Lucknow, Sept. 3 -- JCR upgrades India's credit rating to A-The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust on Wednesday appointed a former air marshal as its first chief executive officer (CEO) and inducted three new members as it attempted a major restructuring to move on from the swirling controversy over irregularities in donation collections at the Ram Temple. In two back-to-back meetings, the trust also named incumbent treasurer Govind Dev Giri - who was in the post when the donation row erupted this summer - as the new full-time general secretary. Giri was replaced as treasurer by Delhi-based businessman Mahesh Bhagchandka, who also runs the Ashok Singhal Foundation. The appointments ended speculation about the return of former trust members Champat Rai and Anil Mishra, who had quit their posts in July. Air Marshal (retired) Jeetendra Mishra, the newly named CEO of the trust, was one of the top planners of Operation Sindoor and received a medal for distinguished service of exceptional order for his role during the four-day military confrontation with Pakistan last year. Mishra, a fighter combat leader and an experimental test pilot, retired on April 30 as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Subroto Park-based Western Air Command. "I am full of gratitude, and I consider myself a very fortunate person," he told HT. Bhagchandka, former additional advocate general Madan Mohan Pandey, a resident of Ayodhya who fought the Ram Janmabhoomi title case in the 1990s, and Nirmala Yadav, former principal of PG College, Shikohabad, were the new trust members. Yadav is the first woman member of the body that oversees and manages the Ram Temple. VHP international president Alok Kumar welcomed the appointment of Bhagchandka, describing him as a "frontline soldier" of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. "Out of three names shortlisted by the search committee, the trust selected former Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra for the CEO's post," said former interim general secretary Krishna Mohan after the meeting. However, no decision could be taken on the position of spokesperson for the trust, added Mohan. A native of Bhopatpura village under Bhatpar Rani police station in Deoria district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Mishra's appointment as CEO for three years marks a shift from trustee-led management to professional corporate oversight for daily security, logistics, crowd and multi-crore funds. The appointments mark the most significant effort to shake-up the trust's functioning that had come under mounting criticism after the controversy over donation collections at the Ram Temple. The BJP welcomed the appointment of retired Air Marshal Mishra as the CEO, stressing the Trust operates independently. BJP's Rajya Sabha MP and former deputy Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma said, "Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust is an independent body and its decisions uphold religious sentiments without outside interference." Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asked why employees arrested in the alleged temple donation theft case were still in jail while senior officials had been given a clean chit. Rajya Sabha MP Ramjilal Suman (SP) also questioned the government's action against those allegedly involved in the earlier irregularities. "New committees are being formed and a new CEO is being appointed, but what has the government done against those who committed the earlier wrongdoing?" he said. SEE INTERVIEW,P8...