Announcing key Finance Ministry appointments about two months before the presentation of Union Budget, the government on Saturday said UIDAI CEO and GSTN Chairman ABP Pandey will be the next Revenue Secretary and Revenue Department’s Special Secretary Girish Chandra Murmu will be the next Expenditure Secretary.

Pandey, a 1984 batch Maharashtra-cadre IAS officer, will take charge as Revenue Secretary after the superannuation of current Finance and Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia on November 30. The government said he will continue to hold charge as Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO and GSTN Chairman until further orders.

Murmu, a 1985-batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in Expenditure Department of Finance Ministry and will take charge as Expenditure Secretary after the superannuation of present Expenditure Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha on January 31 next year.

Pandey, an alumnus of IIT and a doctorate from University of Minnesota Minneapolis, having worked with GSTN is being seen as the person who will bring in his technological know-how for the GST regime as both Revenue Secretary and GSTN Chairman.

China and the US crossed swords Saturday ahead of an APEC summit, duelling over protectionism, trade tariffs and "chequebook diplomacy" as they laid out sharply contrasting visions for the Pacific Rim region.

In combative back-to-back speeches at a business forum held on a hulking cruise ship moored in Port Moresby, Xi Jinping and US Vice President Mike Pence pulled few punches.

The feisty exchanges laid the ground for what could be a fiery encounter between the Chinese leader and President Donald Trump at next month's G20 in Argentina.

The government plans to divest stakes of up to $2 billion in public sector undertaking (PSU) entities such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Oil India (OIL) to meet its disinvestment target for the year, according to an Economic Times report.

The companies are also expected to shell out Rs 10,000 crore by way of share buyback programs.

The proceeds of the sale along with buybacks will help achieve the Rs 80,000 crore divestment target, a fourth of which have already been achieved by the Finance Ministry. As part of the stake sale, the government will be looking to sell 5 percent of assets in ONGC, 3 percent in Indian Oil and about 10 percent in Oil India.

Once the divestment goes through, the government would earn approximately Rs 10,000 crore from ONGC (5 percent stake at Rs 156 per share), Rs 4,200 crore from IOC (3 percent stake at Rs 143.25 per share) and approximately Rs 2,300 crore from Oil India (10 percent stake at Rs 199.10). These shares would be offloaded at a 5 percent discount to the market rates.

Six months after floatel Art Deck Bar that had 15 people in it capsized off Bandra, the southern coast of Mumbai is set to get two new floating restaurants. On Saturday, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, will inaugurate the floatels.

Queensline Sea YAH and Queensline Neverland will cruise from the Gateway of India on Monday and as safety precaution, each guest will be given a QR code to trace the location during the journey.

There will be 500 life jackets and 15 rafts on each ship and two marine staff members will be posted in the pontoon boat shuttle services that would be made available.

“We would follow a dedicated path while sailing and an automatic identification system (AIS) would continuously track the movement of our ship. Additional systems and floats would be present on the ship,” said Captain Naresh Kalra from KNK ship management company, which is handling the safety arrangements for the Queensline cruises.

Professor Anju Seth became the first woman director of the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) in the five decades of its existence. Professor Seth is an alumni of IIM-C and has most recently held the position of Pamplin Professor of Management at Virginia Tech, USA, the institute said in a statement Friday. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she was professor of business administration at the University of Illinois. She has received numerous awards for her teaching and research.

IIM-C board chairperson Shrikrishna Kulkarni said, “We are indeed delighted that Anju will be the first woman director of the IIM-C. She was the unanimous choice of the Search-cum-Selection Committee and the Board of Governors.” She completed her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has a distinguished academic career spanning over 25 years. She is on the editorial board of many scholarly journals.

Professor Anju Seth said, “It is an honour and privilege to be appointed to serve IIM-Calcutta in the position of Director. I look forward to working with faculty, staff, students, Governors and all other stakeholders to build on the Institutes strong foundations and accomplish new heights of eminence.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the Maldives Saturday to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Maldivian president. The step indicates an attempt to mend bilateral ties, which nosedived under the outgoing Abdulla Yameen government. This will be Modi’s first visit to the country as Prime Minister.

PM Modi Friday took to Twitter to inform that he will be attending the inauguration ceremony of Maldives President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. “I will be in Malé tomorrow to attend the historic Inauguration Ceremony of the President-elect H.E. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. I warmly congratulate him on his victory in the recent elections and wish him the very best for his tenure,” he said.

Expressing his desire to see a stable and democratic government in Male, the Prime Minister said, “Recent elections in The Maldives represent the collective aspirations of the people for democracy, rule of law and a prosperous future. We in India strongly desire to see a stable, democratic, prosperous and peaceful Republic of Maldives.”

Midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum scored just before halftime and Memphis Depay converted an audacious extra-time penalty as the Netherlands team that did not qualify for the World Cup beat world champion France 2-0 on Friday in the UEFA Nations League.

The margin of victory flattered Didier Deschamps’ injury-hit team, with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris making a string of good saves in the second half to deny Denzel Dumfries, Depay, and Frenkie de Jong.

France looked outclassed for much of the match. The team tried to play a patient, waiting game, sitting back and hoping to launch speedy 19-year-old striker Kylian Mbappe. But led by midfielder Frenkie de Jong, the Dutch not only dominated possession, but also shut down the World Cup star.

A business trip by Donald J Trump Jr, the son of the US president, this year to India cost the American tax payers about $100,000 in fees related to the Secret Service agents guarding him and other costs, according to a media report.

In February this year, Donald J Trump Jr, 40, had travelled to four Indian cities, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kolkatta, to promote the high-rise luxurious condos being built by the Trump Organization, of which US president Donald Trump is the sole owner. Trump Jr is the vice president of his family owned company.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that it calculated this figure from the documents it obtained from the Department of Homeland through the Freedom of Information Act, which is similar to India’s Right to Information Act.

The documents showed that “Trump Jr’s February trip cost more than USD 97,805 for hotel rooms, airfare, car rental and overtime for Secret Service agents,” the daily reported.

The White House and Donald J Trump Jr did not immediately respond to the news report, which their political opponents on the social media alleged the Secret Service expenses for his trip to promote condos in India was misuse of tax payers money.

The government will refund the employers for the first seven of the 26 weeks of maternity leaves for women earning more than Rs 15,000-a-month, the Women and Child (WCD) ministry said on Thursday. The decision covers both the government and private employers. The ministry’s decision came after it came to light that employers were vary of hiring pregnant women after maternity leave was extended from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.

WCD secretary Rakesh Srivastava ministry told PTI that the funds for the same will be utilised from labour welfare cess.   “The utilisation of the labour welfare cess lying with the state governments has been very less. After talks with the Labour Ministry it has been decided that the seven of the 26 weeks of maternity leave for all women employees in the private and government sector getting more than Rs 15,000 a month would be paid from that fund,” he told mediapersons.

Mithali Raj has allayed suggestions of a drop in form and question marks over her place in the batting lineup with back-to-back fifties at the ICC Women’s World T20 in the West Indies. In so doing, she has become the highest scorer for India in T20 internationals going ahead of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli respectively. Other Indian cricketers part of this illustrious list are women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Suresh Raina, and MS Dhoni.

Mithali Raj has enjoyed a fantastic run at the ongoing Women’s World T20, scoring 56 runs against Pakistan in India’s second Group B clash, and followed it up with a 51-run knock against Ireland which ensured India’s passage into the semi-finals of the tournament with a comfortable 52-run win.