Current Affairs Nov 2016 - Appointments

News 1 - Kristalina Georgieva to take charge as CEO of World Bank

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced the appointment of Kristalina Georgieva as Chief Executive Officer of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), lending arms for middle-income and poor countries known collectively as the World Bank.

Georgieva will resume duty on January 2, 2017. Prior to this appointment, Georgieva was European Commission Vice President for Budget and Human Resource. She also served as co-chair of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral's High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing.

News 2 - IRS officer Sunil Chandra to take charge as CBDT chairman

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister approved the name of Sunil Chandra as the CBDT Chairman and replace Rani Singh Nair who retired from service. CBDT has six members apart from the chairman, and is responsible for framing policy and administrative issues related to direct taxes and the Income Tax department.

Chandra, a 1980-batch officer of Indian Revenue Service, is at present working in the board as Member (Investigation).

News 3 - Ministry of Railways appointed Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak as a Brand Ambassador for “Swachh Rail Mission” of Indian Railway

Ministry of Railways appointed Padma Bhushan Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak founder of Sulabh International as a Brand Ambassador for “Swachh Rail Mission” of Indian Railway. Sulabh International is keen to contribute towards sanitation and cleanliness facilities in Indian Railways.

Sulabh International will work with full force to improve the sanitation facilities in railway premises. Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu felicitated Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak as he has strengthened the cleanliness campaign of Indian Railways by accepting this invitation of working with Railways on cleanliness initiatives.

News 4 - Sarabjit Singh Marwah appointed as Canada's 1^st Sikh Senator

Kolkata-born and Canada based Sarabjit Singh Marwah has been appointed as Canadian Senate and became first Sikh Senate of Canada. Marwah is one of the founders of the Sikh Foundation of Canada that promotes Sikh culture and art among the diaspora community.

With this appointment, Marwah joins two other turbaned Sikhs, Defence Minister Harjeet Sajjan and Science Minister Navdeep Bains, in the Canadian parliament. Marwah will be the only Indian-origin member of the Senate (upper house).

News 5 - External Affairs ministry appointed Sanjiv Arora as India's Ambassador to Lebanon

Ministry of External Affairs appointed IFS officer, Sanjiv Arora as the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Lebanon. He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

Previously, Sanjiv Arora served as India's Ambassador to Qatar and witnessed India’s diplomatic missions in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Germany and Czech Republic. He also served as the Head of United Nations (Political) Division in Ministry of External Affairs from 2005-08.

News 6 - Guy Ryder re-selected as Director-General of International Labor Organization

The Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) re-elected Guy Ryder as Director-General for a second five year-term to start in October 2017.

Guy Ryder received 54 of the 56 votes cast by the titular members of the ILO’s Governing Body. The vote was conducted at the ILO’s headquarters in Geneva. He was the only candidate.

Guy Ryder is the 10^th ILO Director-General with thirty-five years of experience. Since his election, Ryder has strengthened the role of the ILO in the G20, with the BRICS and the g7+ group.

News 7 - INTERPOL General Assembly elects Meng Hongwei as Interpol President

Meng Hongwei, was elected as the new president of INTERPOL, at the 85^th session of the INTERPOL General Assembly held in Bali. Mr Meng will serve as President until 2020.

Meng has held several positions in the Ministry of Public Security including Director of the Patrol Police Division, Director-General of the Traffic Control Department and becomes the first official from China to take the post.

Meng has experience of 40 years in criminal justice, counter-terrorism, immigration and international cooperation. Prior to this appointment, he was holding the position of China’s Vice Minister for public security.

News 8 - Amresh Acharya appointed as Head Global Indian Banking by Yes Bank

YES BANK, India’s fifth largest private sector Bank, announced the appointment of Amresh Acharya as Group President and Head - Global Indian Banking. Amresh will be responsible for driving Global Indian Banking Business to generate significant mindshare for YES BANK in identified International and Domestic NRI geographies.

Amresh has more than 23 years of experience in the banking and finance industry and has worked with ANZ Bank Singapore, World Gold Council; RBS Coutts Bank; Singapore; Deutsche Bank; HDFC Bank; and ANZ Grindlays Bank.

News 9 - Jagdish Singh Khehar to take charge as Executive Chairman of NALSA

Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was selected as new Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) by Government of India replacing Anil R. Dave who retired completing his tenure of 6 years. He was nominated by President of India.

At present, Justice TS Thakur is the patron-inchief of NALSA. National Legal Services Authority of India is a body instituted under Legal Services Authorities Act 1987, to conduct Lok Adalats for speedy resolution of cases.

News 10 - Pankaj Patel elected as President of FICCI

Pankaj Patel has been elected as the President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) for 2017. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Cadila Healthcare Ltd. He will replace Harshavardhan Neotia.

Pankaj Patel is actively involved in various educational institutions and is on the advisory committees and academic councils of several educational institutions. He is also the Executive Chairman, Vice President and Trustee of the Gujarat Cancer Society and Chairman of the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute.

News 11 - Mahesh Bhalla appointed as Chief Mentor of Startups Club India

Mahesh Bhalla has been appointed as Chief Mentor of Startups [Club India. He was the former Executive Director of Dell’s Consumer & SMB business in India. Mr Bhalla has more than 20 years of rich experience having held leadership positions across various companies including Uber India.

StartUpsClub is the largest community for such ventures in India with over 10,000 plus entrepreneurs on its board. Startupsclub is founded by Salma Moosa and Vivek.

News 12 - Yudhvir Singh Malik appointed as new Chairman of NHAI

The Union Government has appointed 1983 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, Yudhvir Singh Malik, as the new Chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). He will succeed Raghav Chandra who has been moved as secretary to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

Malik was Special Secretary with NITI Aayog. Prior to that, he was CEO of FSSAI from October 2014 to September 2015. NHAI is entrusted with the task of implementing National Highways Development Project (NHDP), India's largest-ever highways project.

News 13 - Upma Chowdhary named first woman director of LBSNAA

1983 batch IAS officer of Himachal cadre, Upma Chowdhary, has been appointed Director of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) at Mussoorie. She became the first woman to be named for the post. She will replace Rajeev Kapoor.

Chowdhary would be the 23^rd director and first woman director of the prestigious academy, imparting training to officers of civil services. She is currently posted as Additional Chief Secretary in Himachal Pradesh.