Northeast Special
Over the past few years there have been several incidents of students from the Northeastern states living in the capital and its suburbs being subjected to racial harassment and even physical assaults. Most recently and sadly, a student committed suicide in Gurgaon after allegedly facing discrimination. With similar incidents reported from other parts of the country, the government is finally waking up to the issue. In Delhi, perhaps for the first time five IPS officers have been transferred from the Northeast to join the Delhi Police.
The move has created quite a buzz. According to sources, though 23 IPS officers have been shifted out of Delhi, the focus has been on these five officers who hail from the Northeast and who will now police the capital. They include John Neihlaia (currently in Mizoram) and Kime Kaming, Nabam Gungte, Apurbitin and L.N. Rangchal (from Arunachal Pradesh). Hopefully, it’ll be worth the effort.

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Exclusive club
For years other all-India services have resented the domination of the IAS cadre. Now the Indian Police Service (IPS) too is beginning to extend its domain. According to sources, the CBI is planning to turn into an exclusive club of IPS officers.
Naturally, the CBI’s non-IPS officers are extremely unhappy at the decision. Apparently, the agency is going to cede 10 posts of superintendent of police and seeks to augment the number of posts of deputy inspector general of police to be filled by IPS officers. Sources say CBI director A.P. Singh has written to the department of personnel to effect the necessary change. But non-IPS officers working with the CBI feel that this move will hamper their career prospects. Obviously, some of them are expecting to be promoted to SP or SSP rank, which may not happen now if the proposal goes through.

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Babu backs off
The selection of a new CEO for the state-run asset management firm UTI has been pending since early lasy year when U.K. Sinha left to head Sebi. The delay has been primarily due to the presence of a candidate, proposed by the finance ministry, even though the candidate’s name had not been shortlisted by the head-hunting firm hired for the task. Apparently, efforts were underway to influence the selection process in favour of Jitesh Khosla, a senior IAS officer, who has previously worked in the finance ministry and reportedly enjoys the support of Omita Paul, the all-powerful adviser to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.
But foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have some stake in the UTI, were opposing and even hinted at the possibility of a long-drawn litigation if Mr Khosla persisted. They were not in favour of any government-sponsored babu heading the UTI. This worked and Mr Khosla has withdrawn from the fray, raising hopes of an early decision.

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Crisis in himachal
Himachal Pradesh is facing a babu crunch largely due to the reluctance of IAS officers on Central deputation to return to their parent state. Apparently the crisis is big and real enough for chief secretary Sudripta Roy to even explore the possibility of requesting Himachali IAS officers serving in other state cadres to do a stint in their native state to increase the strength!
According to sources, the other step the government is contemplating is seeking enhancement of the state’s IAS cadre strength from 129 to 139 officers. But even as these plans are being contemplated, the government is finding it difficult to lure the officers on deputation to return after their assignments. Rather, sources say, while many of these officers already on deputation have sought an extension, at least three IAS officers in the state have sought a Central posting. Given the current mood, it is unlikely, sources say, that their request will be accepted.