USINPAC congratulates noted economist  Arvind Panagariya for taking charge of the newly-created NITI Aayog.

The NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khuallar and other senior officials briefed the vice-chairman about the newly created body.

Panagariya is expected to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the chairman of the Aayog, later in the day.

The government had announced the appointment of vice-chairman, 2 full time members, 4 ex-officio members (Union ministers) and 3 special invitees for the Aayog on January 5.
Economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat were appointed as full-time members by the Prime Minister. They are expected to join shortly.

NITI Aayog has replaced the 65-year old Planning Commission, a vestige of the socialist era.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu and Radha Mohan Singh will be the ex-officio members while their colleagues Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Zubin Irani and Thawar Chand Gehlot would be special invitees.

The government had notified the Cabinet resolution (on January 7) regarding the constitution of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog which was approved by the Prime Minister on January 1. The government had also notified the names of the office bearers of the Aayog.

The 62-year-old Panagariya is an Indian-American economist and professor of Economics at Columbia University.

The earlier Planning Commission had a deputy chairperson at the helm, with Prime Minister as its chairperson.

Panagariya is known for his market-friendly views and is a close associate of well-known trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati.

Panagariya has earlier been the chief economist of the Asian Development Bank and a professor of economics and co-director, Centre for International Economics, University of Maryland at College Park.

Holding a PhD degree in Economics from Princeton University, Panagariya has also worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in various capacities.

Source: The Times of India

USINPAC  congratulates Rupesh Srivastava for getting appointed to the board of trustees of the Ferris State University in the US state of Michigan.

Srivastava,  who graduated from Ranchi University in Jharkhand, will serve an eight-year term on the university’s governing body, the daily India West reported citing a university release Wednesday.

Srivastava is president, chief executive officer, and founder of Youngsoft Inc. and H2H Solutions. The Indian-American entrepreneur also serves on the board of Lawerence Tech University, ESSPL and Car4nurses . He was a TIE Detroit president from 2010 to 2014 and a charter member for the organisation. Srivastava is a founding member of Ynotlearn, Car4Nurses, Youngtronics, and ESPPL.

The businessman was awarded the Pride of India Gold Award in 2006, and received the Salute to Excellence Award from the Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce in 2007.

Source: Business Standard