Centre appoints 8 new joint secretaries

Eight new Joint Secretaries, including three IAS and five officers belonging to other services, have been appointed in the central government ministries as part of a mid-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the government on Monday.

A K Meena, a 1993 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, has been appointed as Joint Secretary (JS) in Defence Ministry. He will hold the new post upto April 19, 2016, i.e. balance period of his five years deputation period, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.

Manoj Pant, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of 1986 batch, has been appointed as JS in Department of Health Research.

In all, eight new Joint Secretaries' level appointments have been made in the reshuffle.

IAS officer Samir K Biswas is JS in Department of Chemicals and petrochemicals. A J V Prasad, a 1986 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been put on compulsory wait in the same department.

IRS officer Amitabh Kumar is Joint Director General in Ministry of Shipping, Mumbai. Rosy Sharma, a 1998 batch Central Secretariat Service officer, has been appointed as Deputy Director General, Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology under Department of Rural Development, it said.