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It'll be do or die between Rahul and Amitabh

It is now becoming increasingly clear that it will be do or die between Rahul Gandhi and Amitabh bachchan during the next Uttar Pradesh elections. Both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar singh are believed to have convinced the `superstar' to participate in the battle of ballot.

Veena Sikri to proceed on leave

Another senior IFS officer Veena Sikri is also proceeding on leave from October 1 .She is the third IFS officer who is not willing to serve under her two year junior Foreign Secretary.Rajiv Sikri and T C A Rangachari have already put in their papers.

Joint Secretary level reshuffle likely in Finance Ministry !

There is a buzz in the North Block that Finance Minister P Chidambaram is unhappy with the performance of some Joint Secretaries in the Department of Economic Affairs. He is reported to have remarked that they are "indecisive". In the light of this remark it is speculated that some of the Joint Secretaries are going to be shuffled around all the departments of Finance Ministry.

Parminder Mathur to be CS of Himachal Pradesh

Grapevine has it that Parminder Hira Mathur will succeed S S Parmar as Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh. She is 1974 batch IAS officer.

Who will be new CS of Jharkhand ?

Chief Secretary of Jharkhand M K Mandal is likely to be changed in a couple of weeks. Will P P Sharma make it again?

Will PMO support Commerce Ministry proposal ?

Commerce Ministry seems to have made up its mind to take an official stand that Indian SEZs are taking queue on the Chinese Model.A proposal is underfoot for sending a huge team to china to study their implementation in india.How far this will proposal find favor of PMO one has to wait and see because so far international community was being told that Indian SEZ Policy is much more balanced and pragmatic than Chinese Model.

Das is new DDG ICCR

Ashok Das (IFS '87) has joined as Deputy Director General in ICCR in place of R M Agarwal who is proceeding on transfer as Ambassador to Yemen.

Chaturvedi gets third extension in a row

Naresh Chaturvedi, 1970 batch West Bengal cadre IAS officer, has been granted third one-month extension in a row by the Government of India.

Kushari to be Member of CAT

Amit Kushari is being tipped to be an Administrative Member of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).He is 1970 batch IAS officer of J& K cadre.

Will a new post of Secretary be created in GoI?

Grapevine has it that the IAS lobby is feeling terribly agitated with the Prime Minister because a post of Secretary is being shunted out of their monopoly following the appointment of Dr. Pranab Sen as Chief Statistician of India. Now the IAS association, headed by the Cabinet Secretary as President, is hell bent on creating another post of Secretary in the Department of Programme Implementation in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Will Ministry of Finance relax the ban on creation of a post of Secretary to pacify the IAS lobby? There is not enough work in the Department of Programme Implementation even for an IAS of Additional Secretary rank. Any ISS officer at the level of ADG can take up the job in addition to his normal duties.

Website for 1982 batch Civil-Services

A new website has been created for 1982 Civil Services officers. All members of different services of 1982 batch can join it and have fun at http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/1982civilservices . As many as 65 officers have already joined. You can see and share old/new photographs, files and other data. Join immediately and also tell others to do so.

IAS changes in Jharkhand

K K Soan has been appointed new DC of Ranchi. Pradip Kumar, DC - Ranchi, has been moved as Project Director AIDS Control Society. Manish Ranjan will now be DC of Latehar.

Tenure of Mahapatra to expire today

Central deputation tenure of P K Mahapatra, Joint Secretary Commerce, will expire on Tuesday. He is 1985 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

IPS postings in Jharkhand

Mohammad Nehal has been appointed SP of Garhwa. Deepak Verma, Garhwa SP, has been shifted to the PHQ in the Special Branch.

IPS officer dies in Himachal Pradesh

Mohan Lal Negi an IPS officer of 1985 batch has passed away in Simla.

15 authors listed in the Rupa & Co best seller list

Sunil Gavaskar: The Sunil Gavaskar Omnibus
Anurag Mathur: The Inscrutable Americans
Ruskin Bond: The India I Love
Chetan Bhagat: One Night @ the Call Center
Camellia Panjabi: 50 Great Curries of India
Gulzar: Mirza Ghalib
Rajmata Gayatri Devi: A Princess Remembers
Arun Shourie: Governance
Premila Lal: Indian Recipes
Vimla Patil: Fabulous Recipes from Indian Homes
J R D Tata: J. R. D. Letters
Ambika Manchanda: Naturally Beautiful YOUR FACE
Mridula Agarwal: The 10 Rules of Success
Durga Das: India : From CURZON to NEHRU
Nutan Pandit: Pregnancy

FORUM

Lately one has seen a lot being written about the unfairness of the transfer policy for officers of the two Revenue Services (Income Tax and Customs and Central Excise), how the transfer policy is wrongly aimed at removing corruption among the officers of these two services, how the transfers are taking place on deliberate miscalculation of the profile of officers and how the policy is forcing officers to stay away from their families leading to general discontent among officers and how this discontent cannot lead to meeting the revenue targets.
It is only those officers who have had to leave the comfort of their houses in VIP locations in Mumbai and Delhi after long years of stay there who are so critical of the transfer policy.
First, the transfer policy is there not to remove corruption, one who is corrupt will be corrupt anywhere he / she is posted. The transfer policy has more to do with equity among officers. Why should some officers be able to monopolize lucrative and coveted stations like Delhi and Mumbai or just these two cities. Why is it that despite a transfer policy being already in force, at the time the new Policy came in 2005, two-thirds of Commissioners on the Income Tax side in Mumbai and Delhi found themselves due for transfer. Let such officers not now raise such a hue and cry just because for the first time they have had to move out of Mumbai or Delhi. And for personal and family considerations have chosen to stay away from their families, in most cases, for the first time. Let those officers who had almost given up all hope of ever being posted to Mumbai or Delhi and had reconciled themselves to spending their entire career in smaller cities but who have now been able to get to these coveted cities, speak up and state how the transfer policy has helped them.
About transfers being affected on the basis of wrong calculations of stay of officers, the less said the better. Left to themselves, even those who have never moved out of Delhi, not even for a few months, in their entire career of 25-26 years would shamelessly state that they are not due for transfer and should be allowed to continue on some ground or the other. While officers of all services face transfers - some more than others - it is only the privileged Revenue Services which have a transfer policy to guard against arbitrary transfers and the only services under the Central Government whose transfers take place on the basis of detailed options forms that cover all circumstances - spouse, medical, education as grounds for consideration. More important is the fact that transfers are decided by their own officers sitting in the two Boards who personally go through all the data that goes into deciding the postings of officers. And, there is also the opportunity of submitting representations against transfers made that are duly and thoroughly considered. What more do these officers want?

Pervinder

Does Mr. Murlidharan feel that other than bureaucrats only politicians or angels from heaven live in this country. Let him know that much wiser people also live here. That is why India is progressing inspite of bureaucrats.

Juhi

The State will take care of all eventualities. People will evolve a mechanism to manage themselves.

R R Singh

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Sonia and Manmohan ne perforce Pawar ko kiya bless,
Laghe raho Pawar Bhai and now create an even bigger mess!!!

On account of political compulsions Sonia and Manmohan have had to give Pawar a clean chit……was like promoting a student who had failed in all his subjects….. happens in Schools and happens in Politics too!!! And the funny part is that Pawar is not doing too well in the BCCI , which is the reason for his distraction!!! Many say K.P.S Gill did in Indian Hockey and Pawar will do the same to Indian cricket!!! Now that Sonia and Manmohan have cleared him Pawar will go back to his being at his distracted best!!! Sonia and Manmohan forget one small point…. Pawar may be important for the survival of the UPA Sarkaar….. but Aam Aadmi is responsible for Congress being in a position to form the Sarkaar and Pawar's bungling is causing immense pain to the Ama Admi!! In this case the egg and hen theory is abs clear!!!

Laghe raho Manmohan Singh….. Sonia has made it clear,
That on a Deputy PM being appointed Manmohan should have no fear!!!

Neither are Laloo, Pawar or Karunanidhi in a position to demand that either one of them be appointed as DPM!!! Neither is any Congressman in a position to force Sonia into appointing him as a DPM!!! And neither has Manmoahn given her any reason to do so!!!!And then Manmohan is the safest bet for Sonia….. all other contenders have the potential of getting a pout and becoming Narsimha Raos!!! Imagine Manmohan's plight if a DPM had been appointed……. as it is Congressmen go over him to Sonia….. with a DPM they would be going under him to the DPM!!!

Laghe raho Amrinder Singh…… kuch months ka mehemaan,
Very soon he'll be packing his samaan!!!

Its 100% sure that Amrinder will sooner than later depart for foreign shores!!!! Amrinder's body language shows that he's accepted his fate!!! He'll run away to Dubai or London……. he's decided to exile himself in the garb of medical treatment in a Kingdom!!! At first after his debacle he's going to shift to Delhi and from there leave the Country on medical grounds!!! His Man Friday B.I.S Chahal too is planning his exile……. maybe he'll accompany Amrinder as his Male Nurse….. and continue the good work that he's been doing for the past four years!!!!

Big Bluffmaster's security has been reduced making Amar Item Boy mad with ire,
Fact is all this time Big B and Amar have been crying out fire though there was no fire!!!

Maharashtra Government has very rightly reduced Big B's security!!! Its not the job of Government Security to protect Film Stars from autograph hunters!!! If Big B is that worried about his security then he can hire Security for himself!!! In fact Amar can speak to many suitable people in UP who specialize in providing such kind of security!!!

Laloo wants MPs families to enjoy the same travel benefits as the MPs do,
And tommorrow will demand the same benefits form MPs domestic help too!!!

And if MPs families do get the same benefits then shouldn't the 'hum doh humaare doh' yardstick be applied???? If ordinary Indians face this yardstick then why not MPs??? Of course Laloo will not agree..... he has nine offsprings..... hum doh hamaare nau!!!

Bharat Kumar

aaj_ki_aawaz@rediffmail.com

WHISPERS .... CORPORATE WORLD

Who will be new Chairman of TCIL ?

Who will be new Chairman of the TCIL ? Tie is said to be between P Ganesh Director (Technical) and R K Upadhyay Director (Projects).

Binoo Sen to take over today

Binoo Sen is taking over as Member of the BIFR on Tuesday. She is 1967 batch retired IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Ananthachari elected President

K Ananthachari has been elected new President of the Society of Auditors.

Balu appointed NLC' Director (Admn)

P Babu Rao has been appointed as Director (Administration) for Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC). Earlier, he was chief general manager (administration). A PG in industrial relations and

TOP BRASS- SPEAK

The National Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC)is poised to take a quantum leap in the power sector by almost doubling its power generation capacity from existing 26,194 MW to 51,000 + MW Company by the year 2012.Even the NTPC is going to make forays into coal mining sector.
These views were expressed in a free and frank interview to "whispersinthecorridors.com"by NTPC chief T Sankaralingam.

Here is his interview

Questionnaire from 'Whispers'

Q.1 What are your expansion plans?

Ans. Today, NTPC is a 26,194 MW Company (including 1054 MW in joint ventures) and has been working towards achieving the target of additional 3210 MW during the current financial year.
We plan to add 21, 941 MW during the 11th Plan which would make us a 51,000 + MW Company by the year 2012. This amounts to nearly doubling our capacity by the year 2012. We also have plans to become a 75,000 + MW Company by the year 2017.
This will include hydro capacity of about 9,000 MW by the year 2017. Nuclear power generation is also being considered as a long-term option and we are looking at this option seriously.
Our strategy for capacity addition will include expanding the existing stations, developing greenfield projects and bidding for projects under the competitive route.
We are diversifying and expanding our business by way of backward and forward integration such as coal mining, coal washery, fuel sourcing, power trading, etc. covering the entire energy value-chain.
The Government of India has allocated 8 coal mine blocks to NTPC, 2 of them to be developed through JVs with Coal India Ltd. By 12th Plan period, we expect to meet nearly 20 to 25% of the coal requirement from the Company's own mines. Thus, NTPC is poised to become the second largest coal producer in the country, next to Coal India Ltd.

NTPC has won an oil/gas exploration field in Arunachal Pradesh in partnership with Canaro Resources & Geo Petrol under NELP Round V through competitive bidding. The production sharing agreement with the Government of India has been signed. Encouraged by this success, we have decided to bid under NELP Round VI. Acquisition of oil/gas exploration blocks will further strengthen the fuel security and economics of our operations.

Q.2 What is your view about the nuclear power? How will thermal power match cost effectiveness vis-à-vis the nuclear power?

Ans. Nuclear is, in fact, one of the conventional sources of power and countries like France have over 70% of their power generation coming from the nuclear source. Some other countries have substantial share of their power generated from the nuclear source. India is also planning to increase the share of nuclear power in its power mix.

Some recent developments are likely to open up opportunities and give a boost to nuclear power generation in India. NTPC would like to utilize such new opportunities and be a part of the efforts for achieving country's energy security.

Q.3 Please tell us your opinion about the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Ans. This is a very important step. The Governments of both the countries are engaged at the highest levels to finalise the details. Any initiative which promotes civil nuclear program of the country in line with our stated national policies and priorities is a welcome step.

Q.4 The Planning Commission's documents has sought for increasing coal efficiency in thermal power plants from 30 percent to 39 percent. Where does the NTPC stand and by when do you think that this target can be achieved?

Ans. The conversion efficiency of NTPC power stations today is around 36%. NTPC is introducing super critical parameters in several new units like in Sipat and Barh. These units will have conversion efficiency of 38-39%. In super critical units with higher steam temperature parameters, the conversion efficiency may go up to 40% and is achievable.

We strongly advocate and support the Planning Commission's policy directives and we are moving towards achieving this goal.

In addition to adoption of super critical parameters, continuous efficiency improvement of the existing units will also result in efficiency gains. Various groups within the company such as engineering, operation services, R&D are working towards the goal of continuous improvement in reliability of operation and efficiency. All this will lead to higher conversion efficiency in the near future.

Q.5. Under the 'Bharat Nirman' scheme, how many villages the NTPC has taken for rural electrification. Please give details.

Ans. Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana takes care of the rural electrification component of 'Bharat Nirman' scheme, a time bound plan for rural infrastructure development undertaken by the Government of India, in partnership with State Governments and Panchayat Raj Institutions. The scheme is to be completed by the year 2009.

Under the Scheme, the Ministry of Power has the responsibility of providing electricity to the 125,000 villages which have remained uncovered by electrification. In addition, 23 million rural households are to be provided electricity.

NTPC has been making significant contribution to this Yojana through its involvement in projects for electrification of over 40,000 villages in about 30 districts spread across 5 States namely West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa.

Now fly Indian, redeem points on partner brands

Flying on India's leading airline Indian is now more attractive than before. Passengers can accrue points by flying Indian and redeeming them on other leading brands and vice-versa, under the new coalition loyalty program called i-mint. The other five program partners, who have come together on a single platform to create a reward based value program for the customer are ICICI Bank, Airtel, HPCL, Lifestyle Stores and Make-my-trip.com.
The i-mint coalition loyalty program has been initially launched for membership at Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad and will be subsequently extended to cover the entire country. Under the program, i-mint members can earn points by buying petrol at HP outlets, paying Airtel mobile bills, buying clothes at LifestyleStores, buying a hotel package through Make-my-trip, buying an Indian ticket or using ICICI credit card. He/she can then add up all the rewards points accrued to get a product from any of the above partners.
An i-mint member buying an Indian ticket will get 6 points against every Rs.100 spent. Points can be earned only on the basic fare portion of tickets purchased on domestic or international sectors of Indian or Alliance Air. Cardholders can earn points on both existing FFP program of Indian as well as i-mint. For more details about the program, catalogue of rewards, etc. passengers may log on to www.imintpoints.com.