General Awareness

PERSONS IN NEWS - January 2020

Jan 2020

Jan 16, 2020

Alok Kansal takes over as General Manager of Western Railway

Alok Kansal, a senior officer of the 1983 batch of Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) took over the charge as General Manager of Western Railway, 14th January, 2020.
Prior to his posting as General Manager of W. Rly, Alok Kansal served as Principal Executive Director/Civil Engineering (Planning) at Railway Board.

IPS officer AP Maheshwari takes over as new CRPF DG

IPS officer Anand Prakash Maheshwari took over as the new director general of the CRPF, the world's largest paramilitary force.
The 1984-batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre was appointed the new CRPF chief on January 13 after its earlier DG R R Bhatnagar retired on December 31.
Maheshwari took over the charge from ITBP Director General S S Deswal who was given the additional charge to head the CRPF.
Maheshwari was handed over the ceremonial DG baton at the CRPF headquarters at Central Government Offices (CGO) complex at Lodhi Road.
He will retire in February next year.
The new chief was also accorded a guard of honour by force personnel.
Maheshwari, serving as special secretary (internal security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs till now, has earlier worked in the CRPF as inspector general (IG) and deputy IG.

China's Iconic Tractor Driver Dies At 95

China's first and oldest female tractor driver Liang Jun, whose image features on Renminbi currency notes, has died. Liang was 90.
She died of illness in Harbin, the capital of northeastern province Heilongjiang, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Liang was the first female tractor driver of New China. Her image was featured on the 1 yuan note of the third set of the Chinese currency Renminbi.
Liang was born in an impoverished family in Heilongjiang's Mingshui County in 1930. At the age of 17, she was admitted to a teacher's college. In 1948, Liang became the only female student of a training class for tractor drivers.

Jan 15, 2020

Dr. Mihir Shah Appointed Chairman Of The Committee To Draft The National Water Policy

The Shiv Nadar University, a leading multidisciplinary and research-focused university, announced that Dr. Mihir Shah, Distinguished Professor at the University has been appointed the Chairman of the Committee to draft the National Water Policy.
The Committee will submit the draft report within six months.
Dr. Shah has designed a globally first-of-its-kind Master Program in Water Science and Policy at the Centre for Public Affairs and Critical Theory (C-PACT), School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SoHSS) at Shiv Nadar University.

Captain Tania Shergill, First Woman Army Officer To Become Parade Adjutant For Republic Day

Captain Tania Shergill, an officer with Army's Corps of Signals, will be the first woman parade adjutant for the Republic Day parade. A parade adjutant is responsible for the parade.
Commissioned in March, 2017, from the Officer Training Academy, Chennai, Shergill is an electronics and communications graduate.
Both her father and grandfather have served in the Army. Her father was in 101 Medium Regiment (Artillery) while her grandfather was in the 14th Armed Regiment (Scinde Horse).
Interestingly, her great grandfather was in the Sikh Regiment.

RBI's New Deputy Governor

Michael Debabrata Patra has been appointed deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, according to a Personnel Ministry order.
He has been appointed to the post for a period of three years.
Patra, who is looking after the monetary policy department as the executive director, will be the fourth deputy governor of the RBI. The post was lying vacant after Viral V Acharya had resigned from the post.
Patra is likely to retain the monetary policy department, which was handled by Acharya, as the deputy governor.
The RBI, headed by Governor Shaktikanta Das, can have a maximum of four deputy governors.

Lt Gen Girish Kumar Re-Appointed Surveyor General Of India

The Centre appointed Lt General Girish Kumar as the Surveyor General of India in Survey of India on contract basis for a period of one year.
Appointment Committee of the Cabinet approved the proposal from re-appointment of Kumar on the post for one year with effect from January 1, 2020 or from the date of assumption of charge, whichever is later and until further orders.
It further mentioned that "necessary communication in this regard has been sent to the department of Science and Technology."
Kumar was earlier appointed as Surveyor General Of India on September 30, 2017 under the Survey of India, the national survey and mapping organization of the country.

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.

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