Babus Under Check: Government finally gives clarification on disclosure of file noting by bureaucrats under RTI

THE government has said that file noting by civil servants can be disclosed with an exception of a few items which are still exempted under section 8 of the RTI Act. The clarification came after a major showdown between the personnel ministry and Central Information Commission (CIC) for quite sometime. Various government ministries and departments sought clarification from the personnel ministry after CIC chief Wajahat Habibullah summoned two officers --- joint secretary S K Sarkar and deputy secretary Anuradha Chagti --- to explain why they should not be prosecuted under RTI provisions as the department of personnel and training (DoPT) refused to correct the information in its website that file noting was not part of information that could be disclosed under the RTI. According to media reports published earlier, CIC even claimed that erring officials could even face jail terms. In fact, CIC is one of the organizations that come under DoPT.

Extension & Appointments A) Joint secretary in the department of financial services Amitabh Verma, a 1982 batch Bihar cadre IAS, has been given an extension of central deputation for a further period of three months upto September 18, 2009. B) Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987 batch Orissa cadre IAS, as been appointed for a period of five years as deputy director general, in the Unique Identification Authority of India under the Planning Commission, in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000 (PB 4), with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. The posting will be at the level of a joint secretary at the Centre. C) Secretary of the department of agriculture and cooperation under the ministry of agriculture T Nanda Kumar, will hold additional charge of the post of secretary, department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries, ministry of agriculture with immediate effect. Mr Kumar is a 1972 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS.

Unified Commanders conference today

A two-day-long Unified Commanders Conference beginning in New Delhi on Thursday will chalk out the possibility of development of integrated war fighting capability, a government release said on Wednesday. It will deliberate upon various issues relating to Services capabilities to meet the security challenges faced by the nation. To be inaugurated by defence minister AK Antony, the conference will be attended by the chairman chiefs of staff committee Admiral Sureesh Mehta, chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal PV Naik and Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor, Air Marshal SC Mukul, CIDS, C-in-Cs of Andaman & Nicobar Command and heads of various tri-Services training Institutions such as Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, College of Defence Management, Secunderabad and National Defence Academy, Pune.