Subir Gokaran appointed as Executive Director of IMF

Renowed economist Subir Gokaran has been appointed as an Executive Director on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mr. Gokarn's name was cleared by Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime minister Narendra Modi. He will replace Rakesh Mohan whose 3 years tenure ends in November 2015.

He will represent grouping of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka & Bhutan on the IMF's Executive board with a total casting vote of 2.8 percent of which India has more than 2.3 percent. Earlier he had served as Deputy governor of RBI 2009 to 2012 and was the youngest Deputy Governors of the central bank at that time. He also had served as a nominee Board Member of the State Bank of India (SBI).

Executive Board of IMF:

• The executive Board of IMF is based in Washington and is responsible for conducting the day-to-day business of it.
• It comprises 24 Directors, who are appointed or elected by groups of countries or be member countries.
• It is headed by the Managing Director (MD) who serves as its chairman.
• The executive Board meets several times in each week and carries out its work largely on the basis of papers prepared by IMF management and staff.

C Radhakrishnan selected for Moortidevi award

Who: Malayalam writer C Radhakrishnan
What: selected for Moortidevi award 2013
Why: for his novel Theekkdal Katanhu Thirumadhuram

C Radhakrishnan, the eminent Malayalam scientist-turned-writer was selected for the prestigious Moortidevi Award for 2013 on 13 Jun 2014. He has been selected for his novel Theekkdal Katanhu Thirumadhuram.
The novel is biographical account of Thunchat Ramanujan, the person who is regarded as the father of Malayalam language. The novel is an attempt to bring back life to the socio-cultural ambiance of 15th century. Radhakrishnan as a person has also contributed to popular science and all branches of literature, mostly fiction.
Radhakrishnan is the second Malayalam writer to be awarded with the Moortidevi award. The first Malayalam author to win the award was Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri in 2009 for selected poems.

Moortidevi awards: Moortidevi award is presented by the Bharatiya Janpath and carries cash price of four lakh rupees, a plaque and a statue of goddess Saraswati.
The award is given in the memory of Moortidevi, the mother of Sahu Santi Prasad Jain, the founder of Bharatiya Janpith. It is given to contemplative or intellectual work created by any living author writing any of the languages enlisted in the 8th schedule of Indian Constitution including English, which underlines and expresses Indian philosophy and cultural heritage based on wider and human lives.