"Whispers" has become an addiction for me, though I have retired four months ago and have no specific interest in official goings-on. But if I don't read whispers, I feel as if something is missing. Any remedy for de-addiction ?.

D R Bhalla
BUREAUCRACY, POLITICS AND CORPORATE WORLD AT ONE PLACE
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Contact-suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> & <mehrotra.suresh@gmail.co

Whisper's survey: Who after Manmohan Singh
By Whisper's Desk
With elections to the Lok Sabha approaching fast , we decided to learn from the top honcos their choice as future Prime Minister. In a post election scenario where the present ruling combine United Progressive Alliance (UPA) or Congress gets a majority or not we chose not to name the present Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, but three other politicians who have already cast their eyes on the Prime Minister's office in Delhi and are strong contenders for the job namely Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in parliament and BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. We received more than 500 e-mail responses to the question with people spelling out their choices.

What has surprised us is that despite opposition charges of being a weak Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has been rated as the best choice at least for the near future. Almost half of the respondents want Dr. Singh to continue. His impeccable image and administrative ability especially in the economic sector is being cited as the reason for the good approval of Dr. Singh. About Rahul Gandhi it is an enthusiastic yes and no, both.
Those who favour Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister say that being a fresh face he would infuse fresh ideas and new vision into governance. However, most of them feel he needs to mature as a politician and should work on an important cabinet portfolio under Manmohan Singh before taking over as the Prime Minister. Almost 21 per cent of the respondents are in favour of Rahul Gandhi being the next Prime Minister.
LK Advani found favour among 17 per cent of the respondents. People who voted for Advani are confident that his long public service and image of a strong administrator would help in having a decisive Prime Minister. However, age is said to be his biggest hurdle, as even his supporters feel he has past his prime.
Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) leader Mayawati finds favour among 12 per cent of the people who wrote to us. However, she is also the most feared among the contenders for the post because of her autocratic style of functioning. Most people have mailed us that Mayawati needs to update her knowledge in national and international affairs before taking over as Prime Minister. She should honestly look to the next general elections and utilize the time to mature as a good politician.

INTERVIEW WITH AAI CMD VIJAI AGRAWAL
Civil Aviation is one field, which has acquired utmost importance in our lives during the last one decade. At this juncture Vijai P Agrawal has become Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of Airports Authority of India (AAI) since January 1, 2009.Before that he was Member (Planning) with AAI for two years.

He is result oriented, caring & a go-getter. These attributes of this have won Agrawal many words of appreciation. Replying to a question he said that Air-cargo Policy- Vision 2020,is being prepared. According to CMD AAI Agrawal Consultant Price Water coopers house (PWC) has been appointed to prepare a report for the Air-cargo Policy- Vision 2020.In his exclusive interview to <whispersinthecorridors.com>he unveiled his vision. Vijai P Agrawal's dream is to bring airport infrastructure at the forefront. Here are excerpts from his interview that he gave to our Editor & Country Head Sanjeev Majupuria:

Question:- What are your priorities? Please list at least two of them?

Answer: Civil Aviation sector is witnessing tremendous change in all areas of its activity. In the recent past, considerable work has been done but more work is required to be done to meet the expectations of AAI's customers. However, the prime responsibilities for me will be :

a) To develop airports in a user-friendly way to induce confidence in the travelling public.
b) To ensure highest level of security and safety for Air travellers.
c) To create a world class Airport infrastructure using high technology to facilitate passengers.
d) To develop fuel efficient and seamless air-routes taking into account the satellite based technology as per time frame set by ICAO.

Question:- Is AAI able to meet stipulations & guidelines set by ICAO? If yes then to what extent? If no, then why?

Answer: India is a member of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) right from its inception. As such, AAI takes steps to provide the facilities as per the provisions and guidelines set by ICAO. However, there are certain constraints wherein we depend on State Government like land availability. In such cases differences, if any, are filed with ICAO through DGCA.

Question: What steps do you intend to take to ensure that passengers do not face hardships while airports are being upgraded & modernized?

Answer: One of the key parameter of consideration is a passenger convenience while implementing up-gradation and modernization projects of Airports. The activities are well planned and implemented in phased manner. Normally, new terminal buildings are created wherever land is available and later on new structures are integrated with operational buildings. Where land is not available and up-gradation is required to be done in operational building itself, proper care is taken to isolate the area under construction to ensure minimum hindrance and avoid hardship to passengers. Even some temporary structures are created to facilitate passengers during different phases of project.

Civil Military co-operation is well maintained for creating better infrastructure at Civil Enclaves, which are under the control of Defence. In a similar manner, up-gradation of CNS/ATM facilities and Air Traffic services are undertaken to ensure smooth transition to the new system without affecting safety of flights operations.

Question:-Which new projects are being taken-up under the model of "Private public, partnership"? (PPP)

Answer: The restructuring of Delhi and Mumbai Airports and Greenfield airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore under "Public, Private, and Partnership" (PPP) has already been completed. These airports are operational. However, CNS/ATM facilities at these airports are provided by AAI.Government of India has already conveyed in principle approval for constructing Green field airports at Mopa airport in Goa, Navi Mumbai International Airport at Maharashtra, Kannur Airport at Kerala, Bijapur airport at Karnataka, Simoga airport in Karnataka, Hassan airport in Karnataka. Gulbarga airport in Karnataka, Sindhudurg airport in Maharashtra, Dabra airport in Madhya Pradesh and Durgapur airport in West Bengal.

In addition, following two airports are being developed in 90:10 funding in NER
1) Paykang (Sikkim)
2) Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh)

The city side development of 24 non-metro airports is also being done through PPP route for which Model concession agreement is under finalization

Question:-How far you are satisfied with overall integrated development at airports mainly

a) Expansion and modernization of the operations?

Answer:Based on Government decision, AAI has already undertaken development of 35 non-metro airports in a time bound manner.The development process is likely to be completed by March 2010.In addition, the modernization of Kolkata and Chennai Airport is being undertaken by AAI and expected to be completed in next 30 months. My endeavor will be to implement these modernization projects faster and in a cost effective manner to avoid time and cost over-run and to put the new facilities in operation at the earliest.

b) Terminal and cargo facilities at the Airports in the country conforming to International standards.

The Terminal Building at airports are being modernized using steel and glass structure, vertical air-conditioning, Aerobridges and modular expandability. The buildings will confirm to International standards with "C" level of service as per International Air transport Association (IATA) guidelines and Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) norms.

AAI is also in process of modernizing cargo-handling facilities. An integrated Cargo terminal has been created at Chennai airport, having an area of 12.250 sq. mtr. This terminal has an annual cargo handling capacity of 72,000 metric tones and is fully mechanized with ETV system. Similarly, Kolkata airport is having full-fledged modern cargo handling system equipped with Automatic storage Retrieval system (ASRS). Shortly, Amritsar will also have modern cargo terminal with full automation for the purpose of storage, retrieval, Custom clearance etc of cargo.Consultant Price Water coopers house (PWC) has been appointed to prepare a report for the Air-cargo Policy- Vision 2020.

Question:- What major challenges you see for AAI in days to come in the wake of 26/11 and what strategies you have up in your sleeve's to successfully overcome of these challenges?

Answer: "Safety and Security "shall continue to remain the key words of Airports Authority of India in all its activities. Provision of better, effective security system is one of the challenges in the wake of 26/11 incident for which security standards developed by Bureau of Civil Aviation security (BCAS), Government of India are implemented. Introduction of new set of the hi-tech equipment for access control to the airport, protection of the airport operational area, and screening of passengers and their baggages are being actively considered. Highly sophisticated X-Ray explosive detective systems are being installed at Airports. The security personnel are sensitized to effectively use hi-tech electronic gadget with the passenger's friendly approach to cause minimum inconvenience to the traveling passengers. All the surveillance systems (Radars) installed in India FIR are being networked to provide seamless control and monitoring of Air-traffic over Indian Air-Space.

Who will be Secretary of School Education and Literacy ?
Who will succeed A K Rath on February 1 as Secretary School Education and Literacy in the Government of India. In the final round the tie is said to be between 1975 batch UP cadre IAS officer Ms Rita Menon and 1975 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Ms Anshu Vaish.
A K Singh to be Member of CAT !
Secretary Textiles in the Government of India is being tipped to be Member of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).1972 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Singh is superannuating by this month end.
Apurva Chandra to look after Refineries ?
Newly appointed Joint Secretary Petroleum Apurva Chandra is expected to get the desk of "Refineries" in the Ministry. Maharashtra cadre 1988 batch IAS officer Apurva Chandra is expected to join the GoI next week.
Will A P Singh head NIA ?
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has interviewed a couple of IPS officers for the prestigious DGs post of newly constituted NIA. In this connection name of Jharkhand cadre 1974 batch IPS officer A P Singh has started doing the round.
Khursheed Ganai tipped to be PS to J & K,CM
As the grapevine has it there is a possibility of Khursheed Ganai becoming Principal Secretary(PS)to Omar Abdullah new Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir. He is an IAS officer of the 1982 batch.
Koyal to join CBI
Yatindra Koyal is expected to join the CBI as SP soon. He is 2000 batch IPS officer of Orissa cadre.
Orders of RK Tandon as MD, IRCTC issued
Orders of RK Tandon for the post of Managing Director (MD) in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have been issued .
( We said this on March 19 ,2008 )
Shakti Singh Negi is Director, Rural Development (RD)
Shakti Singh on Central deputation so far was Director; Public Sector Enterprises has been posted as a Director in the Ministry of Rural Development (RD). He is an Indian Economic Service (IES) officer of the 1983 batch.
Dinkar Gupta promoted in IB
Dinkar Gupta has been promoted to the rank of Joint Director in the Intelligence Bureau. He is 1987 batch IPS officer of Punjab cadre.
IRTS officer P Raveendran gets SAG
1989 batch IRTS officer C Balachandran has been promoted to the SAG in SR itself.
P.K.Tiwari poised to join at the Centre
The Assam Government has reportedly cleared the name of P.K.Tiwari for central deputation to Government of India (GOI). At present, Tiwari is Secretary Finance with the Assam Government. He is an IAS officer of the 1991 batch.
Surendra Bagde to join DEA as Director
Surendra Bagde is on central deputation is set to join the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA). He is an IAS officer of the 1993 batch & belongs to the Maharashtra cadre. At present he is Managing Director of the Maharashtra Maritime Board.
Sangeet Rao is Transport Secretary in Maharashtra
Sangeet Rao who so far was on leave has joined as the Transport Secretary to the Maharashtra Government. He is an IAS officer of the 1987 batch & belongs to the Maharashtra cadre. The slot had fallen vacant, as Ramanand Jha was relieved from IAS on December 31,2009.Jha has now joined the Bharat Forge group being headed by noted entrepreneur Baba Kalyani.
Azizul Hauque promoted from SAG to HAG
IRTS officer Azizul Hauque has been promoted from SAG to the HAG and posted at Northern Railway.
Brahmo Choudhary is Advisor, Planning Commission
Brahmo Choudhary on being promoted to the senior administrative grade (SAG) is Economic Advisor to the Planning Commission. He is an Indian economic Service (IES) officer of the 1981 batch.
Dim chances of incumbents returning from GOI as CS, Kerala
As the grapevine has it, there are dim chances of incumbent IAS officers returning from Government of India (GOI) as Chief Secretary (CS), Kerala.
Gehlot Government already under Saviour's Pressure
It is becoming increasingly evident that it is not going to be a smooth ride for Ashok Gehlot's minority government in Rajasthan especially when it came to posting of bureaucrats. While five out of the newly posted 28 Collectors have been asked not to join under pressure from Kirori Lal Meena, the BJP rebel turned saviour of Congress, it is learnt that transfer orders of more than 125 RAS officers out of the total 322 such officers transferred last week, are being rolled back under pressure from various caste lobbies - mainly the powerful Jat and Meena lobbies.
Book on Arjun Singh
Veteran Journalist Ram Sharan Joshi is writing a book on Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh.500 page book is expected to be released in Delhi next month.
IAS changes in Rajasthan
There is IAS reshuffle in Rajasthan. New postings are Mssrs:- Ravi Jain Collector Barmer,Shreya Guha Collector Bikaner,Gayatri Rathore Collector Sawai Madhopur,Ashutosh Pedhnekar Collector Bundi,Krishna Kunal Collector Jhalawar and Neeraj Kumar Pawan Collector Karauli.
Air Marshal Randhawa takes over
Air Marshal T S Randhawa has taken over as the DG- inspection and safety at Air force head quarters. He was earlier commandant of NDA
SP suspended in Meghalaya
The superintendent of police of South Garo Hills, Darwin Sangma has been suspended in Meghalaya.
Pant is VC of Doon University
JNU Professor Girjesh Pant has been appointed Vice Chancellor of the Doon University in Uttarakhand.
Arunachal Pradesh staff to get Modified 6th pay commission
The 6th Central Pay Commission Recommendation, partially modified and agreed upon by both the state government and CoSSAP recently, will be implemented w.e.f. January 2009, stated Water Resources Development Minister and Government Spokesman Tako Dabi on January 5,2009. Under the agreement reached between CoSSAP and Finance Minister Kalikho Pul, arrear of two months with cash of one month and the remaining one by deposit in GPF with 3 years of log in period, will be released during the current financial year. The remaining arrears of four months will be released during financial year 2009-10 and 2010-10 with two months each with a log in period of 3years, he said.
Dr Gautam Goswami is no more
Former Patna DM Dr Gautam Goswami has passed away in Patna today. He was 1991 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.
Yogesh Agrawal also emerges as a strong candidate for Dy Governor RBI
Yogesh Agrawal CMD IDBI is also one of strong contenders for the slot of Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India(RBI) that fell vacant following retirement of Leeladhar on December 5, 2008. Agrawal had narrowly missed bus when O.P.Bhatt,CMD State Bank of India(SBI)pipped him(Agrawal) at the post.Others in the fray are T.S.Narayansami CMD Bank of India(BOI), K.C.Chakraborty CMD Punjab National Bank, M.V.Nair CMD Union Bank of India & A.C.Mahajan CMD Canara Bank.
PSU's can also be turned around
Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation is a true turnaround story. Earlier a loss making organization, the corporation is now being run professionally, with both operating ratio and growth rate at par with the private sector. Ashwani Lohani, the man behind this turnaround was also earlier responsible for the turnaround of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) in a record time.

CORPORATE
claimants for the post of NSC's, CMD
The PESB has wider choice for selecting an incumbent to head National Seeds Corporation (NSC), for which interviews began on January 5,2009.However; the race is reportedly between two officers. They are Asit Singh General Manager (GM) Food Corporation of India (FCI) Delhi & Sanjay Vikram Singh Director in the Agriculture Ministry. The former is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who belongs to the 1990 batch.
Amit Arora joins Star Den
Star Den has roped in Amit Arora as head of strategy and planning. It may be stated that Star Den is the 50:50 distribution joint venture between Star India and Digital Entertainment Network.
Dave is Chief of NMCC
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Gaurav Dave, IRSEE(82), as Chief (Joint Secretary level), National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council under the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion.
Karthikeyan is Secretary of ICAI
T. Karthikeyan has been appointed Secretary of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI ).

Forum
It is anti employment
Retirement age should not be increased. A person of 60 years of age has done enough in life for himself and for the society. Let him retire. If he is still active he will have lot of things to do in life. As for the experience logic, there are others below the age of 60 years who have experience to guide others. Raising the age benefits none except top echelon who get extra few years to boss around. Let the new people come up and take charge.
Shantanu Ghosh

An example of reconciliation & acceptance of frauds
The news of scam in DDA's housing scheme 2008 strangely didn't created the usual bitterness which one has after hearing the ever recurring news of scams in different government organizations. I suppose there is an element of reconciliation and acceptance of all these frauds etc. after all that cry of 'enough is enough'. Moreover it is the craze of the middle class which almost goes mad for participating in probably the costliest lottery in the world. Come to think of it for the Rs Six thousand (usually charged by bankers as interest for financing this lottery) could buy you 60 tickets of 'Punjab bumper lottery' with far better chances of returns.
Secondly, to accept that an organ of the government shall be able to honestly allot some of the most premium properties in the country fairly, itself seem to be utopian idea which many of us end up believing. Someone in a corner room would be having a good laugh!
Thirdly, it is also an pointer that even if you still want to play lottery than you must play intelligently. After all the next door property dealer was not too wrong when he told you that he can get you the famous flat albeit on a 'little premium'. Not a bad deal! Better give him a try next time!
Those who says bring accountability in the system must be joking as the ones who shouted on roof tops 'enough is enough'.
GB
CPWD-- HAI HAI ... ...
It is shameful that no action has been taken against CPWD officers for keeping about 1300 govt. houses vacant in Delhi for carrying out repairs. I have been waiting for my turn for allotment of type III house in Delhi for many years but there is no hope to get one as my retirement is due next year.
Manish Aggarwal
Estate office is corrupt
No action has been taken by the Estate Office on taking over the physical possession of about 1000 flats which have been lying vacant for over one year. Most of the flats have been handed over to contractors for nominal repairs and are being misused by contractors for illegal purposes. Will the ministry please do something to help the poor government employees get shelter.
Manik Ghosh (An aspirant for type III accommodation)