Persons in News
A) APPOINTMENTS
Anil Kumar Sinha Takes Charge As new CBI director
Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Anil Kumar Sinha (A.K.Sinha) took charge as the new director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 3 December. Sinha, a 1979 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre, succeeds Ranjit Sinha, a fellow Bihar cadre officer, who retired on 2 December 2014. Sinha is the third consecutive chief of the agency from Bihar following Ranjit Sinha and A.P. Singh. This is the first time that the Prime Minister -led panel has selected the CBI director.
Richard Rahul Verma Sworn In As US Ambassador To India
Indian-American Richard Rahul Verma has been sworn in as the US Ambassador to India by Secretary of State John Kerry on 20 December.46-year-old Verma is the first ever Indian-American to be the top US diplomat in New Delhi. He will replace Nancy Powell, who resigned in March 2014 after a damaging row over the treatment of diplomat Devyani Khobragade over visa fraud charges.
Raghubar Das Sworn In As First Non-tribal CM of Jharkhand
BJP leader Raghubar Das on 28 December was sworn-in as 10th Chief Minister of Jharkhand, becoming the first non-tribal leader to rule a state, which was carved out in 2000 of Bihar, to serve the tribal and reserved constituencies.Raghubar Das becomes the sixth individual after Babulal Marandi (once), Arjun Munda (thrice), Shibu Soren (thrice), Madhu Koda (once) and Hemant Soren (once) to be the CM of Jharkhand.
B)RESIGNS
Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe Resigned
Haiti’s Prime minister Laurent Lamothe has resigned on 13 December, after violent anti-government protests over delayed elections. He was appointed as Prime Minister by the President Michel Martelly in 2012.
C)DEATHS
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister AR Antulay Died
Former Union Minister and Maharashtra’s first Muslim Chief Minister, AR Antulay was died on 2 December in Mumbai. He was 85. Antulay belonged to the Congress party. Abdul Rahman Antulay, widely known as AR Antulay was 8th and first and only Muslim Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 1980 to 1982. He also served as the Union Minister of Minority Affairs in the UPA-I government lead by Dr. Manmohan Singh.
D)VISITORS
Russian President Vladimir Putin Visited India
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India on 11-12 December 2014. During his two day visit, Putin held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to boost cooperation between the two strategic partners in sectors like defence, energy and trade. After bilateral talks, India and Russia signed 20 agreements in areas including armed forces training, nuclear energy, oil exploration, infrastructure, medical research. These agreement include Russia’s help in building at least 12 nuclear reactors and a plan to manufacture advanced Russian military helicopters and defence spare parts in India.
E)MISCELLANEOUS
India Sets New World Record For Largest Human Flag
India on 7 December 2014 set the Guinness Record for largest human formation of a national flag in the world. To set the record around 50000 volunteers from Chennai gathered at YMCA Grounds to form the human Tricolour with Chakra, the National Flag of India.The previous world record was in the name of Sports Club of Lahore, Pakistan wherein 28957 people were involved in forming the national flag of Pakistan.