www.sakshieducation.com 2013 Current Affairs Special – Persons January Syed Asif Ibrahim is appointed as new chief of IB Syed Asif Ibrahim and Alok Joshi took over as new chiefs of the country's top snoop agencies, Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing on 1st January. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had cleared their names in November. 59-year-old Ibrahim is the first Muslim to lead the internal intelligence agency of the country. A 1977-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Ibrahim was appointed as OSD in the Intelligence Bureau last month. He today took over as its Director after incumbent Nehchal Sandhu retired yesterday. Joshi, who took over as RAW chief, is a 1976 batch IPS officer of Haryana cadre. He has earlier served as Special Secretary in the agency besides occupying other important positions. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet had approved Joshi's appointment for a period of two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, in place of present incumbent S.K. Tripathi, whose tenure completed on December 29. Y.V. Reddy to head 14th Finance Commission Former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy will be the Chairman of 14th Finance Commission, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on 2nd January. The Finance Commission has been asked to submit its report by October 31, 2014. Finance Commission, a constitutional body, is set up every five years. Besides other things, the Commission lays down principles governing the grants-in-aid to states and other local bodies for a five-year period beginning April 1, 2014. Prior to joining RBI as its Governor in September 2003, Mr. Reddy was India’s Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund. The 13th Finance Commission was headed by former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar. S. Ramakrishnan took over as Director of VSSC Indian pioneer in aerospace propulsion, Dr. S. Ramakrishnan took over as the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Sapace Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. He is an expert in aerospace propulsion, launch vehicle systems and project management. Before being at Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, he served as Director (Projects) at VSSC and Chairman of Flight readiness review panel. He played a major role in accomplishing the PSLV C- www.sakshieducation.com www.sakshieducation.com 11/Chandrayaan Mission. He was also hounoured with a Padma Shri in 2003. He served as the Mission Director for PSLV C1, C2, C3 and C4 flights. He played a major role in helping India accomplish its first Satellite Launch Vehicle SLV-3. Urjit Patel appointed as the Deputy Governor of the RBI Urjit Patel was appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on 3rd January 2013. Urjit Patel succeeds Subir Gokarn, who handled Monetary Policy in RBI. The three–year term of Subir Gokarn terminated in November 2012 but he was given an extension that ended finally on 31st December 2012. Urjit Patel was chosen over current Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn and International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Kalpana Kochhar. Manmohan Became the 19th Most Followed Leader on Twitter According to a study of Digital Policy Council (DPC), Manmohan Singh became the 19th most followed leader of the world on Twitter. The Indian Prime Minister is ahead of David Cameron and Julia Gillard, both of who were left behind in less than 12 months time. The latest study conducted by Digital Policy Council (DPC) concluded that leaders of politically – unstable states or fragile states are considered to be social media threatening, but Manmohan Singh and India were an exception to this fact. Singh was ranked 19th with 3,42,612 followers. US President Barrack Obama topped the list with 2,46,11,982 followers. Second on the list was Former President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez with 38,02,177 followers. DPC provides its analysis about government institutions and world leaders who make use of the social media sites for connecting with the citizens. The latest study conducted by DPC proves that 75 percent of the heads of countries were making use of Twitter. Committee on Air India constituted The Ministry of Civil Aviation on 3rd January 2013 constituted a five-member committee to look into and suggest the measures that can be taken for cost cutting as well as optimal utilization of resources in Air India. The committee would be headed by Prof. Ravindra Dholkia of IIM, Ahmadabad. The Ministry has provided a two months time to Prof. Dholkia and the committee to submit its report along with interim recommendations, for immediate implementation. www.sakshieducation.com www.sakshieducation.com New Financial Services Secretary, Rajiv Takru Rajiv Takru, now Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been appointed as Financial Services Secretary in the Finance Ministry. With the promotion, the 1979 – batch IAS officer (Gujarat cadre), Mr. Takru took over as Secretary, Department of Financial Services, from Dinesh Kumar Mittal, who retired on 31st January. Violinist M S Gopalakrishnan died M. S. Gopalakrishnan (82), Veteran violinist passed away in Chennai on 3rd January following a brief illness. Awarded with Padma Bhushan among others, Gopalakrishnan's career spanned over seven decades during which he was known for his deep knowledge of Carnatic and Hindustani music. His contemporaries include Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and T.N. Krishnan. th D.K. Jain as Chairman of 20 Law Commission of India The Union Government appointed Justice D.K. Jain as Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India on 7th January 2013. Justice Jain joined his duties as Chairman of the Law Commission on 24th January after he retired as the Judge of Supreme Court on the same day. The Law Commission is responsible for offering advices on complex issues to the Government. He would be heading the commission as its chief for a period of three-years from the date of being in the office. The 20th Law Commission of India was constituted with the Order of the Government of India with effect from 1 September 2012. First Woman Chief Justice of Sri Lanka ousted Shirani Bandarnayake, the first woman chief justice of Sri Lanka, was sacked by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 13th January 2013, after endorsing her impeachment by the Parliament that claimed to caught her guilty on the corruption charges. Bandarnayake, aged 54, was given the notice in which the President ordered her to move down from the post. This happened two days after the Parliament in Sri Lanka voted to put her on trial, widening the face-off between the government and the judiciary. The parliamentary committee had declared on 8 December 2012, that Bandarnayake was guilty of 3 charges out of 14. The impeachment proceedings were held against her, which were moved by ruling UPFA coalition legislators. www.sakshieducation.com www.sakshieducation.com First woman Speaker of the Singapore Parliament Halimah Yacob (58) became the first woman Speaker of the Singapore Parliament on 14th January 2013. She replaced Michael Palmer, the former People's Action Party MP. Palmer got down from the post of Speaker of the Parliament and also as an MP, on 12 December 2012. Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong nominated her for the speaker’s office. Halimah Yacob came down from her post of Minister of State (Social and Family Development) and was elected as the Speaker by Members of Parliament. Halimah Yacob is an Indian-origin woman born in Singapore. She belongs to the People's Action Party. Mohan Peiris, new Chief Justice of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa on 15th January swore in Mohan Peiris, a retired attorney general and a legal adviser to the Cabinet, as Chief Justice of Srilanka after his candidature was approved by a parliamentary council on 15th January. On 14 January, Rajapaksa dismissed Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake after a parliament’s impeachment. Tahir-ul Qadri asked Pakistan government to quit Tahir-ul Qadri – The Canada-returned cleric led thousands of the protestors in Pakistan and rallied in Islamabad for the third consecutive day on 16th January 2013. Qadri asked the government to quit as well as dissolve the provincial and national assemblies on 16th January 2013. In his speech, Qadri who marched on 14th January to Islamabad with thousands of supporters to protest near the Parliament of Pakistan outlined four major demands, which included electoral reforms as per the Constitution before the elections as well as reconstitution of Election Commission. On 16th January 2013, Qadri’s protests leveraged as the apex court passed an order for arresting Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on the corruption charges associated with power projects. Qadri is Thehrik-e- Minhajul Quran leader who is protesting for a corruption – free Pakistan. Wei Wei, appointed as China's new ambassador to India Wie Wei-China on 16th January appointed career diplomat Wei Wei, its current envoy to Singapore, as the country's new Ambassador to India, succeeding Zhang Yan. President Hu Jintao has appointed Wei Wei, 57, as China's new ambassador to India, replacing Zhang, state – run Xinhua news agency reported. Hu made the appointment in line with a decision made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature. www.sakshieducation.com www.sakshieducation.com S. N. Anantha subramanian elected as the President of ICSI S. N. Ananthasubramanian – a Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has been elected as the President of the Institute with effect from 19th January 2013. Harish K. Vaid, also a Fellow Member of the Institute, has been elected as the Vice-President.