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…

10 things to know about guokao, the exam that selects Chinese civil servants; 5-hour test, 7-yr jail for cheating…

ON SUNDAY, about 1.1 million candidates appeared for China's National Public Servant Examination, a huge jump from the last year's 984,000 aspirants, according to reports quoting China’s official news agency, Xinhua. The reports further said that this year's exam in China saw an increase of 76,000 applicants for the grassroots positions in difficult and remote areas. Here are 10 things to know about the Chinese civil service examination:

Police Commemoration Day: …and the story of Chinese Army’s attack on an Indian police team in Ladakh in Oct 1959

“Everyday we fight crime. Today, we fight our tears as well”— As the nation pays respect to police martyrs today on Police Commemoration Day, the story of October 21, 1959 when 10 police personnel at Hot Springs area in north eastern Ladakh were killed by the Chinese Army, needs to be retold. Every year, October 21 is observed as Police Commemoration Day. In fact, until the autumn of 1959, it was the Indian Police who manned the 2,500-mile-long border of India with Tibet. It was October 20, 1959, a day before India’s brave policemen lost their lives, three police parties were launched from Hot Springs in preparation for...

"No smoking" diktat for Chinese babus; officials must not offer cigarettes to others, says circular

BUREAUCRATS in China got an unusual diktat from the top: stop smoking. China’s cabinet recently issued rules banning government officials from smoking in government buildings, hospitals, stadiums, schools, public transports etc., according to media reports quoting China's Central Television. It issued a circular saying that…

5 Points to Ponder: Appointing a Naga woman as UPSC Member, Chinese soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh, and more

APPOINTING a Naga educationist (also a woman) as Member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a good symbolic gesture to the North-East region comprising seven sisters and the eighth brother (Sikkim). Dr P Kilemsungla, who was on Tuesday appointed as UPSC Member, was a college lecturer, a teachers’ trainer and the one who headed…

Why Indo-China ties are 20 points below? Ambassador Jaishankar replies

INDIA-China relationship is about 15 to 20 points below where it could be, and where it should be, India’s ambassador to China Dr S Jaishankar feels. Jaishankar, who recently played a key role in defusing the crisis of Chinese incursion in Ladakh, explained in an interview to a Chinese newspaper why the bilateral relations are still below expectation…

Li praised for his promise to cut bureaucracy; also for off-the-cuff humour

IT’S not the first time that a political leader begins his innings by resorting to bureaucracy bashing. But new Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s comments on tackling bureaucracy were not rhetoric (like minister Jairam Ramesh calling Indian bureaucracy as the world’s most dangerous animal), but were replete with measurable specifics. First…

Zhu, his whistle-blowing website, sex videos and corrupt Chinese officials

IN November last year, a Chinese whistle-blowing website hogged the media limelight when it posted a video of a district-level bureaucrat of South-western city of Chongqing sharing a hotel room with a teenager. Both were captured naked. It was claimed in the site that women in their teens and 20s were dispatched by a real-estate company to seduce senior government officials. The site named…

Aspiring women civil servants in China protest over invasive health test

A GROUP of aspiring women civil servants in China recently staged a protest in the city of Wuhan holding banners saying: “What does your menstrual history have to do with becoming a civil servant?” Future civil servants were protesting against the detailed medical examination on a range of health issues including the state of a woman’s uterus, cervix and vagina,...

Ambassador S Jaishankar on Indian wine power, chicken tikka masala and more

“…where globalization has actually made the greatest impact is in our eating and drinking habits.  …Chicken Tikka Masala as a British national dish, a Gobi-Manchurian in India…” Not too often you hear a senior diplomat delivering a formal speech on wining and dining. But during a wine-tasting event held in Beijing recently, India’s ambassador to China S Jaishankar made some interesting observations on Indian wine power, revival of Asia, globalisation and fast changing eating and drink habits. Here are some excerpts of his speech delivered on January 28, 2013:

Xi Jinping regime frames dos and don'ts of behavior for Chinese bureaucrats

THE Western media has highlighted dos and don’ts of behaviour for Chinese bureaucrats which were recently framed by China’s new regime under new leader Xi Jinping. Here are some:

Red Book to RedPad: Chinese babus given device twice as costly as iPad

IF Indian officers at the level of a joint secretary and above are happy that they are entitled to have iPad at office expenses, here is the shocker. Chinese bureaucrats, read Communist Party members, are now given RedPad, an Android tablet which is twice as costly as the comparable version of the iPad. Priced at 9,999 yuan, or about Rs 80,000 it has pre-loaded applications that can verify identification cards and monitor media and public sector firms.

At Weibo, a Twitter-like micro-blogging site popular in China, there has been a huge buzz about Chinese babus getting the RedPad. Should Chinese taxpayers’ money be spent to load the country’s bureaucrats with such expensive devices? This is one of the major discussion points by micro-bloggers. Many say RedPad is a symbol of privilege, or a luxury designed to fleece taxpayers.

Even the western media has run a number of stories on the subject. One report says how the RedPad has apps that allow users to check the validity of a journalist’s government accreditation. Another newspaper begins a piece by narrating the transition from Mao’s Little Red Book to the current RedPad.

Action and Appointments

a) PK Misra, a 1976 batch UP cadre IAS who has recently been appointed as DoPT secretary, will continue to hold the additional charge of the ministry of steel for one more month or till a replacement is found.

b) Atul Kumar Mathur, a 1980 batch IPS officer and director of North East Police Academy, has been granted the higher grade of ADG in the pay scale of Rs 67,000---79,000.

c) The ACC has approved the extension of the Central deputation tenure of MS Rao, a 1987 batch Assam cadre IAS for three months. Rao is the Development Commissioner of Visakhapatnam SEZ at the level of a joint secretary.

New norms prevent Chinese bureaucrats to use luxury office sedans

CHINESE government officials will no longer be able to use a Volkswagen Passat or a Toyota Camry as new rules require bureaucrats to buy vehicles with engines smaller than 1.8 liters. There has been public anger in China against government officials’ purchase of luxury cars that include Audi A6 or Mercedes-Benz E-Class, which are often used for private purpose too, according to reports appeared in western media.
The new rules issued jointly by the Communist Party and state agencies, come “amid rising public anger over corruption”, a Wall Street Journal report said. Also, rising fuel consumption has increasingly become an issue in China’s public debates.
Whereas India closely follows the Chinese models in most areas, whether it’s building roads or Special Economic Zones, the nation has never emulated China at least in purchasing cars for civil servants. Most Indian bureaucrats still use made-in-India white ambassadors, and only a select few like cabinet secretary get cars like Maruti SX4 which again is a below 1.8 liter-engine car.
According to new Chinese norms, the maximum amount that a mid-level government official can spend to buy his official car is 180,000 yuan (about $28,200, or Rs 14 lakh), a 10 percent reduction from earlier limit. In Indian context, however, the new Chinese limit is still very high.
China has also decided to buy new-energy vehicles like electric cars and plug-in electric hybrid cars for their babus provided those cars meet purchase rules.
Meanwhile, Chinese government has designated two dozen cities as model cities for new-energy cars so as to promote Chinese-produced green cars like e6 all-electric car and a plug-in hybrid version of the BYD F3. But there has been a short-supply of those green vehicles.
It’s time an Indian joint secretary should give his Chinese counter-part a joy ride in his old ambassador.

China to crack the whip on excessive partying by bureaucrats

INDIA may love to follow China in most respects, from chasing growth numbers to building massive infrastructure, but when it comes to its bureaucracy, Indian babus must try not to emulate them. If the latest report on China’s plan to crack down lavish parties by its bureaucrats, is anything to indicate, there have been a number of instances in which Chinese bureaucrats indulged in sex and booze-fuelled parties apart from being beneficiaries of the country’s rampant corruption.

According to media reports being highlighted in US among others, the cost of the visit to foreign junkets including trips to Las Vegas amount to about USD 60 billion per year. The reports further point out how Chinese top politicians took notice of bureaucrats’ indulging in parties filled with casual sex, drinking and under-the-table payments. None other than President Hu Jintao himself warned officials of the temptations of beautiful women, money and power. Recently, the ruling party has come out with a plan to weed out corruption which also included an end to excessive partying at the expense of tax payers’ money.

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China asks military officers not to create blogs 

Japanese bureaucrats are back!

The influence of Japanese bureaucrats in the country’s decision-making process could come back once more as there are indications that they would again attend crucial meetings which are now being confined to political leadership. Once anti-bureaucrat Democratic Party of Japan came into power in September, 2009, senior bureaucrats were kept out of the decision-making process. Now, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku says that vice ministers and deputy vice ministers both of whom are non-elected bureaucrats in Japan, should attend the ministerial meetings.

Read

Japanese bureaucrats get lessons from comedians

Bureaucracy bashing as a fashion statement

Action and Appointments

Alok Prasad made India’s ambassador to Japan

a) Alok Prasad, an Indian Foreign Service officer of 1974 batch and presently Deputy National Security Advisor, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Japan, to replace HK Singh (Read: HK Singh as a good host). According to a release by ministry of external affairs, Prasad is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

b) Rakesh Sood, a 1976 batch Indian Foreign Service officer and India's Ambassador to Nepal, has been appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) in place of Alok Prasad.

Will India follow China and France in raising retirement age to 62 years?

INDIAN policy makers might have followed many a Chinese model, but here is the million dollar question --- will India too emulate China last week which raised the retirement age from 60 to 62 years, a move that was even considered by Manmohan Singh government during the days of economic tsunami in mid-2009? The debate has bounced back in corridors of power after France too is likely to increase the country’s minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, as its Upper house has already given its nod despite fierce protests from young population of the country who fear a possible job cut as a result of the move.

For China, the move is purely economic as the raising the retirement age is expected to ease pressure on pension fund. Chinese pension fund is currently facing a shortfall of about USD 194 billion according to reports published by 'China Daily'. About 30% of Chinese 1.33 billion people are covered by the pension system.

The economic rationale behind raising the retirement age by two years is that the concerned government won’t have to pay post-retirement benefits at least for two years, and the savings can be used for tiding over any economic crisis.

But for India, the proposition is not as simple as it is in China. Here political considerations would finally dictate whether UPA government would raise the retirement age to 62. If UPA government wants to give over 5.5 million Central government employees a bonanza, it will also keep in mind whether the move would freeze new recruitment for two years forcing young voters take a negative view on the entire issue.

In China, existing superannuation system is 32 years old, but the Chinese people's average life expectancy rose from 67.9 years in 1981 to 71.4 years in 2000.

In India, the age of superannuation was increased from 55 to 58 during the time of Jawaharlal Nehru after India’s war with China in 1962. The NDA government under prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee increased it to 60 in 1998.