Appointments - Current Affairs for June, 2017

Loknath Behera was on 28 June 2017 appointed as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Kerala as incumbent TP Senkumar will retire as the state DGP on 30 June 2017.

Behera’s appointment as state police chief was confirmed by the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government after the cabinet meeting.

Behera is currently serving as the Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.

He is a 1985 batch Kerala cadre IPS officer.

In May 2017, TP Senkumar was reinstated as DGP of Kerala after an 11-month legal battle, when the Supreme Court directed the Vijayan government to post him back as chief.

Kerala Government had removed and transferred TP Senkumar by citing his ineffective performance due to the delay in investigation in the Jisha murder case and the Puttingal fire tragedy.

Dr. Manoj Soni, former Vice Chancellor of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, took the Oath of Office and Secrecy as Member, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The Oath was administered by the UPSC Chairman Prof. David R. Syiemlieh.

Born on 17th February, 1965, Dr. Soni, a scholar of Political Science with specialization in International Relation Studies, earned his doctorate in "Post-Cold War International Systemic Transition and Indo-US Relations" from Sardar Patel University.

Dr. Manoj Soni has been the youngest-ever Vice Chancellor in independent (India).

Dr. Soni is the recipient of several awards and recognitions including the rare honour of "Honorary Mayor-President of the City of Baton Rouge" by Mayor-President of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA and World Education Congress Global Award for Distance Learning Leadership.

Jammu and Kashmir governor N N Vohra became the president of the India International Centre (IIC) - a prestigious cultural hub in the national capital - replacing eminent jurist Soli Sorabjee, who stepped down after an intense power struggle.

Sorabjee whose recent re-election as the IIC president was questioned by many life trustees and members of the IIC announced his decision to relinquish the coveted post at the annual general meeting.

One of the early proponents of jazz in the city, Sorabjee said he would now spend time organising jazz yatras and festivals as his pastime.

He is the president of Capital Jazz. Some life trustees and members had earlier termed his re-election as president invalid during the AGM in March as it was held despite a vacancy in the IIC Board of Life Trustees following the resignation and subsequent demise of MGK Menon.

Former diplomat Shyam Saran was inducted as the fifth Life Trustee of IIC on April 29.

IIC: Know More

• The India International Centre is a well known non-official organisation situated in New Delhi, India.
• Its foundation stone was laid in 1960 by Japanese prince Akihito, future Emperor, who had come for his honeymoon.
• It was inaugurated in 1962

The government appointed Rajesh V Shah as Chairperson on the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Fashion Technology, in place of former cricketer Chetan Chauhan who resigned from the post after being made the Sports Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

The Union Government (Ministry of Textiles) has appointed Rajesh V Shah as Chairperson on the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Fashion Technology up to March 31, 2019 in place of Chetan Chauhan as per the provisions of the National Institute of Fashion Technology Act, 2006.

A controversy had erupted last year over the appointment of Chauhan, an ex-cricketer and former BJP MP, as the Chairman of NIFT, with political parties and fashion designers questioning the move.

Shah is related to the textiles industry.

As per the NIFT Act 2006, the Chairperson of its Board of Governors shall be an eminent academician, scientist or technologist or professional, who is to be nominated by the Visitor, in this case the President of India.

Set up in 1986, the institute, which has centres across the country, comes under the Union Ministry of Textiles.

IDFC Ltd on 27th June announced the elevation of its CFO Sunil Kakar as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company with effect from July 16 for three years.

Kakar has also been appointed as additional director.

Both the appointments are subject to shareholders’ approval at the annual general meeting (AGM).

Besides, the company announced that the Board has approved the resignation of veteran banker Vikram Limaye from the post of MD and CEO who is set to join leading stock exchange NSE as its new Managing Director and CEO.

Kakar joined IDFC as the Group Chief Financial Officer and was responsible for finance and accounts, business planning and budgeting and investor relations, among others.

Prior to joining IDFC, he had worked with Max New York Life Insurance Company since 2001 as CFO.

He has also worked with Bank of America for 18 years in various roles.

Vikram Limaye will quit the Committee of Administrators (COA) for BCCI on July 14 when the Supreme Court reopens, to take over as the Managing Director and CEO of National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Limaye is a member of a panel appointed by the Supreme Court to administer the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has cleared Limaye’s appointment as head of NSE provided he gives up his role in COA.

Limaye was with IDFC since 2005 and has over 25 years of experience of working with financial institutions, global investment banks, international commercial banks, and global accounting firms

Kaushik Basu has taken over as president of the International Economic Association (IEA).

Basu will serve a three-year term as the President.

Kaushik Basu has served as India’s chief economic adviser from 2009 to 2012. He has also served as senior vice-president and chief economist at the World Bank from 2012 to 2016.

At present, Basu is the C. Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. IEA

IEA: Know More

• The International Economic Association (IEA) is one of the key organisations of professional economists and has been significant in determining global economic policy and research.
• Amongst the past presidents of IEA were the Nobel Laureates Robert Solow, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz.
  IEA produces a large number of research papers and books and organises roundtables on topics of present-day interest.
• Its principal activities include International Congress organised every 3 years. The occasion serves as one of the major assemblies of economists from around the world.

Palbinder Kaur Shergill has become the first turbaned Sikh woman to be appointed as Canada’s Supreme Court judge.

The announcement was made by the minister of justice and attorney general of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould.

The appointment of Shergill as Supreme Court Judge of Canada is considered as a milestone for the Sikh community in Canada.

Justice Palbinder Kaur Shergill was born in Rurka Kalan in Jalandhar district.

At the age of four, justice Shergill had migrated to Canada. Justice Shergill has fought various cases and has actively represented the interests of Canadian Sikh community including the right of Sikh students to wear a ‘kirpan’ in schools.

India decided to re-nominate Dalveer Bhandari for another term as the Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The nomination papers of Bhandari were filed on 19 June 2017 in New York.

The decision came after the Indian nominee, Neeru Chadha, won the election to one of the seven vacant seats to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

The signatures from all four members of India’s national group at the Permanent Court of Arbitration were acquired on 18 June 2017. As per ICJ statutes, the national group has to submit nominations to the ICJ.

The current members of the Indian national group are former Chief Justice H.L. Dattu, retired Supreme Court Judge Girish Thakorlal Nanavati, Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi and senior lawyer Harish Salve.

Dalveer Bhandari: Know More

• Born on 1 October 1947, Dalveer Bhandari is an Indian member of the International Court of Justice. He obtained degrees in the humanities and law from Jodhpur University and practised in the Rajasthan High Court from 1968 to 1970.
• Later, he obtained a Masters of Law from Northwestern University School of Law.
• Following his return to India, he again took up a law practice in the Rajasthan High Court from 1973 to 1976. In 1991, he was elevated to the Delhi High Court in March 1991.
• As a judge in the Delhi High Court, he also chaired the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee, the Advisory Board of Delhi State, and the Delhi chapter of the International Law Association for a number of years.
• On 25 July 2004, he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
• On 28 October 2005, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of India.
• He was nominated by the Government of India as its official candidate in January 2012.
• In the elections held on 27 April 2012, he secured 122 votes in the United Nations General Assembly against 58 for his rival, Florentino Feliciano, who was nominated by the Government of the Philippines.
• He swore in as a member of the International Court of Justice on 19 June 2012.

Automobile major Tata Motors on 13 June 2017 announced the appointment of Girish Wagh as the head of its Commercial Vehicle Business Unit.

Wagh will take charge of his new responsibilities with immediate effect. On 5 June 2017, Tata Motors had informed that Director of its associated companies and Executive Director (Commercial Vehicles) Ravindra Pisharody has resigned due to personal reasons.

TATA Motors: Know More

• Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company.
• It is headquartered in Mumbai.
• The company was founded in 1945 as a manufacturer of locomotives.
• It manufactured its first commercial vehicle in 1954 in a collaboration with Daimler-Benz AG, which ended in 1969.
• Its products include passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses, sports cars, construction equipment and military vehicles.
• It has auto manufacturing and assembly plants in Jamshedpur, Pantnagar, Lucknow, Sanand, Dharwad, and Pune in India, as well as in Argentina, South Africa, Great Britain and Thailand.
• Tata Motors’ principal subsidiaries purchased the English premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover and the South Korean commercial vehicle manufacturer Tata Daewoo.
• On 17 January 2017, Natarajan Chandrasekaran was appointed the Chairman of the company.

Theresa May on 11 June 2017 appointed her close ally Damian Green as her first secretary of state, effectively her deputy prime minister. The cabinet reshuffle follows the shock results of UK general elections 2017, which saw Conservatives lose their majority status.

This is forcing May to form a minority government.

May has brought back former Justice Secretary Michael Gove whom she ousted in 2016, as the new Environment Secretary.

She has also shifted former department secretary, Andrea Leadsom to the post of leader of the House of Commons.

James Brokenshire has been appointed as the Northern Ireland minister and Karen Bradley as the new Minister of Culture, media and sports.

Senior-most Indian-origin Cabinet minister, Priti Patel will retain her position as the secretary of state for International development.

The five top-most Cabinet posts will also remain unchanged.

These include Philip Hammond as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Amber Rudd as home secretary, Boris Johnson as foreign secretary, David Davis as Brexit secretary and Michael Fallon who will remain as the in-charge of the ministry of defence.

Besides this, Greg Clark and Liam Fox will also retain their positions as the Secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy and Secretary of State for international trade respectively.

David Gauke would be taking over as Work and Pensions minister and Justine Greening, who would be retaining her position as the Secretary of State for Education, will be taking additional charge as Minister for women and equalities.

Other appointments rather than Damian Green include Liz Truss as the new chief secretary to the treasury, David Lidington as the new Lord Chancellor and justice minister, Alun Cairns as the new Secretary of State for Wales, Gavin Williamson as the new parliamentary secretary to the Treasury and Chris Grayling as the new transport minister.

Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid would also continue to hold his post of secretary of state for communities and local government, as would Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

SEBI has granted conditional approval for the appointment of Vikram Limaye as the MD and CEO of the NSE.

In February 2017, Limaye who is MD and CEO of infrastructure financing company IDFC was selected for the post of NSE chief.

However, SEBI had not cleared his appointment as he was also present in the Supreme Court appointed four-member panel managing the affairs of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Now, the SEBI has cleared the appointment of Limaye subject to the condition that he relieves himself from his BCCI assignment, among other things.

Limaye’s term with the BCCI ends in August this year.

The NSE has already assured SEBI that Limaye will not seek an extension on his BCCI assignment.

Limaye is expected to take charge of NSE at a time the exchange is facing challenges in multiple fronts.

NSE has been functioning headless for the past six months.

Additionally, the vice chairman and founding member of the NSE Ravi Narain resigned from the board as the SEBI investigation in the algorithmic trading platform issue picked up.

SEBI has also issued show cause notices to 14 directors of the exchange for their failure to maintain market sanctity.

NSE plans for an initial public offering in the second half of this year.

Vikram Limaye: Know More

• Vikram Limaye is chartered accountant with an MBA from The Wharton School.
• Earlier, Mr Limaye was also named a member of a four-member panel by the Supreme Court to run the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the apex cricket management body in the country.
• Vikram Limaye was selected as the Managing Director of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after Chitra Ramakrishna had quit the exchange in December 2016 citing personal reasons.

NASA on 7 June 2017 announced names of 12 new astronauts, including an Indian-American Lt Col Raja Grinder Chari.

They, the new astronauts, were chosen from a record number of over 18000 applicants. The new candidates include six military officers, three scientists, two medical doctors, a lead engineer at SpaceX and a NASA research pilot.

The seven men and five women comprise the 22nd class of American spaceflight trainees since 1959.

Raja Grinder Chari: Know More

• Indian American Lt Col., US Air Force Raja Grinder Chari (39) is a commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
• He hails from Waterloo, Iowa who graduated from the US Air Force Academy with bachelor’s degrees aeronautics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.
• The other 11 selected astronaut candidates include Zena Cardman, Jasmin Moghbeli, Jonny Kim, Frank Rubio, Matthew Dominick, Warren Hoburg, Robb Kulin, Kayla Barron, Bob Hines, Loral O’ Hara and Jessica Watkins.