Quite informative site, keeps me updated about what is happening to services.

Suresh Thorat

ONLY SOURCE TO REACH THE DECISION MAKERS

ADVERTISE ON-WHISPERSINTHECORRIDORS.COM
Contact-sureshmehrotra@yahoo.com and mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com
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INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK

The nature's bounty coupled with aggressive interaction with tours & travels operators in India & abroad Meghalaya Tourism department is trying to turn the state into one of the best tourist destinations in the country. This was stated in an exclusive interview by P.W.Ingty Commissioner & Secretary Tourism to Meghalaya Government.

In his interview Ingty told <whispersinthe corridors.com>about plans that the state is embarking on an ambitious programme of developing tourism infrastructure based on joint ventures and P-P-P .Tourism policy of the state "focuses on rural based tourism, by involving the local community as stake holders particularly for security, hospitality services, maintenance and management of infrastructure created in the rural areas. Among other things, the policy seeks to make the State one of the best tourist destinations of the country and to create an environment that will attract outside investment." Here goes his interview:

1/In what way your tourism policy is unique?

A-The tourism policy of Meghalaya is simple and yet it seeks to enable the State to set out on the road of self discovery and sustainable development. With the realization that the strength of the state lies in nature based tourism, the policy endeavors to preserve and enrich our natural and cultural heritage while at the same time creating a suitable environment for development of basic infrastructure facilities and services for tourism. The focus is on rural based tourism, by involving the local community as stake holders particularly for security, hospitality services, maintenance and management of infrastructure created in the rural areas. Among other things, the policy seeks to make the State one of the best tourist destinations of the country and to create an environment that will attract outside investment.

2/What new projects of the MTDC are on the anvil?

A-Some of the new projects of Meghalaya Tourism that are on the anvil are

o A Convention Centre at Umiam(Barapani) on the banks of the Umiam lake.
o Cable Car Ropeway project at Cherrapunjee
o Eco Tourism Resort at Chisobibra.
o Rural Tourism project, Sasatgre
o Rural Tourism project, Ialong
o Rural Tourism project, Siju
o Tourist resort, Jakrem hot springs

3/In what way you are packaging your state's tourism so that inbound tourists cannot resist the temptation of touring Meghalaya?

A-Tourism activities in Meghalaya are loosely linked to the seasons of the year

o During October - November we have the Autumn Festival at Shillong , some of the events that can be experienced by tourists in this season (2007) are - World Record Guitar Ensemble, Golf tournament, Affro Reggae , Vintage car rally, Traditional music & dances , Nongkrem dance, trekking from Mawsynram to Laitkynsew via the Living Root Bridges, traditional archery, the colors of Jaintia Hills, monolith festival, waterfall run, Jowai carnival, fishing festival Shella, Hundred Drums Wangala Asanang, Tourism Expo, AHAR exhibition.
o During December - January , tourists can experience - Ethnic Rythms Winter Festival Tura, Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, Village Gibbon Sanctuary Selbalgre, Caving in Jaintia Hills/South Garo Hills, visit to Balpakram National Park, Pitcher Plant sanctuary Baghmara, Bird watching in Siju Sanctuary, trekking to Chitmang, Christmas festivities at Shillong, Jowai and Tura.
o February - April , a good time for cavers to explore caves located at Lumshnong, Siju and other parts of the State. Food festivals, Spring flower shows, Annual pilgrimage to Lumsohpetbneng organized by Seng Khasi Shad Suk Mynsiem (Dance of the joyful heart) , Shad Rongkhlieh in Jaintia Hills,a good time for trekking, adventure sports and ecotourism. Play golf at Shillong in one of the best golf courses in this part of the country.
o May - August , Apphira archery competition at Polo Shillong, Beh Dein Khlam festival at Jowai and Tuber, best time to experience the heavy showers of rainfall and view gushing waterfalls at Sohra(Cherrapunjee) and other places.

4/Do you think that there is some possibility of group study exchange programme in collaboration with other states & private tour operators?

A-The Meghalaya Tourism Officials and Private Tour Operators, Hoteliers and others have been interacting with counterparts from other states as well as other countries, notably West Bengal, Assam, Bangladesh , Thailand, Andhra Pradesh, etc. Through these interactions we have realised that there is tremendous scope for exchange programmes and interactions relating to tourism, trade, industry, arts & culture, etc. We wish to explore this area extensively.

5/Since the Corporation became operational late, how are you now trying to catch up with the lost time?

A-The State of Meghalaya is blessed with natural resources, beautiful scenery, salubrious climate, inherent hospitality of tribal people and vast scope for development of tourism. However, the State lacks tourism related infrastructure. To make up for this shortfall, the Meghalaya Tourism is embarking on an ambitious programme of developing tourism infrastructure based on joint ventures and P-P-P

K C Jena to be Railway Board Chairman?

It seems all the hurdles are over for K C Jena to become Chairman of the Railway Board. The CVC is believed to have given clean chit to Jena. It is expected that he will take over as Chairman of the Railway Board on September 1. One can only wait and watch.

Pradhan is likely to be Joint Secretary disinvestment

Name of S Pradhan, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the 1977 batch, has reportedly been cleared for the post of Joint Secretary Disinvestment in Government of India .

IPS officer in Tamil Nadu quits

1988 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, M V N Surya Prasad, is reported to have resigned .He is said to have joined a multi-national company.

Justice Gyan Sudha to be Judge of SC !

The Supreme Court collegium is believed to have cleared the name of Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra, presently a Judge of Rajasthan High Court, for her elevation to the Apex Court. The Supreme Court of India has been without a woman Judge since the retirement of Justice Ruma Pal in November last year.

New decision of the MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs has decided to transfer all work relating to Development Partnership Division to the Technical Cooperation Division.

No taker for the post of DGP in Rajasthan ?

Why the senior IPS officers are unwilling to take the job of the DGP in Rajasthan ?.Reason is simple -With the Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia at the helm of affairs coming months are going to be full of turmoil.

Will Shekhawat be a part of BJP high command?

Will Bheron Singh Shekhawat be a part of BJP high command? Till now those considered as a part of high command are Atal Behari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Jaswant Singh and Rajnath Singh.

Anu Garg selected for Fullbright Scholarship

Fullbright Scholarship Board has selected Anu Garg to spend one year in select universities in the United States for non-degree programme.1991 batch Orissa cadre IAS officer Anu Garg has recently completed Johns Hopkins Health Programme successfully.

51 Commissioners of Income-Tax transferred

Transfer orders of 51 Commissioners of Income Tax have reportedly been issued on Tuesday.

D V Negi is Addl PCCF Arunachal Pradesh

D V Negi has joined as Additional PCCF in Arunachal Pradesh. Negi who is an Indian Forest Service(IFS) officer of the AGMUT cadre belongs to the 1978 batch. Earlier he was Regional CCF ,Bhopal.

(We said this on August 6,2007)

Two new posts of SAG level in FMC, Mumbai

There is a good news for officers belonging to the Indian Economic Service(IES).The Government is understood have cleared a proposal to upgrade two posts in the "Forward Markets Commission"(FMC) Mumbai to the SAG(Joint Secretary) level i.e. Director's rank.

Manoj Sahay is Director Expenditure

Manoj Sahay has joined as Director Expenditure. He is an officer of the Indian Audit & Accounts Services & belongs to the 1994 batch.

Geetanjali Kundra is Director Defence

Ms Geetanjali Gupta Kundra is new Director Defence. She is 1996 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Khan to get posting in London ?

Press officer to the President of India, S M Khan is likely to be moved to London as Correspondent of the Prasar Bharti. He is 1982 batch IIS officer.

Shweta Singh quits Aaj Tak

Anchor Shweta Singh is reported to have resigned from the Aaj Tak to join BAG as Sports Editor.

Bihar springs surprise

Bihar has sprang a surprise in the empanelment of 1988 batch IAS officials for the rank of joint secretary. Not a single candidate from Bihar has been empanelled.

69 IAS officers of 1988 batch empanelled

Altogether 69 IAS officers belonging to 1988 batch are believed to have been empanelled to the rank of Joint Secretary in the Government of India. They are Mssrs:-Satya Gopal, Ms Renu Sharma, Dharmendra Sharma and Narendra Kumar (UT), Aramane Giridhar, Ms Poonam Malakondiah, Ms Yerra SriLakshmi, Ms I Rani Kumudini, M Veerabhadraiah, Praveen Kumar Shrivastava and Jishnu Barua (Assam-Meghalaya), Babu Lal Agrawal (Chhattisgarh), Ms S Aparna, Ms Anita Karwal,Arvind Kumar Sharma (Gujarat), Tarun Bajaj (Haryana), Ali Raza Rizvi, Trilok Chandra Janartha and Ram Dass Dhiman (Himachal Pradesh), Sandeep Kumar Nayak,Arun Kumar Mehta(J & K ), Arun Kumar Singh, Alka Tiwari (Jharkhand), Shambhu Dayal Meena, Dr E V Ramanareddy, P N Sreenivasachari, Dr Rajkumari Khatri (Karnataka), T K Jose and Gyanesh Kumar (Kerala), Sanjay Bandopadhyay, I C P Kesari and Praveen Garg (Madhya Pradesh), Apurva Chandra, Nitin N Kareer, Arvind Singh, Ashish Kumar Singh and Dr Sanjay Ambadass Chanade (Maharashtra), Dr Rakesh Sarwal, Dr Rajesh Kumar, K Rajeshwar Rao, S K D Verman and M H Khan (Manipur-Tripura), Parag Gupta, C J Venugopal, S C Patanaik and Pridipta Kumar Mohapatra (Orissa), Satinder Pal Singh , Ms Ravneet Kaur and Dr Roshan Sunkaria (Punjab), Ms Upma Srivastava (Sikkim), Atulya Mishra, Ms D Sabitha, D Jothi Jagarajan (TamilNadu), Alok Kumar I, Dr Rajneesh Dube, Navneet Kumar Sehgal, T Venketesh, Anil Sant, Manoj Kumar Singh, S Radha Chouhan (Uttar Pradesh), Indevar Pandey, M Venketshwar Rao, H K Dwivedi, Laima Chozah, Sunil Kumar Chaturvedi, Sepuri Suresh Kumar (West Bengal), Rajiv Bansal ( Nagaland) Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu (Uttarakhand) and Manjit Singh (Rajasthan).

No interim relief to Government employees

There will not be any Interim Relief (IR) to the government employees.The Sixth Central Pay Commission does not intend awarding an Interim hike (IR) in salaries of Central Government Employees.

1991 batch IAS promoted in Punjab

Five 1991 batch IAS officers have been given super-time scale in Punjab. They are Mssrs: A. Venu Parsad, Seema S Jain, S.R. Ladhar, Iqbal Singh Sidhu and Ranjit Singh.

IAS officer served showcause notice

2003 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Prawin Toppo has been served showcause notice for touching the feet of JMM leader Sibu Soren.

Promotions in Income-Tax Department

38 promotion orders of Additional Commissioners of Income Tax have been issued by the CBDT on Tuesday.

New Vice Chancellor of Sambalpur University

Prof Madhu S Mishra has been appointed new Vice Chancellor of the Sambalpur University in Orissa.

FORUM

Role of CSSS in Central secretariat!

I am really delighted to see the arguments nowadays of parity between CSS and CSSS. I tried a lot to know about the CSSS but all in vain. Is not it Central Secretariat Stenographers Service?? Do they do any contribution regarding executive work also?? As far I know, they are meant for stenographic assistance to Section Officer/Desk Officer, Under secretary, DS/Director, JS, AS and Secretary. However, I have got to know that in a zeal to promote the interests of Stenographers (who are more close to senior officers) and also to rub the salt in wounds of CSS Officers, Government is treating the Stenographers (whose work is to take dictation and attend telephones etc.) at par with the executive branch of CSS (who do the noting drafting as well as take decisions at lower level) in terms of pay scale and promotions. Is it not true?? Can anybody enlighten us about the actual role of CSSS, so that they can be treated at par with CSS and further to IAS/Group -A Services?? What a pity that a forum like "Whispers" is being used to promote the interest of stenographers??

S Kumar

Congratulations -Government of India

Congratulations, Government of India has broken a record. It has promoted at JS level two officers who are known to have DA cases dispatched. Few years back they were raided by the CBI. This information on DA cases is available in many wings of Government of India.

Nikhil

CSS Vs. CSSS

CSS generally are jealous of CSSS as far as career advancement of the latter is concerned. This thinking on the part of CSS is illogical in as much as the line of profession of CSS is altogether different from that of CSS. When CSSS have no bias against CSS, likewise CSS should not have any kind of bitterness against CSSS. They should work as a team to achieve the objectives of the Department/organisation concerned.

Hora

Sudhir Chopra wrote:-

In this connection farmers suicides and bouncing of relief cheques in several cases in a well administered state like Maharashtra and messy conditions during monsoons in Mumbai can give some clue to the kind of governance provided.
If quality of governance is to be checked, kindly read the bestseller "Everyone loves a good drought" by P Sainath who got Magsaysay award this year.

P Kumar

Other services are no saints

I could not have agreed more with Sudhir Chopra. The most crucial question is not which service is superior but that Who is most suitable to provide a particular service irrespective of the cadre he/she belongs to. It would not be fair to blame all the mess around us to IAS alone as other services are no saints either. But one thing that IAS is to be squarely blamed for is that in an effort to corner all so called 'Power Positions' it has killed the initiative within the system and more and more well meaning and technically qualified officers of other services plus the technocrats have got frustrated with current system. The reading on this forum only exemplify the level of frustration building up in the rest of services due to highly discriminatory system created in favour of IAS. Imagine the motivation level of other service officers when they know clearly that even their best performance would not reach the highest level of his specialised field as the same is 'reserved' for a person, who may not have even a vague idea of the subject, on the basis of allocation of service he/she belongs to. This sort of discriminatory system can in no way be a base system for a 'System of good governance'. This is the time when parochial identities should be sacrificed in the interest of overall good of the public which is the one on receiving end with the current state of affairs

G Bansal

Time has come to re-unite Indian Sub-Continent

The time is now coming for the Indian sub-continent to re-unite as a single economic and political entity. We need leaders with a sense of history and political vision to achieve this. There is nothing permanent or sacrosanct about political boundaries or maps as India has learnt the hard way. First was the British partition of India, then came the Kashmir take away for Pakistan and China. No leader has emerged in India who has the courage even to talk about reunification. Where was Pakistan before 1947? The problem of Muslims in the sub-continent has to be addressed--it is not a question about Pakistan or Bangladesh or Kashmir but about the fate of some 400 million Muslims .The British seized sovereignty from the Mughal emperor and transferred it to the British queen. When they left India in 1947 sovereignty had to return to the Mughal emperor who, till today ,continues to be the sovereign of India as the Mughal dynasty was never abolished either by the foreigners or the Indians. It is questionable if the parliaments of the sub -continent have any legal sanction as sovereign bodies when the Mughal emperor still continues as the legal sovereign of the sub-continent. It would assuage all Muslim fears of Hindu domination if India and Pakistan and Bangladesh reunited as one Mughal Empire under a constitutional Mughal monarch in an empire which is secular ,industrialised , modern and aligned to the US in a strategic military alliance to counter the rise of China and the very real threat that this poses to the sub- continent. We must understand realpolitik and not be swept away by foolish sentiment over pan-asianism. I hope the political leaders of the sub-continent read this and align themseves to the side of reason, a sense of history and vision.

D Choudhury

TAIL-PIECE

News channels:
Osama has four wives
Sanjay Dutt hasn't got copy of judgement yet
Katrina met Salman Khan in jail
A man eats tubelights
A kid plays with snakes
Amitabh redefines the term 'farmer'
Aishwarya wants to become mother
Aishwarya not pregnant
One more farmer commits suicide
One more killed by blue line bus
Jokes..laughter...more laughter

Thats the end of news. See you tomorrow same time.. Same channel..er..er..same news.

Contributed by -Ravi Pipal

Aaj Ki Aawaz

To tackle terror India needs a tough law,
And what we do not need is a Home Minister joh karta hai hum and haw and caw!!

Tepid response by Sarkaar to the Hyderabad blasts will only add fuel to the fire!!
And every anti India terrorist's morale will just shoot up higher!!

A terrorist is a propagator of terrorism and his or her religion should not count!!!
Why is this Sarkaar on terrorism giving a Muslim discount?????

Anyone whose anti India should be dealt as an enemy of the State!!!
No exemption Quota when it comes to tackling people joh India ko karte hai hate!!

What's more disturbing is that now Sarkaar is even dithering on fixing the blame!!!
Every attempt is made that someone else they name!!

Like in Hyderabad despite the telltale signs they tried to shift the blame!!!
And for the blasts Naxalas ko kiya pehle blame!!!

An enemy of the State should never be treated with kid's mitts !!!
Sad to see Sarkaar patting him while he cuts Indians to bits!!!

Fact is in UPA rule Muslims are more Indian that any of us!!!
And that's why on them Sarkaar karti hai fuss!!!

No other religion has Government aided pilgrimages like Muslims do!!!
From this only vote bank appeasement ki aathi hai boo ( foul smell)!!

Commies are now trying to save face in the Nuclear Deal standoff!!!
Though in public at the Deal they continue to scoff!!

Commies want a mechanism to save face,
Want to show that with UPA on the Hyde Act they've touched base!!

Ideally they'd like to point to some discrepancies and these be incorporated in the Deal!!!
Would like to show that the Doggy barked at the Master to 'come to heel'!!!

What can happen is that Commies will point their concerns on the Deal!!!
And UPA will assure that during negotiations with these concerns they did deal!

Then Commies will say that if that's the case then please go ahead!!!
Reds will say based on UPA's assurance on the Deal they no longer see red!!!

As you can see Left would have left the blame route open,
And tommorrow the matter they could re-open!!!

NDTV's midterm poll survey says that Congress could gain!!!
As per NDTV on Congress votes ki ho sakthi hai rain!!!

Messrs. Pranab , Barkha & Dorab have rarely got their psephology right!!!
But on this they never keep a score and so no hindsight!!!

There is no accountability on psephology and Public forgets!!!
Except those who on the basis of NDTV's psephology have placed and lost bets!!!

As per my psephology if midterm polls are held both Congress and Reds will loose out!!!
And from Governing this Country directly and indirectly respectively will be kicked out!!

My psephology is NDA, Naidu, Amma and Maya will gain in midterm polls!!
And Mulayam and Amar will continue to be dukhi souls!!!

Onion prices have shot up and other veggies are not lagging!!!
And onion export orders exporters are bagging!!!

Pawar is too busy with tackling ICL and has not time to spare!!!
He plays cricket while sitting in the Agriculture Minister's chair!!!

After Soren's release CBI took a new meaning….. Crooked and Biased Investigation!!!
CBI's hit a new low in its image's degradation!!!

After Q's (Q ji for CBI) in CBI's image there was a huge slide!!
In fact many said that CBI had taken the Nation for a ride!!

Now it's seized with getting Sacha Sauda Dera Chief and Sanju Baba off the hook!!!
CBI's least bothered that Court has on many occasions thrown at CBI the book!!!

No wonders Chahal and Amrinder want CBI to investigate their cases!!!
And they demand this with a crooked smile on their faces!!!

Whereas in actuality people should dread CBI being on their trail!!!
The feeling should be that to get to the bottom of the alleged crime CBI nahi karti hai fail!!!

It's the pawns that face the music .... the king, queen, bishop, horses and castles get away!!
And to deflect public attention or satiate public demands the pawns are made to pay!!

Why is that poor Cop being suspended.... he only hugged him!!!
Look at the treatment Soren got in Jail ... they bowed to his every whim!!

Why not look at the TADA absolving jaadu ki jappi that Sanju Baba got????
He got the guns from the TADA accused lot!!!

Had the Media not cried foul Manu and Santosh Singh would have be living it up!!!
And would not be in the lock - up!!!

Media deserves a pat on its back for ensuring that justice was not denied!!
And because of powerful connections and money power Justice was not defied!!!

Bharat Kumar
Aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

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CORPORATE

Chatterjee is CMD of ITI

S.K. Chatterjee has been appointed Chairman and Managing Director of the public sector telecom company ITI. He has succeeded Y.K. Pandey

Will Nerurkar succeed Mukherjee ?

Grapevine has it that H M Nerurkar will succeed Deputy Managing Director of the Tata Steel T Mukherjee on November 1.

Vijay Mahajan in Planning Commission panel

Vijay Mahajan, Chairman, Basix; Zia Modi, Senior Partner, AZB Partners has been appointed Member of a 12 member high- level committee on financial sector reforms set up by the Planning Commission.

Bishnoi elected President

P K Bishnoi has been elected President of Executive Council of the Institute of Steel Development and Growth.

Rao is ED of Wall Street Finance

Bhaskar Rao P has taken over as Executive Director of Wall Street Finance.

Merger of banks approved by the RBI

The Reserve Bank has approved the merger of the Kerala-based Lord Krishna Bank with Centurion Bank of Punjab .

Srinivas is TTSL COO

Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) announced the appointment of Srinivas Rao Saripalli as circle operating officer (COO) of Tamilnadu.

Razdan joins Aditya Birla Group

Pankaj Razdan has joined the Aditya Birla Group as Deputy CEO Financial Services Division.

Krishnan joins HSBC

Ram Nath Krishnan is joining HSBC as MD and head of Private Banking.

NCC raises US$ 150 million

Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), has announced that its board of directors has approved an investment of US$ 150 million by "The Blackstone group funds" of which Chairman cum Managing Director(CMD) is Akhil Gupta. NCC will raise US$ 150 million through a fresh issue of shares and convertible warrants. Blackstone will have representation on the Board of NCC. Kotak Investment Banking and SSKI acted as the investment banking advisors to the Company and Blackstone, respectively, in the transaction. Founded by AVS Raju in 1978 and currently led by his son A Ranga Raju, NCC is the 3rd largest construction services company in India.

Alok Rakshit is COO, Showdiff Worldwide

Alok Rakshit has been appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Showdiff Worldwide which was formed in 2003 as a joint venture between Rediffusion DY&R and ex-cricketer Ravi Shastri for different kinds of events.

VJIVE ropes in Ms.Amrit Rai as VP

Amrit Rai has joined the VJIVE as Vice-President (Business Development). Hitherto she was Assistant VP with the Indian Express group.

Sandeep Dhar succeeds Soumya Banerjee as MD

Sandeep Dhar President of Mphasis has joined Sapient as Managing Director(India operations.He has succeeded Soumya Banerjee.

Soumya Banerjee to move to the US

Soumya Banerjee who was Sapient's Managing Director (India operations), will return to Sapient's American headquarter.

Devesh Desai joins Everest as CD

Devesh Desai who was so far Creative Director (CD) with Lowe has joined Everest at Mumbai in the same capacity.