Alok Joshi appointed next RAW head

Alok Joshi has been appointed as chief of country's external intelligence gathering agency-- Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).According to an official order, Joshi(59), a 1976 batch officer of Haryana Cadre who is at present Special Secretary in RAW, will take over the reins of the key agency on December 30.

About the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW):
Research and Analysis Wing is India's external security agency. Working directly under the Prime Minister, the structure and operations of the Research & Analysis Wing are kept secret from Parliament. It was formed in September 1968 under the helmsman-ship of its first Director, R. N. Kao. Its creation was necessitated by the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau (IB, which then handled both internal and external intelligence) in the wars against China (1962) and the Pakistan (1965) convinced the government that a specialized, independent agency was required for competent external intelligence gathering.
Numerous missions were assigned to RAW upon its creation. These included monitoring political and military developments in neighboring countries that affects Indian national security. Consequently, considerable attention is paid by RAW to Pakistan and China, countries that are traditional rivals of India.
In 1968, RAW had 250 agents and a budget of Rs. 2 crore. This has expanded to a 2000 total of an estimated eight to ten thousand agents and a budget that experts place at Rs. 1500 crore, alternately estimated at $145 million.
The primary objectives of RAW:

• To monitor the political and military developments in adjoining countries, which have direct bearing on India's national security and in the formulation of its foreign policy.
• To seek the control and limitation of the supply of military hardware to Pakistan, mostly from European countries, the USA and China.