Kisan Vikas Patra re-launched today

The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley has re-launched Kisan Vikas Patra today in a function held at Hotel Ashoka, NewDelhi.  Sri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union minister for communication & IT, Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, Finance Secretary, Ms. Kavita, Secretary, Department of Posts, Shri Rajat Bhargava, Joint Secretary (Budget), Department of Economic Affairs (DEA),Ministry of Finance and other senior officers of the Ministry of Finance and Department of Posts and National Small Savings Organizations were also present among others on this occasion.

Salient Features of re-launched Kisan Vikas Patra :
1.Amount Invested doubles in 100 months ( 8years 4 months)
2.Available in denominations of Rs 1,000, 5000, 10,000 and Rs 50,000.
3.Minimum deposit Rs 1000/- and no maximum limit.
4.Certificate can be purchased by an adult for himself or on behalf of a minor or by two adults.
5.KVP can be purchased from any DEpartmental Post office. This facility will also be extended shortly to the designated branches of commercial Banks.
6.Facility of nomination is available.
7.Certificate can be transferred from one person to another and from one post office to another.
8.Certificate can be encashed after 2 1/2 years from the date of issue.

Centre to lower age limit for civil service aspirants

The Central Govt  intends to reduce the upper age limit and number of attempts of applicants with effect from 2015. Going by the new norm, the upper age limit will be 29 years for SC/ST candidates, 28 years for OBC and 26 for the unreserved category.

There will be an additional two years for physically challenged candidates in each category.

At present, the upper age limit for SC/ST, OBC and unreserved candidates is 35, 33 and 30 years respectively.

According to information published on the website of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, the number of attempts allowed for candidates appearing for the Civil Services Examination would also be reduced to six for SC/ST candidates, five for OBC and three for unreserved candidates.

The measures, recommended by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) and almost entirely accepted by the government, were put up on the website a few months ago.

The Centre has decided to retain August 1 in the examination year as the cut-off date for eligibility and not to review the structure of the examination (both preliminary and main) since this was only recently changed.

Source : The Hindu