Whispers Forum

Building “ Kartarpur corridor ” flanked by barbed wire fence to allow Indian pilgrims to cross over into Pakistan, visit the shrine, return the same day, has been a long-time dream .The corridor will require a bridge to be constructed over river Ravi . Passports , visas could be dispensed with to facilitate free passage to Indian pilgrims.
Whatever may be the position, India's security cannot be compromised under any circumstances. Recall how a gurdwara in London recently distributed posters , leaflets to publicise the so-called “Sikh Referendum 2020” by the Khalistanis. How Ajay Bisaria India's envoy to Pak was humiliated and denied permission to visit the shrine ?
Intentions of Pakistan and its Khalistani sympathizers have always been and will always be suspect. The corridor, once built , could be misused by both the State and non-State actors of Pakistan to infiltrate into India, carry out their nefarious designs by triggering terror attacks across India. Had
Navjot Singh Siddhu has made a joke of himself by first hugging Gen Bajwa on Pak soil and then issue unwarranted statements with no concern for India's security. He merely succeeded in scoring a self goal. All this at the behest of Rahul Gandhi, his chaatukaars, secret contacts in Khalistan and the ISI. Regrettably, Sidhu continues to remain unrepentant and boastful under the misplaced perception as though he had done something enviable by hugging the Pakistan’s killer General Bajwa.
Corridor will be built on Pakistani soil. Will Pak agree to give land to India gratis or at market cost? What will be India’s stand, in case, Pak demands land on Indian soil ,in return? If, so where in India land will be given to the enemy country?
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

So what are the alternatives available to the Central Government to offset the Price rise, control outgo on petroleum products and offset the Savarn unrest and farmers agitations at the same time -
1) Raise the age of retirement by two years. This will do threee things simultaneously. One it will reduce immediate burden of huge retirement benefits as outgo and provide for handy cash that can be used to subsidize farmer related issues. Secondly it will to a great extent give relief to those savarn employees who have been denied promotion due to pending court cases on reservation. Many States and also have stayed all promotions pending decision on reservation cases for last few years and employees are retiring without promotions due to this. Thirdly it will offset the effect on employees of the expenditure control measures suggested in item 5 below.
2) Double pricing should be introduced on petrol for two wheeler and four wheelers. Two wheelers can be given per month subsidized quota on Adhar based identification. This will give huge relief to the middle class and agriculturists using two wheelers.
3) Diesel for agricultural and transport should be subsidized. Double pricing here is also necessary to exclude diesel SUVs and diesel based cars.
4) Control on import and manufacture of general and luxury cars is important. Unabated buying of cars needs to be regulated. One car per family norm or something like that needs to be introduced on Singapore lines.
5) Immediate expenditure cuts of 10% needs to be introduced on all establishment related expenditures in government. Outsourcing also needs to be checked to find out whether it has led to more expenditure than before. It is observed that in name of outsourcing much more expenditure is being done on services like hiring vehicles, stationary, computer operators etc.
Narendra

BJP in face of Petrol-Diesel price rise, Sawarn Andolan and above all the Farmers Unrest has been advised following ShrimadBagwadGita shloka-
हतो वा प्राप्य्सी स्वर्गं जित्वा वा भोग्यसे महीम I
तस्मादुत्तिष्ठकोंतैय युद्धाय कृतनिश्चय II
(If you loose in war you will get swarg, if you win you will enjoy ruling this earth. Hence get up with determination to fight the war)
The message is that get up and act on the popular issues immediately before it is too late. Relief to farmers by farm loan waiver, reduction in taxation on petroleum products to reduce petrol -diesel prices are need of the hour. If you go by the financial norms and advise of the bureaucracy at this juncture then you may not be there to take decisions later ! And if you take popular decisions and still loose then the others (winners) will bear the financial brunt of that ! Hence fearlessly take popular decisions.
Mahadev
Why 1990 IAS left out ?
Posting orders of 1989 batch IAS as Additional Secretary has been issued on 17.09.18. When will 1990 IAS get their orders for posting as Additional Secretary ? Both batches were empanelled together on 19.07.18. Whispers should throw light
R Kumar

Let me come straight to the point. Continuous rise in prices of petrol and diesel has a ripple effect on the wholesale and retail inflation .Petroleum ministry seeks to justify this on account of global crisis, on which it has no control. I am not an expert. But, the argument seems largely fallacious.
Let the Governments at the Centre and States take some innovative steps by way of austerity measures, on which they have control. No instructions have been issued by the laidback Finance Ministry to limit expenditure on petrol and diesel. Ministers , bureaucrats and public sector executives rampantly misuse the facility. No restrictions, no accountability.
Another suggestion for Government’s consideration. PM Modi has always laid stress on having a smart bureaucracy. Having a slim-trim bureaucracy will eliminate unnecessary drain on public exchequer. Ground realities are, however, different. Failure of bureaucrats who are good advisors but bad implementers.
Ministry of Finance is expected to be pro-active in curtailing its non-productive expenditure. To have a smart bureaucracy at the Centre and States, for instance, posts of Directors, Addl Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Addl Chief Secretaries etc are redundant. Similarly, posts of Addl Commissioners, Joint commissioners, DDGs, ADGs are being created in several ministries under garb of Cadre restructuring. No one cares to examine whether there is matching increase in responsibilities and workloads.
Worse, posts of consultants are being created at the Centre and States with impunity to favour the favourites from outside or rehabilitate the retired bureaucrats. There is a big scam introduced during the UPA regime, that continues till date. This is no way to create employment. Services delivery mechanism continues to be hopeless due to failure of Right to Services Act. Penalty clause is never invoked
Public would be comfortable with a lean, thin and smart bureaucracy in this digital age. But, accountability is imperative. Maximum Government means Minimum Governance and Maximum corruption. Political Executives and bureaucracies across the country, are expected to lead by examples Political rhetoric may not impress the gullible voters.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

OPINION
As far as popularity is concerned, Narendra Modi is ahead. As far as business vision is concerned, Zenping - a shrewed politician - is ahead.
V Kumar
Worrying and proud fathers !
''My sons are so much blessed, proficient, and lucky in business that whatever they touch turns out to be gold, ''said a CM to his close friends. ''Bilkul ji, bilkul ji, pardhan mantri banange, ''The sycophancy orchestra, would tune in. Such talks of son-shines have been often heard in the country and the states for more than half a century. Even though, the entire world knew about the loot, plunder, dacoity, deceit, fraudestry, intimidation and blackmailing resorted to by such lucky and business savvy sons, but the all-knowing fathers would never even pretend to know of the dark side of the picture, even if those brilliant sons are beaten cats and dogs by the brave Army men for eve-teasing. Contrarily some fathers would never say good about their sons and look at only bad side.
Long time back, when I had joined the civil service in a very far off place from my home town Amritsar, I came across a meeting with two gentlemen, which is permanently engraved in my memory. My friend Kahan Singh (fictitious name) was district head of food and supplies department. He told me that his friend, who was a deputy secretary in the state government, would be coming to him, so I should also join them .That deputy secretary was a very well-known officer of the state government, so I was very keen and excited to be in his company. The very first sentence coming from his very composed face, in almost inaudible voice was, ''Your parents must be very lucky .'' He meant that since i had joined civil service ,so my parents were lucky. After usual pleasantries, he became more serious, which appeared to be part of his personality. My friend asked in chaste Punjabi, ''Saade bhatijyan da ki hall a (how are my nephews doing)? ''He was asking about his 4 sons .He turned his head near my friend's and very slowly said, ''Yaar kahan singh , ki dasan, chare e barhe nalaik ne , na parhde ne na likhde ne (frien kahan singh all the 4 are idiots not taking interest in studies''!).Though both were friends, kahan singh would very often address his friend as sir.''I have heard sir, they are very intelligent, ''kahan singh said with some anxiety. ''nahi yaar, wade ne hun BA kiti a sirf second division vich, baaki 3 v nalayak (no, my friend ,the eldest has passed BA in 2nd divisions, other 3 are also duffers),'' worrying father was saying in dejection." "Kahan, I know Food and Supplies Minister is very well known to you. Please get my eldest son recruited as sub-inspector in this department, so that my worries are reduced, ''said worrying father. ''But Sir, it is my humble submission that he should do post graduation, otherwise no difficulty in getting him this job'', said my friend. But deputy secretary sahib said, ''Set the ball rolling for his job.''
Four years later, my friend Kahan Singh met me in sector 17 market. He jubilantly announced that his nephew had got into the IAS in the first attempt. He reminded me of his deputy secretary friend ,whom I had met along with him long time back. ''Yaar, dekho, oh kehnde sann sub-inspector banwa de, te oh Indian Administrative Service vich aa gaya''. Dev Anand wanted to sit in ICS Exam, but his father rather suggested him to join some bank as Clerk. Dev Anand did not forget this incident and proved his legendary worth and talents. Once ,when my deputy commissioner, sent me to Chandigarh for some important work , I met the second handsome son of our worrying deputy secretary sahib. He was joint secretary in the PWD B&R department. I came to know that his other two sons had joined IRS, All the four sons reached the highest pedestals of their careers before retirement. I still feel that the proud father of these illustrious sons must still be worrying about them in heaven.
Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Amritsar

OPINION
Assessing relative popularity of world leaders, may not be possible in absence of facilities for conducting surveys in such a large sample comprising several countries. One has no option but to rely on familiarity with world politics and the public support one enjoys in one’s own country. Consider them one-by-one.
Trump, the Commander-in-Chief of the world’s greatest economic and military power is unpredictable, diplomatically naïve and business centric in international politics. His decision to stop “subsidy” to India and China, the US being a “developing country”, is shocking. As per media reports, some bureaucrats have reportedly joined the “ resistence movement” against Trump. This weakens his position.
Putin is considered the smartest,richest and the most difficult negotiator in the world. Ruling Russia since 2000, Putin and Xi through their joint military war games gives a clear message to the loud-mouth Trump that they could partner up in a military entente in the event of a confrontation with Washington if their interests are threatened.
Xi Jinping has a personality cult. Universally known as a treacherous, untrustworthy, over-ambitious leader, he follows China’s perennial policy of territorial aggrandizement. He has an aura of power and unchallenged authority in his country.
PM Modi remains popular in the second most populous country.He has also emerged as a key figure in international efforts to tackle climate change, as global warming affects millions of people across the world. Though he enjoys personal rapport with numerous world leaders, his failure to neutralize Opposition’s negative propaganda within and on foreign soil ,is worrisome.
Conclusions
All things considered, it may be reasonable to put Vladimir Putin at No1 in popularity rating followed by Narendra Modi at No 2 ,Donald Trump at No 3 and Xi Jinping at No 4
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)
IAS, IPS officers committing suicide, a dangerous trend
Of late, young officers of the IAS and IPS have unfortunately been found to have committed suicide. This is a dangerous trend and needs to be arrested immediately. Thorough inquiries into the incidents at Buxar and Kanpur are required to see if there was any culpability in any quarter.. Further, there is a need to have a national helpline for the distressed and depressed of India.
Vijay Kumar
"Na khaunga, Na khane Doonga"
What happened to the hefty slogan- "Na khaunga, Na khane Doonga".
Parth

OPINION
C K Joshi
World policy is still decided by US President Trump and not by any other leader.
P Mahadik
Extension of Lal Dora in Rural Villages in Delhi region
AAP Government has requested Central Government to extend the Lal Dora in all Rural Villages in Delhi region. This would imply to provide basic amenities to village people. I am of the view that it is necessary to extend the territory of the village area keeping in view the growing demand of residential area and the prices of the land in semi urban areas. Having no other options but to live the agricultural area converted into small pieces of plots acquired from the colonizers, the agricultural land is being converted illegally by the so called colonizers into small plots and, thus, creating another slums in the agricultural area without providing basic amenities to the people who purchased from the big colonisers. Colonisers have been grabbing the land from the farmers who are in urgent need of money at a comparatively low price on the one hand and sold out the entire land after cutting into small pieces of plots to the homeless people without doing anything and thereby minting money on the other. It is the need of the hour to extend the lal dora territory of the rural villages in Delhi. Simultaneously, Government should provide ownership title who are the owner of the plots. The plots acquired from the Property Dealers/Colonisers illegally without before the extension of lal dora of the villages should be treated as null and void and illegal.
Ved Prakash Sharma