Secretary Reshuffle: Ramesh Abhishek is new DIPP secretary; finance secretary Watal gets 2-month extension

Ramesh Abhishek

IN A secretary-level reshuffle undertaken on Thursday night, the government appointed 1982 batch Bihar cadre IAS Ramesh Abhishek as the successor of Amitabh Kant in DIPP, the department that has been handling government initiatives such as Make in India and Ease of Doing Business. In another development, the government decided to extend the tenure of…

Action Packed Monday: Rajiv Mehrishi appointed as new home secretary; LC Goyal shifted as ITPO chairman

Mehrishi

IN A highly action-packed Monday which witnessed many a twist and turn in the corridors throughout the day, the Centre appointed 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS Rajiv Mehrishi as union home secretary after removing 1979 batch Kerala cadre IAS LC Goyal from the post, even as Goyal’s two-year-term in the North Block would have ended only in February 2017. Most bureaucrats across ministries were thoroughly confused with the way…

Iqbal Khanday who objected “officers’ transfers like shuttlecocks” puts in his papers as J&K chief secretary

Dal Lake of Kashmir Valley

IN AN unusual move, Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary and 1978 batch IAS Mohammad Iqbal Khanday sought voluntary retirement three months ahead of his retirement, reportedly over his differences with Mufti Muhammad Sayeed-led PDP government which has been shuffling officers without his consent. According to some TV reports, Khanday objected to IAS officers’ transfer like “shuttlecocks”. Khanday, by the way, knows Sanskrit, apart from…

Want to be an SR Rao? Just fill in Padma Awards forms by September 15

DO YOU know a civil servant can also apply for Padma Awards, in the category of “civil service (includes distinction/excellence in administration etc. by government servants)”? According to a recent notification issued by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) seeking nominations for Padma Awards for 2016, civil service is one of the 10 categories. And there has been no mention that a serving government officer…

Why rumours about Rajiv Mehrishi as the next cabinet secretary sound logical

A YEAR ago, 1978 batch IAS Rajiv Mehrishi moved from Delhi to Jaipur to take charge as chief secretary of Rajasthan. He was then the secretary of a low-profile union ministry, fertiliser. His batch-mate from the same cadre Arvind Mayaram was then the all-powerful finance secretary. Mehrishi’s return journey was also prompted by the fact the he found no hope of career progression in Delhi. A year later, Mehrishi is India’s finance secretary, and if sources in the corridors are to be believed he is being groomed as…

Would be finance secretary RP Watal chants Sanskrit verses to explain investments, savings

RP Watal

IT’S only a matter of time that expenditure secretary and 1978 batch IAS of Andhra Pradesh cadre RP Watal will get a new designation – finance secretary, as he is the senior most among all five finance ministry secretaries after Arvind Mayaram’s exit of North Block. As expenditure secretary, Watal does not give any television interview, but on Tuesday, his articulation and oratory skill came to the fore when he chanted a…

Home Secretary Anil Goswami: How “Kaki” is India’s 3rd Most Powerful Bureaucrat

Inspecting a toilet as part of Clean India campaign

DAYS before Narendra Modi took charge as the Prime Minister of India, home secretary and 1978 batch IAS officer Anil Goswami had a chance to brief him about internal security. As the meeting proceeded, it appeared, Modi had already known quite a lot about this Jammu and Kashmir cadre officer who was divisional commissioner of Jammu, chief executive officer of Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (first CEO after it was taken over by the government in 1986) and principal secretary to the then chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. And that meeting itself cleared doubts that…

Know Your Babu: New steel secretary and former Punjab chief secretary Rakesh Singh

IN A major bureaucratic reshuffle last week, former chief secretary of Punjab and 1978 batch IAS Rakesh Singh was brought to the Centre, making him the next steel secretary after incumbent steel secretary and 1979 batch Odisha cadre IAS G Mohan Kumar was sent to South Block as secretary in the department of defence production. Currently, Rakesh Singh has been serving as…

Know Your Babu: 10 things about Odisha’s new chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati

Gokul Chandra Pati, a 1978 batch IAS, is becoming the new Odisha chief secretary. After the Centre had given its nod to repatriate the officer, currently working as union defence production secretary, there have been lots of excitement in Odisha babudom. State tourism and culture secretary Arvind Padhee on Tuesday tweeted like this:

Know Your Babu: 1978 batch IAS and known scrabble player Mohan Verghese Chunkath is Tamil Nadu's new chief secretary

Chunkath's book

Mohan Verghese Chunkath, 58, is taking over as the new chief secretary of Tamil Nadu. A well-known scrabble player who had won many a tournament, Verghese Chunkath will now be judged on his skills of placing the right officer in the right place so as to keep Tamil Nadu’s administration in order. Incumbent chief secretary and 1976 batch IAS Sheela Balakrishnan will continue to serve the state, now as an…

Know Your Babu: New Petroleum secretary Saurabh Chandra

Saurabh Chandra, 1978 batch UP cadre IAS and secretary in department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) has finally clinched a bigger ministry. Chandra will be India’s new petroleum secretary at a time when the row over gas price increase that would benefit Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has taken a political turn with the Aam Admi Party making it a big electoral issue ahead of Lok Sabha poll. Earlier, Chandra missed two ministries,…

Will Bangalore get its mojo back? Read what chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee has to say

Karnataka as represented in R-Day Parade in New Delhi

1978 batch IAS and Karnataka’s chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee said on Tuesday that the state’s land laws are being amended to ensure industries getting an easy access to land, even though he made it amply clear that the state is zealously protecting agriculture land. But will Bangalore, which was renamed as Bengaluru, get its mojo back? Mukherjee was speaking at a…

Know Your Babu: Rajasthan’s new chief secretary Rajiv Mehrishi

NEWLY formed Rajasthan government led by Vasundhara Raje has hand-picked Rajiv Mehrishi as the chief secretary of the state. Mehrishi, 1978 batch IAS and the one who was recently shifted from the ministry of overseas affairs to a relatively low profile ministry – fertiliser, as its secretary, has found the coveted post of heading Rajasthan bureaucracy under a new regime. A batch-mate of two high-profile Union secretaries from the same…

Karnataka’s new chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee, his agenda, his love for casual wear

For a change? Mukherjee in formal suit

WHEN 1978 batch IAS Kaushik Mukherjee was named as the new chief secretary of Karnataka, he had something special to ask for, from chief minister Siddaramaiah. Amid discussion about how to improve better administration at grassroots and development of Bangalore city, Mukherjee told the CM that he would like to attend office wearing casuals. But yes, when…

Is Dr Mayaram's FDI prescription an extension of his PhD thesis?

MAYARAM panel report on FDI reforms is the most talked about item in the corridors these day. Whereas the government is likely to go with the recommendations of the panel headed by DEA secretary and 1978 batch IAS Arvind Mayaram, it may face fierce opposition so far as raising the cap of foreign direct investment in telecommunications to 100%,  and FDI in retail and civil aviation to 74%. Interestingly, Mayaram recommendation is an extension of his PhD thesis which he had prepared when he was...

Know Your Babu: New telecom secretary & Tamil Nadu IAS MF Farooqui

TWO days after taking charge as new telecom secretary, 1978 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS MF Farooqui will be addressing India’s top business honchos in New Delhi today. The topic: Overcoming India’s implementation gap. Industry body CII’s annual meet will also be addressed by cabinet secretary Ajit K Seth and three other…

Vivek Rae who simplified defence procurement is now petroleum secretary

Vivek Rae with AK Antony (File photo)

CALLING for speedy indigenization in defence production to eliminate corruption in procurement process, defence minister AK Antony on Wednesday said imports of defence products should be the last resort. Two years ago, the minister unveiled the first ever defence production policy stating that domestic entities would get preference in defence procurement. And Antony presented the first copy to then Director General (Acquisition) Vivek Rae, a 1978 batch AGMUT cadre IAS and the man behind...

New twist to Rajasthan IAS VS Singh’s death; police to probe afresh

WHEN additional chief secretary-ranked IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre VS Singh died in a road accident in Jaipur a week ago, police did not even doubt it could be more than a mere accident. But the statement of deputy commissioner (commercial tax department) Vijendra Singh who was with VS Singh, and in coma since then, contradicted what the driver of the speeding Maruti Alto car said, forcing the police to begin the probe from the scratch. Here is the twist of the tale:

BoI Power List, 2012: UP chief secretary Jawed Usmani is 4th powerful bureaucrat

IF YOU go deeper into the growing political bonhomie between Samajwadi Party and the Congress in the recent months, you may come across the groundwork done at the bureaucratic level to facilitate such a political meeting of minds. For UP, which has failed to emerge as Uttam Pradesh so far, this could be a phase where “friendly” Central government doles out huge grants, and goes an extra mile in clearing projects that are stuck at the Central level. And the Lucknow-based bureaucrat, the 1978 batch senior-most IAS officer Jawed Usmani, has used most of it thanks to his personnel rapport with…

DIPP’s Saurabh Chandra turns a Harvard student; could move as DEA secretary

Looking Ahead: Saurabh Chandra

DIPP secretary Saurabh Chandra has recently taken a flight to Boston. The reason? The 1978 batch UP cadre IAS is now attending a Harvard crash course on leadership development. The two-week-long course is all about managing political and economic change, an essential quality for a babu to survive, not even succeed, in the current politico-economic environment. And some in the corridors are convinced that Pulokaseth (Pulok Chatterji and AK Seth) have already made up their minds that Chandra would be shifted to North Block…