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PERSONS IN NEWS - March 2019

Mar 2019

Aug 30, 2019

Fraud-hit CG Power Sacks Gautam Thapar As Chairman

After its Board-instituted investigation unearthed a multi-crore financial fraud, CG Power & Industrial Solutions removed its founder Gautam Thapar as chairman of the company, prompting the tycoon to break his silence to say that there was neither any fraud nor any misappropriation of funds.
The Board of the fraud-hit firm through a circular resolution approved by a majority of the members removed Thapar as the chairman, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Thapar opposed the resolution, while CEO and managing director KN Neelkant, whose continuance has been questioned by investors, abstained from voting on the resolution.
The Board is likely to elect a new chairman. In all likelihood, one of the independent directors will be appointed as the non-executive chairman.

ICRA Terminates Employment Of MD And CEO Naresh Takkar

Ratings agency ICRA, on August 29, 2019 has announced that the employment of its Managing Director and Group CEO Naresh Takkar has been terminated, effective immediately.
According to a release filed with the exchanges, the company's board of directors also stated that they will commence a search for a replacement. No reason was mentioned for the termination of Takkar's employment.
The release also stated that Vipul Agarwal, who was appointed interim COO on July 1, 2019, remains responsible for the day-to-day operation of the company until a new CEO has been appointed.
Takkar was sent on forced leave in July 2019, following a review by the rating agency pending an enquiry into the "concerns" raised by the capital markets watchdog SEBI.
Takkar's forced leave in July 2019 was seen as an unprecedented step, a first in the industry, which occurred at a time when the rating agencies were under a cloud following the IL&FS debacle.

Government Extends CBDT Chairman Pramod Chandra Mody's Tenure By One Year

The tenure of CBDT Chairman Pramod Chandra Mody has been extended by an year. According to the order, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved "re-appointment" of Mody for a period of one year.
Mody was to retire on August 3, 2019. A 1982-batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre) officer, Mody took over as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chief in February 2019. His appointment came after Sushil Chandra, the then CBDT chief, was appointed as an Election Commissioner.
The ACC in an another order appointed 1983-batch IRS officer Prabhash Shankar as a new member in the CBDT. The other members are P K Dash, Akhilesh Ranjan and Neena Kumar. There are still two vacancies in the Board.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank MD & CEO Announces Resignation

Parthasarathi Mukherjee, MD & CEO of Lakshmi Vilas bank, has submitted his resignation letter dated August 28, 2019, owing to personal reasons. The letter was placed before the board in the meeting held and the board has accepted the same.
Mukherjee will be relieved of his responsibilities on August 31, 2019.
The bank is in the process of getting approvals from the regulators for a proposed merger of Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBHFL) and its wholly owned subsidiary Indiabulls Commercial Credit with LVB.
According to the plan, IBHFL is to hold around 90.5% of the post-merger enhanced equity capital of the merged entity, while shareholders of LVB are to hold around 9.5%.

Aug 29, 2019

Shri Pavan Kapoor Appointed As The Next Ambassador Of India To The United Arab Emirates

India appointed Pavan Kapoor as its next Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.
The 1990 cadre IFS officer will replace Navdeep Singh Suri, who has been heading the Indian mission in UAE since October 2016.
Pavan Kapoor is 1990 lFS (Indian Foreign Service) cadre.
He will take up the assignment shortly.

Ferdinand Piëch Died At The Age Of 82

Piech, the grandson of sports car and VW Beetle pioneer Ferdinand Porsche, died on Sunday in Rosenheim, Bavaria at the age of 82.
Piëch, the son of Ferdinand Porsche's daughter Louise, spent nearly his whole life holding posts within VW Group.
His engineering career began at Porsche before then-CEO Ferry Porsche ordered his dismissal along with all other family members from the company.
He moved to Audi before heading up VW Group as its CEO from 1993 to 2002. Following his CEO role, he became VW Group chairman and retired from the position in 2015.
Famously, Piëch stopped a hostile takeover of VW by Porsche in 2008. Following former Porsche chairman Wendelin Wiedeking's announcement that he intended to acquire 75% of VW shares during the course of 2009, Piëch swooped in.

Aug 28, 2019

Architect Of Volkswagen's Global Expansion Dies

Ferdinand Piech, Volkswagen AG's former chairman and chief executive, who transformed the German company from a struggling midsized car-maker into a global automotive powerhouse, has died.
Piech, 82, died in Rosenheim, Bavaria.
A brilliant engineer, Piech turned around VW after betting on a modular construction technique which allowed Audi, Skoda and VW brands to share up to 65% common parts, helping Volkswagen Group to attain greater economies of scale.
Piech was a grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the father of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle and part of the Porsche and Piech clans which today still control VW Group.

India's First Woman DGP Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya Dies At 72

India's first female director general of police, Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, died in Mumbai after a long illness. She was 72.
Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, a 1973 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, made history when she was appointed the DGP of Uttarakhand in the year 2004. She retired as the DGP on October 31, 2007.
Born in Himachal Pradesh, she was country's second female Indian Police Service (IPS) officer after Kiran Bedi.
After her retirement, she tried her hand at politics and fought the general elections in 2014 on Aam Aadmi Party's ticket but lost.
During her 33 years of service, she also served as an inspector general in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
In 1997, she was awarded the President's police medal for distinguished service. She was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi award for Excellent All-Round Performance. She was chosen to represent India during the Interpol meeting held in Mexico in 2004.
She also handled some sensitive cases including the murder of badminton national champion Syed Modi and the Reliance-Bombay Dyeing case.
She also made a guest appearance on the hit television series Udaan on Doordarshan, directed by her sister Kavita Chaudhary. It was based on her life showing her struggles to become an IPS officer.

Naval War Hero Noel Kelman Dies At 92

Naval war hero and Kirti Chakra awardee, Commander Noel Kelman, passed away at the age of 92 in Porvorim following a brief illness.
Commander Kelman was awarded the Kirti Chakra for valour during the liberation of Goa in 1961. He was involved in an operation to flush out the Portuguese from the Anjadip Island.
Kelman had also been awarded the King's commendation in the Second World War for his role in sinking a Japanese submarine.
He was a founder member of the Goa Branch of the All India Anglo Indian Association.

Aug 27, 2019

TAFE Appoints CEO

Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd. (TAFE) has appointed a new chief executive officer and elevated two top officials.
Sandeep Sinha, former managing director, Cummins India, has been named as the chief executive officer. S. Chandramohan has been elevated as group president (finance and investment strategy) and T.R. Kesavan as group president (corporate relations and alliances).
All of them will report to Mallika Srinivasan, chairman, TAFE.

Lt Gen Puri Became First Serving First Serving Lt Gen To Complete 1,200 Km Paris Brest Paris Circuit

Lieutenant General Anil Puri has become the first serving Lieutenant General-rank officer of the Indian Army to complete France's oldest cycling event, 1,200-km Paris-Brest-Paris circuit.
The 56-year-old officer completed the circuit on August 23, 2019 by cycling non-stop for 90 hours.
Over 31,125 riders have managed to complete Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur ever since the event started in 1931.
In 2019, the picturesque town of Rambouillet hosted the departure and arrival for the event.

Aug 26, 2019

Ajay Kumar Appointed New Defence Secretary

Ajay Kumar was appointed the new Defence Secretary. He will replace Sanjay Mitra whose term ends on August 23, 2019.
Subash Chandra, IAS (of 1986 batch), Special Secretary, Department of Defence, is the new Secretary, Department of Defence Production. He will take over from Ajay Kumar, IAS (1985 batch).
Brij Kumar Agarwal, IAS (1985 batch) has been appointed Secretary to the Lokpal in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India.

Alejandro Giammattei Elected Guatemala President

Conservative Alejandro Giammattei was elected as Guatemala's President, defeating former first lady Sandra Torres in a run-off.
Giammattei will succeed corruption-tainted outgoing President Jimmy Morales, who leaves office in January, 2020.

Arun Jaitley dies at 66

Arun Jaitley, the former finance minister and a stalwart of the Bharatiya Janata Party, passed away at AIIMS hospital in New Delhi. He was 66 years old.
Arun Jaitley was rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences on August 9, 2019 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness. He was kept under observation at the Cardio-Neuro-Centre of the hospital, however, his condition kept on deteriorating.
Jaitley, 66, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stepped down as finance minister in January 2019 due to ill health, just months before elections that returned Modi's Hindu nationalists to power.

Arun Jaitley's achievements
Jaitley, the lawyer-turned politician was an important part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet in the BJP government's first term.
Before opting out of the new Modi government in 2019, he looked after the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
He was also the Minister of Defence 2014-2017, and the Minister of Information and Broadcasting from 2014-2016.
Arun Jaitley's biggest achievements as the finance minister in Modi Cabinet were the successful implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), both of which formalised the Indian economy.
He also laid the roadmap for direct tax reforms and extensively worked toward opening up the economy by easing out foreign direct investment (FDI) rules.

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