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O N Gaur

Has Yeddy lost vote bank in Karnataka?
It is heard that the Lingayat vote bank which accounts for nearly 17 per cent of the vote share and a reason for Yeddy's rise to power is quiet fed up with his antics.

Do BJP's CM know secret of central leadership?
The central leadership is a coalition of political featherweights and can hardly afford to take a firm action against most the CM's without inviting damaging consequences says an insider. The CM's know they are irreplaceable as a vote-puller and so they dictate terms.

Is Ashok Chavan lying under oath?
It is heard that ex Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is lying under oath sources say that he has many scores to settle with bureaucrats and politicians. Will it work for him?

Are charges against Jagan being reviewed?
It is heard that the charges against Jagan Mohan Reddy are being reviewed under the IPC and fresh and more severe charges are likely to be added.

Is SME and MSME slowdown evident in Cargo movement?
Truck rentals across the country have fallen by eight to 10 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal after having witnessed a rise for close to three years. Sources say that Cargo offerings from the small and medium sector which accounted for a major portion of the
traffic have slipped by 10-15 per cent. This has also led to a decline in truck sales in the three months of the first quarter of the current fiscal by nearly 15-18 percent.

Has RBI rejected proposal of debt restructuring of textile sector?
RBI has rejected the demand for a debt restructuring package that was being demanded by textile sector due to a rise in raw material costs. Instead the apex bank has convened a meeting on July 13 between industry and bank representatives, as also other stakeholders, to formulate restructuring proposals on a case-by-case basis. The RBI has reasoned that with the softening of the cotton and cotton yarn prices, the profitability of the sector is expected to return. The bank also said that it does not see the industry's problems as "severe or catastrophic".

IFS officers of 1993 batch empanelled as Joint Secretaries in GoI
Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers belonging to 1993 batch have been empanelled as Joint Secretaries in the Government of India (GoI).

Name of Ajay Chibber is also in circulation
Now the name of Ajay Chibber is also in circulation for the post of Chief Economic Advisor. He is presently in the UNDP.

Ishwar Prasad refuses to become CEA
If insiders are to be believed, the Government was keen to appoint Ishwar Prasad with IMF background as Chief Economic Advisor but he reportedly declined.

Whose man will be new Secretary, Civil Aviation ?
This is the hot topic of discussion in the IAS circles whose man will be new Secretary ,Civil Aviation ?. Will he be a man of Goyal or of GMR ? Will he be man of Indigo ? Will he be man of Mallya or Will he be a man of GVK ? Post of Secretary Civil Aviation is falling vacant on July 31.


Anurag Srivastava is new Joint Secretary, I & B
Anurag Srivastava has been appointed as new Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in place of Khurshid Ahmed Ganai. He is a 1992 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
(We said this on July 2)

Will Gupta be Chairman of Warehousing Corporation ?
Name of outgoing Secretary, Food B C Gupta is doing the round for the post of Chairman Warehousing Corporation. He is an retired IAS officer of1975 of Punjab cadre.

M Nagaraju avails one year study leave
M Nagaraju, whose tenure as Executive Director's (ED's) Advisor in the World Bank (WB) had ended, has proceeded on one year study leave. He is an IAS officer of Tripura cadre of 1993 batch.

Garg is Registrar, SEBI run NISM
G P Garg, who so far was a Chief General Manager (CGM) in Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been posted as Registrar in the Vashi (Mumbai) located National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) being run by the SEBI.

P N Radkar selected for Director (Tech), SPMCIL
P N Radkar, Director (Tech), BRBNM, RBI, has been selected for the post of Director (Technical), Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on July 9, 2012. As many as 10 persons were interviewed for the same.

Cadre of IPS officer changed from Odisha to Rajasthan
Cadre of Satender Kumar, SP Boudh, Odisha Police has been changed from Odisha to Rajasthan,on marriage Grounds. He is an IPS officer of 2007 batch of Odisha cadre.

Lipika Roy Chaudhary to be Member,CBEC
In all probability, Lipika Roy Chaudhary will join as Member of the Central Board of Excise and Customs in September.

Malay Mukherjee's file moved for ED, Central Bank
As the grapevine has it, file relating to Malay Mukherjee's elevation from General Manager (GM) in the Indian Bank to an Executive Director (ED) in the Central Bank of India (CBI) has moved further.

Dr. Soorya Thankappan to be SP, CBI
Dr. Soorya Thankappan, SP, Mayurbhanj, Odisha Police, is likely to be inducted as SP in Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI). He is an IPS officer of Odisha cadre of 2001 batch.

Bansal to back from Canada
S K Bansal is all set to return from his Canada posting to India. He is a 1987 batch IPS officer of Orissa cadre.

IA&AS officer to join CBI
P V Hari Krishna, Senior Deputy Accountant General (IA&AS 2000) is joining the CBI as SP on deputation basis for an initial period of four years from the date of assumption of charge of the post.

Amit Kumar to get promotion in CBI
Amit Kumar, SP, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is likely to be promoted as DIG. He is an IPS officer of 1998 batch of Chhattisgarh cadre.

Babu to move to Moscow
Bandaruwilson Babu is moving as First Secretary in Indian Embassy, Moscow, from the Ministry of External Affairs Headquarters.

Goa CM unlikely to accept Spolia or Patnaik as CS?
Goa Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar is unlikely to accept senior IAS officers like D M Spolia or J S Patnaik as Chief Secretary of the state.

C Nedunchezhian promoted to AG, CAG, Chennai
C Nedunchezhian, Senior Deputy Accountant General in the office of Principal Accountant General (G&SSA), Tamil Nadu, Chennai, has been promoted to the grade of Accountant General (SAG) under the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.

13 posts of Judges vacant in Gujarat HC
As many as 13 posts of judges have been lying vacant in Gujrat High Court against 42 approved strength including eight posts of Permanent Judge against 29 approved strength and eight of Additional Judges against 13 approved strength.

Kamal Bhagat, JS, UPSC selected for 38th APPPA
Kamal Bhagat, Joint Secretary, UPSC, has been selected for 38th Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA) to be conducted from July 2, 2012 to March 31, 2013.

Anurag Sharma appointed Under Secretary, DoPT
Anurag Sharma has been appointed as Under Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

PESB seeks applications for Director (Pers.), GRSE
Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) is seeking applications for the post of Director (Personnel), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE) falling vacant next year on May 1, 2013. Those willing to apply can send their applications to PESB before September
6, 2012.

Four promoted officers of CSS get postings in GoI
Four officers of Central Secretariat Service (CSS), who were promoted as Director in Senior Selection Grade, have been posted to various Ministries in Government of India. According, J A Vaidyanathan has been posted to DoPT while Girish Kumar was appointed at Home Affairs
and Dinesh Kumar is being posted to Urban Development. Besides, S K Jha will remain in UPSC.

Ms Sailo from N-East is Member, Women Commission in Delhi
Ms. Laldingliani Sailo (retired IRS officer), from Mizoram has been inducted as Member of Delhi State Commission for Women. Her tenure will be for three years. Notably, Delhi has a very sizeable population of female students and white collar workers from North East.

SCRA exam- 2012 results announced
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has announced the results of Special Class Railway Apprentices' (SCRA) Examination, 2012. As many as 49 candidates have been recommended for appointment as SCR Apprentices in the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers.

Sharma is back to Punjab
Ajoy Sharma is back to Punjab after a long foreign visit. On return,1999 batch IAS officer , Sharma has been appointed as Secretary, Rural Development and Culture.

Transfers and postings in Railways (UPDATED)
A number of officers have been shifted in Railways. Accordingly, Raju Kancharala, SG, has been shifted from SCR to SWR while Ms. Pushpa Rani, SG, is being posted from NCR to ECR and Chandan Kumar Verma, JAG, was moved from NER to DLW. Similarly, Shiv Shankar Murmu, SS, has been shifted from NER to SWR; Mohd.Yusuf, JAG/WCR to CORE; Ram Kishore, SS/DLW to NCR; Vinod Kumar, SS/NFR to NCR; C LVerma, SS/NCR to NWR; D P Sharma, SS/NCR to NWR; Ms. Revathi Subhash, SS/SECR to CR; M K Garg, SS/WR to NFR; M K Mohanti, SS/ECOR to NFR; B N Das, SS/ECR to SECR; Subhash Majumdar, SS/SER to SECR; Ms.R Mukherjee, SS/ER to SECR; B Bhowmick, SS/SER to SECR; B Nanda, SS/ECOR to SER; R L Khandelwala, SS/NWR to WR; Subhash Chander, SS/RCF to WR; A K Pathak, SS/NER to ECR; Shatrughan Prasad, SS/NER to ECR; Girish Sharma, SS/NWR to NCR; J L Wankhede, SS/NR to DMW; R S Puri, SS/WR to SWR; V R Modhe, SS/CR to WCR; Raj Kumar Sharma, SS/WR to WCR; D R Chattopadhyay, SS/SER to CLW and Ms. S Ramakrishnan, SS, has been shifted from WR to Metro/Kolkata.

FSSAI working over standardisation of imported food: Chandramouli (UPDATED)
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is working on a mechanism to evolve standards for domestically consumed food items imported from abroad, chairperson, FSSAI, Dr. K. Chandramouli said at an ASSOCHAM event held here in New Delhi on July 10, 2012. "Our food exporters have to adhere to various stringent set of rules and regulations for exporting food, while we do not strain the same sort of stringency on imported food and thus it is imperative to evolve standards for domestically consumed food as we have been having a lackadaisical approach towards setting standards," said Dr. Chandramouli while sharing his views on initiatives being taken by FSSAI in the areas of regulation in the food sector while addressing an 'FMCG Summit' organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). "We do have some standards to begin with but we need to take more steps in this regard to ensure the safety of food for consumption which comes from outside," said the chairperson. Meanwhile, S K Jindal, chairman of the ASSOCHAM Investment and Investors' Committee urged the government to take necessary steps to protect the consumers' rights and contain piracy as the direct loss due to piracy is about 20 per cent of the market share of prominent products. Dr. Lalit Khaitan, CMD, Radico Khaitan Limited shared his views concerning the liquor industry being an integral part of India's boisterous FMCG industry and said that the industry is subjected to three different acts and governing authorities namely - State Excise Act and Rules, Food Safety and Standards Act and Rules and lastly the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules and to regulate the mandatory laws on the lables of alcoholic beverages through these multiple laws is a real hassle. Amid others who spoke during the event included -M K Bhardawaj, Chairman, ASSOCHAM Public Procurement Committee; Ankur Shiv Bhandari, MD, Kantar Retail India and Abhishek Malhotra, Partner, Booz & Co.

Singapore top destination for Indian FDI outflows: ASSOCHAM study (UPDATED)
Singapore has emerged among the most sought after destinations for India's outward foreign direct investment (FDI) accounting for about one-fourth of the total outflows during May, an ASSOCHAM study has revealed. Of the total outbound FDI of USD 2.35 billion from the country, Singapore accounted for over USD 500 million. The other favourite destinations for the Indian entrepreneurs were the US, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, UAE, the Phillipines, and Mauritius. Interestingly, while Mauritius is the number one source of FDI for India, it is not the case for the outflows, the study found. It is somewhere at the bottom of the table of the countries preferred by the Indian firms for overseas investment. Out of the 467 companies which invested abroad, only 24 opted for Mauritius, which is a haven for the corporates which want to bring in FDI because of the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. Since the island nation has zero capital gains, it makes sense for the inward FDI from there, rather than outward FDI for India, says the ASSOCHAM study. "Even there is a glum mood in the world economy; the Indian entrepreneurs are reaching out to the global business arena. This shows how the Indian enterprise is catching up in the international economy," said ASSOCHAM President Rajkumar N Dhoot.

Deputation tenure of Sonik extended (UPDATED)
Central deputation tenure of A K Sonik as CVO in Central Corporation of India Limited, Delhi has been extended for a period of two years from 1.4.2012 to 31.3.2014. He is 1986 batch IRPS officer.

Mrs. Rashmita Jha posted as OSD, CCIT, Delhi region (UPDATED)
Mrs. Rashmita Jha, Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, has been posted as OSD in the office of CCIT (CCA), Delhi region.

Alkesh Kumar Sharma poised to be Joint Secretary, Road Transport & Highways (UPDATED)
As the grapevine it, Alkesh Kumar Sharma is poised to join Government of India (GoI) as a Joint Secretary in Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He is an IAS officer of 1990 batch who belongs to the Kerala cadre. Presently, he is the Managing Director (MD) of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC). He is also Secretary to Government of Kerala, Industries (Investment Promotion) Department. He has held several other important posts including that of National Project Co-ordinator, UNDP Project, GoI, Private Secretary to Union Minister of State, Ministry of Housing & Poverty Alleviation, GoI and Director of Tourism, Government of Kerala. He has been a Director of Apollo Tyres Ltd since February 09, 2012. He has been a Director at Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. since June 30, 2010. Besides,he has been a Non Executive Director of Nitta Gelatin India Ltd since July 17, 2009 and Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Limited since July 20, 2009. He has been a Director of Bamni Proteins Ltd since July 17, 2009. He serves as a Director of Western India Plywoods Ltd. He has been Director of PTL Enterprises Limited since February 2, 2012.

Major reshuffle of senior IAS officers in MP (UPDATED)
As many as 29 senior officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) have been transferred and posted to Mantralaya and field in Madhya Pradesh. Accordingly, Mrs. Snehlata Kumar, on return from central deputation, has been made Resident Commissioner of Madhya Pradesh at New Delhi with additional charge of Special Commissioner (Coordination), New Delhi while Vinod Kumar will now be Secretary, Human Rights Commission, Bhopal and Ashwni Kumar Rai is Secretary, Personnel, GAD. Similarly, Depali Rastogi has been posted as Inspector General of Registration and Superintendent, Stamp; Umakant Umrao as Commissioner-cum-Director, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Protection; Raghvendra Singh as MD, MP Tourism Development Corporation; Mrs. M Geeta as Controller, Food and Drugs Administration with additional charge of Director, AIDS; Mrs. Madhu Khare as Secretary, Public Service Commission, Indore; Akash Tripathi as Collector, Indore; Mukesh Chandra Gupta as Commissioner, MP Housing Board, Bhopal; R K Sharma as Additional Collector, Mineral Resources; Kedar Lal Sharma as Additional Secretary, Mantralaya; Santosh Kumar Mishra as Secretary, MP Board of Secondary Education; Kavindra Kiyawat as Collector, Sehore; M K Agrawal as Collector, Dewas; Neeraj Dubey as Collector, Khandwa; C B Singh as Collector, Dhar; B M Sharma as Collector, Ujjain; N S Bhatnagar as Additional Commissioner (Revenue), Jabalpur Division; Ashok Kumar Bhargava as Collector, Shahdol; Anand Kumar Sharma as Collector, Vidisha; Surendra Kumar Upadhyaya as Collector, Umaria; Sanjay Goyal as Deputy Secretary, Public Health and Family Welfare; Rajivchandra Dubey as Collector, Ratlam, Mrs. G V Rashmi as Deputy Secretary, Mantralaya; Nagar Goje Madan Vibhishan as Collector, Dindori; Bhondave Sanket Shantaram as Collector, Ashok Nagar and Nand Kumaram has been made as CEO, Zila Panchayat, Singrauli.

Prashant Sukul is new DG, DGCA(UPDATED)
Prashant Sukul Joint Secretary Civil Aviation has been appointed as Director General(DG), Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).Prashant Sukul is an IDAS officer of 1982 batch.

CORPORATE

Is healthcare and education the new favorite of Private Equity players?
Health and education are attracting profuse inflows from the Private Equity players. The average ticket size has increased from $9.41 million in first half of 2011 to $31 million in first half of 2012. According to Venture Intelligence, 26 deals worth $807 million were done in first half of 2012 as against 22 deals worth $207 million.

Has the SME sector slowed down because of power cuts?
The SME sector has taken a massive hit due to the 8-10 hour power cut every day in a large number of states say sources in the government.

Three Part-time Directors cease to be on Board of MMTC Ltd
Anil Baijal, Ms Aruna Makhan and H L Zutshi have ceased to be Non-Official and Independent Part-time Directors of MMTC Ltd.

Trivedi appointed Director (Mktg.), MMTC Ltd
MMTC Ltd has appointed Anand Trivedi as Director (Marketing).

Bisht resigns as Director, IDBI Bank Ltd
Dr. B S Bisht has resigned as Director of IDBI Bank Ltd. on health grounds.

Kishimoto appointed Director, Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd
Yoshiki Kishimoto has been appointed as a Director on the Board of Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd.

Babu appointed Company Secy.,Igarashi Motors India Ltd
P. Dinakara Babu has been appointed as Company Secretary of Igarashi Motors India Ltd w.e.f. July 7, 2012.

Tamma appointed Addl. Director, Danlaw Technologies India Ltd
Ravi Kumar Tamma has been appointed as Additional Director of Danlaw Technologies India Ltd w.e.f. June 25, 2012

Mehta resigns as Director, Refex Refrigerants Ltd
Sumermal Mehta has resigned as Director of Refex Refrigerants Ltd w.e.f. July 4, 2012

Two addl. directors appointed on Board of Swelect Energy Systems Ltd
Ms B. Vasantha and Ms N Jayashree have been appointed as additional directors on the Board of Swelect Energy Systems Ltd w.e.f. July 9, 2012.

Jain appointed Company Secy.,Surya Pharmaceutical Ltd
Surya Pharmaceutical Ltd has appointed Bharat Bhushan Jain as Company Secretary of the company w.e.f. June 16, 2012.

Kukreja resigns as Company Secy., Surya Pharmaceutical Ltd
Ms Sugandha Kukreja has resigned as Company Secretary of Surya Pharmaceutical Ltd w.e.f. June 16, 2012.

Suroya resigns as Nominee Director, Surya Pharmaceutical Ltd
Sanjay Kumar Suroya, Nominee Director of IDBI has resigned as Director of Surya Pharmaceutical Ltd w.e.f. July 5, 2012

Niizuma appointed ED (Sales), South Asia, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand
Seagate has appointed Futoshi Niizuma as Executive Director (Sales), South Asia, Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN region.

Murthy appointed MD &CEO of Tamil Nadu,Mercantile Bank.
K B Nagendra Murthy has been appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tamilnadu, Mercantile Bank.

Jagannathan quits as CEO,Tamil Nadu, Mercantile Bank.
K T Jagannathan has quit as Chief Executive of Tamil Nadu, Mercantile Bank.

Mishra appointed Assistant Vice President, Sports of TUI Travel
Shashank Shekhar Mishra has been appointed as Assistant Vice President,Sports of TUI Travel..

(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)

About retirement age in GoI

Sir, just forget, what about the existing force in the GoI, where more than 40 percent is idle, without any work ?and 20 percent on extension viz. on honey moon at government expenses. and around 5 percent working as consultant without any work assignment. Government should
not fill any post once a person retires. Besides, major work, even scientific and technical work is outsourced at 300 to 500 percent the normal cost. Great Government of India but strangely it needs more manpower. God save GoI and India !

Ravinder Kumar

Thanks !

Thanks for keeping updated to the information seekers.

Vikram S. Meena, MMTC

Congratulations

Heartly cogratulation on selection of P N Radkar as Director (Tech), spmcil,new delhi. with regards,

A K Chouhan and family

RIT

Disclosure of reasons for not empanelling an officer under RTI

The appellant sought the reasons for being left out in the empanelment list of IPS Officers by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the year 1994-95 while all his APRs were outstanding. The PIO informed that as per DoPT's O.M. No. 1/7/2009-IR dated 1.6.2009, the information sought in the RTI application cannot be classified as 'information' and the same cannot be provided. The appellant argued before the Central Information Commission (CIC) that whereas his juniors have been empanelled and, therefore, he should be provided the reasons for being left out from empanelment list when all his APRs are 'Outstanding'. The CIC noted the admission of the respondent that the decision for promotion of IPS Officers is taken in the meeting of the CPEB. Observing that the meetings of the CPEB are a matter of official record, the CIC ruled that what has been sought by the appellant is covered under the definition of 'information' as per section 2(f) of the RTI Act. The Commission directed the PIO to provide the reasons, as per record, whereby decision was taken to leave out the appellant in the empanelment list of IPS Officers for the year 1994-95.

Comments

This decision of the CIC is likely to bring in transparency in the process of empanelment..

Citation: Mr. Kamal Saini v. Ministry of Home Affairs in Case No. CIC/SS/A/2012/000236

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)