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R Rajgopal

Things in Railway Ministry to move only after cabinet reshuffle
As the grapevine has it, things in the Railway Ministry are likely to start moving only after cabinet reshuffle.

Who in place of Sheila Dixit?
Many names are floating round in the Congress to see who will replace Sheila Dixit if she is given a ministry in the centre.

Pawar has been forgotten?
Ajit Pawar, Former Deputy CM of Maharashtra has already been forgotten, in a recent cabinet that took place nobody seems to have discussed or even considered his absence.

BUREAUCRACY

B Nayyar is new ED, OBC
Oriental Bank of Commerce has a new Executive Director in Bhupinder Nayyar. Nayyar, who was General Manager at Bank of India, assumed charge on Friday. He comes in the place of SC Sinha, who superannuated on July 31.
(We said this on May 3, 2012 & later on also)

S K Kalra is ED, Andhra Bank.
S K Kalra on elevation has joined as an Executive Director(ED) with the Andhra Bank. Hitherto, he was a Geneal Manager with the Allahabad Bank.
(We said this on may 3,2012 & later on also)

8 Railway GMs get additional charges

As many as eight General Managers of various Railway Zones have been assigned additional charges of General Managers of other Zones for the time being. Accordingly, S V Arya, GM, WCR, has been given an additional charge of GM/SECR while A K Verma, GM, SER, gets an additional charge of GM/NFR and Jagdev Kalia, GM, CORE, was given an additional charge of NCR. Similarly, BN Rajsekhar, GM, RCF, has been assigned an additional charge of GM/NWR; G N Asthana, GM, SCR, gets charge of GM, SWR; S K Jain, GM, CR of GM,WR; Abhay Kumar Khanna, GM, ICF of GM, SR and B P Khare, GM, DLW, was assigned an additional charge of GM,CLW.

Dr P G Dhar Chakraborty is also Secretary, NDMA, MHA
Dr P G Dhar Chakraborty, Adviser, Inter-State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has been assigned an additional charge of Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home Affairs, at the level of Additional Secretary for a period of three months. He is a 1980 batch IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir.

Wadhawan joins as JS in DEA
Anup Wadhawan has finally joined as new Joint Secretary, Capital Market, in the Ministry of Finance. He is a 1985 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.
(We said this on August 20, 2012)

A K Bhardwaj to return to Kerala
A K Bhardwaj, who on central deputation is posted in Wildlife Institute of India, is returning to Kerala. He is a 1985 batch Indian Forest Service officer of Kerala cadre.

Office of CBDT to remain opened on Sunday
Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram will review the progress of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on October 8, 2012. As a result of this, the office of CBDT will remain on (Sunday) October 7, 2012.

Youngest Chief Secretary in India
A1982 batch IAS officer Sanjay Mitra is the youngest Chief Secretary in the Country. New Chief Secretary of West Bengal, Mitra, will have a long stint since he will retire only in 2019.

IAS officer takes VRS to contest election
A 2000 batch IAS officer in Himachal Pradesh Prem Singh Draik has taken VRS to contest Vidhan Sabha election on BJP ticket.

15 IRS-IT officers made Exp. Observers for HP polls
As many as 15 officers of Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) working in various places in the country have been appointed as Expenditure Observers for the Assembly Elections of Himachal Pradesh. The officers include: Somanath S Ukkali, Palanivel Rajan V, Pradeep Kumar PV, Manoj Kumar G, Mantri SS, Abhay Kumar, Kumar Ajeet, Narendar Rebelly from Bangalore while Shramdeep Sinha, Ram Kumar from Bhopal; Sumer Singh, Roy Jose V from Chennai; N jungio from Guwahati, Eyas Ahamed M from Kochi; Anupam Kant from Kanpur.

CVO, IOC, S K Singh to continue till 2014
CVO, Indian Oil Corporation, S K Singh is going to continue on the post till 2014. He is a1983 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.

Dinesh Kumar to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Dinesh Kumar, Principal Secretary (Energy Department), AP Government Secretariat, Andhra Pradesh, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1983 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Rajeev Kapoor to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Rajeev Kapoor, Principal Secretary Agriculture, Government of Uttar Pradesh is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1983 IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre .

Pritam Singh to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Pritam Singh, Divisional Commissioner, Government of Rajasthan is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Anjali Prasad to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Ms Anjali Prasad, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. She is a 1983 batch IAS officer of UD cadre.

Vishnu Kumar to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Vishnu Kumar, Principal Secretary, Government of Jharkhand, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1983 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre.

Ramesh Negi to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Ramesh Negi, Chief Executive Officer, Delh Jal Board, Govt of NCT of Delhi, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of AGMU cadre .

Raghvendra Singh to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Raghvendra Singh, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Government of West Bengal, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1983 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre.

Ashim Khurana to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Ashim Khurana, Principal Secretary, Narmada Water Resources Water Supply and Kalpasar Department, Government of Gujarat, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1983 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

Arun Panda to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Arun Panda presently Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.

Karan Bir Singh Sidhu to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Karan Bir Singh Sidhu, Principal Secretary Irrigation, Government of Punjab, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre.

Oinam Nabakishore Singh to go to US
Oinam Nabakishore Singh, Principal Secretary, Government of Manipur is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre.

Jalaj Srivastava to go to US
Jalaj Srivastava, Principal Secretary, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of AGMU cadre.

Shatrughna Singh to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Shatrughna Singh, Joint Secretary to Prime Minister, Government of India, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1983 IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.

Raju Subbiah to go to US
Raju Subbiah, Principal Secretary, Government of Uttaranchal, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1983 batch of Uttarakhand cadre.

P C Meena to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Prem Chand Meena, Commissioner, Cooperation Registrar Cooperative Societies, MP & Principal Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Sada Kant to go to US
Sada Kant, Principal Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh Social Welfare, Department of Women & Child Development, UP Secretariat, Lucknow, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1983 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre .

Ajay Mishra to attend Mid Career Training Programme
Ajay Mishra, Principal Secretary to Government (Political), Government of Andhra Pradesh, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Sam Bob Busi to go to US
Sam Bob Busi, Principal Secretary to Government Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of Andhra Pradesh, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1983 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

P C Kathi to go to US
Pradeep Chandra Kathi, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation Andhra Pradesh State Warehousing Corporation, Government of Andhra Pradesh, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1982 IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Dr Shailesh Kumar Sharma to go to US
Dr Shailesh Kumar Sharma, Principal Secretary Transport and Ports, Home Department, Government of Maharashtra, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre .

Lalit Varma to go to US
Lalit Varma, Commissioner, Chitrakootdham District, Government of Uttar Pradesh, is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Karan A Singh to go to US
Karan A Singh, Principal Secretary, Government of Punjab, Science Technology Environment and Renewable Energy, Chandigarh (Punjab) is going to USA for attending Mid Career Training Programme Phase V 2012 for one-and-a-half months. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre.

Muniraj is new ADC to UP Governor (UPDATED)

G Muniraj has been appointed new ADC to the Uttar Pradesh Governor. He is 2009 batch IPS officer of UP cadre.

DEBATE
Is FDI in retail in the interests of economic independence of India? Mail your views to Mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com or Suresh.mehrotra@yahoo. com.

CORPORATE

Sarvepalli Srinivas selected MD, NHDC
Sarvepalli Srinivas, Exim Bank, has been selected as Managing Director, National Handloom Development Corporation Limited (NHDC), at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on October 4, 2012. As many as 14 persons were interviewed for the same.

Satyanarayana quits Suryachakra Power Corporation Ltd
K Satyanarayana has resigned as Director of Suryachakra Power Corporation Ltd citing personal reasons.

Jain quits Cals Refineries Ltd
Sanjay Kumar Jain has resigned as Company Secretary of Cals Refineries Ltd.

Kumar appointed Company Secy., Cals Refineries Ltd
Suvindra Kumar has been appointed as Company Secretary of Cals Refineries Ltd.

Chaukar appointed Company Secy., Raj Oil Mills Ltd
Raj Oil Mills Ltd has appointed Ms Yoginee Suhas Chaukar as Company Secretary of the company.

Shah quits Organic Coatings Ltd
Vilas K Shah has resigned as an Independent Director of Organic Coatings Ltd.

Sarda appointed as Director of Cybertech Software Systems
Nandlal Sarda has been appointed as Director of Cybertech Software Systems.

Chand appointed as Director of IST
Suresh Chand has been appointed as Director of IST.

Singh appointed as MD and CEO of Subex
Surjeet Singh has been appointed as MD and CEO of Subex.

(The views expressed in this column are of the contributors. We do not owe any responsibility, whatsoever, of the views of our surfers as they are their personal opinion. However, we would also request our contributors not to be personal, directly or indirectly, in presenting their views. Instead of countering the views which ‘X’ has already expressed, our contributors are advised to present their own views. Also be brief, say about 200 words at the most since any views longer than that if eliminated at our end would carry the risk of the contrbutor’s item losing its original essence)

Official language policy?

You are not very clear as to whether you want official language policy or not. One of my Joint Secretary in the year 1994, in a Hindi Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting said 'saheb chunki hum log roz roz English me kaam karne ki adat daal liya hain na is liya sarkari kaam kaaz hindi me thik se nahi ho paa raha hai'. One of the MP yelled at him and said 'yeh to accha hai agar aap to ghar me peene ki adat hai to kya aap office me daru pijiyega'. One of my Minister was from Tamil Nadu, when his name plate was being put up in the corridors of Udyog Bhawan, the hindi portion was also being put up. When he saw he got so angry and said that 'what you people are doing, I will loose election in my state'. It is easier to preach than to follow.

A Srivastava

Why not single window system?

Plight of government officials travelling for official purpose abroad as brought out in WIC (05.10.2012) is a pointer to the unseemly knots that our system is tied in. The malady, which is all pervasive, is entirely of our own making and largely accounts for the inefficiency, corruption, harassment, indignation, stress and bitterness that surrounds us. Unnecessary running around to chase up a large number of desks seems to be the citizen's raison d'etre. The so called reforms that are being bandied about essentially boil down to inculcating and internalizing a mind set (single window), which believes in delivering outcomes to every citizen instead of "expediting" clearances for the privileged few. Will we voluntarily dispense with the retinue of hangers-on, ushers and other resource persons whose only expertise is in running various errands and massaging the official ego?

S K Tewari

Sheer ignorance or mischief

The news item saying that 1982 batch officer is to report to 1985 batch officer in Civil Aviation Ministry is sheer ignorance or mischief planted by some disgruntled babu to show the ministry in bad light, because the CMD of Air India will report to not a Joint Secretary in the ministry but will take orders from the secretary who will also write his performance report.

P K Mohanty

RIT

Can CAT direct All India Radio to grant a promotion to the RTI appellant?

The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). He wanted to know if CAT could direct the All India Radio (AIR) to give him promotion under some statutory amendment of a certain recruitment rule. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed the appellant that he could make an application to the CAT under its rules for the redressal of his grievance if the matter fell within its jurisdiction. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) also denied the information observing that it was not the duty of the PIO to respond to hypothetical questions nor could he offer any interpretation. During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant argued that that he was entitled to get the advice of the PIO since the definition of information given in section 2(f) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act included opinion and advice. The Commission held that under the RTI Act, the citizen cannot seek the opinion or advice of the PIO on any matter unless such opinion or advice already exists with the public authority. The Commission rejected the appeal stating that the PIO had very rightly referred the appellant to the relevant rules under which he could always approach the CAT for redressing his grievance.

Comments

The term 'opinion and advice' appearing in section 2(f) refer to any such opinion or advice which the public authority might have obtained and which form part of the records. It does not refer to any opinion or advices which are not in existence. The Section 2(f) of RTI act does not permit seeking 'opinion and advice' of PIO as a consultant of the applicant.

Citation: Mr. Deba Prasad Dutt v. Central Administrative Tribunal in File No.CIC/SM/A/2011/001923

Weekly article by Dr. (Mrs.) Anuradha Verma
(dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in), RTI Consultant to IIM, Indore and Co-author of the books: RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO's Guide to RTI by Taxmann. (The views are Personal)