Health problems caused by Smartphones overuse

Technology comes at a cost. It is not just about the monetary costs. In this article, I put down some health related costs that come with using or overly using smartphones. In using smartphones, you have to be smart else you would end up with one or more of the following health problems.

Health problems caused by Smartphones

Text Neck

Text Neck is a term used by doctors or physicians to describe the spinal disorder arising out of excess usage of smartphones. Normally, if the head is placed upright, there is no stress on the neck part of spine. But to read and text on smartphones, people tend to bend their necks up to 60 degrees. This increases the pressure on the neck. Long term usage of smartphones bring forth neck pain related to spine and hence, can be called spinal disorders. According to a survey published in Washington Post, around 80 percent of adult users suffer from this text neck pain.

The best way to avoid it is to bring up the phone to the level of your eyes and look straight into it. You need to make it a habit though it may look awkward. Another solution is to lower your eyes instead of bending your neck.

Vision Loss

Reading small fonts on a smartphone can disturb your vision permanently. This problem happens as your eyes are strained constantly by looking at the blue light coming out of the smartphone. Reading or using smartphones during absence of external light further boosts the problem. Your vision becomes poor and you might have to go for glasses.

The best way to avoid this is to look away from smartphones at regular intervals. Look at something far off and focus on it for a while before returning to the smartphone screen.

Wrist Problems

Another problem that comes with over usage of smartphones is the wrist problem. The way we hold smartphones for long durations, strains the wrist. People usually hold their phones using last three fingers and the thumb while using the forefinger for performing actions on the smartphone screens. Retaining the posture for longer durations every day tends to create pain in the wrist.

It is better to keep on changing the posture of phone when performing tasks like reading. You can put down the smartphone while lying on the bed or in the lap while sitting on a chair and look down at it instead of always holding it in your hands.

Numb Fingers

Similar to the above problem and for the almost same reasons, fingers of smartphone users become numb and produce a tingling sensation. Holding the phone places stress from the elbows to the fingers. The hands above elbow experience slower blood circulation and if not corrected immediately, can have long lasting effects. The forefinger too experiences the same and becomes numb after a while.

Instead of persisting in the same posture, it is recommended to put the phone away for a while. Then perform some movement of arms and fingers so that the feeling goes away. I would advise keeping away the smartphone for at least one minute every fifteen minutes of usage when reading or texting. That would avoid permanent problems that may arise due to persistence of prolonged usage like when reading books on the phone.

You can download this PDF file from Surgical Technology International for a full erad of the study undertaken by them.

Courtesy :http://bnjho.blogspot.in/

India Post may sell products of other insurers in rural areas.

New Delhi: The Department of Post is mulling selling insurance products of other companies, especially in rural areas, besides selling its own policies.

In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month on the findings of a Task Force on India Post, DoP conveyed its intentions to enter the insurance space targeting rural India, sources said.

The proposed Post India Insurance will start with an initial capital of Rs100 crore that will be made available by DoP, they added.

“DoP debated that the insurance penetration in rural India is minimal and a new vehicle needed. Besides, the department has decades of experience in this field and it can seamlessly adapt to new operations,” a source said.

Besides selling its own insurance products, it can also undertake the business of selling policies of other insurance players as commercial agents, sources said.

DoP already offers insurance policy (Postal Life Insurance) to government and semi-government employees.

According to the Task Force, in rural areas there is a need for various types of insurances like crop insurance, accident cover, insurance of agricultural equipment, etc.

“Since India Post is operating in the insurance sector for well over a century, there is no reason why it should not be allowed to extend the spectrum of its insurance services to these areas through agency agreements or a broker’s licence,” it added.

At present, DoP offers personal life and endowment insurance policies under both, Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Post Life Insurance (RPLI). It recommended that “...the life insurance activities for the DoP should be hived off and converted into an independent corporate entity, which may be designated as India Insurance or given some other suitable name.”

Modi had set up the Task Force in 2014 to study leveraging the postal network in India and to enhance the role of India Post in financial inclusion, among other services like delivery of goods for e-commerce firms.

The report suggested that the government should set up a holding company under the Department of Posts for immediate roll out of banking, insurance and e-commerce services by the 1.55 lakh strong postal network.

The panel also suggested establishing Post Bank of India as a separate entity with a branch in each district in the first three years with initial capital of Rs500 crore to be funded by the government.

source:http://www.livemint.com

India Post to launch own e-commerce portal like Amazon or eBay.

Directly stepping into the cyber world, India post is going to launch its own e-commerce portal in the shape of those like Amazon oreBay soon. The aggressive step of India Post, world's largest postal service, is a part of its massive IT based modernization initiative worth Rs 5,000 crore.

"At planning and designing phase now, the final rollover of the dedicated postal e-commerce portal may take another 6 months. But we are excited about this new avatar in our service basket," Mr. John Samuel, member of Postal Services Board told ET.

As he describes, the portal will be like popular e-commerce entities like Amazon or eBay. A conduit between buyers and sellers. But, it is not going to be entirely open for any item to be traded by anyone. Rather a moderated and scrutinized list will be followed. Local specialties like Tea from Darjeeling, Mango from Malda in West Bengal or Saffron from Kashmir will have emphasize in that.

India Post is Tying up with different controlling authorities like Spices Board, Tea Board, or cashew Board to ensure 'quality trading of quality items only'- as Mr. Samuel puts it.

In addition to the physical products, services of different public sector are also being planned to be included into the tradable items of the portal.

"Wide and fast growing coverage of Internet through computer and mobile phones are bringing more and more people from even remote corners to the doorsteps of e-commerce. There lies our new opportunity. Moreover delivery of the items is a major issue for all e-commerce authorities. Here also India post excel's with its 1.5 lakh establishments and time tested connectivity network," he said.

In one hand we have Rs 4909 crore worth IT related infrastructure modernization plan and on the other hand, we are spending another Rs 2000 crore to have new vehicles to ensure faster delivery.

Indeed it is a new step to a new world that can give new life to financially crunched Indiapost. But, "We need to bring change in our own attitude at certain corners to churn out the best out of this initiative," accepted Mr. Samuel.


source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

India Post hits a bull’s eye with ‘My stamp’

The ‘My stamp’ programme, introduced by the India Post in Chennai in May 2013, has been evoking overwhelming response and has fetched a revenue of Rs. 5 lakh in 2013-14 fiscal. With the stamps providing a personal touch, it has gone down well with the members of the public in Chennai, said J.T. Venkateswarlu, Postmaster General, Central Region.

Speaking after launching the ‘My Stamp’ counter at the Head Post Office here on Friday, Mr. Venkateswarlu said that one had to fill a form and be photographed at the Philatelic Bureau at the Head Post Office. “One can have his or her image printed on a stamp of Rs. 5 denomination and use it,” he said.

Next to Chennai, the counter was opened in Nagapapttinam which attracted a large number of tourists and pilgrims. The Tiruchi head post office was the third centre in the State where “My stamp” counter has been made available. The fee for a sheet containing 12 postage stamps is Rs. 300.

The stamps would be delivered by post within a few days, he said. Customers would have to provide some proof of their identity, he added.

Mr. Venkateswarlu said the department had introduced core banking services in all 73 post offices, including 24 head post offices and 49 sub-post offices.

Steps had been taken to introduce automated teller machine (ATM) services at 24 head post offices.

The central region of the postal department with Tiruchi as headquarters was taking a lead in the area of postal services particularly with regard to opening of savings bank accounts, mobilisation of recurring deposits, and term deposits. The postal department would launch an awareness programme in rural areas on the advantages of rural Posta Life Insurance Scheme.

Special incentive

He said the Centre attached priority for encouraging postal services for financial inclusion. Every savings or recurring deposit account opened with the post office fetched a revenue of Rs. 195 to the post office concerned. “The idea is to ensure financial inclusiveness of all citizens particularly in rural areas,” he added.

G. Natarajan, Director of Postal Services, Central Region, Tamil Nadu, G. Sivakumar, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, and Sandeep Mahadavappa, Senior Post Master, spoke.

courtesy: http://www.thehindu.com

India Post's focus should be inclusion, not universal banking; we don't need another PSU bank

 The government is looking at taking the legislative route as early as next month to finalise the creation of proposed Postal Bank of India (PBI), media reports say. It will move the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking to re-consider its original application for a universal bank, the reports said.

The creation of a Post Bank would be indeed much bigger a contribution from theNarendra Modi government to India’s poor than the hurried bank accounts opening drive that is the Jan Dhan Yojana. That is because India Post has been  a trusted name in every Indian household for decades and no entity can claim the kind of reach and local knowledge the department enjoys in far-flung areas of the country where financial inclusion initiatives are actually needed.

But, one point remains unclear. India Post has so far stuck to its demand for universal banking licence, which contradicts its stated focus of financial inclusion. Universal banking, by definition, is the permission for a bank to participate in all kinds of banking activities including corporate, retail and even investment banking activities.

Representational image. AFP image

If indeed PBI wants to become a full service bank and engage in corporate lending, that would, somewhat, be the creation of yet another public sector bank -- a puppet of the government to roll out its populist measures and feed corporate greed.

Such a move would also contradict the spirit of recommendations by the task force headed by TSR Subramanian, which proposed that PBI should be entirely focused on promoting financial inclusion, by extending small loans and deposit services to the poor and unbanked segments of the country.

"The new bank would be unlike other public and private sector banks insofar as it is primarily oriented towards achieving the national and social objective of providing financial inclusion...it will be venturing into largely unbanked and under-banked areas and making a large number of loans to poor," the report said.

Further, the Subramanian panel laid down strict rules to prevent any risks to the proposed bank arising out of offering high value loans.

"Robust system protocols and standard operating procedures would have to be put in place to manage these risks effectively. For example, an upper limit of say Rs 1 lakh could be placed on the credit, which would be extended by the PBI to a particular individual or even family, and a second loan would not be sanctioned unless the first loan has been repaid," the report says.

What this would effectively mean is that the PBI will have to operate purely as a pan-India rural bank offering small-ticket loans to the yet-to-be-banked segments, which is somewhat the idea of the proposed small finance bank, being planned to set up by the central bank.

For this, it doesn’t need a universal banking license. The government can set up a Post bank for financial inclusion through appropriate legislation like it did in the case of Mahila Bank.

As Firstbiz noted earlier, India Post's entry into banking can be a game changer in rural banking given its massive reach in the far-flung areas of the country and local knowledge. The department has already commenced the process to link all its branches through technology, besides setting up ATMs across the country.

Of its total network of 1,55,000, about 1,39,040 are in rural areas. Going by a 2011 estimate of the postal department, about 6,000 people are covered on average by post-offices in rural areas and about 24,000 in urban areas. Through its various saving schemes, the postal department handles deposits to the tune of Rs 6,00,000 crore.

The ideal strategy for the proposed PBI would be for it to operate on the lines of proposed small finance banks as envisaged by the RBI and strictly stick to catering to small customers. Being a universal bank and engaging in multiple businesses is unlikely to serve any greater good to the targeted customer segment.

India Post shouldn't venture into corporate loans as this will only help the creation of yet another state-run bank vulnerable to political influence and victim to wily promoters. Already, over 90 percent of the total bad loans in the banking industry, about Rs 2.7 lakh crore, is on the books of state-run banks. So is a good chunk of the estimated Rs 6 lakh crore restructured loans in the banking system.

We have enough evidence in the past to prove that public banks can easily be targeted for misuse and corruption by the corporate-banker-politician nexus and thus be burdened with huge additions of stressed assets. The creation of one more such entity wouldn't do any good for the banking system, where about 14 percent of loans are already under the stressed asset category. Giving large value corporate loans shouldn't be the focus of PBI for greater good of India’s millions of un banked citizens.

courtesy:http://www.firstpost.com

Bypass RBI, create India Post Bank through law, PM's task force to tell govt

A task force set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the operations of India’s postal department has mooted the creation of a full-fledged Postal bank.

The panel is headed by former cabinet secretary, TSR Subramanian and comprising of experts that includes former Infosys board member TV Mohandas Pai,

The recommendations will be submitted to the government soon, according to a government official in the know of the development. In fact, the task force has recommended to launch the proposed Post bank through an Act of the Parliament and not by approaching the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

“The task force has is not in favour of permitting India Post to run a payments bank but wants the department to run a full-fledged commercial bank, which it believe will help push the cause of financial inclusion in the country,” the official said.

An announcement in this regard is likely to be made as early as Thursday at Dak Bhavan, the headquarters of department of postal services in Delhi, the official said.

The task force, set up in August, has also made several other recommendations to leverage the vast network of India Post and its local knowledge across regions in India, the official said.

For India Post, which has been cherishing the dream of becoming a bank, the Subramanian panel recommendation will be a huge boost for its demand for a full service banking permit.

The Postal department, which was among the 25 contenders for a full service banking licence last year, didn’t get into the final list since the UPA government at the time wasn’t keen on backing the move and refused to provide the department with the minimum capital required to set up a commercial bank.

Last year, while issuing licenses to IDFC and Bandhan, the RBI had observed that India Post can be given banking licence if government, technically the promoter of the proposed Post bank, gives its nod.

India Post has argued that the department’s entry to banking can contribute massively to the cause of financial inclusion, or the process of spreading banking services to the unbanked population of the country, using its vast network of 1,55,000 post offices.

Of its total network, about 1,39,040 post offices are in rural areas. Going by a 2011 estimate of the postal department, about 6,000 people are covered on average by post-offices in rural areas and about 24,000 in urban areas.

Through its various saving schemes, Postal department handles deposits to the tune of Rs 6,00,000 crore.

As Firstbiz noted earlier, India Post’s entry into banking can be game changer in rural banking given the massive reach of Post in the far-flung areas of the country and local knowledge.

The department has already commenced the process of linking all its branches through technology, besides setting up ATMs across the country.

The development has come at a time the RBI is opening up the banking sector to differentiated banks or banks with specific areas of focus such as payments banks and small banks. Payment banks can engage in accepting small deposits, offer ATM/debit cards, payments and remittance services through various channels. They can also offer financial products like mutual fund units and insurance products.

Small finance banks, on the other hand, are almost like full service commercial banks. However, these banks cannot engage in large value transactions since 75 percent of their loans must be lent to the so-called priority sector. For existing banks, this requirement is 40 percent. Also, at least 50 percent of their loan portfolio should constitute loans and advances of up to Rs 25 lakh.

India Post, however, is not keen to set up a small bank or payments bank and, instead, wants a full service banking licence, the official quoted earlier said.

courtesy:-http://firstbiz.firstpost.com/finance/

India Post Task Force finalises report; to meet Prasad

   NEW DELHI: The Task Force set up to suggest ways for turning around India Post has finalised its report and has sought a meeting with Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Parsad to discuss its findings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set up the Task Force to leverage the postal network in India and to enhance the role of India Post in financial inclusion, among other services like delivery of goods for eCommerce firms.

With the world's largest postal network, India Post has about 1.55 lakh post offices spread across the country. On an average, a post office serves an area of 21.21 sq km and a population of 7,175 people.

The Task Force, chaired by Former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian, has finalised its report, sources said.

"The 10-member force has now sought a meeting with Prasad to discuss the findings of the report before submitting it to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO)," a source said.

The Task Force includes the Department of Posts Secretary Kavery Banerjee, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg, Department of Electronics and IT Secretary R S Sharma, Rural Development Secretary L C Goyal and former SEBI Chairman G N Bajpai.

Earlier this year in October, Banerjee had said the Task Force will submit its report by the end of the year.

The government is planning to utilise the huge resources at the disposal of India Post to provide cost-effective and innovative solutions to the citizens like financial services using digital connectivity, a source said.

The idea behind the exercise is to enable the postman in rural areas to provide a plethora of services like savings and insurance, normal postal operations and also value added services like accepting payments of various services as well as registration of data.

Prasad has on various occasions said India Post with its unparallelled rural, urban and semi-urban reach is best suited to offer delivery services to e-commerce players.
 

India Post Eyes $9 Billion E-Commerce Business.

New Delhi: Eyeing $9 billion business opportunity in booming e-commerce business, India Post, which has the biggest network and serves the last mile, is boosting its infrastructure for real-time tracking of parcels through satellites using a new technology.
The Postal Department will also soon start an SMS facility to inform customers about delivery status of their parcels.
India Post, which is already in tie-ups with e-commerce majors Amazon and Snapdeal, will also have security gadgets like CCTV and access control systems to ensure safety of articles.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a meeting with officials in the Department of Posts has directed them to focus on opportunities in e-commerce and tune infrastructure to facilitate growth of the sector which has huge potential to bring investments and generate new jobs.
"The minister has asked India Post to leverage is reach to provide special facilities to local weavers, craftsmen/women, painters and artists so that they also benefit from e-commerce," a ministry official told PTI. The minister wanted their products to be picked up from their doorsteps and delivered to end-customers, the official added.
The official said that "postal department has started working on development of road transport network for parcel movement on majority routes with GPS facility. It is augmenting facility of secure area for parcels with access control and CCTV around it".
As per industry estimates shared by India Posts, e-commerce business in India was about $6 billion in value in 2012 and is expected to reach $76 billion by 2021.
The distribution, delivery or logistics constitutes approximately 12 per cent of the total e-commerce market accounting for about $9 billion by 2021.
India Post, which has world's largest postal network of 1.55 lakh post offices, has seen multi-fold rise in business since the time it entered in partnership with e-commerce companies.
Amazon started booking parcels at one place with India Post in 2013 which has now expanded to five locations by October 2014.
"Amazon shipped 7000 parcels in January this year. By October, number of article booked in a month by Amazon increased to about 85,000. Snapdeals send 2000-3000 parcels per day. Naaptol is giving about Rs 25 crore business to India Post per annum," the official said.
India Post is offering cash collection on delivery facility of product to 200 customers.
"Since December 2013 approximately India Post has collected Rs 280 crore as cash on delivery amount and paid to the e-commerce companies," the official said.

http://profit.ndtv.com

Govt plans to use India Post's postmen to educate people on schemes and policy.

New Delhi: The government is planning to use India Post's 1.55 lakh-strong branch network to reach out to citizens in far flung and backward areas and educate them about the various policies, schemes and incentives.
The ministry of information and broadcasting runs various awareness programmes for the citizens leveraging the Internet and the social media.
However, these initiatives are still out of the reach of many who live in backward and far flung areas there is no connectivity, sources said.

Representational image.

"This category of population is sizable and within the reach of post offices. I&B ministry can design programmes region-wise, which can then be used by the postman to go to these areas and educate the people," a source said.
The idea is to utilise the huge network of India Posts' post offices across the country, especially to reach out to people in areas not connected with the Internet, and educate them about the government's policies, schemes and incentives, the sources added.
With the world's largest postal network, India Post has about 1.55 lakh post offices spread across the country. On an average, a post office serves an area of 21.21 sq km and a population of 7,175 people.
Besides, postman can also be used for directly collecting feedback from the people in rural areas on various policies and schemes, sources added.
"Also digital boards and panels can be set up at the post offices across these areas to educate people on not just schemes and policies, but also on issues related to health and education," they said.
The Task Force set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already holding consultations in this regard with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Modi has set up the Task Force to leverage the postal network in India to enhance the role of India Posts in financial inclusion, among other services and it is expected to submit its report by year-end.
The Task Force includes the Department of Posts Secretary Kavery Banerjee, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg, Department of Electronics and IT Secretary R S Sharma, Rural Development Secretary L C Goyal and former Sebi Chairman G N Bajpai.
Former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian is the Chairman of the Task Force.

http://www.firstpost.com

 

Government plans to transform India Post into a multi-service agency.

NEW DELHI: Aiming to leverage technology to provide cost-effective and innovative solutions, the government is planning to equip India Post to handle not only savings and insurance services, but also payments and data registration. 

With the world's largest postal network, India Post has about 1.55 lakh post offices spread across the country. On an average, a post office serves an area of 21.21 sq km and a population of 7,175 people. 

The government is planning to utilise the huge resources at the disposal of India Post to provide cost-effective and innovative solutions to the citizens like financial services using digital connectivity, a source said. 

"The Task Force is already in consultation with related ministries on how to best use these resources. Already there are plans to roll out hand-held devices and related software to post offices on a pan-India basis from October 2016," the source said. 

The idea behind the exercise is to enable the postman in rural areas to provide a plethora of services like savings and insurance, normal postal operations and also value added services like accepting payments of various services as well as registration of data, the source added. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a Task Force to leverage the postal network in India to enhance the role of India Posts in financial inclusion, among other services and is expected to submit its report by year-end. 

The Task Force includes the Department of Posts Secretary Kavery Banerjee, Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg, Department of Electronics and IT Secretary R S Sharma, Rural Development Secretary L C Goyal and former SEBI Chairman G N Bajpai. 

Former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian is the Chairman of the Task Force. 

Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has on various occasions said India Post with its unparallelled rural reach is best suited to offer delivery services to e-commerce players. 

Already, the West Bengal circle of the postal department has approached various industrial bodies with a plan to create an online marketplace for the local traders. 

courtesy:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Amazon plans it big with India Post network to ramp up its delivery mechanism.

  
  NEW DELHI: E-commerce giant Amazon wants to do in India what Alibaba did in China. Amazon's India head Amit Agarwal on Tuesday met telecom and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and urged him to allow the use of new technologies such as real-time tracking and monitoring devices on the India Post network to develop a delivery mechanism based on smart logistics.

India Post IT Modernisation Project- News Letter PARIVARTAN

IT PROJECT NEWS LETTER. CLICK HERE TO VIEW.

For last-mile linkage, online retailers tap India Post

As online retail comes of age in the country, e-commerce firms have begun to knock on India Post’s doors seeking quick delivery of their parcels. Though they have been using its services for some time in a small way, sales during Diwali saw a huge shift, with “almost all e-commerce firms” using the postal network to deliver the voluminous orders they received.

Seeing the spurt in demand, India Post launched the Same Day parcel delivery service here recently, promising to expand the service to other cities and ‘next day delivery’ service to customers in the hinterland.

The company has earmarked about ₹4,909 crore to deploy technologies to digitise its services in the next three years. “This is India Post 2.0. We are going to introduce technology in a big way in order to get connected with corporates and the digital generation,” John Samuel, Member of Postal Services Board, Department of Posts, told Business Line here on Wednesday.

Waking up to the needs of new retail players, the Department of Posts will further widen the reach of the same day parcel service to other regions as well.

Booking parcels

“You are used to seeing our postmen come to your homes in the day-time. As we launch the new services, you will see them coming in vans between 5 and 9 pm to deliver the parcels,” said Samuel.

“We are going to launch digital post-offices that let you book the parcels and make Speed Post consignments much easier. You can use smart-phones to complete some tasks, reducing human intervention,” he said.

courtesy: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

(This article was published on November 3, 2014)

Live testing of Speed Post Cash on Delivery (SPCOD) facility

  Postal Directorate is planning to expand the SPCOD facility to all Post offices in India by 01.10.2014.  In order to ensure that all the delivery post Offices are equipped with software requirements, a test plan has been formulated for implementation w.e.f. 22.9.2014 to 26.9.14. A detailed action plan to be taken by each office in connection with the testing is shown below

Field Testing (Pan-India) of SP-COD

Software Requirements:

All offices involved in the testing whether it be for booking, dispatch or delivery should implement the latest software as detailed below:

1.    Speednet Version 4.2

2.    Meghdoot Version 7.0 with Update 9

Snapdeal to sell stamp collections, ties up with India Post.

-->

  NEW DELHI: World's largest postal service, India Post has tied up with online marketplace major Snapdeal to sell stamps to reach out to larger audiences.

Under the partnership, targeted especially at philately enthusiasts, Snapdeal will sell stamps and collections priced between Rs 300-5,500.

"While stamp collection has been a popular hobby, we found consumers who said they found it difficult to buy stamps. India Post has an amazing collection of stamps that we feel we our consumers will be delighted to have," Snapdeal co-founder and COO Rohit Bansal told PTI.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY- GOOGLE'S DOODLE

New Delhi: The doodle on the Google India home page this year is a familiar symbol - independent India's first stamp.

The first stamp issued by free India was months after Independence on November 21, 1947 and it depicted the Indian national flag with the popular slogan - "Jai Hind (Long Live India)" written in Hindi. The stamp was valued at three and one-half annas.

Google has been commemorating India's Independence Day on its India home page since 2003.

Independent India's first stamp was for three and one-half annas and was issued on November 21, 1947.

Maximizing the Battery Life of your Laptop

Maximizing the Battery Life of your Laptop

There are three main ways to maximize the life of your laptop. Let’s call the first method “eliminating to save power;” the second “caring to maintain power;” and the third, “adding to increase power.”

Eliminating to Save Power

The first crucial step in maximizing the battery life of your laptop is to understand what drains the laptop’s power. Once you determine the biggest power drainers, you can focus on saving laptop power by eliminating the biggest power-draining culprits.
The Windows 7 Engineering blogreleased a pie chart which displays where the power in your laptop is allocated to. With an astounding near 50%, the laptop’s LCD screen sucks up the juice. So, the obvious answer with this, is to dim your screen!

Where the power goes in a modern Windows laptop

Friedbeef.com offers some other good elimination tips on saving the battery’s life:

1. Dim your screen
2. Cut down on programs running in the background
3. Cut down on external devices, such as external hard drives, flash drives, WiFi, a mouse
   

   Don’t let your laptop overheat!
4. Don’t multitask
5. Turn off the autosave function in Microsoft word and excel
6. Lower the graphics use

India Post ATMs to dot Thiruvananthapuram landscape.

A model of the Automated Teller Machine centre to be opened by the Postal Department.

Automated teller machines (ATMs) are no longer the monopoly of the banking sector. A year ago, the Postal Department too introduced the machine to its customers as part of a modernisation programme. The district will shortly join a select group of places in the country to house ATMs of the department.

In the initial phase, ATMs will be installed at the GPO in the city and sub post offices at Poojappura, Neyyattinkara, and Attingal. The facility will be provided in some other post offices in the city and also at Kottarakara, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kannur later. Work had commenced to set up the machines at the GPO and Neyyattinkara, Assistant Postmaster General, Kerala Circle, K.V Vijayakumar told The Hindu. The machine would become functional within a month, he added

Initially the facility would benefit 11.77 lakh postal savings account holders in the city and after the ongoing Core Bank Solution process initiated by the department gets integrated with other banks, it would become interoperable giving access to bank account holders too.

The core banking facility enables customers to operate their accounts and avail themselves of account-elated services from any of the networked post offices. It would also provide postal saving account holders online banking and mobile banking facilities, Officer on Special Duty, Kerala Circle, Ravindranath, said.

The department’s scheme of transferring money instantly through mobile phone, he said, was getting good patronage with nearly 200 people using the facility monthly. “When we launched the scheme a year ago, there were not many takers. In the first three months, the number of people opted to use the facility was below 10. Now, we were able to carryout more than 200 transactions every month,” Mr. Vijayakumar said.

courtesy: thehindu.com

MESSAGE FROM SECRETARY(POSTS) TO STAFF AND OFFICERS OF DEPARTMENT.

Dear colleagues,

It gives me immense pleasure to update you about the ambitious IT Modernization project of the Department of Posts. As you know, with this project we have embarked upon a transformational journey. I take this opportunity to congratulate and thank each one of you for your dedication and hard work to bring about this historic transformation.

At this point in time, we have already networked close to 23,000 locations, making our the largest WAN in the country. Implementation of our Core Banking System and PLI solutions have attained a critical mass, which will enable us to undertake performance testing & certification before further roll outs. Core SI solutions relating to Mail Operations, Human Resources and F&A are in the UAT stage; and we are nearing identification of a vendor for the Rural Hardware program to support the modernization of our rural post offices.

Implementation of the CBS and Core-PLI solutions has been gradual by design so that we can pinpoint errors/ defects in the solutions and address them appropriately, before graduating to an exponential roll-out phase. As expected, officers and staff are facing some challenges during the initial implementation phase. While we continue to strengthen the solutions based on these valuable experiences, the extra mile that you all have traversed in order to manage these challenges is commendable.

As the implementation gathers steam, I would request each one of you to keep up the energy & commitment you have demonstrated so far. We will make sure that the required technical and administrative support for success is made available.

The primary objective of the IT modernization project has been to enhance customer, satisfaction through better service delivery. The project will enhance the Post Offices capabilities, and enable it to deliver more efficient services, and more add-on services & products. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has also urged the Department to fast-track the IT-modernization project and improve the quality of service. Thus, being sensitive and responsive to the customer is the need of the hour.

You will agree that it is a matter of great pride for each one of us to be associated with this huge transformational project. We must now work hand in hand to make this historical transformation happen quickly.

Together we can, and we will do it!!

Kavery Banerjee
Secretary (Posts)

Reasons for non transmission of COD Delivered amount from Delivery Office to the Payment Office .

1) Submit Account not done in Postman module:  In Postman module, the Supervisor has to perform Submit Account for each Postman beat.  This process will cross check as to whether the amount of all COD articles delivered by that beat postman has been credited to the Treasurer or not.  COD delivered data in r/o the beats for which submit account has been done, will be transmitted to ePayment server for further transmission to Payment office.  It is further to state that Postman module will not allow to perform day end without completing the Submit Account of all the beats.

Solution:  The case has to be reported to CEPT for providing suitable solution.

2) BO Verification not done in Postman module:  In Postman module, Supervisor has to perform verification of the amount in r/o all the COD articles delivered by the Branch Post Offices attached to the HO/SO.  This is similar to the Submit Account for the local delivered articles.   The BO Verification process will cross check as to whether the amount of all COD articles delivered by each Branch Post Office has been credited to the Accounts w.r.t. the SO Summary in Sub Accounts module.  COD delivered data in r/o the Branch Post offices for which verification has been done, will be transmitted to ePayment server for further transmission to Payment office.  It is further to state that Postman module will not allow to perform day end, if BO Verification is pending against any particular Branch Post Office.

Solution:  BO Verification can be done at any later date also by the Postman Supervisor, by selecting the concerned Account Date i.e., BO Summary Date.

3) Office became inactive in ePayment:   The delivery office might have become inactive in ePayment server.  This may be due to the change of the ePayment communication machine  by the Post Office, for one reason or the other.  The ePayment server will take the data being communicated by the registered communication machine only.  If the earlier registered ePayment communication machine is changed by the Post Office, then the COD articles delivered by that Post Offices will not be taken as authenticated by the ePayment Server.   

Solution: The Divisional System Administrator has to re-register the office in ePayment website using the same machine which has transmitted the COD data.   Then the ePayment server will re-process the data earlier received by it again.

4) Configuration in Treasury module at Payment Post Office:   If the payment office is newly identified for making payment to any COD payments, then configuration of PoS server name and Service Tax details is to be done in Treasury module at Payment office.   Further, the work distribution to the treasurer for making COD payment is to be done. In some cases, it is observed that these configurations are not done resulting issue of non availability of Payment data in Treasury module for the COD billers.

Solution:  The configuration as mentioned above has to be done in Treasury module of the Payment Office.

5) Last Call status in ePayment:  Many offices are not running the ePayment Communication application on daily basis, without which the data will not get transmitted to ePayment server, even though entire delivery process is completed as per the procedure.  An MIS report viz.,”Offices Not Called” is available in the ePayment Website which shows the list of Post Offices which have not run the ePayment communication since last 24 hours.   The ePayment Communication application can be either scheduled OR run manually.

Solution: The ePayment Communication application need to be scheduled atleast twice a day.   The above mentioned MIS report is available division wise.  The Divisional heads have to ensure that all the ePayment offices in their division are running the ePayment Communication application on daily basis.

Former Chief PMG Smt. Shoba Koshy bags award instituted by the State Government.

Our former Chief PMG, Kerala Madam Shoba Koshy has bagged the Rani Laxmibai award for
excellence in public administration instituted by the Government of Kerala. The award carries a
cash prize of Rs 3 Lakhs. Press cutting as appeared in the prominent malayalam daily is furnished
below . Hearty Congrats to our dear Shoba Mam...

CORE BANKING SOLUTION ( FAQ For MPKBY AGENTS)

                                      CORE BANKING SOLUTION

                                                               (MPKBY AGENTS)

Core Banking Solution (CBS) is a network of post offices, which enables customers to operate their accounts and avail account related services from any post office. It replaces the existing sanchay post. The difference between sanchay and CBS is very simple. Sanchay Post is a LAN (Local Area Network) based application. CBS on the other hand is a centralized application with internet base.

          MPKBY agents canvas customers and procure RD business. At present agents are preparing bulk lists either manually or through RD Customer package provided by DOP. 

              As Finacle CBS is implemented in DOP, MPKBY/PRSS agents need to prepare bulk list through Web Portal https://dopagent.indiapost.gov.in by using the user name and password. Every MPKBY/PRSS agent will be provided with user name and password.

             Once the agent logons to web portal, all the accounts linked to the particular agent will be displayed. Agents can select multiple accounts by clicking the check box. Search option is also available for selecting the account number with fetch option. Once the accounts are selected, system navigates to the next screen. After completion of the selection, the agent has to select SAVE. The saved accounts will be appeared on the screen. 

               In Cash Mode, if there is no rebate payment or partial default payment, the agent can click on “Pay all saved installments”. 

            If there are default installments, Default fee, if any, will be displayed against the particular account. Suppose if there are three months default, default fee for the 1st defaulted month alone will be displayed. 

            After selecting the accounts, we have to mention the no of total installments (to know default fee or rebate, click the option ‘get rebate & default fee’) and SAVE the same. After clicking on ‘pay all saved installments’, a reference number like C123 will be generated. 

               Agents can take required number of print outs from the “Reports” menu by entering the “Reference Number”. The file can be downloaded either as “PDF” or “XLS”also.

             While adjusting to any changed new scenario, generally we feel nervous. It is quiet natural. At the same time we have to understand that change is inevitable. Our ancestors already proved that Wonders and impossible things are possible because of only two things. They are interest and changing of mindset.

                                           Frequently Asked Questions

1.       What is the maximum and minimum number of accounts in the schedule?

Fifty is the maximum and   minimum is one account.

2.       What is the maximum amount of the schedule?

Maximum amount is Ten thousand. And there is no maximum limit for the cheque accounts ie deposits made, through cheques, issued by the customers.

3.       Can the agent give the schedules beyond ten thousand; say 10050- by foregoing the commission for the excess amount?

NO.  Exact ten thousand should be observed.

4.       Is there any restriction in the submission of number of schedules?

No. Any number of schedules may be given in the day. However each schedule should not be beyond ten thousand.

5.       Is it compulsory to get cheques for each deposit?

Yes. However, the agent can accept one cheque for all deposits of the same depositor.

6.       Can the agent mingle the cash and cheque accounts in one schedule?

NO.

7.       What about new accounts in the schedule?

New accounts, RD Loan, Repayment of RD Loan should be presented separately.

8.       Can the depositor pay the RD installment directly, even though he paid the previous installment through agent?

Yes.  Any account can be accepted in the finacle by delinking or linking from the agent by obtaining a letter from the depositor.

9.       Will the posting be done automatically, by just generating the list itself?

No. the posting will be completed only after upgrading the schedule at post office by using the agent ID and reference number.

10.    Can the agent modify or delete the generated list?

Yes.

11.   Is it compulsory to present the generated list to the post office   on the same day itself?

No. Generated schedules   may be submitted to the Post office on any day, but before           the default date.

12.   What is the care, to be taken about password?

The password will be blocked after entering the wrong pass word for ten times. It will be released only by the data migration command centre (DMCC) by raising a request. The password should also be changed with regular intervals of 180 days for security measures.

13.     How can the agent confirm himself about the upgrading of the schedule?

 He can confirm the upgrading by checking the ledger entries of the account in the net portal.

14.   Can the agent take print outs of the previous schedules?

Yes. The agent can take the printouts in the reports menu by entering the reference id of the schedule.

15.   How can the software calculate the rebate on the deposits of the same account, which appears in the two generated lists?

The rebate will be changed by updating the second list and total eligible rebate will be given in the second list itself.

16.   What is the default calculation of the RD accounts?

For this purpose the accounts were segregated two types ie the accounts opened between first and fifteenth   of the month and between 16th and last day of the month. The deposits made beyond the concerned period will be paid with penalty.

17.   Is there any TDS exemption for the schedules of Rs. 5000- & below?

Yes.

18.   At present schedules, for which agency period is expired, are also being allowed on the basis of collector letter which confirms the extension is under process. Is there the facility in finacle?

NO. Transactions could not be performed by Agents on expiry of Agent License.

19.   Is the PAN card compulsory for opening of SB accounts for agents? Can the agent be allowed with other proof in the place of PAN?

PAN Card is compulsory.  No other proof is allowed.

20.   Is there any change in the present default fee?

Yes. In the finacle software, the default fee for RD account is one rupee for Rs. 100-Dn.

21.   What is the meaning of the term OLD ACCOUNT NUMBER IS NOT ALLOWNED IN CHEQUES?

A new ten digit number, introduced in the place of old account number, should only be used on the cheques.

22.   Is the assals number compulsory in operating the schedule?

No.  The assals number is not compulsory.

23.    How can we see the ledger entries of the account

General details will be  appeared on the display screen. However full details of the account may be found by clicking on the account number.

24.   What is the difference between DSA ID and user id?

Both are same.

25.   What is the meaning of pending, success, failure in generating schedules?

They say the status of the generation of the schedule. However after successful generation of the schedule only, the reference number will be allotted.

26.   What about the commission?

The commission, eligible, will automatically be credited in the SB account of the agent. Hence the Commission should not be deducted from the total amount of the schedules.

27.   Finacle does not allow new accounts in the routine schedules for the first time. Does it mean that the agent will forego the commission for the first month?

No. The commission, for the new accounts also, will automatically be credited into the agent’s SB account.

 Thanks to

Shri. R.V.Raghavarao

System administrator

Ongole HO,  Prakasam Dn.

Vijayawada region, AP

Cell 9440232760