New Delhi, Aug 22: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Friday approved a major top-level bureaucratic reshuffle of as many as 14 Secretary-rank IAS officers across various ministries and departments of the Centre.

The appointments, which include several officers on special duty (OSD) who are taking charge of posts to replace incumbent officers who are retiring, will see new faces in top positions of the Central government.

As part of the reshuffle, Atish Chandra, an IAS officer of the 1994 batch of the Bihar cadre, has been elevated to the rank of Special Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Senior bureaucrat Rajit Punhani has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and will replace Ganji Kamala V. Rao, a 1990 batch officer of the MP cadre, who is superannuating. Punhani, a 1991 batch officer of Bihar cadre, is currently the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Secretary.

Alka Upadhyaya, a 1990 batch officer of the MP cadre, who is currently the Secretary of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, has been shifted to a new role as Secretary of the National Commission for Minorities, under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Debashree Mukherjee, a 1991 batch officer of the AGMUT cadre, will take over as the new Secretary for the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to fill the post that has fallen vacant with Punhani’s transfer. She was previously the Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Vijay Kumar, a 1992 batch officer of the AGMUT cadre and the current Chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways. He will succeed T.K. Ramachandran, a 1991 batch officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, when he retires on September 30.

V.L. Kantha Rao, a 1992 batch officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been laterally shifted from the Ministry of Mines to the Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation, taking over charge from Mukherjee.

Sukriti Likhi, a 1993 batch Haryana cadre officer and Chairperson of the National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention, is the new OSD in the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Ministry of Defence. She will succeed Niten Chandra, a 1990 batch Odisha cadre officer, who superannuates on October 31.

Rannjana Chopra, a 1994 batch Odisha cadre officer, has been appointed as OSD in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. She will take over from Vibhu Nayar, a 1990 batch Tamil Nadu cadre officer, on October 31.

Naresh Pal Gangwar, a 1994 batch Rajasthan cadre officer, has been named Secretary of the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, replacing Upadhyaya.

Niraj Verma, a 1994 batch officer, will be the new OSD in the Department of Justice, succeeding Raj Kumar Goyal, a 1990 batch AGMUT cadre officer, upon his retirement on August 31.

Piyush Goyal, of the 1994 batch, has been appointed Secretary of the Ministry of Mines, replacing Kantha Rao.

Sanjay Garg, a 1994 batch Kerala officer, is the new OSD for the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and will take over from Pramod Kumar Tiwari, a 1991 batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre officer, on October 31.

Roli Singh, a 1994 batch Rajasthan officer, has been named Chairperson of the National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention, replacing Likhi.

Trishaljit Sethi, a 1990 batch Indian Postal Service officer, has been appointed as Secretary of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).

New Delhi, Aug 22: The Supreme Court on Friday said that voters excluded from the draft electoral roll in Bihar’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) can use Aadhaar as proof to file objections against their deletion.

According to a report by Bar and Bench, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi clarified that people may submit their objections with “any of the 11 documents listed in Form 6 by the Election Commission of India (ECI) or Aadhaar card.”

The Court further directed that objections can also be filed online without the need for physical submission. Where forms are filed in person, booth-level officers must issue acknowledgement receipts. The Court also urged political parties to actively help citizens who were left out of the draft roll, expressing concern that only two objections had been received from Booth Level Agents (BLAs) so far. The matter arose from petitions, including one filed by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), challenging the ECI’s June 24 directive to conduct an SIR of electoral rolls before the Bihar assembly elections. Petitioners argued that the revision risks disenfranchising lakhs of citizens and undermining free and fair elections.

The ECI, however, defended its powers under Article 324 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, 1950. On August 6, it was revealed that around 65 lakh names had been dropped from the draft roll. The Commission assured the Court that no name would be removed without prior notice, a hearing, and a reasoned order. Earlier, on August 14, the Court had directed the ECI to publish the list of voters proposed to be deleted, a step which, it was informed today, has been complied with.

New Delhi, Aug 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a two-nation visit to Japan and China from August 29 to September 1, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Friday.

PM Modi will first travel to Japan on August 29–30 at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to attend the 15th India–Japan Annual Summit. This will be his eighth visit to Japan and his first summit with Mr. Ishiba. The two leaders are expected to review the Special Strategic and Global Partnership, covering defence and security, trade and economy, technology cooperation, innovation, and people-to-people exchanges. They will also discuss key regional and global developments.

In the second leg of the trip, the Prime Minister will visit China from August 31 to September 1 to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, hosted by President Xi Jinping. On the sidelines, Mr. Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several attending leaders. The PM’s visit and meetings with China will be closely monitored by global leaders, mostly Western countries, as the relationship between India and China is growing after nearly five years of strain and tension.

India became a full member of the SCO in 2017 and held the presidency of the grouping during 2022–23. Officials said the visit will reaffirm India’s close ties with Japan and China and its commitment to constructive engagement within the SCO framework.

New Delhi, Aug 22: Gold prices fell Rs 250 to Rs 1,00,370 per 10 grams in the national capital on Friday amid a weak global trend, according to the All India Sarafa Association.

The precious metal of 99.9 per cent purity had closed at Rs 1,00,620 per 10 grams on Thursday.

In the national capital, gold of 99.5 per cent purity slipped Rs 150 to Rs 1,00,050 per 10 grams (inclusive of all taxes) on Friday. It had settled at Rs 1,00,200 per 10 grams in the preceding session.

However, silver prices rallied by Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,15,000 per kilogram (inclusive of all taxes) on Friday. The white metal had ended at Rs 1,14,000 per kg on Thursday, according to the Association.

On the global front, spot gold was trading 0.25 per cent lower at USD 3,330.48 per ounce in New York.

Spot silver also went down by 0.48 per cent to trade at USD 37.96 per ounce.

“Gold and silver prices are staying within a narrow range as traders await significant movements in anticipation of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium, which could provide clues about the direction of monetary policy stance,” Renisha Chainani, Head – Research at Augmont, said.

According to Praveen Singh, Head of Commodities and Currencies Mirae Asset ShareKhan, the September interest rate cut is highly likely, as Fed Chair Powell may make it data-dependent due to mixed signals on the US economy.