A valuable treasure house giving information before it becomes news. Best wishes.
Balasubramanian R

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

PJ Thomas faces test case
As the grapevine has it, Telecom Secretary P.J. Thomas who is leading the race for the post of Cabinet Secretary faces the litmus test in the shape of 3 G tender of the Telecom department. All eyes are on Thomas to see how he is able to tackle Indian Telecom Minister A. Raja. Deft handling of the same will catapult him to the slot of Cabinet Secretariat feel people in political, bureaucratic & business circles. The present incumbent KM Chandrasekhar is on extension till June.
Avani Vaish empanelled in GoI
Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Avani Vaish has been empanelled to the rank of Secretary in the Government of India. He is 1975 batch IAS officer.
Bassi to be Additional Director CBI ?
Bhim Sain Bassi is likely to be appointed Additional Director CBI ?.He is 1977 batch IPS officer of UT cadre.
Prakash Mishra unlikely to join CBI
Though the name of 1977 batch Orissa cadre IPS officer Prakash Mishra also figures in the panel for the post of Additional Director CBI, he is unlikely to join it. It is rumoured that Mishra is going to be the next DGP of Orissa.
Neelmani to be DGP of Bihar !
In all probability, Neelmani will be new DGP of Bihar on March 1. He is 1975 batch IPS officer .
88,1990 batch IAS officers considered
Altogether 88 IAS officers belonging to 1990 batch have been considered for the empanelment to the rank of Joint Secretary in the Government of India. However, the number has not decided yet for empanelment.
CSB will meet again for empanelement on February 9, 2010. During the last CSB meeting held on February 4,2010 issues like moderation factor & expert panel's recommendations were discussed.
IRS officer puts in papers
1985 batch IRS (IT) officer Alpana Saksena is reported to have put in her papers.She is presently posted in Mumbai.
Panneervel to be Chairman JNPT
In all probability, P Panneervel is likely to be the next Chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT ). He is 1978 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer.
Who is the most powerful CMD in Public Sector ?
At a high profile party it was a hot topic of discussion that who is the most powerful CMD in public sector? At the gathering unanimous choice was BHEL’s CMD B.P.Rao.
Neeraj Kumar Gupta appointed as ED, ITPO
Neeraj Kumar Gupta has been appointed as Executive Director (ED) in the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). Presently he is Joint Secretary Commerce & Industry. Neeraj Kumar Gupta is an IAS officer of the 1982 batch who belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
(We said this on January 2, 2010)
Did Hillary Clinton recommend Chatwal’s case ?
As the grapevine has it Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State of the United States had telephonically recommended to Indian Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh the case of Sant Singh Chatwal for giving the award of Padma Bhushan. Chatwal owns a hotel chain called Hampshire Hotels and Resorts Bombay Palace and is based in the US.
Sanjay Mazumdar to be Director, DoPT
As the grapevine has it, Sanjay Mazumdar is poised to be a Director in Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT). He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the 1991 batch who belongs to the Manipur-Tripura (M-T) cadre.
MD Sinha elevated as CF in Haryana
MD Sinha, who is presently AIG in Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), has been elevated as CF in Haryana & is returning to his parent cadre. He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the 1989 batch.
Search panel for ICFRE, DG yet to be formed
Search panel for selecting Director General (DG) of the Dehradun based Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) is yet to be formed. The post fell vacant last year after return of Jagdish Kishwan to his parent cadre of Jammu & Kashmir. He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the 1975 batch.
Prof Stobdan is Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan
Prof. Phunchok Stobdan has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Kyrgyzstan, in succession to J.S. Pande.
Srivastava is Ambassador to Congo
Devendra Nath Srivastava, presently Joint Secretary - Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Democratic Republic of Congo in succession to HVS Manral.
Search committee to decide Air India’s new PR chief
As the grapevine has it, the search committee meant for public relation chief of National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) i.e. Air India on February 9, 2010.
Chairman of SAIL to retire
Chairman of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) S K Roongta is superannuating by June end.
Human Development committee to prepare RFD for reforms
The GoI has constituted Human Development committee, for 2009-2010, to prepare results-framework document (RFD) for reforms with Arvind Varma, IAS (63  UP), Ex-Secy, DOPT GOI, as its Convener. Its other members are K Padmanabhaiah  (IAS 1961-MS), Ex-Secretary - Ministry of Home, BK Mishra IAS (67 : Assam), Former Secretary to GOI and former chairman SSC, SB Mishra (IAS 65 Orissa), Ex-Chief Secretary - Orissa and Ex- Secretary - Disinvestment and Arun Kumar Mago (IAS 67 MS), Ex-Chief Secretary - Maharashtra.
UP, Bihar lead in producing IAS officers
Gone are the days when Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh used to lead in recruitment of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers. Now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are on number one and number two position in this respect. While 671 (15 per cent) of the 4,443 IAS officers are domiciled in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar contributes 419 (9.4 per cent) officers to the service.
Ms Aditi Mehta returns to Rajasthan cadre
Ms Aditi Mehta Joint SecretaryIndira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi (IGNCA) Ministry of Culture in Government of India (GOI) is back to her parent cadre.She is an IAS officer of the 1979 batch who belongs to Rajasthan Cadre.
Ms. Sonali Kumar is PS Coordination in Delhi
Ms. Sonali Kumar is now Principal Secretary Coordination for Jammu & Kashmir in Delhi. Earlier she was PS Agriculture. She is an IAS officer of the 1979 batch who belongs to the Jammu & Kashmir cadre.
Headless Loksabha TV hurtling downhill?
The Lok Sabha TV, the TV channel aimed to take the parliamentary process closer to the common man is suffering from the apathy of the powers that be. The channel has been headless even after the departure of Sunit Tandon in October 2009. LSTV used to produce at least 6 hours of programming a day but it has come down to two and half hours.
Ironically, the LS secretariat spends about over Rs. 2.00 lakh per month on the remuneration of these guest anchors when the same amount could have been spent on augmenting LSTV manpower. What is worse, there are more than 6 production assistants anchoring various kinds of shows on LSTV. Two of them had joined as personal assistants.  Speaker Meira Kumar had roped in a very senior and reputed television journalist to revamp and recast the whole set up. But he has been unable to deliver in wake of obstructions and lack of free hand.
What is the meaning of Varun Gandhi becoming active?
What is the meaning of BJP MP from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi becoming active? This question is doing rounds in corridors of power.
12 IAS officers transferred in Chhattisgarh
As many as 12 IAS officers including seven Collectors have been transferred in Chhattisgarh. They are: Muneesh Kumar Tyagi Raipur to Special Secretary Housing & Environment, Ashok Kumar Agrawal Collector Korba to Collector Raigarh, T.C.Mahawar Collector Janjgir-Champa to Joint Secretary Agriculture, N.K. Xaxa Deputy Commissioner Bastar to Kanker (North Bastar), Raj Pal Singh Tyagi Collector Dhamtari to Collector Korba, Dr. Rohit Yadav Collector Rajnandgaon to Director Employment & Training, Brajesh Chand Mishra Deputy Secretary to Collector Janjgir-Champa, Avinash Champawat North Bastar –Kanker to Deputy Secretary, Siddharth Komal Pardesi Collector Kabirdham(Kawardha) to Collector Ranjnandgaon, Amit Katataria CEO Raipur Development Authority (RDA) Raipur to Collector Dhamtari, Mrs. R . Sangeeta CEO Bastar to Collector Kabirdham(Kawardha) & C.R. Prasanna SDO Bhanupratap pur to CEO Bastar.
Major Roy is new ADC to Uttarakhand Governor
Major Parth Pratim Roy Choudhary has joined the Raj Bhawan as ADC to Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva . He has replaced Major Siddhartha.
Satbir Singh appointed Ambassador to Mongolia
Satbir Singh presently Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Mongolia in succession to Yogeshwar Verma.
Jerome is Ambassador to Slovenia
I Jayakar Jerome has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Slovenia in succession to V.S. Seshadri.
Dr. Ravindra Pastor Rewa Commissioner to get award
Dr. Ravindra Pastor(IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre) Rewa Commissioner will get an award for outstanding work in anti poverty programme while he was Project Coordinator of the District Poverty Initiative Progranmme (DPIP).The award will be given to him during a ceremony in Washington DC on February 10, 2010 at which main among others Ms. Isabel Guerrero, World Bank Vice President of the South Asia Region & World Bank’s Task Team Manager Nathan Belt will be present.Madhya Pradesh has been selected for World Bank’s prestigious South Asia Vice-President Team Award for District Poverty Initiatives Programme (DPIP) project being implemented in the State.This award was announced in December 2009 following the successful and result-oriented implementation of the project’s first phase in the state and effective preparation for the second phase by South Asia region of the World Bank.
IPS officers transferred & promoted in MP
Certain IPS officers have been transferred & promoted in Madhya Pradesh. They are: R.K. Gupta DIG Bhopal, Santosh Singh SP Morena to SP Jabalpur, Gaurav Rajput Bhopal to SP Morena, Abhay Singh SP Jhabua to SP Bhopal, Anil Gupta OSD to Home Minister to DIG Chhindwara .

CORPORATE
Dinesh Shahra – a person to be watched
Dinesh Shahra looking after Ruchi Group would be a person to be watched in the days to come.
Mystery behind Nerukar quitting posts in companies of Tata
Nerukar has been quitting posts in companies of Tata one by one only because Tata top brass wants him to focus more on the core operation and overseas subsidiaries including Corus, NatSteel and Tata Steel Thailand and leave the management of the domestic joint ventures and subsidiaries to the executives at the second level.
Jalan to head committee set up by SEBI
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has set up a committee, headed by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan, to review certain things including the ownership structure and governance standards of stock exchanges..The other members of the panel are Joint Secretary DEA K.P. Krishnan, Tata Industries MD Kishor Chaukar, Kotak Mahindra Bank MD Uday Kotak, Sebi whole-time member K.M. Abraham, Sebi ED J.N. Gupta, and G. Sethu of the National Institute of Securities Markets.
LIC introduces “Wealth Plus” plan
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India has launched “Wealth Plus”, a unit linked insurance plan that safeguards investments from market fluctuations. According to LIC this plan will be available for a limited period. In this product there is a Guarantee of the highest NAV recorded on a daily basis, in the first 7 years of the policy, subject to a minimum of Rs.10. The guarantee will be applicable only for payment made at the end of the policy term irrespective of any partial withdrawals made during the policy term. The period of 7 years starts from the date of commencement of policy. A unique feature of the Plan is the extended life cover for 2 years after the completion of policy term of 8 years.

Minimum Age at entry is 10 years (age last birthday) while the Maximum Age at entry is 65 years (age nearer birthday). The premium can be paid either in a Single lump sum or for 3 years regularly at yearly, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly (through ECS mode only) intervals. Minimum Premium for 3 years Premium Paying policies is Rs. 20,000 p.a. whereas for Single premium policies it is Rs. 40,000 p.a. For Monthly (ECS) mode the minimum premium is Rs. 2,000 p.m.

Accident Benefit Option equal to the amount of life cover subject to minimum of Rs. 50,000 and maximum of Rs. 50 lakh is available subject to certain limits and conditions. Accident Benefit charge at the rate of Rs. 0.50 per thousand Accident Benefit Sum Assured per policy year will be levied every month.

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Ravan Pawar says ‘ not eating sugar will not kill’!!
But some may die after seeing their food bill!
 
Ravan title has been given to Pawar by Varun and it's stuck to him like gum!
Many Indians say Varun ki iss baath mein hai dumm!!
 
Though I’ll address Pawar as Ravan Pawar only today!!
Ravan and Pawar are synonymous is what I’d like to say!
   
At the AICC meet Congress Leaders attacked Ravan Pawar indirectly!
Seems numerical compulsion did not allow then to attack directly!
 
Did you see Ravan Pawar make any move to make prices fall??
And on the other hand he pleaded with Balasahib ‘IPL ko please don’t stall’!
 
What's the message..... as a Mantri he's not willing to move!!!
But for cricket a great supporter kiya hai apne aap ko prove!! 
 
Ravan Pawar had other reasons too!!!
Message to Congress, Marathi pride and something for his pal Balasahib he had to do!
 
After all NCP tries to woo Marathi Manoos too!
So for Ravan Pawar this was the poltically right thing to do!!
 
And if Balasahib withdraws his threat he’ll have egg on his face!
As it is people feel Sharukh has shown Balasahib his place!!!
 
The perception in Mumbai is now Balasahib is a Tiger without teeth!
It’s being felt recent standoff has ended in Sharukh ki jeeth!!
 
'Me feels' come Thursady and Sharukh will mellow down!!!
In Mumbai with Shiv Sena one cannot clown!!
 
Of course a face saving way will be worked out!!!
SRK will say I did not go and SS will say he met Balasahib to get things sorted out!
 
In Mumbai Shiv Sena’s got nuisance value and no one wants to take pangaa!!!
In a split second they can conjure up a dangaa!!
 
Chalo Sonia keeps mum but Rahul need not follow his Mum!
On hurtling and hurting inflation why is Rahul keeping mum????
 
He should take up this matter and take on Ravan Pawar!!!!
Karr lene chaiye Rahul ko Ravan Pawar ke saath haath chaar!!
 
Rahul spends so much time with the poor so he should know their pain!
Take on Ravan Pawar and Rahul a lot of stature you will gain!!
 
Otherwise it’ll look your pro poor image is just skin deep!!!
Oopar Oopar se you show your concern but into their lives you do not peep!
 
Praful Page 3 must be asked why did he propose Chatwal’s name???
Because now for Chatwal’s award at his doorstep they’ve put the blame!!
 
Did Praful Page 3 like the food at Chatwal’s eatery to such an extent?
That from the Eatery’s table missive to propose Chatwal’s name he sent!!
 
Or has Chatwal been such a good host in The Big Apple???
That all norms for proposing Chatwal’s name Praful Page 3 did trample!!
 
In Chatwal's matter Mohna too is to blame!!
In PMO you just get to see red faces when to take Chatwal's name!! 
 
India demands info on this (Chatwal's award),
Though I’m sure UPA will try to give this question the miss!!!
 
Amar keeps feeding info to the Media that he’s Congress bound!!!
And Media for answers on this Congress ko karti hai hound!!
 
Amar gets cheap publicity which for Amar is like hawaa and paani!!!
A few days out of SP and Amar ko yaad aa gayi Nani!!
 
Pakis now say its Pakistan’s hard stance that made India change its stance!!
From ‘not even talking’ they say now India ‘wants to dance’!!!
 
And if PC had gone there for SAARC!!!!
‘See their HM has come here begging to talk’ Pakis would bark!!
 
It’s time to change over from The Sparrow to The Hawk!!!
Especially with Pakistan there should be aggression in out talk!!!
 
Confucius says….. those who understand language of the laath,
Can never understand ‘mooh ki bolli baath’!
 
Flash...... Rathod was stabbed in the cheek.....but why the cheek!!!!
Maybe the stabber had not liked his cheek!!!
 
Though some say Rathod got this attack done!!!
He may have felt by this some much required sympathy could be won!!!
 
Why on the cheek and not where it could really cause harm???
Maybe it was intentionally done or Rathod was wearing his lucky charm!!


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)
WHO WILL BE THE QUEEN'S CHOICE FOR PRIME MINISTER AFTER DR. MANMOHAN SINGH?
It is a good way to know the mood of the people.
Sunil Bhansali CASUNIL@OSWALSUNIL.COM

There is no doubt about the next PM of India. He will be Rahul Gandhi.
Surinder Pal spal_1957@yahoo.co.in

Time only can tell!
As we all know, none expected Man Mohan Singh, PV Narsinga Rao and Devegowda to become PMs. Likewise, It may be a sleeping dog to don the PM cap or step into the shoes of PM at the time of requirement. Popularity, efficiency, manipulations, expectations, forecasts, etc. have no role in the final outcome. Time only can tell
Prasad sreesayeeprasad@yahoo.com

No harm in giving Padma Award to NRI Hotelier
In my views, there is no harm if Padma Award is given to NRI Hotelier, whose contribution to Indian Industry is going to be more in addition to his investments and hence FDI expected.
In regard to Mukesh Ambani, Premji and Shekhar, it seems that such award to each of them at this juncture of criticism amongst the industrialists in India like Anil Ambani, Jindal, and such other so many Indian Industrialist. Therefore, to avoid any controversy from the Indian politi, it was a wise and well considered step of the present Government to consider Chhatwal. Moreover, Chatwal is looking to be very sincere in investing India for many other fields now resulting thereby fetching his investment in India in comparison with his investment in USA and other such countries. This chapter must be considered ok - stopped for the betterment in Indian Industry.
H S Bhalla
Eerie silence on seizure of huge assets from ‘Babus’ ?
Why is there a deadly silence on the cash seizure in excess of Rs 3 crores and discovery of 210 bank accounts in cases of IAS officers in MP and Chhatishgarh in recent IT actions ? These are signs of our times ; power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Instead of haranguing which service is more corrupt vis a vis another, as a first important step, could we have all sychophants in all services identified please? If you can boot out half of all the sychophants, a whole load of corruption would go. Try this suggestion in web poll, if you have doubts.
Bafta
What about retirement age of CGS employees ?
You have not bothered to cater to readers queries about rise in retirement age of CGS employees as promised by the present saarkar.
Rohan Singh
Give chance to DANIPS officers
I read in the news papers that Government Of India is planning to fill the shortage of IPS officers through a short exam in which state police service and other central armed police service officers may appear. It is true that there is huge shortage of IPS officers of SP rank in India and the same needs to be made good immediately and that can not be done by regular recruits as they can not get SP rank till they complete 4/5 years of service and have requisite amount of police experience. MHA directly controls Delhi police.
Since MHA seems to be serious about the shortage and Delhi police is directly under it, it would be appropriate that at the outset ,the shortage of Delhi police is made good and it is very much required in view of Common Wealth Games including terrorism threat which Delhi police faces uniquely. Fortunately, to make the shortage of IPS officers in Delhi good, it is the easiest in India in comparison to other states where Dy SP rank state police officers are recruited through State Civil Services Commission and IPS are through Combined Civil Services Examination held by UPSC. In Delhi police the situation is totally different. The ACP rank direct DANIPS officers are recruited through same civil services examination where from IAS, IPS officers are recruited. This makes it very much easier for MHA to make the shortage of IPS officers good in Delhi at least.
In fact, the ratio of IPS in Delhi in terms of population of Delhi as well as ratio of force, is lowest in Delhi when compared to other states of our country. Hence the shortage of IPS officers in Delhi police can be made good just by a stroke of pen by the Home Minister. He can just pick up DANIPS officers who have not been inducted in to IPS and are eligible and confer IPS on them. This will not only provide the most experienced lot of IPS in Delhi police but also most qualified also. In fact, in Delhi many professionally known senior IPS officers have been and are mostly from DANIPS service. A few icons of Delhi police are - R Tiwari, Maxwell Perera, RP Singh , Qumar Ahmad, Mukund Upadhyay and Pradeep Srivastva etc who have been professionally most admired and efficient officers. They all were DANIPS officers and then inducted in to IPS. Hence in Delhi police to fill the shortage of IPS officers, MHA should decide this policy and show it as a precedence to all.
Tiwari
BT Brinjal Controversy
People at the helm display utter disrespect to the genuine concerns of common man and farmers to the ongoing controversial BT Brinjal episode. Last week, Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister for Environment & Forests had hurriedly and unilaterally wound up series of conferences that allow to entertain views on ‘entry of BT Brinjal in India’. He more acted as an “agent” of ‘Monsanto’ [a dreaded monster in BT technology] rather a facilitator to gather all pros and cons. He nullified all the voices at the Bangalore conference which are against entry of BT Brinjal in India without sufficient trials. I venture to ask Jairam Ramesh whether he could use BT Brinjals half-cooked in his normal daily dishes prepared at home and feed his family for couple of months. He may brand me crazy to this idea!
The BR technology was first introduced in India about 7-8 years ago in cotton seeds. The frequent dying of cattle, which were fed with cotton leaves, has not got the attention of print, electronic media and state governments. The Governments of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have not recognized a single cattle death caused by BT cotton leaves. All developed countries imposed a blanket ban on introduction of BT technology in food crops fearing unwanted/ dangerous biological, ecological changes in the local flora and fauna. Jago Bhayya! Jago!
Madduri VKR
Shiv Sena gaining due to media support ?
From last some days I observe that the column has been implicitly supporting Shiv sena and due to these kind of Shobha Dey support these elements in society are increasing.
A daily reader
Women power will increase when they are safe
Do you really think that women power increases by appointment of Governors?
It will increase when an ordinary girl in the country can walk on the roads without the fear of being eve teased, molested, raped....
XYZ