................... GUDUR POST...........

Friday, June 3, 2016

Rotational Transfers in Tirupathi Division

DEPARTMENT OF POSTS ::INDIA

OFFICE OF SUPDT.OF POST OFFICES,TIRUPATI DIVISION,TIRUPATI-517501

MEMO NO.B2/RT/2016 DATED AT TIRUPATI THE 01.06.2016

As per the recommendations of Transfer and Placement Committee which met on 30.05.16, following transfers/postings in PA cadre for the year 2016 are ordered with immediate effect.

ANNEXURE-I

Slno	Name of the official S/Sri/Smt	Present place of working	New place of posting	Remarks
1	R.Chengalrayulu	OA, DO,Tirupati	PA, Tirupati H.O.	Vice Sl.No.8
2	A.Sankar Reddy,	OA, DO,Tirupati	PA, S. V. University SO	Vice Sl.No.4 and to make first move
3	P.Subramanyam-II	SPM, SKT-North TSO	PA, Srikalahasti HO	Vice Sl.No.18
4	M.Shafiullah,	PA, SVU SO	PA, Tirupati H.O.	Vice Sl.No.10
5	K.Viswanathan	SPM, S.V. Nagar TSO	PA, Pakala A’Class SO	Vice post vacant
6	G.V.Ramana	PA, Piler LSG SO	PA, Kalikiri A’Class SO	Vice Sl.No.34
7	M.R.Geetha	SPM, Pisattur SO	SPM, Ekambarakuppam B’Class SO	Vice post vacant and at request w/o TA/TP
8	U.Lalithamma	PA, Tirupati HO	SPM, S.V.Nagar TSO	Vice Sl.no.5 and to make first move
9	K.S.Neelakantham	SPM, K.T.Road TSO	PA, S.V.University LSG SO	Vice Sl.no.12
10	A S B Prabhu,	PA, Tirupati HO	PA, S.V.University LSG SO	Vice Sl.No.17
11	K.Rajasekhar	SPM, SBR Puram SO	SPM, Pisattur C’Class SO	Vice sl.no.7
12	C.Saptagiri	PA, SVU SO	SPM, K.T.Road TSO	Vice sl.no.9 and to make first move
13	D.Kavitha	PA, Srikalahasti HO	SPM, Panagal A’Class SO	Vice post vacant
14	Ch.Venkateswarlu	SPM, Settipalle SO	PA, Renigunta LSG SO	Vice sl.no.24
15	N.Suseela Devi	PA, Tirupati HO	OA, DO, Tirupati	Vice Sl.no.1
16	G V N Vallari	PA, Tirupati HO	OA, DO, Tirupati	Vice Sl.No.2
17	P.V.Giribabu	PA, SVU SO	OA, DO, Tirupati	Vice Sl.no.29
18	C.Rambabu Rao	PA, Srikalahasti HO	SPM, SKT-North TSO	Vice Sl.no.3 and to make first move
19	V.Chandrasekhar	SPM, Pallam SO	SPM, Settipalle C’Class SO	Vice Sl.no.14 at request w/o TA/TP
20	M.Revathi	PA, Tirupati HO	OA, DO, Tirupati	Vice Sl.no.42
21	I.Subhashini	PA, SVU SO	PA, Chandragiri HO	Vice Sl.No.30
22	Y.Yellaiah	PA, Chandragiri HO	PA, Renigunta LSG SO	Vice Sl.No.43 in the interest of service and to make first move
23	S.Jeevan	PA, Tirupati HO	PA, Tirumala LSG SO	Vice Sl.no.31 at request w/o TA/TP.
24	K.Hemanth	PA, Renigunta SO	PA, Tirupati HO	Vice Sl.No.15
25	G.Babjan	SPM, Mahal SO	PA, Gurramkonda B’Class SO	Vice post vacant
26	G.Vinodkumar	SPM, Nehrubazar Piler TSO	PA, Piler LSG SO	Vice sl.no.6
27	P.Venkatramaiah	PA, Tirumala LSG SO	PA, Tirupati HO	Vice sl.no.16
28	M.Sreenivasa Rao	SPM, Kovanur SO	PA, Srikalahasti HO	Vice Sl.no.18
29	MVASAN Srinivas	OA, DO	PA, Tirupati HO	Vice Sl.no. 20
30	N.Hemalatha	PA, Chandragiri HO	SPM, Nehrubazar-Piler TSO	Vice Sl.No.26 and to make first move
31	N.Madhavi	PA, Tirumala	PA, Tirupati HO	Vice Sl.no.23
32	A.G.Arundhathi	SPM, Pachikapallam	PA, Tirupati HO	Vice Sl.No.39 at request and w/o TA/TP
33	V.Somanatham	SPM, Akkurthy SO	SPM, Kovanur C’Class SO	Vice Sl.No.28
34	D.Hemachandra Reddy	PA, Kalikiri SO	PA, Tirupati HO	Vice Sl.No.40.
35	K.Ananda	SPM, Bhakarapet	SPM, Rompicherla C’Class SO	Vice post vacant

ANNEXURE-II

Slno	Name of the official S/Sri/Smt	Present place of working	New place of posting	Remarks
36	A.Anjaneyulu	LRPA, Tirupati HO A/T Satyavedu SO	PA, Satyavedu A’Class SO	Vice post vacant
37	M.Narasimha Reddy	LRPA, Tirupati HO A/T Gurramkonda SO	SPM, Mahal C’Class SO	Vice Sl.no.25 and to make first move

ANNEXURE-III

Slno	Name of the official S/Sri/Smt	Present place of working	New place of posting	Remarks
38	R.S.Balaji	PA, Puttur SO	SPM, SBR Puram C’Class SO	Vice Sl.no.11 at request w/o TA/TP and to make first move
39	T.Purushotham	PA, Tirupati HO	SPM, K.V.Puram C’Class SO	Vice post vacant and at request w/o TA/TP
40	S.Ajaykrishna	PA, Tirupati HO	PA, Srikalahasti HO	Vice post vacant at request and w/o TA/TP
41	D.Munisankara	PA, Srikalahasti HO	PA, Chandragiri HO	Vice Sl.No.22 and at request on medical grounds and w/o TA/TP
42	S.Vasundhara	OA, DO,Tirupati	PA, Tirupati HO	Vice post vacant and at request
43	E.Hemalatha	PA, Renigunta	SPM, Pallam C’Class SO	Vice sl.no.19 at request w/o TA/TP and to make first make

The officials ordered to make 1^stmove should be relieved immediately. No leave of any kind will be granted to the above officials till they join in their new place of posting. Charge reports may be sent to all concerned without fail.
sd/-

(T.A.V.SARMA)

Supdt.of Post Offices

Tirupati Division,Tirupati-517501

A copy of this memo is issued to :

· The Offiicials

· PFs of the Officials

· The Postmasters, Tirupati H.O/Srikalahasti H.O/Chandragiri H.O for information.

· All the Sub Divisional Heads for the information.

· The Postmaster General , Kurnool region,Kurnool-2 for favour of information.

· The Divisional Secretaries NFPE/NUPE/SEWA , Tirupati for information.

· All OAs in D.O for information.

· The SPMs of Concerned Sub Offices mentioned above.

· Office Copy SD/-

(T.A.V.SARMA)

Supdt.of Post Offices

Tirupati Division,Tirupati-517501

Condolences

Smt. A. Jayanthi recently recruited GDS MD, Minamanamudi a/w Kotapolur has been demised on 02.06.16. NFPE Gudur expressing deepest Condolences

Delhi : Candle march to Jantar Mantar on 7th Pay Commission

New Delhi: The eve of 1st June, 2016 saw thousands of resident doctors in the capital coming together to show their protest in the form of a candle march against the 7th pay commission.The doctors, who had earlier declared an indefinite strike on this issue, decided to opt for a protest candle march instead, after the Union health minister promised to look into their demands.

The doctor collected at Central Park CP, and marched to Jantar Mantar, with lit candles in their hand. The march called by Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) saw participations from resident doctors as well as senior doctors, faculty members, medical officers alike.

Since the recommendations will have an impact on the remuneration on all government employees including Central government, State government as well as autonomous institutions, the medical fraternity in the government sector slowly appears to be uniting from all sections on this common issue. FORDA is reported to have given the government, time till 7th June, 2016, after which the doctors may resort to an indefinite strike.

What is NPA ?

Non Practicing allowance is given to doctors in states, where private practice along with government service is not allowed. NPA is a matter of right of govt. doctor and is meant as a compensation for denial of private practice. De Jure & de Facto, it is a part of the scale of pay and is inevitably linked to the basic pay.

It is being given to the doctors only since 1922. In 1962 the GOI brought the notification that NPA to be considered as special pay for all purposes. It is a part of basic pay/emoluments (Rule 9(21)(a)(i) of Fundamental Rules.

Why it is given to Doctors ?

NPA is doctors right. In 1997 MOH, GOI stated in Chapter II 2.2 the reasons for NPA

Basic medical course is longer & more expensive.
Average age of entry in service is 29 years.
Have fewer closed holidays.
Often works at odd hours.
Attend emergency cases beyond duty hours.

Why this agitation ?

When the 7th CPC was constituted the doctors were very hopeful that their demands will be looked after, which were increasing NPA to 40% from existent 25%. Instead NPA has been reduced to 20% only.
The basic pay and NPA were merged together while calculating HRA earlier, but this thing has been omitted now and HRA will be calculated only with basic pay resulting in less than the desired salary.
There is already a discrepancy between the remuneration of the doctors working in the government sector and doctors working in the private sector. With this pay commission, there will be a higher discrepancy between government and private doctors.
This will also be blow on the retention of good doctors in government sector.

Source : http://medicaldialogues.in/

India Post Payments Bank to be a reality

The total corpus of the payments bank is of Rs 800 crore, which will have Rs 400-crore equity and Rs 400-crore grant

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will be set up as a public limited company under the Department of Posts with 100 per cent government equity. The Cabinet approved a proposal in this respect on Wednesday.

The total corpus of the payments bank is of Rs 800 crore, which will have Rs 400-crore equity and Rs 400-crore grant.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the Cabinet meeting that 650 branches of the postal payments bank would be established in India, which will be linked to rural post offices.

India has 154,000 post offices, of which 139,000 are rural post offices. IPPB will obtain banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by March 2017 and by September 2017, all 650 branches of the postal payments bank would become operational.

Its services will be available across the country through these 650 payments bank branches, linked post offices and alternative channels, riding on modern technology including mobiles, ATMs and simple digital payments.

“This we had planned for three years, but now we will be doing it in a year,” said Prasad. He added that the payments bank, which will be run by a Chief Executive Officer, would be professionally managed and there would be a representation from various other government departments including the Department of Posts, Department of Expenditure, etc.

He said all ‘grameen dak sevaks’ in rural post offices would be given hand-held devices by March 2017.

“We are reinforcing it further. I have had discussion with my officers to give iPad and smartphones to postmen in urban post offices,” said Prasad.

At present, the core banking network of post offices is more than that of the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI).

7th Pay Commission Award From July 1

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will take the Empowered Committee of Secretaries’ proposal
to the Union Cabinet for its approval in this month.

New Delhi: A Finance Ministry’s official today said new pay scale for all central government officials and employees under the 7th Pay Commission award will be implemented from July 1, 2015.

“The 7th Pay Commission award will be implemented after taking decision of the cabinet in light of recommendations made in the reports of the 7th Pay Commission and the recommendations Empowered Committee of Secretaries, which will be made on June 11″ he said in reply to our question.

The cabinet expects giving the 7th Pay Commission award to central government employees in the next month, The Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give his approval to the 7th Pay Commission award like he approved the proposal of extending the retirement age of all doctors of the Central Health Service to 65 years, creating a record of sorts by clearing the proposal in less than than 24 hours of receiving it from the Health Ministry, said a top PMO official on Tuesday asked not to be named because he was not authorized to release the information.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries would scrutinise recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission on June 11 finally to make government able to announce the 7th Pay Commission award to implement from July 1, Finance Ministry official said.

Accordingly, the brightest diyas of coming Diwali will be lit outside houses of central government employees. For, when the rest of the world is reeling under the fear of losing jobs.

The 7th pay commission recommendations’ implementation could not have been timelier, some economic experts say. So when the world is plunging in recession, central government employees are busy counting their blessings along with the hard cash they will receive in August as arrears from January 2016.

The several central government establishments such as the railways, telecom, air force, army, CPWD, CRPF, DRDO, CISF, Income Tax, Survey of India, customs and excise, among others are in happy mood.

These would perhaps live up to the ‘happy and prosperous’ Diwali greeting. After all, they will get arrears as well as bonus ahead of festive season.

The 7th Pay Commission headed by Justice A K Mathur proposed the highest salary at Rs 250,000 and the lowest at Rs 18,000. The commission also recommended 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay, 23.55% overall increase in salary, allowances and pensions. The increase in allowances was recommended 63% while pension was proposed to rise 24%.

The previous Sixth Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike in basic pay which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.

A 13 members Empowered Committee of Secretaries, led by cabinet Secretary P K Sinha was formed in January to review the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission before cabinet nod and the committee is likely to finalize its work on June 11.

The Empowered Committee of Secretaries is likely to reach the conclusion to propose 30 percent basic pay raise instead of 14.27 per cent, which was recommended by 7th Pay Commission. They are also mulling for doubling of existing rates of such allowances and advances, which has been recommended for abolition by the 7th Pay Commission, sources said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will take the Empowered Committee of Secretaries’ proposal to the Union Cabinet for its approval in this month,” they said.

The new pay scales will be effective from January 1 for all central government employees.

Postal bank- armed with iPad, postman will be your banker soon

NEW DELHI: Your postman is set to become a banker with the Union Cabinet clearing a proposal to set up a postal bank.

The move will see the postman provide a host of financial services at your doorstep, armed with an iPad and a smartphone. These will range from basic banking services like opening current or savings accounts(with a balance of up to Rs 1lakh) to all kinds of payments -including social security payments, person-to-person remittances -and distribution of financial products such as insurance and mutual funds.

"We have 1.54 lakh post offices, of which 1.39 lakh are rural post offices. Nearly 650 branches of postal payments bank will be established in the country , which will be linked to rural post offices," telecom and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will have a corpus of Rs 800 crore and Prasad said it will be run by a CEO, while being professionally managed.There will be representatives from other government de partments, including the department of posts, department of expenditure and department of economic services.

There is a high level of excitement regarding the postal bank as private financial entities want to ride on its vast network to reach the length and breadth of the country.

More than five dozen domestic and foreign banks, mutual funds and insurance com panies are seeking to strike business opportunities with the postal department. Among those interested are domestic giants such as SBI, PNB, Union Bank and international entities like Barclays Bank, Deutsche Bank and HSBC. Also in queue are HDFC Life, ICICI Lombard, ICICI Prudential, Bajaj Allianz, Kotak Life Insurance, Royal Sundaram and PNB Metlife.

All post offices will be access points for IPPB. These post offices will be equipped with micro-ATMs for facilitating both cash and digital transactions. Nearly 1.7 lakh delivery postmen and Grameen Dak sevaks, savings agents and other postal franchisees will take banking to your doorsteps. It will have additional access points through about 5,000 ATMs, mobile and internet banking .

Thursday, June 2, 2016

PROMOTION ORDERED FROM LSG ACCOUNTANT CADRE TO HSG II IN TAMILNADU CIRCLE

IP to ASP Promotions ordered in Tamilnadu Circle

RELAXATION TO TRAVEL BY PRIVATE AIRLINES TO VISIT J&K - EXTENSION FOR LTC BY AIR

5 Lakh govt employees to go on leave, demand higher salaries

By Express News Service

Published: 31st May 2016 05:06 AM

BENGALURU: More than five lakh employees of the state government are set to go on an authorised leave on June 2, demanding higher salaries. Karnataka State Government Employee’s Association President B P Manjegowda said the disparity between the Centre’s and State’s pay scales had widened over the years.

“The Central government employees have rejected the 23.5 per cent increase recommended by the 7th Pay Commission and a committee is looking into it now. Even with that increase, the difference in salaries between a D group employee of the State and Centre would be 111.33 per cent,” Manje Gowda said. He said they were demanding the state give DA (Daily Allowance) which was equivalent to that given by the Centre.

Karnataka State Government Employees Association, Hubballi unit, has said all its employees will remain absent from work on June 2, demanding increase in salaries and benefits. Around 6,000 staff of 63 departments in Hubballi would boycott work on June 2, said its president SB Patil. He said the Centre is likely to implement the 7th pay commission recommendations but the state government is not doing so.

Courtesy: :http://www.newindianexpress.com

State govt. staff in Bidar to join strike

States collecting lesser taxes than Karnataka were paying their employees higher salaries’

‘

State government employees in the district will join their colleagues across the State in the one-day symbolic strike on June 2 demanding wage revision to bring in pay parity with Central government employees. That day, they will not attend office. They will gather outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office and submit a memorandum at around 1.30 p.m.

“We demand equal pay for equal work. Central government employees handling similar responsibilities in the same place of work get nearly twice our salary. We want this disparity to go,” Rajendra Kumar Gandage, Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association district unit president, told presspersons in Bidar on Tuesday.

In 1966, the State government announced that it would constitute pay commissions every five years. That should have meant 10 commissions till now. But till now, it has constituted only five commissions, three committees with senior officers and one Cabinet sub-committee. This practice should stop. Commissions should be appointed regularly, without fail, he said.

He claimed that 24 States were using recommendations of the Union government’s pay commissions to decide the salary and allowances of State government employees. “Why can’t the Karnataka government do that?,’’ Mr. Gandage said. According to him, States collecting lesser taxes than Karnataka were paying their employees higher salaries.

According to him, the disparity in salaries between the Union and State government employees was between 44-110 per cent depending on the rank of officials. The disparity in dearness allowance alone is between 20-80 per cent.

Mr. Gandage also said Telangana was paying employees more than Karnataka. For example, a D group office assistant in Telangana is drawing salary equal to school teachers in Karnataka.

Across the State 40 per cent of sanctioned posts are vacant. The Chief Minister should take steps to fill them. In Bidar alone, 7,000 of the 20,000 posts are vacant, Ramesh Mathpati, general secretary, said.

Emergency services in the Health Department will not be affected by the strike. Those on emergency duty will work with black badges. They will also mark absent in their muster rolls, Rajkumar Malge, state council member, said.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com

Retirement age of doctors under central govt raised to 65 yrs

New Delhi, May 31 (PTI) Superannuation age of all doctors in Central Health Service has been enhanced to 65 years with effect from today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said about the decision that will benefit about 4000 doctors.

"Central Government has decided to enhance superannuation age of all doctors in Central Health Service to 65 years with effect 31st May 2016," he tweeted.

"With this step, we retain our experienced doctors for a longer period & provide quality health services to citizens, particularly the poor," Modi added in another tweet.

There are about 4000 doctors under the Central Health Service, according to the Health Ministry website.

Modi had announced at a rally in Saharanpur on May 26 that the Union Cabinet will take a decision within a week to raise the retirement age for doctors to 65 years "whether in states or government of India".

Health Minister J P Nadda today said the step will empower the government to strengthen the healthcare sector in the country.

"This will enable the government to retain experienced doctors for a longer period, and to provide better services in its public health facilities, particularly to the poorest, who are entirely dependent on public facilities," he said.

"It will help in providing additional doctors in the health pool of the country. This will strengthen the efforts of the Ministry in conceptualising and rolling out various people-oriented schemes which need the services of doctors in implementing them," the minister said.

Modi had said at the May 26 rally that there is a need for more doctors across the country but it was not possible to fill the gap in two years of his government.

"There is a shortage of doctors. In government hospitals, their retirement is 60 years in some states, 62 in some others. If adequate numbers of medical institutes were there, then we would have more doctors and would not feel the shortage. It is difficult to make doctors in two years but poor families cannot be forced to live without doctors.

"Therefore from Uttar Pradesh, I want to announce this to my countrymen that this week our governments Cabinet will take a decision and the retirement age of our doctors, whether in states or government of India, would be made 65 years instead of 60 or 62," he said.

Source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in

STRUGGLE INEVITABLE

Outcome of the Cabinet Secretary and NJCA leaders

informal discussion

In the absence of any indication that the Empowered Committee of Secretaries will again meet the NJCA Leaders to discuss over the final positions emerging on the modifications sought by the Staff Side over the recommendations of 7^thCPC, the NJCM Staff Side Secretary Comrade Shiv Gopal Mishra sought and got an interview with the Cabinet Secretary.

The following issues emerged from the discussion:

1. The basic pay of MTS will be slightly enhanced from the recommended 18,000/-. But it appears that the enhancement may not be nearer to the need based minimum wage calculations presented by the Staff Side.

2. Despite the MTS wages revised, the Fitment Factor as recommended by 2.57 will not change for both employees and pensioners.

3. The first option recommended by the 7^th CPC for Refixation of pension to past pensioners viz., the number of increments earned by the pensioners in his last pay scale before his retirement should be taken into account, is not acceptable to both Defense Ministry and Pension Ministry.

Defense Ministry has opposed the formula. The Pension Ministry says that in the absence of preserved records, such a calculation is not feasible.

4. A Committee will be constituted to go into the issue of abolition of 52 allowances recommended by the Pay Commission.

5. No indication about the HRA percentage that has been recommended by the Pay Commission to reduce it.

6. A Committee will be constituted to go into the issue of New Pension Scheme to government employees recruited on or after 1.1.2004.

From the above, it is crystal clear that the Official Side is not at all interested to take into account the genuine grievances of staff and pensioners. The Official Side is bent upon provoking the CG Employees to go on strike and the Pensioners to go on a campaign. They want a confrontation between the Government and the Employees to settle whatever score they want to settle. We know that already the bureaucracy is divided between the Organized Group ‘A’ Service Officers and the All India Service Officers. The Secretaries in the Empowered Committee do not want to settle any of the issues and they desire not to change any of the recommendations of the Pay Commission!

It is in this background a struggle becomes unavoidable.

It is in this background that the NJCA is meeting on 3.6.2016.

It is in this background that the NCCPA is meeting on 27.6.2016.

Let there be strong decisions for waging an uncompromising struggle on basic issues.

AIPRPA will extend total support to the CG Employees movement and will strive to organise along with the NCCPA to mobilize all Pensioners Organisations to stand in one platform and plan sustained movement,

Let all Get Ready to wage a Struggle for Justice!

_KR GS AIPRPA

Revision/ Amendment in Recruitment Rules for the post of Postal Service Group 'B'

To view Directorate memo No. 9-14/2010-SPG dated 30.5.2016, please CLICK HERE.

Clerk Grade (for Multi Tasking Staff) Limited Departmental Competitive Examination 2016-intimation of vacancies-Reminder No 5

Click here to view

Banking sector: More bad news expected

Poor March quarter numbers indicate more bad news in the offing. Experts say prices not cheap. Is the worst over for banking stocks? Poor March quarter numbers indicate more bad news in the offing. Experts say prices not cheap. Is the worst over for banking stocks?

The RBI may be going soft on banks in its asset quality review for the March quarter, but there is no respite from burgeoning bad loans for the lenders. The current earning season shows that asset quality-related stress at banks remains very high. Lender after lender, particularly public sector ones, have reported massive losses. Most bank stocks have seen prices tanking. The PSU bank index has fallen 37% in the past year, and lost 11.6% per year for the past five years. Is the worst over for banking stocks ??

Last year was particularly bad for the banking sector. Loan book growth for 25 banks (the latest March quarter numbers were declared until 17 May), including private and public sector players, stood at 10.7% in 2015-16—the slowest in two decades. On top of that, these banks nearly doubled their gross non-performing assets (NPAs) to Rs 2.43 lakh crore over the last fiscal.

This sharp ramp-up in NPA was mostly owing to the mandatory asset quality clean-up by the RBI that requires banks to recognise and provide for non-performing loans. Higher provisioning eats into the bank's profitability. Earlier, the banks maintained profitability by keeping certain stressed assets out of the NPA category. That way they did not have to set aside funds for them. However, the RBI mandated asset quality review has got the skeletons tumbling out of the cupboard.

The quantum of provisioning and additional slippages in the March quarter has surprised analysts. Punjab National Bank posted the largest quarterly loss ever reported by an Indian lender at Rs 5,367 crore. Its provisioning cost rose three-fold to Rs 10,485 crore, eating away all profits. As a percentage of its loan book, PNB's gross NPAs now stand at a whopping 12.9%.

Another PSU lender, Bank of Baroda's continuing asset quality pangs shocked markets too. After reporting a loss of Rs 3,342 crore in the December quarter owing to 'one-off' provisioning for bad loans, the lender followed it up with another loss of Rs 3,230 crore in the March quarter. While announcing the numbers for the preceding quarter, the bank's management had indicated that the worst was over as it had taken the entire provisioning hit in a single quarter, unlike other banks which opted to spread it out over several quarters.

Four other state-run lenders, UCO Bank , Dena Bank, Allahabad Bank and Central Bank of India , have reported a weakening balance sheet in the just concluded quarter. The extent of additional provisioning by these banks indicates higher than anticipated stress in balance sheets. Numbers from the country's largest lender State Bank of India are still awaited (due on 27 May) and could reveal more. Given how the situation across banks, the country's biggest lender is not likely to paint a different picture.

Meanwhile, experts are not sure whether the worst is over for PSU banks. Vikas Gupta, CIO, ArthVeda Capital, says, "We are not comfortable with PSU banking stocks yet. More bad news could be in the offing and prices do not look cheap compared to fundamentals." Within the PSU banking space, mid-sized entities like Allahabad Bank, Dena Bank, Union Bank of India and Andhra Bank are in particularly bad shape.

Apart from high asset quality stress, they are hampered on the operational front too, points out a Edelweiss Securities report. "We perceive clear demarcation between large and mid-size PSU banks and expect pressure to continue in latter. Given increasing BASEL III (capital adequacy) requirement and limited capital support from the government, dilution risk is imminent at weak multiples, which will be detrimental to shareholders' returns," says the report.

Despite ongoing woes, prices of several PSU bank stocks surged around mid-February after the RBI announced that it would go easy in the asset quality review. The passage of the Bankruptcy Bill boosted stocks and the sharp decline in prices earlier also supported the rally. However, once the weak results were announced, prices of most banking stocks took a renewed hammering. Most PSU bank stocks are now trading at a discount to book value, leading some to argue that the downside for these stocks is limited and that they could be great value picks at current prices.

"The valuations of PSU banks factor in the potential stressed loans and weak core operating performance for 2016-17," says Alpesh Mehta, Research Analyst, Motilal Oswal Securities. But he prefers private banks over state-owned banks. Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market expert, says the risk-reward is more in favour of PSU banking space now given that the market has mostly discounted continuing asset quality pangs. There is a belief that many of the banks' books are now cleaner after the hefty NPA provisioning, and that these lenders are now done with most of it. "Public sector banks are not likely to provide any further surprises. However, risks are more prominent in private banking stocks where negative results have come as a surprise," says Baliga.

Private lenders ICICI Bank and Axis Bank posted weaker than expected numbers in the March quarter and also came out with weak guidance for this fiscal. While ICICI Bank has indicated likely stress in Rs 44,000 crore worth of loans going forward, Axis Bank has put Rs 22,628 worth of loans on watch. A handful of private banking stocks like Yes Bank , IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have displayed consistent resilience to the NPA issue. These are considered more retail-centric banks where asset quality issues are under control. Not surprisingly, these stocks have surged over the past few months even as others have stumbled. Most analysts have maintained 'buy' rating on these stocks.

Stay away from PSU banking funds

EQUITY FUNDS focused on banking stocks continue to be weighed down by the gloom surrounding the sector. Over the past year, this fund category has tailed international funds as the worst performing category, clocking a negative return of 7.53%. The worst affected funds have been the ones purely focused on the PSU banking segment. Kotak PSU Bank ETF and Goldman Sachs PSU Bank BeES Fund have both seen a 36% drop in their NAV over the past year.

Investors willing to bets on the banking sector should not restrict their exposure to PSU bank focused funds. If at all, opt for funds which invest across banking and financial services stocks. Here the fund manager has the freedom to pick from a basket of private banking as well as non-banking financial services players that boast of better quality loan books, apart from PSBs. These funds have done relatively better in recent times.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Cabinet approves India Post payments bank proposal

Govt will set up 650 branches of the Postal Payments Bank by September 2017, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday cleared a proposal to set up the India Post payments bank with a corpus of Rs.800 crore and has plans to have 650 branches operational by September 2017, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

“The Cabinet has cleared proposal of postal payments bank. We have 1.54 lakh post offices of which 1.39 lakh are rural post offices. 650 branches of postal payments bank will be established in the country which will be linked to rural post offices,” Prasad said.

The minister said the payments bank, which will be run by a chief executive officer, will be professionally managed and there will be a representation from various other government departments including the Department of Posts, Department of Expenditure, Department of Economic Services etc.

“Total architecture of postal payments bank is of Rs 800 crore which will have Rs 400 crore equity and Rs 400 crore grant. By September 2017, all 650 branches of postal payments bank will become operational.This we had planned for three years but now we will be doing it in a year,” Prasad said.

He said that all rural post offices will be given handheld devices by March 2017. “We are reinforcing it further. I have had discussion with my officers to give iPad and smartphones to postmen in urban post offices,” Prasad said. At present, there are 22,137 post offices with core banking facility compared to State Bank of India’s 1,666 branches.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

POST OF CHIEF POSTMASTER GENERAL IS ALLOTTED FOR PROPOSED TELANGANA CIRCLE

Sixth Cadre Review of Indian Postal Services,(IPoS) Group 'A' - Creation and abolition of posts :

One Post of Director General, Postal Services --

One Post of Chief Postmaster General for the new proposed postal circle in Telanga State.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL DETAILS AND COPY OF THE ORDER ISSUED