When the Sikkim government appointed 1989-batch IPS officer, A Sudhakar Rao, as Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department, the move drew some comment. This is because Rao’s previous posting was as Special Director General of Police, Special Branch, and even held the additional charge of DGP, Sikkim. While nothing stops the government from appointing […]
Prabodh Saxena has emerged as Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu’s choice as the state’s new chief secretary, following the retirement of Ram Dass Dhiman, who has been named as the state Chief Information Commissioner. Saxena, a 1990-cadre HP cadre IAS officer, will have tenure until March 2025. As it so often happens with […]
The Modi sarkar is devoting a lot of thought to the 100 years of independence in 2047, with several task forces charged with drawing up a roadmap for the future. Among these, the Group of Secretaries on Governance headed by I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra is currently studying a draft VisionIndia @2047 prepared by a group […]
Retired 1985-batch IAS officer and former Mumbai municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi, who during the worst months of the coronavirus pandemic, led the civic body’s efforts to create Covid treatment facilities, is reportedly being brought back as the new CEO of the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA), which is the state’s equivalent of the NITI Aayog. […]
A rift has appeared and seems to be widening between Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers and those in Customs and GST over protocol, involving guard of honour and salutes ‘demanded’ by IRS officers. Customs officers say that these rituals interfere with their duties of apprehending economic offenders, including smugglers and traffickers. Unlike the IPS and […]
The ongoing power tussle between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan is inevitably affecting the babus. The Vijayan cabinet recently expressed displeasure at the manner in which a senior babu of the state pointed out certain flaws in the draft bill that seeks to remove the Governor as the chancellor of […]
The acronym IFS seems to be working rather well for those lucky enough to hold it. Three Indian Foreign Service officers – Deepak Mittal, Vipin Kumar and Nidhi Tewari – are joining the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) following their appointment at the joint secretary, deputy secretary and undersecretary levels respectively. Their ingress into the hallowed […]
A persistent gripe of the Modi sarkar is that the current shortage of IPS officers at the Centre is due to the states not sending enough officers on Central deputation. Apparently, even BJP-ruled states have failed to meet the central deputation quota. While many states are becoming top-heavy, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of […]
Next month, India will assume the presidency of the G20 from Indonesia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Bali, accompanied by Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. He held extensive talks with G 20 leaders on critical issues including the state of the global economy, energy, environment, agriculture, […]
The protests earlier this year by Central government employees who comprise the Central Secretariat Service (CSS) over delayed promotions and career-related issues have had an effect. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has reportedly constituted a committee to undertake the fourth cadre restructuring of the CSS. The panel will examine the current and future […]