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An excellent site which enlightens all citizens to know inside information about Politics, Bureaucrats and senior level officers of various ministries at a glance.

Sunaina Singh

Will Vinod Rai make effective Lok Pal ?
At a high profile party attended by top politicians of different political parties and senior bureaucrats CAG Vinod Rai came in for discussion. And general consensus was that only a man like Vinod Rai can deliver the goods as a strong Lok Pal. The person who did not succumb to the pressure of any bigwig will be acceptable to all for the job of Lok Pal. One thing is certain only supporters of corruption will oppose tooth and nail any such move because of Russian saying " Fear has big eyes".

Why UPA is wrong about auctioning coal?
UPA is caught in the web of its own by making pursuing policies of the erstwhile government when it had all the opportunities to create a new policy framework. Had it auctioned the blocks as it is now planning to it would have led to fair pricing rather than an increase competition from imported coal would have meant that the miners do an efficient job and that too with mechanisation. However the question still remains unanswered why the UPA did not auction the blocks and go for allocations which is a worldwide practice.

BUREAUCRACY

Sutanu Behuria to be Secretary, Minority Affairs
Dr Sutanu Behuria is being tipped to be new Secretary Minority Affairs in the Government of India. He is a 1976 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre. Behuria will succeed Dr Surajit Mitra who is superannuating on August 31.

Two dozen 1979 batch IAS officers to be empanelled ?
If insiders are to be believed about two dozen IAS officers of 1979 batch IAS are expected to be empanelled to the rank of Secretary in the Government of India.

List of 1993 batch officers still in ACC
The list relating to empanelment of IAS officers of 1993 belonging to for empanelment as Joint Secretaries in the Government of India (GoI), is still in the ACC.

Empanelment of 1994 batch IFS officers soon
Empanelment of 1994 batch IFS officers is expected to take place later this year. Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai is believed to have moved a note to this effect.

Review of 1982 batch IAS officers
Review for empanelment of over half a dozen 1982 batch IAS officers to the rank of Additional Secretary in the Government of India is expected to take place next month. At least two IAS officers from UP cadre Dinesh Singh and Chandra Prakash, two IAS officers from MP cadre Aruna Sharma and Snehlata Srivastava and one Bihar cadre IAS officer Amitabh Verma are expected to be empanelled.

Will DG Military Intelligence go ?
Grapevine has it, that DG Military Intelligence Lt. Gen.D S Thakur is being changed. One can only wait and watch.

List of CITs in a day or two
Transfer and promotion list of Commissioners of Income Tax is expected to be issued in a day or two.

Samirandra Chatterjee to retire
Secretary, Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Samirendra Chatterjee is superannuating on August 31. He is a 1976 batch IAS officer ofAssam-Meghalaya cadre.

G N Sunder Raja is PAG (A & E), Hyderabad
G N Sunder Raja, Principal Accountant General (G&SSA), Kerala, Thiruvanthapuram, has been transferred and posted as Principal Accountant General (PAG) (A&E), Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, under the office of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Interviews for new Chairman SCI on August 31,2012
Interviews for the post of Chairman, Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) are scheduled to be held on August 31,2012.

Inter-cadre deputation of H S Meena extended
Government of India has approved an extension of inter-cadre deputation of Har Sahay Meena from Tamil Nadu to Rajasthan cadre for a period of one year. He is a 1997 batch IAS officer of Tami Nadu cadre.

Inter-cadre deputation of IAS officer cancelled
The inter-cadre deputation extension of Santosh Kumar from Maharashtra to Jharkhand has been cancelled. He has been repatriated to his parent cadre. He is a 1994 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Arun Kaul to be CMD, BoB ?
Arun Kaul, CMD of UCO Bank, is expected to move as CMD of Bank of Baroda most probably next month.

Deputation tenure of Ritvik Pandey extended
The central deputation tenure of Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey, Director, Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has been re-fixed for another ten 10 months. He is a 1998 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

Kanwar to be Member, MP HRC
V M Kanwar will be new Member of the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission(MPHRC). A 1977 batch IPS officer Kanwar is scheduled to superannuate on August 31.

Sridhar is now ahead for CS job in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalitha appears to have made up her mind to appoint TS Sridhar IAS of 1978 batch, who is an Iyengar Brahmin, like her as new Chief Secretary. He has the strong backing of of Ms. Jayalalthaa's most powerful Private Secretary S K N Venkatamanan who also belongs to the same Iyenagar community.

Benni Chinnappa to be RD,SSC-Chennai
As the grapevine has it, Benni Chinnappa on central deputation is poised to be Chennai based Regional Director (RD), in the Staff Selection Commission(SSC).He is an Indian Telecom Service (ITS)officer of 1999 batch.

Gaurav Shresh to be DHC in Singapore
Gaurav Shresh, Counsellor in Indian Embassy, Kabul, is going as Deputy High Commissioner in Singapore.

Narendra to be Director, Defence
As the grapevine has it, Narendra on central deputation is to be Director, Defence. He is an Indian Audit & Accounts Service(IA&AS) officer of the 1993 batch.

Manoj Kumar Sharma to be Director, Coal
As the grapevine has it, Manoj Kumar Sharma on central deputation is poised to be Director, Coal. He is an Indian Ordnance Factory Service (IOFS) officer of the 1989 batch.

Rajendra Pratap Singh to be Director, Commerce
As the grapevine has it, Rajendra Pratap Singh on central deputation is poised to be Director, Commerce. He is an Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) officer of the 1999 batch.

Lt Gen Bajwa to be new DG, Infantry ?
Lt Gen. Bajwa Commandant, Infantry School, Mhow is likely to succeed Lt. Gen. Vinod Bhatia as DG Infantry.

R K Tewari is new Member,CBDT
Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) officer, R K Tewari has been assigned charge of Member (IT), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Besides, he will also hold zonal charge of South Zone (Karnataka Tamil Nadu & Kerala).

DoPT yet to send panel for new Secretary to Vice President
As the grapevine has it, the DoPT is yet to send a panel for new Secretary to Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari who began his second innings on August 13,2012.

CBDT Chairperson & Members get zonal charges
Chairperson and Members of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) have been allocated zonal charges. Accordingly, Dr Poonam Kishore Saxena, Chairperson, has been assigned the charges of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujrat, Maharashtra while S S Rana, Member (P&V), will be holding the charge of Member (P&V), Mumbai, Member (IT), South Zone (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Central Circles) and K Madhavan Nair, Member (Investigation) was given the charge of all DGs (Inv), and CC (Central Circles). Similarly, S C Jaini, Member (Revenue), has been given the charge of Eastern zone (WB & North East), Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand; Dr Sudha Sharma, member (L&C) gets charge of Member (L&C), Delhi and NWR, Member (A & J), MP, Chattisgarh and UP.

P K Dave appointed consultant in Goa
Former Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Dr P K Dave has been appointed by the Goa Government, as a consultant to prepare the roadmap for health sector in Goa.

(We said this on May 10 & June 28, 2012)

Singhal is new ACP, Rajouri Garden in Delhi
Eish Singhal, on completion of 7th training has been transferred as ACP/Rajouri Garden(West Distt.) Delhi Police. He is an IPS officer of 2010 batch who belongs to the AGMU cadre.

Zones of 19 IT Inspectors re-allocated
Zones of 19 Inspectors of Income Tax (IIT) have been re-allocated in Income Tax Department. Accordingly, Abhijeet Kumar Benerjee and Pradeep Kumar Dahiya have been shifted to Jaipur while Jagannath Panda was moved to Mumbai and Dhirendra Kumar Singh is being shifted to Lucknow. Similarly, Asif Hussain and Amit Kumar Jha have been transferred to Guwahati; Purshottam to Chandigarh; Ajit Kumar Pandey to Patna; Rabi Narayan to Bhubaneshwar; Jitendra Nath to Delhi; Manoj Kumar Meena to Ahmedabad; Raj Kumar to Jaipur; Bheem Singh to Mumbai; Ram Ratan Bairwa to Jaipur; Ruchit Sarah Minz to Kolkata; Poluri Chenna Kesava Rao to Bangalore; Jeetendra Kumar to Lucknow; Arvind Kumar to Kolkata and Bala Raghu Ram Kumpatta has been transferred to Chandigarh zone.

Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh is new DG Assam rifles
Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh has taken over as new Director General of Assam Rifles in Shillong . He was on deputation to the home ministry.
( We said this on August 27 )

This is Maharashtra
Maharashtra may be the state where maximum IAS posts are grabbed by non-IAS. Citing the reason that junior IAS officers are not available, State Development Service officers are posted as CEOs of ZPs (which are cadre posts) in about 75% districts. Incidentally, while posting such officers many bigger districts like Pune, Amravati, Aurangabad went to non IAS! These non IAS are not even those in "zone of consideration" for promotion to IAS.

P D Mahale is PD, SWR, Hubli
P D Mahale, Principal Director, Regional Training Institute, Allahabad, has been transferred and posted as Principal Director (PD), South Western Railway, Hubli under the office of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Eight Gujarat SCS officers awarded IAS cadre
As many as eight officers of Gujarat State Civil Service (SCS) have been awarded Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre against the vacancies of 2010. They include B K Tacker, J K Astik, S L Amrani, M M Kotwal, M S Patel, B C Patni, L P Padalia and K D Chandani.

PS to Chhattisgarh Governor scheduled to retire this month
Jawahar Srivastava, Principal Secretary (PS) to Chhattisgarh Governor, is scheduled to retire this month. He is a 1988 batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre.

Administrative reshuffles in Chhattisgarh on the anvil
As the grapevine has it, exercise for transfers and postings of IAS officers likely to take place in Chhattisgarh soon.

Two IAS officers in MP shifted
Two officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) have laterally been shifted in the Ministry of Madhya Pradesh Government. Accordingly, Suraj Damor (1994 batch) has been posted as Secretary, Public Health and Family Welfare while John Kingsly A R (2004 batch) will now be Mission Director, Integrated Social Security and Director, Panchayati Raj.

IRS-IT officer M Sailo is also CCIT-II, Delhi
Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) officer, M Sailo, CCIT-I, Delhi, has been assigned additional charge of CCIT-II, Delhi.

Béteille to deliver keynote address at CIC's Annual Convention
India's leading sociologist and writer Andre Béteille would deliver the keynote address at the annual convention of Central Information Commission which is scheduled for 12-13 October. Béteille is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at University of Delhi. He is One of the leading social theorists; predominantly known for his studies of the caste system in South India.

MP cadre IAS officer authors book on Bhopal
A 1990 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Ashok Shah authored a book 'Vintage Bhopal'-virtually a pictorial history of Bhopal. This book was written by him when he was holding the charge of Commissioner Archaeology Archives and Museums in 2010. How many of us know that the prehistoric man lived in various places in Bhopal or that a request by Napoleon III for one of the carved gates of Sanchi resulted in the preparation of casts of East Gate of Sanchi which were presented to important Museums of Europe? Gita Subherwal, who works as Deputy Director in the Directorate of Archaeology Archives and Museums, is co-author of this book. Chief Minister Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan released the book in Bhopal on August 27, 2012. The authors have obviously worked very hard to collect photographs on various topics not seen before in a single book. It brings back images of the city which the younger generation has never seen or imagined. The book takes you through the reign of Parmaras, Gonds and the Nawabs. It is informative and interesting at the same time.

Bihar Chief Secretary gets post-retirement job
Bihar Chief Secretary, Navin Kumar who is retiring on August 31 has been appointed DG of Centre for Good Governance Society. He is a 1975 batch IAS officer.

Rear Admiral Ashok Kumar takes charge
Rear Admiral G Ashok Kumar has taken over as the Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, Kochi.

Transfers and postings in Railways (UPDATED)
A number of officers have been transferred and posted at different zones in Railways. Accordingly, Prashant Singhania, JS/IRTS(P), East Central Railway, has been transferred to South Eastern Railway while Vinod Bhatia, SG/IRTS, on return from deputation, was posted in the cadre of Northern Railway and Vinod Tamori, JS/IRTS/NF Railway, is being shifted to WCR and posted in the cadre. Similarly, V V Jituri, SAG/IRTS/ER, has been transferred to NWR and posted in the cadre; P Guha, SAG/IRTS/NR, is posted as Executive Director/Coaching, Railway Board; Vivek Srivastava, SAG/IRTS/NR, as ADRM/DLI; M Ravi Babu, SAG/IRTS/SCR, as ADRM/GNT and A K Samanta, on return from deputation, has been posted to Eastern Railway in the cadre.

File of K V Chaudhary cleared (UPDATED)
File pertaining to the appointment of K V Chaudhary as Member CBDT has been approved. He is 1978 batch IRS (IT ) officer.
( We said this on July 6 )

Conference of CCsIT/DGsIT postponed to September 3 (UPDATED)
The Conference of Chief Commissioners of Income Tax (CCsIT)/Directors General of Income Tax (DGsIT) scheduled to be held on August 31, 2012, has now been postponed to September 3, 2012 at New Delhi at 9.30 am.

Raghuram Rajan takes charge as CEA, Finance (UPDATED)
Raghuram Rajan has taken over as new Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) in the Ministry of Finance under the Government of India.
(We said this on July 4, 2012)

CBEC Members allocated charges (UPDATED)
Members of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) have been allocated works. Accordingly, Sheila Sangwan has been assigned the charge of Budget and Systems while Sandhya Baliga will be holding the charge of L & J and Shobha Chary is Member of P & V. Besides, Mary Jane Shanti Sundaram has been given the charge of Excise.

3 IAS officers posted in Tamil Nadu (UPDATED)
As many as three IAS officers have been shifted and posted in Tamil Nadu. Accordingly, Dr Niranjan Mardi has been appointed as Principal Secretary, Highways & Minor Ports Department while T K Ramachandran will now be Commissioner, Milk Production and Dairy Development and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation and Dr N Sundaradevan is Principal Secretary, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department.

Dr Mrinalini Darswal to be Director, NDMC (UPDATED)
The inter-cadre deputation of Dr Mrinalini Darswal from Odisha cadre to AGMUT cadre has been approved for the appointment as Director in New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) for a period of three years. She is a 2002 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre.

Local agitation against Vedanta's Alumina Refinery closure gains momentum (UPDATED)
A never-seen-before agitation supporting industrialization in Odisha brought life to a standstill. Thousands of people in Kalahandi district's Lanjigarh area and adjacent places like Biswanathpur, Daikhal, Ambodala etc. protested and shouted slogans demanding allocation of bauxite to the alumina refinery of Vedanta Aluminum Limited (VAL) in Lanjigarh. The people in these regions came to the streets on August 29, 2012 and observed a one day bandh. Due to scarcity of bauxite, VAL had to run its refinery at 40-50 percent of its capacity. If this situation continues, then it is anticipated that there will be a stoppage of production at Lanjigarh. The locals fear that this would lead to loss of jobs and affect livelihood.The protest was prominent in Lanjigarh and was spearheaded by Lanjigarh Anchalika Vikash Parishad. Sridhara Pesnia, president of the Anchalika Vikas Parishad said that the people in Lanjigarh were disappointed as their future appears to be in the dark since no bauxite mine has been allotted to Vedanta. "The alumina refinery should be provided bauxite from Odisha. The state and central govt. must ensure this, else the local people will be affected. Thousands of localities depend on the refinery for their livelihood. We will go to the Chief Minister and if
required to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister in future if bauxite mine is not provided to Vedanta", added Pesnia. Few days ago, nearly two thousand locals of Lanjigarh area staged a demonstration demanding bauxite mines for the Company.

IRS-IT officer gets non-functional upgradation (UPDATED)
Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) officer, Damodar Sarangi, who was retired as Commissioner of Income tax, has been granted non-functional upgradation in the Higher Administrative Grade (HAG).

3 IAS probationers get postings in Haryana (UPDATED)
Three IAS probationers of 2010 batch have been given postings in Haryana. Accordingly, Ms Garima Mittal has been posted as Sub Divisional Officer (Civil), Hisar while Prabhjot Singh will now be Sub Divisional Officer (Civil), Ellenanand and Rajnarayan Kaushik is Sub Divisional Officer (Civil), Jagadhri and Estate Officer, HUDA, Jagadhri.

CORPORATE

Rajiv Chopra selected as Director (Marketing), STCIL
Rajiv Chopra, CGM, MMTC, has been selected for the post of Director (Marketing), State Trading Corporation of India Limited (STCIL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting. As many as 10 persons were interviewed for the same. Chopra has more than 27 years of experience in various executive capacities in various fields of management and engineering with following leading organizations of country. He started career with NHPC in 1985 and worked here till 1991; POWERGRID from 1991 to 2007 and working with MMTC Ltd, as Chief General Manager since 2007.

VSC-M's Mumbai Chapter observes foundation day at SCI Ltd auditorium
Mumbai Chapter of the Vigilance Study Circle (VSC - M) celebrated the 2nd Anniversary of its foundation day at a simple function conducted in the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) Auditorium on August 28, 2012. R Sri Kumar, IPS (Retd), Vigilance Commissioner presided over the function as chief guest while S Hajara, Chairman & Managing Director, The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. was the guest of honour for this function. The following office bearers of VSC M were also on the dais who Vice President of VSC M A P Srivastava, IPoS, CVO of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust; General Secretary of VSC M M B Sagar, IPS, CVO of The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd; treasurer of VSC M RS Bora, CVO of Dena Bank. The function was attended by a large number of CMDs, CVOs and Nodal Officers of member organizations of the VSC M in addition to other invitees and guests including Directors, Executive Directors, Sr.Vice Presidents and Vice Presidents of SCI. Some of the CMDs of member organizations like M B Tanksale, CMD, Central Bank of India; R M Malla, CMD of IDBI Bank; D Sarkar, CMD of Union Bank of India also shared their views during this function. Thereafter, Sudhakar Kaaza, the CVO of Reserve Bank of India also spoke on the occasion.

Bhilai Steel Plant bags PM's trophy for best Plant for 10th time
Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), a flagship unit of Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), received the Prime Minister's Trophy for emerging as the best performing steel plant in the country in New Delhi. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh presented the Trophy for Best Integrated Steel Plant in the country to SAIL Chairman C S Verma accompanied by Chief Executive Officer, BSP Pankaj Gautam in the presence of Union Minister for Steel Beni Prasad Verma and Secretary (Steel) D R S Chaudhary. Stressing upon the need to bridge gap between steel output and consumption, Prime Minister expressed satisfaction at the expansion programme undertaken by public sector plants under SAIL, which, he said, "will not only increase their production capacity but also improve the efficiency and productivity". With this, BSP has achieved the unparalleled distinction of being the only steel plant in the country, public or private, to have been honoured with the prestigious PM's trophy 10 out of the 17 times it has been awarded since it was instituted. This speaks volumes about the committed and dedicated workforce of Bhilai Steel Plant. Steel from Bhilai has gone into various strategic sectors and projects of national importance, such as defense, atomic energy, power, infrastructure, heavy machinery, oil and gas, telecom, railway among others. The entire network of Indian Railways runs on rails supplied by Bhilai Steel Plant. The plant has been supplying rails since inception, and by now, the total length of rails supplied by Bhilai, if placed one after another, would encircle the globe nine and a half times.

Uppal quits Larsen & Toubro Ltd.
Ravi Uppal, Whole-time Director and President (Power) of Larsen & Toubro Ltd has resigned from the Board of Directors of the company. The resignation would be effective from September 15, 2012.

Engineer ceases to be Non Exec. Director, Tata Power Company Ltd
Adi J Engineer, Non-Executive Non-independent Director of Tata Power Company Ltd has ceased to be on the Board of Directors of the company.

Gupta appointed MD, Mahamaya Investments Ltd
Neeraj Gupta has been appointed as Managing Director of Mahamaya Investments Ltd .

Two Directors cease to be on Mahamaya Investments Ltd Board
Atulya Mafatlal and Hemat Kumar Desai have resigned as Directors of Mahamaya Investments Ltd.

Mankad appointed Addl. Director, Swaraj Engines Ltd
Sudhir G Mankad has been appointed as Additional Director of Swaraj Engines Ltd.

Vala appointed Independent Director, Aryaman Financial Services Ltd
Ms Tejal Vala has been appointed as the Independent Director of Aryaman Financial Services Ltd .

Datari quits Aryaman Financial Services Ltd
Mohan Datari has resigned as Director of Aryaman Financial Services Ltd.

Verma ceases to be Senior Vice Chairman, Punjab Communications Ltd
R K Verma, lAS has ceased to be Senior Vice Chairman cum Director of Punjab Communications Ltd.

Prasad appointed Company Secy., Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd
S Prasad has been appointed as Company Secretary of Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd

Agarwal appointed as MD of Axon Infotech
Giriraj Kishore Agarwal has been appointed as MD of Axon Infotech.

(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)

From profit making to Loss making

This is because the government has to seriously consider for appointing the full time CMD of any PSU. NFL is a mini ratna PSU without Full Fleged CMD for the last 2 years. This has resulted from a profit making PSU to a Loss making PSU.

Mahesh

Selection procedure subverted

The procedure for selection by Appointment Committee of Cabinet has been subverted by nepotism and cadre-affinity.

Vinay Shah

RIT

Protection to third party information under RTI Act

The appellant sought a number of information regarding a certain property. The Public Information Officer (PIO) refused to furnish information as the owners of the property denied their consent for disclosure of information under section11 of the Act. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) overruled the order of PIO and allowed the appellant to seek complete documents regarding the property. The third party filed an appeal before the Central Information Commission (CIC). The CIC observed that the FAA has neither provided any reasons for overruling the order of the PIO for directing disclosure of the personal information to the RTI applicant, nor recorded any larger public interest while arriving at this conclusion. The CIC held that the FAA appeared to have pronounced his orders without due application of mind and without keeping in mind the relevant provisions under the RTI Act. The Commission further stated that within the transparency Act the right to privacy and personal information have been placed on a separate footing and are protected under the provisions of Section 8(1) (j), Section 10, Section 11 and Section 19(4) of the Act. The Commission upheld the order of PIO and dismissed the appeal.

Citation: Mr. Brij Mohan Kohli v. Chandigarh Administration in Appeal/Complaint No. CIC/DS/A/2011/003691 and CIC/DS/C/2012/000698

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)