Current issue

Bureaucrat of the month

The Braveheart cop of Ghaziabad
Less stoic individuals generally cave in, but Ghaziabad SHO Anil Kaparwan proved his mettle when he gunned down a notorious gangster of Uttar Pradesh

Lead Story

The Retirement Conundrum?
While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has denied all possibilities of raising the retirement age of Central Government employees, they are also divided over whether or not to support the demand for increasing the age of superannuation beyond 60. Though there are ethical concerns that young talent should be given first preference in Government service, there are practical reasons such as an increased life expectancy in India which support the argument in favour of an increased retirement age ...

Ask expert

'Power'-driven and how!
He is the bureaucrat to watch out for! Meet P Uma Shankar, who took over as India's Power Secretary last month ...

State Watch

IFS promotions in Karnataka HANG BY A THREAD
The State Government of Karnataka has gone ahead in granting quick promotions to officers of the Indian Forest Service (IFS), thus creating a large number of new posts, reportedly in violation of All-India Service Rules. It now appears that the State is heading for a showdown with the Centre by opting to create additional posts in the Forest Service without the requisite approval ...

District Watch

Touching human lives
As Rajasthan battles a scorching summer, the State Government steps up to provide shelters to its denizens as a gesture of empathy. Divisional Commissioner of Jaipur Kiran Soni Gupta tells usmore….. The dog days of summer are here again and the desert State of Rajasthan is sweltering under the blistering heat wave. With the temperature touching a record of 50 degree Celsius in various parts of the State, the heatwave conditions have ...

Special report

IB MINISTRY'S masala TV dilemma To regulate or not to regulate?
In the slugfest for Television Rating Points (TRPs), channels are incessantly mapping out ways to spice up their content on the tube to grab more eyeballs. Whether it's cashing in on the masala, or broadcasting shows which are cheeky, bold and not so beautiful, channels are doing it all in the form of Reality TV…

People & Profile

Finance Adviser, extraordinaire
Riding high on the success of the recent 3G spectrum auction, Vijaylakshmi Gupta, Member (Finance), Department of Tele communications, took a sigh as the all India bid on May 14, 2010 stood at Rs. 15, 416.56 crores. Finally the Centre's coffers turned richer by an impressive Rs 67,719 crores as all the nine bidders paid up their fees on May 31. Gupta says, "The response has been thoroughly good and we all are pretty happy with the outcome." ...

Perfect couple

Awesome Twosome
Bureaucracy Today gets ONGC CMD RS Sharma and wife Rashmi break into a 'talk'athon, amidst giggles and guffaws RS Sharma...

Interview

EARTH SCIENCES DEPARTMENT No curbs on budget
The Secretary, Department of Earth Sciences, Dr Shailesh Nayak, has had an illustrious career spanning 29 years at the Indian Space Research Organisation and has been instrumental in some of the major developments in the areas of oceanography, resource management and forecasting technologies. In conversation with Bureaucracy Today, Dr. Shailesh talks at length about the department's progress over the years and also talks about areas that need development. Excerpts from the interview ...

Guest Column

Indians are… Alert abroad, lax at home
Notwithstanding many indicators and indices boding very well, these are indeed the testing times for India. Beneath seeming prosperity and success, we are faced with many systemic maladies which are expressing themselves in various ways. They include terrorism, secessionism, Naxalite activism and violence, systemic corruption and institutional degeneration at various levels...

Anonymous

Corruption in PSU banks
It is astonishing that public sector bank officers, including those of the Reserve bank of India, which is considered the symbol of financial rectitude, have been adopting questionable methods to enjoy facilities not allowed to them officially. Here we publish an anonymous piece which prima facie supports the allegation that like big bureaucrats, top bank officers too can twist the situation for their personal benefit. Bureaucracy Today awaits the reaction of its readers. There is corruption at the highest level in public sector banks and also at the senior management level in the Reserve Bank of India...

Astrology

ARIES:
Sudden events in the office will leave you flummoxed. Making right decisions concerning your profession will be a stupendous task. Your expectations may not be met in the office. Support from your bosses will be lacking. The extravagance needs to be controlled. There maybe disharmony on the domestic front. Planets indicate a long journey along with your family. Gains are indicated in speculation....

Pleasant Surprise

Kakumanu Siva Prasad IAS, 1993;PB
Resident Commissioner, Govt of Punjab
June 1 ...