Satish Kumar Gupta (IRS-IT:1984) has been re-appointed as Member in Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, issued the order approving the re- appointment of the IRS officer of the Income Tax Deprtment cadre.
Cabinet Secretary-led panel to select new RBI deputy governor on August 7
A search panel headed by the cabinet secretary is scheduled to interview shortlisted candidates on August 7 for the post of RBI deputy governor, sources said.
As per the earlier schedule, the interview was to take place on July 23 but was deferred due to some reasons.
The post had fallen vacant after senior-most deputy governor N S Vishwanathan demitted office three months ahead of his extended tenure on March 31 on health grounds after serving the monetary authority for 39 years.
The Financial Sector Regulatory Appointment Search Committee (FSRASC) has a list of eight names who would be interviewed via video conference, the sources said.
The selected name from the interview will be sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister for final approval, they added.
Besides the cabinet secretary, other members of FSRASC include the RBI Governor, financial services secretary and two independent members.
This vacancy of RBI deputy governor has been reserved for the central bank’s internal candidate, who would look after the key supervisory and regulatory functions at the Mint Road.
As per the RBI Act, the central bank should have four deputy governors — two from within the ranks, one commercial banker and another an economist to head the monetary policy department.
At present, the RBI has three deputy governors — B P Kanungo, M K Jain and Michael Debabrata Patra.
Earlier this year, the government extended Kanungo’s tenure by a year with effect from April 3, 2020.
Kanungo, whose term was to end on April 2, had taken charge as a deputy governor in April 2017.
The deputy governor appointments are made for an initial period of three years and the person is eligible for reappointment. The deputy governor gets a fixed salary of Rs 2.25 lakh per month plus allowances. (PTI)
RBI’s rate-setting panel set for ‘overhaul’
(Bloomberg) : India’s central bank will soon have a new group of policy makers setting interest rates and possibly a change to its mandate too.
The six-member Monetary Policy Committee will have four new faces this year: the terms of three independent people on the panel expire at the end of next month and one internal member retired in June. In addition, the inflation-targeting framework is already under review before the current five-year mandate ends next year.
The overhaul comes at a time of heightened uncertainty in India, where the coronavirus has infected more than 1 million people and the economy is heading toward its biggest contraction in four decades. With the Reserve Bank of India taking on the bulk of the stimulus burden in the absence of more stronger fiscal support, market participants are wary of any sharp shifts in policy stance.
Shilan Shah, a senior economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in Singapore, said he doesn’t see a risk of that happening.
MPC reconstitution
In theory, it could be an issue as markets will be looking for as much stability as possible during these uncertain times, he said. In practice though, a re-constitution of the MPC is unlikely to make any meaningful difference. The MPC typically follows the lead of the governor,
he said.
Governor Shaktikanta Das has led the committee in cutting interest rates by 115 basis points this year, and has signalled that policy will remain loose to support the economy.
A selection panel — which includes Das and Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj — has been formed to pick the three new external MPC members to replace Chetan Ghate, Ravindra Dholakia and Pami Dua. The law says they’re not eligible for re-appointment, but the RBI had earlier written to the Finance Ministry seeking an extension of their four-year terms until March.
The other MPC member who will be replaced is Janak Raj, an executive director at the RBI, who retired last month.
Amol Agrawal, an assistant professor in the department of economics and public policy at Ahmedabad University, said “he’s generally not in favour of reappointing the policy makers, but given the times, we might wish for some continuity.”
The review of the inflation-targeting mechanism may also bring changes to the monetary policy mandate, which was set in 2016 and requires the RBI to keep inflation at the 4 per cent midpoint of a 2-6 per cent range. Economists like Bloomberg Economics Abhishek Gupta have argued that the headline inflation measure used in the current framework is too volatile and the RBI should rather target core prices, which strips out oil and food costs.
“I would even recommend a nominal growth target which is more appropriate for a country like India that is prone to supply shocks,” said Rudra Sensarma, a professor of economics at the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode.
Indian Railways to auction dedicated freight corridors to private players: Report
Indian Railways is planning to run private freight trains along dedicated corridors. This comes even as it is gearing up for private passenger trains, a process delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The aim is to begin privatising freight trains when the first batch of private passenger trains begins operation in 2023. Currently, among freight trains, only private container trains have been allowed to operate in India in limited capacity since 2006.
Confirming the development, Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said that private operators will be brought in once DFCs are ready. Deadline for completion of DFCs is June 2022.
On the routes likely to be auctioned to private players, Anurag Sachan, Managing Director, DFC Corporation of India (DFCCIL) said they would engage first in the 650 km stretch between Palanpur (Gujarat) and Rewari (Haryana). This stretch will be operational this fiscal, he added.
Delhi HC fines Bengal govt. for failing to relieve IPS officer
The Delhi High Court has imposed a cost of ₹20,000 on the West Bengal government for not relieving an IPS officer of the State cadre, for nearly three years since the Centre notified her cadre transfer from West Bengal to Odisha.
The High Court gave the order on a plea by a West Bengal cadre IPS officer of 2013 batch Ms. Loganayagi Divya V.
Ms. Divya, that after she married an IPS office of Odisha cadre, the Home Ministry on her representation, had on September 12, 2017, issued a notification for change of her cadre from West Bengal to Odisha.
She said more than two years have elapsed, but she was not being relieved by the West Bengal government.
“This shows complete apathy on the part of the State of West Bengal — which cannot be countenanced,” the High Court said.
“We declare that the petitioner [Ms. Divya] stands forthwith relieved from her post in the IPS cadre of the State of West Bengal. No further orders would be required to be passed by the State of West Bengal in this regard,” the High Court ordered.
Bihar : IMA wants Health Secretary Kumawat removed, writes to CM
The Bihar branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sounded a bugle of revolt against health department’s principal secretary Uday Singh Kumawat (IAS:1993:BH) and has written to chief minister Nitish Kumar for his removal.
“The doctors are quite upset with the decisions taken by the officer,” said the letter written by IMA honorary secretary Dr Sunil Kumar to the CM.
The IMA has urged the CM to reinstate former principal secretary, department of health, Sanjay Kumar (IAS:1990:BH), who had swapped positions with Kumawat on May 21.
In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases, the Bihar government had in a surprise move removed Sanjay Kumar from the post of principal secretary, department of health on May 21. Though the government cited no official reason behind the move, it was viewed as a result of slow testing and the growing spread of infection.
During the Cabinet meeting on Friday, chief minister Nitish Kumar was said to be quite unhappy with the continued spike in Covid-19 positive cases. He reportedly even reprimanded Kumawat.
Punjab : CM’s CPS Suresh Kumar resumes work
Amid reports of his resignation, Suresh Kumar, Chief Principal Secretary to Punjab Chief Minister, has resumed work. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday rejected his resignation and this decision was conveyed to Kumar by Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan, according to official sources.
There were reports that Kumar had tendered his resignation on July 15 as he was upset with the legal department for not defending his case effectively in the Punjab and Haryana High court. His appointment had been challenged in the HC. After resignation, he was learnt to have relieved his personal staff and sent back his official vehicles. He had not even been attending any meetings and official work.
There were also reports that the chief minister had even met Kumar in order to placate him. Kumar was learnt to have tendered his resignation after no one from the state’s legal department appeared in the High Court for the case which was listed for hearing on July 15. The next date of the case is now on September 14.
Kumar had tendered this resignation from the post twice over the same issue. A 1983-batch IAS officer, Kumar was handpicked by Amarinder Singh after coming to power in 2017. Kumar had retired in 2016 from the post of Additional Chief Secretary.
His post was challenged in Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2017 by a Mohali resident Ramandeep Singh. The petitioner had claimed that Kumar’s appointment was against the constitutional scheme and accepted norms. In January 2018, a single bench of the High Court had set aside the appointment of Kumar as the chief principal secretary to the Punjab Chief Minister.
Later, the state government had challenged the verdict of the single bench before a division bench which stayed the single-bench order and this case was still in the court. Kumar had served in many positions in the state as well as at the Centre on deputation. He had also served as principal secretary to the chief minister during Singh’s previous tenure between 2002-2007. (PTI)
Modi govt appoints two members to IFSCA
The Modi government has appointed two members to the International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA), which is a unified authority to regulate all financial services in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in the country. The two members are ;
- Pankaj Jain (IAS:1990:AM), Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Finance Ministry.
- Anand Mohan Bajaj (IA&AS:1990), Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Finance Ministry.
Besides the Chairman, IFSCA has a member each nominated from RBI, IRDAI, SEBI and PFRDA. There are also two members from the Central Government and full-time or part-time members in the Authority.
The Centre had this month appointed Injeti Srinivas (Retd.IAS:1983:OR), former Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), as Chairman of IFSCA.
Income Tax dept to share your PAN, bank account data with other agencies under NATGRID
The Income Tax Department will share PAN and bank account details of any entity with 10 investigative and intelligence agencies including the CBI and the NIA, under the integrated counter-terrorism platform NATGRID, according to an official order.
The 10 agencies are : the Central Bureau of Investigation, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Cabinet Secretariat, Intelligence Bureau, Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Narcotics Control Bureau, Financial Intelligence Unit and the National Investigation Agency.
“While furnishing the information, the specified income-tax authority shall form an opinion that sharing of such information is necessary for the purposes of enabling these agencies/bodies to perform its functions under their respective laws,” the CBDT order said.
ED attaches ₹3.88 cr worth assets of IRS officer in corruption case
Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth ₹3.88 crores belonging to a senior Income Tax official Neeraj Singh and his associates in a corruption case.
Indian Revenue Services officer Singh, was the Additional Director of Income Tax (Investigation) in Kolkata when police lodged an FIR was against him in 2017.
“…the accused, by wrongfully using his power and capacity of a public servant, obtained huge amounts of money through illegal gratification…” a press note released by ED states.
“The investigation revealed that Neeraj Singh kept Govind Agarwal as his frontman and laundered the obtained proceeds of crime through many bank accounts of various companies,” ED said.
The attached assets include a residential property in mumbai worth ₹3.15 crore and bank balances of ₹73.16 lakhs.
“For acquiring this property, Neeraj Singh routed his ill-gotten money through several companies floated by Govind Agarwal and finally placed them into the accounts of his relative in the guise of loans extended from a company. Singh was also found to possess and use bank accounts of his relatives, which were utilised for acquiring proceeds of crime,” ED has stated.
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