Monday, 15 June 2015

Sail

Enjoying the scenery at the Reykjavík harbor lighthouse.


I love the colors in this photo, taken at one of the little lighthouses that guide boats into the Reykjavík harbor. The bicycler in blue is photographing the gorgeous tall ship Krusenshtern, a four-masted barque, that sits just out of frame (but is pictured below.) 

I'll let RT tell you about how it accidentally rammed two coastguard ships while leaving this very port. I'd posted a pic of it on the Iceland Eyes facebook page the day it arrived, looking all tall and grand. In the post-crash photo below, though, it looks a bit forlorn and sorry.  

The town is filling up with visitors, and all the social media/tourism machines are in full swing,  including a brand-new information and tour-booking portal, Come to Iceland, which a friend of mine commissioned me to write content for. I wrote all of the articles except the stuff under the individual tours. I tried to see if I could add some new angles and details to locations things that have been written about so many times before, like Þingvallavatn lake or Snæfellsjökull glacier. Go visit Come to Iceland and read the articles in the Nature page to see if I was at all successful (then book yourself a tour or two! : )

Back to the Kruzenshtern. Here she is looking grand upon its arrival in Reykjavik (above). Look how small the people are in the bottom left corner! She's one of the largest sailing vessels in the world:

The beautiful Kruzenshtern in Reykjavík harbor.

And here she is, possibly a bit peeved, but certainly put-out and lonely at anchor a few days later while damages and such were assessed. Her owners say fault lay with some "overly enthusiastic tugs" (as RT put it) helping her maneuver out of the tiny port. And here's an interesting angle from that same article: "Although the tugging operation that reportedly led to the accident was performed by local tugs, Iceland’s naval command insists the Russian side should pay for the damage to the Coast Guard vessels." Hmmm...
The barque in Faxaflói Bay looking small post-collision, with Mount Esja in the background.

Sunday, 14 June 2015

INDWF reports on last meeting with 7th Pay Commission



INDWF reports on last meeting with 7th Pay Commission





Highlights of the meeting :


7th CPC report will be submitted to the Government of India well within the time by September 2015





VII CPC report will be implemented on their recommendations w.e.f. 01.01.2016 and not from 01.01.2014 as demanded





Removal of Grade Pay has been proposed by replacing the earlier existing scale of pay.





The present anomaly of Grade Pay Hierarchy while granting MACP has to be changed to promotional Hierarchy. Rectification of MACPs aberrations.





Equal qualification in Recruitment Rules should be given equal pay scale based on Recruitment Rules.





In respect of Pension, for the pre pay commission retirees and after pay commission retirees will be taken care by following some metrics and will be taken care.






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Discussion Points of National Anomaly Committee Meeting held on 9.6.2015 – INDWF



Discussion Points of National Anomaly Committee Meeting held on 9.6.2015 – INDWF





The National Anomaly Committee Meeting was held on 9.6.2015 under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary(E) DOP&T alongwith Joint Secretary(Pers), Dept. of Expenditure, M of Finance and JS DOP&T (Pers) with the staff side members of National Council JCM Standing Committee from 15.00 Hrs to 17.00 Hrs on the agenda already submitted. The undersinged being the Member Standing Committee of JCM NC also attended the meeting.






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CBDT Extended the last date for filing return of income for AY 2015 to 31.8.2015



CBDT Extended the last date for filing return of income for AY 2015 to 31.8.2015





Extension of due date of filing return of income for Assessment Year 2015-16





Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Revenue has notified for extending the last date for filing of Income Tax for the Financial Year 2015-16 from 31st July 2015 to 31st August 2015.






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Friday, 12 June 2015

Feedback of NC JCM Staff Side meetings held on 8th, 9th June 2015 by Confederation



Feedback of NC JCM Staff Side meetings held on 8th, 9th June 2015 by Confederation





Confederation General Secretary M.Krishnan published the discussion summary of all the meetings held on 8th and 9th June 2015 on their official blog. National Council JCM Staff Side had met separately on 8th June 2015 and National JCA also met on the same day. The National Anomaly Committee meeting held on 9.6.2015 under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary (E) DoPT. And the final meeting with the 7th Pay Commission was held on the same day.






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Will the 7th Pay Commission accept NC JCM’s Demand of Rs.26,000 as the Minimum Wage?



Will the 7th Pay Commission accept NC JCM’s Demand of Rs.26,000 as the Minimum Wage?





The National Council JCM, which represents over 40 lakh Central Government employees all over India, has demanded that the minimum wages be raised to Rs.26,000 per month.





With each passing day, new doubts and expectations keep growing in the minds of the Central Government employees, which is clearly reflected in the kind of questions that we have been receiving lately.





Members of the 7th Central Pay Commission have been touring the country for more than 10 months now.





The readers want to know when they would return to office and start drafting their report.





Will the Commission submit its report before the end of the year?





And, most importantly, will the Commission accept the NC JCM’s demand of fixing Rs.26,000 as the minimum wage?



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Thursday, 11 June 2015

Aadhaar based authentication of Life Certificate for pensioners – Minutes of the meeting held on 3-6-2015



Aadhaar based authentication of Life Certificate for pensioners – Minutes of the meeting held on 3-6-2015





Aadhaar based authentication of Life Certificate for pensioners





Minutes of the meeting held on 3rd June, 2015 for review of status of Aadhaar based authentication of Life Certificate for pensioners.





G.I., Dept. of DPPW., O.M.No.1/19/2014-P&PW(E), dated 10.6.2015





Sub: Minutes of the meeting held on 3rd June, 2015 for review of status of Aadhaar based authentication of Life Certificate for pensioners.




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