Sheyphali Saran appointed government spokesperson

New Delhi, May 17 (PTI) Senior Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Sheyphali B Saran has been appointed as the new government spokesperson, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.

A 1990-batch officer, Sharan will “look after” the charge as Principal Director General (Pr.DG) of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) after incumbent Manish Desai’s superannuation on March 31.

Saran had earlier served as the spokesperson of the Election Commission and the Finance Ministry.

She is the fifth woman officer to head the PIB after Neelam Kapur, Deepak Sandhu, Shakuntala Mahawal and N J Krishna.

Senior IIS officer Maushami Chakraborty has been appointed director general (news) of All India Radio (AIR).

Chakraborty, a 1991-batch IIS officer, will take charge in April, succeeding Vasudha Gupta.

The ministry notified the appointments on Saturday.