www.gfilesindia.com/: July 2012

July 12, 2012

The Sikh Surge

This Mool Mantar —i.e. main or root verse – from the Shri Guru Granth Sahib is the basis of Sikhism. It means that there is only one universal creator – God. His name is truth, he is creativity personified, without fear, without hatred, eternal, perpetual, immortal and indestructible. He is beyond incarnation, undying, beyond birth, self-existent by Guru’s Grace…

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Waiting for peace

Three wars have been fought over it, a major part of the Indian army is tied up there and it is probably the country’s most intractable problem since Independence. I am of course referring to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which former US President Bill Clinton once famously called “the most dangerous place on earth”....

http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=320&Name=POLITICS-kashmir,%20rahul%20singh

Making things simple

Stung by repeated criticism over policy paralysis, the government is set to perk up private sector participation in the manufacture of defense equipment. The government has, however, no intention to ease the security oversight of defence production units in the private sector. The security system in fact would be tightened for which an internal exercise is underway, according to informed sources.

http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=322&Name=DEFENCE-private%20sector

A Rootless Wonder!

When the plight of hungry French peasants due to high prices and scarcity of bread was brought to the notice of Queen Marie Antoinette, she is reported to have condescendingly said: “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”, literally meaning “Let them eat cake”. The subsequent French Revolution and the fate of Marie Antoinette is history.

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Corruption means a soft state

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Change the game

In India, where sporting facilities are available to a small part of population, focusing on medals and perceived success seems unfair. Simply because the pool of people available for sports is large, but they are hampered by absence of sporting infrastructure. India may have won only three medals in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing–which by the way was the best tally for an Indian contingent in Olympic history.....

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Miles to go before...

The people have great expectations from me. I have to put in more effort to perform better and live up to their expectations”, says 38-year-old Ashutosh Agnihotri, a 1999 batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer who is creating ripples as the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kamrup Metro district of Assam. In just a decade of service and 13 postings, he has done many things that others may not even have dreamt of.

http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=324&Name=SPECIAL%20REPORT-reforming,%20bureaucracy

Matter of trust

When we discuss a topic such as ‘what ails Indian Police’, are we not making a fundamental assumption that there are things which are not well with Police in India? Is it not too sweeping and overwhelming an assumption? Hence, it does not seem completely irrelevant to discuss whether Indian Police is performing up to its own satisfaction and to that of the people it caters to.

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Maharaja murdered?

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‘Political interference can’t be removed’

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Fix macro problems first

The market in the short to medium-term is likely to witness some rallies. However, these may be short-lived since the excitement over anything like easing liquidity or diminishing Euro problems may die soon due to counter-balancing forces such as deleveraging, austerity measures and so on.

http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=333&Name=STOCK%20DOCTOR-dr%20gs%20sood

Love is in the air

http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=329&Name=Bric-a-brac-likes%20&%20dislikes

Personal cooks

Whenever President Pratibha Patil travels, she takes along her cook and other servants. She is a vegetarian and prefers food cooked at home. Her office even sends a special request to the host to earmark a banana tree and tulsi (Basil) for her Jal Archana in the morning. Our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too is not lagging behind. He also carries his personal assistants and cook wherever he travels. He is very cautious about his food after he got his second bypass surgery.

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July 10, 2012

The Sikh Surge

The Sikh comunity has arrived with a bang. They are at the helm of affairs in almost all spheres of governance and the Khalsa is virtually ruling India.

by Neeraj Mahajan / Anil Tyagi

Ek onkaar sath naam karathaa purakh
nirabho niravair akaal moorath ajoonee
saibhan gur prasaadh

II Jap II

aadh sach jugaadh sach II hai bhee sach
naanak hosee bhee sach II

Waiting for peace

A positive action on the report by the three interlocuters appointed in 2010, might just give an opportunity to bring lasting peace in Kashmir

When the transfer of power from the British took place, all the princely States were asked whether they wanted to accede to India or Pakistan. Kashmir was in a unique position: It had a Muslim majority but a Hindu ruler. There was also Sheikh Abdullah. He and the popular party he led was pro-India, as he was close to both Nehru and Gandhi.

In the event, Kashmir’s ruler, scared by the invasion of “irregulars” from across the border, opted for India, to the shock of Pakistan. The “irregulars” had overrun the State forces and reached the outskirts of Srinagar when New Delhi airlifted troops and pushed the raiders back. A ceasefire was called by the United Nations and a Line of Control established. The democrat that he was, Nehru promised a plebiscite would be held after both sides withdrew their forces from the State, whereby Kashmiris could decide which country they wanted to be with (Pakistan did not do this, giving India the excuse to say that the main condition for holding the plebiscite had not been met)........READMORE

A Rootless Wonder!

A prosperous agriculture and a thriving manufacturing sector is a sine qua non for the sustenance of the service sector, not the other way round.

Discoursing on India’s ascending poverty and descending economic growth, Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor, gave a similar solution: “Bring in the Walmart pronto.” Incidentally, Basu is also Professor of Economics at the Ivy League Cornell University in the US, the land of Walmart! He has no concern for India’s languishing agriculture (primary sector) and stagnating manufacturing (secondary sector). Instead, he pitches for the tertiary services sector: “A couple of big bang reform moves like allowing FDI in multi-brand retail and insurance could lift the investors’ mood even if the economy is showing signs of slowing down.”

According to him, the largest beneficiary in allowing FDI in multi-brand retail will be the farmers who are waiting with bated breath for this to happen! So too will be the small producers for whom the ‘global market’ will open up when these MNC retail chains set up shop in India! As an ‘economist’, he should know that the relationship of such MNCs with farmers and small producers will be that of an ‘oligopsony’, with a few buyers and a large number of sellers. For consumers, it will be one of ‘oligopoly’, with few sellers and a large number of
buyers. Such a lethal combination will kill entrepreneurship and employment in the small and unorganised sector, numbering over 40 million, besides throwing small farmers out of farming!

Perhaps, this is what Basu and his ilk want and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has backed it up stating that as soon as the Presidential election is over, he will implement the ‘FDI in retail’ reform that has been approved by the Cabinet, but put on hold due to protests in Parliament! Some Congress Chief Ministers have already started beating the drum!....READMORE

Making things simple

The government takes a shot at procedural reforms to scale up private sector participation in the defence sector

by Naresh Minocha

Stung by repeated criticism over policy paralysis, the government is set to perk up private sector participation in the manufacture of defense equipment.

The government has, however, no intention to ease the security oversight of defence production units in the private sector. The security system in fact would be tightened for which an internal exercise is underway, according to informed sources. They say that proposed reforms initiatives have reached an inter-ministerial forum for consultation and decision.

One such initiative envisages scrapping the duplication of procedures in grant of letter of intent (LOI)/ industrial licence (IL) to companies. Duplication of efforts not only delays clearance of applications but also increases the workload of the officials concerned.

The foreign equity cases, for instance, are examined separately both by the Standing Committee on Private Sector Participation in Defence Production (SC-PSPDP) in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) as well as by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

SC-PSPDP first examines foreign direct investment (FDI) applications and then forwards its recommendations to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), Ministry of Finance.

SIPP, which serves as the secretariat for both foreign investment and IL applications, separately examines the applications from the foreign investment angle before giving its recommendations to the Licensing Committee (LC), an inter-ministerial panel serviced by DIPP.

It is now proposed to do away with the FDI angle scrutiny of applications by DIPP. Under the proposed reform, DIPP would strictly go by FIPB approval and forward the LOI/ IL application to the Licensing Committee....READMORE

Change the game

The controversy surrounding the selection of the Indian contingent for the 2012 London Olympics again puts the spotlight on the need for a transparent sports policy with better governance

India may have won only three medals in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing–which by the way was the best tally for an Indian contingent in Olympic history – but it is nothing unique for a developing economy, where pressure on the facilities, not just sporting, is huge. The priorities are more inclined towards health, education, sanitation and basic amenities.

Yet, as India develops, so should its focus on sports. The fact that India has begun to achieve some success in sports other than cricket – a sport limited to a handful of nations – is a testimony to its growth in sports. Focus on sports is also an indication that the society is beginning to look at quality of life – again not to be confused with medals. Medals in any country are won by a small number of high achievers. It is the overall numbers of participants in sport that are a better indicator of the state of the country, economically and in terms of the level of development.....READMORE

Miles to go before...

Ashutosh Agnihotri may be young in age, but what he has achieved as DC in some Assam districts would make any seasoned officer proud

by Amarjyoti Borah

Agnihotri is a confirmed workaholic and man of action — for a man who has almost just started, he has managed to create an enviable reputation that follows him wherever he goes. The people of Dibrugarh and Nalbari, where he was DC before shifting to Kamrup, remember him as a ‘down to earth’ bureaucrat and common man’s DC. An innovative architect of administrative reforms, Agnihotri, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, is winning the hearts and minds of the people of Assam.

Strangely, the very things that make him popular with people invariably land him into trouble, though he may not intend things to happen that way. He is a man who never gives up even when it’s an uneven fight against bigger odds. Though he has paid a price for his crusade against corruption, Agnihotri is determined to take the fight to the finish....READMORE

Corruption means a soft state

HOW strange it is that, though admittedly a highly corrupt nation, we have no institution for corruption studies. Corruption, after all, is a serious matter that touches all aspects of our national life — social, political, economic, corporate, juridical, moral, and what not! No one or nothing is today free from corruption or its effects. It is, therefore, not merely an issue to rant about on public platforms. Corruption and its pervasive effects require to be studied with serious academic rigour. Isn’t it, therefore, time for somebody like Kapil Sibal or Montek Singh Ahluwalia to initiate action to set up a sort of multi-disciplinary institution to study corruption? Or, may be, to begin with, some central universities can introduce corruption studies in their humanities faculties.

Corruption scholars are broadly of the opinion that the more developed a democracy, the lesser should be the incidence of bribery, kickbacks and financial frauds and fiddles. This is, however, not true, for India is in no way any less developed a democracy than any other country low on the graft scale. We are a parliamentary democracy, have by-and-large free and fair elections, a largely free and independent network of institutions, an independent judiciary, rule of law and a free and enlightened media...READMORE

Matter of trust

From internal problems to political control to peoples’ distrust, an Indian policeman has to face the worst from all sides. Some suggestions to improve the situation.

Hence, it does not seem completely irrelevant to discuss whether Indian Police is performing up to its own satisfaction and to that of the people it caters to. Since I am a police officer, it would not be right for me to comment on whether the police organisation thinks the police departments are functioning efficiently and effectively or not. About the politicians, we all know when and how they rate the police organisation. If a political person is in opposition, to him the police force will be part of an extremely biased, repressive, regressive and inefficient ruling power structure; but, if the same person comes to power, he becomes a great supporter of the police organisation, generally defending it to the hilt. As for the people of the country, from whatever little interactions I have had with them, I can say with confidence that the common man in India does not rate Indian Police very high. They have a large number of grievances against the police, including partisan behaviour, arbitrary acts, haughty, indecent....READMORE

‘Political interference can’t be removed’

After 30 years of service in various positions, retired civil servant Arun Kumar Rath says that an IAS officer should be an agent of social change

Almost three years after his retirement from the Indian Administrative Service as Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Dr Arun Kumar Rath received a surprise packet from the Government of India. It contained all his Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) since 1974. These included his ACR in 1979 which graded him as one of the best commissioners. Though he at that time had a vague idea that his seniors were appreciating his work—no one told him upfront and he had no way of knowing. Now, 30 years later, it made him extremely joyous. But at the same time he lamented—why the government does not have a policy of informing the person then and there instead of after retirement when he can do nothing about it.

Dr Rath – a retired 1973 batch Bihar cadre officer and now Chairperson and Professor, Centre for Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility, International Man-agement Institute – was born in 1949. He makes it a point to keep fit and looks much younger than his age of 63. “I have been doing yoga and pranayam right from my school days and have moderate food habits, positive outlook and no extremes, which is very important,” he says.

“I have seen many people become inactive and inefficient after retirement. They feel frustrated, lost without the status, house, car, money and income. Honestly, I too felt it the first day I didn’t go to office. But from next day there was no looking back. For the last three years I have been doing something positive. Today I am busier than I was in government service. Assignments keep coming. Today I am on the board of three companies, Coal India Limited, ONGC and Mahanadi Coal Field. Apart from this, I am professor and Chairman, Centre for Corporate Governance, and have been on many corporate committees,” informs Dr Rath.

Coming from a non-descript, backward and predominantly tribal village Baripada in the erstwhile princely state of Mayurbhanj in Orissa, Dr Rath’s childhood played a significant role in determining his outlook towards people for the rest of his life. Though he came from a well-to-do business family, he had seen enough poverty and deprivation in the village to feel motivated to do something about it. His father, an idealistic chairman of the municipality, goaded him further into social service..............READMORE

Maharaja murdered?

Various sleuths created by Agatha Christie, James Hadley Chase or Earl Stanley Gardner would suggest that if you want to catch the murderer, look for the person, howsoever unlikely, who benefits from the murder. In whose favour does the will of the deceased leave the money, the business empire or the property? So who is the beneficiary of Air India’s demise? Who will buy all its assets, training infrastructure, its vast fleet, its lucrative routes, etc., at very cheap rates? Obviously, it will be the two other major players on the Indian aviation scene: Jet Airways and Indigo Airlines.

I was Secretary Civil Aviation during 1997-98. Later, I was appointed as Chairman of the Expert Committee on Reorganisation of the DGCA (known as the Kaw Committee), bulk of the recommendations of which have been implemented. I was nominated with the approval of the CVC, as the External Integrity Monitor of the Airports Authority of India? The point I am making.....READMORE

Fix macro problems first

The negative sentiment will only disappear if we see moves by the government like opening up of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail or land acquisition or other measures that may restore confidence and change sentiments. In that case, we will see foreign institutional investment (FII) inflows improve, the rupee strengthening and corporate profits becoming healthier.

However, the rally may still not sustain because India, unlike other emerging markets, has some macro problems that are difficult to fix and it is a market that is still trading at a considerable premium. Also, such moves might have to wait till the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections are over, the new incumbent in the Finance Ministry settles down and whether the emerging political equations provide room to the ruling coalition to push through key reforms......READMORE

Tracking/Moving On : IAS officers retiring in July 2012

MINNIE MATHEW

The 1976 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre has been appointed the new Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh.

ANIL GOSWAMI

The 1978 batch IAS officer of Jammu & Kashmir cadre has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with the additional charge of Secretary, Department of Disability Affairs.

PREM NARAIN

The 1978 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development in Government of India.

UMRAO SALODIA

The 1978 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, Additional Chief Secretary, Tribal Regional Development, has been appointed as Chairman, Revenue Board, Ajmer in Rajasthan.

VIJAY SHANKAR MADAN

The 1981 batch IAS officer of Union Territory cadre has been appointed Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.....READMORE

Love is in the air

rahul’s afghani princess?

Rahul Gandhi (43), the heir apparent of the Congress Party, is always in the news… whether it is his birthday being celebrated in absentia by Congressman or the Indian intelligence agencies asking ISP details from the US of those who are spreading canards against Rahul and Sonia. The latest is that he is reportedly in love with an Afghani royal blood, a grand-daughter of the late King Zahir Shah. As per reports, the beautiful Afghan princess is a converted Christian. One may recall that the grandfather of the girl, Zahir Shah, lived in exile in Italy for 29 years in a modest four-bedroom villa in the affluent....READMORE

Personal cooks

prez, pm for home food

Kamal Nath for Cobra

trouble brews in mp

The suave and gum-chewing Union minister Kamal Nath appears to have developed a penchant for beer, and not just any beer but a brand by the name of Cobra which is available in the UK and is hugely popular there. Kamal Nath is the MP from Chindwara in Madhya Pradesh where the BJP government is in power. But political boundaries are no barriers for smart Congressmen. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has reportedly allotted 1,200 acres of land in Satna to Kamal Nath’s son Nakul to set up a beer plant there. The land was acquired by the State government and handed over to Nath junior for a reportedly good price. The farmers whose land was acquired, first protested in Bhopal and then later shifted their protest to the BJP headquarters in Delhi to complain against the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister. Interestingly, the Chief Minister’s wife Sadhana and her brother Sanjay Singh are from Gondia in Bhandara district of Maharashtra, popularly known as Praful Patel’s constituency.......READMORE

Raja coup d’etat

targets birender singh

Speaking of chief ministers, the former chief minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh is angry and amongst others, his anger is directed against the AICC General Secretary in charge of Himachal Pradesh, Chaudhary Birender Singh. The Raja from Himachal Pradesh, who just quit the Union Cabinet, wants the Jat leader from Haryana removed and has gone to the extent of complaining to Sonia Gandhi whom he met recently. The Raja has accused Birender Singh of distributing tickets for alleged financial considerations in both Uttarakhand and the municipal elections in Delhi. Virbhadra Singh told Sonia Gandhi that he has been Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh for four terms and knows every party man....READMORE

Persona non grata

It is true that Delhi leads the other metros in fixers, wheeler-dealers and power brokers but the numbers leave one a bit bemused. For, according to the CBI, there are only 23 such persons operating in all the four metros -- Delhi (15), Mumbai (3), Kolkata (4) and Chennai (1). This is from a list of undesirable persons circulated by the CBI among senior officers so that they keep them at arm’s length or at least be cautious in dealing with them. These persons are said to be active in several ministries such as Finance, MEA, Petroleum, Urban Development, Heavy Industries, Defence, Power and Steel, a number of PSUs, especially ONGC, IOC, and MTNL. Expectedly, most of them have great interest in the three departments of customs, excise and income tax. Most of them understandably are rich and influential members of Delhi’s Page 3 circuit living at addresses such as Prithviraj Road, Sunder Nagar, Chanakyapuri and Greater Kailash. Now, we learn another list is being prepared. A veteran reporter of a leading city daily is compiling a “Whose Who & Who’s Whom” of bureaucrats and senior CBI men....READMORE

Security demands more…

The Special Protection Group or SPG is facing an acute shortage of senior officers. This elite force is responsible for the protection of Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other Ex Prime Ministers in India. They are tough, straight and no-nonsense cops. The SPG recruits officers and cops from all streams of the forces like military, frontal police organisations but it doesn’t absorb them. All cops and officers join the SPG on deputation basis and go back to their parent organisation when the term is over. Even after selecting the best officers, it takes time to train them before final induction. But given the acute shortage, we learn that the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has been forced to overlook its own order. This is the reason why three senior IPS officers of the SPG have been given an extension once more......READMORE

Accenture delivers high performance

Everybody knows what happened in Air India and how it happened. Now the Pandora’s box has opened, if K Srinivasan, Editor-in-Chief of Cruising Heights (an aviation magazine) is to be believed. He writes in the June issue that a consulting firm Accenture said a merger between Air India and Indian Airlines was the best move because “consolidation can help companies increase efficiency and scale and serve customers more effectively.” The Accenture report says that if the two airlines were merged and a new fleet ordered, there would be a profit of Rs 1,000 crore in year 1 of the merger and for the rest, the sky was the limit. Instead, losses in the first year were at Rs 1,200 crore. It went up to Rs 2,600 crore in year 2 and Rs 5,500 crore in year 3. Losses at present are hovering around the Rs 17,000 crore mark. Nobody found.....READMORE

Slippery times ahead

Rajiv Nayan Choubey a 1981 IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, has been appointed as Director-General, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). He will be the first IAS officer to head the highly technical arm of the Oil Ministry. Choubey is an Additional Secretary rank officer and was serving as Development Commissioner (Handlooms) in the Ministry of Textiles. DGH is the most important department in the Oil Industry and it is the lifeline of the Ministry of Petroleum. Not only do international sharks keep an eye on its movements but so do big Indian tycoons. Choubey has been appointed at a crucial time when CBI, and former Director DGH V K Sibal and Department of Personnel are at loggerheads. CBI’s Special Director V K Gupta has raised doubts over the Sibal’s..........READMORE

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July 12, 2012

July 10, 2012