Ashok Chawla, R Bandyopadhyay in race for CCI chairman’s post

A NUMBER of high-profile retired bureaucrats including former finance secretary Ashok Chawla and former corporate affairs secretary R Bandyopadhyay are in race for the post of chairman of Competition Commission of India (CCI) as the incumbent Dhanendra Kumar retires next month.

According to reports, there are about 300 applicants for two CCI posts, one for Chairman and another for a Member. These posts are quite attractive as the salary goes upto over two and half lakhs rupees if the selected person prefers not to take any official house and car. A secretary in government of India gets a salary of Rs 80,000 in addition to perks such as official car and a residence in prime locations.

According to reports, the applicants for CCI chairman’s post also include former United Bank of India chairman SC Gupta, former environment secretary Vijay Sharma, Adviser to deputy chairman of Planning Commission Gajendra Haldea, and former CBDT Member Durgesh Shankar.

UPSC chairman calls for a review of permanent appointment of bureaucrats

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairman DP Agrawal said there is a need for a fresh look at the issue of permanent appointment in bureaucracy. He said on Wednesday that there should be an intense assessment of officers’ performance at various stages of their career, and the deadwood should be weeded out at early stages. The UPSC is the government’s recruiting agency for all top bureaucrats including IAS, IPS, IFS etc.

Bihar CM takes his key bureaucrats to Bhutan

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar along with a few of his key bureaucrats left for a four-day visit to Bhutan. His mission: To study ways to make the state self-reliant in energy sector. Principal secretary, energy Ajay V Nayak; principal secretary tourism Dipak Prasad; information and public relations department secretary Rajesh Bhushan; CM’s secretary Atish Chandra and his officer-on-special duty Gopal Prasad have accompanied Kumar on his visit.

Questions on RTI figure prominently in Parliament

THE questions related to Right to Information Act, 2005, particularly its possible amendments are getting more and more space this Parliament session. The amendment of RTI and questions on file notings will come up again on May 5, 2010 in Lok Sabha, India’s lower House of Parliament.

Only on Thursday, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions Prithviraj Chavan said in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha how the RTI Act has an inbuilt system of monitoring of the implementation of the Act. He further mentioned that no amendment of the Act so far as the structure of the State Information Commission was under consideration.

The other prominent questions that will come up on May 5 in Lok Sabha include bureaucrats with professional degree holders, income limit of creamy layers of OBC, complaints about civil services examinations etc., according to the provisional list of unstarred questions published so far.

Secretary In Action

Corporate affairs secretary R Bandyopadhyay has asked the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to impart the training to professionals for converging Indian Accounting Standards with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) at an affordable cost and of high quality. He inaugurated the curtain raiser ceremony of the chain-workshops on Indian Accounting Standards converged with IFRSs in New Delhi on Thursday

Rail men clinch gold in world TT championship

Indian Railways Men Team won the Gold Medal, first time, in the history of USIC (World Railways) Table Tennis Championships by beating the France in the final by 5-1. The World Railways Table Tennis Men’s and Women’s Championships were held at Nijniy Novgorod (Russia) from April 22 to 27, 2010. A total number of 15 countries have participated in the said championship.

The men Team included Anirban Nandi, Arpit Bhopalkar and Sayan Paul Roy. The women team which won the Bronze Medal consisted of Prajakta Tipale, Pallabi Kundu and Mansi Bhagwat.

Also, Arpit Bhopalkar won the Gold Medal in Men individual category by beating Albert Kolodskikh of Russia by 3-1 in the final. 

Every Indian state to appoint nodal officer to deal with MEA; WTO centers to be set up in states

NOW, each Indian state will have a nodal officer to deal exclusively with the ministry of external affairs (MEA). The MEA in turn will set up a joint consultative group with the states for regular interaction between the Centre and the states in addition to hand-holding the state governments on border management issues. The decision was taken at the first annual conference of chief secretaries held in New Delhi on February 1-2.

The conference, organized at the initiative of cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar, also proposed to evolve a mechanism for facilitation of real-time intelligence sharing by states with defence forces. Also, states would now set up WTO Centres for training of their personnel and for creating greater awareness about negotiations and implications of WTO agreements.

On Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), states may now consider setting up cabinet committees under chief ministers and extend all possible support for expediting the process of enrolment of persons for the issue of UID number. Also, each state will now nominate a nodal officer for interaction with the Centre on all issues relating to development in science and technology. Also, a standing committee of secretaries chaired by the cabinet secretary will be constituted for popularizing relevant technologies for each state. The committee will also have secretaries of scientific departments, Planning Commission, DIPP, MNRE and ministry of food processing industries as its members.

Engineering Services Exam from June 26, 2010 

The Union Service Public Commission (UPSC) will hold the engineering services Examination, 2010 commencing from June 26, 2010. The Commission proposes to make available online application submission for Engineering Services Examination, 2010 from February 6 to February 22, 2010 for which a separate notice is to be issued. Any confusion? Just dial, 011-23389366.

Action and Appointments

a) Justice Anil Ramesh Dave, Chief Justice, Andhra Pradesh High Court has been transferred as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.

b) R Bandyopadhyay, a 1974 batch West Bengal cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs, will hold additional charge of the post of secretary, ministry of information and broadcasting during the absence on leave of Raghu Menon, 1974 batch Nagaland cadre IAS up to 12th February, 2010.

Read

R Bandyopadhyay's video conferencing tool 

All for Right Writing 

Click here for the OFFICE MEMO for the 5th workshop for officers of the level of director and deputy secretary on preparing notes, to be held on 16-17 February, 2010

A quick check on who are in-charge of various ministries as many secretaries are holidaying during this Christmas and New Year

MANY top bureaucrats in India heading various ministries and departments have gone on long leave during this festive season of Christmas and New Year forcing the department of personnel and training (DoPT) to announce their replacements for this period. The secretaries who are on leave now include Alka Sirohi, a 1974 batch MP cadre IAS and secretary, department of food and public distribution, AK Upadhyay, a 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS and secretary in the department of youth affairs, C Balakrishnan, a 1974 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS and secretary, ministry of coal and Dr M Ramachandran, a 1972 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS and secretary of urban development ministry.
Now, secretaries of other ministries are being given additional charge of the ministries and departments where the top bureaucrats are on long leave. Rajiv Aggarwal, a 1975 batch Maharashtra cadre and secretary in the department of consumer affairs, for example, is given additional charge of the post of secretary in the department of food and public distribution during the absence on leave of Ms Sirohi from December, 25, 2009 to January 3, 2010. Ms Sindhushree Khullar, a 1975 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS and secretary in the department of sports will hold additional charge of the post of secretary, department of youth affairs during the absence on leave of Mr Upadhyay from December 23, 2009 to January 3, 2010.
Similarly, R Bandyopadhyay, a 1974 batch West Bengal cadre IAS and secretary, ministry of corporate affairs was given additional charge of the post of secretary, ministry of minority affairs during the absence on leave of Vivek Mehrotra, a 1974 batch Haryana cadre IAS from December 12, 2009 to December 20, 2009. DK Sikri, a 1975 batch Gujarat cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of women and child development will hold additional charge of the post of secretary in the ministry of coal during the absence on leave of Mr Balakrishnan for a period of three months or until further orders.
Also, Ms Kiran Dhingra, a 1975 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation, is holding additional charge of the post of secretary, ministry of urban development during the absence on leave of Dr Ramachandran from December 21, 2009 to January 8, 2010. Dr Ramachandran is now in US on a personal visit.

Action and Appointments
SC Srivastava, a 1976 batch Central Secretariat Service officer has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of justice till the date of his superannuation on November 30, 2011, from the date of taking over charge of the post or until further orders.

Mayawati for a police training centre in Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Ms Mayawati has asked the concerned officials to initiate the process for setting up of a police training centre in Lucknow without any delay. The move is to set up the police training centre on 90 acres of land at Mohanlalganj area in the city, a state government government release said. She also directed that the vacant police posts should immediately be filled up to ensure better law and order situation in the state.

UIDAI offers 189 more jobs for government employees

IN THE first ever vacancy circular issued by newly formed Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) itself from its own office located at third floor, Tower –II, Jeevan Bharati Building, Connaught Circus, New Delhi, applications are invited for 189 vacant posts ranging from deputy director and assistant administrative officers to executive assistants. Till recently, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) came out with vacancy circulars to fill up posts such as Deputy Director General (JS level) and Assistant Director General (deputy secretary/director level). These new 189 posts which are relatively at junior levels, will be filled up on deputation/short term contract basis (for 3 years, extendable by another 2 years) for its headquarters in Delhi and regional offices located at Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bangalore and Hyderabad. There are 39 vacant posts of deputy director at the pay scale of Rs 15600-39100 with a grade pay of Rs 6600, 39 posts of assistant administrative officers, 39 posts for assistants, 5 posts of principal private secretaries, 11 posts of private secretaries and 56 posts of executive secretaries. Significantly, excellent computer skill is made a desired qualification for deputy director level officers too. The last date for receiving the applications is January 8, 2010. For further detail, log onto UIDAI website www.uidai.gov.in / www.uidai.nic.in. Actual Vacancy Circular, dated December 14, 2009 Punjab govt transfers 10 IAS officers Punjab government on Monday evening transferred 10 IAS officers including D S Bains, principal secretary, local government as principal secretary in employment generation and Suresh Kumar, principal secretary in power and irrigation department as principal secretary in technical education and industrial training. The other officers who were transferred are Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Arun Goel and C Roul among others, media reports said.

Railway officers receive energy conservation awards for their zones R N Verma, General Manager, Western Railway, U C D Shreni, General Manager, North Eastern Railway and V K Raheja, Chief Electrical Engineer, West Central Railway, received National Energy Conservation Awards, 2009, for their respective zones in a function held on Monday. The awards were presented by the Union minister of power Sushilkumar Shinde. Secretaries In Action R Bandyopadhyay, secretary, ministry of corporate affairs kick-started the 'India Corporate Week' from Kolkata on Monday. The day began with "Corporate Governance Breakfast Series" (theme: Going beyond compliance - fostering a culture of good governance) by industry lobby group CII. Another secretary M Ramachandran, secretary, ministry of urban development inaugurated a two days (14-15th Dec) workshop on Service Level Benchmarks - “Towards improving service outcomes”, in New Delhi on Monday.

Action & Appointments a) Gurudev Singh, a 1979 batch IRAS officer has been appointed as secretary, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) (joint secretary level) under the ministry of higher education. b) The government of Gujarat has appointed D J Pandian, IAS and Principal Secretary, Energy & Petrochemicals department in the state as the chairman of Gujarat Industries Power Co. Ltd with effect from December 11 in place of S Jagadeesan, IAS.

Prez Pratibha Devisingh Patil to inaugurate UPSC's lecture series on governance today

THE issues regarding contemporary relevance to governance and public administration will crop up for discussion in UPSC's foundation day lecture series today. The inaugural lecture will be delivered by President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil on ‘Governance and Public Service’. Minister of state for personnel, public grievances & pensions Prithiraj Chavan will preside over the function to be held in New Delhi, a government release said. In fact, UPSC may now aggressively position itself as the central player in the field of governance issues, and anchoring this lecture series on governance is one of the key demonstrations towards that direction. It is felt that administrative systems have to keep pace with aspirations of young Indian population for which there is an acknowledged need for modernizing the administrative mechanism. The lecture series is also expected to address the pressing matters of administrative reform, and it may give timely input to the process of reforms. The UPSC has the responsibility of recruiting talents for manning civil services in the country in addition to advising the government on related matters of service which cover personnel policy and human resource management. Envoys of Panama, Paraguay, Serbia, Germany & Iceland present credentials to Prez of India Five envoys presented their credentials to the President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday. The envoys were Julio De La Guardia Arrocha, the Ambassador of Panama, Genaro Vicente Pappalardo Ayala, the Ambassador of Paraguay, Jovan Mirilovic, the Ambassador of Serbia, Thomas Matussek, the Ambassador of Germany (See picture above) and Gudmundur Eiriksson, the Ambassador of Iceland. The credential presentation ceremony was attended by senior members of the missions, senior officials of the ministry of external affairs (MHA) and Rashtrapati Bhavan. Action & Appointments a) There has been a cancellation of the approval of the ACC for the appointment of Taradatt, a 1983 batch Orissa cadre IAS as joint secretary in the ministry of minority affairs in place of Sujit Datta, CSS, and it was decided to appoint R Karikal Valaven, a 1989 batch AP cadre IAS in the said vacancy for a period of five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or untill further orders. b) R Bandyopadhyay, a 1974 batch West Bengal cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs will hold additional charge of the post of secretary in the ministry of minority affairs during the period of absence on leave of Vivek Mehrotra, a 1974 batch Haryana cadre IAS up to 11th December, 2009. c) S P Seth, a 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS, presently special secretary in the ministry of coal has been appointed as Principal Adviser, Planning Commission in the rank and pay of secretary in the vacancy of Amitabha Bhattacharya, a 1975 batch AP cadre IAS. d) Rohit Nandan, a 1982 batch UP cadre IAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation for a period of five years.

Video conferencing cuts short bureaucratic process; may aid state officials take prompt decisions

VIDEO conferencing could turn out be an effective tool to arrange frequent interactions between officers of the Indian Central government departments and those at the state level. Already, it has been used by a few ministries to cut short the conventional bureaucratic process of taking decisions. Sometime back, new secretary of the ministry of corporate affairs R Bandyopadhyay held a meeting with all the Regional Directors (RDs) and Registrars of Companies (ROCs) through video conferencing. Thanks to the deployment of the technology of video conferencing, four Regional Directors and 20 Registrars of Companies spread all over the country interacted with the secretary. The secretary asked the field officers to undertake investor education activities in their respective jurisdiction for which the ministry would be providing necessary technical and financial assistance. Various technical and legal issues were taken up by the field officers, and the officials of the ministry provided necessary clarifications. And yes, all these happened through video conferncing. Mr Bandyopadhyay further stated that such meetings would be held at regular intervals so that the pending issues from both sides were resolved immediately. Significantly, when a committee of secretaries was formed under the chairmanship of cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar to address issues related to financial crisis during the fag end of the last government, video conferencing mode was effectively deployed. It turned out to quite effective and time-saving in the backdrop of the need to quickly resolve issues that could have posed as impediments in smooth implementation of government's stimulus packages. Many a time, very important decisions were taken during video conferencing between Central and state officials, which in turn helped the states to fast-track their implementation mode.

New secretary level post created in law ministry The Cabinet on Thursday approved the creation of one post of adviser to the minister for law and justice on contract basis in the rank, pay and status of secretary to the government of India in the ministry of law and justice for a period of one year. The Adviser to the minister will be responsible for carrying out various initiatives which will facilitate the Ministry to take forward the reforms in the legal and judicial sectors as expeditiously as possible.

Action & Appointments a) The assignment of additional charge of the post of joint secretary, department of science and technology to Sanjiv Nair, a 1982 batch UP cadre IAS and Mission Director, Mission for reinvigorating Agriculture in the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) has been approved for a period of three months or till a joint secretary is posted in the department or until further orders. b) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has accorded ex-post-facto approval for continuation of entrusting of additional charge of the post of Development Commissioner, Kandla Special Economic Zone under the department of commerce to Ms Maya D Khem, Development Commissioner, Mundra SEZ, in additional to her own charge, for a perid of three months beyond September 4, 2009

Yet another netagiri Vs babudom: Should Indian politicians deserve a standing ovation from bureaucrats?

THERE is nothing unusual about politicians having a grudge against cushy bureaucratic jobs as civil servants are ever-green in corridors of power and need not go to masses for seeking fresh mandate. But the recent set of instructions for Indian babus, particularly the bizarre fiat of the Rajasthan government that bureaucrats must stand up to receive an elected representative, read politician, is going too far. The directive issued by principal secretary of the administrative reforms and co-ordination department of the Rajasthan government said if any MLA or MP drop in without an appointment, the bureaucrat must them a priority. Also, civil servants are asked to invite local representatives to all the official functions organized in the area he represents, and the seat for the politician should be reserved till the end of the function. As babu blogger mentioned in a post dated August 7, 2009, that Indian political masters recently imposed a set of additional instructions on how officers should behave with the Members of Parliament. Read, “Netagiri & babudom: A new set of instructions issued to help officers communicate with MPs”. Also, politicians from Goa recently criticized their bureaucrats as inefficient and non-cooperative. Tensions reached such a stage that the government of Goa began consultation with the Central government to create a separate cadre for the state of Goa only. Read, “Why do Goan Netas hate babus? State politicians demand separate IAS, IPS cadre only for Goa” posted on August 11, 2009. Also read, “My Take: Low Level European Civil Servants Lead In Brand-Building Of Europe’s Bureaucracy” posted on June 30, 2009. Action & Appointments a) Arvind Mehta, a 1984 batch Himachal cadre IAS officer has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of commerce, in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000 (PB-4) with a grade pay of Rs 10,000 for a period of 5 years. b) Rita Sharma, a 1974 batch UP cadre IAS and secretary department of rural development will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary, department of drinking water supply for a period of three months with effect from September 1, 2009. c) Bhaskar Chatterjee, a 1975 batch Orissa cadre IAS, and presently principal adviser, Planning Commission has been appointed as secretary, department of public enterprises in the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises. d) R Bandyopadhyay, a 1974 batch IAS West Bengal cadre IAS, and presently secretary, department of public enterprises has been appointed as secretary, ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) in place of Anurag Goel, a 1972 batch UP cadre IAS. Mr Goel will now become Member, Competition Commission of India (CIC). babu blogger wrote it on August 3, 2009 that Mr Goel would be a CIC Member. Read, "Post-retirement plan for MCA secretary Anurag Goel & personnel secretary Rahul Sarin firmed up in advance"