(a) Arvind Panagariya is an Indian-American economist and aprofessor of economics at Columbia University, who served as the first vice-chairman of the government of India think-tank NITI Aayog between January 2015 and August 2017. On 5 Jan 2015, he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog,the replacement for the Planning Commission.