7 officers including 3 non-IAS appointed as additional secretaries or equivalent; 7 IES officers empanelled as JS

THE government on Friday announced the following seven additional secretary level appointments:

Harsh Vardhan Shringla: 10 things to know about India’s new ambassador to US

Harsh Vardhan Shringla, 1984 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, presently India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh, has been appointed as the next ambassador of India to the United States of America. Here are 10 things to know about India’s new ambassador to US:

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:

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...

NHAI Member, WAPCOS Chairman get two-year extension

RK Pandey, Member, NHAI

THE government has reappointed RK Pandey, Member (projects) of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), for two more years with effect from November 11, 2018. Belonging to Central Engineering Service cadre, he had earlier served as chief engineer in the…

Heartening to hear IAS officers making mark in IFS positions: IAS Association reacts to a Khaleej Times report on IAS Dinesh Kumar as a diplomat

Dinesh Kumar, 2004 batch IAS

IAS Association on Sunday tweeted saying how heartening it is to “hear about IAS officers making the mark in positions which have normally been the domain of IFS officers”, adding further: “Proud of you Dinesh”. The Association has also attached a news clipping of Khaleej Times, a newspaper published from the Gulf where 2004 batch Nagaland cadre IAS officer, Dinesh Kumar — the first secretary for community affairs at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi — was profiled and praised. The headline of the news reads:

“For you, it is important to read between the lines”; President Kovind’s 10 advices to young diplomats

Young diplomats of 2017 batch IFS while listening to the Prez

PRESIDENT of India Ram Nath Kovind has asked the country's youngest diplomats to master the art of nuances, understand subtleties and read between the lines. While addressing the officer-trainees of the 2017 batch of Indian Foreign Service at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday, the President also asked them to learn more than one foreign languages. Here below are 10 advices of President Kovind to the young diplomats:

1 IAS, 1 IDSE officer prematurely repatriated; 1994 batch IFS Rudrendra Tandon is India’s ambassador to ASEAN

Ms Sigy Thomas Vaidhyan, 2002 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer and director of NITI Aayog, has been prematurely repatriated to her parent cadre on personal ground. Ms Vaidyan is a director in the NITI Aayog. In the DoPT’s list of new orders dated June 4, she is however shown as an officer belonging to the Planning Commission (kindly see the photo) though in the actual order, she is mentioned as…

2017 batch IFS officer trainees complete training course; it's time to get posted across the world

Indian Foreign Service officer trainees of 2017 batch are getting ready to be full diplomats. Last week, the training at the Foreign Service Institute ended with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj addressing them at the valedictory function of the induction training programme. Indian Foreign Service officer trainees of 2017 batch and Bhutanese diplomats were trained together. Ten days ago, these young would-be-diplomats met…

Diplomat Pankaj Saran appointed as deputy NSA; defence secretary is temporary head of DRDO

Pankaj Saran, 1982 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, was on Tuesday appointed as the deputy National Security Adviser (Dy NSA) for a period of two years on a deputation basis initially till the date of his retirement, i.e. November 30, 2018, and thereafter on a re-employment contract basis. Saran is presently the ambassador to Russia. Earlier, he was a joint secretary in Manmohan Singh’s PMO. With his appointment, there will be two deputy NSAs, the other being…

PM asks India's future diplomats to be more tech-savvy; 5 takeaways of PM’s meeting with 39 officer-trainees

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked India’s future diplomats to be more tech-savvy with an urge to engage more with diaspora, who, according to the PM, are increasingly becoming important stakeholders in the conduct of foreign relations. Here are five takeaways of the PM’s meeting with 39 officer trainees of Indian Foreign Service, currently undergoing training in the Foreign Service Institute:

Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar appointed as Tata Sons’ global corporate affairs president

Jaishankar with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj (File photo)

S Jaishankar, former foreign secretary who had also served as India’s ambassador to China and then USA, was on Monday roped in by Tata Sons as its new president, global corporate affairs. Jaishankar, a 1977 batch Indian Foreign Service officer who retired early this year, will report to N Chandrasekaran, executive chairman of Tata Sons. His remunerations and associated perks are…

After India's entry into Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Govt appoints there 2 IFS officers — Anand Prakash, Krishna K

TWO Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers — Anand Prakash of 2005 batch and Krishna K of 2012 batch — have been appointed in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) secretariat, Beijing, for three years. Whereas Prakash will be Adviser (first secretary/counsellor level), Krishna K has been appointed as Attache (second secretary level). Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is an...

How diplomats are perceived, and what they are? Ex-foreign secretary Nirupama Rao explains it during a UNESCO talk

“We as diplomats like to see ourselves as change makers and pace setters in the corridors of government and in the ecosphere of statecraft. Of course, as the skeptics might say, conditions apply”, said former foreigner secretary of India Nirupama Rao during a recent talk in UNESCO. Rao at the begging of her speech on the subject titled “Diplomacy in the age of social media”, said how diplomacy is a fine art, an heir to…

Who is Ronen Sen? And why has this former IFS been roped in to scout for Tata Sons’ next chairman?

IN A sudden and unprecedented move, Cyrus Mistry — the chairman of $100 billion Tata Group— was removed on Monday, and chairman Emeritus of the Group Ratan Tata was recalled as its interim chairman. In the meantime, a panel was set up to search a new chairman within four months. Apart from Tata himself, this search committee will include Venu Srinivasan, Amit Chandra, Sushanta Kumar Bhattacharyya and a former Indian Foreign Service officer — Ronen Sen. But who’s this ex-diplomat? And why has he been roped in to select the next men at the helm of Tata Sons. Here it goes:

Story of Indian Foreign Service: A salary of Rs 350 for an IFS probationer was too big to spend in early 1950s

IFS probationers

ON SUNDAY the October 9, Happy-IFS-Day messages were in circulation in social media sites, as many in Twitter and Facebook congratulated 600 odd Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers. “Warm wishes to my colleagues on the occasion of IFS day. May Indian Foreign Service go from strength to strength in service of the country” — was the message of India’s external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. The day — October 9 is commemorated as Indian Foreign Service Day, as it was the day in 1946 the then government had approved…

IFS or IFoS? Confusions between Indian Foreign Service and Indian Forest Service slip into govt order

TAKE a close look at this screenshot first. Here, the name in the appointment list of the Establishment Office of the DoPT, as this article is being written, is one of Amit Shukla — who according to this order, is a 1999 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer. But in reality, Amit Shukla is not an IFS, but an IFoS — Indian Forest Service officer, and it can be clearly guessed from the…

More about Eenam Gambhir -- the diplomat who challenged Nawaz Sharif’s speech at the United Nations

Eenam Gambhir (Photo Courtesy: Facebook)

SINCE Thursday morning, Indian television and social media were abuzz with the way an Indian diplomat —a 2005 Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Eenam Gambhir — gave an apt response to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s speech at the United Nations where the Pak PM had earlier raised the issue of Kashmir and hailed slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani a “young leader” from Kashmir. “The land of Taxila, one of the greatest learning centres of ancient times, is now host to the Ivy League of terrorism. It attracts aspirants and apprentices from all over the world”, she said in UN while describing Pakistan as the “global epicentre of terrorism”. Here are a few things you may like to know about this young Indian diplomat. 

Why did PM Modi ask IFS officers to stop counting sea waves, and ride the waves instead?

SOME days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sitting with some Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers. While talking, he became poetic and said how there was a time when “we used to sit by the sea and count the waves”. Then he said, “time has now changed”. “…we are done counting waves, now it's time for us to steer ourselves, ride the waves and decide on our direction, destination and speed”. PM disclosed it during…

IFS Day: New Delhi skips celebration; Indian High Commission in Islamabad marks the day by planting a sapling…

Top IFS officer Jaishankar with external affairs minister

ON FRIDAY, official spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs (MEA) Vikas Swarup tweeted a collage of photos with a caption: “A day for the diplomats. It was 69 years ago to this day, that the then Cabinet created the #IndianForeignService”. Yes, the October 9 is the Indian Foreign Service Day, and it’s a day for 600-strong IFS officers posted mainly in about 162 Indian missions located across the world. There was no celebration in New Delhi, but in Islamabad, the Indian…