RTI pressure: 5 eminent persons wanted as Information Commissioners

THE government has been looking for eminent persons in the field of law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, administration etc. to fill up 5 posts of Information Commissioners who need to act like watchdogs in case of RTI disputes. The Information Commissioners are entitled to get the same salary and allowances as that of an Election Commissioner.

With the Central government receiving about eight lakh RTI applications in a year, there has been a pressure on Central Information Commission too, as not-so-satisfying applicants can approach the CIC to complain.

Eminent persons in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass-media or administration and governance can apply for this coveted position. According to the law, the Information Commissioner shall not be a Member of Parliament or Member of the Legislature of any state or Union Territory, or hold any other office of profit or connected with any political party or carrying on any business or pursuing any profession.

At present, Central Information Commission based in New Delhi has Chief Information Commissioner and five Information Commissioners whereas there can be 10 Information Commissioners, according to RTI Act. Whereas 1973 batch retired IAS Satyananda Mishra is the Chief Information Commissioner, the Information Commissioners are Annapurna Dixit, Shailesh Gandhi, former police officer ML Sharma, former media adviser to PM Deepak Sandhu and former IAS Sushma Singh.

Persons fulfilling the criteria for appointment as Information Commissioner and interested for appointment to the post may send their particulars in the enclosed proforma by post to Under Secretary (IR), Department of Personnel and Training, North Block, New Delhi or through e-mail to usrti-doptc@nic.in by November 18, 2011.

Ex-IAS' house confiscated

The Orissa government has recently confiscated the house of retired IAS officer Sanjib Kumar Ray in a case connected with disproportionate assets. The family of Ray who retired way back in 2004, was removed from the house when it was confiscated. The case dates back to 2001 when Ray was vice-chairman of Cuttack Development Authority (CDA).
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Officer's house converted into school

Gautam Sanyal is Mamata’s Pulok; shows how a CSS officer can upset IAS power

Gautam Sanyal, a Central secretariat service officer, is the new poster boy of India’s babudom. Till a few months ago, he was the all-powerful OSD to Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee. But after Ms Banerjee became chief minister of West Bengal, Sanyal too took a flight to Kolkata and became the most important officer in Bengal’s power corridors giving heartburns to many IAS officers. The IAS babus could not even believe that a CSS officer at the rank of a joint secretary was actually dominating the IAS. There were reports that the state chief secretary was reluctant to appoint him as principal secretary to CM as he was not so high in the seniority list.

According to reports, Sanyal is now given one year’s extension after his retirement making him probably the first retired bureaucrat to head the chief minister’s office in Kolkata. There were rumours that Sanjay Mitra, former PMO official would move to chief minister’s office as secretary to CM after Sanyal’s retirement. But that did not happen. Sanyal became Mamata’s close confidante when she was the railway minister in during the NDA government. He continued to enjoy her trusts in UPA-II as well. In Rail Bhawan, Sanyal was the bullet train to reach Mamata immediately.

In fact, Gautam Sanyal to Mamata is what Pulok Chatterji is to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Chatterji, for example, is so close to Sonia Gandhi that he was recalled mid-way from his Washington DC posting in World Bank to take over as principal secretary to PM after it was realized that a man close to 10 Janpath should anchor the PMO and bridge the gap between the government and the Congress party. Sanyal is undoubtedly Mamata’s Pulok.

Those who became secretary to West Bengal chief minister in the past included veteran bureaucrats like Bhaskar Ghose (later become information and broadcasting secretary), Subir Dutta (later became Union defence secretary) and SN Menon (became Union commerce secretary).

Australian bureaucrats’ playing with Barbie dolls and finger paint creates row

Will You Indulge in Finger Painting?

THE Federal government in Australia adopted a unique method of encouraging bond among government employees. It hired a firm to help bureaucrats play finger-painting, Barbie dolls and balloon animals.

But that soon created a controversy. After Australian media highlighted how taxpayers’ money was wasted for indulging the bureaucrats, the opposition political leaders joined the chorus making it a big controversy in a relatively clean Australian government set-up. As was reported by leading newspaper Herald Sun, the department of human services admitted that spending $2660 on a laughter workshop was “a misuse of public money”. It was also decided that no laughter services would be hired in future to pamper bureaucrats.

The rationale behind organizing such workshops was to create ice-breakers for people to have an informal moment to get to know each other better, according to reports. 

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A "private dinner" party haunts IAS

Items in police canteen to come cheaper

Thousands of serving and retired personnel of CRPF, BSF, SSB, ITBP and CISF will now have a better Diwali as items sold in Central Police Canteen outlets will come cheaper. Delhi chief minister recently decided to exempt Value Added Tax in items sold in such canteens located in Delhi. Eight state governments around the country had earlier issued similar orders.

Dear Chief Minister, did you appreciate the Mekhela Chador worn by Sudha Pillai?

CALL it picture imperfect. This is a still from the National Development Council (NDC) meet held at Vigyan Bhawan at the heart of New Delhi on Saturday. The wait was for the Prime Minister to arrive at the function which was attended by state chief ministers. But Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi just passed by Planning Commission Member Secretary and 1972 batch IAS Sudha Pillai without probably realizing that Mrs Pillai was actually wearing Assam’s traditional attire Mekhela Chador, a two-piece cloth resembling a sari. Gogoi instead was extending a very warm welcome to Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, not seen in the photograph.

Sudha Pillai, a senior Central government official with the rank of a minister of state, is the wife of former home secretary GK Pillai, who has immense interests in North East India including Assam. The dress Mrs Pillai was wearing is made of golden silk called Muga which is a symbol of rich Assamese culture.

There are two main pieces of cloth that are draped around the body. As Wikipedia describes, the bottom portion, draped from the waist downwards is called mekhela. “It is in the form of a very wide cylinder that is folded into pleats to fit around the waist and tucked in. The top portion of a long length of cloth that has one end tucked into the upper portion of the Mekhela and the rest draped over and around the rest of the body,” Wiki describes an Assamese Mekhela Chador.

Significantly, American diplomat and former US ambassador to India Robert D Blackwill’s wife Anne Heiberg was so attracted by Assamese Mekhela Chador that she organized a private fashion show to showcase the highly attractive Assamese dress.

Action and Appointments

a) The extension of Central deputation tenure of Dr Bachittar Singh, a 1983 batch UP cadre IAS and joint secretary in the ministry of tribal affairs has been approved for

a period upto December 31, 2011.

IPS officer reviewing Anna Hazare's security is a yoga freak, friend of Baba Ramdev

Dr Satyapal Singh, Additional Director General of Police in Maharashtra and the man who is personally reviewing the security of anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare by visiting Anna’s native village in Ralegan Siddhi is an unusual police officer. His domain knowledge and understanding of Yoga, Vedas and Swami Vivekananda could make many religious experts envious.

And that has made him closer to many civil society activists and spiritual gurus over the years. Have a close look at this file photo. Satyapal Singh with his family had shared a happy moment with Baba Ramdev, Yoga guru and anti-corruption activist. The IPS officer was then Pune’s police commissioner.

Only a few days ago, Singh as additional DGP (law and order) visited Ralegan Siddhi and tried to persuade him to enhance the security cover. In the backdrop of attacks on Team Anna members, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal, it was originally suggested that Anna should be given Z category security which would have meant the deployment of 22 security personnel round the clock. But Anna had refused the suggestion. Finally, it was decided Anna will have 11 security men, as against the four who are being currently deployed. Metal detectors at the entrances of his home, Padmavati temple and his office were also installed.

As people close to the development say IPS Singh struck cords with Anna Hazare too. Born at Meerut, Singh was an M.Phil in chemistry from Delhi University, but he always developed a better chemistry with spiritualism and ancient India, particularly the Vedic age. While in service, Singh did his PhD in Naxalism, and an MBA from an Australian university.

In his blog, the IPS officer writes that guidance or instructions for individuals are actually provided in the Vedas in some form or the other. “Every minute and meaningful knowledge of the Universe, guidance or instructions for individuals, domestic, social, national or international harmonious, sustainable and holistic development are provided in the Vedas in seed forms… Vedas are encoded with scientific and technological insights, experiments and riddles,” Singh believes.

Action and Appointments

a) The ACC has approved the extension of Central deputation tenure of the following officers for a period of six months beyond the dates of completion of their normal tenure:

(i) Arvind Mayaram, a 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS and additional secretary and financial adviser, ministry of rural development;

(ii) Sanjay Kothari, a 1978 batch Haryana cadre IAS and additional secretary, ministry of tourism.

Discarding antiquated laws will bring in transparency: Cabinet secretary Ajit K Seth

CABINET secretary and 1974 batch UP cadre IAS Ajit Kumar Seth has described the use of computers and electronic medium and doing away with antiquated laws and procedures as important steps to bring in transparency in government. Seth was addressing senior officers at the rank of joint secretary and director from 42 ministries or departments of government of India. Seth inaugurated a workshop on capacity assessment and enhancement process organized by the department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG).

Seth further noted that the government is in the process of taking a number of initiatives for ensuring better service delivery, enhanced transparency and accountability and in general, about improving governance.

DARPG secretary Ramesh C Misra highlighted that the basic mindset of the civil servant has to be oriented towards timely and quality service. He further noted that the civil servants have to remember that citizen centricity is the essence of any vibrant democracy which is linked to good governance.

The workshops mainly aimed at sensitising the participants on integrating and translating the commitments made in the Citizen’s Charter into their day-to-day functioning with a view to ensuring effective delivery of services to the citizens and faster grievance redressal. This was the second in a series of four workshops on capacity building for Sevottam in 2011-12.

S Dutt Mazumdar, chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs and industry body Ficci’s Quality Forum head Sanjeevan Bajaj participated in the workshop.

Action and Appointments

a) The appointments committee of the cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the

ministry of home affairs for extension in Central deputation tenure of PM Nair,

a 1978 batch Bihar cadre IPS officer and additional Director General of Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) for a period of six months up to April 17, 2012.

Unlike SPG biggies, PMO official Vini Mahajan gets "unconditional" extension

Inside PMO

Vini Mahajan, one of the most influential bureaucrats in Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and 1987 batch Punjab cadre IAS, will remain at the power centre of Delhi at least till April 2012. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on October 12, 2011, approved “further extension of Central deputation tenure” of Ms Vini Mahajan as joint secretary in the PMO by six months beyond October 29, 2011.

Significantly, it is not a conditional extension unlike in case of four senior IPS officers of elite Special Protection Group. On August 8, 2011, four SPG officers at the rank of Inspector General of Police were given extensions of seven months to one year on conditions that “no further extension would be considered”. The order said “operational needs and sensitivity of the job” were the reasons for giving them extensions up to eight years. The police officers who got conditional extensions included Sudeep Lakhtakia of Andhra Pradesh cadre, Ram Phal Pawar of West Bengal cadre and SL Thaosen of Madhya Pradesh cadre --- all of whom have been with the SPG from the beginning of the UPA-I. The SPG is an elite force meant for protection of the Prime Minister of India and other VVIPs.

Vini Mahajan has been on Central deputation from April, 2004 just a month before the UPA-I took charge. She was then a director in finance ministry. But in June 2005 she was shifted to PMO where she was first a director, and then a joint secretary. A post graduate in management and diploma holder on infrastructure in market economy from an US university, Ms Mahajan is considered to be an asset in the PMO.

Ms Mahajan came into news recently when a finance ministry note dated March 2011 dragging P Chidambaram into the 2G scam came into the public domain through an RTI application. The note, dated March 25, 2011 was signed by finance ministry’s deputy director Dr PGS Rao and was reportedly sent to PMO’s Vini Mahajan. Finance minister Prabnab Mukherjee later clarified and distanced himself from a few lines mentioning about current home minister P Chidambaram.

Action and Appointments

a) The ACC has approved the extension of inter-cadre deputation tenure of Yeshi Tsering, a 1983 batch Assam cadre IAS from Assam-Meghalaya to AGMUT cadre (Arunachal Pradesh) for a further period of one year beyond February 19, 2011.

b) The UP government said that the allegations made by IAS officer Promilla Shankar are “baseless and irresponsible”. According to am UP government spokesperson, Shankar went abroad without due sanction of leaves and that cost her job. But Ms Shankar wrote to the Centre saying that UP government suspended her just eight days after she mentioned flaws in the master plan of the Yamuna Expressway Authority.

Read

Promilla Shankar's letter

PK Pradhan is new health secretary; Uday Varma in Information and Broadcasting

PK Pradhan taking charge as health secretary

IN A major bureaucratic reshuffle in Delhi’s corridors of power, two special secretaries of 1977 batch IAS, PK Pradhan and Vilasini Ramachandran, have got the secretary berths, and 1976 batch MP cadre IAS Uday Kumar Varma has been appointed as secretary, ministry of Information and Broadcasting in place of Raghu Menon, a 1974 batch Nagaland cadre IAS who had retired. PK Pradhan has become the Union health secretary, and Vilasini Ramachandran is the new secretary in the ministry of drinking water and sanitation.

Also, 1975 batch UT cadre IAS Kiran Dhingra who has been on a compulsory wait for sometime, has assumed charge of office as secretary, ministry of Panchayati Raj. Dhingra had served secretary, ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation.

Here are the key takeaways of the big-ticket reshuffles concerning important ministries.

* PK Pradhan, a 1977 batch West Bengal cadre IAS, presently special secretary in the department of health and family welfare, has been appointed as secretary, department of health and family welfare in place of K Chandramouli, a 1975 batch UP cadre IAS who had retired. An MSc in botany, Pradhan had also worked as a joint secretary in urban development ministry.

* Vilasini Ramachandran, a 1977 batch Gujarat cadre IAS and presently special secretary in the department of expenditure, has been appointed as secretary in the ministry of drinking water and sanitation in place of 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS Navin Kumar who is new chief secretary, Bihar. A post graduate in English literature, Ms Ramachandran is a Mason fellow from the USA. In late 1990s, she was the municipal commissioner, Vadodara. 

Uday K Varma (File photo)

* Uday Kumar Varma, a 1976 batch MP cadre IAS, has been appointed as secretary in the ministry of Information and Broadcasting. In early 1990s, he was on the Central deputation and had worked in the ministry of rural development and HRD. Varma was also additional secretary and special secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting before becoming Central Provident Fund commissioner. In September, 2010 Varma became secretary in the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprise.  

* Kiran Dhingra, a 1975 batch UT cadre IAS, has already assumed charge of office as secretary in the ministry of Panchayati Raj. She had earlier worked as Director General (Shipping), in the ministry of shipping and joint secretary in the textiles ministry. She was also the chief secretary of Goa.

* In another development, the government has cancelled its earlier order of appointing VK Pipersenia, a 1980 batch Assam cadre IAS as secretary, National Commission of Scheduled Castes and debarred Pipersenia from Central deputation for a period of five years. Now, Shyam S Agarwal, a 1980 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS will become secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Castes in the rank of an additional secretary.

Senior IAS attend CAG-hosted closed door brainstorming conclave in Shimla

Famous toy train from Kalka to Shimla

AT LEAST 10 government of India secretaries including those who come under Prime Minister’s Office and finance ministry landed up in Indian hill town Shimla last weekend. The reason? Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai, a 1972 batch IAS officer, hosted an official closed-door brainstorming conclave to find out modalities to encompass more aspects of government under its scrutiny.

Despite Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh aired his voice that CAG Rai overstepped his brief by entering into the policy space, Rai has now managed to rally around a large number of senior babus to drive home his point: A need to strengthen the CAG’s role rather than limiting itself to mere auditing.

Those bureaucrats who attended the CAG-hosted Shimla conclave included expenditure secretary Sumit Bose (1976 batch IAS), DoPT secretary Alka Sirohi (1974 batch IAS), rural development secretary BK Sinha (1975 batch IAS), power secretary Uma Shankar (1976 batch IAS) among others. There is no one from PMO directly, but DoPT secretary Alka Sirohi technically falls under the PMO. Secretaries from some other departments like Panchayati Rai, environment and forests and heavy industries were also present. Also, about a dozen secretaries representing various states reportedly attended the close-door conclave.

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh and Rai’s batch-mate and CVC Pradeep Kumar also attended the Shimla conclave. Rai and Kumar, both of 1972 batch, are close friends and are in regular touch.

Reportedly it was decided in the conclave that government’s social sector expenditure which amounted Rs 1,60,000 crore this year alone need to be scrutinized thoroughly.
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CAG Rai as most powerful babu


Action and Appointments

a) The CBI in a case related to alleged illegal mining and irregularities in allotment of mining leases to Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), questioned 1988 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer Y Srilakshmi on Saturday. The investigating agency has raided her house too. Srilakshmi, currently commissioner (health), was earlier secretary of Andhra Pradesh Industries Department.

US struggles to find its ambassador to India; Indian bureaucrats race for an US posting

Ambassador Rao with Obama in White House

FOR an Indian diplomat or bureaucrat, a posting in Washington DC could be a dream come true, but US is struggling to get its ambassador to India after at least three candidates turned down the offer, reports originating from Washington suggested. The US is yet to find a suitable replacement after its ambassador Tim Roehmer left India in June this year.

Among those who refused to come to New Delhi as US ambassador include Strobe Talbott who had worked in State Department earlier, and John Hamre, president of US think tank, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Talbott who is head of US think tank, the Brookings Institute, reportedly has some health problems. The Obama administration has now begun the process all over again as not having the right person to head US embassy in New Delhi could be detrimental to US interests.

Meera Shankar with Hillary Clinton

Contrast this. Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers weigh an US posting crucial for their career growth. Even after retirement, Indian diplomats and bureaucrats consider a posting in America highly rewarding. Nirupama Rao who had served as India’s foreign secretary chose to become India’s ambassador to US post retirement in place of her batch-mate Meera Shankar. No one doubts the calibre of Rao as a diplomat, but many in South Block feel a highly talented serving IFS officer could have been given the chance. In another posting, secretary to Prime Minister and 1972 batch retired IAS officer MN Prasad has joined as India’s new executive director in World Bank. He has replaced Pulok Chatterji who was called back even before his term got over. Chatterji has recently joined as principal secretary to PM in place of TKA Nair.

For the PMO, sending their trusted men and women to US is also a strategic move as much as they are rewards for being useful. Both Rao and Prasad worked very closely with Prime Minister.

6 contenders including 4 railway officers, 2 insiders in race for Delhi Metro MD post

SIX contenders including four railway officers are in race for prestigious post of Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). On October 14, a three-member panel including the current MD E Sreedharan will interview six short-listed candidates. Over two dozen technocrats and bureaucrats had applied for the post after 78-year-old Sreedharan made it crystal clear that he would demit office by December 31, 2011 and an advertisement asking for suitable candidates was placed. DMRC’s annual turnover is about Rs 12,000 crore.

Here are the six short-listed names:

a)      Mangu Singh (Director, Works, DMRC)

b)      Sharat Sharma (Executive Director, Electrical, DMRC)

c)      Vipin Sharma (AGM North Frontier Railway)

d)      Sudhir Mittal (South Eastern Railway CPO Construction)

e)      RK Gupta (MD, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation)

f)        Vijay Anand (Director, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited)

E Sreedharan reportedly said in the past that he would prefer an insider rather than an outsider to replace him. Though Mangu Singh and Sharat Sharma are currently working in DMRC, 1981 batch Indian Railway Service of Engineers officer Vijay Anand too worked in DMRC as director, projects.

The other two panelists of the selection committee are Union urban development secretary Sudhir Krishna and Delhi chief secretary Praveen Kumar Tripathi. Sreedharan has been saying all along that a very capable and experienced professional is to be selected to head such a prestigious organization. He also wanted the selected candidate to work with him for three months before the new person takes charge as Delhi Metro chief.

16 Bihar officers promoted as IAS

The Centre has cleared Bihar government’s proposal to promote 16 state civil services officers as IAS. They are Dhirendra Mohan Jha, Anil Kumar Verma, Lakshmeshwar Jha, Virendra Kumar Singh, Parmanand Jha, Ram Babu Singh, Dharmeshwar Thakur, Vijay Kumar Singh, Raghwendra Jha, Ram Roop Singh, Upendra Kumar, Anil Kumar, Rajiv Kumar Singh, Misbah Bari, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Ifthkar Masan

Action and Appointments

a) The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved extension of Central deputation tenure of Dr Amar Singh, a 1981 batch MP cadre IAS who is currently working as Executive Director (T), Food Corporation of India. The extension is for three months till January 6, 2012.

What captains of India Inc want from government; full text of 2nd open letter

Captains of Indian industry in their second open letter dated October 3, 2011, have urged the political leaders to take concrete steps on a number of issues including combating corruption. Signatories of the open letter include bigwigs of corporate India including N Vaghul, Deepak Parekh, Jamshyd Godrej, Keshub Mahindra, Azim Premji and Ms Anu Aga among others.
Here is the full text of the letter
On January 17, 2011, we, a group of like-minded citizens who were deeply concerned with the state of affairs of the nation addressed an Open Letter to our leaders. This letter focused on four issues - (a) Growing Governance Deficit (b) Galloping Corruption (c) The urgent need to distinguish between 'Dissent' and 'Disruption' and (d) Environmental Challenges. The Open Letter received wide exposure in the public domain and was generally perceived as being timely. As mentioned in the first Open Letter, the aim of the group is to develop specific actions regarding the above-mentioned issues and place these in the public domain from time to time. It is in this context that we put forward our second Open Letter.
August 27, 2011 marked a high point by the historic debate leading to...

Don't remain mute spectators: UP’s suspended IAS Promilla Shanker to Centre

Promilla Shanker, suspended UP cadre IAS officer of 1976 batch, has alleged Mayawati government of unleashing “a reign of terror and fear in the administration and officers who speak their mind” and wanted Centre to “protect the morale” of all-India services officers. Ms Shankar had expressed her reservations about UP government’s urbanisation plan along the Yamuna Expressway which she said would violate NCR Regional Plan 2021. But she was suspended on the ground that she travelled abroad, allegedly without government permission.

She has now sent a formal letter to the Centre saying it “should not remain a mute spectator when its members (all India services) are being trampled upon in performance of their duty.”

Ms Shanker is UP’s senior-most IAS officer, even two batch senior to chief secretary Anoop Mishra. Also, two of the country’s most powerful bureaucrats, principal secretary to the Prime Minister Pulok Chatterji and Union cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth are her seniors from the same UP cadre.

Ms Shankar was in Central deputation only once --- as under secretary in Union home ministry between 1981 and 1983. She was additional resident commissioner in UP Bhawan in New Delhi (2000-2001) and then resident commissioner at the level of a joint secretary (2002-2003). She had also served as additional CEO in Noida and chief electoral officer in Ghaziabad.

Excerpts of Promilla Shanker’s letter

State government has unleashed a reign of terror and fear in the administration and officers who speak their mind are harassed and sidelined as they have done to me in past four years…I have served for over 35 years with utmost diligence, total integrity and sincerity. My record is blemish-less and when I am due to retire in February 2012, the state government action to suspend me for no reason is to humiliate me further...It is the responsibility of the Government to India to protect the morale of all-India services. They cannot and should not remain a mute spectator when its members are being trampled upon in performance of their duty…

Sanjiv Bhatt turns real-life Singham; Gujarat IPS officers back his “fight for truth”

Ajay Devgan as Singham

IS Gujarat’s much talked about IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt slowing becoming a real-life Singham, an Ajay Devgan-starred character of a police officer who finally motivates his seniors to join him in a fight against the evil? Bhatt who was arrested on September 30 on a compliant filed by police constable, is now getting a strong backing from fellow IPS officers of the state. Bhatt first came into news when he accused state chief minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

Sanjiv Bhatt

On Saturday, Gujarat IPS Officers Association passed a resolution not only to support the family of the arrested IPS officer but backed Bhatt in his "fight for truth". The meeting was reportedly attended by 35 IPS officer. The resolution is significant as it is the most vocal support to a Modi-baiter though many IPS officers in the past were not happy about the treatment meted out to IPS officers like Rahul Sharma, RB Srikumar and Kuldeep Sharma. All of them had expressed their anguish against Modi government over a period of time.

According to media reports, IPS officers Atul Karwal, VM Parghi and Praveen Kumar Singh personally went to Bhatt’s residence to convey the resolution passed by the association to his family members. Bhatt’s wife Shewta had earlier written to home minister P Chidambaram saying that her husband was kept in the same cell with criminals and his life could be a danger.

Gujarat DGP Chittaranjan Singh played down the move. Incidentally, the IPS association also wanted a permanent DGP in the state as Singh is an acting police chief.

There has been a fear among IPS officers in the state that any one opposing Modi could be meted out the same treatment. It is probably the first instance in India that an IPS officer is arrested on a complaint filed by a police constable. Constable KD Pant had accused Bhatt of allegedly making him sign false affidavits regarding a meeting called by Modi on February 27, 2002 soon after the Godhra train attack.

Srivastava new Member Traffic Railway Board

KK Srivastava, a 1975 batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, has taken over as new Member Traffic, Railway Board and ex-officio secretary to government of India. He was the General Manager, East Central Railway, Hajipur. He had earlier worked as chief passenger traffic manager and chief operations manager on Eastern Railway and chief commercial manager on East Central Railway and North Eastern Railway. He had visited UK to study Multi-Model Transport Management.

Battleground UTI: 10 Things You May Like to Know About IAS officer Jitesh Khosla

FOR the last few months, Jitesh Khosla, a 1979 batch Assam cadre IAS officer, has hogged the limelight as he is one of the main contenders for the post of chairman of the UTI Mutual Fund which was earlier headed by IAS officers such as M Damodaran and UK Sinha. The UTI Mutual Fund, which manages assets over Rs 62,000 crore (as on September 30), has been headless since UK Sinha left the organization to become the Sebi chief in February, 2011.

According to reports, Khosla who incidentally is brother of Omita Paul, adviser to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, is the front-runner for the post.

Here are 10 things you may like to know about Jitesh Khosla:

1. Khosla is 56 year old (Born in May 1955)

2. He originally hails from Punjab, but has been serving in Assam.

3. Knows Punjabi, Assamese, English and French

4. A mechanical engineer from IIT-Delhi before getting into IAS in 1979, Khosla is also a post graduate in System Analysis Finance from IIT-Delhi and a PG in social planning and policy from London School of Economics. He completed a certificate course in French.

5. Served in DoPT on deputation as under secretary and deputy secretary between 1986 and 1990.

6. He was a director and joint secretary in department of economic affairs between 1994 and 1999.

7. He was joint secretary and then OSD (at the rank of addition secretary) in corporate affairs ministry between January 2004 and January 2011.

8. Was chairman, Assam State Electricity Board, and additional chief secretary of government of Assam.

9. Khosla was one of the six officers of corporate affairs ministry to jointly receive the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration, 2007-08 for MCA21, an e-Governance project that detects corporate fraud.

10. Many of Khosla’s moves come under media attention and even scrutiny as he is brother of Omita Paul, all-powerful adviser to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Non-executive CBI staff to get special incentive allowance at 15% of basic salary

THE non-executive staff working in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will now get a special incentive allowance. The allowance will be 15% of the basic pay, as revised after sixth pay commission. With this the CBI employees will get an incentive allowance at par with those working in Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analytical Wing, the country’s external intelligence arm.

The allowance will be effective from October 4, 2011 or the date of the issue of the order. The department of personnel and training or DoPT issued the order. Unlike the popular perception, CBI does not come under ministry of home affairs (MHA), but under the personnel ministry headed by Prime Minister of India.

The issue of granting special incentive allowance to its employees was taken up by the CBI, and in April, 2011 Calcutta High Court passed a favourable judgment in a case filed by one Kisalay Mukherjee. The government’s move will have an additional burden on the exchequer. But the ministry of finance in an order dated September 27, 2011 approved the grant.

The CBI has been investigating a number of high profile cases related to 2G spectrum and Commonwealth Games.

MEA takes 20 interns to ignite diplomats’ minds

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has announced an internship programme mainly to provide an opportunity for the officers of the ministry to interact with young thinking minds with brilliant academic record from reputed institutions. It’s expected that the idea from budding scholars will be of use to the diplomats. The MEA takes 20 such scholars on board.

Eligibility: The programme is open to Indian citizens. The candidates should at least have a degree in humanities. PG/research students and foreign language students can apply. Research scholars from specialized fields like energy security, climate change, disarmament etc. or with formal background in international relations will be given preference depending upon the requirement of a division in the ministry. The intern should have excellent academic track-record and should preferably be from a Centre/Institution of excellence.

Duration: The duration of the internship will be for maximum period of 6 months.

Declaration of secrecy: Interns are required to furnish to the ministry a declaration of secrecy before the commencement of the internship.

Submission of Report: The interns will be required to present a report/paper at the end of their internship to the head of division.

Certificate of Internship: Certificates will be issued to the interns on satisfactory completion of their internships and on submission of their report / paper and its evaluation by the head of concerned division.

Mode of Application: Interested students can send their applications, along with their CVs, in the enclosed format to the joint secretary/head of the concerned division of the ministry at the address available on MEA website (http://meatel.nic.in/).

Govt to fill up 9 posts of CAT members; positions equivalent to High Court judges

THE government wants to fill up nine vacancies of Members in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that are arising in 2012. The vacancies are coming up at Principal Bench Delhi, Hyderabad Bench, Jodhpur Bench, Patna Bench, Allahabad Bench, Cuttack Bench, Calcutta Bench and Guwahati Bench.

A number of senior bureaucrats who have retired or are about to retire normally vie for such posts. Members of CAT enjoy the same rank and get the same remuneration of a High Court Judge.The CAT adjudicates disputes regarding recruitment and conditions of service of government employees.

Now, applications are invited from eligible officers for filling up these nine vacancies of Administrative Members in CAT in Delhi, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Patna, Allahabad, Cuttack, Kolkata and Guwahati. But selected candidates would be posted to a Bench where vacancy is available at the time of posting. Also, Members are liable to be transferred to any of the 17 Benches of CAT depending on exigency of work.

A Member shall hold office as such for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office extendable by one more term of five years. But the upper age limit is 65.
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DoPT CIRCULAR on CAT VACANCIES

No full-fledged secretaries for I and B, Panchayati Raj ministries, temporarily

A NUMBER of important ministries or departments will not have full-fledged secretaries, at least for time being. The government has made temporary arrangement for heading ministry of information and broadcasting, department of public enterprises, Central Provident Fund, ministry of Panchayati Raj and inter state council secretariat with effect from October 1, 2011. It is expected that Pulok Chatterji who joined as principal secretary to PM on Monday will have a say in some of the key secretary-level appointments.

Here are the temporary arrangements.

a) Jawhar Sircar, a 1975 batch West Bengal cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of culture will hold the post of secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting.

b) S Sundareshan, a 1976 batch Kerala cadre IAS and secretary in department of heavy industry will hold the post of secretary, department of public enterprises.

c) Mrutyunjay Sarangi, a 1977 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of labour and employment will hold the post of Central Provident Fund Commissioner.

d) Arvind Kumar Chugh, a 1974 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of tribal affairs will hold the post of secretary in the ministry of Panchayati Raj.

e) Anwar Ehsan Ahmed, a 1976 batch Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS and secretary, border management will hold the post of secretary, inter state council secretariat under the ministry of home affairs.

Action and Appointments

a) Gireesh B Pradhan, a 1977 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS, presently special secretary in the ministry of power has been appointed as secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy in place of Deepak Gupta, a 1974 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS who retired on September 30, 2011.

b) Samirendra Chatterjee, a 1976 batch Assam cadre IAS, presently Central Provident Fund Commissioner, has been appointed as secretary in the department of ex-servicemen welfare in the ministry of defence in place of Neelam Nath, a 1975 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS who retired on September 30, 2011.

c) ANP Sinha, a 1974 batch Bihar cadre IAS, presently secretary in the ministry of Panchayati Raj has been appointed as secretary in the department of official language in place of Veena Upadhyay, a 1976 batch UP cadre IAS who retired on September 30, 2011.

Back in PMO: Pulok Chatterji joins as principal secretary to Prime Minister

FINALLY, the most talked about Indian bureaucrat Pulok Chatterji is back in corridors of power. A few hours from now, Chatterji, a 1974 batch UP cadre IAS and close confidante of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, is taking charge as principal secretary to PM replacing TKA Nair. Chatterji was called back from his current position of executive director of the World Bank even before his term ended. Nair, who has been anchoring the PMO from May 2004, will continue to remain in PMO at least for time being as an adviser to PM in the rank of a minister of state.

On September 5, BoI (babusofindia.com) while declaring Chatterji as the 2^nd Most Powerful Indian Bureaucrat, 2011, said: “Chatterji’s joining the PMO as the top bureaucrat may even facilitate Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi’s elevation to the top job in the event that 79-year-old Manmohan Singh demits office before May 2014. Chatterji is supposed to be an effective conduit between the PMO and 10 Janpath, ensuring fast-tracked implementation of flagship schemes that may determine the fortunes of the UPA-II in the next general elections.”

Two years ago, BoI ranked Chatterji as the most powerful Indian bureaucrat despite being stationed in US. That surprised many readers. But most insiders in Raisina Hill knew it for sure that Chatterji who was Manmohan Singh’s private secretary and then secretary in PMO during UPA-I would eventually take the centre-stage. He is a rare bureaucrat who has direct access to 10 Janpath, the official residence of Sonia Gandhi. Chatterji first came into contact with the Gandhi family when he was the district magistrate in Rae Bareli in 1980s. He then became a director in the PMO during Rajiv Gandhi’s time. Later he became a secretary (joint secretary equivalent) in Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in early 1990s, and then private secretary to Sonia Gandhi when she was the leader of the Opposition.

Chatterji’s entry into PMO is likely to strengthen the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Sonia Gandhi, as many of its high profile activist members are currently unhappy with a number of government decisions including Planning Commission’s recent definition of rich at Rs 32. NAC secretary Rita Sharma is his batch-mate from the same UP cadre. With Chatterji at the helms, NAC’s views and suggestions are bound to be taken more seriously by babus in every ministry.

Action and Appointments

a) Kumar Sanjay Krishna, a 1985 batch Assam cadre IAS, is now pursuing a DoPT-sponsored advance certificate course in public administration in Syracuse University, USA. The course will end in December. Krishna had earlier served as a director in PMO and joint secretary in finance ministry.

b) BK Sinha, a 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS, and rural development secretary has been given additional charge of the post of secretary in the ministry of drinking water and sanitation for a period of three months.

c) The government has extended the term of Gokul Chandra Pati, 1978 batch Orissa cadre IAS and additional secretary in department of agriculture, for three months beyond October 6, 2011.

d) Unmesh Sharad Wagh, a 2000 batch IRS officer and former OSD to then minister of state for communication and IT has now become the private secretary to the minister of state for coal Pratik P Patil at the level of a deputy secretary.