PERSONS NOVEMBER 2015

PERSONS NOVEMBER 2015

• Mauricio Macri: Conservative Mauricio Macri has been confirmed as the winner in Argentina's presidential elections after his ruling party opponent conceded defeat. With almost all votes counted, Mr Macri led Daniel Scioli by 51.5% to 48.5%. Mr Macri's victory is the first in more than a decade for Argentina's centre-right opposition and ends the 12-year rule of the Peronist Party.
  
• Padmanabhaiah: K Padmanabhaiah, former Union Home Secretary, has assumed charge as the Chairman of the Court of Governors of the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) 23rd November. The career bureaucrat played an important role in peace efforts both in Jammu & Kashmir and Northeast, especially Nagaland with various groups from the Union Home Ministry.
  
• Uday Bhaskar: Dr P Udaya Bhaskar, Professor of Civil Engineering, JNTU - Kakinada has been appointed as the Chairman of Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC).
  
  Dr P Udaya Bhaskar is currently working as Director of Evaluation. He pursued his B Tech in Civil Engineering from JNTU - Kakinada (1983) M Tech (1985) and Ph D from IIT Kanpur (2004).
  
  He has been working in the University as a faculty member for more than 28 years and held various positions like Head of Civil Engineering, Director, Foreign Universities and Alumni Relations, Director Academics & Planning and Principal of the Engineering College at Kakinada and Vizianagaram campuses.
  
• Baroness Patricia: Baroness Patricia Scotland, the first woman to be appointed Commonwealth secretary-general. Commonwealth leaders meeting in Malta chose Scotland on 27th November after a fraught and extended meeting to choose between three candidates. She is to take over from Kamalesh Sharma, who has served in the role for eight years.
  
  Scotland, a lawyer who has dual British and Dominican citizenship, served as minister of state, deputy home secretary and attorney-general under the previous Labour government in the UK.
  
  She was the first black woman to be appointed as a Queen's Counsel in the UK and at the age of 35, was also the youngest woman.
  
  Scotland said that in the UK a partnership effort by central government, local authorities, business, charities and civil society managed to reduce domestic violence by 64 per cent and the economic cost of it by more than STG7 billion.
  
  The two candidates who missed out on the job were Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua's ambassador to Washington, and a second female candidate, Botswana's Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, who has been deputy secretary-general of the Commonwealth.
  
• Akbaruddin: Diplomat and former spokesperson of the external affairs ministry, Syed Akbaruddin has been appointed as India’s permanent representative to the United Nations. Akbaruddin, a 1985 batch Indian Foreign Service Officer will succeed Asoke Mukerji who is retiring from the service.
  
  Akbaruddin, currently serving as an Additional Secretary in MEA, is credited with the successful conduct of the largest diplomatic event India has hosted over three decades, the India-Africa forum summit. He was the chief coordinator of the summit.
  
  He had served at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Geneva and is considered an expert on the West Asia where he had served in various capacities. He has spent 8 years in Saudi Arabia and was also posted to Indian High commission in Pakistan. Akbaruddin had also served as joint secretary in the administration division.
  
• Saeef Jaffery: Veteran Bollywood actor Saeed Jaffery, who appeared in several British and Indian movies, passed away at the age of 86. In a career spanning more than four decades, the versatile actor starred in acclaimed films like "Gandhi", "masoom", "dil" "Shatranj Ke khiladi" and "A Passage to India" among many others.
  
• Ashok Singhal: VHP leader Ashok Singhal, who was one of the key architects of the mass campaign that led to the razing of the Babri mosque in 1992, died in Gurgoan on 17th November. He was 89.
  
  He was born in Agra and joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1942. He worked mainly in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana before the RSS deputed him to one of its then lesser known affiliates, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), in 1980.
  
  Singhal became its working president in 1984, the year the VHP organised a “Dharam Sansad” (Religious Parliament) which sowed the seeds for the emotive campaign to destroy the 16th century Babri mosque - that Hindutva votaries said was built at the site where Lord Rama was born. Singhal held a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from the Banaras Hindu University Institute of Technology.
  
• Seven Indians on BBC 100 Women list
  Making a mark on the global map, seven Indian personalities have made it to BBC’s list of 100 most aspirational women. They are singer Asha Bhosle, tennis star Sania Mirza, veteran actor Kamini Kaushal, Rimppi Kumari, farmer, Smriti Nagpal, entrepreneur, Mumtaz Shaikh, campaigner, and Kanika Tekriwal, entrepreneur. Each year, BBC names 100 women — a mix of influential personalities who are world leaders in politics, science and entertainment, as well as less popular but inspirational women from all over the world.
  
• Arundhati Bhattacharya: She is the Chairman of the country’s largest bank SBI, remains the most powerful woman in the Indian business sector, according to Fortune India. ICICI Bank’s Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank follow Bhattacharya at the second and third places, respectively.
  
  Hindistan Petroleum Corporation Limited Chairperson and Managing Director (MD), Nishi Vasudeva, has bagged the fourth position, while AZB & Partners Co-Founder Zia Mody and Aruna Jayanthi Chief Executive of Capgemini India shared the fifth rank.
  
  All the top-five rank holders retained their positions from the previous year, barring Jayanthi who was at seventh position last year. Moreover, there are only two debutantes in the Fortune India list of 50 most-powerful businesswomen for 2015.
  
  Meena Ganesh, MD and chief executive officer (CEO) at Portea and Jyoti Deshpande, Group MD and CEO at Eros International have made their debuts at 43rd and 50th positions, respectively.
  
  These powerful women represent various sectors such as banking, finance, energy, healthcare, media, fashion and entertainment. These women are in the age group of 40 to 71.
  
  The other women who figure in the top 10 are Preetha Reddy MD Apollo Hospital Enterprise (seventh), Mallika Srinivasan CEO of TAFE (eighth), Yasmin Hilton Chairperson Shell India (ninth), and Chitra Rama Krishna MD and CEO at NSE (tenth).
  
• Jayant Krishna: Jayant Krishna, principal consultant at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has been appointed interim managing director and chief executive officer of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). NSDC board met on Monday and confirmed his appointment. An official announcement is expected shortly
  
  With the departure of its previous head, Dilip Chenoy, a three-member committee had been formed to shortlist possible contenders for the top job. The committee comprised Rohit Nandan, secretary, ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship, Lakshmi Narayan of Cognizant and R V Kanoria, the Ficci representative on the NSDC board.
  
  Jayant Krishna heads the Lucknow-based global delivery centre of TCS, which develops and implements software solutions and supports e-governance initiatives of various governments. He has also been a part of the committee on apprenticeship reforms.
  
• Marzeih Af-kham: Iran has appointed its first woman ambassador since the 1979 Islamic revolution, naming foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Af-kham as the head of its embassy in Malaysia. She was also the first woman in the Islamic republic to serve as foreign ministry spokeswoman, saying she had carried out her duties for two years with "dignity, bravery and particular insight".
  
  After his 2013 election, Iran's moderate President Hassan Rouhani called on ministers to appoint women to high posts and said that his government would stand up to discrimination, naming three women to the country's 11 vice presidential positions.
  
• Raghuram Rajan: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan (pictured), a voice of an emerging market on global policy fora, has been appointed as vice-chairman of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
  
  This is first time that a central banker from India becomes vice-chairman of the board at BIS. Former RBI Governor Y V Reddy was appointed in 2007 as chairman of BIS Asian Consultative Council.
  
  Rajan was appointed to a three-year term at BIS. He first joined the BIS board of directors in December 2013. He will work with BIS Chairman Jens Weidmann, who is also president of Germany's Bundesbank. Rajan's current tenure at India's central bank runs till September 2016.
  
  The board of BIS is responsible for determining the strategic and policy direction of the BIS, supervising BIS management, and fulfilling the specific tasks given to it by the bank's statutes. It meets at least six times a year. The board has four advisory panels, established pursuant to Article 43 of the bank's statutes; assist the board in its work.
  
  The board of directors elects a chairman and a vice-chairman from among its members each for a three-year term. The board may have up to 21 members, including six ex-officio directors, comprising the central bank governors of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. Each ex-officio member may appoint another member of the same nationality. Nine governors of other member central banks may be elected to the board.
  
  Rajan is a votary of greater space for emerging markets in global debates in shaping policies for growth in world economy and financial market.
  
  About bank
  • Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, BIS fosters international cooperation amongst central banks with a view to ensuring global monetary and financial stability
  • The BIS board meets at least six times a year. The board includes US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda
  • Rajan joined the BIS board of directors in December 2013
  • The board of directors elects a chairman and a vice-chairman from among its members each for a three-year term
  
  
• Kalyani Kaul: Kalyani Kaul, a prominent barrister of Indian-origin who has handled high-profile cases, has been sworn in as a Circuit Judge in the UK. Kalyani, who has spent much of the past 32 years defending serious and high-profile cases, is known for her extensive and wide-ranging experience in heavy-weight criminal defence work. She was called to the Bar in 1983 and became a Recorder in 2009. As a Recorder she prepared cases for trial and presided over hearings in county courts. She took Silk in 2011 in order to take silk" a lawyer usually has to serve as a barrister or a Scottish advocate for at least 10 years.
  
  Kalyani was the third highest-paid barrister in terms of legal aid payments in 2005. She studied law from the London School of Economics (LSE). She was the Senior Circuit representative on the Bar Council (2013-14), a vice president (former chair) of the Association of Women Barristers, and one of the two Diversity Officers for the South Eastern Circuit.
  
  Kalyani is the daughter of well-known British journalists Mahendra Kaul and Rajni Kaul, both of whom worked for long years with the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corporation. Mahendra was the first Asian to be honoured with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1975.
  
• Anup Chetia: Bangladesh on 11th November handed over to India Anup Chetia, a top leader of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), 18 years after his arrest in Dhaka.
  
  Anup Chetia was detained under the law of the country and his jail term was completed. As he is a foreigner and expressed his interest to leave the country
  
  Chetia, who has been in Bangladesh since his arrest on December 21, 1997, was handed over to a team of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is learnt. According to Mr. Kamal, the Bangladesh Border Guard handed over Chetia and his two prison mates — Babul Sharma and Shakti Prashad who were arrested with him — to personnel of the Border Security Force of India.
  
• Gokaran: Former RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokaran was on 12th November appointed as an Executive Director on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The name of the renowned economist was cleared by Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as per an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training. On the IMF Executive Board, Gokarn will replace Rakesh Mohan. Gokaran will represent India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan on the Washington-based IMF's Executive Board.
  
• Shah Rukh Khan: Popular Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 11th November in connection with the alleged irregularities in the sale of shares of his IPL franchise Knight Riders Sports Pvt. Ltd. to a Mauritius-based company.
  
  After questioning him for more than three hours, ED recorded the actor's statement for violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
  
• P.M. Bhargava: Well-known scientist and founder-director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) P.M. Bhargava has returned the Padma Bhushan award, received by him in 1986, to President Pranab Mukherjee in protest against the direction in which Government run by the BJP.
  
• Anurag Sharma: Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has appointed Anurag Sharma as regular Director General of Police of Telangana State. KCR signed a related file appointing him as the full time DGP. A 1982 batch IPS officer, Anurag Sharma hails from Rajasthan and discharged duties at various levels. Before becoming the in-charge DGP, Anurag Sharma was the Hyderabad City Police Commissioner. Sharma has worked in several key posts connected with anti-Naxal operations, and was also on deputation with the Central Industrial Security Force.
  
  He has had exposure in both urban and rural policing after he joined the IPS cadre in 1982. Anurag Sharma has held several sensitive posts like Superintendent of Police of Ranga Reddy and Mahabubnagar districts, Group Commander-Operations of Greyhounds, DCP of Hyderabad Old City and DIG and Special Inspector General of Intelligence. He was the chief of Greyhounds till 2010 and later took over as Commissioner of Police of the city.
  
• Brijmohan Lall Munjal: Hero MotoCorp patriarch and doyen of the Indian two-wheeler industry, Brijmohan Lall Munjal, died on 1st November.
  
  Munjal had retired from active role and become chairman-emeritus of the over $4-billion group earlier this year and remained on the board of the company as non-executive member.
  
  Hero Group, which officially came into existence in 1956, had started its activities in the early 1940s as a bicycle-maker run by the four brothers. Munjal was born in 1923 at Kamalia in present-day Pakistan.
  
  Munjal led the Hero Group to a number of firsts. Hero MotoCorp is the world’s largest two-wheeler company now for the 14th year in a row. Another group firm, Hero Cycles, has been the largest manufacturer of bicycles since 1986. He led the Hero group to form a joint venture with Japan’s Honda in 1984, the joint venture — Hero Honda, went on to become the world’s single-largest motorcycle maker. The partnership ended in 2011. He was conferred with the ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 2005.
  
• Krishna Swaminathan: Captain Krishna Swaminathan has assumed charge as the second Commanding Officer of INS Vikramaditya, Indian Navy's new and formidable aircraft carrier today at Karwar. The ship was commissioned at Severodvinsk in Russia on 16 November 2013 and has since been commanded by Captain Suraj Berry.
  
  He has been on the staff of the Western Fleet, an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and Director and Principal Director Naval Signals at Naval Headquarters.
  
  INS Vikramaditya, the flagship and centre-piece of the Navy's operations, is under the administrative control of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, Mumbai and is part of the sword arm of Indian Navy.
  
• Deepak Singhal: Deepak Singhal has taken over as the new Executive Director (ED) at the Reserve Bank of India with effect from 2nd November.
  
  Singhal will look after Central Security Cell, Corporate Strategy and Budget Department, Department of Corporate Services, Human Resource Management Department (including HR Operations Unit), Rajbhasha Department and Right to Information Act Division.
  
  Meanwhile, K K Vohra, Executive Director, who was earlier looking after these departments will now look after the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).
  
  The portfolios of other Executive Directors remain unchanged. Prior to his appointment as ED, Singhal was the Regional Director in-charge of Reserve Bank of India, New Delhi.
  
• Hashim Abdul Halim: Former Speaker of West Bengal Legislative Assembly Hashim Abdul Halim, who presided over the State Assembly for a record 29 years, passed away on 2nd November. Born in June 1935, Mr Halim started his career as a lawyer in 1963. He joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and was elected to the State Assembly for seven consecutive terms. He had served as Minister of Law and Judicial Affairs from 1977 to 1982. He had the distinction of being the longest-serving Speaker in the country.
  
• MD’s for four Banks
  The government has appointed MDs of four public lenders, including UCO Bank, Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank.
  
  Suresh N Patel, executive director of Oriental Bank of Commerce, has been appointed managing director of the Hyderabad-based Andhra Bank.
  
  R K Takkar, ED, Dena Bank, will now head the Kolkata-based UCO Bank while J K Garg has been named as the MD of Corporation Bank. The incumbent CMD of Corporation Bank retires in January.
  
  Mahesh Kumar Jain, ED, Indian Bank, has been elevated as the MD and CEO for three years from the date of taking charge or till the date of his superannuation or till further orders, whichever is earliest, the bank said in a statement. Jain assumed charge as MD of Indian Bank on 2 November.
  
• Justice TS Thakur: Justice T S Thakur will be the next Chief Justice of India. Chief Justice H L Dattu has recommended Justice Thakur, the senior most judge of Supreme Court, as his successor.
  
  Justice Dattu is set to retire on 2nd of next month. T S Thakur was Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana before being elevated as Judge of the apex Court in 2009.
  
• Narendra Modi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ranked as the world's ninth most powerful person by Forbes magazine in a 2015 list which is topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi was placed 14 in the 2014 Forbes list of world's powerful people.
  
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel is at the second spot followed by US President Barack Obama (third) and Pope Francis (fourth) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (fifth).
  
  Apart from Modi who is at the ninth position, others in the top 10 are Microsoft founder Bill Gates at no. 6, US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen (7), UK Prime Minister David Cameron (8) and Google's Larry Page (10).
  
  About Modi, the magazine said that India's "populist" prime minister presided over 7.4 per cent gross domestic product growth in his first year in office, and "raised his profile" as a global leader during official visits with Barack Obama and Xi Jinping.
  
  To compile the list of world's most powerful people, the magazine said it considered hundreds of candidates from various walks of life all around the globe, and measured their power along four dimensions. They are whether the candidate has power over lots of people, financial resources controlled by each person, whether the candidate is powerful in multiple spheres and whether the candidates actively used their power.
  
  The only other Indian in the most powerful people's list is Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani who is ranked at no. 36.
  
  Among Indian-origin people, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is at no. 55, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is ranked 61. The magazine said that German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues her reign as the most powerful woman on the planet for 10 years running.
  
• Victor Ponta: Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has resigned after around 20,000 people took to the streets to protest over a nightclub fire killed 32 people on Friday in Bucharest. Demonstrators called for Ponta to step down, complaining of government corruption and poor safety supervision.
  
• Arundhati Roy: Writer-activist Arundhati Roy has return national award saying an unparalleled political movement against ideological viciousness. She won the national award in 1989 for the film "In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones". She has also won the Booker Prize for her book "The God of Small Things".
  
• Prithika Yashini: In a major push to the empowerment of transgender community, Chennai's K Prithika Yashini is all set to become India's first transgender Sub Inspector of Police. The Madras High Court declared the 25-year-old as a fit candidate, paving the way for her appointment as Sub Inspector by the Tamil Nadu Government. The court has also directed the recruitment board to make changes to draw transgenders to the state police force.