1. IAS 'Shanti Kumari' becomes first woman Chief Secretary of Telangana
Tags: Person in news State News
Following the Telangana High Court's order, 1989 batch IAS officer A. Shanti Kumari was appointed as the Chief Secretary of Telangana.
Shanti Kumari has become the first woman to hold the post of Chief Secretary in Telangana.
He has replaced Somesh Kumar, who was the Chief Secretary earlier.
Prior to his appointment as Chief Secretary, IAS officer A.K. Shanti Kumari was holding the post of Special Chief Secretary, Forest.
a. Shanti Kumari is a post graduate in Marine Biology.
During her three decades of service, Shanti Kumari held various positions in education, health, poverty alleviation, skill development and forest departments.
About Telangana -
It was the 29th state (there are now 28 states in India) to be formed on 2 June 2014. It was carved out of Andhra Pradesh.
The Telangana region was a part of Hyderabad State from 17 September 1948 to 1 November 1956, later it was merged with Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh State.
Capital: Hyderabad
District :33
Chief Minister - K. Chandrasekhar Rao
Governor: Dr. Tamilisai Sundarraj
2. META appoints Vikas Purohit as director of India Global Business Group
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Meta India has appointed Vikas Purohit as the Director of Global Business Group for its business operations in India.
An Overview of the news
Vikas Purohit will work with Arun Srinivas, director and head of Meta's advertising business in the country.
Mr. Purohit will lead the company's strategic relationships with leading brands and agencies in the country to drive Meta's revenue growth across key channels in India.
Purohit will also partner with the media and creative ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of digital tools by the largest advertisers and agencies.
Vikas Purohit, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, has previously worked with companies such as Tata CLIQ, Amazon, Reliance Brands Limited, Aditya Birla Group and Tommy Hilfiger.
Purohit played a key role in introducing and furthering Amazonian fashion. His last stint was in Tata Cliq.
3. Congress MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh passed away during Bharat Jodo Yatra
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Congress MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh died of heart attack during Bharat Jodo Yatra in Phillaur, Punjab.
Santokh Singh was the Member of Parliament of Congress Party from Jalandhar (Punjab).
The Congress party started the Bharat Jodo Yatra under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi on 7 September 2022 from Kanyakumari.
This yatra will pass through 12 states.
During the journey, a distance of about 3500 kilometers will be covered in about 150 days.
The yatra will conclude on January 30 with the unfurling of the tricolor by Rahul Gandhi at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, Kashmir.
4. Italian man sets Guinness World Record by creating 'mirror typing' books in ancient languages
Tags: Person in news International News
According to a report by Guinness World Records (GWR), an Italian man, Michele Santaglia has created a world record by typing copies of 81 books backwards, which is called 'mirror writing'.
An overview of the news
Santaglia types books using four completely blank keyboards without looking backwards.
He types each book in its original language whether it be hieroglyphs, Old Hebrew, Traditional Chinese, Mayan, Etruscan, Cuneiform or Voynich glyphs.
He reverse-typed the Bible, the Code of Hammurabi, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Book of the Dead from ancient Egypt, the writings of Leonardo da Vinci.
He is able to type using 16 computer keyboards simultaneously located at different heights.
He credits Leonardo da Vinci who inspired him to do mirror typing.
Santaglia has given several books to various world figures over the years, including former US Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and former Italian Presidents Carlo Ciampi and Giorgio Napolitano.
Also, he has compiled all the four Indian Vedas in a single book by reverse typing.
5. Sultan Al Jaber appointed President of the 28th Climate Conference
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Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber has been named as the President of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The COP28 conference will be held in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December 2023.
Al Jaber is currently the UAE's Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology (MOIAT). He has been serving as the Special Envoy for Climate Change for several years.
He also became the first CEO to be appointed as the President of the COP. Sultan Al Jaber heads the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world's largest oil companies.
He has made several efforts with the UAE to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy across the region and globally.
COP 27
COP 27 was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from November 6-18, 2022.
The COP-27 conference was organised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany.
India was represented at the conference by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav.
To mark the occasion, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) jointly launched the campaign "In Our Lifetime" at an event on 14 November 2022.
The theme of COP-27: Delivering for People and Planet.
The first COP was held in 1995 in Berlin, Germany.
COP: Conference of Parties
6. The first woman officer to be posted on foreign assignment in the Border Roads Organization (BRO) - Captain Surabhi Jakhmola
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Captain Surabhi Jakhmola, an officer of the 117 Engineer Regiment of the Indian Army, has become the first woman officer of the Border Roads Organization (BRO) to be posted on a foreign project.
BRO has deployed Surabhi for Project Dantak in Bhutan.
The Indian Air Force recently deployed Squadron LeaderAvani Chaturvedi, a woman fighter pilot, to Japan for Veer Guardian 2023 training.
Border Roads Organization (BRO)
It has functioned under the Ministry of Defense since 2015.
BRO was established on May 7, 1960.
It is responsible for maintaining the road network in the border areas of India.
This organisation plays an important role in the development of the infrastructure of the border areas of the country.
One of the biggest infrastructural achievements of BRO is the construction of Atal Tunnel, the longest highway tunnel in Himachal Pradesh.
Director General Border Roads Organization -Lt. Gen. Rajeev Chowdhary
7. Former Union Minister Sharad Yadav passed away
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Former Union Minister and RJD leader Sharad Yadav passed away on 12 January 2023. The 75-year-old veteran politician breathed his last at Fortins, a private hospital in Gurugram.
An Overview of the news
His last rites will be performed on January 14 in his native village Aankhmau located in Babai Tehsil of Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh.
Sharad Yadav had represented the Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency four times. Elected MP twice from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. Apart from this, he was also elected Member of Parliament from Badaun, Uttar Pradesh.
Sharad Yadav was probably the first politician in India to be elected as a member of the Lok Sabha from three states. Sharad Yadav was the convenor of the National Democratic Alliance.
Born on July 1, 1947, in Babai village in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh, Sharad Yadav was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1974 in a by-election from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. In 1977, he was re-elected from the same constituency.
He was elected from Badaun (Lok Sabha constituency) in the year 1989 as a member of Janata Dal.
He was made the Union Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Textiles and Food Processing Industries in the year 1989-90.
He contested from the Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar in a by-election caused by Lalu Prasad Yadav's resignation from his seat in 2004. He was elected from Madhepura four times in 1991, 1996, 1999 and 2009.
Sharad Yadav contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on RJD ticket but had to face defeat.
In May 2018, he launched the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) after breaking away from the JD(U) due to its alliance with the BJP in Bihar. In March 2022, he merged his party LJD with the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
8. Cognizant Appoints Ravi Kumar S as Chief Executive Officer
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On 12th January 2023, Cognizant IT head has announced the appointment of former Infosys chairman Ravi Kumar S as CEO and board member, with immediate effect.
An Overview of the news
Ravi Kumar S has replaced Brian Humphries in both the roles. To facilitate a smooth transition, Brian Humphries will remain with the company as a Special Advisor until March 15, 2023.
Ravi Kumar S has worked in Infosys for 20 years. During this time he held various leadership roles, including serving as the Chairman from January 2016 to October 2022.
Ravi Kumar brings world-class expertise in consulting, process and technology transformation as well as building successful businesses.
The company also announced that Stephen J Rohleder, a member of the board of Cognizant with effect from March 2022, has been elected as the chairman of the board.
Former Chair Michael Patsalos-Fox will remain on the Board as an independent director.
9. Central government extends term of RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra for one year
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The Central Government has extended the tenure of Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for one more year with effect from January 15, 2023.
An overview of the news
He took over as Deputy Governor of the RBI on 15 January 2020. Patra's three-year term ended on January 14.
He was an Executive Director of India's central bank before being elevated to the post of Deputy Governor.
Patra oversees the monetary policy department in his capacity as deputy governor of the central bank and also serves as a member of the rate-setting monetary policy committee.
The six-member Monetary Policy Committee is headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
Apart from the Governor, RBI has four Deputy Governors. The three other deputy governors of the bank are MK Jain, M Rajeswara Rao and T Rabi Shankar.
As a Fellow of Harvard University, he did post-doctoral research in the area of financial stability, he has a PhD in Economics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
10. France captain Hugo Lloris announces retirement from international football
Tags: Sports Person in news Sports News
France team captain Hugo Lloris announced on 9 January his decision to retire from international football at the age of 36.
An overview of the news
He took this decision three weeks after losing the final against Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Lloris made his international debut in November 2008 at the age of 21 in a friendly match against Uruguay. He is also the most capped player forFrance in the World Cup.
He surpassed Lillian Thuram's record of 142 matches. Lloris represented the France team in 145 matches.
In the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, France lost the match toArgentina in a penalty shootout after a 3–3 draw through full time and then extra time.
Argentina won the shootout over France 4–2.
Hugo Lloris is the fourth captain to lead his team to two consecutive World Cup finals. This feat was first achieved by Karl Heinz Rumeneige of Germany.
Legendary footballer Diego Maradona also led Argentina to two consecutive World Cup finals under his captaincy.
Lloris has represented France in four World Cups and three Euro Cups and captained Les Blues to the World Cup trophy in 2018.
