYAS ON DEARTH OF SPECIAL TEACHERS

Court notice to Kendriya Vidyalayas on dearth of special teachers





 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan on a petition seeking appointment of special educators in Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country for differently-abled students studying there.

Issueing the notice, a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice A. P. Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar asked the Sangathan to file the reply to the petition by November 11, the next date of hearing.

                                                                                                                                                                     

The petitioner, voluntary organisation Social Jurist, submitted that there were more than 800 Kendriya Vidyalayas in the country and about 10 lakh students studied in them but there were no special educators in these schools to teach the differently-enabled students.





In Delhi alone, there were about 75 Kendriya Vidyalayas in which about one lakh students study but they had no qualified special educator for the physically challenged students, the petitioner submitted.





Counsel for the petitioner, Ashok Agarwal, submitted that the Sangathan should appoint qualified special teachers in these schools and their salary and allowances should not be less than those drawn by general teachers.





He further submitted that the Kendriya Vidyalayas should also provide study material, aid and appliances to these students.

The High Court had recently directed the Delhi Government and the civic bodies here to recruit two qualified special educators in each school run by them to take care of the teaching needs of physically challenged students there.





The Court said the Government and the civic bodies -- the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Cantonment Board -- should recruit these teachers on the salary and allowances of general teachers.



SOURCE;THE HINDU
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AI PILOTS THREATEN INDUSTRIAL ACTION

AI pilots threaten 'industrial action'







 Talks between senior pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines and a sub-committee of the Air India Board on incentives and allowances have failed to yield any result with the employees threatening "industrial action" if the issues are not resolved soon.





"We had a talk with the management. We have asked them to pay our dues of flying allowances and productivity-linked incentives (PLI) of three months. If they fail, we will be forced to go for some industrial action," Captain V K Bhalla, who led a five-day long pilots' stir recently, told PTI.







The pilots representatives, led by Bhalla met the Board sub-committee yesterday in Mumbai, had asked the management to phase out expatriate pilots who were being paid "higher" than their Indian counterparts and have been "kept out" of the air-carrier's cost-cutting plan.



SOURCE;PTI
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

YOUR UNIQUE IDENTITY NO MAY BECOME YOUR MOBILE NUMBER

Your unique identity number may become your mobile number





NEW DELHI: Facing a peculiar situation of exhausting 10-digit mobile numbers, C-DOT, a research and development organisation of the telecom sector, India's top 10 BPOs



The rise of multinational IT in India



Key facts on India's TI industry



is studying if the unique identity number (UID) could be converted into mobile number. The identity number could be the one to be issued by the government for which an UID authority has been set up, or any other like driving licence number.





The situation has arisen in the wake of phenomenal growth in the mobile telephony with over one crore subscribers being added every month.





“We are carrying out a study to check whether some other ID numbers can be used as the mobile number. The current, 10-digit number will get exhausted soon. So, we are looking at this — one number — concept wherein a single number can be used for different purposes,” said C-DOT executive director PV Acharya. The Department of Telecom (DoT) is planning to come up with 11-12 digit number, but what is guarantee that this will also not fall short of demand, he said.





“What we have thought is why not have one unique number associated with the person like the social security number in the US or the UID. So that unique number we can use for the purpose of mobile communications also,” he said.



However, Mr Acharya added it (the number) is not usable right away, as there are certain issues of protocol and standard. “We are examining whether it is usable and if so then what modifications are required in the infrastructure,” he added.





The project is still at a very preliminary stage and no funding has been decided yet for the project. C-DOT has started the study project in may and is likely to come up with some conclusion within a year.





The government is planning to rework the current numbering plan and is already debating with telecom regulator Trai whether 11-12 digit numbers could be offered.







The present numbering plan was framed in 2003 to serve estimated 75 crore subscribers until 2030. However, the booming Indian telecom sector is likely to reach 75 crore mobile users much before that as currently India’s mobile subscriber base is 44.16 crore. Reworking the present numbering system means that cell phone numbers could go beyond the usual 10 digit.





However, the cost and technology is a major consideration here. If operators have to provide a less than 10-digit or more than 10-digit number, they have to invest a lot on upgrading their database.



SOURCE;THE ET
Filed Under:

Monday, October 26, 2009

WORKERS PLAN MASSIVE PROTEST -----------

- Millions of workers will be on the streets across India on Wednesday, picketing and holding rallies to protest rising prices and job losses, union officials said, though there may be little impact on production.

 

Four major trade unions, including those affiliated with the ruling Congress party and those with the opposition communists, have jointly called for the protests.





"The entire trade union movement of the county unanimously raised their demands and on 28 Oct. we are observing a national protest day," said Tapan Sen, general secretary of the communist-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions.

Among the demands are a ban on futures trading in commodities and making government aid to industry conditional on not firing workers, Sen said.





He and other union leaders said workers would not stop work, but would attend the demonstrations before or after their shifts.





Workers have been affected by the economic downturn that has shrunk domestic demand for goods and slashed exports, and led firms to shed jobs even as food prices stubbornly remain high.





There has been a rise in strikes across the country and these have often turned violent.





A manager at an auto-parts firm in south India was beaten to death by protesting workers last month, while the auto-manufacturing hub of Gurgaon has seen sporadic worker agitations for months.





But D.H. Pai Panandikar, head of the think-tank RPG Foundation, said attendance would likely be thin and not lead to violence or cloud India's investment climate.

He linked the surge in trade union activity to a recent string of electoral losses by communist parties, both in parliament and in states seen as leftist bastions.





The communists were part of the previous Congress-led government, but pulled out a year before federal elections in a row over a civil nuclear deal with the United States.





"As long as the communist parties had a coalition with the Congress, the trade union movement was a little bit quiet," Panandikar said.





But with the communists' political defeats the unions have to rely more on direct action to show their existence, while the communists in turn need the union action to try to boost their support





source;REUTERS
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IIT-JEE----CUT OFF MARKS?

A call to return to the basics?





Will the proposal to raise the cut-off marks for IIT-JEE pave the way for a learning process where students get a solid grounding in the fundamentals?

Should IIT-JEE applicants be required to score 85 per cent in their school board examinations? Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal’s statement earlier this week suggesting that the school examination criteria be hiked from 60 to 80 or 85 per cent has raked up the issue again, and with it a whole plethora of concerns about schooling in India, the JEE and coaching centres.

Mr. Sibal calmed the storm by clarifying that it was up to the IIT Council to take a decision on the issue, and saying that the government would not interfere. However, it is a fact that the IITs themselves have been considering this proposal, and even more radical ones, for over a year now. A committee to explore JEE reforms was set up last year, and its chairman V.G. Idichandy, who is also IIT-Madras deputy director, has given it as his personal opinion that the JEE should just be scrapped and only school marks taken into account. Other senior IIT officials have suggested that only the top one or two per cent of students in the board examinations should be allowed to attempt JEE.





Interestingly, it is not only the elite IITs which are considering such ideas. On the next rung in technical education, the National Institutes of Technology determine entrance through the All India Engineering Entrance Examination. The NITs are now reportedly considering a proposal to raise the eligibility criteria in terms of school marks as well.





Apart from reducing the number of candidates who attempt these examinations to a more manageable and realistic level, those who promote such proposals want to reduce the stranglehold that the coaching centre system has on the country. “In many places, coaching centres are defacto replacing the school education system,” warns Sujatha Ramdorai, a member of the National Knowledge Commission.





At large coaching centres such as those in Kota, students effectively drop out of the school system in order to prepare for JEE. They can then scrape through their board examinations to meet the 60 per cent minimum criteria, without having actually attended school for two years.





This can result in a skewed education, which shows up once the student gets to IIT. IIT-M director M.S. Ananth tells the story of a student who arrived at IIT without having mastered the concept of integration despite it being part of the higher secondary mathematics curriculum. He had failed to study it since he felt only three marks were allotted to the topic under JEE.





Apart from such obvious knowledge gaps, IIT professors also point to learning style differences that make it hard to cope for students who have placed more importance on JEE coaching than school exams. “A sizable number find it difficult because they are used to a tutoring style with a drill of questions and answers,” says an IIT Chemistry professor. “At IIT, we teach a lot of concepts, and give a few representative problems. Assignments are meant for self-study, not marks. We expect students to be self-driven, but the coaching centres apply external pressure.”





L. Celestine Preetham, a first-year Electrical Engineering student at IIT-Madras, agrees. “Those who come from Kota or other coaching centres are used to studying 14 hours a day. In IIT, you get two hours to study after sitting in classes all day, just like in school. It’s a totally different kind of time management that is needed,” he says. While he bagged an all-India Rank of 45 in JEE, he was also a top student at school level, scoring 98 per cent in the board examination.





Most Chennai students who attempt JEE are like him, according to the coaching centres here. “All our IIT candidates score above 90 per cent in school anyway,” says Gita Prabhu, director AIMS Education, which trains students for JEE and AIEEE. She feels that Tamil Nadu’s strong school education system, which demands the physical presence of students in class, will ensure that none of the State’s students will lose out if the IITs raise the eligibility criteria.





She added that reputed coaching centres should actually welcome the moves, since it would mean that students would come to them with a stronger grounding in the basics.





“We have already seen that since TNPCEE [the State entrance examination] was abolished. Earlier, many schools would skip Class 11 portions, since students would spend Class 12 preparing for the entrance. Then it becomes difficult to train them in the concepts.”





At the end of the day, students should be gaining knowledge, not just studying with JEE, AIEEE or even their school examinations in mind. Until such ideal attitudes are adopted, however, the move to raise the eligibility criteria could return some much-needed focus to the basic concepts taught at the school level.





SOURCE;THE HINDU
Filed Under:

Sunday, October 25, 2009

TEN TIPS TO AVOID BACK PAIN

Ten tips to avoid back pain

Tried and tested everything but back pain still giving you nightmares? Well, worry not, for health expert Dr. Norman Marcus has come to your rescue.

Dr. Marcus, who is the Director of muscle pain research at the New York University School of Medicine, said on “The Early Show,” that people seek medical advice for back pain most than for anything else.

Also, the National Institutes of Health revealed that four out of five Americans would suffer from disabling back pain during their lifetime, reports CBS News.

However, Marcus offered tips to prevent back pain:

1. Your bed does matter - The physician advised tossing and turning at night and getting rid of sagging mattress if you have one.

2. What you do in bed matters - Reading or watching television while lying down is best avoided as when you lift your head to view the screen your muscles may contract causing pain in the neck.

3. Don’t just sit there - Apparently, staying in a particular position for too long stresses the postural muscles in your body. Hence, one should frequently change positions.

4. Cross your legs - The doctor advised alternately crossing a leg if you are sitting for long hours in a particular place, like while in a theatre, as it helps move back and hip muscles.

5. Around the house: Regularly used household items should be preferably kept on easily accessible shelves, as it can help avoid bending and stretching movements.

6. Watch where you put your wallet: Marcus advised men to completely stop sitting with wallet in the back pocket as it can result chronic pain.

7. Just say no - Lifting heavy weights should be avoided. Marcus added: “Ask for help, wait for help, hire help - or walk away.”

8. When you do have to lift a heavy object, bend with your knees and hips - While lifting heavy objects it should be brought close to the body, such that leg muscles bear maximum pressure.

9. Shovelling snow: A short walk to warm up before beginning to shovel may be a good idea. Also, a smaller blade can help limit each load as snow is pretty heavy.

10. For women only: Women should try to lose weight after pregnancy and strengthen key postural and abdominal muscles, as it is weakened and stretched.

Apart from all the above advice, Marcus also suggested not putting computer keyboards on top of the desk in office to be handy for office employees. He said, “To avoid neck, shoulder and back muscle strain, your arms should be positioned so that you reach down to use the keyboard, which is the reason keyboard trays can be found under desktops.”

SOURCE;THE HINDU
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NEW PENSION SCHEME -SOME CLARIFICATION

Sunday, October 25, 2009





NEW PENSION SCHEME-MORE CLARIFICATION





Questions & Answers: Related to the New Pension Scheme (NPS)

Clarifications:-

1. Whether a retiring Government servant is entitled for leave encashment after retirement under the NPS?





The benefit of encashment of leave salary is not a part of the retirement benefits admissible under Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972. It is payable in terms of CCS (Leave) Rules which will continue to be applicable to the government servants who join the government service on after 1-1-2004. Therefore, the benefit of encashment of leave salary payable to the governments/to their families on account of retirement/death will be admissible.

2. Why is it mandatory to use 40% of pension wealth to purchase the annuity at the time of the exit (i.e. after the age of 60 years) from NPS?

This provision has been made in the New Pension Scheme with an intention that the retired government servants should get regular monthly income during their retired life.

3. Whether any minimum age or minimum service is required to quit from Tier-I?

Exit from Tier-I can only take place when an individual leaves Government service.

4. Whether Dearness Pay is counted as basic pay for recovery of 10% for Tier-I?

As per the New Pension Scheme, the total Dearness Allowance is to be taken into account for working out the contributions to Tier-I. Subsequently, a part of the “Dearness Allowance” has been treated as Dearness Pay. Therefore, this should also be reckoned for the purpose of contributions.

5. Whether contribution towards Tier-I from arrears of DA is to be deducted?

Yes. Since the contribution is to be worked out at 10% of (Pay + DP + DA), it needs to be revised whenever there is any change in these elements

6. Who will calculate the interest PAO or Central Pension Accounting office(CPAO)?

The PAO should calculate the interest.

7. What happens if an employee gets transferred during the month? Which office will make deduction of Contribution?

As in the case of other recoveries, the recovery of contributions towards New Pension Scheme for the full month(both individual and government) will be made by the office who will draw salary for the maximum period.

8. Whether NPA payable to medical officers will count towards ‘Pay’ for the purpose of working out contributions to NPS?

Yes. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has clarified vide their O.M. no. A45012/11/97-CHS.V dated 7-4-98 that the Non-Practising Allowance shall countas ‘pay’ for all service benefits. Therefore, this will be taken into account for working out the contribution towards the New Pension Scheme.

9. Whether a government servant who was already in service prior to 1.1.2004, if appointed in a different post under the Government of India, will be governed by the CCS (Pension) Rules or NPS?

In cases where Government servants apply for posts in the same or other departments and on selection they are asked to render technical resignation, the past services are counted towards pension under CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972. Since the Government servant had originally joined government service prior to 1-1-2004, he should be covered under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972.

10.Procedure for allotment of Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN):-

Immediately on joining Govt. service, the Govt. servant will be required to provide particulars such as his name, designation, scale of pay, date of birth, nominee(s) for the fund, relationship of the nominee etc. in the prescribed for (Annexure I).

The DDO concerned will be responsible for obtaining this information from all Govt. servants covered under the New Pension Scheme.

The PAO concerned will allot a unique 16 digit Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN). The first four digits of this number will indicate the calendar year of joining Govt. service, the next digit indicates whether it is a Civil or a Non-civil Ministry, the next six digits would represent the PAO Code (which is used for the purpose of compiling monthly accounts), the last five digits will be the running serial number of the individual govt.

servant which will be allotted by the PAO concerned. PAO will allot the serial number pertaining to individual Govt. servants from 00001 running from January to December of a calendar year. A register will be maintained for allotment of PRAN to ensure that PRAN are allotted in sequence and there is no duplication of PRAN.

For the flow of information from Non Civil Ministries/Departments to the CPAO, each of them will nominate a Nodal Office, which will be responsible for forwarding the consolidated information/particulars in respect of their Ministry/Departments and for correspondence with CPAO.

The particulars of the Govt. servants received from the various DDOs will be consolidated by the Nodal Office identified in each Ministry/Department/Office and sent to the CPAO. The CPAO will keep this information in their computer database.

The accounting heads involved in the operation of the new pension scheme will be intimated in due course.

The first salary bill of the new entrant will be passed after ensuring that the Annexure-I is received.

Tier1 amount equal to 10% of the (basic+da+npa) will be deducted from the payBill and a matching contribution will also be credited to the individuals credit.

Separate paybill should be prepared for the individuals who are covered under this scheme. The schedule information is to be captured in the Annexure-II, which should be carefully checked. The data file of annexure-I and annexure-II will be created and forwarded to CPAO on monthly basis. CPAO on receipt of this information will update its database and generate exception reports for missing credits, mismatches etc.

No withdrawal of any amount will be allowed during the interim arrangements.

At the end of each financial year the CPAO will prepare annual accounts statements for each employee showing opening balance, details of monthly deduction and Govt.’s matching contribution, interest earned, if any, and the closing balance. CPAO will send these statements to Nodal Office concerned.

After the close of each financial year, CPAO will have to report the details of the balances (PAO-wise) to each PAO for the purpose of reconciliation. The PAO will reconcile the figures of contributions with figures as per the books of CPAO      SOURCE;CENTRAL STAFF NEWS.
Filed Under:

Saturday, October 24, 2009

NTC WORKERS ON ONE DAY FAST,STRIKE ENTERS12TH DAY

Coimbatore, Oct 24 (PTI) Workers of the seven textile mills attached to the National Textile Corporation in Tamil Nadu observed a one-day fast today as part of their indefinite strike demanding bonus settlement that has entered its 12th day.

According to CITU sources, on an average 150 to 200 workers were sitting in front of each mill on fast, as decided by the Joint Action Council (JAC) of major textile trade unions after six rounds of talks failed to yield a solution over the issue of Diwali bonus.

JAC blamed NTC management for its 'adamant' attitude even in paying the minimum bonus as per Bonus Act and attendance incentives as suggested by senior Labour department officials, but management said these mills were not making profits.

There are about 5,500 workers, including 3,500 permanent ones, in these mills, with Coimbatore alone having five mills



SOURCE;PTI
Filed Under:

IIT FACULTY TO ACCEPT NEW PAY STRUCTURE

IIT faculty to accept new pay structure

The All India IIT Faculty Federation, which met here, asked the teachers of the seven IITs to agree to the new pay structure.

“We have requested the faculty to accept the pay package in the interest of the IIT system. But we will pursue with the Ministry of HRD and the board of governors of the IITs on certain issues till they are resolved,” Faculty Federation president Prof M. Thenmozhi told PTI here.

The issues of concern of the faculty include a 40 per cent cap on promotion of professors to senior grade and the provision of contractual appointment at entry level.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has assured the faculty that the government guidelines on the pay structure are norms which can be relaxed for promoting excellence.

“We are not happy that these issues were not taken up by the IIT Council meeting. We expect these issues will be taken up by board of governors of the IITs. If they are not sorted out, we will take them up with the government,” she said.

The faculty has been opposing these provisions in the pay structure for the last two months.

Ms. Thenmozhi said that the federation has been demanding that faculty with Ph.D and three years of experience at entry level should get a higher pay band than what is meant for them at present.

As per the present pay system, faculty with six years of experience at the level of associate professors will be eligible for the Pay-Band four, which gives a higher pay.

The faculty has also been demanding Additional Grade Pay at par with counterparts in other national level institutions.

It has been demanding flexible cadre system in the IITs also.

These issues did not come up for discussion in detail at the IIT Council meeting last week. However, Mr. Sibal told the council that the board of governors of the institutes can relax the norms in exceptional cases

Now, the board of governors will decide modalities on how to relax the norms and lay down procedures in this regard.



The Faculty Federation had gone on a day-long fast on September 24 to protest the “anomalies” in the pay structure.

Ms. Thenmozhi said she expects that a decision will be taken once the board of governors of most IITs meet this month



SOURCE;THE HINDU
Filed Under:

Thursday, October 22, 2009

MOVE AROUND AT WORK TO MAINTAIN CONCENTRATION

Employees should limit the proportion of time they spend sitting while at work to 60 per cent because a lack of activity can lead to concentration problems and tension, according to a health newsletter published in Germany.

A recent edition of the newsletter, published by an organization for healthy backs, recommends office workers spend at least 30 per cent of their remaining time in the office doing something that requires they stand and 10 per cent doing something that requires movement.



Work-related pain is a typical reaction of the body to an environment for which it is not suited. Even while sitting, movement is sensible. Using a chair that has a leaning back, for example, corresponds with the natural movements of the body, and feet and legs automatically move along as well. As a result, circulation and oxygen replenishment improves to all organs, particularly the brain.

This prevents not only pain, but also helps to increase the attention span and concentration.

Keywords: Employees, movement, attention, concentration, activity

SOURCE;THE HINDU
Filed Under:

DISINVESTMENT OF NTPC DEFIES ECONOMIC LOGIC AND EXPOSES

Disinvestment Of NTPC Defies Economic Logic And Exposes



UPA Government's Policy Of Deceit And Deception



Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) strongly denounces the UPA Government’s decision to disinvest 5 per cent shares in NTPC, a Navaratna PSU and 10 per cent shares in SJVN, another PSU in Power Sector. UPA Government during its earlier tenure had time and again assured the people of this country that Navaratna PSUs would not be disinvested when disinvestment of PSUs was being opposed by the Left Parties, who were supporting the Government from outside. Because of the opposition from the Left, the UPA Government could not go ahead with disinvestment programme. But the deceit and deception of the UPA in its new avatar becomes clear when it prioritises Navaratnas like NTPC, SAIL, Coal India, etc for disinvestment with a clear intent on privatising the profit making PSUs specially the Navaratnas in phases and in small doses, awaiting for an opportune moment for outright privatisation. It also exposes the hypocrisy of UPA allies like DMK and TMC who are giving lip service, opposing disinvestment in public and supporting the same in the Cabinet.

CITU reminds the people of the country that NTPC has already a reserve of more than Rs. 49,000 crore as on 31.03.2009, an increase of Rs. 5,000 crore from its reserve and surplus of Rs. 44,000 crore on 31.03.2008 with a cash and bank balance of more than Rs. 15,000 crore. It defies any economic logic as to why instead of using such huge money locked in non-productive reserves, its assets worth Rs. 8,500 crore is being sold in the name of “peoples ownership”, though actually assets owned by the people in the PSUs are being doled out to a few share market operators including FIIs through such disinvestment.

CITU calls up on the working class to mobilise and intensify their fight against the suicidal policy of disinvestment of PSUs including Navaratnas by the Government as pledged in the National Convention of Trade Unions on 14.09.2009 through observance of National Protest Day on 28th October 2009. CITU appeals to the people not to be misled by Government’s misinformation campaign on sale of public assets and to support trade unions’ struggle against disinvestment.





SOURCE;CITU





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Filed Under:

IIT-ENTRY LEVEL QUALIFICATION

CHENNAI: Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal’s suggestion to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to consider raising the



entry level qualification for appearing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) from 2011 has come at just about the right time, feel experts .





The HRD minister’s take on the issue is very much on the lines of what experts within the IIT system have been articulating over the past few years. “In fact, this is a positive change on the part of the government. Four years ago, when the IIT standing council had recommended that only students with an aggregate score of 85% and above in Plus Two board examinations should be permitted to appear for the JEE, the government rejected it and fixed 60% marks as the eligibility criteria,” recalled a director of an IIT.





There is already a growing concern among the IITs that they are being deprived of the best students as largely only those “conditioned by coaching centres” come out with stellar performance in the nerve-wracking JEE. There is view that the coaching centres fail to teach the basic concepts to students as their training is usually “numerically heavy.” The knowledge gained by students in the science and mathematics subjects at the higher secondary level is almost completely ignored in the selection process.





Professor M Anandakrishnan, chairman of the board of governors of IIT Kanpur and Rajasthan, felt a higher eligibility criteria of an aggregate score of 80% or above in Plus Two, will drastically change the learning priorities of aspirants. “A major trend now is that children neglect higher secondary school education and prepare only for the JEE. If you raise the Plus Two eligibility norms, they will be forced to concentrate on school education as well,” he argued.





“This will also reduce the number of applications for JEE being unnecessarily processed now. I don’t think the higher eligibility scores will affect rural students as 80% is a reasonable figure to attain,” he added.





This year over 3.95 lakh aspirants took the JEE when just 7,300-odd seats were available across 15 IITs. “Why should the IITs take the burden of conducting an examination for such a vast number of students for so few seats,” asked an IIT director. Issues like the different levels of standards in various boards of education can be sorted through “a marks normalisation process” , said Anandakrishnan



SOURCE;ET
Filed Under:

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

ONLINE OPTION FOR BIGGEST TECH EXAM

Online option for biggest tech exam



New Delhi, Oct. 21: The examination that opens opportunities for the maximum number of engineering students may soon be available online under a proposal mooted by the government.

The government today formed a panel to examine the possibility of making the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) an online test while keeping the traditional pen-and-paper option available too.

The AIEEE opens admission opportunities at the National Institutes of Technology — the second most sought-after engineering chain after the IITs — all state government colleges and most private colleges across the country.

The panel formed by the NIT Council, the apex decision-making body of these institutions, will also review the current structure of the AIEEE.

The committee, consisting of the directors of the NITs in Allahabad, Calicut and Agartala, will also examine whether current eligibility criteria need a raise. At present, students just need to clear their class XII qualifying examinations to be eligible to appear for the AIEEE.

The NITs conduct several rounds of counselling to assist students pick streams of their choice, but several seats at the institutes still remain vacant.

The panel will also evaluate reasons for these vacancies and suggest whether certain unpopular courses need to be replaced.

The NIT Council — headed by human resource development minister Kapil Sibal — also decided to set up a second committee that will review and revise the current curriculum at the NITs.

“The idea is to make the curriculum more in tune with what industry needs from our future engineers,” an HRD ministry source said.

Sibal also asked each NIT to prepare a vision document outlining its future plans, including any proposal for a campus abroad.

The minister told the NITs that like the IITs, they too could bend controversial new pay norms to lure talented faculty.

A performance-related incentive scheme proposed by the IITs for their faculty will be applicable to the NIT teachers, Sibal said

SOURCE;THE TELEGRAPE
Filed Under:

STRIKE HALTS WORK IN GURGAON FIRMS

Strike halts work in Gurgaon firms







The Hindu Members of the Rico Auto Employees Union and other workers stage a dharna in Gurgaon, Haryana, on Tuesday to protest the death of a Rico eployee during a group clash on Sunday. The day-long strike affected production in several companies in the industrial hub ofthe State. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar



A large number of workers in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt in Haryana stayed away from work on Tuesday in protest against the death of a worker of an automobile firm here over the weekend. The daylong strike affected production in several companies in the industrial hub of the State.





The strike began on a ugly note at Rico Auto, an auto-parts manufacturing unit that has been witnessing labour unrest for the past month, when some employees beat up the company’s deputy general manager Sanjeev Arya at the entrance of its premises in the morning.





Responding to a bandh call given by the various unions, workers of several companies gathered outside Rico Auto around noon and held a peaceful demonstration demanding the arrest of those responsible for the death of Ajit Yadav (26), who sustained injuries in Sunday’s clash between some workers of the company and died later.





The agitating workers also demanded Rs. 25 lakh compensation to the next of kin of the deceased and a job to a member of his family. “Also, the company should not create hurdles in the registration of the workers’ union and re-induct the 16 suspended employees. If our demands are not met, we will be forced to prolong the strike,” said Kamalpreet Singh, the working president of Hero Honda Workers’ Union.





Mr. Singh claimed that several thousand workers of the over 70-odd companies in Gurgaon took part in the protest affecting production.





The police had made elaborate security arrangements and a large number of police personnel, a fire tender and a “Vajra” vehicle were deployed outside the Rico Auto to deal with any situation. “We have sufficient number of police personnel at our disposal and have got reinforcements from different parts of Haryana,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East Gurgaon) Jagdeesh Nagar, who along with several other senior officers was present at the spot.





Rico Auto senior vice-president (human resource) Surender Choudhry said the company was open to dialogue with the agitating workers for an amicable solution. “We are willing to speak to the workers for an agreeable solution. But they are resorting to violence and the atmosphere is not conducive to talks at present. Production has been hit by the strike and the company has suffered a loss of several crore rupees in the past few days alone. The situation has deteriorated after the Diwali break and only 200 workers have been reporting to work,” Mr. Choudhry said.

“The company has announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to the family of the deceased and has also decided to provide free education to his children. We are also open to the idea of increasing the compensation amount,” he added.

Meanwhile, the police have registered a murder case in connection with the death of Ajit Yadav and have arrested two persons.



SOURCE;THE HINDU
Filed Under:

BSNL TO OFFER CERTIFICATE COURSE

BSNL to offer certificate course





Staff Reporter Share · print · T+ Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Tamil Nadu Circle, will offer a five-day certificate course in mobile communication (CMC) to enhance the employability skills of students of the Anna University. The course will be open for the pre-final and final year students of various engineering courses of the Anna University across the State.



The BSNL, Tamil Nadu Circle, has evolved the course content in consultation with the Centre for University - Industry Collaboration (CUIC) of the Anna University, Chennai.



Awareness programmes about the advantages of the course are being organised all over the State to sensitise the Principals/management of engineering colleges affiliated to the Anna University.



Presiding over a programme for the Anna University - Tiruchi at the M.A.M. College of Engineering at Siruganur, about 25 km from here, on Wednesday, the Chief General Manager, BSNL, Tamil Nadu Circle, D. Varadharajan, said that the course aimed at enhancing the employability skills of engineers would provide practical exposure on latest mobile technology to the students.



The course covered areas such as radio wave propagation; unique features of CDMA; Global System of Mobile (GSM) architecture; bandwith used in GSM; various interfaces involved in switching network and the signalling messages; mobility call processing; CDMA overview; power control and call processing in CDMA and the functions of CDMA equipment.



The Vice-Chancellor of Anna University - Tiruchi, V. Ramachandran, underlined the application of mobile technology in various fields including remote operation of household appliances. Dr. Ramachandran suggested that the BSNL provided a full-fledged laboratory-like infrastructure at all the four units of the Anna University in the State.



He appealed to the Principals and Correspondents of various engineering colleges of the Tiruchi region to take maximum advantage of the course in the larger interest of their students.

The Principal General Manager, BSNL, Tiruchi, A. Balraj, said the organisation in Tiruchi was well-equipped for extending the practical sessions for the certificate course, he said.

S. Selvam, Director, CUIC, Anna University, Chennai, and M.A. Maluk Mohamed, Principal of M.A.M. College of Engineering, spoke.

Keywords: BSNL, five-day certificate course, CDMA, Centre for University - Industry Collaboration (CUIC)



SOURCE;THE HINDU
Filed Under:

Sunday, October 18, 2009

NPS COLLECTS 3.5 CRORE IN FIRST FIVE MONTHS-PFRDA

A pension system thrown open to all citizens of the country could draw just Rs 3.5 crore from over 2,000 accounts in more than five months of its introduction.

“So far, New Pension System (NPS) has raised around Rs 3.5 crore,” a senior Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) official told PTI.

According to the data available on PFRDA website, 2183 accounts have been opened by the collection and distribution centres, techinally known as Points of Presence (PoPs).

The country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has managed to open the maximum number of 393 accounts, while 264 customers went to State Bank of India’s 38 designated branches to subscribe to the New Pension System.

However, SBI’s associate banks have performed dismally as collection and distribution centres.

Out of the 5 associates banks of the country’s largest lender, two of them-State Bank of Indore and State Bank of Travancore-have not attracted any subscribers while State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur managed to get five subscribers.

Earlier, PFRDA had asked all the contact and collection centres to come up with their business plans as it feels more efforts are needed to enthuse investors.

At present, there are 21 PoPs of NPS, which include, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Axis Bank and Union Bank of India.

NPS was extended to all citizens from May one this year.

Earlier, it was implemented only for government employees who joined service on or after 1 January 2004.

There are six fund managers for all citizens’ scheme—IDFC Mutual Fund, Kotak Mahindra, SBI, UTI Asset Management, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and Reliance MF—to manage the corpus of customers.

SOURCE;THE HINDU
Filed Under:

Saturday, October 17, 2009

UCIL EMPLOYEES STRIKE ENTERS 9TH DAY

UCIL employees' strike enters 9th day, talks still on







Jamshedpur, Oct 16 (PTI) The indefinite strike by employees of Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) entered the ninth day today affecting production even as its management is holding talks with representatives of four striking labour unions.

The Chairman-cum-Managing Director of UCIL, Ramendra Gupta convened a meeting with the labour unions including Jadugora Labour Union (JLU), Uranium Kamgar Union (UKU), Uranium Mazdoor Sangh and Singhbhum Uranium Mazdoor Union for discussion in regard with their demand for wage revision.

The meeting, which began around 11 am today at Jadugora, was still on as both the management and the labour unions has taken a flexible approach to settle the wage revision issue pending since April, 2008.

Admitting that the negotiation was taking place under a cordial atmosphere, D Acharya, Director (Technical) of UCIL, said the negotiation was still on while expressing hope of a positive outcome later in the night.



SOURCE;PTI
Filed Under:

Friday, October 16, 2009

RESTRICTION ON ATM USAGE

Restrictions on ATM usage irk customers

The Reserve Bank of India directive imposing restrictions on the number of times a bank customer can use Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of other banks free came into effect on Thursday.

According to the directive, customers can withdraw only a maximum of Rs.10,000 per transaction from ATMs of other banks. The number of transactions that could be conducted free would be limited to five a month. A sum of Rs.20 would be charged for every subsequent transaction.

The implementation of the directive resulted in customers, particularly those in the suburbs where there are not too many ATMs, raising a string of objections. Several of them said they used other banks’ ATMs for convenience and during emergencies. Mr. P.Kumar of Koyambedu said: “There are chances that the customers may not keep track of the number of times they used ATMs of other banks. Banks could put in place some system of alerting customers when they exceed the limit.”

Customers also said that as some banks have limited the maximum cash withdrawal to Rs.5,000 per transaction those in need of more money have little alternative but to use the ATM more than once in a day thus reaching the free of charge limit soon. People in the suburban areas said that most of them rely on the ATMs of other banks as their banks often do not have ATMs in their area, said Mr. T.Sadagopan, a consumer activist in Pattabiram.

However, officials of various banks in the city said the restrictions have been introduced to contain the number of transactions involving small amounts. Whenever a customer uses the ATM of another bank, his or her bank incurs interchange expenses.

Officials of the United Bank of India said it would help in reducing customer complaints of inadequate cash at the ATMs.

Indian Bank’s chairman and managing director Mr. M.S. Sundara Rajan said notices about the directive have been displayed in the banks. “People in suburbs may experience inconvenience wherever ATMs are less. Many banks have begun to reach out to such areas according to the demand



SOURCE;THE HINDU
Filed Under:

IIM ACCEPT GOVT PAY STRUCTURE

IIMs accept Govt pay structure, says KABIL SIBAL





Unlike the IITs, the IIMs have accepted the government's salary structure for the faculty, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said on Friday.





After meeting the IIM directors in New Delhi, Sibal said the directors did not raise any issue over the pay structure



as they have accepted it.





The government in August came up with the revised pay structure for the faculty of Centrally Funded Technical



Educational Institutions. However, the IIT faculty protested certain "anomalies" in the pay package after which the



government revised the pay structure twice.

Faculty of certain IIMs also requested their institutes not to implement the pay structure for the time being. The



government later clarified that its guidelines are just norms which could be relaxed to promote excellence.





Sibal said the government will come out with a performance-related incentive scheme to provide special



incentives to teachers in IIMs to promote excellence.

He said the IIMs are finding difficult to get faculty.

The government will meet the IIM directors on six months' basis to evolve new strategy to get rid of the problem, he



said.





The IIMs will set up separate committees to discuss their problems at the institute level before bringing them to the government, Sibal said.





SOURCE;HINDUSTAN TIMES

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

FREE ATM USAGE NOW CURTAILED

SIFYFree ATM usage now curtailed!2009-10-14 14:23:21







You are an account holder of ICICI Bank and have withdrawn cash from HDFC Bank's ATM without any charge. Isn't it great? No need to look out for the ATMs of your bank. Just go to any ATM of any bank and withdraw money without paying anything. Of course as on date you can still do that but not with as much freedom and abandon!



Banks tweak ATM strategies





Why? The RBI has now put a withdrawal limit of Rs 10,000 per transaction and restricted the number of such free ATM usage transactions to about five times a month. This has been done in response to IBA recommendations, as the earlier the RBI mandate did not fare well for the banks. Here is why.Most Read

History of free ATM usage





Before April 1, 2009, if you had to use the ATM of any bank with whom you don't have any banking relationship, you ended up paying fees. It meant you had to find the closest ATM belonging to your bank to withdraw cash and make balance inquiries. So the RBI introduced a directive to the banks to allow free use of ATM machines irrespective of which bank a customer had accounts with.

This meant that irrespective of which bank you bank with, you could use any other bank's ATM free of cost.

It's raining cash in Oz ATMs!

However, the banks were only to charge for the cash withdrawal made by the customers by using their credit cards, while cash withdrawal on debit card was made free. So with effect from April 1, 2009, you could withdraw cash from any ATM free of charge.

Banks make a loss

However, this has not worked out in the favour of banks. Earlier when the use of ATM was not free, the interchange fee was borne by the customers. This fee covered the expenses incurred by both the concerned banks when a customer from bank A used the ATM of bank B. This meant bank A paid an interchange fee of Rs 18 to Rs 20 to bank B per transaction.

Once the ATM usage became free, this fee was borne by the banks. This made banks approach the RBI through IBA, which is the industry lobby of Indian banks.

Huge rise in ATM transactions puts banks in a spot

They had submitted some recommendations to the central bank last month citing the financial burden faced by banks on account of huge number of third party withdrawals and small-ticket withdrawals. One of them was to impose a withdrawal limit of Rs 10,000 per transaction at the third-party ATM as well as limit such transactions to 5 per month. The RBI after mulling over the suggestions has now agreed to both these recommendations and communicated the same officially to IBA.

Why did this happen

The underlying cause for this was the fact that most banks were losing money in comparison to the value of the transaction. So if a person withdrew just Rs 100, his bank ended up bearing this interchange fee, which worked out to be quite expensive.

For example, ICICI Bank is losing around Rs 4-5 crore per month, as most of its customers have opted to use third-party ATMs. Also, if a customer uses the free ATM facility for his current account, the banks not only end up losing money in the form of interchange fee but also have to contend with low float (balance in the account).

Revamping the ATM machines

This is because current accounts don't have requirement of maintenance of minimum balance and any money deposited here, doesn't earn interest. Hence, the banks' recommendations to impose limit on the amount withdrawn as well as number of free transactions.

Will free ATM usage fall out?

The recent announcement from the RBI curtailing the use of free ATMs to five times a month and a upper limit of Rs 10,000 per ATM withdrawal, the joy of the consumer in availing this service has become short-lived. However, with people working 24x7, but banks not being open during that time, customers will always have a need to use ATMs of other banks.

Also certain banks don't have pan-India presence nor have multiple branches at various points. So customers of these banks will always end up using the ATMs of other banks. Hence, it is impossible that inter-bank ATM usage will see a fall out but will definitely come in handy for emergencies and urgent cash requirements.

The RBI did take an innovative step by making ATMs free for all the customers of all the banks. However, as banks started losing money, as the value of transactions at third-party ATMs did not justify the interchange fee, a sort of middle ground has been reached to keep both the banks and consumers happy.

SOURCE;BANK BAZAAR
Filed Under:

Sunday, October 11, 2009

NEW PENSION SCHEME -SOME CLARIFICATION

Pension :





1 Invalid pension and disability pension are distinct pensions and their payments are regulated as per CCS (Pension) Rules and CCS (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, respectively. Thus the minimum limit on the total of two pensions does not apply. However the amount of disability pension and invalid pension, combined together, should in no case exceed the last pay drawn.



2 The maximum limit for commutation has been raised to 40% w.e.f. 1.1.1996.A Government servant is now entitled to commute for a lumpsum payment up to 40% of his/her pension.



3 Dearness Relief equal to 50% of basic pension/family pension is treated as Dearness Pension w.e.f. 1.4.2004.



4 Provisional pension and provisional gratuity (up to 100%) should be sanctioned by the Head of Office if he were of the opinion that the Government servant is likely to retire before his pension or gratuity or both can be finally assessed and settled in accordance with the relevant rules.



5 In the case of a missing Government servant, family pension can be paid after a period of one year from the date of lodging an FIR with the police authorities.



6 A judicially separated spouse of the deceased Government servant with children can get family pension after the children cease to be eligible till his/her death/remarriage, whichever is earlier.



7 Dependent parents and widowed/divorced daughter/unmarried daughter are now included in the definition of family for the purpose of consideration for grant of family pension.



8 Family pension is also admissible to a posthumous child and also to children from the void or the voidable marriage as per the relevant provisions in the rules.



9 Normal family pension is now at a uniform rate of 30% of pay last drawn, subject to a minimum of Rs. 3500 (w.e.f. 1.1.2006).



10 Family pension is admissible to children from the void or voidable marriage in their own turn, after the legally wedded wife ceases to be the recipient of the family pension.



11 In the event of death of a family pensioner, the arrears of family pension is automatically payable to the eligible member of the family next in line. Succession certificate for payment of the arrears is required only in such cases where there is no eligible family member after the death of the family pensioner.



12 Full pension is payable for govt. servants rendering 20 or more year of service as per 6th pay commission recommendations w.e.f. 1.9.2008



Gratuity :



13 The maximum limit of all types of gratuity has been raisedto Rs. 10 lakhs w.e.f. 1.1.2006



14 Dearness Allowance admissible on the date of retirement/death is included in the emoluments for the purpose of computing all types of gratuity.



15 Interest (at the rate applicable to GPF deposits determined from time to time by the Government of India) is payable on delayed payment of DCRG, if itis delayed beyond three months from the date of retirement.



Post-Retirement Employment :



16 No permission is required for post-retirement employment with a university as it is not treated as commercial employment.



17 Post-retirement employment with a black-listed firm may not be considered for approval.



18 Retired Group ‘A’ Officers are required to furnish half-yearly declaration in the prescribed form about acceptance/non-acceptance of commercial employment within India or of any employment under any Government outside India, within one years from the date of their retirement.



19 Only intimation (not prior permission) is required in case of Group ‘B’ Officers for accepting commercial employment within two years of their retirement. However, while sending the intimation, they should specify whether or not they have had any official dealing while in Government service, with the private employer, with whom they are taking up commercial employment.



Qualifying Service :



20 Qualifying service of 3 months and above may be rounded-off into a completed six-monthly period for the purpose of computation of both pension and DCRG. The period of nine months would thus be considered as two half years.



21 Dismissal or removal of a Government servant from a service or post entails forfeiture of his/her past service



Miscellaneous :



22 PPO should be issued so as to reach the Government servant at least one month in advance of his date of superannuation.



23 No specific orders are necessary for retirement on due date.



24 Retirement benefits up to Rs. 10,000 can be paid through uncrossed cheque/demand draft.



25 Encashment of leave is a benefit granted under CCS (Leave) Rules and thus not a pensionary benefit. As per the current provision, no interest is payable on the delayed payment of leave encashment.



26 Payments under Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS) are not terminal benefit and can not be withheld. No Government dues can be recovered from the accumulation except the amount claimed by the financial institution as dues from the employee on account of loans taken for house building purpose.No interest is payable on account of the delayed payments under this scheme.



27 Dues to Municipality (water and electricity charges etc.) and Co-operative Societies are not treated as Government dues, since Municipal Committees and Co-operative Societies are not considered as Government bodies/organizations. No recovery of such dues can be made from the DCRG.



28 Only arrears of license fee can be recovered from dearness relief.SOURCE;PENSION PORTAL
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CORE BANKING IN POST OFFICES

Core banking in post offices



SHILLONG: Post offices in the country would have a core banking system soon, enabling customers to operate their accounts from anywhere

Currently data entry work is in progress. The system should be in place in two years time, Chief Post Master General (North East circle) AND Kachari said.

Once the system is in place, the post offices will be like any other nationalized banks. ATM facilities will also be provided to the customers, he said.

Besides its own ATM centres, the department would tie up with other banks for operating the ATM centres.

Kachari said efforts were on to facilitate submission of passport application forms in post offices.

This will enable the people in the North East to acquire passports from the post offices, instead of going to Guwahati, he said.

Besides, the Railway department has also agreed to allow post offices to book tickets in the post offices.

In another initiative, the postal department has tied-up with the State Bank of India to disburse loans in the rural areas. This will help customers to acquire loans in places where the SBI does have any branch, Kachari said.

Already, the General Post Offices have started disbursing loans of NABARD to Self Help Groups, the CPMG said elaborating on the plans in the region.

The postal department is operating 18.50 lakh saving bank accounts in the 3000 post officies in six states of the region.

The postal circle, which includes the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya, has resgistered 46411 insurance policies having a sum assured of over Rs 429 crore. source;the hindu
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Saturday, October 10, 2009

NEW PENSION SCHEME-SOUTH INDIAN BANK EMERGES LARGESTSERVICE PROVIDER

SIB emerges largest service provider of New Pension System

THRISSUR: Kerala-based South Indian Bank on Saturday said it has emerged as the largest service provider in the country for New Pension System-- a



social security scheme.



As many as 105 branches have been designated as the Point of Presence (POP), SIB has become the largest service provider among 21 banks and financial institutions participating in the scheme, a SIB release here said.

PFRDA had also decided in principle to come out with a low-cost pension scheme for the poor which would enable a large section of the nearly 28 crore low-income workers in the country to have a safety net.

NPS is open to employees from all walks of life including the unorganised sector. A subscriber could retain the same Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN), which would enable the subscriber to continue to contribute to the same account even if he switched job or shifted place of work.



SOURCE;ET
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TAMIL NADU WATER SUPPLY EMPLOYEES TO RECEIVE BONUS

TN Water Supply employees to receive bonus





Special Correspondent Share · print · T+ About 4,490 employees in the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board’s employees would receive bonus.

This would cost Rs. 1.93 crore, according to an official release issued on Saturday.





The release stated that those employees, belonging to the groups ‘C’ and ‘D,’ who were in the pay scale of Rs. 9,300 - Rs. 34,800 and receiving a grade pay of Rs. 4,300, would be exempted from the purview of Payment of the Bonus Act. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi decided to grant 8.33 per cent bonus to the employees. SOURCE;THE HINDU
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Friday, October 9, 2009

BONUS FOR COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES EMPLOYEES

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bonus for cooperative societies’ employees





Special Correspondent



CHENNAI: Employees of the Tamilnadu Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation (Aavin), Arasu Rubber Corporation (ARC) and Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation (TANTEA) will receive a bonus of 8.33 per cent and ex gratia of 11.67 per cent for 2008-2009.







The government order, issued on Friday, will benefit 6,757 Aavin, 1,806 ARC and 9036 TANTEA employees.







Besides, 160 ARC employees, 358 TANTEA employees and Tamil Nadu Forest Plantation Corporation receive a bonus of 8.33 per cent and ex-gratia of 1.67 per cent for the year 2008-2009. This order will benefit 11,815 employees working in the above said corporations to the extent of Rs.8.25 crore.







The employees of co-operative societies will receive a bonus of 8.33 per cent and ex-gratia of 1.67 per cent. However, employees of profit making co-operative societies will receive a bonus of 8.33 per cent and ex-gratia of 11.67 per cent, subject to a ceiling of Rs.8,400.







The order will benefit about 67,000 employees, according to a press release.



SOURCE;THE HINDU
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NEYVELI LIGNITE CORPORATION-CALLED OFF ONE DAY STRIKE.

Tamil Nadu

Labour issue resolved

NEYVELI: Through tripartite talks the Neyveli Lignite Corporation resolved the labour issue on Thursday night. Soon after that, the joint action council of the NLC trade unions called off the one-day strike.

As per the agreement reached in the presence of Health Minister M. R. K. Panneerselvam, about 18,000 NLC employees would get monetary benefits to the tune of Rs. 75 crore.



SOURCE;THE HINDU
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UNIVERSITY TO OFFER COURCE IN PARENTING

University to offer course in parenting



Special Correspondent





MADURAI: For parents worried about their children’s upbringing and are dependent on others for proper guidance, the Madurai Kamaraj University is coming to their aid.

Following a ‘Chinese model,’ the university will launch M.A. (Parent Education) through distance education mode.

It will be a two-year programme designed in such a way that parents would get a broader perspective about education, family relationships, information on emerging trends and so on, according to Vice-Chancellor R. Karpaga Kumaravel.

Though the idea was taken from Hong Kong University, the syllabus was framed keeping in mind the Indian context and culture.

“The course will be launched in Tamil medium of instruction initially. Gradually, it will be introduced in English medium,” he said while addressing a press conference here on Friday.

Some of the syllabus components include family formation, psychology of family with special children, family relationships, information on courses and placement, emerging trends in higher education and legal issues that parents should be aware of.SOURCE;THE HINDU
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Thursday, October 8, 2009

UPPSC-DECLARES RESULT OF LECTURER EXAM

UPPSC declares result of lecturer exam

ALLAHABAD: The education department has declared the list of 729 successful candidates in the women's category in 19 subjects and 395 candidates in



men's category in 17 subjects for the posts of lecturer under the special subordinate services examination conducted by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC).

Giving this information, additional director Sudha Prakash said that all selected candidates are expected to join duties within one month of issue of appointment letter.

She added that appointment letters of all selected and promoted lecturers would be sent by Wednesday and a copy of the letter would also be sent to all divisional joint directors of education department. The list of all 1124 selected candidates have also been put on the website of Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad. SOURCE;TOI

LET STUDENTS CHOOSE SUBJECTS IN CLASS X

Let students choose subjects in class X: Panel to GSHSEB

AHMEDABAD: Studying in classes X, XI and XII will soon change for ever. The final exam blues of class X may well be done away with for ever.

A committee set up by Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) to review the higher secondary classes has recommended to the board that the class X exam should be made optional.

The 14-member committee put forth its recommendations on Wednesday in its third meeting with the board. The committee was headed by Sudhir Mankad, former chief secretary of Gujarat. The marathon meeting continued for four hours.

The committee has also suggested that class X students should be given the option of choosing the difficulty level of their exams. For this purpose formation of group A and group B has been suggested. Group A will be the basic level for average performing students who want to look at options like commerce, arts, diploma engineering and ITI courses.

Group B is only for students who aim to take up science stream in class XI. For students who opt for group B, it is over and above the papers of group A. This group will be especially for students who want to compete on the basis of marks.

"Other recommendations of the committee include introducing semester system in class XI and class XII. The committee suggests implementation of the system from the next academic year. It strongly believes that the implementation should be made one class at a time, so the transformation will take two years," said a source.

The three major issues that would challenge the board while implementing this system are planning of curriculum, designing of textbooks and teacher training.

The committee also agreed that the list of toppers should not be declared with their percentage and name of the school, but they be given grades and percentile in their final result.

Acting chairman of GSHSEB Hasmukh Adhiya said, "The final recommendation of the committee is yet to come. It is expected after one more meeting, which will be conducted on October 23".

Most of the recommendations are ready, but have not been presented in the meetings so far for fear of their being scrapped like the idea of open book exam.

Meanwhile, the committee will also visit other states to observe the pattern over there.

SOURCE;TOI
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EMPLOYEES HAS NO RIGHT TO VOLLUNTARY RETIREMENT-SC

EMPLOYEES HAS NO RIGHT VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT





Thursday, October 8, 2009



Employee has no right to voluntary retirement: SC

An employee has no inherent right to "voluntary retirement" as the same is subject to the rules framed by the employer governing the scheme, the Supreme Court has ruled.



A bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and R M Lodha said if the scheme specifically stipulates that the voluntary retirement offer made by an employee is to be approved by the competent authority, then the employee cannot insist that he should be granted retirement even if it is not approved by the management.



The bench passed the ruling while dismissing the appeal by Padubidri Damodar Shenoy, Airport Manager of Indian Airlines, who challenged the state-owned carrier's decision not to accept his offer of voluntary retirement made in 2003.



Regulation 12 of the Service Regulations, (Indian Airlines) enables an employee to seek voluntary retirement on attaining the age of 55 years or on completion of 20 years of continuous service by giving three months notice.



However, the rule stipulated that the plea for voluntary retirement of an employee who has completed 55 years stands automatically accepted, whereas, under clause(B) in the case of those who have completed 20 years of service, but not attained 55 years, the same is subject to the approval of the competent authorities.



Shenoy had completed 20 years of service but did not complete 55 years and his offer of voluntary retirement was rejected by the management.



Source:PTI
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

ULIP SERVICE TO COME CHEAP

ULIP service to come cheap



For those who have already purchased ULIPs in the past few months, it would make sense to continue to hold on to the same, say financial planners. Choosing right insurance



Reviving lapsed insurance policy



How to go for householder's insurance



Thumb rules of buying an insurance



Check the price before buying an insurance



Exiting these policies during the first year would be a loss-making proposition as typically, commissions in these policies are front-loaded, resulting in merely a small chunk of your initial premiums going towards investments. Besides, since life companies will have to reduce the charges to the stipulated level before December 31, 2009, for existing policies as well, even the existing customers will reap similar benefits.

“The charge structure is in favour of the insured now. In addition, I feel the markets are likely to rise for some more time. A steep, yet temporary, correction may set in a year from now and around the same, interest rates too could rise. That is the time when ULIP holders should look to make use of the switch funds option and shift to debt funds,” advises Mr Aggarwal, adding that policyholders need to remember that ULIP is not a passive product, but one that calls for active monitoring of markets and taking decisions on switching funds accordingly.

“The positive part is that long-term charges like fund management charges, which are levied throughout the policy term, have been capped at 135 basis points,” says financial planning firm Right Horizons CEO Anil Rego. “That is, if you stay invested in a ULIP for over 10 years, you significantly save since this is charged yearly and on the accumulated fund value. This compares favourably with the expense ratios of mutual funds as well, which is positive for a long-term investor.”

While returns and market conditions do play a role, policyholders would do well to take into account the amount of protection required, premiums to be paid, sum assured and the policy tenure before arriving at a decision.

For those who have already purchased ULIPs in the past few months, it would make sense to continue to hold on to the same, say financial planners. Choosing right insurance



Reviving lapsed insurance policy



How to go for householder's insurance



Thumb rules of buying an insurance



Check the price before buying an insurance



Exiting these policies during the first year would be a loss-making proposition as typically, commissions in these policies are front-loaded, resulting in merely a small chunk of your initial premiums going towards investments. Besides, since life companies will have to reduce the charges to the stipulated level before December 31, 2009, for existing policies as well, even the existing customers will reap similar benefits.

“The charge structure is in favour of the insured now. In addition, I feel the markets are likely to rise for some more time. A steep, yet temporary, correction may set in a year from now and around the same, interest rates too could rise. That is the time when ULIP holders should look to make use of the switch funds option and shift to debt funds,” advises Mr Aggarwal, adding that policyholders need to remember that ULIP is not a passive product, but one that calls for active monitoring of markets and taking decisions on switching funds accordingly.

“The positive part is that long-term charges like fund management charges, which are levied throughout the policy term, have been capped at 135 basis points,” says financial planning firm Right Horizons CEO Anil Rego. “That is, if you stay invested in a ULIP for over 10 years, you significantly save since this is charged yearly and on the accumulated fund value. This compares favourably with the expense ratios of mutual funds as well, which is positive for a long-term investor.”

While returns and market conditions do play a role, policyholders would do well to take into account the amount of protection required, premiums to be paid, sum assured and the policy tenure before arriving at a decision.



source;ET
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EDUCATION OF MINORITIES

EDUCATION OF MINORITIES

Apart from implementing the Prime Minister’s new 15 Point Programme for the welfare of the Minorities, the Ministry took several steps to implement the recommendations of the Prime Minister’s High level Committee on Social, Economic and Educational status of the Muslim Community of India (Sachchar Committee).

University Grants Commission is working out modalities so that all universities could be encouraged to recognize qualifications from Madrassas for the purposes of enrolment on the pattern followed by Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University, Maulana Azad National Urdu University and Jamia Hamdard, in appropriate courses and programmes of study.

Academics have been established in thee Central Universities – Jamila Millia Islamia University, Aligarh Muslim University and Maulana Azad National Urdu University for training of teachers to teach in Urdu medium.

SOURCE;HRD
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