PERSONS JULY 2011

PERSONS JULY 2011

• ANAND KUMAR ‘Super 30’ founder and mathematician Anand Kumar has been selected from around the world to speak at the University Scholars’ Leadership Symposium, to be held in Thailand from August 1.
  
• JUSTICE P.D.DINAKARAN - Sikkim high court Chief Justice PD Dinakaran resigned on 29 July 2011. He was facing impeachment on charges of corruption and judicial misconduct. 61-year-old Dinakaran would have demitted office next in 2012 on attaining the age of 62. He was prior to being transferred to Sikkim High Court, he was the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. Dinakaran is the third judge of the higher judiciary to face impeachment proceedings. The impeachment motion against Justice V Ramaswamy of the Supreme Court was defeated in the Lok Sabha in mid-nineties. The inquiry report of three- member committee appointed by Rajya Sabha Chairman against Justice Soumitra Sen of Calcutta high court is still pending.
  
• NIRMAL KUMAR VERMA - Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma took over as the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC)on 29 July 2011.
  
• The Union government on 28 July 2011 appointed IAS officer Pulok Chatterji as principal secretary to the prime minister. Chatterji succeeded T K A Nair who served as Manmohan Singh's principal secretary for more than seven years.
  
• Retired Punjab cadre IAS officer T.K.A. Nair was appointed Adviser to the Prime Minister on 28 July 2011. He had served as the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for seven years. He will take charge as Adviser to the Prime Minister from 3 October 2011.Nair, a retired IAS officer of 1963 batch, was given the rank and status of Minister of State in the PMO.
  
• The Union government on 23 July 2011 appointed senior advocate Rohinton Nariman as the Solicitor-General, the second senior most law officer of India. Nariman succeeded Gopal Subramanium who resigned from his post in early July 2011.
  
• USTAD RAHIM FAHIMUDDIN DAGAR- Dhrupad maestro, diedon 27 July 2011 in New Delhi. Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar was a renowned practitioner of Dagarvani style of music that originated from the Vedas. For his outstanding contribution to Hindustani music, he was elected Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi (for 2010). He was also honoured with the Padma Bhusan Award.
  
• British singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse whose self-destructive habits overshadowed a distinctive musical talent was found dead in London. Winehouse won international acclaim with her albums Frank and Back to Black. She won a several prestigious awards, including five Grammys in 2008.
  
• Vasuki Sunkavalli(A.P) has been chosen to represent India at the Miss Universe contest this year. Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen’s production company Tantra Entertainment holds the I Am She contest to select the Indian representative to the Miss Universe contest. Starting this year the I Am She pageant will also select the contestants for Miss Globe International and Miss Asia Pacific.
  
• NR Narayana Murthy was elected the chairperson of Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) on 11 July 2011. He will replace former McKinsey chief Rajat Gupta. Gupta resigned from the PFHI in March 2011 after which YV Reddy took over as the interim chair. Gupta was accused of insider trading in the USA. Murthy will head a governing council including Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Shiv Nadar, Amartya Sen, YV Reddy, Miraj Chatterjee, AK Shiva Kumar and TK Nair.The objective of PHFI is to strengthen training, research and policy development in the area of public health.
  
• Pradeep Kumar - a 1972-batch Haryana cadre IAS officer was on 2 July 2011 appointed as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). The appointment followed quashing of the appointment of P J Thomas as CVC by the Supreme Court in March 2011. His name was selected from the four short-listed names by the three-member high-level committee comprising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj. Kumar will have a three-year term as he will have to demit office on attaining age of 65 years under the CVC Act.
  
• Shashikant Sharma - A 1976 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre on 7 July 2011 was appointed as the new defense secretarysucceeding Pradeep Kumar. The position fell vacant after Pradeep Kumar was appointed central vigilance commissioner of India.
  
• Harun Rashid Khan took over as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on 4 July 2011 succeeding Shyamala Gopinath who retired in June 2011.Khan has been appointed for a period of three years.
  
• Nishi Vasudeva - she became the first woman in the history of state-owned oil company to join the board of directors. Vasudeva joined the board of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), a Navratna PSU, as Director (Marketing).Vasudeva was selected for the board job at HPCL by government headhunter Public Enterprise Selection Board in December 2010. The Cabinet Committee on Appointments (ACC) gave its consent in July 2011.
  
• B.S.S.RAO - Secretary of Sri Lalithakala Academy Foundation and an art critic, B.S.S. Rao died on 4 July 2011 in Saraswathipuram, Karnataka. He was a patron of classical arts and music and a regular contributor to various newspapers. He took interest in the promotion of classical arts, particularly Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music.
  
• K. Srinath Reddy - Leading cardiologist, has been awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Scotland's Aberdeen University for his pioneering work in the field of public health. Currently president of the Public Health Foundation of India and a former head of the Department of Cardiology at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, Dr. Reddy is regarded as a global leader in public health.