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The other day my Man Friday Ramu was at a loose end. He'd had a fight with Bolshoi the boxer, my dog, and the chutta Bai (part-time help) who comes to work in my house. I was going to Lodi Garden for a walk and snooze!!! I suggested he accompany me for my walk cum snooze!!! Wifey wanted me to take Bolshoi too, but I knew Ramu and Bolshoi would create a scene and I did not want this at a place where I get solace!!! So I felt Bolshoi back despite wifey's dirty looks!!

As usual I walked for some time and then plonked myself on my favourite bench and dozed off. I got up and looked into my watch and found that I'd had napped for a good one hour!!

Me: Ramu where are you???

Ramu: Behind the bench..... just got here after a 'walk and talk' around the park with a friend..... (excitedly) Sahib I've befriended Rahul's Man Friday!!!! (proudly) Boss I did a 'walk and talk' with Rahul's Man Friday like that ganjaa (bald) fellow does on TV!!!

Me: Its Walk the Talk.......and his name is Shekhar Gupta and not ganjaa.....what's Rahul's Man Friday's name????

Bolshoi: Boss cannot reveal his name for security reason!!!

Me: Chalo we'll name him John Doe.....so what info did you glean from John Doe????

Ramu: From John Bhai I got lots of inside maal (dope or inside info) but for security reasons I cannot reveal a lot..... only some titbits...... you know why Rahul has grown a stubble????

Me: No idea.... maybe he's got a facial rash that prevents him from shaving... or maybe he's preparing to be Santa Claus at his Mom's Christmas Party this year!!

Ramu: Ha...... nothing of the sort...... he's been advised by his astrologer that a beard will do wonders for him!!!! Seems his astrologer has advised him that his (Rahul's) 'chikna look' is bringing him bad luck....luck is slipping off him !!!! His astrologer has assured him that his stubble will bring him good luck.... and the Astrologer has also told him if he also grows a Hitler kind of moustache his luck will know no bounds!!

Me: So with the beard luck will get a hold on him!!! What else have you been able to find out?????

Ramu: Rahul nowadays is into reading books on the Emergency!!!!

Me: (lamenting aloud) Worrisome for us Indians!!!!

Ramu: Rahul is thinking of putting Congress under Emergency!!!!

Me: But Congress has always been under Emergency...... High Command was and is supreme etc...... there's no Democracy in Congress......like after an election we are told the Congress MLAs will meet and choose the CM..... fact is the Observers who go there go with orders as to who is to be elected as CM and they order the MLAs to vote accordingly!!!

Ramu: He was saying that he heard Rahul saying that Congress's image was in the dumps and only extreme measures could restore Congress's image!!

Me: Hope he skips reading the Chapter on Nasbandi otherwise Congressmen had it!!! In my opinion if only the Gandhis enforced discipline on themselves and stopped meddling in running of the Nation and let Mohna do his job Congress's image would be restored!!

Ramu: Rahul is nowadays into increasing his stamina!!!

Me: He's always been a fitness buff!!!

Bolshoi: He's planning a padyatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir!!! He feels padyatras up to now yielded good results for those who have undertaken padyatras!!! John Doe is worried that he'll have to accompany Rahul during the padyatra....he feels it'll be torturous for him!! For one he says the security is really as it is getting to him!!!

Me: Yes I think the Blue Book covers Security for Men Fridays of those who are on the Z Plus Security list!!!

Ramu: Poor John Bhai...... he is 50 plus but has not got married!!

Me: Chalo maybe when Rahul gets married he'll get John Doe a mate!!!!

Ramu: Sahib I'm 30 and I already have four children and I plan to have same number of children as Laloo has...... three I'll make Netas, one will join IAS, one will go into IPS, one into IRS and the other four will go into business!!!

Me: And you will enjoy a retired life!!

Ramu: Kya Sahib...... I'll be their Banker for both number one and two paisa!!

Me: Coming to John Doe..... what's stopping him from getting married????

Ramu: Sahib he's always surrounded by security..... he tried to get friendly with a couple of girls after great difficulty and in the end these girls got married to the Security fellows who accompanied him!!He even got a couple of arranged rishtas..... but one backed out on account of the security surrounding John Bhai and one girl chose the security fellow standing behind John Bhai when they both were made to meet to formally select each other!!!

Me: Has he spoken to Rahul?????

Ramu: Sahib he says half the time Rahul discourages Johhn Bhai from getting married and half the time Rahul says when he'll get married he'll get John Bhai married too!!

Me: Yes in Princely marriages maids do accompany the Bride...... they are party of the dowry!!!

Ramu: But John Bhai says he went to his village and a village elder advised him ...... shaadhi karr le Chorre ....... Neta logon ka kabhi bhi bharosa nahi karna chahiye..... na inn ki salah na inn ke aashwaasan ka!!

Me: Didn't the security take this elder into custody for his advice.........Ramu you gapodi (fibber) in this so said walk the talk its abs clear that John Doe or your John Bhai is always surrounded by security......so how did you manage such a frank interview.... or walk the talk!!!!

Ramu: You can do imaginary interviews...... your dog even talks to you...... why can't I do a imaginary walk the talk...... Sahib as you slept on the bench I was day dreaming lying on the cool grass behind the bench......mazaa aa gaya Sahib...... shareer aur dimaag ek dumm fresh ho gaya!!

Me: Jaise ko taisa milla!!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Contact-suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> &

<mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com>

Shakeel Ahmed tipped to be AICC general secretary
Grapevine has it that AICC spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed is likely to be promoted as AICC general secretary.

Mahatma Gandhi's portraits find a place in Writers building
Since the day Ms. Mamta Banerjee was sworn as the Chief Minister of West Bengal there are whispers in political corridors of Delhi that her well-wishers have started putting photographs of Mahatma Gandhi in the Writers Building. In a way protesting red colour and supporting green.

WB CM for a Bengali restaurant in Banga Bhawan
West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamta Banerjee has ordered that a Bengali restaurant for the public in Hailey road situated Banga Bhawan, New Delhi, be opened. It will be like that of Andhra Bhawan New Delhi. She wants to popularize Bengali cuisine. For this she has appointed her most trustworthy person, Ratan Mukherjee to take up this project.

Cabinet reshuffle may annoy UPA allies
Political observers feel that once Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh reshuffles his cabinet then Karunanidhi led DMK and Sharad Pawar led NCP may get irked. This duo has 32 MPs. Those who matter in the UPA government know that several bills will be passed in the parliament during monsoon session and they are scared if DMK and NCP springs a surprise at that time then it will have go be countered. Therefore those managers in the Congress have somehow been able to garner support from troika comprising of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ajit Singh and Lalu Prasad Yadav. They may join the Cabinet. Strength of these leaders is also of 32 MPs.

Mulayam, Lalu & Ajit may join cabinet
The chief of Samajwadi Party Mulayam Singh Yadav, president of RJD Lalu Prasad Yadav and head of Lok Dal Ajit Singh are likely to be inducted in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle at the centre.

Ministers busy saving their berths
When mercury soars then ministers and bureaucrats go to hill stations (in India & abroad). There are whispers in corridors of power that this time every minister is busy in protecting his berth. And for this they don't mind giving up their summer plans this time. It is so because they are scared of being axed.

Frictions between TMC & Congress in WB begin
As the grapevine has it, frictions between Congress & ruling Trina Mool Congress (TMC) being led by West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee have already begun. It was on May 20, 2011 that new government was formed in West Bengal.

Why did Mamta take oath on Friday ?
Why has TMC Leader, Ms. Mamta Banerjee, taken oath on Friday? There are whispers in the political corridor that Every Friday, Jumma takes place and 27% Muslims gave bumper voting to make Ms. Banerjee seated on the winning seat, hence in the Writer's building. "Didi" as she is well- known has Santoshi Ma puja on Friday on which she fasts. She considers this as an auspicious day. Elections were held on Friday and on Friday Election results were declared. Aren't these reasons sufficient enough to unlock the "Friday- Mystery. BJP senior most leader, L.K Advani called up Ms. Banerjee to congratulate her but she did not turn up to the call. May be she was scared of communalism stain.

Congress's Maharashtra Jan Durbar
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress has started a new mission Jan Durbar wherein every Tuesday a minister will visit Gandhi Bhavan ( Congress Headquarters) and listen to the complaints of the citizens. The underlying message is listen to the complaints and not solve them.

CM too busy to listen to people at the durbar
The inauguration of Jan Durbar was a damp squib, the Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan it seems was so busy that he was hardly there to spend time. Chavan came hardly for 15 minutes and took up some 10-12 complaints and left the function. General Secretary Mahadev Shelar and Sanjay Dutt said that the CM had a foreign delegation coming to visit him. Strangely MPCC Chief Manikrao Thakre was not
aware of the delegation visiting CM.

Protesters lie on the street but CM whizzes away
There were old, blind, handicapped people from all parts of Maharshtra waiting for the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to given them a patient hearing. They spent their money to travel in the heat of May just to make themselves hear but all to no avail. People got angry when the CM did not hear their appeals at the Jan Durbar in protest they lay in the street in front of the CMs car , but all of no use. The CM just whizzed away to meet a foreign delegation.

BUREAUCRACY

Four dozen 1978 batch IAS short-listed
Four dozen 1978 batch IAS officers are believed to have been short-listed for the empanelment to the rank of Secretary in the Government of India.Empanelment is expected to take place shortly.They are Mssrs :- Vivek Rae,R Chandramohan and K S Mehra (UT) Sanjay Kothari (Haryana) R Bhattacharya and R P Watal (AP) S K Srivastava and P B O Warjri (AM) Sudripto Roy (HP) Anil Goswami and Pankaj Jain (J&K) B B Srivastava (Bihar) R S Sharma and U K Sangma (Jharkhand) K N Srivastava,Arvind Jadhav , Lakshmi Venkatachalam and A P Joshi (Karnataka) S R Rao,Panneervel and Chaman Kumar (Gujarat) K Jayakumar (Kerala) R Parasuram (MP) Rahul Asthana (Maharashtra) A K Mangotra ,V Chibbar and R C Mishra (MT) G S Pati (Orissa) Rakesh Singh and Sudhir Mittal (Punjab) Arvind Mayaram ,Rajiv Mehrishi and Ashish Bahuguna (Rajasthan) M F Farooqui( TN) and Jawed Usmani,Saurabh Chandra,Prem Narain,Pankaj Agrawal,Anoop Mishra,Lov verma,Sudhir Kumar ,Stuti Narain Kacker,Desh Deepak Verma ,G B Pattnaik and Dr V Rajgopalan (U.P.) and K N Desiraju (Uttarakhand ).

Prakash Chandra Tripathi is new Chairman of CBDT
Prakash Chandra Tripathi is new Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).1973 batch IRS officer Tripathi has succeeded Sudhir Chandra.

PM stopped a revolt by not granting extension to CS
It is now known that K M Chandrasekhar was set to get another extension. Meanwhile a group of senior IAS officers met Secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair to express their anger against granting further extension to the Cabinet Secretary. Sensing possible protest the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to appoint the senior-most IAS officer Ajit Seth as the new Cabinet Secretary.

Justice Kehar to move to SC ?
Supreme Court Collegium is believed to have cleared the elevation of Chief Justice of the Karataka High Court Justice J S Kehar to the Supreme Court of India .He is likely to succeed Justice H S Bedi who is superannuating this year.

Who will be Secretary Parliamentary Affairs ?
Who will succeed Usha Mathur today as Secretary Parliamentary Affairs ?.Picture is not clear so far.Names of Senior IRAS officer Chandrasekhar and 1974 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Ranjana Chaudhary are in circulation.Some one is likely to be appointed officiating Secretary on Tuesday.Usha Mathur is retiring on May 31.

DPC for CCIT takes place
As predicted on this page last week DPC of remaining 1978 batch IRS and 1979 batch IRS officers has taken place on Monday.Altogether 46 officers have been promoted to the rank of Chief Commissioner of Income Tax.

T.V. Antony tipped to head Plan panel in Tamil Nadu
T.V. Antony (IAS:56), former Chief Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu is likely to be appointed Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission of Tamil Nadu.

Who is most powerful Jt.Secretary in PMO?
Who is the most powerful Joint Secretary level officer in the PMO? In corridors of power these days it is hotly being debated. Any guesses?

Maj Gen Nandar promoted in Indian Army
Major General Nandar has been promoted to the rank of Lt General in the Indian Army.

Postal service officer V. Pati is PMG (Hyderabad Region)
Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) officer of the Indian Postal service V. Pati (1986) has been posted as PMG (Hyderabad Region) AP Circle.

CBDT to set up criminal investigation directorate
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) would soon be setting up a criminal investigation directorate which would pave the way for the Income Tax Department to investigate cases involving tax evasion arising out of criminal activities. With this it would be able to effectively investigate the cases involving black money stashed away in the Liechtenstein Bank . The Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, is recently understood to have given his approval for setting up the directorate.

Udayan Mukherjee elevated in IB
Udayan Mukherji JD (HQ) Delhi has been promoted as the Additional Director, ntelligence Bureau Government of India; he is an IPS officer of 1980 batch who belongs to the Karnataka cadre.

Did Wanchoo make a protest ?
There are reports that several IPS officers including SPG Chief B V Wanchoo have made a protest against the appointment of 1977 batch IPS officer P K Mehta as DG RPF. Those who have lodged a protest belong to 1975 and 1976 batch IPS.

Subramanyaeswara Rao to join CBI ?
Subramanyaeswara Rao is likely to join as SP CBI in Chennai. He is 2002 batch IPS officer of Karnataka cadre.

New panel of Railway GMs being prepared
New panel for elevation of senior railway officers as General Managers (GMs) is being prepared.

Jayanta Kumar Saha is much sought after man in Railways
Jayant Kumar Saha OSD to Indian Minister of State (MOS) for Railways Mukul Roy is much sought after man nowadays.

IPS changes in West Bengal
Arvind Kumar Maliwal Chief of Security Directorate during the Left Front Government has been changed.He will now be ADG (Provisioning).1985 batch IPS officer Virendra will succeed MaliwalShivaji Ghosh has been made Special Commissioner Kolkata 1.Soumen Mitra will now be Additional Commissioner Kolkata 2.

IPS Postings in West Bengal
Principal Secretary to Buddhdeb Bhattacharya Subesh Das has been appointed Principal Secretary Science and Technology.R P S Kahlon will now be Principal Secretary Environment.S C Tiwari has been made Principal Secretary Higher Education.

Dilip Patwardhan SBI's CVO to retire
Dilip Patwardhan CVO of the State Bank of India (SBI) is going to retire on May 31, 2011.

Sumeet Jerath poised to join at the Centre
As the grapevine has it, Sumeet Jerath - Principal Secretary (PS - Power and Transport) with the Assam government is poised to go to the Government of India (GoI) on central deputation. He is an IAS officer of the 1985 batch who belongs to Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Changes in Jammu & Kashmir after Panchayat polls
A bureaucratic reshuffle is on the anvil in Jammu and Kashmir after ongoing 17 phased panchayat polls conclude by middle of June 2011. So far 12 phases are over.

G. Janardhan is CVO, SECL( Chhattisgarh,
G. Janardhan has assumed charge as Chief Vigilance Officer(CVO) in the South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. (SECL), Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh).He is an IPS officer of 1992 batch who belongs to Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Pakistan : Is the ISI interested in its own version of investigation into PNS Mehran incident?
There are at least three parallel inquiries being held in the recent militant attack on PNS Mehran and presence of an ISI representative is common to all the three. In the Navy's internal inquiry headed by a rear admiral one of the members is an ISI officer. Another inquiry being conducted by the security agencies is practically an ISI affair. The last in the series is an eight member joint interrogation team (JIT) constituted by the Sind police which too has an ISI officer. Seeing the ISI's clout in Pakistan's power structure intelligence circles are wondering whether its presence in all the inquiry committees and investigation teams is part of a design to validate through seemingly multiple agencies for the sake of wider public acceptability its own predetermined version of the investigations.

Agrawal is new Customs Commissioner Chennai Airport
Sanjay Kumar Agrawal has been appointed Commissioner (Customs) Chennai irport.He is 1988 batch IRS officer.

NATGRID Chief gets extension
Chief of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) Raghu Raman has been granted extension in his tenure.

IAS reshuffle in TamilNadu
There is another IAS reshuffle in TamilNadu. Girija Vaidyanathan, Commissioner has been posted as Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department.Jatindranath Swain has been made as Secretary, Cooperation, Food & Consumer Protection Department.Kumar Jayant has been posted as Secretary, Public and Rehabilitation Department.Surjit K. Chaudhary has been posted as Chairman of Teachers Recruitment Board.R. Vijayakumar has been posted as Principal Secretary, Planning and Development. V. Chandrasekaran will go as Managing Director, Slum Clearance Board.P. Umanath, Collector, Coimbatore, has been posted as Joint Secretary, Finance Department.P. Seetharaman, Collector, Cuddalore, has been posted as Project Director, Post Tsunami Sustainable Livelihood Porgramme.M Vallalar, Collector, Dindigul, has been posted as Additional Commissioner of Industries and Commerce.C. Kamaraj, Collector, Erode, has been posted as Deputy Secretary, Transport Department. Rajendra Ratnoo, Collector, Kanniyakumari, has been posted as Joint Secretary, Department of Special Programme Implementation.J. Uma Maheswari, Collector, Karur, has been posted as Joint Secretary, Higher Education Department. R. Palaniswamy, Collector, Villupuram, has been posted as Joint Commissioner of Municipal Administration .M. Vijayakumar, Collector, Perambalur, has been posted as Deputy Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department. A. Suganthi, Collector, Pudukottai, has been posted as Deputy Secretary, Social Welfare & Nutritious Meal Programme Department. T.N. Hariharan, Collector, Ramanathapuram, has been posted as Deputy Secretary RD.J. Chandrakumar, Collector, Salem, has been posted as Joint Secretary, Revenue Department. M.S. Shanmugam, Collector, Thanjavur, has been posted as Joint Secretary, Industries Department.M. Jayaraman, Collector, Tirunelveli, has been posted as Joint Secretary, Labour & Employment Department.T.P. Rajesh, Collector, Tiruvallur, has been posted as Deputy Secretary, Tamil Development, Religious Endowments & Information Department.C. Samayamoorthy, Collector, Tiruppur, has been posted as Joint Secretary, Public (Protocol) Department,. T.K. Ponnusamy, Collector, Ariyalur, has been posted as Joint Secretary, Energy Department. V. Palanikumar, Collector, Vellore, has been posted at Project Director and Member Secretary, Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society.S. Madumathi, Collector, Namakkal, has been posted as Deputy Commissioner Health, Chennai Corporation. V. Sampath, Collector, Sivaganga, has been posted as Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Limited And Mahesan Kasirajan, Collector, Tiruchirappalli EDTamil Nadu Watershed Development Agency.

Khan is back to cadre
Dr.A.S.Khan of Indian Ordnance Factories Service,1991 Batch, after completion of central deputation as Joint Secretary in Union Public Service Commission,New Delhi has been posted to his cadre in Department of Defence Production, Ordnance Factory Cell, New Delhi as Director.Dr.A.S.Khan has also done UNDP assignment as Advisor in Kabul, Afghanistan during 2008-2010.

Goa Collector suspended
The Goa government has suspended south Goa Collector Gokuldas P. Naik .

Bhoria appointed Chairman in Haryana (UPDATED)
Retired IAS officer K S Bhoria has been appointed Chairman of the Haryana Tax Tribunal.

Former IAS in Mamta,s panel (UPDATED)
Former land and land revenue secretary Debabrata Bandyopadhyay has been included in expert committee to draft the land policy .

Rajiv Sharma is new Secretary General NHRC (UPDATED)
Rajiv Sharma has joined as Secretary General of the National Human Rights ommission. He is 1976 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre. He has succeeded K S Mony who retired on March 31.
( We said this on March 22 )

Rajhans Upadhayaya gets additional charge in Rajasthan (UPDATED)
Rajhans Upadhyaya, Industries Commissioner with the Rajasthan government, has been given additional charge of CMD, Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation (RajSICO). He is an IAS officer of the 1982 batch who belongs to Rajasthan cadre.

Administrative reshuffle in Madhya Pradesh (UPDATED)
There has been an administrative reshuffle in Madhya Pradesh. While MK Rai has been made Chairman Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education, Swadeep Singh has been made Princip[al Secretary - Forests. Similarly, Mrs. Shikha Dubey will continue to look after the charge of Managing Director - Madhya Pradesh Khadi Board, Mrs. Sudha Choudhary has been made Secretary for MP Child Rights Protection Commission. She will also hold the additional charge of MD Women Finance and Development Corporation, B Chandrashekhar has been made Collector Betul, lokesh Kumar Jatav - Collector, Dindori, Alok Srivastava - Principal Secretary PHE has been given the additional charge of Science and Technology department, Prabhanshu Kamal - PS Animal Husbandary has been given the additional charge of Horticulture, Food Processing and Bio- Diversity department and Iqbal Singh Bains has been given the additional charge of Public Service Management.

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

S Sridhar to join in London
S Sridhar Chairman and Managing Director of Central Bank of India (CBI) who is going to retire on May 31, 2011 will be London based Advisor in the Commonwealth Debt management fund.

Kudos to Competition Commission of India
Competition Regulator; Competition Commission of India(CCI deserves kudos for giving a landmark ruling against the powerful and deep pocketed National Stock Exchange (NSE) finding it guilty of abusing its dominant position against a much smaller rival in the currency derivative (CD) segment. This case became all the more path breaking as it involved the NSE trying to square it up wih MCX-SX . Then SEBI Chairman C B Bhave had refused to intervene in this matter when MCX SX complained to him about NSE's predatory pricing. CCI adjudged NSE guilty of dominating its monopolistic position to kill MCX-SX by doing unfair pricing. It is pertinent to mention the excellent work done by CCI by highlighting activities of a dominant exchange. The NSE had waived its transaction charges in the CD segment to destroy competition. MCX-SX had appealed to CCI against the allegedly illegal moves of NSE. CCI ruled "NSE's policy for zero transaction fees as unfair and anti-competitive." The move of CCI is worth applauding as it gave its judgement against a powerful and entrenched entity. This judgement, experts say, is in the league of landmark rulings, on the lines of the actions of the anti competition watchdogs of US and UK who ruled against the monopolistic Microsoft and ensured penalty of hundreds of millions of pounds for misuse of its dominant position by indulging in unfair trade practices. These cases showcase
the motives of these monopolist giants who attempt to capture the market and milk the consumers. The case of NSE, which is held more than 67% by foreign and private investors, is equally worse.

Khanna to be Chairman, Bala India
Uday Khanna, CEO, Lafarge India, will soon be taking on the responsibility of chairman, Bala India from P.M. Sinna. Khanna who has over three decades of experience is a CA by profession.

Murali to be country manager eBay
S. Murali, 36, who has been with eBay since 2005 and has held a variety of roles in the company, is taking over as its country manager from Ambareesh Muithy.

Aftab resigns as Director, PNB Gilts Ltd
M. S. Aftab, Director, PNB Gilts Ltd has tendered his resignation from the directorship of the Company w.e.f. May 20, 2011.

Agarwal resigns as Director, PNB Gilts Ltd
A.S. Agarwal, Director, PNB Gilts Ltd has tendered his resignation from the directorship of the Company w.e.f. May 21, 2011.

Shidhaye resigns as Director, Parle Software Ltd
Rahul Shidhaye, Non-Executive Independent Director of Parle Software Ltd has resigned from as Director of the company.

Satapathy to be appointed Company Secy. Alfa Transformers Ltd
The Board of Alfa Transformers Ltd has approved the appointment of Susanta Kumar Satapathy as the Company Secretary of the company.

Agarwal to be re-appointed MD, Visa Steel Ltd
The Board of Visa Steel Ltd has approved re-appointment of Vishal Agarwal as Managing Director for a period of three years with effect from June 25, 2011.

Gupta resigns as Director, Prakash Woollen Mills Ltd
Satish Kumar Gupta has resigned as Director of Prakash Woollen Mills Ltd effective from May 20, 2011

PNB nominates new Director on Board of Uttam Sugar Mills Ltd
Punjab National Bank has nominated Kamal Prasad in place of Krishan Gopal Sharma on the Board of Uttam Sugar Mills Ltd . Accordingly the Company has appointed Prasad as the Nominee-cum-Additional Director w.e.f. May 27, 2011.

Vyas resigns as Director, Nivedita Mercantile & Financing Ltd
Kamalkishor Vyas has resigned as Director of Nivedita Mercantile & Financing Ltd on May 28, 2011.

Paranjpe appointed MD, Bloom Energy International
Girish S. Paranjpe has been appointed as Managing Director of Bloom Energy International.

Barratt is President, GSI Global Marketing Services
GSI Global Marketing Services International has promoted Simone Barratt to rank of President in the company.

Roni appointed CEO, GoAir
Wadia group has appointed Giorgio De Roni as the Chief Executive Officer of GoAir.

Foster appointed Chairman & Regional CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi has appointed Chris Foster as Chairman and Regional Chief Executive Officer. He will be based out of Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore and will begin work effective June 1, 2011. Foster's region includes India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Australia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and New Zealand.

Vadra elected Chairman
Mr Arvind Vadra has been elected as the new chairman of Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts .

FORUM

Next Lok Sabha-Congress and BJP to get less than 100 seats ?

I do not think this will be the situation. But if is it so, it will be disater for the country. Will go again in the arena of Devgowda like person who prefer to sleep nad the fortune of the country will also sleep. All can see how he is trying to spoil Karnataka. God save India from the persom like him. To avoid that the situation should not come what you think.

O P Pandey

Next Lok Sabha-Congress and BJP to get less than 100 seats ?

In such scenerio it will be very difficult time for the country. We surely need to have some reforms for better polictal outcome and management in the country. In the suggested scenerio it looks that we will atlest have two Deputy Prime Ministers or may be more. Time will show the reality.

Sharad Malhotra

Transfer policy

All right thinking people will agree with Dhayalan, a very senior officer of Defence Estates Service, about transfer posting policies being observed more in breach than observance and he has very aptly cited the example of Defence Estates department where a new transfer posting policy was to come in force w.e.f. 1.4.2011 (after a gap of 25 years and lot of controversial transfers leading to litigation as a part of cleaning up exercise. But there seems to be no sign of the new transfer policy and transfers have been made recently in a manner that one is left discovering trace of any policy in the transfers made. Therefore transfer policies of all government departments should also be brought within the purview of Lokpal Bill and deviations treated as a corrupt practice.

Sudhir Chopra

Railway GMs

What is the use of addressing GM Railways when the quorum is incomplete due to vacancy ?

Kailash

DoPT rules

There are vested groups ,which are misrepresenting the facts in case of Ms Garima Singh Judgement. The Government has to follow the rules, it has made for all services consistently. As per rules of DOP&T a CSS Direct recruit (Civil Services 1996 exam) has to be promoted in 2005 after 8 years from the 1 July next year to exam year. All have been already promoted in 2005. Now DOP&T created 900+ posts in 2009 with date of vacancy in 2003. This resulted in assistants and LDC/UDC through SSC junior to these officers in common seniority list becoming 4-5 years seniors to Direct recruit through Civil Services Examination. CSS is the only service ,where Direct Recruit (through Civil services) are denied promotion on all flmsy grounds but Assistants/LDC/UDC are promoted upto Deputy Secretary & Directors of Government of India to whom even senior IAS/IPS/Central Services happily report. The relaxation of two years is allowed as per DOP&T OM itself and implemented in all services to protect the seniority of senior officers while effecting promotion when juniors are promoted . If this is denied, then in all services 100s of promotee officer will be left out at the time of promotion because they don't fulfill the eligibility criteria. Even if CSS Direct recruits are given their due by applying the DOP&T relaxation clause ,they are not going to go beyond JS ,which they will anyhow become. But it is a fact that by denying the right to CSS direct recruits , assistants /UDC/LDC want to become deputy secretary & Directors ,which they cannot become. This discrimination against direct recruits are continuing because they cannot comply with all orders like the present discriminatory promotion order against the direct recruits and insist to fight on and on in court and waste the time & money of Government and not utilise services of competent officers at DS/Director level ,which is the need of hour. Just by distorting & misrepresenting the facts , one cannot deny justice. Secondly does Government want that a Direct Recruit through civil services should be made junior to assist/UDC/LDC through SSC. Any wrong decision will further undermine the respect of top bureaucracy.

S Kant

RPF promotions

There are 2 officers waiting since July 2010 for their promotion from DIG to IG. penal was discussed on18/11/2010. they have not been promoted as IG, reason best known to the Railway Board.

PMS

About CBDT Chairman

Some comments about the Chairman, CBDT are in bad taste. I know him personally. He is a very dynamic officer and one of the best civil servants independent India has produced. It is true that he has made a small damage to the directly recruited IRS community by wielding to the pressure of Promotee IRS officers and the unions in the Income Tax Department - ITGOA and ITEF. But seen from a larger perspective, he is a very honest and upright officer, very down to earth and a hard worker. He has rubbed the powers that be on the wrong side. He was the first officer from the Central Civil Services who stood up to the self attained might and bullying tactics of the IAS. Literally every officer that mattered - Cabinet Secretary, Personnel Secretary, Finance Secretary and of course the Revenue Secretary opposed extension in his tenure earlier. But good sense prevailed with the FM and PM and he got an extension for two months. This time he was not too lucky. It's a known fact that all IAS [particularly those corrupt ones who were raided when Mr. Chandra was the Member (Investigation), CBDT]and other corrupt babus in the capital fear him and hate him a lot. Literally every one of them wants him out of the Finance Ministry. Just think for a moment what he has done for the country and the Income Tax Department within a span of just 5 months as Chairman, CBDT. The people have heard the sound of the silence of the North Block for the first time. His video conferences are a proof. For the first time after it's formation, the employees of the IT Dept are in the know-how of what's happening in the CBDT. Rs. 30,000 crores of black money has been unearthed when Mr. Chandra was in CBDT - both as Member and Chairman. Non issue of Refunds by the IT Dept has been criticized by one and all over the years. Now people are criticizing him for issuing refunds so quickly. The Finance Secretary and the Revenue Secretary tells him to go slow on refunds. They will be first to criticize him when the refunds are delayed. The Govt. coffers may be emptied by issuing refunds in time. But that is people's money and the Govt. has no right in withholding it. Rather it should manage the available resources properly. For the first time the promotions in the IT Dept. have taken place in time. The DPC's are being conducted in time. Chandra was instrumental in doing so. Infrastructure is being augmented at a very fast pace under him. He is the only Chairman who visited every part of India including the neglected areas of North-East, Bihar, Kerala and Chennai. New transfer Policy for the IT Dept has been formed under him. Cadre Restructuring has got a bid fillip under him and he is personally monitoring it.

India will lose a nice officer if he retires. I hope he is given some very important post after retirement - a post that can make a difference to this country.

Satya

Charge-sheet in Reliance Call Re-routing case

The reasons for non-inclusion of the names of Mr. Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani in the charge sheet filed by CBI in the Call Re-routing case were denied u/s 8(1)(h) claiming that disclosing the information would impede the process of prosecution. The PIO informed the CIC that the said reasons were available on record but disclosing such information would provide clues to others by which they would be able to argue why they should also not be charged. Holding that the PIO has failed to produce any cogent evidence to establish that disclosure of information would impede the prosecution of offenders, the CIC directed to disclose the information.

Comments

The Delhi HC in Bhagat Singh v. CIC W.P. (C) No. 3114/2007 has observed that the mere existence of an investigation process cannot be a ground for refusal of the information; the authority withholding information must show satisfactory reasons as to why the release of such information would hamper the investigation process. As pointed in this column earlier, such reasons should be germane, and the opinion of the process being hampered should be reasonable and based on some material.

[Mr. P. C Srivastava vs. CBI in CIC/SM/A/2011/000309/SG/12557]

- 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)