- Current Affairs August 2018
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Current Affairs August 2018 - Appointments
1 - Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran and KM Joseph sworn-in as Supreme Court judges
Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran and K M Joseph were sworn in as judges of Supreme Court in the order of seniority notified by the Centre. Chief Justice of India, Justice Deepak Misra administered the oath of office to Justices Banerjee, Saran and Joseph. With this, the total number of judges in the apex court is 25.
Justice Indira Banerjee became Madras High Court judge on 5 February 2002 and Justice Vineet Saran was appointed to the Orissa High Court on 14 February 2002. Justice KM Joseph was appointed Uttarakhand High Court judge on 14 October 2004.
2 - HSBC appointed Surendra Rosha as its new India CEO
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) has appointed Surendra Rosha as Chief Executive Officer for HSBC India, subject to regulatory approvals. Rosha succeeds Jayant Rikhye, who is taking a leave of absence for medical reasons.
Rosha, who is currently HSBC’s Head of Financial Institutions Group (FIG) for Asia-Pacific, has 27 years of experience in financial services sector. He began his career in financial services when he joined HSBC’s India operations in 1991.
3 - Escorts Ltd appointed Nikhil Nanda as Chairman and Managing Director
The Board of Directors of Escorts Limited has appointed Mr. Nikhil Nanda as the Chairman and Managing Director of the company. He succeeded Mr. Rajan Nanda.
Nikhil Nanda was appointed as Managing Director of Escorts in 2013 and has been a key member of the Board since 1997. He was selected as one of five ‘Indians who are global leaders of tomorrow’ by the World Economic Forum. The Escorts Group is among India's leading engineering conglomerates, operating in the high-growth sectors of Agri Machinery, Material Handling, Construction Equipment and Railway Equipment.
4 - Ajay Data becomes first Indian in ICANN
The nominating committee of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has selected Ajay Data as a new council member of Country Code Supporting Organisation (ccNSO). Ajay is the Founder & CEO of Data XGen Plus and a global leader in email linguistic services.
Ajay Data is the first Indian to have been selected as a member of ccNSO and will be representing India at a global level. He will be the custodian of Asia, Australia and Pacific Islands as a member of ccNSO.
5 - NDA candidate Harivansh elected as Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha
NDA candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh has been elected as Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha defeating opposition nominee B K Hariprasad. Harivansh polled 125 votes as against 105 by Hariprasad in a division of voting in the House. Mr. Harivansh, a veteran journalist, represents the state of Bihar in the House as a JD(U) member.
The post was held before by Congress leader P. J. Kurien, who retired on July 1.
6 - Justice Rajendra Menon takes charge as Chief Justice of Delhi HC
Justice Rajendra Menon was sworn in as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal administered the oath of office to Menon, who was earlier the Chief Justice of Patna High Court.
The Delhi High Court with a sanctioned strength of 60 judges would continue to function with 35 judges even after Justice Menon takes charge as its Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal has been elevated as the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
7 - S Gopakumar appointed as Director and General Manager in UIIC
S Gopakumar was appointed as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of public sector non-life insurance firm, United India Insurance Company. Prior to this appointment, he served as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of GIC Housing Finance Ltd. He has worked in various responsibilities. He began his career with National Insurance Company Ltd. Other members in Top Management include Shri KB Vijay Srinivas as Director & General Manager and 4 other General Managers.
United India Insurance Company is the 2nd Largest General Insurance Company with premium of Rs.16000+ Crore in India.
8 - R S Sharma re-appointed TRAI chairperson till 2020
Ram Sewak Sharma’s tenure has been extended for 2 years to work as chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved reappointment of Sharma. Prior to working with TRAI, R.S. Sharma has experience of working in various government departments particularly dealing with IT-enabled programmes. He has also worked as Director General and Mission Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India.
TRAI is a statutory body set up Government of India to regulate telecom services and tariffs in India.
9 - Rekha Sharma appointed as chairperson of National Commission for Women
54 years old Rekha Sharma was appointed as chairperson of National Commission for Women. Prior to this appointment, she had worked as member of the Commission and was holding the additional charge of chairperson after Lalitha Kumaramangalam demitted office. She will have duties to review constitutional and legal safeguards for women, advice government on policy matters and solve grievances related to women.
The National Commission for Women is the apex national level organisation of India with the mandate of protecting and promoting the interests of women.
10 - Swaminathan Gurumurthy and Satish Marathe appointed as non-official directors in RBI board
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Swaminathan Gurumurthy and businessman Satish Kashinath Marathe have been appointed as non-official directors in RBI board by Center. The two have been appointed as part-time, non-official director for the period of four-years. Swaminathan Gurumurthy has been associated with Tamil Nadu politics and newspaper baron Ramnath Goenka as journalist and essayist. Marathe has served as chairman of United Western Bank.
There are 10 other in the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India. Urjit R. Patel is Governor of RBI.
11 - Justice Manjula Chellur took oath as APTEL Chairperson
Justice Manjula Chellur took oath as the Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity under the Ministry of Power.
Prior to this appointment, Justice Chellur was the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. She was the first woman Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. She has also served as the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court and the first female judge of the Karnataka High Court.
12 - Ashish Kumar Bhutani appointed as CEO of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
Personnel Ministry issued orders to appoint senior bureaucrat Ashish Kumar Bhutani as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) till May 2020. He is 1992 batch IAS officer.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is to provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases. The Maximum Premium payable by the farmers is 2% for all Kharif Food & Oilseeds crops, 1.5% for Rabi Food & Oilseeds crops and 5% for Annual Commercial/Horticultural Crops.
13 - Justice VK Tahilramani appointed as Chief Justice of Madras High Court
Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court replacing Chief Justice Indira Banerjee, as a Supreme Court judge. Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani took oath in the presence of Governor Banwarilal Purohit at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.
Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani will have duties to hear public interest litigations relating to women’s rights, all criminal appeals and criminal cases along with Justice M. Duraiswamy. Justice Tahilramani has experience of practicing in city civil and sessions courts and has acted as a Bombay High Court Judge.
14 - SS Mundra was appointed as independent director of Indiabulls Housing Finance
Former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Subhash Sheoratan Mundra was appointed as independent director on the board of the company, Indiabulls Housing Finance. He has been appointed to strengthen the company’s corporate governance for a period of three years.
He has experience of working on boards of several multi-dimensional companies such as the Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL), Central Depository Services (India) Ltd. (CDSL), BOB Asset Management Company, National Payments Corporation of India Ltd., etc. Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited is a mortgage lender regulated by the National Housing Bank.
15 - K S Srinivas selected as Chairman of Marine Products Export Development Authority
IAS officer K S Srinivas has been selected as Chairman of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA). He has experience of working as Joint Secretary in Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare in Ministry of Agriculture.
Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is a Government of India company headquartered at Kochi. MPEDA is given the mandate to promote the marine products industry with special reference to exports from the country. MPEDA is the nodal agency for the holistic development of seafood industry in India to realise its full export potential as a nodal agency.
16 - U K Varma appointed ASSOCHAM Secretary General
ASSOCHAM has appointed former bureaucrat Uday Kumar Varma as its new Secretary General. He succeeds DS Rawat who held the position for nearly 14 years. Varma retired from the position of Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
Varma has Varma retired from the position of Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. ASSOCHAM was established in 1920 by promoter Chambers, representing all regions of India.
17 - Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy appointed Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr G. Satheesh Reddy, Distinguished Scientist and Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister (SA to RM) to the post of Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development (DDR&D) and Chairman, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Dr Satheesh Reddy is well known for his significant contributions towards indigenous design, development, deployment of diversified Missiles & Strategic Systems, Guided Weapons, Avionics technologies. Dr Satheesh received several international and national awards which include the Homi J. Bhabha Memorial Gold Medal, National Aeronautical Prize and IEI-IEEE (USA) joint award.
18 - Baby Rani Maurya took over as new governor of Uttarakhand
Baby Rani Maurya was sworn in as the new governor of Uttarakhand. The oath of office and secrecy was administered to Maurya by the acting Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court Rajiv Sharma.Maurya, a former mayor of Agra, was nominated as governor of Uttarakhand. She replaced Krishna Kant Paul whose five-year tenure ended recently.
The governor has ensured her commitment to the development of the state, women empowerment and protection of the girl child.
19 - Ganga Prasad took over as new Governor of Sikkim
Ganga Prasad was sworn in as the new Governor of Sikkim. The oath of office and secrecy was administered to Mr Prasad by the Acting Chief Justice, Sikkim High Court, Justice Minakshi M Rai at Gangtok.
Mr. Ganga Prasad served as a Member of Legislative Council of Bihar and as the Leader of the Opposition (Bharatiya Janata Party) in the Bihar Legislative Council. He succeeded Mr Shriniwas Patil as the 16th Governor of Sikkim.