Whispers Forum

I have been an account holder in State Bank of India since many years in branches in different parts of the country and in the last 15 years I am operating from the same branch. So I was astounded when I received SMS this morning (02 Sept 2023) informing that STOP has been put on my account. I was advised to visit the branch concerned to know the reason and to do whatever I am asked to do. The executive at the bank explained that mine is a very old account opened many years ago and the Bank is updating your records. She asked me take an account opening form, fill it furnishing all the details asked, attach copies of PAN card, adhaar card etc and submit. After updating the details the hold will be lifted. I wanted to tell her that I have been regularly updating my KYC details which are available with the branch. She just smiled and said these are instructions from the top, Sir. Just fill the form and bring it to me. Of course after dealing with SBI for over thirty years I knew better than to pick up an argument and came away. While filling the new account opening form I was astounded that I had to furnish the maiden name of not only myself but my wife, our religion, caste etc. I never had a maiden name! but why ask for religion, caste etc. Will someone from SBI care to respond.
Raghavan

Coaching creates civil servants ; their pre-induction training makes them arrogant. Worse, their final appointment makes them pliable to the political class.
Why not merge the existing organised civil services with a new UPSC-recruited service called the "Indian political service" ? Let them be trained together (pre-induction and in-service) for achieving greater synergy and creating a more effective public services delivery mechanism.
The modern Indian civil servants have immeasurable capacity to gel with politicians of all hues.
A K Saxena ( A former civil servant)

The constitution defines India as a ‘union of States’. What is the significance? Why not a dominion? Could it be a union of dominions or a federation of dominions? Could it be both a union of states and dominions? The question assumes great significance in the context of Art370/35A. Where was the need to adopt an extra constitutional mechanism to surreptitiously insert the definition of a dominion under Art35A without using the word? Why make the ‘territory’ of India Indian and J&K? Is territory of a sovereign nation divisible? It is precisely what the Art 35A does. It makes, in effect, J&K a dominion within the union of India, where writ of the Union of India does not automatically run, where a separate constitution, flag etc was permitted as in a dominion. Whose brain was it? India's leadership of the time can’t be credited with such brilliance: it was exclusively the British diplomatic brain deciding the most critical decision for its “commonwealth”. For 75 years they have harvested rich crops in the name of J&K. They want Art370/35A restored! In all respects, it was a conspiracy from which the people of India generally, and Sardar Patel especially, were kept uninformed by choice. It surprises many that Law colleges/universities never held any debate on such an important subject. Debates on national issues were common, the lead being taken by communists, progressives, liberals, academicians et al. A treachery executed stealthily. It was designed for some other select parts too but frustrated by Sardar Patel. Yet, something British perversity still holds! The debate in the SC is watched with keen interest but without any clue to these aspects.
M L Gupta

President grab the opportunity of having meaningful dialogue with President Xi Jin Ping, on the issues of " de-escalation and dis-engagement of troops" between the two hostile neighbours? This is considered absolutely necessary in the context of recent cartographic aggression committed against India by including Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh as parts of China in their official website. Going by the wisdom of the hindsight, India should never commit the thoughtless blunder of taking China at its face value. Never, ever. China is treacherous and totally untrustworthy. India has all along been fooled by China through its time-tested doctrine of ' Salami Slicing '. Following transparency is important for India. The outcome of Sino-Indian discussion on border issues should be shared with the world in the light of the changing Geo-political position. No purpose would be served by keeping it under the wrap. Several rounds of negotiation have been held in the past between officers of Indian army and the PLA, but no headway has ever been made. The interlocutors merely fix the date of the next meeting. We Indians are eagerly awaiting the fulfilment of the Union Home minister's promise made in Parliament ,post Art 370 abrogation. This was about taking back PoK. What is India waiting for ,one wonders? The POK will surely not be surrendered by Pakistan to us on a platter. Its forcible annexation is the only option. It will be foolhardy for India to wait for the peoples' movements in Baluchistan, Sindh and POK to grow against Pakistan's regime. This approach is being repeated by Indian ministers without analysing the implications. The Pakistani army will crush these movements in the absence of active intervention by India. Another connected issue. A part of Gilgit-Baltistan, was gifted by Pakistan to China in connection with the infrastructure constructions, as part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor ( C-PEC). This issue has also to be discussed by India with China's President. The gifted territory belongs to India. Indian Armed forces are capable and ready to strike. We have full faith in their professional competence. Political go-ahead signals are awaited. Can our Indian compatriots expect something spectacular from the ruling dispensation after G-20 Summit?
A K Saxena ( A former civil servant)

How much would it have cost ISRO had CH3 been lifted/placed on moon the way it has been done smoothly? Would the owners of technology have agreed to give us technology? Would they have palmed off outdated technology to us as was the case in all CG imports till 2014? There is no dearth of hate mongers trying to demolish, discourage and dishearten indigenous creators of “capital”. They pride in thinking themselves elite or leftists or liberal. This obsession with words, jargon and hollow rhetoric has done India great damage in the pre-2014 era. Many of us have witnessed it all for more than 70 years at least and possess better idea of such wasteful endeavour. You can’t justify a strike at a production facility before it is even commissioned. But that only was all communism of India. Is India a borrower only in accomplishing mission CH3? As the ISRO Chief rightly hinted, our traditional knowledge gives us enough material. Can India not claim the credit for the First Ever Space Flight? It is no laughing matter: who has not heard of TRISHANKU? The flight failed, but it was undertaken. Such gems of knowledge are neither researched well nor shared. Still, the hate mongering class considers itself “elite” and a right to discredit our indigenous genius? If they have achieved for a fraction what would have cost 100x more, it deserves to be appreciated. Let us shift to positive thinking now at least.
M L Gupta

Walk into any North Indian city to notice the castes and communities as the most dominant factors. The Bimaru States are considered more notorious in such abnormalities with UP, Haryana and NCR Delhi, topping the list. Let me come straight to the point.
The motor vehicles' owners have a false sense of pride in painting their castes and communities on cars, trucks, tractors, bikes etc, little realising the ill effects these practices have in promoting castes and communalism (hindu-muslim divide). It merely satisfies their inflated egos.
All these perversities have the unfettered blessings of the political class and their goons.
Sample some specifics.
Phrases like Jats, Gurjars, Rajputs, Brahmins, Yadavs, Thakurs and religious symbols like " 786" and " Om " along with provocative slogans , are boldly painted with impunity on the body of vehicles, especially those plying in rural areas. The menace is silently jeopardizing the fabric of our society.
Have we ever thought about the dangerous impacts these practices have on our children- growing in a caste-ridden, communally-charged society ?
Whom to blame?
The Police are the worst offenders. It fails to arrest the law breakers for violating Section 179 (1) of the Motor Vehicles Act. Is the police corrupt and casteist too, one wonders?
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

In an era when the media is at its lowest point, an online portal like ‘whispersinthecorridors’, which publishes news mainly on the government sector, needs a standing ovation for bringing scams against certain departments like NHAI. Not only CAG, but even the Parliamentary Committee on Transport has tabled several reports in Parliament on NHAI running through a certain handful of officials, with officials mainly in deputation, leading to huge corruption. It doesn't seem to affect the ill morale of the management of the NHAI with such continuous reports being published, so the PMO and Cabinet Secretary have to interfere.
Manoj Kumar Sinha