PERSONS IN DECEMBER 2017

PERSONS IN DECEMBER 2017

• M Malakondaiah:
   The Andhra Pradesh government appointed 1985-batch IPS officer M Malakondaiah as the Director General of Police. Malakondaiah, currently managing director of AP State Road Transport Corporation, will take charge of his new assignment from Nanduri Sambasiva Rao, who is retiring tomorrow. Malakondaiah will retire from service on June 30 next year.
  
• Swatanter Kumar: National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar on 19th December retired from the post after completing his five-year tenure. Justice Kumar resigned as Supreme Court judge after he was appointed NGT chairperson on December 20, 2012.
  
  During his tenure as NGT chief, he passed several landmark orders and judgements. These include the ban on 10- year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles, the slew of directions for rejuvenation of the Ganga and Yamuna, the demolition of illegal hotels in Himachal Pradesh and the ban on plastic items in Delhi, Haridwar and Punjab.
  
• Vijay Rupani: In Gujarat, Vijay Rupani will continue as Chief Minister while Nitin Patel will retain the post of Deputy Chief Minister.
  
  Union Minister and Central Observer Arun Jaitley made this announcement on 22nd December after the meeting of all the newly-elected BJP MLAs at party headquarters in Gandhinagar. According to Jaitley Mr. Rupani was unanimously elected as the BJP legislature party leader while Mr Patel was selected as deputy leader of the legislature by all the elected MLAs.
  
• Narendra Modi: Microblogging site Twitter has said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as the most tweeted about world leader after US President Donald Trump this year. The figures were released on 4th December.
  
  Twitter said, Mr Modi with 37.5 million followers is the second most tweeted about world leader, after Mr Trump with 44.1 million followers. Other world leaders to figure in the top-10 list include Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
  
  Two postings of former US President Barack Obama were among the top-three most-liked tweets of 2017. His two other tweets were among the 10 most popular tweets of the year. Mr Obama's twitter handle has 97.6 million followers.
  
• DK Sarraf: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of DK Sarraf, the former Chairman of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, as the new Chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).
  
  S Rath, the Former Director (Operations), Oil India Limited, has also been appointed as a Member in the board after replacing K K Jha. SS Chahar, Ex-Member, Cyber Appellate Tribunal, too, has been appointed as Member (Legal) in the board.
  
• Shashi Kapoor: Veteran Bollywood actor and the romantic screen icon of the 70s and early 80s, Shashi Kapoor who immortalised the line "Mere Paas Maa Hai", died on 4th December after prolonged illness. He took his last breath at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai.
  
  Born on March 18, 1938, to the illustrious theatre and film actor Prithviraj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor hit the spotlight at the age of four, acting in plays directed and produced by his father.
  
  The youngest of Prithviraj’s three sons, Shashi Kapoor appeared in over 175 films including some international projects. He started acting in films as a child artiste in Raj Kapoor's films ‘Aag’ and ‘Awara’ in the late '40s. Some of his memorable films include "Deewar", Waqt, Jab Jab Phool Khile, Kanyadaan, Sharmilee, "Kabhie Kabhie", "Namak Halal", Satyam Shivam Sundaram, "Kaala Pathar" and others. He also worked in some offbeat films like ‘Chaar Diwari’ and ‘Prem Patra’.
  
  He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 2011 and received the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award in 2015.
  
• Surya Prakash: Veteran journalist A Surya Prakash was appointed the chairman of the Prasar Bharati board for a second consecutive term till 8th February 2020.
  
  A panel headed by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu had recommended Prakash's name for the post. Prasar Bharati oversees the functioning of Doordarshan and All India Radio.
  
• Snehalata Shrivastava: Senior IAS officer Snehlata Shrivastava has been appointed as new Secretary-General of Lok Sabha. She will replace Anoop Mishra. Ms. Shrivastava's appointment was approved by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
  
  Currently working as Secretary Law in Central government, Ms Shrivastava has 35 years of rich and varied administrative experience. She will be the first woman Secretary-General of Lok Sabha.
  
• Adarsh Sein: Former Chief Justice of India Justice Adarsh Sein Anand passed away 1st December after prolonged illness. He was the 29th Chief Justice of India from October 1998 to October 2001. He also served as the Chairman of National Human Rights Commission from February 2003 to April 2007.