List of poetry books written by Indian diplomats

“Once the storm has passed

Once the dust has settled down

Who remembers the blood-sworn vow?

The cloud serpent

Again, steals the water-womb.

The sacrifices made

At the altar of trade

An uneasy head wears the broken crown” —Anshuman Gaur, 2001 batch IFS

Do you know former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao is also a poet? Or that poet-diplomat Abhay K had published five collections of poetry? “When the mood is on, words, thoughts and images flow with ease”, reads the preface of the book — Snowflakes of Time (Poetry Collection) — written by another former foreign secretary, Kanwal Sibal. As Keats wrote once, if poetry comes “not as naturally as the leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all”.

Here below are some of the poetry collections written by Indian Foreign Service officers, both serving and retired:

PMO’s Shrikar Keshav Pardeshi elevated as JS; IAS Dinesh Arora is new Dy CEO of National Health Agency

Dr Shrikar Keshav Pardeshi, 2001 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS and present director in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has been elevated as the joint secretary in the PMO. Pardeshi will be in the PMO till April 9, 2020, according to a DoPT order issued on August 1. Originally belonging to Maharashtra, he did his masters in preventive and social medicine before cracking IAS in 2001. He was allotted the home cadre. He has been in the PMO since...

ITS officer Anil Kumar Gupta and IAS Nandita Gupta appointed directors in the ministry of housing and urban affairs

TWO officers — 1996 batch Indian Telecom Service officer Anil Kumar Gupta and 2001 batch Himachal cadre IAS Nandita Gupta — have been appointed as directors in the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA). According to DoPT records, Ms Gupta, 43, is a...

DoPT gets two new directors— Rajul Bhatt, Shri Prakash Dubey

Shri Prakash Dubey, IRS-IT

TWO officers — 2000 batch Indian Postal Service (IPoS) officer Ms Rajul Bhatt and 2001 batch IRS-IT Shri Prakash Dubey—have been appointed as directors in the department of personnel and training (DoPT), Government of India. Ms Bhatt, 40, was a…

Doctor-turned IAS Anu Aggarwal deemed to have resigned; but why?

DOCTOR-turned IAS Anu Aggarwal, belonging to Nagaland cadre of 2001 batch, is deemed to have resigned from IAS because of unauthorized leaves for over five years. The resignation will have a retrospective effect from September 1, 2015. The DoPT notification issued on Tuesday and signed by a deputy secretary-level officer reads as follows:

Know Your Babu: IAS Smita Sabharwal’s schooling, love for Hindustani classical and her rank in UPSC

Story of  Smita Das: A 14-year-old newspaper cutting

“Smita Sabharwal: Indian 'eye candy' official sues Outlook”— was the headline of a story in BBC dot com’s Asia section after 2001 batch IAS and additional secretary to Telangana CM announced that her lawyers sent a legal notice to the news magazine which carried an illustration showing the officer walking the ramp at a fashion show with her political bosses leering at her. Senior IAS Amitabh Kant tweeted: “Well done, Smita Sabharwal! Outlook piece is in extremely cheap and poor taste. Highly derogatory.” In the past two days, there have been a lot of writings on this IAS officer including in national media. But BoI here presents 10 facts about Smita Das (she became Sabharwal after her marriage to her IPS batch-mate Akun Sabharwal), her schooling, her love for Hindustani classical and how she had cracked the UPSC exam:

R Vineel Krishna, once abducted by Maoists, selected for prestigious British govt-funded scholarship

R Vineel Krishna, a 2005 batch Orissa cadre IAS officer who was abducted and released by Maoists in February 2011, has been selected for prestigious British government scholarship called Chevening Gurukul Scholarship for Leadership and Excellence. Krishna who is now private secretary to rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, was a popular district collector in Orissa’s Malkangiri district when he was abducted by 50 armed Maoists.
The other two Indian bureaucrats who also clinched the British scholarships are…

Urban development secretary M Ramachandran presents the first copy of his book to PM

THE dateline is New Delhi’s Nirman Bhawan. And byline? Yes, urban development secretary and 1972 batch Uttaranchal cadre IAS M Ramachandran has turned into an author. He presented the first copy of his book titled, “An Alternative Approach to Project Planning in Public Works - The Indian Context”, to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday, July 6, 2009.
Among those who were also present during his 15-minutes-long interaction with the Prime Minister were minister for environment & forests Jairam Ramesh, Planning Commission Member B K Chaturvedi, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Mrs M Ramachandran (See picture above).
Mr Ramachandran, who is a strong contender for the cabinet secretary’s post next year, had an M Phil in economic planning from the University of Glasgow, UK and PhD in project planning. In fact, the book is an outcome of his PhD project on project planning which provides an insight into the procedural hiccups and perhaps for the first time, suggests an alternate approach.


Babus In Demand

A) Member, CAT at Patna: Applications are invited from eligible officers for one vacancy of Administrative Member in the Central Administrative Tribunal at Patna occurring on September 11, 2009. The Member shall hold offices for five years, and the conditions of service shall be the same as applicable to Judges of the High Court. Last Date: August 10, 2009
B) Judicial Members, CAT at Ahmedabad and Chandigarh: Applications are invited from suitable candidates for filling up two vacancies of Judicial Members in the Central Administrative Tribunal in Ahmedabad and Chandigarh Bench. The conditions of service will be the same as applicable to Judges of the High CourtLast Date: August 10, 2009. If you have any doubt, just pick up the phone and call the office of secretary, the ministry of personnel, at 011-23094848.

Action and Appointments
A) Anu Aggarwal, IAS (Nagaland, 2001) will be considered for Inter-Cadre deputation to Punjab cadre only after completion of six years in her cadre and after completion of 'cooling off' requirements.
B) The proposal of the ministry of home affairs for the inter-cadre deputation of J Ajay Kumar, IAS (Assam, 1997) from Assam-Meghalaya to Andhra Pradesh for a period of three years has been approved.
C) The appointment of A K Singh, IFS (Assam, 1984) as Controller (Admn.) in the National Technical Research Organisation has not been approved
D) The extension in Central deputation tenure of Umesh Kumar, IPS (Assam, 1984), IG, CISF has been approved for one year beyond June 11, 2009 or until further orders.