UP cadre IAS Selvakumari Jayarajan appointed in Handloom Export Promotion Council; IRS-IT officer finds berth in animal husbandry dept

Ms Selvakumari Jayarajan, 2006 batch Uttar cadre IAS, has been appointed as executive director (ED) of Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC), Chennai, with an instruction that she needs to join the new assignment immediately, citing an August 2017 DoPT circular under which “an officer should join the post within three weeks from the date of issue of DoPT’s appointment order, failing which the process of debarment shall be initiated.” 

Forty years old Selvakumari is from Tamil Nadu and is now posted in…

Young IAS officers of 2015 batch make history by walking on the ramp to promote NE handlooms

“For the first time in the history of the country - IAS officers on the ramp! Presenting the HANDLOOM DEMO SHOW!!!”, said a fashion show advertisement last week put up in the official Facebook page of the ministry of development of North Eastern region (DoNER), Government of India. Yes, you are reading it right; young IAS officers of 2015 batch indeed participated in a fashion show held in New Delhi’s India Gate on Sunday evening (Sep 10). The occasion was…

Defence engineer as addl development commissioner (handlooms), postal service officer in environment ministry…List is getting longer

A Right Mix?

WHEN a railway officer can run Air India, why can’t a defence engineer be in the office of development commissioner (handlooms)? Yes, 1988 batch Indian Defence Service of Engineers officer Jitendra Acharya was appointed as additional development commissioner (handlooms) and 2001 batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer Ratnesh Kumar is the new additional development commissioner (handicrafts). If a generalist can head a specialist ministry, why can’t a specialist head a generalist department? Is this the new thinking process in the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet? BoI here lists out a few appointments announced during the last one month which possibly indicate how the Centre wants to experiment with senior bureaucracy:

Fashion with a Cause: How civil servants post their photos sporting handwoven saris, jackets

Varsha Joshi, 1995 batch IAS sporting a handwoven sari

REACTING to a trend #IWearHandloom that took social media by storm on Monday, a number of civil servants including Ambassador of India to UNESCO Ruchira Kamboj, joint secretary ranked IAS officers Sumita Misra, Abhishek Singh, Varsha Joshi, Usha Padhee etc., NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, former IFS Nirupama Rao, former IPS Kiran Bedi et al have shared their own photos sporting beautiful handwoven dresses in micro-blogging site Twitter in the last couple of days. The trend began when union textile minister Smriti Irani shared her own photo wearing a blue handloom sari with an appeal for others also to wear…