PERSONS IN NEWS
A). APPOINTMENTS
Alok Rawat appointed National Council for Women
Former water resources secretary Alok Rawat has been appointed as the fourth member of the National Commission for Women (NCW). He became the first man to be part of the five member body. Two other members Sushma Sahu and Rekha Sharma were appointed to the commission in the month of August.
P K Gupta as next MD of SBI
P K Gupta will be elevated as Managing Director of country’s largest bank State Bank of India in place of P Pradeep Kumar, who is superannuating this month-end. Gupta, who is of Deputy Managing Director (DMD) rank, is presently Managing Director of the bank’s investment banking arm SBI Caps. He will be in this post for four years.
Shaktikanta Das nominated to RBI central Board
Economic Affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das has been nominated to the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He has nominated by the Union Government in place of Ajay Tyagi. 10 Directors are nominated by Union Government in order to represent important elements from India’s economy.
Syed Akbaruddin appointed as next Permanent Representative of India to UN
On 16th November 2015, Syed Akbaruddin was appointed as the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations. He succeeded Asoke Kumar Mukerji. He is a 1985 batch officer of Indian Foreign Service. At present, he is serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.
B). RESIGNS
Romania’s Prime Minister resigned
Romania’s Prime Minister Victor Ponta on 4 November 2015 resigned from his position following a deadly nightclub blaze which left 32 dead and nearly 200 injured. His resignation came after more than 20000 people rallied in Bucharest to demand he step down. Ponta had been Romania’s Prime Minister since 2012.
C). DEATHS
IOC member Ashwini Kumar died
Honararay member of International Olympic Committee (IOC) Ashwini Kumar (94) passed away on 20th October, 2015. He was the President of the Indian Basket Ball Federation and President of the Punjab Olympic Association for 12 years.
Brijmohan Lal Munjal died
Hero MotoCorp founder and doyer of the Indian two wheeler industry, Brijmohan Lal Munjal (92) died on 1 November, 2015 in New Delhi. He became the Chairman-emeritus of the group earlier this year and remained on the board of the company as non-executive member. Hero MotoCorp is the world’s largest two wheeler company. He was conferred with the ‘Padma Bhushan’in 2005.
Children’s Book Writer Kamala Laxman away
Well noted children’s book writer Kamala Laxman (90) died on 14 November 2015 in Pune. She was widow of legendary cartoonist R.K. Laxman. She wrote many famous children books which include : The Thama Stories, Raman of Tenali & Other Stories, Thama and His Missing Mother etc.
D). VISITORS
Hamid Ansari Visited Indonesia
Vice President Hamid Ansari on 1 November, 2015 visited Indonesia to make key agreements in maritime security cooperation, bilateral trade and cultural exchange with Indonesia. Three crusial MoUs are done with Jakarta. One was a collaboration between the Ayush Ministry and Bali’s Uddiyana University in the field of Ayurveda.
China Vice President visit to India
Vice-President of China, Li Yuanchao, visited India on 3-7 ovember, 2015. Li is the first Chinese Vice President to visit India in more than six decades. Li has visited Aurangabad and Kolkata before Delhi. In Aurangabad he visited the Ajanta Caves and also met with the city mayor. In Kolkata he visited the House of Rabindranath Tagore. In Delhi on 6th November he met with the Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held meetings with them. India and China signed two agreements including one in the field of water resources on sharing hydrological data on Sutlej river. Under the cultural pact, India will hold exhibition of art from the Gupta period, which was known as “golden period” in the country and during which famous Chinese traveller Fa Hien came. He also focussed on the achievements of India-China cooperation, especially in the South Asian region, to mark his visit to India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to Turkey
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Turkey on 15-16 November, 2015. After successful three-day tour of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 14 November night reached the resort town of Antalya in Turkey for the G-20 Summit. In Antalya, PM Modi raised issues related to terrorism, climate change and global cooperation to unearth black money, among others. He conducted bilateral talks with Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The procedures for bringing India and Australia nuclear deal into force was completed at the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
E). MISCELLANEOUS
Punjabi is the third most common language in Canadian Parliament
After English and French, Punjabi has now become the third most common language in the House of Commons in Canadian Parliament after 20 Punjabispeaking candidates were elected to the parliament in October this year. 23 lawmakers of Indian-origin were elected after general elections that were held on October 19, 2015. Of the 23 law makers, three do not speak Punjabi.
Modi ranks 9th in World’s Most Powerful list
The Forbes list of the World’s Most Powerful People 2015 was released on 4 November 2015. The list provided the annual ranking of the World’s 73 Most Powerful People.India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ranked as the world’s ninth most powerful person. In 2014, Modi was placed at 14th position.
Twitter launches Make In India emoji
The Indian government on 4 November, 2015 became the first non-US based brand to have a twitter emoji.. # MakeInIndia – which aims to promote the country as a global manufacturing hub. An emoji of a black lion on an orange background will now appear next to the #MakeInIndia hashtag in any tweet world wide.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to co-chair the 2016 World Economic Forum meet
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella will co-chair the World Economic Forum’s annual meet in January, an event that is likely to be attended by over 100 Indian business leaders. More than 2,500 leaders from across the world, including from business, government and international organisations, would be coming together for the WEF meeting to be held in Davos from January 20 to January 23 next year. The theme of the meet would be ‘Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution.