Current Affairs April 2020 - Appointments

1 - Justice Rajnesh Oswal sworn in as permanent Judge of High Court of J&K, Ladakh

Justice Rajnesh Oswal was sworn in as a permanent Judge of the common High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. He has administered oath of office by Chief Justice Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice Gita Mittal. He is the first Judge of the High Court to take oath under the Indian Constitution.

All previous Judges of High Court had taken oath under the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, which ceased to have effect since August 5, 2019. With the appointment of Justice Oswal, the strength of Justices of J&K High Court increased from eight to nine.

2 - Dillip Kumar Patel takes over as Director (HR), NTPC

Dillip Kumar Patel has taken charge as Director (HR) of NTPC. Mr. Patel had been the HR Head in various NTPC projects like NSPCL Bhilai, Sipat, and Tanda for around 12 years. He was also the Regional Head of HR in the Eastern Region-2, before he was appointed as the Director (HR).

NTPC is India’s largest energy conglomerate. It became a Maharatna company in May 2010. NTPC is ranked No. 2 Independent Power Producer (IPP) in Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company rankings.

3 - GoI extends tenure of Madhabi Puri Buch as WTM at SEBI

The Government of India has extended the term of Madhabi Puri Buch as a Whole Time Member (WTM) at Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by 6 months. Buch was appointed in April 2017 and her three-year tenure was due to end in March 2020.

Buch is SEBI’s first woman WTM and the first from the private sector to be appointed a SEBI board member. Earlier in February, the government had given a six months extension to SEBI chairman Ajay Tyagi.

4 - UB Pravin Rao appointed as Chaiman of NASSCOMM

National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has appointed Mr. UB Pravin Rao as its Chairman for 2020-21. Mr Rao is Chief Operating Officer, Infosys. He will take on the position from his previous role as Vice Chairman of NASSCOM, succeeding Mr. Keshav Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS Global Services, who served as Chairman of NASSCOM for the year 2019-20.

Ms. Rekha M. Menon has been appointed as Vice Chairperson, NASSCOM. She is the Chairman and Senior Managing Director of Accenture in India. The President of NASSCOM is Debjani Ghosh.

5 - Bharti AXA Life Insurance appointed Parag Raja as new MD & CEO

Parag Raja was appointed by the Bharti AXA Life Insurance as its new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Parag Raja replaced Vikas Seth. Prior to this appointment, he has handled various responsibilities in the domestic life insurance industry and has exhibited his leadership across different areas such as the agency, bancassurance, broking and direct sales force channels.

Bharti Axa General Insurance Company Ltd. is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and Axa business Group that offers online general insurance policy for car, two wheeler, travel, health, etc.

6 - New CJs for Bombay, Meghalaya and Orissa High Courts

The Union Government cleared the appointment of next Chief Justices of the Bombay, the Orissa and the Meghalaya High Courts. Justice Dipankar Datta, a judge from the Calcutta HC, has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.

Justice Mohammad Rafiq will take over as Chief Justice of Orissa high court. Prior to the appointment, he was serving as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court. Justice Biswanath Somadder, who is a judge in the Allahabad High Court, has been appointed as the next Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.

7 - N Kamakodi reappointed MD&CEO of City Union Bank

Reserve Bank of India has approved the re-appointment of N Kamakodi as MD and CEO, for a period of three years with effect from May 1. Kamakodi joined the bank as Deputy General Manager in 2003 and was later elevated as General Manager in 2005.

In 2006, he was appointed as Executive Director. From May 2011, he was serving the bank as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. The City Union Bank Limited was originally called The Kumbakonam Bank Limited.

8 - Huawei India appointed David Li as new CEO

Huawei Telecommunications India has appointed David Li as its new Chief Executive Officer of its operations in the country. He replaced Jay Chen who has been promoted to handle Asia Pacific level business role.

Li joined Huawei in 2002 and has experience of working in the India market, including in roles like Vice President sales and Vice President HR during different phases of his career. He was serving as CEO of Huawei Cambodia before returning to India to take on his new role.

9 - Mahabaleshwara M S reappointed as MD and CEO of Karnataka Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has approved the reappointment of Mahabaleshwara M S as MD and CEO of Karnataka Bank for next three years. RBI has also approved for reappointment ofP Jayarama Bhat as part time (Non-Executive) Chairman.

Mahabaleshwara took charge as MD & CEO of Karnataka Bank on April 12, 2017 and has over 29 years of banking experience both at administrative and operational levels. Karnataka Bank Limited is India's twelfth largest private sector bank with a network of 848 branches and 1540 ATMs.

10 - Former IAS officer Kapil Dev Tripathi appointed as new Secretary to President

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the apppointment of former IAS officer Kapil Dev Tripathi as the Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind. He has been appointed on contract basis, for a term co-terminus with the tenure of the President.

Mr. Tripathi is a 1980 batch IAS officer (Retired) of Assam-Meghalaya cadre. He is currently serving as the Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB). Mr. Tripathi will replace Sanjay Kotahri who has been appointed as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner.

11 - Former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar appointed PESB Chief

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the apppointment of former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar as the Chairperson of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB). Mr. Kumar is a 1984 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre and retired as the finance secretary in February 2020.

Rajiv Kumar has been appointed to the post for a period of three years. He has been appointed in place of Kapil Dev Tripathi who has taken over as the Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind.

12 - Birupaksha Mishra became new Executive Director of Union Bank of India

Birupaksha Mishra took charge as the Executive Director (ED) of Union Bank of India (UBI), after its amalgamation with Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank. He has held various responsibilities in Credit and Credit Monitoring Portfolio of the Bank and headed IT vertical of the Bank. Prior to this appointment, he worked as Executive Director at Corporation Bank.

The amalgamation with Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank, which came into effect on 1 April 2020, the amalgamated entity becomes the fourth largest bank in terms of branch network and fifth largest in terms of business.

13 - Vineet Arora appointed as new MD & CEO of Paytm General Insurance Ltd

Paytm General Insurance Ltd named Vineet Arora as its new MD and CEO. Paytm is an Indian e-commerce payment system and financial technology company, based out of Noida.

Prior to this, Vineet served as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aegon Life Insurance Company and was part of the India Leadership team. Vineet Arora worked as Senior General Manager and Head Product, Distribution, Marketing and Wealth Management at ICICI Securities Ltd.

14 - Ajay Mahajan appointed as new MD & CEO of “CARE Ratings”

Ajay Mahajan has been appointed Managing Director & Chief Executive of Care Ratings. Credit Analysis & Research Ltd (CARE Ratings) is a full service rating company that undertakes rating exercise based on information provided by the company, in-house database and data from other sources that CARE considers reliable.

Prior to this appointment, Ajay worked as MD & Country Head of Global Markets Group in Bank of America, management team at inception of Yes Bank and IDFC Bank. He is popularly known for turning IDFC from an Infrastructure Financing NBFC to a full service commercial bank.

15 - BSNL CMD P K Purwar took over additional charge of MTNL

The Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), P. K. Purwar has been given the additional charge as CMD of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for a period of three months. The appointment is subject to the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

Purwar was selected through the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB). Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, d/b/a MTNL, is a state-owned telecommunications service provider and wholly owned subsidiary of BSNL.

16 - Rakesh Sharma appointed as President of IMMA

The International Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (IMMA) has appointed Rakesh Sharma as its President. He has been elected from its member organisation SIAM, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers for a 2-year mandate.

Sharma succeeds Johannes Loman, Director of PT Astra International Tbk and Executive Vice President Director PT Astra Honda Motor (AHM) Indonesia. Rakesh Sharma had joined Bajaj Auto in October 2007 as President for International Business and is currently the Executive Director.

17 - Sanjay Kothari takes over as Central Vigilance Commissioner

Retired IAS Officer, Sanjay Kothari, took oath as Chief Vigilance Commissioner. Mr. Kothari will have tenure till late June 2021. The name of Mr Kothari was recommended by a high-level selection panel headed by the prime minister in February.

The post of the Central Vigilance Commissioner was lying vacant since June 2020 after KV Chowdary completed his tenure. Mr Kothari, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, retired in June 2016 from the post of secretary, the Department of Personnel and Training.

18 - Shiv Das Meena appointed as new CMD of HUDCO

Shiv Das Meena has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO). He is a 1989 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. Prior to the appointment, he was serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

Meena has also held additional charge of CMD of NBCC Limited in 2019. HUDCO is a Miniratna PSU under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.