Latest Current Affairs - People in News 2017

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People in News

National arena

• The Central Government has nominated Dr Rajiv Kumar, Dr Ashok Gulati and Manish Sabharwal part-time non-official directors on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India for a period of four years with effect from February 9, 2017.
• Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang resigned on 19th Feb, 2017 against the back-drop of widespread protests in the State against the government decision to reserve 33 percent of the seats in urban local bodies for women. 
• Noted Sitar and Surbahar player Ustad Imrat Khan has turned down the Padma Shri award as he believes it comes "too late" and is not "parallel" to his "worldwide reputation and contributions". 
• Rajiv Bansal, Ola's chief financial officer, has quit after spending over a year at the firm. An alumnus of St. Xavier's College, Mr.Bansal joined Ola in 2016 after stepping down as CFO of the IT major. Ola has named senior vice president Pallav Singh as the interim CFO. 
• R.P. Shah, one of the three General Managers of BCCI, resigned from his post citing his age as a 'reason'. Shah was the General Manager (Commercial) and was considered to be one of the big decision makers in board's commercial interest.

Appointments

• Sanjeev Sanyal : He is a former global strategist and Managing Director of Deutsche Bank, has appointed as Principal Economic Adviser. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved Sanyal's appointment for three years on a contract basis. 
• He is an economist and urban theorist. He was Deutsche Bank's Global Strategist and a Managing Director till 2015.
• Vikam Limaye : National Stock Exchange (NSE) on 3rd February 2017 has selected IDFC Chief Vikram Limaye as its new CEO and Managing Director, two months after the sudden exit of Chita Ramkrishna from the top post.
• Currently the Managing Director & CEO of IDFC, Limaye started his professional career with Arthur Andersen in Mumbai in 1987 and has also worked with Ernst & Young and Citibank. 
• Arun M Kumar : KPMG India board has elected Arun M Kumar as chairman and CEO to lead the India operations of the consulting and accounting major. He succeeds Richard Rekhy, who stepped down in November last year following a large-scale exodus of key people from the advisory team. 
• Earlier in January 2016, Rekhy had been re-elected for a four-year term. Kumar, who spent the majority of his career with KPMG in the US, will take charge from 5th February 2017 for a five-year term. 
• Rajiv Singh : He is the Prasar Bharat, member (Finance) and has taken over as the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the pub-lic service broadcaster of India 'Prasar Shama' succeeding Mr Suresh Panda. 
• Hement Bhargava : The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the appointment of Bement Bhargava as Managing Director (MD) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India. 
• The insurance corporation can have tour MDs, apart from the Chairman, as part of its top management.
• Ajay Tyagi : Senior Finance Ministry official Ajay Tyagi has been appointed as chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a period not exceeding five years or till the age of 65 years, w.e.f. 1st March, 2017, succeeding U K Sinha. 
• Satinder Sartaaj : Folk singer from Punjab Satinder Sarlaaj has been selected for the awareness project against human trafficking 'Blue Head Campaign' by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 
• The artist has collaborated with other cele-brated Indian musicians like AR Rahman and Sonu Nigam in this drive to spread awareness about the illegal practice through 'Music to Inspire' album.
• Neelu Rohmetra : Prof. Neelu Rohmetra of Jammu University is the first woman to be appointed as director of an IIM at Sirmaur. She specialises in HRD and cross-culture management. 
• The government recently appointed heads of 10 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMS), including the first woman to head one of the 20 premier 6-schools in the country.
• Ravi Shenker : He has been concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Rwanda, with residence in Kampala (Uganda). He is expected to take up his assignment shortly. 
• Earlier he was High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Uganda. 
• Shurhozelle Llezeltsu : Nagaland People's Front (NPF) president Shurhozelie Liezeitsu sworn in as the state's eleventh Chief Minister. As Nagaland Former Chief Minister T R Zeliang stepped down from the post on February 19, 2017 facing rayon from his party MIAs against the decision to reserve 33% seats for women in urban local bodies. 
• Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre : Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre has been appointed the chairman of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT). 
• He was nominated for the post by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar. The post fell vacant fol-lowing the resignation of Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan.

Obituary 

• Joglnder Singh: Former CBI chief Joginder Singh, who oversaw investigation of several high-profile cases including Bofors scam and Bihar's fodder scam, died on 4th Feb 2017, aged 77 years.
• Singh, who joined Police Service at the age of 20, rose to take charge of CBI on July 31, 1996 when it was probing a large number of sensi-tive cases including Bofors, fodder scam, secu-rities scam, the JMM MPs bribery scandal, Rs.133 crore urea scam telecom deals by the then Union minister Sukh Rant, among others.
• He was a prolific writer. Singh, penned over 25 books on various subjects after retiring from the service.
• Altamas Kabir : Former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir passed away at the age of 68 yrs. He was suffering from a kidney ailment and related complications. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of India on September 29, 2012. He retired on July 19, 2013. He was enrolled as an advocate in 1973 and prac-ticed in the district court and the Calcutta High Court in Civil and Criminal sides. 

Guinness World Record

• Sand artist 'Sudarsan Pattnaik' has created a 'GuinnessWorld Record' by creating a 46.8 feet tall sand castle at Puri beach in Odisha in four days. 
• The previous record holder is an American who completed his art of 45.10 feet in seven days. The sculpture was built with a message of world peace and featured sculptures of Mahatma Gandhi, Gautama Buddha and Nelson Mandela.

International arena 

• Michael Flynn : In the United States, National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has resigned over his contacts with Russia.
• Mr Flynn is alleged to have discussed US sanctions with the Russian Ambassador before President Donald Trump took office. 
• Queen Elizabeth II : Queen Elizabeth II, the world's longest reigning sovereign, has become the first British monarch to reach her Sapphire Jubilee, with 65 years on the throne. The 90-year-old monarch is marking the landmark as a day of private contemplation at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk as it also coincides with the day her father, George V who has died. 
• Dr. Shawna Pandya : Dr. Shawna Pandya, an Indian-origin neurosurgeon currently based in Canada has been shothisted by NASA for its 2018 space mission under the Citizen Science Astronaut (CSA) programme. 
• She is a general physician based in Canada and besides having passion to become a doctor and astronaut since her childhood, she is also an opera singer, an international champion in taekwondo and has also done her training in Muay Thai with a Nan/ SEAL.  
• The mission is expected to start by early 2018. 

Appointments 

• Neil Gorsuch : In United States, President Donald Trump has unveiled Neil Gorsuch (49-years) as his nominee for the US Supreme Court. 
• He is currently a federal appeals court judge silting in Denver, Colorado. If confirmed, he would replace the vacancy left on the court by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
• Rex Tillerson : In US, Rex Tillerson, the former chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has been sworn in as President Donald Trump's Secretary of State. The Texas native, 64, was cleared for full Senate approval in a 56-43 vote. 
• Betsy DeVos : The United States Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump's controversial nominee for Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, by the slenderest possible margin. 
• It was the first time ever that a Vice-President has interceded in such a way for a Cabinet Secretary. Mrs DeVos has no expe-rience with public schools, faced a rocky confirmation hearing last month.
• Jeff Sessions  : In US, Senate has voted to confirm Republican Senator Jeff Sessions as the next Attorney General of the United States. 
• The Alabama senator is known for his tough stance on immigration enforcement and his early support of President Donald Trump who nominated him for the job. Session was confirmed by a 52-47 vote.
• Frark-Walter Steinmeier : Former German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (61- years) has been elected as the President of Germany by a Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Berlin. He would assume the office w.e.f. 19th March by replacing current President, Joachim Gauck. 

Obituary

• Bano Qudsia : Renowned Pakistani Urdu novelist and playwright has passed away. She was 88. She was awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz in 2003 and Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2010.
• Jiro Taniguchi : A legend in Japan's comic all of mange, died in Tokyo at the age of 69 yrs, leaving behind an international following for his exquisite line drawing of scenes from everyday me. He first shot to fame in Japan at the 1980s with first volume of The Times of Botschan', which centres around Natsune Soseki, one of Japan's greatest writers. 
• His work hit the international mange scenes with 'A Distant Neighbourhood', is seen as his masterpiece. 
• Sir Peter Mansfield : UK physicist and Nobel laureate Sir Peter Mansfield has died at the age of 83. Peter led a team of experts who revolutionized science and worked on MRI scans. 
• He had won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for developing magnetic reso-nance imaging (MRI) in 2003.
• Bill Paxton : The actor is best known for his roles in film including Twister, Titanic as well as Ridley Soffit Aliens and won an Emmy Award for Hatfield and McCoys, has passed away after complications from heart surgery. 
• He was starring in the CBS series Training Day, a follow-up to the 2001 Denzel Washington film, at the time of his death. 
• Neil Fingleton : The 7-foot 7-inch actor who played the giant Mag the Mighty in 'Game of Thrones' has died at 36. Fingleton was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the U.K.'s tallest man.

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