♦ The Union Government has appointed L Satya Srinivas as the additional CEO of the Government e Marketplace (GeM). Currently he is serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce. Srinivas is an officer of the 1991 batch of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes).
♦ The GeM portal was launched on August 9, 2016, for online purchases of goods and services by all central government ministries and departments.
Posted Date: October 13, 2024Persons in News
♦ Anish Sarkar from Kaikhali in North Kolkata has made history as the youngest-rated chess player ever. He is just three years, eight months, and 19 days old.
♦ Anish’s competitive debut came in 2024 October at the West Bengal state Under-9 Open, where he scored 5.5 points from eight rounds, defeating two rated players and placing 24th overall. He soon competed in the state Under-13 Open, challenging older and more experienced opponents. This match met the FIDE requirement of playing five rated players, securing him an initial FIDE rating of 1555.
♦ The International Cricket Council (ICC) appointed Sri Lanka’s Sumathi Dharmawardena as the new Independent Chairman for its Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) on 30 October 2024. Dharmawardena replaced Sir Ronnie Flanagan, who retired from the position after 14 years in charge.
♦ Dharmawardena has served as the Additional Solicitor General at the Attorney General’s Department of Sri Lanka, representing the Government and its Ministry of Sport in numerous legal issues.
♦ Bollineni Rajagopal Naidu was appointed as the Chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board on 30 October 2024. He is owner of news channel TV 5. The Andhra government also established a new 24-member board for TTD.
♦ The newly-constituted board reflects a diverse assembly, with members drawn from across multiple states. Three MLAs from Andhra Pradesh, five members from Telangana, three from Karnataka, two from Tamil Nadu, and one each from Gujarat and Maharashtra have been included.
♦ Indian-origin Manveen Pam Kaur was appointed as HSBC's Chief Financial Officer (CFO). She is the first woman to occupy that role in the bank’s 160-year old history. She replaced Georges Elhedery who became CEO earlier this year (2024).
♦ Pam Kaur was joined HSBC from Deutsche Bank in April 2013. She rose to the role of group chief risk and compliance officer before she was promoted to CFO. Prior to HSBC, Kaur held senior risk and audit positions at Citi and Lloyds Banking Group. She also worked for Royal Bank of Scotland.
♦ Senior IAS officer Vipin Kumar took charge as the Chairman of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on 28 October 2024. He is a 1996 batch officer from the Bihar cadre.
♦ He was an Additional Secretary in the Department of School Education & Literacy at the Union Ministry of Education.
♦ The Airports Authority of India (AAI) came into existence on 1 April 1995. Currently, AAI manages 133 airports, of which 110 are operational, while the remaining 23 are non-operational.
Posted Date: October 29, 2024♦ Deepak Agarwal was appointed as the Managing Director (MD) of the National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) for a five-year term. He is a 2000-batch IAS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
♦ Earlier, on 30 September 2024, the government had appointed Pankaj Kumar Bansal, the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, to hold the post of MD, NAFED temporarily.
♦ NAFED was established in 1958. It is a crucial player in India’s agricultural sector, functioning as a cooperative marketing organization. It aims to promote the welfare of Indian farmers by ensuring fair prices for their produce and providing market linkage.
Posted Date: October 28, 2024♦ Amitabh Chaudhry was re-appointment as the Managing Director & CEO of the Axis Bank for three more years, effective 1 January 2025. He joined the company on January 1, 2019, before which he was with HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company for over nine years.
♦ Amitabh started his career in 1987 with Bank of America, where he served in various roles such as Head of Technology Investment Banking for Asia, Regional Finance Head for Wholesale Banking and Global Markets, Chief Finance Officer of Bank of America (India) and Relationship Manager in Wholesale Banking for Mumbai and Delhi.
♦ Chaudhry was also the Managing Director and CEO of Infosys BPO and the Head of testing unit of Infosys Technologies before heading to HDFC Life.
Posted Date: October 28, 2024♦ SBI Chairman CS Setty received the Best Bank in India for the 2024 award on 27 October 2024. Global Finance Magazine of the US gave this award at its 31st Annual Best Bank Awards event, held during the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington.
♦ For decades, Global Finance's Best Bank Awards have set the trusted standard for evaluating the world's financial institutions, making them invaluable to corporate decision-makers, especially as the global economy faces significant challenges.
Posted Date: October 28, 2024♦ Anant Nath was elected unopposed as President of the Editors Guild of India for a second consecutive term on 26 October 2024. He is the editor of The Caravan.
♦ Outlook’s former editor-in-chief Ruben Banerjee and The Tribune’s ex-senior associate editor K.V. Prasad were also declared unopposed as general secretary and treasurer respectively, the Editors Guild of India said.
Posted Date: October 28, 2024♦ Himanshu Pathak was appointed as Director -General Designate of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Pathak currently serves as Secretary at the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Government of India and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
♦ ICRISAT was established on 28 March 1972, through a Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of India and the CGIAR (Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers). This was recognized as a specified “International Organisation” under section 3 of the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947, by the Government of India.
Posted Date: October 24, 2024♦ Pranav Chawda was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JP Morgan Chase Bank India for a period of three years. He succeeds Prabhdev Singh.
♦ Chawda is a Chartered Accountant, started his career in 1995 as an assistant manager in Deloitte.
♦ He joined JPMorgan in 2019 as head of client banking and specialized industries that serve mid-sized, India-headquartered companies. Before that, he was a managing director for institutional banking at DBS Bank in India.
Posted Date: October 25, 2024♦ Indian women’s hockey legend Rani Rampal has announced her retirement as player on 24 October 2024. Rani played 254 international matches and scored 120 goals since making her debut at just 14 years old in 2008 during the Olympic qualifiers in Kazan, becoming the youngest woman to represent India at the senior level in hockey.
♦ Rani also played a key role in the Indian team that won a silver medal at the Asia Cup in 2009 and helped secure a bronze at the Asian Games in 2014.
♦ In honour of Rani Rampal’s remarkable contributions to Indian hockey, Hockey India retired her iconic No. 28 jersey later in the day.
♦ Rani was named the coach of India’s under-17 team by Hockey India in 2023.
♦ She received the Arjuna Award (2016), the World Games Athlete of the Year (2019), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, and the Padma Shri (2020).
Posted Date: October 25, 2024♦ Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi crossed the 2800 Elo rating mark with a win at the ongoing European Chess Club Cup in Serbia on 24 October 2024. He became the youngest Indian and only the second from the country after Viswanathan Anand to surpass the coveted 2800 Elo rating mark.
♦ Arjun is playing for team Alkaloid in the European Chess Club Cup 2024 and beat Russia’s Dmitry Andreikin in the fifth round. This win also helped him become the World No. 3 in the live rating list. Currently Arjun has 2802.1 points against his name.
♦ Arjun became the 16th player to cross the 2800-rating mark. Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand became the then world No.1 with a rating of 2803 Elo in April 2008.
♦ Frenchman Alireza Firouzja, at 18 years and five months, is the youngest player to cross the 2800 barrier. Five-time World Champion, Magnus Carlsen sits second on this list.
What is Elo rating system:
♦ The Elo rating is a system for measuring a chess player's skill level. The rating system is adopted by many international organisations including the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
Posted Date: October 25, 2024♦ Justice Sanjeev Khanna was appointed as the 51st Chief Justice of India on 24 October 2024. He will take the oath of office on November 11. Khanna is expected to serve a six-month term, concluding in May 2025.
♦ The current Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will retire on November 10. He took over as the CJI on 8 November 2022.
♦ Recently Chandrachud recommended Justice Sanjiv Khanna's name as his successor. He is the second-most senior judge of the Supreme Court.
♦ Born on May 14, 1960, Justice Khanna began his legal career after enrolling as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1983.
♦ He was a member of the Constitution Bench that upheld the dilution of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir.
Posted Date: October 25, 2024♦ Prabhakar Raghavan was appointed as Google’s Chief Technologist on 23 October 2024. Previously, he served as the senior vice president overseeing Google Search, Assistant, Geo, Ads, Commerce, and Payments products.
♦ Raghavan graduated with a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Posted Date: October 24, 2024♦ Retired IPS officer AR Anuradha was appointed the new chairperson of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) on 23 October 2024.
♦ She is a 1987 batch IPS officer. Anuradha succeeded D. Goutam Sawang.
♦ Anuradha was the first woman to head the Andhra Pradesh intelligence department when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was in power earlier.
♦ She also served in prominent positions in the DG vigilance and enforcement department, as well as SP and IG in several districts of united Andhra Pradesh.
Posted Date: October 24, 2024♦ Luong Cuong (67) was elected as the new president of Vietnam by the country's National Assembly on 21 October 2024. He replaced To Lam. Cuong is the fourth official to fill the role in 18 months.
♦ Cuong is a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and a permanent member of the CPV Central Committee Secretariat.
♦ Cuong has served in the Vietnamese army for over four decades and has been a Politburo member since 2021.
Posted Date: October 22, 2024♦ Abhyuday Jindal, the Managing Director of Jindal Stainless was appointed as President of industry body Indian Chamber of Commerce. Jindal succeeded Ameya Prabhu, the Managing Director of NAFA Capital.
♦ Brij Bhushan Agarwal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Shyam Metalics was appointed as the senior Vice President of ICC. Parthiv Vikram Neotia, executive director of Ambuja Neotia, assumed the role of Vice President.
♦ ICC is an industry body founded in 1925, that has its headquarters in Kolkata.
Bala Devi became the first Indian woman to score 50 international goals. She achieved this feat during the 2024 SAFF Women's Championship in Nepal, in a match against Pakistan. She was born on 2 February 1990. Devi has been a part of the national team since 2005. She is playing as a forward for the Manipur Police and the Indian national team.
♦ Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar was appointed 9th National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson on 19 October 2024. She will hold this position for three years or until she reaches the age of 65, whichever comes first.
♦ Rahatkar hails from the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. She was Chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Women from 2016 to 2021.
♦ Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar has succeeded Rekha Sharma, whose tenure as NCW chief ended on 6 August 2024.
♦ Dr. Archana Majumdar has been officially appointed as a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW) for a tenure of three years, as per a notification from the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Posted Date: October 19, 2024♦ Indian batter Virat Kohli became the fourth Indian batsman to score a thousand Test runs. He achieved this feat during the first match between India and New Zealand at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 18 October 2024. This is Kohli's 197th innings.
♦ Indian batters who have scored more than 9000 Test runs are: Sachin Tendulkar - 15,921 (200 Tests), Rahul Dravid - 13,625 (163 Tests), Sunil Gavaskar - 10,122 (125 Tests), Virat Kohli - 9017 (197 Tests).
♦ In the ongoing match against New Zealand at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He reached the milestone during India’s second innings.
♦ Kohli is the fourth Indian batter to achieve this feat after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar. The 35-year-old batter is the second-highest Test run-getter among active players, following England’s Joe Root. In the overall list, he is placed 18th.
Posted Date: October 19, 2024♦ Hormuzd Masani was unanimously re-elected as the President of Asia Pacific Audit Bureaux of Certification (APABC) for the fifth time on 17 October 2024. Also he elected Executive Board Member of IFABC (Hon Treasurer) for the ninth consecutive time. Currently, he is the Secretary General of Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) India. Other members on the IFABC Executive Board besides India are representatives of member Bureaux from Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom and USA.
♦ Masani has been representing Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) India on the Executive Board of IFABC continuously since the year 2008. IFABC at its General Assembly discussed ways and means to deliver best practices and innovation in auditing and media measurement on a global scale.
♦ ABC India was established in the year 1948 and is the founder member of International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Certification (IFABC). ABC India audits and certifies circulation figures of over 650 member publications every six months.
Posted Date: October 17, 2024♦ Shubha Tole was appointed president-elect of the International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO). She is the first scientist from a developing country to hold this position. Shubha will be in this position until 31 December 2028. The IBRO governing council represents 69 scientific societies and federations from 57 countries worldwide. It recently elected new officers during its annual assembly in Chicago, USA.
♦ Tole, currently serves as the dean of graduate studies at Mumbai’s premier scientific research institute – Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
♦ IBRO is a global association of neuroscience societies established in 1961 that aims to promote and support neuroscience around the world through training, education, research, outreach and engagement activities, and the publication of two journals, Neuroscience and IBRO Neuroscience Reports.
Posted Date: October 17, 2024♦ Akash Tripathi was appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Digital India Corporation (DIC) and President and Chief Executive Officer (P&CEO) of the National e-Governance Division (NeGD). He is a 1998-batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre.
Posted Date: October 16, 2024♦ National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah was sworn in as Chief Minister of the Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir on 16 October 2024. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath to Omar at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.
♦ Abdullah is also the head of the first elected government in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, when the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
♦ Omar Abdullah served as the Chief Minister from 2009 to 2014 when Jammu and Kashmir, then a state, was ruled by the National Conference-Congress alliance. Abdullah has been a Lok Sabha member three times in 1998, 1999 and 2004.
Posted Date: October 16, 2024♦ TV Narendran was elected as Chairman of World Steel Association (worldsteel) on 15 October 2024. Currently he is the MD and CEO of Tata Steel. Narendran is the second Indian to be elected to the post after JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal, who was elected as worldsteel Chairman in 2021.
♦ Ugur Dalbeler, Colakoglu Metalurji AS, and Leon Topalian, President and CEO of Nucor Corporation have been elected as Vice Chair.
♦ Narendran has also been appointed as a member of the 17-member Executive Committee, along with Jindal, ArcelorMittal Executive Chairman LN Mittal, Topalian and Dalbeler.
♦ Worldsteel members represent approximately 85 percent of the world's steel production, including over 160 steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations and steel research institutes.
Posted Date: October 15, 2024♦ DG Paramesh Sivamani took over as the 26th Director General of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on 15 October 2024. He is specialized in navigation and direction, and his sea commands include all major vessels of the Indian Coast Guard. He was conferred with the Tatrakshak Medal in 2014 and the President’s Tatrakshak Medal in 2019 for his illustrious service. He was also awarded the Director General Coast Guard Commendation in 2012.
Posted Date: October 15, 2024♦ Noel Naval Tata (67) was appointed as Chairman of the Tata Trusts on 11 October 2024. He succeeded Ratan Tata. Noel is the 11th chairman of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the sixth at Sir Ratan Tata Trust, the primary entities within Tata Trusts which together own approximately 52% of Tata Sons, the holding company of the group.
♦ Noel is the Chairman of Tata International Limited, Voltas and Tata Investment Corporation and the Vice-Chairman at Tata Steel and Titan Company Limited. He also heads Tata’s massive apparel retail company, Trent Limited, which has seen tremendous growth since he took its leadership in 2014.
Posted Date: October 11, 2024♦ Spain’s tennis legend Rafael Nadal (38) has announced his retirement from professional tennis on 10 October 2024. Nadal’s final tournament will be the Davis Cup finals this November in Malaga.
♦ He is a 22-time Grand Slam singles champion. He won the French Open singles title a record 14 times. He is also a four-time US Open champion and won both the Australian Open and Wimbledon twice.
♦ Nadal has a total of 92 ATP singles titles to his name, including 36 Masters titles as well as an Olympic gold medal. , winning 112 of his 116 major matches at Roland Garros.
♦ He also holds the unique record of being one of three men in tennis history to complete the Career Golden Slam in singles. He won his last Roland Garros title in 2022 and left the Paris clay with a jaw-dropping 112-4 win-loss record.
♦ Nadal's two-decade career saw him lift 92 titles and accumulate over $135 million in prize money. His Grand Slam winning-journey began with his maiden French Open victory just days after turning 19 in 2005.
♦ A five-time year-end world number one, he remained in the ATP top 10 for an incredible 17 years, from 2005 until March 2024. During his peak years, he spent 209 weeks ranked as the world’s top player and won at least one title every year from 2004 to 2022.
Posted Date: October 10, 2024♦ The former Tata Group Chairman, Ratan Naval Tata passes away on 9 October 2024. He was 86. He was born on 28 December 1937. Ratan Tata served as Chairman of Tata Group and Tata Sons from 1991 to 2012, then interim chairman from October 2016 through February 2017.
♦ He founded telecommunications company Tata Teleservices in 1996 and took IT company Tata Consultancy Services public in 2004.
♦ In a role reversal in 2004, Tata Group, an Indian company, having acquired iconic British car brands - Jaguar and Land Rover - found itself cast as reverse colonialists.
♦ In 2009, Ratan Tata fulfilled his promise to make the world's cheapest car accessible to the middle class. The Tata Nano, priced at Rs.1 lakh, became a symbol of innovation and affordability.
♦ In 2008, he received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second- highest civilian honour. He had received the Padma Bhushan, the third highest, in 2000.
Posted Date: October 9, 2024♦ Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar announced her retirement from the sport on 7 October 2024. She hails from Agartala, Tripura. She holds the distinction of being the first Indian female gymnast to compete at the Olympics.
♦ In 2014, Karmakar won a bronze medal in the vault category at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, becoming the first Indian woman to win in the gymnastic category. She won another bronze medal at the Asian Championships in 2015. A landmark achievement in Dipa’s career was her performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She made history as the first Indian female gymnast to qualify for the final vault event, where she secured fourth place.
♦ Dipa also became the first Indian to win a gold medal at an international gymnastics event after topping the women’s vault podium at the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Mersin, Turkiye.
♦ Dipa Karmakar won a gold medal in Vault at the Asian Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2024, becoming the first Indian to clinch top podium at the continental meet.
♦ Dipa Karmakar was honoured with numerous prestigious awards and accolades. These include the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award; the Arjuna Award for her outstanding achievements in sports; and the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sports honour.
♦ Union Health Minister JP Nadda was elected as the Chairperson of the 77th session of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Regional Committee for South-East Asia on 7 October 2024. This is the annual governing body of WHO in the region, plays a crucial role in shaping the organization’s health policy across South-East Asia.
♦ The three-day session is scheduled for October 7 to 9 in New Delhi. It was attended by health ministers and delegates from member countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste.
♦ The session focused on enhancing accessible public health systems and addressing pressing epidemiological and demographic challenges.
♦ Retired IPS officer Sharad Kumar was appointed as the new chief of the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) on 4 October 2024. He headed the anti-terror organisation National Investigation Agency (NIA) for four years from 2013 to 2017. His name was finalised in the BCCI's Annual General Meeting on 29 September 2024.
♦ He is a 1979 batch IPS officer from the Haryana cadre. After serving in the NIA, Kumar was appointed Vigilance Commissioner in the Central Vigilance Commission from June 2018 to April 2020.
♦ Kumar succeeded KK Mishra, also a former Haryana cadre IPS officer.
Posted Date: October 4, 2024♦ Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin became the first woman officer to take charge as the Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS). The DGAFMS is directly responsible to the Ministry of Defence for overall medical policy matters which relate to the Armed Forces.
♦ Prior to assuming the appointment of 46th DGAFMS, she held the coveted appointments of DG Medical Services (Navy), DG Medical Services (Air) and Director & Commandant of Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. She was commissioned into the Armed Forces Medical Services in December 1985.
♦ She has also been conferred with Chief of Army Staff Commendation (2017), Chief of Naval Staff Commendation (2001) and General Officer Commanding –in-Chief Commendation (2013) for distinguished service.
Posted Date: October 2, 2024