Ex-bureaucrat Raj Kumar Goyal sworn in as CIC; eight new information commissioners take oath
New Delhi (PTI): After a gap of nine years, transparency watchdog Central Information Commission attained its full strength with the appointment of former IAS officer Raj Kumar Goyal and eight other information commissioners, who took the oath of office on Monday.
A three-member panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week recommended their names for the appointment.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Goyal as the chief information commissioner (CIC) at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, her office said in a communique.
The event was attended by Vice President C P Radhakrishnan and Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh, among others.
Goyal is a 1990-batch (retired) IAS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre. He superannuated as secretary, Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice, on August 31.
He has also served as secretary (border management) in the Home Ministry and held key posts both at the Centre and in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The post of CIC fell vacant after Heeralal Samariya completed his term on September 13.
ALSO READ: Football fans in frenzy as Messi winds up G.O.A.T. India Tour with Delhi leg
The Commission is headed by a CIC and can have a maximum of 10 information commissioners. With the new appointments, the Commission attained its full strength after a gap of over nine years, according to transparency activists.
In the presence of two incumbent Information Commissioners, Anandi Ramalingam and Vinod Kumar Tiwari, Goyal administered the oath of office to eight new appointees at the swearing-in ceremony.
They included former Railway Board chief Jaya Verma Sinha, former IPS officer Swagat Das -- who held key posts in the Intelligence Bureau, Home Ministry and Cabinet Secretariat, among others -- Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officer Sanjeev Kumar Jindal, former IAS officer Surendra Singh Meena and ex-Indian Forest Service officer Khushwant Singh Sethi.
Senior journalists P R Ramesh and Ashutosh Chaturvedi, and former Indian Legal Service officer Sudha Rani Relangi, have also been sworn in as information commissioners.
Relangi has also worked as the director of prosecution, Central Bureau of Investigation and joint secretary and legislative counsel in the Ministry of Law and Justice.
The names of the CIC and eight information commissioners were cleared during the meeting of the Modi-led committee comprising Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
EAM Jaishankar meets Jamaican PM, gifts over 10 BHISHM Cubes
Kingston (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and discussed ways to further deepen "political, economic and people-to-people cooperation."
Jaishankar also conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Holness.
"Pleased to call on Prime Minister @AndrewHolnessJM in Kingston. Conveyed the greetings of PM @narendramodi," Jaishankar posted on X.
"Discussed deepening our political, economic and people-to-people cooperation. Value his commitment towards further strengthening India-Jamaica relations," the post further read.
Also, the external affairs minister handed over 10 BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri) Cubes as a gift to Jamaica.
"Formally handed over 10 BHISHM Cubes as a gift from India to Jamaica, in the presence of PM @AndrewHolnessJM, Health Minister @christufton and FM @kaminajsmith," Jaishankar posted on X.
"The BHISHM Cube mobile hospital system, designed for rapid deployment, will help Jamaica during disasters and emergencies. The gift of these cubes is a statement of friendship, a commitment to disaster preparedness, and an outcome of innovation," the post said.
Jaishankar arrived in Kingston on Saturday evening, marking the first leg of his nine-day tour of Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, aimed at further strengthening India's strategic and cultural ties with the Caribbean nations.
Earlier in the day, he interacted with the Indian diaspora and discussed India's ongoing transformation in infrastructure, human development and technology-driven governance and entrepreneurship with them.
He also highlighted the cricket bond between both countries as India gifted a scoreboard to Jamaica.
A scoreboard was dedicated at Sabina Park in Kingston. It is the home of the Jamaica cricket team and is the only Test cricket ground in the Caribbean island nation.
The minister expressed hope that the new scoreboard would witness many memorable innings, including those symbolising the enduring friendship between the two countries.
Cricket has long been a strong cultural bridge between India and Jamaica, which is part of the West Indies cricket team.
Jamaican players, including Chris Gayle, Courtney Walsh and Michael Holding, have played a major role in shaping the legacy of West Indies cricket in the international arena, contributing to its dominance in earlier decades and its continued global appeal.
