Newsletter June 2012 - Association of Engineers Kerala

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Association Association of of Engineers Engineers Kerala Kerala within the prescribed period or if the appellant is not satisfied with the order of the Appellate Authority, he may prefer a second appeal with the Information Commission. Where the Information Commission at the time of deciding the complaint or appeal is of the opinion that the Public Information Officer has without any reasonable cause, refused to receive an application for information or not furnished information within the time specified, or malafidely denied the request for information or Thought Thought of of the the day day The most discussed topic, now a days, among the Service personnel is the PFRDA bill (The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011). Let us have brief note on how the New Pension Scheme (NPS ) as envisaged in PFRDA bill differ from present General pension Scheme. Our present pension scheme is a Defined Benefit Scheme( DB system). The pension amount is linked to the pay drawn, number of years of service etc., and there is no direct contribution of the employee or employer towards a pension fund. Here the entire investment risk is borne by the pension fund manager which is the government. Traditionally, a large proportion of pension funds around the world have been of the DB type. However, many have been under funded, and some have collapsed 6 knowingly given incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or destroyed information, it shall impose penalty of Rs. 250/- each day till information is furnished subject to the condition that the total amount of penalty shall not exceed Rs. 25,000/- The ultimate aim of Right to Information Act is to have well informed citizenry, which is aware of its rights, and well trained officers of Public Authorities who are aware of therir duties and functions under the Act. Present Pension Scheme vs New Pension Scheme ( PFRDA Bill) Er S. Vinod Mohan, (Editor) Defined Benefits versus Defined Contribution due to lack of proper financial planning. This has led to a debate in a number of countries regarding the sustainability of their pension and social security systems. The New Pension Scheme as envisaged in PFRDA bill is a Defined Contribution System (DC system ). Here each employee contributes a proportion of his monthly income to an individual account. The funds in this account are invested in one or more schemes offered by pension fund(s). The balance in the account belongs to the employee, which will be accessible at the time of exit. The employee bears the entire investment risk and there is no risk of default by the fund as the liability of the fund to its subscriber equals the assets owned. Here lists some advantages and disadvantages of the DB and DC system. Defined Benefits Defined Contributions Guaranteed retirement income Participants have more choice in investing Employees do not bear investment risk Participants can benefit from better returns Advantages Flexibility for inflation and wage adjustments Plans are easily portable across job changes Independent of participant’s savings Option to switch fund managers and schemes No risk of default by fund managers Not beneficial to employees who leave before minimum eligible service Returns are subject to market performance Less portable in switching employers Participants bear investment risk and may make Disadvantages misinformed choices Fund manager could default if funds are not invested appropriately Difficult to build a fund for those who enter late Shifts administration costs to employees Source PRS
Association Association of of of Engineers Engineers Kerala Kerala Technical echnical Updates Updates INTRODUCTION Application of Geosynthetics and Modern Materials under Kerala Context Kerala has been experiencing drastic failures in the behavior of pavements, coastal erosion structures, embankments, hydraulic structures etc. Although the failures are usually attributed to the heavy rains in the state and left as such the basic defects in the public works scenario is not usually discussed. Although the other states in India are overcoming such situations by adopting modern methods and materials the technical setup in the state is not responding to the modern materials and construction methods basically due to the following defects in the system. The public works scenario in Kerala has been revolving around the same axle and is observed to be very reluctant to adopt any changes .Changes are happening in the technical, social ,financial, political and other spheres but the machinery of the public works is observed to be moulded in rigid and concrete moulds which are not susceptible to any changes. The technical challenges popping up frequently are moulded into the same typical type designs and standard data book patterns resulting in the distorted performances and failures attracting very harsh criticism from the public. The reluctance or the basic defect of the existing system shows an indifferent attitude to any modern methods although the situations warrant for introduction of the new systems. Only the conventional materials and methods of constructions are found adapting to the setup which requires a total revamping. It is to be accepted that the State is experiencing torrential rains during the monsoons and the monsoons are spread for a major portion of the year. The design approach on the public utilities like pavements, coastal protections and embankments has to be in this context and the required paradigm shift has to be applied. It is a fact that the behaviour of the natural soil is subject to serious behavior problems under hydraulic situations. Adequate filter K.P. Ahammed Basheer Chief Engineer, Irrigation Dept. media separating the natural bed and the structure for preventing behaviour of the soil bed affecting the structure is to be used. The failure of conventional filters in use has been identified as the cause for the total failure in many and the modern materials like geo-synthetics has to be experimented and evaluated for Kerala conditions. GEOSYNTHETICS Geo-synthetic is defined as a planar, polymeric (synthetic or natural) material used in contact with soil, rock or any other geotechnical material in civil engineering applications Geo-textile a generic member of geo-synthetic family is a planar, permeable, polymeric or natural fibre textile material used in contact with soil, rock or any other geotechnical material in civil engineering applications. A geotextile can be woven by interlacing two or more sets of yarns, fibres, filaments, tapes or other elements. It could be nonwoven obtained in the form of manufactured sheet, web or batt of of directionally or randomly oriented fibres, filaments or other elements with either mechanical and /or thermal and/or chemical bonding. It could be also knitted, obtained by interloping one or more yarns, fibres or filaments. FUNCTIONS Geo : synthetics serve the following principal functions: Separation : in which a geo-synthetic placed between two dissimilar geotechnical materials, prevents intermixing. Filtration : in which a geo-textile allows passage of fluids from a soil while simultaneously preventing the uncontrolled passage of soil particles. Drainage : in which a geo-synthetic may collect and transport fluids in its own plane Reinforcement - in which by virtue of the tensile characteristics, a geo-synthetic 7
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Newsletter June 2012 - Association of Engineers Kerala

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