PERSONS JULY 2017

PERSONS JULY 2017

• Ramnath Kovind: National Democratic Alliance candidate Ram Nath Kovind has won the Presidential election 2017 and is set to succeed Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He will be the 14th President of India, and assumes charge on 25th July.
  
  Kovind defeated opponent Meira Kumar by a considerable margin. He swept the election by winning in states like Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, while Kumar won in Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir.
  
  In an electoral college of 4,986 voters with a vote value of 10,98,903, Kovind got 2,930 votes carrying a value of 7,00,244, while the former Lok Sabha Speaker secured 1,844 votes with a value of 3,67,314.
  
  While Kovind got 65.65 per cent of the total valid vote value of 10,69,358, Meira Kumar got 34.35 per cent.
  
• Nar Bahudur Bhandari: The former Chief Minister of Sikkim, Nar Bahadur Bhandari, has passed away in New Delhi. He was the three times Chief Ministers of stat. Mr. Bhandari who was the founder leader of Sikkim Sangram Parishad had governed Sikkim from 1979 to 1994.
  
• Venkaiah Naidu: Senior BJP leader and Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will be the NDA candidate for the post of Vice President. The announcement was made by BJP President Amit Shah in New Delhi on 17th July after Party Parliamentary Board meeting. The decision was taken unanimously by the board. Mr Shah said, the name of Mr Naidu was earlier discussed with the NDA allies and is supported by them.
  
  Venkaia Naidu has been the National President of the Party from 2002 to 2004. He was elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka in 1998 and was re-elected to the house in 2004, 2010and 2016. Mr Naidu, by profession, Agriculturist, Political and Social worker has been associated with Politics from his college days in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
  
  He also chaired Committee on Petitions and Committee on Home Affairs of the Rajya Sabha. Mr Naidu has also been Cabinet Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Government. Currently, he is holding charge of Urban Affairs and Information and Broadcasting. He will file his nomination paper on 18th July, which is the last date for filing the nominations.
  
  The opposition has already declared the name of former West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi for the post. The scrutiny will be held on 19th July and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is 21st of this month. The polling will be held on the 5th of next month and counting will take place on the same day.
  
  The Vice-President is elected by an electoral college comprising members of both the Houses of Parliament including nominated members. The term of incumbent Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari is ending on 10th of August this year.
  
• Preet Kaur Gill: Britain's first woman Sikh MP has been elected to an influential cross-party panel in the UK Parliament that examines the workings of the Home Office.
  
  Preet Kaur Gill, who won the Edgbaston seat for the Labour party in the June 8 snap general election, was elected to the Home Affairs Select Committee in the UK Parliament.
  
  The House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee was chaired by Keith Vaz, Britain's longest-serving Indian-origin MP, until he stepped down from the post last year. Its newly-elected chair is Labour party MP Yvette Cooper, elected unopposed to the post last week. Gill has also been chosen to lead the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Sikhs.
  
• TR Zeliang: He has been sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Nagaland. With Mr. Zeliang staking claim to hold majority support of 47 members of the Legislative Assembly, the State Governor P.B. Acharya has invited the former Chief Minister to form the government.
  
  The Governor further directed TR Zeliang to prove his majority on the floor of the House on the 22nd of this month. In an order issued by Raj Bhavan, Kohima, the Governor said as Dr. Shurhozelie did not attend the emergent Assembly Session convened on 19th July, it was clear that Dr. Shurhozelie has failed to obtain the Vote of Confidence. As such, the Governor Acharya, by Constitutional power vested in him, has dismissed the Ministry headed by Dr. Shurhozelie with immediate effect.
  
  This is the fourth time in the ruling Naga People’s Front led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland Government the elected members were active in ousting an incumbent Chief Minister for various reasons.
  
  It may be mentioned that the present political crisis arose at a time when ousted Chief Minister Dr. Shurhozelie, who is also the President of NPF party was gearing up for the July 29 by-election from the Northern Angami-I Assembly seat, vacated by his son Khriehu Liezietsu.
  
  Khriehu resigned on May 24 making way for his father to contest and become an elected member of the assembly to continue in his office.
  
  While on one hand the whole picture of the formation of new Government will unfold on 22nd of this month when TR Zeliang will proof his majority in the house, on the other hand the newly sworn in Chief Minister TR Zeliang has been expelled from the Naga Peoples’ Party with immediate effect, for a period of six years. The office of the NPF said, Zeliang has been expelled to keep peace in the party.
  
• John Joseph: He has been appointed as Director General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DG GSTI). He has worked in the Finance Ministry's important departments, including the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). The DG GSTI is the new name given to the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), mandated to check service tax and central excise duty evasion.
  
• Gopal Krishna Gandhi: Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi is Opposition's pick for the post of Vice President of India. Mr Gandhi's name was selected during the meeting of 18 opposition parties including JD (U) which met to decide on their candidate for the vice presidential polls.
  
  The meeting, convened by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, was held in Parliament House. Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, and leaders of BSP, JD (U), RLD, CPI(M), CPI, National Conference, NCP, Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress were among those who attended the meeting. Mr Gandhi is the grandson Mahatma Gandhi and a former bureaucrat.
  
• Khaltmaa Battulga: Khaltmaa Battulga elected as the President of the Mongolia. He replaces Tsakhia Elbegdorj.
  
• Ramakrishna Reddy: Telangana Advocate General K Ramakrishna Reddy has resigned on 12th July. He sent in his resignation letter to the Law Secretary. Ramakrishna Reddy, as the first Advocate General for the Telangana State, had steered the government through various crucial cases, among which topped the various issues related to bifurcation and Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. He even argued in the Supreme Court in these cases.
  
• Liu Xiabo: Nobel peace prize laureate and Chinese rights activist Liu Xiaobo, 61, died on 13th July, after suffering multiple organ failure. Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, almost a year after he was handed an 11-year jail sentence for “inciting subversion of state power”, after he helped draft ‘Charter 08’ — a petition that called for a slew of political reforms in China.
  
• Vikram Limaye: National Stock Exchange (NSE) on 14th July said veteran banker Vikram Limaye will join the bourse as its new managing director and chief executive
  
  He has been relieved by the Supreme Court of his responsibilities at Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with immediate effect. Limaye was appointed to a panel, set up by Supreme Court, to administer the BCCI. Last month, markets regulator Sebi cleared Limaye’s appointment as head of NSE, provided he gives up his role at BCCI.
  
  He was selected as the chief of the exchange by the board of NSE in February following the abrupt exit of Chitra Ramkrishna in December last year. In March, shareholders of the exchange had approved the appointment. Limaye, who joined IDFC in 2005, has over 25 years of experience with financial institutions, global investment banks, international commercial banks and global accounting firms.
  
• Mukesh Kumar Jain: The Central Government appointed Mukesh Kumar Jain as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Oriental Bank of Commerce, a Public sector bank. His appointment is for a period of three years. He was an Executive Director at Punjab and Sind Bank.
  
• Sundaresan Raghupathy: In a major acknowledgement to India’s efforts in spearheading global green building movement, Sundaresan Raghupathy, Deputy Director General of CII and in-charge of Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), has been elected as Regional Chair of the Asia-Pacific Regional Network.
  
  The network is a group of 15 Green Building Councils currently working to advance green buildings within the region. His term is for two years, starting July 1, 2017.
  
  Raghupathy, who is already a board member of the World Green Building Council, has been appointed for his leadership in the green building movement and dedication to improving the sustainability of buildings, both in India and at the regional level.
  
• Achal Kumar Jyothi: Union Government appointed Achal Kumar Jyoti as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India for tenure of one year. Achal Kumar Jyoti replaces Nasim Zaidi, who retires on July 6.
  
• Saima Wazed Hossain:
  Saima Wazed Hossain is appointed as WHO goodwill ambassador for Autism in South Asia for two years. As an ambassador creates awareness and generating action to address and elevate sufferings of people affected by autism.