Person in News Current Affairs February 2016

Person in News February 2016

Appointments

Javed Ahmed

■    The government of Uttar Pradesh has appointed Javed Ahmed as the new Director General of Police (DGP) on January 1, 2016. Ahmed will retire in 2020. He replaced Mr. Jagmohan Yadav, who retired on December 31, 2015. Ahmed is a 1984-batch Indian Police Service officer. He had earlier served as the joint director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) during central deputation, was serving as the director general (railways).

Atul Sobti

■    Atul Sobti assumed charge as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of State-owned power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on January 1,2016. In September, 2015, government had approved the appointment of Sobti for a period of 5 years.

■    Prior to this, Sobti was director on the board of BHEL, heading two crucial portfolios of power and finance.

■    Earlier, he also held additional charge of the post of director (engineering, research and development).  BHEL’s power business has achieved major milestones including the highest ever capacity addition and synchronisation of 13452 megawatts (MW) and 11941 MW in fiscal 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Giorgi Kvirikashvili

■    Former Foreign Minister Giorgi Kvirikasnvili has been appointed as Georgia’s 12th Prime Minister on December 29, 2015, six days after Irakli Garibashvili’s surprise resignation from the post December 23 after just two years in the job, but offered no explanation for his decision.

■    The new government under the leadership of Giorgi Kvirikashvili was approved by Georgia’s Parliament by 86 votes to 28 against it. The decision will be put to President Giorgi Margvelashvili for formal ratification.

■    A technocrat with little political experience, holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois in the USA and is also a trained doctor.

■    Prior to this he had served as Georgia’s Vice-Prime Minister since July, 2013 and Minister of Foreign Affairs since September, 2015.

Amitabh Kant

The Prime Minister-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has transferred Disinvestment Secretary Aradhana Johri and given Industry Secretary Amitabh Kant the additional responsibility of being Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog on December 28, 2015.

■    Ms. Johri has been appointed as the Chairperson of the National Authority for Chemical Weapons, a statutory body under the Cabinet Secretariat. Mr. Kant, a 1980-batch Kerala cadre IAS Officer is expected to retire in March, 2016. Incumbent NITI Aayog CEO Sindhushree Khullar’s extended tenure coming to an end on December 31, 2015.

Reva Khetrapal

Former Delhi High Court.judge Reva Khetrapal took oath as Lokayukta of Delhi on December 17, 2015. Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung administered the oath to Khetrapal as Lokayukta at a function held at Raj Niwas, New Delhi. Her tenure as Lokayukta will be for a period of 5 years. A four member panel, comprising Chief Justice of Delhi High Court G. Rohini, Kejriwal, Jung and Gupta had in October chosen Khetrapal’s name for the post of Lokayukta. This post was lying vacant for more than two years.

RK Mathur

Former Defence Secretary RK Mathur has been appointed as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). With this, the convention of appointing the head from among the serving Information Commissioners broke.
■    The post had fallen vacant after Vijai Sharma completed his tenure on December 1, 2015. He will have tenure of about three1 years, till he attains the age of 65 years.
■    Mathur is a retired IAS officer of Tripura cityre. He was made Defence Secretary for a fixed two-year term on May 28, 2013.

Virendra Singh Yadav

■    Former High Court Judge, Justice Virendra Singh Yadav appointed as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh after the State government failed to comply with its directives. The Supreme Court exercised its Constitutional authority in an unusual order on December 16, 2015. The Apex Court exercise its right under Article-142 of the Constitution to make the appointment. The Court asked the State government to file a report by December 20, 2015 indicating compliance of its order.
■    Earlier on December 14, 2015, the Apex Court had rapped the Uttar Pradesh government for not appointing the Lokayukta in the State despite its directions, saying it seemed that appointing authorities have their ‘own agenda’.