Govt curtails tenure of two senior IPS officers in CBI
New Delhi: The tenures of two senior IPS officers -- Anish Prasad and Abhay Singh -- at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been curtailed, according to a Personnel Ministry order issued Wednesday.
Prasad, a 2003 batch IPS officer of Tripura cadre, was reportedly at the centre of controversy involving the CBI's two former top officers -- ex-chief Alok Kumar Verma and the then Special Director Rakesh Asthana.
Both Verma and Asthana had accused each other of corruption.
Prasad, who is at present Deputy Director (Administration) in the central probe agency's headquarters here, had earlier worked in the surveillance unit of the CBI, officials said.
At the time of his tussle with Verma, Asthana had written to Central Vigilance Commission and accused the agency of snooping on his family members, they said.
Singh, a 2002 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, was posted in Ranchi.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved premature repatriation of Prasad and Singh with immediate effect, the order said without citing further details.
Both of them were working at the level of Deputy Inspector General (DIG).
While Prasad has been asked to go back to his cadre state of Tripura, the services of Singh has been placed at the disposal of the Union Home Ministry, the order said.
The government had in January curtailed the tenure of four CBI officers -- Asthana, Joint Director Arun Kumar Sharma, Deputy Inspector General Manish Kumar Sinha and Superintendent of Police Jayant J Naiknavare.
CBI Joint Director Praveen Sinha, who was looking after the probe in coal scam cases, has been elevated as the Additional Director, the order said.
Sinha is a 1988 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre.
Amit Kumar, who was working as Deputy Inspector General in the CBI, has been appointed Joint Director in the CBI.
Kumar, a 1998 batch IPS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, was working in the agency's policy division.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
