New Appointments in March 2020

Various appointments have been done in the month of March. From Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh to Chief Information commissioner of Government of India, March has seen many new names. These appointments are essential from an exam point of view. Questions of 1 to 2 marks can be asked from this topic. It is advised to make proper notes and keep revising it regularly in order to gain a grip over this topic. The following are the Latest Appointments that took place in the month of March 2020.

Prashant Kumar- Administrator of YES bank

Prashant Kumar takes over as administrator of private sector lender YES Bank. Kumar was earlier inducted as a chief financial officer (CFO) at State Bank of India (SBI).

SBI stepped in to salvage the ailing YES Bank at the behest of the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure stability in the banking system. This plan is being managed by a small team of senior bankers headed by SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar and group executives. SBI will need to infuse Rs 2,450 crore for 49 percent stake in YES Bank.

Justice (retd.) Ranjana Prakash Desai- Head Delimitation Commission set up for J&K, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland

The Central Government has set up a Delimitation Commission for the purpose of delimitation of Assembly and the Parliamentary constituencies Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland.

The primary function of a Delimitation Commission is to fix the limits/ boundaries of the various assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Commission will also consist of two members, viz. an Election Commissioner (presently Mr. Sushil Chandra) and the State Election Commissioners of the concerned states/UT.

The Commission will delimit the constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, and of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland in accordance with the provisions of the Delimitation Act, 2002.

K.M. Mammen- ATMA chief (re-elected)

Tyre major MRF’s chairman and managing director K.M. Mammen has been unanimously re-elected

Chairman of the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA).Anshuman Singhania, deputy MD, JK Tyre & Industries, is the vice-chairman.

Founded in 1975, ATMA represents 11 large tyre companies comprising Indian and international tyre majors, representing over 95% of the tyres produced in India.

Bimal Julka- Chief Information Commissioner

Bimal Julka swore as Chief Information Commissioner by President Ram Nath Kovind, more than two weeks after he was selected by a committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sanjay Kumar Panda- India’s Ambassador to Turkey

Senior diplomat Sanjay Kumar Panda has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to Turkey.

Panda, a 1991 Indian Foreign Service officer, is presently Consul General, Consulate General of India, San Francisco.

Panda’s appointment to the post comes at a time when India-Turkey relations are under strain. Last month, India had asked Turkey to refrain from commenting on the internal affairs of the country and also cautioned Ankara against encouraging cross-border terrorism.

India’s reaction came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the country after communal riots in Delhi left at least 42 people dead.

Sudhanshu Pandey- new CMD of MMTC Ltd

Additional Secretary at the Department of Commerce Sudhanshu Pandey has assumed additional charge as Chairman and Managing Director of MMTC Ltd, India’s largest trading company.

His predecessor Ved Prakash superannuated last month-end.

Pandey is from Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and has experience of over 32 years in different senior positions in state governments, the Centre and the Indian embassy in Germany.

He led many high-level government and trade delegations to various countries. Pandey currently discharges functions as the Chief Negotiator of India.

MMTC — earlier known as Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation — is the single largest trader for product lines like minerals, metals and precious metals.

Ajay Bhushan Pandey- Finance Secretary  

Government of India appointed the current Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new Finance Secretary.

Pandey replaces current Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar.

Pandey, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Maharashtra cadre, had earlier worked as chief executive officer of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the organization behind the Aadhaar.

Atanu Chakraborty, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, is at present Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.

Tuhin Kant Pandey, a 1987 batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, is secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management. His batchmate from Tamil Nadu cadre, T V Somanathan is secretary, Department of Expenditure.

Debasish Panda, also from the same batch, is financial services secretary.

Hirdesh Kumar- Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir 

The Election Commission of India appointed Hirdesh Kumar as the new Chief Electoral Officer of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
He will replace Shailendra Kumar with effect from the date he assumes charge. 
 Hridesh Kumar, a 1999 batch IAS officer is presently serving as Commissioner Secretary in the School Education Department of J&K.
 

Karan Bajwa- MD of Google Cloud, India 

Google announced the appointment of Karan Bajwa as Managing Director of Google Cloud in India.
Bajwa was earlier leading IBM’s India operations. Before that, he was with Microsoft.
He will be responsible for driving all revenue and go-to-market operations for Google Cloud’s extensive solution portfolio that includes Google Cloud Platform and G Suite. Google Cloud’s field sales, partner and customer engineering organisations in India will also report to him, and he will advise Google Cloud’s continued work with the local developer ecosystem and India-based Global System Integrators (GSIs).

Ravinder Singh Dhillon-  CMD of Power Finance Corporation (PFC)

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared the appointment of Ravinder Singh Dhillon as Chairman and Managing Director of Power Finance Corporation (PFC).
Dhillon, posted as Director (Projects), has been cleared for appointment as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) in PFC with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post on or after June 1 till the date of his superannuation on May 31, 2023, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Ajay Kumar- India’s High Commissioner to Uganda 

 
Ajay Kumar has been appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to Uganda.
 
Kumar, a 2001-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as the Joint Secretary in the MEA.He is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

Rajiv Bajaj- MD, CEO of Bajaj Auto (renamed)
 
Bajaj Auto said its board had approved the reappointment of Rajiv Bajaj as MD & CEO of the firm. The approval was given in board meeting.
 
Rajiv Bajaj, MD and CEO, whose five-year term expires on March 31, has been re-appointed for a period of five years with effect from April 1.

Janani Narayanan and Vrinda Rathi- members of ICC panel (Umpires)

 The number of women match officials across different International Cricket Council panels has gone up to 12 as Janani Narayanan and Vrinda Rathi of India were named in the International Panel of ICC Development Umpires.
 
Janani Narayanan, 34, has been umpiring in Indian domestic tournaments since 2018.
  Vrinda Rathi, 31, a former varsity player who has kept scores in international matches, has also been umpiring in Indian domestic cricket since 2018.
 
The other ICC women match officials are: GS Lakshmi, Shandre Fritz (International Panel Match Referees); Lauren Agenbag, Kim Cotton, Shivani Mishra, Claire Polosak, Sue Redfern, Eloise Sheridan, Mary Waldron, Jacquline Williams (all International Panel of ICC Development Umpires).

 RBI names R Gandhi, Ananth Gopalkrishnan additional directors on YES Bank Board 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed R Gandhi and Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan as additional directors to the board of private sector lender YES Bank for a period of two years.
 
 Gandhi, a former deputy governor of RBI, was previously appointed to the YES Bank board as an additional director by the RBI in May 2019 for a period of two years. His term was to expire in May 2021 but earlier this month the central bank superseded the previous board of YES Bank.
  
The other members of the board include Mahesh Krishnamurthy and Atul Bheda as non-executive directors. 

Shivraj Singh Chauhan- CM of Madhya Pradesh 

In Madhya Pradesh, senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chauhan has become Chief Minister of the state for the fourth time.
 
The 61-year-old BJP leader was sworn in by Governor Lalji Tandon at Raj Bhawan. Mr Shivraj Singh took oath alone due to the outbreak of Corona virus.
 
Popularly known among his followers as ‘Mamaji’, Chouhan was sworn in chief minister of Madhya Pradesh thrice earlier – in 2005, after Uma Bharti stepped down over a riots case, and for later two full terms in 2008 and 2013.
 
Mr Chouhan worked as the Chief Minister of the state for almost thirteen years and resigned in December 2018. After the Assembly elections, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath was sworn in as Chief Minister on 17th of December.

Walmart promotes Sameer Aggarwal as CEO of India business 

The local arm of US retailer Walmart announced the promotion of Sameer Aggarwal as chief executive officer of its Best Price Modern Wholesale cash-and-carry format stores in India, effective 1 April.
 
Aggarwal will replace Krish Iyer who will retire from his post of CEO and will work in the capacity of advisor to Best Price, Walmart India.
 
Aggarwal joined Walmart in 2018 as executive vice president overseeing strategy and administration and was appointed deputy CEO in January 2020, setting ground for his role as the top boss of the retailer that operates 28 wholesale or cash-and-carry stores in India. These stores service small mom-and-pop shops, businesses, and hotels and restaurants.

IRS officers KM Prasad and SK Gupta- CBDT board members 

The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment two Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers as members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
 
1984 batch IRS officer, Krishan Mohan Prasad and 1984-batch IRS officer Satish Kumar Gupta were appointed as CBDT members.
 
Presently, Prasad is piloting the Faceless e-Assessment Scheme as Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax, National e-assessment centre in Delhi while Gupta is Principal Chief Commissioner Mumbai.
 
Prasad is a graduate in Economics, Law and Post Graduate in Education. 
Gupta is currently posted as Principal Chief Commissioner (PCCIT) of I-T in Mumbai and prior to Mumbai, he was Director-General of Investigation of Bhopal and Jaipur.

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