Recognition of qualification of Prathama Examination conducted by Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA 

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS 

RAILWAY BOARD

RBE No.94/2012
No.E(NG)II/2005/RR-1/6

New Delhi, Dated 30.8.2012

The General Managers (P),
All Zonal Railways/Production Units, CORE/ALD, Metro Railway/Kolkata;
CAO/MTP/Chennai, Mumbai;
CAO (R), DMW/Patiala, COFMOW/New Delhi;
Chairmen/All Railway Recruitment Borads;
Director General, RDSO/Licknow & RSC/Vadodara;
Directro, IRISET/Secundrabad, IRICEN/Pune, IRIEEN/Nasik & IRIM & EE / Jamalpur;
DFCCIL/New Delhi and Managing Director/Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd.

Sub : Recognition of qualification of Prathama Examination conducted by Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad.

Ref : Letter No. E(NG)II/2002/RR-1/7 dated 25.1.2002 (RBE No. 11/2002), letters of even number dated 26.4.2005 (RBE No.67/2005) & 23.1.2007(RBE No. 13/2007).

Attention is invited to this office letters quoted above vide which instructions were issued recognizing and

extending recognition granted to PRATHAMA examination awarded by Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad, for the purpose of employment under Central Government, for the post for which desired qualification was matriculation, up to 26.10.2010.

Queries regarding extension of currency of aforesaid recognition beyond 26.10.2010 have been received from various zonal railways. The matter has been examined in consultation with M/o Human Resource Development and it is informed that no further extension has been granted to the above state examination mentioned above. Accordingly, instructions contained in letter No. E(NG)II/2001/RR-1/48 dated 23.5.2002 (RBE No. 71/2002) with respect to above state examination stand suitably amended.

Please acknowledge receipt.

(Harsha Dass)

Joint Director Estt. (N)-II

Railway Board.

Source: www.indianrailways.gov.in

Rajdhani-like coaches for all trains

KAPURTHALA (PUNJAB)/ AMRITSAR: Stainless steel seems to be future for Indian railways desperately trying to increase the life span of its coaches and wagons and increase the general safety standards in its network.

In an ambitious move, the railways have decided to replace all its traditional blue coloured Express train ICF coaches with the new and popular stainless steel made LHB coaches that are now being used in only select trains that include Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Durantos.

All the LHB coaches will be made of stainless steel, making the coaches lighter and with a life span ranging between 30-35 years instead of the usual 20-25 years. The target is to replace all rakes of running express trains to LHB by the end of 2016. In the beginning, the AC rakes are to be replaced.

The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala which is making such coaches has been instructed to also step up production of AC coaches in general keeping in view the ever increasing popularity in AC travel — one of the cheapest mode of air-conditioned travel around the world.

From a mere 16 per cent of total coaches produced a couple of years back, the AC coaches now constitute 36 per cent of the 1500 coaches produced annually by the RCF. According to B N Rajsekhar, general manager, RCF, they have also begun the production of non AC LHB coaches for the first time.

"A train in Punjab is already running on LHB normal sleeper coaches. We are now trying to gift Northern Railway LHB coaches on its busiest route — the Delhi-Patna-Dhanbad route. These coaches will begin running soon.

These trains can run at a maximum speed of 160 Km/ hr instead of the usual 120 Km/hr with top speed braking within 1.1 km. These can be upgraded easily with very small changes to run at a maximum speed of 200km/ hr,'' he said. 

Source:-The Economic Times

Special LDCE JAO Part-II Examination for promotion to the cadre of AAO scheduled to be held on 29.12.2012 & 30.12.2012

As clarified vide Department of Posts (PA wing) letter No.3-24/10-PACE/Exam(DE)/2211-2260 dated 12th September, 2012, such officials who have qualified in JAO Part-I (Postal) examination and awaiting for taking up JAO-Part-II examination are only eligible to take up the Special Limited Departmental Examination scheduled to be held on 29th and 30th December, 2012. Officials who would have passed JAO Part-I examination and also already absorbed against the post of Inspector of Post Offices on regular basis are not eligible to take up the Special LDCE. Although their names appears in the list notified, such officials shall not be considered to take up the Special LDCE.

UIDAI’s Iris Authentication proof of concept study successful

 The UIDAI has successfully conducted the proof of concept Iris authentication study in Mysore district of Karnataka. The study brought out the high accuracy levels (above 99.2%) achieved by iris authentication. A combination of iris and fingerprint authentication can further the goals of universal inclusion and pave the way for successful applications based on Aadhaar authentication. In line with UIDAI’s successful and proven practice of conducting Proof of Concept (PoC) studies before launching any service, a PoC has been conducted to characterize & identify optimal authentication setups for online iris authentication. The PoC was conducted in semi urban setting in Nanjangud taluk in Mysore district of Karnataka between May 27th and July 30th 2012. 215,342 iris authentication transactions from 5833 residents were studied in this PoC. Eight models of iris cameras through six different OEMs participated in this study. This study has also brought out the specific improvement areas that biometric ecosystem needs to work upon to further improve the accuracy and coverage percentage. The detailed findings are documented in a report which is being published on UIDAI’s website. This will be followed by a workshop with the device vendors to guide them on the specific actions to be taken by them to improve algorithms and devices. UIDAI will then take up further field studies. These studies would also lead to formulation of iris device specifications for certification and deployment purposes. It may also be noted that as a result of feedback to the biometric ecosystem, the performance of fingerprint authentication improved substantially from the time UIDAI conducted its first fingerprint authentication PoC to the last PoC. Same is expected in iris authentication domain too, which points that iris authentication has a scope of providing accuracy levels above 99.5%.

Source : PIB

Reimburse Central Government employees for private treatment

‘Reimburse government staff for private treatment’

A central government servant is entitled for reimbursement even if he takes treatment in a private hospital under emergent situation, the TN Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal has held.
M Mohamed Salia, Deputy Chief Engineer, Southern Railway, while returning home, suffered a heart attack on November 20, 2008. Due to the urgency of the matter, his wife admitted him in the nearest private hospital Frontier Lifeline, as the Railway Hospital was 10 km away from her residence. After a by-pass surgery and necessary treatment, he was discharged on December 12, 2008. He paid Rs.3.10 lakh towards hospital bills.

When he applied for reimbursement of Rs.2 lakh to which he was entitled, the railway authorities rejected his claim on the ground that treatment in a non-recognised private hospital without referral by the railway authorised medical officer was not admissible. Hence, the present application.

  Rejecting the contentions, CAT judicial member G Santhappa said that in this case, the applicant had produced the emergency certificate and that had not been considered by the railways. The Personnel Branches Circular (PBC) dated May 4, 1994 listed under what circumstances reimbursement of medical expenses could be made. It included that if a patient falls ill at a place where there was no government or railway hospital and that if transporting the patient to the nearest government hospital would result in loss of life, the servant could be admitted in a private hospital. The rejection was against the law laid down by the SC, the tribunal said, set aside the order and directed the railways to sanction the amount in a month.

 

Source : www.newindianexpress.com
[http://newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article601428.ece]

Five foreign consultants in race for "Post Bank of India" (PIB) project.

The Department of Posts has issued request for proposals (RFP) to five top notch foreign consultancy firms for the proposed Post Bank of India project.

The five short-listed firms are Accenture Services, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, KPMG Advisory Services and McKinsey & Co.

The Department of Posts (DoP) is looking to set up a bank — Post Bank of India (PBI) — to provide banking services with special focus on rural areas.

Besides providing a platform for financial inclusion, the Post Bank of India will provide means of additional revenue generation for the DoP.

The consultancy firms chosen, out of the five short-listed ones, will as part of the assignment focus on Detailed Project Report (DPR) on creation of PBI, financial viability of PBI, proposed organisational structure of PBI in the light of RBI regulations, and relationship between PBI and Post Office Savings Bank.

Source : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Recommendations of the Santosh Gauriar Committee on Special Allowances, acceptance of regarding