Recent Appointments – August 2023

Lionel Messi named new captain of Inter Miami

Seven-time Ballon d’Or-winner Lionel Messi has been named as Inter Miami’s new captain. Messi, who joined the American club earlier this month, made his debut in Miami’s last match against Mexican club Cruz Azul. Messi has won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards and a record six European Golden Shoes, and in 2020 he was named to the Ballon d’Or Dream Team.

Inter Miami: Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

• Founded: January 29, 2018
• Owners: David Beckham, Jorge Mas, Jose Mas
• President: David Beckham
• Head coach: Gerardo Martino

Bombay And Andhra Pradesh High Courts Get New Chief Justices

The President has appointed Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur as the Chief Justices of the Bombay High Court and Andhra Pradesh High Court, respectively. On July 6, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had recommended the appointments of Chief Justices for seven High Courts. A vacancy in the office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Bombay arose recently consequent upon retirement of Justice Ramesh D. Dhanuka. Justice Upadhyaya was appointed as a Judge of the Allahabad High Court in 2011 and is a senior puisne Judge in his parent High Court. The office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh fell vacant on May 19 consequent upon the elevation of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra to the Supreme Court.

Indian-origin doctor is new chairman of International Myeloma Foundation

Renowned scientist, clinician and researcher, S. Vincent Rajkumar, has been appointed as chairmanelect of the Board of Directors of the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF). Dr. Rajkumar takes over from the current chairman, Brian G.M. Durie, who is not seeking re-election to the post. Dr. Rajkumar has also served as principal investigator of several clinical trials for the treatment of myeloma. He awarded the the Jan Waldenstrom Lifetime Achievement Award (2021), the Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator Award (2018) and the Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award (2016). The IMF was founded in 1999 and is the first, largest global foundation focusing specifically on multiple myeloma.

Myeloma: Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the bone marrow plasma cells — white blood cells that make antibodies. A cancerous or malignant plasma cell is called a myeloma cell. Myeloma is called “multiple” because there are frequently multiple patches or areas in the bone where it grows.

Admiral Lisa Franchetti become first woman to serve as Chief of Naval Operations & member of Joint Chiefs of Staff

Joe Biden chose Admiral Lisa Franchetti for the position of the country’s top Navy officer marking the first time a woman will hold the position in US history. She is also the first woman in the joint chiefs of staff. Franchetti, who is currently serving as the vice chief of naval operations, was commissioned in 1985 and has served as the commander of US Naval Forces Korea. She is the second woman ever to achieve the rank of four-star admiral in the United States Navy.

United States of America:

• Capital: Washington, D.C.
• President: Joe Biden
• Vice President: Kamala Harris
• Currency: U.S. dollar

Jet Airways appoints two whole-time directors, CFO

Grounded Jet Airways announced the appointment of two whole time directors and a non-executive director. Sundaram Ramesh has been appointed as a Whole Time Director and Chief Financial Officer, Gautam Acharya as a Whole Time Director and Rajesh Prasad as a Non-Executive Director. As per the filing, the appointments have been made “for the purpose of ensuring compliance with applicable laws, to execute and make filings with the Registrar of Companies and assist in implementation of the resolution plan”.In April this year, Jet Airways’ CEO-Designate Sanjiv Kapoor had quit and it followed a string of senior executives leaving the grounded carrier. Jet Airways:

• Founded: 1 April 1992
• Headquarters: Delhi NCR, India
• Non-executive Chairman: Murari Lal Jalan
• CFO: Vipula Gunatilleka

DG Rakesh Pal appointed as 25th Director General of Indian Coast Guard

DG Rakesh Pal has been appointed as the 25th Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. He was conferred with Tatrakshak Medal in 2013 and President Tatrakshak Medal in 2018 for his successful service and also holds the recognition of being the First Gunner of ICG. He has commanded all classes of ICG ships namely; ICGS Samarth, ICGS Vijit, ICGS Sucheta Kriplani, ICGS Ahalyabai, and ICGS C-03. He has also commanded two Coast Guard bases of the forward area in Gujarat – Okha and Vadinar.

Indian Coast Guard:

• Formed: 18 August 1978
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Coast Guard Commander (Western Seaboard): KR Suresh
• Coast Guard Commander (Eastern Seaboard): S Paramesh

NATO extends Jens Stoltenberg’s tenure as chief,

NATO has decided to extend Secretar-General Jens Stoltenberg’s contract by another year, seeking to stick with an experienced leader to lead the military alliance, amid Russia’s raging war in Ukraine. The NATO chief, a former prime minister of Norway, has led the alliance since 2014. His current term in office was due to expire on October 1. He has already had his tenure extended three previous times.

NATO

• Formation: 4 April 1949
• Type: Military alliance
• Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
• Membership: 31 states
• Secretary General: Jens Stoltenberg
• Chair of the NATO Military Committee: Lt. Admiral Rob Bauer (Royal Netherlands Navy)

The President appointed new Chief Justices to four High Courts

The Centre notified elevation of four judges as chief justices of Telangana, Orissa, Gujarat and Kerala high courts. The appointments include a woman chief justice for Gujarat high court, the sole high court in the country with a woman at the helm. Clearing the recommendations received in this regard from the Supreme Court collegium on July 5, the President of India Droupadi Murmu, notified the appointment of justice Alok Aradhe as Telangana high court chief justice, justice Subhasis Talapatra as Orissa high court chief justice (upon the retirement of present CJ on August 7), justice Sunita Agarwal as Gujarat high court chief justice and justice Ashish Jitendra Desai as Kerala high court chief justice. Additionally, the Centre also notified the transfer of justice P Sam Koshy from Chhattisgarh high court to Telangana high court.

Justice Alexander Thomas appointed Acting Chief Justice of Kerala High Court

The Central Government has notified the appointment of Justice Alexander Thomas as acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. He has replaced Chief Justice SV Bhatti, who was transferred to the Supreme Court. He was appointed additional judge of the Kerala High Court on January 23, 2014, and was made a permanent judge on March 10, 2016. He served as a government pleader (1996-1998) and senior government pleader (1998-2001) in the High Court of Kerala.

Kerala:

• Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
• Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan
• Chief minister: Pinarayi Vijayan

Preeti Aghalayam to become first woman director of IIT, to led IIT Zanzibar

The Zanzibar campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) which is set to become the first offshore campus of the prestigious institution will also be the first IIT campus to be led by a woman director. Preeti Aghalayam has been named director-in-charge of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Zanzibar campus in Tanzania. Recently, India and Tanzania inked an MoU, which facilitated IIT Madras to launch its first international campus in Zanzibar, Tanzania’.

Sheikh Talal elected as new President of Olympic Council of Asia

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) elected Sheikh Talal Fahad Al Ahmad Al-Sabah as the new President at the 42nd OCA General Assembly in Bangkok, Thailand. Sheikh Talal joined the OCA in 2007. He is Chair of the OCA Rules Committee and a member of the OCA Executive Board. He replaced his older brother Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, who led the OCA for 30 years until 2021.

OCA:

The OCA was founded in 1982 by his father Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who led it until 1990. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees.Headquarters: Kuwait City, Kuwait

Justice Sheo Kumar Singh appointed as acting chairperson of NGT

The Central government has appointed Justice Sheo Kumar Singh as Acting Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), till a new chairperson is appointed. He has replaced Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, who retired on July 6, 2023.

National Green Tribunal (India):

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) is formed in 2010 under National Green Tribunal Act as a statutory body to deal with the cases related to environmental issues and speedy implementation of decisions relating to it. The Tribunal has a mandate to dispose of applications and petitions within a period of six months. The principal National Green Tribunal bench is located in Delhi, with other benches sitting in Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai.

Senior Men’s Cricket Selection Committee appoints Ajit Agarkar as Chairman

Ajit Agarkar has been appointed as chairman of the Senior Men’s Cricket Selection Committee. The Selection Committee now consists of Ajit Agarkar, Shiv Sundar Das, Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola, and Sridharan Sharath. The former India all-rounder represented the country in 26 Tests, 191 ODIs, and four T20Is, in addition to playing 110 first-class, 270 List A, and 62 T20 matches. As a former fast bowler, he was part of India’s victorious squad in the inaugural T20 World Cup held in South Africa in 2007. He still holds the record for the fastest half-century by an Indian batter in ODI, achieved with a 21-ball fifty against Zimbabwe in 2000. He also held the record for being the fastest to reach 50 ODI wickets for nearly a decade, accomplishing the milestone in just 23 matches.

P M Prasad takes over as Coal India chairman

P M Prasad has been appointed as the Chairman-cumManaging Director of Coal India Limited (CIL). Prior to this he was holding charge of ChairmancumManaging Director (CMD) of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL). CCL, a subsidiary of Coal India, located in Jharkhand, to achieve its production targets in the fiscal year 2022-23.

Coal India:

Coal India Limited (CIL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Coal, Government of India. It is headquartered at Kolkata. It is the largest governmentowned-coal-producer in the world.

• Founded: 1975

Debadatta Chand takes charge as Bank of Baroda MD

Debadatta Chand assumed charge as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Baroda. He has taken over charge from Sanjiv Chadha, whose tenure ended on June 30, 2023.

Bank of Baroda:

• Founded: 20 July 1908
• Founder: Sayajirao Gaekwad III
• Headquarters: Vadodara, Gujarat, India
• Chairman: Hasmukh Adhia
• MD & CEO: Debadatta Chand

Muzumdar set to become Indian women’s cricket team head coach

Amol Muzumdar is set to be the head coach of India’s women’s cricket team for the next two years. After Ramesh Powar was transferred to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) last December, the India women’s team has been without a head coach. Bangladesh is set to host the next T20 World Cup in 2024 and India will host the 2025 ODI World Cup in September.

Ajit Pawar takes oath as Deputy CM of Maharashtra

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar was sworn-in as the Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra as he joined the Eknath Shinde-led government. He will be sharing the post with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis.

When did Ajit take oath as Deputy CM for the shortest period:

In 2019, he had joined hands with BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and had taken an oath as the state’s deputy chief minister along with Fadnavis as the chief minister. The rebellion, however, did not last for more than three days and Ajit Pawar returned to the NCP. Note: He was sworn-in as the Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra for the fifth time.

Maharashtra:

• Chief minister: Eknath Shinde
Capital: MumbaiGovernor: Ramesh Bais

Centre reappoints Tushar Mehta as Solicitor General of India

Senior advocate and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has been reappointed as the Solicitor General of India for a further period of three years along with his team of six additional solicitor generals (ASG) in the Supreme Court. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet also approved the re-appointment of other six law officers Vikramjit Banerjee, KM Nataraj, Balbir Singh, SV Raju, N Venkataraman and Aishwarya Bhati as Additional Solicitor General for the Supreme Court for a period of three years. Mehta was appointed as Solicitor General for the first time in October 2018 and his period was later extended from time to time. Note : R. Venkataramani is the incumbent AttorneyGeneral for India.

Solicitor General of India:

• Reports to: Attorney General for India
• Appointer: ACC
• Formation: 28 January 1950
• First holder: C. K. Daphtary

Lt Gen MU Nair becomes new National Cyber Security Coordinator

Lt Gen MU Nair has been appointed the new National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) replacing Lt Gen (retd. ) Dr Rajesh Pant. Lt Gen MU Nair previously held the role of Signal Officer-in-Chief at the Army Headquarters. He is India’s third cyber security chief after Lt Gen (retd. ) Dr Rajesh Pant and first chief Gulshan Rai. NCCC works under National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and coordinates with different agencies at the national level in cybersecurity-related matters.

Vice Admiral Atul Anand takes over as Additional Secretary, DMA

Vice Admiral Atul Anand took over as Additional Secretary, Department of Military Affairs. The post was previously held by Lt Gen Anil Puri, who superannuated on February 28, 2023.

Department of Military Affairs:

The DMA provides integration between the armed forces of the Union and the Ministry of Defence.

• Formed: 1 January 2020
• Minister: Rajnath Singh, Minister of Defence
• Deputy Minister: Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State for Defence
• Secretary (DMA): General Anil Chauhan
• Parent department: Ministry of Defence

Qu Dongyu re-elected as FAO director-general

Qu Dongyu was re-elected as Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)during the ongoing 43rd session of the FAO Conference. Nominated by China, Qu was the only candidate to FAO’s top position in election. His new term will run from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2027. Qu was first elected in June 2019 to head the UN agency and is the first Chinese national to serve in the position.

FAO:

Founded in 1945 and headquartered in Rome, Italy, FAO is a specialised UN agency leading cooperation in food and agriculture. The organisation plays a vital role in global food and agricultural policy exchanges, standard-setting, information gathering and statistics.

Gernot Dollner appointed as as Audi’s new Chairman

German luxury car brand Audi has announced that Gernot Dollner will take over from Markus Duesmann as Chairman of the Board of Management, effective September 1, 2023.

Audi:

• Founder: August Horch
• Headquarters: Ingolstadt, Germany
• Parent Company: Volkswagen Group

IPS Ajay Bhatnagar appointed as Special Director of CBI

Ajay Bhatnagar has been appointed as Special Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),effective until his superannuation on November 20,2024. At present, he is serving as Additional Director in the agency. Anurag, Joint Director in the CBI, will now be Additional Director in the agency. He has been appointed for a period till July 24, 2023 i. e.completion of his seven-year tenureManoj Sashidhar has also been appointed to the post of Additional Director in the CBI for a period of three years. The government has also extended the tenure of Sharad Agarwal as Joint Director.

CBI:

• Headquarters: New Delhi, India
• Director General: Praveen Sood
• Formed: 1963

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Federal Bank receives RBI approval to appoint AP Hota as part-time Chairman

The Reserve Bank of India gave approval to the appointment of Mr A P as the chairman of the Federal Bank Limited. While at the Reserve Bank of India, he served as Nominee Director to the Board of Vijaya Bank and subsequently Andhra Bank. He was the architect of NPCI and served as its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) between 2009- 2017.

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DBS Bank India names Rajat Verma as Managing Director

DBS Bank India has appointed Rajat Verma as managing director and head of institutional banking. He will succeed Niraj Mittal, who will be taking up a new role as country head of DBS Bank in Australia. Rajat Verma was formerly with HSBC as the MD and country head of Commercial Banking in India.

DBS Bank:

• Founded: 1968
• Headquarters: Singapore
• Chairman: Peter Seah
• CEO: Piyush Gupta

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Kyriakos Mitsotakis sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece for a second term

Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as the prime minister of Greece for a second four-year term. Mitsotakis became the PM for the first time in 2019, when his party defeated Syriza in an election. His father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, had been a PM too, serving on the post from 1990 to 1993.

Greece:

• Capital: Athens
• President: Katerina Sakellaropoulou
• Currency: Euro

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Indian-origin British expert to head UN Outer Space Office

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Indian-origin satellite industry expert Aarti Holla-Maini as Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna. HollaMaini of the United Kingdom will succeed Simonetta Di Pippo of Italy. UNOOSA works to promote international cooperation in the peaceful use and exploration of space and in the utilisation of space science and technology for sustainable economic and social development.

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

• Founded: 13 December 1958
• Headquarters: Vienna, Austria
• Parent organization: United Nations Secretariat
• Head: Director; Niklas Hedman (Acting)