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18 IAS officers to retire this month

Altogether 18 IAS officers are superannuating by this month end. They are Mssrs:- Arun Kumar Singto (Bihar), K C Sharma and R B Langayan (Haryana), Sarita Prasad (Himachal Pradesh), Gautam Basu (Karnataka), Navin Kumar, Govind Swarup and Y P S Parmar (Maharashtra), Kulbir Singh Sidhu and J B Goel (Punjab), Priyadarshi Thakur and Amar Chand Bhat (Rajasthan), Ganesh Kumar Subba (Sikkim), D C Mishra, Navin C Sharma and Ram Bachan Verma (UP) and G A Khan and Masood Alam (West Bengal).

Ten IPS officers to retire this month

Ten IPS officers in the country are retiring by this month end. They are Mssrs:- S A Sattar (AP), R P Singh (Bihar), S S Bijral (J &K), S S Shukla (MP), Kultar Singh and Mann Singh (Punjab), V B Singh, H C Bhagat, R K Sood and S P Sharma (Rajasthan).

Supreme Court to revamp PDS

Now that the politicians and bureaucrats have failed to check leakages in the Public Distribution System, the Supreme Court may try its hand. In an order passed on a PIL, the Apex Court has appointed a committee headed by its retired judge Justice DP Wadhwa with retired IAS officer NC Saxena (UP:1964) as commissioner to look into the matter. The Court has clarified that this extraordinary order is issued as Rs 30,000 crores of public money goes into food subsidy every year and leakages need to be plugged.

Panda will be missed by the service officers

Some insiders are not happy with the news of exit of present Secretary, MOSPI, Dr R C Panda who is to join as Secretary, Heavy Industries by this month end. Reinforcement of transfer policy based on residency index which had been meticulously and impartially implemented by Dr. Panda may again get diluted.

Dr Mishra appointed Joint Chief of NMCC

Dr P C Mishra Under Secretary in Tax Research Unit, CBEC, has been appointed Joint Chief, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC). He is 1992 batch ISS officer.

Ten retd CBI officials willing to join Bihar force

As many as 10 retd CBI officials have offered to join Bihar force in response to it's proposal to appoint them to look into the cases of corruption.

Over 150 IT commissioners without families

More than 150 IT commissioners are these days living without their families due to the haphazard manner in which they have been transferred.

IAS changes in Sikkim

R S Shrestha will now be Principal Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs. Lobzang Bhutia has been made Principal Secretary Cultural Affairs.

Railway postings

Ms P Alli Rani on return from deputation has been posted to COFMOW. Ravi Prabhat SAG has been transferred to East Coast Railway. R C Punia SAG Northern Railway has been posted in the same capacity .Ms Sharmila Chavaly SAG has been transferred to Northern Railway.

Talukdar appointed Member of NSAB

Former Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau, S P Talukdar, has been appointed Member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB).

Tenure of Katoch to expire

Tenure of Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, K B S Katoch, will expire on Monday. He is 1970 batch RAS officer.

Joshi is next High Commissioner of India to Brunei Darussalam

Dr P V Joshi presently Joint Secretary at Headquarters has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Brunei Darussalam in succession to Butshikhan Singh. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

Rao to be Member Railway Board

Raj Kamal Rao, General Manager, Western Railway is being promoted and posted as Member (Mechanical) Railway Board. ACC has approved his appointment. Orders are likely to be issued within a week.

Rajiv Agrawal is Additional Secretary Home

Rajiv Agrawal has been appointed Additional Secretary Home in the Government of India. He is 1975 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.
( We said this on August 17)

P K Agrawal appointed AS Agriculture

P K Agrawal has been appointed Additional Secretary Agriculture in the Government of India. He is 1975 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.
( We said this on August 17)

Rudra Gangadharan promoted

Rudra Gangadharan has been promoted to the rank of Additional Secretary in the Government of India. 1975 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer Gangadharan is presently Director LBSNAA,Mussoorie.

Krishnan to be AS Sports

S Krishnan will now be Additional Secretary Sports and Youth Welfare in the Government of India.He is 1975 batch IAS officer of Uttaranchal cadre.

Bhaskar Chatterjee to be AS Land Reforms

Bhaskar Chatterjee has been appointed Additional Secretary Land Reforms in the Government of India. Earlier the Name of 1975 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre Bhaskar Chatterjee was in circulation for the post of Additional Secretary Finance.

17 CCIT's transferred

Transfer orders of 17 Chief Commissioners of Income -Tax have been issued. New postings include B M Singh CCIT 1,Hardayal Singh CCIT II,Ms Geeta Kriplani CCIT IV,P K Mishra CCIT V,Vijay Bhushan CCIT XII,Santosh Dutta CCIT Pune,Silviraj CCIT 3 Chennai and S K Sharma Delhi.

Khan is DG (Investigations) Delhi

S S Khan has been appointed DG (Investigations) IT in Delhi. He is 1972 batch IRS officer.
( We said this on August 17)

Venkatramani is CCIT I Mumbai

K Venkatramani has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax I Mumbai.
( We said this on August 11 )

IAS officer suspended in UP

1989 batch IAS officer Dimpal Verma has been suspended by the Uttar Pradesh Government.

IPS officer appointed ED in MP

Rajesh Gupta has been appointed ED of the Jan Abhiyan Parishad in Madhya Pradesh. He is 1992 batch IPS officer.

IAS officer appointed VC in Haryana

Ms Promila Issar 1972 batch IAS officer in Haryana has also been appointed Vice-Chancellor of the proposed Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila University in addition to her present assignment as FA Labour and Employment.

Brijeshwar Singh is CEO of Prasar Bharti

DG Akashvani Brijeshwar Singh has taken over as acting CEO of the Prasar Bharti. He is 1975 batch IAS officer of TamilNadu cadre.
( We said this on August 24 )

Mandloi is DG Doordarshan

Leeladhar Mandloi has taken over as acting DG of the Doordarshan.
( We said this on August 21)

FORUM

I can see the reason for planting 12 foot tall trees. In spite of having spent crores and crores of rupees hardly any plant came up to 12 feet in Aravallis. WHy dont the IFS officers do own this failure before criticising an officer who took decision. If not 12 foot trees , definitely 8 feet trees are tried and got succesfull. I am sorry for some one who is writing in desperation.

Career Bureaucrat

While it may be true that bureacrats are generalists across the world, it is also true that most of the specialists ultimately end up as generalists at some point in their career. Ultimately, at senior levels, the nature of the job does change. The real issue is whether a specialist who grows to become a generalist is a better bet than someone who does not have any foundation at all in any discipline.

Mutha Ashok Jain

It is true that one man can change the face of nation, if he is honest and dedicated person to his/ her work, whether it is nation/ society or other field of work.

Ramesh Chhabra

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Somnath via his inaction has said 'The goons have it.... The goons have it.... The goons have it'!!!!
Laloo and gang kissi ko bhi verbally or physically karr sakthe hai hit!!!

Somnath Da's inaction is going to make the chasm between him and the Opposition widen!!!! The darkest day in India's Parliament and Somnath has just hollered about his disappointment!!!!! In the DD coverage it's easy to lip read the abuses Laloo is hurling!!!! Sadhu 'Shaitan' Yadav should be suspended from Parliament!!! Laloo and his gang have brought shame to this august House!!!!

IIM students are advised not to ask Laloo any questions and to applaud his speech,
Otherwise at them too he could abuse and screech!!!

If Laloo can abuse and threaten in Parliament then he can do so anywhere!!! Advice to IIM students who do not believe that Laloo is responsible for Indian Railway's turnaround not to question Laloo and also to applaud after his speech…….. in fact entry to the venue where Laloo will deliver his speech should have a Statutory Warning…. Enter at your own risk!!!

Quota Bill has been tabled…….. on creamy layer there is no mention,
On this why is Sarkaar not paying any attention???

Basically the creamy layer are the ones who will benefit from Quota!!!! The Government has to draw a 'financial line' to keep the creamy layer out!!!! Without this the Quota Bill is one big farce!!!!

Whose sneeze will destabilize UPA…… question in a Government exam???
Quite a few noses UPA needs to jam!!!!

Those noses UPA needs to jam/block to ensure that they do not do a destabilizing sneeze belong to Karat, Laloo and Karunanidhi!!!! And as the UPA Government crosses its halfway mark the allergy season could set in!!!! Karat can have sniffles now and then but won't sneeze until a Third Front option is abs viable…… in Laloo's case as long as the cases against him keep going the way he wants these cases to proceed he'll not sniffle or sneeze……… Karunanidhi is the one they need to keep a watch on…… because he's capable of sneezing without even a sniffle!!!

Pawar bowled out Dalmiya from BCCI…. but in his Ministry he may get out hit wicket!!!!
Why is Pawar giving more importance to cricket!!!

Ask anyone in Pawar's Ministry and he'll vouch that Pawar it totally engrossed in BCCI affairs……. all work in cricket and no work in his Ministry is making Pawar a 'dull' Minister!!!! Farmers are suffering….. wheat prices are shooting up..….. Pawar seems to have no vision for his Ministry…… just band aid solutions…… he is 'on the field' when it comes to BCCI but when it comes to his Ministry he's behaving like the twelfth man!!!

Kapil Bhaaji wants to become the Pawar/ Dalmiya of Indian Golf……BCGI,
He knows that he's got no place in BCCI!!!

Kapil Bhaaji took up golf and today he plays to a single digit handicap…… now after showing his prowess on the Course Bhaaji wants to show his prowess at playing gold he wants to show his prowess at managing golf!!!! He's egging the PGAI players not to participate in the upcoming Tour!!! Hope he has a plan to compensate the Caddie Pros who depend on the Tour to keep their kitchen fires burning??? At present on this matter ' Kapil Bhaaji ke paas jawaab nahi'!!!!

Bharat Kumar

aaj_ki_aawaz@rediffmail.com

WHISPERS .... CORPORATE WORLD

Tug of war is on

Tug of war is on over the extension to GAIL CMD Prashanto Banerjee.Final picture will emerge this evening.

BHEL officials to boycott Jubilee celebrations

BHEL officials protesting against measly four percent Plant performance bonus (performance based incentive) are learnt to have resolved to boycott the PSU's Golden Jubilee celebrations slated for August 29. The navratna has given all its 43,000 employees Rs 14,000 each but the officials are craving for 22 per cent incentive amounting to Rs 48,000 The officials are also demanding a memento similar to ONGC's golden jubilee incentives of Rs 50,000 and a 15 gm gold medallion.

Dungarwal is back to Prestige Group

Sushil Dungarwal is re-joining the Presitige Group as Head (Retail).

Chopra promoted in GECAS

T S Chopra has been promoted as President and CEO of the GE Commercial Aviation Services.

Bansal appointed Chairman

S Bansal has been appointed as the chairman of Darjeeling Tea Association. R K Babaycon will be Vice-Chairman.

Low, low last minute fares from Indian

Spot Fares now from 22 cities
Flying by Indian has got more exciting. Never before low fares are now available for last minute travel from as many as 22 cities.
Spot Fares, introduced from 1st Aug. 2006 on flights out of the metros - Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore - have now been extended to flights departing from 16 more cities. These cities are Ahmedabad, Kochi, Bhubaneshwar, Lucknow, Nagpur, Madurai, Guwahati, Chandigarh, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Patna, Jaipur, Goa, Visakhapatnam, Agartala, and Bhopal.
Available on a "first come, first served" basis a few hours before the scheduled departure of a flight, these fares are available on flights that have unutilized capacity till a few hours before departure. Passengers can buy the tickets through travel agents, through the 24 X 7 toll free number 1800 180 1407, on-line or even at the airport. A boon indeed for those making last minute plans ! These fares are available till 30th Sept.2006.

THE TELEGRAPH WRITES

Voicing the whispers
Suresh Mehrotra is focused on bringing what goes on inside the country’s corridors of power to the world outside, says Smita Tripathi
FACE OF THE WEEK - Suresh Mehrotra

Three guesses as to what most IAS officers do on reaching office every morning? Order a cup of tea? Bury their noses in a newspaper? Heck, maybe even do some work and ask for the list of appointments for the day?

Oh no, they crank up their computers and log on to www.whispersinthecorridors. com, a website, which has taken the country’s bureaucracy by storm. Who is going to be the next cabinet secretary? Who has moved up the ladder? Who has been kicked off it? Have transfer orders been issued? And who is returning to their cadre? Basically just about all the inner goings on in the corridors of power find its way to this website.

So who’s the mole spilling all the bureaucratic beans? Some speculate that he must be a bureaucrat while others suspect he’s a low-level functionary in the personnel ministry. But they are all wrong. Meet Suresh Mehrotra, a doctorate in history and a journalist by profession who runs the whispersinthe corridors website from a small room in his house in Bhopal — with just one computer. Mehrotra has informers in every department and even senior bureaucrats leak to him. But ask him to reveal their names and he’ll grin and repeat the old mantra: “A journalist never reveals his sources.”

No surprises there! In fact, Mehrotra’s sources are placed so deep within the system that hardly any information on the country’s “Iron Frame” passes him by. Consider this: a few months ago Mehrotra got a call at the crack of dawn with earthshaking — from a bureaucratic point of view — news. The cabinet secretary had been given a two-year extension.

Mehrotra uploaded the information on his website immediately. It was only later in the evening that the government announced the decision and it became the top story on every news channel. However, by this time most bureaucrats across the country were hotly debating the last minute change, thanks to Mehrotra’s website.

Says Mehrotra, “People expect me to know everything. I have senior IAS officers calling me to check whether their name is on a particular list or not.” It goes without saying that he doesn’t mind the attention. In fact he basks in it. “People often refer to me as Mr India (referring to Anil Kapoor’s role in a film of the same name), since I’m only heard and not seen,” he laughs.

Whispersin thecorridor.com started humbly enough in March 2001, with an initial investment of around Rs 50,000. It received only two hits on Day One. Today, it has more than 2.6 million visitors and is read both by bureaucrats in India, and also those attached to Indian embassies abroad. In fact, the site enjoys such credibility that bureaucrats often quote it.

Mehrotra has an anecdote about a senior officer who was hoping to be transferred to a new department. Whispersinthecorridor carried an item that he was about to be transferred, so the officer went to his boss asking to be relieved of his job. His ingenious argument? — ‘if the website said it, it must be true’. He got his orders the very next day.

Says Mehrotra, “Sometimes I know things before the officers themselves.” He goes on to talk about a secretary level officer who the website said was going to be moved to a different ministry. The officer’s son-in-law called him up from the US to ask if it was true. The officer, not a regular visitor of the whispersinthecorridor site, had no clue but two days later, he was moved.

Just how does Mehrotra get all this sensitive information? “It’s a give-and-take relationship. Some information I part with, and some they give me,” he says referring to his bureaucrat buddies. On an average, Mehrotra sends out between 25 to 30 mails a day and makes around 50 calls to various people sitting not only in Delhi but also in other state secretariats.

And how did it all start? “It was my fascination with the bureaucracy and the way the government worked. I was never much interested in the political side of things. It was the bureaucrats who attracted me,” says Mehrotra.

So in the mid-1980’s, Mehrotra, then the bureau chief of the Free Press Journal in Bhopal started a weekly column called Whispers in the Corridors. Of course, the column only covered the activities of the officers of the Madhya Pradesh government. “It was a huge success and I realised that there were a lot of people who were interested in knowing what was happening at the seat of power,” he explains.

In 1992, Mehrotra moved to Delhi for a year. “I spent most of my time in Delhi meeting bureaucrats. Today most of them are my close friends,” he says. From 1997 to 2000, Mehrotra was the editor of National Mail and then went on to edit the Hindi daily, Nayee Duniya.

However at these organisations, he didn’t get much chance to pursue his passion for the bureaucracy. So in 2001, he set up the website. “I thought it was time for me to do something on my own. The website was just an idea,” says Mehrotra who initially had to face a lot of flak from his bureaucrat friends when he called them up asking for information to put on his site.

Cut to the present and it’s an entirely different story. “Now people often call me up and give me information, even without my asking for it. In fact, sometimes they try to plant stories about others. I need to be cautious and crosscheck such information with my sources,” says Mehrotra who as a rule tries to stay away from controversies. “I concentrate only on the comings and goings rather than on issues of corruption. Investigative journalism is for newspapers. I only give information,” he declares.

Running the website costs Mehrotra around Rs 50,000 a month thanks to the server fees and the telephone bills. He has also recruited one person who uploads the site daily at around 11 am. Apart from that, it’s a completely home-run operation.

For the first couple of years Mehrotra wasn’t making any money, but now he says he is breaking even. The site gets advertisements from the Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh governments. “Most advertising is through contacts. I don’t undertake any marketing,” he says. But now, more and more people are approaching him for advertising. Recently the IAS Wives Association has started advertising on the website for a new housing complex that they are building.

So what’s the future like for whispersinthecorridors. com? Like all dot.com entrepreneurs, Mehrotra hopes that some day the site will be big enough for a company to make him an offer he just can’t refuse. Till then, Mehrotra continues to do what he loves — give voice to all those whispers floating around in the corridors of power.

Photograph by Jagan Negi