Gujarat's top babus & netas camp at tented accommodation in Rann of Kutch to brainstorm easy admin solutions

GUJARAT'S top bureaucrats and politicians are now camping in an exotic locale of far away Rann of Kutch to participate in a four-day-long brainstorming session organised at the behest of the state chief minister Narendra Modi. The chintan shibir, which is now an annual feature is being attended by chief minister, some of his cabinet colleagues and senior officers, mainly to settle complex administrative problems then and there, and lay down a vision of development for the state. In fact, the officers will not strictly follow the hierarchy in articulating their views for the next few days, as they will be engaged in free and frank discussion till December 7. Former president of India APJ Abdul Kalam is expected to address the political leaders and officials. Interestingly, politicians and bureaucrats are now camping in tents in a rural hamlet in Rann of Kutch.

Jobs in CIC: 116 posts sanctioned THE government has sanctioned 116 posts for the Central Information Commission which in turn has constituted a committee to assess its staff requirement. The government shall examine the report of the committee as and when received. The commission has been allotted a plot of land in Delhi for construction of a building of the Commission. Though staffing and providing accommodation and other facilities to the State Information Commissions are the responsibility of the state governments, the Centre is now providing some assistance to the State Information Commission under a Centrally sponsored scheme, according to minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions Prithviraj Chavan in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha. Action & Appointments a) Syamal Kumar Sarkar, a 1979 batch West Bengal cadre IAS, presently joint secretary in department of personnel and training (DoPT), ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions has been appointed as additional secretary in DoPT in place of Vibha Puri Das, a 1976 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS who was appointed as secretary, higher education recently. b) Retired Maharashtra chief secretary Johny Joseph took over as the new Upa Lokayukta. The veteran bureaucrat was administered the oath of office by chief minister Ashok Chavan in the presence of Lokayukta M B Gaikwad, a former judge of the high court and senior officials.