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PERSONS IN NEWS - March 2019

Mar 2019

Nov 06, 2019

Lindsay Hoyle Appointed as UK Parliament Speaker

British MPs have selected Labour lawmaker Lindsay Hoyle to be parliament's new speaker, replacing John Bercow in a role once little-noticed but now reshaped by the fractious turmoil over Brexit.
Hoyle, a Labour MP for 22 years and Bercow's deputy since 2010, beat out six other contenders in a protracted day of voting in the House of Commons, winning the support of 325 of 540 members of parliament in a fourth and final round of votes.

Chirag Paswan Chosen as LJP President

After steering the Lok Janshakti Party for 19 years, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan announced that his son Chirag Paswan has been unanimously chosen as the new party president.
The entire episode of passing the baton was smooth as Chirag's name was proposed by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras and received unanimous support from party leaders including newly elected MP, Prince Raj from Samastipur. Prince is son of late Ramchandra Paswan.

Punit Goenka to Remain Zee's MD

Zee Entertainment's (Zee's) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Punit Goenka has been reappointed to the position, effective January 1, 2020, as lenders prepare to sell their pledged shares.
In principle approval for Goenka's reappointment for a period of five years was finalised by its board of directors in a meeting.
Goenka, who is the elder son of Essel group promoter and Zee chairman Subhash Chandra, has been MD of the media firm since January 1, 2010.
He was appointed CEO in July 2008 after then CEO Pradeep Guha stepped down. The top-level rejig at that time was viewed as Chandra's attempt to put succession planning in place at Zee, which is the flagship firm of the Essel Group.
While Zee is among the leading broadcasters in India, the others being Star, Sony and Viacom18, the firm in the last one year has faced intense scrutiny amid concerns over mounting debt.

Nov 05, 2019

McDonald's Fires CEO Steve Easterbrook

McDonald's chief executive officer has been pushed out of the company after violating company policy by engaging in a consensual relationship with an employee.
The fast food giant said former president and CEO Steve Easterbrook demonstrated poor judgment, and that McDonald's forbids managers from having romantic relationships with direct or indirect subordinates.
The board of directors named Chris Kempczinski, who recently served as president of McDonald's USA, as its new president and CEO.

Flamboyant TV Astrologer Adored by Millions Dies

Walter Mercado was known across Latin America and the US for his melodramatic predictions and colourful appearance, which frequently included capes and huge gemstone rings.
Mercado was one of Latin entertainment's best-loved faces, but stumbled into his career by pure chance.
Mercado died on 2 November 2019, reportedly from renal failure, at Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
He was aged 87 or 88 when he died.

Aditya Mishra Appointed Chairman of Land Ports Authority of India

Senior IPS officer Aditya Mishra was appointed as the chairman of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), according to an order issued by the personnel ministry.
Mishra is a 1989 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mishra as the chairman of the LPAI on the recommendations of a search-cum-selection panel, the order said.
Mishra has been appointed for a period of five years from the date of assumption of the charge.

Chief Secretary LVS shunted out

Barely seven months after his appointment by the Election Commission of India as Chief Secretary of the Government of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.), L.V. Subrahmanyam was transferred and posted as Director General of A.P. Human Resources Development Institute at Bapatla.
Chief Commissioner of Land Administration Neerabh Kumar Prasad has been made in-charge CS in accordance with GO RT No. 2478 issued by Principal Secretary to the CM Praveen Prakash, who is also Principal Secretary (Political) in the General Administration Department.
Mr. Subrahmanyam was posted as CS just before the general elections on April 11, 2019 in the place of Anil Chandra Punetha who was the CCLA at that time.
He continued to be the CS in the new government and is due to attain superannuation in about five months (April 2020).

Nov 04, 2019

Former IRS Officer Kumar Appointed Expenditure Observer For Jharkhand Poll

The Election Commission appointed former Indian Revenue Service officer B Murali Kumar as special expenditure observer for Jharkhand Assembly poll.
A Commission statement said that he will supervise and monitor work being done by electoral machinery and ensure stringent and effective enforcement action against abuse of money power to allure voters.
Given his past experience in the investigation wing of Income Tax Department, Kumar was also appointed Special Expenditure Observer for Vellore Parliamentary Constituency in Tamil Nadu and for the recently concluded assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Billionaire Ajay Piramal Plans To Step Down From Shriram Capital

Ajay Piramal plans to resign as chairman of Shriram Capital Ltd., the Indian non-bank finance company backed by South Africa's Sanlam Group, as he works to sell his stake in Shriram's parent group.
Piramal, who was named chairman of unlisted Shriram Capital in 2014, is exiting the Chennai-based group after failing to consolidate his holdings into a non-banking financial behemoth amid a cash crunch in India's financial system.
He is now planning two funds to invest in embattled realty projects and lend to retail borrowers after announcing a $770 million capital raise.

Industrialist And Son Of Modinagar's Founder, K K Modi Passes Away

The scion of one of the oldest business families in the country - the Modi family - and the eldest son of late Rai Bahadur Gujarmal Modi (founder of the city of Modinagar), Krishan Kumar Modi passed away. He was 79.
K K Modi served as the chairman of Modi Enterprises, which includes companies like Godfrey Phillips, Indofil Industries and Modicare. Modi Enterprises has interests in education, agriculture, tea and beverages among others. Modi was also a former president of FICCI. Modi led FICCI in 1997 and was also the president of Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry from 2002 to 2006.

Nov 03, 2019

Indusind Bank Finalises Sumant Kathpalia As New MD & CEO

Sumant Kathpalia has been chosen by private sector lender IndusInd Bank as the successor to Romesh Sobti.
Kathpalia is the head of consumer loans at the Hindujas-promoted lender. Sobti, who has been at the helm for over a decade, will be retiring in March 2020 after hitting 70.
The 55-year-old Kathpalia has also been with the bank since 2008 and is credited with building consumer loans portfolio from scratch, as part of a strategy to diversify the loan book adopted by the bank.

Nov 02, 2019

Air Marshal Amit Dev takes over as Air Officer-in-charge Personnel at Air Headquarters

Air Marshal Amit Dev took over as Air Officer-in-charge Personnel at Air Headquarters.
Air Marshal was commissioned in the flying branch of IAF on Dec 29, 1982 as a fighter pilot. He is an alumnus of National Defence Academy.
In a career spanning nearly 37 years, the Air Officer has flown a wide variety of fighter and trainer aircraft.
He has flying experience of more than 2500 hours, including operational flying on Mig 21 and Mig 27 fighter aircraft.

Islamic State Group Names Its New Leader As Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashemi

The jihadist group Islamic State (IS) has for the first time confirmed the death of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and named his successor.
An IS outlet announced on the messaging service Telegram that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi was the group's new leader and "caliph".
US special forces tracked down Baghdadi in north-west Syria and attacked his compound.

Sanjeev Nandan Sahai Takes Charge As Power Secretary

Sanjeev Nandan Sahai has assumed charge as Secretary of the Power Ministry.
Prior to this, he was serving as the Special Secretary in the Ministry of Power.
Sahai is a UT cadre IAS officer of 1986 batch. He has also served as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Power from May 2018 to July 2019.

Beto O'Rourke Ends 2020 Presidential Bid

Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas ended his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, telling supporters he couldn't raise enough money to remain competitive with his party's leading 2020 contenders.
He announced his exit hours before Iowa Democrats began their biggest evening of the year -- with most of the party's presidential field set to speak at the packed Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines for the Liberty and Justice Celebration.

Tarania Clarke: Jamaica Women's Midfielder Dies After Stabbing Incident

Jamaica women's international Tarania Clarke has died after a stabbing incident in the capital city Kingston.
Police said the 20-year-old midfielder was pronounced dead in hospital.
Officers said the student died after a dispute over a mobile phone. A woman has been arrested.
Clarke, who played for Waterhouse FC, scored on her international debut in September's 12-1 win over Cuba in the Olympic qualifiers.

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