Ajit Kumar Seth, an IAS officer of the 1974 batch from the Uttar Pradesh cadre has been appointed the new Union cabinet secretary. The announcement was made hurriedly to avoid an embarrassment to the government after speculation that the incumbent KM Chandrasekhar, who retires next month, would get a fourth extension
With a major earthquake measuring 6.8 on the richter scale rocking mountainous state of Sikkim, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday spoke to its chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling and offered help in all possible ways, including availability of defence forces.
The industry ministry has circulated a draft Cabinet note for allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, a move which will allay industry's concern over policy paralysis.
Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma and Home Secretary RK Singh were taken by surprise when the Army's Northern Command told them that there had been no consultations on the subject of revocation of the AFSPA even once in 2011. The chief minister's declaration was totally unilateral, the three top secretaries to the Government of India were told
The Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank have also expressed their worries over high inflation.
The committee of secretaries (CoS) looking into the issue of allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail segment is likely to meet this Friday to try for more agreement on the issue.
In the face of a virtual revolt by the top bureaucrats who are learnt to have complained against a proposed extension (the fourth in a row) of cabinet secretary K M Chandrashekhar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh okayed the appointment of Ajit Kumar Seth as the next cabinet secretary from Africa, where he is currently of a week-long visit.
Industry chamber Ficci has sought details from the government about the "actual progress" of the mega infrastructure projects cleared by Cabinet Committee on Investment.
Power Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha was appointed as the next cabinet secretary of the country on Friday. He will succeed Ajit Seth who has been holding the position for the last four years.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu all possible assistance as Cyclone Hudhud made landfall leaving five persons dead in the state and neighbouring Odisha.
Cyclone Hudhud pounded the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha with heavy rain and winds of almost 200 kmph on Sunday killing four people and left a trail of destruction with Vishakapatnam where the very severe storm made landfall the worst hit.
Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers' queries on a weekly basis.
The directives came after he took stock of the situation arising from the massive earthquake at a high-level meeting attended by Ministers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra and senior officials of National Disaster Response Force and Indian Metereological Department.
Sujatha Singh is the third senior official to have been dismissed by NDA.
Modi sarkar sets the ball rolling on appointment, next cabinet secretary is expected to be in office in September.
Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers' stock market queries. Ajit will offer his unbiased views on a weekly basis
Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers's queries on stocks they own or want to buy.
The Centre will provide MI-17 cargo chopper to Uttarakhand to ferry heavy equipment to calamity-hit high altitude areas to expedite reconstruction work in the hill state.
An inter-ministerial committee has been set up by the government to look at the possibility of declassification of all files related to death or disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Centre today reviewed the security situation in Naxal-affected states and directed security forces to foil any attempt by the rebels to disrupt the election process.
Its economy dependent on tourist arrivals, the hill state is looking at a summer of discontent. Not that the rest of the year promises to be any different. Ashwani Sharma reports from Shimla.
Tata Sons, holding company for the Tata group, is working on building a centralised rural business platform that could be leveraged for the entire group's benefit, instead of each company looking at it separately.
The way the present government has dealt with appointments of civil servants remains to be a cause for concern.
India Test regulars like Cheteswar Pujara and Ishant Sharma have also thrown their hat into the ring with base prices of Rs 50 and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
As Cyclone Hudhud is closing in on the Andhra Pradesh coastline and is expected to make a landfall near Visakhapatnam by Sunday afternoon, about 1.11 lakh people in five coastal districts have been shifted to safer places.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances