Halimah Yacob Became First Woman Speaker of the Singapore Parliament

Halimah Yacob (58) became the first woman and the 9th Speaker of the Singapore Parliament on 14 January 2013. She replaced Michael Palmer, the former People's Action Party MP. Palmer got down from the post of Speaker of the Parliament and as an MP on 12 December 2012. Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong nominated her for the designation of speaker.

Halimah Yacob came down from her post of Minister of State (Social and Family Development) and was elected as the Speaker by Members of Parliament. In her role, she is expected to play an independent role during all the parliamentary debates, but she stressed the fact that she would remain ahead for the Singaporeans' concerns and would also share the views on various policies.

Various MPs stood up in favour of the appointment of Halimah Yacob in the Parliament, which also highlighted the importance to women as well as the Malay-Muslim community.

Brooklyn resident wins Miss America crown

A 23-year-old contestant from Brooklyn, New York, has won the title of Miss America.
 Mallory Hagan won the beauty pageant after tap dancing to James Brown’s ‘Get Up Off of That Thing’ and answering a question about whether armed guards belong in grade schools by saying we should not fight violence with violence.

Hagan defeated Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers, who took second, and Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton, who finished third.

Hagan wins a $50,000 (Dh183,650) college scholarship and gets the crown for one year. Her platform was stopping child sexual abuse.

She is expected to spend her title reign on a nationwide speaking tour and raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network, the organisation’s official charity.

Hagan defeated several other notable competitors who grabbed headlines this year because of their backstories.

The 92nd Miss America annual show held this year at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip is the culmination of a week of preliminary competitions and months of preparations for the titleholders from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The pageant, which started as little more than an Atlantic City bathing suit revue, broke viewership records in its heyday and bills itself as one of the world’s largest scholarship programmes for women.

But like other pageants, the show has struggled to stay relevant as national attitudes regarding women’s rights and civil rights have evolved.

More recently, the rise of reality television has provided a superabundance of options for Americans interested in seeing attractive young people in competitive pursuits.

Urvashi Dholakia wins Bigg Boss 6

TV actress Urvashi Dholakia has won the sixth season of reality show Bigg Boss defeating her nearest rival Iman Siddique.

With Urvashi's win, this is the third time in a row that a TV 'bahu' has won the reality show.

Dubbed as vamp of the small screen, Urvashi won the show by a narrow margin.

Previously, TV actresses Shweta Tiwari and Juhi Parmar had won season 4 and 5 of Bigg Boss, respectively.

Urvashi could not control her emotions when she was declared as the winner while Imam looked composed and forthcoming.

Urvashi has won Rs 50 lakh and a trophy as the prize, while Colors channel gave Rs 10 lakh to Imam for being a 'wholehearted entertainer'. He had been given Rs 5 lakh by the channed during the show earlier.

Urvashi had been in Bigg Boss house from day one - starting October 1, whereas Imam was first placed in 'Padosi House' before being shifted to Bigg Boss house.

During the show, Urvashi stayed to herself - being straight forward while Imam was an entertainer.

The show, aired on Colors channel, began with 14 contestants and the number increased to 19 gradually.

R.K. Dubey is Canara Bank CMD

R.K. Dubey, 59, has been appointed the Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank.  Dubey’s was areas of expertise include planning and budgeting, resource mobilisation, credit, risk management, human resources (HR), IT and marketing. A post-graduate in English, Dubey also has a degree in law and management in HR practices. He is also a certified associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers. Dubey joined Punjab National Bank in 1977 as a management trainee and moved up the ranks to become a general manager in 2008 and was appointed as executive director of Central Bank of India in 2010.

Rajiv Takru is new Financial Services Secretary SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Rajiv Takru, now Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been appointed as Financial Services Secretary in the Finance Ministry.

A promotion for the 1979-batch IAS officer (Gujarat cadre), Mr. Takru will take over as Secretary, Department of Financial Services, from Dinesh Kumar Mittal, who retires on January 31.

37 Year Old Woman Became First Complete Body Donor of AIIMS

Chandrakanta Rawat, the 37-year-old Uttrakhand woman became the first complete body donor in January 2013 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Chandrakanta Rawat was admitted to the hospital on 2 January 2013 and was declared brain-dead. Rawat’s husband permitted the doctors to retrieve her organs. 

Heart, two kidneys as well as liver of the woman were used for the patients in need while other organs such as bones and cornea were kept to be used in the future. While the heart of the woman was used for the purpose of transplant at AIIMS, her kidneys were transported to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and liver was utilised at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, Vasant Kunj for the purpose of transplant.

Chairman of the 20th Law Commission Appointed

Justice D. K. Jain, Judge, Supreme Court of India, will be the Chairman of the Twentieth Law Commission of India. According to the Notification issued here today, the appointment of Justice Jain will be effective from any day after 24^th January 2013 on his retirement from the Supreme Court.       

The Twentieth Law Commission was constituted through a Government Order with effect from 1^st September, 2012. It has a three-year term ending on 31^st August, 2015.

The Terms of Reference of the Twentieth Law Commission include the following:

A.  Review/Repeal of obsolete laws: i).    Identify laws which are no longer needed or relevant and can be immediately repealed; Ii) Identify laws which are not in harmony with the existing climate of economic liberalization and need change; iii) Identify laws which otherwise require changes or amendments and to make suggestions for their amendment; iv) Consider in a wider perspective the suggestions for revision/ amendment given by Expert Groups in various Ministries/Departments with a view to coordinating and harmonizing them; v) Consider references made to it by Ministries/ Departments in respect of legislation having bearing on the working of more than one Ministry/Department; vi) Suggest suitable measures for quick redressal of citizens grievances, in the field of law.

    B. Law and Poverty: i)   Examine the Laws which affect the poor and carry out post-audit for socio-economic legislations; ii)  Take all such measures as may be necessary to harness law and the legal process in the service of the poor. 

C. Keep under review the system of judicial administration to ensure that it is responsive to the reasonable demands of the times and in particular to secure: i) Elimination of delays, speedy clearance of arrears and reduction in costs so as to secure quick and economical disposal of cases without affecting the cardinal principle that decision should be just and fair; ii)  Simplification of procedure to reduce and eliminate technicalities and devices for delay so that it operates not as an end in itself but as a means of achieving justice; iii)  Improvement of standards of all concerned with the administration of justice.

D.  Examine the existing laws in the light of Directive Principles of State Policy and to suggest ways of improvement and reform and also to suggest such legislations as might be necessary to implement the Directive Principles and to attain the objectives set out in the Preamble to the Constitution.

E.  Examine the existing laws with a view for promoting gender equality and suggesting amendments thereto. 

F.  Revise the Central Acts of general importance so as to simplify them and to remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities. 

G. Recommend to the Government measure for making the statute book up-to-date by repealing obsolete laws and enactments or parts thereof which have outlived their utility.

H. Consider and to convey to the Government its views on any subject relating to law and judicial administration that may be specifically referred to it by the Government through Ministry of Law and Justice.

US President Barack Obama re nominated Indian American Srikanth Srinivasan as Federal Judge

Indian-American Srikanth Srinivasan on 4th January 2013 re-nominated by US President Barack Obama as Federal Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Srikanth Srinivasan is among the 33 federal judges re-nominated by the President Barack Obama for the US Court of Appeals and the only Indian American re-nominated by Obama for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The nomination is pended over the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary which is charged with conducting hearings prior to the Senate votes on confirmation of federal judges nominated by the president.

Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh, and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and had received his BA with honors and distinction in 1989 from Stanford University and his JD (Juris Doctor) with distinction in 1995 from Stanford Law School, where he was elected to Order of the Coif and served as an editor of the Stanford Law Review.

Brief Insight into Srikanth Srinivasan’s Career 

• Srinivasan began his legal career by serving as a law clerk for Judge J Harvie Wilkinson on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1995 to 1996.

• He then spent a year as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General before clerking for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor during the Supreme Court's 1997-98 term.

• He was an associate at the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Washington, DC, from 1998 until 2002. In 2002, he returned to the Solicitor General's Office as an Assistant to the Solicitor General, representing the US in litigation before the Supreme Court.

• For his work, he received the Attorney General's Award for Excellence in Furthering US National Security in 2003 and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence in 2005.

• In 2007, Srinivasan became a partner with O'Melveny & Myers LLP. In 2011, he was named the Chair of the firm's Appellate Practice Group. He was named as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General in August 2011.

• In June 2012 he was nominated by Obama to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Srinivasan is generally known as one of the country’s leading appellate and Supreme Court advocates.  He has argued before the Supreme Court twenty times, drafted briefs in several dozen additional cases, and has also served as lead counsel in numerous cases before the federal and state appellate courts.  He has also served as a lecturer at Harvard Law School, where he taught a class on appellate advocacy.

Security and Exchange Board of India(SEBI) appointed S Raman as Whole Time Member

Indian Market Regulator SEBI on 28 December 2012 appointed S. Raman as Whole-time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Prior to this appointment, Raman, had served as Chairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank from September 2010 to September 2012 and had also served as Executive Director of Union Bank of India from October 2008 to August 2010.

As per the Finance ministry Raman is going to hold the post of SEBI whole-time member for a period of five years from the day he assumes charge or up to 65 years of age or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

With this appointment, SEBI has three wholetime members, including Prashant Saran and Rajeev Kumar Agarwal.

MS Sahoo appointed as Secretary of Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI)

MS Sahoo, the former member of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) on 27 December 2012 had been appointed secretary of the Institute of Company Secretaries. The appointment of MS Sahoo is going to be effective from 1 January2013.

A Brief Insight into MS Sahoo’s Career:

• MS Sahoo had over three decades of rich work experience in self-employment, private sector, public sector, regulator and government in varied functional areas such as reforms, policy, regulations, research and analysis.

•  Before joining the ICSI, he was an eminent legal practitioner in the field of securities laws. 

• He was a Whole Time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) during 2008-11. 

• He served as the Joint Secretary (non-functional), Director and Joint Director in the Ministry of Finance, as the Chief General Manager with SEBI, and as Economic Adviser with National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE). 

•  As an officer of Indian Economic Service (1985 batch), he served the Government of India for 22 years.  He played a key role in designing of major reforms in securities market, including dematerialization of securities, trading of derivatives, corporatisation and demutualization of exchanges, building regulatory and market infrastructural institutions, enforcement process / actions. 

M S Sahoo was instrumental in development of human resource capacity in securities markets through various interventions such as NSE’s Certification in Financial Markets (NCFM), National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) and a number of reputed publications.  He has served / serves as a member on several expert committees / boards and professional groups.

About ICSI (Institute of Company Secretaries of India):

ICSI is the only recognized professional body in India to develop and regulate the profession of Company Secretaries in India. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India awards the certificate of bestowing the designation of Company Secretary(CS) to a candidate qualifying for the membership of the Institute. It was in 1960 that the Company Law Board started a course in Company Secretaryship leading to the award of Government Diploma in Company Secretaryship.

Kamal Nath appointed as the new ex-officio Member of Planning Commission

Prime Minister’s Office on 26 December 2012 re-constituted the Planning Commission and appointed the Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Minister - Kamal Nath as its new ex-officio member, replacing Jairam Ramesh.

The decision was taken with the view to lay down government emphasis on the Urban Development and schemes like MNREGA, already in existence for rural development. 

The other ex-officio members of the Commission are Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister M K Alagiri, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal, Law Minister.

John Kerry 'to be nominated for US secretary of state'

US President Barack Obama is to nominate John Kerry to be his next secretary of state, US media report. Mr Kerry would replace Hillary Clinton at the head of the state department, the media quoted senior administration officials as saying. Mr Kerry ran as Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 and is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His nomination comes after the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, withdrew from consideration last week. Republicans had fiercely criticised her role in the aftermath of the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in September.

Mr Kerry, 69, would be Mr Obama's first new cabinet nomination since he won a second term last month. The president will also have to name a new defence secretary to replace Leon Panetta, and a new director of the CIA to take over from David Petreaus, who quit last month after admitting an affair.

Mr Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, lost a close presidential election to George W Bush in 2004 and had been a contender for the state department in 2008, before Mrs Clinton was chosen. Mr Kerry has since remained an influential senator, making key trips to Pakistan, Syria and the Gaza Strip. Mrs Clinton has indicated she will step down early next year. Mr Kerry will have to give up his seat in the Senate, where he represents Massachusetts. The Democrats may face a tough battle to keep it in the subsequent election.

NEW APPOINTMENTS

• New President of India- Pranab Mukherjee
• Re-elected Vice President- Hamid Ansari
Secretary in National Commission for Women - Ajit Saran
• New Indian envoy to Israel – Jaideep Sarkar
• New Indian envoy to Canada – Nirmal Kumar Verma
• New MSME secretary - Vivek Rae
• New chairman of ICC Cricket Committee - Anil Kumble
• Junior pistol chief coach - Jaspal Rana
• India’s ambassador to Brazil - Ashok Kumar
• New Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau – Rajiv Mehta
• New FMC (Forward Markets Commission) Chairman – Ramesh Abhishek
• New Director on the Central Board of Directors of the RBI - Y C Deveshwar
• New President of Indian Newspaper Society – Tilak Kumar
• New Secretary Gen of Rajya Sabha – Shumsher K Sheriff
• New Chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulation – Shailesh Gupta
• New President of Indian Boxing Federation – Abhishek Matoria
• New Economic affairs secretary-Arvind Mayaram
• New Chief Economic Advisor- Raghuram Rajan
• New Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL)Chairperson - Shyamala Gopinath
• Re-appoint Deputy Governer of RBI: K C Chakrabarty
• New CBDT Chairperson- Poonam Kishore Saxena
• New Union Railway Minister- Pawan Kumar Bansal
• New Aviation Secretary- K N Srivastava
• New Election Commissioner- S Nasim Ahmad Zaidi
• New Chief Election Commissioner-VS Sampath
• New secretary to the Prez of India- Omita Paul
• Head of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Committee - Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
• New CMD of Oriental Bank of Commerce- SL Bansal
• New Executive Director of PNB- S R Bansal
• New CEO of Prasar Bharti – Jawhar Sircar
•  New Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh- Virabhadra Singh

Supreme Court Judges Number increased to 28

Chief Justices of three High Courts were on 22 December 2012 elevated as judges of the Supreme Court of India, increasing the strength of the apex court to 28.Chief Justice of Madras High Court, Justice M Yusuf Eqbal, Chief Justice of Orissa High Court Justice Venkategowda and Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Justice Vikramjit Sen were appointed as judges of the Supreme Court, in that order of seniority.
The appointment of judges will come into effect from the date they assume charge of their respective office. At present, including the Chief Justice of India, the Supreme Court has 25 judges against the sanctioned strength of 31.

TIME's Person of the Year for 2012 Barack Obama

US President Barack Obama was named TIME's Person of the Year for 2012, because of his historic win over the re-election in November 2012  which is being considered as symbol of the nation's changing demographics amid the backdrop of high unemployment and other challenges.
His name was announced by TIME editor Rick Stengel on NBC's Today program on 19 December 2012.

It is the second time Barack Obama is being accorded with this honour. He had also received the honour in 2008, when he was first elected as president.

Obama had won re-election despite a higher unemployment rate than anybody's had to face in basically in 70 years. He's the first Democrat to actually win two consecutive terms with over 50 percent of the vote.

The short list for the honour included Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head for advocating for girls' education, as well as Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Italian physicist Fabiola Giannati.

Time's Person of the Year is the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year for good or for ill. In 2010, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg received the honour.

Last year in 2011 Time honoured "The Protester," citing dissent across the Middle East that spread to Europe and the United States, saying the protesters reshaped global politics.

Other previous winners have included Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Bono and President George W. Bush.

Miss Universe 2012 is Miss USA Olivia Culpo

Olivia Culpo, Miss USA was crowned Miss Universe 2012. Olivia Culpo beat out 88 other beauty queens to take the title from Leila Lopes of Angola during the competition at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip.  Miss Philippines held the second spot, followed by Miss Venezuela, Miss Australia and Miss Brazil.
India’s hope of winning the Miss Universe 2012 crown crashed as Shilpa Singh failed to make it to the list of top 10 contestants. Ji Dan Xu, Miss China won the Best National Costume title while Laura Godoy from Guatemala grabbed the Miss Congeniality title. Diana Avdiu from Kosovo became Miss Photogenic of the year 2012. Indian beauty Shilpa Singh could not make it to the Top 10, though she succeeded in making it to the top 16 list.
As Miss Universe, Culpo will receive an undisclosed salary, a wardrobe fit for a queen, a limitless supply of beauty products, and a luxury apartment in New York City.

Naina Lal Kidwai became the First Woman President of FICCI

Naina Lal Kidwai on 15 December 2012 took over as President of FICCI, becoming the first woman to head the leading industry body. Kidwai, is the first woman and professional manager to be elected as President of the chamber. She is 55 years old. Digjam Ltd,Sidharth Birla was elected as Senior Vice-President of FICCI. Kidwai succeeded R V Kanoria of Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Ltd. Chairman of Xpro India Ltd. 

Vinod Rai re-elected as chair of UN auditors panel

Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai has been re-elected as chairman of United Nations Panel of External Auditors for 2013.

"CAG Vinod Rai has been re-elected Chair of the (UN) Panel for the year 2013, while the CAG of the United Kingdom, Amyas Morse, has been re-elected the vice-chair of the Panel".

The Panel headed by Vinod Rai discussed the major business transformations currently underway in the United Nations with Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.

Some of the major issues that came up for discussion during the meeting include the requirement for optimising the process of deriving benefits from the business transformations currently underway.

The need to put in place a mechanism to govern voluntary contributions which form a major portion of funding that the UN receives and the need for strengthening coordination between the panel and the UN secretariat were other issues discussed during the meet.

The panel of external auditors plays an important role in promoting accountability and strengthening governance mechanisms in the UN organisations.

The panel meets annually to discuss emergent issues in the audit of UN organisations. At present, the panel comprises Canada, China, France, India, Italy, Pakistan, Philippines, Switzerland, Tanzania and the UK.

Malala's father named as UN Advisor on education

The father of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban for advocating girls' right to education, has been named as the Special UN Advisor on Global Education.

The announcement was made by Gordon Brown, who is the United Nations' Special Envoy for Global Education. He said that once the 15-year-old school girl, who is currently in London, gets well, she too will join the campaign. "Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala's father, will become my special advisor on global education.
"His unique qualities -- a teacher and headteacher as well as a parent who has had to struggle against opposition to girls' education and the closing of schools -- makes him ideally suited to leading in our educational effort to get all to school," Brown said.

Parthasarathi Shome Appointed As the Adviser to Finance Minister of India

The Union government of India appointed Parthasarathi Shome, the tax expert, as the adviser to finance minister P Chidambaram. Shome was appointed with a rank of minister of state and this also indicated his comeback to the Secretariat building after almost 5 years.

Shome was also the adviser to P Chidambaram during the UPA-I. He was the working brain behind fringe benefit tax as well as banking cash transaction tax on the withdrawals of the cash. These tax policies were aimed towards keeping a check on black money which was a subject of sharp criticisms apart from the securities transaction tax.

For past few months, he was also associated with acquiring back the investor confidence. He was the head of committee on General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) as well as retrospective amendments, the controversial legislative idea which was taken by Pranab Mukherjee in previous budget session.