Welcome to New Delhi’s gardens of power this Valentine Day!

WOULD like relax at the nearest point of power corridors of Raisina Hill? Yes, you can come and visit the Mughal Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan including the Musical Garden, Spiritual Garden, Herbal Garden and Biodiversity Park, which are being opened for viewing by the general public from February 13 to March 11. The gardens will be open to the general public on all days from 10 am to 5 pm, except on Mondays.

For those not so familiar with the site, the garden is situated near all important government landmarks including Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), ministries of defence, home, finance, personnel and external affairs.

This year the special attraction will be the Cactus corner and a Bonsai segment. A Rashtrapati Bhavan release said, Bonsai lovers would be able to enjoy a collection of such plants, which are on special display. The gardens are also known for annual flowers such as enlivening roses, lilies, tulips, double pansy flowers and eye-catching velvet green lawns intercepted with lotus shaped fountains and blue base water canals.

The Mughal Gardens, contiguous to the main building of Rashtrapati Bhavan cover an area of 15 acres. They were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens who was inspired by the beautiful gardens of Jammu and Kashmir, the garden around the Taj Mahal and Persian and Indian miniature paintings. The central lawn is the venue of numerous receptions and “At Homes” hosted by the President of India.

(In Picture: President Ms Pratibha Devisingh Patil with the flower Tulips at Mughal Garden of Rashtrapati Bhawan, in New Delhi on February 12, 2010)

Action and Appointments

a) The Punjab government on Friday transferred 11 IAS officers, 11 IPS and two Punjab civil services officers in the state. Suresh Kumar, IAS, has been posted as principal secretary, technical education and industrial training and is given additional charge of the chairman of Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training. Mandeep Singh Sandhu, IAS, has been appointed as principal secretary of school education.

b) Chhattisgarh government today transferred eight IPS officers and a state police officer. IG Anand Tiwari who was with Police headquarters would now be IG (training). The other officers who were transferred include RK Vij, Rajesh Mishra, RC Patel, SK Jha and Anand Chabra among others.

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.