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N C Menon

POLITICS

Chintan Shivir renamed?
The talk is that Congress' Chintan Shivir is actually Keertan Shivir (Keertan of the first family).

What is Sushil Kumar Shinde hinting at ?
The rant of Home Minister Shinde that right wing terror is in the offing is towards Narendra Modi besides the BJP/ RSS combine.

Are Gupta and Kumar centre's curtain-raiser for Jharkhand?
The centre took little time to appoint two eminent names as the advisers to the Governor. The freshly appointed advisers Madhukar Gupta and K. Vijay Kumar are former Union Home Secretary and former DG, CRPF respectively. By figuring out two renowned names the centre seems to unfold its own scheme of governance and vision. Firstly; the appointments serve as the curtain-raiser as how the agenda of governance would have been; had the Congress been ruling in the state. Secondly; by appointing the officers from outside the state it gives a message that the regional equations, pulls and pressures would no longer be the game-rule during the presidential rule in the state. Madhukar Gupta, a 1971 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre, has been known for his own style of action and vision towards developmental process while K. Vijay Kumar, a 1975 batch IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, has many feathers in his hat as the master of anti Naxal operations and internal security.

Media under perfect control of Govt !
It seems there is perfect control of the Government of India over the Media. This is evident from the fact that Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and Subramaniam Swamy have disappeared. Credit should go to whom?

BUREAUCRACY

Chibber to be Secretary, Road Transport ?
If all goes well Vijay Chibber will succeed A K Upadhyay as Secretary, Road Transport and Highways on February 1. Name of 1978 batch Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS officer has reportedly been recommended by the Minister C P Joshi.

Now name of Vivek Rae in circulation for Petroleum Secretary
On Monday name of Vivek Rae has started doing the round for the post of Secretary, Petroleum. A1978 batch IAS officer of UT cadre Rae is presently Secretary, MSME.

Is Mohanty not keen on making it as Secretary, GoI?
Whispers in the corridors of power make it a fresh buzz that PK Mohanty has, reportedly, conveyed to GoI that he would not prefer to make it as Secretary in GoI. Does it imply that he is keen on getting back to his cadre state; which is his native state as well? Mohanty, a 1979 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, has recently been empanelled for Secretary (GoI). Presently he is Special Secretary & Mission Director, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Will Civil Aviation Secretary be changed ?
Rumours in the corridors of power are rife that Civil Aviation Secretary K N Srivastava is being changed. Insiders, however, ruled out any such possibility since 1978 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre is scheduled to retire this year end.

Prof Ved Prakash is new Chairman of UGC
Prof Ved Prakash has been appointed new Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
(We said this on January 15, 2013)

Dr Roy to be Director, NIPFP
Dr Ritham Roy is moving from UNDP to NIPFP as Director in place of Dr Govind Rao.Dr Rao is joining the 14th Finance Commission.

Chandrasekhar to head IB in AP
R A Chandrasekhar has been moved from Bhunneshwar to Hyderabad as Joint Director. He is a1991 batch IPS officer of Kerala cadre.

Sunita Kokran to head IB in Orissa
Sunita Kokran has been moved from Delhi to Bhubneshwar as Deputy Director, IB. She is a 1996 batch IPS officer of Orissa cadre.

Andhra Pradesh CS Minnie Mathew to retire on February 1
Minnie Mathew, Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh, is scheduled to retire on February 1. She is an IAS officer of 1976 batch. The beginning of her successful inning had to go through a tuff-terrain. She had taken over the charge in the backdrop of a series of toxic-tussles, known to all who matters, which had raised questions as who should take onus of the decisions of the state government; the political masters or the officers.

Tenure of ASI DG Sengupta is over
Deputation tenure of Gautam Sengupta, DG, Archaeological Survey of India, has come to an end on January 18. He is from West Bengal.

Neelam Meena is new Dy Chairperson, Tea Board
Neelam Meena has taken over as the Deputy Chairperson of Tea Board. A 1998 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre Meena succeeds Roshni Sen who has gone back to the parent West Bengal cadre.

( We said this on January 4, 2013)

New office bearers of UP IAS Association
Alok Ranjan has been elected new President of the Uttar Pradesh IAS Association.Parth Sarthi Sen Sharma is Secretary and Kaushal Raj Sharma Joint Secretary. Bhuvnesh Kumar is Treasurer.

R K Gupta, Director, DOPT transferred to DONER
R K Gupta, Director, DOPT, has reportedly been transferred to Ministry of Department of North East Development Region. He is an officer of Central Secretariat Services.

IPS changes in Karnataka
Raman Gupta has been transferred to Tumkur district replacing TR Suresh who has been posted as DCP, northeast division, Bangalore.

Pawan Verma is Advisor to Nitish Kumar
Former Indian Ambassdor to Bhutan Pawan Verma has been appointed Cultural Advisor to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Shariq Noor is back to Bhopal
Shariq Noor, Correspondent, AIR, Indore, has been transferred back to Bhopal as Correspondent, AIR, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. He is an Indian Information Service (IIS) officer.

Syamal Kumar Sarkar promoted as Special Secretary
Syamal Kumar Sarkar has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training till his taking over as Secretary, Water Resources. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre.

Rajiv Gupta promoted to Secretary rank
Rajiv Gupta, Managing Director, NAFED under Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, has been promoted in - situ in the rank and pay of Secretary. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.

Rajiv Takru promoted as Special Secretary
Rajiv Takru has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary and Financial Adviser, Department of Health and Family Welfare and thereafter, as Officer on Special Duty, Department of Financial Services in the rank and pay of Secretary till his taking over as Secretary (Financial Services). He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

Ravi Mathur promoted as Special Secretary
Ravi Mathur has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment till his taking over as Secretary (Disinvestment). He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Sudhir Bhargava promoted as Special Secretary
Sudhir Bhargava has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Prasanna Kumar Mohanty promoted as Secretary
Prasanna Kumar Mohanty has been promoted in-situ as Mission Director, JNNURM under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in the rank and pay of Secretary. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Siraj Hussain promoted as Special Secretary
Siraj Hussain has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Ms Zohra Chatterji promoted as Special Secretary
Ms Zohra Chatterji has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Ministry of Coal. She is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Nilanjan Sanyal promoted as Special Secretary
Nilanjan Sanyal has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre.

S Machendranathan promoted as Special Secretary
S Machendranathan has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Civil Aviation. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.

Rajan S Katoch promoted to Secretary rank
Rajan S Katoch has been promoted in-situ as Director of Enforcement, Directorate of Enforcement under the Department of Revenue in the rank and pay of Secretary. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Ravindra Singh promoted as Special Secretary
Ravindra Singh has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Ministry of Culture. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Ms Gauri Kumar promoted as Special Secretary
Ms Gauri Kumar has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Ministry of Mines in the rank and pay of Secretary. She is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

Anup Kumar Thakur promoted as Special Secretary
Anup Kumar Thakur has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Afzal Amanullah promoted as Special Secretary
Afzal Amanullah has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.

G Mohan Kumar promoted as Special Secretary
G Mohan Kumar has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre.

L C Goyal promoted as Special Secretary
L C Goyal has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

E K Bharat Bhushan promoted as Special Secretary
E K Bharat Bhushan has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Steel. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

Ms Vandana Kumari Jena promoted as Special Secretary
Ms Vandana Kumari Jena has been promoted in-situ as Principal Adviser, Planning Commission, in the rank and pay of Secretary. She is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre.

Bimal Julka promoted as Special Secretary
Bimal Julka has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of External Affairs. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.

Lalit K Panwar promoted to Secretary rank
Lalit K Panwar has been promoted in-situ as Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, ITDC under Ministry of Tourism in the rank and pay of Secretary. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Ms Meera Mehrishi promoted as Special Secretary
Ms Meera Mehrishi has been promoted in-situ as Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests in the pay of Secretary. She is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

S Bandopadhyay, IG, SSB bereaved
Prof. D Banerjea, very popular among IAS & IPS officers and popularly known as Dada Banerjea also father of S Bandopadhyay IG of SSB breathed his last on January 20, 2013 at 1133 hrs at Medanta Hospital.

Formal orders of Vivek Rae in a day or two (UPDATED)
Formal orders of the appointment of MSME Secretary Vivek Rae as Secretary Petroleum are expected to be issued in a day or two. He is 1978 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Orders of S K Pal issued today (UPDATED)
The orders of S K Pal for the appointment as Director (Finance), National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) have been issued on January 21, 2013. He is presently General Manager, IRCON.
(We said this on August 29, 2012)

Media Adviser to Lok Sabha Speaker resigns (UPDATED)
Rakhee Bakshi, Media Adviser to the Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, reportedly, has resigned.

Deependra Pathak likely to get fresh assignment today? (UPDATED)
Deependra Pathak may be bestowed with the fresh responsibility likely today. After Deepak Mishra he would be the next high-profile officer to be bestowed with the crucial assignment. After completing a five-year term of central deputation, the former Director Petroleum (Exploration I) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Pathak though has reported back to the Delhi Police HQ but yet to get the new assignment. He is 1990 batch IPS officer of UT cadre. Prior to this he
was Additional Commissioner of Police (CP) in Delhi.

Manoj Lakhanpal joins as GM (Fin), BLC, Kolkata (UPDATED)
Manoj Lakhanpal, Deputy General Manager (Finance), Balmer Lawrie & Co Limited (BLC), Mumbai, has joined as General Manager (Finance), BLC, Kolkata.
(We said this on November 29, 2012)

Orders of P K Mohanty for premature repatriation issued (UPDATED)
As per our prediction premature repatriation of P K Mohanty, Mission Director, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation to his parent cadre has been approved of. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Oil, Gas Conservation Fortnight (OGCF) observed by PCRA (UPDATED)
With the economic growth of the country, demand for petroleum products is increasing day-by-day. As our domestic crude oil production is unable to meet demand for petroleum products, the country is heavily dependent on imports, which highlights the role of PCRA. It may be noted that by following simple yet effective PCRA conservation tips, we can achieve huge savings on the import bill of crude oil. The conservation means better & efficient use, resulting in saving of fuel which also leads to environment protection. Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight (OGCF) is a significant annual event of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, which was organized jointly by Petroleum Conservation and Research Association (PCRA) with Public Sector Oil & Gas Companies every year starting from January 15 to 31. This year the OGCF inaugural Function was held on January 16, 2013 at Dr D S Kothari Auditorium, DRDO Bhawan, Dalhousie Road, New Delhi. Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, inaugurated the OGCF function in the presence of Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Secretary, MoPNG, and other senior officials from Govt. and Oil Companies. The Minister in his address emphasised on the need for conservation of petro products & appreciated the efforts of PCRA in spreading the message for the need of conservation to every corner of the country. The occasion also witnessed launch of another trail blazing initiative of PCRA i.e., launching of "PCRA-Fuel Saving Tips", which are an application for mobile phones & tablets,.

Amar Kumar Sinha shifted to NCR (UPDATED)
Amar Kumar Sinha, SAG/IRAS, Northern Eastern Railway (NER), has been transferred to North Central Railway (NCR) and posted in the cadre.

S K Kapta posted as Spl Secretary, IPH, Horticulture in HP (UPDATED)
S K Kapta, Special Secretary, PWD, has been posted as Special Secretary, IPH and Horticulture in Himachal Pradesh. He is a 1995 batch IFS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre.

CORPORATE

Aparajithan quits Director, Atul Ltd
Dr K Aparajithan, Director, Atul Ltd has resigned from the company.

Shah appointed Addl. Director, Atul Ltd
R A Shah has been appointed as an Additional Director on the Board of Directors of Atul Ltd.

Five Non Official Directors appointed on Board of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd
Power Grid Corporation of India Limited has appointed the following five Part-time Non-official Directors on the Board of the company -- R. K. Gupta, Professor, MDI, Gurgaon, Dr K Ramalingam, Former Chairman, Airports Authority of India, R Krishnamoorthy, Ex-Member, CERC, Ajay Kumar Mittal, Chartered Accountant and Mahesh Shah, Corporate Advisor on Company Law matters.

Srinatha is Company Secretary, Opto Circuits (India) Ltd
Srinatha A N has been appointed as Company Secretary of Opto Circuits (India) Limited after getting transferred from a subsidiary company.

Trivedi appointed Client Services Director, TBWA\India
TBWA\India has appointed Mudit Trivedi as Client Services Director.

Tiwari appointed Head (Central Zone), Hyundai Motor India
Pankaj Tiwari has been appointed as Head (Central Zone) of Hyundai Motor India.

Singh appointed Head (North Zone), Hyundai Motor India
Anurag Singh had been appointed as Head (North Zone) of Hyundai Motor India.


Raguvanshi appointed Head (Western Zone), Hyundai Motor India
Ajay Raguvanshi had been appointed as Head (Western Zone), Hyundai Motor India.

Mandumbal appointed Head (Ad Sales), TV & Digital, Vikatan magazine
Tamil language magazine 'Vikatan' has appointed Charly Mandumbal as Head (Ad Sales), Television & Digital.

Schmid to relinquish post as Director (Tech.), Nestle India Ltd on April 1, 2013
Christian Schmid, Director (Technical) of Nestle India Ltd will cease to be on Board of Directors of the company w.e.f. April 1, 2013 as he will be taking up a position in another Affiliate of Nestle w.e.f. April 1, 2013

(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)

Ambedkar made it very clear

Babasaheb Ambedkar made it clear from the beginning that his loyalities are with his people. For him, getting freedom for his people from the shackles of this caste system was all important and he was very clear about it and about those Upper Caste people who served the British masters interests including the rulers ? And yes, Dalits revere both Babasaheb and Babuji. Noble prize Babasaheb is above all those who won. But did anybody care to read what he wrote ignorant
people !

Gautam Nandi

Delay in implementation of projects

Inordinate delay in implementation of its projects by CGEWHO is certainly very painful. Proper planning is required to hand over the house to applicants in time particularly to those who are retired/retiring to plan their old age.

Shiv Shankar