Appointments - Current Affairs for September, 2017

Under the scanner for an unsafe atmosphere for women on the campus, the Banaras Hindu University on 28th Sept 2017 appointed a woman as its chief proctor. Professor Royana Singh, who will hold the post, is a professor in the Anatomy Department of the Institute of Medical Sciences, an official in the 101-year-old central University announced. She takes charge after O.N Singh resigned from the post, taking “moral responsibility” for the lathi charge on students who were protesting against the victim-blaming of a colleague who was molested on the campus. Ms. Singh is also the chairman of the Women's Grievance Cell of the BHU. Ms. Singh was born in France, where she also received her primary education. She then shifted to India along with her parents, who are originally from Senapur village in Jaunpur district. BHU had appointed Mahendra Kumar Singh as interim chief proctor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25th Sept 2017 constituted a new Economic Advisory Council, which will seek to address the nation's macroeconomic issues. The Economic Advisory Council will be chaired by NITI Aayog's Bibek Debroy. Other members, including renowned economists such as Surjit Bhalla, Rathin Roy and Ashima Goyal, will be part-time members. These members have earlier served as economic advisors to the nation. Ratan Watal has been appointed as the Member Secretary of the Council. He will further notify the government of the developments made in the Council. Earlier, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian had hinted that India has to work on its structural reforms and the structure carried out is likely to be a mix of monetary and fiscal policy. With 18 months left in office for the Modi Government, the move comes about as a measure to boost India's growth. The earlier economic advisories, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (PMEAC) and the Planning Commission, had been dismantled

Tata Sons, the promoter of major Tata Group companies, has appointed group veteran Eruch N Kapadia as its new chief financial officer (CFO). Mr. Kapadia, who is vice-president at Tata Sons and a member of the audit committee at Tata Business Support Services, assumed the new role following the retirement chief operating officer (COO) F. N. Subedar. He will report to Tata Group CFO Saurabh Agrawal. Mr. Kapadia is a Tata Group veteran with more than 18 years of service in Tata Chemicals in different roles. Besides being a chartered accountant, he is also a cost accountant.

Former Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi took over as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on 25th Sept 2017. Mr. Mehrishi succeeds Shashi Kant Sharma, who demitted office on September 22, officials said. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Mehrishi (62) at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan that was attended by Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi among other dignitaries. Mr. Mehrishi, a 1978 batch (retired) IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, completed his two-year fixed term as Home Secretary last month. Mr. Sharma took over as the CAG on May 23, 2013. He was Defence Secretary prior to this appointment. Mr. Mehrishi will have a tenure of about three years. The CAG is appointed for a term of six years or till the incumbent attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. As a constitutional functionary, the CAG is primarily entrusted with the responsibility of auditing the accounts of the Union government and of the State governments. CAG reports are laid before Parliament and legislatures of the States. Rajiv Mehrishi: Know More

• Mr. Mehrishi, who hails from Rajasthan, holds an MBA degree from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow (U.K.).
• He holds Master of Arts (M.A.) and Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees from THE Delhi University.
• Mr. Mehrishi has held several posts in both his State cadre Rajasthan and in the Centre.
• Before his appointment as the Home Secretary, he worked as the Economic Affairs Secretary and Chief Secretary of Rajasthan.
• Mr. Mehrishi has also worked as Secretary in Departments of Chemicals and Fertilisers, and Overseas Indian Affairs

Senior IPS officer Y C Modi, who was part of the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team that probed the 2002 Gujarat riot cases , was named chief of the National Investigation Agency. The federal probe agency is tasked with probing terrorism and terror-financing related cases. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved Modi's appointment as director general of the NIA, an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) indicated. Another senior IPS officer, Rajni Kant Misra, has been appointed director general of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). Modi will hold the post till his superannuation, i.e. May 31, 2021, the order said. ACC has also approved the appointment of Modi as officer on special duty (OSD) in NIA with immediate effect to ensure a smooth takeover. Modi, a 1984 batch IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is at present special director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He will take over from Sharad Kumar after he completes his tenure on October 30, the order said. Kumar, who was appointed DG NIA in July 2013, has been given two extensions. In October last year, he was given a one-year extension, apparently to help the agency complete some important probes, including the Pathankot terror case, terror strikes in Kashmir, Burdwan blast case and the Samjhauta blast cases Misra has been appointed director general of the SSB till the date of his superannuation, i.e. August 31, 2019. Misra, a 1984 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is at present additional director general in the Border Security Force (BSF).

Mishra, a 1984 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer, will succeed Archana Ramasundaram, a 1980 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, who is set to retire on September 30. Rajni Kant Mishra will be the new chief of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), it was announced on 18th Sept 2017. The decision was taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. Mishra, a 1984 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer, will succeed Archana Ramasundaram, a 1980 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS officer, who is set to retire on September 30. Mishra, 58, a native of Patna in Bihar, joined the Border Security Force (BSF) as Inspector General in 2012. He was appointed as Additional Director General of the BSF in November 2014. He was recently elevated to Special Director General rank in the BSF. Mishra, a Master of Science, will hold the post till his superannuation on August 31, 2019, from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, according to an order from the Department of Personnel and Training. Archana Sundaram: Know More

• Sundaram, who assumed charges as the SSB chief in 2016, earned the distinction of being the first woman to head a para-military force in the country.
• A post-graduate in Economics from the Rajasthan University, she worked as a lecturer before her appointment to the Indian Police Service (IPS).

Brian Acton, co-founder of WhatsApp, now owned by Facebook Inc, will leave the messaging service company to start a new foundation, according to a Facebook post on 12th Sept 2017. Acton spent eight years with WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in 2014 for $19 billion in cash and stock. A Stanford alumnus, Acton co-founded WhatsApp with Ukrainian immigrant Jan Koum in 2009. The duo worked at Yahoo before starting WhatsApp.

There are no Muslim Malays in the top echelons of Singapore’s army, and few among the senior ranks of its judiciary, but a member of its poorest ethnic minority is set to become the first woman President of the Southeast Asian city state. Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of Parliament, will be formally named to the mostly ceremonial post on Wednesday, media reported, after other candidates fell short of the criteria set for contesting the election. Ms. Yacob (63) was born to an Indian Muslim father and a Malay mother. Aiming to strengthen a sense of inclusivity in the multicultural country, Singapore had decreed the presidency would be reserved for candidates from the Malay community this time. Ms. Yacob’s experience as house speaker automatically qualified her under the nomination rules. Of the four other applicants, two were not Malays and two were not given certificates of eligibility, the elections department said. The last Malay to hold the presidency was Yusof Ishak, whose image adorns the country’s banknotes. Yusof Ishak was President between 1965 and 1970, the first years of Singapore’s independence following a short-lived union with neighbouring Malaysia, but executive power lay with Lee Kuan Yew, the country’s first Prime Minister. The separation of Singapore from Malaysia gave ethnic Malays a clear majority in Malaysia, while ethnic Chinese formed the majority in independent Singapore. Leaders of both countries, however, recognised that peace and prosperity depended on preserving harmony between the two groups. But living in a Muslim-dominated neighbourhood, with Malaysia and Indonesia next door, Singapore’s leaders have long worried about the risk of conflicted loyalties among Malays. For Lee Hsien Loong, is now Prime Minister, the answer to social cohesion lay in creating a culture of meritocracy, rather than adopting policies of positive discrimination to boost the chances of advancement for Singapore’s Malay and Indian minorities. Singapore’s economic success and education policies have helped swell the ranks of middle-class Malays, but the last census in 2010 showed they lagged other ethnic groups on socio-economic measures such as household incomes and home ownership. Malays, who form just over 13 per cent of Singapore’s 3.9 million citizens and permanent residents, also underperform on measures such as university and secondary school education.

Viveck Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director of the Express Group, and N. Ravi, former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, were on Sept 7, 2017 unanimously elected Chairman and Vice Chairman of Press Trust of India, the country’s largest news agency. Mr. Goenka (60) succeeds Riyad Mathew, who is Senior Assistant Editor and a member of the Manorama management. Mr. Ravi (69) succeeds Mr. Goenka as Vice Chairman. Viveck Goenka: Know More

• Mr. Goenka, an engineer by qualification and a publisher by profession, is also a director of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) besides being a member of the Advertising Association, India Chapter.
• He also served as Chairman of United News of India news agency, as a Council Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation and was one of the youngest past Presidents of the Indian Newspaper Society.
• He is also a wildlife photographer and an avid student of conservation.

N. Ravi: Know More

• Mr. Ravi, an award-winning journalist with an illustrious career in India and the United States, is a Director at Kasturi & Sons Ltd, which publishes The Hindu.
• Mr. Ravi joined The Hindu in 1972, and served as reporter, leader writer and Washington Correspondent until 1980 when he became a Deputy Editor.
• He was Editor from 1991 to 2011 and Editor-in-Chief from October 2013 until January 2015.
• He has a Master’s degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree in law. He has previously been Chairman of the Press Trust of India, and President of the Editors’ Guild of India.
• He was a member of the Indian government’s National Security Advisory Board from 2006 to 2008.

Other Members

• The other members of the PTI Board are:
• Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran),
• K.N. Shanth Kumar (Deccan Herald),
• Vineet Jain (Times of India),
• Aveek Kumar Sarkar (Anand Bazar Patrika),
• M.P. Veerendra Kumar (Mathrubhumi),
• R. Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar),
• Vijay Kumar Chopra (The Hind Samachar Ltd),
• Rajiv Verma (Hindustan Times),
• Hormusji N. Cama (Bombay Samachar),
• Justice R.C. Lahoti,
• Prof. Deepak Nayyar,
• Shyam Saran
• J.F. Pochkhanawalla.

PTI posted a revenue of INR 172.76 crore during 2016 - 17 as against Rs.166.36 crore in the preceding year, an increase of INR 6.4 crore. The PTI Board took a major decision last year to split the roles of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Editor-in-Chief (EIC), which were traditionally held by one person, to meet growing challenges resulting from the changing media landscape. The editorial team is now led by a new Editor-in-Chief, Vijay Joshi. The CEO is Venky Venkatesh.

Global pharma major Novartis named Vasant Narasimhan as its new chief executive officer (CEO) from 1 February 2018. He succeeds Joseph Jimenez who will step down in 2018 after eight years in the position. Narasimhan is currently global head (drug development) and chief medical officer of the company and is also member of the executive committee of the company.

R A Sankara Narayanan has taken charge as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Vijaya Bank. He has taken over the resigns of the bank from Kishore Sansi, who reached superannuation on August 31. He joined Bank of India as a direct recruit officer in 1983 and has headed various branches. KV Rama Moorthy has assumed charge as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank. Prior to joining TMB, he was Executive Director of United Bank of India. He succeeds HS Upendra Kamath. Rama Moorthy’s appointment is for a period of three years. DHFL, a leading housing finance company, has elevated Harshil Mehta as Joint Managing Director & CEO of the company with effect from September 1. Prior to this elevation, Mehta was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company.

Shri Rajiv Kumar, IAS(JH:84) today assumed office as the new Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance.

He was Special Secretary and Establishment Officer, Ministry of Personnel Public Grievances & Pension, D/o Personnel & Training in his immediate preceding posting.

He has widespread administrative experience in more than 30 years of service during which he held various important assignments including the Administrative postings in his home State of Jharkhand.

Shri Kumar has also worked in the Central Government in various capacities. He was posted as Joint Secretary and then Additional Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance from 19.03.2012 to 12.03.2015.

Later he took over as Establishment Officer & Additional/Special Secretary, Ministry of Personnel Public Grievances & Pension, D/o Personnel & Training from 12.03.2015 till 30.08.2017.

Dr. Rajiv Kumar has taken charge as the new Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog today.

A renowned economist, he replaces Shri Arvind Panagariya as the head of the premier think tank of the country.

The new Vice Chairman said there would be more emphasis on improving Government capacity at the state level to ensure the values of co-operative and competitive federalism.

NITI Aayog is well placed to play the role of a platform that cuts across these issues. The thematic focus will be on generating employment, enhancing investment, improving ease of doing business, transforming agriculture, and reforming education and health.

Members of NITI Aayog: Shri Ramesh Chand, Shri VK Saraswat, Dr.VKPaul and CEO NITI Aayog, Shri Amitabh Kant.

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, former IAS Officer Sunil Arora was on 31st August 2017 appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner.

The former home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi was made the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). Mehrishi’s tenure as union home secretary ended on 31st Aug.

He was replaced by Rajiv Gauba.

After Nasim Zaidi retired as Chief Election Commissioner in July, there was a vacancy in the poll panel.

While Achal Kumar Joti is the CEC, Om Prakash Rawat is the other Election Commissioner.

Arora’s appointment will be with effect from the day he assumes charge, a law ministry notification said.

Arora (61) had been the Information and Broadcasting Secretary, and Secretary in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Meanwhile, senior bureaucrat Rajiv Kumar was appointed Secretary in the Department of Financial Services (DFS) while Anita Karwal was named CBSE chairperson.

17 IAS officers were appointed in various central government departments.

Karwal, a Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, was appointed in place of Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi, who will now be the director general of National Skill Development Agency,

Kumar, a 1984 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, is at present Special Secretary and Establishment Officer, Ministry of Personnel.

He was appointed to the post in place of Anjuly Chib Duggal, who superannuated on 31st Aug 2017, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

Shri Rajiv Gauba, IAS (Jharkhand cadre-1982 batch) today took over as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Shri Gauba joined the Ministry of Home Affairs as Officer on Special Duty on June 27, 2017 and took charge as the Union Home Secretary upon the superannuation of Shri Rajiv Mehrishi.

Prior to this, Shri Gauba was Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Development.

He has wide-ranging experience in senior positions in the Central and State Governments and in international organisations.

Hailing from Punjab, the 1959 born Shri Gauba is a Physics graduate.

He has worked as Chief Secretary, Jharkhand.

Earlier, Shri Gauba served in the Central Government in the Ministries of Home, Defence, Environment and Forests and Department of Electronics and Information Technology.

Shri Gauba also served in the International Monetary Fund representing the country for four years on the Board of IMF.