India: Govt has appointed J S Sarma as the next head of the regulatory authority

[timesofindia] Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has cleared the names of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) member J S
Sarma for chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and secretary, department of economic affairs, Ashok Chawla for finance secretary.

The orders of their appointments, it is learnt, have already been issued by the government and are likely to be announced in a couple of days. A senior government official said, "a press statement towards this end is likely to be issued soon."

Sarma will succeed Nripendra Mishra, who retired on March 22, 2009. Currently Trai member A K Sawhney is the interim chairman of the regulatory body. Sarma was the chairman of Telecom Commission from June 2005 to July 2006. He was later appointed as TDSAT member on July 28, 2008.

The cabinet secretariat, it is learnt, had shortlisted three candidates for the post of Trai chairman. Besides JS Sarma, names of Yashwant Bhave, who was additional secretary in the department of telecommunication before retiring as secretary, consumer affairs and S D Saxena, former finance director of BSNL and a member of its board, were shortlisted for the post.

Trai is an independent regulator for telecom and broadcasting in the country. Mainly it has recommendatory powers with exception of tariffs and interconnection charges. The chairmanship of Trai has become even more attractive after the salary and emoluments for the position was recently increased to Rs 3 lakh per month in the Sixth Pay Commission.

The government has also decided to appoint Ashok Chawla as the finance secretary. This post has been lying vacant following the retirement of Arun Ramanathan on April 30. Chawla, a 1973 batch IAS officer, is the senior most secretary in the finance ministry.

Chawla rejoined the finance ministry in September 2008 after around a decade. Prior to coming back to the finance ministry, he served as secretary in the ministry of civil aviation between February 2007 and September 2008.

J S Sarma all set to become Trai chief