I&B Ministry
Govt. accepts Jawhar Sircar’s request for early retirement
NEW DELHI: A media-savvy chief executive of Prasar Bharati Jawhar Sircar used the social media to announce yesterday that the Indian government has accepted his resignation from the pubcaster and acceded to his request for an early retirement.
Sircar was originally to complete his term as the Indian pubcaster’s chief executive and attain superannuation first quarter of 2017.
On a quiet Sunday, when most Indians were getting ready for a new season of Big Boss later in the evening having watched Indian cricket team romp home to victory over Black Caps in a 50-over game in Dharamshala, Sircar used Facebook to announce that the government had formally cleared the way for his early ride into the sunset.
“Time to quit, after eventful 41.5 years in IAS (Indian Administrative Service) and beyond. Central Govt (government) has accepted my resignation. Done enough: no more govt or private jobs. Free man, finally. Only books !” Sircar posted on his FB page Sunday evening in his usual flamboyant style.
Interestingly, it was another September weekend — Saturday to be specific — when Sircar had used FB to state and clarify he wanted to quit Prasar Bharati before his tenure ended officially and alluded to a time-frame too. “Since news is out today…I hope to be back in Kolkata by NOV(ember),” he had then said on social media.
Sircar, who took office mid-February 2012 has been at odds, at times, with Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), including Ministers, and even the Prasar Bharati Board. Still, he had told indiantelevision.com in September when contacted that MIB and Prasar Bharati Board were “in sync and supportive.”
Sircar, who took early retirement as Secretary, Ministry of Culture, to take up the challenging job of chief executive of Prasar Bharati, which manages All India Radio and Doordarshan, is an expert in art and culture and has lectured on the issues in India and abroad.
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I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
