What people say about us !

It goes without saying that your site has really matured into a forum of which GoI too has now started taking serious cognizance.

R Srivastava

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Modi's fast has enthused Gujarat and rest of India. BJP too has got a huge boost. See the beauty about BJP is that there is no High Command.... no servility..... no boot licking..... Leaders rise.... okay demerit is Camp formation!!! Congress's pally Media did everything possible to damn Modi's fast!!!! The interviews that Modi gave had these Channels Editors working overtime to save face!!! Headlines Kanwar interviewed Modi and I'm sure after the interview he must have gone home and kicked himself..... Modi literally straightened him out!!! Next day Headlines tried to save face by showing what Modi said in 2009 and what he said now....howeve mission to save face fell flat on its face!!! In Gujarat Tessta and the likes of her have got victims to submit ludicrous affidavits... one says that Modi gave orders that bodies of the Ghodra victims be 'paraded' in Ahmedabad for incitement purposes.... another one says he had ordered that Muslim women be raped!! Teesta has made Gujarat riots into a business!!!! And Modi asked Media to get the records of the riots preceding the 2002 riots and compare the action taken!!!! Mallika's and Bhatt's 'Modi bribed Mallika's lawyer' was the work of Congress's Dirty Trick Department!! Bhatt they say always had notions of personal grandeur and was habitual to flouting rules as he always felt he was above rules!!

I do not say Modi is an Angel but then he's not a Devil!!

If he and Rahul were to debate I'm abs sure Rahul he will literally level!!

Madam has issued orders that 'move mountains but get the 2 G lot out of jail'!!!! Sibal is on the job!!! It started with a rough 'enough is enough' call from Karuna to Sonia via a conduit!! Subramaniam Swamy wants PC to be made co-accused to this scam... Court has admitted his plea!!!! And if Court Makes him a co-accused Mr. Haughtiness Personified will have to resign from the Cabinet.... he should not have been in the Cabinet in the first place after his 'fudged election'!! I hear in his constituency he's got his chamchas to compare him with Krishna.......why isn't some Hindu Body suing them for hurting Hindu sentiments????

Those hoping that 2 G accused will be made to pay the price for their looting the Nation,

Will soon be grossly disappointed and in DMK there will be jubilation!!

The Hissar result in Haryana could be a game changer.....shake Congress up!!! The stakes are very high and all Parties know this!!! Till a few days it was sure that Brijendra Singh son of Birender Singh!!! Brijendra Singh is Chandigarh's DC and is an IAS Officer.... he was Rahul's classmate for a year!!! But seems either viewing the opposition Birender got cold feet and the father and son duo beat a hasty retreat... or Hooda got his say and his nominee JP got the ticket!!!! This election will also be an indicator to the extent of anti incumbency having set in!!! Game Changer....... if Congress loses Congress Sarkaar is not going to fall .... BJP's been predicting this... but in Haryana there will be sudden changes.... stakes for Hooda are sky high... and hope he's not expecting Birender Singh to pitch in????

Hooda better lead from the front and get cracking!!!!

Kuldeep's chances look brighter after he got BJP's backing!!

Cash in the Cash for Votes scam is now the central issue !!!! Amar could have funded this from his pocket as he could have taken this contract on turnkey bases and would have been reimbursed later !!! Or this money came from Congress.... Jethmalani now says it came from a 10 Janpath functionary..... seems he's realized his take that BJP funded this is illogical!!! Amar will continue to be tight lipped and via Jaya has already sent a message to Congress and his ex pals!! Amar will milk this 'sacrifice' of his!!!! Only problem till now Congress has used him like tissue paper......... use and throw... will this be repeated???

PS.... after Jaya's threat Big B all of a sudden realized 'harr ek friend jaroori hotha hai' and landed up at AIIMS to look-up Amar.... as per inside info the meeting was far from emotional!!! When tremors shook Delhi Mohna was sitting in PM's chair .... he lamented 'Dada (Pranab) I'm not going to fall off..... jinna wee hilaana hai hilla le (shake it as much as you want)'!!! And there is news that Rahul is trying to get a law to stop Cyber Insulting....he wanted to ban Google... but PC pleaded with him not to do so saying ' how will I then find terrorists'???
Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Why did FM ignore questions on Gujarat?
Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee when asked about the speedy success of Gujarat as against Maharashtra, he ignored to answer. Clearly FM has no answer as to why Congress ruled Maharashtra -once the industrial leader is losing out speedily to BJP ruled Gujarat.

BUREAUCRACY

Pulok Chaterji to join on October 3
Pulok Chaterji is joining as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister in place of T K A Nair on October 3.He is former 1974 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre..

Nair to move in another room in PMO
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair is vacating his room for Pulok Chaterji. He is likely to move the room earlier occupied by Shyam Saran.

IAS officer resigns
Dr Satish Shankar bhide has resigned from IAS in Maharashtra. Dr Bhide who is MBBS is 1995 batch IAS officer .

Nine 1977 batch IAS officers from states to join GoI
Nine IAS officers belonging to 1977 batch in different states are waiting in the wings to join the Government of India in the Secretary rank.

IAS officer to seek VRS in Orissa
1975 batch IAS officer S P Nanda is seeking VRS to join as Chairman of the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC).

IAS officer to go to UP on inter-state deputation
Ms Nidhi Kesarwani is all set to go to Uttar Pradesh on inter-state deputation for a period of five years. She is 2004 batch IAS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre.

Murty to be Director KRCL
U K Murty is being tipped to be Director (Operations and Commercial) of the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd (KRCL).

Sujata Saunik is now Advisor in NDMA
Sujata Saunik is joining the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as Advisor. She is 1987 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Meeting to select new LIC Chairman on Friday
Meeting to select new Chairman of the LIC is going to take place in the South Block on September 23.

Ms. Punam Dutt front runner for DGIT Vigilance, Delhi
As the grapevine has it, Ms. Punam Dutt who is presently CCIT Bareily is front runner for the post of DGIT Vigilance, Delhi

72 IRS officers of 1985 batch to be empanelled
As many as 72 Indian Revenue Service (IRS)-IT officers of the 1985 batch are going to be empanelled as Joint Secretaries in the Government of India (GoI).

He will retire without being empanelled in GoI
Despite having more than 15 outstanding CR's 1976 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer D G Kapdev will retire in December without being empanelled in the Government of India to the rank of DG. He doesn't require DG rank or scale in his home state as he is already DG Lokayukta .There is no answer of the Government of India .Is it because of the rule "Show us the face and we will show you the rules ".

R.K. Verma is PS Transport & PWD in Goa
R.K. Verma who was earlier Principal Secretary (PS) Transport with the Delhi government has become PS Transport & PWD with the Goa government. He is an IAS officer of 1984 batch who belongs to the UT cadre.

Dinesh Singh is Joint Secretary MSME
Dinesh Singh on central deputation has joined as Joint Secretary MSME. He is an IAS officer of 1982 batch who belongs to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) cadre.

Neeraj Semwal moves to Goa
Neeraj Semwal who so far on deputation was with the Uttarakhand government has joined the Goa government on September 19,2011. He is an IAS officer of 2003 batch who belongs to the UT cadre.

Ms.Meera empanelled for Jt.Secretary's post in GOI
IA&AS officer Ms. Meera has been empanelled for the post of Joint secretary in the Government of India (GoI). She belongs to 1988 batch.

Who was from FM's western region meeting?
MP and Chattisgarh both BJP ruled states were missing from the meeting of the western region taken in Mumbai by the FM to take a stock of bank credit growth.

A.K. Jha is now DG , NIESBUD
Arun Kumar Jha who so far was Director in the central government's MSME is now Director General (DG) of National Institute for Entrepreneurs & Small Business Development (NIESBUD), Noida. Aun Kumar Jha is an Indian Economic Service (IES) officer of the 1985 batch.
(We said this on July 5, 2010)

Jitesh John is Director, MSME
Jitesh John on central deputation has joined as Director MSME. He is an Indian Economic Service (IES) officer of 2001 batch.

IA & AS officer Kutty transferred
M K Isac Kutty, Deputy Accountant General, in the office of the Accountant General (LBA&A), Maharashtra, Mumbai, Branch Nagpur, on relief from his present duties by V Suryanarayana Murty is transferred and posted as Deputy Accountant General (AB), in the office of the Principal Accountant General (C&CA), Kerala, Thiruvanathapuram against an existing vacancy.

A new book by Poonam Srivastava 'T- JUNCTION- Crossing Over for Change'
A new book 'T Junction: Crossing Over for Change' by author Poonam Srivastava is being released in October which sketches life stories of Crossover Indian Social Innovators who have capitalized on their mainstream professional skills to start parallel experiments of change impacting many lives. The 'T' metaphor represents the total path change between left or right like at a T- Junction traffic signal. Given current turbulent times of social unrest, T- Junction is not just a book but a larger idea to inspire change. The book hopes to intrigue and inspire readers, especially the younger generation, about some celebrated and some less known but equally amazing tales of 'cool' 'awesome' human effort. T- Junction stories can play the role of a Torchbearer for motivating many others desiring to walk the path of social impact but lacking clarity on strategy and modalities. More information about the book is available on http://www.facebook.com/TJunctionCrossingOverForChange

Poonam is a graduate of economics from DU and postgraduate in Public Policy and Management from York, UK. She has been an entrepreneur in the past, self employed in the hospitality and management consulting fields. In her recent years, she has devoted prime of her life to pursuing spiritual interests which has led to becoming a key volunteer for renowned motivator Dr. Deepak Chopra and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Her first book of Zen poetry, 'A Moment for the Mind' has been published in Indian and American editions. Lately, she has crossed her T- Junction to engage with change ideas and supports a few new- age social organizations like Times Foundation. She lives in Delhi with her husband and two children.

The book will be available in book stores nationally by 10th of October but can be pre-ordered at attractive discounts on the internet at websites like Flipkart and Infibeam.com/Books at good inaugural discount offers through the web link- http://www.infibeam.com/Books/t-junction-crossing-over-change-poonam-srivastava/9789380942698.html?utm_term=T+Junction_1_3.

DG Assam Rifles to be recalled ?
Grapevine has it that Director General of Assam Rifles (DG AR) Lt Gen Rameshwar Roy is being recalled.

NERAMAC's investors meet in Tripura: a grand show
The North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) Ltd a Government of India (GOI) enterprise under the Ministry of DoNER, of which Managing Director (MD) is S.Bhattacharjee had organized Tripura food processing Investors meet in Pragna Bhavan, Agartala on September 17, 2011. Sponsored by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in GOI and in association with the Department of Industries & Commerce Government of Tripura,
this national-level meet enabled agri-entrepreneurs to have more details on related schemes on food processing. This was a mentoring workshop for budding agriculture as well as management graduates who can take up agri-business as a profession. This meet dealt with the development & setting up of food processing units in the north east in general & Tripura in particular either through direct investment or joint association or specific MoU & tie-up etc with big food
processors companies & FMCGs like Dabur foods, Adani Group, Solae Company, Tetra pack etc.The investors meet was inaugurated by Jitendra Choudhury Minister Industries Government of Tripura. It attended by the Principal Secretary Agriculture, Addl Secretary Industries of Government of Tripura, Director, NIAM, Jaipur, Secretary, AIFPA, Under Secretary MoFPI and other dignitaries etc. Fruit processing related papers have been initiated for some units in the state. Replying to a question NERAMAC's MD S.Bhattacharjee said that the meet was a grand success.

Transfer of Rly official cancelled
Transfer of HL Luwang of SS (Looking after in JAG)/IRTS from ECOR to SER has been cancelled.

Railways transfers and postings
Kamalzom of SS/IRAS has been transferred from CR to ER and posted in the cadre, Ramesh Kumar of SS/IRAS has been transferred from CR to ER and posted in the cadre and Rakesh Kr. Bhargava of S/IRAS has been transferred from WR to RCF/Kapurthala and posted in the cadre.

IRS (IT) officer Mao posted as OSD
IRS (IT) officer O A Mao, Additional CIT, awaiting posting on return from deputation, has been posted as OSD in the CCIT (CCA) Mumbai region till further orders.

Ajay Nath to return M P next week (UPDATED)
Ajay Nath is returning to the parent Madhya Pradesh cadre after completion of central deputation tenure next week. He is 1982 batch IAS officer.

Three Under Secretaries transferred under RTP (Updated)
As many as three under secretaries have been transferred under Rotational Transfer Policy (RTP). Accordingly, Virendra Kumar has been transferred from MHA to Defence, Raj Kumar from Higher Education to Defence and Ashok Kr. Dogra from Agriculture and Cooperation to Minority Affairs. DoPT, in a bid to prevent overstaying of officers in one place much beyond their prescribed service periods, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is contemplating to implement the RTP, a major anti-corruption rule, for officers of the Central Secretariat Services with full force.

Director of CSS, Sunil Mishra transferred (Updated)
Sunil Mishra, Director of CSS, presently posted in the Cabinet secretariat has been transferred and posted in the Ministry of Shipping with immediate effect against an existing vacancy.

Under Secretary of CSS, Bali promoted (Updated)
Consequent upon his inclusion in the Selection Grade (Deputy Secretary) select list of CSS for the year 2005, MR Bali , Under secretary of CSS has been promoted as Deputy Secretary of CSS and posted to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Deputy Secretary Mahalingam posted to PGIMER (Updated)
A Mahalingam, Deputy Secretary, on return from deputation, has been posted to PGIMER, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, against an existing vacancy.

IAS officer Jindal gets additional charge of PS to Governor of Assam (Updated)
Ram Tirath Jindal, IAS (RR-1983), A.P.C & Principal Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Agriculture, Irrigation, Animai Husbandry & Veterinary and Fisheries Departments has been given the additional charge of Principal Secretary to the Governor of Assam in addition to his existing duties.

IAS officer Manish Thakur gets selection grade in Assam (Updated)
Manish Thakur, IAS (RR-1998), (now on Study Leave), is promoted and allowed to officiate in the Selection Grade of IAS.

IAS officer Duara gets selection grade in Assam (Updated)
Rajeeb Losan Duara, IAS (SCS-1998) Director, Social Welfare, Assam is promoted and allowed to officiate in the Selection Grade of IAS.

IAS officer Mrs. Barman gets selection grade in Assam (Updated)
Mrs. Marmie Hagjer Barman, IAS (SCS-1998) Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Health & Family Welfare Department and Project Director, AIDS Control Society is promoted and allowed to officiate in the Selection Grade of IAS.

IAS officer Mrs. Binita gets selection grade in Assam (Updated)
Mrs. Binita Rynjah, IAS (SCS-1998) Additional Resident Commissioner, Assam Bhawan, New Delhi is promoted and allowed to officiate in the Selection Grade of IAS.

IAS officer Jyotirmoy gets selection grade in Assam (Updated)
Jyotirmoy Chakraborty, IAS (SCS-1998) Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Urban Development Department and State Enquiry Officer, Assam is promoted and allowed to officiate in the Selection Grade of 1AS.

IAS officer Baruah gets selection grade in Assam (Updated)
Dilip Kr. Baruah, IAS (SCS-1998) Member, Assam Board of Revenue and Additional Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Tourism Department is promoted and allowed to officiate in the Selection Grade of IAS.

IAS officer Mrs. Hazarika gets selection grade in Assam (Updated)
Mrs. N Hufar Alam Hazarika, IAS (SCS-1998) Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Agriculture Department is promoted and allowed to officiate in the Selection Grade of IAS.

IFS officer Rathore promoted as Conservator of Forest in Rajasthan (Updated)
VS Rathore, IFS (SF : 92) presently posted as Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bikaner, has been promoted as Conservator of Forest with immediate effect.

(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

HUL's Anil Chopra resigns
Hindustan Unilevers Anil Chopra, the man behind Lakme Fashion Week's success has resigned. Though the reasons are unknown Chopra says he is still to think about his next assignment.

Goa mining to be banned as well?
It is heard in the corporate circles that illegal mining is going to be banned like the Bellary mines. Shah Commission report might necessitate such an action.

Sinha appointed as President , The Ad Club Bombay
Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar UM has been elected as President of The Ad Club Bombay for the year 2011-12. He is replacing Dr Bhaskar Das, President, BCCL who held the position for two years.

Khan appointed MD, BMS India
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) India has appointed Pheroze Khan as the Managing Director. He was previously Managing Director, BMS - Greece.

Bedi appointed Director (Exports), Nestor Pharmaceuticals
Nestor Pharmaceuticals has appointed Rajiv Bedi as the Director (Exports) of the company.

Badiga appointed COO, Anthelio
Anthelio--- the leading independent provider of comprehensive healthcare information technology (IT) services and business process solutions for hospitals has appointed Laxman K Badiga as Chief Operating Officer.

Lakshmanan appointed GM, HOSMAC India
Ganesh Lakshmanan has been appointed as General Manager (Communications) of HOSMAC India. He will be responsible for the marketing and communication for HOSMAC.

Bankapur retires as Director, IOCL
B.N. Bankapur, Director(Refineries)-IOCL ceased to be the Director of the company on attaining the age of superannuation on August 31, 2011.

SJVN Ltd appoints Independent Directors
The following persons have been appointed as Independent Directors on the Board of SJVN Ltd with effect from September 14, 2011 by the Ministry of Power, Government of India --. S M Lodha, K S Gill, Ms. Asha Swarup, Arun Mahajan.

Gupta resigns as MD, Broadcast Initiatives Ltd
Ashok Kumar Gupta has resigned as the Managing Director and Director of Broadcast Initiatives Ltd with effect from September 17, 2011.

Rally appointed Business Head, BIG CBS Networks Pvt Ltd
BIG CBS Networks Pvt Ltd has appointed Vishal Rally as Business Head. He will be responsible for the overall functioning of the channel, including programming, promotions, communications and also the P&L and revenue generation for the business.

Desai appointed Independent Director, Adani Power Ltd
Adani Power Ltd has appointed Berjis Desai as Independent Director of the Company w.e.f. September 17, 2011.

Pedhdiya appointed Company Secy. Choksi Imaging Ltd
Ms. Nikita Hemanshu Pedhdiya has been appointed as Company Secretary of Choksi Imaging Ltd w.e.f. September 15, 2011.

Rohit Gopakumar appointed as COO, Percept IP
Rohit Gopakumar has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Percept Intellectual Properties.

Why allowance not payable to Central service officers in NE ?

Vide OM dated 10.02.09 issued from File # 14017/4/2005-AIS(II), DoPT has allowed additional monetary incentive of 25% of the basic pay to All India Service Officers actually working in the NER called "Special Allowance for Officers belonging to North East Cadres of All India Services". This incentive is in addition to all other allowances payable to them.

The amount is payable to the IAS, IPS & IFS and is not payable to officers of the central services like the IRS, IA&AS, ICCE, IRAS etc. though Officers of all these Central Services (unlike those belonging to the All India Services Officers) have an option not to serve in the NER by merely seeking a posting in any other part of the country.

The All India Service Officers by virtue of being a part of the All India Services are allotted to a particular cadre / state, & have to perforce serve only in that cadre / state to which they have been allotted; unless they opt to go on deputation for 3-5 years in the Centre etc.

Since these AIS Officers have no option but to serve in the NER, the need to permit an additional incentive should not have normally arisen; except to discourage the tendency to perennially seek to proceed on deputations to the Centre or to some obscure post in their own home state.

Without any incentive to be posted in the NER, which has historically been perceived to be an isolated & remote area, Central Service Officers from other parts of the country have been avoiding any posting in the NER.

This trend has unfortunately not only led to insulating local NER administration in these services from newer developments & progress seen in the more advanced parts of the country; but has also resulted in serious shortage of Officers to man various wings of all these Central Services in the NER.

However, the DoPT is yet to see the practical side of the problem & has so far failed to allow the incentive to Central Service Officers in the NER despite numerous representations filed. Is this a result of the IAS blocking legitimate dues of the lesser services?

Tapan Das

Only expediency drives CBDT

The only logic which drives CBDT is expediency. If there are more officers at a station, then make them OSD ,without allocating any functions. If the revenue effect of a judgement is substantial, go in appeal ,whether or not there is a question of law. If a judgement of a High Court runs contrary to what CBDT thinks, then first ignore the judgement itself; then make an interpretation of the same judgement in a manner which suits CBDT, howsoever illogical it may appear; and lastly if every thing fails, go in for further appeal, without heeding little bit whether the judgement is justified or not. Take for example the Dispute Resolution Panel(DRP) comprising three Commissioners, a structure designed to expedite the first appeal process in high demand cases. A laudable exercise, except that CBDT never had any heart or brain in the issue it proposed: the Commissioners were to have additional duties as DRP members. As Commissioners holding substantive charges ,they always had their hands full and their ACR were to be judged by their substantive functions and not in the capacity as DRP members, which is an additional duty any way. Second, the Commissioners who always ended up giving the maximum high demand cases and thus highest probability of cases to move the DRP- the CIT Transfer Pricing , the DI International Taxation, were made the members of DRP all across India. Both the propositions suffered from lack of legal logic and ignorance of work demands. Hare brained, should one say ?

Work demands first. Since part of the additional duties, no CIT could ill afford to devote full time to DRP. Naturally, none of the DRP could deliver 10% of its targets. The current thinking is that DRP is like an appendix. It can always wait. CBDT may take an objective view of DRP functioning from the people at its receiving end , the assessees , if it deems necessary. Making DRP comprise of people already saddled with substantive duties has killed DRP.

Second, the lack of legal logic. The issue of conflict of interest - having jurisdictional Commissioners as DRP members- has been raised successfully by the appellant in Hyundai Heavy Industries ( Civil Writ petition no 1778 of 2010 dated 21-7-2011 ) vide an order of the Uttarakhand High Court. The High Court has advised the CBDT from nominating any jurisdictional Commissioner as DRP member. Sad, that it requires a High Court to tell CBDT the fatal flaw in CBDT's working time and again.

CBDT has plenty of Commissioners either OSD or engaged in low tech no-brain work all across India. They could as well be nominated full time to DRP. CBDT should decide whether DRP should succeed or it should fail . DRP's success is in CBDT's hands. Can not the CBDT find merit in the High Court order and rationalize the functioning of DRP ?

And pray tell us, who is the great author of DRP legislation ?

Ramsay

Paramakudi firing in Tamil Nadu

The citizens of India, politicians from all parties are known to selectively implement provisions of the constitution, but it is only civil service officers who are known to champion the cause of constitutional safeguards, even the Anna civil society is led by former civil servants like Kiran bedi and Kejriwal. It is unfortunate that IAS IPS officers of Tamil nadu cadre hardly show any interest to protect the untouchables despite change of regimes. Unprovoked firing on unarmed innocent dalits in Paramkudi in Tamilnadu is clear bias shown by district collector and Superintendent of police. Hon'ble supreme court of india in SLP/CRL/8428/2009 DATED 19.4.2011 has directed to take action against District collector and SP if fail to take action.

K Pandya Rajan

Closure of AP social welfare

For over five decades IAS officers like Sankaran,Venugopal,Krishnan,Madhav rao etc have stood behind scheduled caste welfare in AP but all this work has been destroyed during the last one year in the name of fiscal savings .

P Naresh

It's strange !

It is really strange that the CEO of CWG and the current Chairman is nowhere blamed by any agency

D Choudhary

Scoop of the week :

The following extract is a discussion between the colours of the rainbow trying to find out the meaning and their individual contribution to the world. What they realize in the end is that its only when they collaborate they create hope & symbolize togetherness.

Once upon a time the colors of the rainbow started to quarrel. All claimed that they were the best, most important, the most useful, the most beautiful and the favorite.

Green said: Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope.

Blue interrupted: You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life

Orange started next to blow her trumpet: I am the color of health and strength. I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking.

Yellow chuckled: I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun, moon, stars are all yellow.

Red could stand it no longer he shouted out: I am blood - life's blood !I am the color of danger and of bravery

Purple rose up to his full height: I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom

Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others. But with just as much determination I am the color of silence. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."

And so all the colors went on boasting & each convinced of their own superiority. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening, thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort. In the midst of the clamor, the Rain began to speak:" You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."

Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace.

The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow."

And so, whenever a good rain-washes the world and a Rainbow appears in the sky, is to let us remember to appreciate one another.

Ashok K Bhimani

Copy of agreement

The appellant sought detailed information about the installation of a cellular tower in the building of which he is a resident. The CPIO informed that the consent of the Secretary and Treasurer of the Association was taken before installation of the cellular tower in question but refused to provide information about (i) the rent being paid to the apartment owner on whose apartment the cellular tower has been set up and (ii) copy of the agreement between BSNL and the said apartment owner. The CIC rejected the arguement that the disclosure of this information would adversely affect the competitive position of BSNL. The CIC observed that the appellant has stakes in the building and its environment and the electro magnetic radiations emitted by the tower may affect him and directed to disclose the information.

Comments

This case opens up the numerous possibilities of the use of the RTI Act in the environmental protection. The PSUs are left in a position of disadvantage vis-à-vis their private sector counterparts.

Shri R Rajagopalan v. BSNL in CIC/LS/A/2011/001221

- 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)