Ex-SBI chairman M.S. Verma appointed TRAI chairman

BANGALORE: The former chairman of the State Bank of India, M.S. Verma, will

head the reconstituted Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The

re-constitution comes within three days of the promulgation of the TRAI

(Amendment) Ordinance 2000 on January 25. It bifurcated the TRAI functions to

create a Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

The Government, has re-appointed R.R.N. Prasad, as a whole-time member for a

period of two years. Other memebrs, including the chairman will hold their post

for three years. Central Board Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman D. Ravi Kant will be

the other whole-time member.Director general of National Council for Applied

Economic Research (NCAER) Rakesh Mohan and director general of the National

Informatics Centre (NIC) and special secretary, and ministry of Information

Technology N. Seshagiri have been appointed part-time members.

Officials in the department of telecom have heaved a sigh of relief at the

exit of Justice S.S. Sodhi and B.K. Zutshi (chairperson and vice-chaiperson

respectively of the erstwhile TRAI). However, they would still be eligible for

re-appointment in the appellate tribunal, which has been created under the

ordinance.