Abandoned by her family, Sonwati gets her new home at Bidhuna police station; DGP to reward cops

FOR the last few days, this photo of an old lady named Sonwati has been in circulation in social media. Her home? Bidhuna police station, Auraiya district, Uttar Pradesh. Yes, you have read it right. For the last six months, Septuagenarian Sonwati has been residing in the police station after she was dislodged by her family members from…

A new police think-tank is born; former DGP Prakash Singh, banker Deepak Parekh, ex-home secretary GK Pillai among others on driving seat

ON Police Commemoration Day today (Oct 21), a new think tank is born –The Police Foundation and Institute. Formally inaugurated today, it is a police research institute with an idea of bringing together police, other bureaucrats, academia, lawyers, media, business and civil society leaders—all in one platform. Chaired by ex-IPS and former DGP of Assam and Uttar Pradesh Prakash Singh, the executive committee of the think-tank includes veteran banker and non-executive chairman of HDFC Deepak Parekh, former home secretary GK Pillai, two former Intelligence Bureau directors viz…

Photo of a swanky Bengaluru police station attracts crowd in social media; any clue on CBI glass building?

KARNATAKA cadre IPS officer Abhishek Goyal, someone who did B Tech in computer sciences from IIT-Delhi before joining the police service, is a regular in the world of Twitter. On Monday, he posted a few photos with this caption: “new Police Station building in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Wow! #betterThanMyOffice”, a post that left many people to…

Rs 50 crore earmarked in Budget for building a befitting National Police Memorial

A part of National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington

THE new government’s maiden budget presented on Thursday set aside a sum of Rs 50 crore in the current financial year for building a befitting National Police Memorial. “The nation is equally indebted to the officers and the jawans of the Police forces, including the central armed police forces, who are constantly engaging with the enemy within and in the process sacrificing their lives in the line of duty,” finance minister Arun Jaitley said in his budget speech. In fact, National Police Memorial located in central London commemorates about 4000 police officers killed on duty, whereas in Washington’s Judiciary Square lies the…

5 ways for Indian police to break the ice and enter social media

Indian Police: New Race With Social Media

FIRST, let’s read about Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s concerns of the new challenge called social media. “The use of bulk SMSes and social media to aggravate the communal situation is a new challenge that the recent disturbances have thrown before us…

Shortage of 630 IPS officers recorded

INDIAN states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Orrisa and Assam-Meghalaya have topped the chart of shortage of police officers in the country. According to statistics released by the ministry of home affairs, there is a shortage of 630 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in India now. Currently, India has 3,383 IPS officers against the authorized strength of 4,013.

Whereas there is a shortage of 76 such officers in Madhya Pradesh, the figure is 60 in Orissa. In Uttar Pradesh, out of an authorized strength of 404 IPS officers, there are currently 346 officers in the state, making a shortage of 58. The combined Assam-Meghalaya cadre has a shortage of 48 officers whereas in Andhra Pradesh, 41 IPS can be accommodated according to authorized strength. At present, 122 IPS officers of 2009 batch are undertaking training at NPA.

In order to increase the number of IPS officers, recommendations of Kamal Kumar Committee, have been taken seriously. The strength and composition of the state cadres has already been reviewed and the total cadre strength was raised to 4730. The annual batch size of regular recruits has been increased to 150 from 130 earlier, from 2009 onwards, according to minister of state for home affairs Ajay Maken in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Police modernization plans get extension till Oct, 2011

The government approved the extension of two earlier plans to modernize a number of security forces. It had approved a 5 year plan (2002-07) for modernization of six Central Para Military Forces Assam Rifle (AR), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Border Security Forces (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and National Security Guard (NSG) at an estimated const of Rs 3740.71 crore in February 2002. Separately, the government had also approved a three-year plan (2005-08) for modernization of Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) at an estimated cost of Rs. 444.43 crores in April, 2005. Now both these plans are extended up to October 31, 2011.

Action and Appointments

a) BK Gupta, a 1975 batch AGMU cadre IPS, presently posted as Director General (Prisons), has been appointed to the post of Commissioner of Police, Delhi.

b) Current Commissioner of Police, Delhi YS Dadwal, a 1974 batch AGMU cadre IPS has been appointed as Director General, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) with effect from the date of his taking over the charge of the post and till his superannuation on October 31, 2011 or until further orders.