What people say about us!

I make it a point to go through the whispers and most of them turn out to be true.

Geetha Krishnamurthy

Are the Jain's of Times of India worried?
It is heard that Samir Jain and Vinnet Jain are worried about the entry of Mukesh Ambani (through CNBC , Nai Duniya and ETV) and the new entry of Kumar Manglam Birla (Living Media India-India Today) in the media business.

Tug of war between IAS and IFS?
If top sources are to be believed, a tug of war is on between the IAS and the IFS over the posting as Ambassador European Union in Brusells. After the refusal by 1975 batch UT cadre IAS officer Rahul Khullar the post is currently lying vacant. While the IFS lobby has staked its claim Commerce Minister is keen for the posting of an IAS officer on this post. Let us see who wins?

Over 40 IAS officers of 1982 batch to be empanelled?
Grapevine has it that about four dozen IAS officers belonging to 1982 batch are being empanelled to the rank of Additional Secretary in Government of India.

Empanelment of IAS officers of 2 batches simultaneously?
As the grapevine has it, there is a move for simultaneous empanelment of IAS officers belonging to batches of 1979 and 1980 as Secretaries in the Government of India.

K.A Prasad Sinha to be Joint Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy
K.A. Prasad Sinha is poised to be new Joint Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy. Presently, he is private secretary(PS) to Minister of State for External Affairs Ms. Preneet Kaur. He is an IAS officer of 1992 batch who belongs to the Punjab cadre.

Chandra Prakash Singh deputed as Chairman, NPPA
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.

Capt. S S Tripathi selected as Director (MS), EPL
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.

V K Saxena recommended for MD, IMPCL
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.

K M Acharya gets additional charge
Secretary Social Justice K M Acharya has been given additional charge of the Secretary, Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment for a period of three months. He is 1974 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Nalin Prabhat to be IG BSF?
Nalin Prabhat, IG AP is likely to join the BSF as IG. He is an IPS officer of1992 batch who belongs to the AP cadre.

Transfer and postings delayed in CBDT
Annual transfers and posting of the IRS (IT) officers have been delayed.

Tripathy gets additional charge of Chairman APEDA
Asit Kumar Tripathy has been given additional charge of Chairman APEDA for another three months. He is 1986 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.

Tourists flow to Gujarat soars astronomically
The final numbers have come. The number of tourists Gujarat has crossed the mark of 2.23 crore. It is an increase of 26 lacs in one year informed Principal Secretary (PS) Tourism to the Gujarat Government Vipul Mittra. According to Mittra it had been achieved due to the Bachchan campaign,growth double that of national growth, for second year in a row '. Number of tourists in 2010-11 was 1.98 crore, while 2011-12 it was over 2.23 crore. Besides, it was over 1.70 crore in 2009-10. So after the Bachchan campaign the net increase is 54 lakh , since Vipul Mittra took over as PS tourism! That is bachchans contribution to tourism growth in gujarat. This is based on scientific and authentic field data compiled by GITCO with the help of actual hotel or guest houses night halt figures,added Vipul Mittra. He is an IAS officer of 1986 batch who belongs to the Gujarat cadre.

78 positions of IAS officers vacant in Orissa cadre
As many as 78 positions of IAS officers have been lying vacant in Orissa cadre. There are 148 officers in the position against strength of 226 IAS officers in the State.

IA & AS officer Jaiswal is PD, Commercial Audit, Ranchi
S K Jaiswal, on return to the department, has been transferred and posted as Principal Director of Commercial Audit & Ex-Officio Member Audit Board, Ranchi under the Comptroller & Auditor General of India. He is an IA&AS officer of 1993 batch.

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

Abhinav Kumar to join GoI?
Abhinav Kumar, DIG, CID, Uttrakhand Police is likely to join on Central Deputation as DIG, Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP). He is an IPS officer of 1996 batch, who belongs to Uttrakhand cadre.

Rani to go to Goa!
The MHA has asked to relieve Ms. IB Rani, Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police, North District to join Goa Government. She is an IPS officer of 2000 batch who belongs to the AGMU cadre.

Reddy to join GoI?
B. Shiva Dhar Reddy, DIG,(SIB)Hyderabad AP Police is likely to join Central Deputation as DIG. He is an IPS officer of 1994 batch who belongs to Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Subarno promoted in IB
Rajesh Subarno, Assistant Deputy Director (Intelligence Bureau) Government of India, has been promoted as Deputy Director, IB. He is an IPS officer of 1997 batch, who belongs to the West Bengal cadre.
(We said this on 15 May 2012)

Sasi Kumar moves to Doha
Consul in Birgunj P S Sasi Kumar has been transferred to Doha.

T B C Rozare to join Settlement Commission?
T B C Rozare 1975 batch IRS (IT) officer is likely to join the IT Settlement Commission.

Garima Bhatnagar transferred to Arunachal Pradesh
Ms. Garima Bhatnagar, DIG/ Additional Commissioner, (VIg.) Delhi Police has been transferred to Arunachal Pradesh. She is an IPS officer of 1994 batch who belongs to the AGMU cadre.

Mrs. Alka Jain posted as OSD, CCIT (CCA), Hyderabad
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
Extension of deputation tenure of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Anurag Sahay as CVO, HAL, Bangalore, has been approved for more two years.

VRS of IAS officer approved
VRS request of IAS officer of UT cadre Vijay Singh Panera has reportedly been approved.

One post of DIG vacant in NCRB
One post is vacant for the position of DIG/ Deputy Director in National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB),Ministry of Home Affairs, Government. of India .

IRS officer deputed as ED, FDDI, Jodhpur
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
Retired Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Bankim Chandra Pandey has been promoted as Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Kolkata.

Army Chief to release book of R K Anand
R.K Anand Senior Advocate has written a book "Assault on merit" the untold story of Civil - Military relations . Book will be released on 25 may 2012 at 6pm The Ashok Hotel Chanakayapuri New Delhi by the Indian Army Cheif General V.K . Singh.

CAT stays suspension of former Bharatpur Collector
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has stayed the suspension of the then Bharatpur Collector Krishna Kunal for his alleged failure in preventing the communal violence in last year's clash between Gujjars and Meos at Gopalgarh on September 14, 2011.He is an IAS officer of 2003 batch who belongs to the Rajasthan cadre.

IAS reshuffle in Tamil Nadu
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.

IFS officers of three batches promoted in Kerala
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
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.

Four posts of Joint DG vacant in Films Division, Mumbai
Four posts of Joint Director General are vacant in Films Division, Mumbai, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Those willing to apply can send their applications to the Director (Films), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, A-Wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi at the earliest.

Post of OSD vacant in ITPO
The post of Officer on Special Duty (OSD) is lying vacant in India Trade Promotion Orgnisation (ITPO) on deputation basis. Those willing to apply can send their applications to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) at the earliest.

PESB seeks applications for Director (Fin.), NRL
Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) is seeking applications for the post of Director (Finance), Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) fell vacant in May, 2012. Those willing to apply can send their applications to the PESB before July 27, 2012.

K. Sultan Singh Supreme Court Advocate bereaved
K. Sultan Singh leading Supreme Court Advocate (who represented victims of Uphaar cinema fire) has lost his father-Thakur Rajendra Singh.He was 75 and is survived his two sons K. Sultan Singh & Himmat Singh(also a lawyer).Thakur Rajendra Singh's cremation will take place in Jalandhar by evening on May 24,2012.

NDC (Commandant) is Air Marshal P.K. Roy
NDC (Commandant) is Air Marshal P.K. Roy, AVSM, VM, VSM. It was inadvertently reported that a Joint Secretary level officer will head the NDC.

NMDC signs pact for steel melting shop package
NMDC has signed a contract for Steel Making Shop (SMS) Package for the upcoming 3 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant at Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh with the consortium led by M/s Siemens VAI MT GmbH & Co. (SVAI), Austria on May 23, 2012. This is the 6th major package awarded in respect of NMDC's 3 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant, i.e. the Steel Melting Shop which is one of the most important unit of the Integrated Steel Plants which
will convert hot metals produced by the Blast Furnace to Steel and the same will subsequently be the input for the Thin Slab Caster and Rolling Mill to produce the finished saleable product like low carbon, high strength, line pipe quality, automobile steel, etc. in the form of hot rolled coils. G Viswakarma, ED (NISP) on behalf of NMDC and Norbert Petermaier, Sr. Vice President, on behalf of SVAI, Austria signed the Contract Agreement in the presence of N.K. Nanda, CMD, NMDC, Functional Directors of NMDC and other dignitaries.

16 IFS officers shifted in Rajasthan (UPDATED)
As many as 16 Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers have been transferred and posted at different places in Rajasthan. Accordingly, Dr. Surendra Singh Chaudhary has been posted as Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Production while Anil Kumar Goyal will now be Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Protection and Dr. Suresh Chandra was made Chief Conservator of Forests, Planning. Similarly, Om Prakash Singh has been shifted as Chief Conservator of Forest, Headquarters Jaipur; Shafayat Hussain as Chief Conservator of Forests, Action Plann and Forest Management, Jaipur; Ashok Kumar B Ramtek as Chief Conservator of Forest, Ajmer; Dr. Ramesh Chandra as Chief Conservator of Forest, Departmental Action Plan, Jaipur; Rajiv Chaturvedi as Deputy Conservator of Forest, Bhilwara; P Kathirvel as Deputy Conservator of Forest, Alwar; Mrs. Khyati Mathur as Deputy Conservator of Forest, Wildlife, Bharatpur; Anup K R as Deputy Conservator of Forest, Bharatpur; Mohit Kumar Nigam as Assistant Conservator of Forest and Deputy Conservator of Forest in-charge, Banswara; Ms. Harini V as Assistant Forest Conservator of Forests and Deputy Conservator of Forests, Udyapur; T Mohan Raj as Assistant Conservator of Forests and Deputy Conservator of Forests, Tonk and Balaji Kari as Assistant Conservator of Forests and Deputy Conservator of Forests, Karauli.


Vibha Puri Das to be Secretary Tribal Affairs (UPDATED)
Secretary Higher Education Vibha Puri das is being moved to the Department of Tribal Affairs in the Government of India. She is 1976 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.

Ashok Thakur to be new Secretary Higher Education (UPDATED)
Now suspense is over.Ashok Thakur is being appointed Secretary Higher Education in the Government of India. 1977 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS officer is presently Special Secretary Higher Education. Earlier his name was proposed for the post of Secretary Tribal
Affairs.

Retired IPS is now VC in Uttar Pradesh (UPDATED)
Retired 1975 batch IPS officer V C Goel has been appointed Vice Chancellor of Charan Singh University Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.

Dutta appointed Additional Director, CBI (UPDATED)
Rupak Kumar Dutta has been appointed new Additional Director of the CBI. He is 1981 batch IPS officer of Karnataka cadre.
( We said this on April 24 )

Saleem Ali appointed Special Director CBI (UPDATED)
K. Saleem Ali has been appointed as Special Director in CBI, in the scale of pay of Rs. 75500-80000. He is 1978 batch IPS officer of Manipur -Tripura cadre.

( We said this on May02 )

Deputation tenure of IRS officer Sanjay Kumar extended (UPDATED)
Deputation tenure of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sanjay Kumar as Financial Advisor in the Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (DSIIDC), New Delhi, has been extended for more one year.

IRS officer V K Singh appointed Director (FT & TR-I), CBDT (UPDATED)
Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer V K Singh has been appointed as Director (FT & TR-I) in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Department of Revenue, New Delhi.

Saurabh Chandra to move Commerce (UPDATED)
Finally Secretary IPP in the Government of India Saurabh Chandra is moving as Secretary Commerce. He is 1978 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Arvind Mayaram to be Secretary IPP (UPDATED)
Arvind Mayaram is all set to replace Saurabh Chandra as Secretary Industrial Policy and Promotion (IPP) in the Government of India. He is 1978 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Pankaj Agrawal to be Secretary Coal (UPDATED)
Pankaj Agrawal is all set to succeed Alok Perti as Secretary Coal. He is 1977 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Ashish Bahuguna to be new Secretary Agriculture (UPDATED)
Ashish Bahuguna is all set to succeed P K Basu as Secretary Agriculture in the Government of India. He is 1978 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

( We said this on May08 )

Anil Goswami to be Secretary Border Management (UPDATED)
Anil Goswami is all set to take over as Secretary Border Management in the Government of India. He is 1978 batch IAS officer of J & K cadre

Petrol price hike: Samajwadi Party blames congress for breach of trust (UPDATED)
What Congress takes Mulaya Singh Yadav's presence on the stage while releasing the UPA-II report card on May 22 at PM residence is now being termed by the SP leader as 'Breech-of-trust" by the Congress. Man Mohan Singh said Mulayam Singh was there on dinner only and not for sharing the stage and holding the UPA-II report card. The very next day of release of the report card the hike in petrol-price by the Government is portrayed by the SP as a breech-of-trust.

Steel Minister Verma reviews performance of NMDC (UPDATED)
Union Minister for Steel Beni Prasad Verma has reviewed the performance of NMDC Limited, for the year 2011-12, on May 24, 2012. N K Nanda, CMD (Incharge), NMDC briefed the Minister about the performance of the company during the year 2011-12 and highlighted its achievements against the MoU targets of the year. The Minister exhorted the company to continue to improve its performance in the coming financial year. The Minister also expressed interest in progress of NMDC's steel plant at Nagarnar and advised the company to complete its mining projects in India and abroad at a faster pace. The Minister was of the view that in order to meet future raw material demand in the country, NMDC needs to ramp up its production from the present level. During the year 2011-12, the company registered a growth of about 7% as production of iron ore reached 27.26 million tonnes as compared to 25.16 million tonnes during previous year. All the major packages for the proposed 3 MTPA integrated Steel plant in Nagarnar have been awarded within a short span of time and the work for blast furnace, raw material handling system and coke oven plants has started. The Secretary, Ministry of Steel, D RS Chaudhary appreciated the performance of NMDC and advised the company for expediting completion of its ongoing mine expansion projects. He also indicated that in order to complete its upcoming steel plant project in Nagarnar as per schedule, NMDC needs to speed up execution activities. NMDC signed a MoU with RINL for developing a Slurry pipeline of about 450 Km from Jagdalpur to Vishkhapatnam and a 3-4 Mtpa Pellet Plant at Visakhapatnam in the august presence of Steel Minister.

CORPORATE

Bisht to be CMD THDC?
Latest information says that A K Bisht Director (Personnel ) may take over as new CMD of the THDC on June 8.

Kulkarni ceases to be Director, Kirloskar Brothers Investments Ltd
Gajanan P. Kulkarni, Director, Kirloskar Brothers Investments Ltd has resigned from the Board of Directors of the company w.e.f. May 22, 2012.

Naqvi to step down as Editorial Head & News Director, Aaj Taj
Qamar Waheed Naqvi has decided to step down as Editorial Head and News Director of Aaj Tak.

Kriegner appointed Chief Executive (India Ops.), Lafarge
Lafarge has appointed Martin Kriegner as the Chief Executive for its India operations.

Nagpal resigns as Non Exec. Director, Hinduja Founderies Ltd
Narender Nagpal, Non-Executive Director of Hinduja Founderies Ltd has resigned from the Board of Directors of the company w.e.f. May 9, 2012.

Kotagiri appointed Company Secy. Vama Industries Ltd
Ms. Shilpa Kotagiri, has been appointed as Company Secretary of Vama Industries Ltd and Compliance officer of the Company w.e.f. April 1, 2012.

Jyothirmai resigns as Company Secy. Vama Industries Ltd
Ms. R. Jyothirmai has resigned as Company Secretary of Vama Industries Ltd.

Harris appointed MD, (Digital Services), EMEA/G14
IPG Mediabrands has appointed James Harris as Managing Director of Digital services EMEA/G14

Alam appointed GM (Enterprise Business), NEC India Pvt Ltd
NEC India has appointed Zubair Alam as General Manager (Enterprise Business), NEC India Pvt. Ltd.

Desai appointed VP & Head (UX Labs), Indigo Consulting
Indigo Consulting has appointed Harshit Desai as VP & Head - UX Labs.

Deepak appointed MD & CEO, Nelcast Ltd
Nelcast Limited has appointed P. Deepak as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company for a period three years w.e.f. July 1, 2012.

Sharma resigns as Independent Director, Birla Corporation Ltd
M. K. Sharma, Independent Director, Birla Corporation Ltd has resigned from the Board of Directors of the company w.e.f. May 15, 2012.

Chablani resigns as Company Secy. Piramal Life Sciences Ltd
Ms. Vandana Chablani has resigned as Company Secretary of Piramal Life Sciences Ltd w.e.f. May 19, 2012.

Sheth appointed Company Secy. Piramal Life Sciences Ltd
Ankit Sheth has been appointed as Company Secretary of Piramal Life Sciences Ltd.

Patni resigns as director of Impex Ferro Tech
Rohit Patni has resigned as director of Impex Ferro Tech.

2 appointed as director of Brooks India
Rajnesh Bedi and Dinesh Puri have been appointed as directors of Brooks India

Sridharan ceases to be director of Bharat Electronics
G Sridharan ceased to be director of Bharat Electronics.

Shinde resigns as CEO and MD of Welspun Projects
Sunil Shinde has resigned as CEO and MD of Welspun Projects.

Nagpal resigns as director of Hinduja Foundries
Narendra Nagpal has resigned as director of Hinduja Foundries.

Ms.Sajjala resigns as MD of Integrated Thermoplastic'
Sujala Sajjala has resigned as MD of Integrated Thermoplastic.

Reddy appointed as MD of Integrated Thermoplastics
Vangala Reddy has been appointed as MD of Integrated Thermoplastics.

Deepak has been appointed as MD and CEO of Netcast
P. Deepak has been appointed as MD and CEO of Netcast.

As the predicament of ITS and coercive measures of Government are at its worst, no wonder more than 1500 ITS officers will sit idle till they are redeployed (God knows when!).This appears to be a classic case of wastage of UPSC and Govt resources. Govt is presumed as model employer, Telecom field has demands in all sphere of Government policy implementation .. be it security, customer grievances, rural development, environment, forestry , mining etcetera are shortage of officers in managerial/admn capacity everywhere and an entire cadre who can be used in all above is on the verge of being declared surplus? As other organised Group A service cadre, ITS is entitled and giving services in various ministries also and winning accolades. But DoT is taking its sweet time to annihilate the cadre, leaving officials in lurch and spoiling their career. When an option is taken from Government officials of this magnitude (1700 Nos), isn't it logical to atleast prepare some roadmap for utilisation of such pool of experienced and trained managers? More than 400 Officers (Govt optees) are idle since more than six months and remaining Govt optees also likely to join them? DoT/ Ministry /BSNL/ MTNL/ Other aware authorities can still make the difference and bring about a way to use such government officials before it is too late ....

S Sharma

It could be due to flawed empanelment policies

A whisper on your site mentions about the shortage of Joint Secretary-level officers in Government of India. To my mind the reasons could be due to flawed policies for empanelment. It seems an officer's name cannot be considered for empanelment as joint-secretary if he or she has not worked as Director. Why? Then this wide gap between IAS and other Group A services for being considered as joint secretary makes it impossible for cadre authorities to send the names of eligible officers to DOPT for consideration for empanelment. In theory this gap was accepted to be two years but in actual practice ,I believe due to an ill thought suggestion at the highest level in bureaucracy it has been made to be more than 5 years. Thus while 1991 batch of IAS is considered for Joint Secretary empanelment 1985 batches of other services are in the reckoning. So many of these Group A services Officers are reluctant to go and work under their juniors or even their batchmates. Set the house in order. Remove these lacunae and you will not find shortage of brilliant officers for the posts of joint secretaries in Government Of India.

Aarti Khosla

There are honest officials in every office

There are God fearing honest officials in every office. Because of their junior position, they are scared to open their mouth. This is mainly because one needs to write to the Ministry about any Head of Office indulging in corruption through Head of Office only. Then the same ministry would forward the complaint to the accused for his remarks. Doesn't this sound ridiculous ? Instead of making public statements the so called rulers should come out with concrete plans. Moreover, an insider knows more about corruption than any outsider. Now CBI won't consider anonymous or pseudonymous complaints. There are offices under Central Govt. where corruption is rampant and even the Minister is unaware of it. That is how our system works. God only can save this country from impending dangaer.

Sivakumar

Austerity drive ; an exercise in hypocrisy?

I fully agree with the views published under - Austerity drive ; "an exercise in hypocrisy" Engaging retired people after retirement is another corrupt practice. To get this favour, the beneficiary will like to go by the wishes of his master and will agree for unacceptable, illegal, corrupt actions especially when he is retained as advisor in the same organization from where he has retired. CVC should note this and issue a directive against this to all government organisations.

Gopal Swamy

The Herbivores & The Carnivores

The Lokpal Bill has again been referred to the Select Committee. Why is Anna angry or his team agitated? It has gone where it was destined to! The point is that in any democracy governments are not run by the Annas or their inspiration the great Mahatma Gandhis. It needs all the support of money. He who finances a government victory or formation has every right to recover his investment with good returns (!!!). The Annas will always complain against this operation and the governments will practice it in the name of coalition compulsions if nothing more. It is all in the adjective or verb used. If a poor government employee gets paid other than his salary, it is advertised as 'bribe', but the
expression changes the moment the payment is called advertisement charges. The media is making more money than all the government servants in this year and is likely to make more till the next elections, new government formation and functioning. The complaints will go on as ever, as would the practices. After all, it is created with some scientific designs so that the herbivores never kill any animal for their food but are the only meal for the carnivores ! The comic relief lies in the fact that the lion is called the King of the Jungle ! Its 'majesty' is admired; its 'royalty' is copied and its 'beauty' is sung more than the success of the politician by his sychophants! Same applies to governments in India. They are made of only the lions of the elected members. They are born to rule over all the herbivores like Anna and his team. In fact, our politicians are
several shades better than all the herbivores, insectivores, carnivores as they are omnivores! That is how they command the respect of all others like the lion in jungle!

M L Gupta

Stupidity of officer!

Much has been mentioned about Paul Menon's capture by Maoists and his release after abject surrender by the Government. Media were vying with each other for making him a hero. But no one writes about the stupidity of this officer that cost two precious lives and freeing of murderers and criminals, caught by the policemen with their blood and sweat.

Col. N. K. Nair (Retd.)

Why Gr. A officers?

Why Gr. A officers? Why not only CSS officers who actually works throughout their life in Central Ministries. The Gr. A officers are specialists of a particular service and are not competent to serve ministries.

Vashistha R K

Various lobbies active

There are various lobbies active on your web site trying to push their agendas for central deputation. The fact is that these posts are open posts and under the Central Staffing Scheme, these posts are open to the organised Group A services as well as IPS and IAS and also the Central Secretariat Service. This ensures that a wide talent pool is
available for the Government to choose from. The educational qualifications, training and job profile of all these services are equivalent and they are by and large drawn from the same recruitment examination. Till Director level, there is more or less parity in postings on deputation, it is Joint Secretary and above where anomalies are enormous. These are symptomatic of our hierarchy loving society which rates some services as being "better" than "others" and partly due to the pre 1979 exam system where the lists of IForeignS and the IAS (yes, in that order) were made out of all five subjects a candidate appeared in and the lists of other services was prepared based on "best" marks out in three or two papers out of five. That system having been finished in 1979, the rationale for the so called "superiority" of the IForeignS and IAS same is long over. However, the
top is still manned by pre 1979 batches and hence the phenomenon is continuing. But again, with time, the whole process will have to become more democratic and less exclusive and more transparent and selections of Joint Secretary and above be made like in all other countries, on merit, re-tested after twenty years of service and not merely on one examination to last a lifetime.

A K Singh

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)