The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has selected the current Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the new Finance Secretary. He will take over the current Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar. Ajay Bhushan Pandey had earlier worked as the chief executive officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the organization behind the Aadhaar.
The Ministry of External Affairs declared that the Senior diplomat Sanjay Kumar Panda will be India’s Ambassador to Turkey. He will take over Sanjay Bhattacharya. Sanjay Kumar Panda is a 1991 Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently Consul General, Consulate General of India, San Francisco.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) has become Sunil Joshi as the new chairman of the national selection panel. The CAC including Madan Lal, RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik will review the panel’s performance after one year and make recommendations accordingly.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched and laid foundation stones for 23 development projects worth Rs 2,821 crore at Gautam Buddh Nagar in Noida. These projects comprises India’s biggest multi-level parking with space for 7,000 vehicles at estimated cost of Rs 500 crore, a government hospital, three power substations and many more.
The state government of Uttarakhand has declared “Gairsain” to be its summer capital. Gairsain is a tehsil located in Chamoli district. The state Assembly of Uttarakhand is located in Dehradun while assembly sessions are also organized in Gairsain. Garsain was always demanded by the statehood activists as the permanent capital of the state.
Luxembourg has become the 1st country in the world to make available public transport free. The 7th smallest country in Europe has removed the fares for trains, trams and buses to have a better quality of mobility as well as keeping in mind the environmental issues. More than half of Luxembourg’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transport.
New Delhi hosts the 35th edition of AAHAR – the Food and Hospitality fair which has been launched by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) with support of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Agriculture and Processed Food Products Development Authority and several apex industry associations. The fair will showcase a wide range of products from over 750 participants from India and overseas.
The National Water Mission set up the inaugural session of the workshop on “Increasing Water Use Efficiency in Industries” in New Delhi. The workshop was set up under the initiative “HarKaamDeshkeNaam”. Emphasis on the adoption of the Corporate Water Responsibility (CWR) as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provisions was given during the workshop.
Union Cabinet has sanctioned the merger of 10 public sector banks (PSBs) into 4 from 1st April 2020. As per the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the exercise of consolidation of 10 PSBs into four is on course and the merger will come into effect from the new financial year 1st April 2020.
A “Student Health Card” scheme has been started in the Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir. The scheme targets to check the malnutrition in school going children and to ensure good health of every school going children. The “Student Health Card” scheme was started during the programme which was organised by Directorate of Mid Day Meal, School Education Department in cooperation with the National Health Mission.
Objective: to ensure good health of school-going children, as health is a significant part of imparting quality education.
Eligibility: School children