Monday 29 July 2013

Pattern and details of PA/SA Exam Paper 2 (computer test)

Details / Pattern of Postal / Sorting Assistant (PA/SA) Phase 2 Exam 2013(Computer / Typing Test)




Friends...now as Postal Department started publishing the List of Shortlisted candidates for Paper-II based on the performance in Paper-I(Aptitude Test), its time now to understand the details of Paper-II (Computer Typing/Data Entry Test) & Practice it.

Results of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Odisha, West Bengal and Kerala Postal Circles already stands published in the official website.

Results of Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Panjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Bihar, Haryana, Himanchal Pradesh and Rajasthan Circles are expected soon.

Here is the list of number of candidates shortlisted from each Circle based on the results declared so far.


Name of Circle
No. of Shortlisted Candidates for Paper-II
Andhra Pradesh
2115
Gujarat
983
Karnataka
612
Maharashtra
1947
Tamil Nadu
1783
Assam
2114
Chhattisgarh
330
Jharkhand
640
Madhya Pradesh
1097
North East
153
Odisha
749
West Bengal
2023
Kerala
1000

Pattern of Paper-II(Computer/ Typing Test):

The Typing Test shall be for a duration of 30 minutes (15 minutes each for Typewriting and data entry) consisting of one passage of 450 words in English or 375 words in Hindi to be typed with a minimum speed of 30/25 words per minute respectively & Data entry of some figures and letters each carrying equal marks on Computers.



The typing test and test of data entry operations will be conducted on Computer key board but not on type writer.



Note: The final merit shall be prepared on the basis of the aggregate marks obtained by the Applicants in the Aptitude Test (Paper I) only subject to their qualifying in Computer/Typing test ( Paper II). ie, there will be no marks for Typing/Data entry test. You have to just qualify the minimum criteria in Paper-2 and final merit list shall be prepared on the basis of marks of Paper-I only.

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Government allots Rs 1,300crore to Post Bank

NEW DELHI: The expenditure department has decided to sanction Rs 1,300 crore to the proposed Post Bank of India to meet its capital requirements even as the department of financial services (DFS) - the wing in the finance ministry that deals with state-run banks and their poliiies – chose to stay away from the issue.

The proposal's backing by the expenditure finance commission and its subsequent green light by finance minister P Chidambaram is seen as the official go-ahead by the finance ministry, ignoring the DFS's stance. The DFS position is seen as the first instance of the agency not backing the Post Bank's plan, which officers in the department have privately mocked at.

"They think they can use the postal deposit model for their banking foray. Nothing in their plan seems to be clear. Banking isn't easy," said an officer, who did not wish to be identified. In fact, a strong Post Bank is seen to be the biggest challenge to existing public sector banks, including State Bank of India, which controls 70% of the banking business in the country. SBI, the largest lender, has a little less than 15,000 branches, while there are over 1.5 lakh post offices across the country.

Although Post Bank does not intend to open a bank branch in each post office, the plan is to use postmen to meet the financial inclusion goal. Secretary (posts) P Gopinath refused to speak to TOI despite several attempts.

According to the plan, Post Bank will have 50 branches in the first year, which will be increased to 150 by the fifth year. The branches will be located in select Head Post Offices in Tier-1-4 centres and select Sub-Post Offices in Tier-5-6 centres.

To meet RBI norms, the postal department proposes to set up a new entity - Post Bank of India - that will have an independent board and separate operations. Apart from independent directors, the board will have representatives from the finance ministry and the postal department. Separate recruitment has been planned to have specialist bankers.

While converting the entire postal network would have meant a capital requirement of over Rs 60,000 crore, by setting up a special entity, the fund requirement has been reduced. This, officers said, will also help create a more focused strategy.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ dated 22/07/2013

Wednesday 17 July 2013

PA / SA Direct Recruitment - Shortlisted candidates for computer Typing / Data entry test..

UPDATE as on 17-JUL-2013

I. Aptitude Test (Paper I) for all the postal circles is completed. The List of shortlisted candidates for the Computer
Typing / Data Entry (PAPER II) for Andhra Pradesh, Gujrat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Odisha, West Bengal Postal Circles is given in the link below:

 SHORT LISTED CANDIDATES FOR PAPER II  The list in respect of the remaining Postal Circles will be published shortly.

II.The above Short List has been prepared in accordance with the procedure published in the Notification No 60-9/2009
SPB1 dated 8-5-2012. The candidates who figure in the above list have qualified for appearing in the Paper II based
on marks in the Paper I.

III The list is in order of Roll Number.

IV. Paper II is tentatively scheduled on 10th,11th,24th,25th,31th August 2013 and 1st September 2013

V. Admit Card for Paper II will be dispatched shortly. Admit Card can also be generated on this website by the candidates.


For Detail List of Shortlisted candidates please visit. 

or


Facility of generation of Admit Card by the shortlisted candidate will be available on this website from 1100AM on 22/07/2013. 

Tuesday 16 July 2013

A look at various financial products offered by the Post Office



The telegram may be dead and postage stamps on their way out, but the post office is not sliding into oblivion. Its small savings schemes are a favourite with investors, and if India Post bags the banking licence, it could be a financial powerhouse with its 1.55 lakh branches. Here are some of the products and services offered by the post office.


SAVINGS ACCOUNT

Tenure: NA

Interest rate: 4%

It has a very low minimum balance requirement of Rs 50 without cheque facility, and Rs 500 with cheques.

RECURRING DEPOSIT

Tenure: 5 years

Interest rate: 8.3%

* Investor is given a flexible window of up to 15 days to deposit the sum.

* It is not necessary to open a savings account as well.

* The term can be extended by up to five years on maturity.

TIME DEPOSITS

Tenure: 1 - 5 years

Interest rate: 8.2 - 8.4%

The five-year deposits are eligible for tax deduction under Section 80C.

Minors above 10 years can open and operate account.

Deposits can be foreclosed after one year. The one-year deposit can be foreclosed after six months.

MONTHLY INCOME SCHEME

Tenure: 5 years

Interest rate: 8.4%

* Minimum deposit Rs 1,500 and maximum of Rs 4.5 lakh.

* Interest flows into savings account at the same post office.

* It can be foreclosed after one year with a 2% deduction.

* After three years, the deduction is 1%.

SENIOR CITIZENS' SAVING SCHEME

Tenure: 5 years

Interest rate: 9.2%

* It is open to investors above 60 years. The retired or those who have taken VRS can join at 55.

* There is a maximum limit of Rs 15 lakh per individual.

Investments are eligible for deduction under Section 80C.

* Can be foreclosed after one year with 1.5% deduction. After two years, the deduction is 1%.

* The interest is paid out quarterly.

* Can be extended for 3 years on maturity.



PUBLIC PROVIDENT FUND

Tenure: 15 years

Interest rate: 8.7%

* There is a minimum deposit of Rs 500 and maximum of Rs 1 lakh in a year.

* Investments are eligible for deduction under Section 80C.

* The interest earned is tax-free.

* Account can be extended by five years on maturity.

* Withdrawals allowed after sixth year.

NSCs

Tenure: 5 - 10 years

Interest rate: 8.5 - 8.8%

* There is a minimum investment of Rs 100.

* Investments are eligible for deduction under Section 80C.

* Income accrued every year is treated as reinvestment and is eligible for tax benefits under Section 80C.

* There is no TDS, but income is fully taxable.

Other financial services offered by the post office

Money transfer

It offers wire transfers and international money orders, besides issuing traveller's cheques and 22 foreign currencies to foreign travellers. It also offers prepaid forex cards in seven currencies, demand drafts in 11 currencies and wire transfer in 13.

National Pension Scheme

Right now, the NPS facility is available at nearly 800 branches across the country. The NPS is a lowcost retirement plan. It is also portable and can be accessed from any part of the country.

Mutual funds

A qualified mutual fund adviser is available at designated branches of the post office. An investor can submit application forms, payment cheques and KYC documents at these branches. However, the facility has not taken off due to removal of entry load.

Life insurance

Postal Life Insurance is open only to employees of the Central and state governments, public undertakings and semi-government organisations. The Irda has allowed the post office to sell insurance policies of private companies.

Commercial banking

India Post is among the 36 companies that have applied for banking licences. The launch of commercial banking operations could pitchfork the post office to the forefront of financial services in India.

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

Saturday 13 July 2013

Decision of Central Trade Unions held on 8th July 2013


The Joint meeting of Central Trade Unions held on 8th July 2013 at BMS office, New Delhi has decided the following course of joint mobilization/agitations and activities

1.      National Convention of Trade Unions on 6th August 2013 at Mavalankar Hall, New Delhi
2.      State level and district level rallies/agitations/demonstrations/jail bharo etc during last week of September 2013
3.      March/demonstration before Parliament in the month of December during Parliament session.
4.      In various sectors like Coal, Telecom, Banks & Insurance, Transport, Power, Port & Dock etc, joint struggles/strikes are being planned/undertaken by the respective federations. All support should be extended to those struggles. Central Trade Unions should also jointly endeavour to develop sectoral struggles in various sectors. 

Dates and details of programmes in September and December will be finalized through joint consultation of Central Trade Unions and announced from the National Convention.


(M. Krishnan)
Secretary General
Confederation

Saturday 6 July 2013

Kerala gets its first 'all-women PostOffice'


At PMG Junction in the capital city of Kerala Thiruvananthapuram, the state’s first all-women post office has opened its doors to the public. All four employees of PMG Junction Post Office (695 033), very near to Chief Postmaster General Office, the post master to the helper, are all women. The post office will be officially inaugurated on 05.07.2013 (Friday), it has already caught the public eye, with its staff.
Post master S. Shanthi, postal clerk R. Manju, stamp vendor C. Chandrika, and helper Latha Kumari — gaining star status among the customers. Congratulatory messages and sweet packets are pouring into the post office, and so are best wishes notes, the staff members say.
“Becoming an ‘All-Women Post Office’ was coincidental. The office had two male employees earlier who were replaced by women in the recent transfers. Then all the four staff became women and a decision was taken to proclaim it as the first ‘All-Women Post Office’ in Kerala Circle. From now onwards, it will be kept as an office exclusively for women, we hope,” said Shanthi.
The working hours are from 9.30 am to 5.30 am. The office offers traditional and modern services such as registered and Speed Post articles, post office savings bank service, monthly income scheme, e-money order and e-payment of telephone bills. It is, however, a non-delivery post office. It doesn’t distribute letters or parcels and so there is no postman or postwoman in the office.
This is the ninth All-Women Post Office in the country. The first such office in the country was inaugurated at Shastri Bhavan under Delhi Circle on the eve of International Women’s Day on March 8. Replicating this effort, women post offices were started under the Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha circles. The Postal Department is looking forward to start All-Women Post Offices in all the circles across the nation.
The feminising of post offices is being done by the Department as part of its efforts to integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment. The attempt ensures that women employees working at various levels in the Department facilitate the decision-making of the Department as well as have a role in the management of post offices in the circles.

Friday 5 July 2013

India Post to carry relief material free to Uttarakhand

ALLAHABAD: The Department of Posts has decided to carry relief material for Uttarakhandflood victims without any postal charges.
Director, Postal Services, Allahabad Region, Krishna Kumar Yadav, said that the facility would be available at all head post offices up to July 20. India Post would collect relief material from general public/institutions / agencies /NGO and dispatch the same to Uttarakhand.
Yadav said that the package containing relief material should not more than 35kg in weight. It should be securely packed and marked as "relief material for Uttarkhand".
He said that the sender will not be required to pay any postage. Relief material containing clothes, blanket, woolens, medicines, tarpaulin, plastic sheets, torch, long shelf-life food etc may be sent through this arrangement. However, while sending the relief material sender should ensure that the relief material should not contain liquid, breakable items or any other items prohibited for transmission through Post Offices.
Yadav further added that the package containing the relief materials should be addressed to "senior post master, Dehradun GPO, Dehradun-248001 (Uttarakhand)". Relief material transmitted through Postal channel would be delivered by the senior postmaster, Dehradun GPO to 'Centre for Collection & Distribution of Relief Material, Maharana Pratap Sports College, Rajpur Road, Dehradun' set up by the state government.
For booking packages containing relief material, special receipts with the heading "Relief material for Uttarakhand flood victims" will be printed by the postal authorities. The original copy may be handed over to the sender and the carbon copy will be kept as office copy by the post offices, 

Monday 1 July 2013

P. Sathasivam to be new Chief Justice of India

NEW DELHI: Supreme court Judge P Sathasivam will be appointed as the next Chief Justice of India (CJI) after the expiry of present incumbent Altamas Kabir's tenure. President Pranab Mukherjee has given his nod for the appointment of Sathasivam as the next Chief Justice, official sources said.  64-year-old Sathasivam joined as a permanent judge of the Madras high court in January 1996 after which he was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana high court in April 2007.  He was appointed as a Supreme Court judge on August 21, 2007.  Sathasivam, who will be the 40th CJI, will have tenure till April 26, 2014.  The incumbent Chief Justice retires on July 18 after having a little over nine months tenure. Kabir was appointed CJI on September 29 last year.