IT panel to have external experts
The vice-chancellor of the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Prof DK Bandyopadhyay and DRDO's chief controller SS Sundaram will be the two external experts in the recently-constituted departmental peer review committee. The panel has been set up by the information technology ministry. The Centre had last year ruled that the review committees — which would consider cases for extension of service of scientists beyond 62 years — should have two external members. The IT secretary will continue to be the chairman of the panel that will have to hold biennial meetings three to four months in advance.

Planning Commission and the passes issue
The Planning Commission buckled under bureaucratic pressure when at the last moment it had to issue additional passes to senior officers of different ministry for the National Development Council meeting. The panel had earlier decided that passes only for secretary-level officials would be issued. But, the plan went haywire when senior officials sought the passes saying they were in-charge of important central government programmes. As a result, the panel was issuing passes even when PM Manmohan Singh started his inaugural address.

Govt plans extension for senior scientists 
Hit by acute shortage of scientific temper, the government has decided to set up a committee to consider proposals for extension of senior scientists after their retirement. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved setting up a committee to consider proposals from department of information technology to extend tenure of scientists even beyond 62 years of age.