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Very informative site.
Laxmi Narayana

Is Azam Khan upsetting Congress?
It is heard that Azam Khan's 'probe Robert Vadra' has upset the Congress a great with the party not knowing what next step its allies will take.

Is Lalu lobbying hard to become a Minister?
It is heard that Lalu Prasad Yadav is a Minister in waiting and is eyeing the Railway Ministry once again.

Is BJP caught in a bind over the Vadra scam?
It is heard that the BJP does not know whether to heighten the pitch against Robert Vadra. Earlier its key people had said - we should keep private matters aside, said Sushma Swaraj . We must weigh carefully about making private issues public, said Nitin Gadkari. Yet, Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rajiv Prasad Rudy are making noise. Now all eyes are on the top BJP leaders.

Cabinet reshuffle in Punjab after winter session
Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal will affect a reshuffle in his cabinet only after winter session of the state assembly. It may be recalled here that three berths in the Badal cabinet are lying vacant.

BUREAUCRACY

Who would succeed A P Singh as next CBI, Director?
With the retirement of CBI Director Amar Pratap Singh due in November this year, speculations have started as to who would be mandated to lead CBI after him.

Will Gautam Chaterjee join GoI?
Will a1982 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre, Gautam Chaterjee join as DG, Acquisition in the Ministry of Defence or he would prefer to join in Mumbai as DG Shipping ? Choice lies with him.

Who will succeed Vivek Rae?
Who will succeed Vivek Rae as DG, Acquisition in the Ministry of Defence? If a1982 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre Gautam Chaterjee doesn't move to Delhi, then tie is said to be between 1980 batch IAS officer of UT cadre Shankar Agrawal and 1981 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre Anuj Kumar Bishnoi.

M M Prahraj seeks VRS
Former Orissa DGP M M Prahraj has reportedly sought VRS.A1976 batch IPS officer Prahraj is being appointed Chairman of the Sub-ordinate Selection Commission in the state. He was one of the contenders for the post of DG, CRPF.

Appointment of Meena runs into rough weather?
Appointment of H C Meena for the post of DG CRPF has reportedly run into rough weather. He is A 1976 batch IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Is Nirmal Verma has a backing of NSA?
It is heard in the South Block that Admiral Nirmal Verma is being backed by NSA Shiv Shankar Menon for the post of High Commissioner in Canada. Senior IFS officer Basant Gupta is also a contender.

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

R S Shukla poised to move to AIIMS as new Dy. Dir., Admin?
As the grapevine it, R S Shukla, Joint Secretary and & CVO, Department of Health and Family Welfare, is poised to be appointed as the next Deputy Director, Administration, AIIMS. In his new assignment Shukla will succeed Vineet Chaudhary.

P K Bharadwaj moves to Delhi
Joint Director IB in Madhya Pradesh P K Bharadwaj has moved to Delhi. He is a1987 batch IPS officer of UT cadre.

Officers to continue till next reshuffle
Officers with another TMC MoSs will remain unchanged until the new MoSs are appointed in the next reshuffle.

Ranjan Dhawan to be ED, Bank of Baroda
Ranjan Dhawan on elevation is going to be an Executive Director (ED) with the Bank of Baroda. Presently, he is a General Manager with the Punjab National Bank. He is expected to assume charge of his new role on November 1.He will replace Rajiv Kumar Bakshi, who is due to superannuate on October 31. Currently, BoB has three Executive Directors.
(We said this on May 3, 2012 & later on also)

Ms Shefali Juneja deputed as Director, Civil Aviation
Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) officer, Ms Shefali Juneja, working as Addl. CIT, Delhi, has been deputed as Director in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, New Delhi for a period of five years.

CAA to replace DGCA?
There is a serious move to have the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which is to replace the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Chhatar Singh tipped to be Chairman, Haryana PSC
As the grapevine has it, Chhatar Singh who is presently, Principal Secretary (PS) to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is tipped to be new Chairman of Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC).He is a1980 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre .

S S Dhillon to be new PS to Haryana Chief Minister
As the grapevine has it, S S Dhillon is poised to be new Principal Secretary (PS) to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Presently, Dhillon is Principal Secretary to Government, Haryana,Town & Country Planning Department. He is an IAS officer of the Haryana cadre.

Secretary gets re-employment of one year in Sikkim
Can a Secretary get re-employment in the Government in any state? At least in Sikkim, with the approval of Government, Ms Jemima Pradhan, Secretary, Food &Civil Supplies and C A Department, has been re-employed as Secretary, Food &Civil Supplies and C A Department for a period of one year beyond the age of her superannuation in terms of rule 102 of Sikkim Government Service Rules, 1974.

Ram Nath Pradeep to join a law firm
Former Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation Bank, Ram Nath Pradeep, will join Mumbai-based PDS & Associates as Chief Advisor and Managing partner. He will be joining on October 16, 2012.

Process for GM to ED in PS banks starts
Process for selection of General Managers (GMs) as Executive Directors (EDs) in public sector (PS) banks for next year has commenced. The Ministry of Financial Services i.e. banking has sought names of eligible incumbents from different banks.

HAL Receives Raksha Mantri's Award
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have been jointly conferred with the prestigious Raksha Mantri's Award for "Excellence in Performance" in the "Institutional Category" for the year 2010-11. R K Tyagi, Chairman, HAL, received the award from Defence Minister, A K Antony at the presentation ceremony held in New Delhi on October 5, 2012. HAL's Avionics Division, Korwa (UP) won the "Design Effort" award in the group/individual category. "These awards will motivate us to carry out all our on-going projects with more enthusiasm and achieve better results in the coming months", says Tyagi. During the year 2010-11, HAL produced 78 new aircraft/helicopters along with their engines and accessories. This is double the average production of the last 10 years. Eighty two new engines were produced. Upgrades on 16 aircraft were also completed. Apart from this 196 aircraft/helicopters and 386 engines were overhauled. Technology absorption was successfully completed for production of Su-30 MkI besides receiving major orders for Hawk and LCA during the year.

Jitendra Sharma soon to be CEO, National Medicinal Plants Board
As the grapevine has it, Jitendra Sharma is soon poised to be new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Delhi based National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB). He is a 1984 batch Indian Forest Service officer of Punjab cadre.
(We said this on August 23, 2012)

A K Goyal to join MoEF with posting a in Chandigarh on October 9
A K Goyal on central deputation is going to join as Chandigarh based Additional PCCF for Regional office of Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) on October 9,2012. Earlier, he was Additional PCCF to Kerala Government with charge of Forest Management Information System (FMIS). Earlier, he was a Joint Secretary in MoEF. He is a 1981 batch Indian Forest Service officer of Kerala cadre.

K V Chowdary to be Member (Investigations), CBDT?
In all probability, K V Chowdary will succeed K Madhavan Nair in the CBDT as Member (Investigations) in a week or two.

Rajesh Agrawal is Director Production, Kribhco
Rajesh Agrawal has joined as Director Production in Kribhco. Hitherto, he was Director Technical with National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL).

Upma Chaudhary is back to Himachal Pradesh
Upma Chaudhary is back to Himachal Pradesh from central deputation. She is a 1983 batch IAS officer.

IRAS transfers and postings
Ministry of Railways with the approval of President of India has transferred following officers. Ashish Singh/IRAS/ADFM / SCR/ Secunderabad to North Central Railway Allahabad. UmaM / IRAS/ADFM/ECOR/Bhubaneshwar to Southern Railway Depth I L /IRAS/ ADFM/ SWR/ Hubli to Southern Railway.

Orders of Prabal Basu for posting as Director (Finance), BLC issued (UPDATED)
Orders of Prabal Basu, GM, Balmer Lawrie & Co. Limited, (BLC) for the appointment as Director (Finance),have been issued.
(We said this on May 29, 2012)

Spices Board conferred Niryat Bandhu award for glittering performance (UPDATED)
Dr A Jayathilak, Chairman, Spices Board receiving the Niryat Bandhu Award for the Board's glittering performance in spice exports, from Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi October 5, 2012. The Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma is also seen. The spice export from India is on the rise and in the financial year 2011-12, it has registered an all time high and crossed the US $ 2 billion mark. Jayathilak is a 1991 batch officer of Kerala cadre.

Gautam Chaterjee to join GoI in Mumbai (UPDATED)
Now this is certain that Gautam Chatterjee is joining the Government of India as DG Shipping Corporation of India in Mumbai. He is 1982 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

( We said this on August 28 )

Bhupinder Nayyar, ED, OBC to join Gurgaon Corporate office on Tuesday (UPDATED)
Bhupinder Nayyar, who had assumed the charge as Executive Director, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) in Mumbai, will don the mantle at Gurgaon Corporate office on Tuesday. Earlier, he was General Manager at Bank of India.

NIESBUD signs MoU with Careerstroke; a K. Srikkanth's business initiative (UPDATED)
Arun Kr. Jha, Director General, NIESBUD, signs MoU with 'Careerstroke', an initiative of K. Srikanth , India's international cricketer and former captain of Indian cricket team. The partnership between NIESBUD, Union Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, GoI; and 'Careerstroke' will unlock the potential of India's youth talent-pool by equipping them with entrepreneurial skills and motivational life-skills. "All it would propel the country's youths with skill, leadership and enhanced employability quotient in a competitive job market", said Arun Kr. Jha, DG, NIESBUD.

Justice Bobde to be CJ of Madhya Pradesh High Court (UPDATED)
Senior Judge of the Bombay High Court Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde is all set to join as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
( We said this on August 1 )

Vivek Rae joins as Secretary, MSME (UPDATED)
Vivek Rae has taken over as Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). He succeeded Radha Krishna Mathur, Secretary, Department of Defence Production under the Ministry of Defence. Rae is a 1978 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.
(We said this on September 17, 2012)

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

Kalra takes over as ED, Andhra Bank
Satish Kumar Kalra has taken over as the new Executive Director of Andhra Bank in Mumbai. Earlier, he was General Manager of Allahabad Bank at Mumbai.

Bhupinder Nayyar is ED, OBC
Bhupinder Nayyar, who was General Manager at Bank of India, has assumed charge as ED, Oriental Bank of Commerce on Friday. He has succeeded S C Sinha.

Dieckmann re-appointed Director, Zodiac Clothing Company Ltd
Zodiac Clothing Company Ltd has re-appointment Dr Heinrich Dieckmann as a Director of the company.

Parekh appointed Alternate Director, Zodiac Clothing Company Ltd
Deepak Parekh has been as an Alternate Director to Dr Heinrich Dieckmann at Zodiac Clothing Company.

Mukherjee nominated Officer Employee Director, SBI
The Central Government in consultation with Reserve Bank of India, has nominated SK Mukherjee, Senior Vice President, All India State Bank of India Officers' Federation as Officer Employee Director on the Central Board of State Bank of India for a period of three years.

Nayar appointed GM, Sheraton Udaipur Palace Resort and Spa
Sheraton Udaipur Palace Resort and Spa has appointed Ashwani Nayar as General Manager of the property.

Sehgal appointed Company Secy., Himalaya International Ltd
Himalya International Ltd has appointed Ms Isha Sehgal as Company Secretary of the company.

Joshi appointed Company Secy., Sheraton Properties and Finance Ltd
Prathamesh Joshi has been appointed as Company Secretary of Sheraton Properties and Finance Ltd.

Ledermann appointed Vice Chairman and MD, Alsthom India Ltd
Patrick Ledermann has been appointed as Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Alsthom India Ltd.

Shobhan appointed Director (F&B), Hyatt Regency Chennai
Hyatt Regency Chennai has appointed Kumar Shobhan as Director (Food and Beverage) of the property.

Kern to take over as MD & CEO, Mercedes Benz India Ltd from Dec 1
Eberhard Kern will be the next Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mercedes Benz India Ltd w.e.f. December 1, 2012.

(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)

DEBATE

FDI in retail not in interest of India

FDI in retail is not in the interest of India. It will benefit only the rich and powerful, not the common man. It could be a step towards slavery one more time. The Britishers also came for Trade and took over.

Suresh Dhundia

What is wrong in speaking in English?
In the USA besides English, Spanish is also used for official work in Government Offices. The recent trend is young kids are taught Chinese at primary school level so they can become a successful Business Leaders to cope with Emerging China as a growing economy. We should use all three languages - English/Hindi and a South Indian language to promote national integration and cultural harmony. It is proved that those who are multi-linguist and multi-culturists outshine the normal guys in every field.

Raghuraman

PSU autonomy and orders from the Ministry!

Amidst the interesting debate with mischievous overtones in these columns on the reporting hierarchy, suffice it to say that as per the institutional structure of Air India, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation are in the Board of Directors of Air India, which is headed by the CMD. Therefore, the CMD is not institutionally subservient and will be guided by the recommendations of the Board. However, as has been suggested in these columns by way of rationalization, a CMD may not be obliged officially to take orders from the Ministry, irrespective of the level from which these emanate. In practice though, conflict of interest of sorts may be difficult to avoid.

S K Tewari

Is Whispers starved of news?
Is Whispers so starved of news that it has to display details of almost all the IAS officers going on the Phase V training, to fill its space? Perhaps other events do not merit a mention.

Sanjay Singh

RIT

Is presenting a garland made of currency notes to a public functionary legal?
The appellant referred to a news item published in the leading newspaper regarding a former Chief Minister being presented with a garland made of Rs.1000 currency notes. Through his RTI application filed with the Ministry of Finance (MoF), he wanted to know several details such as whether presenting a garland made of currency notes to a public functionary is legal or not, the possible action which the Government and its agencies might have taken if the act of presenting a garland made of currency notes was found to be irregular/ illegal etc. When the MoF returned the envelope containing the RTI application on the ground that they did not have any Public Information Officer (PIO), the appellant approached the Central Information Commission (CIC), who directed the MoF to respond to the appellant. The PIO representing the Department of Economic Affairs commented on some of the appellant's queries and advised the appellant to approach the Department of Revenue and the Ministry of Home Affairs observing that the rest of the queries were related to them. The Commission directed the Finance Secretary to appoint a PIO for the MoF. Further, the PIO was asked to forward to the appellant a copy of the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) press note/ guideline on the subject which had been referred to by him.

Comments

Garlanding a public dignitary by a garland made of currency notes is not uncommon. Would the possible action which can be taken be in public domain to prevent such demonstration of money which also leads
to damage to the currency?

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)