Culture minister Kumari Selja denied to get the PS she chose; proposal of appointing a 1991 batch IAS rejected

Not An Easy Pitch!

IN ONE of the rare instances, minister of culture Kumari Selja was denied to have the private secretary she wanted. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister, has rejected the proposal of ministry of culture for the appointment of Dr G Anupama Kumar, a 1991 batch Haryana cadre IAS officer currently working as director in the department of tourism as private secretary to the minister of Culture and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja. Originally hailing from Andhra Pradesh, G Anupama Kumar was a doctor by profession before she joined IAS in 1991. She was in the cadre till she joined as a director in the tourism department in November 2009. In the letter of rejection, however, no reason was mentioned.

The DoPT has published the rejection letter, dated March 4, 2011, (Read Letter) in its website and sent a copy of the letter to Prime Minister’s Office, cabinet secretariat, ministry of tourism, Haryana chief secretary among others. Significantly, in the letter, the word “rejected” was highlighted with an underline, but that’s considered to be a normal practice.

Meanwhile, the appointment of PK Kesavan, a 1986 batch Kerala cadre Indian Forest Officer, has turned lucky as he was appointed as private secretary to the minister of state for Power C Venugopal at director level with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post and for a period up to June 12, 2013.

31 women employees of Railways honoured

Thirty one outstanding women employees of Indian Railways were honoured on the occasion of Women’s Day celebrations organized by Railway Women’s Welfare Central Organization (RWWCO) in New Delhi on Tuesday. They include PT Usha who is working in Southern Railway, former captain of Indian women national cricket team Diana Edulgee of Western Railway and Neelam Katara, social worker and wife of a senior railway officer, a government release said.

In 1986, RWWCO decided to organize Women’s Day on 19th November every year to commemorate the birthday of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But this year, the function is being held on March 8 that coincides with the International Women’s Day rather than Indira Gandhi’s Birth Day. 

Defence ministry identifies nodal officer to ensure setting up of tented accommodation for C'wealth Games, 2010

THE ministry of defence has recently identified a nodal officer for an action of a different kind. His job will be to identify defence land in and around Delhi for setting up of tented accommodation to make up the shortage of accommodation for 2010 Commonwealth Games. It was revealed during a high-level meeting chaired by Union tourism and housing & urban poverty alleviation minister Kumari Selja and attended by secretary tourism Sujit Banerjee and representatives of governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, ministry of youth affairs and sports, urban development, railways, DDA, NDMC, MCD, Delhi Police, DIAL, ITDC and IHM (Pusa) etc. It was informed in the meeting that the government of Haryana had identified vacant sites at Surajkund and Hodel for setting up tented accommodation. Also, the state government also proposed to earmark suitable land for tented accommodation at Badhkal Lake. It was decided in the meeting that 5,500 residential flats of DDA located at Vasant Kunj and Jasola for the Games which would be furnished and operated by ITDC, should be ready in phases between January to May, 2010.

An ex-bureaucrat to head Japan's postal service; govt criticized A former finance ministry top bureaucrat in Japan Jiro Saito will be the next president of the country's postal service, an appointment that was severely criticized by opposition Liberal Democratic Party which said the choice contradicted the Democratic Party of Japan's stance that elite bureaucrats shouldn't be allowed to grab cushy jobs in government-linked agencies after retirement. Read: Japan's age-old Amakudari (September 3, 2009) Significantly, 73-year-old Saito who would now lead the postal system in the country was the top finance ministry bureaucrat between 1993 and 1995.

Babus in Demand The government is looking for the right candidate currently working in the rank of director or deputy secretary for the post of General Manager, Food Corporation of India, Chennai. The last date of application is November 27, 2009. Read the CIRCULAR

Gen Next File... Noted actor Kabir Bedi will be in Delhi on October 23 to release ‘Ready to Rock’, a book written by Ronen Chatterjee, son of 1975 batch Orissa cadre IAS and secretary, public enterprises Bhaskar Chatterjee. Well known theatre personality and CEO, Lok Sabha Television, Suneet Tandon will read excerpts from the book on the occasion. ‘Ready to Rock’ is Chatterjee Junior's second offering. His first book ‘Fire Within’ was released in 2008.