Do you know India has got its first woman director general of civil aviation (DGCA). The government has appointed M Sathiyavathy, 1982 batch UT cadre IAS officer, as the DG till January 28, 2017.
Sathiyavathy , who is currently additional secretary and financial advisor in the aviation ministry and has a clean image, may , however, remain DG only for a few months as she is going to be empanelled as secretary later this year. “Sathiyavathy will not hold additional charge as DGCA. She will be full time DG till she is appointed as secretary,“ said an official.
Sathiyavathy will replace Prabhat Kumar, who has completed his central deputation and will go back to parent UP cadre. The first challenge Sathiyavathy will face is of taking Indian aviation safety ranking back to its lost top billing. The US Federal Avia tion Administration had last January downgraded the DGCA due to poor regulatory oversight.
After this first-ever downgrade on Friday , India is now among the 11 category II countries with weak aviation regulatory agencies that include Bangladesh, Barbados, Ghana, Nicaragua and a Caribbean island nation of 37,000 people, Sint Maarten.What's worse, the FAA downgrade means other countries may also express doubts at Indian carriers' safety record and insist on coming here for checks. The FAA has last month reviewed the progress made in strengthening the aviation safety oversight and is expected to decide on India's safety ranking by mid-February .
Sathiyavathy's first task as DGCA will be taking India's aviation safety oversight back to its top ranking.
A K Mittal is railway board chairman
A K Mittal has been appointed new chairman, railways board. He emerged on top superseding V K Gupta, member (engg) who was eyeing the highest post in railways.Sources said that the selection was made on the basis of criteria of efficiency and probity.In a rare exercise, railways made a record 11 appointments including chairman of railway board and eight general managers in a day.
Sathiyavathy , who is currently additional secretary and financial advisor in the aviation ministry and has a clean image, may , however, remain DG only for a few months as she is going to be empanelled as secretary later this year. “Sathiyavathy will not hold additional charge as DGCA. She will be full time DG till she is appointed as secretary,“ said an official.
Sathiyavathy will replace Prabhat Kumar, who has completed his central deputation and will go back to parent UP cadre. The first challenge Sathiyavathy will face is of taking Indian aviation safety ranking back to its lost top billing. The US Federal Avia tion Administration had last January downgraded the DGCA due to poor regulatory oversight.
After this first-ever downgrade on Friday , India is now among the 11 category II countries with weak aviation regulatory agencies that include Bangladesh, Barbados, Ghana, Nicaragua and a Caribbean island nation of 37,000 people, Sint Maarten.What's worse, the FAA downgrade means other countries may also express doubts at Indian carriers' safety record and insist on coming here for checks. The FAA has last month reviewed the progress made in strengthening the aviation safety oversight and is expected to decide on India's safety ranking by mid-February .
Sathiyavathy's first task as DGCA will be taking India's aviation safety oversight back to its top ranking.
A K Mittal is railway board chairman
A K Mittal has been appointed new chairman, railways board. He emerged on top superseding V K Gupta, member (engg) who was eyeing the highest post in railways.Sources said that the selection was made on the basis of criteria of efficiency and probity.In a rare exercise, railways made a record 11 appointments including chairman of railway board and eight general managers in a day.