A Flight to New York: Tripura cadre IPS Thirugnana Sambandan appointed in permanent mission of India in UN

Thirugnana Sambandan, 2006 batch Tripura cadre IPS officer, has been appointed as the first secretary at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York. The  38-year-old IPS officer has been chosen for this post that comes the ministry of external affairs. Sambandan will get a tenure of…

2 IPS officers' extension proposals rejected; IPS Anurag Kumar posted in Indian embassy, Washington DC

TWO DAYS Two Instances of Rejection. Yes, during the last two days, there have been two instances of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) declining proposals of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) for extension of deputation tenure of two IPS officers serving in CRPF. On Tuesday, the ACC declined the MHA’s proposal of extending the deputation tenure of 1991 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer Piyush Anand, serving as Inspector General (IG) in CRPF. His deputation tenure ended on January 2, 2018. Only on Monday, the ACC had declined to…

Govt clears hurdles for ICMR chief Soumya Swaminathan to join WHO in Geneva; Kerala cadre IAS Prasanth Nair joins as PS to minister Alphons

Dr Soumya Swaminathan

THE Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Monday approved the cadre clearance to Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and secretary, department of health research, so that the officer can take up a foreign assignment in Switzerland. A Paediatrics from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) among other fellowships and distinctions, Dr Swaminathan is joining as Deputy Director General for Programme in the World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland, for almost two years — from December 1, 2017 to November 18, 2019. The ACC has also curtailed…

Know Your IAS: World Bank’s new executive director and 1988 batch IAS S Aparna

S Aparna, a 1988 batch IAS officer and principal secretary to Gujarat chief minister, will be the new executive director in the World Bank representing India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. She will be replacing SC Garg. Ms Aparna will get a tenure of three years in America’s Washington DC. An M.Sc and M.Phil in zoology before getting into IAS, she later completed her MBA from…

IES officer Aparna Sinha appointed in WTO, Geneva with “relaxation”; 1997 batch IAS Manish Singh posted in London

Aparna Sinha, a 1999 batch Indian Economic Service officer, has been appointed to the post of counsellor (services) in Permanent Mission of India (PMI), World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva for a period of three years. The appointment, however, was made in “relaxation of a mandatory requirement of having worked for 2 years under the Central Staffing Scheme with the stipulation that the same should not be quoted as precedent”. Also, 1991 batch ITS (Indian Trade Service) officer — Tapan Mazumdar — has been...

Agriculture adviser needed in Embassy of India, Brussels; Who’s eligible for the post?

AN ADVISER (agriculture and Marine Products) is needed in Embassy of India, Brussels for a period of three years, and deputy secretary and director level officers are free to apply for the post. As DoPT has written to all chief secretaries, the applicant-officer must have worked for at least two years at the Centre under the Central Staffing Scheme, and should have experience in agriculture and...

Know Your IAS: Arvind Shrivastava and his new assignment in Maldives

DECKS are being cleared for 1994 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer Arvind Shrivastava to take up an assignment in Maldives for the development of the island nation located in Indian ocean. He will be in Maldives as a development specialist attached with the Asian Development Bank under a project named “Strengthening capacity under operational management for development of Maldives” up to…

JS-ranked officer wanted as deputy chief of mission in Embassy of India, Brussels

FOR non-IFS officers, here is a chance to grab a key foreign post—deputy chief of mission in Embassy of India in Brussels. Brussels houses the headquarters of the European Union and hence the post is considered quite significant. The Centre wants empaneled joint secretary-ranked officers to apply for the post that comes under the ministry of commerce, and not ministry of external affairs (MEA). The government has written to chief secretaries of the states and secretaries of union ministries and departments to nominate the suitable officers for the post. Here are the mandatory qualifications:

More about Renuka Chidambaram— the IAS who is deemed to have resigned

Renuka Chidambaram (Photo Courtesy: UN)

IAS officer of 1985 batch — Ms Renuka Chidambaram of Karnataka cadre who has been out of duty for almost three years now is deemed to have resigned with effect from July 1, 2013, adding one more name to the list of officers taking up foreign postings and deciding not to continue as IAS. According to Government of India records, Ms Chidambaram, now aged 57, was last posted as a senior political affairs officer in United Nations Mission in Sudan in 2010. She was then on deputation from the Government of India. Earlier, she was on leave between 2007 and 2010. Her batch mates are now…

Govt proposes 7 years long posting in Delhi, abroad for officers on deputation

THE Centre has proposed to allow a seven-year-long posting on central deputation and foreign assignments, a move that will cut down the number of requests from serving bureaucrats to extend their tenure beyond the usual five years. For most of the foreign postings, the current tenure is just three years and officers get extension if there is a delay in selection of the successor. According to a draft proposal released by the DoPT, the extension of deputation tenure to seven years could now be decided by…

2 posts for Indian bureaucrats, one each in Washington DC and Beijing; DEA officials to get preference

TWO vacant foreign posts – one in Washington, the other in Beijing. For non-IFS bureaucrats with a command over economics, here is a chance to work either in Indian embassy in USA or in China. The posts which will be vacant are: Counsellor (Economic) in the Economic Wing of the Embassy of India, Beijing, China and Counsellor (Economic) in the Economic Wing of the Embassy of India, Washington, DC. The officers having knowledge of Mandarin would…

Govt still looking for DPS Sandhu’s replacement in World Bank?

THE government has been looking for suitable candidates at the level of deputy secretary or director in Government of India to fill up two posts of adviser to the executive director in the World Bank in place of 1987 batch IRTS officer DPS Sandhu and 1991 batch Karnataka cadre IAS LK Atheeq. It’s quite surprising that the DoPT circular dated August 6, 2015 is searching for Sandhu’s replacement, because an one and half years old circular dated January 27, 2014 (the UPA time) actually…

Job for JS level officer in Washington; applicant-officers asked to write 250 words on their suitability

Indian Embassy, Washington

IN WHAT could be termed as unusual in government's appointment process, the Centre has asked candidates to write 250 words indicating the candidate’s suitability while applying for the post of Minister (Economic) in the economic wing of Embassy of India in Washington. The post is at the level of...

Deputy secretary or director ranked officer wanted as adviser in the Embassy of India, Brussels

Little Man Pee: Brussels Landmark

FOR deputy secretary or director ranked officials, here is a chance to serve in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium. The government is looking for suitable candidates to fill up the post of Adviser (Industry and Engineering) in the Embassy of India, Brussels under the department of commerce, for a period of three years. The mandatory qualifications include the following:

Post of Counsellor (Economic) in Indian embassy, Beijing: Has Govt identified the officer even before formal searches began?

HAS the government informally chosen the next counsellor (economic) in Indian embassy in Beijing even before the DoPT’s formal letter to GoI secretaries and state chief secretaries to nominate suitable candidates was issued on Tuesday? Unlike other such advertisement notifications, the desirable qualifications for this post located in China’s capital city are more specific:

Post with Dollar Salary: JS level officer wanted in World Bank’s Washington HQ

HERE is a vacancy in Washington, US, for a joint secretary-ranked official. The post of senior adviser to the executive director of World Bank will fall vacant on October 13, 2014, and the government has begun the process of choosing the suitable candidate. But if the earlier trends are any indication, officials from…

Vacancy in Manila: Indian officer wanted as adviser to ED in ADB

FOR director or deputy secretary level officers, here is a chance to grab a foreign post. The government has proposed to fill up the post of adviser to the Executive Director, Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines as tenure of Assam cadre IAS Samir Kumar Sinha will come to an end. The posting will be for a period of…

Haryana IAS Sukriti Likhi to return home; new vacancy for counsellor (economic) in Washington DC

Sukriti Likhi

DEPUTY secretary and director-level officers may apply for the post of counsellor (economic) in the economic wing of embassy of India in Washington DC, as the term of 1993 batch Haryana cadre IAS Sukriti Likhi is ending soon. Like many a mistake in the past, (Read: DoPT mistakes), the DoPT circular dated April 28, 2014, termed Mrs Likhi as a…

Officer wanted as minister (economic) in High Commission of India, London

FOR officers currently working at the level of joint secretary or a director at the Centre, here is an opportunity to get a posting in London. Union secretaries and state chief secretaries have been requested to nominate officers for the post of minister (economic) in London’s High Commission of India in place of…

Daughter's “educational requirements" prompts ACC to extend VS Oberoi’s UNESCO tenure

IN AN unusual move to display transparency, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet in a recent order mentioned clearly that 1979 batch IAS VS Oberoi’s tenure in Paris has been extended because of the “educational requirements of his daughter”. Academic sessions of children are often factored in, though with a large number of exceptions while...