National:
Dissent in 7th pay panel over edge for IAS & IFS
The Seventh Pay Commission, chaired by Justice A.K. Mathur, will submit to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 19th November recommendations for an average 15-16 per cent increase in pay, allowances and pensions for Central government employees, lower than the 20 per cent suggested by the Sixth Pay Commission on the basis of which the then government revised the pay scales by nearly 40 per cent with effect from 2006.
The chairman has recommended that the current practice — in which the pays of all officers recruited in a particular year are upgraded within two years of the first officer of the batch getting promotion — be extended to all services, including defence and central paramilitary services. The dissenting member, however, has suggested that the government get rid of this rule so that pay upgrade for officers, including IAS and IFS, should come off only after they themselves get promoted rather than within two years of the promotion of the first officer of their batch. Another dissenting member has recommended status quo.
On the empanelment of officers above the level of joint secretary for deputation to the Centre, the chairman and a member have recommended that officers of non-IAS and non-IFS services of a batch be considered. But the dissenting member suggested maintaining status quo.
The commission will also submit a recommendation on an alternative approach to the one rank one pension for defence personnel.
The cost of the recommendations, if accepted by the Centre, works out to 0.6% of the GDP in the first year of implementation, lower than that of the Sixth Pay Commission, which was 0.77%. In nominal terms, the rise is more than Rs. 1 lakh crore against the nearly Rs.18,000 crore following the Sixth Pay Commission’s award, which also resulted in additional arrears of Rs.30,000 crore. The per month ‘cost to company’ for the Centre will rise to Rs.4 lakh crore.
However, as percentage of the revenue expenditure, the cost is put at 18.5 per cent of the estimate in the budget for the current year. It was 22.3 per cent for the first year of the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission.
New Appointments:
Vijay Keshav Gokhale new envoy to China
Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale, currently the country’s Ambassador to Germany, has been appointed as the Ambassador to China to replace Ashok Kantha, whose term will end in early January.
A 1981 batch IFS officer, Mr. Gokhale is expected to take up the assignment shortly, External Affairs Ministry announced on Wednesday. He would replace Mr. Kantha, who was appointed as envoy to China in January 2014 for a two-year term.
Served in missions abroad
Before taking up position in Germany as India’s top envoy, he has served in Indian missions in Hong Kong, Hanoi, Beijing and New York. In the MEA headquarters here, Mr. Gokhale has also held the posts of director (China and East Asia) and then Joint Secretary (East Asia) and is known to be one of the most knowledgeable officials, who is well-versed with China affairs.
Justice T.S. Thakur is the next Chief Justice of India
In a significant move signalling that seniority reigns supreme in the highest judiciary following the revival of the Collegium, Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu had recommended the name of Justice Tirath Singh Thakur as his successor.
Justice Thakur, who is the seniormost judge after the Chief Justice, will take over after Chief Justice retires on December 2, 2015. It is a convention that the present CJI recommends to the government the name of his successor. After the Law Ministry clears his name, the file would travel to the Prime Minister's Office and finally reach the President. His Warrant of Appointment would be issued after the President gives his approval.
Justice Thakur, who is known for his patient, detailed and fair hearings of cases, would be the 43rd Chief Justice of India. He would be in office till January 4, 2017.
Justice T.S. Thakur heralded the overhaul in the Indian cricket administration by holding that no office-bearer of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) should have any commercial interests in the game. The judgment on January 22, 2015 demanded institutional integrity from the BCCI and classified the Board's administration of cricket in India as a public function.
Justice Thakur also heads the bench hearing the Sahara-SEBI dispute, which is steering the course for Sahara Group to return Rs. 36,000 crore back to its allegedly duped investors. He also heads the bench monitoring the Saradha chit fund scam and the multi-crore NRHM scam.
International
Seven Indians on BBC 100 Women list
Making a mark on the global map, seven Indian personalities have made it to BBC’s list of 100 most aspirational women. They are singer Asha Bhosle, tennis star Sania Mirza, veteran actor Kamini Kaushal, Rimppi Kumari, farmer, Smriti Nagpal, entrepreneur, Mumtaz Shaikh, campaigner, and Kanika Tekriwal, entrepreneur.
Asha, who started working in Bollywood in 1943, has recorded songs for 1,000 films. Kamini, better known as the Vivienne Leigh of her generation in Bollywood, has acted in more than 100 films. She was the leading actress in Neecha Nagar , which won the best film award in Cannes in 1946, the first Indian film to do so.
Rimppi is a farmer who, along with her sister Karamjit, took over a 32-acre farm in Rajasthan after their father died.
Sania’s story is not hidden to anyone. She is one of India’s most successful tennis players and in 2015 was the Wimbledon and U.S. Open women’s doubles champion.
Smriti was inspired by her work as a sign language interpreter in India, which has the largest aurally challenged population in the world, to set up Atulyakala.
Mumtaz’s fight to get free facilities for women through the Right to Pee network earned her the honour. She ensured 96 free toilets for women in Mumbai and made the government set aside Rs. 50 million to build women-only urinals around the city.
After being diagnosed with cancer in her early 20s, Kanika was determined to make her mark. She established India’s first and only marketplace for private jet and helicopter charters.
Complementing the list, the BBC will offer audiences a raft of special content across its platforms. As part of the season, Sania will be interviewed by BBC World News presenter Yogita Limaye.
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