Textiles secretary Anant Kumar Singh shifted to dept of land resources; Arun Goel elevated as culture secretary

IN A minor secretary level reshuffle on Thursday, the government changed the ministries of two union secretaries — textiles secretary getting shifted to the department of land resources and secretary, culture, being posed as new textiles secretary. Meanwhile, a special secretary is elevated as union secretary in the ministry of culture. Here below are the details:

2nd Most Powerful Bureaucrat 2015: Who is Ram Sewak Sharma and how he keeps lobbyists at bay

IN THE backdrop of an estimated Rs 200-crore advertising blitz by internet giant Facebook for its Free Basics campaign in India, coupled with intense lobbying by many telcos, India’s telecom regulator TRAI’s decision on Monday to prohibit differential tariff and calling it “discriminatory” is quite a bold one. And the man behind taking such a decisive stand after withstanding all pressure and preserving what’s called net neutrality is none other than a bureaucrat — a 1978 batch former IAS of Jharkhand cadre Ram Sewak Sharma. A former Mission Director of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) or Aadhaar and ex-information technology secretary, this tech-savvy bureaucrat is now the chairman of TRAI — Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. In BoI’s list of 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats 2015, Sharma is…

Will the CVC be given a jurisdiction over regulatory bodies like TRAI, IRDA and SEBI? Any decision on Wednesday?

COME Wednesday, an inter-ministerial meeting to be chaired by a joint secretary-ranked officer of the department of personnel and training (DoPT) will deliberate on whether Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) should be given a jurisdiction over various regulatory authorities such as telecom regulator TRAI and insurance regulator IRDA etc., an issue that has not been resolved for over a decade. The meeting to be held on August 19, 2015 in North Block will also try to find an answer whether the CVC…

Suitable officer needed as TRAI adviser in Delhi office

THE government has been looking for application for the post of Adviser in Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for the post of Adviser on a deputation basis on foreign services contract. The vacancy is in Trai’s headquarters in Delhi. The pay scale of Trai Adviser is…

Why Rahul Khullar does not want an IAS as his successor in Trai? Any thought?

RAHUL Khullar, a former IAS and chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, or Trai, wants an amendment to the TRAI Act to ensure that his successor in the telecom regulator does not come from an IAS cadre. Surprised? According to a article published in leading financial portal moneycontrol.com, Khullar articulated this view when he...

Backroom boy of FDI in retail RP Singh a top contender for Trai chairman’s post

RP Singh

RP Singh, ex-industry secretary and one of government’s key backroom boys pushing FDI in retail, is back in action. Singh’s name has been doing the rounds as one of the two top contenders for the prestigious TRAI chairman’s post, as a selection committee comprising cabinet secretary Ajit Seth and principal secretary to PM Pulok Chatterji is finalizing the man who would play a crucial role in coming 2G auctions following the cancellation of 122 telecom licences by India’s apex court.

The telecom regulator Trai chairman’s post will lie vacant in May. The other IAS contender for the post is defence production secretary and 1977 batch IAS Sekhar Agarwal. Agarwal has been in defence ministry since February 2008, and he was RP Singh’s colleague in the ministry when Singh was in South Block. Singh then moved to Udyog Bhawan as secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP).

Those who know RP Singh from very close quarters say he is a doer, and does not really care about political interventions. Unlike most of his suave and diplomatic IAS colleagues, Singh is talkative and highly informal in most occasions.

Many within the government were also surprised when Singh as the DIPP secretary first made the discussion paper on FDI in multi-brand retail public in July, 2010. He asked his junior officials to transparently place all comments on the discussion paper public too. Interestingly, Kamal Nath as commerce and industry ministry first tried to open up FDI in multi-brand retail during the UPA government. But it was UPA chairwoman Sonia Gandhi who stopped the move then by writing a formal letter to Nath.

Government may create an IAS, IPS like service to man regulatory bodies

AFTER many failed attempts to create new services like Indian Educational Service and Indian Legal Service along the lines of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), here is one more such idea. Now, the law ministry has begun to work on a proposal to set up an Indian Regulatory Service like IAS and IPS. The personnel directly recruited for this service will man regulatory authorities like Sebi, Trai etc. which are now being managed by retired bureaucrats.

The cadre of the proposed service will have to pass an all-India examination to be conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and they would be recruited in organizations such as Competition Commission of India (CCI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) among others.

Media reports quoting law minister Veerappa Moily said that the move was necessitated by the fact that regulators would increasingly play a larger role in governance of the country, and manning these bodies by bureaucrats on-deputation and retired judges would increasingly become a difficult task.

Action and Appointments

a) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has  approved the following  appointments at the level of additional secretary, on in-situ basis, by temporarily upgrading the posts held by the officers

(i) Ms Parvinder S Behuria, a 1977 batch IRS-IT officer, as Secretary, PESB, Department of Personnel and Training in the rank and pay of additional secretary.

(ii) Ms Ajanta Dayalan, a 1978 batch IA and AS officer, as additional secretary in cabinet secretariat.

(iii) Ms Rasheda Hussain, a 1978 batch IRS(C and CE, as additional secretary (COFEPOSA) under the department of revenue.

(iv) Arunava Dutt, a 1978 batch IDAS officer, financial adviser in border security force, in the rank of additional secretary.

b) Siddharth  Sharma, a 1996 batch Indian Civil Accounts Service officer has been appointed as director in the department of expenditure. 

All about Maya: IAS, IPS face transfers in UP

In yet another instance of bureaucrats taking the wrath of politicians, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Ms Mayawati, who showed a poor political show during the Lok Sabha elections, finally used the time-tested weapon of transfers to punish babus. In fact, in a major administrative reshuffle, UP government transferred 10 IAS officials on Friday after it had transferred 34 IPS officers, including police chiefs of 17 districts, media reports said on late Saturday. The action includes the transfer of Rae Bareilly DM Anita C Meshram, Kanpur divisional commissioner Dinesh Singh and chief development officer Agra Surendra Singh. Babu Blogger’s take: Let’s give more power to the state chief secretaries and cabinet secretary at the Centre in transfer-related matters. In many cases, transfers do demoralize efficient bureaucrats.

A former bureaucrat appointed as PDP's chief spokesman Former tourism secretary of J&K Naem Akhtar was appointed as Peoples Democratic Party's chief spokesman, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti announced on Saturday. Mr Akhtar, who took voluntary retirement in 2008, served in health, public works and several other departments of the state as a Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officer.

Babus in demand: A Job offer at Trai There is a job opportunity at Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) which has asked for applications to fill up the post of a senior research officer on deputation basis on foreign services terms. The pay scale is Rs 15600—39100, plus a grade pay of Rs 6600 in addition to allowances according to government rules.

Babus In Demand: Two jobs for senior civil servants

HERE are two jobs for senior IAS officers. Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) is looking for an officer who held the post of a secretary in the government of India, or equivalent in the state for two years, or a person who is well versed in the field of technology, telecommunication, industry, commerce and administration to fill up the vacancy of a member after the incumbent K S Sharma left TDSAT to join TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) as chairman. A TDSAT member gets the same remuneration as a secretary (A salary of Rs 80,000 per month). A search-cum-selection committee is being constituted for the selection to the post. The last date of application is June 19, 2009. If you feel you are eligible and have any doubt, just pick up the phone and call J S Deepak, joint secretary, telecommunication, at 011-23717411. The second officer in demand is for the post of executive director of National Institute of Administrative Research, a registered society of LBS National Academy of Administration. Though academicians are also qualified for applying for the post, for a civil servant the qualification is a joint secretary in government of India, or an equivalent post at the state. Any doubt? Kindly call at 0135-2632663/2630917.

Ex-telecom secretary J S Sarma appointed as TRAI chairman

TDSAT member J S Sarma has been appointed the new chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), said media reports on Friday. The final clearance for Mr Sarma to take over as TRAI chairman came after the appointment committee of Cabinet cleared his name. Mr Sarma is a former telecom secretary of the country. He will succeed Nripendra Mishra, who retired on March 22, 2009. At present, TRAI member A K Sawhney is managing the show as the interim chairman of the telecom regulatory body. Mr Sarma was also the Telecom Commission Chairman from June 2005 to July 2006. In fact, the total number of telephone connections as on March 31, 2009, reached 429.72 million whereas the base of the total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA and wireless local loop - fixed) stood at 391.76 million.

DEA secretary Ashok Chawla likely to be next Finance Secretary

Secretary of department of economic affairs (DEA) Ashok Chawla is likely to be the next finance secretary of India, as the current incumbent Arun Ramanathan is retiring on April 30, 2009. Mr Chawla, a 1973 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, had earlier served as the civil aviation secretary in addition to handling the additional charge of secretary, information & broadcasting (I&B). Mr Chawla had earlier served as an additional secretary in the DEA under the ministry of finance. Sources in finmin said that either a 1974 or 1975-batch IAS officer would take over as the secretary of financial services, a department under the finance ministry which Mr Ramanathan has been looking after so far. And that means, Mr Chawla of 1973 batch, will be the senior most secretary in the Finmin, and would thus be designated as the finance secretary. Meanwhile, Mr Ramanathan, a 1973-batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre is likely to be appointed as chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He is already one of the three short-listed candidates for the coveted post. At present, TRAI member, Finance, A K Sawhney has been looking into the day to day activities after Mr Nripendra Misra retired on March 22, 2009.