BSNL,MTNL - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: PK Purwar

Explanation:
P K Purwar was appointed Chairman and Managing Director of state-run telecom major Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL).

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post for five years, an official order said.

He is currently working as Director (Finance) in MTNL.

Purwar held the additional charge of the post of MTNL CMD between June 2014 and June 2015.

In June last year, he was again given this additional charge.

A process has been underway for long time to find a new head of the loss-making telecom PSU and a search-cum-selection committee was earlier constituted under the chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board for the appointment.

Narendra Kumar Yadav relinquished the top post on completion of his tenure.

Purwar, the director (finance) of MTNL, had earlier held the additional charge between June 2014 and June 2015.

Narendra Kumar Yadav has relinquished the charge of CMD of the company w.e.f. 8 June 2016. P.K. Purwar, director (finance), MTNL, has been entrusted with the additional charge of the post of CMD,

Yadav, a member (services) department of telecom, had been given the additional charge of CMD on 8 June 2015.

The telecom public sector undertaking (PSU) has been without a full-time CMD since 30 May 2014 when A.K. Garg retired from the post.

Purwar was given additional charge after Garg’s retirement.

Purwar’s name had been recommended for the MTNL’s top post by the public enterprises selection board (PESB) in November 2013, but the government did not go ahead with the recommendation.

MTNL, which offers telecom services in Delhi and Mumbai circles, has been making losses since 2009-10.

The PSU posted a consolidated net loss of Rs.2,012.24 crore for year ended 31 March 2016, against that of Rs.2,901.16 crore at the end of March 2015.

The telecom firm, however, expects to post operational profit at the end of the current financial year and turn profitable in 2017-18.

At the end of March 2016, the company had 3,56,085 wireless subscribers and 3,504,088 wireline users, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s data.

MTNL: Know More

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• CEO: Pravin Kumar Purwar ( since 2014)
• Founded: 1 April 1986
• Number of employees: 45,000
• Type of business: Publicly listed state-owned enterprise
• Subsidiaries: Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited, Millennium Telecom Ltd., MTNL-STPI IT Services Ltd

ANSWER: PK Purwar

Explanation:
State run firm MTNL has indicated chairman and managing director Narendra Kumar Yadav has resigned. Director (Finance) PK Purwar has been provided additional charge of the CMD post according to a BSE filing by MTNL

• Telecom firm operating in Delhi and Mumbai circles will post operational profits towards the close of the current financial year and turn profitable in 2017-2018
• It has been running losses since 2009

ANSWER: Agartala

Explanation:
After PM Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the internet connectivity project from Bangladesh’s Akhaura to India;s Agartala, the state of Tripura gained connectivity. After Chennai and Mumbai, Agartala is now India’s third largest gateway for the internet. The leasing of the internet bandwidth by Cox’s Bazar Internet port by BSNL has opened doors for improving internet connectivity in the entire NE region.

ANSWER: BSNL

Explanation:
This will help BSNL to realign its structure in the highly competitive telecom sector. It will also help the public sector company to unlock its tower assets and improve its financial position.