January

P.R. Vasudeva Rao-Vasudeva rao was appointed as the Director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam on 31 January 2013. He succeeded S.C Chetal, who has now retired. Dr. Rao was earlier the Director, Chemistry Group in IGCAR and is also a specialist in the field of actinide chemistry as well as a few areas of chemistry of nuclear fuel cycle. In IGCAR, Dr. Rao led various R&D programmes related to the field of chemistry.

S.Janaki- The renowned playback singer, refused to accept the Padma Bhushan award. She refused on the grounds that only some people from the Southern states were awarded and that honour given to her was too late. S. Janaki was given Padma Bhushan award in Art discipline. She remained in her field for 55 years. She is 75 years old. The singer had won four national awards and was selected for Padma Bhushan in the art category, among 24 other padma

S. N. Ananthasubramanian- a Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has been elected as the President of the Institute w.e.f 19th January 2013. Harish K. Vaid, also a Fellow Member of the Institute, has been elected as the Vice President. Ananthasubramanian has been in practice as a Company Secretary at Thane since 1991. He has contributed to the visibility and growth of the profession as member of ICSI-WIRC between 2001 and 2006. As its Chairman in 2005, he was actively associated in ICSI-NSE Collaboration towards the inclusion of Corporate Governance Module in National Certificate in Financial Markets (NCFM) and as its Secretary, facilitated the formation of Thane Chapter of ICSI in 2003. Shri Ananthasubramanian was a member of various Committees of the Council of the ICSI including the Core Group for formulating the ICSI-Vision 2020.

Rahul Gandhi – Rahul gandhi was formally elevated to the number two position in the Congress party on 19 January after being appointed its vice-president, but his role in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls would be decided later. The anointment of the 42-year-old leader nine years after he entered politics was formalised at the meeting of the party's highest policy making body, the Congress working committee (CWC), which unanimously adopted a resolution for this moved by defence minister AK Antony.The decision ends prolonged speculation about a bigger role for Rahul, so far one of the 11 general secretaries of the Congress. The speculation focussed on the possibility of his being made working president or secretary general of the party.
Sri Lankan President Kicked Out First Woman Chief Justice of the Country over Graft
Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, on 13 January 2013 kicked out the first woman chief justice of the country, Shirani Bandarnayake after endorsing her impeachment by the Parliament that caught her guilty on the corruption charges. It is worth noticing that Bandarnayake was fired despite widespread protests by the lawyers as well as others. Bandarnayake, 54, was given the notice in which the President ordered her to move down from the post. This happened two days after the Parliament in Sri Lanka voted to put her on trial, widening the face-off between the government and the judiciary. Impeaching Bandarnayake was initially declared unconstitutional by the courts. In the meanwhile, the finding by parliamentary committee which had found her guilty was cancelled. The parliamentary committee had declared on 8 December 2012, that Bandarnayake was guilty of 3 charges out of 14. The impeachment proceedings were held against her, which were moved by ruling UPFA coalition legislators. The three charges in which she was held guilty were those of financial impropriety which were based on non-declaration of the assets.

Mohan Peiris-Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa on 15 January swore in Mohan Peiris, a retired attorney general and a legal adviser to the Cabinet, as Chief Justice of Srilanka after his nominee was approved by a parliamentary council on 15 january.On14 January, Rajapaksa dismissed Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake after a parliamentary committee found her guilty of having unexplained wealth and misuse of power.

Wie Wei-China on 16 January appointed career diplomat Wei Wei, its current envoy to Singapore, as the country's new Ambassador to India, succeeding Zhang Yan.President Hu Jintao has appointed Wei Wei, 57, as China's new ambassador to India, replacing Zhang, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.Hu made the appointment in line with a decision made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

Tahir-ul Qadri- The Canada-returned cleric led thousands of the protestors in Pakistan and rallied in Islamabad for the third consecutive day on 16 January 2013. Qadri asked the government to quit as well as dissolve the provincial and national assemblies on 16 January 2013. The demand is electoral reforms, among others. In his speech, Qadri who marched on 14 January 2013 to Islamabad with thousands of supporters to protest near the Parliament in Pakistan outlined four major demands, which included electoral reforms as per the Constitution before the elections as well as reconstitution of Election Commission. On 16 January 2013, Qadri’s protests leveraged as the apex court passed an order for arresting Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on the corruption charges associated with power projects. Tahir-ul Qadri has in a way triggered the political emergency in Pakistan. Qadri is Thehrik-e-Minhajul Quran leader who is protesting for a corruption-free Pakistan.

Halimah Yacob (58) - Halimah Yacob became the first woman Speaker of the Singapore Parliament on 14 January 2013. She replaced Michael Palmer, the former People's Action Party MP. Palmer got down from the post of Speaker of the Parliament and as an MP on 12 December 2012. Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong nominated her for the designation of speaker. Halimah Yacob came down from her post of Minister of State (Social and Family Development) and was elected as the Speaker by Members of Parliament. Halimah Yacob, 58, is an Indian-origin woman born in Singapore. She belongs to the People's Action Party.

New chief for Southern Command
Lt Gen Ashok Singh will take over as Pune-based Southern Army Commander, replacing Lt Gen A K Singh who is superannuating on January 31. Lt Gen Ashok Singh is at present the Commandant of NDA. Prior to his present appointment, he had also commanded the elite 1 Strike Corps in Mathura and held various important command and Staff appointments. He is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He is an alumnus of the 45th NDA course

Justice D.K.Jain- Union Government of India on 7 January 2012 appointed Justice D.K. Jain as Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India. Justice Jain would take on the chair of the Chairman of the Law Commission on 24 January 2012 after he retires of a Judge of Supreme Court on the same day. The Law Commission is responsible for offering advices on complex issues to the Government. He would be heading the commission as its chief for a period of three-years from the date of being in the office. The 20th Law Commission of India was constituted with the Order of the Government of India with effect from 1 September 2012. The functioning of the commission would end on 31 August 2012. The commission would be responsible for identification of obsolete laws and suggest measures suitable for quick grievance handling and redressal of the citizens. It would also be examining the laws that effects poor and suggest measures which would help in harnessing the law and the legal process for the economically weaker and poor section of the society.

Ravindra Dholakia-The Ministry of Civil Aviation on 3 January 2013 constituted a five-member committee to look into and suggest the measures that can be taken for cost cutting as well as optimal utilization of resources in Air India. The committee would be headed by Prof. Ravindra Dholkia of IIM, Ahmadabad. The Ministry has provided a two months time to Prof. Dholkia and the committee to submit its report along with interim recommendations, for immediate implementation.

Rajiv Takru is new Financial Services Secretary
Rajiv Takru, now Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been appointed as Financial Services Secretary in the Finance Ministry. A promotion for the 1979-batch IAS officer (Gujarat cadre), Mr. Takru will take over as Secretary, Department of Financial Services, from Dinesh Kumar Mittal, who retires on January 31. According to official release on 9 January, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also approved the appointment of Ravi Mathur as Secretary, Department of Disinvestment, under the Ministry of Finance. A 1979-batch IAS officer (Rajasthan cadre) and now Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr. Mathur will fill the vacancy in the Department of Disinvestment following the retirement of Mohammad Haleem Khan as Secretary. The ACC also appointed Prof K. Vijayraghavan, Director, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, as Secretary, Department of Biotechnology.

M S Gopalakrishnan (82)-Veteran violinist M S Gopalakrishnan died in Chennai on 3 January following a brief illness. Awarded with Padma Bhushan among others, Gopalakrishnan's career spanned over seven decades during which he was known for his deep knowledge of Carnatic and Hindustani music. His contemporaries include Lalgudi G Jayaraman and TN Krishnan.

Y.V. Reddy to head 14th Finance Commission
Former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy will be the Chairman of 14th Finance Commission, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on 2 January. The Finance Commission has been asked to submit its report by October 31, 2014. Finance Commission, a constitutional body, is set up every five years. Besides other things, the Commission lays down principles governing the grants-in-aid to states and other local bodies for a five-year period beginning April 1, 2014. Prior to joining RBI as its Governor in September 2003, Mr. Reddy was India’s Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund. The 13th Finance Commission was headed by former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar.

Syed Asif Ibrahim, Alok Joshi new chiefs of Intelligence Bureau, RAW respectively
Syed Asif Ibrahim and Alok Joshi on1 January took over as new chiefs of the country's top snoop agencies Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had cleared their names in November.

59-year-old Ibrahim is the first Muslim to lead the internal intelligence agency of the country. A 1977-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Ibrahim was appointed as OSD in the Intelligence Bureau last month. He today took over as its Director after incumbent Nehchal Sandhu retired yesterday. Ibrahim, who joined as a Special Director in the organisation after his return from London where he served as Minister (Coordination), has been with the IB for nearly three decades. He has served the agency in various capacities handling operations, Kashmir, Naxal, security and cyber security. He was also Private Secretary to late Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia and PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Joshi, who took over as RAW chief, is a 1976 batch officer of Haryana cadre. He has earlier served as Special Secretary in the agency besides occupying other important positions. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet had approved Joshi's appointment for a period of two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier, in place of present incumbent SK Tripathi, whose tenure completed on December 29. Joshi has served in Intelligence Bureau and Haryana Police with key operations in Nepal and Pakistan to his credit.

S. Ramakrishnan took over as Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
He is an expert in aerospace propulsion, launch vehicle systems and project management
Before Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre he served as director (project) at VSSC and Chairman of Flight readiness review panel
He played a major role in accomplishing the PSLV C-11/Chandrayaan Mission
He was hounoured with a Padma Shri in 2003
He served as the Mission Director for PSLV C1, C2, C3 and C4 flights
He played a major role in helping India accomplish its first satellite Launch Vehicle SLV-3


Urjit Patel Was Appointed As the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
Urjit Patel was appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on 3 January 2013. Urjit Patel succeeds Subir Gokarn, who handled Monetary Policy in RBI. The three-year term of Subir Gokarn terminated in November 2012 but he was given an extension that ended finally on 31 December 2012. Urjit Patel was chosen over current Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn and International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Kalpana Kochhar. There are in all four Deputy Governor Posts in RBI. With the termination of term of Subir Gokarn, one post was vacant. Urjit Patel is an economist with hawkish point of view on inflation. He authored a research paper called Dynamics of Inflation Herding: Decoding India's Inflationary Process along with Gangadhar Darbha, ED, and Nomura.

PM Manmohan Singh Became the 19th Most Followed Leader on Twitter
As per Digital Policy Council (DPC), PM Manmohan Singh became the 19th most followed leader of the world on Twitter. PM Manmohan Singh is ahead of David Cameron and Julia Gillard, both of who were left behind in less than 12 months time. The latest study conducted by Digital Policy Council (DPC) concluded that leaders of politically-unstable states or fragile states considered social media threatening but Manmohan Singh and India were an exception to this fact. Singh ranked 19th with 342612 followers. US President Barrack Obama topped the list with 24611982 followers. Second on the list was President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez with 3802177 followers. Nevertheless, Manmohan Singh has more followers on Twitter than Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and UK. DPC provides its analysis about government institutions and world leaders who make use of the social media sites for connecting with the citizens. The latest study conducted by DPC proves that 75 percent of the heads of countries were making use of Twitter. The study about the ranks of leaders of states on Twitter also considers the factor of state fragility and this is what forms a negative point for Manmohan Singh because India ranks very poorly on this factor. Manmohan Singh is depicted as the leader of a state which is among politically unstable nations. The state fragility includes factors such as changes in the important policies, factionalism, auto-coups as well as state failure.