Air Marshal S P Dharkar on Saturday took charge as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force's Eastern Air Command, officials said.
Dharkar, the former Director General of the Defence Space Agency, succeeds Air Marshal D K Patnaik, who superannuated on Friday.
Prior to his new posting as chief of the IAF Eastern Air Command, Dharkar was the Senior Air Staff Officer at South Western Air Command in Gandhinagar, they said.
With over 3,600 hours of flying experience, the senior officer is an alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College-Dehradun, National Defence Academy-Pune, Defence Services Staff College-Wellington and Air War College-USA, a defense spokesperson said.
Dharkar was commissioned in IAF in June 1985. During his illustrious career, he has commanded a front-line fighter squadron and a Fighter Flying Training Establishment and has also instructional experience in conducting Professional Military Education for medium and senior level officers at the DSSC and at the College of Air Warfare, Secunderabad.
Rain plays spoilsport on Sashti
As predicted by the Meteorological Department, festive Kolkata received spells of smart showers on the evening of Maha Sasthi.
Around 7pm, it rained in various parts of the city. It has rained in Salt Lake too. Gusty wind was also reported.
The sudden rain played spoilsport for pandal-hoppers and caused traffic jams at places too for a while.
Apart from Kolkata, Hooghly and suburbs of Parganas also received light rain.