President Pranab and his 3 trusted non-IAS officers in Rashtrapati Bhavan

FOR the next five years, President Pranab Mukherjee will bank on three trusted officers, two men and a woman, while performing his duties at Rashtrapati Bhavan. India’s new President, known for his political craftsmanship and four decades of rich experiences in high-voltage political activities, has carefully chosen the trio himself. Significantly, or rather co-incidentally, none of the officers is an IAS. They are…

A diplomat, two IAS and a banker meet in North Block to talk tourism

WHEN a diplomat, two IAS officers and a banker met in North Block on Monday, it was all about creating tourism infrastructure. As juices were served, these gentlemen got ready to sign pacts on tourism, and also for a photo ops thereafter. Those who gathered included Venu Rajamony, a 1986 batch IFS officer, VK Jeyakodi, 1984 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, Dr SS Sandhu, a 1988 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS and Narhari Rao, deputy country director for India in Asian Development Bank. Rajamony is joint secretary (multilateral institutions) in department of economic affairs; Jeyakodi, principal secretary tourism in Tamil Nadu and Sandhu, secretary tourism in Uttarakhand...