I am extremely grateful that there exists a site which provides an insight to all important events including policy changes which are in the pipeline. It is informative and goes a long way in bringing about right to information in a generic sense to the populace. Thank you for all your efforts -- a laudable effort , indeed.

Sanjeev Bhattacharjee

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

Two third respondents favour increasing retirement age
If one can serve in the capacity of a Governor at the age of 80 years, why can't other person do so? Why is there a hypocrisy in the government? They have a retirement age, but politicians can continue till they become 90 years old? If there is one rule, it should apply to everyone. Such has been the response to the debate conducted by the whispersinthecorridors.com on "Whether Retirement Age should be 62 years ?"Two thirds of the respondents favoured the idea of increasing the retirement age to 62 years, or even 65 years, while only one third of them disagreed with it saying that it would block the employment opportunities for the new generation. However some of the respondents suggested that the amount of money that the government would be saving by increasing the age of superannuation can be used for generating employment for the youth.
"This would enable the government to utilize the experience for good and enhance job opportunities for the younger ones as well". The protagonists in favour of increase in retirement age to 62, or even more say that it was justified given the increase in longevity of average over in the past few decades. However, there are many who feel that a person should be allowed to continue in job as long as he is fit - both physically and mentally as is done in case of Judges of High/Supreme Courts besides professors of reputed universities across the globe. "Therefore, if we want to compete with the developed nations, we must consider this aspect effectively in the best interest of the country particularly when it is facing economic brunt", says Vinod a responder.On the other hand, those not in favour of increasing the retirement age say that it would lead to further increase in unemployment which would be politically and economically detrimental to the health of the nation.Several responders like Dr. GC Srivastava opined that there should be a uniformity in the age of superannuation whatever the profession be and whatever the retirement age be fixed at. "Whether 60 or 62 or 65, the retirement age should be the same for all civil, judicial and educational services. There is no justification for having different retirement age for these categories. All these services need application of mind and hard work”, he said. “So why a civil servant retires at 60 and others at 62 or 65? Moreover, if uniformity is brought about in retirement age, the mad and unpleasant race for securing post-retirement assignments shall vanish”.

(Details of survey in monthly magazine Whispers in the Corridors )
Lalit Panwar to be CMD of ITDC ?
If all goes well, Dr Lalit Panwar will be new CMD of the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).1979 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, Panwar, is considered to be an expert in tourism sector.
B S Meena to be Secretary Culture ?
In case Secretary Culture Jawahar Sircar moves to Higher Education 1975 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS officer B S Meena may be appointed Secretary Culture. His name is also in circulation as a successor to Secretary Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kiran Dhingra.
Will Kiran Dhingra be Secretary Shipping ?
Name of Kiran Dhingra is doing the round for the post of Secretary Shipping. She is 1975 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.
Will Upadhyay be Secretary HUPA ?
In the event of Kiran Dhingra’s moving to the Ministry of Shipping, A K Upadhyay may be appointed Secretary Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. Name of 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, Upadhyay, is also in circulation for the post of Secretary Official Languages.
Dr Radhakrishnan appointed new Secretary Space
Dr K Radhakrishnan has been appointed new Secretary Space. Dr Radhakrishnan is presently Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
( We said this on October 19 )
Dr. Subir Gokarn's appointment as DG,RBI in a limbo
Dr. Subir Gokarn who is Chief Economist with Standard & Poor (S & P) for Asia-Pacific region is yet to be appointed Deputy Governor (DG) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Gokarn who did his PhD in economics at Ohio based Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland - the US, has been with the S & P for the last two years. Dr. Subir is a product of the St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He had also studied at Delhi School of Economics (DSE), Delhi.
Govt having 2nd thoughts on Pranab Sen's appointment
As the grapevine has it, the Government of India (GOI) is having second thought about Pranab Sen Chief Statistician with GOI as far as his appointment to the post of Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) was concerned
Army Chief takes up promotion matter in Commanders conference !
Army Chief Deepak Kapoor reportedly took up the matter of promotion of 17 officers to the rank of Lt General at Commanders conference. Never in the past promotion matter was raised in the Commanders conference.
Appointment of four Supreme Court Judges soon
The Law Ministry has decided to go ahead with the elevation of Punjab and High Court Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, MP HC CJ Ananga Kumar Patnaik ,Calcutta HC CJ Surinder Singh Nijjar and CJ of Gujarat HC KS Radhakrishnan delinking the name of Karnataka HC CJ PD Dinakaran.
Race is on for the post of Commissioner, MCGM
A race has begun for the slot of Commissioner Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) that has fallen vacant in the wake of J. M. Phatak going to Government of India (GOI) as Additional Secretary Rural Development & Panchayati Raj.
Ms. Anju Gupta joins GOI on deputation
Ms. Anju Gupta has joined GOI as a Director. She is an IPS officer of 1988 batch who belongs to the UP cadre. Ms. Gupta is wife of S.A. Rizvi IPS officer who is OSD to Indian Home Minister.
HRD Minister for better administration in KVS
Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal is for a better administration in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. As the grapevine has it, owing to this reason the CSB route will be followed for selecting new Commissioner & Joint Commissioner of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).
M G V K Bhanu is Addl. RC to Assam Govt, in Delhi
M G V K Bhanu who has returned to his parent cadre of Assam is now Additional Commissioner to the Assam Government in Delhi. Bhanu who belongs to the 1985 batch was on inter cadre deputation to Andhra Pradesh since August 2004. Prior to returning to his parent cadre he was Principal Secretary (PS) to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister.
Latest take on Johny Joseph
Johny Joseph Chief Secretary to Maharashtra Government whose extended tenure will end in November could be a member in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) or Up-Lokayukta in Maharashtra. He is an IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre who belongs to the 1972 batch.
Vineet Joshi to continue as CBSE chief
Vineet Joshi will continue as Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). Joshi is an IAS officer of 1992 batch who belongs to the Manipur-Tripura cadre. Altogether 20 candidates appeared for interview to the post of Chairman, CBSE.
(We said this on September 15,2009)
Maninder Singh returns to Assam cadre
Maninder Singh who was earlier on deputation to Government of India (GOI) has returned to parent cadre of Assam. H e is an IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre & belongs to the 1989 batch.
Meeting for chief of Chennai Port Trust (CPT), today
A meeting of the search committee to select new Chairman of the Chennai Port Trust (CPT) is scheduled to be held on October 26, 2009. Altogether there are 12 contenders for the slot. Of them six IAS officers are from the Tamil Nadu cadre while six bureaucrats are from other cadres. To name a few from the Tamil Nadu cadre are: K.Allauddin, P.A. Ramaiah. Others who are in the fray are Pandian (Kerala cadre) & Ms.Meera Saxena IAS-1977 batch (Karnataka cadre).
Work re-allocation in Deptt of Banking & Insurance
Work re allocation in the Central Government’s department of Banking & Insurance has been done among Joint Secretaries.
IAS wives assn dinner at Cabinet Secretary’s residence
IAS officers Wives association (IASOWA) dinner was held at the residence of Cabinet Secretary K.M.Chandrasekhar as part of Diwali celebrations. Theme of blue was the dress code.
Who will succeed Gandhi as WB Governor
Former Home Minister Shivraj Patil or former union minister Santosh Dev may succeed West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi if he is not re-appointed. Gandhi’s term ends on December 13, 2009.
Secr Steel retiring this month end
Secretary Steel PK Rastogi is retiring this month end. He is 1974 batch AP cadre IAS officer.
Pravesh Sharma joins IIPA
Pravesh Sharma has joined IIPA, New Delhi as a Visiting Fellow on a year's study leave to work on a book on governance issues. 1982 batch MP cadre IAS officer was till recently Principal Secretary, Agriculture in MP.
Interviews for DMDs & CGMs in SBI held
Interviews for the post of Deputy Managing Directors (DMDs) & Chief General Managers (CGMs) were held in Mumbai. The exercise had commenced on October 23,2009. As many as 11 incumbents had appeared for DMDs slot while 25 had appeared for slots of CGMs. Their results are expected to be out by October 30,2009.
Arjun Wadkar is DGM Public Relations in SBI
Arjun Wadkar has assumed the charge as Deputy General Manager (DGM) Public Relations (PR) at Corporate office of the State Bank of India (SBI). Earlier he was in inspection department.
IAS reshuffle in Nagaland
There is IAS reshuffle in Nagaland. New postings are :-Mssrs
M Kithan Commissioner & Secretary, Transport & Communication , Achum Ngullie,Commissioner & Secretary, Land Revenue and Excise ,A Jami, IAS Commissioner & Secretary, Works & Housing ,
LH Thangi Mannen Commissioner & Secretary, Sericulture , KT Sukhalu, Secretary, Youth Resources & Sports and Science & Technology shall hold additional charge of Fisheries ,B. Thawang Konyak Secretary, Irrigation & Flood Control ,Daniel Longchar Additional Secretary, Economics & Statistics ,
KN Ngullie Additional Commissioner in the Office of the Commissioner, Nagaland ,
Abhijit Sinha Director, Administrative Training Institute, F. P. Solo is relieved of the charge of Director, ATI ,
Commissioner IT arrested by CBI
1987 batch IRS (IT) officer Ajoy Kumar Singh posted at Nagpur as Commissioner Income Tax has been arrested by the CBI.
Dr. Hamid El- Bashir to go to Eritrea
Dr. Hamid El- Bashir, Chief, Field Office, UNICEF Madhya Pradesh is moving to Eritrea as Country Representative, after his three years stint in Madhya Pradesh
Modi on three-day tour to Moscow
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi proceeded on a three-day visit to
Moscow to attend an International seminar on Oil & Gas. He is being
accompanied by D. Rajgopalan Chief Secretary, K. Kailasnathan PS to
CM, S. Jagadeesan, PS (Energy &Petrochemicals) and D.J. Pandian, MD,
Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation. They are also acoompanied by
industrialists like Sudhir Mehta, ChairmanTorrent Group, Gautam Adani,
Chairman, Adani Group, Nitin Shukla, CEO, Shel-Hazira Pvt. Ltd. and
Parimal Nathwani, Group President, RIL among others.
Dr Tuk Tuk Kumar is new JS Culture
Dr Tuk Tuk Kumar has been appointed new Joint Secretary Culture in the Government of India .She is 1980 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre.
Bhat  appointed Member (Finance)
V V Bhat has been appointed Member (Finance) Atomic Energy Commission,Space  and Earth Commission. He is 1976 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.
(We said this on October 7, 2009)

RTI
File notings in a vigilance matter
Disclosure of file-notings in a vigilance file on the basis of which
an administrative warning was issued to the appellant, was denied by
the Commission holding that the matter is within the purview of
Section 11(1) being a confidential third-party information disclosure
of which serves no public interest. The Commission further held that
hiding the names of the authors of the file-notings will not serve any
purpose as the identity of the authors of the notes could be disclosed
by reference to the hierarchies through which the file passed as well
as the handwriting in which the notes were recorded.
Comments
The Commission has failed to specifically invoke either section 8 or
9, the only sections under which any information can be denied under
the RTI Act. This information does not involve any commercial
information or trade secret of the third party. Further, Public
Interest cannot be invoked for claiming exemption from information; it
is used for providing the information which is otherwise exempt. When
any public activity has been completed and is over, it is not apparent
why the records should not be open for scrutiny. If the identification
of the handwriting is the issue, perhaps, information in a typed
format can be provided. If the argument of the respondents is
accepted, no note-sheet would ever be disclosed. The only solution is for the CIC to set up a larger bench to settle the inconsistency in
the stand taken by various benches in Vigilance matters.
[Shri K.L. Bablani v. DG Vigilance, CBEC in F.No.CIC/AT/A/2009/000617]
Mrs. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in)
Co-author of the book: RIGHT TO INFORMATION – LAW AND PRACTICE by Taxmann
(A new decision every Monday)

WHISPERS SURVEY
IN a recent survey by 1274 experts working across 12 North and South Asian nations, the Indian bureaucracy has been dubbed the worst and least efficient in the whole continent, behind Vietnam, China and Indonesia. What Indians have to say ?.Send your views to-
suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com AND mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com

CORPORATE
Kannan is Chairman of Textiles Committee
T Kannan of the Thiagraja Mills Madurai has been named as Chairman of the Textiles Committee set up by the Union Government. The Vice-Chairman of the Committee is A. B. Joshi, Textile Commissioner.
Sarma is GM SBI North-East Circle
Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma has taken over as the General Manager, Network-II of State Bank of India, North Eastern Circle. Prior to this he was posted in Corporate office, Mumbai.
Chaudhuri is GM SBI Travancore
Saswata Chaudhuri has taken over as the General Manager (Treasury) of the State Bank of Travancore.

Aaj Ki Aawaz
I asked a Congressman ‘ Why Hooda’ and he replied with resentment in his voice!
‘Madam had no other choice’!!!  
Hooda got a second stint because Sonia could not find a replacement!!
Birender was there but by the electorate ‘home’ he was sent!! 
Anyway Hooda’s not going to last beyond ‘doh saal’!!!
So Mr. Bags or Venod Sharma better watch his chaal!!! 
Chavan’s continuance is indeed good!!!
Though this has got Rane in a fowl mood!! 
After 26/11 Deshmoorakh sorry Deshmukh should have not even expected a ‘come back’!!
And had Sonia chosen him she’d got a lot of flack!! 
Hope Hooda’s ‘reality’ fixation is now ‘fixed’!!!
His fixation practically got Congress nixed!! 
Its time he became the proverbial Jat and gave importance to farming!!!
Land depletion from the agri land bank in Haryana will ultimately prove ‘very harming’!! 
He let the Khaps run loose and instead tried to meddle in the affairs of a religion!!!
The religion has a Supreme Body and Hooda tired to make one in the Haryana region!! 
Khaps who issue death warrants need be reigned in!!
To take life is a sin and allow this to happen is an equal sin!! 
In Maharashtra Balasahib ne Marathi Manoos ko kiya disown!!
Loss in the elections via this disowning Balasahib ne karra moan!! 
And lo and behold Raj has changed his anti Bhaiya stance!!
Now he says against them he had not done a war dance!! 
He says if he were anti Bhaiya why would he have bought Big B movie tickets in black?
What does he think Public is like Big B’s co star Rani in the movie Black!!! 
Why should he buy movie tickets in the black when the trade was under the Sena thumb?
Does he think we are that dumb??? 
Chalo now at least the Bhaiyas in Maharashtra can breathe easy!!!
The atmosphere created by Sena and MNS had made Bhaiya’s breathing wheezy!! 
Speaking of Big B……he says the FIR on Amar Laundry service is  ‘illogical’!! 
This response from Big B is only logical!! 
On paper he was a Farmer but in actuality he was not!!!
So maybe Amar did get approvals but in all this it’s alleged he laundered what under the table he got! 
But then Maya is no babe in the woods herself and she too has her way of making black to white!!!
And she too like Amar DA case karr rahi hai fight!!
 The way inflation is spurting it could go into the 8-10% (fixed one) by June 2010!!!
Though on inflation Sarkaar is still trying to fumble with why and when!!
I say fixed rate because the Sarkaari rate is fixed to suit the Sarkaar!!
Like Sarkaar saying inflation is sub zero whereas rocketing prices se padh rahi hothi hai Public ko maar!! 
Interest rates have to go up and will happen sooner than later and CRR will be hiked soon!
So do not believe the Brokers on the Street who are promising investors the moon!!! 
Bulls are rearing to go full steam ahead and Bears see a big fall!!!!
So please do take a reality check on Broker talk before you take a call!! 
Confucius says.... what goes down comes up and then again it comes down!!
In Broker talk please do not drown!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

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 minister aware ?
Why junior commissioner of income tax being posted before senior in Mumbai as executive commissioner? Having more experience, still seniors being bypassed. Is minister aware?
Arjun Malik
Outwit China’s cyberspying operations !

I hope the US will take this issue seriously and initiate pre-emptive action not only to prevent the Chinese from successfully stealing valuable defense and other secrets but also pro-actively try to penetrate Chinese military computers to monitor their activities.
The Indian government and Indian companies too need to take suitable action to protect their secrets. The task is more difficult for India as compared to the US because unfortunately India has too many Jaichandras, Mir Jaffars and Benedict Arnolds. Yet the task must be taken up in right earnest.
Since both the US and India are more advanced than China in some of the high-tech fields that matter, isn’t it time for the two governments to work together to outwit China’s cyberspying operations? 

Ram Narayanan
US-India Friendship

DEBATE ON RETIREMENT AGE

Yes

Raj Kumar Khanna rajkkhanna@hotmail.com

Yes

The retirement age should be 65 years. It will strengthen the government in all respect i.e. economy wise as well as work wise . So I strongly favour increase in retirement age to 65 years.

S S Bains SARWANBAINS@YAHOO.COM

The survey indeed is good. May please give a correct feed back to the powers that be. Retirement age should be raised to 62.

TVS Narayana tvsindia2003@yahoo.co.in

It hardly serves any purpose to opine for or against raising the retirement age.If we really want get the issue decided let us come to an agreed parameter/s for revising it.

S K Sharma sksharma@windowslive.com

Views expressed by Chabbra could have been coined better. Government Servants reaching 60 years of age are standing on their own feet and are working efficiently till the date of retirement. The harsh comment made by Chabbra is not called for. We have politicians running the country and making policy decisions when they are well beyond 60 years of age, then why cannot a government servant serve till 62 years, if found fit.

Aparna Bose abose52@gmail.com

I do not agree that the superannuation age be extended to 62 years.

P C Srivastava pcsrivastv@gmail.com

Yes, should be increased to 62

Ashok aaoil@rediffmail.com

Experienced cum suitable and willing will contribute certainly even for the extended period.

B Raikwar b_raikwar@yahoo.co.in

As the retirement age of judges and professors is 62,considering the fact that the life span of a human being has been increased. On the same analogy, the retirement age of central govt employee should be increased to atleast 62 if not 65

Priyanka ppanda30@gmail.com

Age should not be increased to 62 rather it should be reduced to 58 to give young people to replace old lot having rigid ideas

Abhay Manglik utkarshsuper@rediffmail.com

TAIL-PIECE

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what it is?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.

SON: "I just want to know.. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make Rs.100 an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow Rs.50?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behaviour."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that
Rs.50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.
"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man.
"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the Rs.50 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have Rs.100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.
Contributed by- langeh.r

Whispers news is really true. The news regarding promotion of Col rank in army as Time scale and not selection dated 30 Sep 09 in whispers needs to be authenticate and followed. Whispers is the only source for we people in far flung areas of India. Kindly do the needful.

N K Gupta