MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF SECRETARY, DOP&T ON 23.01.2017

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF SECRETARY, DOP&T ON 23.01.2017 TO CONSIDER THE CASES OF INTER CADRE TRANSFER / DEPUTATION / EXTENSION OF INTER CADRE DEPUTATION REQUIRING RELAXATION OF PROVISION(S) OF THE GUIDELINES

A meeting was held on 23.01.2017 under the Chairmanship of Secretary(P) to consider the cases of inter cadre deputation/ inter cadre transfer requiring relaxation of provision(s) of the guidelines. The members of the committee EO&AS & AS(S&V) were present. Further, DS(AIS) & US(S-III) were also present to assist the Committee in the meeting.

The Committee took note of the Action Taken Report on the minutes of the previous meeting held on 19.12.2016. The Committee after detailed deliberations and careful consideration in each case took following decisions in the meeting:-

Case 1: Inter cadre deputation of Shri Siva Prasad Kakumanu, IAS (PB:93) from Punjab cadre to Andhra Pradesh cadre.

The Committee was informed that the officer has requested for inter cadre deputation to Andhra Pradesh cadre on personal hardship. The Committee after detailed deliberations decided to defer the proposal for the present.

Case 2: Inter cadre deputation of Smt. Pooja Pandey, IAS (AM:08) from Assam Meghalaya cadre to Uttar Pradesh cadre for a period of three years.

The Committee was informed that the proposal was earlier placed before the Committee in its meeting held on 31.03.2016 wherein the Committee decided that the proposal for inter cadre deputation of the officer may be processed only after receipt of no objection / consent from the Government of Meghalaya. Accordingly, after receipt of the consent from the Govt. of Meghalaya, the ACC note with the approval of MOS(PP) was forwarded to EO(SM.1) for onward submission to ACC. However, EO(SM.1) requested to clarify whether the due process of placing the subject proposal before the Committee has been followed or not after receipt of recommendation of Govt. of Meghalaya.

Having noted that all the concerned State Governments have conveyed consent for inter cadre deputation and the officer is clear from vigilance angle, the Committee after detailed deliberations recommended the proposal and directed to put up the same to EO(SM.1) for onward submission to ACC.

Case 3: Inter cadre deputation of Shri Ajay Katesaria, IAS (MP:2012) from Madhya Pradesh cadre to Jharkhand cadre for a period of three years.

The Committee was informed that the officer has requested to reconsider his proposal for inter cadre deputation on grounds of extreme hardship of medical nature of his mother. Further, both the States have conveyed their consent and the officer is presently clear from vigilance angle. The Committee after detailed deliberations recommended the proposal in relaxation of policy and directed to put up ACC note for the approval of ACC.

Case 4: Inter cadre deputation of Dr. Om Prakash, IAS (AM:2006) from Assam -Meghalaya cadre to Rajasthan cadre for a period of three years.

The Committee was informed that the officer has requested for inter cadre deputation to Rajasthan cadre. The officer has completed the required period of nine years. Further, consent from Govt. of Assam and Rajasthan has been received and the office is clear from vigilance angle. The Committee after detailed deliberations recommended the proposal and directed to put up ACC note for the approval of ACC after receipt of the consent from the Govt. of Meghalaya.

Case 5: Inter cadre deputation of Shri K. Thavaseelan, IAS (NL:12) from Nagaland cadre to Telangana cadre.

The Committee was informed that the officer has requested for inter cadre deputation on grounds of ill health of his father. The Committee observed that the officer has not completed the required period of nine years in his cadre. The Committee after detailed deliberations did not recommend the proposal of the officer as the same is not covered under the policy and directed to include it in the quarterly report to be submitted to ACC.

Case 6: Extension of inter-cadre deputation of Shri Pandurang Kondbarao Pole, IAS (JK:04) from Jammu & Kashmir cadre to Maharashtra cadre for a further period of two years beyond 02.02.2017.

The Committee was informed that officer has requested for extension of his deputation tenure. Further, both the state Governments have conveyed consent. The Committee after detailed deliberations recommended the proposal and directed to put up ACC note for the approval of ACC.

Case 7: Extension of Inter-Cadre Deputation (ICD) period of Shri Manish Kumar Verma, IAS (OR:2000) from Odisha cadre to Bihar cadre for a further period of two years beyond 22.03.2017 after completing a tenure of five years on inter cadre deputation.

The Committee was informed that the officer is working as Secretary to Hon’ble CM,Bihar and has requested for further extension of his inter cadre deputation tenure for a further period of two years beyond five years tenure. The Committee was also informed that in the past some officers have been granted extension of deputation beyond five years tenure to be posted as Secretary to the Chief Minister concerned. The Committee after detailed deliberations directed to place the proposal before the ACC for extension of deputation tenure for a further period of one year only, in relaxation of the extant policy. In case the proposal is considered favourably, it may be applicable for one year or till the officer is posted as Secretary to Hon’ble CM of Bihar, whichever is earlier. The tenure will be ended automatically if the officer is posted to any post other than Secretary to CM.

Meeting ended with thanks to the Chair.

Transfer of money consequent of promotion of a GDS under SDBS to a regular in Department of Posts

DEPARTMENT OF POSTS:INDIA

OFFICE OF THE DIRCTOR OF ACCOUNTS (POSTAL)

MAHANADI VIHAR, CUTTACK-753004

NO: SDBS(2010)/Corr/ Dated : 30/01/2017

To

The SSPOs/SPOs/SSRM/SRM 

Sub:- Transfer of money consequent of promotion of a GDS under SDBS to a regular Dept.. post

This is regarding transfer of money of those GDS enrolled under SDBS subsequently being absorbed /promoted to a regular Departmental post. Under this circumstances the GDS are required to quit the SDBS scheme immediately and apply for transfer the accrued accumulations in their PR Account under the SDBS as well as accrued severance amount earned till their date of such absorption/regular appointment to their new account under New Pension Scheme.

Hence you are requested to identify such cases in the units under your jurisdiction & supply them prescribed SDBS-1 to apply. SDBS-I forms duly filled by the applicant & enlisted by the Divn in form SDBS-2 may please be sent to this office for onward submission to the NSDL for transfer of money to the new account as well as deactivating the old one.

Pl. find a copy of form SDBS-I & SDBS-2 with this letter.

 

Asst. Accounts Officer

IPPB - Schedule of Charges (Tariffs are excluding applicable taxes) Savings account charges and features

CLICK HERE FOR SEE DETAILS

INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK WILL BE A GAME CHANGER FOR FINANCIAL INCLUSION-MANOJ SINHA

IPPB branches launched in Ranchi & Raipur

            Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley and Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha launched the operations of the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) here today as two pilot branches at Raipur and Ranchi through video conferencing from Delhi.

            Speaking on the occasion, Shri Jaitley said that about 650 IPPB branches will be opened by September this year and that will have a multiplier impact as far as banking in India is concerned. He said with IPPB, banking at the doorstep will no longer remain a mere slogan, but will become a reality due to huge postal network in the country. He said that financial Inclusion is critical for the socio-economic development of the country, but there are significant gaps in this area and a large proportion of country’s population remain unbanked or underbanked. IPPB will effectively leverage the ubiquitous post office network with its pan-India physical presence, long experience in cash handling and savings mobilization, backed by the ongoing project of IT-enablement, to bridge this gap in Financial Inclusion.

            In his address, Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha has commended the hard work done by the Department of Posts in setting up the India Post Payments Bank and hoped that both organizations will work in tandem to take the benefits of government schemes and financial services that are not easily available in rural areas to customers across the country and to the marginalized population in urban and rural areas alike. He said, the objective of IPPB will be public service rather than promoting commercial interests.

            Secretary, Department of Posts, Shri B.V.Sudhakar said that the IPPB is widely expected to be a game changer for financial inclusion in the country as the USP of this initiative is doorstep banking, particularly in the rural areas.

            As mandated by the RBI, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) would focus on providing basic financial services such as all kinds of payments; including social security payments, utility bill payments, person to person remittances (both domestic and cross-border), current and savings accounts up to a balance of Rs 1 lac, distribution of insurance, mutual funds, pension products and acting as business correspondent to other banks for credit products especially in rural areas and among the underserved segments of the society.

            Set up us a 100% Government of India owned Public Limited Company under the Department of Posts, it will open around 650 branches in district HQ locations. All 1.55 lacs post offices including the 1.39 lac of the rural post offices will be mapped to the IPPB branch at the district headquarter and function as access points for IPPB. IPPB will usher in state of the art internet and mobile banking platforms, digital wallets and use innovative and emerging technologies to catalyse the shift from a cash dominant to a less cash economy.

            While many other banks and financial institutions are working on the same theme, the USP of IPPB will be its ability to ease access and handhold the adoption of new age banking and payments instruments among citizen of all walks of life through the delivery by postmen and Grameen Dak sevaks, savings agents and other franchisees who will take banking to door steps. IPPB thus aspires to the most accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man with the motto - “No customer is too small, no transaction too insignificant, and no deposit too little”.

            Given ‘in principle’ approval by the RBI along with 10 other aspirants on 19th Aug 2015, IPPB received the cabinet’s approval on 1st June, 2016 and was incorporated as on 17th Sept, 2106. Today it became the second payments bank to launch its operations. Having got its final banking license from the RBI on the 20th Jan 2017 it has commenced operations in record time of 10 days in partnership with the Punjab National Bank, after obtaining all necessary approvals and registrations from the RBI, NPCI etc.

            A commemorative stamp and a logo of the new bank were also launched on the occasion.

INAUGURATION SNAPSHOT OF INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK (IPPB) AT RAIPUR & RANCHI ON 30TH JANUARY 2017

Inauguration of the pilot branches of IPPB at Raipur and Ranchi through video conferencing by Arun Jaitely and Manoj Sinha on 30th January 2017, at 5PM

Promotion and postings of Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) officers of Indian Postal Service, Group 'A' to Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) of the Service and posting of an HAG officer of the Service 30-01-2017

CLICK HERE FOR SEE DETAILS.

Welcome Kit of IPPB - Benefits of Banking

click below link to download Welcome kit of IPPB

REVISED FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS) 2.0 RELATED TO PROPOSED INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK

CLICK HERE FOR SEE DETAILS  

India Post Payments Bank gets RBI nod to start ops

TNN |  Jan 28, 2017

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its nod to the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to start operations. The government has also appointed an interim CEO, who will help set up the entity.

IPPB is the third entity (got final licence from RBI on January 20) after Airtel and Paytm payment banks to get the central bank's approval, sources said. Operations are expected to start before March 31 and will be gradually rolled out in 650 districts using the network of 1.54 lakh post offices. 

The government has appointed A P Singh as the interim managing director and CEO of IPPB. A 1986 batch Indian Postal Service officer, Singh was earlier joint secretary in the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM). He has also served as the deputy director general in-charge of financial inclusion and payment systems in the founding team of UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). The Aadhaar enabled payments system, e-kyc (electronic know your customer) and direct benefit transfers were piloted by him. 

Payments banks are brainchild of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, who came up with the idea of differentiated bank licences. These banks do not offer loans and several other facilities that are offered by full-fledged banks and are not allowed to accept deposits over Rs 1 lakh. But, they can be of immense help in taking banking services across the country and in remote areas.

Earlier this month, Airtel Payments Bank launched nationwide operations, offering 7.25% interest on savings, which is more than maximum 7% paid by SBI on FDs. Paytm is expected to start operations of its payments bank next month.

The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been incorporated as a public limited company under the department of posts with 100% equity from the government.

It will offer demand deposits such as savings and current accounts up to Rs 1 lakh, digitally-enabled payments and remittance services of all kinds between entities and individuals and also provide access to third party financial services such as insurance, mutual funds, pension, credit products, forex, and more, in partnership with insurance companies, mutual fund houses, pension providers, banks, international money transfer organisations, according to its website.

The postal payment bank will use postmen to help deliver banking services. The huge network of post offices provides enough muscle to the new player and it has also drawn up plans to offer services through internet and mobile banking, and pre-paid instruments such as mobile wallets, debit cards, ATMs, PoS (point of sale) and MPoS (mobile point of sale) terminals. Postmen will trained in soft skills to be able to carry out banking operations. 

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Clarification regarding timely payment of GPF final payment to the retiring Government servant – regarding

REFLECTION OF THE RECURRENT LAPSES IN OBSERVING FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE IN THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORT (APAR)

India Post Payments Bank gets RBI nod to start ops

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its nod to the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to start operations. The government has also appointed an interim CEO, who will help set up the entity.
IPPB is the third entity (got final licence from RBI on January 20) after Airtel and Paytm payment banks to get the central bank's approval, sources said. Operations are expected to start before March 31 and will be gradually rolled out in 650 districts using the network of 1.54 lakh post offices.

The government has appointed A P Singh as the interim managing director and CEO of IPPB. A 1986 batch Indian Postal Service officer, Singh was earlier joint secretary in the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM). He has also served as the deputy director general in-charge of financial inclusion and payment systems in the founding team of UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). The Aadhaar enabled payments system, e-kyc (electronic know your customer) and direct benefit transfers were piloted by him.

Payments banks are brainchild of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, who came up with the idea of differentiated bank licences. These banks do not offer loans and several other facilities that are offered by full-fledged banks and are not allowed to accept deposits over Rs 1 lakh. But, they can be of immense help in taking banking services across the country and in remote areas.

Earlier this month, Airtel Payments Bank launched nationwide operations, offering 7.25% interest on savings, which is more than maximum 7% paid by SBI on FDs. Paytm is expected to start operations of its payments bank next month.

The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been incorporated as a public limited company under the department of posts with 100% equity from the government.

It will offer demand deposits such as savings and current accounts up to Rs 1 lakh, digitally-enabled payments and remittance services of all kinds between entities and individuals and also provide access to third party financial services such as insurance, mutual funds, pension, credit products, forex, and more, in partnership with insurance companies, mutual fund houses, pension providers, banks, international money transfer organisations, according to its website.

The postal payment bank will use postmen to help deliver banking services. The huge network of post offices provides enough muscle to the new player and it has also drawn up plans to offer services through internet and mobile banking, and pre-paid instruments such as mobile wallets, debit cards, ATMs, PoS (point of sale) and MPoS (mobile point of sale) terminals. Postmen will trained in soft skills to be able to carry out banking operations.

Source: Time of India.

Reflection of the recurrent lapses in observing financial discipline in the Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR)

F. No. 21011/21/2015-Estt. (A-II)

Government of India

Ministry of Personnel, P. G. and Pensions

Department of Personnel & Training

North Block, New Delhi-110001

Dated: 16th/18th January, 2017

Office Memorandum 

Subject: Recommendation of the Public Accounts Committee regarding reflection of the recurrent lapses in observing financial discipline in the Annual Performance Assessment Report (APAR).

The Public Accounts Committee in its Nineteenth Report (16th Lok Sabha) (PAC) on Excess over Voted Grants and Charged Appropriations (2012 -13) which was presented to Lok Sabha on 29th April, 2015 has, inter-alia, recommended in its recommendation no. 21 that:

"the Department of Personnel & Training to look into that the recurrent lapses in observing financial discipline should be reflected in the Annual Performance Appraisal Report of the budget controlling authorities as well as the Financial Advisors of the Ministry/Department concerned so as to ensure strict adherence to the financial discipline thereby reducing the recurrent phenomenon of excess expenditure to the barest minimum, if not, eliminated altogether.

2. The matter has been examined in this Department. There already exist various tools in the existing PAR formats to assess the attributes and performance of the officers by reporting, reviewing and accepting authorities including observance of financial discipline. Therefore, whenever instances of recurring financial lapses come to light, these may be brought to the attention of the Reporting/Reviewing/Accepting Authority so that they may include these instances in the PAR of the officer of the relevant year.

3. Hindi Version will follow.

(N. Sriraman)

Director (E-II)

All Ministries/Departments of the Govt. India

Source: www.dopt.gov.in
[http://document.ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02est/21011_21_2015-Estt.A-II-18012017.pdf]

Yes, this is the Asian Century. But there’s still cause for Western optimism

Watch the Asia takes the Lead session from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2017 here.
The big question of our time is a simple one: should we feel optimistic or pessimistic for the future of humanity, all 7 billion of us?
The world’s response is divided. Many Western societies are drowning in pessimism. By contrast, the rest have never been more optimistic. This represents a reversal of previous centuries’ pattern, where the West was always more optimistic. What happened? And what do the facts tell us?
The facts are clear. The human condition has never been better. Global poverty is declining steadily. In 2015, we far exceeded the UN’s Millennium Development Goal of halving global poverty. According to the NIC, extreme poverty could halve again by 2030.
The global middle classes are exploding, from 1.8 billion in 2010 to 3.2 billion in 2020 and 4.9 billion in 2030. The world’s infant mortality rate has decreased from an estimated 60 deaths per thousand live births in 1990 to 32 in 2015. This translates to more than 4 million fewer infant deaths per year. If we were rational and objective, we would be celebrating the current human condition.

Western naval-gazing

Why are we not? One simple answer is that Western intellectuals who dominate the global intellectual discourse are only aware of their societies’ short-term challenges, not the long-term global promises. Francis Fukuyama illustrates this well. In an essay written after the election of Donald Trump, he says, “Donald Trump’s stunning electoral defeat of Hillary Clinton marks a watershed, not just for American politics, but for the entire world order. We appear to be entering a new age of populist nationalism, in which the dominant liberal order that has been constructed since the 1950s has come under attack from angry and energized democratic majorities. The risk of sliding into a world of competitive and equally angry nationalisms is huge, and if this happens it would mark as momentous a juncture as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.” [Note: emphasis added.]

Please study his words carefully. He is conflating the condition of the West with the condition of the world. It’s true that populism has risen in the West. That explains Trump and Brexit (and possibly Le Pen). But it hasn’t emerged in the more populous regions of Asia and Africa.
More importantly, the West only represents 12% of the world’s population. 88% live outside the West. And their living conditions (with the exception of a few Arab countries and North Korea) have never been better.
Take three of the most populous countries in Asia: China, India and Indonesia. The lives of the almost 3 billion people in these countries have never been better. And they will get much better in the coming decades, as this figure shows.

The decade of 2010 to 2020 is probably the best decade Asia has ever experienced. The Asian middle class population is going to jump from 500 million in 2010 to 1.75 billion in 2020. In short, Asia is going to add 1.5 times the total population of the West to the global middle class population in one decade.
Why is this happening? One simple answer is the triumph of reason. The spread of Western science and technology demonstrates this most clearly. At the most basic level, humans around the world can see the benefits of modern Western medicine. As a result, reason is replacing superstition. In all spheres of human life, from economic policies to environmental management, from education to urban planning, Western best practices are being almost universally adopted by all societies.

So what’s with all the pessimism?

If the world is getting better, why is the West becoming more pessimistic? The simple answer is that the West has pursued a deeply flawed strategy since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Like the British defenders of Singapore in World War II, they had their guns pointed out to the sea in the South when the Japanese came by land from the North.
To put this point even more starkly, the West thought it had won a colossal and epic struggle with its dramatic victory in the Cold War. As a result, it didn’t notice that an even bigger struggle had begun with the “return” of Asia at the same time. China decided to re-join the world economy in the 1980s. India did so in the 1990s. The return of 3 billion Asians was obviously going to shake up the global economy. The West didn’t notice.
It didn’t notice because Western minds were intoxicated with an unhealthy opiate of triumphalism. Francis Fukuyama’s famous essay “The End of History” captured this well. As a result, the West developed a flawed interventionist strategy towards the rest. Many of the interventions led to disaster. Michael Mandelbaum notes that “the Clinton administration’s track record was not encouraging: it has promised order in Somalia and left chaos. It had gone to Haiti to restore democracy and had left anarchy. It had bombed in Bosnia for the sake of national unity but presided over a de facto partition.”
And 9/11 made things worse. It seduced the Neo-Con advisers of George W Bush to invade Iraq, after invading Afghanistan. A decade later, Europeans saw two-thirds of their refugees coming from three countries: Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
But that was not where the real disaster was. As Western strategic thinkers were distracted, they didn’t see that the most important event in 2001 was not 9/11. It was China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. The entry of almost a billion workers into the global trading system would obviously result in massive “creative destruction” and the loss of many jobs.
Trump and Brexit are therefore the natural and logical results of a flawed Western strategy of not dealing with the real economic challenges to the West. While the West was distracted, China emerged. According to IMF statistics, in 1980, in PPP terms, America’s share of global GDP was 25% while that of China was 2.2%. In 2016, America’s share has shrunk to 15.5% while that of China has risen to 17.9%.

The relative decline of the West

There are therefore sound strategic reasons for Western pessimism: From 1820 to roughly 1980, Western economic power either grew steadily or maintained a huge globally dominant position. In the past three decades, the combined GDP of North America and Western Europe has shrunk from 51.5% in 1990 to 33.45% in 2014.
An even more destructive strategic change happened at the same time. While the workers in the West suffered job losses and deteriorating incomes, the Western elite became super rich from accelerated globalization and the return of Asia.
RW Johnson describes well how American workers suffered: “Between 1948 and 1973, productivity rose by 96.7% and real wages by 91.3%, almost exactly in step. Those were the days of plentiful hard-hat jobs in steel and the auto industry when workers could afford to send their children to college and see them rise into the middle class. But from 1973 to 2015 – the era of globalization, when many of those jobs vanished abroad – productivity rose 73.4% while wages rose by only 11.1%. Since 2000 the wages paid to college graduates have fallen.”

A reason to be optimistic

The existential questions that the West faces today are quite simple. Is everything lost? Will Western power and influence steadily decline? Or is there hope for the West? Can the West also benefit from the resurgence of the rest?
The simple answer is that the West can benefit from the surge of the rest. 12% of the world’s population can be pulled along by the remaining 88%. To achieve this, Western leaders and pundits need to make many significant psychological adjustments.
Instead of constantly trying to retain control of the world, the West should learn to share power. Asians should be allowed to run the IMF and World Bank. Equally importantly, Western pundits must drop their traditional condescension when speaking about the rest. Emerging Asian entities, like China, India and ASEAN, should be treated with more respect. India should be immediately given a seat on the UN Security Council, with the UK and France stepping aside.
All this sounds inconceivable to many Western minds. But until recently, it was also inconceivable that the rest could be more optimistic than the West. The West must now do the inconceivable to prepare for the inevitable inconceivable world.

Kishore Mahbubani is the author of The Great Convergence: Asia, the West and the Logic of One World. His forthcoming book, The ASEAN Miracle: A Catalyst for Peace will be published by NUS Press in early 2017.

IndiaPost becomes 3rd entity to receive licence to start payment bank operations

IndiaPost becomes 3rd entity to receive licence to start payment bank operations

NEW DELHI: IndiaPost has become the third entity to receive a final license last week from the Central Bank to start its payment bank operations. Country’s largest telcom service provider Bharti Airtel and digital payments firm Paytm are the other two to have received the license while only Airtel has started operations so far. 

The government has also appointed AP Singh has interim MD and CEO of the India Post Payment Bank. A 1986 Indian Postal Service Officer he was earlier Joint Secretary in the department of disinvestment, ministry of Finance and Deputy Director General incharge of financial inclusion and payments systems at Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Singh was one part of the founding team that launched Aadhaar and was stationed at the department of Post prior to UIDAI. 

As per the initial road map, each post office in the country will offer the post bank services. The department of post has an existing network of around 1,55,000 post offices currently. ET had reported earlier that IndiaPost plans to open 650 new branches for the payment bank. The branches will be co-located with the existing post offices. The idea is that the 650 branches will be in located in postal district headquarters and all the branches under that particular head post office will be enabled by the payment bank services. This will cover the entire network of 155,000 post offices in the country. 

Earlier this month, Airtel Payments Bank launched nationwide operations, offering 7.25% interest on savings bank balances, which is more than the maximum 7% paid by SBI on its fixed deposits. Bharti and Kotak Mahindra, which holds a 20% stake in the payments bank, would invest Rs 3,000 crore in the venture. 

Payments banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses of up to Rs 1 lakh per account. And RBI had set a condition that formal license has to be obtained before 31 March. 

ALIBABA backed Paytm also said early in January that it has received the final license from RBI and the company hopes to launch operations in February with the first branch coming up in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

While operation of Payment Banks such as Paytm are likely to be focused on technology based differentiation, IndiaPost is banking on its huge reach especially in the rural areas to be successful.

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

REFLECTION OF THE RECURRENT LAPSES IN OBSERVING FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE IN THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REPORT (APAR)

Income Tax Rates FY 2016-17 (AY 2017-18) - Finmin Orders

CIRCULAR NO : 01/2017

F.No.275/192/2016-IT(B)

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

North Block, New Delhi

Dated the 2nd January, 2017

SUBJECT: INCOME-TAX DEDUCTION FROM SALARIES DURING THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2016-17 UNDER SECTION 192 OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961.

Reference is invited to Circular No.20/2015 dated 02.12.2015 whereby the rates of deduction of income-tax from the payment of income under the head "Salaries" under Section 192 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter ‘the Act’), during the financial year 2015-16, were intimated. The present Circular contains the rates of deduction of income-tax from the payment of income chargeable under the head "Salaries" during the financial year 2016-17 and explains certain related provisions of the Act and Income-tax Rules, 1962 (hereinafter the Rules). The relevant Acts, Rules, Forms and Notifications are available at the website of the Income Tax Department- www.incometaxindia.gov.in.

2. RATES OF INCOME-TAX AS PER FINANCE ACT, 2016:

As per the Finance Act, 2016, income-tax is required to be deducted under Section 192 of the Act from income chargeable under the head "Salaries" for the financial year 2016-17 (i.e. Assessment Year 2017-18) at the following rates:

2.1 Rates of tax

A. Normal Rates of tax:

 B. Rates of tax for every individual, resident in India, who is of the age of sixty years or more but less than eighty years at any time during the financial year:

C. In case of every individual being a resident in India, who is of the age of eighty years or more at any time during the financial year: