Appointments Current Affairs August 2026

Vice Admiral A.N. Pramod assumed charge as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (DCNS) of the Indian Navy in August 2026, succeeding Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, who superannuated on 31 July 2026. A Communication and Electronic Warfare specialist commissioned into the Navy on 1 July 1990, he earlier served as Director General Naval Operations (DGNO) and played a key role in Operation Sindoor and maritime-security operations. He is a recipient of the AVSM (2024) and the Yudh Seva Medal (YSM, 2025).

Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja has been appointed the next Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS), succeeding Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin on her retirement on 31 August 2026. He led the medical preparation for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission and is a twice recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal and of the Sena Medal.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appointed Air Marshal Sandeep Thareja as Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS), effective 31 August 2026. He was serving as Director General Medical Services (Air) of the Indian Air Force and will succeed Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, who was the first woman DGAFMS, following her retirement. The DGAFMS heads the integrated medical services of all three armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) and reports to the Ministry of Defence, overseeing command hospitals and military medical establishments.

The Government of India appointed Annie George Mathew, Janmejaya Kumar Sinha and Syed Akbaruddin as part-time non-official directors on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India for a four-year term. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared it on 22 August 2026 under Section 8(1)(c) of the RBI Act, 1934. Mathew, an IA&AS officer, is a member of the 16th Finance Commission; Sinha chairs BCG India; Akbaruddin is a former Permanent Representative of India to the UN. This follows the earlier August induction of ex-ISRO chief S. Somanath to the same board.

The Government of India appointed former ISRO Chairman Somanath Sreedhara Panicker as a part-time, non-official Director on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India, and re-appointed Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Gopal Mahindra, both for four years with effect from 20 August 2026. Somanath served as ISRO's tenth Chairman and Secretary, Department of Space, from January 2022 to January 2025 — a tenure that included the Chandrayaan-3 soft landing near the lunar south pole on 23 August 2023, now commemorated annually as National Space Day. Part-time non-official directors are nominated by the Centre under the RBI Act, 1934.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed Monisha Chakraborty as Executive Director (ED) with effect from 3 August 2026. A career central banker with over three decades at the RBI, she was earlier Chief General Manager-in-Charge of the Department of Supervision. As ED she will oversee the Foreign Exchange Department and the Financial Markets Regulation Department. (Separately, Ravi Shankar became ED from 1 July 2026.)

Prasanta Mahapatra assumed charge as an Executive Director (ED) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), where he will oversee the Corporation Finance Investigation Department (CFID) and the Recovery and Refund Department (RRD). He joined SEBI in April 1999 and brings over 27 years of experience in securities-market regulation; before this elevation he was a Chief General Manager at SEBI. SEBI was established in 1988 and granted statutory powers on 30 January 1992 under the SEBI Act, 1992; it is headquartered in Mumbai.

The World Bank Group appointed Japanese national Yuko Keicho as Vice President and Auditor General, heading its Internal Audit Vice Presidency (IAD) and overseeing governance, risk management and operational integrity across the Group's institutions. She reports directly to President Ajay Banga, with a functional reporting line to the Audit Committee. Keicho brings over 30 years across multilateral institutions and the private sector, having served as Auditor General at the Asian Development Bank and, earlier, over two decades at the World Bank. It adds to the year's multilateral leadership changes tracked alongside India's hosting of the 18th BRICS Summit in September 2026.

A S Rajeev, a Vigilance Commissioner in the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), assumed charge as the Acting Central Vigilance Commissioner with effect from 3 August 2026, succeeding Praveen Kumar Srivastava, whose tenure ended on 2 August 2026. A former MD & CEO of Bank of Maharashtra with over 38 years in banking, Rajeev has also served as Vice Chairman of the Indian Banks' Association. The CVC is a statutory anti-corruption body established in 2003 under the CVC Act, based on the recommendation of the Santhanam Committee (1964).

The Centre extended K. Rajaraman's tenure as Chairperson of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) by 27 months, until 24 October 2028 (or age 65, whichever is earlier). A 1989-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre and former Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, he was IFSCA's first full-time Chairperson (October 2023), succeeding Injeti Srinivas. IFSCA, established in April 2020 under the IFSCA Act, 2019, is the unified regulator for International Financial Services Centres and is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar (Gujarat).

Air India appointed Tewolde Gebremariam, former CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, as its new CEO & MD (announced August 2026). He succeeds Campbell Wilson, who stepped down in April 2026. Gebremariam led Ethiopian Airlines (2011-2022), building it into Africa''s largest and most profitable airline group; his joining is subject to MHA and BCAS clearances.

Parag Jain was appointed the new Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India''s external intelligence agency. R&AW functions under the Cabinet Secretariat and reports to the Prime Minister.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), chaired by PM Narendra Modi, approved a one-year extension for Rahul Navin, Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), extending his tenure until 13 August 2027 (or until further orders), beyond his superannuation on 31 July 2027. Navin is a 1993-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS - Income Tax) officer. He joined the ED as Special Director in 2019, became Director (In-Charge) in September 2023, and was appointed full-time ED Director on 14 August 2024, succeeding Sanjay Kumar Mishra. The ED operates under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, handling money-laundering and foreign-exchange law cases.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), chaired by PM Narendra Modi, approved a one-year extension for Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan (IAS), whose tenure was to end on 30 August 2026. He became the 33rd Cabinet Secretary on 30 August 2024, succeeding Rajiv Gauba. The ACC also granted a one-year extension to Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan (to 22 August 2027).