Information predicted are generally correct.
S N Bhattacharya

Contact-suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> & <mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com>

Three Secretary level posts to fall vacant this month
As many as three Secretary level posts are going to fall vacant by the end of December 2009. They are: Secretary Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Secretary National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) & Secretary Border Management.
118 IAS officers of 1990 batch are being considered
As the grapevine has it, 118 out of 187 IAS officers belonging to the 1990 batch are being considered for empanelment as Joint Secretaries in Government of India (GOI). Seventy-one IAS officers of this batch are not in zone of consideration because the prerequisite for empanelment is that one should have at least put three years before they can be considered in GOI.
Orders of Justice Swatanter Kumar issued
Orders of the appointment of Bombay High Court Chief Justice ,Justice Swatanter Kumar as Judge of the Supreme Court have been issued. He is expected to be sworn in on Friday.
( We said this on November 27 )
Satish Agnihotri poised to be MD, Rail Vikas Nigam
As the grapevine has it, Satish C. Agnihotri is poised to be new Managing Director (MD) of the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL). Agnihotri who is currently Director Projects in the RVNL is an IRSE officer who belongs to the 1981 batch. The post of MD, RVNL has been lying vacant for quite sometime now.
File regarding Chairman CBEC is in the PMO
The file relating to appointment of new Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has reached the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh's office.
AN Dalwai tipped to join UIDIA
As the grapevine has it, AN Dalwai on central deputation is tipped to join Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Bangalore, Government of India. He is an IAS officer of the 1985 batch who belongs to the Orissa cadre. At present he is Secretary
Steel & Mines to the Orissa Government.
Pawan Kumar Jain empanelled in GOI
Pawan Kumar Jain is one of the seven officers of Indian Revenue Service(C&CE) of 1983 batch who has been empanelled in Government of India (GOI) for holding the post of Joint Secretary or equivalent under the Central Staffing Scheme (CSS).
Panic in West Bengal bureaucracy
As the Indian Railway Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee’s Express of Trina Mool Congress (TMC) is chugging past different stations in terms of hurdles for wresting power from Left Front (LF) in next assembly polls, there is a panic among bureaucrats of West Bengal.
IRSS officer Rajeev Kumar Vyas to hold post of Jt Secr or equivalent
Indian Railway Store Services (IRSS) 1982 batch officer Rajeev Kumar Vyas has been recommended for holding the post of Joint Secretary or equivalent under Central Staffing Scheme
Sujay Mazumdar likely to be AIG in MoEF
As the grapevine has it, Sujay Mazumdar on central deputation is likely to be posted as AIG in the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF). He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the 1991 batch who belongs to the Madhya Pradesh cadre.
Pandey is new CVO of PFC
B P Pandey is new CVO of the Power Finance Corporation. He is 1983 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.
Robert is new PS to MoS Water Resources
RobertLalchun Chongthu has joined as PS to Union Minister of State Water Resources Vincent Pala. He is 1997 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.
94 ISS officers promoted
As many as 94 Junior Administrative Grade (JAG) officers of Indian Statistical service (ISS) have been promoted to the Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) on regular basis. Those promoted are Bal Kishore Tyagi, Bharat Bhushan Singh, Rama Prasanna Misra, Debashish Guha, Amitabha Panda, G Mohan Rao , Muka Singh , Sher Singh , Jyotirmoy Poddar, Vijay Kumar, Tapas Kumar Saha, Surendra K Das, Pravin Srivastava, Rakesh Kumar, Rajiv Sharma, Tarun Basu, Madhatendra Mallick, B N Tiwari, Yogindra Singh, Tapas Kumar Sanyal, Harbinder Singh, Suvendu Hazra, Panchanan Dash, Surender Mohan Mahajan, Ram Kripal, M Peter Johnson, P V R Prasad, Jaideb De, Debasish Chaudhuri, T Baskaran, As!t Kumar Sadhu, Inderjeet Singh, Vidya Dhar, Sunil Jain, Ajay Mishra, S K Gupta, A C Sharma, Dinesh Chand Sharma, Anjan Kumar Jena, Ratna Anjan Jena, Shailja Sharma, M Madhusudhanan, Mamta Saxena, Vishu Maini, Preet Singh, PK Mukhopadhyay, Ramananda Das, G S N Murthy, Ellappan Dasarathan, Vidya Prakash, Kuidip Kumar lamba, Ajay Kumar Verma, G S Lakshmi, Krishna Kumar, Arup Kumar Mondal, EV Gangadhar Rao, Arun Kumar Biswas, S Krlshnamurthy, Prabir Chaudhury, Ajay Kumar Gupta, Ashok Kumar Toprani, Asis Kumar Ray, Nand La!, Pawan Kumar Dhamija, Naresh Kumar Sharma, Madan Mohan, Malti Devi Negi, Alekh Kumar Sahu, Rakesh Kumar Kamra, Ahamed Ayub B, Gopa Chattopadhyay, Sanjay Kumar, Shankar Lal Menaria, S Durai Haju, Kameshwar Ojha, Debabrata Mukhopadhyay, Susanta Kumar Jana, Atul Kumar Gupta, Supriya Mukherjee, G Sajeevan, S V R Murthy, Pradip Kumar De, Sunita Chitkara, P C Cyriac, J Bhattacharjee, Bipad Bhanjan Pal, Amitabha Pradhan, Jiju Kurien, SR Joshi, T Rajeshwari, Madan Mohan Hasija, K Thomas, Manik Lal Rakshit and Soumendra Chattopadhyaya.
Passenger Services Committee constituted by Railway Ministry
Railway Ministry has constituted a Passenger Services committee to be headed by Derek O'Brien.
Ranjit Sinha DG,RPF youngest officer in his batch
Ranjit Sinha, DG, Railway Protection Force (RPF), is youngest IPS officer in his batch. He is an IPS officer of the 1974 batch who belongs to the Bihar cadre. He will retire only on April 2013.
VK Thakral appointed as CVO, OIL
VK Thakral has been appointed as CVO, Oil India Limited in place of Prashant. Thakral is an IAS officer of 1982 batch who belongs to Manipur –Tripura (M-T) cadre and  Prashant is an IAS officer of 1988 batch who belongs to the West Bengal cadre.
2 posts of Joint Secretary DIPP in GOI created
Government of India has created two posts at the Joint Secretary level in the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP).
Security of Home Minister tightened
Security of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has been tightened in the wake of growing threat of naxalites. A meeting in this connection was held in the Ministry of Home on Wednesday.
New eligibility requirement for promotion to SAG level
Since the 6th CPC have recommended for bringing uniformity in eligibility criteria across various organized Group A Services for promotions, the eligibility requirement for promotion to SAG level shall now be that officers in the JAG level should have 8 years' regular service in the grade including NFSG or officers should be with 17 years' regular service in Group 'A' posts out of which atleast 4 years' regular service should be in the JAG (including service rendered in the NFSG of the JAG.
Pradeep K.Pujari appointed ED North in FCI
Pradeep K.Pujari has been appointed as new Executive Director (ED) North in Food Corporation of India (FCI). The deputation tenure of J.P.Sharma Executive Director (ED) North in Food Corporation of India (FCI) is going to end in next couple of days. Sharma is an IAS officer of the 1980 batch who belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre. P.K. Pujari is an IAS officer of the 1984 batch who belongs to the Gujarat cadre.
(We said this on December 16, 2009)
Baviskar is new CVO Mumbai Port Trust
PR Baviskar has been appointed as Chief Vigilance Officer in the Mumbai Port Trust, Mumbai under the Ministry of Shipping.He is 1985 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre.
Pandey to go Guangzhou
Joint Secretary in the MEA I M Pandey has been moved to Guangzhou as CG.
ISS officer gets new posting on promotion
ISS officer Bharat Bhushan Singh, Director, NSSO (FOD), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, New Delhi, on being promoted to SAG has been posted as DDG, RO, NSSO (FOD), MOSPI, Allahabad.
Bureaucrats were also responsible for Ayodhya fiasco ?
Were bureaucrats also responsible for Ayodhya fiasco? Yes, if one was to go by the recent article of Raju Santhanam, former Editor of The Statesman.  The veteran journalist has quoted in his writing the observations of the Liberhan Commission which has named several officials who were responsible. They included Prabhat Kumar who was Principal Secretary, Home, UP, at the time, and later became Cabinet Secretary in the Vajpayee government. Others included AK Saran (now retired) who was IG Security, UP, and later became Uttarakhand DGP; Akhilesh Mehrotra who was ASP Faizabad, was recently suspended in the UP recruitment scam; he has been reinstated and is now DIG in Lucknow; Ashok Sinha who was Tourism Secretary, UP and then became FCI chairman; RN Srivastava (now retired) who was DM Faizabad; SP Gaur who was Commissioner, UP, and is currently Secretary in the Centre; SVM Tripathi (now retired) who was UP Director General Police; UP Bajpai who was DIG Faizabad and the late VK Saxena who was then Chief Secretary, UP.
Prof Furqan Qamar to be VC of Central University HP
Prof Furqan Qamar Vice-Chancellor of Rajasthan University has been appointed the first VC of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh.
Chandra Prakash Singh appointed chief of TANTRANSCO
The Tamil Nadu Government has decided that Chandra Prakash Singh, IAS, Chairman, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has also been appointed as Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Ltd.(TANTRANSCO). He is an IAS officer of the 1981 batch who belongs to the  Tamil Nadu cadre.
Sat Pal appointed Secretary
Sat Pal has been appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Safai Karamacharis (Joint Secretary level) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.He is 1979 batch CSS officer.
Amit Khare to continue to hold charge of Navodaya Vidhyalaya Samiti
Amit Khare, Joint secretary, Ministry of HRD, will continue to hold the charge of Navodaya Vidhyalaya Samiti till AK Singh, Joint Secretary, School Education assumes the said charge.
Som to continue to hold charge of CMD Sponge Iron India Ltd.
Rana Som, CMD, NMDC, will continue to hold additional charge of CMD Sponge Iron India Ltd. For six months.
Mehrotra appointed Director (Engineering) in MACON Ltd.
KK Mehrotra GM, MACON Ltd., has been appointed Director (Engineering) in the same organization.
Panel for National Fertiliser India Ltd. Director scrapped
Panel for the post of Director in National Fertiliser India Ltd. sent to Ministry of Fertiliser by the PESB has been scrapped.
Justice Syed Rafat Alam to be sworn-in on December 20
Senior Judge of the Allahabad High Court Justice Syed Rafat Alam will be sworn in as new Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on December 20.
( We said this on August 29 )
TRI's National Workshop in Bhopal on 17 & 18 December
Tribal Research and Development Institute - TRI ( Madhya Pradesh )is organising a National Workshop on “Tribal Health : Status Challenges and Possibilities” in Bhopal on 17 & 18 December, 2009.
Justice Manmohan appointed Judge of Delhi HC
Justice Manmohan, Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court has been appointed to be Judge of the Delhi High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office
Indian Institute of Finance, Delhi to host a seminar
The Indian Institute of Finance, Delhi will organise a seminar on December 18, 2009 . Theme of the seminar is “Size Does Matter!  Who Benefits From the Opening of a Free Trade Zone?”. It will be mainly addressed by Prof. Yochanan Shachmurove Professor of Economics City University of New York, Prof. Aman Agarwal Professor of Finance Vice-Chairman Indian Institute of Finance Delhi & chaired by Prof. Yamini Agarwal, Vice-Chairman, Indian Institute of Finance, Delhi Doctoral Scholar, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.It will be held from 2 pm to 5 pm in the Institute G-Noida MSX Premises, MSX Tower I, 4th Floor, Alpha I Commercial Belt,Opp. Jaypee Golf Greens Water Tank,  Greater Noida.
Scientist appointed Advisor to Uttarakhand C
Noted Scientist Rajesh Naithani has been appointed Advisor to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokh
1976 batch IAS officers get in-situ promotion
1976 batch IAS officers serving in the Government of India as Additional Secretary have been promoted to the rank of Secretary. Those who have been given in-situ promotion since November 24 are Mssrs : Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi, IAS(UP.76), as DG, Civil Aviation, Raminder Singh Gujral, IAS (HY.76), as DGFT, Department of Commerce, Ajoy Acharya, IAS (MP.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Defence Production, Pradeep Kumar Misra, IAS (UP.76), as Establishment Officer and Special Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training, S. Sundareshan, IAS (KL.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Uday Kumar Varma, IAS (MP.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ms. Anita Chudhary, IAS (HY.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Sumit Bose, IAS (MP.76), as Secretary, 13th Finance Commission, R Gopalan, IAS (TN.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, Mathew C Kunnumkal, IAS (KL.76), as Special Secretary & Financial Adviser, Department of Chemical & Petrochemicals, Pramod Deepak Sudhakar, IAS(UP.76), as Special Secretary, Corporate Affairs, M. Raman, IAS (TN.76), as DGS&D, Department of Commerce, A. Didar Singh, IAS (PB.76), as Member (Finance), National Highways Authority of India, Subramanyam Vijay Kumar, IAS (HP.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Rajen Habib Khwaja, IAS (AP.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Samirendra Chatterjee, IAS (AM.76), as Member Secretary, National Commission for Women, Sutanu Behuria, IAS(HP.76), as Special Secretary & Financial Adviser, Department of Commerce, Anil Kumar, IAS(NL.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Power, KS Money, IAS (RJ.76), as Member (Administration), National Highways Authority of India, Shashi Kant Sharma, IAS (BH.76), as DG (Acquisition), Department of Defence, Dhruv Vijai Singh, IAS (MT.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances Anil Bhushan Prasad, IAS (BH.76), as Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, V. Venkateshwara Bhat, IAS (UT.76), as Member (Finance), Atomic Energy Commission/ Space Commission/ Earth Commission, P. Uma Shanker, IAS (UP.76), as Chairman and Managing Director, Rural Electrification Corporation, Anwar Ehsan Ahmad, IAS (MT.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Prabeer Kumar Basu, IAS (BH.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Sayan Chatterjee, IAS (KL.76), as Director General, Sports Authority of India, Department of Sports, Naba Kumar Das, IAS (AM.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ms. Minnie Mathew, IAS (AP.76), as Chairman, Coconut Development Board, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, KS Ramasubban, IAS (WB.76), as Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission, Bishnu Charan Khatua, IAS (MH.76), as Chairman, Forward Markets Commission, Department of Consumer Affairs and Shashi Prakash, IAS (MT.76), as Adviser, Inter State Council Secretariat.

Didar Singh to be Secretary Indian Overseas Affairs
Dr A Didar Singh is being appointed new Secretary Indian Overseas Affairs in the Government of India. He is 1976 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre.
A.P.Mishra is GM, Eastern Railway
A.P.Mishra Advisor Vigilance Railway Board has been appointed as new General Manager (GM) Eastern Railway (ER) Kolkata. He is IRSE officer of the 1974 batch.
S.C. Joshi tipped to be GM, North Central Railway
As the grapevine has it S.C.Joshi is tipped to be General Manager (GM) North Central Railway (NCR).

Pradeep Shrivastavs tipped to IG, Chandigarh

As the grapevine has it Pradeep Shrivastava is going to be IG Chandigarh. Presently he is CCVO in MCD, Delhi.
V. Sridhar to release a book on Right to Information

V. Sridhar Chairman Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) is going to release second Edition of a  book titled "Right to Information - Law and Practice" in annexe of India International Centre, Delhi on December 19, 2009 at 11.30 am. Guest of honour will be Arvind Kejriwal -Ramon Magsaysay award winner. It has been jointly authored by Dr.R.K.Verma & Mrs.Anuradha Verma. Dr.R.K.Verma is an officer of Central Customs & Exscise who belongs to the 1997 batch. The book has been published by Taxmann.

CORPORATE
One lakh jobs in banks on the anvil
Plan to create one lakh jobs in banks is on the anvil.
HLL’s Chairman M. Ayyappan is in London
M. Ayyappan, Chairman of the HLL Lifecare Ltd, is on a tour to London.

Aaj Ki Aawaz

PC’s near midnight announcement on Telengana is perplexing!!!
Congress ko now this announcement is vexing!!!
What was the thought process behind this announcement?????
Or was it PC’s trademark out of the box pronouncement!!
Did PC all of a sudden got emotive!!
Or like his out of the box withholding tax as FM this announcement too could have an ulterior motive!!!
Maybe this Telengana announcement had some motive too!!!!
Lighting separate State demand 'fires' all over India his statement sure did do!!
YSR’s son needs to be transferred out of AP and made a Mantri in Dilli!!!
Keeping him in AP sure is silly!!!
The best way to settle demands for creation of a State is hold a referendum in the entire State!
And the people’s mandate should decide the demand’s fate!
Pranab Da says rhetoric will not solve run away prices ......neither will UPA's inaction!!!
And Pranab Da has also hinted from Sarkaar 'do not expect any action'!!
Higher food prices have a cascading affect and the Farmer too is feeling inflation's pinch!
And now to new highs kitchen inflation karr rahi hai inch!!
Apart from MSP faulty policies have contributed to price rise!!!!
Exports being permitted, forward trading and private players allowed to procure are steps that are unwise!!!
Injustice fuels strife and in J&K Shopian matter is causing resentment!!!
Locals say a fixed report CBI’s sent!!!
When injustices are done and rather than giving justice cover up jobs are done!
Then to take justice in their hands many do run!!
Okay our Armed Forces are under tremendous pressure there!!!
But to ensure that ‘izzat’ is not trampled upon Sarkaar needs to take extreme care!!
As it is its felt CBI does cover up jobs for the Sarkaar!!!!
This is the feeling in India and bahar (overseas)!!!
On the 1984 genocide I was talking to a very well known Videshi Journalist some time back!!
And his opinion was that an independent Investigation Agency India does lack!!
He said every Sarkaar uses CBI like a tool to ‘let off pals and persecute foes’!!!
CBI is like a weathercock and it adjusts itself to the way the ‘power wind blows’!!!
Independent Judiciary, Investigation Agency and Media are Democracy’s props!!!
If any one of these is not independent then lamed Democracy hops!!!
US President has deferred purchase of a Jet for the White House!!!
But our Netas penchant for aerial route travel the downturn has not been able to douse!
Haryana’s just bought a spanking new Chopper…. why?????
And Badals have forgotten what surface travel is as Papa and Beta only fly!!!
And then Punjab cries that it needs more money!!!
Arre first stop this flying splurge of Papa Badal and his sonny!!
Speaking of Punjab …. Humpty Dumpty Amrinder had a fall when a stage collapsed!!!
He got saved as someone’s hand he grasped!!!
He has to do something about his weight!!!
He’ll need reinforced stages at this rate!!
His bro in law Natwar is trying his level best to reenter Congress Party!!!
Nowadays you get to hear from him ‘old days in Congress repartee’!!
Sonia should never allow him to return!!!
His bridges with Congress this man sure did burn!!!
Confucius says….never employ an ex retainer whose rebelled!!!!
Natwar rebelled and then first with SP and then BSP he gelled!!! 
Adds....... let him fade away!!!
Never take back a disgruntled employee who has hit out at you they say!!

Bharat Kumar

Forum
(The views expressed in this column are of the contributors. We do not owe any responsibility, whatsoever, of the views of our surfers as they are their personal opinion)
IS THE DEMAND OF SMALLER STATES JUSTIFIED ?

Mother India can’t afford further division into smaller states!!!
The mushrooming demand for smaller states in India triggered in the wake of Telangana crisis, is not justified. The Congress party is totally responsible for bringing the country to the mess, in which it is today. It has demonstrated Congress party’s political naiveté and lack of administrative maturity. The demands for creating Telangana, Bodoland, Gorkhaland, Harit Pradesh, Bundelkhand have stirred up a hornet’s rest. There was no political consultation, let alone consensus! We shall, sooner or later, hear demands for a Muslim Kashmir, Hindu Jammu and a Budhist Ladakh-easier to be swallowed by China due to ethnic and religious reasons. Some opportunistic politicians have sought to justify creation of new states carved out of existing States on grounds of cultural identities. This is fallacious. Schools taught us about India’s Composite Culture. These school drop-out politicians have surely missed their lessons. Talking of Linguistic divisions, 60 years after independence, is irrelevant. Hindi has become the lingua franca, if not the national language! An unwieldy state like UP will remain laggard till the unbridled installations of statues by felling lakhs of trees continues. Creation of smaller states in India cannot assure us of better Governance. It will only mean more Chief Ministers, ministers, legislative assemblies, more wasteful expenditure, freebies and a larger bureaucracy, to boot. The extra cost will be phenomenal. The indices of corruption will rise exponentially. Let the public-at-large see through the political drama. P Chidambaram assured "freedom" at mid-night for Telangana without ascertaining the procedural formalities. Pranab Da contradicted the HM by quoting the legislative route. TSR thanked "Ma" Sonia before breaking the fast. We are back to Square One!

A K Saxena (A retired civil servant)
It is perfectly alright to divide all the existing states into smaller administratively manageable units. This will result into more cities being developed into the state capitals, more posts of bureaucrats IAS/IPS/state services, governors, chief ministers, high courts. All of this will result into closer monitoring of the action on ground as result of the various infrastructural projects. The big IFF is that the new states creation basis is smaller manageable units rather than on caste, creed or language based. It is practically impossible for an administrator sitting far away from the public they serve with feedback system almost not being there to inject efficiency in the public services domain. Moreover it shall also be a cadre review for the political class also for getting more apex level legislative posts. Thumbs up to the smaller states on administrative basis.
Hoshiar Singh

No smaller states please. Get India into 7 0r 8 federal states on geographical basis. This will solve all the problems including a stable central government.
Prasad

On the one hand it immediately benefits IAS to create more posts for them and the new born State may also be benefited with new development projects etc. But on the political side there is turmoil, back biting among state service who should be shunted out to new State, creation of more factions. While such a step may be good for backward states, after effects are overall negative when bigger developed / developing states are split. And wagging toungues abroad gets a chance to shout 'India is going to pieces'
R V Nathan

Did America plan the 26|11 Mumbai attack? The American motive could have been to swing a reluctant India into its arms in its war on terror. India has wisely decided not to send Indian troops to Afghanistan. The wisdom comes from the Sri Lankan IPKF experience not the Bangladeshi experience , which is that you cannot win a war these days without peoples support as wars these days are not between national armies but between an army and an entire people. The CIA could have been put on the job as the American establishment takes Prof. Huntingdons thesis of an impending clash of civilizations very seriously. One wonders if the Professor was not commissioned by the Pentagon and the military industrial complex (which really decides all foreign and imperial policy in America) to float this thesis on their behalf. If so , then it is a case of a self fulfilling prophecy. The Professor says India is like Japan , a swing civilization which might swing against the West or for it. 26[11 could be an American attempt to swing India to its side, in which case we have to brace ourselves to more such attempts at sweet persuasion by America. Instead of Say it with Flowers it is Say it with Bombs.
D Choudhury

DG ICAR Congrats
The posting of a bright scientist at the helm of ICAR is a welcome step. I am sure this will help in rebuilding image of ICAR, which has been tarnished by Dr Mangla Rai. Infact there is lot more needs to be done by AM to undo his wrong support for his predecessor.
S Ramachandran

Former Telecom (DOT) Officer on Heritage Preservation Trail
That is so true. Men like Dr Karan Singh and Jagmohan, have hailed his work. . In 1998 he made the film documentary on Pilgrimage to Kailasa Mansarovar, the first ever, since pilgrimage was opened to Indian’s in 80’s ,which was followed by several other documentaries. He indeed is an extraordinary speaker who holds the audience spell bound. His Sanskrit renditions are simply amazing. So profound he is in the Vedas and the Upanishads that men like Prof Satya Vrat Shastri , nation’s first Jnanpith Award winner in Sanskrit once remarked that not only does he take the audience to a virtual Yatra but renders the auditorium itself into a holy place by his Mantra recitations . India needs men like CV Gopinath.
Sudhir

Post of CSI requires leadership qualities
This refers to the discussion that is going around about the possible new Chief Statistician of India.
I agree with A.K. Verma, Secretary, ISSA(EC) to the limited extent that he has rightly pointed out the strengths of S.C. Seddey, S.K. Das, Ramesh Kolli and A.K. Yogi. But the post of CSI is not merely to be aspired for under these laurels.
The post of CSI is one that requires leadership qualities. The same kind of leadership as Emperor Akbar is known for - to be able to appoint the right one for the right job and trust him at that. It is requires time, energy, inclination and ability - I do doubt about these qualities in the present incumbent, who has been drawing flak from the Courts almost as a matter of daily routine, and he has the wise counsel of the named officers in the Senior officers meeting.
Has anyone wondered why T.R. Mohanty has been successful in getting outstanding ACRs every year, adding some or the other academic degree to his CV almost every year, runs around in the Courts with about 80% success appearing in person, devoted time for his family? It is because he has built relationships that last for a lifetime, it is because he can carry people along, it is because he can grasp things quickly, it is because he can patiently hear his juniors and correct himself if he is wrong, it is because he is never shy of getting educated, it is because he has a circle of trusted friends who can work for him - be it technical/ statistical, public administration/ management, or legal research in the apparent rigmarole of Court battles, and above all, it is because he takes responsibility for whatever he did or omitted to do.
This is what makes him an institution in himself - or, may I say, fighting the monster (Executive Government as an Institution) he has turned into another on his own right. Here is why I differ with Verma - Mohanty is not merely a personality.
I may also say that Mohanty has divided the Service into two groups of people, only because he thinks, talks and does things logically and is blunt and forthright. He was instrumental in getting the first cadre review, and was the sole reason for stoppage of all promotions to SAG in 2007 and 2008, both because of his forthrightness and logical actions. He has for every three friends, at least two enemies.
My comments are only an objective assessment of Mohanty as I saw him for the past five from very close quarters - I gain nothing for being psychopant, nor lose anything for being forthright.
Nagachandran.

What happens to lesser mortals of other central services?
So what happens now to the lesser mortals of other central services? As it is very few have one year service left with two year gap between IAS and others. Hopefully Cabinet Secretary will be kind to empanel 1974 batch of other services to secretary's panel now.Papers were sent before 2009 January as asked for by Cabinet Secretary now. He asked for one year balance service as on 31-01-2009 for 1974 batch. Let us hope luck smiles on some few left over officers of 1974 batch.
S K Verma

Hope is always alive for the IAS !
Hope is always alive for the IAS with 2 reviews after being overlooked when their batch was empanelled. What about the IAAS and other services of IRS still waiting for 1974 batch to be empanelled as Secretaries?
L K Kohli