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What people say about us!
You have truly revolutionized the art of informative journalism.
Former CMD Air India
POLITICS
When nothing else inspires History does !
(118)
Many older people seem to take unmerited pride in the mere fact that
they are adults.
A blow to RajNath Singh ?
Appointment of K K Sharma as Chief Secretary of Goa was considered to
be a certainty. A proposal of 1983 batch IAS officer Sharma had been
sent to the PMO by the MHA for approval. To everybody's surprise instead
of sending Sharma to Goa he was brought from Chandigarh to Delhi as
Additional Secretary in Child and Women Welfare.
BUREAUCRACY
Lt Gen Hasnain to be Governor J & K ?
Lt Gen Syed
Ata Hasnain is likely to be appointed new Governor of Jammu & Kashmir.
He has served in the Indian Army in various capacities.
Secretary Tourism Pervez Dewan takes voluntarily retirement
Secretary Tourism in the Government of India Pervez Dewan has taken
voluntary retirement with effect from October 28. The 1977 batch IAS
officer of Jammu & Kashmir cadre Dewan was due to retire on October
31.
Officials to get importance in new regime in Haryana ?
Several IAS officers in Haryana are expected to get importance in the
BJP regime .They are Rajan Kumar Gupta (1983 ), Ms Navraj Sandhu (1984),
Ram Niwas, Dhanpat Singh,Vijai Vardhan and P R Rao (1985), Alok Nigam
,Sanjeev Kaushal and P K Das(1986), S N Roy (1987), Anil Kumar (1988),
Sudhir Rajpal,Ms Sumita Mishra Singh,Ankur Gupta and Anurag Rastogi
(1990), Ashok Khemka Sandeep Garg and Shrikant Walgad (1991), A K Gupta
(1992), Ms Sukriti Likhi (1993), Anurag Agrawal (1994),D Suresh and
Subhash Chandra (1995), Rakesh Gupta (1997), Brijendra Singh (1998)
and Pankaj Agrawal (2000) and Wazir Singh Goyat.
Kasni to join CMs Secretariat in Haryana
Pradeep Kasni is joining as Additional Principal Secretary to the new
Haryana Chief Minister. He is a 1997 batch IAS officer.
Officials to get importance in new Government
in Maharashtra ?
Several IAS officers in Maharashtra are expected to get importance in
the new Government. They are Anand Kulkarni (1982 batch), Ajoy Mehta
,Satish Gavai and Sanjay Kumar (1984 batch), Praveen Pardeshi (1985),
Manoj Saunik (1987), Nitin N Kareer (1988), Nand Kumar (1989), Milind
Jayant Mhaiskar and Manisha Arun Patankar (1992).
S K Sahni selected for Director (Fin), BHEL
S K Sahni, GM, BHEL, has been selected as Director (Finance), Bharat
Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board
(PESB) meeting held on October 21, 2014. As many as 13 persons
were selected for the same.
Orders for appointment of three MP High Court
Judges issued
Appointment orders of three new High Court Judges have been issued .
They are Madhya Pradesh Law Secretary - C V Sirpurkar, DJ - Mandsaur
R K Mahajan and leading lawyer of Indore Vandana Kasrekar.
(We said this on July 15 )
Justice Virendra Singh is new CJ of Jharkhand HC
Justice Virendra Singh of the J & K High Court has been appointed
new Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.
Sandeep Saxena to be new CEO in Tamil Nadu
Sandeep Saxena is all set to join as Chief Electoral Officer for Tamil
Nadu.He is 1989 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.
Ravi Shankar is new Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand
N Ravi Shanker has been appointed new Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand
. He is a 1980 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.
(We said this on Oct 17, 2014)
Selection interview for Director, Dreging
Corpn on Oct 24
Public Enterprises Selection Board is all set to hold the selection
interview for the post of Director, Dreging Corporation of India Ltd
on October 24.
Adesh Sharma joins as MD, DFCCIL
Adesh Sharma has taken over the charge as Managing Director, Dedicated
Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL),. The post had
been lying vacant since March, 2014.
(We said this on June 25, 2014)
PESB to keep the post of MD, HMT Watches in
abeyance?
Whispers in the corridors of power have it that PESB is set to keep
the post of Managing Director, HMT Watches in abeyance. The post was
duly advertised and interview is scheduled for October 30. One can wait
and watch only.
Ms Amita Prasad joins as Joint Secretary, Water Resources
Ms Amita Prasad has taken
over the charge as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River
Development & Ganga Rejuvenation. She is a 1985 batch IAS officer
of Karnataka cadre.
Sanjay Jaju relieved
to join central deputation
The Government of Andhra Pradesh has relieved Sanjay Jaju of cadre responsibility
enabling him to join as Director (Finance/Administration), (JS Level),,
National Highways Connectivity Company Ltd. He is a 1992 batch IAS officer
of Andhra Pradesh cadre.
PLB approved for non-gazetted Railway employees
A payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB), equivalent to 78 days'
wages has been approved for the financial year 2013-14 to all eligible
non-gazetted Railway employees.
Orders of Tripathi as Member (Tech), DVC soon
The orders of R P Tripathi, AGM, NTPC, for the appointment as Member
(Technical), in the Board of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), are expected
to be issued by the Government of India in a couple of days.
Post of Joint Secretary in Steel falling vacant in Oct
The post of Joint Secretary is falling vacant in the Ministry of Steel
in October, 2014.
Post of Joint Secretary in Tourism falling vacant in Oct
The post of Joint Secretary is falling vacant in the Ministry of Tourism
in October, 2014.
CVC meeting soon for Addl Director, ED
Whispers in the corridors of power have it that the selection process
of Additional Director, Enforcement Directorate has almost close to
its concluding stage. The short-listed names have have been ratified
by Fin Min and will soon be finalised in CVC meeting.
77 IAS officers of UP on central deputation
As many as 77 officers belonging to Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
of Uttar Pradesh cadre are serving on central deputation.
Four IPS officers in J&K transferred
Four IPS officers transferred and posted at different places in Jammu
and Kashmir. Accordingly, Abdul Jabbar has been posted as Commandant
IR-8 Battalion while Udayabhaskar Billa will be SP PC Jammu and Shailendra
Kumar Mishra is AIG, CIV, PHQ. Besides, Sridhar Patil has been posted
as SP, South Srinagar.
Lalmalsawma relieved to join as CS, Mizoram
The Government of Delhi has relieved Lalmalsawma for joining as Chief
Secretary, Government of Mizoram. He is a 1983 batch IAS officer of
AGMUT cadre.
(We said this on September 17, 2014)
Post of MD, HMT Machine Tools kept in abeyance?
Whispers in the corridors of power have it that the selection procedure
for the post of Managing Director, HMT Machine Tools has been kept in
abeyance by PESB. The post is all set to be vacant on November 30 with
the retirement of M D Sreekumar, the incumbent Managing Director.
Minor reshuffle of IAS officers in Delhi
Four IAS officers have been given new assignments in Delhi Government.
Accordingly, Arvind Ray has been appointed as Principal Secretary, Home
with holding charge of Principal Secretary, SC/ST/OBC/Minorities and
CMD, DSFDC and Vigilance while D M Spolia was entrusted with additional
charge of Principal Secretary, Finance and Mrs Shakuntala D Gamlin gets
additional charge of Principal Secretary, GAD. Besides, Sanjiv Kumar
has been given an additional charge of Social Welfare and Women &
Child Development.
H R Khan to look after external investments
in RBI
H R Khan has been assigned department of external investments and operations,
financial markets regulation department, foreign exchange department,
internal debt management in Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Urjit Patel assigned monetary policy and research in RBI
Urjit Patel has been assigned charges of monetary policy and research
including department of economic and policy research, department of
communication, financial market operations department, and international
department in Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
R Ganghi tasked of banking regulation, currency management in RBI
R Gandhi has been assigned tasks of banking regulation, department of
non-banking regulation, financial stability unit, risk monitoring and
department of currency management in Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
S S Mundra to look after banking supervision, HR, RTI in RBI
S S Mundra has been given banking supervision, financial inclusion and
development, human resource, Rajbhasha and right to information in Reserve
Bank of India(RBI).
N Gopalaswami appointed as Chairman of Kalakshetra
Foundation (UPDATED)
N Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, has been
appointed as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Kalakshetra Foundation
in Chennai for a term of 5 years.
Iyer takes command of NCC in Nagpur (UPDATED)
Wing Commander Priyadarshan A Iyer has taken over the command of No
2 (Mah) Air Sqn NCC from Wg Cdr MS Choudhary. Iyer was commissioned
in the flying branch of IAF on December 16, 1995.
Venkateswar joins as CMD, PDIL (UPDATED)
S Venkateswar, Director (Fin), PDIL, has recently joined as Chairman
and Managing Director, Projects & Development India Limited (PDIL).
(We said this on June 30)
Vijay Dev to move Chandigarh ?
(UPDATED)
Vijay Dev is likely to succeed K K Sharma in Chandigarh as Administrator.He
is 1987 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.
S B Bhadrannavar joins as MD, RDPL
(UPDATED)
S B Bhadrannavar, DGM, KAPL, has taken over the charge as Managing Director,
Rajasthan Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Limited (RDPL).
(We said this on July 16, 2014)
Sanjay Chaudhary promoted as DG, Prosecution
in MP (UPDATED)
Sanjay Chaudhary has been appointed as Director General of Police, Prosecution,
PHQ, Bhopal, after he was promoted to DG rank in Madhya Pradesh. He
is a 1984 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.
CORPORATE
Three Directors resign from PTC
Three independent Directors - S/Shri Deepak Chatterjee, Anil Razdan
and D.Swarup - have resigned from the Board of PTC India Ltd.
Singh appointed Govt. Director, ONGC
U P Singh, Joint Secretary (E), Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural
Gas has been appointed as Government Director on the Board of Directors
of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited.
Rao ceases to be Workmen Employee Director.
Canara Bank
G V Sambasiva Rao has ceased to be Workmen Employee Director on the
Board of Directors of Canara Bank
Ashar to be MD & CEO, Cairn India Ltd
Cairn India Limited has appointed Mayank Ashar as the Managing Director
and Chief Executive Officer of the company w.e.f. November 17, 2014.
Baliga appointed CFO & Whole-time Director,
BASF India Ltd
BASF India Limited has appointed Narendranath Baliga as Chief Financial
Officer and Whole-time Director of the company.
Doraiswami appointed Independent Director,
Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd
Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited has appointed Rajagopalan Doraiswami
as an Independent Director of the company.
Subramanian ceases to be Non Exec. Director,
Idea Cellular Ltd
Biswajit A Subramanian, a Non-Executive Director of Idea Cellular Limited
has ceased to be on the Board of Directors of the company
Srinivasan ceases to be Director, MindTree
Limited
Janakiraman Srinivasan has ceased to be a Director of MindTree Limited.
Kharadi resigns as Director, Creative Merchants
Ltd
Jayendra Kharadi has resigned as Director of Creative Merchants Ltd
Shah appointed Director, Creative Merchants
Ltd
Naman Bhanubhai Shah has been appointed as Director of Creative Merchants
Ltd
Bapu resigns as Director, Shriram Asset Management
Company Ltd
S Bapu has resigned as a Director of Shriram Asset Management Company
Ltd.
Ms Mahesh appointed Addl. Director, Shriram Asset Management Company
Ltd
Ms Jayashree Mahesh has been appointed as Additional Director of Shriram
Asset Management Company Ltd.
FORUM
(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)
Desist from doling out Diwali gifts
With the finance ministry asking the state-owned banks and insurance
companies to desist from doling out Diwali gifts this year. There is
a general refrain among the other public sector undertakings (PSUs),
from distributing such pleasantries this festival season.
It is learnt that following an informal directive from the PMO to the
ministries having PSUs under their administrative control to advise
their commercial arms to desist from doling out gifts this Diwali, office
of the coal, power and renewable energy minister, Piyush Goyal, has
issued direction that they should "not publish diaries and calendars"
and not to give "mementoes".
Quoting from an old order from the Central Vigilance Commission, a senior
functionary of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation said: "They
have already been refraining from giving gifts during festive season
for last couple of years."
Sources in the oil PSUs, though refused to confirm about any directive
from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, told this newspaper
that they are not going to distribute gifts to either ministry officials
or business partners.
A senior official in Gas Authority of India Ltd (Gail), said: "We
have not received any direction from the ministry, but still we have
not budgeted anything for buying gifts this Diwali".
Similarly, even the steel PSUs too have decided not to distribute gift
this year, as a senior official said, "We have no direction this
regard, but due to finance and power ministries' clear direction, we
are also treading a cautious path and so far the companies have not
planned anything this regard."
Meanwhile, sources said, the finance ministry's advisory on Diwali gifts
has come in the backdrop of austerity being observed by the new government.
It had been a usual practice for PSUs to give expensive gifts during
the festive season as part of the their public relations exercise.
The practice of distributing involves expenditure from the hard earned
tax payers money for purchase of dry fruits, sweets etc., transportation
facilities for distribution the gifts to the Government officials, additional
use of petrol/diesel of the country, in turn subsidy, polluting of the
atmosphere, choking of traffics in cities and above all making the government
employees greedy. This practice should end once for all. Let distribution
of diwali gifts take place on personal expenses nobody is stopping it.
The Hon'ble Prime Minister should take action in the matter. Jharoo
and his team are going to target this activity during the diwali this
year and make the life of government more uncomfortable. A PIL is also
in the making. Watch out'
BBS
Induction from pvt sector to augur well
It is nice to hear that outstanding persons from private sector are
being inducted in the government. Certainly, I hope and wish it would
augur well for the overall benefit and growth of the country. Also it
would be a small step to cut the indian arrogance service to its size.
BYN
"Govt has made Confusion Worse Confounded"
The Know Your Customer (KYC), scheme was launched by the Min of Finance
to check money laundering and terrorist activities. The latest Jan Dhan
scheme of Modi has made the KYC scheme irrelevant. The scheme does not
insist on PAN, AADHAR cards etc. Every Tom,Dick and Harry now has an
account without verification of credentials. The bankers are confused.
No wonder, they could now be granting loans to terrorists by default
,if not by design.
A K Saxena (A retd civil servant),
Concept of level playing field for services does not exist
The concept of level playing field for services does not exist in Central
and State Governments, which still perpetuate the legacy of the British
Empire and have been successful in creating monoply and pseudo dominance
of one service, which in fact is no more a service but a kind of "Rule"
or rather "Misrule". The example of the new PMO running with
lean strength of 350- odd staff against UPA II PMO (550 staff), and
many non IAS calling shots is an example of Good Governance and how
this can take the country forward.
H K Sharma
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DATE WITH RTI
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First Appellate Authority should give a hearing to the appellant
if asked
The Appellant had filed two separate RTI applications. In one
of these applications, he had wanted the details of all the files
in the possession of the Department on the subject of RTI, appointment
of the CIC and Information Commissioners, sanction of staff for
the CIC including an independent Pay and Accounts Officer, the
amount of money collected in all these years by way of RTI fees
and penalty imposed and recovered. In the other application, he
requested for the copy of the order/notification by which the
Search Committee was constituted for shortlisting candidates for
appointment as Information Commissioners in the CIC, the next
date of the meeting of the Search Committee etc.. In both these
applications, he had requested for permission to inspect all the
relevant files. In respect of his first application, the PIO offered
the copies of the correspondence part of two of the relevant files
on payment of photocopying charges. However, in respect of the
remaining information, he had not provided any information on
the ground that the collection of the information would disproportionately
divert their resources. In regard to second application, the PIO
observed that since the Search Committee had been constituted
by the Cabinet Secretariat, his RTI application was being transferred
u/s 6(3) of the RTI Act. The First Appellate Authority endorsed
the response of the PIO in both the cases. The Appellant argued
before the CIC that the information regarding the constitution
of the Search Committee for shortlisting of candidates for the
post of Information Commissioners in the CIC was available in
the DoPT at the time of his RTI application but, even then, the
PIO had chosen to transfer the RTI application to the Cabinet
Secretariat for the latter only to send it back. He also complained
the PIO did not produce all the relevant files before him for
his inspection and did not even facilitate the inspection of whatever
files he had himself placed before him. He also alleged that the
First Appellate Authority had disposed of the appeals without
much application of mind and by merely endorsing the response
of the PIO. The PIO and the First Appellate Authority disagreed
with the appellant's version and said that the sheer number of
RTI applications and appeals handled in their division was so
voluminous and huge that it was almost impossible to manage it
within the time lines prescribed under the RTI Act. The CIC disapproved
the approach of the PIO and observed that the PIO could have given
a more detailed response justifying his conclusion that providing
such information would disproportionately divert the resources
of the Department by stating the exact number of files in question
and likely man-hours required to assemble them. The CIC further
held that the PIO was totally wrong in transferring the RTI application
regarding search committee to the Cabinet Secretariat as the entire
information was available in the Department itself. The First
Appellate Authority was cautioned to be more careful in future
in dealing with appeals.
Comments
It is not enough for the First Appellate Authority (FAA) to reproduce
the contents of the RTI application and the reply of the PIO.
The FAA must pass a speaking order justifying her decision in
each case. Wherever the Appellant wants personal hearing, he should
be given that opportunity.
Citation: Shri R K Jain v. PIO, Cabinet
Secretariat, Rashtrapati Bhawan in File No.CIC/SM/A/2012/000784
& 786
Weekly article by Dr Anuradha Verma
(dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in), RTI Consultant to IIM, Indore.
Her other articles regarding RTI can be read at http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/
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