Inside Raisina Hill: Ex-NIA DG At IIT, No Office For 8th CPC, & Finding New BrahMos Aerospace Chief

As one walks down the Hill along the Rajpath, now renamed Kartavya Path, come other edifices — Rail Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan, Shashtri Bhavan, and Kartavya Bhavan on one side and Sena Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan, and Vanijya Bhavan on the other. The bureaucrats who adorn the offices in these buildings decide on India's economic, social, and industrial policies. There are many tales to be told from the corridors of these grandiose buildings. We let you in on some of them here in this week's edition of "Inside Raisina Hill".

Ex-NIA DG Dinkar Gupta Joins IIT Ropar As Professor Of Practice

Former Director General (DG) of National Investigation Agency (NIA) and 1987-batch retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Dinkar Gupta recently joined the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar as a Professor of Practice. Gupta, having a distinguished and award winning police career, will bring his extensive expertise in national security and defence policy, internal security and counterterrorism, intelligence, investigation of cases involving threats to national security, infrastructure and corporate security, cyber terrorism, cyber security, public policy, strategic planning, and innovation governance.

IIT stated that Gupta would play a central role in bridging the gap between academia, government and strategic affairs, and enable students to develop the skills needed to contribute to India’s growth and development. In addition to mentoring students and researchers at the intersection of technology, policy and national security, Gupta is expected to work closely with the faculty on research projects related to internal security, cyber security, AI-driven law enforcement, intelligence fusion, and analysis.

8th CPC Struggles To Find Space To Start Functioning

It has been more than a month since the government constituted the 8th Central Pay Commission (CPC) under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court Judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, but no office space has been provided for it to start functioning.

Incidentally, the duration of implementation of the 7th CPC ended on December 31, 2025, and the next pay revision to the Central government employees is due from January 1, 2026. But the new commission has not been able to begin its work to finalise the recommendations for the next pay award. The pay panel has been given 18 months to submit its report. 

CAT Orders Quashing Appointment Of BrahMos Aerospace Chief

The Hyderabad bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has quashed the government’s decision to appoint Jaiteerth R Joshi as Director General (DG) of BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture with an aim to build and manufacture BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. The CAT has directed the government to reconsider the selection and re-start the process of selecting and appointing a new DG BrahMos “within a period of four weeks from the receipt of the order”.   

The CAT heard the matter and gave its ruling after Sivasubramaniam Nambi Naidu, a ‘Distinguished Scientist’ at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) challenged the decision of the government appointing Joshi. Naidu argued that he was overlooked despite having superior seniority, merit and experience. He who was promoted to the highest scientific grade of Distinguished Scientist (Pay Level-16) on October 7, 2024. In the petition claimed that he was the senior-most eligible candidate and the top-ranked in the selection panel, while Joshi, then an Outstanding Scientist (Pay Level-15), was appointed with effect from December 1, 2024.

Coal India Sets Target To List All Its Subsidiaries By 2030

With the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) nudging the public sector coal giant Coal India Limited (CIL), the company has set in motion its plan to list all its eight subsidiaries on the stock exchange by 2030. According to sources, the listing process for Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) is currently on the top of the agenda for CIL, as the company has successfully completed its domestic and international roadshows.

Having already filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the SEBI, the BCCL is set for an IPO conducted entirely through the Offer For Sale (OFS) route. Under the plan, CIL will divest up to 46.57 crore equity shares, pending final regulatory approval and favourable market conditions. CIL’s board recently approved the listing of two more major arms: South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). The Ministry of Coal has instructed CIL to take concrete steps to ensure these two subsidiaries hit the market within the next financial year. The Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) has also joined the queue, having already submitted its DRHP to the SEBI for its own public offering.

The eight subsidiaries of CIL are Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL), South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL), Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL), Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) and Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Ltd (CMPDIL). It remains the backbone of India’s energy sector, currently accounting for over 80 percent of the nation’s coal output. For the current financial year, the company has set a massive production target of 875 million tonnes.

Centre Cautions IAS Officers Against Delayed Submission Of Property Details

The government has cautioned Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers by issuing a directive to them to submit their property details in time or face consequences, including disciplinary action and denial of promotions. All IAS officers are required to submit the annual Immovable Property Return (IPR) by January 31 of the previous year. In the communique, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) emphasised that failure to comply with this requirement is considered a “good and sufficient reason” for initiating disciplinary proceedings against non-compliant officers.

The new rules also link the timely submission of IPR to career progression, stating that officers, who fail to file the return in time, will not be considered for appointment to the next level of the pay matrix. The DoPT introduced the online system to file IPR for IAS officers through the SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window) module in January 2017. Officers can either submit their returns electronically or upload scanned copies of manually filled-in IPR forms. For the calendar year 2025, the online portal will automatically close after January 31, 2026, making it imperative for officers to complete submissions before the deadline.