India celebrates the festival of Dussehra. It culminates in the final celebrations on Diwali. We want you both to give humanity the festival of Diwali at once. Human soul stands severely bruised by the immense loss of life and property, peace and joy, and the efficacy of soft power over hard power. Only you two great leaders of the world can restore normalcy for the sake of not only your respective peoples but entire humanity. Neither of you has won. In fact, neither of you have lost. Neither stands victorious or defeated. You have made your mark. You have shown to everyone that unnecessary interference in the affairs of sovereign nations can be fatal. Those who were targeting you and instigating you to war with each other are frustrated due to consequences they had not even imagined. War in the present time is no option before nations. It is peace alone which is the only option. It is so because peace promises the wellbeing for all of us. Our epic poet Tulsidas, in the Ramayana (Shri Ramcharitmanas), wrote as follows: Mangal Bhavan Amangal Hari which translates to “assured of wellbeing and protection against the harmful”. It ensures good results for everybody. It guarantees protection against evil. As we prepare for Diwali and I am spontaneously inspired to pen this open letter to world’s 2 Great Leaders, I am sure they will receive these promptings and declare cessation of war forthwith. NATO and its allies have failed in their plans and suffered unprecedented economic losses. Hence, they should stop fuelling the war at once. They are living under threats of recession, inflation, poverty, hunger, disruption of essential supplies especially gas in the coming winter and above all a nuclear war. Hence they should contribute to the establishment of peace honourably. If they fail to do so, they will suffer heavily. President Putin and President Zelensky alone are capable of ending this war. President Putin should show greater magnanimity by taking the lead in declaring cessation of all hostilities forthwith and begin peace negotiation to reach an honourable agreement for both the nations. They are obliged to do so purely on ethics. Please listen to the voice of reason and goodwill towards you and your people and mankind. We extend Dussehra Greetings to you both and our friendly people in both your countries!
M L Gupta

Confusion in fixation of pay of Private Secretaries by Ministries / Departments In pursuance of Dept. of Personnel and Training's order No.4/8/2022-CS-II(A), dated 30th June, 2022 services of ad hoc Private Secretaries of CSSS working / posted in various Ministries / Departments were regularized by DOPT and given Select List Year of 2016 and 2017 respectively, according to vacancy position. On the basis of said Order, pay fixation of some of the Private Secretaries, who are far junior in Common Seniority List of 2016 and 2017, has been fixed higher than their senior. This has caused a heart burning among Private Secretaries of CSSS. May I request Department of Personnel and Training to issue appropriate instructions to Ministries / Departments to fix pay judiciously?
H S Chauhan

Why are some civil servants so overrated, when, ultimately, they have to comply with the orders (mostly oral & illegal) of the political masters? The favourite officers succeed in managing best ( read as most sought- after) postings and out-of-turn promotions bypassing the silent majority of officers, who refuse to fall in line. The practice was common during the UPA era, when the Congress supremo was the ‘de facto’ Prime minister. The practice, unfortunately, continues, till date. Is the rating methodology flawed?
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

Pakistan is hugely affected by the floods aggravating present levels of poverty, hunger and inflation. The Islamic countries, even China, are not coming forward for help. Lip sympathy does not help. India could help Pakistan in these circumstances during the floods and political instability. But, there has to be a request for it. Trade relations were unilaterally suspended by Pakistan, not India. It is high time, Pakistan starts behaving with India and stop cross-border terrorism. Continuance of hostility between the two sub-continental neighbours, will worsen the situation. People of Pakistan are ready for friendship with India. But the army-controlled establishment looks the other way. A referendum in Pakistan will prove this. Pakistani awaam considers itself culturally, historically and linguistically close to India. They welcome free trade relations and visa-free movement of its citizens. But, Pakistan has to move away from hatred to cooperation. Resumption of trade relations will be immensely useful in the normalisation process. Pakistan must amend its Constitution to treat its minorities at par with the majority. Its non-Muslim citizens should be able to occupy key positions. Change from theocracy to secularism is the prerequisite. Why can't a Hindu or Christian be appointed as its President? Why should non-Muslims be called "Kaafirs"? This is irrational and anti- democratic. Pak has been terribly ditched by China due to its single point agenda based on hate-India approach. Pak has to forget China in the face of a fast changing international scenario. This is not wishful thinking. But, all things considered, good-neighbour relations are not possible without democracy taking deep roots in Pakistan, free from military intervention. A Jai Prakash Narayan type anti-corruption movement is missing in Pakistan. This is considered necessary for creating mass awareness and changing its collective attitude towards India.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

I agree with the views expressed on PFI and whom to blame for this fiasco. Of course this raises many questions too. 1. What were multi-layer so many intelligence agencies doing since 1996. 2. If there are financial dealings of heavy value both with India and from abroad, what was DRI and other financial watch agencies including RBI, banks & Ministry of finance doing, were they in sleep mode, all banks are required to inform MOF & RBI of any fishy or heavy transactions. 3. What were governments doing from 1996 to 2022, were they blind to this serious issue. All the political parties who governed are solely responsible for this & must own responsibility including the present one. But I am positive our system is poor in governance that it dilutes everything by delay & finally the judiciary fails as they can't find evidence which is erased through dilution & delay tactics. As always the story will be dead finally into a grave.
Harish Kumar

The news that the Government is likely to review British influence on the culture, traditions and practices in the armed forces seems to have upset both veterans and serving officers. These traditions and practices were established a couple of centuries ago by the British as per the prevailing context. To claim these will not be changed 75 years after we attained Independence is not a tenable argument. The context has changed considerably and the armed forces will do well to change with the times. My appeal to Servicemen is “to change before you have to. Control your destiny. Otherwise someone will control it." See what happened to Railways and Ordnance factories. Failure to change with times resulted in change being thrust on them. So instead of wailing, seize the initiative, review the continued relevance, suitability and effectiveness of all your practices and introduce changes that are in tune with the ethos of an independent nation, its culture and traditions. Rest assured that if you don't act on your own change will be thrust on you.
Raghavan
Why postings of CITs without consideration of vacancies
Why is the CBDT rushing to post CITs without considering the 57 vacancies created by the recent promotion to the Pr CITs when they have already asked for their posting choices?
Ramesh