An IAS couple, a course in Cambridge, a photo on mathematical bridge, and an engaging Twitter commentary

Usha and Arvind Padhee

WHEN this Odisha cadre IAS couple of 1996 batch visited UK for a short training programme in Cambridge University earlier this month, their followers in social media— many from their home state Odisha — were excited to find every little detail of their visit, from landing at London’s Heathrow airport to taking leadership lessons from Professor Harold Chee and then taking the photo of India's first licensed pilot JRD Tata at Air India lounge of the airport before taking the return flight to New Delhi — all thanks to their updates in Twitter. Usha Padhee, a joint secretary in civil aviation ministry and Arvind Padhee, a joint secretary in the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers, along with a few other bureaucrats…

RIP APJ Abdul Kalam: How IAS, IPS, IFS officers remember this former President

Joint Secretary Usha Padhee with Kalam (File photo)

WHEN the news surfaced on Monday evening that India’s Missile Man and former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam died in Shillong aged 83, a number of sitting and former bureaucrats took to social media platform to express their condolences, narrating their earlier associations with the man who dreamed big for the nation. 1996 batch IAS Usha Padhee released her photo with Kalam. Read more to know about the IAS who received his graduation certificate from Dr Kalam, the IFS officer who once organized Kalam’s visit to Sydney and the officer who chose to tweet a Sanskrit verse on Kalam's farewell: