Uniform Decorum
A senior officer of the prisons department visiting Mantralaya was stopped by a security officer as the top buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing a chunky gold chain too.
The security officer deemed it a violation of civil service rules. The senior officer complied to be permitted in, but once inside, he was spotted with his buttons undone again. The security officer then called higher-ups in the Home department who reprimanded the senior officer, and asked him to observe the decorum of his office.
‘Shroud’ of Secrecy
THE NIA was never generous about sharing information with the media in the Ambani security scare case, but the agency has taken its obsession for secrecy to unprecedented lengths. Last week, the NIA covered its premises at Cumballa Hill with a black tarpaulin such that journalists waiting outside for crumbs won’t get a glimpse of the slightest movement inside.
Bandra Connect
Dr Ajit Desai, a well-known cardiologist and an old neighbour of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Bandra, was appointed to the state’s Covid Task Force last week. Desai will be a part of the task force’s specialist doctors and suggest measures for clinical management of critically ill Covid patients and minimising deaths.
Central Deputation
UDAY Chaudhari, a 2010 batch IAS officer posted as deputy secretary in the office of the Maharashtra Chief Secretary, is heading for a central deputation. He will join as Deputy Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat at Delhi.
IAS Elevation
Suresh Jadhav, an additional collector-rank officer who worked in various capacities with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, retired in January this year. But there is now a court order to consider him for the IAS. If elevated to the IAS, Pawar who retired at 58 as per state government rules, can rejoin and retire again at 60 — the retirement age for IAS officers. Significantly, Pawar has kept the post of secretary in his office vacant.