Govt allows inter cadre deputation for 5 officers; ACC approves inter cadre transfer to one IFoS

FIVE officers — one IAS, two belonging to IPS and Indian Forest Service (IFoS) each — have been allowed inter-cadre deputation, with one more officer, an IFoS, being given inter-cadre transfer. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), the highest decision-making body in regards to appointments, deputation and transfers, took those decisions on Friday last week. Here below are the names of the six officers, their services and their new cadres:

Mega Reshuffle: New secretaries for commerce, petroleum, steel, food processing announced; List of 24 appointments

IN A mega bureaucratic reshuffle at the Centre on Friday evening, the government either appointed or elevated the rank of at least 24 senior bureaucrats, mostly to the rank of union secretary. The main highlight of the reshuffle though was the appointment of a number of bureaucrats as OSD in the ministries like petroleum, commerce, steel and food processing, well ahead of their eventual taking over as secretaries in those ministries. New steel secretary, for example, will take over only after three and half months. Here is the list of 24 new appointments:

Centre appoints 7 joint secretaries; List includes 5 IAS, 1 IPoS, 1 IRS-IT

THE Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) last week appointed seven joint secretaries. The joint secretary appointees include five IAS officers and two non-IAS —  1987 batch Indian Postal Service (IPoS) officer SC Barmma and 1992 batch IRS-IT officer Vikram Sahay. In case of two IAS officers, it's more of a shift of the departments rather than appointments afresh. Here is the full list of new officers:

MHA’s proposal of extending deputation tenure of an IPS rejected; ACC upgrades CBI posts for supervision of VYAPAM and Ponzi Chit Fund Scam

THE Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Monday issued a series of orders and approvals, the key highlights being the rejection of a ministry of home affairs’ (MHA) proposal to extend the deputation of an IPS officer, and then the upgradation of two DIG level posts in the CBI for the officers who will be supervising the VYAPAM and Ponzi Chit Fund Scam cases. Here below are the details of the ACC orders.

Govt clears hurdles for ICMR chief Soumya Swaminathan to join WHO in Geneva; Kerala cadre IAS Prasanth Nair joins as PS to minister Alphons

Dr Soumya Swaminathan

THE Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Monday approved the cadre clearance to Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and secretary, department of health research, so that the officer can take up a foreign assignment in Switzerland. A Paediatrics from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) among other fellowships and distinctions, Dr Swaminathan is joining as Deputy Director General for Programme in the World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland, for almost two years — from December 1, 2017 to November 18, 2019. The ACC has also curtailed…

How a unique case of an IPS-IAS couple triggered the Centre to ease cadre change rules on grounds of marriage

THE Central government has changed the service rules to make it easy for married IAS and IPS officers to get the same cadre state, according to media reports published on Monday. According to the reports, prime minister Narendra Modi took special initiatives to get the existing rules amended. But what triggered the government to change the rules which received nods from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)? The issue originated in a unique case that cropped up in February 2016 in which…

21 new joint secretaries appointed; only 4 belong to IAS; income-tax officer finds berth in ministry of earth sciences

THE Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Thursday approved the appointment of 21 joint secretaries and also prematurely repatriated a Kerala cadre IAS officer. Significantly, out of 21 new joint secretaries, only four belong to IAS. The new joint secretaries include four Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) officers and two each from IRS-IT and Indian Forest Service (IFoS). Also, a postal service officer has become joint secretary in the department of agriculture and an officer belonging to the income-tax department is placed as joint secretary in the ministry of earth sciences. Here are the details of 21 new JS appointments and one premature repatriation:

2 new LIC MDs appointed; ACC also gives its nod for appointing Ajit Kumar Srivastava and Shabri Bhattasali as CBDT Members

THE Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Monday gave its nod to the appointment of two managing directors of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) and two Members of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex board under the ministry of finance that formulates polices on direct taxes in India. The two officers who were appointed as LIC MDs are…

MTNL to remain without a permanent CMD for longer; Oriental Insurance too joins the list of headless entities

TWO major government-run companies — Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) and Oriental Insurance Company Ltd will continue to be run without permanent CMDs as their regular heads are still being searched for, and the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet in the meantime, gave its nod to adhoc postings. According to order issued on Tuesday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister, approved the proposal of…

ACC gives its nod for empanelment of 16 IAS officers as secretary, additional secretary; Full List

THE Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Thursday approved the empanelment of 2 IAS officers as union secretary, 4 officers as secretary-equivalent, and 5 each as union additional secretary and additional secretary-equivalent. Here is the full list of 16 IAS officers:

11 out of 17 new joint secretaries -- appointed last week -- belong to non-IAS; IFoS, CSS officers dominate list

THE appointment of 17 joint secretary level officers and a repatriation that received the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet’s nod last week, has clearly demonstrated one point: Non-IAS officers have begun to gain grounds in limited space of JS postings in Central government ministries and departments. As many as 11 out of 17 joint secretary berths have gone to IPS, IFoS and Group “A” service officers, and in six such cases, the officers belonging to IFoS, CSS etc. actually replaced IAS officers in various departments. Here is the full list of 17 new appointments and one repatriation:

6 new joint secretaries appointed; government also appoints a full-time ED after 2 years

THE Central government on Wednesday night released an order of appointing six joint secretaries after being approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. These new JS include two Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officers, and one each from IAS, IPS, IRS-IT and Indian Ordnance Factory Service. Meanwhile, the ACC has also approved the appointment of acting Enforcement Director and 1984 batch AGMUT cadre IPS Karnal Singh as full-time ED till August 31, 2017, i.e. the date of his retirement. Here is the full list of all these appointments:

19 new joint secretaries in ministries of defence, home, commerce etc. Full List

CONTINUING the trend of appointing a large number of senior bureaucrats in one go, the Central government on Wednesday appointed 19 joint secretary level officers across ministries. Though IAS dominated the show, a number of Group “A” services officers including from services such as IPS, IRS-IT, IRSME, CSS, IRAS, IRSEE etc. have figured in the list. Here is the full list of 19 new JS:

Round 2 of extension in CBI: List of 6 officers getting extension, 2 new appointments

A section of CBI officers (File photo)

IN LESS than a fortnight, the Centre has undertaken the second round of extension of officers in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s premier investigating agency. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by prime minister on Wednesday extended the Central deputation tenure of six CBI officers and made two new appointments -- Amrit Mohan Prasad of Odisha cadre and AK Sharma of Gujarat cadre -- both of whom will now be new joint directors in the CBI. On April 8, as many as six CBI officers were given extension whereas two officers were prematurely repatriated to their respective cadres. Here is the list of six CBI joint directors getting extension:

April 1 Reshuffle: Know more about new entrants in PMO

Tarun Bajaj (left) in Singapore (File photo)

ON MARCH 31 and April 1, the appointments committee of the cabinet (ACC) headed by the prime minister engineered a major reshuffle in the PMO by bringing in five IAS officers including one from the finance ministry and two from the DoPT and paved the way for the exit of four existing PMO officials. Whereas Odisha cadre IAS Ms Anu Garg was shifted as joint secretary to the ministry of textiles, DEA joint secretary Tarun Bajaj was brought into the PMO. More about the men and women at the entry and exit gates:

Sacking of DRDO Chief Avinash Chander: 5 questions, no clear answers

NO ONE can question the legality of DRDO chief Avinash Chander’s sacking 16 months before his tenure ends. After all, the scientist in question is already a retired officer currently serving on a contract. Also, the decision was taken by none other than PM-headed Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on the recommendation of the country’s defence minister. Yet, the way the government handled the Chander’s ouster has raised a number of questions. BoI picks out 5 such questions:

What has made ACC sack DRDO chief Avinash Chander 16 months before his tenure ends?

Chander, Tessy Thomas, others

IN WHAT could be seen as an attempt to reform DRDO that has an annual budget of Rs 10,300 crore or roughly $1.6 billion, the Centre on Tuesday sacked its high profile chief Avinash Chander whose current contract was till May 2016. The moment the order of Chander’s termination of contracts came, BoI was the first to break the story in social media sites. According to the order, Prime Minister-headed…

ACC in Action: Centre rejects extension requests of senior bureaucrats

GETTING extension of Central deputation tenure is no longer a cakewalk for the bureaucrats who consider themselves as connected. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, rejected a number of extension proposals which were earlier considered as “routine”, causing a fear factor among influential bureaucrats. Sample this:

Run-Up to Promotions: Ministries are advised to place documents including chargesheets against officers

THE government on Monday issued an office memorandum (OM) advising ministries and departments to place all documents including penalties or chargesheets, if any, against an officer whose name comes up for promotion before…

Rash Decision? Govt gives extension to space secretary K Radhakrishnan beyond August 29

THE government has extended the tenure of Dr K Radhakrishnan, secretary of the department of space, beyond August 29, 2014, a move that some may argue should ideally be taken by the next government. The appointments committee of the cabinet (ACC) in an order dated April 22, said Radhakrishnan’s tenure would now continue till…