Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, IITs, IIM among others to house urban Centres of Excellence

INDIA'S two premiere institutions in the field of administration, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie and Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad will be among 13 academic institutions to house newly set-up Centres of Excellence for promoting various facets of urban development and management. Significantly, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (See director's building in picture) is the apex training institution in the country for senior members of the civil services in India. The other institutions selected to house such Centres for producing cutting-edge research, carry out capacity building activities and improve the domain’s technical knowledge base in urban areas are Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Delhi, Chennai and Guwahati, India Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), New Delhi, Centre for Environment and Development, Thiruvanthapuram, Centre for Environment Planning and Transport, Ahmedabad, National Institute of Technology, Warangal and the Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi. While inaugurating a workshop on Centres of Excellence on urban development and urban transport, union minister for urban development S Jaipal Reddy said in New Delhi on Monday that projects and studies taken up by these centres would help in developing managerial, technical and analytical skills which can gainfully be deployed by the Urban Local Bodies.

Awards for Field publicity officers Field publicity officers and field publicity assistants of various regions will be given awards at the valedictory function to mark 50 years of Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP). To mark this occasion, a three-day national workshop to be held at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) auditorium in New Delhi would be inaugurated by minister of information & broadcasting Ambika Soni on October 28, 2009.

Global Capsule: Hatoyama's tirade against bureaucracy continues Japan's Prime Minister Hatoyama said in his inaugural speech at the Diet that his government was determined to wean Japan away from its dependence on bureaucracy. The "bloodless" changeover in government was "the choice of the people," according to new PM, who promised to end the bureaucratic waste of taxpayers' money and build a more equal Japan-US partnership.

Action & Appointments a) V Venkateshwara Bhatt, a 1976 batch UT cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as Member (Finance), Atomic Energy Commission, Space Commission and Earth Commission, in the rank and pay of additional secretary by temporarily operating the post at the level of additional secretary. b) Dr K Radhakrishnan, distinguished scientist and presently director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre has been appointed as secretary, department of space and chairman, Space Commission for a tenure up to the age of 64 years in place of G Madhavan Nair, on completion of his tenure on October 31, 2009. c) K M Acharya, a 1974 batch MP cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of social justice and empowerment will hold additional charge of the post of secretary, ministry and child development for a period of three months or until further orders. d) Pramode Kumar Mishra, a 1984 batch IA&AS officer has been appointed as additional financial adviser (joint secretary level) in the ministry of defence for five years or until further orders.