What people say about us!

I make it a point to go through the whispers. Most of them turn out to be true.

Geetha Krishnamurthy

What is the position of Congress in Gujarat?
It is heard that there is a lot of movement of Congressmen in Gujarat leading to resolving of differences and uniting to fight the coming assembly elections. All are now targeting Modi unanimously.

Are the Congress workers desperate?
It is heard that there is a sense of repeat of 1977 within the Congress Party with the workers now blaming Ms. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for the defeat of the party in most elections. The workers at grassroots are now getting a sense that the central leadership is the reason why party is getting defeats.

Who is to be blamed for Congress' poor performance?
It is heard that wrong process for selection of candidates through decentralisation that was started since 2004 coupled with a parochial approach in ticket distribution is the reason why Congress has been fairing badly in most of the elections.

Transfers & postings is no longer a business in Jharkhand
Ever since Arjun Munda assumed the Chief Ministership of Jharkhand, transfers and postings of government servants/officers, is no longer a business in Jharkhand.

BUREAUCRACY

A V Sinha to be Chairman of NHAI?
A V Sinha, who is a technocrat, is likely to be appointed new Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Sunil Soni to be Additional Secretary, Banking
Sunil Soni is being tipped to be new Additional Secretary Financial Services in the Government of India. He is 1981 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Ajit M. Sharan to be Additional Secretary, Revenue
Ajit M. Sharan who is on central deputation is poised to be Additional Secretary Revenue. He is an IAS officer of 1979 batch who belongs to the Haryana cadre.

Rahate is new Financial Commissioner, ESIC
S K G Rahate has been appointed Financial Commissioner, Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC ) in the rank of Joint Secretary. He is 1990 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre.

Chahar to be Additional Secretary, Legal Affairs
S S Chahar is being appointed Additional Secretary, Legal Affairs, in the Department of Law in the Government of India. He is a Judicial Service officer.

Sanjay Singh to be Additional Secretary, Legislative
Sanjay Singh is being tipped to be Additional Secretary, Legislative Affairs, in the Government of India.

Ms Priti Mohanty is new CGDA
Ms Priti Mohanty has taken over as new Controller General of Defence Accounts. She is 1977 batch IDAS officer.

Anu Garg appointed JS NACO
Anu Garg has been appointed new Joint Secretary National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). She is 1991 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.
(We said this on March 20)

Madan gets three months extension
Joint Secretary Culture in the Government of India V S Madan has been given three months extension in deputation tenure till June end. He is 1981 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Justice K.S. Ahluwalia to be transferred to Kolkata HC?
As the grapevine has it, Justice K.S. Ahluwalia a judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court (HC) is going to be moved to the Kolkata HC.

Proposals of three Rly GMs moved
Railway Ministry has moved names of three officers for the posting as General Managers.

Who will be new Secretary, Railway Board?
Who will succeed V K Gupta as Secretary of the Railway Board? Tie is said to be between Devi pande and Mohammad Shamsher. Gupta is all set to become GM of the Northern Railways.

Three contenders for Secretary from Rajasthan sit in Krishi Bhawan
As many as three IAS officers of 1978 batch belonging to the Rajasthan cadre who were empanelled for appointment as Secretaries in the Government of India (GoI) sit in the Krishi Bhawan. They are: Ashish Bahuguna, Arvind Mayaram and Rajeev Mehrishi.

Where is Vijay Shankar Pandey?
Once the trusted IAS officer of Mayawati ,Vijay Shankar Pandey, was humiliated when he failed to fulfill the aspirations of the BSP Supremo. Will the new Government utilize the talent of 1979 batch IAS officer Pandey ? Only time will tell.

Former IAS officer is now Chairman in Uttar Pradesh
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Navin Chandra Bajpai has been appointed as the Chairman of the State Planning commission.

Anand Prakash is new FC in Delhi
Anand Prakash has been appointed new Financial Commissioner in the Delhi Government.1979 batch UT cadre IAS officer Anand Prakash has succeeded P Mehra who retired on March 31. He will also be CMD DFC.
(We said this on March 29)

Ms Mukherjee goes on deputation to MCD
Ms Debashree Mukherjee has gone on deputation as OSD in the Municipal Corporation,Delhi.She is 1991 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Jha is Director DTE in Delhi Government
S N Jha has been appointed Director DTE in the Delhi Government. He is 1999 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Sah posted as Sr. DAG in PAG office, Delhi
N K Sah, on repatriation to the Department, has been posted as Senior Deputy Accountant General (Coml/MCD) in the office of Principal Accountant General (Audit), Delhi. He is an IA&AS officer of 1997 batch.

Who will be new DGP in J & K?
Who will be new DGP in J & K ? Present DGP Kuldip Khoda is scheduled to retire on May 31.There are indications that he will be given three months extension in service. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs has prepared a panel of four names consisting of Arun Chaudhary, Special Director,(CISF) Central Industrial Security Force, New Delhi, P M Nair, Special Director, CRPF, New Delhi, Ashok Prasad, Additional Director, Intelligence Bureau and Dilip Trivedi, Additional DGP, ITBP, Force Headquarters, New Delhi for the post of DGP in J & K. It is also heard in the cadre - when 1982 batch officer can be posted as DGP in Punjab & Manipur then why 1984 batch officer can not be posted as DGP in J & K?

13 posts of Judges vacant in Bombay HC
As many as 13 posts of judges have been lying vacant in Bombay High Court against the approved strength of o75. These include two posts of Permanent Judges against 48 approved strength and 11 of Additional Judges against 27 approved strength.

Tiwari moves to Delhi
B.N. Tiwari, Deputy Director General, NSSO(FOD), Lucknow, has been transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture as Deputy Director General. He is an Indian Statistical Officer of 1983 batch.

IPS officer selected for mid-term training in UK
IG in the NSG R P Sharma has been selected for Mid-Career training in UK. He is 1986 batch IPS officer of Orissa cadre.

It's all in the family in Haryana
Outgoing Haryana Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati has joined the Information Commission as a Member. Her husband Naresh Gulati is the Chief Information Commission. Her sister Meenaxi Anand Chaudhary is also Information Commissioner.

S K De posted as DAG in PAG (Audit), Kolkata
Samir Kumar De, Deputy Director (Cons.) in the office of Principal Director of Audit, Northeast Frontier Railway, Maligaon, Guwahati, has been transferred and posted as Deputy Accountant General (Coml.) in the office of Principal Accountant General (Audit), West Bengal, Kolkata under the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.

V M K Gazzela poised to be a Director in MEA
As the grapevine has it, V M K Gazzela, who is on central deputation, is poised to join Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as a Director. He an Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer of 1998 batch.

Rajesh Kumar Gupta joins MHA as a Director
Rajesh Kumar Gupta on central deputation has joined as a Director, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). He is an Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officers of 1998 batch.
(We said this on January 18, 2012)

Bureaucratic changes on the anvil in Maharashtra
As the grapevine has it, there is going to be a bureaucratic reshuffle in Maharashtra.

IG CISF gets extension
Ajay Bhatnagar, IG, Air Wing, Central Industrial Security(CISF) has got 14 months extension in his central deputation tenure. He is an IPS officer of 1989 batch who belongs to Jharkhand cadre.

Baral gets DG rank in Manipur
Ratnakar Baral, Addl. DGP - Manipur, has been promoted in DGP scale in the cadre itself. He is an IPS officer of 1982 batch who belongs to the Manipur Tripura cadre.

Ms Kundra is now CVO, DTC
Ms Gitanjali Gupta Kundra has been appointed CVO in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).She is 1996 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Chief Secretary for one month
Ms Harinder Hira who has taken over as new Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh will retire on April 30. She is 1976 batch IAS officer.

Justice Kuldip Singh appointed as Judge of HP HC
Justice Kuldip Singh, Additional Judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court has been appointed as Judge of the same High Court.

Justice C S Singh appointed as Addl. Judge, Patna HC
Chakradhari Sharan Singh has been appointed as an Additional Judge of the Patna High Court for a period of two years.

Justice A K Sharma is Judge of MP HC
Justice Anil Kumar Sharma, Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has been appointed as Judge of the same High Court.
(We Said this last month)

IAS reshuffle in TamilNadu
Shiv Das Meena will now be commissioner of commercial taxes.Hemant Kumar Sinha will be the new director, Anna Institute of Management and Director General of Training. Dr J. Radhakrishnan, on return from deputation has been made new secretary to government, special
programme implementation department.K Nagarajan, has been appointed deputy secretary social welfare and nutritious meal programme department. S. Sivashanmugaraja has been posted as deputy secretary, backward classes, most backward classes and minority welfare department.L Sitherasenan has been made additional director of agriculture. D. Jagannathanhas been transferred as joint commissioner, municipal Finance department .P. Senthilkumar will be the new transport commissioner. Vijayarajkumar has been appointed new additional commissioner (revenue and finance) for Chennai corporation. A. Suganthi will be the new managing director of Tahdco.Swaran Singh has been appointed CMD of Sipcot. Dr K Gopal will be the new managing director of Tamil Nadu Text Book Corporation Ltd.

IAS changes in Uttar Pradesh
Chairman, UPSRTC, Anoop Mishra has been given additional charge of investment commissioner based at New Delhi. Sudhir Kumar Srivastava has been made Secretary Secretariat Administration.Dheeraj Sahu has been appointed MD, State Power Generation Corporation and Hydro Power Corporation.Mrityunjay Kumar Narain now remain only commissioner, Meerut Division.Amit Gupta has been transferred as MD Pashchimanchal Power Distribution Corporation.

19 IRS officers get proforma promotion (UPDATED)
As many as 19 Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers at the level of Additional Commissioner of Income Tax and on deputation have been granted proforma promotion. The officers include Vismita Tej,Kamlesh Chandra Varshney,Sayed Nasir Ali, Mona Singh, Monika A Bhatia,Amal Pushp, Ajay Goyal, Amitav, Kavita Pandey, Amit Mohan Govil, Anita Sinha, Anand Jha, Asit Singh, Sanjay, Pawan Kumar, Alok Kumar, Adhir Jha, Joe Sebastian and Sanjay Prasad.

Steel Minister Presents SAIL's Interim Dividend Cheque to the Prime Minister (UPDATED)
The Union Minister for Steel Beni Prasad Verma on Tuesday presented an interim dividend cheque from SAIL to the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh in the presence of Secretary, Steel, GoI D.R.S. Chaudhary and Chairman, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) C.S.Verma. SAIL paid an interim dividend (2011-12) to Government of India amounting to Rs.425.36 crore. The total interim dividend paid by SAIL comes to Rs.495.65 crore, i.e. @ 12% of paid up equity capital, for the year 2011-12. In addition to interim dividend, the Board of Directors of the company would also recommend Final Dividend for the year, while approving the financial results for the year 2011-12. It is pertinent to note that since its inception, SAIL has made total dividend pay-outs of Rs.9,392 crore equivalent to 228% of its paid up capital. Out of this, payment to Government of India is Rs.8,092 crore, besides dividend tax of Rs.1,342 crore.

BHEL earns net profit of Rs 6, 868 crore in 2011-12 fiscal year (UPDATED)
Adding yet another feather in its cap, Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL)-including all units-has earned a net profit of Rs 6, 868 crore against the turn over of Rs 49, 309 crore set in this fiscal year 2011-12. Addressing press conference in New Delhi on April 3, 2012 BHEL Chairman and Managing Director, B Prasada Rao informed that all units of BHEL had achieved the highest ever turn over with 19.4 percent growth compared to last year target of Rs. 41, 299 core. Rao said that profit before tax was of Rs 10, 001 crore this year while net worth of Rs 24, 947 crore. Besides, earning per share was at the rate of 28.06 crore and R&D Investment of Rs 1,162 crore, Rao said. In detail, Rao said that net profit rose 21.2% against Rs 5,665 crore in the previous year. During the year highest ever interim equity dividend of 136 % was paid for 2011-12 maintaining the track record of paying dividends uninterrupted since 1976-77. Net Asset Value per share stood at Rs 101.9 reflecting the intrinsic strength of the company, the BHEL CMD said adding that the BHEL has received orders from 21 countries. The BHEL has commissioned successfully power & transmission projects in Oman, Taiwan, Nepal and Afghanistan. Presently, the BHEL is executing 24 contracts in 19 countries across the world. Rao said that the BHEL sets contributed 69% of the power generated in the country in this fiscal year. It has ensured consistent operating availability of 500 MW thermal sets at more than 90% for last five years. The BHEL has crafted a new strategic plan for the period of 2012-17 to steer the company with a vision of becoming a global engineering enterprise. Besides, it has also focused on transportation, Transmission, Defense, Renewables, Nuclear and water segments, Rao added.

Vijayanand to be AS, Rural Development (UPDATED)
S M Vijayanand is being tipped to be new Additional Secretary, Rural Development in the Government of India. He is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

DEBATE - Should bureaucrats alone be held accountable for policy decisions ?

Bureaucrats now feel that Ministers and Politicians also be held responsible for 'policy decisions' taken by the government. They also want that entire cabinet should be held accountable for policy decisions. How far they are correct in their thinking ?

Mail your to the point views to suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com or mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com

CORPORATE

8 CPSEs suffer loss of profits
As many as eight Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) out of 67 Miniratna have been suffering loss of net profits for three years: 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. They include: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited; Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited; Hindustan Copper Limited; Hindustan Newsprint Limited; Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited; India Tourism Development Corporation Limited; KIOCL Limited (earlier Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited) and National Film Development Corporation Limited.

R Krishnan takes over as Director (HR), BHEL
R Krishnan has assumed charge as Director (Human Resource) of the Navratna Public Sector engineering and manufacturing enterprise Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). Prior to this, he was heading the company's Heavy Power Equipment Plant, Hyderabad as Executive Director. An Electrical and Electronics Engineer from REC, Trichy (now NIT) and a Post Graduate in Design & Production of Heavy Electrical Equipment from MACT, Bhopal (Presently MANIT, Bhopal), Krishnan joined BHEL as an Engineer Trainee in 1977. He has 35 years of diversified and versatile professional experience through working in major segments of BHEL.
(We said this on Sep. 13, 2011)

Sreekumar to join as MD, HMT-MT on April 16
M D Sreekumar, Director (Tech & Oper), HLL, who was selected as Managing Director, HMT Machine Tools Limited (HMT-MT) by PESB, will take over the charge at Bangalore on April 16, 2012.

NMDC's Ladies Club distributes free lunch to cancer patients
Mineral Eves Club, Hyderabad, a Ladies Club of NMDC officers' Head office, Hyderabad distributed free lunch to poor patients and their attendants at Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital & Research Institute at Jubilee Hills. The ladies of the Club personally served the food to the patients. Mrs. Sagarika Nanda wife of CMD, NMDC, Mrs. Bharti Singh wife of Director (Personnel), Mrs. Sipra Das wife of Director (Commercial) of the Club were present on this occasion while Mrs. Sutapa Bhattacharya, Secretary, Mineral Eves Club coordinated the programme.

Damodaran resigns as Director, Mahindra Satyam Ltd
M. Damodaran, Director has resigned from the Board of Mahindra Satyam Ltd w.e.f. March 31, 2012 due to his other responsibilities.

O P Bhat on the board of TCS
Former Chairman of the SBI O P Bhat has been put on the board of directors of Tata Consultancy Services, (TCS).

Milne is new CEO HSBC India Operations
Stuart Milne has been appointed by the HSBC as the new chief executive officer for its India operations.

Sekar resigns as director of Neyveli Lignite Corporation?
K Sekar has reportedly resigned as director (finance) of Neyveli Lignite Corporation.

Subramanian resigns as director of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries
Kalyanasundaram Subramanian has resigned as director of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.

Rao resigns as director of Suryachakra Power Corporation
P V Rao has resigned as director from the board of Suryachakra Power Corporation.

Suzlon approves constitution of Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee
The Board of Directors of Suzlon have approved the reconstitution of the Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee.The members for both will be Ashish Dhawan - Chairman {independent director), V.Raghuraman - Member (independent director), Marc Desaedeleer - Member
(independent director).

3 directors resign from Mind Tree
George Martin Scalise, Vittal Nagrajan and Mark Alastair Runacres have resigned from Mind Tree.

Warerkar has been appointed as additional director of TCI Industries
Sunil K Warerkar has been appointed as additional director of TCI Industries.

Bhandari appointed as director Gujarat Craft Industries
Anil Kumar Bhandari has been appointed as director of Gujarat Craft Industries.

Chhajer appointed as Joint MD Gujarat Craft Industries
Rishab A Chhajer has been appointed as joint managing director of Gujarat Craft Industries.

Saraf appointed as additional director of Supreme Holdings & Hospitality (India)
Sanjay Saraf has been appointed as additional director of Supreme Holdings & Hospitality (India).

Anand resigns as non-executive director of Avance Technologies
Rajeev Anand has resigned as non-executive director of Avance Technologies.

Forster ceases to be Director, Tata Motors Ltd
Carl-Peter Forster, Non-Executive Director has ceased to be a Director of Tata Motors Ltd w.e.f. March 31, 2012

Mohan resigns as Director (Corporate Affairs), Cimmco Ltd
Dr. Vinay Mohan, Director (Corporate Affairs) has resigned from the Board of Directors of Cimmco Ltd w.e.f. March 31, 2012.

Two directors cease to be on Board of Honda Siel Power Products Ltd
Takashi Nagai and Masato Saito have ceased to be Director of Honda Siel Power Products Ltd w.e.f. April 1, 2012.

Kanayama appointed Director, Honda Siel Power Products Ltd
H. Kanayama has been appointed as Director of Honda Siel Power Products Ltd.

Mittal appointed VP and Whole-time Director, Honda Siel Power Products Ltd
Vinay Mittal has been appointed as Vice President and Whole-time Director of Honda Siel Power Products Ltd.

Singh assumes charge as Director (Personnel), Powergrid Corporation Ltd
R P Singh has assumed the post of Director (Personnel), Powergrid Corporation Ltd with effect from April 1, 2012

Narayanan ceases to be Director, Indusind Bank Ltd
T. Anantha Narayanan, Director has ceased to be Director of Indusind Bank Ltd w.e.f. March 18, 2012 .

Ramasundaram appointed Company Secy. Marg Ltd
S Ramasundaram has been appointed as Company Secretary of Marg Ltd w.e.f. April 1, 2012.

Pension scheme!

The Interim Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority has put out an invitation for Expressions of Interest for sponsoring a Pension Fund under the New Pension Scheme.

As you are aware, the Parliament have been opposed to PFRDA Bill. We have had a number of rounds of discussions on the matter in the UPA government-Left Coordination meeting. The Bill has not been taken up for adoption pending this.

It is, therefore, surprising that the PFRDA has proceeded to operationalise the pension scheme. In the name of an interim step, some of the objectionable features of the Bill are going to be put in place. We wish to register our strong disapproval of this move.

We fail to understand how the Finance Minister has cleared this step, when he is fully aware of our strong and continuing objections. The Central and state government employees' organisations have also expressed their opposition.

We request you to put on hold the process of appointing pension fund managers initiated by the PFRDA and new pension scheme should be put on hold or taken back.

Bose

Govt should act tough

Why was the current General clawing for those 10 months more in office? Was he planning a coup? His scant regard for Dhotiwallas as also India, is quite apparent. What are his Grand Designs? Grander than even the respect and security of the country? It is time, the Government took a very tough step.

S Singh

PMO sore with MOSPI .

Even though the PMO last year ordered the splitting of MOSPI into Deptt of Statistics and Deptt of Programme Implementation, headed by separate Secretaries, the MOSPI mandarins have defied the PMO . It is understood that the PMO and Cabinet Secretariat have taken the
non-compliance seriously. Some heads may roll.

Durgesh Sahni

Late N.K.P. Salve was brother of 'Maa Nirmala Devi'

Late N.K.P. Salve is a Christian. Many people do not know that the sister of Salve, late Nirmala married a Srivastava and later on became 'Maa Nirmala Devi' with a number of followers.

A Srivastava

TAIL-PIECE

True even today!

Kai saal pehle jab Government officer ki haisiyat sirf cycle kaharidne kit hi, ek saab ne cycle kaharidi. Kuch dino baad unhone Carrier lagwane ke liye cycle dukan pe bheji. Dukandar ne Carrier to lagaya per Stand nikal liya.Saheb ne reason -pucha ,Dukandar bola Government officer dono nahin rakh sakta. Saheb agar 'Career' chahte hain to 'Stand' nahin le sakte aur agar 'Stand' lena hai to 'Career' gaya. This is even true today.

By - A Contributor

Disclosure of "Default Cases" of the Banks The appellant wanted details of default cases which were compromised by the State Bank of India (SBI) during the last three years. The PIO claimed the matter pertained to commercial confidence and disclosure of trade secrets may harm the competitive position of the entity. He also stated that the information sought was vast and disproportionately can divert the resources of the public authority as per section 7 (9) of the RTI Act. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) also upheld the PIO decision. The appellant argued that he was not seeking the names of the defaulting parties and therefore the argument by the respondents of compromising information pertaining to third parties should not arise. The CIC observed that disclosing the year wise aggregate settled amount by the banks with the defaulting parties will help in transparent functioning of the public authority which is the very objective of the RTI Act. Accordingly, the Commission directed the respondent to furnish information limited to the total number of entities who have defaulted and the total settled amount for the past three years. Comments The rising Non-Performing Assets (NPA) in the banks has been a matter of concern for the citizens which has been wrapped in an opaque process. Hopefully, the implementation of this order would help in restoring transparency in banking industry.

Citation: Shri Kulbhushan Jain v. SBI in Appeal: No. CIC/DS/A/2011/000841

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)