The Centre has appointed Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Sanjay Malhotra will take charge from Wednesday for three years, the Centre said in a statement. He will take on the prestigious role for a period of three years.

He is a 1990-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Rajasthan cadre. Malhotra is a Computer Science graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and has a Master’s in Public Policy from Princeton University, US. In his 33 years career, Sanjay Malhotra has worked in several sectors including power, finance and taxation, information technology, and mines.

Before being appointed as Revenue Secretary, he was Secretary in the Department of Financial Services. As per the information on the Department of Revenue Website, Sanjay Malhotra has extensive experience in finance and taxation at the state as well as the central government. Reportedly, Sanjay Malhotra played an instrumental role in tax policy formulation for direct and indirect taxes.

Sanjay Malhotra succeeds Shaktikanta Das, whose tenure will end on December 10, Tuesday. He was appointed the 25th Governor of the RBI on December 12, 2018, after the abrupt exit of his predecessor Urjit Patel. Shaktikanta Das was granted an extension after completing his three-year term in office.

After taking charge of the RBI, Saktikanta Das provided confidence to the market shaken by the sudden resignation of Urjit Patel amid a tussle between the RBI and the government over the issue of surplus transfer. 

Shaktikanta Das, who is a retired 1980-batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, served as the economic affairs secretary, revenue secretary and fertiliser secretary. Furthermore, he is also India’s Alternate Governor in the World Bank, ADB, NDB & AIIB. 

Additionally, in the Tamil Nadu government, he has also served as the principal secretary (industries), special commissioner (revenue), and secretary (revenue).

Vikram Misri, Indian Foreign Secretary today said that his discussions with Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Touhid Hussain gave an opportunity to take stock of the relations between both the countries.

The Foreign Secretary arrived on an Indian Air Force jet for a day-long visit on Tuesday to take part in high level talks with the Foreign Adviser, his Bangladeshi counterpart and other high level officials amid strained relationship between both the countries.

After meeting Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Touhid Hussain, Vikram Misri told the media that the discussions have given both of them the opportunity to take stock of the relations and that he appreciates the opportunity to have had a frank, candid and constructive exchange of views with all his interlocutors.

He added that both of them also discussed recent developments and he has conveyed India’s concerns including those related to the safety and welfare of minorities. He mentioned that they also discussed regrettable incidents of attacks on cultural and religious properties.

Notably, this is the first time that an Indian official is visiting Bangladesh for high-level talks since Sheikh Hasina was ousted as Prime Minister on August 5.

After his arrival in Dhaka, Vikram Misri also met his Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Jashim Uddin and held one-on-one talks before the formal meeting with delegates from both sides.

The diplomatic ties between India and Bangladesh have faced testing times since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina following a massive anti-government protest in August. Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus took over as Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser days after Sheikh Hasina fled to India.

Furthermore, ties between both countries worsened after multiple incidents of violence in Bangladesh targeting the Hindu minority citizens. Reportedly, there has been a sharp rise in incidents of mob violence, vandalism of property, and desecration at places of worship targeting the minorities. Also, there has even been a crackdown on Hindu priests by the interim government in Bangladesh, and two Hindu priests are being prosecuted and there are concerns over their captivity.

The AAP announced its second list of candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections scheduled to be held in February. The incumbent MLA from Patparganj, Manish Sisodia has been moved to Jangpura, while the new inductee Avadh Ojha will contest from the former Delhi Minister’s constituency. 

Manish Sisodia was first elected to the Patparganj seat, which is part of the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, in the December 2013 Delhi Assembly election, after defeating his BJP rival Nakul Bhardwaj. Furthermore, in the February 2015 elections, Sisodia defeated the BJP’s Vinod Kumar Binny and in the last 2020 elections, he emerged victorious against the saffron party’s Ravinder Singh Negi.

According to the candidates list, 18 of the total 20 seats have new faces, including Ojha, a renowned UPSC coach and educator who joined the AAP on December 2. Avadh Ojha originally hails from Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.

Reportedly, the decision to field Avadh Ojha from Patparganj was on the basis of the changed demography of the seat with a focus on the Purvanchali community, which makes up roughly 42 per cent of the city’s electorate.

Notably, this community has the power to sway results in nearly half of Delhi’s 70 Assembly constituencies, including major areas like Burari, Laxmi Nagar, and Dwarka. The Purvanchal region includes the eastern end of Uttar Pradesh and the western end of Bihar.

Other names on the list include Mukesh Goel, sitting councillor and AAP’s key strategist in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, from Adarsh Nagar; and Punardeep Singh Sawhney, son of sitting MLA Parlad Singh Sawhney, from Chandni Chowk.

In addition, the list also includes Jintender Singh Shunty (Shahdara) and Surinder Pal Singh Bittu (Timarpur), who recently quit the BJP to join the AAP.

Jitender Singh Shunty replaces sitting MLA and Speaker in the outgoing Assembly Ram Niwas Goel, and Surinder Pal Singh Bittu has been fielded in place of Dilip Pandey, AAP’s chief whip in the House.

Earlier, the AAP unveiled the first list of 11 candidates, which featured six leaders who recently joined the party from BJP and Congress. Notably, former BJP leaders Brahm Singh Tanwar, Anil Jha, and BB Tyagi, along with ex-Congress leaders Chaudhry Zubair Ahmad, Veer Dhingan, and Sumesh Shokeen, have been given tickets to contest the upcoming polls.