New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against four government employees, including a senior IAS officer, and six Daman-based distilleries for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 340 crore to the exchequer.
According to the CBI, a case under different Sections of IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against O. Ravi, Joint Secretary (Disaster Management), Ministry of Home Affairs and two excise inspectors -- Ramesh Mahyavanshi and Vijay Halpati -- and against sub-inspector Suresh Dhodi.
The case was also registered against the directors of six distilleries -- Khemani Distilleries, Royal Distilleries, Jupiter Distilleries, Krimpy Distilleries, Silver Star Distilleries and Dharmesh Distilleries and other unknown persons for fraud.
"It has been alleged that in order to evade excise duty and VAT, the distilleries of Daman in connivance with officials of the excise department resorted to under reporting of production by preparing fake documents," a CBI spokesperson said.
The CBI has conducted searches at 36 places of accused persons at Daman, Mumbai and New Delhi.
Ravi, a 1983-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, allegedly took a bribe of Rs 25 lakh to get a Daman administrator transferred, he said.
Sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to suspend Ravi.
The suspension orders are likely to be issued Wednesday night or Thursday, they said.
Source: PTI, http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3868923
Friday, June 25, 2010
IAS, IFS among 12 officers under CVC net for corruption
The CVC has given its nod for issuance of sanction for prosecution of 12 officers, including two IAS and IFS, for alleged irregularities in discharging duties.
The Central Vigilance Commission has advised grant of sanction for prosecution against Ram Pratap Singh, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer in the Ministry of Environment and Forests and two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers -- A K Monappa and R K Srivastava -- of the Ministry of Personnel, PG and Pensions.
The anti-corruption watchdog has also suggested the same action against G S Matharoo, Jai Raj Sharma and Mohan Lal Khatri, all employees of Municipal Corporation of Delhi, R R Meena, T K Chakraborty and Ashok Ratital Mahida of the Central Board of Excise and Customs.
In its January report, the Commission has recommended issuance of prosecution against B B Mittal, working in the Railways Ministry, Dr N Elangeswaran, an employee in the department of Health and Rajvansh Homi employed with the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
The CVC has advised imposition of major penalty against 135 officers, including 33 from the Ministry of Railways, 30 from MCD, 25 from Public Sector Banks, six each from Ministry of Labour and Department of Defence Production, five each from New India Assurance Company Limited and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, besides others.
The Commission has received 1,556 complaints during the month. Of these, 1,021 complaints were sent for necessary action, whereas 122 complaints were sent for investigation and report, it said, adding that no action was required on 569 complaints.
On its recommendations, the competent authorities issued sanctions for prosecution against 24 officers and charge sheets were filed against 44 officers.
The recoveries to the tune of about Rs 80 lakh were affected after the Commission conducted technical examination of some departments.
"The Commission is deeply concerned over continuing delays in filling the post of Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) in Delhi Transport Corporation and Hindustan Shipyard Limited," the report said, adding, "the government is being regularly reminded."
Source: 1) http://www.hindustantimes.com/IAS-IFS-among-12-officers-under-CVC-net-for-corruption/Article1-526209.aspx
2)
Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, April 02, 2010
First Published: 15:47 IST(2/4/2010)
Last Updated: 15:48 IST(2/4/2010)
The Central Vigilance Commission has advised grant of sanction for prosecution against Ram Pratap Singh, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer in the Ministry of Environment and Forests and two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers -- A K Monappa and R K Srivastava -- of the Ministry of Personnel, PG and Pensions.
The anti-corruption watchdog has also suggested the same action against G S Matharoo, Jai Raj Sharma and Mohan Lal Khatri, all employees of Municipal Corporation of Delhi, R R Meena, T K Chakraborty and Ashok Ratital Mahida of the Central Board of Excise and Customs.
In its January report, the Commission has recommended issuance of prosecution against B B Mittal, working in the Railways Ministry, Dr N Elangeswaran, an employee in the department of Health and Rajvansh Homi employed with the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
The CVC has advised imposition of major penalty against 135 officers, including 33 from the Ministry of Railways, 30 from MCD, 25 from Public Sector Banks, six each from Ministry of Labour and Department of Defence Production, five each from New India Assurance Company Limited and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, besides others.
The Commission has received 1,556 complaints during the month. Of these, 1,021 complaints were sent for necessary action, whereas 122 complaints were sent for investigation and report, it said, adding that no action was required on 569 complaints.
On its recommendations, the competent authorities issued sanctions for prosecution against 24 officers and charge sheets were filed against 44 officers.
The recoveries to the tune of about Rs 80 lakh were affected after the Commission conducted technical examination of some departments.
"The Commission is deeply concerned over continuing delays in filling the post of Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) in Delhi Transport Corporation and Hindustan Shipyard Limited," the report said, adding, "the government is being regularly reminded."
Source: 1) http://www.hindustantimes.com/IAS-IFS-among-12-officers-under-CVC-net-for-corruption/Article1-526209.aspx
2)
Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, April 02, 2010
First Published: 15:47 IST(2/4/2010)
Last Updated: 15:48 IST(2/4/2010)
Thursday, March 19, 2009
IPS officer worth Rs 250 cr
IPS officer worth Rs 250 cr?
BANGALORE: The Lokayukta on Wednesday raided the residences of five officials, including an IPS officer Hemanth Nimbalkar, and unearthed assets worth Rs 5.17 crore.
The Lokayukta believes that Hemanth Nimbalkar has strong political connections with a prominent politician from Maharashtra.
During the raids, Lokayukta seized property worth Rs 76 lakh but the agency suspects that Nimbalkar is having property worth nearly Rs 250 crore. Lokayukta chief Justice Santosh Hegde said that raids are being continued to unearth more properties.
Nimbalkar had previously worked as superintendent of police in Belgaum and Chikamagalur. He was recently transferred to Mandya but declined to accept the posting.
The raids were conducted in five districts, and for the first time Lokayukta conducted searches in a neighbouring state.
H emanth Nimbalkar is having two flats in Dadar East, Mumbai, in the name of his wife. The agency estimated the cost of two flats at Rs 75 lakh. But Hegde felt that the worth of the flats to be more than the current estimation.
The Lokayukta chief said that they received calls from Delhi and Mumbai after raiding Nimbalkar’s properties. “The callers said that his assets exceeded Rs 250 crore.” Hegde said that Nimbalkar had Rs 25 lakh income since joining service in 1998.
Nimbalkar is also said to have invested huge amount of money in business and real estate through his associates. “A few of his friends have been interrogated and we have got some information about his benami investment.” The Lokayukta also conducted raids on the residences of four other government officials and property and assets worth crores were unearthed.
Source : Express News Service
First Published : 19 Mar 2009 04:45:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 19 Mar 2009 11:56:15 AM IST
URL : http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=IPS+officer+worth+Rs+250+cr?&artid=IFtESsrDuW0=&SectionID=7GUA38txp3s=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=zkvyRoWGpmWSxZV2TGM5XQ==&SEO=
BANGALORE: The Lokayukta on Wednesday raided the residences of five officials, including an IPS officer Hemanth Nimbalkar, and unearthed assets worth Rs 5.17 crore.
The Lokayukta believes that Hemanth Nimbalkar has strong political connections with a prominent politician from Maharashtra.
During the raids, Lokayukta seized property worth Rs 76 lakh but the agency suspects that Nimbalkar is having property worth nearly Rs 250 crore. Lokayukta chief Justice Santosh Hegde said that raids are being continued to unearth more properties.
Nimbalkar had previously worked as superintendent of police in Belgaum and Chikamagalur. He was recently transferred to Mandya but declined to accept the posting.
The raids were conducted in five districts, and for the first time Lokayukta conducted searches in a neighbouring state.
H emanth Nimbalkar is having two flats in Dadar East, Mumbai, in the name of his wife. The agency estimated the cost of two flats at Rs 75 lakh. But Hegde felt that the worth of the flats to be more than the current estimation.
The Lokayukta chief said that they received calls from Delhi and Mumbai after raiding Nimbalkar’s properties. “The callers said that his assets exceeded Rs 250 crore.” Hegde said that Nimbalkar had Rs 25 lakh income since joining service in 1998.
Nimbalkar is also said to have invested huge amount of money in business and real estate through his associates. “A few of his friends have been interrogated and we have got some information about his benami investment.” The Lokayukta also conducted raids on the residences of four other government officials and property and assets worth crores were unearthed.
Source : Express News Service
First Published : 19 Mar 2009 04:45:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 19 Mar 2009 11:56:15 AM IST
URL : http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=IPS+officer+worth+Rs+250+cr?&artid=IFtESsrDuW0=&SectionID=7GUA38txp3s=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=zkvyRoWGpmWSxZV2TGM5XQ==&SEO=
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
IAS OFFICER WASTES STATE FUNDS ON HIS BATHROOM
Parida, an IAS Officer at Hyderabad, got Rs 20 lakh from exchequer to renovate his bathroom. Ironically, the state had earlier issued orders to all departments to be prudent in spending as the financial situation was not encouraging due to the economic slowdown.
A top IAS officer in the State has spent nearly Rs 20 lakh to renovate his bathroom and do other repairs in his quarters.
The amount spent by Mr A.K. Parida, principal secretary (transport, roads and buildings) would be enough for a middle-class family to buy a decent house in the city.
However, the state government happily sanctioned the renovation and also issued two government orders for release of funds.
Thanks to the government's generosity, Mr Parida, a powerful bureaucrat, could beautify his bathroom with vitrified flooring.
The chief engineer of the buildings department had submitted an estimate for Rs.19.23 lakh for certain civil works in Quarter.No. 4 at Kundanbagh allotted to Mr Parida, and sought administrative sanction for the estimate.
The government sanctioned Rs 5 lakh in Decem ber and another Rs 14.23 lakh on January 23 by issuing GO Rt No.138.
Ironically, the state government had earlier issued orders to all departments to be prudent in spending as the financial situation was not encouraging because of the economic slowdown. Some of the departments were even asked to reduce the normal expenditure.
Dr T. Chatterji, principal secretary of roads and buildings had approved the proposals and issued orders.
The transport and roads and buildings department looks after the maintenance of all IAS officers’ accommodation.
As per rules, renovations in IAS quarters should not exceed Rs 1 lakh a year. However, throwing the rules to the wind, nearly Rs 20 lakh was released for single quarter and that too for renovation of a bathroom.
There are fears that this would prompt other top officials too to go for stylish renovations of their quarters.
Source : Deccan Chronicle Hyderabad Edition Page 3, 28 Jan 2009
A top IAS officer in the State has spent nearly Rs 20 lakh to renovate his bathroom and do other repairs in his quarters.
The amount spent by Mr A.K. Parida, principal secretary (transport, roads and buildings) would be enough for a middle-class family to buy a decent house in the city.
However, the state government happily sanctioned the renovation and also issued two government orders for release of funds.
Thanks to the government's generosity, Mr Parida, a powerful bureaucrat, could beautify his bathroom with vitrified flooring.
The chief engineer of the buildings department had submitted an estimate for Rs.19.23 lakh for certain civil works in Quarter.No. 4 at Kundanbagh allotted to Mr Parida, and sought administrative sanction for the estimate.
The government sanctioned Rs 5 lakh in Decem ber and another Rs 14.23 lakh on January 23 by issuing GO Rt No.138.
Ironically, the state government had earlier issued orders to all departments to be prudent in spending as the financial situation was not encouraging because of the economic slowdown. Some of the departments were even asked to reduce the normal expenditure.
Dr T. Chatterji, principal secretary of roads and buildings had approved the proposals and issued orders.
The transport and roads and buildings department looks after the maintenance of all IAS officers’ accommodation.
As per rules, renovations in IAS quarters should not exceed Rs 1 lakh a year. However, throwing the rules to the wind, nearly Rs 20 lakh was released for single quarter and that too for renovation of a bathroom.
There are fears that this would prompt other top officials too to go for stylish renovations of their quarters.
Source : Deccan Chronicle Hyderabad Edition Page 3, 28 Jan 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
19 senior officials under scrutiny - Karnataka
Karnataka
19 senior officials under scrutiny
T.S. Ranganna
Top IAS, IPS, IFS officers in Karnataka facing inquiries for various irregularities
# Details given by Kumaraswamy in a written reply
# Charges include embezzlement and corruption
BANGALORE: Nineteen senior IAS, IPS and IFS officers in Karnataka are facing inquiries for various irregularities, such as embezzlement, corruption in filling vacancies and sexual harassment. These details were given by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who holds the Personnel and Administrative Reforms portfolio, in a written reply in the Legislative Assembly to Kyatsandra N. Rajanna of the Janata Dal (S).
Mr. Kumaraswamy said six IAS officers, including one Principal Secretary; five IPS officers, including one Inspector-General of Police; and eight IFS officers of the rank of Conservator of Forests are facing inquiries.
They are R.S. Sujata, A.K. Monappa, N. Nagambika Devi, I. Devendran, G.L. Chandrashekariah and K. Shivaramu of the IAS; Jayaprakash V. Nayak, B. Srikanthappa, P. Muniswamy, Khaleel Ur Rahman and U.S. Baghel of the IPS; and A.M. Annaiah, H.S.S. Murthy, Punith Pathak, V. Ramakanth, Brijesh Kumar, Rajkumar Srivastava, K.S. Saibaba and S.D. Pathak of the IFS.
The inquiry against Ms. Sujata had to do with irregularities in implementing the Integrated Child Development Scheme when she was Director of the Department of Women and Child Development. Mr. Monappa is facing an inquiry on the charge of corruption in the recruitment of headquarters assistants when he was Secretary of the Karnataka Public Service Commission.
Ms. Nagambika Devi is accused of embezzlement while serving as Chief Executive Officer of the Uttara Kannada Zilla Panchayat. Dr. Devendran is accused of violating rules in sanctioning electrical work contracts for agricultural produce markets in Byadagi, Hubli, Shimoga, Sindhanur, Chitradurga and Ranebennur. Mr. Chandrashekariah is facing corruption charges in filling vacant posts reserved for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates when he was Deputy Commissioner of Chamarajanagar district.
Mr. Shivaramu has been accused of misusing government funds in the implementation of vocational and computer training programme for unemployed Scheduled Caste candidates when he was Commissioner of the Social Welfare Department. Mr. Nayak is being proceeded against for going to the U.S. without government permission. Mr. Srikanthappa is facing the charge of corruption in the disbursal of loans from a cooperative bank to Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) personnel when he was Deputy Commissioner of the KSRP.
Source : The Hindu 19 Feb 2007 http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/19/stories/2007021905350600.htm
19 senior officials under scrutiny
T.S. Ranganna
Top IAS, IPS, IFS officers in Karnataka facing inquiries for various irregularities
# Details given by Kumaraswamy in a written reply
# Charges include embezzlement and corruption
BANGALORE: Nineteen senior IAS, IPS and IFS officers in Karnataka are facing inquiries for various irregularities, such as embezzlement, corruption in filling vacancies and sexual harassment. These details were given by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who holds the Personnel and Administrative Reforms portfolio, in a written reply in the Legislative Assembly to Kyatsandra N. Rajanna of the Janata Dal (S).
Mr. Kumaraswamy said six IAS officers, including one Principal Secretary; five IPS officers, including one Inspector-General of Police; and eight IFS officers of the rank of Conservator of Forests are facing inquiries.
They are R.S. Sujata, A.K. Monappa, N. Nagambika Devi, I. Devendran, G.L. Chandrashekariah and K. Shivaramu of the IAS; Jayaprakash V. Nayak, B. Srikanthappa, P. Muniswamy, Khaleel Ur Rahman and U.S. Baghel of the IPS; and A.M. Annaiah, H.S.S. Murthy, Punith Pathak, V. Ramakanth, Brijesh Kumar, Rajkumar Srivastava, K.S. Saibaba and S.D. Pathak of the IFS.
The inquiry against Ms. Sujata had to do with irregularities in implementing the Integrated Child Development Scheme when she was Director of the Department of Women and Child Development. Mr. Monappa is facing an inquiry on the charge of corruption in the recruitment of headquarters assistants when he was Secretary of the Karnataka Public Service Commission.
Ms. Nagambika Devi is accused of embezzlement while serving as Chief Executive Officer of the Uttara Kannada Zilla Panchayat. Dr. Devendran is accused of violating rules in sanctioning electrical work contracts for agricultural produce markets in Byadagi, Hubli, Shimoga, Sindhanur, Chitradurga and Ranebennur. Mr. Chandrashekariah is facing corruption charges in filling vacant posts reserved for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates when he was Deputy Commissioner of Chamarajanagar district.
Mr. Shivaramu has been accused of misusing government funds in the implementation of vocational and computer training programme for unemployed Scheduled Caste candidates when he was Commissioner of the Social Welfare Department. Mr. Nayak is being proceeded against for going to the U.S. without government permission. Mr. Srikanthappa is facing the charge of corruption in the disbursal of loans from a cooperative bank to Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) personnel when he was Deputy Commissioner of the KSRP.
Source : The Hindu 19 Feb 2007 http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/19/stories/2007021905350600.htm
IPS officer caught peddling heroin
IPS officer caught peddling heroin
An Ex-Narco Cop, Mohan Was Held In Mumbai With Drugs Worth Rs 12 Cr
Mateen Hafeez | TNN
Mumbai: In the first case involving an IPS officer in a drugs case, Maharashtra ATS on Saturday evening arrested a deputy director of Enforcement Directorate (ED), Saji Mohan, on charges of drug trafficking.
Mohan had allegedly come to Oshiwara to deliver 12 kg of heroin worth Rs 12 crore in the international market and also collect money for selling earlier consignment in Mumbai.
Mohan (37), a 1995 batch IPS officer who had served in the Narcotics Control Bureau in Chandigargh, has been sent to police custody till January 30. He has been booked under sections 8(1)(c) and 21 of the Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act. Incidentally, he was conferred a gallantry medal for bravery in 1999. The minimum sentence, if he is convicted, would be 10 years.
Police said that assistant inspector Sunil Mane got a tip-off that Mohan would be coming to deliver drugs at Classic Club in Oshiwara. A trap was laid and the ATS team arrested him at around 2 pm. Police recovered 12 kg heroin, a mobile phone, some CDs and a laptop from him.
“On January 17, our teams arrested two person — Vicky Oberoi and a Haryana police constable Rajesh Kumar — in Mumbai and seized 1.8 kg heroin from them. The two told us that they were trafficking the drugs on the instructions of a ‘senior officer’ and the consignment was given to them by him. During the probe, we found that a police officer was involved,’’ said ATS chief Krish Pal Raghuvanshi.
Oberoi is into selling fish and prawns in Mumbai.
Mohan, who originally belongs to Kochi in Kerala, had joined the ED as deputy director two weeks ago. “He has served in the Narcotics Control Bureau in Chandigargh as zonal director during 2006-08. During this period, Mohan and his team had busted some drug racket. While Saji showed a little quantity of the seizure, he managed to steal around 30-35 kg of heroin. Later, he planned to sell it through a constable and a Mumbai-based agent,’’ said an officer.
During his tenure in the NCB, he used to head a jurisdiction spread over Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. At the time of arrest, Mohan was entitled for a salary of Rs 71,000 per month.
The drugs seized by the ATS in this case were part of the same stolen drug from Chandigarh NCB, said an officer. “We are trying to establish if he sold the remaining heroin earlier or it has been kept somewhere. We have just got his remand and will try to find out as to where did he hide the heroin after stealing it from the seized consignment in Chandigarh,’’ said the officer.
Mohan, who did Animal Husbandry and Veterinary course from Jabalpur University, passed the civil services examination in his second attempt and was selected for the Jammu and Kashmir cadre. He was posted as assistant superintendent of police in 1996. Till 2006 he worked in J&K, where he served as Doda SP. He was then sent to NCB on a deputation. The ATS had seized a Maruti car from Rajesh Kumar, the Gurgaon constable. Kumar was earlier suspended by the Haryana police for alleged criminal activity.
The ATS is also trying to establish if Mohan had supplied drugs to the rave party organizers or the participants in Maharashtra.
Speaking to TOI, Mohan’s father, Varghese Yohannan, a retired Subedar Major, said, “I don’t think my son will ever do this. It must have been planted on him. He was returning from Delhi after attending a week-long training on newly enacted Prevention of Money Laundering Act.’’
Saji Mohan
Source : Times of India Hyderabad Edition 26 Jan 2009
An Ex-Narco Cop, Mohan Was Held In Mumbai With Drugs Worth Rs 12 Cr
Mateen Hafeez | TNN
Mumbai: In the first case involving an IPS officer in a drugs case, Maharashtra ATS on Saturday evening arrested a deputy director of Enforcement Directorate (ED), Saji Mohan, on charges of drug trafficking.
Mohan had allegedly come to Oshiwara to deliver 12 kg of heroin worth Rs 12 crore in the international market and also collect money for selling earlier consignment in Mumbai.
Mohan (37), a 1995 batch IPS officer who had served in the Narcotics Control Bureau in Chandigargh, has been sent to police custody till January 30. He has been booked under sections 8(1)(c) and 21 of the Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances Act. Incidentally, he was conferred a gallantry medal for bravery in 1999. The minimum sentence, if he is convicted, would be 10 years.
Police said that assistant inspector Sunil Mane got a tip-off that Mohan would be coming to deliver drugs at Classic Club in Oshiwara. A trap was laid and the ATS team arrested him at around 2 pm. Police recovered 12 kg heroin, a mobile phone, some CDs and a laptop from him.
“On January 17, our teams arrested two person — Vicky Oberoi and a Haryana police constable Rajesh Kumar — in Mumbai and seized 1.8 kg heroin from them. The two told us that they were trafficking the drugs on the instructions of a ‘senior officer’ and the consignment was given to them by him. During the probe, we found that a police officer was involved,’’ said ATS chief Krish Pal Raghuvanshi.
Oberoi is into selling fish and prawns in Mumbai.
Mohan, who originally belongs to Kochi in Kerala, had joined the ED as deputy director two weeks ago. “He has served in the Narcotics Control Bureau in Chandigargh as zonal director during 2006-08. During this period, Mohan and his team had busted some drug racket. While Saji showed a little quantity of the seizure, he managed to steal around 30-35 kg of heroin. Later, he planned to sell it through a constable and a Mumbai-based agent,’’ said an officer.
During his tenure in the NCB, he used to head a jurisdiction spread over Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. At the time of arrest, Mohan was entitled for a salary of Rs 71,000 per month.
The drugs seized by the ATS in this case were part of the same stolen drug from Chandigarh NCB, said an officer. “We are trying to establish if he sold the remaining heroin earlier or it has been kept somewhere. We have just got his remand and will try to find out as to where did he hide the heroin after stealing it from the seized consignment in Chandigarh,’’ said the officer.
Mohan, who did Animal Husbandry and Veterinary course from Jabalpur University, passed the civil services examination in his second attempt and was selected for the Jammu and Kashmir cadre. He was posted as assistant superintendent of police in 1996. Till 2006 he worked in J&K, where he served as Doda SP. He was then sent to NCB on a deputation. The ATS had seized a Maruti car from Rajesh Kumar, the Gurgaon constable. Kumar was earlier suspended by the Haryana police for alleged criminal activity.
The ATS is also trying to establish if Mohan had supplied drugs to the rave party organizers or the participants in Maharashtra.
Speaking to TOI, Mohan’s father, Varghese Yohannan, a retired Subedar Major, said, “I don’t think my son will ever do this. It must have been planted on him. He was returning from Delhi after attending a week-long training on newly enacted Prevention of Money Laundering Act.’’
Saji Mohan
Source : Times of India Hyderabad Edition 26 Jan 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
Corrupt babus back with a bang
Corrupt babus back with a bang
State Govt Promotes 25 Tainted Officials Following AP Tribunal’s Decision
Jinka Nagaraju | TNN
Hyderabad: How serious is the state government in combating corruption in its ranks is displayed by the fact that the AP Administrative Tribunal recently directed the state to promote 25 officials who were facing charges of corruption, on the grounds that the enquiry against them is taking years to complete.
“It is very simple. Once an official is caught, he is suspended and his promotion put on hold pending completion of the enquiry. The tainted officials then bring in political pressure to delay the probe by the ACB or the vigilance department. Then they move the tribunal contending how they are being denied promotions due to the delay on the part of the state in completing the probe. The tribunal then directs the state to promote these officials,” one official said.
The 25 officials who have benefited in this manner are from the various municipalities in the state, government and police departments.
Fifteen of them are municipal commissioners while the others are of the rank of joint director, additional commissioner, additional superintendent of police and grade-1 municipal commissioners. “Promote the officials without prejudice or reference to the charges against them,” the tribunal said in its order. Following the orders of the tribunal, many of these officials have already been promoted while others are in the process of getting it. The officials include 14 grade-1 municipal commissioners, namely P Nagaveni, B Nagabhusanam, D Jayaraj Kennedy, N Satyanarayana, G Krishnaiah, Y Sai Srikanth, D Jayaraju, S Srinivasa Reddy, K Ramesh, P Balakrishna, S Annapurna, N Ravikiran, C Ramakrishna Rao and MSS Somaraju.
The 15th municipal commissioner, Mohammed Mukthar-Uz-Zaman, retired recently but will be still eligible for enhanced retirement benefits because of the promotion.
All these officials have been charged either with possessing disproportionate assets by the ACB or facing vigilance cases for committing financial irregularities or misusing funds causing loss to the government.
Sources told TOI that in most of the cases, the department concerned has shown no interest in challenging the tribunal order. On the contrary, more such promotions based on its directive are in the offing, they added.
Thus, in an irony of sorts, while the ACB and the vigilance wings have been catching more babus on charges of corruption each passing year, the state is ending up protecting them. According to ACB sources, in 2005, only nine cases were booked. “It rose to 48 in 2005, 61 in 2006 and 78 in 2007,” they said.
Source : TOI Hyderabad Edition 29 Dec 2008
State Govt Promotes 25 Tainted Officials Following AP Tribunal’s Decision
Jinka Nagaraju | TNN
Hyderabad: How serious is the state government in combating corruption in its ranks is displayed by the fact that the AP Administrative Tribunal recently directed the state to promote 25 officials who were facing charges of corruption, on the grounds that the enquiry against them is taking years to complete.
“It is very simple. Once an official is caught, he is suspended and his promotion put on hold pending completion of the enquiry. The tainted officials then bring in political pressure to delay the probe by the ACB or the vigilance department. Then they move the tribunal contending how they are being denied promotions due to the delay on the part of the state in completing the probe. The tribunal then directs the state to promote these officials,” one official said.
The 25 officials who have benefited in this manner are from the various municipalities in the state, government and police departments.
Fifteen of them are municipal commissioners while the others are of the rank of joint director, additional commissioner, additional superintendent of police and grade-1 municipal commissioners. “Promote the officials without prejudice or reference to the charges against them,” the tribunal said in its order. Following the orders of the tribunal, many of these officials have already been promoted while others are in the process of getting it. The officials include 14 grade-1 municipal commissioners, namely P Nagaveni, B Nagabhusanam, D Jayaraj Kennedy, N Satyanarayana, G Krishnaiah, Y Sai Srikanth, D Jayaraju, S Srinivasa Reddy, K Ramesh, P Balakrishna, S Annapurna, N Ravikiran, C Ramakrishna Rao and MSS Somaraju.
The 15th municipal commissioner, Mohammed Mukthar-Uz-Zaman, retired recently but will be still eligible for enhanced retirement benefits because of the promotion.
All these officials have been charged either with possessing disproportionate assets by the ACB or facing vigilance cases for committing financial irregularities or misusing funds causing loss to the government.
Sources told TOI that in most of the cases, the department concerned has shown no interest in challenging the tribunal order. On the contrary, more such promotions based on its directive are in the offing, they added.
Thus, in an irony of sorts, while the ACB and the vigilance wings have been catching more babus on charges of corruption each passing year, the state is ending up protecting them. According to ACB sources, in 2005, only nine cases were booked. “It rose to 48 in 2005, 61 in 2006 and 78 in 2007,” they said.
Source : TOI Hyderabad Edition 29 Dec 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Eight IAS officers chargesheeted for corruption in Orissa
Bhubaneswar | Monday, Nov 19 2007 IST
The Vigilance Department has submitted a chargesheet against eight IAS officers of Orissa cadre on the allegation of corruption charges and acquisition of disproportionate assets, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here today.
To a question of Mr Sitakant Mohapatra (Cong), Mr Patnaik said in the Assembly that investigation against eight other IAS officers was in progress.
The eight officers, chargesheeted by the Vigilance Department, are Mr Santosh Kumar Mishra, Mr Ramesh Charan Behera(both serving), Mr Madan Mohan Mohanty, Mr Phani Bhushan Das, Mr Chittaranjan Pal, Mr Sanjiv Kumar Ray, Mr Balram Rout and Mr Arunodaya Swain (all retired).
The Chief Minister said the government had made a supplementary provision of Rs 20 lakh for the setting up two special courts, one each at Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to deal with the caess against the public figure and senior officials.
Mr Patnaik said the Orissa High Court had been requested to suggest staffing pattern for the special courts and send a panel of names for appointment as judges besides a panel of names of judicial officers of the rank of Additional District Judge for appointment of Authorised Officers under the Act.
-- (UNI)
Source http://news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=711190879&cat=&n_date=20071119
The Vigilance Department has submitted a chargesheet against eight IAS officers of Orissa cadre on the allegation of corruption charges and acquisition of disproportionate assets, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here today.
To a question of Mr Sitakant Mohapatra (Cong), Mr Patnaik said in the Assembly that investigation against eight other IAS officers was in progress.
The eight officers, chargesheeted by the Vigilance Department, are Mr Santosh Kumar Mishra, Mr Ramesh Charan Behera(both serving), Mr Madan Mohan Mohanty, Mr Phani Bhushan Das, Mr Chittaranjan Pal, Mr Sanjiv Kumar Ray, Mr Balram Rout and Mr Arunodaya Swain (all retired).
The Chief Minister said the government had made a supplementary provision of Rs 20 lakh for the setting up two special courts, one each at Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to deal with the caess against the public figure and senior officials.
Mr Patnaik said the Orissa High Court had been requested to suggest staffing pattern for the special courts and send a panel of names for appointment as judges besides a panel of names of judicial officers of the rank of Additional District Judge for appointment of Authorised Officers under the Act.
-- (UNI)
Source http://news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=711190879&cat=&n_date=20071119
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A Real Gem in IAS
Sanjay Pandey shot to fame in 1997 when as deputy commissioner of police he took on his political bosses in the shoe scam in which millions of rupees meant for cobblers were allegedly siphoned off by politicians, bureaucrats and shoe manufacturers.
Not surprisingly, Pandey was shunted out of Mumbai. A few years later Pandey, hailed as upright, chose to quit the police force and move to Delhi where he joined Tata Consultancy Services.
Currently, he runs a cyber security business in Delhi.
He is back in the news after announcing that he will contest the Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North Central constituency, which houses Dharavi, Asia's largest slum settlement. It is an area he had policed before.
In an interview to Deputy Managing Editor Amberish K Diwanji he explains why he has decided to join politics.
You graduated from IIT, Kanpur, and yet chose to join the police force. What motivated you to join the civil services?
This happened when well-known civil servant (M N) Buch visited our campus. He asked students about where they would like to be 10, 20 years later in terms of helping society. He gave an analogy of how a person can help society. He said if society is like a huge mass (weight), then to lift it we need a lever supported on a fulcrum. And he said how far from the fulcrum we are able to exert our weight on the lever will decide how much we can lift the mass. The further away you are, the more you can lift. Vice versa, the nearer you are, the more effort you need to lift.
Buch said workers are right next to the lever and hence need too much strength or too many people. Next come the engineers, who make road, machines and with their knowledge help lift society. Even better are teachers, who teach students who in turn go out and do positive things thus having a multiplier effect. Next come civil servants, those who implement policies for change to help society. And then come the politicians, those who make policies.
But the person who is at the end of the lever, who individually can lift huge sections of society, are visionaries such as Mahatma Gandhi. This is something I believe in.
I did not attend this lecture but I heard about it and it affected me a lot. I decided I wanted to do as much as I could so I decided to first join the civil service and now, politics. Also, when I was doing my computer science at IIT (the first batch, class of 1983) many of us were motivated to join the bureaucracy with the hope of helping society.
Do you in retrospect regret your decision to join the police and not take up engineering, especially since IT is doing well?
No, I don't. First, as an engineer, I feel you are way down in your contribution to society. Second, regarding the Indian situation, I don't think Indian software is doing anything related to software. I think [construction firm] Hiranandnani making houses for Indians is doing more than what the Indian software industry is doing.
There is not one software product that has developed out of this country for this country. No doubt, we are making money, but it is like torrential rainfall. Today there is outsourcing, tomorrow there is no outsourcing. Then what will happen to these firms that has employed thousands of people?
You quit the police force because of corruption among politicians. Yet now you want to become a part of this very set of politicians.
I'd like to make a very pertinent point. Corruption also happens because we have a system that allows such corruption to flourish. Our laws in India today are so outdated they breed corruption. Do you know that before you move a motor vehicle on the road, you have committed some offence? Read the Motor Vehicles Act and find out.
No one has made any attempt to reform these laws. So much so that many things that should not be considered part of corruption is now considered so.
Let me give you an example. When I was in the United States, I could fill up my taxes myself. But here despite the existence of Saral [direct tax payment], I still need a chartered accountant to fill up my taxes.
Let me also say something. Every corporation in this country evades taxes. I have my own small company. My accountant actually asks me whether I want to show profits or loss. The option is with the accountant to decide what result I want to show. Our antiquated laws and regulations promote corruption.
You were once a part of the Mumbai police force, which today has a commissioner of police and an additional commissioner of police, besides other senior officers in jail. Why did the situation come to such a pass?
Without sounding like I am defending my former colleagues let me say that corruption exists in all walks of life. Much worse corruption exists in other areas. I have now worked in the private sector and know that corrupt deals between the private sector and the government actually make our policies, all for the benefit of a few rather than society at large. The corruption in the police is merely a reflection of society. The police are corrupt, no doubt.
It has often been said that one way to save our police force, or bureaucrats, is to remove political interference. Do you agree?
I have been hearing this quite often and I am not so sure. When a person joins the civil service as a government servant he knows that the politician will be his master. That is the case in any democracy. So when I hear bureaucrats complain about political interference, I think it is nonsense. Which servant anywhere in the world is without a master?
Also if we don't have politicians as the master then we have to devise a whole new structure to control the government servants. The servants can't be the masters. In my case I knew this was the system that I had accepted and when I was unwilling to stay on I took the option I had of quitting service.
What motivated you to become a politician?
If you accept that there has to be a government, if the government controls the entire political system, you have to accept that the largest and biggest work happens only through the government. The private sector is so limited. Which major project are they handing, how many private sector employees are there…
But isn't too much government in too many places the problem with our country?
Give me an alternative. I don't think there is an alternative to government in this country. Today, we talk about the five metropolises that all the television stations cover. But go out of the metropolises, go out of Mumbai, and we still have bullock carts. That is the reality of this country. Which private sector is working to change all this?
I am not promoting the welfare state. It may not have done very well for the welfare of the people. In fact, huge corruption exists here. But the fact remains that the best and the biggest that you see are in the metropolitan cities.
So you don't believe that India is shining?
You saw the mess in Dharavi today. Where was the shine? The 90-feet (wide) road was so narrow (about 10 feet wide only). Where is India shining?
Which party are you planning to join?
The question, which party, bewilders me. The entire world believes that a candidate means a party. I don't quite subscribe to the view that the party comes before the candidate. The candidate comes before the party. Perhaps I am questioning the basis of government formation and I will do that if I have the power to do so.
If there are people who want candidates to represent them, and those candidates in turn can form the government, why can't it be that way? Why do I have to get into this party business to get elected? What is worse is that we have so many parties that don't even get five percent of the votes? Perhaps the Election Commission should look at disbarring parties that get less than five percent of the votes.
What do you hope to achieve as a politician?
The thing I hope to achieve first is to take care of my constituency. It is sad that after all these years, Dharavi is still Dharavi. If people have the right to a house, they should have the right to the basic amenities. People in Dharavi are being provided with latrines but they lack the facilities to keep the latrines clean. The metropolis surrounding Dharavi has prospered, but not Dharavi.
Let me also very frankly make a statement. A lot of these NGOs (non-governmental organisations) have come to Dharavi and earned their reputation in Dharavi. But what have they done? They are perpetuating the poverty of Dharavi simply to keep themselves relevant. Why should a slum remain a slum? I want one NGO to come out and tell me that they have a plan to make Dharavi into a kind of cooperative housing society that exists elsewhere in Mumbai.
Anything else you want to say?
One thing I want to convey is that this country is being governed by 50-odd politicians for 50-odd years who are have crossed 50 many times over.
Independent India is being governed by those who were born when India was not free and whose thinking reflects that era, not the thinking of free India. I think it is time that we are now governed by younger politicians.
Source : http://www.rediff.com/election/2004/apr/22einter1.htm
Not surprisingly, Pandey was shunted out of Mumbai. A few years later Pandey, hailed as upright, chose to quit the police force and move to Delhi where he joined Tata Consultancy Services.
Currently, he runs a cyber security business in Delhi.
He is back in the news after announcing that he will contest the Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North Central constituency, which houses Dharavi, Asia's largest slum settlement. It is an area he had policed before.
In an interview to Deputy Managing Editor Amberish K Diwanji he explains why he has decided to join politics.
You graduated from IIT, Kanpur, and yet chose to join the police force. What motivated you to join the civil services?
This happened when well-known civil servant (M N) Buch visited our campus. He asked students about where they would like to be 10, 20 years later in terms of helping society. He gave an analogy of how a person can help society. He said if society is like a huge mass (weight), then to lift it we need a lever supported on a fulcrum. And he said how far from the fulcrum we are able to exert our weight on the lever will decide how much we can lift the mass. The further away you are, the more you can lift. Vice versa, the nearer you are, the more effort you need to lift.
Buch said workers are right next to the lever and hence need too much strength or too many people. Next come the engineers, who make road, machines and with their knowledge help lift society. Even better are teachers, who teach students who in turn go out and do positive things thus having a multiplier effect. Next come civil servants, those who implement policies for change to help society. And then come the politicians, those who make policies.
But the person who is at the end of the lever, who individually can lift huge sections of society, are visionaries such as Mahatma Gandhi. This is something I believe in.
I did not attend this lecture but I heard about it and it affected me a lot. I decided I wanted to do as much as I could so I decided to first join the civil service and now, politics. Also, when I was doing my computer science at IIT (the first batch, class of 1983) many of us were motivated to join the bureaucracy with the hope of helping society.
Do you in retrospect regret your decision to join the police and not take up engineering, especially since IT is doing well?
No, I don't. First, as an engineer, I feel you are way down in your contribution to society. Second, regarding the Indian situation, I don't think Indian software is doing anything related to software. I think [construction firm] Hiranandnani making houses for Indians is doing more than what the Indian software industry is doing.
There is not one software product that has developed out of this country for this country. No doubt, we are making money, but it is like torrential rainfall. Today there is outsourcing, tomorrow there is no outsourcing. Then what will happen to these firms that has employed thousands of people?
You quit the police force because of corruption among politicians. Yet now you want to become a part of this very set of politicians.
I'd like to make a very pertinent point. Corruption also happens because we have a system that allows such corruption to flourish. Our laws in India today are so outdated they breed corruption. Do you know that before you move a motor vehicle on the road, you have committed some offence? Read the Motor Vehicles Act and find out.
No one has made any attempt to reform these laws. So much so that many things that should not be considered part of corruption is now considered so.
Let me give you an example. When I was in the United States, I could fill up my taxes myself. But here despite the existence of Saral [direct tax payment], I still need a chartered accountant to fill up my taxes.
Let me also say something. Every corporation in this country evades taxes. I have my own small company. My accountant actually asks me whether I want to show profits or loss. The option is with the accountant to decide what result I want to show. Our antiquated laws and regulations promote corruption.
You were once a part of the Mumbai police force, which today has a commissioner of police and an additional commissioner of police, besides other senior officers in jail. Why did the situation come to such a pass?
Without sounding like I am defending my former colleagues let me say that corruption exists in all walks of life. Much worse corruption exists in other areas. I have now worked in the private sector and know that corrupt deals between the private sector and the government actually make our policies, all for the benefit of a few rather than society at large. The corruption in the police is merely a reflection of society. The police are corrupt, no doubt.
It has often been said that one way to save our police force, or bureaucrats, is to remove political interference. Do you agree?
I have been hearing this quite often and I am not so sure. When a person joins the civil service as a government servant he knows that the politician will be his master. That is the case in any democracy. So when I hear bureaucrats complain about political interference, I think it is nonsense. Which servant anywhere in the world is without a master?
Also if we don't have politicians as the master then we have to devise a whole new structure to control the government servants. The servants can't be the masters. In my case I knew this was the system that I had accepted and when I was unwilling to stay on I took the option I had of quitting service.
What motivated you to become a politician?
If you accept that there has to be a government, if the government controls the entire political system, you have to accept that the largest and biggest work happens only through the government. The private sector is so limited. Which major project are they handing, how many private sector employees are there…
But isn't too much government in too many places the problem with our country?
Give me an alternative. I don't think there is an alternative to government in this country. Today, we talk about the five metropolises that all the television stations cover. But go out of the metropolises, go out of Mumbai, and we still have bullock carts. That is the reality of this country. Which private sector is working to change all this?
I am not promoting the welfare state. It may not have done very well for the welfare of the people. In fact, huge corruption exists here. But the fact remains that the best and the biggest that you see are in the metropolitan cities.
So you don't believe that India is shining?
You saw the mess in Dharavi today. Where was the shine? The 90-feet (wide) road was so narrow (about 10 feet wide only). Where is India shining?
Which party are you planning to join?
The question, which party, bewilders me. The entire world believes that a candidate means a party. I don't quite subscribe to the view that the party comes before the candidate. The candidate comes before the party. Perhaps I am questioning the basis of government formation and I will do that if I have the power to do so.
If there are people who want candidates to represent them, and those candidates in turn can form the government, why can't it be that way? Why do I have to get into this party business to get elected? What is worse is that we have so many parties that don't even get five percent of the votes? Perhaps the Election Commission should look at disbarring parties that get less than five percent of the votes.
What do you hope to achieve as a politician?
The thing I hope to achieve first is to take care of my constituency. It is sad that after all these years, Dharavi is still Dharavi. If people have the right to a house, they should have the right to the basic amenities. People in Dharavi are being provided with latrines but they lack the facilities to keep the latrines clean. The metropolis surrounding Dharavi has prospered, but not Dharavi.
Let me also very frankly make a statement. A lot of these NGOs (non-governmental organisations) have come to Dharavi and earned their reputation in Dharavi. But what have they done? They are perpetuating the poverty of Dharavi simply to keep themselves relevant. Why should a slum remain a slum? I want one NGO to come out and tell me that they have a plan to make Dharavi into a kind of cooperative housing society that exists elsewhere in Mumbai.
Anything else you want to say?
One thing I want to convey is that this country is being governed by 50-odd politicians for 50-odd years who are have crossed 50 many times over.
Independent India is being governed by those who were born when India was not free and whose thinking reflects that era, not the thinking of free India. I think it is time that we are now governed by younger politicians.
Source : http://www.rediff.com/election/2004/apr/22einter1.htm
Friday, October 24, 2008
IAS officer absconding for 8 years gets fresh posting
TIMES NEWS NETWORK TOI Hyderabad Edition 24/10/2008
Hyderabad: Bureaucratic circles are agog over the sudden resurfacing of an IAS officer who has been absent without leave (AWOL) for almost a decade and as to how he managed a posting after that. Subhrendu Bhattacharya, an IAS officer of the 1976 batch, was among the 26 officers who were given new postings.
After being AWOL for about eight years, Bhattacharya was posted as commissioner of inquiries in the general administration department (GAD). Subhrendu first went on casual leave when he was posted as the MD of APIDC on August 1, 2000. He did not report for duty even after the expiry of the leave. Later, Mohammed Shaffiquzzaman, another IAS officer, succeeded him. Three months later, GAD wrote to Shafiquzzaman to report on Subhrendu’s whereabouts. “When the GAD is unaware of his whereabouts, how could it expect me to know,” Shafiquzzaman was said to have written back. It was common knowledge in the bureaucratic circles that Subhrendu was employed in the US.
The question that is being raised is that how can an all India services officer who was literally absconding for eight years be forgiven and given a posting. According to sources, Subhrendu informed the state about his absence only once in his eight years of absence. “When the media speculated as to whether he was alive or dead, he wrote to them last year stating that he was very much alive,” said one official.
The GAD maintains that there was nothing wrong in his posting. “An inquiry is on regarding his long absence without permission,” said a senior GAD official. Sources told TOI that orders for reinstating Subhrendu came from the highest quarters. How Subhrendu was able to convince the powers that be remains a mystery. The officer himself could not be contacted. Some of his colleagues said that he is in his hometown in Uttar Pradesh. They also revealed that the officer who had landed in India a couple of months ago was lobbying secretly so that he would be allowed to join back. On being asked the possible reason for the official to come back , one official said: “He has three years of service left. If he serves for that period he will get full retirement benefits.”
Hyderabad: Bureaucratic circles are agog over the sudden resurfacing of an IAS officer who has been absent without leave (AWOL) for almost a decade and as to how he managed a posting after that. Subhrendu Bhattacharya, an IAS officer of the 1976 batch, was among the 26 officers who were given new postings.
After being AWOL for about eight years, Bhattacharya was posted as commissioner of inquiries in the general administration department (GAD). Subhrendu first went on casual leave when he was posted as the MD of APIDC on August 1, 2000. He did not report for duty even after the expiry of the leave. Later, Mohammed Shaffiquzzaman, another IAS officer, succeeded him. Three months later, GAD wrote to Shafiquzzaman to report on Subhrendu’s whereabouts. “When the GAD is unaware of his whereabouts, how could it expect me to know,” Shafiquzzaman was said to have written back. It was common knowledge in the bureaucratic circles that Subhrendu was employed in the US.
The question that is being raised is that how can an all India services officer who was literally absconding for eight years be forgiven and given a posting. According to sources, Subhrendu informed the state about his absence only once in his eight years of absence. “When the media speculated as to whether he was alive or dead, he wrote to them last year stating that he was very much alive,” said one official.
The GAD maintains that there was nothing wrong in his posting. “An inquiry is on regarding his long absence without permission,” said a senior GAD official. Sources told TOI that orders for reinstating Subhrendu came from the highest quarters. How Subhrendu was able to convince the powers that be remains a mystery. The officer himself could not be contacted. Some of his colleagues said that he is in his hometown in Uttar Pradesh. They also revealed that the officer who had landed in India a couple of months ago was lobbying secretly so that he would be allowed to join back. On being asked the possible reason for the official to come back , one official said: “He has three years of service left. If he serves for that period he will get full retirement benefits.”
Interesting Facts
There are more Barbie dolls in Italy than there are Canadians in Canada.
It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create explosion that is equal to an atomic bomb.
To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs - it will let you go instantly.
In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.
Every continent begins and ends in the same letter.
Every continent has a city called Rome.
Two thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
Right handed people live on average nine years longer than left handed people do.
The sentence ‘the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’ uses every letter in the English language.
No president of the United States was an only child.
TYPEWRITER is one of the longest words that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.
If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
The word racecar and kayak are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.
A snail can sleep for 3 years.
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
China has more English speakers than the United States.
An average chocolate bar has 8 insects' legs in it.
An average human eats 8 spiders in their lifetime at night.
It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create explosion that is equal to an atomic bomb.
To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs - it will let you go instantly.
In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.
Every continent begins and ends in the same letter.
Every continent has a city called Rome.
Two thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
Right handed people live on average nine years longer than left handed people do.
The sentence ‘the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog’ uses every letter in the English language.
No president of the United States was an only child.
TYPEWRITER is one of the longest words that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.
If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
The word racecar and kayak are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.
A snail can sleep for 3 years.
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
China has more English speakers than the United States.
An average chocolate bar has 8 insects' legs in it.
An average human eats 8 spiders in their lifetime at night.
CROWNING CORRUPTION: PROMOTION TO IAS SMACKS OF MANIPULATION
Posted on August 11, 2006 by Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
If the judgment of the Supreme Court of India delivered on 04 August 2006 is not wrongly read, it would make it crystal clear that, the last promotion to Indian Administrative Service (IAS) from Orissa Administrative Service (OAS) cadre was guided not by principles in force but by extraneous considerations.
It is astonishing that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has shown uncommon agility in dropping any of his ministers on allegation of corruption, is yet to act against the corrupt coterie with the help of which the illegally promoted persons are still drawing the salary they are not entitled to and still enjoying the status they are not qualified for.
I do not think that Naveen Patnaik had any personal role in the promotion that has now been stamped as illegal finally by Supreme Court. But when the State does not rise in right response to observations of the Judiciary to correct the wrong it has perpetrated, he being the holder of the portfolio, who should explain the position?
Let us look at the position from the corridors of the Supreme Court.
Mr. J. P. Agrawal had gone there seeking nullification of an order of the High Court of Orissa. The Supreme Court refused even to admit the case.
Who is J.P.Agrawal?
He is Jagdish Prasad Agrawal, an OAS officer illegally elevated to IAS. In disapproving his promotion to IAS, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) had expressed concern over the use of administrative machinery to suppress vital facts about punishment awarded to him for misconduct in the memorandum prepared for the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC). The CAT action, on challenge, had been endorsed by the High Court.
But Agrawal was not the only one whose promotion to IAS smacks of manipulation. We may look into the matter to have a cursory view of how corrupt have become the higher echelon of Orissa bureaucracy.
In 2002 eight officers of OAS were selected to IAS. But the most suitable officers were discarded in favor of the deficient ones.
This was challenged by Shri Aswini Kumar Das, presently the Collector of Puri and Shri Pramod Chandra Patnaik, Collector of Nuapada before the Central Administrative Tribunal in O.A. No.2/2004.
The crux of their allegations was that these Officers were promoted to the I.A.S. without evaluation of their suitability on the matrix of their complete Service Records and notwithstanding the adverse entries in their Confidential Character Rolls (C.C.R.) and the punishments imposed through disciplinary proceedings. It was specifically alleged that Shri J.P.Agrawal and Shri Satyananda Sethi had got punishment in disciplinary proceedings, but this fact was suppressed. Similarly, when there was a question mark on the integrity of one officer and such adverse entry was not counter balanced by the prescribed authority i.e. the Chief Secretary, he was also selected. Shri Balakrishna Sahu having adverse entry in the C.C.R. and having been superseded in promotion to Senior Class-I and later to Joint Secretary rank, also got selected whereas the two petitioners, Mr. Das and Mr. Patnaik, having unblemished Service Records and �Outstanding� grading for continuous five years were discarded.
Baffling it is that on consideration of the same bunch of C.C.Rs i.e. from 1996-97 to 2000-2001 Mr. Patnaik, who, having continuous Outstanding remarks therein, had superseded others in promotion to the rank of Additional Secretary, was rejected for promotion to I.A.S.whereas the superseded officers bagged the promotion.
Out of the eight officers selected to I.A.S., only three officers had outstanding CCRs for five years and the rest five had no such distinction though one of these five, Raj Kishor Jena, who got the promotion had acquired outstanding remarks only for three months. It is surprising that these five officers have superseded Das and Patnaik who have been continuously placed in outstanding grade for five years and have always been considered unblemished.
On being apprised of this, and on the basis of documented pleadings, the CAT concluded in O.A. No.1255/2003 that the punishments inflicted on Shri J.P.Agrawal did not find place in the A.C.R. folder, as a result of which the Selection Committee did not get opportunity to be aware of such blemishes against any recommended persons. Mentioning about �startling facts� that revealed in course of hearing how some of the selected Officers did not enjoy blemishless career, the CAT had underlined that the Officers to be selected to I.A.S. should be beyond suspicion like the Ceasar’s wife. And, for this, the Selection Committee should review the C.C.Rs of at least eight years instead of five. But, if an Officer is graded as �Outstanding�, his entire service career should be scanned to ensure that his categorization as �Outstanding� can never be questioned on the ground that in the past he did not enjoy blemishless service records. Therefore, the whole selection List was quashed and a review meeting was ordered for.
This order was appealed before the Orissa High Court by Shri Jagdish Prasad Agrawal in W.P. No.13445/2005 and Shri K.C.Mohapatra in W.P. No.13153/2004. A Bench consisting of the Chief Justice and Justice Madan Mohan Das upheld the above judgment of the Tribunal with a modification to the extent that the Selection Committee should see the C.C.Rs of Officers for past five years instead of eight. They relied on the judgment of the Supreme Court in the matter of Shri R.K.Das Vrs. Union of India (AIR 1987 SC(593), in which it has been stated that the Committee has to categorize the members of State services on the basis of entries available in their Character Rolls and thereafter to arrange their names in the proposed List in accordance with the principles laid down in Regulation 05. This was mandated to eliminate every possible scope for discrimination through application of different standard or criteria at different times for preparing the List.
Mr. Agrawal had gone against this Order of Orissa High Court.
After refusal of the Supreme Court to interfere with the Verdict of the Orissa High Court, it has been crystal clear that when the eight OAS officers were selected to IAS in 2002, the State Secretariat had been transformed into a breeding place of favoritism and clientelism and the selection was made in stark disregard to administrative impartialism.
As I look back, P.K.Mohanty, the then Chief Secretary, Srinibas Rath, the then Development Commissioner and Arun Kumar Panda, the then R.D.C.- all from Orissa and Gurbachan Singh, Member of U.P.S.C. assisted by Union Joint Secretary S.Jagadeesham comprised the Committee.
They were the senior most members of the bureaucracy. How could they prefer evidently deficient officers to the officers who had been graded �outstanding� for continuous five years in their transparently blemish less service careers? They cannot say that they had not violated administrative acuity in order to select the unsuitable persons they selected. Now they should be asked to say as to why did they do it.
Had they gone through the list of Officers under the Zone of Consideration, Mr. Aswini K. Das and Mr. Promod Chandra Patnaik, the two most suitable officers, I am sure, would never have been discarded. But they did not do it. The Orissa officers did not help the U.P.S.C. and the Union Government in evaluating the suitability of the Officers concerned.
After the CAT verdict the State Government had known that a wrong has been done. It was the duty of the State Government to take correctional steps. But it did not act in that respect. Mohanty, relinquishing the Chief Secretary post has been awarded with the more coveted post of Chairman of Orissa Public Service Commission.
But the two most brilliant and outstanding officers are languishing in the State service cadre whereas the State Exchequer is being exploited for paying them the salary packages applicable to a cadre to which their illegal entrance has been declared null and void.
The State is under Peoples� Representatives. Hence the authority above the Chief Secretary is the Chief Minister. If he has not compelled the Chief Secretary ( P.K.Mohanty as then he was) and his team in the Committee to supersede the most suitable officers by the tainted ones, in this case, he must take steps to punish this fellow for having corrupted administration as discussed above. Steps need be taken to determine the corrupt practices resorted to by each of the members in the concerned Committees in suppressing vital facts and in sloughing over the guiding laws.
The Constitution of India has created Public Service Commissions for only one purpose. That is elimination of favoritism in selection of Union or State Service Officers.
Any violation of this purpose is an offense against the Constitution.
Hence I expect the Chief Minister to understand that it is his duty to bring every offender in the instant case to books as an example of responsible parliamentary rule, and most importantly as a deterrent to any such manipulations in future.
Source Link http://orissamatters.com/2006/08/11/crowning-corruption/
If the judgment of the Supreme Court of India delivered on 04 August 2006 is not wrongly read, it would make it crystal clear that, the last promotion to Indian Administrative Service (IAS) from Orissa Administrative Service (OAS) cadre was guided not by principles in force but by extraneous considerations.
It is astonishing that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has shown uncommon agility in dropping any of his ministers on allegation of corruption, is yet to act against the corrupt coterie with the help of which the illegally promoted persons are still drawing the salary they are not entitled to and still enjoying the status they are not qualified for.
I do not think that Naveen Patnaik had any personal role in the promotion that has now been stamped as illegal finally by Supreme Court. But when the State does not rise in right response to observations of the Judiciary to correct the wrong it has perpetrated, he being the holder of the portfolio, who should explain the position?
Let us look at the position from the corridors of the Supreme Court.
Mr. J. P. Agrawal had gone there seeking nullification of an order of the High Court of Orissa. The Supreme Court refused even to admit the case.
Who is J.P.Agrawal?
He is Jagdish Prasad Agrawal, an OAS officer illegally elevated to IAS. In disapproving his promotion to IAS, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) had expressed concern over the use of administrative machinery to suppress vital facts about punishment awarded to him for misconduct in the memorandum prepared for the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC). The CAT action, on challenge, had been endorsed by the High Court.
But Agrawal was not the only one whose promotion to IAS smacks of manipulation. We may look into the matter to have a cursory view of how corrupt have become the higher echelon of Orissa bureaucracy.
In 2002 eight officers of OAS were selected to IAS. But the most suitable officers were discarded in favor of the deficient ones.
This was challenged by Shri Aswini Kumar Das, presently the Collector of Puri and Shri Pramod Chandra Patnaik, Collector of Nuapada before the Central Administrative Tribunal in O.A. No.2/2004.
The crux of their allegations was that these Officers were promoted to the I.A.S. without evaluation of their suitability on the matrix of their complete Service Records and notwithstanding the adverse entries in their Confidential Character Rolls (C.C.R.) and the punishments imposed through disciplinary proceedings. It was specifically alleged that Shri J.P.Agrawal and Shri Satyananda Sethi had got punishment in disciplinary proceedings, but this fact was suppressed. Similarly, when there was a question mark on the integrity of one officer and such adverse entry was not counter balanced by the prescribed authority i.e. the Chief Secretary, he was also selected. Shri Balakrishna Sahu having adverse entry in the C.C.R. and having been superseded in promotion to Senior Class-I and later to Joint Secretary rank, also got selected whereas the two petitioners, Mr. Das and Mr. Patnaik, having unblemished Service Records and �Outstanding� grading for continuous five years were discarded.
Baffling it is that on consideration of the same bunch of C.C.Rs i.e. from 1996-97 to 2000-2001 Mr. Patnaik, who, having continuous Outstanding remarks therein, had superseded others in promotion to the rank of Additional Secretary, was rejected for promotion to I.A.S.whereas the superseded officers bagged the promotion.
Out of the eight officers selected to I.A.S., only three officers had outstanding CCRs for five years and the rest five had no such distinction though one of these five, Raj Kishor Jena, who got the promotion had acquired outstanding remarks only for three months. It is surprising that these five officers have superseded Das and Patnaik who have been continuously placed in outstanding grade for five years and have always been considered unblemished.
On being apprised of this, and on the basis of documented pleadings, the CAT concluded in O.A. No.1255/2003 that the punishments inflicted on Shri J.P.Agrawal did not find place in the A.C.R. folder, as a result of which the Selection Committee did not get opportunity to be aware of such blemishes against any recommended persons. Mentioning about �startling facts� that revealed in course of hearing how some of the selected Officers did not enjoy blemishless career, the CAT had underlined that the Officers to be selected to I.A.S. should be beyond suspicion like the Ceasar’s wife. And, for this, the Selection Committee should review the C.C.Rs of at least eight years instead of five. But, if an Officer is graded as �Outstanding�, his entire service career should be scanned to ensure that his categorization as �Outstanding� can never be questioned on the ground that in the past he did not enjoy blemishless service records. Therefore, the whole selection List was quashed and a review meeting was ordered for.
This order was appealed before the Orissa High Court by Shri Jagdish Prasad Agrawal in W.P. No.13445/2005 and Shri K.C.Mohapatra in W.P. No.13153/2004. A Bench consisting of the Chief Justice and Justice Madan Mohan Das upheld the above judgment of the Tribunal with a modification to the extent that the Selection Committee should see the C.C.Rs of Officers for past five years instead of eight. They relied on the judgment of the Supreme Court in the matter of Shri R.K.Das Vrs. Union of India (AIR 1987 SC(593), in which it has been stated that the Committee has to categorize the members of State services on the basis of entries available in their Character Rolls and thereafter to arrange their names in the proposed List in accordance with the principles laid down in Regulation 05. This was mandated to eliminate every possible scope for discrimination through application of different standard or criteria at different times for preparing the List.
Mr. Agrawal had gone against this Order of Orissa High Court.
After refusal of the Supreme Court to interfere with the Verdict of the Orissa High Court, it has been crystal clear that when the eight OAS officers were selected to IAS in 2002, the State Secretariat had been transformed into a breeding place of favoritism and clientelism and the selection was made in stark disregard to administrative impartialism.
As I look back, P.K.Mohanty, the then Chief Secretary, Srinibas Rath, the then Development Commissioner and Arun Kumar Panda, the then R.D.C.- all from Orissa and Gurbachan Singh, Member of U.P.S.C. assisted by Union Joint Secretary S.Jagadeesham comprised the Committee.
They were the senior most members of the bureaucracy. How could they prefer evidently deficient officers to the officers who had been graded �outstanding� for continuous five years in their transparently blemish less service careers? They cannot say that they had not violated administrative acuity in order to select the unsuitable persons they selected. Now they should be asked to say as to why did they do it.
Had they gone through the list of Officers under the Zone of Consideration, Mr. Aswini K. Das and Mr. Promod Chandra Patnaik, the two most suitable officers, I am sure, would never have been discarded. But they did not do it. The Orissa officers did not help the U.P.S.C. and the Union Government in evaluating the suitability of the Officers concerned.
After the CAT verdict the State Government had known that a wrong has been done. It was the duty of the State Government to take correctional steps. But it did not act in that respect. Mohanty, relinquishing the Chief Secretary post has been awarded with the more coveted post of Chairman of Orissa Public Service Commission.
But the two most brilliant and outstanding officers are languishing in the State service cadre whereas the State Exchequer is being exploited for paying them the salary packages applicable to a cadre to which their illegal entrance has been declared null and void.
The State is under Peoples� Representatives. Hence the authority above the Chief Secretary is the Chief Minister. If he has not compelled the Chief Secretary ( P.K.Mohanty as then he was) and his team in the Committee to supersede the most suitable officers by the tainted ones, in this case, he must take steps to punish this fellow for having corrupted administration as discussed above. Steps need be taken to determine the corrupt practices resorted to by each of the members in the concerned Committees in suppressing vital facts and in sloughing over the guiding laws.
The Constitution of India has created Public Service Commissions for only one purpose. That is elimination of favoritism in selection of Union or State Service Officers.
Any violation of this purpose is an offense against the Constitution.
Hence I expect the Chief Minister to understand that it is his duty to bring every offender in the instant case to books as an example of responsible parliamentary rule, and most importantly as a deterrent to any such manipulations in future.
Source Link http://orissamatters.com/2006/08/11/crowning-corruption/
Orissa suspends IAS officer on corruption charges
" 'Samantray, a 1994 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service, has a house in Bhubaneswar worth over Rs.10 million,' Patnaik said."
Bhubaneswar, Aug 13 - The Orissa government has suspended an Indian Administrative Service - officer for allegedly having wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, official sources said Wednesday.
Vigilance department officials raided the residence and office premises of Himansu Sekhar Samantray, managing director of the state run Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation, July 27.
'During investigation we found he possessed cash and properties worth more than Rs.20 million - an amount he could not have earned from his job,' vigilance cell police superintendent Debadutta Patnaik said.
He has been placed under suspension after the vigilance department registered a case against him Tuesday after prima facie evidence showed his involvement in embezzlement of government money, an official of the state general administration department told IANS.
'Samantray, a 1994 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service, has a house in Bhubaneswar worth over Rs.10 million,' Patnaik said.
'We also discovered that he has two other houses in his home district Mayurbhanj, each worth about RS.2.2 million. He also has other properties, cash and gold ornaments.' He added.
Source Link | http://www.nerve.in/news:253500156416
Bhubaneswar, Aug 13 - The Orissa government has suspended an Indian Administrative Service - officer for allegedly having wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, official sources said Wednesday.
Vigilance department officials raided the residence and office premises of Himansu Sekhar Samantray, managing director of the state run Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation, July 27.
'During investigation we found he possessed cash and properties worth more than Rs.20 million - an amount he could not have earned from his job,' vigilance cell police superintendent Debadutta Patnaik said.
He has been placed under suspension after the vigilance department registered a case against him Tuesday after prima facie evidence showed his involvement in embezzlement of government money, an official of the state general administration department told IANS.
'Samantray, a 1994 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service, has a house in Bhubaneswar worth over Rs.10 million,' Patnaik said.
'We also discovered that he has two other houses in his home district Mayurbhanj, each worth about RS.2.2 million. He also has other properties, cash and gold ornaments.' He added.
Source Link | http://www.nerve.in/news:253500156416
IAS officer being probed for corruption in Himachal
Shimla, Aug 12 (IANS) IAS officer Subhash Ahluwalia, ex-aide to former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virabhadra Singh, has been asked to surrender his passport to the state vigilance bureau that is probing a disproportionate assets case against him, an official said here Tuesday. Ahluwalia was Monday summoned by the bureau to its office here and interrogated for over an hour about his assets and bank transactions. The bureaucrat failed to satisfy the bureau regarding his bank accounts worth Rs.13.40 million, a vigilance bureau official said.
“He will be summoned again in a few days,” the official said.
Ahluwalia was asked to surrender his passport to the bureau and agreed to do so by Thursday. The IAS officer’s wife Meera is also under the scanner of the vigilance team.
Meera was accused of going on foreign jaunts at the expense of a private company, which is setting up a cement plant in the hill state.
During the previous government, Ahluwalia was private secretary to the chief minister for over four years.
Source Link http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/ias-officer-being-probed-for-corruption-in-himachal_10082974.html
“He will be summoned again in a few days,” the official said.
Ahluwalia was asked to surrender his passport to the bureau and agreed to do so by Thursday. The IAS officer’s wife Meera is also under the scanner of the vigilance team.
Meera was accused of going on foreign jaunts at the expense of a private company, which is setting up a cement plant in the hill state.
During the previous government, Ahluwalia was private secretary to the chief minister for over four years.
Source Link http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/ias-officer-being-probed-for-corruption-in-himachal_10082974.html
'He was voted the most corrupt IAS official in UP'
"It is his nemesis," observed former top-cop Prakash Singh, speaking about the arrest of former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Akhand Pratap Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The retired police officer -- who has served as UP's police chief as well as the chief of the Border Security Force -- is widely known for his forthrightness. Singh added that such punitive action should be taken against corrupt bureaucrats while they are still in office.
Akhand Pratap Singh was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation for allegedly amassing wealth disproportionate to his known and legitimate sources of income.
Vijay Shankar Pandey, a 1979 batch UP cadre IAS officer who spearheaded the first ever in-house anti-corruption campaign in the country, welcomed the CBI move.
"It is a welcome move and it will send the right message to all those who think that they can get away with murder," said Pandey. "Deterrence is the only way to curb corruption in high positions. The former chief secretary's arrest will compel the corrupt to think ten times before indulging in illegitimate practices," he added.
Retired Union government secretary R C Tripathi also hailed the CBI's decision to arrest Singh. "Such a person should not be granted bail," he said.
"I only hope that this works as a deterrent for those who start indulging in corrupt practices from day one in service," observed George Joseph, a retired top bureaucrat.
A 1967 batch IAS officer, Singh earned the dubious distinction of being the "most corrupt" IAS officer in UP when an IAS Action Group, led by Pandey, undertook a unique secret ballot to elect the three most corrupt IAS officers in the state in 1997. Singh garnered the maximum number of votes.
CBI officials had carried out simultaneous raids on various premises owned by Singh and his immediate family members on March 21, 2005. Singh allegedly owns as many as 42 properties worth a whopping Rs 120 crore.
According to a CBI source, "Singh had gold-plated taps in his bungalows in various cities across the country." With the help of his son-in-law, a senior official in the Income Tax Department, Singh allegedly fudged tax returns and even forged documents to cover up his corrupt ways.
Thanks to his influence and money power, Singh managed to evade arrest for over two years, even though the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had turned down his plea for a stay against his arrest.
Source Link http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/sep/25up1.htm
The retired police officer -- who has served as UP's police chief as well as the chief of the Border Security Force -- is widely known for his forthrightness. Singh added that such punitive action should be taken against corrupt bureaucrats while they are still in office.
Akhand Pratap Singh was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation for allegedly amassing wealth disproportionate to his known and legitimate sources of income.
Vijay Shankar Pandey, a 1979 batch UP cadre IAS officer who spearheaded the first ever in-house anti-corruption campaign in the country, welcomed the CBI move.
"It is a welcome move and it will send the right message to all those who think that they can get away with murder," said Pandey. "Deterrence is the only way to curb corruption in high positions. The former chief secretary's arrest will compel the corrupt to think ten times before indulging in illegitimate practices," he added.
Retired Union government secretary R C Tripathi also hailed the CBI's decision to arrest Singh. "Such a person should not be granted bail," he said.
"I only hope that this works as a deterrent for those who start indulging in corrupt practices from day one in service," observed George Joseph, a retired top bureaucrat.
A 1967 batch IAS officer, Singh earned the dubious distinction of being the "most corrupt" IAS officer in UP when an IAS Action Group, led by Pandey, undertook a unique secret ballot to elect the three most corrupt IAS officers in the state in 1997. Singh garnered the maximum number of votes.
CBI officials had carried out simultaneous raids on various premises owned by Singh and his immediate family members on March 21, 2005. Singh allegedly owns as many as 42 properties worth a whopping Rs 120 crore.
According to a CBI source, "Singh had gold-plated taps in his bungalows in various cities across the country." With the help of his son-in-law, a senior official in the Income Tax Department, Singh allegedly fudged tax returns and even forged documents to cover up his corrupt ways.
Thanks to his influence and money power, Singh managed to evade arrest for over two years, even though the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had turned down his plea for a stay against his arrest.
Source Link http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/sep/25up1.htm
DESPICABLE CORRUPTION IN THE I.A.S. AND OTHER SERVICES
Dr.V.S.Gopalakrishnan Ph.D., IAS Retd.
This is not the first time I am writing about corruption in the Government including in the I.A.S. (Indian Administrative Service). While I have got any number of my articles on various subjects printed in various national newspapers and prestigious journals over the last four decades, I have sorely failed in getting any of my articles on corruption accepted by any newspaper or journal so far. Not that these articles had been bad but what puzzles me is whether there are any editorial policies in this matter. Of course, you see screeching headlines in the dailies everyday about someone getting caught while taking a bribe. Such news is “sensational” whereas policy discussions on corruption are perhaps considered boring and useless. There is perhaps a cynical view in the air that corruption is a tacitly accepted way of life in India and that no real reform here is possible! Remember Indira Gandhi’s justification that “corruption is a world-wide phenomenon”?
I joined the I.A.S. in 1962. Really speaking, as a good physics student in college, I wanted to do further studies at Stanford or M.I.T. My earlier adolescent ambition was to work with Walt Disney as I made good cartoons ! However, my grand-father wanted me to join the I.A.S. as he himself was a Government official. (In those days, it is said, every Tamil Brahmin who joined the I.A.S. did so because his mother wanted it !) Anyway, as a youngster, I was fascinated by Nehru, the PM. I used to skip college to catch a glimpse of him coming in an open jeep out of the gates of the Meenambakkam airport. I adored him for his lovely pink face exuding a childish charm, and for all the brave deeds and sacrifice he had done for the country. Nehru was surely an incentive for me to take up the I.A.S. exams. Before going to Mussoorie for my training I had a thrilling darshan of him during his morning public darbar. I was proud to enter the I.A.S. to serve the nation with integrity and dedication. Also I.A.S. gave you a special status and your ego gladly accepted it !
The I.C.S.officials who preceded us were not our examples. We admired their erudition and that was all. They got much fatter salaries and served the British interests before Independence . They were generally financially not corrupt as per my understanding. Many of them perhaps would have gladly accepted crates of imported whisky as gifts. The East India Company officials were a different story, and were great avatars of corruption.
When I joined service in 1962, the I.A.S. had generally a clean reputation. There was all round talk of “development” and the raising of the standards of life in rural India in particular. The political leaders had stature unlike most of them today. The Nehru era was generally unknown for corruption, and we should not bring in the odd cases to demolish Nehru. The turning point was perhaps Indira Gandhi’s regime. Corruption became the order of the day in political life and this percolated to the governmental functionaries. It has ever been a downward slope since then and the worst is being witnessed today irrespective of leaders and parties.
Four simple prescriptions are universally prescribed to curb corruption: (1) Make laws simpler (2) Make procedures transparent (3) Take away discretionary powers, and (4) Prescribe time limits to prevent delays that happen with corrupt motives. I do not think there is any governmental report that shows the progress in these areas, say in the last 15 years since our “reforms”. We are left to draw our own conclusions. Very little has been done in terms of simplification of laws. There may be a little more transparency now, especially with the RTI Act. I don’t think that discretionary powers have been handled in an integrated way. Delays are still rampant although in some specific areas time-limits are introduced. To sum up, the four prescriptions are like a scrap of paper and would seem merely theoretical in our context.
In fact, today, the “reduction of corruption” as a goal has vanished from the agendas of political parties, and also from the agendas of governmental agencies. In the present euphoria of “ India shining”, corruption has taken a very back seat if not forgotten altogether as an evil to be tackled. In a booming economy, it is presumed by everyone that money has to change hands, legally or illegally ! This is terrible ! Political leaders and civil servants are stockpiling illegal wealth from bribes, totally greed-based and not just need-based. There is no way to know if money goes to a party or a politician. As regards civil servants, they shore up their nests to last several generations. In India , we are used to thinking of the family unlike in the West where the unit in society has become rather the individual. So, our Indian babus greedily collect wealth to be of use to hordes of children and their families, grand children and their families, great grand children and their families and further future generations !
From my long tenure in government, I can say that as of today, the most criminally corrupt officials hail from the Customs Department and Income Tax Department. I was in charge of a Free Trade Zone more than two decades back. Very low officials like Appraisers and Inspectors of the Customs Department working in my office were having personally the newly fashionable Maruti cars! Today, there is a ‘prescribed rate’ for each kind of Customs procedure and every low official pockets thousands of rupees every day. At higher echelons, the monthly bribe income runs into lakhs. This day-light robbery is smoothly carried out even today like the working of an assembly line ! In the Income Tax Department, even a low official reckons only a “Peti” for compromising a corporate case. A Peti is a lakh of rupees ! The bigger officials behave like feudal lords and they are crorepathis! There are however a handful of relatively honest souls but they can do pretty little about the muck around them. They are frustrated and often jealous of the bad apples, but their consolation prize is ‘a good conscience’. Departments like Excise, Sales tax, Revenue, Police etc come further down in the pecking order. No President, no Governor, no Chief Minister or a Central Minister, no person of power and authority, is saying anything or doing anything about all this nonsense. The only thing we see is that when an aggrieved person lodges a complaint, the ACB (Anti Corruption Bureau) organizes action to catch the babu taking money, red-handed. Such complaints are few since this can lead to future harassment. Also, the confiscated cash taken as bribe goes into a “toshkhana” for custody during the court’s proceedings and the poor customer has to forget this money for some years!
I have informally sat with and interacted with officials such as Mr.Julio Rebeiro, Mr.Satish Sahney and many other men of integrity in service, and with my own inputs, I believe that perhaps the following actions alone can help reduce corruption vastly in the I.A.S. and other services:
(1) In the case of ACB catching an official red-handed, he should be simply dismissed from service under the provisions of Art. 311 (2) (b) and (c), and Art.311 (3) of the Constitution. His properties, investments and part of his cash should be temporarily attached till criminal proceedings are over. The Article should be amended if necessary to provide for quick dismissal in such cases.
Unfortunately, today, there is too much protection to government officials and they cannot be dismissed quickly even when caught red-handed. At the most he is suspended. The criminal proceedings go on for years. Till then the departmental enquiry cannot be finalized. So he will merrily get 75% of his salary regularly without doing any work.
(2) There should be a physical verification of property, investments and cash of a small percentage of officials of each grade at random every year. This will put the fear of God ( ?) in every official. The selection of officials will be done by drawing random numbers.
Today what is happening is that every official files his “annual property return” with his Department. These returns are never looked into and are simply filed. This is dead waste. Physical verification of the property mentioned in the returns at random every year will definitely curb rampant corruption.
(3) I know the names of at least a dozen super-corrupt I.A.S. officials who are now multi-crore pathis. In fact this is common knowledge to most I.A.S. officers. Do not ask for direct evidence and I cannot give any! Corruption is a clandestine affair. However, the wind has ears and news spreads unerringly. Yet, none does anything about these super-corrupt officials. They have purchased the top politicians. And it is also vice versa ! So how does one handle this matter to mete out justice to the fellows who are roaming around with total immunity?
Personally, I would find it unpleasant and imprudent to reveal these names for many reasons. I do not like to invite trouble by pointing out to another man in the existing atmosphere. I am happy to be personally free from corruption and that is all. There is a rider ! I do not mind conveying the names to the President of India provided my anonymity is maintained. I wish Mr.Kalam was still there. Anyway, if the Central Government can officially provide a mechanism like this, some honest officials will come forward with names. It is significant that in Uttar Pradesh, there is annual voting by all I.A.S. officers to name the most corrupt I.A.S. officials ! What follow-up action follows officially is not known to me. At least the black sheep are publicized, though they may be shameless and thick-skinned. The recent action against Mrs. Neera Yadav of the U.P. cadre of I.A.S. does not seem to essentially follow the voting results for corrupt I.A.S. officials !
(4) While the “marked currency notes” may lie in the toshkhana for months/years pending prosecution in cases where the ACB had done an arrest red-handed, based on a complaint, the complainant should be paid at once in cash an equal amount from the government funds. A special budget provision for this purpose should be introduced. This will remove the hesitation in filing complaints by those who do not want to see their money unnecessarily locked up for years.
There are many other suggestions, less impactful in nature, that I can enumerate but let me wind this article here.
I am only afraid that when there is no political will to reform corruption, all the above is just empty litany.
Source Link http://v-s-gopal.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/10/despicable-corruption-in-the-i-a-s-and-other-services.htm
This is not the first time I am writing about corruption in the Government including in the I.A.S. (Indian Administrative Service). While I have got any number of my articles on various subjects printed in various national newspapers and prestigious journals over the last four decades, I have sorely failed in getting any of my articles on corruption accepted by any newspaper or journal so far. Not that these articles had been bad but what puzzles me is whether there are any editorial policies in this matter. Of course, you see screeching headlines in the dailies everyday about someone getting caught while taking a bribe. Such news is “sensational” whereas policy discussions on corruption are perhaps considered boring and useless. There is perhaps a cynical view in the air that corruption is a tacitly accepted way of life in India and that no real reform here is possible! Remember Indira Gandhi’s justification that “corruption is a world-wide phenomenon”?
I joined the I.A.S. in 1962. Really speaking, as a good physics student in college, I wanted to do further studies at Stanford or M.I.T. My earlier adolescent ambition was to work with Walt Disney as I made good cartoons ! However, my grand-father wanted me to join the I.A.S. as he himself was a Government official. (In those days, it is said, every Tamil Brahmin who joined the I.A.S. did so because his mother wanted it !) Anyway, as a youngster, I was fascinated by Nehru, the PM. I used to skip college to catch a glimpse of him coming in an open jeep out of the gates of the Meenambakkam airport. I adored him for his lovely pink face exuding a childish charm, and for all the brave deeds and sacrifice he had done for the country. Nehru was surely an incentive for me to take up the I.A.S. exams. Before going to Mussoorie for my training I had a thrilling darshan of him during his morning public darbar. I was proud to enter the I.A.S. to serve the nation with integrity and dedication. Also I.A.S. gave you a special status and your ego gladly accepted it !
The I.C.S.officials who preceded us were not our examples. We admired their erudition and that was all. They got much fatter salaries and served the British interests before Independence . They were generally financially not corrupt as per my understanding. Many of them perhaps would have gladly accepted crates of imported whisky as gifts. The East India Company officials were a different story, and were great avatars of corruption.
When I joined service in 1962, the I.A.S. had generally a clean reputation. There was all round talk of “development” and the raising of the standards of life in rural India in particular. The political leaders had stature unlike most of them today. The Nehru era was generally unknown for corruption, and we should not bring in the odd cases to demolish Nehru. The turning point was perhaps Indira Gandhi’s regime. Corruption became the order of the day in political life and this percolated to the governmental functionaries. It has ever been a downward slope since then and the worst is being witnessed today irrespective of leaders and parties.
Four simple prescriptions are universally prescribed to curb corruption: (1) Make laws simpler (2) Make procedures transparent (3) Take away discretionary powers, and (4) Prescribe time limits to prevent delays that happen with corrupt motives. I do not think there is any governmental report that shows the progress in these areas, say in the last 15 years since our “reforms”. We are left to draw our own conclusions. Very little has been done in terms of simplification of laws. There may be a little more transparency now, especially with the RTI Act. I don’t think that discretionary powers have been handled in an integrated way. Delays are still rampant although in some specific areas time-limits are introduced. To sum up, the four prescriptions are like a scrap of paper and would seem merely theoretical in our context.
In fact, today, the “reduction of corruption” as a goal has vanished from the agendas of political parties, and also from the agendas of governmental agencies. In the present euphoria of “ India shining”, corruption has taken a very back seat if not forgotten altogether as an evil to be tackled. In a booming economy, it is presumed by everyone that money has to change hands, legally or illegally ! This is terrible ! Political leaders and civil servants are stockpiling illegal wealth from bribes, totally greed-based and not just need-based. There is no way to know if money goes to a party or a politician. As regards civil servants, they shore up their nests to last several generations. In India , we are used to thinking of the family unlike in the West where the unit in society has become rather the individual. So, our Indian babus greedily collect wealth to be of use to hordes of children and their families, grand children and their families, great grand children and their families and further future generations !
From my long tenure in government, I can say that as of today, the most criminally corrupt officials hail from the Customs Department and Income Tax Department. I was in charge of a Free Trade Zone more than two decades back. Very low officials like Appraisers and Inspectors of the Customs Department working in my office were having personally the newly fashionable Maruti cars! Today, there is a ‘prescribed rate’ for each kind of Customs procedure and every low official pockets thousands of rupees every day. At higher echelons, the monthly bribe income runs into lakhs. This day-light robbery is smoothly carried out even today like the working of an assembly line ! In the Income Tax Department, even a low official reckons only a “Peti” for compromising a corporate case. A Peti is a lakh of rupees ! The bigger officials behave like feudal lords and they are crorepathis! There are however a handful of relatively honest souls but they can do pretty little about the muck around them. They are frustrated and often jealous of the bad apples, but their consolation prize is ‘a good conscience’. Departments like Excise, Sales tax, Revenue, Police etc come further down in the pecking order. No President, no Governor, no Chief Minister or a Central Minister, no person of power and authority, is saying anything or doing anything about all this nonsense. The only thing we see is that when an aggrieved person lodges a complaint, the ACB (Anti Corruption Bureau) organizes action to catch the babu taking money, red-handed. Such complaints are few since this can lead to future harassment. Also, the confiscated cash taken as bribe goes into a “toshkhana” for custody during the court’s proceedings and the poor customer has to forget this money for some years!
I have informally sat with and interacted with officials such as Mr.Julio Rebeiro, Mr.Satish Sahney and many other men of integrity in service, and with my own inputs, I believe that perhaps the following actions alone can help reduce corruption vastly in the I.A.S. and other services:
(1) In the case of ACB catching an official red-handed, he should be simply dismissed from service under the provisions of Art. 311 (2) (b) and (c), and Art.311 (3) of the Constitution. His properties, investments and part of his cash should be temporarily attached till criminal proceedings are over. The Article should be amended if necessary to provide for quick dismissal in such cases.
Unfortunately, today, there is too much protection to government officials and they cannot be dismissed quickly even when caught red-handed. At the most he is suspended. The criminal proceedings go on for years. Till then the departmental enquiry cannot be finalized. So he will merrily get 75% of his salary regularly without doing any work.
(2) There should be a physical verification of property, investments and cash of a small percentage of officials of each grade at random every year. This will put the fear of God ( ?) in every official. The selection of officials will be done by drawing random numbers.
Today what is happening is that every official files his “annual property return” with his Department. These returns are never looked into and are simply filed. This is dead waste. Physical verification of the property mentioned in the returns at random every year will definitely curb rampant corruption.
(3) I know the names of at least a dozen super-corrupt I.A.S. officials who are now multi-crore pathis. In fact this is common knowledge to most I.A.S. officers. Do not ask for direct evidence and I cannot give any! Corruption is a clandestine affair. However, the wind has ears and news spreads unerringly. Yet, none does anything about these super-corrupt officials. They have purchased the top politicians. And it is also vice versa ! So how does one handle this matter to mete out justice to the fellows who are roaming around with total immunity?
Personally, I would find it unpleasant and imprudent to reveal these names for many reasons. I do not like to invite trouble by pointing out to another man in the existing atmosphere. I am happy to be personally free from corruption and that is all. There is a rider ! I do not mind conveying the names to the President of India provided my anonymity is maintained. I wish Mr.Kalam was still there. Anyway, if the Central Government can officially provide a mechanism like this, some honest officials will come forward with names. It is significant that in Uttar Pradesh, there is annual voting by all I.A.S. officers to name the most corrupt I.A.S. officials ! What follow-up action follows officially is not known to me. At least the black sheep are publicized, though they may be shameless and thick-skinned. The recent action against Mrs. Neera Yadav of the U.P. cadre of I.A.S. does not seem to essentially follow the voting results for corrupt I.A.S. officials !
(4) While the “marked currency notes” may lie in the toshkhana for months/years pending prosecution in cases where the ACB had done an arrest red-handed, based on a complaint, the complainant should be paid at once in cash an equal amount from the government funds. A special budget provision for this purpose should be introduced. This will remove the hesitation in filing complaints by those who do not want to see their money unnecessarily locked up for years.
There are many other suggestions, less impactful in nature, that I can enumerate but let me wind this article here.
I am only afraid that when there is no political will to reform corruption, all the above is just empty litany.
Source Link http://v-s-gopal.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/10/despicable-corruption-in-the-i-a-s-and-other-services.htm
Thursday, October 23, 2008
IAS: Indian Asphyxiated Service
The once formidable steel frame is now a rotten hulk and the biggest hurdle in
Priyabrata Patnaik is one heck of a colourful IAS officer of the 1976 batch. Posted in Orissa, he is currently being interrogated by the
That’s one face of Indian bureaucracy. There is another face to it. Meet J.N. Jayashree of Karnataka, wife of IAS officer M.N. Vijaykumar, a man who has been in hiding because of several credible threats to his life. Says Jayshree, “Our family is going through a phase of extreme hardships because my husband exposed corruption amongst senior IAS officers. This is what happens to honest officers”.
Welcome to the Kafkaesque and surreal world of Indian Asphyxiated Service, the once proud steel frame of
Quite clearly, the Indian bureaucracy seems to have emerged as the single biggest obstacle to
How did the steel frame of
Is there a way out of this nightmarish scenario? There is. In 1991, Manmohan Singh transformed
Akhand Pratap Singh, former chief secretary of UP, was voted as the most corrupt IAS officer in a secret voting by UP IAS Officers Association. The movement was spearheaded by 1979 batch IAS officer Vijay Shankar Pandey. Later, Akhand was arrested by CBI. He is behind bars at present.
There were serious charges of land scam worth billions related to the Noida Development Authority. Motilal Vora, the then governor, tried to save the corrupt IAS officer and Chief Secretary Mata Prasad by keeping her files in limbo. Her career spanning 25 years had been rather controversial. Many VIPs bought tiny shops for juice, paan-beedi, et al to become eligible for Noida plots.
Rajeev Goswami, former DM of Patna, was once hailed as an icon of honesty and even rewarded by UN for his work. But when his name surfaced in a flood scam in
A public interest litigation had been filed by Senior Advocate M.P. Gupta in
Source Link –http://www.businessandeconomy.org/15052008/storyd.asp?sid=3231&pageno=1
Monday, October 20, 2008
Interesting Details about Indian Media
NDTV: A very popular TV news media is funded by Gospels of Charity in Spain. Supports Communism. Recently it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because Pakistan President has allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan . Indian CEO Prannoy Roy is co-brother of Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist party of India . His wife and Brinda Karat are sisters.
India Today which used to be the only national weekly which supported BJP is now bought by NDTV!! Since then the tone has changed drastically and turned into Hindu bashing.
CNN-IBN: This is 100 percent funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches in all over the world with HQ in US.. The Church annually allocates $800 million for promotion of its channel. Its Indian head is Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.
Times group list:
Times Of India, Mid-Day, Nav-Bharth Times, Stardust, Femina, Vijay Times, Vijaya Karnataka, Times now (24- hour news channel) and many more...
Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman. 'World Christian Council¢ does 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.
Star TV: It is run by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church Melbourne.
Hindustan Times: Owned by Birla Group, but hands have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in Collaboration with Times Group.
The Hindu: English daily, started over 125 years has been recently taken over by Joshua Society, Berne , Switzerland .. N. Ram's wife is a Swiss national.
Indian Express: Divided into two groups. The Indian Express and new Indian Express (southern edition) ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and latter is still with the Indian counterpart.
Eeenadu: Still to date controlled by an Indian named Ramoji Rao.
Ramoji Rao is connected with film industry and owns a huge studio in Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Jyothi: The Muslim party of Hyderabad known as MIM along with a Congress Minister has purchased this Telugu daily very recently.
The Statesman: It is controlled by Communist Party of India.
Kairali TV: It is controlled by Communist party of India (Marxist)
Mathrubhoomi: Leaders of Muslim League and Communist leaders have major investment.
Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle: Is owned by a Saudi Arabian Company with its chief Editor M.J. Akbar.
India Today which used to be the only national weekly which supported BJP is now bought by NDTV!! Since then the tone has changed drastically and turned into Hindu bashing.
CNN-IBN: This is 100 percent funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches in all over the world with HQ in US.. The Church annually allocates $800 million for promotion of its channel. Its Indian head is Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.
Times group list:
Times Of India, Mid-Day, Nav-Bharth Times, Stardust, Femina, Vijay Times, Vijaya Karnataka, Times now (24- hour news channel) and many more...
Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman. 'World Christian Council¢ does 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.
Star TV: It is run by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church Melbourne.
Hindustan Times: Owned by Birla Group, but hands have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in Collaboration with Times Group.
The Hindu: English daily, started over 125 years has been recently taken over by Joshua Society, Berne , Switzerland .. N. Ram's wife is a Swiss national.
Indian Express: Divided into two groups. The Indian Express and new Indian Express (southern edition) ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and latter is still with the Indian counterpart.
Eeenadu: Still to date controlled by an Indian named Ramoji Rao.
Ramoji Rao is connected with film industry and owns a huge studio in Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Jyothi: The Muslim party of Hyderabad known as MIM along with a Congress Minister has purchased this Telugu daily very recently.
The Statesman: It is controlled by Communist Party of India.
Kairali TV: It is controlled by Communist party of India (Marxist)
Mathrubhoomi: Leaders of Muslim League and Communist leaders have major investment.
Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle: Is owned by a Saudi Arabian Company with its chief Editor M.J. Akbar.
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