Watal a 1978-batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer.
Among possible new members, former chief economic advisor Arvind Virmani's name is doing the rounds.
Sajjid Chenoy, India economist at JP Morgan is the new part-time member.
Arvind Mayaram, who was shunted from Finance Ministry to Tourism only a fortnight ago, has now been transferred as secretary in minority affairs ministry even before he took charge of his new post.
Bureaucrats heading disinvestment and financial services usually don't get appointed as finance secretary.
Watal panel had suggested an independent payments regulator be set up.
Arun Jaitley addressed a post-Budget press conference.
Headed by NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy, the EAC includes NITI Aayog's Principal Advisor Ratan Watal as its member and economists Surjit Bhalla, Rathin Roy and Ashima Goyal as part-time members.
The case relates to alleged terror funding in 2017 in the valley and involves Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbai terror attack mastermind based in Pakistan.
Railways is expecting investment through various partnerships.
The first signs of efforts to end the nine-day impasse on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir emerged on Saturday with Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti calling a meeting of her party's "extended core group" in Srinagar, expectedly to discuss the future course of action and ties with ally Bharatiya Janata Party.
The proposed bullet train will run between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Lavasa will replace Rajan Watal, who retires on Saturday, even as the budgetary process is yet to be finally completed.
He was last month appointed as Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs in place of his batchmate Arvind Mayaram, who was first shifted to Tourism and then to Minority Affairs Ministry.
The way the present government has dealt with appointments of civil servants remains to be a cause for concern.
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has identified ten themes, including economic growth and job creations that need attention.
Jaitley's team presents a quintessential mix of foreign-educated, intellectual technocrats and seasoned bureaucrats
The council wants the government to stick to its fiscal consolidation road map.
Concerned over violence in Jammu and Kashmir in last four days, the Centre on Saturday decided to rush 3,600 additional paramilitary personnel to the Valley and asked the state government to ensure that there is no further loss of lives.
'Poor home work, and a subsequent loss of nerve.' 'This sums up the Modi government's current travails, the stall in key sectors, fading momentum, irritability,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Peoples Democratic Party continued to play the guessing game on the issue of forming the new government with its ally Bharatiya Janata Party by saying on Friday that it cannot put a time frame for it.
Fiscal situation better but spending cuts likely in FY16 too.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and did not rule out the support of her party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to his government in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling National Democratic Alliance is in a minority.
While the government has not made the report public, sources said the panel had recommended a sharp cut in all taxes on the gold business, including import duty and goods and services tax which amounts to over 13%.
Senior New Delhi-based journalist R Rajagopalan, who has been closely following the Union Budget preparations since 1977, lifts the veil off India's most secretive operation.
The regulator said that it is vested within its purview to regulate the bank account for payment systems and the settlement systems are finally posted in the books of account of banks with the RBI to attain settlement finality.
'Whatever happens in any part of the world affects us.'
The probe into selections for banks such as Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank followed the arrest of Syndicate Bank CMD S K Jain for alleged graft.
Budget planners for now have been told to prepare with the assumption that GST will apply from April 1.
As the government began consultations with stakeholders on raising gas prices, gas producers and consumers met a committee of secretaries separately with their pleas on the issue.
Over the past six months Rajasthan has introduced some of India's most radical free-market labour, land and welfare reform.
Assocham told Modi policy makers needed to act fast to "bullet proof" India from global jitters.
Analysts were expecting the government to propose higher capital infusion for banks.
Mehbooba wants a congenial political atmosphere and everybody's support before taking the reins of power; hence the delay in government formation. Aditi Phadnis opines.
FY16 GDP growth was seen at 7.5%, against 8.1-8.5% earlier.
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