General Awareness

PERSONS IN NEWS - July 2019

Jul 2019

Jul 23, 2019

UK minister quits before Johnson becomes PM

A UK minister and critic of Boris Johnson quitted, the latest resignation before the presumed new PM takes office with a "do or die" pledge to leave the EU with or without a deal.
The resignation of Alan Duncan, a junior foreign office minister, underlines the strength of feeling in the governing Conservative Party and parliament against a no-deal Brexit which many businesses say would be catastrophic for the economy.
Duncan follows Margot James, who stepped down as a culture minister in July 2019, describing as "quite incredible" Johnson's promise to leave the EU by October 31, 2019 with or without a divorce deal.
Finance minister Philip Hammond also said that he would resign.

Chronicler of Maharashtra renaissance passes away

Noted academician J V Naik, who flew the banner of the 19th century renaissance in Maharashtra and combined history with the ancient art of story-telling to celebrate Mumbai, passed away in the city .
His family was quoted as saying that he succumbed to renal failure. He was 85.
Naik was the general president of the Indian History Congress and played a key role in hosting the IHC session at IIT in Mumbai in 1980. He was trustee of the Mani Bhavan public library and Asiatic Society.
His much-toasted works include 'The Jervis Brothers: Founders and Guardians of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai' and two volumes of the 'Unsung Heroes: A Tribute' in which he has chronicled the life and times of political statesmen, revolutionaries and freedom fighters of the last two centuries.
The Asiatic Society has published a collection of his essays, 'Reform and Renaissance in Nineteenth Century Maharashtra'.

Lt Gen Naravane to be the next Vice Chief of Army

Eastern Army commander Lieutenant General MM Naravane will take over as the next Vice Chief of Army, replacing Lieutenant General Devraj Anbu who retires on August 31, 2019.
Narawane will be the senior most general when army chief General Bipin Rawat retires on December 31, 2019, and if the government decides to go by seniority the former could take over from the latter.
Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan will replace Narawane at the Kolkata-based Eastern Command, responsible for guarding India's borders with China in the eastern sector.
Lieutenant General AS Kler will be the next chief of the Jaipur-based South Western Command. He will succeed Lieutenant General Cherish Mathson who retires on August 31, 2019.
Lieutenant General RP Singh will replace Lieutenant General Surinder Singh at the Chandi mandir-based Western Command on the latter's retirement on July 31, 2019.
Lieutenant General IS Ghuman will head the Lucknow based Central Command after Lt General Abhay Krishna retires on September 30, 2019.

Jul 22, 2019

MP Ramchandra Paswan Dies at 57

Lok Janshakti Party MP from Bihar's Samastipur Ramchandra Paswan died, following a brief illness. He was 57.
Ramchandra Paswan, the younger brother of Union minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, breathed his last at 1.24 pm at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi. He was admitted to the hospital after suffering a heart attack.
His body will be kept at his residence in New Delhi, at the LJP office in Patna for paying last respects. He will be cremated in the Bihar capital.
He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Johnson Tipped to Win Race to be UK PM

Pollsters and bookmakers have predicted an overwhelming win for former foreign secretary Boris Johnson in the election for the next Conservative leader to replace Theresa May as the UK prime minister.
Barring a major upset, Johnson is far ahead of his rival, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, in the polls.
The election was prompted by May's resignation after parliamentarians failed to agree on a Brexit deal that carves out conditions for UK's exit from the EU.
May will appear at her last Prime Minister's Question Time in the House of Commons and later, hand over reins to the next PM.

Raghuram Rajan Front Runner of IMF Managing Director's Post

Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan is among the front runners for the post of International Monetary Fund's managing director, days after Britain's Foreign Office was urged to back an Indian for the job.
The IMF role fell vacant after current MD Christine Lagarde announced her resignation after she was nominated by the European Council as president of the European Central Bank.
Her resignation takes effect from September 12.
As demands grow for the next IMF MD pick to be from outside Europe and America — as British foreign affairs committee chairman Tim Tugendhat wrote in a letter to foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt – The Sunday Times mentioned 53-year-old Rajan among the likely candidates.

Jul 21, 2019

Anandiben is new UP guv

Anandiben Patel, 77, who was appointed as the governor of Madhya Pradesh in January 2018, has been shifted to UP where current governor Ram Naik has completed his term.
BJP veteran from Chhattisgarh Ramesh Bais, who was denied a party mandate in 2019, has been appointed as governor of Tripura.
Retired Intelligence Bureau special director N Ravi, who was the Centre's interlocutor for Naga talks, has been appointed the governor of Nagaland.
The 1976-batch IPS officer has worked closely with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and broadly worked on a treaty with dominant Naga group NSCN-IM to reach an agreement with the government.

Sheila Dixit Dies at 81

Congress veteran Sheila Dikshit, credited with transforming Delhi into a modern, contemporary city during her three terms as its chief minister, died after a cardiac arrest.
Dikshit, who was 81 years old, had been ailing for sometime and her death was mourned by politicians cutting across party lines.
A multi-disciplinary team of doctors, led by Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, carried out advanced resuscitative measures.
Her condition stabilised temporarily. However, she had another cardiac arrest and despite all the resuscitative efforts, passed away at 3:55pm on July 20, 2019.7.22.
The Delhi government declared two days of mourning in the national capital in homage to Dikshit,the longest-serving chief minister of the city-state.

Padmini Singla takes over as CMD of Delhi Transco

Padmini Singla, an IAS officer of AGMU cadre (2002 batch) has taken over as Chairperson and Managing Director of Delhi Transco Limited.
Singla is Post Graduate in Commerce from Delhi School of Economics.
A very dynamic and result oriented administrator, she has also completed her Executive Masters in Urban Governance from EPFL Switzerland.

Petronas Towers Architect Dies

Cesar Pelli, the Argentine architect and creator of Malaysia's Petronas Towers and New York's One World Financial Center, has died at the age of 92.
After graduating from the University of Tucuman, Pelli left for the US in 1952, where he studied on a scholarship.
He was dean of Yale's architecture faculty from 1977 to 1984, and counted the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal among his many accolades.
His most high-profile achievement was the Petronas Towers in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur - a 452-metre high structure that was the world's tallest building when it was completed in 1998.
Pelli's legacy also includes dozens of theaters and cultural centres across the world, and he oversaw the expansion of New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1984.
He also designed the International Financial Centre that towers over Hong Kong's waterfront and the Gran Torre Santiago in Chile.

Michelle, Priyanka voted most admired women in the world

Michelle Obama, Queen Elizabeth II and Priyanka Chopra are among the most admired women in the world, a new survey finds.
YouGov's annual survey asked 42,000 people from 41 countries who they most admired.
They found that the former first lady, Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie were the three most admired.
Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen were among the Indian women on the list. In terms of men, Bill Gates, Barack Obama and Jackie Chan topped the list.

Sidhu's Resignation Accepted

Nearly a week after Navjot Singh Sidhu quit the Punjab cabinet and made his decision public on social media, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh accepted his resignation and sent it to governor VP Singh Badnore.
With this, it is curtains on the four-time parliamentarian and first-time MLA's current stint in power.
The CM's office cited Sidhu's refusal to take over the power ministry as the reason for acceptance of the resignation.

Jul 20, 2019

Amit Burman Elevated as Dabur's Chairman

Homegrown FMCG major Dabur announced the elevation of Amit Burman as the chairman of the company as part of the family's succession plans. Amit served as the company's vice-chairman.
Amit, 50, who is the son of late Gyan C Burman, replaced Anand C Burman, who stepped down as director and chairman of the Rs 8,533-crore company.
Additionally, Dabur appointed Mohit Burman as the vice-chairman and inducted Aditya Burman as a non-executive additional director on the board.
Dabur's former CEO Sunil Duggal has resigned from the board.
Amit is credited with spearheading Dabur's foray into the packaged foods business with the launch of juices under the Real brand.
He is also known for building a restaurant business — having set up a food-retailing venture Lite Bite Foods, which currently operates around 100 restaurants globally.

Flipkart Hires Unilever's Gupta to Head Marketing

Walmart-owned ecommerce company Flipkart has appointed consumer goods giant Unilever's general manager Vikas Gupta as the head of its marketing function.
Flipkart, which competes fiercely with rival Amazon and dominates online retail sales along with Amazon, was acquired by the world's biggest retailer Walmart Inc for more than $16 billion in May 2018, valuing it at $22 billion.
Gupta, general manager at the home care division and VP for digital transformation at Unilever Indonesia, had been associated with the company for over 20 years.
He was leading Unilever's home care division, served on the company's board, and also led the digital marketing transformation effort at the company.

Sanjeev Singla Named India's New Envoy to Israel

Senior diplomat Sanjeev Kumar Singla, who was serving as private secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was named India's new ambassador to Israel.
Singla, an officer of the 1997 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, was appointed to the post in the Prime Minister's Office in 2014.
He is expected to take up his new assignment shortly.
He will replace Pavan Kapoor, who had assumed charge as ambassador to Israel in 2016.

Raja's Name Proposed as CPI General Secretary

CPI national executive meeting unanimously proposed the name of senior central secretariat member D Raja, 70, as the party general secretary to succeed incumbent S Sudhakar Reddy, who has expressed his desire to quit the top post on health ground.
The proposal will be now placed before CPI national council, which is meeting in the next two days for final approval.
Raja's name was proposed by Reddy and was endorsed by all executive members.

Manjushree takes charge of Kesoram

Manjushree Khaitan, younger daughter of late Basant Kumar (BK) Birla, is taking over as the chairman of B K Birla group flagship Kesoram Industries.
Khaitan has been the executive vice-chairperson of the company since 2013, while Basant Babu was the nonexecutive chair man.
Following the demise of the Birla family patriarch on July 3, there was a speculation about the chairmanship of various B K Birla group firms as BK remained at the helm of all the group entities till the last day of his life.

Jul 19, 2019

Shah to Head Panel on Air India Sale

As per reports, Home Minister Amit Shah would head a reconstituted group of ministers (GoM) on Air India disinvestment and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari was dropped from the panel.
The panel, which is to work out modalities for the sale of Air India, would now have four Ministers — Mr. Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Hardeep Singh Puri.
The panel, Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM), was first set up in June 2017.

Saravana Bhavan Owner Rajagopal Dies

Owner of the Saravana Bhavan chain of restaurants P. Rajagopal, died in a city hospital. A few days back in July 2019, he surrendered in a sessions court to serve the life sentence awarded to him for abduction and murder of an employee in 2001.
The court later allowed him to be shifted to a private hospital for treatment.
Rajagopal was named the prime accused in the kidnapping and murder of Prince Santhakumar.

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