What people say about us!

Like many others my day too begins with the 11 AM updates and I always make it a point to go through 5 PM updates ! You and your team are doing a great service not only to the executives and corporate world but also to the society ! One knows things before others. Keep it up ! Let there be little more news/whispers about the corporate world ..especially banking!

Bikash

POLITICS

Does cash transfer have Congress divided?
It is understood that PM and most Congress ministers are divided on cash transfers. For instance Jairam Ramesh and P Chidambaram do not even agree on how the "cash" or the "entitlement" are to be transferred, and whether the infrastructure is in place.

Is Maharashtra CM likely to initiate a judicial probe?
It is heard that Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan is likely to initiate a judicial probe into the clean chit given to Ajit Pawar in the irrigation scam.

Is Sonia about to announce sops for minorities?
It is heard that in the NAC recommendations that are likely to be announced soon Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has agreed to give big sops to the minority community read muslims. Is it because the Congress fears it has done nothing for the community ?

Is RSS worried?
It is heard that RSS Sarsangchalak Mohan Bhagwat is worried that Hindutva is fast losing grip in the country there is serious brainstorming going on as to how the challange to save hindu's can be met with.

BUREAUCRACY

Justice Sen to move Supreme Court
Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Justice Vikramjit Sen is all set to be elevated as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India. Name of Justice Sen is believed to have been cleared by the SC Collegium.

Mittal gets additional charge of Disinvestment
Secretary, Financial Services, D K Mittal has been given additional charge of the Secretary Disinvestment. He is a 1977 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh. Secretary Disinvestment Mohammad Haleem Khan has retired on November 30.

Will Rajagopalan be Secretary, Disinvestment?
Will V Rajagopalan be Secretary Disinvestment? Chances of a 1978 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre Rajagopalan are rated high. One source however said that in the event of Behuria's move to Heavy Industries he may be appointed Secretary, Minority Affairs.

Farooqui gets addl. charge of Forests and Environment
M F Farooqui, Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India will hold the additional charge of Secretary, Forest and Environment. He is a 1978 batch IAS of Tamil Nadu cadre.

Ramasami gets additional charge of Bio-Technology
Dr Thirumalachari Ramasami ,Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology Government of India will hold the additional charge of Bio-Technology for three months.

A K Singh appointed new Chairman, APEDA
Apoorva Kumar Singh has been appointed new Chairman of APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Development Authority). He is a 1991 batch IAS of Haryana cadre.
(We said this on October 25, 2012)

Singh is new JS, Environment and Forests
Maninder Singh has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Forests and Environment in the Government of India. He is a 1989 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
(We said this on October 23, 2012)

Ajit Sharan unlikely to join GoI
Ajit Sharan is unlikely to join the Government of India on deputation. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

R P Singh appointed DDG, NCB
Rajinder Pal Singh has been appointed as Deputy Director General (DDG), Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), New Delhi. He is a 1987 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Sai Manohar appointed DIG, CBI
Sai Manohar Aramane has been appointed DIG in the CBI. He is a 1995 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.
(We said this on October 11, 2012)

Yadav joins Indian Embassy in Congo
Pradip Kumar Yadav has assumed charge at Embassy of India in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Katiyar promoted in CBI
Ratan Sanjay Katiyar, presently working as Superintendant of Police (SP) in CBI has been promoted to the rank of DIG. He is a 1998 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre.

Suresh Pal posted as Joint Secretary in GoI
Suresh Pal has been appointed as Joint Secretary to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. He is an officer of Central Secretariat Service (CSS).

CBI to appoint DIG rank officer in New York
India's premier investigative agency CBI, reportedly, is soon to depute a DIG-rank officer at Indian Mission, New York.
Tenure of Sharma to expire next month
Central deputation tenure of Joint Secretary (Administration) in Urban Development Department in the Government of India V K Sharma is coming to an end next month end.
Reddy to move to Geneva
B Nagabhushana Redy who is Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs is moving to Geneva.

Thakur is back to Orissa
Sudarshan Pal Thakur is back to the parent Orissa cadre after completion of central deputation tenure. He is a 1986 batch IAS officer.

R B Sinha posted as DG, Audit in CAG
R B Sinha, Principal Accountant General (Audit), Bihar, Patna, has been transferred and posted as Director General of Audit, Post and Telecommunications, New Delhi, under the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.

10 UP State officer awarded IAS cadre against 2001 vacancies
As many as 10 officers of Uttar Pradesh State Civil Service have been awarded Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre against the vacancies of 2001. The officers include: Balbhadra Nath Dixit, Mrs Alka Srivastava, Prabhu Dayal Srivas, Heeramani Singh Yadav, Vishambhar Nath Agarwal, Satyendra Nath Mishra, Om Prakash Narayan, Madhusudhan Swaroop Raizada, Shravan Kumar Sharma, Dr Sachchida Nand Pathak.

UP is short of 216 IAS officers
Largest Indian state Uttar Pradesh is currently having shortage of 216 IAS officers.

IAS postings in Orissa
B K Nayak has been appointed new Commissioner, Excise. R K Chaudhary will be Secretary State, Human Rights Commission. Nitin Bhanudas Jawale will now be Secretary Board of Revenue.

Raise personal income tax exemption to Rs 3 lakh: ASSOCHAM (UPDATED)
Raise personal income tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh, reduce service tax and excise tax to eight per cent from 12 per cent and increase deduction of interest on housing loan to 5 lakh to revive consumer demand and boost investment, ASSOCHAM said in its pre-Budget recommendations to the government. The effective rate of corporate tax should also be brought down to 25 per cent from 32.45 per cent at present. "The base exemption limit of resident individual below the age of 60 years should be increased to Rs 3 lakh, to incentivize people to come into the tax net , ensure higher collection from greater compliance and encourage consumption and savings," reveals the ASSOCHAM pre-Budget memorandum for 2013-14. The Pre-Budget memorandum for 2013-14 was jointly released by the President R N Dhoot, Chairman & Co-Chairman of taxes council Ved Jain and J K Mittal respectively and Secretary General ASSOCHAM Mr. D S Rawat. The excise duty and service tax rates were increased in the last two Union Budgets from 8 per cent to 12 per cent. Meanwhile the industrial growth has significantly fallen and due to low capital investment and high inflation, the demand for indigenous goods and services has been affected adversely. "It is therefore, recommended that the excise duty and service tax rates should be restored to the earlier level of eight per cent prevailing two years ago," the memorandum said. Dhoot said it was essential to revise the rate of depreciation on plant and machinery back to 25% from the existing level of 15% in view of the technologies. It said the tax base for goods and services has already expanded to generate high revenue and the government can selectively increase customs duty rates to neutralize the effect of lower tax rate of excise duty and service tax. Besides, by increasing customs rates, the government should protect the domestic industry from unfair competition from countries like China. There are cases where goods are being sold in the global market below production cost in highly competitive markets abroad. At present, the limit of deduction of interest on housing loan is Rs 1.50 lakh per annum. This should be increased to Rs 5 lakh to boost the housing sector as also give relief to middle class families. Moreover, to encourage investments in infrastructure during the 12th plan period, the deduction under 801A(4) "profit linked incentives in form of 100% deduction of income in SEZ development" must be continued, says the chamber chief. Moreover, with a view to have a level playing field and removal of such levies in the proposed Direct Tax Code (DTC), the additional levy of tax by way of surcharge and education cesses should be removed on corporate assesses and similarly education cess on non-corporate assesses. The surcharges, including the education cess were levied as a temporary measure. Further justifying the demand for tax reduction rates, at a time when the global economy is passing through tough times, "the Indian industry is facing competitive disadvantages due to complex multi-layered tax indirect tax structure having cascading effect on cost, high compliance cost and prolonged tax litigation". Another significant recommendation in the pre-budget memorandum submitted to the Finance Minister P Chidambaram relates to tax re-assessment in a blanket manner under Section 147/148 of the Income Tax Act on matters already examined.

REC wins silver medal in display at IITF-2012 (UPDATED)
Railway Electrification Corporation (REC) has won silver medal for excellent display of village electrification theme in the 32nd India International Trade Fair-2012 held from November 14 to 27, 2012 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi along with other PSUs of Ministry of Power under the Ministries and Departments pavilion category in a ceremony held on 27th November, 2012. Dr. D Purandeswari, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry gave away the awards in the presence of Rita Menon Chairman and Managing Director Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO).

Harish Gujarati joins DFCIL (UPDATED)
Harish Gujarati has taken over as Director, Operations and Business Development in Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCIL). Earlier, he was posted with Railway Board.
(We said this October 8, 2012)

IRS-IT officer quits service (UPDATED)
Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) officer, Sushil Kumar Negi, presently ADIT (Inv.) in the office of DGIT (Inv.), Patna has quit the service.

ICFRE's scientist Dr Rashmi conferred 'Innovator of Year Award-2012' (UPDATED)
Dr. Rashmi, Scientist, Chemistry Division, Forest Research Institute (Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education) Dehradun, was awarded 'Innovator of Year Award- 2012' by Uttarakhand Science and Technology Congress- 2012.

K K Jain selected as MD, FSNL (UPDATED)
K K Jain, GM, SAIL, has been selected for the post of Managing Director, Ferro Scrap Nigam Limited (FSNL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on November 4, 2012. As many as 11 persons were interviewed for the same.

CORPORATE

Shanker appointed Director (T&FS), ONGC
Shashi Shanker has been appointed as Director (T&FS) of Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC).

Chauhan quits Company Secy. SIL Investments Ltd
Ashish Chauhan has resigned as Company Secretary of SIL Investments Ltd.

Sethi appointed Communications Director, India for Boeing
Ashmita Sethi had been appointed as Communications Director (India), Boeing

Prasad appointed Company Secy. SIL Investments Ltd
Brajmohan Prasad has been appointed as the Company Secretary of SIL Investments Ltd

Mordani quits Parekh Aluminex Ltd
Vikram Mordani has resigned as Director of Parekh Aluminex Ltd.

Mikami quits Sharp India Ltd
Takashi Mikami has resigned as the Managing Director of Sharp India Ltd.

Isogai appointed MD, Sharp India Ltd
Tomio Isogai has been appointed as Managing Director of Sharp India Ltd w.e.f. December 9, 2012

Two additional Directors appointed on Board of Arnav Corporation Ltd
Arnav Corporation Ltd has appointed Dhiren Negandhi and Jayesh Shah as additional Directors of the company.

Negandhi appointed MD & CEO, Arnav Corporation Ltd
Dhiren Negandhi has been appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Arnav Corporation Ltd.

Murali quits Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd
Ms Bhoomijha Murali has resigned as Senior General Manager ( Legal and Company Secretary) of Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Chandrasekar is Company Secy., Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd
L Chandrasekar, Executive Vice President (Finance & Secretary) has taken over charge as the Company Secretary of Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Nakra quits Western India Shipyard Ltd
R S Nakra has resigned as Director of Western India Shipyard Ltd with immediate effect

Jain quits Adani power
CP Jain has resigned as Director of Adani power.

Shah appointed as Director of Arnav Corporation
Jayesh Shah has been appointed as Director of Arnav Corporation.

(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)

New CBI Director

As per WIC news, Ranjit Sinha took over as CBI Director on Dec 3, 2012. People of India have high expectations from him. Unfortunately, his selection was mired in controversies. The selection procedure for Director CBI should be amended to stall similar controversies in future.

The following considerations are pertinent : (a) The present procedure is arbitrary, discretionary and the same is based on 'pick and choose', ( b) The authority of selection lies solely with the ruling dispensation; (c) A transparent, non-partisan selection process is the sine qua non for making sensitive appointments; (d) Associating Cabinet Secretary with the selection is not advisable as he serves the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) as its Secretary ; (e) Furthermore, associating the outgoing CBI Chief with selection of incoming chief is unethical as it could bring in biases and prejudices.

Against this backdrop, it will be just and fair to conduct the selection of CBI Director in four stages as follows: (i)The DOP&T should identify 5 to 6 eligible candidates on the basis of criteria laid down in the RRs; (ii) The list should be screened by a committee of top twenty or so IPS officers of DG rank (excluding the eligible candidates) after taking into consideration the general reputation of eligible candidates, their finest qualities of head and heart and, of course, their seniority. The peer group in any organized Service is the best source for antecedents verification and assessing general suitability of candidates ;(iii) The draft short list, thus prepared, should be vetted by the CVC from vigilance angle; (iv) The CVC's recommended candidates must be interviewed by the collegiums headed by the PM with LOP (LS)and the CJI as Members. The selection should be finalized by the collegium on the basis of consensus. Recall the P J Thomas fiasco when the majority decision taken by the PM and HM, after ignoring the dissenting views of LOP (LS) attracted strictures from the Supreme Court. Let the GoI learn lessons from its past mistakes. The RRs of Director, CBI must be revisited by DOP&T and amended accordingly in consultation with the UPSC.

A K Saxena (A retired civil servant)

Functional upgradation not extended
In conformity with the IRS officers it is mentioned that- The CISF & RPF officers Recruited through Civil Services will get JS level in 30 yrs & HAG in 40 yrs of service. Even Functional Upgradation is not extended to them ? The Apex court verdict that GoI should bring parity in promotion & appointment is nt Going to be implemented. It is for
sure.

SR

Chairpersons of two IRS Boards sitting quietly

The Chairpersons of the two IRS Boards are sitting quietly waiting for some post retirement sinecure to come their way. The Members of the two Boards do not want to rock the boat either. They are very happy being at the top of their own ladders (howsoever humiliating the treatment vis a vis all other services). That is the reason why the IRS is treated in step motherly fashion.

Arjun Mallik

For political reasons

The minimum fare of Railway is Rs.2/- because of political reasons. This infact should be Rs.20/-. Further, the platform tickets are purchased only by the privileged.

Bimal Bahadur