Know Your IAS: New defence secretary Sanjay Mitra; 10 Things to Know

COME May 24, West Bengal cadre lAS of 1982 batch Sanjay Mitra will be India’s new defence secretary. He has already been appointed as officer on special duty (OSD) in the ministry of defence before he would formally take over as new defence secretary from incumbent G Mohan Kumar. Armed with rich administrative experiences — joint secretary in PMO, chief secretary in West Bengal and union secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways — Mitra has always been a much sought-after officer. Those who are close to Mitra further confirm that he was brought back to Kolkata at the behest of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Here are 10 things to know about new defence secretary.

Know Your Babu: 10 things to know about India’s new defence secretary G Mohan Kumar

G Mohan Kumar in a cleaning drive at South Block (file photo)

FINALLY, the speculations on who could be India’s the next defence secretary were over on Friday when 1979 batch Odisha cadre IAS G Mohan Kumar was appointed for a two-year-term. An MSc in chemistry, Kumar has an MBA degree from the University of Hull, UK. More about this officer:

Know Your Babu: India’s new defence secretary Radha Krishna Mathur

FEW had betted on 1977 batch IAS RK Mathur as India’s defence secretary, one of the most high-profile bureaucrat’s jobs, next only to cabinet secretary. Mathur is low-profile, had served as chief secretary in one of the few Communist pockets in India --- Tripura, and has an MBA degree from a lesser known place in Europe called Ljubljana. But unlike some of his high-profile peers, Mathur is armed with the following to his advantage…

Whispers In Corridors: Succession Planning for defence secretary begins

Sumit Bose

Shashi Kant Sharma, a 1976 batch Bihar cadre IAS, will retire as defence secretary in July next year, but many in the corridors have zeroed in who could be the next defence secretary, and why? The trend of appointing a finance person in defence ministry may continue as the priority of the top babu in the South Block now is to anchor procurement worth billions of dollars which needs high quality financial skills.

So, who is the next finance ministry bureaucrat who could be asked to move from North to South Block in July next year? He is none other than Madhya Pradesh cadre…

Know Your Babu: New defence secretary Pradeep Kumar

THE wait is finally over. Pradeep Kumar, a 1972 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre and presently secretary, department of defence production under the ministry of defence will be India’s next defence secretary. He would take over from Vijay Singh, a 1970 batch MP cadre IAS who is due to superannuate on July 31, 2009. Mr Kumar will have a tenure of two years from the date of taking over the charge of the post. babu blogger in a post dated June 20, 2009, said that Mr Kumar is “believed to be the front-runner for the post thanks to his experiences in defence department for sometime now.”

Know Your Babu Name : Pradeep Kumar, Cadre: Haryana cadre IAS Batch: 1972 Educational Qualifications Masters in Economics Major Postings a) Joint Secretary in the ministry of heavy industries & public enterprises, New Delhi from September 20, 1997 to September 11, 2002 b) Resident Commissioner, Haryana Bhavan, New Delhi (From April, 10, 2003 to December 19, 2003) c) Additional secretary, Mines & Minerals, Coal (From December 19, 2003 to June 23, 2006) d) Chairman, National Highways Auth of India (NHAI), (From October 4,2006 to July 30, 2007) e) Secretary, department of disinvestment, Ministry of Finance (From July 30, 2007 to August 1, 2008) f) Secretary, defence production (From February 2, 2008 till now) Foreign degree MSc in economics and social science, from UK (1986)