What people say about us !

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Harpal Singh

Did a leading industrialist back Anna Hazre's stir ?
As the grapevine has it, a leading industrialist of India backed Anna Hazare's stir.

Political changes in Wardha Congress
Wardha MP, Datta Meghe has indicated a paradigm shift in the Wardha Congress politics saying that he is old and will leave active politics. Sources say that he is paving the way for his son who has recently been elected as Nagpur Youth Congress leader.

Chavan meets PM alone
Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alone for a discussion on various issues of Maharashtra during the PM's visit on Saturday in Mumbai. It is heard that only bureaucrats were present along with the CM.

NCP absent from PM meeting
Maharshtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who belongs to NCP, was absent when the meeting with PM took place. Was it deliberate or was he not invited, is the whispers doing the rounds.

Mahanand gets a new Chairman
Maharashtra State Milk Federation (MAHANAND) gets a new Chairman Suresh Ghas. NCP MLA Ghas is supposed to be a close confidant of Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

Mahanand gets new Vice Chairman
Congress MLA from Nadurbar, Deepak Patil, has been appointed as the new Vice Chairman of Mahanand.

BUREAUCRACY

Major bureaucratic reshuffle soon
A Major Secretary level reshuffle is expected to take place in the Government of India either this week end or next week. Even key Ministries may witness a change.

Atheeq is now JS in PMO
L K Atheeq has been promoted to the rank of Joint Secretary in the PMO. He is 1991 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

Ishwar appointed Judge of Delhi HC
Chairman of the Income Tax Tribunal Ishwar has been appointed Judge of the Delhi High Court.
( We said this on September 23 )

Will retired High Court Judge be President of ITT ?
There is a serious move to appoint a retired Judge of the High Court as President of the Income Tax Tribunal.

Dr S S Sandhu relieved by Punjab Govt
Dr S S Sandhu, who was on inter cadre deputation, has been relieved by the Punjab Government on October 4, 2011. Hitherto, he was Special Principal Secretary to Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal. He was also Secretary - Housing & Urban Development besides holding the charge of Managing Director (MD), Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB). He is an IAS officer of 1988 batch who belongs to the Uttarakhand care.

ACC to decide mechanism for selecting CIL chief
The ACC will decide whether new Chief of Coal India Ltd (CIL) should be selected by the PESB or through the selection committee route.

Will DG Forests go ?
There are whispers in the Ministry of Forests and Environment that DG Forests is not getting well with the present Union Forest and Environment Minister Jayanti Natrajan.1974 batch IFS officer of the Karnataka cadre Dr P J Dilip Kumar had been appointed DG Forests by her predecessor Jairam Ramesh.

Pankaj Rag is also Secretary Tourism in Madhya Pradesh
Hari Ranjan Rao is no longer Secretary Tourism in Madhya Pradesh.Pankaj Rag has been made Secretary Tourism.He will continue to be MD of the MP Tourism Development Corporation.

Ms Sood to join as Director Textiles
Ms. Prerna Sood, GM Finance RailTel Corporation of India Ltd., will join as Director Textiles in the Government of India next week. She is an IRSS officer of 1989 Batch.

Vivek Srivastava promoted in IB
Vivek Srivastava, Deputy Director(DD) - Intelligence Bureau, Government of India has been given in situ promotion as Joint Director(JD) Intelligence Bureau. He is an IPS officer of 1989 Batch from Gujarat Cadre.

Allen C. Priera to be Administrator
Allen C. Priera, ex CMD of Bank of Maharashtra has reportedly been selected as Administrator, Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India vice Prithviraj. Letter has been sent to CVC for obtaining their clearance.

Ms Singh to join as Director Textiles today
Ms. Manisha Singh will join as Director Textiles in the Government of India on October 5. She is a Postal Service Officer.

Applications invited for CMD, CCI
The PESB has asked for applications for the pot of CMD Cement Corporation of India Ltd.(CCI). The last date is December 2.

NMCC re-constituted
National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) has been re-constituted under the chairmanship of V. Krishnamurthy.

S. Raman is SEBI's ED
S. Raman, who was earlier an OSD in Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has taken over as one of the four Executive Director (ED) of the Board. Raman who is an Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) officer will take care of Market Regulation, Derivatives and New Products and Integrated Surveillance Departments.

PSUs to get nod to acquire natural assets abroad
The PSUs across the country may soon be allowed to acquire natural assets such as oil, coal and mines abroad even without government nod. The Department of Public Enterprises may soon move a cabinet note in this connection.

Center plans to connect all Naxal areas
The Centre is learnt to be planning to connect all naxal affected areas with bridges and roads. In Maharashtra, Gondia and Gadchiroli will be connected to neighbouring Chattisgarh through bridges. This proposal is expected to be worked out till March 2012.

Powers of Prasar Bharati CEO to be curbed
Miffed over the charges against the former head of the public broadcaster, the government is now contemplating to curb powers of the Prasar Bharati CEO. For the purpose, amendments in the Prasar Bharati Act would be made and once they come into force, the process to remove its CEO will become easier. A clause, according to which "inefficiency" would be a criterion for the removal of the CEO, is also likely to be included.

UP has seen 50 DGPs
Brij Lal is the 50th Director General of Police (DGP) in Uttar Pradesh. He is 1977 batch IPS officer.

Amita Chatterjee to continue as VC
Amita Chatterjee is going to continue as vice-chancellor of Presidency University till a search panel selects her successor. Term of the VC ends on October 5.

IA & AS officer Fulpadia transferred
H T Fulpadia, Assistant Director, in the office of the Principal Director of Commercial Audit & Ex-officio Member Audit Board-I, Mumbai, on completion of orientation training course at NAAA, Shimla, is transferred and posted as Deputy Accountant General (IC-II: Adhoc), in the office of the Principal Accountant General (C&CA), Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior.

Deka is new DRM, Mysore
IRAS officer Robin Deka has been appointed new DRM of Mysore.

Pakistan : Islamabad's Capital Development Authority seals US embassy warehouse
Enforcement staff of Islamabad's capital development authority (CDA) has sealed a warehouse of the US embassy in Islamabad's industrial area on the ground that the embassy had made unauthorised construction on the premises. The facility was set up a few months back on 1.5 acre land taken by the embassy on rent from a private individual. According to CDA the warehouse has been sealed and security personnel put in position as the covered area on the site exceeds the permissible limit. The US embassy however have questioned the sealing as the goods in the warehouse belongs to the US and can't be confiscated by local authorities as per diplomatic norms.

Ravi Mathur gets additional charge of Commissioner CPF
Ravi Mathur Additional Secretary Labour has been the given the additional charge as the Central Provident Fund Commissioner for a period of three months.He is 1979 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Justice Katju is new Chairman of PCI
Retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India Justice Markandey Katju has been appointed as the Chairman, Press Council of India.

Two Judges appointed to Supreme Court of India
Justice Dipak Misra, Chief Justice, Delhi High Court and Justice Jasti Chelameswar, Chief Justice, Kerala High Court have been appointed the Judges of the Supreme Court of India in that order of seniority.

Aditya Misra to be IG BSF
Aditya Misra is joining the BSF as IG.He is 1989 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre. He was IG in PHQ Lucknow.

'SAIL' VISL Unit gears up for enhancing market share*
The Chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) C.S. Verma during a recent visit to the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISL), a unit of Maharatna , exhorted the employees to rise up to the expectations and expressed the confidence that VISL's dedicated and committed work force would bring back the unit to its past glory. VISL has set a goal of about 9 per cent share in the Alloys and Special Steels' market in the coming years. SAIL has taken steps to improve the performance of the unit through short term and long term measures. Verma also shared a multi-pronged strategy put in action for VISL.

Brig Shori to take over as ADG APS
Brig AK Shori, Brig APS Eastern Command is reportedly taking over as ADG APS in the rank of Maj Gen.

(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

Mukesh Ambani met Chidambaran after long time
North Block sources said that Mukesh Ambani came to meet Chidambaram after a gap of several months. What is the significance ?.

Sudhir vasudev is also Chairman of MRPL
Newly appointed CMD of the ONGC Sudhir Vasudeva has also taken charge as the Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC Group of Companies including Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL).

CBI files charge-sheet against four bank officials
CBI has filed charge-sheets against four senior officials of public sector banks and a private .

Raichura resigns as MD, BSEL Infrastructure Realty Ltd
Dharmendra Raichura has resigned as Managing Director of BSEL Infrastructure Realty Ltd.

Raj resigns as Non Exec. Director, FCS Software Solutions Ltd
Dhruwa Narain Raj, Non-Executive, Independent Director of FCS Software Solutions Ltd has resigned from the company.

Two directors cease to be on Board of ORG Informatics Ltd
Anmol Krishan Sekhri and Ompal Singh Chhada, both additional directors of ORG Informatics Ltd have ceased to be directors of the company with effect from September 30, 2011

Sanghi resigns as ED, Sanghi Polysters Ltd
Amit Sanghi, Executive Director of the Company, has resigned from the Board of Sanghi Polysters Ltd w.e.f September 30, 2011

Asher appointed Addl. Director, Sanghvi Movers Ltd
Sanghvi Movers Limited has appointed Sanjay K. Asher as an Additional Director (Independent Director) of the Company.

Rajagopalan retires as Director (Finance), Manali Petrochemical Ltd
K K Rajagopalan, Director (Finance), Manali Petrochemical Ltd retired on September 30, 2011 and has also ceased to be a Director of the Company.

Ramachandran retires as MD, Manali Petrochemical Ltd
G Ramachandran, Managing Director, Manali Petrochemical Ltd has taken retirement from the company on September 30, 2011 and has also ceased to be a Director of the Company.

Ravi takes over as MD, Manali Petrochemical Ltd
Muthukrishnan Ravi has taken over as the Managing Director of Manali Petrochemical Ltd from October 1, 2011

Goyal appointed Director, Madras Fertilizers Ltd
Madras Fertilizers Limited has appointed Sham Lal Goyal, IAS as Director in place of outgoing Director Satish Chandra, IAS, w.e.f August 8, 2011.

Priya retires as Director, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd
Manoj Priya, Director, has retired from the Board of Rashtriya Chemicals And Fertilizers Ltd with effect from September 30, 2011, after attaining the age of superannuation.

Abraham retires as Director, PTC India Financial Services Ltd
P. Abraham, Director, PTC India Financial Services Ltd has retired from the company's Board on September 28, 2011

Sheth re-appointed Director, Multiplus Holdings Ltd
Multiplus Holdings Ltd has re-appointed. Jayprakash R. Sheth as the Director of the Company

DEBATE-1

Laws alone can't curb corruption

If one is not chaste/pure at heart intrinsically, no amount of any law or ordering from above can stop him from having a peep into nude photo/ porn literature. Similarly the best of Lokpal Bill would not deter a corrupt man in siphoning away huge chunks of government funds for personal use. That of course does not mean that we should not have useful laws to curb our rapacity. However, we must realise that laws or no laws, the most effective way to usher in an honest bureaucracy will have to be total transparency and impeccable integrity at the top of the ladder. Provisions of IPC/PC act etc are there in galore yet corruption is increasing by leaps and bounds as our population is. The lack of ethical values, moral education and actualising Gandhian Ideology in our day today life should be our motto. You may call me a cynic, but frankly, idonot see any other way to root out corruption from our midst.

(S.M.Shukla - First DGP Chhattisgarh now RETD.)

Policing System in India
Few incidents of recent past make us think seriously about our policing system. The role enshrined to police in our constitution has converted into adulation to their political bosses. When CM, Gujarat orders arrest of an IPS officer on flimsy grounds, intuition of his colleagues does not awaken, instead they treat him as hard-core criminal and facilitated to keep him in crime branch's custody, just to keep the CM happy. Thanks to the alert Magistrate who did not allow 7-days police remand as sought for, and sent him to judicial custody. In another alarming incident, CM, J&K orders arrest of his party worker. Police was so obedient in performing its duty that the arrested person died in custody the very next day. I strongly feel if CMs have to pass orders of this type and police personnel upto Inspector/SHO level are there to comply with immediately, do we really need the huge army of senior police officers beginning from the level of Dy SP to IGP/DGP ? Certainly, not.

As we recollect, some time back, some senior IPS officers led by Prakash Singh, a finest IPS officer, succeeded to get orders from the Supreme Court allowing reforms in police system. This provides some fixed tenures and transparency in posting/transfer system. Despite efforts at various levels, a number of State Governments are still reluctant in implementing this decision. I also feel that not only the political class but police bureaucracy itself is responsible for this. In the present era, there is dearth of Prakash Singh's ? I adduce two more examples. Karamveer Singh, IPS(UP-74) retired on 31st Aug this year and he was blessed with the post of Adviser(Home) by CM, UP. Same exercise repeated in Punjab with the appointment of Mr P S Gill, IPS(JK-74) as Adviser(Home) on 30th Sept the day of his retirement. We can easily understand as to how both these officers would have been loyal to the political bosses that they got these unnecessarily/ unconstitutionally created posts. If a long career of 37 years in elite IPS could not fulfil their ambitions, will this post-retirement domestic service to the political bosses do ? Certainly, not.

Now we come to the middle/ lower level policing. After getting the fortunate posting in a district, an SP/DCP starts enjoying the command and remains busy in establishing links in political circles which will be useful to get future assignments. He leaves everything relating to law & order situation on the weak shoulders of Station Officers/ Circle Officers who have their own vested interests. If any such junior officer makes a seizure or detects any un-social activity on a specific tip-off, a great celebration or press conference is called to show the success of local police. No body is there to ask the concerned police officer as to how that activity started in his area of responsibility and why he was sleeping till receipt of a source information. Unless & until every police officer/man is made accountable of his duties, nothing is likely to happen for security of a common man, from whose pocket (be it income tax or other service taxes) all police personnel are being paid for.

Sluice, right from bottom to top, in police system is need of the hour.

Pawan Kumar

Sorry state of affairs in Directorate of Estates
This is about sorry state of affairs in Directorate of Estates, Ministry of Urban Development. I am narrating my own experience after offer of allotment by DOE. One keeps on shunting from desk to another, one section to another but you will not get your possession letter till grease the palm of everybody. Staff comes only around 11 and most of the time they are not available on seats. You keep of fleecing, your work is done otherwise you keep on roaming like a beggar. The ledgers are without entry from the date of your occupation. You keep on submitting the rent certificates, none is entered, one is harassed at every desk. Staff sucks the blood of they colleague govt employees. Officers are least bothered as if they do not exist. One feels humiliated day in and out. Retirees keep on begging for settlement but they keep on tossing you in frying pan. More than 25% of govt accommodations are sublet but DOE officials will justify that these are occupied by genuine allottees. It seems the rot has spread from top to bottom but nobody is bothered. When you make allotments electronic, deadline should be fixed for possession letter also and officers should be made responsible for not issuing within a timeframe. Even I have seen the genuine staff feels helpless in such situation. The days of Thungan and Sheila Kaul were better when you had a prescribed fee and your work used to happen. Is there any officer in the MOUD who can correct this wrong doing of lower staff. A hapless victim can only say - Get Well Soon Please.

Raghav

Jai Ho Chidambram

1. He represented the bankrupt American energy giant Enron, as a senior lawyer in India, and is again set to revive its Dhabol power project. He resigned on 10 July 1992 from the Minister position owning moral responsibility for investing in Fairgrowth, a company allegedly involved in securities scam

2. Chidambaram's speeches for assembly elections in Tamil Nadu have been laced with anti-Hindi rhetoric and had questioned the number of Hindi speaking ministers in the NDA government although he himself was the Finance Minister at that time and later on the Home Minister for the country

3. In 1997, he announced a controversial Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) which granted income-tax defaulters indefinite immunity from prosecution under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, the Income Tax Act, 1961, the Wealth Tax Act, 1957, and the Companies Act, 1956 in exchange for self-valuation and disclosure of income and assets. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India condemned the scheme in his report as abusive and a fraud on the genuine taxpayers of the country.

4. It should be noted that Chidambaram also represented the controversial British mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources in the Mumbai High Court until 2003 when he became the finance minister of India. He was also a member of the board of directors of that company.

5. In August 2006, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam gave permission to enquire into the allegations that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had been holding office of profit at the time of elections. It has been alleged that they both had been the board members of Rajiv Gandhi Trust Foundation. The Election Commission has been authorised to enquire into the allegations.

6. On 7 April 2009, P. Chidambaram was shoed by Jarnail Singh, a Sikh journalist during a press conference in Delhi. Singh, who works at the Hindi daily Dainik Jagaran was dissatisfied with Chidamabaram's answer to a question on the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case

7. Mr. Chidambaram has been in public conflict with other members of the UPA government on policy issues. There have been several instances where his public positions have exposed confusion in the policy agenda of the UPA government. In the past he has regularly announced plans to end Naxalism in the impending future. The most recent announcement was on Jul 30 2010. Another previous such declaration was on November 10, 2009.

8. In 2009, Parliamentary elections, it was alleged in 'The Hindu' that Chidambaram has pressurised the Returning Officer of Sivaganga and doctored the poll results in his favour. AIADMK candidate Kannappan who lost in the poll demanded recounting of votes, which was declined.

9. In December 2010, it was reported[ that he blamed migrants for the rising rate of crime in New Delhi. He is alleged to have said that Delhi attracts a lot of migrants who live in unauthorized colonies and indulge in behavior that is unacceptable in any modern city. His quote was apparently a reaction to the Sultanpuri gang-rape incident where an 18 year old girl was the victim. This quote attracted a lot of criticism from opposition parties, with UP chief minister Mayawati alleging that, being the Home Minister, Chidambaram was biased against North Indians

10. Chidambaram's effectiveness as the Minister of Home Affairs has been questioned on various occasions. Upon taking office, he promised to tackle left-wing Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. However, there has been no progress in preventing Maoist attacks in India. Chidambaram has been accused of callously sacrificing ill-equipped and unprepared CRPF jawans repeatedly. On 6 April, 2010 76 CRPF jawans were massacred inDantewada. Besides condemning the attack, Chidambaram's ministry has made no progress in prosecuting the killers. In 2010, there were several major attacks by Maoists including a 28 May 2010 train derailment that killed over 150 civilians, a 29 June attack that killed 26 policemen and dozens of other attacks that killed scores of security forces and civilians. Maoist attacks have continued in 2011, including the dismemberment of 10 police officials in Chhatisgarh state.

11. Chidambaram was criticized for his ministry's failure to prevent the 13 July 2011 Mumbai bombings, in spite of massive investments in security following the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Three years after the 2008 attacks, security preparations were found to be inadequate with communications breakdown and failures in modernizinb, procuring and installing security equipment. Chidambaram defended the agencies under his ministry against the charge of intelligence failure.

Sharad Panda

Non completion Of appointments in PSUs

We have a large establishment of paid Bureaucrats and the Ministers who are also well paid. Still it seems, it is nobody's business to complete the process of selection of suitable and capable candidates for appointment in a large number of PSUs as also in the Ministries in time before the situation falls vacant. The authorities are well in the know much in advance about the vacancies in highly responsible positions that shall arise as a consequence of the present incumbent's superannuation. There is no dearth of examples like the GMs in the Zonal Railways; Director (Marketing) in Coal India Ltd. And of course, the Chairman, Coal India Ltd. I do not understand what is the business of ACC & DoPT. Why cannot our system be so devised that we complete all vigilance clearance procedures etc. before time. It is high time, we make it a mandatory criterion to debar a candidate having any vigilance matter pending against him/her for being considered as a candidate in the first place. I know, there would be lot of hue and cry; explanations and logic given by the so called authorities against the above view. But, It is more than time that timely completion of the process be done and the selection completed much in advance. As a matter of fact, persons who are to be appointed as CMDs or DIrectors in any PSU or Ministries in senior capacities should be posted atleast 60 days in advance so that the take over is smooth. Imagine, there is no Director (Marketing) in Coal India Ltd for a considerable period. The size of business in the CIL is known to one and all. I deeply regret the manner in which the country of our size with such high stakes in these organisation, is being governed. May be God alone can come to our Nation's rescue.

B. K. Bhutiani

Panchayati Raj

Panchayat is the lowest democratic unit of our nation. It dispenses justice and welfare to the villagers. It also implements various welfare schemes of the central and state governments for the poor. To my dismay, when I visited my village in Sonepat District( Haryana) last week I was told that the Sarpanch of the village collected Rs. 1000/- each from about 300 Below Poverty Line Dalits for getting their housing plots registered. The plots are to be given under a government welfare scheme to the poor of the poorest. The Registration fee is just about Rs.20/- The affected beneficiaries took the matter to the Chairwoman of the Panchayat Board and the Deputy Commissioner of Sonepat. The victims have yet to see the result of the action taken against such inhuman activities.

In the same village, the Old Age Pension, sometimes takes three to four months to reach the helpless elders, majority of them again BPL pensioners. The whole nation is busy talking about 2G , CWG etc. Let us pay heed to the dream of the Father of the Nation - The Panchayati Raj ! Jai Hind

Zile Singh

Maintenance by CPWD

Information pertaining to budget works/additions/alterations in type IV houses in a colony maintained by CPWD was sought. The CIC directed to provide full and complete information pertaining to works as sought
by the appellant including the name of the agency, budget and payments made along with details of the approving authority and inspecting authority. The CIC observed that as per present practice, the allottees are not kept informed of the nature or level of services to which the allottee is entitled nor is he informed of the timeframe in which the services will be delivered. Consequently, huge sums from the government budget are released in favour of private contractors who are allotted these works with almost no supervision since it is almost impossible for the meager staff/ officers of the CPWD to supervise hundreds of flats/houses in their area of jurisdiction. Under the powers given u/s 25 (5), the CIC recommended to Director General CPWD
to make the terms and conditions of the contract transparent so that the allottee can share the responsibility of supervising the work of the contractor. This would enable the most efficient execution of the awarded job and to receive maximum returns on expenditure made from public funds.

Comments

All public servants staying in government accommodation have faced the poor maintenance by the CPWD. As the end user (allottee) is not provided with any information regarding his entitlement of the various
services, he is unable to assist the CPWD officers in supervising the works being carried out in his allotted accommodation. Hopefully in the RTI era, the uniformity in the standard of services would lead to
an improvement in the quality and the allottees would not be left to the mercy of the contractors.

Shri Radhe Shyam Goel v. CPWD in CIC/DS/A/2011/000480

- 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)