Know Your Babu: Shantanu Consul is new DoPT secretary

SHANTANU Consul, a 1974 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer took over as secretary department of personnel & training (DoPT) in the ministry of personnel, public grievance and pensions. He succeeds Rahul Sarin who superannuated on Monday. Read, “Post-retirement plan for MCA secretary Anurag Goel & personnel secretary Rahul Sarin firmed up in advance” posted on August 3, 2009 Bio-data Name: Shantanu Consul Cadre: Karnataka cadre IAS Batch: 1974 Date of Birth: October 5, 1950 Place of domicile: Karnataka Mother tongue: Hindi Educational Qualifications a) MA in history b) Certificate, German c) Certificate, Marketing Some Major Postings i) Deputy Commissioner, Bidar (March 1, 1982 to April 1, 1983) ii) Deputy secretary, department of civil aviation, (November 1, 1983 to August 1, 1985) iii) Director, Tourism (July 1, 1988 to June 1, 1990) iv) Managing Director at the level of JS (May 1, 1990 to September 1, 1990) v) Joint secretary, ministry of chemicals & fertilizers, (April 1, 1995 to October 31, 2000) vi) Principal secretary at the level of additional secretary Personnel & Administrative Reforms Department (March 1, 2001 to April 1 2002) vii) Secretary, Border Management, MHA (February 11, 2008 to July 20, 2008) viii) Secretary, ministry of mines and minerals (July 21, 2008 to March 23, 2009) ix) Secretary, department of drinking water supply (March 23, 2009 to September 1, 2009) x) Secretary, DoPT (September 1, 2009 ….) Foreign Education a) MBA, Univ of Hull, UK, 1990 b) Two-weeks long advanced management programme in UK in 2007 Action & Appointments Air Marshal KJ Mathews takes over as the new HR head of Air Force Air Marshal KJ Mathews took over as the new Air Officer-in-charge Personnel (AOP), the head of human resources of the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Air Headquarters on Tuesday. Commissioned in the year 1973, Air Marshal Mathews has over 3,500 hours of flying to his credit on various aircraft that include HF-24 (Marut), Hunter, MiG-21M and MiG-29. He was station commander of an operational base during Kargil operations, Principal Director of Concept Studies, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) at Air HQ and Commandant, Air Force Academy before his current appointment. He was alumnus of National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and Air War College, USA. Missile scientist Sarawat is new DRDO chief Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, noted missile scientist took over as secretary, department of defence research & development, scientific adviser to Raksha Mantri (SA to RM) and director general, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Tuesday. Read "Action & Appointments: Missile scientist Dr VK Saraswat is new DRDO chief; to act as scientific adviser to A K Antony" posted on August 28, 2009. Dr Lal Path Lab owner made an honorary brigadier Chairman and managing director of Dr Lal Path Labs, Dr Arvind Lal has been accorded the honorary rank of Brigadier in the Armed Forces Medical Services with effect from July 9, 2009. Dr Lal is an alumnus of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. Conferred with Padma Shri award this year, Dr Lal is a recipient of the Indira Gandhi Solidarity Award in 1994, Delhi Ratan Award in 2005, Lifetime Achievement Award in Medicine in 2003 and the International Business Council Award 1994.

Action & Appointments: Missile scientist Dr VK Saraswat is new DRDO chief; to act as scientific adviser to A K Antony

Who is Vijay Kumar Saraswat? Current position: Distinguished scientist and chief controller research and development (missiles and strategic systems) in DRDO. New Role: Secretary, department of defence research & development, scientific adviser to the defence minister and director-general, DRDO. Educational Qualifications: PhD in Combustion Engineering Achievements: a) Padmashri Dr Saraswat spearheaded the development of country’s strategic and tactical missile systems including the ‘Agni’ series of strategic missiles covering a range up to 3,000 km. b) As project director ‘Prithvi’, he steered the design, development, production and induction of the first indigenous Surface-to-Surface missile system into the armed forces. c) The successful testing of ‘Dhanush’ missile on board a moving ship with high terminal accuracy brought a new dimension in the national defence capability. d) Pioneered the concept of theatre defence system and integration of national Air Defence elements. Awards & Recognition: Received several awards including Prof Jai Krishna Memorial Award of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) and National Systems Gold Medal by the Systems Society of India. International Academy of Engineering, Russia elected Dr Saraswat as a member of the Academy and honoured him. Other appointments a) Vivek K Tankha has been appointed as Additional Solicitors General of India (direct taxes) in the Supreme Court of India. b) Manoj Chandran, ITS (1991 batch) has been appointed as Chief Vigilance Officer in the Cochin Port Trust. Babus In Demand The government has been looking for a suitable candidate to fill up the post of secretary-cum-controller of examinations, Staff Selection Commission with headquarters at New Delhi in the pay scale of Rs 37,400-67,000 (price band-4) with a grade pay of Rs 8700 at the level of a director. For any more detail, please contact Suneel K Arora, under secretary to the government of India, ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions (department of personnel and training), Room No 215-A-II, North Block, New Delhi-l10001. The last date of receiving applications is October 16, 2009.