Will India have tourist police with uniforms sporting incredible India logo?

Indian Institute of Travel and Tourism Management (IITTM) has recommended the introduction of the Tourist Police with uniforms sporting Incredible India logo for the safety and security of the tourists. The recommendation was made in its study titled “Functioning of Tourist Police in States/UTs and Documentation of Best Practices”. It was also recommended that…

Sanjay Mitra is new defence secretary; and Rashmi Verma tourism secretary; adhoc appointments for telecom and road transport

New Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma (File Photo)

IN A major senior bureaucracy level reshuffle on Wednesday, the Centre appointed Sanjay Mitra, former chief secretary of West Bengal and key bureaucrat in the era of Manmohan Singh’s PMO, as India’s next defence secretary. He is currently serving as secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways. Also, textiles secretary Rashmi Verma will be new tourism secretary. The government has not however posted permanent secretaries in two key ministries — road transport and highways, and telecom. Here below are the appointments of new secretaries in the ministries of defence, textiles, tourism, tribal affairs, consumer affairs etc.:

Kant as Khan: How DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant had to play Shah Rukh Khan’s “role”; more on branding

Kant while delivering his speech

THE organizers of the International Advertising Association requested Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan to be the chief guest in their IAA Silver Jubilee Summit held in Kochi earlier this month, but they did not want to take any risk. They needed someone as…

Know Your Babu: New tourism secretary Vinod Zutshi’s marketing skills may come handy now

Zutshi (right) with minister Dr Mahesh Sharma

FIRST, let’s take a close look at this photo. Newly-appointed tourism secretary and 1982 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS Vinod Zutshi is seen while being welcomed by minister of state for tourism (independent charge) Dr Mahesh Sharma in New Delhi on Wednesday. In the backdrop of the photo which was released by the tourism ministry on Wednesday, the photo of prime minister Nadendra Modi too stands out. Eyes say it all – the minister is likely to give Zutshi enough room to experiment, innovate and undertake new…

Adhoc appointments creep into the corridors; no full-time secretary for tourism, dept of land resources

Secretaries at 7 RCR (File photo)

IN LESS than 15 months of the NDA government taking rein at the Centre, adhoc appointments of senior bureaucracy have crept into the corridors -- a phenomenon often witnessed during the UPA-II government. Three departments – the ministry of tourism, department of land resources and department of electronics and IT — at present don’t have a full-time secretary, and heavy industries secretary Rajan S Katoch has continued to hold the additional charge as Enforcement Director since August 2014. This is surprising as…

Working in Delhi, but residing in Noida or Faridabad? This DoPT clarification on LTC will benefit you

Destination Modhera (Photo courtesy: Gujarat Tourism)

A SMART marketing person selling real estates in Noida, Ghaziabad or Gurgaon can resort to this May 18, 2015, office memorandum (OM) when he or she pitches a Central government officer next time. In fact, this OM, issued by DoPT, clarifies that those government employees residing in areas in National Capital Region of Delhi (e.g. Noida, Indirapuram, Gurgaon or Faridabad etc.) can actually avail of Leave Travel Concession (LTC) using the…

Destination Goa or Kutch? Centre relaxes LTC rules to help unmarried government employees

Great Rann of Kutch

IN WHAT could possibly be described as the first benefit especially directed towards the unmarried Central government employees, the Centre has relaxed Leave Travel Concession (LTC) norms to allow unmarried government employees to avail of the LTC facilities while traveling anywhere in the country. In other words, an unmarried government officer belonging to, say Kolkata, can now travel to...

Know Your Babu: New ITDC chairman and 1989 batch IAS Umang Narula

JAMMU and Kashmir cadre IAS of 1989 batch Umang Narula is the new as CMD of Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), a government-owned hospitality company that owns 17 properties under the brand of Ashoka Group of Hotels. Narula, 49, was deputy secretary in the department of culture under the union ministry of tourism and culture way back in…

Old hand in tourism Lalit K Panwar appointed as tourism secretary; where is Mayaram heading for?

Lalit K Panwar

THE government has cancelled the appointment of finance secretary Arvind Mayaram as tourism secretary, and instead brought in a veteran in tourism sector Lalit K Panwar, as India’s new tourism secretary, according to an order dated October 29. Panwar, 1979 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, has been working as secretary in the ministry of minority affairs. Now, Mayaram has been appointed as…

Know Your Babu: New CITCO MD and 2004 batch IAS Kavita Singh

AFTER getting appointed as Managing Director of Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (CITCO), Kavita Singh will be in AGMUT cadre, and not in Punjab cadre, at least for the next three years. According to a DoPT notification dated October 8, 2014, the Central government accorded approval of…

Tourism Ministry Moots Idea: Let's have a cadre of Tourist Police

TO INSTIL a sense of confidence among tourists visiting key Indian destinations, the tourism ministry has mooted the idea of creating a new police cadre, called Tourist Police, on the same line as it exists in many parts of the world. Union tourism minister K Chiranjeevi said on Thursday that the new cadre could be built either by...

Will new tourism secretary Parvez Dewan be a game-changer?

Parvez Dewan as ITDC chairman (File Photo)

FOR Parvez Dewan, the new tourism secretary and 1977 batch Jammu and Kashmir cadre IAS, it’s like a homecoming. Between April 2006 and December 2009, Dewan was the chairman of India Tourism Development Corporation, a post currently held by a seasoned politician. So, who is Parvez Dewan, and why he is brought into the tourism ministry by shifting out the incumbent? Here is more:

LTC relaxation to Kashmir extended for 2 years; Srinagar, Gulmarg hot destinations

IN AN attempt to encourage more and more Central government employees visiting picturesque Jammu and Kashmir, the Government has extended the relaxation of LTC by air for another two years beyond June 18, 2012. This means the employees who are otherwise not eligible to travel by air could avail of Leave Travel Concession, or LTC, by air provided...

AIR TRAVEL: Centre extends LTC relaxation norm for North-East for 2 years

Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is not far from India-China border

THE Central government employees wishing to venture out to India’s North-East, have reasons to cheer. The government on Monday extended its earlier order of relaxation of LTC rules so that the employees could continue to travel by air to North-Eastern Region and avail their Leave Travel Concession. According to a DoPT office memorandum dated April 30, 2012, the extension is for

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...

Kerala cadre IAS Sanjay Kaul hired to re-create God's Own Country in Modi's Gujarat

Gujarat’s tourism campaign has always used Guest as God motto to woo tourists, but now it has hired an IAS officer from God’s Own Country Kerala to anchor the state’s tourism drive. Kaul Sanjay Moolchand, a 2001 IAS batch Kerala cadre IAS, is taking over as managing director of Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL), and is expected to kick-start a campaign involving Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan who was already hired as Gujarat’s brand ambassador.

An engineer by profession, Sanjay Kaul (left in the picture on top) originally belongs to the state of Gujarat and his parents still live in Vadodara. He is now on a deputation to Gujarat cadre for a period of three years. 41-year-old Sanjay had earlier served as a director in Kerala’s tourism department between November 2006 and December 2007. Current MD, TCGL, Anoop Shukla has been sent back to his parent cadre.

Several IAS officers from Kerala cadre have excelled in the field of tourism, the most famous face being 1980 batch IAS Amitabh Kant who was the man behind the “Incredible India” campaign.

For Sanjay Kaul, the challenge now is to create a new campaign and meaningfully rope in Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. While Vibrant Gujarat campaign has been a success story in wooing multi-billion dollar investment into the state, it remains to be seen whether Aavo Padharo or the Gujarati words of welcome can create a similar buzz at the national and international spectrums.