PERSONS FEBRUARY 2017
- Ghanta Chakrapani elected as chairman of standing committee of state PSCs
Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) Chairman Prof. Ghanta Chakrapani has been unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of National Conference of State Public Service Commission for a term of three years.
He was elected on the second day of the National Conference of Chairperson of State PSCs held at Gujarat on 19th February.
The Standing Committee is the highest policy making body of the National Conference of State PSCs, which will steer ahead the decisions, policies of conference and work towards making PSCs more responsive and transparent. - Former Chief Justice Altamas Kabir passed away
Former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir passed away on 19th February. Kabir was appointed as the Chief Justice of India on September 29, 2012 and retired on July 19, 2013. - Chandrasekaran takes the chairmanship of TATA sons
Natarajan Chandrasekaran has become the chairman of Tata Sons Ltd., the holding company of Tata Group. Tata Sons announced in January, 2017 the appointment of Chandra, who joined the Tata group in 1987 after obtaining a Masters degree in computer applications from the Regional Engineering College, Trichy, Tamil Nadu. - Walter Steinmeier elected as President of Germany
Former German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has been elected President by a Parliamentary Assembly. The Social Democrat, 61, is one of Germany's most popular politicians. Mr Steinmeier was chosen by the Federal Assembly meeting in Parliament in Berlin. He won 931 out of 1,260 votes.
The post is largely ceremonial, but the president represents Germany abroad and is seen as carrying moral weight. - Tehmina Janjua appointed as permanent UN representative of Pakistan
Pakistan on 13th February appointed its permanent representative to the UN, Tehmina Janjua, as the country's new foreign secretary. She is the first Pakistan woman to hold the key post. - Jean Pierre Lacroix appointed as head of UN peace keeping
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced the appointment current director for the United Nations at the French foreign ministry of Jean-Pierre Lacroix of France to head UN peacekeeping for a year pending a review of the world body's functions and structure. The UN's political affairs chief, Jeffrey Feltman of the United States, will remain at this post, also for a year.
The two positions of under-secretary-general are among the most high-profile at the United Nations. Lacroix, will replace Herve Ladsous who steps down in March after six years in the top job. - Five new Judges appointed to Supreme Court
Five new judges were appointed to the Supreme Court, taking its working strength to 28. President Pranab Mukherjee has signed their warrants of appointment. Those elevated to the apex court are five high court judges, including four chief justices of state high courts.
The news Judges are Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Rajasthan HC Chief Justice Naveen Sinha, Kerala HC Chief Justice Mohan M Shantanagouder, Chhattisgarh HC Chief Justice Dipak Gupta and Karnataka HC judge S Abdul Nazeer. - Vikas Swarup appointed as High commissioner to Canada
External affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup, was on 16th February appointed India's high commissioner to Canada. A 1986-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Swarup, whose debut novel Q&A was adapted as Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, helmed office since April 2015, when India increased engagement with the world.
Swarup is at present an additional secretary and ministry said he is expected to take up his new assignment shortly. Gopal Baglay, who is joint secretary in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan division in the ministry, will succeed Swarup. - Nand Kumar sai appointed as chairman of NCST
BJP veteran and tribal leader from Chhattisgarh, Nand Kumar Sai, has been appointed as chairman of National Commission for Schedule Tribes.
Sai will take oath on February 28 at New Delhi. A veteran tribal leader, who was state BJP president during undivided Madhya Pradesh, was the first leader of the opposition in the Chhattisgarh assembly after the state was carved out in year 2000. - Eminent novelist Bano Qudsia passed away
Renowned Pakistani Urdu novelist and playwright Bano Qudsia has passed away in Lahore. Born in November 1928 in Ferozepur, India, Qudsia migrated to Pakistan after partition. Among her prominent writings include Aadhi Baat, Aatish-i-zer-i-paa, Aik Din, Amer Bail, Asay Pasay, Chahar Chaman, Chhotaa Sheher Baray Log, Footpath ki Ghaas, Hasil Ghaat and Hawa Kay Naam. She was awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2003 and Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2010. - Cyrus Mistry removed from Tata son’s director’s board
Shareholders of Tata Sons, in an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on 6th February, voted to remove former chairman Cyrus Mistry as director of the company. The meeting took place at the Bombay House, the headquarters of the $103-billion group.
The meeting was attended by Tata Sons interim chairman Ratan Tata, N. Chandrasekaran, who will take over as Tata Sons chairman on February 21, and other Tata Sons directors, including Ajay Piramal.
The exit of Mistry from the board was a foregone conclusion as the Tata Trusts hold a 66% stake in the company, while the Tata group companies hold another 14%. The Mistry family owns an 18.5% stake, while the rest is owned by Tata family members.
The Mistry family had first acquired shares in Tata Sons in 1965 and Pallonji Mistry, Cyrus’s father, was appointed as Tata Sons director in 1980. He retired in 2004. Cyrus, joined two years later as director and became chairman in 2012. - Sanjeev Sanyal appointed as economic adviser in department of Economic affairs
Sanjeev Sanyal has been appointed as the principal economic adviser in department of Economic affairs. A Rhodes Scholar with a degree in Economics from Oxford and an alumnus of Delhi’s Sriram College, Sanyal is son of a former bureaucrat. The appointments committee of cabinet has approved Sanyal’s appointment for three years on contract basis.
- Travis Kalanick quits trump’s economic advisory council
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Uber Technologies Inc. Travis Kalanick in February 2017 quit the US President Donald Trump’s Economic Advisory Council. - Veteran freedom fighter Racharla Samrajyam passed away
Racharla Samrajyam, a veteran freedom fighter, passed away on 6th February. Samrajyam was born in April 1919 to Goparaju Venkata Subba Rao and Rajyalakshmi at Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. She was the younger sister of social reformer Gora.
While leading the protests during the Quit India Movement, she was arrested at Vijayawada and was sent to the Raya Vellore Jail for six months in 1944.
Motivated by G Durga Bai, she underwent training in rural development activities in 1945 in Kasturi Ba Smaraka Trust at Seva Gram under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
She worked in various capacities at the Kasturi Ba Gandhi Rashtriya Smaraka Trust’s Regional Office at Seethanagaram in East Godavari district, where she served the trust for 34 years, beginning from June 1946. She received the ‘Tamra Patra’ from the Union Government in the year 1972. - Three new directors appointed
The government appointed three noted names to the RBI directors’ board. Ashok Gulati, former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, Manish Sabharwal, chairman and co-founder of recruitment consultancy Team Lease, and economist Rajiv Kumar were also named part-time non-official directors on the board, for a four-year term.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved the appointments. It also approved the proposal of the department of financial services for appointment of three members on the local board of RBI. Prasanna Kumar Mohanty (Southern Local Board), Vallabh Roopchand Bhanshali (Western Local Board) and Sunil Mitra (Eastern Local Board) have been appointed for four years. - Ajay Tyagi will be the new chairman of SEBI
Senior IAS Officer Ajay Tyagi will be the new Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Mr. Tyagi is currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. He will hold the office for a maximum period five years or till he attains the age of 65 years. His name was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. He will succeed U K Sinha, whose extended tenure ends 1st of next month. - Uttam Dhillon appointed in White house
US President Donald Trump has appointed prominent Indian-American attorney Uttam Dhillon to a key White House position to assist him on ethics and compliance matters. Dhillon, who served as Chief Oversight Counsel for the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, has been appointed as Special Assistant to the President. In this position, he would be part of the legal team to serve under White House Counsel Donald F McGahn with respect to compliance and ethics matters.
- Iris Mittenaere has crowned as Miss Universe
Iris Mittenaere from France has been crowned the new Miss Universe during the 65th edition of the pageant, while Miss Haiti Raquel Pelissier was named first runner-up. Iris, 24, is a Parisian native, currently pursuing a degree in dental surgery. She plans to use her Miss Universe platform to advocate for dental and oral hygiene. - Telangana govt. appointed Samantha as brand ambassador for Handloom Products
Film actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu would be the brand ambassador to promote Telangana handloom products. She discussed about the handloom textiles available in various part of Telangana and said that there was a need to make value addition to the products of Ikkat and Pochampally. - Alok Verma took charge as CBI director
Former Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma on 1st February took charge as the new CBI Director. He will hold the charge of the premier investigating agency for a period of two years. A 1979-batch IPS officer, Mr Verma was selected by a three-member committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice J S?Khehar and Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. - Former CBI chief Joginder Singh Passed away
Former CBI chief Joginder Singh, who oversaw investigation of several high-profile cases including Bofors scam and Bihar's fodder scam passed away. The 1961 batch IPS officer of Karnataka cadre was chosen to head the premier investigative agency when H D Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister.
Singh, who joined Police Service at the age of 20, rose to take charge of CBI on July 31, 1996 when it was probing a large number of sensitive cases including Bofors, fodder scam, securities scam, the JMM MPs bribery scandal, Rs 133 crore urea scam, telecom deals by the then Union minister Sukh Ram, among others. A prolific writer, Singh, penned over 25 books on various subjects after retiring from the service.
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