Court issues notices questioning appointments of Mayawati's key men

UP chief minister Mayawati’s additional cabinet secretary and 1979 batch UP cadre IAS Ravindra Singh received a notice from Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court questioning him under what authority he was holding the post. The bench issued notices to a few other senior officers, Navneet Sehgal (1988 batch), Durga Shankar Mishra (1984 batch) and RP Singh (1983 batch), asking them how they were posted in the CM secretariat.

The issue cropped up after a retired IAS officer SN Shukla filed a PIL arguing that some IAS officers’ appointments to the CM’s secretariat did not adhere to rules. Shukla further argued that there was no post of an additional cabinet secretary. The petitioner also named five IAS officers posted as a judicial member of the board of revenue (at the rank of commissioner or secretary) whereas he had argued only one IAS officer could be a judicial member.

Shekhar Agarwal becomes defence production secretary

Shekhar Agarwal, a 1977 batch IAS

Shekhar Agarwal, a 1977 batch UP cadre IAS, has assumed charge as secretary in the department of defence production. A gold medalist from St Stephen’s college of Delhi University, Agarwal is an MSc in chemistry. He has a vast work experience in home, finance and personnel administration and has worked in all core areas of the governments both in the Centre and Uttar Pradesh. He has been in the ministry of defence for the last three and half years before assuming this new assignment.

Meanwhile, Shashi Kant Sharma, a 1976 batch Bihar cadre IAS, presently secretary, department of financial services, has been appointed as defence secretary in place of Pradeep Kumar who is becoming India’s new CVC.

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Action and Appointments

a) Madhusudan Ganapathi, a 1975 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed as secretary (west) in the headquarters of the ministry of external affairs in place of Vivek Katju who is retiring on August 31, 2011.

b) An IAS official was fined by Delhi’s traffic police for driving a private car with a blue beacon on July 3, 2011. The police impounded the beacon after collecting the fine. Media reports have quoted joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg to confirm the incident, but Garg refused to name the IAS officer.