Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel appointed Executive Director of IMF
New Delhi (PTI): Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel has been appointed as the Executive Director of International Monetary Fund, a Personnel Ministry order said.
Patel took over as 24th Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on September 4, 2016.
However, he had resigned from the post before the completion of his term, citing personal reasons. His tenure ended a day after his resignation on December 10, 2018.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Patel, an economist and former RBI Governor, to the post of Executive Director, International Monetary Fund, for a period of three years, said the order dated August 28.
Patel was the first central bank governor since 1990 to step down before completion of his tenure.
He had earlier served at the International Monetary Fund.
Patel, who had also served as RBI's Deputy Governor, was on deputation from the IMF to the central bank during 1996-1997, and in that capacity he provided advice on development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, and evolution of the foreign exchange market.
He was a consultant to the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) from 1998 to 2001. He has also had other assignments in the public and private sectors.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
