The first Vice-Chairman of the newly-created NITI Aayog, noted economist Arvind Panagariya, 
took charge in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Panagariya was briefed by the NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar and other senior officials on the newly created body.
Later in the day, Panagariya is expected to call on the Prime Minister, who is the Chairman of the Aayog.
The appointments of the Vice- Chairman, two full time members, four ex-officio members (Union ministers), as also three special invitees for the Aayog, were announced on January 5.
Also expected to join the Aayog shortly, are economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief V K Saraswat, who were appointed as full-time members by the Prime Minister.
NITI Aayog has ben founded as the replacement for the recently disbanded 65-year old Planning Commission, a remnant from the nation’s socialist era.
The erstwhile Planning Commission was headed by a Deputy Chairman, and chaired by the Prime Minister.
Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu and Radha Mohan Singh have been named to be the Aayog’s ex-Officio members while their colleagues Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani and Thawar Chand Gehlot have been made Special Invitees.
The constitution of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, along with the proposed office bearers’ names, was conveyed by the government, following which, it was ratified by the Prime Minister on the first day of this new year.
Panagariya, 62, is an Indian-American economist and has been a professor of Economics at the Columbia University, aside from having served as the Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and also, as a Professor of Economics and Co-director, Centre for International Economics, University of Maryland, College Park.
Panagariya has previously worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in an assortment of capacities.
He holds a Ph.D in Economics from the Princeton University.