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Ravi

Why is P Chidambaram defending these days?
It is heard that Home Minister P Chidambaram is busy defending his son Kartikeya these days. His name is linked to defense deals, land deals and in the stock and currency markets.

Is Congress' defeat seen in its action in Andhra?
It is heard that Congress is likely to see a very bad performance in the upcoming by elections in the state of Andhra Pradesh likely to be held soon. One of the reasons it is going after Jagan Mohan Reddy is that he is increasingly becoming popular and is likely to win nearly 12 out of 18 seats in the state. The party is clueless and desperately wants his image to be tarnished so that they could get some votes, say people close to the
development.

What does the meeting of Patnaik and Jaya suggest
Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik is going on an official visit to Chennai and he is going to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalitha. This meeting holds significance purely for two reasons one Ms. Jaya, Modi and Patnaik had held a closed door meeting in Delhi recently. Second, after Narendra Modi's visit to Tamil Nadu, Patnaik is the next to visit the state CM. Needless to say that political combinations going on.

Is it the end of IAS supremacy?
At a get-together of IAS officers, matter of empanelment rating by the CBI came for discussion. An enraged IAS officer shouted "Is it the end of IAS supremacy?" Another senior IAS officer smilingly said "IAS supremacy in the country will never end." It may be recalled that for the first time empanelment file of IAS officers to the rank of JS and above has reportedly been sent to the CBI for rating. Earlier only CVC was involved in the empanelment process. Presently empanelment file of 1982 batch IAS officers is lying in the CBI Headquarters.

Alok Perti tipped to be Coal Regulator?
As the grapevine has it, Secretary Coal Alok Perti who is scheduled to retire this month end is likely to be appointed as Coal regulator in the Government of India (GoI). He is an Assam- Meghalaya cadre IAS officer of 1977 batch.

Vice-Admiral Joshi to be Navy Chief?
Chief of Western Naval Command Vice -Admiral D K Joshi will in all probability be new Navy Chief in August.

Majar Gen Bhalla to be Lt Gen in Indian Army
Major General A K Bhalla has reportedly been cleared for promotion to the rank of Lt General in the Indian Army.

Inter-Cadre deputation of IAS officer approved
Inter-Cadre deputation of 2004 batch IAS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre Ms Saumya Gupta to UT cadre has been approved for five years.

Top 3 of Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio

1.Lalthara-Chief Secretary

2.Abeio Kire (IFS officer) Commissioner/Secretary to the CM

3.P.R.Ziliang-a Minister

List of Bank EDs now in DoPT
List of the appointment of 22 Executive Directors in the nationalized banks is now reportedly lying in the Department of Personnel and Training.

Gyanesh Pandey selected as CMD, HSCC (India) Ltd
Gyanesh Pandey, Director (Engineer), HSCC, has been selected as Chairman and Managing Director, HSCC (India) Limited at a Public Enterprises Selection Board meeting held on May 10, 2012. As many as 11 persons were interviewed for the same.

Shantanu is Staff Officer of the Home Secretary
Shantanu Director (NM) Naxal Management, Ministry of home Affairs, GoI has given additional Charge of staff officer to Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh in place of Vulunmang Vualnam IAS. He is a Manipur Tripura Cadre IAS officer of 1997 batch.

Deol moves to CAT
DGP, Andman & Nicobar S B Deol has moved to the CAT against his transfer. He is a 1976 batch IPS officer of UT cadre.

Mustafa Mohammad appointed Director, Financial Services

Mustafa Mohd. has been appointed as Director (Financial Services) in the Ministry of Finance, GoI. He is an UP cadre IAS officer of 1995 batch.

About selection of Members CBDT and CBEC
There are serious issues in the selection of members in CBEC and CBDT, and officers of IRS in both the Boards are hoping for a divine intervention to clear the logjam created by Deptt of Revenue and DOPT. In fact, Shri Ajit Kumar of the 1975 batch who is now eligible for the existing vacancy in CBEC may well retire by the time the matter is sorted out.

Sinha to join GoI!
Ashutosh Kumar Sinha, IGP (LO III) Manipur likely to go on central deputation as DIG under Central Staffing Scheme. He is a Manipur Tripura Cadre IPS Officer of 1993 batch.

52 positions of IAS officers vacant in Gujarat cadre
As many as 52 positions of IAS officers have been lying vacant in Gujarat cadre. There are 208 officers in the position against strength of 260 IAS officers in the State.

Three JS level vacancies filled up in the Agriculture Ministry
Three vacant Joint Secretary level vacancies in the Agriculture Ministry have been filled up with two IAS and one IFS officer.

Khatua to be Ambassador to Arjentina
Amarendra Khatua is likely to be appointed India's new Ambassador to Argentina.

Kumar moves to Doha
Counsal in Birgnj P S Sasi Kumar, has been moved to Doha in the same capacity.

IA & AS officer Ms. Pal promoted as PAG, Uttarakhand
Ms. Mahua Pal, Accountant General (A&E), Dehradun, Uttarakhand, has been promoted to the grade of Principal Accountant General (PAG) and will hold elevated post at the same place under the Comptroller & Auditor General of India. She is an IA&AS officer of 1987 batch.

Sengar to attend Mid-Career training
Amrendra Kumar Sengar, Regional Passport Officer, Ghaziabad will attend mid-career training from May 15 to July 7. He is an Uttar Pradesh Cadre IPS officer of 1996 batch.

Satyabrat unlikely to join GoI
Satyabrat, DGP (Vigilance), Uttarakhand Police, whose name was being considered for DG (NSG is now unlikely to go on Central Deputation. He is an Uttarakhand Cadre IPS Officer of 1976 batch.

IPS officer Jaspal Singh joins IB
Jaspal Singh has finally been appointed in Intelligence Bureau (IB). He is a 1996 batch IPS officer of UT cadre.

Jairaj to join IIM Bangalore?
1976 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer K Jairaj who is retiring this month end is likely to join the IIM Bangalore.

Transfers and postings in Railways
Services of senior officers have been affected in Railways. Accordingly, Shailendra Singh, SG/ IRSME/ NR, on promotion to SAG, has been transferred to Railway Board and posted as Executive Director, Mechanical Engineering (Coaching), Railway Board while A K Singh, SAG/IRSME, presently working as EDME (Coaching)/ Railway Board is transferred to Central Railway and posted in the cadre and P K Tiwari, SG/IRSME/ RDSO, is shifted to West Central Railway and appointed to officiate in SA Grade and posted in the cadre. Similarly, J K Singh, SG/IRSME/Northern Railway, is appointed to officiate in SA Grade and posted in the cadre on Northern Railway itself; N SR Prasad, SG/ IRSME/ South Central Railway, transferred to North Central Railway and appointed to officiate in SA Grade and posted in the cadre; Pradeep Kumar, SG/ IRSME/ Western Railway, shifted to South Eastern Railway and appointed to officiate in SA Grade and posted in the cadre; H K Raghu, SG/ IRSME/ Western Railway, transferred to IRIMEE and appointed to officiate in SA Grade; Sanjay Biswas, SG/ IRSME/ Eastern Railway, appointed to officiate in SA Grade and posted in the cadre on Eastern Railway itself; V Selvam, SG/ IRSME/ ICF, transferred to Southern Railway and appointed to officiate in SA Grade and posted in the cadre; Sukhlal Birua, SG/ IRSME/ South Eastern Railway, appointed to officiate in SA Grade and posted in the cadre on South Eastern Railway itself.

IAS reshuffle in J & K
K B Agarwal has been appointed Financial Commissioner (Revenue).Umang Narulla has been made Commissioner Secretary to Government, Forest Department. Shant Manu has been appointed Commissioner Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department. Bipul Pathak has been posted as Commissioner Secretary, Animal/ Sheep Husbandry. Tanveer Jehan will now be Commissioner Secretary, Public Works Department. Dr Syed Mohammad Fazalullah has been posted as Commissioner Secretary to Government, Cooperative Department .Manoj Kumar Dwivedi has been made Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department. Gazzanfer Hussain will now be Secretary Higher Education Department. Mohammad Ashraf Bukhari will be Secretary, Information Technology and Science and Technology Department. Zaffar Ahmad has been posted as Director, Information.

IAS postings in Uttarakhand
Sachin Kurve has been appointed new Haridwar District Magistrate. D Senthil Pandian will now be Additional Secretary Potable Water. C Ravishankar has been appointed as Chief Development Officer Almora.Dheeraj Singh Gabaryal will be CDO Udhamsinghnagar.

Arvind Kumar Singh shifted to South Western Railways (UPDATED)
Arvind Kumar Singh, SG/IRTS/SECR, who was transferred to North Eastern Railway, is now being shifted to South West Railways and posted in the cadre. Earlier transfer order of him has been cancelled.

Rao posted to North East Frontier Railways (UPDATED)
V M M Rao, SAG/IRTS, on return from deputation, has been transferred to North East Frontier Railways (NEFR) and posted in the cadre.

Two CBEC Members get zonal charges (UPDATED)
Two Members of Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) have been re-located the works of various zones. Accordingly, Ms. Sreela Ghosh, Member (Central Excise), will be looking CX, Customs & ST, Hyderabad, CX & Customs, Vizag, CX & Customs, Bhopal, CX, Customs & ST, Nagpur zones with DGCEI/DGICCE/DG (Audit)/ CC (TAR) as well as additional charges of DG (Systems) Member (Computerization) and Ms. J M Shanti Sundharan (Member L&J) has been given the charges of CX, Bangalore, Customs, Bangalore, CX, Chennai, Customs, Chennai, Customs (Prev.) Chennai, CX, Cochin, CX, Coimbatore, CX, Mysore, CDR, Directorate of Legal Affairs, Settlement Commision, ESTAT & Authority for advance ruling with additional charges of
CX, Bhubaneshwar, CX, Kolkata, Customs, Kolkata, CX, Ranchi(Hq. at Patna), Customs (P), Patna and CX, Shillong.

Transfer of IAS officer, Pritam Singh cancelled in Rajasthan (UPDATED)
The transfer orders of Pritam Singh from Divisional Commissioner, Kota to Commissioner, Social Justice, have been cancelled in Rajasthan. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of this State cadre.

S S Chaudhary is also Aid-de-Camp, Governor Rajasthan (UPDATED)
Swai Singh Chaudhary, SP, CID, CB, has been assigned additional charge of Aid-de-Camp, Governor of Rajasthan. He is a 2004 batch IPS officer of this State cadre.

SAIL signs strategic MoU with Mongolian Mines Ministry (UPDATED)
Indian Maharatna Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) on May 11, 2012 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Mineral Resource & Energy (MMRE) of the Government of Mongolia at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for exploring business opportunities in the mining & steel sector. The MoU was signed by H E Balkhuu Bataa, Director (Mining & Heavy Industry), Policy Dept., Govt. of Mongolia, on behalf of MMRE and Rakesh Kulshreshtha, SAIL Executive Director (Corporate Planning), in the presence of SAIL Chairman C S Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel U P Singh and other delegates from India and Mongolia. Speaking on the occasion, SAIL Chairman Verma said that SAIL is happy to be a partner in Mongolia’s economic development, and commended the Mongolian government for its initiatives in developing their mining sector, which shall serve to be ‘’crucial drivers of FDI’’ for the country, while also meeting the mineral needs of India and other Asian economies. MMRE Vice-Minister Ms Ts Garamajav termed the MoU as a welcome step in cooperation between the two countries and hoped that joint feasibility report could help Mongolia set up a mineral processing industry. As per the MoU, MMRE will provide information on iron ore and coal deposits in Mongolia to SAIL and will offer options of locations and size of steel manufacturing facility for pre-feasibility study. A joint pre-feasibility study for setting up of mineral processing facility for iron ore and coal, both coking and thermal, in Mongolia, and downstream steel making facilities for domestic consumption and trade, will be taken up by MMRE and SAIL. SAIL, on the other hand, will select the best available technology to treat Mongolian iron ore and coal deposits based on the feasibility study. The MoU envisages exploration of opportunities for investments to be made by SAIL either individually or in a consortium with other entities to develop mineral processing/ steel manufacturing facility in Mongolia. In November 2011, a high-level delegation from Mongolia had visited SAIL’s Bhilai Steel Plant and held discussions with officials of SAIL and Ministry of Steel, Government of India.

S K Tripathi selected as CMD, STCIL (UPDATED)
S K Tripathi, CMD, MSTC, has been selected for the post of CMD, State Trading Corporation of India Limited (STCIL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on May 11, 2012. As many as nine persons were interviewed for the same.

D K Gupta appointed as Addl. Director, Enforcement (UPDATED)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Devinder Kumar Gupta, Director (Inv.) in CBDT, has been appointed as Additional Director of Enforcement in the Directorate of Enforcement under Revenue Department.

DEBATE

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked civil servants to take bold decisions, assuring them that there would be no witch-hunting in the name of fighting corruption. How far it is possible ?

Mail your views-mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com or Suresh. Mehrotra @yahoo.com

CORPORATE

Ramani resigns as Director, L&T Ltd
Ms Bhagyam Ramani, Nominee Director representing General Insurers (Public Sector) Association of India has resigned as Director of Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) w.e.f. May 8, 2012.

Sharma designated as ED (Finance), Dhunseri Petrochem and Tea Ltd
Dhunseri Petrochem and Tea Ltd has designated R K Sharma as the Executive Director (Finance).

Goel appointed CFO, Dhunseri Petrochem and Tea Ltd
Vivek Goel has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of Dhunseri Petrochem and Tea Ltd w.e.f. May 10, 2012 in place of R K Sharma who was Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company.

Talwar resigns as Director, Nitco Ltd
Ms Poonam Talwar, Director of Nitco Ltd has resigned from the company w.e.f. May 8, 2012 due to her pre-occupation with other professional commitments.

Bhansali ceases to be on Board of Su-Raj Diamonds And Jewellery Ltd
Lakhpatraj Bhansali has resigned as Whole-time Director as well as Director on the Board of Su-Raj Diamonds And Jewellery Ltd w.e.f. May 8, 2012.

Ravichandran appointed Director (Operations), Su-Raj Diamonds And Jewellery Ltd
R. Ravichandran has been appointed as a Whole-time Director designated as Director (Operations) of Su-Raj Diamonds And Jewellery Ltd w.e.f. May 9, 2012.

Khandelwal is Director (Finance & Strategy), LT Foods Ltd
Anil Khandelwal has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of LT Foods Limited designated as Director (Finance & Strategy).

George appointed COO, Bal Pharma Ltd.
Bal Pharma Ltd has appointed M P George as Chief Operating Officer of the company.

Kumar appointed Independent Director, Bal Pharma Ltd.
Promod Kumar has been appointed as Independent Director of Bal Pharma Ltd.

Arcil withdraws Nominee Director from Lloyd Steel Industries Board
S.K Gupta has been withdrawn as Nominee Director of Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd on the Board of Lloyd Steel Industries Ltd w.e.f April 30, 2012.

Thapar appointed CEO of Bates India
Sanjay Thapar has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Bates India.

Ramani resigns as nominee director of Larsen & Toubro
Bhagyam Ramani has resigned as nominee director of Larsen & Toubro.

Bhattacharya appointed as Regional Director of NETGEAR
Subhodeep Bhattacharya has been appointed as the new Regional Director, India & SAARC of NETGEAR.

FORUM

Country should have next President from judicial field

With scams affecting all major political parties, country should have a person from judicial field as next President. A person like, Justice Bhagwati or Justice Verma or Justice Jeevan Reddy, who have done pioneering work in the field of judicial activism or jurist like Soli Sorabji etc.

Venugopal

Non Cooperation by Income Tax Officers

From October 2011 to March 2012 Group-B officers of Income Tax Department did not participate in survey and search actions.

Advocate Pooja

Statistical Humour!

The ongoing caste census is packaged in some kind of a half hearted economic survey. It has measurement units never heard before. For example room. The question asked is how many rooms are there in your dwelling unit? Now having lived in government accommodations of varied types for decades, I do not know it is the real unit of measurement, because Type IV to Type Viii may have 3, 4 or 5 rooms at the most. But the area covered is small, medium or large and at times extra large size. How then can all types of occupants be equated in statistical terms if they are living in a 3 B/R apartment? Surveying private accommodations, it is bound to make a telling difference between lakhpatis, crorepatis and arabpatis, even though the number of rooms might remain the same. Same about cars, which can range from a Nano to an Audi. Refrigerator or TV again would fall in the same soup! Even the internet makes class: everybody doesn't enjoy unlimited download. But the economic survey is not bothered, excepting for its caste figures. The results have already been announced in Delhi on the strength of such units of measurement of economic levels of the population. What purpose caste data will serve is not clear, but it hits the constitution of India very badly!

M L Gupta

Is a penalty leviable if information is provided after the order of FAA?

An advocate had been removed from the panel of advocates of a bank. He filed an application under RTI seeking information related to his removal from the panel such as whether the branch manager has written a letter to the zonal office regarding his removal and whether he was removed on the basis of that letter. He also sought a copy of the said letter. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information claiming what has been sought is not information as defined under section 2(f) and is beyond the purview of the RTI Act. The copy of the letter was refused stating that it pertained to internal correspondence between the Branch and Zonal office. However, the PIO provided the information on the directions of the First Appellate Authority (FAA). The appellant submitted before the CIC that the PIO should be penalized for the delay in providing the information. The Commission rejected the appeal noting that the appellant had framed the query in Hindi in such a way that some deductions would have to be made to understand the information he was seeking and thus the PIO's helplessness was understandable.

Comments

There are cases where a PIO may be confused while reading a RTI application whether an interpretation has been sought or the applicant wants a copy of certain documents. In such cases, the PIO may seek clarification from the applicant.

Citation: Mr. Narendra Kumar Gupta v. Allahabad Bank in Decision No. CIC/SG/A/2012/000593/18384

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)