As many as 16 appointments were approved today by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and include 13 new Secretaries and one for the position of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman, a coveted post that has gone to Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer of 1982 batch Raghav Chandra.
As per the order issued late tonight by the Department of Personnel and Training, Air India's current Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan will replace Arora as Secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Das, 1980 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, would replace Rajiv Mehrishi as Economic Affairs Secretary upon his superannuation on August 31. Financial Services Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, an IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, will replace Das as Revenue Secretary.
Tapan Ray, another Gujarat cadre IAS officer, would become Corporate Affairs Secretary in place of Anjuly Chib Duggal, who would replace Adhia in the Department of Financial Services. The changes in Finance Ministry comes months ahead of the Union Budget and also at a time when a one-time compliance window is open as part of the new black money law.
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The appointment of Arora, a 1980-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, comes at a time when the I&B ministry is in the midst of several important activities including the e-auctions of Phase III FM radio stations and Phase III and IV of Digitisation.
The I&B ministry has also been under fire over the two-month-old impasse at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) where students are demanding removal of Gajendra Chauhan as its chairman.