The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, has extended the tenure of DRDO Chief Samir Kamat for one more year. Samir Kamat is the chief of DRDO and ex officio secretary of the Department of Defence Research and Development.

Kamat will continue to lead the premier agency until May 31, 2025. However, his tenure was scheduled to conclude on May 31, 2024. It may be important to note that DRDO is the premier scientific agency under the Ministry of Defence and plays a critical role in national defence projects. 

Meanwhile; in a reshuffle that had puzzled one and all in the central administration, the Central Government issued a notification of transfer and appointments of as many as five secretary level officials in various positions in the government. 

Accordingly, PK Tripathi, currently serving as the Secretary, Coordination in the Cabinet Secretariat, has been moved out from the cabinet secretariat and posted as the Secretary, Lokpal, till his superannuation on June 30, 2024, and subsequently on a contractual basis for another two years on the same position. This means Tripathi will continue as the secretary, Lokpal till June 2026. 

Tripathi served as the Secretary of Steel in the central administration. Additionally, he held the position of Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and served as the Establishment Officer (EO), which is a powerful position as the EO is ex officio secretary to the ACC. The ACC is the nerve centre of the administration, where top personnel appointments and changes are made. Tripathi is a member of the 1987 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of the Union Territory cadre. 

Secretary, Border Management in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Raj Kumar Goyal has been moved to the Department of Justice as the Secretary. Goyal is a 1990 batch IAS officer of the Union Territory cadre. 

Another officer of the UT cadre of the 1991 batch Amit Yadav has been brought into the central administration to be appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. He will take over as the Secretary of the Ministry upon the superannuation of the incumbent Saurabh Garg on July 31. 

Rajendra Kumar, a 1992 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, currently serving the deputation as the Director General of Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, has been moved as the full-fledged secretary; Border Management in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Another 1992 batch IAS officer Rakesh Ranjan has been appointed as the Chairman of the Staff Selection Commission, moving him from the Ministry of Agriculture where he is serving as the special secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.