Current Affairs 19th november To 20th november 2015

• Justice T.S.Thakur appointed as 43rd Chief Justice of India

President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed JusticeT.S. Thakur as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) as per provisions of Article 124 of Constitution.

T.S. Thakur will be 43rd Chief Justice of India and his appointment will come into effect from 3 December 2015. He will have tenure till January 3, 2017 i.e. till he attains the age of 65.

Background

The incumbent CJI H.L. Dattu had recommended Justice Thakur’s name for this top most post of Indian Judiciary, as he was senior-most judge of the apex court. Following the recommendation, the Union Law Ministry had processed his file and sent it to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for approval. From the PMO after its approval the file was forwarded to the President of India for approval.

About Justice T. S. Thakur

• Born on January 4, 1952.
• He is the son of D.D. Thakur, who was an renowned advocate and eminent judge in the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) High Court and later served as Union Minister.
• Judicial career: Justice Thakur had enrolled as a Pleader in October 1972. Later, he started practising in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
• He also had worked in Karnataka High Court, Delhi High Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court.
• He had worked as Chief Justice (CJ) of both Delhi High Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2009.
• In Supreme Court, Justice Thakur had headed of the bench which dealt with IPL spot-fixing scam. He also had headed of the bench which is monitoring the probe in the Saradha chit fund scam case

• Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed as India’s ambassador to China

Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed as India’s Ambassador to China.

He will replace Ashok Kantha, who was appointed as envoy to China in January 2014 for a two-year term i.e. till January 2016.

Currently, Mr.Gokhale is serving as the India’s Ambassador to Germany. He is a 1981 batch India Foreign Service (IFS) officer.

Prior, to his appointment as India’s top envoy to Germany, he had served at different Indian missions including in Hong Kong, Hanoi, Beijing and New York.

Mr.Gokhale also had held the posts of director (China and East Asia) and joint secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) headquarters in New Delhi, . He is known to be one of the most knowledgeable Indian diplomat who is well versed with international affairs of China.

• Union Cabinet approves MoU between India and Vietnam for cooperation in the field of Animal Health

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Vietnam for cooperation in the field of Animal Health.

The MoU aims to promote mutual cooperation between Vietnam and India through joint activities in the areas of Animal Health and was signed in September, 2014.

Under the MoU both sides have agreed to

• Exchange special information on animal health particularly information on status of animal diseases of common concern along with standards and procedures for animal quarantine and inspection status.
• Exchange the progress of monitoring and surveillance programmes in place for animal diseases and food borne pathogens.
• Exchange special information in the area of meat processing, meat products and slaughter houses or abattoirs.
• Set up Mutual Recognition Agreement on Veterinary hygiene along with health certificate between competent authorities.
• Mutually cooperate in the field of upgrading and training human resources in the field of animal health.

The MoU will remain in force for a period of 10 years or unless either of the signatory partiy give prior written notice of its intention to terminate it.

• Kiren Rijiju has been conferred with Disaster Risk Reduction Asia Champion honour by UN

Kiren Rijiju, was conferred with the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Champion for the Asia Region by the UN for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). He is the first Indian to be conferred with this prestige.

Disaster Risk Reduction Champions

• UNISDR honours individuals as Disaster Risk Reduction Champions for using their political influence to lobby for disaster risk reduction in their country, region and beyond.
• A Disaster Risk Reduction Champion is designated only the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction and head of UNISDR.

• Zarin Daruwala has been appointed as CEO of StanChart Bank India

Zarin Daruwala was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Standard Chartered Bank, India by Sunil Kaushal, who was appointed as Regional CEO for West Asia and Africa.

Currently, Zarin is serving as the President of the Wholesale Banking Group at ICICI Bank.

Zarin has led teams in public sector banking, financial institutions, project finance, structured finance, government and corporate banking.

• 7th Central Pay Commission submits report, proposes 23.55% salary hike

7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) headed by Justice AK Mathur has recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees.

In this regard the commission has submitted its report to Union Finance Ministry in New Delhi and the recommended pay revision will come into effect from 1 January 2016.

Recommendations of 7th CPC

• Minimum basic pay of 18 thousand and maximum of 2.5 lakh rupees per month.
• Abolition of grade pay and pay band structure. The rate of annual increment for employees will be three percent.
• The pay will go up by 16 percent, allowances by 63 percent and pension by 24 percent.
• Abolition of 52 allowances and introduction of a Health Insurance Scheme.
• One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for central government staffers, para military as well as armed forces personnel.
• Increase in military service pay and revised pension formula for civil employees including Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Defense Personnel retiring before 1 January 2016.

Implications

• The pay revision will impact 47 lakh serving employee and 52 lakh pensioners of the Central Government including in the Defence and Railways.
• It will cost public exchequer over 1 lakh crore rupees annually.
• The implementation of Pay Commission will impact fiscal deficit by 0.65 percent.

Finance Ministry is setting up committee headed by Expenditure Secretary to go through the report for its implementation.