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.

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