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PERSONS IN NEWS - December 2018

Dec 2018

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.

Aug 17, 2020

Former India Cricketer Chetan Chauhan Passes Away

Former Test batsman Chetan Chauhan, who shone as a gritty player against fiery pace overseas as Sunil Gavaskar's enduring opening partner in the 1970s, passed away. He was 73.
The two-time former BJP Lok Sabha MP from Amroha was Home Guard Minister in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet.
From 1969 to 1981, Chauhan played 40 Tests and seven ODIs. He scored 2,084 Test runs with 16 half-centuries, but never scored a century, with a best of 97. The prolific domestic batsman in a two-decade first-class career played Ranji Trophy for Maharashtra and then Delhi.
He made his Test debut in 1969, but was discarded after five Tests. He made a comeback in 1977.

Aug 15, 2020

Raghavendra P. Tiwari New Vice-chancellor of Central University of Punjab in Bathinda

Raghavendra P. Tiwari has been appointed the new vice-chancellor of Central University of Punjab (CUP), Bathinda.
At present, Tiwari is the vice-chancellor of Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, a central university at Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.
Tiwari, who replaces R. P. Kohli, is likely to join next week.
Mr. Tiwari will serve for five years or till the time he attains the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier.
Tiwari will be the third vice-chancellor of the Bathinda-based university, which was set up in 2009.
Tiwari has served as dean, School of Earth Sciences and Natural Resource Management, and remained head of the department of geology at Mizoram University.

Maha Vir Chakra Awardee Air Marshal P. P. Singh Passes Away

Air Marshal PP Singh, who was decorated with the second-highest gallantry award Maha Vir Chakra during the 1965 Indo-Pak War, passed away at Command Hospital. He was 92.
Commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Indian Air Force in April 1950, the veteran officer had an illustrious carrier spanning nearly 38 years. He had the privilege of serving as ADC to the first President of India, Dr. Rajender Prasad.
Subsequently, he shifted to Canberra aircraft and embarked on a career as a bomber pilot. The start of hostilities with Pakistan in 1965 saw the then Wing Commander as the Commanding Officer of No.5 Squadron (The Tuskers) based out of Agra.
He led the Tuskers on numerous successful night airstrikes into Pakistani territory, which inflicted huge damage to the Pakistan Military and Air Force assets based deep inside enemy territory as far away as Sargodha, Mianwal and Peshawar.
For his exemplary leadership and valour displayed beyond the call of duty, Wing Commander PP Singh was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra in September 1965.

S. S. Mundra New Non-executive Chairman of Indiabulls Housing

Mortgage player Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBH) former RBI deputy governor S. S. Mundra was appointed as its non-executive chairman with immediate effect.
Mundra had joined the board of IBH in 2018 as an independent director.
The company said that its executive chairman Sameer Gehlaut has taken up the position of chief executive officer of another listed firm promoted by him -- Indiabulls Ventures Ltd.
"Subhash Sheoratan Mundra, ex-deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, who joined the Board of Indiabulls Housing Finance in 2018 as an independent director, has been appointed by the Board as non-executive chairman of the company with immediate effect.

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