Indeed this is the million dollar question. A tip off from a top cop about a website called whispersinthecorridors.com edited by a senior journalist Suresh Mehrotra, throw some interesting insights into the search for Meghalaya's DGP. Mehrotra, backed by 40 years of journalistic experience, has a penchant for providing news straight from the corridors of power in Delhi. Going through the website has created more confusion about who will succeed Meghalaya DGP, SB Kakati. The website is revered for its uncanny accuracy by all bureaucrats worth their salt as well as members of the corporate sector. Hits to this website have crossed the one crore mark sometime back since its launch in March 2001.It is said that even bureaucrats posted abroad or on training never miss surfing this site because they are kept abreast of the goings-on in the deep, dark, opaque corridors of power in Delhi.

THE SHILLONG TIMES

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

Aaj Ki Aawaz

It is now being alleged a day before raids Kalmadi ordered 'Operation Dump'!!

His not being arrested sure does stump!!!

It is alleged he has already shipped sensitive documents and account books to USA !!

Surprisingly by him in his home the blackmail CD 'was allowed to stay'!!

Chori and blackmail go hand in hand!!!!

Note with this CD threatened ' pay a part of what you have made or in a soup you will land'!

Really despite all that has come out Kalmadi not being arrested shows his clout!!!

Physically he's still very much in Congress though technically he's been booted out!

'Operation Dump' Kalmadi has denied and the US shipment must be garment samples!!

Of how the Nation is duped and dupers get away this case is one of the glaring example's!!

Diggy has compared Karkare to Allah!!!

This blasphemy for Muslims and there will be halla (noise)!!!

Blasphemy for the one's he's trying to woo!!!

This comparison from them will not get claps but boo pe boo!!!

Diggy's job is woo Muslims however possible... no limitation!!!

By Sonia to achieve this objective Diggy has been let loose on the Nation!!

No wonders Karkare's wife says ' I do not feel safe in here ( India )'!!!!

And with Diggy's Karkare stories she feels she has a lot to fear!!

Congress has penned History to suit itself..... like for the Emergency Sanjay is blamed!

And it is written that Middlemen Rajiv tamed!!

A revisit of Q's case and this boast falls flat on its face!!!!

At every step to help Q Congress did literally race!!

And then he'll say the system got back at Q and made him out to be the bad guy!!!!

Of course like his other stories this one too no one will buy!!

At Mulayam's birthday bash Belly Dancers ne kiya dance!!

And Mulayam was so enthralled he literally went into a trance!!

Amar is livid that Mulayam has got a new mauj masti supplier!!!!

Till recently for Mulayam's mauj masti demands he was the 'complier'!!

Amar they say is 'all dressed but has no place to go'!!!!

From every Party he's got an emphatic 'no'!!!

Manpreet Badal needs to realize he's made his USP 'honesty'!!!

But for his Yatra he's using local help that epitomizes dishonesty!!

Somebody needs to tell him it's better to have 5 honest associates than 5000 dishonest ones!

But seems he realizes he's fighting Sukhbir who has made and can spend tonnes!

Confucius says..... in Indian politics honesty is not possible!!!

And Manpreet needs to meet Mohna and he'll tell him why its impossible!!!

Adds.... No I do not mean Mohna's been on the take!!!!

But he has turned his face to his Cabinet Ministers Chori .... Mohna ko what does this make!

Bharat Kumar

Meenakshi Natrajan says no ?

Member of the Rahul Brigade Meenakshi Natrajan is believed to have refused to join the Union Cabinet.

Two new faces to join Union Cabinet

Congress Member of Lok Sabha from Chhattisgarh Charan Das Mahant and Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh Vijay Laxmi Sadho are likely to be inducted into the next Cabinet reshuffle cum expansion.

Virender Singh to get assignment in AICC

Senior leader Virender Singh from Haryana is all set to get some assignment in the ensuing reshuffle in the AICC.

BUREAUCRACY

Will Mittal be new Chairman of NHAI ?
If all goes well D K Mittal will be new Chairman of the NHAI.He is 1977 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.Meeting to select new Chairman is going to take place today.

No plans to hike retirement age in banks
As the grapevine has it, there is no plan to augment retirements for staff and officers serving in public sector banks from 60 years to 62 years.

Sood is new Dy NSA
Rakesh Sood has been appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) in the National Security Council. 1976 batch IFS officer Sood would succeed Alok Prasad.
(We said this on December 7 )

Ms Gauri Singh gets foreign posting
Ms Gauri Singh is going to Abu Dhabi (UAE) as Director Knowledge Management IRENA. She is 1987 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Upadhyay to be CMD of British India Corporation
Heerak Upadhyay is being tipped to be new CMD of the British India Corporation, Kanpur.

Majumdar is new JS Agriculture
Anindo Majumdar has joined as Joint Secretary Agriculture and Cooperation in the Government of India. He is 1985 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Upma Chaudhary is now ED FCI
Upma Chaudhary has joined as ED FCI. She is 1983 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre.

IIS officer on deputation
1996 batch Indian Information Service officer Nar Singh Dev has joined as OSD in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

Ms.Deepti Umashankar joins DoPT
Ms.Deepti Umashankar on central deputation has joined as Director
DoPT .She is an IAS officer of the1993 batch who belongs to the
Haryana cadre.

M.N. Krishnamurthy appointed as BEL's CVO
M.N. Krishnamurthy has been appointed as Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bangalore. Krishnamurthy will
have the option to draw his pay in the pay scale of Joint Secretary to the Government of India.He is an IAS officer of the1984 batch who
belongs to the Kerala cadre.
(We said this on November 30 )

IES officer Prasad empanelled as JS
1986 batch India Economic Service officer K L Prasad has been empanelled in Government of India as JS or equivalent under CSS.

Chauhan to return to UT cadre
Sharat Chauhan is returning to the parent UT cadre prematurely. He is 1994 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Hemant Contractor to be MD SBI
In all probability, Hemant Contractor will be new Managing Director of the State Bank of India.

Vishwapati Trivedi recovers from injury
Vishwapati Trivedi, Additional Secretary Finance on central deputation in Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), who had suffered from major injury in hand long time back has recovered and is taking rest at home. He is 1977 batch IAS officer of the of the MP cadre.

Ojha likely to be elevated as IG, CRPF
Sanjiv Ranjan Ojha, DIG, CRPF, is likely to be promoted as IG, CRPF in the first week of March in place of IG, Mount Abu. He is Himachal Pradesh cadre IPS officer of 1989 batch.

IFS officer gets UN award
MN Jayakumar, a 1979 batch Indian Forest Service officer and Karnataka's Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, has received the UN award for his spectacular photography of Indian birds. In 2010, Jayakumar was selected for an UNESCO award, MFIAP, the highest distinction awarded by International Federation of Photographic Art for 20 of his images named "Spectacular Indian Birds". Jayakumar's photographs were displayed at exhibitions in countries such as England, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Australia, Scotland, USA and South Africa.

Key witness in Benazir Assassination case escapes to US
In an intriguing development concerning the Benazir Assassination case, Dr Musadiq who as the then Principal of Rawalpindi medical college had declared that Ms Bhutto's death was caused not by any bullet or bomb but due to a wound in her head as she (perhaps accidentally?) dashed against the lever of her vehicle's sun roof, suddenly left for the US without the knowledge or permission of the government. Fawad Hussain Health Secretary Pakistan's Punjab informed the media that Dr Musadiq's leave application was received after he had already left the country, 'which is wholly unacceptable'. The vanishing act coinciding with widening of the scope of inquiry into the late leader's assassination has left the investigators fuming. Question being asked in the police and intelligence circles is why did the Doctor who is also a key figure in the investigations select the US for his escape.

Railways transfers and postings
Shoorvir S.Chauhan of SS/IRSME has been transferred from SWR to RCF/Raebareli in the same capacity, RK Mishra of SS/IRSE has been transferred from ER to CLW, A. Prabhu Kumar of SG/IRSS has been transferred from SR to CLW and appointed to officiate in SAG/and posted in the cadre, Paramshiv of JAG/RPF has been transferred from NR to WCR in the same capacity and posted as Sr.DSC/HQ by downgrading and operating the vacant post of DIG-cum -Additional CSC in JAG, MS Mathur of SAG/IRSME has been transferred from WR to RSC and posted as Sr. Professor (ME) and Narain Singh of SS/IRTS has been transferred from ER to SER and posted in the cadre.

Transfer of Rly official cancelled
Transfer of RK Malik of JAG/RPF to WCR has been cancelled.

R.S. Julania bereaved
Mathura Lal Julania, father of IAS officer Radhe Shyam Julania passed away at Khujner today. He was 88. R.S. Julania is an IAS officer of the 1985 batch who belongs to the Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Vipul Mittra's book 'Pyramid of Virgin Dreams' to hit stands soon
Bureaucrats turning writers are common, with most restricting themselves to commentary on tricky contemporary issues and current affairs or autobiographies. But not to be counted in that race, Vipul Mittra, IAS has come up with 'Pyramid of Virgin Dreams', a fiction work that is spunky and replete with comical imageries drawn from a farcical, albeit hopeful India. The 200-page, soon to be launched, book gives one an idea about the multifaceted talent of Mittra, who as Secretary, Tourism, Governmentt of Gujarat has turned on the tourism sector in the state.It all begins with the bumpy Jonga ride in the woods-his childhood illegal poaching expedition under the patronage of a band of idle cops, to bring in a full partridge and half-a-black-buck to conjure up the dinner for his father's boss. That day, eight-year-old Kartikeya Kukreja solemnly swears that one day he too would be revered as 'IAS'. Kartikeya eventually discovers the secret of his father's fawning subordinates' wriggling their way up the pyramid. When it is his turn, Kartikeya himself experiences a similar hilarious predicament.Idiotically, he sees time rush by through a lifetime spent in inanities, and all but feels like the redundant antique table that moves out with him on his every transfer! The web of Revati's elusive dreams tantalizes him, and his wife and children bring him back to the real world. Will he juggle the two well, or lose himself in it forever? 'Pyramid of Virgin Dreams' is a refreshingly original rendition of the slippery life in the bureaucracy.Mittra, has been in the forefront of Gujarat Tourism's taste with success as he planned and executed the "Khusboo Gujarat Ki" concept having roped in Big' B (Amitabh Bachchan) for promoting tourist destinations in Gujarat. An IAS officer of the 1986 batch who hails from the Gujarat cadre, Mittra presently lives in Ahmedabad and can be reached at www.vipulmittra.com.The book is being published by Rupa and Co.
Bhattacharya returns to parent IA&AS (UPDATED)
The Competent Authority has approved the proposal of the Department of Heavy Industry for premature repatriation of G Bhattacharjee, IA&As(86), Chief Vigilance Officer, Andrew Yule & Company Limited (AYCL), Kolkata to his parent cadre with the condition of extended 'cooling Off' period.

Sawant appointed CVO Goa Shipyard (UPDATED)
P.A. Sawant has been appointed as Chief Vigilance Officer in Goa Shipyard Limited, Goa. He is 1988 batch ICAS officer.

Tenure of ECL CVO extended (UPDATED)
The Competent Authority has approved the proposal for extension of tenure of S.K.Choudhary as Chief Vigilance Officer in the Eastern Coalfields Limited(ECL) for a period of three months beyond December 20. He is 1993 batch IDAS officer.

Ms Saxena appointed CVO of EPIL (UPDATED)
Ms Manisha Saxena has been appointed as Chief Vigilance Officer in Engineering Projects India Limited (EPIL) vice Shri Nawal Kishore, IDAS(85) .She is 1996 batch UT cadre IAS officer.

Kutralingam in TN transferred (UPDATED)
M. Kutralingam, IAS, Principal Secretary / Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Salt Corporation Limited, is transferred and posted to act as Principal Secretary to Government, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Department vice P. Selvam, IAS, retiring from service on Dec 31, 2010.

17 Additional Judges of Allahabad High Court appointed as Judges (UPDATED)
Additional Judges of Allahabad High Court namely Justice Ashwani Kumar Singh, Justice Devendra Kumar Arora, Justice Anil Kumar, Justice (Ms.) Naheed Ara Moonis, Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Rajesh Chandra, Justice Shyam Shankar Tiwari, Justice Yogendra Kumar Sangal, Justice Kashi Nath Pandey, Justice Virendra Singh, Justice Ram Autar Singh, Justice (Mrs) Jayashree Tiwari, Justice Subhash Chandra Agarwal, Justice Yogesh Chandra Gupta, Justice Shri Kant Tripathi, Justice Ashok Srivastava, and Justice Virendra Kumar Dixit, have been appointed Judges of that High Court, in that order of seniority, with effect from the dates they assume charge of their offices.

Shimla Chapter of PRSI adjudged best for 2010 (UPDATED)
The Shimla chapter of Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) has been given best chapter award by the PRSI for its best performance for the year 2010 for promotion of Public Relations as a profession and creating an awareness about national and social issues. This has been
conveyed by the National President of PRSI Ajit Pathak and the award will be given during National Conference being held in Kolkata from July 16 to 18, 2010. Shimla Chapter was founded in the year 2006 under the Chairmanship of B.D Sharma and has got the best chapter
award earlier also for two years consecutively, i.e for the year 2007 and 2008. During the year 2009, the Chairman of the Shimla Chapter, B.D Sharma was given the best chairman award. Shimla chapter has been organising various activities including seminars, workshops from time
to time on various topics such as public relations, media and public awareness on different issues.

N Sudhindra Kumar CGMT Andhra Pradesh to retire (UPDATED)
T N Sudhindra Kumar Chief General Manager Telecommunications (CGMT) Andhra Pradesh Circle is to retire on December 31, 2010.

Appointment of new CMD in BSNL further delayed (UPDATED)
Appointment of new CMD in BSNL has been further delayed. As the grapevine has it the file pertaining to appointment of R.K. Upadhay as new CMD BSNL is now lying in the PMO. Presently Upadhyay is CMD of the TCIL.

Appointment of new CMD in MTNL further delayed (UPDATED)
Appointment of new CMD in MTNL has been delayed. As the grapevine has it the file pertaining to appointment of Kuldeep Singh as new CMD is now lying in the PMO. Presently Singh is holding charge as CMD, MTNL . His tenure as Director Technical in MTNL is till 31.3.2014.

RTI

Audit report and CCTV recordings of Bank
The audit reports of a branch of a bank and the action on those audit reports were refused claiming exemption under Section 8(1)(d). The CIC upheld the refusal holding that the Audit Reports of a Branch of a bank contained all information about that Branch, such as its internal functioning, its customers / accountholders, its commercial activities, turnover, etc., which is commercially sensitive. The CIC further ruled that information relating to the recordings of surveillance cameras and videos installed in Bank Branches are held confidentially by the public authority under Section 11(1) of the RTI Act disclosure of which can be detrimental to the interests of the Bank and its security and expose it to serious risks. This disclosure can be authorized only if there is public interest.

Comments

It has been pointed out through this column that videography is a part of 'Information' under the RTI Act. Nationalized banks are covered by the definition of "State" in Article 12 of the Constitution of India and the security of a Bank Branch would attract Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. When any public authority holds an information confidentially, disclosure should be authorized only after consultation with that public authority.

- Weekly article by Dr. (Mrs.) Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in), RTI Consultant to IIM, Indore and Co-author of the book: RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE by Taxmann. (The views are Personal)

CORPORATE
Pillay gets additional charge of HMT
Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) Chairman-cum-Managing Director G. K. Pillay has been given additional charge as Chairman of HMT Machine Tools Limited.

Jain to be Dy CEO of IDEA
Ambrish Jain, currently Director - Operations in charge of the North and East circles, would take over as Deputy CEO of the IDEA.

SBI appoints nominee in State Bank of Bikaner Board
The State Bank of India has nominated Ramesh Babu, Dy. General Manager (Associates & Subsidiaries), State Bank of India, A&S Group, Mumbai as
Director on the Board of State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur in place of S. A. Thimmiah, with effect from December 25, 2010.

Khandelwal resigns as Non Exec Dir. Prraneta Industries
Raj Shree Khandelwal , Non Executive Director, Prraneta Industries Ltd has resigned and the same has been accepted by the board of Director
effect from December 27, 2010.

Chartered Logistics appoints Addl. Director
Chartered Logistics Ltd has appointed Jayprakash Gandhi as an Additional (Independent) Director w.e.f. November 05, 2010.

Ninan appointed President of Editors Guild of India
TN Ninan, Chairman and Editorial Director, Business Standard, has been elected as President of the Editors Guild of India at its annual
general body meeting held last week. He succeeds Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN.

Bafna to be Treasurer Editors Guild of India
Suresh Bafna of NaiDunia has been elected Treasurer of the Editors Guild of India.

Kapoor re-elected as Gen. Secy, Editors Guild of India
Coomi Kapoor, veteran journalist and a columnist with The Indian Express Group, has been re-elected as General Secretary of the Editors
Guild of India.

Mukherjee quits JSW Steel
Tuhin Mukherjee who facilitated JSW Steel's recent mine acquisitions overseas has resigned from the company to join the Birla Group's
mining arm--Essel Mining.

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. However, we would also request our contributors not to be personal, directly or indirectly, in presenting their views. Instead of countering the views which ‘X’ has already expressed, our contributors are advised to present their own views. Also be brief, say about 200 words at the most since any views longer than that if eliminated at our end would carry the risk of the contrbutor’s item losing its original essence)

Violent protests be nipped in the bud

I fully agree with views of Aarti Khosla and Sunil. Government should take strict action against agitators. Damage to public property by them should not be tolerated. Let us join hands together to condemn their way of protesting.

Ramesh Chandra"

Injustice by DoPT to retired senior Principal Private Secretaries

I retired as Senior PPS from Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure on 31.5.2009 after serving the Government of India for more than 37years in different Ministries/Departments. During this period, I worked with senior officers as PS/PPS/Sr. PPS. I worked with many senior Secretary level officers. I worked with the these senior officers with devotion and sincerity. I was available in office from 8.30 AM till late in the evening daily for more than 12 hours. My sincerity and devotion to duty resulted in a serious disease, Tuberculosis after my retirement and I was confined to bed from September 2009 to August 2010.

The Sixth Pay Commission had recommended introduction of a new grade in CSSS cadre to be designated as PSO. This recommendation was accepted by the Government and DOPT initiated action to fill up the posts. They only filled up the posts of PSO by 28th October 2009. Due to some vested elements, the promotion to the post was intentionally delayed and this resulted in my not getting the richly deserved promotion.

My representations to Government fell on flat ears. I sought copies of the noting and correspondence portions of the concerned file on 13th August 2010 under RTI Act. On going through the file, I found that my name was included in the list of selected candidates for the post of PSO finalized in the DPC meeting held on 1st May 2009 This meeting was held as per the DOPT's guidelines for NFSG scheme issued on 29.4.2009.

Apparently, at the behest of some unknown elements in DOPT decision of DPC taken on 1.5.2009 remained unimplemented and DOPT took a fresh stand in getting the posts of PSO filled up through some other process as is done in the case of promotion of DS to Director in CSS. In view of the above position explained by me and since upgraded posts of PSOs do not involve higher duties and responsibilities, and the fact that these post are being filled on NFSG (Non-Functional Selection Grade) basis, I requested Secretary, DOPT to kindly get my case reconsidered for issuing orders of giving me promotion to the post of PSO from 1st May 2009 the date on which the DPC finalized the names for promotion to the post of PSO so that I could get consequential retirement benefits.

However, DOPT rejected my request on the plea that I had already superannuated and could not be appointed as PSO in terms of DOPT OM No. 22011/4/98-Estt (D) dated 12.10.1998 which, inter alia, provides that such retired officials who are under consideration for promotion for the previous Select List Years but are not actually in service would have no right for actual promotion. I wrote back to DOPT that I had requested for promotion to the post of PSO w.e.f. 1st May 2009 (The crucial date on which 1st meeting of the Selection Committee for preparation of Select List 2008 for promotion from Sr PPS to PSO was held). No reply has been received to this letter of mine. However, in the meantime, I met the present Secretary, DOPT, Mrs. Alka Sirohi on 28th December 2010. She gave me a patient hearing for 20 minutes and mentioned that she has not seen the papers as yet and she will only take a decision after perusal of the file. It appears that the reply of the DOPT was sent to me without approval of Secretary. I was impressed with her courteous behavior and felt contended that at least I have been given a proper hearing. In any case, I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Ashok Kumar Kakar

Sr PPS (Retd)