I have been keenly following your portal. Must add, this is the best resource and news is spot on. Thank you for coming up with the idea and executing it perfectly.

Sesha Ramakant

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

AN IMAGINARY INTERVIEW WITH PM MANMOHAN SINGH
Post my imaginary interview with Obama I got a call on my mobile that literally made me jump up, that is after I came to know who was at the other end.

Me: Hullo
Voice at the other end: Oye khothe main tehre dandh bhann deyan ga ( donkey, I'll break your teeth)! Me: Oye who is this……
Voice at the other end: (mockingly) This is 'Obedient' Manmohan Singh…….acche bhalle bandhe noo tu ne doggy banaa ditha ( you've made a perefectly good human into a doggy)!!
Me: Sir Ji…. Sat Sri Akal…… Sir ji I just said that when it comes to Sonia and Obama you are obedient!!

Mohna: Oye ullu great minds think alike!
Me: Would Madam 'think like you' on 'five factors that influence demand'…….or does Obama think like you on appeasement of a vote bank at the cost of Nation's security????

Mohna: Oye on technical matters Madam's think tank and I think alike! And Obama does try to please vote banks or he would not have become the US President! In America the winner of the Presidential race is the one who is able to please Vote Banks that are diametrically opposite!!

Me: Why do you keep saying oye….. please calm down!!

Mohna : Oye after putting my tail on fire you want me to calm down!!

Me: Ttandh rakho ( cool it) Manmohan Singh Ji!!

Mohna: Oye I'm Manmohan Singh!!

Me: You make it sound like you are Gabbar Singh and in a 5 kilometre radius when kids cry their Mom's tell the kids to stop crying or Manmohan Singh will come and scare them!

Mohan: Let us settle it now itself…. reach India Gate in 15 minutes and lets settle it face to face!

Me: Sirr Ji…. chado (leave it)….. hunn gussa thukh doh (spit your anger)!

Mohna: I'll do so if in future you promise to address me as Mohna Ji!!

Me: Done….. now how about answering a few question Mohna Jiyo???

Mohna ji: Dhatt tehre ki (drat)….. chall puchch le (ask)! Tuh wi ki yaad rakhe ga!!

Me: Thank you. Why has Congress hyped Obama's visit so much that you had to even break protocol and receive Obama at the Airport???

Mohna ji: Arre I wanted to see the Air Force 1 land….. yaar what a plane! I thought seeing me breaking protocol Obama might invite me aboard and give me a guided tour of Air Force 1…..alas he did not!!

Me: But this step boosted Obama's ego…… will you address the concerns of US Nuclear equipment suppliers???

Mohna ji: I cannot answer this question as it is now classified as Top Secret!

Me: Or is it too embarrassing to agree and too tricky to deny!!

Mohna Ji: Yaar kuch mazedar sawaal puchch?

Me: Who are 3 idiots in Congress????

Mohna: Oye khothe……. this is not a mazedar sawaal but a sawaal that can get me into trouble!!

Me: Chalo do not spell it out….give me a few hints!!

Mohna ji: One is a sandesh lover, the other is like the flower that grows in kichadh and the third hit the fish's eye!!

Me: Do you think India should open up????

Mohna Ji: Of course…… competition will benefit the end users!

Me: But what about the humongous eating the big and the big eating the small!!

Mohna ji: That is the way business should be!!!

Me: Cannibalistic!! Would this not mean that in the end the mighty would survive and rule and in the end milk the end users???

Mohna ji: You seem to know very little about business…..

Me: Chalo let us agree to disagree!!! Do you think US will support India for a seat on the UNSC???

Mohna ji: Obama is playing his cards very close to his chest!!! And the man has a true poker face!!! I tried that song 'baagon mein bahaar hai' in English on him and in the end when I said 'India gets US's vote' he just gave me a nonplussed look!!!

Me: Did you ask him about outsourcing????

Mohna Ji: I did and he said Indian Companies should hire 50% US expats in call centres! He said US was planning to 'patent' the American accent so that non-Americans will not be able to speak in this accent!!!! Once this takes place how will Indians working in Indian call centres talk to American clients in an American accent????

Me: So that means Obama will come, mock bargain and go back with everything he wants!!

Mohna Ji: Haar mein bhi hothi hai jeeth!!!

Me: This is the anthem of every looser!!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Is Ashok Chavan on his way out?
Is Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on his way out? Political circles are agog with rumours that Ashok Chavan is on his way out
because he had incurred the wrath of Congress high command in the wake of recent exposse in media pertaining to fund collection for NPA
chairperson Ms. Sonia Gandhi's rally in Maharashtra.

( We said this on October 22 )
Stocks of Prithviraj Chavan go up.
Stocks of Indian Minister of State for DoPT Prithviraj Chavan have gone up. Reason for this is simple to seek. He has played a pivotal in
corridors of power.

( We said this on October 22 )
Prithviraj Chavan may be new Maharashtra CM
Indian Minister of State for DoPT Prithviraj Chavan is likely to be shifted as Maharashtra Chief Minister.

( We said this on October 22 )
Alva keen to return to active politics ?
Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva, it is said, is keen to return to active politics.
Sandhu to be new IB Chief
Now picture is clear. Seniormost IPS officer Nehchal Sandhu is going to succeed Rajiv Mathur on January 1 as new IB Chief. He belongs to 1973 batch.
Decision of CBI Chief next week ?
Decision of the CBI Director is expected to be taken next week. Decision is known to only the top hierarchy.
Goyal out, Majumdar in ?
All has not gone well with S K Goyal. Latest information says that Sumit Majumdar is being appointed new Chairman of the CBEC. He will take over on December 1.
Chandra to be CBDT Chariman ?
Now picture seems to be clear. Appointment of new CBEC Chairman was linked with the appointment of new CBDT Chairman. If Majumdar is appointed CBEC Chairman this week then appointment of Sudhir Chandra as Chairman of the CBDT is a certainty.
Gupta appointed Secretary Food
B C Gupta has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution. He is 1975 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre.
( We said this on November 8 )
Ms. Kanth tipped to be GM, NF
As the grapevine has it Ms. Vijaya Kanth is tipped to be General Manager (GM) of the North Frontier (NF) Railways .
Dadwal is new DG SSB
Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal has been appointed new DG of the Seema Sashatra Bal (SSB).He is 1974 batch IPS officer of UT cadre.
( We said this on September 16 )
Trivedi promoted
Abhishekh Trivedi has been promoted as Deputy Director, Intelligence Bureau, Headquarter, New Delhi.He is an IPS officer of the 1996 batch who belongs to the HP cadre.
Air Marshal Malhotra to head IDS
Air Marshal Malhotra of the Eastern Command will take over as Air Marshal Integrated Defence Staff (IDS).
Pravesh Sharma posted as MD SFAC
Following the approval of ACC, Ministry of Agriculture has issued formal orders appointing Pravesh Sharma, who belongs to 1982 batch of IAS of Madhya Pradesh cadre, as Managing Director of Small Farmers' Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) in New Delhi. It may be noted that Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is Chairman of this body and Agriculture Secretary P.K. Basu is Vice Chairman.
(We said this on 6th November)
Ramanujam is back to Madhya Pradesh
1979 batch MP cadre IAS officer, R.Ramanujam, who was posted in the Indian Embassy in Tokyo for the past 3 years, has reported back at Bhopal to the State Government on Tuesday. he is likely to be given an important assignment soon.
( We said this on November 8 )
SBI official Rajinder Mirakhur transferred
Rajinder Mirakhur, Assistant General Manager, Region-V, Regional Business Office, Noida, has been posted as Deputy General Manager (Customer Service) National Banking Group, Mumbai.
Chadha is IG in MoEF
A.R. Chadha who was in the National Afforestation & Ecology
Development Board is IG the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoEF)
. He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the 1981 batch who
belongs to the Maharashtra cadre.
Rekha Bhargava appointed Director BEML
Former Secretary Parliamentary Affairs in the Government of India Ms Rekha Bhargava has been appointed as part time, non official director on the
Board of Directors of BEML Ltd. Bangalore.She is retired 1973 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.
Singh to be SBI's CGM Lucknow
Abhay Kumar Singh will be new CGM of Lucknow Circle in the State Bank
of India (SBI).
Julka appointed nominee director
Bimal Julka, DG (Currency), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance (MoF) has been appointed as Government Nominee Director on the Board of Infrastructure Development Finance Company in place of G. C. Chaturvedi w.e.f. November 8, 2010. 1979 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Julka is presently Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs.
Cadre review of IES delayed
As the grapevine has it, cadre review of Indian Economic Service (IES)
has been delayed.
Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu gets six months extension
Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu who is on inter state deputation to the Punjab
government since July 9, 2007 has been given six months extension.
Presently he is Principal Secretary(PS) Housing & Urban Development
besides being Managing Director (MD) of the Punjab Infrastructure
Development Board ( PIDB). Before joining the Punjab government he was
Secretary Tourism to the Uttarakhand Government .He is an IAS officer
of the 1988 batch IAS officer who belongs to the Uttarakhand cadre.
NSC soon to be a "Mini Ratna"company
The National Seeds Corporation (NSC) of which Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) is Santosh Kumar Roongta is soon going to be a "Mini Ratna" public sector undertaking (PSU) because it is getting the status of a "Schedule B" company.
Krishna goes to Mizoram
Anand Krishna who so far was Joint Director of the Delhi Zoo has gone to Mizoram on completion of his central deputation tenure. He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the 1994 batch who belongs to the AGMUT.
Subramaniam is CF Arunachal Pradesh
Subramaniam on completion of his central deputation tenure has joined the Arunachal Pradesh government as a Conservator of Forests (CF). He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the 1992 batch who belongs to the AGMUT.
Mukhopadhayay is back to CAG office
Amitabh Mukhopadhayay, (IA&AS 1980), on repatriation to the department has been transferred and posted as Director General (Trg/Resc) in the CAG office. He will relieve S. K. Bahri of the additional charge of the post. He will also hold charge of the post of Officer on Special Duty (Communications Policy in HAG Scale). S K Bahri will continue to hold the charge of the IT audit.
Kapoor attending 5th PG course
Rohit Kapoor, Addl.SP, CBI, ACB Guwahati, is one of the four IPS officers who are attending the 5th Post Graduate (PG)diploma programme in Public Management and Policy that commenced recently at the Management Development Institute(MDI) Gurgaon (Haryana).
IPS changes in Andhra Pradesh
Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat will now be DIG of Karimnagar range.
G Suryaprakasha Rao has been transferred to Eluru range as DIG .
Naveen Chand has been shifted as DIG, Nizamabad range..
IAS postings in Himachal Pradesh
On return from Central deputation K Sanjay Murthy has been posted as director, Energy.Madhu Bala Sharma on return from the induction-training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy, Mussorie, has been posted as special secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment.Rajiv Shankar on return from training from Mussorie has been posted as director, Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration (HIPA).
IPS postings in Himachal Pradesh
Arvind Sharda, on his return from UN Mission assignment has been posted as SP, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, South Zone at Shimla.Shubra Tiwari also on her return from UN Mission has been posted as SP, CID at Shimla.Ranjana Chauhan has been made Additional SP, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mandi.
Central Bank signs MOU with AMW
Central Bank of India (CBI) and Asia Motor Works Limited (AMW) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding wherein the former will extend finance to AMW's vehicle customers. AMW's long relationship with Central Bank of India gets further strengthened through this initiative which seeks to leverage the Bank's extensive branch network to cater to the financial requirements of AMW's retail/SRTO customers.
Ashish Kumar Singh to be Secretary to Maharashtra CM
As the grapevine has it Ashish Kumar Singh Additional Commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) will be new Secretary to new Mahrashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. Ashish Kumar Singh is an IAS officer of the 1988 batch who belongs to the Maharashtra cadre. Singh had served with Prithviraj Chavan in Delhi before joining the MCGM.
J P Dange to continue as CS in Maharashtra
As the grapevine has it J.P.Dange will continue as Chief Secretary of Maharashtra.Dange is an IAS officer of the 1973-batch who belongs to the Maharashtra cadre.
D. Sivanandan to continue as DGP in Maharashtra
As the grapevine has it D. Sivanandan will continue as Maharashtra's Director General of Police (DGP). Sivanandan is an IPS officer of the 1976-batch who belongs to the Maharashtra cadre.
Tata Motors reconfirms robustness of Tata Nano design
Claiming that Tata Nano is a safe car with a robust design, state-of-the-art components and built with an uncompromising attention to quality in all aspects, Tata Motors has said that it is not recalling Nanos adding, "Customers can rest assured that there are no generic defects in it". Besides, the company has claimed that its customer satisfaction studies with current Tata Nano owners indicate that about 85% are satisfied or very satisfied with the car, because of it being 'small yet spacious', its performance, maneuverability, durability, low operating cost and safety. The reasons for the incidents in few Tata Nano cars, the Company claims, were specific and due to additional foreign electrical equipment having been installed or foreign material left on the exhaust system. As such, the company said, "we have decided to make the car even more robust by providing additional protection in the exhaust system and the electrical system".

CORPORATE
RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat retires
Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Usha Thorat has demitted office on Wednesday. She served the Organisation for nearly 38 years in various capacities .
Anand Sinha is new RBI Dy Governor
Anand Sinha, an executive director of the RBI has taken over on Wednesday as new Deputy Governor of the RBI.
( We said this on September 13 )
Bachchan promos turn Gujarat into hot tourist destination
The campaign by Gujarat Tourism in which noted Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan features has reportedly given a big fillip to tourists inflow to Gujarat. "Khushboo Gujarat ki (fragrance of Gujarat)" has boosted tourists by more than 47 per cent. The campaign had been shot free of cost by Amitabh Bachchan. Real moving spirit behind this is Gujarat Government's dynamic and dashing Tourism Secretary Vipul Mitra who is a Gujarat cadre IAS officer of 1986 batch.
Capt Kaul to be CMD of Hindustan Salts
Capt P K Kaul is being tipped to be new CMD of the Hindustan Salts Ltd. He is presently ED in the CONCOR.
IOC to get six independent Directors
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is going to get six independent Directors on its Board.
SBI promotes six CGMs as DMDs
State Bank of India (SBI) has promoted six Chief General Managers (CGMs) as Deputy Managing Directors (DMDs). They are: Shiv Kumar - CGM Hyderabad, Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya - CGM Banglore, Venkatachalam - CGM Patna, Shyamal Acharya - CGM in Corporate office, Santosh Nayyar - CGM in Corporate office & Vishwanath - CGM Treasury Management.
Vijay Pawar is new CEO of Reliance General Insurance
Vijay Pawar has been appointed as the new chief executive officer (CEO) and executive director of the Anil Ambani Group-controlled Reliance General Insurance company.Pawar succeeds K A Somasekharan.
Arvind Mafatlal resigns as Chairman
Arvind N. Mafatlal has ceased to be a director of Mafatlal Industries Ltd with effect from October 28, 2010. Consequently, he has ceased to be Chairman of the board of directors of the company.
Hrishikesh Mafatlal is Chairman Mafatlal Industries
Hrishikesh A. Mafatlal, Vice-chairman of Mafatlal Industries Ltd has been appointed as Chairman of the board of directors of the company.
Goyal reappointed ED
Nectar Lifesciences Limited has re-appointed Aryan Goyal as an Executive Director of the company for a period of 5 years from December 5, 2010.
Ranjan is EVP Patni Computer Systems
Patni Computer Systems has appointed Rajiv Ranjan as the Executive Vice President and Global Head of business operations.
Parabolic Drugs appoints addl. directors
The Board of Parabolic Drugs Limited has approved the appointment of Gurpeet Singh Sandhu and Nikhil Goel as the Additional Directors of the Company w.e.f. November 08, 2010
Shree Om Trades directors resign
Gautam C. Mehta, Jaimin G. Mehta and Nikhil Merchant have resigned from the Directorship of Shree Om Trades Ltd w.e.f. November 8, 2010.
Seethapathy resigns as ED
Super Spinning Mills Limited has informed the Exchange that K R Seethapathy has resigned from his position as Executive Director of Super Spinning Mills Ltd .
BoI appoints nominee director
Bank of India (BoI) has appointed Nominee Director M V Venketeswaran in place of P D Upadhye on the Board of Directors of Hind Syntex Ltd .
Aventis Pharma appoints alternative directors
The board of Aventis Pharma has appointed M G Rao and S C Ghoge as alternative directors to J M Georges and F X Duhalde, respectively.
Centrum Capital appoints additional director
Centrum Capital has appointed Rajesh Narain Gupta as additional director of the company with effect from October 25, 2010.
Sangam Health Care Products director resigns
Somendra Srivastava, Director of Sangam Health Care Products has resigned from the board with effect from September 30, 2010.

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)

Why Goyal should not become CBEC Chairman?

The Mankad committee recommendations have been approved by the Finance Minister and they are to be implemented. One of the recommendations is that the senior most among the Members should be made Chairman ( for 1 yr fixed term). Even if we do not have the 1 yr fixed term ( as this will require going beyond 60) nothing should prevent the government to implement the Mandkad committee recommendations. It is sad that the two senior most Members who have more than 10-11 months to go, and each with impeccable reputation/integrity are being overlooked . There is nothing in the portfolio of Goyal that justifies this kind of treatment ... Strange are the ways of the government

Sudha

Multiple stand

There seems to be some confusion and the different information commissions seem to be taking multiple stand on the question whether in cases of the third party information, a notice should be issued to the third party invariably or not. Thanks for the categorical information with a case law for the poor PIO.

Swaminathan S Aiyyar

Good luck to Vipul

I am happy to know about the good work Vipul is doing in Gujarat for the development of tourism. Vipul's father late M.P.Mitra who was a colleague and dear friend of mine was a bright Punjab cadre officer who died in harness. He was the victim of an air crash and was flying with Home Minister Buta Singh whose Private Secretary he was at that time. His father-in-law K.L. Lekhi was a Punjab cadre IPS officer. I wish this young officer good luck in his efforts.

S P Ingal

Any more proof of IAS's superiority needed?

When it comes to transparency, the country's elite class, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), has shied away from disclosing information about their assets. However, lesser mortals such as the Indian Forests Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) have no problems with the disclosure.
The government had recently asked the three services -IAS, IFS and IPS -whether they would want to reveal assets of its officials under the Right To Information Act.
Although the IAS officers failed to respond even after four months, IPS and IFS officers agreed to the idea.
The IPS and IFS were prompt with their agreement, but the IAS failed to submit its opinion, despite reminders.
"Our officers have nothing to hide," said a former office-bearer of the IFS Officers' Association in Delhi. "We want that people should know how much we earn as compared to other services even though we all clear the same (civil service) examination."
The question came after Supreme Court judges and Union council of ministers agreed to divulge their assets, and the Central Information Commission wanted to know about the services' opinion.
Although it is among the most powerful services in the country's administrative network -over 90% of secretary levels posts in the central government are with the IAS officers -the IAS is reluctant on transparency, especially about information of personal kind.
The IAS officers' association said it was not against transparency, but wanted to adopt a more democratic process to adopt a key change. Therefore, the association has sought views of all state-level associations, unlike the national bodies for other two services, which decided at their own level.
Though the information sought is already with the government, the law says such information can be disclosed only after the officials concerned consent to make it public.
Until now, only select IAS officers have permitted disclosure of their assets.
Even retired IAS officers who were re-employed, were reluctant to allow public's assess to information about their assets.
None of the retired IAS officers in the CIC, and the Election Commission, agreed to put their assets on the commissions' websites saying "no government rule prescribes such declaration".

Raj Kumar

"Obama's visit to India!!!"

Obama's address to Joint session of Parliament was inspiring. It certainly enhanced our feel good factor. But, it requires a reality check. The concrete implications of the speech need to be carefully examined by the South Block mandarins. Let the Government of India come out with a white paper after Obama's visit, elaborating the concrete results that the visit has bestowed on India. It could not be a win-win situation for India as there would be a wide gap between Obama's rhetorics and the ground realities. We do not know the contents of the secret part of the one-on-one discussion between Obama and Manmohan Singh.

A K SAXENA (A retired civil servant)

Retirement Age

Maharatnas (PSUs) have been given power to frame their HR policies. They should decide retirement age in their respective organizations.

Kait