Not-so-civil conduct

...by the way

Not-so-civil conduct

The civil servants in the Central government are
upset about the unceremonious way former Home
Secretary RK Singh had to demit office in June this
year. Singh, who had major disagreements with Home
Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, retired on a Sunday,
two months after his successor, Anil Goswami, a seasoned
Jammu and Kashmir cadre IAS officer, was
brought into the Ministry as Officer on Special Duty
(OSD). Goswami’s appointment as OSD, a section of
bureaucrats feel, was done to clip the powers of Singh
and left a bitter taste. They point out that though
Goswami, Read more..

Not the proper channel!

...by the way

Not the proper channel!

The time-bound promotion of IAS officers is
creating a peculiar problem at the Centre. It has
created a hierarchy which nobody takes seriously.
Take the case of Additional Secretaries and Special
Secretaries. There are too many of them in the
government. The Joint Secretaries are supposed to
report to Additional Secretaries and the latter, in
turn, report to Special Secretaries. But it has been
observed that every time the minister wants to
convey something to the bureaucrats, he conveys it
directly to the Joint Secretary. Read more..

THE RBI RACE | Raghuram Rajan: PM’s first choice for RBI Governor

COVER STORY

banking rbi chief

Raghuram Rajan: PM's first choice for RBI Governor

By Neeraj Mahajan

If you have the Prime Minister himself backing you everything else is cake-walk. Fifty year old Raghuram G. Rajan's appointment as the next Governor of Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years hardly comes as a surprise. As the PM's first choice, the Chief Economic Advisor's selection as the 23rd Governor of RBI was a foregone conclusion



The dice was heavily loaded in favor of Raghuram Rajan a lead advisor in the finance ministry who made a name for himself by predicting the global financial crisis. He was essentially an appointee of the Prime Minister. It might be recalled that in November 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed Rajan as honorary economic advisor. Once again Manmohan Singh insisted on Rajan's selection as Chief Economic Advisor last year, when Kaushik Basu retired. This swung the tide in his favor and the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) simply echoed the PMs Choice. There were as many as 18 equally strong contenders for the post of Chief Economic Advisor advertised by the finance ministry in April 2012 and 8-9 interviews were conducted. The shortlisted candidates included IDFC managing director & CEO Rajiv Lall and Assistant secretary-general to United Nations Read more..

Cleanse the freebie culture

GOVERNANCE

electoral reforms mg devasahayam

Cleanse the freebie culture

It is imperative that the EC promotes electoral integrity through proactive campaigns in cohesion with civil society groups

INTEGRITY is described as 'uncompromising adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty'. If there is one area where this is near-totally absent in India, it is the electoral process through which political leaders are elected. Election is the essence of democracy and integrity, its salt. But India’s elections have been fast losing their salt, with the electoral process being trodden under the heavy boots of criminal and money power. Read more..

SC kick-start to poll reforms

SILLY POINT

reforms mk kaw

SC kick-start to poll reforms

TALK of coincidences! I had just finished a scathing column with barbs aimed at the midriff of the law minister, who has been behaving like the Red Queen of Through the Looking Glass! After three years of hectic consultations on a background paper issued by the Legislative Department, he has now passed on the onerous task of trying to maintain ostensible speed to his other wing, the Law Commission. That apex body of wise men has issued a consultation paper to elicit informed advice on the same half-a-dozen points on which the background paper is based. Read more..

Strategising sanitation

GOVERNANCE

social justice devender singh

Strategising sanitation

Under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, it needs to be ensured that NGOs working in the field of sanitation
do not take away the cake by re-employing the liberated scavengers or engaging people in scavenging work at lower wages

IN his last speech, but one of the most prescient, in the Constituent Assembly, on November 25, 1949, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar warned about the course of Indian democracy, saying, “on the 26th of January, 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics, we will have equality and in social and economic life, we will have inequality.... we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value. How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions?” Read more..

Short tenure, huge workload

Justice

personality palanisamy sathasivam

Short tenure, huge workload

The new Chief Justice has just nine months to make his mark

By Rakesh Bhatnagar

THE 40th Chief Justice of India, Palanisamy Sathasivam, does not enjoy a reputation for being an ‘active judge’, as he firmly believes in separation of powers until one organ of the State suffers failure. In his six years of adorning the high constitutional position of an apex court judge, Sathasivam was a signatory to as many as 1,037 judgments. Read more..

War to grab the chair

Delhi Assembly Elections 2013

Cong: Challengers to Sheila

War to grab the chair

While Sheila Dikshit remains by far the most eligible candidate to be the next Chief Minister if Congress manages to win this time, she is no longer the undisputed queen of Delhi

By Narendra Kaushik

FIVE in one – a woman, a Sikh and Delhi’te by birth, and Brahmin and UP’ite by marriage – Sheila Dikshit, 75, has all the trump cards that none of her opponents have. She is also in no way past her political prime. The old warhorse is the face of the Congress in Delhi for 15 years. A survivor who has withstood many political storms, her greatest strength is that there is no challenger in the party to upset her throne. Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler or Ajay Maken, all the heavyweight leaders who could
have posed a threat to her leadership, have been sidelined. Read more..

Raghuram Rajan: PM's first choice for RBI Governor

COVER STORY

banking rbi chief

Raghuram Rajan: PM's first choice for RBI Governor

By Neeraj Mahajan

If you have the Prime Minister himself backing you everything else is cake-walk. Fifty year old Raghuram G. Rajan's appointment as the next Governor of Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years hardly comes as a surprise. As the PM's first choice, the Chief Economic Advisor's selection as the 23rd Governor of RBI was a foregone conclusion

The dice was heavily loaded in favor of Raghuram Rajan a lead advisor in the finance ministry who made a name for himself by predicting the global financial crisis. He was essentially an appointee of the Prime Minister. It might be recalled that in November 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had appointed Rajan as honorary economic advisor. Once again Manmohan Singh insisted on Rajan's selection as Chief Economic Advisor last year, when Kaushik Basu retired. This swung the tide in his favor and the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) simply echoed the PMs Choice. There were as many as 18 equally strong contenders for the post of Chief Economic Advisor advertised by the finance ministry in April 2012 and 8-9 interviews were conducted. The shortlisted candidates included IDFC managing director & CEO Rajiv Lall and Assistant secretary-general to United Nations Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Babarpur

Three-time BJP MLA Naresh Gaur enjoys a thin lead over his Congress, BSP and AAP rivals for now but the result in Babarpur will depend on which way those sitting on the margins vote. 

In fray for the Congress ticket are 2008 runners-up Haji Dilshad Ali, who defected from the BSP, its 2008 candidate Anil Vashisht, former MLA Vinay Sharma, Kailash Jain and several others. 

AAP nominee Gopal Rai is a serious contender, having pockets of influence among educated Muslims and lower middle class Hindus. 

BABARPUR is one assembly constituency in North East Delhi where Muslims are expected to play a decisive role. They are almost half of the 1.6 lakh electorate dominating lower middle class settlements like Kardampuri, Kabir Nagar, Janata Colony, Subhash Mohalla, Noor-i- Illahi, Mohan Puri (North Ghonda) and Vijay Park.  Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Bijwasan

Two-time BJP MLA Sat Prakash Rana (46) looks set to pocket Bijwasan again unless the Congress can consolidate anti-BJP votes and throw up a stronger challenge 

Rana’s bête noire and former MLA Vijay Singh Lohchav, who defeated him in 2003, may still be Congress’ best bet 

Aam Aadmi Party’s Devinder Sehrawat, a retired Colonel, is making heads turn in Mahipalpur and a few villages of the constituency 

Bahujan Samaj Party’s Narendra Rana also has pockets of influence, particularly in Mahipalpur Village 

SOME things never change. This is especially trues if one talks of Bijwasan where the then Congress candidate and reigning MLA Vijay Singh Lohchav lost to his long-time rival Sat Prakash Rana of the BJP in 2008 by over 2,000 votes. This was all because Raj Nagar II Ward was added to the constituency after delimitation and it favourably tilted the scales in favour of the BJP. The unauthorised colony in Dwarka, Lohchav believes, provided an unassailable lead to his opponent. 

Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Greater kailash

In his over five-and-a-half decade long political career, Vijay Kumar Malhotra has been there and done that, and is still going strong, and may even be in fray for Chief Ministership if the BJP wins 

Congress does not have a strong candidate, with only 2008 runners-up Jitendra Kumar Kochar and Sukhbir Panwar, a Shahpur Jat resident, among the contenders for the party ticket 

Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party appears set to corner the votes of those not satisfied with Malhotra’s five-year-term 

THOUGH under Vijay Kumar Malhotra the BJP lost badly to the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress in 2008, the saffron party got some reason to celebrate last year in Greater Kailash, his Assembly constituency housing close to 1.5 lakh voters. The party breached Shahpur Jat Ward for the first time in over four decades when its candidate Meenu Panwar defeated her Congress rival Nirmala Devi by over 1,800 votes.  Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Janakpuri

Four-time BJP MLA Prof Jagdish Mukhi is all set to come back for the fifth term as this constituency continues to be drawn by the man’s undaunted 20 years of stronghold in the area. However, repeated complaints of slow work and incompetence are a few obstacles that he might have to overcome. 

Deepak Arora, 2008 runner-up, is once again in the running for the Congress ticket. He might just become lucky the second time if he is able to convert Mukhi’s growing inaccessibility and dissatisfaction with the MLA into votes.

The Aam Aadmi Party has a meager presence in the constituency.

A former member of EstimatesCommittee and Assurance Committee of Metropolitan Council, President of West Delhi BJP and Secretary of Delhi State BJP, and a PhD in Finance, Prof. Jagdish Mukhi , has been a MLA for 20 years now. Gfiles, while on a tour of Janakpuri constituency and its four wards – Janakpuri West (117), Janakpuri East (118), Milap Nagar (119) and Sitapuri (120) – unravelled the reasons behind his four consecutive victories since 1993.  Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Karawal Nagar

Despite having antagonised the Muslims, the Gurjars and Scheduled Castes, three-time BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht is set to win Karawal Nagar, given the support of the migrant population 

Runner-up in 2008, Satanpal Dayma is hoping to get Congress nomination this time around but faces competition from Diwan Singh Niyol, a migrant from Uttrakhand 

Aam Aadmi Party candidate Kapil Mishra, son of East Delhi Mayor and BJP Councillor Annapurna Mishra, looks to garner a big chunk of the anti-MLA voters 

IN Karawal Nagar Assembly Constituency, which mainly comprises over half-a-dozen villages and host of unauthorised colonies in low-lying areas of Yamuna River, three-time BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht’s alleged bias towards people of Uttarakhand is the biggest issue.  Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Krishna Nagar

Former Delhi BJP President, former Delhi Health Minister and fourtime MLA Harsh Vardhan, who is considered a chief ministerial contender in case the saffron party pips Congress to the post in November, looks set to make it five in a row as the Congress has no strong candidate to take on him. 

Besides Congress’ 2008 runner up Deepika Khullar, Bansi Lal, a former independent councillor and Ramesh Pandit, who stood third in Anarkali Municipal Ward last year, are in the race for the Congress ticket. 

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) do not have much influence in the constituency and it will again be a straight contest between the BJP and the Congress. 

THERE are constituencies in Delhi where Congress has been getting a cakewalk for long. And there are constituencies which have been considered BJP bastion for several years. Krishna Nagar fits into the second category. Former Delhi Health Minister and former Delhi BJP Chief  Harsh Vardhan continues to grow stronger here after having pocketed the seat four times since 1993. The Congress may have to look for another scapegoat to field against this ENT specialist and former RSS Volunteer.  Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Moti Nagar

BJP’s, Subhash Sachdeva is all set to begin his third term in Moti Nagar constituency as a majority of people in three out of four wards are unaffected by the candidate and favour the party 

Film producer and Congress’ spokesperson Ajay Maken’s aunt, Anjali Rai, may not be Congress’s best bet and it will take more than just strong campaigning for her to outrace Subhash Sachdeva. 
An unknown name and an unknown face in the constituency, Rai’s inaccessibility might prove fatal for Congress. If Congress intends to win, Rai should be replaced with a strong candidate. 

Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP has very slim chances of making it to the Assembly as there are only a handful of his supporters in this West Delhi constituency. 

A second year B. Com drop out, Subhash Sachdeva took up politics post-Emergency out of dissatisfaction and resentment towards the Congress. He started by joining as one of the opposing candidate’s polling agent in 1977 and since then there has been no looking back. Nine-and-a-half years of being a MLA, he says, has taught him that a candidate’s behaviour towards the people of the constituency plays the most important role in a politician’s career. He also claims to have build the Kirti Nagar underpass with expenditure of Rs 7 crore, which saves the commuters coming from Naraina Industrial Area Phase II about forty minutes of travelling time. But, more than anything else, Sachdeva banks upon BJP’s popularity in Moti Nagar since 2004 and is confident that he will win this time too. 

Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Patparganj

First time Congress MLA and Chairman East District Development Committee Chaudhary Anil Kumar, who has had a meteoric rise since his victory in 2008, may have a downfall later this year as 
people in Patparganj Assembly Constituency are itching to take revenge against Sheila Dikshit and Manmohan Singh Governments. 

BJP’s Nakul Bharadwaj, who lost to Anil Kumar by 661 votes in 2008, is back in the reckoning as the electorate appears to be divided between the BJP and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). 

AAP candidate Manish Sisodia has a distinct edge over his rivals among youth and lower middle class voters residing in Vinod Nagar (East and West) and the slums. He will have to slog it out with the 

BJP in Mayur Vihar Phase II and Patparganj wards.

The BSP has pockets of influence in the constituency but may find it tough to better its last time performance. 

PATPARGANJ will once again witness a battle between youth in November this year. But unlike 2008, when Chaudhary Anil Kumar (then 32) locked horns with former Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Nakul Bharadwaj (then 28), this time around, the fight is expected to be between Bharadwaj and Manish Sisodia (41) of the AAP. 

Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Rohini

Four-time BJP MLA and Deputy Leader of the party in Delhi Assembly, Jai Bhagwan Aggarwal, looks set to make it five in a row as an overwhelming majority of people in his constituency are happy with his work. 

The question being asked in Rohini is whether Congress will do what it has not done in last four assembly elections – repeat an old candidate against Aggarwal. Builder K K Wadhwa and Vaish leader Bijender Jindal, who lost to the BJP in 2008, are seeking the party’s nomination. 

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may not have much of a say in Rohini, a seat where the BJP and the Congress have traditionally slogged it out between themselves. 

JAI Bhagwan Aggarwal is probably the only legislator in Delhi who not only has won his seat regularly since 1993, but has also gone on to increase his victory margin in each election except in 1998 when onion prices activated tear ducts in the saffron camp. He won by over 4,400 votes in 1998 and increased it to more than double in 2003 and again to over 25,000 in 2008. Each time, the Indian National Congress put up a new nominee against him.  Read more..

Delhi Election 2013 Rohtas Nagar

Vipin Sharma, son of former Delhi Congress Chief and MLA lateRam Babu Sharma, has good prospects of re-election provided he can guard against consolidation of anti-Sheila Dikshit voters. 


The BJP will be unable to wrest Rohtas Nagar unless it can wean away a majority of anti-Delhi Government voters and at the same time not allow Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to eat into antiestablishment electorate. Former MCD Deputy Mayor Divya Jaiswal, runner up in 2009, is one of the contenders for the party ticket. 

The AAP enjoys good following in Welcome and other lower middle class settlements but may not be able to make it count. 

IN 2009 by-election in Rohtas Nagar, Vipin Sharma triumphed primarily due to sympathy following the demise of Ram Babu Sharma, his father and three-time Congress legislator. Today, he has carved a niche for himself as many people in this over two-lakh voter strong constituency feel that he deserves a re-election. The problem is that an almost equal number is rooting for change of Delhi Government but undecided about the party they want to vote for. In case these voters swing either towards the BJP or Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP party, it may be curtains for Vipin Sharma.  Read more..

Delhi Election Sangam Vihar 2013

First-time BJP MLA and Delhi’s prominent cancer surgeon, S C L Gupta, loaned to the party by the RSS, is facing anti-incumbency despite having spent all his local area development funds in Sangam Vihar. The only thing that may work for him is that the voters upset with him are divided among Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). 

Sajjan Kumar’s son Jag Pravesh and former IPS Amod Kanth, are among the front runners for the Congress ticket in a constituency which has a large number of migrant and Muslim voters 

The BSP has already nominated Veer Singh, a former Nationalist Congress Party leader and local Gurjar from Tughlakabad Village 

The AAP, which seems to have considerable influence in this lower middle class constituency, has already declared name of Dinesh Mohania, a former Anna supporter, for the seat 

SANGAM Vihar, arguably the largest unauthorised colony of the sub-continent, spread over 3 sq km and housing around seven lakh people, is a kind of living hell. 

There are no civic amenities worththeir name here. For drinking water, people rely on private water mafia and government borewells which do not have adequate source. There is no drainage system and even a light rain creates large puddles. The colony does not have a single park, hospital or even a government dispensary. Moreover, it is still not clear how much of the colony is set up illegally on forest land and why its local representative – BJP MLA, S C L Gupta – cannot use up his local area development funds to improve its lot.  Read more..