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Wednesday, January 7, 2026
TopicChief secretary

Topic: Chief secretary

Behind Centre’s hurried recall of blue-eyed boy Sudhansh Pant, a chief secy vs CMO turf war

Sudhansh Pant’s abrupt recall to Centre comes after months of strife with the Rajasthan CMO, prompting Delhi to intervene. Pant is now secretary in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

‘The most powerful civil servant in UP’—why SP Goyal emerged as Yogi’s No. 1 choice for chief secy

Lucknow: On 19 May 2017, after returning from central deputation in Delhi, when SP Goyal was appointed Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, he...

I’m dark & a woman, that’s why I am who I am—Sarada Muraleedharan’s powerful exit from Kerala bureaucracy

A social media post she wrote before retiring as chief secy drew considerable response from ministers, politicians & bureaucracy. Even in sympathetic responses, she saw colourism creep in.

Idli, dosa & governance: Telangana IAS officers are getting insights from chief secy Rao, over breakfast

Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao has made it a point to meet his junior officers informally once a week to build rapport, mentor them & draw on their potential and views.

IAS officer Rajesh Kumar takes charge as Maharashtra chief secretary

A 1988-batch IAS officer, Kumar has served as the CEO of Beed zilla parishad, and the collector of Dharashiv and Jalgaon districts.

Haryana chief secretary Anurag Rastogi gets one-year extension, Saini govt’s decision raises eyebrows

Rastogi will remain in office till end of June next. This means some other senior IAS officers will not be able to get the coveted post in Haryana.

K Ramakrishna Rao, the IAS officer behind every Telangana budget, is its new chief secretary

Rao has headed the state's finance dept since its formation in 2014. CM Revanth Reddy chose him for the post over another IAS officer Shashank Goel, who is a batch senior to him.

Chennai’s ‘metro man’ to one of Modi’s most trusted, TV Somanathan is more economist than generalist

Somanathan is an IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre. He holds a PhD in economics. Most of his colleagues admit that an academic expert of his kind is rare in the civil services.

Kerala Chief Secretary confronts colour & gender bias after her tenure is ‘labelled black’

Sarada Muraleedharan also says her 7-month tenure has been a 'relentless parade' of comparisons with her husband, former chief secretary.

Why new chief secretary’s appointment may delay resolution of Haryana IAS seniority dispute

Anurag Rastogi’s appointment is in supersession of 2 officers of his batch placed above him in the cadre seniority list. The officers' seniority was disputed last yr by Rastogi & 2 others.

On Camera

A 2-hour op, precise extradition—what Maduro’s capture tells us about modern US military

Despite multiple agencies being involved, the US could maintain a clear chain of command. This is something India should consider too, as it defines the theatre command structures.

Trump threatens India with fresh tariffs on Russian oil, calls PM Modi a ‘good guy’

The latest comment comes as New Delhi and Washington have yet to sign a trade agreement. India’s purchase of Russian oil has reduced, but Moscow remains top source for crude.

S-300, Su-30 jets, T-72 tanks: Inventory of Venezuela’s largely Russian-origin arsenal

Venezuela also boasts of a diverse portfolio of unmanned aerial vehicles capable of carrying out surveillance, reconnaissance and being employed for kinetic purposes as well.

A year-end Mea Culpa in National Interest—The Army-Islam combo doesn’t kill democracy

Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.