Whispersinthecorridors

“Your astrological predictions for Corridors of Power seldom go wrong".

I S Sidhu

This is History (1099)

We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year !

Maharashtra win may be counter productive for opposition

Victory of parties opposed to BJP in Maharashtra, as far as forming the state government was concerned, may prove to be counter productive for opposition and like Late Indira Gandhi, PM Narendra Modi may emerge more stronger.

Had Rahul not withdrawn, Cong would have revived

It is believed in the political circles that Congress would have revived had Rahul Gandhi not withdrawn. “He was shaping well for present day politics”.

Was Nehru right ?

First Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru way-back in 1958 said, “If  both  - my party and the Left  - become weak, it will be bad day for India”. Was Nehru right ?

Survey

According to sources, GoI is likely to appoint one dozen IAS officers as Secretaries in various ministries and departments after December 13. Presently nine posts of Secretaries are lying vacant, including in PMO. Two posts are going to fall vacant this month.

Govt is likely to post about half a dozen IAS officers of 1987 batch as Secretaries in GoI.

Latest buzz in the power galleries is that Amarjeet Sinha , Secretary, Rural Development will either get six months extension in service or a post retirement  important assignment. He is 1983 batch Bihar cadre IAS officer.

A 1991 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Pramod Agrawal has been appointed Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Coal India Limited (CIL). He will succeed incumbent Anil Kumar Jha retiring in January, 2020.

(We said this on Nov 27 and 28, 2019)

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of M. Ajit Kumar as a Member of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). He is an IRS (C&CE) officer of 1984 batch.

(We   said this on April 9 and Oct 31, 2019)

Kamini Chauhan Ratan has joined the Government of India as Joint Secretary Higher Education. She is 1997 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.

The cadre of Ms Aparna Gupta has been transferred from Gujarat to Rajasthan on the grounds of marriage to Mayank Manish, a 2018 batch IAS officer.  Ms Gupta too is a 2018 batch IAS officer.

The cadre of Ms Nidhi Siwach has been transferred from Jharkhand to Gujarat on the grounds of marriage to Ram Niwas Bugalia, a 2019 batch IAS officer. Ms Siwach is also a 2019 batch IAS officer.

The Government of India has started searching successor of Anil Kumar Chaudhary, Chairman, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), one year before expiration of Chaudhary’s term. A vacancy of this post is arising on January 1, 2021.

Javed Akhtar has been relieved to join as Director (TPL-III), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on deputation basis. He is an IRS-IT officer.

As many as seven senior officers of Indian Postal Service have been given new postings after promotion to Higher Administrative Grade (HAG). Accordingly, Ram Bharosa has been appointed as CPMG, Andhra Pradesh circle, while Bisnupada Sarangi was made CPMG, Rajasthan circle and Amitabh Kharkwal is CPMG, Assam Circle. Similary, Rajkumar Biswanath has been appointed as CPMG, Chhattisgarh circle; Pradeep Michael Lal as Director, RAKNPA, Ghaziabad; Jitendra Gupta as CPMG, North East circle and Ms Manju Kumar was posted as CPMG, J&K circle.

As many as 11 officers of Indian Postal Service have been transferred at STS/JTS level. Accordingly, Abhinav Pratap Singh has been appointed as ADG, PBI, Postal Directorate, while Praveen Kumar was made DGM, BD &M, Directorate and Abhishek Jain is ADG, Philately, Postal Dirctorate. Similarly, Abhishek Kumar Singh has been appointed to Uttar Pradesh circle; Sudheer Babuy Kandula to Andhra Pradesh circle; Hammad Zafar as ADG, Technology, Postal Directorate; S B Vyavahare to Maharashtra circle; R S Raghuvanshi as ADG, GDS/PCC, Postal Directorate; Vinod Kumar Singh to Madhya Pradesh circle; Ram Naresh Sikaria as ADG, (MO), Postal Directorate and M Sudhakara Mallaya was posted to Karnataka.

As many as seven officers of Indian Postal Service have been transferred at SAG level. Accordingly, Rajendra Kumar has been appointed as PMG, HQ region, Bengaluru, Karnataka circle, while Ms Trishaljit Sethi was made Additional Director, RAKNPA, Ghaziabad and Aakash Deep Chakravarti is PMG, Gorakhpur region, UP circle. Similarly, R Anand has been appointed as DDG (PMU), Postal Director, New Delhi; Col Arvind as DDG (Personnel), Postal Directorate, New Delhi; D S V R Murthy as PMG, South Karnataka region Bengaluru and Ms Manisha Bansal was posted as PMG, Punjab West Region, Chandigarh.

Ms Anjali Anand has been appointed as CPMG, Uttarakhand circle, while Vinay Kumar Tiwari was made CPMG, Punjab circle and Anil Kumar-I is CPMG, Bihar circle.

After its dedication to the nation on October 31, 2018, a number of new tourist attractions have been added at Kevadia, which include Jungle Safar, Children Nutrition Park, Cactus Garden, Butterfly Garden, Vishwa Van, Ekta Nurser, Ekta Mall, Ekta Auditorium, Ekta Dwar, Dino Trail, Arogya Van, Zarvani Eco-tourism, Khalwani eco-tourism, budget accommodation, Sardar Sarovar Resort, Glow Garden, Decorative Lighting & Illumination, Facilities like river rafting, boating, cycling, food court WiFi etc. These additional tourists attractions have led to sharp increase in the daily tourists' footfall during November 2019 and with 74% increase over the daily average of the first year i.e. November 1 2018 to October 31, 2019, daily average of 15,036 is now registered in the first month of this second year. This has further increased to 22, 430 on weekend days. The Statue of Liberty of New York, Unites States, attracts around 10,000 visitors a day. Thus Statue of Unity overtakes Statue of Liberty in terms of daily average footfall. It is noteworthy here that Statue of Liberty in US is a 133 years' old world famous monument, whereas Statue of Unity is just 13 months old.  Total 30, 90, 723 number of tourists have visited Kevadia till November 30, 2019 and total income of Rs 85, 57 crore has been generated. Dr. Rajiv Kumar Gupta Additional Chief Secretary to Government of Gujarat Forests & Environment Department, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar and MD of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam is looking after this  uniqe tourist spot.

Ravinder Paul, Junior Hindi Translator (OL, posted in the Northern  Zone, CLA, Delhi) has been promoted as Asstt Hindi Translator and posted as Addl DGFT in the same office.

Satya S Lolla , a 1991 batch IRS(C&CE) batch officer will join NATGRID as JS on deputation basis for five years, under MHA.

G.Arun Rishard Elisha has in been give in-situ promotion as Joint Commissioner C&CE w.e.f. April 1, 2017.

Mystery shrouds the selection result of Income Tax Appelate Tribunal Authority (IATA). In CBDT, all responsible officers say that they have no idea. According to sources, name of Neena Kumar, retired Member CBDT, is said to be in circulation for the post.

Five IAS officers of 1989 batch presently serving in the cadre: S Krishnan, S K Prabhakar, Harmander Singh, Md Nasiumuddin and Dayanand Kataria have been promoted to the grade of Chief Secretary in Tamil Nadu.

Dr Dipankar Banerjee, Professor, IIA, has been appointed as Director, Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital.

Shubhro Bagchi has been promoted to the grade of Deputy Director General of Mines Safety (Mining) in the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS).

Abhijit Singh has been appointed as SP, SOG, Jaipur and Mrs Hitika Vasal was made Assistant SP, Vallabhnagar range, Udaipur in Rajasthan.

T A  Tripathi has been appointed as Member, Commissioner of Inquiries in Andhra Pradesh. He is a 1987 batch IPS officer of AP cadre.

Vikas Shankar Kharage has been appointed as Principal Secretary to Chief Secretary of Maharashtra. He is a 1994 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Dr B A Gagarani has been posted as Principal Secretary to Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He is a 1990 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

Dr Nipun Vinayak has been posted as Commissioner-cum-Director, Municipal Administration, Mumbai, while Sachin Kurve was Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation and A E Rayate is Joint Commissioner, Sales Tax, Mumbai. Besides, Amol Yedge has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad, Amaravati and K H Bagate was made Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad, Ratnagiri.

P K Gera had been given an extension of one year as Managing Director of Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Ltd (GACL). He is an IAS officer of Gujarat cadre of 1985 batch.

Tata Communications Ltd has re-appointed Ms Renuka Ramnath as an Independent Director of the Company for a second term of five years w.e.f. December 8, 2019. She will continue to be the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the company.

Ms Santwana Todi has quit as Company Secretary of Avance Technologies Ltd.

AGI Infra Ltd has re-appointed Atul Mehta as Independent Director of the company

Chemtech Industrial Valves Ltd has appointed Puneet Pradeep Badkur as Chief Financial Officer of the company.

Ms Honey Agarwal has quit as Company Secretary of Raideep Industries Ltd.

DEBATE (1)

My Vote goes to Priyanka Gandhi.

Khushi

DEBATE (2)

I consider Saroj Pandey as a most talented Indian Women Politician. Her prominence on the national stage is a matter of immense pride for us! Hope to see you win.

Vivek Varshney

DEBATE (3)

Saroj Pandey is very nice politician and a member of Rajya Sabha. She was appointed  as the national president of BJP Mahila Morcha.

Brijesh Kumar

DEBATE (4)

Meekashi Lekhi comes first in both the categories

Anjali

Colonies not illegal, mal-governance is

Too much is being made of regularization of illegal colonies in Delhi and every party is rushing to get the credit for it. The adjective “illegal” is somewhat misplaced. These colonies are not illegal. They were developed by individuals who took the initiative to build their houses as the Delhi Development Authority had failed miserably in delivering the required number of housing units regularly in sufficient numbers. The DDA is the sole land-owning authority. That power monopoly was enough for the Neta-Babu-Land Mafia nexus to create artificial scarcity by failing to perform their duty in time. Had the DDA delivered the houses required, no “illegal” colonies would have come up. After decades the government is now promoting private developers and giving clearances on line, which means these colonies came up because of lack of these laws and facilities. Were these available to them their colonies too would have been perfectly “legal”. Today banks finance housing. What DDA has done in Delhi has also happened in most of the states where the Housing Boards failed to discharge their obligations. The owners deserve an iota of commiseration for having put up with all kinds of inconveniences. Who would apologise for the suffering of 40 Lakh people living in these colonies? Empires have apologised for past misdeeds.

M L Gupta