Kanpur: Professor Abhay Karandikar who has been serving as the Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has been appointed the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. Professor Abhay Karandikar is taking over from Dr Rajesh Gokhale, who apart from serving as director, held the additional charge of Secretary of the Department of Technology.
Professor Abhay Karandikar is a wireless communication expert, who developed the concept of “Frugal 5G Network” that makes sure rural areas receive affordable broadband connectivity. He also gave his contributions to telecom policy and regulations that became a part of national-level telecom policies.
The newly appointed secretary has also led a national effort to organise India’s telecom standards development body, namely the Telecom Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI), serving as its founding member and chairman. Karandikar’s contributions have made TSDSI a part of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), as well as a member of the Global Standards Collaboration.
Professor Abhay Karandikar was also a part-time member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for a span of three years, from January 2017 to January 2020. In the past he chaired the 5G Spectrum Task Force, and now he now chairs the 6G Spectrum Task Force that was set up by the Department of Telecommunications.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet provided an official notification on Sunday that announced Karandikar’s appointment and said he will assume charge as the Secretary till he retires at the age of 60 years or until further orders are received, whichever is earlier.
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