It is nice and very informative.
Rajesh Kumar

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

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Imaginary discussion between Madam Gandhi and Manmohan Singh on the Cabinet Reshuffle.

Mohna: Good evening Madam.

Sonia: What is so good this evening….really Manmohan Ji why do you not agree to my reshuffle suggestions???? You really have changed!!!

Mohna Ji: Madam Ji I'll get the flack…..like Public is baying for 'Pawar's blood' and you want Pawar to retain his portfolios!

Sonia: Mohna Ji please I do not want to explain my arithmetical compulsions again and again! Chalo enough of this……. let us start.....Pranab!

Mohna: Well you say he should exchange places with PC. But Madam it is too near the Budget and Pranab is already working on the Budget….. a midway switch would not be right!!!! At present the Finance Ministry can do without PC's 'out of the box' thinking!!

Sonia: Okay….. Antony !

Mohna: We simply cannot afford any corruption charges in Defence. But we know corruption is still rampant and so by keeping Antony at the helm at least Congress will not face flack if something comes out!!!

Sonia: PC……. okay he stays as HM. But can you speak to Pranab to consult PC too during his Budget preparation?

Mohna: What and have Pranab blow an artery and vein!!! Madam if you want this you will have to speak to Pranab yourself!

Sonia: Tut tut Mohna ji.......I think Diggy should be appointed in the PMO in place of Prithviraj…… I can get him to make the demands and statements I'd like you to make!! Chalo…… Krishna……. it looks as if India does not have an External Affairs Minister!

Mohna: Good….. if you recall Tharoor's gaffes I think its good this guy is quite!!! He's happy travelling about and staying in Luxury Hotels!! But I must warn him not to embarrass his hosts during his overseas trips by insisting on only Café Coffee Day Cappuccinos….how will they get him a Café Coffee Day Cappuccino in the US??? Let's make Scindia his Deputy….. you know overseas they have this fixation for Royals…. he and Parneet are just right for this job!!! Madam what about Pawar!

Sonia: I told you he's a necessary evil of the arithmetical kind! If he relinquishes Food and Civil Supplies he wants Praful to be shifted from Aviation to Power!!!

Mohna: Crafty and immensely greedy!!! Yes today the Power Ministry is more lucrative for ghoos making! Madam let NCP keep Power and Aviation…. at least we'll save face on the Agri and Food fronts!

Sonia: Mohna Ji you have said this here….. do not mention this outside!!! I have a Party to run and if I give both these Crema (Italian) or like they say in Hindi Malai Ministries to NCP won't there be heartburn amongst Congressmen? Post Pawar's 'hay making' Agri Ministry is like a crown of thorns and no one in the Congress will be willing to wear this crown!! Do you get the message???

Mohna: Loud and clear Madam….. I learned the hard way and have a good understanding of how the system works!! Sibal… what about him???

Sonia: Mr. Glib Talk……. I think let him be the Communication Minister.

Mohna: What about HR Ministry?????

Sonia: I'm tempted to give it to Diggy!!! He'll make Urdu replace Hindi in Scholls and Universities!!! How about shifting Jairam to HR …… but then on second thoughts let him continue as Environment Ministry…..he's making Pawar squirm because of Lavasia!! And then as HR Minister Jairam would find some reason to close down most of the Universities!!!

Mohna: How about you release one of your secretaries.... Patel, Diwedi or Vora...... to head HR Ministry…….. change is always good.... you know familiarity breeds contempt????? What about Veerapan Moily????

Sonia: It is Veerapa…… he's doing okay!!!!! See you and I know nothing can be done about corruption in the Judiciary and I feel Moily is being able to do the needful, which is deflect demands for eradication of corruption in the Judiciary! And with this Q issue cropping up again I'll need him….. I feel he is as eager as Bhardwaj to please me!!

Mohna: But then Madam if Q is such a worry why not give Law Ministry to Sibal aka Mr. Glib Talk...... he will do a better job than Moily!!!! Kamalnath …. he's now called Mr. 15% by even his Cabinet colleagues.... should we shift him?????

Sonia: No let Moily continue in Law..... Kamalnath.... he is like a family retainer…… he has his faults but I'd like him to continue…. Because shifting him would mean accepting the ghoos revelation in the Radiia Tapes!!! Karuna is demanding Balu be given the Shipping Portfolio!!

Mohna: Madam have mercy! Balu is crude, rude and totally corrupt!!! Doesn't Karuna have someone like Alagiri????? Ravi is very busy in TN and he like Alagiri is an absentee Mantri...so let Balu take his portfolio... the Portfolio will remain with a TN Neta and Balu will have to travel and be out of sight!!!

Sonia: I'll talk to Karuna…… he'll go into a sulk!!! Maybe next time you are in TN they'll present you with a Cotton shawl rather than the usual silk one!! Chalo they have to show their resentment….now they have no other way of expressing it!!

Mohna: Ambika Soni!!

Sonia: You know I had forgotten her… let ole Horse Face continue in her present portfolio!!! Now Mohna Ji what about you?????

Mohna: (jumping out of his chair and stuttering): Madam Ji but I thought this was about the Cabinet .... why me......I'm the PM?????

Sonia: Just joking!!!

Mohna (relieved): Or Madam were you just seeing how I react….. after all you will put this question to me truly some day!!

Sonia: But then why did you get so scared?????

Mohna: I feel there is still time for that day to come….. (under his breath) hopefully later than sooner…. kind courtesy Rahul Baba!!!

Bharat Kumar

Latest take on Cabinet reshuffle.
Latest take on cabinet reshuffle is that three incumbents from Congress and one each from DMK and Trina Mool Congress (TMC) may be inducted in the cabinet being headed by Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh . Main among them are: Manish Tiwari and Ashwani Kumar(both from
Congress) T.R. Balu -DMK and Sudip Bandopadhyay-TMC.The Prime Minister has given a list of following Ministers to be dropped from his cabinet: Sai Prasad, B.K.Handique, M.S. Gill, Veer Bhadra Singh, Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Jaipal Reddy,Veerappa Moily and Kamal Nath.However, Congress chief is yet to give her consent. Ajay Maken , Ms. Selja Kumari and Shrikant Jena are likely to be promoted. Salman Khursheed may get Law Ministry.

No seats available in Switzerland bound flights
International Airlines are facing a tough time since there has been a sudden spurt of passengers from different parts of globe, India in particular, wanting to fly to Zurich and Geneva. Thanks to the revelations on Swiss bank account details.

Imran Khan much sought after man
In upper echelons of power centers it is a hot topic of discussion that Imran Khan Niazi former Pakistani's cricket team's skipper & founder chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice), is flooded with deliveries of a different kind. Neither they are from cricket field nor from the political arena of Pakistan , but from big wigs who have their accounts in Swiss banks. He is the much sought after man because his ex wife and English socialite Jemima Goldsmith had bailed out WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. So Imran Khan is being approached to withhold details of Swiss bank accounts on WikiLeaks through his divorced wife.

BUREAUCRACY

Ambassadorial appointments likely in February 2011
As the grapevine has it, appointment of seven to eight Indian Ambassadors to different nations may take a final shape only in February 2011.

Uncertainty over 1 year tenure to CBDT, CBEC chiefs
Uncertainty prevails regarding one year tenure to chiefs of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), as was recommended by the P.Mankad committee.

Saleem to go to Jeddah ?
As the grapevine has it, M.A. Saleem, IPS (Karnataka 1993), is all set to take over as Consul General in Jeddah . Thanks to Home State of External Affairs Minister.

S.M. Bidari represents to Karnataka government
As the grapevine has it, Commissioner of Police (CP) Bangalore S.M. Bidari has represented to the Karnataka government urging that the state government should facilitate UPSC in forwarding a panel for DGP's post by sending names of all such senior IPS officers who fall in the zone of consideration.

9 short listed for slot of DG, ICFRE
As the grapevine has it, nine officers of the Indian Forest Service (IFS) have been short listed for the post of Dehradun based Director General (DG) Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE). This is the second time the process has been started for selecting new DG, ICFE.

IA & AS officer Mukesh P Singh transferred
Mukesh P Singh, Principal Accountant General (Audit), Assam, Guwahati, has been transferred and posted as Principal Accountant General (Civil Audit), Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad. He will relieve Ms. Mala Sinha of the additional charge of the post held by her.

Mukim is now CVO HUDCO
Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce Anil Mukim is new CVO HUDCO. He is 1985 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

Three IPS officers join NDC Course
Three IPS officers Nasir Kamal (UP 1986),Sheel Vardhan Singh (Bihar 86) and Sanjay Kundu (HP 89) batch have joined the NDC Course.

Luck favoured Anand Sinha to be DG, RBI
The lady luck smiled on Anand Sinha since his file pertaining to appointment as Deputy Governor (DG) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was cleared by the PMO with two year tenure. Sinha who was to retire in February 2011 has been given two year term till February 2013. It is noteworthy that for DG, RBI residual service period has to be three years. However, in Sinha's case it was kept two years.
(We said this on September 13 )

A.K. Yadav's deputation to end on Jan.21
Central deputation tenure of A.K. Yadav, Joint Secretary in National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), is going to conclude on January 21, 2011. He is an IAS officer of the 1986 batch who belongs to the Sikkim cadre.

CBDT constitutes DRP Delhi
Central Board Of Direct Taxes has constituted the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP} comprising of three Commissioners of Income- Tax/Directors of Income-tax as its Members. Accordingly, DRP Delhi, includes Mrs. Promila Bhardwaj, DIT (International Taxation) - I, Delhi Mrs. Rashmi Saxena, DIT (Transfer Pricing)-II, Delhi and Gopal Mukherjee, CIT -V, Delhi.

Lobbying is on for PS to the Lok Sabha Speaker
Lobbying is on for new Principal Secretary (PS) to the Lok Sabha Speaker Ms. Meira Kumar.

Prasad to replace Joseph
Dr T V Nagendra Prasad will move from MEA Headquarters to Berne as Counsellor to replace Jose Joseph. Joseph will go to Manila.

Pramit Pal Choudhary nominated to National Security Advisory Board
Pramit Pal Choudhary has been nominated to National Security Advisory Board, reconstituted by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

Shashank Vikarm to move MEA Hqs
Second Secretary in Brasilia Shashank Vikram is moving to the MEA Headquarters.

Tourism in Himachal soars by 16.38 percent
Tourism in Himachal Pradesh had soared by 16.38 percent in 2010. A new record has been set up with the 16.38 percent increase in number of domestic and foreign tourists who visited different destinations in the state during year 2010. This was revealed by Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal in a review meeting of Tourism Department in Shimla that was held recently. The Chief Minister said that 1,32,98,748 tourists visited Himachal Pradesh during January to December, 2010, compared to 1,14,37,135 during the preceding year 2009. He said that the number of foreigners had also increased from 4,00,583 in year 2009 to 4,54,851 during 2010 thereby registering an increase of 54,268 in single year. He said that the state had adopted the slogan of 'Himachal for all seasons for all reasons' keeping in view the regular tourism activities taking place round the year. He said that tourism happened to be the core industry of hill state since its inception due to the bountiful beauty Mother Nature had bestowed upon it. He said that Himachal Pradesh had been the safe destination for tourism activities where law and order conditions were at its best. He said that State possessed potential for all categories of tourists and religious tourism was one of the category as devotees from far off places visit prominent religious shrines located at different places within the State. Prof Dhumal said that the state government had endeavoured to create quality infrastructure of basic amenities in and around the prominent religious shrines for the convenience of the devotees and additional arrangements made during the festival season at such places.

Chaudhary transferred as Additional Commissioner SPUWC
U K Chaudhary, a 1996 batch IPS officer of AGMU cadre, has been transferred to Special Protection Unit for Women and Children (SPUWC) as Additional Commissioner. He is presently Additional CP in-charge of Indian Reserve Battalions.

Asif Mohd Ali transferred to East Delhi
Asif Mohd Ali, a 1995-batch DANIPS officer, has been transferred from Special Protection Unit for Women and Children (SPUWC) to East District as Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police.

Ms. Simi Nakra appointed CVO, MCI.
Ms. Simi Nakra, Director, DOPT, Government of India has been appointed as CVO; Medical Council of India (MCI).She is a P&TAFS Cadre officer of the1993 batch.

Cabinet Secretary tour to J & K postponned
Three day tour of Cabinet Secretary K.M Chandrasekhar to Jammu and Kashmir from January 17, 2011 has been postponned due to Cabinet reshuffle slated to be held on January 19, 2011.

J & K CM to visit MHA
Omar Abdullah Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir is likely to visit Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for a meeting to review security arrangements in the wake of BJP's rally in Lal Chowk Shrinagar on the Republic Day.

Atanu Purkayastha proceeds on EL
Atanu Purkayastha who on central deputation is Joint Secretary Agriculture & Cooperation has proceeded on an Earned leave (EL), though he had applied for a study leave for one year. The same was approved as well but owing to some technical reason he has availed EL. He is an IAS officer of the 1983 batch who belongs to the West Bengal
cadre.

Ms. Monica Bhatia appointed Director, DOPT
Ms. Monica Bhatia has been appointed as Director, DOPT, Government of India in place of Ms. Simi Nakra.She is an IRS (IT) Cadre officer of the 1990 batch.

Kalha to be FS Revenue in Punjab
In all probability D S Kalha will succeed Romila Dubey as Financial Commissioner Revcenue in Punjab.Romila Dubey is going to head Punjab Electricity Regulatory Commission (PERC). Kalha is 1977 batch IAS officer.

Ms.Manju Pandey to be CVO, IRCTC
Ms.Manju Pandey, Director DOPT has been selected as CVO, IRCTC, and Ministry of Railway Government of India'. She is an IPoS cadre officer of the 1990 batch.

Panel to select CAT member to meet
The Committee for selecting CAT members is going to meet in the Supreme Court tomorrow.

IPS changes in Andhra Pradesh
1993 batch IPS officer Amit Garg will be new Vijayawada police commissioner. N Madhusudhan Reddy will replace Garg.

1997 batch IPS is now DIG in Andhra Pradesh
1997 batch IPS officers have been promoted to the rank of DIG in Andhra Pradesh. They are Mssrs N Madhusudhan Reddy, Vijay Kumar,Y Nagi Reddy,D S Chauhan,Sanjay Kumar Jain.

Katara posted as Additional DCP PCR&MT
Satyabir Singh Katara, a 1996-batch DANIPS officer, is the new Additional DCP PCR&MT.

1986 batch IAS promoted in Punjab
1986 batch IAS officer MP Singh has been promoted to the rank of Principal Secretary in Punjab.

Goa DGP proceeds on leave
Goa DGP B S Bassi has proceeded on ten days leave.Any specific reason ?.

IAS reshuffle in TamilNadu
Ramesh Kumar Khanna will be new Secretary Energy was holding additional charge. M Chandrasekaran will now be the new director of Indian Medicine.Vishwanath A Shegaonkar has been made chairman of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. Ruolkhumlien Buhril will be the new project director of the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS). K Bhaskaran DPR has been posted as Tiruvarur collector.
Atul Anandis posted as agriculture commissioner. D Vivekanandan is now director of agricultural marketing. Thanga Kaliyaperumal will be secretary, Adi Dravidar and tribal welfare. T N Ramanathan, backward classes secretary, will succeed Kaliyaperumal. Malik Feroze Khan is posted as backward classes secretary. M R Mohan, director, Tamil Nadu Industries Explosives Ltd, will replace Khan.

6 IFS officers get selection grade in Rajasthan
As many six Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers belonging to 1997 batch have been elevated to the selection grade. They are: Rajesh Kumar Gupta DCF (DOD) Udaipur, K.C.A. Arun Prasad Associate Professor of the Indira Gandhi Forest Academy Dehradun, Kailash Chandra Meena
DCF Territorial Pratapgarh, I A. Mugal DCF and Technical Assistant to CCF Jodhpur and Deep Chand Bairwa Working plan officer Jaipur office of CCF Jaipur.

H.G.Raghavendra Suhasa to be ADC to Rajasthan Governor
H.G.Raghavendra Suhasa Commandant of 9th Battalion RAC has been appointed as ADC to the Rajasthan Governor. He is an IPS officer of the Rajasthan cadre.

Sheela Thomas is Chairperson of Rubber Board (UPDATED)
Sheela Thomas has been appointed Chairperson of the Rubber Board. She is 1985 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

(We said this on July 23,2010 )

Verma is Director NEPA (UPDATED)
R R Verma has been appointed Director, North East Police Academy (NEPA) .He is 1978 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre.

Anil Kumar is ACS in Bihar (UPDATED)
Anil Kumar has been promoted to the rank of ACS in Bihar .He is 1976 batch IAS officer.

1986 batch IAS get PS rank (UPDATED)
Three IAS officers Sanjiv K Sinha, KP Ramaiah and Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi have been promoted to the rank of Principal Secretary in Bihar.

Anand Sinha is DG, RBI (UPDATED)
Anand Sinha has joined as Deputy Governor (DG) Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Sinha who was to retire in February 2011 has been given two year term till February 2013.
( We said this on Sept 13, and Nov,10,2010)

Transfers of three Rly officials cancelled (UPDATED)
Transfers of three Railway officials including Prem Kumar K. of SG/IRAS from SR to WR, of NV Shetty of SG/IRAS from CR to NR and transfer of D. Kamilla of SAG/IRSME from SER to SECR as CSO have been cancelled.

Railways transfers and postings (UPDATED)
BL Raikwar of SAG/IRSME has been transferred from ICF to SECR and posted as CSO, Onkar Singh of HAG/IRSE has been transferred from NER to temporarily look after the duties of the post of PCE/NER (present in SAG) in addition to his own, JSP Singh of SAG/IRSEE has been transferred from SCR to SR in the same capacity and posted in the cadre by making suitable local adjustments, JP Sindhu of SG/IRSSE has been transferred from ECR to RB and posted as Dir.(E&R)/S&T/RB, Kishore Vaibhav of SS/IRSEE has been transferred from CLW to ECR and Ramesh Maurya of JAG/IRSEE has been transferred from ECR to CLW

Atul Anand is new Commissioner Agriculture in TN (UPDATED)
Atul Anand, Commissioner of Agricultural Marketing and Agri Business and Executive Director, Tamil Nadu Water Shed Agency has been posted as Commissioner of griculture vice S. Kosalaraman, IAS, already retired.

Vivekanandan is Director of Agricultural Marketing in TN (UPDATED)
D. Vivekanandan, IAS, Director of Stationery and Printing is transferred and posted to act as Director of Agricultural Marketing and Agri Business vice Atul Anand, IAS.

RTI

Filing of RTI application by a Public Authority
The applicant requested for information pertaining to income computation with TDS Challan, Trading Account, Balance Sheet with Schedules, Audit Report, Assessment Order/ self assessment information etc. in respect of 4 persons from the Income Tax department. The applicant stated that they were themselves public authority namely The New India Assurance Company Limited. The information was sought to defend their position in a claim of Rs. 181 crore against the death of individual in a road accident. The CIC directed to provide the information holding that the disclosure would serve the ends of justice and is in larger public interest by causing an unwarranted discharge of public funds.

Comments

Filing of a RTI application by a Public authority against another is indicative of the pattern of evolution of RTI Act. Against the time tested method of using the official channel for securing documents, RTI is being considered as a more potent tool for protecting the commercial interest of the company. Many more applications of the
similar kind are likely to be filed in the times to come.

[Sh. S.S. Hira v. Income Tax Department, Jaipur in Appeal No.
CIC/LS/A/2010/001130DS]

- 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)

CORPORATE
Hiranandanis to face criminal prosecution
Niranjan Hirandandani, Darshan Hiranandani, Kamal Hiranandani, the scions of the Hiranandani Group alongwith their managers and employees have been summoned to face trial in a criminal case instituted against them in connection with the illegal environment clearance accorded to the proposed power project of the Hiranandani Group at Talegaon in Pune. The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC)at Vadgaon, taluk Maval has taken cognizance upona complaint filed by the Navlakh Umbre Paryavaran Parisar Vikas Sangh, alleging that the state Environment authorities in collusion with the Hiranandanis had granted illegal clearance to the company's power project without even possessing the requisite

jurisdiction to do so, and on the strength of such invalid clearance, the company had carried out large-scale devastation of the area, its topography and the river system. Alongwith the Hiranandanis, three of their managers/secretaries have been directed to appear before the court on February 22, 2011 and face criminal prosecution. Sultan Singh noted lawyer of the Supreme Court is representing the petitioner. It may be stated here that Sultan Singh is the same attorney who had fought for victims of Uphaar cinema hall's fire in Delhi and won the case.

ZEE Boss gets MP award
ZEE Boss Subhash Chandra Goyal has been selected for Maharaj Agrasen Award instituted by the Madhya Pradesh Government.

Banerjee appointed Company Secy. NIIT Tech
NIIT Technologies Limited has appointed Onkarnath Banerjee as the Company Secretary and Compliance Officer of the Company w.e.f. January 17, 2011.

Hinduja retires as Exec. Chairman Gokaldas Exports
Gokaldas Exports Limited Executive Chairman Madanlal J Hinduja has retired and Consequently he has tendered his resignation.

Deshika appointed Addl. Director Hotel Leela Venture
Krishna Deshika who had joined Hotel Leela Venture Ltd as Chief Financial Officer, has now been appointed as an Additional Director and elevated to the position of Director - Finance and CFO with effect from January 17, 2011.

Dev re-appointed as MD, Tata Elxsi Ltd
Tata Elxsi Limited has re-appointed Madhukar Dev as Managing Director of the Company w.e.f January 16, 2011 for a further period of 3 years upto January 15, 2014.

Goyal is MD Kalyani Steels
Kalyani Steels Limited has appointed Ravindra Kumar Goyal, as an Additional Director on the Board of the company and has also appointed him as Managing Director of the Company for a period of five years w.e.f January 17, 2011.

Reddy re-designated as CMD, Visa International
The Board of Visu International Limited has approved re-designation of C. Chandrasekhar Reddy as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Company.

Alpa Lab appoints directors
Devendra Baheti and Krishna Das Malani have been appointed as Independent Directors on the Board of Alpa Laboratories Ltd .

Radhakrishnan appointed MD, Nelcast Ltd
S. Radhakrishnan has been appointed as Managing Director of Nelcast Ltd with effect from January 17, 2011.

Maharana resigns as Company Secy. Aarti Drugs Ltd
Dilip Maharana, Company Secretary and Compliance Officer of Aarti Drugs Ltd has resigned from his post with effect from November 4, 2010.

Savla appointed Compliance Officer, Aarti Drugs
Harshit M. Savla, Joint Managing Director of Aarti Drugs Ltd has been appointed as Compliance Officer of the Company with effect from November 4, 2010.

John Holden is CEO Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance
Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited - a joint venture between two of India's largest public sector banks, Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, and HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings Limited, has appointed John Holden as its Chief Executive Officer.

TOP CORPORATE POWER HOUSES IN INDIA
1. Mukesh Ambani & Anil Ambani
Reliance Group
Apart from heading one of India's biggest and diverse business conglomerates, Mukesh Ambani is the man keenly watched globally. For the record sake Mukesh's worth is over US $27 Billion as per Forbes list and he may be the richest man in the World by 2014. So, it is hard to believe that his footprints are not behind any major policy initiatives, especially that relating finance, taxation or trade and commerce. Mukesh's Man Friday in Delhi, Bala Subramaniam, takes care of the group's networking. He has unhindered access to all power centres in Delhi be it Congress party's Pranab Mukherjee or Motilal Vora, BJP's L.K. Advani or Nitin Gadkari, Communist party's Sitaram Yachuri or D. Raja, RJD's Laloo Yadav or other smaller parties. His aim is to get a Bharat Ratna award for the late Dhirubhai Ambani - his father and founder of Reliance Group - besides, total allegiance of the country's bureaucrats and politicians. His team is feverishly working along with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi. However, the row over lobbyist Neera Radia tapes and her conversations that became public have tarnished the image of the company still, he is not the one who can just be stopped over by such minor irritants.
His younger brother, Anil Ambani had already enjoyed unhindered access to the -corridors of power and ever since the patch up with the elder brother is trying to consolidate his gains. His team is active round the clock keeping a tab on critical issues in governance.

2. Shashi Ruia and Ravi Ruia
Essar Group
They are number four in Forbes list of richest Indians with assets worth nearly US$ 15 billion, but maintain an extremely low profile. The government is said to have supported them in the attempt to restructure their group in recent years and they enjoy the most unhindered access to all political parties. The fact that they have no political ambition has stood them in good light with all political parties. Their man in Delhi is Sunil Bajaj, who enjoys an easy access to all political bigwigs and bureaucratic strongholds. They only travel to Delhi when work calls for their presence and their coming and going go unnoticed as they travel unobtrusively with the minimum noise. Of late, the Group's networking too has acquired a higher crescendo, what with all the expansion plans, and acquisitions in foreign countries.

3. Gautam Adani
Adani Group
Forbes has placed him at number 7 in the richest Indians list with a worth of more than US $ 10 billion in kitty. Adani's is the fastest growing group in the country's Corporate landscape forcing observers to say that he is the Dhirubhai Ambani in the making. His political connections are fantastic. His claim to fame is for having been caught on the wrong side of the law more than any other business man in the country. However, he sails out of trouble every time and moves ahead with greater conviction. His strong political connections with BJP patriarch L.K. Advani, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Congress' Ahmed Patel is the talk among observers and the envy of his competitors. His key aide Puneet Sharan presides over the Public Relations activities of the group in Delhi.

4. Ratan Tata
Tata Group
From salt to heavy vehicles to the most high tech IT set ups, Tata's is one of the oldest Indian conglomerates, having touched the lives of every Indian. People have learnt to live with Tata, for Tata's stood for quality, conviction and growth with humility. Though the contents of the Radia Tapes have done great damage to the reputation of Ratan Tata, still his is the most revered business house in the country. For the record, Forbes does not have him on their rich list. Is he a billionaire? No, Ratan Tata is not a billionaire. Of course he is the Chairman of Tata Group having 96 businesses out of which 28 are publicly listed and are worth more than US $ 70 billion. Well, to be a billionaire, on your financial statement, your assets must be worth billions of dollars. The main bulk of the shares of its 96 Businesses are not on Ratan Tata's personal financial statement. Tata Group's Key holding Company, Tata Sons has 65 per cent ownership to various Tata group charitable organizations out of which Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir J.R.D. Tata Trust are the main holders. About 18 per cent of the holdings in Tata Son's are with Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry who maintains low profile and is known as "Phantom of Bombay House". Ratan Tata himself holds less than 1% of TATA Sons, the key holding Company of Tata Group. This is the reason why he is not a billionaire.
Ratan Tata given his respect among common man should have been number one in this list but his public spat with TMC leader Mamata Banerjee over the Nano project and land acquisition in Singur, West Bengal have left his image tarred. Moreover, the shifting of his pet Nano small car project to Narendra Modi's Gujarat has marred his chances of getting a Bharat Ratna, as long as the Congress is in power at the Centre. His personal office general manager, who happens to be son of a senior lady journalist in Delhi, is RNT's networking man.

5. Lakshmi N. Mittal
ArcelorMittal
Steel tycoon and the chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaking company is placed by Forbes at the number two position with a net worth of US $ 26.1 billion. His journey to become one of the richest man in the world, has been very controversial from his association with former
Indonesian President Suharto to British Prime Minister Tony Blair who allegedly helped him in his business ventures. In India his association started with for Union Minister N.K.P. Salve and this helped him move closer to power centres in India. He enjoys personal rapport with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress' Political Secretary Ahmed Patel and enjoyed equally close relationship with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's family.

6. Sunil Mittal
Bharti Enterprises
With a worth of US $ 8.6 billion the telecom czar, Sunil Mittal is placed at number 9 in the Forbes list. Son of a father who was MP from Ludhiana of the Congress Party, he started business with manufacturing cycle parts at the age of 18. He is a risk taker and known to have best networking with political masters in Delhi. His office door conference room) near Qutub Minar says it all SULTANAT. His aim is to be Emperor of telecom world and he has already taken steps in that direction looking for joint ventures, acquisitions and mergers in Africa and elsewhere in Asia.

7. K.P. Singh
DLF Limited
Forbes pitches him shade ahead of Sunil Mittal at number 8 in the India rich list with a worth of US $ 9.2 billion. His chance meeting on the road with late Rajiv Gandhi turned him from a small time builder of south Delhi to the biggest builder in India. His controversial tie up with Dubai World company Emaar Group has tarnished his image and probably made him loose a few billions. He is regarded as the Ambassador of Good times by the political glitterati in Delhi. He is said to be richest person in the national capital.

8. Venugopal N. Dhoot
Videocon Industries Limited
Videocon Industries limited being headed by its Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) Venugopal N Dhoot, is the flagship company of US $ 5 billion Videocon Group having diversified business interests in white and brown goods, power generation (both conventional and renewable energy). Exploration and Prospecting Oil and Gas, Providing GSM Mobile Telephone Services, last mile retail, and Direct to Home Delivery of Television Contents. Its activities are well spread out in India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and Mozambique, with employee strength of more than 15,000. Venugopal N Dhoot, a second-generation entrepreneur and an engineer by training, transformed Videocon from a conference room-sized assembly line in 1979 into a conglomerate across the verticals of consumer electronics and home appliances, office automation, telecom, power, crude oil and natural gas. Dhoot has a vision to led Videocon and make it a Fortune 500 company in the next five years. Dhoot is an environmental enthusiast having successfully completed a project of planting 2,00,000 teak saplings across India.

9. Subrata Roy Sahara
Sahara Group
Chairman of the Group having India's biggest - land bank, NBFC, Media & Entertainment Company, Service & product company, exclusive Aamby Valley City along with Major housing & commercial building projects including Malls, Premium Apartments, Hotels and Hospitals, Life Insurance Company, Mutual Fund House, Housing Finance Co., Consumer products & Retail Chain, Integrated travel & tourism services. Subrata Roy Sahara's worth is about US $ 3.3 billion and as Chief Guardian of world's largest family, providing livelihood to millions, directly touching the life of one out of every fifteen Indian, believing in collective sharing & caring for collective growth, proved over decades through CSR projects and activities carried out all over India and particularly in UP & Bihar, one of world's poorest regions, up to the assistance to families of Martyr's of Kargil war and 26/11 Mumbai attack.
Biggest supporter of Sports, being a character builder of nation, more than 60 % medal winning Indian athletes in CWG 2010 sponsored by Sahara India Pariwar. Extended critical support which made the event wonderful for India. Exploring overseas value adding acquisitions like England's legendry soccer club Liverpool, one the oldest Hollywood Studios MGM, iconic London Hotel Grosvenor House. A visionary par excellence, one of the all time great entrepreneur, dedicated to nation building.

10. Kumar Mangalam Birla
The Aditya Birla Group
Like Tata, the name Birla is synonymous with Indian Industry and has been among I the country's oldest business houses. Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Chairman of the US$ 29 billion Aditya Birla Group, a global conglomerate with operations spanning 27 countries. An iconic figure, Birla holds several key positions on various regulatory and professional boards. He is a Director of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India and Chairman of the Staff Sub-Committee of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India. He serves on the Prime Minister of India's Advisory Council on Trade and Industry. Birla group has however,not changed like other business groups. They still believe in traditional business style and instead of expanding their empire are trying to consolidate their present business establishments. They do not want to walk on the waves of the time.

11. Anil Agrawal
Vedanta Group
Vedanta Group is an LSE-listed diversified FTSE 100 metals and mining company, and India's largest non-ferrous metals and mining company. Anil Agrawal, the NRI Chairman of the Vedanta Group has a worth of US $ 7.9 billion. Agrawal's ambition is to become the richest businessman in India. If things would have gone as he had planned out with the IPO and the expansion of mining activity in Orissa, Agrawal would have overtaken Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian businessmen. He is said to have a direct access in the Ten Janpath.

12. G.M. Rao
GMR Group
Founder Chairman of GMR Group-global Infrastructure major the Group is well
diversified and professionally managed with focus on business verticals of Airports, Energy, Highways and Urban Infrastructure including SEZs, apart from interests in Agri-business. Born on July 14, 1950 in a small town of Rajam in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, G M Rao established the GMR business empire starting from a single jute mill in Rajam in 1978.G M Rao expanded the group's presence in the infrastructure sector by leading the group's foray into Highways. The group bagged its first global project by winning the bid to modernise the Sabiha Gokcen International (SGA) airport at Istanbul, Turkey and also ventured into the new business sector of Urban Infrastructure. The group will set up a 3300 acre multi-product SEZ in Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu. It is marching ahead on lines of the Adani group. With a strong desire to serve the needs of the marginalised sections and the rural society, Rao set up the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, to raise their living standards. The Foundation is active in the areas of education, health and hygiene, community development and empowerment.

13. Gopichand Hinduja
Hinduja Group
Hinduja is worth billions of dollars, but he still shares a kitchen with his three brothers. He co-chairs the Indian multinational corporation Hinduja Group with his eldest brother Srichand. Srichand, 75, and Gopichand, 70, are based in the exclusive district of Mayfair in London. The third brother, Prakash, 65, is in Geneva, while the fourth, and the youngest, Ashok, 60, remains in Mumbai. In each country, there is a house with a joint kitchen for all four of the brothers and their families to use. They are estimated to be worth a total of about US$9.5 billion (Dh34.89bn), according to The Sunday Times 2008 Rich List. At one stage they had fast emerged as a force to reckon with in the corridors of power, but now seem to have preferred lying low.

FORUM
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Several 'Adarsh' buildings in Delhi

Jairam Ramesh has ordered the demolition of one building in Mumbai as it violated the law. Delhi, the capital city, has more than 1300 unauthorized colonies which have come up against all laws. The DDA, MCD and the Central and State governments are mute spectators to these violations including to encroachment of hundreds of acres of prime government and DDA land .

Efforts to regularize these colonies have been made by all parties since 1993,since powerful politicians and builders are behind the development of these colonies.

Why are there two different policies for violators of the law?

S Swarup

No gain without pain

The Sixth Pay Commission recommendations really came as a boon to me. I was among the few lucky ones to get substantial benefit from the 'subject to minimum of.......' fixation formula. I could not myself imagine my pension suddenly shooting up, like mercury in Delhi summer. Well, this is the good (pleasure) part. A substantial increase of nearly 80 percent of my previous pension was the result. I could not believe, my wife could not believe this bonanza doled out by the Sixth Pay Commission. I thought I would suddenly become a rich pensioner (!). No, perhaps the word pensioner no longer suits here. Even during my active service days, myself and for that matter no one else could have thought of a double take home pay.

But the pension pangs started soon. First it was difficult to find out who would do the revision and when. When I came to know that this was to be done by the same bank disbursing pension to me, I made enquiries with them. After a wait of nearly two months, I got the revised(?) pension as per the ready reckoner table. When I mentioned to the bank that the ready reckoner table did not apply in my case, their answer was: you have been credited with the revised pension and forty per cent arrears too.

After repeated visits and telephone calls to the bank, someone really understood my point and agreed to fix me. This person took his own time and said that he would re- calculate the pension and arrears soon since you were in a senior position. Of course he promptly called me on phone after a few days informed me about the detailed calculations which while satisfying me also made me wonder whether were it not for the position (Director) would he have taken his own sweet time. At the same time there was the feeling that one is being respected for his position, even after retirement! Well, within a couple of days the correct amount was duly credited to my account.

Then came the fight for the remaining sixty percent of arrears. I thought there should be no problem here since this involved a simple arithmetic - if forty percent of the whole was so much, what is the sixty percent of the whole. Shouldn't that be easy for any one to calculate?

I found that for the bank people this simple arithmetic was far from easy comprehension. To add to their confusion, who later admitted their ignorance about this whole matter (since this work was being done by a special cell in their Nagpur branch),an amount representing the sixty percent was credited to my account (of course incorrect amount), even much before the Government had issued the order regarding this. Surprise , surprise,surprise! I pointed out this to the bank people, who never bothered to look into it. I did no want to use this amount and left the matter to the bank people to sort out. Then the orders got issued by government for release of the balance sixty percent arrears.

Now I started chasing the credit of the exact amount due to me. At that time, their argument was: you have already been paid the balance arrears, pointing out the wrong credit of the amount already made. Since the bank people really did not understand the exact position, no amount of argument by me could convince them. I had even gone to them with the detailed calculations and tried to convince them, but all my efforts failed. In order to resolve the problem, since the process was getting delayed, I reluctantly sought the help of the Private Secretary to CMD, and, the problem was solved in a couple of days. The bank people called me to the bank and asked me to verify the actual amount credited. This solved my whole problem, but all this cost me mental tension, long wait and frequent trips to the bank. Well, this was probably meant to be done that way and, perhaps substantiating the maxim that no gain without pain. The whole episode proved that position still matters - both in my case(?) and in the case of the PA to CMD!

(by C.V. subramaniam,former Director, Department of Electronics)

Ways to reduce corruption in bureaucracy

I suggest one of the effective ways to reduce corruption in bureaucracy:

1. The important posts in Government to be filled by deputation should not have more than 50% representation of one lobby, esp. IAS lobby.

2. It will generate merit and professionalism.

3. It will automatically create a control where everyone is watching others in unbiased manner

4. In no case DOPT be in control by bureaucrats. It should be positioned by professionals and i am sure will spur the officers the officers in the Government.

Mohan

Totally unjustified

UPA Government's defence of appointment of PJ Thomas as CVC is not at all justified. On one hand, the government has laid down stringent guidelines for posting to sensitive appointments as per DOP & T letters available in the following links:- http://www.persmin.nic.in/WriteReadData/SV/104_33_2005-AVD.1.pdf

and http://www.persmin.nic.in/WriteReadData/Estt/11012_11_2007_Estt(A).pdf, while on the other hand, the same Government is justifying the appointment of Mr Thomas (who is under cloud), to one of the most sensitive appointments in India. How can Mr Thomas decide about vigilance clearance of other government functionaries when he himself is not eligible for vigilance clearance as per DOP & T guidelines. In case, the UPA government feels that appointment of Thomas as CVC is correct, then DOP & T should cancel the above mentioned letters.

Samaalochak

They are the only people who whisper !

Abdul Faheem wrote "WIC is too much loaded with matters connected to Clerks & Stenos." They are the people who whisper, others either shout or keep quiet.

Ram Kumar

They act as Big Boss

In all departments the stenos are very close to high ranked officials and acting as Yes Sir style. They are very unpleasant to others and acted as Big Boss. The C.R. of these category always outstanding and gained unlawful benefits. I have some bitter experiences from these group, will be explaining in coming days.

Koyaji

Hope the State Government disposes!

The grapevine says that the Crisis ridden IFS cadre in Maharashtra has proposed various firefighting measures to the State Government to tackle the messy business of supercessions once and for all! The measures include benchmarks which would enable practically all officers having good or more PARs to be promoted to the very top level. They also suggest superseding the IFS promotion guidelines in order to accommodate officers who are found below par by arming the DPC with discretionary powers to ignore merit but reward those found "not up to the mark!" They also propose benchmarks so adopted to be applied retrospectively!

P.S. : No, No pun intended! April is still more than a good two months away!

An IFS officer