The central government on Monday (23.10.2023) granted approval for the voluntary retirement of VK Pandian (IAS:2000:OD), an Odisha cadre IAS officer who currently holds the position of Private Secretary to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The Department of Personnel and Training has transmitted an official communication to the additional chief secretary of Odisha’s general administration department regarding this decision.
“In reference to letter No.GAD-SER1-PERS-0100-2014 dated 20.10.2023 from Government of Odisha on the above mentioned subject, I am directed to convey the approval of the competent authority for acceptance of voluntary retirement of Shri V Kartikeya Pandian, IAS(OD-2000) under Rule 16(2A) of All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement benefits) Rules, 1958 with waiver of the notice period as recommended by the State Government,” reads the Centre’s letter.
Pandian, who has been serving in his current capacity since 2011 and wields significant influence within the political landscape of Odisha, recently gained public attention due to his extensive travels to various districts within the state utilizing a government helicopter. Both the opposition parties, the BJP and Congress, have criticized Pandian, a native of Tamil Nadu, for alleged violations of service conditions.
REC Limited has achieved a significant milestone by securing a coveted position in the esteemed Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Global Standard Index, effective from September 1, 2023,
A recent report by Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research underlined REC’s strong potential as a contender for the November 2023 review. Projections from Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research suggest that REC could witness inflows of approximately $184 Million.
The inclusion of REC in the MSCI index solidifies its standing as a key player in the financial sector and the broader market. This achievement not only expands REC’s global reach but also highlights its remarkable influence and reputation on an international scale.
It is noteworthy that the value of REC’s stock has more than doubled over the past year, surging from Rs 100.20 on August 10, 2022, to Rs 216.65 on August 10, 2023.
The MSCI Global Standard Index, crafted by MSCI Inc., comprises a series of international equity indexes widely employed by investors, fund managers, and financial experts to gauge the performance of global equity markets.
The MSCI Global Standard Index is a comprehensive collection of international equity indexes developed by MSCI Inc. These indexes serve as a prominent benchmark utilized by investors, fund managers, and financial experts for assessing and gauging the performance of global equity markets.
The Union government on Sunday notified the appointment of new Chief Justices in six High Courts. The Ministry of Law and Justice notified the appointment of six high courts namely Delhi, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Gauhati.
Following judges have been appointed as Chief Justices of 6 different high courts:
Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court, has been transferred to Delhi High Court as Chief Justice.
Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of the Telangana High Court has been elevated as the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court.
Justice Amjad Ahtesham Sayed of Bombay High Court has been appointed as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Justice Vipin Sanghi, Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court has been appointed as Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court.
Justice Shinde Sambhaji Shiwaji of Bombay High Court has been appointed as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court.
Justice Rashmin Manharbhai Chhaya of Gujarat High Court has been appointed as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court.
India’s newly-appointed High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, reached Bangladesh on Friday through a land route to take up his diplomatic assignment.
Accompanied by his wife, Trivedi was seen walking into Bangladesh carrying his own trolley bag. Senior Bangladeshi and Indian High Commission officials received him at the Benapole land border.
A former Union minister, Trivedi holds the unique distinction of being the first Indian politician to become India’s envoy to Bangladesh. He succeeds Pranay Kumar Verma (IFS: 1994), who ended his four-year tenure last month. It was Verma’s tenure during which Bangladesh witnessed the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in a student-led uprising and a subsequent downturn in India-Bangladesh relations under the Muhammad Yunus interim regime.
Trivedi briefly interacted with Bangladeshi reporters in the border area after reaching Bangladesh. He stressed the need for India and Bangladesh to work together in areas such as sports, health, and technology for future generations by leveraging the talent and resources of both countries.
In an important development, the Supreme Court has ordered the Uttar Pradesh government and the Centre to conclude all four pending disciplinary proceedings against former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur (IPS:1992:UP) within six months.
Following multiple departmental inquiries and disciplinary complaints, Thakur had been compulsorily retired from service by the Union Home Ministry on March 23, 2021, on the ground that he was “unfit to be retained” in the public interest.
Otherwise, he would have served till 2028.
The former IPS officer alleged that the proceedings have been dragged on for the last 10 years despite him replying to the show-cause notices and, consequently, his dues, including Rs 10 lakh of gratuity fund, still remaining unpaid.
A partial working day (PWD) bench comprising Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva took note of the UP govt’s submissions that there were four disciplinary proceedings pending against Thakur.
Thakur urged the bench to direct the authorities to conclude the disciplinary proceedings in three months. The bench asked the Centre and the state government to conclude the proceedings in six months.
It should be recalled here that Thakur’s service was marked by long-standing friction with successive state governments.
The Union Government has revised the classification of senior IAS cadre posts and pay structure in Haryana by notifying the Indian Administrative Service (Pay) Seventh Amendment Rules, 2026.
The notification, issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), updates the list of senior administrative posts and their corresponding pay matrix levels in the state.
The amendment, which came into force with immediate effect, substitutes the existing Haryana entries in Schedule-II relating to IAS cadre posts carrying pay above the senior scale as well as posts in the senior scale of the service.
The amendment has been made under the provisions of the All India Services Act, 1951.
Under the revised structure, the posts of Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Principal Secretary to the CM and Additional Chief Secretary have been placed at Level-17, the highest pay level in the state bureaucracy.
As per the notification, the Financial Commissioner/Principal Secretary and Special Principal Secretary to the CM have been placed at Level-15, while a large number of key administrative posts have been classified under Level-14, including Secretary to Government, Secretary to Governor, Chief Electoral Officer, Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Director General of State Transport, Commissioners of Divisions, Transport Commissioner, Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Resident Commissioner of Haryana, Director General of Agriculture, Director General of Town and Country Planning-cum-Urban Estate and Colonisation, Director General of Higher Education, Director General of Technical Education, Director General of Industries and Commerce, Commissioner of Food and Drugs Administration, and Labour Commissioner.
The revised schedule also includes several strategically important positions in the state’s administrative framework, like Director General, Information; Public Relations; Cultural Affairs; Languages and Grievances; Director General, Urban Local Bodies; and Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, all of which have been placed at Level 14.
The notification formally includes the posts of Chief Executive Officers of the Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula, Sonepat, and Hisar Metropolitan Development Authorities in the Level-14 category, reflecting the growing importance of metropolitan governance institutions in the state’s urban development framework.
The amendment also revises the list of IAS cadre posts falling under the Senior Scale category. These include Special Secretaries, Additional Secretaries, Joint Secretaries, Officers on Special Duty, Directors and Project Directors in various departments, besides Directors of Secondary Education, Elementary Education, Food and Supplies, Sports and Youth Affairs, Women and Child Development, Tourism, Rural Development, Industrial Training, Environment, Medical Education and Research, and several other departments.
The revised schedule also includes the posts of Deputy Principal Secretary to the CM, Additional Resident Commissioner at Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi; Secretary, Haryana Public Service Commission; Secretary, Haryana Board of School Education, Bhiwani; Deputy Commissioners and Additional Deputy Commissioners-cum-Chief Executive Officers of District Rural Development Authorities/Additional Collectors.
Sources say the notification updates the classification of Haryana’s IAS cadre posts under the existing pay framework prescribed by the 7th Central Pay Commission and aligns the cadre structure with the state’s present administrative and institutional setup.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Friday (June 12, 2026) approved the empanelment of three officers for holding Additional Secretary or Additional Secretary equivalent level posts in the Government of India.
REC Power Development and Consultancy Limited (RECPDCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of REC Limited,a Maharatna CPSU under the Ministry of Power, handed over Jalna Power Transmission Limited, the project-specific Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), to the successful bidder, M/s Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited, on 12 June 2026.
M/s Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited emerged as the successful bidder through the Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) process conducted by RECPDCL, the Bid Process Coordinator, for development of Maharashtra’s intra-state transmission project on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis.
The SPV was handed over by Ratnesh Kumar, General Manager (Engg.), RECPDCL, to Vineeta Shriwani, Company Secretary, and Amit Naik, Chief Engineer (TBCB), Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited, in the presence of senior officials from Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited, Maharashtra STU, and RECPDCL.
The project broadly envisages establishment of a 400/132 kV substation at Jalna and about 135 km of 132 kV double-circuit transmission lines from Jalna (New) to Jalna MIDC, Jalna (New) to Partur, and Jalna to Ghansawangi & Utwad, along with associated works. The project is scheduled for implementation over 24 months at an estimated cost of Rs. 912 crore.
The central deputation tenure of IAS officer Chaudhari Uday Gaurishankar (IAS:2010:MH) as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has been extended by two years.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (June 12, 2026), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal to extend his deputation tenure for a period of two years beyond June 23, 2026 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Notably, Gaurishankar joined central deputation on June 23, 2021 as Deputy Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat for a four-year tenure. However, in October 2021, his tenure in the Cabinet Secretariat was curtailed and he was appointed as Private Secretary to then Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, for the balance period of his central deputation.
Following the formation of the new Union Cabinet after Narendra Modi assumed office for a third consecutive term, the Jal Shakti portfolio was assigned to C R Patil. Subsequently, on June 21, 2024, Gaurishankar was appointed as Private Secretary to C R Patil and, through the same order, his central deputation tenure was extended up to June 23, 2026.
He later moved to the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change as Joint Secretary in April 2026 and continues in the post with the latest extension of two years.
Senior IRS officer Manoj Kumar (IRS-IT:1994), currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Investment & Public Asset Management (DIPAM), has been repatriated to his parent cadre. According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (June 12, 2026), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved his repatriation on personal grounds.
Kumar has been serving as Additional Secretary in DIPAM since December 30, 2025, following his empanelment for appointment to Additional Secretary or equivalent level posts in the Government of India on December 9, 2025.
Notably, he has been on central deputation since June 2021, when he was appointed as Joint Secretary in DIPAM for a tenure of five years. With this development, he will return to his parent cadre after completing nearly five years at the Centre.
In a significant development for Bihar bureaucracy, 14 officers of the Bihar Administrative Service (BAS) have been promoted to the IAS cadre for the select list of 2025.
A notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) says the 14 officers were promoted against the vacancies arising between Jan 1 and Dec 31, 2025.
According to the notification, the BAS officers who have been promoted to IAS are Mrinayak Das, Manoranjan Kumar, Vikash Kumar, Gagan, Anjani Kumar, Md Ejtaba Hussain, Rajnish Kumar, Bidhu Bhushan Choudhary, Md Wasim Ahmad, Krityanand Ranjan, Md Rashid Alam, Ibrar Ahmad Khan, Manoj Kumar, and Hemant Kumar Singh.
In a similar exercise on Oct 24 last year, 19 BAS officers had been promoted to the coveted IAS cadre for the select list of 2024. These officers were later allotted to the 2015 batch in the Bihar cadre as per the seniority rules.
The Bhar govt’s General Administration Department (GAD) will soon be issuing a formal notification regarding the new responsibilities and designations of the newly-inducted IAS officers.
In a surprising development, the central deputation tenure of IPS officer Manoj C (IPS:2011:AGMUT) as Director in the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been curtailed.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (June 12, 2026), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved curtailment of his tenure under the Central Staffing Scheme.
Notably, Manoj’s appointment as Director in the Election Commission was notified in the last week of May 2025. He was appointed for a tenure of five years.
However, nearly one year into the assignment, his deputation tenure has been curtailed. The order does not mention repatriation to his parent cadre, indicating that he may be considered for another assignment under central deputation.
After more than three years of waging a legal battle against each other, the Supreme Court on Friday decided to intervene in it by directing the two senior Karnataka officers—IPS officer D. Roopa Moudgil (IPS:2000:KN) and IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri (IAS:2009:KN)—to attempt resolution of their dispute through mediation.
A Bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Sanjeev Sachdeva appointed retired Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph as mediator to facilitate a settlement between the two officers, as the top court observed that their failure to arrive at a conciliatory settlement was “destroying” their careers.
This intervention has come more than three years after their public spat culminated in defamation proceedings against each other and claims for damages of ₹1 crore.
The origin of the dispute dates back to February 2023, when Sindhuri came across a series of Facebook posts made by Karnataka’s first woman IPS officer Moudgil allegedly accusing Sindhuri of sharing her private photographs with fellow IAS officers.
The allegations spilled into the public spat, triggering a bitter and highly publicised exchange between the two.
This controversy escalated to such an extent that the Karnataka government decided to transfer both officers.
Sindhuri issued a legal notice to Moudgil, seeking an unconditional apology and demanding ₹1 crore in damages, claiming the allegations had harmed her reputation and caused mental agony, and the dispute moved to the courts.
In March 2023, a Bengaluru court took cognisance of Sindhuri’s criminal defamation complaint and initiated proceedings against Moudgil. The IPS officer subsequently approached the Karnataka High Court seeking to have the case quashed, but the High Court refused to intervene.
Moudgil then moved the Supreme Court in December 2023.
The top court stayed the criminal defamation proceedings and directed both officers not to speak to the media and suggested that Moudgil delete the social media posts and consider issuing an apology.
On the other hand, criminal defamation proceedings had also been initiated against Sindhuri on a complaint lodged by Moudgil in a lower court. Sindhuri challenged it in the High Court, but the HC, in February this year, dismissed Sindhuri’s petition, upholding the trial court’s order taking cognisance of Moudgil’s complaint.
The SC Bench, on Friday, was hearing a petition filed by Sindhuri challenging the HC order upholding a trial court’s decision to take cognisance of a defamation suit filed by Moudgil.
It was when the top court’s intervention came with the Bench observing that the two officers were ruining each other’s careers and urged them to settle their long-running dispute through mediation and appointed Justice Kurian as mediator.
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