PK Sinha gets one year extension as cabinet secretary; why he’s likely to get one more extension?

IN AN one liner order, the government on Monday said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the extension of cabinet secretary and 1977 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS PK Sinha’s tenure for one year beyond June 12, 2017. That means, Sinha will get a tenure of three years as India’s top bureaucrat. Though cabinet secretary like home and foreign secretaries gets a fixed tenure of two years, the top bureaucrat usually gets extension mainly because PM does not want to take risks in experimenting with a new hand at the level. Two of Sinha’s predecessors —

When a cabinet minister sits behind PMO officials in a government function

WHAT could be described as a rare instance in protocol-heavy government functions where sitting arrangement is well-calibrated and pre-determined, a cabinet minister of the Government of India was seen sitting behind PMO officials at a function held in New Delhi on Wednesday. The occasion was the presentation of ideas on governance, science and technology, and energy and environment to Prime Minister by three group of GoI secretaries. As this government-released photo shows, union human resource development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar was seen sitting in the second row behind three officials from the Prime Minister’s Office viz…

10 districts receive PM’s Award; Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP, Punjab, Karnataka etc. draw a blank

Cab Sec PK Sinha, Addl Principal Secy to PM PK Mishra at the release

BIG Indian states, many of which are often considered progressive, have failed to make a mark in Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Implementation of Priority Programmes, presented by Prime Minister as a part of 10th Civil Services Day on Thursday. None of the districts from states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab or Karnataka could figure in the award list. In fact, out of the 10 districts which were presented this coveted PM’s Awards, two are from…

Power Moment for PK Sinha: 10 things to know about new cabinet secretary

UNION power secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha had his power moment on Friday when prime minister Narendra Modi handpicked this 1977 batch IAS as new cabinet secretary, the top bureaucracy job in India. As Sinha will soon move into the earmarked bungalow of cabinet secretary (32, Prithviraj Road), he will have BJP veteran LK Advani and top corporate honchos like Dalmia, Nanda, Goenka, Punj and Jindal as his neighbours. Here are 10 things you may like to know about Sinha.