Author: Archive

Postal services strengthened in Liberia

Posted by | Mar 24, 2008 | |

An international effort is underway to help restore postal services in Liberia which had been virtually destroyed by civil war.

Amongst those lending support has been Swiss Post which donated six mobile post offices in 2007 and Deutsche Post, which donated 10,000 EUR to help equip newly reopened offices.

Even Korea donated some 40,000 CHF from its Quality of Service Fund to help finance the purchase of vehicles, scales and stamp cancellation equipment. The US recenctly despatched (by US Navy ship), 35 pallets of Post Office boxes and postal equipment.

The Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation printed Liberia’s first post-war stamps last year, and donated 12 vehicles. Nigeria has been provided training to a number of postal staff.

Liberia has seen 14 years of civil war but since August 2007, it’s postal service is starting to move once more with international aid. The postal service is seen as a key to rebuilding the country’s infrastructure. Even rural areas will see 150 offices in 14 counties, compared to just 34 before the war started.

Jackson E. DOE, Liberia’s minister for posts and telecommunications and postmaster general said: .”The renovation and construction of post offices throughout the nation is part of our decentralization plan to take the postal services to our fellow Liberians in rural Liberia. It is their right, not privilege. They have long been denied such a right because of the protracted years of civil conflicts that led to living under harsh economic conditions. Decentralizing postal services is in response to the interim poverty reduction strategies programme.”

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Russian Postal Service wears Red Hat

Posted by | Mar 24, 2008 | |

Russian Post and American company Red Hat signed the Protocol of intentions on IT development based on open freeware earlier this month. Andrey Pogodin, Deputy Director General of FSUE Russian Post and Jim Whitehurst, President of Red Hat signed the document within the framework of meeting. The parties agreed to join efforts to implement operating system Linux and other software products with open code in Russian Post’s IT-structure.

Transfer to freeware products helps to safe immense sum of money the enterprise presently spends on software for wide Russian Post’s network. Software products with open code considerably less expensive than commercial programs as the company doesn’t purchase any license. In case of difficulties company can sign contract on maintenance with the representative of company-developer. “Company using software with open code doesn’t pay for the software product itself. Maintenance work is paid only. So signing of such contract is 2-3 times lower than purchasing of license,” comments Andrey Pogodin.

Open software is to be implemented this year. Presently the developers of special programs used by Russian Post have task to adapt them for work on the base of operating system Linux. Thus, postal operators won’t find any changes difficult as they will use the same applications with user interface. Russian Post’s IT-specialists will pass special training.

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Funky bikes for Correos Spain

Posted by | Mar 24, 2008 | |

The Spanish postal operator Correos has introduced five bright yellow, electrically powered delivery vans and nine adapted bicycles to it’s postal service fleet. The trial of ecological vehicles is to run in Madrid, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Seville, Granada and other locations.

The lower maintenance requirements and load capacity of the new vans made them an ideal choice. According to Correos, the useful carrying capacity and easy access make for easy loading of larger packages. The environmental impact is also reduced and the vans are apparently very quiet in operation. The six-speed vans, With a top speed of 57km/h (100km range), and a 460kg payload, could become a familiar site on Spanish roads. The new bikes have been adapted to provide more carrying space.

Correos has around 13,000 vehicles, including trucks, vans and mopeds. If the trials prove successful, more ecological vehicles will be purchased to replace those in its existing fleet.

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Study focuses on future of news, newspapers

Posted by | Mar 23, 2008 | |

It’s Thursday morning, and I have a choice: Fill out my NCAA bracket for the office pool or write a column about the future of newspapers. Filling out the bracket would be easier — the predictions much simpler.

But that’s not part of my job description, so I’ll turn to the latest report from the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Associated with the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., the journalism organization looks at news media trends across numerous platforms, including radio, TV, newspapers and the Internet.

“The state of the American news media in 2008 is more troubled than a year ago.

“And the problems, increasingly, appear to be different than many experts have predicted.”

Those are the opening lines of the overview of the study.

In many ways, the study — which examined the public’s news habits as well as coverage trends, staffing levels, revenue, ratings and circulation trends and more — provided good news for newspapers.

While paid circulation of newspapers continued to decline in 2007, readership of newspapers remains strong.

Market research conducted for the Journal & Courier last fall mirrored that finding. Our survey showed that readership of our print edition had increased over the past two years. In addition, the national study found traffic at newspapers’ Web sites growing at impressive rates, something we also have seen at jconline.com.

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Ulster post offices now facing the axe

Posted by | Mar 22, 2008 | |

Fears are growing that dozens of post offices in Northern Ireland could be facing the axe.
A major announcement is expected on April 1 – and the mood is gloomy in the wake of a controversial Government cull in Great Britain.

Royal Mail has announced the closure of 2,500 offices across England, Scotland and Wales.

The Post Office is refusing to comment on possible closures here, but an approach similar to Great Britain would result in the axing of 10-20 per cent of Northern Ireland’s 540 branches.

Last night the Cookstown-based Rural Community Network (RCN) said if such closures experienced in Great Britain were carried over to the Province it would have a devastating effect on pensioners.

“Research has shown that older people in Northern Ireland are significantly more reliant on post offices than in England,” said Mark Allen, RCN research officer.

“What the decision-makers may not appreciate is that to able-bodied people with cars, these closures may not seem significant.

“But to vulnerable pensioners or lone parents, and people with literacy problems, the service is like a bank, community centre and general advice bureau all rolled into one.

“Many postmasters have told us that the services they provide to pensioners fall far outside their official remit, such as helping them fill in important forms and advising them on how to access other essential services.

“And the postmasters are also subject to a draconian confidentiality clause which forbids them from discussing who is to close. If they break confidentiality they could forfeit any compensation.”

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DHL in deal with Dubai Industrial City

Posted by | Mar 22, 2008 | |

DHL has entered into a strategic partnership with Dubai Industrial City.

Under the agreement, leading contract logistics company DHL Exel Supply Chain, in collaboration with sister companies DHL Express, Danzas AEI, and DHL Global Forwarding, are developing a unique supply model, said the company said in a statement.

The transPARK is a dedicated logistics park that will provide a single control point for, and access to, a full range of end-to-end logistics services to the companies at Dubai Industrial City.

Dubai Industrial City chief executive officer Rashed Al Ansari said transPARK stands to support the massive demand for logistics services that is being generated by the booming industrial and manufacturing sector.

Considered the third largest non-real estate project in Dubai, Dubai Industrial City aims to promote the continued expansion of the industrial sector in the region, particularly high-value manufacturing and production in the small and medium sector industries. The ultimate objective is to make Dubai less dependent on imports.

Using DHL’s global network, the transPARK complex will be positioned to provide services that include freight, inventory management, distribution and consultancy. transPARK’s warehousing includes storage areas for machinery and vehicles, bulk storage, bonded storage, racked storage, or temperature-controlled storage for perishable goods. Storage space will be leased on an individual or multi-user basis.

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Pakistan Post increases services’ commission

Posted by | Mar 21, 2008 | |

After hike in oil and power tariff, the state-run postal service ‘Pakistan Post’ has increased commission for its various services across the country to meet expenses and announced new rates to be affective from 18 March, it is learnt.

The new increased rates will effect twenty million customers, especially in rural areas of Pakistan where Pakistan Post is the only courier service.

The new charges of Fax Money Order for an amount of up to twenty-five thousand have been increased to Rs 150 from Rs 100. Pakistan Post has also fixed the FMO charges of Rs 300 for the delivery of more than Rs 25,000. The charges of urgent Money Order (local) would be Rs 65 while the city-to-city charges would be Rs 80. Similarly, the charges of normal Money Order have been fixed at Rs 55.

The new rate of local urgent mail service, up to the weight of half kilogram has been fixed at Rs 15 and the rate of urgent mail service city to city are fixed at Rs 30. Pakistan Post Office is one of the oldest government departments in the Sub-Continent. staff report

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Getting it dead right

Posted by | Mar 21, 2008 | |

Make sure you get your funeral sorted says the Post Office®

As the credit crunch takes effect many people are reviewing their finances but one thing people often forget about is planning for a funeral should the worst happen. In fact recent research for the Post Office® shows that only 15 per cent of us will actually plan in advance to cover the costs of our funeral and perhaps even more importantly stipulate the kind of funeral we want.

Post Office® research has shown that, given the choice, only half the UK population would opt for a traditional burial or cremation. It also revealed that the favourite UK spot to have ashes scattered would be the Lake District followed by the deceased’s favourite football ground.

If they planned ahead, 18 per cent of people would opt to have their ashes turned into a diamond and 13 per cent made into a firework. A quarter of people would go for a more eco friendly cardboard coffin and 15 per cent for freeze drying where your body is frozen then shattered into a biodegradable dust.

Forty per cent of those surveyed would want a celebratory-style funeral with nobody dressed in black although 10 per cent would go for a funeral procession with black horses and carriage.

Despite the fact that the cost of a funeral is generally well over GBP 2,000 these days, the research showed that nearly half (47 per cent) of people thought it would cost less than GBP 2,000. And only 30 per cent of people would have GBP 2000 or more to cover the cost of a loved one’s funeral if they died tomorrow.

Post Office® life insurance manager Duncan Caesar-Gordon said: “The cost of a funeral can run in to several thousand pounds. Taking out the Over 50s life insurance cover means you will receive a guaranteed cash sum so at least family and friends will have money to put towards a traditional funeral or a special send off you may have in mind.

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