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I am a civil servant of 1959 vintage. I retired about 15 years ago and have been since watching the civil service scene through your website. I served as Deputy Director in the LBS National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, 3 decades ago and have a special interest in the training of the higher civil service. I have also done a few consultancies in HRD in India and abroad. I have a suggestion to make. Your website gives a great deal of information on the civil service and is a cynosure of thousands of civil service eyes. Along with civil service news, you may like to circulate to them, occasionally, an article on management and public administration which may be of general interest to all civil servants. These articles may be those in the public domain and may include classics like Pygmalion in Management, Management Time-Who has got the monkey and the like. This would be in the nature of an outreach effort in management and your readers can absorb management concepts along with civil service gossip, almost unconsciously.

K A Chandrasekaran

BUREAUCRACY, POLITICS AND CORPORATE WORLD AT ONE PLACE

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Dear surfers, since E mail ID of our Chief Editor Dr.Suresh Mehrotra has changed,you are requested to correspond in future with him on any of the following E-Mail IDs< suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> & <mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com>

IMMAGINARY INTERVIEW WITH SONIA GANDHI

By the wonder of imagination I was able to interview Sonia Gandhi when she was hospitalized.

I enter her room in the guise of a Doctor.

Sonia: Oye you are no Doctor …. you are Bharat Kumar and you've interviewed me in the past!
Me: Madam Ji dekho to get to interview with people like you mujhe kya kya papad belne padhte hai apne mind mein??? How are you feeling?
Sonia: Okay okay!
Me: The word on the street is that you got yourself hospitalized to escape the outfall of the recent electoral losses….. questions on why Congress fared so badly!!!!
Sonia: How funny…… no one in Congress can dare ask me a question……Media is no problem as they'll yap for a few days and then something new will make the news!!!!
Me: Hospitalization has got you sympathy from the Public!!!!
Sonia: I already have sympathy of the Public as sympathy for my tyaag has a very long shelf life …… I caught a cold in HP and that's the reason for my hospitalization!
Me: I've seen recent pictures of you in HP in the Media….. why did you not take the necessary precautions and clad yourself for the HP winter????
Sonia: Actually BJP is to blame for me catching a cold.
Me: Please do elaborate!
Sonia: I met Advani Ji at the Delhi Airport and he told me he'd just come form Gujarat and he was flying to Shimla. And he was wearing a gala bandh jacket and even those in his entourage were wearing no warm clothes. How could I show that I was a weakling and wear warm clothes???
Me: Madamji under the gala bandh jacket he must be wearing a thermal and a couple of pullovers to keep himself warm. And on arrival in Shimla he must have been given a Himachali cap …… you would have noticed non Himachali BJP leaders wear Himachali caps to identify with the locals!!!
Sonia: But frankly I did not feel cold in Himachal!!!!
Me: Madam when we go from the plains our body temperature is high so we tend not to feel cold immediately… but the cold takes a toll on our body!!!! Speaking of temperature how come Congress was not able to gauge the temperatures in Gujarat and HP????
Sonia: Well the temperatures that we got from ground zero or Gujarat and HP were in Fahrenheit and as I only understand the metric system so I had to get the temperature readings converted to Centigrade. Someone mucked up in the conversion and I got the wrong readings!!!!! Samajh gaye na!!!
Me: I feel Congress was very confident that turncoats would damage Modi….. don't you feel this was misplaced confidence??
Sonia: Yes but this was all done at the local level in Gujarat and I came into the picture at the very last moment!
Me: Madam Ji in Congress its known a pathaa or leaf cannot move without your okay so how can anyone believe that Operation Turncoat was done without your okay!!!
Sonia: See these guys have got a novel way to get my approval….they know I'm very busy and that I like to make my conversations on the phone very short and sweet so they use this to get my approval without me knowing. They must have found out when I must have been busy and called me…. now as the call was form the battle front ( Gujarat ) I must have taken the call despite being extremely busy. The person at the other end would have informed me that things were progressing well in Gujarat and I must have said 'fine or okay'…. then he must have asked for more funds and I must have said okay……then there must have been a string of questions which elicited an okay form me….. hidden in these questions must have been the turncoat question and I must have okayed it without knowing even knowing it!!!!
Me: You must get these guys to Fax you info or questions……who was the author of Maut ka Saudaagar????
Sonia: See I was very worked up on what was going on in Gujarat and I asked Divedi to pen a fiery speech. I did not know that recently night and day this guy had been seeing Bollywood movies. Seems he saw some Govinda movie where mauth ka saudagar was used and so he penned it in the speech!!!
Me: But you too were very worked up when you delivered this maut ka saudagar dialogue!!!
Sonia: To tell you the truth I had a dhokla before the speech and inadvertently bit into a chilly and then as I started the speech I wanted to go to the loo…. so both these conspired to make it look as if I was worked up!!! Helicopters don't have loos and then we land up at godforsaken places where there is no loo!!!!
Me: Why was Congress so fixated on damning Modi??? If you ask me Congress's fixation created a sympathy wave for Modi…. in a way Congress made Modi vote ka saudagar!!!
Sonia: But our strategy has had an effect in Delhi ….. BJP's leadership got worried because of Modi's popularity and this created a Leadership race!!!
Me: And in the bargain you lost Gujarat …..is it equitable???
Sonia: Enough of Gujarat !!!
Me: What went wrong in HP????
Sonia: Well in HP its well known that anti incumbency takes a toll and this is what happened!!!
Me: Don't you feel if Congress had portrayed Vidya Stokes as the CM candidate Congress would have done better???
Sonia: I too wonder why did Dhawan not propose her name??? Vidya tries to ape my late Mom in law and maybe this rankled Dhawan!!!
Me: Now what???
Sonia: I'm confident that 2008 will be a better year for my Party!!
Me: Is there any chance of a midterm poll???
Sonia: A bird in hand is better than two in the bush!!!
Me: Yes if there is a midterm poll today Congress would loose the bird in hand and in the bush all that Congress will find is bird poo!!! In case Congress is to come back to power after the general election will Manmohan be the PM again….. I ask this question because BJP has declared its Prime Ministerial candidate…. will Congress do the same???
Sonia: Congress follows a democratic process and the elected MPs elect the PM!!!!
Me: But it's well known that they elect the High Command's choice and so why don't you reveal your choice before the election???
Sonia: Tradition…… I cannot do away with tradition!!!!
Me: And what's the tradition???
Sonia: We elect PMs and CMs democratically !!!
Me: After you've let them know your choice…… what a democratic tradition???

There's a knock on the door and Mama Miano walks in.

Mama: Hullo Doctor.
Me: Hullo Madam. (whispering to Sonia) Madam ji when its cold wear a coat, be wary of turncoats and Congress badly needs credibility (paint) ka few coats! (loudly) Madam I'm prescribing Modispasm for your pain and you should take Reality Vitamin capsules everyday!!!! Ciao!

Bharat Kumar
Aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Bhullar to be JS in Finance Commission
Balwinder Singh Bhullar is being tipped to be Joint Secretary in the 13th Finance Commission. He is 1986 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Will Gill be de-barred ?
If North-Block sources are to be believed Rajasthan DGP A S Gill will be debarred from central deputation if he did not join the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) as DG.He is 1972 batch IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Dr Raju Sharma is Secretary UGC
Dr Raju Sharma has taken over as Secretary of the University Grants Commission (UGC).He is 1982 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer.
( We said this on December 5,2007 )

Ramesh Narainswamy unlikely to join CAT
Former Delhi Chief Secretary Ramesh Naiarmswamy is unlikely to join the CAT. 1971 batch retired IAS officer of UT cadre, Ramesh, is likely to continue as Advisor in the Commonwealth Games.

Badal Das appointed member AAIFR
Badal Das has been appointed as a member of the Appellate Authority for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction(AAIFR).Das who had recently retired as Culture Secretary to Government of India(GOI) is an IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre & belongs to the 1972 batch.

Who will succeed Sarna ?
Who will succeed Navtej Sarna, Official Spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs ? Preeti Saran is said to be the front-runner. Name of Sandeep Kumar is also in circulation.

Praveer Ranjan to be promoted in CBI
Praveer Ranjan is being promoted to the rank of DIG in the CBI this month. He is 1993 batch IPS officer of UT cadre.

Savitur Prasad moves to Ministry of Micro
Savitur Prasad has moved to the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Government of India. He is 1982 batch IDAS officer.

Jyoti Kalash to go to Kabul on UN assignment
Jyoti Kalash who is PS to Indian Minister of State for Heavy Industries Mrs. Kanti Singh will be going to Kabul on an assignment of the UN as Advisor to the Afghanistan Governmernt's Ministry of Higher Education. Kalash who is an IAS officer of the 1990 batch belongs to the Nagaland cadre. Jyoti Kalash was selected for the prestigious assignment through a global competition.

Manoj Kumar is returning to HP
Manoj Kumar on completion of his training that was preceded by Central deputation is back to his parent cadre of Himachal Pradesh. He is an IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre & belongs to the 1988 batch.

Bal Ram Sharma is returning to HP
Bal Ram Sharma has reportedly been recalled by the Himachal Pradesh Government. At present he is Joint Secretary in the Indian Ministry of Communications. He is an IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre & belongs to the batch 1986 batch.

Ashok Burnwal is Director,C & I in GoI
Ashok Burnwal has joined as Director in the Indian Ministry of Commerce & Industry. Burnwal who is an IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre belongs to the 1991 batch. Hitherto he was Finance Secretary with the state government.

Orissa IPS likely to be VC Paradeep Port Trust
Vinayatosh Mishira is likely to be posted as Vice Chairman of Paradeep Port Trust on five year deputation against vacant post. Mishra , the 1993 batch Orissa cadre IPS officer is now the Additional Transport Commissioner in Orissa.

Arijit Banerjee to go on inter state deputation to WB
Arijit Banerjee who is presently working as Deputy Secretary to Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ms.Vasundhara Raje , is going on inter state deputation to West Bengal for a period of five years. Banerjee is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the 1991 batch & belongs to the 1991 batch.

VK Shukla is Telecom panel's Advisor(Operations)
VK Shukla is Advisor (Operations) with the Telecom Commission. Shukla is a member of the Indian Telecom Service (ITS) who belongs to the 1972 batch. He is retired chief of the Advanced Level Telecom Training Centre (ALTTC), Ghaziabad, which is the apex training institute of BSNL.

Rakesh Agrawal is Advisor (Technology)
Rakesh Agrawal is Advisor(Technology)with the Telecom Commission. Agrawal, who belongs to the 1972 batch, is a member of the Indian Telecom Service(ITS). He is retired Chief General Manager(CGM) of the West Bengal circle.

Resignation of IRS officer Ms.Tamanna Singh accepted
Resignation of Ms.Tamanna S.Singh has been accepted,Ms.Singh who was Additional Commissioner of Income Tax(CIT)belongs to the 2002 batch IRS.

Rajan Sehgal is AIGin MoEF
Rajan Sehgal has become AIG in the Indian Ministry of Environment & Forests(MoEF), Delhi. He is an Indian Forest Service(IFS) officer of the 1992 batch who belongs to the Kerala cadre.

Jitendra Kumar promoted in SPG
Jitendra Kumar has been promoted to the rank of DIG in the SPG. He is 1993 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre.

Justice Mathur to retire this month
Judge of the Supreme Court of India Justice G P Mathur is retiring this month.

IAS officers' pay rules amended
Pay rules of IAS officers have been amended. Accordingly they will get the pay scale of Rs.18400 on completion of 14 years in service. Previously they used get the above pay scale after putting in 16 years of service.

Justice Gupta goes to Chhattisgarh High Court
Justice Rajiv Gupta, Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, has been moved to Chhattisgarh High Court.
( We said this on November 16 )

Justice V K Gupta moves to Uttarakhand
Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta, has been transferred to the Uttarakhand High Court.
( We said this on November 19)

Rao is new Police Commissioner of Hyderabad
B Prasada Rao, ADG, Law and Order, has been appointed Police commissioner Hyderabad city .He is 1979 batch IPS officer. He will replace Balwinder Singh who has proceeded on three-month leave. A.K. Khan, additional DG (administration) will succeed Rao.

( We said this on January 10 )

Alka Saxena re-joins Zee News
Alka Saxena has reportedly re-joined Zee News.

S.Vijay Kumar joins as Addl Secretary Mines
S.Vijay Kumar has joined the Indian Ministry of Mines as an Additional Secretary.Kumar who so far was Principal Secretary Home Affairs with the Himachal Pradesh Government is an IAS officer of the 1976 batch.

FORUM

Group B services- The crux !

I totally agree with the views on gross under representation of the Group-B services at the top levels. Now these posts are all monopolized by the Group A officers who have no knowledge of things. In stead of constantly chest beating about the premier service of the country, they better look at their own offices to see their total dependence, for all difficult issues, on the Group B officials who dl all the donkey's work but are made to serve under people with skin deep knowledge. Will the GOI look in to this seriously as it does not concern one or two posts in any single department but thousands of deprived officials in departments like income tax, excise, railways etc. If these lower officials are doing most of the work in these departments it is better for the public and government to take advantage of them and also give them their due share in the CBDT, CBEC, Railway Board etc.

Things will be much more professionally handled this way !
One way is to reduce the intake at Group A level. We have too many top level officers in each department.
Secondly, raise the proportion of Group B representation at the top levels.

Kaneria B T

Finance Minister has a good command over subject

FM an intelligent minister interested in increasing the revenue:
We have seen the present FM has such a great command over his subjects that at times even minute details are at his finger tips which even officers are not aware of. Part of the credit to the spectacular rise in IT revenue goes to the FM. Not satisfied with the mere increase in tax collection, he ensured that the IT dept which made all out efforts to increase collection gets enough pat on back and incentives.

Prafulla

This is contrary to the principle
Suresh has his facts conveniently tailored to suit his opinion. The super time scale of the IAS and other services is equivalent in rank to a Joint Secretary in GOI and Secretary/IG/CCF in a state government. Hence his contention that giving the DIG scale to IPS places them above the IAS of similar seniority is completely erroneous. The DIG scale is equivalent to the scale of Director in the Government of India. The proposal to give the IAS super time scale is contrary to the principle of giving two years advantage that was settled in the 5th Pay Commission. The proposal if accepted as it is sure to play havoc with the morale of the other services and further create friction in the working of the government.

Abhinav Kumar

ISS needs comprehensive cadre review
In my opinion, ISS needs a comprehensive cadre review with sound promotional scheme so that at senior level there will be officer of younger age as compared to present lot.

.Dharmvir Jha

Where is parity between IAS and IFFS ?

Eligible Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers are currently getting Rs.18400 pay scale only after 19-20 years of continuous service - whether promoted as a Joint Secretary to GOI or as a Minister (Grade-III) in their own cadre, when posted abroad. Where does the recent decision on amendment of the Pay scale of IAS officers leave IFS as a coveted Civil Service? Consider a real life situation now - an IAS officer after 15 years of service, on central deputation will be drawing higher basic pay (pay being protected) than an IFS officer at MEA or at any other Ministry with 19 years of service to his credit. Through your webpage, I would like to invite IFS cadre controlling authorities to look into restoring the parity between IFS and IAS on this account.

S K Verma

I want to correct M H Khan that IPS are getting DIG in 13 yrs five months. For example in Andhra Pradesh, IPS 1993 got promoted to DIG rank in January 2007.IPS 1994 batch is bracing up for DIG promotion this month. So in some states it takes less than 14 yrs to become DIG. Similarly, IPS 1991 is becoming IG in Rajasthan. So it's not all that bad with IPS promotions.

Huda

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CORPORATE

38 candidates apply for Air India CMDs job
Altogether 38 candidates have applied for the post of CMD of NACIL - new company created after the merger of the Indian Airlines and the Air India. Interview is expected to take place next month.

Bharat Petroleum ED to be Director (HR)

Grapevine has it that the Bharat Petroleum ED, S Mohan, is being elevated to the post of Director (HR). He is all set to succeed SA Narayanan who is retiring on June 30.

New president of ICSI
Keyoor Bakshi, a practising company secretary at Ahmedabad, has been elected President of the Institute of Company Secretaries of IndiaDatla Hunumanta Raju will be new Vice President.

CBI raids on NEEPCO officials
CBI has raided the residences of several top officials of the NEEPCO.

WelcomHeritage scores a hat trick

WelcomHeritage,India's largest chain of heritage properties has scored a hat trick by winning the "Galileo Express Award" for 3rd year in a row. President the of WelcomHeritage Rakesh Mathur had received the award during a ceremony held in Mumbai.

Indraneel Ganguly is CMO with INCAT
INCAT,has appointed Indraneel Ganguly as INCAT Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). He will report directly to INCAT CEO Warren Harris and will be responsible for development and implementation of INCAT marketing and brand strategies worldwide.Earlier,he was Vice President with Satyam.

Dinesh Nair is Director, MindShare
MindShare Interaction has roped in Dinesh Nair as a Director .