Krishna M Ella

♦ Executive Chairman of Bharat Biotech, Krishna M Ella has taken over as President of the Indian Vaccine Manufacturers Association (IVMA) for two years.

♦ He takes over the Presidency from Adar C Poonawala who held the post from 2019 to 2024.

♦ For the current two-year term, Mahima Datla, Managing Director of Biological E assumes the role of Vice President, T. Srinivas, CFO of Bharat Biotech, will be Treasurer and Harshavardhan, will continue as Director General of             IVMA.

♦ IVMA is a non-government apex organisation, that aims to fortify collaboration between vaccine manufacturers, researchers, and policymakers to accelerate the development of new vaccines and improve production processes. 

Alejandra Marisa Rodriguez was crowned Miss Universe

♦ Sixty-year-old Alejandra Marisa Rodriguez was crowned Miss Universe Buenos Aires 2024. She is the first woman her age to receive such a prestigious honour. Her victory came just a year after the Miss Universe organisation removed age limits for contestants. Now, any woman over 18 can compete in the beauty pageant. Earlier, only women aged between 18 and 28 could enter the competition.

♦ Alejandra from La Plata, Argentina. She is a lawyer and a journalist. She is the winner of the Miss Universe Buenos Aires 2024. Now, Ms Rodriguez is gearing up to represent Buenos Aires in the Miss Universe Argentina competition in May 2024. If she wins, she will compete in the Miss Universe World competition in Mexico on September 28, 2024.
 

Santhosh Viswanathan

♦ Intel has appointed Santhosh Viswanathan as the Managing Director (MD) for its India region.

♦ In March, the company announced India as a separate region within its SMG (Sales, Marketing, and Communications Group) organisation, to capitalise on the country’s rapid growth and business opportunities.

♦ The company also appointed Hans Chuang as General Manager (GM) of SMG Asia Pacific and Japan.

Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj

♦ Swami Gautamanandaji Maharaj (95) was elected as the 17th president of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission on 24 April 2024.

♦ He succeeds Swami Smarananandaji Maharaj, who passed away in Kolkata on March 26. 

♦ Swami Gautamanandajiwas born in Bengaluru in 1929. In 2017, he was elected as vice-presidents of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission.

Amitabh Chaudhry

♦ Amitabh Chaudhry was reappointed as MD & CEO of the Axis Bank for three years on 25 April 2024.

♦ His tenure will be effective from January 1, 2025. Chaudhry joined Axis Bank as its MD and CEO in January 2019.  

Arun Alagappan

♦ Arun Alagappan was appointed as Executive Chairman of fertiliser firm Coromandel International Ltd on 25 April 2024.

♦ He has been the Executive Vice Chairman of the company since February 2021.

♦ His appointment comes as A. Vellayan retires from the position of Chairman and Non-Executive Director.

Professor Naima Khatoon

♦ Professor Naima Khatoon was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on 22 April 2024. Khatoon is the first woman to be appointed to the post in the varsity's 123-year history. Begum Sultan Jahan became the Chancellor of AMU in 1920, making her the first and only woman to hold the position.
♦ With that, AMU has also become the third central university to have a woman Vice-Chancellor. While Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit is is the current VC of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Najma Akhtar completed her tenure as the Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia in 2023.
♦ Naima Khatoon started her professional journey as a lecturer at AMU in August 1988. She served as the Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Psychology before being appointed Principal at Women's College in July 2014.

Ajith Kumar

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Ajith Kumar KK as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dhanlaxmi Bank on 19 April 2024. He succeeded JK Shivan. He will be in this position for three years since he took charge. Presently, Ajith Kumar is the chief human resources officer in Federal Bank Limited in the cadre of President. 
 

Nalin Prabhat

Senior IPS officer Nalin Prabhat was appointed as the Director-General of National Security Guard (NSG) on 19 April 2024. Prabhat is a 1992 batch IPS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre. He is currently posted as Additional Director-General, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir. NSG is the country’s counter-terrorism and counter-hijack force.
 

Dinesh Kumar Tripathi

♦ Vice-Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi was appointed as the Chief of Naval Staff on 19 April 2024. He is currently the Vice-Chief of the Navy. He will take over on superannuation of the current chief, Admiral R. Hari Kumar on April 30. 

♦ Dinesh Kumar was born on 15 May 1964. He was commissioned into the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy on 1 July 1985.  Before taking over as the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, he had served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Naval Command.
 

TIME Magazine

♦ TIME Magazine released its ‘100 Most Influential People of 2024’ report on 17 April 2024. The yearly list included the 100 influential people globally across six categories: artists, icons, leaders, titans, innovators and pioneers.

♦ Several Indians and people of Indian origin are included in this list. They are: Actor Alia Bhatt, Wrestler Sakshi Malik, World Bank President Ajay Banga, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, British actor-director Dev Patel,  US Department of Energy’s Loan Programmes Office director Jigar Shah, Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics at Yale University Priyamvada Natarajan; Indian-origin restaurateur Asma Khan.
 

Young Global Leader

♦ The World Economic Forum has named Nykaa co-founder and Nykaa Fashion CEO Adwaita Nayar as a ‘2024 Young Global Leader’. Nayar was chosen to join a group of 90 individuals worldwide for her work as a change-maker and entrepreneur. 

♦ The World Economic Forum’s Forum of Young Global Leaders celebrates individuals under the age of 40 who are making a significant impact in their respective fields. 

♦ The World Economic Forum for Young Leaders completed two decades in 2024. It has recognised a wide range of business leaders as well as current Prime Ministers and billionaires in its time. 
 

Nalin Negi

BharatPe said it has appointed its interim CEO and CFO Nalin Negi as full-time Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 16 April 2024. Negi was given charge of interim CEO in January 2023. Before joining BharatPe, Nalin Negi held several senior leadership positions at renowned financial service organizations including SBI Cards and GE Capita. 
 

Kristalina Georgieva

♦ Kristalina Georgieva was re-appointed as the Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a second 5-year term. Her tenure will start from 1 October 2024. She has been serving as IMF's MD since October 1, 2019.

♦ A Bulgarian national, Georgieva has previously served as World Bank's CEO from January 2017. She was also interim president for the World Bank Group between February and April, 2019. She has also served at the European Commission as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response along with its Vice President for Budget and Human Resources.
 

South Asian Person of the Year

Indian-American actor Avantika Vandanapu (19) was named the South Asian Person of the Year by Harvard University. She was reportedly recognised for her outstanding achievements and impact on the international and Indian entertainment industries. Avantika was born to a Hyderabad-origin Telugu family in California’s San Francisco Bay in the United States.
 

Aniruddha Bose

Justice Aniruddha Bose was appointed as the Director of The National Judicial Academy (NJAC), Bhopal. He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019. He was made a permanent judge of the Calcutta High Court in January 2004, and on August 11, 2018, he was elevated as the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.
 

Vandita Kaul

Senior bureaucrat Vandita Kaul was appointed as the Secretary, Department of Posts. Kaul is a 1989-batch Indian Postal Service (IPoS) officer. Currently she is serving as Member (Banking & Direct Benefit Transfer), Postal Services Board. She succeeded Vineet Pandey.
 

Jain Acharya Lokesh