To let younger officers take charge, 1800 ranks in services to be upgraded

Days after the defiant service chiefs were forced to fall in line and issue the pay hike notification on October 1, the Cabinet tomorrow is scheduled to implement the second batch of recommendations of the Ajay Vikram Singh Committee and upgrade ranks of 1,896 serving officers.

The rationale: to bring down age profile of officers at the command, operational level and improve promotion prospects of junior officers.

While the first set of recommendations dealing with promotional avenues for Non-Select Ranks (Lt Colonel and below) was implemented in 2004, the current proposal of Defence Secretary Vijay Singh deals with upgradation of officer cadre in the three services, a reduction in the regular cadre with a corresponding increase in the cadre of Short Service Commissioned (SSC) officers.

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Maharashtra set for India's first housing regulator

Maharashtra became the first state in the country today to approve a regulator for the housing sector which would have sweeping powers, including the authority to fix prices of houses, in a bid to control the sector.

The Maharashtra Housing Sector Regulatory Commission Act 2008, when passed by the state Assembly, will give the regulator powers of a civil court to settle disputes, regulate builders and have a separate budget to function independently, besides allowing it to set prices of flats built for the poor and middle classes by government agencies and private builders.

The formation of the highly publicised commission and introduction of the Bill in the ongoing session of the Assembly was cleared by the Vilasrao Deshmukh cabinet on Thursday, top government sources told The Indian Express. The decision follows a recommendation by the Law Commission to enact a law and form a commission to deal with contentious issues in the housing sector.

The commission will have three members, including a chairperson, who will be a well-known housing sector expert. It will also have an advisory committee of up to 21 members who will be experts from areas related to housing, sources said.

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