What people say about us!

Congrats for covering neighbour country (Pakistan). Please cover international whispers in coming days. Best wishes.

Sanjay Kumar Verma

Congress or President Rule way!!!!
This is what Jaiswal in his K.N. Singh (Bollywood) style did say!!

There is no way Congress will even rise to third position!!!!
So why this 'us ir President's Rule's imposition'???

Basically Congress is trying every 'hath-kandaa'!!!!
Mortified that rise from 22 could be 'andaa' (zero)!!

Congress's dream route to power in UP is riding SP's back!!!!
In every department in UP like Neta or Neeti Congress does lack!!

Akhilesh is becoming what Rahul yearns to be!!!!
Akhilesh has starred saying 'me' and Rahul still uses 'we'!!!

Akhilesh may look and talk like his Dad but out of Dad's shadow he is
stepping out!!
His 'parachuting to PM's chair' image Rahul has not been able to sort out!!

I think Congress has done immense damage to Rahul....unknowingly!!
Though some would say some have done it knowingly!!

There is a section of Congressmen who want Congress to throw away
Gandhi crutches!!
But history has shown that when Congress flops to Gandhis Congress 'clutches'!!

Now Congress is kicking itself by shifting to caste and religion plank!!
Now it wishes that on development why it did not bank???

And Rahul has been damaged by the 'we Rule India' image!!
Like 'we send money to UP and Elephant eats it' did lot of damage!!

Sonia enforcing an emergency of disclosure of her illness!!
And now to disclosing her IT returns she's shown her unwillingness!!

She's a politician and in both cases Public has right to know!!!
This is not a Communist Country where there is control on info flow!!

Joke doing the rounds is that Sonia's IT Ward is RAW!!!
Confirms that 'to themselves Gandhi are law'!!

BJP's gateway to the South is proving to be its bane!!
No end to its pain!!

Now Yeddy wants to be CM again!!!
'Me or BJP loses Karnataka' he's made it abs simple and plain!!

He's just faced so much heat and there should be cooling off time!!!
This is for sure like Congress for propriety BJP too does not care a dime!!

Problem is BJP at the top has Leaders who are weak!!
That is why Modi's entry at the very top many do seek!!

Arre Leader has to like a Sher!!!
And not joh baar baar ho jaye dher!!

They say if Kripashankar's '2 number phone' records are revealed!!!
A top Congressman close to Madam's fate will be sealed!!

What am I saying.... he'll just deny and say it's not his voice!!!
When caught red handed 'it's not me' has been the favourite choice!!

Seems Saif took care to brawl out of CCTV's reach!!!
Taj will say Cameras are not everywhere as Guest privacy they do not
want to breach!

I think its not possible!!!!
Saif's brawling not being caught on CCTV is impossible!!

Not possible that there was no CCTV coverage where the brawling took place!
Bollywood brats will now feel ' for brawling Taj is the ideal place'!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

No wrong in elected representative addressing a bureaucrat as "Sir"?
There is nothing wrong in an elected representative addressing a bureaucrat as "Sir" . The above conclusion has been drawn from the responses received during a debate conducted by whispersinthecorridors.com, to elicit whether it is appropriate for an
elected representative to address a bureaucrat as "Sir"?

The issue came to the fore when, recently, Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik asked his Cabinet Ministers to maintain dignity of the office. Patnaik conveyed his mind when a Minister addressed "Sir" to an IAS officer in his presence. "You are Cabinet Minister and should maintain your dignity" the Chief Minister was reported to have said.

The whispersinthecorridors.com , thus, asked its surfers "How far it is appropriate for an elected representative to address a bureaucrat as "Sir". And the majority respondents said - There is nothing wrong in an elected representative addressing a bureaucrat as "Sir".

While some said that Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik's advisory to his Cabinet colleagues to refrain from addressing the bureaucrats as 'Sir', was unwarranted, others said that it reflects his feudalistic and hierarchical mindset .

While K Y Dasu, DIG/Retd. (CISF) said, "An elected representative addressing a bureaucrat as 'Sir', is neither a crime nor political taboo and there is nothing wrong in it", TVS Narayan said "Politicians calling Bureaucrats 'Sir' is perfectly in order. Not every politician need do this. It is a relative equation, where the Politician might be giving value to the person and not to the position. The politician must be a person of propriety and stature who wanted to give due respect to another individual. Nothing wrong in the salutation. I do not say everybody should do it".

Yet another respondent A K Saxena who is a retired civil servant asserted that Patnaik's advisory to his Cabinet colleagues to refrain from addressing the bureaucrats as 'Sir', was unwarranted. "He owns a feudalistic and hierarchical mindset . Ego massage is an important aspect of Communication skill. If an elected representative addresses a bureaucrat as 'Sir', his job is completed quickly and without bribe", he said.

Others like J B Sinha, NVK Prabhakar, S K Tewari were also of the opinion that there was nothing wrong in elected representative addressing a bureaucrat as "Sir".

However, those who feel that a Minister addressing a bureaucrat as 'Sir' is not appropriate said that it was incorrect because though 'Sir' is just an addressing word, in India, it is invariably associated with seniority and superiority. "Therefore in Indian context the minister calling a bureaucrat as 'Sir' is not appropriate", claimed Nandan.

"Bureaucrats are public servants and elected representatives represent the people. Therefore it is inappropriate for an elected representative (of the public) to address a bureaucrat (a public servant) as Sir", says Ajay adding "But this is India, Sab Chalta Hai, Sir"

For details : Read February issue of the Whispers In The Corridors

BUREAUCRACY

Pankaj Chandra to be new UGC Chairman?
In all probability, Director of the IIM - Bangalore, Pankaj Chandra, is going to be new Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

New Steel Secretary from UP?
As the grapevine has it new Steel Secretary will be from Uttar Pradesh (UP), but he will not be from the UP cadre.

Rajiv Mathur is new IC in CIC
Former Chief of the Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Mathur has been appointed Central Information Commissioner. He is retired 1972 batch IPS officer of UP cadre.
(We said this on January 12)

Basant Seth is new IC in CIC
Former CMD of the Syndicate Bank Basant Seth has been appointed Central Information Commissioner.

Vijay Sharma is new IC in CIC
Former Secretary Forests and Environment Vijay Sharma has been appointed Central Information Commissioner. He is retired 1972 batch IAS officer of UP cadre. He is presently Member of the Green Tribunal.

R P Singh's order as Director (Personnel) Power Grid issued
Appointment order of R P Singh as new Director (Personnel) in the Power Grid Corporation has been issued. Presently he is an Executive Director (ED) in the organisation.
(We said this on September 30, 2011)

Vinod Asthana is MD of CWC's subsidiary
Vinod Asthana who so far was Director -Catering Services (CS) of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has joined as Managing Director (MD) of Central Railside Warehouse Company Ltd. It is a subsidiary of the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC).
(We said this earlier & on December 28, 2011)

Shivashankar selected as Director (Tech.), HMT-MT
Shivashankar B M, Joint GM, HMT (MT) Ltd, has been selected for the post of Director (Technology), HMT Machine Tools Limited (HMT-MT). As many as 14 persons were interviewed for the same.

Kataria is PS to Labour Minister Kharge
Rajender Kumar Kataria has been appointed new Private Secretary (PS) to Indian Minister for Labour and Employment, Mallikarjun Kharge. He is an IAS officer of 1996 batch and belongs to the Karnataka cadre. Presently, he is Managing Director (MD), Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board. He was appointed on this post after his completion of his six years successful tenure on inter-cadre deputation to Haryana. He also completed his mid career training (MCT) programme phase IV in LBSNAA, Mussoorie. During the last six year he had worked as Joint Secretary Finance, Deputy Comissioner-cum-District Magistrate in districts of Kaithal, Panchkula and Gurgaon and had also worked as Administrator, HUDA, Panchkula. During the period as Deputy Commissioner-cum-district Magistrate, Gurgaon, Rajendra Kataria was awarded twice the following :-"Award from Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Salman Khurshid both Indian Ministers September 3, 2010 for the promotion of Tourism in the NCR Haryana." On the occasion of Digital Inclusion Day i.e. September 22, 2010, jointly organised by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in collaboration with National E-Governance Plan and Skoch Development Foundation, Indian Minister Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy Minister Urban Development at Hotel Shangrila, New Delhi was awarded Skoch ICT Award-2010 for the commendable efforts and re-engineering put forward in providing better e-Governance in the project "Property Registration - Gurgaon".

Sandeep Silas to return parent cadre
PS to Union Labour and Employment Minister Sandeep Silas is returning to the parent IRTS. He is 1983 batch IRTS officer.

Three IPS apply for central deputation in West Bengal
Three West Bengal cadre IPS officers Damayanti Sen, Jawed Shamim and Vineet Goyal have applied for central deputation.

Orders of Rina Ray kept in abeyance
Ms. Rina Ray, Chief Electoral Officer's transfer orders from Government of NCT Delhi to Mizoram have been kept in abeyance by Ministry of Home Affairs as a special case. She is an IAS officer of 1984 batch who belongs to AGMU cadre.

Cheema moves to Delhi
A S Cheema, SP, Mizoram has been transferred to Government of NCT Delhi. He is an IPS officer of 2000 batch who belongs to the AGMU cadre.

Kuldeep Kumar to join GoI?
Kuldeep Kumar Director Fire Services who is on Study Leave is likely to join Central Deputation as IG. He is an IPS officer of 1985 batch who belongs to Manipur-Tripura cadre.

Three IRS officers shifted
Three officers of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) have been transferred and posted at different places. Accordingly, Nitin Garg has been shifted from UOP, CCIT (CCA) NWR to CCIT (CCA), Delhi while Malikarjuna Anumala from UOP, CCIT (CCA), Kochi to CCIT (CCA), Delhi and Govind Manish is being shifted from CCIT (CCA), Kolkata to CCIT (CCA), Patna.

Bicchu.com Weekly to be launched from Mumbai and Delhi
Bicchu being run by Awdesh Bajaj from Bhopal is being launched from Mumbai and Delhi.

IFS officers promoted in Orissa
1986 and 1987 batch Indian Forests Service officers in Orissa have been promoted to the rank of CCF.

Ratan to be Information Commissioner in AP
1978 batch IPS officer M Ratan is being appointed Information Commissioner in Andhra Pradesh.

K Veera Raghava Rao posted as Addl. Collector, Cuddalore in TN
K Veera Raghava Rao, Commissioner, Tiruchirappalli Corporation has been transferred and posted as Additional collector & Project officer (Thane), Project Management Unit, Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu. He is a 1007 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.

C Munianathan is now MD, Fisheries Development Corp. in TN
C Munianathan has been posted as Director Fisheries and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Fisheries Development Corporation in Tamil Nadu. He is a 2003 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.

K Nagarajan posted as Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) in TN
K Nagarajan, collector, Dindigul district, has been made Deputy Commissioner (Revenue & Finance) in Tamil Nadu.

N Venkatachalam is now Collector Dindigul district in TN
N Venkatachalam, Villupuram district Revenue officer, has been transferred and posted as Collector, Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu.

Mrs Kavita Pandey posted as OSD, CCIT (CCA), Delhi region
Mrs. Kavita Pandey, Commissioner of Income Tax, has been posted as OSD in the office of CCIT (CCA), Delhi region.

Post of ED vacant in NYKS, Delhi
The post of Executive Director (ED) has been lying vacant in Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), Delhi. Willing officers can send their applications to Under Secretary, NYKS, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Room No. 15, C-Wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi before March 12, 2012.

Arun Kumar Jha, IES, Director General NIESBUD promoted
Arun Kumar Jha, Director General, NIESBUD, has been promoted to Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) on deputation. He is an Indian Economic Service (IES) officer of 1985 batch.

Two posts of Judges vacant in Gauhati HC
As many as two posts of judges have been lying vacant in Gauhati High Court against 24 approved strength including one post of Permanent Judge against 17 approved strength and one of additional judge against seven approved strength.

IRTS officer to head Sports Authority in AP
IRTS officer TRK Rao has been appointed as managing director of Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh.

PAKISTAN WHISPERS

Rawalpindi Cant Board to demolish Heritage Odeon Cinema building to Construct Shopping mall

120 years old Odeon Cinema & Library Complex in Rawalpindi Cantonment may soon be a thing of past as the Cantonment Board has decided to demolish this piece of heritage and construct a shopping mall in its place 'in the interest of revenue generation'. The building constructed in 1891 by two Sikh brothers Raibahadur Sardar Sujan Singh and Sardar Kirpal Singh was after the partition in 1947 leased out by the Cantonment Board for running the cinema hall but the lessee was irregular in payment of lease rent and the board instead of earning any revenue was spending its own money for its upkeep. According to the Board's CEO Rana Manzoor Ahmed Khan, the shopping mall will add Rs 100 billion to the Board's revenue. Two floors of the proposed mall will be reserved for a cinema complex.

Gift of a 150 Deer to CDA! What An Idea Sir ji!!

Islamabad's Capital Development Authority was quite excited when it got an offer for a gift of 150 Deer from the Punjab Rangers which the rangers said they wanted to present on 31st March as the day is celebrated by them as environment protection day. There was however a small (?) condition attached to the offer. The Deer were to be kept by the Rangers at a place of their choice. And that gave it away. The rangers were allowed a temporary camp at the nearby Margala Hills for protecting the capital against possible militant attack from the hills after the 'Lal Masjid' episode in 2007 but the rangers haven't yet vacated the area. CAD of late has been putting pressure on them to zacate the area because of criticism from environmentalists. Some ingenious brains in the Rangers camp seem to have come up with this brilliant idea that if the gift of the deer is accepted by the CAD along with the condition then they will choose Margalla Hills for their dear deer's abode and will not have to vacate the camp.

Posting of New IG Punjab Challenged

Posting orders of Haji Habibur Rehman as IG Police Punjab have been challenged in the Lahore High Court. In a petition Advocate Faqqir Razzak has stated that in 2009 when the same officer was the Chief City Police Officer (CCPO) the Srilankan cricket team was attacked by militants. Subsequently the inquiry commission probing the attack had recommended action to be taken against him for dereliction of duty. The government however seems to have rewarded the officer by posting him as IG. The petition goes on to allege that Haji Habibur Rehman who is close to the provincial ruling party PML(N) has been brought in as a result of a deal between the federal ruling coalition led by PPP and the PML (N) whereby PML(N) supported the PPP in getting the 20th constitutional amendment passed and the federal government gave the IG of PML (N)'s choice.

Qaide Azam & Aga Khan Universities occupy top two slots in Pakistan's Top 10

Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) has published the Top 10 out of 116 teaching and degree awarding institutions in the country and number one and two slots have gone to the Qaide Azam University Islamabad and Aga khan University Karachi respectively. Institutions set up after 2008, distant education institutions and those who failed to provide data for evaluation to the HEC are excluded from the ranking. Barring the top two all the remaining eight in the top 10 are technical, engineering, health or management institutes. According to Dr Javed Laghari chairman HEC the ranking is based on quality of teaching and research.

DEBATE - Should bureaucrats alone be held accountable for policy decisions ?

Bureaucrats now feel that Ministers and Politicians also be held responsible for 'policy decisions' taken by the government. They also want that entire cabinet should be held accountable for policy decisions. How far they are correct in their thinking ?

Mail your to the point views to suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com or mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com

CORPORATE

Singhal appointed Company Secy., Altas Cycles (Haryana) Ltd
Gagan Singhal has been appointed as Company Secretary of Atlas Cycles (Haryana) Ltd.

Thanikainathan appointed Company Secy. Thinksoft Global Services Ltd
A. Thanikainathan has been appointed as Company Secretary of Thinksoft Global Services Ltd.

Sharma appointed Addl. Exec. Director, K Sera Sera Ltd
Ajai Sharma has been appointed as Additional Executive Director of K Sera Sera Ltd w.e.f. February 23, 2012.

Jayaraman appointed CFO , Ruby Mills Ltd
Ruby Mills Ltd has appointed S. Jayaraman, General Manager (F&A) as Chief Financial Officer of the company.

Three Independent Addl Directors appointed on Board of CJ Gelatine Products Ltd
CJ Gelatine Products Ltd has appointed Sandeep Singh, Vikas Gupta and Ramanand Kini as Additional Independent Directors of the Company.

Daya Kumar is MD, CEO, Danlaxmi Bank (UPDATED)
Daya Kumar has been appointed as new MD and CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank.

Bindal to join Khosla Ventures (UPDATED)
Atul Bindal is joining as Head- Asis and Africa, Operations of Khosla Ventures. He has quit as Head- Domestic Mobile Operations, Bharti Airtel.

DEBATE (1)

When a decision is taken by a Minister without consulting the Cabinet, the Minister must be made responsible for the same. When the Cabinet takes a decision, the Cabinet only is responsible which means the Government of the day is squarely responsible. Not an individual.

Dhayalan

A deeper conspiracy to ruin IITs

Our politicians are driven by greed to get votes. Rather than constructing new and better roads, they prefer to rename the old ones with their local names. Similarly, they try to change the system so that well known brands like IIMs and IITs are diluted to accommodate their voters., like introducing varoius quotas, new subjects ( astrology by Joshi) and opening institutes with same names.

R Kumar

Fit for post of Member Mechanical/Rly Board

Keshav Chandra is IRSME officer of Feb 1975 seniority. He is the most senior IRSME officer who fulfills eligibility norms for the post of Member Mechanical/Rly Board in terms of ACC policy guidelines. Well Known for his par excellence performance in diverse assignments coupled with humbleness and humility, he turned around North East Frontier Railway during his tenure as General Manager.

Manmeet

Views on IIT JEE improper

I disagree with the views expressed by an observer and unknown gentleman on IIT JEE. The new system would bring justice to all Indian
students in India and also double burden of school as well as competition would go from poor blooming stars. It is going to be a very fare game after the new JEE system starts. The new system has been devised after a great research of affected parties. Those who really deserve will make it to the right choice stream and career.

Harish Kumar

Respect opinion of others

The opening sentence of V K Sinha's views about Indian Post & Telecom Accounts & Finance Officers indicates his degree of frustrations. 2. Does he has any proof that whatever Whispers is doing, being done on behalf of an officer of service. Does he think that this website is above Cab. Secretary or PMO (PM) or he thinks that the process of selection is so inefficient to pick an able officer for a post. 3. Having 3 members posts in their pocket for their cadre (and claiming their right for many others how can he comment on progression of other cadres (suppression of Electrical & Civil Engineers in their time are glaring examples). And why they protested when Vinod Vaish was made head of DTO ? 4. Therefore, commenting without any basis or proof, let us respect opinion of others, and rightful aspirations of a cadre.

Kumar

Evidence of corruption or human rights violation necessary for schedule II organisations

Theappellant filed an application under the RTI Act seeking certain information from the respondent organization. The Commission noted that the respondent is an exempted organization listed under Schedule II of the RTI Act and therefore, is not amenable to any provision contained in the Act by virtue of Section 24. Furthermore, the information sought by the Appellant does not pertain to any violation of human rights and allegation of corruption, and therefore, does not fall under Proviso (I) to Section 24 of the RTI Act. The Commission ruled that an 'allegation of corruption' does not mean mere conjectures and surmises. Allegations ought to be supported by cogent and sound evidence which can lead the Commission to frame a prima facie view about corrupt or malpractices being involved in any given case. The Commission rejected the appeal ruling that such element is clearly missing as no evidence or material has been placed by the Appellant to establish prima facie case of corruption or violation of human right.

Comments

In cases of organisations which are beyond the purview of the RTI Act, an applicant must put up evidence of corruption or human rights violation for his application to be considered as a valid RTI application.

Shri Anil Prasad v. Sashastra Seema Bal in No.CIC/SS/A/2011/001855

- 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)