New Reserve Bank of India governor appointed

New Delhi: Former finance secretary and current member of the finance commission Shaktikanta Das has been appointed as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday. "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shaktikanta Das, former Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years," an official order said.

Appointment comes a day after entral bank governor Urjit Patel resigned abruptly citing "personal reasons".

Who is Shaktikanta Das?

Shaktikanta Das is 63 years old and is a retiree from the Indian Administrative Service.

He hails from the state of Odisha (Orissa). His IAS cadre, however, was Tamil Nadu.

During his career as an IAS officer, he served various high-profile positions including as Economic Affairs Secretary of India (2015-17), Revenue Secretary of India (2014-15) and Fertilizers Secretary of India (2013-14).

He was appointed as India’s Sherpa (a personal representative of the head of state at summits such as the G7 or G20) to the G20 summit in 2017.