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MKN

Will Ms.Sonia Gandhi's visit to Karnataka, attract Congress votes?
Ms. Sonia Gandhi's visit to Siddaganga mutt to greet pontiff Sri Shivakumara Swamiji on his 105th birthday is being seen as a move to attract the Lingayat community of Karnataka which has moved to the BJP. Attracting 14 percent Lingayats in the state is being viewed as a political opportunity by the Congress at a time when BJP strongman BS Yeddurappa is mired in controversy and factionalism is rife in the state Congress.

Justice Bhandari elected for ICJ
Justice Dalveer Bhandari sitting judge of the Supreme Court, has been elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) The Hague.
(We said this on December 9, 2011 and again on January 27)

IRS officer quits
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Manoj Kumar, presently working as Deputy Commissioner, Income Tax (HQ) to CCIT-X, Mumbai, has resigned from the service.

Posting of 8 new DRMs
As many as Eight Railway officers have been posted as new Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs). They are: A.K. Sachan (presently Chief Engineer Central Railway Mumbai) IRSE- Delhi,N.C. Goyal (presently OSD to Indian Minister of State for Railways KH. Muniyappa) IRTS- Ferozpur, Vijay Sehgal (presently Chief Bridge Engineer in Jaipur)IRSE -Agra, Naveen Chopra(presently Executive Director in Railway Board) IRSE -Jhansi, Anirban Datta IRSME - Alipurduar, A. K. Sharma IRSME- Katihar, N.K. Prasad IRPS -Guntur & Sandeep Silas (former private secretary to former Minister of State Oscar Fernandes)IRTS -Mumbai. Their orders were issued on late Friday evening.

Balwinder Kumar is new Additional Secretary Agriculture
Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer Balwinder Kumar has been appointed Additional Secretary, Agriculture. He belongs to 1981 batch.
(We said this only yesterday)

Shashi Shekhar to be Additional Secretary, Revenue
Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer Shashi Shekhar is being appointed Additional Secretary, Revenue. He belongs to 1981 batch.

Decision about next CBDT's Member (P and V) in May
A decision regarding Member Personnel and Vigilance (P and V) of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will be taken only in May 2012.

Farooqui is now Special Secretary in GoI
M F Farooqui, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary in Government of India. He is an IAS officer of 1978 batch who belongs to the Tamil Nadu cadre.

Watal promoted in GoI
R P Watal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary Government of India. He is an Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer of 1978 batch.

K N Srivastava is now Special Secretary

K N Srivastava, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary in Government of India. He is a Karnataka cadre IAS officer of 1978 batch.

Bahuguna promoted in GoI
Ashish Bahuguna, Additional Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary Government of India. He is a Rajasthan cadre IAS officer of 1978 batch.

AIR and DD officers running for promotion
Programme Executives of All India Radio and Doordarshan recruited by UPSC through national level selections are now running from pillar to post to get promotion. The officers belonging to 1980, 1983, 1986 and 1988 batches have not received a single promotion in their entire career spanning from 28 to 30 years.

Guru Sharan Singh to succeed Ashokan in Algiers
Second Secretary in Indian High Commission, London Guru Sharan Singh will succeed K Ashokan in Algiers.Ashokan is retiring in June.

117 ISS officers promoted and transferred
As many as 117 officers of Indian Information Service (IIS) have been promoted to the junior grade of IIS Group 'A' and posted at different places in the country. Accordingly, Vijay Kumar Joshi has been posted as APRO, DPR, New Delhi while Ms. Nitima Shivcharan is AD, DPD, New Delhi and Ms. Yasmeen Farooqui being appointed as AD (M&C), PIB, New Delhi after promotion. Similarly, Rajinder Paul has been posted as AD (M&C), PIB, New Delhi. Nitin Kelkar as AD, DFP, Aurangabad; Idris Ahmed Khan as AD (News), DDK, Lucknow; Shivaram Pailoor as AD (News), DDK, Bangalore; Sanjit Kumar Khajria as AD (News), AIR, Srinagar;Vinay Raj Tiwari as AD (News), DDK, Aizwal; Manzer Neyaz as AD (News), DDK, Jammu; Ramani Kant Sarma as AD (News), DDK, Kohima; V M Ahmed as AD, DPD, Thiruvananthapuram; M Ravi Kumar as AD, DAVP, Chennai; Sukhendu Das as AD (News), DDK, Imphal; Ms. Dipannita Dhar as AD (DAVP), Guwahati; Ms. Saraswati S Kuwalekar as AD (News), AIR, Nagpur; Madhu R Shekhar as AD (News), AIR, Bangalore; Raghwesh Pandey as AD (News), DDK, Raipur; Manish Singhal as AD (News), Air, Gangtok; Ms. Chitra Gupta as AD (M&C), PIB, Guwahati; Ms. B S Meenakashi as AD, DPD, Bangalore; G R Chippalkatti as AD (News), Air, Panaji; dinesh Kumar as AD (News), DDK, Lucknow; N C Jayal as AD (News), DDK, New Delhi; J K Panchal as AD (News), DDK, Ahmedabad; D R Ganvir as AD (M&C), PIB, Bhopal; S N Mishra as AD (M&C), PIB, Patna; Hasan Zia as AD, DAVP,
Bhopal; G S Babu as AD (M&C),PIB, Panaji; Srikant as AD (News), Lucknow; Pushpawant as AD (News), DDK, Patna; Faizanul Haque as AD (News), DDK, Lucknow; Sanjay Kumar as AD (News), DDK, Hissar; K Parameshwaram as AD (M&C), PIB, Madurai; S U Arivakar as APRO, DPR (Def), Pune; Sant Bahadur as AD (News), AIR, Shimla; S M Dabir as AD (News), DDK, Mumbai; Partha Ghosh as AD, EMMC, New Delhi; Vijay Singh as APRO, DPR, Lucknow; Ms. Roma Chatterjee as AD (News), DDK, Kolkata; Shah Wasif Imam as AD, DFP, Gaya; Sabu Kurian John as AD (News), Air, Puducheri; M A Alam as AD (News), DDK Patna; Simon Joseph as AD, DAVP, Bangalore; JG Patadia as AD (News), NSD, AIR, New Delhi; S Mohd Nieyar Rizvi as AD (M&C), PIB, Kolkata; Rakesh Kumar as AD (News), AIR, Patna; S P Mandal as AD (News), Air, Dibrugarh; S S Dhada as AD (M&C), PIB, Bhubaneshwar; Tara Singh as AD (M&C), PIB, Shimla; Anil Kumar Mehay as AD (News), DDK, Jalandhar; V M Vanol as ADm DPD, New Delhi; Vedpal as AD (News), DDK, Chandigarh; Padam Singh as AD, DFP, Bareilly; K Sudhakar Rao as AD (News), DDK Hyderabad; Shahid Anwar as AD, DFP, Indore; Abdul Hamid as AD, DAVP, Guwahati; J S Bindra as AD (News), Air, Dehradun; Ms. Shyamala Mani Iyer as AD, DAVP, Chandigarh; G K Mohapatra AD (News), DDK, Bhubaneshwar; Sudhir Kumar Pandey as AD (M&C), PIB, Lucknow;Ms Pranati Mohanty as AD, (RR &TD), New Delhi; Ms Anatra Ghosh as AD, EMMC, New Delhi; Jai Prakash Dhiman as AD (News), Air, Bhopal; Khurshid Ahemdad Malick as AD, (M&C), PIB, New Delhi; Ms. Sarita Mayur Dalal as AD (M&C), PIB, Rajkot; Girish Chandra Dash as AD (News), Air, Cuttack; M V Krishna Prasad as AD, DPD, New Delhi; Anil Gaur as AD, DFP, Chandigarh; Rajib Lochan Borthakar as AD (News), DDK, Kolkata; Praveen Kavi AD (News), Air, Lucknow; Subhashree Mohapatra as AD, DPD, New Delhi; B L Meena as AD (News), DDK, Jaipur; V Balakrishna as AD (News), Air, Sambalpur; Narsingh Ram as AD, DFP, Gorakhpur; Ghulam Abbas as AD (M&C), PIB, Srinagar; Ms. H C Vijaya Kumari as AD, DPD, New Delhi; Ms. A Surekha as AD (News), Air, Vijayawada; A Engaovan as AD, DPD, Chennai; T B Najundaswamay as AD, DAVP, Mumbai; R R Sarvaiya as AD (News), Air, Bhuj; Hakam Singh as APRO, DPR (Def), New Delhi; K P Rajeevan as AD, DFP, Mangalore; SM Patole as AD (M&C), PIB, Ahmeadabad; Uttam Kumar Biswas as AD, DPD, Kolkata; Nana Sevakram Meshram as AD, DFP, Surat; Ratnakar Pamula as AD (M&C), PIB, Hyderabad; Ramkhiladi Meena as AD (News), NSD, Air, New Delhi; Hari Lal as AD (M&C), PIB, Varanasi; I Vijayan as AD (News), Thruchirappalli; Anand Prakash Soni as AD (M&C), PIB, Kanpur; Anubhava Bairawa as AD (News), DDK, Mumbai; D Pandurangapa as AD (News), Air, Coimbatore; G D Hallikeri as AD (News), NSD, Air, New Delhi; Rattan Lal Negi as AD, DFP, Jalandhar; Ms Kamla Verma as AD (News), NSD,Air, New Delhi; Pritam Singh as AD (M&C), PIB, Srinagar and Nampibou Marinmai was posted as AD, DFP, Guwahati. Besides, Ms. Devi Padmnabhan as Corresppondent, Air, Tiruchirappali; V R Shukla as NE, AIR< Raipur; Samir Verma as EPO, DFP< Mandla; Shishu Kumar Sharma as FEO, DAVP, Shimla; Ajay Kumar as EPO, DFP Chhapra, Ms. K Y Jayanti as NE, DDK, Bangalore; L C Ponnumon as M & CO, PIB, Kochi; Ms. Sudha Nampoorthi as EPO, DFP, Kottayam; paritosh Dixit as EPO, DFP, Rewa. Shariq Noor as NE, Air, Indore; Tapan Kumar Maharana as EPO, DFP, Samabalpur; S D Vyas as AD (News), DDK, Ahmedabad; Ashok Pathak as AD (News), Air, Ahmedabad; M D Shikhamani as NE, DDK, Hyderabad; M S Yadav as NE, AIR, Lucknow; Sunil Kumar Shukla as AD (News), Air, Allahabad; Sanjay Pratap Singh as EPO, DFP, Allahabad; Meerajuddin as Correspondent, AIR, Lucknow and Ms. Superna Bhatia as Assistnat Editor, Administrative Reforms & PG.

Ajit Srivastava is back to Delhi
Ajit Srivastava is back to Delhi from Arunachal Pradesh as Special Commissioner T &T. He is 1996 batch IAS officer of UT cadre. He has replaced Rajesh Somall who has moved to Arunachal Pradesh.

Saxena and Mishra relieved for Arunachal Pradesh
Two UT cadre IAS officers Sanjay Kumar Saxena and R K Mishra have been relieved for Arunachal Pradesh.

Alok Swarup relieved for Mizoram
IAS Officer Alok Swarup has been relieved to join the Mizoram Government.

Manoj Kumar relieved for Mizoram
IAS Officer Manoj Kumar has been relieved to join the Mizoram Government.

Aakash Mahapatra relieved for Mizoram
IAS Officer Aakash Mahapatra has been relieved to join the Mizoram Government.

Alok Swaroop relieved for Mizoram
IAS Officer Alok Swaroop has been relieved to join the Mizoram Government.

Ashutosh Kumar relieved for Mizoram
IAS Officer Ashutosh Kumar has been relieved to join the Mizoram Government.

IRS officer Mathew deputed as Advisor, TRAI (Bangalore)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Sibichen K Mathew has been deputed as Advisor in Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) at the regional office of Bangalore for a period of two years.

IRS officer Ms. Inoshi Sharma deputed under NRHM, Haryana
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Ms. Inoshi Sharma, Joint Commissioner Income Tax (OSD), International Taxation, Chandigarh, has been deputed under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Haryana for two years.

IRS officer Nilimesh Baruah deputed as Director, SFIO
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Nilimesh Baruah, has been appointed as Director, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on deputation basis for five years.

Tamil Nadu to have ISF
The Tamil Nadu Government is going to set up Tamil Nadu Industrial Security Force (TNISF).

Ahlawat to be Member of HPSC?
IAS officer J S Ahlawat who is retiring this month end is likely to be appointed Member of the Haryana Public Service Commission.

Books of Hooja couple displayed
The department of Administrative Reforms and Removal of Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, as part of its Civil Services Day event inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Vigyan Bhawan on 21 April 2012 had displayed about 100 books written or edited during last 5 years by civil servants. The display included 14 books by Dr Rakesh Hooja (IAS 1974) Director - Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi (including his latest book Corruption, Ethics and Accountability: Essays by an Administrator), and 4 books by Mrs. Meenakshi Hooja (IAS 1975) Chairperson Board of Revenue for Rajasthan at Ajmer ( including her latest book Outpourings: Poetic Expressions).

Raju is Joint EO TTD
IAS officer K Srinivas Raju has taken over as EO of the Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala.

Chaturvedi to be inducted into IB
Sumit Chaturvedi (AD) is likely to be inducted Hard-Core Officer as Assistant Director (AD) in Intelligence Bureau, Government of India. He is an IPS officer of 2001 batch who belongs to the West Bengal cadre.

Deputation tenure of IRS officer Tarun Kumar extended
Deputation tenure of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Tarun Kumar, as Joint Secretary in the Central Information Commission, has been extended for two years.

ACS Health offering single window solutions to health services
ACS Health is a trademark for Atharv Chikitsa Samagra (Health) Pvt. Ltd. It is an Indian company to offer single window solutions to various kinds of health issues. There are many verticals of this company handling patient healthcare management & one of the strongest team of professionals who comes from top tertiary care hospitals, the best business schools and the best consultancy firms are behind the operations of ACS Health.ACS Health has objective of promoting and popularizing preventive health care and assisting curative health by providing patient care, hospitality and related services. Atharv Chikitsa Samagra (Health) Pvt. Ltd. is registered within the territory of Government of India (GOI) as a limited company with head office in Andheri West, Mumbai."Our aim is to facilitate the people of India & overseas to get an easy & direct access to the health care services of international standards available in India, "informed Dr. Ashish Tiwari founder of the ACS Health. He also stated "we are dedicated & committed towards the patients' needs and to make every effort to bring relief to the patients by arranging effective medical treatment and personalized services & support. We suggest consultants and surgeons, who are highly trained, highly skilled & dedicated in their fields. Most of the doctors are trained from hospitals of USA & UK and have vast experience in the medicine, critical surgeries and the procedures they perform. This is a service-focused organization. We provide superior services in a timely manner to assure 100% client's satisfaction." According to Dr. Ashish Tiwari "no one can easily get all the relevant information about his/her treatment strategies, budget of the treatment & other related information at his/her residence before coming to Mumbai through ACS Health." One could contact Dr. Ashish Tiwari on 9869200000 or at the office reception - 022-026300600. Mail your queries at mail@acshealth.in or drashishtiwari@ acshealth.in or drashishtiwari@gmail.com.

IFS changes in Uttar Pradesh
The current DFO Lucknow Ashok Mishra was transferred to Aligarh last night. The SDO (Sub Divisional officer) in charge of Aligarh, Suresh Yadav has been moved to Lucknow .Now the way is clear to make Suresh Yadav DFO lucknow.

IAS reshuffle in Himachal Pradesh
There is IAS reshuffle in Himachal Pradesh. New postings are :- Mssrs Bhagmal MD Rural Development Bank, Dhruv Vashistha Secretary PSC, Aharabh Negi Additional Director Industries, Rajiv Kumar Shankar DC Kinnaur, Sunil Chaudhary DC Chamba, C Palraju Special Secretary Home, Meira Mohanty DC Solan, P Mandal DC Kullu, Kadam Sandeep Basant ADC Mandi, J M Pathania Secretary Information Commission and A R Chauhan MD Backward Finance Commission.

IAS postings in Uttar Pradesh
Alok Tiwari has been appointed Special Secretary in Raj Bhawan. Ravindra has been posted as Additional Commissioner Trade in NOIDA.



IPS postings in UP
Ram Shankar has been posted in the PHQ. G P Kanojia will now be new SP of Bahraich District.

Seminar on 'challenges in Tax Policy' at NADT, Nagpur on May 7
A seminar on 'Challenges in Tax Policy' is being held at National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT), Nagpur is being held from May 7 to 9, 2012. Nominations of IRS officers have been sought for participation.

V C of Calcutta University gets extension
Vice Chancellor of the Calcutta University Prof. Suranjan Dashas been given an extension of six months.

NMDC signs contract agreement with MECON (UPDATED)
The contract agreement for rendering project management & construction management (PMC) services for the upcoming 3.0 MTPA integrated steel plant of NMDC has been signed between NMDC and MECON at NMDC headquarters on April 27, 2012. Director (Technical), NMDC signed on behalf of NMDC Limited while Director (Commercial) inked on behalf of MECON Limited. The 3.0 'state-of-the' thin slab caster for making 2.9 MTPA of slab of various thickness and width suiting to market needs. The implementation scheduled of the plant is 48 months with an investment of about Rs 15525. CMD, NMDC N K Nanda stated on this occasion that collective effort of NMDC & MECON should now see the timely commissioning of the plant for realization of the project & benefit to all the stakeholders. CMD, MECON KK Mehrotra expressed thanks to NMDC for once again reposing faith in MECON and assured all efforts for fulfilling the same.

Devi Pande is Additional Member Traffic in Railway Board (UPDATED)
Devi Pande has been posted as Additional Member, Traffic, in the Railway Board.

Amitabh Lal is Additional Member IT in Railway Board (UPDATED)
Amitabh Lal has been posted as Additional Member, Information Technology (IT), in the Railway Board. Presently he is Chief Operations Manager(COM) Western Railway (WR).

N C Sinha is COM Western Railway (UPDATED)
N C Sinha who so far was Chief Operations Manager (COM), South Western Railway (SWR), Hubly, has been posted as COM, Western Railway (WR).

G S Banerjee is AGM Central Railway (UPDATED)
G S Banerjee who so far was Chief Commercial Manager (CCM), Western Railway (WR), has been posted as AGM Central Railway (CR).

Girish Pillai is CCM, Western Railway (UPDATED)
Girish Pillai who so far was AGM Central Railway (CR) has been posted as Chief Commercial Manager (CCM), Western Railway (WR).

All files cleared but for GMs postings in Railways (UPDATED)
With new postings of eight DRMs & five other postings all files have been cleared by the Railway Ministry as far as new appointments were concerned, but for General Managers (GMs).

Two IPS of 1981 batch to get posting in GoI (UPDATED )
2 IPS officers of 1981 batch are likely to be posted as Additional DG, Government of India. Their file for approval of their names will be sent to ACC on Monday, 30.04.2012.

Two IAS officers get addl. charges in J&K (UPDATED)
Shaleen Kabra, Commissioner/Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, has been assigned an additional charge of Administrative Secretary, Cooperative Department while Bashi Ahmed Runiyal, Commissioner/Secretary holds an additional charge of Financial Commissioner (Revenue) in Jammu and Kashmir. Kabra is a 1992 batch IAS officer while Runiyal is of 1995 batch of this State cadre.

Shahid Iqbal is Dy Secy., Planning & Development in J&K (UPDATED)
Shahid Iqbal, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Nowshera, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Secretary, Planning and Development Department in Jammu and Kashmir. He is a 2009 batch IAS officer of this State cadre.

13 IFS transfers in Tripura (UPDATED)
Over one dozen IFS officers have been reshuffled in Tripura.

DEBATE

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked civil servants to take bold decisions, assuring them that there would be no witch-hunting in the name of fighting corruption. How far it is possible ?

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

CORPORATE

Anand re-appointed MD, Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd
Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited has re-appointed Deepak Anand as Managing Director of the company w.e.f. April 27, 2012.

Mishra resigns as Non Exec. Independent Director, PG Electroplast Ltd
Chandra Bhushan Mishra, Non Executive Independent Director of PG Electroplast Ltd has resigned from the company.

Rathi appointed Independent Director, Anik Industries Ltd
Anik Industries Limited has appointed Vijay Rathi as Independent Director of the company w.e.f. April 2, 2012.

Murthy appointed CFO, Granules India Ltd
Granules India Limited has appointed VVS Murthy as Chief Financial Officer of the company.

Guisado appointed Spa Manager, Ananda in the Himalayas
Luis Molina Guisado has been appointed as Spa Manager of Ananda in the Himalayas.

Mishra resigns as director of PG Electroplast
Chandra Bhushan Mishra has resigned as director of PG Electroplast.

Sharma resigns as director from Schrader Duncan
M K Sharma has resigned from the board of directors of Schrader Duncan

Dubey appointed as independent director Schrader Duncan
O P Dubey has been appointed as independent director of Schrader Duncan

2 appointed as additional director of Jindal Steel & Power
Shallu Jindal and M L Gupta have been appointed as additional directors of Jindal Steel & Power

Ms.Jindal resigns as director of Jindal Steel & Power
Ms.Savitri Jindal has resigned from the directorship of Jindal Steel & Power

Ansari resigns as director of Jindal Steel & Power
Naushad Akhter Ansari has resigned from Jindal Steel & Power

Q: What is the difference between India and Pakistan.
A: In Pakistan, the SC can at least convict a PM for 30 seconds while in India, case against PM is a case gone in 60 seconds.

Prashanth

A clear indication

Recent comment made by some Ex-ISS Officer from Gurgaon on the subject which was going round in the whisper, is surprising. He himself was part and parcel of the said Ministry and enjoyed full luxury of lavishness of the Ministry. A Minister who was also incharge of this MOSPI ministry has commented that "there are indeed some Ministries which bleed the Govt." Signal is clear and straight.

Dharmvir

It's strange

Apropos to your whisper regarding the postings of General Managers of three zonal Railways, it is strange that first DoPT asked the same questions and now the cabinet secretary has raised the same points as to why seniors have been ignored and why no proposal for vacancy of one Zonal Railway has been made.Did the Railways not cover these points while sending the proposal up? Why DoPT not clarify the position while processing the file for ACC. This cat and mouse game in a typical bureaucratic manner smacks of deliberate ploy to delay the appointments. It is so frustrating to see that no one is realising the damage being caused to the working of those Zones in the absence of the General Managers and by tagging the additional charge to the other General Managers. If ACC feels that there is something wrong with the proposal which supercedes some senior officers, why cannot the Chairman of the Railway Board called ,matter discussed and proposal either approved as recommended by the Railway Board or rejected with alternative recommendation considered correct as per rules. Spending months in finalising senior level postings is being irresponsible and casual about it.

Aarti Khosla

Not another judicial commission

The opposition should not impose another judicial commission in the Bofors case. The CBI has already burnt 350 crores only to close the case ultimately. The judicial commission will not close its proceedings even in 20 years and expenditure of 500 crores. Why provide employment for such long tenure to a retired judge? Besides, the Opposition is walking into the trap unmindful that Bofors would cloud all the misdeeds of the past 8 years+ by the time the next General Elections to the parliament are held. They will not be able to seek public mandate for cleaning the government if they get bogged down in Bofors. It was neither Rajiv nor anyone from his family but the members of the gangs among the courtiers who wielded power in the name of the PM or Rajiv. Even Quattrocchi seems to have played into their hands, received payments for his advisory & escort services (A.E.Services), as is the norm in Europe. It is only in India that everything is demanded free, like blessings and prasad, without making offerings. And Government of India kindly tender apologies to Amitabh Bachchan for the pain caused to him by the misconduct of investigating agencies who had planted his name in the Swedish media. In fact, the parliament of India should pass a resolution regretting all the unkind words spoken in the august houses by irresponsible members when Amitabh could not stand to defend his reputation. Parliamentarians should show greater respect for the dignity of the citizens before turning aggressive in their attacks on the basis of media reports. The parliament can set up a committee, if necessary, to pursue the Bofors case further rather than the judicial commission. MPs have former judges and lawyers among them.

M L Gupta

Put limit on number of RTI queries

Yes, very true. In my organization, we receive 10 RTI queries by one of our retired employee every day. These are neither related to him, nor for good of organisation. There should be a limit on number of RTI queries by one person in one year.

Narendra

Should the apex offices of India (like PMO) provide information related to all the government departments?

The appellant filed the RTI application to the PMO seeking details of the various schemes being run by different ministries of the Government of India. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed the appellant to seek the desired information from the respective nodal Ministry. The appellant argued that the PIO should have transferred the application to the respective nodal Ministry as per the provisions of section 6 (3) of the RTI Act, instead of advising him to approach those Ministries. The Central Information Commission (CIC) rejected the appeal observing that the implication of the provision of section 6(3) of the RTI Act is that an RTI application should be transferred to another public authority, in full or in part, only if the information seeker is unaware of where to seek information from and has, therefore, approached a particular PIO. As the appellant had himself listed the names of the Ministries in his RTI application which indicates that he was clearly aware of where the information was held, he should have approached those individual Ministries directly instead of going through the circuitous route of approaching the PMO. The Commission further stated that the appellant's expectation that the PMO should have transferred his application to half a dozen other Ministries is clearly misplaced and is nothing but misuse of his right to get information.

Comments

It is frequently seen that the head office of an organisation is forwarding the RTI application to its branch offices all over India just to aid the compilation of information for the benefit of the applicant which is not mandated under the RTI Act.

Citation: Shri Sanjeev Kumar Aggarwal v. Prime Minister's Office in File No. CIC/SM/A/2011/000893 & 2368

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)