Rakesh Srivastava: Know more about the new president of IAS Association

Senior IAS officers (File photo, 2015)

IAS Association has a new president. It’s union secretary and Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, Rakesh Srivastava. Here are 10 things you may like to know about the IAS Association’s new president:

“If I were to be born again, I would love to be an IAS officer”: Secretary Anil Swarup

Anil Swarup, 1981 batch IAS

BY THE end of this month, secretary of the department of school education and literacy — Anil Swarup — will retire after serving as a civil servant for long 37 years. Today (Tuesday), just ahead of his retirement, he has taken to the Twitter to give a hurrah to the IAS as a career when he said he enjoyed "every moment" as an IAS. The following is what the 1981 batch UP cadre IAS posted:

1983 batch IIS Sitanshu Kar is new GoI principal spokesman; retired Karnataka IAS Khuntia appointed IRDAI boss

1983 BATCH Indian Information Service officer Sitanshu Ranjan Kar is the new principal spokesperson of the Government of India and Director General of Press Information Bureau. The officer who had a 35 years long career and is mostly known for his decade-long innings as the spokesman of the ministry of defence, assumed office on Tuesday. After joining the IIS in 1983, Kar had first joined the…

5 Civil Servants to Watch Out For, 2018: At No 5 is new foreign secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale

ON THE first day of the new year 2018, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Vijay Keshav Gokhale, 1981 batch Indian Foreign Service officer and secretary (economic relations) in the ministry of external affairs, as the foreign secretary in place of Dr S Jaishankar, who is completing his tenure on January 28, 2018. In BoI’s new list of 5 Civil Servants to Watch Out For, 2018, Gokhale is No 5, with the remaining four to be named in the next few days. Gokhale, who as…

2 WOMEN ON TOP: More about Karnataka’s new chief secretary K Ratnaprabha and DGP Neelamani N Raju

Ratnaprabha after being elevated as CS (Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

WITH 1981 batch IAS K Ratnaprabha’s appointment as the chief secretary of Karnataka, the state has two women officers at the top — chief secretary and director general of police (DGP). A month ago, 1983-batch Indian Police Service officer Neelamani N Raju took over as the DGP in the state. Here below are the 10 things that you may like to know about these two women officers.

Jaishankar’s extension ends hopes for Wadhwa, Sujata Mehta; But Vijay Gokhale is still a contender to be the next foreign secretary

Vijay Gokhale

THE Centre’s recent decision to give one year-extension to foreign secretary and 1977 batch IFS S Jaishankar last week beyond his two-year-long fixed term did not raise any controversy as such. He is considered a highly efficient officer and has done a good job in the last two years after he was appointed in a not-so-smooth change of guard two years ago by curtailing the tenure of the then foreign secretary Sujatha Singh. But the one year bonus to Jaishankar, that too after making changes in a British era rule (a provision of Fundamental Rules, 1922) has, however, ended hopes of at least three senior-most IFS officers who were hoping for the top job. There were speculations that…

A day after I-T raid, P Rama Mohana Rao is out; Know more about new Tamil Nadu chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan

Girija Vaidyanathan

Ms Girija Vaidyanathan, a 1981 batch IAS officer, was on Thursday appointed as the new chief secretary of Tamil Nadu in place of P Rama Mohana Rao on whose residence and office Income-Tax sleuths had raided yesterday and reportedly seized Rs 30 lakh in cash and five kilograms of gold. Rao, a 1985 batch IAS, was handpicked by the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in June this year to head Tamil Nadu bureaucracy. In that process Rao superseded a number of his seniors including Ms Vaidyanathan, his four-batch senior in IAS. Ms Vaidyanathan is currently…

MEA secretary Amarendra Khatua: Mind of a diplomat, heart of a poet

THE government on Monday assigned an additional destination to current Director General of ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) and 1981 batch IFS officer Amarendra Khatua. He will also be secretary (special assignment) in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) till the date of his retirement, i.e. May 31, 2017. A career diplomat who had earlier served as Ambassador of India to Argentina, Khatua also held trade and economic positions in Indian Missions of Madrid, Mexico City, Karachi, Moscow and New York. But not to forget, Khatua is a poet in heart. Let’s first recite a few lines of one of his many poems:

Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha: 10 things to know about India’s new high commissioner to UK

Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha, 1981 batch Indian Foreign Service officer and present high commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, will be India’s new high commissioner to United Kingdom in place of Navtej Sarna who is proceeding towards Washington DC after being appointed as India’s envoy to US. Here are 10 things to know about Sinha, India’s new high commissioner to UK:

DJ Pandian: More about ex-Gujarat chief secretary and vice-president of Beijing-headquartered bank, AIIB

FORMER Gujarat chief secretary and 1981 batch retired IAS DJ Pandian has been appointed as vice-president, chief investment officer of the newly formed USD100 billion multilateral development bank — Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), headquartered in Beijing, China. The former IAS who had also served as director in department of economic affairs, technical assistant in the World Bank and managing director of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, is considered to be close to…

Parameswaran Iyer: How this ex-IAS and new drinking water and sanitation secretary may give a Vietnamese twist to Swachh Bharat Mission

IN THE World Bank, everyone calls this program manager and lead water and sanitation specialist as Param. His full name is Parameswaran Iyer, a 1981 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS who took voluntary retirement about seven years ago. In a rare instance, the Narendra Modi government in an order dated February 3, roped in this IAS-turned sanitation specialist as union secretary in charge of the ministry of drinking water and sanitation, the agency that anchors the Centre’s ambitious programme of Swachh Bharat Mission, or Clean India Mission. Iyer’s appointment will be on a contract basis for…

How to react when cabinet secretary invites you for a cup of tea? Coal secretary Anil Swarup’s tech talk

Anil Swarup, 1981 batch UP cadre IAS and current coal secretary argues that an administrator does not need to be a technologist to use technology in government. In a speech delivered in 14th Star Nite Awards 2015 recently (it’s available in YouTube), Swarup narrated how the then cabinet secretary Ajit K Seth called him for a cup of tea and gave him an assignment he was not very happy about. Edited excerpts of his speech on use of technology:

Rakesh Maria’s unceremonious exit as Mumbai Police Commissioner: 10 Questions and Answers

Nana Patekar playing the role of Rakesh Maria in a film 

MUMBAI top cop Rakesh Maria’s removal on Tuesday was no less confusing than the case he was trying to solve. In fact, BoI received many a question from its readers: Was Maria indeed promoted? Will upset Maria really resign? What is Maria’s relations with Peter Mukherjea, the media honcho whose wife is an accused in Seena Bora murder case, the one Maria has been investigating with lots of interest? Was CM Devendra Fadnavis upset with Maria? And what about Maria’s connection with Bollywood? BoI here presents 10 such questions with answers:

Secretary Reshuffle: More about 16 new secretaries in DEA, revenue, I&B, tourism, sports etc.

THE Central government on Friday night undertook a major secretary-level reshuffle virtually changing the entire administrative set-up of the ministry of finance, and appointing new NHAI head and secretaries in ministries such as information and broadcasting, corporate affairs, tourism and sports. Here is the list of 16 new secretaries, their qualifications and date of retirement:

Know Your Babu: New DPE secretary Ameising Luikham belongs to a family of civil servants

Ameising Luikham, a 1981 batch IAS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre, is the new secretary of the department of public enterprises (DPE), a department that makes policy for Central public sector enterprises which in turn employ as many as 13.5 lakh employees across India. Luikhram, who was serving as the secretary in North Eastern Council under DONER ministry, will succeed Kapil Dev Tripathi, who was till now holding…

Know Your Babu: New mines secretary Balvinder Kumar is learning more about "mind and consciousness"

BALVINDER Kumar has been appointed as the secretary, ministry of mines. Earlier he was serving as Delhi Development Authority’s (DDA) vice-chairman.

Kumar, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was the chairman of Noida Authority before his stint at DDA. He will succeed...

Coal secretary Anil Swarup: Meet this officer who tweets till mid-night on coal auction updates

Swarup (right) near the auction display board

SIX minutes past 10 at night on Wednesday. Coal secretary and 1981 batch UP cadre IAS Anil Swarup was still continuing his running commentary in a social media platform about the ongoing coal auction that has made the government richer by Rs 60,000 crore in less than a week of bidding. "Coal block auction status at 2206 : Gare Palma at 3084. Bidding still on", the secretary tweeted. It’s quite unusual that the top bureaucrat of a department…

Hasmukh Adhia: Accountant, IAS, PhD in Yoga and new financial services secretary

MANY may still remember prime minister Narendra Modi’s photo at a yoga session with Gujarat bureaucrats when he was the state chief minister and key driver in a programme called Karmayogi Abhiyan, which was meant for transforming Gujarat bureaucrats into Karmayogis by imparting training. The training included working skill, pranayam and yoga. And one of the key bureaucrats who had impressed the then chief minister was 1981 batch IAS Dr Hasmukh Adhia. Now Adhia, who has a degree in accountancy and PhD in Yoga, has been appointed as secretary in the department of financial services. He is also a…

List of 33 IAS officers of 1981 batch empanelled as Union secretaries

1981 batch IAS officers have been empanelled as secretary or secretary equivalent to Government of India. Once the senior-most is formally appointed as secretary, all others will immediately get the rank and pay of a special secretary. Here are 33 IAS officers of 1981 batch who got empanelled.

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…