What people say about us!

Your website is very informative and gives a great amount of info across all levels.
T N Sen

Is there a pact between Congress and BJP ?
It is heard that there is a pact between Congress and BJP over President and Vice President candidate. With the Congress selecting the President and BJP the Vice President candidate .

Why did Mamta float the name of Meira Kumar ?
Why did Mamta Banrjee float the name of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar for the post of President ? Political observers are puzzled but being the dalit and daughter of late Jagjiwan Ram, Meira fits in for the top post. She being Lok Sabha Speaker is IFS,well read, English speaking and stylish.

New front in the offing ?
The Presidential election is going to have a new non BJP and non Congress front in the country. This front will consist of Jayalalitha, Navin Patnaik, Mamta Banerjee, either Mulayam Singh or Mayawati and finally Sharad Pawar and Nitish Kumar. One can only wait and watch.

Is P Chidambaram favoured as FM over Pranab?
At a dinner in London Indian businessmen were talking about P Chidambaram being a better Finance Minister as against Pranab Mukherjee. Has Dada lost his charm ?

Vivek Rae tipped to be Secretary Defence Production (DP)
As the grapevine has it, Vivek Rae who currently on central deputation is Director General (DG) Acquisitions is tipped to be Secretary Defence Production (DP). He is an IAS officer of 1978 batch who belongs to the AGMUT cadre.

Shankar Agarwal tipped to be Director General (DG) Acquisition
As the grapevine has it, Shankar Agarwal who currently on central deputation is Additional Secretary Defence is tipped to be Director General (DG) Acquisition. He is an IAS officer of 1980 batch who belongs to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) cadre.

Rakesh Bhushan Sinha has a rare distinction in GoI
Rakesh Bhushan Sinha who on central deputation has joined as Joint Secretary Agriculture & Cooperatives in the Government of India (GOI) is the only IFS officer from his state to have joined outside the Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF). He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of 1986 batch who belongs to the Madhya Pradesh cadre. Earlier, he was posted as Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Betul.

Pandey is new High Commissioner to New Zealand
A.K. Pandey, presently Ambassador to Sudan has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to New Zealand.

Madan is now Additional Secretary Culture
Dr V S Madan has been promoted to the rank of Additional Secretary Culture in the Government of India. He is 1981 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

GoI finds tough to get Joint Secretaries
As the grapevine has it, the Government of India (GoI) is finding it tough to get Joint Secretaries. It is perhaps because of two reasons. First, those who have been selected as Joint Secretaries are still awaiting cadre clearances. Second, not many bureaucrats are applying for Joint Secretary level slots.

Justice Sirpurkar takes over as Chairman, COMPAT
Justice V S Sirpurkar, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India, has assumed the charge as Chairman of the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) of India.

Manoj Mishra selected as Director (Finance), STCIL
Manoj Mishra, CGM, STCIL, has been selected for the post of Director (Finance), State Trading Corporation of India Limited (STCIL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) held on May 22, 2012. As many as eight persons were interviewed for the same.

39 positions of IAS officers vacant in Nagaland cadre
As many as 39 positions of IAS officers have been lying vacant in Nagaland cadre. There are 52 officers in the position against strength of 91 IAS officers in the State.

Darshan Lal posted in J & K
Darshan Lal, Deputy Accountant General (Adm/VLC) Has been transferred and posted as Deputy Accountant General (A&E), O/o Accountant General (A&E), Jammu & Kashmir, Srinagar. He will relieve SL Bhan on 31.5.2012 (FN).

IA & AS officer Ms. Kaul posted as PAG (A&E), Odisha
Ms. Gargi Kaul has been transferred and posted as Principal Accountant General (A&E), Odisha, Bhubaneshwar under the Comptroller & Auditor General of India. She is an IA&AS officer of 1984 batch.

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

Amitesh Kumar is likely to join NIA
Amitesh Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Amrawati (Maharashtra) is likely to be join Central Deputation as DIG (NIA). He is an IPS officer of 1995 batch, who belongs to the Maharashtra cadre.

Anil Kumar goes to MEA Hqs
First Secretary in Indian High Commission in Dhaka Anil Kumar has been moved to the MEA Headquarters.

N P Singh to join Settlement Commission ?
Grapevine has it that N P Singh who is posted in Mumbai is joining the Settlement Commission Income Tax.

IRS officer Nimesh Baruah deputed as Director, SFIO
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Nimesh Baruah has been appointed as Director (Joint Secretary level), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on deputation basis.

Murugan to join Cabinet Secretariat on permanent basis
M Raja Murugan Deputy Director Cabinet Secretariat is likely to be permanently inducted in the Cabinet Secretariat. He is an IPS officer of 1996 batch who belongs to the Manipur-Tripura cadre.

Ground Handling by Singapore Airlines ?
If insiders are to be believed ground handling is being don on the T 3 airport in Delhi by the Singapore Airlines . What is the mystery ?.

Transfers and postings in Railways
A number of officers have been transferred posted at different places in Railways. Accordingly, Kartikey Singh, SS/IRTS of Western Railway, has been transferred to NF Railway while Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, SS/IRTS of Northern Railway, is being shifted to NF Railway and posted in the cadre and Ms. Shilpi Bishnoi, SS/IRTS of Northern Railway was transferred to NF Railway and posted in the cadre. Similarly, Ms. Madhusmita Patra, SS/IRTS of Northern Railway has been transferred to NF Railway; Anshoo Pandey, SS/IRTS of Northern Railway to NF Railway; Ms. Promila Gupta, SS/IRTS of Northern Railway to South Eastern Railway; Sunil Beniwal SS/IRTS of Northern Railway to East Coast Railway; Ms. S Sarah Jayal, SS/IRTS of Northern Railway to Eastern Railway; Ms. Jagriti Duggar, SS/IRTS of Western Railway to Eastern Railway; Ashutosh Srivastava, SS/IRTS of Central Railway to South East Central Railway; A S Upadhyay, SAG/IRTS, Presently Working as Executive Director, Traffic Transportation (F), Railway Board was posted as Edtt(M) /RB and M K Akhouri, SAG/IRTS, on return from deputation, has been posted as Executive Director, TT(F).

Post of Deputy Financial Adviser, NEC, Shillong vacant
The post of Financial Adviser has been lying vacant in the North-Eastern Council Secretariat (NEC), Shillong, Meghalaya under the Minister of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER). This Joint Secretary level post has been advertised. Those who wish to apply can send their applications to the Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India.

Post of Superintendent is vacant in ADG, Audit office, Ahmedabad
The post of Superintendent is lying vacant in the office of Additional Director General of Audit, Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax Ahmedabad Zonal Unit, Ahmedabad. Those willing to apply can send their applications to this office before June 18, 2012.

Calcutta University VC gets another term
The tenure of Calcutta University vice-chancellor Suranjan Das has been extended by another four years.

Anand Mohan Sharan is DG, Public Relations in Haryana (UPDATED)
Anand Mohan Sharan has assumed charge as the new Director General(DG) and Special Secretary, Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs and Grievances Departments. He will also be Additional Resident Commissioner, Haryana Bhawan,New Delhi besides being Administrator,TFAH & Managing Director(MD) of the Haryana Tourism Corporation.He is an IAS officer of 1990 batch who belongs to the Haryana cadre.

Capt. S S Tripathi selected as Director (MS), EPL (UPDATED)
Capt. S S Tripathi, Dy. Conservator, VPT, has been selected for the post of Director (MS), Ennore Port Limited (EPL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board meeting held on May 23, 2012. Three persons were interviewed for the same.

R S. Alka Jain posted as OSD, CCIT (CCA), Hyderabad (UPDATED)
Mrs. Alka R Jain, Commissioner of Income Tax, has been posted as OSD in the office of CCIT (CCA), Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh region.

Deputation extension of IRS officer Anurag Sahay approved (UPDATED)
Extension of deputation tenure of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Anurag Sahay as CVO, HAL, Bangalore, has been approved for more two
years.

IFS officers of three batches promoted in Kerala (UPDATED)
Indian Forest Service(IFS) officers belonging to batches of 1990, 1991 and 1992 have been promoted as CCF. The officers include: Ms. Prakriti Shrivastava, D Daya Prasad(both from 1990 batch), E Pradeep Kumar, Noyal Thomas, S Gopalakrishnan(all from 1991 batch), Amit Malik and Rajan Sehgal(both from 1992 batch).

Four IAS officers shifted in Haryana (UPDATED)
As many as four IAS officers have been given new assignments in Haryana. Accordingly, S K Goyal (HY: 93), has been posted as Special Secretary, Home-I Department while R P Gupta (HY: 93) will now be Ambala Divisional commissioner and Suprabha Dahiya (HY: 94) was assigned additional charge of Commissioner, Hishar division. Besides, Subhash Chandra (HY: 95) has been made Administrator, CADA.

Chandra Prakash Singh deputed as Chairman, NPPA (UPDATED)
Chandra Prakash Singh, Principal Secretary, Archaeology in Tamil Nadu has been deputed as Chairman, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) in the rank of Additional Secretary. He is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.

IAS reshuffle in Tamil Nadu (UPDATED)
As many as six IAS officers have been given new assignments in Tamil Nadu. Accordingly, Mrs. Pooja Kulkarni has been appointed as Deputy Commissioner, Health while R Nanthagopal will now be Commissioner, Corporation of Madurai and U Sagayam was made Special Officer and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society. Similarly, Braj Kishore Prasad is posted as Principal Secretary, Transport Department; Dr Pingale Vijay Maruti as Collector, Tiruvannamala and Anshul Mishra as Collector, Madurai.

V K Saxena recommended for MD, IMPCL (UPDATED)
V K Saxena, GM, IMPCL, has been recommended for the post of Managing Director, Indian Medicines Pharmaceuticals Corporation Limited (IMPCL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on May 23, 2012. As many as 11 persons were interviewed for the same.

IRS officer deputed as ED, FDDI, Jodhpur (UPDATED)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sameer K Srivastava has been appointed as Executive Director, FDDI, Jodhpur, under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.


IRS officer gets promotion after retirement (UPDATED)
Retired Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Bankim Chandra Pandey has been promoted as Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Kolkata.

CORPORATE

Vineet Jain is now ED Adani Power
CEO and ED Adani Infrastructure Vineet Jain will now be new ED of the Adani Power.

Aloke Kumar Banerjee is new Director (Finance ) ONGC
Aloke Kumar Banerjee has taken over as Director (Finance) of ONGC on subsequent to his Presidential appointment to the coveted post. He has close to three decades of rich and diversified experience. A finance professional par excellence, he has varied experience in Financial Management and Strategic Planning in upstream Oil and Gas Industry with specialization in Corporate Accounts, Corporate Budget, Cost Management, Risk Analysis & Financial Planning, Procurement of Contracts, Performance Benchmarking & Evaluation, Audit, Corporate Governance, Insurance, etc. Introduction of Financial Benchmarking concept, documentation of Budget Manual, Introduction and Implementation of Zero Based Budgeting, Formulation of Accounting Standards have been some of his major initiatives. During his illustrious and highly productive career with ONGC, he has clearly demonstrated the passion to achieve the pinnacle of perfection.

12 BHEL GMs promoted as EDs
As many as 12 General Managers in BHEL have been promoted as Executive Directors, Accordingly, A.K. Dave has been promoted as ED, Jhansi, Anil Ahuja as ED (TBD,IPE & IPM), Atul Sobti as ED (PE&SD), C.K. Shrikhande as ED (PS-NR), K.C. Ramamurthy as ED (OSD - EDN), K.S. Mathur as ED (PS-WR), N.K. Bansal as ED (PS-TS), S. Gopinath as ED (Thirumayam & Piping Centre), S.C. Mittal as ED (Finance - Receivables Management), Sukul Lomash as ED (CSU & FP), U.N. Singh as ED (ISG) and Umesh Mathur as ED (TBG).

15 BHEL GMs redesignated as GM (I)
As many as 15 General Managers in BHEL have been redesignated as GM(I). Accordingly A.K. Ghosh has been redesignated as GM Incharge, PS-SR, A.S. Nagaraja as GM Incharge (GT & Oil Rigs), Alok Mathur as GM Incharge (ARP), Arvind Gupta as GM Incharge (T&C Engg &Purchase,PEG), Ashok K. Gupta as GM Incharge (EM, T&D), D. Sankaran as GM Incharge (Finance), Harsh Kayastha as GM Incharge (Corporate Quality), M.K. Shakya as GM Incharge (Feeders), R. Kumar as GM Incharge (Engineering - FB), R.K. Handa as GM Incharge (IO), Rajiv Puri as GM Incharge, PS-PEM, Rakesh Mathur as GM Incharge (MSX), PS-HQ, S.R. Prasad as GM Incharge, ROD, V. Ravindran as GM Incharge (Finance) and V.K. Midha as GM Incharge (CPP & Renewables).

Patni resigns as Non Exec. Promoter Director Impex Ferro Tech Ltd
Rohit Patni, Non-Executive Promoter Director of Impex Ferro tech Ltd has resigned from the company w.e.f. May 21, 2012.

Choksi re-appointed MD, Gitanjali Gems Ltd
Gitanjali Gems Ltd has re-appointed Mehul C. Choksi as Managing Director of the company for a further period of five years w.e.f. August 1, 2012 .

Varma appointed Whole-time Director, Gitanjali Gems Ltd
Sunil Varma , Chief Financial Officer of Gitanjali Gems Ltd has been appointed as Whole-time Director of the company with immediate effect. Khandelwal appointed CFO, Gitanjali Gems Ltd Kapil Khandelwal has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Gitanjali Gems Ltd .

Ray appointed CEO, Dentsu Communication
Dentsu India Group has appointed Arijit Ray as Chief Executive Officer, Dentsu Communications.

Srinivasraju appointed Editor, Vijay Karnataka
Sugata Srinivasraju has been appointed as Editor of Vijay Karnataka on May 15, 2012.

Roy appointed VP (India Solutions), Yahoo India Research & Development
Yahoo India Research & Development has appointed Anindo Roy as Vice President ( India Solutions).

Lalla resigns as Leader (Digital) , South Asia, Mindshare
Ashok Lalla has resigned as Leader (Digital) (South Asia) at Mindshare. His last day with the company will be May 31, 2012

Pandit appointed Exec. VP (Digital Camera Business), Fujifilm India Pvt Ltd
FujiFilm India Pvt Ltd has appointed Rohit Pandit, former Business Head at LG Electronics, as Executive Vice President (Digital Camera Business).

Roy appointed COO , Happy Creative Services
Happy Creative Services has appointed Siddhartha Roy as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

OVL earns highest ever-revenue in 2011-12
ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL) wholly-owned subsidiary of Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) achieved the highest-ever total revenue of Rs. 22,637 crore, an increase of 21.2% during the year 2011-12 as compared to the previous year. Profit after tax (PAT) for the current year has increased only marginally by 1.1% from Rs. 2691 crore to Rs. 2721 crore due to certain abnormal provisioning. OVL is currently having participation in 30 projects in 15 countries, out of which 10 are producing projects. During the year, the company has acquired 25% participating interest (PI) in Satpayev Block, Kazakhstan and exploration activities have started in the block. The remaining 75% PI is held by KMG, the National Oil Company of Kazakhstan. A provision for Impairment of Rs. 1953 crore (US$ 408 Million) has been made in respect of subsidiary, Jarpeno Ltd. as the asset is performing lower as compared to the estimated and the 'value in use' computed for the asset as on March 31, 2012 was lower than its carrying value. The company currently has two projects under development namely Carabobo 1, in Venezuela, where first oil is expected in December 2012 and Blocks A1 & A3 in Myanmar, which are likely to commence production in May 2013. OVL continues to pursue its objective of acquiring oil and gas equity abroad for energy security of the country. Team ONGC Videsh is currently finalizing its long term plan as a part of ONGC Group's Perspective Plan 2030, which is expected to be announced shortly. Sudhir Vasudeva, Chairman, complemented Team ONGC Videsh for sustaining growth with a balanced portfolio of assets and envisioned to accelerate the acquisition of oil & gas properties overseas to supplement the domestic crude oil and natural gas production towards energy security of the country.

Goyal appointed as director IKF Technologies
Sunil Goyal has been appointed as director of IKF Technologies.

2 resign as director of IKF Technologies.
Ms.Uma Iyer and Mukesh Goyal have resigned as directors of IKF Technologies.

Sridhar appointed as additional director of Wyeth
S Sridhar has been appointed as additional director of Wyeth.

Jain resigns as director of Rajdhani Leasing and Industries.
Sateesh Jain has been appointed as director of Rajdhani Leasing and Industries.

Mansukhani appointed as director Hinduja Ventures
Ashok Mansukhani has been appointed as director Hinduja Ventures.

Gupta appointed as director of Essar Securities.
Neeraj Gupta has been appointed as director of Essar Securities.

Katra ceases to be director of JK Tyre and Industries.
Ashok Katra has ceased to be director of JK Tyre and Industries.

Baid has resigned as director of Gennex Laboratories.
Vinod Baid has been appointed as director of Gennex Laboratories.

2 appointed as additional directors of Gennex Laboratories
Arihant Baid and Tiruvarur Muralidharan Gopalakrishnan have been appointed as additional directors of Gennex Laboratories.

Jhunjhunwala quits Gennex Laboratories.
Kishore Jhunjhunwala has resigned as director of Gennex Laboratories.

Jain resigns as director of Rajdhani Leasing and Industries.
Sateesh Jain has resigned as director of Rajdhani Leasing and Industries.

Kreinger appointed as CEO Lafarge India
Martin Kreinger has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge India.

Prasad appointed as additional director of Jyothi Infraventures
E.S.S. Prasad has been appointed as additional director of Jyothi Infraventures.

Venkatesh appointed as additional director of Moschip Semiconductor Technology
G Venkatesh has been appointed as additional director of Moschip Semiconductor Technology.

Razdan resigns as director of Era Infra Engineering.
Anil Razdan has resigned as director of Era Infra Engineering.

Chandra resigns as director of IL&FS Transportation Network.
R.S. Chandra has resigned as director of IL&FS Transportation Network.

Vishwanathan appointed as Chairman Emeritus of Aajaneya Lifecare
Kashi Vishwanathan has been appointed as Chairman Emeritus of Aajaneya Lifecare.

Alam appointed as GM Enterprise of NEC
Zubair Alam has been appointed as General Manager Enterprise of NEC.

FujiFilm India appoints Rohit Pandit as EVP
FujiFilm India Pvt Ltd has appointed Rohit Pandit as Executive Vice President for the Digital Camera Business. FujiFilm India Pvt Ltd is the wholly-owned subsidiary of FujiFilm Corporation, Japan, Pandit was Business Head at LG Electronics.

Ashok Lalla bids adieu to Mindshare
Ashok Lalla has put in his papers at Mindshare where he was Leader -Digital, South Asia.

Happy Creative Services appoints Siddhartha Roy as COO
Happy Creative Services has appointed Siddhartha Roy, who has over 16 years experience in the advertising business, as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). He was with Ogilvy for 10 years in Mumbai, Bangalore and Sri Lanka besides having worked with Ambience & Everest and others.

S Divaakar appointed VP at TV9
S Divaakar has joined the Associated Broadcasting Company Limited (ABCL), that runs the TV9 Network, as Vice President - Advertisements and National Sales.

Noshe Group appoints Sunanda Batra as VP - Media Buying and Planning
Noshe Group has appointed Sunanda Batra as Vice President - Media Buying and Planning. She was with Integral PR.

Honesty no more appearing to be best policy
The brutal killing of S P Mahantesh , a Karnatka Administrative Service Officer in Banglore demonstrates once again that to be honest has become dangerous in our system. The corrupt and the crooks have become so powerful that to expose or challenge them is playing with one's own life. We have lost so many whistleblowers to the corrupt mafia. What has Government done except thinking of passing the whistle Blowers' Act to protect them .The police is not able to even probe the murders .In the case of another RTI activist, Ravinder Balwani a retired manager of Delhi Transco Limited High Court has to intervene to order probe into his death in mysterious circumstances as hit and run case. So many of RTI activists who have exposed wrongdoing have paid with their lives. When we talk of civil service Reforms we are nowhere in the vicinity of what is required. The major reform required is to encourage honest officers ,protect them, appreciate them and save them from harassment from their own dishonest and corrupt seniors. Today honesty is certainly not appearing to be the best policy. It can kill you.

Aarti Khosla

10 Janpath will never support P Sangma
If any one thinks that 10 Janpath is going to support P Sangma in his presidential bid is living in his own world. Being a catrholic goes against him and also against the dynasty's venture to make Rahul Gandhi, another Catholic as PM. After all the President and the PM can not be from the same minority community.

N Krishnan

Please clarify
As a policy of Central Government, the retired employees re-deployed with remuneration as prescribed last gross emolument drawn minus pension. In this context can anybody enlighten me by giving a clarification, whether Basic Pay, Grade Pay, D.A, HRA and conveyance allowance are included in this definition of "last gross emoluments" for the purpose of remuneration.

Koyaji

First Appellate Authority directed to undergo rigorous RTI training The Central Information Commission (CIC) had issued a show cause notice to the Public Information Officer (PIO) to explain the denial of information under section 2(f) of the RTI Act. The PIO submitted that he had recently joined as PIO and was not having the knowledge of the RTI Act at the time of the receipt of the RTI application. When the appeal was filed at that time, the First Appellate Authority (FAA) had endorsed the decision of the PIO. The CIC was not satisfied by the explanation furnished by the PIO and under section 20(1) of the RTI Act, directed the Public Authority to recover an amount of Rs. 25,000/- from the salary of the PIO at the rate of Rs. 5000/- per month as penalty. The Commission further noted that the FAA has also demonstrated his complete ignorance on the practical application of the RTI Act. The Senior Divisional Manager was directed by the Commission to assign the FAA to a rigorous period of training so that he can satisfactorily discharge his obligations as per the provisions of the Act.

Comments

It is unfortunate that many organisations are yet to train their officers in the basics of the RTI Act which is not only obstructing the flow of information but is also leading to unnecessary levy of penalty. This is the first case where training has been ordered by the CIC which reminds of RI ordered by courts. In case any public authority is interested, we can hold training sessions for the PIO and FAA.

Citation: Shri Rajpal v. LIC of India in File No. CIC/DS/A/2011/000501

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)