What people say about us !

Passionate Journalism. More balls than the channels and print media following the spins on 23 Willing Ton Crescent Or Jhandewalan voices. Yes, I forget to add the other spin master 5 Motilal Nehru place. Keep up your prophetic whispers without an agenda.

Mani Shankar

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Now I hope it is pretty obvious why Congress wanted only PAC to look into the 2 G ghotala!!! Joshi has circulated the reworked PAC Report and Congress is crying foul and is heckling that like the last report this reworked report is also politically motivated......QED on Congress's 'only PAC need look into the 2G ghotala'!! With Janki Natrajan being made a Cabinet Mantri Congress is 'technically' in a minority in the PAC....so its strategy is to damn Joshi!! Congress wants Joshi to be removed!!!! Joshi has again pointed fingers at PM and PC.... Moily seems to be have been given a clean chit!! Montek coming to Mohna defence says ' PM cannot be expected to follow every move of Raja'...... he seems to overlook PM's instruction to TKA Nair which Nair dutifully recorded......Mohna was in the know!! The 'tu tu mein mein' will continue and in the backroom negotiations of how to amicably get over this will take place!! In the Great CWG Chori Congress says Sheila need not resign as CAG did not indict her and in the same breath Congress says she need not resign as CAG has not indicted her....... seems Congress has been reading the CAG Report 'selectively'!!!

But sadly BJP lacks the wind power to huff and puff and blow Congress's house down!!

Funnily at such a crucial time when they should be in Delhi BJP Leaders are more and more out of town!

Narayanmurthy says 'India lacks leadership'!!! Though I did not agree with his 'institutionalize corruption' call I agree with his statement that 'India lacks Leadership'!! Mohna ,Sonia and Rahul are not Leaders!!! Vajpayee was a Leader...... one felt safe with him at the controls!! Initially I do agree there was an element of safety perception when Mohna took the controls.... though then too it was perceived that Pilot Mohna was actually the co pilot and co pilot Sonia was actually the pilot...... but soon Indians realized Mohna and Sonia were 'not qualified to be pilots'!!! Had Sonia and Mohna been Leaders, like Vajapyee did with Mahajan, they would have ensured Maran and Raja were shifted...... in fact after Maran they would have ensured Communication Ministry would not have got a DMK Minister!! Had Mohna and Sonia got Leadership qualities they'd have put Pawar in his place!!! Pawar and Karuna knew both Sonia and Mohna lacked leadership qualities and were too fixated on staying in power and the result is there for you to see!!

Leaders have vision, aspire confidence and have conviction!!

And are not paranoid like Sonia and Mohna about 'power eviction'!!

Subramaniam Swamy says (tweets) that Sonia is partying in New York whereas IBN is reporting that she's undergone surgery........ Kushwant Singh says that ' Shourie is hurt (because of the illness in his family) and that is why he hurts others and he tries to show his son who is in a wheelchair often'!!!! Swamy has a running battle with Sonia..... and Kushwant hates Shourie!! I think both need to keep their hatred in check....... I just feel you do not hit a person when he or she is down!!

Dushmani ke bhi hothe hai asool!!!

Jabh dushman ghutne pe hotha hai nahi marthe uss ko apne shabdon ke shool!!

PS....hullo..... hullo........ Renuka Chowdhury Congress's Spokesman!! Seems Congress is in a mood to 'insult those who take on Congress in the Media'..... Renuka is prone to making funny faces and making snide remarks....BJP's answer to Renuka ........ Sushma..... or Venkaiah Naidu could also give her a mouthful!!!

Bharat Kumar

Is Pranab Babu hurt ?
Is Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hurt ?.Sources close to Pranab Babu confirm this theory .He is hurt because he does not figure in the four member panel of the Congress party.

Antony PM and Rahul Gandhi Congress party boss ?
The four member panel has led to speculations that Mr Clean A K Antony is going to be new PM with another Mr Clean Rahul Gandhi as Congress Party boss.

BUREAUCRACY

Gireesh Pradhan to succeed Deepak Gupta ?
Gireesh Pradhan is likely to succeed Deepak Gupta next month as Secretary New and Renewable Energy in the Government of India.He is 1977 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Sudheer Krishna to replace Navin Kumar ?
Grapevine has it that Sudhir Krishna is replacing Navin Kumar as Secretary Urban Development in the Government of India. He is 1977 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

Has Alok Perti missed the bus ?
Latest information says that appointment of Alok Perti as Secretary Coal has run into rough weather. 1977 batch IAS officer Perti is advised to take remedial measures. He is presently Special Secretary Coal.

Arun Mathur to get important department ?
Director Enforcement Arun Mathur is reportedly all set to be promoted as Secretary in the Government of India.1977 batch IAS officer Mathur may get important department like Health or Coal.

Rahul Khullar gets additional charge of Chairman ITPO
Secretary Commerce Rahul Khullar has taken over additional charge of the Chairman ITPO. Present Chairman Subas Pani has retired. Khullar is 1975 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Why Navin Kumar is being moved ?
Why Secretary Urban Development Navin Kumar is being moved ? Does the move have something to do with CWG or Minister Kamal Nath's annoyance ? Navin Kumar is 1975 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.

Will Justice Dipak Mishra move to Calcutta High Court ?
Grapevine has it that Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Justice Dipak Mishra is moving to the Calcutta High Court in the same capacity.

IRS officer Singla seeks VRS ?
1984 batch IRS (IT) officer Rajan Singla who is presently posted in Mumbai has reportedly sought VRS.

Air Indians' left in the lurch
Staff off Air India is facing the situation of being entrapped between Scylla and Charybdis. The government has released a sum of Rs.210 crore to Air India while Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh had declared that the Government of India (GOI) will give Rs. 1200 crore to Air India. The amount is even lesser than the "Indian Manahaja" spends on ferrying passengers across the globe. According to a conservative estimate these expenses are nearly Rs.350 crore per month.

What a great Indian Railways ?
This is Indian Railways, 3 out of 6 members posts are vacant and 7 posts of GM vacant Still wheels moving with some accidents.

Archana Arora is new Chairperson of NDMC
Archana Arora on Monday has taken over as new Chairperson of the NDMC. She is 1983 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.
( We said this on June 24 )

Bhalla to move to Andman & Nicobar
B S Bhalla is moving to Andman and Nicobar Administration. He is 1990 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Ramachandran to be DGP of Meghalaya
N Ramachandran is likely to be appointed new DGP of Meghalaya. He is 1978 batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Patnaik promoted as Additional Dy CAG
AK Patnaik has been promoted to the grade of Additional Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General {HAG + Scale: Rs. 75,500/- (annual increment @ 3%)- 80,000/-}. He is 1977 batch IA&AS officer.

Anil Kaushik in fray for DGP's post in Punjab
Anil Kaushik, an IPS officer of Punjab cadre in fray for the post of DGP with the Punjab government. He is 1975 batch IPS officer.

JS Urban Development panel to be rejected ?
A three name panel for the post of Joint Secretary Urban Development in the Government of India is being rejected.

Sharda Prasad to get extension
Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Labour Sharda Prasad is being given three months extension in deputation tenure. He is 1981 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.

Subramanyam to return next month end
B V R Subramanyam has been given extension. Now 1987 batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh is expected to return from his foreign assignment only in September end.

Who will be the next DGP in Uttar Pradesh?
Uttar Pradesh's top cop, Director General of Police (DGP) Karamveer Singh, is due to retire on August 31. In case he does not get three months extension in service, rumours are agog about his possible successor. He is an IPS officer of the 1975 batch who hails from the UP cadre.

IAS officers are better off in Punjab
Officers of IAS fraternity are better placed in Punjab as far as their postings as Deputy Commissioners (DCs) in districts were concerned in comparison to IPS officers. In major districts of Patiala, Bhatinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Amritsar, Mohali, Fazilka, Pathankot & Navashahar regular recruits (RRs) are posted as DCs.

Who will be Chairman of OERC ?
Who will be new Chairman of the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC)? Over two dozen officers of various services have applied for the post.

1979 batch IPS gets DG rank in Karnataka
1979 batch IPS officer Susant Mahapatra has been promoted to the rank of DG in Karnataka. He will now be DG Training.

Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose to head Supreme Court Panel
Dr. C.V. Ananda Bose, Vice Chancellor, National Museum University and Director General National Museum has been appointed by the Supreme Court to head the Expert Committee to manage "World's largest Treasure" found at the Sree Padmanabhaswmay Temple in Kerala.

IPS postings in Karnataka
Shankar M Bidari has been posted DG CID. Srinivas Kuchchanna has been promoted as DGP, housing corporation, and A R Infant as DGP, Fire and Emergency services.

IRS officer Gupta empanelled as JS
IRS (IT) officer S K Gupta who belongs to 1984 batch has been empanelled to the post of Joint Secretary or equivalent in the Government of India under the Central Staffing Scheme (CSS).

Ms. S. Narendra is now JS Road Transport & Highways
Ms. S Narendra, Director in Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, has been promoted as Joint Secretary in the same Ministry on promotion. Narendra is a CSS officer.

Dr. Prabhakar Dubey nominated for 37th APPPA
Dr. Prabhakar Dubey, Director of Tourism, New Delhi, has been nominated for the 37th Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA) which commenced at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi on July 1, 2011. The programme includes detailed framework of conceptual and applied modules to enable professional exposure on Public Administration in Indian and international context.

Pakistan : Bed tax to be revised in Islamabad
The Chief Commissioner of Islamabad capital Territory (CCICT) Tariq Pirzada has directed a review of taxation and fee structure for the hotel industry as the same has remained static for more than 50 years. The 'bed tax' collected by the local government is merely 50 paise per occupied bed in a hotel irrespective of whatever the hotels charge from their guests. The rate was fixed way back in 1950 when hotel tariffs were low but presently some of the hotels are charging as much as Rs 24000/- per night. Non revision and lack of updation of records has also resulted in the tax being collected from just 40 hotels on the city government's record whereas there are atleast 200 such establishments in the ICT. In contrast the rate of bed tax in Pakistan's Punjab province is @ 8% of the tariff charged by the hotels. The DC of Islamabad Aamir Ali Ahmed is to make a presentation to the CCICT shortly after which the proposal for revision will be submitted to the concerned authorities.

Justice Koshy to be Chairman of Kerala HRC
Former Chief Justice of Patna High Court Justice Benjamin Koshy is being appointed Chairman of the Kerala State Human Rights Commission.

Deshmukh is no more
Former Cabinet Secretary B G Deshmukh passed away in Pune.He was 82.

IAS changes in Uttarakhand (UPDATED)
Manisha Panwar will now be secretary health, medical education and family welfare and AYUSH. RK Sudhanshu has been given additional charge of Addditional Secretary (Independent in charge) Higher education. Suvardhan has been given additional charge of school education. Nitesh Kumar Jha has been made DM Pauri and Pauri DM Dilip Jawalkar has been transferred as Additional secretary to CM and director ICDS.

Ms. Manimekalai Murugesan is new Ambassador to Romania (UPDATED)
Ms. Manimekalai Murugesan, presently Ambassador of India in Libya has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Romania in succession to Shri Debashish Chakravarti.

Mishra to be Secretary Housing and Poverty Alleviation (UPDATED)
Arun Kumar Mishra is all set to become Secretary Housing and Poverty Alleviation in the Government of India.Mishra is 1976 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Navin Kumar to be Secretary Drinking Water supply (UPDATED)
Secretary Urban Development Navin Kumar is reportedly moving as Secretary Drinking Water Supply in the Government of India. He is 1975 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.

Sudheer Krishna to replace Navin Kumar (UPDATED)
Sudhir Krishna is all set to replace Navin Kumar as Secretary Urban Development in the Government of India. He is 1977 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

CORPORATE

Mittal nominated as Director, SBI Central Board
The Union Government on August 3, 2011, has nominated D. K. Mittal, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, as a Director on the Central Board of Directors of State Bank of India with immediate effect.

Gokarn nominated as Director, SBI Central Board
The Union Government, on August 4, 2011, has also nominated Dr. Subir Vithal Gokran, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, as a Director on the Central Board of Directors of State Bank of India with immediate effect.

Alapan Bandyopadhyay is Chairman of NDITA
Alapan Bandyopadhyay has been appointed Chairman of the Naba Diganta Industrial Township Authority (NDITA) in West Bengal. He is 1987 batch IAS officer.

Agarwal nominated as Director, Bank of Maharashtra
The Union Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services on August 5, 2011 has nominated Ramesh Chandra Agrawal as Part-time Non-official director on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Maharashtra for a period of three years.

Bhatt resigns as Company Secy. Action Construction Equipment Ltd
Ashish K. Bhatt, Company Secretary of Action Construction Equipment Ltd has resigned from the company on July 30, 2011.

Luthra appointed Company Secy. Action Construction Equipment Ltd
Rajan Luthra has been appointed as Company Secretary of Action Construction Equipment Ltd w.e.f July 30, 2011.

Malkotia appointed Director (Spa.) The Claridges, Surajkund
The Claridges, Surajkund, Delhi, NCR has appointed Shekhar Malkotia as Director ( Spa).

Four directors cease to be on ITI Ltd Board
The following Independent Directors have ceased to be Directors of ITI Ltd-- A.S. Bansal, A.K. Jain V.H. Ron, and Keshav Saran w.e.f. July 30, 2011.

Tempest inducted to Fortis Healthcare (India) Board
Dr. Brian William Tempest has been inducted as Director on the Board of Directors Fortis Healthcare (India) Ltd w.e.f. August 2, 2011.

Shroff to be reappointed MD, Reliance Chemotex Industries Ltd
The Board of Reliance Chemotex Industries Ltd has approved the re-appointment of Sanjiv Shroff as a Managing Director of the Company from September 1, 2011 for a period of 3 years.

Pioneer Distilleries appoints Addl. directors
Pioneer Distilleries Ltd has appointed following persons as additional directors of the Company with immediate effect:-- M. R. Doraiswamy Iyengar, S. G. Ruparel and Ashok Capoor

Sharma appointed Director (sales), Holiday Inn, Mumbai Intl. Airport
Pankaj Sharma has been appointed as Director ( Sales) of Holiday Inn, Mumbai International Airport.

CBI is for protecting cops

The fact that CBI is an organisation for protecting the cops is apparent from the fact that only 2 cases have been registered against IPS officers. If the IPR returns of IPS and IAS officers state wise is analysed it is obvious that on an average IPS officers have higher value of assets much more than there IAS counterparts who actually legitimately earn more.

Madhusudhan

Cases registered by CBI in 2011

Why only 2 cases registered by CBI agt IPS officers in 2011 as against 12 against IAS officers and 16 against IRS. Is it because IPS officers are less corrupt? No it is because the anti corruption machinery is manned by IPS officers at central as well as state level. It is well known that IPS officers sitting as watchdog of corruption go soft on their own cadre. It is high time anti corruption body is manned by officers from all services and is headed by an independent person or committee.

Ravinder

More dangerous officers

Officers who don't take quick decisions based on the powers alloted to them and then try to procrastinate things are more dangerous. You may not known whether they are honest or corrupt.

A Srivastava

Age for MD DMRC

Looking at the past age profile of DMRC Board, there is no rational in keeping the age as 58 and a cut off date of 1st Oct. 11 for a new MD, while normally cut off dates are kept as 1st Jan or 1st April or 1st July and age used to be 58 when retirement age was 58 which is now 60. This needs to be corrected to give opportunity to more experienced persons.

S K Sharma

Misplaced impression

This is with reference to misplaced impression that Government's taxes are collected only through DDOs of various departments. If this be the case, how can the government sustain the higher pay-outs (salaries) from taxes collected through DDOs ? How can he miss this simple logic?

Taxes collected through DDOs (called as TDS) of not only government departments but also of various private agencies constitute less than 1/3rd of the tax collections. Mostly TDS collections are from salaries. Salary is one of the 5 Heads of Income. The other Heads are Rental income from House Property, Income from Business & Profession, Capital Gains (Short term and Long term), Income from Other Sources.

Where from are the remaining 2/3rd taxes coming? You may note that the balance 2/3rds are received through direct payments by the assesees. These taxes are collected by the assessment wing. Whereas tax evasion is unearthed by the Investigation wing of the I-T Dept.

What is mentioned above is only simplistic overview of the functioning of I-T Dept, just to educate. There are unwieldy complexities in tax laws and tax administration. My dear friend, you may note we in IRS seek parity, but do not downgrade any other service for this purpose. Every service is equally important and is only matter of choice of an individual in the selection process. By virtue of one?s selection in a service, one cannot seek permanent dominance over other services. Occupying certain important posts in government should depend on functional competency, additional qualifications acquired and achievements in ones career. This will benefit the government at large and encourage the efficient and effective officers in other services.

IRS officer

Mr White doesn't understands any economics

GDP is always calculated on a 'Real' Basis net of inflation. If inflation comes down because of reduction in prices of agricultural prices, there will be no negative impact to GDP!

Sandeep

Problems at CGHS

There are problems at CGHS. The PV Hostel CGHS Weness centre has 3 doctors. While both the lady doctors are caring the male doctor is below average. He is seldom seen in his room. If available he has visitors to the core and attending patients is his last priority. I had a very bad experience with him. After undergoing Angioplasty, I approached him for medicines and he not only refused to give medicines but also questioned me about really having had a heart attack and done angioplasty. Only after CMO returned from leave did I go to the centre. This is my experience. Several others have started murmuring about this attitude.

D Anil Kumar

DOPT should also see most glaring anomaly

SOs were drawing pay in prescale of 6500-10500 and their pay was accordingly fixed in 6th PC with grade pay as 4800. Now some mess created by PC's Ministry's order dated 15.09.2006 (prior to PC report), UDCs (pre scale of just 4500) promoted to assistants (pre scale of just 5500) between 1st January to 15th September 2006, were given option to first have their pay fixed in prescale of 7450 and then in new PC with grade pay of 4600. The scale (7450) which SOs have never seen was given to UDCs promoted as Assistants! Ridiculous! But nobody minds This is our great country. And in some Ministries where Assistants get promotions in 20-25 years, all they can boast of is mere Rs 200 they get extra in grade pay! Excellent.

P K Agrawal

Mamta has ruined the Railways !

Mamta has totally ruined the Railways for selfish motives. Railway is passing through a great disaster because of her arrogant behaviuor. No GMs, no Members, no safety official for a long time in Railways. How can you expect safety without having concerned officials. Mamata ji will you kindly leave Railways as your tenure has taken Railways to an all time low.

D V Rao

What's cooking in MP IAS ?

One day the CM hosts party in Delhi to IAS of MP cadre posted in Delhi. Next day the show is repeated by Jyotiraditya Scindia. Something is cooking. IAS must be exhilarated.

Shantanu Ghosh

It's no surprise

CAG report about the CWG mess has caused no surprise even to the common man. Even my driver commented while going through it in his Hindi newspaper 'Hum to tabhi kahte the bahut fazool kharch ho raha hai or kaam bhi kaisa khrab kiya' Shoddy work, unnecessary work, large scale wastage we all noticed and cribbed about when the so-called beautification of roads, streetscaping, fixing of lightings, signages were going on. Even on WIC some of us browsers voiced our dismay on this shoddiness and wastage of money (Dr. Mehrotra may do well to reproduce all those comments from his archives). During our daily commute on a particular route, I found this criminal waste of precious resources as also lack of aesthetics in many of the works. For months together work was going on under the Ashram flyover. Granite benches were laid, mounds made of chips were constructed to hold the flower pots etc. I am sure crores would have been spent for works which were not required, look ugly and lie unused. The benches must be being used by ruffians, drunkards or criminals at night. See the art work with coloured chips on Safdarjung flyover. It is discoloured, chipped in places and positively ugly. Some one would have become rich by this work. We also saw one agency putting the railing, another uprooting it to place the electric poles. Good solid pavements were uprooted to put the tiles. Examples are Khan market and INA market where you have to walk with care so as not to slip. What a waste! I am glad we still have an institution which makes irresponsible politicians and bureaucrats accountable for wasting so much of public money. But how long? Already attempts are under way to undermine the office of CAG. There is an onslaught on this institution also by the guilty ones to cover up their misdeeds.

Aarti Khosla

Justice Ganguly's views are supreme

The views of Justice A K Ganguly of Supreme court for bringing the PM under the Lokpal Bill are in sync with the general perception of Indian public. This is a redeeming feature in the present depressive situation in the country. The PM himself supports the proposal. The exclusion of serving PM from Lokpal's scanner will perpetuate corruption due to following reasons : ( a) The collective decisions taken by the Cabinet /Cabinet committees and GOMs headed by Prime Minster, will get automatically excluded from public scrutiny. (b) The PM also holds direct charge of several ministries/deptts like DOP&T, Atomic Energy, Space, Planning, Science &Technology, Earth Sciences, PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat. Does it mean that in matters of corruption in these departments, the PM could not be held accountable and answerable?( c) With the growing erosion of thin dividing line between the Executive and the Congress party, the latter could do the backseat driving more assertively albeit with zero accountability and responsibility.(d) If the government sponsored Lokpal Bill is enacted ,this would set off a dangerous trend in a democratic polity like India.

A K Saxena (A retired civil servant)

Is anybody listening?

This is so pathetic to read that every time when the big loot in the country is stopped, not only private sector but government also comes up with the logic of GDP and Growth Rate. What the steel ministry or Ministry of Mines was doing when rampant illegal mining was taking place in Bellary. Still there are number of districts in country where not even private sector but PSUs are grossly involved in violating the laws. Is anybody listening?

Shobhit Kumar

CSS Officers are Deserving

The induction of CSS officer via in-situ promotion as Joint Secretary in Government of India is a good and fabulous trend created by the present Government. It is, irrespectively, the Congress or Congress lead Government, who has been giving benefits to the government employees especially to CSS cadres and I wish such a politician in Congress and Congress minded people, favouring sentiments of the CSS officers must flourish independently with majority.

H S Bhalla

Copies of documents in Vigilance cases

The copies of documents sent by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) along with enclosures on the basis of which the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) issued the 'advice' in the case of the applicant were sought. They were declined claiming exemption u/s 8(1) (h) of RTI Act by CVC after consulting the CBEC as a third party. It was submitted to the CIC that although the proceedings against the Appellant himself had since been completed, the proceedings against the remaining employees who had been charge-sheeted in connection with this case were still pending and, therefore, the disclosure could adversely affect the pending enquiry. Further, the case involved a large number of employees and the records and documents received from the CBEC had common references to all those employees, distinguishing the information related to the Appellant from the rest might not be possible. The CIC held that upon the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings against the Appellant with the advice of the CVC, there is no reason why the desired documents should not be disclosed.

Comments

Even if the communications from the CBEC contained some references to other employees, it would hardly matter when the CVC has already given its advice in relation to the Appellant. The increasing number of such cases point to a need for a change in practice and training in RTI Act.

[Shri B R Beedu v. Central Vigilance Commission in CIC/WB/A/2010/000202SM]

- 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)