Category: Committees

RBI appoints Janak Raj as member of Monetary Policy Committee

Janak Raj, Executive Director of Reserve Bank of India, has been appointed as member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), replacing M D Patra, who was recently elevated as Deputy Governor of the RBI. The decision to appoint Janak Raj was taken at the 581st meeting of the central board on Wednesday. It is the highest interest rate setting body, which takes decisions based on majority vote. Each member has one vote but the RBI Governor get a casting vote in case of a tie.

Alastair Cook & Ricky Skerritt new members of MCC’s World Cricket Committee

Former England opener Alastair Cook and ex-West Indies team manager Ricky Skerritt were appointed as new members of MCC’s World Cricket Committee. They were sent official invitations, which they accepted. The committee involves taking decisions on important issues that concern the sport, as it also acts as an independent voice of opinions to cricket. The committee meets twice a year to discuss the issues. The next MCC World Cricket committee meeting will be hosted in Sri Lanka in March 2020.

Asian Tennis Federation nominates Anil Khanna as Life President

The former President of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), Anil Khanna, was nominated as the life president of the ATF and also as the Chairman of its Finance Committee during the meeting of the Board of Directors, held in Melbourne on Monday.

CS Sunder Raju was elected as the senior vice president of the ATF, while Anil Dhupar was elected as a member of the Seniors Committee and VK Batra, as member of the Constitution Committee. Khanna had served as ATF president from 2005 to 2019 and also ITF Vice President from 2015-19.

National Data and Analytics Platform to be developed by Niti Aayog

Government think-tank Niti Aayog will develop a National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) to make all government data accessible to stakeholders in one place powered by a user friendly search engine, seamless navigation and a worldclass user interface.

Data will be provided in a machine-readable format with customisable analytics and will be sourced from different Central and State Ministries and Departments. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be developed to keep data updated.

To provide direction, oversee progress, guide on data sources, and address various inter-ministerial issues on collating data there will be a high powered steering committee under the chairmanship of Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog, Rajiv Kumar.

There will also be a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) consisting of sector and technology experts to provide guidance on the development of the platform, management of data, and aligning the platform for user-needs.

Supreme Court forms committee to draft mediation law

The Supreme Court has set up a panel to firm up a draft legislation to give legal sanctity to disputes settled through mediation, which would then be sent to the government as a suggestion from the apex court. The panel, to be headed by mediator Niranjan Bhat, will recommend a code of conduct for mediators, who are legal experts.

On January 12, the committee met in Hyderabad to consider suggestions for a legislation put forth by mediators from all over India. The mediators emphasised on confidentiality, the voluntary nature of the process, neutrality, avoiding conflicts of interest, enforceability of settlement etc.

The other members of the panel, appointed by the Mediation and Project Conciliation Committee (MCPC) of the Supreme Court, included Justice K Kanan, former ASGs AS Chandok and PS Narsimha, senior advocates Sriram Panchu and JP Singh, and senior mediators Susheela S, Sadhna Ramchandran, Laila Ollapally, and Anil Xavier.

Centre to set up panel to examine issues on revision of royalty rates

The Mines Ministry has decided to set up an 11-member panel including mines secretaries from various states like Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha to examine issues pertaining to the revision of rates of royalty for minerals and dead rent for minerals (other than coal, lignite, sand for stowing and minor minerals) .

The 11-member committee under the Chairmanship of Mines Additional Secretary will submit the report to the Ministry of Mines after examining the issues raised by stakeholders within a period of one month from the date of holding its first meeting.

Tamil Nadu: High level committee approves new investments worth Rs. 6608 cr

Fresh investment proposals worth Rs. 6608 crore have been approved in Tamil Nadu by high level committee, led by the state Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy. The panel met at Fort St. George in Chennai and considered several new investment proposals and those who were pending for clearance submitted through the single window system.

15 new investments were given the nod, with the potential of generating 6763 direct employment. Besides the traditional industrial hubs of Chennai’s adjoining districts of Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur, many of the industries are coming up in districts like Tuticorin, Trichy, Perambalur, Krishnagiri and Vellore.

Madan Lal and Gautam Gambhir to be appointed as Cricket Advisory Committee members

The BCCI is all set to appoint World Cup winning former India players Madan Lal and Gautam Gambhir as members of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) which will pick selection committees for the next four-year cycle starting 2020.

The third member of the panel is likely to be Mumbai-based woman international Sulakshana Naik, who has played two Tests and 46 ODIs for the country.

Hero of 1983 World Cup winning India team, Lal, by virtue of being the senior-most member will head the committee while 2011 World Cup hero Gambhir will assist him along with the third member.