Which of the following economists was recently appointed as a Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)?

Introduction / Context:
This question belongs to Indian banking and current affairs. The Reserve Bank of India has a Governor and several Deputy Governors who play key roles in monetary policy, financial regulation, and internal administration. Examinations often ask about newly appointed Governors and Deputy Governors because these posts are widely covered in the news.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The post in question is Deputy Governor of the RBI.
• The word \"recently\" refers to a specific appointment period, widely discussed in news and current affairs material.
• The options include names of senior central banking and economic personalities.

Concept / Approach:
Viral Acharya is a well known economist and academic who was appointed as a Deputy Governor of the RBI. He has taught at leading international universities and has done research on financial stability and banking crises. His appointment was significant because it brought strong academic expertise into the central bank's leadership team. Other names in the options refer to different posts or earlier appointments in the RBI or outside it.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall the composition of the RBI top management, which includes one Governor and multiple Deputy Governors.Step 2: Identify which of the listed persons were deputies and which were Governors or held other roles.Step 3: Urjit Patel and Raghuram Rajan have served as Governors, not newly appointed Deputy Governors in the period referred to.Step 4: S. S. Mundra and R. Gandhi were Deputy Governors earlier but not the ones referred to as recently appointed in the context of the question.Step 5: Viral Acharya is the economist known for being appointed as a Deputy Governor of the RBI, so select his name.

Verification / Alternative Check:
You can often recall newspaper headlines announcing Viral Acharya as the \"new RBI Deputy Governor\" and describing him as an academic from a foreign university. The other names are highly familiar but associated with different roles or earlier time periods. This method of associating each person with a specific role in memory helps you avoid confusion in the exam hall.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
S. S. Mundra and R. Gandhi were already Deputy Governors and are not the ones described by the word \"recently\" in the period covered by the question. Urjit Patel was elevated to the post of Governor, not Deputy Governor, in that time frame. Raghuram Rajan is a former RBI Governor and a renowned academic, but he is not the person newly appointed as Deputy Governor in the news item that this question refers to.

Common Pitfalls:
The main pitfall is simple name confusion. Because all the options are related to the central bank or economic policy, candidates sometimes mark a familiar name like Raghuram Rajan without carefully reading the exact post mentioned. Another mistake is not keeping track of the timeline of appointments, which leads to mixing up who was appointed when. Regular revision of monthly current affairs can help avoid such errors.

Final Answer:
The economist who was recently appointed as a Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India is Viral Acharya.