Ex-UP IAS Sanjeev Ahluwalia asks for taxing bureaucrats’ perks; bats for better pay to top babus

DAYS after the government’s announcement that it would soon set up the 7th Pay Commission for revising the bureaucrats’ pay, a former IAS officer of UP cadre Sanjeev S Ahluwalia has called for taxing perks including house, furniture, house help, official car, telephone etc. enjoyed by the bureaucrats. In a blog post titled “Babunomics for Rahul”, Ahluwalia, who is incidentally the brother of deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to…

IFS is back in UNESCO; Ruchira Kamboj to replace senior IAS VS Oberoi as India’s Permanent Representative

Ruchira Kamboj, IFS

IN YET another key foreign posting, the government has appointed Ruchira Kamboj, a 1987 batch IFS and incidentally, the topper of her batch, as India’s new Permanent Representative to UNESCO. With this, IFS will regain some lost ground, as Ms Kamboj is replacing an IAS officer of…

Know Your Diplomat: India's new ambassador to Germany Vijay Keshav Gokhale

Gokhale during a book launch

Vijay Keshav Gokhale, a 1981 batch officer of Indian Foreign Service, is India’s new ambassador to Germany. The post has been lying vacant since Indian ambassador to Germany Sujatha Singh took over as India’s foreign secretary on August 1. Gokhale, 54, has been…

Govt reappoints legislative department secretary PK Malhotra for 1 year on “functional grounds”

THE government has decided to retain PK Malhotra, secretary to legislative department and the officer who spearheaded drafting of major UPA legislations, for one more year after retirement. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) in an order dated September 19, approved Malhotra’s reappointment, now on a contract basis for a…

Will UP IAS Nagpal remain a “Durga”? 5 unanswered questions

WOULD Akhilesh Yadav-led UP administration have revoked the suspension of young IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal at least a month ago, had UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi not sent off an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on August 2 asking for his intervention in the matter so that the officer is “not unfairly treated”? Here are five questions that BoI has raised post Nagpal’s reinstatement on Sunday.

Early Diwali: Pay hike for sportspersons working in govt departments

IN A major incentive for sportspersons working in various Central ministries and departments, the government has doubled the existing amount of the personal pay for employees if they excel in sporting events of national and international importance. The revised rate will be applicable prospectively from…

Indian civil servants asked to apply for masters in Tokyo; List of 3 courses

GRIPS at Tokyo

THE government has encouraged its civil servants to apply for one-year-long masters courses in law and public policies in Tokyo’s premier institutes like Kyushu University and National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). The courses, which will begin from…

Koppula Raju: Know more about the ex-bureaucrat in Rahul Gandhi's team

THREE years after joining UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi-headed think tank, National Advisory Council (NAC), the IAS officer of 1981 batch, Koppula Raju, has turned a trusted lieutenant of the Gandhi family. Raju who quit IAS recently, is now one of the backroom boys of…

India’s ambassador designate to US Jaishankar, his take on Chindia & his mother’s Veena

INDIA'S envoy to China and 1977 batch IFS officer S Jaishankar, who had narrowly missed the foreign secretary’s job, has been named as India’s next ambassador to US. Considered as one of the most talented diplomats of all time, Jaishankar is the son of former IAS and doyen of India’s strategic affairs K Subrahmanyam, known in his circle as KS or Subbu. The photo used here is the Veena played by Jaishankar’s mother which his father kept…

Court takes exception to Karnataka IAS Officers Association’s action

“IS IT justified on the part of the association (Karnataka IAS Officers’ Association) to express solidarity with an accused officer when the criminal case and the accused officer’s bail application are pending before court?” This is what Karnataka High Court said on Thursday while taking exception to the IAS Association’s statement issued last Sunday, expressing solidarity with retired IAS officer…

This Office Memorandum illustrates a situation with Shri A, Smt. B and Kumari D

WHEN you read this office memorandum (OM) issued by the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare, you would be pleasantly surprised to find Shri A and Smt. B, and their daughter Kumari D in the government communication. After various ministries sought clarifications on family pensions particularly the eligibility of a daughter who became widowed or divorced after…

Centre clamps down on officers overstaying in inter-cadre deputations; says “no salary” for that period

THE Centre has taken an aggressive posture to curb overstaying of officers in inter-cadre deputation saying that it would stop payment of salary to the officer “beyond the approved period of deputation”. Further, if the officer overstays without prior approval, it would now impact his…

How “happy” employees are turning Chhattisgarh Housing Board into a national success

Borah speaking at a function at Naples, Italy

EARLY this year, a group of students from Delhi-based premier institute, School of Planning and Architecture, were amazed to spot some quality architecture at Naya Raipur, the new capital city of one of the youngest Indian states, Chhattisgarh. As the students interacted with Sonmoni Borah, a 1999 batch IAS and commissioner of Chhattisgarh Housing Board that built those houses, they realised…

India's Most Powerful Bureaucrats, 2013: Corridors’ Durgas 1st, Pulokaseth 3rd

WHEN young Indians fearlessly question the conduct of India’s high and mighty, a top-ranked post may no longer give a license to a bureaucrat to flex his muscles. The BoI Power List 2013, based on the opinions of about 100 people including politicians, bureaucrats and civil society activists, has ranked Durgas of bureaucracy as India’s Most Powerful Bureaucrat, 2013. Those who understand the nuances of corridors of power say…

Revival of an MBA programme in Slovenia, and its Govt of India connect

DPE JS Ashok Pavadia (left), secretary Rawat (3rd from Right) with ICPE officers

THE international postgraduate MBA programme under collaboration of UN initiative, International Center for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) and University of Ljubljana is back on track after a gap of three years. And here is an Indian government angle to the development. Defence secretary and 1977 batch IAS RK Mathur and 1980 batch former Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS…

Ex-IAS Sanjay Gupta launches PE Fund; to raise Rs 300 crore to fund SMEs

LIFE has a new meaning now. For former IAS officer Sanjay Gupta, who quit the elite service in 2002 to begin what’s now Rs 2,000-crore Neesa Group, Life means Let India Fly for Ever. That’s the tagline of his new venture called…

DoPT looks for university talents as interns; eyes free resources during vacations

College students at CBI HQ (File photo)

FOR Indian students doing research in an Indian or foreign university, preferably specializing in HR or public policy, here is a chance to work with the GoI’s personnel department, DoPT as an intern. The government has budgeted to hire 10 such interns with a stipend of Rs 10,000 per month, but the it also eyes for additional free manpower during summer vacation “when the supply side may be very strong”, a circular dated…

BoI Power List 2013: CBI director Ranjit Sinha ranked 2nd most powerful bureaucrat

A Caged Parrot. Really?

WHEN 1974 batch Bihar cadre IPS officer Ranjit Sinha was appointed as CBI director in November last year, there was nothing much about him in public domain, except that he was friendly with RJD leader Lalu Prasad, and he had some issues with Prasad’s successor in the ministry: Mamata Banerjee. The Opposition BJP did not like Sinha’s appointment, and it continued to term CBI as Congress Bureau of Investigation. And the Supreme Court called it a “caged parrot” as late as May this year. But very soon, the government of the day realised that forcing Sinha to toe its line was tough. In fact, Sinha draws his power not so much from his chair but from the…

Dark Horse: Odisha cadre IAS G Mohan Kumar becomes new steel secretary

Union steel minister, officials at Canada (File photo)

Here is one more reason why one should not go by the rumour mills of the corridors. Finally, it's 1979 batch Odisha cadre IAS G Mohan Kumar, and not his batch-mate S Machendranathan, who the government has appointed as the new steel secretary. Many said Tamil Nadu cadre Machendranathan who had earlier worked as additional secretary in the steel ministry…