HIGHLIGHTS OF RAILWAY BUDGET 2012-2013

RAILWAY BUDGET 2012-13

•     Passenger fares increased marginally. The increase will be by 2 paise per km for suburban and ordinary second class; 3 paise per km for mail/express second class; 5 paise per km for sleeper class; 10 paise per km for AC Chair Car, AC 3 tier and First Class; 15 paise per km for AC 2 tier and 30 paise per km for AC I.

•     Minimum fare and platform tickets to cost Rs. 5.

•     50% concession in fare in AC-2, AC-3, Chair Car & Sleeper classes to patients suffering from ‘Aplastic Anaemia’ and ‘Sickle Cell Anaemia’.

•     Extending the facility of travel by Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains to Arjuna Awardees.

•     Travel distance under ‘Izzat Scheme’ to increase from 100 kms to 150 kms.

•     SMS on passenger mobile phone in case of e-ticket to be accepted as proof of valid reservation.

•     Introduction of satellite based real time train information system (SIMRAN) to provide train running information to passengers through SMS, internet, etc.

•     On board passenger displays indicating next halt station and expected arrival time to be introduced.

•     Installation of 321 escalators at important stations of which 50 will be commissioned in 2012-13.

•     Introduction of regional cuisine at affordable rates; launching of Book-a-meal scheme to provide multiple choice of meals through SMS or email.

•     Introduction of coin/currency operated ticket vending machines.

•     Upgradation of 929 stations as Adarsh Stations including 84 stations proposed in 2012-13; 490 stations have been completed so far.

•     Specially designed coaches for differently-abled persons to be provided in each Mail/Express trains.

•     Introduction of Rail Bandhu on-board magazines on Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Duronto trains.

•     Setting up of AC Executive lounges at important stations

•     75 new Express trains to be introduced.

•     21 new passenger services, 9 DEMU services and 8 MEMU services to be introduced.

•     Run of 39 trains to be extended.

•     Frequency of 23 trains to be increased.

•     75 additional services to run in Mumbai suburban; 44 new suburban services to be introduced in Kolkata area, 50 new services to be introduced in Kolkata Metro; 18 additional services in Chennai area.

•     725 km new lines, 700 km doubling, 800 km gauge conversion and 1,100 km electrification targeted in 2012-13.

•     Rs 6,872 cr provided for new lines, Rs 3,393 cr for doubling, Rs 1,950 cr for gauge conversation, Rs 828 cr for electrification

•     Highest ever plan outlay of Rs. 60,100 cr

•     Rae Bareli coach factory manufactured 10 coaches in 2011-12; phase-II of the factory would be commissioned in 2012-13.

•     A wagon factory to be set up at Sitapali (Ganjam District of Odisha)

•     A rail coach factory with the support of Government of Kerala to be set up at Palakkad; two additional new manufacturing units for coaches to be established in the Kutch area in Gujarat and at Kolar in Karnataka with active participation of the State Governments.

•     Setting up of a factory at Shyamnagar in West Bengal to manufacture next generation technology propulsion system for use in high power electric locomotives.

•     Creating Missions as recommended by Pitroda Committee to implement the modernization programme.

•     Setting up of Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority to be considered.

•     New Board Members for Safety/Research and PPP/Marketing to be inducted.

•     Rail-Road Grade Separation Corporation to be set up to eliminate level crossings.

•     Indian Railway Station Development Corporation to be set up to redevelop stations through PPP mode.

•     Logistics Corporation to be set up for development & management of existing railway goods sheds and multi-modal logistics parks.

•      National High Speed Rail Authority to be set-up.

•     Pre-feasibility studies on six high speed corridors already completed; study on Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur to be taken up in 2012-13.

•     Introduction of a ‘Green Train’ to run through the pristine forests of North Bengal.

•     Setting up of 200 remote railway stations as ‘green energy stations’ powered entirely by solar energy.

•     Providing solar lighting system at 1,000 manned level crossing gates.

•     2,500 coaches to be equipped with bio toilets.

•     Setting up of 72 MW capacity windmill plants in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

•     Installation of Integrated Security System at all 202 identified stations to be completed in 2012-13.

•     Escorting of trains by RPF/GRP extended to 3,500 trains.

•     Integration of RPF helpline with the All India Passenger Helpline.

•     Setting up of a Railway Safety Authority as a statutory regulatory body as recommended by Kakodkar Committee

•     . Three ‘Safety Villages’ to be set up at Bengaluru, Kharagpur and Lucknow for skill development for disaster management.

•     Over one lakh persons to be recruited in 2012-13 – backlog of SC/ST/OBC and other categories to be wiped off.

•     Introduction of a wellness programme for railway staff at their work places.

•     Ensuring proper rest for skilled and technical staff including the running crew.

•     Institution of ‘Rail Khel Ratna’ Award for 10 rail sports-persons every year.

•     New coaching terminal at Naihati, the birth place of Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay commemorating him on 175th Birth Anniversary.

•     .Project to connect Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh to be taken up in 2012-13.

•     Freight loading of 1,025 MT targeted; 55 MT more than 2011-12

•     Passenger growth targeted at 5.4 %.

Source: http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite

Mechanism to Lodge on line Complaints by the Member of Public

     For on-line lodging of grievances in general by members of public, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances has set up a web-based portal called Centralized Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), enabling citizens for lodging grievances from any geographical location and also viewing the status of redressal of the grievances. The Public Grievances portal can be accessed at http://pgportal.gov.in

courtesy:ipaspandhra.blogspot

MINUTES OF COMMITTEE OF CADRE RESTRUCTURING OF MMS STAFF HELD AT HYDERABAD ON 12th & 13th MARCH-2012

Courtesy:http://nfpe.blogspot.in

Job Highlights (10 MARCH 2012 -16 MARCH 2012)

1 Union Public Service Commission notifies Engineering Services Examination, 2012. Last Date : 09.04.2012.

2 Union Public Service Commission notifies Indian Police Service Limited Competitive Examination, 2012. Last Date : 01.04.2012

3 Railway Recruitment Boards invites applications for recruitment of 6449 posts. Last Date : 09.04.2012

4 Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force invites applications from male Indian Citizens for filling up 709 posts of Constables (Tradesman) in various trades. Last Date : 26.03.2012.

5 Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) requires 606 Senior Technical Assistant ‘B’, Technician ‘A’ & Administrative & Allied Cadre. Last Date: 09.04.2012.

6 Airport Authority of India invites applications for 359 posts of Junior Executive (ATC) and Junior Executive (Electronics). Last Date : 30.03.2012.

7 South Eastern Coalfields Limited requires 249 Mining Sirdar. Last Date: 31.03.2012.

8 Ordnance Factory, Kanpur invites applications for 185 Group ‘C’ Industrial Establishment/Non Industrial Establishment Employees posts. Last Date : 09.04.2012.

9 15 Filed Ammunition Depot requires 57 Fireman & Mazdoor. Last Date : 21 days after publication.

10 Safdarjung Hospital and VMMC, New Delhi requires 50 Staff Nurses. Last Date : 30 days after publication.

Courtesy: employment news

Department issues orders for engagement of GDS Compassionate Grounds

SCHEME FOR ENGAGMENT OF GDS ON COMPASSIONATE GROUNDS-MERIT POINTS AND PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION-REVISED PROVISIONS THEREOF.

vide order No.17-17/2010-GDS Dated 09 Mar, 2012

source Rural Postal Employees News

UPSC Engineering Services Examination 2012

 

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will be conducting a combined competitive examination for recruitment to the Engineering services/posts under categories: Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering. UPSC will hold Engineering Services Examination 2012 commencing on 15th June, 2012. The number of vacancies to be filled on the results of the examination is expected to be approximately 560 including 47 PH vacancies.

Exam Name: Engineering Services Examination 2012

 

Educational Qualification: Candidate must hold a degree in Engineering or equivalent. Provided that a candidate applying for the posts of Indian Naval Armament Service (Electronics Engineering Posts) and Engineer Group A in Wireless Planning & Coordination Wing/Monitoring Organization may possess M.Sc.Degree or its equivalent with Wireless Communication, Electronics, Radio Physics or Radio Engineering as a special subject. Candidates who qualify on the results of the written part of the examination will be summoned for personality test.

Application Fee: Rs.100/- either by remitting the money in any Branch of SBI by cash or by using net banking facility of State Bank of India/State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur/ State Bank of Hyderabad/ State Bank of Mysore/ State Bank of Patiala/ State Bank of Travancore or by using Visa/ Master Credit/Debit card. No fee for SC/ ST/ Female / PH candidates.

How To Apply: Candidates are required to apply Online through www.upsconline.nic.in up to 9th April, 2012 till 11.59 PM.

Detailed Info: http://upsc.gov.in/exams/notifications/2012/ese/eng.pdf

RBI invites applications from eligible Indian citizens, for the post of Assistant vacancies to fill up 1000 posts.

Vacancy details: A total of 1000 vacancies available for Assistant jobs 2012 in RBI across various regions. Out of which45 for Ahmedabad, Bangalore - 45, Bhopal - 30, Bhubaneswar 40, Chandigarh 25, Chennai 90, Guwahati 40, Hyderabad 45, Jaipur 35, Jammu 25, Kanpur & Lucknow 45, Kolkata 145, Mumbai 225, Nagpur 30, New Delhi 65, Patna 40, Thiruvanathapuram & Kochi 30.

Pay scale: The selected candidates for RBI recruitment 2012 for Assistant vacancies are offered with starting basic pay of Rs.8860/- in the scale of 8040-20100/- with allowances such as DA, HRA, CCA, TA as admissible and as per norms. At present their initial month Gross salary for RBI assistant posts will be approximately Rs. 19340/-

Age limit: The age limit for RBI recruitment 2012 for Assistant job should be between 18 and 28 years as on 01.03.2012. However the upper age limit is relaxed by 5 years for SC/ST, 3 years for OBC, 10 years for PWD. 

Educational qualification: The candidates should have acquired Bachelor's degree in any discipline with minimum of 50% marks in the aggregate. Pass mark is enough for SC/ST/PWD candidates. The candidates should have working knowledge of word processing on computer. Please note that the candidate should have passed the examination from the university / board within the recruitment zone of the concerned office to which he or she is applying. More over the candidates should have acquired the said education as on 01.03.2012.

Selection process, Exam Pattern & Syllabus

Selection process: The selection process for RBI recruitment for assistant job 2012 is based on Written Exam followed by Interview. The qualified candidates from the written exam only be allowed for interview. The selected candidates for recruitment for Assistant jobs in RBI will be initially posted in the Bank's office within the recruitment zone on which they have applied for. 

Exam pattern: The RBI Assistant 2012 exam pattern will be of Objective type multiple choice questions which has 5 parts which carries 40 marks each. The candidates needs to qualify in each of the part for next level in the selection process. The candidates have to select to write their written examination on only center and they have to mention its name and code number in the online application form.

Syllabus: The syllabus for RBI assistant exam 2012 consists of 5 parts which is of objective type questions. 1) Test of Reasoning 2) Test of English language 3) Test of Numerical Ability 4) Test of General Awareness 5) Test of Computer Knowledge.

How to Apply

Application fees: The candidates need to pay Rs. 385/- towards application fees and SC/ST/PWD candidates need not pay any fees. 

How to apply: First scan your photograph and signature as per the instruction given on official website. Then access online application form for RBI recruitment 2012 for Assistant jobs. 

To make the payment offline: Dully fill the particulars and save the entered details. On saving the data, you will get registration number and password which is displayed on the screen. Don't forget to note your registration and password as you need it for future use. You can re-edit your saved application to make neccessary correction but it is allowed only three times. Once finished, hit the submit button, where you have to take a print out of system generated fee payment challan. Then you need to pay the fees from the 2nd working day after your registration was made. You can make the payment in any of the following banks Bank of Baroda / Bank of India / IOB/ Central Bank of India / PNB/ United Bank of India. Your payment of fees confirms your completion of your registration process of RBI recruitment 2012 for assistant jobs. You will get confirmation registration by sms/email after two working days from the date, you made the payment. 

To make the payment online: Follow the same procedure as above but when you opt for online fee payment, the challan will not be generated and the payment has to be made online through payment gateway for which the instruction will be displayed on the screen. You can make the payment using your Master / Visa Debit or Credit Card or by Netbanking. On completion of your transaction, you will get e-receipt and application form which will be generated and you need to take this printout for future reference.

Starting date of online registration: 01.03.2012

Last date for online registration: 25.03.2012

RBI Assistant exam 2012 date: 29.04.2012

Payment of fees at Bank branches: 01.03.2012 to 27.03.2012 

Apply Online through the Site:www.rbi.org.in

Proposed new postal security standards for International Mail

The UPU’s official bodies, the Council of Administration and the Postal Operations Council, last week endorsed a proposed resolution on minimum security standards for international mail.

The proposal will be put forth for formal adoption by UPU member countries at the 25th Universal Postal Union Congress in Doha, Qatar, in September/October 2012.

If approved, the proposed standards would force Posts worldwide to apply measures to better screen international mail and take custody of it. Posts would have to apply minimum security standards to critical facilities in their network, such as international offices of mail exchanges, which process arriving and departing international mail.

According to UPU Postal Security Expert David Bowers, the standards would establish a security baseline to the global postal network, thus reassuring civil aviation and customs organizations that international mail has gone through minimum screening measures. “Our goal is to harmonize our international standards with the ones developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization to guide air transportation of mail,” explains Bowers.

International effort

The new proposed standards are the result of two years of work by the UPU’s inter-committee on security group. It includes representatives from UPU member countries and major international organizations, such as the International Air Transport Association, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the World Customs Organization and the United States Transport Security Agency, among others.

The UPU set up the group to tighten security standards for the global postal supply chain after rigorous TSA screening measures were unilaterally applied to international mail travelling to the United States in late 2010 after two packages containing bombs were found on private courier flights destined for the United States. The packages, sent from Yemen, were intercepted in Dubai and the United Kingdom.

The UPU launched a concerted effort among all relevant parties to come up with standardized security standards for the global postal supply chain to increase the security of mail travelling by air.

Member countries had adopted recommended security standards at the last Universal Postal Congress in Geneva in 2008, but there was no obligation to implement them.

Source: Universal Postal Union News

RTI APPLICANTS COUGH UP MORE, CUT WORD COUNT

Bhopal, Mar 12, 2012(TNN): Faced with the ‘problem’ of managing flood of RTI applications, BJP government inMadhya Pradesh has mooted a proposal to double fees on application and appeal, raise fee for document copy and to impose other restrictions such as “word count” for each request-a move that could trigger protests from the supporters of the transparency law. 

We here are, unfortunately, trying to restrict the people's right on one pretext or the other. Civil society has to wake up to protest against any such moves.

By proposing to amend the relevant RTI rules, the government plans to increase the existing fee of Rs 10 per application to Rs 20, double the fee for first appeal from Rs 50 to Rs 100 and to make a five- fold increase in fee for second appeal. If the amendment comes through, anyone moving the second appeal before the state information commission would have to shell out Rs 500 as against the existing fee of Rs 100. 

Insiders say that the government is also planning to restrict to 150 the “word limit” per application and also to restrict the number of subjects to be mentioned in one application to ensure that only one subject is entertained by the Public Information Officers (PIO) at a time. Besides, sources claim that the new rules could also have a provision that anyone, filing an RTI application, should also furnish a copy of the photo identity card to check the possibility of applications being filed in pseudonymous names. 

Sources claimed that the state government is empowered to make rules under section 27 (1) and (2) of RTI Act 2005 which stipulate that the government may make rules to carry out the provisions of the Act to decide the cost the cost of the medium or print cost price of the materials to be disseminated and the fee payable and so on. 

Legislative Assembly secretariat in Chhattisgarh, another BJP ruled state, recently increased the RTI application fees by 900% from Rs 50 to Rs 500 and the increase in fees per document copy to Rs 15 per page had invited criticism from the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) and others. Earlier, Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi had also written to Chhattisgarh chief minister, Speaker, and leader of the opposition to re-consider the decision to hike RTI fees. 

“A proposal has come up at the government level. It’s being examined. It’s too premature to divulge any details”, official sources confirmed. 

RTI activist Ajay Dubey said “the state government is planning to make amendments in the RTI rules through a notification. The amendments being considered are against the very sprit of the transparency Act, aimed at introducing cumbersome procedures to discourage people from using the RTI tool to elicit information”. 

Dubey said he had already written a letter to the state Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, seeking his intervention to stall the proposed amendments as it would amount to defeating the very purpose the historic transparency Act. 

Few months ago, he said, state government had also misused section 24 (4) of the RTI Act to keep the special police establishment of the Lokayukta and the State Bureau of Investigation of Economic Offences (EOW) out of the purview of the RTI Act 2005 as both these anti-corruption agencies were dealing with sensitive cases involving politicians and bureaucrats. “Till today, the state government has failed to put this notification before the state legislature, which is a mandatory requirement under section 24 (5) of the RTI Act, 2005″, he pointed out. 

“Bad habits are easy to copy”, quipped Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, who had protested against the Chhattisgarh legislative assembly secretariat, when his comments was sought on Madhya Pradesh move to increase RTI fees and introduce restrictions on word counts.

He said “RTI itself is getting lesser attention in the country with the civil society being engaged in many other issues. World over rights of people, even the fundamental rights in many countries, are being expanded further”. “We here are, unfortunately, trying to restrict the people’s right on one pretext or the other. Civil society has to wake up to protest against any such moves”, he added.

Revised recruitment rules for HSG I & HSG I adhoc arrangements

       UPSC has approved revised recruitment rules for HSG I. after several rounds of discussions with the  officers of India Post. The Department of Posts has fulfilled the requirements of the UPSC. Now the file may go to Law Ministry .After that our Department will issue gazette notification notifying the revised recruitment rules for HSG I.

    Department of Posts has approached DOPT for approval of adhoc arrangements for HSG I. Approval is expected with in a week and formal orders likely to be issued shortly. 

Courtesy: ipaspandhra blog