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Aaj Ki Aawaz

Today let me give elections a break!!!

Taking a Republic Day Parade Chit Chat break!!

Saw the Parade on the Telly!!!

For a change was a clear day in Delhi!!!

PM was at his Poker Face best!!!!

No emotion when he placed at Amar Jawan Jyoti wreath to rest!!

In fact it looks odd that Jawans place it and he just touches the wreath!!

I'm sure like me must be making you too with gussa seethe!!

Our PM has perfected the art of keeping a Poker Face!!!!!

He keeps the same face and does not bother about event or place!!

Madam President could also show some emotion,

When she gave the posthumous award in her demeanour 'no commotion'!!!

She can at least show compassion to the father or wife receiving the award!

Does she know on the one receiving the awards it's so very hard!!

Proud but very sad!!!

How painful it must be for a Father receiving award for his dead lad!

VP Ansari was there and thankfully he did not say Sine Die and end the parade!!

And while speaking to Thai PM why the 'accent charade'????

Madam Sonia was there looking happy but eye twitches gave away her act!!!

When she's worried her eye twitches shoot up and this is a fact!!

She smiled and eyes twitched like a flickering tube light!!!

Though outwardly she was a 'happy sight'!!

Advani was there and he looked uninterested!!!

Maybe after hectic campaigning at the Parade he rested!

Pranab Da was there looking like a tourist on Shimla's Mall!!!

And I'm sure Congress's fire fighter even at the Parade was on call!

Antony had his signature smile cum smirk plastered on his face!!!

And it looked as if away from COAS he was trying to race!!

He was cold with all three Service Chiefs but showed affection to others!!!

Maybe he feels all the Chiefs are Fauji brothers!!

PC was there looking like Agent Vinod ... pensive and worried!!!!

To put it mildly he looked 'flurried'!!

Pawar was there and he was looking all around!!!!

And then relaxed because nowhere 'Harvinder was to be found'!!

And was there a reason why Pawar and PC were made to sit side by side!!

Must be on perception...in their case those who have taken Nation for a ride!!

PM's got a fleet of BMWs and President has Mercs!!!!

VP too has a BMW.... this sure irks!!!

Why can't they have cars made by Mahindra or Tata????

Why when it came to buying cars for VVIPs the procurers to Indian cars said ta-ta?

Sonia uses Tata Safari SUVs.... for this she should be complimented!!!!

At least India's 'automobile capability' she's not dented!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

UPA 1 - Centres of Power
There were clear-cut three centres of power in the Manmohan Singh Government of India. They were AICC Treasurer Ahmad Patel, the then Minister of State Personnel Suresh Pachouri and the then Secretary to the Prime Minister, Pulok Chaterji.

UPA-2 - Centres of Power
For three years there were four centres of power .They were Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, T K A Nair AICC Treasurer Ahmad Patel, Media Advisor to the PM - Harish Khare and Union Minister Jairam Ramesh.

UPA-2 - Centres of Power - Now
And now who is the real power centre? In the corridors of power, one name is mentioned and that is of Principal Secretary to the Prime
Minister - Pulok chaterji. And the rest is question mark.

BUREAUCRACY

Devendra Chaudhary to be elevated
Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Devendra Chaudhary is being elevated as Additional Secretary. He is 1981 batch IAS officer of
Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Justice Bhandari to go to The Hague
The Government of India has nominated the Senior Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Dalveer Bhandari for the post of Judge of the International Court of Justice, The Hague.
(We said this on December 29)

Srinivasan is new AS, Space
S Srinivasan is all set to join as Additional secretary, Department of Space. He is 1980 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.

File relating CMDs in PS banks stuck up
File relating to elevation of six Executive Directors (EDs) as Chairman and Managing Directors (CMDs) in public sector banks is yet to be cleared Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

D S Kalha is new Secretary, Pharmaceuticals
D S Kalha has joined as new Secretary, Pharmaceuticals. D S Kalha is an IAS officer of 1977 batch who belongs to the Punjab cadre.

(We said this on Jan 14, 2012)

Jyoti Arora joins as JS, Power
Ms Jyoti Arora has joined the Government of India as Joint Secretary, Power. She is 1987 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.
(We said this on December 29)

Appointment of new DRMs on the anvil
As the grapevine has it at least six new Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) will be appointed soon.

CBDT Chairman to retire this month end
CBDT Chairman Mukesh Joshi is superannuating on January 31. He is 1974 batch IRS (IT) officer.

Who will be Chairman of CBDT?
Committee of Secretaries are meeting today to select new Chairman of the CBDT. Names of Laxman Das, Manjari Kackar and Poonam Kishore are to be considered.

1978 batch IPS empanelment meeting again today
Meeting for empanelment of 1978 batch IPS officers to the rank of DG in the Government of India remained inconclusive on Wednesday. Now the meeting is going to take place again on January 27. Difference of opinion over a couple of names has led to this meeting.

IPS couple to go on inter-cadre deputation
Kumar Vishwajeet and his wife, Abhilasha Bisht, are likely to go on inter-cadre deputation to Uttarakhand. Both are 1994 batch IPS
officers of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

2 DMDs to be appointed in Exim Bank of India
Two incumbents on newly created posts of Deputy Managing Directors (DMDs) will be appointed in the Exim Bank of India.

NHB to open 2 new offices says bank's CMD Raj Vikas Verma
Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of the National Housing Bank (NHB), Raj Vikas Verma said that the bank is going to an
office each Tripura & Jaipur.

Judges vacancy figure rises to 273 in 21 High Courts
Five more posts of Permanent and Additional Judges have fallen vacant touching total figure to 273 in 21 High Courts in the Country.

Hunt on for new CEO, KVIC
A hunt is on for new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) as present CEO, J S Mishra will be retiring in February 2012. He is an IAS officer of 1980 batch who belongs to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) cadre.

Director Police to return to parent cadre
Tenure of Mrs. Inderjeet Kaur, Director Police, Ministry of Home Affairs, is going to expire shortly. She is an Indian Defence Estates
Service 1990 batch officer.

1979 batch IPS to get DG rank in Andhra Pradesh
Five 1979 batch IPS officers in Andhra Pradesh, Mssrs Ashok Prasad, T P Das, Ms. Aruna M Bahuguna, B Prasada Rao and Syed Anwarul Huda are being promoted to the rank of DG.

Kundu is CFC for Assembly elections
Sanjay Kundu, IG (Ops) BSF FHQ New Delhi has been appointed as (CFC) Chief Force Coordinator by MHA for 5 state assembly elections. BSF has been designated as the nodal agency for force Coordination of CPMFs & state armed polices for the 5 state assembly elections. He is an IPS officer of 1989 Batch who belongs to Himachal Cadre.

SAG panel of IRSS this month
SAG panel of remaining 11 ,1987 batch IRSS officers is likely to be approved by this month end and posting is to completed by Feb. 15.

Promotion and posting of remaining 1990 batch IRS officers by March
Promotion and posting of remaining about one dozen 1990 batch IRS (IT) officers is going to take place by March end.

Debabrata Das, IES, promoted as Adviser, Planning Commission
Debabrata Das, Director, Planning Commission, has been promoted to Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) and posted as Adviser, Planning Commission. He is an Indian Economic Service (IES) officer of 1980 batch.

Jayant Das Gupta promoted as GM (ATM), CSIA, Mumbai Airport
Jayant Das Gupta, Joint Secretary (ATM), has been promoted as General Manager (ATM) and will retain at CSIA, Mumbai Airport.

Malhotra to replace Mukesh Kumar in Harare
R S Malhotra is going to replace Mukesh Kumar in Harare as First Secretary. Kumar is moving to Canberra.

PAKISTAN WHISPERS
Parliamentary Committee Summons Ijaaz on 10 Feb
Pakistan's parliamentary committee on national security (PCNS) probing the 'memogate' has summoned US businessman of Pakistani origin and central character in the case Mansoor Ijaaz to appear before it on 10th February for recording his testimony. After detailed briefing from the attorney general regarding security arrangements for Ijaaz the committee expressed its satisfaction over the arrangements. Ijaaz'z counsel Akram Sheikh has declined to give any assurance to the Supreme Court appointed commission for his appearance on 9th February in the same case and there is little hope of his appearing before PCNS on 10th February either.

Aung San Suu Kyi given Benazir Bhutto Award for Democracy
Pakistan's President Asif Zardari conferred the Shaheed Benazeer Bhutto award for democracy on Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi for 'her courage and the self less pursuit of the noble ideals of equality, justice and human dignity encapsulated in her life long struggle for democracy'. Late Benazir Bhutto's daughter Areefa presented the award to Suu Kyi during a ceremony held at her residence
in Yangon on 25 January 2012.

PM's Principal Secretary, 2 former DGs of FIA face legal action
Pakistan's supreme court has ordered the federal investigation agency (FIA) to initiate legal action against Khushnood Lashari, Principal
Secretary to Pm and two former DGs of the FIA Waseem Ahmed and Malik Iqbal for 'letting off a former Adviser of PTV Khurram Rasool who is wanted in a case of fraud and cheating. Khurram who was earlier press advisor to the PM is accused of having taken Rs 430 million from a Karachi based businessman assuring him of getting CNG licenses and contracts for oil supplies to NATO in 2009. PM's principal secretary and the two successive former DGs of FIA are alleged to have helped the culprit who is now absconding, evade arrest.

Republic Day celebrated at NMDC (UPDATED)
NMDC celebrated 63rd Republic Day at its Corporate Office in Hyderabad and its various units. N K Nanda Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NMDC Limited, Hyderabad, after unfurling the national flag in presence of all functional Directors of the company, congratulated its employees for their dedicated work and commitment for keeping the company's performance at its peak. In his Republic Day address, Nanda elaborately mentioned about the NMDC's major contribution in the social and economic development of India, especially in the development of remotest tribal areas of Bastar, Chhattisgarh. Nanda also emphasized that Corporates should be more socially responsible towards the community and the nation. He further mentioned that NMDC as a good corporate citizen has taken various steps to improve the quality of lives of not only employees and their families but also of people living near NMDC projects. Similarly NMDC has been a forerunner in corporate social responsibility towards the community. Besides, Nanda emphasized that NMDC is on a tremendous growth path with various plans of expansion and diversification and expected all employees to put in their best efforts to take NMDC to greater heights of excellence. Nanda gave away prizes to winners of various cultural events conducted by the company on the occasion.

Is Fourth Phase in UP on February 19 going to most interesting ? (UPDATED)
Polling for the fourth phase of elections in UP will cover 56 seats. In this phase, senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Kalraj Mishra
would be making his debut in electoral politics from Lucknow east seat, whereas UPPCC president Ms.Rita Bahuguna Joshi would be contesting from Lucknow Cant seat. Congress Legislative Party leader Pramod Tiwari would be seeking re-run from his traditional Rampur Khas seat in Pratapgarh district. This phase would also test the luck of Louis Khurshid, wife of Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid from Farukkhabad Sadar seat. Senior BJP leader and MP Lalji Tandon's son Ahustosh Tandon alias Gopal would be making debut from Lucknow north seat. Independent candidate from Rae Bareli Sadar seat Akhilesh Singh would be contesting as Peace Party candidate, whereas heavyweight and sitting MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya would be testing his luck from Kunda seat. Veer Singh, son of slain dacoit Daddua, would be contesting for Karvi seat in Chitrakoot as SP nominee.

PM constitutes Expert Committee on Sugar Sector (Updated)
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has constituted an Expert Committee on Sugar Sector under the Chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, to examine issues relating to the sugar sector. The other members of the committee are Dr. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance; Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution; Secretary, Department of Agriculture; Dr. Ashok Gulati, CACP ; Nand Kumar, former Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution and Department of Agriculture and Cooperation and presently Member NDMA and Dr. K P Krishnan, Secretary EAC - Convener. The Committee which will look into all the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector has been empowered to involve such experts, academics as required as special invitees.

Two IRS officers get posting (UPDATED)
Two Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers have been given posting on return from deputation. Pradeep Kumar and V K Saxena have been posted as OSD in the CCIT (CCA), Delhi.

Laxman Das to be new Chairman CBDT ? (UPDATED)
Committee of Secretaries is believed to have cleared the appointment of Laxman Das for the post of Chairman CBDT.

Transfers and postings in Railways (UPDATED)
Services of some officers have been affected in Railways. Accordingly, Krishan Kumar Meena of JS/IRTS from NFR has been shifted to NWR while the transfer order of Arun Kumar of SAG/IRSSE from NCR to CORE has been cancelled and Niraj Sinha of SAG/IRSSE from NCR is being transferred to CORE in the same capacity and posted in the cadre. Besides, P Behra of SAG/IRSEE, on return from training, has been posted to ECOR in the same capacity.

Rameshram Mishra is now PS, Revenue in TN (UPDATED)
Rameshram Mishra, Principal Secretary, Home, Prohibition and Excise Department, has been made Principal Secretary, Revenue Department. He is a 1980 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.


R Rajagopal posted as PS, Home, Prohibition in TN (UPDATED)
R Rajagopal, Principal Secretary, Revenue, has been posted Principal Secretary, Home, Prohibition and Excise Department. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.

Shaktikanta Das is now AS DEA (UPDATED)
Shaktikanta Das has been elevated as Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs. Das is 1980 batch IAS officer of
TamilNadu cadre.

Anuradha Gupta is now AS Health (UPDATED)
Ms Anuradha Gupta has been elevated as Additional Secretary Health in the Government of India. She is 1981 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

DEBATE

Is it appropriate or inappropriate for an elected representative to address a bureaucrat as "Sir"?

Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik has asked Cabinet Ministers to maintain dignity of the office. Patnaik conveyed his mind when a Minister addressed "Sir" to an IAS officer in his presence. "You are Cabinet Minister and should maintain your dignity" the Chief Minister said. How far it is appropriate or inappropriate for an elected representative to address a bureaucrat as "Sir".

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

CORPORATE

Amin nominated as Part-time Director, SBI
The Central Government, in consultation with Reserve Bank of India, has nominated Deepak Ishwarbhai Amin as a Part-time Non-official
Director on the Central Board of Directors of State Bank of India for a period of three years.

Desai ceases to be ED & Director, Shah Alloys Ltd
Mahendra P Desai has ceased to be Executive Director (Works) and also Director of Shah Alloys Ltd on account of his resignation from the
company.

Singh resigns as Whole-time Director, Asahi India Glass Ltd
The Board of Asahi India Glass Ltd has approved the resignation of Arvind Singh, as Whole - time Director of the company w.e.f. January
1, 2012.

Swaminathan appointed Addl. Director, Magna Electro Castings Ltd
C. R. Swaminathsn has been appointed as Additional Director of Magna Electro Castings Ltd w.e.f. January 25, 2012.

Gupta appointed ED, IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd
IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd appointed Mukeshlal Gupta as an Executive Director of the company w.e.f. February 1, 2012.

Agarwal re-appointed MD, Bhilwara Technical Textiles Ltd
Shekhar Agarwal, Managing Director of Bhilwara Technical Textiles Ltd whose tenure ends on April 5, 2012 has been re-appointed as Managing Director of the company w.e.f. April 6, 2012.

Moorthy resigns as Whole-time Director, Sequent Scientific Ltd
Koduru Rama Narasinha Moorthy, Whole-time Director of the Sequent Scientific Ltd has resigned as Director of the company w.e.f. January 23, 2012.

Singh appointed GM, Taj Banjara, Hyderabad
Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has appointed Ranju Singh as General Manager of Taj Banjara, Hyderabad.

Phadke appointed Manager (HR), Courtyard by Marriott Pune City Centre
Ashutosh Phadke has been appointed as Manager (Human Resources) for the Courtyard by Marriott Pune City Centre.

Singh resigns from Asahi Glass
Arvind Singh, Director - Asahi Glass, has resigned from the company.

Palfenier quits Agro Tech Foods
David Alan Palfenier has resigned as Director and Chairman of Agro Tech Foods.

Lehmann quits WABCO- TVS
Kurt Lehmann, non independent Director of WABCO -TVS, has resigned from the company.

Inducing another brain drain?

It has become the habit of this government to destroy reputations of all national icons and heroes. How else would one describe the murderous attack on the reputation of Madhavan Nair? Who launched the Chandrayaan-I successfully? Madhavan Nair & his team of eminent scientists or the repulsive thoroughly corrupt politicians? Is this the way to treat national heroes? What was the battalion of bureaucrats of the level of Secretary/Cabinet Secretary to the Govt of India doing while officially associated with ISRO? ISRO functioned directly under the Prime Minister. Was he sleeping? Is there a design to destroy India's capability in the scientific and technological field? Is the goal to force scientific and technical talent to migrate to other countries for better work culture and prospects? GM Seeds are being forced on us; FDI in retail is being imposed on us; civil nuclear deal (deal???) has been thrust on us putting our nuclear facilities to inspection by inimical forces abroad; Army Chief publicly embarrassed; CWG scam heaped shame on the nation destroying sports; run away inflation mocking our economy; democracy compromised in UP elections; honesty ridiculed by corruption and scholars and writers humiliated by low level politicians on TV shows daily. The nation stands threatened. 2014 General Election is not far away. India against corruption campaign has been successfully controlled. Next 24 month will see unprecedented corruption. Reputations of honest public servants will be sacrificed for the sins of politicians. Only a fool would believe that the government was totally unaware of the development in Anthrax deal. But which government servant can stand up to the corrupt ministers or centres of extra constitutional power? When their names are about to become public, the honest public servants are vilified, defamed and painted corrupt and penalized even before any inquiry or appeal. The PM must apologize to Madhavan Nair and his team for this act of defamation and take whatever action is required under the law. Others make it look as ludicrous as the Lokpal Bill affair.

M L Gupta

Take an eye for an eye!

Isn't it atrocious that a country like Norway has the arrogance to kidnap two Indian children from their parents and detain them in preventive custody on the absurd grounds that their parents hand fed them? This is the country which bred such horrors like Anders Brehmen Brevik, a mass murderer who killed over 90 teenagers in cold blood after detonating an RDX style explosion in the city centre of the capital of Norway, Oslo. What lessons in child upbringing can such a country give to Indian parents who are known the world over for being the most caring and loving parents in the whole world? Shoudn't the Indian authorities also respond in like fashion and kidnap and detain two Norwegian children for 8 months and then make the Norwegian government sign a humiliating bond for their safe upbringing? We should always take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This is the only lesson foreigners understand. The 1.2 billion people of India owe Brinda Karat a special thanks for taking the initiative and freeing the unfortunate children from inhuman captivity.

D Choudhury

Make empanelment common to all cadre batch wise

Regarding empanelment in JS.IAS/IFS empanelled till 1991/92 batches. The fate of Central Services is at stake. Some services like IDAS,IAAS got their officers empanelled upto 1988 before June 2011 whereas many organised Accounts Services including Revenue Services empanelled till 1984/85 batches. Question is that why cant DoPT make empanelment common to all cadre batch wise for Central Services?

G C Khan

Using RTI to get a CGHS claim cleared

In respect of a CGHS claim, an appellant sought the details of items of theclaim which weredisallowed by CGHS along with the reasons and the copies ofcirculars on the basis ofwhich the items were disallowed, and whether thecirculars were available onthe CGHS site. The PIO demanded Rs. 8/- for the 4 pagesof information whichwere duly deposited by the appellant. He was not satisfiedwith the replysupplied by the PIO and filed an appeal before the FAA who askedthe appellantto visit the office of FAA on any working day by appointment fordiscussing theRTI of Appellant. After a perusal of the papers, the Commissionobserved thatthe information has not been supplied to the Appellant despitepayment of theadditional fee. The Commission directed to provide theinformation to theAppellant before 05 February 2012 and issued a notice to thePIO why penalty shouldnot be levied on him.

Comments

The case discussed above shows how the RTI Act can be used to solve some of theproblems which the government servants encounter on day-today basis.

Citation : Mr. A.L. Makhijani v. CGHS in Decision No.CIC/SG/A/2011/003275/16955

- Weekly article by Dr. (Mrs.) Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in), RTI Consultant to IIM, Indore and Co-author of the book: RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE by Taxmann. (The views are Personal)