Dr. D K Bhalla, the 1986 batch IAS officer who is presently posted as Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat, has been prematurely repatriated to his cadre state of Nagaland with immediate effect.

ICMR chief Soumya Swaminathan, a globally acclaimed researcher on TB and HIV, is set to take charge of deputy director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva next month.

The Centre cleared Swaminathan’s name to take up foreign assignment as a deputy director general at WHO for about two years.

“The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved grant of cadre clearance to Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research and Department of Health Research, to take up foreign assignment of the post of Deputy Director General for Programme (DPP), WHO Geneva, for the period from 1 Dec, 2017 to 18 Nov, 2019,” said an order.

Swaminthan’s appointment as DDP to WHO, elevates India’s stature globally. It is the second-highest position in the WHO.

Swaminathan, a paediatrician by training, is a daughter of agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan who is hailed as the father of the ‘Green Revolution’.

As she moves from her current position of the director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to a global health arena, Swaminathan hopes that her stint at the WHO will be a good learning experience which she can later use in India.

Former member of Parliament and former Expenditure and Revenue Secretary, N K Singh has been appointed Chairman of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, as per the notification issued by the Finance Ministry. The Union Cabinet had on November 22 approved the setting up of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

After his appointment, N K Singh said that it is imperative for such a panel to examine implications of GST on finance of the Centre and states.

“The fact that GST was propelled through several constitutional amendments which included the states being participants in these constitutional amendments enjoins upon any Finance Commission the need to examine implications of GST in terms of finances of both the Centre and states because this is about the fiscal issue of the general government,” Singh said.

The commission will review the current status of the finance, deficit, debt levels, cash balances and fiscal discipline efforts of the Union and the states. It will also recommend a fiscal consolidation road map for sound fiscal management.

IAS officer Arvind Mehta will be the Secretary to the Commission.

Further, former Finance secretary (Dept of Economic Affairs) Shaktikanta Das (IAS:1981:TN) and adjunct professor of Georgetown University Anoop Singh will be its full-time members. Chairman of Bandhan Bank Ashok Lahiri and NITI-Aayog member Ramesh Chand will be part-time members.

As per Article 280 of the Constitution, the commission is required to make recommendations on the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the Centre and the states.

The new Finance Commission will cover five-year period commencing April 1, 2020.

The 14th Finance Commission was set up on January 2, 2013. Its recommendations cover the period from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2020.

Uttar Pradesh Government has decided is to form a screening committee to filter out corrupt , unfit and Non-performing officers in the Uttar Pradesh police force. The Commitee shall comprises of following members:-  1- Sulkhan Singh IPS, DGP, Uttar Pradesh  2-  Anil Raturi IPS, DGP Uttarakhand  3- Rajiv Kumar, IAS, Chief Secretary, UP 4-  Arvind Kumar IAS, Principal Secretary(Home) UP 5- Sudhir M. Bobdge IAS, Principal Secretary( Fishries& Animal Husbandary and Dairy Development) UP.

Ravindra Kumar, IAS (UP: 2011), has been appointed as Private Secretary to Minister for Drinking Water & Sanitation, Uma Bharti.

The 1999 batch IRS(IT) officer, Dr. Sunil Gautam has been appointed as Private Secretary to Minister for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi at the level of Director.