• Senior bureaucrat Rajesh Kumar Singh took over as defence secretary on November 1.

• The 1989-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre assumed charge at the South Block, where the ministry is housed.

• He succeeds Giridhar Aramane, a 1988-batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, who superannuated on October 31.

• Singh had assumed charge as officer on special duty (defence secretary-designate) on August 20.

• He held the post of secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry from April 24, 2023, to August 20, 2024.

• Prior to that, he was secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying.

• Singh has held many other important positions in the Union government, including director of works and urban transport in the Ministry of Urban Development; commissioner (lands) in the Delhi Development Authority; joint secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; joint secretary in the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare; and chief vigilance officer in the Food Corporation of India.

• He has also held charge as urban development secretary and finance secretary in the Kerala government.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)