Person Appointed March 2016 Recent Updates

Amit Mitra

• West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra was named the new Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST) on February 19,2016. He will be the second Chairman of the panel.
• Mitra, an economist, was Secretary General of industry association Fieri for long before joining politics in 2011. He became a Minister in the TMC government in West Bengal. He succeeded Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani who had to resign in November over corruption charges.
• The head of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers has always been from an opposition ruled State.
• The panel is tasked with framing rules for roll out of the ambitious GST regime, which will subsumc all indirect taxes and create one national market, from West Bengal.

Michael Pesch

• Infosys has appointed Michael Pesch as Chief Executive Officer of Infosys Consulting Holding (formerly Infosys Lodestone) on February 19, 2016. This appointment is effective from April 1, 2016.
• In his role, Michael will focus on expanding the reach of Infosys consultants and experts in digital transformation and design-led innovation, as well as increasing Infosys’ expertise in large-scale SAP programmes.
• Michael has more than two decades of experience in global consulting and management roles and till very recently served as chief executive officer of arvato Systems Group.

Dinesh Sharma

• Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and India’s Governor to the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), Rome Dinesh Sharma was unanimously elected as the Chairperson of the Governing Council of IFAD for a period of two years in its 39th Session held in Rome, Italy on February 17 & 18, 2016.
• IFAD was set-up in 1977 as the 13th Specialised Agency of the United Nations and works towards removing poverty and hunger in rural areas all over the world. India is a founder member of IFAD and a key contributor among the member countries.
• IFAD is managed by the two main governing bodies i.e., the Governing Council and the Executive Board. Hie Governing Council is the highest derision making body and consists of 176 member countries.

Jayant Misra

• Senior IRS officer Jayant Misra was appointed as Director General of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on February 17, 2016. He Is currently DG (Systems) at the Directorate General of Systems and Data Management.
• The move comes two days after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) asked the DRI to verify If $ 505 billion that was transacted out of the country between 2004-2013 as pari of trade-based money laundering.

Devaraja Reddy

• Chartered Accountant M. Devaraja Reddy has been elected as the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), for the year 2016-2017 by the 23rd Council of the Institute 6a February 12, 2016.
• A resident of Hyderabad, GA. Reddy as President of the ICAI, be is now the Chairman of all Standing Committees of the ICAI, viz. Examination Committee, Finance Committee and Executive Committee besides being Presiding Officer of the Board of Discipline; Disciplinary Committee and Chairman Disciplinary Committee.
• Being a fellow ICAI member with a prudent professional foresight and more than 28 years of immaculate professional standing, CA. Reddy has served the Indian accountancy profession as Vice-President of ICAI for the Council Year 2015-16.