Central Govt Appointed Rajiv Bahl as New Director General of ICMR

(The Quiver): On Friday, the Central Government named Dr. Rajiv Bahl, who is currently working for the WHO, as Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and interim Secretary of the Department of Health Research (DHR) for a three-year term.

The prolonged term of his predecessor, Dr. Balram Bhargava, as director general of ICMR and secretary of the Department of Health Research came to an end in July.

On April 16, 2018, Bhargava was given a four-year appointment to the position.

Currently, Bahl is in charge of the Department of Maternal Newborn Child’s research unit on maternal, newborn child, and adolescent health at World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva.

One of the first organisations for medical research in the world, ICMR, New Delhi, is the supreme body in India for the formulation, coordination, and promotion of biomedical research.

Having 27 institutes across India, the premiere medical research institution encourages and finances both internal and external research projects in the areas of communicable and non-communicable diseases and basic medical sciences.