Asia Crisis and Security Group (ACSG) Meeting

I had the opportunity to attend the ACSG Bangalore Meeting which was held yesterday (19 June 2008) at the offices of JP Morgan. I could attend this meeting thanks to an invitation from a friend who is a member of the group. Log on to http://acsgroup.org/ to know more about the ACSG.
The event was scheduled in the afternoon followed by drinks and dinner. Three presentations/discussions were held which covered BPO security best practices, a talk on terrorism and local crime overview and an overview of 'Project Sahyog' which is the Mumbai version of Police-Private sector cooperation.
This event also provided an opportunity for me to meet and interact with security professionals from the BPO industry and MNCs. Some senior and well known luminaries in the security fraternity were also present. I met a lot of people with whom I was already acquainted and one of them was Ratnakar Bade from Nokia. It seems he is having a good time at Nokia (judging by his girth and jowls !!). Well he was spouting a whole lot of 'new' jargon and also gave me some 'gyan' regarding taking tips on how to prepare for transition from public to private sector. On being told that I would do the needful when I get a call from some organization he quoted a proverb in Hindi " जब प्यास लगेगी तब कुआँ खोदोगे क्या ?" Point taken Ratnakar - will do the needful !!

Lungar Gupp XXXXIII

1. Career Progression. It is reliably learnt that five posts of AGMs have been increased in our cadre. Whether the total number of AGMs will be 9 (as was the position in 2004) or 10 (as the number increased suggests) remains to be seen. In any case we will soon be having either 4 or 5 spanking new AGMs (albiet a bit old and rusty !). The race will also be interesting with a total of 12 or 13 guys lining up for the scratch (six old horses included)

2. Lien Related Woes. It is rumoured that officers will no longer be granted lien by the Bank. This is real bad news for some guys who had landed good jobs in the private sector. This, however, is not confirmed news. I will not be surprised if this holds true in case of Neeraj as his recommendation from this place was negative.

3. Voluntary Retirement. At long last (after 5 months) I have got the Bank's response to my query regarding seeking premature retirement under Staff Regulation 26 (3) - i.e. on attaining the age of 50 years. We are entitled to counting of past military service as well as the notional benefit of 5 years in case we plan to throw the towel into the ring.

U.P. Sainik School, Lucknow - Get Together

1. The sprawling Rajendra Sinhji Institute at 50, MG Road, Bangalore was the venue for the "Upsainian" get-together on 08 June 2008. This historic meet was made possible thanks to the relentless efforts of many upsainians who are presently based at Bangalore but Tej Pratap and Abhishant Pandey were instrumental in finally making it possible. They have been at it for the past six months or so (I think that is the time they started collating data regarding Upsainians in Bangalore).

2. We had booked the main lounge for 35 guests and it was a pleasant surprise when everyone who had confirmed turned up. People started coming in at 6.30 PM. Some attendees turned up with their families which was another welcome sign. It was a motley mixture of serving Army and Air Force officers, ex-officers, businessmen, engineers and professionals. The common bond (stronger than 'Fevicol') was UPSS (needless to mention !)

3. A sombre note in the midst of gaeity was introduced by Tarun Jauhari when he touched upon the sad demise of Lt Col B.K.Das, the illustrious Principal of our school in the sixties besides being a renowned educationist and a fine human being. I had the privilege of joining the school when he was at the helm of affairs. I still possess the marks sheet which bears the flourish of Col Das' signature in turquoise ink (that used to be his fetish !). Led by Tarun, all of us stood up and observed a moment of silence praying for the departed soul.

4. The proceedings of the evening are depicted in the following photographs :

Oldies hitting the Bar : From left Col D.D.Pande,

Col Ashok Soti, self and Ashwini Tripathi

(who is definitely not an oldie !)

Achtung !! Beer Guzzlers. Wingco Naveen

Misra can be seen in the background.

Col Pundir, Col Pandey (both still in service),

Tarun Jauhari and self. A word about Tarun -

he hasn't changed one bit since he left school.

Col Ashok Soti, the seniormost Upsainian present
(from the first batch - passed out in 1965),

introducing himself and talking about the school.

Col D.D.Pande following suit and remembering his

time spent at our 'alma mater'. He still retains his

wry humour and wit.

"Blowing my own trumpet !!"
Tej Pratap (Upsainian and IITian) talking about himself.

All Ears ! C.P. Tiwari, Tej, self and Wingco S.N.Misra.

"Birds of Feather" All these guys are from the

same batch and stayed glued to each other

(understandably) throughout the evening.

Reminiscing ?? Divik Kishore standing in the background.

High Spirits !! (C.P.Tiwari has his right arm up

and the arm on the right belongs to Abhishant).

Divik, meanwhile,has his arm raised skywards.

Mrs Jauhari speaking about her memories of

UPSS. She has a 'double' connection with the

school. Besides being the spouse of an Upsainian

she happens to be the daughter of our revered

Maths 'guruji', the late Mr U.K.Chaturvedi who

went to Chail Military School as the Principal

after his stint with UPSS.

The group photo taken prior to dinner.

Visit of Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam - Former President of India

Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, former President of India, visited RBI Bangalore on 31 May 2008 and addressed a motley gathering of officers, members of the staff, families and children at 1630 hrs. The response was overwhelming with more than 300 people turning up to listen to him despite the fact that it was a holiday. He spoke about his concept of PURA (Providing Amenities in Rural Areas) and how RBI could lend a hand in facilitating such ventures. He also exhorted the children to take an oath about living with courage throughout their life. It was really an education to listen to his sublime thoughts.

Dr Kalam being received by the RD on arrival

About to enter the main building.
Dr Kalam at the start of his talk.
Rapt Attention !!

Explaining the concept of 'PURA'

CPP Results

Results for the CPP test which was held on 03 May were declared on 02 June 2008. It is very heartening to note that out of the four officers from RBI who had taken the exam, three have successfully cleared the same. These stalwarts are M.W.Khan, Moin Zafar and Vikas Verma. Welcome to the 'Certified Protection Professional' club gentlemen !! This takes the the count of CPPs in RBI to five.

Farewell to Neeraj and Sagar

Neeraj and Sagar have been posted out to RBI, Kanpur and Patna respectively. Neeraj has already joined his new office and Sagar has proceeded on leave for a month to take the CISA test after which he will report to Patna. Neeraj was enjoying a swim on the 16th floor of his hotel at Kanpur when I last spoke to him (no kidding !!)

Singing praises for the outgoing blokes !

Neeraj speaking about experiences.

Sagar being communicative !!

Happy to receive the box ?

Saying it with flowers.

Lungar Gupp XXXXII

1. New Bakras !! A list of 17 officers have been declared successful in the recently concluded interviews for the post of AM(Security). I am really amazed at the speed at which the results were declared - RBI is shining !! Following is the list :

1. Maj. Dinesh Kumar Sharma

2. Maj. Suchet Shrikant Bal
3. Jitender Kumar Sharma
4. Maj (Retd.) Ritu Singh
5. Capt. Rajendra Singh Bangari
6. Capt. Amit Anil Ringay
7. Saroj Kumar Singh
8. Maj. Rakesh Mohan Nair
9. Maj.Manish Pant
10. Lt. Cdr. S N S Srinivas ADC
11. Flt. Lt. Swaraj Singh Chaudhary
12. Devinder Jit Singh Gill
13. Sunil Kumar Chahar
14. Harini Sirohi
15. Manakkattu Vakeri Zarina
16. Maj. Kundan Lal Pandey
17. Capt. Dharamendra Singh

2. Postings and Representations. It is common knowledge that most of the representations were turned down except a couple and people have moved to their new destinations on 01 June 2008. Capt Arvind Sharma has reported at Bangalore and is now heaving a sigh of relief after his troubled time at Jammu.

3. Training Time. Get set for a training module at DMI, Bhopal. CSC in collaboration with our friends at Bhopal has arranged a training programme on Disaster Management for Security Managers from RBI. This will be conducted in batches and the first programme is likely to start next month.