Current Affairs Sep 2016 - Appointments

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News 1 - Ashok Chawla appointed as the new Chancellor of Teri University

The Teri University officially appointed former Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla as the new Chancellor. The University also ended its official association with the Head and former Chancellor R K Pachauri, who was accused of molesting a female colleague in 2015.

The new Chancellor Chawla is also the Chairman of Teri since February 2016. A former head of the Competition Commission of India and Finance Secretary, Chawla is also the Chairman of the National Stock Exchange. His work experience of over 40 years spans various sectors in the Government of India and in international agencies.

News 2 - Ajei Gopal named the CEO of ANSYS

Indian American Ajei Gopal has been appointed as the CEO of Pennsylvania-based ANSYS with effect from January 1, 2017. He has been appointed as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the company effective immediately and will continue to serve on the Board.

ANSYS’ Chief Executive Officer, James Cashman, will become Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective from January 2017. ANSYS produces engineering simulation software used for testing product designs across a wide spectrum of industries including rockets and wearable technology.

News 3 - SBI Mutual Fund appointed Anuradha Rao as its MD & CEO

Anuradha Rao has been appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive of SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd effective from August 25, 2016. She took over from Dinesh Kumar Khara, who has been appointed as the Managing Director of the State Bank of India (Associate & Subsidiaries).

Before taking up this new assignment, she was the Deputy Managing Director at SBI handling the New Business Portfolio. She has also worked as the Chief General Manager of personal banking at the bank. SBI Mutual Fund ranks amongst the top 5 fund houses in the country.

News 4 - Mukund Chaudhari takes charge as the CMD of MOIL

Mukund Chaudhari has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of MOIL (Manganese Ore India Limited) Ltd. Chaudhari has been appointed for a period of five years from the date of assumption of charge on or after September 1, 2016, or till the date of his superannuation.

He was inducted in the Board of Directors of MOIL in August 2012 as the Director (Finance). MOIL is the largest producer of Manganese Ore in the country with an annual production of 1.1 million tonnes (MT) and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel.

News 5 - Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao appointed as the acting Governor of Tamil Nadu

Maharashtra Governor Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao has been sworn-in as the Acting Governor of Tamil Nadu at a ceremony held in Raj Bhavan by the Chief Justice of Madras High Court, S K Kaul. He has been given the additional charge of Tamil Nadu as the tenure of K Rosaiah as the Governor ended on August 30.

He was the Union Minister of State for Internal Affairs in 1999. He was elected to the 12^th and 13^th Lok Sabha from Karimnagar in Telangana as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.

News 6 - Mr. K K Aggarwal elected as the National President of IMA

Mr. K. K. Aggarwal has been unanimously elected as the National President of the Indian Medical Association for the year 2016-17. He is currently the Secretary General of the IMA. Dr. R. N. Tandon will take over as the Secretary General. Dr. Ravi Wankhedkar from Maharashtra will be the National President for the year 2017-18.

Indian Medical Association is the only representative, National Voluntary Organization of doctors and has over 2,53,000 doctors as its members through more than 1,650 active local branches spread across the country.

News 7 - Religare Enterprises appoints Sunil Godhwani as their CEO

Religare Enterprises has appointed Sunil Godhwani as CEO of the company. He was redesignated as Whole Time Director and CEO of the company for the remaining period of tenure.

The decision was taken at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM), which was presided over by Malvinder Mohan Singh, NonExecutive Chairman. Sunil Godhwani has been the Managing Director since 9^th April 2007 and Chairman since 6^th April 2010 of the company. Religare has one million clients in India and more than 1700 offices across India.

News 8 - CK Asnani took charge as the CMD of the Uranium Corporation of India Limited

The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), an undertaking of the Department of Atomic Energy has appointed CK Asnani as its Chairman and Managing Director. UCIL is a Public Sector Enterprise under the Department of Atomic Energy with a special standing at the forefront of Nuclear Power.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Asnani was working as a director in the Indian Rare Earths Limited. He has also been associated with the Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad.

News 9 - BJP veteran OP Kohli took additional responsibility as the MP Governor

Om Prakash Kohli took additional charge as the 29^th Governor of Madhya Pradesh and administered the oath in the presence of Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court and several cabinet ministers. He is presently holding the responsibility of Gujarat Governor as well. Besides being a BJP member, Kohli is an educationalist and an author.

A lecturer for nearly four decades, veteran political thinker Om Prakash Kohli (aged 81) was chief of the Delhi BJP unit between 1999 and 2000. He was Rajya Sabha member from 1994 to 2000.

News 10 - Henkel appoints Shilip Kumar as the President of its India Business

German Consumer Giant and FMCG major Henkel has appointed Shilip Kumar as the President of its India business, replacing Jeremy Hunter, who has moved to Shanghai as President − Henkel China.

Mr. Shilip Kumar will hold the responsibility of adhesives and beauty care businesses of Henkel Adhesives Technologies India Private Limited (Henkel India).

Prior to Henkel, Kumar worked with Dow Chemicals as the Business Director for Dow coating materials in South Asia. Later in 2011, he was appointed as the Business Director of the transportation and metal SBU (strategic business unit) of India, in Henkel.

News 11 - Former IAS Officer J Satyanarayana to take duties as a part time UIDAI Chief

Former IAS officer J Satyanarayana of the 1977 batch has been appointed as a part time chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Besides him, technocrats Rajesh Jain and Anand Deshpande have also been appointed as part time members of the UIDAI. Their appointment has been confirmed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Mr. Satyanarayana, an IAS officer of 1977 batch, is from Andhra Pradesh cadre, retired as Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology.

News 12 - IDBI AMC appoints Dilip Mandal as their MD & CEO

IDBI mutual Fund has appointed Mr. Dilip Kumar Mandal as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Mandal has over three decades of experience in various fields of financial services. Prior to joining IDBI AMC, Mandal was Chief General Manager & Zonal Head of Retail Banking Group, IDBI Bank, covering the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, and based at Bhubaneswar.

IDBI Bank is an Indian government-owned financial service company, formerly known as Industrial Development Bank of India, headquartered in Mumbai, India.

News 13 - Anoop K Sharma takes charge as the new CMD of the Shipping Corporation of India

Anoop Kumar Sharma has taken charge as the new Chairman and Managing Director of the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) with effect from September 12, 2016 for a period of three years.

As the country’s premier shipping line, the SCI owns and operates around one-third of the Indian tonnage and has operating interests in practically all areas of the shipping business, servicing both national and international trades. Its owned fleet includes bulk carriers, crude oil tankers, product tankers, container vessels, offshore supply vessels, etc.

News 14 - Hiroshi Nakagawa takes over as the Chairman of Isuzu Motors India

Isuzu Motors India Private Limited (IMI) appointed Mr. Hiroshi Nakagawa as the Chairman of IMI. Mr. Hiroyasu Miura, the erstwhile Chairman of IMI will take over as the Chairman & Managing Director of Isuzu Engineering Business Centre India Private Limited (IEBCI).

Mr. Miura will continue as a Director at IMI and Mr. Nakagawa will also assume the role of a Director at IEBCI. Mr. Hiroshi Nakagawa has spent over 35 years in the Automobile business.

News 15 - Narayana Murthy named the Director of RCI, DRDO

Scientist BHVS Narayana Murthy has been appointed as the Director of Research Centre Imarat (RCI), DRDO, Hyderabad. He is an alumni of NIT, Warangal. He has won several awards like the Astronautical Society of India Rocket and Related Technologies Award, AGNI Award for Excellence in Self Reliance as a team Leader, DRDO Scientist of the Year Award, etc.

The RCI is a premier DRDO laboratory of APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex. The lab is responsible for Research and Development of Missile Systems, Guided Weapons and advanced Avionics for Indian Armed Forces.

News 16 - Nadia Murad Basee Taha appointed as UN Goodwill Ambassador

Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Nadia Murad Basee Taha, who survived trafficking at the hands of ISIL, was appointed as the UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. The appointment marks the first time a survivor of atrocities is bestowed with this distinction.

Ms. Murad was recently named one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People of 2016". During her Ambassadorship, Nadia will focus on advocacy initiatives and raise awareness around the plight of the countless victims of trafficking in persons, especially refugees, women and girls.

News 17 - Atul Kumar Goel takes charge as the ED in UBI

Shri Atul Kumar Goel assumed charge as the Executive Director of Union Bank of India. Prior to his elevation as an Executive Director, he was the General Manager and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at India’s oldest Bank, Allahabad Bank.

The Central Government appointed Mr. Goel though a notification dated September 15. The appointment is for a period of three years.

Shri Atul Kumar Goel is one of the youngest and dynamic executives in the Banking Industry.

News 18 - V K Sharma takes additional charge as the LIC chairman

V K Sharma, Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation, has taken additional charge as the Chairman of the Corporation. He will replace S K Roy who has resigned. Sharma had joined LIC in 1981 as a direct recruit officer. Before becoming Managing Director, Sharma was the Chief Executive Officer for LIC’s housing finance subsidiary.

With an estimated total investment of Rs. 20,00,000 crores, LIC is the country’s single largest financial institution. Its chairman is appointed by the Cabinet Committee of the Economic Affairs.

News 19 - Indian-Origin South African Ravi Reddy is the New Head of Global Blood Service

An Indian-origin South African, Ravi Reddy, currently the Chief Operations Officer of the South African National Blood Service (SANBS), will head the International Society for Blood Transfusion, which is headquartered in Amsterdam.

He became the first person from the African continent to head a Global Organization of Medicine Professionals working for the safety of blood transfusion worldwide. He has served in various capacities for more than three decades after starting out as a volunteer at the age of 16 at SANBS.

News 20 - Monika Kapil Mohta appointed as the Ambassador to Sweden

Monika Kapil Mohta has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Sweden. She is currently the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. She is expected to take up her assignment shortly. The two countries have a cordial relationship and growing economic cooperation.

Mohta is a 1985 batch Indian Foreign Services officer. She has served as the ambassador of India to Poland and Lithuania in the past. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai on February 13.

News 21 - Facebook appointed Anand Chandrasekaran for its Messenger app

Facebook has appointed former Chief Product Officer at Snapdeal, Anand Chandrasekaran, for a strategic role for its Messenger app.

Chandrasekaran has served as the Senior Director of mobile and search products at Yahoo. He also worked with Airtel and Snapdeal in India. Chandrasekaran co-founded Aeroprise, a personalized mobile applications software company that was acquired by BMC Software Inc. in 2011.He is also emerged as an active angel investor and has backed more than a dozen startups.

News 22 - Junaid Ahmad of Bangladesh announced as the new World Bank Head in India

Junaid Ahmad of Bangladesh has been appointed as the World Bank’s new Country Director for India. He will replace Onno Ruhl after he completed his four-year term.

India is the World Bank Group’s largest client. The Bank’s India portfolio includes lending of $2.8 billion from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and $1.0 billion from the International Development Association (IDA). As of June 2016, the Bank’s net commitments to the country stood at $27 billion (IBRD $16 billion, IDA $11 billion) across 95 projects.

News 23 - Justice G C Gupta sworn-in as the Chief Justice of Calcutta HC

Justice G C Gupta has been administered oath as the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court by the West Bengal Governor Mr. Kesari Nath Tripathi. A sitting judge of Calcutta High Court has been made Chief Justice after almost 30 years, when Justice Chittotosh Mukherjee became the Chief Justice of the High Court.

Justice Gupta is due to retire in December 2016. Justice Gupta was enrolled as an advocate and practiced in the Calcutta High Court for 17 years. He was appointed as a permanent judge of the Calcutta High Court on September 15, 2000.

News 24 - Navtej Sarna appointed as the Ambassador to the US

India's High Commissioner to UK Navtej Sarna was appointed as the Ambassador to the US. Mr. Sarna, an Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1980 batch, was serving as Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs before he was posted in London in January. He succeeds Arun Singh, who is due for retirement.

The Government has also appointed 1988 batch IFS officer, Taranjit Singh Sandhu as the next High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka. He will replace Yash Sinha.

News 25 - Justice Rakesh Ranjan Prasad appointed as the New Chief Justice of Manipur High Court

Acting Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Justice Rakesh Ranjan Prasad has been swornin as the Chief Justice of the High Court at Raj Bhavan in Imphal. State Governor Dr. Najma Heptulla administered him oath of office as the new Chief Justice of the High Court.

He enrolled as an Advocate in the Bihar State Bar Council, Patna on the 17^th September, 1980. He was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Manipur on transfer on 1^st February, 2016. Prior to that, he was Judge of the High Court of Jharkhand.

News 26 - M.S. Sahoo appointed as the Chairman of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed M.S. Sahoo as the chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. Sahoo is currently a member at the Competition Commission of India and was earlier a member at Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

He has been appointed for a period of 5 years or until further orders, whichever is the earliest. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 was enacted earlier this year, that will ensure time-bound settlement of insolvency, enable faster turnaround of businesses and create a database of serial defaulters.

News 27 - IAS Officer Arun Goyal to take charge as the Additional Secretary in the GST Council

A 1985 cadre IAS officer Arun Goyal has been made in-charge as an Additional Secretary in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council. He is presently working as Additional Secretary in Project Monitoring Group, Cabinet Secretariat. The Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely is mandated to decide on transparent tax rate, exempted goods and the threshold limit.

An order issued by Department of Personnel and Training, approved Arun Goyal’s appointment.

News 28 - Sanjiv Singh selected by PSEB as the new Chairman of IOC

The Director of Refineries at IOC, Sanjiv Singh has been selected by PESB as the new Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd for a term of 3 years. Prior to this appointment, Singh served as an Executive Director of the Paradip Refinery Project as well as the head of IOC’s Panipat Refinery. He has experience of having worked in various refineries like Mathura, Barauni and Panipat refineries.

The appointment is pending for approval to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

News 29 - Vijay Kelkar selected as the President of Indian Statistical Institute

Former Petroleum Secretary Vijay Kelkar has been selected as the President of the prestigious Indian Statistical Institute for a period of two years replacing former RBI Governor C Rangarajan. The appointment came after the decision of general body meeting of the institute, which functions under the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation.

Indian Statistical Institute is an Institute of national importance working under the aegis of Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, Delhi Government.

News 30 - Jim Yong Kim reappointed for second term as President of World Bank

Executive Directors of the World Bank agreed unanimously to reappoint Dr. Jim Yong Kim to a second five-year term as the President of the World Bank Group, beginning July 1, 2017. Executive Directors cited the achievements of the Bank Group Staff and Management during Dr. Kim’s first four years in office and recognized his leadership and vision.

Jim Yong Kim is a South Korean-American physician and anthropologist. He has been serving as the 12^th President of the World Bank since 1^st July 2012.

News 31 - IPS officer OP Singh took over as the new Director General of CISF

Senior IPS Officer OP Singh took over as the new Director General of CISF. Singh is a 1983-batch officer of Uttar Pradesh Cadre, who was serving as the Director General of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). His will serve as the DG of CISF till January 2020.

He had earlier served in the SPG, CRPF and CISF. Mr. RK Pachnanda, a 1983-batch IPS officer, took over as the new DG of NDRF.

His tenure is till January 2020. On his arrival at the CISF headquarters, he was accorded a guard of honour after which senior officers briefed him.

News 32 - Riyadh Mathew to take charge as the Chairman of the Press Trust of India

The Director of Malayala Manorama, Riyadh Mathew has been appointed as the new Chairman of Press Trust of India. Similarly, Vivek Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director of the Indian Express was appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Press Trust of India.

Other board members include K.N. Shanth Kumar (Deccan Herald), Vineet Jain (Times of India), N. Ravi (The Hindu), Rajiv Verma (Hindustan Times), etc.