Tuesday, July 31, was a day of farewells in the finance ministry. R Gopalan retired as economic affairs secretary and Kaushik Basu’s tenure as chief economic advisor came to an end. The heads of both revenue boards — the the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) — also retired on Tuesday. Apart from the official farewells, both Basu and Gopalan decided to meet the press on their last day and the meetings started on an emotional note. The media-friendly Basu said he was “feeling sentimental” and confessed to being nervous when he took charge in December 2009 because “I had never seen so many cameras together in my life before” — though he never let on. Gopalan confessed to not being media-friendly and apologised for losing his temper on several occasions.
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