Planning Commission renamed NITI Aayog

The Narendra Modi government began the New Year with a change in the name of the Planning Commission, which will now be the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog .

This follows the promise that the prime minister had made to the nation on Independence Day last year.

An official statement said: "The Government has replaced Planning Commission with a new institution named NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog. The institution will serve as 'Think Tank' of the government - a directional and policy dynamo.

"NITI Aayog will provide governments at the central and state levels with relevant strategic and technical advice across the spectrum of key elements of policy, this includes matters of national and international import on the economic front, dissemination of best practices from within the country as well as from other nations, the infusion of new policy ideas and specific issue-based support."