Sitanshu Kar becomes the 27th PIB DG

New Delhi: Indian Information Services (IIS) officer Sitanshu Ranjan Kar on Tuesday took over as the director general of the press information bureau (PIB). Mr Kar succeeded Frank Noronha, who superannuated on Monday, and is the 27th principal spokesperson of the government of India.

In a career spanning nearly 35 years,  the 1983-batch officer has worked in key positions in various media units of the ministry of information and broadcasting.

Mr Kar had joined the PIB in 2003. He has anchored the publicity of several key ministries, before joining the directorate of public relations, ministry of defence (MoD), as its principal spokesperson in August 2005. Mr Kar has the distinction of being the longest-serving spokesperson of the MoD for over a decade at a stretch. In December 2015, he was also appointed as the director general of the AIR's News Services Division.