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POLITICS

This is History (97)
The Mongols had tried to attack Japan also, but without success.

Sangh's survival hinges on Modi's success !
Since the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) has no replacement of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, its survival also depends on the latter's success. Grapevine has it that if Modi is harassed and not allowed to work properly, his downfall will be suicidal for the RSS and it too will be finished.

Rahul yet to learn intricacies of politics
Grapevine has it that Rahul Gandhi has still not been able to learn the intricacies of politics. Is it so because he is honest and well meaning person ?

CBI files chargesheet against MP
The CBI has filed a chargesheet against an MP of Rajya Sabha and three others for causing an alleged loss to government exchequer. It is alleged that in a conspiracy the said MP used forged boarding passes to defraud Rajya Sabha to the tune of Rs 23,71,460/- as TA/DA reimbursement without performing the actual journey.


BUREAUCRACY

Three vacancies of Judges in SC
There are three vacancies of Judges in the Supreme Court of India. Will the SC Collegium meet next week to decide the names ? There are presently 29 Judges as against the sanctioned strength of 31.

Jaggi is new GM, NEFR (Constructions)
H K Jaggi, IRSE has been appointed new General Manager North East Frontier Railways (Constructions) Guwahati.
(We said this on October 14 )

Cadre of IAS officer changed from Chhattisgarh to Haryana
Cadre of 2007 batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh Ravi Prakash Gupta has been changed to Haryana on the basis of PH (Physically Handicapped Policy).

Dr. Sekhar Basu takes charge as Chairman, AEC and Secretary, DAE
Dr. Sekhar Basu, Director, BARC has taken over charge from Dr. RK Sinha as Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the Government of India.

Shatrughan Singh is back to Uttarakhand
Additional Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotions Shatrughan Singh is back to parent Uttarakhand from central deputation. He is a 1983 batch IAS officer.

Annadurai goes to DFP
M. Annadurai, IIS and Director, DD News, DDK, Chennai has been transferred to DFP, Chennai as Director.

Srikant transferred to AIR, New Delhi
An IIS officer Srikant, Asstt Director, DD News, Lucknow has been transferred to AIR, New Delhi as AD.

Zohra Chatterji is Chairperson of UPID
Former Secretary, Textiles in the Government of India Zohra Chatterji has been appointed Chairman, UP Institute of Design (UPID). She is a 1979 batch retired IAS officer of UP cadre.

Vishwajeet Yadav appointed Asst AG, Shillong
Vishwajeet Yadav, on completion of training at NAAA, Shimla, has been posted as Assistant Accountant General in the office of Accountant General (Audit), Meghalaya, Shillong. He is a 2013 batch IA&AS officer.

Dr. Renu Singh Parmar posted as Senior Adviser, Civil Aviation
Dr. Renu Singh Parmar has been appointed Senior Adviser in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. She is a 1981 batch IES officer.

Ms Laxmi Deepak to join IRCTC
RBSS officer Ms Laxmi Deepak will be joining IRCTC as JGM/IT on deputation.

SP Singh is ADRM, Agra
Shailendra Pratap Singh has been appointed ADRM Agra. He is an IRSME officer.

19 officers promoted in IDAS
19 Senior Accounts officers (Group B) have been promoted to the junior-scale (Gropu A) of the Indian Defnce Accounts Service (IDSA).

Former CEC Gopalaswami appointed Chancellor
Former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami has been appointed as Chancellor of Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha (RSVP)- Tirupati.

Capt Chadha is new Commanding Officer of INS Viraat
Capt Puneet Chadha has taken over as new Commanding Officer of INS Viraat.

41 RAS officers awarded IAS
41 Rajasthan Administrative Service officers have been given IAS award.

Vigilant India, Empowered India
A 30 minute documentary on the theme, 'Vigilant India, Empowered India' showcasing the good governance activities in Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) will be telecast on DD National, in the programme, 'Aaj Savera' from 8am to 8:30am on 27th October, 2015. This is part of the activities undertaken during the Vigilance Awareness Week being organized by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
This year the CVC is organizing the Vigilance Awareness Week from 26th to 31st October, 2015.
SAIL's documentary highlights the well established system of vigilance activities in SAIL which is the leading producer of steel in India. These vigilance practices promote good governance and aim to achieve highest levels of transparency and fairness.


Ravindra Gupta is GM SCR

Ravindra Gupta is new General Manager of the South Central Railway. His orders have been issued by the RailwayBoard.
(We said this on October 15, 2015)


CORPORATE

Mittal appointed Chairman of Jindal Photo Ltd
Jindal Photo Ltd has appointed Shiv Kumar Mittal as Chairman of the company.

Krishnani appointed MD of Sony Pictures India
Vivek Krishnani has been appointed as Managing Director of Sony Pictures India

Gupta appointed Addl. Director of Universal Office Automation Ltd
Universal Office Automation Ltd has appointed Bhupinder Gupta as Additional Director of the company

Mundaplakkal resigns as Independent Director of OTCO International Ltd
Shaine Sunny Mundaplakkal has resigned as Independent Director of OTCO International Ltd

Vikal appointed CFO of Snapdeal
Anup Vikal has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer of Snapdeal


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)

Looking back
The Swachh Bharat slogan and start of campaign like the marriages of the sons of so called tycoons, of Bank loans last year and anniversary resolutions, oath-takings, safai-giri glittering programmes and seminars all around caught hold of my memory channels to take me back to the mid 1980s. In those days monthly meeting of the district level grievances committee, invariably presided over by a Minister or Chief Minister, used to be a terror amongst the district level officers.
That district, which I am speaking about had the most feared and efficient deputy commissioner and incidentally the minister, who had been allocated that district for chairing the meeting, was most meticulous and had great reputation as outspoken and upright person, who will not drop a grievance without fully applying himself, and exhausting all resources.
One member of the grievances committee was a fit foil of the minister and would speak his mind for finding a solution even at the cost of annoying the minister and any officer. His nuisance value was widely acknowledged and equally dreaded. He had made a complaint that in the particular locality of the city, the garbage was not being regularly lifted and the sewer remained choked and the municipal committee had not been paying any attention, in spite of his various representations. The Executive officer of the committee replied, ''Sir, there is shortage of safai sewaks and the sewers have been desilted twice and at the moment there was no problem.'' That member raised his voice a bit and told the minister, ''Tusi hune chalo tte dekho ki haal a (Come and see the site and see for yourself).The deputy commissioner was also administrator of the municipal committee, he said, ''Sir, I will look into it, the problem will be solved. ''At this the minister looked at the member and said,' 'DC sahib tuhada masla hall kar denge (dc will solve your problem). The deputy commissioner looked at the district officer for removal of grievances to read the next item.But astonishingly that member interrupted, ''DC sahib will not be able to solve it, either you get it solved at your level or send an officer from Chandigarh to do it. Look at the ceiling, entire sealing is full of cobwebs, DC sahab knew about the meeting, he has not got the meeting hall cleaned. ''Everybody looked at the ceiling and deputy commissioner's face got red in embarrassment. The statement was true. But he did not stop at it and continued in one breath, ''This is just a trailer, you see his maalkhana, you see his nazaratkhana, see his record room and go to the backside of the office, if you find any worse place than this then hang me. ''There was turmoil in the meeting, but the minister saved the situation and told that he would visit the site and solve the problem. However for the next one month this was the only topic for gossiping and only issue to be resolved in the deputy commissioner's office. Whatever was said in the meeting was true .Even today many amongst the leaders and crusaders for cleanliness themselves sit over the heaps of garbage.
Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Amritsar.

NJAC recommendations

The Government is referring the decision of the Supreme Court on NJAC to the President for resolution. This should not happen as the second administrative reforms commission headed by Veerappa Moily in the 4th report submitted to the Government titled "Ethics in Governance" had recommended setting up of the NJAC, which was approved by the Government. The whole process is the offshoot of these recommendations. Pranab Mukherjee, then Finance Minister had as head of the Group of Ministers, taken the decision of the Government recommending setting up of the NJAC. Hence, it will amount to conflict of interest.
BBS

DATE WITH RTI

Minutes of meeting of Empowered Committee of State Finance Minister on GSTN

The appellant asked for the minutes of the meeting of Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers from January 2010 to till date etc. The FAA directed the PIO to provide extracts of the minutes of the Empowered Committee meeting pertaining to the GSTN. The FAA clarified that the Empowered Committee had taken a decision that the Minutes of the Empowered Committee meeting should be treated as items covered under “not open to disclosure under section 8 of the RTI Act, 2005. It was argued that disclosing the entire minutes of the Empowered Committee meetings will be a breach of parliamentary privilege. The appellant contended that the Empowered Committee is a registered Society and does not perform any sovereign functions. The CIC noted that the Empowered Committee (EC) is deliberating the issue of introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the country and that the discussions on the same are intense, resulting in points of views, often, being expressed in closed door meetings of the State Finance Ministers. The PIO has also stated that the decision of the working groups consisting of officers of both the Central and State Governments have been formed to prepare a draft legislation of GST, business process to be adopted in the GST regime and related issues. He has categorically stated that any premature disclosure about the future tax policies could have an adverse effect on the economic interest. The CIC upheld the denial of information.

Comments


The introduction of Goods and Services Tax is heralded as the major tax reform initiative. With the advent of participation of the stakeholders in the statute making process, new ways and means have to be found for constructively involving all in such a manner that sharing of information does not itself become a hindrance.


Citation: Shri R.K. Jain v. Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, Delhi Secretariat in F.No. CIC/SS/A/2013/001766-YA

Weekly article by Dr. (Mrs.) Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in), RTI Consultant to IIM, Indore. Her other articles can be read at http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/

(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)

Dr Suresh Mehrotra has his lips sealed, if you have any whispers then send it to us
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