New secretaries appointed for civil aviation, steel ministries

NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officers V Somasundaran and Rakesh Singh were today appointed as new secretaries in ministries of Civil Aviation and Steel respectively.

Somasundaran, who is serving in Kerala, will take over the charge from Ashok Lavasa, who has been appointed Secretary in Ministry of Environment and Forests. Somasundaran is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.

Ashok Lavasa, a 1980 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, will replace V Rajagopalan, a 1978 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, who superannuates on Sunday.

Rakesh Singh, who is working in Punjab, will take over the charge of Steel Secretary from G Mohan Kumar (a 1979 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre), who has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Defence Production, said an order issued by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC).

Singh is a 1978 batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre. G Mohan Kumar has been given the post in place of G C Pati who has been appointed Odisha's Chief Secretary. Pati is a 1978 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre.

Another IAS officer Sunil Arora has been appointed as Secretary in the newly created Department of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship under Ministry of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports, the ACC said in the order.

Arora, a 1980 batch IAS officer, is serving in his cadre--Rajasthan.