PERSONS MARCH 2017
- Vanita Gupta appointed as President of Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Indian-American Vanita Gupta, who headed civil rights division in the Department of Justice in the Obama Administration, has been appointed as President and CEO of 'The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights', becoming the first woman to head the prestigious organisation.
Known for her fearless advocacy of all human beings, Vanita will replace Wade Henderson who is stepping down after more than two decades. Vanita, who will also lead its sister organisation 'The Leadership Conference Education Fund', will begin her new role on June 1. - Anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada passed away
Ahmed Kathrada, South Africa's revered Indian-origin anti-apartheid activist who was one of Nelson Mandela's closest aides in his struggle to end the white minority rule, died in Johannesburg on 28th March. Kathrada, who spent 26 years and 3 months in prison, including 18 years on the infamous Robben Island.
He was among 2,000 people who were arrested and jailed for defying a law that discriminated against South African-Indians. Kathrada also received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, India's highest honour for foreign nationals of Indian-origin, in 2005 from the Indian President. A prolific writer, Kathrada penned six books himself or with co-authors. - Yogi Adityanath sworn in as new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
Yogi Adityanath was on 19th March sworn in as the 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Besides the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Ministers, 22 cabinet ministers, nine ministers of state with independent charge and 13 ministers of states were also administered the oath.
- Soumya Swaminathan appointed in UN experts committee
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has included Director of Indian Council of Medical Research Soumya Swaminathan in the high level group set up by him to provide expertise on and coordinate the global fight against antimicrobial resistance. The group comprises high level representatives of relevant UN agencies, other international organizations and individual experts across different sectors.
Ms Swaminathan is also Secretary in the Department of Health Research in Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. She is a multi award-winning pediatrician, clinical scientist and is known for her research on tuberculosis. - Sachin Tendulkar appointed as UNICEF ambassador
International Cricket Council (ICC) on 16 March 2017 cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar as the UNICEF Cricket for Good ambassador for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017. The ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 will be hosted in the United Kingdom from 23 June 2017 to 23 July 2017. - Noted Philanthropist David Rockefeller passed away
last of his generation in a famous American family noted philanthropist Rockefeller died on Monday in his sleep at his home in Pocantico Hills at age 101.
Rockefeller graduated from Harvard in 1936 and received a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago in 1940. He served in the Army during World War II, then began climbing the ranks of management at Chase Bank. That bank merged with the Manhattan company in 1955.
Under Rockefeller, Chase now known as JPMorgan Chase was the first U.S. bank to open offices in the Soviet Union and China and, in 1974, the first to open an office in Egypt after the Suez crisis of 1956.
In his role of business statesman, Rockefeller preached capitalism at home and favored assisting economies abroad on grounds that bringing prosperity to the Third World would create customers for American products. - Upendra Tripathy appointed as Director of ISA
The former secretary at Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Upendra was appointed as the full-time interim Director General (IDG) of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). - Arundhathi Bhattacharya ranked among world greatest leaders
State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya has been ranked 26th in the Fortune magazine's World 50 Greatest Leaders list for 2017, only Indian to feature in the list this time.
The list is topped by Theo Epstein, president for baseball of Chicago Cubs, followed by Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group. In the list, Bhattacharya ranks higher than billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. - Tanushree Pareek: BSF’s first women combat officer
Tanushree Pareek on 25th March became the first woman combat officer to be commissioned in the 51 year history of the BSF the country's largest border guarding force. Pareek, a resident of Rajasthan's Bikaner, is the first woman to join the force in the officer rank after she was selected in the all-India exam conducted by the UPSC in 2014.
The force had begun induction of woman officers in 2013. She will now be posted to command a unit along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab. - Hosni Mubarak freed from detention
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been freed from detention, six years after being overthrown. He was ordered free earlier this month after Egypt's top appeals court cleared him over the deaths of protesters in the 2011 uprising.
Mr. Mubarak became president in 1981 after Anwar Sadat's assassination. He had been at Maadi Military Hospital since 2013, when he was transferred there on bail from Torah prison. Mr. Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in 2012 of complicity in the killing of protesters, who died at the hands of security forces in February, 2011. - Nandyal MLA Bhuma Nagireddy passed away
Three-time Member of Parliament and sitting MLA of Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh, Bhuma Nagi Reddy, died of cardiac arrest on 12th March. - Biren Singh elected as BJP legislature party in Manipur
N Biren Singh elected leader of BJP legislature party in Manipur; will meet Governor to stake claim to form Govt. With this, bhartiya janta party has speeded up its efforts to from government in Manipur. Naga People's Front, National People's Party and Lok Janshakti Party have already said that they will support a non-Congress coalition Government in the state.
Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla has asked incumbent Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh of the Congress to submit his resignation immediately, so that the process of formation of the next government can be started. The Governor has confirmed that the BJP has submitted a list of 32 MLAs to her and has staked claim. The Governor also added that she was satisfied with the list. - Manohar Parikar sworn-in as Goa Chief-Minister
Senior BJP leader Manohar Parrikar was sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Goa on 14th March. Earlier, the Supreme Court cleared the decks for oath taking of Mr Parrikar as the Chief Minister of Goa by refusing the plea of Congress to stay the ceremony.
The Supreme Court ordered conducting of the floor test on 16th March. The BJP has won 13 seats and the Congress has 17 in the house. Goa Forward won 3, MGP has 3 and three were independents. NCP has one seat. The Congress claims it has the numbers. - Arun Jaitley took additional charge of Defence Ministry
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took additional charge of Defence Ministry on 14th March after Manohar Parrikar resigned to take on the new role of Goa Chief Minister. This is the second time that Mr. Jaitley is holding the additional portfolio of Defence Ministry during the present NDA government. He was incharge of the ministry earlier from 26th May to 9th November in 2014. - Shashank Manohar resigned as ICC Chairman
Shashank Manohar has resigned as ICC Chairman. He stepped down from the post reportedly due to personal reasons. Mr. Manohar was elected unopposed for the job in May last year and became the first independent Chairman of cricket’s governing body.
He had signed a two-year term after stepping down as BCCI President. He was re-elected as BCCI President in October 2015, following the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya. - Amarinder Singh sworn in as Punjab CM
Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh was sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab on 16th March. - Manhar Valji Bhai Zala appointed as chairman of Safai Karamcharis Commission
The newly appointed Chairman of National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Manhar Valji Bhai Zala along with two members Manju Diler and Dalip Kallu Hathibed on 16th March and assumed his office in New Delhi. - Jwala Gutta appointed as member of SAI
India's Badminton Doubles specialist Jwala Gutta has been appointed a member of the governing body of Sports Authority of India (SAI). Two-time Olympian Jwala won the bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships. She is also a 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games champion and a silver medallist at the 2014 Glasgow Games in women's doubles. - Mark Rutte is the new PM of Netherlands
Mark Rutte elected as the new Prime Minister of Netherlands. He has been the Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010, and the Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy since 31 May 2006. - Saad Eddine El Othmani named as new PM of Morocco
Morocco's king has named Saad Eddine El Othmani from Islamist PJD Party as the country's new Prime Minister and asked him to form a government. - 5 Indians on WEF's 2017 young global leaders list
Five Indians, including Paytm founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Shruti Shibulal, promoter and director of The Tamara Hospitality, have made it to the World Economic Forum's 100 Young Global Leaders list.
The other individuals who represented India on the list include Ambarish Mitra, founder and CEO of Blippar, a mobile phone app business valued at $1.5 billion; Hindol Sengupta, editor-at-large of Fortune India, and Rwitwika Bhattacharya-Agarwal, founder and CEO of Swaniti Initiative.
Each year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) selects 100 young leaders, under the age of 40, who are tackling the world's most complex challenges with innovative approaches. In this year's list of 100 Young Global Leaders, half the intake comes from emerging economies, reflecting a trend towards greater diversity in global leadership.
From the public sector, the list features Aja Brown the youngest mayor to be elected in Compton, California. Private sector is represented by Katie Hill, an innovator who leads Apple's ambitious new clean energy programme, converting the company's manufacturing worldwide to renewable energy. - BJP chose Yogi Aditya Nath as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Candidate
In Uttar Pradesh five times MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Aditya Nath will be new Chief Minister of the state. His name was unanimously decided as leader of the state legislature party in the meeting of newly elected MLAs.
Yogi Aditya Nath was elected to the Lok Sabha first time in 1998 from Gorakhpur in the age of 26 years. He was the youngest MP in the 12th Lok Sabha. His real name is Ajay Singh Bisht and he is science graduate from Garhwal University. Born in 1972 in a village in Uttarakhand, he belongs to famous religious centre Goraksh Nath math based at Gorakhpur. - Trivendra Singh Rawat sworn in as Uttarakhand Chief Minister
Senior BJP leader Trivendra Singh Rawat was sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Governor KK Paul administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Rawat and his council of ministers at a function in Dehradun’s Parade Ground. Mr. Rawat was unanimously elected the leader of BJP legislature party on 17th March. - Professional racer Ashwin Sundar died in a road accident
Professional car racer Ashwin Sundar, was burnt to death as his BMW sports car, reportedly driven above permissible speed limits, caught fire after it veered around and crashed into the space between a tree and a parapet wall at MRC Nagar, Chennai. - Former Lok Sabha speaker Rabi Ray passed away
Noted socialist leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Rabi Ray passed away on 6th March. Born at Bhanragarh village in Khurda district of Odisha on November 26, 1926 Mr. Ray was the Union minister of health and family welfare in the Morarji Desai government from January 1979 to January 1980 and the speaker of ninth Lok Sabha from 1989-1991.
In 1991, he was re-elected to the 10th Lok Sabha from Kendrapada in Odisha. He was also a former chairman of Common Wealth Speakers Forum. - Vishwanath Mahadeshwar is Mumbai Mayor now
Vishwanath Mahadeshwar was elected Mayor of Mumbai. - Gopal Baglay appointed as spokes person of Min. of external affairs
Gopal Baglay has been appointed as the new spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.
- Shiv Shanker passed away
Former Union Minister P Shiva Shankar passed away in Hyderabad on 27th February. He also served as Governor of Sikkim and Kerala. - J S Deepak named as India’s next Ambassador to WTO
Telecom Secretary J S Deepak was on 1st March named India's next Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) from June this year. A 1982 batch IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh, Deepak, who is at present attending the World Mobile Congress at Barcelona, has been shifted from the telecom ministry and has been made Officer on Special Duty in the commerce department.
During his earlier stint in the Commerce Ministry, he was India's chief negotiator at the WTO and for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement. The World Trade Organization is a global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations. - Ajay Tyagi appointed as SEBI Chairman
Senior IAS officer Ajay Tyagi on 1st March became the ninth Chairman of markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India. Mr. Tyagi took over the charge of SEBI Chairman in Mumbai from U K Sinha. The appointment of 58-year-old Tyagi is for a period of three years.
Tyagi is 1984 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre. Prior to this appointment he has handled capital markets division in the Finance Ministry. - Taarak Mehta passed away
Taarak Mehta, columnist, humorist, writer and playwright, who has garnered huge popularity for his column 'Duniya Ne Undha Chasma' in Gujarati language, is passed away on 1st March. He has translated and adapted several comedies into Gujarati, and has been popular in Gujarati theatre. The noted writer was awarded Padma Shri in 2015. He has around 80 books published and written on various pressing issues.
The popular comic series 'Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah' is a television adaptation of Padma Shri Taarak Mehta's column 'Duniya Ne Undha Chasma'.
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