Wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year.  God give you all success and make you the biggest news provider of the world.
Ajit Chauhan


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

BK Sinha tipped to be Secretary Rural Development in GOI
As the grapevine has it, BK Sinha is tipped to be Secretary Rural Development(RD) in the Government of India (GOI). Presently he is Director General (DG) in Hyderbad located National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD).  He joined Indian Police Service in 1973 and switched over to IAS in 1975 and was allotted Bihar Cadre. The slot would fall vacant once incumbent Secretary RD Ms. Rita Sharma retires on January 31,2010.
Air Marshal Neri to replace Rama Sundara
Air Marshal, J Neri, is all set to replace Air Officer-in-charge Maintenance (AOM) Air Marshal K M Rama Sundara, from February 1. ACC has cleared his appointment.
( We said this on December 29 )
Cabinet reshuffle likely
Cabinet reshuffle of Manmohan Singh cabinet is expected to take place in a couple of weeks.
List of CITs cleared for elevation as CCITs
Those Commissioners of Income Tax (CITs) who have been found fit to be promoted as Chief CITs (CCITs) are:M.C. Mohanty, Pankaj Gupta, S.S.Bajpai, K.K.Mohapatra, Satpal , J.R.Sharma, Jaswant Singh, V.K.Mangotra, P.K.Sarangi , J.C.Mishra, D. Ravindran, A.N. Pahuja, S. Pradhan, B.N. Dutta, V.K. Chowddary,  Ms. Anita Kapoor,  G. Rajeshwar Rao,  Arun Kumar Jain, Ms.Bulbul Sen,  M.K.Mirani,  K.A. Gopinathan,  D. C. Pant,  V.K.Shukla,  G.S.Randhawa ,  S..K.Sen,  P.K. Ray,  M.L.A. Chowdhary,  A.K.Jain, B.L. Razdan,  A.L.K. B. Chand, Ms. Deepa Krishan, A. Suryanarayanan, A.K.Gautam,  G.R. Sufi,  Ms. Parvinder Sohi Behuria,  Dilip Shivpuri, Ms. Sujata Pant,  P.K. Shah, K.S. Pathania, L.R. Nayyar, Mukesh Kumar, Digvijaya Kumar & E. T.Luckose. Four CITs who figure in the extended list are:  M.D. Kabra,  M.C. Joshi, S.K.Sahu & P.C. Srivastava. Three incumbents who were to rertire on December 31, 2009 were promoted on the eve of their retirement. They are: Naresh Kumar, Jameel Ahmed & A.J. Khan.
Neeraj Kumar Gupta tipped to be ED, ITPO
As the grapevine has it Neeraj Kumar Gupta is tipped to be 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.
Bhullar to join NDC
B S Bhullar, Joint Secretary in the 13th Finance Commission is joining the NDC. He is 1986 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
Pandey is Dy Secretary DEA
Ritvik Pandey is joining the Department of Economic Affairs as Deputy Secretary. He is 1998 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.
Vineet Joshi to continue as Chairman, CBSE
As the grapevine has it, Vineet Joshi will continue as Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for at least 18 months.  Joshi is Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS officer of 1992 batch. A formal order in this regard is expected in the near future.
Development of Chandigarh stalled
Development of Chandigarh has been badly hit due to an open confrontation of its Chief Administrator Pradip Mehra with UT Administrator General S F Rodrigues (retd).
Cloud over extension in tenure to Sarthak Behuria’s term as IOC chief !
As the grapevine has it, top brass in the UPA Government is not happy with Sarthak Behuria, Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), over his role during the strike by officers of the petroleum sector. Though, Behuria will superannuate in the year 2012, his term is coming to an end in February 2010.
Ms. H. A. Daruwalla  joins the GMR group
Ms. H. A. Daruwalla  former Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of the Central Bank of India (CBI)has joined the GMR group as Senior Vice President (SVP).
Udipta Ray transferred from Goa to Pondicherry
Udipta Ray, Secretary, Goa has been transferred from Goa to Pondicherry with immediate effect. He is an IAS officer of 1994 batch who belongs to the AGMU cadre.
Sanjay Bainiwal seeks repatriation
As the grapevine has it, Sanjay Bainiwal, Deputy Director, BPR&D, has submitted an application for repatriation to his parent AGMU cadre due to some personal reasons. He is an IPS officer of 1989 batch.
Jairam Ramesh to meet Ph.D holder IFS officers
As the grapevine has it, Indian Minister of State for Environment & Forests Jairam Ramesh has planned to interact with those Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers who are Ph.D. holders. The meeting is slated to be held in Dehradun on January 11, 2010.
Badhawan is now PS in Uttarakhand
Anup Badhawan, 1985 batch IAS Officer of Uttarakhand, has been promoted to the post of Principal Secretary.
5 IAS officers of 1985 batch promoted in West Bengal
Five 1985 batch IAS officers have been promoted to the rank of Principal Secretary in West Bengal. They are Mssrs:- Malay Kumar De, Sanjeev Chopra , D Sen, Pawan Kumar Agrawal and Kashinath Behera.
Manohar Lal to be PS to Jharkhand CM
Manohar Lal Pal is being appointed new Personal Assistant of Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren.
Deshraj Singh is DIG BPR&D
Deshraj Singh has joined as new DIG in the BPR&D in the Government of India . He is 1990 batch IPS officer of Haryana cadre.
( We said this on December 15 )
Vacancy of Adviser to ED – IMF, Washington D.C., to arise on March 15
Department of Personnel & Training proposes to fill up the vacancy of Adviser to the Executive Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington D.C. likely to arise on March 15, 2010. Officers of the rank of Deputy Secretary/ Director of the Government of lndia or equivalent level are eligible for the post.
Gopal Krishna Gandhi’s exemplary act
Gopal Krishna Gandhi, who has retired as Governor of West Bengal had vacated the Raj Bhawan on very same day unlike others.
IRS officer DDIT (Inv) Kolkata takes VRS
The request of Robert L Dkhar, DDIT (Inv), Unit IV (3), Kolkata, for seeking voluntary retirement has been accepted.
Two selected for appointment as ACIT
Two candidates, Ashutosh Pradhan and Anurag Chaudhary have been selected for appointment as Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (ACIT) in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). Both have qualified Civil Service (main) Exam,2008, conducted by the UPSC.
ADIT Lucknow suspended
PK Bajaj, Additional Director of Income Tax (ADIT), Lucknow, DTRTI, has been suspended. He was charged with various offences under IPC.
Not writing ACRs by UTIPS officers
UT IPS officers are not writing ACRs of their junior IPS officers for the past two to three years despite GoI guidelines that all procedures realated to ACRs be completed by the month of April every year. To quote a few, TS Luthara, Head of Police, UT Dadar Nagar Haveli has not written ACRs of his juniors with the result that their promotions are held up. It is worth mentioning here that in the case of Anshuman Monga vs. Delhi government, CIC has said that not writing ACR on time amounts to violation of duties by concerned officers. Whether Ministry of Home Affairs will take actions against concerned officers?.
Why delay in appointment of new Governors ?
After the resignation of N.D. Tiwari from the post of Governor of Andhra Pradesh the total number vacancies of Governor in the country is six. Delay in the selection of Governors is reportedly because Prime Minister and Home Minister are wanting to select Governors from bureaucrats but top leaders in Congress Party wants these seats for politicians.
3 contenders for the post of Haryana PCC
As the grapevine has it, a decision has been taken that after the by-election of Haryana Assembly, the election of   president Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee will be held. Name of three incumbents are in circulation for the post. They are: Arvind Sharma, MP, Ram Prakash and Rao Indrajeet Singh.
High stakes in Ellenabad in by-election
To win the seat of Ellenabad in by-election of Haryana Assembly is the prestige point between Bhupinder Singh Hooda Chief Minister of Haryana and ex CM Haryana Om Prakash Chautala. Hooda wants to increase the number of MLAs in the Assembly. On the other side Ellenabad seat is Om Prakash Chautala’s pocket bur rough.
Kaul is new CMD of Oriental Insurance
R K Kaul has taken over as new CMD of the Oriental Insurance Co..
B.Vijayan gets a clean chit
B.Vijayan against whom an enquiry was going on pertaining to a case the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for a long time, has got a clean chit. He is an IAS officer of 1982 batch who belongs to the AGMU cadre.
Meeting to withdraw medal today
Meeting to withdraw police medal from former Haryana DGP S P S Rathore is taking place in the MHA on Monday evening.

Normal functioning resumes in Government offices
Even though, offices were open on the New Year day i.e. January 1, 2010; normal working in government offices resumed only on January 4, 2010.

R. Sellamuthu is Chairnman,TN PSC

The Governor of Tamil Nadu has appointed R. Sellamuthu, IAS, as the Chairman of Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission for a period of six years from the date of assumption of charge or till he attains the age of 62 years, whichever is earlier. He is an IAS officer of the 1976 batch who belongs to the Tamil Nadu cadre.

Dibang quits NDTV

Well known anchorperson Dibang has quit the NDTV. He is known to be one of the famous anchors whose programme titled "Muqabla" was a big hit in TRP. Dibang who had earlier worked with "Aaj Tak" had also anchored "Khabron ki Khabar"-an evening news programme on NDTV.

R Gopalan joins as new Secretary Financial Services
R Gopalan has  joined on Monday  as Secretary Financial Services .He is 1976 batch IAS officer of TamilNadu cadre
    ( We said this on December 22 )
Agrawal gets extension
 
 K B Agarwal as Chief Vigilance Officer in Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR) has been granted extension for two months. He is 1985 batch IAS officer of J & K cadre.

DEBATE

Should 50% judges of the High Courts & Supreme Court be women. ?
whispersinthecorridors.com invites views “ SHOULD 50 % JUDGES OF THE HIGH COURTS AND SUPREME COURT BE WOMEN ? “Mail your views to :-
suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com AND mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com
RTI
Rank of a CPIO
The Commission directed  the CPIO to show cause why a penalty of Rs.250/- per day (subject to a maximum of Rs.25,000) should not be levied on him for not providing information to the Applicant within the stipulated time as prescribed under the Act and submit his explanation in person to the Commission. The Commission also observed that the designated CPIO in the instant case is of the rank of a Section Officer. Under the authority vested u/s 25(5) of the RTI Act, the Commission directed that only those officers who are not below the rank of Under Secretary are designated as CPIOs.
Comments
While this direction was given to the Ministry of Environment and Forest, it shall be applicable to Public Authorities under the Central Government.

[ M.P.Singh v. Min of Environment and Forest in CIC/AD/C/2009/000735]

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)

CORPORATE
Air-India Board meeting this week
Air-India Board meeting is going to take place in Mumbai on January 8 and 9.So far no agenda has been circulated.
Rampal Soni is President, Akhil Bhartiya Maheshwari Mahasabha
Rampal Soni has been re elected as president, Akhil Bhartiya Maheshwari Mahasabha.
SAIL records 32% higher December sales
Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) of which Chairman is S.K.Roongta, had achieved sales of 1.3 million tones during December 2009 in the domestic market, registering a growth of 32 % over December’ 08 and a growth of 23 % during Q3 over Corresponding period last year (CPLY).   Sales of SAIL TMT grew by 33 % in Q3 over CPLY while Plates registered a growth of 36 % during the same period. SAIL also registered record sales of 1.16 Lakh tones through its dealer distribution network in December’ 09 which is the highest ever.

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Some New Year Resolutions for 2010,
For making New Near Resolution we all have a yen!!!!
Sonia’s is to learn how to SMS on the Blackberry and SMS Rahul ‘get married’!
Get a SMS package so that thousands of SMSs can be sent to get Rahul harried!!
Mohna’s is to pen the Principles of Economics in Mirza Ghlaib kind of shayri!!!
And for post PM days some tayaari!!!
Rahul’s is to work towards losing his Baba tag and become Mister!!!!
Work on being called Mr./Shree Rahul Gandhi India's future Prime Minister!!!
Pranab Da’s is to keep his joyous look that’s got many giving a questioning look!!!
And pen ‘How to smile despite losing your temper’ book!!!
PC’s  is to get it mandated that all decisions of MF will require HM’s clearance!
Try level best to enforce in Ministry of Finance (MF) Home Minister's interference!!
Pawar’s is to keep farm prices rocketing!!!!
Did not catch the other part of his resolution but it had something to do with ‘pocketing’!
Mamtha’s is to ensure that Commies in WB bite the dust!!!!
And ensure that Laloo’s ‘reformist’ image goes bust!!!
Advani’s is to keep his PM hopes secretly alive and is hoping against hopes,
That when the time comes he’ll be able to ‘pull the ropes’!!!
Ghadkari’s is to learn how to conjure up Delhi street food!!!
He’s been told this kind of food gets BJP Leaders in a good mood!!!
Sushma’s is to dress everyday like she’s going to a Jagrata!!!
To be a PM candidate she feels BJP’s chant for her should be ‘Jai Sushma Mata’!!
Jaitley’s is to give up his ‘choosa hooa lemon’ look!!!
And work on his ‘Electionless Wonders of India’ book!!!
Shinde’s is to project that Power Ministry did not perform as his work was sabotaged by a foe!!!!
Tell all that about this High Command is in the know!!!
Kamalnath’s is to ensure that no African Nation faces rice shortage!!!!
From India war on rice shortages in African States he will wage!!
Murli Deora’s is to tell all he’s not a Mukesh man!!!!
And also not ‘Mukesh's fan’!!!
Praful’s is to ensure that air ticket prices shoot up!!!!
And his hoping to order new airplanes for the domestic usage is not a gupp!!!
Tharoor’s is to ensure that in MEA all communications are done via twitting!!
And he also wants to find out why his shoes are no longer fitting (him)!!!
Mulayam’s is to distance himself from Amar!!!!
And Amar’s is to tie a rope to Mulayam’s kamar and the other end to his own kamar!!!
Maya's is to somehow stop Rahul from visiting Dalit homes in her State!!!!
And start planning ghost written biography 'Maya the Great'!!!
Laloo's is to make Nitish fall off the CM's chair!!!
Saw off two legs of the chair and to make it look the legs are still attached take care!
Raj Thackrey's is to now hold at Shivaji Park Balasahib kind of annual rally!!!!
With Rane and Bhujbal get pally!!!
Big B’s is to be a participant in Big Boss’s House and get over Paa flopping!!!
Also appoint a consultant to look into why his flop show is not stopping!!!
Jethmalani 's is to get back at the Media because it exposed his client Manu Sharma!!!
Offer Rathor his services saying to defend the 'undefendable' is his Dharma!!
Sheila Dixit's is to keep an arm's length from the Commonwealth Games!!!
And prepare in advance answers for on her Sarkaar possible blames!!!
Sukhbir Badal's is to take over from Papa and become Punjab's CM!!!
And he still is resolute about becoming believe it or not India's PM!!!
Tiger Wood's is to sign a prenuptial agreement with his next wife to be!!!
She cannot divorce him if 'babes by the dozen he does see'!!!
I do not come in the high and mighty bracket,
But I pledge against ‘wrongs’ I'll continue to make my poetical racket!!

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)
Sorry State of Police Service in India
It is a foregone conclusion and for all to see that the police forces, specifically the IPS, are in a sorry state today. Lawlessness is rampant ,corruption in the IPS is a birthright and highhandedness the byline. Even routine law and order problems are not being handled and for exigencies, anyway, the Army has been called out. In the current scenario, where terrorism is a big menace, the training in the IPS needs a very serious and thorough overhaul. Rather than be seated behind desks (there are UT cadre officers clutching on to a Delhi posting in IB/Cab Sec for 13 years at a stretch). IPS officers are required in the field. Moreover, they have to effectively respond to the challenges that modern day law and order and policing requires. This is one Tribe that needs to pull up its socks fast !
S Singh

We seem to celebrate everything
We seem to celebrate everything--be it the New Year or Nav Sambat or the definition of BPL (Below Poverty Line).There is something still more that does not seem to be eligible (in administrative jargon "eligibility" is most important, more than capability to give results!) under the known definitions of BPL. And yet we the people in India celebrate that. If you just consider the language used to celebrate it: daridranarayan!! You rarely find another equivalent of the term daridranarayan in any other language in the world. This term applies to those Indians who are below the BPL! Since no one ever thought of providing any succour to these people, who have substantial numbers, society seems to have made them God (narayan).Even the much talked about Dr Saxena’s report on BPL has completely ignored them (it talks about incomes under Rs 10,000 p.a.), but our daridranarayans have zero incomes, literally zero daily/weekly/monthly/annual incomes. Those who feel like joining me may wish them A VERY VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!!
M L Gupta

Is merit the criteria ?
In our system merit appears not to be the criterion for any thing but chumchagiri and contacts at high places are. If this yard stick is taken, Karthik Behuria (CMD) of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) deserves more than one extension. According to IOCians, he has brought down the morale of both officers and staff. Two things have happened during his tenure which has never happened in the whole history of the company, a strike by the entire officer fraternity and the burning of an entire oil storage Depot. Consequent to the latter case many thought, he will get the order of the boot.
A K Gugnani
100% reservation for women in order to get justice for every body?
Has the reservation policy in existence for the pat 60 years uplifted the downtrodden. Sooner we get out of this reservation mentality the better. All selections should only be based on merit and promotions on ability. All financially downtrodden people should be given free hostel, free tuition etc. to make them face competitive exams.
Naveen K

Jitin Prasad's anger against IOC's CMD !!!
Apropos of your news item dated 2-1-10, I would go along with MOS(Petroleum).His angst against Sarthak Behuria CMD,IOC is justified. Behuria has only instilled a sense of complacency in his team of executives and staff. This was reflected in the two serious accidents that occurred recently at the same Jaipur oil depot in quick succession. The first related to pilferage of petrol by a contractor and the second to a fire accident due to sheer negligence ruining hundreds of crores of rupees. Finding it difficult to explain, Behuria with the blessings of Deora, the senior minister, sought to attribute the fire accident to sabotage theory, which always comes in handy in such moments of crisis. Everyone is shocked that till date not a head in the IOC has rolled despite heavy losses of public money! All said and done, Jitin Prasad as the junior minister must know his limitations in decision- making. He will not be consulted in such matters. Behuria's case will be decided neither by Deoria, nor the PMO. The devine orders will descend from 10,Janpath as it has got high political overtones. Merit, as always, will take a back-seat!
A K SAXENA (A retired civil servant)