PERSONS DECEMBER 2013

PERSONS DECEMBER 2013

• Mikhail Kalashnikov----The designer of the fabled AK-47 automatic rifle, died on 23 December in Izhevsk, the capital of the Udmurtia Republic, where he lived. He was 94. Kalashnikov designed a weapon that became synonymous with killing on a sometimes indiscriminate scale but was seen in the Soviet Union as a national hero and symbol of Moscow’s proud military past. Lavished with honours including the prestigious Hero of Russia prize for designing the iconic rifle, Kalashnikov has said he had never intended for it to become the preferred weapon in conflicts around the world. AK-47’s name stands for “Kalashnikov’s Automatic” and the year it was designed, 1947. Also called the “Kalashnikov”, the rifle and its variants are the weapons of choice for dozens of armies and guerrilla groups around the world.
  
• J.N. Choudhury---- Senior IPS officer J.N. Choudhury has been appointed as head of National Security Guard (NSG) in place of Arvind Ranjan who will take over as the full-time chief of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).The Union Home Ministry issued the orders on 26 December. Mr. Choudhury, who has been appointed as the new DG of the premier ‘black cats’ counter-terror force, is due to retire in May, 2015.A 1978-batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, he has served in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for a number of years before he took over as Assam police chief last year. The NSG has specific tasks of undertaking special counter-terror and counter-hijack operations.
  
• Arvind Ranjan---- Arvind Ranjan was appointed the full time chief of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on 26 December 2013.Ranjan’s name for the post was cleared by Union Home Ministry. He is a 1977 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer. Ranjan took over his charge from January. He will take his charge from incumbent Director General Rajiv. The Central Industrial Security Force is a Central Armed Police Force in India. CISF was established in 1983 in the present form. CISF is the largest industrial security force in the world. It is directly under the federal Ministry of Home Affairs and its headquarters are at New Delhi. The CISF guards vital government installations including airports and nuclear and aerospace facilities in the country.
  
• Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan---- The minister of state for environment and forest has resigned from the Council of Ministers (COM) on 21 December 2013.The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, accepted the resignation of Jayanthi Natarajan from the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister advised the President of India that M. Veerappa Moily, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas shall be given additional charge of the work of Ministry of Environment & Forests.Jayanthi Natarajan expected to return to party work which is relating to manifesto and other election matters of the Congress Party. Jayanthi Natarajan , a senior member of Rajya Sabha for the third term from Tamil Nadu and served in Environment ministry for two years .
  
• Dr Harsh Kumar Bhanwala--- Dr Harsh Kumar Bhanwala on 18th December took charge as Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). He succeeded Dr. Prakash Bakshi, who retired in September 2013. Prior to this appointment, Dr Bhanwala was the Executive Director(ED) at India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL), a state-owned infrastructure lender. He was also holding the charge of CMD, IIFCL for about six months. He was earlier looking after the Corporate Planning, Human Resource Development and Credit Enhancement initiatives as Chief General Manager at IIFCL. During his tenure at IIFCL, he also held the Chairmanship of the two subsidiaries of the company — IIFC (UK) Ltd., London, and IIFCL Projects Ltd., New Delhi.
  
• Salman Khurshid--- The Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari launched a music album “Braveheart” brought out by Dr. Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust and Ustadgah Foundation at a function in New Delhi. The music album is a tribute to the Girl Child. The poetry is written by Salman Khurshid, the Union Minister for External Affairs and composed and sung by Ustad Maa Zila Khan. Addressing on the occasion, Shri Ansari said that one year back a very brutal and pathetic incident happened which embarrassed every Indian. Today we have assembled here to pay tribute to the girl child. Shri Salman Khurshid has written poetry on that incident.
  
• Smt. Sushma Singh---- The President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office of the Chief Information Commissioner to Smt. Sushma Singh on 19 December. She is the fifth Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission (CIC). Sushma Singh joined the CIC as Information Commissioner on September 23, 2009. Prior to joining CIC, Smt. Sushma Singh served as Secretary to the Govt. of India in the Ministries of Information & Broadcasting, Panchyati Raj and the Development of the North East Region (DONER).
  
• Sis Ram Ola (83) ---- The Union Labour Minister, died on 15 December 2013 after a prolonged illness in Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon, Haryana. He took over as the Labour Minister in June 2013 after Mallikarjun Kharge was shifted to Railways. Under the UPA 1 Government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he served as the as Labour Minister and Union Cabinet Minister of Mines. He was a member of the 15th Lok Sabha of India and elected in 2009. He was a Senior Rajasthan Congress leader and represented, the Juunjhunu constituency of the state
  
• Ranjan Mathai----The former Foreign Secretary of India has taken over as the country’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Mr. Mathai took the office on 9th December. He succeeds Jaimini Bhagwati, who retired recently. Born on May 24, 1952; Mr. Mathai joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974, after completing Post Graduate studies in Political Science at the University of Poona. He served in Indian Missions in Vienna, Colombo, Washington, Tehran and Brussels. As Joint Secretary (BSM) in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi (January 1995 to February 1998), he headed the Division dealing with India’s relations with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Maldives. He was the Ambassador of India to Israel from February 1998 to June 2001 and to Qatar from August 2001 to July 2005.He next held the post of Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK in London from August 2005 to January 2007.He served as the Ambassador of India to France with concurrent accreditation to the Principality of Monaco from January 2007 till he assumed the office of Foreign Secretary from August 2011 to July 2013.
  
• Ms. Sushma Singh ---- A former IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre has been appointed as the next Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India and will succeed Ms. Deepak Sandhu, whose term is ending on 31 December 2013. She will become the second woman to be appointed as the CIC after Deepak Sandhu. The decision on appointing Ms. Singh as the next CIC was taken unanimously by a panel comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Law Minister Kapil Sibal. After retiring from Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2009, Ms Singh became Information Commissioner on September 23, 2009 in the Central Information Commission. CIC is constituted by the Central Government through a Gazette Notification.CIC comprises of one Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and not more than 10 Information Commissioners (IC) who are appointed by the President of India.