Congratulations. Now that you have started covering bureaucratic changes in Pakistan especially when SAARC meeting is being held in Delhi, your e bulletin will become equally popular in Pakistan and also in member countries of SAARC in time to come. Sight of lathi wielding policemen on protesting lawyers in Pakistan immediately reminds us of our shared heritage and identical approach of dealing with all those who create "law and order problems". Kindly keep it up.
Sudhir Chopra
ONLY SOURCE TO REACH THE DECISION MAKERS

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For hardworking, dedicated and sincere P D Vaghela, Managing Director, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd(TCGL), "tourism has definitely come of age" in the Gujarat state. While, tourists inflow has gone up by 30 per cent in Gujarat, the state Government has allocated an exclusive budget of Rs.100 crore for tourism development in the state, said P D Vaghela in an exclusive interview to <whispersinthecorridors.com>

He also disclosed that a slew of incentives for new hotels at select locations had been declared by the Gujarat Government. Replying to a question TCGL MD, Vaghela said that a number of innovative steps like improvement in infrastructure at tourist places and involvement of local people ;were taken to give a fillip to tourism in Gujarat.He also said that the TCGL' s strategy to promote Gujarat as a leading tourism destination at national and international level, had clicked.

Here goes P D Vaghela' s interview.

1/What innovations have you done to woo tourists?

The State Government had declared year 2006 as Tourism Year with the following broad objectives:
* To promote development of tourism and in turn put Gujarat as leading tourism destination at national and international level
* To attract domestic and foreign tourists to Gujarat
* To create additional employment opportunities in the State
* To improve tourism infrastructure in the state
* To ensure people' s participation and involvement of local bodies in promotion of tourism

2/Can you tell us your three achievements?

Overall Tourists inflow to Gujarat has gone up by 30%.

In the tourism sector, a total of 33 MOUs were signed for 68 projects with expected employment generation of over 40000 direct employment. The total investment comes to Rs. 10785.50 Crore. In the Aviation sector, MOUs worth Rs 10000 crore signed.

Won the National Tourism Award in 2007 for the Best Tourism Friendly Monument-Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeolgical Park.Won the National Tourism Award in 2007 for Excellence in Publications (collateral)

3/Are you in position to say that tourism in Gujarat has come of age? Please explain how.

Yes, definitely 100 crores budget has been allocated exclusively for tourism development in the state. Tourist inflow has increased manifold in the State. Events like Navratri Festival and International Kite Festival are being organized on a global scale every year in the State. Gujarat is being recognized all over the country, having won many national level awards this year. Investments in the tourism sector have been pouring in enormous numbers, through the MOU route.

4/Which are the key areas where Gujarat scores over other states?

Gujarat has excellent infrastructure in terms of roads, electricity and air connectivity. It is one of the safest states in India. Gujarat is blessed with a variety of tourism products like wildlife, desert, sea beaches, hill stations, etc. It has unique wildlife like the Asiatic Lion, Wild Ass, Black Buck and a variety of bird life.

5/What steps have you mooted for promoting budget hotels/tourists?

Gujarat Government has declared incentive scheme for hotels this year. Hotels with a minimum 20 rooms being setup at selected locations in Gujarat will be eligible for five year tax holiday on electricity duty, luxury tax and exemption of payment of stamp duty on land.

40 IAS officers of 1974 batch short-listed !

Nearly 40 IAS officers belonging to 1974 batch are reported to have been short-listed for the empanelment to the rank of Secretary in the Government of India. Empanelment meeting is expected to take place this month end. Those who reportedly figure in the short-listed are :-Mssrs Pradeep Singh, Ashok Kumar, A P V N Sarma, Ms K Sujatha Rao, P K Rastogi, Alok Jain, Anup Mukherjee, Ashok Kumar, A N P Sinha, C J Jose, Vivek Mehrotra, C Balakrishnan, S S Kapor, Deepak Gupta, Rahul Sareen, Shantanu Consul, Alka Sirohi, Sudhir Nath, K M Acharya, Sushma Nath, R S Sirohi, A K Lakhina, V P Raja, , Ms S Gokhale, Jarnail Singh, Raghu Menon, A K Chakraborty, S Chaudhuri, J S Maini, Ramesh Inder Singh, Rakesh Hooja, M K Khanna, M M Nambiar, Lalitha Kumar, Dinesh Rai, Pulok Chaterji, S P Gaur, Atul Chaturvedi , Vijay Sharma and Ujal Singh Bhatia.

Das is new DG CISF

Ranjit Kumar Das has been appointed new DG of the CISF. 1970 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer Das is expected to take charge either today or tomorrow.
( We said this on Dec 26,2006 and again on April 3 )

1975 batch IPS empanelment remained inconclusive

Meeting for the empanelment of 1975 batch IPS officers to the rank of Additional DG in the Government of India remained inconclusive.

Achari to get extension !

Secretary General of the Lok Sabha P D T Achari is expected to get one year extension. Tenure of Achari is coming to an end in Ju;y.

Senthil to succeed Thakur

V S Senthil is likely to succeed A K Thakur in Tokyo as Minister Economic. He is 1984 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

Ranjana Chopra to join GoI

Ranjana Chopra is joining the Government of India this month. She is 1994 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.

List of trusted officials is ready in Rajasthan

List of trusted officials of BJP regime in Rajasthan is being prepared at the behest of some senior Congress leaders. One thing is certain Vasundhara Raje Scindia is sure to go Amrinder Singh way and then---.

Ranjan is back to Bihar

Rajesh Ranjan, JD CBI, is back to the parent Bihar cadre after completion of deputation tenure. 1984 batch IPS officer Ranjan is expected to get new posting in a day or two.

One more list likely in Rajasthan

One more list of transfers of IAS officers is likely to be issued in Rajasthan this month.

Mathoda to be Member of CBDT !

R S Mathoda is likely to be appointed Member of the CBDT. He is 1971 batch IRS officer.

Aujla is CMD of Punjab Police Housing

DG rank IPS officer G.S. Aujla has been appointed the chairman-cum-managing director of the Punjab police housing corporation. He replaces S S Virk.

IAS changes in Himachal Pradesh

There are IAS changes in Himachal Pradesh. New postings are :-Mssrs Ashwini Kapoor will now be MD of HPMC Ltd. Onkar Sharma has been appointed Director Tourism and Transport. J S Rana has been made Settlement Officer Shimla. Maneesh Garg, DC, Bilaspur, has been posted as MD, HP Electronics Development Corporation. Nandita Gupta, ADC, Kangra, has been posted as additional secretary, health and director, National Rural Health Mission. C Paulrasu has been posted as SDM Kangra. Mamta, AC Development-cum-BDO Kunihar, Solan, has been posted as SDM, Dehra in Kangra. Priyanka Basu Ingti, AC Development-cum BDO, Indora, has been posted as SDM, Theog. Mohan Chauhan will be new additional secretary, health in place of Sandeep Bhatnagar who goes as additional registrar, cooperative societies.

Ex- CJIs for a probe in Cricket world of India

Two former Chiefs of Justice in India(CJIs)have echoed sentiments of millions of cricket fans in the country.As the grapevine has it,they have jointly shot a missive to CJI K.G.Balakrishnan urging his intervention on certain burning issue pertaining to the Indian cricket team.Main among issues those on which two ex CJIs have pleaded for intervention by present CJI,subject to the condition the matter merits attention,are :

(a) Why is so that only the balance sheet of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association(MPCA)is available for scrutiny?Why all other state cricket association and Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI)-inspite being a public trust have no balance sheets ready for public scrutiny?

(b) The BCCI crucified players knowing fully well that only 30 per cent of the advertisement revenue earnt by cricketers goes to players.The rest of 70 per cent is shared between the BCCI and the broadcaster.Thus,slashing revnue of players means that now revenue will be diverted to the broadcaster i.e.Nimbus.The broadcaster has been incurring heavy losses following enactment of a law by the Parliament whereby it was made mandatory for broadcaster to show cricket matches involving the Indian cricket team on the Doordarshan.

(c) The BCCI is a public trust,but according to the recent law Cricket has been described as a national game.Then how is it that a private body controls the game on behalf of the nation?

Standoff between PM & the CJI

Open spat between Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh & Chief Justice of India(CJI)K.G.Balakrishnan ,is the first one of its kind in recent times between a CJ and the Government.The CJI has on several occasions opined that if the legislature & executive,perform their duties properly then ,the judiciary will have no reason to interfere.

BCCI scouting for spokespersons

BCCI chief Sharad Pawar is scouting for two senior sports journalists who could be deployed as spokespersons.Veterans like Rajan Bala and Ayaz Memon are as well in the fray.

At last Benazir Bhutto-Home coming !

At last former Pakistani Prime Minister Ms.Benazir Bhutto is likely to return to her homeland to participate in general elections of Pakistan which are scheduled be held next year.As the grapevine has it,Pakistan's President Gen.Pervez Musharraf and Ms.Bhutto have reached a secret understanding.

Blame game on in Congress

Blame game has begun in Congress following its debacle in civic body polls of Delhi in which it has been routed.All guns are now trained at Rambabu Sharna --Delhi state unit chief of Congress whose mentor is high flier and mighty politician who is considered to be a trusted lieutinent of party chief Ms.Sonia Gandhi.

.Ali Hasan Khan case in a limbo

The much publicized Ali Hasan Khan related raids by sleuths of Income Tax (IT)department seem to have been given a quiet burial.Such a situation arose following refusal by the concerning Swiss bank to share any further details of account transactions.

Star India looking for CEO

The Star India has been conducting interviews at its Asia Pacific region's Hong Kong located quarter for he post Chief Executive Officer(CEO).Already more than six incumbents have appreared for the inerview.

IAS Vice Chancellor resigns

Aligarh Muslim University Vice-Chancellor Naseem Ahmad has resigned from the post. He is 1972 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

IAS reshuffle in Jharkhand this week

IAS changes are expected to take place in Jharkhand this week.

FORUM

Congratulations Karan Singhji

Congratulations, Karan Singh. You ought to have resigned a long time ago not in protest against your failure to enroll Lalu Prasad but for having failed to bring in some semblence of transparency in the membership selection process. I I C sits on prime public property and must declare the process as to how membership was decided in each category - under the right to information act. Even section of members from the civil services is clouded in mystery .

Kumar Hardonia

There should be a cap

There should be a cap on the number of SEZs in a State. Also, the Centre or the State should have no control over the management of the SEZs except to the extent of ensuring compliance to the conditions imposed by the Government.

Ravi

About time. All over the world, in the developed countries, people have only one card which is used for a variety of purposes while we have ration, election, PAN card etc. Only hope that this is implemented in the shortest time possible.
Sunil B
TAIL-PIECE

What woman wants in a Man?[ Well with age things change and same do these preferences ]
What Women Want in a Man, Original List (age 22)1. Handsome2. Charming3. Financially successful4. A caring listener5. Witty6. In good shape 7. Dresses with style8. Appreciates finer things9. Full of thoughtful surprises10. An imaginative, romantic lover======================================What Women Want in a Man, Revised List (age 32)1. Nice looking (prefer hair on his head)2. Opens car doors, holds chairs3. Has enough money for a nice dinner4. Listens more than talks5. Laughs at my jokes 6. Carries bags of groceries with ease7. Owns at least one tie8. Appreciates a good home-cooked meal9. Remembers birthdays and anniversaries10. Seeks romance at least once a week======================================What Women Want in a Man, Revised List (age 42) 1. Not too ugly (bald head OK)2. Doesn't drive off until I'm in the car 3. Works steady - splurges on dinner out occasionally4. Nods head when I'm talking5. Usually remembers punch lines of jokes6. Is in good enough shape to rearrange the furniture7. Wears a shirt that covers his stomach 8. Knows not to buy champagne with screw-top lids9. Remembers to put the toilet seat down10. Shaves most weekends======================================What Women Want in a Man, Revised List (age 52)1. Keeps hair in nose and ears trimmed2. Doesn' t belch or scratch in public3. Doesn' t borrow money too often4. Doesn' t nod off to sleep when I' m venting 5. Doesn' t re-tell the same joke too many times6. Is in good enough shape to get off couch on weekends7. Usually wears matching socks and fresh underwear8. Appreciates a good TV dinner9. Remembers your name on occasion 10. Shaves some weekends======================================What Women Want in a Man, Revised List (age 62)1. Doesn't scare small children 2. Remembers where bathroom is3. Doesn't require much money for upkeep4. Only snores lightly when asleep5. Remembers why he's laughing6. Is in good enough shape to stand up by himself7. Usually wears some clothes 8. Likes soft foods9. Remembers where he left his teeth10. Remembers that it's the weekend====================================== What Women Want in a Man, Revised List (age 72)1. Breathing2. Doesn't miss the toilet.
Contributed by -Col Satish Dewan

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Shiela's behaving like MCD Poll was Delhi University election,
Not at all worried about the humiliating rejection!!!

In that case Congress has ducked the pre exam tests..... dumped,
Shiela's reaction sure leaves one stumped!!

Though Congress will say its Aam Aadmi is rural and so claim vote bank is intact,
But Congress has lost out with its mascot and that's a fact!!!

Both Shiela and Sharma share the blame for this loss,
But Shiela's blame is more as she is Delhi 's Boss!!!

The Delhi elections could be a pointer to BJP doing well in UP too,
Rumored that as Delhi picture became clear Mulayam locked himself in the loo!!

Low turnout in the first phase got Mulayam worried,
To push more Voters to vote SP workers scurried!!!

Now the Jaya troika has been summoned to UP to campaign,
The dust and heat of UP is going to put one Jaya to pain!!

She's used to campaigning in her ac van……in a sanitized environment,
Though some say that the van from TN to UP via road has been sent!!!

UPites will get to see campaigning Amma style or way,
They'll sweat it out listening to her as Amma in her ac van will stay!!

Amar too is sweating it out…. he's lost weight,
Could end up looking abs skinny at this rate!!!

A skinny Amar in designer Kurta would look like a scarecrow,
And if SP looses Amar will loose more weight running to and fro !!!

Amar blames his weight loss on Congress... people pay to loose weight,
So as a fee Amar during the UP elections must shout ' Congress is great'!!!

Can two SEZs come up side by side???
Connected by a road that's wide!!

Of course both SEZs will have same Promoters but different names,
In the Reality Market Promoters play such games!!!

Seems SEZs are still in the woods and Government is still fumbling,
And overseas investors and big Industrial Houses are grumbling!!

Amrinder's ever faithful wifey Parneet is trying to muster a show of support,
Requesting Congressmen to come to the Airport to receive him as per a report!!!

Amrinder in all probability will drive down to Patiala and stay put in his ghar,
Spending every second till July 30 in darr!!!

But till he boards the plane it's not sure that he's coming back!!!
Because to come back will karta hai Amrinder lack!!!

If Maharashtra can get six Nuke Plants why not one in Punjab???
Power situation in Punjab is really kharaab!!

Today Punjab needs to concentrate on improving power situation,
And for this is needed cheap power generation!!

BCCI has taken some steps…. Shastri's appointment was expected,
He's from the Mumbai gang and so he was selected!!

And why has Dravid not been sacked,
In the WC leadership qualities he lacked!!

And then he's taken the blame,
For Indian Team's WC shame!!!

Sponsors are unhappy,
And players are feeling crappy!!

But ads and ads and no game was not right,
On the bottom line our players had lost sight!!

BCCI needs to allocate more money to domestic cricket,
And as a punishment for BCCI no Indian for next year will buy for any match a ticket!

All International Tests and One Day matches will be free,
Just come to the stadium, enter and see!!!

Bharat Kumar

Aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

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CORPORATE

Reliance & DLF working overtime

People in Mukesh Ambani led Reliance group of industries and K.P.Singh led DLF have been working overtime to minimize losses that are going to emerge out of recently framed conditions on Special Economic Zones(SEZs).Conditions approved by the Empowered Group of Ministers(EGOM)will be enforced with retrospective effect.

Joshi to be Director (Marketing) GAIL !

ED (Projects) B C Joshi is being tipped to be new Director (Marketing) of the GAIL. He is reportedly number one in the panel prepared by the PESB,

NRI is head of Institute in England

Sunand Prasad an NRI Architect has been elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Das joins Aircel

Sandip Das has joined the Aircel Ltd director-in-charge for Indian operations.

Veerkar is Asia Headsss

Anand Veerkar has been appointed Business Head of Triple Point Technology.