Appointments/Resignations (National & International)
Vice Admiral SN Ghormade has assumed charge as the Vice Chief of Naval Staff at a formal ceremony in New Delhi. He succeeds Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar who retired on July 31, 2021, after more than 39 years of illustrious service.
· Deepak Das has taken over as the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on August 01, 2021. Prior to assuming charge of CGA, Mr Das served as the Principal Chief Controller of Accounts in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Deepak Das, a 1986-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer, is the 25th officer to hold the position of CGA.
· Italian luxury brand Bvlgari has appointed actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas as global brand ambassador. She will support the Roman high jewellery house in amplifying the brand around the world, with a particular focus on themes of women empowerment, diversity and inclusion. Bvlgari is known for its gemstone jewellery, watches, fragrances, accessories and leather goods.
· Mini Ipe took charge as managing director of Life Insurance Corporation of India. Ipe is a post-graduate in commerce and joined LIC in 1986 as a direct recruit officer. She has a diverse experience in LIC having worked in various capacities. LIC is India’s 2nd-largest financial services institution with a Rs 31 lakh crore balance sheet, next to the country’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), with assets of Rs 39.51 lakh crore.
· Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has stepped down as the Non-Executive Director and Non-Executive Chairman of the Vodafone Idea (now Vi) Board. The Vi Board of Directors have unanimously elected Himanshu Kapania, currently a Non-Executive Director, as the Non-Executive Chairman with effect.
· Maharashtra Governor, Bhagat Singh Koshyari has approved the appointment of retired Bombay high court judge Justice V M Kanade as the new Lokayukta of Maharashtra, on the advice of the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Maharashtra was without a full-time Lokayukta for almost a year. The previous Lokayukta, (retd) Justice M L Tahaliyani had completed his tenure in August 2020.
· The Indian government approved the appointment of Dr Dhriti Banerjee as the director of the Zoological Survey of India. She is a prolific scientist, conducting research in zoogeography, taxonomy, morphology and molecular systematics. On the occasion of its centenary celebrations in 2016, Banerjee had co-authored the “The Glorious 100 Women’s Scientific Contribution in ZSI”, which chronicled the contributions of women scientists in the domain of animal-related groups.
· Eurosport India has appointed Bollywood superstar and MotoGP enthusiast, John Abraham, as the India Ambassador for their flagship Motorsport property, MotoGP™. John will be seen promoting MotoGP to a wider audience base in India as its face through Eurosport’s campaign – “MotoGP, Race Lagate Hai”.
· The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has extended the term of service of Rajiv Gauba, as the Cabinet Secretary of India, for a further period of one year.
· Home interiors brand HomeLane has entered into a three-year strategic partnership with Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an equity partner and brand ambassador. As part of the partnership, Dhoni will own equity in HomeLane and will be the company’s first brand ambassador.
· The Government of India has given a three-year extension to Rekha Sharma as Chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW).
· The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started a public awareness campaign to warn people against digital banking frauds. For the new campaign, RBI has roped in Olympic Gold medalist Neeraj Chopra. The central bank has asked people to be a little cautious as doing so can protect them from a lot of troubles. A little caution takes care of a lot of trouble.
· Cashify, a re-commerce marketplace announced that it has appointed Rajkummar Rao as its first brand ambassador. The actor has signed a multi-year contract with the company and he will promote the products across digital media platforms through campaigns and promotional activities exclusively for the smartphone buyback category.
· Kamlesh Kumar Pant, a 1993-batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the new chairman of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet.
· Actor-producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas was announced as the chairperson of Jio MAMI Film Festival, almost four months after Deepika Padukone stepped down from the position. The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) unveiled its plans for the coming year, edition and the change in leadership.
· Adi Godrej will step down as the chairman of Godrej Industries on October 01, 2021. He will be replaced by Nadir Godrej, his younger brother. Godrej Industries (GIL) is the holding company of the Godrej group. Presently Nadir Godrej is the Managing Director of Godrej Industries. However, Adi Godrej will continue to serve as the Chairman of Godrej Group.
· Direct selling FMCG firm Amway India has announced that it has appointed Olympian Saikhom Mirabai Chanu as the brand ambassador for Amway and its Nutrilite range of products.
· Olympian Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh (PR Sreejesh), goalkeeper and former captain of the Indian National Hockey team is set to be named as the brand ambassador of adventure tourism in Kerala.
· Shanti Lal Jain has been appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Indian Bank for a period of three years. He will replace Padmaja Chunduru as MD and CEO of Indian Bank. He is currently the Executive Director (ED) at the Bank of Baroda.
· The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has announced the re-appointment of T M Bhasin as chairman of the Advisory Board for Banking and Financial Frauds (ABBFF).
· Television monitoring agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) has announced the appointment of Nakul Chopra as its chief executive officer (CEO) effective 25 August 2021.
· Senior BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, La. Ganesan, has been appointed as the new Governor of Manipur with effect from August 23, 2021. The post was lying vacant after the retirement of Najma Heptulla on August 10, 2021.
· Abhay Kumar Singh has been appointed as joint secretary in the Ministry of Cooperation. This ministry was recently formed with an aim to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country.
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