With a vision to drive gender-inclusive growth that empowers and promotes women’s leadership across sectors in the country, Genpact Limited and Ashoka University partnered to launch the “Genpact Center for Women’s Leadership” (GCWL) in March 2015. This first-of-its-kind industry-academia partnership is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) effort to drive gender-inclusive growth with a vision to create a balanced distribution of income, resources and decision-making powers across sectors.

Meena holds Ph.D. in adult and organisational development from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is the author of several book chapters and the book Developing Tomorrows’ Leaders Today: Insights from Corporate India (Wiley, 2010). She has served as Senior Enterprise Associate for the Center for Creative Leadership in Singapore and in India. A dedicated and versatile professional, Meena is a 23-year veteran of CCL, where her work focused on women’s career advancement and helping organisations to use workplace experiences to strengthen their talent pipeline.

GCWL focuses on carrying out research, establishing thought leadership and conducting proactive advocacy to help create contemporary laws and policies that promote equality and women’s leadership. It will co-create a networking platform for all stakeholders working on issues of women’s empowerment. The Center also conducts courses, training and mentorship programmes to develop and enhance leadership skills. It aims to create a knowledge bank which will help establish premium standards in leadership development and add to the next generation of women leaders from India.

Speaking about the appointment, Sasha Sanyal, Senior Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion Leader, Genpact, said, “GCWL is a very important step in Genpact’s journey of creating equal opportunities and promoting the cause of women in leadership, a symbol of our commitment to advance gender inclusive growth. 2016 brings in exciting times for GCWL as the Center gears up to create a common ground for current and emergent leaders to connect, support, educate and empower one another. We are delighted to welcome Meena to GCWL. With her extensive global experience she brings in great insights which will add significant value to the way the Center scales up and delivers.”

Venkat Eshwara, Vice Dean, Development, Ashoka University, said, “GCWL is a path-breaking initiative that will usher a new language in the domain of women and leadership. The Centre will create new knowledge, pursue research and advocacy and strengthen capabilities with students and the larger ecosystem. The year will witness some significant initiatives being adopted. As Director of the GCWL, Meena Wilson brings with her significant international experience and capabilities. Combined with that, her understanding of Indian realities and challenges will make a force to reckon with as she builds and guides the Centre”.

By Priya Yadav

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had given nod to transfer of 14 IAS officers with immediate effect.

Disclosing this in Chandigarh on January 21 , a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the file in this regard was cleared in the afternoon.

The new transfers and postings of these IAS officers are as mentioned below:

1. DP Reddy, IAS Principal Secretary, Finance Principal Secretary has got charge of Finance and additional charge of Financial Commissioner, Taxation

2. Dr. G Vijralingam, IAS Principal Secretary, Science, Technology and Environment has got charge of Principal Secretary, School Education

3. Dr. Roshan Sunkaria, IAS Financial Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayats has got charge of Principal Secretary, Labour (Reliving Mr. Vishwajeet Khanna, IAS of this additional charge) and additional charge of Principal Secretary, Printing & Stationery (withdrawing the charge of Secretary, Printing & Stationery from Mr. Kirpa Shankar Saroj, IAS)

4. Anurag Aggarwal, IAS Financial Commissioner, Taxation has got charge of Principal Secretary, Social Security and Development of Women & Children

5. Jaspal Singh, IAS Secretary, Finance (Expenditure), Secretary, Planning and Secretary, Social Security and Development of Women & Children has got charge of Secretary, Finance (Expenditure) and additional charge of Secretary, Science Technology and Environment

6. Anurag Verma, IAS Commissioner, Excise & Taxation has got charge of Secretary, Higher Education

7. Ajoy Sharma, IAS Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and additional charge of Secretary, Water supply & sanitation has got charge of Secretary, Water supply & sanitation

8. Ajit Singh Pannu, IAS Commissioner, Patiala Division, Patiala has got charge of Commissioner, Gurdwara Elections and additional charge of Commissioner Patiala Division, Patiala

9. Supreet Gulati, IAS Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Ludhiana has got charge of Additional Secretary, Finance and Director, Treasuries

10. Kumar Amit, IAS Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Jalandhar has got charge of Joint Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Punjab

11. Deeparwa Lakra, IAS Special Secretary, Home has got charge of Director, Welfare of SCs & BCs

12. Shruti Singh, IAS Special Secretary, Finance and Director, Treasuries has got charge of Special Secretary, Home

13. Deepinder Singh, IAS Secretary, Mandi Board has got charge of Secretary Rural Development and Panchayats besides additional charge of Secretary, Mandi Board till further orders

14. Harish Nayyar, IAS Available for posting on new appointment has got charge of Joint Secretary, Personnel

Meanwhile, Kuldeep Singh Vaid, IAS, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana would also hold the additional charge of Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) till further orders.

Likewise, Girish Dayalan, IAS, ADC, Jalandhar would also hold the additional charge of ADC (Development) till further orders.

Aruna Sharma

The Government of India has appointed nine new Secretaries. Those appointed are as follows:

• J S Deepak, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Secreatry, Telecom. Earlier, he was Secretary, Electronics & IT.
• Rakesh Garg, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, Minority Affairs. Prior to this, he was Secretary, Telecom.
• Dr Aruna Sharma, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, Electronics & IT, replacing J S Deepak.
• Shobhana K Pattanayak, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, Agriculture, Cooperative & Farmers Welfare, replacing Siraj Hussain.
• Avinash K Srivastava, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, Food Processing Industries. He was earlier Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture, and has replaced Ranglal Jamuda, a 1981 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre.
• Dr Krishan Kumar Jalan, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, has been posted as Secretary in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Earlier, he was Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation. He has been appointed in place of Lov Verma, a 1978 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
• Dr Vinod Agrawal, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disability. Earlier, he was Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
• Arun Jha, a 1981 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, replacing Vinod Kumar. Earlier, he was Secretary, Tribal Affairs.
• Dr Shyam S Agarwal, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed as Secretary, Tribal Affairs (lateral shift), replacing Arun Jha. Prior to this, Agarwal was Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

Satya Prakash Tucker, a 1981 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Prior to Tucker, I Y R Krishna Rao held the post. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of the same cadre and will retire on Jan 31, 2016.

Tucker will have a relatively short stint as CS since he will retire on August 31 this year.

S S Deswal, a 1984 batch IPS officer of Hyderabad cadre, has been given an additional charge, the second-in-command at Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Headquarters. Currently, Deswal is posted at Headquarters as ADG.

Bansidhar Sharma, a 1980 batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, was superannuated on January 31, 2016.

Reportedly, the regular command of SSB has to be given to a 1982 batch IPS officer for which the officer needs to be empaneled as DG in the Government of India. The empanelment of the IPS officers from 1982 batch is expected to be announced this week.

Facebook-owned smartphone messaging service WhatsApp has hit the billion-user mark, informed the leading social network’s chief and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

“One billion people now use WhatsApp,” Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook page.

“There are only a few services that connect more than a billion people.”

Google’s free email service, Gmail, is the latest of the Internet giant’s offerings to crest the billion-user mark, chief Sundar Pichai informed recently.

According to Zuckerberg, the ranks of people using WhatsApp have more than doubled since California-based Facebook bought the service for USD19billion in late 2014.

“That’s nearly one-in-seven people on Earth who use WhatsApp each month to stay in touch with their loved ones, their friends and their family,” the WhatsApp team said in a blog post.

After buying WhatsApp, Facebook made the service completely free. The next step, according to Zuckerberg, is to make it easier to use the service to communicate with businesses.

As per media reports Facebook is working behind the scenes to integrate WhatsApp more snugly into the world’s leading social network by providing the ability to share information between the services.

Archana Ramasundaram, an IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, has been appointed as the Director General of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). She is the first woman to be posted as the Chief of a paramilitary force.

Archana is a 1980 batch IPS officer and is currently heading the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The post for SSB’s Chief fell vacant on January 31, 2016, after the then DG, Bansi Dhar Sharma retired.

As per the order by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Ramasundaram has been appointed to the post till the date of her superannuation on September 30, 2017.

Mahesh Kumar Singla, a 1982 batch IPS officer of Kerala cadre, has been appointed as Special Secretary, Internal Security (IS) under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

In his new stint, Singla will succeed Ashok Prasad, who is a 1979 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre. He retired on Jan 31, 2016.

At present, Singla is serving as Additional Director General (ADG) in Border Security Force (BSF). He will have tenure as Special Secretary (IS) till February 28, 2017.

Krishan Kumar Sharma, a 1982 batch IPS officer, has been appointed as Director General (DG), Border Security Force. He will be replacing Devendra Kumar Pathak, who is a 1979 batch IPS officer of Assam cadre and is set to superannuate on February 29.

Currently, K K Sharma is also serving as Additional Director General (ADG) with Border Security Force (BSF). His tenure as DG will be applicable till September 30, 2018.

Anil Kumar Agarwal, a 1981 batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, and the incumbent Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, has been appointed as Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).

He will succeed Dr Shyam S Agarwal, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, who has recently taken over as Secretary in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

D J Pandian, a retired 1981 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, has been appointed Vice President and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), based in Beijing.

Prior to it, Pandian was Chief Secretary to the Government of Gujarat and has also headed the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPCL) as the Managing Director.

On deputation basis, he also has enough experience with the World Bank.

In another administrative reshuffle, the Punjab Government has transferred 17 IAS and five PCS officers, including six Deputy Commissioners in the State.

As per the orders :

• Varinder Kumar Sharma, IAS, who is currently working as Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Bathinda is posted as Deputy Commissioner (DC), Mansa.
• Sumit Jarangal, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Bathinda will now be Deputy Commissioner of Sri Muktsar Sahib.
• Vipul Ujwal, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Fazilka is appointed as Deputy Commissioner of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.
• Bhupinder Singh, who is currently working as Deputy Commissioner (DC), Mansa is now appointed as Deputy Commissioner of Barnala.
• Jaskiran Singh, current Deputy Commissioner of Sri Muktsar Sahib, is appointed as Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kapurthala.
• Tanu Kashyap, current Deputy Commissioner of Kapurthala, is appointed as Director, Industries and Commerce.
• Indu Malhotra is posted as MD, Punjab State Industries Development Corporation (PSIDC) and has been given an additional charge as MD, Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC).
• MP Arora, currently working as Special Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, is now appointed as Special Secretary, School Education.
• Amit Kumar, currently working as Additional Secretary, Local Government and having additional charge as Additional CEO, Punjab State Sewerage Board, is now appointed as Deputy Commissioner, Pathankot.
• APS Virk, current Deputy Commissioner of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Special Secretary, Civil Aviation and CEO, Punjab State Civil Aviation Council, is appointed as Special Secretary, Civil Aviation and CEO, Punjab State Civil Aviation Council.
• Gurloveleen Singh, who is currently working as Deputy Commissioner, Barnala, is now appointed as Director, Social Security, Women and Child development.
• Sukhwinder Singh, IAS, who is currently working as Deputy Commissioner, Pathankot, is now appointed as Director, Small Savings and has been given Additional Charge as Special Secretary, Finance and Commissioner (NRIs).
• Parampal Kaur Sidhu, is posted as Additional Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda.
• Sheena Aggarwal, who is currently working as Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, is appointed as Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Bathinda and has been given an additional charge as Chairman, Improvement Trust, Bathinda.
• Sanyam Aggarwal, currently working as Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Gurdaspur, is appointed as Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Mansa.
• Isha, currently working as Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Mansa, is now appointed as Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Bathinda.
• Sonali Giri, currently working as Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Faridkot, is appointed as Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Moga.
• Jagvinderjit Singh Grewal, PCS, currently working as DTO, Gurdaspur, is appointed as ADC, Gurdaspur and has been given an additional charge as DTO, Gurdaspur.
• Ajay Kumar Sood, PCS, currently working as Additional Chief Administrator, GLADA and having an additional charge as Chairman, Improvement Trust, Ludhiana, is appointed as ADC, Ludhiana, and has been given an additional charge as Additional Chief Administrator, GLADA and Chairman Improvement Trust, Ludhiana.
• Rakesh Kumar Popli, PCS, currently working as SDM, Baba Bakala, is appointed as SDM, Baba Bakala and has been given an additional charge as EO, Amritsar Development Authority.
• Harsuhinderpal Singh, PCS, currently working as AMD, Warehousing Corporation and having an additional charge as Deputy Director (Administration), Punjab Mandi Board, is appointed as AMD, Warehousing Corporation.
• Nayan Bhullar, PCS, currently working as Joint Commissioner Municipal Corporation, SAS Nagar, is appointed as Assistant Commissioner (Grievances), SAS Nagar.

R K Verma has assumed the charge as Secretary, Railway Board. Verma is a 1980 batch officer of Indian Railway Services of Engineers and has served as Adviser (Public Grievance) to the Minister of State (MoS) for Railways.

Verma has completed his graduation in Civil Engineering and pursued Mtech in Structural Engineering from IIT Delhi. In his previous assignments, he has worked with various railways, including Southern, North-East Frontier Eastern and Western comprising of Indian Railways Institute of Civil Engineering.

Srihari Palangala has been appointed as the Director- Marketing, EMC Corporation, India. He will be responsible for spearheading the marketing strategy and execution for sales, products and partnerships in India and will report to Karinne Brannigan, who is Vice President, Marketing – Asia Pacific and Japan, based in Singapore and Rajesh Janey, President – EMC India and SAARC.

Prior to EMC India, he has worked with organisations, such as VMLogix, Adobe India and Microsoft India.

Commenting on the appointment, Rajesh Janey, President, EMC India and SAARC, said, “We are pleased to welcome Srihari into the EMC Family. He brings with him a wealth of experience which will be critical for driving EMC’s presence in the region. His strong passion for technology and marketing skills would be a major asset in driving growth for EMC India.”

“I am delighted and excited to be a part of the EMC team in India. The company has retained their leadership as a storage vendor and has experienced several years of strong growth, yet retains a fresh and ambitious outlook. I look forward to contributing to this promising and high-performing team and help customers transform for a digital era,” said Srihari.

Pradeep Kumar Mohanty, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of the State. On February 29, he will replace Jiji Thomson, who also belongs to the same cadre.

Mohanty has served the government as Sales Tax Commissioner, Director of Public Relations Department (PRD) and as Managing Director (MD) of Civil Supplies Corporation. He began his official career in the administrative service as a sub–collector in Thiruvalla.

The Gujarat Government has transferred nine IAS officers. Those transferred are as follows:

• A M Tiwari, MD, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL), Vadodara, has been shifted as MD, Gujarat State Fertiliser and Chemicals Limited (GSFC), Vadodara.
• P K Gera, MD, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC), Ahmedabad, has been shifted as MD, GACL, Vadodara.
• G R Chaudhari, Municipal Commissioner, Gandhinagar, has been shifted as Commissioner of Tribal Development, Gandhinagar, relieving R C Meena of the additional charge.
• D N Modi, CEO, Gujarat Municipal Finance Board (GMFB), Gandhinagar, has been shifted to the post of Municipal Commissioner, Gandhinagar, replacing G R Chaudhary.
• V B Mecwan has been appointed Joint Secretary to the Government (Appeals), Revenue Department, Ahmedabad, replacing P P Harshe, also relieving Sangeeta Singh of the additional charge.
• Arvind Agrawal, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Mines Department, Gandhinagar, will hold additional charge of the post of MD, GMDC, Ahmedabad.
• Anil Mukim, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Gandhinagar, will hold the additional charge of Additional Chief Secretary (Personnel), General Administration Department, relieving Dr J N Singh of the additional charge.
• L Chuaungo, Principal Secretary, Energy and Petro Department, Gandhinagar, will hold additional charge of the post of MD, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Limited (GSECL), Vadodara.
• Rakesh Kumar, Director of Municipalities, Gandhinagar, will hold additional charge of the post of CEO, GMFB, Gandhinagar.

R H Muralidharan, former Chief General Manager – Defence  Production at KGF Complex, has now taken charge as Director – Defence Business and Member of the Board of BEML Limited, a Public Sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence. He is a graduate in mechanical engineering from Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan.He had joined BEML in 1983.

Before becoming director, Muralidharan has served in different functional area like production, quality engineering and planning in various capacities. Earlier, he was the Chief General Manager – Defence Production at KGF Complex.

Shakuntala Gamlin, a 1984 batch IAS officer of UT cadre, has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. She will be replacing Ramesh Negi, who is a 1983 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

In February 2015, Ministry of Home Affairs and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal were at loggerheads on the appointment of Ramesh Negi as Chief Secretary of Delhi. However, Negi finally had to continue as CS, Arunachal Pradesh and K K Sharma, a 1983 batch IAS officer of UT cadre, was appointed Delhi CS in March 2015.

Ankur Garg, a 2003 batch IAS officer of UT cadre, has been appointed as Private Secretary to A Gajpathi Raju, Union Cabinet Minister for Civil Aviation. Currently, he is posted in Govt of Delhi as District Magistrate, Central Delhi.

The Government of India has appointed seven new IPS officers. Those appointed are as follows:

• S K Bhagat, a 1982 batch IPS officer of Union Territory (UT) cadre, has been appointed as Director General, Railway Protection Force (RPF).
• Dharmendra Kumar, a 1984 batch IPS officer of UT cadre, has been appointed as Additional Director General, CISF.
• Arun Kumar, a 1985 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh (UP) cadre, has been appointed as Additional Director General, Border Security Force (BSF).
• S N Srivastava, a 1985 batch IPS officer of UT cadre, has been appointed as Additional Director General, CRPF.
• R P Singh, a 1985 batch IPS officer of UP cadre, has been appointed as Additional Director General, CRPF.
• Parvez Hayat, a 1984 batch IPS officer of Jharkhand cadre, has been appointed as Additional Director General, BPR&D.
• V S Kaumudi, a 1986 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as IG, National Investigation Agency.