Sitanshu Kar takes over as DG, PIB

NEW DELHI: Sitanshu Ranjan Kar, a 1983 batch officer of Indian Information Service, took over as the 27th Principal Spokesperson of the Government of India and Director General of Press Information Bureau in New Delhi yesterday.nnHe succeeds Frank Noronha, who superannuated day before yesterday.nnIn a career spanning nearly 35 years, Kar has worked in key positions in various Media Units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.nnAfter attending the Foundation Course at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie and Orientation Course at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, Kar had joined the News Services Division of All India Radio for a short stint before moving to Doordarshan News.nnHe spent nearly 17 years in this medium and played a substantial role in its growth. In 1988, he became the first Indian to win the prestigious Visnews Fellowship of London in a world-wide competition and traveled through Europe and North America to experience the cutting-edge technologies being used in the production of television news by leading broadcasters.nnKar joined the Press Information Bureau in 2003. He anchored the publicity of several key Ministries e.g., Environment & Forests, Rural Development, Human Resource Development, Science & Technology, Atomic Energy and Space before joining the Directorate of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence as the Principal Spokesperson in August 2005.nnHe has the distinction of being the longest serving spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence for over a decade at a stretch.nnIn December 2015, he was appointed as the Director General of the News Services Division of All India Radio.nnKar had graduated in Humanities from BJB College, Bhubaneswar and secured the First Rank in Political Science Honours in Utkal University. He earned his post-graduate degree in Political Science and M. Phil in Chinese and Japanese Studies from Delhi University.