Current Affairs May 2020 - Appointments

1 - Ajay Tirkey assumed charge as Secretary of WCD Ministry

Mr. Ajay Tirkey, an Indian administrative Service officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre belonging to 1987 batch, assumed charge as Secretary in Ministry of Women and Child Development. He succeeds Rabindra Panwar who retired.

Prior to this appointment, Ajay Tirkey was holding the post of Special Secretary and Additional Secretary in the Ministry. He also worked as Joint Secretary in the Department of School Education and Literacy in the Ministry of Human Resource Development. He has also worked in Ministry of Defence as Director and Joint Secretary from 2004 to 2009.

2 - Tarun Bajaj assumed charge as Economic Affairs Secretary

1988 batch IAS officer Tarun Bajaj assumed charge as the Economic Affairs Secretary. Prior to this, he was the Additional Secretary in Prime Minister's Office. Mr. Bajaj replaces Atanu Chakraborty, who retired.

Before joining Prime Minister's Office in 2015, Bajaj was Joint Secretary in Economic Affairs Department, looking after multilateral funding agencies division. He also worked as Joint Secretary and Director in Department of Financial Services.

3 - India appointed new Ambassadors to Qatar, Bahrain

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has appointed Deepak Mittal as India's next Ambassador to Qatar while Piyush Srivastava has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to Bahrain. Mr Mittal and Mr Srivastava are 1998 batch of Indian Foreign Service (IFS).

Deepak Mittal is a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. Mr Mittal has served as a Joint Secretary in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. He will succeed P Kumaran, who is the current Ambassador of India to the State of Qatar. Mr Srivastava will succeed Alok Kumar Sinha, who retired in January 2020.

4 - TS Tirumurti appointed India's Permanent Representative to United Nations

Seasoned diplomat TS Tirumurti has been appointed as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. A 1985-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Mr Tirumurti, is currently serving as Secretary, Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs. He will succeed Syed Akbaruddin who is due to retire shortly.

The government has also appointed senior diplomat Namrata S Kumar as India's next ambassador to Slovenia and Jaideep Mazumdar as India's ambassador to Austria.

5 - Neeraj Vyas appointed as Interim MD and CEO of PNB Housing

PNB Housing Finance has appointed Neeraj Vyas as its interim Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for a period of eight months. He will replace Sanjaya Gupta. Vyas has resigned as an independent director (from the company's board).

Vyas is a senior banking professional with over 36 years of experience in banking. Previously, he has worked as Deputy MD and COO of State Bank of India. PNB Housing Finance Limited is an Indian public limited housing finance company promoted by Punjab National Bank.

6 - Shikha Sharma named advisor to Google Pay India

Former Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma has been named as an advisor to digital payments app Google Pay India. Google Pay is one of the leading applications on Unified Payments Payments Interface (UPI) in India.

Sharma left ICICI Bank in 2008 to join Axis Bank. She led Axis Bank till 2018 and transformed the lender into a major banking entity of the country. Sharma has more than three decades of experience in the financial sector having begun her career with ICICI Bank in 1980.

7 - President Trump nominated Indian-American diplomat Manisha Singh as OECD envoy

United States President Donald Trump has nominated senior Indian-American diplomat Manisha Singh as his envoy to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Ms Singh is currently Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs at the State Department.

Ms Singh has previously served as the acting Under Secretary of Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs at the State Department. Paris-based OECD is an intergovernmental economic organisation with 36 member countries to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

8 - President Trump nominated Indian-American Ashok Michael Pinto as US representative to IBRD

US President Donald Trump has nominated Indian-American Ashok Michael Pinto as a representative to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). Pinto was nominated as US Alternate Executive Director of IBRD for a term of two years.

Pinto will replace Erik Bethel. Pinto currently serves as Counselor to the Under Secretary for International Affairs at the United States Department of the Treasury. The IBRD is the lending arm of World Bank Group.

9 - B R Sharma appointed as Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir PSC

According to an order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD), Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Girish Chander Murmu has appointed former Chief Secretary and retired IAS officer Braj Raj Sharma as Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC). Sharma is a 1984-batch IAS officer of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre.

Sharma was appointed the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) Chairman in October 2019. On April 20, 2020, he was re-employed as the SSC Chairman for two more years up to April 30, 2022, post his retirement on April 30.

10 - Government appointed Tarun Bajaj as Director on RBI central board

The government has appointed Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj as a Director on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Bajaj replaced Atanu Chakraborty. The nomination of Bajaj is effective from May 5.

Prior to taking over as Economic Affairs Secretary, Bajaj, a 1988 batch IAS officer, was the Additional Secretary in Prime Minister's Office. He joined the Prime Minister's Office in 2015. Before joining the Prime Minister's Office in 2015, Mr Bajaj was Joint Secretary in Economic Affairs Department, overseeing the multilateral funding agencies division.

11 - Krishnan Ramachandran appointed as MD & CEO of Max Bupa

Max Bupa Health Insurance has appointed Krishnan Ramachandran as its new Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He replaced Ashish Mehrotra. Prior to this appointment, he was serving as the CEO of Apollo Munich Health Insurance.

Ramachandran has over 23 years of experience in health insurance, healthcare and life sciences segments. Max Bupa Health Insurance is a joint venture between True North, a leading Indian private equity firm, and the United Kingdom (UK)’s 70-year-old healthcare services expert, Bupa.

12 - Lt Gen Raj Shukla assumed charge of Army Training Command

Lt Gen Raj Shukla assumed charge as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Army Training Command (ARTRAC). He succeeded Lt Gen P C Thimayya. Shukla was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in December 1982. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy.

Shukla is a recipient of the Yudh Seva Medal and the Sena Medal. He has commanded a Medium Regiment in the Eastern theatre as part of a Mountain Division. He later took the regiment to the Desert as part of a Strike Corps.

13 - DPS Negi took over as Director General Labour Bureau

D P S Negi took charge as Director General, Labour Bureau & Senior Labour & Employment Advisor in the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Labour Bureau collects and analyse data related to workers, employment, and retail inflation. Negi is an Indian Economic Services (IES) officer of the 1985 batch.

Prior to this new assignment, Negi served as Advisor Finance (MSME). Earlier as Director, Social Security, Ministry of Labour and Employment, he pushed key reforms and amendments in five Social Security Legislations and Acts, including EPF & MP Act, 1952.

14 - Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury reappointed as Chairperson of PAC

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has reappointed Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as Chairperson of the Parliament’s public accounts committee (PAC). Members of the public accounts committee are elected every year. The 22-member panel includes 15 members from the Lok Sabha and seven from the Rajya Sabha.

The PAC examines accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for the expenditure of the Government of India, the annual financial accounts of the Government, and others.

15 - Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi takes charge as MNRE Secretary

Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi has assumed charge as new Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. The 1987 Batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre succeeded Anand Kumar. Anand Kumar took charge as Secretary, Ministry of Culture.

Prior to this appointment, Chaturvedi was serving as Additional Chief Secretary and Additional Secretary (Climate Change Department) of the Government of Jharkhand. He has extensive experience of working in other departments like Planning Commission, M/o Agriculture, M/o Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.

16 - IAS Manoj Ahuja appointed as new CBSE Chairman

1990 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, Manoj Ahuja, has been appointed as the new Chairman of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). He replaced Anita Karwal who was appointed as Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Prior to this appointment, Manoj was Special Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. The CBSE Chairperson is the Chief Executive of the Governing Body of CBSE and is assisted by fourteen Heads of Departments.

17 - V. Vidyavathi appointed as new Chief of Archaeological Survey of India

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed 1991 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer, V. Vidyavathi, as the new Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). She will be serving in the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of India.

In other appointments, K. Srinivas, a 1989 Gujarat-cadre officer, has been appointed as the new Establishment Officer for the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). Rajesh Bhushan, an IAS officer of the 1987-batch of Bihar cadre, was appointed as the Officer of Special Duty (OSD) in the health ministry.

18 - Zubair Iqbal appointed as new MD of Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Senior vice president of HDFC Bank, Zubair Iqbal was appointed as new managing director of Jammu and Kashmir Bank for a period of three-year tenure. Zubair was recently awarded at Silver Jubilee Celebrations by Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi for significant contribution to the banking industry.

Jammu and Kashmir Bank is a J&K - based private sector banking and financial services company. The appointment is a part of Reserve Bank of India’s directions to separate the positions of Chairman and Managing Director for better governance.

19 - Rajesh Goel became new DG of NAREDCO

National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) appointed Rajesh Goel as the new Director General of the real estate body. National Real Estate Development Council is self-regulatory body established in 1998 under the aegis of Housing And Urban Affairs Government of India.

Prior to this appointment, he served as Chairman and Managing director of Hindustan Prefab Ltd. He has experience of handling various portfolios such as Project Management, Project Financing, Real Estate, Information Technology, Disaster Management, Corporate Planning, Technology Promotion, etc., in NBCC, HUDCO and HPL.

20 - Dilip Oommen became new President of Indian Steel Association

Indian Steel Association (ISA) appointed Dilip Oommen as its new President. Shri Dilip Oommen is the CEO of Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India Ltd. since 2011 and served as its Chief Executive Officer. He is also a Director on the Board of Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India Ltd. and other group companies. He joined the company in 2003 as Chief Operating Officer (COO). He has more than 35 years of experience in Steel Industry.

Dilip Oommen received accolades from Gujarat Chamber of Commerce, Hadeed, Indian Institute of Metals for his outstanding contribution to the industry.

21 - Govinda Rajulu Chintala appointed as chairman of NABARD

The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet appointed Govinda Rajulu Chintala as the Chairman of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) till his superannuation in July 2022. NABARD is an Apex Development Financial Institution in India. The appointments committee also cleared the appointment of Shaji KV as deputy managing director and Chief General manager P.V.S. Suryakumar as deputy managing director.

The fresh appointments have come when the institution is set to play a key role in financing the needs of the rural economy as part of the government’s economic package dealing with the coronavirus pandemic’s impact.

22 - Carmen Reinhart appointed as Chief Economist of World Bank Group

World Bank Group appointed Carmen Reinhart as its new Vice President and Chief Economist. Reinhart is currently the Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System at Harvard Kennedy School. Previously, she was the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for International Economics at the University of Maryland.

Carmen was Senior Policy Advisor and Deputy Director at the IMF and Vice President and Chief Economist of the investment bank Bear Stearns. Reinhart has been listed among Bloomberg Markets most influential 50 in finance.

23 - Marcos Troyjo elected as new President of NDB

Marcos Prado Troyjo of Brazil has been appointed as the new President of New Development Banks (NDB). He will replace India's KV Kamath. The President is the chief of the operating staff of the NDB. Mr. Marcos recently served as Brazil’s Deputy Economy Minister and Special Secretary for Foreign Trade and International Affairs and represented the Brazilian Government on the boards of multilateral development institutions.

The Board of Governors of the NDB also appointed Mr. Anil Kishora as Vice President of the Bank. NDB is formed by BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.