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Whispers is an extremely useful and interesting forum
and source of information for those in administration. T Srinivasan THIS IS THE ONLY SOURCE TO REACH THE DECISION MAKERS ADVERTISE ON -WHISPERSINTHECORRIDORS.COM Contact-sureshmehrotra@yahoo.com
He started his career with HPCL over three decades ago. He has handled various portfolios in Marketing, Corporate and HR of the oil major and possesses a rich experience in the oil sector. He also had a 5 year stint with the Oil Coordination Committee as Director - Planning. In his capacity as Director - Human Resources, Balakrishnan introduced a number of contemporary People Management initiatives. As a result the Corporation came to be acknowledged as one of the 'Best Employers in India -2004' in the study conducted by Hewitt Associates and CNBC- TV 18. Under his leadership, HPCL was also the recipient of 'Award in Best Work Place Practices' by Asian Forum for Corporate Social Responsibility, Philipines in 2004. HPCL also received the Golden Peacock National Training Award for 2005 and an award for Commitment to Building and Learning Organisation by Peter Senge in 2006. In the recent past, the All India Management Association has conferred a fellowship and the Institute of Engineers (India) have presented a Scroll of Honour for recognition 'of his outstanding contribution to the profession of Chemical Engineering'. Arun Balakrishnan feels "current ceilings on product pricing are not very helpful. Hence Finance will be a key focus area." His mind has many innovative ideas which he would share with the concerning authorities & world at an appropriate time. A relaxed but confident CMD of the oil major unfolded his aims and roadmap for steering the company to newer heights.Here goes his interview: 1/Will you please list your at least two priorities? I have taken over the mantle of HPCL from April 1. The transition itself was uneventful as the HP top team has always been well knit and professional. My predecessor M. B. Lal who superannuated on March 31, 2007, has bequeathed me a well managed Company with well thought out strategic objectives and proven processes. I am thankfull for that. 2/What are your expansion plans? As the months roll by, challenges will come by. The first and major one would be attracting and retaining talent. It takes about two to three years to train a fresh engineer on the intricacies of refinery operations.Same is applicable for ERP, Finance and HR. And someone comes and offers him/her three times what he/she gets. Luckily PSU salaries are due for a revision effective January 2007. But even if the salaries are doubled, it would be difficult to match the market. So high levels of recruitment and attrition are going to be part of life. The second challenge would be project management. We have nearly Rs. 5000 crores of projects to be carried out in the next two years. This is in addition to the huge investment in our Bhatinda Refinery project. Needless to say, some innovative thinking is required to get things done as per schedule. Third challenge would be managing cash flow. Large projects have large incubation periods. Current ceilings on product pricing are not very helpful. Hence Finance will be a key focus area. 3/What are other issues that need to be addressed? Taxes and duties are another area of concern. Maybe we need to consider reduction of duties on petrol so as to bring its price in line with that of diesel. This can deter the shift to diesel for cars in India. And probably, more appropriate use of our refinery products UP polls & UPA's plan The United Progressive Alliance(UPA) Government in Delhi is reportedly all prepared for post poll scenario in Uttar Pradesh. In case of a hung assembly next month in UP, the President's rule would be clamped, a few days after declaration of results. At the same time the House would be placed under the suspended animation. As the grapevine has it the UPA would want to make sure that the arithmetic for the Presidential Electoral College does not alter due to emergence of new political alliances. 1969 batch will not get CS post This is now almost certain that no IAS officer belonging to 1969 batch will be appointed Cabinet Secretary. Will Ghosh be Vice-Chairman of Environment Tribunal ? Grapevine has it that Secretary Forests and Environment in the Government of India P Ghosh is being appointed Vice-Chairman of the Environment Tribunal. 1969 batch UT cadre IAS officer, Ghosh, is scheduled to retire on May 31. Asha Swarup to take charge today ! Ms Asha Swarup is expected to take charge as Secretary Information and Broadcasting today. She is 1973 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre. Tejinder Khanna's file cleared Orders pertaining to appointment of Tejinder Khanna as new Lt Governor of Delhi will be issued after April 5,2007.The Delhi Municipal Corporation(DMC) polls are scheduled to be held on April 5,2007.Swearing-in is expected to take place on April 9. Rajwant Sandhu is Additional Secretary Panchayti Raj Rajwant Sandhu has been appointed Additional Secretary Panchayati Raj.
She is 1975 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre. Brijeshwar Singh to return to TamilNadu ! Extended deputation tenure of DG Akashwani Brijeshwar Singh is coming to an end on April 12.Will 1975 batch IAS officer Singh return to the parent TamilNadu cadre ?. Gupta to be OSD to Ms Renuka Chaudhry Suresh Chandra Gupta is being appointed OSD to Union Child and Women Welfare Minister Ms Renuka Chaudhry. He is 1986 batch IAS officer of Sikkim cadre. Arun Kumar to be JD CBI Arun Kumar is being promoted to the rank of the Joint Director in the CBI in a week or two. He is 1985 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. Veena Kumari to join Uttarakhand Government Veena Kumari Meena is going on deputation to the Uttaranchal Government. She is 1993 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. Manoj Kumar joins LBSNAA T K Manoj Kumar has joined the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration as Deputy Director. He is 1987 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre. Will Parthsarthy be Member of TDSAT ? Name of S Parthasarthy is also doing the round for the post of Member of TDSAT. He is retired 1965 batch IAS officer of TamilNadu cadre. CEO required in Khadi & Village Industries Officials of Joint Secretary or equivalent rank may apply by April 13 for the post of CEO in Khadi & Village Industries Commission Who will be the next IIPA Director? Mystery shrouds the appointment of next Director of IIPA. It is however learnt that the Search Committee headed by Justice Verma is going to meet again in this connection. Irani to be Chairman of IIM Lucknow J J Irani is being appointed new Chairman of the IIM Lucknow. Ajit Balakrishnan to be Chairman of IIM Kolkata Rediff Chief Ajit Balakrishnan is being appointed new Chairman of the IIM Kolkata. From Tahsildar to Vice Chancellor K R Viswambaran, a Kerala cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as
vice chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University. 1991 batch IAS officer,
Viswambaran, had joined service as a Tahsildar and rose to the level
of VC. Deepak Bhojwani gets one more job Deepak Bhojwani, presently Ambassador of India to Colombia, has been concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to Costa Rica with residence in Bogota. Karunakaran keen on joining Congress Senior leader of India ,K.Karunakaran has sent signals to Congress
party leaders for joining the same.He had sent a message through his
daughter to powerful Congress leader Ahmad Patel. Venugopal is new DPR Kerala P.Venugopal has been appointed Director of the Information and Public Relations Department. A Jayathilak will now be Collector Kozhikode. FORUM Thank God Duggal did not retire as Secretary Finance The way certain section of media is speculating daily about post retirement
employment of VK Duggal, who retired as Home Secratary on 31st march
07, it appears as if great tragedy will befall if he is not made governor
immediately. Thank God he did not retire as Finance Secratary otherwise
sharp fall in Sensex on 2nd March would have been attributed to delay
in employment of VK Duggal. By the way what are his achievements and
track record that the whole nation will be a great looser if there is
any delay in his further employment? In case his track record is really
impressive, he should not have been retired at all and made Home Secratary
for life. When law and order situation is such that draconian laws like
Armed Forces Special Powers Act have to be enforced in several parts
of the country and a person like duggal appears indispensable, one can
well imagine the state of governance in the country. Have Humane approach I don't think this happens with every one. It must have happened with very few, though not expected. Further it must have happened with those retired officers, as they must have responded similarly when they were in service. If one maintains balance and amicable, when one is in service and in important positions, then I don't think anyone would face these unpleasant situations. So the moral of the story is maintain good relations and have humane approach, with in the limits. T Ramchandru It is unfair to blame Ministry of Defence I couldn't agree more with Murthy that serious note is required to be taken of the mushrooming of cell phone towers in our Cantonments. Some of the local minions are so blind with greed that the towers have been permitted even on school buildings of Delhi Cantonment Board posing serious threat to the health of students due to forced close proximity to the source of radio emission. Though it could be sheer coincidence but in one such school of Delhi Cantonment Board (DAD lione school)not a single student passed in the Board exams. However it may not be fair to hold the MOD responsible for the malpractice as the Defence Estates department has its own hierarchy headed by a Secretary level officer and those indulging in such practices remain out of harm's way just because of their cosy relations with the departmental bosses. N N Ojha Response of serving officers is heart warming The full "import"of "cold shouldered" was lost on me. The comment is a little too vague and ambiguous. I am a retired I A S officer of 67 batch, [u p cadre] and I on the contrary found the response of serving officers very heart-warming. The comment needs a little elaboration and some discussion. P C Sharma PCS officers should be posted as DMs PCS officers acquire wide experience in all gamut of administration. They deserve to be posted as DMs. More such postings should come. Suresh Prasad Padhy Aaj Ki Aawaz Mulayam says if he doesn't pass the election test then he'll be
put in jail, Bharat Kumar Aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dasgupta is third MD of LIC A.K. Dasgupta has been appointed as Managing Director of the Life Insurance Corporation of India.He will be the third MD in LIC, along with D.K. Mehrotra and Thomas Mathew. ( We said this on March 1 ) Ghosh is CMD of NEEPCO M P Ghosh has been appointed CMD of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO). Till now he was acting CMD. Mahajan to be ED of Haridwar Unit of BHEL S M Mahajan is being tipped to be new Executive Director of the Haridwar Unit of the BHEL in August. Alarm bells toll ! Intelligence agencies have reportedly sounded Indian Finance Ministry to probe meet of dealers belonging to a Car manufacturing company of which works are located in Mahrashtra.The meet is going to commence at Crown Plaza Hotel in Dubai on April 5, 2007.Even all other financial investigating departments like Income Tax,Directorate of Revenue Intelligence(DRI),Customs & Enforcement Directorate(ED) have been alerted to probe in the matter. The car company whose dealers conclave is going to be held in Dubai does not have its show room there in Dubai.It is baffling to note that certain dealers of the car company who face cases from ED & DRI ,too have been invited from India to Dubai. Corporate world gets a breather People in the entire Corporate world of Maharashtra heaved a sigh of relief as the Maharashtra High Court intervened on freezing of accounts belonging to Mahindra & Mahindra by sleuths of the Income Tax(IT) department .Two member bench comprising Dr. Justice D.Radshakrishnan & Mr.Justice V.C.Daga of the High Court has even slapped a contempt notice on those IT officers who had frozen such accounts to meet their year end targets. It is also learnt that IT sleuths in Maharashtra had gone on a spree of freezing hundreds of accounts belonging to big corporate houses .In fact in certain cases IT officers had written directly to valued customers of different companies,asking them to deposit their dues directly with the IT department.As the grapevine has it,these companies are now contemplating to sue certain officers of the IT department for their alleged high handed attitude. The Maharashtra High Court bench has directed IT department to deposit money seized from accounts of Mahindra & Mahindra in the High Court Treasury by April 5,2007.On the other hand Mahindra & Mahindra has sought list of other corporate majors against whom a similar action was taken by the IT department. Rao is Director (Personnel) ECIL S. Hanumantha Rao has taken over as Director (Personnel) of Electronics
Corporation of India Limited. . Two quit Aircel Group Jagdish Kini and Ganapathy Subramanian have resigned from the Aircel Group. Rawal is National Head Rakesh Rawal has been appointed the National Head - Wealth Management at AnandRathi. Earlier he was with the Deutsche Bank. |
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