JANUARY

APPOINTMENTS

Ø  Indian-American Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen to lead USISPF Board

Ø  Indian-American Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen has been elected as the Vice Chairman of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum. It is a new organisation set up to enhance business relations between India and the US. The new representative body – US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) was set up to promote bilateral trade and work on creating meaningful opportunities that have the power to change the lives of citizens.The USISPF now has 31 board members.

Ø  IOA names Sisodia as Chef de Mission for CWG 2018

Ø  The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed Vikram Singh Sisodia as the Chef de Mission for the 21st Commonwealth Games to be held at Gold Coast in Australia. Sisodia is currently the Joint Secretary of the IOA.

Ø  Vijay Keshav Gokhale to take charge as new Foreign Secretary

Ø  Vijay Keshav Gokhale, a senior diplomat of the external Affairs Ministry, will take charge as the next Foreign Secretary. Gokhale would be succeeding S jaishankar, who is retiring from the post. The 1977-batch IFS officer, Jaishankar was appointed as the Foreign Secretary in January 2015, for a term of two years. He was given a one-year extension in January last year.

Ø  Mazumdar-Shaw, Rajiv Lall joins USIBC

Ø  Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director of Biocon Ltd, IDFC Bank founder Rajiv Lall have been appointed to the board of US India Business Council for 2018. The board is comprised of industry leaders from the US and India. The US India Business Council will work to advance the US-India strategic and economic relationship by advocating for policy changes.

Ø  Rajesh will be next Ambassador to Niger

Ø  Shri Rajesh Agarwal, presently Counsellor, High Commission of India, Port Moresby has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Niger. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly. Niger is a landlocked country in Western Africa named after the Niger River. The capital city is Niamey.

Ø  Usha Ananthasubramanian becomes 1st Woman IBA Chief

Ø  Usha Ananthasubramanian, MD and CEO, Allahabad Bank, has been elected the first woman chairman of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). Usha was elected IBA Chairman for the year 2017-18 by its Managing Committee. IBA Chairman’s position fell vacant following the superannuation of Jatinder Bir Singh. Rajnish Kumar.

Ø  FICCI appoints Dilip Chenoy as Director General

Ø  Industry Chamber Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has appointed Dilip Chenoy as its Director General. Prior to this, he was Chairman of Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology and Member, Board of Advisors, IILM. He was awarded the Game Changer Award in 2015 and the Rashtriya Media Ratan Award in 2013.

Ø  Ashok Lavasa assumes charge as Election Commissioner of India

Ø  Ashok Lavasa has assumed charge as the Election Commissioner (EC) of India. He was appointed to the post by President Ram Nath Kovind. Lavasa succeeds Om Prakash Rawat, who was elevated as the Chief Election Commissioner. The third member of the top election body is Election Commissioner Sunil Arora. Lavasa’s term as Election Commissioner would end in October 2022 and would thereafter serve as the Chief Election Commissioner.

Ø  Scientist S. Somanath takes charge as Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

Ø  Noted scientist S Somanath took charge as Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He succeeded K Sivan, who was recently appointed as Chairman of ISRO. Prior to his elevation, he was Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), the lead centre responsible for liquid engines and stages for all launch vehicles and satellite programs of ISRO.

Ø  Om Prakash Rawat appointed New Chief Election Commissioner

Ø  Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat was appointed as the next chief election commissioner (CEC) of India. Mr Rawat is the 22nd CEC of India. He succeeded Achal Kumar Joti. The government also appointed former finance secretary Ashok Lawasa as an Election Commissioner. Mr Rawat will take over the office from 23rd January 2018 onwards. Sunil Arora is the other Election Commissioner.

Ø  Sudeep Lakhtakia appointed as new DG of National Security Guard

Ø  Senior IPS officer Sudeep Lakhtakia was appointed as new Director General of National Security Guard (NSG). He will succeed SP Singh, who retired from the post. Lakhtakia is a 1984-batch IPS officer of Telangana cadre. He is currently serving as special DG of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Ø  Anandiben Patel appointed as Governor Madhya Pradesh

Ø  President Ramnath Kovind has appointed former Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel as Governor of Madhya Pradesh. She will replace Gujarat governor Om Prakash Kohli who is holding additional charge of office of Governor of Madhya Pradesh.

Ø  FB appoints its 1st African-American Member to Board

Ø  Facebook has appointed outgoing American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault to its board, making him the first African-American to be on the board. Chenault serves on the Boards of IBM and Procter & Gamble and is also a Harvard Law School graduate.

Ø  S Selvakumar appointed CMD Of SPMCIL

Ø  The government appointed senior IAS officer S Selvakumar as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL). Selvakumar has replaced Anurag Agarwal. The state-owned SPMCIL produces banknotes, coins, postage stamps, non-judicial stamps and other official documents.

Ø  Vice Admiral AB Singh assumes charge as new Chief of Staff

Ø  Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh took over as the new Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command from Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh. Vice Admiral Singh was the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command, prior to his current appointment.

Ø  Anil Khanna to Head IOA Finance Commission

Ø  Senior sports administrator Anil Khanna was named Chairman of the Finance Commission of the Indian Olympic Association, which also formed a four-member advisory committee. The advisory committee comprises Tarlochan Singh, GS Mander, S Regunathan and BS Landge. The IOA also formed a Medical Commission and Games Technical Conduct Committee and nominated office bearers of IOA and National Sports Federations (NSFs) to the Committees.

Ø  Harjinder Singh appointed as Chef de Mission for 23rd Winter Olympic Games

Ø  Harjinder Singh was appointed as the Chef de Mission of Indian Contingent participating in the 23rd Winter olympic Games to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February 2018. Singh’s appointment was confirmed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Currently, Singh holds the post of General Secretary in the Ice Hockey Association of India.

Ø  Dilip Asbe appointed MD & CEO of NPCI

Ø  National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has appointed Dilip Asbe as Managing Director and CEO of the organisation. Prior to this, Asbe was CEO-in-charge of NPCI. He had come in place of AP Hota. Asbe has been in the NPCI since its inception and has played a pivotal role in designing, building, operationalising and managing large-scale payment processing platforms like the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), India’s home-grown card network RuPay, and several other initiatives.

Ø  Indian-origin businessman Sunny Verghese appointed Chairman of WBCSD

Ø  Singapore-based Indian-origin businessman Sunny Verghese was appointed Chairman of World Business Council for Sustainable development. Verghese, 57, is the first World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Chair from the agri-sector. he succeeded Paul Polman, the CEO of Unilever, on January 1 and will serve a two-year term. he is the Co-Founder and the CEO of Singapore’s agri-business group Olam International Limited. WBCSD is a global network of more than 200 CEOs who are responsible for combined revenue of more than US $8.5 trillion and 19 million employees.

Ø  Rocket expert K. Sivan appointed as new chairman of ISRO

Ø  The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has appointed rocket scientist K. Sivan as next Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of Space Commission and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He will succeed A.S. Kiran Kumar and will have term of three years.

Ø  Former RAW chief Rajinder Khanna appointed Deputy NSA

Ø  Rajinder Khanna, the former chief of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was appointed as the new Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA). Khanna served as the chief of India’s external intelligence agency RAW for a fixed two year period from December 2014. his appointment to the new post was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The employment would be on a contractual basis.

Ø  Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed as Foreign Secretary of India

Ø  The government announced the appointment of Vijay Keshav Gokhale, former ambassador in Beijing, as the new Foreign Secretary to replace S. Jaishankar who retires on January 28. He will take over from Jaishankar who was appointed Foreign Secretary on January 29, 2015, for two years and given a one-year extension in January last year.