The Supreme Court of India has scheduled a hearing on February 19 for pleas challenging the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners under the 2023 law. The court emphasized the potential consequences if any action is taken before the hearing. The pleas argue that the 2023 law, which excludes the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel, undermines the independence of the Election Commission and allows for undue influence from the executive branch. The court's earlier verdict in March 2023 called for an independent selection panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India to ensure the integrity of the Election Commission. The case highlights concerns about the independence of India's electoral process and the potential for political influence in the appointment of key election officials.
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 government must send out a clear signal that leadership positions at regulatory bodies are not a preserve of retired government officials, argues A K Bhattacharya.
Shakti Dubey has topped the civil services examination 2024, with Harshita Goyal and Dongre Archit Parag getting the second and third ranks, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced on Tuesday. The top five successful candidates comprise three women and two men. The civil services examination is conducted annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- by the UPSC to select officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. A total of 1,009 candidates -- 725 men and 284 women -- have been recommended by the UPSC for appointment to various services.
The high point of the 19 Shastri months was the 22-day war that he fought against great odds and won in principle, even if military historians often call it a stalemate. Pakistan saw a great opportunity to conquer Kashmir and lost. It was the last time they had the relative strength militarily and diplomatically to take Kashmir. Shastri's resolve buried that dream forever, points out Shekhar Gupta.
A total of 829 candidates have qualified for civil services, including the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, the Union Public Service Commission announced
It said no payment has so far been made towards rental charges for the Lokpal office at 'The Ashok' hotel.
Since he handled telecom, mining, shipping and transportation industries, we are looking into all his activities at the ministry. This could possibly be a case of industrial espionage," a senior police officer of the special cell, involved in the case's investigation told rediff.com.
The Delhi CM tweeted from the L-G office on Wednesday morning, seeking to know whether it was "possible for IAS officers to return to work without the green signal from Prime Minister's Office?"
Indian shuttlers Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manisha Ramadass signed off with maiden silver and bronze medals respectively in women's singles SU5 category at the Paralympics
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Tuesday said the fiscal-monetary coordination was at its best during the last six years even as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving the opportunity to head the monetary authority of the country. Das, in a series of posts on X, on his last day of his six-year term as RBI Governor, also thanked the Finance Minister, various stakeholders and his colleagues at the central bank.
Lakshman Prasad Acharya has been made the governor of Assam with the additional charge of Manipur while Gulab Chand Kataria has replaced Banwarilal Purohit as the governor of Punjab under major gubernatorial appointments, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has announced.
A preliminary investigation into the Air India Flight 171 crash in Ahmedabad reveals that both fuel switches were cut off before the crash, followed by pilot confusion. The report also indicates that fuel samples were satisfactory and no immediate action is recommended for Boeing 787-8 operators.
Naveen Patnaik is known as an "absentee landlord" who needs bureaucrats like Pandian to run his government.
The Centre has directed the Pune police to apprise it of the marital status of the parents of controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar amid allegations that she fraudulently availed of the OBC non-creamy layer benefit in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam by claiming that they were separated, an official said.
'If you are willing to shine like the sun, you must be willing to burn like it.'
Activist Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday questioned the transfer of a senior Haryana IAS officer, alleging that he was shunted out because he ordered a probe into the land deal allegedly involving Robert Vadra and realty major DLF. A 1991-batch officer, Ashok Khemka, director-general of land consolidation and land records-cum-inspector general of registration in Haryana, was transferred out of the post within three months of assuming charge.
There is no guarantee that if we speak in only Indian languages, all our faults will be washed away and India will shine. Why then do they bully and belittle the English-speaking? asks Shyam G Menon.
The attached properties include 14 assets of Tuteja worth Rs 15.82 crore, 115 properties of Anwar Dhebar, the elder brother of Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar, worth Rs 116.16 crore, properties of Vikash Agarwal alias Subbu worth Rs 1.54 crore and 33 properties of Arvind Singh worth Rs 12.99 crore, it said in a statement.
Citing complaints against Rajshekhar for 'running an extortion racket and demanding protection money', Delhi vigilance minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on May 13 ordered withdrawing all work assigned to the officer with immediate effect.
Police booked Puja's parents Manorama and Dilip and four others after a video surfaced showing her allegedly threatening some persons with a gun over a land dispute at Dhadwali village in the district's Mulshi tehsil in 2023.
Pandian joined the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in 2011, and since then, he has been Patnaik's private secretary.
Ahead of the Basant Panchami Amrit Snan at the Maha Kumbh, top officials are emphasizing the implementation of "zero error" directives to prevent a repeat of the deadly stampede that occurred during a previous snan. The Uttar Pradesh government has deployed senior IAS officers with experience in crowd management and inter-agency coordination to oversee the event.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday revealed that his father was on a hijacked flight in 1984 and said he had a unique window on "both sides" in such situations -- the perspective of family members and those in the government.
Cuttack-based medical graduate Sriram Venkitaraman, who came second in this year's Union Public Services Commission examination says he has "realistic expectations" of his IAS career.
The 2000-batch IAS officer, who sparked several controversies and was accused of violating the service rule, had taken voluntary retirement from government service on October 23 this year.
Under its new chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has gravitated towards greater transparency and ease of doing business, setting an objective of "effective and optimum" regulation. On Monday, during its first board meeting under Pandey, the regulator has decided to constitute a high-level committee (HLC) to review conflicts of interest and unveiled initiatives to simplify regulatory processes.
Kumar, a 1992-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, is currently an additional secretary in the ministry of electronics and Information Technology.
Days ahead of a scheduled hearing of a batch of pleas related to the abrogation of Article 370 before a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, Indian Administrative Service officer Shah Faesal on Tuesday said the constitutional provision is a thing of the past and there is no going back.
The Karnataka legislative assembly on Wednesday witnessed chaotic and unruly scenes as angry Bharatiya Jansata Party legislators tore copies of bills and the agenda, and threw them at the deputy speaker, who was presiding, following which Speaker U T Khader suspended 10 of them for the remainder of the session.
It will be court's opinion versus the legislative power to enact law, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said as it posted the pleas challenging the appointment of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners under the 2023 law on February 4.
The CBI has registered a case of alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act against human rights activist Harsh Mander and his NGO, and searched his premises on Friday, officials said.
The government has provided Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar with a Z-category VIP security cover of armed commandos in view of potential threats against him, official sources said on Tuesday.
'Without his vision and foresight, his willingness to take a risk that no one else was willing to take, his deep and abiding love for India, the Indian automobile industry could not have become the powerhouse that it has become.'
Amarjeet Sinha, a senior bureaucrat in the prime minister's office, has resigned from his post, sources said on Monday.
In a significant administrative reshuffle, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha ordered the transfer and posting of 48 J-K Administrative Service (JKAS) officers, potentially creating friction with the National Conference-led government in the Union Territory. The move, seen by many as an attempt by the LG to assert control over the bureaucracy, includes the transfer of 14 additional deputy commissioners and 26 sub-divisional magistrates. The timing of the order, coinciding with the elected government's wait for approval on business rules, raises concerns over power dynamics in the region.
Several petitions challenging the Centre's decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which split J-K into two Union Territories Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh were referred to a constitution bench in 2019.
An Uttar Pradesh Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer has been removed as a general observer for Gujarat assembly polls by the Election Commission for indulging in a 'publicity stunt' by posting pictures of his assignment on Instagram, sources said on Friday.
Actor-turned politician Kamal Haasan would make his electoral debut, contesting from Coimbatore South constituency in the April 6 Tamil Nadu assembly elections.
As many as 31 corruption cases were registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against IAS and IPS officers since 2011, the government said Wednesday.
