Hard at work

Outgoing IIT Madras director MS Ananth has been waiting for months now for the Prime Minister, the human resource development minister or other senior government officials (including Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi) to together inaugurate one of his landmark achievements - a unique Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Research Park.

VIP plans hold up inauguration of IIT research park
Outgoing IIT Madras director MS Ananth has been waiting for months now for the Prime Minister, the human resource development minister or other senior government officials (including Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi) to together inaugurate one of his landmark achievements - a unique Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Research Park. The Park is aimed as a first-of-its-kind hub for new research ventures to feed into each others' efforts, and HRD minister Kapil Sibal wants to replicate the model at other locations, too. But despite repeated requests from Ananth, the inauguration has repeatedly had to be postponed because of last-minute changes in VIP plans. Ananth is quitting office by July-end and the IIT community is now wondering whether the park be inaugurated under a new Director.

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Monetary allowance for decorated cops doubled
To encourage policemen to not just book gangsters and terrorists but help out victims too, the Home Ministry has doubled the monetary allowance for recipients of the Prime Minister's Police Medal for Life Saving from Rs300 to Rs600 per month. The decision to award this medal was taken at a police meet more than a decade ago. It was aimed at rewarding policemen who show exemplary devotion to duty in saving human life.

Bureaucratic ingenuity shines through in CVC circular
Last week's circular seeking names of "suitable persons" for the next Central Vigilance Commissioner's job was a shining example of bureaucratic ingenuity. While it implemented the Supreme Court's directive on considering candidature of persons outside the civil service to the extent already covered under the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, it made sure there were enough hurdles that the non-civil servants would have to clear before their names could reach the high-powered selection committee headed by the Prime Minister. For one, people outside the government would have to get themselves vetted - and then recommended - by the ministry concerned before the department of personnel and training can even start scrutinising their names.