June 11, 1995

The Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao on Saturday inducted Mr. K. Karunakaran, Mr. A. R. Antulay and Dr. Jagannath Mishra into the Union Cabinet. The portfolios are to be announced. With this expansion, the strength of the Union Council of Ministers goes up to 60 and the number of Cabinet Ministers, including the Prime Minister, to 21. In a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President, Dr. S. D. Sharma, administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Ministers. The appointment of the three former Chief Ministers ends the month-long speculation on Cabinet expansion.

RBI imposes curbs on exports to Russia

The Reserve Bank of India has tightened screws on Indian parties seeking to export to Russia under the rupee payment route. As per banking arrangements concluded between the RBI and the Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs in Moscow, exports from India can take place against repayment of State Credit granted by the erstwhile Soviet Union only in pursuance of rupee denominated letters of credit (LCs) opened by BFEA in favour of Indian exporters.

No need for CAG audit, says NDDB chief

The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Chairman, Dr. V. Kurien, has ruled out the need to conduct an audit of its Market Intervention Operation (MIO) accounts by the CAG or any other independent body. “We must reiterate that a firm of chartered accountants is indeed independent and to suggest otherwise would be insulting," he said. He said there was sufficient transparency in the NDDB Act of 1987 since it clearly stipulates that the Board's accounts can be examined only by auditors duly qualified to do so under the Companies Act and whose appointment is cleared by the Centre.

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