Thursday, April 24, 2014
What Is NOTA – None Of The Above Option?
You like the candidate you press the button in front of the party’s symbol to vote on electronic voting machines. Now if you do not like the entire list of candidates you have an option of NOTA or ‘None of the Above’. Voters have all rights to press this option if they wish to reject all the political parties contesting the elections. So instead of sitting at home just go and show your wish.
Earlier the citizens of India were not provided with the option NOTA but in 2009 the Election Commission stated its desire to the Supreme Court to add NOTA at the ballet. Government opposed NOTA as this was one of the ways to dilute the number of votes. On the contrary the Supreme Court of India ordered to add the option on 27 September 2013 with a belief that it will definitely increase the number of voters. The orders were passed by a bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam.
In 2014 Lok Sabha elections 814million people are eligible to vote for 543 constituencies in 9.3 lakh polling stations and for the first time NOTA will be introduced in the Lok Sabha elections. Though objective of adding this option was to give clean candidates and to increase the overall quality but according to experts NOTA is not able to fulfill this objective as there is no change in the quality of fielded candidates. For the past two decades number of criminals in politics have been increasing. 30% of Members of Parliament (MPs) elected in 2009 had pending criminals charges against them such as rape, dowry violence, extortion, violence against women etc. According to the survey conducted by the National Election Watch and the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) in 2014, one out of every three candidates of the BJP and Congress has criminal charges against them. 35% of the BJP’s candidate and 27% of Congress candidates have criminal charges against them.
Social activist Anna Hazare has appealed the voters to use NOTA button if they are not able to find right candidate. He said that our political system won’t change by changing the party. If one candidate has done graduation in corruption the other has done post graduation. He called alert voters the pillars of democracy.
Las year more than 15 lakh people out of 11.53 voters i.e. near about 1.31% in the five state assembly elections used the option NOTA. In Delhi, 49,730 voters used NOTA option, close to 3.56 lakh voters used it in Chattisgarh, in Madhya Pradesh 5.9 lakh and in Rajasthan 5.67 lakh voters exercised the option of NOTA.
Though providing NOTA is really a good move but it is useless if not analyzed properly. First of all NOTA votes will be considered as invalid votes. The candidate with greatest number of votes will be considered as a winner even if he or she has the lower number of votes than NOTA unless other political parties sought for fresh elections. So ‘None of the Above’ option won’t have a significant impact. But this condition must be analyzed properly and NOTA must be taken seriously. It must be found out that why people have opted NOTA when they have so many other choices. This means political parties are unable to find and project the suitable and right person.
Where is the NOTA Buttons on the electronic voting machine?
NOTA is the last button in the list of candidates. It is read as None of the Above – NOTA.
As a voter I feel that NOTA is just like a dislike button on social media. But experts must analyze the quality in case NOTA number is significant. If it is left as it is then there is no use of this powerful ‘None of the Above’ option.
Abolish the New Pension Scheme from Indian Railway: Railway Minister's DO letter to Finance Minister
Hon'ble Minister for Railways Sh. Malikarjun Kharge has written a D.O. Letter to Minister for Finance regarding abolition of New Pension System from India Railways. The text of the said letter, which has been published by AIRF, is reproduced below:-
MALLIKARJUN KHARGE
MINISTER FOR RAILWAYS
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
NEW DELHI
No. 2012/F(E)III/1/4-Part
29 March, 2014.
Dear Shri P. Chidambaram ji,
Through this letter, I wish to draw your attention to a long standing demand raised by both Staff Federations of Railways on National Pension Scheme (NPS) for employees of Indian Railways. The Federations have been expressing resentment over operation in the Railways of the National Pension Scheme, which is perceived as a lower social security cover for Railway employees. Their contention is that there are enough grounds for Railway employees to be treated differently from other civil employees of the Government, and that Indian Railways should operate the traditional defined .benefit pension scheme available to pre-01-01-2004 appointee's.
You will recall that a few organizations/categories of Government employees were specifically exempted from the purview of NPS on consideration of special, riskier and more onerous nature of duties. The Federations have been drawing parallel with of nature of duties performed by most categories of Railway employees with those in the Armed Forces. They contend that during British period, Railways was conceived and operated as an auxiliary wing of the Army. It was also realized that by virtue of its complex nature, Railways required a high level of discipline and efficiency to be able to perform its role as the prime transport mode. Railways is an operational organization required to be run round the clock through the year. Railway employees have to work in inhospitable conditions, braving extreme weather, unfriendly law and order scenario, and inherent risks associated with the Railway operations itself. As in the Armed Forces, many have to stay away from their families for long periods while performing duties in areas where adequate facilities are lacking.
I feel that there is considerable merit in the contention of the Staff Federations. Besides the critical and complex nature of duties of Railway employees, the hazards involved are also high. Despite best efforts for enhanced safety measures, a large number of Railway employees lose their lives or meet with serious injuries in the course of performance of their duties each year.
During the period 2007-08 to October 2011, the number of Railway employees killed during the course of their duty has been more than number of passengers/other members of public killed in Rail related accidents including accidents at unmanned level crossings. While the nature of duties of Railway employees is inherently high risk during peace time, they also perform functions of critical importance during war time and times of natural calamities, in moving men and materials across the country to maintain supply of essential commodities and safeguard integrity of the nation.
In my view, there are adequate grounds for the Government to consider exemption for Railway employees from the purview of NPS. The implications of this would be that Government expenditure would reduce over the next few years through discontinuance of Government Contribution under the NPS, but the long term liabilities would increase, as financial commitments in the defined benefit pension scheme would be higher. Since Railways are required to meet the pensionary outgo from their internal resources, switch over to defined benefit pension scheme would call for a more systematic provisioning under the Pension Fund through appropriate revenue generating measures. With Rail Tariff Authority on the horizon, I believe that this would be possible.
In the light of the above, I suggest that our request for exemption from operation of the NPS be considered sympathetically and necessary approvals communicated.
A copy of each demands raised by the two Federations is enclosed.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
/sd/
(Mallikarjun Khagre)
Shri P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister,
Government of India, North Block,
New Delhi-110001.
Original/Source: http://www.airfindia.com
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
BHARTIYA POST -----MAY 2014 ----- EDITORIAL
POSTAL ASSISTANT CADRE DESERVES HIGHER PAY SCALE FROM 7TH CENTRAL PAY COMMISSION.
Government of India has constituted 7th Central Pay Commission. All Federations and Unions/Associations will be submitting their memorandums to the Pay Commission, either jointly or separately. Everybody wants Pay Commission to examine and consider their demands regarding revised pay scales of their category, judiciously and dispassionately, so that justice will be done to each cadre. National Federation of Postal Employees (NFPE) and all its affiliates will be submitting memorandum on each and every cadre of the Department of Posts and shall try its best to get a favourable recommendation from Pay Commission in respect of Pay Scales of each cadre including Gramin Dak Sevaks. We are also exploring the possibility of submitting a joint memorandum by the entire staff side of the Department of Posts. Regarding common demands of entire Central Government Employees staff side, JCM National Council and Confederation of Central Govt. Employees & Workers shall submit memorandum to 7th CPC. Before that every attempt including agitation will be made to get the terms of reference of the Pay Commission amended, to include the proposal submitted by the Staff Side viz; date of effect from 01-01-2014, DA merger, Interim Relief, inclusion of GDS, inclusion of those appointed after 01-01-2004 in the old statutory pension scheme, Labour representative in Pay Commission, settlement of existing anomalies, Norms of fixing minimum wage, Party in Pension, Cashless-hassle free medicl facilities etc.
As far as AIPEU Group-C (CHQ) is concerned our main concern and responsibility is to ensure justified and better pay scales and other benefits to the Postal Assistant and allied cadre. We firmly believe that this time the Postal Assistant cadre and also all its allied cadres and promotional cadres shall get better pay cales from 7th CPC. In all other Central Government departments each cadre is performing a particular nature of work only. Income Tax Employees performs the duties related to Income Tax only. Audit & Accounts employees perform the duties relating to Audit & Accounts only. Bank Employees perform the duties related to Banking work only. Insurance Employees perform the work related to Insurance only. Likewise we can illustrate any number of examples. In all these cases, it can be seen that the employees of all other departments are specialised to work in their own particular stream of office work only.
Contrary to this, there is only one cadre in the entire Central Government departments which performs more than ten types of different specialised duties related to different sections and the name of that cadre is Postal Assistant. They have to learn and perform Banking work related to Savings Bank and Savings Certificates. They have to learn and perform Insurance work relating to Postal Life Insurance including acceptance of policy proposal, premium collection to maturity closure and payments etc. They have to perform the Accounts work in Accounts Branches of each Head Post Offices, they have to do Treasury work in all Post Offices, they have to perform the duties related to Mails, Sorting, delivery of all types of postal articles, they have to run financial services such as Money Orders including Electronic Money transfer, they have attend counter duties relating to booking of Registered, Speed Post, Money orders etc., They have to sell stamps and also application forms. They have to perform the work of Public Relation Inspectors. They have to perform the duties of Business Development activities and also as Marketing Executives. After introduction of high-Technology in all areas of work in Post Offices including Multi-purpose counter machines, Core Banking, PLI Computerisation, Online transactions, Accounts computerisation etc. each and every Postal Assistants is well versed with the computer-related work and some Postal Assistnts are engaged as System Administrators to set right the faults in the system and also to train the staff as and when new technology softwares are introduced. Government has allotted 5000 crores for 100% computerisation of Post Offices. Over and above all Postal Assistants are performing the duties of Postmasters which involves supervision of all the above mentioned work.
Thus unlike, any employee working in any other departments of Central Govt, or public sector undertakings, Postal Assistant Cadre is an all-in-one-cadre and hence called a “unique” cadre without any comparison. Naturally such a cadre deserves a better deal from the 7th Central Pay commission.
The same is the case with all the allied cadres and promotional cadres of Postal Assistant such as LSG, HSG-II, HSG-I, Postmaster Grade I, II & III, P.O & RMS Accountants, Treasurers, System Administrators, Business Executives etc. AIPEU Group-C (CHQ) is convening a two days Special National Convention and Workshop on 2014 May 26th &27th at New Delhi, exclusively for discussion, debate and finalisation of 7th CPC memorandum relating to cadres represented by AIPEU Group-C. All circle secretaries and Branch/Divisional secretaries are invited to participate in the special convention and workshop and also to present their valuable suggestions to be included in the memorandum. The draft memorandum prepared in the National Workshop will be published in the websites calling for further suggestions from the members. After that the memorandum will be finalised by the Central Working Committee of AIPEU Group-C to be held in the month of August or earlier in Andhra Pradesh. This is a serious business and a first step for ensuring betterment of our pay scales and service conditions and in this process we want to ensure total participation and involvement of the rank and file leaders and members, in a most democratic and transparent manner.
Denying child-care leave: Bombay High Court shocked by Airports Authority of India's attitude
Bombay High Court shocked by Airports Authority of India's attitude in denying child-care leave
By PTI | 22 Apr, 2014
The court was hearing a petition filed by S Mangala, Deputy General Manager (Aviation Safety), AAI,seeking implementation of child care leave norms recommended in the Sixth Pay Commission in 2008.The court was hearing a petition filed by S Mangala, Deputy General Manager (Aviation Safety), AAI, seeking implementation of child care leave norms recommended in the Sixth Pay Commission in 2008.
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court pulled up the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for not considering the plea of a woman employee who had sought child-care leave as prescribed by the government norms, to take care of her daughter who suffers from learning disability.
"We are surprised at the adversarial stand of the AAI ....We are shocked by the attitude of the AAI. As an employer you should have taken a sympathetic approach," said the division bench of Justices V M Kanade and Anil Memon.
The court was hearing a petition filed by S Mangala, Deputy General Manager (Aviation Safety), AAI, seeking implementation of child care leave norms recommended in the Sixth Pay Commission in 2008.
The Judges reserved the order after hearing both sides. Mangala approached the High Court after her request for leave for attending to her 12-year-old daughter was rejected.
Ajay Khaire, AAI's counsel, argued its policy did not cover the child care leave. "We have increased the maternity leave from 135 days to 180 days. But, there is no provision of child care leave," said Khaire.
Ravi Shetty, counsel for the Ministry of Civil Aviation, submitted that several public sector undertakings have their own policy and they do not follow the Centre's guidelines.
But the HC felt that AAI should have been more considerate. "It is a genuine request. Her child has special needs. Is it not the duty of the employer to be considerate?" asked Justice Kanade.
AAI has initiated disciplinary action against the petitioner for going on leave without approval. Unhappy with this, Justice Kanade remarked, "She is seeking leave for her child. Is it a crime? She went on leave for what purpose? See the context."
PA/ SA EXAM - ENGLISH SAMPLE QUESTIONS
SAMPLE ENGLISH QUESTION PAPER AND ANSWER KEY
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ARITHMETIC SAMPLE QUESTIONS
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Mathematics Section : Model Test for Postal / Sorting Assistant Exam 2014
1) A man goes 10 meter due east and then 24 meter due north. Find the distance from the starting point.
(A)26 meters
(B)24 meters
(C)28 meters
2) Ravi borrowed Rs.15, 000 from Anita at compound interest rate of 12% per annum. How much money should Sushil pay at the end of 2 years to settle the loan?
(A)Rs.18,600
(B)Rs.18,816
(C)Rs.18,618
(D)Rs.18,869
3) Capacity of a cylindrical vessel is 25.872 litres. If the height of the cylinder is three times the radius of its base, what is the area of the base in square cms?
(A)336
(B)1232
(C)616
(D)Cannot be determined
4) Mr Mohit is 7 times as old as his son. 10 years hence he will be 3 times as old as his son. What are their present ages (in years)?
(A)4, 28
(B)5, 35
(C)3, 21
(D)6, 42
5) Three men A, B and C go walking round a circle 1 kilometre in circumference at the rates of 10, 20 and 40 metres per minute respectively. If they all start together and walk in the same direction, when will they again be together at the same place?
(A)After 50 minutes
(B)After 240 minutes
(C)After 800 minutes
(D)After 100 minutes
6) A certain sum of money doubles in 10 years at simple interest. What is the rate of interest?
(A)20%
(B)30%
(C)10%
(D)5%
7) There are 30 students in a class. The average age of the first 10 students is 12.5 years. The average age of the next 20 students is 13.1 years. The average age of the whole class is:
(A)12.5 years
(B)12.7 years
(C)12.8 years
(D)12.9 years
8) The distance between Charu’s and Mani’s places is 120 km. Charu travelled the whole distance from her place to Mani’s at 30 km/hr but returned at 40 km/hr. Her average speed for the whole journey is (approximately):
(A)35 km/hr
(B)37 km/hr
(C)33 km/hr
(D)34 km/hr
9) If 6440 soldiers were asked to stand in rows to form a perfect square, it was found that 40 soldiers were left out. What was the number of soldiers in each row?
(A)40
(B)80
(C)64
(D)60
10) The difference between the simple interest and the compound interest compounded annually at the rate of 12% per annum on Rs 5,000 for two years will be:
(A)Rs 17.50
(B)Rs 36
(C)Rs 45
(D)Rs 72
11) A shopkeeper bought 800 kg rice at Rs.3840. He had to sell it at a loss of as much as he received for 16 kg. The selling price (per kg, in Rs.) will be:
(A)Rs.40
(B)Rs.100
(C)Rs.50
(D)Rs.80
12) A number is increased by 10% and then reduced by 10%. After this operation, the number:
(A)Does not change
(B)Decreases by 1 per cent
(C)Increases by 1 per cent
(D)Increases by 0.1 per cent
13) The sum of two times one natural number and three times another natural number is less than 24. If the first natural number is less than or equal to eight, the highest value of the second natural number is:
(A)5
(B)6
(C)7
(D)8
14) If A’s salary is 25% higher than B’s salary, how much per cent is B’s salary lower than A’s?
(A)15%
(B)20%
(C)25%
(D)33.33%
15) A does a work in 10 days and B does the same work in 15 days. In how many days they together will do the same work ?
(A)5 days
(B)6 days
(C)7 days
(D)8 days
16) The length of the longest rod that can be placed in a room which is 12 m long, 9 m broad and 8 m high is:
(A)27 m
(B)19 m
(C)17 m
(D)13 m
17) The weights in kilograms of 10 students are 52, 45,31, 35, 40, 55, 60, 38, 44, 36. If 44 is replaced by 46 and 40 is replaced by 35 then new median will be:
(A)42
(B)40.5
(C)40
(D)41.5
DIRECTIONS (Question No 18 & 19) Answer the following questions on the basis of the information given below. i. Trains A and B are travelling on the same route heading towards the same destination. Train B has already covered a distance of 220km before the train A started. ii. The two trains meet each other after 11 hours after start of train A iii. Had the trains been travelling towards each other (from a distance of 220 km) they would have met after one hour.
18) What is the speed of trains 'B' in kmph:
(A)116
(B)180
(C)100
(D)None of these
19) What is the speed of trains 'A' in kmph:
(A)118
(B)80.5
(C)102
(D)None of these
20) DIRECTIONS: What approximate (you are not expected to calculate the exact value) value will come in place of the question mark(?) in following equation?
384.996 x 15.001 + 44.99 = ?
(A)5080
(B)5820
(C)5280
(D)5420
21) If A’s salary is 25% higher than B’s salary, how much per cent is B’s salary lower than A’s?
(A)15%
(B)20%
(C)25%
(D)33.33%
22) Mr Ramesh spends 25% of his monthly salary on household expenditure, 20% of the remaining on children’s education, and the remaining is equally invested in three different schemes. If the amount invested in each scheme is Rs 5,600, what was the monthly salary of Mr Ramesh?
(A)Rs 28,000
(B)Rs 21,000
(C)Rs 24,000
(D)Cannot be determined
23) If the numerator of a fraction be increased by 12% and its denominator decreased by 2% the value of the fraction becomes 6/7. Thus, the original fraction is:
(A)3/4
(B)4/3
(C)2/3
(D)None of these
24) The curved surface of a cylinder is 264m². Its volume is 924m³. The height of the cylinder must be:
(A)8 m
(B)6 m
(C)4 m
(D)None of these
25) 13 chairs and 5 tables were brought for 8280. If the average cost of the table will be 1227, what is the average cost of a chair?
(A)2145
(B)165
(C)175
(D)None of these
Friends who attempted today's model test: Kushal Garg, Sonali, Janmejaya Jena, Ahmad Nadeem, Prachi Dubey, Gaurav Basumatary, Yogesh Patan, Antra Ghosh, Susmitha Gandra, Bhargavi Janga, Raziya Amrin, Sree Lakshmi Jayan, Rohan Kumar, Manish Kardam , Mahesh Bandi, Hafiza Shaik, Shantosh Upadhyay, Suheel Allie, Sumita Das, Aakash Bhatia, Amit Tiwari, Manish Kardam, Benjamin Pravin, Sana Khan, Yogesh Patan, Aamir Hussain, Debashish Mahapatra and Shah Haroon.
Answers
1) Ans. (A)26 meters
2) Ans. (B)Rs.18,816
3) Ans. (C)616
4) Ans. (B)5, 35
5) Ans. (D)After 100 minutes
6) Ans. (C)10%
7) Ans. (D)12.9 years
8) Ans. (A)35 km/hr
9) Ans. (B)80
10) Ans. (D)Rs 72
11) Ans. (A)Rs.40
12) Ans. (B)Decreases by 1 per cent
13) Ans. (C)7
14) Ans. (B)20%
15) Ans. (B)6 days
16) Ans. (C)17 m
17) Ans. (D)41.5
18) Ans. (C)100
19) Ans. (D)None of these
20) Ans. (B)5820
21) Ans. (B)20%
22) Ans. (A)Rs 28,000
23) Ans. (A)3/4
24) Ans. (B)6 m
25) Ans. (B)165
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