Budget 2013-14 — Monetary policy: The Finance Minister has allocated Rs 532 corres in the present Budget to eastablish Post Bank.

Rs. 25,000 cr to be raised through tax free bonds

Rs 25,000 cr to be raised through tax free bonds: Chidambaram"Doing business in India must be seen as easy, friendly and mutually beneficial" - Second reference to increasing FDI in India. Government seems to betting heavily on a large FDI influx to help with the deficient

"We will use innovative and new financial methods to increase investment in infrastructure," says the Minister.

New steps have been announced to increase availability and amount of debts available for infrastructure projects.

The revised expenditure target is Rs 14,30,825 crore or 96 per cent of Budget estimate for this fiscal. In 2013—14, the budget estimate is Rs 16,65,297 crore.

Budget expenditure is Rs 16,65,297 crore and Plan expenditure Rs 5,55, 322 crore: FM.

Plan expenditure in 12th Five Year Plan revised to Rs 14,30,825 crore or 96 per cent of budgeted expenditure

We have brought down headline WPI inflation to 7 per cent and core inflation to 4.2 per cent. Food inflation is worrying: FM.

24.3 % hike in expenditure for health care both rural and urban health mission.

12.5 % hike in Scheduled caste and Scheduled tribe sub-plans

Overarching goal to create opportunities for youth to acquire skills for self-employment

All flagship programmes adequately funded. Ministries must take it forward.

Average economic growth rate in 11th Plan period is 8 per cent, highest ever in any Plan period.

Battle against inflation must be fought on all counts.

Foreign investment is imperative

Current account definict high due to dependence on oil , high gold imports

Need $75billion to bridge CAD

Present economic space is constrained by economic climate and tight monetary policy 

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No of chances to be availed for appearing Inspector Posts Examination by APS Candidates

S B order No. 02/2013 : Enhancement of limit for verification of withdrawals from Savings Accounts made at Extra Departmental Sub/Branch Post Offices and Single Handed Post Offices

To view SB Order No.02/2013 wherein the present limit of Rs.5000/- has been enhanced to Rs.10,000/- w.e.f. 01.03.2013  
Click here to view S B Order No. 02 / 2013

EPF Interest rate for 2012-13 hiked to 8.5%

Retirement fund body EPFO on Monday decided to pay 8.5 per cent interest rate to its over 5 crore subscribers on their PF deposits for 2012-13, higher than 8.25 per cent provided in the previous fiscal.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the highest decision making body of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).“A decision has been taken to pay 8.5 per cent interest on PF deposits ... but we have expressed our reservations as we wanted higher interest rate,” said D L Sachdev, secretary All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) after the CBT meeting.

Earlier, a note prepared by EPFO for consideration of the February 15 meeting of the Finance and Investment Committee (FIC) had said, “... 8.5 per cent rate of interest for the year 2012-13 is feasible.”

According to the EPFO’s estimates, payment of 8.6 per cent interest rate would result in a deficit of Rs 240.49 crore whereas 8.5 per cent interest rate on PF deposits for current fiscal would leave a surplus of Rs 4.13 crore.

In FIC meeting held on February 15, union leaders refused to discuss the issue regarding payment of interest in the current fiscal because the agenda note for the issue was not provided well in advance to them, sources said, adding the note was tabled during the meeting.

They had said the EPFO’s estimates would now be directly tabled before CBT meeting held today, for final approval.

The notification on interest rate is issued by the government after concurrence with the Finance Ministry.

Usually, EPFO announces interest rate at the beginning of the year, but there has been a delay this time. Trade unions have been pressing for an early meeting of the CBT to decide on the interest rate for the current fiscal.

EPFO had paid 8.25 per cent interest to its subscribers for 2011-12, lower than the 9.5 per cent disbursed in 2010-11.

UPSC Committee’s recommendations regarding conducting UPSC examination in all Scheduled languages – No request from UPSC regarding delinking of scheduled languages.

Click here to see the details.



Bank Account Number Portability: Lok Sabha Q&A

The Committee on Customer Service in Banks constituted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the Chairmanship of Shri M Damodaran, had recommended intra-bank Account NumberPortability stating that the customer should also be allowed to maintain the same account numberin a bank even when he / she moves to another city or shifts his account to another branch in the same city. This recommendation has been accepted by the Indian Banks Association for implementation and RBI issued guidelines in this regard vide a circular dated April 27, 2012 whereby the banks have been advised that opening of fresh account and the Know Your Customer (KYC) fulfillment at another branch of the same bank is not required if full KYC was already done. Further, in order to safeguard the interest of the banks and the customers, RBI has advised banks for allotting Unique Customer Identification Code (UCIC) to all their individual customers in a time-bound manner. 

RBI also constituted a “Technical Committee to examine uniform routing code and account number structure”, which also examined the matter regarding inter-bank portability of theaccount number. The Technical Committee is of the view that account number portability may not be feasible even with the implementation of International Bank Account Number (IBAN) because of the two constraints, i.e. (i) Bank code is an integral part of IBAN and as such, it does not facilitate account number portability across banks (ii) even if portability of the account number is considered without the bank code, it would give rise to a scenario where the saidnumber may already be allotted to other customer of the destination bank. RBI has hosted the Report of the Technical Committee on its website www.rbi.org.in for public comments.

The above information was submitted by Ministry of Finance in reply of undermentioned Lok Sabha Question:-

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO 111

ANSWERED ON 22.02.2013

ACCOUNT NUMBER PORTABILITY

111. Shri ANAND PRAKASH PARANJPE
EKNATH MAHADEO GAIKWAD
N.S.V. CHITTHAN

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the Government / Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted any panel / committee to look into the possibility of account number portability through a unique number for each customer across the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the said panel/committee has submitted its report to the Government;

(d) if so, the recommendations made by the said panel / committee and the reaction of the Government thereto; and

(e) the time by which the recommendations made by the panel / committee are likely to be implemented?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA)

After the strike, unions expect some budget sops for working class,

This government has a pro-capitalist and pro-rich policy. It simply wants foreign direct investment, making rich richer at the cost of the working class and the poor and we cannot expect much in budget 2013-14,” G. Sanjeeva Reddy, president, Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) said.

Click here to see the details 

Coming soon, Post Bank of India

The postal department plans to enter the banking business with the Reserve Bank of India deciding to grant new bank licences to entities with credible track-record.

Consultant appointed

Sources said the Department of Posts, which has a strong foot print in rural areas, has appointed Ernst and Young (E&Y) as the consultant for the proposed ‘Post Bank’

“Ernst and Young is expected to submit a detailed project report by April, after which all the necessary measures will be taken up to apply for banking licence,” a source at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology told PTI.

The sources added that the Department of Post (DoP) might need Cabinet approval for setting up Post Bank of India.

Of the 1.55 lakh post offices in the country, around 24,000 district offices may be ready to offer banking services in the next two years.

The DoP is in process of setting up 1,000 ATMs.

“Post Bank shall not only take care of the banking needs of the rural poor but shall also converge with micro-insurance and micro-remittance services of the DoP,” the source said.

As per data shared with Parliament, there were over 26 crore operational small savings accounts in post offices as on March 31, 2012, having deposits worth Rs.1.9 lakh crore.

REVISION OF PPO OF PRE-2006 PENSIONERS/FAMILY PENSIONERS - (I) EVEN IF AGE/DATE OF BIRTH OF SPOUSE IS NOT AVAILABLE, (II) MODEL ADVERTISEMENT FOR USE BY MINISTRIES/DEPARTMENTS.(Click the link below for details)

http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D3/D03ppw/PPO2_220213.pdf

SERVICE TAX –ADMISSIBILITY OF SERVICE TAX ON SALE OF SPACE OR TIME FOR PRINTING OF ADVERTISEMENTS ON ITEMS OF POSTAL STATIONERIES INCLUDING MEGHDOOT POSTCARDS.{CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS}

REVISION IN STANDARD TENDER DOCUMENT FOR CARRIAGE OF MAIL BY PRIVATE MAIL MOTOR SERVICE {CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS}

FACILITY OF SUBMISSION OF LIFE CERTIFICATE TO ANY BRANCH OF CBS BANK AND SIMPLIFICATION OF PENSIONER’S BANK ACCOUNT PORTABILITY PROCEDURE: CPAO INSTRUCTIONS TO BANKS {CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS}

REVISION OF CEILING RATES AND GUIDELINES FOR VARIOUS CORONARY STENTS FOR CGHS/CS (MA) BENEFICIARIES. {CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS}

CWC OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OFPOSTAL EMPLOYEES,GROUPC

The Central working committee meeting of National Union of Postal Employees ,Group C will be hosted will be  by J&K Circle and  will  be held on 14^th to 15^th June  2013. The venue of CWC is Yatri Bhavan, Durga Nag Road ,Opp .Burn Hall School. Near Dal lake Kashmir. The Circle Conference of J&K Circle will be held from 13^th to 15^th. And the open session of the circle conference will be held on 14^th afternoon.The CWC will be held in the morning of 14^th and 15^th. Notice for the CWC will be issued in due course. The Accommodation will be available from 13^thevening. The reservations can be made accordingly.

February 21st Strike participation by Central Government Employees report

 This is to inform you that the    participation in February 21st    strike is  as follows Postal Employees (P3,P4,GDS) 75%, Income Tax Employees  100%  ,RMS 100% , Postal Accounts 90%, AG's  NIl,  Ground Water Board 25% , Civil Accounts 50% , Survey of India : Nil    Defence Employees(AIDEF)  100%   ,  CGHS NIL, CPWD NIL,  Central Excise  Nil,  State Government Employees Association ( Okkuta) more than 25%  etc   have  participated in the  February 21st  Strike as per reports received till now from the respective Circle Secretary.  

In some Postal Divisions  such as Bangalore East, Bangalore GPO,   Bidar, Bangalore Rural, Belgaum, Mangalore, Hubli, Mysore, Mandya , Nanjangud,  Raichur, Tumkur   Bellary   have reported more than 90%  employees participated in strike, In some places such as ,  Hassan, Gulbarga ,, Haveri, Chitradurga,  Udupi, Bijapur, Kolar,   have reported more than 70% employees participated strike. The  Bangalore South & Shimoga  employees participated 45% in strike  . The above figures are provided to me by the divisional secretaries on the phone to me.   

Please also find the photos of Bangalore Mass meeting & JCTU Rally  held from  Town hall to AG's Office .

    

TWO DAYS STRIKE EXHIBITED THE TOTAL UNITY AND PROTEST OF POSTAL & RMS EMPLOYEES

Entire Postal and RMS services came to a standstill

We (NFPE & FNPO) once again extend our warm greetings and congratulations to all Postal and RMS employees who made the two days nationwide strike a thundering success. About 1,50,000 Postal and RMS offices including Branch Post offices remained closed for two days. About more than five lakhs employees including GDS struck work. Though the strike will be over tonight, the struggle against the anti-worker policies will continue. Let us keep this unity and fighting spirit intact.

Unity for Struggle, and struggle for unity.

Thank you, Thank you all.

M. Krishnan                                                        D. Theagarajan

Secretary General                                            Secretary General

NFPE                                                                      FNPO

Engagement of workers through Contractors by the Ministries and Departments of Central Government.Click here,

“This is not a political strike, but one seeking change in the Central government’s policies which are detrimental to the interests of the working class and the common people in this country,” said the leaders, who included R. Chandrasekharan (INTUC), Elamaram Karim (CITU), Kanam Rajendran (AITUC), M.P. Chandrasekharan (BMS), Sonia George (SEWA), and M.K. Kannan (HMS).

Dies non – No Work No Pay

All the Central Government employees those who are participated in the Two Day Strike have been warned by the government through its circular dated 15-02-2013, that leave of any kind will not be sanctioned for them. It is under stood that the absence of two days in strike period will be treated as Dies non

The West Bengal State Government too issued a circular a day before , in which it has been said that no leave will be granted to its employees during the strike, and if they aren’t present in office it will be treated as dies non with no salary admissible if they don’t give a suitable reason and produce proper documents for refraining from turning up for duty.

What is Dies non ?

Dies non: In service terms, “dies non” means a day, which cannot be treated as duty for any purpose. It does not constitute break in service. But the period treated as ‘dies non’ does not qualify as service for pensionary benefits or increment.

As per the Postal Manual Volume III, Central Civil Services (Classification,Control and appeal) rules, 1965, the Absence of officials from duty without proper permission or when on duty in office, they have left the office without proper permission or while in the office, they refused to perform the duties assigned to them is subversive of discipline. In cases of such absence from work, the leave sanctioning authority may order that the days on which work is not performed be treated as dies non, i.e. they will neither count as service nor be construed as break in service. This will be without prejudice to any other action that the competent authorities might take against the persons resorting to such practices

KHUDOS TO POSTAL WORKERS FOR THEIR TOTAL SHOW DOWN

The NAPE Group’C’ salutes all the postal workers for their participation in the strike on 20^th the unity shown in commendable. Continue the strike on 21^st also

CIRCLE SECRETARY

STRIKE TOTAL IN POSTAL AND RMS & MMS OFFICES.

Central JCA(NFPE &FNPO) congratulates all the postal and RMS &MMS employees including  Gramin Dak Sevakas who participated in two  days strike commenced on 20th  Feb and made ALL TIMESUCCESS..Please keep up the  this tempo till 21st Feb midnight and ensure cent percent  success

M.Krishnan SG NFPE & D.Theagarajan SG FNPO

Grant of Honorarium to Observers appointed for Limited Deptl Competitive Examinations

Postal Directorate, vide order no A.34020/17/2008 - DE dated 13.02.2013, has prescribed the following rates of Honorarium for performing the duties of Observers for conducting LDCE by approved outsourced Agency.

Sl No	Category of Officers	Rate of Honorarium
1	Junior Administrative Cadre	Rs 600/- per session and Rs 800/- per day.
2	STS/JTS  and Other officers	Rs 400/- per session and Rs 600/- per day.

Withholding of 10 Percent Gratuity From The Retiring Government Servants. Clarification Regarding.

To view Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare OM NO.20/16/1998-P&PW(F) dated 19th February, 2013 please Click Here.

Budget 2013: Tax amendments you can expect in rent allowance, LTA & gift tax

The government has been trying to make the tax laws simpler every year; however, there are numerous amendments required in the tax laws. The union budget for the FY 2013-14 will be presented before the Parliament on 28th February 2013 and the finance minister has promised many reforms expected to combat inflation along with stable tax rates.

There may also be some changes in the tax slabs to provide some relief from the ever-growing inflation. Here are a handful of the number of amendments expected and predicted by analysts in the Union Budget for 2013-2014.
Rent Allowance :

All those people who do not have their own house and stay in a rented accommodation or employees who do not get accommodation or house rent allowance from their employer enjoy a special tax deduction on the rent paid by them. This deduction is allowed under section 80GG of the Income Tax Act in which an individual can avail 25% deduction on the rent amount. However, the limit is restricted to Rs 2000 per month and has not changed for many years, which is now expected to change this year.

Moreover, under the Income Tax Act 1961, there exist 2 dissimilar sets of tax treatments with reference to rent free lodging provided by the employer. While a Government employee only pays the license fee, non government sector employees who get rent-free lodging from their employees are taxed heavily at 7.5-15% of the salary. There is a necessity to maintain uniformity in taxes and a new system needs to be introduced offering equal rights to employees without discrimination.

Standard exemption should continue as in the past and should be given to all employees who are salaried, while the transport allowance deduction should increase.Capital Gain Scheme : 

To save capital gain, an individual can invest in capital gain bonds according to section 54EC of the Income Tax Act. The upper investment limit under this section is Rs. 50 lakh. In the past, there was no such cap and all transactions related to property were done with white money. With the government making changes to this law few years ago and placing a limit, people have been resorting to unwanted ways to save tax. This cap, hence, is expected to be removed in the forthcoming budget.

Discussion with Government again failed

February 20, 21 General Strike

Central Trade Unions rejected the Government’s, appeal to call off the strike.

10 Crores workers will participate in the strike.

13 lakhs Central Government employees including 5.5 lakhs Postal employees joining historic two days strike. Entire Postal and RMS offices including Branch Post offices will be completely closed for two days. Ensure cent per cent success.

TALKS FAILED-STRIKE WILL CONTINUE

TH E PROPOSED STRIKE FROM 20TH FEBRUARY WILL CONTINUE.THE TALKS WITH CENTRAL TRADE UNIONS BY GROUP OF MINISTERS ON 18TH EVENING FAILED.GOVERNMENT DID NOT COME FORWARD TO CONCEDE THE DEMANDS.MAKE THE STRIKE CENT PERCENT SUCCESS FOR SURVIVAL

MAKE 20TH AND 21ST TWO DAYS STRIKE A GRAND SUCCESS TO IDENTIFY YOUR DIGNITY!

MAKE 20TH AND 21ST TWO DAYS STRIKE A GRAND SUCCESS TO IDENTIFY YOUR DIGNITY!

IDENTIFY YOURSELF WITH THE MASS!

When the workers of the entire country are going on TWO DAYS STRIKE TO RETAIN THE DIGNITY OF WORKERS is it correct to disassociate from the MASS MOVEMENT?

IT IS THE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY, PARTICIPATE IN STRIKE ON 20^TH AND 21^ST OF FEBRUARY AND MAKE IT A GRAND SUCCESS IN POSTAL TOO.

- JCA, KARNATAKA CIRCLE.

Message to reach each and every corner of your colleague: 

It is modern age, in no time you can reach your mebers in the farthest corner.  Make up your mind to join STRIKE and LET US BE PART OF THE HISTORY FOR BETTER TOMORROW! 

Unions refuse to relent on strike call, talks with ministers collapse

Eleven Central trade unions tonight stuck to their call for a two-day nation-wide strike from Wednesday after talks with senior ministers convened at the instance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh failed.

Rejecting the prime minister’s appeal on Sunday to the unions to call of the stir, the trade unions said the panel of ministers failed to give them any concrete proposal and that not even one of their demands were accepted.

"The strike is on… They are only asking for time. They say they will study the demand and will give proper reply or take necessary action later on… We said it is not possible, there should be some concrete decision over demands of the workers," INTUC President G Sanjeeva Reddy told reporters.

INTUC is affiliated to the Congress.

AITUC General Secretary Gurudas Dasgupta also endorsed Reddy’s views.

The two-hour long meeting was attended by representatives of all the 11 trade unions.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on Sunday appealed to the unions to call off their strike as it would cause loss to economy besides inconvenience to people and offered talks.

The Prime Minister had requested his senior Cabinet colleagues A K Antony, Sharad Pawar and P Chidambaram besides Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge to hold discussions with the union leaders.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram could not attend the meeting because of ongoing budget meetings.

The meeting took place in Antony’s office at the Defence Ministry.

Reddy also said that government failed to offer any alternative to their call for strike.

"If no demand is settled and no concrete assurance is given, it is very difficult for the trade unions to withdraw or postpone the strike," he said.

Asked what were the offers given to unions from the government, he said, "No offer, they wanted more time. We said we have already given two years time. We placed the demands three years before, so three years time we already gave, so there is no question of giving more time."

The government could not give any concrete assurance on any one single demand,he said, adding therefore we are sticking to our strike plan.

The 10 demands mainly related to checking of price rise, generation of employment, halting of disinvestment in public sector enterprises and implementation of labour laws.

Source: DDI News

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MNC submits memorandums to PM, Union Finance Minister

National Mazdoor Conference (NMC) submitted the memorandums of demands to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Ms Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Sri P Chidamabaram in New Delhi.

Demands projecting by NMC Chief Subash Shastri in the memorandums including constitution of 7th pay commission, immediate merger of 50 percent DA into basic pay/pension, grant of 20 percent interim relief to the salaried class across the country till the implementation of the recommendations new pay commission, raising income tax exemption limit to Rs five lakh, and enhancing the monthly wages of daily rated workers to Rs ten thousand.

In the memorandums Shastri stressed Union Finance Minister to raise the income Tax exemption limit From Rs two Lakh to Rs 5 Lakh and total exemption of DA from income tax limit, the salaried class feel that this gesture will increase purchasing power and stimulate demands.

Other demands emphasized in the memorandums mentioned included granting B-1 status to Jammu and Srinagar cities.

Shastri said that the demands highlighted in the memorandums would be major issue during the forthcoming election of Lok Sabha as these pertain to crore of Central and state government, employees and pensioners and their families which constitute a large chunk of voters.

Prime Minister's Appeal to Central Trade Unions (STRIKE ON FEBRUARY 20 & 21)

I appeal to the Central Trade Unions to withdraw their call for a countrywide General Strike on 20 and 21 February, 2013. Such a strike would lead to avoidable loss to our economy and inconvenience to the public through disruption of services. While some of the issues raised by the Trade Unions are already being acted upon and others are at various stages of consideration, I have requested my senior Cabinet colleagues Shri A K Antony, Shri Sharad Pawar, Shri P Chidambaram and Shri Mallikarjun Kharge to together hold discussions with the leaders of the Trade Unions. I am confident that these discussions would result in a course of action that is acceptable both to the Trade Unions and the Government.

Ahead of strike, TUs to take out rally on Monday.

As part of preparations for a nation-wide strike called for February 20 and 21 by 11 major trade unions, a big rally will be taken out on Monday in Mumbai. Over one lakh workers are expected to participate..

All-round impact

The strike will have an impact in transport, port and dock, electricity, petroleum, coal, steel, defence production, telecommunications, postal, hospitality industry, major engineering, electrical and automobile sectors, banks, including private ones, and retail shops.

HOUSE BUILDING ADVANCE. RATES OF INTEREST FOR CENTRAL GOVT EMPLOYEES TO PURCHASE OR CONSTRUCT HOUSES

No.1-17011/2(6)/2013-H.III

Ministry of Urban Development

(Housing-III Section)

*******

 Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi.

 Dated:- the 17th January, 2013

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

 Subject:- Rates of interest on advances and loans to Govt. employees, for construction/purchase of houses/flats.

 The undersigned is directed to enclose herewith a copy of Ministry of Finance, Deptt. of Expenditure's O.M. No. 5(3)-B(PD)/2012 dated the 3rd January 2013 intimating the rates of interest on advances and loans given to Government employees for construction/purchase of houses/flats during 2012-13 i.e. 1st April, 2012 to 31St March, 2013 and until further orders, for information and compliance.

 Sd/-

 (S.K.Ram)

 Dy. Financial Adviser