Whispersinthecorridors

This is History (2374)

The past has to be seen to be dead; or the past will kill.

Third term of Modi depends on West Bengal election results !

It is widely believed that the third term of Narendra Modi as PM depends on the election results of West Bengal.

Who is Amit Shah of UP CM ?

There was an informal discussion in a dinner meeting where topic of discussion was PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. In the meantime some one asked who is Amit Shah of UP CM Aditya Nath Yogi ?. And  every body said “No One “.

Hectic activities in Congress war room !

These days, there are hectic activities in the 15, Gurudwara Rakabganj in Delhi. What is cooking up ?

DEBATE : “BABU WORD”

The term ‘babu’ that reeks of the colonial era has been stuck with civil servants and other government officials ever since.

On February 10, PM Narendra Modi has in his Parliament speech, blasted the ‘babu’ culture in the country saying “Sab kuch babu hi karenge”. Earlier in 2016, the IAS Association has condemned the use of the word ‘babu’ and called it ‘abusive’.

Now the question that arises is - Is the use of the word ‘babu’ correct ?

Mail your views in short to mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com OR  suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com

It is believed that at least Six 1988 batch IAS officers will get Secretary level postings in the Government of India this month. They are S S Sandhu, J S Swain, Anil Jha, Siddharth Dev Barman, Govind Mohan and Indiver Pandey.

Certain Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary level postings in the Government of India are expected to take place this month.

After the empanelment of 1988 batch IPS officers, it is said that the number of Special Directors in the IB will be increased to eight. There are presently already three Special Directors and after the empanelment of five others, the number will go up to eight.

2017 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre  Syed Fakrudin Hameed  has  been cleared for posting in theUnion Territory of Jammu andKashmir on inter-cadre deputa-tion .He will join soon.

Outgoing Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar has been appointed Chairman of the Maharashtra State Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).  He is 1984 batch IAS officer .

(We said this on Feb 24)

As many as 35 officers of 2017 batch from different states have been confirmed in Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with effect from August 2019. Officers confirmed in IAS from Punjab cadre are: Gautam Jain, Himanshu Jain, Rahul and Sagar Setia. Officers confirmed in IAS from Nagaland cadre are: Bhavani Sri R, Dharam Raj and Vineet Kumar. Officers confirmed in IAS from Karnataka cadre are: Bhanwar Singh Meena, Dileesh Sasi, Nandhini Devi K, Nandini K R, Naveen Bhat Y, Priyanga M, Shaikh Tanveer Asif and Bharath S. Officers confirmed in IAS from Bihar cadre are: Abhilasha Sharma, Anil Kumar, Arif Ahsan, Kumar Gaurav, Tanai Sultania, Taranjot Singh, Vishal Raj, Vivek Ranjan Maitrey and Yogesh Kumar Sagar. Officers confirmed in IAS from Telangana cadre are: Ila Tripathi, Mikkilineni Manu Choudary, Muzammil Khan, Prateek Jain, Rahul Sharma, Rajashi Shah, Santhosh B M, Sneha Latha Mogili and Venkatesh Dhotre. Besides, Syeed Fakhrudin Hamid from Assam-Meghalaya and Mamu Hage from AGMUT cadre have also been confirmed in IAS. 

The cadre of Yatish Chandra G H has been transferred from Kerala to Karnataka for an initial period of three years on grounds of personal hardship. He is a 2011 batch IPS officer.

After a gap of two years, Sunil Mittal has been appointed as Financial Advisor, Defence Services under the Ministry of Defence. He is an IDAS officer.

The central deputation tenure of U C Sarangi working as ADG, Border Security Force (BSF) has been extended upto March 5, 2022. He is a 1988 batch IPS officer of MP cadre.

S K Gautam, a 1989 batch UT cadre IPS officer has been put in waiting list. He was Spl CP in Delhi Police. According to sources he is likely to be posted as DGP either to Arunachal or Mizoram.

A five-year deputation tenure of Babu Lal Meena on centre working as Director in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is competing in March this year. He is a 2005 batch IOFS officer.

In the corridors of power, it is said that outgoing Secretary Revenue Dr A B P Pandey will get post retirement job. He is 1984 batch former IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Ajit Prakash Shrivastava has been appointed as Chairman, Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in Madhya Pradesh. He is a 1984 batch IAS officer of MP cadre. 

The promotion of two HAG level ITS officers- Nizamul Haq and Raju V, have been regularised from December 31, 2019. They were on ad-hoc promotion.

Pradeep Kumar has been appointed as PCCF, Economic, Planning and Management, Nagpur, while Dr Kishore is CF, Gadchiroli circle and Umesh Udal Verma was made DCF, Resources, Nagpur in Maharashtra.

Ms. Sheyphali Sharan is likely to join as DG in the Election Commission of India (ECI) She is a 1990 batch IIS officer.

Two posts of Joint Secretaries are lying vacant in the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) for the last few months.  The ministry has 4 sanctioned posts of joint secretaries.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is yet to issue promotion list from Manager to General Manager level.

Sunil Shreekrishna Dadhe has been appointed as Director General, NAAA, Shimla after promotion. He is a 1988 batch IA&AS officer.

There is a lone IAS officer of 1989 batch in Manipur, but this name did not feature in the empanelment list for holding Secretary and Secretary equivalent posts in Government of India.

The Election Commission of India has deputed as many as 26 IAS officers from Madhya Pradesh cadre as Observers in poll bound states. The officers who will join as Observers in poll bound states of West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry are: Nikunj Shrivastava, Sanjeev Singh, Jitendra Singh Raje, Shashank Mishra, Bharat Yadav, Ajit Kumar, Rajeev Sharma, Alka Shrivastava, Umesh Kumar, Dhanaraju S, Abhishek Singh, Sapna Nigam, Chandrashekhar Walimbe, Dinesh Shrivastava, Chote Singh, Sarita Bala, Om Prajapati, Gautam Singh, Hari Singh Meena, Girish Sharma, Krishnadev Tripathi and Anurag Verma, Shashibhushan Singh, Jagdish Chandra Jatia, Ram Pratap Singh Jadon and Ashok Kumar Chouhan.

Pushp Ram Meena, DME, Diesel, BA, Western Railway, has been selected for deputation to Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) for the post of Manager (Traction & Rolling Stock) at Ahmedabad for a period of three years.

OP Singh, SME, G, North Central Railway, has been selected for deputation to Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) for the post of Manager (Traction & Rolling Stock) at Allahabad (Prayagraj) for a period of three years.

Baruda Chandra Shekhar, who has been prematurely repatriated from deputation to Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), has been transferred to East Coast Railway (ECoR). He is an Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) officer. 

Supreme Court Collegium is believed to have cleared three names of lawyers  for the post of Judge in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.They are reportedly are  Nidhi Patankar Gwalior,Vivek Sharan Indore and Pranay Verma Jabalpur.

Ms Parul Singh has been appointed as Deputy Secretary in the Department of Commerce. She is a 2009 batch IRS-IT officer.

Shrikant Walgad, CVO, BEL, has been assigned an additional charge of CVO, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Bengaluru for a period upto April 4, 2021. He is a 1991 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

Sumita Misra has been posted as OSD, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Department, Haryana. She is a1990 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre. 

The share price of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT) touched Rs 125 on March 5, highest among the other Fertilizer companies. Kishore Rungta is Chairman-cum-Managing Director of this PSU.

The suspension of Vaibhav Krishna has been revoked by the Uttar Pradesh Government. Krishna, who belongs to a 2010 batch IPS officer, was suspended on January 9, 2020 when he was the SSP, Noida.

The Railways has made it clear that the hike in the platform ticket is a temporary measure in order to deter overcrowding at stations. 

Four IAS officers in Chhattisgarh have been promoted to Super Time Scale (STS) and three of them have been given new responsibility after promotion. Ms R Sangeeta has been posted as Secretary, Mantralaya, while S Prakash was appointed as Mission Director, Jal Jeevan Mission and Neelam Namdev Ekka was made Secretary, Public Grievance Redressal Department. Besides, Topeshwar Sharma will continue to work as Rajnandgaon Collector after promotion.   

The Supreme Court Collegium has approved the proposal for elevation of an advocate – Vikas Bahl – for the post of Judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court. A decision in this regard was taken on March 2, 2021, but the statement was posted on the Collegium website on Friday.

The Supreme Court Collegium has approved the proposal for elevation of an advocate – Rahul Bharti – for the post of Judge of Jammu & Kashmir High Court. A decision in this regard was taken on March 2, 2021, but the statement was posted on the Collegium website on Friday.

The Supreme Court Collegium has approved the proposal for elevation of three advocates – Viju Abraham, Mohammad Nias CP and Paul KK – and a Judicial Officer – A Badharudeen – as Judges of Kerala High Court.

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the name of an advocate – Nagendra Ramchandra Naik – for being appointed as a Judge of Karnataka High Court. A decision in this regard was taken on March 2, 2021, but the statement was posted on the Collegium website on Friday.

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the name of an advocate – Satyen Vaidya – for being appointed as a Judge of Himachal Pradesh High Court. A decision in this regard was taken on March 2, 2021, but the statement was posted on the Collegium website on Friday.

The Supreme Court Collegium has approved the proposal for the appointment of 10 Additional Judges – Justice Ali Zamin, Justice Vipin Chandra Dixit, Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, Justice Ravi Nath Tilhari, Justice Deepak Verma, Justice Gautam Chowdhary, Justice Shamim Ahmed, Justice Dinesh Pathak, Justice Manish Kumar, and Justice Samit Gopal – of Allahabad High Court as Permanent Judges. 

Khushro Bulsara, Head (Investor Protection Fund), BSE India Ltd.  visited Head Quarter Maharashtra Navy, met Capt. Paresh Cowli & Commander Himanshu Joshi and discussed the drive of Investors' Awareness Program on Securities Market for Navy officers.

Dr. Rebecca Nugent has been appointed as Independent Director, while Amit Raje has been made Non-Executive Non-Independent Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited.

Ms. Sanjeevlata Samdani has been re-appointed Independent Director of KBS India Limited.

Sripal Veeramchand Sanghvi has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of RCL Retail Limited. Meanwhile, Navratan Mal Lunkar and Ms. Sujathaa Mehta have been appointed as Additional Director and Additional Director (Women) of the company. 

Laxminarayan Jethmal Garg has resigned from the position of Independent Director of Shree Ajit Pulp and Paper Limited due to personal reasons.

Amitav has resigned from the position of Independent Director of Hindustan Everest Tools Limited.

Dr. Ganesh Natarajan has been appointed Additional (Non-Executive Independent) Director and Chairman of Honeywell Automation India Limited from March 8, 2021. Meanwhile, Suresh C Senapaty will cease to be Independent Director and Chairman of the company on completion of his tenure on March 7, 2021.

Nipun Vyas has been appointed Additional Director (Independent) of Oswal Yarns Limited.

Karunn Kandoi has been appointed as Additional Director (Independent) of Zee Learn Limited. 

CV Manoj Kumar has resigned from the position of Director from the Board of Hemisphere Properties India Limited.

DEBATE (1)

Is the IAS afraid of Modiji. So far there is no reaction from the IAS fraternity. Though they in one to one talk themselves say “Bada Babu”.

Dr. D P Singh

DA to government employees ?

Will government employees get DA or it is only an eyewash news in all the newspapers and central government employees forum.

Rahul

Proof of payment

Proof of payment made by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. against certain invoices raised by Supreme Advertising Private Limited was sought. The information sought relates to Petrotech-2016. The information is not available with IOCL, as all the records pertaining to the event were handed over to Federation of Indian Petroleum Industries (FIPI) after closing of Petrotech-2016. The PIO informed the CIC that all the payments, as raised by M/s. Supreme Advertising Private Limited for the work executed during the period related to Petrotech-2016, have been paid and there are no dues left on this account. However, the copies of documentary evidences in this regard cannot be provided, as the same is not available with IOCL. The CIC observed that the appellant is seeking information in his individual capacity from the IOCL regarding M/s. Supreme Advertising Private Limited. The appellant is clearly seeking the commercial information which pertains to third party and the appellant is not the authorized representative of SAPL to whom the information can be disclosed. The appellant had raised grievance with respect to some dispute of payment with SAPL (which is not a public authority). The information sought is of commercial nature between IOCL and SAPL. Nonetheless, the respondent has given the factual information to the appellant inspite of being third party information. The Commission further held that the information sought by the appellant in his RTI application is exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1)(d) read with Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of third party.

Comments

It is not clear from the order whether the Hon’ble CIC had tried to verify whether the appellant was a representative of M/s. Supreme Advertising Private Limited before denying the information under Section 8(1)(d) read with Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The CIC has erred by not looking into the reasons why IOCL had already provided some information to the appellant despite being third party information. Further, the order does not mention who was supposed to hold the documents sought by the appellant, if at all they were to be retained.

Citation: Rohit Yajnik v. Indian Oil Corporation Limited in Second Appeal No. CIC/IOCLD/A/2019/118452, Date: 25-01-2021

Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com