"I know people whose daily appetite is to view your website. Though I am not one of them, whenever I do so, I find it of interest. Even your critics grudgingly admit so in private so I understand .Kudos. Your readers may be interested to read a candid and an excellent interview 'featuring Sudha Pillai & GK Pillai -the Bureaucracy's No 1 Power Couple ' as per Economic Times. Food for thought ."
Shekhar Borker -Delhi.

Aaj Ki Aawaz

The writing on the wall is Amar was hired by Congress!!!

To damn the Bhushans he slimiest one of them all into duty kiya Congress ne press!!

Amar in the meantime is revelling in the attention he is getting!!!

Such attention is short lived and often ends in trouble Amar is forgetting!!

But for a man who says 'badnaam ka bhi hotha ha naam',

He'll care two hoots if he is called badnaam!!

And it's said 'people who play with fire end up getting burnt by the fire'!!!

Tomorrow for a CD on Sonia or Rahul koyi karr saktha hai Amar ko hire!!

Like I said yesterday he has a formidable CD collection and can manufacture CDs too!!!

Like in Bhushan case a little bit of both he did do!!

Shanti must have praised his son in some other context and this praise was spliced in!!!

And made to look like Shanti was committing a cardinal sin!!

Tomorrow Amar could be used by someone else to buy votes!!!!

About his prowess to break and make Sarkaar's Amar often gloats!!

Sonia's received Anna's latest missive to rein in 'her loose cannons'…… it's been binned!!!

As 'her lose cannons' have done what she commanded they have not sinned!!

Sonia with every passing day 'seems to be sawing more and more of the branch she's perched on'!!

And sitting right behind her doing the same is her son!!!!

Rahul saying he does not want to be a hero has many Indians chuckling!!!

Under his gaffes his political future is already buckling!!

How can Rahul be a hero when on 'achievements' his report card says zero????

One has to be n achiever to be a hero!

Staying overnight a few times in Dalit homes is no achievement….. not by a long shot!!!

And after his stays what have the Dalits got?????

He's not becoming a Mantri because of the adage ' bandh mutti lakh ki khul gayi toh khaak ki'!!!!

When asked will you become a Minister Rahul says ' abhi bahut zindagi hai baaki'!

The way things are going today he's refusing to become a Mantri!!

Kall things could change drastically and he would not even get a job to be Mantri ka Santri!!

His saying that he's been seeing this rottenness and is working to get rid of it!!!!

With Q's let off and with the scam a day in UPA's rule his statement does not 'fit'!!!

I think Rahul needs to take a few days in seclusion!!

Without his 'misleading think tank' and 'spoons' so that he comes to the apt conclusion!!

Lokpal's success lies in Lokpal's total transparency........appointment and working!!!!!

And Netas find this demand of Civil Society's as very irking!!

Confucius says……. Netas can delay Lokpal Bill at the most!!!!!!

If Congress could squeak in Thomas in CVC's post what about someone 'suitable' being squeaked into Lokpal's post!!

Adds….. Lokpal will not end corruption but will stop corruption's khullam khulla nangaa dance!!!!!

This is evident from Lokpal pe political establishment ka stance!!

Flash....... Why isn't Iqbal ' Passport Agent' Singh being removed?????

Now even his being questioned by ED PM has approved!

Iqbal recommended Hasan Ali's passport and even Tapuriah's passport too!!

Once could have been a mistake but they say it is on purpose if same mistake rises to two!

CBI's got damning evidence from London but Kalmadi will show them his amnesty card!!

To get Kalmadi CBI's been trying very hard!!

But just in the nick of time CBI's reigns are pulled and it stops in it steps!!!!!

Now after continuous reign pulling when it comes to Kalmadi very carefully CBI steps!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Contact-suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> &

<mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com>
Petrol Prices to shoot up dearly?
With the Assembly polls in five states over, now the pampering of common man is also going to end. Inflation notwithstanding, the UPA government is soon going to announce a steep hike in domestic petrol, cooking gas and diesel prices. Petroleum products in reality have been deregulated and are to be changed only once every fortnight but the government uses it as a tool of convenience - increasing the prices as and when it is comfortable. With the ongoing spiralling rise in global crude oil prices - severely hitting the bottom-line of the state-owned Oil Marketing Companies, the government is coming under intense pressure to take a call on hiking prices of all the four much -consumed petroleum products-petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene.

Swiss bankers in power corridors?
Mumbai is abuzz with rumors of Swiss Bankers moving in the corridors of power. Top officials in state and central government say that Swiss bankers keep visiting high net worth individuals, politicians and bureaucrats and explain them how black money can be stashed away in Swiss accounts and brought back from other channels. Officials say these bankers adhere to all government norms and come to Mumbai on business visas on a regular basis.

Who will be the next Indian Army Chief ?
Two army commanders, Eastern army commander Lt General Bikram Singh or Northern army commander Lt General K.T. Parnaik could be possible successors to General V.K. Singh but they will have to wait for the government's acceptance of a law ministry advisory to determine the present chief's age as the adjutant general's (AG) branch in army headquarters and the military secretary's (MS) office have recorded different dates of birth for Singh. While the AG's branch lists it as May 10, 1951, the MS branch has it as May 10, 1950. Though the law ministry has now said that General V.K. Singh's school leaving certificate, that records his date of birth as May 10, 1951, is a bonafide document, the decision will have to be taken by the appointments committee of cabinet (ACC) on the recommendation of the defence ministry. According to the terms of his appointment as the chief of army staff, General V.K. Singh will serve for two years or till he is 62, whichever is earlier. If the ACC accepts his year of birth as 1951, he may get an extension or else he retires in June 2012. In the event of his retirement in June 2012, the eastern army commander, Lt General Bikram Singh, emerges as the seniormost and next-in-line to be the chief. If the current chief's term is extended by a year, then Lt General Parnaik could be the successor.

Justice Kurian Joseph to move SC ?
Grapevine has it that Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Kurian Joseph is moving to the Supreme Court of India,

Joint Secretary level postings shortly
There will be many Joint Secretary postings in the Government of India (GoI) during next week/ten days time.

EDs of PSU banks to be interviewed on April 20, 2011
The Government of India (GOI) has called senior bankers for interviews for their elevation from Executive Directors (EDs) to Chairman cum Managing Directors (CMDs) of different public sector banks. They are: Debabrata Sarkar Allahbad Bank, Ajay Kumar and N. R. Badrinarayanan -both UCO Bank, Ms. V.R. Iyer and Rajiv Kishore Dubey -both Central Bank of India, Anil Bansal and Ms. Nupur Mitra -both Indian Overseas Bank, Ms Shubhalakshmi Panse Vijaya Bank, S L Bansal United Bank, S.S. Mundra Union Bank of India, P K Anand Punjab & Sind Bank, B.A. Prabhakar Bank of India ,M.V.Tanksale Punjab National Bank(PNB), A. K. Dutt Dena Bank ,M.G. Sanghvi Bank of Maharashtra ,Narendra Singh Corporation Bank and N.K. Maini Deputy Managing Director of SIDBI. Of them selected candidates will be appointed CMDs of following Eight banks: Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank, Andhra Bank, Syndicate Bank, OBC, Bank of Maharashtra and Union Bank of India .

Things to move in Finance Ministry next week
Since Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was pre-occupied with West Bengal assembly polls and will be reaching New Delhi in a day or two, things will move in the Finance Ministry only after that.

Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel has no name
As the grapevine has it, Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel has no name as far as appointment of new Secretary Heavy Industries was concerned.

Prabhat gets extension
Dr S R V Prabhat is not returning to the parent Chhattisgarh cadre.1979 batch IAS officer Prabhat has been granted extension in his deputation tenure till his superannuation next year. He is presently Chairman of the National Council for Rural Development, Hyderabad.

2 contenders in fray for Chairman Railway Board
There are two contenders for the post of Chairman Railway Board (CRB).

Madan Mohan to be Director (Finance ) SPML !
Madan Mohan is being tipped to be new Director (Finance) of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation Ltd..

Top 10 bureaucrats of Haryana CM, Bhupinder Singh Hooda
( a) Chhatar Singh

(b ) K.K. Khandelwal

(c ) Yudhvir Singh Malik

(d) Rajiv Arora

(e) Ms. Jyoti Arora

(f) S.S. Dhillon

(g) T .C. Gupta

(i) R. S. Doon

(j) P.V. Rathi-DGP)

(k) K. K. Jajan

Who will be new Jute Commissioner ?
Who will be new Jute Commissioner ?.1986 batch IPS officer Kuldip Singh and 1983 batch IPS officer A.K.Maliwal - both from the West Bengal Cadre - are reportedly battling tough to win the Post of Jute Commissioner, an important assignment in GoI, at Kolkata. Let's see who is going to be the winner.

K K Mittal is Joint Secretary, MHA
Kamal Kant Mittal on April 20, 2011 joined the Government of India (GOI) as a Joint Secretary (JS) in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) .He is an IAS officer of the 1983 batch who belongs to Assam-Meghalaya (A-M) cadre).

R.K. Gupta's file for MD, DFC in cabinet secretariat
File relating to appointment of R.K. Gupta Chief Administrative Officer Construction (CAOC) in Northern Railway, Jammu for the post of Managing Director (MD) of Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) has been lying in the cabinet secretariat.

R Chandra Mohan gets Secretary pay -scale
Chief Secretary of Puduchery R Chandra Mohan has been given Secretary Grade (Rs 80,000 ) fixed .He is 1978 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

K.N Sharma appointed as Additional DG, BPR&D
K.N Sharma ADG on central deputation has been appointed as Additional DG, BPR&D. He is an IPS officer of 1976 batch who belongs to the Gujarat cadre.

D.K Pandey appointed as IG, CRPF
D.K Pandey ADG Ranchi on central deputation has been appointed as IG, CRPF, Delhi. Official orders regarding this have been issued by the Central Government asking the state Government to relieve him as soon as possible. He is an IPS officer of 1984 batch who belongs to the Jharkhand cadre.
.
Who will be MD, MRVC?
Who will succeed P. C.Sehgal Managing Director (MD) of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) as he is going to retire on April 30, 2011? P.K Sharma Director Projects, MVRC is senior most. However, he has not applied for the post this time.There are five applicants from the Railway department.

Bibhu Prasad Acharya in race for slot of DG, NIFT
As the grapevine has it, Bibhu Prasad Acharya is in race for the post of Director General (DG) of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) under the Ministry of Textiles that has been lying vacant for a pretty long time. He is an IAS officer of the 1983 batch who belongs to Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Anand Kumar CVO, HOCL gets 2 years extension
Anand Kumar who on central deputation is CVO, Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd. (HOCL) has got an extension of two years of service period. He is an IRS officer of 1988 batch.

Ms. Anju Nigam posted as PMG, Chandigarh
Ms. Anju Nigam who so far was with the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) Delhi has become Post Master General (PMG), Chandigarh.

Puneet Yadav to join West Bengal cadre soon
As the grapevine has it, Puneet Yadav (IAS 1999 batch, West Bengal cadre) is shortly returning to his parent cadre of West Bengal.

Niten Chandra to be JS NERAGA in RD ?
Niten Chandra is likely to be posted as new Joint Secretary to look after NERAGA in the Department of Rural Development in the Government of India. He is 1990 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.

Gopal Prasad to join Commerce Ministry ?
Gopal Prasad is tipped to join Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India as Deputy Secretary. He is 2001 batch of Indian Economic Service officer, presently posted with Railway Board.

Rajesh Singh to join HRD Ministry
Rajesh Singh is all set to join the Ministry of HRD in the Government of India as a Director. He is 1998 batch Indian postal Service Officer.

Fast Track Projects : Pakistan Style
At a meeting chaired by the Rawalpindi Commissioner Zahid Saeed it was revealed that out of Rs 4.68 billion released by the Punjab provincial government as 'uplift fund' (meant for development projects) only 1.4 billion have been utilised during the last ten months of the current fiscal ending 30 June. 1214 out of 1695 approved development projects are yet to be started. Most worrying aspect of the colossal inaction is that on simple projects such as providing furniture to schools and colleges or installing street lights on public roads not a single paisa out of Rs 68 million allocated by the government almost a year back has been spent. The Commissioner has now given the impossible task of completing nearly 70% of the pending projects and spending over 80% of the unspent money in the next two months to avoid lapsing of the funds.

Sinha is back to Tripura
JK Sinha who was on inter-cadre deputation to Bihar is back to the parent Manipur-Tripura cadre.On return 1996 batch IAS officer Sinha has been appointed West Tripura District Magistrate.

Five IPS officers of 2006 batch confirmed to AP cadre
Five IPS officers of the 2006 batch have been confirmed to the Andhra Pradesh state cadre. The officers confirmed include Kolli Raghuram Reddy, Ake Ravi Krishna, Sarvashresth Tripathi, Ms. R. Jayalakshmi and Kartikeya.

Indian American appointed President of University at Buffalo, NY
Dr. Satish Tripathi, an Indian American, who is also an internationally recognised computer scientist, has been appointed as President of the prestigious University at Buffalo (UB) in New York. State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees announced Tripathi's appointment to this top post following seven-month international research. During which the search committee considered nearly 70 candidates. He has become the first non-American president in UB's history.

Transfer of DCIT Dasani cancelled
Transfer of Ms. Riddhi Dasani, DCIT, UOP, NADT, has now been cancelled. She was transferred from Nagopur to NADT, Nagpur, wayback on September 3, 2010, on the request of DG, NADT, Nagpur.

14 Additional Commissioner promoted as Commissioner of Income Tax
As many as 14 Additional Commissioner/Additional Director of Income Tax have been promoted as Commissioner of Income Tax and given fresh postings. They are Pankaj Mishra has been made CIT(OSD), Delhi (He will continue to be on attachment with the Department of Economic Affairs), D.S. Chawla - CIT (OSD) (SYSTEMS)(DTC), Delhi, Jagdeen Kumar Goel - CIT-III, Ludhiana, Manoj Kumar Gupta - CIT(CIB), Lucknow, Java Kumar - CIT{ITAT)-VI, Mumbai, Rajesh Ranjan Prasad - CIT (A)-VI, Baroda, S. Jayaraman - CIT(A) - I, Kochi, Kartar Singh - CIT(ITAT)-I Ahmedabad, Salagala Narasamma - CIT(A)- IV, Kochi, Samar Bhadra - C1T(A)-XXIV, Kolkata, Dr. Subhash Chandra - CIT (ITAT)- II, Jaipur, K. Krishna Murty CIT (CIB),Chennai, Dr. Adhir Kumar Bar - CIT(A) - VIII, Kolkata and Shantanu Kumar Suikia has been made CIT(A), Shillong.

New Director of Tagore Centre in Berlin
Professor H. S. Shiva Prakash, well-known Kannada poet has been appointed Director of Tagore Centre in Berlin.

AP cadre IPS officer passes away
1988 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre Maineni Punna Rao has passed away in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

IPS changes in Gujarat
P P Pandey has been relieved of the charge of state intelligence .Sudhir Sinha who was ADGP (law and order) has been given the additional charge of CID (intelligence). SP Girish Singhal of anti terrorist squad has been posted in Vadodara as DCP (Zone I) .

ACC approves appointment of Kapil Dev Tripathi
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Kapil Dev Tripathi, IAS (AM:80), presently in the cadre as Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission, in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary.

Atul Chaturvedi appointed Principal Adviser in Cabinet Secretariat
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Atul Chaturvedi, IAS (UP:74) (Retd.), as Principal Adviser in the Cabinet Secretariat, on contract basis, for a period of three months.

S M Khan is now DG (News) DD
S M Khan will be new DG (News) Doordarshan .He is 1982 batch Indian Information Service Officer.

G Ganeshan to replace Khan in PIB
DG (News) DD G Ganeshan will replace S M Khan in the PIB as DG dministration).He is 1982 batch IIS officer.

IAS changes in Orissa
Roopa Roshan Sahu will be new Collector of Sundergarh.A K Pani has been made Collector Bhadrakh.K C Patra has been moved to the Academy of Administration.Janki Ballav Mishra will now be Collector Nupada.Shalini Pandit has been appointed Additional Secretary GAD.

DEBATE
Does ACC system have its relevance for all posts?
Does the ACC system has its relevance as far as appointment of incumbents for all posts was concerned? It is time consuming. Under the system it is examined at each level and in every Ministry there are at least six levels. Broadly speaking it goes from concerning Ministry to DoPT Ministry, then to cabinet secretariat and then to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).Finally it goes to the PMO. It is extremely time consuming .In the wake of this please give your valuable views to us.
Mail us-mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com or suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com

CORPORATE

NTPC-BHEL joint venture CMD quits
CP Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC-BHEL joint venture, has quit. While the official version is that he took the step due to differences with the promoters mainly over the provision of the Chairman's scale, insiders said that intense lobbying for the post had made it difficult for him to carry on. After putting in papers, he was relieved on April 13.

Anand Jains Jaicorp tax recovery?
Anand Jain owned Jai Corp - a stock exchange listed company - is soon going to be issued a income tax recovery notice of Rs 100 crs. Sources say though Jain may settle the matter with the tax authorities, it looks like tax authorities are not too keen on settling the matter this time round. Let's see if Anand Jain can manage this time.

Capt. Shakti Lumba joins MDLR Airlines
Capt. Shakti Lumba has joined the MDLR Airlines of which Chairman is Gopal Goyal. It is going to be revived. Capt. Lumba was earlier heading operations in Indigo Airlines.

Retired IAS is part-time Chairman of Federal Bank
Retired IAS officer of TamilNadu cadre P. C. Cyriac has been appointed as part-time Chairman of Federal Bank Ltd, under Section 10 B (1A) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Sengupta resigns
Amitava Sengupta has quit from board of Petronet LNG Ltd. In fact the Board of Petronet had initiated the process of giving him another term.

Jayaprakash appointed relationship manager, Swiss Private Bank
Sanith Jayaprakash has been appointed as a relationship manager Swiss Private Bank

Gaurav appointed account manager, Swiss Private Bank
Gaurav Shall has been appointed as an account manager in Swiss Private Bank.

Nayan Raheja awarded Real Estate award
Nayan Raheja, Director, Raheja Developers has been awarded with Real Estate Lifestyle Awards for the year 2011.

Bhandari promoted as COO, Radio One
Radio One has promoted Rajeev Bhandari as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) while moving up from the post of National Sales Head.

Bamane resigns as Company Secy. BIL Energy Systems
Raju Bamane has resigned from the post of Company Secretary of BIL Energy Systems with effect from March 18, 2011.

Dani resigns as Non-exec. Independent Director, Kitply Industries
Rajnikant C Dani, the Non-executive, Independent Director of Kitply Industries Ltd has resigned from the directorship of the Company with effect from April 9, 2011.

Nair to step down as Chairman, Hotel Leela Venture
Captain CP Krishnan Nair , the Chairman of Hotel Leela Venture Ltd will step down from his post by June this year while handing over the active management of the company to his two sons.

Gupta appointed CFO, SBI
State Bank of India (SBI) has appointed Diwakar Gupta as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Puranik appointed Company Secy. Omkar Speciality Chemicals
Ms Swapnali S. Puranik has been appointed as Company Secretary of Omkar Speciality Chemicals with effect from April 1, 2011.

Bhandari appointed Director, Sentinel Tea and Exports
Sentinel Tea And Exports Limited has appointed Sunil Bhandari as Director of the Company with effect from January 18, 2011.

Shewakramani appointed Whole-time Director, Ras Resorts & Apart Hotels
Ras Resorts & Apart Hotels Ltd has appointed Ms Nalini Shewakramani as Whole-time Director of the Company.

Bangalore International Airport bags ISO 9001 certification
Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) became the first airport in India to get ISO 9001 certification. The airport has also achieved OHSAS 18001 certification, a prestigious international standard for facilities with world-class safety and health management systems.

Oracle to set up office in Technopark Kerala
Oracle, the leading global IT company will set up an office in Kerala at the Leela Infopark building in Technopark campus. An agreement to this effect was signed here the other day.

FORUM

Instructions of DoP&T on the zone of consideration for promotions

I would like to point out that in cases where the number of vacancies is 4 or more the zone of consideration is 2x plus 4, where x is the number of vacancies, and not 3 times the number of vacancies. this is subject to the condition that where a service rule lays down the zone of consideration, the instructions of DoP&T shall not be applicable.

Pulipra

Hazare's strategists missed main issue

Those who designed the Andolan of Anna Hazare, are perhaps short sighted or have deliberately avoided the main issue. In my opinion, what we need is to redefine the basic structure of our constitution. Our constitution directly or indirectly identifies Nation with those who are in power. In other words. Our Nation does not exist beyond political power. As all know power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The people in power will never agree to limit their power and accept the supervision of civil society in any form.

If we really want to stem the wrought of corruption, we must create the constitutional post of Lokpal And Lokayukta. By such action we will be able to avoid conflict between the other constitutional authorities like CJI, PM and the Executives.

Velankar

Corruption - root cause of many social problems

As one would agree, extreme poverty on the one hand and extreme aristocracy on the other, would lead to rise in social crimes. The insatiable appetite of the politicians and bureaucrats will ruin any country. If you frankly ask me Indian Government is a clear cut example of how a government should not be run. There is absolute lack of integrity at all levels. Only a few, who uphold values, have faith in God and follow good ethics stay away from corruption. The worst part of the fact is that even after indicted by CVC, the respective Departments never take appropriate action. Mostly they delay the action. No religion preaches immoral things. So looting public money, particularly when best portion of the total population finds it difficult to make both the ends meet, is a heinous crime. One has to answer for all their sins. Effective Mismanagement of Resources, thy name is Government of India.

Siva Kumar

Lok Pal Bill is a mix of these

Some parts of Vigilance Manual (2(13)), OIOS Manual (8(2)(d)(e) ), Income Tax Act, India ( 9), large parts of CPC and CrPC and RTI Act. The draft is not original. The draftsmen should have thanked the sources wherefrom they borrowed the provisions. Second , a huge lack of clarity and cohesion in the draft, except to lionize a potential authority , whose future actions can decimate the very institution itself, Bhasmasura, mythically speaking.

Crtey

People becoming cynical

On watching the Anna Hazare and events and the blogs and facebook etc, people are becoming cynical unfortunately. People without accountability and without having knowledge of running the nation are discussing the issue in an spontaneous outburst manner. We need to pause , see all sides, think and move and progress. These people are taking country into ransom by giving deadlines to frame Lokpal Act. Do they know how many streams of thoughts has to be explored, verified, assessed and move ahead. This act is not yellow piece of article which is prepared with short sight of increasing only circulation, which people read on only one day and forget. This piece of legislation must be a well discussed widely verified and analysed and then implemented. We are doing nation building process and it must be highly systematic. We must not buckle to people who have no accountability. Anna Hazare should watch and select people with him. All the four around you have got dubious background . They can fool Hazare only and not others .

Mehta

It's for Anna Hazare to decide

All said and done, Amar Singh doesn't speaks without records. He is a known record keeper and mischievous as well. His records on Bhushan and Sons are 100 correct. It's for Anna Hazare to decide , as to whom he is believing

Kunal

Think of the ghastly consequences

Who ever has drafted the Lok Pal Bill is mighty confident that Lok Pal's orders ( in clause 2(a),(b),(c),(d),(e) etc) are commandments of the Almighty , full and final , in the manner of a Supreme Court's order. Surprise of surprise, there is no appeal against the Lok Pal's order , since the draft does not refer to any. Meaning thereby if you as a government servant are divsted of your employment, or you as a Corporation blacklisted by the Lok Pal, you do not have a remedy by way of appeal. Think of the ghastly consequences if the Bill is allowed in its raw form

ASD

Cabinet Secretary too worried about IAS brethren !

Cabinet Secretary seems to be very keen to look after the welfare of his IAS brethren. That is why it is being stated that 1980 batch IAS officers who are still JS are being given in situ promotion to the rank of Additional Secretary as per instructions of Cabinet Secretary.

However, when it comes to the other organized Group 'A' Services, every possible effort is made by the DOP & T to deny them the benefits recommended by Pay Commission and accepted by the Government.

Sixth central Pay Commission in para 3.3.12 of its report had recommended as under:-

Whenever any IAS officer of a particular batch is posted in the Centre to a particular grade carrying a specific grade pay in pay bands PB-3 or PB-4 , grant of higher pay scale on non-functional basis to the officers belonging to batches of organised Group A services that are senior by two years or more should be given by the Government.

The Union Government vide Ministry of finance (Department of Expenditure) Resolution bearing no. 1/1/2008-IC dated 29 Aug 2008, had accepted the Pay Commission's recommendations as a package.

The exact wording mentioned in the item of resolution mentioned was that whenever an IAS Officer of a particular batch is posted in the centre to a particular grade carrying a specific Grade Pay in pay bands PB3 and PB4, grant of higher pay scale on non functional basis to the officers belonging to batches of organized Group 'A' services that are senior by two years or more should be given by the Government.

Thus, grant of the above mentioned non-functional upgradation to officer of Organised Group 'A' officer was based on only one condition which was that the IAS officer belonging to a batch two years junior should be holding that grade in Centre. No other condition was stipulated in the Government Resolution.

DOP & T, vide OM No. AB. 14017/64/2008-Estt. (RR) dated 24th April, 2009, issued orders laying down further conditions for the implementation of the above mentioned recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission which already stood accepted by the Government without any conditions as stated above.

These further conditions (especially those related to fulfillment eligibility criteria for functional promotion), have virtually taken away the benefits of the order from the organized Group 'A' Services which were the worst off promotion-prospects-wise.

The officers of these services belonging to even 1978 batch have been rendered ineligible for grant of JS Scale due to the additional conditionality imposed by DOP & T.

Officers of these services hope that Cabinet Secretary and Secretary Personnel remove these additional conditionalities so that the benefit granted by Government Resolution is not denied to these Services.

Otherwise, it is a clear-cut case of "Government proposes and DOP & T disposes".

Samaalochak

Sachin deserves Bharat Ratna

Sachin Tendulkar is our hero. He deserves Bharat Ratna.

Shashi Mohan,Bhopal,MP

Why, Bharat Ratna for Sachin ?

Why is GoI hell bent on conferring Bharat Ratna on Group Captain Sachin Tendulkar ? Who authorized Ajay Maken, the union Sports Minister to ask the Home Minister for including the discipline of Sports in the ambit of Bharat Ratna through amendment? What is the hidden agenda of these politicians, who raise their demand in favour of Sachin with regular periodicity? To woo the Marathi maanus. Let us not spoil Sachin's career. Let him focus on his passion and play a natural game. He has made billions of rupees through advertisements , prize money, awards and rewards by playing for the country and is reportedly into a successful hotel business. Conferring Group Captain Sachin Tendulkar with the honorary degree of Doctorate in cricket or Khel Ratna award ,will be more apt.

I am an ardent Sachin fan and I do not intend to hurt the sentiments of others.Let us not get emotional and denigrate Bharat Ratna. There is a need to build a national consensus on this important issue. There are,at present, 41 Bharat Ratna, awardees, some were awarded posthumously.

May I propose the nominations of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh, for awarding ?Bharat Ratna? posthumously? Their contributions to India?s independence have been ignored due to political considerations

A K Saxena (A retired civil servant)

"Don't delay Bharat Ratna for the national icon."

Sachin Tendulkar,the greatest ever cricketer produced in India, must be awarded Bharat Ratna.Why is government delaying the announcement?

M Vengsarkar, Mumbai

We need to cleanse the system and it must be systematic. we cannot do things in an sudden alter. Things will go haywire. The old people Kiran Bedi, Anna Hazare, Bhushans are in hurry to become saviours of the country before they die. All these are working with vested interest. Kejriwal's postings details are available. His profile is available in the establishment of CBEC, Delhi. Check his controversial assessments he did and got hid , as because few good officers let him go than. To protect their own skin , these people have taken shelter under an good law of right to information and harassing others. RTI must come up with addendums and amendments to deal with such people who misuse the rti act. already our Supreme Court has put guidelines on PILs. we need to stop misuse of the RTI also on similar pattern All the retd bureaucrats who had no guts to do things during their service, have become tigers after retiring and entering the RTI commission. We need to highlight the details of such people also. As these are under these banners, no body has guts to take on. Any way, that is the irony. And that is our democracy.

Vishwamanav

Corruption - a many headed monster

There are many facets of it. In drafting the Lok pal bill the panelists in the joint committee should also focus on the victimisation of honest civil servants by their powerful and corrupt bosses. It is a well-known fact that those who refuse to toe the line to do wrong things and stand for truth and morality are hounded by several methods. Uncalled for and inconvenient transfers, innocuous postings, even refusal of leave or other genuine and eligible requests, false cases, bad ACRs besides daily harassment in office leading to the breakdown of morale causing unbearable stress to self and family. Many such cases of harassment of honest officers can be quoted where even the cabinet secretary and the PMO close their eyes and ears to the representations of such aggrieved persons. How can one stop corruption if honest civil servants(There are still some left in this category) are made to suffer in this manner. It is important therefore to also build a mechanism of protecting them from their corrupt bosses.

Aarti Khosla

When to file property retyrn ?

In most of the cases property like home is acquired one or two times. Whether property return is to be filled repeatedly or at the time/ year of property acquired?

Ramesh Chhabra

ANNA

Corruption in anti-corruption activities

See the amount involved in organising the anti-corruption event by Anna & Co. Some one should go deep and find out the exact amount involved and the persons involved.

I smell corruption in the anti-corruption activities that is going on for some time now.

Prasad

CBDT Chairman should also ensure timely returns

CBDT has promptly send the list to UPSC for promotion to Commissioner Income Tax grade. It is nice. Can the Chairman make sure that refunds related work is completed by 20.4.2011. Will he like to review the prime circles in Delhi (e.g circle 40(1) and Mumbai. Mumbai has already slowed their work and disregarding the directives issued by CBDT.

R K Gupta

West Bengal Ex-Chief Secretary contesting polls

Manish Gupta, IAS (Retd),Ex-Chief Secretary of West Bengal is contesting ensuing West Bengal Assembly General Election 2011 as TMC candidate from Jadavpore Assembly Constituency in Kolkat against the present Chief Minister Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, a CPI(M) candidate. The election for 3rd phase covering this A/C will take place on 27/4/11 and the result will come out on 13th May after sixth & last round of poll is over on 10th May 2011.

D K Gupta

Activistocracy

Kudos for initiating such a landmark debate when the media frenzy has obscured even the basic commonsense. The so called civil society activists owe some plain explanation to the nation. What this "Civil society" is all about? when it was formed? how it was formed? What is its legal status? who are its member folk? what is the motivating force behind its incorporation ? and whether it has ever been formally incorporated and at what place? Its ideological background ? its numerical strength? its finances etc etc........ perhaps none of the question will ever be answered.....

Just to take the debate further one may question the timing of the historical fast? Whether the timing has something with the second "Bretton Woods Conference organised from 8-11 th April by the INET ( Institute for new economic thinking) of George Soros.

An international organisation formed by a group of highly intellectual peoples (professors of economics) has been found to have been providing consultancy to Libyan Government. Whether the reverses in Libya have forced the illuminated leaders of a new world to turn now towards India.

Questions may also be asked about the ideological background of the volunteer crop of Anna ji which perhaps comes from one of the controversial new age human potential movement which is also termed as new religious movement (NRM) by some thinkers.

Questions may also be asked about the linkage of the Civil society leaders with the "Transparency International" where the only shade of transparency is in name alone. Even a cursory look at the website of the Indian chapter of transparency international will make it clear that the so called civil society is simply carrying forward the agenda of "transparency international.

And lastly question may also be asked about the linkages of URI ( united religious initiatives, where Swami Agnivesh has a leading role) with the "state of the world forum" whose motto may be described in the following words , "One World, One Government,One Ruler, One Religion, One Language And One Currency Etc".

A Concerned Citizen

Demolish the credibility of Bhushans

Those who were unnerved by Anna Hazare's fast unto death in support of Jan Lokpal Bill have mounted an all out assault to demolish the credibility of Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan by circulating a fake /morphed CD .VP Singh was also targetted in the past by insinuating involvement of his son to foreign accounts in St Kitts. corruption has reached such proportions that while some public servants feel ashamed to identify themselves to avoid incurring the wrath of public on the other hand there is no dearth of those public servants who have become totally shameless who do not hesitate to indulge in open extortion. It is not a mere coincidence that Vijay Shankar Pandey who spearheaded a campaign for honesty and integrity in public life has also been targetted. Those who are trying to malign Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan and VS pandey must answer a simple question. If they were really involved in doing what they have been accused of , where was the need for them to take up cudgels against corruption? Isn't their character assassination a grim reminder to all those who may be thinking of emulating them ? Only fickle hearted will be deterred by such cheap tactics.

Sudhir Chopra

Action taken report following an audit

The Appellant wanted to know about the disciplinary action taken in the matter of certain irregularities detected by the auditors during the audit of a particular Branch of the Bank. The denial of information without any reason by the CPIO was upheld by the First Appellate Authority. The CIC directed the CPIO to provide the photocopies of the relevant records and documents relating to any departmental action taken against officers and staff members of the Bank following the said audit. If no action had been taken against anyone in this matter, the same was to be informed. The CPIO was let
off without any penalty as the Respondent submitted that it was because of plain misunderstanding on his part.

Comments

All PIO's must note that no information can be denied merely at their discretion. Every decision to deny any information must be backed by very clear arguments and supported by specific provisions of Section 8 of the RTI Act. Otherwise, such decision could be interpreted as plain denial of information and penalised u/s 20(1) of the RTI Act.

[Shri Ashok Kumar Dwivedi v. Etawah Kshetriya Gramin Bank in CIC/SM/A/2010/000953]

- 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)