Category Archives: Leaders

INTERNATIONAL RECORDS: INDIA RECORDS: HOTELS & RESTAURANTS: MasterChef Australia’s Season 10 Winner, Sashi Cheliah, Gears up to Launch his First Restaurant in India – ‘Pandan Club’ in Chennai

Sashi was the winner of MasterChef Australia Season 10. This will be his first restaurant in India, in T Nagar, serving Peranakan cuisine and lemongrass cocktails.

Police officer turned MasterChef contestant turned chef turned restaurateur Sashi Cheliah seems apologetic about his requirements for his first restaurant in India. “The thing is, we need professional chefs for this project,” he says, over filter coffee at the Leela Palace lobby, glittering with chandeliers and fragrant with vases of marigolds.

In Chennai with World On A Plate, Sashi is relaxing after cooking seven-course degustation menus, two nights in a row, for completely sold-out dinners at The Leela Palace.

Then, true to form, the Singapore-born, Adelaide-based chef headed straight from the five-star kitchen to Chennai’s popular Erode Amman Mess for his own dinner. “It was fantastic,” he says, “When it comes to flavour there are so many great places to eat in this city.”

With roots in Tamil Nadu, including grandparents who came from Madurai, he has chosen to launch his restaurant, Pandan Club, in Chennai.

A post on his Instagram profile, which has 1,29,000 followers, announcing openings for kitchen personnel resulted in a storm of resumes: many from fans and amateur cooks.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INDIA RECORDS: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: Diplomat Ruchira Kamboj Appointed as India’s Permanent Representative to U.N.

Ruchira Kamboj, who is currently serving as India’s envoy to Bhutan, will succeed T.S. Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the U.N

Senior diplomat Ruchira Kamboj was on Tuesday appointed India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York.

Ms. Kamboj, a 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is presently serving as India’s envoy to Bhutan.

During 2011-2014, she became the first woman diplomat to hold the position of India’s Chief of Protocol.

She will succeed T.S. Tirumurti as the Indian ambassador to the U.N.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)

INTERNATIONAL RECORDS: ECONOMICS : International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) MD names Dr. Krishna Srinivasan as Director to Head the Asia-Pacific Department (APD)

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced today her intention to appoint Krishna Srinivasan as Director of the Asia and Pacific Department (APD).

Mr. Srinivasan’s appointment as APD Director becomes effective on June 22, 2022. He will succeed Changyong Rhee, whose retirement from the Fund was announced on March 23, 2022.

Mr. Srinivasan, an Indian national, has more than 27 years of Fund experience, starting in the Economist Program in 1994.

He is currently a Deputy Director in APD, where he oversees the department’s surveillance work on a number of large and systemically important countries such as China and Korea, and smaller states in the Pacific such as Fiji and Vanuatu. He also oversees APD’s work on key ASEAN countries, namely Malaysia and Singapore, as well-advanced economies, including Australia and New Zealand. During the Global Financial Crisis, while in the Research Department (RES), Mr. Srinivasan led the Fund’s work on the G20 including the preparation of analytical notes for the meetings of the G20 Ministers and Leaders.

source/content: imf.org (headline edited)

WOLRD RECORDS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: IIT Madras, Dept of Chemistry Professor Thalappil Pradeep Chosen as Laureate of the 10th edition ‘Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) for his Breakthrough Discovery

Thalappil Pradeep, institute professor, Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), has been selected as the laureate of the 10th edition of the ‘Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water’ (PSIPW).

He was selected for the award under ‘Creativity Prize’ category given for ‘breakthrough discovery’ in any water-related field.

Pradeep developed environmentally-friendly ‘water positive’ nano scale materials for the affordable, sustainable, and rapid removal of arsenic from drinking water.

He was recognized earlier with the Padma Shri, and Nikkei Asia Prize, among many others and his technologies are delivering clean water to over 1.2 crore people.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL RECORDS: INDIA RECORDS – INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY : Amandeep Sing Gill, Former Diplomat of India Appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as UN’s Technology Envoy for International Digital Cooperation

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday appointed former Indian diplomat Amandeep Singh Gill as his envoy on technology to coordinate programmes for international digital cooperation.

Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announced the appointment calling Gill a “thought leader on digital technology”.

Gill, who graduated from the Panjab University in Chandigarh in BTech in electronics, has a doctorate in nuclear learning in multilateral forums from the King’s College in London.

According to the UN, the envoy on technology “coordinates the implementation of the Secretary-General’s roadmap on digital cooperation and will advance work towards the global digital compact proposed in the common agenda, in close consultation with the member states, technology industry, private companies, civil society, and other stakeholders”.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL RECORDS: MEDICAL & HEALTH SCIENCES: Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda Becomes First Indian-American President-Elect to Head the USA’s American Academy Of Audiology (AAA)

Having studied at AIISH Mysuru, Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda becomes the first Indian-American to occupy the top post.

Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda is a Professor (Adjunct) at Texas Tech Health Sciences and Chief Audiology Officer at National Hearing and Balance centres in Albuquerque, New Mexico. With more than 30 years of experience, he is now the President-Elect of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) and he will have a three-year term from October 1, 2022.

Hailing from Kodagu and coming from a humble background, he did his B.Sc. in Speech and Hearing from the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH – 1970 batch), then under the University of Mysore. By becoming the first person of colour to head AAA, Dr. Bopanna has become a role model for many.

source/content: starofmysore.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: JOURNALISM: Upendra Rai – Sahara India Media was Honoured for his Journalism by Lord John Beckett Taylor (Lord Taylor of Warwick) in the British House of Lords

The Overseas Friends of India (OFI) has also recognised the Sahara India Media’s Executive Director, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Upendra Rai’s fearless journalism in a ceremony hosted in London.

In a moment of pride for Indian journalism, the Sahara News Network CEO and Editor-in-Chief Upendra Rai got felicitated for his committed and courageous journalism in the British House of Lords. The House of Lords member Lord John Beckett Taylor (Lord Taylor of Warwick) felicitated Rai in the Cholmondeley Room of the upper house of the British Parliament.

Handing over the citation letter, Taylor lauded Rai’s stellar achievements in the field of journalism. The World Book of Records had also awarded Rai’s fearless work in 2019.

source/content: theprint.in (edited)

INTERNATIONAL RECORDS: INDIA RECORDS: International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) Rome, elects Mumbai’s Christine Nathan as its new President for 4 years. She is the First ICMC President ever from Asia.

Christine Nathan / pix: icmc.net/newsroom .

 The Council of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) has elected Christine Nathan from India as the commission’s new president. She is the first ICMC president from Asia. She belongs to the Archdiocese of Bombay and was nominated to the ICMC Council by the CCBI Migrant Commission.

The ICMC Council has its members from the National Episcopal Conferences. The 58 members representing the Episcopal Conferences all over the world elected her on June 1, 2022 at its meeting held in Rome.

Apart from the Episcopal Conference His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin Secretary of State, Giorgio Bertin O F M Bishop of Djibouti and Fr Fabio Baggio, cs, Co-Undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development attended the ICMC Council meeting in Rome.

She is the member of Migrant and Labour Commission of the Archdiocese of Bombay.

Christine is a senior education specialist in Adult and Workers Education with experience over 40 years. Having a strong multi-speciality background Christine has worked with the International Labour Organisation (ILO – UN) with Govts, employers and workers. Regional specialist on adult education, Occupational safety and health.She has engaged herself with NGO’s and Civil Society Organisation’s on several social issues at the National and international levels.

source/content: daijiworld.com (edited)

GLOBAL RECORDS: FIRST INDIAN: Michelin Star Celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna First Indian to make Gazette Review’s Top 10 Global Chefs

Indian celebrity chef Vikas Khanna was ranked sixth in Gazette Review’s rankings of the top 10 global chefs. The list is topped by Gordon Ramsay.

Michelin star celebrity chef Vikas Khanna has been ranked among the top 10 global chefs in the world by Gazette Review, becoming the only Indian chef who has made it to the prestigious list. Gazette Review ranked Mr. Khanna sixth, with British chef Gordon Ramsay leading the list.

The 50-year-old Amritsar-born and New York-based Khanna is known for taking Indian cuisine across the globe and on the world food map. He is the only Indian origin chef who has made it to the list along with great names in the industry.

Mr. Khanna, who also wears other caps including that of being a writer, filmmaker and philanthropist, took to social media on Tuesday and shared his joy on being listed.

In elite company

Others on the list include Anthony Bourdain, Paul Bocuse, Alain Ducasse, Emeril Lagasse, Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal, Wolfgang Puck and Jamie Oliver.

Mr. Khanna is one of the first Indian chefs to receive international acclaim. Since 2011, his main restaurant Junoon in New York City has received a Michelin star, a hallmark of fine dining.

Mr. Khanna has served food to the former U. S. President Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama, Pope Francis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and many other world leaders and celebrities.

Mr. Khanna is known for creating the most expensive cookbook in the world.

From 2011, Khanna hosted five seasons of Master Chef India, a series based on the original British version.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)

INDIA RECORDS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLGOY : SPACE : S. Geetha, Female Scientist the First Woman Programme Director of Space Transportation Systems at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)

S Geetha, the first woman programme director of space transportation systems at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, will retire after 33 years of service on Tuesday.

She was heading 64 engineers at the centre across seven teams.

Geetha is an alumnus of Vattiyoorkavu Government High School, Thiruvananthapuram, where she studied in the Malayalam medium.

Back then, a young Geetha would have never thought she would be one of the best space scientists in the country years later.

She vividly remembers coming to know about Valentina Tereshkova, the first and youngest woman to fly a solo mission to space on the Vostok 6 in 1963. Valentina was Geetha’s inspiration to pursue bachelors degree in electrical and electronics engineering from College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram (CET).

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)