Electrical engineer, Aditya Srivastava has secured the top rank in India’s 2023 Union Public Service examination, results of which have just been announced.
The 26-year-old quit his job in the private sector three years ago to prepare for the examination. At his first go in 2022 he finished 136th and was selected for the Indian Police Service (IPS), but he wanted more, and qualifying in top place means he has an open invitation to join the prestigious Indian Administrative Service.
"In the initial years, I would like to implement, to the best of my abilities, schemes that the Government is making for the people,” Mr Srivastava (pictured) said.
“Later on, when I reach the stage where I can make policies, I would like to work on health and education, especially for children."
The first rank holder, known throughout India as the “topper” is a graduate of IIT Kanpur, and holds a degree in electrical engineering.
When the results were declared, congratulatory messages started pouring in, and his colleagues at the IPS Academy posted a video of the celebration on Instagram.
"It took a bit of a time to sink in, but when that happened I was ecstatic,” he said.
Animesh Pradhan and Donuru Ananya Reddy secured the second and third ranks respectively.
Mr Pradhan overcame adversity to achieve his high ranking, having lost both his parents in the past six years.
He lost his mother, Aruna to cancer in January while his father, Prabhakar, the Principal of a college in the colliery town of Talcher, died in 2017.
“My mother was battling cancer till her last moment for me. She so wanted me to crack UPSC, and it is so sad she is not here to see me finally make it,” Mr Pradhan, an Information Systems Officer with Indian Oil, said.
The third-placed getter and the highest-ranked woman, geology graduate Donuru Ananya Reddy, listed Indian cricketer, Virat Kohli as her inspiration.
“He is my favourite player, and I admire the never-give-up kind of attitude he has,” she said.
“Irrespective of results we must work and strive for our goals.”
A total of 1,016 candidates cleared the examination and have been recommended for different Central Government Services, with the top 25 candidates made up of 10 women and 15 men.
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Thousands of Canadian Federal jobs to go
OTTAWA (April 18): Canada’s Federal Public Service is expected to decrease by about 5,000 over the next four years as the Government looks to find savings through attrition.
The recent Federal Budget states that, based on historical rates of attrition, the number of full-time equivalent positions was anticipated to drop to around 363,000 from an estimated population of 368,000 as of the end of March.
“As our country grows and demographics shift, such as Millennials recently overtaking Baby Boomers as the largest age group, the Government must adapt to the changing needs of Canadians,” the Budget stated.
When asked by reporters whether attrition would affect any Departments in particular, President of the Treasury Board, Anita Anand said adjustments would be made and the impact would be Government-wide.
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IT trouble blunts Prosecutors’ work
THE HAGUE (April 22): The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service (OM) is struggling with long-running IT issues which a senior official described as “disastrous and only getting worse”.
Prosecutors often can’t access their files, open emails, or communicate with defence lawyers. They are increasingly unable to receive, send, or open emails and often can’t access their digitised files. Some are forced to work on weekends when the system seems to operate more smoothly.
In a statement, OM announced it had set up a task force to resolve the IT difficulties, which are now increasing the already large backlog in the overloaded judicial system.
It acknowledged the organisation currently could not offer its employees all the IT resources they needed, and that the disruptions had a negative effect on job satisfaction.
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China considers higher age for new bureaucrats
BEIJING (April 19) The impacts of China’s rapidly ageing society are being felt, with new proposals to raise the upper age limit for Civil Service applicants from 35 to 40 years.
However, observers pointed out that the challenge of removing the upper age limit was complex and based on practical factors. The Civil Service promotion system usually works with individuals beginning at the lowest level and rising through the ranks.
If new recruits were comparatively older when they entered at the bottom level, they might encounter difficulties and potential discomfort if they had to work with younger colleagues who have already moved up to higher positions, the observers said.
Researcher, Xiomg Bingqi also pointed out that for decades the age of 35 had served as a critical threshold for employment or reemployment in many sectors and changing this would require a considerable shift in attitudes throughout society.
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Argentina seeks closer links with NATO
BUENOS AIRES (April 20): Argentina’s Ministry of Defence has made a formal application to become a partner of NATO, underlining President Javier Milei’s determination to align his country with the West.
A letter of intent was delivered to NATO authorities by Defence Minister, Luis Petri who said the relationship would allow the country to “modernise and train our forces to NATO standards”.
Observers see this as President Milei making a further statement after he refused to join the BRICS bloc of nations, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Others fear this is another step in the gradual realignment of nations into two opposing and possibly hostile camps.
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‘Mundane’ workload frustrates young officers
TOKYO (April 18): Increasing numbers of young Japanese are becoming frustrated with the country’s ponderous bureaucratic system as the number of applicants for Public Service positions reaches record lows.
"I once believed I could join in policy discussions more freely, but reality proved otherwise. I still had a long way to go before being able to contribute meaningfully to policy planning. Instead I was overwhelmed with miscellaneous tasks of little importance,” one former career-track official said.
His complaint is echoed by many Government personnel who frequently express frustration over the mundane nature of their work, often attributing it to the increasing dominance of political leadership.
A common refrain is that young workers are so consumed by immediate issues that they struggle to allocate time and resources to draw up long-term visions.
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Finnish officers face redundancy in ‘restructure’
Finland's Public Service will undergo significant restructuring next year, according to a source within the Government that leaked the news to journalists.
The source said this could lead to thousands of workers being laid off, with the changes affecting officers at Ministries as well as Public Administration Agencies.
The planned cuts are part of the Government's wide-ranging austerity package, as it looks to find an additional €9 billion ($A14.75 billion) in tax rises and spending cuts.
According to the Government source, the number of public sector employees has increased by about 8,000 over the past decade, and the Government wants to trim overall staff numbers as the country faces a chronic labour shortage in other sectors.
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May Day date for Malaysian pay review
KUALA LUMPUR (April 20): Results of the long-awaited review of Malaysian Civil Service pay will be announced on May 1, Malaysian Labour Day, Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim says.
Announcing the date, the Prime Minister said that amidst the challenging economic conditions and global geopolitical uncertainties, the Government was aware of cost-of-living pressures, especially for low-income bureaucrats.
This latest announcement follows weeks of debate which began in mid-January when President of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public Service (Cuepacs), Adnan Mat said current salaries of Civil Servants could not cover the burden of expenses following the increase in the cost of living.
Then earlier this month, Mr Anwar admitted that the salary structure for the Civil Service had not been looked at for a long time and promised “good news before the end of this year”.
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Minister outlines hiring plan
LUXEMBOURG CITY (April 20): Luxembourg’s Civil Service Minister has announced that the small European State plans to hire almost 1,500 new bureaucrats over the coming year.
Presenting the Civil Service budget to Parliament, Serge Wilmes said it was proposed to spend roughly €1 billion ($A1.6 billion) over the next 12 months, a €47 million ($A77 million) increase on 2023.
“The new positions include 750 posts for education, 90 for the police, 52 for the army and 570 for other Ministries,” Mr Wilmes said.
He said more would also be spent on pensions with about 14,000 former Civil Servants receiving a pension from the State — roughly 4,000 more than in 2015.
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