If bankers and professionals dealing with securities and stock markets think nobody is watching, they are hugely mistaken. The big brothers in the CBI are keeping an ever-vigilant eye on them. The experienced and efficient Director, Ashwini Kumar, brought in an IPS officer from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy two months ago. This officer has been assigned to keep track of bank and securities frauds. The CBI is not only keeping track but is also in consultation with experts in finance and bank fraud. Kumar has chosen a competent and hard-hitting officer for the job.
Nilekani’s dangling carrots!
The office of the Planning Commission on Parliament Street, New Delhi has become a hotspot for job-seekers in the Unique Identification Authority of India led by Nandan Nilekani. This office is seemingly going to be bigger than the Planning Commission itself. To lure a larger, and more competent, number of professionals among government employees, Nilekani has devised a formula that bestows the salary of a Joint Secretary on a Deputy Secretary. So all those bureaucrats who are in danger of not achieving the rank of Joint Secretary in their careers are well advised to rush to the Planning Commission office at the earliest.
Classic case of cutting to size
From Bangalore comes a tale that has left us shaking our heads. When the Director of Doordarshan Kendra there was selected as an honorary member of a legal service committee by the Karnataka High Court, he wrote to the Director General, Aruna Sharma, to inform her. But Ms Sharma wrote back seeking to know why he should not be dismissed from Doordarshan. The High Court, said the DG, should have sought permission before selecting you as I am the administrative head. The hapless Director then informed the High Court. The Chief Justice promptly issued a contempt of court notice against Sharma. The matter ended with her apologizing to the Chief Justice and telling the Director he could accept the appointment on the committee.
A lot of gas in
Outgoing Petroleum Secretary Raghaw Sharan Pandey was under tremendous pressure in the 18 months he spent in the post – from Indian business houses, various international quarters and even Minister Murli Deora. But Pandey refused to budge and did only what was justified in the interests of the consumers and the industry. He resisted pressure in connection with the India-Iran gas pipeline. Towards the end of his tenure, he was instrumental in the constitution of the National Gas Highway Development Authority (NGHDA) – on the lines of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Gas distribution is to be managed by this body in a just and equitable way. Some lobbyists are fiercely opposed to it. The file is currently with the top bosses. Watch this space.
