What people say about us !

I like this website very much and I want it to be updated 3 to 4 times in a day.

Meenakshi Jain

Aaj Ki Aawaz

In recent times Congress has shown its autocratic face!!!! Now it's calling an All Party Meet on FDI in Retail, why did it not do this before trying to bulldoze FDI in Retail???? Parliament is meant for consensus but, Congress preferred to take a decision on this very vital issue by bypassing Parliament!! Had Congress thought this out it would have tried to win over the Public and Opposition!! Every year Congress gets the Government to spend crores on ads on anniversaries of Gandhi family's dearly departed, so it could have got the Government to spend a few more crores on educating Public on the benefits of FDI in Retail!!! Congress uses its friendly Media to cover up its misdeeds... it could have used the same Media to educate Public on FDI in Retail!!! Actually FDI was a knee jerk reaction post PM's Bali visit and Congress itself has not done its homework!!! FDI in Retail will benefit us only if our interests are protected.... what Congress was pushing through was 'a one side deal favouring Wal-Mart and likes', and hence the sudden hurry!!! The other glaring example of Congress's allergy for Democracy is Kapil Sibal demanding censorship of Social Media.... he can use whatever terminology but this is what he's asking for!!!! He's using the communal card to push this through.... but in reality it is the criticism of the Gandhi family that is behind this move!!!! As it is these Sites have an anti abuse mechanism in place!!! Okay if there is a morphed pic of Sonia ... as long as it's not indecent what is the problem???? There is a treasure of info available on Google that literally makes the powers to be squirm and this is the reason for Sibal's call for censorship!!! Like Harish Salve's said ' if you want to make something popular ban it'.... Sibal can get this checked ......since his demand Social Sites must have added a huge number of Indian users and a huge number of dormant users would have become active!!!

Like I've said Congress is an autocracy,
Running the World's largest Democracy!!

Omar Abdullah has tweeted that BJP and family drove out M.F. Hussein !!! Fact of the matter is Hussein drove himself out!!! His penchant to stay in the news did him in!!!! Otherwise which sane person would lampoon religious deities knowing that this would cause a huge outcry!!! He never lampooned his own religion!!! In the name of art the pseudo lot and Muslims wanted his blasphemy to be overlooked!!! And here Muslims did a big disfavour to their Hindu brethren... because rather than siding with the Hindus and demanding Hussein stopped hurting Hindu religious sentiments they sided with Hussein... its said if one respects one's own Mother one would respect other's Mothers too!!! I'm sorry this is plain speak but it's the truth!!! When the Danish cartoonist lampooned Prophet Mohammed no Hindu argued for him 'saying this was artistic creativity'..... and if a Hindu artiste lampooned Islam in India Muslims would have created a huge hue and cry..... on the similar lines like the Hindus have done. And if the Hindu Artiste did this in a Muslim dominated Country he'd be stoned to death!!! Coming to Omar.... the Party he abuses is the one which gave him a break..... Vajpayee encouraged him.... greenhorns like Omar and Sukhbir were made Ministers to give them a start!!!

Omar is an 'aisaan faramosh'!!!!
On the favours he got from BJP during NDA days he stays khaamosh!!!

The Gidderbha (Punjab) Sarpanch's slap will cost Akali Dal dear...... more because of the Akali Leadership's response!!! Power has gone to their heads..... if they did not want to mee the Public then why this Sangat Darshan!!! The Sapranch was preventing the Teachers from meeting Harsimrat Badal because he knew she did not want to meet them!!! The on TV it looked as if Harsimrat was siding with the Sarpanch!! Okay the Sarpanch may be vital in a vital election but they could ahve easily diffused the situation!!! Despite the video footage the Sarpanch said that he did not slap the Lady and just pushed her!!!! And it did not stop there.... now the teachers who were protesting the slapping were lathi charged by the Cops!! Is Aklai Dal hell bent on loosing this election???

Akali's say ' Raaj nahi Sewa'!!!!!
Fact is its been ' Raaj for Mewa' (benefits)!!!!

PS.... jokes doing the round..... today Parliament will not loose 2 crores in an unacceptable manner it'll loose this amount in an acceptable manner!! In Pakistan a Minister thanks the Taaliban for maintaining peace during Moharrum... in India you have Sushma Swaraj thanking PM and FM.... in both cases people ask for what????

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Will government allow 26 percent FDI in aviation sector?
Given the vociferous and thundering recall of renewed nationalism it is highly unlikely that UPA can get a nod for FDI in aviation sector. The tricky part lies in the fact that most of the airline companies have borrowed heavily from PSU banks and are looking to dip in for more, forget about repaying back.

Forget gold, Diamond to bring shine to Asian savings
Saving in gold is a thing of passe, the new thing being saving in diamond. Demand for diamond is likely to increase by six percent from India and China according to a study conducted by Russia based Bain and Co.

India Inc to play mediator with opposition?
Meeting with vociferous opposition on every economic issue that threatens to stall growth and halt development, India Inc plans to now write to BJP and other regional parties urging them to stop playing vote bank politics that will threaten development and instead embrace pro development policies that will benefit all.

Suggestions to Sibal on networking site galore
After facing flak from netizens, Kapil Sibal has received suggestions on networking site for his own minister 'Try muzzling Digvijay Singh' says a site if you are so worried about communal chaos.

A new way to circumvent visa issues of nationalist America?
Here is good news for India's tech professionals. Fed up with the visa rules that restrict technology talent pool from India and China, an incubator of 1000 entrepreneurs is going to be set up in international high seas off the Los Angeles coast 20 km from Silicon Valley. This ship will house tech professionals and angel investors whom visiting tech professionals can meet and discuss business to set up shop.

Mumbai developers outdo each other to develop F1 race track
After the success of F1 rally in Noida developers in Mumbai, who never part with their land without stiff commitments and preconditions, are now outdoing each other with their offer to develop the potential racetrack. Mumbai Metropolitan Region has received offers where each developer has outdone the other in terms of commitment to the new sport.

Mumbai's dabbawallas to contest civic polls
It is learnt that Mumbai's famous dabawallas are likely to contest upcoming civic body polls for various parties.

Where is crude oil headed to?
Oil is on boil once again with the renewed tensions between US and Iran and trouble in Sudan. Oil price watchers in India's oil companies say that oil might touch $130 level from the present $100 level.

What will India do on climate negotiations now?
With China agreeing to cut green house emissions from 2020 India has been left in a fix on the way forward. India's environment minister Ms. Jayanthi Natrajan has not gone with any mandate to give commitments on carbon emission cuts. Will India still roadblock the proposal or will the US exert pressure on India to give a firm timeline? This is being discussed in corporate and bureaucratic circles. India's oil, fertiliser, coal, steel companies' trade carbon credits and these make a huge chunk of their profits, hence the worry.

BUREAUCRACY

Who will succeed Sisodia as DG, IDSA?
Who will succeed Director Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) ? Tie is said to be between Meira Shankar and Arvind Gupta. Tenure of Sisodia has come to an end on November 15 .

Who will be Special Secretary, Internal Security?
Who will succeed U K Bansal as Special Secretary (Internal Security) ?.Home Minister P Chidambaram has interviewed 5 officers for the post .They are Mssrs Rajeev DG-NDRF,R.N. Gupta, Intelligence Bureau, Ajay Chadha, Spl. Commissioner of Delhi Police, Subhash Joshi, Spl DG-CRPF & Prakash Mishra, Spl. DG - NIA.

Dimple Verma to be Joint Secretary Minority Affairs
Ms Dimple Verma is being tipped to be new Joint Secretary Minority Affairs in the Government of India. She is 1989 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Naresh Kumar to be JS Mines?
Name of Naresh Kumar is doing the round for the post of Joint Secretary Mining in the Government of India. He is 1987 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Files pile up in PMO
As the grapevine has it files have piled up in the PMO. Thanks to the row over FDI in retail business.

Special CSB for empanelment of 1992 batch IAS
As the grapevine has it, there will be a special CSB for empanelment of IAS officers belonging to 1992 batch in Government of India (GoI) as Joint Secretaries. However, that date is yet to be fixed.

Panda to be AS and FA Home
Name of Suresh Chandra Panda is in circulation for the post of Additional Secretary and FA in the Ministry of Home Affairs. He is 1981 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Cadre of IAS officer changed
Cadre of 2007 batch IAS officer Ningthoujam Geoffrey has been changed from Assam-Meghalaya to Manipur-Tripura .

Race for FC, Railway Board narrows down
As the grapevine has it the race for the post of Financial Commissioner (FC) in Railway Board has now narrowed down between two officers.Thus, there are now two contenders in fray for the post that fell vacant following retirement of Ms.Popmpa Babbar on November 30, 2012.They are: Ms. Vijaya Kant GM -Construction in North Frontier Railway (NFR) & Abhay K Khanna General
Manager Integrated Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai.

File of FC, Railway Board with the Cabinet Secretary
As the grapevine has it file relating to appointment of Financial Commissioner (FC) in Railway Board is with the Cabinet Secretary. There are now two contenders in fray for the post that fell vacant following retirement of Ms.Popmpa Babbar on November
30, 2012.They are: Ms. Vijaya Kant GM -Construction in North Frontier Railway (NFR) & Abhay K Khanna General Manager Integrated Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai.

File relating to three Railway GMs still in PMO
As the grapevine has it file relating to appointment of three GMs in Railway is still in the PMO.Those who will be elevated as GMs are: A.K. Mittal, V.P. Khare & Radheshyam

Vishnu Prakash appointed Ambassador to Korea
Vishnu Prakash, presently Joint Secretary at MEA Headquarters has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Republic of Korea.
(We said this on October11)

RK Chopra to be Director Technical in CMPDIL
RK Chopra is poised to be Director Technical in the Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL), Ranchi.

Vivekanand appointed DIG in SPG
Vivekananda, DIG(SIB)Chhattisgarh Police has been appointed as DIG, Special Protection Group (SPG). He is an IPS officer of 1996 batch who belongs to the CG cadre.
(We said this on November 16)

Mukul Roy would have been a better Railway Minister?
Everyone in the PMO is asking one question whether Kolkotas' initial choice of Mukul Roy for Minister Railways would have been a cordial equation for UPA. As WIC has reported perceptions that the present incumbent Minister, a choice of PM as against TMC, has dual responsibility ie to portray publicly as TMC but act in a manner to have confidence of PM through cronies close to PMO. Policy, postings and promotions decisions are left loose so that PMO or Railway Board can decide and Minister can blame them for not accepting his recommendations Thats' not to take any responsibility! May be Mukul Roy would have had the say of TMC, clearly. Lately, the fiasco about appointment of Financial Commissioner where the proposal, like many earlier, of the Railway Minister has been virtually shot down by PMO is glaring example of weak leadership in Railways. Lets see who prevails and blackmails this time after FDI stunt ?.

Mehboob Alam gets three months extension
Mehboob Alam,IG,RAF, CRPF,New Delhi has been granted three months extension in his central deputation tenure. He is an IPS officer of 1981 batch who belongs to the Tamil Nadu Cadre.
(We said this on November 2, 2011)

Chauhan returns to UP
Devendra Singh Chauhan, IG (PERS) Shastra Seema Bhal is back to the parent Uttar Pradesh cadre. He is an IPS officer of 1988 batch who belongs to the UP Cadre.
(We said this on November 4, 2011)

Sengar gets three months extension
Amrendra Kumar Sengar, Regional Passport Officer(RPO),Ghaziabad has been granted three months extension in his central deputation tenure. He is an IPS officer of the 1995 batch who belongs to the UP Cadre.
(We said this on November 12, 2011)

Diptivilasa on official tour to London
D.Diptivilasa, Joint Secretary,(Police1)Ministry of Home Affair is currently on a week's official tour to London. He is an
IAS officer of 1981 batch who belongs to the UP cadre.

PK Bishnoi to be Member Commercial, PNGRB
As the grapevine has it, file relating to the appointment of PK Bishnoi ex CMD Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) as Member Commercial of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is under process.

Jagbans Singh promoted as Principal AG
Jagbans Singh (IA&AS 1986), Principal Director, International Relations in CAG office has been promoted to the grade of Principal Accountant General .He has taken over as DG International Relations.

Vivek Mehrotra to be on the Board of GAIL
Vivek Mehrotra is being tipped to be Independent Director of the GAIL. He is retired 1974 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

Result of DMS in SBI to be out on December 9,2011
As many as five Chief General Mangers (CGMs) of the State Bank of India (SBI) faced interviews for posts of Deputy Managing Directors(DMDs) on December 6, 2011. They are: Achal Gupta, B.B. Chaubal, RK Saraf, Atanu Sen & RK Gatrg. Of them three have bright chances. They are: ,R.K. Saraf, Atanu Sen & Achal Gupta.Result is expected to be made official on December 9,2011.

AR Sekar is officiating CMD of New India Assurance Co.
AR Sekar is officiating Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. He is the senior most General Manager in the said company.

G Srinivasan ceases to be CMD, New India Insurance
G. Srinivasan who was earlier given additional charge of Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) New India Assurance Co has ceased to be CMD of the said company. He is already CMD of the United Insurance Company. He was appointed in place of Ramdoss who was suspended on August 16,2011.

Shake up in non life PSU insurance in 1 month
Shake up in non life PSU insurance companies is expected to take place in one month's time.

Ms Vineeta Kumar promoted & posted as Sr. Adviser, Planning Commission
Ms Vineeta Kumar, Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) officer of Indian Economic Service, has been promoted to Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) and posted as Senior Adviser, Planning Commission.

Srivastava to succeed Sachdeva
Raj Kumar Srivastava Counsellor ea Vienna is going to succeed Vinod Kumar Sachdeva DCM in Brasilia in April.

Post of Director (Tech. & Field Services) vacant in ONGC Ltd
The post of Director (Tech. & Field Services) has been lying vacant in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC). Those willing to apply can send their applications before February 8, 2012 to Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB).

Modified terminal building put into operations at Coimbatore airport (UPDATED)
The third phase of expansion and modification of terminal building of Coimbatore Airport has been put into operations on December 7, 2011. The facility has segregated International departure area having 25 checks in counters and new departure conveyor belts for efficient baggage handling and better facilities to the passengers and airlines. The peak hour handling capacity of the terminal building is 350 arriving and 350 departing passengers at a time. The increased area of departure hall (i.e. 5962 sqm), will have 3 conveyers, 2 elevators, 2 escalators & one lift. In addition to this a new tensile fabric canopy on city side for visitors and passengers, new extended car parking for 300 cars & miscellaneous facilities like new baggage make-up area, A/C plant, substation , pump house, fire fighting, and security CCTV have been made available for the convenience of airlines and air travellers at Coimbatore airport. The expanded and modified terminal building at Coimbatore airport has been completed at a total cost of Rs. 72 crore. It may be mentioned here that the new arrival hall measuring approx. 5500 sqm was put into operation during June, 2010 in first phase. Subsequently, the arrival hall was segregated into international and domestic area in January, 2011 on completion of the pending works. In the second phase, the domestic security hold area and baggage make up area were expanded and put into operation in June, 2011.

CAG Vinod Rai elected Chairman of International Body (UPDATED)
Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG), Vinod Rai has been elected as the Chairman of the Panel of External Auditors of the United Nations, the Specialized Agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He succeeds Norbert Hauser, Vice-President, Federal Court of Auditors, Germany.

Like any other organization, the accounts and management operations of the United Nations, the Specialised Agencies (WHO, WFP, WIPO etc.) and the International Atomic Energy Agency are required to be audited and reported on periodically by independent external auditors. The General Assembly in 1959 established the Panel of External Auditors, comprising the individual external auditors of the United Nations system, who are also Heads of Supreme Audit Institutions. Panel Members share experiences and methodologies on an on-going basis to ensure, to the extent possible, uniformity of external audit practices throughout the United Nations system. The findings and recommendations of Panel Members are taken seriously and the status of recommendations is closely monitored for timely and effective implementation. In this way, Panel Members contribute significantly to the fulfillment of the Charter of the United Nations.

Much of the Panel's work is undertaken by the Technical Group which is mandated to research and review specific topics of interest to the Panel. The Technical Group reports to the Panel at its regular meetings on the topics reviewed and its recommendations. Shri Jagbans Singh, Director General, in the office of the CAG of India, has been elected as the Chairman of the Technical Group of the Panel.

Rakesh Srivastava CPR to MP Govt. bereveaed (UPDATED)
R.K. Shrivastava father of Rakesh Shrivastava Shrivastava(IAS) Commissioner Public Relations (CPR) with the Madhya Pradesh Government passed away in Raipur on December 8,2011. He was 88 years old.

Orders for appointment of Rajive Kumar as Addl Secy, Cabinet Secretariat issued (UPDATED)
Orders for the appointment of Rajive Kumar as Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat have been issued on Thursday. He is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
(We said this on November 18, 2011)

Manoj Joshi posted as DIT-II, HRD, Delhi (UPDATED)
Manoj Joshi, CIT (OSD), HRD, Delhi has been posted as DIT-II, HRD, Delhi (Post created by diversion of post of CIT (ITAT), Jodhpur).


Ms Sunita Verma posted as Director (Inv.III), Delhi (UPDATED)
Ms Sunita Verma, IRS, has been posted as Director (Inv-III), Department of Revenue (Hqrs), New Delhi.


Ms Minakshi Goswami posted as Director (Inv.IV), Delhi (UPDATED)
Ms Minakshi Goswami, IRS, has been posted as Director (Inv-IV), Department of Revenue (Hqrs), New Delhi.


Amaresh Singh posted as Director (Inv.V), Delhi (UPDATED)
Amaresh Singh, IRS, has been posted as Director (Inv-V), Department of Revenue (Hqrs), New Delhi.


Mrs Prachi Sinha posted as OSD, CCIT (CCA), Delhi region (UPDATED)
Mrs. Prachi Sinha, commissioner of Income Tax, on compulsory wait, has been posted as OSD, CCIT (CCA), Delhi region.


B P Gaur gets addl. charge of CCIT-I, Mumbai (UPDATED)
B P Gaur, DGIT (Inv.), Mumbai, has been assigned an additional charge of CCIT-I, Mumbai.

Selected candidates allocated IRS (IT) & Central Service Group 'A' (UPDATED)
Department of Revenue has issued a list of the candidates allocated to IRS (IT) and Central Service Group 'A' on the basis of civil service (main) examination, 2010.

(DEBATE)
EMPANELMENT IN GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Whether administrative procedure for empanelment of Additional Secretary and Secretary in the Government of India is fair and legally sound?
Mail your views to suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com or mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com

CORPORATE

Reliance Mutual Fund appoints Jethi as Marketing head
Reliance Mutual Fund has appointed Ajay Jethi as Head-Marketing Communications of Reliance Capital Asset Management

Sunil Dutt appointed by RIM
Sunil Dutt has been appointed as Head of India operations by Research in Motion (RIM), the Blackberry service provider.

Rawal nominated as Director, UCO Bank
The Central Government has nominated Pravin Rawal as Director of UCO Bank in place of K L Prasad with effect from December 2, 2011.

Meena nominated Director, Corporation Bank
The Central Government has nominated L K Meena, Director, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India, New Delhi as the Director of Corporation Bank with effect from December 2, 2011.

Parekh resigns as Director, Hindustan Oil Exploration Company
Deepak Parekh has resigned from the Board of Directors of Hindustan Oil Exploration Company .

Saini resigns as Independent Director, Vaswani Industries Ltd
The Board of Vaswani Industries Limited has accepted the resignation of Sunny Saini, Independent Director of the company.

Jadwani appointed as Addl. Director, Vaswani Industries Ltd
Sanjay Jadwani has been appointed as an Additional Director of Vaswani Industries Ltd on the Board of Directors of the company.

Mishra ceases to be Director, PNB
V K Mishra, Director on the Board of Punjab National Bank ceased to be Director on the Board of the Bank w.e.f. November 5, 2011 on completion of his tenure of three years from the date of induction.

Chandrasekar appointed Company Secy. Hatsun Agro Product Ltd
S. Chandrasekar has been appointed as Company Secretary of Hatsun Agro Product Ltd in place of N. P. Mathi Lingan.

Deoras promoted as President (Asia Pacific) , Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive has promoted Mukul Deoras --- the Managing Director for its India Operations as President ( Asia Pacific).

Parameswaran appointed MD, Colgate-Palmolive India
Prabha Parameswaran, Marketing Head Colgate (Mexico) has been appointed as Managing Director, Colgate Palmolive India.

Arora appointed Addl. Director, MPS Ltd
Nishith Arora, Director of ADI BPO Services Private Limited has been appointed as an Additional Director on the Board of Directors of MPS Ltd with effective from December 7, 2011.

HT Group appointments
HT Media Group appoints Pankaj Tibrewal as the business head - south and west, since Salil Sadanandan is moving out of the group. Meanwhile, Rajesh Ramakrishnan has been roped in to head marketing for North and East.Tibrewal comes to HT Media from the Future Group where he was the chief operating officer and business head for Pantaloons. Ramakrishnan's last assignment was with Apollo Tyres as head of global marketing. India to become 3rd largest manufacturer of steel in world

Ritu Singal gets award
Ritu Singal, MD, Raglan Group awarded 'Woman Entrepreneur of the Year' - 2011 -- NR Narayana Murthy gave away the special award at the felicitation ceremony held in Mumbai. Ms. Ritu Singal embodied women power at the ET-NOW India MART Leaders of Tomorrow Awards 2011 Ceremony held in Mumbai recently. she was recognized as the 'Woman Entrepreneur of the Year' at the ceremony for exceptionally leading Raglan Group to success. The prestigious award was bestowed on her by the Indian entrepreneurship icon Mr. NR Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Technologies.

Workload must be limited for effective Lokpal

If Lokpal is to be effective, its workload must be limited so that it does not boil down to an Institution with thousands of pendencies. Ideally it should have jurisdiction over all politicians and bureaucrats of the level of Joint Secretary and above. A special provision can be made to include lower level when they are found to be part of group including higher level officers responsible for the scam/corruption. This will enable lokpal to dispose of matters within reasonble time, which in turn will send signal in the system.

Jatin

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Suggestion for consideration

As all govt servants are required to obtain permission before leaving head quarters, the same should be applicable to all public representatives and their movement details should be published, on the concerned website of Parliament or Assemblies, for knowledge of public atleast after the movement is over if security reasons are sited as an excuse

Anonymous

It is beyond minister's prerogative ?

How can a Minister refuse to take a particular officer as Secretary. Let the reason recorded by him in the File be published on this website.

Kumar

Best wishes to Mittal

I wish A K Mittal, a bright and successful career. May this new beginning bring ever lasting success to Mittal.

Rajesh Bahal

Congratulations

Is Sikhar Ki Choti Par Ponchane Par Hardik Mubarak. Mazdooran ka ek sapna baki rah gaya hai, isi athak prayas ke bal par aur apne computerised dimaag se last choti par pahunchtey hue CMD ban kar hum sab ka sapna pura karengey. Hum mazdooron ki dua hamesha aap ke saath bani rahegi.

Baliram Singh, GS,All India NBCC Employees Assocation

Failed again to sell?

Repeated failures of the Government to sell its projects affect its reputation and writ. It failed to sell the Nuclear Deal to the nation. It failed to define poverty line at Rs 32. It has failed to sell FDI. Why? Because none of these are pro-poor or people or the nation.The Boston Consultancy Group is reported to have claimed that it aims to "create a new India".Well, nothing new can ever be created until the old one is destroyed. Is FDI the Final Destruction of India? Is it being aimed to dismantle all policies and laws governing economic decisions of GOI? Propaganda in the name of the "poor or farmers" but setting up shops in 53 "cities"!! What a fine example of "Backward Area Development" or "Hill Area Development"!!! Special concessions were/are available to entrepreneurs if they set up shop in backward areas. FDI seems to be exceptional, perhaps in the chain of EOU(Export Oriented Units) or SEZs etc. Some big industrial houses of India were allowed to set up units only if they set up their units in backward areas. Why not make FDI beneficiaries to set up facilities in backward areas and hilly terrains, where supplies hardly reach and quality/price/ quantity are always frustrating, for equitable development of the country in "economic" terms? India is neither America nor Europe that retail "monopolies or dominance" need to be created: we are a country that lives 80% on less than a dollar a day and remaining on 1000s of dollars a day! Are we having the rule of the economists only to serve the wishes and requirements of the 20% at the cost of the "needs" of the 80%? That way alone this government can take pride in calling itself better than Nehru; may be even Indira or Rajiv. It seems to be happy if only the 15 rupees of every hundred reach the target group. Such economic logic needs to be tamed by mature political vision & philosophy, which is in total deficit for almost 8 years now. It is the biggest political infamy our country has won in these years. FDI is mistaken to be about Kirana stores. It is the cruellest joke of the century: it is the most powerful instrument of the advancing neo colonialism of the 21st Century! This colonization will get the strength from "technology" and power from economic levers for regime change in hostile territories. It will survive on the strength of a handful of leaders like those in India or Afghanistan or Pakistan, who will be only too glad to serve foreign interests by destroying everything national by undermining people's confidence in their own strengths and highlighting only their weaknesses; change policies; change laws; and by subverting the law. A single word "corruption" will be enough in their armoury to demolish all centers of power, be they the ruling or the opposition cadres. International voices against FDI need to be heard with respect. Moreover, there is hardly any space technology involved in retail and India has more money kept in secret accounts abroad than the entire FDI. We have been demanding , as a policy, "technology transfers" before signing up "financial collaborations". Now this government is not interested in technology transfer, but only business deals. Why? Just to emphasize the point, the GOI insisted for centralized import of optic fibre technology in the good old days of people's government but now wants to import even Kirana stores! What for? We still remember the political fortunes made and waned by Coca Cola in India, which got another pre-mature birth in the name of 77 and is now coca cola again. These anti-people initiatives are ill intentioned and economically "disruptive", which shall prove fatal for the "economic security" of the country. The people must participate in the debate without getting overawed by big names in politics or business selectively coming forward to defend such indefensible acts of gross indiscretion.

M L Gupta

Should the Property returns be disclosed?

The applicant sought the copies about the movable and immovable property returns of an IAS Officer for a particular period. The PIO consulted the officer in terms of the provisions of Section 11 of the RTI Act. The officer objected to giving the details stating that the property file returns is purely a personal matter and is not related with any public activity or interest. In line with the view taken by the CIC in numerous decisions in the past, the Commission upheld the decision of the PIO not to disclose such information. The CIC has consistently held that the immovable property returns filed by officers are their personal information and should not be ordinarily disclosed. Section 8 (1)(j) of the RTI Act exempts such information from disclosure. The CIC observed that in recent months, on their own several state governments have published the immovable property returns filed by the All India Service officers in their respective websites. Therefore, the Commission directed the CPIO to ascertain from the State Government of Uttar Pradesh about this and disclose the information to the Complainant provided such returns have already been published by the State Government.

Comments

Immovable Property Return (IPR) of a government servant is a personal information and is not liable for disclosure under the RTI Act.

[Shri M P Singh v. Staff Selection Commission in CIC/WB/C/2010/000026SM]

- 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)