In the power galleries, Research & Analysis Wing Chief Samant Goel, is nowadays a talking subject. His extended term is coming to end on June 30. In view of his capabilities, a 1984 batch Punjab cadre IPS officer, Goel is going to get a one year  extension.PM Modi recently surprised  IPS circles by giving one year extension to SPG Chief Arun Sinha.

The names of IAS officers belonging to 1992 batch from 14 States are missing in the empanelment list to the level of Secretary or Secretary equivalent posts in Government of India.

Pronab Mohanty who is presently posted as ADG, BSF in Tekanpur is believed to have sought two years extension in GoI. He is 1994 batch IPS officer of Karnataka cadre.

Mukesh Kumar Meshram, the Principal Secretary and Director General, Tourism, Uttar Pradesh Government has said that the diversity spread across the state makes for an unforgettable tourism experience. With the objective of improving the basic tourism infrastructure across all our destinations, development projects to the tune of INR 4503.00 lakh are being implemented under the ‘Swadesh Darshan & Prasad Scheme’. In addition, infrastructure development projects of INR 125800.01 lakh are also being implemented from the state funding.

He informed that the Government is developing 12 circuits including Buddhist, Ramayana and Spiritual circuits. To explore all avenues, Tourism policy 2022 has been revised. The state has attracted various proposals for Hotels, Resorts, Convention Centres, and Adventure Tourism. The Government is also planning to restore 31 palaces and forts which have been recently identified, he added. For the detailed interview of Director General, Tourism, Uttar Pradesh, visit our magazine.

The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) is holding interviews for the post of Director (Personnel), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) on June 6, 2023.

The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has rescheduled the selection meeting for the post of CMD, CONCOR on June 7, 2023.

A major changes  and appointments are going to take place  in Punjab this month. There is curiocity in the bureaucracy.

Puspendra Singh has been appointed as Private Secretary to Ms Renuka Singh, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs. He is a 2013 batch ISS officer.

Satish Shriramaji Khandare has been appointed as IG, Border Security Force (BSF), on deputation basis for a period of five years. He is a 1995 batch IPS officer of AGMUT/JK cadre.

The CBIC has given the charge of the Director, Central Revenues Control laboratory to Manish Kumar , Pr Commissioner, Logistic. He is an IRS(C&IT) officer.

The union Terrritory of Ladakh has placed Ajeet Kumar Sahu, IAS, who was Commissioner/Secretary, General Administration Department (GAD) on deputation to attend   National Training Conclave under Mission ‘Karmayogi’. The programme is being launched by Capacity Building Commission (CBC) under the department of Personnel and Training.

Rajan S Katoch, former IAS officer and ex-Secretary, D/o Heavy Industry, has been appointed Independent External Monitor (IEM) of UCO Bank & CSIR.

Prashant Kumar, former IFoS officer and ex-Special Secretary, M/o Rural Development, has been appointed Independent External Monitor (IEM) of EIL & Konkan LNG Ltd.

M K Sinha has been appointed in the office of DPTI, Prayagraj. He is an IDAS officer.

Ms Kalyani Chadha, Joint Secretary, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, has been given premature repatriation to her parent cadre to avail the benefit of promotion in the cadre.

Two IAS officers of AGMUT cadre have been reshuffled. Umang Narula, 1989 batch, currently posted as Advisor to LG, Ladakh, has been shifted to Delhi, while 1994 batch Dr Pawan Kotwal has been appointed as Advisor to LG, Ladakh.

The Association of DANICS raised concern over earmarking 500 posts of Group 'A' into Delhi Administration Subordinate Service (DASS) Grade-1 cadre. The concern raised after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently discussed the move.

Four officers in the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) have been promoted from Assistant Director to Deputy Director under the Department of Revenue. The officers are: Lomesh Kumar, Praveen Kumar Jha, Het Ram and N Asha.

The Chief Income Tax Commissioner of Bhopal Circle Moahnish Verma, has been transferred to Delhi. Though, he has been given the additional charge of Bhopal and Raipur circles. His successor is awaited. Verma has completed around one-and-a-half year in the post.

The Finance Department has promoted and transferred 12 officers of Deputy / Assistant Commissioners rank in the Income Tax department. According to the order, Ashok Kumar Vishrant is now posted in UP (East), Dinesh Kumar Kajotto Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Vinod Kumar, UP (East), CM Prameela, Kerala, Ms Parmila Biswa Ghatany Odisha, Rakesh Somai, Rajasthan, Prakash Chandra Chauhan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Pemba Tshering Yolmo to NER, Hitendrakumar Rathod, Mumbai, Pradeep Kumar, NADT, Amya Kumar Sinha, Bihar and Jharkhand, and G Krishina Rao to Karnataka and Goa.

Shalinder Singh has taken over the charge as Director (Personnel), THDC India Limited. Prior to this, he was holding the position of CGM (HR) & Head of HR Department in the Corporate office, Shimla in SJVN. He is very enthusiastic about his new appointment. His focus would be on adding value in HR functions & aligning HR Strategy to Corporate Strategy and to establish THDCIL in revered list of Great Places to Work on the solid foundation of sound HR practices.

Nine officers of State Forest Service (SFS) of Haryana have been promoted to Indian Forest Service (IFoS) against the Select Lists of 2016, 17, 19, 20 and 21 and allocated Haryana cadre. Officers promoted against SL of 2016 are: Sunder Lal, Sandeep Goyal, Ravinder Dhankar, Vijender Singh and Kulvinder Singh. Similarly, Dr. Rajesh Vats, Om Prakash, Virender Singh and Jai Kumar have been promoted against SLs of 2017, 19, 20 and 21 respectively.

Ms Chitra Ahlawat has been appointed as Deputy Director, Labour Bureau, Chandigarh. She is a 2017 batch IES officer.

The Karnataka Government has canceled study leave of IPS Hemant B Nimbalkar, 1998 batch and posted him as Commissioner, Department of Information and Public Relations. The post was held by Ms Vinoth Priya, an IAS, who was holding the additional charge of the department. Hemant Nimbalkar is an IPS of 1998 batch.

In a big reshuffle, the Karnataka Government has issued fresh posting orders of around 12 IAS officers. According to the order, Kapil Mohan, IAS of 1990 batch has been posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism department. He was  waiting for the posting. After he joins the new assignment, Pankaj Kumar Pandey will be relieved of the concurrent charge. Manjunatha Prasad N, IAS, 1994 batch is new Principal Secretary, Cooperation Department. He was also waiting for the posting orders. He will relieve Umashankar SR, who has been shifted. V Ambukkumar, an IAS of 2004 batch, who was Managing Director, Karnataka State Road Transport  Corporation (KSRTC) is Secretary, Agriculture. He will relieve Dr Ravishankar from the additional charge. Mohan Raj KP, 2007 batch, who was awaiting posting orders has been placed as Secretary, Horticulture and Sericulture Department. He will relieve Rajender Kumar Kataria from the additional charge.

The Karnataka Government here on Tuesday issued fresh transfer orders of IAS officers. Dr Raichand Wincent Dsouza, 2007 batch who was Secretary, Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics Department has been transferred to Commerce and Industries department. Girish R, IAS of 2010 batch has been shifted from the post of Chief Executive   Officer, Karnataka Industrial Development Board (KIADB) to the post of Director, Mines and Geology Department. He will relieve Priyanka Mary Francis., who was in concurrent charge. Likewise, Karee Gowda, 2012 batch, is new Director, Atal Jan Snehi Kendra. He was waiting for the posting orders.

The Karnataka Government has posted Patil Yalagouda of 2012 batch as Commissioner, Agriculture Department. He was working as Deputy Commissioner, Tumakuru district. After he joins the duty, Sharat B will be relieved. Jagadeesha G, IAS of 2012 batch is new Managing Director, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation. He was waiting for posting orders. Following his joining, Dr Ram Prasath Manohar, who was holding the additional charge, will be relieved. Dr Mahesh M, 2017 batch, who was Managing Director, Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited   has been posted as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB). After he joins the duty, Girish R will be relieved of the  charge.

The Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) MK Jain, in his keynote address has said, cyber security has become increasingly pertinent in our rapidly evolving digital age. He was speaking at ‘Cyber Security Exercise for Banking Sector’, an international event, under India’s G 20 Presidency in Mumbai on Monday. Distinguished guests from the IMF, the BIS, delegates from other central banks and CERTs, MDs/CEOs of banks from India and their team members, global CISOs and CTOs of foreign banks participated in the programme.

Ms. Shalini Puchalapalli has been appointed as Independent Director of Godrej Consumer Products Limited effective from November 14, 2023.

Ms. Vinita Dang Mohoni has been appointed as Additional Non-Executive Independent Director of Gati Limited.

Devendra Pal Bharti has been appointed as Independent Director on the Board of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC).

Dipen Mineshbhai Patel has been appointed as Independent Director of Kenvi Jewels Limited.

Ravisankar Ganesan, Director (Finance), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), has been appointed as Nominee Director of POWERGRID on the Board of PTC India Limited.

Deepak Calian Vaidya has been re-appointed as Independent Director of Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited.

Ganesh Bhavarlal Prajapati has been appointed as Additional Non-Executive Independent Director of Samor Reality Limited.

Jaydeepbhai Manojbhai Prajapati has resigned from the position of Non-Executive Independent Director of Samor Reality Limited.

Krunal Dilipbhai Shah has resigned from the position of Independent Director of Kenvi Jewels Limited.

Dhrub Jyoti Basu has ceased to be Whole-Time Director (WTD) of Usha Martin Limited.

Srinivasa Raghavan Dorai Rajan has resigned from the position of Non-Executive Independent Director of Birla Precision Technologies Limited due to his advanced age and health issues.

Jagdish Capoor has retired as Independent Director of Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited.

Habeeb Rahiman has resigned from the position of Independent Director of SI Capital & Financial Services Limited.

" Odisha Three-Trains Collision Catastrophy "

 Sadly, two passenger trains and a stationary freight train were involved in the accident. It will be simplistic to link the serial accidents to things like signal failure, interlocking etc. It is clearly a man-made disaster that was waiting to happen.

Where is the indigenously developed Kavach, the state-of- the-art anti-collision device? Were these not installed in the three trains? If not, why?

 The malaise lies much deeper. Was the continuous negligence of the Railways in keeping thousands of Group B, C, D posts vacant in its anxiety to achieve economy in expenditure  to create larger profits, the root cause? Conventional wisdom. The numbers of posts at higher echelons were, however, increased manifold as part of the cadre review for quicker promotions.

The Railway seems keener on launching high speed trains than strengthening the present infrastructure. The rickety tracks are not worthy to run high speed trains. The intent is to enhance political gains to reap votes in the coming elections. Money is being spent lavishly for renovating platforms and stations while the trains are not well looked after. Mere cosmetic touch to woo the gullible public.

The Railway Board, has, in the meanwhile, recommended CBI investigation, a clever move to cover up the whole issue of accidents. The Supreme Court (SC) is urged to immediately intervene and restrain the central government from CBI investigation. Let SC order setting a judicial commission for a thorough probe.

Non-compliance of Parliamentary and Statutory Reports is a scam. The government refuses to learn from its history of mistakes and blunders.
Consider Parliamentary Standing Committee Reports condemning Railway's negligence. And worse, what about the damning indictment of the Railway's functioning by the CAG.

But, who cares to peruse these reports and implement their recommendations.

Disempowerment of the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) that reports to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, was in the news recently but for wrong reasons. Can it be trusted? Why is an independent judicial commission not created for a comprehensive inquiry?

Finally, Will Ashwini Vaishnaw the union Railway Minister, like the late Lal Bahadur Shastri ji, own the moral responsibility of the accident and resign or, in the alternative, be sacked by the PM?

A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

Marks scored in interview and group discussion in a sealed envelope case

The appellant appeared in a promotion test and sought the Online test marks, Interview marks, APAR marks, Group discussion marks, Total marks obtained and Minimum cut off marks for selection. The respondent informed that online test marks, and APAR marks were already informed to the individual. Further, at the time of promotion process, the complainant was charge-sheeted and as per the rules, some of the details like interview test marks, group discussion marks and total marks obtained by the complainant was kept in sealed cover. It was further submitted that since, the complainant was punished, so sealed cover was not opened. They informed that in the sealed cover process, if the applicant/charge sheeted employee exonerated, then only sealed cover was opened and given to him. While hearing the complaint, the CIC observed that point-wise reply was given by the respondent. The respondent while exercising their wisdom denied some information and that being so no mala fide could be attributed to the decision taken by them and accordingly, the complaint was rejected.

Comments

The CIC has upheld the denial of information without mentioning the provision of the RTI Act under which the denial was justified. If the investigation was likely to be impeded by the disclosure of information, the same should have been specifically emphasized by the Commission.

Citation: Pramod Kumar Thakur v. Indian Overseas Bank, CIC/IOVBK/C/2021/140197; 17.05.2023

Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Visakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books, RTI Right to Information - Law and Practice and PIO’s Guide to RTI. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and Third party audit. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link www.rtifoundationofindia.com

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