#Current Affairs (October 13th - 19th 2014) #Persons in news: Ramesh Abhishek: Ramesh Abhishek’s term as chairman of the Forward Markets Commission (FMV) has been extended. Abhishek, a 1982 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Officer (Bihar cadre), was appointed the FMC’s interim chairman after B C Khatua’s tenure came to an end in 2011. On September 24, 2012, Abhishek was appointed chairman. Gautham Roy: Gautham Roy has been appointed as the Managing Director of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) Dilip Pendse: Dilip S Pendse, former Managing Director of Tata Finance, has been banned from accessing the capital market for two years with immediate effect, for executing illegal transactions in the past. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) found that Pendse had executed illegal transactions through Inshallah Investments (in which Niskalp Investment, an arm of Tata Finance, had a vital financial interest) in the scrips of HFCL, Telco, Infosys and SSI. Malala: Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Her memoir I am Malala: the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban, is being translated into four Indian languages — Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi. The book later turned into a bestseller, fuelled by Malala’s address at the United Nations, dubbed as ‘Malala Day. AAMIR KHAN: Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, has been appointed as UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asian region. The Regional Director of UNICEF South Asia, Karin Hulshof, announced the 49-year-old actor as the Goodwill Ambassador SUBRAMANIAN: US-based economist Arvind Subramanian took charge on 16th October as chief economic advisor (CEA) in the finance ministry. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet quietly approved his appointment earlier. There had been speculation that the government wanted to consider more candidates for the post. The post has been vacant for more than a year. The earlier government didn’t appoint a successor to Rajan when he became RBI chief in September last year. Subramanian has written on India, growth, trade, development, institutions, aid, climate change, oil, intellectual property, the WTO, China, and Africa. As CEA, his job will be to monitor macroeconomic trends and policy issues, and give his prescription on various issues from growth to inflation. Subramanian has served as a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and at the Center for Global Development, US. He has worked at the research department of the IMF (1992-2013) and GATT (1988-1992) and taught at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government and the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. ARVIND MAYARAM: In a surprise development, Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram has been shunted out of the Finance Ministry and shifted to the tourism ministry. Rajasthan chief secretary Rajiv Mehrishi will replace Mayaram as the economic affairs secretary. Mehrishi, an IAS of the 1978 batch, was earlier appointed as the chief secretary of Rajasthan after the BJP government came to power in the state. During his stint, the state has initiated major labour reforms.Meanwhile, Anil Swarup has been posted to the coal ministry in a newly created post of officer on special duty. Swarup, who headed the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) in the Cabinet Secretariat, has been appointed the coal Secretary. The appointment comes at a time when the coal ministry is in the process of implementing the Supreme Court order on coal block deallocation. Swarup, of the UP cadre, was instrumental in clearing stalled projects as the head of PMG, created by the previous government to revive investments in the key sectors. Presently, Ratan P Watal, a 1978 batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh is Expenditure Secretary while 1980-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre Gurdial Singh Sandhu is the Financial Services Secretary. Shaktikanta Das, an IAS officer of 1980 batch from Tamil Nadu cadre, is Revenue Secretary. According to the tradition, the senior most secretary becomes the finance secretary. However, both expenditure secretary Ratan Watal and Mehirishi are of the 1978 batch. Vanita Gupta: Vanita Gupta (39), an Indian-American attorney has been appointed by the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama to a senior role in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division. Jayalalitha: After 20 days of incarceration, J Jayalalithaa finally got bail on 17th October with the Supreme Court ordering her release. The former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister had been convicted by a trial court in the Rs 66.65-crore disproportionate assets case and was sentenced to four years simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100 crore. Ron klain: President Barack Obama appointed a former White House adviser Ron Klain as U.S. Ebola czar on 17th October as the global death toll from the disease that has ravaged three West African countries rose to more than 4,500.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 10:39:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015