Narasimhan is new IB chief

The Government today cleared the appointment of E.S. Lakshmi Narasimhan, a 1968 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IPS officer, as the next Director...

The Government today cleared the appointment of E.S. Lakshmi Narasimhan, a 1968 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IPS officer, as the next Director of the Intelligence Bureau. Narsimhan will succeed Ajit Doval, who retires on January 31.

While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has cleared Narsimhan’s appointment, the next chief of the Research & Analysis Wing has still not been decided. This despite the fact that incumbent C.D. Sahay also demits office on January 31.

As director, IB, Narasimhan will have a tenure of 10 months as he retires on November 30. Narsimhan is considered close to M.K. Narayanan, himself a former IB chief who has taken over as the National Security Advisor since the death of J.N. Dixit.

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Unlike his predecessor Doval, who is an operations man, Narasimhan has been involved with collating and analysing intelligence inputs. He was responsible for the drafting of the SPG Bill in 1985 and has handled counter-intelligence, left wing extremism and VVIP security.

Narsimhan’s batchmate N.C. Padhi, who is currently a special director in the IB, is also being considered for the RAW slot apart from J.K. Sinha, Special Secretary (RAW) and his colleague Amber Sen. While former RAW officer R.S. Bedi will continue to be the chairman of the National Intelligence Technical Facilities Organisation for another year, the post of Director, Aviation Research Centre (ARC) is going to fall vacant with Amar Bhushan retiring this year.

Meanwhile, the Government will also have to find a replacement for Satish Chandra, Deputy to the NSA.

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