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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! (120)
We know that wisdom does not come necessarily with years; the old men
may be foolish and young men may be wise.
Ex ministers and ex bureaucrats
In Delhi's Khan Market, ex-union ministers and ex-bureaucrats are frequently
seen. One babu remarked "They are all fused bulbs".
BUREAUCRACY
One more bureaucratic reshuffle in GoI likely
One more senior level bureaucratic reshuffle is likely in the Government
of India. A 1981 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, Dr Hasmukh Adhia
may join the Government of India as Secretary Banking. Another source
mentioned the name of 1981 batch Punjab cadre IAS officer Anjuly Chib
Duggal for the post.
Anita Kapur to be new Chairperson of CBDT
Anita Kapur will take over as new Chairperson of the CBDT on November
1. She is a 1978 batch IRS (IT) officer.
Kaushal Srivastava to be Chairman of CBEC
Kaushal Srivastava will take over as new Chairman of the CBEC on November
1. He is a 1979 batch IRS (C&CE) officer.
Sane is new Joint Secretary (Fin) Space
C M Sane will join as Joint Secretary (Finance) Space on deputation
in Bangalore. He is a 1993 batch IA &AS officer.
Justice Menon to be elevated?
Justice Rajendra Menon of the Madhya Pradesh High Court is likely to
be elevated as Chief Justice in some other state.
Who will be Additional DG of MoEF?
Who will be Additional DG in the Ministry of Forests and Environment?
The names of Lakhvinder Singh, Anil and Negi, who all belong to APCCF
rank, are said to be in circulation.
Will Ajoy Mehta be new BMC Commissioner?
Ajoy Mehta is likely to be appointed new Commissioner of the Mumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC).He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra
cadre.
Orders of Rana as Director (Infra), DFCCIL
yet to come
The orders of D S Rana, CPM, DFCCIL, for the appointment as Director
(Infrastructure), Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited
are yet to be issued by the Government of India. The post has been lying
vacant since March 1, 2014.
Mitash laterally shifted as OSD in Economic Affairs
Nilaya Mitash has laterally been shifted as Officer on Special Duty
(OSD) at Joint Secretary level in the Department of Economic Affairs
for a period of eleven months or till Public Debt Management Authority
is fully operational. He is a 1991 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.
Chaudhary posted as OSD to Mrs Maneka Gandhi
Anand Lal Chaudhary has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD)
to Mrs Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister of State for Women and Child Development
at deputy secretary level on contract basis. He is a private person.
Orders of Dogra as Director (Fin), GRSE yet to come
The orders of S S Dogra, DGM, Nalco, for the appointment as Director
(Finance), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE)
are yet to be issued by the Government of India as vacancy is arising
on November 1, 2014.
Singh as CMD, B&RCL still in doldrums
The appointment of M K Singh as Chairman and Managing Director, Bridge
& Roof Company Limited (B&RCL) is getting delayed due to some
technical reasons. Meanwhile, Kallol Dutta has been assigned an additional
charge of CMD.
Will the post of Director (Tech), HMT MT be kept in abeyance?
Whispers in the corridors of power have it that PESB is set to keep
the post of Director (Tech) HMT Machine Tools Ltd in abeyance. B M Shivshankar,
the incumbent Director is scheduled to completed his tenure in the month
of October next year.
Reshuffle of IPS officers in Odisha
A number of officers belonging to Indian Police Service (IPS) have been
transferred and posted at different places in Odisha. Accordingly, Satyajit
Mohanty has been appointed as ADG, headquarters while Manoj Kumar Chabra
will be CMD, Odisha Police Housing & Welfare Corporation (OPHWC)
and M Akshaya is posted as Transport Commissioner. Similarly, Pranabindu
Acharya has been appointed as ADG, Provisioning; Amrit Mohan Prasad
as ADG, HRPC; Y B Khurania as IG, Vigilance; Arun Sarangi as IG, Intelligence;
Sushant Kumar Nath as IG, Modernization; Sanjeeb Kumar Panda as IG,
State Crime Records Bureau; Santosh Bala as IG, Fire Services &
Home Guards; P S Ranpise as Additional Commissioner of Police; Arun
Bothra as IG, Crime Branch; Sanjay Kumar as DIG, Economic Offences Wing
and Rajesh Kumar was made DIG, North-central range.
Official list of 1984 batch IPS officers empanelled
as ADG in GoI (UPDATED)
As many as 32 officers belonging to Indian Police Service (IPS) of 1984
batch have officially been empanelled for the post of Additional Director
General of Police or equivalent in Government of India. Officers include:
Vinson M Paul of Kerala cadre; Gurbachan Singh of Odisha; Dharmendra
Kuamr of AGMUT; Rajni Kant Misra of UP; Sudeep Lakhtakia of AP; S Javeed
Ahmed of UP; Mukesh Sahay of AM; Dr A P Maheshwar; K Rajendra Kumar
of J&K; Samant Kumar Goel of Punjab; Somesh Goel of Himachal; V
K Johri of MP; Arvind Kumar of AM; Maithili Sharan Gupta of MP; Santosh
Macheria of MT; Rakesh Asthana of Gujarat; Pradeep Kumar of AM; S S
Deswal of Haryana; Anil Kumar Sharma of Punjab; Nand Kishore of Rajasthan;
Prit Pal Singh and Y C Modi of AM; D K Pandey of Jharkhand; Dr Krishna
Swaroop Dwivedi and Rajesh Ranjan of Bihar; Arun Kumar Sinha of Kerala;
Subesh Kumar Singh of UP; Ramesh P Singh of Odisha; P Mallan Goud of
MT; Mrs Sutapa Sanyal of UP; Prem Shankar Meena of Karnataka and Amar
Kanti Sarkar of West Bengal cadre.
(We said this on Oct 20, 2014)
Abhay appointed as IG, BPR&D
(UPDATED)
Abhay has been appointed as Inspector General in Bureau of Police Research
& Development (BPR&D) in Government of India. He is a 1986 batch
IPS officer of Odisha cadre.
Arun Gupta is no more
(UPDATED)
1967 batch retired Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS offcer Arun Gupta has passed
away in Delhi. He was 73.Funeral will take place on Saturday in Delhi.
Secretary Defence lays foundation stone for
composites MRO hangar at HAL (UPDATED)
Secretary Defence Production, G Mohan Kumar reviewed various projects
of HAL during the presentation made by HAL's top management at its corporate
office here today. He also laid the foundation stone for the composites
MRO hangar during his day-long visit to various facilities of HAL yesterday.
The composites are used in various products of HAL such as helicopters
(example: ALH & LUH) and aircraft (example: LCA Tejas). Dr R K Tyagi,
Chairman, HAL, Directors and senior executives were present during the
visit and briefed Secretary D (P) on various on-going activities at
HAL hangars. During his interaction, Mr. Mohan Kumar asked HAL to draw
and work upon futuristic plans based on the Company's strength. "Priority
should not be just to take all kinds of business related to aerospace
but to work on workable modules in time bond manner. The focus needs
to be on the products that company can deliver with ease, cost reduction,
establishing of the highest quality standards and business practices
that match the best global parameters", he told HAL senior executives.
He suggested HAL to develop products that have unique value, look to
develop aero-engines and give thrust on out-sourcing.
Manash Sarkar takes over as CEO, NSPCL (UPDATED)
Manash Sarkar has taken over the charge as CEO, NSPCL, a Joint Venture
of NTPC and SAIL. A Mechanical Engineer from Jadavpur University Sarkar
joined NTPC as 3rd batch of ETs. He has around 35 years of rich experience
in NTPC in various capacities including that of BUH- Auraiya , BUH-
Rihand , MD-RGPPL and ED(Corporate Communication) and ED to CMD –NTPC.
Six AIS officers get additional charges in
Rajasthan (UPDATED)
One IFS officer and five IAS officers have been given additional charges
in Rajasthan. Accordingly, Savita Anand (IFS) has been given additional
charge as Controller of Properties, Office of Resident Commissioner,
New Delhi while Gurjot Kaur gets charge of Principal Secretary, Department
of Minority Affairs and Wakf Board, Jaipur and Deepak Upreti got charge
of Principal Secretary, Medical Education Department, Jaipur. Similarly,
D B Gupta is assigned Additional charge of Principal Secretary, Sports
and Youth Affairs Department, Jaipur; Ajitabh Sharma of Chairman, Indira
Gandhi Canal Board, Jaipur and Ravi Shankar Shrivastava of Commissioner,
Departmental Enquiries, Jaipur.
5 IAS officers of Rajasthan to attend Mid Career Training Program
(UPDATED)
Five IAS officers of Rajasthan cadre have been deputed to undergo Phase-V
of the Mid Career Training Program being held from October 27 to November
28, 2014. The officers are: Rashmi Priyadarshni, Khemraj Chaudhary,
Jagdish Chandra Mohanty, Madhukar Gupta and Sanjay Dixit.
CORPORATE
Bank of Baroda without CMD
Bank of Baroda is running without a Chairman cum Managing Director ever
since SS Mundra has been shifted to the RBI as Deputy Governor.
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)
Select best person for deputation
It is a general principle that deputation posts are filled through
selection process. It is India only in the world where empanelment process
exists. Its logic is absurd, feudal and retrograde. We must look ways
to select best person for deputation post especially for JS and above
in GoI. Can it be done that is the question? Development means merit
being recognized not legacy.
Raj Mohan
How long tax payers money be doled out to employees of PSUs?
This relates to the controversy being created by the untrained personal
of CBI on the subject of financial management especially relating to
the disinvestment of PSUs. Has CBI considered the fact that valuation
was done by an outside consultant, what were the accumulated losses
of Lake Vilas Palace on the date of disinvestment, outstanding loans
of the Hotel (both Government and Bank loans) and outstanding statutory
dues of the Hotel (PF, ESI etc.) at that point of time? Were the rooms
being fully utilized? Where the Government officials entertaining their
guests in the Lake Vilas Palace free of cost? How much amount of Income
Tax had Laxmi Vilas Palace paid to the Government exchequer 10 years
prior to disinvestment and post disinvestment keeping into consideration
the rise in Whole Sale Price Index? Whether there is a need for the
Government in the field of running Hotels. Similar exercise needs to
be carried out for the Hindustan Zinc limited. It is quite possible
that the lobby of lazy government servants might trying to indirectly
stop further disinvestment in the country. The property of Jessop a
Kolkatta based PSU in the year 2002 was Rs.196 crore. It had outstanding
debts of around Rs.300 crore and was also not paying any TAX to the
Government. The Government dis invested 74% of its share in Jessop and
got only Rs.12 crore. During the last 10 years the company has come
out of the red, started earning profit, dividend and tax to the Government
of India. Government was earlier running a PSU in Kolkata manufacturing
Bindi and Kanghi, which was making losses and government was paying
the salary & wages of the employees for not doing any work in the
Communist bastion. The disinvestment of PSUs around the year 2002 was
done on an open tender basis. The reserve prices were never indicated
to the prospective buyers. How long the tax payers money be doled out
to the employees of PSUs, who do not work. Had these PSUs were working
in proper manner and earning profits, there would have been no need
to go in for disinvestment. The matters needs to resolved at the earliest,
as the Government has fixed a target of raising Rs.44,000/- through
disinvestment and there could be an another phase of policy paralysis.
These views are being put forward only with the view to invite and a
debate and for no other purpose. It is quite possible, I may be wrong.
Bimal Bahadur
Diwali Gifts
All these austerity directives are a farce. The Vigilance Awareness
week begins on 27 TH October. Why not 21 ST October ,starting wef Diwali
festivities? It is a very common sight even this year seeing men staggering
under the load of gifts to be distributed amongst officers and staff
of important Govt Bhawans in Delhi. Same is the scene in Govt Residential
colonies, even those under the surveillance of CCTV cameras. Whom are
we fooling? Not the common man, for sure.
N Singh
What compulsion in taking VRS
What is the point or compulsion in taking VRS just three days before
superannuation?
Prem Hans
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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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