Wins and Losses for Women 2014 - in brief

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APPEAL TO EXTEND SOLIDARITY SUPPORT

TO FORUM OF BSNL UNIONS/ASSOCIATIONS

All General Secretaries/ Circle Secretaries     & Divisional Secretaries of NFPE Unions are requested to extend solidarity support in “SAVE BSNL CAMPAIGN AND THE PROGRAMMES OF ACTION” as per the call given  by Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations .

Copy of Save BSNL Campaign-Support requested by Forum of BSNL Unions/Associations is  produced below.

 (R.N. Parashar)

Secretary General

APPEAL TO EXTEND SOLIDARITY SUPPORT TO PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION

All General Secretaries/ Circle Secretaries     & Divisional Secretaries of NFPE Unions are requested to extend solidarity support in holding  protest demonstrations on 12.01.2015 as per the call given  by All India Postal & RMS Pensioners Association .

Copy of call for protest demonstration by AIPRPA (CHQ) is placed below

(R.N. Parashar)

Secretary General

CHQ AIPRPA CALLS FOR PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS

 AGAINST UNDUE DELAY OVER PAYMENT OF 

ENHANCED FMA TO POSTAL PENSIONERS DRAWING 

PENSION THROUGH POSB

PROTEST DEMONSTRATION 

ON 12-01-2015

Hold Protest Demonstration on 12.01.2015 at a convenient time either at the lunch time or in the evening – Discuss with all Postal Unions Divisional Secretaries and enlist their support also.

Mobilize all Postal Pensioners and hold protest demonstrations before HPOs or Divisional Offices as per the convenience of Districts and Divisions. State Associations may mobilise all pensioners in the State Headquarters and hold the demonstration before the Chief PMG office. Take help from the NFPE Circle Secretaries in mobilizing before the Circle offices. AIPRPA CHQ has written to NFPE for extending support and solidarity to our call and requested the Federation to call for the support of all Divisional / Circle Unions.

The Ministry of Personnel and the Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare had issued the orders enhancing the FMA from 300/- to 500/- per month w.e.f. 19.11.2014. The orders were issued on 19.11.2014 but even after the lapse of one and a half month, the payment is not ordered for Postal Pensioners holding POSB Accounts.

Payment to even the largest Central Government Department viz., the Railways have made the payment. The payment has been reportedly made by Banks to Postal Pensioners holding SB Account in their banks. We cannot understand as to why payment could not be made by POSB while Banks have already made the payment? This is absolutely not acceptable to us. 

Divisional Offices and Head Post Offices say we have no instructions from above. This is illogical and not understandable because then how come the Banks could pay earlier? 

All our CHQ Office Bearers, State Secretaries, General Convenors of State AIPRPA are requested to inform all Districts and Divisions to successfully hold the above protest demonstration on 12.01.2015.

All are requested to send their reports and photos about holding the programme to CHQ.

This is important – We cannot allow repeated delays of this nature to Pensioners – Arise, Mobilise, and Agitate on 12.01.2015.

K.Ragavendran

General Secretary AIPRPA

Wins and Losses for Women 2014 - in brief

Making Space for Women 

Women scientists in India are not on par with men for several reasons, however, for the first time, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) brought the role of its women scientists in ISRO to the forefront with a visual (see below) of women in science. We expect this to motivate the next generation of women to take to science. 

For the 21st-century spacewoman, gender is a subject often best ignored. After years of training for their first space mission, the last thing Samantha Cristoforetti and Elana Serova want to dwell on is the fact they are women. Cristoforetti, Italy's first female astronaut, rocketed into orbit from Kazakhstan in November, bound for the International Space Station. There, she joined Russia's Serova, a rarity in her homeland's male-dominated cosmonaut corps. Cristoforetti is the first woman assigned to a lengthy space station mission by the European Space Agency, fresh off a spectacular comet landing of a spacecraft. Serova is one of only four RUSSIAN WOMEN to fly in space and the first to live at this space station. It will be just the second time in the space station's 16-year history that two women make up the long-term, six-member crew.  —AP

Mythic Robotics

Hemani Kalucha, 17, a student of Dhirubhai Ambani School (Bandra) made her mark in robotics by building a robot to simulate a common human action. The young roboticist was invited to share her experiences at the prestigious TEDxGateway talk, this year. Her innovation, AR-GEN, is an archer robot that mimics the glory of Arjun from the Mahabharata hitting the eye of the fish. AR-GEN explores the theme of Indian mythology in an attempt to decode and replicate the wonders of human capabilities using the laws of physics and motion engineering. AR-GEN is special, because it helps connect people through stories, an atypical application for robotics. 

Gamergate

It started off as a debate about the ethics of video game journalism (levelled at a female game developer and her ex-boyfriend—a journalist for the video game news site Kotaku, who was accused of biased reviews), but  quickly spiraled into dissecting the role of women in gaming, and crescendoed as Gamergate supporters went on to threaten female members of the gaming community—namely Zoe Quinn (the game developer), Anita Sarkeesian (a media critic), and Brianna Wu (another game developer). The harassment extended to their supporters, causing many to flee their homes for fear of their lives. 

Facebook to the Rescue

Naina Doshi's cry of distress on FB, after two years of marital violence, finally brought her plight to everyone's attention. It led not only to Doshi's friends, but even others reaching out. Soon enough, with the help of a social worker, she found legal redress. Doshi isn't alone. Technology and social media are creating new platforms for women in distress. This is especially true for the upper middle class and the rich where such experiences are often swept under the carpet. 

A Pregnant Cause 

Over-crowded hospitals cause discomfort to pregnant women and lead to deaths or birth of sick children. Over the next three years, technology will come to the rescue, with non-profit ARMMAN and Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) offering 10 lakh women across India access to voice call message services to guide them through their pregnancy in 58 hospitals across the city.

An App(titude) for Progress

Twelve girls, mostly ninth graders, from Dharavi participated in the Global Technology Entrepreneurship Program, building three prototype apps aimed at solving problems in their immediate environment—be it saving time and preventing fights while queuing at the community water tap or boosting functional literacy levels among school drop-outs, especially girls, and bolstering women's safety with a GPS-linked app that sends an SOS when they are harassed/eve-teased. The girls were guided in their endeavour by 35-year-old documentary film-maker Nawneet Ranjan and his Dharavi Diary NGO. 

SPORTING SPIRIT

No Mountain High Enough

At around midnight on 16th December 2014, Tashi and Nugshi Malik became the first twins to scale the highest peaks on all seven continents. 

What a Racket!

Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal won India its first GOLD medal in squash at the 2014Commonwealth Games in August.

Sania Mirza won GOLD with Saketh Myneni (Mixed Doubles) and bronze with Prarthana Thombare (Women's Doubles) at the Asian Games, September 2014. 

The Long Arm of Success

Seema Punia won India's fifth GOLD at the 2014 Asian Games, in the  discus throw event. 

Better than a Bronze?

Laishram Sarita Devi may not have won the medal she deserved, but the Manipuri woman showed tremendous courage in standing up for what she believed; sadly the only thing her integrity earned her was a year-long ban. 

Brown Girl in the Ring 

Even before the blockbuster biopic, MC Mary Kom was the face of Indian women's sporting success. Three kids later, she won her first GOLD at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea on 1st October 2014. Go mama! 

Dodging Success

The Indian women's kabaddi team won GOLD at the 2014 Asian Games.

Need for Speed

32-year-old Scot, Susie Wolff became the first woman in 22 years to drive at a Formula 1 race weekend, when she took part in the practice at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone in July. She was recently promoted to official test driver for Williams for the 2015 Formula 1 season; increasing her chances of being the first female racer on the grid since Italian driver Lella Lombardi, in 1976.

Spoilt Sport 

A female fan who disguised herself to infiltrate the male-only domain of a football stadium in Saudi Arabia, earlier this month, was red-carded. — AFP 

PUBLIC SPACES

The Blame Game

"Ladkon se aisi galtiyan ho jati hain, to iska matlab yeh to nahi ki unhe phaansi de di jaaye (Boys make mistakes, but this doesn't mean you hang them),” Mulayam Singh Yadav boldly declared at a rally in Uttar Pradesh in April. Not too long after, Abu Azmi suggested, that  a woman who goes along with a man, with or without consent, should be hanged. We sure are glad his daughter-in-law Ayesha Takia took a stand against him. 

Soon after the 5th December rape of a passenger by Uber taxi driver, Shiv Kumar Yadav, advice peddled to women 'in the interest of their own safety' included avoid going out alone, steer clear of unsafe places and sermons about dress sense and conduct. This cliched aftermath of sexual violence only reinforces the wrong notion that the victim is somehow to blame.

The Right to Pee

"Every school should build separate toilets for girls in a year so that our girl children do not leave schools," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling upon schools in the country to construct separate toilets for girl students, as it was a shame that our girls had to wait for darkness to go out in the open to defecate. 

Two girls (cousins), in the Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh, were gang-raped and hung from a tree in May 2014. They had walked over to a nearby field to answer nature's call as their homes don't have toilets.  

Hopefully, the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ launched on 2nd October, which talks of dealing with sanitation and related issues will focus on toilets whose design and location does not leave women vulnerable.  

MATERNITY MATTERS

Mama Mia!

Aid organisation Save the Children puts India last amongst the G-20 nations in its Mothers’ Index, which measures pregnancy-related deaths; child mortality; and the economic, educational and political status of women. Out of 178 countries, India ranked 137th in 2014. —Bloomberg

A Class Apart

In Ranchi, Chattisgarh 13 women died after sterilization surgeries in state-run hospitals in November, due to alleged supply of substandard drugs and equipment. We can't help but wonder if population control initiatives really need to be a rural phenomena? 

Baby Talk

This November, AFP reported how Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described efforts to promote birth control as "treason", declared that every woman should have three children and stated that women are not equal to men. He has also made proposals to limit abortion rights,the morning-after pill and Caesarian sections. 

Frozen Eggs

According to reports by The Guardian, Facebook and Apple will foot the bill for employees, who want to freeze their eggs. This is great news for women, who plan to delay pregnancies in the interest of their careers, but it does not stop the biological clock nor reduce the complications associated with pregnancies in older women.

BUDGETARY BENEFITS

While the practical benefits may not be apparent yet, this year's  budget allocated `50 crore to develop safer transport for women, and `150 crore to build safer cities for women. There was also `100 crore dedicated to the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana', which was created to generate awareness and help improve the welfare services meant for women. Additionally `1,000 crore was directed towards Crisis Centres from the pre-existing Nirbhaya fund. 

CRIME PATROL

Rapes have shot up from 349 cases last year between January and November, to 556 in the corresponding period this year, in Mumbai. Kidnapping cases have increased from 236 to 286. While last year, 1,038 women had complained against men outraging their modesty, these cases have increased to 1,459. Total crimes against women including other forms of crime such as intended insults, mental and physical harassment have increased from 2,669 cases last year to 3,231 this year. Dowry-related murders, suicides and harassments have decreased from 541 in last year to 511 cases this year. 

ENTERTAINMENT

 Reel Power

Mardaani, Queen and Mary Kom—this is the first time three Bollywood blockbusters starred female protagonists. The male-dominated industry, which rarely relies on its heroines to carry the weight of its productions is clearly becoming more open to strong scripts and memorable roles for women. 

Show me the Money

But for all their box-office success and newfound prominence, Bollywood actresses are asking: Where is the money? Top male stars, such as the three Khans—Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir—and action star Akshay Kumar, earn around `400 million (US$6.7 million) per film on average, apart from a share of the profits, according to industry experts. A-list actresses such as Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif get paid a tenth of that per film.

— AP, New Delhi

Who's the Real Boss?

Have you watched the commercial in which the woman boss gives her subordinates an impossible deadline, before going home to cook a delicious meal for her husband (one of the subordinates featured earlier) and then calls to entice him to come home. Ironic, don't you think? So no matter how high up a woman is on the corporate ladder, she's still on kitchen duty. 

THE OFFICE

Woman on Board 

In December this year, the government reiterated that it is mandatory for a certain class of public companies to appoint at least one woman director on their boards under The Companies Act 2013. There's nothing to stop the woman being a family member, with no real power; but at least this law attempts to makes some room for women in the higher echelons of the business world.

Ten years ago, there was just one female director of an emerging-market-based company. Now there are more than 1,500, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

Workplace Harassment

Sixteen years post the landmark Vishaka Guidelines, the government of India introduced a new act, in December 2013. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 sought to widen the scope of the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court. The act extended to cover women in India's unorganised sector. This is crucial because 93 per cent of our workforce is employed in the unorganised sector, which is largely dominated by women. Even while the law has been passed, the government is yet to form a Local Complaints Committee (LCC) under the law that will look at cases related to women in the unorganised sector. 

IN POWER

When Women Rule

Angela Merkel and Dilma Rousseff were re-elected to head Germany and Brazil, respectively; looks like the world is ready for women to rule.

All the PM's Women

2014 saw the inclusion of seven women in the Indian Cabinet—Smriti Irani (Union and Human Resources Development)who is the youngest to the oldest, Najma Heptullah (Minority Affairs), Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs Overseas Indian Affairs), Maneka Gandhi (Women and Child Development), Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Food Processing Industries), Uma Bharati (Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation), Nirmala Sitharaman (Commerce and Industry, Finance and Corporate Affairs). Whether any or all of these women will make a difference to the way India lives and works remains to be seen.

HIGH HONOUR

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot on a school bus in 2012 by a Taliban gunman, won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. While the debate rages on about whether or not she is no more than a puppet in the hand of the powers that be, there's no denying that the young girl has managed to draw a lot of attention to a major issue. 

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NREGA didn't deliver where it mattered most: rural wage incomes - NEWS

If any proof were required that it is growth that creates jobs and higher incomes, and not doles or artificially-created work, the latest data generated by the Labour Bureau should dispel it.

A report in The Indian Express today (7 January) says rural wage growth rose barely 3.8 percent in November year-on-year, apparently the lowest since July 2005. That was the year in which the UPA launched the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (a.k.a., NREGA), a make-work programme for providing 100 days of work for anyone demanding it. One person from a household if guaranteed work even if there is actually no productive work available.

The key to proving that NREGA may be doing less for the worker than growth lies in comparing relative GDP growth rates during the four-year period from 2010-11 to 2013-14, NREGA spends, and wage growth trends.

This is what the numbers show. The overall NREGA wage spends remained in the range of Rs 26,000-29,000 crore all through these four years. In other words, they plateaued. Since minimum wages were raised every year by indexing to inflation, this means fewer people got jobs under NREGA even though their wages were higher. 

(The wage figures here are not the total annual spends on NREGA, as administrative and material costs are excluded. These figures indicate only the wage element in NREGA costs. Actual NREGA expenditures were higher.)

But between 2010-11 and 2013-14, GDP growth fell from 8.9 percent to 4.7 percent steadily. And rural wages followed the same trajectory.

Wage inflation peaked in 2010-11, and then started falling to reach last November’s dismal number of 3.8 percent.

The Analysis, released last month by Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, makes this observation: “The rate of growth of rural wages, after having averaged 18 percent (26 percent at its peak) for the previous five years, has now decelerated sharply into single digit territory. This reflects strong disinflationary pressures in agriculture and signals a slack in the labour market.”

Normally, a slack in the labour market should mean a boom in NREGA employment, as people not getting jobs anywhere should be flocking to it. But the opposite seems to have happened despite higher NREGA wages.

Did UPA let down its biggest rural constituency just when they needed it the most?

The Mid-Year Analysis observes: “A dramatic change seems to have happened to rural labour markets since 2012 because wage growth has plunged. A combination of softness in the economy and reductions in MGNREGA expenditures (declines of 3 and 36 percent in the last two years) have played a key role. If these trends continue, rural wage growth can continue to decelerate, further moderating inflationary pressures.”

The point about NREGA (or MGNREGA) is this. Since States are bound to offer employment to anyone who demands it, and wages have been raised every year due to high inflation, the fall in demand for MREGA employment is surprising – unless one were to conclude that the scheme was allowed to atrophy and poor implementation was deterring more people coming forward for jobs even though they needed it.

This is the paradox, since actual rural wage growth rates were falling between 2011 and 2014 at a time when NREGA wages actually went up consistently due to inflation indexation. Between early 2011 and April 2014, NREGA wages went up by 30 percent from a range of Rs 117-181 to a range of Rs 153-236 per day for various states.

So, taking these factors together, it is more than likely that falling growth was impacting wage growth more negatively than a falling NREGA workforce (which was being paid more).

Clearly, the NREGA scheme needs major rework and appears to be of only marginal utility in helping improve rural incomes. The scheme possibly needs to remain in places of extreme poverty, but if we accept that growth determines wages (and hence incomes for many rural people) more than NREGA, there is a case for shifting investments to projects that really deliver growth.

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Call letter of SBI Associate Clerk 2015

Friends.. State Bank of India has activated the link to download the call letter of its Associate Clerk Exam 2015. SBI is scheduled to start the Associate Clerk exam in the third week of January. You can download the admit card from the below link. All the best.

Download Admit Card: Click Here or SBI Website

Acquaint Yourself Booklet (Hindi / English)

Repatriation order in PS Gr. B cadre issued by Directorate

Source : http://www.indiapost.gov.in/DOP/Pdf/Postings/Reallotment_PS_%20GR%20B_08.01.2015.pdf

PM likely to approve India Post revival plan

Task Force proposes to divide India Post into five biz verticals

New Delhi, January 6: 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to review a report on the revival of India Post soon.

Official sources said that Minister for Communications andInformation Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad has approved the task force report and will submit it to the prime minister for a review.

The task force had submitted its report to Prasad in December, recommending division of India Post into five verticals, including one each for banking, insurance and e-commerce, with India Post being the holding company.

“The minister is expected to meet the prime minister on Wednesday for an in-principle approval. The task force has highlighted priority areas, which would give a fillip to our postal department,” an official told BusinessLine.

The Centre is also investing ₹5,000 crore for IT modernisation in India Post.

He said priority tasks include providing banking and insurance services to the public and making e-commerce companies such as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal use India Post’s services.

“The main purpose is to utilise the network in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of reaching rural areas for financial services through innovation and digital connectivity instead of mere postal services,” the official added.

The task force, chaired by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian, was set up by the Prime Minister last year.

The idea was to leverage India Post’s wide reach across India.

Snapdeal has already partnered with India Post to work on bringing thousands of weavers and artisans from Varanasi on its website. The online company has launched a pilot with India Post to set up facilitation desks at Varanasi post offices to enable local weavers to sell their products on its platform.

Source : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

Repatriation of PS Group B officers to their Home Circles

Directorate has ordered reallotment to 12 PS Group B officers working away from their home circles to their home circles.

Sri K.Venkateswara rao got reallotment to AP Circle from Gujarat circle.