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What was Nitish up to in Maharashtra?
Bihar Divas was the best platform for Nitish Kumar to showcase himself as the potential Prime Ministerial candidate which he achieved with aplomb and ease say political watchers. In Mumbai, Nitish, while addressing the migrants from Bihar, was actually addressing a much wider audience. He was presenting himself as a sober, acceptable face capable of taking different sections of people, even his critics, along in his stride. He was displaying the ability to bury controversies and resolve disputes amicably - in short he was gracious. A trait not found in many competing for the top post.

Where is V George these days?
V George who used to be the life line of the Congress Party is now maintaining a low profile. Where is George saheb these days?

Who will be GPCC Chief?
With Narendra Modi going from strength to strength it's a nerve wracking test for the Congress to select a proper Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee President. Will Arjun Modvadiya continue? The name making round for a change of guard is that of Shakti Singh Gohil.

Is Ms. Sonia Gandhi upset with the state of affairs in AP?
It is heard that Congress chief Ms. Sonia Gandhi has shown her unhappiness to Kiran Kumar Reddy government during her meeting on Monday. Also the State Congress President Botsa Satyanayana is not being favored by the Congress Chief because of his alleged covert links in the liquor mafia scam. It is heard that the state leadership may change after the by polls in the state.

Congress' problems in Kerala likely to persist till May
It is heard that Kerala Chief Minister (CM) Oomen Chandy's latest shuffling of pack in favor of the Muslim League has led to a revolt in the Congress party. However, it is also heard that A.K. Antony has asked warring party members to wait till May, by when polls takes place in Nayyattinkara.

Is Ms.Jaya Prada planning to re-enter AP politics?
It is heard that film actress Ms. Jaya Prada is sending feelers to TDP Supremo Chandrababu Naidu to enter the political fray once again from Andhra Pradesh. It was Naidu who had introduced Ms. Jaya Prada to politics in the 90's.

Why did Vayalar Ravi meet Chiranjeevi?
Vayalar Ravi who was sent as an emissary to contain the volatile situation in Andhra Pradesh had a breakfast meeting with Chiranjeevi much to the objection of all MLA's from Congress. The whispers are that Congress is planning to use the star power of the mega star for the by polls that are likely to be held mid of next month.

Has RBI clearly signaled to the government today?
Duvvuri Subbarao has made a repo rate cut of 50 basis points, but that is all he can do in the given situation, say economists. Reading the macroeconomic documents clearly shows that the RBI has expressed concern over `depressed new investment and depleted investment pipeline'. The RBI has clearly spelled out that declining business optimism due to policy uncertainties will continue to be a dampener for any investment in the near term.

Will there be reshuffling in postings of Secretaries?
As the grapevine has it, there is going to be a reshuffle in postings of Secretaries in the Government of India (GoI). This is a hot topic of discussion in corridors of power.

Who will be new Secretary (Security)?
Who will be new Secretary (Security) in the Government of India? A panel of three IPS officers consisting R N Gupta Special Director IB 1976 batch Himachal Pradesh, Ms Kamaljit Deol DGP Arunachal Pradesh 1977 UT and P N Dixit DG Maharashtra 1977 batch has reportedly been sent to the ACC.

Three new Members of CLB?
Mssrs A.K.Tripathi, Dhanraj and Bandopadhyay are reported to have been selected as Members of the Company Law Board (CLB).

26 IAS officers retiring in April
As many as 26 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers of various cadres are retiring in April, 2012. They include: E Sekhara Babu of Andhra Pradesh cadre; Longki Phancho of Assam-Meghalaya cadre; Kamlesh Kumar Pandey of Bihar cadre; Pushp Raj Singh and J S Ahiawat of Haryana cadre; Harinder Hira of Himachal Pradesh cadre; Ravi Kulbhushan Jerath, A K Raina and Gurdev Raj Bhagat of Jammu and Kashmir cadre; Arvind Kumar Chugh of Jharkhand cadre; Syed Zameer Pasha and G V Kongawad of Karnataka cadre; Avani Vaish and Ashok Kumar Das of Madhya Pradesh cadre; D S Zagde of Maharashtra cadre; Ram Lubhaya of Rajasthan cadre; K N Venkataramanan of Tamil Nadu cadre; Arun Kumar Bit, V Venkatachalam, Tulsi Gaur, Jai Shankar Misra and Dinkar Prakash Dubey of Uttar Pradesh cadre; Kunwar Raj Kumar of Uttarakhand cadre; Shyamlal Bakhat, Debi Prasad Bandhopadhyay and Shila Nag Pahari of West Bengal cadre.

Orders of Justice Ranjan Gogoi in a day or two?
Orders of the appointment of Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Ranjan Gogoi as Judge of the Supreme Court are expected to be issued in a day or two.

Das to succeed Justice Gogoi?
In all probability, Justice Bimala Prasad Das of the Orissa High Court will succeed Justice Ranjan Gogoi as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Justice Kumar to be CJ of J & K High Court
Justice MM Kumar is also set to become the Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

Top Five Advisors of Jayalalitha
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha also has top five Advisors. They are Mssrs :-

1. Hari Bhaskar, Former Chief Secretary

2. N Narayanan, Former Chief Secretary

3. Shanta Sheela Nair, Former Secretary Mining GoI

4. R Rajgopalan, former DGP TamilNadu

5. R Natrajan, Former DGP and presently chairman PSC

SPG Chief to get HAG
K. Durga Prasad, Director, Special Protection Group (SPG) New Delhi is likely to get HAG scale. He is a Andhra Pradesh Cadre IPS of 1981 batch.

Ms Nanda to be JD, CBI?
Ms. Sundhari Nanda, IG, Mizrom is likely to be appointed as Joint Director in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). She is an AGMU Cadre IPS officer of 1988 batch.

Who will be new Election Commissioner of India?
Who will be new Election Commissioner of India (ECI)? The present Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi is going to retire in July 2012? This is a hot topic of discussion.

Manish Tripathy is now OSD to Jena
Manish Tripathy, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers Government of India has been appointed as OSD to Srikant Kumar Jena, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Statistics and Programme Implementation and Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers. He is an Indian Defence Account Service cadre officer of 1998 batch.
(We said this on 27 March)

Ms. Sunita Yadav to join as a Director, DIPP
As the grapevine has it, Ms. Sunita Yadav on central deputation is poised to join as a Director, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). She is an Indian Economic Service (IES) officer of 1995 batch.

Chittaranjan Das is First Secy., IT overseas unit, Abu Dhabi
Chittaranjan Dash has been appointed as First Secretary, Income Tax Overseas Unit, Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi, UAE. He is an IRS (IT) officer of 1999 batch.

Rakesh Aggarwal gets extension in CBI
Rakesh Aggarwal - DIG Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been given one month extension in his central deputation tenure. He is an IPS officer of 1994 batch who belongs to the Himachal Pradesh cadre.

RPO Gauhati to move Pretoria
Regional Passport officer in Gulati T Armstrong has been moved to Pretoria as Deputy High Commissioner in place of Shambhu Kumaran who is back to the MEA Headquarters.

Kishore Jha posted by Tripura Government in Delhi
Kishore Jha, (IPS Manipur-Tripura cadre, 1984 batch) has been posted by the Tripura Government in Delhi. He was ADGP in Tripura.

Neera Rawat joins AAI
Ms. Neera Rawat has joined as GM Security Airport Authority of India in Ministry of Civil Aviation. She is an Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer of 1992 batch.

Interview for CGM to DMD in SBI on April 28, 2012
Interviews for elevation of Chief General Managers (CGMs) as Deputy Managing Directors(DMDs) in State Bank of India (SBI) will be held on April 28,2012.

Pant is new DGP of Uttarakhand
Vijay Raghav Pant has taken over as new Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) .He is 1978 batch IPS officer.

Prabhu Jhingran is now Media Advisor
Outgoing Station Director of the Doordarshan Kendra Prabhu Jhingran has been appointed Media Advisor of the National Technical Teachers Training and Research Institute, Bhopal.

Dr. Atul Gupta to be PCCF, Tripura

As the grapevine has it, Dr. Atul Gupta is going to be next PCCF to the Tripura Government. He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of 1985 batch who belongs to the Manipur-Tripura (M-T) cadre.

Langhingova promoted in Mizoram
K. Langhingova, posted in Mizoram, has been promoted in Super Time Scale. He is an IAS officer of 1996 batch who belongs to the AGMU cadre.

Applications invited for IT Ombudsman
The Department of Income Tax under the Government of India has invited the applications for the newly created posts of Income Tax Ombudsman falling vacant between October 2012 and March 2013 at 12 stations namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Bhopal and Kochi.

Vacancy of First Secy. at Embassy of India, Yangon re-advertised
The vacancy of First Secretary (Dy. Secretary level) at Embassy of India, Yangon under the Ministry of External Affairs has been re-advertised. Willing candidates can send their applications to the Ministry before May 10, 2012.

Munish Kumar, IES, promoted as Economic Adviser, Labour
Munish Kumar, Director, Planning Commission, has been promoted to Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) and posted as Economic Adviser, Labour. He is an Indian Economic Service (IES) officer of 1986 batch.

34 Foreign postings in Air India
As many as 34 officers of Air India have been posted in various countries. Accordingly, Mrs. Salgalgile has been posted as Country Manager, Frankfurt while Subhash Jhadav will now be APT Manager, Singapore and N R Narang is Country Manager, Singapore. Similarly, M S Ansari has been appointed as APT Manager, JFK New York; S K Anchan as Manager, New York; S Roy Chowdhury as Manager, Washington; B E Lakra as Country Manager, Kabul; Mrs. Sushmita Srinivasan as Country Manager, Yangoon; M L Patel as APT Manager, Riyad; Mrs. Seema Shrivastava as Regional Manager, Dubai; T H Radhakrishnan as APT Manager, Dubai; Mrs. Alice Paul as Deputy Manager, Dubai; Rajender Kumar as APT Manager, Dubai; P Chakravarti as APT Manager, Doha; N Kannan as APT Manager, Sharjha; Ashok Gupta as Duty Manager in Sharjah; C H Rambabu as Manager, Sharjah; S V R Sastry as APT Manager, Toronto; R Tshering as Country Manager, Dammam; C S Subbiah as Country Manager, Germany; Rishikant Singh as Country Manager, Chicago; Rajneesh Bagga as Country Manager, Bahrain; Ajay Sinha as Country Manager, Kuwait; D Golder as Country Manager Hong Kong; Ravi Bodade as Country Manager, Sydney; Amreesh Chaudhary as Country Manager, Oman; Mrs. V Malini as Country Manager, Osaka; Madhu Mathen as Manager, Melbourne; Chellam Prasad as Country Manager, Moscow; Sangeeta Sanyal as Country Manager, Kuala Lumpur; Suneeta Singh as Country Manager, Kathmandu; T S Kohli as Country Manager, Male; D Sanyal as Country Manager, Dhaka and Firoz Khan is being posted as APT Manager, Jeddah.

Ms. Gayatri shifted to Southern Railways
Ms. G Gayatri, SS/IRTS has been shifted from South Eastern Central Railways (SECR) to Southern Railway (SR).

Central Railway awarded for outstanding performance
Central Railway (CR) has been conferred with Accounts & Finance Management Shield as National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Bhagat of Central Railway chosen for national award
Ramanand Bhagat, Sr.DFM/NGP of Central Railway, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Gupta of Eastern Railway chosen for national award
Subhasish Gupta, Sr.AFA of Eastern Railway, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Barman of NFR chosen for national award
Parag Barman, ADFM of Northeast Frontier Railway, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Kalyanaraman chosen for national award
K Kalyanaraman, Dy.FA&CAO of Southern Railway, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Khalkho chosen for national award
Tanuja Thakur Khalkho, Dy.CAO/G of South Eastern Railway, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Mrs. Hariprasad chosen national award
Mrs. Kusuma Hariprasad, Dy.FA&CAO of Rail Wheel Factory, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Arora of CORE chosen for national award
Rakesh Arora, Sr.AFA/CORE, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Dhawan of Railway Board chosen for national award
Sunil Kumar Dhawan, Sr.Accounts Officer, Railway Board, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Sunil Gupta of Railway Board chosen for national award
Sunil Gupta, SSO, Railway Board, has been selected for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Bhunia of SER chosen for national award
Angshuman Bhunia, Sr.TIA of South Eastern Railway, has been selected for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Sarangi of SECR chosen for national award
Sanjay Kumar Sarangi, Sr.ISA of South East Central Railway, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

Poonia of Western Railway chosen for national award
Ashok K. Poonia, Sr.TIA of Western Railway, has been chosen for National Awards for Outstanding Services-2012 (Accounts).

LBSNAA to hold joint civil military programme from May 7
Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussorie is conducting a joint civil military training programme on 'national security' for Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers from May 7 to May 18, 2012.

UPSC to hold IFS examination-2012 on July 14
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is holding an Indian Forest Service (IFS) examination-2012 from July 14, 2012. The UPSC seeks online applications on its website: www.upsc.gov.in.

Another first for Delhi Division of Northern Railway (UPDATED)

The all round outstanding performance of the Delhi division of northern railways was reflected in five of its branch officers being given national award for outstanding performance by Minister of Railways during the award ceremony held at New Delhi on April 16, 2012. No other division of the railways could match this performance. The officers awarded are Ateesh Singh Sr.DOM, Amit Mehrotra Sr.DSTE, Manoj Sharma Sr.DEN, Vikas Arya Sr.DME & Nurul Huda Sr.DSC. Many milestones have been achieved by the division during the tenure of Ashwani Lohani, the Divisional Railway Manager who is well known for his tremendous contribution in the growth and development of tourism in the country.

Sajan Peter is PS Home in Kerala (UPDATED)
Sajan Peter has been posted as Principal Secretary (PS), Home by the Kerala Government. He is also Secretary, Forest. Peter is a 1982 batch IAS officer.

Two IAS officers shifted in Kerala (UPDATED)
Two Kerala cadre IAS officers who have been shifted by the State Government. They are: Ms. Valsala Kumar as ACS Revenue and Ms.Nivedita Haran (1980 batch) as Director State Institute of Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT).

Mohanty gets addl charge of Sports in Rajasthan (UPDATED)
Jagdish Chandra Mohanty, Principal Secretary, Food, Civil Supply, has been assigned additional charge of Sports and Youth Affairs in Rajasthan. He is a 1985 batch IAS officer.

Gautam posted SDO, Ramgarh (UPDATED)
Kumar Pal Gautam has been posted as Sub-Divisional Officer (OSD), Ramgarh (Alwar) in Rajasthan. He is a 2009 batch IAS officer.

Transfers orders of two IPS officers cancelled in Rajasthan (UPDATED)
Transfer orders of two IPS officers of Rajasthan including Anand Kumar Shrivastava from IG, Bharatpur range to Chief Minister Security, Jaipur and Girdhari Lal Sharma from DIG (Crime Branch), PHQ, Jaipur to IG, Bharatpur range, Bharatpur have been cancelled. Shrivastava is a 1994 batch IPS officer while Sharma is of 1997 batch.

Niraj Gupta selected as Director (Services Business), BLC (UPDATED)
Niraj Gupta, ED, BLC, has been selected for the post of Director (Services Business), Balmer Lawrie & Co. Limited (BLC) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on April 19, 2012. As many as 10 persons were interviewed for the same.

K Srinivasan is also Deputy Commissioner, Saraikela in Jharkhand (UPDATED)
K.Srinivasan has been given additional charge of Deputy Commissioner Saraikela in Jharkhand. He is an IAS officer of 2005 batch who belongs to the Jharkhand cadre.

R K Agrawal relieved by Jharkhand Govt to join Kerala cadre (UPDATED)
Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, who was so far on inter cadre deputation, as Deputy Commissioner Saraikela in Jharkhand has been relieved on completion of his deputation tenure. He is an IAS officer of 1997 batch who belongs to Kerala cadre.

ASEAN countries pledge to strengthen bilateral trade at ASSOCHAM meet (UPDATED)
With a view to strengthening trades among neighboring ASEAN countries, an Interactive Session on India - ASEAN Bilateral Trade & Investment - Exploring Vistas for Expanded Cooperation was organized in New Delhi by ASSOCHAM on April 19, 2012. Shantanu Shrivastav, Chairman, ASEAN Business promotion Council, India, has said that the India and the ASEAN countries' trade should touch $ 125 billion and Indian Companies FDI should be 10% of the total Trade of ASEAN. He acknowledged the needs for bridging information gap, increasing India's investment in ASEAN areas from 3.4% currently to 10% in the coming years specially in IT, oil, steel, renewable energy, media, hospitality sectors. Asean should also invest in India. Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Chan Kah Mei, First Secretary (Economics), Singapore High Commission said, 'We are building good relations with India and there will be more trading investments'. He said the economy grew by 4.9% in 2011. Singapore is ranked top in World Bank's Ease of Doing Business 2012. There are opportunities in Singapore in the sectors of Engineering, Transport, Media, Financial sector, Health Care, Electronics and Tourism. Companies like TCS, Mahindra Satyam and Godrej have already established their business in the country, she said. Otto Riadi, Counsellor, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia informed that 9.7 million metric ton is coal exports to India and china. Palm oil is also produced in large quantity and is being exported to India. Muthafa Yusof, Minister Counsellor (Economic Affairs) High Commission of Malaysia said that Malaysia and India had signed a free trade agreement last year when Prime Ministers of both countries met. The main revenue is earned by tourism. There is scope for development in IT, Telecommunications, Transport and Research and development.

DEBATE

Will any investor rush into India's aviation sector? Will the plan of the Government to re-structure Air India succeed?

Mail your views-mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com or Suresh. Mehrotra @yahoo.com

CORPORATE

Rare honour for Sudhir Vasudeva, CMD, ONGC
Sudhir Vasudeva, Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC and Chairman, ONGC Group of Companies was bestowed a rare honour when he was appointed to the Board of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) by the Secretary General, BAN Ki-moon for a period of three years. He is the first business leader from an Indian PSU to join the elite UNGC Board that is the cornerstone of this initiative's framework and shapes its strategy and policy. The UNGC is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. By doing so, business, as a primary driver of globalization, can help ensure that markets, commerce, technology and finance advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere. The UNGC Network presently boasts a membership of more than 7000 business participants and other stakeholders in over 130 countries and has become the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative. UNGC operates through 90 local networks in countries and geographic regions. Vasudeva is the President of the Global Compact Network, India that was founded in 2003 and presently has nearly 100 members. It is one of the most active UNGC Networks and has hosted many national and international conventions, workshops and seminars to further the cause of adoption of UNGC's ten principles. ONGC is a founder member of the Global Compact Network, India and has adopted volunteerism as a tool toward integration of UNGC principles into its global operations.

Mistry re-designated MD, Tata Sons Ltd
Cyrus Mistry has been re-designated as Managing Director of Tata Sons Ltd w.e.f. April 1, 2012. He is currently Non-executive Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd.

Shah appointed Chairman, Gujarat Natural Resources Ltd
Gujarat Natural Resources Ltd appointed Ilesh Shah, Non Executive Director as the Chairman of the company.

Kapadia appointed CEO, Gujarat Natural Resources Ltd
Pranav Kapadia has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Gujarat Natural Resources Ltd.

Shashidhar resigns as Company Secy. CCL Products (India) Ltd
Ms. Geetha Shashidhar has resigned as Company Secretary of CCL Products (India) Ltd.

Dasari appointed Company Secy. CCL Products (India) Ltd
Ms. Sridevi Dasari has been appointed as Company Secretary of CCL Products (India) Ltd .

Goyal resigns as Independent Director, XI Energy Ltd
Ashok Kumar Goyal, Independent Director of XI Energy Ltd has resigned from the Board of the company w.e.f. April 13, 2012

Three directors cease to be on Board of Varun Industries Ltd
S. K. Srivastav has resigned as Director of Varun Industries Ltd w.e.f. April 09, 2012. Besides, K. L. Gopalakrishna and M. S. Sundara Rajan have also resigned as directors of Varun Industries Ltd w.e.f. April 10, 2012

Dubey appointed Addl. Director, Kesar Enterprises Ltd
Kesar Enterprises Ltd has appointed Prakash Dubey as an Additional Director on the Board of the company w.e.f. April 18, 2012.

Iyer appointed CMO (IT Business), Wipro Technologies
Wipro Technologies has appointed Suchira Iyer as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) to look after its IT business

BloombergUTV appoints Sriram Kilambi as President
English business news channel, Bloomberg UTV has appointed Sriram Kilambi as the President of the channel, w.e.f. April 16, 2012. He was Senior Vice-President and National Marketing Head for Radio Mirchi.

Sheran Mehra quits Dhanlaxmi Bank
Sheran Mehra who was SVP & Head, Marketing, Dhanlaxmi Bank is understood to have put in her papers. Sheran, who is a marketing and advertising professional with strong brand management credentials, is likely to join Mahindra Holidays as Head-Marketing.

Godrej elected as CII President
Adi Godrej has been elected as the President of CII for the year 2012-13.

Gopalakrishnan elected CII President designate
S Gopalakrishnan elected as the President designate of CII for 2012-13

Sriram appointed as Vice President CII
Ajay S Sriram has been appointed Vice President CII for 2012-13

Dubey appointed additional director of Kesar Enterprises
Prakash Dubey has been appointed additional director of Kesar Enterprises

Shah appointed non-executive director of Gujarat Natural Resources
Ilesh Shah has been appointed as non-executive director of Gujarat Natural Resources

Kapadia appointed as CEO of Gujarat Natural Resources
Pranav Kapadia has been appointed as the CEO of Gujarat Natural Resources.

Goyal resigns from XL Energy
Ashok Kumar Goyal has been appointed as independent director of XL Energy

2 appointed as independent directors of Globsyn Infotech
Kulbir Singh and Murtaza Ali Soomar have been appointed as independent directors of Globsyn Infotech.

Palekar appointed additional director of Nilkamal
S K Palekar has been appointed as additional director of Nilkamal

Patel resigns as director of Fiberweb India
Janak Rameshchandra Patel has resigned as director of Fiberweb India

3 appointed as Additional Directors of Tijaria Polypipes
Anand Prakash Jain, Vinod Patni and Sanjeev Kumar Mishra have been appointed as additional directors of Tijaria Polypipes.

Krishna resigns as director of Goldstone Infratech
S D Rama Krishna has resigned as Director of Goldstone Infratech.

DEBATE: Will any investor rush into India's aviation sector? Will the plan of the Government to re-structure Air India succeed?

The Air India is the most pampered, mollycoddled, loss-making PSU. Its symbol "The Maharaja" must be replaced by 'White elephant'. The contemplated Induction of 27 Boeing 787 Dreamliners into AI could aggravate the situation in the already beleaguered national airline. Merger of two loss-making PSUs viz; IA and AI was unwarranted due to lack of synergy between the two. Consider the inherent weaknesses in AI's board structure. The Air India is managed by one member Board headed by a non-Professional, full-time functional director called the CMD, usually an IAS generalist, pliable malleable and ever eager to please political masters. Other Directors are misnomers, being below-Board level functionaries. The perceived independence and transparency of the Board is mythical when it comes to decision making.The GoI has approved financial and operational re-structuring of Air India, through bailout package of Rs 30,000- crore equity infusion over the next eight-years and a debt recast of Rs 21,200 crore. Will these measures ensure AI's long term interests , its revival and subsequent survival in the face of outstanding dues from the Oil sector utilities, airport operators, vendors and most important, its employees? Presently, foreign investors, not related to airline business, are permitted to buy up to 49 per cent stake in domestic airlines. Foreign carriers are not permitted to invest. But, a proposal to allow foreign airlines to participate with up to 49 per cent in the equity in a domestic carrier is being considered by GOI. It is not a coincidence that allowing foreign airlines to buy stake in domestic carriers will benefit Kingfisher Airlines, burdened by a debt of over Rs.7, 000 crore. The foreign investors are wary of investing in the perennially loss-making Indian PSU. India's aviation industry is faced with the predicament due to high oil prices that it is unable to service. A total loss of Rs. 15,000 crore for the fiscal 2011-12 has been estimated by ASSOCHAM. Enquiries reveal that the Virgin Atlantic does not seem to be interested in investing in India's domestic carriers.

Even Lufthansa has ruled out any investment. The Singapore Airline has kept its investment options open.

Concerns have been expressed against making the loss-making Air India, a political football by Ministers, politicians and civil aviation mandarins. These concerns must be addressed first before equity infusion and debt re-structuring.

A K Saxena (A retired civil servant)

Death knell for bureaucracy

The latest central government decision to allow state governments to give six months' extension to retiring Chief Secretaries will sound the death knell of an honest and upright civil service in the states, with the incumbent Chief Secretaries being made to dance to the tune of the state ministry in power and accede to all its irregularities and breaking of all laws and norms, by dangling the carrot of six months extension before him. The existing provision was only for giving three months extension and that too only in exceptional cases. And this was rarely invoked. So things had not become so bad.

The Manmohan Singh government has already made the cabinet secretary's post a laughing stock with the rule amendment to give piecemeal extensions to the incumbent cabinet secretary, depending upon how pliant and obedient he is. The four year extended tenure of the last Cabinet Secretary destroyed all the dignity and credibility of that time-honoured institution.

Take the case of the committee for the empanelment of secretaries to GoI. Originally it was the Cabinet Secretary who was the Chairman of this committee. The principal secretary to PM was made its Chairman and the Cabinet Secretary just a member when the former was far senior to the incumbent cabinet secretary like in the times of A N Verma or N N Vohra.

But now the present Cabinet Secretary, though senior in his batch to the present principal secretary to the PM, has been devalued by being made just a member of this committee chaired by his junior in service because he happens to be the principal secretary to PM. Pulok Chatterji as principal secretary to PM convenes many official meetings with state governments to clear projects and programs, whereas this should be done by the cabinet secretary who is the chief executive officer of the government of India in the statutory capacity. The Principal Secretary to PM etc are all clearly extra-constitutional positions which should not manifestly be exercising statutory functions and powers.

S P Mishra

GoI should give a serious thought

The Government of India (GoI) should give a serious thought about the existence of ISS Officers of MOS&PI. The statistical scenario is very grim, which has been reflected in the TOI on IIP data.

Sundarrajan

Is there any age limit for the appointment of Cabinet Secretary?

The appellant asked the Prime Minister's Office for the inspection of the relevant records related with the appointment of the Cabinet Secretary, CVC and the CIC. The Public Information Officer (PIO) transferred some of the requests to the PIO of the DoPT and refused for other details on the ground of the personal information. During the hearing before CIC, the appellant specifically submitted that he was interested in inspecting the records relating to the policy followed by the Government of India for appointing individuals above the age of 60 years as Cabinet Secretary. The CIC directed the PIO to provide the photocopy of the relevant Fundamental Rule which lays down the age related conditions for the appointment of the Cabinet Secretary. Further, the appellant submitted that he would be able to commute to Delhi to inspect the records only after four months due to his ill health. As a special request, the CIC directed the PIO of the DoPT to invite the Appellant on any mutually convenient date after four months to show him the documents.

Comments

The RTI Act has enabled a citizen to question the appointments at the senior levels of governance, which has also lead to frivolous applications at times. The DoPT should consider putting the qualifications of all senior posts on the web to lower the application load.

Citation: Shri Nand Lal Sharma v. Prime Minister's Office in File No. CIC/SM/A/2011/000874

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)