July 2019 Persons in News

Sakshi Education

Rajya Sabha MP D Raja appointed as CPI General Secretary
Rajya Sabha MP D Raja was appointed as the General Secretary of CPI on 21 July, 2019.

The veteran leader, who replaced S Sudhakar Reddy wants all communist parties to come together and rework strategies.
Sanjeev Kumar Singla is appointed as India's Ambassador to Israel
Senior diplomat Sanjeev Kumar Singla is appointed as the next Indian Ambassador to Israel.

He is a 1997-batch Indian Foreign Service officer

He was serving as Private Secretary (PS) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He got appointed to this particular post in the year 2014.

He will replace Pavan Kapoor who take charge as the Ambassador to Israel.
IAS Ajay Kumar Bhalla appointed as OSD in MHA
The government has made key appointments in several ministries. IAS officer Ajay Kumar Bhalla, who was Secretary in the Ministry of Power, has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Home Affairs with immediate effect.

IAS officer Subhash Chandra Garg, who was Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs in Finance Ministry will now be the Power Secretary.

Senior IAS officer Atanu Chakraborty, has been appointed as Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs.

IAS officer AnshuPrakash will now be the Secretary in Department of Telecommunications in the Ministry of Communications.

Another senior IAS officer RS Shukla has been appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs while GV Venugopala will be the Member Secretary in National Disaster Management Authority.
Indian origin Priti Patel appointed as Britain's Home Secretary
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed Indian origin Priti Patel as the country Home Secretary.

The Prime Minister named former Home Secretary Sajid Javid to take over from Philip Hammond as the Finance Secretary or Chancellor.

Mr Javid, a former banker from a modest background, was a contender for the premiership but endorsed Johnson when he failed to get enough support from fellow Conservative MPs.

Mr Johnson has also named Brexit hardliner Dominic Raab as the country's Foreign Secretary.

Ms Patel, an ardent Brexiteer was among the most vocal critics of Theresa May's Brexit strategy. After her appointment, she said it is important that the Cabinet should represent modern Britain as well as a modern Conservative Party.

The 47-year-old leader was first elected as a Conservative MP in 2010 and gained prominence in the then David Cameron led Tory government as his Indian Diaspora Champion.
RBI has appointed the deputy governor BP Kanungo as head to run the monetary policy portfolio
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed the deputy governor BP Kanungo as head to run the monetary policy portfolio. He has been assigned after the resignation of fellow deputy governor Viral Acharya.

Mr. Kanungo will be the sixth member of the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee. The meeting is to be held on 5-7August 2019. He will also retain his currency management portfolio.

The RBI is headed by Governor Shaktikanta Das. It has four deputy governors. After Acharya's exit, the other three deputy governors N S Vishwanathan, BP Kanungo and M K Jain made responsible for 12 departments each. RBI has not finalized replacement of Acharya.

Deputy Governor Jain is given additional charge of corporate strategy and budget, financial stability unit, and human resource management.

Vishwanathan will be dealing with financial market operations, financial market regulations and international issues.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury appointed PAC Chairman
Congress party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury appointed as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The post was held by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge

He recently concluded elections lost from Gulbarga constituency in Karnataka to BJP's Umesh Jadhav.

Chowdhury along with former Union Ministers Satyapal Singh and Jayant Sinha elected as the members of PAC

The other members elected to the committee from Lok Sabha are TR Baalu (DMK), Subhash Chandra Baheria, Sudheer Gupta, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Ajay (Teni) Misra, Jagadambika Pal, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Ram Kripal Yadav (all BJP), BhartruhariMahtab (BJD), Rahul Ramesh Shewale (Shiv Sena), Rajiv Ranjan Singh (JD-U) and BalashowryVallabbhaneni (YSRC Party).

The PAC has 15 members from Lok Sabha and seven from Rajya Sabha. The term of office of members of the committee does not exceed one year at a time.

The Committee headed by a member from the opposition party. It was in 1967 that the Lok Sabha Speaker first appointed a member of opposition as Chairman of the committee.

The functions of the Committee and Procedure, Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, include an examination of accounts showing the appropriation of sums.

They are granted by Parliament for the expenditure of the Government of India.

The annual financial accounts of the Government and such other accounts lay before the House as the Committee.
Acharya Devvrat sworn in as the new governor of Gujarat on 22 July
Acharya Devvrat sworn in as the new governor of Gujarat on July 22.

Gujarat high court's acting chief justice Anant S Dave administered the oath of office at the Raj Bhavan on 22 July.

Devvrat is the 20th governor of Gujarat. Acharya Devvrat has replaced O P Kohli. He was the governor of Himachal Pradesh.

Devvrat promotes education for girls. He was associated with the Arya Samaj as he earlier served as the principal of a gurukul, the traditional school, at Kurukshetra in Haryana.

He has over 30 years of experience in academics and administration in various capacities. He works towards spreading the Indian culture and Vedic values across the world.
Kumaraswamy resigns as Karnataka CM after Cong-JD(S) government falls
Amid the political crisis in the state, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy resigned from the post after meeting Governor Vajubhai Vala on July 23.

The JDS-Congress coalition lost the trust vote in Karnataka assembly. BJP won the floor test with the support of 105 MLAs. Kumaraswamy submitted his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Vala. Vala accepted Kumaraswamy's resignation and asked him to continue as the caretaker CM "until alternative arrangements are made".

The Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka collapsed After the confidence motion moved by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was defeated in the assembly, ending his 14-month long turbulent tenure.

Soon after the government lost the trust vote, Congress' AICC in-charge Karnataka."BJP facilitated this dirty-dealing political drama by offering a huge amount of black money and ministerial berths to the defected MLAs.

Along with this, the BJP also misused central agencies like enforcement and Income Tax for blackmailing and horse-trading .The BJP has carried out "one of the biggest political subversions and hawala transactions" A video evidence of BJP leaders offering money to the defected MLAs for destabilising the coalition government and carrying out political horse-trading has been shown even in the legislative assembly.

Sixteen MLAs 13 from the Congress and three from the JD(S) had resigned, while Independent MLAs R Shankar and H Nagesh had withdrawn their support to the coalition government, pushing it to the precipice.
Mark Esper sworn in as the US secretary of defense
Mark Esper sworn in as the US secretary of defense after receiving Senate confirmation on July 23. He was an army veteran and former defense industry lobbyist.

Esper was selected by a vote of 90-8. His appointment comes after a seven-month vacancy. He joined in the post at the White House by the Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito in a ceremony attended by Donald Trump.

Esper has a wide range of experience in defense matters, as a congressional staff member.

In the 1990-91 Gulf war, he served in the 101st airborne division and participated. He then served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense.

Esper worked in Raytheon for several years before becoming army secretary.
Former leader of opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar has been appointed as the deputy chief minister of Goa
Former leader of opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar has been appointed as the deputy chief minister of Goa.

He sworn in as DCM on 15 July.

He is among the four legislators inducted into the Goa cabinet.

The appointment came days after 10 Congress MLAs in Goa joined the BJP. Mr.Sawant reshuffled the Goa cabinet on 13 July.

Three members of the ally, Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai, Water Resources Minister Vinod Palyekar, Rural Development Minister Jayesh Salgaonkar and Independent MLA and Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte, were dropped to accommodate the new members to the cabinate.

The monsoon session of the Goa state Assembly began on 15 July.
Justice AK Sikri is appointed as an international judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC)
Former Supreme Court judge, Justice AK Sikri is appointed as an international judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC).

Justice Sikri will assume charge as an international judge with effect from August 1. His term will expire on January 4, 2021.

SICC was officially launched on 5 January 2015.

SICC is established asa part of Supreme Court of Singapore, and is a division of the Singapore High Court. SICC deals with international commercial disputes and has 16 international judges in its panel.
New Governors appointed for six states including UP, WB & MP
President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Governors for six states. Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandi Ben Patel will now be the new Governor of Uttar Pradesh while Lal Ji Tandon, who is the Governor of Bihar, has been shifted to Madhya Pradesh.

Phagu Chauhan will be the Governor of Bihar replacing Lal Ji Tandon. Jagdeep Dhankhar has been appointed as the new Governor of West Bengal while Ramesh Bais is the Tripura Governor.

R.N.Ravi will be the new Governor of Nagaland.

The appointments will take effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices.
Benjamin Netanyahu becomes the longest serving Prime Minister of Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu became the longest serving Prime Minister of Israel. He overthrew the record set by David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding father and first leader.

Netanyahu has spent 4,876 days,more than 13 years, in office as on 20 July, 2019. Netanyahu is the Israel's youngest-ever Prime Minister as won his first election in 1996, at the age of 46.
Dr.Nalin Shinghal appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited(BHEL)
Nalin Shinghal appointed as its chairman and managing director for five years. The appointment of Nalin Shinghal as chairman and managing director BHEL. It is for a period of 5 years.
Lieutenant General Shailesh Sadashiv Tinaikar as appointed as the Force Commander of UNMISS
Lieutenant General Shailesh Sadashiv Tinaikar has been newly appointed as the Force Commander of the UN mission in South Sudan. He assumed charge in Juba on July 6.

The appointment was announced by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in May.
SBI's Anshula Kant appointed as World Bank MD and CFO
Anshula Kant, Managing Director of State Bank of India, has been appointed as MD and Chief Financial Officer of the World Bank.

Ms Kant will be responsible for financial and risk management of the organisation.

Her work will include oversight of financial reporting, risk management, and working closely with the World Bank CEO on the mobilization of the International Development Association (IDA) and other financial resources.

IDA is the part of the World Bank that helps the world's poorest countries.

Ms Kant brings more than 35 years of expertise in finance, banking and innovative use of technology.

He looks forward to welcoming Ms Kant to the World Bank management team as it works to increase the effectiveness in supporting good development outcomes.
Vikas Swarup appointed as Secretary of Overseas Indian Affairs
Senior diplomat Vikas Swarup has been appointed as Secretary, Overseas Indian Affairs, according to an order issued by the Personnel Ministry.

Swarup, a 1986-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service, is at present India’s High Commissioner in Ottawa.

He has been appointed as the Secretary, in the External Affairs Ministry with effect from August 1, 2019.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis sworn in as the Prime Minister of Greece
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek conservative leader, sworn in as the Prime Minister of Greece.

The election result gave New Democracy an outright majority with 158 seats in the 300-member Greek parliament.

He is EU's most indebted member who promised to end a decade of economic crisis.
Priya Serrao crowned Miss Universe Australia
Priya Serrao has won the Miss Universe Australia title for 2019.

She will now represent Australia in the Miss Universe competition later this year.

Western Australia’s Bella Kasimba and another Victorian Marijana Radmanovic rounded out 2019’s top three, placing second and third.
Aparna Kumar scaled North America's Highest Peak
Aparna Kumar, Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer, who became the first woman Indian Police Service (IPS) DIG and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officer to successfully conquer the South Pole, has now scaled the highest peak in North America, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said.

Aparna Kumar scaled the Mount Denali in North America which has a summit elevation of 20,310 feet above sea level. The IPS officer has also completed her 7th summit in the "7 Summits" challenge. She has, hence, become the first civil servant and IPS officer to achieve the feat.

The IPS officer has scaled the summit in her third attempt.

Aparna Kumar had reached the North Pole on January 13.
Ajay Singh elected to IATA board
Low cost carrier SpiceJet's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh was elected to the board of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The new board of the global airlines' grouping would be chaired by Lufthansa Group Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr.

In March 2019, SpiceJet became the first Indian low cost carrier to take membership of the IATA.
Charles Michel elected as President of the European Council
The European Council elected Charles Michel as President of the European Council.

It adopted the decision proposing Ursula von der Leyen to the European Parliament as candidate for President of the European Commission.

It considered Josep Borrell Fontelles to be the appropriate candidate for High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Algeria Parliament President Moad Bouchareb resigned
President of the Algerian parliament Moad Bouchareb resigned after prolonged demands for his removal by protesters.

Terbech Abderazak, a member of parliament, would take over the job temporarily.

Bouchareb is a former head of the National Liberation Front (FLN) party, which has ruled Algeria since independence from France in 1962.
David Lipton will serve as Interim leader of IMF
American economist David Lipton will serve as interim leader of the International Monetary Fund, replacing Christine Lagarde.

Lagarde has been nominated to head the European Central Bank.

First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton will now be the Acting Managing Director of the IMF.

IMF or International Monetary Fund is headquartered in Washington D.C., US.
Keshni Anand Arora appointed as Chief Secretary of Haryana
The Haryana government appointed senior IAS officer Keshni Anand Arora as the State’s new Chief Secretary on June 30.

Arora will replaces D.S. Dhesi, who retired on June 30, 2019.

She will be the 33rd cabinet secretary of Haryana since 1966, when it was carved out as a separate State.

Meenakshi Chaudhary was the State’s first woman chief secretary when she took charge in 2006.
N.S.Vishwanathan reappointed as RBI deputy governor
N.S. Vishwanathan was reappointed as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the extension of Vishwanathan's term as RBI deputy governor by one year with effect from 4 July 2019, the order issued by the Personnel Ministry.

His tenure was to end on 3 July.