R H Khwaja to take over as Mines Secretary

NEW DELHI: R H Khwaja will take over as the Mines Secretary from incumbent Vishwapati Trivedi, who has been appointed as Chairman of Inland Waterways Authority of India, an official statement said.

A 1976 batch IAS officer Of Andhra Pradesh Cadre, Khwaja will be the third to be appointed as secretary in the Mines Ministry in a little over two years since the appointment of S Vijay Kumar on August 1, 2010.

Kumar, a 1976 batch IAS officer, took over the mandate from following the superannuation of Santha Sheela Nair, a Tamil Nadu Cadre IAS officer of 1973 Batch on July 31, 2010.

After Kumar's 15-month stint in office, came in Trivedi, a Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer of 1977 batch.

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Trivedi to replace Bhupinder Prasad as the Chairman of Inland Waterways Authority of India. Prasad has retired.

Khwaja has been with Tourism Ministry as its Secretary. He has been with the Tourism Ministry since August 2010.

The current Mines Minister Dinsha Patel is at the helm of affairs since January 19, 2011.