Agent Commission on Savings Schemes

The payment of commission to agents of Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme and Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been discontinued, with effect from 1st December, 2011. Commission under all other schemes (except MPKBY Agents) has been reduced from 1% to 0.5%. However, commission to Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana (MPKBY) agents will continue at the existing rate of 4%.

The Committee set up by the Government for comprehensive review of National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) had, inter-alia, recommended rationalization of commission rate structure. Based on the recommendations, the Government has decided to reduce/ abolish the agency commission, the main, intention for which is to make these schemes more investor centric than agent centric. Market linked rates to investors, market linked interest rates on loans to States and Centre and viability of NSSF can only be ensured if the administrative cost of NSSF, of which this commission is a part, is brought down and the benefit of market alignment of rates is passed on to the investor rather than burdening the structure with higher administrative costs. To this effect, the decision of Government is pro investor and also keeps in mind the interest of agents where required.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

Source : PIB

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Mini-ATMs in Villages

A Task Force headed by Shri Nandan Nilekani in its report on Aadhaar Enabled Unified Payment Infrastructure has envisioned an interoperable network of 10 lakh Business Correspondent Agents utilizing Micro-ATMs to cover the entire country for Financial Inclusion and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT).
The report has inter-alia recommended transfer of payments from Government and Government institutions to Aadhaar enabled accounts of beneficiaries at banks and post office. Every Government department or institution that sends EBT and Direct Transfer of Subsidy (DTS) payment to individuals would need to submit details of Aadhaar Number and amount to their accredited bank, which would credit the amount into the account of the beneficiary.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

Source : PIB

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SC sets up committee on norms for issuing SIM Cards



Supreme Court on Friday set up a joint expert panel to recommend the procedure for the telecom firms for properly identifying the customers before issuing SIM cards to them



The Supreme Court on Friday set up a joint expert panel to recommend the procedure for the telecom firms for properly identifying the customers before issuing SIM cards to them.

A bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia said the panel comprising officials of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will submit its report to the government within three months.

The bench passed the order on a plea by one Avishek Goenka seeking its direction to the government to frame guidelines for telecom firms for issuing SIM cards.

He further alleged the verification norms were necessary in view of the recent probe in terror attacks pointing towards the use of mobile phones the connections for which were given on the basis of fake documents.

He had pointed out that both in Mumbai and Delhi blasts, the probe had reached to the conclusion that the cellular phones used by the accused were operating with SIM cards, secured on the basis of bogus documents.

Source : thehindu.com dtd 27/04/2012

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7 Tips for Basic e-mail Security

Simple to implement, these tips can be a good start to making sure your e-mail communication becomes more secure.

1. Understand that no e-mail communication is 100% secure. We can do our best to make the percentage close to that, but sometimes - if the information is extremely important - you should consider ditching the e-mail option and deliver it in person (if possible). Avoid sending credit card or social security numbers via e-mail. It's also a good idea not to send user names and passwords for accounts you don't want to see compromised.

2. The more your e-mail is present in the confines of the cyberworld, the more spam you'll be likely to receive. Unfortunately, even if you're careful with disclosing your e-mail, chances are people will include you in mass mailings and you eventually your e-mail will be out there. To counteract this, you should definitely set up filters and rules. They will not catch every unwanted e-mail, but they will reduce their number. This is not just a matter of annoyance - basic users and novices are more susceptible to spam and scams. So why give the bad guys the possibility of trying out their angle?

3. Tied to the previous advice is this one: choose plain text over full HTML or XHTML rendition to reduce the risk of being targeted by a phishing attack.

4. Don't open attachments unless you know who it's coming from and you trust them.

5. Use encryption. Check with your ISP to see if they encrypt the authentication process. Encrypt your email message if possible. Are you familiar with the concept of steganography? You can hide messages in images, articles, shopping lists... Ideally, you can use both - first encrypt the message, then use a steganography software to embed it in a recent photograph. There are simple tools out there.

6. Don't access your e-mail from an unsecured network or potentially compromised computers. Yes, that particularly includes access from an Internet cafe. There be keyloggers.

7. Teach everybody who wants to know about it, especially your children (AND especially if you're using the same computer).

Courtesy : www.net-security.org

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Revision of Honorarium for Invegilation, Setting of Question Papers,Valuation etc for Limited Departmental Competitive Exams

Postal Directorate has revised the rates of Honorarium in connection with conducting of Limited Departmental Competitive Examinations Vide letter no A.34020/17/2008-DE dated 26.04.2012. The revised rates will apply to all Limited Departmental Competitive Examinations to be held on or after 26.04.2012.

 

The revised rates for various activities are as follows.

Sl no	Activity	Present Rate	Revised Rate
1	Setting of Question Paper	Rs 280-00 Rs 210-00	Rs 1000 per paper
2	Preparation of Key	25% of the rate of Setting	25% of Rs 1000
3	Evaluation of Answer Scripts	Rs 7 / 5.60 / 4.20	Rs 25 per Answer Script
4	Supervision for conducting LDCE	Rs 30 per session Rs 50 per Day	Rs 400 per session Rs 600 per Day
5	Invigilators appointed for conducting LDCE	Rs 20 per session Rs 30 per Day	Rs 250 per session Rs 350 per Day
6	Clerical Staff brought on Duty	Rs 25 per Day	Rs 150 per session Rs 250 per Day
7	Gr D (MTS) assistance	Rs 15 per Day	Rs 150 per session Rs 200 per Day

Click here to view the Directorate order in original.

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know abt these......................

PAY COMMISSION

 

 

DA RATES

 

 

GDS TRCA SCALES

 

 

 

for latest update always visit: www.katiharho.blogspot.in

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Focus on reforms in civil services exams

The Hindu GEARING UP: Participants at a seminar on civil services examination reforms organised by the Centre for Career Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

The government is planning major changes in the recruitment process for the civil services. So, the aspirants have to be prepared for it.

The Centre for Career Development Studies organised a seminar on civil services examination reforms titled ‘Strategies and Challenges' in the city on Wednesday.

The seminar focussed on the “recommended significant changes” that were made in the preliminary paper and the possible changes that may be incorporated in the main paper.

Until last year, the examination was conducted on the sequential three-stage process consisting of a preliminary, mains and a personal interview.

‘Need for State service'

However, in 2011, an aptitude test was introduced. There were speculations about dropping optional papers in the main examinations and introducing multiple levels of interview and group discussion before the final selection of the candidates, said Jojo T. Mathew, editor, Competition Wizard.

District Collector K.N. Satheesh stressed the need for introducing a State Civil Service in Kerala, which was being implemented in many other States. He advised the aspirants to thoroughly understand the nature of civil services before opting for them.

Training

The need for training the aspirants at the academic level was stressed by former diplomat T.P. Sreenivasan.

They should be trained in subjects relevant to administration so that they need not have to waste time in unlearning what they had learnt to suit the needs of the civil service examination pattern. A serious thought should be given to the time factor.

Now an aspirant spent a year preparing for various stages of the recruitment. If the time was reduced considerably, it could save on their productive years, he felt.

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