In April 2025, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has approved the appointment of Deputy Director General (DG) of Hyderabad (Telangana)-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Dr. Mangi Lal Jat as new DG of New Delhi (Delhi)-based Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
- He is also appointed as the ex-officio Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW)
- As per ACC, he will hold both these posts for a period of 3 years from the date of assumption charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
- He will assume his role on April 21, 2025. He will succeed Dr. Himanshu Pathak, who took voluntary retirement from ICAR and joined ICRISAT as DG in March 2025.
About Dr. Mangi Lal Jat:
i.Dr ML Jat is a renowned systems agronomist more than 25 years of extensive experience in systems science across the developing world.
- He has expertise in cropping systems, science and strategy, conservation agriculture, climate smart agriculture, regenerative agriculture, among others.
ii.He has served 13 years at Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres (CGIAR), including more than 12 years at Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) as a Principal Scientist/System Agronomist and System Science Strategy Lead and one year at Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
iii.Prior joining the ICRISAT, he worked as Systems Agronomist at ICAR for 12 years.
iv.In August 2022, he was appointed Director, Global Research Program on Resilient Farm and Food Systems (RF & FS) at ICRISAT.
v.He has received various national and international awards/honors during his long career as agronomist: Recognition Award (2014) by the United States of America (USA)-based International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI); Rafi Kidwai Award (2018); CIMMYT Recognition Award (2020); ICRISAT Honour (2022), among others.
ACC Approved Appointment of 4 New CBDT Members
In April 2025, ACC has approved the appointment of four 1989 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers of the Income Tax (IT) cadre as new member of New Delhi (Delhi)-based Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
About 4 New Members of CBDT:
i.Pankaj Kumar Mishra, a former director of Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has been serving as member (Finance)in the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).
ii.Sanjay Bahadur, who has previously worked as Principal Director General of IT (Training) in Delhi.
iii.L. Rajasekhar Reddy, who was the Principal Chief Commissioner of IT (Tax Deducted at Source, TDS) for Tamil Nadu (TN), and Union Territory (UT) Puducherry regions.
iv.G. Aparna, who was working as the Principal Chief Commissioner of IT-1 for Bengaluru (Karnataka) and Goa Regions.
About Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT):
i.It is the apex policy-making body for IT department. It came into effect in 1964. It functions under the Central Board of Revenue Act of 1963. It works under the department of Revenue, MoF.
ii.Currently, CBDT is led by 1988-batch IRS officer Ravi Aggrawal and two serving members, Narain Parbat and Prabodh Seth.
- Apart from chairman, CBDT can have maximum 6 members who are in the rank of special secretary.
About Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR):
Headquarters– New Delhi, Delhi
Established- 1929
