PERSONS NOVEMBER 2017

PERSONS NOVEMBER 2017

• Dalveer Bhandari:
   India’s nominee to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Dalveer Bhandari was on 20th November re-elected to the last seat of the world court after Britain withdrew its candidate from the election. Bhandari received 183-193 votes in the General Assembly and secured all the 15 votes in the Security Council after separate and simultaneous elections were held at the UN headquarters in New York.
  
• Emmerson Mnangagwa:
  Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as Zimbabwe's President on 24th November, marking the final chapter of a political drama that toppled his predecessor Robert Mugabe after a military takeover.
  
  Mnangagwa, until recently one of Mugabe's closest allies, took the oath of office at the national sports stadium on the outskirts of Harare before thousands of supporters, dignitaries and foreign diplomats.
  
• Chakravarthi AVPS:
  Chakravarthi AVPS is the Managing Director, Ecobliss India, has been appointed global ambassador of the World Packaging Organisation. He is the first Asian to be appointed ambassador.
  
• Manushi Chhillar:
  Haryana-born Manushi Chhillar on 18th November was crowned Miss World 2017 a grand event held in Sanya in China. Miss World 2016 winner Puerto Rico's Stephanie Del Valle passed on the crown to this 20 year medical student Ms Chhillar.
  
  The crown was last won by an Indian 17 years ago. Chhillar is the sixth Indian woman to win Miss World, and the first since Priyanka Chopra who won Miss World 2000.
  
  Manushi had made it to the top 5 along with contestants from England, France, Kenya and Mexico. The first and the second runners-up were Miss England Stephanie Hill and Miss Mexico Andrea Meza. She had won Femina Miss India World 2017 in May this year.
  
  The coveted title was last won by Priyanka Chopra for India in 2000, a year after Yukta Mookhey had made the country proud. In 1997, Diana Hayden had bagged the title, while Aishwarya Rai had the honours in 1994. Reita Faria was the first Indian to win the crown in the 1966.
  
• Hasmukh Adhia: Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has been designated as the new Finance Secretary.
  
  The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved designating Adhia as the Finance Secretary. The vacancy was caused following the superannuation of Ashok Lavasa last month. Adhia is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.
  
• Surendra Kumar Sinha:Bangladesh Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has resigned about six weeks after he went on leave amid criticism by the government over a Supreme Court verdict which scrapped Parliament's power to remove judges on grounds of misconduct and incapacity.
  
  Justice Sinha whose term was scheduled to expire in January next year is the first top judge of the country to step down. Now abroad, he sent his resignation letter to President Abdul Hamid.
  
• Karambir Singh:Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, AVSM has taken over the charge as the Flag Officer commanding-in -Chief of the prestigious Eastern Naval Command (ENC).
  
• Five Indian women in world’s 100 most powerful women
  Five Indian women led by ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar, and including Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, have featured on the list of the world’s 100 most powerful women compiled by Forbes, which was topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
  
  Kochhar was ranked 32 on the coveted list, while HCL Corporation CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra took the 57th position, followed by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder-Chair, of Biocon, at 71. Other Indians on the list include Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director, HT Media, at the 92nd place, and Priyanka Chopra, “the most successful Bollywood actor to cross over to Hollywood,” at 97. Some of Indian-origin women who made the cut include PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi at the 11th position and Indian American Nikki Haley at 43.
  
  The overall list was topped by Merkel, who retained the top spot for the seventh consecutive year and 12 times in total.
  
  Merkel is followed by UK Prime Minister Theresa May at the second position, who is “leading her country through Brexit, a historic, complex and transformative time for the country and the European Union,” Forbes said.
  
  May is followed by Melinda Gates, Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who, along with her husband Bill, has donated more than $40 billion in grants till date and supports organisations across over 100 countries. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, at the 4th position and General Motors CEO Mary Barra (5th) rounded out the top five.