Achal K Jyoti takes over as new Election Commissioner

Achal Kumar Jyoti, a former chief secretary of Gujarat during Narendra Modi's tenure as chief minister, on Wednesday took over as the new Election Commissioner, filling one of the two vacancies in the three-member body.

"Jyoti took charge on Wednesday at the Election Commission of India," a senior official said.

Jyoti is a 1975-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who retired as state Gujarat chief secretary in January 2013.

He served in the top post in Gujarat when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was chief minister.

Jyoti (62) had also served as the state Vigilance Commissioner and worked in various capacities in his cadre including as chairman of the Kandla Port Trust between 1999 and 2004 and managing director of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL).

Born on January 23, 1953, Jyoti will have a tenure of nearly three years as ECs demit office at the age of 65.

An EC or a CEC has a tenure of six years in office or till he or she attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

After V S Sampath demitted office in January, H S Brahma was elevated as CEC. But after Brahma demitted office, two posts of ECs in the three-member body have remained vacant.

Between April 19, when Nasim Zaidi took over as the CEC till today, he was the only member in the poll body.

The government is soon expected to appoint one more Election Commissioner to fill up the last vacancy.

Jyoti has also worked as Secretary in the Industry, Revenue and Water Supply Departments.

Private banker K V Kamath named first BRICS bank head

India has named private banker K.V. Kamath as the first head of a new development bank being set up by the BRICS group of emerging market economies, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi told reporters on Monday        the 11^th May, 2015.

The BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - agreed to set up the $100 billion development bank last July, in a step toward reshaping the Western-dominated international financial system.

It was agreed that the New Development Bank, which will fund infrastructure projects in developing nations, would be based in Shanghai. It would be headed by an Indian for a first five-year term, followed by a Brazilian and then a Russian.

"Kamath has been appointed as the head of the BRICS bank, the appointment will become effective when he becomes free from his current assignments," Mehrishi told reporters in New Delhi.

Kamath, 67, is a veteran banker who was credited with developing ICICI Bank into India's second-largest lender. He headed the bank for 13 years until 2009 and is now its non-executive chairman.

He is also non-executive chairman of India's second-biggest software services exporter Infosys.

Atul Tiwari, a senior official in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, said India has conveyed the decision to nominate Kamath for the BRICS bank presidency to partner countries.

"They have been notified about it," Tiwari said. "There is no scope for any partner country to raise an objection to Mr. Kamath's appointment because it was already decided that India will choose the first BRICS bank head."

NITI Aayog or National Institution for Transforming India

NITI Aayog or National Institution for Transforming India Aayog is a policy think-tank of Government of India that replaces Planning Commission and aims to involve the states in economic policy-making in India. It will be providing strategic and technical advice to the central and the state governments’ i.e by adopting bottom-up approach rather than traditional top-down approach as in planning commission. The Prime Minister heads the Aayog as its chairperson.

On the first meet took place here at Delhi with sign board labelled as TEAM INDIA on 07/02/2015

Union Government of India had announced formation of NITI Aayog on 1 January 2015.

There are a couple of things to be considered here. NITI Aayog would therefore mean:

• A group of people with authority entrusted by the government to formulate/regulate policies concerning transforming India.

• It is a commission to help government in social and economic issues.

• Also it's an Institute of think tank with experts in it.

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made the following observation on the necessity of creating NITI Ayog: “The 65-year-old Planning Commission had become a redundant organization. It was relevant in a command economy structure, but not any longer. India is a diversified country and its states are in various phases of economic development along with their own strengths and weaknesses. In this context, a ‘one size fits all’ approach to economic planning is obsolete. It cannot make India competitive in today’s global economy”.

Difference between NITI Aayog and Planning Commission

Financial clout

NITI Aayog - To be an advisory body, or a think-tank. The powers to allocate funds might be vested in the finance ministry.

Planning Commission - Enjoyed the powers to allocate funds to ministries and state governments

Full-time members

NITI Aayog - The number of full-time members could be fewer than Planning Commission

Planning Commission - The last Commission had eight full-time members

States' role

NITI Aayog - State governments are expected to play a more significant role than they did in the Planning Commission

Planning Commission - States' role was limited to the National Development Council and annual interaction during Plan meetings

Member secretary

NITI Aayog - To be known as the CEO and to be appointed by the prime minister

Planning Commission - Secretaries or member secretaries were appointment through the usual process

Part-time members

NITI Aayog - To have a number of part-time members, depending on the need from time to time

Planning Commission - Full Planning Commission had no provision for part-time members

Constitution

Niti Aayog - Governing Council has state chief ministers and lieutenant governors.

Planning Commission- The commission reported to National Development Council that had state chief ministers and lieutenant governors.

Organization

Niti Aayog - New posts of CEO, of secretary rank, and Vice-Chairperson. Will also have five full-time members and two part-time members. Four cabinet ministers will serve as ex-officio members.

Planning Commission - Had deputy chairperson, a member secretary and full-time members.

Participation

Niti Aayog- Consulting states while making policy and deciding on funds allocation. Final policy would be a result of that.

Planning Commission- Policy was formed by the commission and states were then consulted about allocation of funds.

Allocation

Niti Aayog- No power to allocate funds

Planning Commission- Had power to decide allocation of government funds for various programmes at national and state levels.

Nature

Niti Aayog- NITI is a think-tank and does not have the power to impose policies.

Planning Commission- Imposed policies on states and tied allocation of funds with projects it approved.

Aims and Objectives of NITI Ayog

NITI Aayog will seek to provide a critical directional and strategic input into the development process.

The centre-to-state one-way flow of policy, that was the hallmark of the Planning Commission era, is now sought to be replaced by a genuine and continuing partnership of states.

NITI Aayog will emerge as a "think-tank" that will provide Governments at the central and state levels with relevant strategic and technical advice across the spectrum of key elements of policy.

The NITI Aayog will also seek to put an end to slow and tardy implementation of policy, by fostering better Inter-Ministry coordination and better Centre-State coordination. It will help evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, and foster cooperative federalism, recognizing that strong states make a strong nation.

The NITI Aayog will develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans to the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government. It will ensure special attention to the sections of society that may be at risk of not benefitting adequately from economic progress.

The NITI Aayog will create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners and partners. It will offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.

In addition, the NITI Aayog will monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes, and focus on technology upgradation and capacity building.

Through the above, the NITI Aayog will aim to accomplish the following objectives and opportunities:

1. An administration paradigm in which the Government is an "enabler" rather than a "provider of first and last resort."
2. Progress from "food security" to focus on a mix of agricultural production, as well as actual returns that farmers get from their produce.
3. Ensure that India is an active player in the debates and deliberations on the global commons.
4. Ensure that the economically vibrant middle-class remains engaged, and its potential is fully realized.
5. Leverage India's pool of entrepreneurial, scientific and intellectual human capital.
6. Incorporate the significant geo-economic and geo-political strength of the Non-Resident Indian Community.
7. Use urbanization as an opportunity to create a wholesome and secure habitat through the use of modern technology.
8. Use technology to reduce opacity and potential for misadventures in governance.
9. The NITI Aayog aims to enable India to better face complex challenges, through the following:
10. Leveraging of India's demographic dividend, and realization of the potential of youth, men and women, through education, skill development, elimination of gender bias, and employment
11. Elimination of poverty, and the chance for every Indian to live a life of dignity and self-respect
12. Reddressal of inequalities based on gender bias, caste and economic disparities
13. Integrate villages institutionally into the development process
14. Policy support to more than 50 million small businesses, which are a major source of employment creation
15. Safeguarding of our environmental and ecological assets.

Major Highlights

1. The new National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) will act more like a think tank or forum and execute programs by taking the States along with them. This is in sharp contrast with the defunct Planning Commission which imposed five-year-plans and allocated resources while running roughshod over the requests of the various States.

2. NITI will include leaders of India's 29 states and seven union territories. But its full-time staff - a deputy chairman, Chief Executive Officer and experts - will answer directly to the Prime Minister of India, who will be chairman.

3. The opposition Congress mocked the launch as a cosmetic relabelling exercise - the new body's acronym-based name means 'Policy Commission' in Hindi, suggesting a less bold departure than the English version does. Several believe that is consistent with the negativism that has become the hallmark of the Congress.

4. Despite being blamed by critics for the slow growth that long plagued India, the Commission survived the market reforms of the early 1990s, riling Mr Modi with its interventions when he was Chief minister of industry and investor friendly Gujarat.

5. Mr Modi, elected by a landslide last year on a promise to revive flagging growth and create jobs, had vowed to do away with the Planning Commission that was set up in 1950 by Congressman and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

6. But his plans been derided by the Congress party, which wants to defend the Nehru legacy and describes Mr Modi's vision of "cooperative federalism" as cover for a veiled power grab.

7. India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a socialist who admired Joseph Stalin's drive to industrialize the Soviet Union, set up and chaired the Commission to map out a development path for India's agrarian economy.

8. In 2012, the Planning Commission was pilloried for spending some Rs. 35 lakh to renovate two office toilets, and then it was lampooned for suggesting that citizens who spent Rs. 27 or more a day were not poor.

9. The commission had remained powerful over the decades because it had emerged as a sort of parallel cabinet with the Prime Minister as its head.

10. The Commission's power in allocating central funds to states and sanctioning capital spending of the central government was deeply resented by states and various government departments.

11. The NITI Aayog will also seek to put an end to slow and tardy implementation of policy, by fostering better Inter-Ministry coordination and better Centre-State coordination. It will help evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, and foster cooperative federalism, recognizing that strong states make a strong Nation.

Present Members

The various members of NITI Aayog are:

1.    Chairperson: Prime Minister Narendra Modi

2.    CEO: Sindhushree Khullar IAS

3.    Vice Chairperson: Arvind Panagariya

4.    Ex-Officio Members: Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu and Radha Mohan Singh

5.    Special Invitees: Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Zubin Irani and Thawar Chand Gehlot

6.    Full-time Members: Bibek Debroy & V. K. Saraswat

7.    Governing Council: All Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors of States and Union Territories

Origin and formation

·                    1950 : Planning commission was established

·                    May 29, 2014 : The first IEO(Independent Evaluation Office ) assessment report was submitted to Prime Minister Modi on May 29, three days after he was sworn in. According to Ajay Chibber, who heads the IEO, views in the report are based on the views of stakeholders and some Planning Commission members themselves. Planning Commission to be replaced by "control commission"

·                    August 13, 2014 : Cabinet of Modi govt. scrapped the Planning Commission

·                    Aug. 15 2014 : Modi mentioned to replace Planning Commission by National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC) on the line of China

Members The NITI Aayog comprises the following:

1.    Prime Minister of India as the Chairperson

2.    Governing Council comprising the Chief Ministers of all the States and union territories with legislature and lieutenant governors of other Union Territories

3.    Regional Councils will be formed to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one state or a region. These will be formed for a specified tenure. The Regional Councils will be convened by the Prime Minister and will be consist of the Chief Ministers of States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories in the region. These will be chaired by the Chairperson of the NITI Aayog or his nominee

4.    Experts, specialists and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees nominated by the Prime Minister

5.    Full-time organizational framework (in addition to Prime Minister as the Chairperson) comprising

1.  Vice-Chairperson: Arvind Panagariya

2.  Members: Two (2) Full-time: economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat

3.  Part-time members: Maximum of two from leading universities research organizations and other relevant institutions in an ex-officio capacity. Part-time members will be on a rotational basis

4.  Ex Officio members: Maximum of four members of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister

5.  Chief Executive Officer: To be appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.Sindhushree khullar appointed as the Chief Executive Officer.

6.  Secretariat as deemed necessary.