What people say about us !

It is a nice website and very useful for official work.

Vijay Kumar Singh

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Congress has gone berserk!!! The success of Team Anna'a campaign in Hissar has shaken Congress....... Congress is scared of Anna and his lot replicating what they did in Hissar in UP too!!! There is news of Congress trying to cajole Anna via back channel talks (WIC Oct.12) . Diggy wrote a letter castigating Anna and his lot and Mohna's written a letter assuring Anna of a strong Lokpal!!! Then you have Kursheed queering the pitch by saying that Lokpal will be a constitutional Body... and adding that this was only and solely on Rahul's advice!!! Maybe he's even thought a name for Lokpal.... Rahul Gandhi Lokpal Commission!!! Fact of the matter is if India gets a effective Lokpal the credit will go to Anna... and if India gets a Jokepal then the discredit for this will go to Congress.. as simple as that!!!! Today Congress in Public's mind is against a strong Lokpal and Public also knows why!!! Congress is just digging its own electoral grave!!!!

Anna's shaken Congress and stirred the Nation!!!

Sonia now will only give go ahead for Lokpal if she can figure out how to make Rahul snatch credit for Lokpal's creation!!

Viewing Anna's fight against corruption and RSS's own stand on corruption, say even if RSS has written to Anna ' Anna tumm aghe badho humm aap ke sath hai'...... what's so wrong with this??? This does not mean that Anna is in cahoots with RSS or RSS has taken over the movement..... it is only that Anna and RSS feel corruption is eating up this Nation!!! Okay in Ramdev's case this was true but in Anna's case it is untrue!!! Anna has been fighting corruption for years now and till now there have never been any signals that he's doing so at RSS's behest or with RSS!! Maybe Congress is playing this card so that RSS cannot take any credit for the Lokpal Bill!!!! May I remind post Indo Pak was RSS had praised I Gandhi ... will Digvijaya damn I Gandhi.... because as per Digvijaya even if the issue is pro India RSS, praise makes the issue anti India!!

Congress beats all its foes with the RSS stick!!!!!

But in 99.5% cases the allegations do not stick!!!

In Hissar Team Anna is saying 'do not vote for Congress.... vote for any of the other 39 candidates'!!!! It is true that both Chautala and Bishnoi are trying to show that they are with Anna...... 'collateral damage'...... and if a strong Lokpal Bill comes into place Chautalas and Bishnois will be under the scanner !!! Congress has gone after Team Anna..... Anna , Bhushans , Kejriwal and Bedi have been investigated in all possible ways!! They've been ridiculed!!!! They've been spied upon by Trojan Horse Agnivesh!!! They've been jailed!!! They've been bullied and threatened!!!! So even if there is a wee bit of revenge in Team Anna's call not to vote for Congress I think it is justified!!! And a word of advice for Anna.... his USP is his being apolitical and simple.... should never lose these two USPS!! Why do you think Digvijaya wants Team Anna to enter politics.... one to make them loose their apolitical USP and two Congress will then beat Team Anna with 'totally politically motivated agitation' stick!!!

Hissar has already sent a strong message to Congress!!!!

Stop being a wolf in a do-gooders dress!!!!

PS...Pawar's and Praful's favourite destination in the past two years has been Dubai... seems NCP has registered itself as a Company in the 'Emirates Frere Zones'!!! In Mumbai Thackreys (Sena and MNS) know that their value is nuisance and hence every now and then they make Mumbaikars aware of their 'nuisance value'!!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Is Vidharbha likely to be on the boil next ?
It is heard that Vidharbha separatists are closely watching the action in Telangana. The RSS is likely to take the lead as and when the time is proper.

Action against Modi, RSS mulls severing ties
It is heard that L.K. Advani has incited the RSS for taking action against Narendra Modi for not attending the BJP national executive committee meeting. The RSS now plans to take disciplinary action.

UP adds to the power woes?
Kanshi Rams anniversary celebration has got poll bound UP to draw more power from the grid and that too at a much higher price. The usual price is around Rs 3.50 per mw, but it is heard UP has paid Rs. 11 per mw to keep the celebrations in Lucknow going.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is meeting all and sundry
Ex- Chief Miniser of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharya as CM never met anyone between 1-4 pm. This slot was reserved for his personal works. However, unlike the past nowadays, he is attending to party workers and every one who-so-ever comes to him with some work.

CVC Pradeep Kumar to deal ruthlessly with acts of Corruption
(An interview with whispersinthecorridors.com )

Q-1: What are your priorities as the CVC?
A: My priorities would be to strengthen the institution of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) by building its capacity and enhancing the standards of performance. My immediate focus is to ensure that the disposal of cases in the Commission is expedited and the delay in sanction for prosecution and imposition of penalties by the
administrative authorities is eliminated.

Q-2 The CVC being the apex watchdog institution has the onerous task of acting against corruption. How do you intend to deal with it?

A: Combating corruption in India calls for a multi-pronged approach. Punitive action needs to be complemented by preventive measures. Prevention involves assessing the organisations, systems, procedures and people to identify the vulnerabilities to corruption and to recommend measures to mitigate this risk. The vulnerabilities in the systems arise largely due to excessive discretion, authoritarian decision making process, lack of effective controls, over regulation and shortcomings in procedures. Prevention also involves creation of awareness among people against corruption so that they participate in the fight against corruption. We have recommended the inclusion of lessons on ethics in the school curriculum as has been done in several developing countries so that we inculcate the value of ethics in society and reduce tolerance to corruption. The Commission would like to place due emphasis on addressing corruption in delivery of public services, which directly hurts the common man and the weaker sections of the society. To address this, we have set up a helpline and a web-based citizen friendly complaint handling system called "VIGEYE", wherein complains pertaining to public services are given priority. In some cases our intervention has provided relief to the complaining citizen within 48 hours. Commission has been promoting the use of information technology to simplify procedures, enhance objectivity and reduce human intervention. We have recommended the simplification of rules and procedures governing delivery of public service to make them citizen friendly and avoid the need for citizens to approach public officials for intervention. On the punitive front, Commission plans to enhance the standards of vigilance investigations by improving our guidelines. Prevention has to be combined with strong deterrent action against officials found guilty of unethical behaviour. Our aim would be to deal ruthlessly with acts of corruption while at the same time ensuring that the honest have nothing to fear.

Q-3: What preventive steps would you suggest to arrest corruption?
A: As stated earlier corruption can only be reduced by improving the systems, process and internal controls within an organisation. Integrity and ethics cannot be enforced externally, it needs to be built in the system, the governance process and the work culture.

Q-4: What is your plan to expedite cases of corruption so that people get justice?
A: The purpose of punishing the corrupt is to provide a deterrent effect so that others fear to indulge in corrupt practices. As is popularly perceived, corruption has become a high-profile-low-risk activity, deterrence can only be achieved through prompt and exemplary
punishment to the corrupt. A lot of delay takes place in according sanction for prosecution and in taking disciplinary action against those found guilty by the CVC. There are severe delays in imposing the punishment by the administrative authorities to the guilty officers even after advised by the CVC. Another approach would be to accord priority to cases of serious nature so that they are cleared at the earliest.

( Full interview with Dr Suresh Mehrotra is available in September issue of Monthly "Magazine Whispers In The Corridors" )

BUREAUCRACY

Ashok Chawla appointed Chairman CCI
Former Secretary Finance Ashok Chawla has finally been appointed new Chairman of the Competition Commission of India. A 1973 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, Chawla will succeed 1968 batch Haryana cadre IAS officer Dhanendra Kumar. Chawla is a respectable civil servant in the country. Infact,a panel consisting of Vijay Sharma, Anurag Goyal and Ashok Chawla had been constituted by the Government.
( We said this on June 6 )

D R S Chaudhary is new Secretary Public Enterprises
Special Secretary Home D R S Chaudhary has been appointed Secretary Public Enterprises in the Government of India. He is a 1977 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.
( We said this on October 10 )

Kiran Dhingra is new Secretary Panchayati Raj
Kiran Dhingra has been appointed new Secretary Panchayati Raj in the Government of India. She is a 1975 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.
( We said this on October 10 )

Vilasini Ramachandran is new Secretary,Drinking Water
Vilasini Ramachandran will be new Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. She is a 1977 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

Justice Ajit Bharihoke to be Chairman
The Chief Justice has recommended the name of Justice Ajit Bharihoke of Delhi High Court for President of Customs and Excise Service Tax Appellate Tribunal.ACC approval is expected shortly.Justice Bharihoke had become famous for dismissing 2 G bail applications of the accused.

11 empanelled IAS officers from Uttar Pradesh
Out of 37, 1978 batch IAS officers who figure in the first empanelment list to the rank of Secretary in the Government of India , 11 belong to the Uttar Pradesh cadre.

1981 batch IAS to get in-situ promotion ?
1981 batch IAS officers in the Government of India are expected to get in-situ promotion very soon.

Raju to be Director (D&D) HAL
T S Raju is being tipped to be new Director (D&D) in the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).He is presently GM in the Company.

Tripathi is now JS, Commerce
A K Tripathi Chairman APEDA has now been appointed Joint Secretary Commerce. He is a 1986 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.

ACC pace slows down
As the grapevine has it, nowadays pace of disposal has slowed in ACC.

Now two vacancies of Member in UPSC
Now there are two vacancies of Member in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). One member Gen Nirbhay Sharma retired on Monday. Earlier Prof. K S Chalam had retired as Member, UPSC.

Ms. Anita Shah's orders for BARC issued
Orders relating to appointment of Ms.Anita Shah on deputation as Internal Financial Advisor (IFA) in the newly formed Nuclear Recycle Group (NRG) under BARC, Department of Atomic Energy have been issued. Presently, she is posted as Senior Deputy Accountant General (SDAG) in the office of Principal Accountant General of Andhra Pradesh.Ms.Anita Shah is an officer of 1996 batch who belongs to Indian Audit & Accounts Service. She was earlier (from 2004-2009) Financial Advisor (FA) for Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam & had handled budget of 1500 crores
(We said this on October 4,2011)

Ms Akella to join Department of Atomic Energy
Ms. Anita Shah Akella Senior Deputy Accountant General, O/o Principal Accountant General (A&E), Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad is joining the Department of Atomic Energy, Mumbai as Internal Financial Adviser in the Nuclear Recycle Board. She is a 1996 batch IA&AS officer.

Air India has over Rs 67,000 crore liabilities
Cash-strapped Air India has outstanding loans and dues amounting to Rs 67,520 crore. This includes working capital loan of Rs 21,200 crore, long-term loan worth Rs 22,000 crore on fleet acquisition and vendor dues amounting to Rs 4,600 crore. Besides, it has accumulated losses worth Rs 20,320 crore.

Anurag Garg's central deputation on the anvil
As the grapevine has it Anurag Garg's central deputation is on the anvil. His interview for the post of DIG, NTRO in the Government of India(GoI)is scheduled to be held on October 24, 2011. He is an IPS officer of 1993 batch who belongs to the Himachal Pradesh cadre.

Udayan Mukherjee, Joint Director, IB retires
Udayan Mukherjee, Joint Director, IB, has retired. He is an IPS officer of 1980 batch who belongs to the Karnataka cadre.

MHA seeks appointment of DG, SSB
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the Government of India(GOI) has requested Appointment Committee of Cabinet(ACC) to send the order for the appointment to the post of DG, SSB. A proposal regarding this has already been sent.

Corrupt babus to lose job and face cut in pension
The Union government has decided that now there would be 20 per cent cut in pension of the officials and compulsory retirement for those facing a major penalty while those faced with minor penalty Besides a three-month period to grant sanction for prosecution of officials.

Maj Gen Shori is ADG, APS
Maj Gen A K Shori is the new Addl DG, APS.

Six short-listed for Metro Chief's job
Six persons have been shortlisted for the post of Metro Chief in Delhi in place of Sreedharana who is retiring in December. They are Mssrs : Mangu Singh ,Sharat Sharma, Vipin Jha, Sudhir Mittal, RK Gupta and Vijay Anand.

Karnataka Up-Lokayukta resigns
Karnataka Up- Lokayukta Justice (retd) R Gururajan has tendered his resignation on health grounds.

One post of Director, Commerce & Industry to be filled up
One of the three posts of Director that are vacant in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry(C & I), Government of India (GoI)is going to be filed up soon. As it is the CSB has already selected the candidate while the order is awaited.

More names sought for post of Director Security, Rajya Sabha
The Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA)to give more names of IPS officers and that too from AGMU cadre. This has been specified because officers whose names were forwarded by the MHA of them two officers had not given their willingness for the post.

IAS officers of 1996 batch to complete MCT soon
IAS officers of 1996 batch will be completing their mid-career training(MCT) programme by October 15, 2011.

14 posts in Sr. Grade of IIS in NSD : AIR abolished
As many as four posts have been abolished in Sr. Grade of IIS Group 'B' in News Service division of All India Radio (NSD : AIR) with three in New Delhi and one each in Agartala (Tripura), Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Gangtok {Sikkim), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Imphal (Manipur), Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) Kohima (Nagaland), Leh (Jammu & Kashmir), Pudducherry (UT), Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Silchar (Assam).

NIA demands in hiking staff strength
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has demanded from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Government of India to (GoI) to provide for work force strength of 900-1000 for proper working of NIA in Anti- terrorism department. The MHA will soon send this proposal to the Finance Ministry.

Anil Shukla may be shifted to Delhi
Anil Shukla, AIG Arunachal Pradesh is likely to be transferred to Delhi. He is an IPS officer of 1996 batch of AGMU cadre.

PESB invites application for Director (Operations)
The PESB has invited applications for next Director (Operations) Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL. The last date for the receipt of applications is November 21, 2011.

Alok Singh to be GM, Space Control Air India
Alok Singh has been appointed General Manager, Central Space Control of the Air India.

Post of Director Finance in AAI to be advertised soon
The post of Director Finance in Airports Authority of India (AAI) is going to be advertised very soon.

IA & AS officer Mahatma transferred
S N Mahatma, Deputy Accountant General, in the office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit), Meghalaya, Shillong, on relief from his present duties by Ramendu Sarkar, is transferred and posted as Deputy Director, in the office of the Director General of Audit, Post and Telecommunications, New Delhi Branch, Kolkata.

Akashdeep is DC, Ribhoi (Meghalaya)
Akashdeep who so far was Joint Secretary Education has been appointed as Deputy Commissioner(DC) Ribhoi (Meghalaya).He is an IAS officer of the 2005 batch who belongs to the Assam-Meghalaya (AM) cadre.

Pakistan : National security committee rebuffs Army
Pakistan Parliament's standing committee on security has refused to attend a briefing organised by the Army at its GHQ. Army chief Asfaq Keyani and DG ISI Ahmed Shuza Pasha had invited the committee for the briefing scheduled for Thursday. Declining the invitation chairman of the committee Senator Raza Rabbani has stated that the committee being a standing committee of the country's parliament is superior to the army and cannot go to the GHQ to attend a briefing. Besides, the parliamentary committee accepts briefings only from the government and not from 'other organisations'. In any case if a briefing is at all needed by the committee, the army officers would come to the committee instead of the committee going over to them.

IAS changes in Kerala (UPDATED)
M. Nandakumar has been appointed new Collector of Thiruvananthapuram District. The present collector P.M. Francis has been moved as Thrissur Collector. K. Gopalakrishna Bhattathiri has been appointed as the Wayanad Collector

Punjab & Haryana HC gets 3 additional judges (UPDATED)
Mehinder Singh Sullar and Ram Chand Gupta have been appointed as Additional Judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court for a period of two years w.e.f October 12, 2011. Besides, Gurdev Singh has also been posted as Additional Judge of this court till December 31, 2011.

Ray is Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi (UPDATED)
Saumendra Nath Ray, presently High Commissioner of India to Uganda has been concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Burundi, with residence in Kampala.

Varma is Ambassador to Republic of Honduras (UPDATED)
Yogeshwar Varma, presently Ambassador of India to Panama has been concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Honduras, with residence in Panama.

Vini Mahajan gets six months extension (UPDATED)
Joint Secretary in the PMO Ms Vini Mahajan has been granted six months extension in deputation tenure beyond October 29.She is 1987 batch IAS officer.

Dr Amar Singh gets extension (UPDATED)
ED in the FCI Dr Amar Singh has been granted extension in central deputation tenure till January 2012.He is 1981 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Thakaral gets extension till February(UPDATED)
VK Thakaral, IAS (MT:82), who is presently the Chief Vigilance Officer in the Oil India Limited, has been given an extension for three months beyond November 3, 2011 upto February 3, 2012.

DMRC disregards eligibility criterion in shortlisting candidates for MD's post (UPDATED)
In total disregard to the published eligibility criterion, only six civil engineers have been hurriedly shortlisted for the post of MD by the DMRC, overlooking applications from other eligible senior officers including those with a proven track record in the public sector. This is perhaps for the first time that selections for top post in a central public sector are being done on departmental lines and if the scheduled interview on October 14,2011, is permitted to go through, it shall set a very bad precedent in the country.

CWC Pays record dividend to GOI (UPDATED)
The Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) of which Managing Director(MD) is B.B.Pattanaik has, achieved yet another record turnover of Rs.1030 crore during 2010-11 as against Rs.988 crore achieved during the preceding year. This could be possible due to addition of constructed storage capacity by 1.45 lakh MT and increase in over all capacity utilization (occupancy) to 88% as against 85% achieved during the previous year. Keeping in view the national priority for safe preservation of food grains procured for Central Pool, utilization of capacity for storage of food grains was given adequate attention which increased from 48% during 2009-10 to 54% in 2010-11. Giving this information B.B.Pattanaik said that the CWC had registered 10% growth in handling of 12.32 lakh TEUs during 2010-11 as against 11.21 lakh TEUs handled during 2009-10 and 6.4% increase in revenue earned out of Container Rail Transport operations and income under Pest Control activities also registered 12.66% growth.CWC also achieved highest ever profit before tax (PBT) of Rs.203.73 crore as against Rs.163.88
crore during 2010-11, registering a growth of 24.32%.Keeping in view the excellent financia results, CWC has declared highest ever dividend for the year 2010-11 @ 40% as against dividend @ 38% paid for 2009-10. B.B. Pattanaik, Managing Director, CWC presented a cheque of Rs.14.97 crore to Prof. K.V. Thomas Indian Minister of State (IC) for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution on October 13, 2011, being the dividend due to the Government of India (GOI)in the presence of Dr. B.C. Gupta, Secretary(F&PD), T.S.Randhawa, AS & FA and Naveen Prakash, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. Other senior officers of the Ministry and CWC were also present on the occasion. Congratulating CWC for its commendable performance,the Minister urged CWC to modernize its storage infrastructure and introduce mechanized handling of stocks at its warehouses.During the current financial year, CWC plans to construct storage capacity of about 2.09 lakh MT with a financial outlay of Rs.78 crore in 11 States mainly for storage of food grains and construct Multi-Storeyed Warehouses in the Metro cities. CWC also plans to commence operations of Private Freight Terminals at its rail-based facilities at Bamanheri (UP) and Nabha (Punjab) besides setting up of Land Custom Station at Ghojadanga (West Bengal).

(DEBATE)
LOKPAL BILL AND BUREAUCRACY
The debate on Lokpal Bill and the subsequent anger and protests across the country led by veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare has instilled a fear of accountability among the bureaucracy. How should the bureaucrats react to the situation?
Mail your views to suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com or mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com

CORPORATE

Ambani denies foreign bank accounts?
Mukesh Ambani is learnt to have denied having any foreign bank accounts that are said to be linked to Reliance Industries.

Coal-less Maha, cluless ministers
After traveling to Karnataka to source coal Maharashtra government has returned empty handed. Now it heads to New Delhi to meet Sri Parkash Jaiswal for allocation of more coal to the state. To add to the woes Western Coalfield Limited is diverting coal to other states and Maharashtra does not know how to get back the allocation.

Mahajan ceases to be Nominee Director, Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd
R. K. Mahajan, nominee of Ministry of Coal, Government of India, on the Board of Directors of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd ceased to be Director w.e.f. September 23, 2011.

Chatterjee appointed as Addl. Director, Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd
Ms Zohra Chatterjee, nominee of Ministry of Coal, Government of India, has been inducted as an Additional Director on the Board of Directors of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd w.e.f. .September 29, 2011.

Gupta resigns as Director (Technical), Shree Ajit Pulp and Paper Ltd
G F Gupta has resigned as Director (Technical) of Shree Ajit Pulp and Paper Ltd with effect from October 7, 2011.

Bhasin appointed Head (Marketing), Pizza Hut India
Sunay Bhasin has been appointed as Head of Marketing for Pizza Hut India.

Zanwar re-appointed Part Time Non Official Director, BHEL
Trimbakdas S. Zanwar has been re-appointed as a Part-time Non-official Director on the Board of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) w.e.f. October 11, 2011.

Paul appointed Addl. Director, Dunlop India Ltd
Dunlop India Ltd has appointed Samir Kumar Paul as an Additional Director of the Company w.e.f. October 10, 2011.

Raju resigns as Chairman, Kernex Microsystems India Ltd
S. V. Subba Raju, Chairman, Kernex Microsystems India Ltd has resigned from the Board of the company .

Ranjan appointed Independent Addl. Director, Gyscoal Alloys Ltd
Gyscoal Alloys Ltd has appointed Vijay Ranjan as Independent Additional Director of the Company.

Kumar appointed Company Secy. Euro Finmart Ltd
Ashish Kumar has been appointed as the Company Secretary of Euro Finmart Ltd .

RBI approves re-appointment of Joseph as The South Indian Bank MD
The Reserve Bank of India has approved re-appointment of Dr. V. A. Joseph, as Managing Director and CEO of the The South Indian Bank Ltd for a period of three years with effect from October 1, 2011 till September 30, 2014.

Kalyanaraman appointed Head of OMD India Chennai Office
OMD India has appointed Ramesh Kalyanaraman to head its Chennai office.

Desai appointed Non Exec. Director, Spenta International Ltd
Spenta International Ltd has appointed Jagdeep Desai as an Independent Non Executive Director of the company w.e.f. October 5, 2011.

True mafia skill behind it

Perhaps except our PM, every one can see the writing on the wall and the true mafia skill behind it. The methodology is clear. Manmohan singh's reputation for honesty and integrity were unquestionable a few years back .Now acquiescing to the whims of his mafia employer and acting as its tool, these are also at stake. With more and more scams coming to light and more and more of his ministers getting into CBI net, the mafia will wait for his reputation to reach the door mat level. And then the knives will be drawn, ''high command' will announce its displeasure and the poor Sardar will get the order of the boot.The Prince of the UP home stay fame will enter with all fanfare along with a few of his young idiotic friends. The paid press for which there is no dearth, will start baying in unison heralding the arrival of the new moon. The nation will pay the price dearly. If the country has to be saved only the Sardar can do it.He should a give a free hand to CBI, show courage to throw out Chidambaram , disassociate from the corrupt DMK, resign and call for fresh elections.

N K Mathur

"Ministers will not have say in postings?"

Apropos your news item.one gets the impression that officers,who are otherwise honest and diligent but with minimum credit scores,will get postings in M/Statistics&PI,D/OL,National Commission for SC&ST,SSC,NE Council,Safai Karamchari Aayog etc that are considered non-ATM ministries/Organisations,low in "hierarchy of needs". At least,ministers of these organisations could have a say in attracting "talented" officers despite low credit ratings and no God fathers to boot

A K Saxena (A retired civil servant)

Why people are against them ?

Why people are against Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal is because unlike Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander, they do not belong to the IAS. Arvind is an ex-IRS officer and Bedi is an ex-IPS officer. Even Anna Hazare saheb is ex-Indian Army. They are considered the children of a lesser God.

Arjun Mallick

What is wrong with that ?

Arvind Kejriwalji's agenda may be political, what is wrong with that? If he works for his native Hissar constituency, he might as well take the electoral plunge. Kiran Bedi might be up for election against Kapil Sibal in the next general elections, what is wrong with that? They might not be coming out with their real agenda, but that is not really relevant. If it forces the people to think, nothing wrong with having political ambition. Equally, one thing is certain, no body can accuse Anna Hazare, who is a great soul, of such ambitions. If he unwittingly furthers some political ambitions while doing some good work, nothing is really wrong with it. More bureaucrats should actually emulate them and join politics and also more judges.

Vijay Kumar

Forgotten professor

Prof. K S Chalam, recently demitted as Member, UPSC with out getting his due of Chairman UPSC even though he is just 62.He is the senior most bureaucrat and internationally known scholar in political economy and education with 22 books 100 research papers, senior most dalit from India and south in particular. He deserve post retirement job like MP in Rajya Sabha to be nominated by president or Member planning commission, NAC, Governor etc. His reforms as acting Chairman UPSC gave thrust to rural intake, his fair judgement has given relief to many agonising civil servants in vigilance matters. Every civil servant who got selected through his bench will fondly remember his acumen and positive approach

P Naresh

Views to ponder

Didn't I suggest sometime ago, when some of my colleagues from IAS and other services were ventilating their grievances through this web site that picking up Joint Secretaries and above( even from the level of Directors) depends upon the clout one has cultivated with the Ministers/his fellow heavy- weight politicians/close relatives and suggested that it should be the prerogative of the Committee of Secretaries headed by the CABINET SECRETARY. I even went to the extent of SAYING "what is the Cabinet Secretary paid for when he is a mute spectator? Of course, it was a little harsh comment to make on my own cadre mate ,who headed the bureaucracy then. Do we find a ray of hope now?

We should also remember that some of the Secretaries choose their own cadre mates over others who have good records and relevant experience. All of us, therefore, should draft a code for selection of officers ( irrespective of the Service they belong to ) and submit to the Cabinet Secretary for his consideration. It is time we call a spade a spade and not bend backwards to be a tool in the hands of others. Mind you, we would not be far away from the clutches of law, if we connive/abet a crime/offence. Experience shows that a Secretary, who puts his 'dhoby mark' and clear files, lands not only him in trouble but also others around and down the line. Haven't we become spineless, barring a few?. If all of us say ' no' to a patently wrong decision, do you think any Political Executive, in his sense, would over rule you and bear the cross all by himself?

K. Raamamoorthy

Team Anna disappoints

Team Anna's election campaign in Hissar has foxed people like me who were so enthused by Anna Hazare's campaign against corruption. We thought here was a saviour who can rid us of the monster of corruption of which every honest citizen of this country is a victim. But when Kejriwal and others of Team Anna tell the electorate not to vote for the Congress, are they not indirectly helping the other two candidates whose credentials for corruption are well known. Of the three main candidates in the Lok Sabha election fray in Hissar, everyone has heard about the misadventures of Chautala family and the family of the other candidate. Of the three maybe the third one is comparatively less corrupt. Is Team Anna and their India Against Corruption is really helping in the cause of clean politics and good governance by helping the known corrupt. Where is the choice for the people ?

Aarti Khosla

Well intended

Prof. K. Siva Subrahmanyam's eulogy of the present Secretary, Panchayati Raj along with an apparent CV of his looks well intended. I hope the Secretary will utilise the services of the learned Professor by nominating him into some committees.

N Sriram

Excellent book by Mrs. Nirmala Buch

A book by Mrs. Nirmala Buch, a very committed, dynamic and efficient former Chief Secretary, MP Government, is most welcome as we expect her pragmatism, experiences and insights into the problems of women elected functionaries of PRIs would surely be reflected in her Book. I am keen on going through the Book and eager to have it atleast as a complementary copy to an old academic of the NIRD.

Dr K Siva Subrahmanyam

Report of financial irregularities

A share holder and also the former director of a bank sought information about the alleged report sent to Chief General Manager of the Bank regarding the financial irregularities by certain individuals and the actions have been taken with regards to the report. It was denied claiming that the charges were not found to be true and the details of the enquiry can not be provided as the information is held by the RBI in a fiduciary capacity. The PIO also claimed exemption u/s 8 (1)(d) of the RTI Act observing that it would
effect the commercial confidence of the said bank. The CIC upheld the order holding that being a share holder or a former Director of the said bank has no impact on the said exemptions.

Comments

Though enquiry reports are the result of a public activity, all such reports are not to be automatically put in the public domain.

Shri Satyendra Mall v. Urban Banks Department Reserve Bank of India in CIC/SM/A/2011/000981/SG/14960

- 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)