Appointments - Current Affairs for September, 2016

The United States on 27th Sept 2016 appointed first Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis to Cuba

• The two countries had broken off ties in the 1960s since the communist revolution
• He was appointed to the post by President Barack Obama who said this was a step towards normal and productive relationship
• Appointment will need approval from Republican-led Senate which opposed dealings with Cuba
• New ambassador DeLaurentis has worked at the US embassy in Havana which opened since 2014
• Cuba is a unitary sovereign state comprising archipelagos, an isle and the island
• Located in the Northern Caribbean, it is south of Florida and Bahamas, north of Jamaica and west of Haiti
• Havana is the capital city
• The current currency is the Cuban Peso

In what is the first time a survivor of atrocities has been bestowed with the honour, Nadia Murad Basee Taha who survived ISIL trafficking on Sept 16, 2016 was appointed UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.

• During her ambassadorship, Nadia will focus on advocacy initiatives and raise awareness about victims of trafficking especially refugees, women and girls
• Murad is a 23-year-old Yazidi who was kidnapped and held by IS in August 2014
• She briefed the Security Council in what is the first ever session on human trafficking held during the presidency of the US on 16th Dec 2015
• She described being rounded up in Iraq in 2014 and witnessing ISIL fighters shoot men and boys in cold blood
• She was subject to grave abuses by ISIL fighters and bought as well as sold in several markets
• She was recently named in the Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2016
• On January 5, 2016, Iraqi government nominated her for 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for her activism
• She was also nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on 15th Sept 2016

Japanese automobile maker Isuzu Motors on 14th September 2016 announced the appointment of Hiroshi Nakagawa as Chairman of the Isuzu Motors India with immediate effect.

• Former IMI Chairman Hiroyasu Miura will take over as CMD of Isuzu Engineering Business Centre India Private Limited with immediate effect
• Nakagawa has been involved in Isuzu business division for 20 years in key markets
• Isuzu Motors Limited is a Japanese commercial vehicle and diesel engineering manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo
• It is basically involved in production, marketing and sale of Isuzu commercial vehicles and diesel engines
• Company was established in 1916
• In 1934, it was fused with a carmaker and renamed Isuzu after the river of the same name
• By 2009, it has produced over 21 million diesel engines which can be found in vehicles all over the world
• Isuzu diesel engines are used by numerous manufacturers including Ford Motor Company and Renault Nissan Alliance

Anoop Kumar Sharma took over as Chairman and Managing Director of Shipping Corporation of India for three years.

• SCI is government of India PSU with headquarters in Mumbai operating and managing vessels at national and international lines
• As the country’s premier shipping line, SCI owns and operates one third of the Indian tonnage
• It has interests in all aspects of shipping, serving both national and international trades
• SCI also has interests in segments of shopping trade and owns the following:
• bulk carriers,
• crude oil tankers,
• product tankers,
• container vessels,
• passenger-cum-cargo vessels,
• phosphoric acid/ chemical carriers,
• LPG/ammonia carriers and
• offshore supply vessels.
• SCI was established in 1961 by the amalgamation of Eastern Shipping Corporation and Western Shipping Corporation
• SCI started out with 19 vessels; in 2008, it was made a Navratna PSU by GoI

Vice Chairman Lee Jae yong will be appointed as the registered ED on board of South Korean electronics major Samsung Electronics

• Decision was made due to urgent need for strategic decision making on aggressive investments and new growth engines from a long term perspective
• Lee Jae yong is the eldest child and only son of Chairman Samsung,Lee Kun hee
• He has received a degree in East Asian history at Seoul National University and MBA from Keio University
• He is referred to as the Crown Prince of Samsung, by the South Korean media
• He is the third wealthiest person in South Korea
• His wealth is estimated to be USD 7.9 billion and in 2014 he was named the 35th most powerful person in the world and the most powerful Korean by Fortune magazine

CK Asnani on 7th September 2016 assumed charge as CMD of UCIL a DAE undertaking

• He is a chemical engineer from Osmania University
• He was Director Technical of Indian Rare Earth’s Limited before the current appointment
• He was earlier associated with Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad
• Uranium Corporation of India Limited/UCIL is a PSU company at the forefront of the nuclear power cycle
• It operates six underground mines.
• These include Bagjata, Jaduguda, Bhatin, Narwapahar, Turamdih and Mohuldih and one open pit mine at Banduhurang, Jharkhand.
• Ore produced from these mines is processed in two plants located at Jaduguda and Turamdih.

Government has chosen retired IAS officer and former DeITY secretary J. Satyanarayana as the chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India.

• He succeeds former Infosys founder Nandan Nilekani
• Nilekani was the first UIDAI chairman and he stepped down from the post in 2014
• Due to the recently passed Aadhaar Act, government appointed a part time chairperson of the UIDAI
• Present CEO of UIDAI is serving IAS officer Ajay Bhushan Pandey
• GoI appointed two private persons as part time members namely Rajesh Jain, founder and MD of netCORE solutions and Anand Deshpande, founder and CEO of Persistent Systems
• Government had also set up a screening committee for filing the top posts at the UIDAI and the ACC headed by the PM makes appointments
• Delta ID’s iris software makes Aadhaar authentication more secure
• Satyanarayana was DeITY secretary from 2012 to 2014; this department has been closely associated with the Aadhaar project
• He contributed to the e-governance sector and was a founder of the e-seva programme for citizen services
• He also took part in the Passport Seva project of the MEA and various e-governance projects in Karnataka.
• He also served as special chief secretary in AP
• Rajesh Jain, the netCORE solutions founder is an IITan with a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University
• He has been convenor of the Friends of BJP, a network of professionals on social media who worked with BJP during the 2014 campaign
• Anand Deshpande, CMD of Persistent Systems is a B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur and a MS in Computer Science from Indiana University
• Both Jain and Deshpande will work as part time members of UIDAI

Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) on 5 September 2016 appointed Sunil Godhwani as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

• He was the MD since 2007 and Chaurman since April 2010
• Godhwani is appointed the Whole Time Director and CEO for the remaining period of his tenure.
• He holds a BS and MS degree from an NYU school and participates in business forums like CCI and FICCI.
• Religare Enterprises Limited is the holding company for India’s leading diversified financial services groups with HQ in New Delhi
• It has 1 million clients in India

Cardiologist KK Aggarwal has been unanimously elected as the National President of the Indian Medical Association for the year 2016-2017

• Aggarwal is currently the Secretary General of the doctor’s association
• Dr. Ravi Wankhedkar from Maharashtra will be the National President for 2017-2018
• Dr. RN Tandon will take over as Honorary Secretary General- new team will take over on December 28
• Indian Medical Association is the only national voluntary organisation of doctors of modern scientific system of medical which looks after the interest of doctors and well being of the community
• The Indian Medical Association is a national voluntary organisation of Doctors of Modern Scientific System of Medicine in India established in 1928
• It was initially called All India Medical Association and was renamed as the Indian Medical Association in 1930
• It was a society registered under The Societies Act of India
• It has 29 state/UT branches
• IMA has over 2,53,000 doctors as its members through more than 1650 active local branches spread across the country.

Mukund Chaudhari has taken over as Chairman and Managing Director of MOIL, a mini-ratna company.

• MOIL is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel and is the largest producer of manganese ore in the nation.
• MOIL is under administrative control of the Ministry of Steel
• It is the largest producer of manganese ore in the country
• Before taking over as CMD, Chaudhari held the post of Director (Finance)MOIL
• He is a CA by profession
• He has experience of over two and a half decades in private and public sector undertakings.
• He had also worked in the private sector
• Following MOIL in 1997, various positions were held in the company
• He was inducted in the Board of Directors of MOIL in August 2012 as Director Finance and later elevated to the position of CMD from September 1
• He has varied experience in corporate financial management and he is instrumental for introduction of ERP system in MOIL

Lt.Gen MMS Rai retired relinquishing the post of Vice Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army

• Lt Gen MMS Rai was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers in 15th December, 1976
• Lt Gen Bipin Rawat will take over as VCOAS of the Indian Army on September 1, 2016
• He was commissioned in the Fifth Battalion of the Eleven Gorkha Rifles in December 1978, from IMA Dehradun
• Prior to taking over as the VCOAS, Lt Gen Bipin Rawat tenanted the appointment of the GOC-in-C, Southern Command.
• Following the PM’s directive to conduct Annual Joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercises, the Armed Forces in collaboration with Central Armed Police Forces and civil administration conducted the following HADR exercises
• Jalrahat
• Prakampana
• Sahayta

United Nations Assistant Secretary General and UN Women Deputy ED Lakshmi Puri on 29th August 2016 announced the appointment of Aishwarya a Rajinikanth Dhanush as the UN Women’s Advocate for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in India

• Aishwaryaa is a film director, classical writer and dancer who will raise awareness of UN Women’s core messages on gender equality and women’s empowerment across India
• Act will boost organisation’s efforts to close the gender gap and attain a more equal world- planet 50-50 by 2030
• Aishwaryaa has joined others who have teamed up with Un Women to work for gender equality and empowerment of women including:
  • Farhan Akhtar
  • Sania Mirza
  • Emma Watson
  • Nicole Kidman
  • Anne Hathaway
• Aishwaryaa is a leading firm director and startup entrepreneur
• She has debuted along with husband Dhanush
• She has launched 10 Entertainment, a digital medium to promote short film content and new digital ventures
• She is also working on a book called “Standing on an Apple Box.”