WHO says IAS has become less glamorous? India’s recent dancing sensation and famous reality show “Dance India Dance” winner Shakti Mohan said she had a passion to become an IAS officer. Her statement came only a couple of months after Bollywood actress and winner of Femina Miss India 2002 Neha Dhupia had said she did not wish to be a model, but wanted to become an IAS officer instead.
Now, Shakti who was always a topper in school and college was studying hard to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an IAS officer till she participated in “Dance India Dance” which changed her career altogether. She told a section of media that her father was still insistent that she should take the civil services examination as she could try for it till she is 30. The 24-year-old Shakti, who has masters degree in political science, has now decided to convert her passion in dancing into a profession of a choreographer.
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A crack in 'Aadhaar’ (foundation)?
The government has approved the premature repatriation of JRK Rao, a 1985 batch Bihar cadre IAS, and Deputy Director General of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to his parent cadre. Though it’s stated that the move was mainly to ensure Mr Rao availing the benefits of promotion in the cadre, it remains unanswered why then Mr Rao had joined the Nandan Nilekani-headed mega project which would give a 16-digit identification number of every Indian citizen. Was he unhappy working in this newly established outfit? Significantly, many bureaucrats were reportedly reluctant to join the UIDAI. The UIDAI was renamed as Aadhaar (foundation) on Monday.
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Action and Appointments
a) Ram Lubhaya, a 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Caste in the rank and pay of additional secretary in the vacancy of Shri Raghubir Singh, a 1972 batch IA&AS (Retd.)
b) S Machendranathan, a 1979 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as additional secretary and financial adviser in the ministry of steel in the vacancy of BS Meena, a 1975 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS.
c) S Krishnan, a 1975 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS and secretary in the department of fertilizers under the ministry of chemicals and petrochemicals, will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary in the department of sports during the absence of leave of Ms Sindhushree Khullar, a 1975 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS up to May 2, 2010.
d)The ACC has approved the in-situ elevation of Sunil Kumar, a 1979 batch Chhattisgarh cadre IAS and joint secretary in the department of higher education as additional secretary in the same department.
e) R Bandyopadhyay, a 1974 batch West Bengal cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs, will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary in the department of youth affairs during the absence on leave of A K Upadhyaya, a 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS with immediate effect and up to May 2, 2010
WISH to listen to a Bollywood song sung by a Harvard MBA cum IAS officer? Just book your ticket for Dibakar Banerjee’s film Shanghai which is being released today. Srivatsa Krishna, a 1994 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer, sings “Vishnu Sahasranamam Mantra” in Banerjee’s low budget film Shanghai which incidentally has another IAS connection. What’s that? 
THE next time you spot Rajeev Khandelwal, who hosts the controversial realty show Sach Ka Saamna, in power corridors of Delhi, don’t get intimidated. He is not trying to rope you in for his TV show and ask you an uncomfortable question of whether you have an illicit affair with someone in your office!
But yes, he is eager to meet Indian bureaucrats, chat with them to understand how bureaucracy functions as he is getting ready for a film named Return Gift to be directed by Sourabh Narang.
For those detached from reality, Sach Ka Saamna is the Indian version of the popular American reality show The Moment of Truth.
In Return Gift, Rajeev will play an Indian bureaucrat on a mission to Pakistan for which understanding babudom in both sides of the border is extremely important. As was reported in a section of media, Rajeev said it’s a character that has far-reaching relevance, and he would be meeting eminent bureaucrats to understand how Indian bureaucracy works and also to comprehend the vexed issue of Indo-Pak relations.
However, no Bollywood story exists without twists! And this is no exception either. Rajeev has been selected for playing a role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Chenab Gandhi mainly because of his long hair. But his role as a bureaucrat in Return Gift demands short hair as the director says no bureaucrat sports long hair! And of course, he can’t do both the roles simultaneously thanks to his thorny issue of hair.
So, you can solve Rajeev’s dilemma of long or short hair by identifying a few top bureaucrats sporting relatively long hair. Will principal secretary to PM TKA Nair be a right example? If you have anyone in mind, kindly comment below this post…, or write at babu.blogger1@gmail.com