May 2020 Persons in News

Sakshi Education

Abhas Jha appointed by World Bank to Key position on Climate Change, Disaster Management in South Asia
Indian economist Abhas Jha has been appointed by the World Bank to a key position on climate change and disaster management in South Asia. Jha's appointment comes during the time when Cyclone Amphan has badly hit West Bengal, Orissa in India, and Bangladesh.

Roles and Duties:
Jha will help the South Asia region (SAR) Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change team to connect and collaborate across Global Practice boundaries.

He will also guide the World Bank to conceive and deliver innovative and high-quality development solutions to respond to client demands and strengthen disaster risk management and climate action in the region.

He will work with other Global Leads, Practice Managers, and Global Solutions Groups to incubate, pilot and scale-up innovative and high-quality development solutions, and to promote the generation and flow of global knowledge to serve the affected countries.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan named as chairman of WHO Executive Board
The Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has been elected as the chairman of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Executive Board. He will assume the charge on 22nd May 2020. He will succeed Dr. Hiroki Nakatani of Japan, who is the current Chairman of the WHO Executive Board. The proposal to appoint India's nominee to the executive board was signed by the 194-nation World Health Assembly (WHA).

WHO Executive Board:
The Executive Board is composed of 34 individuals who are technically qualified in the field of health, each one designated by a member state elected to do so by the WHA. The Member States are elected for a tenure of three-year.

The Executive Board meets at least twice a year and the main meeting is normally held in the month of January. The second meeting will be held in May, immediately after the Health Assembly.

The main function of the Executive Board is to decide policies of the Health Assembly, to advise it, and generally to facilitate its work.
Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi assumes charge as Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi assumed charge as new Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy on 11 May 2020. Chaturvedi met senior officers of the Ministry and took stock of the work and issues before the Ministry. Chaturvedi succeeded Anand Kumar in the Ministry who earlier took charge as Secretary, Ministry of Culture.

Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi:
Chaturvedi is a 1987 Batch IAS officer and belongs to Jharkhand cadre. Prior to this appointment, Chaturvedi was serving as Additional Chief Secretary and Additional Secretary, Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Climate Change Department, Environment & Forest, Government of Jharkhand.

Chaturvedi is B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT-Kanpur and holds a PG in International Development from Harvard University (USA). He has worked in the Government of Jharkhand and Government of India at various positions including field and policy level.

He has served as Joint Secretary or equivalent in PMO, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. He has extensive experience of working in other departments like Planning Commission, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances &Pensions. He has also undergone training in Financial Management, Community Mobilisation & Participatory Management Techniques.
WTO Chief Roberto Azevedo to resign a year before his term expires
The Head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Roberto Azevedo has announced his resignation, a year before his term expires. He will step down on 31 August 2020.

Roberto Azevedo:
Roberto Azevedo is a former diplomat from Brazil. He is cutting short a seven-year tenure marked in recent years by intense pressure from US President Donald Trump. had accused WTO of an anti-US bias and other complaints.

Under Azevedo's leadership, there have been important practical moves towards reform, including through the use of flexible negotiating structures, were done.
Prof Shobhana Narasimhan elected as International Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Professor Shobhana Narasimhan from the Theoretical Sciences Unit (TSU) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) has been elected as an International Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Shobhana Narasimhan:
Prof Narasimhan heads the Computational Nanoscience group at JNCASR. She has done significant work on the rational design of nanomaterials, examining how the lowering of dimensionality and reduction of size affect material properties. Her work is relevant for a number of different applications, such as nanocatalysts for clean energy applications, and magnetic materials for memory storage.

She has also actively promoted women in STEM in India and abroad. She was a member of the Working Group for Women in Physics of International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). In 2011, She became a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India.

She has received the Stree Shakti Samman Science Award in 2010 and the Kalpana Chawla Woman Scientist Award of the Government of Karnataka in 2010. She was a member of two committees set up by Govt. of India, the National Task Force on Women in Science, and the Standing Committee on Women in Science, to advise the government on how it can promote the cause of women scientists.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury took charge as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury took charge as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament in Delhi on 6 May amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

He has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Committee for the term beginning on 1 May 2020 and ending on 30 April 2021. The appointment was made by LokSabha Speaker Om Birla.

Functions of PAC:
The functions of PAC include the examination of accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for the expenditure of the GoI. The annual financial accounts of the government and other accounts are laid before the House as the Committee may think fit.

PAC members:
PAC has 15 members from the lower house and 7 members from RajyaSabha.

LokSabha members in the committee from BJP include JayantSinha, Ajay (Teni) Misra, DarshanaVikramJardosh, Subhash Chandra Baheria, Sudheer Gupta, Satya Pal Singh, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Jagdambika Pal and Ram KripalYadav The members from other parties include T R Baalu, Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, BalashowryVallabbhaneni and BhartruhariMahtab.

The members from RajyaSabha to the PAC are Rajeev Chandrasekhar, C M Ramesh, NareshGujral, SukhenduSekhar Roy, and BhupenderYadav. Two seats are kept vacant.
Centre nominates Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj as Director RBI Central Board
Government of India has nominated Secretary of Economic Affairs Department Ministry of Finance Tarun Bajaj as a director on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The nomination of Bajaj is effective from 5 May 2020.

Tarun Bajaj:
Tarun Bajaj is a 1988-batch Haryana cadre IAS officer. He assumed charge as the Economic Affairs Secretary on 1 May. He has served as the Additional Secretary in Prime Minister's Office and worked as Joint Secretary and Director in the Department of Financial Services.
Yes Bank appointed Neeraj Dhawan as its Chief Risk Officer
Yes Bank appointed Neeraj Dhawan as its Chief Risk Officer (CRO) with immediate effect. Neeraj was appointed for a period of three years. He assumed charge on 2 May. He replaced Ashish Agarwal, the current CRO, who will be transitioning to a new role in the bank.

Neeraj Dhawan:
Neeraj Dhawan held the position of chief risk officer for retail and business banking at Yes Bank. He has experience of over 29 years of financial services and banking industry.