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S Rao

Advani is NDA's choice?
One thing is almost certain in the event of NDA's coming to power JDU's first choice will be L K Advani. Ask this question to JDU President Sharad Yadav.

Chhattisgarh Tribal leaders to vote P A Sangma
There are reports that Congress tribal leaders are going to support P A Sangma and not UPS's candidate Pranab Mukherjee.

BUREAUCRACY

Five IRS-IT officers quit service
As many as five officers of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) of Income Tax have resigned from the service. The officers include: A K Mehrish, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax-III, Mumbai; Vijay Sharma, (IRS-IT), Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (CCA), Patna; V K Poddar, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax; Pradeep Kumar, CIT (OSD), New Delhi and Sidhartha Pradhan, Additional Secretary, Department of Disinvestment, New Delhi.

Capt. B B Sinha selected as Director (P&A), SCI
Capt. B B Sinha, SVP, SCI, has been selected for the post of Director (P&A), Shipping Corporation of India Limited (SCI) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on June 22, 2012. As many as 11 persons were interviewed for the same.

IRS officer, S S Bajpai selected as Member, Settlement Commission, Delhi
Indian Revenue Service officer of Income Tax, S S Bajpai, presently Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Lucknow, has been selected as Member of the Additional Bench, Settlement Commission (IT/WT), New Delhi.

IRS officer, S K Pahwa selected as Member, Settlement Commission, Kolkata
Indian Revenue Service officer of Income Tax, S K Pahwa, presently Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Thane, has been selected as Member of the Additional Bench, Settlement Commission (IT/WT), Kolkata.

IRS officer, Gyan Chand Jain selected as Member, Settlement Commission, Mumbai
Indian Revenue Service officer of Income Ta, Gyan Chand Jain presently, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (CCA), Chennai, has been selected as Member of the Additional Bench, Settlement Commission (IT/WT), Mumbai.

Dr. Mitha Lal Meena, Addl. Commissioner selected for 38th APPPA
Dr. Mitha Lal Meena, Additional Commissioner, has been selected for 38th Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA) to be conducted from July 2, 2012 to March 31, 2013.

Apoorva Srivastava moves to Paris
Apporva Srivastava has been moved from Kathmanu to Indian Embassy in Paris as First Secretary.

Chetan Bhushan Sanghi relieved from Delhi Government
Chetan Bhushan Sanghi has been relieved from the Delhi Government to join Mizoram Government. He was Commissioner Industries besides being Chairman-Cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIDC) and CEO of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).He is an AGMUT cadre IAS officer of 1988 batch.

Shakti Sinha gets additional charge
Shakti Sinha has got additional charge of Commissioner Industries and other two charges that were being held by Chetan Bhushan Sanghi. He is an AGMUT cadre IAS officer of 1979 batch.

MHA issues notices to DANICS officers
As the grapevine has it, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the Government of India (GoI) has issued show notices to DANICS officers to join within seven days at their new places of posting. It may be recalled here that 25 DANICS officers are under transfer.

Negotiations between MHA & Delhi CM are on
Negotiations between Delhi Chief Minister Ms. Sheila Dixit and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the Government of India (GoI) on the issue of IAS transfers are still going on.

Tajom Taloh is new Registrar, Cooperative Societies in Delhi
Tajom Taloh has been appointed Secretary Cooperation and Registrar Cooperative Societies in the Delhi Government. He is 1992 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Shukla goes as Director (HR) Delhi Transco Ltd
A B Shukla has been moved on deputation to Delhi Transco Ltd as Director (HR). He is a 1996 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Ajay Bhattacharya Secretary, Fertilizers will retire in August
Ajay Bhattacharya who on central deputation is Secretary Fertilizers will be retiring on August 31, 2012.He is a Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer of 1977 batch.

25 Income Tax officers shifted to CPC (TDS), Vaishali Ghaziabad
As many as 25 officers posted at various stations have been shifted to CPC (TDS), Income Tax department, Vaishali, Ghaziabad. The officers include: Saurabh Arora, Purshottam Dheeraj Rohilla, Manhish Kumar, Nitin Yadav, Rahul Thakur, Rajat Bhardwaj, Pankaj Malhotra, Deepmala Meena, Rahul Sankhla, Harkesh, Vikas Kumar, Gagan Singh Malik, Ravinder Kumar and Lokesh Kumar Meena.

Two additional CEO's in Gujarat
Sanjeev Kumar and Dr S Murli Krishnan have been appointed as additional CEOs in Gujarat.

Indian named as VC in US
Mitra Dutta has been named Vice Chancellor for research at the University of Illinois at Chicago in US.

Dr Singh is Secretary, Information Commission in Punjab
IAS officer Dr Arvinder Singh has been posted as Secretary, Information Commission in Punjab.

Sinha is new Director, Food in GoI
Prashant Kumar Sinha has been appointed Director, Food in the Government of India. He is a 1992 batch IRS (C&CE) officer.

Five CCsIT get additional charges
As many as five officers of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) of Income Tax in the grade of Chief Commissioners of Income Tax (CCIT) have been assigned additional charges. Accordingly, R K Rai, CCIT-II, Patna has been given an additional charge of CCIT-I, Patna while R K Gupta, CCIT-II, Mumbai will hold the charge of CCIT-XIII, Mumbai and S S Kanan, CCIT-II, Chennai was given additional charge of CCIT-I, Chennai. Simiarly, S G Joshi, CCIT-II, Pune, has been given additional charge of CCIT, Thane and Purnima Singh, CCIT-VIII, Delhi, will be looking additional charge of CCIT-VI, Delhi.

Two IRS-IT officers shifted to DTC Task Force
Two Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers of Income Tax namely Vandana Ramachandran, ACIT and Aminder Singh Dhindsa, ACIT have been posted in the DTC Task Force for the assignments of TIN project and OLTAS respectively.

IRS-IT officer, A B Nayak gets selection grade
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of Income Tax, Abani Kanta Nayak, Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, has been granted selection grade. Post of Deputy Legal Advisor vacant in Directorate of Enforcement

Post of Deputy Legal Advisor in Directorate Enforcement vacant
Post of Deputy Legal Advisor in Directorate of Enforcement on deputation basis is vacant. The interested Indian Revenue Service officers can send their applications to R N Singh, Under Secretary, Department of Revenue at the earliest.

Post of Assistant Legal Advisor vacant in Directorate of Enforcement
Post of Assistant Legal Advisor in Directorate of Enforcement on deputation basis is vacant. The interested Indian Revenue Service officers can send their applications to R N Singh, Under Secretary, Department of Revenue at the earliest.

Four IAS officers get new assignments in Haryana
As many as four officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) have been given fresh assignments apart from their present charges. Accordingly, S S Dhillon (HY: 84) has been assigned additional charge of Principal Secretary, PW (B&R) and Architecture Department while Arun Kumar (Hy:89) was given additional charges of Commissioner, Excise & Taxation and Special Secretary of the same department and Mohinder Kumar (Hy:92) will also be Director General, Urban Local Bodies, and Project Director, Swaran Jayanti Shehri Rozgar Yojna and State Urban Development Society. Besides, Ashok Kumar Yadav (HY:93) has been assigned additional charges of DG, Welfare of SC, OBC welfare and MD, SC Finance Development Corporation Limited as well as Special Secretary, Employment.
17 IAS officers shifted in Jharkhand The Jharkhand government has shifted17 IAS officers. Those who have been transferred are: Vinay Kumar Choubey Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ranchi, Prashant Kumar DC Dhanbad, Sunil Kumar Burnwal on return from training Labour Commissioner with additional charge of Director Urban Administration and Director census operations, Rahul Kumar Purwar DC Deoghar, Kripanand Jha DC- Seraikela-Kharsawan and Managing Director (MD) Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority, K.K. Soan Registrar of co-operative societies and Director Agriculture, Ms. Aradhana Patnaik DC Latehar,Shubhendra Jha DC Gumla, Rahul Kumar Purwar: DC Deoghar,Rajesh Kumar Sharma DC Koderma, P.K. Toppo DC Simdega, Harsh Mangla DC Dumka, Chandrasekhar DC Jamtara, S S Tiwary IG Prison, Rahul Sharma Administrator Subernarekha Multi-purpose Project,Dipankar Panda CEO Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) and A.B. Siddiqui Project Director AIDS Control Society with charge of Director NRHM.

8 IGs elevated as ADGPs in Andhra Pradesh
The Andhra Pradesh Government has promoted Eight IPS officers of 1987 batch from IG to the rank of Additional Director General of Polic(ADGP). They areVinoy Kumar Singh ADGP Coordination, M Gopikrishna -ADGP Home Guards, A. R. Anuradha- ADGP (Personnel), Satyanarain - ADGP Road Safety, Tushar Aditya Tripathi ADGP Organisation, Batti Lal Meena ADGP Vigilance and Enforcement, N. V. Surendra Babu -ADGP -Organisation Counter- Terror Operations Octopus and Santosh Mehra ADGP Welfare.

Chhattisgarh AG, Devraj Singh Surana quits

Chhattisgarh Advocate General Devraj Singh Surana has resigned. New Advocate General (AG) is likely to be appointed shortly.

Notification on APA on the anvil

ASSOCHAM in New Delhi organised a brain-storming session on 'The role of Corporate and Business towards conservation of foreign Exchange & Diligent Payment of Direct & Indirect Taxes'. Revenue Secretary R.S. Gujral was the chief guest. He indicated that RBI would certainly
take action suitably to arrest rupee depreciation as it might neutralize the benefit India could have gained from fall in crude oil prices over the fiscal deficit. He also said that the Advanced Payment Agreement (APA) will soon be notified and be operational from July 1,2012.The Revenue Secretary endorsed Handoo's (Co-Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Legal Affairs) concerns for a partnership between the government and the industry ensuring conservation of
foreign exchange and diligent payment of taxes. During the occasion Rajkumar Dhoot President, ASSOCHAM, Ved Jain Chairman, ASSOCHAM national Council on Direct Taxes and D.S. Rawat Secretary General also shared their concerns.

Four IRS officers shifted to CPC Bangalore (UPDATED)
Four Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers presently posted in CCIT (CCA), Bangalore have laterally been shifted to CPC Bangalore. The officers include Abdul Hakeem, ACIT, Sandeep, ACIT, Nishant K, ACIT and Sonkavade Sonal Laxmidas, ACIT.

CORPORATE

Mistry appointed as Addl. Non Exec. Non Independent Director, Tata Global Beverages
Cyrus Mistry has been appointed as Additional Non Executive, Non Independent Director, Tata Global Beverages Ltd.

Singh appointed Company Secy. Madhucon Projects Ltd
Madhucon Projects Limited has appointed Ms. Nutan Singh as Company Secretary w.e.f. June 06, 2012.

Khanna appointed GM, Pune Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre
Jatin Khanna has been appointed as General Manager, Pune Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre.

Saberwal appointed Chief Business Officer (International Markets), MakeMyTrip
Amit Saberwal has been appointed as Chief Business Officer (International Markets), MakeMyTrip.

Urmilesh has resigned as Exec. Editor, Rajya Sabha TV?
Urmilesh has resigned as Executive Editor of Rajya Sabha TV.

(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)

PSUs should adopt austerity measures

In present economic scenario austerity measures are being followed by Central Government and all PSUs are also expected to follow.

DKR

Misplaced fervour for FDI in multi-brand retail

The government seems to have made it a prestige issue or economic superpowers are breathing hot on their neck to allow multi-brand retail to foreign direct investors. The govt has not released any worthwhile information on the loss of self-employment opportunities for the low income groups, who will be destroyed by the FDI in retail.
Self-employment & fixed wage employment are two different things: one is the guarantee of independence of a nation and the other a promissory note for future slavery (have we forgotten the entry of the East India Company?). In 1991, the reserved list for SSI was under attack and promises of half a million jobs were made. The game was on for a very long time both at the UNIDO level as also the WEF meetings to de-reserve the list. We have no impact study available on the success or failure of the scheme, but the medium scale has been included in the definition of SSI. Whether it ate away the support given by the government to the SSI sector or helped inject better technology in the small scale industry sector or simply made it easy for the big fish to
make windfall gains is not known publicly. The marketing of the FDI in retail is being so fiercely pursued that one feels like asking about the permanent loss of jobs in the rural, rurban and tier II & III cities as a consequence of multi-brand retail, numbers of individuals affected and families joining the ranks of extremely poor people. When the government says it will benefit, it injures & insults too the farmer. Either the current breed of Babus and Netas has absolutely no idea of the consumption pattern of the poor farmers or it mistakes a farmer for a politician controlling 1000 or more acres of land, who lives in posh houses which are centrally air conditioned and drives around town in flashy cars. Let me take just symbolic example: how many farmers wear branded shoes in India? An international brand costs anything between 3999 and 10000. Can our politicians & bureaucrats selling this FDI to us wear even for one day the shoe that the farmer wears in summer, winter, rains etc during marriage or visiting market etc as he can not afford separate shoes for jogging, office, tennis, golf, party. And they talk of benefits to the farmer! This cunning foxy sight truly has its eyes on the farm produce, which they want to control right from the sowing stage to the marketing stage and cartelise the demand supply. Then freely introduce GM foods, destroy the agriculture economy that creates delusions of a superpower to a poor country like India, make enormous profits that make the black money stashed abroad look like small change and control it as Neo-liberalism seeks to do. A newer variety of colonization! What more branded goods is the farmer going to consume? The whole exercise serves interests other than Indian and is the biggest yet very dangerous hoax on the nation.It needs to be opposed.

M L Gupta

RIT

Warning of misuse of the RTI Act From the LIC (Mumbai), the appellant sought the details of Probationary Development Officers and Development officers, whose resignation was accepted/ terminated by public authority during a certain period. He also requested that the information sought should be provided as per the format given by him. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information by quoting the provisions of section 7(9) of the RTI Act that it would divert the resources of the Public Authority disproportionately. During the hearing before CIC, the respondent submitted that the information sought by the appellant pertained to about 3000 - 4000 Development Officers and that this information held at the divisional offices and was not available in the format provided by the appellant but were available in individual files of each Development officer. The appellant stated that he was the advocate of a Development officer posted at Jaipur - I office of the Corporation who has not received his arrears and that this information sought from the public authority will be used to enable his client to recover his dues. The Central Information Commission (CIC) stated that the RTI Act confers a cherished right to the citizen and this case was a classic example of misuse of the RTI Act. The Commission further observed that the appellant despite being a responsible citizen (he was a lawyer) has chosen to use the RTI route to harass the public authority with a view to getting an edge in the legal case of his client which was undoubtedly a very unprofessional approach to the issue. The appellant was advised to approach the Senior Divisional Manager, Jaipur - I to obtain the calculation sheet for release of arrears to his client. The Commission also warned the appellant to be more careful in future while using the right given to him under the transparency act.

Comments

There are many cases where applicants seek information in a particular format. If it leads to wasting of the scarce resources and time of the the public authority, the PIO is not bound to provide the information in a particular format. He may offer inspection of the documents to the applicant.

Citation: Mr. Ashok Kumar v. LIC of India in Appeal No. CIC/DS/A/2011/002087

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)