PM Modi's tour to the US has been hugely successful. President Trump regards both countries as “true friends “. Several deals have been inked. First, one-on-one meeting. More security, energy and economics- related benefits will follow,as we go along. An Israel daily has lauded Modi as the most powerful Prime Minister of the world.

India’s image in the comity of nations,has never been so high.All by virtue of Modi’s charismatic persona and uncanny capacity to build personal rapport with world leaders.

China and Pakistan have started showing signs of jealousy, fidgetiness,jitteriness, anger,helplessness. This could trigger monstrous reactions from the desperate countries ready to press the panic button. Syed Salahuddin is the latest to join the UN / US sanctions lists of global terrorists like Dawood Ibrahim, Anis Ibrahim, Chhota Shakee, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Aziz Moosa and Shafi Armar et al.

Now is the time to test the camaraderie in joint fight against Pakistan - sponsored terrorism and China’s expansionism in their war of attrition against India.The country is sick of daily killings and stones-peltering in Kashmir. The political Opposition must also behave responsibly, refrain from politicking in the larger interests of the country.

China's audacity in blocking Kailash-Mansarovar yatra, instead, making regular incursions into Sikkim and AP, Non-stop air-space violations, issuing verbal threats, are grave provocations violating India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Amarnath yatra, has already started under shadow of terror.

Indians looks forward to PM Modi for initiating concrete steps after taking into confidence the Armed Forces chiefs, HM, NSA,MEA ,MOD et al.

Following suggestions are also for considerations of GOI :--

(a)Enhance India's military presence at LC,LOC IB. Our Armed Forces will take care of the rest. Launching surgical strikes regularly,not once or twice , but many times over. We trust them.

(b)Accord diplomatic recognition to Nationalist China,open an office and post a regular diplomat at Taipeh.No more dual-charge consular arrangement.

(c) Indians must stop buying sub-standard Chinese products. GOI must stop procuring chinese products at throw-away prices, by invoking anti- dumping laws.

(d) Expedite operationalisation of India-Afghan Air corridor as antidote to CPEC/OBOR.

(e) Keep Indian Ocean under constant surveillance.

(f) What has happened to India's support for freedom movements in Baluchistan, Sindh,POK and Gilgit-Baltistan ?

(g)Gwadar port in Baluchistan is being developed by Chinese engineers and labour. Unemployment leads to frequent clashes between Baluchi and the chinese labour on the lines of Gilgit-Baltistan.Similar skirmishes will take place between the poor local Baluchis and Chinese labour, in case of CPEC, passing through several countries.

PM Modi  was the only earnest performer Ministers celebrated the day with gusto to attract PM Modi’s attention. More interested in photo ops.

GOI employees participated; a majority in “ Shav Aasan “ pose.

They do not bother till non-compliance becomes a misconduct. They trust gyms more than Yoga posturing. Followed by chai /coffee/ pakoras and other prohibited stuff. And, a restful sleep, thereafter,holiday mood.

Congress,TDP, TMC and the Commies boycotted on political grounds.

DMK refused on religeous grounds. The outraged Lalu chose not to participate due to IT, ED raids on his kins’ homes.

Farmers blocked highways all over the country by performing Vajra and shav aasan.

Terrorists continued with " Gun aasan ".

Hypocrisy galore.

Apropos of WIC’s input dt June 20, 2017, it is surprising that none of the four internal candidates ie CMDs of four Coal subsidiaries, was found suitable for the post of Chairman, Coal India Ltd ( CIL), the Holding company.

Reasons must be analyzed by experts, independent of Min of Coal. I had a long stint as Secretary, PESB. Rejection of candidates could possibly be attributed to following factors :-

(a)Absence of succession planning ;

(b) Lack of Vigilance clearance in respect of 4 candidates ;

(c)Poor track records of all 4 candidates ;

(d) Plan to bring an outside professional , as a wild card entry.

(e) Deliberately fixing high bench mark ostensibly to bypass the professionals and misuse this as a ploy to force bureaucratization of the Maharatna by the backdoor. Bringing in Sanskari babus with zero field experience in coal sector has always been disastrous.

During the UPA era, top posts in coal sector (and coal mines,too ) were auctioned. The then de jure PM used to merely formalize the decisions taken by extra-Constitutional authority . The unethical practice has been done away with by PM Modi.

Ram Nath Kovind,present Bihar Governor, a dalit (by accident, not choice ) from UP, to be the next President of India & its Commander-in-chief

Coming from a humble background and relatively unknown, he reportedly maintains a low profile.

Mamata Banerjee said : " I have never heard this name before "

Nomination politically correct.

He will be pro-poor' President like the late A P J Abdul Kalaam,Sir.

Ms Pratibha Patil became President, by virtue of her unbridled sycophancy of Congress supremo.

Pranab Mukherjee became President-by-accident. 

Congress supremo, her foot soldiers and the Commies, need not nominate their own candidate to avoid further humiliation and embarassment .

Exposed of their anti- dalit ideologies,this will be a political harakiri for them

Vicious insinuation by a Congress MP against India’s Army Chief General Bipin Rawat by first calling him “ Sarak kaa Gunda” and thereafter, tendering an apology , fearing country-wide ire, is reprehensible. It jolted the conscience of every right-minded citizen besides reflecting MPs perverted mindset. Could this have been possible without the overt or covert support of the Congress supremo. That, the loose cannon has neither been reprimanded nor sacked so far, confirms the suspicion.

There seems a planned conspiracy to create instability in the country by certain politicians sharing same DNA, internal saboteurs masquerading as deshbhaktas. They allegedly indulge in anti-national activities like supporting  stone-throwers, hobnobbing with Kashmiri separatists, hugging Pak’s envoys  at tea parties, inciting Maoists , provoking communal riots, discrediting Armed forces, providing lip sympathy to farmers, quota reservations movements etc.

Laws of the land, as per common man’s understanding, do not permit such nefarious activities. If the authorities fail to act, can the Judiciary not take suo moto cognizance of such illegalities? Strangely, even the FIR has not been registered by the NIA or local police against the Member of Parliament for indulging in cheap jibe against the Army chief. The country is feeling outraged.Are VVIPs above the Law of the land?

Recent CBI raids at the offices and residence of promoter/owner  of an independent english TV news channel   invited massive criticism of  present political dispensation. Vehemently opposed  to PM Modi  these self-righteous  media persons  assembled at Delhi’s Press club, attributing raids to  “ Political  vendetta,  Attack on  Freedom of Press " etc . Utter nonsense. This is the conduct of captive media that boasts of independence.

Bunch of economic offenders. To get at the bottom of  the truth, why not look at the meteoric rise in the net worth of  certain journalists. ? Compare their IT returns for the FY 2003- 04 with those for FYs  2013-14 synchronizing with UPA era of no-holds-barred corruption.

All aided and abetted by the Congress-led UPA.Their mandate was to file stories that promoted the financial and political interests of the then ruling dispensation. This included brokering for cabinet berths in collusion with corporate lobbyist. Radiagate is not forgotten.It is a part of indian history of  modern journalism  full  of intrigues and machinations

"Trump Gram"

This is the name given to a Mewat village in Haryana. Elsewhere, hawans are being organised. Sycophancy to a super-power.

Will this amuse Donald Trump,who had cited India ( along with China) as an unfair beneficiary of the Paris climate agreement  of 2015 PM Modi visits the US on June 26,2017.

MEA mandarins would be mulling the possibility of whether PM Modi will succeed in building rapport with the unpredictable human molotov cocktail called Trump.

Body language of both leaders will be under constant watch by experts. Trump makes comical grimaces to suggest hatred, indifference or mockery for the other party. Impetuous,undiplomatic and almost uncouth ,at times.

One hopes, the US ambassador to India, briefs his master in advance about India's self-esteem and susceptibilities.

India cannot and should not be taken for granted

We live in an age of total bureaucratization where respect is neither earned nor given. Getting respect from one-time juniors, post retirement, is a rare honour.One should count one’s blessings with gratitude.

Attitudinal change in youth is a natural phenomenon in all departments- government, public, educational institutes etc. Retirees are not mandated to supervise jobs, nor record entries in APRs of the youth who served under them possibly sycophantically. Authority is necessary to “extort” respect.

Merit  ,more often than not,becomes the casualty while Mediocrity laced with pliability, yawning sycophancy thrive in govt offices. Universal law.  Irreverence on part of one-time juniors is to be pitied not hated. The aggrieved retirees can only appreciate the pleasure of being let down.

The retirees have no divine right to demand respect from their one-time juniors. It is too late to inject sanskaars into them. Best policy is to avoid visiting offices where one had served. We count ourselves as a force of 55 lakhs retired civil servants and deserve to be treated with dignity after having spent 35 to 40 years of service.

Let us petition PM Modi  to suggest that “All acts of Irreverance by serving  employees to  retired employees”,  must  be declared  “ Misconducts ”, attracting  minor penalties.

Let us not lose hopes and fight for our self-esteem.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari’s launchingof a commemorative edition of The National Herald ( NH) on June 12 in Bengaluru in presence of Cong Vice President, is reprehensible particularly as the case is mired in controversy.

The Karnataka assembly session , dominated by the Congress, was even cancelled.

An official launch of the edition and formal print relaunch of the newspaper is fixed in Delhi on June 20.The Delhi meet will be graced by President Pranab Mukherjee.

The President / Vice President belong to the nation. How did they allow themselves to be hijacked by the Congress for earning political brownie points? Their participation was ill-advised. An open affront to people of India.

Is the Congress party intending to legitimize the alleged money-laundering in NH case by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty? The Public is not naïve.

The 7th Central Pay Commission had recommended that all Pre-2016 pensioners must be compensated for number of increments they had earned in the retiring pay scales by giving them 3% of basic pension per increment.

The Cabinet, it is understood, was inclined to  accept the recommendation . But, it was misled by officials who expressed helplessness  in implementing 7th Pay Commission's recommendations on the plea that details of pensioners were not available for computing the increments-based hike in pensions.

DoP&T (Pension & Pensioners Welfare wing ) quietly and promptly issued orders vide OM No.38/37/2016-P&PW(A) dated May 12, 2017. This took all pensioners by surprise and shock. All were hoping against hopes for hikes in pensions.

Was the omission clerical, committed without fact-checking ? Insiders reveal, on condition of anonymity that some DOP&T officials not familiar with the accounting procedure, misled the political Executive, citing non-availability of  pensionary records. This was far from truth.

It is clarified that requisite  pensionary details  are lying intact in offices of  four custodians, namely (a)  Pension Payment Order (PPO)  issuing authority ; (b) PAO of office from where pensioners had retired; (c) Central Pension Accounting Office, New Delhi and (d) Central Pension Processing Cells of banks from where  senior citizens  receive pensions.

Officials were rewarded with a pat for saving public exchequer by duping the Cabinet and the pensioners.This led to the anomaly. Post-2016 pensioners are receiving  pensions far higher than their seniors who are pre-2016 pensioners.

PM Modi  is urged to revisit the case, order investigation into the oversight and restore the rightful claim to  pre-2016 pensioners.

Changing  a 50 year old rule, GOI (DOP&T)  sets a deadline of six months to complete probe of govt babus in corruption cases. It  has amended  Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, by laying down a time-line for intermediate stages of investigation and enquiry proceedings.

But, why is MOS ( Personnel) trumpeting this as part of his three years achievement? Why,  so much media hype? Analyse ground realities. CVC’s perennial concern over delay in expediting corruption by adhering to time- schedule for completion of disciplinary proceedings is ignored by central ministries. Though, a Statutary body, CVC is treated as a tooth-less tiger. Consider judicial pronouncement. Supreme court’s judgement of Dec 16,2015 (  ( Prem Nath Bali V/s Registrar, Delhi High court )directedthat every employer, State and Private, must conclude departmental  proceedings against their delinquent employeeswithin six months. So, what is new? Orders should have been issued in 2015 across the board.

Anomaly. Why create a dichotomy between All-India and Central services? It is not clear why All-India services : IAS, IPS and IFoS—and a “few other categories “ of officers, are not covered under the amendment. Are top babus from elite Services , never involved in big-ticket scams. Orders may not stand scrutiny in Courts of Law on sheer ground of discrimination. All employees, irrespective of Services, must be treated at par. Right to Equality before Law One wonders whether penalties are laid down for defaulters (disciplinary authorities or delinquent officers) for non- adherence of  stage-by stage schedules. Obfuscating proceedings before the Inquiry Officers (IO), CATs and Courts, are common. Lakhs of corruption cases are pending before CATs , courts for years. Adjournments and bails are granted on flimsy grounds. There is a flourishing racket involving lawyers and corrupt judges.  Action may be ordered by the Hon’ble CJI to reduce pendency by fast-tracking CATs and Courts’ proceedings. All adjournment cases must be scrutinized by High court judges and subordinate judges reprimanded, wherever required. Considering the totality of circumstances, DOP&T’s amendment orders are discriminatory, facetious and out-of-sync with GOI’s stated policy.

The Single Point directive, struck down by Supreme court, was restored by GOI through legislative route. Rules require prior sanctions of GOI and CVC, before initiating enquiry against  officers of the rank of Joint Secretaries and above. What will be the impact of amendment on corrupt top officers who enjoy immunity from CBI preliminary enquiries? Selective application of rules to target specific Services is unjust and unfair unfair.