- Current Affairs October 2017
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Current Affairs Oct 2017 - Appointments
1 - The President appointed five new governors
President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Governors in five states and Lieutenant Governor in one Union Territories. Former Union Minister Satya Pal Malik was appointed as the new Governor of Bihar while Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit will now be the new Governor of Tamil Nadu. Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar, Jagdish Mukhi replaced Mr. Purohit as the Governor of Assam.
Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi will be the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar in place of Prof. Mukhi. B D Mishra has been appointed as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and Ganga Prasad as Governor of Meghalaya.
2 - Rajni Kant Mishra takes charge as new DG SSB
Rajni Kant Mishra took over as Director General, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) succeeding Smt. Archana Ramasundaram. He is a U.P. Cadre Police Officer of 1984 Batch. Mr. Mishra joined CBI in the year 2002 and worked there as DIG & IG until 2009. He joined Border Security Force (BSF) in June 2013 and worked as IG/ADG BSF, Frontier Headquarters, Tripura and South Bengal.
Before taking over the charge of DG, SSB, he was working as ADG, BSF Headquarters. Mr. R. K. Mishra is a recipient of Police Medal in 2003 and Prestigious President Police Medal in 2009.
3 - Soumya Swaminathan appointed as the new Deputy Director General at WHO
The 58-year-old Soumya Swaminathan was appointed as one of two new Deputy Directors General at WHO. With this, she will be called to hold the second-highest position in the global body working under Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The other Deputy Director General for Corporate Operations (DDC) is Ms Jane Ellison whereas Soumya Swaminathan will be Deputy Director General for Programs.
Prior to this appointment, Soumya was the Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Soumya Swaminathan has served as clinical scientist and the director of the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis.
4 - Param Shah selected as the FICCI UK Director
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry selected Param Shah as the new Director for the United Kingdom (UK) operations, replacing Pratik Dattani. Param Shah has served for more than 15 years in various capacities, which also include his experience as Deputy Secretary General for Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Prior to this appointment, he was head of FICCI − Gujarat State Council. Now Biju Namboothiri has been appointed as the new head of FICCI Gujarat State Council.
5 - Banwarilal Purohit selected as the new Governor of Tamil Nadu
Chief Justice of Madras High Court Indira Banerjee administered the oath of office to the new Governor Banwarilal Purohit at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai. With this oath, he became 25th governor of Tamil Nadu. He has handled various responsibilities such as member of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Home Affairs, member of the Standing Committee on Defence, Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Defence Ministry and a member of the Public Sector Undertaking Committee.
He has also served as Governor of Assam State in 2016 and as a Member of Parliament from Nagpur.
6 - Appointments by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
Following are the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet:
Shri Ajay Narayan Jha, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change as Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Expenditure.
Shri C.K. Mishra, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare as Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.
Shri Injeti Srinivas, IAS, Secretary, Department of Sports & DG, SAI as Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Shri Alok Shrivastava, IAS, Special Secretary, Ministry of Shipping as Secretary, Department of Justice.
7 - Anupam Kher appointed as the Chairman of FTII Pune
Anupam Kher, veteran cine star, was appointed as Chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Kher succeeded Shri Gajendra Chauhan. Shri Kher who has appeared in over 500 films is a recipient of the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan for his contribution in the field of cinema.
Earlier he served as the Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and was the Director of National School of Drama from 2001 to 2004. FTII is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
8 - U.S. Chamber Appoints Nisha Desai Biswal as the President of the US-India Business Council
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced that the Hon. Nisha Desai Biswal has been appointed as the President of the US-India Business Council.
Biswal served as Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs in the U.S. Department of State from 2013 to 2017. In recognition of her efforts, Biswal was awarded the prestigious Samman Award by the President of India in January 2017. USIBC is the largest bilateral trade association in the United States, with liaison presence in New York, Silicon Valley, and New Delhi.
9 - V M Kwatra appointed as the Ambassador to the Principality of Monaco
Shri Vinay Mohan Kwatra, (IFS: 1988), presently the Ambassador of India to France, has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Principality of Monaco, with residence in Paris.
Mr. Kwatra will replace Dr. Mohan Kumar. Mr. Kwatra was a joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. He has served in Indian diplomatic missions in China and the US.
He has also held the position of joint secretary in charge of the counter-terrorism division in the MEA.
10 - HSBC named Retail Head John Flint as their next CEO
HSBC Holdings Plc has named John Flint as its next Chief Executive Officer. Flint is currently head of retail banking and wealth management. He will take over from incumbent Stuart Gulliver in February.
Flint joined HSDB in 1989. During his career at HSBC, he has worked across most of its businesses − treasurer, deputy head of markets, chief of staff and head of strategy.
The appointment marks the first major decision taken by the bank's new chairperson, former AIA Group chief Mark Tucker.
11 - Gautam Bambawale appointed as India's new ambassador to China
IAS officer Gautam Bambawale was appointed as India's new envoy to China replacing Vijay Gokhale, by the external affairs ministry. Gautam has served in Hong Kong and Beijing between 1985 and 1991.
In Beijing, he served as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy in Beijing.
He has experience of working as a director in the Americas Division of the ministry from 1993-94 and first as desk officer for China in the Ministry of External Affairs.
12 - Ex-French Culture minister Audrey Azoulay appointed as the UNESCO Chief
Former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay was selected as UN cultural agency new Chief by UNESCO’s executive board. She replaced Bulgaria’s Director-General Irina Bokova. Bulgaria’s Irina Bokova completed her 8-year service. She was criticized for Palestine’s inclusion as a member. She was selected by a 28-30 win vote over her competing Qatari candidate Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari.
45 year old Audrey is second French leader of the organisation since Rene Maheu, UNESCO’s director general from 1961-74.
13 - Rukaiya Rangwala selected as the head of MobiKwik Payment Gateway
Former Jabong vice-president Rukaiya Rangwala was selected as Business Head of 'MobiKwik Payment Gateway' by major digital wallet MobiKwik. Rukaiya Rangwala will have to look after Mobiwik’s re-launched payment gateway Zaakpay as MobiKwik Payment Gateway which assumes to have over $5 billion worth of transactions processed on the platform by the end of 2017-18.
Rukaiya Rangwala has served for 15 years in various organizations such as Dell, Rocket internet, Groupon India and Marketplace division at Jabong. Mobiwik is all ready to expand its payment gateway operations for over 30,000 ecommerce websites and apps.
14 - Sunny Verghese appointed as the new Chairman of The World Business Council
Sunny Verghese was announced as new Chairman of World Business Council for Sustainable Development, with effective from 1 January 2018 for a duration of two years. Prior to this, he was Co-Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Olam International. The appointment was enacted by a vote from members at the 2017 Annual General Meeting of WBCSD.
Sunny Verghese will replace Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, who has been Chairman of WBCSD since 2014. Verghese also serves as a commissioner of the Business and Sustainable Development Commission.
15 - Shri Alok Kumar Pateria appointed as the ADG of the CISF
The appointments committee of the cabinet has approved the appointment of Alok Kumar Pateria as the new additional director general (ADG) of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on deputation basis for a period up to May 31, 2020 − day of his superannuation from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Pateria is a 1986 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. He was awarded the President's Medal in 2010 for handling various sensitive and high profile cases for the government.
16 - IPPB appoints Suresh Sethi as their MD & CEO
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has appointed Mr. Suresh Sethi as its Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer. Prior to this appointment, Mr Sethi was MD of Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd.
Mr. Sethi has broad international experience of over 27 years in the Banking and Financial Services industry with Citigroup, YES Bank and Vodafone M-Pesa across India, Kenya, UK, Argentina and US.
IPPB has been incorporated as a Public Limited Company under the Department of Posts with 100% GOI equity.
17 - Rakesh Asthana appointed as the new CBI Special Director
The cabinet committee for appointments has appointed 1984 - batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as CBI special director. He is currently posted as additional director.
Similarly, Gurbachan Singh has been appointed Special Director in Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Sudeep Lakhtakia as Special DG in CRPF.
Rajesh Ranjan and AP Maheshwari have been promoted as Special DG in the Border Security Force (BSF). AGMUT cadre IPS officer of 1984 batch Deepak Kumar Mishra has been named Special DG in CRPF.
18 - Jayant Rikhye appointed as the CEO of HSBC India
The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited has appointed Jayant Rikhye as the Chief Executive Officer for HSBC India with effect from 1 December 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.
Mr. Rikhye is currently Head of International, Asia-Pacific, responsible for 11 markets in the region. He is also Head of Strategy and Planning, Asia-Pacific.
Mr. Rikhye succeeds Stuart Milne. Rikhye joined the bank in 1989. During his tenure with HSBC, Rikhye has worked across various divisions.
19 - Sibi George will be the next Ambassador of India to Switzerland
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Sibi George as the next Ambassador of India to Switzerland. He will replace Smita Purushottam.
George is presently serving as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Aftairs. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.
Mr. George is a 1993 batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer. He has also served as deputy chief of mission of Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia.
20 - NS Venkatesh appointed as the new CEO of AMFI
The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) has appointed N S Venkatesh as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), after C V R Rajendran vacated the post in mid of 2016.
Mr. Venkatesh is currently working as the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Lakshmi Vilas Bank. Before that, Venkatesh served in Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) for over 19 years, where he held several senior positions.
Amfi has been hunting for a new CEO for quite some time after Rajendran left while half way through in his tenure.