ASTROSAT - The Indian Astronomy Mission

ISRO

There's  a very informative and useful  book (pdf) on ASTROSAT  , published by ISRO. You may download the same from the links given below.

ASTROSAT


Click below to Download the book.
ASTROSAT  - The Indian Astronomy Mission

Empowered Screening Comittee

Constitution of Empowered Committee of Secretaries for processing the 7CPC Report (constituted dt. 27th January).
The Empowered Committee  will function as a Screening Committee to screen the recommendations of the Commission after taking into account the views of the concerned stakeholders, viz, the Ministries/Departments, Staff Associations and the JCM, so as to firm up the final conclusions for approval of the Cabinet.

The Committee will have the following members :

1.	Cabinet Secretary	Chairman
2.	Finance Secretary/Secretary (Expenditure)	Member
3.	Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training	Member
4.	Secretary, Department of Pension & PW	Member
5.	Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs	Member
6.	Secretary, Ministry of Defence	Member
7.	Secretary, Department of Revenue	Member
8.	Secretary, Department of Post	Member
9.	Secretary, Department of Health	Member
10.	Secretary, Department of Science & Technology	Member
11.	Chairman, Railway Board	Member
12.	Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General	Member
13.	Secretary (Security), Cabinet Secretariat

Alarming Decision !

All court orders that favour employees and quash Govt policies will be challenged, as per draft guidelines finalised by the Centre.

The DoPT has sought comments on these guidelines from all Ministries by February 5.

VTVL - Blue Origin - Video

This is the second vertical-landing-vertical-takeoff rocket in history that has launched to space and returned for a successful landing.

Watch the video here !

Blue Origin


For more news on this amazing performance, please click here.

Who prays for early 7CPC implementation

Yes ... Its certain that all CG employees and pensioners must be praying for the early 7CPC implementation. But, it's not a surprise at all that someone else is more eager for the immediate implementation.

A report says :

As the Centre is preparing to implement 7CPC recommendations, real estate sector is expecting to get a major boost. The government employees may turn to investing in realty, real estate sector hope.  Post revision in their salaries, the purchasing power and borrowing capacities of the government workforce are likely to increase, brightening the prospects for the real estate sector.

But it's not alone Real Estate sector,  the Auto industry Housing finance companies,  and Consumer goods industries too are waiting for the 7CPC  !

7CPC - Trouble brewing up

Implementing the 7CPC recommendations is going to be a tough task for the Government.  The brewing discontent among the central government employees is threatening to create a storm and disrupt the implementation process. The unions are asking around 44 percent hike on the basic minimum pay and review the salaries every 5 years.

All-India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) threatened to go ‘Indefinite Strike’ against the 7CPC report.  As per Secretary of this Railway Union, a secret ballot has been planned on February 11 and 12 to decide the date and future course of action (on strike). 

What’s your next budget (2016-17) wish list ?

Are you aware that our Govt is open to suggestions from public on Budget ? 

If you have any, you can file them at www.mygov.in  till 29^th January.  Open your mind, think well, think budget and finances   and post them at this site.

In the meanwhile it would be quite interesting to know what people have already suggested ! Here is a list !!

1                     Re-jig the Income Tax slabs

2                     Exempt interest income from deposits

3                     Increase IT threshold from 2.5 L to 5 Lakhs

4                     Increase Medical reimbursement limit (from present 15000)

5                     Scrap Service Tax on utility bills insurance premiums

6                     Increase investment limit  under Section 80C

7                     Accord E-E-e-E  status for NPS

8                     Incentivise  Debit and Credit card payments

9                     Higher allocation for Education, Health Nutrition schemes …

10                 Raise Tax slab to 40% for people earning over 30 Lakhs / year

11                 Mandatory annual donations to the Army

12                 Streamline/remove  DBS for cooking gas.

13                 No subsidy for people owning a car

And the most popular wish is that the Govt should sincerely go through these suggestions and implement  atleast some of them !!

And don’t you wish that the 7CPC recommendations be improved on and implemented immediately ?  Then , say so and post  the suggestion at   www.mygov.in 

Financial Impact of 7CPC implementation - New revelations

It's not 1.02 Lakh Crores, Only 40000  Crores  !!

Confederation of Central Govt Employees have come out with data and convincing proof , that the Impact of 7CPC – Media reports and 7CPC projections are Wrong .

For a full analysis and report, plese read GConnect.in

Confederation argues that financial impact of 7CPC which is projected by the commission as well as media is totally a hype and imaginary. The actual impact as per confederation’s data is around 40K crore as against 1.02 lakh crore reported by media and 7CPC.

Financial Impact of implementation of 7CPC – Media reports and 7th CPC projections are wrong – Confederation comes out with data and says that additional financial burden to Govt as a result of net increase in pay and allowances on implementation of 7th Pay Commission is Rs. 40,000 Crores and not Rs. 1,02,100 Crores as projected by 7CPC and Media reports

There are various reports in the media about the impact of the 7CPC recommendations on the common man and the government resources at large, the reports suggest that the Government may postpone the 7CPC implementation also till its finances are set right.

These reports are totally wrong.

Read Report  Finance Ministry on Pay and Allowances. Click here

For a full analysis and report, plese read GConnect.in

Read Report  Finance Ministry on Pay and Allowances. Click here

Biggest Headache ever !

The latest reports say :

7CPC  Implementation may be Deferred !

Finance Minister (MoS) Sri. Jayant Sinha said :  “7CPC Recommendations are the Biggest Headache for Finance Ministry” 

The announcement of a deferral is expected to be part of  the Budget speech on February 29. 

Best Wishes

Congrats in advance for the successful launch of 

PSLV - C31  with IRNSS-1E Satellite

PPF, NSC, FDs rates to be cut

Not a good news !

PPF, NSC rates to be cut; bank FDs may fetch lower interest

Senior Citizens, Women Likely To Be Protected

A report in Times of India says :

The government is set to reduce interest rates on small savings products such as PPF and NSC over the next few days – a move that will impact returns on your bank FDs but also pave  the way for banks to pare lending rates in the coming months and reduce the EMI burden.

The new formula will see small savings rates linked to returns on Govt Securities of comparable maturity, with the reduction expected to be up to 0.5 %. The finance ministry is finalizing product-specific rates and sources said the impact would be higher in case of maturity period of less than five years. There are indications that senior citizens and women will be protected.

7CPC– Centre Sets Up High-powered Panel

The Government today decided to set up a high-powered panel headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to process the recommendations of the 7CPC which will have bearing on the remuneration of 47 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners.
The Empowered Committee of Secretaries will function as a Screening Committee to process the recommendations with regard to all relevant factors of the Commission in an expeditious detailed and holistic fashion.

Lets hope they all do their job honestly and expeditiously !

CHSS - Declaration of family details

It's time for you to submit the Family Details.

The Circular dt. Dec 14, 2015 and the Format is available here for your reference.

Click here to View this Circular.

The format, duly filled in should reach Administrative Officer (CHSS) , VSSC  on or before 20th January 2016.

CHSS Circulars - Sept/Oct 2015

A set of Circulars issued during Sept/Oct 2015 on various aspects of  CHSS  is available here for your reference.

Click here to view the Circulars

These Circulars include revised rules for Reimbursement of Spectacles once in three years, issue of Duplicate CHSS card etc..

Important news !

Important news !

Government unlikely to Announce DA in January. Reason :  If the DA announced in January is higher than 125%, Government will be compelled to revise the new salaries.

Tax Benefits unlikely for individuals in Budget. 
Quotes from informed sources : 
"  The fiscal  space will be severely restricted in 2016-17 due to additional expenditure commitments. there will also be boost to many individual tax-payers through the 7CPC , so additional incentives may not be required in the Budget   "
"   The Finance Ministry tries to balance the additional spending of nearly 1,40,000 Crores on the implementation of 7CPC report and OROP scheme in 2016-17 while maintaining its fiscal deficit targets and boosting public investments in infrastructure.  "

7CPC– Implementation not before June !? – Though, the matter may become clearer when Finance Ministry announces the details on implementation, and that is expected to happen before Budget 2016-17 in February. Government is likely to accept the recommendations of the 7CPC and offer salary hikes to Central Government Employees not before June  2016.

Finance Minister confirms implementation of 7CPC Report and OROP in the coming financial Year. He said "forthcoming financial obligations due to implementation of OROP and 7CPC Recommendations in the coming financial year will not stop public spending”

Believe it or Not

Believe it or Not – FCI labourers Earn Rs.4.5 Lakh a Month ; Departmental labourers are earning Rs 79,000 per month on an average.

The Supreme Court on Friday expressed shock at the revelation that labourers at the Food Corporation of India (FCI) earned a whopping Rs. 4.5 lakh as monthly wages, considerably more than the salary of the President of India.

Higher grade getting less than Lower grade

You may be aware that (in the 7CPC recommendations), there is a very serious issue of a Junior getting more pay/pension than a Senior grade person. This glaring anomaly is being pointed out to the Govt / 7CPC implementation Committee by many Pensioners associations and Employees unions.

Let us all believe and hope that the Implementation Committee will look into this anomaly and set right the issue.

Pensioners' associations have suggested  that :

To set right this anomaly, we suggest that instead of two options recommended by 7th CPC in para 10.1.67, a third option be introduced whereby the revised pension is calculated with reference to the service/pay particulars of the lower pay scale / lower level and the amount of pension which is higher of options I, II & III is authorized for payment. If this anomaly is not set right either through provision of the suggested 3rd option or through some other dispensation that DoP&PW may think of, the aggrieved pensioners are likely to seek judicial intervention and in all probability judicial orders would be in their favour on the principle of rendering natural justice.

This seems to be an excellent suggestion.

(Ref : gconnect.in)

DA of 125 % may go up to 126 %

The DA from Jan 2016 is likely to touch 126%. 7CPC assumed a DA of 125 %, as on 1-1-2016, for working out the Fitment formula and Multiplication factor of 2.57. 

So, the formula may have to be revised !