When a picture is worth a thousand words: “Indonesia at our hearts” say 2 IFS batch-mates

AT TIMES a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is a powerful photo of two senior Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers – ambassador designate to Indonesia Nengcha Lhouvum and ambassador designate to Germany Gurjit Singh. Singh till recently was India’s ambassador to Indonesia, and now Ms Lhouvum will shortly take over charge in Indonesia. Posted in a social media site, the message said:

“Masala Bumbu”: How this diplomat brought journalist Inder Malhotra, ex-adviser to PM Baru and environmentalist Pachauri – all in one place

Ambassador Gurjit Singh

WHO could bring veteran journalist Inder Malhotra, former media adviser to PM Sanjaya Baru and environmentalist RK Pachauri, currently battling a sexual harassment charge — all in one place? A book titled “Masala Bumbu: Enhancing the India-Indonesia Partnership” edited by India’s ambassador to Indonesia and 1980 batch IFS Gurjit Singh and…

Global Window: Indonesia opts for early retirement to trim bureaucracy

INDONESIA'S ministry of finance has recommended an early retirement programme with suitable compensation package for retiring civil servants. The move is mainly to trim the country's bulging bureaucracy, a media report said. The scheme is interesting as the debate on retirement age and suitable packages for those opting for voluntary retirement has been continuing in a number of countries including India. A few months ago, there were rumours in Delhi's power corridors that the retirement age for Central government employees would be risen to 62 from the current level of 60 years. It's expected that the UPA-II may time the move politically and raise retirement age sometime later to woo over five million Central government employees.
In Indonesia, the directorate general of the treasury is expected to suggest a voluntary early retirement programme for 50-55 year-old employees, and they would get huge benefits as part of their severance payments.
At present, there are about 4.7 million permanent civil servants in Indonesia, excluding the honorary employees.
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