Friday, October 19, 2007

CANCELLATION OF TRIPS

Two visits of the Indian MPs' delegations to the United States and Mexico have been dropped without assigning any reason.

Having missed his trip to Rashtrapathi Bhawan, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil may shift to Maharashtra to take over as Chief Minister from Vilasrao Deshmukh. Of the proverbial nine lives, Deshmukh seems to have exhausted all.

Well, this shift falls in place because Chidambaram (or Veerappa Moily) may shift to Patil's chamber in North Block. For Chidambaram, it is only a hop, step and jump. Jairam Ramesh seems intent to spoil Chidambaram's dream run in the Finance Ministry, through Rahul Baba's intervention. Chidambaram met Rahul Baba at 12, Tughlak Lane, the other day to present his side of the case.

Meanwhile, the young Turks of the Congress like Scindia and Pilot are getting ready for Ministerial assignments.

Mrs Sonia Gandhi is leaving for China on 26th Oct. And so she will have to sit with the crestfallen PM after his return from Africa and finalise the list. The wounds inflicted on the suave economist by the ill-fated nuclear deal would have, it is hoped, healed after his sojourn abroad.

If nothing of the above takes place, a Cabinet reshuffle may be necessary at least for those like Prithviraj Chavan who has been appointed General Secretary in charge of two crucial states of Jammu & Kashmir and Karnataka as also Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. And for Suresh Pachouri who is being sent to Madhya Pradesh as PCC President. It is not certain if those assigned party responsibilities will be happy to let go of the power and perks of office !!

Information and Broadcasting Minister, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, also has no particular reason to be happy. He was to lead a delegation of 15 MPs (with spouses) to the United States, but he has been told to put it off. Equally disappointed are the MPs and their spouses who were to accompany him.
But Dasmunshi has mollified them by assuring them of a trip around Christmas time !!

Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, was to have gone to Mexico with a delegation, but happily so sobs were heard after the cancellation of this trip !!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Prime Minister's office (PMO)

The Prime Minister's office(PMO) has always been a power centre right from Pandit Nehru's days. M O Mathai was literally the lord of all that he surveyed till he was tripped. R K Dhawan wielded the stick with ease. V. George was the Garuda of Rajiv Gandhi. A N Varma was the power behind the throne. Brajesh Mishra was the CEO.

But now, the current PMO is not seen with such awe. Does its lacklustre image speak of its ineffectiveness or reflect its "rulebook" stance on issues, refusing to turn into a trading house.

Be that as it may, UPA alliance partners without exception do not look up to the PMO for a solution but turn to 10, Janpath for a reconciliation. Perhaps, it is the honey-and-bee story. To lend credence to this theory, the numbers of letters from Chief Ministers to the Prime Minister have reduced drastically of late.

Many Chief Ministers do not feel inclined to write to the Prime Minister in view of the curt conventional replies. Or they are told that the issue was being dealt with at the level of the empowered group of ministers (eGOMs) and hence the policy is subject to its decision.

In terms of integrity, none can point an accusing finger at the present PMO. But the flip side is that many would prefer a single power centre instead of several. For instance, there are at least four or five power centres in the present UPA Government !! So why approach the PMO and instead deal with the power centre(s) !!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

STC under Scanner

The needle of suspicion for the wheat scam is moving helter-skelter. But it always comes to rest when it points out to the State Trading Corporation chief, who is also a confidante of his Minister Kamalnath. So is it just not Sharad Pawar alone ? It is also said that the STC boss has got away so far becauseof the "Mallu" caucus which is keen on bailing him out !! His son's lavish wedding was attended by everyone who is somebody in Delhi. One steel baron flew in from London just for this purpose. Incidentally, the Food Secretary T Nandkumar and the Commerce Secretary G K Pillai are Mallus, although they have an impeccable record.

Baalu's Turn Now

Is DMK's Transport Minister T R Baalu going the Dayanidhi Maran way ? Stories are being narrated to the Crown Princess of DMK, Kanimozhi, about how Baalu has been having his way by threatening a pull-out of UPA at the drop of a hat !! She appears to be shell-shocked. But if she reports it to her "Appa" , would Baalu's wings be clipped or chopped off ? And the one who would be most relieved would be the Prime Minister himself. Dr Manmohan tried to scuttle Baalu's demand for G S Maini, an IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, as Chairman of the National Highway Authority, because of negative CRs. His own Principal Secretary, TKA Nair, also from the Punjab cadre, opposed it. But Baalu made it clear that DMK (meaning he) would not brook a "no" . And he got what he wanted.

Budget or ballot ?

The polls are round the corner, if pointers from the Finance Ministry are any indication. This is not because the Budget preparation are to begin soon, but mainly due to the oft-repeated, casual remark of Mr Chidambaram -- who is not known for his slip of tongue -- whether he would be in the chair at the turn of the year !! Being a control freak, the Finance Minister does everything his way, be it setting the ball in motion for the Budget or anything less or more important. The bureaucrats, whoever they are, are in total awe of him; those who aren't have to pretend to be so; or else they are out .... .In any case, Mr Chidambaram has nothing to cheer about, because of the huge drop in the revenue collections. This is despite all the aggressive campaigning on TV and print media.. And the three crucial secretaries in the Finance Ministry -- of Expenditure, Revenue and Economic Affairs -- are pulling in different directions. Perhaps, this is what the astute Finance Minister wants.

A lot of Loot in the Booklet

After the gas price has been signed (and sealed ?) , dirt seems to be hitting the ceiling. A colourful booklet has been brought out entitled " A Loot of the KG Basin" which narrates how the nation's precious resource is being squandered away by a section (or is it sibling ?) of corporate leaders, bureaucrats, mediamen and politicians. Embarrasingly, some have been named in the booklet. Many are therefore red in the face. No prices for guessing who brought out the booklet !! But this is certainly not the end of it.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Lame duck or dead duck !!

Bureaucrats, as is their wont, spend hours speculating their future and that of the Government's during any political crisis. After a meeting of the Committee of Secretaries last week, a senior IAS officer came out with his own interpretation of the usage "lame-duck" while walking down the Cabinet Secretariat's corridors. He suggested that a lame-duck could as well turn out to be a dead-duck !! Is a lame-duck Government in the offing ?

IAS versus IFS

Vice-President Hamid Ansari who is also ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha has sought the services of an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer having UN experience as the new Secretary General in place of incumbent Yogendra Narain who is demitting office on the last working day of August. A 1965 batch IAS officer, Yogendra Narain had retired as Defence Secretary in 2002 and soon after became Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha.

The IAS officers have raised their ante !! Ansari, who is himself a retired IFS officer having served in the UN as India's representative, perhaps has the noble intention of raising Rajya Sabha proceedings to international standards. But the IAS lobby says an IFS man will not be able to understand the nuances of "floor" politics during question and zero hours and debates in the House. As per convention,the Rajya Sabha Chairman is supposed to send a panel of names but the final decision will be made by the Cabinet Committee on Appointments (CCA).

Bureaucrats under siege

Officialdom is under threat. The latest trend is for MPs to snow the PMO with letters demanding probes into disproportionate assets of bureaucrats, serving or retired. The "babus" past and present are a bit unnerved. Some of the allegations provide juicy details. Some of them have been
close to a leading industrial house.

The Chief Vigilance Commissioner and the CBI chief are among the recipients of these letters. The targets are senior officers who are, or were, serving in economic ministries as well as Railways, Excise & Customs and Income- tax. One common allegation is that the children of all the officials under scrutiny are abroad, studying or making hay !!

Is this in-fighting within the services, settling of old scores or witch hunting ?

Sunday, August 19, 2007

BSES to say Tata ?

Privatisations was always held out as an elixir.
But with huge bail-outs in steel, power and telecom, it is sad that privatisation is still touted as a mantra.

Take for instance the transfer of power facilities from the State-run Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) to reputed corporate entities !! Alas, the situation instead of improving has only worsened. Power theft reduction and hefty power bills have kept private players and resident welfare associations (RWAs) at loggerheads.

And now, the private entity, Anil Ambani-owned BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) wants a bail-out. It is facing a financial crisis as compared to Tata owned NDPL. BYPL is facing a shortfall of Rs 900 crores for current fiscal, despite the fastest increase in bulk supply tariffs. And now wants government support to tide over the cash crunch.

However, Sheila Dixit fearing public backlash has taken a stern view of the situation and reprimanded the officials of BYPL. The Delhi government is even contemplating transferring the distribution rights from BYPL to Tata Power, whose performance by its own submission is 'slightly better'.

Where is privatisation leading us ?

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

No more Pen-pushing, it is Pen drive !!

Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, (KMC) has finally put an end to the bureaucratic trend of pushing secret papers to the Prime Minister's office (PMO) in triple sealed covers. Replacing the seals are 'Pen drives,' that are used to send top secret files to the PMO. Since even the pen drive is password protected, it's not completely secured. He, therefore makes it a point to personally hand it over to the Prime Minister. Hats off to KMC !!

We stand united…?

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is in doubt !! Whether to continue holding hands with NDA or say
sayonara. BJD leaders are already in constant touch with Third Front leaders. And Telugu Desam
Chief, N Chandrababu Naidu, is trying to work on the suave Navin Patnaik, CM and BJD Chief.
Although Jayalalithaa is the leader of the Third Front, it is Naidu, and to some extent Amar
Singh who are endeavouring to forge a third alternative.

Shortages Galore

After onions and other essentials, it is now the turn of fertilizer. As always, the whipping
boy is Finance. What is required from Finance is Rs 50,000 crores as subsidy. And the
Chemical and Fertilizer Minister, Ram Vilas Paswan lost no time in assailing the "apathetic
attitude of the Finance Ministry. He predicted with the accuracy of an astrologer that
India is heading for a crisis and fertilizers would soon be sold in black market in the next
sowing season due to heavy shortage. Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, was an
interested and keen spectator. His only fear is that nothing should go wrong on the
agriculture front.

Absenteeism at the Top !!

Cabinet Meetings are no longer sacrosanct !! Or is it that the person presiding over the
Cabinet is not taken seriously ? Or, worse still, is he indifferent to such absenteeism ?
Recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed his disappointment, in his usual mild
manner, at the thin attendance in the meetings of the Cabinet & of the Group of Ministers
(GoM). This phenomenon of absenteeism became increasingly noticeable after the
Presidential election.
At least four senior ministers belonging to the Congress did not attend the last four Cabinet
meetings, while a number of meetings of GoM have been postponed because its members
claimed to have "more" pressing work. Strangely, among the 'absconders' are those who were
aspirants in the Presidential election. Perhaps, understandably, they are in mourning !!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Keeping the power dry !!

Amar Singh, Kamal Nath and Lalu Yadav have funded Uma Bharti's political outfit on the tacit understanding that she will embarrass the top leadership of BJP.

Uma Bharti is slated to unleash a campaign against BJP and its leaders from November. Who knows just before the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections in early 2008, Uma Bharti may have a direct tie up with Sonia Gandhi !!!!

Amar Singh is also backing a single-man party from Tamil Nadu who is (or was once) a well-known Ambani baiter !! To what avail ?

Never say die

Who wouldn't want to hitch their crackling bandwagon to the rising star ? Inversely, why wouldn't one try to flee a sinking ship ? In this case, the rising star is Sonia Madam and the sinking ship is the NDA. The former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) patron, Farooq Abdullah, is now trying to not only flee from the NDA but also ditch the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) that tried to make him the Vice-Presidential candidate. His aim is to replace PDP as the partner in th J & K ruling coalition. Not only that, he would like to get back to electoral politics(but when did he quit ?) and perhaps become CM again. Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is all for it so that he can return to Delhi where his heart is. With this in view, Dr Abdullah was himself in the chair at NC's Tuesday's meeting in Jammu -- normally it is his son Omar who presides -- when the party
adopted a resolution to vote for Pratibha Patil. Posturing par excellence !!

Shekhawat persona non grata

Not even for a day more can she stand his face !! Sonia Gandhi does not want Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to preside over the Rajya Sabha as its Chairman for a single day after the Presidential election. Which is precisely why the Government is reluctant to announce the dates of the monsoon session of Parliament.......... As so in all likelihood, the Parliament session will start only after Shekhawat completes his term on August 18 ; or earlier if he chooses to resign after losing the Presidential poll.

It appears Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had directed Parliamentary Affairs, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi to finalise the dates for the commencement of the Monsoon session after new President (Pratibha Patil as per their projections) takes oath on July 25 to start the monsoon session with the Presidential address to the joint sitting of the two Houses.

Knowing which side of his bread is buttered, Dasmunsi chose to act on instructions from 10 Janpath, not to convene the Parliament session until August 18 when Shekhawat's term
expires as the Vice-President of India and ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Immune to snubs, the genial and amiable Dr Manmohan Singh suggested as a via media that the session can begin at least from August 1, but quickly withdrew when he knew that he was encroaching on Madam's sacred preserve.


The Monsoon session of Parliament normally starts in the third or fourth week of July. Dasmunsi has a host of reasons for putting it off. But the crunch lies elsewhere !! He is waiting for the results of the Presidential election on Saturday and watch Shekhawat's next move over the next three, four days. His calculation is that Shekhawat will be so humiliated by the
crushing defeat that he may resign instead of pulling on till the end of his term.

Sonia Gandhi's main aim is that Shekhawat should be prevented from disposing off the petition filed by the party for disqualifying former foreign minister K Natwar Singh as
she suspects Shekhawat will give the ruling in his favour.

But, alas, Shekhawat does not require the House to be in session to take the decision !! Even so, the Congress can delay the hearing on the petition by seeking time to respond and let tthe matter go to the hands of the next Chairman.

Some gameplaying this is !!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Scams All

In the wake of the charges & counter charges regarding the GSM equipment tender, the bigger question that is being ignored is the corporatisation of BSNL years ago which has now been reduced to a mockery !!

Are PSUs Chiefs becoming the handmaiden of politicians, more than ever before ? Are bureaucrats being reduced to playing the role of backroom boys, more than ever before ? Otherwise, how do we account for the Scams Raj ? Be it SEZ scam, Quattrocchi scam, wheat import scam and the mobile scam. And very soon the SAIL modernisation scam and so on.............

The battle royale is just about to begin !!

In a bid to queer the pitch of his bete noire, Bihar's CM, Nitish Kumar has sought to wean away Lalu's Man Friday, Sudhir Kumar who is from the Bihar cadre, 1882 batch.

Sudhir Kumar is said to be Lalu's henchman as well as prima donna in the so called turnaround of the Indian Railways. He is credited for authoring much of Lalu's strategies, be it political or otherwise.

The State has the undisputed right to recall the officers of the cadre who are away on deputation and the Centre perforce has to comply. Hence Nitish Kumar is on firm ground in petitioning the Centre to revert him to the State cadre.

Though designated as one of the two Officers-on-duty (OSD), Sudhir Kumar is the man behind the show and even the top officers of the Railway Board bend to his whims. To take him away would be like chopping off Lalu's right arm.

There is an umseemly side to the issue -- Sudhir Kumar, alongwith Prem Gupta, Minister of State in charge of Company Affairs, is privy to a lot of "initiatives" , (please read "deals") of Lalu and if Sudhir Kumar goes back to his cadre, Nitish Kumar will leave no stone unturned to get Lalu's cat(s) out of the bag !!

Monday, July 16, 2007

More royal than the king

The top cop of Andhra Pradesh, Mr M A Basith, went to town saying that the bullets used in the Mecca Masjid firing were indeed rubber bullets. The one who fed Basith this info: was none other than Balwinder Singh, the Hyderabad Police Commissioner. He was till recently Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission. Amiable and easily accessible, Balwinder has a good PR with all concerned. To start with, the Mecca Masjid firing caused a dent in his image. Added to that was the false infornatio purveyed. To worsen matters, he booked the Congress dissident leader's son P Janardhan Reddy's son and son-in-law under a section related to manslaughter and packed them off to jail !! Pleasing the boss is okay but why go overboard with it ?

Travel bugs bureaucrat !!

Flying out to buy an aircraft for the Chief Minister is of top priority that can brook no delay. Realising this, the Special Chief Secretary(Finance) P Ramakanth Reddy took a six-member to Italy to negotiate the purchase of a helicopter for the revered Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The travel bug bit him again. He was slated to have left for a three-nation tour of the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Greece (Athens) and Germany (Munich) ostensibly to study the international airports there. His trip had been cleared and a GO too was issued last week. But Reddy's travel stars suddenly turned awry. For some inexplicable reason, the trip was halted at the last moment. No regrets !! Reddy has made at least 30 foreign trips in the past three years.

From the Frying Pan to the Fire

Going through a tortuous period, after his summary removal as the Director General of Foreign Trade, BS Meena, an IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre ( 1975 Batch), has found a parking place as Secretary to the Board of Revival of Public Sector Enterprises. Interestingly Meena succeeded another batch mate of his, Neelam Nath, who left in protest against the treatment meted out to her by the fossilised Chairman, P. K. Basu. Meena is the fourth Secretary to the Board in its three-year existence. For Meena, is it the case of jumping from the frying pan to the fire ?

Archaic, Colonial Dress Code

Organising State funerals is an onerous, cumbersome task. Precision and propriety are to be finetuned. The Cabinet Secretary, Mr K M Chandrasekhar, had his first taste of it at the State funeral of his namesake, the former Prime Minister.

S. K. Sheriff, the new Home Secretary in the Delhi Administration, also had his role. He is not new to ceremonial and State functions, being a key aide to the then President, K R Narayanan. He took charge of the State funeral of Sahib Singh Verma, former chief Minister of Delhi.

Both Chandrasekhar and Sheriff, being sticklers for protocol,
wore "bandhgala" suits despite the humidity... !! The dress code can be stiff and sweaty.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Misfortunes never come singly

Sharad Pawar seems a worried man these days -- in fact so worried that he has sworn not to contest elections any more. While he is desperately staving off loud whispers on his proximity to Hassan Ali, who is in the thick of the Hawala scam, the wheat import scandal is providing fodder to his opponents who are not few in number. But what he really fears is that the Congress matriarch may use it against him at an opportune time, when he does not toe her line. He is now trying to seek a diversion by immersing himself in BCCI affairs, which alas are not less murky. It is time he realised that misfortunes never come singly !!

Allegations, counter allegations !!

All swords are now drawn. After lying low, it seems as if Dayanidhi Maran has braced himself to take on the ruling junta in Chennai. He has written to the Prime Minister asking for a probe into the controversial BSNL tender.

While the incumbent, Telecom Ministier A Raja, has alleged that the tender cleared by his predecessor would have resulted in a loss of Rs 10,000 crores, Maran has said that "a certain NRI businessman with vested interests is trying to stall the tender process so as to facilitate the undue growth of the private sector operators at the cost of BSNL..."

On one hand, what prompted Maran to take up the defiant stand is because he has been given an ultimatum to quit the Lok Sabha seat by 31st July. After which the DMK MPs are bound to demand a CBI probe into the matter. On the other, the DMK is irked by the fact that Maran had provoked the BSNL Union to go on strike and make things uncomfortable to Raja.

While the battle goes on, the unfolding of the drama may throw up a lot of dirt which may provide grist to Jayalalithaa's mill.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

LID OFF TOP SECRET MISSILE PROJECT ?


Has India deliberately acknowledged the developmentof a submarine-based cruise missile "Sagarika" to send a clear message to the super power(s) ?The missile is likely to be installed on the nuclear powered submarine Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV). ATV was a also top guarded secret project till then Navy Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat spilled the beans in an interview in 1998. This became one of the reasons why he was removed from the post by the NDA Government. "Sagarika" has been already been tested successfullythree times and is in the process of completing the third leg of the strategic triad -- giving India the capability to launch missiles from land, air and now from under the sea.

NAC in a limbo


What has happened to the once high-profile National Advisory Council (NAC) ? Its recommendations were taken as diktats in the corridors of power !! Even the Prime Minister used to carry out its bidding, since heading the council was none else but UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. He even went on record to commit that the suggestions she gave were being incorporated in the Union Budget. The great institution of NAC is, however, now practically defunct, though the Government has provided Rs 1.25 crores as the budget allocation for the year 2007-08. Arun Bhatnagar who continues to run NAC's show as its Secretary-general has been given the third extension of six months. Since Sonia has ruled out her return to head the NAC again, even after the law was amended to end her embarrassment of resigning from the Lok Sabha to escape the charge of holding an office of profit. A proposal is afoot to merge NAC with the PMO or make it a part of one of the Union Ministries. And an unconfirmed report states that the entire remuneration that Sonia Gandhi took as its chairperson has been repaid to the exchequer.

Perfecting Cat-naps

Snoozing at public meetings is a great trait. Among those who practised it include the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and V K Krishna Menon. There was also a Prime Minister, Deva Gowda, who enjoyed a public cat-nap. The latest practitioner is Sontosh Mohan Dev who has a habit of dozing off in Cabinet meetings. Well, he has a point. None of the subjects under discussion has hardly anything to do with his Ministry, which is Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise. But he has perfected his snooze to an art. He suddenly wakes up and creates a flutter by asking pointed questions that do not have easy answers.

Noticing that he sleeps so often at the Cabinet meetings, the Prime Minister, in deference to Sontosh Mohan Dev's age and ailments suggested to him poliely that he may attend the Cabinet meetings only when his subjects are taken up. He, however, ignores the advice and makes it a point to turn up at every Cabinet meeting.

The other day he woke up to cry a halt to the discussion on Vision 2020 of the Civil Aviation Ministry. Where is the approval of the Committee of Secretaries(CoS), he thundered ? Let them deliberate on it first, examine it in the light of their experience and give the inputs.The other ministers echoed his suggestion. Praful Patel, who had put up the vision document for approval of the Cabinet, went red in the face. Intervening,the Prime Minister complimented Sontosh Mohan Dev for induling in "profound thinking" while in deep slumber, but decreed that the document be sent to the GoM (Group of Ministers) and not to the CoS (Committee of Secretaries).

Tamil Nadu's Crown Prince descends on Delhi

The Crown Prince of Tamil Nadu took Delhi by storm. It was done with great gusto with all the Union Ministers of the DMK in attendance. Karunanidhi has sent M K Stalin to Delhi --after the ignominious exit of Dayanidhi Maran -- on a dry run to test the waters of the Capital. In any case, genuflection before the ruling family of political parties is not something unusual in India !! He called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other ministers. Though Stalin is only a State Minister, his visit was hyped as if a chief minister of a powerful ally of the ruling alliance was coming. Seven Union Ministers of DMK were at the Delhi airport to receive Stalin. Finance Minister Chidambaram, who is politically not on a good wicket, hosted a dinner in honour of Tamil Nadu's Crown Prince at Hotel Taj Mansingh. The inaffable Chidambaram waited in the hotel lobby to receive Stalin. Conducting himself as a CM, he also dropped at three other ministries to discuss the State's issues. Back in Chennai, not satisfied with removal of Dayanidhi from the Union Ministry, the Stalin-Alagiri duo are now campaigning for his resignation from the Lok Sabha. They have set the deadline of July end for Dayanidhi to put in papers, or else ..... !!

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Mahabharata in the Skies



A cloak and dagger battle is on after the formation of a GOM (Group of Ministers) committee on Civil Aviation Policy.

One major airline operator, with alleged underworld links, takes the credit of denying Sharad Pawar the chairmanship of the GOM. If this is true, the strong man of Maharashtra has been literally humbled by a man who was once his main equity.

The fear that Pawar might vote for Shekhawat and derail Prathibha Patil has receded rapidly for some unknown reason. But what actually a matter to Sharad Pawar is not who is the occupant of Raisina Hill. What matters is the all-important deal for a competitor airline to operate foreign routes even before the mandatory five years of domestic existence.

The new civil aviation policy will come into operation from January 1, 2008. Although Pranab Mukherjee heads the GOM, Pawar is a member along with P Chidambaram, T R Baalu and Praful Patel .

To keep Sharad Pawar under check, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has ordered an IB probe (ostensibly under the instigation of the all-powerful senior competitor) into the deal struck between Indian (Airlines) and a foreign company to pledge seven aircraft of Indian.
The IB sleuths in their detailed report have indicted Viswapati Trivedi, MD of Indian. Apparently, this will embarrass Praful and Pawar more !!

To make things worse, the PMO has asked the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to study how Indian's aircraft can be pledged without authorisation by the Cabinet Committee on Security. The outcome could possibly be the cancellation of the MOU between "Indian" and the German company. So, Hassan Ali is not the only nightmare for Sharad Pawar !!!

Page no 35, Para 2/09 and 2/10 of the draft civil aviation:




Policy deals with the foreign route for Indian private air operators.
A sentence states that the Civil Aviation Ministry shall on "case by case basis issue permits to private operator to fly certain routes." The other private airline operator, allegedly with dubious links, has enlisted the support of P Chidambaram to oppose this clause.

So who wins -- the one with jet-speed or the king of good times? That will be finally decided on a suitcase by suitcase basis!!!









Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Babugiri

All in the Family
For some bureaucrats, the connections are all in the family. Check this out: D Subba Rao, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, and now designated Finance Secretary (from the 1972 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre) has his sister-in-law, Renuka Viswanathan (1971 batch Karnataka cadre) as Secretary, Department of Disinvestment. Renuka's sister, Urmila, also an IAS of 1975 batch, is the wife of Subba Rao. Renuka's other sibling, Vatsala Vats is a 1973 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer. She is posted in Bangalore as Home Secretary. Renuka's younger brother, Raghunandan, also a Karnataka IAS officer from the 1983 batch, is presently Joint Secretary, Panchayat Raj.

So, Renuka can literally coordinate within the family to finalise any draft agenda that she wants to push through to the Committee of Secretaries. Renuka's husband was Additional Director General of Police in Karnataka.
Aspiration Unfulfilled!
Once out of the hot seat in the Cabinet Secretariat, B K Chaturvedi drove to Yojana Bhawan and took over as a Member of the Planning Commission, nurturing the belief that he would continue to have as much of a say as before. He called on Deputy Chairman Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia and sought high-profile portfolios like Petroleum and Natural Gas, Transport and Infrastructure. What Ahluwalia's response was is not known, but the former Cabinet Secretary was assigned a more prosaic portfolio -- monitoring the North-East. Sources say, he is still hoping to "annex" important subjects at the year-end when there would be a shuffling of portfolios at Yojana Bhawan. The third day in the Planning Commission, Chaturvedi accompanied Union Ministers, Mani Shankar Aiyer and Jairam Ramesh, to visit Meghalaya and Assam. The two Ministers look after the North East. To cut a long story short, Chaturvedi is swotting flies as there are no pending North East files. He, however, quickly found another opportunity to get busy. He became one of the panelists on Lok Sabha TV whose viewership is best left to the imagination !! Anthony's dilemma !!

Who will be the next Defence Secretary? Anybody who gets it will get a two-year additional tenure. The Defence MinisterAnthony is quite a stickler for propriety and would not like to be seen as pushing for favourites. Among the suitors for the post are officers of the 1971 IAS batch, M S Srinivasan, Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, and V Subramanian, Secretary, Non-conventional Energy, and 1972 batch G K Pillai, Commerce Secretary.

Pillai, being from the Kerala Cadre, has worked with Antony when the latter was Chief Minister. But Commerce Minister Kamalnath may not be prepared to relieve him.The choice could boild down to MS and VS. MS will be very keen to leave Petroleum as his relationship with Petroleum Minister Murli Deora can hardly be called hunky-dory. But the perception about his proximity to a powerful Mumbai-based corporate house is raising apprehensions!! The ostensible reason however will be that he is tied up with finalising gas pricing, a critical and tricky issue.

VS has everything going for him, but he also has the reputation of not maintaining confidentiality – at least that is what used to be whispered about him when he was Additional Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. VS reportedly spent and hour with Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar last week to push his case. The latter apparently pointed to his lack of experience in Defence. Pat came VS’s answer: "I had experience in Finance. Why then didn't you consider me for the North Block?"

There are however two dark horses. One is Vijay Singh, Secertary, Surface Tansport, and son of L P Singh, ICS (retd) and brother of Vineeta Rai, former Revenue Secretary. The second is S Banerjee, Secretary, Defence Production. Watch this space for developments!

Shahrukh Khan's residence - MANNAT



















Saturday, June 30, 2007

Humility Par Excellence: APJ Abdul Kalam


Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, India’s most loved and respected Presidents in decades on Thursday cleared the list of the lunches and dinners he would be hosting before laying down office. He also signed a letter thanking the Prime Minister and the Union Ministers for the cooperation he had received from them and has invited them over dinner on July 20, a day after the Presidential poll.He has also lined up lunches and dinners from the next week for all those who served him in the Rashtrapati Bhawan--one with the ADCs, another with personal staff and so on. He has not forgotten even the gardeners whom he would be entertaining separately.Dr Kalam would have just 25 suitcases and boxes to transport to Chennai and has no heavy lugguage which would require the Army's 2-tonne trucks which is provided to the departing President as a matter of courtesy. He intends to transport his belongings through train. In the past, departing Presidents had requisitioned five or six military trucks for transporting their belongings, most of them gifts received during their five-year tenure.Dr Kalam does not have much to carry back from the Rashtrapati Bhawan. He is not taking back anything except his personal belongings, mostly books, while all the gifts and souvenirs that he got as President has been deposited by him in the Rashtrapati Bhawan's "Toshakhana" (strong room). His suitcases have been readied for transportation to Chennai where the Director of Studies in the Anna University has vacated his 2-room accommodation for Dr Kalam to move in. The stuff packed in them include old records, personal papers, books and personal belongings, including eight suits and about a dozen 'veshtis' (Tamilian dhotis).As for the government bungalow at 31, Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi that he inspected this Wednesday, Dr Kalam would be moving in with just five suitcases.
He has already identified the items that will go to his Delhi accommodation since the bulk of his stuff is going to Chennai where he will pusue his academic interests in the Anna University.Dr Kalam has also accepted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's offer to be a visiting Professor of the Nalanda University.

Lady ADCs get ready for Pratibha Patil


The Rashtrapati Bhawan has already started making preparations for the arrival of the new occupant next month. Four lady officers, all single and below 25, belonging to the Armed Forces, have been already identified for appointment as ADCs in the event of Pratibha Patil getting elected. The rule book requires the ADCs to be young and single and are selected from the Indian Army, IndianAir Force and the Indian Navy to serve the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Anyone getting married is immediately replaced because of this rule.The relatives of Pratibha Patil have already visited the Rashtrapati Bhawan to indicate the immediate changes required to be made before she moves in. The staff was told that she has a knee problem and hence hand-rests have been fitted on the commode to help her get up without difficulty.The relatives have also told the staff that at least eight family members of the would-be President would be staying with her and as such the staff is getting 10 rooms ready for them in the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Past Presidents have required as many as 15 rooms for their family members. Dr Kalam was the only exception to have just three rooms for the family members.

YSR's troubles with Election Commission


We learn that the Election Commission (EC) is set to file a case in the Andhra High Court against Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) within the next fortnight for suppression of facts. The case dates back to 2004. Mr.Reddy, we are told, hid the fact that he owns eleven acres of land in his affidavit. YSR has often been in the thick of controversy and is also expected to face a hostile media.
The EC appears to have taken note of a false affidavit filed by YSR before the Returning Officer from Pulivendula Assembly Constituency on March 31, 2004. This follows a complaint against YSR by Nara Chandrababu Naidu, former Chief Minister, dated
December 19, 2006.
This time, YSR will find it difficult time to wriggle out of thiscivil case, as it is liable to six months imprisonment on the charge of concealment of facts.
Moreover, the EC recently directed its Chief Election Officer at Tamil Nadu to file a similar case against former Chief Minister, Jayalalitha, for suppression of facts and a false affidavit under the same section 177 IPC.

Transparency Travails

The Central Vigilance Commissioner has directed that all the tenders as well as advertisements issued by Public Sector Units (PSUs) must be displayed on their websites. This has several PSU executives wondering if the next step would be to put all corporate correspondence on the website as well. Transparency is certainly a good thing but will excessive transparency only help the private sector competitors of these PSU? Or are they protesting too much?

Oriya Ratans

What can you say when Oriya IAS officers become chief secretaries in five states? Y ou can only call them Oriya Ratnas" ! They are: P K Mishra, Chief Secretary , Uttar Pradesh; L K Tripathi, Chief Secretary, Tamil Nadu; ASK Das in Uttaranchal Pradesh, AK Deb in West Bengal and A K Tripathi in Orissa itself.

Blackwell for Amway

Guess what US Senators/Congressmen and Ambassadors do after they quit active service? They join lobbying firms that liaise between the powers-that-be and powerful interests. Robert Blackwell, former US Ambassador to India, now heads the lobbying firm, Barbour Griffith & Rogers. Early this month, the former envoy wrote to Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, requesting him to appoint a high-powered committee to look into the Amway issue. Amway India is a subsidiary of US-based Amway Corporation, the well-known direct selling company. Following a complaint, the State CID had raided the offices of Amway in several cities of AP and seized documents. A case was registered against them for violating the provisions of the Chit Funds and Prize Money Act. Amway contested this in the High Court and the matter is awaiting disposal. Last heard, YSR is still to respond to Blackwell's request.

Does this vasthu work?

There is a story floating around that if you move to the CGO Complex and occupy the chamber of the Secretary, Disinvestment, then you can be certain that luck will take you to the North Block – such is the vasthu of this chamber. This story has won credence because two IAS officers, Sanjiv Mishra from the Rajasthan cadre and P V Bhide from Andhra Pradesh have moved to North Block from CGO complex. Another officer of the 1971 batch from the Karnataka cadre, Renuka Viswanathan, is being appointed as Disinvestment Secretary. Will she also turn lucky and move to North Block? This will be the real test because she has just 13 months to go before she retires!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Marans continue to face the heat


Marans still fact the heat


Long after the storm has blown over, the Maran brothers continue to be buffeted by the residual waves that swept them out of the corridors of power. The Marans have been forced into a cucoon, unable to get over the trauma of being dethroned by the same grand-uncle who placed them on the it.

Chief Minister Karunanidhi rejected bids by all the so-called friends of Dayanidhi Maran for the development of the Chennai airport. Straws in the wind indicate that Dayanidhi Maran kept the Patriarch in the dark about the negotiations. Karunanidhi is believed to has asked his men in Delhi to ensure that all Dayanidhi's pet projects are shelved.

Also, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, we learn, has been advised to cancel the hanger parking facilities provided to the personal aircraft of Dayanidhi Maran in Chennai Airport.

In a masterstroke, Karunanidhi has taken the entire airport project to the Sriperumbudur side, but wants -- and here lies the rub -- no private sector involvement of the type happening at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. If both projects are handled by the same agency, the state government has argued, there is no need to close down the existing airport once the new one comes into operation.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has partially supported the idea to allow AAI to handle expansion of the existing Chennai airport. Karunanidhi has briefed Madam Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday and both of them seem to have okayed it too. If the current plans succeed, Chennai would be the first city in India served by two airports. AAI can easily meet the financial requirements as it has made provisions to raise debt. It has got AAA rating and is not even borrowing now as substantial sums have been earmarked for non-metro airports from internal resources."

Ousters, Transfers, Compulsory wait

Meena ouster causes shock


The sudden decision to remove Bhawani Singh Meena, a senior 1975 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre, from the sensitive post of the Director General of Foreign Trade(DGFT), and put him on a "compulsory wait" has sent shock waves in the Udyog Bhawan. No one knows the reasons for sacking Meena and bringing in his place R S Gujral, a Punjab cadre IAS officer, as the new DGFT. Senior IAS officers say such summary ouster of a senior bureaucrat shows the Cabinet Secretariat in poor light.

Violations by vigilance commissioners



The violation of propriety or breach of ethics by ex-Vigilance Commissioners has left many dazed !! They are precluded from accepting any sinecure after retirement from the Vigilance Commission.

H J Dora, who was till recently the Vigilance Commissioner in the Central Vigilance Commission, has joined a private firm GMR as its Executive Director to monitor the security angle of the modernisation of the New Delhi airport. Dora, an IPS officer of 1965 batch, has been the Director General of Police, Andhra Pradesh, before joining the CWC and has also worked as an additional DG of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that now provides security to the airports. Another Vigilance Commissioner, Janaki Ballabh, who was previously SBI Chairman, has accepted the job of the Chairman of the Staff Selection Board for senior officers of RBI.




Neelam Nath complains against Prof.Prahlad BasuNeelam Nath



Neelam Nath, a senior IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre, working in the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises, has proceeded on leave complaining against its chairman Prof. Prahlad Basu in a two-page letter to the Cabinet Secretary. She has accused Basu of harassing her by assigning her "responsibilities in utter violation of the administrative procedures" and pressuring her to enhance the monthly salaries of part-time employees without the required concurrence of the Financial Advisor of the Department. She first approached the Union Minister for Heavy Industries Santosh Mohan Deb who is already having a running feud with Basu for defying his directions. Deb had even approached the Prime Minister to get rid of Basu but nothing happened. Deb therefore advised Neelam Nath to personally meet the Cabinet Secretary and complain to him about Basu's conduct.

Compulsory wait

Compulsory wait has become the norm for bureaucrats who do not toe the Ministers' line in the UPA regime. It has kept Ranjit Issar, a senior IAS officer of 1972 batch of Haryana cadre, on compulsory wait since April 2007. He is at home, drawing his monthly salary. At the Joint Secretary level there are five IAS officers on CW (Compulsory Wait) while at the Additional Secretary level, there are three IAS offices cooling their heels without proper administrative assignments.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

The corridors of power

Hello and welcome to Red Tape

We will bring you an inside account from the corridors of powers on what drives decision making, who greases the wheels of change or puts roadblocks on the path of decision making.

More importantly, we bring you interesting tidbits on decision makers, the hangers on, friends, foes, lobbyists, chamchas and godmen with all their virtues, idiosyncrasies and foibles.

Lets start by welcoming D.Subba Rao, the new Secretary Economic Affairs. Rao is a great believer in vaastu. So naturally, he is redoing his room at the North Block -- the same room which was once occupied by Dr.Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Next door to him is Revenue Secretary P.V.Bhide, an Andhra cadre IAS officer who is also apparently keen to rearrange his office according to the rules of vaastu. Will this trend stop with him or will the Finance Minister also follow suit in the hope of boosting his popularity with 10 Janpath? Or will the vaastu by two cross out the vaastu by one?

Another believer in vaastu is M.Damodaran, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The market regulator had redone his office at Mittal Court B -Wing in Mumbai by rearranging his table to face the opposite direction from his four predecessors - G.V.Ramakrishna, S.S.Nadkarni, D.R.Mehta and G.N.Bajpai. The vaastu clearly worked during his first two years at SEBI, but things have begun to get rather hot for the regulator after moving into the imposing SEBI Bhavan at the post Bandra-Kurla business district. Has the smart building dimmed the power of vaastu at the new office?