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Harbans Nagokay

Cabinet reshuffle after August 15
As the grapevine has it, a reshuffle in the Union cabinet will take place after August 15

15 to 20 Ministers to be changed in next reshuffle
As the grapevine has it, whenever a major reshuffle in the Union cabinet takes place then 15 to 20 Ministers are to be changed.

Family loyalty and lack of problem solving are new UPA appointees
Sushil Kumar Shinde's claim to move to Home Ministry is that he is a family loyalist like Shivraj Patil.P Chidambaram moves into Finance courtesy FII lobby. But the UPA has changed portfolios at the time when both the key ministries are facing an acute problem that need tobe address. Assam is in flames over communal tensions and there is a massive power outage in the Northern grid over the past few days. Will loyalty and FII's pay for the nation needs ?

Is Montek hassled ?
Tottering finances that have been left by the erstwhile Finance Minister have left Montek Singh Ahluwalia in the Planning commission baffled. There is a big gaping hole in the expenses of the country, the mounting bill of compensating states for moving the new GST regime is not provisioned for, oil subsidies and a provision for Food security bill all have been left behind by Pranab Mukerjee.

Witch hunting about power collapse in 14 Indian states is on
A witch hunting has begun on the issue of power collapse in 14 Indian states.

Who is responsible for power woes?
Who is responsible for the power woes? This question is hot topic of discussion in corridors of power.

Many heads to roll in wake of power crisis!
As the grapevine has it, many heads are going to roll in the wake of severe power crisis that India has been reeling for the last few weeks.

BUREAUCRACY

P K Mishra gets additional charge of Secretary, Administrative Reforms
Secretary Personnel, P K Mishra has been given additional charge of the Secretary Administrative Reforms for three months. He is a 1976 batch UP cadre IAS officer .Secretary Administrative Reforms R C Mishra has retired on July 31.

Syed Naseem A Zaidi is front runner for EC's slot
As the grapevine has it, Syed Naseem A Zaidi is now front runner for the post of Election Commissioner (EC) in the Election Commission of India (ECI). He is a 1976 IAS officer of UP cadre. He had retired as Secretary Civil Aviation on July 31

IRS officer Chaudhary quits service
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, M N A Chaudhary, presently working as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi-VI, New Delhi, has resigned from the service.

Siddharth Sharma is new Financial Advisor to President's Secretariat
Siddharth Sharma( ICAS,1996 ) presently Director, Deptt. Of Expenditure , Ministry of Finance has been appointed as Financial Advisor to the President's Secretariat on a co-terminus basis

Maurya to be ED (Security), Air India
B K Maurya, IG(Admin), ITBP, FHQ, New Delhi is likely to be appointed as Executive Director, Security, Air India Mumbai. He is a 1990 batch IPS officer of UP cadre.

Chandrasekhar appointed SP, CBI (UPDATED)
V Chandrasekhar has been appointed as Superintendent of Police, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He is a 2000 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre.
(We said this on July 21, 2012)

Khopde to be DIG NIA ?
Sushill Mansingh Khopde , DIG,Shahabad rang ,Rohtas is likely to be inducted as DIG, National Investigative Agency (NIA), Mumbai. He is a 1995 IPS officer of Bihar cadre.

Will Bobde be CJ of MP High Court ?

Senior Judge of the Bombay High Court, Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde is likely to be appointed Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Orders of Justice Sikri in a week or two
Orders of Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri as the new Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court are being issued in a week or two.

Name of Justice Das was considered for Punjab and Haryana HC
Initially, the name of Justice Bimala Prasad Das of the Orissa High Court was considered for the post of the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

K M Prasad selected as MD, KAPL
K M Prasad, GM, KAPL, has been selected for the post of Managing Director, Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KAPL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on July 31, 2012. As many as 10 persons were interviewed for the same.

V P Singh is new DDG (Personnel), Posts
VP Singh (IPoS-1988) has been posted as Deputy Director General (Personnel) in the Department of Posts. He is replacing Salim Haque (IPoS-1984), who has proceeded on Central Deputation as Addditional Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission. VP Singh has so far been
working as DDG (Establishment) in the Dept of Posts.

Dayal is new DGP of Maharashtra
Sanjeev Dayal has been appointed new DGP of Maharashtra. A 1977 batch IPS officer, Dayal has succeeded K Subramanyam who retired on July 31.
(We said this on July 1)

Khilnani is new DG,ACB in Maharashtra
R P Khilnani has been appointed new DG of the ACB in Maharashtra. He is a 1977 batch IPS officer. Name of his batchmate P N Dixit was also in circulation.
(We said this on July 30 )

Sridevi Goel is DG SRPF in Maharashtra
Ms. Sridevi Goel has been appointed DG of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) in Maharashtra. She is a 1977 batch IPS officer.

Services of IPS officer confirmed
Competent Authority, Government of India has confirmed the services of Narendra Kumar Singh in IPS. He is a 2006 batch IPS officer of Jharkhand cadre.

Will Mukesh Jha replace B.K. Saha ?
With the appointment process going on for the new Chairman of the Central Warehousing Corporation Mukesh Jha's name has been doing rounds in the pursuit. Jha is CMD of Bridge and Roof Co. India, Kolkata.

Nilaya Mitesh soon to be elevated as Joint Secretary
Nilaya Mitesh on central deputation is a Director in the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in review has been cleared for empanelment as a Joint Secretary in the Government of India (GoI). He is a 1991 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

Neerja Gotru gets extension in CBI
Approval of the Competent Authority is hereby conveyed to the extension in the deputation tenure of Ms. Neeraja Gotru, IPS (GJ,1993), DIG, CBI from July 21, 2012 to July 20, 2013, in relaxation of IPS Tenure Policy.

Sarvjit Singh to go to Rabat
First Secretary in Amman Sarvjit Singh has been moved to Rabat.

Ms. Mathai posted as PD, ICED, Jaipur
Ms. Rebecca Mathai, Director of External Audit, World Food Programme, Rome, has been transferred and posted as Principal Director, ICED, Jaipur under the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.

Brig. Subodh Kumar,Dy. DG, Army Air Defence selected for 38th APPPA

Brig. Subodh Kumar, Dy. DG (A), Army Air Defence, has been selected for 38th Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA) to be conducted from July 2, 2012 to March 31, 2013.

Gopal C Manna empanelled as Joint Secretary in GoI
Gopal C Manna has reportedly been empanelled as Joint Secretary in the Government of India. He is an ITS officer of 1981 batch.

13 posts of Judges vacant in Rajasthan HC
As many as 13 posts of judges have been lying vacant in Rajasthan High Court against approved strength of 40. They include 11 posts of Permanent Judges against 32 approved strength and two of additional judges against 8 approved strength.

Mukesh Kumar gets addl charge of DGIT (Inv.), Bhopal
Mukesh Kumar, (DGIT Inv.), Lucknow, has been assigned additional charge of DGIT (Inv.), Bhopal.

Bhopal DGIT (Inv.) Suresh Kumar retires
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Suresh Kumar presently working as DGIT (Inv.), Bhopal, has retired.

Administrative reshuffle in Assam

Some administrative officers have been transferred and posted at different places in Assam. Accordingly, Jayanta Narlekar has been shifted as Deputy Commissioner of Kokrajhar while Puru Gupta will now be Deputy Commissioner of Chirang and Kavita Padmanavan is GMC Commissioner. Similarly, J N Subhramaniam has been transferred as Bilasipara SDO (Civil); Binod Seshan is transferred to Gossaigaon in the rank of ADC; D Gilfilon and Dr UN Bora have been asked to report to the Personnel Department, Dispur.

Sanjiv Roy posted as CSO, WCR, Jabalpur
Sanjiv Roy, on being relieved from the post of DRM, Secunderabad, has been posted as CSO, West Central Railway (WCR), Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.

S K Raina shifted to Northern Railway, Delhi

S K Raina, who was earlier DRM, Palghat and posted as CSO in February 2012, is now being transferred to Northern Railway (NR), New Delhi.

Venkadasamy made PCE, ECR, Bhuvneshwar
R Venkadasamy, CAO, Const South East Central Railway (SECR), Bilaspur, has been transferred as PCE in East Coast Railway (ECR), Bhuvneshwar.

Laj Kumar posted CAO, Const., SECR, Bilaspur
Laj Kumar, PCE in East Coast Railway, Bhuvneshwar, has been appointed as CAO, Const South East Central Railway (SECR), Bilaspur.

D S Meena shifted to NWR, Jaipur
D S Meena, SAG, IRSE, South East Central Railway (SECR), Bilaspur, has been shifted to North Western Railway (NWR)Jaipur.

Mukesh Gupta transferred to ER, Kolkata
Mukesh Gupta, SAG, IRSE, South Eastern Railway (SER), Kolkata, has been transferred to Eastern Railway (ER) Kolkata.

P K Acharya posted as CTE, ER, Kolkata
P K Acharya, SAG, IRSE, Eastern Railway (ER), has been posted as CTE in Eastern Railway, Kolkata.

Mangal Bihari Vijay is CTE, NWR, Jaipur
Mangal Bihari Vijay, SAG, IRSE, North Western Railway (NWR), Jaipur, has been posted as CTE in the North Western Railway (NWR), Jaipur.

Transfer orders of O N Verma to SR cancelled
Transfer orders of O N Verma, SAG, IRSE, from North Eastern Railway (NER) to Southern Railway (SR), have been cancelled.

Six officers posted as ADRMs in Railways
As many as six officers of Railways have been posted as ADRM. Accordingly, Vivek Srivastava, SAG, IRTS, Northern Railway, has been posted as ADRM, Delhi while V Thavamani Pandi, SAG, IRSE, Eastern Railway will now be ADRM, Salem, Southern Railway and M Ravi Babu, SAG, IRTS, South Central Railway, is ADRM, Gantur, South Central Railway. Similarly, Anand Bhatia, SAG, IRSE, West Central Railway, has been posted as ADRM,BSB, North Eastern Railway; A K Gupta, SAG, IRSME, South East Central Railway as ADRM, Bhavnagar in Western Railway and G V Ramana Reddy , SAG, IRSE, Western Railway, has been transferred to South Central Railway and posted as ADRM, Secunderabad.

Two officers shifted in Railways
R G Singh, SAG, IRSE, Northern Railway, has been shifted to North Eastern Railway and posted in the cadre while R K Bariar is being transferred to East Central Railway and posted in the cadre.

Dr. Poonam Kishore Saxena gets addl. charge of Chairperson CBDT (UPDATED)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS-IT) officer, Dr. Poonam Kishore Saxena has been given additional charge of Chairperson, CBDT. She is senior most Member of the CBDT.


Praveen Mahajan appointed as Chairperson, CBEC (UPDATED)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS-Customs) officer, Praveen Mahajan has been appointed as Chairperson of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). She succeeded S K Goel.
(We said this on July 26, 2012)

Transfers and postings in Railways (UPDATED)
As many as four officers have been transferred and posted in Railways. Accordingly, Vijay V Kitke, SAG, IRSE, South Central Railway, on being relived as ADRM, Secunderabad, has been posted in the cadre in the same zone while P Kalimuthu is posted to Southern Railway itself in the cadre and Ram Janm, SG, IRSE, North Eastern Railway is being appointed to officiate in SA grade on North Eastern Railway. Besides, G B Reddy, SG, IRSE, Southern Railway, has been appointed to officiate in SA grade on Southern Railway itself.

Ajeet Kumar Agarwal takes over as Director, Finance, RECL (UPDATED)
Ajeet Kumar Agarwal, ED, RECL, has assumed the charge of Director (Finance), Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (RECL). Agarwal, who holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from the University of Delhi, is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Agarwal has 29 years experience in Public Sector Undertakings.
(We said this on January 30, 2012)

Aditya Kumar Joshi deputed Director, DoPT (UPDATED)
Aditya Kumar Joshi has been deputed as Director in Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). He is a 1989 batch Indian Forest Service officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre.

7 DMs shifted in UP (UPDATED)
As many as seven District Magistrates (DMs) have been transferred and posted at different districts in Uttar Pradesh. Accordingly, Abhishek Prakash has been shifted as DM, Barielly while Manish Chauhan will now be DM, Lakhimpur Kheri and Sheetal Verma is DM, Unnao. Similarly, Navin Kumar G S has been posted as DM, Banda; Arvind Kumar Dwivedi as DM, Balrampur; Ms Nidhi Keserwani as DM, Shravasti and Sanyukta Sammadar has been shifted as DM, Kasganj.

Cabinet to consider new land acquisition bill next week: Anita Chaudhary (UPDATED)
The most expected upgrade on India's antiquated land acquisition laws will be considered by the Cabinet next week and efforts are underway to introduce the new National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill during monsoon session of Parliament, said Chaudhary. Speaking at an ASSOCHAM National Conference organized on August 1, on Creating Land Banks For Development: Planning and Implementation, Mrs. Anita Chaudhary, Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Dev said that "the government is only going to be a regulator and not regulating too much and that is balance of the bill is trying to make, not trying to put obstacles in the way of industrialization and at the same time farmers are not uprooted but rehabilitated and resettled. Land acquisition policy changes proposed by the Central Government along with the high cost of housing loans were making affordable housing for the middle class a difficult proposition, real estate developers said here today but department of land resources secretary Anita Chaudhary underlined the need for striking a balance between the interests of farmers and the land developers which would be the central feature of the bill. "The land acquisition bill is not against the interest of builder and industry" Mrs. Chaudhary assured. It is not a hurdle but a facilitator and enough flexibility would be there in the final version before the cabinet according to her. The Government was pushing for updating and computerizing the land records that would help curb land grabbing that was a major cause of discontent over land acquisition. To harmonize the interests of farmers and the developers, Navin M Raheja, Chairman, ASSOCHAM Real Estate Committee & CMD, Raheja Developers Ltd suggested that land acquisition agency should create land banks to which farmers could offer voluntarily offer their lands. In an analysis of government land policy DLF group executive director Rajeev Talwar pointed out that for all the regulations and DDA dominance, some 50 per cent of the people residing in the NCR were living in slums or unauthorized colonies. According to T C A Anant, Chief Statistician and Secretary, Department of Planning and Programme Implementation much of the problem was due to "opaque rules regarding land use change". He referred to the farmers stir in NOIDA against land acquisition and pointed out that when the farmers found that the land taken from them by the Government without specifying the purpose was being transferred to developers at much higher price, they felt that they could have themselves sold it to developers and directly benefited from it.

Inter-cadre deputation of Alam to Bihar extended (UPDATED)

The tenure of inter-cadre deputation of Minhaj Alam to Bihar has been extended for two years. Alam is a 1996 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre and working as Commissioner, Bhagalpur division in Bihar.

CORPORATE

Vinay Mittal inducted Member of High Level Committee
Railway Board, Chairman, Vinay Mittal, has been inducted as Invitee Member of High Level Committee on Financing Infrastructure.

S C Padhy selected Director (HR), NALCO
S C Padhy, Director (Pers), MCL, has been selected for the post of Director (HR), National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting. As many as 15 persons were interviewed for the same.

BHEL profit is up
The BHEL has reported a nearly 13 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 921 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2012. It had posted a net profit of Rs 815.5 crore in the April-June quarter of financial year 2011-12. B P Rao is the CMD of the BHEL.

Mecon registers highest turn over
Expert in engineering consultancy, Mecon limited has this time registered highest-ever turn- over of Rs.643.83 crore in the financial year 2011-12. K K Mehrotra is the CMD of the Mecon.

Allahabad Bank posts increase in profit
Allahabad Bank has posted a 23 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2012 at Rs 514.03 crore against Rs 418.13 crore in the same period a year ago. J P Dua is the CMD of the Bank.

Syndicate Bank makes net profit
Syndicate Bank made a net profit of Rs.440 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2012, an increase of 28.28 per cent over the previous year. M G Sanghvi is the CMD of the Bank.

Profit of Corporation Bank increased
The net profit of Corporation Bank for the first quarter ended June 30, 2012 has increased to Rs.370.26 crore from Rs.351.45 crore in the year-ago period. Ajai Kumar is the CMD of the Bank.

Khunteta ceases to be Directorn (Finance), REC
Hari Das Khunteta, Director (Finance) has ceased to be a Director of Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd w.e.f. July 31, 2012

Arun appointed Director, Titan Industries Ltd
T K Arun, General Manager and Secretary of Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (TIDCO) has been appointed as a Director on the Board of Titan Industries Ltd w.e.f. July 31, 2012.

Parthasarathy quits Titan Industries Ltd
V Parthasarathy, Nominee Director, Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) has resigned as a Director of Titan Industries Ltd.

Sridhar appointed Director, Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd
S Sridhar has been appointed as a Director of Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd w.e.f. July 28, 2012.

Kumar appointed Addl. Director, Mega Corporation Ltd
Shurab Kumar has been appointed as an Additional Director of Mega Corporation Ltd w.e.f. July 30, 2012.

Bhatt appointed CEO, Shilpi Cable Technologies Ltd
Manish Bhatt has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shilpi Cable Technologies Ltd w.e.f. June 01, 2012

Nagra appointed Whole-time Director, Agro-Dutch Industries Ltd
Harpreet Singh Nagra has been appointed as a Whole-time Director of Agro Dutch Industries Ltd w.e.f. July 1, 2012.

Bhatt appointed CEO of Shilpi Cabletech
Manish Bhatt has been appointed as CEO of Shilpi Cabletech.

Nagra appointed Director of Agro Dutch Industries
Harpreet Nagra has been appointed as Director of Agro Dutch Industries.

Arun appointed Director of Titan Industries
TK Arun has been appointed as Director of Titan Industries

Sen quits Dujodwala Products
Subhash Chandra Sen has resigned as Director of Dujodwala Products.

Tiwari appointed Addl Director of Ganon Trading and Finance Company
Manish Tiwari has been appointed as Additional Director of Ganon Trading and Finance Company.

Jha quits Cimmco
Manoj Jha has resigned as MD and CEO of Cimmco.

Dua quits Nectar Life Sciences
Dinesh Dua has resigned as Director of Nectar Life Sciences.

Nishimura appointed as Additional Director of Subros
S Nishimura has been appointed as Additional Director of Subros.

Agarwal appointed Additional Director of Sundaram Multi Pap
Mahesh Agarwal has been appointed as Additional Director of Sundaram Multi Pap

Chauhan quits IFM Impex Global
Satya Pal Chauhan has resigned as Director of IFM Impex Global.

(The views expressed in this column are of the contributors. We do not owe any responsibility, whatsoever, of the views of our surfers as they are their personal opinion. However, we would also request our contributors not to be personal, directly or indirectly, in presenting their views. Instead of countering the views which ‘X’ has already expressed, our contributors are advised to present their own views. Also be brief, say about 200 words at the most since any views longer than that if eliminated at our end would carry the risk of the contrbutor’s item losing its original essence)

Change of guard

I many a times deeply think that retirement is a good thing. It brings change. Old ones go and new ones come. It brings fresh ideas. Similar is impact of transfers and postings. It also brings new persons to chair. In department of posts, we all expect new change and positive mindset when new officers join as DDG (Personnel) and Director (Staff). It is a good thing. Department is bringing change. All pending work will now be cleared fast. There is good hope for all.

Jeesu Thomson

Mechanism already in place

A robust mechanism for monitoring cabinet decisions is already in place. Ministries already maintain a register about it.

H G Upreti

Making their case stronger

There is a question of prestige in society also in this world. If you allow the direct recruits SOs who belong to the Select List of Under Secretaries for the years 2004 and 2005 to jump the queue and make them Ad-Hoc Deputy Secretaries you are making their case stronger in the court for enabling them to state that 'even government is agreeing to arrangement'. Not to forget the Level 'E' training taken by these officials in ISTM.

Anju Saxena

Unfair empanelment process

As always the empanelment process has been completely opaque and unfair. Worthy officers have been left out, where as controversial figures have been included.

Anant

RIT

Information regarding the Cabinet meetings for a period of seven years

The request for information in respect of the Cabinet meetings held over a period of seven years was refused claiming that providing the information about all the items/ subjects considered in the meetings held during this entire period would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority and therefore, could not be disclosed as per section 7(9) of the RTI Act. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the decisions taken in the meetings under section 8(1)(i) stating that they are a part of the Cabinet papers and it was for the sponsoring ministry to decide finally if the Cabinet papers could be disclosed having implemented the Cabinet decision. Regarding the minutes of the meetings he invited the appellant to inspect the minutes register maintained in the Cabinet Secretariat. During the hearing, the respondent explained that every year, about 400 to 450 items came up for discussion in the Cabinet from various ministries and departments of the government and over a period of seven years, this number would be close to 3000 items. He submitted that collecting and providing this information to the appellant would be an extremely time consuming task and would disproportionately divert the resources of the Cabinet Secretariat. However, he offered that specific information in this regard would be provided if the appellant would identify any particular item or a few of those items. The Central Information Commission (CIC) agreed with the contentions of the respondent and advised the appellant to be more specific and ask for details of a few of these items so that the PIO can provide such information without putting strain on the resources of the Cabinet Secretariat. The Commission also observed that it is only the sponsoring Ministry or Department which can take a decision as to whether a particular Cabinet decision has been fully implemented or not; the Cabinet Secretariat cannot take such a call and decide about disclosing any Cabinet decision except those which arise out of any proposal of the Cabinet Secretariat itself.

Comments

The discussions in the matter point out that there is no mechanism at the level of the cabinet to be regularly updated about what action has been taken regarding a particular decision taken by it. It raises a question whether there should be a monitoring mechanism with the Cabinet to know of the fate of the decision taken by it?

Citation: Mr. R M V S Anil Kumar v. Cabinet Secretariat in File No.CIC/SM/A/2011/001691

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)