The central deputation tenure of Raghav Langer (IAS:2009:UK) as Secretary in the National Medical Commission (NMC) has been extended by one year.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Thursday (December 4, 2025), the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Department of Health and Family Welfare to extend his tenure for a further period of one year beyond October 3, 2025, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Raghav Langer has been serving as Secretary, NMC since March 2025. Prior to this, he was posted in the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation from December 2023.
Before his central deputation assignments, he was on inter-cadre deputation to Jammu and Kashmir under the AGMUT cadre from 2018 to 2023.
The Kerala High Court has served contempt notices to five senior IAS officers, including Chief Secretary A Jayathilak, for alleged violation of its order given last year concerning the Agricultural Promotion Fund.
A bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice V M Syam Kumar issued notices to the officers after framing contempt charges. The contempt petition was filed by T N Mukundan, who alleged that the officers had failed to comply with HC’s order dated Nov 28, 2024.
In its order last year, the HC had asked the state govt to deposit Rs 1,510 crore, collected as land regularisation charges from landowners, into the Agricultural Promotion Fund. The petitioner has alleged that although crores of rupees were being collected, not even 3% had been transferred to the Agricultural Promotion Fund.
The court got annoyed at the way its order was ignored, as no review petition was filed within the permissible time and no application seeking extension of time for compliance was submitted. The HC admitted the contempt petition and issued notices to the officers, observing that the respondents were prima facie in contempt of its order.
Besides CS Jayathilak, other senior IAS officers who have been issued notices include Arvind Srivastava, the then revenue secretary; Keshvendra Kumar, the then finance secretary; Tinku Biswal, the then agricultural production commissioner; and Arjun Pandian, the then land revenue commissioner.
The matter will come up for hearing on Jan 5 next year.
Senior bureaucrat Aparna Garg, a 1987-batch officer of the Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), assumed charge as Member (Finance) of the Railway Board on 1 December 2025.
With more than 36 years of experience in railway finance and administration, she has served across several key zones including Western, Southern and South Western Railways. Over the years, she has handled a wide range of responsibilities in budgeting, project financing, infrastructure management, information technology systems and human resource administration.
Before assuming charge as Member (Finance), Smt. Garg has been serving as Director General of the Indian Railways Institute of Financial Management since 2024, where she has been leading training and capacity-building initiatives for railway finance officers. Prior to this, she served as Principal Financial Adviser at the Rail Wheel Factory from 2021 to 2024. Earlier in her career, she also held charge as Divisional Railway Manager, Mysore, and Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Bangalore.
Her previous assignments also include roles as Senior Information Technology Manager, Member Secretary of the Railway Recruitment Board and Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer in multiple departments.
Smt. Garg is a Chevening Fellow and holds an Advanced Master’s degree in Transport Economics from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. She has also undergone professional training at institutions including SDA Bocconi, INSEAD Singapore, Indian School of Business Hyderabad and ICLIF Malaysia.
As Member (Finance), she will oversee financial strategy, budget management, expenditure control and revenue planning for the Indian Railways. Her appointment comes at a time when the national transporter is pushing major capital expansion and modernization programmes.
MOIL Limited has achieved its highest-ever November production and sales, marking a significant milestone in the company’s operational performance.
MOIL recorded 1.65 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of manganese ore production in November 2025, showing a 1% year-on-year (YoY) increase. Sales reached 1.37 LMT, reflecting a 3% YoY growth.
For the period April–November 2025-26, cumulative production stands at 12.69 LMT, an 8% increase over the same period of the previous year.
On this occasion, Ajit Kumar Saxena, CMD, MOIL, stated that the best ever November performance stands as a testament of teamwork, and consistent improvement demonstrated by the MOIL family. He is confident of MOIL team to continue with this positive momentum in the coming months. (Source-PIB)
The Bihar government on Wednesday (December 3, 2025) issued promotion orders for 49 IAS officers of the state cadre, granting them elevation to different pay levels and corresponding ranks. The promotions will come into effect from January 1, 2026. Of the promoted officers, four who are currently on central deputation have been granted proforma promotions.
The Motwani Jadeja Foundation (MJF) came to its knees and tendered apologies for publicly circulating a training programme for IAS officers without taking approval of the government. The issue came to light after the Union Government took a firm stand and issued a formal advisory warning all states and ministries against nominating IAS officers for the training programme of the Motwani Jadeja Foundation. The advisory, released by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Monday, said that the MJF uploaded the information on its own, without any reference to or approval of the DoPT.
A day after the DoPT signalled the red alert, the foundation’s chief, Asha Jadeja Motwani, took to her handle X (formerly Twitter) to express her regrets at the mistake committed by her Indian team in Ahmedabad, claiming it was done in ‘overenthusiasm’ and that she would soon contact the DoPT in Delhi to know how to proceed about it.
The MJF, headquartered in California in the US, had virtually circulated details of a training programme, called the 21st Century India Center Emerging Leaders Program, for mid-career IAS officers with 8-10 years of experience. The foundation invited the applications from IAS officers to participate in this programme.
The DoPT took umbrage at it and swung into action by issuing the advisory, clarifying that the programme was “not issued, approved, sponsored, or endorsed by the Government.”
In order to prevent any unauthorised participation, copies of the advisory, signed by DoPT’s Under Secretary Uma Magesh, were forwarded to all Chief Secretaries of states and UTs, Secretaries of Ministries/Departments, and NIC for uploading on the DoPT website.
The cadre disputes involving bureaucrats of Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Telangana spring back into focus once again with a recent Telangana High Court order. The High Court stayed a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order directing the allocation of the Telangana cadre to senior IAS officer D. Ronald Rose (IAS:2006:AP). Rose is currently posted as Finance Secretary in AP.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Ghouse Meera Mohiuddin passed this interim order staying the CAT’s verdict.
The Union Government had moved the High Court against the CAT’s order challenging its jurisdiction to decide the cadre of All India Service officers.
The Centre’s involvement began after the tribunal instructed the Telangana Government to bring Ronald Rose on its payroll, despite the fact that Rose had originally been allotted the AP cadre at the time of bifurcation. The Centre took umbrage at it and moved a writ petition in the High Court. The Centre argued that cadre allocation of All India Service (AIS) officers is an exclusive prerogative of the DoPT and cannot be altered through Tribunal directions.
The HC was also told that Ronald Rose had earlier sought a cadre swap, but the DoPT rejected his request, as the officers proposed for exchange were also allotted to Andhra Pradesh.
The court has directed the DoPT to submit the report of the Pratyush Sinha Committee, which had examined cadre allocations of IAS and other AIS officers after bifurcation. The hearing will resume after six weeks, during which both the DoPT and the Telangana Government have to file their counter-affidavits.
The cadre disputes involving bureaucrats of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been waging ever since the state of Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in 2014.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved the relocation of five key Union ministries to newly constructed government office complexes in New Delhi as part of the ongoing administrative reorganisation under the Central Vista redevelopment and related infrastructure expansion. According to official memorandums issued on December 3, 2025, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the Ministry of Women and Child Development will shift to GPOA Block-03 at Netaji Nagar, while the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will move to Kartavya Bhawan-01 in the Central Vista zone.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has been allocated space across the 6th, 7th and 8th floors of GPOA Block-03, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will function from the 7th and 8th floors, and the Ministry of Women and Child Development has been given offices on the 6th and 7th floors.
Meanwhile, both the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will operate from the third floor of Kartavya Bhawan-01, with separate rooms and workspaces earmarked for each. The relocations will see these ministries shift from their current premises at Shastri Bhawan, Sankalp Bhawan and Nirman Bhawan.
In a surprise development, Prasar Bharati Chairman Navneet Sehgal (Retd IAS: 1988: UP) resigned from his post on December 2, 2025, and the competent authority has approved his resignation. The sudden exit has triggered speculation within official circles, as no formal reason has been cited so far. While multiple theories continue to circulate in the power corridors, a section of government insiders suggests that he may have been asked to step down.
Sehgal was appointed as Chairman of the public broadcaster in March 2024 for a tenure of three years or until attaining the age of 70, whichever was earlier. His appointment had filled a long-standing vacancy at the top, following the completion of A. Surya Prakash’s term in February 2020. With his unexpected resignation, Prasar Bharati is once again facing uncertainty at its leadership level.
The Central government has extended the tenure of Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), by one year. His current term was set to end on December 6, 2025, but he will now continue until December 6, 2026, or until a regular chairman assumes charge, whichever comes earlier.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his re-employment on a contract basis from December 7, 2025. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will finalise the terms and conditions in consultation with the Department of Public Enterprises, as mentioned in the official order issued on December 2.
A search-cum-selection committee has also been constituted to identify a regular chairman for ONGC. The panel will be led by the Chairman of the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB), with the Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary and former IOC Chairman B Ashok as members.
Industry sources say Singh brought stability to ONGC’s leadership and helped slow the long decline in crude oil production. His one-year extension is seen as a move to ensure continuity and consolidate the operational improvements achieved under his tenure at India’s largest oil and gas producer.
Singh was selected for the post in August 2022, shortly before turning 60, and took charge on December 6, 2022, for a three-year term. Before joining ONGC, he served as Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), after earlier working as Director (Marketing) from 2018 to 2021.
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