• Vinai Kumar Saxena, the chairperson of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), was appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi.

• Saxena, 64, will succeed Anil Baijal who resigned from the post last week.

• Baijal, a 1969-batch IAS officer, was appointed as the 21st LG of Delhi in December 2016 after the sudden resignation of Najeeb Jung.

Who is Vinai Kumar Saxena?

• Saxena, who started his career as an assistant officer in Rajasthan with JK Group, was elevated in 1995 as general manager to look after a proposed port project in Gujarat.

• He then rose to become the CEO and was later elevated as director of the Dholer Port Project.

• Born on March 23, 1958, Saxena is an alumnus of Kanpur University.

• He was appointed as KVIC chairperson in 2015.

• Saxena is one of the members of the national committee to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. This committee is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• In November 2020, Saxena was nominated as a member of the high-powered Padma Awards Selection Committee for the year 2021 by the government of India. 

Administration of Union Territories

There are eight Union Territories (UTs) in India.

1) Andaman and Nicobar Islands

2) Chandigarh

3) Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu

4) Lakshadweep

5) Jammu & Kashmir

6) Ladakh

7) Puducherry

8) National Capital Territory of Delhi. 

• The Union Territories are specified in Part-II of the First Schedule to the Constitution of India. 

• These territories are administered in accordance with the provisions of Article 239 to 241 of the Constitution of India. 

• Every Union Territory is administered by an Administrator appointed by the President under Article 239 of the Constitution of India. 

• Out of these eight Union Territories, NCT of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir have legislatures and Council of Ministers while the rest of the UTs are without legislature.

• The governor of Punjab is concurrently the Administrator of Chandigarh.

• In Delhi, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh the Administrators are designated as Lieutenant Governors.

• Under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961, ministry of home affairs is the nodal ministry for all matters of UTs relating to legislation, finance & budget, services and appointment of Lieutenant Governors and Administrators.

• The five UTs without legislature have the forum of Home Minister’s Advisory Committee (HMAC ) / Administrator’s advisory Committee (AAC). While HMAC is chaired by the Union Home Minister, AAC is chaired by the Administrator of the concerned UT.

• Members of Parliament and elected members from the local bodies (District Panchayats and Municipal Council) of the respective UTs are the members of these committees among others. The Committee discusses the general issues relating to social and economic development of the UTs.

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