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Arvind Kumar Sharma, a 1988-batch IAS officer and one of the many joint secretaries in PMO, definitely wields some power.
"Take prime minister's instructions seriously." That is what the Cabinet Secretary told secretaries in a recent letter. The prime minister's office has conveyed to the cabinet secretariat that the officers have not been following instructions properly.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday alleged that graffiti threatening Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were scribbled inside the metro trains in Delhi, as it accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of being behind this incident.
Modi has often been accused of promoting crony capitalism in Gujarat for his proximity to certain businesses.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Sunday night ordered the removal of the Sagar district collector, superintendent of police and sub-divisional magistrate following the deaths of nine children on Sunday, an official said.
The MPs went right up to the entrance of South Block, but were stopped at the first check point.
Ministers in the Narendra Modi government have been busy making presentations on their 100 days of work. But what these presentations do not mention is that decisions by ministers have been few, with plenty of papers and files moving to the Prime Minister's Office, which is increasingly emerging as a centralised clearance point, even for routine and ordinary issues. Though policy paralysis was a term used freely for the United Progressive Alliance regime, questions are now being raised about pending decisions across ministries and whether at least some ministers have turned redundant.
In a curious turn of events on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked Rajeev Topno, a 1996 batch Indian Administrative Service officer from the Gujarat cadre and a part of the Prime Minister's Office under former PM Manmohan Singh, as private secretary.
PMO asks Air India to submit revival plan, financial report.
Over 61,000 public grievances related to a range of issues are received by the Prime Minister's Office every month, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.
The incident took place on October three when President's Secretary Christy Fernandez tapped the Prime Minister on his shoulder and asked him to change his seat from the one earmarked under protocol for Dr Singh next to the President. Fernandez accommodated the President's husband Devi Singh Patil who sat actually on the seat earmarked for Pratibha Patil, which led to the seating arrangement going haywire.
On Monday, Railway Board, the apex body in the ministry, issued a circular that the Prime Minister's Office would handle all projects worth Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) and above.
In the phone talks, Modi emphasised on an early and peaceful resolution of the conflict, including the release of all hostages, through "dialogue and diplomacy" as well as continued humanitarian assistance to the affected people.
The Prime Minister's Office has refused to furnish data on documents and records it held on the mysterious disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, saying the disclosure would harm India's relations with foreign countries.
Meanwhile, the Congress and RSP whole-heartedly backed the Kollam MP.
The PMO, in its reaction posted on the United States-based newspaper's website, has said the story was "totally one-sided" as the journalist "never" got in touch with the PMO for its version
PMO's stance came as part of a reply to the whistle-blower forest officer, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, after he dragged the PMO to the Central Information Commission for denying information under the RTI Act.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Tuesday claimed there was no disagreement within the government, or between ministers and the prime minister, over enhancement of bilateral air traffic rights to Abu Dhabi.
As many as 37 central ministers visited Jammu and Kashmir to assess the ground situation and interact with people on various development schemes. Over 30 of them have submitted their reports to the Home Ministry and those were forwarded to the PMO recently, a government official said.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
The Prime Minister's Office sought on Sunday to justify the exclusion of the Gandhi clan in the reconstituted government committee for commemoration of 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, arguing that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had opted out of such an initiative in May this year.
Micro tunnelling expert Chris Cooper said on Monday that all the debris from the auger machine has been removed and manual drilling to reach the trapped labourers will start in a few hours.
The finance minister continues to be backed by the same policy team in charting out the broad strategy as in the few earlier Budgets.
Seconds after Narendra Modi was sworn-in as the 15th prime minister of the country, the PMO website was re-launched carrying his message and pictures.
The Prime Minister's Office has given the nod to questioning of Puducherry Lt Governor Iqbal Singh by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged links with suspected money launderer Hasan Ali Khan.
After terror attack, Mumbai red alert, a large posse of officials to fly down with PM, reports Archis Mohan.
Realty players want single window clearance for all affordable projects, reports Karan Choudhury.
Trains of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, will be known as 'Namo Bharat', Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced on Thursday.
The prime minister prostrated before the Sengol and sought blessings from high priests of various 'adheenams' in Tamil Nadu with the holy sceptre in hand.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat has refused to entertain the request from the Prime Minister's Office seeking permission to disclose ministers' assets who are members of the House, saying RTI act does not have any such provisions for giving such "clearances".
As Modi spoke, two Cabinet ministers sat behind him as did senior diplomats and civil servants. National Security Adviser Ajit K Doval -- a regular attendee alongside Modi at such international gatherings -- was intriguingly seated behind the Cabinet ministers and the PM's principal secretary.
The Prime Minister's Office has replied to the allegations of corruption made by Team Anna in the allotment of coal blocks during 2006-2009 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in charge of the ministry. However, Team Anna finds most of the PMO clarifications unsubstantial. In a press communique released on Friday, Team Anna rebuts PMO's clarifications point-by-point. We reproduce the press release verbatim:
The party prayed for the removal of the advertisement and action against its authors and publishers.
Addressing an election rally in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol, Gandhi claimed the 'Agniveer Yojana' was conceptualised by the prime minister but the Army doesn't want this scheme.
Even after a thorough search, the documents pertaining to imposition of Emergency could not be traced in prime minister's office records, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Amid controversy over the Jet Airways-Etihad deal, the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday said the stake sale matter was still under examination and the issues raised have been referred to various concerned ministries.
It is possible to be blind to this and pretend to carry on as if nothing has happened but that will not change the reality, asserts Aakar Patel.
A photograph of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in a Gujarat government publication has angered the Prime Minister's Office.
The change of media advisor may be about the changing power equation in the PMO. The Congress party's view may once again get greater weightage in the government's decision-making processes than had been the case so far in UPA-II, says Neerja Chowdhury.
