Current Affairs Jan 2016 - Appointments

News 1 - D.K. Hota to be the new CMD of defence PSU BEML Ltd.

01-Jan − Dr D.K. Hota is set to be the new CMD of defense PSU, BEML Ltd. This position goes vacant on 1st July, 2016 post the superannuation of P. Dwarakanth. His name was recommended by the Public Enterprises Selection Board. Mr. Hota is currently the Director (HR) of this Bengaluru-based Rs. 3,000-crore mining equipment and rail coaches company. He has been on deputation at BEML from oil marketing major, HPCL for the last two years.

News 2 - Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited Appoints Atul Sobti as CMD.

01-Jan − State-owned power equipment maker, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) appointed Mr. Atul Sobti as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) for a period of five years. He has been working with BHEL as a Board Director, where he headed two crucial portfolios of Power and Finance.

News 3 - Shekhar Saran takes over charge as CMD of CMPDI.

01-Jan − The new Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Ranchi-based Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Ltd (CMPDI), Mr. Shekhar Saran has assumed charge. Before joining CMPDI, Mr. Saran has worked as the Director (Technical) of CMPDI. He is a mining engineer and also holds an MBA. He began his career in the coal industry from South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) in 1981.

News 4 - Akshay Kothari named as Country Manager (India) for LinkedIn.

03-Jan − Mr. Akshay Kothari has been appointed as the Country Manager for India by the Professional Networking Platform, LinkedIn. He will replace Nishant Rao. Mr Kothari will report to Olivier Legrand. He joined LinkedIn in 2013 after the company, Pulse, which he had co-founded, was acquired by LinkedIn. Mr. Kothari also played a very vital role in increasing the number of members publishing on LinkedIn from 1,000 to nearly 2 Million in the last two years.

News 5 - Abidali Z Neemuchwala appointed as the new CEO of WIPRO.

04-Jan − WIPRO announced that they have appointed Mr. Abidali Z Neemuchwala as the new CEO. Mr. Abidali was elevated from COO to CEO and succeeds T.K. Kurien, who has now been made the Executive Vice-Chairman. Both these changes will be effective from February 1, 2016. Mr. Neemuchwala will also join the board as an Executive Director.

News 6 - Radha Krishna Mathur sworn in as the Chief Information Commissioner of India.

04-Jan − Former Defence Secretary, Mr. Radha Krishna Mathur took oath as the eight Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India for a tenure of three years. He took the oath from the President, Pranab Mukherjee. Mr. Mathur was appointed in place of Vijai Sharma and is a retired IAS officer of the Tripura cadre.

News 7 - Filippo Grandi is the new UN High Commissioner for Refugees

04-Jan − Mr. Filippo Grandi has been appointed as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for a term of five years. He will succeed Mr. António Guterres. The challenges for the new commissioner stand tall with the up rise in the number of migrants last year. Mr. Grandi, who is from Italy, formerly was the head of UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and prior to that he worked for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) as a Deputy Special Representative.

News 8 - Mary Barra becomes the Chairman of Board of Directors of GM.

05-Jan − Ms. Mary Barra was unanimously elected as the Chairman of General Motors (GM) Board of Directors. She will continue to function as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She was the first female CEO of any major automaker. Ms. Barra succeeds Theodore (Tim) Solso. She began her career with GM in 1980.

News 9 - IAMAI announced Freecharge CEO Kunal Shah as its Chairman.

05-Jan − Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), declared Mr. Kunal Shah as its new chairman. He will succeed Nishant Rao. Mr. Kunal Shah is the founder and CEO of Freecharge. IAMAI also named Mr. Vishwas Patel, CEO of CCAvenues as its new treasurer. The association was established in year 2004 and represents nearly 200 companies from digital and online industry.

News 10 - Odisha Government Appoints Sam Pitroda as their Technical Advisor.

06-Jan − Mr. Sam Pitroda was appointed as the Technology Advisor to the Odisha Government for development of Telecom, Electronics, IT, ITES sectors of the state. Mr. Pitroda will be given a cabinet rank in the state and will work for the Vision 2036 of the Odisha government.

News 11 - Government appoints AB Khare as CMD of Madras Fertilizers.

07-Jan − The Union Government has appointed Mr. AB Khare as the Chairman and Managing Director of their state-run Madras Fertilizers for a term of five-years. His name was recommended by the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB). Mr. Khare will succeed I. Vijay Kumar. Before joining Madras Fertilizers, Khare was working with state-owned fertilizer firm, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers as a Chief General Manager (Commercial).

News 12 - 105th Indian Science Congress Elects Dr. Achyuta Samanta as their General President.

07-Jan − Dr. Achyuta Samanta was elected as the General President of the 105th Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA). He has set up institutions like Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneshwar.

News 13 - Pavan Kapoor is India’s new Envoy to Israel.

07-Jan − Mr. Pavan Kapoor has been appointed as India's ambassador to Israel. He will succeed Jaideep Sarkar. Mr. Kapoor is currently India's High Commissioner in Maputo, which is the capital of Mozambique. India's relation with Israel recently is blooming after President Pranab Mukherjee had visited Tel Aviv in October last year, becoming the first Indian Head of State to visit the Jewish nation.

News 14 - Sailesh is the new Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

07-Jan − 1985 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Sailesh was appointed as the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet for a period till July 28, 2017. He will replace C. Chandramouli. Sailesh is presently the Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry. The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner is responsible for conducting the decennial Census.

News 15 - Amitabh Kant appointed as NITI Aayog CEO.

07-Jan − The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of the 1980 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, Amitabh Kant as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog. Kant will join the office of CEO in March 2016. He is currently the Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He is also one of the driving forces behind the Union Government’s two major campaigns – Make in India and Start Up India.

News 16 - Urjit Patel re-appointed as RBI Deputy Governor for Three Years.

08-Jan − The Government has re-appointed Dr. Urjit R Patel as the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in-charge of the monetary policy department, for a three-year term. The other three Deputy Governors are HR Khan, R Gandhi and SS Mundra. Mr. Urjit Patel made news after he headed a committee that paved the way for the proposed monetary policy committee.

News 17 - Devender Kumar Sikri sworn in as the Chairman of Competition Commission of India.

11-Jan − Mr. Devender Kumar Sikri was sworn in as the Chairman of Competition Commission of India (CCI). He succeeded Ashok Chawla. Mr. Sikri is a 1975 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Gujarat cadre. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Union Government. Its duty is to eliminate practices having adverse effects on competition and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.

News 18 - Flipkart promotes Binny Bansal as its new CEO.

11-Jan − Flipkart, one of the largest e-commerce companies in the country, announced the promotion of the current Chief Operating Officer, Binny Bansal to the post of Chief Executive Officer (CEO), while Sachin Bansal, who was the CEO earlier, will now be the Executive Chairman for the company.

News 19 - Airbus Appoints Ashish Saraf as the Group’s Vice President.

11-Jan − Airbus Group appointed Mr. Ashish Saraf as Vice-President - Industry Development, Strategic Partnerships and Offsets. He will look into the Group's existing Make in India initiatives.Mr. Saraf holds a rich experience in several other fields. He was the head of Tata Sikorsky JV since the year 2010. He had started his career with Dassault Systems and Deloitte Consulting and is an alumnus of the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune and the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Nagpur.

News 20 - R Shivakumar appointed as the Chairman of ASSOCHAM Karnataka.

11-Jan − Mr. R. Shivakumar has been appointed as the Chairman of ASSOCHAM Karnataka Regional Council, which is the new regional outfit of ASSOCHAM, New Delhi. Mr. Shivakumar is the Chairman of Kumar Group of companies, Bengaluru. Similarly, S Babu was appointed as the Co-Chairman of ASSOCHAM Karnataka. Mr. Babu is the Chairman of Ashwin Precision Products.

News 21 - Dinesh Sharma of India is Elected to the Board of Directors of China-backed AIIB.

17-Jan − Mr. Dinesh Sharma, Additional Secretary for Ministry of Finance, was elected to the 12-member board of directors of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). It will be the first Board of Directors of AIIB. The inaugural meeting of the board of the governors of the AIIB approved by-laws, rules and codes of conduct for the bank. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is the designated governor of the AIIB from India.

AIIB was formally launched by the Chinese President Xi Jinping. It holds an authorized capital of 100 billion US dollars and subscribed capital of 50 billion US dollars. It will invest in sectors including transportation, energy, logistics and urban construction as well as education and healthcare.

News 22 - Tata Motors Appoints Mr. Guenter Butschek as Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director.

18-Jan − Tata Motors has appointed Mr.Guenter Butschek as nChief Executive Officer & Managing Director. Mr Butschek will lead all operations of Tata Motors in India and in international markets including South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and South Africa. Mr Butschek joins Tata Motors after his last assignment at Airbus Group, where he served as the Chief Operating Officer at Airbus and Member of the Group Executive Committee.

News 23 - Dr. Ravi Chellam appointed as the Executive Director of Greenpeace India.

19-Jan − Veteran Environmentalist and Conservationist, Dr. Ravi Chellam was appointed as the Executive Director of Greenpeace India, a Non-Government Organization (NGO). A wildlife biologist and conservation scientist by training, Ravi will anchor the NGO, which has been facing a series of challenges from a variety of government agencies, and renew the organization’s focus on campaigns for a clean and safe future.

News 24 - HaloSource hires Tamal Chaudhuri as India head.

19-Jan − HaloSource Inc., a clean water technology solutions company, has appointed Tamal Chaudhuri as the General Manager to head India Operations. HaloSouce has a long-standing relationship with Eureka Forbes. Prior to joining HaloSource, Mr Chaudhuri was working with A.O. Smith India Water Products Pvt Ltd.

News 25 - Mamta Binani Nominated President of ICSI.

19-Jan − Mamta Binani has been elected as the President of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) for 2016. She took charge on January 19. She is the first Company Secretary to be conferred the 'Bharat Nirman Awards' in 2010. She was the Chairperson of the Eastern India Regional Council of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India in 2010. She was also the first CS to be conferred the 'Bharat Nirman Awards' in 2010.

News 26 - Priyanka Chopra and Amitabh Bachchan named as 'Incredible India' brand Ambassadors.

21-Jan − Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra have been chosen as the brand ambassadors for the government's 'Incredible India' campaign. The duo will replace Amir Khan, who had promoted Indian tourism for a decade as the brand ambassador. There are also reports that the Indian Government is considering a famous female personality as the mascot for their 'Atithi Devo Bhava' series, which is also a part of the 'Incredible India' campaign.

News 27 - IRS officer Atulesh Jindal appointed the new Chairman of CBDT.

22-Jan − The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of senior revenue service officer, Atulesh Jindal as chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He will succeed A K Jain. A 1978 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, Mr Jindal is currently working as member (revenue) in the CBDT.

News 28 - BJP Re-elects Amit Shah as its President.

25-Jan − Amit Shah was elected as the President of the BJP for a second term. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states proposed his name for the party president’s post during the nomination process. Shah is considered to be a close aide of PM Narendra Modi and he has also served as the home minister of Gujarat, when Modi was its chief minister.

News 29 - Twitter Named Leslie Berland as their Chief Marketing Officer.

26-Jan − Twitter Inc. has appointed Leslie Berland as their Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Before her appointment, CFO Anthony Noto was taking care of marketing operations. Before joining Twitter, Ms. Berland was working at American Express (AmEx) as an Executive Vice-President of global advertising, marketing and digital partnerships.

News 30 - Government Appoints Gurdeep Singh as CMD of NTPC.

28-Jan − The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appointed Gurdeep Singh as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of NTPC Ltd for a period of five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post. He will succeed Arup Roy Choudhury. Mr. Singh is currently serving as the Managing Director of Gujarat State Electricity Company Limited (GESC).

News 31 - Supreme Court Appoints Justice Sanjay Mishra as the Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh.

28-Jan − Supreme Court approved the appointment of Justice Sanjay Mishra as the Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh. The apex court bench comprising Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Prafulla C Pant recalled the earlier appointment of Justice Virendra Singh as the Lokayukta.