Chavez re-elected to 6-year term in Venezuela

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was re-elected on October 7 to a fourth term, which would bring his total years in office to 20, according to preliminary official results made public by the National Electoral Council.

Mr. Chavez received 54.42 per cent of the votes with about 90 per cent of the ballots counted while Henrique Capriles, the unified opposition candidate, received 44.97 per cent.

The results would secure Mr. Chavez another six-year mandate, taking his term of office through 2019.

Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council, said the turnout stood at 81 per cent in an election that was “calm without disturbances.” If the final results confirm his win, Mr. Chavez, 58 is set to be inaugurated again on January 10. 

Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles acknowledged the election win of Mr. Chavez.

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Altamas Kabir sworn in new Chief Justice of India

Justice Altamas Kabir was on September 29 sworn in as the 39th Chief Justice of India by President Pranab Mukherjee. He took over the post from Justice S.H. Kapadia, who served as the CJI for nearly two-and-a-half years.

Justice Kabir, 64, took the oath at a brief ceremony in the Ashoka Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Justice Kabir was appointed Supreme Court judge on September 9, 2005. He has delivered several landmark judgements, including on human rights and election laws. He will serve a tenure of nine months till July 18, 2013.

Born on July 19, 1948 in Kolkata, Justice Kabir did his LLB and MA from University of Calcutta and was made a permanent judge of the Calcutta High Court on August 6, 1990.

He is part of the bench hearing the case of the two Italian Marines who allegedly shot dead two Kerala fishermen taking them as pirates.

Justice Kabir headed a bench which recently decided the case of disqualification of MLAs by the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The bench quashed the Speaker’s order on disqualification of the MLAs who had defected from the BJP.

He also decided the important issue of whether an MP suspended from a political party can continue as MP. The bench headed by him held that even after being removed or suspended from a party, the person can continue as MP and participate in its proceedings and shall be entitled to vote.

He is also dealing with the petition filed by Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav seeking review of the judgement ordering a CBI probe into a case of disproportionate assets against them and members of their family. The verdict is reserved.

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Sandeep Patil appointed chairman of national cricket selection committee

 Sandeep Patil, former India allrounder and current Operations Director at the National Cricket Academy, has been appointed chairman of the senior selection committee for a maximum term of four years to be renewed each year by the BCCI.


He is part of a new five-member panel appointed by the Board, others being Roger Binny, Saba Karim, Vikram Rathour and Rajinder Singh Hans. Indian cricket will thus have a new set of selectors.

The earlier panel headed by K. Srikkanth had completed its tenure, except North Zone selector Mohinder Amarnath, who had completed one year and was due for re-appointment.

BCCI president N. Srinivasan explained the reasoning behind Patil as the new chairman and change in the entire senior selection panel. “We wanted a person of sufficient stature as chairman. No one can question Sandeep Patil’s credentials.”

Amarnath’s exclusion

Asked about the line of thought in excluding a player of Amarnath’s stature, despite having three years left in his term, Srinivasan said: “The issue is not about the credentials of a person, just that BCCI wants a new face. The five selectors are chosen for a maximum four-year term and elected annually. I cannot go into the reason (behind Mohinder Amarnath’s exclusion) and don’t want it to go into a public debate. Appointing selectors is a decision of the BCCI.”

Patil’s appointment as the selector from West Zone and senior chairman is one of the many decisions taken at the AGM of the Board conducted at the Cricket Centre.

Binny (South Zone), Karim (East Zone), Rathour (North Zone) and Hans (Central Zone) comprise the new panel. The selectors’ remuneration has been hiked from Rs. 40 lakh to Rs. 60 lakh in case of senior panel and Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 40 lakh for the junior selectors.

Pandit replaces Kuruvilla

Former India wicketkeeper Chandrakant Pandit is the junior selectors’ chairman, replacing Abey Kuruvilla under whom India won the under-19 World Cup recently in Australia.

Anil Kumble, former India captain and now making a mark in cricket administration, will be the new BCCI Technical Committee chairman. Gargi Banerjee retains her post as women’s selection committee head.

The BCCI president, replying to a question about zonal basis in appointing selectors for the India seniors, juniors and women’s squad, instead of picking the best from those available regardless of zones they represent, said: “India is a large country and skills of players in all regions have to be addressed. BCCI has picked good selectors. The increase in remuneration is to make selectors more responsible and give more time. There is more interest in players becoming selectors.”

New technical chief

Former India captain and ace leg-spinner Anil Kumble is the new chairman of BCCI’s Technical Committee, Board president N. Srinivasan said after the 83rd AGM ended here on Thursday.

Orissa’s ex-Ranji player and former East Zone selector, Ranjib Biswal, is the National Cricket Academy chairman.

The BCCI president also said the Board had adopted an anti-corruption code, details of which would be circulated to all associations.

Gross income has been valued at Rs. 849 crore (as against Rs. 581 crore the previous year), surplus is over Rs. 382 crore (Rs. 190 crore previous year). During the year, Rs.160 crore were spent on infrastructure development (Rs. 130 crore earlier) and one-time benefit to former players cost Rs 80 crore.

The Indian Premier League Governing Council remains unchanged.

Other appointments:

India Seniors Selection Committee: Sandeep Patil (chairman, West Zone), Vikram Rathour (North), Saba Karim (East), Roger Binny (South), Rajinder Singh Hans (Central) and Sanjay Jagdale (BCCI Secretary).

Junior selection committee: Chandrakant Pandit (chairman, West), Arun Kumar (North), Arup Bhattacharya (East), K. Jayaraman (South), Pritam Gandhe (Central) and Anurag Thakur (Hon Joint Secretary).

Women’s selection committee: Gargi Banerjee (chairman, East), Gulshan Sharma (North), Sudha Shah (South), Amrita Shinde (West), Rita Dey (Central).

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Justice Murugesan takes charge as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court

Murugesan sworn in as new CJ of Delhi HC

New Delhi: Justice Darmar Murugesan, who was a judge of the Madras High Court, was on Wednesday sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.

62-year-old Justice Murugesan after being elevated was transfered to Delhi in the place of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri, who in turn has taken charge as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna administered the oath of office to Justice Murugesan at 10 AM at a function at Raj Niwas here which was attended by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and other fellow judges of the Delhi High Court.

In view of the swearing-in ceremony of Justice Murugesan, the proceedings in the Delhi High Court commenced at 11.30 AM, an hour later than the scheduled time.

Justice Murugesan, born on June 10, 1951, was appointed as a judge of the Madras High Court on March 2, 2000, more than 24 years after he enrolled as a member of the Bar on August 27, 1975.

He was made a permanent judge of the Madras High Court on June 13, 2001. 

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Dilip Venkatraman appointed CEO of IBN7

N Dilip Venkatraman, chief executive officer, CNN-IBN has now also been assigned the mandate to lead IBN7, the Network18 Group’s national Hindi news channel. In this expanded role, Venkatraman will be responsible for the strategic and operational management of both IBN7 and CNN-IBN. Venkatraman takes over the leadership mantle at IBN7 from Piyush Jain, who is now focusing on the group's regional news forays.


Venkatraman had been appointed CEO of the English news channel CNN-IBN in 2010. Prior to that, he was leading marketing operations for all existing IBN channels - CNN-IBN, IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat and managing IBN Focus, the customised media solutions unit for the channels.

Venkatraman is known for conceptualising benchmark properties at the Network including CNN-IBN Indian of the Year, Real Heroes, IBN7 Diamond States Awards, Citizen Journalist Awards and IBN7 Super Idols, said an official statement from Network18.

Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief, CNN-IBN, IBN7, IBN-Lokmat, said, “Dilip has been a core member of the team instrumental in building the IBN news channels into a strong position, beginning with the launch of CNN-IBN in 2005. His remarkable success in building on our values of inclusive journalism has propelled CNN-IBN forward and we’re confident that his leadership of IBN7 will take it to new heights”

B Saikumar, group CEO, Network18, added, "We believe that the national news market is at an exciting juncture in its growth story and both CNN-IBN and IBN7 are well placed to capitalize on future opportunities. IBN7 has emerged as a brand with a distinct credo of journalism and viewer traction. In Dilip, we entrust the responsibility of exploiting synergies, ensuring sustained profitability and leading the drive to further enhance the brand equity and audience franchise of CNN-IBN and IBN7.”

Venkatraman said, “In a highly competitive environment, we believe that IBN7 has carved a unique position for itself. Our goal now will be to unlock the value of its brand and thereby pave the way for further growth. I hope to work closely with the IBN7 team to ensure this objective is achieved.”

Venkatraman has over two decades of corporate experience and prior to joining Network18, he held leadership positions at the India Today Group and Zee Network.

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Woman of Pakistani origin becomes minister in Norway

 In what can be described as a fitting response to Anders Breivik’s brutal assault on Norwegian multiculturalism, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg appointed a 29-year-old Muslim woman of Pakistani origin the new Culture Minister. Hadia Tajik is the first Muslim and youngest Minister ever in Norwegian political history. Ms. Tajik, who has degrees in law and journalism and has been a career politician in Norway’s Labour Party, was appointed in a Cabinet reshuffle.

‘Courageous move’

“This is a very courageous move on the part of the Prime Minister. She is an extremely intelligent person and has been an activist all her life. I would describe this as an important decision for Norway that will go a long way to prove that we are a truly multicultural society,” Dag Herbjornsrud, editor of the influential paper Ny Tid told The Hindu in a telephone conversation. “It was important that Norway proved this to the world, but it’s even more important that we proved this to ourselves.”


Ms. Tajik has already declared that cultural diversity should become more integral to the life of her fellow citizens. She said her programme would focus on how this reflected on Norwegian society as a whole. The programme will delve into the protection of minority rights, whether cultural or racial.

Conservative elements

However, she will have to watch her step. Conservative elements in Norway believe that a very rapid influx of foreigners and foreign cultures has destabilised the steady and stable pattern of Norway’s essentially Christian society.

Last year, Anders Breivik randomly shot 69 people at a summer camp organised by the Workers' Youth League (AUF) of the Labour Party after blowing up a Norweigan state building. During his trial, Breivik reasoned that multi-cultural policies were harming Norway, adding that he considered Islam his enemy.

“Hadia is not a foreigner. She was born here, on the West coast of Norway in a small village or district which is home to 600 people. She might have done degrees from Oslo and from the U.K. but she remains very rooted and even speaks the West country dialect from Strand. We hope she will be a peacemaker, especially during the troubled times we are currently witnessing, Dr Herbjornsrud said.

The right message

Carima, a young woman of Moroccan descent, told The Hindu: “I am really happy and I think this is an excellent appointment. She is Norwegian and at the same time she is a Muslim and a woman. She is educated and forward looking. Right now Norway has gone through a very difficult period with the killings on Utoya Island by Anders Breivik, followed by his trial. That re-opened many wounds. This sends out the right message that Norway has opted for an open, multicultural democracy and people like Breivik will not be able to push us off that path.”

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Aishwarya Rai appointed Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS

 Hindi actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the newly appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS, says she does not want to be just a “poster girl” for the organisation but will help break social barriers and stigmas that are attached with the disease.

In her new role, Aishwarya will help raise awareness on issues related to stopping new HIV infections in children and advocate for increased access to anti-retroviral treatment.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe announced Aishwarya’s appointment as the Goodwill Ambassador at a press conference here on Monday.


Aishwarya said it is an “honour and privilege” to be working with the UN and focusing on the work that needs to be done in the area of AIDS/HIV.

“I will initially be like a student, holding the hand of the organisation which will lead me to the real picture on the ground,” Aishwarya said at the press conference.

She said she is exchanging ideas with UNAIDS on what steps need to be taken and how to work with women in educating them and helping them break social barriers and stigmas that are attached with the disease.

Lending her support to social causes like AIDS is not just the clichéd “Miss World” talk, she said, adding over the years she has taken one step at a time and given her voice to causes as effectively as she could at that point in time.

“This is a turning point in my life. I wanted to be associated with the UN at a time when I could actually contribute to the work and the causes,” she said, adding that having the blessing of celebrity will allow her to take her message to a larger audience.

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No West Bengal rail project to be abandoned: Railway Minister CP Joshi

No WB rail project to be abandoned:Joshi

New Delhi: Allaying apprehension about the fate of West Bengal rail projects, Railway Minister C P Joshi on Tuesday said they would not be affected due to change of guard in Rail Bhawan.

"Whatever rail projects were announced for Bengal with financial sanction will be implemented. Because all these projects are of UPA government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," he said after meeting a West Bengal Congress delegation.

A six-member Congress delegation led by former Bengal Minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia met Joshi here and submitted a memorandum seeking assurance on the continuation of all rail projects announced for the state.

"There is a strong campaign going on in Bengal against the Centre that all rail projects announced in the last three years will be abandoned due to change of Railway Minister.
That is why we met Joshi to allay the apprehension in people's mind," Bhunia told.

"He (the Minister) assured us that all rail projects announced with financial approval earlier would be completed in time because these are UPA projects," Bhunia said.

There are around 17 projects worth Rs 40,000 crore announced for Bengal during the period of Railway Ministers from Trinamool Congress- Mamata Banerjee, Dinesh Trivedi and Mukul Roy.

The big ticket projects include an EMU coach factory at Kanchrapara, a wagon manufacturing factory at Kulti, an electric loco assembly and ancillary unit at Dankuni and East West Metro in Kolkata.

There are also several new lines projects, gauge conversion projects and doubling projects announced for Bengal during the period.

The Congress delegation invited Joshi to visit West Bengal for inaugurating some rail projects in the state. "We invited him to inaugurate some projects like coach factory at Haldia and Howrah electrical projects," Bhunia said.

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Justice Murugesan new Delhi Chief Justice

The President has appointed Justice Darmar Murugesan, Judge of the Madras High Court, the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court from the date he assumes office. He will have a brief tenure of nine months.

Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Arjan Kumar Sikri has been appointed the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Manjula Chellur has been appointed the Chief Justice of the same court.


Justice Murugesan (61) served as Special Government Pleader in the Madras High Court during 1994-96, Special Government Pleader from October 1997 and Government Pleader from December 8, 1998. He was appointed Judge of the court on March 2, 2000 and as Permanent Judge on June 13, 2001.

Justice Sikri (58) was appointed Judge of Delhi High Court in July 1999. He dealt with all kinds of jurisdictions and gave given many landmark judgments. He has attended/chaired various national and international seminars and workshops and presented a number of papers. He was chosen as one of the 50 most influential persons in Intellectual Property in the world in the survey conducted by Managing Intellectual Property Association (MIPA) for the year 2007. He was appointed the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court on October 10, 2011.

Justice Manjula Chellur (56) joined the Karnataka Judicial Service as District Judge on April 15, 1988. She was appointed Additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka on February 21, 2000, and permanent Judge on August 17, 2000. She will have a tenure of six years if she continues as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.

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Somali election: Hassan Sheikh elected as president

Somali MPs meeting in Mogadishu have elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country's new president, in the latest step to end decades of war.

The academic beat President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in a run-off poll by 190 to 79 votes, officials said.

No candidate secured the required two-thirds majority in the first round of voting, conducted by secret ballot.

Bill Hayton reports.

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Appointments in India 2012

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Dear Reader

This is the list of appointments in year 2012. this list is very useful for all upcoming exams. so read this carefully to prepare batter.

• Parvin Sinclair appointed as  Director of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Jan 2, 2012.
• Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar  appointed as President, Indian Economic Association.
• Samir K. Brahmachari reappointed as Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He got extension for a period of two years.
• Arvind Gupta appointed as Director General, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA).
• Vice Admiral M.P. Muralidharan  appointed as Director General, Indian Coast Guard in Jan 2012. Earlier served as the first Commandant fo the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala.
• M. Rafeeque Ahmed  appointed as  President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) in Jan 2012, he is chairman of the Farida Group; was FIEO President from 2002 to 2004
• Imtaiyazur Rahman   appointed as   CEO, UTI Mutual Fund (UTIMF) in Jan 2012.
• Nesar Ahmad  appointed as President, Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI). ICSI is the only recognized professional body in India to develop and regulate the profession of Company Secretaries in India.
• R.V. Kanoria  appointed as  President, FICCI he is presently CMD of Kanoria Chemicals and Industries Ltd.
• Sidharth Birla appointed as Vice President, FICCI, he is Chairman of Xpro India Ltd.
• Padam Vir Singh reappointed as Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie. He got extension for two years.
• Balan Nambiar appointed as acting Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi.  
• Prof SS Mantha appointed as Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
• A K Garg appointed as CMD, MTNL  Jan 27, 2012.  He took over from Kuldip Singh, who was given additional charge of CMD since Jan 2010 after the resignation of former CMD RSP Sinha.
• Narendra Singh appointed as CMD, Bank of Maharashtra   Feb 1, 2012    
• D.K. Mittal  appointed as Director, RBI's Central Board on Feb 7, 2012. Now RBI's central board has 18 directors. Mittal's nomination follows the recent amendment to the RBI Act, 1934, allowing the Central Government to nominate two Government officials to the central board instead of one.
• Jaydeep Narendra appointed as President, Institute of Chartered Accountant on Feb 12, 2012  
• Subodh Kumar Agarwal appointed as  Vice President, Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA)    Feb 12, 2012  
• Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali appointed as Deputy Chief (Information System and Training), Indian Army in Feb 13, 2012.
• Sushobhan Sarkar  appointed as MD, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on Feb 17, 2012   
• Jawhar Sircar  appointed as  Chief Executive Officer, Prasar Bharati on Feb 22, 2012.  The post was vacant for over a year since B.S. Lalli was suspended due to a CBI probe into alleged financial irregularities.
• Prakash Mishra  appointed as DG, National Disaster Response Force on Mar 6, 2012.
• Gopalkrishna Gandhi appointed as Chairman, Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS). He was former West Bengal governor
• Sunil Prabhu elected as Mayor, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). MCGM is country's richest municipal corporation.
• Vijay Bahuguna appointed as Chief Minister, Uttarakhand, he is seventh CM of Uttarakhand; former judge of the Allahabad High Court
• Okram Ibobi Sigh   elected as Chief Minister, Manipur on Mar 14, 2012, he became Chief Minister for the third consecutive term
• Parkash Singh Badal  elected as Chief Minister, Punjab on Mar 14, 2012 , he was elected as CM for record 5^th time
• Sukhbir Singh Badal  appointed as Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab on Mar 14, 2012.
• Akhilesh Yadav  was sworn in as Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh on Mar 15, 2012. He is the youngest CM of the state
• Mukul Roy is appointed as Railway Minister of India on Mar 20, 2012, he replaced Dinesh Trivedi
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• Harsh Pati Singhania appointed as President, International Chamber of Commerce, India (ICC, India) Mar 23, 2012.
• Justice Fakir Muhammad Ibrahim Kalifulla  appointed as  Judge, Supreme Court  he served as former chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
• Debabrata Sarkar appointed as CMD, Union Bank of India.
• Ashok Kumar Roy appointed as CMD, General Insurance Corporation of India.
• Justice Virendra Singh appointed as Chief Justice, Jammu and Kashmir High Court he succeeded Justice Ibrahim Kalifullah.
• Manan Kumar Mishra appointed as  Chairman, Bar Council of India (BCI). The Bar Council of India is a statutory body to regulate and represent the Indian bar.
• Zafar Ahmed Khan appointed as Vice Chairman, bar Council of India (BCI).   Apr 15, 2012   The Bar Council of India sets standards for legal education and grants recognition to universities where degrees in law serve as qualification for enrolment as an advocate.
• Adi Godrej appointed as President, Confederation of India on Apr 19, 2012.
• S Narsing Rao appointed as CMD, Coal India (CIL).
• B.V. Wanchoo appointed as Governor, Goa.
• K. Sankaranarayanan  appointed as Governor, Maharashtra 
• Margaret Alva  appointed as Governor, Rajasthan.
• Ratan Kumar Sinha appointed as Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission.
• Goolam E. Vahanvati appointed as Attorney-General of India. He is re-appointed for two more years; previously was appointed in 2009
• Ajay Banga appointed as Chairman, US-India Business Council (USIBC).
• Subash Joshi appointed as Director General, National Security Guards (NSG).
• Sunil Kumar Srivastava appointed as CMD, Oil India Ltd (OIL).
• Rajeev Dubey appointed as President, Employees' Federation of India (EFI) an association of autonomous industry organizations, is one of the bodies representing India at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva.
• Vidya Balan appointed as Brand Ambassador, Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
• E.S.I. Narasimhan appointed as Governor, Andhra Pradesh.
• S.K. Mittal appointed asDG, Central Public Works Department May 4, 2012  
• Rahul Khullar appointed as  Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
• Film actress Rekha appointed as Member, Rajya Sabha
• P. Chidambaram appointed as Chairman, Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council 
• Justice V.S. Sirpurkar appointed as Chairman, Competition Appellate Tribunal of India
• K. Saleem Ali appointed as  Special Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)   
• General Bikram Singh appointed as Chief, Indian Army    May 31, 2012  Succeeded General V.K. Singh
• DK Mehrotra appointed as  Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India
• Shikha Sharma appointed as MD, Axis Bank, she is reappointed for a further period of 3 years
• Air Marshal Arup Raha appointed as Chief, Western Air Command
• Justice Madan Bhimarao Lokur appointed as Judge, Supreme Court.   
• Sachin Tendulkar  appointed as member, Rajya Sabha 
• Rajiv Nayan Choubey appointed as Head, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).
• Vice Admiral DK Joshi appointed as Chief, Indian Navy 
• Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath appointed as  Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)
• Sekhar Basu appointed as Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).  
• Som Mittal reappointed as President, NASSCOM.
• Kailash Chandra Purohit appointed as Chairman and Managing Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).
• Niranjan Hiranandani appointed as President, Indian Merchants Chamber 
• K Parasaran and Prof. Mrinal Miri appointed as members, Rajya Sabha.
• Dr Ashok K Lahiri appointed as Executive Director, Asian Development.

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