Dr Shailesh Nayak given additional charge as Space Secretary

BENGALURU: In an unprecedented move, the government appointed Shailesh Nayak, secretary of the department of earth sciences, as the interim secretary of the department of space. Its current secretary, K Radhakrishnan, retired on Wednesday after two extensions. Radhakrishnan is also chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), but the government did not appoint a new chairman. It is the first time in its history that ISRO has been left without a chairman.

The situation is the fallout of PM Narendra Modi’s decision to deny extensions to most retiring officials. It was widely felt within ISRO and outside that Kiran Kumar, director of the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad, will take over from Radhakrishnan. But the government denied him an extension, and he was re-employed recently on contract.

Since all the senior directors are either on extension or close to retirement, the government apparently could not get an easy replacement for the retiring Radhakrishnan. The government has not issued a formal release, but observers expect a new chairman to be appointed within one month.