New Delhi: The government on Tuesday appointed Veer Vikram Yadav as director general of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), transferred Abhishek Singh from the Indian Artificial Intelligence Mission to head the National Testing Agency (NTA), and appointed Chanchal Kumar as secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), among a series of top bureaucratic changes approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
Yadav, a 1996-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, takes over the charge of aviation safety regulation in India from Faiz Ahmed Kidwai – a 1996-batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre who has been posted as Additional Secretary in the Personnel and Training Department. Yadav was serving as Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The DGCA has faced increased scrutiny in recent months due to operational disruptions and safety concerns, most recently the IndiGo disruptions in December 2025 and scrutiny of charter operators and small airports.
The ACC issued two orders – one for additional secretary-level positions and one for additional secretary-level positions.
As part of the latest order, Singh, a 1995-batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre, has been appointed as Director General of the National Training Agency under the Education Ministry – a secretary-level post – and takes charge on Wednesday after the handover. He has led India’s AI mission since its launch in March 2024, while also holding additional positions as Director General, National Informatics Center (NIC) and Additional Secretary, MeitY, overseeing the AI and Emerging Technologies division and the Digital India Bhashini division.
Singh described his tenure at MeitY as among the most fulfilling roles he has undertaken. “I am confident they will continue the momentum we have built,” he told HT. His team led the AI Impact Summit, which attracted participation from more than 20 heads of state and representatives from more than 100 countries, with investment commitments exceeding $250 billion across AI infrastructure, foundation models, devices and applications.
The ministry is expected to make temporary internal arrangements before announcing the official appointment of his replacement.
Bhuvnesh Kumar, a 1995 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, moving from his position as CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). He took charge at UIDAI in early 2025 and oversaw the launch of the new Aadhaar app in January 2026, which enables paperless identity verification based on QR with selective data sharing.
In an exchange of posts, Chanchal Kumar, a 1992 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, has replaced Sanjay Jaju – a 1992 batch IAS officer of Telangana cadre – as Secretary in the I&B Ministry; Jaju moves on as secretary of the North-East Regional Development Ministry, which is Kumar’s current position. Kumar worked as principal secretary to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who resigned as an MP this week after being elected to the Rajya Sabha.
The members of the second order also included Rohit Kansal (AGMUT cadre), who was appointed Minister of Rural Development; Bharat Harbanslal Khera, currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, has been appointed Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of MSME and the new Secretary; Nivedita Shukla Verma moves from Secretary in the Chemicals and Petrochemicals Department to Secretary in the Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances Department; Tejveer Singh has been appointed Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Department. Narendra Bhushan has been appointed Secretary, Land Resources Department.
As part of the first order, Gyanendra D. Tripathi was appointed Additional Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Secretary, Indian Council of Agricultural Research; N Gulzar moves from Additional Secretary in the Communications Department to Member Secretary of the National Capital Region Planning Board.
