Yes, a govt employee during her child care leave can proceed on foreign travel, Centre clarifies

EARLY this month, the Central government issued an office memorandum with three major clarifications on what’s permissible during Child Care Leave (CCL). Child Care Leave, for the record, is granted to women employees having minor children below the age of 18 years, for a maximum period of two years (i.e. 730 days) during their entire service, for taking care of up to two children whether for rearing or to look after any of their needs like examination, sickness etc. The clarifications are regarding permissibility of  LTC, foreign travel and leaving of the headquarters during the period of Child Care Leave. Can an employee on CCL leave the headquarters…

Suresh Joseph: How this former railway officer turns a road adventurer, Limca book of records holder

“My car is a living being…it has a soul”, the former Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer Suresh Joseph tells his friends when they ask him about his wanderlust. He used to travel across India in a Swift car, and created Limca book of records for his 24,000-km-drive covering 28 Indian states and 17 railway headquarters. And yes, he authored the book Ek Swift Bharat Yatra-The Journal of a Railwayman’s Journey Across India. Before writing about some of his record drives, let’s first find out where…

Officers Undertaking Foreign Visits: 10 Rules

IN LESS than one month, the government issued two sets of directives imposing curbs on foreign tours by bureaucrats. No officer can now undertake foreign visits beyond four times. The fresh directive issued by expenditure department says the trend of officers travelling abroad at the expense of PSUs should be discouraged. Here are 10 commandments:

Govt asks departments again to disclose official tour details of JS & above

AFTER receiving complaints that a number of Central government departments have not uploaded the suo motu disclosure on official tours of ministers and officials of the rank of joint secretaries and above, as is required by September 11, 2012 advisory, the government has issued an office memorandum asking…

Indian officers in Honolulu for a summit? You will now spot it on the net

THE government has decided to disclose details of foreign and domestic official tours undertaken by ministers and officials of the rank of joint secretary and above on a suo motu basis. The information to be disclosed include:

Millions of dollars spent on funding “pleasure trips” of Pakistan bureaucrats

"Corrupt Legislation", a famous mural by Elihu Vedder (1896)

HUNDREDS of Pakistani bureaucrats may need to submit what they had learnt from short courses in US after it was alleged that a sizeable portion of a $61 million World Bank loan was actually used up to finance their pleasure trips to US in the name of capacity building, media reports in Pakistan and US said.
The World Bank programme that was launched between 2004 and 2009, actually facilitated over 300 bureaucrats traveling to...

Home ministry tightens norms on bureaucrats’ foreign junkets

IN CONTINUATION with its earlier order of restraining Indian bureaucrats hobnobbing with foreign embassies, the ministry of home affairs has further tightened the norms of foreign junkets for civil servants. The new MHA guidelines, which have initially been circulated among Delhi and Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil/Police Services (DANICS and DANIPS), want bureaucrats to submit in writing whether they would attend any…

Andhra bureaucrats to hold road-shows in US, Europe, Japan for Partnership Summit

Around The World

THE preparation work for an international partnership summit to be held in Hyderabad from January 11 to 13, 2012, is making at least 10 Andhra bureaucrats to be globe-trotters. According to local media reports, including widely-circulated Deccan Chronicle, the bureaucrats will be a part of three weeks long road-shows in many countries around the world. Here are the teams, according to reports based on government sources:

a) Principal secretary TS Appa Rao, G Sudhir, CS Biswal (all from industries departments), Suthirth Bhattacharya (infrastructure), Dinesh Kumar (energy), BR Meena (MD, APIIC) and Karikala Vallavan will visit the US and Europe between November 24 and December 7, 2011.

b) Tourism secretary Jayesh Ranjan and APSFC MD Vikas Raj will join the team in Europe. Another bureaucrat Sanjay Jaju will be a part of the team visiting Japan, South Korea and Taiwan between December 12 and 19, 2011. According to reports, the state government has budgeted over Rs 1 crore for the foreign travel of the bureaucrats in the run-up to the international event.

New Age Innovation Partnership --- is the theme of the international event where representatives of 30 countries are expected to join.

Son of an Himachal IAS dies in mysterious circumstances

Abhishek Kapoor, 28-year-old son of Himachal Pradesh IAS and principal secretary (tribal development) PC Kapoor, was found dead on Tuesday under mysterious circumstances in his room at Himachal Bhavan in Chandigarh. The Chandigarh police suspect high liquor intake to be the possible cause of death though the exact reasons would be known only after the post-mortem reports come. His mother is a professor in Himachal Institute of Tribal Development.

Action and Appointments

a) Dr Rajiv Sharma, a 1982 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS, has been appointed as Mission Director of National Mission Clean Ganga (NMCG) at the rank of a joint secretary. Sharma is expected to handle this post till he retires in May 31, 2016, according to the ACC order.

b) The deputation tenure of KAP Sinha, a 1992 batch Punjab cadre IAS and private secretary to minister of state for external affairs Ms Preneet Kaur, has been extended for a period of one year up to March 14, 2012.

c) Ms Lakshmi Sowbhagya Akundi, a 1987 batch Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer, has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of ex-servicemen welfare under the ministry of defence in place of 1986 batch Assam cadre IAS Saneeva Kumar who has now become Chief Vigilance Officer in ONGC.

d) Anjuly Chib Duggal, a 1981 batch Punjab cadre IAS, has now become additional secretary in the department of expenditure in place of Ms Vilasini Ramachandran.