Five ways to deal with sudden changes at workplace

Organisational changes can happen in many ways - downsizing, relocation, a change in management, a merger or entering a joint venture. Whatever the reason, changes, especially when they are sudden, can catch people off guard. Sreeradha D Basu shows how you can deal with such a situation.

1. Don't Panic

The most common reaction to an unexpected organisational change is to get stressed and start panicking. But that's something you mustn't do, says Prashant John, executive director of cloud-based employee engagement platform Kwench. Often the first wave of reactions is driven by an extremely short-term view of the impact, ranging from 'what happens to my current project' to 'will my boss change' all the way to 'will I be asked to leave'. This, he says, is the time to take a deep breath and wait for information.

2. Get the Big Picture

"Instead of listening to rumours from the office gossipmongers, employees are better off reaching out to their superior and asking for the true picture. What seems like a 'sudden' move, might often turn out to be not the case - it often is just a consequence of bad communication," says Kwench's John.

3. Stay Positive

Adopting a positive outlook can help the employees view change as a challenge rather than an obstacle. "This may keep employees motivated in an otherwise difficult time period,"says Ankit Bansal, founder, Mykindofjob.com, an online commercial marketplace for people looking for flexibility at work.

4. Talk with One you Trust

It always helps to have a talk with someone whose opinions you respect but is not a part of the organization, says Prashant John of Kwench. "Often outside-in views help to put things in perspective and might change your entire outlook towards the impending change," he says.

5. Look for the Silver Lining

Let's face it — things won't always be the same and won't always go the way one expects them to, says John. Companies shut down divisions, merge teams, get acquired, merge with other companies - change is a constant. "Evaluate honestly what the change means for you. It could be an opportunity to grow within the organisation or it could be the push you were waiting for to explore new options. Either way, a change at work is not the end of the world," he says.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

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ISRO successfully sends Mars orbiter into sun-centric orbit

Indian Space Research Organization scientists and engineers monitor the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) at the ISTRAC Mission Operations Complex (MOX) tracking centre, at Peenya in Bangalore. File photo: K. Murali Kumar

India’s spacecraft to Mars has bid adieu to its Earth-bound orbit and is cruising in its sun-centric orbit. In a remarkably successful execution of a complex manoeuvre, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) fired the propulsion system on board the spacecraft for a prolonged duration of 23 minutes from 0049 hours on Sunday.

In space parlance, the manoeuvre is called Trans-Mars Injection (TMI). ISRO called it “the mother of all slingshots.” Celebrations broke out at the control centre of the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Bangalore from where the spacecraft specialists gave commands for the orbiter’s 440 Newton engine to begin firing.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan told The Hindu from ISTRAC, “Everything went of well. We took stock of the spacecraft’s health and everything is normal. We just had a meeting with all the ground controllers and mission directors who briefed us on the spacecraft’s systems and all are working well.”

M. Annadurai, Programme Director, Indian Remotesensing Satellites and Small Satellites, ISRO, said “everything was normal during the firing, which went on as per the planned timeline.” He added that there was jubilation in the ISTRAC control room with scientists distributing sweets.

“We had exciting moments and a satisfying day,” said S. Arunan, Project Director, Mars Orbiter. “The sun-centric phase has started and the Canberra station has started acquiring the spacecraft for tracking it.” Deviprasad Karnik, ISRO spokesman, said the spacecrafts propulsion system produced a textbook performance.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com

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Implementation of Government decision on the Sixth Central Pay Commission Revision of rate of Training Allowance

To view DoPT order No. 13016/05/2011-Trg (ISTM), please CLICK HERE.

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Soon, you may need to give fingerprints to buy SIM cards

The government is exploring the option of making it compulsory for telecom service providers to take fingerprint or any other biometric feature of the subscriber when he/she applies for a new mobile connection. File photo

The government is exploring the option of making it compulsory for telecom service providers to take fingerprint or any other biometric feature of the subscriber when he/she applies for a new mobile connection.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) recently received a suggestion from Ministry of Home Affairs indicating that a central database be maintained by DoT of all subscribers that maintains bio-metric parameters akin to the ‘Aadhaar' system, the Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

This would entail taking fingerprint/thumb impression or any other unique bio-metric feature of the subscriber when he/she applies for a mobile connection, he said, adding that the suggestion “is presently being examined in DoT and decision on the same is yet to be taken”.

The DoT had last year made it mandatory for a mobile service provider to physically verify an applicant before issuing a SIM card. However, there have been reports of the process not being adhered to.

Source : The Hindu

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Beware! Your KYC papers may be misused

MUMBAI: Leaving your 'know your customer' (KYC) documents floating around can be dangerous for your financial well-being. Banks have discovered several cases of identity theft where fraudsters have created a new third-party identity using misappropriated KYC documents, such as copies of phone bills and PAN card, to avail of credit cards or loans.

Some weeks ago, a Mumbai resident found that his identity had been stolen and a fraudster had been using a credit card obtained by misappropriating his KYC documents. Besides this, there are several cases where identity theft attempts have been made, but have been nipped in the bud by banks using fraud detection software. 

In another case, a fraud attempt was detected after two applicants for a primary and add-on card provided details that differed from what was provided by identical applicants in another application. The fraud was detected because the bank used a fraud detection service called Hunter provided by Experian.

"Typically, the fraudster will provide most of the details of the fake identity but will change either the mobile phone or email to keep contact with the bank. Our software matches details provided by the individual in other applications and flags it as suspicious if there are too many discrepancies," said Mohan Jayaraman, MD, Experian Credit Information Company. Because it is a credit information company, Experian by law can retain information of borrowers on its database. 

According to Jayaraman, credit companies in the UK provide a service whereby borrowers can sign up and receive alerts every time a bank inquires about his credit history. Such credit checks are made at the time of granting loans or cards and an individual is immediately alerted if his identity is being misused. "Consumers need to be alert in disposing of their statements and should not dispose KYC documents to the 'raddi-walla'," he said. 

The other solution that financial advisers are recommending is that every time photocopies are issued for KYC purposes, the borrower should mention on the copy the purpose for which the documents are being issued. 

"Obtaining a credit profile from the credit bureau will give you an idea if your identity has been used by someone," said Rajiv Raj, founder of Creditvidya, a credit counseling firm. "A change in address should be immediately updated with all service providers. Otherwise this gives an opportunity for mail to be intercepted and misused."

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

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UIDAI, Banks disagree on use of biometric authentication at ATMs

MUMBAI: Will banks have to spend a fortune to give customers the choice of either putting their finger prints or swiping plastic cards to withdraw money from ATMs and pay for purchases? 

Not really, says the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the agency that issues the 12-digit Aadhaar numbers and is pushing for biometric authentication for credit card and ATM transactions. But bankers disagree. Besides the travails and risks of a new technology, upgrading each and every automated teller machine and point of sale terminal at thousands of merchant outlets will not come cheap, they argue. 

Indeed, 'cost' is emerging as one of the issues in the brewing debate - 'Aadhaar or plastic cards'. According to a source familiar with the subject, an RBI-constituted panel has pegged the cost of banks' readiness for Aadhaar at 4,259 crore compared with 3,556 crore thebanking industry has to spend to upgrade machines to match a different technology they think lowers the risk of card frauds. 

It's learnt that the UIDAI nominee on the panel is likely to issue a dissent note on the estimates the agency believes is significantly higher than what banks' migration to Aadhaar would cost. 

About a fortnight ago, the findings of the report were shared by Pulak Kumar Sinha, the SBI general manager who heads the panel, at a luncheon meeting with RBI Deputy Governor HR Khan. Other members of the working group were also present at the meeting. 

Cost the only point of conflict

According to a UIDAI spokesman, other than cost estimates, there is no other point on which UIDAI or any other member is in disagreement. 

Responding to ET's queries, Ashok Pal Singh, deputy director general, UIDAI, said nowhere does the report suggest that Aadhaar, in its current shape and form, is not recommended for large-scale adoption for the existing card base as an additional factor of authentication. 

"If need be, UIDAI will put a dissenting note by way of a disclaimer on the costing...I repeat that on no other point is UIDAI or any other member in disagreement with the rest of the draft report," he said. 

Asked whether the working group has voiced concerns on account of the fact that if Aadhaar of a cardholder is compromised, the cardholder's identity gets compromised for life, the UIDAI official said the report, which should be in public domain shortly, has not made any such observation. 

The Reserve bank spokesperson did not respond to ET's email query. 

UIDAI is of the view that Aadhar-based payment technology can be cost effective and beneficial as it will take electronic payments to the masses. "What is this great upgradation cost we are seized about? The comparison is between cost of deploying a technology that has peaked (chip and pin) versus a technology making its debut (Aadhaar-based biometric authentication) and yet to acquire economies of scale... The number of PoS terminals in the country is a pittance. A card does not get accepted beyond two dozen major cities. Does anyone seriously believe the aam aadmi will transact with a chip and pin card? Aadhaar uses a light PoS with no inbuilt intelligence as authentication takes place back end and the device is only a communication channel as against a device that must decode and read a chip. Even common sense will defy an assertion that the former will require a heavier and more expensive device," said Singh. 

Some of the credit card heads of banks ET spoke to said there was a distinct possibility that RBI would ask banks to gradually roll out Aadhaar-based biometric authentication as an additional authentication for card transactions. "RBI may not mandate banks immediately, but may nonetheless ask them to upgrade the technology. This is happening at a time banks are issuing credit and debit cards that are based on EMV technology," said a banker. 

In EMV cards, the card and CVC numbers are encrypted. And, unlike the EMV or the conventional magnetic stripe technology where cards have to be swiped, a biometric authentication involves the bank's ATM or PoS reading the fingerprints and matching them with the fingerprint records aggregated by authorised authentication service agents like VISA, National Payments Cop or Vodafone before the transaction is cleared.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

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Receipts of Payments from customers through ECS/NEFT/RTGS

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Difference between NEFT and RTGS Fund Transfer

Useful for Banking Exams…….

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 While studying for Banking Exams or doing fund transfer we often come across the words NEFT and RTGS. Lets try to understand what is NEFT and RTGS and what is the difference between them. NEFT and RTGS are two main money transfer mechanisms in India. That is if we want to transfer money from one bank to another bank we have to use any one of this method.

Transferring money between two accounts in same bank is pretty straight forward and it’s an internal matter of the bank (eg: between two SBI branches and also banks within SBI Group), it does not have to deal with other banks and their protocols, however when one bank wants to send the money to another bank in India, there is a defined mechanism (eg: from SBI to ICICI, HDFC, Axis Bank etc.) it has to be done and hence NEFT and RTGS comes into our help. Both these systems are maintained by Reserve Bank of India.

NEFT – National Electronic Fund Transfer

NEFT stands for National Electronic Fund Transfer & it was launched in November 2005 by RBI. It's a system of transfer between two banks on net settlement basis. Which means that each individual transfer from one account to another account is not settled or processed at that same moment, it’s done in batches. A lot of transactions are settled in one go in each batches. Presently, NEFT services are available from 8:00 am to 6:30 pm on weekdays (Mon – Fri) and from 8:00 am – 12:30

pm on Saturday. Any NEFT Transfer done between 8 am – 5 pm generally gets settled on the same day, but if you deposit the money after 5 pm, then that will be settled the next working day. In case of Saturday, any money deposited between 8 am – 12 noon can be expected to reach the beneficiary account the same day.

NEFT Transfer Example

For example: Ramesh has Axis Bank account and Suresh has a bank account in Union bank , Now Ramesh deposits Rs 50,000 in Suresh's account through NEFT transfer at  10:00 am .The money will be then taken out from Ramesh's Axis Bank Account and will be sent to  Suresh's Union bank the same day, then Union bank will credit Suresh's bank account. In case money can not be transferred to the target account (beneficiary account) , the money will be credited back to the source branch within 2 hours of the batch in which it was processed.

RTGS – Real Time Gross Settlement

RTGS stands for Real Time Gross Settlement and its a system of money transfer between two banks in real time basis, which means the moment one bank account

transfer the money to another bank account, its settled at that time itself on real time basis between the banks, but the beneficiary bank has to make the final settlement to the bank account within two hours of getting the money. RTGS is the fastest possible moneytransfer between two banks in India through a secure channel.  ‘Real-time’ means that the payment transaction isn’t subject to any waiting period. The transaction will be completed as soon as the processing is done, and gross settlement means that the money transfer is completed on a one to one basis without clustering with another transaction.

RTGS Transfer Example

Say Vivek has a SBI Bank account and Deepak has an ICICI Bank account, Vivek transfers Rs 10 lacs to Deepak's account through RTGS transfer, SBI instantly transfers Rs 10 lac to ICICI Bank, now ICICI bank has 2 more hours to deposit it in Vijay’s account . Hence in worst case even with RTGS transfer there can be delay of 2 hours.

Differences

The fundamental difference between RTGS and NEFT, is that while RTGS is based on gross settlement, NEFT is based on net-settlement. Gross settlement is where a transaction is completed on a one-to-one basis without bunching with other transactions. As for a Deferred Net Basis (DNS), or net-settlement, this is where transactions are completed in batches at specific times. Here, all transfers will be held up until a specific time. RTGS transactions are processed throughout the working hours of the system.

RTGS transactions involve large amounts of cash, basically only funds above Rs 100,000 may be transferred using this system. For NEFT, any amount below Rs 100,000 may be transferred, and this system is generally for smaller value transactions involving smaller amounts of money. RTGS processes in real-time (‘push’ transfer), while NEFT processes in cycles during the given working day. This causes a NEFT transaction that is initiated later than the last cycle to be completed the next day.

NEFT Charges

Amount	Charges
Up to 10,000	Rs. 2.5
Above 10,000 to 1 lacs	Rs. 5
Avove 1 lacs- upto 2 lacs	Rs. 15
Above 2 lacs	Rs. 25

RTGS Charges

Timings	Amount	Charges
9.00 am to 12 noon	2-5 lacs	Rs. 25
	Above 5 lacs	Rs. 50
After 12 noon to 3.3.0pm (upto 12.30pm on Saturday)	2-5 lacs	Rs. 26
	Above 5 lacs	Rs. 51
After 3.30 pm	2-5 lacs	Rs. 30
	Above 5 lacs	Rs. 55

Timings & Minimum Amount

	Monday to Friday	Saturday	Minimum Amount
NEFT	8.00am to 6.30 pm	8.00am to 12.30 pm	No minimum
RTGS	9.00am, to 4.30pm	9.00am to 1.30 pm	2 lacs

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13-year-old from Bihar cracks IIT Entrance Exam

Satyam Kumar, a Bihar farmer's son who is just 13-years old, has cleared the fiercely competitive Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) for which 150,000 candidates had appeared this year. 

Satyam, who passed his class 12 exam last year, secured an impressive all-India rank of 679. We are proud of him. He has done something special at this age," Satyam's father Sidhnath Singh, a farmer, told IANS. IIT-JEE(Advanced) results for admission into IITs were declared Friday. According to IIT-JEE website, Sahal Kaushik from Delhi was the youngest person to have cracked the exam in 2010 at the age of 14. But now this record is held by Satyam. "Now Satyam is the youngest to crack the IIT-JEE," an IIT official said. 

Satyam, who hails from Bakhorapur village in Bhojpur district, had last year qualified for admission into IIT at the age of 12-and-a-half years after he got a special permission from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). He had then secured an all-India rank of 8,137. Not satisfied with his low rank, he appeared for the IIT-JEE preliminary examination this year again and qualified. "Satyam has improved his rank by his hard work and determination," his father said. He appeared for the entrance examination in Kota, Rajasthan, where he had been studying. He was one of the 150,000 candidates who appeared for the examination this year. Earlier, Satyam Kumar had said he wanted to establish a software company on the lines of social networking website Facebook.

Source: The Economic Times

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Backup your Blogger Blog

Anytime you might loose your blogger account. After hacking your blogger account along with your blog the hacker can do anything. He can either delete, export or use your blog in his own name! Maybe you have spent thousand hours to establish the site. And you lose everything. Isn't it very terrible? So why don't you back up your site before it's too late? 

Blogger has an option to back up the whole blog with comments! So, if you have the backup copy of your site, anytime you can open a new blog and restore your previous blog with comments. 

Even you can restore your backup copy of blogger blog in WordPress Site. WordPress is capable of restoring blogger sites from the .xml file.

 You can read that post or have a look at the steps below:

1. Sign in to your blogger account.
2. Go to Settings from Design or Dashboard.
3. Hit on the Other options from Settings tab.
4. Look at the Blog Tools: Import Blog - Export Blog - Delete Blog.
5. Hit on the Export Blog.
6. Now click Download Blog.
7. Save the .xml file in your hard disk.

If you wanna restore your blog from a previously saved copy then follow the above steps again. Just in the Blog Tools- Choose Import Blog. Then choose and upload the .xml file that you've already in your hard disk. 

If you're using a premium blogger template or if you've modified your template in your own way, then you should also back up the template. I also discussed about how to back up blogger template earlier. You can read that post or just have a look at the below steps:

1. Go to the Template option from the Settings.
2. Hit on Backup/ Restore button from the top right corner.
3. Hit on Download Full Template button to download the template.
4. Or Choose File to select and upload your desired template. 

Screenshots of the tasks are not given in this post. If you wanna see the related images then go to the above links. 

Source  : http://munnamark.blogspot.com/

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