Sanjeev Tripathi to head RAW

• Sanjeev Tripathi, who heads the Aviation Research Centre (ARC), will be the new chief of the country's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The ARC is a part of RAW.
• Mr. Tripathi, who originally belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre of the 1973 batch of the Indian Police Service, but was absorbed within RAW, will probably be the first RAW chief from the RAS (RAW Allied Services) cadre to head the organisation, since it came to existence more than four decades ago.
• He will take over on December 30 for a two-year term from the present chief, K. C. Verma, who has expressed his desire to quit a month ahead of his tenure ending on January 31, 2011
• Mr. Tripathi was scheduled to retire on December 31 and would have missed the chance to head RAW if Mr. Verma had remained at its helm.