A pleasant surprise
Of late, at a seminar recently held in Delhi and attended by the top brass, it was a pleasant surprise for me to hear ( read overhear ) some intelligence officers( known to me ) discussing in the sidelines, about the pungent views expressed in this website on complex issues. It was learnt that the views on this website constitute an important source of their information gathering process, for inclusion in their inputs to the Government. I am happy to share my experience with my co-addicts to this website.
A K Saxena ( A retired civil servant)
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Ms Nivedita Mallick is Delhi Representative
Ms.Nivedita Mallick has joined the team of <whispersinthecorridors.com>as Vice President,Corporate Communications in Delhi.She has a varied experience in journalism & marketing.
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Interview of R S Sharma, NTPC CMD
NTPC to enter into nuclear power generation
For RS Sharma, Chairman cum Managing Director(CMD),National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)augmenting power generation capacity while maintaining standards of a green power company is top on the agenda. Sharma who took over reins as NTPC chief on May 1,2008 is workaholic head honcho who was busy attending meetings, taking calls & giving instructions to his colleagues even on a holiday .In an interview with <whispersinthecorridors.com>Sharma told Sanjeev Majupuria our Editor & Country Head that the NTPC is going to enter into the field of nuclear power generation.
Sharma who had started his career in Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board in Power Generation in the year 1971 and worked in Plant operation and various areas of plant maintenance had joined the NTPC in 1980.He had worked extensively in operation and maintenance at various levels and various power plants of NTPC, has rich experience of more than 25 years in O&M of large thermal power plants, later on he headed various projects of NTPC. He is the firm believer of philosophy "Can Do & Customer Focus" and took many initiatives for strengthening the customer relationship management systems. Here goes his interview:
Q.1.What are NTPC's expansion plans?
Answer:We are committed for growth of Energy in the country.The NTPC aims at adding 22000 Mega Watts (MWs) of power generation in the 11th Five Year Plan.Presently installed capacity of NTPC is 30000 MWs. Work for 16000 MWs is already under progress. Work for placing orders for balance of power generation is underway & is likely to be completed by November , 2008.
Q.2.What are your plans for nuclear power plant?
Answer: We are going enter the arena of nuclear power generation. For this a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation(NPC)is on the anvil.
Q.3.Where does NTPC stand in raising funds for its projects vis a vis the global Economic meltdown ?
Answer: Funding of NTPC projects has been well tied up with all resources & we are fully geared up to raise funds from market.
Q.4.What is the status of joint ventures?
Answer: As part of strategy for growth NTPC has taken up many projects through joint venture route. All State Governments are extending very good co operation to us.
Q.5.What new initiatives have you taken?
Answer: We at the NTPC have carried out many in innovations for on line monitoring of projects. Extensive use of Information Technology(IT) is being done for setting up a project management Centre in Delhi. On the operation front stress is on improving efficiency & availability ,for which NTPC has got a very aggressive planning.
N R Das appointed DG CISF
Niraj Ranjan Das has been appointed new DG of the CRPF. He is 1973 batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre.
( We said this on September 29 and again on October 23 )
Ms Jalaja is new Secretary AYUSH
Ms S Jalaja is new Secretary of AYUSH in the Government of India. She is 1974 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.
( We said this on September 7 and on November 10 )
Balakrishnan to take over as Coal Secretary
Chandrashekhar Balakrishnan is taking over as new Secretary Coal on December 1. He is 1974 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre.
IAS officer resigns in Tamil Nadu
Dr Anuradha Khati Rajivan has reportedly resigned from the IAS to join the UN. She was on a deputation there for the past seven years.
Lt Gen Sabharwal to succeed Lt Gen Mathews
In all probability Lt Gen Mukesh Sabharwal will succeed Lt Gen Thomas Mathews as Adj Gen in the Indian Army on December 1.
Bhatia to be Special Director CBI ?
Name of Ranjit Kumar Bhatia has started doing the round for the post of Special Director CBI. He is 1974 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
NCP-Shiv Sena to wrest power in Mahrahtra
An informal survey carried out in Maharashtra has shown that after next assembly polls the combine of Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) being led by Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar & Shiv Sena of which chief is Bal Thackeray will form new Government. This is being attributed to changing political equations in Maharashtra.
Virendra to join NDC course
IG BSF Virendra is joining the NDC course after completion of deputation tenure. He is 1985 batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre.
Bharti is new JS in MEA
Manoj Bharti (IFS 1988) has taken over as Joint Secretary (EG&IT) in MEA after his return from Myanmar. He has replaced B B Tyagi (IFS 1979).
C Bhaskar to join IGNFA, Dehradun
C Bhaskar on Central deputation is going to be Professor of the Dehradun based Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA). He is an Indian Forest Service(IFS) officer of the 1986 batch who belongs to the Uttarakhand cadre.
Dr. Anup K Pujari is Secy. in PM's Economic Advisory Council
Dr. Anup K Pujari has now been posted as Secretary in the Economic Advisory Council of the Indian Prime Minister. Dr. Pujari who is an IAS officer of the 1980 batch, was so far Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA). He belongs to the Karnataka cadre.
Rajiv Sharma joins as DDG Meteorological Department
Rajiv Sharma, IDAS (1993), has joined Indian Meteorological Department as Deputy Director General (Administration & Stores)
Ms Vas is Additional Secretary DEA
Ms Loretta Mary Vas is new Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs. She is 1977 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.
Singh gets extension in tenure
Joint Secretary Civil Aviation R K Singh has been granted extension in deputation tenure. He is 1985 batch IAS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre.
IAS officer P Sivakami to likely join BSP
Ms. P Sivakami who has recently resigned from services is likely to join the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)of which chief is Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati. At present she is Special Commissioner Printing & Stationery with Tamil Nadu Government. She is an IAS officer of the 1980 batch & belongs to the Tamil Nadu cadre.
Sushil Kumar Shinde & Jairam Ramesh share dais
Sushil Kumar Shinde Indian Power Minister & Jairam Ramesh Indian Minister of State for Power shared dais publicly. It is an open secret that both of them are at daggers drawn. Occasion that brought them together was a recently held function that marked signing of joint venture agreement between Baba Kalyani Chairman cum Managing Director(CMD) of Bharat Forge Ltd & Philippe Joubert President of the Alsthom Power Systems. The function was held in Shangrila Hotel, Delhi.
Countdown for the Commonwealth games to be launched in style
Countdown for the Commonwealth Games that are to be held in New Delhi in the year ,will be launched in style,said Rajiv Makin Director (Commercial & Marketing )with the India Tourism Development Corporation(ITDC).He told the <whispersinthecorridors.com>that ITDC & Show Times, consortium is going to hold a colourful show at India Gate lawns, New Delhi on December 6,2008.From that day exactly 666 days will be left for the Commonwealth games to be held in Indian capital city of New Delhi. Chief of Showtimes-an event management company is Michael Menezes. Replying to a question Rajiv Makin said show to be held from 7 pm onwards will be real treat for connoisseurs dance, culture & music. Latest technology of Xenon projections will be used in show which see dancers dancing in the air just like fairies(as we have only seen in fantasy films).For this a special troupe from Britain titled "Toll Theatre group" is specially being flown to India, said ITDC's Director Rajiv Makin.
Transfer list of IT Commissioners with FM ?
A transfer list of about two dozen Income Tax Commissioners is reportedly lying with the Finance Minister for approval.
Levelling by BEE helps in power saving
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) of which Director General (DG) is Dr. Ajay Mathur has succeeded in saving 260 Mega Watts of power through leveling of tube lights, refrigerators & air conditioners in the year 2007-08.This is the finding of the National Productivity Council (NPC).It may be stated here that the BEE had started the system of getting said products rated from one star to five star during the year 2007-08.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories now destination of Civil Servants
One of India's most respected organizations, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, has become a destination for talent from the civil services. It had hired Prabir Jha, IOFS (1990) over 6 years back who is now their Global HR Head. In recent years it has hired Jitendra Kalra (IRAS, 1990) as the CEO for its Social Foundation; Sanjay Singh (IRPS, 1993) as the Global Compensation Head and recently has hired Abhay Srivastava (IOFS, 1991) for its HR team. Abhay was last Director-HQs at Ordinance Factory Board. Incidentally, except for Kalra all are MBAs from top institutes.
1983 batch combined get-together
The 1983 Batch of the All India Services and Central Services had a combined get together to celebrate 25years in service on the 15th November in Delhi. It was a memorable and fun filled evening as batchmates from across the country and different services met up, some for the first time in 25 years, and re-lived those memories of LBSNAA, the trek, the food and also those of the batch who were no more. There was singing, dancing, photographs and anecdotes of those days of innocence, confidence and idealism! As someone who attended the party, but wishes to remain anonymus said, "a fun filled evening, excellent organization, great bon homie! Wonderful to meet so many batch mates after 25 years! The Government should institutionalize this, as is the case in the Armed Forces and some services. "
Guha resigns
Ram Chandra Guha has resigned from the J S Verma Committee, recently set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
A.P.Joshi relieved
As successor of A.P. Joshi Principal Secretary Rural Development ton the Karnataka Government was decided last week,he was relieved on November 17, 2008.He has been succeeded by Ravi Kumar (1984 batch,IAS) Secretary Agriculture as Secretary Rural Development. It may be recalled that A.P. Joshi on Central deputation was appointed as Additional Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy in the vacancy of V. P. Raja, IAS (MH: 74) (Retd.)in October 2008.He is an IAS officer of the 1978 batch who belongs to the Karnataka cadre.
Decks cleared for promotions in CBEC
It is learnt that Mumbai high court has cleared the promotions to the rank of commissioners in IC&CES and directed the ministry to finalize the seniority list putting an end to the seniority dispute.
Das takes over as DG CISF
N R Das has taken over as new DG of the CISF on Monday. He is 1973 batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre.
Polls to Sangam Vihar segment becomes interesting
In the wake of Amod Kantha former IPS officer running for MLA election from the Congress party in the Sangam Vihar Constituency,campaigning has become quite interesting.

CORPORATE
Bhargava selected for two posts in NHPC
This is rather unusual in the present set of things. Sometimes competence and caliber works. D P Bhargava is one such example. He has been selected for two posts Director (Projects) and Director (Technical) of the NHPC.
Post of BHEL's Director R & D to be re advertised
In the wake of failure to find a suitable candidate being found for the slot of BHEL's Director R & D, the post is going to be re advertised.
Javed Yunus elevated in IFCI
Javed Yunus has been elevated from Chief General Manager to Executive Director Industrial Finance Corporation of India Ltd., the first financial Institution of India
A.K.Sarkar poised to be Director(Mktg) in CIL
A.K.Sarkar is poised to be Director Marketing in Coal India Ltd(CIL).At present Sarkar is Director ,Finance with Central Coalfields Ltd(CCL).

Aaj Ki Aawaz
International oil prices have fallen but no relief for us!!!!
Most Indians karr rahe hai Sarkaar ko cuss!!!
Manmohan Singh who has for years never spent his own money on fuel,
Is being obstinate like a mule!!!
He says Refineries are still losing money but the real reason is siyaasat!!!!
Because Sonia's think tank has opined 'aisa abhi karna matt'!!!
ATF prices have plummeted but Airlines are mum on fares!!!!
And when questioned on fare reduction shamelessly apne teeth Praful Patel bares!!!
He brokered a deal between Kingfisher and Jet so that competition would stop!!!
For IA the excuse is that to far flung areas it does hop!!!
And insiders say his Mallya & Goyal connection is running IA into the ground!!!!
Stubbing out competition ….. encouraging a monopoly this does sound!!!
On his way to US Chiddy fibbed and fobbed to scribes accompanying PM!!!!
General opinion is FM or Faltoo Mumbling is what they got from FM!!!
Chiddy has the gall to tell US to set its house in order!!!
He forgets that he's responsible for India 's economic disorder!!!!
There's a reason why he's called the Godfather of Stocks and Reality!!!
And in the bargain India 's economy has been the casualty!!!
Chiddy's 5 pronged plan is a joke,
Because after the horse has bolted out karr raha hai Chiddy croak!!!
And seems Chiddy must be doing something right because Sonia silent on his game!
How come Sonia cannot hear the Nation crying 'shame shame'!!!
With Laloo and Pawar she behaved like Dhritrashtra on account of coalition compulsions!
How come 'upright' Sonia is not suffering on PC revulsions????
Laloo is known to be nuts but this one takes the cake!!!!
Allegations that Advani is behind the blasts now Laloo karr raha hai make!!!
ATS has gone ballistic on Malegaon blasts and other blasts have been forgotten!!!
UPA Sarkar on account of siyaasat after so called Hindu Terrorism it's gotten!!!
When it comes to other blasts Sonia and Mohna turn into Dhritrashtra!!!
Seems only their vote bank is their true Indian Rahstra!!!
Now that Narco Tests have become such a fad!!!!
Why not try this test where Country has been had!!!
Like the Bofors, HDW and many more scandals like these!!!
Answer will be…. results from such tests cannot be used as evidence in Courts please!!!
In Italy Mr. Q must be thanking his stars that Truth Serum was not used in 'his day'!!!
'Rendiamo grazie a Dio' or thanks be to God Q karr raha hogaa say!!!
Mohna says General Elections will not be preponed,
And on account of economic emergency will not be postponed!!!
That means the thought of postponing elections crossed his Boss's mind!!!!
And if this happened it would have like a kick on Democracy's hind!!!
BJP must project ' one Nation - one nationality '!!!!
And in any Nation there is no room for duality!!!
BJP needs to make its campaign concrete!!!!
How the Nation's and Public's problems it will defeat!!!!
Make every candidate show that he or she means business!!!!!
And project that BJP will strive not make Raajnithi into a business!!!
Corruption is now an integral part of Rajnithi so vow to be better than Congress!!
Vow that BJP will try not be businessmen in Neta's dress!!!
Confucius says…… Accept corruption as a rampant malaise and vow to fight it!!!!
To fight this malaise show grit!
Bharat Kumar

 

Forum
First accept the reality of corruption
I entirely agree that we have to first accept the reality of corruption which is surely prevalent at all levels of governance. There is no point in saying look I am honest it is my subordinate or somebody outside who is collecting graft in my name. This is too novice an argument to be given by a senior civil servant. There is also no point of arguing that who is more corrupt as to a common man it does not make a difference whether IRS is more corrupt or IAS. To me extending some reasons like lack of infrastructure to justify corruption would also not be fair as that would mean that we are hereby justifying the millions of other government employees who does not enjoy the same facilities as IAS officers are justified in their corrupt practices. I would call upon the IRS officers to discuss some of the measures they feel that can be taken to reduce corruption in the IT department. Similar comments should also come from IAS officers from their experience as to how to eliminate corruption from the various wings of the governance. All these thoughts that can be compiled by website administrator to be send to PMO and CVC as a paper.
AK
Implementation of 6th CPC
In the interest of the common man who is overburdened by the recent inflation and medical costs besides, cost of living, the Maharashtra State Government should take up the matter of accepting and executing the recommendations of the 6th CPC on a war footing.
I work for a State Government PSU and will soon be retiring with just the lumpsum amount with no pension benefits. Sanctioning the Gratuity Amount to Rs.10 lakhs would give me a reason to smile as I have put in more than 40 years of a hard struggle. Similarly, this would apply to other employees like me as well.
I sincerely request the Maharashtra State Govt. to look into the needs of a common man and bring cheer to them in their old age.
Thanks.
LG
Then we need to go back to transition from East India Company
In the latest reports on PB4 issue for Lt Colonels of armed forces, the services are reported to be relying on history to establish equivalence between Lt colonels and Civilian officers of the rank of NFSG/Directors/Superintending Engineers. If history is to be relied upon, we need to go back to transition from East India Company to British Crown. Chesney in his reforms during 1853 had recommended two grades for superintending engineers who were to take over civil works from the then Military Board. These two grades of superintending engineer were to be established, according to the type of district under their jurisdiction. A district with major construction projects, for example, canal, road and cantonment construction was to command the rank of colonel and the second grade was to command the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Immediately after independence in 1948 MoD had issued equivalence between service ranks and corresponding civil ranks. While accepting edge in pay for armed forces it ruled functional parity as:-
AGE -Capt - AEE/JTS
GE -Maj - EE/STS
CWE -Lt Col - SE/JAG
At this stage, there existed only one grade for SEs who were in JAG grade. Therefore Lt Cols were at functional parity with civilian SEs and were manning the appointment of CWE but only till the time SEs were in JAG grade. With increase in responsibility levels as envisaged by Chesney way back in 1853, Army started posting Colonels as CWEs. On civil side also a new grade for SEs was introduced. The new grade of SEs was in NFSG (i.e equivalent of Director in civil parlance).
There is no denying that the people in services deserve better compensation compared to their counterparts in civil employment for difficult service conditions etc. Successive pay commissions have accordingly maintained the edge in pay scales for defence personnel. Certain other allowances and facilities are also granted to armed forces on account of special and unique service conditions ( The amount of these compensations may be a matter of debate and armed forces are well within their right to fight for enhancement thereon) . It is also simultaneously true that their can be no direct one to one comparison between the two categories based on pay drawn/pay scales. Both categories have distinct responsibilities/ duties and no direct comparison based on pay drawn is possible and should therefore not be attempted. The pay scales of armed forces (With or without rank pay) therefore cannot be and should not be determinants for the responsibility levels in an organisation.
Jacob J
Promotion of under secretaries as deputy secretaries
It is not known why the new Personnel Secretary suddenly changed the policy on ad hoc promotions. He has stopped all ad hoc promotions for the present and is asking for regular promotions. Some of those Under Secretaries included in the 2000 Select List are being denied ad hoc promotions while others in the same Select List have already been promoted. It is understood that the ad hoc promotions of all those in the Select List 2000 have been approved by the Minister in October itself but while deciding their postings, the new Secretary (Personnel) ordered that only regular promotions be processed. Is it not injustice to those who have not been promoted?
CSS officers
The Law of Torts
The recent supreme court ruling on reputation being an integral part of one's right to life and liberty is nothing new to legal treatise.In India, every Tom, Dick or Harry,has been violating the dignity of the Indian citizen, vouched for in the preamble of the Constitution of India.Without that solemn oath called the preamble, the constitution is a useless piece of paper.That solemnity has been repeatedly violated only because the judiciary has tended to take a very dim view of such violations. Had the courts granted exemplary damages under the law of torts to the common man, who has suffered the most,no police or neta or officer would ever have dared to bare his/her fangs.It is distressing to watch women officials/ officers also extorting money, indulging in conduct unbecoming of a government servant and acting against the spirit & letter of law. A society can reach higher goals only if it draws inspiration from the noble conduct of its women. Pray your Lordships, implement the law of torts faithfully and demonstratively.
2.Invoking old adages in modern contexts may result in misjudging people and their actions, as seems to be the case when quotes like "pran jayen par vachan na jahi" is applied to our contemporary politicians. It no more means what it used to be in Ram's Ayodhya or even little later, but now it only means that a politician should never reveal the the truth through word of mouth ( Vachan ) even if it means loss of life ( Pran Jayen ) !
M L Gupta
Role of CAs
It's just a profession where there are both black and white sheep as in any other profession. Role of CA is to arrange affairs of a business/dept. in the prescribed format to be useful to various authorities. It there are any provisions for tax saving or even certain loopholes in law and a CA takes its advantage for tax planning of his client it is for the law makers to see that such loopholes are plugged.
Even if it is accepted for a sake of accepting that CAs pocket money for help tax evasion, people don't realise that the amount is too meagre as compared to the actual amount of income which don't even shown in the books of accounts and CA don't know about it. People have become intelligent. Do you know that in most parts of India if somebody is buying a real estate for Rs. 50 lakh the amount shown in documents is Rs.20 lakhs and this the amount which CA knows. Rest circulates in unofficial channels.
Rakesh Singh
Connivance of CAs
Any discussion about corruption in the IT department can not take place without the connivance of practicing CAs. It's a gospel truth, that, CAs pocket money on behalf of the officers & nobody can deny, this simple fact. CAs normally don't allow the taxpayers to meet officers for obvious reasons. Reasons like not many CAs practicing taxation, taxpayers knowledge about, tax matters are all figment of imagination of the contributors & it need not be taken at any valve-least of all face valve.CA is the interface between the IT department & the taxpayer. CA has all the control levers & you know what one can do in such a situation. CAs don't have even name sake integrity & this fact is proved time & again.
Raghurane
Don't raise corruption issue
Just don't raise corruption issue, as you don't know what you are talking about: Those discussing corruption issue in various departments here are naive children who don't know the level of corruption in the country and worldwide. What do you do you think the magnitude of money exchanged in allotment of spectrum. What do you think the magnitude of money changing hands in allotment of mines by central govt. and state govts. What do you think about the amount of money changing hands in allotment of tenders by electricity boards, Central PSUs, state govt. departments such as irrigation, PWD, health department etc. Does anybody here know the level of corruption in health department of government of India to all the way to state governments. You are discussing here corruption in one or two depts. of central govt. and you think that you have hit the right spot. Just realise that you have not even touched the tip of icebergs. To see the actual iceberg move out to other areas and you will find what a fool you were to discuss about the tail when the entire elephant is somewhere else.
Shantanu Ghosh
It is shocking !
It is very shocking that IRS officers are reacting so strongly to the truth. I have seen no other service reacting so strongly to criticism, and this seems a very plausible thing. I think it will be graceful for IRS officers to accept that. Ofcourse, no one is saying that there are not honest officers in IRS. There is only difference in degree of integrity among services, all having their share of black sheep.
NB
Compliments for excellent write-up
Compliments for excellent write-up visualising conversation of Manmohan Singh with Obama.
For similar article visualising the conversations with Obama's predecessor Bush during his visit to India in Feb. 2006, kindly see:
http://india-awake.blogspot.com/2006/02/indo-us-relationship-new-dimensions.html
thanks
Mantri