Postman Examination to fill up the vacancies for the Year 2013 -Circle Office Orders

Postman Examination to fill up the vacancies for the Year 2013 -Circle Office Orders

Circle Office has issued orders for filling up of vacant Postman post from the eligible MTS/GDS officials through written test going to be held on 15/12/2013 vide Memo No.RE/1-22/PM & MG/Rectt/2013 Vacancies     Dated at Hyderabad 1 the    30-   10-2013. Important Dates are as follows

SL.  No.	Activity	Schedule
1	Date of issue of  Notification	04-11-2013
2	Last date for submission of applications to DO  by the candidates	20-11-2013
3	Issue of Admit Cards by Divisions/Units	29-11-2013
4	Date of Examination	15-12-2013
5	Timings of Examination	10.00 Hrs to  11.30Hrs
6	Declaration of results	18/19-12-2013

It is known from the confidential sources that possible efforts have been taking the CO to conduct the examination for filling up of vacant MTS posts, in the evening session of 15/12/2013 . Let us wait for the notification. On behalf of AIPEU Group-C I wish the aspirants best wishes and work hard for success in the examination.

Click here for Postman Examination Orders

PA / SA examination 2013 results....Delhi Circle

PA / SA examination 2013 results....Delhi Circle

To view, please CLICK HERE. 
 

A glance on “New Pension Scheme is the best retirement option”

A glance on “New Pension Scheme is the best retirement option”

The Indian population is greying. According to the latest UNFPA report, the percentage of Indians above 60 years is projected to rise to 55% by 2050. The demographics also indicate an increasing longevity owing to betterment in medical facilities. While this is good news, it also means that tomorrow’s retirees will have a longer retirement and must, therefore, accumulate a bigger corpus.

 

Retirement planning involves disciplined saving, vigilant investment to build a sufficient retirement corpus and its judicious drawdown in the postretirement phase. The National Pension System (NPS), launched by the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority, takes all these concerns into account. It is a sophisticated innovation based on the world’s best practices in the pension sector.

While saving for a long-term goal such as retirement, the cost matters a lot. Over 35-40 years, the charges can shave off a significant amount from the corpus. The NPS charges fund management fees of 0.0102% for the government employees and there’s a ceiling of 0.25% for the private sector. This is perhaps the lowest in the world. Other charges are also low, making the cost-adjusted returns of the NPS quite attractive. It is estimated that the total cost of the NPS, including the fund management fee, will not exceed 0.5% per year, making it the cheapest financial product in India.

The NPS is a well-regulated, transparent and flexible scheme. It has laid down prudent investing norms for fund managers, and their performance and portfolios are regularly monitored by the NPS Trust under the overall supervision of the PFRDA. The scheme offers complete flexibility. The investor decides the percentage of the corpus that goes into equity, corporate bonds and government securities. There is only a 50% cap on exposure to equity.

One of the most outstanding features of the NPS is the ‘life cycle fund. It is meant for those who are not financially aware. It is also the default option for someone who has not indicated his desired allocation. Under this option, the investor’s age decides the equity exposure. The 50% allocation to equity is reduced every year by 2% after the investor turns 35, till it comes down to 10%. This is in keeping with the strategy to opt for a higher-risk , higher-return portfolio mix earlier in life. As the investor approaches retirement , he shifts to a more stable, low-risk portfolio.

This automatic rejigging of the allocation is a unique feature of the NPS. No other pension plan or mutual fund offers such a facility to investors. There are a few funds based on age, but they are one-size-fits-all solutions, not customised to the individual’s age.

Another unique feature of the NPS is the tax benefit it offers under the newly added Section 80 CCD(2). Under this section, if an employer contributes 10% of the salary (basic salary plus dearness allowance) to the NPS account of the employee, this amount gets tax exemption. This is over and above the 1 lakh tax deduction under Section 80C. It’s a win-win situation for both because the employer also gets tax benefit under Section 36 I (IV) A for his contribution. By putting in money in the NPS, the employer can provide an additional tax benefit to the employee by simply restructuring the salary at no extra cost.

The NPS allows one to accumulate the corpus from the age of 18 for 40-odd years. There is minimal leakage in the form of withdrawals for competing consumption expenses. This allows the investor to reap the benefits of compounding till he turns 60.

The NPS also offers the flexibility to draw up to 60% of the retirement corpus as a lump sum to meet financial life goals like children’s marriages, housing, or draw down the lump sum in a staggered manner till one is 70 years old. The rest can be used to buy an annuity from any of the seven Irda regulated annuity service providers.

The author is the Chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.

Source: Times of india

Officials told not to act on oral orders from political executive

In major reform, SC orders fixed tenure for bureaucrats

To insulate the bureaucracy from political interference and to put an end to frequent transfers of civil servants by political bosses, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre and the States to set up a Civil Services Board (CSB) for the management of transfers, postings, inquiries, process of promotion, reward, punishment and disciplinary matters.

A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Pinaki Chandra Ghose, giving a series of directions while disposing of a public interest writ petition — filed by former Union Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian; former CECs T.S. Krishnamurthy and N. Gopalaswami; former Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Abid Hussain; former CBI Director Joginder Singh; former Manipur Governor Ved Prakash Marwah and 77 others — also said bureaucrats should not act on verbal orders given by politicians and suggested a fixed tenure for them.

Writing the judgment, Mr. Justice Radhakrishnan said “the CSB, consisting of high ranking service officers, who are experts in their respective fields, with the Cabinet Secretary at the Centre and Chief Secretary at the State level, could be a better alternative (till the Parliament enacts a law), to guide and advise the State government on all service matters, especially on transfers, postings and disciplinary action, etc., though their views also could be overruled, by the political executive, but by recording reasons, which would ensure good governance, transparency and accountability in governmental functions.”

The Bench asked Parliament to enact a Civil Services Act under Article 309 of the Constitution setting up a CSB, “which can guide and advise the political executive transfer and postings, disciplinary action, etc.” The Bench directed the Centre, State governments and the Union Territories to constitute such Boards “within three months, if not already constituted, till the Parliament brings in a proper Legislation in setting up CSB.”

The Bench said “We notice, at present the civil servants are not having stability of tenure, particularly in the State governments where transfers and postings are made frequently, at the whims and fancies of the executive head for political and other considerations and not in public interest. The necessity of minimum tenure has been endorsed and implemented by the Union Government. In fact, we notice, almost 13 States have accepted the necessity of a minimum tenure for civil servants. Fixed minimum tenure would not only enable the civil servants to achieve their professional targets, but also help them to function as effective instruments of public policy.”

Deprecating repeated transfers, the Bench said minimum assured tenure ensures efficient service delivery and also increased efficiency.The Bench directed the Centre, States and Union Territories to issue appropriate directions to secure providing of minimum tenure of service to various civil servants, within three months.

Detect Fake Rs 500 and Rs 1000 Indian currency notes

Detect Fake Rs 500 and Rs 1000 Indian currency notes

Over a decade, Indian market is flooded with fake currency. But in last couple of years, there seems to be an increase in the inflow of fake currency from neighboring countries and now currency notes are closer you than you think. Check your wallet, here are some tips on detecting fake Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

Double Click Images to Enlage 

ON THE OBVERSE (FRONT)

1. See through registration
In the Middle of the vertical band at the extreme left is the denominational numeral ("500" in Rs 500 and "1000" in Rs 1000) printed as a floral design. One half of this numeral is printed on the obverse and the other half in reverse in such a way that the two printed portions have a perfectly accurate back-to-back registration and the numeral appears as one when viewed against light. 

2. Identification Mark
A circle (Rs 500 note) and diamond (Rs 1000 note) with intaglio print, which can be felt by touch, helps visually impaired to identify the denomination.

3. Watermark
A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, multi-directional lines and an electrolyte mark showing the denominational numeral ("500" in Rs 500 note and "1000" in Rs 1000 note) appear in this section and can be viewed better when the note is held against light.

4. Optically variable ink
The colour of the numeral in the centre {"500" in Rs 500 note and "1000" in Rs 1000 note) appears green when the note is held flat but changes to blue when it is held at an angle. 

5. Intaglio Printing
A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi and the seal of Reserve Bank of India at the extreme right, the 'guarantee' and 'promise' clauses in the middle, the emblem of the Ashoka Pillar at the bottom left, the signature of the Governor of Reserve Bank of India below 'promise' clause and the identication mark for the visually impaired persons are all printed in intaglio and can be felt by touch.

6. Micro-lettering
The letters "RBI" and the numeral "500" (in Rs 500 note) and "1000" (in Rs 1000 note) can be viewed with the help of magnifying glass in the area between the Mahatma Gandhi portrait and the vertical band at the right.

7. Latent Image
The vertical band above the seal of the Reserve Bank of India contains a latent image of the numeral "500" (in Rs 500 note) and "1000" (in Rs 1000 note) when the note is held horizontally at eye-level.

8. Security Thread
A vertical, 3-mm-wide, security with the inscriptions ("भारत" and "RBI" in Rs 500 note and "भारत", "RBI" and "1000" in Rs 1000 note) changes colour from green to blue when viewed from different angles. It will glow yellow on the reverse (back) and the next text will glow yellow on the obverse (front) under ultraviolet light. On the reverse, the thread is visible as an unbroken line when the note is held up against light.

Things to Know [Situation Guide]

I have received some money. I found them as Fake/Forged Notes at later point of time. What should I do now ?
According to  Section 39 of the Criminal Procedure Code, every person, aware of the commission of or of the intention of any other person to commit certain offenses, including those relating to counterfeiting of currency, is required to immediately give information about such commission or intention to the nearest magistrate or police officer.
Is it possible to get exchange value for the Fake/ Forged Notes which I have received unknowingly?
Being a forged note,  it has no value. It is your mistake to take that note  without proper checking. So you will not get anything. So better avoid Fake/Forged Notes in your transactions.
Note : If you know that the money  you received contains some Fake/Notes at later stage and if you  try to use it in some other transactions, it is a serious offense. You are subject to questionable and if found guilty you can be punished.
I have found that there were some Fake/Forged Notes (say Rs.2500/-)with me which were given in some transaction. If I complaint  to police or the Bank will I be able to get the original notes (Rs.2500/-) in exchange with the Fake/Forged Notes ?
It is your mistake to take the money without checking it properly. So, you will not receive anything. It is your personal loss. Even though  you don’t receive anything, it is your duty  to provide information to the magistrate  or police officer and surrender those Fake Notes.
What should I do, if I  have received some Fake/Forged Notes in some transaction ?
It is your duty to immediately report  to the nearest magistrate or police officer.
So, is it possible for us to avoid Fake/Forged Notes ?
Yes,  it is possible only when you make a habit of checking them at the received time.
What happens if I try to deposit money [contain some Fake/Forged Notes] in the BANK  ?
The bank will impound the counterfeit note in the presence of the tenderer. The bank will also issue an acknowledgement to the tenderer. The receipt is authenticated by the cashier as well as by the tenderer. The acknowledgement is issued even in cases where the tenderer is unwilling to countersign it The bank will thereafter forward the impounded note to the local police authorities for further necessary action.

Tips For Kids to Safe Diwali Celebrations With Fireworks

Diwali the festival of lights brings fun and togetherness. For children fireworks new clothes and sweets make this festival the most eagerly awaited of the year.

Unfortunately injuries from fireworks spoil the fun for many families – and though Diwali is a holiday for most of us fire departments and hospitals around the country are on constant alert to tackle the various mishaps.Each year brings a fresh crop of cases involving loss of eyesight and serious burns and injuries caused by fireworks. Most of these cases involve children.Freak accidents invariably occur when kids are allowed to play with fireworks unattended. The most common reason is wrong handling of fireworks.Parents need to take some precautions to avoid such tragedies. For instance it is extremely important to know the difference between a legal consumer firework and a dangerous explosive device.

The latter can cause serious injury or even death. Both parents and their children need to stay away from anything that is not clearly labeled and does not display the manufacturers name and instructions for proper use.Fundamentally children must understand that fireworks are not toys that they burn at approximately the same temperature as a household match and that they can ignite clothes and cause burns and injuries if used improperly.

Parents must never allow young children to handle fireworks without close adult supervision. Even seemingly harmless sparklers and ‘flower pots can be dangerous for very young kids especially to those under age five.Most of these and similar nonexplosive fireworks can create havoc if lighted in busy areas. Rockets can shoot off into non intended directions to injure people and even enter homes to set things inside on fire.

Fireworks Safety Tips For Kids

We often do not realise the potential danger and therefore ignore even the most rudimentary precautions. Caution and proper care can ensure a safe and fun filled Diwali “ it all boils down to a few 

simple dos and donts.

Never allow your kids to play with fireworks unattended

DO

1. Supervise children while they light fireworks.Make sure you buy Fireworks from a licensed shop.

Read the instructions and follow all safety precautions instructed with regard to the use of fireworks.

2. Make them light fireworks outside the house.

3. Have them hold sparklers away from the body

4. Keep ˜flower pots and chakras on even flat ground while lighting them

5. Have them light up rockets only on open ground

6. Ensure proper distance from the fireworks away at a distance while they are lighting them

7. Make sure they are wearing closed footwear and close fitting clothes of thick material instead of loose or flowing garments while lighting fireworks

8. Keep a water bucket and burn ointment or aloe vera gel handy

9. Check the area before igniting fireworks to ensure that no inflammable materials are near

10. Ensure they light only one firework at a time

11. Discard used fireworks in a bucket of water this way you can avoid people from stepping on to and hurting their feet from used fireworks which are thrown on the ground

12. 

DONT

1.  Don't burn crackers in crowded, congested places, narrow lanes, near sources of fire or inside the house.

2.  Don't let children burst crackers unaccompanied by an adult. Keep an eye on them constantly.

3.Don't put fireworks in your pocket. Careless smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths in North America.

4.  Don't dare to examine un-burst crackers.. leave it!! Light a new cracker.

5. Don't show the Dare-devilry of lighting crackers on own hands. One tends to light bombs, by bringing them close to the candle or incense, rather than bringing the incense close to the bomb. Avoid doing such feats, as there are chances of the firework falling on someone passing by.

6.  Avoid long loose clothes, as they are fast in catching fire.

7.  Strictly avoid using matches and lighters for bursting crackers for Diwali as they have open flames that can be dangerous.

8.  Never ignite aerial fireworks (like rockets) if there is any overhead obstruction present like trees and wires.

9. Never ever leave a lit match, agarbatti (incense stick) or sparkler near unused crackers.

10. Never experiment with crackers or make your own fireworks.

11. Avoid bursting crackers on the roads-it could cause a major road accident.

12. Never ever light a cracker while holding it in your hand. See to it that you put it down and then ignite it.

13.   Don't keep your face close to the cracker while trying to light it.

14.  Do not throw fireworks at people.

15. Never give any firework item to small children.

16.   When crackers take time or do not ignite immediately, do not keep in trying to burst them. Move away immediately. Throw some water to diffuse them.

 

Finally Diwali is a family festival  it should be a source of joy for everyone including kids. But these small but important steps can ensure that the Festival of Lights does not bring darkness into your lives.

Let’s salute with real spirit to Iron Man Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel

(October 31, 1875 - December 15, 1950)

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel the iron-man of India was born on 31st October, 1875, in a small village in Nadiad. His father Jhaverbhai Patel was a simple farmer and mother Laad Bai was a simple lady. From his childhood itself, Patel was a very hard-working individual. He used to help his father in farming and studied in a school at N. K. High school, Petlad. He passed his high-school examination in 1896. Throughout school he was a very wise and intelligent student. Inspite of poor financial conditions his father decided to send him to college but Vallabhbhai refused. Around three years he stayed at home, worked hard and prepared for the District Leader's examination, hence passing with very good percentage.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is a historical figure who moves you to tears. Mostly these are tears of joy, for he achieved a thrilling Indian unity. Yet some are tears of pity, for the Sardar suffered and sacrificed much. Sardar Patel hated to work for anyone especially the Britishers. He was a person of independent nature. He started his own practice of law in a place called Godhara. Soon the practice flourished. He saved money, made financial arrangement for the entire family. He got married to Jhaberaba. In 1904, he got a baby daughter Maniben, and in 1905 his son Dahya was born. He sent his elder brother to England for higher studies in law. In 1908, Vitthabhai returned as barrister and started practising in Bombay. In 1909 his wife became seriously ill and was taken to Bombay for treatment Vallabhbhai had to go for the hearing of an urgent case and his wife died. He was stunned. He admitted his children in St. Mary's school Bombay, and he left for England. He became a barrister and retuned to India in 1913.

He started his practice in Ahmedabad and soon he became aware of the local life, activities and people's problems. He became an extremely popular person and he got elected in the Municipal Corportaion in 1917. Around 1915, he came across Mahatma Gandhi. The Swadeshi Movement was at its peak. Gandhiji gave a lecture at a place in Ahmedabad where Patel heard him and was very impressed and started actively participating in the freedom movement. The British government's atrocities were increasing. The government declared to confiscate all the lands of farmers. He forced the British government to amend the rules. He brought together the farmers and encouraged them and hence got the title of 'Sardar' and thus became famous.

The British government considered him as a threat and his lectures were considered anti-government and he was imprisoned several times. In 1942, he took part in the Quit India Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. He was arrested along with other leaders and was sent to Ahmednagar jail. Inspite of the British Rule, rulers of the small kingdoms were spending a lot of public money, and were having a nice time. Sardar Vallabh Bhai opposed this.

With great wisdom and political foresight, he consolidated the small kingdoms. The public was with him. He tackled the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Nawab of Junagarh who intially did not want to join India. There were a lot of problems connected with the reunion of the numerous states into India.Sardar Patel's untiring efforts towards the unity of the country brought success. Due to the achievement of this massive task, Sardar Patel got the title of 'Iron Man'. ' He is one of the prestigious leaders of the world who became immmortal by uniting a scattered nation without any bloodshed. His enthusiasm to work for the independent nation got a big jolt when Gandhiji was murdered. Patel was very attached to Gandhiji and considered him, his elder brother and teacher. He was encouraged by Mahatma Gandhi in all his work. Gandhiji's death left him broken. On 15th December, 1950 he died of a cardiac arrest. The news of his death spread all over the world. The entire nation plunged into deep sorrow, everyday life came to a standstill. A grateful nation paid a tearful homage to it's beloved leader. In 1991 the grateful nation conferred upon him the honour of Bharat Ratna.

This man of steel learnt early to be tough, for he was born as a middle child in a family of impoverished peasant proprietors. As Vallabhbhai would himself recall, his parents' hopes seemed centered on the eldest two sons, Soma and Narsi, and their affection on the youngest two, Kashi and the only daughter, Dahiba. The ones in the middle, Vallabh and Vithal, were remembered last when clothes or sweets were to be distributed, and at once when a chore had to be done. The rough schools he went to as a boy, and the courts where he defended alleged criminals, also contributed to Vallabhbhai's mental muscle and stern appearance. Yet this tough man smiled at the world and at gloomy moments helped others to laugh. Also, he did not hesitate to step aside for another --for his older brother Vithal when the latter wanted to use his passport and ticket to London, and, years later, for Jawaharlal Nehru, when Mahatma Gandhi desired that Nehru should sit in a chair to which Patel seemed entitled. And this strong man before whom rajas and maharajas trembled, and to whom rich men gave large funds for India's national movement, did not allow a rupee to stick to his fingers, and he saw to it that his children, a son and a daughter, lived simple lives during and after their father's lifetime.

His strength of character, the sharpness of his mind, his organizing skills, and all his energy were offered up for achieving the freedom of India under Gandhi's leadership, and after independence for India's consolidation. We admire a man who rises to a political or financial peak, but are moved by one whose sole purpose in life is the strength and wellbeing of his compatriots. And we are moved even more when we discover that next to the steel in his soul is a tenderness for colleagues and a readiness to accept whatever results God ordains. In successive phases of his life, Vallabhbhai Patel showed the defiance of the oppressed, a trial lawyer's brilliance, the daring to give up a flourishing career, the discipline of a soldier in freedom's battles, the strategies of a General, indifference as a prisoner of the Raj, the generosity of the strong, the firmness of a patriot, and the farsightedness of a statesman. If times are depressing or daunting, Sardar Patel reminds us of India's and Indians' potential. When times are good, we can think of him with glad gratitude.

Assam Circle ; PA /SA EXAM RESULTS

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Bank on India Post

 

Symbol of trust... has the reach.

It has the infrastructure and the reach to push financial inclusion in a massive way.

October 24, 2013:  

Since Independence, every move of the RBI has been aimed at development keeping in mind the welfare of the common man. In this connection, granting a banking licence to India Post will be a unique service to farmers, farm labourers and the rural poor, who feed the country but die of hunger.

The huge number of farmers’ suicides should prompt us to enable faster financial inclusion as only 35 per cent of the population holds bank accounts. India Post is the best equipped to take this on, with over 1,53,000 post offices spread across the country, located not more than 2-3 km from each village.

India Post has ready infrastructure, which can be quickly upgraded to meet the needs of a full-fledged bank branch in this age of solar power and satellite telecommunication. On the other hand, it would probably take decades for other applicants to open 1,53,000 branches.

Post offices already provide basic banking services such as savings and fixed deposits (NSC) and products such as Kisan Vikas Patra and Public Provident Fund which they will continue to do. They can spread the reach of other savings instruments such as government bonds, and tap the savings of the well-to-do in rural India for the development of the country as well as crop and healthcare insurance.

TRUST FACTOR

The most important factor for a depositor is trust, which post offices already enjoy, making them a safe investment destination. The only additional thing they need to do is perform the credit function. This can be undertaken by utilising the services of the credit staff of PSU bankers from nearby areas, or by hiring retired bankers for the first five years; by then they can train their own people.

As the postman is people-friendly, especially in rural areas, KYC compliance will be not be an issue and chances of fraud and misappropriation will be minimal.

The other issue to be addressed for enabling India Post to obtain a licence is technical since it’s a department of the government. This can be overcome by hiving it off with the required seed capital from the government.

HIGHLY DO-ABLE

Training the existing staff in lending and other banking operations can be taken care of in 18 months. With lower infrastructure development costs, post office banks will become profitable fast as establishment and fixed assets costs will be less.

Post office banks will be a unique model of financial inclusion. Mahatma Gandhi said: “India lives in her villages.” Yet this is a section we have discriminated against with respect to every facility. This is a chance to undo this injustice by making a new beginning.

Prosperity will reach every rural home when local skills, handicrafts and rural products get credit for development. Such banks will help in building infrastructure for storage and processing of perishable produce locally. Developing traditional supplementary vocations (dairy, poultry, fisheries, silkworm rearing) will help farmers put their spare time to use instead of wasting it. This massive penetration of banking services will help address the problem of farmers’ suicides. Enabling India Post and granting it a banking licence will be a real service to the nation.

(The author was chief manager, Bank of India, New Delhi.)

‘Aadhaar’ to facilitate paper-less bank account opening

Mumbai, October 24, 2013(PTI): new feature added to ‘Aadhaar’ will now enable the card-holder to open a bank account without any paperwork.

“Anybody can walk into a branch and tell his/her 12- digit Aadhaar number, give his finger prints and walk out with a bank account,” Axis Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Shikha Sharma said.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar cards, has added the feature in a bid to push for electronic-driven economy.

Explaining the facility, UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani said a person can walk into a bank branch, tell his/her 12- digit individual identification number (Aadhaar) and walk out with a bank account.

The bank will connect with the UIDAI using an authorised service agent, generally a payment gateway, which in turn connects up with the UIDAI database, he said.

The only detail a customer has to give at the bank branch will be his/her fingerprint impression, Nilekani said.

The facility is safer than the current practice of submitting photocopies of documents, Nilekani said, adding all the work happens electronically at the back-end.

“Fundamentally, all the infrastructure is falling into place now for creating a much more electronic, much more digital cash kind of an economy,” he said, adding it has long- term ramifications, including making the economy cashless.

The authority, set up four years ago with the Infosys co-founder as its head, has rolled out 460 million Aadhaar numbers till now and is targeting to take this to 600 million (half of the country’s population) by early next year.

Using the numbers as the base, it has helped rolling out a host of services, including direct subsidy transfer and person to person fund transfer using mobile phones.

The UIDAI chief said the e-KYC facility launched today has huge “strategic implications”.

Private sector Axis Bank became the first lender to offer the e-KYC (know your customer) account opening facility. One Nitin Shah of neighbouring Thane district became the first person to open his bank account using Aadhaar.

“Anybody can walk into a branch, give his finger prints and walk out with a bank account,” Axis Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Shikha Sharma said at the launch.

Nilekani said the bank will roll out this facility across all its bank branches in ten days’ time. However, he parried queries on expansion of the facility at other banks.

The idea is to expand the e-KYC facility from here on, he said, adding it is possible for getting an insurance cover and applying for mutual funds using this feature.

Astronomers discover most distant galaxy yet

Scientists believe that at some point, high-energy ultraviolet radiation from exploded stars split the intergalactic hydrogen atoms into electrons and provisons

CAPE CANAVERAL: Astronomers have found the most distant galaxy yet, a discovery that pushes back scientists' view of the universe to about 700 million years after it is thought to have come into existence.

Light from the galaxy, designated by scientists as z8_GND_5296, took about 13.1 billion years to reach the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, both of which detected the galaxy in infrared light.

"We are learning so much about a region so far back in time it's hard to comprehend. This galaxy we're seeing is almost 13.1 billion years ago and so this was something like 8 billion years before our sun was even born and of course much longer after that until life came around," said lead researcher Steven Finkelstein, an assistant professor with the University of Texasat Austin.

Surprisingly, out of a pool of 43 candidate distant galaxies, z8_GND_5296 was the only one that revealed the key chemical evidence needed to confirm its distance.

That left Finkelstein and colleagues wondering if they had uncovered a clue to a bigger mystery: How soon did light from the universe's first stars and galaxies pierce an obscuring veil of hydrogen gas that existed early in its history?

Scientists believe that at some point, high-energy ultraviolet radiation from exploded stars split the intergalactic hydrogen atoms into electrons and protons. Once ionized, the hydrogen would be electrically conductive and no longer scatter light.

That may have happened about the time of z8_GND_5296's existence.

The galaxy, which is about a billion times as massive as the sun, has two unusual characteristics, which may be a factor in why it is visible, while potential sister galaxies are not.

First, z8_GND_5296 is forming stars at a very fast pace, pumping out about 100 times more stars than the Milky Way galaxy, so it may be brighter than the other candidate galaxies.

Second, it contains a surprisingly high percentage of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.

Those elements are forged by nuclear fusion inside stars, so either the galaxy contains the exploded remains of lots of massive stars or it formed in a region of space that had been previously seeded with the remnants of a prior generation of stars, scientists said.

"It could be that this one galaxy lives in an over-dense region of (ionized hydrogen) so we can see it ... but that's a little bit of conjecture. For all we know these other galaxies have just a lot more hydrogen gas within the galaxies themselves and that's why we can't see them," Finkelstein said.

He and colleagues hope to conduct a wider survey for ancient galaxies with Hubble, but more details about z8_GND_5296 will likely have to wait until NASA launches its successor observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, targeted for launch in 2018.

The research appears this week in the journal Nature.