Mega Reshuffle: New secretaries for commerce, petroleum, steel, food processing announced; List of 24 appointments

IN A mega bureaucratic reshuffle at the Centre on Friday evening, the government either appointed or elevated the rank of at least 24 senior bureaucrats, mostly to the rank of union secretary. The main highlight of the reshuffle though was the appointment of a number of bureaucrats as OSD in the ministries like petroleum, commerce, steel and food processing, well ahead of their eventual taking over as secretaries in those ministries. New steel secretary, for example, will take over only after three and half months. Here is the list of 24 new appointments:

Meet Sam Pitroda’s new OSD Kalpana Awasthi, 1990 batch IAS officer

TELECOM guru and adviser to Prime Minister, Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, Sam Pitroda may not be keen to build a team around bureaucrats, but he finally gets Kalpana Awasthi, a 1990 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer as his OSD. Ms Awasthi who has been a director in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) from March 2005 is now on an extension of her Central deputation tenure.

Kalpana Awasthi is a first class graduate in history from Sophia College under Bombay University, and later she completed a year-long MA course in international development policy from USA. In 1999, she attended a 10-week-long programme on local government.

Starting her career as a joint magistrate of Aligarh, she was the DM in Fatehpur in late 1990s. She executed various assignments in the cadre including one as chief development commissioner in Allahabad before moving to New Delhi’s power center --- the PMO.

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First Indian Army chief to visit Vietnam in 15 years

Army Chief General VK Singh is visiting Vietnam on a four day visit from July 26, 2010 to strengthen bilateral military ties. His visit assumes significance as this would be the first visit by an Indian army chief to Vietnam in 15 years. General VK Singh will call on General Phung Quang Thanh, minister of national defence of Vietnam, besides holding talks with Chief of General Staff and Chief of Army of Vietnam. The Army Chief will visit historically important cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. 

Govt frames new rules to impose 10 years cap on officers working in minister's personal staff

THE government has decided not to permit an official to work in personal staff of a minister beyond 10 years. The 10 years cap with a sub-limit of five years for private secretary (PS) or Officers in Special Duty (OSD), imposed recently by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), will not however be applicable in case of personal staff appointed in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The new rules were framed understandably to discourage a large number of officers who have stayed as personal staff of ministers for a long period, and dissuade them to get rooted in a minister’s coterie.

“Every time an appointment in the personal staff is made, the cadre authorities may check whether the officer has worked in the personal staff of a minister earlier and if so, his total tenure be restricted to not more than 10 years in his entire career. Further, his tenure as Private Secretary and OSD to the Minister should be limited to five years within this overall limit, on the personal staff of the Minister,” the new rules say.

The department of personnel and training (DoPT) in an office memo dated March 4, 2010, further reiterated that the 10-year cap would be inclusive of any stint that the officer may have worked in, earlier at under secretary or lower levels also in the personal staff of any minister.

Read, the OFFICE MEMO, dated March 4, 2010

“Tinoo Joshis” of Pakistan identified

The National Accountability Bureau of Pakistan named five officers against whom major corruption cases are being clamped, Pakistan media has reported. Significantly, the same Bureau, headed by acting chairman Irfan Nadeem, decided not to pursue any action against politicians.

The allegations against these five Pakistani officials including the retired ones, are mainly related to incomes beyond their known sources of income, and allotments and transfer of plots. One of the former DG of police, for example, could not explain expenditures worth over 8.5 million Pakistan rupees, and bank transactions amounting to over 6.5 million rupees.

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Action and Appointments

The ACC has approved the proposal for the extension of Central deputation tenure of BS Bhullar, a 1986 batch UP cadre IAS and joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs for a period upto completion of 50th Training Programme on Defence/Internal Security at National Defence College, New Delhi commencing from 4th January, 2010.