Noronha retires as PIB chief, Kar to succeed

Frank Noronha, the Principal Director General of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), retired today. He will be succeeded by senior IIS officer Sitanshu Kar.

Noronha, a 1982-batch Indian Information Service (IIS) officer, was appointed as the head of the PIB in August, 2014.

"As I retire today as the Principal Director General, PIB, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your generous cooperation and support throughout my stint.

"It was a great pleasure interacting with you. You have not only enriched my professional life, but also made my job such a pleasure," Noronha said in a message to journalists.

Kar, who was serving as the All India Radio's News Services Division (NSD) director general, was transferred in March as the director general of the PIB, New Delhi, so as to familiarise himself, before taking charge of the bureau on May 1, 2018, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had said earlier.

Prior to his posting in the AIR in November 2015, Kar was serving as the spokesperson of the Defence Ministry.

A 1983-batch IIS officer, Kar had joined the Defence Ministry in 2005.