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PERSONS IN NEWS - November 2018

Nov 2018

Aug 25, 2020

Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash Fastest Human Calculator in the World

At the age of 20 Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash won India's first ever gold in the mental calculation world championships.
As per him, maths is a "big mental sport" and his ultimate mission is to "eradicate maths phobia."
Bhanu - as he's known - thinks about numbers all the time and is now the fastest human calculator in the world.
He compares mental maths to sprinting, saying nobody questions people who run fast, but there's always questions around the point of mental maths.
You might think he was born a maths genius, but that's not the case for Bhanu.
It was an accident when he was five which left him bedridden with a head injury for a year that sparked his amazing maths journey.

Aug 23, 2020

Govt. Appoints Ashwani Bhatia as SBI MD

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Ashwani Bhatia, Deputy Managing Director (DMD), State Bank of India (SBI) as the Managing Director (MD) of SBI, effective from his date of assumption up to the date of his superannuation (May 31, 2022) or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He succeeded PK Gupta, who superannuated on March 31, 2020.
Ashwani Bhatia is currently serving as MD and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at SBI Mutual Fund.
Banks Board Bureau (BBB) headed by B. P. Sharma, former Department of Personnel and Training Secretary, recommended Ashwani Bhatia for the position.
Ashwani Bhatia is the 4th MD of SBI. At present there are 3 other MDs at the bank namely, Arijit Basu, Dinesh Khara and C. S. Setti.

Aug 22, 2020

Rajiv Kumar New Election Commissioner

Former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar was appointed Election Commissioner. Mr. Kumar will take charge the day Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa leaves his office on August 31. The outgoing Election Commissioner is joining Asian Development Bank as its vice president.
Mr. Kumar is a retired Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1984 batch from Jharkhand cadre.
While Sunil Arora is the Chief Election Commissioner, the other Election Commissioner, apart from Ashok Lavasa, is Sushil Chandra.
Mr Kumar was appointed Finance Secretary in July last year, and his stint ended in February this year. He is known to have worked on key areas of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan of financial inclusion, through flagship schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and Mudra loan scheme, among others.

Aug 19, 2020

Rohit Sharma New Brand Ambassador of Sports Eyewear Brand Oakley

Sports eyewear brand Oakley appointed Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma as its brand ambassador. With this partnership, Sharma will sport the brand's performance eyewear on and off the pitch.
As a long-time Oakley supporter, Sharma joins the likes of athletes such as Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh who have endorsed the brand in the past.
Oakley is present in about 2000 retail stores across multi-brand outlets and optical chains such as Titan Eye Plus. The brand, which started operations in India in 2009, is also investing to increase its presence on marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Ajio and Tata Cliq.

Akshay Kumar Only Bollywood Star among Forbes' Highest-paid Actors of 2020

According to an annual tally released by Forbes magazine, wrestler-turned-movie star Dwayne Johnson clung to the top slot on the list of the world's highest-paid male actors for a second straight year.
Johnson, also known by his ring name The Rock, earned $87.5 million from June 1, 2019 to June 1, 2020.
Ryan Reynolds, who co-stars with Johnson in Red Notice, came in second in the Forbes ranking of male stars.
Actor and producer Mark Wahlberg, star of Netflix action comedy Spenser Confidential, finished third with $58 million.
Akshay Kumar was the only Bollywood star in the top 10, landed in sixth place with earnings of $48.5 million. Most of his income came from product endorsements.
Rounding out the list were Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, actors Will Smith and Adam Sandler, and martial-arts star Jackie Chan.

Filmmaker-actor Nishikant Kamat Passes Away

Filmmaker-actor Nishikant Kamat died at the age of 50 in Hyderabad.
In 2004, he made his debut as an actor in Hava Aney Dey and as a filmmaker in 2005 with the commercially successful Marathi film Dombivali Fast. The film won him a National Award. He made his entry into the Tamil film industry with Evano Oruvan (2007) starring R. Madhavan.
The filmmaker also directed Mumbai Meri Jaan (2008), Force (2011), Lai Bhaari (2014), Madaari (2016) and Rocky Handsome (2016).
As an actor, Mr. Kamat was last seen in Vikramaditya Motwane's Bhavesh Joshi Superhero.

Aug 18, 2020

Legendary Indian Classical Vocalist Pandit Jasraj Passes Away

Pandit Jasraj, one of the world's most prominent Indian classical vocalists, died of cardiac arrest in New Jersey, US. He was 90.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the maestro's death has left a deep void in the country's cultural sphere.
Born in Haryana in 1930, his musical career spanned eight decades. Many of his notable stage performances were converted into music albums. He taught music in several countries including the United States and many of his students went on to become famous musicians.
He received several national and international awards in his career. He got Padma Shri - India's fourth highest civilian award - in 1975; Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987 and Padma Bhushan in 1999. In the year 2000, the government of India conferred him with Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour in the country.

Rakesh Asthana New BSF DG, V. S. K. Kaumudi Special Secretary (Internal Security)

Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana was appointed as the chief of the Border Security Force (BSF) and V. S. K. Kaumudi will be Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry, according to a Personnel Ministry order issued. Asthana is at present working as the Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
He has been appointed the Director General (DG) of Border Security Force from the date of joining the post and up to July 31, 2021, i.e. date of his superannuation.
Asthana, a 1984 batch IPS officer, is also holding additional charge of DG, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
Kaumudi, a 1986 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, is presently working as DG, Bureau of Police research and Development (BPR&D).
He has been appointed Special Secretary (Internal Security), Ministry of Home Affairs up to November 30, 2022, i.e. date of his superannuation.
His batchmate from Uttar Pradesh cadre, Md Jawed Akhtar has been appointed the DG, Fire Services, Civil Defence & Home Guard.

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