Defence minister admits he receives complaints on pension for ex-servicemen; urges his officers to expedite process

IN A serious bid to ensure timely disbursal of the revised pensions and arrears for retired Armed Forces personnel, India’s defence minister AK Antony has asked the defence finance officials to expedite and streamline the pension system. While inaugurating the controllers’ conference of the defence accounts department in New Delhi on Wednesday, he further said, “Even now, I am getting a lot of complaints from people that they are not getting pensions... Considering the past, things have improved, but even then complaints are there still... So you must take all steps possible so that they get their dues at the earliest,”. He also said that how the government had made an attempt to infuse more transparency in the huge defence outlay, which is over Rs1.52 lakh crore for the current financial year itself.

Secretary of defence finance Ms Indu Liberhan (In Picture with AK Antony) stressed the need for continuing institutionalized interaction between the defence finance and the three Services. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai, a 1972 batch IAS, also addressed on the occasion.

Anil Ambani meets TKA Nair

ADAG chairman and younger of the Ambani brothers, Anil Ambani, on Wednesday held a separate meeting with Principal Secretary to the PM, TKA Nair for about 10 meetings before he met with the PM. Mr Ambani lost the recent case Supreme Court case on gas disputes to his elder brother and RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani. The government was also a party to the case. What transpired in the meeting is not known.

Action and Appointments

a) Mr Rajiv, an UP cadre IPS officer of 1975 batch, has been appointed as Director General of National Disaster Response Force and Civil Defence (NDRFCD).

b) Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Brijeshwar Singh said that achieving the target of building 20 km road every day would be possible with speedier acquisition of land for which chief secretaries of the states have been taking monthly meetings.

c) Anti-corruption wing of the Orissa government registered a criminal case against a 1995 batch IAS officer B P Sethi among others. He was allegedly involved in financial irregularities when he was a director of animal husbandry and veterinary service two years ago.

d) Secretary (Border Management), ministry of home affairs (MHA), AE Ahmed (In Picture) spoke at the annual conference of relief commissioners and secretaries of the department of disaster management of states and UTs, 2010, in New Delhi on May 12, 2010.

Former IRS officer and key Reliance executive dies in Switzerland

FORMER Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer and key advisor to Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Sandeep Tandon is no more. Mr Tandon, a 1975 batch IRS who took voluntary retirement initially to study, and then to join as an advisor to India’s largest company RIL on taxation, international law and liaison matters, died in Switzerland’s Zurich on Wednesday. Born in 1951, he was nearing 60 when he died.

Besides his wife Anu Tandon, a Congress MP from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, Tandon is survived by his two sons Shalin Tandon and Sachin Tandon.

As an IRS officer, he hogged the limelight several time including when he was the director, enforcement, I-T and investigated foreign front companies floated by Reliance. He also conducted a raid in the house of Tina Ambani, wife of Anil Ambani, now chairman of ADAG group. After taking VRS from the I-T, Mr Tandon studied law, first in Delhi University and then at Robert Kennedy University in Switzerland. He developed a specialization in international law and taxation.

In fact, the entire Tandon family is closely connected to Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s family, as both his sons work for the company and his MP wife used to be the Managing Director of MoTech Software Pvt. Ltd, a firm launched by Mukesh Ambani. Thanks to their clout in Mumbai, even Bollywood actor Salman Khan specially campaigned for Anu Tandon in her constituency during the last general elections.

Action and Appointments

a) The ACC has approved the proposal for extension of Inter-Cadre deputation of Hari Krishan Paliwal, a 1981 batch UP cadre IAS from Uttar Pradesh cadre to AGMUT(Arunachal Pradesh) cadre for a period of 3 years beyond February 28, 2010.

b) V Srinivas, a 1989 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS has been appointed as Joint Secretary, in the ministry of textiles.

c) The competent authority has approved the proposal for assignment of additional charge of the post of Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC) Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to SK Srivastava, a 1978 batch Assam cadre IAS, additional secretary in the ministry of labour and employment, in addition to his own charge for a period of three months with effect from February 23, 2010.

d) Dhiman Chandra Pattanayak, a 1982 batch IRSEE officer has been appointed as Financial Adviser(joint secretary level) in the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) at Mumbai.