The central deputation tenure of Noorin Bux (IOFS:2010), serving as Director in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been extended by two years.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday (January 30, 2026), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal to extend her deputation under the Central Staffing Scheme for a period of two years beyond April 22, 2026, that is, up to April 22, 2028, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Bux has been serving in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare since April 2021, when she was appointed as Deputy Secretary for a four-year tenure. She was subsequently re-designated as Director during her tenure.
Before the completion of her initial term in April 2025, she was granted a one-year extension, extending her deputation up to April 22, 2026. With the latest approval, her tenure in the Ministry will now continue till April 22, 2028.
Prabhat Kumar, Horticulture Commissioner, will continue to hold the additional charge of Chief Executive Officer (Joint Secretary level) of the Coconut Development Board (CBD) for a further period of six months.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday, January 30, 2026, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for extension of the additional charge entrusted to Prabhat Kumar.
The extension will be effective from October 6, 2025, and will remain valid for six months, or until a regular incumbent is appointed, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday (January 30, 2026), promoted five Indian Police Service (IPS) officers (1995 batch) of the AGMUT cadre to the rank of Director General of Police (DGP), including three officers who have been granted proforma promotion while serving on Central deputation.
According to an order issued by the Ministry, Dr. Shiv Darshan Singh Jamwal, presently serving as Director General of Police, Arunachal Pradesh, and David Lalrinsanga, currently posted in the Delhi Police as Special Commissioner of Police, Operations (PCR & Communication), with additional charge of SPUNER, have been promoted to the DGP rank in Level-16 of the pay matrix. Their promotion will take effect from February 1, 2026, or from the date they assume charge, whichever is later.
The promotions were approved by the competent authority following the recommendations of the Screening Committee meeting held on December 8, 2025.
Meanwhile, three other AGMUT cadre officers serving on Central deputation have been accorded proforma promotion to the DGP rank. These officers are Satish Shriramaji Khandare , currently serving as Additional Director General in the Border Security Force (BSF); Rajesh Kumar, currently Additional Director General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF); and Tsewang Namgyal Kalon, presently Additional Director General in the BSF.
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has extended interim relief to eight Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officers whose promotion to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) has been stalled due to their alleged involvement in the 2002 HCS recruitment case. In its latest order passed on January 27, the tribunal directed that its earlier interim protection would continue until April 27, 2026, ensuring that the IAS select list does not lapse.
The eight officers who have received relief are Jagdeep Dhanda, Sarita Malik, Kamlesh Bhadoo, Kuldhir Singh, Vatsal Vashisht, Jag Niwas, Veena Hooda, and Surender Singh-1.
The matter traces back to July 2025, when the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recommended the promotion of HCS officers to the IAS cadre. While 18 officers were granted regular promotion, the DPC recommended only “provisional” promotion for these eight officers due to a chargesheet filed against them in a Hisar court in connection with the alleged irregularities in the 2002 recruitment process.
Sources had indicated at the time that the eight officers were otherwise found fit for promotion, with the “provisional” status being linked solely to the pendency of the chargesheet. It was also clarified that if the chargesheets were quashed by the courts before December 31, 2025, their promotions would be regularised from the same date. If not, the recommendations were liable to lapse.
As the deadline approached and the matter remained unresolved, one of the affected officers moved the CAT seeking interim directions to ensure that the IAS select list did not lapse until the case was heard in detail. During the proceedings, the tribunal was informed that the High Court had already stayed the operation and effect of the chargesheet.
Taking note of the submissions, the CAT on December 23, 2025, ordered that the IAS select list should not lapse until January 6, 2026. After subsequent extensions, the tribunal, in its latest hearing on January 27, directed that the interim order of December 23 would continue until April 27, 2026.
The CAT’s order has provided temporary relief to the eight officers, though their final elevation to the IAS cadre remains subject to the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
If you come under the radar of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), even death can’t save you from ignominy. This is what happened to late Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Arvind Joshi, whose assets worth several crores—including residential and agricultural lands and a resort—were attached by the ED on Friday in a money laundering case against him.
Joshi, who died in 2022 at the age of 68, has been facing an ED investigation in an alleged Rs 41.87-crore disproportionate assets (DA) money laundering case along with his retired IAS wife, Tinoo Joshi, for more than eight years now. Joshi was a former principal secretary-level officer.
The couple belonged to the 1979 batch of IAS and caught the attention of the probe agencies after the Income Tax Department raided their Bhopal residence in February 2010 on charges of tax evasion and recovered Rs 3 crore in cash.
The ED said in a statement that a provisional order had been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach residential plots, agricultural lands, and a functional resort located in Bhopal district.
The ED has called these properties “proceeds of crime” registered in the name of Joshi, his family members, and his “benami” associate, S P Kohli.
The federal agency alleged that their assets were 3,151.32 percent more than their known sources of income, leading to the two being finally dismissed from service. The agency had earlier issued a similar attachment order against them and filed a chargesheet against them.
The money laundering case was filed on the basis of a MP Lokayukta Police FIR for possessing DA between July 1979 and December 10, 2010.
After West Bengal, it is now the turn of Gujarat to free 45 IAS and IPS officers to serve as poll observers for the five poll-bound states—West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has named 35 IAS and 10 IPS officers from the state to serve as election observers for these five states going to the assembly polls. The training of these selected officials will begin in the first week of February. The state government will now have to make arrangements for additional charge while these officers are away.
Among the IAS officers selected for poll duties are Arti Kanwar, Sandeep Kumar, Roopwant Singh, Swaroop P, Pravin Solanki, Avantika Singh Aulakh, Rakesh Shankar, Raj Kumar Beniwal, Rajesh Manjhu, Rajendra Kumar, Rahul Gupta, P Bharathi, Ranjeet Kumar J, Harshad Patel, Alok Pandey, Jenu Devan, Sandip Sagale, Dilip Rana, Ardra Agarwal, Ranjit Kumar Singh, Dhaval Patel, Mahesh Patel, M Nagarajan, Praveena D K, Kuldeep Arya, Vijay Kharadi, Ratankanvar Gadhavicharan, Ajay Prakash, D D Jadeja, Amit Arora, Harshit Gosavi, Stuti Charan, Ashish Kumar, Prabhav Joshi and Neha Kumari.
As per govt sources, the IPS officers selected for election duties include A G Chauhan, Bipin Ahire, P L Mal, Makrand Chauhan, Vishal Vaghela, Deepak Meghani, Nirlipt Rai, Chaitanya Mandlik, Hitesh Joysar, and Mayur Patil. Sources said the Gujarat govt has written to officers, asking them to report to the ECI.
The Union Home Ministry has come out with a modification in the guidelines for empanelment of IPS officers for Inspector General (IG) and equivalent posts at the Centre. Now the central experience has been made a compulsory requirement for empanelment to IG-level posts at the Centre, which was not the case earlier. Thus the new rule virtually tightens the existing empanelment norms.
The new eligibility condition will apply to IPS officers of the 2011 batch onwards. It means the new rules will affect those currently serving at DIG or equivalent levels in their cadres and are expected to be considered for empanelment as IG in the coming years.
The new order, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), stipulates a minimum of two years of central deputation at the level of SP/DIG or equivalent as being mandatory for empanelment to IG-level posts at the Centre. Earlier, the empanelment guidelines did not prescribe such central experience as a precondition for empanelment to the IG rank.
The revised condition will apply prospectively to officers of the 2011 batch onwards, who are currently serving at DIG or equivalent levels in their cadres and are expected to be considered for IG empanelment in the coming years.
The Home Ministry’s attempt to tighten the norms comes at a time when Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Central Police Organisations (CPOs) are coping with significant vacancies at the DIG and SP levels. Official data shows that as of December 23, 2025, central forces together had around 69 vacant DIG posts and over 100 vacant SP posts, including large shortages in organisations such as the Intelligence Bureau and the CBI.
The fact thatofficers of the 2011 batch onwards are not yet eligible for IG-level postings means the new rule is unlikely to have an immediate impact.
In a real sense, the modification aims at shaping career progression for future senior leadership, as it will ensure that officers likely to assume IG-level responsibilities at the Centre in the future possess adequate prior exposure to central organisations.
Another potent reason behind this move is to encourage IPS officers to opt for central deputation at SP and DIG ranks in order to be eligible for IG-level postings later. The move also seems to have been designed to potentially improve staffing at middle and senior levels in central forces, as current IPS officers are not very keen to join the central government on deputation, due to which a sizeable number of posts remain vacant.
Despite having been pushed to the wall by the Election Commission on the issue of the transfer of IAS officers and by the UPSC on the issue of the appointment of a new DGP following the superannuation of incumbent Rajeev Kumar, the Mamata Banerjee government in Bengal remains undeterred as it went ahead with a bureaucratic reshuffle, appointing senior IPS officer Peeyush Pandey (IPS:1993:WB) as an interim DGP on Friday. The state govt issued orders reassigning duties to top-ranking IPS officers on Friday.
According to the order, Pandey will hold the charge of interim DGP until further orders. It was necessitated by incumbent Rajeev Kumar’s superannuation on January 31.
Top ranking IPS officer Anuj Sharma has been posted as DG, Fire and Emergency Services, while Natarajan Ramesh Babu will now head Home Guards. Similarly, another senior IPS officer, Siddhi Nath Gupta, has been deputed to the post of DG, Correctional Services, and IPS officer Sanjay Singh has been named as Director, Civil Defence.
According to the order, Supratim Sarkar (IPS:1997:WB), currently serving as Additional Director General (ADG) and Inspector General of Police (IGP), South Bengal, has been named the new Kolkata Police Commissioner.
Manoj Kumar Verma (IPS:1998:WB), who was serving as Kolkata Police Commissioner, has been posted asDirector, Security, West Bengal.
Similarly, Vineet Kumar Goyal, serving as ADG and IGP, STF, has been shifted to the post of ADG (Law and Order) with an additional charge of ADG, Anti-Corruption Bureau, while Jawed Shamim, who was ADG and IGP (Law and Order), has been given charge of ADG, Special Task Force (STF). He will also hold the additional charge of ADG, Intelligence Branch.
Senior IPS officer Ajey Mukund Ranade has been posted as ADG, Telecommunication, while Vishal Garg has been elevated to the rank of ADG and posted as ADG, Cyber Cell.
Howrah Police Commissioner Praveen Kumar Tripathi, who was appointed as a central poll observer by the Election Commission few days back has also been shifted from his post. He will now be the Barrackpore Police Commissioner, in the rank of IG, while Murli Dhar, Barrackpore CP, has been given charge of Bidhannagar Police Commissioner, also in the rank of IG.
Chandannagar Police Commissioner Amit P Javalgi has been posted as IGP, Burdwan Range.
Mukesh, Bidhannagar CP, has been posted as IGP, Murshidabad and Jangipur Range.
Among the DIGs, Syed Waquar Raza, DIG, Murshidabad Range, has been transferred as DIG, Nadia and Ranaghat while Kankar Prosad Barui, DIG, Telecommunication, has been posted as DIG, Prisons. Shyam Singh, DIG, Burdwan Range, has been posted as DIG, Telecommunication while DIG, Traffic, Alok Rajoria, has been transferred as DIG, Barasat Range.
IPS officer Akash Magharia, currently posted as DIG, Presidency Range, has been posted as Howrah Police Commissioner in the rank of DIG, while Bhaskar Mukherjee, DIG, Barasat Range, will look after Presidency Range as DIG.
David Ivan Lepcha, Commandant, SAP 4th Battalion, in the rank of DIG, has been posted as DIG, Traffic, West Bengal, while Gaurav Lal, Deputy Commissioner, ESD, Kolkata, in the rank of Joint Commissioner, has been posted to the CID in the rank of DIG.
Besides, Koteswara Rao is the lone SP-rank officer who has been shifted in this latest round of reshuffling. Currently posted as Sundarban SP, Rao has been given the charge of Chandannagar Police Commissioner, in the same rank.
The West Bengal government on Friday (January 30, 2026), appointed senior IPS officer Piyush Pandey (IPS:1993:WB) as Director General and Inspector General of Police (DGP), West Bengal, in charge. According to the official order, Pandey will hold the charge until further orders.
The appointment follows the superannuation of incumbent DGP Rajeev Kumar (IPS:1989:WB), who is due to retire on January 31.
The order also announced a major reshuffle among senior IPS officers in the state. Manoj Kumar Verma (IPS:1998:WB), who was serving as Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, has been posted as Director, Security, West Bengal.
Supratim Sarkar (IPS:1997:WB), presently Additional Director General and Inspector General of Police, South Bengal, has been appointed as the new Commissioner of Police, Kolkata.
In a key administrative move, the Maharashtra government on Friday (January 30, 2025) appointed senior IAS officer Manisha Patankar Mhaiskar (IAS:1992:MH) as Additional Chief Secretary (Home), entrusting her with one of the state’s most sensitive and crucial portfolios.
She will succeed Iqbal Singh Chahal (IAS:1989:MH), who is set to retire from service on Saturday (January 31, 2025).
Manisha Patankar Mhaiskar is currently serving as Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works Department (PWD) at Mantralaya, Mumbai. Following her move to the Home Department, she will be replaced by her husband Milind Mhaiskar (IAS:1992:MH), who has been serving as Additional Chief Secretary (Forests), Revenue and Forest Department. Milind Mhaiskar has now been posted as ACS, PWD.
In other postings, Uveneswari S. (IAS:RR:2015), Managing Director of the Maharashtra State Seeds Corporation, Akola, has been appointed Director, Information Technology, Mumbai. Meanwhile, Dr H.S. Vasekar (IAS:Non-SCS:2015) has been posted as Director, Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research and Training (MSCERT), Pune.
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