The central government has appointed eminent scientist S Christopher as the new Director General of DRDO for the term of two years. Christopher is currently heads the centre for airborne systems. DRDO has been without a head for the last four months after the contract of Dr. Avinash Chander as Secretary, DoDRD & DG DRDO and Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister was terminated with effect from January 31.

After Dr. Chander’s tenure, the GOI has separated the positions of Department of Defence Research and Development (DoDRD) and Director General DRDO from that of Scientific Advisor.

GOI has also appointed Dr. G. S. Reddy as Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. Dr. Reddy is Distinguished Scientist and Director, Research Centre Imarat and Programme Director of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) project.

Tidbits

• DRDO is responsible for the development of technology for use by the military.
• DRDO was formed in 1958 and is headquartered in New Delhi.
• Missiles such as Agni missile, Prithvi ballistic missile, Akash missile, Trishul missile and Nag Missile are all developed by DRDO.
• The writings on DRDO’s Logo implies Strength’s Origin is in Science.
• Barak 8 – India’s DRDO and Israel have worked out an agreement to develop and produce the long-range air defence system for both the countries.