Many commercial websites exhorts the viewers to set these sites as home page. The WIC doesn't make such appeal. But you may be surprised to know that many people have set this website as Homepage so that the moment computer is booted, first site to be displayed is WIC. Congratulations.

Shantanu Ghosh

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Ramdev was itching to break his fast .....officially!!! I say officially because these so called Holy Men have their 'sanctum sanctorums' for a reason..... what goes on inside stays inside!!! See the support that Ramdev is getting..... Chautala and Badal........the minute both extended support to Ramdev I am sure a huge chunk of Ramdev supporters in Punjab and Harayana must have slapped their heads in disbelief!! For Ramdev getting too big for his clogs Congress is to blame.... Congress played games so at to take away Anna's thunder!!!! Srix2 Ravi Shankar has made Ramdev break his fast........Ramdev's boast that he couls fdast for 30 days fell flat on its face!!!!! Ramdev has already made contact with Congress and trying to make Congress to reign in the investigative troika .... IB, ED and IT!! BJP has lost out as it could have gained a lot........ especially Sushma has behaved foolishly..... Congress is responsible for aggravating situation for political goals and BJP is responsible for trivializing matters attempting to gain politically!! Apart from politicking in the name of religion Ramdev is also responsible for causing harm via his 'nuskas' (quack remedies)!!! Jaitley some time back took Ramdev's 'nuska' for his sugar ailment…… Jaitley's sugar shot up and he had to be hospitalized in AIIMS where insulin shots saved him!! These quacks make people discontinue their medicines and make them take their 'nukas'….. imagine the damage so said Babas like Ramdev are doing!! Would Madam Sushma who also suffers from sugar care to take Ramdev's medicine for sugar..... after all amongst the BJP Leaders she is the one who is most concerned about Ramdev.... put Ramdev's medicine where her mouth is !!!!!

Make it mandatory for anyone wanting to become a Baba to get a license!!!!

Appoint an Ashram Regulator and try to put a stop to this nonsense!!

Pragmatism is needed to tackle black money stashed oversees!! If the figure Ramdev touts is correct and if this money is brought back it'll destabilize India 's economy.... a Rupee will be worth $ 5!!!! Govindcharya seems to have sold Ramdev 'get the money back' as if it'll come back in plane loads and plane loads will be driven to RBI and then RBI would distribute the money equally amongst Indians...... no economic ramifications!!!! Would not be a bad idea to negotiate with Tax Havens so that interest earned from Deposits made by Indians ......both direct and indirect...... be taxed (withheld) at the peak tax rate in India and the tax be deposited with Indian Tax Authority........given this option Tax Havens would not be averse under KYC getting the details from Shell Companies about true ownership!! If corruption has to be tackled at the root then transparency is required..... how about stopping the 'Z Plus security' Government gives to Government Tenders....... kullam khulla Governance is the answer!!! And Sonia's trip to Europe and Rahul's to where Sonia is via Dubai (et tu Rahul) and London has got Subramaniam Swamy intrigued...... as per Swamy the proof of the trip (objective) lies in 'if the trips were sudden on pre-planned' and this is unverifiable!!!!

Even in RTI Government tried to later enact a RTI.... Right To Interfere!!!

In the Corridors of Power talk of transparency creates fear!!

Ramdev's dhongi fast led to the Cabinet Reshuffle being postponed!! Few expecting promotions must have said 'shucks' and few like Maran expecting the boot must have heaved a sigh of relief!! Madam's finalized the list but she's taken it with her.....now it's in her handbag...... though now that reshuffle has been postponed there could be some amendments after Madam comes back..... some representations are awaiting her!!! Mani Shankar Aiyer is hoping against hopes for a Cabinet berth...... in recent TV talks shows to show his loyalty to the Gandhi family he's indulged in sheer ludicrousness!!! Renuka Chowdhury too has been doing her bit to get Madam's eye!!!!

Rahul again will not make the cut..... of course this will be on Rahul's call!!!!

Seems for the rest of UPA's stint he'd like to continue having a ball!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Contact-suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> &

<mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com>

Is there any Government in Maharashtra ?
There is a general belief that Maharashtra Government headed by Prithviraj Chavan has failed on all fronts.Now people have started question is there any Government in Maharashtra ?.

BUREAUCRACY

Will R.K. Singh succeed G.K. Pillai or …?
Will the 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer R.K. Singh succeed G.K. Pillai on July 1 as Secretary, Home? A meeting between Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Singh last week has fuelled speculations to this effect. Singh, is presently Secretary, Defence Production. Meanwhile, 1974 batch IAS officers serving as Secretaries have staked their claim for the post. Now, two 1974 batch IAS officers A.N.P. Sinha and Anoop Mukherjee are also strong claimants for the post.Name of two 1975 batch women IAS officers are also in circulation.

No future for 1975 and 1976 batch IAS if ?

In case post of Secretary, Defence and Secretary, Home goes to IAS officers from the 1974 batch the fate of 1975 and 1976 batch IAS officers are going to be blocked.

Nine Secretaries of 1974 batch IAS in GoI
There are presently nine serving Secretaries of 1974 batch IAS in the Government of India.

13 GMs to be elevated as EDs in PSU banks
As the grapevine has it 13 General Managers (GMs) of PSU banks had been selected for Elevation as Executive Directors (EDs).Their namjes along with allocated banks are as follows: Deepak Narang Allahabad Bank to Bank of Maharashtra, A.L. Daulatani Allahabad Bank to United Bank of India, S. K. Sangar Union Bank of India to Andhra Bank, A.K. Gupta Punjab National Bank (PNB) to Canara Bank, B.Raj Kumar Andhra Bank to Corporation Bank, Ms. Usha Ananthasubramanian Bank of Baroda (BoB) the Punjab National Bank (PNB), A. D. M. Chavali Bank of Baroda (BoB) to Bank of India (BOI), S.K. Jain Bank of India (BOI) to Union Bank of India, A.K. Mishra Canara Bank to Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), S Chandrasekharan Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) to UCO Bank, M .Anjaneya Prasad Andhra Bank to Syndicate Bank, C.V. R. Rajendran Corporation Bank to Allahabad Bank and M. S. Raghavan Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) to Indian Bank.

Dr. K. M. Abraham in run for FMC's top slot
As the grapevine has it Dr. K.M. Abraham Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the hot contender for the slot of Forward Markets Commission (FMC) Chairman. He term as SEBI Member is going to end on July 20, 2011. He is an IAS officer of the 1982 batch who belongs to Kerala cadre.

DPC for Railway GMs panel for 2011-12 held
DPC for considering senior railway officers for elevation as General Managers (GMs) in Railways has been held. It comprised: Ajit Kumar Seth OSD in Cabinet Secretariat, Chairman Railway Board (CRB) Vivek Sahai and A.P. Mishra Member-Engineering in Railway Board. Minutes are yet to be finalized.

Rajiv Gupta to be MD, NAFED
Rajiv Gupta is all set to take over as MD of the NAFED. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer
who belongs to the Uttarakhand cadre.

Rajeev Kumar to be CVO, DVC
Rajeev Kumar is all set to become CVO of the Damodar Valley Corporation. He is a 1989 batch IPS officer belonging to the West Bengal cadre.

West Bengal Govt recalls three IAS officers
The West Bengal government being headed by Chief Minister Ms.Mamata Banerjee has recalled services of three IAS officers.

Will Madan replace T.C. Benjamin in Maharashtra?
Grapevine has it, that U.P.S. Madan an IAS officer of the 1983 batch belonging to the Maharashtra cadre is likely to replace T.C. Benjamin (1979 batch IAS) in the Urban Development, Department in Maharashtra.

Will Pardeshi be posted in Forest dept Maharashtra?
Grapevine has it that, Praveen Pardeshi an IAS officer of the 1985 batch belonging to Maharashtra cadre is likely to be posted in the Forest department in Maharashtra

Samir Vishwas faces a piquant situation
Samir Vishwas an IAS officer of the 1990 batch hailing from the Maharashra cadre has landed in a piquant situation following his transfer. Vishwas has been posted as Member Secretary to Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran last week, but, when he went to take charge he learnt that there was already an officer working as the Member Secretary of the authority. Now, Vishwas is in a fix as the administration is facing a stiff opposition from the local staff over the replacement of the existing Member secretary.

Nand Kumar has no office
Nand Kumar an IAS officer of the 1989 batch does not have an office. He was recently posted as Secretary to Rajmata Jijamata Bal Sangopan Mission, Beed Maharashtra.

Who will replace A.V. Parasnis as Maharashtra, DGP?
Who will replace Maharashtra Director General of Police A.V. Parasnis? This question is doing the rounds among the corridors of power in Maharashtra as Parasnis, an IPS officer of the 1976 batch who belongs to Maharashtra cadre is retiring on June 30. Three senior IPS officers Raj Khilnani Director General, Home Guards (1977 batch IPS), Sanjeev Dayal (1976 batch IPS) DGP and CMD Maharashtra Police Housing and K. Subramanian (IPS 1976 batch) DG Anti Corruption Bureau are top contenders for the post..

Peeyush Kumar Shrivastava is now Director, DEA
Peeyush Kumar Shrivastava Deputy Secretary Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) has been redesignated as Director, DEA. He is an IAS officer of 1998 batch who belongs to the Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Umesh Dongre, Director, Fertilizer gets 3 months extension
Umesh Dongre Director, Fertilizer in the central government's Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has got three months extension. He is an ICAS cadre officer of 1989 batch.

Puneet Aggarwal is now Director, DEA
Puneet Aggarwal Deputy Secretary Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) has been redesignated as Director, DEA. He is an IDAS cadre officer of 1997 batch.

R.K Mahajan to return to Bihar
R.K. Mahajan Joint Secretary, Coal, Government of India on completion of his deputation tenure will be returning to his parent cadre. He is an IAS officer of 1987 batch who belongs to the Bihar cadre.

Prashant Kumar is IG, ITBP
Prashant Kumar on central deputation has joined as IG, Provisions and Communication, ITBP Directorate New Delhi .Now he is on a familiarization tour for 15 days. He is an IPS officer of 1990 who belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre.

D.K Pandey IG-CRPF shifted to Rajasthan
D.K Pandey, Director, Internal Security Mount Abu has joined as IG, CRPF, Rajasthan sector. Along with this he will also look after charge of IG Operations, Jharkhand. He is an IPS officer of 1984 batch who belongs to the Jharkhand cadre.

DIB should sport uniform!
There are whispers in the corridors of power that at least on two days i.e. on August 15 and January 26 the Director, Intelligence Bureau (DIB) to government of should wear his uniform.

Ms. J. M. Menon promoted as Principal Accountant General
Ms. J.M. Menon, Accountant General (A&E), in the office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India, Kerala, Thiruvanthapuram, has been promoted to the grade of Principal Accountant General. On her promotion, Ms. Menon will take over as Principal Accountant General (A&E), Kerala, Thiruvanthapuram against an upgraded post.

PM hosts lunch to Chandrasekhar and Seth
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly hosted lunch to Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar and his successor Ajit Seth on Saturday, June 11, 2011.

IPS reshuffle in West Bengal
About a dozen IPS officers have been reshuffled in West Bengal. This is the first reshuffle undertaken by the Mamata Banerjee Government. Supratim Sarkar will now be joint CP (traffic) while K Jairaman, has been promoted as DIG (CID operations).Ashok Kumar Prasad will now be SP East Midnapore, Rahul Srivastav has also been promoted as DIG (vigilance), Rajesh Kumar Singh has been given the charge of DIG (armed police), Debabrata Das has been transferred to the armed police as deputy commandant, Ranendra Nath Banerjee will take Das's place while Sabyasachi Raman Mishra will be new SP Nadia.

IAS postings in Madhya Pradesh
Ajay Tirkey has been appointed Divisional Commissioner Rewa.Rewa Commissioner Ravindra Singh Pastore will now be Divisional Commissioner Jabalpur.

IPS offices dies
1989 batch Haryana cadre IPS officer Manjeet Singh Ahlawat died after he fell from a building in Gurgaon.

Pakistan : 'No US Boots on Pakistani soil' Keyani and Pasha tell the US spy Chief
At a meeting held by the CIA chief Leon Panetta with Pakistan's Army Chief Keyani and DG ISI Shuja Pasha in Islamabad on June 11, the Pakistanis told in no uncertain terms that there has to be sizeable reduction in the number of CIA operatives in Pakistan. The US spy chief who arrived in Islamabad unannounced on Friday was told by Keyani and Pasha, 'we want no US boots on Pakistani soil'. During the US-Pakistan partnership in the so called global war against terror there has been a proliferation of US trainers and operatives from CIA as well as the US Army for a variety of assignments inside Pakistan but tensions started showing after the Raymond Davis affair and the Abbottabad operation carried out by US Navy Seals last month.

Chandrasekhar to be Vice Chairman Planning Board in Kerala ? (UPDATED)
Latest grapevine has it that outgoing Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar is returning to Kerala as Vice Chairman of the Planning Board.He is 1970 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer.

DEBATE

Next Lok Sabha-Congress and BJP to get less than 100 seats ?
If today's political scenario is taken into account, both the Congress and the BJP will get less than 100 seats in the next Lok Sabha elections. In such a case, what could be the emerging scenario? Mail your valuable views to us at -

mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com or suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com

CORPORATE

Nair gets extension till March
The GoI has approved extension to M. V. Nair, as Chairman and Managing Director, Union Bank of India, for a year till March 31, 2012.

Sen is new CMD, DVC
R.N. Sen has been appointed new Chairman of the Damodar Valley Corporation. He is presently CEO of the NTPC-SAIL Power Company Limited (NAPCL).
(We said this on May 1)

R. Aeron Insrael Jebasingh is Vice President SREI
R. Aeron Insrael Jebasingh, a 2004 batch IAS officer hailing from the West Bengal cadre, has been appointed as Vice President SREI Sahej. SREI Sahej is pioneering communityservice centers across India and Jebasingh is the third IAS officer with SREI now.

Gupta to be Director (Finance), MMTC
M.G. Gupta is being tipped to be new Director (Finance) of the MMTC. He is presently CGM and FA in the company.

Pankaj is new CMD of NEEPCO
North Eastern Electric Power Corporation has appointed P.C. Pankaj has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation(NEEPCO). He was serving as an Executive Director in PowerGrid Corporation.
(We said this on May 21)

N. K. Nanda has an edge for NMDC's CMD
As the grapevine has it, N. K. Nanda, Director (Technical), NMDC has an edge for the top post of NMDC. He is one of the two top contenders for the post of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the NMDC. Interviews for that are slated to be held on June 27, 2011.

Economist gets assignment in Sikkim
Noted Economist Dr A.K. Shiva Kumar has been appointed as an advisor by the Sikkim Government for formulating the second State Human Development Report.

Kini promoted as GM in Corporation Bank
Vasanth Kini U, DGM of Corporation Bank, has been promoted as General Manager of the bank.

Jha is now GM in SBT
Ravi Jha has taken over as General Manager (Treasury) at State Bank of Travancore (SBT).

Jaiswal is business head of Dhanlaxmi Bank
Manish Jaiswal has been appointed as business head for its small and medium enterprises (SME) group by the Dhanlaxmi Bank.

Iyer is now ED
Sriram Iyer has been appointed by Daiwa Capital Markets as its new Executive Director and Head of sales trading in India.

Pandey appointed Part-time Govt. Director, BEML Ltd
President of India has appointed Dr. S. C. Pandey, Additional Financial Advisor & Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence (Finance), as Part-time Government Director on the Board of BEML Ltd with effect from June 7, 2011.

Agarwal appointed CFO, Astrazeneca Pharma India Ltd
Astrazeneca Pharma India Limited has appointed Himanshu Agarwal as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company with effect from May 3, 2011.

Patwari appointed Director, BOC India Ltd
BOC India Limited had appointed Binod Patwari, an Additional Director (Non Executive) of the Company as a Director of the Company on June 2, 2011.

Irani retires as Director, BOC India Ltd
Dr. Jamshedji Irani retired by rotation from the Board of BOC India Ltd on June 2, 2011 and accordingly also ceased to be a Non Executive Independent Director of the Company.

Trivedi appointed Company Secy. Astral Poly Technik Ltd
Ms. Zankhana Trivedi has been appointed as Company Secretary of Astral Poly Technik Ltd with effect from June 9, 2011.

Jain resigns as Company Secy. Astral Poly Technik Ltd
Ms. Richa Jain has resigned from the post of Company Secretary of Astral Poly Technik Ltd.

Parigi appointed as Advisor, NEA India
New Enterprise Associates India (NEA India) has appointed A P Parigi as Advisor for its Indian operations.

Pahwa appointed Business Head (Auto Suspension Prod. Division), Escorts Ltd
Escorts Limited has appointed Lalit Kumar Pahwa as Business Head (Auto uspension Product Division).

Mehra resigns as Company Secy. KSK Energy Ventures Ltd
Narendra Mehra has resigned as Company Secretary of KSK Energy Ventures Ltd.

Sekhar has appointed Asst. Company Secy. KSK Energy Ventures Ltd
M. S. Phani Sekhar has been appointed as Assistant Company Secretary of KSK Energy Ventures Ltd w.e.f. June 9, 2011.

Rangarajan resigns as Director, Timken India Ltd
Sridharan Rangarajan, Director, Timken India Ltd has resigned as a Director of the Company effective June 1, 2011.

Rastogi appointed Addl. Director, Timken India Ltd
Deepak Rastogi has been appointed as an Additional Director of Timken India Ltd with effect from June 1, 2011.

Tandon resigns as Director, Rich Capital & Financial Services Ltd
Sanjay Tandon, Director of Rich Capital & Financial Services Ltd has resigned w.e.f. June 1, 2011.

FORUM

Taxmen must focus on prosecution
All this talk of criminalizing tax evasion is eyewash. Tax evasion is statutorily a criminal offence under the I.T. Act itself. If the Tax department is not able to successfully file prosecution and obtain conviction, the reason is this: Tax Department never ever in the past looked at prosecution as its key area of focus: tax payment was good enough. That is the reason why there have been such a wide spread culture of agreed assessment and even a statutory body like Settlement Commission to exonerate evasion. If at all you try to focus on prosecution, one may as well relax the targets on collection and reorient officers in another line -prosecution that is. The re-orientation may take a toll on collection for a few years, but once the message is driven home, collections would be as normal. Wonder, which Chairman would bite the bullet?

Desu

Why is Sonia silent?

One is surprised at the stoic silence of Ms.Sonia Gandhi at the series of public accusations being made by ex-Law Minister Dr.Subrahmaniam Swami against her. The absence of any libel action by the all powerful UPA Chairperson, makes many believe that there is truth in these allegations. It is also damaging the reputation of the Congress Party as well as the Nation.

Navnith

Black money should be brought back

Some one should advise Baba Ramdev to speak less and preserve his energy. At times

silence is gold. His reaction to the Ramalila fiasco was not in good taste. He should observe how Annaji conducts himself .Gimmicks do not pay always .But we are with Baba for the cause! Our money, black and or any other colour, should be brought back at the earliest!

Bikash Narayan Mishra

Are Ministers covered under definition of 'public servants'?

The appellant desired copies of instruction under which Ministers are covered under the definition of public servant and the rule under which the Ministers could remain missing from their official duty for weeks and devote themselves for their party works leaving behind their official work unattended. He also wanted to know whether such prolonged absence from official work could be treated as a part of their official duty and whether a Minister could draw pay & perks for the period of absence from official duty to attend personal or party work. The PIO stated that as per records available there are no
specific definitions of whether Ministers are public servant or not. The CIC felt it necessary for the Government to define whether Ministers are public servant or not and this should be available as a requirement of Section-4 declaration.

Comments

The section 4 puts certain obligations on the public authority to pro-actively disclose certain facts about themselves. The civil servants have been at the receiving end for delay or absenteeism but the performance of ministers has not been questioned. Would the RTI
Act be able to force the attendance of the Ministers?

Mr. H.P. Sharma v. Cabinet Secretariat in CIC/SM/A/2011/000263/SG/12650

- 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)