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Knighthoods for Andy Murray, Mo Farah

Andy Murray received a knighthood in Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year’s Honors list yesterday, recognition from the monarch for reaching the pinnacle of tennis by winning his second Wimbledon and Olympic titles on his way to topping the rankings.
●    The 29-year-old Murray was previously named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, in 2012 after becoming Olympic champion for the first time.
●    Joining Murray in being knighted in British sports is Mo Farah, who retained his 5,000- and 10,000-meter titles at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August, becoming the first British track and field athlete to win four Olympic gold medals.
●    Lee Pearson, who won his 11th Paralympic gold in equestrian in Rio, was also knighted. He already held the MBE, OBE and CBE for services to equestrianism and to disabled sport.

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Independent director Darius Pandole quits Tata Global Beverages board

Close on the heels of Cyrus Mistry quitting six Tata group firms, independent director Darius Pandole, who supported of the ousted chairman, has resigned from the board of Tata Global Beverages (TGBL). 
●    Pandole and Singh were the two directors who had opposed a resolution moved by promoter Tata Sons seeking removal of Mistry as the company’s chairman. 
●    “Darius Pandole, non-executive independent director of Tata Global Beverages, has resigned from the board of the company with immediate effect,” the company said in a BSE filing.
●    On November 15, when Mistry was ousted as the chairman of TGBL, two out of the six independent directors on the company Pandole and Singh had voted against the resolution moved for Mistry’s ouster. 
●    Seven of the 10 directors at the board meeting of Tata Global Beverages, which co-owns and runs Starbucks coffee stores across India, voted for removal of Mistry.


 

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Sunny Leone declared PETA's Person of the Year

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently declared that actor Sunny Leone is PETA’s Person of the Year.
●    Leone will receive the award for her commitment for promoting the rescue of homeless dogs and cats, as well as her compassion for abused animals.
●    Earlier in 2016, Leone featured in PETA’s ad campaign, which encouraged people to "be an angel" and adopt a homeless dog.
●    In 2015, Kapil Sharma was chosen for the PETA’s Person of the Year award.
●    Past recipient of the award include Shashi Tharoor, KS Panicker Radhakrishnan, Hema Malini, R Madhavan, Jacqueline Fernandez among others.
●    People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization.
●    It was founded in March 1980.
●    It has more than 3 million members and supporters. It is the largest animal rights group in the world.
 

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Sushma Swaraj in 'Global Thinkers of 2016 list'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on being named in the Global Thinkers of 2016 list compiled by the Foreign Policy magazine.
●    Swaraj was named in the decision makers category along with the Democratic Party nominee for US presidential election Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US Attorney General Loretta Lynch among others.
●    External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also tweeted, "MEA proud to be led by EAM @SushmaSwaraj, who receives yet another recognition for her unique brand of diplomacy."
●    The magazine complimented Swaraj "for fashioning a novel brand of Twitter diplomacy".
●    "From evacuating Indians from Yemen to helping replace lost passports, Swaraj has earned the nickname the common tweeples leader for her aggressive use of Twitter," the magazine noted.

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Ravi Reddy Appointed as International Society for Blood Transfusion Head

An Indian-origin South African Ravi Reddy was on 18 September 2016 appointed as the Head of International Society for Blood Transfusion (ISBT), headquartered in Amsterdam.
•    With this, Reddy became the first person from the African continent to head ISBT.
•    The ISBT, now with 100 member countries, was established in 1935 as a platform for exchanging knowledge and advancing the blood-transfusion practice.
•    He is currently serving as the Chief Operations Officer of the South African National Blood Service (SANBS).
•    He has served in various capacities for more than three decades after starting out as a volunteer at the age of 16 at SANBS.
•    He subsequently qualified as a medical technologist with an MBA from the University of Natal in South Africa.
•    He represented the African region on the board of the ISBT between 2006 and 2012, and is also a member of the Working Party on Transfusion and Transmissible Infections. 
•    He has presented and published a large number of scientific papers.


 

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BEL's First Woman Director : Anandi Ramalingam

Anandi Ramalingam on 16 September 2016 assumed charge as functional/whole time director of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
•    Ramalingam has assumed charge as Director Marketing. It is the first time that a woman has been appointed as the Director of the company.
•    Earlier, Ramalingam served as the General Manager heading the Military Communication Strategic Business Unit (SBU) at BEL's Bangalore Complex.
•    Ramalingam had joined BEL-Bengaluru in March 1985 after completing her BE in Electronics and Communication engineering from the PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore.
•    Bharat Electronics Limited is an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company with about nine factories in India.
•    It is owned by the Indian Government.
•    It primarily manufactures advanced electronic products for the Indian Armed Forces.
•    It is one of nine PSUs under the Ministry of Defence of India.
•    It has been accorded Navratna status by the Government of India.
 

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British Born Computer Engineer John Ellenby Passes Away

John Ellenby, a British-born computer engineer who played a critical role in paving the way for the laptop computer, died on Aug. 17 in San Francisco. 
•    He was 75.
•    Mr. Ellenby’s pioneering work came to fruition in the early 1980s, after he founded Grid Systems, a company in Mountain View, Calif. 
•    As chief executive, he assembled an engineering and design team that included the noted British-born industrial designer William Moggridge.
•    The team produced a clamshell computer with an orange electroluminescent flat-panel display that was introduced as the Compass. 
•    It went to market in 1982. The Compass is now widely acknowledged to have been far ahead of its time.
•    John Ellenby was a British businessman. He was the founder of Grid Systems Corporation, maker of the Grid Compass, the first commercially successful laptop computer.
•    He also co-founded GeoVector, an early augmented reality company.
 

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Uday Kotak, only Indian in Forbes Most Powerful People in the Financial World list

On 11 May 2016 Forbes magazine released the list of the Most Powerful People in the Financial World. 
•    The only Indian in the list is Uday Kotak, the CEO of the Kotak Mahindra Bank. 
•    He is ranked 33rd in the list 
•    He has a net worth of 7.1 billion dollars and oversees assets worth 34.6 billion dollars.
•    The list has been topped by Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone Group 
•    Next on the list is David Tepper of Appaloosa Management and Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase & Co.
•    Stephen Schwarzman is the CEO of Blackstone Group, the world’s biggest private equity firm. 
•    David Teppere is the CEO of Appaloosa Management.
•    Jamie Dimon is the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co, America’s largest bank. 
The candidates on the list were judged on net worth, assets under management or overseen, three-year track records and influence on markets.

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