13 of 2013: Meet these bureaucrats who turned newsmakers of 2013

THERE is no death of newsmakers in India’s corridors of power. Here, a new issue, whether big or small, crops up everyday. BoI picks out 13 bureaucrats who hogged the limelight in 2013 for reasons as varied as taking on sand mafia, becoming ministers, scaling up the Mt. Everest, and wrapping a steel almirah with a four-metre-long cloth to fix corrupt politicians. Here are those 13 of 2013:

DoPT may move a cabinet note to “protect” IAS, IPS officers working in state governments

A letter that forces DoPT to act

WILL the Centre amend AIS (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, to create safety valves for All India Services officers belonging to IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service, currently working in state governments? If the reply of an RTI query is anything to go by, the government’s personnel department, DoPT, may move a Cabinet note amending the 45 year-old rules to…

Dance Corridor Dance: Babus to compete for inter-ministry dance, music titles

Lungi Dance

COME February 18, 2014, bureaucrats will compete with each other on a dance floor in New Delhi’s CSOI auditorium located at Vinay Marg. The Central Civil Services Cultural and Sports Board is organizing a three-day long…

A chance for director-ranked officer to spend time in Assam’s picturesque tea gardens; How?

IF YOU are a deputy secretary or director-ranked officer eligible to be appointed under the Central Staffing Scheme, here is an opportunity to take a break up to five years from the hustle-bustle of a city life and spend time in Assam’s picturesque tea gardens. The DoPT has written to Union secretaries and chief secretaries of various states to…

AAP kaa IAS Rajendra Kumar: More about this Kejriwal’s pick, his IIT background, PM’s award

WHEN 1989 batch AGMU cadre IAS Rajendra Kumar on Tuesday drove down to meet Delhi’s chief minister designate Arvind Kejriwal in his Ghaziabad residence, speculations arose about Kumar becoming Kejriwal’s key bureaucrat. Like Kejriwal, 47-year-old Kumar is also an IIT alumnus and is personally known to Kejriwal who left Indian Revenue Service to be a social activist and then a politician. Kumar is tipped to be Kejriwal’s principal secretary once…

Punjab cadre IAS Kusumjit Sidhu appointed as new DPE secretary; A profile

PUNJAB cadre IAS of 1979 batch Kusumjit Sidhu has been appointed as the new secretary of department of public enterprises (DPE), a department that is responsible for policy and guidance to the public sector companies in India. Ms Sidhu, who was recently empanelled as a Union secretary, is likely to take charge on December 31, 2013, when the incumbent...

Know Your Babu: Rajasthan’s new chief secretary Rajiv Mehrishi

NEWLY formed Rajasthan government led by Vasundhara Raje has hand-picked Rajiv Mehrishi as the chief secretary of the state. Mehrishi, 1978 batch IAS and the one who was recently shifted from the ministry of overseas affairs to a relatively low profile ministry – fertiliser, as its secretary, has found the coveted post of heading Rajasthan bureaucracy under a new regime. A batch-mate of two high-profile Union secretaries from the same…

Devyani Khobragade case creates a deep crater in Indo-US bilateral ties, says Nirupama Rao; Rao's 8-point argument

Rao with US President Obama

DIPLOMAT Nirupama Rao who till recently was India’s ambassador to US has said that Devyani Khobragade case has created a deep crater in the Indo-US bilateral relationship. “Was the much vaunted defining partnership between the two countries so inconsequential that US decided to treat whole case as routine?” Rao who was also the foreign secretary said in a social media site. Here are eight tweets that Rao posted on the row on Friday.

Devyani Khobragade Row: MEA spokesperson’s reply to US prosecutor Preet Bharara’s statement, full text here

INDIAN diplomat Devyani Khobragade might have been shifted to Indian permanent mission to UN to ensure full diplomatic immunity to her in the backdrop of her arrest over alleged visa frauds in America, but the row is still continuing. US prosecutor Preet Bharara said she was not handcuffed. He said: “She (Khobragade) was not, as has been incorrectly reported, arrested in front of her children. The agents arrested her in the most discreet way possible, and unlike most defendants, she was not then handcuffed or restrained." It prompted ministry of external affairs…

Government woos fat Indian bureaucrats; weight-loss surgeries to be made free of cost now

FAT Indian bureaucrats have reasons to cheer about. In one of the attempts to win over a section of government employees ahead of general elections, the Centre has decided to make weight-loss surgeries free of cost for Central government employees in select hospitals. According to a news-report published in…

How India should react to US' treatment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade? Arun Jaitley, Kamal Nath, Yashwant Sinha suggest ways

WITH India curtailing privileges of American diplomats to protest humiliation of its Deputy Consul General in New York Devyani Khobragade last week, the Indo-US diplomatic row has turned ugly. "The US needs to be awakened… India can’t be treated like a banana republic,” says angry Kamal Nath, India's parliamentary affairs minister. “Arrest same sex companions of US diplomats”, urges India’s former external affairs minister Yaswant Sinha. Find below 5 viewpoints:

A year later, 1979 batch IAS topper Hrusikesh Panda empanelled as secretary; batch-mate Kusumjit Sidhu elevated too

Hrusikesh Panda, 1979 batch Odisha cadre IAS who most people in the state know more as a fiction writer than an administrator, has finally got his due. Panda, who was incidentally the topper of his batch, was empanelled on Thursday as Union secretary after the secretary-empanelment of his following batch, (1980 batch), got over. Almost a year ago, BoI wrote a piece on how…

EX-IAS RK Singh and RS Pandey may fight Lok Sabha poll; will former diplomat Jaimini Bhagwati join the Congress?

Diplomat Jaimini Bhagwati with wife Rita

TWO prominent former IAS-turned BJP members, ex-home secretary RK Singh and ex-petroleum secretary RS Pandey, may contest Lok Sabha polls from Bihar. A few more bureaucrats including former IFS and ex-Indian envoy to UK Jaimini Bhagwati may plunge into active politics as the poll fever has gripped the nation. It is learned that diplomat Bhagwati, who is the son of Bijoy Chandra Bhagwati, a former Parliamentarian from Assam and minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s government, may join the Congress and fight...

10 things about IFS officer Devyani Khobragade: Her family, passion and favourite Hollywood actor

Devyani Khobragade, 1999 batch IFS

INDIAN diplomats across the world were shocked and angry when they heard the news that one of their colleagues Devyani Khobragade, a doctor-turned Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of 1999 batch and current Deputy Consul General of India in New York, was arrested by law enforcement authorities in New York on Thursday morning when “she was dropping her daughter at school”. Khobragade, who was later released on bail, was arrested on the basis of allegations raised by the officer’s former India-based domestic assistant, Ms Sangeeta Richard, who has been absconding since June this year. The officer is accused of giving false information while applying for a visa for a “babysitter and housekeeper”, and also of underpaying the help --- the charges if turned right could give her a jail term up to 15 years. Here are 10 things you may like to know about Devyani Khobragade:

Hectic lobbying on for top posts in Hyderabad

THERE has been a hectic lobbying for the six conferred IAS posts from non-revenue departments in Hyderabad with Centre notifying six posts against the usual vacancy of one or two. According to media reports in Hyderabad, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has approved the names of...

10 things on Central government vacancies, recruitment and investigations

HERE are a few facts you may like to know: There are whopping 6,00,013 vacancies in the Central government now. So far as IAS is concerned, there are currently 1,480 vacancies. Out of those, UP tops with 135 vacancies followed by West Bengal (119) and Madhya Pradesh (105). BoI picks out 10 pieces of statistics on vacancies in Central government, steps taken to recruit new personnel and also on investigations pending against officers:

Who are the new special secretaries? List of 14 IAS officers of 1980 batch announced

THE government has elevated 14 IAS officers of 1980 batch as special secretaries of Government of India. Special secretaries draw the same salary and enjoy the same position of that of an Union secretary. Here is the complete list:

Prez Mukherjee gives a pep talk to young IRS probationers; says tax collection “not easy”

PRESIDENT Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said the role and responsibilities of customs and central excise departments have increased manifold and become more complex over the years. He was addressing a group of…

Govt sets deadline for ministries to implement SC order of reserving 3% govt jobs for disabled

THE government has given written directions to various ministries and departments to implement a Supreme Court order asking for a minimum three percent reservation for people with disabilities in all Central and state government jobs. It was on October 8, 2013, an apex court bench regretted the denial of opportunities to…

First ever female aide to Japan’s PM appointed; How Abe attempts higher growth by pro-woman steps

A WEEK ago, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appointed Makiko Yamada as his official secretary, creating history by appointing the first ever female aide to prime minister. Most see this as a part of Abe’s ongoing initiative of achieving higher economic growth by empowering women. The appointment of the 53-year-old bureaucrat in such a key post along with other initiatives of bringing more Japanese women into the workforce have prompted…

Will two ex-IAS officers be able to ring-fence MCX and MCX-SX from Jignesh Shah and Rs 5,600 crore-NSEL fiasco?

Pillai (top) and Mishra

WILL two highly efficient retired IAS officers, former chief information commissioner Satyananda Mishra and former home and commerce secretary GK Pillai, be able to keep the batting Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) and MCX Stock Exchange Limited (MCX-SX), at an arm’s length of Financial Technologies group founder Jignesh Shah and Rs 5,600 crore-NSEL scam? Mishra, a...

Who can, or can’t become a non-official director in a Central PSU? 10 things to know

VERY often retired secretaries become non-official directors in public sector enterprises. But can someone over the age of 65 be a non-official director in a Central PSU? Or can a serving CEO and director of a private company become an independent director? These and many other questions are being answered in the “Guidelines for Processing cases of Board Level Appointments in Central Public Sector Undertakings”, a handbook which has recently been published by the DoPT. Here 10 eligibility criteria to be a non-official director in a PSU:

How political leaders and civil servants often quote classical India’s top thinker, Kautiliya of Arthashastra fame

Chanakya Statue in an I-T office

LAST week, President of India Pranab Mukherjee quoted Kautiliya, once more. “The happiness of the people is the happiness of the king”, he said, quoting the author of the ancient treatise Arthashastra. BoI here picks out a few instances of political leaders and top civil servants remembering classical India’s top thinker Kautiliya, popularly known as Chanakya, to explain the nuances of good governance.

5 things to know about new MCX chairman and former IAS Satyananda Mishra

Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) battling with a Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis in one of its group companies NSEL, has roped in former IAS of Madhya Pradesh cadre and ex-RTI chief Satyananda Mishra as its chairman. Many in the corridors were surprised by the move as unlike former IAS and ex-MCX director Ashok Jha, Mishra is not a corporate type. He does not know how to play golf, keeps a photo of his Guru at his chamber and speaks English with a thick Oriya accent. Here are five things you may like to know about new MCX boss Satyananda Mishra:

387-page government handbook answers questions on recruitment, training, retirement etc.

Officer Trainees of a Group A service with President (File Photo)

UNDER what circumstances, the government can appoint a non-Indian to a civil post? Is stammering a disqualification for taking up a job in the government? You may get the answers of those and many more in the 387-page-long document which the government has…

What if a driver asks for a written order to turn left? Ex-coal secretary Prasanna Mishra on Neta-Babu equations

THE recent Supreme Court order directing the government to frame rules to ensure that a civil servant does not act on verbal orders of the political boss has been hailed by civil servants among others. But what has not been discussed, or debated much, is whether it is feasible for a civil servant to work only under written instructions of political executives. Will such an arrangement not be as unworkable as a driver asking for written order from the owner of the moving vehicle in a busy road instead of his oral order to turn left instead of proceeding straight, asks...

No taker for JS level job at Raebareli? DoPT re-circulates RGNAU vacancy notice

SURPRISING! There is no taker for a high-ranked bureaucrat’s job located at Raebareli, arguably one of the major political hotspots that elects Congress president Sonia Gandhi to Lok Sabha. After one and half months of the DoPT issuing a vacancy circular for the post of…

Why is IRS Association upset over Arvind Kejriwal's radio ad? Full text of IRS Association's letter

ON Friday, Indian Revenue Service Association wrote a letter to Aam Aadmi Party chief and former IRS-IT officer Arvind Kejriwal to convey its anguish over Kejriwal’s reported statement that he could have made crores of rupees as an income-tax commissioner, but left the service to serve the nation. IRS Association says, the statement has maligned everyone in the department while reminding the I-T official-turned politician that his wife is still a member of the department. Full text of the letter below:

Folk Lyrics to Spread Information: Centre’s guideline enlists innovative RTI disclosure practices

Road Ahead: Proactive Disclosure at local level

THE use of folk lyrics as a medium of disseminating information and allowing Gram Sabha proceedings to be reported in local newspapers are some of the innovative practices enlisted in the latest Central government Guideline for states to facilitate proactive disclosure at district and Panchayat levels. DoPT secretary SK Sarkar in a letter dated November 21, 2013 to all…

Manmohan Singh asks top cops to find “creative solutions” to curb misuse of social media

PM and Home Minister with a section of cops

PRIME Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the top cops from across India to find creative solutions to curb the misuse of social media and SMSes while reiterating the merits of the social media, particularly the ease of communication through it. The following is what PM said while addressing at the annual conference of DGPs in New Delhi on Saturday:

Dishonest students in India opt for government jobs, says study; Is it a fair assessment?

INDIAN college students who cheat are more likely to prefer a government job, a new paper authored by two researchers, one each from Kennedy School of Government (Harvard University) and The Wharton School (Pennsylvania University), said. The survey based on a series of laboratory experiments designed to measure honesty, pro-social behaviours and ability on 669 students from Bangalore, has concluded that “the college students who cheat on a simple task are more likely to...

Untold story of Jawaharlal Nehru’s Udyog Bhawan room; Guess, who uses it now?

MS, an earlier occupant of the room, with three of today's officers 

HERE is something most people familiar with Delhi’s corridors of power are actually unaware of. The room of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in Udyog Bhawan was once used by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru when he came to the building to preside over meetings of the Planning Commission. Nehru probably found the room (No: 008, H-wing) convenient because…

Netagiri Rises: Are UP bureaucrats being harassed by political leaders?

Fixed Match? CM being awarded in a cricket match against IAS (File Photo)

THE row over young IAS from Uttar Pradesh Durga Shakti Nagpal, who was suspended and reinstated in the state, may finally get over, but a new debate on whether senior bureaucrats in the state are harassed by the political masters or not, has kick-started. Only recently, a senior BJP leader from the…

Incredible! Govt regularises 7-year-old unauthorized overstay of a 1994 batch IAS officer

ON NOVEMBER 14, 2013, the DoPT issued a notification mentioning the name of a 1994 batch IAS officer whose unauthorized overstay in Uttarakhand seven years ago, has been regularized. The notification signed by under secretary SS Shukla and sent to four officials viz.

Writing a research paper for a govt department? 10 interesting things you need to remember

IF YOU wish to submit a research paper to the government, you have to follow typical sarkari processes, many of which may sound funny for those working in the private sector. For example, you need to use Times New Roman in 10-point font size with full, and the paper should be in full-size letter format, 21.59 cm by 27.94 cm! Whether you like it or not, those details are part and parcel of the government. BoI here lists 10 interesting guidelines mentioned while…

17 more IPS officers get empanelled as joint secretaries. Who are they?

An IPS batch during training

AS MANY as 10 officers of 1987 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) and seven IPS officers of 1988 batch have become beneficiaries after the government had decided to enhance the ceiling of eligible officers of a batch for empanelment as joint secretaries under Central Staffing Scheme from 60 per cent to 75 per cent. Those IPS officers who are now empanelled as joint secretaries from 1987 batch are…

Usha Ananthasubramanian: First CMD of all-women Bharatiya Mahila Bank specializes on statistics, ancient culture…

BANKER Usha Ananthasubramanian has duel masters on diametrically opposite subjects: one on statistics and the other on ancient Indian culture. On the top of it, she understands branding. So, when finance minister P Chidambaram was on a lookout for a candidate to head India’s first all-women bank, Bharatiya Mahila Bank, he spotted…

Confidentiality Vs. Transparency Debate: Why govt wants CBI to be tight-lipped?

PRIME minister Manmohan Singh has indirectly asked the CBI to be tight-lipped, saying that confidentiality is in the interests of the integrity of an on-going investigation, and that is why the CBI has been placed outside the purview of the RTI Act. “What is almost as distressing is that sensitive investigations are increasingly becoming subjects of running media commentary, often on the basis of material that is not otherwise in the public domain…confidentiality is in the interests of the integrity of an ongoing investigation. This was precisely the…

Indian officials may apply for PhD programme on Nano Satellite Technologies in Japan

HIGHLY qualified Indian government officials may apply for a three years doctorate course on Nano-Satellite Technologies being offered by Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT), Japan, in collaboration with United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). The candidates with…

“Cutting edge” state civil service officers may take part in military-civil joint programmes

STATE civil service officials who are “working at cutting edge level in the districts” may get a chance to participate in mid-career interaction between the Armed Forces and civil officers being organized at Ranchi between November 18 and 20. The topic of the programme is “Developing Synergy in Civil Military Responses”. “In case officers from All India Services are…

Know Your Babu: Another woman officer Snehlata Kumar in MHA’s male bastion

NO WOMAN officer has become a home secretary ever, but if 1979 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS Ms Snehlata Kumar’s appointment as secretary (border management) in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) is any indication, the government is not averse to having women officers at senior home ministry positions. Incidentally, as border management secretary, Ms Kumar will replace Gauri Kumar, another woman officer and her own...

Alok Johri: The engineer who revived a “dead project” in Raebareli appointed as Member (Mechanical) in Railway Board

Alok Johri, former Chief Administrative Officer of Raebareli-based Rail Coach Factory and 1977 batch Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers, assumed charge on Tuesday as the new Member (Mechanical) of the Railway Board. According to a statement issued by Indian Railways on Tuesday, Johri was instrumental in reviving the Rail Coach Factory in Raebareli which was a “dead project” when…

Foreign dignitaries carry carpets (red?) as gifts for Indian politicians and officials

WHEN a foreign dignitary comes to New Delhi, India’s top diplomats leave no stone unturned to give them a red carpet welcome. What do they give in return? Believe it or not, foreign dignitaries too carry carpets as gifts for Indian politicians and officials. Carpet has emerged as one of the most preferred gift items of foreign dignitaries, as out of 41 gifts listed in the…

Meet diplomat Shashi Kant Sharma; how CAG garnered votes of China, Pakistan against US backed candidate

Comptroller and Auditor General of India and former IAS officer of 1976 batch, Shashi Kant Sharma, will now get access for audit of the UN organizations including UN peacekeeping operations, after he was elected on Friday as Member of the United Nations Board of Auditors for a six-year-term. America did not want Indian CAG getting that prestigious berth, and backed Philippines instead. But Sharma personally led the canvassing and impressed the global diplomatic community to vote in favour of India. Sharma managed to woo among others…

SC ruling on fixed tenure, oral instructions will strengthen bureaucracy; Full List of 83 bureaucrat petitioners

IN A landmark intervention, India’s Apex Court is ensuring that civil servants are not forced to act upon oral instructions of their political bosses, except in certain exceptional circumstances. Also, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Pinaki Chandra Ghose on Thursday directed the Centre and state governments to pass order in three months on giving fixed tenure to civil servants. But who are those 83 former bureaucrats, on whose…

Karnataka’s new chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee, his agenda, his love for casual wear

For a change? Mukherjee in formal suit

WHEN 1978 batch IAS Kaushik Mukherjee was named as the new chief secretary of Karnataka, he had something special to ask for, from chief minister Siddaramaiah. Amid discussion about how to improve better administration at grassroots and development of Bangalore city, Mukherjee told the CM that he would like to attend office wearing casuals. But yes, when…

Fight over Sardar Patel’s Legacy: How this Iron Man also belongs to Indian civil servants

Whose Legacy? Patel's coat in a museum

AS BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has been at loggerhead with Congress biggies including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the legacy of India’s first home minister Sardar Vallahbhai Patel, BoI here presents a few facts to demonstrate how India’s Iron Man, Patel also belongs to pan-Indian civil servants who are not supposed to…

No Affidavits Please: Can GoI prevent a loss of Rs 8,000 crore by following Punjab model?

THREE years ago, the government of Punjab abolished affidavit raj prevalent in ministries and state PSUs so that it could shed the tag of what it calls a “mai‐baap sarkar”. Instead, it wished to move towards “participatory governance”. With the Punjab model being discussed now in the Central government’s department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG), there are speculations that…

Why IAS officers’ associations need a revamp; Bihar chapter not updated for six years!

BIHAR might have witnessed many a change in the last six years, but the Bihar branch of IAS Officers’ Association has failed to update its events, if any, forcing the visitors to read something hilarious like this in its official website:

Are you a govt officer lobbying for a foreign post? Wait, first read this handbook

SENIOR officers are at times seen lobbying hard to get plump postings abroad. But what the rulebooks say about government officers lobbying for foreign posts? In a handbook titled “Consolidated Instructions on Foreign Assignment of Indian Experts”, it is clearly said that…