Questions on RTI figure prominently in Parliament

THE questions related to Right to Information Act, 2005, particularly its possible amendments are getting more and more space this Parliament session. The amendment of RTI and questions on file notings will come up again on May 5, 2010 in Lok Sabha, India’s lower House of Parliament.

Only on Thursday, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions Prithviraj Chavan said in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha how the RTI Act has an inbuilt system of monitoring of the implementation of the Act. He further mentioned that no amendment of the Act so far as the structure of the State Information Commission was under consideration.

The other prominent questions that will come up on May 5 in Lok Sabha include bureaucrats with professional degree holders, income limit of creamy layers of OBC, complaints about civil services examinations etc., according to the provisional list of unstarred questions published so far.

Secretary In Action

Corporate affairs secretary R Bandyopadhyay has asked the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to impart the training to professionals for converging Indian Accounting Standards with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) at an affordable cost and of high quality. He inaugurated the curtain raiser ceremony of the chain-workshops on Indian Accounting Standards converged with IFRSs in New Delhi on Thursday

Rail men clinch gold in world TT championship

Indian Railways Men Team won the Gold Medal, first time, in the history of USIC (World Railways) Table Tennis Championships by beating the France in the final by 5-1. The World Railways Table Tennis Men’s and Women’s Championships were held at Nijniy Novgorod (Russia) from April 22 to 27, 2010. A total number of 15 countries have participated in the said championship.

The men Team included Anirban Nandi, Arpit Bhopalkar and Sayan Paul Roy. The women team which won the Bronze Medal consisted of Prajakta Tipale, Pallabi Kundu and Mansi Bhagwat.

Also, Arpit Bhopalkar won the Gold Medal in Men individual category by beating Albert Kolodskikh of Russia by 3-1 in the final. 

1,21,0362,955: Disproportionate assets in Rs allegedly amassed by civil servants

Rs 1,21,0362,955. Finding it tough to figure it out? It’s over Rs 121 cr which is the total amount in disproportionate assets amassed by civil servants, according to CBI charge sheets. Though the number of cases under trial in 2009 was just three down from 55 in 2008, those under investigation (based on FIRs) went up from 13 in 2008 to 78.

This information was given by minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions Prithviraj Chavan in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. (In Picture: CBI director Ashwani Kumar in a medical check-up)

Meanwhile, in order to facilitate speedy trial of cases investigated by the CBI, the government has decided to set up 71 additional Special Courts, approved 284 posts of prosecuting officers with supporting staff and notified a new scheme for engaging law officers on contract basis for a period up to five years.

Also, various incentives were introduced to fill up the vacancies in the CBI. Those include grant of special incentive allowance at the rate of 25% of pay up to the level of senior superintendent of police and at the rate of 15% for officers above that rank to attract officers on deputation.

It was also decided to divert 77 posts of deputy superintendent of police from deputation quota to promotion quota, as a one time measure in relaxation of recruitment rules to expedite filling up of these posts, a government release said.

MHA joint secretary’s house raided

CBI searched the houses of two senior government officers including one of O Ravi (In picture), a 1983 batch IAS and joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs (MHA). Mr Ravi allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 25 lakh from a private distiller. Another ministry official, RS Sharma, a director, has been booked for accepting bribes to favour a bulletproof jacket firm, according to media reports.

Global Window: Pak SC sets aside 54 bureaucrats’ promotions

Pakistan’s Supreme Court declared the prime minister’s promotion of 54 bureaucrats to Grade 22 as null and void. It said that the promotion was in complete disregard to the rules, destroying the services structure, a three-member bench of the Pakistan SC said.

Unsuitable Boys: Govt sends third reminder to fill up posts at UIDAI’s Guwahati and Ranchi offices

WHAT could be construed as a clear sign of reluctance of senior bureaucrats to join Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), recently renamed as Aadhaar (Foundation), at least in a few centers, the government has recently given a reminder that the newly created outfit headed by former Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani would require deputy secretary and director level officers in its regional offices located in Guwahati and Ranchi.

Though advertisements for the posts of Assistant Director General of UIDAI were issued first on October 5, 2009, and then a reminder was sent on December 4, 2009, no suitable candidates were found for its Guwahati and Ranchi centers. In fact, it could not be verified whether the department of personnel and training (DoPT) received any application at all for those vacancies, and if it had received applications why it had failed to select the right candidates.

Significantly, the DoPT sent a reminder on April 20, 2010 to all chief secretaries of the state saying, “it is again requested that the names of the willing officers at deputy secretary or director level who are eligible to work in the Centre under Central Staffing Scheme may please be recommended for this office”. The copies of the reminder were sent to the cadre controlling authorities too.

Civil, Yet Not Servants

For those bureaucrats who like to identify themselves as civil servants, a recent article published in Time may not be a happy reading. In a special article titled “The Dangers of Digging Up the Truth in India” written by Daniel Pepper, it was argued how the RTI Act brought a cultural sea change in India while adding, “…More than 60 years state bureaucrats have acted more like colonial masters than servants of the people.” Published from US in partnership with CNN, the Time is one of the most well respected magazines on global affairs.

Action and Appointments

a) The premature repatriation of SK Panda, a 1980 batch Manipur-Tripura IAS and joint secretary in the department of AYUSH to his parent cadre, has been approved. Mr Panda has been appointed as chief secretary of government of Tripura.

b) The government has approved the extension of central deputation tenure of Ms Amita Sharma, a 1981 batch MP cadre IAS and joint secretary in the ministry of rural development for a period of one year beyond April 10, 2010.

c) Taleen Kumar, a 1987 batch West Bengal cadre IAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP).

d) T Jacob, a 1984 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of food and public distribution.

e) Prem Kumar Gera, a 1985 batch Gujarat cadre IAS has been appointed as joint director in Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie at the joint secretary level.

f) Ms Anuradha Mitra, presently additional financial adviser of the ministry of defence (finance) has been appointed as principal advisor (financial analysis) in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Glamour and Shakti of an IAS: India's dancing sensation wanted to be a bureaucrat

WHO says IAS has become less glamorous? India’s recent dancing sensation and famous reality show “Dance India Dance” winner Shakti Mohan said she had a passion to become an IAS officer. Her statement came only a couple of months after Bollywood actress and winner of Femina Miss India 2002 Neha Dhupia had said she did not wish to be a model, but wanted to become an IAS officer instead.

Now, Shakti who was always a topper in school and college was studying hard to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an IAS officer till she participated in “Dance India Dance” which changed her career altogether. She told a section of media that her father was still insistent that she should take the civil services examination as she could try for it till she is 30. The 24-year-old Shakti, who has masters degree in political science, has now decided to convert her passion in dancing into a profession of a choreographer.

Also Read

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A crack in 'Aadhaar’ (foundation)?

The government has approved the premature repatriation of JRK Rao, a 1985 batch Bihar cadre IAS, and Deputy Director General of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to his parent cadre. Though it’s stated that the move was mainly to ensure Mr Rao availing the benefits of promotion in the cadre, it remains unanswered why then Mr Rao had joined the Nandan Nilekani-headed mega project which would give a 16-digit identification number of every Indian citizen. Was he unhappy working in this newly established outfit? Significantly, many bureaucrats were reportedly reluctant to join the UIDAI. The UIDAI was renamed as Aadhaar (foundation) on Monday.

Also Read

Is Nilekani preferring IAS to corporate guys?

Nilekani finds it tough to attract senior government officers 

Action and Appointments

a) Ram Lubhaya, a 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Caste in the rank and pay of additional secretary in the vacancy of Shri Raghubir Singh, a 1972 batch IA&AS (Retd.)

b) S Machendranathan, a 1979 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as additional secretary and financial adviser in the ministry of steel in the vacancy of BS Meena, a 1975 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS.

c) S Krishnan, a 1975 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS and secretary in the department of fertilizers under the ministry of chemicals and petrochemicals, will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary in the department of sports during the absence of leave of Ms Sindhushree Khullar, a 1975 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS up to May 2, 2010.

d)The ACC has approved the in-situ elevation of Sunil Kumar, a 1979 batch Chhattisgarh cadre IAS and joint secretary in the department of higher education as additional secretary in the same department.

e) R Bandyopadhyay, a 1974 batch West Bengal cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs, will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary in the department of youth affairs during the absence on leave of A K Upadhyaya, a 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS with immediate effect and up to May 2, 2010

INCUBATION: An Orissa university to begin a cell to train future IAS, IFS, IPS…

NOW, a Central university in Orissa will take the IAS coaching centers head-on, as the Koraput-based university is planning to start a specialized cell to train its students for appearing for competitive examination with a thrust on UPSC exam being held annually to select IAS, IFS IPS and other allied services.

Though many students from universities across India appear for such competitive examinations every year, universities never get involved in the process and remain focused on its own curricula. But the Central University, Koraput will now train those students separately for which IAS officers would be roped in as guest faculty, a report by The Times of India said.

Significantly, poor success rate of students from Orissa in such competitive examinations is believed to be the key reasons for such an initiative. According to the Vice Chancellor of the University, an advisory committee, comprising some senior IAS officers, was formed which will work out the course and the method of coaching.

Significantly, the University is collaborating with the British Council to improve the students’ communication skills and knowledge of English language.

If this trend is replicated by other universities too, there will be much more incubation space for future IAS, IFS, IPS across India.

Mizoram CM is unhappy with bureaucrats

Mizoram chief minister Pu Lal Thanhawla has found the demand of a pay hike for state government servants unreasonable as their output is not satisfactory. According to local media, the chief minister has blamed the bureaucrats for the state’s inability to spend Rs 70 cr Central funds. The CM was addressing Mizoram Civil Pensioners’ Association General Assembly in Aizawl recently. What has concerned the CM is the report that many civil servants devote just 2 hours for their office work.

Action and Appointments

The UP government has once again engineered a minor administrative reshuffle transferring four IAS officers including the Greater Noida CEO Mukul Singhal. Divisional Commissioner (Moradabad) Manoj Kumar will now be the new Greater Noida CEO after incumbent Mr Singhal has been transferred as Member (Judicial) in the Allahabad Revenue Board. 

DG Shipping, Lakshmi Venkatachalam appointed as ADB vice-president for 3 years

DIRECTOR General of Shipping and 1978 batch Karnataka cadre IAS Lakshmi Venkatachalam has been appointed as vice-president of Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).

An additional secretary level officer with triple masters degree in economics, English literature and business administration (Boston University), Ms Venkatachalam will be the ABD Vice-President handling private sector and co-financing operations for a term of three years. The senior IAS who has over 30 years of experience in public life will handle some important issues as ADB plans to scale up private sector operations and co-financing partnerships under the bank’s long-term strategy 2020 framework.

Some of her recent posts include Commissioner, Bangalore Development Authority, and Managing Director of the State Cooperative Marketing Federation, in Karnataka, as also Director in the Ministry of Steel, Government of India. She was also the chairperson of the Coffee Board of India in 2000-2005 when she represented India at the International Coffee Organization London, and she chaired that council in 2001-2002.

Some of her prominent batch-mates include Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav and PPP man and additional secretary in rural development ministry, Arvind Mayaram. 

RTI Act unlikely to be amended; rejection of frivolous requests could be made possible by changing rules

THE RTI Act is unlikely to be amended despite there has been a voice within the government that vexations and frivolous requests under the Act need to be rejected by amending the Act. There were media reports saying that there was a rift between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on whether the Act which has been projected as a major tool to bring in transparency, should be amended at all. According to Mrs Gandhi and the party spin doctors, there is no need to amend the Act as it could be politically detrimental, though some part of the Act has brought inconvenience to the functioning of the government.

In a carefully prepared written reply in Parliament, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions, Prithviraj Chavan, hinted that there was no need to amend the Act, and that if need be, the issues involved may be addressed by amending the rules.

“While no indication can be given at this stage regarding the amendments which will be incorporated in the Act as discussions with the various stakeholders are yet to be held, the proposal under consideration covers, inter-alia, amendment to enlarge the scope of suo-motu disclosure, to avoid frivolous or vexatious representations, to modify the provision about disclosure of cabinet papers, to make a provision for giving current charge of Chief Information Commissioner to any Commissioner, to provide the constitution of Benches of the Commission and to incorporate a new section empowering the Commission to make regulations,” he said in the reply.

In a related development, government of Uttar Pradesh sent a proposal for grant of Rs 7.50 crore for construction of building for the State Information Commission under the proposed Government of India scheme for providing assistance to states for this purpose. But the Central Government has not taken any decision on the proposal of the state government, Mr Chavan said in Rajya Sabha on Thursday without answering the question “why”.

Action and Appointments

a) Railway minister Kumari Mamata Banerjee presented the 55th Railway Week National Awards for Outstanding Services-2010, in New Delhi on Thursday. (See picture on right)

The ministers of state for railways E Ahamed and K H Muniyappa and the chairman, Railway Board, SS Khurana were also present on the occasion.

b) Urban development secretary M Ramachandran took part at the signing ceremony of the “Reciprocal Common Transport Agreement” among NCR states of Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan for unrestricted and seamless movement of traffic in NCR region. The function (See picture on left) took place in New Delhi on Thursday.

Be alive to problems at hand and equipped to tackle them: PM tells Indian bureaucrats

PRIME Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has given Indian civil servants a thumps up while adding that there were areas in which the civil services should have and could have performed better. While inaugurating the Civil Services Day in New Delhi on Wednesday, Mr Singh preferred to encourage the bureaucrats by saying: “On the whole, it would not be an exaggeration to say that our civil services have lived up to this expectation”.

Yet he reminded the bureaucrats that they should not only be alive and sensitive to the problems at hand but should also be well-equipped to tackle them. He emphasized on continuous up-gradation and improvement of trainings. Some excerpts:

On New Problems

The problems and challenges that we face today are not only very different from those which we encountered soon after Independence but are also increasingly complex. Our population has grown manifold, as has the size of our economy. Our country is getting increasingly urbanized. Higher levels of education, income and awareness have raised the aspirations and expectations of our people.

Post Crisis

Our medium term target is to return the economy to an annual growth rate of 9-10 percent. Our civil services have a major role to play in reaching this goal by facilitating the right enabling environment in which enterprise and innovations are encouraged.

On Delivery

Civil servants, particularly those of the All-India Services serving in the states, have a key role in the implementation of all these (Central government) programmes. There is a wide-spread feeling that we have not been completely successful in ensuring that the benefits of our development programmes reach out to the people as intended. This is a massive challenge.

(In Picture: Dr Singh with the awardees of PM’s award for Excellence in Public Administration, at 5th Civil Services Day function, in New Delhi on April 21, 2010)

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Babus in Demand

Applications are invited from suitable eligible officers for two vacancies of Administrative Members in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), one each at the Ahmedabad and Patna Bench.

For details, read the CIRCULAR, dated April 20, 2010 issued by DoPT secretary Shantanu Consul

Action and Appointments

AK Upadhyaya, a 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS and secretary in the department of youth affairs will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary, department of sports, during the absence on leave of Ms Sindhushree Khullar, a 1975 batch UT cadre IAS from April 20, 2010 to April 30, 2010.

Vacancy in Tokyo for a senior Indian bureaucrat

IF YOU have been empanelled as a joint secretary but have not been on a foreign posting as yet, you may now “look east”, quite literally. The department of economic affairs (DEA) under the ministry of finance wants to fill the joint secretary-level post of Minister (Economic), in Embassy of India, Tokyo.

The post will fall vacant on August 30, 2010. The department of personnel and training (DoPT) issued a letter dated April 20, 2010 to all Government of India secretaries and state chief secretaries. According to the circular, an officer who has been empanelled to hold joint secretary or equivalent posts at the Centre, should be at least 3 batches below the batch next to be considered for empanelment at the additional secretary level. Also, the officer must have worked for at least two years at the Centre under the Central Staffing Scheme. The officer must be below 54 years as on the date of vacancy.

Detailed CIRCULAR, dated April 20, 2010

Inadequate response forces govt to re-advertise a Deputy Director’s post

A circular dated January 25, 2009 was issued in connection with filling up the post of Deputy Director (Administration) in the Project Cell of the AIIMS-like institution being

set up at Raipur under the ministry of health and family welfare in the pay scale of Rs. 37,400 - 67,000 plus a grade pay of Rs 8700. Because of inadequate response, the vacancy is again re-circulated.

CIRCULAR, dated April 16, 2010

Action and Appointments

a) Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the fifth Civil Service Day in New Delhi on Wednesday. He will also give away the ‘PM Award for Excellence in Public Administration’ for the year 2008-09. Nine outstanding initiatives in three categories – individual, group and organization – have been selected for the award. An exhibition showcasing the various award winning initiatives will be put up. Also, books written by the Civil Servants during the last five years will also be displayed.

b) Justice Ramesh Surajmal Garg, Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court.

Aam Ka Aadmi: Tharoor’s lone Tweet on bureaucrats

SHASHI Tharoor’s brush with power politics may have ended in a hurry, at least for time being, but his one-year-long political spell would always be remembered for his controversial but smart 140-character-long one liners. Mr Tharoor who had to resign from Dr Manmohan Singh’s government after his link to Kochi IPL team became apparent, might have tweeted on various aspects of work, life and fun in Delhi’s corridor of power, he incidentally tweeted the least about bureaucrats.

After scanning through his tweets ranging from diplomacy to eating mangoes, BoI found just one tweet on bureaucrats. On June 5, 2009, Tharoor tweeted, “Two more dinners! That intriguing Delhi mix of politicians, bureaucrats, media, + socialites.” Not a controversial tweet any which way!

But what remained non-controversial was his tweet on mangoes (June 9, 2009).

“Having lived abroad in places without Indian mangoes, have literally become “aam aadmi” this year, or at least “aam ka aadmi” – eat 6 a day!”

CBI’s big catch in Mumbai…

Investigating agency CBI arrested I-T additional commissioner Sumitra Banerjee and her husband Subrator in a corruption case, as it was found that the couple owns a sprawling property in Malaysia. Their immediate charge was accepting a bribe of Rs 1.70 crore from a builder to reduce his tax liability. CBI teams raided the Banerjees’ residence at suburban Chembur and recovered cash worth Rs 46 lakh and foreign currency worth Rs 10 lakh.

…And then a small fry

A government employee Rajeev Kumar was arrested by a vigilance team for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 at Sitarganj area of Udhamsingh Nagar district of Uttarakhand. He was demanding the bribe for transferring a land deed.

Action and Appointments

a) Ms Rajni Razdan, former secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, took the oath of office and secrecy as Member, Union Service Public Commission (UPSC) on Monday. The oath was administered by UPSC chairman Prof DP Agrawal. Ms Razdan was a 1973 batch Haryana cadre IAS.

b) ACC has approved the repatriation of Ms Rajwant Sandhu, a 1975 batch HP cadre IAS, and secretary, department of drinking water supply to her cadre from July 1, 2010.

c) Ms Kiran Dhingra, a 1975 batch UT cadre IAS and secretary, ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation, will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary, ministry of tourism during the absence on leave of Sujit Banerjee, a 1972 batch UP cadre IAS from April 16, 2010 to April 25, 2010.

d) US Bhatia, a 1974 batch Orissa cadre IAS has been appointed as Ambassador, Permanent Mission of India, WTO, Geneva, on re-employment on contract basis for a period of three months after his retirement on April 30, 2010, in the rank and pay of secretary to the Government of India.

e) Jayant Dasgupta, a 1981 batch Bihar cadre IAS will be the new Ambassador, Permanent Mission of India, WTO, Geneva, for a period of three years on the completion of the tenure of US Bhatia July 31, 2010.

Now a Rajasthan cadre IAS resorts to Twitter to take on IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi

IN YET another battle being fought in social networking site Twitter, a Rajasthan cadre IAS officer Sanjay Dixit has posed several uncomfortable questions to IPL commissioner Lalit Modi who is already on a sticky wicket after taking on India’s junior external affairs minister Shashi Tharoor who finally resigned from Manmohan Singh's ministry on Sunday. Already, there were I-T raids in Modi’s Mumbai office, and the government agencies may now probe credentials of IPL stakeholders.

Mr Dixit, a 1986 batch IAS officer currently serving in the cadre as irrigation secretary at the level of a joint secretary of Government of India, has asked whether there was any follow-up of Bombay High Court’s direction to BCCI to frame rules to keep people involved in drugs out, apparently taking a potshot at the cricket czar who as a student in US was convicted in charge of drugs trafficking.

The IAS officer who was once close to Mr Modi and later famously defeated him for the post of Rajasthan Cricket Association’s (RCA) president, has raised questions about the stake of Modi’s relatives in at least two IPL teams and his connections with former BJP chief minister Vasundhara Raje, which earned him the tag of Rajasthan”s “super-chief minister”.

Mr Dixit further claimed that “Lalit Modi has local modules in Rajasthan and Jaipur. Please supply their names. Hint: politicians, journalists, IT officers…”. He further Tweets, “Raids on IPL is no solution. Raid our friend’s (Modi) associates, catch people who worked for him in the past, who know all about his laundering”.

Mr Dixit, who was a marine engineer before joining IAS, is now an honorary secretary of Rajasthan Cricket Association. He was once so close to Mr Modi that they together was nick-named as “Dixit and Fix-it (Modi)” in Rajasthan, according to some local media. 

Nothing Unofficial About It: Indian government hunts for a Muslim officer to fill up a Consul General’s post

ARE you a Muslim officer by any chance? It may not be a politically correct question to be posed in secular India, but government of India has officially been on a manhunt to spot a Muslim officer at the rank of a director to fill up the post of Consul General, Jeddah under the ministry of external affairs (MEA).

In fact, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) in a letter to dated April 9, 2010 to all government of India secretaries and state chief secretaries, said, “Officers of Islamic faith of the rank of Director in the Government of India or equivalent level, eligible for appointment under the Central Staffing Scheme are eligible for the post.” The period of deputation is of two years.

“Names of willing and eligible officers of Islamic faith who can be spared by the state

governments/ministries/departments may be forwarded to this department along with cadre clearance, vigilance clearance, detailed bio-data in the enclosed proforma and

CR Dossier” it said.

DoPT CIRCULAR, dated April 9, 2010

PM’s award for excellence announced

The Prime Minister’s Awards for excellence in governance for 2008-09 have finally been announced. Those who won it at the individual category are Sanjay Dubey, IAS, Gulshan Bamra,IAS, (both from Madhya Pradesh), Dr. Samit Sharma, IAS (Rajasthan), Kolhapur’s (Maharashtra) municipal commissioner Vijay Singhal, IAS and Rajesh Lakhani, IAS (Tamil Nadu).

The only non-IAS who won this award in the group category is SS Khan, Member (IT) CBDT for Integrated Tax Payer Data Management System (ITDMS).

Action and Appointments

a) Ms Bhupinder Prasad, a 1976 batch UT cadre IAS, presently secretary, department of justice has been appointed as chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India in the rank and pay of secretary.

b) Neela Gangadharan, (In Picture) a 1975 batch Kerala cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as secretary in the department of justice, ministry of law and justice.

c) V Venkatachalam, a 1977 batch UP cadre IAS has been appointed as additional secretary in the department of agriculture and cooperation, ministry of agriculture.

d) KN Desiraju, a 1978 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS has been appointed as additional secretary in the department of health and family welfare.

Govt decides not to fill up CMD posts for a few PSUs

FOR those eyeing top jobs in Indian public sector undertaking (PSUs), here is the bad piece of news first. The PSUs such Triveni Structurals Ltd. (TSL) and Hindustan Photo Films Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (HPF) have decided not to appoint full-fledged chairman cum managing directors (CMDs), at least for now, citing poor financial health of the companies. But in PSUs like Tyre Corporation of India Limited (TCIL) and Cement Corporation of India Ltd. (CCI), the process of appointing CMDs have begun.

As was stated by Arun Yadav, minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, AK Jain, CMD, Bharat Pumps and Compressors Ltd, will continue to hold additional charge of CMD, TSL as well as Tungabhadra Steel Products Ltd. (TSPL). In HPF, a decision has been taken not to fill up the CMD post on a regular basis and manage the post of CMD, HPF through additional charge. Currently, Director (F), HPF is holding the additional charge of CMD.

Yet, in some other PSUs, the process of appointment has begun. In case of Tyre Corporation of India Limited (TCIL), a proposal for appointment of CMD has been submitted to DoPT. There too, Director (F), is holding the additional charge of CMD. For CMD’s post in Hindustan Salts Ltd. (HSL) too, the process of appointment has just begun. For CMD’s post in Cement Corporation of India Ltd. (CCI), PESB recommended the names of two persons, and CVC clearances have been obtained, the minister informed the House.

Vacancies in Railway Hospitals

There are currently 70 vacancies of doctors in 125 Railway hospitals across the country, a government release said. And out of 586 health units in railways, only 17 health units have vacancies of doctors. Significantly, short term vacancies in hospitals and health units are being managed by taking doctors on contract basis.

Countdown To Civil Services Day: 3 MP IAS selected for PM’s award for excellence

LAST year, a section of national press picked up a story of a BSF havildar’s son from Jammu who as the collector of Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh imbibed the Naxal tactics of wooing the impoverished villagers and used the same against them. The man who was determined to break the Maoists’ hold over ordinary citizens of the district, organized medical camps and meetings in Naxal-infested district before becoming an icon among villagers of the district.

Yes, Gulshan Bamra, a 1997 batch IAS officer who is presently the collector for Jabalpur, is one of the three IAS officers being selected for the prestigious Prime Minister’s award for excellence award to be presented at a function in New Delhi on April 21 to mark the Civil Services Day. Significantly, 37 year-old Bamra will get the award for “Involvement of community under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Naxalite-affected areas in Madhya Pradesh.”

The other two officers of the state who have also been selected for the award are 1977 batch MP cadre IAS OP Rawat (Picture on Right)  who is now an additional chief secretary of the state, and Sanjay Dubey (Picture on Left), a 1993 batch IAS currently serving as CEO in Madhya Pradesh Rural Road Development Authority.

Mr Rawat who has masters degree both in physics and economics had earlier served as director and then joint secretary in Union defence ministry. He is now receiving the award for implementation of a forest rights act.

Sanjay Dubey who was an engineer by profession before joining IAS, will receive the award for removal of encroachments of structures of different religions and yet maintaining communal harmony in Madhya Pradesh.

Why is Bir so angry?

JS Bir, a senior IAS officer of Punjab cadre and secretary in general administration department (GAD) of the state expressed his angst against government's failure to remove 'corruption in the system' which led to his 'humiliation and mental trauma'. This is what the IAS officer wrote to Punjab chief secretary and chief minister in his letter seeking voluntary retirement. Who will take Bir seriously?

Great Himalayan Trail: Special offer for civil servants to join trekking this summer

LIKE to venture out to the Himalayas this summer? The Indian government has offered its civil servants a subsidized rate to participate in the National Himalayan Trekking Expedition being organized by Youth Hostels Association of India between April to June, 2010.

The schedule for the trekking are as follows. Saurkundi Pass: April 25 to May 25; Sar Pass: May 1 to May 31 and Kedarkanth: May 1 to May 31, 2010. As the government would subsidize 60% of the participating fee that includes boarding and lodging, the participants need to pay just Rs 1120 for Saurkundi and Sar pass expeditions, and Rs 1280 for the Kedarnath expedition. Significantly, there is a biking expedition too.

If you are interested in participating in the programme, you need to fill up an application form, forward it through your welfare officer, and deposit the requisite amount to Youth Hostel Association of India, 5 Nyaya Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110021. Only those who went into similar expeditions during the last two years would not be eligible for any financial grant.

Khurana’s call to make Indian Railways World champion

SS Khurana, chairman of Railway Board has urged all railway men and women to join hands to work together to make Indian Railways the number one in the world. During the 55th Railway Week celebrations on Tuesday, Mr Khurana gave away the Running Shield, Merit Certificates and Cash Awards to the meritorious officers and staff and sports persons etc.

(In Pic: Mr Khurana presenting the Efficiency Shield to the best maintained Branch)

Action and Appointments

a) Manmohan Singh, Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, Jag Jivan Ram Midha, Rajiv Shakdher, Sunil Gaur and Mool Chand Garg have been appointed as Additional Judges of the Delhi High Court.

b) Harish Tandon has been appointed as a Judge of the Calcutta High Court.

c) Justice Kishan Swaroop Chaudhari, Justice Mahesh Chandra Bhagwati and Justice Chand Mal Totla have been appointed as Additional Judges of the Rajasthan High Court.

d) Justice Surendra Singh, Justice Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Justice Shashi Kant Gupta, Justice Bala Krishna Narayana, Justice Rajesh Dayal Khare, Justice Shabihul Hasnain, Justice Abhinava Upadhya, Justice Suresh Chandra Chaurasia, Justice Syed Nazim Husain Zaidi, Justice Ved Pal, Justice Brahma Nand Shukla, Justice Raj Mani Chauhan, and Dr.Justice Satish Chandra have been appointed as Judges of the Allahabad High Court.

A section of Australian bureaucrats warned of using social media like Facebook

A SECTION of Australian bureaucrats have been warned against posting photos of friends and colleagues on websites such as Facebook, Canberra Times reported on Tuesday. The advisory was issued by one of Canberra’s largest workplaces, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, as a part of its new social media policy.

In fact, the debate over how to restrain the new-age bureaucrats, reared on Facebook and Twitter, has now been a global issue, as free and frank sharing of information may at times jeopardize the internal mechanism of dissemination of classified information.

In this backdrop, the Australian department’s advice on how to behave while using blogs and online networks such as Facebook and Twitter, is quite significant. The advice also includes how to deal with new virtual worlds such as Second Life.

According to this advisory, bureaucrats are warned against telling others where they work, even when they are using the internet at home for personal purposes, the newspaper reported. In fact, the fear is that what they write “can be used as source material for journalists and other interested parties”.

“Consider carefully whether you should identify yourself as an (Australian Public Service) employee or an employee of the department…Do not risk any liability for the department by providing online recommendations or referrals for friends and or associates.” the policy says.

Any advisory from DoPT soon?
Also Read

An Australia-based former IAS' foray into Indian politics

Action and Appointments

a) The Punjab government on Monday transferred seven IAS officers including three deputy commissioners. Deputy commissioners of Jalandhar, Ropar and Gurdaspur were among those transferred.

BoI Extraa…

Taking bribe to sleep with women

Heard of a bureaucrat taking bribes to fund his plans to sleep with women? Yes, a 47-year-old Chinese bureaucrat has been in news recently for taking bribes to fulfill his dream of sleeping with as many as 800 women, according to Chinese newspaper Dahe Daily. But the bureaucrat’s plans backfired as his wife stumbled upon his secrets. The bureaucrat from the city of Anguing, who was finally arrested b y police, began his escapades in 2003, and he maintained the target of sleeping with 56 women a year, said the media reports. 

House of Shankars: Mr Ambassador welcomes Manmohan Singh in US

ON Sunday, Indian government issued this official photograph saying “The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh being received on his arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, in Washington on April 11, 2010”, without actually naming who is the one shaking hands with the PM and welcoming him in the airport.

In fact, the man in the photograph is Ajay Shankar, a 1973 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer, who retired as industry secretary in December last year. No prize for guessing what he is doing in US, and more significantly, why is he welcoming the PM and his wife in the Maryland Air Force base?

Yes, you must have guessed it right by now. Mr Shankar is the husband of Indian ambassador to US Meera Shankar, a 1973 batch IFS, and has been staying in US after his retirement on December 31, 2009. Where is Mrs Shankar then? If you enlarge the photograph, you will notice ambassador Shankar in a yellow Sari behind PM’s wife.

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Meera Shankar is one of the Top 3 women bureaucrats 

PM's Salad Bowl in Meera Shankar's party in Washington 

Meera Shankar's letter on Railway officers and dollar bribe

A bureaucrat and a diplomat in Washington

Pandey is back in Maya House

The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday reshuffled the postings of four IAS officers, including Vijay Shankar Pandey, a 1979 batch IAS, who was shunted out of the chief minister’s secretariat last month after Mayawati got upset about bad publicity over the Rs 200-cr B-Day extravaganza. Now, Mr Pandey will again be re-associated with the CM secretariat as he is attached to Mayawati’s residential office. In addition, he will be the principal secretary Food and Drug Authority (FDA).

On Sunday, Mayawati administration transferred 21 senior IPS officers, including eight Inspector General of Police.

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Pandey declares bank deposit of Rs 1.17 lac

Who is this anonymous Reddy?

Just a few days after one assistant agriculture officer SV Rao from Karnataka’s Hindupur, was arrested for impersonating as an IAS officer in order to avail better facilities, the police seems to be clueless about who is Dr Srinivas Reddy? A man identifying himself as Dr Srinivas Reddy, has been e-mailing a senior IAS officer, E Rajshekarappa, Director, Economic and Statistics, Karnataka Agriculture Commission seeking information. The man has even e-mailed Karnataka chief minister PS Yeddyurappa, media reports said.

Taste of Time: Job in Ministry of Road

It does not matter whether you have a taste for good food or not? If you are in government service for 6 years in the pre-revised scale of Rs 3200-4900 per month, you can try your luck to be a canteen manager. Click at CANTEEN MANAGER’S JOB.

Also, if you are scouting for a government job, Insider’s posts in http://www.jobcorridor.com/ are ready references. 

Question Time: Yet another questionnaire to make govt’s human resource machinery more effective

IN YET another attempt to achieve effective management of government’s vast human resources, department of personnel and training (DoPT) has sent a questionnaire to cadre controlling authorities, keeping an early deadline of April 15, 2010. The questionnaire having a total of eight questions touched upon several important aspects like newly introduced e-service book, impact of abolition of overtime allowances, and whether contract appointments are at all beneficial or not.

Significantly, this is the second such questionnaire issued by the department in the last two days, the first being the one sent to the secretaries of Government of India and secretaries of personnel department of all state governments. The newly sent out questions also include the recently introduced Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACP), and whether that has brought satisfaction to the stakeholders or not.

Question on criminal charges against IAS, IPS to figure in RS

The tentative list of questions meant for Rajya Sabha on April 15 includes queries on complaints redressal machinery, criminal charges against IAS, IPS officers, officers in possession with disproportionate assets, CBI cases in Goa and representation of Dalits for top posts.

Action and Appointments

a) ACC has approved the proposal for the extension of Central deputation tenure of Smt Anita Kaul, a 1979 batch Karnataka cadre IAS and Joint Secretary in the department of school education and literacy for a period of three months beyond March 31, 2010.

b) Vivek Joshi, a 1989 batch Haryana cadre IAS has been appointed to the newly created post of Joint Secretary (Integrated Child Development Services), in the ministry of women and child development.

Top cops vow to hit Naxals in their hearts

CHHATTISGARH’S top cop Vishwa Ranjan, a 1973 batch IPS and a known crusader against the Naxals, has vowed that the state would now hit the Maoists in their heart. Senior police officers including Chhattisgarh’s DGP Ranjan undertook an on-the-spot inspection of Maoist infested Chintalnar area on Thursday and expressed their determination to give Maoists a fitting reply after witnessing the biggest ever Naxal attack killing 76 security personnel.

Mr Ranjan who had earlier served as additional director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been the state police chief from July, 2007 except a three month period before the Parliamentary elections last year thanks to his earlier comments against EC officials. But, Mr Ranjan who remained the blue eyed boy of state chief minister Raman Singh was reinstated once the election code of conduct ended.

On Thursday, Mr Ranjan was also accompanied by several top cops including DGP of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Vikram Shrivastava, also a 1973 batch IPS who flew in from Delhi, inspector general of Bastar range and 1991 batch IPS TG Longkumer, inspector general of anti-Maoist operation and 1994 batch IPS, Shivarama Prasad Kalluri among others.

As Mr Ranjan had earlier said Maoists annually extort up to Rs 2,000 crore, targeting mainly iron and coal mining companies, infrastructure project contractors and 'tendu patta' businessmen and Jharkhand is its largest contributor.

African Safari: Last date for AfDB post extended

The last date of application for the post of Adviser to the ED, African Development Bank (AfDB) has been extended by 10 more days to April 15, 2010. The DoPT in a new circular also clarified that although the permanent headquarter of the AfDB is at Abidjan, the Bank is operating from Tunis, Tunisia and the selected officer will be operating from Tunis. Also, the tenure of the appointment is 2 years and not 3 years.

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Are you game for an African safari?

Action and Appointments

a) The in-situ elevation of RP Watal, a 1978 batch AP cadre IAS, and presently secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board to the level of additional secretary has been approved.

b) Sreeshan Raghavan, a 1983 batch Orissa cadre IFS has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of bio-technology.

c) The ACC has approved the proposal for extension of inter-cadre deputation of Yeshi Tsering, a 1983 batch Assam cadre IAS from Assam-Meghalaya cadre to AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh) cadre for a period of one year beyond February 18, 2010.

FAIR PLAY: DoPT wants quick comments on whether the selection of plum foreign posts is transparent

ARE procedures adopted for selection to captive posts in international organizations like IMF, World Bank, ADB etc. and foreign government of India posts like PMI and WTO Geneva, transparent? This forms one of 20 questions of a detailed questionnaire sent out by the Establishment Officer’s wing of the DoPT recently to state governments and Central government ministries and departments as a part of the government’s introspection on officers’ postings.

In fact, the selection process of some of the plum foreign posts earmarked for government officers was questioned earlier, as there have always been huge a competition to get such posting for which occasional political interferences are also witnessed. Significantly, the questionnaire also includes a few other frank queries like whether the approval of the minister-in-charge on the recommendations of the Civil Services Board usually takes a lot of time resulting in delays, or whether the selection under the Central Staffing Scheme is done in an impartial and transparent manner.

The secretaries of the personnel departments of all the state governments and secretaries of all the ministries or departments of the Government of India are expected to take out “5 to 7 minutes” of their busy schedule to answer the questions by April 12, 2010. Suggestions are also sought on how to deal with the complaints received immediately before, or after finalization of selection process for a post as these complaints often delay the processing of the ACC proposals.

The questions also touch upon missing ACRs of the officers and the development of a software for processing of nominations for foreign training.

You can also download the 20 questions by clicking on the DoPT CIRCULAR, dated April 7, 2010

Also Read

Getting a degree in public policy in S Korea

Govt sponsors civil servants at Harvard, IDS, Duke, ISS etc.

Action and Appointments

a) As many as 95 IAS officers of 1991, 1992 and 1993 batches would fly Air India on April 10 on a two-week-long exposure tour to South Korean capital city of Seoul. The visit is designed to provide the selected officers a global perspective and an exposure to international best practices.

b) The next of kin of 75 CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the Naxal attack in Dantewara district of Chhattisgarh on Tuesday would be granted compensation of Rs 38.6 lakhs from various heads including ex-gratia by Central government, state government, insurance among others.

c) Task Force on MSMEs set up under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary TKA Nair was presented to the Prime Minister. The report provides a roadmap for the development and promotion of the micro, small and medium enterprises.

d) Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit asked the CAG to desist from “nit-picking” on small issues as it discourages the policymakers and especially bureaucrats. The country’s top auditor recently said that Delhi government procured low-floor buses at a higher cost.