General Awareness

PERSONS IN NEWS - December 2019

Dec 2019

Jan 14, 2020

Senior IPS officer AP Maheshwari Appointed Director General Of CRPF

Senior IPS officer A P Maheshwari was appointed as Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force ( CRPF).
He would soon take over the charge from ITBP Director General S.S. Deswal who was given the "additional" charge to head the country's largest paramilitary force, CRPF.
Maheshwari, a 1984 batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is at present Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry.

Veteran Odia Filmmaker Manmohan Mohapatra Dies At 69

Veteran Odia filmmaker Manmohan Mohapatra died at a hospital following prolonged illness.
He was 69.
Winner of several National Awards, Mohapatra was undergoing treatment at a private hospital where he breathed his last.
A host of dignitaries, including Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, have condoled the death.
Born in 1951, Mohapatra studied filmmaking at the FTII in Pune and made his first short film, Anti-Memoirs, in 1975.
His first film Sita Rati as a director in 1976 won him the National Film Award for the Best Feature Film in Odia.

Roger Scruton: Conservative Thinker Dies At 75

Conservative philosopher and author Sir Roger Scruton has died aged 75.
The author of more than 50 books on aesthetics, morality and politics, he was also a government adviser.
Boris Johnson led the tributes, calling him the country's "greatest modern conservative thinker", while Chancellor Sajid Javid said "he made a unique contribution to public life."

Jan 13, 2020

Noted Cartoonist Dead

Eminent caricaturist and Kerala Cartoon Academy secretary Thomas Antony died after suffering a heart attack at Kottackal in Malappuram district. Antony, 62, is survived his wife and a son.
He was working as the executive artist with Malayalam daily 'Metro Vaartha'.
The cartoonist, settled in Kottayam, had gone to Kottackal in North Kerala to attend a cartoon camp organised by the Chitrakala Parishath.

In Malta, Son Of Ex-President Is Chosen As Prime Minister

Lawyer Robert Abela will become Malta's new Prime Minister after securing a surprising victory in his party's leadership contest, which was triggered by a political scandal over the assassination of an investigative journalist that brought down the country's previous leader and several of his allies.
Abela was seen as an outsider in the race to succeed Joseph Muscat, who announced his resignation in December, 2019 but defeated his rival Chris Fearne to take control of the country's governing Labour Party.

Jan 12, 2020

Omani Sultan Qaboos Dies At 79

For the first time in roughly half a century, Oman is under new direction.
The longest-serving monarch of the Arab world, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, died at the age of 79, ceding the country to his cousin and former culture minister Haitham bin Tariq al-Said. The latter was sworn in as sultan, assuming the reins of state in a ceremony attended by high-ranking military and government officials.
Since he took power, Oman has seen a dramatic upswing in its fortunes, increasing its gross domestic product from about $250 million at the start of his reign to a sum better measured in the tens of billions.

Government Appoints 2 Joint Secretaries, 38 Other Officials

The government has appointed two joint secretaries, 13 deputy secretaries and 25 under secretary-rank officials in the newly-created department of military affairs headed by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat.
The appointments were made as per laid down roadmap to create an enabling set up for the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to implement the government's vision of ensuring tri-services synergy.
Two joint secretaries, 13 deputy secretaries and 25 under secretaries were appointed in the department of military affairs.

Kannada Scholar Chidananda Murthy Passes Away

Noted Kannada scholar, epigraphist and activist Chidananda Murthy passed away. He was 88.
He was ill for sometime and was being treated for age-related illness at a private hospital, where he breathed his last.

Lt Col Yuvraj Malik Appointed Director Of National Book Trust

Lt Col Yuvraj Malik has been appointed the Director of the National Book Trust (NBT).
Malik, who has taken over from Sahitya Akademi-awardee writer Rita Chowdhury, joined the NBT on deputation from the Indian Army.
The officer has served with the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, Raj Bhawan in Jammu & Kashmir, United Nation Missions in Africa and several operational areas in administrative and operational assignments including Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Jan 11, 2020

Veteran Broadcaster, Academic-Poet Obaid Siddiqui Passes Away

Veteran broadcaster, poet and academician Obaid Siddiqui passed away in a Ghaziabad hospital due to health related problems.
Siddiqui, 63, was quite unwell due to multiple ailments and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kaushambi, Ghaziabad where he breathed his last.
Born in Meerut in 1957, Siddiqui received higher education a the Aligarh Muslim University and joined the All India Radio at Srinagar station in 1988.

SC Stays NCLAT Order Restoring Cyrus Mistry As Tata Sons' Chairman

The Supreme Court stayed in toto the NCLAT order restoring Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman of the Tata Group, observing that there were "lacunae" in the orders passed by the Tribunal.
A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant said the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) decision suffers from "basic errors and we have to hear the matter in detail".

Narendra Modi Fifth Biggest Geo-Political Risk Of 2020

India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been listed as the fifth biggest geo-political risk of 2020, by the political risk consultancy – the Eurasia Group – in a list that is topped by elections in the US and followed by events and developments like the US-China technology tug of war on 5G as well as the trade war between Beijing and Washington.
According to Ian Bremmer (Eurasia Group president) and Cliff Kupchan (Eurasia Group chairman), Modi has spent much of his second term--since winning the April-May 2019 poll--promoting controversial social policies at the expense of an economic agenda.

Jan 10, 2020

Forbes' 20 people To Watch In The 2020s

Kanhaiya Kumar, Prashant Kishor, and Mahua Moitra have found a place in the Forbes' list of people to watch in the 2020s. Forbes India recently published this list that included the names of politicians, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and sportspersons.A US-based political commentator and comedian Hassan Minhaj is one first position in the list, while Keyna's Marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge in on the 20th place.
• Apart from Kanhaiya Kumar and Prashant Kishor, five Indians have also been ranked in this list. These five Indians are - Aditya Mittal, The Godrej family, Dushyant Chautala, Mahua Moitra, Garima Arora.
• Environmental Activist Greta Thunberg also found a place in the list. She has ranked 15th on the list.
• A chef by profession, Garima Arora, has ranked 14th in the list. Forbes explained that she has become the first Indian woman to receive a Michelin star as her restaurant, Gaa, in Bangkok was awarded by the 2019 Michel Guide for Thailand.

Rajya Sabha MP Chandra Pal Singh New Chairman Of KRIBHCO

Agri-cooperative leader and Rajya Sabha MP Chandra Pal Singh has been unanimously elected as Chairman of Krishak Bharati Cooperative Ltd (KRIBHCO).
According to KRIBHCO, Besides, V Sudhakar Chowdary, a versatile farmer's leader, he was unanimously elected as Vice Chairman of the cooperative society.
A decision in this regard was taken at a special general board meeting called to elect nine directors. Eight directors were elected unanimously but there was a fight for the post of ninth director which was won by Gujarat''s Maganlal Dhanjibhai Vadaviya.

Former PM Zoran Milanovic Wins Croatia Presidential Polls

Former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, who has pledged to make Croatia a tolerant country turning the page on its wartime past, has won presidential runoff, defeating the incumbent conservative leader.
Milanovic, the Social Democrat candidate, took 52.7 percent of the vote, while President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who had tried to unite a fractured right wing, garnered 47.3 percent, according to results based on a vote count at nearly all polling stations released by the electoral commission. The turnout was about 55 percent.

Austria's Kurz Sworn In As Chancellor

Conservative Sebastian Kurz was sworn in 7 January 2020, as Austria's chancellor, completing a comeback from the collapse of his previous government as the leader of a new and very different coalition, with the Greens.
Kurz, 33, returned to the top job after a seven-month absence. The cabinet sworn in by President Alexander Van der Bellen is Austria's first with a female majority and marks the first time that the environmentalist Greens have entered the country's national government.

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