March 2020 Persons in News

Sakshi Education

Shivraj Singh Chouhan was sworn in as CM of Madhya Pradesh
BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan was sworn in as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh on 23rd March for a fourth term. The oath office was administered by the Governor of Madhya Pradesh Lalji Tandon. He was nominated by the outgoing leader of opposition Gopal Bhargava and supported by former minister Narottam Mishra, Meena Singh of the State.

The outgoing CM Kamal Nath resigned on 20 March after 22 Congress MLAs resigned and joined the BJP. It pushed his government into a minority. The cabinet expansion will happen after voting for the Rajya Sabha elections.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan:
- Shivraj Chouhan is the 32nd Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Chouhan represents Budhni constituency in Sehore district. In 1990, he was first elected to the State Assembly from Budhni Constituency.
- He is famously referred to as Mamaji (meaning 'Maternal Uncle'). From 1999-2006, he represented Vidisha in the Lok Sabha. He is a 5-time Member of Parliament (MP).
  During his tenure, he introduced famous schemes like Ladli Laxmi Yojna, KanyadhanYojna and Janani Suraksha Yojna in the state.
Sameer Aggarwal is appointed as CEO of Walmart India
Sameer Aggarwal is appointed as CEO of Walmart India. Aggarwal appointment will come into effect from 1 April. He will report to Dirk Van Den Berghe, Executive Vice-President and Regional CEO of Asia and Global Sourcing, Walmart.

Aggarwal will replace KrishIyer, who is set to retire. He has assumed the role of advisor to Best Price, Walmart India.

Sameer Aggarwal:
Sameer Aggarwal received his post-graduation from the London Business School and is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

He has experience across industries in general management, strategy, finance and mergers, and acquisitions in various countries, for more than two decades.

He worked as the Chief Finance, Development and Supply Chain Officer for KFC Thailand. Before this, he worked with Sainsbury's in its UK and China operations as Head of Strategy and then Executive Assistant to the CEO to assist with the CEO transition.

He has worked with McKinsey & Company UK and Australia as Associate Partner leading projects globally across various sectors and functions for over seven years.
Renowned architect Satish Gujral passed away
Renowned artist and architect Satish Gujral passed away on 26 March. He was 94-years old. He died due to illness. PM Narendra Modi condoled his demise.

Satish Gujral:
Satish Gujral was an architect, painter, muralist, sculptor and graphic artist. He was admired for his creativity and determination with which he overcame many adversities.

The alphabet mural on the outside wall of the Delhi High Court is one of his famous works. He is the one who designed the Belgian Embassy in Delhi are few of his famous work.

In 1999, he was awarded Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honour. He was conferred the NDTV Indian of the Year Award in the year 2014.
RajyoginiDadiJanki passed away
The chief of BrahmakumarisSansthan, RajyoginiDadiJanki, passed away at the age of 104 due to prolonged illness on 27th March. PM Narendra Modi expressed his grief over her demise.

RajyoginiDadiJanki:
RajyoginiDadiJanki was born on 1 January 1916 in Hyderabad which is located in Sindh province (now in Pakistan). She began her spiritual journey at the age of 21.

She moved to western countries to establish Indian philosophy, Raj Yoga and human values in the 1970s. She set up SevaKendras in 140 countries across the world. The chief administrators at 8,000 of such centres are women. She served as the chief of BrahmakumarisSansthan which is the world's largest spiritual organization run by women. Over 20 lakh people, including 46,000 women are associated with Brahamkumaris.

GoI appointed Janki as the brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) because of her work in the field of maintaining cleanliness.
Indian filmmaker Bauddhayan Mukherji chosen for L’Atelier programme
Indian filmmaker Bauddhayan Mukherji has made it to the list of 16 directors chosen for Cinefondation’s prestigious L’Atelier programme at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The festival will be held from May 12 to 23 and the L’Atelier programme runs from May 14-21. Mr. Mukherji heads to the French Riviera with his upcoming project Marichjhapi.

Mr. Mukherji is an advertisement and feature film director based in Mumbai. His filmography includes Bengali film Teenkahon (‘Three obsessions’) and the Hindi film The Violin Player.
Mahim Verma is to resign as BCCI vice president
The current Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice president Mahim Verma is to resign from his post. The announcement comes after his win in the election for the post of secretary at the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand (CAU).

Mr. Verma was appointed as BCCI's vice president in 2019. He filed his nominations for the elections at the Uttarakhand state association on 28 February. He vowed to improve the cricketing infrastructure in the state as he was elected as the secretary of the CAU.

The Indian cricket board will hold a fresh election for the post of vice president in 45 days after Verma officially resigns. Rajiv Shukla, the former IPL chairman, has been nominated for the post.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu claims victory in Israel's general election 2020
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory in Israel's general election 2020. The early results put him ahead of his rival Benny Gantz. Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving leader.

He is seeking a record fifth term, having been in office from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009.

Israeli legislative election 2020:
Israel General election was held on 2 March 2020. The elections aim to elect members of the twenty-third Knesset.

As per the Central Election Committee (CEC), with almost a quarter of votes counted, Mr. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party has secured 28.73%. Mr. Gantz's, the centrist Blue and White alliance, has secured 23.26% so far.

Israel:
President: ReuvenRivlin

Prime Minister: Benjamin Netanyahu

Official languages: Hebrew

Capital: Jerusalem

Currency: New shekel
Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as the 8th PM of Malaysia
Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He emerged as a front runner for the top job at the end of February.

But Mahathir Mohamad claimed he was the one with enough support to form a government and would prove it with a vote in Parliament.

Muhyiddin Yassin:
Muhyiddin Yassin was the Minister of Home Affairs under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. He unexpectedly resigned from the job. His resignation caused a plunged Malaysia into a political crisis.

Muhyiddin served as the deputy prime minister under Najib Razak. And in 2015, he was sacked due to a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

He then joined forces with United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and won in the May 2018 election.

Malaysia:
- Supreme Head: Abdullah al-Haj
- Prime Minister: MuhyiddinYassin
- Currency: Ringgit (RM)
- Official/ National language: Malay
- Capital: Kuala Lumpur
Janez Jansa elected as PM of Slovenia
Janez Jansa, an anti-immigrant politician, was elected as the new Prime Minister of Slovenia. Slovenia's lawmakers backed the selection of Jansa as the new prime minister. It paved the way to form a right-leaning government.

The 90-member parliament voted 52-31 to support Janez Jansa, the leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), as the prime minister-designate. PM Marjan Sarec stepped down in January 2020 amid infighting in his minority five-party coalition.

Jansa is an ally of Hungarian PM Viktor Orban. The SDS won the most votes in the 2018 election. Initially, other groups in parliament refused to cooperate with it because of its right-wing policies. Jansa will assemble his Cabinet in 15 days to assemble his Cabinet, which will also need parliamentary approval before it can take office.
Amita Pandove was sworn in as Information Commissioner of CIC
Smt Amita Pandove was sworn in as the Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission (CIC).

The oath of office was administered by the Chief Information Commissioner, Shri Bimal Julka.

With her induction, the total number of Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission, including Chief Information Commissioner, has gone up to 7.
Bimal Julka was sworn in as the Chief Information Commissioner
The former Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Secretary Bimal Julka was sworn in as the next Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on 5 March.

The oath of office was administered by President Ram Nath Kovind. Bimal Julka was chosen by a high-level selection panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Also, the appointment of Sanjay Kothari as Chief Vigilance Commissioner is yet to be notified

BimalJulka:
Bimal Julka is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who served as an Information Commissioner. He will fill the vacancy created by incumbent Sudhir Bhargava, who retired earlier 2020.
Andhra Pradesh appoints ex-finance secretary as adviser to CM Jagan
Andhra Pradesh government appoints retired former Union finance secretary, Subhash Chandra Garg, as an advisor to chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to help the cash-strapped state mobilize resources.

Garg has been given the rank of a cabinet minister in the state government and tenure of two years.

Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh has a debt to GDP ratio of 31.6%, one of the highest among Indian states, junior finance minister in the Union government.

The share of GST returns from the Centre had come down by about Rs 2,500 crore for the last fiscal. Around 3,979 crore towards revenue deficit compensation as against Rs 18,969 crore.

The chief minister held an official review meeting on the Mission Build program, aimed at additional resource mobilization through monetization of vacant government lands through National Building Construction Corporation.

Subhash Chandra Garg
A 1983-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Garg took voluntary retirement from his service in October 2019.At the time, there was speculation that he was moved for suggesting the controversial idea of sovereign bonds.
Indian-American appointed as a key member to the US coronavirus task force
Indian-American Seema Verma was appointed as a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. It was constituted by US President Donald Trump.

The appointment was of Seema Verma, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced by the US Vice President Mike Pence. Also, Robert Wilkie, Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs has been added to the task force.

Coronavirus Task Force:
The task force was created on 30 January

The task force will fight the coronavirus that has claimed six lives in the country and infected over 90 individuals in America.

The task force is headed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and coordinated through the National Security Council (NSC).

The White House Coronavirus Task Force works every day to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of the people of America.