Dr. Piyush Singh (IFS: 2007) has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Paraguay. He is currently serving as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and expected to take up the assignment shortly.
In a statement, the MEA said,” Dr. Piyush Singh (IFS: 2007), presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Paraguay.”
“He is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” the statement added.
Venkataraman Vajapayajula (YOA: 2005) has been concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to the Central African Republic. Presently, he is serving as Ambassador of India to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and will continue to discharge his new responsibilities with residence in Kinshasa. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.
In a statement, the MEA said,” Shri Venkataraman Vajapayajula (YOA: 2005), presently Ambassador of India to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to the Central African Republic, with residence in Kinshasa.”
“He is expected to take up the assignment shortly,” the statement added.
Senior IAS officer Devesh Chaturvedi (IAS:1989:UP), currently serving as Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has been given additional charge of Secretary of Department of Agricultural Research and Education. According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Monday (03.03.2025), the competent authority has approved the assignment of additional charge of the post to Mr. Chaturvedi with immediate effect till the appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
IPS officer Himanshu Gupta (IPS:2010:UP) has been appointed as Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for five years. According to an order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday (03.03.2025), the competent authority has approved the appointment of Mr Gupta to the for a period of five years from the date of assumption of the charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The Bihar government on Saturday (01.03.2025) issued transfer and posting orders for two IAS officers.
The names of the officers and their postings are as follows;
Tuhin Kanta Pandey (IAS:1987:OR) has taken over as the Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Pandey was appointed Sebi chairperson on February 27, 2025 succeeding Madhabi Puri Buch, whose three-year tenure ended on February 28. Pandey’s appointment is set for an initial period of three years.
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Dr Mayank Sharma (IDAS:1989) on Saturday (01.03.2025) assumed the office of Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA). Dr Sharma has a distinguished career in the government spanning more than three decades.
Dr Mayank Sharma has served in various capacities within the Government of India, including the Defence Accounts Department. He has also held key positions in the Cabinet Secretariat and represented India as the Alternate Permanent Representative at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.
Additionally, the IDAS officer has represented India at the International Anti-Corruption Academy and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. As the Head of the Consular Division at the Indian Embassy in Vienna, he was responsible for all consular affairs and handled high-level Indian delegations at UNODC.
In a significant overhaul of the police administration, the Odisha government on Friday (28.02.2025) issued transfer and posting orders for 25 IPS officers across the state.
The names of the officers and their postings are as follows;
The cadre allotment dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for All India Services (AIS) officers remains unresolved even a decade after the bifurcation of the two states.
In a significant development, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Friday set aside the Department of Personnel and Training’s (DoPT) order allocating IAS officer Siva Sankar Lotheti to Telangana. The tribunal directed the DoPT to reassign him to the Andhra Pradesh cadre within four weeks.
The CAT bench, comprising judicial member Dr. Lata Baswaraj Patne and administrative member Varun Sindhu Kulkaumudi, ruled in favor of Siva Sankar, citing that his domicile is Andhra Pradesh. He had challenged the Pratyush Sinha and Khandekar committees’ decision, arguing that they wrongly considered his domicile as Telangana based on his correspondence address rather than his place of birth, education, and permanent address as per the UPSC dossier. After multiple rounds of litigation, CAT once again upheld his argument. The tribunal reached its decision within four months of Lotheti’s petition.
In October 2024, the DoPT had rejected the representations of Siva Sankar, C. Hari Kiran, and G. Srujana to continue in Andhra Pradesh, as well as those of V. Karuna, A. Vani Prasad, Ronald Rose, and Amrapali Kata to remain in Telangana. It ordered all seven officers to report to their allocated cadre. The officers challenged the decision before CAT, but no interim stay was granted, leading them to approach the High Court. The High Court also refused relief, forcing the officers to finally join their assigned cadres—10 years after the bifurcation.
The CAT ruling in Siva Sankar’s case is expected to impact other officers as well, particularly G. Srujana, who was assigned her cadre based on similar criteria. If she pursues her case in CAT, she is likely to receive a similar ruling.
Interestingly, Amrapali Kata’s case is linked to Srujana’s, as Amrapali had opted for Telangana under a mutual swap agreement with her. Amrapali’s contention is that the DoPT denied her the right to swap with an officer of the same category and time scale. While CAT initially granted her interim relief, allowing her to continue in Telangana, the DoPT issued fresh orders following a High Court directive. The final outcome of her case may now depend on how Srujana’s case unfolds.
Ajay Seth (IAS:1987:KN), currently serving as Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, has been assigned additional charge of Secretary, Department of Revenue.
According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Saturday (01.03.2025), the competent authority approved the assignment of additional charge to Seth following the relinquishment of the post by Tuhin Kanta Pandey (IAS:1987:OR). Ajay Seth will hold the additional charge of the post till appointment of regular incumbent or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Notably, on February 27, Pandey was appointed as Chairman of SEBI, succeeding Madhawi Puri Buch, who completed her three-year term on February 28.
This is the second time Ajay Seth has been given additional charge of Revenue Secretary. On December 10, 2024, he was assigned the role when the then Revenue Secretary, Sanjay Malhotra (IAS: 1990: RJ), was appointed as the 26th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), succeeding Shaktikanta Das.
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