Immediately after the appointment of Sanjay Kothari (Retd IAS:1978:HY) as Secretary to the 14th President of India, the speculations started doing rounds over the next Chairman of PESB. If Indianmandarins goes by its a year old news/information, former Union Secretary (MoL&E), Ms Gauri Kumar, was about to be named as PESB Chairman but last minutes developments spiked her chances and Kothari became the Chairman on 30th November 2016 after Ajit Kumar Seth completed his tenure as PESB Chairman on 24th November on attaining 65 years of age. Call it a quirk of fate, Ms Kumar has emerged as a favorite once again, though Dr Anshuman Das is there on the Board as its 'Senior-most Member'. It may be interesting to watch whether the NaMo administration prefers an IAS officer from Gujarat cadre or the 'Senior-most Member' and former CMD of NALCO. Indianmandarins has learnt that Ms Kumar was to go on a one & a half month leave, but the latest development has made her cancel her trip. This may indicate that she may have been sounded by the higher-ups for Chairmanship. It has been a common perception that being an IAS officer, Ms Kumar has an edge over Das but the this administration always breaks the perceptions and conventions. Whatever be the inside story, it may be interesting to see what finally transpires.