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PERSONS IN NEWS - December 2019

Dec 2019

Aug 28, 2020

Guinness World Record: Illayaram Sekar Solves Six Rubik's Cubes Underwater in 2.17 Minutes

It is one thing to solve a Rubik's cube under normal circumstances, but completely another to hold one's breath and do this skill-intensive activity back-to-back while sitting underwater. Illayaram Sekar who holds multiple Guinness world records in cubing said that it took over a year of practice to get the breathing right while cubing at high speeds.
The latest feat is his sixth Guinness world record and his most special yet- Sekar has solved six Rubik's cubes in 2 minutes 17 seconds while being submerged in an enclosed glass tank. Sekar's latest record was successfully attempted in August, exactly six years after a similar attempt using five cubes by an American was recognised as a Guinness world record in 2014.
Working as a Rubik's cube trainer at a private school in Chennai, Sekar has many Guinness records to his credit. But the latest one stands out, as the Guinness team had themselves reached out to him and certified this record, after seeing media reports about the same. It is said that it takes a minimum of three months for Guinness to approve a record and announce it, but in Sekar's case, the team certified it, barely within six days of it being submitted.

Aug 27, 2020

Computer Pioneer Arnold SpielbergPasses Away

Arnold Spielberg, father of filmmaker Steven Spielberg and an innovating engineer whose work helped make the personal computer possible, died at 103.
Spielberg and Charles Propster designed the GE-225 mainframe computer in the late 1950s while working for General Electric. The machine allowed computer scientists at Dartmouth College to develop the programming language BASIC, which would be essential to the rise of personal computers in the 1970s and '80s.

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.

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