Current Affairs 15th February 2020

1. Rajiv Bansal appointed Air India chairman and managing director

• The post became vacant after incumbent Ashwani Lohani completed his tenure.
• He is at present additional secretary in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.
• Air India Subsidiaries: Alliance Air, Airline Allied Services.

2. Rishi Sunak, Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law, is the new UK Finance Minister

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed Indian-origin Rishi Sunak as his new finance minister.
• Replaced Sajid Javid who resigned from the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
• He is married to the Akshata Murthy (Narayana Murthy’s daughter).

3. SEBI rolls out system to detect misuse of client securities by brokers

• Under the new system, an online register will record brokers’ holdings of client securities.
• First Chairman of SEBI : Dr. S. A. Dave.

4. Union cabinet okays changes in ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ Bill for faster resolution in direct tax litigation

• Approved changes in the ‘Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020’.
• With a view to increase its scope to cover litigation pending in various debt recovery tribunals (DRTs).
• The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha earlier this month.
• Cabinet meeting is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

5. Former TERI Chief and environmentalist RK Pachauri dies at 79

• Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, the former chief of The Energy and Resources Institute.
• Nitin Desai : chairman of TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute).

6. ICAI to set up Sustainability Accounting Standards Board

• Will set up a Sustainability Accounting Standards Board.
• To help companies in achieving sustainable development goals.
• ICAI is Chartered accountants’ apex body.

7. Katsuya Nomura, 84, Enduring Star of Japanese Baseball, Dies

• In his 26 years as a player and a player-manager, Nomura hit 657 home runs.
• Abner Doubleday invented Baseball game.

8. Indian hockey captain Manpreet Singh named Player of the Year 2019 by IHF

• Manpreet Singh was named Player of the Year for 2019 by the International Hockey Federation (IHF).
• He became the first Indian to win the accolade since the awards were introduced in 1999.
• Arthur van Dorren from Begium came second in the list.

9. 15th Finance Commission Forms Panel For Separate Defence And Internal Security Fund

• A 5 member group on Defence & Internal Security.
• The chairman of the commission : N.K. Singh will head the group.

10. Govt appoints Debasish Panda as financial services secretary

• In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, Narendra Modi appointed Debasish Panda as the secretary of finance ministry’s department of financial services.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The current Finance Minister of India : Nirmala Sitharaman.