Ajit Kumar Doval appointed as new National Security Advisor

1.    Ajit Kumar Doval appointed as new National Security Advisor

i. Former Intelligence Bureau Chief Ajit Kumar Doval, considered one of the finest operational brains, was on Friday appointed as the National Security Advisor (NSA) to Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

ii. According to sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the decision to have Doval on board as the NSA was taken by Narendra Modi even before the election results were announced and he became the 15th Prime Minister of India.

iii. Doval was the first police officer to be awarded the second-highest peacetime gallantry award, the Kirti Chakra.

iv. In 1989, he had led a team of Intelligence Bureau officials along with the Punjab Police and National Security Guards in "Operation Black Thunder" to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

2.    World observes No Tobacco Day today

i. World No Tobacco Day is being observed today. This year, WHO and partners call on countries to raise taxes on tobacco.
ii. The main goal of this day is to contribute to protect present and future generations not only from the devastating health consequences due to tobacco, but also from the social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.
iii. The member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day in 1987.
iv. The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more than 600 000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke.
v. Research shows that higher taxes are especially effective in reducing tobacco use among lower-income groups and in preventing young people from starting to smoke.

3.    Kamal Nath appointed pro-tem Speaker of 16 Lok Sabha

i. Former Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath has been appointed as the pro-tem Speaker in the new Lok Sabha.

ii. A notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed him to perform the duties of the Speaker.

iii. The Narendra Modi government had recently conveyed its recommendation to Mr. Mukherjee to appoint Nath, who is the senior most member of the Lower House, as pro-tem Speaker.

iv. The pro-tem Speaker performs the duties of the office of the Speaker from the commencement of the sitting of the Lok Sabha till the election of the Speaker.