Sharma to be JS Coal

A P V N Verma is being appointed Joint Secretary Coal in the Government of India. He is 1974 batch IAS Officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre. Sharma will replace Orissa cadre 1971 batch IAS Officer D D Chhotray whose tenure of deputation has expired.

Rajan Katoch is JS NorthEast

Rajan S Katoch has been appointed Joint Secretary in the newly created Department of NorthEastern Region..Katoch who is 1979 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS Officer is currently Joint Secretary in the Planning Commission.

Paramjeet Kaur to be JS

Punjab cadre IAS Officer Paramjeet Kaur Sandhu is being appointed Joint Secretary in the Secretariat of JPC probing the stock scam.

Lahri to be changed in Gujarat

Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in Gujarat 1969 batch IAS Officer P K Lahri is being changed. Informed sources said that 1973 batch IAS Officer K C Kapoor would replace Lahri.

IAS reshuffle in Punjab

IAS changes have taken place in Punjab.B R Bajaj and Bhagat Singh will now be secretaries of Medical Education and Revenue respectively. Secretary Personnel Kusumjit Sidhu has been shifted to Planning.Director Public Relations Paramjeet Singh has been made Director Technical Education.Principal Secretary Medical Education N S Ratan has been appointed DG of Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration.Karl Reddy will now be Principal Commissioner Appeals one.Bidhi Chand Thakur Secretary PWD has been made Special Secretary Revenue.Sudhir Mittal and I S Bindra would continue in Energy and Sports respectively.

Directive to change IAS Officers in Bihar

The Bihar Election Commission has directed the state Government to transfer two Divisional Commissioners M K Ibrahim and U K Nanda.The Commission has also directed to transfer eight district collectors Ms Arun Kumar Singh, Sudhir Kumar ,Shiv Nandan Ram,M W Anjum,Parmanand Rai, S M Raju, Chanchal Kumar and Hira Lal. Directive has come in the wake of civic bodies election due very soon.

Additional charge to IAS Officers in Haryana

Pramila Issar will hold additional charge of Child and Women Welfare.R K Banswal who is Director Elementary Education will also be Special Secretary in the same department. Deepa Jain has proceeded on leave.

Suicide rate goes up

There is an alarming rise in suicide rate in the country. Official figure available said that 40,000 people committed suicide in 1968 and the figure rose to 1.9 lakh in 1999,a whopping increase of 175 per cent.