Festival Special Trains 2020 Ministry of Railways Ministry of Railways approves 196 pairs of “Festival Special” services These Festival Special trains 2020 will be operated between 20th October 2020 and 30th November 2020 The fare for these Festival Special services shall be that applicable for special trains Posted On: 13 OCT 2020 6:45PM by PIB Delhi To clear the festive rush, Ministry of Railways has approved 196 pairs (392 trains) of “ Festival Special ” services over Indian Railways to be operated from 20th October 2020 and 30th November 2020. The fare for these Festival Special services shall be that applicable for special trains. Zonal Railways will notify their schedule well in advance. The list of the trains is attached in the link given below. Link of 196 pairs trains approved . – Download PDF   Source: PIB  

Special festival advance scheme for central government employees   Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today addressed the media on key economic issues. The following schemes are announced for Central Government Employees in this meeting : The interest-free advance of Rs 10,000 under the Special Festival Advance Scheme to be paid back in 10 instalments. The one-time disbursement of Special Festival Advance Scheme is expected to amount to ₹4,000 crore; if given by all state governments, another ₹8,000 crores is expected to be disbursed. Employees can spend this on any festival. Special Festival Advance Scheme for non-gazetted employees is being revived as a one-time measure, for gazetted employees too. All central govt. employees can now get an interest-free advance of Rs.10,000, in the form of a prepaid RuPay Card, to be spent by March 31, 2021 Special Festival Advance Scheme is being revived as a one-time measure. All central govt. employees can now get in...

 Expected DA 2020 AICPIN for the month of August 2020 – Expected DA 2020 – Central Government Employees News Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) – August, 2020 The Labour Bureau, an attached office of the M/o Labour & Employment, has been compiling Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers every month on the basis of the retail prices of selected items collected from 289 markets spread over 78 industrially important centres in the country. The index is compiled for 78 centres and All-India and is released on the last working day of succeeding month. The index for the month of August, 2020 is being released in this press release. The All-India CPI-IW for August, 2020 increased by 2 points and stood at 338  (three hundred and thirty eight). On 1-month percentage change, it increased by (+) 0.60 per cent between July and August, 2020 compared to (+) 0.31 per cent increase between corresponding months of previous year. The maximu...

 SVANidhi scheme   Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs More than 15 Lakh loan applications received under PM SVANidhi scheme More than 5.5 Lakh loans sanctioned Around 2 Lakh loans disbursed Software developed to facilitate loan sanctioning process – to accelerate implementation by lending institutions Posted On: 24 SEP 2020 1:22PM by PIB Delhi More than 15 lakh loan applications have been received so far under the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme. Out of these, more than 5.5 lakh loans have been sanctioned and about 2 lakh loans disbursed. The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs is implementing PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme to facilitate collateral free working capital loan to 50 lakh street vendors to restart their businesses post COVID-19 lockdowns. In order to expedite the loan sanctioning process and provide ease of operation to the lenders, it has been decided to push the app...

Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Finance 02-March-2019 Government decides to allow one more opportunity to employees of Public Sector Insurance Companies who joined on or before 28th June, 1995 The Government of India has decided to allow one more opportunity to employees of Public Sector Insurance Companies (PSICs) who joined on or before 28th June 1995, to opt for Pension, as a retirement benefit. Pension was introduced as a retirement benefit in PSICs with effect from 28th June 1995. In April 1997, employees of LIC and Public Sector General Insurance Companies namely, GIC, NICL, OICL, UIICL and NIACL, who joined service on or before 28th June 1995 were given another opportunity to opt for Pension, as a retirement benefit. However, many eligible employees could not exercise the option and there has been a long standing demand from them to be given another option. In order to mitigate the hardship of such employees of whom many have retired, Govern...

Approval for regularization of Pay scales of below Board Level Executives in NHPC, NEEPCO, THDC & SJVN Press Information Bureau Government of India Cabinet 16-January-2019 Cabinet approves regularisation of Pay Scales of below Board Level Executives in NHPC Ltd., North East Electric Power Corporation, THDC India Ltd. and SJVN Ltd. w.e.f. 1.1.97 The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for regularization of Pay scales of below Board Level Executives in National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. (NHPC), North East Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO), THDC India Ltd. (formerly Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd.) and Satluj Jal Vidhyut Nigam Ltd. (SJVN), w.e.f. 01.01.1997 adopted by them consequent upon the orders of Ministry of Power dated 04.04.2006 and 01.09.2006. Implementation strategy: After the approval, the pay scales adopted by Hydro CPSEs consequent upon the order of the Ministry of Power dated 04.04...

ESIC Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Labour & Employment 23-August-2018 17:42 IST Two New Facilities for ESIC Beneficiaries Launched In order to empower Insured Persons and their beneficiaries and create awareness among other Stakeholders, ESIC has come up with two new user friendly initiatives. The initiatives include the facility of ‘IVR (Interactive Voice Response)/Help Desk’ for ESIC Toll Free No. – 1XXX-XX-2526 and production of seven Audio-Visual clips on ESI Benefits. ESIC has started recently a landmark facility with ‘Launching of IVR / Help Desk’ for ESIC Toll Free No. – 1XXX-XX-2526. Apart from on the spot redressal of callers’ queries, this facility also receives the complaints/grievances simultaneously. Complaints requiring longer period are given unique ticket number and forwarded to PG Portal of ESIC for early redressal. The callers are satisfied and happy to experience interactive response from ‘Help Desk’ for the first time. On an...

ARMY Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Defence Army Persons to buy Personal Clothing 07 JUN 2018 The Seventh Pay Commission has awarded monetary compensation to jawans for allowing purchase of personal clothing items of uniform to be purchased under arrangement to be made by the Army. An annual remuneration of Rs 10,000/- has been paid to all jawans in lieu of selected items of personal clothing. Accordingly, Army has made arrangements for purchase of quality cloth to be made available through CSD outlets and stitching to be carried out under unit arrangements or any other means that the individual jawans may wish to get their clothing stitched as per authorized specifications. This provision is applicable to Central Armed Police Forces as well. It is, therefore, incorrect and inappropriate to single out Army on this issue through inadequately researched articles in the media. Col Aman Anand PRO (Army) Source : PIB

Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development 19 APR 2018 All Police officers should be re-trained on various aspects of sexual offences Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi writes to Chief Ministers of all States/UTs highlighting necessary steps for dealing with sexual offences In a letter addressed to Chief Ministers of all the States/UTs, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Union Minister for Women and Child Development has outlined various steps to be taken by the States/UTs in preventing and curbing the crimes against women and children. Some of the steps mentioned in the letter are: All police officers should be re-trained on various aspects of sexual offences particularly those related to collection and preservation of evidence. Instructions may be issued to all police officers that utmost priority is to be given to complete the investigation of cases of sexual offences against children strictly as per the timelines of Law. State Governments must take strict ...

Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development Schemes for welfare of Women and Children  05 APR 2018 Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) implements several schemes supporting for the welfare of the women and children including SC/ST and minority of different age groups. SwadharGreh Scheme MWCD implements SwadharGreh Scheme which targets the women victims of unfortunate circumstances who are in need of institutional support for rehabilitation so that they could lead their life with dignity. The Scheme envisages providing shelter, food, clothing and health as well as economic and social security for the women victims of difficult circumstances which includes widows, destitute women and aged women. The total women benefitted under SwadharGreh scheme during 2016-17 is 16,530 and during 2017-18 is 17,291. Ujjawala Scheme Ujjawala Scheme is being implemented for Prevention of trafficking and for Rescue, Rehabilitation, Re-integration an...

EPFO Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Labour & Employment Pensioner’s Portal at EPFO website  28 MAR 2018 EPFO has launched the pensioner’s portal https://mis.epfindia.gov.in/PensionPaymentEnquiry. The pensioner’s portal is recently launched service, available at EPFO website by which all EPFO pensioners may get the details of pension related information like Pension payment order number, Pensioner’s Payment Order details, Pensioner’s passbook information & other related information such as date of credit of pension, submission of pensioner’s life certificate etc. It is helpful to know the status of their life certificate, in case of non-submission/rejection of life certificate of the pensioners. It also provides the details and the reason of stoppage of pension. Track e KYC: The enhanced “Track eKYC” facility for the convenience of members have been launched to check the status of Aadhaar seeded against their UAN and...

Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Defence Defence Hospitals 28 MAR 2018 There are 112 Military Hospitals, 12 Air Force Hospitals and 9 Naval Hospitals in the country. The State / UT wise number of such hospitals, along with location is as under: S.No. STATE Number of Armed Forces Hospitals Army Navy Air 1 Andhra Pradesh 1 (INHS Kalyani, Vishakhapatnam) 1 (14AFH Hyderabad) 2 Arunachal Pradesh 1 (181 MH Tenga) 3 Assam 6 (151 BH (Guwahati), 155 BH (Tezpur), 160MH (Silchar), 162 MH (Dinjan), 180 MH (Missamari), 188 MH (Likabali) 1 (5AFH Jorhat) 4 Bihar 2 (MH Danapur, MH Gaya) 5 Goa 1 (MH Panaji) 1 (INHS Jeevanti, Vasco da Gama) 6 Gujarat 5 (MH Ahmedabad, MH Baroda, MH Bhuj, MH Dharangandhara, MH Jamnagar) 7 Haryana 3 (MH Ambala, Comd Hosp (WC) Chandimandir, MH Hissar) 8 Himachal Pradesh 6 (MH Kasuali, MH Shimla, MH Bakloh, MH Dalhousie, MH Palampur, MH Yol) 9 Jammu & Kashmir 11 ...

Ministry of Finance Public Provident Fund (PPF) account 09 MAR 2018 At present, premature closure of a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account is permitted on specified grounds on completion of five financial years from the date of opening of account. Opening of accounts in the name of a minor is permitted under all the small savings scheme except the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme. There are some ambiguities due to multiple Acts and rules for small savings schemes and the same are as under:     i. Certain provisions are not uniform in the existing three Acts.     ii. Some provisions have become redundant with time, which have been proposed to be deleted, with a view to simplify and avoid confusion.     iii. Some provisions are not clearly defined in existing Acts, leading to legal issues. The Government proposed to merge Government Savings Certificates Act, 1959 and Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 with the Government Savings Banks Act, 1873. The...

Skill India Initiative by Ministry of Railways - Training of Apprentices Targets training of 30 thousand Apprentices in its 16 Zonal Units and 7 Production Units 13 FEB 2018 As part of Skill India initiative, Ministry of Railways has been contributing in a big way to provide training to Apprentices in various disciplines training in categories like Fitter, Turner, Machinist, Welder, Painter, Carpenter, Electrician, Refrigerator and AC Mechanic, Mechanic (Motor Vehicle/Diesel) etc., since long. Ministry of Railways has kept a target of training of 30 thousand Apprentices in its 16 Zonal Units and 7 Production Units. For the year 2017-18, about 26,000 training slots for Apprenticeship training have been notified. This is in addition to over 4000 persons already undergoing training in various establishments. An Employment Notification has been issued earlier in the week for recruitment of 62,907 staff in Level 1 pay scale and out of these, apprentices trained in Railway establishments wil...

 Ministry of Railways Indian Railways conceives to deploy "Drone" cameras in all its Zones/Divisions to enhance safety and efficiency in train operations. It will help in various activities especially project monitoring and maintenance of tracks and other railway infrastructure. West Central Railways has become the first Zonal Railway to procure "Drone" cameras in Indian Railways. Indian Railways has decided to deploy "Drone" cameras (UAV/NETRA) for various railway activities especially project monitoring and maintenance of tracks and other railway infrastructure. It has been given directions to Zonal Railways to procure such cameras. This is in-line with Railways’ desire to use technology to enhance safety and efficiency in train operations. "Drone" cameras shall be deployed to undertake monitoring activities of relief and rescue operation, project monitoring, progress of important works, conditions of track and inspection related activities. It...

Railway Minister gives directions for "comprehensive training programme" for all employees of Indian Railways to boost productivity & efficiency.  Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Railways 14-November, 2017 Railway Minister gives directions for "comprehensive training programme" for all employees of Indian Railways to boost productivity & efficiency. This comprehensive training programme is being launched under the name "Project Saksham". The week-long training in skills and domain knowledge will be imparted to all the employees of Indian Railways. The focus of all such training is to 'make a difference' to the job performance. Under the direction of Minister of Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal, a comprehensive plan for imparting training to all employees of Indian Railways is being prepared with a view to upgrade skill & knowledge. This comprehensive training programme named as "Project Saksham" ...