tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57426185955167521982024-03-13T18:12:31.734+05:30We INVITE YOU All to Join Hands for a Better IndiaA blog started by Oil Sector Officers after the Oil Strike and misreporting by Media. But come let us all join hands against injustice - to make our Society a better one for our children. Let us Journey towards a better India. [Best Viewed at 1200 x 800 resolution]Aggrievedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03166175727316287982noreply@blogger.comBlogger182125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-69419324264793960012012-03-09T14:53:00.001+05:302012-03-09T14:58:01.194+05:30KINGFISHER STORYWhy is Kingfisher Airlines facing bad times?<br />Thursday, March 01, 2012<br />Suhaib A Ilyasi<br /><br />Bureaucracy Today was the first publication to report the spiralling ATF overdues by Kingfisher Airlines to be paid to various public sector oil companies like the BPCL, IOC and HPCL. While the BPCL and the IOC have recovered most of their dues, the HPCL is still struggling hard to get its money back. Much of the credit for the exposé goes to whistleblower and former HPCL Chief Operations Manager Ravi Shrivastava who also happens to be on the BT cover of this month. This man blew the lid off from the fact that how PSUs were running the airlines all by themselves without any dues being paid. <br />Even when KFA owner Vijay Mallya claims that the turbulence being faced by Kingfisher Airlines would soon be over, and it may be as well for the time being, and the airline will start flying high again, the question is for how long? The fact that Kingfisher’s flawed business model has created most of its problems in current times is resonated by civil aviation industry experts. Several of them agree that the flamboyance for which Mallya aspired with his airline division was too high on his ambitions. His formula of low load factors with low fares and being high on flamboyance proved all wrong as the KFA balance sheet went nose-diving leading to a state of chaos and uncertainty. <br />What does the Government have to learn from all this? One really wonders why the Government had to be so benevolent to a private airline when the national carrier, Air India, which is looming under abysmal losses, has also lost the confidence of its employees, stakeholders and industry peers. The awkward situation poses a big question mark on the Government’s aviation policy to attract 49 per cent foreign direct investment. The Government would also need to look at losses to the Indian oil companies if jet fuel is allowed to be imported! <br />It is time the Government thought of reviving the civil aviation industry’s lost sheen and pride by bringing Air India back on track. It must now retrospect on its policy for this industry at large.<br /><br /><br />Suhaib A. Ilyasi<br />Editor-in-chiefraviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-27978611475284627082012-01-23T19:52:00.000+05:302012-01-23T19:53:12.281+05:30"Articles By Whistleblower & Activist Ravi Srivastava on how Government is unwilling to evade the root of<br />corruption ,on the bureaucrats & babus level .Please Share Articles and be part of his fight against corruption." ETA<br /><br />By Ravi Srivastava<br /><br />"Responsibility & Accountability of Babus and PSU officials has become a big joke and the demand to include<br />entire bureaucracy under Jan Lok Pal is the only panacea to curb corruption.The law should enforce realization<br />among Babus that they are no more “Masters” but “Public Servant” in the letter & spirit."<br /><br />Government, opposition Parties, spared no effort to malign the Team Anna member kiran bedi quoting the<br />instances of her claiming Business class fare from her sponsors and travelled “Cattle class” saved differential <br />money for the good of her NGO, In the process entire Team Anna was painted by one stroke of brush as corrupt<br />and reminded of famous Jesus phrase “First stone will be hit by the one who did no sin”.<br /><br />Corruption amongst Babus is a global phenomenon a recent report has established that Indian Babus rank worst<br />in the entire Asia with the best being from Singapore .Indian Babus namely Ministry officials at centre and state,<br />Public sector Executives have devised novel methods to suck the Government’s money by their clandestine nexus<br />with Politicians .The charges of bribery, undisclosed wealth, family Business have become common and highlighted<br />occasionally by media which range from Rs. 10 cr from a peon in MP to Rs. 400 cr from Tinu& Arvind joshi of Bhopal fame.<br /><br /> <br /><br />In Bureaucracy all positions are not rewarding only a handful of Babus get opportunity to mint money in powerful positions ,by using , misusing and abusing their Authority in connivance with ever corrupt Politicians. An Income tax officer or a District magistrate who is a Maharaja in a small town when promoted and moves to Ministry with all channels and avenues of making money dried up, feels frustrated and looks for new vistas.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Ministry officials treat the Public sector corporations, Banks and other Institutions as their fiefdom and spare no effort to extract their pound of flesh. Travel is one such avenue which is fully exploited. Ministry Babus organize such travel frequently in the name of attending conferences, seminar , Reviews, Inspection , Discussions on Rajya/Lok sabha starred/Unstarred questions etc etc., sometimes junior Babus or PSE Executives are allowed to accompany the “Boss” for the purpose of “collective Insurance” and facilitating logistics at the destination .This is also used to counter any future objections from the Auditors. Such travel Plans coincide with the ‘Boss’ attending some Marriage ceremony, Personal function, event, Alumni get together or specific shopping for spouses at the destined location . One oil company claiming “surety for pure fuel” recently organized such “Business Meeting” at Goa with 40 Executives assembled for 3 days , bidding a fond farewell to their superannuating Director Human Resources. The same company sponsored a Ticket of “world cup Match “ in Mumbai for then secretary Petroleum in the first week of April 2011 for Rs. 30000. ,who had made a special Business trip for this purpose, eventually this secretary was shunted on 30th April2011 itself to a Non descript assignment. Earlier this secretary had enjoyed a 2 day stay in a 5 star Hotel of Mumbai on Marine Drive with his spouse in the 3rd week of Jan 2010 on account of another oil company which uses a slogan ”Achhaa lagta hai” for everything including corruption, the purpose was some function in the Refinery of this oil company.<br /><br />By and Large every Airline Domestic and International award Mileage points to their frequent fliers, multiple mileage points are awarded for Business class travel which is a favorite for PSU heads, Ministry Babus, who despite clear cut directives from their controlling Ministries DOPT/DPE flout it openly, for the lure/greed of higher mileage points. Logically /Principally Mileage points such accrued are the Property of the Govt. or the corporation who has paid for the Ticket and cannot be usurped by these officers. Guidelines issued by 6th Pay commission are unambiguous in this regard and reads as under<br /><br />" The Commission has also observed that there is an increasing tendency on part of Government officers to travel by air in order to gain mileage points which are then used by them for private travel. The Commission is strongly of the view that official tours cannot be made a source of any profit.<br /><br />Accordingly, the Commission recommends that henceforth all mileage points earned by Government employees on tickets purchased for official travel should be utilized by the concerned department for other official travel by their respective officers. Any usage of these mileage points for purposes of private travel by an officer should be viewed seriously and appropriate departmental action initiated. "<br /><br />As per rules any Govt. official cannot accept a gift of more than Rs. 2500. As stated above such mileage points have to be redeemed for official travel by the Govt. or the Corporation .Such mileage points are unethically accrued in Lakhs on such Managed tours by the Babus , since he himself travels on Govt. account while in active service, these points are exchanged/redeemed for tickets of their spouse and children on such journey or sometimes for accompanying them on foreign Travel.<br /><br />Post retirement only some privileged Babus who have been on the right side of the Government get deputations in the ‘Parking slots’ like Committees, Boards, Tribunals, and continue to enjoy these perquisites, however many unfortunate ones who become sundry and turn critic of corruption, bribery, frauds (which they practiced in their entire carrier), post retirement ,utilize such accumulated Mileage points for their personal Travel.<br /><br />Some Airlines like Jet/Kingfisher give such points liberally to their preferred corporate clients. Till recently beleaguered KFA used to merrily Upgrade all HPCL ED’s, GM’s to Business class and extend the lounge access, in a quid-pro-quo KFA used to get ATF(Aviation Turbine Fuel)on extended credit. This corporate fraud went unabatedly till HPCL‘s outstanding touched more than Rs. 750 cr, which is still not fully recovered. One Director of HPCL purchased one way Bombay-Delhi Ticket from KFA on company Account in last week of March 2010 for Rs. 33000/-(one can make 6 trips even today in this price) that too when Government’s Austerity measures were in vogue.<br /><br />Practically each oil company , Nationalized bank, Maharatna/NavratnaPSU has 1 or more Guest houses in all Metro & ,Major cities, the justification and purpose given at the time of acquiring such properties is that it will save cost to the corporation/Bank for stay of their officials visiting the city while on official work ,Most of these guest houses are given on a platter to visiting Ministry officials and their families, Income tax ,Explosive officers, Auditors less as an exception and more as a rule. Double whammy is that visiting officials stay in star Hotels making holes in Company finances and company pays rent to property owner .Since External & Govt. auditors are kept in “good Humor”” all the time nobody raises a finger on this brazen loot of Public Money. Recently an oil company chairman blocked entire ‘Management Development Institute’ in Pune having more than 50 Rooms for entire fortnight in Oct 2010 for accommodating his large contingent of relatives visiting from ‘Assom’ for Durga pooja .This is blatant misuse of Authority by those who are custodians of Public Money.<br /><br />Responsibility & Accountability of Babus and PSU officials has become a big joke and the demand to include entire bureaucracy under Jan Lok Pal is the only panacea to curb corruption.The law should enforce realization among Babus that they are no more “Masters” but “Public Servant” in the letter & spirit.<br /><br />Ravi Srivastava<br /><br /> <br /><br />His Previous thought provoking article - PETRO PRICING: A BIG FARCE<br /><br />"To Know and join his battle against false Please Follow the link Tale of Two Whistleblower of HPCL"<br /><br />Ravi Srivastava is regular supporter of ETA , We are thankful to him for sharing his thought with us and using ETA platform to fight against corruption.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br />About Ravi Srivastava<br /> <br /><br />Whistleblower , Activist & Indian Against Corruption active volunteer .<br /><br />I R.P.SRIVASTAVA, 56 year old ,male Graduated in Science and Chemical Technology in the year 1975, after an stint of 1 year at Eicher Tractors and 6 years in Kansai Nerolac(erstwhile Goodlass Nerolac), I joined HPCL in 1982 as an Operations Officer in Grade ‘A’.<br /><br />"I am a crusader against corruption , corruption which destroyed my life exposed Rs. 200 cr. corruption in Petroleum industry Marker system invited the wrath of Murli Deora his sychphant beaurocrats , chairman of the company who promptly dismissed me from service to appease their boss"<br /><br />Please Read " Tale of Two Whistleblower of HPCL to know more.....<br /><br />R. P. Srivastava<br />ravi4354@gmail.com<br />304, AUM SAI Sector-7<br />Kharghar, Navi Mumbai 410210<br />Mob- 09820183924 L/L 02227744012<br />India Against corruption Activist and Volunteer from Navi Mumbai<br />My Blog http://raviprakash4354.blogspot.com<br />Contact Me if you want to join me in the fight .Because people support can make huge difference .raviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-516215051610437662012-01-23T19:47:00.001+05:302012-01-23T19:48:39.894+05:30PETRO PRICING: A BIG FARCE (तेल के खेल की हकीक़त)<br />पोस्टेड ओन: 24 Nov, 2011 जनरल डब्बा में<br /> Follow My Blog Rss Feed <br /> <br />Articles By Whistleblower & Activist Ravi Srivastava on oil industry and issues which give us the hidden harsh<br />reality and force us to think more than just normal . We are thankful to him for sharing his articles with us .<br />Please Share Articles and be part of his fight against corruption.”EasytoAct(ETA)<br /> <br />Petro pricing has been a matter of debate for decades there is no transparency in Refining costs, Taxes,<br />Duties, Margins, cess and other levies the fact is Govt. never intended to make it open for public scrutiny,<br />a figure of several lakh crores is flashed on TV screens with every price increase, where a few thousand crores<br />are absorbed by Govt., upstream oil companies and balance is passed on to market to squeeze the defenseless<br />consumer.Government budgets certain amount recoverable from Public towards Taxes&Duties and the subsidy<br />is actually the “loss in Profit” by Govt., with every price increase the State Governments , octroi , cess for<br />Municipalities, Dealer’s commission every one takes his pound of flesh in this official loot.<br />Murli Deora then Petroleum Minister, 3 years before in a Press conference proudly holding a Bisleri bottle in his<br />hand says ‘We are selling Kerosene even cheaper then this mineral water “what he did not explain, that whose<br />money he was draining down the drain , it was our’s, taxpayers hard earned money doled out in the name of<br />subsidy for below poverty line poor ,who seldom get it.<br />Petro pricing has been a matter of debate for decades there is no transparency in Refining costs, Taxes, Duties, Margins, cess and other levies the fact is Govt. never intended to make it open for public scrutiny, a figure of several lakh crores is flashed on TV screens with every price increase, where a few thousand crores are absorbed by Govt., upstream oil companies and balance is passed on to market to squeeze the defenseless consumer.Government budgets certain amount recoverable from Public towards Taxes&Duties and the subsidy is actually the “loss in Profit” by Govt., with every price increase the State Governments , octroi , cess for Municipalities, Dealer’s commission every one takes his pound of flesh in this official loot.<br />Genesis of fuel pricing shows that sometimes in the late eighties while fuel consumption was approx. 55Mt , ONGC, OIL were producing roughly half of country’s requirement , shockingly even after 25 years and sinking few Lakh crores of Rupees crude oil production of ONGC has not exceeded even by 1 Mt andremains stagnant at 27 Mt , resulting into Nation’s50% dependence on imported crude has reduced to 22% and 78% of the crude is imported today eating into precious foreign exchange due to ever volatile Dollar .Nation faces a “crude shock” every passing fortnight for the inefficiency on the part ONGC and policy bankruptcy of Shastri Bhawan Babus .ONGC is projected as a cash rich behemoth and Maharatna courtesy compensation to the company on rising dollars.OIL is smaller culprit who could muster a moderate growth in their production due to smaller base.<br />As late as in 1998 Govt. used to compensate OMC’s(Oil Marketing Companies) ,a 12% post tax return and fuel prices were fixed by Govt.NDA rule dared to bring much touted deregulation, which gave pricing leverage on paper to OMC’s and physically remained with Minister &Ministry ,Pricing of Lubricant , ATF(Aviation Turbine Fuel), Black oils were left to OMC’s ,who by and large cartelized and insulated themselves from competition, Private players preferred export instead of selling locally due to pricing disadvantage.They did open couple of thousand outlets which eventually closed down . Petrol, diesel, LPG and Kerosene were kept under MDPM(Market determined price mechanism) which remained same except the word “Market” replaced by ‘Minister’or ‘Ministry”.<br />In fact total pricing freedom to OMC’s in letter &spirit would have diluted the authority of Politicians/Babus of MOP&NG and therefore every increase /reduction in these 4 products have to be blessed by Ministry, who will have privilege to announce it first on camera. OMC’s are used as a fiefdom or a milch cow of Ministry for various services/facilities, favors like provision of Taxies for personal use of babus and their families , organizing trips to exotic locations, use of Guest houses at Major cities , appointing consultants and cut in contracts.In turn ministry protects corrupt Oil company officials from CVC,CBI&CAG .<br />OMC’s are plagued by 3 serious ailments, Inefficiency, corruption and Bad debts/ wasteful expenditures, OMC’s practically everyday make a hue &cry for under recoveries, fact is they are grossly inefficient ,take the example of Project Management/Capital expenditure .HPCL planned agreen field Refinery at Bhatinda after laying foundation stone 3 times twice by NDA Govt.and once by UPAI, finally the work commenced in 2008, even after missing 2 deadlines and 13 years Refinery is still not on stream , in fact HPCL now has no money to by the Crude .The Project cost escalated 4 times since original DFR(detailed feasibility Report).IOC raising a coastal Refinery at Paradeep for last 7 years with no where completion in sight .Refinery margins are another grey area with oil companies e.g HPCL having a GRM(Gross refining Margin) of barely 30 cents in last quarter from their recently upgraded Vizag Refinery with thousands of crores of capex. OMC’s boast of high turnover and financials which is courtesy increased fuel prices, volume sales have barely registered a growth of average 3.5% y-o-y in last two 5 year plans. The worst part is that despite under recoveries in all 4 products which are consumed by masses and having complete monopoly , OMC’s resort to competition with each other and undercutting which is totally unfair, unethical and undesirable ,since they are compensated by Taxpayers money/National exchequer. OMC’s offer discounts to ICICI, HDFC, CITIBANK, RAILWAYS, DEFENCE which has no logic or reasoning .In existing scenario where “more you sell more you loose” they should resort to “Demand management” and encourage fuel conservation.<br />Govt. cunningly deregulated the price of Petrol in july 2010 and gave a free hand to OMC’s to raise the prices on one pretext or the other, like crude prices gone up, Rupee weakened vis-a-vis USD or compensating loss on sales of Kerosene, while facts are contrary, In june 2008 when crude hit highest price of 147USD per barrel Petrol was selling for Rs. 51/ltr and now when crude is 110 USD per barrel Petrol is being sold Rs. 75 /ltr. OMC’s misused this leverage continuously for 13 times and finally succumbed to Public/political outcry in the 1st weak of Nov. 2011 to 1stdownward correction of Rs.2,25/ltr. The logistic model of OMC’s is not cost effective and results into cris cross movement of Product .Few years before they tried to sell grocery to Textile at their Retail outlets which flopped miserably. Attempts like HPCL running Retail outlets in Mauritius, and IOC’s operation in Zimbabwe, SriLanka did not add to their bottom line either .The myth that Petrol is rich &effluent class fuel is unfounded , it is consumed by a vast population of Bikers/2 wheelers middle/lower middle class consumers , rich have already switched over to Diesel guzzling SUV’s.<br />Corruption is rampant in Oil PSU’s and the money is channeled from Sales officer to the Chairman for buying lucrative positions like Regional Manager, General Manger (zones) which are auctioned. There are quite a few avenues for generation of money Viz. Reconstitution of Retail outlets, De-leasing the land of Retail outlets, Adulteration Etc. According to survey more then 70% Retail outlets/Gas agencies have Minister, MP, MLA or corporaters either in ownership or as sleeping partner, bribes are paid for allotment of such outlets/agencies, which are recovered by adulteration or selling Domestic cylinders in black to unauthorized consumers .NCEAR(National Council of Economic& applied Research) have established in their study that 38% of PDS Kerosene is siphoned off for adulteration which is Rs.15000 cr. industry Nation wide(e.g Malegaoncase). Price of Petrol Rs. 72/ltr and Diesel 45/ltr mixed with Kerosene of Rs.13/ltr is a lucrative trade and money generated through this clandestine route is channeled up to Minister/Ministry .Govt. made no sincere attempt to curb adulteration till date except blue dying Kerosene in late Eighties and a recently launched Marker , which proved to be another fraud in CBI enquiry where Marker was purchased for Rs. 13000/ltr from a blacklisted British company Named BIOCODE .Marker was abruptly abandoned in 2008 after the CBI complaint and draining of Rs. 200 cr of Public money and could not be restarted even after 3 years, despite several announcements by Ministers .<br />Land de-leasing is another oily business HPCL/BPCL inherited large No. of Retail outlets of foreign oil companies like ESSO/CALTEX/BURMA SHELL having land prices fairly low at the time of acquisition however now prices have appreciated multi fold and de leasing the Retail outlet land fetches crores of rupees for owners, ever greedy oil company officials, Politicians fix the deal and company executes it quoting as a “VIP Reference”. Appointment of consultants and Advisors is another source of corruption, within couple months of officer attaining superannuation , he is appointed as Advisor/consultant at hefty compensation with a cut for Top company officials .HPCL alone has at least 20 such retired officers back on their rolls .Appointing foreign consultants like, Gallup, Thomson Associates, Mercer, Arthur D’little, Accenture in the name of improving productivity, Performance evaluation and boosting employee morale have failed in their objective and proved to be employment avenues for the wards of working &retired company & Ministry officials.<br />Bad debts and infructuous expenditure are another drain on OMCs profits ,IOC has on date Rs1800 cr in principal and 400 cr in interest outstanding fro NACIL, HPCL has Rs. 703 cr.due from beleaguered Kingfisher they claim to have a Bank Guarantee for Rs.300 cr but moot question is whether Bank will honor a Bank Guarantee to a 3rd party or settle their own dues first.IOC has Rs50 cr due from GSRTC for last 14 years. HPCL has sunk approx. 17 cr in a wound up airline Modiluft and a few crores in recent defunct Paramount Airways. The worst part is the chairmen of these companies defend and justify their decisions stating these are calculated risks. There is a popular Joke of 10 oil company officers launching a Oil conservation week each traveling alone in his car, numerous example of wasteful expenditure by OMC’s, recently BPCL spent Rs. 40 Lakhs of taxpayers money for fond farewell of one of their Director and HPCL spending Rs. 19 cr. from their Delhicoordination office on Shastri Bhawan Babus and Parliamentarians for gifting them Novelties , Mementos<br />The chairmen of oil companies are treated like dirt by Shastri Bhawan Babus , recently IOC/HPCL CMD’s made some statement on increasing Petrol price, they do not realize how soon they will have to eat their words. The solution lies in making Petro pricing transparent and the farce of “Import parity” should be abolished, state taxes rationalized with GST , Kerosene should be market priced and any subsidy can be paid in cash/Bank Account through smart card/Aadhar cards. Black of Domestic cylinders being sold as Non domestic must be stopped forth with , use of Domestic cylinders be limited for households. A rational price mechanism for Petrol& Diesel would provide a much awaited relief to a common man.<br />.Deora has been shown the door from Petroleum Ministry and Cabinet, all his cronies have been shunted to non descript assignments. Ministry ,instead of working for Ambanies, Ruias, for which CAG has already submitted a scathing report and action will be taken in due course of time, should concentrate on enhancing production of crude oil which is a long term solution ,OMC s should be pulled up to tighten their belts instead of finding excuses.<br />Ravi Srivastava<br /> <br />“To Know his battle against false Please Follow Tale of Two Whistleblower of HPCL“<br /><br />Whistleblower , Activist & Indian Against Corruption active volunteer .<br />I R.P.SRIVASTAVA, 56 year old ,male Graduated in Science and Chemical Technology in the year 1975, after an stint of 1 year at Eicher Tractors and 6 years in Kansai Nerolac(erstwhile Goodlass Nerolac), I joined HPCL in 1982 as an Operations Officer in Grade ‘A’.<br />“I am a crusader against corruption , corruption which destroyed my life exposed Rs. 200 cr. corruption in Petroleum industry Marker system invited the wrath of Murli Deora his sychphant beaurocrats , chairman of the company who promptly dismissed me from service to appease their boss”<br />Please Read ” Tale of Two Whistleblower of HPCL to know more…..<br />R. P. Srivastava<br />ravi4354@gmail.com<br />304, AUM SAI Sector-7<br />Kharghar, Navi Mumbai 410210<br />Mob- 09820183924 L/L 02227744012<br />India Against corruption Activist and Volunteer from Navi Mumbai<br />My Blog http://raviprakash4354.blogspot.com <br />साभार: http://easytoact.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=228%3Apetro-pricing-a-big-farce-&catid=34%3Adaily-article-category-&Itemid=59raviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-40254361270138121712011-11-24T21:57:00.001+05:302011-11-24T21:59:38.751+05:30CORRUPTION IN ONGC , CSR PAID TO WIFEPress Note<br /> <br />Gujarat High Court issues notice in ONGC Scam<br /> In a Public Interest Litigation Writ Petition Filed by Two senior officers of ONGC, Mr. K.C.Harikumar and Mr. Anil Dhavan the High Court issued notice today to ONGC, Government, Central Vigilance Commission etc.<br /> The petitioners say that Shri R.S.Sharma, the then CMD of ONGC and Shri Sudhir Vasudeva the then Director (Offshore), Mumbai and now CMD of ONGC, with the help of other Directors and senior Officers had helped ONGC Mahila Samithi headed by Smt. Rashmi Sharma wife of Shri R.S.Sharma, in collecting huge sum of Money – to the tune of Rs.3.257 crores- as donation from 49 Multinational Contractors including SCHLUMBERGER, Reliance Industries etc. who had contract work in ONGC Offshore in Mumbai. The donations were collected in the name of charity. Acceptance of such donation being in contravention to the Rules of the Corporation and Anti corruption Law etc. the petitioners sought information through RTI and after getting solid information, they made complaints under the Whistle Blower Policy to the ONGC, CVC and to the Government but the authorities did not act on such complaint as required under various Acts/Rules. In the complaint to CVC, the petitioners had given details of corruption in ONGC : Leading face of Management-Contractor nexus and inner cancer of “Science Faking”. Petitioners also furnished details of benefit that the Contractors extracted from ONGC after such donations. <br /> It is also alleged in the petition that under the Chairmanship of Shri R.S.Sharma, ONGC adopted ONGC Mahila Samithi headed by his wife, as a partner in the Composite Social Responsibility and diverted huge funds under guise of social work, in the year 2010-2011 an amount of Rs.4, 11,53,667.00 was given as grant, and that such allocation of fund led to misuse and misappropriation etc. It is urged in the petition that in the larger interest of the organization and the nation, a thorough investigation is required to be ordered. After hearing the Hon. High Court was pleased to issue notice returnable after three weeks.<br /> Shri Mukul Sinha along with Shri K.G.Pillai appeared for the petitioners.raviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-17277927868596230302011-11-24T10:52:00.000+05:302011-11-24T10:53:49.240+05:30http://petroleumdealers.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/ashok-singh-declares-war-on-s-roy-choudhury-of-hpcl/#comment-1085 Supreme Court said corrupt shouldAshok Singh declares war on S. Roy Choudhuryhttp://petroleumdealers.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/ashok-singh-declares-war-on-s-roy-choudhury-of-hpcl/#comment-1085<br /><br />Supreme Court said corrupt should be hanged at Lamp Post.<br />S Roy Choudhury with his predecessor Arun Balakrishnan deserve it.<br />At the earliest<br /><br />On Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 3:27 PM, ravi srivastava <ravi4354@gmail.com> wrote:<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Ashok Singh declares war on S. Roy Choudhury<br />Vol 15, PW 10 (17 Nov 2011) - Politics & People<br /><br />Hindustan Petroleum chairman S. Roy Choudhury has promised to fight a series of damaging allegations soon to be laid bare in the Delhi High Court. Ashok Singh, a former HPCL officer and labour union official, plans to file a petition claiming the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) fraudulently cleared Choudhury’s appointment as company chairman in 2010. “The CVC didn’t stop Choudhury from taking charge in August 2010,” Singh tells PETROWATCH. “But my complaint against him is pending since November 11, 2009.” Two months ago Singh invoked the Right to Information Act to discover his complaint against Choudhury is gathering dust at the CVC. Provoked, he hired a team of top lawyers, and is trying to hire former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam also. A draft petition, seen by this report, alleges impropriety when Choudhury was HPCL executive director and later director marketing. Singh alleges that in May 2009 Choudhury allowed a generous 75 day credit period to privately-owned GMR for diesel delivered to its 200-MW Vasavi Basin Bridge power station in Chennai. “On the one hand HPCL is borrowing from the market,” reads the draft petition. “On the other it has given credit to GMR.” Worse, Singh alleges GMR wrongly told power purchaser Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) it was allowed only five days credit by HPCL. “TNEB is a government enterprise and was deprived of 70 days additional credit,” he adds. Also under scrutiny is Choudhury’s appointment of ICICI Bank in 2003 without tender to operate a customer loyalty programme for diesel sales from HPCL pumps. And finally, when others were ignoring Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya, Choudhury inexplicably raised the cash-strapped stricken airline’s credit limit from Rs300cr ($60m) to Rs605cr ($121m). “These charges are an act of desperation from a man (Singh) who was dismissed from HPCL,” Choudhury tells this report. “If they come to court I will fight them.”<br /><br /><br />NOTE: Ashok Singh alleges that another watchdog body, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), asked HPCL in May 2009 to explain the “undue favour” to GMR Vasavi but that Choudhury’s appointment as company chairman went through nonetheless. Singh also asks how Choudhury could have approved a marketing partnership with ICICI Bank when diesel fuel sales are subsidised by the government. ICICI, he says, earned Rs165cr ($33m) as a result. “HPCL is a public sector undertaking but out of the revenues earned on sale of these (government-subsidised) products it has agreed to share the revenue with a private bank without any public interest,” he says. Singh, 53, is the son-in-law of former Congress Party MP Rana Veer Singh. As HPCL regional manager and president of the Oil Sector Officers’ Association, he was dismissed in March 2009 after the government broke a strike by oil sector officers two months earlier. A lawyer by training, Singh has taken up farming in the Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh since his dismissal from HPCL.<br /><br /><br />-- <br /><br />R. P. Srivastava<br />304, AUM SAI Sector-7<br />Kharghar, Navi Mumbai 410210<br />Mob. 09820183924 L/L 02227744012<br />FB Ravi Srivastava<br />blog http://raviprakash4354.blogspot.com<br />Twitter ravi4354,Linkedin ravi4354,GTalk ravi4354<br />RTI Activist &India Against corruption Coordinator Navi Mumbairaviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-53796596722437841502011-11-24T10:43:00.000+05:302011-11-24T10:45:58.014+05:30Petro Prcing :A Big Farce"Articles By Whistleblower & Activist Ravi Srivastava on oil industry and issues which give us the hidden harsh<br />reality and force us to think more than just normal . We are thankful to him for sharing his articles with us .<br />Please Share Articles and be part of his fight against corruption."EasytoAct(ETA)<br />Petro pricing has been a matter of debate for decades there is no transparency in Refining costs, Taxes,<br />Duties, Margins, cess and other levies the fact is Govt. never intended to make it open for public scrutiny,<br />a figure of several lakh crores is flashed on TV screens with every price increase, where a few thousand crores<br />are absorbed by Govt., upstream oil companies and balance is passed on to market to squeeze the defenseless<br />consumer.Government budgets certain amount recoverable from Public towards Taxes&Duties and the subsidy<br />is actually the “loss in Profit” by Govt., with every price increase the State Governments , octroi , cess for<br />Municipalities, Dealer’s commission every one takes his pound of flesh in this official loot.<br /><br />Murli Deora then Petroleum Minister, 3 years before in a Press conference proudly holding a Bisleri bottle in his <br />hand says ‘We are selling Kerosene even cheaper then this mineral water “what he did not explain, that whose<br />money he was draining down the drain , it was our’s, taxpayers hard earned money doled out in the name of<br />subsidy for below poverty line poor ,who seldom get it.<br /><br />Petro pricing has been a matter of debate for decades there is no transparency in Refining costs, Taxes, Duties, Margins, cess and other levies the fact is Govt. never intended to make it open for public scrutiny, a figure of several lakh crores is flashed on TV screens with every price increase, where a few thousand crores are absorbed by Govt., upstream oil companies and balance is passed on to market to squeeze the defenseless consumer.Government budgets certain amount recoverable from Public towards Taxes&Duties and the subsidy is actually the “loss in Profit” by Govt., with every price increase the State Governments , octroi , cess for Municipalities, Dealer’s commission every one takes his pound of flesh in this official loot.<br /><br />Genesis of fuel pricing shows that sometimes in the late eighties while fuel consumption was approx. 55Mt , ONGC, OIL were producing roughly half of country’s requirement , shockingly even after 25 years and sinking few Lakh crores of Rupees crude oil production of ONGC has not exceeded even by 1 Mt andremains stagnant at 27 Mt , resulting into Nation’s50% dependence on imported crude has reduced to 22% and 78% of the crude is imported today eating into precious foreign exchange due to ever volatile Dollar .Nation faces a “crude shock” every passing fortnight for the inefficiency on the part ONGC and policy bankruptcy of Shastri Bhawan Babus .ONGC is projected as a cash rich behemoth and Maharatna courtesy compensation to the company on rising dollars.OIL is smaller culprit who could muster a moderate growth in their production due to smaller base.<br /><br />As late as in 1998 Govt. used to compensate OMC’s(Oil Marketing Companies) ,a 12% post tax return and fuel prices were fixed by Govt.NDA rule dared to bring much touted deregulation, which gave pricing leverage on paper to OMC’s and physically remained with Minister &Ministry ,Pricing of Lubricant , ATF(Aviation Turbine Fuel), Black oils were left to OMC’s ,who by and large cartelized and insulated themselves from competition, Private players preferred export instead of selling locally due to pricing disadvantage.They did open couple of thousand outlets which eventually closed down . Petrol, diesel, LPG and Kerosene were kept under MDPM(Market determined price mechanism) which remained same except the word “Market” replaced by ‘Minister’or ‘Ministry”.<br /><br />In fact total pricing freedom to OMC’s in letter &spirit would have diluted the authority of Politicians/Babus of MOP&NG and therefore every increase /reduction in these 4 products have to be blessed by Ministry, who will have privilege to announce it first on camera. OMC’s are used as a fiefdom or a milch cow of Ministry for various services/facilities, favors like provision of Taxies for personal use of babus and their families , organizing trips to exotic locations, use of Guest houses at Major cities , appointing consultants and cut in contracts.In turn ministry protects corrupt Oil company officials from CVC,CBI&CAG .<br /><br />OMC’s are plagued by 3 serious ailments, Inefficiency, corruption and Bad debts/ wasteful expenditures, OMC’s practically everyday make a hue &cry for under recoveries, fact is they are grossly inefficient ,take the example of Project Management/Capital expenditure .HPCL planned agreen field Refinery at Bhatinda after laying foundation stone 3 times twice by NDA Govt.and once by UPAI, finally the work commenced in 2008, even after missing 2 deadlines and 13 years Refinery is still not on stream , in fact HPCL now has no money to by the Crude .The Project cost escalated 4 times since original DFR(detailed feasibility Report).IOC raising a coastal Refinery at Paradeep for last 7 years with no where completion in sight .Refinery margins are another grey area with oil companies e.g HPCL having a GRM(Gross refining Margin) of barely 30 cents in last quarter from their recently upgraded Vizag Refinery with thousands of crores of capex. OMC’s boast of high turnover and financials which is courtesy increased fuel prices, volume sales have barely registered a growth of average 3.5% y-o-y in last two 5 year plans. The worst part is that despite under recoveries in all 4 products which are consumed by masses and having complete monopoly , OMC’s resort to competition with each other and undercutting which is totally unfair, unethical and undesirable ,since they are compensated by Taxpayers money/National exchequer. OMC’s offer discounts to ICICI, HDFC, CITIBANK, RAILWAYS, DEFENCE which has no logic or reasoning .In existing scenario where “more you sell more you loose” they should resort to “Demand management” and encourage fuel conservation.<br /><br />Govt. cunningly deregulated the price of Petrol in july 2010 and gave a free hand to OMC’s to raise the prices on one pretext or the other, like crude prices gone up, Rupee weakened vis-a-vis USD or compensating loss on sales of Kerosene, while facts are contrary, In june 2008 when crude hit highest price of 147USD per barrel Petrol was selling for Rs. 51/ltr and now when crude is 110 USD per barrel Petrol is being sold Rs. 75 /ltr. OMC’s misused this leverage continuously for 13 times and finally succumbed to Public/political outcry in the 1st weak of Nov. 2011 to 1stdownward correction of Rs.2,25/ltr. The logistic model of OMC’s is not cost effective and results into cris cross movement of Product .Few years before they tried to sell grocery to Textile at their Retail outlets which flopped miserably. Attempts like HPCL running Retail outlets in Mauritius, and IOC’s operation in Zimbabwe, SriLanka did not add to their bottom line either .The myth that Petrol is rich &effluent class fuel is unfounded , it is consumed by a vast population of Bikers/2 wheelers middle/lower middle class consumers , rich have already switched over to Diesel guzzling SUV’s.<br /><br />Corruption is rampant in Oil PSU’s and the money is channeled from Sales officer to the Chairman for buying lucrative positions like Regional Manager, General Manger (zones) which are auctioned. There are quite a few avenues for generation of money Viz. Reconstitution of Retail outlets, De-leasing the land of Retail outlets, Adulteration Etc. According to survey more then 70% Retail outlets/Gas agencies have Minister, MP, MLA or corporaters either in ownership or as sleeping partner, bribes are paid for allotment of such outlets/agencies, which are recovered by adulteration or selling Domestic cylinders in black to unauthorized consumers .NCEAR(National Council of Economic& applied Research) have established in their study that 38% of PDS Kerosene is siphoned off for adulteration which is Rs.15000 cr. industry Nation wide(e.g Malegaoncase). Price of Petrol Rs. 72/ltr and Diesel 45/ltr mixed with Kerosene of Rs.13/ltr is a lucrative trade and money generated through this clandestine route is channeled up to Minister/Ministry .Govt. made no sincere attempt to curb adulteration till date except blue dying Kerosene in late Eighties and a recently launched Marker , which proved to be another fraud in CBI enquiry where Marker was purchased for Rs. 13000/ltr from a blacklisted British company Named BIOCODE .Marker was abruptly abandoned in 2008 after the CBI complaint and draining of Rs. 200 cr of Public money and could not be restarted even after 3 years, despite several announcements by Ministers .<br /><br />Land de-leasing is another oily business HPCL/BPCL inherited large No. of Retail outlets of foreign oil companies like ESSO/CALTEX/BURMA SHELL having land prices fairly low at the time of acquisition however now prices have appreciated multi fold and de leasing the Retail outlet land fetches crores of rupees for owners, ever greedy oil company officials, Politicians fix the deal and company executes it quoting as a “VIP Reference”. Appointment of consultants and Advisors is another source of corruption, within couple months of officer attaining superannuation , he is appointed as Advisor/consultant at hefty compensation with a cut for Top company officials .HPCL alone has at least 20 such retired officers back on their rolls .Appointing foreign consultants like, Gallup, Thomson Associates, Mercer, Arthur D’little, Accenture in the name of improving productivity, Performance evaluation and boosting employee morale have failed in their objective and proved to be employment avenues for the wards of working &retired company & Ministry officials.<br /><br />Bad debts and infructuous expenditure are another drain on OMCs profits ,IOC has on date Rs1800 cr in principal and 400 cr in interest outstanding fro NACIL, HPCL has Rs. 703 cr.due from beleaguered Kingfisher they claim to have a Bank Guarantee for Rs.300 cr but moot question is whether Bank will honor a Bank Guarantee to a 3rd party or settle their own dues first.IOC has Rs50 cr due from GSRTC for last 14 years. HPCL has sunk approx. 17 cr in a wound up airline Modiluft and a few crores in recent defunct Paramount Airways. The worst part is the chairmen of these companies defend and justify their decisions stating these are calculated risks. There is a popular Joke of 10 oil company officers launching a Oil conservation week each traveling alone in his car, numerous example of wasteful expenditure by OMC’s, recently BPCL spent Rs. 40 Lakhs of taxpayers money for fond farewell of one of their Director and HPCL spending Rs. 19 cr. from their Delhicoordination office on Shastri Bhawan Babus and Parliamentarians for gifting them Novelties , Mementos<br /><br />The chairmen of oil companies are treated like dirt by Shastri Bhawan Babus , recently IOC/HPCL CMD’s made some statement on increasing Petrol price, they do not realize how soon they will have to eat their words. The solution lies in making Petro pricing transparent and the farce of “Import parity” should be abolished, state taxes rationalized with GST , Kerosene should be market priced and any subsidy can be paid in cash/Bank Account through smart card/Aadhar cards. Black of Domestic cylinders being sold as Non domestic must be stopped forth with , use of Domestic cylinders be limited for households. A rational price mechanism for Petrol& Diesel would provide a much awaited relief to a common man.<br /><br />.Deora has been shown the door from Petroleum Ministry and Cabinet, all his cronies have been shunted to non descript assignments. Ministry ,instead of working for Ambanies, Ruias, for which CAG has already submitted a scathing report and action will be taken in due course of time, should concentrate on enhancing production of crude oil which is a long term solution ,OMC s should be pulled up to tighten their belts instead of finding excuses.<br /><br />Ravi Srivastava<br /><br /> <br /><br />"To Know his battle against false Please Follow Tale of Two Whistleblower of HPCL"<br /><br /> <br /><br />Previous Articles : CORRUPTION WATCHDOG 3 C’s , COINCIDANCES, TOO MANY , THE MARK(ER) OF A SCAM-RS.200 cr. FRAUD BY MOP&NG , PUBLIC FUNDING OF A PRIVATE AIRLINEraviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-42123788231942304902011-10-21T14:35:00.000+05:302011-10-21T14:36:34.298+05:30Hidden Reality : COINCIDANCES, TOO MANYHidden Reality : COINCIDANCES, TOO MANY<br />Wednesday, 05 October 2011 00:38 <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"Articles By Whistleblower & Activist Ravi Srivastava on dirty oil industry and ssues which give us the hidden harsh reality and force us to think more than just normal . We are thankful to him for sharing articles with us . "ETA<br /><br />February 2006 UPA I was half way through of their 5 year tenure ,told its fund raisers to fill the coffers swiftly since Elections were approaching, the money spinners of the party likes of Vilas Rao Deshmukh , Ahmed Patel , Murli Deora were assigned the specific roles ,which they have been successfully playing over decades for the Party.<br /><br />Ministry of Petroleum is one such milch cow for every ruling party Adulteration, Benami Retail outlets , contracts for exploration generate huge black money which is channeled up to Minister& Ministry, till Jan 2006 Ministry was headed by a “spoke in the wheel’ Mani Shankar Aiyar a Top Bureaucrat of yesteryears known for his straight forwardness and fond of calling spade- a- spade, he received sudden marching orders High Command to Panchayati Raj a Non descript Ministry .<br /><br />Murli deora a known polyester yarn broker fromMumbai and ‘cutting Chai” partner of Industry doyen Late Shri Dhiru bhai Ambani was installed as Petroleum Minister. He was an old guard of congress party but a low key operator since Rajiv Gandhi days and a loving ‘unclejee’ to Anil& Mukesh Ambani. Ambani’s are loved equally by Congress & BJP for their deep pockets and responsible for their rise & rise in India’s industrial map .The specific task cut for Deora was to raise funds at least 1000 Cr from the infamous Business houses for forthcoming Elections.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Deora started with a launch of a fuel marker for checking adulteration, such futile attempts are made by Govt. occasionally to fool & hoodwink the public at large pretending that Govt. is really serious to curb adulteration. In fact adulteration is a real money spinner and Rs. 15000 crore annual racket of oil company/Ministry officials .PDS kerosene destined for poor public is siphoned off in the market for mixing with Petrol and diesel due to substantial delta in price of kerosene vs.Motor fuels , Govt.s own agency NCEAR has admitted in their report that 38% of PDS Kerosene is diverted for mixing in connivance with Transporters/Dealers and unscrupulous State/Central Govt. officials. In the guise of checking adulteration a Rs. 200 cr. Order for a Marker was placed on M/S SGS(Recently being awarded a contract for Roads Audit by Maharashtra Govt.) an Indian agent of Authentix a British company, who were handpicked for shipping Marker into India .SGS started extortion since they were mandated by MOP&NG for checking adulteration on Petrol Pumps, 2 officials of HPCL made a complaint to CBI Mumbai in May 2008 , followed by a PIL in Hon. Mumbai High court, who ordered CBI enquiry in Oct 2008, coincidentally the said Marker was withdrawn by Deora within 2 months i.e w.e.f 1.1.2009,and Rs200 cr. Of tax payers money went down the drain without any control or reduction of rampant adulteration.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Real stakes were in RIL-RNRL case where Hon Mumbai High court ordered in favor of junior Ambani and upheld PSC(Product sharing contract)at the contracted price of Natural Gas $2.8mmscnd, elder Ambani approached the Apex court , suddenly Govt. Realized that natural Gas is a National Asset and not brothers property alone (Govt. did not know it for many years when case was in Mumbai High court) and became an intervener in the case .MOP&NG filed an affidavit in Apex court in july 2009 supporting elder Ambani’s claim. In the meantime Elections concluded and appropriately funded UPAII came into existence. Deora was quickly reinstalled as Petroleum Minister since it was a payback time for funds collected , coincidently the EGOM comprising of Deora, Shinde, Pranab also approved the price of Natural gas at $ 4.2 mmscnd, which was 150% of original price of $2.8mmscnd , such enhanced price was to benefit RIL , by Rs. 30000 cr. in next 5 years, for justification DGH ( Director General of Hydrocarbons)V.K.Sibbal’s approval for GOLD PLATING of Reliance’s capital expenditure from original estimate of Rs. 8000 cr enhanced to Rs. 44,000 cr was accepted .Sibbal was removed in Oct 2009 after enquiry into his daughter accepting white goods from Reliance officials (intercepted emails) and a Flat .There were heated allegations of serious irregularities by Junior Ambani against MOP&NG in 2009, published on the front page of Economic Times.<br /><br /> <br /><br />By an extended coincidence K.G.Balakrishnan the CJ of Apex court pronounced judgment in favor of elder Amabni and approved the price of $4.2 mmscnd within 5 days after order he was appointed as NHRC Chairman (cabinet Rank)w.e.f 11.5.2010 immediately after his superannuation<br /><br />Last but not the least coincidence is that Deora has been removed as Petroleum Minister in Jan 2011and from the cabinet in july this year, for consolation his son made an insignificant Mos for retaining a roof in Delhi and to prevent his marginalization in Politics. Then Petroleum secy,Joint Secretaries have been shunted to non descript Ministries Sibbal facing CBI charge sheet in approving enhanced capex.CAG has filed a scathing report against misdeeds of Deora and his cronies in KG Basin case .K.G.Balakrishnan is facing enquiries of manipulation in Land deals by his kins and relatives, Reliance’s Natural Gas production has reduced to half then projected and its share price plummeted more the 25% till last month.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Ravi Srivastava<br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br />"To Know his battle against false Please Follow Tale of Two Whistleblower of HPCL"<br /><br /> <br /><br />Previous Articles : THE MARK(ER) OF A SCAM-RS.200 cr. FRAUD BY MOP&NG , PUBLIC FUNDING OF A PRIVATE AIRLINE<br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br />About Author<br /><br /><br />Whistleblower , Activist & Indian Against Corruption active volunteer .<br /><br />I R.P.SRIVASTAVA, 56 year old ,male Graduated in Science and Chemical Technology in the year 1975, after an stint of 1 year at Eicher Tractors and 6 years in Kansai Nerolac(erstwhile Goodlass Nerolac), I joined HPCL in 1982 as an Operations Officer in Grade ‘A’.<br /><br />"I am a crusader against corruption , corruption which destroyed my life exposed Rs. 200 cr. corruption in Petroleum industry Marker system invited the wrath of Murli Deora his sychphant beaurocrats , chairman of the company who promptly dismissed me from service to appease their boss"<br /><br />Please Read " Tale of Two Whistleblower of HPCL to know more.....<br /><br />R. P. Srivastava<br />ravi4354@gmail.com<br />304, AUM SAI Sector-7<br />Kharghar, Navi Mumbai 410210<br />Mob- 09820183924 L/L 02227744012<br />India Against corruption Activist and Volunteer from Navi Mumbai<br />My Blog http://raviprakash4354.blogspot.com<br />Contact Me if you want to join me in the fight .Because people support can make huge difference .raviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-60992838323834739362011-10-21T14:30:00.001+05:302011-10-21T14:31:54.630+05:30Hidden Reality : CORRUPTION WATCHDOG 3 C’sHidden Reality : CORRUPTION WATCHDOG 3 C’s<br />Home More Articles Hidden Reality : CORRUPTION WATCHDOG 3 C’s<br />Hidden Reality : CORRUPTION WATCHDOG 3 C’s<br />Friday, 14 October 2011 21:22 <br /><br />inShare<br />Download SocButtons<br />0 Comments<br />16<br />Share<br /><br /><br />"Articles By Whistleblower & Activist Ravi Srivastava on dirty oil industry and ssues which give us thehidden harsh reality and force us to think more than just normal . We are thankful to him for sharing articles with us . "ETA<br /><br />"CAG is a classic example that how a defunct body can redeem itself , for 5o years CAG was an ordinary Govt. Auditor, whose job is to keep an eye on utilization of Public exchequer by Public Authorities .They normally station their Auditors in Govt. companies as Resident/Govt. Auditor and have office in company’s corporate offices only. Lakhs of pages of report gather dust since the job of agency is to discover, examine the misuse of Public money and report to Govt. who will in turn hand it over to various standing committees of Parliamentarians who make visit to Public sector undertakings , stay in 5 star hotels at Hill stations or Beach resorts on account of Public sector undertakings only along with their spouses sometimes .Finally no action on such voluminous reports are taken and destines to archives"<br /><br />Team Anna’s Jan lok pal bill which has become a bone of contention between the Government and Civil society had approximately 13 issues of mismatch , out of which one contentious issue is to make the CVC, CBI&CAG independent , perception is that Government is scared of passing too much of Powers to the Jan Lok Pal and intends to dilute the provisions of the Bill in such a manner that even if a Public Servant is caught enough escape route is made available to defend himself .<br /><br />The fear in the minds of Politicians, Babu’s is that in the very first tenure of 2 years of installing Jan Lok pal , more then half of the Ministers and similar proportion of Babu’s will be either sacked or land in Jail.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Subsequent paras will deal with the 3 dreaded C’s of Govt. feared by Public servants and how effectively these are managed and compromised so that they remain unscathed. These 3 are Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Central Bureau of investigation(CBI) and Central Vigilance Commission(CVC), all 3 have constitutionally appointed heads chosen by the PM, Leader of Opposition , HM from serving or superannuated Babu’s including IRS, IPS officers, by virtue of their inherent love , affection , empathy for their brethren , even if a case is made, it is diluted in such a way that the Elevation , posting , assignment and benefits of the serving bureaucrat remain unaffected/protected, take the example of Thomas who was appointed CVC despite Charge sheet against him and finally Apex court had to null his appointment.<br /><br />Modus operandi for such appointments is suppose a CPSU(Central Public Sector Undertaking) Director aspiring to become Chairman and having a case against him , he will swiftly depute a company official (All oustation based CPSUs have a Delhi Coordination office)to keep a close liaison with CVC , such officers are almost Dalal’s/Fixers in the capital for respective CPSU’s/Deptt, his file is tracked on day to day basis, such coordination offices have agents in the guise of consultants in the parliament, Ministry , CBI and have crores of Rupees of Unaudited Budget at their disposal, such agents ensure that the pending case is closed before, CVC nod for appointment is given. Such clearances are also essential before releasing Pension, Benefits of retiring PSU Board level executives or their elevation in the Organization.<br /><br />CVC though called a ‘Watchdog’ and has even superintending powers over CBI , factually it is not even Stray/street dog , leave aside biting , it does not even bark for a simple reason that it is paid established and controlled by the same Govt, whose servants it has to Act against, and therefore it has no option but to wag its tail before its masters. Second handicap is its understaffing ,barely 37 officers manning all the crucial departments , CVC appoints more then 250 CVO’s in CPSU’s and Govt. departments like Railways, Income Tax, some of these have Lakhs of employees working in those establishments .CVC officials have admitted that they are not more then a Post Office, which receives the complaint from Public, Employees against Public Servants and in turn forwards it to the same company for investigating and taking action against their own erring officials, In the process if the complainant is a “Whistle blower” from the same Organization his identity and complaint both are fully compromised and he is thrown before the ‘wolves’ of the Organization to have a field day.<br /><br />CVC’s powers are recommendatory, its recommendations are passed through the concerned Ministry’s vigilance and finally to the Chairman or Deptt. Head who decides whether he concurs with the recommendation or dilutes it e.g if CVC recommends demotion , the deptt will reduce it to stoppage of increments, if CVC recommends termination, he will be suspended and so on.<br /><br />Departmental CVO’s are a defunct lot, they consider PSU assignment as a “Parking slot” before their next time scale promotion and enjoy all the privileges, perquisites, benefits of the Government company, distinctly recall one Principal Accountant General appointed as CVO of HPCL he was selling his Books to company officials and company was sponsoring his CD’s of Yoga exercises. Such privileges these CVO’s IRS, IPS officers would have never enjoyed in their parent cadres where they will be stuffed in a 2Room flat inDhaula kuan or R.K.Puram in capital e.g once he gets assigned as CVO in Bharat Petroleum Bombay he gets a 4 BHK bunglow with company car, fully Air-conditioned office and Residence, Normally these officers use these postings as “Picnic”, neither they have any attachment with company’s performance nor have any intention to curb prevailing corruption .Such CVO’S confine themselves to mere preaching during Vigilance awareness week (a ritual in the first week of November every year)and quietly move out after completing tenure of 2-3 years.<br /><br />Another farce is that CVO’s functionally report to CVC but administratively report to Chairman or HOD of the deptt, if any complaint against any company employee is received, CVO takes it to Chairman and bargains for some additional benefit for himself else he threatens the chairman to expose his wrong doings end result remains that “I scratch your back you scratch mine”<br /><br />If any employee directly reports corruption to CVC /CBI the complaint is forwarded to the respective CVO and in the process his identity is exposed/compromised with the same people against whom he had complained.There is no punishment anywhere in the world for making a complaint but such “thorny’ individual is treated as an “eyesore” in the organization and a threat to a well oiled institutionalized corrupt system prevailing in the very organization .All people in Authority pounce upon him and try to implicate him in some frivolous disciplinary cases with the sole objective of easing him out from the organization in the first available opportunity.<br /><br />Less said the better about functioning of CBI which is rechristened as Criminal bureau of investigation or congress bureau of Investigation, whose primary function is to “book” the people , who are against the ruling party and “release” or give the “clean chit” to those who belong to ruling party, objective of this agency is not to conclude the case(as far as possible) and drag it indefinitely to facilitate retirement of the guilty Public servant .Apex court has fired the agency hundred of times for their Partisan, enquiries .It has got its own courts, prosecuting machinery but it is a fact that 90% of the cases fall flat in the courts because of shoddy investigation or weak prosecution.<br /><br />CAG is a classic example that how a defunct body can redeem itself , for 5o years CAG was an ordinary Govt. Auditor, whose job is to keep an eye on utilization of Public exchequer by Public Authorities .They normally station their Auditors in Govt. companies as Resident/Govt. Auditor and have office in company’s corporate offices only. Lakhs of pages of report gather dust since the job of agency is to discover, examine the misuse of Public money and report to Govt. who will in turn hand it over to various standing committees of Parliamentarians who make visit to Public sector undertakings , stay in 5 star hotels at Hill stations or Beach resorts on account of Public sector undertakings only along with their spouses sometimes .Finally no action on such voluminous reports are taken and destines to archives<br /><br />It is first time since independence that this body has unearthed a Rs. 1.76 Lakh cr. 2G scam, MOP&NG’s RIL’s KG Basin scam(quantum of Public money plundered is yet to be established), nevertheless this agency has at least shown the courage of exposing their masters which must be applauded.<br /><br />To conclude it is a very legitimate demand from TEAM ANNA that all these 3 agencies must be made to report Jan Lok Pal (CBI’s only Anti corruption wing), the live example is Apex court monitored probe into 2G scam which has sent 16 Ministers, Parliamentarians and corporate honchos behind the bars of Tihar Jail.<br /><br />Long Live Jan Lok Pal<br /><br /> <br /><br />Ravi Srivastavaraviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-34215773240908048262011-10-21T14:23:00.000+05:302011-10-21T14:25:12.186+05:30HPCL oil refinery: Bombay HC raps government, BMCHPCL oil refinery: Bombay HC raps government, BMC<br />Published: Tuesday, Oct 18, 2011, 22:14 IST <br />By DNA Correspondent | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA<br /><br /> <br />The Bombay high court rapped the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai municipal Corporation (BMC) for failing to consider public health and safety concerns around the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) before granting permission to construct a residential-cum-commercial complex adjoining the refinery.<br /><br />A division bench of justice PB Majmudar and justice RM Sawant continued the stay on the construction by Oswal Agro Mills Limited, which purchased the factory earlier owned by Union Carbide.<br /><br />"Government mechanically permitted conversion from industrial zone to commercial zone in which even residential construction are also permitted… Public health and safety should be of paramount importance and should not be made a casualty of by the state government and the (municipal) corporation," observed the bench while asking the BMC, government and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to file its reply.<br /><br />Justice Majmudar further remarked: "The government has not applied its mind before converting the land to commercial zone. It is unfortunate that even after incidents like Bhopal gas tragedy, the government has failed to consider vital aspects of safety and security. If tomorrow some untoward incident takes place who is to take responsibility."<br /><br />The court was hearing a petition filed by HPCL stating that a residential-cum-commercial project in the vicinity of their refinery not only poses threat to their installations but also the residents would be at risk because of the fumes from their refinery.<br />Fredun DeVitre, HPCL's counsel, pointed out a report by the Intelligence Bureau stating that post 26/11 terror attacks wherein sea route was used, there was heightened security threat to oil installations.<br /><br />Priti Purandare, advocate for BMC, argued that they sanctioned the plans of Oswal since the government granted permission as per the amendment in the Development Control Regulations (DCR) and converting the area from I-3 (industrial zone) to commercial zone.<br /><br />The court observed: "It cannot be of dispute that the refinery is of hazardous activity and untoward incident may occur. Surprisingly the state government did not consider this aspect while modifying the DCR and converting it to commercial zone."<br /><br />Janak Dwarkadas, counsels for Oswal, argued that they have taken the necessary permission from all the concerned authorities before commencing construction.<br /><br />"In February, a meeting was called of all the concerned parties, where HPCL was also present. They were given the option of acquiring the plot of Union Carbide too if they considered it to be a threat to their installations. They were to inform within 15 days, however, they never replied," argued Dwarkadas.<br /><br />As per the DCR a buffer of 500 meters has to be kept from the refinery. HPCL itself has a plot which is not developed. The plot falls between the refinery and the construction by Oswal. "They can leave 500 meters free over there. They can't ask us not to construct in the vicinity," added Dwarkadas.<br /><br />The court also reprimanded the HPCL for delay on their part for acting on the matter. Justice Majmudar remarked: "You (HPCL) should have taken action then instead your officers waited till construction began. There is no doubt that prima facie your officers are also involved. Officers should have been vigilant."<br /><br />DeVitre argued that it got sanction to approach the court only in February this year. He added that the chairman of HPCL would look into why officers did not report the matter immediately and would initiate enquiry if required.<br /><br />The court has directed the government, BMC and MPCB to file their reply by November 15 and kept the petition for hearing on November 21.raviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-49212643210452882042011-10-06T09:30:00.000+05:302011-10-06T09:31:04.711+05:30An article on misdeeds of UPA in Petroleum sectorCOINCIDANCES,TOO MANY<br /> <br />February 2006 UPA I was half way through of their 5 year tenure ,told its fund raisers to fill the coffers swiftly since Elections were approaching, the money spinners of the party likes of Vilas Rao Deshmukh , Ahmed Patel , Murli Deora were assigned the specific roles ,which they have been successfully playing over decades for the Party.<br />Ministry of Petroleum is one such milch cow for every ruling party Adulteration, Benami Retail outlets , contracts for exploration generate huge black money which is channeled up to Minister& Ministry, till Jan 2006 Ministry was headed by a “spoke in the wheel’ Mani Shankar Aiyar a Top Bureaucrat of yesteryears known for his straight forwardness and fond of calling spade- a- spade, he received sudden marching orders High Command to Panchayati Raj a Non descript Ministry .Murli deora a known polyester yarn broker from Mumbai and ‘cutting Chai” partner of Industry doyen Late Shri Dhiru bhai Ambani was installed as Petroleum Minister. He was an old guard of congress party but a low key operator since Rajiv Gandhi days and a loving ‘unclejee’ to Anil& Mukesh Ambani. Ambani’s are loved equally by Congress & BJP for their deep pockets and responsible for their rise & rise in India’s industrial map .The specific task cut for Deora was to raise funds at least 1000 Cr from the infamous Business houses for forthcoming Elections.<br /> Deora started with a launch of a fuel marker for checking adulteration, such futile attempts are made by Govt. occasionally to fool & hoodwink the public at large pretending that Govt. is really serious to curb adulteration. In fact adulteration is a real money spinner and Rs. 15000 crore annual racket of oil company/Ministry officials .PDS kerosene destined for poor public is siphoned off in the market for mixing with Petrol and diesel due to substantial delta in price of kerosene vs.Motor fuels , Govt.s own agency NCEAR has admitted in their report that 38% of PDS Kerosene is diverted for mixing in connivance with Transporters/Dealers and unscrupulous State/Central Govt. officials. In the guise of checking adulteration a Rs. 200 cr. Order for a Marker was placed on M/S SGS(Recently being awarded a contract for Roads Audit by Maharashtra Govt.) an Indian agent of Authentix a British company, who were handpicked for shipping Marker into India .SGS started extortion since they were mandated by MOP&NG for checking adulteration on Petrol Pumps, 2 officials of HPCL made a complaint to CBI Mumbai in May 2008 , followed by a PIL in Hon. Mumbai High court, who ordered CBI enquiry in Oct 2008, coincidentally the said Marker was withdrawn by Deora within 2 months i.e w.e.f 1.1.2009,and Rs200 cr. Of tax payers money went down the drain without any control or reduction of rampant adulteration.<br /> <br />Real stakes were in RIL-RNRL case where Hon Mumbai High court ordered in favor of junior Ambani and upheld PSC(Product sharing contract)at the contracted price of Natural Gas $2.8mmscnd, elder Ambani approached the Apex court , suddenly Govt. Realized that natural Gas is a National Asset and not brothers property alone (Govt. did not know it for many years when case was in Mumbai High court) and became an intervener in the case .MOP&NG filed an affidavit in Apex court in july 2009 supporting elder Ambani’s claim. In the meantime Elections concluded and appropriately funded UPAII came into existence. Deora was quickly reinstalled as Petroleum Minister since it was a payback time for funds collected , coincidently the EGOM comprising of Deora, Shinde, Pranab also approved the price of Natural gas at $ 4.2 mmscnd, which was 150% of original price of $2.8mmscnd , such enhanced price was to benefit RIL , by Rs. 30000 cr. in next 5 years, for justification DGH ( Director General of Hydrocarbons)V.K.Sibbal’s approval for GOLD PLATING of Reliance’s capital expenditure from original estimate of Rs. 8000 cr enhanced to Rs. 44,000 cr was accepted .Sibbal was removed in Oct 2009 after enquiry into his daughter accepting white goods from Reliance officials (intercepted emails) and a Flat .There were heated allegations of serious irregularities by Junior Ambani against MOP&NG in 2009, published on the front page of Economic Times.<br /> <br />By an extended coincidence K.G.Balakrishnan the CJ of Apex court pronounced judgment in favor of elder Amabni and approved the price of $4.2 mmscnd within 5 days after order he was appointed as NHRC Chairman (cabinet Rank)w.e.f 11.5.2010 immediately after his superannuation<br />Last but not the least coincidence is that Deora has been removed as Petroleum Minister in Jan 2011and from the cabinet in july this year, for consolation his son made an insignificant Mos for retaining a roof in Delhi and to prevent his marginalization in Politics. Then Petroleum secy,Joint Secretaries have been shunted to non descript Ministries Sibbal facing CBI charge sheet in approving enhanced capex.CAG has filed a scathing report against misdeeds of Deora and his cronies in KG Basin case .K.G.Balakrishnan is facing enquiries of manipulation in Land deals by his kins and relatives, Reliance’s Natural Gas production has reduced to half then projected and its share price plummeted more the 25% till last month.raviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-49328960827216898352011-09-19T21:45:00.000+05:302011-09-19T21:47:01.842+05:30THE MARK(ER) OF A SCAM-RS.200 cr. FRAUD BY MOP&NG Tuesday, 13 September 2011 13:41Home More Articles THE MARK(ER) OF A SCAM-RS.200 cr. FRAUD BY MOP&NG<br />THE MARK(ER) OF A SCAM-RS.200 cr. FRAUD BY MOP&NG<br />Tuesday, 13 September 2011 13:41 <br />0 Comments<br />23<br />Share<br /><br /><br />"Series of truth based Articles by whistleblower & Activist Mr. Ravi Srivastava . Read , Share & Join him in his<br />fight."ETA<br /><br />By Ravi Srivastava<br /><br />" Government pretends to show that it is serious to curb the adulteration by coloring the PDS kerosene by blue<br />dye or conducting raids on Petro pumps but the fact is that the money from trade is siphoned to Ministry &Minister<br />for buying the positions of Chairman, directors and other plum positions .By a study of NCEAR it was established<br />that 38% of Kerosene is diverted and used for adulteration by Petrol/diesel pump owners with the support of<br />transporters and oil company officials."<br /><br />Fuel Adulteration of (Petrol& Diesel) is the most lucrative business by oil mafia whereby crores of Rupees are<br />pocketed by unscrupulous Oil company officials, Ministry ,Transporters and Retailers this has been a menace for<br />MOP&NG since a very long time, precisely due to artificially keeping low price of Kerosene .Price of PDS kerosene<br />is revised nominally to keep the vote bank of BPL users intact by respective governments, such artificially low priced<br />kerosene has made adulteration of motor fuels like petrol/diesel an all profit no loss trade. Late Manjunath shanmugam<br />Sales officer of Indian oil was murdered while checking adulteration at a Petrol pump in U.P in Nov. 2006<br /><br /> <br /><br />Government pretends to show that it is serious to curb the adulteration by coloring the PDS kerosene by blue dye or<br />conducting raids on Petro pumps but the fact is that the money from trade is siphoned to Ministry &Minister for buying<br />the positions of Chairman, directors and other plum positions .By a study of NCEAR it was established that 38% of Kerosene<br />is diverted and used for adulteration by Petrol/diesel pump owners with the support of transporters and oil company officials.<br /><br /> <br /><br />After Manjunath’s murder MOP&NG formed a committee of Top oil company officials and sent them abroad to study and suggest a suitable Marker for checking adulteration such ‘markers’ are used in south Africa, Malaysia and many other countries to check adulteration due to differential pricing or subsidized fuel etc. Committee finally zeroed down on few suppliers of markers , out of which M/s Authentix was hand picked by ministry officials and then secretary Petroleum M.S Srinivasan in connivance with Petroleum Minister Murli Deora for supplying marker to oil marketing companies IOC/BPC/HPC , such decision was taken without even conducting a Pilot study,. Oil companies were advised to procure the marker from Indian agents of above supplier M/s SGS Ltd on a single offer basis. There was such a tearing hurry to implement marker system that no formulation, specification , chemical composition or Environment impact was studied /verified or compared. MOP&NG even amended the MDG( Marketing discipline guidelines) to empower the private company personnel to check /Inspect Retail outlets for the presence of marker (adulterated by marker doped kerosene), across the country.<br /><br />Then secy. Petroleum ordered the oil companies in July 2006 to implement the Marker system expeditiously and oil companies placed purchase orders in Aug. 2006. The inauguration and Public demonstration of Marker system was carried out by Minister of Petroleum Sh. Murli Deora, Secy. Petroleum M.S. Srivnivasan , Dealers Association President shri, Ashok Badhwar, local MP Sh.. Sajjan kumar on 4.10.2006 at Indian oil’s Bijwasan Terminal, Initial order by oil companies was placed for 1 year till Sept 2007for approx. Rs. 100 crore .<br /><br />Oil sector Officer’s Association convener Ashok Singh and coordinator R.P.Srivastava were approached by Marketing officers of oil companies and complained that Petrol pump owners were subjected to Extortion by the Private company SGS in the name of inspection /checking of Marker .OSOA mandated one leading Advocate of Mumbai to obtain all procurement details of Marker system in Nov. 2007 through RTI while the supply contract of Marker was extended for 6 months i.e up to March 2008, after initial denial even by MOP&NG , advocate received all the information in May 2008<br /><br />Ashok singh & Srivastava made a formal complaint to Joint Director CBI, Mumbai in May 2008, in a quick retaliation Ashok Singh was promptly suspended within 4 days of filing the complaint by implicating him into a false charge, they both approached CVC(central vigilance commissioner) personally in June, July& Aug. 2008 , for whistle blowers protection, which was declined and all their correspondence was shared with HPCL Management who swiftly removed Srivastava’s all assistance, evicted from his office and made him sit under stairs case, his perquisites were stopped and even deducted salary. MOP&NG ordered oil companies to extend the contract of SGS till Dec. 2008 and total Marker worth Rs. 200 crore was purchased all on single offer.<br /><br />PIL no. 60 on Marker scam was filed in Mumbai High Court in June 2008 by a social activist Sh. Simpreet singh , which was decided in Oct. 2008 , Hon’ble Mumbai High court ordered CBI to investigate whole Marker scam and ordered MOP&NG separately to conduct enquiry by Ministry’s Vigilance dept. Indian express report in Oct 2008 confirmed that the Marker was removable/launder able by ordinary clay.HPCL looking for some excuse to remove Srivastava he was suspended in Jan 2009 , again by falsely implicating him into OSOA’s strike from 7-9th Jan. 2009, HPCL had incidentally not even participated in that strike , and he himself was on duty during the strike days. In the meantime MOP&NG abruptly advised all oil companies to stop marker doping w.e.f Jan 2009 without assigning any reason.<br /><br />Times of India report in June 2009 , confirmed that HPCL ‘s own R&D advisor had confirmed as early as in Jan. 2005 that the Marker is carcinogenic in nature (could cause cancer in human being). CBI filed a PE in Marker case in April 2009 against then Secy Petroleum , SGS, Authentix and unknown oil company officials .According to CNN-IBN News on 21st sept 2009 , CVC has also ordered CBI to conduct enquiry against Senior Petroleum ministry officials , News also confirmed that Authentix was already a black listed company abroad with the name “Biocode” Marker was purchased at the price of Rs. 13000 per ltr. and there was no basis for procuring marker at such an exorbitant price<br /><br />Ashok Singh & Srivastava were removed from services of HPCL in March 2009. Srivastava was evicted from company accommodation in Aug 2009 after facing insult and humiliation by HPCL management for 15 months . This is all done by HPCL who claim themselves to be Model Employers being a Govt. of India undertaking ,pioneers in the field of HR for their HR practices like Emotional Intelligence/Performance Management , competence mapping etc. etc.<br /><br />Despite High court/CVC orders no visible action has been taken by CBI? Though they have completed their enquiry and submitted report in Aug 2010 wherein advisory has been issued to Oil company chairmen and their complaint has been totally vindicated Public admission by CVC in the news item of Indian Express of 30th Dec. 2009 , that corruption has reached at the highest level in the Government and specially mentioned the Names of Ministry of Petroleum , power and others and how long people of this country will continue to pay artificially high price of fuel and subscribe to the govt. propaganda that OMC’s are losing so many crores every day and add to the prosperity of corrupt officials and adulterators? Both have filed writ Petition in Mumbai High court against their dismissal in April 2010 which has been admitted in Sept 2010, Deora has been removed as Petroleum Minister in Jan 2011 and from the cabinet in july 2011<br /><br /> <br /><br />Ravi Srivastava<br /><br /> <br /><br />Previous Article : PUBLIC FUNDING OF A PRIVATE AIRLINE , Tale of Two Whistleblower of HPCL<br /><br /><br />"Copyright of Article is prohibited without author permission."<br /><br /> <br /><br />About Author<br /><br /><br />Whistleblower , Activist & Indian Against Corruption active volunteer .<br /><br />I R.P.SRIVASTAVA, 56 year old ,male Graduated in Science and Chemical Technology in the year 1975, after an stint of 1 year at Eicher Tractors and 6 years in Kansai Nerolac(erstwhile Goodlass Nerolac), I joined HPCL in 1982 as an Operations Officer in Grade ‘A’.<br /><br />"I am a crusader against corruption , corruption which destroyed my life exposed Rs. 200 cr. corruption in Petroleum industry Marker system invited the wrath of Murli Deora his sychphant beaurocrats , chairman of the company who promptly dismissed me from service to appease their boss"<br /><br />Please Read " Tale of Two Whistleblower of HPCL to know more.....<br /><br />R. P. Srivastava<br />ravi4354@gmail.com<br />304, AUM SAI Sector-7<br />Kharghar, Navi Mumbai 410210<br />Mob- 09820183924 L/L 02227744012<br />India Against corruption Activist and Volunteer from Navi Mumbai<br />My Blog http://raviprakash4354.blogspot.com<br />Contact Me if you want to join me in the fight .Because people support can make huge difference .<br /><br />Disqusraviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-13798603575043232452011-09-05T22:54:00.000+05:302011-09-05T22:55:34.531+05:30http://www.bureaucracytoday.com/Corporate_watch_sep_11.html<br /><br /> PUBLIC FUNDING OF A PRIVATE AIRLINE<br />This is an open secret that majority of the Indian corporate do their business with Public Money , may it be in the form of Equity , Bank Loans and that’s the reason that in “India Industry goes sick’ and not the Industrialist ,here is a classic case , where the Private Airline has blatantly used the Public Money of Govt. owned oil Marketing companies (OMC’s) , IOC, BPC& HPC in the form of inordinately extended credit of large sums ranging Rs. 400-600 crores<br />Approx. 40% of any Airline’s operational cost consists of fuel purchases of ATF(Aviation Turbine Fuel)and 98% of the ATF is sold by OMC’s .Though NACIL(Air India) is a big buyer of ATF from IOC and credit sometimes exceeds to Rs. 900 -1000 crores but then there is a sovereign guarantee of Govt. of India. However M/S Kingfisher Airline(KFA) owned by famous Vijay Mallya were buying ATF from IOC and defaulted on payment IOC promptly stopped the ATF supplies and revoked the bank Guarantee of KFA .KFA switched over to BPC for fuel supplies and there also credit exceeded to Rs. 290 cr. and BPC approached Hon’ble Mumbai high court for recovery of their outstanding in late 2009 later BPC reached an out of court settlement where KFA agreed to clear their outstanding with interest by paying an installment Rs. 10 crore per month. It is reliably understood that in Nov. 2010 , BPC has again contemplated for revoking the settlement , since KFA has not settled dues with them.<br />After dispute with IOC/BPC, KFA resorted to ATF purchases from HPC who merrily started offering ATF on credit , KFA was buying approx. Rs 115 cr. of ATF every month and repeatedly defaulted on payment and outstanding accumulated Rs. 603crores in the month of March 2010. Suddenly MOP&NG who have the Govt. directors on OMC boards woke from the deep slumber (They are supposed to monitor OMC credit situation on fortnightly basis) and advised HPCL to stop supplies to KFA on 16th March .In fact HPCL did not even had a Bank Guarantee but only a corporate Guarantee from UB group , which has no legal sanctity.<br />On 30th march HPCL Board was advised to invoke the Corporate Guarantee to recover overdue payments , remove DGM aviation forthwith and give ATF to KFA against cash& carry only .later HPCL extended the period up to June 2010 and finally up to July 2010 to synchronize it with the retirement of then chairman HPCL who retired on 31.7.2010. A CVC complaint for this unauthorized credit is already registered No. 1605/09/6 Dt 11.11.2009 and for which CVO HPCL has already submitted his report to CVC on 24.6.2010.No action against any erring officer has been taken till date, while present Chairman HPCL has admitted in AGM on 16.9.2010 that Rs. 240 crore are still overdue from KFA.<br />In turn extending this un authorized credit , HPCL Top Management has received host of favors from KFA in cash and kind, like multiple mileage points(Return ticket DEL-MUM purchased for Rs. 34000, which is ordinarily available for Rs. 10000), upgrade to business class, access to lounge , free tickets. A RTI to this effect has not been responded by HPCL.<br />This is shocking that Industrialist like Vijay Mallya print semi nude calendars, buying cricket teams, Racing horses with our hard earned tax payers money.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />--raviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-92151337090424282622011-08-07T23:22:00.000+05:302011-08-07T23:23:23.410+05:30HPCL’s Delhi office lists Rs19 crore expenses on gifts, flowers, jewellery, a lot of it on parliamentariansHPCL’s Delhi office lists Rs19 crore expenses on gifts, flowers, jewellery, <br />a lot of it on parliamentarians <br />August 05, 2011 06:26 PM | [image: Bookmark and <br />Share]<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=moneylife> <br /><br />Moneylife Digital Team <br /><br />*Much of this apparently unaccounted expenditure has been incurred on visits <br />of parliamentary committee members, who are in fact forbidden by protocol <br />from receiving gifts * <br /><br />*At a time when Hindustan Petroleum is said to have a lot of money blocked <br />in dues from airlines and other big businesses, it looks like the <br />oildistributor <br />is spending a lot on some inexplicable items. <br /><br />Ledger entries for Hindustan Petroleum's Delhi coordination office account <br />reveal that the Navratna company has spent substantial amounts on hotel <br />bills, gifts, flowers and jewellery. Since 2006, about Rs19 crore has been <br />spent on such items. In 2010-11 alone, the company's Delhi office spent some <br />Rs1.28 crore on this account. <br /><br />Repeated phone calls and an email message to the HPCL spokesperson did not <br />yield any response. <br /><br />A major part of the expenses are attributed to visits by member of <br />parliamentary committees. According to parliament rules, <br />such committeemembers are entitled to stay at government guest houses and <br />they are paid travel and other allowances, so it is unclear why HPCL, a <br />public sector unit, is bearing the expenses of these members. <br /><br />Apart from travel and accommodation expenses, the HPCL office also lists <br />expenses on gifts, shawls, mementoes and lunch for these committeemembers. <br /><br />In 2010-11, expenses on such gifts totalled Rs51,510 and some shawls were <br />bought at a cost of Rs7,396, as per entries on 17 and 27 January 2011. <br /><br />There are also other entries like Rs 93,000 worth of mementoes for <br />parliamentary members on 12 January 2011 and Rs12,040 for <br />"parliamentary committee expenses" on 11 Februray 2011. In fact, protocol <br />forbids giving or receiving of such gifts by parliamentarians. <br /><br />Another large amount has been paid for taxi bills and the money is debited <br />against the names of various individuals. More than Rs1 lakh was paid <br />towards the stay of some executive at Mumbai's Trident Hotel in 2009. <br /><br />Ravi Srivastava, former sales manager, HPCL, who lost his job after blowing <br />the whistle on the adulterant marker case (read, "Hindustan Petroleum <br />whistleblowers not reinstated even a year after HC <br />order<http://www.moneylife.in/article/hindustan-petroleum-whistleblowers-no...>), <br />has alleged that it is likely the expenses shown have been appropriated by <br />some HPCL staff. <br /><br />"Some of the names against which expenses are mentioned are employees of <br />HPCL. Why do you want to pay money to your own employees outside their <br />salary," Mr Srivastava asked. <br /><br />He said this was an indication that money was being swindled after showing <br />some bogus expenditure entries on paper. "And why should a PSU gift shawls <br />and mementoes to members of expert committees, when they are subsidised by <br />the government itself," he said. <br /><br />Mr Srivastava believed that such swindling was possible at the Delhi office <br />as there are no checks on expenses there. "In HPCL's other offices, accounts <br />have to be audited, and there is strict surveillance. So the people who want <br />to make some additional money do it through the Delhi office where such <br />expenditure is not checked."* <br /><br />http://www.moneylife.in/articlraviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-59504187721063965932010-11-17T21:19:00.001+05:302010-11-17T21:21:06.151+05:30<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><div style="color: rgb(80, 0, 80); "><br /><span style="font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif; "> Gist of the case</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif; ">Myself and my colleague Ashok singh were employed with HPCL and we were Oil sector officers association's Treasurer and President respectively during May 2008 we were advised by our members that one adulteration marker launched by Ministry of Petroleum and oil companies has serious irregularities in procurement , specification and implementation. An advocate collected all information through RTI and we filed a complaint before Regional director CBI Mumbai .In retaliation HPCL instantly within 4 days suspended Ashok framing in some misappropriation charges against him and unleashed a reign of terror against me by issuing a chargesheet and show cause, they removed my assistance , stopped perquisites, deducted wages ,made me sit under stairs case and finally evicted me from company accommodation</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif; ">We approached CVC 3 times in june, july& August 2008 instead giving us any protection they gave an order in Nov. 08 that " we can not be given any job related protection and shall be treated as plain complainant', a PIL basis our CBI complaint was filed in june 08 and Hon. Mumbai high court in their judgment in oct 2008 ordered CBI enquiry and by Vigilance of Ministry of Petroleum . CBI finally filed a PE in April 2009 against oil company officials, marker suppliers Authentix thier Indian agents SGS and then Secretary Petroleum and our complaint was vindicated.CNN-IBN in their Breaking news on 21st sept 2009 exposed the whole scam and confirmed that the marker supplier Authentix/SGS were a black listed company abroad and marker purchased @ Rs. 13000/per ltr without ascertaining the product specification etc.This marker was also carcinogenic( may cause cancer in human being).</span><br /><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif; ">HPCL suspended me on the charge of instigating officers , from their services in Jan 09 ,while oil sector officers went on strike (HPCL was the only company which was not on strike), and finally dismissed us in March 2009 by framing both of us in a case prior to our CBI complaint while we had protested against an irregular appointment of CEO by then chairman in a JV of HPCL namely HINCOL., our statuary appeal was rejected in oct 2009 by HPCL and confirmed removal from service, my appeals to President of India have been handed over to HPCL only against whom I am fighting this battle.I have now filed my case before Hon'ble mumbai High court and awaiting justice. CBI complaint has been established by CBI and they have confirmed it to Ministry in turn Ministry has issued advisory to Oil PSU chairmen.</span><div style="color: rgb(80, 0, 80); "><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif; ">This case is a glaring example that to what extent whistle blowers can be tortured , humiliated for raising voice against rampant corruption and taught a lesson by giving an exemplary punishment by mighty corporation and Ministry , I dont know when justice will be delivered and will it account for miseries , hardships ,suffered in last 27 months by us and our families .</span></div><div style="color: rgb(80, 0, 80); "><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif; "><br /></span></div><div style="color: rgb(80, 0, 80); "><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif; "><br /></span></div><div style="color: rgb(80, 0, 80); "><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: 'arial black', sans-serif; "><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVgyG3Cq0m4&feature=player_embedded" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?<wbr>v=EVgyG3Cq0m4&feature=player_<wbr>embedded</a></span></div></span></div>raviprakashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16187736798155534143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-65948649260557674742009-10-20T12:00:00.006+05:302009-10-21T01:01:59.150+05:30An Appeal from a Fighter who Fights Alone<span class="newspaper">L</span>eaders who fight battles in court may seem to be fighting for their own survival but think deeply and you will see that if these leaders survive it will be beneficial for us only because how many leaders are there around us who will be willing to get hanged for fighting your battle? So let us join hands once again here and contribute.<br /><br />From: ravi srivastava <<a href="mailto:ravi4354@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" ymailto="mailto:ravi4354@gmail.com">ravi4354@gmail.com</a>><br />Date: Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 4:57 PM<br />Subject: An Appeal from R.P.Srivastava<br /><br /><strong>INTRODUCTION</strong><br />I , R.P.SRIVASTAVA, 55 year old ,male Graduated in Science and Chemical Technology in the year 1975, after an stint of 1 year at Eicher Tractors and 6 years in Kansai Nerolac(erstwhile Goodlass Nerolac, I joined HPCL in 1982 as an Operations Officer in Grade ‘A’ .<br /><br />At HPCL, from the very beginning I was never a blue eyed boy of the Management , though they could neither find a fault in my working ,nor ever questioned my efficiency but my plain speaking, saying No(when it has to be a No), demanding fairness and transparency in functioning ,opposing discrimination etc. never allowed me to get promotions on time .I was branded as an average officer to become a Senior Manager after the service of 24 years .<br /><br /><strong>BACK GROUND</strong><br />I joined HP Management Staff Association /Oil Sector Officers Association in 1995 as Treasurer and successfully achieved several milestones under the leadership of my President Shri Ashok Singh viz. large no. of Promotions for the officers in 1995 , Salary Revision of 2000, Revision in C&B issues and host of officer’s welfare schemes etc. Privatization of HPCL/BPCL was opposed by us and finally halted permanently by Hon’ble Supreme Court orders in Sept 2003,later an attempt by then Govt. to merge HPCL with ONGC was successfully stopped by our convincing presentations.<br /><br />In individual capacity myself as a member and headed by HPMSA President a "cost& expense control committee" was constituted by then C& MD , our recommendations within 6 months accrued a saving of more then Rs. 250 cr. to the corporation. My efforts in reconciliation of MRPL AR3A's saved corporation Rs. 140 cr. in penal duty and severe reprimand and embarrassment from the statuary authorities. I could help save corporation Rs. 60 cr. within 3 months during Jan-March 2008 by disposing off accumulated scrap lying all across HPCL Mktg. locations.. We could establish No. of Holiday Homes across the country for our officer colleagues and got even meals added during their stay.<br /><br />Such achievements and prominence on the work front was bound to create the feeling of animosity, envy and heart burn to some of the mediocre colleagues and seniors whose sole performance was to toe the line of Management and ensure their survival and career progression by way of sycophancy. During discussions with Top Management , the false ego of some senior colleagues used to get rubbed on the wrong side , though they could ill afford to open their mouth while getting snubbed from then C& MDs for their short comings and inefficiencies . Such seniors could not harm us since our actions were well supported by then Ministers/Ministry of Petroleum &Nat. gas , since our efforts were in the direction of improving organizational effectiveness. As Association activists , we always had officer's overall interest in our mind and ensured that each benefit percolates down the line to the junior most officer of the corporation.<br /><br /><strong>THE CASE</strong><br /><br />Those senior colleagues who acquired Top Management positions in due course of time were nursing a grudge against both of us and they were looking for an opportunity to fix us , a situation , while we questioned Management for appointing one of their favorite Sanjay Grover (who had resigned from HPCL to join MRPL), 3 grades higher in HPCL as a CEO of HPCL JV HINCOL came handy ,we appealed the Management to review this appointment and give fair opportunity to all eligible officers. After an amicable settlement , Management backed out and Charge Sheeted me & Ashok Singh on 7.5.08. Enquiry in this case commenced on 16.7.08 and despite our strong protests on illegalities, continued till 7.11.08, The DA Dir(M) did not even allow us mandatory 15 days period for replying to the Enquiry officer's report and summoning Dir. HR & GM- HR (mktg.) as witnesses. HPCL summarily dismissed both of us on 12.3.09, my appeal dt 27.3.09 was rejected on 15.7.09 and I have been evicted from the company accommodation .I had moved Hon’ble Mumbai High court against illegalities in the conduct of Enquiry and filed a petition no. 2254 in Sept 2008 , Hon’ble Mumbai High court in their order dt 1.10.08 gave me the liberty to approach again in case of an adverse order from HPCL Management .<br /><br /><strong>MARKER SYSTEM</strong><br />One marker system was introduced in all oil companies (IOC,BPC,HPC) from 1.10.06, and on our instructions an advocate was collecting all information through RTI about irregularities and corruption in the purchase and implementation of Marker system since Nov. 2007 ,all informations were received on 6.5.08<br /><br />Me and Ashok Singh , filed a CBI complaint on 12.5.08, , against then Secy. Petroleum &Nat. gas Sh. M.S Srinivasan and Private suppliers M/s Authentix/SGS , furious HPCL Management in retaliation promptly suspended Ashok Singh on 16.5.08 alleging irregularities at Sajgaon outlet , to which he was not even remotely connected. HPCL Management even recorded in their Board notes on 29th june 2008 and 30th july 2008 that we will be penalized .<br /><br />HPCL approached Registrar's office and discovered that HPMSA's registration had been canceled as early as on 5.5.99 ( Management did'nt know it for full 9 years), they hurriedly removed all Association Notice Boards and stopped the check off facility on 11.6.08 simultaneously , made at least 50% officers to resign from the Association under threat , intimidation and coercion. We filed a petition in cooperative's court and despite stiff resistance from HPCL , court ordered the restoration of the Association , which has been done on 31.8.09.<br /><br />We both appealed to CVC for whistle blower protection under Govt. of India’s resolution and even met Vigilance Commissioner personally to apprise him of the case on 6.6.08, 21/22.7.08 and 7.8.08 , instead getting us protected, our miseries compounded and HPCL Management took a vow to finish us once and for all.<br /><br />Management gave me 2nd charge sheet on 30.7.08 for displaying some marker related report on Association notice board on 6.6.08(that day I was in CVC's office at Delhi , which has been confirmed by CVC in response to a RTI) , in fact this so called confidential marker report was already published by a website on 21.5.08 it self .Enquiry in this case commenced on 21.11.08 and abruptly discontinued on 18.2.09.<br /><br />Right from May 2008 , Management was looking for an opportunity to remove me from the company and in this process, they evicted me from my office on 15.10.08, and made to sit under stairs case , took away assistance and curtailed my benefits. Management swiftly used OSOA strike of 7-9th Jan 2009 , to fix me and implicated once again into a false charge of instigating the officers suspended on 9.1.09. It is noteworthy that I myself had not even participated in that strike and was on duty.<br /><br />Basis a news item on Marker system , which appeared in TOI of 4.6.08, a PIL No. 60 was filed in Mumbai High Court on 16.6.08 ,by a social activist Shri Simpreet Singh, which was heard on 24.7.08, 20.8.08, 5.9.08 by Hon’ble Chief Justice of Mumbai High Court.<br /><br />Hon’ble Mumbai High Court ordered CBI enquiry in the marker case on 23.10.08 , and the marker was abruptly discontinued by all oil companies on 31.12.08, As per news item in Indian Express dated 5.10.08 and TOI dated 16.6.09 the marker was not tamper proof and launder able by ordinary clay. It was also established by HPCL appointed R&D advisor that it was carcinogenic in nature( could cause cancer in human being), still despite court orders oil companies placed order for 3 months from ( 1.10.08-31.12.08) and marker doping was continued . CNN-IBN in their news telecast on 21.9.09, have confirmed that supplier Authentix was already a black listed company abroad named as ( BIOCODE) and CVC has ordered CBI enquiry against erring senior Ministry officials.<br /><br /><strong>APPEAL</strong><br /><br />I am out of job since 12.3.09, and exhausted all my resources fighting this corrupt system and court cases , my only wish is to restore my honor and dignity , for which a protracted legal battle is to be fought against erring corrupt officials and Authorities , I am not only hopeful but confidant that ultimately truth will prevail and guilty will be brought to book . I have done no wrong in my Professional or Personal life ( friends, who know me personally are well aware of it).<br /><br />By and large the officers are docile , fearful and unable to fight even for their legitimate rights , the very objective of forming unions and associations is to have a forum for discussing rights & responsibilities , since in Public sector companies the ownership remains with the Govt., these bodies act as a watch dog to the Management functioning& decision making, which they never appreciate and try to crush in the collectives in the first available opportunity.<br /><br />I there fore appeal to all my friends, colleagues in HPCL, Associations in OMC'S, upstream companies , Federations of PSU'S to help me financially. Almighty GOD has given me sufficient to take care of my daily needs, funds are required for the legal battle ONLY. Those who wish to help me, may please deposit cash or cheque in my name<br /><br />ICICI BANK ACCOUNT NO may please be taken from me by phone..<br /><br />I shall be indeed thankful for the same.<br />R.P.Srivastava<br />09820183924<br />landline 91-22-27633760<br /><br />P.S Those who are the recipient of this mail are requested to forward it other colleagues.Aggrievedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03166175727316287982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-20567439819496485412009-10-20T10:46:00.007+05:302009-10-21T20:58:56.461+05:30An Open Letter to the Honourable HRD Minister from the IIT Kanpur Faculty Forum19/09/09<br />Mr. Kapil Sibal,<br />Honourable Minister of Human Resources and Development<br />Government of India<br />-------------------------<br />Dear Mr. Sibal,<br /><br />The revised notification from MHRD dated 16/09/09 succeeds in removing a glaring anomaly with regards to the pay fixation for Assistant Professors, and we thank you for that. However, it is disappointing to note that it did not address other fundamental concerns – in fact it introduces more restrictive clauses – which will have serious, long-term ramifications on the ethos and culture of excellence of the IIT system.<br /><br />A mere re-designation of the post of “lecturer-cum-post doctoral fellows” to “Assistant Professor, to be recruited on contractual basis” will not attract bright fresh PhDs to the IIT system. Should we expect that highly qualified faculty aspirants with PhDs from IITs, IISc, MIT, Stanford, Cornell, Caltech, etc., will line up to join the IIT system for a salaryof about Rs. 30,000/- p.m.? Compare this with offers on their tables from institutes and corporations world-wide, including MNCs and the soon to be established foreign university campuses in India. The choice is of course clear. Your great visions of bringing about a reverse brain drain, and infusing the rapidly expanding IIT system with that much needed influx of highly qualified faculty would grind to a complete halt!<br /><br />Further, the clarity of MHRD’s vision is indeed baffling when it specifies that IITs, IISc, IIMs, etc. can recruit someone as a Professor only if he/she has spent at least 4 years as Associate Professor within those institutes only. In this era of globalization, with the paradigms of inter-disciplinary research and academia-industry interaction taking root, does it make sense to prevent all possibilities of migration of highly qualified scientists from research laboratories and industries toinstitutes of excellence? And for those who might want to come back to Indian academia, after having already established themselves in premier institutions across the world, wouldn’t it be an insult to be forced to join as Associate Professors? In addition, is it fair to outright deny bright faculty in other institutes within the country an opportunity to migrate to the IIT system to further their academic aspirations and opportunities?<br /><br />The concept of a flexible cadre has been the hallmark of the IIT system and has played a vital role in creating a system of sustained excellence. Why then this cap of 40 % for Professors to move to the next academic grade pay (AGP)? IITs already have an open selection policy in place where every promotion is based on stringent academic criteria in terms ofteaching effectiveness, research publications, sponsored/consultancy projects undertaken and corporate responsibilities. Thus it does not really matter whether 10 % or 80 % of the candidates qualify for the next level. If the introduction of a new AGP and the associated 40% cap is motivated by the perception that Professors at IITs do not have adequate incentives to continue giving their best, we feel that this entire paradigm needs a serious re-think. All it is accomplishing, in essence, is an introduction of yet another hierarchy in an academic system which thrives on open discussions and debates. In fact, even from a monetary point of view, it is not flattering to think of a mere increase of Rs. 1500/- per month as a motivational incentive!<br /><br />The provisions in the MHRD notifications have created an apprehension in the minds of the faculty that MHRD is trying to micromanage the academic governance, and is hence impinging on the autonomy of the IITs. Are not pay commissions primarily about pay matters and only pay matters? Should not autonomous institutions have the flexibility to relax the minimum criteria for exceptional candidates, as has been the practice? The whole exercise leaves the feeling that being a doctor of philosophy, after all, is trivial and meaningless – what will these studious types ever know about how to run an educational institution.<br /><br />We sincerely wish that the MHRD appreciates those who have built these institutes into what they are today…world class institutes within 62 years of independence. Literally burning the midnight lamp, a whole lifetime spent in academic isolation, eyes firmly turned away from worldly lures, willing to face every single challenge thrown by the winds of change…from scratch to excellence…idea by idea, brick by brick, lecture by lecture, student by student, research publication by research publication. It is imperative that we preserve, at all costs, the inherent strengths thathave made our institutes names to reckon with.<br /><br />We invite you to visit our institute, interact with our faculty, students and staff, tour the research laboratories, and hence experience first hand, the academic environment that makes IITs symbols of national pride.<br /><br />Thanking you,<br />Yours Sincerely<br />Faculty Forum – IIT Kanpur.Aggrievedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03166175727316287982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-63360596732515124392009-08-02T11:38:00.000+05:302009-08-02T11:38:00.830+05:30Anil seeks probe into RIL's 'huge scandal' in gas investments<span class="newspaper">S</span>ome More Indications of how RIL has purchased Petroleum Ministry. This time from an insider like Anil Ambani.<br /><br />30 Jul, 2009 1627hrs IST PTI<br /><br />NEW DELHI: Questioning clearance by junior oil ministry officials of the near four-fold hike in costs to Rs 45,000 crore for gas fields by Mukesh Ambani-led RIL, Anil Ambani on Thursday demanded a probe into the "huge scandal."<br /><br />"I am deeply concerned that RIL's capital expenditure of nearly Rs 45,000 crore on KG-D6 fields as confirmed in Parliament by the petroleum minister and which is nearly 33% of India's total defence budget was cleared by a management committee..." he said in an e-mailed interview.<br /><br />"The committee comprised of one junior level official each from the petroleum ministry and director general of Hydrocarbon and two representatives of the contractor (RIL)... talk about conflict of interest," he said, adding that any expenditure above Rs 150 crore by any arm of government goes to the Cabinet committee of economic affairs for approval.<br /><br />Given the incredibly high stakes involved, the comptroller and auditor General and central vigilance commission should examine relevant facts and find out if capex was overstated, Anil said, pointing that budgeted expenditure of RIL for peak production of 40 mmscmd was only Rs 12,000 crore in 2004.<br /><br />Anil alleged that petroleum ministry, particularly after the changes in 2006 (when Murli Deora took over as minister), was colluding with RIL in its quest to make "super-normal profits of Rs 50,000 crore" at the cost of power and fertiliser sectors.<br /><br />Anil hoped that public accountability bodies like CAG and CVC will examine the facts as he feared that ultimately the users of gas would end up paying for RIL's capital expenditure.<br /><br />Appropriate action should be taken "if indeed they (CAG/CVC) find that the capex has been over-stated, and as a result huge losses caused to the public exchequer and all end-users of the gas produced from KG-D6," he said.<br /><br />He said the surge in capex has even surprised independent observers and the government could have lost over Rs 30,000 crore by this "gold-plating of costs".<br /><br />On his dispute over gas supply with Reliance Industries, Anil said: "It is a huge scandal that at the price of USD 4.20, RIL wants to make super normal profits of over Rs 50,000 crore (10-billion dollar) - which will ultimately be paid for by hundreds of millions of end-consumers."<br /><br />Anil, who wants gas for his group firm RNRL at USD 2.34 per mmBtu as per an MoU with RIL, said further that "RIL has a short term monopoly, and to perpetuate this monopoly, and earn disproportionate profits at the cost of the people, RIL is spreading misinformation in the public domain to ensure a higher price for its gas."<br /><br />As per the Production Sharing Contract, RIL is entitled to "first recover its entire capital expenditure from the revenues from sale of gas, before even the government gets any meaningful share."<br /><br />Anil also raised questions over prohibitively high transportation cots for KG-D6 gas, while suggesting a probe by power and gas sector regulators like PNGRB, CERC and SERC.<br /><br /> He said that pipeline networks in the country were operating on a cost-plus basis, and therefore, end-users from power and fertiliser sectors were, in effect, paying for the networks too.<br /><br />"To my mind, there is a strong case to revisit the issue of transportation costs for KG-D6 gas, probably the highest in the world, by the PNGRB, the pipeline regulator. Presently, these are pegged at a prohibitive USD 1.25, or 30 per cent of the base gas price!<br /><br />"Further, with new tax breaks recently announced, the entire cost of setting up the gas pipeline network has been allowed to be written off in the very first year -- a special and unique benefit not given to any other capital intensive sector. It is only fair that the benefits of these tax breaks be passed on, and gas transportation costs be brought down to near zero."<br /><br />He expressed the "hope that the regulators in gas and power sectors such as PNGRB, CERC and SERC, would examine this aspect more carefully."<br /><br />At RNRL's AGM earlier this week, Anil also pointed out that the gas transportation company was no longer owned by RIL and it had been sold to the promoters of RIL for a "princely sum of Rs 5 lakhs, and turned into a privately held company."<br /><br /><a href="http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/4838079.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/4838079.cms</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-70678835897514839252009-08-01T11:25:00.002+05:302009-08-01T11:29:37.877+05:30Airlines threaten to ground flyers on Aug 18<span class="newspaper">C</span>ongress Govt called the Oil Sector Employees' Strike a Deshdrohi's Act. We wonder what they will call this now when the organisations themselves are calling for strike? Will they jail Mallya and Goyal etc?<br /><br /><strong>Or will it now be confirmed now what we long suspected that Business class have long purchased the Bureaucrats and Ministers? </strong><br /><br />Media has been always supporting Privatisation, arguing the Public Sector should be made History and everything should be privatised. They said this about the Oil Sector Strike when employees fought for legitimate demands. These employees were called DESHDROHIS by uninformed Media people who suck. And then the same people said Air India should be closed down because it is making losses. I am now waiting to see them say the same thing about these Private Airlines Bosses. Will media say 'Close these Airlines down because they are NOW holding India to Ransom and that they are making losses"? Or has the media people been purchased by Business houses in India?<br /><br />Really you media people do suck!<br /><br /><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms</a><br /><br />MUMBAI: Taking a leaf out of employees' labour union books, private <a class="kLink" oncontextmenu="return false;" id="KonaLink0" onmouseover="adlinkMouseOver(event,this,0);" style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick="adlinkMouseClick(event,this,0);" onmouseout="adlinkMouseOut(event,this,0);" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms#" target="_new">airlines</a> on Friday threatened to suspend domestic operations on August 18 if the<br /><br />government did not give in to their demand for a bailout package in the form of lower sales tax on fuel and airport taxes. Never before has an entire industry threatened to pull out from the market to arm-twist the government into buying its line. ( <a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videoshow/3817074.cms" target="_blank">Watch </a>) "The airline industry realizes its role in the life of the nation. But in view of the indifference shown by the government, it may not be able to continue its operations... and so we have decided not to operate nationwide services on August 18," Anil Baijal, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Airlines, the lobby group of airlines in <a class="kLink" oncontextmenu="return false;" id="KonaLink1" onmouseover="adlinkMouseOver(event,this,1);" style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick="adlinkMouseClick(event,this,1);" onmouseout="adlinkMouseOut(event,this,1);" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms#" target="_new">India</a>, announced at the Jet Airways office in Mumbai. "The idea is to highlight the urgency for the government to intervene urgently. If, however, an adequate response is not received, member airlines will be compelled to suspend their services for an indefinite period." Baijal did not spell out the nature of the response or the level of commitment the airlines are expecting from the government in the next 18 days. For now, the government has little sympathy. "We understand the problems being faced by the aviation sector, but do not support any move that will inconvenience the people. My advice to the airlines is to engage in a dialogue with the government," said civil aviation minister Praful Patel. Although the relationship between governments and airline operators worldwide has never been an easy one, the threat by Indian private airlines is a first in the century-old history of the global airline industry. If it is indeed carried out, it will mean cancellation of about 12,000 domestic <a class="kLink" oncontextmenu="return false;" id="KonaLink2" onmouseover="adlinkMouseOver(event,this,2);" style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick="adlinkMouseClick(event,this,2);" onmouseout="adlinkMouseOut(event,this,2);" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms#" target="_new">flights</a> by airlines such as Kingfisher, Kingfisher Red, Jet Airways, Jetlite, IndiGo, Go Air and Spice Jet on August 18. The only option for the domestic air traveller will be the 300 scheduled flights operated by Air India and the additional ones it may mount to meet the demand. The no-fly decision was taken following an afternoon meeting attended by Jet <a class="kLink" oncontextmenu="return false;" id="KonaLink3" onmouseover="adlinkMouseOver(event,this,3);" style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick="adlinkMouseClick(event,this,3);" onmouseout="adlinkMouseOut(event,this,3);" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms#" target="_new">Airways'</a> Naresh Goyal, Kingfisher Airlines' Vijay Mallya and other members of FIA except those from Air India and Paramount Airways. Following the meeting, Baijal read out a statement to the media which began with the financial difficulties faced by the industry. The total losses incurred by the <a class="kLink" oncontextmenu="return false;" id="KonaLink4" onmouseover="adlinkMouseOver(event,this,4);" style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick="adlinkMouseClick(event,this,4);" onmouseout="adlinkMouseOut(event,this,4);" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms#" target="_new">Indian airline</a> industry in 2008-09 are estimated to be Rs 10,000 crore, he said, listing ATF sales tax, airport charges, depreciation in the value of India rupee, the economic meltdown and terrorists attacks as contributory factors. Patel stressed on Friday that tax on ATF was a state issue, and the aviation ministry had been requesting the states for the last few years to see reason. The minister declared that <a class="kLink" oncontextmenu="return false;" id="KonaLink5" onmouseover="adlinkMouseOver(event,this,5);" style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick="adlinkMouseClick(event,this,5);" onmouseout="adlinkMouseOut(event,this,5);" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Airlines-threaten-to-ground-flyers-on-Aug-18-/articleshow/4843809.cms#" target="_new">Air India<br /></a>would not participate in the decision of "select private airlines" and would, instead, mount additional services on August 18 to reduce inconvenience to the public. The airline bosses refused to put a figure on the losses they would suffer if the threat was put to force. When asked whether suspending operations entirely did not amount to violating the provisions of the Scheduled Operators Permit that allows airlines to operate flight services, Mallya said that passengers who had booked on that day would be given a complete refund. Sudhakara Reddy, president, Air Passengers Association of India, a consumer rights organization, was scathing. "The losses are of their own making," he said. "The two big airlines, Jet and Kingfisher, bought loss-making airlines like Air Deccan and Air Sahara. The government, on the other hand, gave airlines benefits like a credit period for payment to oil companies and airports. Then again, IndiGo and Spice Jet made a profit in the last quarter, which means there is a turnaround in the industry. When they make a profit, do they share it with the government or public?"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-36352000477966077162009-07-31T22:35:00.003+05:302009-07-31T22:41:28.001+05:30No private airlines to fly on Aug 18 - PSU vs Pvt once again<span class="newspaper">T</span>rust the media to always blindly attack PSUs.. We kept reading so many articles on how AIR INDIA should get closed down because it is making losses.. but the same media experts forgot about JET and Kingfisher who too were making losses..we wonder... are these media people in the employ of these Private Business people?<br /><br />Here is a letter to PM<br /><br />Dr Manmohan Singh,<br />Prime Minister,<br />New Delhi<br />Dear Sir,<br />Regarding media news "No private airlines to fly on Aug 18", I wish to advise as under:<br />They have flourished and become fat by getting financial incentives out of public money, getting administrative and infrastructure support from the Govt agencies like Aviation Ministry / Finance Ministry / Petroleum Ministry / Oil Companies / Airport Authority etc.<br />Govt has invested huge money in constructing / renovating air ports at major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata etc to help primarily these private airlines.<br />This lopsided priority has deprived the suffering masses of primary education, primary health facility and the affordable housing.<br />Mr Praful Patel Union Aviation Minister and Mr Murli Deora Union Petroleum Minister have gone out of the way, have abused their position to get price reduction in the price of ATF (while for MS, HSD, SKO, LPG etc used by common man, it was not done), discount on ATF, authorised and even unauthorised / illegal credit on supply of ATF to private sector airlines.<br />The situation in India of undue political interference has been like Italy in Alitalia case particularly with reference to the Air India / Indian Airlines. Their merger has not achieved the stated objective of synergy and the claims of UPA Govt for PSU mergers are simply bogus.<br />Further, these money hungry private sector Airlines operators have not passed on the financial benefits to the air line passengers, gone back on their promises and the Directors of these private lines have pocketed the money.<br />In their greed to increase their own business exponentiallly, with full support by Mr Praful Patel, kept non-viable low air fares and unnecessarily indulged into price war to initially lose money.<br />The beneficiaries of aviation sector are less than ninety five percent citizens of India and, if they close down, heaven is not going to fall. Railways and Private bus operators shall gain while the millionaires and billionaires have their own jets and helicopters to fly. Govt officers entitled to air journey can very well travel by train or by Air India.<br />Considering the above, UPA II Govt must convey in no uncertain terms forthwith to the Greatest Traitors, the unethical opportunist limpets who have thrieved on public money that they have no business threatening, they can go to hell if they do not want operate in India.<br />Let them close down their shops in India & go to other countries for business as, in this global village era, there will be no dearth of other country Airlines to utilise the infrastructure already available / further augmented in India for operating the flights.<br />While concluding,<br />I would request to sack Mr Praful Patel and Mr Murli Deora forthwith for creating this situation by undue favouritism and pampering.<br />I would also request stopping wastage of public money that does not help in any positive manner to the suffering masses of India.<br />With kind regards,<br />(Babubhai Vaghela).<br />C 202, Shrinandnagar V, Makarba Road Vejalpur, Ahmedabad - 380051 M - 94276 08632 <a href="http://twitter.com/vaghelabd" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://twitter.com/vaghelabd</a> <a href="http://www.esnips.com/user/vaghelabd" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.esnips.com/user/vaghelabd</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/vaghelabd" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/user/vaghelabd</a> (Administrator - Google Group - Right to Information Act 2005) <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/about?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/about?hl=en</a><br />References :<br />Further to assistance from CAG requsted - Regarding (1) Recovery from Third Parties RTI Ref : SMPPESCOQ5 (2) Unauthorised huge credit to Airlines by Oil PSUs (3) Rs 50 crore unauthorised credit to GSRTC by IOC...<br /><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/browse_thread/thread/b2a40c4d12bfd5c8/afc5eb42d9f2d5fd?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=deora#afc5eb42d9f2d5fd" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/browse_thread/thread/b2a40c4d12bfd5c8/afc5eb42d9f2d5fd?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=deora#afc5eb42d9f2d5fd</a><br />PUBLIC LOOT : ATF Prices Cut by IOC BPC HPC but Not THE Airfares.<br /><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/browse_thread/thread/4bd02d574b6b1d38/6902ffad0f6724f0?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=atf#6902ffad0f6724f0" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://groups.google.com/group/Right-to-Information-Act-2005/browse_thread/thread/4bd02d574b6b1d38/6902ffad0f6724f0?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=atf#6902ffad0f6724f0</a><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><a href="http://m.economictimes.com/PDAET/articleshow/4842352.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://m.economictimes.com/PDAET/articleshow/4842352.cms</a><br />AIRLINES / AVIATION<br />Private airlines seek bailout from government31 Jul, 2009, 1723 hrs IST, Economictimes.com and Agencies<br /><a href="http://m.economictimes.com/PDAET/quickiearticleshow/msid-4842354.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"></a><br /><a href="http://m.economictimes.com/articleshowpics/4694523.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Boeing's 787 Dreamliner</a> <a href="http://m.economictimes.com/articleshowpics/4675163.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Sukhoi Superjet 100</a> <a href="http://m.economictimes.com/articleshowpics/4271287.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Air Force One</a> <a href="http://m.economictimes.com/articleshowpics/4347148.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">India's Air Force One</a> <a href="http://m.economictimes.com/articleshowpics/4374206.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Top 15 global airlines</a><br />NEW DELHI: Private airlines on Friday sought bailout from the government and have threatened to suspend operations on August 18. The airlines have further threatened to call off domestic operations completely if the government does not give them a hearing. ( <a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/videoshow/4842773.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Watch </a>) According to FIA the total loss for aviation was at Rs 10,000 crore for 08-09. The ATF taxes are unviable and the estimated airline levies stand at $250 million. According to Vijay Mallya, airlines will refund the money for the passengers who have bookings for August 18. The international operations however, will not be impacted. According to Jet Airways' Naresh Goel, this is not an ultimatum to the government but only a way of drawing government's attention to the poor plight of the airline industry. "The operations are not sustainable any more and we have been asking for government's help for a long time now," added Goel. Earlier in the day, Indian flagship carrier Air India, struggling with massive losses, has cancelled orders for five Boeing 777 planes.<br />Also Read<br />→ <a href="http://m.economictimes.com/PDAET/articleshow/4835584.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Now, Kingfisher Airlines to delay salaries</a><br />→ <a href="http://m.economictimes.com/PDAET/articleshow/4838291.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Airlines in the country lose Rs 2,445 crore in 2007-08: Govt</a><br />→ <a href="http://m.economictimes.com/PDAET/articleshow/4840533.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Lockheed eyes more deals after India-US defence pact</a><br />→ <a href="http://m.economictimes.com/PDAET/articleshow/4841137.cms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Loss-hit Air India cancels five Boeing orders: Report</a><br />Earlier Kingfisher Airlines had warned its 6,000 employees of a delay in salary payment. In an email, its executive vice-president Hitesh Patel had asked its employees to be prepared for delayed salaries and embarrassing dealings with unpaid vendors in the coming days. Mr Patel said the company was in a tight situation regarding finances and it had trimmed its fleet to 69 from 89 to cut costs. The government on Thursday said leading airlines in the country had suffered losses over Rs 2,44,483.7 lakh during the 2007-08 fiscal.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-80347575921936128262009-07-04T21:59:00.000+05:302009-07-04T22:00:52.482+05:30Talks Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic<span class="newspaper">C</span>apt. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- an endless floating waste of plastic trash. Now he's drawing attention to the growing, choking problem of plastic debris in our seas.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/capt_charles_moore_on_the_seas_of_plastic.html">http://www.ted.com/talks/capt_charles_moore_on_the_seas_of_plastic.html</a><br /><br /><object width="446" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/CharlesMoore_2009U-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/CharlesMoore-2009U.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=470" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/CharlesMoore_2009U-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/CharlesMoore-2009U.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=470"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-13048201915610867812009-06-25T20:21:00.000+05:302009-06-25T20:22:25.901+05:30Marker may turn kerosene into killer fuel<span class="newspaper">M</span>arker may turn kerosene into killer fuel<br /><br />22 Jun 2009, 0418 hrs IST, Sanjay Dutta, TNN<br /><br />NEW DELHI: Nearly 6.5 million BPL families who depend on kerosene for their cooking and lighting needs as well as farmers who use it to run <br /> <br />pumpsets and spray pesticides could soon be exposed to cancer-causing fumes from markers that will be laced with the poor man's fuel to check diversion. <br /><br />Markers are chemicals that cannot be distinguished once they are mixed with kerosene. But if such doped kerosene is used to adulterate motor fuels, the marker will show up when petrol or diesel samples are tested using special equipment. Since kerosene costs nearly half of petrol or diesel due to subsidy, nearly 38% of supplies for the poor are siphoned off for adulterating motor fuels. <br /><br />To check such diversion, state-run oilmarketing companies are about to roll out the marker throughout the country. But test criteria specified in the procurement norms means only markers with `halogenated hydrocarbons' -- which can be detected using X-Ray (XRS) or gas chromatograph technology -- will qualify, sources said. <br /><br />Halogenated hydrocarbons are among 189 `hazardous air pollutants' listed in the US Clean Air Act of 1990. The Act bans their use in fuels as after combustion they produce `toxic dioxins', described by US Environmental Protection Agency as extremely harmful to humans and environment. Generally, these chemicals are used to conduct lab tests to detect toxicity in foods and not used in fuels anywhere in the world. <br /><br />It transpires that no environmental or health impact study was done before setting the procurement criteria, which appears to purely focus on a marker's ability to detect adulteration. Neither is there any hint that a marker will have to undergo a green or health test. This is surprising since as early as 2005, Hindustan Petroleum's then R&D advisor, A K Bhatnagar, had described the problems associated with halogenated hydrocarbons in his presentation on fuel quality made at a Ficci-Petrotech seminar in Delhi. <br /><br />Company executives, however, said "pollution aspects have been taken care of" in the procurement norms. "The technical committee has laid down elaborate parameters. They will test each marker against those parameters and safety will be assured," a top executive of an oil company who is involved with the procurement process said, requesting that neither he nor his company be identified. <br /><br />The crux lies in one of the criteria in the norms, called the `charcoal test'. In this test, charcoal should not be able to filter or remove the marker from kerosene. According to sources, only markers with halogenated hydrocarbons can pass this test.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-12355945322112965972009-06-20T21:05:00.006+05:302009-06-21T09:46:37.395+05:30Ineffective CVC<span class="newspaper">W</span>histleblower ACT has lost its meaning.. and corrupt people continue to roost and control our lives.. A daring few who gather facts and complaint to Authorities against Corruption are NOT at all protected but rather Persecuted! These daring few are trying to make our .. yesss! your and my life better..... but what do we do? We sleep..<br /><br />The document below is from DAINIK Jagran 17/6/09 issue at this link<br /><a href="http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/epaper/index.php?location=49&edition=2009-06-17&pageno=3">http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/epaper/index.php?location=49&edition=2009-06-17&pageno=3</a><br /><br /><strong>It is in Hindi so for non Hindi Readers.. the gist is :-<br /></strong><br />Govt of india appointed the CVC as a nodal agency for acting upon the complaints of corruption against high level officers in public sector undertakings. The whistle blower resolution was also approved for this purpose only . For CVC the the contact officers were CVO's in respective organisations i.e PSU's , CVO' were supposed to act upon the complaints within a month's time and confirm compliance to CVC , which neither respective CVO's did nor the concerned Ministry's did ( Ministries also have their own CVO' s} . In the process complainants got victimised and harrased buy respective managements. Now CVC is being severly criticised for their inaction , and in turn Govt is being criticised for having a toothless body like CVC, after criticism , CVC has woken up and asked all CVO's to submit replies for pending cases in their organisation immediately.<br /><br /><a title="View Dainik Jagran News of 17.6.09 in Hindi on Whistleblowing on Scribd" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 12px auto 6px; FONT: 14px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/16614157/Dainik-Jagran-News-of-17609-in-Hindi-on-Whistleblowing">Dainik Jagran News of 17.6.09 in Hindi on Whistleblowing</a><br /><object id="doc_507025787020038" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=" height="500" width="100%" align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" name="doc_507025787020038"><param name="_cx" value="17965"><param name="_cy" value="13229"><param name="FlashVars" value=""><param name="Movie" value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=16614157&access_key=key-2lb0athe8wb4lpqc6fiz&page=1&version=1&viewMode="><param name="Src" value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=16614157&access_key=key-2lb0athe8wb4lpqc6fiz&page=1&version=1&viewMode="><param name="WMode" value="Opaque"><param name="Play" value="-1"><param name="Loop" value="-1"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value="LT"><param name="Menu" value="-1"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="Scale" value="NoScale"><param name="DeviceFont" value="0"><param name="EmbedMovie" value="0"><param name="BGColor" value="FFFFFF"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="MovieData" value=""><param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="1"><param name="Profile" value="0"><param name="ProfileAddress" value=""><param name="ProfilePort" value="0"><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><param name="AllowFullScreen" value="true"><br /> <embed src="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=16614157&access_key=key-2lb0athe8wb4lpqc6fiz&page=1&version=1&viewMode=" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="opaque" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="doc_507025787020038_object" menu="true" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="500" width="100%"></embed> </object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-61397589485937489332009-06-16T19:20:00.003+05:302009-06-16T19:28:58.532+05:30Indian Bureaucracy the worst in ASIA: SURVEY<strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span class="newspaper">I</span>AS !! </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">HA! Worst in Asia !! Now we know why PSUs where briiliant Technocrats work suffer!</span></strong><br /><a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indian-bureaucracy-the-worst-in-asia-survey/470601/0">http://www.indianexpress.com/news/indian-bureaucracy-the-worst-in-asia-survey/470601/0</a><br /><br />Posted: Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 at 1607 hrs IST<br /><br />Singapore: Singapore's civil servants are the most efficient among their Asian peers, a business survey on 12 economies released on Wednesday showed, but they tend to clam up unhelpfully when things go wrong.<br />The island-state was ranked first for a third time in a poll of 1,274 expatriates working in 12 North and South Asian nations on the efficiency of bureaucrats in those countries. The poll was last held in 2007.<br />During normal times, when the system is not stress-tested, it operates very well, Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy said in a 12-page report of Singapore's bureaucracy.<br />However, during difficult times - or when mistakes are made that reflect badly on the system - there is a tendency among bureaucrats to circle the wagons in ways that lack transparency and make accountability difficult, the report said.<br />India's suffocating bureaucracy was ranked the least-efficient by the survey, which said working with the country's civil servants was a slow and painful process.<br /><br />They are a power centre in their own right at both the national and state levels, and are extremely resistant to reform that affects them or the way they go about their duties, PERC said.<br />Thailand, despite four years of on-off street protests and a year of dysfunctional government was ranked third. For all the country's troubles -- or perhaps because of them -- respondents to our survey were impressed with the way Thai civil servants have been carrying out their duties, PERC said. It said state offices associated with corruption presented the most difficulties for Thai citizens and foreigners.<br />PERC managing director Bob Broadfoot told Reuters that the controversy around huge investment losses by Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek was a good example of how things could become less transparent in in the island-state.<br />The Singapore government has come under fire from lawmakers and its citizens over several investment losses, particular its exit from Bank of America which resulted in a loss of over $3 billion, according to Reuters calculation.<br />The survey ranked Hong Kong second. China, which has been campaigning to fight corruption in its bureaucracy and improve efficiency on the civil service, was ranked 9th in the 2009 poll, two places down from 2007.<br />Ranking by most efficient to least efficient economies: Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines, Indonesia and India.<br /><p><strong>Other Links:</strong></p><p><a href="http://article.wn.com/view/2009/06/03/Indian_bureaucracy_ranked_worst_in_Asia_Survey/"><strong>World News</strong></a></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-25927815385180956802009-06-16T19:08:00.007+05:302009-06-16T19:59:06.838+05:30Let the world know the truth of Indian IAS officers.<span style="color:#ff0000;"><span class="newspaper">T</span>his is a Post that summarises all NEWS items on <strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Corrupt Bureaucrats, Inefficient Bureaucrats, how they subjugate the fellow Civil Services officers and how they fleece the PSUs and Taxpayer's Money</span></strong>. For long they have screwed Technocrats. Let the world know the truth of IAS officers</span>.<br /><br />[All posts are news item in Public Domain and this blog does not claim ownership of the said news items.]<br /><br /><a href="http://wakeupoilsector.blogspot.com/2009/06/spouses-can-join-babus-on-tours-youll.html">Spouses can accompany IAS officers- You Pay</a><br /><br /><a href="http://wakeupoilsector.blogspot.com/2009/04/bureaucracy-seen-as-unresponsive.html">Bureaucracy seen as unresponsive, corrupt: ARC</a><br /><br /><a href="http://wakeupoilsector.blogspot.com/2009/06/cbi-case-against-corrupt-ias-officer.html">CBI case against Corrupt IAS Officer</a><br /><br /><a href="http://wakeupoilsector.blogspot.com/2009/01/ias-open-clubhouse-to-everyone-outside.html">IAS - Open the Clubhouse to everyone Outside</a><br /><br /><a href="http://wakeupoilsector.blogspot.com/2009/01/traitor-traitor-everywhere-nor-any.html">TRAITOR, TRAITOR, EVERYWHERE, NOR ANY PATRIOT TO SEE</a><br /><br /><a href="http://wakeupoilsector.blogspot.com/2009/06/indian-bureaucracy-worst-in-asia-survey.html">Indian bureaucracy the worst in Asia: Survey</a><br /><br /><a href="http://culture.indian-network.de/ushascorner/usha_bureaucracy.htm">This month: "Tales of Indian bureaucracy"</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5742618595516752198.post-52746417452948349462009-06-16T18:55:00.002+05:302009-06-16T19:06:52.330+05:30Spouses can join babus on tours; you'll pay<span class="newspaper">F</span>orget the Salaries of 1 lac and above per mth and so on that the IDIOTs in media projected what India does not know is that the Oil Companies are now being made to reversal of several benefits that its officers enjoyed so many years.<br /><br /><strong>These are the doings of IAS officers/ the Bureaucrats,those who are themselves corrupt and who rule PSUs. And on the other hand see? What they do?</strong><br /><p></p><p></p><p><a href="http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090615/1053/tnl-spouses-can-join-babus-on-tours-you.html">http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090615/1053/tnl-spouses-can-join-babus-on-tours-you.html</a></p><p>Mon, Jun 15 09:30 PM<br />Get ready to again pay for the foreign jaunts of spouses of India's globetrotting bureaucrats. The government has slipped back a rule allowing bureaucrats to take free 'companion tickets' from airlines like Air India when they travel abroad to attend conferences, workshops or meetings in their official capacity.<br />"Government servants shall be allowed to avail the facility of free companion tickets offered by the airlines for international travel only," a memo by Simmi R. Nakra, director at the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), said last week. It reversed the bar on officials taking the free 'companion' tickets home imposed last year.<br />The October 2008 bar - which made violations liable for proceedings under conduct rules - was inspired by the Sixth Pay Commission report that frowned upon babudom quietly making official tours "a source of profit". But there is nothing like a free lunch.<br />Or ticket. Airlines like Air India offer the "free" companion tickets only when customers buy full-fare tickets, not tickets that are sold on discounts that could be even half this rate.<br />It gives bureaucrats an incentive to buy a full-fare ticket if he intends to take the spouse along. And they do, spending the taxpayers' hard-earned money to buy full-fare tickets ? say a First Class ticket on the Delhi-New York sector for Rs 3.52 lakh - when a discounted ticket is available for half this price, Rs 1.84 lakh.<br />And they do travel a lot. An RTI application last year had revealed officials travelled 5.65 crore km in 3.5 years - over 70 times a round trip to the moon which is 3.84 lakh km away.<br />Officials at the Department of Expenditure - that controls the government's purse strings - acknowledged the relaxation in rules had their approval. Just seven months ago, the expenditure department had ordered ministries to negotiate incentives with airlines in a way "that the benefits come to the government".<br />"The free companion scheme was reviewed at the request of the civil aviation ministry" where official business often necessitates international travel, an expenditure department official said. Civil aviation secretary M Madhavan Nambiar, for instance, is currently in the US. The only time the government has had some anxious moments over squandering of public money was about six years ago.<br />The Congress, then in the opposition, had questioned senior home ministry officials - accompanying then deputy prime minister L.K. Advani - taking their wives along. Former railway minister Lalu Prasad had some uneasy moments this week when news got out that he had gifted himself free railway passes.<br />But he isn't the only one. The Railway Board too, in 1996, had given retired board members and their spouses a life-time first class air-conditioned train pass, waiving a charge that had to be paid till then.<br />Mamta took back Lalu's pass but the bureaucracy still have theirs, said Delhi resident Subhash Agarwal, who was handed out the railway circular by Air India to explain a similar freebie that it had given its board members. The same year, 1996, when air-conditioned staff cars were considered a luxury, babus got air-conditioned cars for secretary-level officers on the ground that "protocol and representations obligations" often required them to wear formal clothes "which makes travel onerous in the absence of air-conditioners".</p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1