26 IPS empanelled as DGP or DGP-equivalent; Full List

THE Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) last week empanelled 26 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers either as Director General (DG) or DG-equivalent at the Centre. All the officers belong to 1986 batch IPS. Here below is the full list of newly-empanelled DGPs:

Know Your Babu: Chhattisgarh’s new chief secretary Sunil Kujur

IN A sudden decision, the newly-installed government of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday night appointed 1986 batch IAS, Sunil Kumar Kujur, as the state’s new chief secretary. Kujur will be the first tribal chief secretary in the state which was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000. About 30% of the state's population is tribal. 

Kujur replaced Ajay Singh, a 1983 batch IAS, who in turn was made the new chairman of Revenue Board, Bilaspur. Here are 10 things you may like to know about new chief secretary Kujur:

Know Your Bureaucrat: 1986 batch IFS and new secretary (west) A Gitesh Sarma

A Gitesh Sarma, 1986 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed as the new secretary (west) in the ministry of external affairs (MEA). An MA in political science from Delhi University, Sharma first joined the Indian Audit and Account Service in 1984 before getting selected as an IFS two years later. He served in Indian Missions in Moscow, Hong Kong, Islamabad, London etc.  He also served as joint secretary (external relations) in the department of atomic energy, government of India. His wife is...

Govt empanels 54 IAS as secretaries, 96 IAS as additional secretaries; Full List

LATE last week, the government empanelled 54 IAS officers as union secretary or secretary-equivalent and as many as 96 IAS officers as union additional secretary. Among them, the majority — 35 secretary-empanelled officers — belong to 1986 batch IAS. Among the empanelled additional secretaries, 41 officers belong to 1989 batch and 40 are from 1990 batch. Here below is the full list:

Know Your Babu: Newly-appointed MHA additional secretary Rajni Sekhri Sibal is also an author on cows

LAST week, 1986 batch Haryana cadre lAS Ms Rajni Sekhri Sibal was appointed as additional secretary in the ministry of home affairs (MHA). She was working as the Director General in the National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) when the order came. But here’s a factoid about this officer. This 58 years old bureaucrat is also the author of “Kamadhenu: Cows of India”, one of the few well-researched books on cows and possibly the only one written by an experienced bureaucrat. The book is more of a…

IAS Association, two others suspect assault on Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash as “pre-planned”; AAP denies allegation

THREE bureaucrats’ associations including the Delhi IAS Association have suspected that the physical assault on chief secretary of Delhi, Anshu Prakash, was pre-planned as the meeting was convened at midnight and the chief secretary was called alone whereas there was a large number of MLAs of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party for the meeting at the chief minister’s camp office. In a resolution of three associations — IAS Association, DANICS Association, DASS Association — said on Tuesday that the meeting was called to pressurise the chief secretary to release…

Kashmir interlocutor and retired IPS Dineshwar Sharma given cabinet secretary's rank; IAS Utpal Kumar Singh prematurely repatriated to Uttarakhand

Dineshwar Sharma (right) with home minister Rajnath Singh

THE CENTRAL government on Monday appointed former Intelligence Bureau chief and 1979 batch retired IPS Dineshwar Sharma as the interlocutor in Kashmir, bestowing on him the rank of a cabinet secretary, the topmost rank in Indian bureaucracy. As home minister Rajnath Singh had announced, Sharma as the representative of Government of India would initiate and carry forward a dialogue with the elected representatives, various organisations and other individuals concerned in Jammu and Kashmir. By giving the rank of the cabinet secretary, the government clearly wanted to…

Know more about 5 police officers elevated as Additional DG; engineer-turned IPS to IPS-cum nuclear physicist

NC Asthana

THE government on Tuesday approved the appointment of following IPS officers presently working as Inspectors General to the posts of Additional Directors General against the existing vacancies. Here below are about their qualifications, additional degrees, cadre, batch etc. One of the officers NC Asthana, for example, is a nuclear physicist by training. More here below:

11 additional secretary-ranked officers appointed; Bhullar is new DGCA, Malini Shankar new DG, Shipping

THE government on Monday appointed 11 officers as additional secretaries or additional secretary-equivalent. The officers include seven IAS, two IDAS (Indian Defence Accounts Service), and one each from IRS-IT and Indian Economic Service (IES). Whereas 1984 batch IAS Malini Shankar has been appointed as Director General, Shipping, BS Bhullar, a 1986 batch UP cadre IAS will be the new Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA). Here below is the full list of the officers and their new posting:

Kshatrapati Shivaji will be new executive director in Asian Development Bank; how this Bihari officer became Shivaji?

Kshatrapati Shivaji, 1986 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS, will be India’s new executive director of Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) in place of 1983 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS Umesh Kumar. Shivaji, originally hailing from a village near Danapur in Bihar, is currently serving as chairman and managing director of…

31 IAS officers of 1983 batch empanelled as union secretary; 11 others as secretary equivalent

THE Centre on Monday empanelled 31 IAS officers of 1983 batch for the post of Union secretary and another 11 IAS of the same batch as secretary-equivalent. Further, the government empanelled five  IAS officers of 1985 batch and one from 1986 batch as additional secretary. Here are the names of all officers empanelled as secretary, secretary-equivalent and additional secretary. Full List below:

46 officers of Indian Ordnance Factory Service and 8 IDAS get empanelled as GoI joint secretary; Full list

THE government on Wednesday released the list of as many as 46 officers of Indian Ordnance Factory Service (IOFS) belonging to 1986 and 1987 batches. But the question remains whether such a large number of officers would actually get appointed in various Central ministries. These officers are about 10 years older than the young joint secretaries belonging to IAS. Meanwhile, eight officers belonging to Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) of 1992 batch were also empanelled. Here is full list of 54 newly empanelled JS:

Full list of 48 officers empanelled as GoI joint secretary; Some belong to 1985 batch, some 1997!

IN THE last couple of days, the Central Government announced the empanelment of as many as 48 officers belonging to IAS, IPS, Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers, Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) and Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE) as joint secretary to Government of India (GoI). And they belong to as old as 1985 batch and as new as 1997 batch. Significantly, as 17 officers belonging to 1985 batch Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers get empanelled as joint secretaries, many of their IAS batch-mates were appoined as GoI additional secretaries. Here is the full list of 48 newly-empanelled JS:

Pawan Hans On A Profit Path: Shouldn't IAS officers get some credit?

New CMD Bhullar

EARLY this month, 1986 batch UP cadre IAS Balwinder Singh Bhullar took over as Chairman and Managing Director of Pawan Hans Ltd, now a profit-making and dividend-paying PSU with GoI holding 51% equity and the ONGC the rest of 49%. Bhullar who had earlier worked as joint secretary in the ministry of finance, succeeds another IAS officer, Anil Shrivastava of Madhya Pradesh cadre. Whereas the IAS officers are often blamed for the Air India’s chronic ailment, Pawan Hans turns into an interesting case study where…

S Narsing Rao’s Gamble: To quit as Coal India CMD to become Telangana chief minister KCR's key aide

AFTER joining as CMD of Coal India (CIL) in June 2012, this 1986 batch IAS – S Narsing Rao surprised many by resigning the elite IAS service to get absorbed in the Maharatna PSU. Now, Rao is set to quit Coal India as he is likely to take up his new assignment: Principal secretary to Telangana’s first chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao. By the way, both the Raos hail from the same area in the state called…

Will ex-IAS Narsing Rao succeed in replicating Singareni magic in Coal India?

DURING the last few days, the world’s largest coal producing company, Coal India Limited, faced some bad press, and also the wrath of the Dalal Street. After all, its first quarter net profit witnessed a sharp fall by 16.51 per cent, much below the Street’s expectations, forcing the stock to test a 52-week low at Rs 248 on the Bombay Stock Exchange though it had partially recovered during later part of Monday. Coal India chairman S Narsing Rao, a 1986 batch IAS officer who had resigned from the service to get himself absorbed into the company last year, hopped over from…

Will Arun Mishra be appointed as full-time DGCA? 3 scenarios here

WILL Arun Mishra, a 1986 batch West Bengal cadre IAS, be the new full-time Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after EK Bharat Bhushan’s unceremonious exit raised several questions and embarrassed the government? Or, will Prashant Sukul, Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) officer who has been given DGCA’s mandate temporarily, be the final choice? Sukul is currently a joint secretary in civil aviation ministry. Here are three scenarios:

Neta Babu Cricket: Union minister CP Joshi spins against 1986 batch IAS Sanjay Dixit

ROUGH PITCH: IAS officer Sanjay Dixit

Sanjay Dixit, a 1986 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS and passionate cricket lover, is finally giving rooms to Union road transport and highways minister CP Joshi to control Rajasthan cricket. The power struggle between the bureaucrat and the Union minister has continued for quite sometime which only got intensified when supporters of both Joshi and Dixit put locks on Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) office on July 30, 2011. Only recently, CP Joshi’s faction got the locks opened from the office as Irani Trophy was to begin on October 1, 2011.

Joshi has recently become the chairman of RCA whereas Dixit was first elected as president of RCA on March 1, 2009 and later became its secretary. Joshi faction suspended Dixit, but the IAS officer took the battle to the court.

Only a few months ago, Joshi had a tough time with another IAS officer --- his then secretary RS Gujral. But Gujral, a 1976 batch Haryana cadre IAS, was picked up as revenue secretary by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, and within a short time he was elevated to the post of finance secretary as Gujral became Finmin’s senior-most officer.

But Dixit may not be so lucky in this Neta-Babu power tussle over cricket. According to reports, Dixit, currently serving as state’s irrigation secretary at the rank of a joint secretary of Government of India, may face action from department of personnel and training (DoPT) for alleged violation of service conduct rules by holding a post in Rajasthan Cricket Association without required permission.

Dixit who was once close to former IPL chief Lalit Modi and later famously defeated him for the post of Rajasthan Cricket Association’s president, came into news when he tweeted several uncomfortable questions on Modi in April 2010 when the IPL scam was at its peak. Then minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor had to resign, and there were I-T raids in Modi’s Mumbai office.

Dixit’s then famous tweets said: “Lalit Modi has local modules in Rajasthan and Jaipur. Please supply their names… 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”.

Interestingly when Dixit was very close to Lalit Modi, they were together nick-named as “Dixit and Fix-it (Modi)” in Rajasthan!

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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. 

Govt frames new rules to impose 10 years cap on officers working in minister's personal staff

THE government has decided not to permit an official to work in personal staff of a minister beyond 10 years. The 10 years cap with a sub-limit of five years for private secretary (PS) or Officers in Special Duty (OSD), imposed recently by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), will not however be applicable in case of personal staff appointed in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The new rules were framed understandably to discourage a large number of officers who have stayed as personal staff of ministers for a long period, and dissuade them to get rooted in a minister’s coterie.

“Every time an appointment in the personal staff is made, the cadre authorities may check whether the officer has worked in the personal staff of a minister earlier and if so, his total tenure be restricted to not more than 10 years in his entire career. Further, his tenure as Private Secretary and OSD to the Minister should be limited to five years within this overall limit, on the personal staff of the Minister,” the new rules say.

The department of personnel and training (DoPT) in an office memo dated March 4, 2010, further reiterated that the 10-year cap would be inclusive of any stint that the officer may have worked in, earlier at under secretary or lower levels also in the personal staff of any minister.

Read, the OFFICE MEMO, dated March 4, 2010

“Tinoo Joshis” of Pakistan identified

The National Accountability Bureau of Pakistan named five officers against whom major corruption cases are being clamped, Pakistan media has reported. Significantly, the same Bureau, headed by acting chairman Irfan Nadeem, decided not to pursue any action against politicians.

The allegations against these five Pakistani officials including the retired ones, are mainly related to incomes beyond their known sources of income, and allotments and transfer of plots. One of the former DG of police, for example, could not explain expenditures worth over 8.5 million Pakistan rupees, and bank transactions amounting to over 6.5 million rupees.

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Action and Appointments

The ACC has approved the proposal for the extension of Central deputation tenure of BS Bhullar, a 1986 batch UP cadre IAS and joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs for a period upto completion of 50th Training Programme on Defence/Internal Security at National Defence College, New Delhi commencing from 4th January, 2010.