Current Affair In the news

January-2015

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo passes away

•  Mario Cuomo, the three-time Democratic governor of New York who turned down several invitations to seek the U.S. presidency, has died at the age of 82.

•  Mario Cuomo was first elected as governor in 1982 and came to national attention two years later when he gave an electrifying keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.
  V. Gowarikar passes away

•  Vasant Ranchhod Gowarikar, a stalwart who played a key role in India’s space programme, passed away in Pune after catching dengue. He was 81.

•  A chemical engineer with a doctorate from Birmingham University, Dr. Gowarikar joined the Indian Space Research Organisation in 1967, settling down in Thiruvananthapuram.

•  Dr. Gowarikar was director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the lead agency for the rocket programme, before leaving ISRO in 1986 to become Secretary for the Department of Science & Technology. He is survived by his wife, three daughters and two grandchildren.

Panagariya as NITI Aayog’s Vice-Chairman

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Columbia University Professor Arvind Panagariya as the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog Vice-Chairman.

Kiran Vadodaria elected as INS president for 2014-15

•  Kiran B. Vadodaria of Sambhaav Metro was elected president of Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for 2014-15 at its 75th annual general meeting.

•  P.V. Chandran ( Grihalakshmi ) will be the deputy president, Somesh Sharma ( Rashtradoot Saptahik ) the vice-president, Mohit Jain ( Economic Times ) the honorary treasurer and V. Shankaran the secretary-general of INS.

Atul Khare is new U.N. Under-Secretary-General

•  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of Atul Khare of India as Under-Secretary-General, Department of Field Support (DFS). He succeeds Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh.

•  Dr. Khare, a former Indian Foreign Service officer and AIIMS graduate, brings to the position strategic management and innovative reform expertise in both headquarters and field perspective, a U.N. statement said.

•  Currently providing charitable medical advice in India, Dr. Khare has a long senior career with the U.N., most recently as Assistant Secretary-General leading the Change Management Team (2011-2012) and Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and Deputy Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in New York (2010-2011).

•  He was previously Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) at the level of Under-Secretary-General (2006-2009).

New Secretary of department of space and ISRO chief

•  A.S. Kiran Kumar is the new Secretary of the Department of Space as also Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Space Commission.

•  Currently Director of the Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, Mr. Kiran Kumar will head the organisation for three years from the date he assumes charge, according to the order issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, Department of Personnel & Training under the Ministry of Personnel & Public Grievances.

Raghuram Rajan wins ‘Governor of the Year’ award

•  RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has been named ‘Governor of the Year’ by Central Banking Publications. In a statement, the publication said that the award recognises, “Raghuram Rajan’s disciplined and focussed approach leading the Reserve Bank of India during his first year as Governor was remarkably impressive.

•  Accepting the award, Raghuram Rajan said: “Of course, no central bank works alone. The important role played by the government in maintaining fiscal discipline, in initiating growth-friendly structural reforms and in launching ambitious new financial sector programmes, such as rolling out bank accounts for all, has been critical to any success the economy has had, and is likely to have.

•  “Moreover, all our collective efforts should be seen as work-in-progress — inflation has to be fully tamed, growth has to be brought back to potential and the banking system cleaned of distressed assets, even while we build the platform for the financial sector to support strong and sustainable growth.
  H.S. Brahma to be new CEC

•  H.S. Brahma, the seniormost Election Commissioner, will succeed V.S. Sampath as the next Chief Election Commissioner of India. Mr. Sampath will demit office after turning 65.

•  Mr. Sampath paid a farewell visit to President Pranab Mukherjee. In just under six years in the Election Commission, first as EC then as CEC, he helped conduct two Lok Sabha elections and at least one round of Assembly elections in every State.
  Shrivastava is new BSNL chairman and managing director

•  Anupam Shrivastava has been appointed the chairman and managing director (CMD) of state-run BSNL from January 15, a company statement said.

•  Mr. Shrivastava has been appointed CMD of BSNL for a period of five years or till the time of superannuation at the age of 60 years, it said.

•  Prior to this posting, Mr. Shrivastava has served as director (consumer mobility) BSNL. He has also worked as senior general manager at Jodhpur, Ajmer and Jaipur in Rajasthan Telecom Circle.
   

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