Current Affairs - Appointment & Resignation

The centre has given the charge the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance to Sonali Singh, Additional Controller General of Accounts, after superannuation of Dipak Dash.

About Controller General of Accounts

• CGA is the Principal Advisor on Accounting matters to the Union Government.
• Controller General of Accounts derives his mandate from Article 150 of the Constitution. This statutory mandate as incorporated in the Allocation of Business Rules 1961 brings out the duties and responsibilities of CGA.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for establishing and managing a technically sound Management Accounting System.
• Responsible for preparation and submission of the accounts of the Union Government.
• Responsible for exchequer control and internal audits.
• It reconciles cash balance of the Centre with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and annual accounts of the central government.

• On 28th January 2022, the Government has appointed Venkatraman Anantha Nageswaran as the Chief Economic Advisor.
• The chief economic adviser (CEA) in the finance ministry advises the government on economic matters and traditionally scripts the economic survey presented in Parliament a day before the Union budget presentation on 1 February.
• The Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) is a post in Government of India and is equivalent to rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
• The CEA is the ex-officio cadre controlling authority of the Indian Economic Service.
• The CEA is head of Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India.

• Following the death of European Parliament President David Sassoli, Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas has taken over as head of the European Parliament.
• The Maltese, who turned 43 on the day of her election, is only the third woman to hold this position, after French Auschwitz survivor Simone Veil and Nicole Fontaine, also from France.

• Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande has been appointed as the next Vice Chief of Army Staff.
• He will succeed Lt Gen CP Mohanty who is scheduled to superannuate on January 31, 2022.
• Lt Gen Manoj Pande has taken active part in Operation Vijay and Operation Parakram.

• Eminent rocket scientist S Somanath has been appointed the new chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as well as the Space Secretary.
• He succeeded K Sivan who completed his extended tenure as ISRO chief.
• His appointment as the Space Secretary and the Space Commission Chairman is for a combined tenure of three years from the date of joining of the post.
• The post of the ISRO chairman, the Space Secretary and the Space Commission chief is usually held by one person only.
• Mr Somanath is the 10th chairman of ISRO.
• Prior to this, he was Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
• Mr Somanath is an expert in the area of system engineering of launch vehicles.

On 4^th January 2022, India’s permanent representative to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti assumed the Chair of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee for 2022.

• Earlier, India had chaired this Committee in the Security Council in 2011-12.
• In 2021, India has been asked to Chair three important Committees of the Security Council, which include the Taliban Sanctions Committee, Counterterrorism Committee, and the Libyan Sanctions Committee.
• India is currently a non-permanent member of the 15-nation Security Council and its 2-year term will end this year on December 31.

About Counter-Terrorism Committee

• The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee was established by Resolution 1373 (2001) on 28 September 2001 in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
• According to the United Nations, the committee is tasked with monitoring the implementation of resolution 1373 (2001), which requested countries to implement a number of measures intended to enhance their legal and institutional ability to counter terrorist activities at home, in their regions, and around the world.
• The Counter-Terrorism Committee comprises all 15 members of the Security Council including- India, France, Russia, United Kingdoms, the United States, Vietnam, Norway, Nigeria, Tunisia China among others.

• The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, has said that Pradeep Kumar Rawat, a career diplomat, will take over as the new envoy in Beijing, China.
• Mr. Rawat, currently serving as Ambassador to the Netherlands, will replace Vikram Misri, who completed a close to three-year term earlier this month.

• The Union government has extended the tenure of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das by three years starting from December 10, 2021.
• He was appointed as RBI governor in December 2018, replacing Urjit Patel.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has been elected as the Chairman of Assembly of Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) from 2024-2027 and India will host the 16th Assembly of ASOSAI in 2024.

• The CAG, as the Chairman, will be the Chief Executive of ASOSAI and represent ASOSAI in its dealings with national and international organizations.

About ASOSAI

• The ASOSAI is one of the Regional Groups of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) which aims to promote understanding and cooperation among member institutions through the exchange of ideas and experiences in the field of public audit.
• Established in 1979 with 11 members, the membership of the ASOSAI consists of Charter Members, Members and Associate Members. The membership has since grown to 47 SAIs. The Assembly consists of all members of the Organization and meets once in three years.

• On 10^th September 2-21, Sardar Iqbal Singh Lalpura took charge as the Chairman, National Commission for Minorities.
• The Union Government set up the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
• Initially five religious communities, viz., Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) were notified as minority communities by the Union Government. Further vide notification dated 27th January 2014, Jains were also notified as another minority community.