was Sardar pro RSS?

http://epaper.asianage.com/ASIAN/AAGE/2009/12/15/ArticleHtmls/15_12_2009_014_022.shtml?Mode=1

voting is going to be compulsory in Gujarat?

Perhaps for the first time in the country the state government has plans to make voting compulsory in elections to all local self government bodies including seven municipal corporations, municipalities and district taluka and gram panchayats.

An amendment to this effect has been incorporated in the proposed Gujarat local authorities laws ( amendment ) bill which is to be introduced in the two day session of the state legislative assembly commencing from Thursday.

Reliable sources in the state government on Tuesday hinted that if the amendment is passed in the assembly 3.64 crores voetrs of Gujarat would have to vote compulsorily in the elections for the local slef government bodies. And if they did not vote they would be declared default voters and would have to face the consequences.

Though the state government would frame the rules for the default voters later on but the proposed amendment is likely to be approved by the majority in the state assembly when the bill would be taken up either on Thursday or next day during the short session which is also scheduled to clear the bill rpovding 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayats, muncipalities and municipal corporations.

The central government has already made necessary changes in the Constitution for this purpose and Gujarat would be perhaps first in the country to implement 50 per cent reservation for women.

With the proposed provision of the compulsory voting in local self government bodies the state is again adding one more feather in its cap and would go a long way in the democratic history of the state.It was Gujarat only which had taken a lead in implementation of the Panchayati Raj bill and was adjudged as one of the best module for the three tier panchayat set up in the country.

new appointments at the Centre.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the following appointments, on in-situ elevation

(i) Shri Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi, IAS(UP.76), as DG, Civil Aviation, Ministry of Civil Aviation in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(ii) Shri Raminder Singh Gujral, IAS(HY.76), as DGFT, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(iii) Shri Ajoy Acharya, IAS(MP.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence;

(iv) Shri Pradeep Kumar Misra, IAS(UP.76), as Establishment Officer and Special Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;

(v) Shri S. Sundareshan, IAS(KL.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas;

(vi) Shri Uday Kumar Varma, IAS(MP.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting;

(vii) Ms. Anita Chudhary, IAS(HY.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs;

(viii) Shri Sumit Bose, IAS(MP.76), as Secretary, 13^th Finance Commission in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(ix) Shri R. Gopalan, IAS(TN.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry;

(x) Shri Mathew C Kunnumkal, IAS(KL.76), as Special Secretary & Financial Adviser, Department of Chemical & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers;

(xi) Shri Pramod Deepak Sudhakar, IAS(UP.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs;

(xii) Shri M. Raman, IAS(TN.76), as DGS&D, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xiii) Shri A. Didar Singh, IAS(PB.76), as Member (Finance), National Highways Authority of India, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xiv) Shri Subramanyam Vijay Kumar, IAS(HP.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Mines;

(xv) Shri Rajen Habib Khwaja, IAS(AP.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests;

(xvi) Shri Samirendra Chatterjee, IAS(AM.76), as Member Secretary, National Commission for Women in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xvii) Shri Sutanu Behuria, IAS(HP.76), as Special Secretary & Financial Adviser, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry;

(xviii) Shri Anil Kumar, IAS(NL.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Power;

(xix) Shri K.S. Money, IAS(RJ.76), as Member (Administration), National Highways Authority of India, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xx) Shri Shashi Kant Sharma, IAS(BH.76), as DG(Acquisition), Department of Defence, Ministry of Defence, in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xxi) Shri Dhruv Vijai Singh, IAS(MT.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions;

(xxii) Shri Anil Bhushan Prasad, IAS(BH.76), as Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xxiii) Shri V. Venkateshwara Bhat, IAS(UT.76), as Member (Finance), Atomic Energy Commission/ Space Commission/ Earth Commission in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xxiv) Shri P. Uma Shanker, IAS(UP.76), as Chairman and Managing Director, Rural Electrification Corporation, in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xxv) Shri Anwar Ehsan Ahmad, IAS(MT.76), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs;

(xxvi) Shri Prabeer Kumar Basu, IAS(BH.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture;

(xxvii) Shri Sayan Chatterjee, IAS(KL.76), as Director General, Sports Authority of India, Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xxviii) Shri Naba Kumar Das, IAS(AM.76), as Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture;

(xxix) Ms. Minnie Mathew, IAS(AP.76), as Chairman, Coconut Development Board, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xxx) Shri K.S. Ramasubban, IAS(WB.76), as Secretary, Central Vigilance Commission, in the rank and pay of Secretary;

(xxxi) Shri Bishnu Charan Khatua, IAS(MH.76), as Chairman, Forward Markets Commission, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in the pay of Secretary;

(xxxii) Shri Shashi Prakash, IAS(MT.76), as Adviser, Inter State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs in the pay of Secretary.

Gujarat High Court Chief Justice S Mukhopadyay's assets.

Hon Justice Mukhopadhya declared his assets on Sept 3 2009

Please click the link below to find details about his assets.

http://www.hcmadras.tn.nic.in/assets/sjmj.pdf

Chief Justice Gujarat High Court appointed

Justice S J Mukhopadhya acting chief justice of Madras High Court has been appointed Chief Justice of Gujarat. He is likely to be sworn this week, most probably on Wednesday, sources from Delhi have confirmed.

Justice Mukhopadhya has earlier been the acting chief justice of Jharkhand too and has served in Bihar, W Bengal and other States.

Justice Mukhopadhyay was one of the judges in the division bench in Patna High Court which dealt with fodder scam and allied issues pertaining to Laloo Prasad’s fodder scam.

Justice Mukhopadhya has disclosed his assets.

we are trying to attach copy of assets that he has declared on sept 3, 2009.

We arent very tech savvy so we are just trying to attach the documents. If we fail, God bless us!

the letter doing rounds.

You will be interested to know that all IAS & IPS officers have become totally against Rajgopalan and Kailashnathan. Majority of the officers are angry that Kailashnathan is playing dirty politics to become ACS or Chief Secretary. Kailashnathan is protecting his close friends and issuing chargesheet to his seniors to clear his way to become ACS. All officers are very angry against these two officers because of the manner in which these two officers have manipulated the posting of IAS & IPS officers and humiliated their colleagues. IAS & IPS officers are holding secret meetings everyday and planning total non-co-operation against Rajgopalan and Kailashnathan. Officers feel that these two South Indian Officers are favouring the South Indian officers and punishing all other officers. All the Collectors and DDos are very unhappy the way they have been transferred and posted. IAS Officer Wife and Husbands have been deliberately separated. Only South Indian Officers has been given good postings: Dr. Murlikrishna has been made Kheda Collector. Jagdeeshan has been made MD, SSNL, Srinivas has been made Jt. MD SSNNL, Pandian has been made Principal Secretary Energy & Petrochemicals. These South Indian Officers are all Good Friends o Kailashnathan. Efficient officers like Bhagyesh Jha, AS Patel, R K Tripathi, HK Dash, DK RAO, Vipul Mitra, Sujit Gulati has been transferred. An honest and brave officer Kuldeep Sharma IPS has been humiliated by posting him as MD, Sheep & Wool Corporation. Chandra Sekhar IAS will retire in one month and Rajgopalan has humiliated his senior batchmate by transferring him as DG, SPIPA.

IAS and IPS Officers are preparing a petition to Prime Minister of India not to give Rajgopalan any more extension and also they are preparing petition against Kailashnathan. Kailashnathan has made money in Water Supply, Urban Development & AUDA. And now he wants to make money in SSNNL that is why he has posted his close friend Jagdeeshan in SSNNL. IAS & IPS Officers will be petitioning to the CM to remove him from CM office.

North Versus South.

Ah we have heard this before. But once again the rumour mills are working over time.

the North Indian and South Indian lobby stuff.

North versus South divide has taken over the bureaucracy in Gujarat with allegations being made that the South Indian lobby is getting stronger and reportedly sidelining IAS officers who are not South Indians.

Anonymous letters are being circulated claiming how North Indians and non South Indians are given a raw deal in Gujarat bureaucracy just because two top positions are being occupied by South Indians.

Fingers are being pointed at Chief Secretary D Rajagopalan and K Kailasnathan, principal secretary in the Chief Minister's office for promoting South Indian lobby.

The North-South divide and lobby always existed but now after the recent bureaucratic transfers, the North Indian lobby says they have been discriminated and not given good postings because Rajagopalan and Kailasnathan, the key officers in the bureaucracy are both South Indians and they want to promote "their people "only. (how sick>>!)

Non south Indians Indians who have recently been transferred include: Atanu Chakrobarty, H K Dash, A S Patel, Sujit Gulati, Bhagyesh Jha, AS Patel, Vipuy Mitra, Mrs V L Joshi, Ravi Saxena, R K TRipathy and others. South Indians who have been transferred include D J Pandian, Jagdeesan, V Thiru and others.

A senior Non South Indian officer however said that this is not true and the transfers have been purely based on merit. “Some corrupt IAS officers who are not happy are spreading lies and rumours of this North South lobby”.

Another officer claimed that not only only North Indians but everyone except South Indians were being discriminated. “The south Indian lobby has got very strong and have become unprofessional”, he claimed. According to him, the Non South Indian lobby is planning to write to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Narendra Modi also in this regard.

Another officer says: this is not true. V S Gadhvi is not a south Indian and a gujarati and he heads Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, Ditto with Tapan Ray who is not a south Indian but heads GSPC right now. Also Mr B K sinha is not a south Indian but has got ports after his deputation. Just like Shri J P Gupta also has got a good posting.

nb: we will try to post the anonymous letter on this blog soon as we scan it!!!!

and heres some more grapevine....

It is not only in Gujarat but the North Indian South Indian lobby issue is prevalent in Centre also. In delhi, at the moment, it is being talked about that only south Indians can get plum postings.

Also, some time back a North Indian IFS officer Mrs Veena Sikri had filed challenged why she was superceded and Nirupama Rao, a south Indian was made the foreign secretary.

Right now, even in Delhi, the top most posts are occupied by south Indians. For example, the main officer in the prime ministers office, is 63 batch officer T K A Nair. His deputy also is a south Indian, T K A Prasad, who is secretary to the prime minister. The Cabinet secretary of India is K M Chandrashekhar, a 70 btach officer who is again a south India. Home secretary G K PIllai, a 72 batch officer is also south Indian. Agriculture Secretary T Nand Kumar(72 batch) civil aviation secretary, M M Nambiar, coal secretary C Balakrishnan (both 74 batch), communication and information technology secretary P J Thomas, external affairs secretary Nirupama Rao(both 73 batch), health secretary K Sujatharao(batch 74), Information and broadcasting secretary Raghu Menon, Overseas India secretary K Mohandas, power secretary Harishankar Brahma are all south Indians. Even some important posts which are not IAS postings they say are dominated by south Indians only. For egample the ministry of science is headed by a scientist who is T Ramasami, agan a south Indian and similarly the unique identity project is headed by Nandan NIlekani, a Kannada from South India.

A senior IAS officer in Delhi said, “this issue is just being hyped up. There are over 63 crucial departments in Centre and there are people other than South Indians also heading it but because of vested interests and purpose of gossiping, this North and South lobby issue is being discsussed”.

well, an enlightened friend has promptly informed us that this short story is part of an already published book penned by Mr Narendra Modi.

NARENDRA MODI'S NEW AVTAAR.

This man sure dons several hats. No , I amnt talking about the cowboy one that he wore at the River Front recently in Ahmedabad.

On Sunday morning, it was Narendra Modi the author. He wrote a short story which was published in a local daily. The time frame is "five years ago when entire Gujarat was fighting against corruption". The protaganist fights against "sarkaari hinsa"(government violence)and wants to establish "lokshakti". just a day after a fiery speech, he dies.

The story talks about a young idealist who is being USED by politicians. The story is told in first person by an Ankit. It is about his friend, an idealist who fights corruption.

The ideology driven Mahesh fights for values. He gives fiery speeches. The young guy "fights against corruption in Gujarat five years ago", for values and ideology. He is used by politcians and dies in a police firing. Netas queue up. In the story, the author(ie Mr Modi) says how journos are desperate to make Mahesh the Martyr and are scrambling for news. Newspapers want their paper to sell more copies with this the story of this martyr!!!!

Then Ankit visits the widowed mom of Mahesh on his first anniversary. There is no hulla gulla. No netas have turned up.

In a good sequence of self address, the author has embedded a good conversation in half real half fantasy mode. IT talks about how desperate the politicians was to ensure that Mahesh's cremation is finished fast(a task completed sort of mundaneness).

The end is the best part of the story. He gives an ironic twist reminiscent of the O Henry style.

So till now we had Narendra Modi the chief minister as Narendra Modi the teacher, Narendra Modi the CEO, Narendra Modi the poet, Narendra Modi the common man, Narendra Modi the non corrupt doer, Narendra Modi the able administrator, Narendra Modi the Hinduvta Mascot, Narendra Modi the development Messiah, Narendra Modi the face to fight terrorism, Narendra Modi the youth icon.

welcome Narendra Modi, the author.

nb: I liked the story. The idea and concept but most of it, the narrative style and the end. Poignant.

What about you?

who is the best candidate for the CS post?

Lets forget personal prejudices, political affiliations or industrial connections.

Lets go by merit.

Who do you think best suits the BILL for the Gujarat Chief Secretary's post. Tell us who and why.

We have told you before that you need NOT put your email or name to comment. just put any fake name and email. and no, we are not related to Google or BLOGPOST so they dont tell us the records.

In short, its absolutely safe to post anonymous comments.

so go ahead.......

D N Pandey's Bihar Connection helping Gujju MPs?

Mr D N Pandey, 85 batch Gujarat cadre officer has recently been posted as principal secretary to the Loksabha Speaker Meira Kumar. Previously he was personal sec to union MOS tribal affairs, Tushar Chaudhry.

The grapevine is that Bihar connection seems to have work in favour of Mr Pandey who finds himself in this imp post.

So Gujarat MPs have begun networking and are seen more than frequently in the Speaker's Office.

In this case, they feel that Gujarat connection will help them to get closer to the Speaker and get added importance in the House.

ques ans in Assembly:nothing much will be missed?!

While the Congress is crying hoarse over the question answer being scrapped, it shows one more thing: the Congess’ weakness.

Here is one comment that we recd which we thought is fit for a blog posting, what do you say????

Come on, you can even post comments as anonymous, we don’t get to know who you are , just write to us!

Yet another coup de grâce, from Mr Modi.
We the people of Gujarat agree that question hour is significant.It is the basic right of the Opposition party to ask questions on Government activity, policies and administration.

However this is no longer the case with the current opposition party.What happened at the last Assembly session is a mockery of the question hour and to the "aam aadmi" a waste of money by the state opposition.A melodramatic "black out" and individual power plays in the name of right to information. The "aam aadmi" was harrassed by Opposition's histronics and the mock assembly show. Is this how Gujarat's politician should behave?

Instead of using the Q-Hour to raise important issues the Opposition used this to raise personal profiles and justify self-importance.

So once again Mr Modi - thank you from "aam aadmi"

post retirement assisgnment.

Mr Prakash Shah who retired as secretary GERC in August, has been appointed sec in the state Election Commission. This is a post retirement assignment.

Mr Shah assumed office on Monday, Hi s tenure will be for two years.

Congratulations Prakash bhai!

Modi "still" being coaxed to take over as BJP president

thats what a Delhi paper has been saying and said today.

BJP leaders want Modi as party chief

Kumar Uttam | New Delhi

A section of senior BJP leaders have stepped up efforts to convince Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to take over as the party president as Rajnath Singh's term comes to an end early next year. The move comes in the backdrop of reports that near consensus seems to have developed around Maharashtra BJP chief Nitin Gadkari as Rajnath's successor.

Sources revealed to The Pioneer that party's core group leaders have spoken to Modi in the last 48 hours to see if there could be a last minute 'change of heart' and he agrees to take up the assignment. Many leaders in the BJP have been of the opinion that Modi as the BJP president would be a big morale-booster for the party cadre, who are demoralised after a series of electoral debacle. The argument in the favour of Modi has been that he is the organisation's man having a mass appeal and finger on the pulse of people whereas Gadkari is believed to be a low-profile leader hardly known outside Maharashtra.

After elimination of several 'probables', BJP leaders had zeroed in on Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari for the top job, but Modi was hesitant in 'switching over' to national politics at this juncture. Assembly poll in Gujarat is due in December 2012 and Modi wants to stay back in the State till then to ensure that the party sails through the election.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Modi are also understood to have discussed party's and Modi's 'future plans' when the former visited Gujarat last month.

Eventually, it was decided in a meeting between Bhagwat and Advani that a consensus should be built around the name of Gadkari as Modi's concerns about Gujarat were 'genuine' and he needed some more time in the State before logging on to national politics.

But, senior leaders in New Delhi feel it would be in the larger interest of the party if he took over as the new president and continued to keep a watch on the State politics.

"Leaders are not opposing Gadkari as BJP president, but most of them believe Modi would be a better choice and his appointment would be in the party's interest," says a BJP leader privy to the developments in this matter.

Asked if Gadkari was going to be the next president, Bhagwat had said in Pune on Saturday, "His name is among those discussed by BJP leadership. But we have not recommended anyone. We have only advised BJP leaders that the new president should be able to restore the organisational structure."

Meanwhile, Rajnath Singh has asked observers to speed up the process of the organisational elections so that chiefs of State units are elected by mid-December paving the way for election of the national president by year end or early in January.

The Secret Diary of Narendra Modi.

Happy Weekend Reading. Enjoy.

When I recently came down with swine flu (strangely, just after my Russia trip), the whole of Gujarat was praying for my speedy recovery. But what inspired me most was the state police’s quick reaction in nabbing those responsible for passing on the flu. The CID, at last count, had rounded up 1,654 mosquitoes and subjected them to third degree interrogation. As many as 1,600 (54 died in police custody) have confessed in writing that they had injected the H1N1 virus into my body (of course, it’s another matter that swine flu is transmitted from humans to humans). Anyway, the confessions proved that mosquitoes can indeed be “persuaded” to sign confessional statements, provided the pen is Mont Blanc. The CID also took extreme care to arrest Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist Anopheles in equal number to prove their secular credentials.

Not one to be kept out of the action, the state intelligence also did its bit. They rounded up 1,400 hapless swine and have extracted confessional statements to show a CIA hand. Sample this revelation from an accused referred to in the report only as Pig 5: “I and two others caught the train to Patna from where we crossed the border into Nepal. In Kathmandu, we were met by a CIA operative who indoctrinated/trained us in the mechanics of spreading the disease in India. We were told our target should be prominent Gujarat bureaucrats and politicians including Shri Narendra Modi....” Ironically, Pig 6 also made a similar confession. For that matter, so did Pig 1400. Rather strange, isn’t it?

Incidentally, there were even plans to send a special police team to Russia to see if it was all a Commie conspiracy. But the trip was scrapped when doctors pointed out that I might well have contracted the virus before my foreign trip. Finally, when it became clear to the investigators that pigs don’t fly and can’t spread swine flu, they rounded up 100 human suspects afflicted with a common cold and guilty of sneezing all too frequently in public. All of them will have to prove that they did not come within striking distance of Narendrabhai Modi. Meanwhile, my health secretary, Ravi Saxena, also came down with the virus and has been quarantined. So too have colleagues who came in touch with him. In fact, there has been a rash of h1n1 cases involving bureaucrats which has led my senior police officers to float many conspiracy theories.

Well, that apart, my time in quarantine was well spent. I took out and dusted my footwear collection (150 pairs) and re-read some of my poems. I even penned a few verses which I would like to share with friends. So here goes:

“Swine flu
You caught me too
But remember H1N1,
you caught the wrong one
Modi is not the one to stun
The Mian across must catch your pun....”

---

(as imagined by Ajith Pillai) OUTLOOK.

more on transfers....

thanks to all those who got in touch with us with more dope on the transfers. here is something else:

Something more on transfers:

Collector Pradip Shah of Bhavnagar, Dilip Rawal of Surat and V. P. Patel of Jamnagar have been taken off their fiefdoms and dumped into non consequential postings at the Sachivalaya.

Ahmedabad DDO A J Shah has managed to get posting as Surat Collector. Blessings of the Lady in Power of Ahmedabad jurisdiction worked?

D G Zalavadia who shot into limelight for bowing down to the Chief Ministers feet and seeking his blessings was removed by Election Commission as Amreli collector during Loksabha elections in early part of the year but now he is accommodated as collector Bhavnagar. Maybe he truly got blessed.

officers of 2005 batch: Banchha Nidhi Pani(assistant collector Anjar now DDO Junagdadh), Harshad Patel(asst collector Ankleshwar now DDO Patan), P Bharathi(asst collector Dabhoi now DDO Valsad), Ranjit Kumar J (asst collector Sabarkantha now DDO Bhavnagar) Vikrant Pandey(Asst collector Palitana to DDO Narmada) and Shalini Agarwal(estranged spouse of Rahul Gupta, another officer) who was under secretary GAD planning has been moved as DD0 Tapi.

promotion files were kept in hold for clearance for over 18 months. Okay one and half years late but better late than…

Collector Kutch R R Varsani who had developed unprofessional and unethical proximity to a top Industrial house with business interests in ports, infrastructure and exports has been shunted out and posted in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation as Director, JNNURM projects.

Rahul Gupta, 2004 batch officer, who was DDO Anand has got posting as DDO Ahmedabad. Gupta has a knack of impressing his top officers. His wife Shalini however has a different tale. She has filed a police complaint against him for harassment and dowry torture. God knows, whats actually transpired…

Two promotee officers of 93 batch: N Chhibber and D J Dharia have been superceded while Arvind Joshi of the same batch has been promoted as secretary.

we are trying to get theory and logic on why no municipal commissioner except Jamnagar has been transferred.

We would like to hear from your end also.

All info that we get is highly classified and never leaked or passed on...so just write to us.

come on, all of us live in a democracy, don't we?

We can agree to disagree and debate......

Beyond the News.

In a democracy, it is important that bureaucrats get transferred and over hauled. The transfers also show Modi government's grip on the bureaucracy.

There has been a massive round of IAS and IPS transfers. Dfacto tries to give you in a nutshell, the essence of each officer/transfer.

· This is the first time, our friends tell us, that 99 IAS and IPS officers have been transferred at one go.

· Mr Girish Murmu was in Delhi and Amit Shah in Amereli when the transfer orders came in.

· Gujarat Chief Minister, bureaucratic grapevine, says made good use of the time that he got while he was down with Swine Flu. Gave him a lot of time to think and reflect. The transfers, besides Mr Modi’s personal touch also bear an impressively evident touch of chief secretary Mr D Rajagopalan.

· Mr Kuldeep Sharma becomes the first IPS officer to head the Sheep and wool department of the Gujarat Government. The one time dreaded officer, that the underworld was so wary about has been shunted to a department considered non consequential for his abilities and competence.

· Mr B. K Sinha who is back from a deputation at the Centre has been given Ports, which is a good department. Grapevine says he was expecting to be made the managing director of GNFC but still ports is a good posting.

· Mr H K Dash also has been given Narmada and water supplies. Now, a lot of work in this department will be done as per political diktats, it is being speculated.

· Mr V. S Gadhvi has got a jackpot. According to people close to him, his consistent performance has been rewarded. As Managing Director of GMDC, he is now in the super slot. He is the first Gujarati officer to be given this post. His predecessor Mrs Vijayalaxmi Joshi was a direct recruit and 80’ batch. Mr V S Gadhvi is a promote, having come up in the cadre and is ’87 batch. A good feat for Mr V S Gadhvi.

· Mr R K Tripathy. Known as top three competent IAS officers of Gujarat has been literally shunted to agriculture department. Ofcourse, agriculture minister Dilip Sanghani is lucky so Mr Tripathy will now herald in innovations in the agriculture department too. However, Mr Tripathy’s tremendous knowledge of project engineering will be missed in Narmada Nigam. He has to be credited for creating systems and bringing canal works on the track which had been in an animated suspension. He also created a scientific method of land acquisition and tried to break a cartel of contractors and engineers. However of late, a couple of ministers aided by a few bureaucrats had gone openly against him.

· Mr S Chandrashekhar, retires next month. He however had to be moved out for sheep and wool department to pave way for Mr Kuldeep Sharma. Now, Mr Chandrashekhar will be at SPIPA and retire from there.

· ************

· The forever amiable R M Patel has got a good department. That is what others say. The man never complains whatever department he gets, From labour to Panchayat and rural housing, he will be the same happy officer.

· R. S. Saxena: And you thought he did good work when the Chief Minister got swine flu? We also actually thought he did a commendable job when the honourable chief minister was down with swine flu. We are as clueless as him about his transfer. Ofcourse science and technology, Mr Saxena isnt a bad department. But still why was he shunted out? Grapevine gossip tells us a section deems his department responsible that the CM getting swine flu news could not be kept a secret. Ofcourse Mr Saxena also got swine flu. Another gossip loving officer says Mr Saxena has been transferred because the pseudo name given to honourable chief minister blood sample(the name Ramesh) was not appreciated.

· Mrs V L Joshi: the high profile officer after a series of high profile postings now finds herself shunted from Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation to Medical Services and Education. From being managing director of GUVNL to principal secretary energy and petrochemicals to GMDC and now to medical services and education: well, every one says it’s a real bad posting. But then social sector too deserves high profile officers isn’t it? The grapevine says the government was not happy about two things with Mrs Joshi: her proximity to an industrial house and her proximity

· Mr A Bhattacharya who is back from deputation has got a fairly good posting too as commissioner, land reforms.

· Mr Rajesh Kishore’s posting from food and civil supply to health secretary is also being viewed as a reward posting.

· Mr S Jagdeesan: Energy was a good department and its getting better for this officer. His new posting in Narmada water resources , Kalpasar is seen as a moving forward for this officer. Will the work he initiated in the energy department for converting all stations into environmental friendly gas based carbon credit earning power station go on?

· India’s longest serving officer on one post Mr D J pandian has finally bid goodbye to GSPC. There was a joke that Mr Pandian will not go till KG basin gas comes to Gujarat. Now as secretary energy and petrochemicals, he will continue ofcourse to weild the same power, rather more.

· Mr J P Gupta continues the stint of getting good postings. From commissioner VAT to commissioner Transport. Good going!

· V Thiru is back from Australia and will now be the new Information commissioner. His posting is being looked forward saying he would instill lot of creativity and innovation in the information department. He will be the man to watch out for and a lot of good is expected.

· Mr Atanu CHakravarty has been moved out from Gujarat Maritime Board to secretary finance. It is a good posting but still it is being talked that cash rich GMB was a better

Posting. Grapevine says he has been eased out as he was not very positive about investing in GSPC.

· H J Haider has been moved from Transport as CEO Of GUDC. It is a good posting as he can now show his creativity and build a good GIFT.

· Tapan Ray: among the 80 IAS officers who have been transferred, his posting is being viewd as the most prized posting. Cash rich GSPC is a 30,000 crore empire. Ray will be the king and will he sing the same tunes that Pandian did?

· VIpul Mitra : After a controversy with SEWA regarding audit and accounts, Mr Mitra ahd got into mainstream.

· B B Swain: Nice well read low profile officer who has got a high profile posting as industries commissioner. This man will deliver much more than what is expectedof him. Vibrant Gujarat 2011 is sure to rock. He got to know of his posting when he landed in Bangkok where he has gone for a Training the Trainers course along with deputy commissioner S K Langha.

· Mukesh Puri: a refine man who came back from deputation about five months back has got a powrerful posting as special commissioner VAT and commercial tax.

· Mr Sujit Gulati industries commissioner has been made development commissioner. His non ending differences with the Chief Secretary is speculated for this posting.

· R Raj kumar from science and technology to civil supplies will mean more work. But it’s a good posting. One wonders what happened to his plans of joining central government’s unique Identity Card project with Nandan Nilekani.

· Pankaj Kumar: Good officer gets a good posting. After his CMO stint, the new GMB posting is a good plum posting.

All the best to all officers!

swine flu vaccine is more deadly than the swine flu!

Seems it has mercury which causes neurological disorders. Docs who have developed this say they wouldnt allow thier family or friends to use it.

here's a link that a friend sent it from the US.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4SmFxyust0&feature=related

Swine Flu panic in Sachivalaya

Amidst news that swine flu has "attacked" four senior bureaucrats, dFACTo has learnt that other than principal sec health Ravi Saxena and additional director of public health Paresh Dave, no other officer has tested positive for swine flu.

As per the guidelines quarantining is important and being done but that does not mean our entire Sachivalaya has been gripped with swine flu.

And for heaven's sake, lets not create a panic. A doc whos been treating VIPs says more ppl die of common flu in India than the Swine Flu.

Come on, SMILE.

Everyone often says this blog is tad bit too serious.....and that humor shld be, rather is an intrinsic part of life but we journos tend to take life too serious and perhaps sceptically.

So, when you get up in the morning, want you to smile...

read this NEWS ITEM sourced from the the web.

Vets in the US state of Iowa said a household cat had tested positive for swine flu - the first known case in the world of the new pandemic strain spreading to the feline population.The domestic shorthair, a 13-year-old castrated male, apparently caught A(H1N1) off its owners - two of the three members of the family had previously contracted the deadly virus. "This is the first cat that we are aware of with the pandemic H1N1,'' assistant professor of veterinarian microbiology Brett Sponseller said.

After ruling out most common causes of respiratory diseases, a team of university and state vets looked at the family history of the owners and guessed swine flu might be the cause. After five days of tests, their fears were confirmed.

Cats have previously been diagnosed with H5N1, a virus commonly known as bird flu that spread from poultry to humans, but this is thought to be a first for swine flu and has possible implications for the feared pandemic. Mr Sponseller said the danger of an infected cat spreading the A(H1N1) virus to humans or to other cats was unknown but didn't appear to be high.

The prevalence of the disease in the cat population was also unknown, but the vet said he believed more animals will now be tested

The cat owner, an employee at the Iowa vet school, insisted on anonymity and is not revealing the pet's name, Mr Sponseller said. His blood test has been done on pseudo name so the cat does not get discriminated when it later goes out to play in the neighbourhood, sources claimed.

Now, did you smile. If you didnt, at least dont blame us.

Have a great morning!!!!

our sympathies.....

Nope we arent talking about the Swine Flu. Our sympathies are with the Congress who is fighting within than fighting the BJP in Gujarat.

Recently, a group including Udesinh Baria, Manoharsinh Jadeja, Jitu Shah and Hasmukh Patel and some other Congress non entities met up.

Then, Naresh Rawal former Home Minister and Shankersinh Vaghela have ganged up.

Such futitle efforts to create pressure groups.

And here's more: Arjun Modhvadia was not invited at Taj for the Congress meeting. He sure deserved to be there.

And all said and done, Siddharth Patel aint bad. its just that circumstances are not supporting him or his party.

our sympathies to Gujarat Congress and one wishes that they stop bickering within themselves and gear up. Because that is the need of the hour.

Hell with Austerity: Congress leaders meet up at TAJ

A high-level Gujarat Congress leaders’ meeting in Gujarat has landed in a soup following reports that the leaders met and dined at Hotel Taj in Ahmedabad at a time when the party has been advocating austerity measures.

Gujarat Congress chief Siddharth Patel’s dinner meeting on Monday night has ruffled a few feathers with his detractors claiming that he should not have opted for a five-star hotel at a time when the party is propagating austerity.

With this, pressure to change the Gujarat Congress president has increased.

Mr Patel, son of late chief minister Chimanbhai Patel is also being alleged of being authoritative and not being a team person.

After the recent defeat of the Congress in the Assembly byelections, pressure to replace him with someone more "people-oriented and with a team spirit" has mounted.

Mr Siddharth Patel had convened a meeting on Monday night at the Taj to discuss the future of the Congress in Gujarat. Those who attended included three Union ministers from Gujarat — Mr Dinsha Patel, Mr Bharat Solanki and Mr Tushar Chaudhry — besides Gujarat’s leader of the Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil.

About a dozen other senior leaders also attended the meeting.

No leaders were ready to comment but admitted that it was wrong for the party president to convene the meeting in a five-star hotel. Though Mr Siddharth Patel was not available for comments, a source closed to him said that the State Congress president t was forced to convene the meeting at the five-star hotel because several members who had been invited by him to deliberate upon the future of the Gujarat Congress were not keen to meet up at the Government Circuit House and had complained about the "mundane government vegetarian" food available there.

Narendra Modi gets Swine Flu

Its (nearly)official now. It has not yet been officially announced but sources have said:

Narendra Modi's swine flu reports have come out positive. the Hini virus has affected him. He has caught it from Russia.

Now, because he addressed a cabinet meeting yesterday : the entire council of ministers will be screened for the Hini Virus.

some BJP workers want to organise havan for him.

Narendra Modi and Swine Flu rumors take over Russia Trip.

Rumor mills are working over time claiming that Modi has caught the Hini virus..

Just back from Russia, Gujarat CM reportedly worked hard, very hard...sometimes 20 hours a day in Russia. Trying to impress top Russian companies to strike business and cordiality with the Indian State of Gujarat. In fact, to quote a top official, Modi's three day Russia visit has played a very "significant" role in bettering Indo-Russia relations (and I thought these relations were always strong...decades ago but then we could be wrong, right?)

Anyways, news that the CM is not well have spread like wild fire all over the country with lots of ppl calling up. Is it Swine Flu, is it some prolonged illness, is it some immunity disorder.....rumor mills are working over time.

They got credence after the CM reportedly cancelled nearly a dozen official engagements. However we dont know....

5.5 crore Gujaratis are wanting to know whats wrong with their beloved Chief Minister.

Astrologers say that nothing is wrong and it is just simple cough and cold and this is being "marketed" as a deadly disease with ppl and politicians with malafide intentions.

The Gujarat government should organise and give an official health status clearing all doubts about Mr Modi's health....

we at Dfacto wish him a very speedy recovery and request everyone not to get carried away by any rumours and pray to God for his long life and more innings in Gujarat and National politics.

God bless.

Purshottam Rupala admitted in hospital.

Monday morning(around 4.30 am) Purshottam Rupala complained of breathlessness and some pain. He was moved to SAL hospital, Ahmedabad where an angioplasty has been performed on him.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

O, MAN (nobody) wants Modi??!!!!

:

After much hullabaloo that an Islamic nation had invited Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Sultanate of Oman on Friday clarified that it has not invited Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to the Republic and that his visit is being organized by a Dutch company and this private visit “has no relation with the Government of the Republic of Oman”.

The Gujarat Government and Chief Minister Modi’s office remain tightlipped about the twist in the tale. On conditions of anonymity, one senior Gujarat Government official said Mr Modi had no plans to visit Oman in the near future and that the Oman visit was a media creation. Another officer claimed that this official rejection to Mr Modi by the Oman government is an insult that should not be tolerated.

A few weeks ago, a nine member high level delegation led by a senior Omani minister had called upon Mr Modi in Gujarat and media reports had quoted an official in the Chief Ministers Office saying that Mr Modi had accepted an invitation from Oman’s commerce Miniter Maqbool Ali Sultan to discuss trade relations and building a port on the Gujarat coast.

Thereafter there were reports suggesting that Mr Modi was likely to lead a business delegation to Oman later this year to discuss developing a port in the state with the Gulf nation’s assistance,.

Media reports had claimed that Mr Modi had accepted the invitation to visit Sohar port and free trade zone in Oman. Following this, human rights activists besides known Muslims had been requesting the Oman government to ensure that it does not allow Mr Modi to enter the Republic. One such petition submitted to the Oman embassy in New Delhi a few weeks ago by Najid Hussain, Mirza A.Beg
Zafar Iqbal,Tariq Farooqi,Fazal R. Khan and others had emphasized that Mr Modi had “presided over and orchestrated widespread riots in Gujarat in which 2000 hapless Muslims had been massacred”.

Citing that the US and many countries in Europe has banned his entry, by denying him visa, various petitions had urged that Mr Modi should not be invited by the Oman Government as a “ as a mark of respect for humane values enshrined in all religions and the declaration of universal human rights under the UN Charter.”

When the delegation had visited, the visit was being played up as how even Muslim nations had faith in Mr Modi and his leadership and were keen to strike a business alliance with him. In January this year, Chiarman of Oman’s Chamber of Commerce an industry Khalil bin Abdullah al Khun had attended the vibrant Gujarat celebrations and had reportedly sought co operation from Mr Modi about petroleum,petrochemicals and aluminium industries in Gujarat with tie ups specially catering to SMEs’.

However, the new found friendship with Oman suffered a set back with the Oman embassy issuing an advertisement clearly stating that Mr Modi has been invited by the Dutch Norterdam Company which has projects in Sohar in Oman. The Oman government specified that Mr Modi is going to be the Dutch company’s guest and the Government has no relation to this visit.

It must be noted that last month, a Financial Times’ publication fDi had decided to confer an award to Mr Modi but it later decided that the award would be given to the State of Gujarat and not Mr Modi since “his alleged role in the (2002) riots is under investigation”. The magazine said the award was in recognition of Gujarat’s ability to attract an outstanding volume of inward foreign investment.

“Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time of the riots. His alleged role in connection to the riots is under investigation, but he denies any responsibility,” the magazine had said in a statement which said that the award would therefore be given to the State and not to the Chief minister because of ongoing investigations against him.

MODI and OMAN

well guys (and gals ofcourse), we were kinda excited with the warm cordiality between our Chief Minister Modi and some Islamic countries, Oman to be specific.

First we had the Oman chamber of commerce and industry chairman talking big about how co operation between gujarat and oman can work wonders for petroleum, petrochemicals and other allied fields and then we had an Oman minister coming to OUR state and inviting OUR chief minister to his country. God knows, whos right and whos wrong but now the Oman govt says that it has NOT invited Mr Modi.

Well, in the end, im dead sure it would be poor media wallahs who will be blamed for the story. Dont be surprised with the whispers that Mr Modi never intended to go to Oman and that he was planning to lead a delegation was a media creation (possbily by some pseudo secular journo)>>>

well things could have been handled more gracefully but the way the Oman embassy has issued a terse ad categorically saying it has not invited Modi and that a Dutch company operation in SOhar, Oman has invited him......cordial relations with this Islamic republic seems just to be a fantasy.

WIll post more on this soon.....some one in Delhi has promised to send the ad

happy new year

ah, we fellas got lazy. blame the festive season.

happy new year to all of you. Hope you have had good festive fun. Ditto with us.

Jinxed!!!

This would sound directly from a believe it or not type stories. but its real....

seems Prez Pratibha Patil's visit to Guj is jinxed..there is already a controversy on the Sardar Patel Smarak Program.

Now here's more: ALL THREE officials who as part of protocol have to be with the Prez are down

As per a rule, ACS handling GAD, deputy secretary GAD and Collector of the specific area have to remain present when the Prez is around. Because Prez Patil is putting up at the Rajbhavan in Gandhianagar, besides ACS and Deputy sec GAD(protocal), Gandhinagar Collector too has to be on duty.

Now look at the events that unfolded:

Gandhinagar Collector Sanjeev Kumar took ill and had to be hospitalised. He is fine and out of danger but cannot work for a couple of days.

Deputry Secretary of GAD in charge of Protocol Y N Barot, had a fall following low BP and injured himself too. He is on leave and charge has been given to someone else now.

And ACS GAD Mr A K Joti was on his way to th CM's residence when he met with an accident.

In short, all three who were the "must be there" according to protocol for the Prez's visit are down.

What a jinx. Sounds quite unbelievable aint it?

Here is an addition: After Mr Joti met with an accident while on his way to the CM's residence, he was injured. He however went ahead and attended the meeting with all the pain clearly writ on his face. Grapevine informs us that Mr Joti tried to keep up a real good show at the meeting despite his injuries. His injuries were fractures. Now, a little birdie tells us that was it just commitment that made Mr Joti attend the meeting after the accident or was it an effort to impress upon the CM. Mr Joti also is in the race to be Gujarat's next Chief Secretary...

Congress Culture.

The Congress seems to be real democratic party.

Everyone in the party is bothered about their own rating and performance. The race within the Congress is not to outsmart the main opposition, the BJP, but to outsmart each other.

Arjun Modhvadia held a press conference. He chose a hotel instead of the Congress office. Nobody in the Congress heirarchy knew about his press conference.

Similarly Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is going to be here for a power plant program. He is going to interact with the media. A number of people in the BJP knew about it but all senior Congress leaders were in the dark....

Is this de-centralisation of power, utter Congress chaos or internal democracy?

"Safeguarding" Sardar Smarak

After Gujarat Cricket Association, is Modi and his men eyeing the Sardar Patel Smarak?

Union Minister and Congress leader Dinsha Patel heads this smarak which recently is in controversy...President Patil is visiting a Smarak function. The invitation cards have no mention of Modi and acc to reports which we have all read, Modi's men were pressing Dinsha and Karsanbhai Patel of Nirma to ensure that Modi is made a special guest. After that, the Modi men reportedly wanted the CM's name in the card.

Now, if Dinsha has already agreed that Modi will be there as a special guest and even give a speech, what was the hassle in not getting new invitation cards with the Chief Minister's name on it? Anyways, now after the fight on how Modi cannot sit next to President Patil because on one side there would be Gov Zamir and Dinsha on the other side.... the talk is that after a great victory and "liberation" of Gujarat Cricket Association from the Congress, Modi and his men are eyeing the Sardar Smarak Trust.

Suddenly Sardar Patel is so much in, thanks to Advani, Jashwant Singh and the BJP. The Sardar Smarak Trust which hitherto was one of the most neglected Trust/Organisaiton is suddenly in "demand". The Congress has been "controlling it" but there are people who have heard Dinsha talk recently of how he knows that Modi is eye-ing it now . So Dinsha is now safe guarding it vigorously.

grapevine aka gossip

is that Vilasini Ramchandran, currently additional secretary expenditure in the Ministry of Finance, New Delhi is being coaxed by the Gujarat Govt to come back to Gujarat.

As the next Chief Secretary....

The present CS D Rajgopalan retires in Dec 2009. The State govt had managed to get his tenure extended by five months. They also are keeping fingers crossed for a change in rule where super annuation age is made to 62 years and post of CS are given a mandatory tenure post of two years.

However, in case this doesnt work out, Vilasini could be a good bet.

what say?

P K Pujari for Central Deputation

Name of Commssioner of Commercial tax, 1981 batch IAS P K Pujari's name has been recommended by the State Government in Gujarat for Central Deputation.

Amarjit Singh Delhi Bound

Health Commissioner Amarjit Singh has been posted Exeuctive Director, Population Stablisation Fund, Ministry of Health New Delhi. He reportedly did not get on well with Health Minister Jainarayan Vyas or Health Secretary Ravi Saxena.

transfer

grapevine says Mr Sanjay Nandan has been or is soon going tob e transferred as member secretary GERC.(gujarat electricity regulalatory commission)

Agony Aunt counsels BJP

Agony Aunt counsels BJP

help!

a lot of people have been writing in and asking that I forward the blog. Im not that tech savvy and the settings dont permit me that. So i request you to forward the link

grapevinegujarat.blogspot.com to all on your contact list. Ofcourse, only to those who are interested or could get interested in this sort of :news blogging:

And I intend to become more regular in updating it):

I need help here in as well.

Do get in touch if there is anyone who can help me with regular updates.

cheers.

d Facto

d FACTO

Narendra Modi is the Gujarat Cricket Association President.

Modi finds new field to PLAY his GAMES.

and this time it is cricket.

Sources claim that after the spectatcular win in the by elections, we should not be surprised if the next Gujarat Cricket Association president is Mr Narendra Modi.

From CEO of Gujarat to Cricket, Mr Modi is in a great mood for fielding and his lieutant Amit Shah who has manoevuered, quite deftly wants his Boss to take over.

However this is unconfirmed bit of news but from a highly placed source. Lets wait for a few hours to find out the truth....

As such politics and cricket have become synonym in Indian politics isnt it from Sharad Pawar to Laloo Prasad Yadav....

Modi Magic Sweeps Gujarat.

please click on http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/news/top-story/bjp-wrests-5-bypoll-seats.aspx

Modi is Gujarat. Gujarat is Modi.

This is what the results of the by elections will reveal.
Tonight, we have had a small informal bet. The stakes are high...
BJP will walk away with atleast 4 to 5 seats. Congress will be left exchanging consolations with 2 or maximum 3 seats. This is my "feeling" compounded by an intutitive analysis backed by the way the Congress has been handling the elections. My dear friend is confident that the Congress will get five seats.
Th BJP will have an upper edge because of the seven seats, it only has ONE. Kodniar which is likely to wrestled by the COngress because of good candidate selection. But then while Congress has been busy focussing on Kodinar, BJP will walk away with other Congress seats.

And yes, just like all discredit has gone to Mr Modi in the recent past for everything from Ishrat Jaha to Jinnah , the credit should all go to Mr Modi.
Dont be surprised if you dont see any Congressis anywhere or maybe they will be there now claiming how Mr Modi "misused" govt machinery.
Nothing matters. Whether lead goes up or down, percentage of votes wavers. What matters is that Modi will be (re) instated as the indisputable leader that Gujarat wants/has.