What people say about us!

Your site is unique - unconventional information from varied sources at the click of a button. Please keep up the good work.

Bhawna Behl

Manu Singhvi was to become Law Minister?
Is it a fact that certain Congress leaders are behind the CD case of Congress leader Manu Singhvi ?.Earlier there were rumours that Singhvi will be new Law Minister.

Where will the Rupee head?
On Friday the Rupee stood at a three month low of Rs 52 against the Dollar. Given that there are worries of high current account deficit of around 3.6 percent of the GDP, it is expected that the rupee may rise to Rs 48 to the US Dollar from the current levels of Rs 51.60- Rs 52 say money market traders.

Orders of Khullar as TRAI Chairman next week
Formal orders of the appointment of Rahul Khullar as Chairman of the TRAI are expected to be issued next week. 1975 batch UT cadre IAS officer Khullar is presently Commerce Secretary.
(We said this on April 4 and on April 16)

Orders of R P Singh as NHAI Chairman next week
Formal orders of the appointment of R P Singh as Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India are expected to be issued next week. He is former 1976 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.
(We said this on March 30 and on April 18)

V K Singh to return
VK Singh is scheduled to return to the parent J & K cadre in June or July from his Singapore assignment after completion of Central deputation. He is 1987 batch IPS officer.

IPS changes in Madhya Pradesh
Certain senior level IPS officers have been shifted by the Madhya Pradesh Government. They are:Vivek Johari ADG Intelligence,Sarabjit Singh ADG Administration R.C. Arora DG Home Guards, Surendra Sinh DG Prisons, Rishi Kumar Shukla ADG Special Armed Forces (SAF),IG Sudhir Saxena- as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chief Minister, Manish Shankar Sharma IG (Intelligence), Pankaj Kumar Shrivastav IG Sagar range,GP Singh IG Special Police Establishment (SPE) of Lokayukta & Sushma Singh IG PHQ.

3 IPS officers elevated as ADG in Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh Government has promoted three IPS officers of 1986 batch as ADG.They are: Purushottam Sharma ADG Community Policing & Police Reforms, Ajit Kumar Shrivastava ADG Training & PTRI and T.K. Ghosh ADG J.N.P.A. Sagar.

Kohli to be JS & FA Water Resources
Sunil Kumar Kohli will be new Joint Secretary and FA in the Ministry of Water Resources. He is 1981 batch IDAS officer.

Abhijit Kundu posted as First Secy., IT overseas unit, Nicosia
Abhijit Kundu has been appointed as First Secretary, Income Tax Overseas Unit, Embassy of India, Nicosia, Cyprus. He is an IRS (IT) officer of 2001 batch.

Dasgupta posted in Manila
Counsellor General in Indian Embassy Sydney Amit Dasgupta has been posted as HOM in Manila.

Shayin to be DC of Chandigarh
Mohammed Shayin is all set to become deputy commissioner (DC) of Chandigarh. He is 2002 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

A K Mishra promoted as ADGP in Rajasthan
Rajasthan Government has promoted Akshaya Kumar Mishra as Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) on central deputation. Mishra is a 1987 batch IPS officer of this State cadre.

Bharadwaj appointed DCO Gujarat
Manish Bharadwaj has been appointed DCO, Gujarat. He is an IAS Officer of 1997 batch who belongs to the Gujarat cadre.

Justice Gogoi to be CJI also
Newly appointed Judge of the Supreme Court Justice Ranjan Gogoi stands a chance of becoming the Chief Justice of India in 2018 after Justice Dipak Misra's superannuation.

Justice Sirpurkar to be Chairman of CAT
Justice V S Sirpurkar is expected to be new Chairman of the Competition Appellate Tribunal . In all probability he will succeed Justice Arijit Pasayat.

Strength of Judges in Punjab and Haryana goes down
Strength of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has now gone down to 41, against the sanctioned strength of 68.

Two IRS officers promoted as CIT
Two officers of Indian Revenue Service (IRS), Ms. Anupama Shukla and Ms Neera Malhotra have been promoted to the grade of Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT).

Transfers and postings in Railways
Services of three officers have been affected in Railways. Accordingly, A K Vajpayee, SAG/IRAS, on return from IIPA training, has been posted to North Central Railway (NCR) in the cadre while Ms. Purna M Cherla, SAG/IRAS, is being shifted from South Western Railway (SWR) to East Central Railway (ECR) and posted in the cadre and Anand Prakash, SAG/IRAS, on return from deputation, was posted to North Frontier Railway (NFR) in the cadre.

DPC for PCCFs held in UP
DPC for promotion of Indian Forest Service(IFS) officers of Uttar Pradesh (UP) as PCCF has been held. Those who are likely be elevated are: J S Asthana (1979 batch) -officitiaing as Head of Force(HOF), Ashwani Kumar, Rupak Dey and R C Gautam. All three belong to the 1980 batch.

Strange are ways of governance in Uttar Pradesh
Strange are ways of governance in Uttar Pradesh(UP). This is amply being demonstrated through recent postings of bureaucrats under the new regime. A glaring instance has come to light. In a major departure from the past Chanchal Tiwari a Principal Secretary (PS) rank bureaucrat was posted as Divisional Commissioner of Varanasi. He is an IAS officer of 1983 batch who belongs to the UP cadre.

Who will be new Commissioner of BMC?
Who will be new Commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) i.e. BMC? This question is hotly being discussed in corridors of power.

Menon to continue as DCO, Kerala
Dr. V. M. Gopala Menon will continue to hold the additional charge of DCO, Kerala till substitute is found. Earlier, he was repatriated from Director, Census Operations to parent cadre. He is an IAS Officer of 1992 batch who belongs to the Kerala cadre.

Kundra gets pro-forma promotion
Ashish Kundra, PS to Minister of Commerce and Industries, Government of India has been given proforma promotion in Super Time Scale by Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi. He is an IAS officer of 1996 batch who belongs to the AGMU cadre.

Major reshuffle of senior officers in Railways
As many as 15 officers have been transferred and posted at different places in Railways. Accordingly, B N Mishra SAG/IRSE, has been shifted from SER to ECOR in the same capacity while Abhijit Roy SG/IRSE is being shifted from Metro Rly/Kolkata to CLW and Manoj Khan SG/IRSE was transferred from SER to Metro Railway Kolkata. Similarly, Sachin K Chaurasia has been transferred from CR to NCR; N K Sinha SAG/IRSE, NR posted as CBE on the Railway itself; G C Agarwal GM of ER has been assigned additional charge of GM/Metro Railway; Sunil Mittal SG/IRSE from NWR to NFR; Sunil Singh SG/IRSE from NFR to NWR; S Vijayakumaran, HAG/IRSE SR, posted as CAO(Con) on SR itself; RN Toppo SG/IRSME from CLW to NER and appointed to officiate in SAG and posted in the cadre; S C Sawaiyan SG/IRSME from SER to NFR and appointed to officiate in SAG and posted in the cadre; P V Kothaiyah SG/IRSME from SR to SECR and appointed to officiate in SAG and posted in the cadre; Janehwar Pal SAG/IRSE from RE/ALD to SECR in the same capacity and posted in the cadre. Besides, the transfer orders of RVN Sharma SG/IRSME from SCR to NCR have been cancelled and appointed to officiate in SAG on SCR itself in the cadre.

DD Bharti is not revived
There was a move to revive the DD Bharti. The project however seems to have been delayed?

IES officer Singh promoted as Economic Adviser, Environment & Forest
Chandra Bhan Singh, Director, Petroleum and Natural Gas (on deputation), has been promoted to Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) and posted as Economic Adviser, Environment and Forest. He is an Indian Economic Service (IES) officer of 1986 batch.

DoPT seeks applications for Dy. Director in SSC (CR), Allahabad
The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) has invited applications from the Under Secretary of CSS for the vacant post of Deputy Director in SSC (CR) Allahabad. The willing officers can send their applications to the Department before May 20, 2012.

DPC for promotion to CCITs in Mumbai today
A DPC for promotion of Commissioners of income Tax (CITs) as Chief Commissioners of income Tax (CCITs)is being held in Mumbai today.

IAS changes in Uttar Pradesh
Madhukar Dwivedi has been moved as Secretary (Home).Pragyan Ram Mishra has been made Divisional Commissioner of Mirzapur. Saroj Kumar Tiwari has been appointed Secretary (Planning). DM Bareilly Subhash Chandra Sharma will now be Secretary Labour.Ranveer Prasad will be Additional Commissioner of Rural Development and Census. Ajay Agarwal has been promoted and posted as Secretary (Finance).

Major reshuffle of 22 IPS officers in Uttarakhand (UPDATED)
As many as 22 IPS officers have been transferred and posted at different places in Uttarakhand. Accordingly, Anant Shankar Taakwale has been appointed as SP Pithoragarh while Nivedita Kukreti Kumar will now be SP Bageshwar and Rajiv Swarup is being posted as SP Uttarkashi. Similarly, Pushpak Jyoti has been made SP Security & Intelligence PHQ; Vimla Gunjyal as Commandant 46 PAC Rudrapur; Puran Singh Rawat as Commandant IRB-II; P Renuka Devi as SP Chamoli; as SSP Udhamsinghnagar; Sunil Kumar Meena as SP Almora; Haridwar; Singh Selal as Assistant to IG Provisioning & Modernisation; Anant Ram Chauhan as SP Crime & Investigation PHQ and Mukhtar Mohasin has been made Commandant 40 PAC Haridwar. Neeru Garg has been transferred as SSP, Dehradun; Arun Mohan Joshi as SSP Haridwar; Satish Kumar Shukla as SP of Pauri; Janmejay Prabhakar Kailash as SP Tehri; Sadanand Shankar Rao Daate as SSP Nainital; VKS Karkee has been made SP Rudraprayag. Deepak Jyoti Ghildiyal has been posted as DIG Nainital Range; G S Martolia as DIG, Pithoragarh Range; Abhinav Kumar as DIG Pauri Range and Sanjay Kumar Gunjyal has been made DIG Dehradun Range.

Promotions and Transfers of IPS in Tripura (UPDATED)
V S Yadav (1987) has been promoted and posted as ADGP (Armed Police), B K Debbarma promoted and posted as ADGP (Intelligence), Rajiv Singh (1993) posted as IGP (Law and Order), K. Nagaraj (1984) posted as IGP (Training), Nepal Das (1994) promoted and posted as IG (Home Guards), T B Roy (1994) promoted and posted as IG (Administration & Welfare). Transfers at DIG Level are expected shortly.

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

IOB to open its regional office in Nagpur: Garg
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is shortly going to open its new regional office in Nagpur. This was disclosed by P K Garg Chief Regional Manager (CRM) of IOB for MP (undivided) region looking after states Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and certain parts of Maharashtra. Garg said that the regional office will soon be operational.

.

Santosh Koshy joins Suvarna News 24X7 as AVP-Ad Sales
Santosh Koshy has joined Suvarna News 24X7 as AVP-Ad Sales.

Harish of Suvarna News 24X7 re-designated as AVP-Ad Sales.
C K Harish of Suvarna News 24X7 has been re-designated as AVP-Ad Sales.

Jane Ong appointed Head of Corporate Affairs at Citi India
Jane Ong appointed Head of Corporate Affairs at Citi India for South Asia. She will be responsible for media relations, managing external and internal communications as well as Citi's Citizenship portfolio.

Pradeep Gairola appointed COO, meritnation.com
Pradeep Gairola has been appointed COO of meritnation.com which operates in kindergarten to Class 12 (K - 12) segment in education. He was Vice President and Business Head of timesofindia.com.

CWC begins operation of Cargo Terminal at ICP, Attari, Punjab
The Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) has begun operation of Cargo Terminal at ICP, Attari (Punjab), with the inauguration of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari (Punjab), the other day, by the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram. The ICP developed by the Land Ports Authority of India under the Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, over 118 acres land at a cost of about Rs.150 crore for facilitating the import/export trade through land route was inaugurated by Chidambaram in the presence of Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Prakash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Punjab, Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Fahim, Commerce Minister of Pakistan and Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab province of Pakistan.

Suntook resigns as Non Exec. Director, Trent Ltd
K N Suntook, Non-Executive Director, Trent Ltd has resigned from the Board of Directors of the company w.e.f. April 17, 2012.

Lodha resigns as CFO, Electrotherm (India) Ltd
Dilip Singh Lodha has resigned as Chief Financial Officer (C.F.O.) of Electrotherm (India) Ltd w.e.f. April 20, 2012

Nagar resigns as Company Secy. STL Global Ltd
Sunil Kumar Nagar, Company Secretary of STL Global Ltd has resigned from the company.

Garg appointed Company Secy. STL Global Ltd
Sumit Garg has been appointed as Company Secretary of STL Global Ltd w.e.f. April 20, 2012.

Dani resigns as Director, Hitech Plast Ltd
Hasit A. Dani has resigned as a Director of Hitech Plast Ltd.

Lodha resigns as CFO from Electrotherm (India)
Dilip Singh Lodha has resigned as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Electrotherm (India).

Civil Services Day!

April 23, is celebrated every year as the Civil Services Day. The function has, of late, become highly ritualistic with the presence of the PM.MOS(P), Principal Secretary to PM, the Cabinet Secretary and Secretary(Personnel).An exercise stuffed with rhetorics like transparency, Good Governance, Accountability etc. In the meanwhile, corruption is getting institutionalized and legitimized. It continues to grow exponentially, horizontally and vertically. As per a report published in the India Today, the GoI has, at long last, formally admitted to prevalence of corruption in the Civil Services, based on their unholy nexus with Ministers, politicians and criminals. GoI merits compliments. Earlier, bribes were paid for getting wrong things done, but now bribe is paid for getting right things done at the right time. This is "honest bribe"? Some call it "speed money", commissions, consultancy, legal fee and so on. There is a pressing need to make the bureaucracy accountable and delink crime investigation and punitive action processes from political control.
This is not possible in the absence of the "Political Will". The Civil Services Day should not be permitted to end up as "All Fools Day"

A K Saxena (A retired civil servant)

Why no information on websites?

Why are the different organisations not putting up information on their websites? Why is action not taken for their act of omission?

Bhawna Behl

Unbiased analysis a farce!

When data collection is done on random sampling, the outcome would never facilitate an unbiased or an impeccable analysis. Finally the conclusions arrived on the basis of such a type of data collection, cannot be trusted. When policies are framed taking into consideration the wrong in-puts, even after completion of the project the end result would be disappointing. We all know that despite various welfare schemes roled out for the amelioration of the community, one could even see beggars on every street, blind people selling some products in trains risking their lives, etc. When there is a major lacuna in the fundamentals, you cannot achieve anything.

Sivakumar

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)