RJD focuses on double ‘M’ in Bihar polls

As the Bihar assembly elections approach, the NDA is actively strengthening its grassroots presence to reach every voter segment. Meanwhile, the RJD, leading the opposition's grand alliance, is honing its strategy around the “double M” — Mahila (women) and Muslim voters. Party strategists are reportedly working on a focused campaign to attract these groups, portraying CM Nitish Kumar as unsupportive of women’s interests. This narrative is being advanced through posters and discussions at public forums, aiming to sway perceptions and mobilize key voter blocs. The RJD sees this targeted approach as vital to gaining an edge in what is expected to be a closely contested electoral battle.

Army officers who gain wide currency on social media

In the mid of a short full-scale war between India and Pakistan, four officers of both forces: Aurangzeb Ahmed, Air Vice Marshal, Pakistan; Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, India; Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Director General of ISPR, Pakistan and Vyomika Singh, Wing Commander, India gained wide currency on social media with the people seeking their backgrounds after they briefed the media on behalf their countries.

Siddharth Mohanty, MD and CEO, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is likely to get one year extension. His term is going to end on June 7.

Dr Ajay Kumar, former Defence Secretary, has been appointed as Chairperson, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He is a 1985 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

Power galleries of Lucknow and Delhi are abuzz about the future DGP of UP. Some said that the new DGP could be from the 1990 batch while another source maintains that this time the 1991 batch IPS officer may be given the command of UP Police.

In UP, several 1990 batch IPS officers are in the queue who could be considered for the post of DGP, UP. They are: Sandeep Salunkhe, Daljeet Singh Chawdhary, Enuka Mishra, Bijaya Kr Maurya, Manmoham Kr Bashal and Tilotama Verma. Maurya will retire in July while Chawdhary and Ms Verma will superannuate in November this year.

The tenure of Prof. Abhay Karandikar as Secretary, Department of Science and Technology has been extended for a period of one year with effect from July 1, 2025.

Ashish Vachhani, Additional Secretary, Economic Affairs, has been appointed as Additional Secretary, Prime Minister's Office (PMO). He is a 1997 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre.
 

M S Srikar, Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, has been appointed as Additional Secretary, Prime Minister's Office (PMO). He is a 1999 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

Dinesh Pant has been appointed as Managing Director, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) with effect from June 1, 2025. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post.

Ratnakar Patnaik has been appointed as Managing Director, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) with effect from June 1, 2025. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post.

The central deputation tenure of Sanjay Garg working as Additional Secretary, Agriculture Research & Education and Secretary, Indian Council of Agriculture Research has been extended upto August 24, 2026. He is a 1994 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

The central deputation tenure of Niraj Kumar Gayagi working as Joint Secretary, Department of Justice has been extended upto April 6, 2026. He is a 1997 batch IDAS officer.

The central deputation tenure of Kumar Ravi Kant Singh working as Joint Secretary, Department of Military Affairs has been extended for a period of two years beyond June 1, 2025. He is a 2008 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.

The central deputation tenure of Gurjeet Singh Dhillon working as Director in the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has been extended upto March 25, 2026. He is a 2002 batch IOFS officer.

Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) has been assigned an additional charge of Secretary, Minority Affairs till May 23, 2025. He is a 1989 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre.

According to sources, only two IIS officers were found eligible to be promoted as ADG, in recently held a DPC. It is said that in all 9 officers were considered for the promotion.

If sources are to be believed, CBI is likely to get a new Chief Information Officer (CIO) this week. The post has been lying vacant since May 1.

Abhijit Roy is posted as Controller of Accounts, Ministry of Labour and Employment and Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, New Delhi. He is a 2000 batch ICAS officer.

Two ICAS officers have been given new responsibilities. Raut Manish Mahendra has been posted as Controller of Accounts, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, while Amit Malhan takes over as Financial Controller, Ministry of Civil Aviation & Ministry of Tourism, New Delhi.

Sanjay Pandey has been appointed as Joint Controller General of Accounts, Office of Controller General of Accounts. He is a 1994 batch ICAS officer.

Jitender Kumar, who is presently serving in North Western Railway (NWR) as Chief Track Engineer (CTE), has been posted as Principal Chief Engineer (PCE) in the Railway itself. He is an Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) officer.

Pankaj Kumar Sinha, who is presently serving in Southern Railway (SR) and being relieved from the post of Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Salem, has been transferred to East Central Railway (ECR) and posted as Senior Deputy General Manager (SDGM). He is an Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS) officer.

Yash Mishra, who is presently serving as Assistant Security Commissioner, Special Intelligence Branch (ASC/SIB/HQ) in Central Railway (CR), has been selected for deputation to Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) as Regional Security Commissioner, Railway Protection Force (RSC/RPF), at Madgaon, for a period of three years. He is a Railway Protection Force (RPF) officer.

Department of Science and Technology (DST) has invited applications from Scientists for Vaishwik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV Fellowship)-2025. Applications must reach on or before May 30, 2025.

Two vacancies for Deputy Superintending Archaeological Architect posts in Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Ministry of Culture have been advertised. Applications must reach on or before May 30, 2025.

One vacancy for the post of Research Officer (Naturopathy), Ministry of AYUSH has been advertised. Applications must reach on or before May 30, 2025.

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recently approved expansion of academic and infrastructure capacity (Phase-`B' construction) of five new IlTs which had been established in the States/UT of Andhra Pradesh (IIT Tirupati), Kerala (IIT Palakkad), Chhattisgarh (IIT Bhilai), Jammu & Kashmir (IIT Jammu) and Karnataka (HT Dharwad). The total cost for the same is Rs.11,828.79 crore over a period of four years from 2025-26 to 2028-29. The Cabinet has also approved creation of 130 faculty posts (at the level of Professor i.e. Level 14 & above) in these IlTs. Five new state-of-art research parks are also coming up to strengthen industry-academia linkage.

Department of Higher Education has invited applications for the post of Vice-Chancellor of Central University of Andhra Pradesh.

Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal (MWDT), Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Disputes Tribunal has invited applications from eligible candidates for the post of Court Master on deputation basis. Applications must reach before June 9, 2025.

Ms Sanskriti Parashar, Deputy Commissioner Income Tax ( DCIT), Bengaluru has been granted study leave. She is a 2018 batch IRS-IT officer.

Additional charge of Chairperson, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority to Unmesh Sharad Wagh, Deputy Chairperson, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, has been extended upto August 23, 2025. He is a 2000 batch IRS-C&IT officer.

Gopal Krishna Sinha, Additional General Manager, BHEL, has been appointed as Director (Human Resources), Troop Comforts Limited (TCL). The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post.

Rajeev Kalra, General Manager, BHEL, has been appointed as Director (Finance), Yantra India Limited (YIL). The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post.

Ajit Kumar Mishra, ED, DFCCIL, has been appointed as Director (Works), IRCON International Limited.

Three Scientists of Scientist 'F' have been promoted to the grade of Scientist 'G' under the revised flexible complementing scheme.

Ms Rashi Sharma has been appointed as DDG (Rural Business & Planning). She is a 2003 batch Indian Postal Service (IPoS) officer of 2003 batch.

Amol V Sule, Senior Accounts Officer, Ministry of Finance, Mumbai, will look after the additional charge of PAO Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture Mumbai, during the leave period of Mrs Vidhya Ranganathan from May 26 to July 4.

Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai has been sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India.

The post of Anupam Anish Chauhan has been upgraded as Director in the National Medical Commission (NMC). He is a 2011 batch ITS officer.

Dr. Manoj Kumar Jhawar, who is presently Whole-Time Director of PTC India Limited, has been appointed as Chairman & Managing Director of the company.

Ashish Mangal has been re-appointed as Managing Director of Dynamic Cables Limited with effect from July 21, 2025.

Rakesh Duda has been re-appointed as Managing Director of Taneja Aerospace & Aviation Limited.

Mahesh Kumar Goyal has been appointed as Non-Official Independent Director on the Board of Engineers India Limited.

KV Chowdary has been re-appointed as Non-Executive Independent Director on the Board of Tata Motors Limited.

Rajan Wadhera has been appointed as Additional Director (Independent) of ASK Automotive Limited.

Surendra Singh has been appointed as Non-Official Part-Time Director on the Board of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited.

Dr. (Ms.) Sunita Maheshwari has been re-appointed as Independent Director of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited.

Pankaj Singh has been appointed as an Additional Director, designated as Whole-Time Director, of Magadh Sugar & Energy Limited.

GoI should not convene Parliament special session

The Government of India should not concede demand for convening a special session of Parliament because it is a ploy of the main opposition party to embarrass the government and eventually lead to passing of no confidence motion which is the ulterior motive of opposition parties.

Rajesh Gohel

Priority list if multiple dependents are eligible for the compassionate appointment

The appellant sought for the certified true copy of the rules and guidelines governing the matters connected to the compassionate appointment in the MES. The appellant asked for the eligibility criteria for a person to be considered a "dependent" of the deceased employee of the MES. Further, the appellant sought to know if "multiple dependents" of the deceased employee of the MES are eligible for the compassionate appointment, how is the "priority” created for them? He sought for the priority list in "chronological order.” The CIC observed that no reply was given to the Appellant on his RTI application which shows mala fide intent of the PIO in obstructing the information under the RTI Act. The CIC directed the PIO to show-cause why maximum penalty should not be imposed on him for contravening the provisions of the RTI Act and for disregarding the CIC’s notice of hearing by not appearing before it.

Comments

The guidelines regarding deciding the order of preference of taking up cases of multiple dependents should be made available on the website of the organization.

Citation: Marge Lombi v. Military Engineer Services, CIC/MESER/A/2024/600673; Date of Decision: 30.04.2025.

Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Vishakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books PIO’s Guide to RTI and Right to Information – Law and Practice. Her weekly article is being published since 2008 on this site. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and third party audit to individuals / organisations. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation at the link https://www.rtifoundationofindia.com