IAS Officer Rajesh Kumar appointed next Defence Secretary by ACC

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16 August 2024 has approved the appointment of a senior IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer, Rajesh Kumar, as the next Defence Secretary. The ACC  also approved several high-level administrative appointments in various central ministries and departments. All the persons appointed are senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers.

Newly Appointed Secretaries 

• Officer on Special Duty in Department of Defence, Ministry of Defence- Rajesh Kumar Singh. He will be the Secretary of Defence after the retirement of current Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane on the 31st of October 2024. His tenure has been extended up to 31st October 2026, beyond the age of superannuation.
• Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs- Deepti Gaur Mukherjee
• Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs- Katikithala Srinivas
• Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs- Chandra Sekhar Kumar 
• Secretary, Department of Financial Service, Ministry of Finance - Nagaraju Maddirala.
• Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Union Ministry of Finance - Manoj Govil
• Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training- Vivek Joshi 
• Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce- Amardeep Singh Bhatia.
• Officer on Special Duty, Department of Health and Family Welfare—Punya Salila Srivastava. She will take over as the Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare after the current secretary, Apurva Chandra, retires on 30 September. 
• Officer on Special Duty to the President of India- Deepti Umashankar. She will take over as Secretary to the President upon the superannuation of Rajesh Verma on the 31st of August 2024.

Important Appointment to Remember (Government of India) ) 

Cabinet Secretary - Rajiv Gauba. It is the highest administrative post in the central government.

Home Secretary - Ajay Bhalla 

Foreign Secretary - Vikram Misri