President of Republic of India is pleased to make the following appointment/changes:-

[Hindustani78]

President's Secretariat
13-November, 2018 19:18 IST
PRESS COMMUNIQUE

The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed the following:-

(i) Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, in addition to his existing portfolio, and;

(ii) Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, in addition to his existing portfolios.

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AKT/KP/SK

President's Secretariat
13-November, 2018 13:07 IST
Envoys of Four Nations present Credentials to President of India

Ambassadors/High Commissioners of Vietnam, Latvia, Jordan and Sri Lanka presented their credentials to the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (November 13, 2018).

The envoys who presented their credentials were: -

1. Mr Pham Sanh Chau, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

2. Mr Artis Bertulis, Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia

3. Mr Mohamed Salam Jameel A. F. El-Kayed, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

4. Mr Kalupage Austin Fernando, High Commissioner of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka



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AKT/SH/SK

The Ambassador - Designate of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Mr. Pham Sanh Chau presenting his credentials to the President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on November 13, 2018.

The Ambassador - Designate of the Republic of Latvia, Mr. Artis Bertulis presenting his credentials to the President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on November 13, 2018.

The Ambassador - Designate of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Mr. Mohamed Salam Jameel A.F. EI-Kayed presenting his credentials to the President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on November 13, 2018.

The Minister of State for Tourism (I/C), Shri Alphons Kannanthanam in a group photograph with the Mayor of Houston, Mr. Sylvester Turner, in New Delhi on November 13, 2018.


The High Commissioner - Designate of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Mr. Kalupage Austin Fernando presenting his credentials to the President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on November 13, 2018.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Brigadier (Retd.) (Dr.) B.D. Mishra meeting the Minister of State for Tourism (I/C), Shri Alphons Kannanthanam, in New Delhi on November 13, 2018.

The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Brigadier (Retd.) (Dr.) B.D. Mishra meeting the Minister of State for Tourism (I/C), Shri Alphons Kannanthanam, in New Delhi on November 13, 2018.

The Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Shri Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor Calling on the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Shri Edappadi K. Palaniswami, in Chennai on November 13, 2018.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
14-November, 2018 13:23 IST
Union Minister Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda assumes charge of the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers

Union Minister of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda, has assumed charge of the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, in addition to his existing portfolio, here today.

Dignitaries present on the occasion included Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya, along with other senior officers of the Ministry.



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VM

 

[Hindustani78]

The former Prime Minister, Shri H.D. Deve Gowda meeting the Minister of State for Labour and Employment (I/C), Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, in New Delhi on November 14, 2018.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ajay Bhushan Pandey. File photo. | Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...e-secretary/article25527904.ece?homepage=true
On Saturday evening, the government’s department of personnel and training (DoPT) issued notification of appointments for Secretary Revenue, Youth Affairs, Coal and Tourism.
The central government on Saturday appointed UIDAI CEO ABP Pandey as new Secretary Revenue in place of Hasmukh Adhia, who is set to superannuate end of this month.

On Saturday evening, the government’s department of personnel and training (DoPT) issued notification of appointments for Secretary Revenue, Youth Affairs, Coal and Tourism.

In a crucial appointment, ABP Pandey, CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), an agency of the Government of India responsible for implementing the AADHAAR scheme, has been appointed as new Secretary of Revenue and he will continue to hold additional charge of CEO of UIDAI and also Chairman of GST Network.

Mr. Pandey will replace Gujarat cadre IAS officer Hasmukh Adhia, a key aide and most trusted bureaucrat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Adhia, a 1981 batch IAS Officer from Gujarat cadre, is also designated as Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance.

Before the appointment orders were issued, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley posted on his Facebook that Mr. Adhia would retire the end of this month. Mr.. Jaitley added that Mr. Adhia had refused to take up any post retirement jobs as the government was keen to utilise his services.

Mr. Adhia had joined the Central government immediately a few months after the Modi government took over in 2014 and was first Secretary, Financial Services before he was moved to the highly important Revenue Department, which oversees the crucial agencies like CBDT, ED, DRI, and GST.

Interestingly, the government also appointed Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a 1984 batch IRS Officer, as Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) for two years. Earlier, Mr Mishra was made interim ED last month.

In another top level appointment in the ministry of finance is that of Gujarat cadre IAS GC Murmu, who will be new Secretary of Expenditure and will take over from AN Jha who will superannuate in January 2019. Mr. Murmu, a 1985 batch IAS Officer of Gujarat cadre, is currently Special Secretary in the Revenue Department so now from January 2019, he will be full fledged Secretary in the Department of Expenditure.

As per the notification of DoPT, Upma Chawdhry, currently Director of Lal Bahadur Shashtri National Academy of Administration, will be new Secretary of Youth Affairs and Yogendra Tripathy will be new Secretary, Tourism.

Similarly, Sumanta Chaudhury will be Secretary of Ministry of Coal and Chhabilendra Raol will be Secretary, Fertilizers.

Shalini Prasad, Special Secretary in Panchayati Raj has been moved to the Ministry of Commerce as Member Secretary, Tariff Commission in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

A 1985 batch IAS Officer of Karnataka cadre, N. Sivasailam, has been moved from Department of Telecommunication to Department of Commerce as Special Secretary, Logistics.

Two senior retired bureaucrats, KD Tripathi and Rita Teotia were appointed as chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board and Chairperson of Food Safety and Standard Authority (FSSAI) respectively for three years each.

The former superannuated as Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum, while Ms. Teotia retired as Commerce Secretary.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Finance
30-November, 2018 17:03 IST
Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey takes over as Revenue Secretary

Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey (IAS: MH 1984) took over as the Union Revenue Secretary upon superannuation of Dr Hasmukh Adhia here today. Outgoing Finance Secretary & Revenue Secretary, Dr Hasmukh Adhia welcomed Dr Pandey in his office. A Maharashtra cadre officer, Dr. Pandey will continue to head the Unique Identification authority of India (UIDAI) as its CEO and will also hold his position as the Chairman of GSTN.

An Indian Administrative Service officer with over 34 years of experience in State and Central Governments, he had a remarkable stint of more than 8 years in UIDAI where he played a key role in establishing and steering Aadhaar across the country and drafting the historic Aadhaar legislation for providing statutory basis to Aadhaar. He also successfully explained Aadhaar and its benefits and the underlying technology to the 5-judge Constitution bench in the Supreme Court through his two-day long power point presentation in the open court room which helped the Government in successfully defending the Aadhaar case against 37 petitions. He was also instrumental in scaling up Aadhaar in delivery of government subsidies and benefits which led to savings of more than Rs 90,000 Crore during the last three years by eliminating ghosts and duplicates and ensuring that the benefits reach the real and deserving beneficiaries. It is under his steering that Aadhaar has earned worldwide acclaim.

Prior to joining UIDAI in 2010, he played an important role in reforming power distribution system as Managing Director of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company where he brought down transmission and distribution losses remarkably and helped the state in tiding over massive power shortage. Also, during his tenure as Principal Secretary, Information Technology in Maharashtra, he contributed significantly in driving many key e-Governance projects. Early in his career, he had also headed Enforcement Division of Maharashtra Sales Tax department.

An Electrical Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur, he joined the University of Minnesota in 1998 to obtain his MS and PhD in Computer Science and was later awarded Distinguished Leadership Award for Internationals by the University of Minnesota for his outstanding leadership accomplishments in his professional career.

Later speaking to the media, Dr. Pandey said that his priorities among others would be to help government improve Tax–GDP ratio, enhance tax compliance through integration of technology, stabilize the implementation of GST, bring transparency and simplification of laws and procedures for better tax administration and ease of business. He would welcome any suggestions from public regarding direct and indirect tax reforms as this would help to get feedback and pave the way for providing better incentives and services to the tax payers.

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DSM/RM

 

[Hindustani78]

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to India, Mr. Saud Al-Sati meeting the Minister of State for Tourism (I/C), Shri Alphons Kannanthanam, in New Delhi on November 30, 2018.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
04-December, 2018 11:51 IST
Shri A. N. Jha appointed as Finance Secretary

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved designating Shri A. N. Jha, IAS (MN:1982), Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance as Finance Secretary.

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BB/NK/PK