- Upendra Prasad Singh to be new water resources secretary
National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) director general Upendra Prasad Singh will be the new secretary in the water resources ministry.
Upendra Prasad Singh, a 1985-batch IAS officer, will replace Amarajit Singh, a 1982-batch officer of the Gujarat cadre.
- Ajay Kumar appointed secretary, defence production
Senior bureaucrat Ajay Kumar has been appointed as secretary in Department of Defence Production as part of a top-level minor bureaucratic reshuffle effected today.
Kumar, a 1985-batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, is at present additional secretary in Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- NK Singh appointed Chairman of 15th Finance Commission
Former Expenditure and Revenue Secretary NK Singh will chair the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
Former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das and adjunct professor of Georgetown University Anoop Singh will be its full- time members. Chairman of Bandhan Bank Ashok Lahiri and NITI-Aayog member Ramesh Chand will be part-time members.
| IAS officer Arvind Mehta will be the Secretary to the Commission. The Union Cabinet had on November 22 approved the setting up of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
The panel, which is a statutory body under Article 280(1) of the Constitution, will prescribe the formula for devolution of taxes between the Centre and States for the five years commencing on April 1, 2020. It is expected to submit its report by October 30, 2019. |
- N. Sharma appointed Chairman, National Anti-profiteering Authority
The Union Cabinet’s approval for the creation of the National Anti-profiteering Authority under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, the Centre appointed senior IAS officer B.N. Sharma as the first chairman of the apex body.
Sharma will be assisted by four senior officials of the rank of Joint Secretary and above, namely J.C. Chauhan, Chairman Tax Tribunal, Himachal Pradesh; Bijay Kumar, Principal Commissioner GST, Kolkata; C.L. Mahar, Principal Commissioner GST, Meerut; and R. Bhagyadevi, ADG, Systems, Chennai.
- Pradeep Singh Kharola Appointed New Air India CMD
The government has appointed senior IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Air India. Pradeep Singh Kharola will replace Rajiv Bansal, who has been serving as the interim CMD of Air India for a little over three months.
Pradeep Singh Kharola, a 1985-batch IAS officer from Karnataka, is currently the Managing Director of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL).
- UK appoints its first female ambassador to the UN
Britain has appointed Karen Pierce as its new permanent secretary to the United Nations, the first woman to take on the role.
Pierce, a British diplomat who has worked in several countries, previously served as the deputy permanent representative to the United Nations in New York and permanent representative to the organisation in Geneva.
- Shaktikanta Das appointed India’s G20 Sherpa
Former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das was today appointed India’s G20 Sherpa till December 31, 2018, for the Development Track of the grouping.
There are two tracks in G20 — the Finance Track and the Development Track. Finance Track is managed by the Secretary (Economic Affairs), Ministry of Finance, as India’s Deputy to G-20 and the Development Track is coordinated by the Sherpa. The Department of Economic Affairs will provide necessary support to the Sherpa.
| Sherpas, who are representatives of leaders of G20 member countries, coordinate on the agenda of the summit.
The G20, a central forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues, accounts for more than four- fifths of gross world product and is home to almost two-thirds of the world’s population. |
- SAUBHAGYA Scheme launched in Manipur
The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHGAYA) was launched in Manipur, by Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R.K. Singh and N. Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur.
A total of approximately 1.75 lakh households (1.62 lakh rural households and 0.13 lakh urban households) of Manipur are proposed to be included under the Scheme.
- PM launches first phase of Hyderabad Metro
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the first phase of the 72-km elevated Hyderabad Metro Rail project at the Miyapur station.
A mobile app named ‘T Savari’ for Metro passengers was launched by the prime minister, who was also given a power-point presentation on the project at Miyapur station.
- Skill India, Airbnb partner to up-skill hospitality entrepreneurs
In line with its endeavor to promote entrepreneurship under the Government’s Skill India Program, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship’s implementation arm National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Council (THSC) today signed a tripartite MoU with Airbnb to provide hospitality skills training to hospitality micro-entrepreneurs in India.
- IndiaFirst Life introduces first-ever micro-insurance plan ‘insurance khata’
IndiaFirst Life Insurance (IndiaFirst Life) has launched a unique micro-insurance plan ‘insurance khata’ targeted at those in the informal sector and agricultural labourers with seasonal incomes.
This micro-insurance plan will be distributed exclusively through the 2.4 lakh common service centres (CSC) across the country.
| R.M.Vishakha | Managing Director & CEO, IndiaFirst Life |
| Alphons Kannanthanam | Minister of state for Electronics & IT |
- IAF’s Surya Kiran to hold first 9-aircraft display at NDA
The Indian Air Force’s Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team will fly a nine aircraft formation for the first time as part of its aerobatic display during the upcoming passing-out parade of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla here on November 30.
Team Surya Kiran (Rays of the Sun), is based at Bidar Air Force Station in Karnataka and is also known as ‘The Sharks’. It was raised in 1996 with the Kiran MK-II aircraft.
- Russia to help India set up crisis management centre
Russia will assist India to set up a national crisis management centre in the country to handle disaster and other emergency situations.
This was agreed during a meeting between Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Russian Minister for Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov.
Both sides agreed that EMERCOM of Russia would cooperate with India in the establishment of the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) in India.
- Pakistan to host World XI hockey team in January
The Pakistan Hockey Federation has gotten the country’s hockey community buzzing with the news that a World XI team will be touring Pakistan from January 10, with former Olympians hailing this as a historic moment.
- Pankaj Advani wins 18th int’l title at World Snooker C’ship
Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani dished out another superb performance to outclass Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh in the final and claim yet another title at the IBSF World Snooker Championship.
- Indian table tennis player wins gold at the Spanish Open
Indian table tennis player G. Sathiyan clinched the gold medal after defeating Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura 4-2 in the men’s singles final of the 2017 ITTF Challenge Spanish Open in Almeria.
This was the second ITTF Challenge Series title won by an Indian this year after Soumyajit Ghosh beat compatriot Anthony Amalraj in the Chile Open final a few months ago.
- European Games to include new mixed gender team event in 2019
European Athletics is poised to spearhead the charge for radical change in the sport with organizers having unveiled a new mixed gender team competition to be introduced at the second edition of the European Games in 2019.
The new competition planned for the Games in Minsk, Belarus, called Dynamic New Athletics (DNA), will see Europe’s top 30 countries compete across 10 events in two hours, culminating in a staggered pursuit relay called the “Hunt”.
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