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POLITICS

When nothing else inspires, History does ! (75)
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

Congress President to go abroad
Congress President Sonia Gandhi is going abroad this week.

Get-together of 1982 Batch deferred
The 1982 Batch 32nd Anniversary contributory Dinner at the BSF mess scheduled for September 1, 2014 (Monday) has been postponed and a new date will be decided soon: Avinash Srivastava/Raghav Chandra/Rajiv Gauba/Dalip Singh

DEBATE

What is the character of Narendra Modi ?

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi becoming the third most followed world leader on Twitter, next only to US President Barack Obama and the Pope, he is being discussed everywhere so much so that people have started comparing him with world leaders of the past. "Is Modi Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Roosevelt or Churchill" ?

What is your opinion ? Mail it to mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com or suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com

BUREAUCRACY

Rakesh Singh is new Secretary Steel
Rakesh Singh has been appointed new Secretary Steel in the Government of India. He is 1978 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre.

Lavasa is new Secretary Forests and Environment
Secretary Civil Aviation Ashok Lavasa has been moved as Secretary Forests and Environment. He is 1980 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

Mohan Kumar is new Secretary Defence Production
Secretary Steel G Mohan Kumar has been moved as Secretary Defence Production. He is 1979 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre.

Sunil Arora is Secretary Skill Development
Sunil Arora is joining the Government of India as Secretary, Skill Development. He is 1980 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Somasundaran is new Secretary Civil Aviation
V Somasundaran is joining the Government of India as Secretary Civil Aviation. He is 1979 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

Ravi is new interlocutor for Nagaland
R N Ravi, Chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) has bee n appointed as new interlocutor for Naga peace talks.

Rajiv Yadav empanelled as Secretary in GoI
Rajiv Yadav has been empanelled to the rank of Secretary in the Government of India. He is 1981 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Ms Sharma empanelled as Secretary a day before retirement
Ms Amita Sharma will retire on August 31 to the rank of Secretary in the Government of India. The 1981 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Ms Sharma has now been empanelled to the rank of Secretary.

Ms Chaudhary empanelled as Additional Secretary
Ms Upma Chaudhary has been empanelled to the rank of Additional Secretary in the Government of India. She is 1983 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre.

Tripathi empanelled as Additional Secretary
B K Tripathi has been empanelled to the rank of Additional Secretary in the Government of India. He is a 1983 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre.

Kutty empanelled as Additional Secretary
Sanjivanee Kutty has been empanelled to the rank of Additional Secretary in the GoI. Kutty is a 1983 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Sidhu empanelled as Additional Secretary
Karan Bir Sidhu has been empanelled to the rank of Additional Secretary in the GoI. Sidhu is 1984 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre.

Sharma empanelled as Additional Secretary
B R Sharma has been empanelled to the rank of Additional Secretary in the Government of India. He is 1984 batch IAS officer of J & K cadre.

Shrivastava empanelled as Additional Secretary
Jalaj Shrivastava has been empanelled to the rank of Additional Secretary in the Government of India. He is 1984 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Purkayastha empanelled in GoI
Atanu Purkayastha has been empanelled to the rank of Additional Secretary in the GoI. He is 1983 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre.

Anant Kumar empanelled as Additional Secretary
Anant Kumar Singh has been empanelled for the post of Additional Secretary or equivalent posts in Government of India. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Tanjea empanelled as Additional Secretary
Prem Kumar Taneja has been empanelled for the post of Additional Secretary or equivalent posts in Government of India. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

Mrs Ish repatriated to parent cadre
Mrs Veena Ish, Joint Secretary in the Department of Higher Education, has been repatriated to her parent cadre. She is a 1985 batch officer of TG cadre.

Law Commission Member Secy Meena retiring on Aug 31
Law Commission Member Secretary N L Meena is all set to mark his last day in service on August 31.

Chahar to take charge as Member Secy of Law Commission today
Grapevine has it that Dr S S Chahar is all set to receive the baton from N L Meena as the new Member Secretary, Law Commission. Meena is superannuating today. Chahar, an officer of Indian Legal Service, has been serving as Additional Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs.

JS rank post falls vacant with Deptt of Legal Affairs
After S K Mohapatra took charge as Additional Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs a Joint Secretary rank post is up for grab. The position is ear marked for ILS officers only.

Cooling off for central deputation of Pradeep Gupta waived
The cooling off requirement for retention of Pradeep Gupta to the post of Joint Secretary level post in Government of India has been waived. He is a 1985 batch IOFS officer.

Karunakaran to proceed on training
P Karunakaran, who has been serving as DCP, South-East Delhi, is all set to proceed on leave. He is 2004 batch IPS officer of AGMUT cadre.

Mishra is also PS, DMIC in Rajasthan
Rajat Kumar Mishra has been given additional charges of Principal Secretary, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and Special Officer, Bhiwadi Industrial Development Authority. He is a 1992 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

Kaushal Kumar shifted in Bihar
Kaushal Kumar has been appointed as SDO, Narkatiyaganj, West Champaran in Bihar. He is a 2012 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.

Reshuffle of IIS officers in GoI
A number of officers belonging to Indian Information Service (IIS) have been transferred and posted at different places. Accordingly, Sadhana Rout has been made ADG (In-charge) Publications Division while Ira Joshi will now be ADG (M&C) PIB and R N Mishra is ADG (News) NSD: AIR in Delhi. Similarly, K S Dhatwalia has been posted as ADG (M&C) in PIB; Mamta Verma as Director (News) in DD News; S K Malviya as Director DAVP, Vijay Kumar as Director DFP in Patna, Dharini L. Mishra as Director Publications Division; K Satish Nambudiripad as Director (News), DD News; Alpana Pant Sharma as Director (M&C) in PIB Pune with additional charge of NFAI (Pune); Prashant Pathrabe as Director (News) AIR-Mumbai; Smita Vats Sharma as Director, New Media Wing (RR&TD); Natasha S. D'Souza as Director (M&C) PIB' G Surendrababu as Assistant Director, DFP Hyderabad and Gargi Malik has been appointed as APRO, DPR (Defence) in Lucknow.

Arbind Prasad appointed as CVO, CCL, Ranchi
Arbind Prasad has been appointed as Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Ranchi. He is a 1994 batch ITS officer.

A S N Murthy appointed as CVO, HSL
A S N Murthy has been appointed as Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam. He is a 1992 batch IPS officer of Karnataka cadre.

Two IPS officers shifted in Rajasthan
Anand Vardhan Shukla has been appointed as DIG, ACB, Jaipur while Surendra Kumar was posted as Aid-de-Camp to Governor in Rajasthan.

Goyal, Dir (Fin) IOCL, set to superannuate on August 31
P K Goyal is all set to superannuate on August 31. Presently he is serving with IOCL as Director (Finance). The order for his successor is yet to be issued who has already been appointed as Dir (Fin).

Orders are being issued today for A K Sharma as Dir (Finance) IOCL
The fresh buzz is that orders are being issued today for A K Sharma as Director (Finance) IOCL. He has been waiting in the wings in the capacity of OSD to take over the baton from P K Goyal on August 30. Goyal is superannuating on August 31 which is coincidentally a non-working day. Sharma (ED, Finance, Refinery Division, IOCL) has already been deployed as OSD in anticipation.

Nine J&K PCS officers gets promotion to IAS, notification soon
As the grapevine has it DoPT may soon issue notification granting promotion to IAS to nine officers of Kashmir Administrative Services.

Nine KAS officers get into IAS
As many as nine PCS officers in J&K have, reportedly, been promoted to IAS which include; Salma Hamid (Addl Commissioner, Kashmir), Tanseem Mazid (Spl Secy, Power Development Dept), Farooq Shah (DC, Srinagar), Manzoor Ahmed Lone (DC, Badgam), Sarmad Hafeez (DC, Gandarbal), Javed Ahmed (DC, Kashmir).

ONGC receives 'Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar' from President
President of India Pranab Mukherjee presented Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar to ONGC in the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of National Sports Day on August 29, 2014. ONGC secured this highest Sports recognition for its immense contribution in development and promotion of sports in the country. ONGC received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar in the category of 'Employment of Sports persons and sports welfare measures'. CMD D K Sarraf received the honour from the President. Vice President Mr Hamid Ansari and Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal were amongst the dignitaries presentat this National Sports and Adventure Awards function. ONGC Director (HR) D D Misra and GM-Head Sports V K Mahendru were also present on this occasion. Two ONGCians V. Diju (Badminton) and Heena Sidhu (shooting) also received Arjuna awards from the President for their impressive performance in their respective game disciplines. On conclusion of the award presentation, ONGC CMD and Director (HR) received accolades and congratulatory messages from the elite gathering which included political leaders, senior bureaucrats, defenseofficials, former and current sportspersons. During informal interaction with the dignitaries, CMD assured the continued support of ONGC for lifting the standard of sports in the country. Sarraf also took keen interest in various proposals that were discussed with him by officials from Ministry of sports and asked Head Sports to examine them. Misra held one-to-one interaction with award winners including ONGCians and motivated them for improved performance. Misra promised to continue supporting the cause of sports promotion in the country in a rather bigger way so that ONGC continues to excel in this all-important social responsibility for the country.

O P Singh to head NDRF
O P Singh has been appointed head of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).1983 batch IPS officer of UP cadre Singh is presently ADG CISF.

CORPORATE

Two Addl. Directors appointed on Board of Birla Power Solutions Ltd
Birla Power Solutions Ltd has appointed Ashish Mahendrakar and Satish Vasant Jadhav as additional directors of the company.

Priya appointed CS, Surana Industries Limited
Satiya Priya has been appointed as Company Secretary of Surana Industries Limited w.e.f. September 1, 2014.

Reddy appointed Independent Director, Sujana Universal Industries Ltd
Sujana Universal Industries Limited has appointed Dr V Malakonda Reddy as Independent Director of the company.

Dhandhania appointed Independent Director, JJ Finance Corporation Ltd
JJ Finance Corporation Ltd has appointed Brajesh Kumar Dhandhania as Independent Director of the company.

Shah appointed CFO, ISL Consulting Ltd
ISL Consulting Ltd has appointed Ankit J Shah as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company

Pareek appointed CS, Anka India Ltd
Anka India Ltd has appointed Rohit Pareek as the Company Secretary of the company.

(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)

Review all appointments
All the appointment cleared by PMO/ACC of NBA, MoEF and DG, ICFRE need to be reviewed, as they have been in the interest of UPA Government. PM should review the appointment recommended by UPA like he has done for OSD and PS. The recommendation of the present Minister has also been under influence.
Subhash Chandra

Ironical situation for Cong !
What a ironical situation for Congress party. Rahul Gandhi was advocating empowering youth before Lok Sabha polls. Now his own party raises retirement age as well as upper age limit for employees. Can Rahul Gandhi? Congress explain this sudden shift?

N V K Prabhakar

Is functioning of a State govt different from Central govt ?
Is the functioning of a State Government different from the Central Government ? Is the difference cosmetic or are there fundamental differences?
The issue needs examination. An indicative analysis suggests the following:
For one, the Central Government has to grapple with diplomatic issues which involve the comity of nations. State Governments are really on the fringe on this issue. Related issues of intelligence and national security also are to be dealt with. The presence of foreign diplomatic missions itself makes the national arena different from the State Governments. Second issue is defence. State Governments really have little or nothing to do in this area (except in disturbed areas). Third issue is Central Revenues. Compared to the states, Central Revenues are infinitely higher and far more complex conceptually, legally and administratively (as we all know the days when the ICS administered the land revenue regime are dead and gone and land revenue is a dead subject in state administration). The complexity of administration of taxes imposed and collected by the state Governments like Commercial taxes, VAT and state excise is now nowhere near the Central taxes (it is similar to the difference between the CBI on the one hand and the State Government Vigilance and anti corruption bureaux. It is widely accepted that the CBI is far more professional). Fourth issue is Communications especially Telecom is not the state government's area. India's postal department and telecommunications are not within the State Government's competence. Fifth issue is Commerce. The State Governments have little to do in economic diplomacy and international trade. Sixth issue is General Economy. The State Governments have little to do with macroeconomic stability, currency, monetary policy etc. Seventh issue is Governance. The scale and scope of institutions is much larger and wider at the Central level. There are many more and sounder institutions at the Central level which also have far higher credibility than any possible counterparts at the State level e.g. the Parliament, Supreme Court, the EC, the CVC, the CBI, National Commissions for Human Rights, Women, SCs, STs, Backward Classes, Minorities etc. For example, with due respect, no High Court can be compared to the Supreme Court which is necessarily far more powerful and far more vigilant since it leads the judiciary. With due respect, Parliament may often have a higher quality of debate due to the sheer variety and diversity of its Members as compared to Legislative bodies in the States.
The mode of functioning of the bureaucracy is also different. In the states, the Chief Minister's word is by and large, the law. At the Centre, the PM's word might often be moderated by other institutions, for example, the Supreme Court or during the elections, the Election Commission. The Central Cabinet has an Appointments Committee, the State Government is usually a one man show. The bureaucracy at the Central level is subject to more accountability and more checks and balances. There are many more Services at the Central level than at the State level (states are run by and large by the IAS, the IPS and the IFS). Chief Ministers who have no exposure to the Government of India generally have no idea of the role and functions of the Central Services or are under the mistaken impression that the Central Government is run by the IAS officers alone. IAS officers who have spent their lifetimes in the states also do not like it that in the Central Government, they have to share space with the Indian Foreign Service, the IRS, the Railways, Indian Postal Service etc and manage to convince the tyro that only the IAS runs the country. Eighth, the national level media is also far more effective and vigilant than the regional media, if only due to their nationwide reach and decibel capacity. Ninth, any state will be more homogeneous than the entire country taken together. This diversity brings its own challenges in its wake. Tenth, inter- state disputes (e.g. Telangana) and problems common to more than one state (e.g. Maoism) bring two more dimensions to the Central Government's platter.
Now, if the Centre and State Governments are fundamentally different as the above analysis seems to suggest, can the ideas which have served one well at the state level necessarily serve equally well at the Centre? Maybe and for most of the time, since the fundamental problems of the country like poverty, disease, hunger, lack of education, lack of infrastructure, lack of growth are the same for State Governments and the Central Government. But the ideas might need suitable tailoring and adjusting. Some ideas will have to be modified, some dropped and some fresh ones thought of. Now, this takes some time. The Indian electorate will have to understand that Modi's Government is in the process of adapting the Gujarat model to the Central Government and the process may take some time. That Modi has an ever evolving vision is clear, that he has experience is undisputed, that he is decisive and hard working is established. All he needs is some time. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The hour has come. So has the man. Results will follow.
Vijay Kumar

Pvt hospital doctors are not fair
The doctors in the private hospitals, may be good but they are not fair. They prescribe unnecessary diagnostics tests to their patients be it be the central government employees. They also keep you in their hospitals for longer duration to earn out of the room & other charges. Do you want that the hard earned money of tax payers be utilized for satiating the greedy.

Anju S

DATE WITH RTI

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