Manoj Soni, who joined the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) in 2017 as a member, has taken oath as the new chairman of UPSC. The eminent educationist has been performing the duties of UPSC chairman since April 5, 2022. According to the sources, Manoj Soni joined the organisation in 2017 as a member.According to a release from the Personnel Ministry, Smita Nagaraj, the senior member of the Commission, gave him the oath of office and secrecy in his new role as chairman of the UPSC. Soni has served as the three-term vice chancellor, before joining UPSC. He was the youngest-ever Vice-Chancellor in India when he joined Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.Notably, the UPSC conducts civil services examinations to select officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others. The Commission can have a maximum of 10 members and is headed by a chairman. Reportedly, there is still a vacancy of five members in the UPSC.More about Manoj SoniDr Manoj Soni is a political science expert with a focus on international relations. Between 1991 and 2016, Dr Soni taught International Relations at Sardar Patel University (SPU), Vallabh Vidyanagar, except during the time he was the Vice-Chancellor of the two institutions. The “Post-Cold War International Systemic Transition and Indo-U.S. Relations” was the topic of Dr Sonis doctoral research. This is one of the first and original investigations between 1992 and 1995. It tried to provide a conceptual framework with strong prediction powers to describe the post-Cold War systemic change. An internationally renowned publishing behemoth located in the United Kingdom, Ashgate Publishing Limited, New Hampshire, later released this work as a book with the working title “Understanding the Global Political Earthquake” in 1998.Apart from serving as Vice-chancellor during his tenure, Dr Soni has also served on the Board of Governors for several institutions of higher education and public administration. He was also a member of a quasi-judicial body which was constituted by an act of Gujarat legislature. Notably, the fee structure of the un-aided professional institutions in Gujarat is handled by this judicial body.
