Six new secretaries and CBEC chairman appointed; SAIL chairman’s post to remain with MSME secretary, for now

ON WEDNESDAY, the Central government took eight key decisions at the senior bureaucracy level, as it appointed six new union secretaries, approved continuation of additional charge of CMD, SAIL with MSME secretary and elevated IRS (C&CE) Najib Shah as CBEC chairman. Here are Wednesday's key actions:

1. Ms Aruna Sundararajan, 1982 batch Kerala cadre IAS, currently Administrator, Universal Service Obligation Fund under department of telecommunications, ministry of communications and information technology, has been appointed as secretary in the ministry of steel in place of Rakesh Singh, 1978 batch Punjab cadre IAS who retired on September 30. For the last one month, MSME secretary Anup K Pujari was given additional charge of the ministry of steel.
2. Navin Verma, 1982 batch Bihar cadre IAS, currently special secretary in cabinet secretariat has been appointed as secretary, ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in place of R Vijaykumar, 1978 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS who had retired on September 30, 2015.
3. Ms Naini Jayaseelan, 1980 batch AGMUT cadre IAS, presently posted in her cadre, has been appointed as secretary, inter-state council secretariat under the ministry of home affairs in place of Pravir Kumar, 1982 batch UP cadre who was repatriated to his cadre.
4. Ramesh Abhishek, 1982 batch Bihar cadre IAS has been appointed as secretary, performance management, cabinet secretariat.
5. Vijay Shankar Pandey, 1979 batch UP cadre IAS, presently posted in his cadre, has been appointed as secretary in the department of chemicals and petrochemicals, ministry of chemicals and fertilizers. But he will take charge only on December 31, 2015, when incumbent Surjit Kumar Chaudhary, 1980 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, would retire.
6. The ACC has approved assignment of additional charge of the post of secretary, ministry of minority affairs to Amarendra Sinha, 1981 batch AGMUT cadre IAS and secretary, National Commission for Minorities in place of Arvind Mayaram, 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS who is retiring on October 31, 2015. Mayaram was finance secretary, but shifted to a smaller ministry by the current government.
7. The ACC has approved continuation of additional charge of CMD, SAIL with secretary, ministry of micro, small and medium enterprise, for the purpose of continuity, till a regular incumbent joins.
8. Najib Shah, a 1979 batch IRS (Customs and Central Excise) officer, and Member of Central Board of Excise and customs, has been appointed as Chairman of CBEC in place of Kaushal Srivastava, a 1978 batch officer who has retired.