I have been watching this site for a considerable period now. It is an ocean of valuable information. It's a big tool of source of knowledge particularly for those, who wish and need to update themselves as what is about to come in the Government.
In my opinion you should also create another site by the Title "WHISPERS TO THE GOVERNMENT", where useful informations and suggestions could be posted by you as also the valuable readers for introduction of administrative and other changes for better and efficient governance. In particular, where the people in general, suffer on account of the various policies and procedures affecting their everyday life. If possible, also post their grievances for urgent and immediate redressal. Kindly accept my best wishes and regards.
B.K. Bhutiani
ONLY SOURCE TO REACH THE OPINION MAKERS

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Here is an exclusive interview of K P Magudapathy, Head - Cocoa Operations,with Cadbury that is pioneering Cocoa operations in India

1. Who pioneered cocoa cultivation in India? Where did it all begin?

Though cocoa is believed to have been introduced into Sri Lanka and India in the 18th century, Cadbury introduced the first ever cocoa plantation project in India in 1965 through a demonstration farm at Chundale in Wyanad district of Kerala.

2. Since then how many states have adopted cocoa cultivation?

Majority of the cocoa cultivation takes place in Kerala. In addition, Cadbury has also initiated cocoa cultivation in coastal Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu gradually extending its wings to the large state of Andhra Pradesh.

3. What are the benefits of growing cocoa as a crop?

Cocoa is an ideal intercrop in coconut, arecanut and oil plam. Cocoa grows well in the interspaces between coconut or arecacnut which otherwise is unused land. Research at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) and practice at farms have proven that cocoa and coconut complement each other.

Moreover, cocoa is less labour intensive compared to other horticultural crops. This enables the farmer to earn an additional income without much investment. Another important aspect of cocoa is that it is a perennial crop with peaks in April to June and September to November enabling the farmer to earn during the monsoon season when there is no other income from his farm.

4. How does Cadbury help in Cocoa cultivation?

Cadbury has a team of 42 technically qualified and experienced professionals located strategically in all the cocoa growing areas of South India.

From offering cocoa seedlings at subsidized prices to the farmers to free technical advice on the cultivation practices, Cadbury ensures its participation in every stage of cocoa cultivation. Cadbury's cocoa department produces over 20 lakh hybrid seedlings annually and distributes seedlings to farmers in Kerala, Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

5. Does Cadbury provide any technical assistance to the farmers?

Cadbury's technical staff travel all over the Cocoa growing areas giving farmers advice and assistance in all aspects of Cocoa cultivation. Cadbury's technical team advises and assists the farming community on all aspects of cultivation like planting, upkeep, pest & disease control, organic farm practices, fertilizer application, harvesting and post harvest processing.

6. How does Cadbury reach out to the farmers?

Cadbury adopts an innovative training approach through seminars and field demonstrations similar to FFS (farmers field school) developed by FAO to impart knowledge about Cocoa cultural practices to farmers. It is an interactive and knowledge oriented approach to improve farm management increasing productivity and farmers' income. Farmers are encouraged to share their experience for the benefit of all. The challenge is to reach more farmers and motivate them to take up cocoa cultivation. It is heartening to note that knowledge transfer has taken place to over 65000 Cocoa farmers through the committed team. The testimony of this lies in the fact that the productivity per tree in India at over 1.1 kg is among the best in the world.

Beware ACRs no longer merely on performance

Delhi seems to be going the corporate way. This is explicit from its decision to introduce new system of writing annual confidential reports (ACRs) of bureaucrats across the country. Among other things it will be more than the report card, as health status of those 40 years old or plus will be part of their ACRs.They will have to annually undergo medical check ups as incumbents at senior positions in the corporate sector undergo "executive check ups" .Thus,professional caliber & physical fitness will be hallmark for bureaucrats. All these things will be part of their ACRs.As the grapevine has it Goverenment of Madhya Pradesh being headed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the first Indian state to introduce the new pattern from April 2007.

Navtej Sarna to go to Poland !

Navtej Sarna is likely to move to Poland as India's new Ambassador. He is 1980 batch IFS officer.

Sharma to be HC Australia

Sheel Kant Sharma is being tipped to be India's new High Commissioner to Australia.1973 batch IFS officer Sharma is presently posted in Austria.

Justice Alam to be CJ of J & K HC !

Grapevine has it that Justice Aftab Alam Judge of the Patna High Court is being appointed Chief Justice of the J & K High Court.

Justice Swatanter Kumar to be CJ Bombay HC

Justice Swatanter Kumar has been named as new judge of the Bombay High Court.At present he is a judge in the Delhi High Court.

( We said this on March 15 )

Gomango to be Chairman ST Commission !

Former Orissa Chief Minister Girdhar Gomango is likely to be appointed Chairman of the National Commission of ST.

Chance or Gender bias?

In 1977, UPSC selected 15 women to the IAS. Three decades later, only one is reportedly empanelled as Additional Secretary to Government of India - Loretta Mary Vas of UP cadre.

Name of Gopal Sharma in panel

Name of J & K DGP Gopal Sharma also figures in the panel prepared for the post of DG CISF. He is 1972 batch IPS officer.

Who will be Commissioner of Pune ?

Hectic lobbying is on for the prestigious post of the Divisional Commissioner Pune. Atleast half a dozen contenders are trying for the job.

Modi to be JD in CBI

Y C Modi is being promoted to the rank of Joint Director in the CBI next month. He is 1984 batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Two more IAS officers resign in Maharashtra ?

Rumour mill says that two more Maharashtra cadre IAS officers have put in their papers.

Now apply for the post of PS to Chidambaram

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has so far not selected his PS.He did meet some IAS and IRS officers besides some highly qualified candidates but failed to select his PS.Now the Finance Minister,s office has sent a note asking for the officers with certain seniority having atleast two years of tenure left, with relevant computer skills to apply for the post of PS to FM.

Next DPC in IT today

DPC for 36 more IRS officers for promotion to the grade of Commissioner income-Tax is taking place on Friday.

Sanjay Kaul joins as ED

Sanjay Kaul has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Commodity Market He is 1979 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

Will Sherrif be Commissioner of MCD ?

Grapevine has it that Shumsher K Sherrif is being appointed Commissioner of the MCD. He is 1977 batch IAS officer.

6 months extension to Anand Kumar

Director Security with India Airlines Anand Kumar has got six months extension. Kumar who belongs to 1988 batch of the UP cadre was due to complete his tenure by March 31,2007

Mohanty and Shrivastava to join GoI

Rajasthan Government has cleared the names of 1977 batch IAS officer B B Mohanty and 1981 batch IAS officer Rakesh Shrivastava for central deputation.

Lokmat Group Editor resigns

Lokmat Samachar Group Editor Madhukar Upadhyay is reported to have resigned.

FORUM

Day is not far when Rashtrapati Bhawan-----?

Industries' lust for land seems to be going berserk. Look at the mess it created in Nandigram and Singur, and now they want retail outlets to come up on defence land. Day may not be far when Assocham comes up with the brilliant idea of using the Mughal Gardens in Rashtrapati Bhavan for trade and commerce. It is high time Assocham (in fact Indian Industry in general) learnt to draw the line.

Harendra Nath

Right suggestion to curb corruption

Sudhir Chopra has suggested right steps to curb corruption and at the same time ensures all perks for the honest and good officers. May concerned people take note of it.

A K Kumar

What is the use of RTI ?

This refers to the letter "What is the use of RTI?" by Shri Sudhir Chopra. There have been several claims about success of RTI but the fact remains that the people are still finding it hard to get information using RTI. Piling up of cases of appeals with the Central Information Commission is an indicator of this. In cases where the information is supplied, such riders which lack any legal support, attempt to make the supplied information worthless. After all, the information is sought with an intended purpose of its use. Moreover there is no legal protection under RTI Act to protect the information seeker, if he makes use of the information ignoring the riders. Chopra would be exposing himself to this risk as the CVC may get biased against him if he uses this information for some purpose. In such a situation he is right in saying as to what is the use of RTI. The law makers need to think about it.

Rajeev Shrivastava

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Blame it on the Babus….. in Dal and Chana scam the route Kamalnath is taking,
Fact is he's just faking!!!

There is no doubt that this fraud could not have happened without Ministry's collusion,
But what Kamalnath is trying to put in the Media is just an allusion!!!

And he was not sleeping at the wheel,
Kamalnath is known to wheel and deal!!!

While Sonia empathized with Aam Aadmi on rocketing prices of Aata and Dal,
Her own Party's Mantri is alleged to have contributed to price rise to make maal!!!

Kamalnath has outgrown his shoes … head has swollen like his feet,
Prime case from Mantripad joh honaa chahiye unseat!!!!

Sarkaar has put a cap on SEZ size……… but horse has already bolted,
And after the horse's bolting the barn door is being bolted!!!

Sarkaar also has to make it clear that Land gifting by Sarkaar will not be done,
With land sops SEZ Promoters and/or Developers will not be won!!!

And how about making SEZ Licenses time bound???
At present Promoters and Developers in the name of SEZ are just banking ground (land)!!!

And imagine of the Land Banks that Developers boast of they own a miniscule portion,
Between what they own and what they show there is huge disproportion!!!

Many would say that to SEZ Promoters and/or Developers Kamalnath sold out,
Because only their interests karta hai Kamlanath tout!!

Punter Sardesai of IBN says in UP it's a two horse race,
Will he wager that if this is not the case he'll not show his face????

Because today Psephology has become perverted,
Via baised Psephology Polls are being subverted!!!

Mayawathi says that BJP and SP have a hidden understanding,
But she does not say behind whom who is standing!!!

SP says that Kamal is riding the Haathi,
He says Kamal is actually Haathi ka saathi!!!

By tying up SP with BJP Benji hopes to make a leak in SP's Muslim Vote Bank,
And by tying up BSP with BJP Mulayam hopes BSP's Muslim Votes ho jaye tank (crash)!!!

BJP says that both BSP and SP have let their electorates down,
With sentiments of their electorates both karte hai clown!!!

Congress has a one point agenda and that is to ensure that SP is thrown out,
But in UP don't know why Congress remains stricken with gout!!!

But I still have a feeling that in UP Congress will play King Maker,
Will for five years in UP be behind the scenes Mover and Shaker!!!!

Why was Bibi Bhattal quite when Amrinder got Akalis tortured and mauled???
If she recalls worst kind of vindictiveness this was called!!!

Akalis were subjected to worst kind of torture and humiliation,
Akalis were arrested on trumped up charges that were VB's own creation!!!

City Centre is just the tip of the corruption iceberg of the Congress Sarkaar,
Many more corruption cases…..my guess is near about a hazaar (thousand)!!!

Next in line is the Jantha Land Development scam,
Will show that for Law Amrinder and his cohorts cared a damn!!!!

News is that Mr. Twenty Seven Percent Reservation is now lobbying to become President,
Arjun Singh is itching to be Rashtripathi Bhavan's next resident!!!

Congress can nip many problems in the buds by renominating Kalam,
And Congress shouldn't forget that Nation from the heart karti hia Kalam ko salaam!!

Besharam (B) Pawar used to boast about his Secularism…. fake,
To gain power in Pune MCD Shiv Sena ki help kee iss ne take!!!

B. Pawar has a one point agenda….. and no fixed stand,
To achieve his agenda he will do anything and hold any hand!!!

For God's sake can someone tape BCCI's Niranjan Shah's gob shut???
He's B. Pawar's mutt!!!

Unashamedly he keeps blabbing trying to justify BCCI's stand,
Really B. Pawar and his cohorts ne bajaa diya Indian cricket ka band!!!

Unless and until BCCI does not build Indian Team from scratch,
We will continue our losing spree match after match!!!

BCCI should take it that no one survived the World Cup crash….. start from zero,
No one should be considered now as a hero!!!

Jabh andhera hothaa hai aadhi raath ke baad Indian Team nikalthi hai Airport se,
Aawaz aathi hai Chor Chor........ chor waapas aaye aur apne apne ghar ko khiske!!!

Bharat Kumar

Aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

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CORPORATE

Who will be Director (HR) HPCL ?

Who will be new Director (HR) of the HPCL? Six Executive Directors(EDs) from the HPCL alone are in the fray. They are Mssrs G A Shirwaikar, S V Sahni, S P Chaudhury,V Mukherjee, V Vizasardhy & N R Narayanan.

Pathak is Regional Manager Gulf of INDIAN

A K Pathak is going as Regional Manager Gulf of the INDIAN. He will succeed Pankaj Shrivastava.

Dismissal of Insurance official recommended

The CVC has recommended dismissal of Rajendra Prasad, Deputy Manager of the New India Assurance.

Post of Director in Jeddah

Application has been invited by the MEA for the post of Director in Consul General of Jeddah.

FTV banned for two months

Once again FTV is in the news, but not for right reasons as far as the Indian Government was concerned. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has banned the satellite channel FTV for two months. The transmission or re-transmission of this Channel on all platforms has been prohibited with effect from April 1,2007 to May 30,2007 throughout the country. The ban comes for showing programmes that are against good taste and decency, denigrate women and are likely to adversely affect public morality. The FTV had run into rough weather while NDA Government headed by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was at the Centre.

Pay for Economy, fly Executive on Indian

National carrier Indian has just launched an attractive fare to promote J class travel on nearly 70 sectors on its domestic network. By purchasing a ticket under the "Economy Premium Fare" --- nominally higher than the existing normal Economy Class fare, --- passenger can avail of the luxury of Executive Class travel on Indian's flights.
For instance, a Delhi-Patna ticket against Economy Premium fare will cost Rs.8345 under as against the existing Rs.8245 all inclusive fare. Or, Ahmedabad-Bangalore Economy Premium fare of Rs.12,235 against the existing normal Economy fare of Rs.12,135.
With wide and comfortable seats, better leg space, variety of cuisine and personalized service, Indian's Executive Class is truly a different experience.